《Paragon》


 prologue: World of Men no more

    In a world scarred and changed by impure intentions, new forms of life sprouted in its lands, including sentient ones, and these races started molding the world with their passage.


    Elfs erected great trees in the forest and sturdy fortresses in the plains, using their mighty wild magic.


    Dwarves constructed many complex cave sistems from one end  of a great mountain range to the other and became known as master craftsman for their meld magic, allowing them to bend and forge previously unforgeable minerals.


    The giants made their homes in the frigid tundra, were they built their massive halls of ice and stone. Famed for their strength and resilience, and feared for their runic magic.


    Orcs keep themselves to their homes hidden deep in the swamps, were none may enter except for those proved worthy. their traps and hidden ambushes prevent the unaware from entering their great swamps, and their blood magic causes much polemic between the other races.


    These races and unspoken others inhabit these lands since time imemorial, and all of them have survived by a balance of power between them, as such balance is attained by the intrinsic need that they have for one another. Of course most of the races here mentioned want nothing to do with something as feeble as balance.What they want is the much more ambitious ultimate prize: Supremacy over the land and its citizens. However such a prize is difficult to attain, and with so many different creatures vying for it, the balance remains unchanged.


    Now, at this point you might be asking yourself "And were are the humans in all of this?" they are, after all, in the mildly sad title of this prologue.Well, they are slaves of course! With so many monstrous races and beings roaming the world, what can one expect of humanity but to decay. Even though there was no lack of power, but of unity.


    Yes, the worst situation has come to pass, almost all of humanity has been enslaved, forced to work until their deaths by almost all the other races. they have been like that for so long that no one remembers what they were before, not even the most long lived races do.


    It reached such a point and such a long amount of time that it became common sense that all humans are meant to serve, and so the culture of these races also took shape around them.


    Humans  began to be bred for specific traits, just like horses and dogs, even human pets began to be coveted by nobility and royalty, becoming a fashion among them. Some were bred for strength, to tile fields and carry heavy loads, some were bred for agility, to carry messages, scout dangerous areas,hunting and games of speed, and some even were bred for beauty, in order to satisfy the lust of their masters. Tournaments and games were made around them, and with time, they were no longer slaves, they were only... tamed animals.


    After being slaves for such a long time, something very peculiar happened. After thousand upon thousand of years of being bred, the slaves became stronger, faster and more beautiful than their masters, however, they still could not face the might of the other races. And so more time passed, until there was no longer a single slave human being that thought of rebellion, it simply became something unthinkable. they ended up believing what the whole world told them... and with their will shattered and thoughts suppressed, they heeded their masters.


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    However not all of humanity was enslaved, a small part of them still lived in freedom, if you can call it that. They are nomadic, never staying too long in one place to avoid being caught by the Manhunters. There are very few reasons to justify their pseudo-freedom, one of them is because they live in the desert. It might seem like a simple and petty reason,but the might of the desert must not be underestimated, especially if one does not know of its inner workings.


    There exists no race in the known world that knows how to live in the desert besides the humans. For many years the races tried to brave its treacherous dunes, only to have the ones sent never to return again. They even tried making crusades across the sandy hell in order to enslave humanity once and for all, however the human mastery of the terrain was too great, and the desert too dangerous. Only a handful of soldiers returned, reporting attacks of massive sneaks that got them by surprise and swallowed their entire water supply.


    The races did not attempt to cross the desert again when they didn''t see much incentive in the project,as per all their knowledge, the desert had only sand to offer. However there were people that thought differently, they saw a lucrative business that thrived in the exotic wildlife  provided by the desert, including the humans. These pioneers were of various races, each helping in a different way in the goal of their enterprise. Their group was extremely successful, attracting the attention of many more people for the business and research  of the desert. After endless decades of work they were finally able to capture some "exotic wild humans" as per their own words and the business exploded. everyone wanted to look at the unexpected novelty that were savage humans.


    The business base became a giant independent city were various races lived harmoniously,well, as much as possible at least. In this time the free humans were forced to up their tactics, as the Manhunters were starting to get ground on them. This continued for centuries upon centuries, every time humanity was losing inch by inch of their desert... their home.


    This is the current state of humanity. If you have good ears, you can almost hear its death throes.


    However, there is still hope, and this hope is in the form of a woman of unequaled beauty,    who is desperately running through  an elven forest with all the speed she can muster ...

 chapter 1: Mother

    Hi guys ''n gals, today was the last episode of my favorite hero for a hobby, so I decided to put out a chapter no matter what. Now I''m tired. I''m never putting out chapters in the middle of the night again.Now please enjoy.


    Kelm


    chapter 1: mother


    There is still hope, and this hope is in the form of a woman with unequaled beauty running through an elven forest.


    She runs at great speed, passing through bushes and branches, ignoring all of the small cuts and bruises that the wildlife inflicts upon her body. She is cut by branches and stumbles on roots in the ground, but she does not stop her desperate dash through the forest. She knew she could not stop, no mater what. She could not let the little blaze of hope that she carried in her arms fade.


    She clearly remembered her dream, the dream that had ignited a fire in her heart like she had never felt before. The dream showed her things that she did not understood at first, until it showed her the child, and then it all made sense. Perfect sense. The dream told of hope, a fragile, brittle light, so easily crushed by the darkness that surrounded it. The dream also told her the way-the only way- to keep the blaze lit, and she was the only one who could accomplish it, the only one who could save her light, her hope... her child.


    She, for the first time in her life, was filled with something that had been negated to her entire kin for thousands of years: purpose, determination... faith. And so she run with all her might, run for her child, for her new-found determination, and for the great fire that might arise from this small spark of hope. She chose to believe.


    Suddenly the howl of a wolf traverses the forest, a clear signal that her masters had finally cached up and released their hounds to find her. She began to run even faster, trying to outrun the howls that were ever closer. That was when luck ran out.


    Just as she reached a clearing in the forest, some unseen rocks made her stumble and fall to the ground, her ever so precious cargo falling silently away from her hands and into some bushes. She tried to get up, but felt terrible pain when she did so. Looking at her foot, she realized it was twisted, but even so, ignoring the pain, she desperately dashed towards the place where her baby had fallen. That''s when she heard movement behind her, turning just in time to see three vicious looking wolves jump out of the thickets.


    The four of them stood there facing each other for some seconds, when the wolfs from the left and the right started, very slowly, to walk around the defenseless, harmless woman, sluggishly taking away her escape-ways. In a calm voice she said to them:


    " go away."


    The wolves didn''t even seem to hear her, continuing to trap the harmless woman within their circle. she again said louder:


    "go away!"


    As if responding to her pleas, the wolf who had stood still in the middle let out  a bark, and the other two wolfs, that at this point had walked to the immediate right and left of the woman, started a mad dash towards her, sharp teeth ready to bite. The woman raised both her arms to protect her head and neck, and both of the wolfs gnawed savagely at her arms, tearing flesh and muscle until it reached the bone. Right at this moment, the wolf that had stood still until now, started running, ready to jump and rip off the woman''s throat, now that his brothers got her arms out of the way.


    The wolfs were sure they would kill the woman in front of them, as they had already hunted this type of prey before. It was the easy type, as this kind of prey would try to run away the moment they saw them, and if they could not run, they would not stop screaming. After taking the arms out of the way of the head, it was just a question of jumping at it and ripping its throat off. with the teamwork, force and experience of this trained hounds, escaping this predicament would be a miracle.


    However this woman is not fighting to save her own life, she is doing her utmost to save her child, her hope for the future. What happens when someone gives their everything to do what they must do? when someone has thrown away their life to save something precious?... when a mother is trying to save her child? At that moment they have no need for miracles.


    They make their own.


    The middle wolf jumped towards the woman, aiming at her exposed throat. At that moment the woman, who was helplessly being pinned down on the ground, suddenly coils up both her legs, and launches a powerful kick that hit the head of the middle wolf in midair, making it fall to the ground dizzy and concussioned.


    With a force that belittled her fragile frame, she pulled her left arm close to her face and savagely bit down on the wolfs throat. She bit with extreme force, tearing up the meat and muscle, she then proceeded to, in one ferocious motion, rip the wolfs throat from its neck, in a single swing of her head.


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    The wolf let go of her left arm and gave three wobbly steps in a random direction, before finally falling dead in the grassy ground.The wolf who was latching on the other arm was stunned for a second, before trying to let go of her arm and gain some distance from the berserk woman. However, just as it was letting go, the woman jolted and twisted her arm, locking the wolfs head between her chewed arm and the ground. She took a rock that was on the ground close by and started smashing it against the wolfs head. 1 time, 10 times, 50 times. She beat on the head until it was nothing more than a mushy pulp on the ground.


    When the middle wolf came back from the concussion, he was stunned to see one of its brothers dead and the other being smashed on the ground. It was preparing to attack the woman while she was distracted, when she suddenly turned towards him. Her entire body was splattered with the blood of its brothers, especially around the mouth and down her chin, both her arms had open wounds that gushed blood were you could see the bone. She looked terrifying, and her face was distorted in such a way, that it might as well be the face of an enraged lion. She took a deep breath and screamed at the last wolf:


    "GO AWAY! NOW!"


    The wolf, completely terrified by the woman, started running through the forest the quickest it could. The moment the wolf disappeared in the thickets, the woman wobbled to the bushes were her child had fallen. when she took hold of the baby, she noticed its tear stained face. The child had cried in silent terror, almost as if noticing the predicament it was in. The woman got up, arms still oozing blood, and weakly walked towards the middle of the clearing.


    The clearing looked a little ominous and out of place, as it was in the middle of a great elven forest. The great trees and bushes suddenly stopped and gave way to some very old ruins. It was difficult for someone to identify the place as ruins, as the crumbled stones were almost completely ravaged by the passage of time, only keeping a rough artificial and sculptural shape to tell it was put there by no natural means.


    And in the center of the clearing stood a massive dark-green fist. It stood directly from the ground, as if it had sprouted from there, reaching a breathtaking 7 meters of height. all made out of a dark-greenish stone. The clenched fist was a masterpiece with everything a real fist should have, down to the smallest detail, and it even looked like it was made from a single slab of stone.


    It was definitely an awe inspiring work of art, but was also an ominous one, because the grass, moss and fallen leaves that were all around the clearing, were completely absent from the fist. It was like there was a circle around the fist were nothing could exist, except the barren ground.


    The woman walked straight to the imposing fist, knelled down and with bloodied hands placed the child just outside the barren earth that surrounded the fist. She placed a crude looking pendant that she wore inside her child''s blanket, and laid down next to her baby, all the while great amounts of blood were sprouting out  of her ravaged arms. she cuddled her baby and with heavy eyelids said:


    "I hope... the dead gods find my offering fitting... just as I did theirs... I love you... I love you...."


    Her blood started forming a pool around her, and when a thin trickle of this blood touched the base of the giant fist, she let go of her last breath, and passed away from this world.


    Slowly, various trickles of blood started going from the pool, to the base of the fist, and disappear under it. Suddenly the earth started rumbling, at first it was almost imperceptible, until the tremor increased more and more, ''till it became almost unbearable, and then just as suddenly as it started it stopped as if it never happened.


    As if reacting to the end of the earthquake, the giant fist started moving. As it came alive it started moving with purpose, it opened itself up and picked up the baby from the arms of its dead mother with astonishing gentleness and dexterity for something so massive.


    with the child in its grasp it started to gently go back to its clenched position, and the moment it finished, a mighty thunder cut through the sky and struck the now clenched fist with all its force. After a few moments, as the static left the unscathed fist, the clearing returned to its eternal silence.

 Chapter 2: Gift from the stars(part 1/2)

    Chapter 2: Gift from the stars(part 1/2)


    1 Hour after


    outskirts of the elven city of Amil


    inside an elven mansion


    Two people talk inside a very well decorated room, furnished with master crafted chairs, tables and statues, and lavishly trimmed tapestry. There are so many  luxurious articles of art that someone unaccustomed to such things would have been dizzy at the sight of it. One of them is a majestically dressed elven men, with a very pronounced belly and completely gray hair, pointing to his bad habits and old age. The other is a defined young elf dressed in leather armor that allows for fast movement of the body, with a bow still strapped to his back.


    The two of them are looking each other''s faces. The young elf sweating profusely and looking as pale as the moon, while the older elf was so red, he looked to be ready to burst.


    "..."


    "..."


    The older elf broke the silence between them, and with a very calm voice, asked:


    "Can you repeat what you just said?"


    "Yes sir! Immediately!"said the younger one that now started trembling, the calm voice being scarier than the appearance of his patron." The human escapee was found at the base of the Great Fist in the ruins near the town, together with the corpses of two manhunter wolves! It appears that she killed the wolves and died right after from the wounds inflicted by them!"


    During the report, the older elf''s face became riddled with more and more bulging veins, and at the end of it, he turned around, grabbed a bust of marble of rich patterns and master crafted designs, and smashed it into the ground while screaming with all the force his lungs could muster:


    "SHIT!SHIT!NO!NO!NO!AAAAHHHHH!"


    In rage, he proceeded to stomp the smashed bust, until only dust remained.


    "WHY DID THEY UNLEASHED THE WOLVES!?"


    "th-the commander said he had some problems with the humans in the working fields, so they released the wolves to contain them and track the fugitive... and three guards died in the commotion."


    The old elf wasn''t listening to the report anymore, and immersed himself fully in self pity.


    "My masterpiece! My prized human! gone... entire generations of my family''s work... it''s all just GONE!"


    His family had been human breeders for a long time, even for elves, and were renowned for their quality in producing excellent pets and pure breeds. However, ten generations ago, one of his ancestors had the wish of breeding what he considered to be a perfect human. He started this project, and his wish was taken by his children, and their children after them. The human that had escaped was the current chosen as the one to carry the project forward, and being the only child of its predecessor, its survivor was of ultimate importance, being the one to carry the dreams of his family. And now it was dead.


    "why! why do the gods play with me so!... if only there was another one... if only there was..."


    Suddenly he is struck by a thought that remained hidden in his mind.'' Wait... wasn''t she pregnant? yes... yes! I received notice of it being born! A white haired child... that''s it! YES!''. He immediately turned to the messenger, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in that room, and said:


    " There was a baby! did they found a baby with her!?"


    "n-no sir!"


    "Tell every scout in this city to look for a baby human with white hair! tell them the first to find it will be rewarded their weight in gold! Tell to start in the old ruins, I want every nook and cranny of that clearing searched!"


    "th-the fist too?"


    "NO! NOT THAT CURSED THING! DO YOU THINK I WOULD SEND MY MEN TO DIE!?"


    "n-no, of c-course not, sir!"


    "THEN WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR!? GO! NOW!"


    With great speed he run to finish his job, while the old elf was left in the room praying- for the first time- for the safety of his human.


    ____________________________________________________________________________


    A day earlier


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.in the dunes of the endless desert


    "So tell me, what can you see?". Spoke a weathered and strong voice.


    On top of a dune, two lone figures were looking into the distance. Their bodies were completely covered by cloth except for a slit for the eyes, and over the cloth there was a layer of sand similar in color. They were practically invisible at the top of the dune, only being exposed by minute movements of the arms and head.


    "What do you mean father... there''s nothing here to see."


    The father gave his son a very serious look and said:


    "Now, you don''t really mean that, do you?"


    Under the scorching gaze of his senior, the youth could do nothing but respond with a doubtful "No, master", right after returning to gaze upon the barren lands of the desert.


    "I see dunes, rocks, some wind blowing, mountains in the- ouch!!"


    The young apprentice''s words were cut short by a firm hit in his head. He looked up to see his father with a serious and somewhat angry look on his face.


    "Do you really think that is what the scout duty amounts to?"


    The young man kept silent this time as he went back to gaze at the desert.


    " As a Protector in scout duty, you must pay attention to the movements in the sand, the direction of the wind, the potential new settling ground and much more... It is one of our most important duties, the whole caravan depends upon it, When will you realize it Kal ?"


    "..."


    Kaleb said nothing as he looked upon the desert. He was training to be a Protector, the proud work of his father, in order to maintain and protect the caravan and its inhabitants. However, as Kaleb came to know, the work of a Protector did not end at the mastery of the sword, it also included the crafting of utensils of the trade, their maintenance and scouting. A lot of scouting. Scouting for water, for danger, for food, for a lost trinket. And its this scouting that the youthful Kaleb most hated. He saw the need, it didn''t mean he had to like it.


    "Fine, we''ll talk about it when we get back. now again, what do you see. No mockery this time."


    Giving a sight of defeat, Kaleb tiredly put his attention back to the nothingness of the desert.


    "I see a... a sandstorm?"


    In the distance, behind a faraway dune, a smokescreen of sand was being raised. At the unexpected answer of the youngster, the old Protector gazed at the oddity and announced:


    "That is no sandstorm... too quick to form and too localized. Something is stirring the sand..."


    They kept looking towards the distant smokescreen as it came closer and closer. It took some minutes until they finally could see through the smoke.


    "It''s a caravan!" spoke Kaleb enthusiastically. It was uncommon for caravans to meet outside an oasis and other gathering places, and it was always exciting for youngsters like Kaleb to see and hear the stories of Protectors of different caravans. The stories of his caravan were few as they were one of the smallest ones around in recent years.


    He looked towards his father expectantly, but the man was contemplating the coming caravan with a very serious face, his sharp eyes looking towards it intently, as if trying to discern something.


    " Something''s not right, I don''t see their Mark of Ancestry, and they''re going at full speed... They are running from something."


    Kaleb now had a look of worry on his face and, while being careful not to break his father''s concentration, He spoke:


    "To raise so much sand they must be a caravan at least twice as big as ours. What could be so threatening as to put them on the run?"


    "Few things, Could be a Great Migration, but its the wrong time of year... Could be a horde of Shriekers, but then they would not be running like that.. Or it could be.. hah damn."


    Whatever the Protector was going to say was cut short by the horrific visage that had just passed through the smokescreen. With beasts that galloped at high speeds even in the sand, lauching balls of fire and arrows of wind against the escaping caravan, and carrying with them cages and chains, collars and whips. There came the dread of humanity. There came...


    "Demons!"