The Seven Heroes chapter 1 part 4

Chapter 1 part 4

Running down the slope is a bit easier than climbing... if not for the arrows and swords coming from blindspots and bushes all around them. 

Libertine made a short yelp when a sword suddenly appeared right at their way aiming for her neck. Just when it was about to complete its arc, a shield appeared in front of her and blocked the blow. As Johann jumped to the other side of the group to block an arrow, gleaming eyes passed Libertine and decapitated the goblin that had its swing blocked. 

"They should be thinning now. We should have dealt with most of the enemy reconnaissance group." Johann said while scanning the area for obvious ambushes. 

"We will keep this pace, we need to report what is coming. The scouting groups that we sent before have all been murdered. There would be no reports reaching our king." Prince Roan said in a low voice. He is still looking around as he kept a very brisk pace. 

As Rolan ran down the familiar path that he usually uses to go back to their farm, he started feeling a really cold draft from the ground. 

"Ah!" Libertine gave a small cry. 

"What is it little miss?" Johann asked.

"The ground is cold." Despite being carried by her brother, she felt the chill from the ground.

Johann and the prince exchanged surprised looks. 

"FASTER!" the prince exclaimed as the ground from a step behind them suddenly cracked and a white bony hand shot up trying to catch their legs.

They increased their pace a bit too late though as Rolan got caught by a bony grasp. The cracks on the ground kept on growing and the bony hand turned into a bony arm. Then the head showed up. A white skull with a faint red light glimmering through empty eye holes. old tattered clothes drapes this empty husk and no visible intelligence can be seen through its being. 

No muscles hold the bones together yet the grip is tight around his leg. "Magic strings holds them together." Rolan thought. His father have always told him stories of the monsters from the south. Rumors, mostly. But as usual, all rumors have a grain of truth at its source.

He felt how brittle the bones were though so he swung the short sword Johan lent him down near his leg and caught the skull right through its temple. The blow crushed it completely yet the firm grip did not let out.

A sharp heavy blow from the prince through its arm sent parts of it flying though and Rolan can move once again. He readjusts his sister on his back and started sprinting down the mountain.

"Do not slow down. It looks like they planted skeletons to trap scouts this far out as they went up the mountain to the peak. They are slow but if we are caught again we will lose too much time and their main group will catch up". The gleaming eyes of the prince said. Since there is very little light and the prince liked to stay in the shadows, it felt like it was only the eyes talking.

The others kept silent and gave a short nod. They knew that the prince will see even the slightest of movements with his eyes despite the darkness. Libertine is now too tired and scared that she was not listening anymore and is cowering on his brothers back. 

"Tell me when you get tired Rolan, I will carry your sister." the prince then added.

"I can hold on your highness. Thank you." Rolan responded as they continued their trek back down the mountain.

It went by uneventful the closer they came to the village. The only sound they can hear were the jingling and jangling of the knight's armour as well as his heavy breathing. They reached Rolan's farm at the edge of the village without any more trouble.

Prince Roan and Johann stopped right in front of a massive man talking to Rolan's father. Even in the dark the plate armour glistened in blue as the light from torches around him hits the curves that forms a lion's face on his chest and shoulder plates. Scale mail armour hugs his form in perfect fit underneath the plates. On the pauldrons near the neck sports thick white fur that blends into his dark long mane. What made his stature so oppressive though is not the armor or the mane but the pure white iris and pupil that made their family line quite famous on all royalty though out the land. This is the 6th king of Alexandria. Kain Halcyon til Alexander. 

"We've come bearing a report my liege." Knight Johann started. He and the prince were already on their knee in a deep bow. Rolan, startled, dropped down into a bow as a reflex after seeing the other two already bowed. The king's aura of authority demands attention and that usually stuns those who meets him the first time.

The king then turned and put his gaze on the three bowed younglings. The pressure was intense and oppressive as the king surveyed who started speaking to him.

His entire aura changed when he flashed a big broad grin and rested his arms on his hips.

"Boys! Welcome back! What news from twin peaks?"

The Seven Heroes chapter 1 part 3

Chapter  1 part 3

The first few to arrive are short and scrawny. With mismatched cloth and leather pieces hanging on their bony frame, they look like kids playing soldiers. One may actually lower their guard seeing that they are up against something alike a child. The prince and the knight knew better. The long ears, sharp yet unkempt teeth and bloodthirsty eyes tell a different tale altogether. They are monsters.

The knight activated his lantern shield that gave off a faint light. First there were four creeping towards them, when the goblins noticed the light of the shield they abandoned stealth and ran towards the knight. Brandishing crude looking metal pieces fashioned as swords, they jeered and shouted as they come swinging their “blades” about.

When the four met the knight another six came into view, and then another eight after. The knight is outnumbered.

“Well, I would not have it any other way.” The knight muttered as he unsheathed a short sword that was kept in his round shield.

The knight held his own against the number of opponents; at first he was shouting a battle cry loudly, he then sang as he block blows and slash through leather and cloth. It was quite a sight; a bright light amidst the jeering, unending, sharp cutting darkness. Everyone’s eyes are on him.  

Then came the orcen. They were twice the height of goblins and three times the girth. Their massive frame supports the large two handed axes they seem to prefer wielding. Their faces look more of a swine than of a man so they cannot be mistaken for a human.  Three large orcen warriors bore down towards the knight.

The knight bashed the first orcen with the edge of his shield and created some space. He threw a sword to the bushes where Roan and his sister were hiding and shouted as he braced himself for another hard blow from a different orcen.

“GET READY TO RUN!”

Rolan did not understand. They are outnumbered, how can they escape!

He grabbed the sword as he looked around. His confusion turned to surprise as he stood. The goblins are all gone. The knight is just fighting three orcens. He then noticed a large sword decapitating an orcen from behind and found why all their enemies seem to disappear one by one. The prince prowls the darkness.

One of the orcen finally noticed the prince and turned to deal with him while his other comrade kept on attacking the knight.

“Wrong choice.”

The prince glared up to the orcen, his menacing eyes glowing in the dark did not seem to bother his nemesis. The orcen held his axe with both arms and started a wide horizontal swing.

Whilst the knight fights by exchanging blows and meeting their opponents head on, the prince fights with speed and vicious accuracy. Prince Roan ran towards the left of his enemy dragging his sword through the air and ducked through the horizontal swing of the axe. Using the momentum, he placed his left foot behind him and pulled the sword around for a diagonal arc.

The sword caught the orcen as he was reeling from an over winded blow. They only needed to deal with one more.

“Rolan Vincent Galder, take your sister and run behind us.” The prince started running and passes through the dueling knight and orcen.

The orcen slumped to his knees when he passed through.

“Hey that was mine, naughty prince!” They knight’s face showed his dismay.

“Nope, mine… that makes it eighteen to four.” The prince smirked when the knight started running.

“Hey now, come on-” The knight started to argue as he started his sprint but the prince cut him off.

“I know I would not be able to take that many if you haven’t gotten all their attention.”

The prince once again proved unreadable. He changed the way he talked quickly and without hesitation. He then flashed a genuine smile to his aide and friend.

“Thanks Johann. That fight was all you.”

The knight Johann reddened with embarrassment and stuttered a complaint.

“H-How the heck can I get mad with that? You’re unfair Roan.”

Johann then turned to the two civilians and beckons them forward.

“F- Fine, fine, let’s just get out of here. You two, please come closer to me. I can protect you. My name is Johann von Milne, a knight of Alexander and the person ahead of us is our crown prince, Lord Roan Halcyon til Alexander, next in line to the throne of the kingdom of Alex-”

“Johann, the short version is enough. I think we are supposed to be running for our lives. Silence seems ideal at the moment.” The prince once again interjected. The rest of the run was quiet... if not for the jingling and jangling of the knight Johann’s armor and his muttering.

The Seven Heroes chapter 1 part 2

Chapter 1 Part 2

When Rolan opened his eyes, the moon is reflected on a large bladed edge that suddenly jutted through the black figure's neck. An upward stab from behind the assailant, through the unprotected collarbone area, severed the skull from the body. The neck muscles and skin kept it from falling but with the bones severed the head hung in a weird way.

The body convulsed for a few seconds before it fell forward towards Rolan, the blade still sheathed on the assailant's neck.

A smaller silhouette of a boy now stands where the assailant once was. He looks somewhat Rolan's age; his hair glinted with a darker auburn color wherever the moon hits on his head. All the details were lost when Rolan saw the boy's eyes. With the moon behind his savior Rolan cannot see the boy's face but the eyes shone bright white. Rolan felt shivers through his spine; they are like cat's eyes. Though, the boy's stance gives off the feeling of royalty than viciousness.

"Orcen forerunner."

The boy's white eyes look down the fallen orc as he pulled his sword free from its dead sheath. His eyes shone in the darkness as if illuminated from the inside.

"That means an entire army should be flowing through the twin cliff's valley."

He took a quick look below the cliff as if nothing happened.

"… massive"

If he was ever surprised, it did not show. He calmly scanned the huge expanse below.

"Orcs, Goblins, Giants, Minotaur... even undead. Not simply a marauding horde, they are organized... there is a touch of a tactician here... they did not raise their torches until they know they have eyes on the cliffs..."

Rolan knew the white-eyed boy was talking to no one but himself. He has never seen the boy before, but he knows who he is. There is only one family whose male line had those creepy night-eyes; The Alexander royal family. From the battle-grizzled father-king to his 14 year old son. They normally have grey irises but in the light of the moon, it shows a reflective white. To honor the prince, Rolan's father named him closely after the royal heir. He then flinched when he noticed that the prince looked directly at him.

"Are you two alright?"

The prince scanned Rolan and his sister. Without waiting for an answer, he raised a single eyebrow as he asked the next question sarcastically.

"What are you doing here? Are you the kingdom's scouts who were assigned to these mountains? Are you not too young?"

"We are only months apart, prince." Rolan thought, but would not dare open his mouth. He knows better than be flippant in his answers to a person who can probably scare a ghost at night.

"I felt the light rumbling of the earth, my prince. I went here to see what it was." He saw the prince looking at the scared little girl in his arms and felt foolish.

"....It was unknown to me that my sister followed me."

"You should have been more careful. You had her in a terribly dangerous position."

Rolan felt the words stab through him as his face reddened with shame. "This person can probably scare an experienced courtier into submission just by staring at him", He thought.

"What is your name, friend?" The prince asked with a smile and an outstretched hand. Rolan was quite surprised with his sudden change of tone not to mention that the prince's smile betrays his entire attire.

Iron vambraces and iron chest plate over fur-lined hard leather pieces. The iron plates on the chest piece and vambraces are ornately etched with inscriptions and embossed with a large face of a lion. With just those pieces in metal and the rest in leather and cloth, the prince can silently and quickly move around. "Quite unlike the guy running after him." Roan thought to himself, sighed and looked at the direction the clanking sound is coming from.

"I am Rolan Vincent Galder my lord, and this is my sister Libertine Johanna Galder. My apologies, but your companion is making too much noise."

The prince gave a quick smile as he said a quicker "Well met." He then turned to meet the coming knight. When the knight's and the prince's eyes met, the prince gave a signal to stay silent.

The knight slowed down a bit but was noisy none-the-less. The plate-over-scale mail armor, not to mention the open visor helmet looked too bulky and heavy compared to what the prince is wearing. He also carries a modified lantern shield behind him. On a closer look, the knight is probably close to their age give a few years, his features are young yet he is as tall as the adults.

“I told you to lose the armor if you are going following me.” The prince crossed his arms and kicked the orc carcass to bring the knight’s attention to it.

“You will alert the entire invading army to my location.”

Rolan noticed a smile forming on the prince’s lips. “Not that I would mind.”

Instead of answering, the knight dove to his knees and pulled the prince towards Rolan and Libertine. He covered them all with the shield.  They heard two arrows, one after another hit the shield.

“I don’t have to my lord; your cocky voice is loud enough.” The knight smirked as he checked for another volley.

“You…” The prince started to laugh but stopped short and straightened his face. “Where are the king and the rest of the reconnaissance group?”

“They are at the foot of the twin peaks to the northwest in a farming village.” The knight replied.

“Good, we are going to need to report this… after the fight.” The prince smiled and pulled his sword free again.

“Ugh, why do you always drag me into trouble.” The knight replied with a smile on his face.

“Rolan, Libertine, please hide yourselves but get ready to run. After the first wave, we will start running for the village.” The prince said. Libertine was looking at the prince at an angle where she sees that the prince’s unnerving glowing eyes.

“uwuuuuu..” Libertine started to sob, Rolan held her tighter and whispered; “We will be alright.”

He looked at the prince’s eyes looking for assurance. All he saw was the bloodthirst of a lion.

The Seven Heroes chapter 1 part 1

Chapter 1: The Final Days

Rolan ran through the clearing to a patch of vegetation at the left tip of the twin cliffs.

Living in the mountainous regions at the southernmost tip of Alexandria have made Rolan surefooted and nimble.

No cartographer or adventurer ever returned from the lands south which also made him inquisitive and curious.

His head had a thick cover of auburn hair while his eyes shows a hint of bright blue. Through the bright questioning eyes is a mind that thirsts for knowledge.

His thought races as he throws himself to a good vantage point at the top of the cliff. Excitement fills his lungs with short breaths.

Something finally stirs from the south.

Rolan peers across the cliff squinting his eyes trying to see through the thick blanket of darkness.

"Rolan! We have to get back inside! Dad will be mad!"

"Shhhhh!!! Libby, be quiet! why did you follow me? I told you I will be back."

"You had that feeling again? The one that always mean there's trouble?"

Libertine is Rolan's 8 year old sister. her brown hair is gathered behind her head and braided into two pigtails. Like most young siblings, they do nothing but imitate their older brother or sister.

She idolizes her dear brother. When he is studying numbers, maps or reading, she sits with him while studying letterforms and numbers. When he is working in their small field, she works hard moving insects from one spot to another. When his dad is training him with a sword, She trains and swings a stick copying her brother's strokes. When he is piqued with interest and went to dangerous places, she follows him as stealthy-like as an 8 year old can.

This will always lead to his brother getting lashes from their dad. She hates when that happens.. but she can't help it.

"But who will look after you if not me? *huff* you went out again....*huff*.... in the middle *huff ... of the night!"

"Shhhh!"

Rolan pulled his sister beside him, hidden by a big tree and some bushes. His eyes are trained on a single light in the middle of the vast blackness down below.

"That is a torch... and it is coming closer to the twin cliffs. Someone is trying to cross back into Alexandria!"

His eyes went back to his sister who now peers down where he was looking. She squints her eyes as she pucks her lips out in concentration.

"Look at that face!" He can't help but giggle at his sister's attempt to look like an adventuring scout.

Libby looks to his brother and gave a pout.

"I'm being serious here! oh, and there are three of those lights now."

"What?" Rolan looked back at the blackness and found 2 more torches were lit. "Its a band of adventurers then."

another five torches joined, and then another ten.

"Brother, There are more of them now. I am getting scared."

after a few moments, the blackness is almost gone. They have been replaced by hundreds of lit torches.

"Its an army... an army from the south.."

Rolan's eyes have gone wide. His thought races through possibilities but the ideas filled him with dread. Evil creatures lives in the south; Orcs, goblins, undead and their ilk. Sure they get trouble from occasional kobolds or a giant or two deep in the mountains, but the killings from kobolds would look tame compared to one caused by a handful of goblins.

"We have to run back. Have father and the village warn our king. We need to leave!"

Rolan pulled his sister up and started to turn, His blood ran cold when he notices that the moon is now blocked by a great shadow behind them. From the corner of his eye, he saw a huge nonhuman silhouette wielding an axe. its arm ready to throw a downward strike to the bewildered children. He will die and he took his sister with him. In that short instance, he felt regret for allowing his sister to follow him, anger at himself for being too reckless and fear. Great unbridled fear. Death is coming in a strong swift stroke.

The large silhouette squealed and its muscles tightened as it started the downward strike. Libby screamed and closed her eyes as Rolan instictively grabbed her and covered her with his own body while looking at their assailant with bright yet anger filled eyes. The axe will simply go through him but he was not thinking. It was simply reflex.

He braced himself against the killing blow but was taken by surprise when he heard someone shout out:

"GET DOWN!"

Rolan closed his eyes and ducked.