A great fog was in the air… thick as meat, as the soldiers marched on through the woods of Yandersil, no more than a day's ride away from the nation's capital of Maraden, Abaska. There was complete silence between them and the only audible noises were the tapping of the horses feet and the occasional caw of the crow. Moss and weeds grew from nearly every moderately large tree, and the air was dank with the moisture of nearby swamps. This was when the only spark of conversation lit with a soldier saying, "Sure hope we run into a *witch, that'll lift my spirits". Exchanged laughter between the half dozen fully leather armored troops, then silence again.
Something moved in the weeds ahead. A soldier to the left of the lead wasted no time, shooting his crossbow bulls-eye on the creature. It was merely a deer. More exchanged laughter, then they proceed again. The soldiers were some of the finest under the king's orders, and they had been traveling for nearly a full day, to hunt down a mysterious beast that massacred a village in their direction, north. The elves were brave and accepted, thinking it was likely nothing more than a *morph. They have been occurring more and more, and all the soldiers present defeated at least one.
But, at last, they arrived at their destination, the ruined village. It was first reported by a passing trader, and news spread fast. And there they were now. The smell of rotting bodies was in the air as they passed through the man-sized wooden gates, with spike tipped fences that surrounded the village. Weeds and moss were growing on the barrier, and that green was replaced with brown dirt and red blood covering the village. All the homes were seemingly destroyed with a single mighty strike, crushed down the middle and caving in. Dwarves, elves, and half-breeds were spilled on the dirt, and as they passed by the homes, they could see bodies crushed and spiked. One was a family seemingly in the middle of dining when the roof impaled and crushed them.
Organs were sprawled across the dirt from unknown owners and others did not go much further from the slit open bellies and crushed heads. The soldiers shuddered and one of them muttered, "Son of a whore…" as they looked at the disaster. Either it was one of the strongest and biggest morphs the nation had ever seen, or they were dealing with something worse.
A dragon? No, there are no burns. A golem? Unlikely, not only are they rare but they avoid just about everything.
Nevertheless, the moment they dismounted the horses ran off in a hurry, sensing a danger that the elven soldiers did not; they were on their own. That was when they at last sensed that something was… off. Massive snapping was soon starting to be heard faintly in the distance, and it was coming towards them. They slithered out their weapons and turned to the sound, northeast. It inched closer and closer, and soon the trees in the distance started swaying and the crows flew from the danger.
Then it was finally there. It was not a morph, a dragon, or a golem. It was a creature that was wiped out hundreds of years ago, yet there it was, like the eradication never happened; with a single eye, the cyclops stared at them for a solid few seconds.
It was fully armored other than the belly, stood fifteen meters tall and a steel club was clipped onto the back. The men watched in awe and terror as its roar shook the very trees and pulled out its club. It ran at them with such speed that the commander could not give the order to fight. Instead, the club swung at him first, beating him to the ground in exploding gore. Crossbow bolts were fired at it, and some were even aimed at the eye, but those missed and the rest hit ineffectively at its large bouncing belly. It roared once more and swung its club, this time to no avail as the soldiers rolled and backed out of the way.
One of the elves quickly got close enough to it that he could send his excalibur blade right into its calf, but the blade got stuck and instead of leaving the weapon he tried to pull it out, leading to his demise as it swung the club yet again, hitting the soldier and sending him flying to be impaled in a tree. He slumped over with his blood dripping from the very barks of the branch.
In that very moment, a bolt managed to hit it dead in the eye, causing the creature to scream and squirm for a while. One soldier took the moment to stab its belly and attempt to slit the belly open, but the cyclops grabbed him, and, just like a pulpy fruit, squeezed the life out of him.
The final soldiers tried to run, but met the same fate as the others. Only one got away, by pretending to be dead he managed to escape death, ironically. The cyclops chuckled and mumbled something before walking off, and the "brave" soldier ran.
2
It was a dream -no- a bad dream, Sebastian knew that much as he saw what laid before him. No matter how much he ran, he just could not grab her hand. Melina just kept walking through the darkness, calling for her lover's name. "I'm Here!" He shouted, yet she did not hear.
He woke up in a cold sweat, and the *Nightmare on his shoulder gave a quick hiss before scurrying off to who knows where. He quickly sparked a candle to life to see if his love was still there, sleeping silently under the silk and cotton sheets, and without that wretched blindfold. His true love. Yet… he could not marry her. Elves were not allowed to marry, let alone see a female without her blindfold. Other than a witch, a female elf was considered the most beautiful living thing. Only witches did not have a blindfold to cover the most beautiful thing about them, their eyes. A woman elf's eyes were considered too charming to men, so they gave them a blindfold at twelve as a sign of honor and womanhood, using their extraordinary levels of magic to see.
Yet here she was, free without one. If anybody saw what they did when they were alone, they would be executed. But it was all worth it. In his heart, Sebastian was married to Melina. He put the candle on top of a holder before putting his clothes back on. He left a note for Melina were his imprint was, saying:
"My Dear Melina,
"I am deeply sorry I had to leave without you, people are getting more and more suspicious of us so I had to leave early. Don't worry, my love, I'll make it up to you. Much love,
Sebastian"
He exited her tower without making a sound, even the rats could not tell whether he left or not.
3
Morning came. The sun peaked just above the twin mountains, releasing a beautiful sunset that consumed the city of Velcore in light. The city was already bustling with life in the early light, Elven guards marched their fist patrolls, store fronts received their first customers, Demi-human slaves were assigned their first chores, criminal dwarves pickpocketed their first victims, and lizard men known as epochs were preaching. The city was on high alert since the increased disasters occuring to villages by a mysterious beast, but this did not stop their bustling joy, pain, and most of all, work.
Within this crowd was Sebastian, working his way to the astronomy tower, which was unfortunately half the city away from his beloved's home. He stopped to watch the disgusting and prejudiced beheading of demi-humans who refused a life of slavery, getting their wish when they said that they "would rather die".
"Bear witness to the execution of the great betrayal of a royal servant to the house of Makina!" An announcer shouted above the crowd, as a demi was locked into the guillotine. "This one, a mere servant, was in love with the son of the house, and even plotted to elope with him! Divine punishment and a swift merciful death is what she shall meet!"
The Demi didn't struggle, instead she looked towards a man being forced to watch as she was begging and crying to have the man make them stop. They no doubt were in love, but this cruel world offered nothing for them. That was the consequence he and Melina would meet should they ever get caught.
People were complaining about taxes while the wealthier talked of sex and alcohol. Elven women were wearing their blindfolds and several dwarves tried to rob him from his gauments, but they would receive nothing for his belongings were kept in a magic storage he could use at any time. Soon Sebastian started thinking about the reason most dwarves were now lowly criminals, taxes. The taxes were heavy and used to fight the nation's war with Atlantica, the neighboring nation not under the rule of a king. Dwarves were short and only good at one thing that did not make much money: smithing. They were constantly running out of stock because of soldiers taking whatever they pleased from any weapons department.
Several times through the walk soldiers asked him to name himself and where he was heading. He responded honestly and their response was the same every time, disappointment. The soldiers were growing increasingly restless and the only way they could blow off steam was burning a "dark *witch" and executions of slaves, the rest of their day was nothing but patrolling the same areas over and over.
When the sun was just above the mountains he arrived at the white astronomy tower, it towered above all other buildings and towers within a hundred yards or more, a white brick building with a golden roof that shined enough to blind. He opened the doors and was greeted by his dear old friend, Greshal, also known as, "The Massacring Orc''. His voice was deep, but very kind, so much so it did not shake the foundations a person was standing on. He was wearing his notorious Askaardo pelt armor with Chainmail and the skin of the great wolf Askaardo over it with signs of battle present via cuts and tears in the precious wolf skin. His skin was dark green and two large teeth stuck out upwards, like any other orc. They approached each-other, with Greshal looking down at Sebastian.
"What is a warrior like you doing in an old, crumbling building like this?" Questioned Sebastian, looking up at the orc.
"Me questoneth that as well. Me was called here under 'important business', top secret apparently, so me could not tell thee even if me wanted to." Replied Greshal with a shrug.
Somebody called Greshal's name, and he waved goodbye before running to the voice, the footsteps light and contradictory to his weight. Years of battle taught him to stay light on his feet like that, a sign of a true warrior.
To his far left were spiral stairs that escalated all the way to the top, and it took him a solid ten minutes to finally reach his study. Books and stray papers littered the place and looking through them was no other than the head of the tower, Argon.
"You need to learn to tidy your place, mister sebastian." Argon stated.
"Master Argon," Sebastian said, kneeling. "What brings you to my study?"
"Mister, you have the top floor due to your accomplishments in astrology and predicting many great disasters, is that right?"
"Yes."
"Well, a prophecy has transpired. Do you know what I'm talking about?"
Sebastian shook his head. "I know not."
"The prophecy is about the return of long forgotten creatures, and as a great seer yourself, I thought maybe you would know something of this."
"Ancient… creatures?"
"Yes. A cyclops was seen, and it is the one destroying the villages. Poor sod barely made it out alive."
That was when Nathaniel, a vulgar dwarf and long time friend of Sebastian, bursted into the room, his beard was down to his waist with an ax secured on his back and wearing his rugged leather armor.
"Sorry, did not mean to barge, but I must speak with Sebastian."
"You can have him once he answers my simple question if he knows anything." Argon bargained.
"No, sir." said Sabastian as he walked out of the room with Nathaniel, then gave him a good punch on the shoulder. "What are you doing?! That was Argon, the headmaster!"
"Pfft!" Nathaniel snorted. "Master my bloody arse! That son of a whore has no ploughing respect for others or their privacy! Couldn't you see he was looking through 'yer notes?"
Sebastian shushed him, then asked, "What did you need to talk about?"
"The bloody queen wishes to speak with you. I was merely fetching you, she asked for me to come to her and-"
"Alright, I get it!" Sebastian exclaimed. "But why does she want to see me?"
Nathaniel snorted, then continued, "Gods if I bloody know. She just wants to see you, but you can't go looking like that." He then pointed to Sabastians attire. "Need to look top notch for the queen."
4
Nathaniel had fetched Sabastian a carriage, and soon he was on his way to greet the queen. It was not his first time, however. They were fairly acquainted, she came to congratulate him several times on his achievements. That, however, was not important at the moment. Why did the queen want to see him? The carriage thumped and bumped along the way, to match his racing heart and his shaking body. For a solid twenty minutes this went on, a ceaseless cycle of wanting to understand and trying to understand, until the carriage at long last arrived at the gates to the castle at the top of the mountain, towering over the city below. The city had no walls, only a gate that closed the gap between the mountain range that surrounded it to the north of the city, and what a defense it was. Mountains were always an essential tactic in war so for the grand capital city to be surrounded by mountains was a great protection against invaders. Of course, all other towns and villages were not safe under the mountains, but that was not important. All that the current king truly cared about was his own pigged out life. Maraden was a very flat nation, and mountains were rare, which gave the opposing nation full of forests and mountain ranges a large advantage, yet the king declared war out of desperation from lack or resources anyways, they were destined to lose, but Sebastian did not care much. He would only step in if his beloved was threatened to be taken away from him, then and only then would he fight.
Guards met him at the gate and they instantly recognized him, letting him through to have a word with the grand highness. Once inside the towering building of white brick, it was… rather cold. The sense of isolation and the pure emptiness of the castle, with paintings of the dead looking at him as he walked through the halls, gave him the pure sense of freezing cold. The castle was long gone with life, only reminders of the dead remained here. It was not once as it was, the old king would invite many to come to his banquets and the place would be bustling with life, and at one of such parties was where he met his beloved.
The party had started to slow down and the ladies and gents were to slow dance together, but Sabastian had not come with a maiden, despite the law of elven marriage not being in law yet. Sebastian had believed that love and marriage was nothing more than a lie. That was when he met her. Hair blonde as gold, body thin yet not skinny, eyes green as emerald. The only one not on the dance floor, clapping and smiling although, as he later found out, she was actually in pain for not having a man to dance with. He approached her and they only talked, but even just that was enough for Sebastian to go against his own beliefs and invited her to dance in the courtyard once the party was over, "my treat and it is also my pleasure to do so." They danced all night until the morning came, he felt so… enchanted. Never had he felt such… a purely indescribable feeling of deep caring and desperation to do so. That was the night, when the morning two bells chimed with the sky pitch black, he betrayed his word when he kissed her lightly on the lips. She merely smiled and did not say a word, they continued dancing their endless dance, and it was Sebastian's greatest night of his life. The night he changed forever. The night he found a reason to live and fight. They agreed to become lovers that very night and no more than a few weeks later they decided to marry.
But the king died and his first son took the throne, and the rest is history. They were never able to marry, never able to start a family of their own. All they could do and the only way they could keep their love secret, was do what all the other elves (who failed and were executed) did… make a plan to keep their love. They only saw each other once every few days to make love, and Sebastian could not stand it. Already they were making plans to run away, but none of them would seem to be able to work.
That enchanting night when he met her at the castle was not the same castle now. At least, not emotionally. This castle was barren and empty of all joy. He lost himself in thought and was already at the queen's chambers, following the instructions that the guards gave him.
He entered without knocking and came inside. Empty. Or, at least, he thought it was until he saw her in the dark end of a corner, smoking a pipe.
"Greetings, I believe we have already met, yes? I'm Queen Rose, and you are Sebastian, an astronomer."
"Yes, ma'am." Said Sebastian as he kneeled before her. "Why have you called for my presence?"
"You probably have been told that there is a prophecy that has occurred, yes? Of ancient creatures returning from their eradication?"
"Yes madam, my headmaster told me to keep an eye out for anything related to this in the stars."
"Good for him, the complete fool. Do not, I repeat, Do not, tamper or try to do anything to this prophecy in any way. It is too unknown, and considering we are already at war, so if something like an ancient powerful creature were to be accidentally summoned it's going to be quite the distraction."
That was when coincidentally, and ironically, the city's emergency horn sounded. Even from inside a whole mountain above the city, it was still brutally loud to the ears.
Melina. He had to get to Melina, as unsafe and foolish it was, for she knew her way around, and would likely just summon herself outside the city at the first danger, he had to get to her. Was it beyond his character? Yes, but… a sudden urge told him to do so. And he was never one to disobey his gut.
So, despite the Queen's warnings, he hurriedly ran out of the room and to the vast hallways and out the front gate, with soldiers getting ready for battle just outside them.