《Stories From a Dark Place》 Story 001: Saving private Ivy Welter This is My Life Project, I decided to bet everything on this, enjoy. Story 001: Why Slimes aren¡¯t weak Year 337 of the Yulian calendar; Black Mist Forest. ¡°Hit harder!¡± Screamed the Swordswoman while slashing downwards on the neck of a Troll, replying to her, a mage finished chanting his spell and threw a Fireball the size of a boulder on another troll. Trolls, One of the 4 worst encounters you could have while traveling, 3 meter tall giants, hard-leather like grey skin, with two brownish-yellow tusks protruding out thier lower lips like the bull''s horns. One would think they live closer to human villages or roads while instead they tend to live deep in the forests or down caves in isolation, no one really knows why, especially considering their violent behaviour. The moment the Fireball landed, the fire quickly spread over the greyish skin releasing the stench of burning fat in the air, the troll blindly charged the mage while the fire was still devouring his body, in a last effort attack he managed to reach the mage. Seeing the Troll so close, at the last moment the mage managed to create a blue dome around him, [basic mana shield], the shield was capable of defending against low level attacks, not really suited to block the charge of a few hundred pounds Troll. When the troll hit the dome, his whole body was came to an halt for a moment before the mana underneath him bent, the mage observed the body of the troll getting closer and closer, however he couldn¡¯t move, otherwise the mana shield would disappear and he would die immediately. A few tears rolled down the mage cheeks, as he understood he was done for¡­ the same moment the mana barrier fell and the mage was crushed under the heavy body of the troll on fire. The swordswoman couldn¡¯t do anything as she was busy dealing with her own troll, luckily, the troll on fire died so it was a 1vs1 with the other one. The crude slab of stone in the hand of the troll created an arc ending right on top of the swordswoman, luckily with her superior agility she avoided the slab. However when the slab hit the hard ground, rock splinters flew around, one of these as if guided by the hands of fate described an arc hitting the unprotected forehead of the swordswoman and knocking her out. --------- Tomorrow Morning the rest
When she came back to senses, a frigid cold was biting in her exposed flesh, groggily sitting up she gazed down on her body. Gone Her armour, a gift inherited from her father who inherited it from his father and so on for 5 generations, it was an extremely precious heirloom able to boost one¡¯s physical condition, without it her possibilities of surviving decreased dramatically. Then, after recovering from the shock of losing the armour, she noticed that all her clothes had disappeared too, she was completely naked on the cold stone ground. Letting out a short shriek she covered her nether region with one hand and with the other her exposed c cups, suddenly, the noise of giant footsteps echoed from somewhere in the darkness, and after a few seconds a monstrous figure appeared carrying a simple lit torch in his hand, the flickering fire revealing his wild face. The Troll! He was back, the woman looked around for anything that she could use to defend herself, however the only thing that she could see thanks to the feeble light were either pebbles or boulders encased on the ground. The troll seeing his Guest awake gritted his teeth and ferociously roared while charging toward the defenceless woman, on the other side of the cave the frightened woman could only stand up and run deeper in the cave, however her run ended shortly as she slipped on something rolling on the ground and smashing heavily on a wall. Dead end! She could only tremble in fear as she saw the troll charging in her direction, her ankle had twisted and she couldn¡¯t even try to run away anymore, finally accepting her destiny she closed her eyes waiting for the end, however, it never came, opening her eyes she saw a bizarre scene. Her ferocious attacker was on the ground wildly clawing at his face, focusing more she noticed something dripping from the roof of the cave to the troll, the substance was green in colour and it seemed moving on its own. Invading the orifices of the Troll¡¯s head the substance quickly disappeared entirely, meanwhile his poor victim was screaming on top of his lungs, his face a sorry spectacle between deep cuts and something resembling melted parts. The troll tried breathing but his throat was obstructed, his nose dripping blood and so were his eyes and ears, whatever that green liquid was doing inside there had brought the troll to his demise, with his last act of lucidity he looked in the direction of the swordswoman, his eyes part red expressed a sense of sadness and regret then he fell limp. His body kept producing weird gurgles and every now and then it convulsed however whoever were to look closely could notice he was indeed dead. With her mount gazed open the woman had observed everything that had happened till now, she composed herself now that the troll wasn¡¯t a menace and approached the body to take a hold of the torch, she was still beware of the green liquid inside so she tried to be as fast as possible while limping. After prying the torch from the troll¡¯s hands she took a few steps back wary of her surroundings, especially the roof, that¡¯s when she noticed something shining in a corner, with slow steps she approached and when she came close enough to light that part of the cave she almost burst in joy. ¡°My armour!¡± Throwing away all her cautions she sped up her pace closing in to her gear, it wall all there neatly stacked, sword, backpack with rations and¡­. The corpse of the mage. ¡°Syrus¡­¡± She held back a tear and wore back her armour trying not to look Syrus body as much as she could; done gearing up, she lit flames to the border of Syrus¡¯ Robe and offered a quick prayer. ¡°Lord of Light lead his soul to safety, Lady of the Netherworld welcome him to your home, Lord of Flame grant his spoils rest, Lady of the Earth accept his remains and give them new life, Lady of Battle etch his name on the wall so that he may never be forgotten.¡± After that, torch in hand and sword beside she left the cave in big strides, with her battle armour on her confidence had been restored to a degree, if only her ankle wasn¡¯t twisted she would have ran out in a matter of seconds hacking away any obstacle. Lucky for her she had the torch, the cave was a maze of tunnels intertwining, however thanks to the torch she didn¡¯t get lost, the flame flickered in the direction of fresh air, aka the exit, and so in a matter of minutes she was already out. A grassland extended outside the cave, covered by an infinite starry sky, the light of the two moons shined gently on the dew covering the grass in a lightshow. With a mouthful of fresh air she ventured in the great unknown¡­. ------------------------------------------------- If you want another part of this story just add this as favourite
you know how it works, decide what will come next
Part 3 6 hours after escaping from the troll¡¯s den, the swordswoman had travelled for miles unsure of the direction to take, she had never learned how to navigate using the stars as reference, nor she had a pointer, a magical tool able to indicate the direction of a pre-decided place. All the matters regarding directions had been pushed on Syrus, however, now that he had been smashed to a pulp she couldn¡¯t rely on him anymore, and so she was lost in the great world, unable to even understand the way home. The pain coming from her ankle hadn¡¯t decreased, instead it was stronger than before, maybe trying to walk it off wasn¡¯t an idea as good as she had initially thought, thankfully she was driven by her sheer will to survive or either, she would have probably fainted on the ground, turning in a free monster snack. A few minutes before dawn, her haggard breath and painful legs forced her to stop and rest for a little, had she been in her prime condition a short walk of 6 hours would have been a walk in the park (pun?), especially for a knight such as her, trained since infancy to become a tireless war-machine. She finally come to a stop and heavily fell on her butt, painting hard and sweating like a slave under the 3 suns, the moisture in the air was incredibly high and coupled with some sleepless bugs, her march had been hell. Firmly planting the troll torch in the ground beside her she reached for her bag and took a see trough glass flask filled to the brim with water, she took a few big gulps before closing the flask with a big smile on her face, next she took off her chest plate, thanks to the enchantments it wasn¡¯t heavy, however the temperature plus humidity had turned the mighty armour in a steam boiler. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. And finally, she feel on the comfortable grass bed, the fresh dew partially soothed her heat problem together with a fresh breeze cooling her finally free chest. She was feeling in paradise when naturally something had to disturb her rest, a weird rustling noise coming from her bag caught her attention, at first she had blamed the wind, however the noise was inside, scared that it might be a rat trying to devour her rations she opened the bag and gazed inside. At first, it seemed normal but then ¡°frush¡±, the weird noise appeared once again together with one of the meat bundle slightly moving. Carefully she stabbed her sword point in the bundle, hoping to kill the intruder without spending too much efforts, the moment the sword stabbed inside, she felt a nice resistance, so either she had stabbed the little thief or the meat. She raised the bundle still stabbed by the sword and took it off the bag, and with a final effort she pried it open, however, it wasn¡¯t a little rat what appeared from the bundle, a weird slimy green liquid oozed out the opening spreading on the fresh grass. Where the liquid meet anything but dirt a sizzle like fat burning on a metal place filled the air, recognizing the weird liquid from the cave she jumped back, creating a 2 meter distance from the unknown menace which was still calmly oozing out and feasting on grass. When the bundle was finally empty, the green substance gathered in a sphere formation, becoming similar in shape to a deflated ball, it was almost completely see trough and with a green colour mixed with dirt, a few air bubbles moved from his bottom, disappearing after touching the top part. The swordswoman looking at the alien creature in front of her came up with a name on the moment, ¡°slime¡± because it was all slimy and lime colour, the slime became still for a full second before groggily slither towards the female knight.
Part 4 Focusing on the weird thing in front of her the swordswoman didn¡¯t lower her guard, she wouldn¡¯t be fooled by his inoffensive appearance, just a few hours ago one of is kind had violently killed a troll in front of her, a scene still burning in her mind. Circling around it with her limp leg proved to be useless, she couldn¡¯t even know if that thing had a front part or a back, no matter where she went the slime lazily corrected his movement to meet her. Tired of waiting she lunged forward performing a flawless down slash cutting the slime in two perfect halves, the weird liquid composing his body dispersed like water on the grass forming a weird and vile-looking puddle. The swordswoman stared dumbfounded to the remains of the enemy she feared and after staring for a while and only after believing it was dead she sheathed her sword and with a dry laugh she sat again near the torch. She spent a few minutes checking her bag for more unnoticed guests and after confirming it was over she ate some smoked jerky while watching in awe the first sun emerging from the horizon. His blue pale light lit seemed to give life to the world, the water reflecting lights in the surroundings, she kept observing the surroundings with a smile, finally some rest after all the fear and fights. She closed her eyes for just a moment, her tension melting away with the sun, and without even her noticing, she fell asleep, her dreams weren¡¯t so peaceful, scenes of the last night played in her mind, the trolls, the slime and lastly, but more important than everything, Syrus¡­ He was¡­. Suddenly her mind showed her Syrus death once again, and again, some times with variation, in one of those, she was the one killing him, in another, his flattened self was accusing her of his death and so on until she woke up. A few hours had passed, the red sun would emerge any minute now, her leg was still hurting but she could bear it, after drinking a gulp from her flask she went back to the slime puddle and found an unpleasant surprise, the green goo was gone, leaving a trail of dead plants and scorched earth. She put on her armour, took the torch and followed the trail, after 5 minutes she found the little abomination, only that it wasn¡¯t so little anymore, he had grown in size and from his previous ball size had become as tall as a midget. The moment she came in his line of sight, he probably recognized her, lots of bubbles flew from his bottom to the top and his body bobbed back and forward lunging like a bullet right to her face. Thankfully she was enhanced and easily avoided it while piercing it in mid-air only to find her sword stuck to him, his body kept flying with her sword and landed a few meters away, the sword still stuck got slowly sucked inside and became encased inside like a bug in amber. Shocked she took a few steps back however the slime wouldn¡¯t let her rest and lunged forward again, she managed to avoid again, but by doing so she ended putting too much weight on the injured limb and fell to the ground. Barely managing to avoid tasting the earth, she immediately turned to the slime, only to see it already preparing the next charge, his head bobbed back. "it''s going to come again!" When his body was ready to spring forward the swordswoman had already rolled left towards the torch, without a weapon she knew her chances to get out of there were extremely low. While the slime was landing, she thought about her options: A) Run away- impossible, I have an injured leg, I¡¯m not confident of beating that thing in stamina. B) Fight- low chances, my sword is still stuck inside him, if i don¡¯t find a way to get it back i won¡¯t be able to fight properly. C) Parley? ¡°hy?¡± The slime didn¡¯t even put in his face her words and bobbed back, prepared for another charge when he noticed the fire in her hands and suddenly came to a stop, his green colour darkened a bit, a reaction one could undoubtedly identify as ¡°fear¡±. A wave of courage passed through the swordswoman body, finally something she could use to fight, yes, she could run away, however, without her sword she would be defenceless when meeting something different from this goo-ball. Waving the torch in the air to scare the slime worked well, as it slithered a few steps away, then, taking advantage she used the good leg to sprint forward and stab the green monster with the unconventional weapon. The moment the slime came in contact with it, he immediately caught fire, his body burned like an oil ball before exploding with a ¡°hiss¡± sound, sending green stuff everywhere, some burning, some not, a few drops even landed on our slime-killer thankfully not producing any harm nor to her nor to the surroundings, as if it had lose his corrosion ability. Even the sword had been dropped in the explosion, hurrying to take it back, the swordswoman found it a few meters away, just that it looked different, she had grown accustomed to its blue hilt and simple yet elegant silver blade. However after being spitted out, the sword had been trough some noticeable changes, first of all the hilt had probably soaked some green goo and turned green, then the blade had grown in width and length, turning from a short sword to a claymore, and finally the whole silver blade was emitting an eerie feeling with a green aura surrounding it. She poked once with her finger just to be safe but nothing happened, so she steeled her nerves and picked it up, at first she almost fell back, she had put enough strength to raise a claymore, however the sword itself had still the same weight as a short sword! With a big smile splattered on her face she slashed the air a few times, trying to get the hang for the new sword, then decided it needed a new name, after all it wasn¡¯t the same as before. Granting the name to a sword was a big deal in Yulian kingdom, tales said that if the name you granted to the sword was appreciated by the sword it could grow in raw power, however you had to be very lucky to stumble upon the right name. Planting the sword on the ground she performed the ceremony. ¡°I, Free knight Ivy Welter, decided to grant a name to this sword so that it may help me in battling my enemies, Lady of battle Akalosh grant this little one the right to take a name from your wall and etch it on the sword so that it may fight again not as wielder but as wielded, May this sword and its thirst of blood be known by every man and beast with the name of....¡±. --------------------- This story is over, you might stumble upon the sword or in Ivy in another story, but she won''t be the main character anymore.... probably. if you have anything to say, please do, i love comments, and show support by following and adding me as favourite. Story 002: A quiet chess game Part 1 Year 1492 ADA Pareia calendar; Port Selmy (DDA: Dopo dark age, for those curious (probably no one), Pareia Calendar starts around the year 824 of Yulian Calendar, most of the records were lost in the Dark age so it¡¯s not 100% precise, more or less the mistake should be of 20 years) Port Selmy, founded in the year 789 of Pareia Calendar(I¡¯ll abbreviate to PC from now on) by the pirate captain Krill nicknamed ¡°Blue Devil¡±, since the day of its foundation as main lair for the pirate fleet ¡°sea devils¡±, it evolved with the course of years to become a dark city, fully populated by criminals and mercenaries. If you needed a forbidden ingredient for alchemy, a silent assassin or any other kind of underhanded service you were in the right place, the only problem was that you needed an invitation to come, the city was situated somewhere in the deep sea, an area avoided by the ships because of the mighty creatures lurking in the depths, few knows how Capt. Krill even reached the island, however anyone else could safely reach the place traveling trough portals. The invitations worked as keys and maps, you needed to throw the invitation in a working portal and it would allow one and only one person to pass through, this way no army could make its way to the city, the only other way to reach the place was to sail, however it was hardly possible and to eliminate all chances, the city had built fortifications all around the island. Most of the kingdoms and States around the Pangea continent had made illegal to possess an invitation to Port Selmy, and using the sequestrated invitations were used to infiltrate spies inside, however no small number of spies could pose a threat to the city of the infamous. And this is the place where today story takes place, more precisely in a tavern in the outskirts of the city, ¡°the drunk kelpie¡±. The tavern was a shabby place, only two stories tall, the ground floor had barely 8 rotten wood tables and 6 stools next to the bar, the owner of the place was an old thief Napoli, it was built with the spoils of his last hit, a merchant woman with his child, no escort beside the summons of the woman, he neatly placed an arrow in the woman forehead and took everything she owned leaving behind nothing except for the baby. Napoli was behind the counter, cleaning a glass with cloth, two big men were sleeping soundly on the ground, they were reeking with the stench of alcohol mixed with sweat, the tables were empty beside one in the corner. At that table sat a lonely pirate playing chess, the first thing you would notice wouldn¡¯t be his red hair or death stench but his limbs, he had none left indeed, instead of normal limbs he had for the legs two stumps of wood, his left arm was an hook bounded to his body thanks to magic and his right arm was an expensive prosthesis. The prosthesis was ivory white in colour, smooth to the touch except for a few dents here and there, instead of the elbow a metal sphere linking the stump to the forearm, thanks to this little tweak, the arm could move in any direction and stretch the arm to the staggering length of 2 meters. The arm ended with a big hole, when needed a mana hand would emerge, fully mobile and with sense of touch integrated, some expert could even morph the mana hand in different shapes like swords, daggers or colanders. Suddenly the heavy door opened and a youth wearing black clothes stepped in without making any sound besides the creaking of the door, the youth walked to the counter and asked with a very low voice for some wine. When the glass arrived he lowered the cloth piece covering his mouth to take a sip, then something huge landed on his back and almost made him spit out the wine. Turning around he saw the limbless pirate with a big grin on his face, his mana hand still on his back. ¡°HO! U a ninja rite? I heard ninjas wear masks cuz they be fuckin¡¯ ugly, imma rite? har har har¡± The laughs of the pirate boomed like thunders, waking up the sleeping ¡°gentlemen¡±. ¡°I¡¯m not sure about others, but I wear it to shield me against your stench, when was last time you took a bath?¡± ¡°har har, u want to lose yer tongue?¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather lose my sense of smell while near you, however talking about losing something, what¡¯s the deal with you, did you fight something very huge and mean or your mother give birth on a minefield? Seriously, I saw more limbs on a slime-¡° The hand resting on the ninja suddenly turned to claws that dug deep injuries on the youth, right when the pirate was thinking he had killed the youth, a voice asked from behind. ................................ Please comment, i love commets.... next part in around 6 hours.
Part 2 ¡°What are you doing?¡± Ninja youth was already behind him, perfectly sane, the only change that occurred was to his clothes, he left a layer of clothes to the pirate ¡°hand¡± and now his arms were visible, white and covered in countless scars. Staring to his hand, the pirate found only a strip of black cloth then turned to the ninja. ¡°har, I just tought u wanted a nice scratch, I see you are still itchi, let me give you a hand.¡± Saying so his mana turned in a sword and flew straight to the youth that avoided it by stepping aside. ¡°Do you even have a free hand to spare?¡± ¡°I got plenty!¡± The mana sword turned in a whip trying to capture the little boy, still brilliantly avoided by sprinting forward, when he was almost up the pirate his hook came flying from the right, with a jump he avoided both attacks and was right in front of the pirate. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. His hand was already ready to slice off the last appendix of the pirate, however contrary to his expectations, the pirate didn¡¯t try avoiding the attack, instead he put on a wicked smile raising his left leg and pointing it towards him. A sense of danger assaulted him however while in mid air he didn¡¯t have anywhere to run nor the time to do something, however at the last moment a miracle happened, the old man behind the counter appeared beside the pirate, pushing his leg toward the opened window. The leg produced a huge boom and a lead ball erupted from it flying straight outside, they heard it hitting someone outside but decided to play innocent. At the same time, with a push of his hand the old man sent the ninja flying to the back of the room. ¡°No more fight in here, either you go die outside or settle it some other way! Gadur, you spend all your time playing chess alone, why don¡¯t you two settle it there?¡±
Part 3 3 hours later¡­ ¡°Draw!¡± ¡°Oh for fuck sake! It¡¯s the 8¡ã draw we had today.¡± ¡°I misjudged you, you are quite good at this.¡± Said the old pirate, he had been playing chess with the ninja for the past 3 hours, thinking he could win fast he had underestimated his opponent and lost the first game, then he won the second one and from there on they had achieved only draw. ¡°you too, for being a pirate you are quite tricky, it was fun playing thanks.¡± ¡°Har, I had fun too, t¡¯s been lot since someone played with me, the old fart keep saying nah to ma invitations and the average customer in this shit-hole has mush fo brains!¡± ¡°btw, where did ya learn to play?¡± ¡°I used to play with my mother before she passed out¡­¡± ¡°Aw sorry man, how did she got in?¡± ¡°Robbed while traveling, this is also the reason I¡¯m in port Selmy¡­¡± ¡°AH! Looking foh revenge ar¡¯ya? No worries, now that u are with me we will find that fucka¡¯ in a matter of hours!¡± The ninja bitterly smiled, he had come to like the old sea fellow in the last hours, even though he talked like an idiot and had no limbs he seemed to be a good person at heart, however he couldn¡¯t ask for his help. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to help me, I already know who and where he is¡­¡± Suddenly a thought flashed in his mind. ¡°Actually, if you want to help, a few blocks from here there is a nightclub, go there and wait, I¡¯ll go get a few things from my room and meet you there, can you do me this favour?¡± ¡°Har Har! Sure, I¡¯m always in for a good asswhoop!¡± Saying so he got up and walked out of the tavern in a flash, immediately behind him, came the tavern¡¯s owner closing the door with a sigh. He turned from the door and slowly walked to the ninja waiting at the chess table, his face was calm and didn¡¯t betray any of the thoughts in his mind, in a few steps he arrived and sat. ¡°When did you understand I was here for you?¡± The ninja boy calmly took the lead in the discussion by talking first. ¡°the moment you stepped in I recognized your gaze, the gaze of someone ready to kill, secondly you are wearing Tal¡¯hashun robes, they only recruit young boys that lost their parents and want to take revenge, and lastly, the confirmation came while you were talking to Gadur.¡± He talked in an expressionless and flat tone, while the ninja¡¯s eyes were brimming with hate, just a few more questions and he would get his revenge, he almost couldn¡¯t block himself from cutting this bastard¡¯s throat. ¡°Have you, even once, felt sorry for what you have done? Killing an innocent woman, robbing a child of the only thing he loved and then leaving him to be sold as slave and suffer!¡± Unable to contain his grief and rage, the hand resting on the dagger came to life, grabbing the weapon beneath and placing it against the criminal¡¯s chin, the whole movement was so fast that the first tear dropping didn¡¯t even make it to the ground before the dagger was in place. ¡°What do you want me to tell you? That I lived a life of regret and wished I could change how things went? Well sorry, however, you and your mother were only another target on my list, after that day I didn¡¯t think about you or that woman not even once, or at least not until you came through my door.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make you pay for what you have done!¡± The dagger pushed deeper, biting the meat with its cold body, a line of warm blood dripped out colouring the dagger and for the first time a smile appeared on the thief¡¯s face. ¡°You think I care about dying? HA, youngsters can¡¯t understand, I¡¯m already 56 this year, how long you think I can go on? 2-3 years at most, and you think I still care about living? C¡¯mon, kill me and save me the pain of growing older while working in this shit-hole!¡± The boy was trembling in anger, he had come all the way to this place only to exert revenge and now not only his mother killer wasn¡¯t afraid of dying, he encouraged him! ¡°You even robbed me from the pleasure of taking revenge while making you suffer! But don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t leave empty-handed.¡± Saying so he stabbed the dagger in one of the thief¡¯s hands nailing him to the table and getting a scram out of the old man. ¡°now watch as what you built with your criminal activities goes in smoke with you inside.¡± A wicked smile appeared on his face as he dropped some alcohol bottles around the place and prepared to light up the place. ¡°No wait! You want to burn me alive? Killing me is a matter¡­ but this!¡± Before he could speak any further the lantern on the counter ignited the fire that expanded in rivers of flames all around the room. The ninja enjoyed the vain efforts of the old man to take out the knife and flee from the fire, his screams only got louder as the fire marched towards him licking his skin and charring his clothes. ¡°Please! Have mercy WAAAAAAAAA!¡± Finally, the fire devoured the pitiful person that died between screams and smoke, a few onlookers had come to see the scene but none of them did anything to help the old man, that¡¯s port Selmy for you. In the end, before the fire could burn the nearby buildings the ice mages came and took it out, even if it was a bandit¡¯s city they still needed for services like guards and firemen. ¡°Mom, I hope you saw this¡­.¡± Story 003:War-horse Story 003:War-horse Year 220 of Yulian calendar; Green Plains *THUMP* *THUMP* ¡°HOLD YOUR POSITIONS!¡± When the authoritative voice boomed thousands gripped their weapons until their knuckles became pale-white, the clanking of metal soon followed as the army planted their shields in the hard barren ground, the tenseness gripping most of the soldier was almost solid as the stench of fear lingered in the air. Flocks of Rapacious birds hoovered in the air hungrily ogling their soon to be served meal, every ten years they knew of this great banquet that was going to happen, the birds older than 30 years had already been brought there in their youth and learned happening and then passed it on to their offspring, and thus an instinct was engraved in humongous amounts of man-eater beasts, to go back to this exact spot every ten years and wait for the carnage. Wolfs pack hiding by the trees a few miles of distance, cave spiders hiding in the shadows, Thrall quietly observing from below the ground, tree-ents already extending their roots in the hope to get a few more drops of blood and many other species almost forming a spectacular ring around the Green plains, and most shockingly, each of them was waiting side by side even with their natural predators without making a sound and keeping a distance of ten steps from the actual plains, observing from the borders. Suddenly a hawk hoovering high in the sky let out an excited shrill cry as she spotted the arrival of what everyone was waiting for. A Giant Dire wolf, easily over 3 meter just in height, his silvery fur adorned with glowing blue pattern and golden looking armour pieces straped on his snout and paws, alone he could easily instil fear in the heart of any observer thanks to his ferocious looking gaze and sharp fangs. However, the reason for an army to appear there wasn¡¯t the subjugation of the royal looking wolf, no, what the entire human race dreaded was the one riding the beast. He could only be described as terrifying, 3 and half meters tall, bulging muscles and jet-black skin with 10 azure horns adorning his head like a crown, in his mighty grip a war-hammer of over 1 ton emitting a pale light, his body covered in pitch black plate armour and steel like fur except for his bare chest showing a glowing pattern just like his wolf¡¯s. The Kbrabkrall , leader of the Krall hordes, subjugator of the white king in the north, Wielder of the godly hammer ¡°Sisma¡±, and chosen for the great Krall prophecy, also known as Krimpatul. Krimpatul slowly raised his world-shaking hammer, pointed towards the human formation and opened his ¡°mouth¡±. (a Krall mouth is actually composed of 3 parts, the upper part like a man and his chin is actually divided in 2 parts that open in a inverted Y shape.) ¡°Krat Nahulun, Tharkistafreus Krellynox huhuhuhuh¡± (translated roughly since I don¡¯t speak fluent Thrall: today breakfast: krell childs in iron shells hahahahah) [krell is used for both krall infant and humans in Thrall language. A krall is already 2 meter tall when 5 years old and stop developing at 30. Also I¡¯m acutally making up a new language so you can learn Thrall with my novel.] The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Fhuren!¡± The wolf howled loudly and then charged forward with a laughing Krimpatul, right behind them came running more Krall, an average Krall was between the 2.50 and 3 meters with a skin colour varying from grey to green, being so big they could almost catch up to a running horse. In a few breath war cries and savage roars erupted as more and more Krall poured in the plain just like a never-ending wave of despair for the soldier trembling in their Tharkistafreus unable to do nothing but wait. The krall in the foremost row were mostly naked with giant dongs dangling directionless destined to distant dames , their weapons were mostly clubs or other thrash they had picked up from the ground, after all most thrall could beat down a bear in a fist fight, what use did they have for weapons? Second, they weren¡¯t even the main force, but merely cannon fodder to waste the enemy spells, traps and projectiles, right behind them followed the dreadfull main force formed, armed and personally trained by Krimpatul, the Krimkl Each was over the 3 meters and had at least two horns, their equipment was plated armour made from a green metal extracted from their natal volcanoes, weapons in either steel or obsidian mostly clubs like the cannon fodder¡¯s but harder, others gripped hammers like their leader¡¯s or shortsword(akin to a zwheihander in human hands) in one hand and tower-shields in the other. Unfortunately krall were too heavy for any kind of mount so they had to run on foot, still they were enough strong and fast to compete with any mounted knight. Their numbers were in the 30 thousands, 24 were cannon fodder, 5000 Krimkl and the remaining 1000 were between krell watching to earn some experience and six-horned krall protecting the children. Meanwhile the human forces were ready to meet the invaders, every ten years the Krall would invade and plunder their lands, by killing whoever they couldn¡¯t rape and burning whatever they couldn¡¯t steal, fortunately until 40 years ago the Krall would lose to the human side and go back to their caves. But then everything changed when Krimpatul took charge of the horde, training an army, using basic strategy and unifying his people allowed him to penetrate human defences twice, the first time he destroyed the human fortification that had lasted a hundred years and plundered for 2 months with the surviving krall before being forced to go back. The second time strong of a veteran army and without those old pesky fortification his victory was overwhelmingly larger and thus allowed him to burn a few cities and subjugate a small kingdom before the human rallied themselves to kick him out. This time he was even stronger than before and his aim was to annihilate the Yulian Kingdom that had both times had rallied the forces that pushed him back, ¡°Un nahulu¡± (tn: Never again!¡±) He swore to himself. --------------------- the horse will appear in the next chap, sorry if i wasted too much time on the krall, but i kinda fell in love with Krimpatul