2021-11-24 16:48:20"Why?" The pained look of betrayal in her eyes nearly killed Edvard, yet he stood his ground.
"Please, go..." It came as a whisper, and instead of keeping up her act, she smiled. A smile of the devil.
"But it is you or me. You know the rules."
"Nooooooo!" Edvard shouted as he focused the bow on her heart, "Gooooo!"
"I can't." She said, a dagger suddenly appearing in her hand. The sight nearly causing Edvard to lose his grip on the bowstring and the arrow trained at her heart.
"Why? Why not just turn around and leave?" Edvard asked, his voice constantly breaking as his wife took a step forward with the daggers. Yet, he couldn't let the arrow fly. "WHY!?"
"You know the rules." The devil in his wife's appearance said as she jumped forward, Edvard throwing the bow to the side and blocking her strike with ease. Her strength was impressive but nowhere near to that of an orc.
"Just go!" Edvard shouted as the two struggled. Edvard trying his best to disarm her without harming her and she instead doing her best to push her daggers into him.
Their struggle lasted for just a few short minutes, but those minutes felt like years to Edvard. All his past wonderful memories tainted by this... This devil!
In the end, he managed to disarm her. Yet, no matter what he told himself. He just could not bring himself to harming her. Pushing her to the ground and tying her hands, Edvard sat down and breathed out as he finally relaxed. Throwing the bloodstained daggers to the side, far away.
"What now?" He asked, staring at the woman thrashing on the ground and trying to now bite at him. The sight broke his heart. He did not even take in the fact that he was bleeding out, nor how many cuts covered his body.
She refused to reply, but her actions made it clear. "I won't..." He said, picking her up and starting to move with her to his home. Only for the world around him to melt and his sights to blur. Whether he died from blood loss or if it was something else was unknown.
The last memories he had were the two laying in the dirt, her warmth warming his heart and her actions confusing his mind.
...
Half dead, Maxwell walked towards what he assumed was going to be but another illusion like so many before. Falling into the oasis he didn't realize what was going on until he almost drowned. With frenzied movements he struggled back up, his lack of an arm nearly costing him his life.
He did not rush out of the water instead, he enjoyed its cool and refreshing feel on his burnt skin as he sated his thirst while swimming in joy. Not a single care for the world around him. He enjoyed himself until he became too tired to swim, and only then did he climb out of the oasis spring.
Moving to the shade of one of the many trees of the oasis, he rested and smiled and laughed as he realized he might just survive. He had no plan from here, but at least he won't die in the sun. Over the past few days, death had been too close and he had turned half-mad from dehydration.
Luckily the cacti he had dared to milk for fluids had not been poisonous, or he would no longer be here. Though a few had been hallucinogenic.
'Dammit, this can't be earth. The sun is weird and there are no buildings, most deserts on earth have been reformed into cities. The only place where that isn't true was where our lab was. And I would have found it by now!' He monologued as he thought of how he would die in this oasis.
It was a more pleasant death. Not in a day or two, but it would certainly be his last resting place. He would fight to survive, but he didn't have any grand ideas of being able to ever leave this little piece of heaven on earth.
As he layed and enjoyed the shade after days of being in the sun, he realized this more and more. He had nothing to take water with, leaving the oasis would be a death sentence to him. As such he stayed, days turning into weeks and weeks into months.
If not for the plants similar to date palms, he would have died long ago. He did not know what they were but they were truly good. The fruits of life he called them as he settled in his new life.
...
Aneko had walked for days in the dark. The coldness from the cavern having chilled her to the bone, robbing most of her strength. Luckily on the fourth day she was found by a miner, one who had hoped to rediscover one of the abandoned mines and make a fortune.
At the time of rescue, she had hardly realized what was going on, leaning on the dwarf's shoulders as he helped her to his village. Only after having eaten and slept for over twelve hours did she realize that it was not a human who had saved her.
"Who-Who are you?" She asked in fright as she looked at the gruff dirty dwarf in front of her.
He was currently busy sorting through a bunch of rocks he had gone back to recover. His expression was not one of joy, none of the rocks were of any worth. The mine had clearly been abandoned for a reason.
Hearing the female speak he stopped his actions, already deeming it futile. Turning to her instead, he looked at her with curiosity. It made no sense how she had appeared in those caverns. Deep within the mountain with the only route being from their village or the city further into the mountain.
{"I'm Kurburi, how did you end up there?"} He replied, causing both of them to realize that they couldn't understand the other. Luckily, this did not deter either of them, the dwarf was kind and opened his home to this stranger he knew nothing about without reservation.
Aneko stayed with this dwarf who showed her kindness, trying her best to learn their language when he was home and able to teach her the basics. Quickly, the Navoi became impressed by her diligence and more so by her amazing progress.
While he could not understand the notes she took on the rocks, he was impressed enough that she knew how to write. It was not something everyone could claim to be able of in this world. Not even among the Vespes.
Like most in his village, he was illiterate, seeing Aneko write truly left him astonished. Making him wonder all the more who she was and how she ended up in the abandoned mine if she was so learned.
…
Waking up groggily, Ghakarhi struggled to free himself.
His arms burned from the pain of needing to carry the weight of his entire body. In fact, his entire body ached. Looking down, he was shocked by what he saw.
He was stark naked, his feet bound by massive chains and his hands tied by the same. Suspending him midair.
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Epilogue (2)
It was like this energy was a part of him, yet it was clearly a foreign substance. Apparently, the first step to learning how to become a knight was channeling it into a blade. Most swords made for knights were made of special magical metals and enchanted. The glow that Edvard had seen so often was the process of the metal being filled with ether. Activating its magical properties, and naturally, the effects of the enchantments. Edvard’s blade was apparently different from the norm. It did not glow when he pushed the strange energy into it. Though, Edvard suspected that was because the amount he could gather and focus was too little to affect the magnificent blade. While Edvard still had a thing or two to nit-pick about regarding the Vespes prince, he had to accept that he was only alive thanks to the prince’s ‘gifts’. While hell, the illusion had truly prepared him for the harshness that this world was filled with. “Can you teach me how you form spells?” Edvard asked. “I can’t be
Epilogue (1)
Edvard stirred, his entire body afire. Grimacing, the previous events slowly came back to him. ‘So, I survived…’“Careful now.” Abigail instructed, bringing a cup to his mouth and having him take a few small sips.The herbal tea helped soothe the blazing fire in his throat, sadly it did little for the rest of the flames. Trying to force out any words caused his chest to explode in pain, so he remained quiet. Taking sips as Abigail offered them.“I can’t believe how reckless you were.” Abigail said, Edvard noticing that they were in the shade of some tree. The gentle sound of a stream was barely audible. “I really thought you were going to die on me when you didn’t stir for two days.”Unable to form any words, Edvard simply held his peace. Listening as Abigail detailed what had happened after he had lost consciousness. Atop the horse, she had rushed with him along the main road, heading deeper into the kingdom. Stopping long after night had arrived.That night, she had cleaned most of
The orc horde (Part 11)
“He made it…” Edvard forced out these words as he continued to shoot arrow after arrow. No longer was it possible to keep the rooftop clear of orcs. The best he could do was kill them as they gathered their footing.The continuous pulling of his bow was showing its strain on his untrained body. His shoulder acts, his fingers burned, and his arm trembled. Yet, he pushed on. He had to. He couldn’t die here.He still needed to find Yawen. He still needed to find a way home.The screams from below had long since died. The knights had fought valiantly. But valiance was not enough to turn the tide of a battle.“Are we going to die like this?” Abigail asked, forcing herself to stay calm and take deep, steady breaths. Collecting her focus and doing her best to gather the ether in the surrounding. Thanks to overusing magic and a lack of sleep, her mind was already foggy. Yet, she pushed on.“That… isn’t… part… of… the plan.” Edvard replied between the twang of his bow. Luckily, he had more tha
The orc horde (Part 10 – Salvation)
Edvard took a deep breath and calmed his heart. Abigail was next to him, responsible for blasting any orcs who made it to the roof, back to the ground. She was still tired. Unlike Edvard, she had no sudden recovery thanks to a strange magical sword.Yet, she was determined. She took deep, steady breaths, focusing on the surrounding and doing her best to remain calm. The destruction of her hometown had certainly sent her heart into shock. She was ready to accept that none of her family had made it out.Even so, she had many friends in the town. She hoped and prayed that some of them might still be alive.“You ready?” Edvard asked, his targets in his sights.“Yes, let’s do this!” Abigail replied, determined to fight to the last. Even if their mission ended up unsuccessful, she wanted to kill as many of these damned orcs as possible before her dying breath.“Right.” Taking another deep breath, Edvard could feel a strange energy filling his lungs. Distributing itself to the rose patterns
The orc horde (Part 9 – I’m no strategist)
The roses imprinting themselves into Edvard caused him to glow. Abigail gasped in awe at the sight, his entire body lighting up like he was some sort of angel. Until it all vanished, leaving only faint outlines of the roses. Like fading tattoos.“A-are you alright?” Abigail asked.“I feel great!” Edvard replied with a warm smile. Filled to the brim with energy and more confident than ever. “Let’s go see if the town is still holding out.”Edvard took the lead. The two followed the path created by the orcs when they had chased Edvard, having cut down all plants in their way, allowed the two to move swiftly and in an almost straight line. Their return taking them no time at all.Smoke was the first thing they noticed upon exiting the forest.“Ahhh—” Edvard moved quickly, stopping Abigail from making any further sounds.“Look carefully, the smoke isn’t acting normal. I think someone is controlling it to give cover to survivors.” Once he was sure she wasn’t about to shout in concern, Eldri
The orc horde (Part 8 – Tree of light)
Edvard slowly stirred, fighting the sleepiness that filled his entire body. He fought to simply stay conscious. Sleep was a tempting mistress, but his years in the illusion taught him never to let sleep dull his sense. He needed to confirm the situation. The last thing he recalled was seeing Abigail among the carnage.Abigail was sitting near a fire, her clothes a mess of blood and tears, having used her clothes as bandages for Edvard's wounds. Forcing himself upright, Edvard smiled. She was a beautiful girl, far too young for him, but he could at least enjoy the sight as the fire illuminated her hair. Her hair was no longer a shiny bright green but rather a deep dark green. Yet it was still enchanting as a shine would come through as the flames of the fire played in the wind. Edvard was lying atop some large leaves, close enough for the fire’s heat to reach him. His own clothes were tattered, his toning muscles reflecting the light of the fire. A few more months, and he would be at
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