《Blood and Tears》 Prologue A man lay dying on the floor, a floor littered with corpses, corpses of both friend and foe. A pool of crimson blood spread gradually from the man in a misshapen circle reaching towards the surrounding bodies. Short ragged breaths escaped his lips as he clung to life. Slowly he turned his head looking at the foe that had been felled with his final strike. Cold eyes stared back, eyes without life, without fire, without soul. The man closed his eyes for the last time, he had done it, he had bought his companions the time they had needed. By now they would be far enough away they would be safe. A safety purchased with the life of the man, a price he would always be willing to pay. The goddess wept as she watched the man close his eyes for the last time. She felt sorrow beyond imagine, sorrow that left her empty, sorrow that pierced her very soul to the core. She wanted nothing more than to help the man but such help was forbidden. To dare defy the dictations of fate would be sacrilege beyond belief. So the goddess could only watch as the man died. As she watched she cried, her tears dripping down her face. The tears dripped from the delicate face and fell into the pool of blood. As blood and tears mingled the goddess reached out and plucked a sword from the blood soaked ground gently she laid the weapon on the chest of the man. She somberly reached out to clasp his hands in her own bringing them up to be wrapped around the hilt of his sword. She looked down at the man who had exchanged his life for those of his companions¡¯. As she looked down at the man, a warrior who died protecting those around him. A death that many would claim was honorable but she could not bring herself to see it as a good death. She only felt sorrow...sorrow and shame for her failure to save him.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Time passed around them, a mourning goddess and a fallen warrior, one kneeling while the other lay dead. As time passed nothing of the two shifted, minutes turned to hours and still the goddess wept she wept until the tears stopped flowing until she could do no more than hold the warrior close. Slowly she bent her head down closer to his, she breathed out gently before their lips met. After their lips parted the goddess reached down and placed a single finger on the sword in the warrior¡¯s grasp. As the goddess touched the cold bloodstained metal it began to glow with a soft golden light. She reached out towards the glow with her feelings, feelings of sorrow and shame. As she pressured the glow, the mixture of blood and tears around her floated up into the air forming tendrils that reached towards the sword fusing into the blade. Lastly she poured a piece of her very soul into the weapon a piece that had been connected to the warrior, a connection that had been formed long ago with an act of kindness and a promise. Silently Lyndri, minor goddess of the Alderali, walked away from the mess of corpses, walked away from the hero she had loved, walked away from the piece of her residing in the weapon held by the hero. She walked away from the ancient structure that was the final resting place of a man who paid for life with his own death. Several miles distant from the final resting place of the warrior lay a meager camp. In the center of that camp lay a fire and around that fire sat a beleaguered group of adventurers. Not a word was spoken between the adventurers as they sat contemplating the flames and a fallen brother. Not a word was spoken as one stood and removed a simple silver chain from around his neck. Solemnly he approached the fire with the chain held tightly in his hand. The adventurer looked down at the chain one final time and with a tear in his eye he dropped the chain into the fire, and for the first time in several hours he spoke. His voice low as he recited the age old right for the fallen. ¡°His shield was strong and his sword was long. His honor stands with his quest now done.¡± Chapter 1: Of Wanderers Chapter 1 Of Wanderers Darkness surrounded him. Darkness was all he knew. Darkness that continued for what felt like eons. Slowly he collected his thoughts together. Whe-Where am I? He asked himself and to his great surprise, there was a response. ¡°You are home, brave one.¡± The voice seemed to radiate warmth and safety to his wayward soul. The voice was like that of an old friend from a half-remembered dream, familiar yet distant. Who are you? He asked as he felt more of himself slowly coming into focus. ¡°Do you not remember? I am Lyndri and you were my champion.¡± Her voice was laced with a deep sadness. As the words collected deep within himself they stirred a collection of images from their resting places within the deepest parts of his soul. First came the mangled corpse of a young girl nearly ripped into pieces. Next came a cave imbedded in a hillside with a sinister pair of eyes reflecting the light of the sun. The third image was one of death, of bones, of a foul beast and a young boy both on the brink of death. He now knew who he was, he was Telog of Alderali. He had avenged his sister''s death and slain his first monster by thirteen. He had bested a giant in single combat by age eighteen, and by his twenty-fifth year there was not a minstrel in the land who had not told the tales of Telog of Alderali the man demons fled from. Yet who he felt he was the most lay in a promise he had made many years ago in an abandoned church to a weeping goddess. With the conviction of a man who had seen death¡¯s face Telog of Alderali woke. ---------- Many miles away in a town that was little more than a few buildings situated around a tavern that was a popular resting stop for groups of adventurers on their way to seek fame and glory in the Unbroken Mountains. Within this tavern sat a group of adventurers in a somber mood each nursing a drink. The tavern around the party was boisterously loud and joyful, filled with laughter and cheerful conversation for they did not know that Telog of Alderali had been slain. The party however knew that the Savior of Tytan had died and so they were silent. Time passed around the party as they drank in silence each remembering their departed friend. Silence reigned over the party late into the night until finally it was broken.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "We need to go back...for his sword." A large man in platemail said. "Ram, you know we can''t do that." Replied a man dressed in blue robes. A woman in leather armor spoke up "Why not? We can be back here in two weeks.". "By then we''ll be two weeks late. We should have ridden straight for the guild, whatever those damn bandits were doing in that place they succeeded." A man in the garb of a guardsmen said. "We are honor-bound to retrieve his sword." Ram asserted. "We are also honor-bound to finish our quest." The guard countered. Ram pounded his fist on the table. "Damn you Sig! Did he mean nothing to you?" Before Sig could respond the final member member of the party broke into the conversation. ¡°I¡¯ll retrieve the sword. The rest of you ride for the guild and tell them about the ritual performed by the bandits.¡± The speaker was dressed in a hooded cloak of mottled green. ¡°If anyone can retrieve the sword it would be you Jakob¡­¡± The woman said thoughtfully. Ram sat back in his chair and sighed, ¡°Very well. We ride for the guild, however we will return here afterwards.¡± With that settled Ram raised his mug in a toast, ¡°Telog of Alderali friend, companion, and hero¡± ¡°Telog¡± The man in the blue robes raised his glass as he spoke the name of his greatest friend in life. ¡°Telog¡± murmured Sig as he remembered a day long ago that changed his life. ¡°Telog¡± the woman said as she thought of final moments of her friend. ¡°Telog¡± Jakob said in a grim tone. Together the party drank from their mugs, before one by one getting up from the table to retire to their rooms for the night. ---------- High in the heavens stood a chamber which no mortal soul had ever visited within that chamber, the gods argued; all the gods except two. Of the two who were not arguing one was smiling smugly at the other silent god Lyndri. The smiling god was happy because events in the mortal world were about to become very interesting indeed. Lyndri did not know how to feel only that her champion''s soul would not be allowed to reside peacefully in the heavens, instead he had been forced into serving the gods past his mortal life. His soul was now bound to the task that had been given him by the smiling god. Lyndri did not think kindly of the smug god. In her eyes he was nothing more than a meddling nuisance that never did anything of worth, only hindering her with his incompetence. Lothain for his part felt that Lyndri worried far too much. Yes he may have interfered with her tribute to fallen warrior a tiny bit, but it was necessary. If he had to trap Lyndri''s pet mortal for the rest of eternity in order to stop the destruction of the mortal world he would. He was after all carrying out his divine duty to protect the mortals. Being minor gods the two of them were mainly ignored as their exploits did not warrant the attention of the greater gods, however this time they had managed something that had not been done in 10,000 years. Their actions had caused a Greater Gathering to be called. As the rest of the gods argued Lyndri and Lothain glared at each other.