TALES FROM AVRANIA
Prologue
It was a great war between the kingdom of Avrania and the empire of
Galeika. A couple of days ago the galeikan forces marched on Avranian
territory and captured the avranian border fortress Anur. Now at the
Grassborn planes a great battle was being fought. Blades crashed and
shields shattered as the rage of battle infected all the warriors on the
battlefield. The devastation was terrible as unnamed devices set men
flying across the field in a shower of sparks. Yet there one bowman in
nothing but a light chain, with a small dagger and light bow, stabbing left
and right was getting charged down by a troll from the Galeican
mountains. He sent arrow after arrow into the trolls head, but the foul
creature did not even notice it. It took eighteen arrows before the
creature stumbled a little and at twenty-three it fell dead only a couple of
inches before the archer, He was out of arrows. A horn sounded and he
could see the enemy ranks advancing with flaming darts flying over the
heads sent forth by the northerners crossbows. He duked a heavy side
blow from the enemy warrior and stabbed him in the thigh with a light
steel knife, eliminating him from the battle. Suddenly the rain of flaming
darts stopped mid-air, extinguishing themselves and started falling back
onto the ranks of their producers as if a hurricane of the power of the
Skralaité hit them. He saw the enemy lines waver and thinking he had a
chance to break the enemy lines for the so he rallied some of his
warriors around him and snatching a wildman's sword he charged
forward with a small group breaking the enemy lines and scattering
them.
It would have been a great victory for the free kingdom of Avrania if
something terrible and unexpected hadn’t happened. A shadow fell over
the battlefield and the sun was blotted out by an unnamed terror. The
battle froze, all eyes gazed up with fear. Suddenly a darkness so thick
you could not see the tip of your nose, covered everything and with all
hostility forgotten the warriors bumped into each other trying to run away
from the terror. Suddenly the archer who led the assault on the lines of
Galeika got hit in the head and remembered no more.
Chapter 1
As the bowman regained consciousness tried to stand up but a body
was holding him down. He pushed off a dead Galeikien and glancing
around he found he was in what used to be once a lush field, turned into
a blood soaked, smoldering wasteland. He was shocked as the place he
now found was smouldering as if a wildfire with the power of the Laité of
fire h
it the place. A
sh. It filled the air making him cough. As if the
constant war wasn't bad enough for the kingdom, now that a big part of
the country's army was lying dead. He was alone as far as he could see.
Apart from the many corpses and bodies covering the field, he could
see nothing else. The lone warrior walked slowly through the battlefield
covering his nose and mouth with his arms to try keep out the stench of
death and ash well out as the wind which blew and swirled around in the
dead silence as if the world had stopped to mourn the loss of life, numb
with pain and grieve for all his fallen comrades he stumbled over a
scorched troll. He fell into a person. Recognising the coat of arms of
Galeika he kicked the fallen warrior's helmet finding it flying out of his
path. Not knowing where he was heading he walked around the edge of
some flaming debris near the place where a group of bowmen of Kalus
had made their stand against the armies of the wildmen. A well made
Avranian bow lay in the hands of one soldier of his kin. As the warrior
hadn't been sewn by sword nor axe but by an arrow, the bow took no
damage. He seemed to have avoided the flame also He picked it up and
slung it over his back where his old now split bow used to lye. His empty
quiver slowly was filled with arrows, most of which were either too long
or too short, all where blunt as he found them on the field. As he was
reaching to pick up another projectile in the corner of his eye he saw
movement.
It was only a flicker of movement that he caught in the corner of his eye
but his training in the Royal Avranian Ranger Force taught him enough.
He picked up another arrow and fitted it into his bow. As he had not yet
identified the direction or location as the object or being moved from out
of sight and he didn't want to startel a potential enemy. He heard a click
as if a dart vas just placed into a crossbow. He froze. He was about to
be shot. He couldn't waste time. In one fluid movement lept to one side
spinning around. He felt a dart go through his dark green rangers cloak
missing him only by an inch. He hit the ground and instantly gained
balance, now seeing the man who shot he fitted an arrow into his quiver
and drew. Unfortunately for him, the man had another crossbow loaded.
He now had it pointed at him. Then came a gruff voice from under the
redhood. “If you shoot you die”
This man had no idea what was going on thought the ranger. He knew
he could shoot and leap to the side at the same time. He noticed the
man had a bandage on his left leg. It was soaked with blood. As if it was
a result of his thought, the man threatening to kill him suddenly fell to the
ground and the loaded crossbow shot its dart harmlessly into the
blood-soaked soil. “Now is my chance” thought the Avranian soldier but
he found himself not being able to shoot the man who at this point was a
pile of agony on the floor. He returned the arrow into his quiver and laid
his bow down. Then reaching for his healer's kit he slowly walked
towards the man. He pulled out a bandage made from clean linen and
slowly unrolled it. It looked undamaged so he leant down above the man.
Instantly the man's blood-covered hand lept for the seath of his dagger
and as it was getting ready to strike, another blow of agony hit him from
his leg. He was completely helpless. “Stay calm my friend this is a
wound that I have the skill to heal” muttered the ranger to the man. He
slowly but firmly gripped the other warrior's hands and pushed them
away from the wound. Then he pulled out a long knife and cut the dirty
and blood-drenched bandage of the man's leg but the moment the
injured man saw the glint of steel he gave a massive kick with his other
leg. Luckily for the ranger, he dogged by slightly moving to the left and
then ignoring the weaker kicks and punches of his enemy he cut the old
badge and wrapped a new one over it. He then pulled out a small veil
and poured a little bit of clear liquid onto the newly sealed wound. The
man instantly fell into a deep coma. Soon after that, the ranger collapsed
and fainted.
He awoke to a light drizzle of rain, soaking him and the warrior beside
him. He knew the anaesthesia he had given the crossbowman was
enough to keep him out for the rest of the day, so the ranger scrambled
to his feet and picked up two broken arrow shafts and put together a
splint and fastened it to his leg, the blood had not yet soaked thru the
badge so he had only been asleep for a while. He estimated it could
have been about 1 hour, so he had a couple of quick famished bite of
some lamins bred he had left. He then lifted the man and started
carrying him with what little strength he had obtained from his rest, as he
neared the other side of the battlefield he realised the supply carts were
still burning so he took the man and laid him by the fire to warm up. In
the meantime, he made an emergency shelter out of splintered wood
and dislodged canvas for the night, as the rain was getting worse. He
thought he could risk snatching a few minutes of sleep so he nestled
down and slept, a sleep in which he was unaware of anything.
Weldon woke up. He knew he has slept for too long. The rain has
passed and dawn was way after breaking. “Darn it” he said. He looked at
the galeikan warrior lying next to him. How could he have slept in such
peace with an enemy. He knew the anestesia already worn of and the
man would seem to be asleep now. He tried to get onto his feet bu got
his foot tangled in a bit of rubbish lying on the floor. He stumbled and fell.
Weldon let go another curse. As he fell he made a slight thumping noise
which instantly awoke the other man. As Weldon made another attempt
to get himself onto his feet he felt a hand on his shoulder. He stopped
and turned his head only to see the man in his blood stained red cloak.
Then the man spoke in a horse voice “thank you” then a few seconds he
fell back into a deep sleep.
He got up and brushed his cloak. He then checked his carry-on bag and
noticed he had only two more pieces of lamnis bread left. Lamnis was of
elf make. It was small, durable and ever fresh food which gave you
surprising amounts of energy but it could not last for a three day long
march to the nearest village. The battle had taken place in the boulder
plains. It was a large terrain of golden tussock and occasionally a
boulder or rocky outcrop. This continued as far as the eye could see all
the way to the galeikan border. “We need more food” thought Weldon.
When the word “We” came to his mind he thought of how he would get
the other warrior back into Galeika. It was a six day march to the border
fortress Anur. They definitely didn't have food for that long of a journey.
He looked around. Than an idea sprang to his mind. If they could only
find the carriages in which the supplies were kept. “If there are any
supplies left there” thought Weldon miserably. He tried to remember
what happened the previous day in the battle before he got knocked out.
They were winning when the great darkness hit them. It was as if black
magic was surfacing from the alter world back up to the surface. He
knew he would have to look deeper into things because the use of dark
magic could destroy the entire Avra. He looked around again, trying to
identify the location of the supply wagons. He thought he could see the
large tents as they were made with an enchantment not to burn. Yes, he
could definitely see the command tent. He slung his bow that he had
dropped when he rushed to help the other man and slowly started to
walk towards the tents.
When he got there he quickly identified where his own tent stood. He
knew there was some lamnis bread and more medication. Also an extra
cloak and the tent itself. So he gathered his gear up and placed it into a
bag he usually carried. Like always he was surprised how compact the
tent could get. Then he made his way to the supply tents. As he passed
the place where the avranian horses where cept a small spark of hope
ignited itself but unfortunately he only found corpses of what used to be
mighty beasts. Flyes and the stench of sickness filled the air around the
dead hoses so he continued to supply tents, inside one he spotted, in
the gloomy light he spotted a full quiver of arrows to replace his own and
a spear bow reserved for his commanders, taking these and a dagger he
took all the water and food supplies he could carry and extra for the
other warrior to carry, when he had gathered them he set off back
towards their improvised camp.
He had planned to travel to the nearest village, thru a forest to avoid,
the risk of enemy patrols or worse, but it would add a extra few days
onto their journey. They were both risky, in the forest they had a chance
of meeting a ankalaca, a rare but deadly animal, whose teeth and claws
where laced with deadly pionsen and sharp as freshly sharpened blades,
and other dangerous things. But on the road was far worse as there
were many forces, patrols and worst of all, highwaymen,, highly trained
criminals that struck when the night was at its darkest and the moon was
low in the sky. So the forest was the best option. He got back to where
he left his now fellow comrade and was pleased to find that he was
awake and up and about.tion.
When he returned back to the camp he was pleased to find the other
man was awake, nibbling on a bit of galeikan way-bread. “Glad you're
awake” he called greeting in the common tongue. “Kulm” called the other
man as Weldon approached. Kulm was a word in western Galeika used
for greeting unknown people. “What happened to this place may i ask,”
continued the man. “And by the way Sir, you can call me Armetos”
As the two men where introducing themselves a shadow slowly creeped
over the dead body of an Avranian paladin. It stood their on its hind legs
with its long arms placed on the dead warriors chest, its claws where
almost a foot long and with these it gripped the body to keep balance.
Unlike other times it wasn't interested by the body, this time it saw a
fresh feast. It saw one of the men give the other hand. It wayed the risks
and when one of the men retrieved his crossbow, it decided that there
would be another opportunity. Slowly it retracted away from the men
back into the shadow of the forest nearby.
They decided to leave the next morning. This way Armedos could rest a
bit more and that would make the journey easier. His leg wound was
healing well due to the fact that Weldon took care of it. Their plan was to
make for the border fortress of Anur and from there to the Galeikan
pass. There they would part. After this Weldon would take a couple of
other rangers specialised on Er harnessing. These were rangers that
could use magic emanated from the Er stones. They were very
specialised units and where only used on special occasions. With these
he would set out to solve the mystery of the shadow and the flame.
While Weldon is doing the Armedos will go back to the mountains of
Galeika and try to persuade the leading group to form an alliance with
Avrania. Now though, they would still have a difficult time to even get as
far as Anur so for now, as the day was getting darker armados went to
sleep while Weldon kept watch.
At midnight Weldon woke up and Armedos and showed him a place
where there was a good view of the surrounding area as well as enough
concealment. Then Armedos went to sleep.
Chapter 2
The next morning they awoke to a light breeze and a clear sky, the right
whether to set out on there jorny. After they had some food and
discussed there route some more they packed up and made for the
forest, walking across the blood soaked battle field. Most of the forest
was shrouded with mystery and it was said that it had a life of its own. As
he Weldon and Armedos approached a thick fog sprung up obstructing
there vision and making the forest very ghostly and deathly. Soon they
were trying only to stick together so they would not get lost and then
slowly picked of by the wildlife in the woods. As the fog wore off they
were revealed to be at the foot of a hill. On the top an old house stood
ruined and broken, it the house had been further on this would make a
good place to sleep. But now the sun was still high up so for now they
would just rest and have a bit of water from their field canteens
“It's still sun high” said Armedos. "Might as well make the best of it and
get a couple more miles behind us," He got up and stretched, rubbing his
backside. Weldon rose. He put a hand into his pocket and pulled out the
map of eastern Avrania. "Here" he said pointing to a small picture of a
tower on the map. "Ruins of Duklet castle, we could try to make camp
there".
"Very well" said Armedos. "Lets not waste sunlight and get underway"
They continued walking for a couple more houres in the forest when they
got to the ruins. It was once a mighty guard post built on the crossroads
of the emerald trade route. In earlier times it housed a garrison of about
sixty men at arms. Now it was empty and ruind. Once the dwarven
emerald mines where flooded people stopped using the road. The keep
became empty, and superstitious villagers believed ghosts live there. As
the sun was setting the two me took refuge inside one of its walls. They
stretched out their blankets and prepared a cookfire. Then without
warning a loud blood freezing shriek echoed around the vailly like an
explosion. This terrified them. But even more terrifying were the two
glowing red eyes. The ancalaca was an eight foot tall werewolf like
creature. Its fur was coated in a substance called kelebnium, which was
a strange sort of waxy metal which stayed liquid in normal temperatures.
It created a sort of natural armor which couldn't be smashed through by
a normal weapon. It had long thin claws that could be retracted or
extended.
Armedos reacted instantly. He jumped to his feet, grabbed his crossbow
and quickly released the trigger. There was an ugly SMACK as the bolt
flew away only to bounce of spinning. No harm had been done.
