The Kingdom of Laimar
The man climbed up onto the roof, he let out a heavy breath that showed in the air. It is nearing the end of fall and the days keep on getting colder and colder as winter drove near. The man hated winter since he could not live in his home. His home is inside a tree, he got it made when he got hired to take out King Therrat. The man climbed up onto the roof, he let out a heavy breath that showed in the air. It is nearing the end of fall and the days keep on getting colder and colder as winter drove near. The man hated winter since he could not live in his tree is at a forest at about five kilometers away from Laimar, the kingdom's capital. Footsteps came apparent when a guard approached him.
"Sir, how did you get up here? This is for the people of the keep not for some filthy peasants." He explained to the man that was sitting on the edge. The man stood up and pulled something out of his boot. The guard began to talk till he caught glimpse of a small glint of metal , and then the blade was shown. The blade was pure steel with a small tube like groove in the middle, the length of that of a dagger. Immediately the guard pulled out his sword. "Drop your weapons and I'll let this one slide."
"Oh I do not think that will happen sir." The man said. He threw out his hand and the dagger went into the guard's throat. The guard gurgled as he collapsed to the ground. Before the guard died he saw the man's face, it had an odd look to it. He had long pointed ears that indicated him as an elf, his cheekbones were a little higher than most elves and his jawline was almost to angular. Then after a couple of minutes, the elf went over to the corpse and proudly said "My name is Elokart, The bounty hunter."
Elokart removed his dagger from the guard's throat. The dagger, soaked in blood, dripped onto the corpse. He took out a piece of cloth and wiped off the blood. He began to head towards the trap door when the trapdoor opened up. Out comes two more guards wearing full plate mail with eight foot swords. In a panic, Elokart dove straight into the guards without hesitation. The guards reacted in surprise and swung their large blades as Elokart fell past them and into the trap door. The Elf landed hard into the wooden floor, almost cracking it into two. His shoulder was bleeding and a bone was poking out. After getting up he remembered that there were two guards above him. He scrambled to the ladder and began climbing when the guards loomed over the door with their swords pointed downwards.
"Well hello good sirs, how are you today?" Elokart said with slight hurriedness. The two guards looked at each other then went back to him. Elokart, whom was on the ladder, disappeared. The guards stood there, staring at the door that had once had an elf standing there, their breaths were fast and shaking. Sweat poured down their necks as they looked at the door. Where could the elf had gone? Did he cast a spell that made him invisible or did he just leave? A loud bang and a locking nose had gone off and the guards that was staring at the door are now locked out of the castle as they had let the intruder in.
"I do not care if an intruder is in our castle, just go out and find the bastard and kill him!"
"Yes your majesty." The captain said to the king. The man stood up and left the throne room. The throne room had nice mosaic glass windows that were as tall as the room itself. The throne itself was made of oak and had bright red fabric. The king started his rule when he was twenty-four, just after he finished schooling. His father, getting older and older, had once said that the family was destined for greatness and yet was to fall to the good. The king did not know what his father meant by their family was to fall to the good and believed that his father were not thinking straight at the time.
"Umm, King Therrat sir, we need to discuss the battle plans for when the goblin army comes."
"Yes, right, well the elven kingdom of Trimak is going to be the supportive wave, since most of their wizards can cure our wounded and some can bring back them from the dead and their archery is the best I've ever seen. Stop worrying over such a trivial thing Kilia, once everything is set into motion we will be even more powerful than before." Said king Therrat. He glanced over at Kilia wondering why he appointed her as the royal mage. Most likely due to her mother being his childhood friend.
The door bursts open, the force at which it opened with made the two guards guarding the door almost fall over. The man stepped through the door to reveal himself as a dwarf. Dwarves are fairly rare in this region. Most creatures that live in the country Veranil are humans, elves, goblins and halflings. Curious, the king stood up and walked down the steps that led to his throne.
"What brings you to Laimar?" He asked the dwarf. When he did the dwarf dropped down onto his knees and began to speak very quietly to himself. Kilia wasn't sure that this dwarf was a good dwarf. He had a long brownish red beard, tattoos all over his face and arms, and his eyes were almost always glaring at something. The king walked over to the dwarf and looked down upon him. "Rise, dwarf, tell me what you've come here for?"
"I, Largared Gurambeir, has chosen to accept your quest to kill the female and child goblins." Proclaimed Largared. Therrat gave Largared a look of disconcern, he had never put up a poster or told anyone to put up a quest that involves killing the female and child goblins. He looked over at Kilia with a questionable glare. She returns it with one that says that she has nothing to do with this. The king sighed and spoke "I am sorry but we, I mean, I have never posted this killing of female and child goblins."
"I know, the captain of the guard posted it and it said to go meet the king if you choose to accept." Just as the dwarf finished speaking another loud bang happened as the door to the room was blown open and another dwarf walks in. Kilia noticed that the new dwarf and the one currently in front of the king look almost exactly the same. Again the dwarf walks in drops down to his knees and began to speak quietly to himself. The king looked over at the other dwarf with confusion and looked back at the on standing in front of him.
"Do you know this dwarf? Is he your twin?" He asked Largared. Largared looked behind him and shook his head. The king moved his hand to his hip where his sword was. Kilia began to whisper and move her hands around, prepared to cast a spell. The new dwarf looks up, and sees the king and kilia preparing for combat. The dwarf in front of him turned around and noticed a very small detail. The new dwarf had a different tattoo on his right arm, one that looked like a small dagger.
The new dwarf moved, he lunged and cut Largared in the shoulder, just above the tendon that would render his arm useless. Kilia let loose a spell that in turn immobilized Largared. Swearing, the king drew his sword and swung at the dwarf. He felt his blade touch solid stone and it rang up his arms. It was not a dwarf but an elf. The elf was very nimble but he jumped over the king. Largared, being immobile, began to grunt as if to speak. The king looked over at Kilia, she was already casting another spell. Hopefully it allows Largared to move again. A light but cold piece of metal touched the king's neck.
"King Therrat, you are charged with homicide" The elf spoke in an odd accent, every second syllable was more pronounced than the other syllables. The king looked over at Kilia, whom was running over to Largared, apologizing to him. Largared shook his head in acceptance and looked at the king. The elf looked at the other two people, Kilia, whom he guessed a mage, was wearing a dark purple shirt that was way to baggy. She tucked it into her light gray pants, that made her look more like a pirate than a mage. He glanced at the dwarf, giving him a nod. Kilia, made a very quick gesture and whispered two words. The air around the elf began to form a few words such as his name, Elokart, and his mission, which was to kill the king. Elokart felt the air begin to tense up but to his surprise the wind forced him out the window, breaking it.
Kilia ran over to the king. Therrat was sweating, sweating harder than ever before. His head, almost too hot to touch. She began to cast a spell and it began to clear up the sweat and restore him to full health. He waved his hands towards the dwarf and motioned him to follow Elokart. The dwarf, pulled out his axe and ran out the other window, breaking it. A loud crash startled Therrat and Kilia. The mage walked over to the window and looked out. In front of her was the Dragon festival, and below her, a pavilion with a hole the size of a dwarf. Shaking her head, she backed away from the window and looked over to the king.
"The dwarf fell through a pavilion, do you want me to chase the assassin?" She asked the king. He slightly nods, and looks towards the doors. For Elokart to enter this chamber he must have killed the guards, which explains why none came in while all commotion was going on. Therra reached into his pocket, stifling through it till his hands settled on a piece of cloth. He drew out the cloth and blew his nose. Kilia already left and is probably already caught up with the elf by now.
The clouds above began shift and move, eventually turning the once bright and sunny afternoon to a dark and gloomy overcast day. Most of the people at the festival did not notice it but the ones who did, stopped celebrating and went into their homes. Elokart had to push through the busy crowd, sometimes he even snatched a purse or two, just for good measure. Every now and then a firework went off and exploded in the sky which got several cheers out of the people. He did not expect a dwarf and a wizard to be with the king, which made it all the harder to get closer to the king. Elokart drove to a stop when he noticed a barrier in front of him. He swore and ran left. A loud crack and the pang of cold and pain took Elokart by surprise. He was standing in front of a light blue wall made of ice. Elokart knew he was good as dead.
Drums rang throughout the forest. Trees shook to the noise, loud snaps and cracks of sticks and branches being moved, broken or stepped on. The sounds of thousands marching towards Laimar told Treig that war was upon them, and they are here early as the goblin cries of war were of cockyness and determination. Treig, being only three foot two, ran through the forest towards Laimar. The king is going to need these halflings help for the incoming invasion. Goblins, and Orcs. Ogres and hill Giants. Several Nagas and one Medusa made this army harder than before. More and more creatures started to pool into this army. Harpies and even Troglodytes have joined the ranks. Treig ran harder than ever before, leaping and climbing to get ahead of the hoard. A faint twang of a bow being fired and a loud thunk towards his left told him to get the out of there but it was already too late. A giant stood at the halflings current height. Its palm, already over the spot where Trieg was at. Then, darkness took over Trieg as his body became mush as if a human were to swat a fly.
Largared finally stood up after the fall. He shook his head, what was he thinking? Jumping through a window when you weigh more than 200 pounds. He out his hand to the back of his head and felt some blood dripping out. Largared began walking towards the entrance to the keep. The festival is keeping everyone busy, even when the once beautiful day has become a dreary one. Once he reached the entrance a group of guards rushed out. The commander of the troop told them to spread out and find the bastard who tried to kill the king. The commander noticed the dwarf and looked over at him. He was probably finding the reason why a dwarf would be here in Laimar. Largared walked into the keep, ignoring the commander.
"I'm not sure if I like the new law the king will be passing."
"Why? What is wrong with it?"
"Well, why are elves going to be outlawed from entering Laimar? They've done nothing wrong nor offensive to us humans."
"From what I've heard, it's because the elves sent an assassin to kill the king."
"Why on earth would they do that? It doesn't make any sense."
"Doesn't matter, when the King of the elves of Trimak comes, he's going to kill him, anyways, we should get back to guard duty." The one guard said and began laughing as he walked away. Largared overheard this conversation, he began thinking what can happen if the king does kill the elven king of Trimak. He knew this could not happen. He grabbed his axe, and grabbed a guards mug of ale that he left sitting on the table. Drank from it then he went towards the kings throne room.
Sweat was beading on Elokarts head. He's been running around the city, constantly being blocked off, wall by wall, he kept on realising that he's been trapped and probably would be executed at any point in time. Turning the corner he ran into a stone statue. It was one of the Dragondeir statues. Dragondeir's were the kingdoms dragon riders whom have been gone from existence for more than one thousand years. They knew how to wield every weapon and can notice almost any weak point from five hundred feet away.
He was up against what seemed to be the majesty's wizard. The bitch must be insane to wall in sections of the city. She would be even more crazy if she turned the Dragondeir statues alive. A loud clunk made Elokart turn around. The statue moved. Elokart turned and ran. He hit a corner and saw more statues moving towards him. Fear swept over him, it began taking over his body, slowly losing control of his actions. Elokart turned around went towards the nearest door. He pulls on the door and it swung open, almost knocking him off balance. He ran into the house, looking for anything that was sturdy and blunted. The house was small and quaint, the dining room and the usual set of chairs and tables. Couches and other things laid around the house. There was nothing in the house, till Elokart noticed a small trap door on the ground. The sounds of the stone men moving were becoming louder and faster. Elokart tries opening the trapdoor but it's stuck. He ran around the house, looking for anything that could be used as a key of some sort. The glint of metal, lying on the floor by the couch caught Elokarts eye. He swiftly grabbed it and shoved it into the trapdoor. The sound of the men were now at the door. Sounds of stone moving on stone made Elokart shiver and move with anticipation. The trap door unlocks and Elokart throws himself into the cellar.
The cellar felt cold and dreary. The smell of old and rotting wood took Elokart by surprise. This house did not look like it was built in the past hundred years or so, it felt brand spanking new. Elokart looked around the room. The room was pitch black and he couldn't see much. He barely made out what looked to be a candle stick. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tome. Pages flew passed his face till he stopped it on a page with four words on it. He read the words aloud. He never liked casting spells, there was always a high chance of failure, even with the easier spells, plus, they are almost never ten to eleven syllables. Heck most of the time, if you do not hit the right pitch it won't even work. Most of his spells in his spell book are meant for healing or for stealth. Earlier he had to heal his shoulder that had gotten broken because he jumped into the trap door on top of the castle.
The room illuminated. It wasn't much, just a workbench, a shelf full of weapons and armour and a few alchemy tables. The owner of the house must be doing this illegally which in Elokarts opinion, it's completely fine. He ran over to the rack of weapons, searching for some sort of mace or maul. The owner never made a single blunt weapon. There are bows, swords, axes, daggers and even knives. Elokart leaned against a wall and slid down. This is it, this is the end of his run. The sounds of the trap door being crushed open made Elokart feel sick. Killed by stone Dragondeirs, that had to be the worst way to die ever. The trapdoor cracked and fell down to the floor. A woman appeared. It was that bitch sorcerer.
"Hello there Elokart, the king has sent me to take your head, please consider it to be honorable to have died in a cellar." She said. Elokart stared at her, his eyes narrowing, he stood up. Step by step he became more irritated at the mage in front of him. She must always think she's correct, she must always think that whatever she does is for the best of the damn city, this rotten bitch to the core has had her stay as the countess of the city and now she'll pay. Elokart spat into her face. She was stunned. Elokart made a break for it, he drew his dagger and cut one of her leg tendons and ran past her towards the entrance of the cellar. Kilia regained her mobility and spun around. With a loud crash, she fell down to the ground. Her leg was wounded, and she drew in her anger. A loud cry of a spell, Elokart was frozen in place on the ladder.
Kilia stood up and hobbled over to him. She grabbed one of his daggers and whispered into his ear : "You sir, are now dead!". She thrusted the dagger into his heart and pulled it out and stabbed him again. She threw his body off the ladder. Kilia jumped on him and ripped out the dagger and stabbed him again. The girl wailed with laughter, she kept on stabbing the corpse, over and over and over. With each stab she went more and more into madness. After what felt like an hour or so, she got up and threw the dagger into the corpse.
Kilia left the cellar in a hurry, she needed to see the king. The stone Dragondeirs started after her. She spun around, and told them to go back to their positions, and were to kill any damn elf they see. The stone warriors ran back to their positions around the city. With a sigh, she murmured a spell and begun flying. She took a look around the city. The festival is still going on and seemed to be a success. Drums began to ring around the city, Kilia spun around to look into the forest. A giant rock came out of the forest, it tumbled down the hill into the castle's walls. She swore and flew towards the keep. The goblin army has arrived.
The door breaks open as the dwarf removes his axe from the door. Therrat was shocked, Largared broke down his door, probably killed his new set of guards and looks to be so done with him that he'll probably tear his head and take a dump down his neck. Largared strode towards the king, clutching his axe so tightly that the wooden hilt began to crack.
"Why hello Largared, may I ask why are you so angry?" The king sneered. He knew it had to do with him sending out Kilia to kill an assassin, something so trivial that anyone could do in their sleep.
"Well Therrat, why don't we get started with the new law you made. Why on earth would you want to kill every single elf in this city?"
"Why it's very simple, they betrayed their king, so, they shall die."
"It was just one damn elf, one fucking elf that had come to assassinate you, just one and you hadn't even bothered to think that, I don't know, it could have been one of your fucking enemies or someone wanting your damn throne!" The king was taken aback. No one has ever swore in front of the king nor told him that his decisions were completely wrong. Therrat stood up and drew out his sword.
"You dare defy me, dwarf?"
"Ay, even your other plan to take out the King of Trimak is one of the worst things ever conceived. "
"It's a Brilliant plan, we would have gained another part of the world, we would become stronger, better than any other kingdom in this world!" Therrat laughed, his voice becoming more demonic as his laughter continued. Largared had another of his laughter and charged at him. The king swiftly dodged his attack, still laughing his guts out. The dwarf went at him again and Therrat dodges. Therrat lunges towards the dwarf, his sword pointed at one of his eyes. Largared barely knocks the blade out of the way. Their weapons clashed, over and over, each one determined to kill the other man.
They left the throne room, they went from hall to hall. Their weapons clashing, pottery being flung at each other, the hallways were getting torn to bits as they went down them. Eventually they reached the guard tower. Dried blood hung from the walls of the tower, the corpses were beginning to rot and the smell begun to envelop the two. The king took long deep breaths of the smell, seemingly to improve his combat skills. They made their way to the top of the tower, still knocking over and throwing things at each other.
At the top of the tower were two guards, watching the distance, when at last they could get in. The trap door flung open as Therrat and Largared fought each other. They were bruised and bloody, the dwarf bled from his head while the king bled from his arms. The two guards were stunned, their king was fighting a dwarf on top of the roof. Both guards ditched the scene and went back down into the keep.
It began to rain, the roof became wet and slippery. The two people stood near the edge, both are bleeding, both are nearing death. Therrat and Largared came to a stand off, one more blow would kill either of them. They swung at each other. Their weapons clanged as soon as they touched each other. A swift duck and a spin and Largared managed to cut one of the leg tendons. Therrat dropped to one knee and still swung at the dwarf. Largared screamed and cut off his head and kicked the body off the roof and down into the crowd below.
At last Largared could rest in piece. The inevitable war will never happen. An explosion broke down the castle walls and a horde of monsters pooled in. Laimar has fallen. Kilia watched the body fall down into the crowd and the explosion happen. She knew she'll have to team up with the killer of the king in order to save this city.
End of chapter 1