《Ashborne Mercenary》


 Prologue

    I was born in a small town named Ashborne. Many years of war and conflict resulted in the destruction of the empire we were part of. Though our town was small compared to the Empires that dominate the Qasloris continent, we still had a humble population of thirty thousand, consisting of primarily farmers and craftsmen. Of the thirty thousand that called this place home, three thousand were soldiers defending our boarders from the larger empires that could attack at any moment. Thankfully we had little resources that empires wanted so they let us be as long as we don¡¯t get in their way.


    The peaceful atmosphere of Ashborne changed almost in an instant when I turned eight. Though I was young and didn¡¯t know much about the world I could tell from the way people were running around the town something wasn¡¯t right. People were dragging their children inside the homes husbands were kissing their wives and rushing off to the northern wall. Farmers and craftsmen were even being rushed over to the walls, what could cause such a big commotion.


    As I stood there wondering a blonde woman with green eyes rushed over to pick me up. This woman was my mother.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± I asked tilting my head in confusion.


    ¡°Nothing, I¡¯m just bringing you inside, daddy is going to take care of the commotion.¡± She said as her voice shook.


    My father was the commander of the garrison in this town and he was sort of a leader to the people, whenever there would be a problem my father would always reassure the people. Just his presence would put people at ease. We approached our home. Our family house was close to the western wall, calling it a house was a mild understatement it was more of a Manor.


    The doorway you enter through was massive. A statue of an old man in robes stood in the middle of the fountain in the court yard. Bushes and hedges formed a wall leading down the path to the house. The walkway to the doors were paved in Granite, and the manor itself was built from a hard oak and maple wood. The inside of the manor was as extravagant if not more so than outside. On the walls hung paintings of landscapes and portraits, in the dining room stood a small bust of the late Equilibrium empires emperor.


    Though the manor was massive, there were no maids running around inside like there normally was mother probably let them rush home to be with their families. Shouts and the clanging of swords could be heard coming from outside now. My mother had the look of fear on her face. The battle had only just begun but the sounds were so close. Mother made her way to the basement, running down the stairs she placed me in a hidden door behind a shelf.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Mommy is going to be right back she just wants to find daddy." she said with tears in her eyes.


    "I''m scared." I said trying to not let tears escape my eyes.


    "It''s going to be fine mommy will be back in just a moment."


    I was too young to understand that the moment she said she would take would be an eternity and that everything would not be fine. After giving me a kiss on the forehead my mother ran up the stairs. The sound of fighting could still be heard. after what felt like years the sound of fighting had ceased, mother had not returned neither had father. I waited an extra hour to make sure everything was over. Silence. Silence is all I heard it was safe to say the fighting had stopped and we were the losing side.


    I left the hidden room right outside the room was the body of a woman, not my mother, but a maid who had taken care of me when I was a baby. The trail of blood lead from the top of the stairs to where she lay face down. She was injured and tryed to get away from something before dying from blood loss.Walking up the stairs no sound what so ever could be heard. the manor was abandoned many of the shelves and cabinets were torn apart and knocked over. walking outside all I saw were dead bodies many piled on top of one another or lying in the middle of the roads. All around the town square were bodies, both human and some hideous demi human that had been killed. Even though I had just seen more death than many see in their life time nothing could have prepared me to see my own father speared through in the center of the plaza. His body was standing upright with spears holding him up.


    I fell on my knees and balled my eyes out. Everyone in the town had died maybe a few stragglers managed to get away but other than the few that may have lived it was a complete massacre. While kneeling down infront of my father and crying The sound of hooves clacking on the ground could be heard from behind me. Behind me was a man clad in a suit of armor on a massive black horse. He hopped off his horse and flung his cape over me.


    "Come my child no one should have to see this amount of death."


    Wiping my eyes I looked up to the man, he was an older man with gray hair and hazel eyes, he had clearly seen many battles because his hands werecalloused and his face was scarred.


    "Sir we must get moving before whatever did this comes back." A soldier whispered into the mans ear.


    The man offered a hand to me and lifted me on the back of his horse. We road to the closest town where he left me at an orphanage. The man left before taking his cape back. The cape was a black and dark red color. After collecting my thoughts I had made up my mind to get revenge on who ever or whatever did that to the town. Thus my journey for revenge had begun.

 Chapter one: Chubby Lord

    Twelve years have passed since then and I have been working as a mercenary since I was sixteen. I was currently working at a fat lord¡¯s mansion in the city of Crita. The lord offered me a handsome sum of money and information about what sacked the town of Ashborne. While waiting I looked at myself in the mirror that was hung in the living room. Though I was only twenty years old I had a few scars decorating my face. My hair was a Chesnutt color like my fathers while my eyes were green like my mothers. Thunder footsteps could be heard above me.


    ¡°Let us be off then.¡±


    The man had just come down stairs wearing a black vest with a white shirt underneath. His face was pudgy along with the rest of him and he had a great big walrus mustache. He was carrying a chest under one arm. We stepped outside and the atmosphere was very dreary not a sound could be heard coming from the streets. A servant walked up and bowed to the both of us. He had dark black hair, blood red eyes, and a pale complexion, this man was a vampire. Not like in the legends of old where a vampire lord would march his legion of the undead to a city and sack it within a night. The vampire before me was basically just a human who got a bad sun burn outside, though with a few perks, they had a natural affinity to necromancy though not like a lord who could raise an entire army with a flick of the wrist. They could also heal wounds much faster than a normal human.


    ¡°I will put this in the carriage for you sir.¡± The servant said grabbing the chest from under the fat man¡¯s arm.


    ¡°Careful it¡¯s a bit heavy, it holds this man¡¯s payment!¡± he said with a slight chuckle as the servant nearly fell face first into the ground after grabbing it.


    The carriage before us was made of wood and iron fittings, being pulled by undead horses. If you hadn¡¯t guessed by now the town of Crita is home to the undead.


    ¡°I never caught your name sir.¡± I said to the fat lord while opening the carriage door.


    ¡°ah terribly sorry, Phineas Leary, just call me Phineas.¡± He said with a happy smile on his face.


    My first impression of him was that he was going to be a pompous lord but he turned out to be a bright and cheerful man. After Phineas stepped in and sat down on one side of the carriage I followed and sat on the other side. The servant placed the chest inside the carriage which made it sink a few inches then got in and sat next to me.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    After we were all comfortable inside Phineas knocked on the window behind him and the crack of a whip could be heard and we started to move. Looking out the window I could see only a few people walking around the street many of them were Vampires while some of them were banshee¡¯s and ghouls. The clouds in the sky blanketed out the sun keeping all the citizens safe from being turned to ash. Once leaving the city gates the sun shined through the carriage causing the servant to wince a little but otherwise unfazed.


    ¡°Does the sun not harm you?¡± I asked confused.


    ¡°It hurts but it is not deadly.¡± He answered with an emotionless expression.


    ¡°Oh lighten up Claudius, not all humans want you dead.¡± Phineas chuckled.


    Wait if Phineas was calling me human and Claudius seemed to be at ease with him does that mean Phineas is an undead as well?


    ¡°I see your look, no I am not human, I am a draugr, well preserved but a draugr none the less.¡± Phineas said picking up the chest.


    ¡°Now if I remember correctly I offered you information on what sacked Ashborne correct?¡±


    ¡°In short, it was a corrupted vampire lord.¡±


    What was the difference between corrupted and just a regular vampire.


    ¡°You are confused I can see, a corrupt vampire lord is extremely powerful capable of turning many mortals into vampires and has the ability to raise an army with just a thought. Though they may be powerful they are completely insane killing anything in their path living and undead.¡±


    ¡°How does a vampire become corrupt?¡± I asked.


    ¡°By drinking the blood of a fallen vampire lord.¡± Claudius chimed in his face showed he was uncomfortable talking about this subject.


    I didn''t bother to ask anymore questions out of of respect for Claudius and the fact that I felt I could trust what Phineas was saying. We traveled down the dirt road along side a dark forest. Traveling past this forest gave me an uneasy feeling. This bad feeling soon came to be reality in the form of a giant bull like creature standing on his hind legs. It stood in the middle of the road with a massive axe in one hand and a buckler strapped onto the other.


    ¡°Stay in the cart, Mr. leary.¡± i said stepping out of the carriage with my sword in hand.


    The creature in front of me is a minotaur, it stood at least ten feet tall with broad shoulders and massive arms. Though they may not be smart their pure strength is alone strong enough to kill dozens of normal soldiers. I stood about ten feet away from the beast gripping my sword tight and getting ready to leap at it. The minotaur grunted and snorted before lowering its head and charging towards me.