《Root of Treason》 CHAPTER 1 - DEAD BASTARDS CHAPTER 1 - DEAD BASTARDS EXT. (RAIZIA) GRASSFIELD - DAY Sunny, slight breeze with flowers blooming in the spring. Small plum trees dotted the landscape as their petals sprinkled through the air. A congregation of grieving individuals under a large old plum tree resides a grave, in a field of low rolling hills as far as the eyes can see and a lonely smoking cottage in the distance. People stand in a circle watching a white shroud lowering to the base of the grave. Dark elves, Thelbians, and WHITE RAIZIANS surround it, mourning the loss of a man. A large AMBER FOX approaches and rubs against a certain Dark elf VALKYRIE, nine feet tall with a giant sword attached to her back and a smaller thinner one on her waist. Two arms are cybernetic in appearance, with a small, red lotus tattoo under her right eye, with two distinct markings under. As the corpse hits the ground Valkyrie stares shedding a tear. VALKYRIE For a man who caused the world to change for the third time, you will be the only one who will be lost even through legend¡­ Father. CUT TO: EXT. (TERRA) ON TOP OF THE BLUE WALLS (SKY) - DAY 167 years ago A four-winged dragon flies above the clouds towards two huge walls, the shorter further back. As it perches on one of the taller walls in front, it lowers one of its wings. BAYDEN THE IMMORTAL, a twelve year old, with empty elderly eyes is cloaked with a symbol of an eye and two crowns of light hovering over his head. His hair, black and long, fluffy and spiky with straight hair is covered in pearls and jewels carrying a CHILD. One of his eyes is masked in black, paired with an arm that is covered in black markings. He unwraps the child from the cloak it was wrapped in, holds him from his hair and walks towards the edge of the wall. He holds the child out. BAYDEN The Third Change, in the 300 million timelines I''ve explored, in the 500 million different alternate possibilities, all of which, in my world, you, brought wrath to, and the others you destroyed. I''ve lived for 300,000 years. And you are the first of whom I¡¯ve tried to kill, but alas. I''ll leave it to fate. DAHYA, a girl dressed in a red headscarf, with a tattoo under her lip and a crown of light is seen hovering, gives Bayden a concerned look. DAHYA Bayden, are you sure we can''t just take care of him? Bayden THROWS the child into the dark abyss overlooking a huge city of lights and skyscrapers. BAYDEN I tried¡­ so many times. I see him now as a failure of a son. He turns and walks back to the dragon, taking off. The child lands on some draped cloth, cushioning his fall as he drops into a puddle where he is left half submerged. CUT TO: EXT. (TERRA) ON TOP OF THE BLUE WALLS - NIGHT - DREAM A red-haired man, with glowing red Raizian eyes POINTS a finger towards a place in the distance out of view. With the sky on fire behind him, he turns and looks at the dreamer. CUT TO: INT. (THELBIA) THELBIAN ROYAL CASTLE (BEDROOM) - DAY CERLINCIA, a royal Thelbian concubine, middle-aged, but fairly soft in appearance. Earrings dangling down from her fox-like ears with four tails, SHOOTS UP from the dream, places her hand on her head to wipe away the sweat. CERLINCIA Another dream from the prophecy¡­ (gets out of bed) They will slaughter them all until the dreams fade I''m assuming. She walks over to her window and sees her daughter AMBER reading a book. A small Thelbian girl with no tails just yet, deep amber in colour, small ears, barely emerging from her hair and dressed in a white sundress. CUT TO: THELBIAN ROYAL CASTLE - COURTYARD Cerlincia approaches Amber, and sits, as a butler approaches and places an assortment of Thelbian sushi with raw meat, cakes, pastries, and other Thelbian delicacies. CERLINCIA Reading ¡°A Tale Of The Nine Planets¡± dear? AMBER Mommy, look, I can finally read it by myself. See this long word says ¡°as¡­ as¡­ as-tron-omey¡± and this one (her finger follows the page) says¡­ ¡°or-bit¡±. So in the end the sun and moon live happily ever after, don''t they? Amber opens the book to face Cerlincia, showing her the inside while the butler is pouring the tea into a ceramic cup. CERLINCIA Dear, the sun and moon can never be together. AMBER But why Mommy? That''s not fair¡­ The moon didn''t want to be with the Earth, it wanted to be with the Sun. CERLINCIA Dear¡­ the story is a parable, for different kinds of races not to interbreed. AMBER What do you mean? CERLINCIA Well, Jinn cannot marry a Dark Elf, a Gawvish with a Demon, nor a Thelbian with a Raizian, or any other races. AMBER That¡¯s stupid¡­ CERLINCIA Now¡­ maybe our kind can marry other kinsfolk, a Dark Thelbian for instance, but they don''t exist anymore. AMBER What about White Thelbians!!! CERLINCIA Oh, dear, they¡¯re only myths¡­ Come now, you''re a princess, don''t be so na?ve. AMBER Well, I''m never marrying anyway, I think it''s dumb. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Cerlincia picks up her tea and looks at Amber with a hopeless stare. CERLINCIA ¡­ SORCA, the Thelbian king emerges from the entrance to the garden, he has a long snout, fox-like in all his features, old-aged with bushy brows, hunched draped in purple in the royal courtyard followed by his escorts. As they are strolling along CASIAS, the official BARD of Thelbia, lands with a THUD on the grass behind the king. Slightly young and quite devilishly handsome in appearance. Middle parted long flowing hair, a cape draped over his shoulders with the SEAL of warlocks on his back. A BROACH, made of gold holds it all together, the official pendant of a Bard. CASIAS YOUR GRACE¡­!!! KING SORCA At ease Casias. What urgent news have you brought forth this time? Casias kneels. CASIAS The northern gate, your grace, is being overwhelmed by Razian refugees¡­ KING SORCA As I said, Casias, we cannot bring any Razian into our lands, if we do, Selcia will bombard our nation and drag us into this meaningless squabble. CASIAS With all due respect the situation is more dire than- Casias looks up KING SORCA Get rid of every Razian from inside our borders, that was the order I set out. CASIAS BUT- KING SORCA And that is to be obeyed, do I make myself clear? Casias Stands CASIAS Your Grace, they are starving in the cold, we arranged a treaty with Razia concerning these types of matters if they ever came to be when you succeeded the throne. KING SORCA DO NOT TELL ME OF WHAT I KNOW! Queen Fenwa is dead, and so is their King due to his foolish ambitions. That Realm had no future, be it the North or the South regardless. Get out of my sight, I have more pressing matters to deal with. CASIAS Your grace¡­ Casias backs off and walks towards the entrance of the castle as Amber is watching him. CUT TO: EXT. (NORTH THELBIAN/RAZIAN BORDER) NORTH THELBIAN GATE - DAY A large crowd is gathered at a massive steel door, surrounded by mountains. Slight snow drizzles upon the freezing people of Razia as they try to bang the steel gate open. Children are crying, camps set up with fire pits, cuts of different meats hung from the slaughters and people go around handing out stew rations to the refugees. TOREN, a half-Razian half-Thelbian, with red drooping ears, paces around the camp, seeing if everyone is okay holding bowls of stew. Clearly not, as their frozen corpses pile up at the corners close enough to the camp. Horses, cattle, and sheep are herded in makeshift pens, as for the Razian soldiers, not many are seen stationed. A warlock or two, lower in rank close to the gates, are accompanied by a Razian reserve infantry, older bowmen with cruddy equipment, and old rusted Razian-crafted helmets. Toren approaches the Warlocks, handing out the bowls. TOREN Gentlemen, your rations. WARLOCK 1 Toren, they are your people, surely speaking to them made them come to their senses. TOREN The Bard sent back a letter saying the king refused for the third time. Besides, you know how much they hate half-breeds. WARLOCK 2 He¡®s known to be stubborn. The title of The Broken King is a fitting one. TOREN Give it 2 weeks and it will turn into a famine in these camps. CUT TO: MOUNTAIN PEAK Across the distance over the peak of the hill facing the mountain, Selcian mercenaries are proning and scoping the camp. SELCIAN 1 More women than men, but gold is gold in my book. SELCIAN 2 Wouldn''t carrying these to the capital to prove that we managed to kill them be difficult? SELCIAN 1 I wouldn''t worry. I know someone in the marine force operating a frigate that can give us a hand. He is stationed there in the meantime. Anyway, we¡¯ve waited long enough, they look weak and tired so they won''t put up much of a fight. A STOCKY MAN approaches from behind STOCKY MAN Are we moving? The horses are ready. Oil is prepped, just be careful on the horses, they aren''t too accustomed to this terrain. SELCIAN 1 (closes telescope) Let''s move. BACK TO: RAZIAN CAMP Toren steps back to look up at the gate where the Thelbian GUARD 1 & 2 are keeping watch at the peak. GUARD 1 How long will they continue to plead? GUARD 2 I feel bad, we need to let them in. GUARD 1 King''s orders. Otherwise you know the punishment for treason, three generations of your family will be stripped of everything and banished. GUARD 2 What''s that there!? GUARD 1 Looks like Selcians sniffed them out before they could flee. GUARD 2 It¡¯s way too far north for any Selcian mercenaries to be around, how did they- An arrow flies through the guard''s neck, his body THUDS off the floor. Guard 1 fumbles for his announcement horn as he ducks but another arrow pierces the upper part of his skull through the ear hole of the helmet on top. CUT TO: SELCIAN SQUAD Selcian 2 pointing his bow at the guards. SELCIAN 2 No Thelbian swordsmen, please. Quite irritating in a fight. A Selcian man is seen galloping towards the camp through the refugees and slicing up women as well as the children. RAZIAN WOMAN (Screaming) AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! RAZIAN ELDERLY MAN WE ARE BEING ATTACK, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!! Chaos ensues as everybody runs from the group of killers. The squad of a few dozen killing and shooting any red-haired person in sight. Toren is alerted by a YOUNG GIRL. He looks over. YOUNG GIRL Toren!!! They are attacking us help- Toren watches the young girl''s head get pierced by an arrow. Her lifeless body drops onto Toren''s torso. TOREN (holds her Body) THEY...!?!? He spots a Selcian wrapped in a turban, with a ragged thobe and layer of chain mail pointing a bow at him. Toren LAUNCHES towards the Selcian in an impressive blast, as an arrow flies towards him. He uses his arms to smoothly divert it away from him using RAYKEEDO, the Razian martial arts, composed for battle and war. He clasps the man''s jaw and flattens his face on the floor. TOREN THEY¡­ THEY ARE DEVILS, GIRL! Toren''s rage is evident from his slit cat-like eyes. They dart around him and more people are dying than he can help. His ears twitch, and he ducks from a slash of a mercenary on horseback just in time. Toren unsheathes his Thelbian blade, hinged with an extension, and slices the horse''s legs clean off as the sword flings open. As the mercenary is collecting himself off the floor, he turns and sees a blade flying towards his face. CUT TO: THE GATE Two Razian Warlocks are surrounded by an impressive number of higher-grade Selcian Warlocks. WARLOCK 1 Well well well¡­ you do realize a rank in Divine Macrame doesn''t make you a better Warlock right Selcian? SELCIAN WARLOCK And understand that numbers beat power most of the time. CUT TO: OTHER SIDE OF THE GATE. Three Thelbian Paladins are galloping towards the gate at full speed. PALADIN 1 Betray the order of the king¡­ and you''re certain this is from Bard Casias. PALADIN 2 This one is from a messaging phoenix, it can''t be forged. PALADIN 1 MEN OPEN THE GATE THAT''S A DIRECT ORDER FROM BARD CASIAS! DOORMEN 1 & 2 turn to see the horsemen arrive. DOORMEN 1 The order from the king is to not!!! PALADIN 2 Orders from Bard Casias¡­ He promised you''d be spared and he would take full responsibility! Don''t tell me you men agree with the king here! DOORMEN 2 ¡­Open the gates¡­ As the gates rumble open, Toren emerges standing, wounded carrying a Thelbian sword with his back facing the gate, and him facing what seems to be the last Selcian mercenary standing among the hundreds of corpses. TOREN It took three weeks, and alas you opened the gates too late. Have you men even considered your watchmen? The doormen and paladins look at each other and then look up to spot a head and leg dangling off the edges of the gate roof. TOREN (CONT¡¯D) They are slain¡­ and you wonder why Razians bare grudges¡­ Toren circles around YUKDA, one of the slim selcians. Agile and light on his feet, he is in a warlock stance, getting ready to pull strings. The guards watch¡­ and slowly approach to assist. END CHAPTER 2 - PROVING STRENGTH CHAPTER 2 - PROVING STRENGTH EXT. NORTH THELBIAN/RAZIAN BORDER GATE - DAY As the Thelbian doormen and paladins slowly approach from behind, they halt in their tracks- TOREN STEP BACK!!! You decide to help now!!! This filth is mine to slay! Guards stop in their tracks. YUKDA Raizians can¡¯t wield blades and here I see you with a retractable thelbian blade. TOREN Silence! What I wield is none of your concern¡­ Why are you killing so many innocents¡­ for what? Who said the prophecy was coming to fruition? YUKDA It¡¯s not a coincidence that everybody has had the same dream for 10 years. TOREN And this bloodshed specifically, why¡­ YUKDA A new law has been passed, since the gold reserves of your capital, Fralon city were plundered a couple of years ago¡­ now every raizians head will be gifted with its weight in silver. TOREN And you believe foolish promises to a king who lost his mind completely! This ethnic cleansing is meaningless- Yukda leaps towards Toren STRIKING him with his sword. Toren blocks it and is LAUNCHED to the gates behind him. A plume of dust covers him and silence ensues. Toren retracts his thelbian blade and dashes to the side, finding himself behind Yukda. Yukda ducks and pulls a massive boulder of earth towards Toren. Toren slices the boulder and Yukda backs off further, gaining the distance away from him. TOREN A warlock!?!? YUKDA Surprised? TOREN You''re not wearing your sigil¡­ doesn''t your realm punish those who conceal their status as an active warlock? YUKDA Yeah¡­ well we¡¯re not in Selcia are we? TOREN The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The Bards will find you and make you regret- YUKDA Explain to me why you are carrying a blade raizian! You haven''t answered my question. TOREN I don''t follow their creed, simply. YUKDA And the Thelbians left you to slaughter? Toren picks a bow up from the floor and shoots Yukda before giving him another chance to ramble. Yukda pulls a piece of earth to block the projectiles but Toren appears from thin air and slices Yukdas long hair as he ducks for the second time. Yukda pulls a long dagger out trying to slice some part of Toren''s legs but Toren extends the blade blocking the strike. YUKDA Crafty you are- Toren goes for a kick, landing solid contact on Yukdas stomach winding him, pulling out his blade from the dirt and going for a killing blow but Yukda pulls a stone and CRACKS Toren''s head. Left dizzy, gathering himself he turns to find Yukdas strike flying towards him. They exchange a series of blows getting faster and faster until Toren disappears yet again. Yukda, surprised, quickly glances around to find Toren but he is moving too fast to focus and CRACK, a flying knee towards the stomach winding Yukda again. Another piece of debris is launched at Toren but he slices it up in many little fragments. As it disintegrates, Yukda again is unable to find Toren, then, a long Thelbian blade RAMS down Yukdas torso through his shoulder getting stuck in the armour down through his belly. YUKDA H¡­HOW! AGH!!! Yukda collapses on the floor bleeding out slowly and losing consciousness. TOREN Because I... was faster! Toren collapses on one knee bearing his sword, covered in wounds and blood not only from Yukda but from other people on the battlefield. Toren breaths in gathering all his strength to stand. More thelbian paladins, gatemen and Casias himself, standing and staring in shock. CASIAS ¡­ Did you kill all these Selcians? TOREN When they killed our archers and warlocks¡­ I had no choice. CASIAS ¡­And ¡­What of the survivors? TOREN I''m the only one standing¡­ even with my thelbian speed and raizian rage, I could only do so much. Toren stumbles on his feet and looks at Caseas- TOREN (CONT¡¯D) They raped, killed, murdered and decapitated everyone even the- CASIAS Enough¡­ Did you men not heed my warnings¡­ PALADIN 3 It was a divine¡­ order Sire- CASIAS THERE IS NOTHING DEVINE ABOUT THAT BROKEN KING!!! CasIas clasps his face in dishonour. CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) Toren¡­ become my apprentice¡­ The paladins and everyone else are shocked, they break into murmurs. PALADIN 1 A HALF-BREED CASIAS- He launches towards Paladin 1¡¯s neck, Casias pulls the earth and creates a sharp point tipped in steel barely scraping his neck¡­ CASIAS I believe you''re out of order¡­ I¡¯ll have you apprehended and sent to the cliff dungeons¡­ THIS MAN IS MORE BRAVE AND THELBIAN THAN ALL OF YOU COMBINED!!! Casias turns to face the crowd- CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) Understand men we are in times of war¡­ for a bard needs an apprentice and worthiness is more at stake than the purity of blood. After all the First Divine King was half white elf half white thelbian¡­ Myth or truth we stand to know that is embedded in our Thelbian culture. He created what our race stands for to this DAY!!! Casias turns and walks into the carriage. CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) IT¡¯S TIME WE LEAVE MEN¡­ tend to that man''s wounds and bring him to Storik City with us. END CHAPTER 3 - BARDS, WARLOCKS AND SAGES CHAPTER 3 - BARDS, WARLOCKS AND SAGES EXT. THELBIAN ROYAL CASTLE (GARDEN) - DAY A wide space of both, intricately coloured assorted flowers and pillars of vegetation lined alongside the footpath. Sunny, not a cloud in sight and a slight warm breeze brushes off Amber''s skin and hair as she stares at a ladybug struggling its way up the stem of a flower. She tries to help it up but flies off onto the pavement, chasing it she encounters a man stomping the ladybug. King Sorca, looking down at her with an unamused glare. KING SORCA Is your mother not around to keep you entertained? AMBER She is outside with her butler shopping¡­ KING SORCA Well then, wait inside for her¡­ darling¡­ Amber stares as King Sorca walks off with his men following him. She waits until he enters the castle. A butterfly catches her interest and she follows it down the path. Heading adjacent from the path, through a trail and into a gate covered in vegetation. She pauses, looking at the gate from curiosity she tip-toes towards the gate and peeks inside, nothing but darkness and a cold wind hitting her face with a strong and revolting smell. AMBER (covering her nose) Ewwww! I wonder what''s down there¡­ I¡¯d never seen this part of the castle before¡­ A tall slim Thelbian LEPTUM wearing a monocle, long whiskers pointed fox ears and two tails with a deep dark red hue emanating from his fur is dressed formally. LEPTUM Lady Amber¡­ your mother has arrived. She has a gift for you. AMBER A gift? LEPTUM Hurry now we¡¯ll have to leave again in a short while. He holds his hand out, beckoning her to hold it, both walking off into the castle. CUT TO: INT. THELBIAN ROYAL CASTLE HALLWAY Leptum and Amber meet up with Cerlincia and the shopping she just came with. Plenty of dresses, shoes, books and supplies for home schooling. Selcian and Dark Elf slaves lower the heavy loads and open the wooden crates revealing chandlers from Whiteland and cutlery from Gawvia. CERLINCIA (guiding the slave) Yep¡­ easy dose it just hear yep place here¡­ GENTLY DOES IT! LEPTUM (approaching Cerlincia) Hard at work I see, mistress, may I be of assistance in any way? CERLINCIA No no no¡­ You¡¯ve done plenty on our outing. Amber come along, I have a surprise for you. Cerlincia takes Ambers hand from Leptum and walking out the two heavy FRONT DOORS meeting three carriages they pace down the stairs and onto the cream gravel path. A butler holding a wooden case with a black Thelbian retractable blade. Glass encasing the weapon with strips of gold wrapping around the blade and handle. Interictally casted roses barely noticeable with a slight purple gleam emanating from the harsh sunlight. The butler lowers it to show Amber as he opens the case. CERLINCIA Your very own retractable Thelbian blade. Custom made by Vulkan The Fourth and his adversaries. Amber stares in amazement. CERLINCIA (CONT¡¯D) Dark moon steal, a grade higher than regular moon steal. The most durable of steals. Mined from the fallen moon atop Gawvia, the innermost core so to speak is so high in carbon and dense, that even the most skilled of sages find it difficult to pull. AMBER Can I hold it? CERLICIA It¡¯s heavy dear¡­ very¡­ and the trigger is sensitive, so sharp he told me a falling hair can be sliced with its edge. He sharpened and polished it for five years, apparently sharper than a Valkyries obsidian sword. It''s one of a kind. AMBER Mommy, why did you get me this? CERLINCIA ¡­ If one day you ever were in need¡­ to protect yourself, I commissioned it for you if ever the day were to come. AMBER Thank you so much it looks so pretty. I promise I won''t touch it until I get permission from you, okay? KING SORCA (O.S) WHAT!!! HOW COULD HE!!! CUT TO: CASTLE HALLWAY STAIRCASE King Sorca crumples the piece of paper with a phoenix next to him sleeping. KING SORCA DISOBEYING MY ORDERS! King Sorca throws the paper away. KING SORCA (CONT¡¯D) A half breed¡­ as an apprentice Bard of THELBIA?! PROPOSTURUS!!! And... OPENING THE GATES!!! Poluk! Where is Casias as of now? POLUK, a short man wearing traditional Thelbian attire holding a book and a quill possessing two tails. POLUK Heading to Storik City, Sire¡­ KING SORCA I want him brought immediately to the castle¡­ I can''t have him fooling around with a half-breed in the capital¡­ POLUK Understood, Your grace. Poluk walks down the stairs and out the two doors, Amber staring in amazement at his short height. King Sorca, vexed at the situation, turns and heads to his study chamber down the hallway as Amber watches. CUT TO: INT. CASTLE ROYAL LIBRARY King Sorca entering the library throws himself on his chair and slouches from exhaustion holding his face. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, King Sorca sighs in annoyance- KING SORCA YES¡­ I¡¯m busy another time. AMBER (O.S.) Father¡­ Are you okay? You seemed very sad KING SORCA Come in, darling. Amber pushes the door open, struggling slightly and looks at her father. Too shy to approach, she hesitates. KING SORCA (CONT¡¯D) Close the door behind you, do you want something? AMBER Father, you look tired, more than usual¡­ She approaches and holds his hand as he looks down at her. KING SORCA That''s my job dear¡­ to deal with people¡­ Tell me did you see the gift your mother made for you? AMBER It''s very pretty, father, I don''t think I¡¯ll be able to use it in a while though. KING SORCA Don''t be that way darling, once you grow older I''m sure you¡¯ll find great use for it. Come... let me show you something dear... He lifts Amber, placing her on his lap KING SORCA In our culture darling, we hand down a weapon to our children first and once your tails grow out you¡¯ll get your very own armour soon enough. AMBER But father, I''m not a warrior. KING SORCA Oh Amber, understand it''s in our family bloodline to do so. He grabs a map folding it out on his desk of the known world showing Amber. AMBER Wow, father¡­ What place is this? KING SORCA This my child is the known world¡­ The Shattered Lands of Mamseque. AMBER Where is Thelbia? KING SORCA (His finger inching up the map) That''s Thelbia, we live in the southern part and to the north is Storik City. You see, if one day you were to grow five tails... all of this will be yours darling. AMBER So small daddy, compared to this one... Amber points to Raizia AMBER (CONT''D) This big country? It¡¯s super big. KING SORCA Thats Raizia darling, a realm we call it... similar to Thelbia. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. AMBER What''s above Razia? KING SORCA The winds dear, too strong so nobody could see for themselves what''s there. It''s too cold. Amber points to the east. AMBER And in this direction? The map just ends¡­ KING SORCA That my dear is The Vally Of Patrified Trolls¡­ Further beyond that is known as the Forbidden East. Her finger points to the very left of the map. AMBER And this weird-looking one here? KING SORCA Those scattered islands on the west are known as The Shattered Lands Of Gawvia¡­ AMBER Father, what''s all the way down here¡­ KING SORCA That dear is the Sea of Giants. AMBER Giants? KING SORCA Yes dear they exist¡­ some are so big their heads are above the clouds. AMBER So how do they eat? KING SORCA They eat dragons¡­ and drakes, gryphons and eastern dragons also¡­ AMBER Do they not get lonely? KING SORCA You see darling¡­ Giants are technically immortal in a way. The oldest Giant to ever live was Sernic The Wise. He lived to three thousand years give or take. AMBER So how did he die? KING SORCA Bayden the Immortal killed him. Giants have a ritual where they hold a ceremony to kill themselves once 50 years have passed. Giants don''t stop growing. And get taller and bigger the more time goes on. AMBER (Feeling drowsy) I¡­ wouldn''t want to do that¡­ if I was a giant. KING SORCA And that is why the sea of giants exists, they walk around the southern sea, cursed, because they are too big to walk on land, crushing every ship that dares to pass the sea. Nobody knows what lays beyond the Sea of Giants. He looks at Amber, sleeping on his shoulder¡­ he smiles in comfort, rubbing her head. CUT TO: ROYAL CASTLE LIBRARY - MOMENTS LATER Gold rays of light spill through the windows filling the library with a crimson hue bouncing off the red carpet. The chandeliers diffracting their ambient, rainbow light, glittering onto the books and shelves. A soft Knock knock knock, as the door CREEEEKS open. Cerlincia, looking at the couple sleeping in peace. CERLINCIA Never have I thought I¡¯d see the day, my liege. You look at peace with your one hundred and sixty eighth child. I pray that she is the one you''re hoping for¡­ Cerlincia closes the door slowly, waking Amber up finally. Amber gets her bearings on her surroundings¡­ coming to realise she slept longer than expected. She glances at the map and books on the table. Letters upon letters written in Thelb New Orcish script next to an ink jar. Under the pile of books and scrolls, she sees a bunch of keys in a ring. CUT TO: EXT. ROAD TO STORIK CITY THELBIA - DAY On the countryside rolling hills with high mountains some peeking through in the distance from Raizia. TOREN A lot warmer in these parts, wont you say? Toren and some of the men sit in the cart quietly, staring at him. TOREN (CONT¡¯D) Three gruelling weeks in the mountains and I¡¯m the only one to survive while you sit in this blissful weather¡­ WAGON PASSAGER 1 Stop whining¡­ King''s orders, you wouldn¡¯t understand the consequences of disobeying. TOREN Storik City, I heard a lot about it, I¡¯ve never been. WAGON PASSENGER 2 Like they hate half breeds? TOREN You know, I didn¡¯t choose to be this way. WAGON PASSENGER 2 How did the likes of you happen anyway, Raizians are reserved usually, they don¡¯t travel much beyond their realm. And us Thelbians despise the idea of it¡­ two different races mingling is bewildering, often ends up with the child badly deformed or born brain dead. TOREN An aged Thelbian raped my mother, she couldn¡¯t bare to rid of me, so she kept me. The Crimson Mad Fox was my father. WAGON PASSENGER 3 Our mothers told us stories to scare us¡­ Everyone knows him, the worst thing to come out of Storik City. TOREN He came to Raizia running away from the Thelbian government, Raizian warlocks captured him and killed him. WAGON PASSENGER 1 Did they not hate you growing up then? TOREN Raizians don¡¯t mind half breeds, most half breeds used to reside and move to Fralon City for refuge. WAGON PASSENGER 1 An aged Thelbian raping a Raizian? And the child being born healthy, something out of a fairy tail, usually we are sterile by then, and lose our appetite for women completely. TOREN A messed up fairy tail that¡¯s for sure. Arriving towards the city, Toren stares with amazement, he has never seen anything like it before. Buildings so tall they feel like they''ll topple over, bridges connecting each while birds are flying through and perching. They cross the bridge and cobblestone roads rumble the cart through the streets. The stench hits Toren and his nose scrunchies from the order of dung, Thelbian wastes and the sewage. Looking outside he sees the people looking miserable. WAGON PASSENGER 3 We¡¯re here. Toren exits the wagon and the sun blinds him as he squints his eyes. Casias approaches him pulling his hood down and handing him a key and a few Quotes. CASIAS This building is rented for a couple of days, make sure to wash yourself and rest. I''ll come over with fresh medical materials to clean your wounds from the dirt. TOREN Right. CUT TO: EXT. TOWN SQUARE, STORIK CITY - DAY Casias looking through the wares he spots a few vials and flasks assessing them, going through further, he isn¡¯t satisfied with what he is finding. CASIAS Poor, poor, wears, everytime i''m in the markets nothing of value for medicine is around here. You there! Haven''t you found anything of quality with them merchants this past month? CHEMIST Sorry Sire, this is all I could find, medics from the south haven''t been around lately. CASIAS Great, I''ll have to make do with primitive dark elven equipment, if only us Thelbians knew how to heal instead of swinging swords. CUT TO: WANDERERS TOWN HALL, TOWN SQUARE Crowded building with interictally designed roofing and pillars. Queues upon queues behind different exceptions and different stall. People waiting around with babies crying and families pleading, others hauling around paper work. He jogs up the stairs and makes his way through another flight of stairs on the upper floor. Casias approaches the receptionist in the front desk holding a tote bag with equipment. CASIAS Hello there Ilean. ILEAN Bard Casias it''s an honour to have you visit again. So, what can I do for you today? CASiAS I wanted to request an immediate meeting with the guild master of diplomats please. ILEAN Immediate? O-of course, rite away Sire. CUT TO: WONDERERS GUILD HALL MAIN OFFICE As Casias and Ilean walk through the upper hallway, she pauses, in her tracks, turns and knocks. ILEAN MASTER, Bard Casias wishes to speak with you immediately. A servant opens the door and Casias walks in. The servant closes the door behind him as she leaves. Bard Casias and MASTER BRAKE are left alone. Brake, doing handstand push ups, same height as Casias, scarred all over and blind in two eyes, a mohawk and earrings drooping down from his ears touching the floor every time he does a rep. He pauses and gracefully lands on his feet standing up slowly. CASIAS Brake¡­ it''s been a while¡­ BRAKE Sure has Casias¡­ He grabs a towel wiping himself down. BRAKE Another apprentice is it? CASEAS Yeah¡­ a half breed this time¡­ BRAKE (in anger grunts) God! You think this is a joke! How many!? One, two? CASEAS I want to register him, half Raizian half Thelbian, he excels at the retractable sword¡­ calm as well his rage does not control him¡­ Brake walks to his desk and pours a glass of rum for the both of them he then gets two steel balls beside them and pulls the heat out of them as they freeze and drops them inside. BRAKE How many tails? Casias sits and picks up a glass. CASIAS None¡­ Listen Brake, I know I''m not compared to the others¡­ not a good teacher¡­ I do have my faults of having so many failed subjects in the past¡­ half of the apprentices I have under my control I''m not even sure where they are¡­ but I''m trying to make a change of this state¡­ I think Thelbia will need him. Brake leans over to the side and pulls out a few papers out from his drawer and dashes them towards Casias. BRAKE Listen, I''m not sure what you''re trying to do. I dunno if you''re trying to pick a fight with the broken blood king or whatever¡­ but know this, our days as apprentices are long gone, this is the fifth time you''ve come to me and with a half breed no less this time. I can''t keep helping you like this! Casias picks up the quill and pauses for a moment CASIAS Brake, please. BRAKE Why Casias¡­ Why all this trouble, you seem to have only half the attention on all your apprentices and now another? It takes 12 years to become a bard¡­ it''s not easy, and your metamorphosis¡¯, no, us both¡­ our time will come. Casias begins to fill out the form CASIAS ¡­ I know. BRAKE Then focus on who you''ve elected and made the most progress on. CASIAS That''s the problem Brake, all they are interested in is learning history and psalms, epics, myths, chronicles, sagas and stories of the past, poems and songs, what use are they if none of them are willing to perfect their Devine macrame and soon study sage craft, combat and the fine arts of our sword. You, my brother, were a sage once, a deadlock now¡­ but nothings holding you back from your goals. Brake leans over closer to Casias BRAKE This¡­ half breed- CASIAS His name is Toren¡­ BRAKE Toren¡­ right. Do what you must, however I think what would perfect your successor is to make them teach what they are good at to someone of great relevance, or dismiss your other apprentices. Casias, surprised. CASIAS Bu- BRAKE All of them¡­ And you will not be allowed to select more apprentices. CASIAS I suppose it''s for the best. BRAKE You can leave the Quotes on the table. Casias gets up and drops a pouch on the table. BRAKE Come back with the form soon, I''ll see to it you¡¯ll have his biometrics recorded accurately! CUT TO: TORENS CHAMBER - MOMENTS LATER Casias comes in, he sees Toren cleaning his blade from the blood, crimson stained rags are hanging about as he sits shirtless on his bed. CASEAS I brought these to patch you up. Toren stares in an unpleasant manner. SOME TIME LATER Casias stitching up Torens wounds as the golden hour sets in, remnants of strings and bandages are left on the side on a stool with some equipment. CASIAS You''re angry. TOREN Why shouldn''t I be. Was left to die with my people. Betrayed by our only allies. CASEAS I pleaded¡­ I had to force them to open. TOREN They all died besides me, I couldn''t help anyone. I was powerless. CASIAS Powerless or not, they did not focus on you. That''s why you didn''t die. What would they do with your head anyway? You''re only half Raizian. Casias pulls the string tight TOREN (Grunts) That''s reassuring. A bard knowing I''m filth of the earth. I didn''t agree with your terms yet by the way. CASEAS What will you do if you refuse? Go to the golden forests? In north Raizia? It''s too far and you''ll die. Even if you are accustomed to the north. Ifrits run those lands. Casias picks up a cotton ball and starts dabbing him with it. TOREN I¡¯ll manage- CASIAS You¡¯ll manage to die. And even if you decide to go somewhere else, where would you go? Gawvia? You¡¯ll be hunted. Or maybe Narkell, you''ll be forced into poverty since nothing from there is worth anything. Whiteland maybe or even the Strip of Fire? Your life would be miserable. TOREN World is a big place, I''ll find some mercenary work, somewhere. I have no interest in becoming a bard anyway¡­ too much work. Learning poems and stories, no thanks. CASIAS Out of all the warlock types, bards are the most powerful. Other than sages, Bards go through the same trials as sages do. TOREN For what reason would I want to be a sage anyway. CASIAS ¡°For a warrior of sword can only be felled by a warlock, and a warlock bested by a sage, and a sage bested by a deadlock, and a deadlock bested by a bard.¡± TOREN Those are King Ace''s words. CASIAS Ahhh see, and who was King Ace? TOREN He was the most recent Warlock King. There hasn¡¯t been one since. CASIAS And before that he was a Bard for Daidelf. But don''t worry about him nor the poems and stories. We need you¡­ my friend, to be strong in order to help bring this realm divinity. Now then sit still, after this last pass of disinfection, I''ll need to measure you and fill out a form. Toren stares outside the window and sees birds flying alongside a phoenix. END CHAPTER 4 - DARK ABYSS CHAPTER 4 - DARK ABYSS EXT. ROYAL CASTLE LAKE - DAY Amber stares in the distance at the pond contemplating the map she¡¯d seen. Her little legs dangling off of a marble bench with a book beside her ¡°The Art of Murder¡±. Sunny and quaint with a few fluffy clouds in the distance. A tall ROMULUS approaches with four little tails and ears, draped in a robe intricately designed, sharp features despite his young age. ROMULUS Amber¡­ sitting alone again I see? AMBER I was only thinking about what papa said. Romulus sits next to Amber ROMULUS Papa- he¡¯s interesting¡­ he¡¯s desperate Amber¡­ looking for a new heir to the throne none of us have met his satisfaction besides myself¡­ even then my fifth tail has not yet sprouted. AMBER Sometimes¡­ he is very mean and sometimes he is nice. I¡¯m scared of him, Romulus. ROMULUS Well, It has been a century or two since the last blood king died, and we don''t have a Divine monarch like the other races¡­ so¡­ AMBER Monarchs¡­? Dev¡­ deveeen? Romulus is amused and rubs his hand against her head. ROMULUS You''re so adorable, even though we have a lot of siblings you''re still my favourite little sister. You¡¯ll understand when you get older hehe. Amber blushes looking down but not amused. CUT TO: EXT. ROYAL CASTLE GARDEN - DAY Amber strolling through the forests from the lake she enters the arched gate into the garden. She sees the gardener working on clearing up the vines from the old gate that piqued her interest from before. Amber runs behind a tree, hiding. Opening the gate, he looks at the vines and puts down his tools scratching his head and walks off. Amber looks around as she runs from the tree to the gate, and approaches it vigilantly looking over her shoulders. Wind again hits her in the face and the voices from below calling her in the dark abyss. VOICES Yes, child follow, follow, help me, help me¡­ She tiptoes and places her foot on the ledge at the gateway. Breaking into a cold sweat as the wind blows her hair back. She stares, hugging the walls as she walks down the spiral turret stairs. AMBER Agh! Squirming, she slips slightly catches herself, holding the gate frame firmly. Covering her mouth she looks back, seeing nobody notice her high pitched scream. It¡¯s seemed so dark down below, she hesitated from fear, but her curiosity pushed her forward. As she walks further down, she misplaces her foot, falling through a missing step tripping, tries grabbing one of the steps but her hand slips and falls down into the dark abyss- AMBER AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh.h.h.h..h¡­.h.h¡­¡­¡­~~~~~ Her scream disappears into the dark landing on a mound of dirt and rocks breaking her ankle and her head cracking on one of the stones- SMASH CUT TO - BLACK VOICE Mother¡­ mother¡­ Wake up mother. POV: FADE IN (BLINKING): Cerlincia wakes up in shock in a cold sweat. CERLINCIA Huh? Gasping she shoots up looking around to see Romulus with his hand on her shoulder. ROMULUS The prophecy again is it? I had the same dream last night. CERLINCIA It''s like the more Raizians they kill the worse it gets. ROMULUS Have you seen Amber mother? I''ve looked everywhere for her and couldn''t find her. CERLINCIA She is probably in the library again¡­ CUT TO: MONTAGE Romulus checks a series of areas around the castle. INT. ROYAL CASTLE KINGS QUARTERS Romulus approaches his father and kneels. ROMULUS Your grace, The 168th princess, have you seen her perchance. KING SORCA Surely she is in her chambers. ROMULUS Her quarters are empty, your grace, I looked everywhere. KING SORCA Romulus please, I''m occupied for the moment. She is surely around somewhere. Romulus stands and walks off CUT TO: GARDEN In the garden watching the GARDNER cleaning the debris and packing the vines into a sack as well as his tools. Romulus frantically approaches the gardener. ROMULUS You there! The 168th princess¡­ Lady Amber, have you seen her? GARDENER Sorry your Royal Highness- As he locks the small rusted old gate that led to the dark abyss with his keys he looked at the prince. GARDNER (CONT¡¯D) I didn¡¯t see anyone enter the quarters as of late. If I do see her I¡¯ll be the first to let you know. Is she missing? ROMULUS It seemed I was the last to see her then, nobody has spotted her since. I was sitting by the lake. She took off alone which I assumed only for a few minutes to get something. CUT TO: Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. FLASHBACK EXT. ROYAL CASTLE LAKE - MOMENTS EARLIER Large lake with ducks, swans and sparrows on the bank of the river. Some cherry blossoms, raining down. As she looks down, blushing, she looks up and looks at Romulus. AMBER I''M TIRED. ROMULUS I¡¯m sorry¡­? Confused and with a puzzled look he takes his hand away from her. AMBER NOT FAIR, TIRED, TIRED, TIRED!!! ROMULUS Sorry Amber, if I offended you in any way forgive me¡­ AMBER NO! NO NO NO!!! JUST BECAUSE I''M THE YOUNGEST DOESN''T MEAN I DON''T GET TO UNDERSTAND! She gets up off the bench. AMBER (CONT¡¯D) I''M OLD ASWELL. I''M AN ADULT¡­ WHY EVERYTIME I GET TO ASK SOMETHING OFF OF YOU, PAPA OR MAMA¡­ YOU GUYS ALWAYS SAY¡­ Amber starting to tear up slightly. AMBER "You will understand this when you''re older¡­" "you¡¯ll understand that when you''re older¡­" NOT FAIR!!! Romulus is taken aback, breaks into a cold sweat not knowing what to say. ROMULUS (visibly confused) ¡­ AMBER (Sobbing) I¡¯m an adult too y¡¯know *sob* I¡¯m a princess! How come I never get treated like one. *sob* I¡¯m¡­ a¡­ lady¡­ She unbuttons her sundress at her chest and rips open to reveal her bare flat chest to Romulus. AMBER (CONT¡¯D) SEE! LOOK! I''M A LADY TOO! MY BOOBIES ARE BIG! JUST LIKE MOMMIES. ROMULUS (covering his eyes) AHH! AMBER! NOT LADY LIKE! COVER YOURSELF!!! Romulus looking away and blushing in a deep red, obvious discomfort and embarrassment. AMBER I HATE YOU AND EVERYBODY ELSE WHO THINKS I''M STILL A BABY. I''M IMPORTANT TOO Y¡¯KNOW. I DIDN''T CHOOSE TO BE BORN WITH A LOT OF SIBLINGS! PAPA¡¯S SUPER MEAN AND EVERYONE ELSE IS SUPER MEAN. Except you¡­ and *Sob* mommy¡­ Amber dashes off covering her face crying towards the forest behind as Romulus watches her. ROMULUS Oh Amber¡­ I suppose we all have a way at looking at things¡­ I¡¯m sorry, suppose you need a minute. CUT TO: END FLASHBACK BACK TO - GARDEN ROMULUS She went missing. She got upset and dashed off somewhere. It was my fault¡­ GARDENER Oh Your Highness¡­ don''t be hard on yourself. I have a daughter and usually they get upset at the little things. When I see her I''ll inform you in a flash. Romulus with a concerned look on his face steps back, and walks back into the castle. CUT TO: EXT. GRASSLANDS, THELBIAN COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Wind ripping through the blades of grass in a backdrop of fluffy clouds with a slight hint of darker greys. Rolling hills, with a further silhouette of hazy mountains. MCDUNE cloaked with his hood up and his red hair spilling out of the base of his collar. A sack on his back and two rifles attached to his back in an x formation. As he is trekking through the grass lands he looks up to see a four winged dragon gliding upon the air. From the breast of his cloak he takes one of his hands, clearly dried up with dark moon steel warlock dragon claws decorated with intricate patterns. The claws attached on each fingure tip, spiked and long, each connected to a thin chain running towards the back of his hand connecting to a ring, with more chains connected to a tight bracelet on his wrist. MONO Yeah man¡­ totally not cool dude. McDune turns around looking for the voice that called him. His hood from the wind ripples uncovering a mask he is wearing, a skull with long blood tipped horns. MONO, a blond messy-haired teen with blue eyes, carrying an hour glass is nowhere to be seen- then he suddenly appears behind him. With his hand palm facing towards McDune. MONO 301 anomalies, 4,936,394 time lines created and 76 paradoxes that destroyed 654,683 alternative universes. Dude¡­ not cool. Shuts his book that''s strapped to his belt- Mcdune turns and dashes back increasing the distance between him and Mono. MCDUNE You¡­ How long will you continue to follow me¡­ MONO Dude, Baydens not been happy, you keep messing around with the timelines, like¡­ c¡¯mon man. MCDUNE You are from my era¡­ how do I go back¡­ MONO Keep asking, wouldn''t know¡­ Bayden just pays me by the hour and I get sent home¡­ true I can pull time¡­ doesn''t mean I rule it. He does all that and I just keep the time in check, by the way¡­ getting really annoyed dude. MCDUNE HOW THE HELL DO I GO BACK TO MY TIME. MONO Three ways this is gonna go¡­ A. You give up¡­ and hand over Baydens hand¡­ and stay here¡­ pun intended by the way B. I kill you here and now or C. I bring you back but Death will catch you¡­ I¡¯ll be getting the hand off you then anyways. You''re supposed to die man¡­ like¡­ a couple of years back kinda thing¡­ Why do you think you can run? MCDUNE He and you have been following me¡­ and that¡­ damned Bayden¡­ my whole life¡­ I''ve been running¡­ for so¡­ very¡­ MONO (Scratching his arm) Yeah dude¡­ love to hear¡­ but I have to fix your mess. Gimme the hand and I''ll leave you be¡­ c¡¯mon man¡­ please¡­ this era is not too bad compared to others¡­ well considering the prophecy. MCDUNE Go kill yoursel- A massive blast is released towards Mcdune. He manages to dash to the side pulling out one of his rifles shooting Mono¡­ The bullets from his rifle freezes mid air, hovering, as Mono pulls a few divine strings towards his side. Hunches slightly and curls his fingers whilst twisting his wrist. Bullets fly back at McDune, covering himself from the rounds crossing his arms as they graze him. MONO Asked for it man¡­ As McDune uncovers, he looks up at Mono as he has his hand in the air above his head as the whole earth is warping into itself, crushing McDune under its gravity. MONO (CONT¡¯D) Dude¡­ the hand¡­ Mcdune falls on one knee and looks up at Mono. MCDUNE (coughing blood) Can¡¯t kill me¡­ until Death catches me¡­ hehehe¡­ he can¡¯t find me in these severed time lines anyway. MONO Tried I guess¡­ Mono pulls the earth towards the ground but before Mcdune pulls out his hand getting crushed by gravity, as he clenches his fist he disappears into thin air. Bayden The Immortal grabs Mono¡¯s hand tightly as he appears behind him. MONO Bayden? BAYDEN Child¡­ Alas executing him in such a manner is uncalled for as much as I''d like it to be done¡­ your job is to maintain order¡­ not execute¡­ MONO C¡¯mon Bayden¡­ dude seriously the only reason why you''re stressed is because this idiot is time hopping and making a mess of things. BAYDEN His death is imminent¡­ and the folds and creases in the cloth of time will iron out. We should go. MONO Right¡­ CUT TO: INT. INN, TORENS CHAMBER, MAIN SQUARE, STORIK CITY - DAY The cold evening started to settle in as Casias with some tools measures Toren''s height and weight with an obscure device. Quill and paper in hand as he scratches Toren''s specifications. TOREN Casias¡­ I didn¡¯t agree to this. CASIAS We went over this. You don¡¯t really have a choice. TOREN Well¡­ even if I tried¡­ I doubt I''ll be able to pass all those exams... CASIAS Well¡­ You¡¯ll receive a bronze crown¡­ and you need to learn twenty poems, twenty historical accounts spanning at least ten years each and twenty myths and stories. Easy enough to pass. TOREN Casias, in Raizia I served as an escort for travellers and merchants¡­ and sometimes an assassin. Not a writer. Last time I read a book was when I was 15¡­ CASIAS (murmuring) Your Raizian dialect needs to be standardised to New Orcish as well¡­ (Stands) Well no matter what, you''ll need to learn the standard New-Orcish script anyways. TOREN So I have to learn that gods forsaken script and change the way I speak? So much effort¡­ Bards are supposed to be warriors- CASIAS - AND diplomats¡­ if you want to only fight, join the army, you''ll only be fodder for the Selcians experiments¡­ other than your swordsmanship how far can you go without knowledge. You¡¯ll remain a grunt for the rest of your life serving blood kings, sultans and the like. Casias steps back with the end of his quill to his mouth. CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) But they can wait¡­ the poems I mean¡­ Devine Macrame takes priority. TOREN Warlockery¡­? But I already know how to pull some elements. Casias turns and rummages through his bag. CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) Yes, call it what you like¡­ A crash course of sorts is needed for refinement. (picking books from the pile next to the bed) You need this, this and this book. Start with the thinnest one and work your way to the thickest one. Don¡¯t worry they are in standard script¡­ Which we need to learn anyway¡­ They¡¯re all mostly picture based, remember the poses and hand positions. TOREN I remember reading these as a kid in Raizia. CASIAS Great¡­ jog your memory a bit. As you are healing make sure to complete them and take some notes. We will choose a single key string to focus on, pulling several elements can be risky to the people you surround anyway¡­ forget most of what you know about Devine Macrame for this learning period. END CHAPTER 5 - PRISONERS OF ROYALTY CHAPTER 5 - PRISONERS OF ROYALTY INT. THELBIAN ROYAL CASTLE CATACOMBS - NIGHT Amber waking up completely dazed, a pungent stench of drainage, urine, blood and smoke from the distant torches down the tunnel strike her sensitive nose. She stands slowly, her arms are weak and feels the blood from her scalp dripping and trickling through her forehead down her face and dripping off the tip of her nose. AMBER Ouch ouch - owww¡­ that dumb nightmare again. Standing up she topples over. AMBER (screaming) AGH¡­ Touching her ankle, finding it swollen. AMBER (CONT¡¯D) HELLO!!! She looks up and no one seems to answer or look in, the dim moonlight barely manages to spill through a small crack from a distance up the stairwell. AMBER (CONT¡¯D) (crying) HELLO¡­ CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME¡­ H¡­ Hello! Hello, please¡­ It hurts¡­ so much¡­ Managing to get her bearings, she slowly gets up limping towards the flickering lights far down the hallway feeling the cobblestone walls along the way. Further down the hallway her hand suddenly meets iron rusted bars, cold to the touch. PRISONER (jumps at Amber) HOW MANY TAILS¡­ WHAT SAY YOU!!! AMBER (screaming) AGHHHHHH!!! She launches back and falls on her butt looking at the prisoner. Skinny and bony, his face is youthful yet some teeth missing with hair so long it''s knotted in clumps with grease and filth holding it together, dragging off the dirty floor. PRISONER ANSWER¡­ IF FOUR THEN STAY AND USURP¡­ If less flee, he will banish you to where we stand¡­ AMBER I.. I¡­ don''t know what your saying¡­ PRISONER A DEVINE¡­ Only devine can justly rule¡­ NOT A BLOOD KING¡­ don''t follow the torches sister¡­ follow the darkness¡­ for darkness will bring you to the truth¡­ our REAL leaders¡­ AMBER SPEAK NORMALLY I DON''T KNOW WHAT YOU¡¯RE SAYING. The prisoner''s arm stretches out to point at the base of Ambers neck between her collar bones¡­ She shuffles backwards, hitting the wall from the narrow hallway avoiding his long finger nails and dirty hands. PRISONER Sister¡­ I am one of your siblings¡­ the emblem of royalty you carry is meaningless, for your tails will be severed if your fate is not that of four tails. AMBER STAY AWAY¡­ I don''t know you¡­ why would this place be here. PRISONER The Catacombs are for those who transgress or are speculated to. He backs away into the darkness of the cell and disappears. Amber gets on her feet again looking down the narrow hallway. She limps over to the torches at the end to find a fork in the hallways, one with torches and the other with non. She turns towards the darker hallways and limps further down, as it gets darker, and darker, she is unable to see once again, a lot darker than the place she woke. Bumping her foot on a slight raise on the uneven surface, loosing her grip on the wall she falls down a slope of mud, slipping all the way down, being met with a slightly wider and longer hallway, with prison cells on each side. She slowly gets on her feet once again and walks further down and hears crying in the distance and approaches the sound of the cell where it''s coming from. AMBER Hey¡­ are you okay? The prisoner looks up at Amber thin but not malnourished, a young WOMAN seen in the embryo position in the far corner of her cell draped in tattered rags, her ears are still bushy and healthy and her hair is silky and long. Dirt smeerd on her face and arms and her lower half is covered in dried blood. WOMAN Who¡­ who are you¡­ AMBER My name is Amber¡­ my papa called me Amber because my fur is not as red or yellow as other people¡­ Amber squats down to talk to the woman. WOMAN Am¡­ Amber¡­ She crawls over to Amber to reveal beautiful wide eyes, looking at her through the iron bars. AMBER Wow¡­ hehe *sniff* Amber wipes her eyes from the crying beforehand and looks at the woman''s eyes. AMBER You¡¯re¡­ super pretty. I''d like to look just like you one day. Hehe¡­ mommy said one day I''ll get to look something like you- WOMAN Forget it¡­ AMBER Why¡­ WOMAN You''ll get banished no matter how many you have, they slice you up and send it off to the Selcians¡­ and leave you to rot, taking all your dignity away. Our tails¡­ as Thelbians it''s our honour¡­ and they took that from me too¡­ AMBER Why? WOMAN We, blood royals are only born for one thing, and that is to rule inplace of Divine monarchs if there is none. We girls have one purpose though, and that is to give birth to blood royals, but only those who have four or more tails, that''s when your even considered a royal. Our papa wants a naturally born five tailed Thelbian. Extremely rare¡­ one in a million. You¡¯ll see what he does to you. AMBER And all these sleeping prisoners¡­ they are the same¡­? WOMAN Not sleeping honey¡­ dead¡­ from the blood that they seeped from severed tails¡­ you¡¯re young¡­ in the ¡®Year of Fate¡¯ when they hold your ritual when your first metamorphosis and menstrual cycle, your tails begin to grow, he will let you to live and become a breeding concubine for other monarchs within this land or cut you up and throw you here if your tails aren''t four or more. AMBER ¡­ Papa is mean¡­ sometimes and he is kind sometimes¡­ but he wouldn''t make people suffer like this¡­ WOMAN Head further down the catacombs, sister¡­ you¡¯ll find something¡­ that will break your view of this perfect messed up fairytale. For Mamseque is the land where war thrives best. Amber gets up and looks further down the dark catacombs staring. WOMAN (CONT¡¯D) Follow the darkness young one¡­ Amber limps towards the end of the tunnel. From the roof, stalactites get longer and longer dripping ever so slightly. It becomes easier to see for her now, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of the catacombs she lets go of the wall with little more confidence as she limps down. She meets the sound of rushing water, her nose scrunches up from the stench. She hops down a small ledge and she submerges until her waist. Looking down to her left she follows the flow of the current. AMBER (gasping) HHHH... so COLD! HUFF! Huff! The stream and sewage mixture get deeper, her neck gets submerged as she is carried down trying to float. The catacombs get steeper and steeper and then suddenly she is caught in a stream connecting to more water ways. Amber tries to float but the different currents are making her lose her orientation, trying to swim and almost drown. She is launched out the spout of a pipe and lands on a body of water. Amber coughing aggressively she swims to the cobble stone bank. AMBER (vomiting) BLUAHHHHHH! *COUGH* *COUGH* hwahhhhhhhhh~~~ Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Puking out the water she swallowed she shivers in disgust. She spits what is left and stands up her arm shadowing her eyes that the bright lights blinding her. It¡¯s bright, in fact too bright to even see properly. She taught she reached the outside but as she stands, she is met with two figures. A male and female, young adults with crystal crowns floating illuminating on their heads. The crystals each having a light of its own, hovering emitting a calm humming sound barely noticeable. Both locked up with long thick chains leading to a boulder in the far back tying everything together They looked dead¡­ so thin and malnourished their ribs and bones seemed so defined. AMBER Oh¡­ my¡­ She covers her mouth letting out a few tears. Looking back at the black body of water which seemed to stretch on forever into the darkness, she couldn''t see anything beyond the bank, Turns to the figures and KING LAVARIAN is staring at her, wide eyed with silver hair and five tails, long silky hair unkempt with bags under his eyes. AMBER (screaming) EEEEEEP LAVARIAN Honoured child¡­ calm yourself¡­ He sounded sickly, weakness from his voice emanating. QUEEN SHEEBA wakes up from Ambers screech. Looking at the King she turns and looks at Amber, her lips dry and cracked she tries to speak but struggles. SHEEBA W¨C whooo¡­ are you? CUT TO: INT. HIGH CLASS THELBIAN RESTAURANT PRIVATE DINING HALL - DAY Table cloth laid out as far as the table stretches wine coloured, with two glasses accompanying each seat with three pairs of forks and knives as well as spoons on the front of each plate. Some fruits but mainly meat and fish delicacies scattered about in great organisation. Cerlincia, Romulus as well as king Sorca. Some other concubines and siblings from other families are enjoying a hearty meal as they banter on with stories. Cerlincia, distant, king Sorca glancing at her the odd time from slight displeasure. ROMULUS Mother¡­ Mother! Romulus taps his foot on Cerlincias ankle and he give her a side eye glare. CERLINCIA ¡­? S- Sorry sweetie¡­ I¡¯m thinking of Amber¡­ It''s been a day since she''s been missing, that poor child¡­ ROMULUS Mother I understand your grief, believe me I''m just as upset as you, however his grace is looking¡­ We shouldn''t be so distant from our weekly family feasts¡­ It¡¯ll embarrass him and spoil his mood. Romulus looks at Cerlincias food, playing with it, barely eaten. ROMULUS (CONT''D) Mother¡­ if you can¡­ at least have a bite or two¡­ not for yourself but for the king. CERLINCIA Oh Romi dear¡­ you think they took her¡­ to¡­ oh Romi if only you knew¡­ Cerlincia¡¯s tears begin to pile up and shoots up rushing off. INT. RESTAURANT GREAT HALL - MOMENTS LATER Romulus standing with juice in a goblet in one hand and his other hand in his pocket looking around awkwardly. No one his age is around, all cousins, step siblings and other kinfolk seeming alot older. A harp humming with an elegant soft melody in the background as everybody seems to be enjoying themselves and the king is surrounded by a number of his concubines, laughing as they watch a jester juggling and falling over. Romulus finishes his juice, picks up a small cube of meat attached to a toothpick eating it and leaves the hall through an open hallway into the women''s bathroom. ROMULUS It''s been forever since she¡¯s been there¡­ what''s taken her so long. *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* ROMULUS (CONT¡¯D) Mother¡­ Mother¡­ Hearing his mothers weeping she stops. Flushes the toilet, opening the door to find her son so young yet so mature standing in front of her. She kneels and straightens his collar and his short whiskers. CERLINCIA Romi sweetie¡­ I can''t bear to lose more children¡­ They''ve all been taken from me¡­ She holds back her tears, her face stuffy stands and walks to the sink, washing it. CERLINCIA (CONT¡¯D) Off you go now¡­ I''m sure you¡¯ll find something to do. It''s not proper for a gentleman to be in the women''s lavatory. ROMULUS Y¡­ Yes mother. Romulus pulls the door to exit the bathroom only to find a group of girls walking towards him. He blushes as they laugh and he runs off. CUT TO: EXT. SENTARIA, SOUTHERN THELBIAN CAPITAL - NIGHT Bustling city with vendor''s merchants and the like screaming the top of their lungs on their prices. McDune with his hood covering his head carrying a sack pushing through the crowd as he manages to find a door entrance with a small Sigil of Warlocks on a tattered flag. As he walks in he paces down the winding stairs it gets darker and deeper Following conspicuous marks on the wall, resembling the same sigil with a drawing of a tattered flag. As he winds through the small alleyways deep through the stairs, he finds a door with the same drawings. *KNOCK KNOCK, KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, KNOCK KNOCK* The hatch on the door opens up to reveal a dark elves eyes peeking through. MCDUNE ¡°Banished are the wanderers for only the rogues have a home among the dead dwellers of Mamseque." The hatch closes and the door opens slightly. McDune is dragged in and a HUGE DARK ELF stands from the chair he was sitting at beside the door. He points him down the hallway. As he gets to the reception a few more dark elves search him and his bags. DARK ELF You wander in here¡­ with these strange devices¡­ what do they do, are they weapons. MCDUNE Yeah¡­ have a few weapons on me¡­ just going to leave them here and advertise a job. The dark elves nod at one another, take his weapons and put them in a chest. He walks down the dark hallway spotting a door with muffled music emanating from it. Opens the door to find people fighting, drinking with the band playing music¡ªthe lead singer with one foot on the body of a drunken elf. Several races were spotted grouped. The selcians planning a job with their back hunched over a few papers and a map. Not a single white elf in sight beside the one that the thelbians are beating up to a pulp as he seems barely to be alive. Some more selcians having a raizian strapped to a pole stripped, taking turns on throwing knives at an apple on top of his head, they miss and land the knife in his eye. Some gawvish, resembling young children trying to grope a thelbian waitress. One of their hands gets cut off by a dark elf protecting her. The bar is pure and utter chaos as drinks and the like are flying about. MCDUNE This place is a zoo and a half¡­ He keeps his head down as he is weaving through the crowd he manages to find a flight of stairs climbing up into a catwalk and finds a reception with iron bars and a solid metal door with another pair of bulked up dark elves. Mcdune approaches LILORIA, a young thelbian woman with glasses and a black rose attached to her collar. A huge scar stretched through her neck reaching the bottom of her lip. MCDUNE Hey¡­ wanted to place an advertisement for a job¡­ LILORIA You can fill out this form sir and we¡¯ll get to you in due time. McDune rummages through his bag, one of the tall dark elf looks at him and seeing what he may take out with diligence he unfolds his arm and steps closer to McDune. MCDUNE I filled out the paperwork¡­ it''s an assassination job¡­ I need to get rid of somebody named Mono. Liloria takes the paper off him through a metal box he placed it in and rotates it to her LILORIA Let me see here. An assassination job¡­ and he is affiliated with¡­ Her expression breaks into a cold sweat. LILORIA (CONT¡¯D) Okay¡­ this is going to be a steep fee. I don¡¯t think anybody is willing to do this job¡­ McDune leans in slight and whispers. MCDUNE The reward, I¡¯m sure people are willing, I guarantee. LILORIA This job¡­ and you''re certain who you mention you want dead¡­ MCDUNE Only thing I don¡¯t know is how the tier system works which I left blank. She turns to face the bulky elf. LILORIA You there¡­ call the boss, we¡¯ll need to organise a meeting with him. MCDUNE Hold on hold on¡­ I¡¯m not meeting anyone¡­ if I wanted to advertise in a wander¡¯s guild I would¡¯ve done that. I expected to be out here by now not dealing with a bunch of paperwork¡­ and meetings. LILORIA I don''t think you can advertise this in a wanders guild anyways, we deal with everything quickly but this job isn¡¯t an ordinary job. There are ten tiers to the type of job you want to advertise and most people in the highest tier won''t be able to take care of a job of this calibre. Sit tight in the waiting area it¡¯ll only be a couple of minutes. I¡¯ll call you up once ready. CUT TO: EXT. GUILD OF BARDS, STORIK CITY (NORTHERN CAPITAL) - NIGHT Early into the evening as dogs are barking in the rain. Casias being the only one walking through the cobblestone streets of Storick square. Bells begin to ring, the last quarterly alarm that splits the day into four. He walks into his guild of bards, a small class room, and begins to prep the class. Toren walks in soon after. CASIAS Ah¡­. Toren, early are we. TOREN You never mentioned how this whole thing goes down. He takes a seat in the front of the class and sets his tools on the table. CASIAS First third of the year, we usually study and the rest as a group we wander the lands learning and practicing our trade. TOREN Right¡­ I''ll expect to be here for most of the lunar year then. CASIAS You came in quite late into the trimester we will be heading off on one of our expeditions, after all it''s a bards job to wander the lands. TOREN I couldn¡¯t care less for all these extra subjects though. CASIAS You¡¯ll pull through somehow Toren, when the summer rolls around we¡¯ll need you to cram for the entrance exam next year in the autmn. TOREN And what makes you - The door bursts open as the students start to pour in one by one. Some older than Toren some younger. All possessing either bronze or silver oak branches on their heads. They sit down and continue chatting as Caseas is writing something on the chalk bored. A brown furred Thelbian, LIPE speaks to Toren in front of the class sitting in his chair LIPE Sorry and you are? Sitting on my seat... quite rude. CASIAS Lipe this is Toren. I¡¯m sure Toren wouldn¡¯t take it again. It''s our final class after all. Lipe nods and looks at Toren as he walks to the back. CASIAS Toren Do you mind coming forward and introducing yourself? TOREN Sure¡­ I don''t mind. Toren walks up to the front, turns to face the class. Bigger than he expected, filled with students and some extra to spare standing in the back with note in hand. TOREN (CONT¡¯D) Hey¡­ Casias, you sure this is the right thing for me. CASEAS First off I really don¡¯t mind you calling me by my name, however in certain circumstances I urge you to try saying ¡®Sire¡¯. For occasions like this¡­ reading the room won''t hurt. And a second thing, that¡¯s for you to gauge by the end of our expedition. If it''s not for you, go become a rogue or what have you for all I care¡­ I¡¯m starting to grow impatient with your indecisiveness. Toren breaks into a cold sweat, feeling guilty of annoying Casias. CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) (clapping) Class¡­ class¡­ settle down please¡­ we have a new member in our group. Toren¡­ step forward. TOREN Hello all¡­ my name is... Toren... Son Of the Lost¡­ I grew up in Raizia¡­ and i uh¡­ I¡¯m new in Thelbia as well so sorry if I¡¯m not accustomed to your culture. I look forward to learning with you all. Silence consumes the class as he trails back to his desk as Casias begins to bang his chalk on the black board writing the topic of the day. END CHAPTER 6 - AND THEY TOOK OFF CHAPTER 6 - AND THEY TOOK OFF INT. ROGUE GUILD, SENTARIA, SOUTHERN THELBIAN CAPITAL - NIGHT McDune sat in the hallway alone, he covers his mask with his hand over the nose holes from the stench in the air. The joy from the people and music blast downstairs, annoying him slightly as he bounces his foot in impatience. The guild wasn''t in the best condition visibly nor smelled the greatest, slight hints of vomit, urine and ale all with a heavy scent of musk trying to cover the scent so desperately. LILORIA McDune was it! Liloria peaks out of the door far down the hallway, she beckons him and he walks towards her. Liloria stops him by putting her palm on his chest. LILORIA (CONT¡¯D) Just so you know the boss is very interested in your job, so I wont mess this up by wasting his time if I were you. She walks off down to her reception desk. Dark, the stench of green grass so pungent he coughs from the smoke. Hordes of women and elves from all kins, some raizian woman and selcian women. A demon even, rare in this part of the world. All laid naked on the floor as he steps over the women making his way down the elaborately decorated room, chandeliers dangling from the ceiling and robes of purple silk on the floors as well as a number of priceless jewellery from the women thrown about. McDune finally reaches the bed at the far side of the room. A slight light from a candle illuminates DORDALONTHS face. A tall half demon, half dark elf laying on his bed next to a BANSHEE. With red eyes and white hair, skin toned and extremely and remarkably handsome. A short tail dangling off the bed as he is tossing grapes in his mouth, with a short curved horn on the right of his forehead as well. DORDALONTH Yes darling I will, and won''t let you go to anyone else. The half dressed banshee on his bed sat as she brushed his long hair behind his long ear. BANSHEE And you promise to wed me and make me one of your wives yes. DORDALONTH Of course darling. A promise, I already sent your dowry to your family, now then, run along now, I¡¯ve business to attend to. He picks up his green grass smoke and puffs it in her face as she giggles and leaves picking up her robes from the floor. She looks at McDune on her way out as he stands patiently. DORDALONTH (sitting up) Liloria explained to me your job, advertising it would be tricky. MCDUNE How so? DORDALONTH Picking a fight with the time guild¡­ not wise. You do realise they are the most powerful guild to ever exist, they are the oldest guild and the first guild ever to be established since the start of time. MCDUNE Mono¡­ I want him dead, that''s all I ask, the rewards I will offer are priceless. DORDALONTH What can you possibly offer which is so valuable that would justify this job? MCDUNE Yourious¡¯s heart, its blue prints, his arm and its blue prints and a number of other prints. His notes such as how he managed to control his undead army and the knowledge to control other subjects. And a lot more. DORDALONTH Sure, lies upon lies- McDune throws a sack that he was carrying at Dordalonth, he looks inside and he¡¯s shocked. DORDALONTH Y¡­ You weren''t joking, these were lost to the ages¡­ Not to mention that- wait. Picking up Youruses'' heart, looking and examining it. Coggs and gears with bits of silver and mostly gold as the intricately engineered hart barely beats alive with a clink. DORDALONTH This¡­ This is the legendary hart, legends have spoken about it, a mechanical beating machine that replaces a severed hart¡­ How did you come across this? This has to be forged somehow since the ¡¯Fall of Gawvia¡¯ a few decades ago. Most if not at least half of all Gawvic engineering was lost in the conflict. How can we know for certain this is his heart? MCDUNE Don¡¯t worry about it¡­ I got my methods. DORDALONTH Well my wealth was acquired by keeping my mouth shut so I won''t pry. I¡¯ll approve but don''t expect the job to get completed anytime soon. I just need to get all this stuff verified first upon posting. Dordalonth stands up as stepping over the women towards his desk. He turns a candle on by pulling fire and illuminating a document he is about to sign. DORDALONTH (CONT¡¯D) When would you like to complete it? MCDUNE There isn¡¯t a time limit, but I would prefer it as soon as possible. He is hunting me after all. DORDALONTH A lot of strings that need to be pulled, I know of a few Deadlocks and Straylocks that will take the job. I''m going to have to push them to do it together, not an easy task mind you. MCDUNE If the job isn''t completed by next year I''ll find some more priceless artefacts to put as a reward to entice more people to complete it. DORDALONTH You are a terrible barterer, you do realise I can not post the job and take it all of this myself¡­ and besides, not everyone is going to be interested in the artefacts, I need gold, lots of it, the more Quotes worth the better. MCDUNE Gold... I have quotes but gold... is hard to smuggle. DORDALOTH I''ll handle the smuggling... not everyone is fond of currencies. Be it Gawvic Teeth, Quotes or any other currency gold and silver is best, I''m sure you know. MCDUNE I just need it done. DORDALOTH I''ll see what I can do. I¡¯ll approve of the job, do you have something on you, an anchor that a phoenix can find you? McDune hands over a lock of blond hair. DORDALONTH This can¡¯t be yours I''m assuming or- MCDUNE No¡­ DORDALONTH So how will the phoenix find you if the job is executed, or confirm the jobs posting. MCDUNE Oh it will, it belongs to the mask I bare... thanks again. McDune walks out the room leaving Dordalonth slightly puzzled. CUT TO: EXT. GUILD OF BARDS, STORIK CITY (NORTHERN CAPITAL) - NIGHT Casias has the key elements drawn up in an interestingly placed diagram on the board and explaining to his students the theory of strings. CASIAS Building blocks¡­ the essence of existence, life, death¡­ time, light, darkness, water, air, fire AND earth. They are all as you know divided into subclasses. Lipe¡­ can you state for me the four critical strings of the aether as well. LIPE Light, darkness, death and life, they are elements crucial for the building blocks of the aether which is the essence of creation and existence, as well as what we can pull. They are the most powerful of key strings to be born with. CASIAS Excellent. And that is hence why¡­ we must learn to pull either of these first and master them as a bard before any other of the elements. When we head out for our expedition, I expect only these elements to be pulled. You''re free to go now, it''s getting late. Everyone begins to pack, get up chatting to each other and begin to leave. CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) Oh and class!!! Don''t forget we will rise early tomorrow for our expedition. I''m assuming you all packed your supplies for the coming months. THE FIRST QUARTERLY BELL EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD!!! EVERYONE Yes Sire! Toren gets his things as he looks around and he quickly paces out the class as Casias stares. CUT TO: COBBLESTONE ALLEYWAYS As it''s raining Toren quickly heads home taking a short cut he found earlier. Pacing down the alleyway Lipe is seen behind him following. LIPE HEY!!! YOU THERE¡­ Toren was it, halt at once! He¡¯s accompanied by a couple of individuals from the same class. TOREN What is it? This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. LIPE What''s your deal anyway, you don''t look like a thelbian to me, how can a man like you be a bard of our realm!? TOREN Trust me, I''m just ever as curious as you. Lipe paces closer to Toren LIPE Just know you don''t belong here, not in our class I mean, in Thelbia as a whole. Disgusting, you don''t look thelbian what race are you anyway, you don¡¯t even have a tail, what realm do you hail from? TOREN That''s non of your concern. LIPE Expect us to have any reason for wanting to help you without any support, you are below the means clearly. Toren turns his back at Lipe. LIPE (CONT¡¯D) Hey i''m talking to you! TOREN The downpour is getting heavier, I need to head home before my notes get wet. I¡¯ll see you tomorrow on our expedition. Good night Lipe. Toren dashes off into the cold wet night. CUT TO: INT. ROYAL CASTLE CATACOMBS - DARK The only thing that can be made out in the distance is the slight wails and screams of the prisoners being tortured. The cries of freedom can be slightly heard in the distance. Amber wakes up from her sleep in the lap of the Divine Queen of Thelbia, SHEEBA. Her silver hair was ragged and tangled but long. Her boney hands caress Amber''s face. SHEEBA Oh Darling, you look so beautiful when you sleep, I didn¡¯t mean to wake you. Amber gets up and looks at Sheeba staring and dazed before coming to her senses from the sleep. AMBER You didn¡¯t wake me up, I''m just really hungry. She smiles and looks at Sheeba. AMBER (CONT¡¯D) I thought you were a white thelbian for a second. SHEEBA They unfortunately are only myths darling. They appear only in our dreams. AMBER I never seen one in my dreams, I keep having nightmares though. A devil¡­ I think. LAVARIAN Not a devil sweetie¡­ a raizian. Lavarians silver hair and silver tails glisten with the crowns light. As he scratches the time that passed since they been in the dungeons. A large wall of markings illuminated from him turning his attention towards her as crudely drawn pictures of events light up. LAVARIAN (CONT¡¯D) The prophecy sweetie¡­ A man with red hair and eyes will destroy this world bringing us the third change. AMBER What''s a change? LAVARIAN The shattered lands of Mamseque was caused by a few changes. The first change, which freed the devils, spirits and angels from the hidden realm. The second when the two tribes rose to destroy this world but stopped by ¡¯The Fallen Moon¡¯ crashing into the earth and ¡®The Third Change¡¯, a person of great rage will shift the balance of Mamseque once again. AMBER Mommy keeps having the same dreams as well¡­ I don¡¯t want everyone to die. LAVARIAN Oh Amber¡­ you are a grown woman, a big girl¡­ things come and go all the time. It''s up to you to protect your mother. AMBER But I¡¯m only seven. LAVARIAN And I¡¯m only nineteen, most people can¡¯t rule until they are thirty years old. He drops the rock and walks over to Amber. LAVARIAN (CONT¡¯D) I have to rule this realm at one point. The skeletons you see at our feet are the previous Devine monarchs that died in this catacomb. We will not face the same fate. Some water is heard in the distance splashing about and soon a figure emerges from the darkness with half a face a torn ear and a single tail cloaked in black with a boat. The raft docks on the cobble stones. Amber runs, hiding behind Sheeba. He jumps off heaving the sack on his back and walks toward the three. They are silent as he drops the bag in front of Sheeba. He returns to his raft and heaves a massive vessel of water and places it in front of the queen. Turns to Lavarian walking past him and takes the bucket next him back to his raft. As he gets on he throws towards them a fresh bucket and pushes his raft away from the cobblestones platform and rows away as they watch. AMBER That guy was scary, who was he? SHEEBA The prisoner that feeds us. One of your step brothers most likely. CUT TO: INT. TORENS CHAMBER, INN, MAIN SQUARE - DAY The rain lets up in the early morning, dripping off from the roof and running water of the streets can barely be made out. The hue from the morning sun can be felt on Torens face from the crack in the wooden window. The first quarterly bell RUNG heavily waking Toren SHOOTING up from his sleep. Twisting his head around frantically. TOREN Oh right¡­ the expedition¡­ I thought I slept in for it. CUT TO: EXT. STORIK CITY GATES - DAWN Toren dressed in his typical Raizian attire, carrying his retractable blade with a small bag on his back, hikes up the steep hill leading to the southern gate of Storik City. Half the class seems to be ready to go, however Casias is still not there. Some horses, carts and a some luggage scattered about as the students wait in the cold wet morning. TOREN Still isn¡¯t here I take it¡­ You guys go on expeditions often? ALERIA a tall girl in her mid-early twenties waring glasses with long gold hair and ears with three tails. Distant for a moment then she snaps back into realisation looking at her notes then glancing at Toren. ALERIA Ah¡­ sorry you were saying? I wasn''t paying attention just looking over my poems¡­ TOREN Never mind¡­ He hops on the wagons ledge sitting next to her. TOREN (CONT''D) If you don''t mind me asking what are you reading? ALERIA One of the upcoming poems coming on the test. TOREN Great. ALERIA Sorry? TOREN I enrolled really late last second and now we are heading off on an expedition suddenly? Just intimidated by the subjects. ALERIA I wouldn''t worry about it honestly, half the literature across different subjects cross reference to one another. You¡¯ll be fine. TOREN You know where we are headed? ALERIA Well¡­ we are unsure, that''s up to Sire to decide. TOREN Sire? ALERIA Yeah¡­ Bard Casias. TOREN Why do people call Bard Casias ¡®Sire¡¯? ALERIA It¡¯s just respect¡­ nothing more¡­ Being a bard is no easy feat, and in times of great calamity without Devine monarchs nor blood kings, bards take over¡­ Speaking of¡­ here is the rest of the pack. Aleria points in the distance catching Torens attention. ALERIA (CONT¡¯D) (chuckling) Looks like they are late because Sire had to drag them out of bed. She hops off the cart packing her books and scrolls into her bag. ALERIA (CONT¡¯D) I¡¯m Aleria Daughter of Florel nice to meet you. Toren looks at her hand, as she is smiling trying to shake his hand. He slowly goes to shake it¡­ TOREN (smiling) Toren¡­ son of¡­ ALERIA Yeah¡­ son of the lost¡­ don''t want to force you to bring the past up. TOREN It¡¯s a pleasure¡­ Casias and the rest of the class make it to the top as they are all get their equipment baggage loaded on the cart. CASIAS LAST ROLE CALL EVERYONE GATHER AROUND! Zavarious! ZAVARIOUS Here! CASIAS Zorf! ZORF Here! CASIAS Saffron! SAFFRON! Present! CASIAS Concoal! CONCOAL Here! CASIAS Reshtor! RESHTOR Present Sire! CASIAS Furner! FURNER Present! CASIAS Lipe! LIPE Present Sire! CASIAS Leptum! LEPTUM Here CASIAS Toren! TOREN Yeah! CASIAS Borgus! BORGUS Here! CASIAS Toneth! TONETH Here, Sire! CASIAS Aleria! ALERIA Present Sire! CASIAS And finally Profecias! PROFECIAS Here! CASIAS Okay perfect fourteen out of fourteen including myself. Casias closes his book and begins To unwrap the horses from their binds and gets them ready for the journey. CASIAS Okay guys just going to go over a few quick things before we set off. You know the drill, but a run down anyway, we will be back to Storik City hopefully before the coming autumn¡­ This journey is mainly to teach you about life as a bard. We will be splitting you guys up eventually into four groups and then finally all of you will disperse on your own and make your way back to Storik City with all the material memorized for next year''s entrance exam. Is that clear! EVRYONE Yes! Clear! Casias hops on the carriage, whipping the horse for it to take off. ALERIA Come on guys hop on we don''t got all day. Aleria hops on the second wagon and takes hold of the reigns but Lipe comes over grabbing the reigns softly. LIPE Say Aleria¡­ have ever driven a wagon before? ALERIA I¡¯m sorry? LIPE Sorry, I''m getting ahead of myself, just meaning that having my journey in the hands of a woman may put us, in¡­ a predicament. ALERIA Lipe I''m sorry but Sire entrusted me to drive the wagon, I''m sure he wouldn''t have a problem you sitting in his wagon or you taking the rains of course. LIPE Well- wouldn''t want you- Zavarious approaches, a brawny young man with two tails. ZAVARIOUS Is there a problem? LIPE None of your concern friend, just a friendly banter with Aleria. Isn''t that right Aleria? ALERIA Well¡­ Toren sits on the wagon keeping his sword close to him as he watches the altercation between the students. The rest get on, looking awkwardly at each other. ZAVARIOUS Lipe¡­ we can go ahead and catch up to the group first before we can decide then. ALERIA No no it¡¯s ok¡­ i don''t mind giving him the reigns, I can study on the way as we journey. LIPE I mean, I''m okay with sitting in the back. In fact you can journey on for the whole way if that works. ALERIA But I wont get any study done that way¡­ We all take turns driving, no? ZAVARIOUS Its ok Aleria. Zavarious offers his hand to her as she descends, she takes his hand and gets back down from the wagon and goes and sits beside Toren in the back. Looking at Lipe as he gets on the back of the wagon. ZAVARIOUS (CONT¡¯D) (mumbles) Pathetic Zavarious looking at Lipe as he hops on the wagon. They take off as the gold rays begins to peak over the horizon. END CHAPTER 7 - THE HUNT BEGINS CHAPTER 7 - THE HUNT BEGINS EXT. WANDERERS GUILD, STORIK CITY - DAY The wind whistled through the eerily empty city, sweeping the city''s debris off the ground. Unusually way too quiet for the city, not a soul was to be seen. Rumblings and gallops could be felt and heard in the distance as a small platoon entered the city, all on horseback. The windows of the houses were shut, businesses were closed except for the wanderers guild near the town square. A bulky PROLIMUS with slanted ears and only a single tail, with a huge thelbian retractable sword dangling off his waist. Full moon steel head to toe with a helmet tipped with a flaming phoenix''s feather. Galloping on his horse towards the guild, dismounting and entering, finding it completely deserted besides for Ilean. PROLIMUS (sniffing the air) I smell him¡­ he was here. He crouches, touching the floor boards, rubbing his figures together and looking around. PROLIMUS Much has changed¡­ it''s¡­ quieter since I was little, my home. He slowly stands up and walks to the reception desk as Ilean is writing out a few forms. PROLIMUS Casias- ILEAN BARD, Casias¡­ what would you wish to tell him¡­ I¡¯m all ears. She stands and looks him in the eye slamming her quill on the desk. PROLIMUS Under the first law past down by his majesty ¡®Fursoc the Old; first blood king of the royal kin, Casias son of Jaqius is summoned to the royal thelbian castle at once by the authority of king Sorca to answer for his act against the state under section 32. ILEAN I¡¯m- BRAKE Prolimus¡­ it¡¯s been too long. Brake is seen on the catwalk as he descends from the stairs, walking up to Prolimus. BRAKE (CONT¡¯D) Ilean¡­ it''s ok, I got it from here¡­ Promilus, why not send a messenger Phoenix over. PROLIMUS The message didn¡¯t seem to get a response from him, no matter how many times Poluk sent over his letters. BRAKE Treason is the only thing I''m assuming or is there more to it. Prolimus stays silent. BRAKE (CONT¡¯D) If you don¡¯t mind, please, don¡¯t disturb Lady Ilean¡¯s work. PROLIMUS Master Brake, assisting him, falls under the act of conspiring against the king. Therefore, I think it highly unwise to hide any clues to his whereabouts. BRAKE He is a Bard for crying out loud¡­ He could be in the forbidden east for all we know. He doesn¡¯t seem to be in the city and the last time I knew of his whereabouts was the Inn he was staying at. That¡¯s all now I urge you to leave¡­ Prolimus stands and looks back at Ilean, seeming stubborn to move. BRAKE (CONT¡¯D) Get OUT¡­ of my guild AT ONCE!!! Or I''m sure you, out of all people, won''t like to see me lose my temper, Prolimus. Prolimus swiftly turns in annoyance storming out with his men. CUT TO: EXT. OUTSIDE CITY GATES - DAY - MOMENTS LATER Horses grazing the grass on the bank of a stream and drinking water by the bridge at the entrance of the city. Prolimus is seen handling and preparing a phoenix, its eyes sealed shut from a hood. Feeding it meat to settle it down as he caresses the crest of its flaming feathers. One of the soldiers shuffled down the long, shallow sloped bank at the base of the bridge reaching Prolimus. SOLDIER Sir, all we could gather from the inn is that he took off on one of his academic expeditions somewhere southward most likely. He didn¡¯t have a destination in mind apparently. PROLIMUS That''s so Bard-like¡­ However¡­ That wouldn''t make any sense. We came from the main road northbound from our barracks¡¯s unless¡­ Hmm¡­ I expected as much, bards are known to go whatever direction they feel. and to make it worse he most likely deviated from the main road still leading south. SOLDIER What do we do sir¡­ your orders. PROLIMUS His grace has sent me a lock of Casias¡¯ hair, this anchor should be fine hunting him down with the phoenix. Desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose. It¡¯s the only anchor of Casias his grace had of him. Ready the horses we don¡¯t have much time. SOLDIER Right! CUT TO: EXT. COUNTRYSIDE - DAY - MOMENTS LATER Dark clouds start to roll in from the distance as the group journey south. The air becomes colder as rain seems close approaching. Toren staring at a distance as they started to catch up with Casias¡¯ wagon. TOREN Hey Aleria¡­ What do Bards do anyway? ALERIA Well which type¡­ TOREN What do you mean? ALERIA What type of bard? You mean an official bard or just a national bard. TOREN ¡­ is there a difference? ALERIA Well yeah. An official bard represents the country wandering the world and looking for forbidden or hidden knowledge. They study lost knowledge from the past and act as protectors for our realm, shielding it from outside threats. In fact it¡¯s illegal for an official bard to settle in a home, or become settled. TOREN And what of the other types? ALERIA Well¡­ Those are the ones with a gold crowns on their head, the NATIONAL bards They study mostly lost lore and can be elected as an official bard if they choose to run, after an official bard has died. Most only can wander in their own realm protecting the realm itself from any inside threats. TOREN It doesn''t make sense¡­ ALERIA Toren¡­ don¡¯t sweat it¡­ what part are you confused about? TOREN The fact that Casias said bards were strong I''ve never seen one fight before. ALERIA Well ever since the start of the Raizio-Selcic wars in the east we had a long stretch of peace after the fall of Gawvia¡­ especially in Thelbia so alot of the bards have dropped the fighting aspect of the barderial role. TOREN Aleria do you know how to fight? ALERIA This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Me? I barely can swing a sword¡­ But¡­ It¡¯s imperative I think for a bard to learn how to fight. Zavarious is an ex military combatant I¡¯m sure he can teach you a few things. Zavarious looks up to watch the both stare at him as he roles up his scrolls packing his things preparing for the rain. ZAVARIOUS Yes¡­ the military, I signed up to fight, I dropped out because Casias was eager to get skilled warlocks and fighters as his apprentices¡­ I wanted to become more learned anyways. Casias can attest to his own reasons also. TOREN What do you mean. ZAVARIOUS About ten years ago or so Selcia tried to force its way through Southern Thelb to flank Raizia from the north but we didn¡¯t let them through. They were extremely stubborn and by the time we couldn''t hold them any longer they broke through our forces attacking us. TOREN Skirmish of the South¡­ I think it was. ZAVARIOUS So you¡¯ve heard. ALERIA Wait the one with Master Brake? ZAVARIOUS Yeah¡­ Master Brake, which he was the national bard at the time, burned and killed 32,000 Selcian soldiers in one fell swoop. TOREN W¡­ WHAT!?!? ZAVARIOUS Believe me, we were all shocked when we seen the sight of it¡­ a sea of charred soldiers, the fields and lands turned black... if I wanted to achieve more power to protect my realm, I thought being a measly soldier wouldn¡¯t cut it, hence why I took Casias up on his offer after Brake forfeited his position. ALERIA Master Brake forefitting his position still took me by surprise. ZAVARIOUS He had no choice. He faced massive backlash over his destructive nature from the public. Brake is known to have anger issues and being sometimes spontaneous when it comes to bigger situations, hence why Casias took his spot. The wagon comes to a jolting halt. TOREN What''s going on why the sudden stop? LIPE Rain¡­ no a¡­ Sniffing the air as he looks up and his ears twitch slightly. LIPE (CONT¡¯D) A storm. Casias walks up towards their wagon as Lipe hops off. Putting his hood up expecting the rain. CASIAS Lipe¡­ Casias looks at him and glances towards Aleria quickly before looking back at Lipe. CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) A storm is brewing, head over to the cluster of trees quickly before our gear gets soaked. CUT TO: INT. ROYAL CASTLE CATACOMBS - DARK Amber and Lavarian gather around as Sheeba began to pour out the food in bowls for them one by one. SHEEBA Plenty to go around Amber, don¡¯t be shy¡­ its not the best up to the standards of a princess... but it''ll do. Amber staring at the warm bowl grabbing it shyly hesitating. AMBER How long have you guys been down here¡­ SHEEBA Since we were fourteen or so¡­ When Lord Bayden placed the crown on our heads, we were quickly hunted down. LAVARIAN Sheeba was living in the countryside By the grasslands, I was living in a town not too far from her. We didn¡¯t have a choice but to comply when we were caught. AMBER I¡¯m sorry. SHEEBA For? AMBER For my family putting you here. THEY ARE MEAN! SHEEBA Hey¡­ don¡¯t shout, they¡¯ll here you¡­ the other prisoners. AMBER They are kinder then papa anyways¡­ SHEEBA Be careful, although they are your kin some still hold a grudge for their siblings not helping them. They may seem kind. But the struggle for power is beyond your current comprehension. LAVARIAN Amber girl¡­ Understand that you are a princess, people will plot and plan to overthrow, usurp, steal and pull any strings to get what they want¡­ It¡¯s the game of power after all. Don¡¯t let them fool you. SHEEBA That''s why it¡¯s important to read honey. AMBER I read lots and lots. SHEEBA Oh? What books have you read? AMBER The Tale of the Nine Planets¡­ and this new one¡­ The Art of¡­ M- mur- murmurinng¡­ or something¡­ like that one. The fighting pictures inside are very pretty. LAVARIAN The Art of Murder¡­ You shouldn¡¯t be reading that¡­ AMBER But¡­ I like it, the drawings are very pretty and it shows me what my mommy''s gift dose¡­ LAVARIAN Amber, Dear.. do you wish to kill people. Amber tears up slightly with an obvious frown. AMBER I don¡¯t want to kill people¡­ LAVARIAN Then don¡¯t read the book¡­ It¡¯s not good for kids. SHEEBA What he meant to say Amber, is that if you want to use the gift your mother gave you, maybe you need to find the right book to help you use your gift. LAVARIAN What was your gift anyways? AMBER A sword¡­ It was black¡­ And it opens and closes, it has flower designs and is very pretty. LAVARIAN Hmm¡­ dark moon steel, a retractable blade. Perhaps a sign from your mother. AMBER A sign? He chuckles as he softly pinches Ambers cheek playfully. LAVARIAN You''re adorable haha¡­ don¡¯t mind me. I¡¯m over thinking like I always do. Finish your food¡­ before it gets cold. CUT TO: INT. ROYAL CASTLE CLASSROOM - DAY Romulus was watching the rain from the outside as it got heavier and heavier. The trees and wind weren¡¯t forgiving. Some trees almost struggled to hold on to the ground just barely. The windows shaking aggressively as the cold whistle from the storm slowly crept through the classroom. The TEACHER possessing two tails and metamorphosed slightly, fox-like in all appearances, her snout crunched up in a slight growl looking at Romulus who didn¡¯t seem to be paying attention. TEACHER ROMULUS! Romulus SHOOTS up from shock. ROMULUS Y- yes miss. TEACHER Stand up straight! Read to me where we left off! ROMULUS Ummm¡­ ugh¡­ the Julic empire¡­ its down fall- TEACHER NEXT- Next page Romulus¡­ ROMULUS Of course. (Flips page) ¡°Over it¡¯s 8500 year rule the nations collapse wasn¡¯t due to impart of- TEACHER We just passed it! The paragraph under! ROMULUS R¡­ Right, ¡°The now perished people known as the dark raizians over threw the Julic Empire in thanks due to its weakened state from corruption within the high Divine Monarchy. Over the many years of its reign, The Julic empire seized control of more than half of Mamseque, the current known world. Julia, being the fractures and remnants of the current seven realms and Alyptia, the Orcs had tight control at the time and was the only race to ever possess six Devine monarchs. The dark raizians were the first to rise a resistance to claim back their native lands, however, it didn¡¯t stop there. The dark raizians fell into the desires of their rage from the effects of war, slaughtering everybody in sight that were non raizian after claiming their lands, due to their awakened angered state and being almost impossible to snap them out of, East Julia quickly crumbled and became The Dark Raizian Kingdom. Which then dissolved itself after their hunted extinction 200 years after which became now Raizia.¡± The winds outside soon began to roar a lot more fiercely and the windows banged aggressively drawing the teachers attention. TEACHER Right class¡­ I think that''s enough for today, we¡¯ll cut it quite short. Please remember to finish reading the chapter! EVERYONE Yes Miss! Romulus leaving the classroom walking down the long hallway towards the great hall through the main building of the castle. PassIng a number of rooms before he hears a slight sobbing behind one of the doors. His ears twitch and doubles back before he leans towards the door and recognises the weeping voice. He opens the door slowly, seeing his mother looking out the window. CERLINCIA (sobbing) Oh Pautia, Avenjus, Waren, Koneth¡­ Oh Koneth¡­ and now Amber¡­ ROMULUS Mother¡­ again¡­ Cerlincia Takes out her handkerchief from her breast looking away, wipes her tears, before tucking it back in and turns her attention to Romulus. CERLINCIA Oh Romi¡­ come here and sit on your mother''s lap. ROMULUS Mother¡­ I¡¯m not five anymore¡­ CERLICIA But you are my son. Come on. Romulus hopes on her lap as he closes the door behind him. His ear rests on his mothers upper colar and she begins to hum and slowly but gently run her fingers through his scalp. ROMULUS Mother¡­ day by day¡­ you look¡­ worse¡­ CERLINCIA Oh Romi, my sweet little boy¡­ Other than Amber there were others. ROMULUS Others? CERLINCIA Other siblings of yours under me¡­ and now Amber is gone¡­ you are the last to remain. ROMULUS This, mother, is lunacy¡­ on fathers part. CERLINCIA He¡¯s getting older¡­ this year he will be 132¡­ He is beginning to show his age¡­ and becoming an alpha. His back is getting more and more hunched, and he seems sometimes to forget how to join words properly as of recently. ROMULUS An alpha¡­ when do you think¡­ he will turn into a full fox. CERLICIA Who can say¡­ but he is getting desperate Romi¡­ You¡¯re so young and smart for your age. She begins to sob and cry again. CERLINCIA (CONT¡®D) (Sobbing) Please Romi¡­ Romulus feels her tears fall on his ears. Looking up at her, her eyes are red, cheeks and face puffy from sadness. CERLINCIA Become¡­ My hero¡­ help me¡­ please¡­ Romi, get Amber back¡­ END CHAPTER 8 - REGRET CHAPTER 8 - REGRET EXT. CLUSTER OF TREES THELBIAN COUNTRYSIDE - NIGHT Some time passed as the class separated around three campfires. The storm had subsided, Toren, Aleria, Zavarious and a few others sat around. Casias approaches Toren as he rests his hand on his shoulder. CASIAS Toren¡­ You mind watching the first half of the night? TOREN Me? Wouldn¡¯t somebody else be better suited for the job? CASIAS Trust me if there was, I would ask. Wake Zavarious up for the second half when you can. As Casias is about to leave, Aleria stops him. ALERIA Sire a moment please¡­ sit with us. CASIAS It¡¯s getting late. I don''t want to be disturbing you. ALERIA You wouldn¡¯t, honestly, if you have any stories you want to share I¡¯m sure we are open to hearing them. CASIAS Ok then¡­ Dusting off the log as Casias sits next to Toren. CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) So what would you like to hear? ALERIA Hmm¡­ What is it like at the endless library at Gawvia. ZAVARIOUS Any news on the war¡¯s effects on Thelbia? TOREN (whispering and muttering) Not about the war¡­ Casias glances at Toren seeing his discomfort of the war being mentioned again. CASIAS Settle down, one at a time. I think it''s only fair to let Toren ask about something he wants to know since he is only new. TOREN Can¡¯t think of anything¡­ CASIAS Come on¡­ anything, ask away. TOREN Well¡­ one thing has been bugging me about Thelbia as a realm. Why does Bayden The Immortal seem not to care if there is or there isn''t a Devine monarch in this realm. CASIAS Oh he cares¡­ It¡¯s just, my theory suggests king Sorca hasn¡¯t found them yet, out there. TOREN Can¡¯t Lord Bayden just force them to the throne. CASIAS Not that simple Toren¡­ He''s just a man who decides what''s best for the fate of each realm. He doesn¡¯t want to involve himself in the squabbles of politics. TOREN But why make him choose our leaders? CASIAS He can read people''s future and the realms fate, he simply chooses the best characteristics and possible outcomes for our time line. TOREN How strong is he? CASIAS Lord Bayden¡­ He is a unique individual¡­ tales of his battles echo through history as mere myths now, nobody knows his full capability when it comes to Devine Macrame. TOREN Have you seen him fight? CASIAS No, but I''ve heard stories¡­ from the Bard of Fire, Gathab. TOREN Gathab? CASIAS Yea¡­ Raizias official bard. He had seen him kill a man once, when he was a sage. The sages follow a cult of their own and Lord Bayden hates the people who worship him as a god so anyone he catches bowing to him or worshiping him before his eyes will be annihilated. TOREN That''s maddening¡­ CASIAS It¡¯s getting late. Make sure to not sleep through the night. I¡¯ll see you all come early morning. Casias gets up and walks off to his group. CUT TO: EXT. RIVER CLOSE BY, CLUSTER OF TREES - NIGHT - MOMENTS LATER The fire flies hovered over the distant meadows of the countryside as the class all slept soundly. Toren watches from not too far at the river keeping an eye out over his companions as he trains. Toren couldn''t help the itch for some sword practice. It''s been days since he swung his Thelbian blade. By this point his wounds were healed but deep scarring could be seen from his injuries. Washing out his remaining blood stains, throwing out the old bandages by his sword, he picks it up by the rivers bank. The rage he felt from time to time still boiled from the incident at the gates, he couldn¡¯t picture the men that killed his people. So much rage at the time almost blinded him from his memories. His sword swung and retracted, closed and flung open again in succession as he was swinging around in almost a dance, up and under, fighting his shadows. TOREN I could¡¯ve stopped them, I could''ve been faster, I could¡¯ve let the anger carry me! Torens dashes side to side swinging his sword and his eyes grow deeper in red, his pupils narrow. TOREN I couldn''t push the feeling, of either my Thelbian speed nor my Raizian rage! The curses of being a half breed weighed on him. He swung his blade some more, skimming it off the water, and striking. He doubles back and closes his blade before swinging it over and up and slashing down as he snaps his blade back open before stopping just before Alerias forehead, slicing a hair or two from her bangs. The wind from the force of his strike blew the water outward as she flinched back in shock. ALERIA AGH-! She covers her mouth in shock and silence seeing Torens eyes. Falling back, turns glancing behind her to see if she woke anyone. TOREN (whispering) ALERIA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE! GO BACK TO BED! Aleria stands up dusting off her back side from the gravel. ALERIA (whispering) Sorry I couldn¡¯t sleep, you kept on making noise. I came to check up on you. TOREN (whispering) Why do you care about my business, go back to bed! ALERIA (whispering) You¡¯re not my father for crying out loud! Aleria notices the scars on his body and the recent wounds. ALERIA (CONT¡¯D) Are¡­ Are you okay? She approaches slowly, reaching for his wounds. Toren snaps back before folding his blade back up and throwing his it on the bank. He sits down at the bank rubbing his face in stress. ALERIA You look¡­ tired¡­ Is it the watch? TOREN Noooo! No it''s not the- It¡¯s what happened at the gates, happening in Raizia¡­ I feel like I need to be out there, fighting¡­ With them. Aleria sits next to Toren. ALERIA The war? Why? You are Thelbian are you not? TOREN It¡¯s complicated¡­ I feel like I¡¯m dragged out here against my will. My intent was to help the people get to Thelbia and I would go back, but instead I became some stupid apprentice. ALERIA You shouldn''t feel that way, plenty of people would kill for the position you''re in to be an apprentice. You got hand picked by Casias¡­ That''s a big deal. A very big deal. TOREN Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Well it sure doesn''t feel that way. ALERIA Let me put it to you like this. After graduating from basic secondary education as a warlock, you get to take a test for being an apprentice. This year alone I believe there were about 12,000 students across the Thelbian realm alone. TOREN That much!? ALERIA And it gets narrowed down to the thirteen or so give or take we have in class right now. So literally a 0.001% chance of even being an apprentice let alone an official bard. You see what I''m getting at. TOREN I don''t see it. The potential Casias sees in me. ALERIA He sees potential in all of us¡­ But I feel he sees the most potential in you for whatever reason. Aleria gets up and begins walking towards their camp fire. ALERIA (CONT¡¯D) Oh, and Toren, don¡¯t hesitate to let me know when you need help with the material. Toren stares at the moon¡¯s reflection as he contemplates his fate. CUT TO: EXT. ROYAL CASTLE COURTYARD - DAY Grey clouds covered the skies as the morning dew dripped off the plants and brushed off of Romulus''s ankles, slowly pacing through the edge of the courtyards pathway leading to the fountain in the centre. The tiles, cold, making his toes numb almost, feeling the slight wetness of the floor and cool air on his cheeks and nose. At a distance his father is sipping his tea and enjoying his breakfast he approaches king Sorca with all the courage he could muster. ROMULUS Enough¡­ He freezes in hesitation. ROMULUS (CONT¡¯D) Father¡­ Y- You know the sadness you cause mother, by not taking this seriously¡­ KING SORCA Hmm¡­ Cerlincia¡­ again¡­ Why¡­ she''s upset, what¡­ Have I done something to displease her? ROMULUS It¡¯s Amber¡­ You need to help us find her, it¡¯s been DAYS! She thinks you¡¯ve gone and done something to her. KING SORCA Her ceremony is not until¡­ Later. ROMULUS Father, forgive my insolence, but it seems like you want Amber dead- King Sorca strikes him across the face, falling back as Romulus looks at him in shock. KING SORCA You fool¡­ A daughter of mine¡­ missing¡­ is m- missing. He begins panting slightly as he wipes away the string of drool from his mouth. KING SORCA (CONT¡¯D) She is¡­ my- Offspring¡­ daughter- She is my daughter. Are you mad? You think I haven''t sent special forces, among the best of warlocks. All I''ve been worrying about is other matters, the people who I''ve sent should find her in due time! ROMULUS What is happening to you father¡­ a few days ago you were normal but now¡­ KING SORCA Speak of this again and I''ll have you punished, you''re in the presence of a king when we are in this castle, DO YOU HEAR ME! ROMULUS Yes¡­ your grace. CUT TO: EXT. ROYAL CASTLE LAKE - DAY - MOMENTS LATER Romulus stood staring at the lake with his palm rubbing his red cheek. He turned to look at the bench to still find the same book Amber was reading a few days ago. He picks it up, flipping through the book. ROMULUS Oh Amber¡­ why would you be reading such an awful book¡­ Romulus catches a whiff in the air of strong drainage covering his nose in disgust. ROMULUS (CONT¡¯D) What¡®s that awful smell! He looks at the forest behind him she ran off into all those days ago¡­ there was a slight trail she would''ve followed which Romulus decided to pursue in the direction of the smell. As he followed the trail it led him to the gardens gate where he seen men bricking up the gate where it once used to be. ROMULUS (CONT¡¯D) The old toilet¡­ they are bricking it up? But why? He walks up to the hard working men and the BRICKER, intrigued. ROMULUS (CONT''D) Hello there, what¡¯re you lot up to? BRICKER Ah¡­ you¡¯re highness, a pleasure. Bricking up the old toilet, seems like it''s quite a hazard, the gate''s hinges are beginning to rust off. A few more renovations are needed throughout the castle. ROMULUS But why not use it as a shed for the gardener or create a new space for it. BRICKER Not too sure, Maybe due to the smell, the gardener already has his small cabin where he lives. Down the hill, plenty of space with that other shed at the side of it. Romulus watches as it¡®s being closed. As he walks down the hill through the pale gravel path he makes his way to the cabin finding the gardener, looking relaxed, reading the newspaper with his tea and biscuits to the side. ROMULUS Morning! GARDENER Ah¡­ Your highness, how are you¡­ keeping well are we? ROMULUS By chance you wouldn''t know where the old gate leads to. The one were the brickers are bricking up would you? GARDNER Well, from what I can gather the old toilet leads to the drainage system. Which we are working on restoring as of late. ROMULUS So the old drainage system doesn¡¯t work? GARDENER Well from my knowledge half of it collapsed, as so we need to do a remodelling of the underground system. That¡¯s what the plumbers and brickers told me anyway. ROMULUS That explains the stench. GARDENER Why so curious your highness? ROMULUS A hunch¡­ amber may or may not have fallen through that gate perhaps. GARDENER Maybe¡­ But I''m one of the very few that carry the key to the gate. So I can¡¯t imagine how she¡¯d get through. ROMULUS You¡¯d be surprised, she is ever so curious at times. Romulus turns and begins to walk back up the hill towards the garden. ROMULUS (CONT¡¯D) By the way, is there no way to enter the drainage systems? GARDENER I¡¯m unsure but surely if you ask your mother or somebody within your family that''s been here the longest they may know. ROMULUS Right¡­ thanks. CUT TO: EXT. INN¡¯S BALCONY CITY CENTER OF SENTARIA - DAY McDune watches the pedestrians walking by as they slowly navigate through the dense markets. Peasants haggling the prices of wares, food and fruits. Dogs barking and cats running after mice and beggars begging. MCDUNE Hmm¡­ it¡¯s been days and he hasn''t sent me a letter of the job confirmation¡­ I¡¯ll need to head there tonight- AGH- McDune looks at his old wrinkled hand as he sees it curling up and cramping. The veins bulge and move around pulsing its blood aggressively. The hands muscles spasm in pain as he falls on his knees. MCDUNE (CONT¡¯D) AGHHHHH!!!! He begins sweating as he tries to cope with the pain. He turns and walks into his room and rummages through his bag and pulls out a belt. He ties his upper arm tight, cutting the circulation. Knocking over one of the candles the bedsheets catch on fire. MCDUNE AGH- Damn! He frantically looks around, opens the drawers and finds a few pills tossing them back. MCDUNE (CONT¡¯D) Damn- this pain it- AGH- The hand clenched into a fist as his arm began to swell purple. He rummages through his bags as the fire begins to feed its way up the bed catching on the curtains smoking up the inside. McDune pulls out a long syringe and jams it in his arm pressing it tightly. MCDUNE (CONT¡¯D) AGH- damn this hand¡­ sacrificed my old arm for this wrinkled piece of flesh- agh! The arm relaxes completely as he breathes a sigh of relief but coughs violently as the smoke piles up in the room. He grabs his things and jumps out the balcony landing on a merchant wagon filled with cloth and robes landing on his old wrinkled arm funny, snapping it. MCDUNE (CONT¡¯D) AGH!!!!!!!! He looks at his arm as it dangles hopelessly between his wrist and elbow. MERCHANT Hey there! Are you okay?! MCDUNE Agh! Do- do I LOOK okay!? McDune jumps off the wagon and begins to walk away from the building and disappearing into the crowd. CUT TO: INT. ROYAL CASTLE CATACOMBS - DARK Amber squatting on the cobble stone bank as she is splashing and playing with the water. She contemplates looking at her reflection as she sighs in boredom. AMBER I want to go home, and my leg still hurts. As Lavarian attempts to walk up to comfort her his shackles pull him back. LAVARIAN Heh¡­ My chains have restricted me, come here Amber sweetie. Amber turns and limps over to Lavarian as he is waiting for her. LAVARIAN (CONT¡¯D) You¡¯re bored I see. Say what do you think of devising a plan to get you out of the catacombs. AMBER B- But what will happen to you and Miss Sheeba?! LAVARIAN Ah¡­ We¡¯ll manage¡­ Somehow. AMBER How will I even get out? This place is so big. LAVARIAN Myself and Sheeba came up with an excellent plan. Do you want to hear it? The man that feeds us will be here in a couple of days and the entrance from here is not far I''ve heard. AMBER Miss Sheeba¡­ is that true! SHEEBA Yes darling it is, but you¡¯ll have to be brave okay. AMBER Why? SHEEBA Because your siblings will want you to help them and will kill you along the way most likely. There aren''t just royals here too Amber. Some of the criminals that have been tried live down here also. AMBER Is it far, to find the outside I mean. LAVARIAN The man on the boat will guide you there. AMBER Okay¡­ Lavarian kneels down looking at her as he pats her head. LAVARIAN Please Amber, once you are free from here, try your best to get your daddy to come to his senses. A war- SHEEBA LAVARIAN! Leave the girl be! LAVARIAN R- Right¡­ I¡¯m sorry. AMBER Why, are you okay? Please tell me. LAVARIAN Don¡¯t worry yourself. Only an issue not worth concerning. You''re young for now so we shouldn''t place a huge burden on you. AMBER You guys seem very smart so I wont ask too many questions. Amber walks up to Sheeba and sits beside her as she places her head on her lap. AMBER But please¡­ I want to be a big girl and smart- so teach me everything. Will you teach me Miss Sheeba? Sheeba looks at LAVARIAN with an unsure look. Lavarian sighs as he nods with a smile. SHEEBA Amber- Honey are you sure¡­ Amber turns and looks Sheeba in the eye. AMBER I¡¯m tired of not being like the adults¡­ I want to know what they know¡­ please. CUT TO: EXT. THELBIAN GRASSLANDS COUNTRYSIDE - DAY The afternoon set in with a calming warmth from the sun as Prolimus galloped with his platoon up the road following the phoenix''s trail. It perched atop a cluster of trees where Casias and his class camped out for the night. PROLIMUS Hmm¡­ Just like I anticipated. He dismounts as he walks up to barely noticeable fire pits, where remnants of coal were scattered about. HISTOC one of the right hand men of Prolimus draped in red over his moonsteel armour possessing two tails approaches from behind. HISTOC Seems like they cleared it out pretty well. PROLIMUS Campers etiquette. However- (crouching) Seems as though they left last night, the ground still seems just the slightest bit warm from the fire. He stands as he looks at the muddy track, joining the road and leads further up the country road. HISTOC Seems luck was on our side for the rain to fall pretty heavily yesterday. PROLIMUS New fresh tracks leading¡­ westword. Prolimus and the platoon mount their horses again before taking off cantering. Prolimus sticks his arm out as the phoenix lands on his arm. PROLIMUS (CONT¡¯D) Say Histoc, wouldn''t assume they may be heading to the nearest town? HISTOC This road dose lead to the town of Fathria, but I''m unable to see it how it would act as an educational venture for his pupils. PROLIMUS Well¡­ speculation is meaningless in terms of his intentions with the class¡­ we¡¯ll follow what we have for now. It seems he has a habit of misleading homing phoenixes to him. Ember here seems like she is having trouble following him. HISTOC Casias is a cautious one that''s for sure. END CHAPTER 9 - PATH TOWARDS DEATH CHAPTER 9 - PATH TOWARDS DEATH EXT. ROCKY TERRAIN, THELBIAN COUNTRYSIDE - DAY The breeze from the high foothills approaching the town of Fathria gave chills to the students. A couple of days passed and they seemed to be growing tired from the journey. One or two fell sick from the wet and windy spring weather but the slightest bit of sun that pierced the odd cloud warmed the skin of the students'' faces, comforting in a way and making the journey just bearable. A confrating cold so to speak. Toren is writing on his parchment as he is muttering the words ever so slightly of an epic he is studying, parchments piled by his feet. ALERIA Are you getting the hang of it, Toren? TOREN Wasn''t the best idea to study the same period of history as you¡­ ¡®The Blank Years¡¯ are practically prehistoric and some of these accounts don¡¯t even sound real. ALERIA Well, on the exam they can¡¯t fact-check it nor have anything concrete to base the research on so there¡¯s a lot of wiggle room when it comes to errors. TOREN The poems are easy enough though at least. ALERIA Umhm¡­ Twelve poems memorised by heart already¡­ I''m impressed, but your handwriting needs improvement. ZAVARIOUS Hey Saffron, when will we arrive in Fathria? SAFFRON, a small thin girl, the youngest in the class with pale orange fur and plush red cheeks driving the wagon possessing two tails, squinted in the distance trying to make out the landscape through the slight fog that blanketed the landscape. SAFFRON The town I''m unsure of but we¡¯re definitely in the province of Fathria. ZAVARIOUS Didn''t you grow up in this place? SAFFRON I grew up in the town, not the countryside, it shouldn¡¯t be too long though. TOREN Aleria, why is she so small? Aleria nudged Toren smirking slightly. ALERIA Rude- SAFFRON Hey! I can hear you y¡¯know! She turns to face Toren. SAFFRON (CONT¡¯D) And for your information, I¡¯m thirteen that''s why I look so smal-! TOREN SAFFORA WATCH OUT!!! SAFFRON MY NAME ISN- The wagon veers off to the side and slips down the muddy hill off of the ledge, breaking one of the wheels at an awkward angle, and tumbling down aggressively. Some Of the students jumped out in time but others got caught in the fall, launched out of the wagon, falling down the hill. Toren, grabbing Aleria by the arm, and carrying her, JUMPS out, dashes back and softly lands on the road, his feet sliding and scraping the gravel underneath, as they both observe the wagon tumbling down. Casias pulls the reins of the horses as his wagon suddenly jolts, aggressively snapping the passengers forward. CASIAS SAFFRON~! RESHTOR, a skinny thelbian with thin tall ears and deep brown fur, possessing three tails and a thelbian traditional long coat lands on his feet sliding down the steep muddy hill. He pulls the earth upwards as it stops the students from falling to their doom with one hand and the other pulling the wagon still, mid-air, as the horses snap back and dangle from the raigns. RASHTOR H- HELP IT¡¯S¡­ HEAVY!!! Casias assesses the situation from his wagon. CASIAS RESHTOR! SEVER WHATEVER YOU¡¯RE PULLING! RESHTOR R- right! Reshtor clenches his fists and puts them together and as if ripping a piece of paper pulls his hands away from each other. RESHTOR (CONT¡¯D) S- SEVER!!! He relaxes as the wagon stays afloat and the mounds of earth solidify to stone almost, staying in place. Casias hops off his wagon and jogs over to find the students helping each other off the ground. RESHTOR (CONT¡¯D) Sire¡­ apologies¡­ I needed to pull the earth and the wagon, I know I didn''t pull the four core strings I appolig-. CASIAS Stellar work, fast reaction hahaha! Casias braces himself as he shuffles down the hill, offering a hand to one of the students. CASIAS (CONT¡¯D) Class! This is what is to be expected! In situations like thi- LIPE I TOLD YOU. Lipe gets up drenched in mud with a vexed expression at Saffron. LIPE (CONT¡¯D) You were never supposed to drive the wagon, a young girl is ludicrous! Now my favourite white silk shirt is stained! CASIAS LIPE! LIPE S-Sire¡­ I- I apologize¡­ sorry Saffron¡­ A guilty look consumes Lipes¡¯ face. CUT TO: INT. ROYAL CASTLE CATACOMBS - DARK Amber standing, watching the long stretch of water, the same dark figure from before emerged from the darkness rowing, stopping at the cobbled stone bank, extending his hand out for Amber to reach. She grabs it and hops on the boat looking back, her eyes orange and empty, hollow with what seems like her soul had just left her body. LAVARIAN Sheeba, are you sure it was a good idea? SHEEBA Devine knowledge is important for a royal¡­ even a blood princess. Hopefully, she can find solace on her journey. LAVARIAN We¡¯ll see, after all, people kill and conquer countries for divine monarchs with floating glowing crowns like us to bless them with such a thing. SHEEBA I know¡­ and I''m not looking forward to the consequences. LAVARIAN You¡¯re gonna be in big, BIG trouble once Lord Bayden finds out who you¡¯ve passed it on to. SHEEBA I know¡­ Sheeba gets up, walks over to Amber and places her hand on her shoulder. SHEEBA (CONT¡¯D) Amber, darling, you will not be yourself for some time, and will not remember much, but I¡¯ll say it to you anyway¡­ She kneels with her hand on Amber''s chin and tilts her head downwards. SHEEBA The ferryman will lead you outside, follow him and head back to your aboad little one, seek refuge among your most trusted and stay with them until the visions lift. She stands and the ferryman pushes his long stick from the cobblestone shores, slowly rowing. The light from their crowns grows dimmer, and before long, complete darkness sets in, as if blinding Amber once again. FERRYMAN Divine knowledge¡­ Amber¡­ was it¡­ what did they teach you? AMBER I am dreaming¡­ do not disturb my visions, or wake me- She looks at the ferrymen eerily with empty eyes. AMBER (CONT¡¯D) Or you will surely die. The ferryman looks forward and continues rowing. FERRYMAN Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Oh, child¡­ you don''t know what you''ve asked for CUT TO: EXT. ROCKY TERRAIN, THELBIAN COUNTRYSIDE - DAY Prolimus and the platoon soon arrived at the very foothills the class got stuck at. PROLMIMUS HALT¡­ He signals a closed fist raising it as the horsemen stop in their tracks, the road leading down to where the class were collecting their belongings from the muddy slope. Casias noticed them but pretended to not pay attention, trying to help his students. HISTOC Casias and his class weren''t too hard to track down- but suspicious it being easier than expected to find him. PROMILUS Histoc stay behind, we¡¯ll head over to apprehend him, keep watch and have a signal horn ready. HISTOC Sir! Casias as he is helping up the last of the students from the hill, finally glancing at them. The platoon galloped over with a few chains at the ready, diligently with their swords grasped at the hilt by their waist. Toren holding and cloaking his sword tightly by his waist notices them suddenly stepping forward slightly. Casias intervenes, stopping Toren from stepping forward any further. TOREN Casia- Sire¡­ They are part of the special forces for the Thelbian blood royal military¡­ What are they doing here? CASIAS Don''t speak Toren, unless spoken to, it¡¯s always trouble with them. TOREN Right. PROLIMUS Casias Son of Jaqius! He dismounts his horse as he strolls confidently over, arms behind his back looking around at the situation. PRLOLIMUS (CONT¡¯D) Good thing we caught you during an accident, otherwise we would¡¯ve had to look for you in the town of Fathria. CASIAS Ah right¡­ and you ar- PROLIMUS Prolimus, son of the Lost CASIAS THE Prolimus? I¡¯m Honoured! PROLIMUS I wish I could say the same thing in different circumstances. Prolimus circles his hand as his soldiers surround both Toren and Casias. PROLIMUS (CONT¡¯D) under the first law past down by his majesty ¡®Fursoc the Old; first blood king of the royal kin, Casias son of Jaqius you are summoned to the royal thelbian castle at once by the authority of king Sorca to answer for your treason under section 32. Anything you say or do will be held against you. CASIAS I¡¯m sorry there must be a- PROLIMUS Nope, no misunderstanding, king Sorcas orders. CASIAS Toren has nothing to do with anything! PROLIMUS Any raizian seen in the Thelbian realm must be banished or kille- CASIAS He is just as Thelbian as the rest of us, nobody is killing anybody here. PROLIMUS (looking at Toren) Then we shouldn¡¯t have a problem once we interrogate him, right? One of the soldiers heads over to Toren with shackles as he lifts his arms aggressively outward, Toren stays silent and doesn''t resist. CASIAS I will comply if you let Toren be... Prolimus signals his hand for the soldier to pause as he approaches Casais close to his face. PROLIMUS The boy¡­ comes- CASIAS No, Toren stays and I will comply, accept my terms, or I will resist! PROLIMUS Orders of the king- CASIAS This¡­ ¡®broken king¡¯ is going mad! The slaughter at the gates¡­ have you seen- PROLIMUS You watch your tongue bard! CASIAS 600! 600 raizians have been slaughtered. A new law has passed, for every raizian haunted, their heads weight will be rewarded in silve- PROLIMUS Somebody like yourself with no combat on the field will say such a thing. Master Brake was and still is one of the most powerful and disciplined bards in all of Mamseque. If he were still the Realmic Bard, then we wouldn''t be in this situation. Prolimus pulls out his sword pointing at Casias. PROLIMUS ( CONT¡¯D) The war efforts do not concern us! CASIAS When the war efforts affect us¡­ you will be concerned, I assure you, which will lead to that eventually. The Selcians are not only stopping at Raizia, once they fall. their conquest will continue. PROLIMUS The temptation to resist¡­ I understand but if you do, you will feel the king''s wrath! CUT TO: INT. ROYAL CASTLE MONOSTARY LIBRARY - NIGHT Romulus, scans the books in the monastery library as he peaks through each book occasionally. ROMULUS Hmm- I swear I saw it somewhere- Ah! There it is! His eyes snap back to a book above him. He stretches up on his toes. ROMULUS (CONT¡¯D) C¡¯mon on¡­ just a little further- A bearded FASIL carrying a naked candle on a stand with grey hairs possessing five tails draped in simple robes picks out a book above Romulus and he hands it to him. FASIL A book on the castle and its architecture? How suspicious. ROMULUS Brother Fasil i- I''m so sorry I was just- FASIL Not to worry¡­ and who are you again? ROMULUS Romulus, son of lady Cerlincia¡­ 167th child of king Sorca FASIL Ah but of course hahaha! I remember, you did seem to have a knack of sticking your nose into things. Everything¡¯s okay? ROMULUS Brother Fasil, I''ve heard you¡¯ve become a monk to the fox goddess¡­ why¡­ I feel like I''m doubting our father. Amber, my full sister is lost and I can''t seem to find her. FASIL Politics, child, hearing of lady Ambers'' situation from the other siblings, the whole family have grown slightly concerned. They began walking down the long hallway of books as the warm light from the torches guided them. FASIL (CONT¡¯D) All men feel like they have to change things. That''s how we are, from a religious standpoint since our distant forefathers. Long ago we were foxes who roamed the lands and defended our women, hunting for our pups, finding any trespassers in our territory and warding them off¡­ It''s innate. ROMULUS I feel as though I¡¯m committing treason. FASIL Ahh, but you¡®re not. That''s where you¡¯re wrong. He lights the torches with the candle as they are walking. FASIL (CONT¡¯D) You are to protect your women folk, you are a man, and soon an alpha like your father. ROMULUS I don''t want to be like my father. FASIL He held peace for so long¡­ and maintained it he has done something right. ROMULUS I¡¯m unsure¡­ There¡¯s one place I need to check. FASIL The sewers¡­ ROMULUS Fasil? How did you know? FASIL Hahaha¡­ I didn¡¯t. They turn toward the massive balcony of the library above the ground floor. The library had chandeliers and a sleeping fox statue just below them. The moon''s lights pierced through the massive circular window as it entirely lit the library''s corridors. FASIL (CONT¡¯D) But your hunch for the sewers is a perceptive one. ROMULUS Now I''m scared to find what''s down there. FASIL Have you ever wondered why they give us a number when we are born? ROMULUS Because of the amount of siblings? FASIL Yes¡­ but there is more to it. They walk down the stairs leading to the ground floor. FASIL (CONT¡¯D) I became a monk and forfeited my title AS the definitive crown prince for the dirty history of our lineage¡­ Numbers were ordered after I forfeited the position after my mother queen Halwa died. The five-tail promise vanished afterwards. Romulus and Fasil finally reach the bottom and they both sit at a desk. FASIL Our blood¡­ I feel it¡¯s simply just that, blood¡­ the supremacy of tails is a disturbing one. Even the great Goddess possessing six tails does not assume any status to any being. ROMULUS I¡­ I see. Should I be like you than¡­ big brother¡­ I lived in the castle for a mere 14 years, but you are nearly 60. FASIL That''s for you to decide as one of the potential crown princes. Romulus opens the book, flicking through the pages as Fasil does the same lighting the candle in front of them. ROMULUS The sewers¡­ where do you lead? CUT TO: EXT. ROYAL CASTLE ENTRANCE - NIGHT - DARK Romulus walking out the castle entrance sees a masked man with horns. It was McDune. His arm was braced with a cast, clearly broken and so was his mood. Romulus felt a fierce aura emanating from him as the dark aura, almost like heavy smoke flowed on the floor. He hadn''t seen anybody like him before¡­ Baring a cursed aura of the dead. McDune walks past Romulus, freezing in fear, staring at him just outside the castle gates. Romulus¡¯ existence seemed not to even catch McDunes attention. CUT TO: THE SEWERS - MOMENTS LATER The manhole in front of the castle gate where Romulus left open as he wandered looking around holding a torch with a piece of scrap paper. ROMULUS The architectural blueprints lead nowhere¡­ and that man¡­ I heard of cursed people wandering this world but¡­ I thought it seemed unlikely for a thing to exist. He begins to walk further down and a small thin passageway leading away from the flowing waterway. Walking down some stairs he finds a long dark alley leading to a figure cloaked in black. It''s the ferryman as he is just tying up his raft. FERRYMAN I wasn''t expecting a new prisoner- He looks Romulus up and down. FERRYMAN (CONT¡¯D) You don''t have any escorts? ROMULUS P- prisoners? Escorts? Sorry, I''m in the wrong place. He turns to walk away but the ferryman stops him as he sees Romulus¡¯ tails. FERRYMAN Wait¡­ Romulus turns to look at him as he approaches. It was dark but he could make out the scars on his face and see his tails and ears. ROMULUS You¡¯re¡­ one of us? FERRYMAN It¡¯s five quotes. ROMULUS I- beg your pardon? FERRYMAN Crossing the lake¡­ 5 quotes. ROMULUS R- right. Romulus¡¯ curiosity grew, looking deep into the dark abyss. He takes his pouch out of the inside of his robe, taking out a small rectangular piece of silver and handing it over to the ferryman. ROMULUS Well, I have only 10. I need to come back anyway. CUT TO: EXT. MARKETS, OUTSIDE THE CASTLE - NIGHT - MOMENTS LATER Amber was strolling through the dense crowd filled with bars and restaurants. Lust was in the air and the people seemed to be having a great time. However, the environment didn''t phase her. Her eyes were clouded, her clothes were in tatters and her fingernails were rough-looking. She disregarded herself, her hunger her thirst and the injuries she sustained, still having visions. McDune managed to find himself in that very place. Amber noticed his strange presence, his dark aura emanating from his body slowly seeping out. Pushing through the crowd, as his aura draws her in she reaches him and tugs on his cloak. AMBER Oh cursed one¡­ has death still not caught you. McDune turns suddenly looking at her in a cold sweat and steps back surprised. MCDUNE H¡­ How did you know? He notices her eyes, taking a closer look he sees faint images flashing ever so vaguely on her eyes. MCDUNE (CONT¡¯D) Devine knowlage¡­ Damn¡­ now Bayden and his people, I''ll have to be worried about them if they find you! END