《Lainzax》


 1: "Frozen Inception"

    The beginning, the middle and the end. There isn¡¯t a personal category with anything within these specific sectors but anyone can guess and put them somewhere. While reading, he came across to him that there was something specific in life he had to do. Quite frankly, it came to him in a dream, last night. He couldn¡¯t consider the possibility of it being a directed omen because it was nothing more than a subconscious suggestion being smart for once. The room feels cold, more to the point its cold due to the freezing winter that has laid waste to the war-torn city of Aldaz.


    From adjusting his scarf and holding his hands behind his back, the balcony he had come to be on was overlooking the crude nothingness that had overturned it, now that he say it, two figures were walking down the street, both carrying the essence of Imperial troops. He supposed it¡¯s time for him to say ¡°hello.¡± He stepped off the broken balcony and landed on my feet in front of them, the stubby man on the left threw his arms and lunged the pike at him which came into contact with his finger as he held it, after smiling and giving him a brief moment of delightful fear, he twisted the end of the pike and snapped off the metal end, flicking it back to him.


    He took it quite well and in an instant, was on the floor, screaming the sounds of someone¡¯s grave that has just been sealed. The after effect was the pure fear that radiating from the other soldier who decided it was a good idea to scamper and try his best to escape but he was too slow. A rabbit race wasn¡¯t even a rabbit race but more like a panther slaughtering its prey without a shred of instinct but to kill, then the two simple and dead beings, were put into the cold hard ground.


    The rush, that wasn¡¯t there. He was abnormally dissatisfied with the constant lack of feeling that he had come to put himself into, he never really was good with people or emotions and from walking down the snow filled lane with the half destroyed and attacked buildings, he found one that was mostly intact and clambering was inside of it. Another happy smile brought him to open the door and find two soldiers and a young girl, screaming. The Imperials had turned to him and the girl was only in her early teens, it was a gruesome sight.


    Without hindering his own sanity, he quickly moved, planting his foot and dispersing himself fast enough to get behind the first man on the left, he was decapitated by the blade of death that had risen to wreak its vengeance. The second man swung a large hammer at him but as it came down towards him, he found that his hand was flying into the air, spurting the red wine of the human body around the area, by this time to the girl had ran under the stairs and witnessed the massacre of two soldiers that were about to violate human sanity. Her eyes were shocked and torn between what to say or do, the male responsible; looked at her.


    He offered something to her, after moving from the spectres of the past and he held down something, two somethings. Food and a blanket. She took them quickly and hid from him, she heard the lonesome words of the stranger, these words held an empty emotion but a full promise that was set by somewhat of a loose morality.


    ¡°A war is not for little girls.¡±


    Girl, little. Defining the very being by something so minor and not comprehendible. She was young and didn¡¯t understand the essence of the world and as the male left the building, breathing in the cold, deathly howling wind. He felt a release, the contempt and content of a killer. There was a familiar sign he had recognised as a shop, more so a tailor shop that he had once visited. Once he came to the end of the street, he had spotted more soldiers but opted to revert back to stealth and ignore them, they were not of any strategic importance. The tailor shop had been ransacked and what was left were destroyed clothing racks that were wooden and a trace of magical essence.


    When he came across a mirror, his whole entirety was shown and he had spotted that the beauty of the reflection was really appeasing to his own mind, an egotistical maniac that adored himself. His long black coat, blue scarf and black boots were the main part of him and his uniform underneath was that of the remaining party, the Royalists. The white rose that was sewn onto it was the main logo that stood out to anyone. It was straight, put forward and innocence. In the sense that it had been forced on by a young child ruler who barely could keep on her own two feet.


    Indeed, an idiotic queen stood on the throne but yet, this war wasn¡¯t over, he smiled to himself and walked outside; seeing more conflict and the Royalists were in force and pushing around the place, finishing off the remnants of the disgraceful Imperials that had occupied the city. The crunch of snow had already caught his ear and he held a hand out, a soldier had dropped off a letter in it while he was still looking at the scene and ran off to deliver more letters. After they¡¯d been killed and turned into ghosts, he put his hands onto the letter and he opened it with one hand, taking it out and reading it with the other.


    It stated.


    ¡°Dear, Lord Merizal.


    We are requesting your assistance at the fifth frontier where the Majesty¡¯s transportation regime will be setting off within the next day and she has requested your presence there as her head defendant.


    Be here as soon as the time is ready and do not delay.


    Yours truly,


    Grand Marshal Holland.¡±


    Well, how splendid. The recall made him smile and laugh, the Queens¡¯ favourite killer had been called to her side, more than likely to wait while she complains about the cold and buggers what¡¯s left of his sanity. He put the letter into his pocket and his hands too, ensuring his gloves were on tight enough. The cap that he had pulled out of his pocket was now on his head and he began to walk around the way, exiting the city within the next span of time and now he was inbound to his task.


    *


    It was near evening when he had arrived at the camp, the soldiers saluting him as he walked past and he was guided into the main tent where he found a heated argument between the small, annoying child and the old, blading uncle was occurring.


    ¡°You shall not remove it! It has been in the Royal latter for centuries!¡±


    Her white hair was frolicking the na?ve attitude she was maintaining. Her tiara was white, snow like and her dress was mostly sky blue and white. The innocence of a child ruler was present. On the other hand you have the balding marshal whose uniform is grey and white and primarily has shiny medals and a full-grown beard.


    ¡°Your majesty, be reasonable. This is a war. We will continuously lose if we do not remove it from the city.¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    They both turned to him as he entered the tent and took off his hat. On one side a child¡¯s voice and the other a man¡¯s voice. He chuckled and looked at them both, his soft and serene tone spoke towards them, gesturing with his hands.


    ¡°For one, the great beast has been the protector of the city and it is a sacred thing, although it will cause us to lose a good stand point. There only option is to move it.¡±


    They were both lit with lightbulbs that had something to itself. After the suggestion they began to go back to the map in the middle of the centre, one propped up on a stool and the other with two hands on the map looking over it. After giving the suggestion, the male had moved off and then he came to one of the rooms inside of the tent and he took off his outdoor clothing and sat down in his uniform, rolling up his sleeves and a maid came over to the chair where he sat. She placed down some tea and crumpets, smothered in a peculiar sauce that as more defined as honey syrup.


    She nodded at him and gave a curtsey, he bowed his head and placed himself into a posture that complimented the complex meal designed with the touch of elegance parading around it. He began to indulge into the sweetness of the warm design and he finally came to the conclusion of finishing the meal, he was at ease and relaxed as he watched the two higher up¡¯s command and conquer the map to where the beast could go.


    The maid came back over and she looked over him and she wanted to speak but was waiting for permission. He smiled and gestured his hand, allowing her the privilege.


    ¡°My lord, may I ask what beast they are referring to?¡±


    Her eyes became wide and she was hunting for an answer and the details to what this magnificent creature was and how it¡¯s generalised name was being thrown about. The need for information was the ultimate desire from her, being a maid of the royal family had its benefits of being exposed to specific details. As she stood with a silver plate in her hand, leaning to the lord. He whispered to her.


    ¡°It¡¯s a creature of vast teeth, claws and the most menacing eyes you can ever imagine.¡±


    Despite the coldish tone of the Lord, it was quite apparent that a sense of humour and jesting was put to. She smiled and gave a light chuckle, his eyes despite still being fixated on the two at the table, shifted to the maid slowly and smiled at her. She nodded and the connection of that it was a topic not meant to be spoken of was understood.


    She left and he finished the last of his tea, placing the cup back down onto the table. He sat with one leg crossed and the two had finished the scheming and had come over to the lounge area and sat down on separate chairs, two assistants were bringing and eventually placed a reinforced glass table that could spin and be set in place, they set it out and placed some table cloth onto it. They were dismissed, and the real events were taking place.


    He looked at the two that were talking to him, almost like they were a family and he stood up and put his hands in his pockets and he smiled towards them, looking at the plan that they had mapped out. These blueprints were the schematics of a new idea, the place where they could move the beast, the guardian of the city. Each city had one, this one especially was something out of the story books. They were talking to him and he was filtering it and nodding it, there was something that clicked. Something he saw, and he knew it wasn¡¯t right, the maid. Why did she have a more lighter accent?


    He smiled at them while they were discussing the plan, it came across that the final choice was to move it to a grove not far from the city, they weren¡¯t too far from it. The distance was something reachable and they didn¡¯t have to disturb the ancient nature which slumbered peacefully. The mindset that he was in seemingly ensued him to drift away into the deep subconscious of himself, he thought about emotion. What was emotion? An aspect he never had and knew from experience it was an unneeded thing to be satisfied with life. As he stood there, it was something that he couldn¡¯t quite put onto the tip of his tongue and recite like anything else he could do so easily.


    Reality eventually snapped back into place and he looked at them and nodded, after the discussion of moving the beast had been concluded, royal guards were escorting the child back to her segmented area and Holland, the Marshal; had gone back to his own segment. He took his jacket and his coat and put it back on, leaving the tent and as he got out, the night was bright. The moon escalated the isolation of the war, what it was and what it was doing to the place. It was a contradiction, a full moon to signify something was whole but nothing was whole. Everything was broken and portioned into the sides. Imperials and Royalists.


    The piercing cold was a stagnant force in itself, it was creeping out nature of itself, there was no sense of stopping. The wind was harsh and flowing in every direction, catching everyone in its ice grasp. To compliment that the snow was falling, and a blizzard was stretching all over the camp, despite the magical barriers, it can¡¯t stop the snow. Something like that is a force in itself with the addition of everything else. Despite trailing through the snow, he managed to reach one of the end tents and he entered it, closing it quickly to stop the snow getting in. He moved further into the main coverage and there were different officers discussing the current affairs.


    He got over to the table and they saluted him, while saluting him one of the lower officers handed him a file and nodded with his hat, he smiled and took it off them and opened it. The particular were proclaiming that a certain agent under the Imperials was causing havoc in the city and trying to liberate and find the creature, he thought as much; probably was the reason of the isolation of the beast. After reading it over he placed it back onto the table and they handed him a bracelet with a white stone, this particular stone is a crystal with the ability to commune to others via the ethereal lines.


    They aren¡¯t important; after taking and clipping it to his wrist. He took his hat and nodded at them, moving out of the tent once again the blizzard return for an unfolding and relentless cascade; one that pounded the world with its own force of nature. The deep radiance of his eyes glimmered the ever prospectful moon and something struck within him that he had never found before, a motivation for this. There was something in this, a challenge for once. Something or someone to give him a fire for fight and flight into the right situation. A burning passion rose to the edge of his heart, an exclusive something for a twisted second. It was gone, depleted.


    He began to walk away from the tent and away to the wilderness, disappearing inside of the trees, away from the remote destination he had found himself on, more specifically; thirty minutes from the city, the war zone.


    *


    Upon arriving back at the city, the blizzard was thick enough to cause eye damage, well, that¡¯s being over the top. It scarcely was different than before, although everything was mostly dark and damp. As he entered the first building on his right, the corpses of three soldiers had been placed down. An evil looking figure loomed over him and he inspected the bodies, each carried the scent of someone that could manipulating the dead themselves. They were torn apart, obviously from fighting someone of their high calibre, it was a conditional ruling. After searching the bodies and determining, these were the elite group of the Imperials, it was clear to see it was no ordinary killer.


    As he moved and stepped over them, he came into contact with a woman, a mask on her face and she stood on a balcony, looking at him; after a split second she jumped. He rushed after her but missed her, watching her jump and leap from building to building. The aura she was giving off was pretty obvious, he knew she was a magic user too. More specifically she relied on internal power, rather than external. A book was on the floor, he leaned down and picked it up, dusting the dust off and reading through it. The title was in a different language, a language he had encountered before.


    Shadow Speak.


    The pure speech of the people who inherited from something old and ancient, he read through it, carefully internally translating the words and the sentences, making out it was a guide. A complete guide to the Royal houseline. It went into specific details about each member before the last and their abilities, more importantly it came down to the entry of the current head, her majesty but nothing was written. It was blank, they were searching for something.


    After taking the knowledge and what he learned, it was soon apparent that a motion had been set in place, as he walked to the balcony and looked out onto the ravaged city, the cold fire burnt through it and the flames were set alight by the ricocheting anger and instinct of war.

 2: "Tides of Battle"

    When the night was night, coming to the sunrise, he found himself amongst the ruin of a library, looking through the old books and wondering what he was looking for. Despite running his hands down the spines of the books, nostalgia. He opened one of the books, black on its cover and laced with a crimson lineage. Its linear page opened, and it was titled, ¡°The Way and Back.¡± A popular novel that was amongst the elite society within the royal order, about a royal scribe who was sent on a mission to extract information from the enemy by just simply reading and writing about their lives as an indirect novel. It worked, quite well, so well that faction no longer exists.


    It amused him to see the way that the secrets were unveiled by just simply reciting some fantasy tale more to the point of placing them on an imaginary pedestal that was always going to excite some reader and pass on from mouth to mouth. A scuttle came from the library in which his immediate response was to plant his foot and lock his eye onto the small figure which hurried across the way. He quickly dropped the book and ran, twisting his posture to the left and progressing though the book cases to where he heard the shaping twist move.


    After he had come to the end of the library, it was gone; vanished amongst the cold darkness which had grasped itself onto the area. It loathed the dark yet used it as a tool to strike. Amongst the darkness, the childish figure presented itself multiple times, a ruse to scare and intimidate him. He was immune to such feeble attempts and waited, waiting. The wait became a few mere seconds before he twisted on his foot and sent a gush of force towards the balcony of the library, it connected and he made out the small, white being.


    Upon making eye contact, another connection that had been formed was with almost an innate understanding. He flagged the creature down and it appeared with a grey cloak around it. It¡¯s small, innocent structure was causing havoc with the unusual attributes; these being the claws of a wolf that extended from the hand of the little one. It waddled over towards him and he looked up at him. From his eyes, the blue haired male with a grey and black uniform was something to be scared of, until he met contact with the navy blue iris which perplexed him.


    One white, one blue, something struck between them two. He spoke to the child, kneeling down and calm in a manner yet so forthcoming with his words.


    ¡°You gave me a quite a fright.¡± Despite the tone, a miniscule bit of contempt was there, the reflection of two children; one inner and one outer being put into place.


    ¡°Sorry mister, I was scared and hid in here from the soldiers.¡± The boy seemingly pulled back slightly, noticing the royal emblem pinned on the uniform.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, from the looks of you, your one of his children.¡±


    The boy nodded, his small structure was hiding and concealing the truth behind the shifter, a wolf in a kid¡¯s body. More importantly he was a shapeshifter. A lot of them existed in the city before the war occupation came into place and started to attack those that had lived here for a long while. After dragging the blue haired boy¡¯s hand and making his way to the window that was cracked, the stained glass had been broke and shattered and the cold wind came in but it was warmer in here than in the harsh winter of solitude.


    ¡°My papa¡¯ isn¡¯t here, I think he went to the town hall.¡±


    He nodded and smiled at the kid, he took out a bar of chocolate, mostly from the royal supplies that he had taken for himself and he gave it to him. Upon taking it, the kid¡¯s eyes came up and the clear iris, wolf ears that smiled at him was almost as cute as the animal itself; even more so he was a mythical creature capable of emotion.


    The small child ran off and scuttled off into the depths of the library, some place people were using as a hideout. It only occurred to him that they used him as a scout to see if anyone was coming, more than likely it was a group of non-fighters, they needed protecting. He took out some chalk and marked the outside door, then gathering some magic he carefully carved a sign into it that would only be visible to those that could understood the royal letters. The royal language was only basic and consisted of greetings, goodbyes and strategic information that was used across the entirety of them, well, frankly it was mostly identified by the symbols. After making it and casting the rune upon it, he left, walking off towards the middle of the town.


    He stood on top of the hill, looking down into the valley that was the centre of the combat zone and seeing how much destruction had been cast upon the people who lived here, the markets and the royal housing had been torched and ransacked and what was left was magical fire raining on each side of the two forces fighting for constant control of the city. While he was stood on top of a house and he looked down onto it, it was seemingly drifting away from his mind that he¡¯d been sent out to find the agent he had encountered earlier.


    The truth was he could have caught her, this was too much fun for him to pass up. A cat and mouse game that went to the wire tingled the very basis of his structure. When he thought about her, she was slim, agile, young and most importantly a challenge for him to take, perhaps. As the time passed and he was still scouting out the area, he saw a large group of royal soldiers tackling with an agent from the opposite side, it was clear he could use magic and didn¡¯t care for the lives he was about to take. His blue hair swished in the wind as he dropped and ran across the roof tops, jumping over them and moving swiftly towards the battle.


    He came to a stop on top of the building next to them and watched how he evaded each strike of a sword, pike or arrow and then carefully disabled each soldier, making sure not to kill them. A real professional, not a killer. Quite frankly it was marvellous work from him, he had jumped down from the building and stood across from him. Barely any noise and any type of energy came from Merizal. The other professional was questioning one of the soldiers when he turned around to see him, in an instant he threw a knife at him to response he dodged it with a quick move of his head.


    ¡°Is violence in your nature?¡± After speaking calmly with an almost confident and arrogant grin, he moved his hair back across to the left, it still reaching up.


    The guy dropped the solider by his collar and looked at him. The crimson coat was covered with Imperial persona and he was almost itching for a fight too, he had to respond. Behind the veil mask he had, he uttered some words.


    ¡°Aye¡¯, you should know without a doubt.¡± His stance was readied and careful, barely any openings for attack but the most obvious one that was keeping him there.


    Once again, the blue iris scanned him and chuckled, taking steps forward in a casual pace; his guard more than up, impenetrable and no attack would be able to breach it. He had his hand in his pockets and the professional waited, he calmed himself and stood next to him. Despite being just a bit taller, it still didn¡¯t make a difference.


    ¡°You should know, those Royals are going to need¡­ revenge.¡± An evil smile turned the tides as they both looked at each other, two agents on the verge of a battle with themselves. A slow turn based engagement took place with only the other moving, the royalist had no plans to move and had already won before it had started, the evidence became clear from the circling of his opponent. He struck and moved forward, strafing to the left then back to the right. A knife, lunging towards his opponent was quickly caught with a hand on his elbow, twisting him around and throwing him over his shoulder, he rolled. The knife close to the professional, he took arms once again and quickly went for a frontal attack, the blade whizzed past his head and it was over with one punch.


    A punch that connected with his stomach expelled with the energy, ricocheting through his body and disabling him completely, he fell down and planted on the floor. The unconscious body of the professional lay flat on the floor with the soldiers recovering some strength and getting up, one of them, with an emblem of a white rose came over and nodded at him.


    ¡°Thank you, Lord Merizal.¡± He his head became a bow with a respectful judgement and he smiled and waved them off, they began to walk and trek back down towards the main regiment. Most of them had suffered broken body parts of were slashed by the blade and forced down. Upon closer inspection of the wounds when he had been next to the soldier, it was evident it was a certain type of magic. Blood manipulation, more importantly the ability to control someone¡¯s bodily reactions through the use of blood. Nothing too major but a feat that shouldn¡¯t exist with such a low power that were occupying this place, mercenaries had been hired for sure.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    After leading the men off, he went back to the man and he was gone. It seemed he had gained consciousness and released himself from the grasp of a titan. A slippery fellow to say the least. The surrounding was cascaded by buildings and one of the entry ways had been blocked off, to say the least they tried to corrupt the water supply. Unbeknownst to them, this wasn¡¯t where it was mainly supplied. Stupidity or maybe a simple mistake had been made here. A very feint explosion was heard off into the distance, he quickly made his way onto the building top, climbing the balcony and propelling himself into the air.


    Upon closer inspection it was a deep explosion that had taken out maybe two or three buildings at best and paved the way for a large wolf, more importantly a white wolf raging and slicing through the red soldiers that stood in his way, they were throwing things and attempting to subdue him but he wouldn¡¯t go down, nevertheless he had to hurry. Crossing across the houses, he was constantly shot at by snipers or random soldiers throwing rocks at him, attempting to stop him but he was far out of their reach and occasionally when he had the effort, fired off an energy blast which took them out in a large radius.


    He reached one house and then felt the roof topple, he landed inside of the building and it was filled with survivors, ones who weren¡¯t that able to move and were hiding from the soldiers that had been patrolling. A quick action moved him towards the window to his left and he jumped out of it. He came to a stop behind one of the buildings little slots down an alley way, he peaked around of it and saw soldiers fighting, he shrugged and moved down the alley way, walking around. The darkness of the light that shone in through the snow, barely gave him any vision but he could see fine. He moved around, left and right past the houses and the broke rubble which had fell down.


    Stone, wood and fire had be scattered around the place, he maneuvered and wiggled past a small exit from the alley into the open battlefield, he was behind some fallen rubble and carefully mapped out where he had to go. The battlefield was covered with bodies, fallen soldiers and even some of the militia which had formed, most of the people were converged in the town hall, holding off the large, deathly figure which was trying to break the door down. He closed his eyes and carefully focused his aura, using his inner power to reflect and release out, as a sonar; this carefully gave him the direct paths to where he could go without being seen. He opened his eyes.


    The rush of the moment and his internal power pushed him towards his destination, his speed was unlike any other and he moved past the mortal beings without being seen, he slid down under some rubble and continued to move past them until he came to a large pillar which had fallen. His eyes peered through the cracks to where he saw a large armoured fellow who was pounding the door with a hammer. An ogre, to say the least. More to the point the Imperials were obviously allies with the foreign races, or some of them. The two guarding him were nothing more than peons.


    The ogre was laced in dark black armour on his chest and legs, he was slamming a large metal hammer that was big enough to probably destroy a fountain in one go. The city hall was quite big and the doors were too, even some of the houses were irregular due to the different sized beings living here. The yellowish skinned beast had a large eye and one smaller eye, something was unusual about this one and he continued to bash the door, it grew weaker every second.


    He peeked up from beside the rubble and saw the two guards, he took up two rocks, holding one into his hand he carefully aimed and rushed out, he threw one; pure energy behind it, it hit the first guard down from the steps on the left almost instantly and demolished his head, his ghostly body returning to the floor. The second suffered the same fate yet fell into the gardens next to it. The ogre turned around and he looked around with the most uninterested look that any being ever say, the completely idiotic being had voided anything to do with the dead bodies and was turning around, back to the door.


    He was out of sight of the large thug and he managed to sneak up behind him. His foot was placed out and he carefully moved into the open, looking at the blobbing figure as it once again, turned around. The instigator this time was the male clapping, a clap that was amplified by his own power and it caught the ears, looking at him. It gave out a point and a large yell came from it, the marauding figure became a simple minded idiot right away.


    ¡°You little man, you stop smash, I smash you!¡±


    It charged at him with the hammer and swung it down on him, he managed to grab it with one hand. He held the hammer in one hand and chuckled, throwing it up in the air and dashing, jumping and kicking the ogre mid-air; the connection from the power that was implemented into the kick sent the ogre into the door. Upon impact it crashed the door open and through the door came jumping out a dwarf in battle armour with a single large axe that seemed to be for woodcutting.


    ¡°Aye, ya¡¯ got him good, young master,¡±


    The dwarf began to poke the unconscious ogre suspiciously, wondering if it was dead or actually was playing dead, more to the point it was indeed, gone. The young master moved past the ogre and it had been killed by tied up by the time that he had go to the main echelon of the city hall, it¡¯s large chandlaliers that had been burning, were gone and all that remained despite the damage of ruined paintings and crumbling old bricks were torches and fortifications. At the end of the hall way as the other soldiers rushed passed him outside to win and put an end to the battle, a large man with a torn shirt stood talking to two others. When they had clocked the blue haired youngster, they nodded and departed.


    The large hairy beast turned to him and a man of tallish standing smiled at him and looked towards the door way.


    ¡°You could have been a bit more¡­ passive¡­ Lainzax.¡± The gruffly voice of the older man spoke with almost a lectured yet stunned tone when observing the damage.


    He shrugged and looked towards the door then back to him.


    ¡°I was holding back quite a lot, Quincy.¡± They both briefly chuckled and then the older male placed a hand on his back.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you ran into my kid, from the scent anyway, the little bastard tried to use pheromone didn¡¯t he?¡± The young master looked back at him and nodded before speaking.


    ¡°He can use it better than you, well, on accident at least.¡± Another chuckle.


    Quincy gestured to him to follow him into the main part of the city hall, as he went down the thin hall way, signs of battle, blood and death had occurred. Mostly the enemy forces sides, Imperial forces seemed to have been decimated, expected from a druid of Quincy¡¯s¡¯ calibre. Especially one who has the ability of a grove keeper. As they got to the end, Quincy knocked on the door and it opened, troops observing and nodding between them and the blue haired male, as they entered an older woman, probably a couple years older than himself stood dishing out orders and then clocked onto him.


    She turned on her heel and made her way down, her long black coat with a puffy neck ring stood out and she stood before the two, eyeing them up. She then huffed and made an almost sarcastic gesture and walked off, seemingly irritated yet amused by the entrance of the two.


    ¡°I see she hasn¡¯t changed.¡± He shook his head.


    ¡°You know what she¡¯s like, youngling.¡± Quincy smiled and eyed the individuals as he came into sight of them.


    They continued to walk down the way until they came to the centre table, a large round table and in the middle was a blue stone that was showing images of the city and the different males around the table were co-ordinating attack and defence strategies. Upon observing them it had seemed that the Royal Army had misjudged the true threat of what was going on within the city. An obvious mistake but something was amiss, probably the woman he saw that had sprung away from him to escape his clutch.


    The longer he looked the more it became apparent that whatever knowledge had been sealed here or even not mentioned, it was worth the Imperial army recruiting the Dominion¡¯s help to do, more so, they were taking and brainwashing their people without anyone knowing. It was a war starter and these people seemed to be the one handing out the punches without knowing who they are punching. After analysing the situation, they were converging around the town centre but it seemed the defence force of the city had been placing traps and funnelling the enemy to where they weren¡¯t able to move forwards or even take a retreat strategy. Smart move on their part, he moved closer to the tale after being asked to by Quincy.


    ¡°Mayor, you need to think straight here. We cannot allow it to fall into their hands, these greedy little mongrels have something in store!¡±


    The arguing subsided with a swift intervention of a point by the blue haired master, pointing directly on a part of the city which was the weakest.


    ¡°Your best bet is to counter attack here, they won¡¯t expect it.¡± The mean glares of tacticians that had seen the war beamed over him as if to insult him in some respectable manner.


    ¡°And what makes, you, boy, knowledge about this situ-.¡± Before he could carry on to give some kind of insult that had some what of a meaning to it, the mayor decided to stop him.


    ¡°He¡¯s the personal officer for her majesty, insulting his skills and abilities is a direct insult to the Royalty themselves, who have safe guarded this city for years.¡± A cold shudder and a couple of nods and agreements came to it, one man approached the two, a slender man. Offering the gesture that the rest of them were unable to make. He had long dark hair that covered over his face and it was an unusual shade of purple, his eyes were yellow and they looked between them both. His attire was built with a waistcoat that was black and a grey shirt with black gloves and a prominent purple tie.


    ¡°My lords, hath¡¯ thou¡¯ a plan?¡±

 3: "As It Begins"

    As they began to discuss the specifics, it became a grand race to determine who each other was between the young master and this slender being, one of old and one of young, before a while the bright haired kid came to a close and he pointed it out.


    ¡°The Satyr of Zaykaiel¡±, this was only shared between them two under the brief conversation and the other male chuckled, despite his almost clich¨¦ and slender being, he was completely at ease with the surroundings he had been placed into and was carefully observing the other. I don¡¯t think that he fully understood how he knew but they began to discuss and reminisce the past, more importantly the previous war. A topic that is rarely mentioned even amongst the civilians which were accounted for inside of it, a topic so daring that only the most powerful people will utter the names of the fallen and the ones that attacked. After discussing the past, they had their attention turned to Quincy, stroking his goatee and his wild hair arrangement.


    ¡°So, young master, ya¡¯ got a plan to deal with this scum?¡± He looked almost hesitantly, like he wanted to question further but ultimately wanted to trust the judgement that he was building within him, it wasn¡¯t something you could easily take back but after a while they came to a close and finally came to an explanation.


    ¡°The epicentre of this chaos, was supposed to be here, it seems that this initial assault wasn¡¯t as great as we expected, more so, it¡¯s a bluff.¡± A widespread confusion seemingly took over the hall and murmurs began to arise.


    Quincy gestured for him to continue.


    ¡°As I was saying, this bluff is strategically done so that the weakest point of the city can be flooded and breached, if we take what we already know, the forces have been thinned around the walls to protect the main area, a crowding. Since some of the city has been blocked off, they will have a short window of time where they won¡¯t know the exact layout, so, we will cordon them to a funnel and take them out.¡±


    A raise of eyes, seemingly aware of the mastermind that had rose into the chamber and despite the initial criticism of him being merely seventeen years old, he had proven a masterclass move that was basic to some of them yet advanced to the others. Quincy smiled, he gestured to Zazaki; the slender gentleman with long purple hair and he moved off towards the entrance.


    After the mayor gave his finishing speech and gave his council their orders, they began to stockpile what they had left and divide into teams to ensure that the city would be well prepared for the rest of the attack, even in this harsh winter. He stepped into the back of the room and called over to the young master with his long coat on, calling him over once again. They stepped onto a small circular podium and they were surrounded by a light that transported them up into the heavenly sky but instead sent them three floors up to what was named as the ¡®tactical command area¡¯. In reality it was Quincy¡¯s son¡¯s play area that they had changed into an observatory.


    When they arrived, they were greeted by two guards in uniforms, sent by the Grand Marshal as the observation unit but mostly they just messed around and didn¡¯t take much seriously. After getting the report off them, it became clear that forces were amassing in the south near the weak point in the wall. Just as expected, as they looked out into the open, the men down below guided by Zazaki were beginning to barricade and bar off places and make it so the fighting came to them instead of going to the parts of the city which were weak and cutting off the entirety of the forces that were present there.


    The young master took a look through the telescope and could see a multitude of different threats, he had spotted something interesting, the male leading the charge; a large being with a mask, or not. He hid behind a crimson coat and a hat with a feather on top, as he looked over to the telescope he drew a slim looking pistol, mechanical in shape and fired a singular bullet as they connected eye to eye. The bullet flew into the telescope and exploded the area. As it hit the bullet ricocheted off the energy shield that has been created, the blue aura dispersed, and the young male stood looking down at him from the opposite end of the battlefield. This city was about to become the be all or end all.


    From the closer inspection, the male had a cigar popping out of his mouth and short black hair; a scar of his cheek that circled around his eye and one of his eyes was missing, an eye patch has taken that place and it was clear to see that this was no ordinary commander. If a guess had to be made, he was some kind of mythical. Of course, the irony. A population wanting humanity to be the most dominant race yet hiring the aspects of other races to do their dirty work, probably a kink in the work. That part needs redrafting in the rumours.


    A chuckle came from the mayor and his son as they were almost humoured by the way that they had been attacked. It seemed like nothing ever fazed shapeshifters, especially them. After the young master had nodded, he nodded back and began to take his son downstairs. The situation had become more serious and he needed to report back before this situation got any worse. He turned on his heels and jumped off the room of the city hall, running across the top of it and making his way across the buildings with haste, concealing his aura and scent.


    *


    As he got back to the encampment, he was greeted by some of the regiments moving out. He handed a report he had conjured by using his magic to write it and gave it to the commanding officers. Roars, laughter and cheers came from the side as they mobilized towards the city, making haste as they went along. Trudging through the snow he came to the quarters of the royalty and as he entered a dish went flying towards his face, he caught it and then another. He saw a floating girl, who seemed to be completely out of it and wasted from the face down, more than likely alcohol. The young girl of eighteen was casting magic and he smiled at her.


    After doing so he clicked his fingers and dispelled the magic, she began to fall, and he caught her and made the pillow she was on float. Despite it being really big, he managed it and began to carry her into the next portion of the tent. It was warm, and cosy and he went into the main chambers, the guards allowing him entrance and he moved over to her bed, placing her inside of it. Her arm reached up to him and she giggled, whispering something that was awfully tempting for a hormonal boy to not pass up, he shook his head and whispered something else back.


    She let go of him and then fell to the bed, giggling and hiccupping as she did so. Despite her age and her obsessive addiction with drinking alcohol, she was known originally as the ¡°Queen of Despair, Tyranny and Naivety.¡± Or so it was a nickname given because of her short temper but unusually good perception of reading a situation. From when she hit the bed and began to drop into a deep sleep, it was evident to him that something more was going on. She hadn¡¯t touched the aspects of alcohol in a long variant of time. He was unsure.


    He felt a hand touch him on the back, of course he was aware of the presence behind him.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting too much for her lad.¡± The Grand Marshal smiled at him and stood beside him as he held his hands behind his back, wondering what to say.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t have the capability I have nor does she have the experience of you, she has to learn.¡±


    He nodded in agreement and went over, taking the bottle of wine off the side and moving it away from the bed of the sleeping princess dressed in her night gown. He inspected the tents upper limits and then closed the curtain, tapping it twice and it slowly became dim, allowing her to fall into a deep trance. As the Grand Marshal returned from disposing of the liquor, he looked around the place and he smiled at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing these were manufactured by Korvax himself, I suppose you know all about it young¡¯un.¡±


    He looked and him and shook his hand half way.


    ¡°More or less, I know that most of this was designed to withstand even the most powerful of attacks and yet holds up with the strength a house.¡±


    A curious look rose over the Grand Marshal as he looked over to him.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t it need to be powered constantly?¡±


    He shook his head and they moved to the right where there was a drawer and he reached over and flicked the tents sturdy cloth like material.


    ¡°He¡¯s got a way of the current expanding once it¡¯s raised and it keeps going, it doesn¡¯t need much energy as it currents around. I don¡¯t know the specifics but it¡¯s like a self-powering generator.¡±


    A chuckle and a fumble of the beard, a regular thing from the men with the most facial hair in the room. His face was in some sort of awe but confused by the actual understanding of how the process worked.


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s a clever fellow, al¡¯ give him that.¡±Stolen story; please report.


    After discussing the somewhat interesting tent structure, a messenger came through the door. From the look on his face, something was amiss and then he moved over to the Grand Marshal. The young master decided to only input the information that was needed as he was still checking on the Queen who laid dead asleep in her chambers, snoring like an animal and he wondered whether she was really fit to be in the monarch role. I guess he thought it was supposed to be. A shocked yell came over from the Grand Marshal as he was giving orders like a rabid dog, a dog that had no boundary.


    The messenger sprinted out and jumped using magic, getting across the way quick, a loom of somewhat shock and despair came across his face and he was totally put into a new situation which required him to take action more so than usual. He nodded at the Grand Marshal and after a brief entourage, he was given the details he had been wanting to get from the man, the specifics of the enemy. After exiting the tent, the camp was in commotion, people rushing about, and soldiers being equipped. It was quite organised in the manner that everyone knew what they were doing and what they had to do.


    Upon returning to his own tent after making his way through the crowds, he opened the curtain door and went inside, looking around he went over to his case and opened it, finding his stuff and he smiled, taking it from the entrance into the inner part of the tent. From the outside it looked like a small shack but inside with the marvellous invention of magical expansion, it was a large room. The circular stairs led up to a platform with a wooden balcony and there was his bed, the place he enjoyed the most. He could dream and wish the world away without having to consider what was wrong, right or even plunge himself into the extravagant want of emotion.


    The large three rectangular mirrors that were to the right gleamed at him and he went over to them, he took off his coat, revealing his shirt and tie. He took off his tie and stretched, an invisible hand crept over him and moved to his shoulder, he quickly took it and turned around, being greeted by a woman who he had saw from earlier. The sworn sarcastic enemy, the daughter of Quincy. Eliana. She smirked at him and he shook his head, releasing her and turning back around, undressing.


    ¡°You know, I could help you with that.¡± A seductive tone came to her lips, attempting the impossible.


    ¡°And if you do, we¡¯ll end up doing something else; I¡¯ve got priorities.¡± He shook his head and his visible body was there, despite it being quite built, a scar ran from his left should to just under the upper part of his chest.


    She sighed, she sat and watched him as he took out some armour, and this being a black leather chest piece and he tightened the grips on it. The sleeves he unravelled and had they rolled up to his elbows, he then took a new shirt out, this being an unusual one. It was a different colour and weighed a lot more than anyone that normal people would wear. After buttoning it up, he felt her warm hand on his neck as she adjusted the strap on top and fixing it for him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll always end up being a sister figure to you, not a lover, you know that.¡± He sighed and smiled at her and was carefully observing his figure, he wasn¡¯t tense, nor did he even care for her presence hormonally. Despite her showing most of her skin, it wasn¡¯t something that even appeased him at all, he was deprived of that very primitive part. His blue shirt now complimented his black waist coat and he put his gloves on, looking towards her.


    ¡°I understand, and I¡¯ve always respected the things you¡¯ve done for me but now I need to do something for you.¡±


    She shook her head and closed his mouth before he could speak, ensuring he wouldn¡¯t be able to finish his sentence without making some form of physical movement. It came to a swift ending and he nodded, moving her hand away and smiling at her.


    He took something out of the bag, a wrist device and placed it onto the available wrist, she then looked at and tilted her head.


    ¡°What is that gadget?¡±


    He closed his eyes and his blue aura came from him, it sparked and released an aura that enveloped into the shape of a sword, the edge being tipped and the sides straight. It had markings and he held it, feeling the shape of it and she shook her head.


    ¡°Korvax and his toys.¡±


    He raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a toy.¡± He said affirmatively.


    ¡°No?¡± She questioned back.


    He then released his grip and the aura, beautifully sprinkled around him like the outside; snow falling as a calm and loose thing yet having something hidden to it, a danger that someone wouldn¡¯t be able to control if it was found.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good way to manifest those.¡± His seriousness fell onto the woman and she nodded at him, she knew what he meant, and it was something that was internally understood between each other.


    They ended up finishing their conversation and moved outside, she gave him a kiss on the check and she walked off into the shadows, moving out of his normal vision. After, he looked back to the city and the battle was going on very strongly, from what was shown something was really going on, more than what he thought. The battle had begun.


    *


    When he came to the edge of the city walls, he was approached by soldiers that were healing the injured at one of the outposts, he was waved over and he came behind the wall. The female soldiers commandeering the area was giving out orders and then came over to the young master.


    ¡°My lord, the Grand Marshal has gone to intercept the main body of the forces, we¡¯re the only relay station back to the main encampment.¡±


    After looking over at the outpost, it was littered with the injured and some of them were probably dead, clean cuts and swings that took limbs off and even made some of them ultimately unable to fight again. The blue haired youngster went into his bag and he took out two vials and handed them to her.


    ¡°Mix a drop or two with the current medicinal remedies you are using, and they¡¯ll be a lot better.¡±


    She bowed to him and thanked him, handing him a small hand telescope and pointed up towards the left, an old inn building that was being used as some form of foothold to over watch the city. Taking the stuff, he moved away and closed his bag that he had opened before and taken the vials out of it, he went behind the stone wall and peaked it, seeing the fighting of soldiers pushing down the streets. Both Imperial and Royal soldiers were dishing blows, cornering them.


    He planted his foot and a force of might pushed him down the way, his unreal speed let him to one of the Imperial soldiers and he grabbed one by the face, picking him up and lighting him with a blue flame and completely devastating his body into ash within seconds. The others, fell back and the Royal soldiers recovered and nodded at him, rallying and pushing them. As the other two that were tormenting them in the road went to encounter them, the young master came into the front of them.


    His fist made to the way of one of the soldiers, impacting his armour, it crushed it and sent him flying into one of the stone building, smashing the soldiers back onto it and falling down. As he did that, an axe swung, and he moved one step and his palm came to the side of the last soldiers armour, he clicked his fingers and a magical essence built up and exploded. Upon the explosion it sent the soldier flying and his face became burnt and completely scorched due to it.


    He looked down and took the axe that had dropped, up in the sky he saw a couple of flyers, he focused his energy into the axe and he threw it with force, the eye contact between the young master and the flying unit became apparent. The axe had struck into his eye and taken half of his measly head off, the wasted corpse fell to the floor. One less scum to deal with. A quick snap onto the road down to the left, he saw a large fireball come and he placed his hand out and it exploded into it. Down the way a skinny man with a bald head and some read cloth clothing looked at him.


    This worm¡¯s face completely when white and saw that it had not even a minor, no, no effect at all on him and he quickly ran away. When he looked back and saw the blue haired teenager, he had closed his eyes, he then appeared. Upon appearing the measly mage felt something pierce him and found the hand of the teenage through him. He took his arm out and he fell, the corpse of the mage was on the floor, the red wine staining the pure white of the snow. Blood was falling upon the war-torn city.


    His attention had been distracted from the real threat, the main commander of the forces. He quickly departed from the cut off road and then moved through the main ones, moving left and right and taking detours every so often to avoid the roaches that were infesting the city, he came to the inn which he had seen before and was charged at by an uneasy soldier. He felt his halberd in his finger and the soldier¡¯s eye¡¯s raised and he yelped falling back. The commander of the inn came out and yelled at him, throwing him back in. The young male that led these forces greeted him and insisted he come in quick.


    His commanding tabard complimented with the grey armour had the royal seal on it and he looked over to him and was commanding while he was talking to him.


    ¡°Merizal, you¡¯re here for information, right?¡± He rushed and was ordering the units around him.


    ¡°Yes, Commander, I need to know where Holland the enemy commander are.¡± His eyes caught the situation and he explained his need quickly.


    ¡°Go see my lieutenant, she¡¯s in the top room, left side.¡± He said it while pointing upstairs then waving his arms to two cargo workers who were unloading and loading things into crates and barricading the building up.


    Loud noises were heard outside and the yelling and fighting of people, he made his way upstairs, past the soldiers that were rushing down and firing out of the windows and he came to the top floor and the last room, knocking on the door, he opened it and she looked at him then back outside.


    ¡°Hand me that torch quickly.¡± A demanding statement while she was loading he crossbow, laying down and looking through one of the cracked windows.


    He threw it to her and she lit the arrow, placing it behind her and she fired, upon firing, magical energy built into the arrow and it fired. He traced it with his eyes and he could see that she had put a piercing magical effect onto it, it came into contact with one of the large ogres that were fighting in the street and it hit it in the head and took it out. The fire exploded, and it burnt the soldiers around it while the royalists continued over and finished them off. She looked back at him and gave him a death glare.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re the Queen¡¯s ace up the sleeve. I guess you are kinda¡¯ cute.¡± Her tone was young and her being seemed only twenty, as he moved closer into the room she had sprinted up and jumped onto him, knocking him to the floor and behind him rushed a large bolt that smashed through the window and almost took their head off.


    Her head raised, on top of him she smiled. He rolled his eyes and pushed her off, she made a mild squealing sound and almost was giggling at his strength. She flicked her short brown hair to her left and began to observe around the rest of the city. They both could see that the city was more than under siege.


    They both stood in the room, the sun shining into the gape of the window and illuminating the room around their beings. He offered a hand to her and she accepted it despite being the first one off, she seemingly didn¡¯t acknowledge his speed until she realised what was going on.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re name¡­ miss?¡± He smiled at her, a friendly but almost extracting smile.


    ¡°Lieutenant Iona.¡± A smile return smile came in and they shook hands.


    The start of something new.

 4: "The Fall of an Eyepatch"

    As they sat and discussed the looming threats that has descended upon the city, they came to be sharing something quite common, simple food. They each traded and said they didn¡¯t like the food they had but it was lies. It was something that brought them together for a simple moment within the army, they were something a lot more than they were before. After finishing eating, they left their stuff in the corner in a broken bin that was there, they had some down time while the Commander was planning the next move of attack.


    They began to talk about each other but the young master kept things hidden from her but a slight smile hovered over their faces, after, they both were caught to the attention of a large explosion that had happened closer into the town square. He rose to his feet and caught something out of the corner of his eye, something that seemed to be emanating from a particular person, more so the large explosion came from a magical disperse. This disperse was the Grand Marshal, engaged in combat. He closed his eyes and an aura became him, the lieutenant watched as he pinged, in a sense. More so he sent converted pulses of magical energy throughout the city, picking up on different people and the epicentre of where most of the explosions were coming from.


    When he had realised that both commands, enemy and ally were engaged in battle. His eyes opened and he looked at her.


    ¡°I need to make my leave, I¡¯ll mark some places on the map quickly where our troops should form and band together.¡± His speech was rushed and a sense of haste came about him.


    She handed him a map and he marked on it certain sectors of the city, those being the ones which had taken the least damage and had sustained the most losses, the places were the fighting had ceased and it was more likely to be used as an escape route and travel routes to access other places easier. After doing so, he made his way out of the broken window and was on the inn roof, he quickly dashed across it and made his way through over the buildings.


    The city had become even more destroyed and ruined than before but a lot of the buildings still stood, the large clock towers were standing and the church had barely been touched, the Imperials wouldn¡¯t consider condemning the falseness of their own god which everyone worshipped in their different ways. He slid and stopped right before the edge of the bottom row of houses and he could see the fight ensuing on between the enemy commander and Holland.


    The sparks of both swords colliding with each other and the loud, boisterous laugh was heard, mocking the enemy commander with the eye patch, seemingly it had been taken off and something else was revealed in the way. An eye with a purple marking inside of it. Even from this distance, he could tell that something else was wrong with this and he quickly jumped down and landed in the street, rushing past two soldiers and appearing on the main square. As he did so, he saw a large bellowing man come flying towards him.


    His hand quickly moved and he put out an energy barrier, stopping the Grand Marshal from taking damage and he landed in his full white plate armour, some of it cracked. They looked at each other and smiled. He then rolled his eyes and exclaimed.


    ¡°Alright, alright. Have your fun! I can¡¯t be bothered anyway!¡± He flicked him away with his hand and the Grand Marshal yawned, seemingly not even caring that he probably had been landed a blow on. The youngster took a step forward and saw the enemy captain returning his sword to his holster and he made his way up to him.


    They stood a metre apart and he spoke towards him, the sense in his voice screamed something that was murderous but at the same time it wasn¡¯t human, it was a possessive voice that was certainly trying to domineer over the own persona he had created.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard rumours, kid. That young whore who runs this pathetic regime, holds something of a monster within her ranks, I assume; that is you.¡± A grin shuffled towards the top of his face and the young master spoke back.


    ¡°I thought the Imperial army didn¡¯t allow, you¡¯re kind.¡± He said this with a certainty that he knew what the other was, calm and collected and moving himself left slightly.


    Both were toeing off and attempting to clock each other¡¯s movements without making a mere sound. A chuckle came from the eye patched figure, planting his foot and became in a stance, holding his sword to his hand and waiting.


    ¡°I¡¯m an exception.¡± A eviller smile rose to the surface.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± The young master replied almost waiting for something.


    ¡°Well, Mr. Merizal. Put it to the test what they say about your family.¡± It became a sport of how amused this hairy figure was commenting on the background knowledge of the young master.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°If that¡¯s what you wish, Lord Neteros.¡± The ending response that kicked off the feud between two people that had the capacity to destroy the city in one go.


    The young blue haired kid decided to stand and not make a move. Neteros kicked it off, he quickly dashed towards him and swung his sword, a magical slash came towards him, the kid batted it away with a simple flick of his hand and then a sword came near to his face, he stopped it with his fingers tips and then attempted to punch the male through his armour. Much to his knowledge he dispersed the sword and fell back.


    They circled each other, the kid with his hands in his pockets and the enemy commander waiting to strike, dancing; an art of war that slowly was becoming something much more than just war. This fiendish being took out his sword again and lunged towards him, taking quick swipes which he dodged bit by bit and moved left, right, back and even past him, avoiding the strikes. He stood behind him, back to back.


    Once again, he released the sword and instead turned around, throwing punches; his fists seemed to be ignited and covered in something, a purple aura and he began to dodge them with ease. The young master then moved past one of them, his speed seemingly increasing and his knee came to the stomach, connecting with it and sending him flying into the building which was behind him. The crash of the building caused it to collapse on him and he shrugged, turning around.


    His senses flared and he looked back, the rubble had been disintegrated and this fiendish being stood with marking on his arm and his armour and been cracked due to the sheer force of the knee connecting to his amour. The purple markings covered all of his face and left one eye revealed and a large devilish scream came from him, a dark purple blaze covered him and he sprung toward the young master. His fist connected with his face and he was dragged down through the snow then thrown into a building like the fiend was.


    He came into contact with the building and didn¡¯t feel anything but rubble falling on him. He sat in the rubble and shrugged, his aura protecting him from any damage and he sighed. His release a burst of energy and it exploded and he walked out brushing the dust and debris off him. The coat he had on became slightly ripped so he unbuttoned it and took it off, tightening his tie, making sure he didn¡¯t need to adjust himself again.


    Another scream came out as the man that once was had been consumed by these purple markings and large serrated teeth covered his mouth and his opposite eye had become feral and rogue to its senses. The young master¡¯s eyes glowed white and turned from sky blue; his aura lit up more and his whole body became covered in a blue aura that began to shake the ground as he sighed, releasing more of his energy.


    In almost an instant, they came into contact and a barrage of punches had landed into the purple figures entire being, the punches so fast that it barely had time to react to them and then a kick to the head after dodging its claws came to his head, sending it flying into the air. It came to it¡¯s senses and before it did, it saw the shirted male above him, the young masters hand was glowing dark blue and electricity seemed to be sparking off it, it smashed into the stomach of the beast and sent into crashing into the ground at an unreal speed. It connected with the snow and sent it flying, cracking the ground too and it laid there, twitching.


    He landed on the floor and twisted on his heel, looking over at the demonic figure. It slowly rose and was heavily damaged, almost finished due to how much torment it had taken by just a single punch charged with the basic energy of the young kid. It rushed towards him again, it¡¯s speed seemingly increased but it was stopped by a mere finger.


    A word was said as the young master looked at it.


    ¡°Decay.¡±


    The purple being began to scream in pain and it was covered by a white light that slowly burnt it away and it flared up, the white fire completely decimating it into ash. The being screamed and the purple mark exploded, letting off a large and fierce shade that began to dissolve into the air. The young master powered down and he finally came to a stop, his body wasn¡¯t barely touched and he was approached by the Grand Marshal who seemingly looked fine too, apart from the broken armour he had also had no damaged done to him. They both gave an intricate look at each other, then one questioned the other; placing a question into his head.


    ¡°That guy, was a demonic infused, wasn¡¯t he?¡± This question was whispered for if the instance of demonic was even mentioned the whole world would turn backwards.


    ¡°Yes, it was. We¡¯re lucky that barely anyone else knows, otherwise we¡¯d have a real issue on our hands.¡± He spoke firmly and softly back to him.


    As they walked over, something began to dredge in the young master¡¯s mind, something that he couldn¡¯t really think of as normal. A demonic infused, someone who has demon energy placed inside of them and uses it as a conduit but in this case, not a compatible one and attempted to annihilate the entire place. Luckily, the host was weak. He remembered all too well about these things and knew that if he ever came into contact with a real one, he¡¯d have more trouble on his hands that he¡¯d be able to deal with without trying. If he even tried to think about it, it was too much effort. He didn¡¯t care for something as petty as fighting demons or even to experiencing the lustful act of intercourse with everyone that tried it on him.


    Profoundly; he was shocked. He wanted to travel the world and he was, while fighting an ongoing war with the people that once were one. The jacket on the floor he had passed didn¡¯t faze him and he continued to walk with the Grand Marshal, him only slightly laughing, more so forced and complimented with the manly and obnoxious laugh of a man whose age was beginning to show amongst him. If words came into his mouth that he wanted to say, he restricted himself due to the acknowledgment of the prominent issue which would arise. A theory, a lie, a legacy would reveal amongst his feet and he¡¯d be forced to live the life he never wanted to live.


    So, it was, the battle was coming to a close but the war was far from over.

 5: "The Guardian"

    They had arrived back at the camp, most of it was empty and only a few regiments remained including the Royal Guard which had been posted all around and were searching the camp, patrolling, as they did. When they got back into the Command Tent, it was empty, and the tempered little ferret had not arrived on the scene yet, she wasn¡¯t present yet and her snow-white hair wasn¡¯t even glimmering around the place. The two maids that rushed out of the room of the Queen were complimented by a raging little ferret that looked between the two and her eye was twitching, and she interrogated them but then one of the maids whispered into her ear.


    A smile came across her face and she rushed over to the young master and hugged him, placing her arms around him and was rushing words out of her mouth. Praising the kid was the least of her worries, something hidden in her was rushing out. A feeling, sensuality in the form of a hug. He could feel her warmth and her short, yet able body lacing onto him like he was a long-lost sibling or something similar. She pulled away from him and grabbed his hand, leading him away to her private chambers, the intent and purpose wasn¡¯t harmful. There was a sibling feeling almost between them seen he was anointed her protector by the previous kind almost ten years ago when he was only a young kid.


    ¡°Lain! Look, it¡¯s the peak of beauty!¡± As he twisted his head, even he couldn¡¯t resist the sight that was being placed into his head. The dark yet illuminating sky with stars that were floating around giving the utmost respect to the sky.


    She sat down on the outside, the conservatory that was on the peak of the hill, extending from the main tent. It was a space that could hold three and still feel comfortable, he sat down, and he looked at her and gestured, she looked away while he undressed.


    He stood looking at the mirror that was behind a divider and his shirt and armour rest upon the top of it, he had enchanted it, so it wouldn¡¯t break the concealing barrier. His figure was well built yet not over extensive, he sighed, and his energy seemed to seep out of the very cracks he tried patching, she caught a wind of it, moving over to him and she peaked around speaking softly towards his manner.


    ¡°You know, you don¡¯t have to burden yourself with all of the troubles of the world.¡± It was almost like a feint whisper and he understood her words and smiled.


    ¡°Your majesty, I honestly wish I had that capacity. Your father gave me a purpose and for that I have to bear a burden.¡± He spoke formally, his abstract way of attempting to avoid the interaction of him having a part of his bear body released.


    Her tone changed.


    ¡°Drop the formality, Lain. You aren¡¯t someone that used to worry about these things, you¡¯ve grown curious and are beginning to explore, aren¡¯t you?¡± She had become behind him and had her arms around his neck, on her tip toes looking up through the mirror at him.


    She had hugged him, more distant from a lover but she adored the presence of the young male, he nodded and jittered, taking a dark blue top from the crate to his left and putting it on, tucking it into his trousers and he felt his wrists, rubbing them and sighing. His natural aura without the magic was intimidating enough and he didn¡¯t need to cover it up to her.


    Despite her being in her gown, the young queen decided move over to the edge of the window where they had originally been watching the stars and she undressed too, he didn¡¯t look but he had caught her figure, curves and the thinness which made her. Despite it, she was more than physically fit; her stamina could probably even push the young master to try even a little bit.


    He had come out of hiding and she stood there, almost peering into the stars, he barely looked at her and then she turned; in her underwear, she wasn¡¯t barely anything more than a person. The attempt she was making to captivate him wasn¡¯t working and she knew it never would, she commented to him.


    ¡°Lain, do you think I am strong enough?¡± Her doubt filled her head and he jerked his head, towards the dress on the hook which had been hung up.


    As she moved towards it, he spoke in his soft yet somewhat all-knowing voice but instead he was giving her something of a moral advice.


    ¡°Being strong comes in the form of having the courage to stand up for something you believe in and never let it go, your father believed in what his cause; you believe in it too. You keep that going and it¡¯ll never leave you, not for a long time.¡± These words entered her ears and she was inspired but she got dressed and energetically ran over to him and kissed him on the forehead, walking off from the tent and out. In a flash of the moment she was gone, and he turned back to the mirror. His hand reached for the uniform and the internal inspection was debating whether it was suitable, more than so.


    The sleeves were long, and he put it on, the collar was dark blue and commented with a light grey border and the cufflinks were six on each arm and in a circular shape, the white metal commented the grey inner top and the dark blue outer shell. The middle had the emblem on the left top side was a royal animal, more so a white dragon. The rest revealed his shirt he had tucked in and the new tie had placed on. A white shirt with a black tie and he sighed, carefully concentrating his aura into him and concealing it completely.


    He twisted his foot, planting it and moving out of the tent, as he did he was greeted by the royal vanguards, escorting her into the carriage which had waited outside. She was heading back to the Royal Capital in light of the recent win within this region, the city has been in turmoil and now it¡¯s over, he had a mission too. Investigation, it wasn¡¯t really what he was supposed to be doing but it wouldn¡¯t take long so he had to take a look at something he had missed.


    He left the tent and two soldiers approached him, nodding towards him and he put his hands into his coat pockets, another he had picked up from the clothes hook that was left in her room. Of course, the royal designer was one of the only people that acknowledged the frequency of becoming between the Queen and her adoptive brother, if you can call her that.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The stars in the night seemed to shine brighter than they had done before, and they were mental barrier that kept him in check, before he made his way off, a wave came to his view. The young queen made a face at him and saw him off, the carriage slowly began to pull away and then he was approached by another person of Command; Commander Luther. This young man, only ranging around twenty-four, looked at him and nodded.


    ¡°My lord, we¡¯ve made preparations for you to join the Queen at the summit within twelve hours, you are in turn of that, aren¡¯t you?¡± He spoke as they stood side by side next to the road and watched them leave and the snow parting as it did.


    ¡°Ease up, Luther; we¡¯re not in the mainland.¡± He smiled and spoke almost coldly yet like it was a necessary thing to say to him.


    He began to stretch and yawn, the commander¡¯s formality dropped, and he seemed tired more than anything else. As was expected of the one who currently the head of one of the three main noble houses.


    ¡°I suppose but, come on¡¯ L, this is a bit sketchy even for you.¡± He turned to him and looked at him then back to the carriage off in the distance and the yell of an immature woman who couldn¡¯t control her temper.


    Luther¡¯s short dark orange hair began to blow in the breeze and the snow had stopped a while back, no wonder wasn¡¯t wearing a hat, or he would have covered his head up. His whole stature was similar to the young master¡¯s in relation he didn¡¯t seem like the most built of people, but he could also hide his true presence and restrict his body from fully reacting with his internal energy. Both of them sighed and were almost in tune with the constant bullshittery that came up when dealing with the issues of immature girls.


    ¡°It is sketchy, I¡¯m guessing you know about what they were after.¡± He spoke calmly.


    ¡°Of course, some of my men found the place but were too afraid to enter, I assume magic.¡± Caution in his tone gave something of a doubt within the young masters.


    He brushed his blue hair to the left and nodded at him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get to work then, Luther.¡± He nudged him, and he began to walk away from the camp, the other commander spacing out and then turning around and running off with him, getting out of the way.


    *


    They came to a stop outside of a cave that¡¯s mouth had been covered with what seemed to be a magical barrier that they had dispelled. A rush of energy came from the cave and they both felt it. The Commander and the young master stood between each other and then he began to inspect the cave¡¯s entrance and put his finger on the rock, sending off a magical pulse which reacted with a loud, bellowing noise that came from below.


    ¡°It¡¯s in there, isn¡¯t it?¡± He looked at him and he was given a nod.


    ¡°One of the Guardians, ¡®The Alpha¡¯ as they call it.¡± A frightening chill came over him and he shrugged.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll do the same routine where you solo this.¡± He gestured to the seven men that were around and told them to set up some barricades and they began to form a little outpost, using magic to conjure some basic fortifications and began construction.


    The young master walked inside of the cave and began to descent in the deep cavern that seemingly was echoing a sleeping beast deep inside of it. When each echo came across the cave walls, it reflected off it and let out. The magical barrier would have prevented this, but it had been damaged and dispelled by the fighting which has occurred within the city. As he got further down, he manifested his magical energy into his eyes; his iris changed and became white, looking around and everything became mostly clear.


    He saw scratch marks across the cave and the cold breeze of the winter flowing into his body, him; not taking it that seriously as he should do. The cold didn¡¯t affect him, the energy and magic he was constantly circuiting around inside of him kept him warm and enabled him to feel, normal. Although he wasn¡¯t. While he was thinking about what the Queen had said to him, he had ample of chances to sort this, but he didn¡¯t feel like he should. He came to a stop when the cave came to a clearing and there was a under hung rock and the beast laid slumbered inside of it.


    While standing there, he looked and saw the features of the large and monstrous being. The sharpness of its claws could slice through anything with ease, its rugged buck tooth that fell down from its jaw had a similar effect as a sword. Its fur coat was rough and spikey, as if it was a hedgehog ready to kill it¡¯s attacked with the spikes. The young master came down the little ramp and slightly slid, in the den of the beast. Its eyes awoke.


    It locked onto the male and moved, coming out of the darkness, peering its head towards the male and brandishing its teeth. Its long slender body slid up and towards the male, it stopped before the light and its magical mouth spoke words toward him.


    ¡°Little man, how dare you trespass on my terrotiry!¡± Despite the wrongfully learned word, it then began to seemingly ¡®power¡¯ up and moved closer before stopping.


    ¡°Bask in my power!¡± It came forward into the light.


    The cute face of the beast was revealed by the light and its small ears and circular eyes gave him an almost very happy face. A weasel. This wasn¡¯t the beast that everyone had exclaimed, it became apparent that smokes and shadows had hid the real figure and it looked dopily at him and rubbed its ears.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re Alpha?¡± The young master looked at him as if to pet him and give him comfort.


    The furry figure nodded and then looked at him, sniffing him and sensing something that paralysed him upon doing such, it then laid down and looked towards him as if he had just submitted to the minor power of the young master. It was unusual, he expected some form of resistance, but this didn¡¯t come, instead it was a puny little pet that had taken refuge in the thing. He had magical powers but was too lazy to show them.


    ¡°You know, the war up there was going on, you need to go back to your mother.¡± He pointed towards the exit and sighed.


    ¡°I enjoy it down here though, I¡¯m the scary guardian!¡± It responded resisting to the young male.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t scary, you¡¯re a child.¡± He calmly said.


    ¡°No!¡± He yelled and the weasel attempt to swipe the young master away.


    Its arm came into contact with him and he caught it, looking him straight into the eyes and he moved closed with immense speed and used the base of his fist to hit him on the head lightly and took him down with a single tap. A blow that wasn¡¯t even fatal but more so of a reminder.


    ¡°Stop being idiotic, your mother is worried.¡± He responded, his patience quite intact and reprimanding the beast.


    It nodded, agreeing to go back to where it came from. The large weasel was quite large and bigger than normal humans. The young master twisted on his heel and he moved towards the exit, not needing to do anything else. He sighed and was constantly on his heels for something a lot stronger and instead got an oversized rodent on his case, something he didn¡¯t want to deal with. He came to the exit of the cave and looked towards Luther.


    ¡°He¡¯s called Alpha, just guide the overgrown weasel to the forest north and meet back up with the main regiment.¡± He commanded to him, seemingly annoyed over it and the commander burst into laughter about it, tricking him that he didn¡¯t know what it was.


    When he left, walking through the cold wood. A faint, truthful smile came to his mouth and he was able to understand something more than he could ever do. Jokes, friendship. He understood as much as he did, that from here on out, it could become a lot harder than it ever would be. The coldness dripped onto his coat and he felt the wreath of snow fall on him. It had begun to snow again. Those white drops of purity rained on him as if they belonged to him. His journey began, and he dissipated into the dark light of the day, moving towards his new destination.


    The capital of the Royal seat.