A/N: This is an Overlord FanFic based of the Wii version. But it won't be too confusing if you have never played that version.
I watched in terror as my brother's kingdom burned to ash. The flames reflected off my light blue eyes. The city below was soon to be nothing. Any survivors had been brought into the palace to wait for their inevitable deaths. There was no way we could win the battle; we were being attacked on all four sides by four different armies led by my four ruthless siblings.
Perhaps it's time I told you how this all started. A year ago we were a happy family, loving and caring to one another. My father and mother, the King and Queen of Arrida, had six children. In order of age there was Prince Akrabar, Prince Koran, Princess Coral, Princess Juliet, Prince Roman, and me, Prince Septimus. We were all a year apart, starting with Akrabar who was twenty .We were all sitting at the dining table waiting for dinner to be served.
"So father," Akrabar was saying, "have you made the decision about which child will be your heir?"
"As a matter of fact I have Akrabar. But before I tell all of you I must say, there was absolutely no favoritism in my choosing of the heir. They were chosen for skill on not only the battlefield but in diplomatic and political skill as well. Now the child I have chosen as my heir is…," he paused for a dramatic affect, "Koran."
Akrabar, Coral, Juliet, and Roman stood, looks of outrage on there faces.
"But father how can you possibly think that Koran could possibly be a better diplomat them I," Coral screamed.
"Or a better swordsman than myself," Roman added.
"Sit down all of you I have made my decision!"
"No I will not sit down! I should kill him right now but then you probably just name Septimus as your heir! So I suppose I will have to settle for you!" Akrabar slipped his dagger from his boot and plunged it into my father's heart.
"NO!" I screamed. I grabbed my dagger that I kept concealed in my robes and leaped onto the table, running towards Akrabar. But before I could reach him Roman knocked my legs out from under me and sent me rolling off the table and onto the floor. The four of them ran from the room. Leaving only Koran, my mother, my father and I. I picked myself up from the ground and rushed to my father's side. When he was stabbed he had fallen from his chair, but Koran had caught him before he hit the ground. Koran held him in his arms and my mother knelt next to him.
My father spoke,"Koran Grimwolf, I accept you as my heir. My kingdom is yours; your flag flies here now, protect it and serve it with your life."
My father touched Koran's hand. His hand glowed blue, the light slowly left my father's hand and moved to Koran's, but as it transferred it turned green.
"I give you all of my powers; do with them as you will. As my magic was blue yours is green, you have passed the test of purity. Long live King Koran." As the last word left his mouth, my father died. All three of us were crying. None of us had known how unpure the hearts of my siblings were.
(*************)
And now, a year later, on my birthday no less, they were here to claim Arrida as their own. I watched from the roof of my tower bedroom as my brother and his men tried to hold them off. But even I could tell they would not last long. The four deadly banners of my kin closed in around us. The Dragon fighting a wolf on a red field, the flag of Prince Akrabar. The white conch shell on a blue field, the flag of lady Coral. The black hawk on a purple field, the flag of Princess Juliet; and the white pillar split in half on a yellow field, the flag of Lord Roman. My brother and his escort were on the side of Akrabar. Brother fighting brother. Koran and Akrabar had both dismounted their horses and were fighting a few yards from the Palace doors. Then I saw it; Koran lowered his shield for a spilt second. In that second Akrabar was given his opportunity. He lunged forward with his sword and plunged it strait through Koran chest."
"NOOOOO!" I screeched.
I tore from the roof and down the steps. I ran faster than I ever had in my life. When I finally got to the entrance hall, some of the soldiers were dragging his body though the door as quickly as possible. I ran over to him as they layed him on the ground. He wasn't dead yet.
"Koran! Please don't leave me." I wiped the tears out of my eyes, "Koran please!"
He grabbed for my hand.
"Septimus Grimwolf, I accept you as my heir. My kingdom is yours; your flag flies here now, protect it and serve it with your life."
Just as my father's had, Koran's hand glowed green, and as it transferred to my own hand it turned orange, "I give you all of my powers; do with them as you will. As my magic was green yours is orange, you have passed the test of purity. Long live King Septimus." A king never dies without naming his heir. As he said Septimus his head turned to the side and he breathed his last breathe.
"I love you brother," I whispered to him. My face changed from grief to anger as I remembered who did this. I stood and raced back to my tower roof. Once there I used my newly gained power to amplify my voice so that every ear would hear me.
"Children of Grimwolf! Look what you have done! You have killed your father and your brother, and your mother is slowly dying of grief! Get your traitorous bodies out of my country or pay the price!" I waited for some sort of response. I could hear commanders giving orders, so I assumed they would retreat. But they did not. In unison every commander and leader yelled, "CHARGE!"
Every soldier stormed toward the palace.
"Very well you have made your choice," I said with my voice still amplified.
I pointed a finger into the sky and a single bolt of lightning shot out of it.
Akrabar, Coral, Juliet, and Roman saw it, and widened their eyes in terror. They knew what it was; the Grimwolf spell of destruction. One of the four spells that only the true heir of Arrida could wield without being destroyed. Apparently their father had chosen the wrong son after all. All four of them screamed as loud as they could, "RETREAT!" But it was too late. Thousands more bolts of lightning shot from the tip on the single bolt, forming a cone of lighting around the palace. Every bolt found a mark. After it was done there were only about fifty survivors, which sadly included my four siblings. I collapsed on the roof, extremely close to unconsciousness. A spell of that magnitude takes every ounce of energy from a person so young.
I layed there for a good while before my mother came up the stairs looking for me.
"Oh Septimus, what happened?"
"Lightning…. Retreat… dead…" I mumbled.
She bent over and put my arm around her shoulder. She walked down the steps of the tower to my bedroom and layed on the bed. There I slept for a long time. By the time I awoke it was a new day. Servants and soldiers alike were dragging all the dead bodies to one of twenty bonfires. The smell of burning flesh was very strong even in my high tower bedroom. I l slipped on my robes and combed my long brown hair. Then I placed my circlet on top of my head. After all this I opened the doors to my room and briskly walked down the steps.
At the bottom of the staircase I was met by a group of people all waiting for me to wake up so they could pester me with questions about what to do now.
"My Lord, we need to start recruiting men from the villages for your army," said Sir Campion, Commander of all military in Arrida.
"Lord Septimus, should we start sending request for men from our allies?" asked Lady Sophia, head of the messengers.
"Silence! Now I want every head of every department in the throne room in ten minutes. There we can discuss whatever needs to be discussed." They all nodded and ran off in different directions. I couldn't help but still feel a heart wrenching pain at the loss of my brother. The only real family I have left is my mother, and she is getting old and weak. I made my way to the kitchens to ask Master Korik, the head cook for some quick breakfast to eat away the pain. But it wasn't Korik I met in the kitchen, it was Jared. We were best friends growing up because we were exactly the same age, and shared the same birthday.
"The usual Sep?" He said as I walked in.
"That's King Septimus to you." I retorted.
He smiled, "Very well. King Septimus, might I bother you to ask what you will want for your breakfast?"
"Yes I'll have the usual, but make it quick I have somewhere to be."
Jared went over and grabbed the bucked of freshly squeezed milk, poured it into a silver goblet and handed it to me. Before I took a sip I said, "Jared, I was wondering, since my brother's chief advisor died in the battle I was wondering whether you would want to fill his place." Jared dropped the pot he was holding.
"Are you joking? Me as chief advisor! Does that mean I don't have to work the kitchens anymore or sleep in the servant's quarters?"
"It certainly does," I said smiling, "but you definitely need a change in wardrobe. Go and get something out of my room. I can't have you looking like a servant at my meeting. Make sure you are in the throne room in five minutes."
He ran out of the room smiling broadly.
I drained the goblet and made my way to the throne room. The servants had put chairs in a semi-circle in front of my throne. All the heads of the different areas of Palace life were already seated and waiting; but at the arrival they all stood and bowed to me.
I moved across the room and sat in my throne. My mother sat in a chair on my left and there was an empty chair for Jared on my right.
"Be seated," I said. All the heads sat in unison.
"Before we get started I would like to say something. As you all know, I am only sixteen years of age which is hardly the proper age for a King. So from this point forward all decisions that need to be made will be made by the newly established Council of Grimwolf. Its members are all of you. I admit that I will need help in the days to come to rule in the place of my brother, I have barely enough experience as a ruler to keep us out of the ash. Which why I turn to you, who will be my trusted advisors." The council members murmured their agreement. At last Jared came through the double doors to the throne room. He was wearing my dark green tunic and black leather pants, with my brown leather boots. He had also apparently combed his mess of short blond hair. As he took his seat at my right hand I spoke.
"This is Jared; he will be my Chief Advisor due to the tragic death of former Chief Advisor, Sir Grey. Now, let's get to the business at hand. Sir Campion you may speak first."
"Yes Sir. Well I think we need to start requiting from the villages and other cities in Arrida."
"No, that won't do, there aren't enough men of age, and taking the young boys would do us no good," Said Sir Grumple, head of the yearly census takers. He sends his men to every village and city in Arrida to take a census of the people living there.
"Like I said before, we may be able to ask our allies for some of their troops." Lady Sophia suggested again.
"We don't know if we even have any allies left, the elves and the dwarves were supposed to be our allies yet they made up two of the armies that attacked us," I told them.
Jared cleared his through, "Maybe we could make new allies. For instance the Overlord in Greenvale. He single handedly put the Elves and the Dwarves at war with each other. You know what they say; the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
"But the Overlord had been our enemy for years ever since we took most of his lands," Korik, head cook, replied.
"No, my father was an enemy of Duke Grumgaurd, but his son, Lord Grumgaurd rules there now," I said, "Perhaps we could arrange a temporary or even permanent alignment with him. After all, he is a young ruler as well, he might need an ally to help him."
The Council considered this.
"I suppose it is worth a try," Said Sir Campion.
"So it is settled, we go to Grumgaurd."
"But Sire, to get to Grumgaurd we would be traveling through Dwarf Territory."
"I'm afraid that is a risk we will have to take. The opportunity is to important to be canceled on account of the half sized dwarves. Campion, ready an escort, we ride for Grumgaurd."
A/N: There is Chapter One. I hope you enjoyed it. PLEASE REVIEW!