Part: 1
My name is Oryxace, 200 years ago I committed a genocide, and erased an entire country from the face of Gielinor. Afterward I tried to atone for my actions, but only made things worse, my clan the Reapers, fought several wars that devastated Gielinor. The final clan I lead was called the Archers, and many saw us as an evil force controlling Gielinor, thus I had to destroy it all.
However this is not a story about my many mistakes, or the wars I've started, fought in, or ended, this is a story about my second lover. I gained immortality 200 years ago, I will outlive all those I love, but the heart cannot be stopped in such matters. Thus I continue to love, even though I am doomed to pain, perhaps that's why I can still call myself human.
I sat in a cave in the Al Kharidian desert, my grey beard hung down to my belt, my armour was horribly rusted, my eyes had not closed in many a day. The light was harsh, and I was out of alcohol, and food, my stomach cried out in pain, my muscles refused to move, for all intents and purposes I was dead. But I continued to live, in horrendous agony, both physically, and mentally, I heard a noise by the entrance of the cave.
Someone, or something entered the cave, I heard footsteps, then at the edges of my vision, I saw a figure.
"This is no way for a man to die." The figure spoke, in the tongue of Al Kharid.
"Then it is good that I am not dead." I respond, using the eye of Saradomin to translate, my voice coming across raspy, dry, and old.
The man draws his scimitar, and backs away, pointing it in my direction, he seemed wary, but not scared, or fearful.
"What? You've never seen a man wallow in his own self loathing before?" I say, somehow managing to look up at him, and blink, I immediately regret blinking, my eyes sting from the sudden moisture, tears fall down my boney cheeks, adding to the effect.
"I heard a legend of a wise man living in a cave deep in the desert, I came to ask–"
"I am not a wise man, I am a fool, a fool for ever believing I could do any good in this world, I came to this cave so I wouldn't be disturbed." I say, managing to raise my hand, attempting to wave him off.
"But you do not understand, I fear for my daughter's life, I don't know where else to turn to." The man says, gesturing to the cave entrance.
I look at the direction he's gesturing, in the entrance way to the cave I see a women, in her 20s, standing with a hood up against the wind. Her hair is silky black, her skin tone olive, her eyes by contrast are deep ocean blue, she does not appear to be 100% Al Kharidian by birth. Regardless she is beautiful, she reminds me of Elora, I think, looking at the ceiling of the cave as more tears roll down my face.
"You see, I am the lord of this desert, my name is Aadil, my wife was from the Asgarnian royal family, because of this, my child is caught between two lands, Asgarnia and Al Kharid. Many in under my rule believe she should go to Asgarnia, and relinquish her birthright to the throne of Al kharid, not only because she is a women, but also because she is half Asgarnian. There have been threats, I fear that she may not be safe for much longer, I've doubled the guards of the palace, but somehow last night, someone managed to get into her room, he had a knife, but he did harm her, he was a warning of what could happen. Please, you must help us, explain to my people the error of their ways, tell them that this is madness!" The man called Aadil, pleaded, dropping to his knees and bowing his head, tears welling up in his eyes.
"The great illusion of this world is that people can be shown the error of their ways, this is not the case, I cannot show them the error of their ways, you cannot show them the error of their ways, they must be left to find them, themselves. Have you considered a bodyguard?" I reply to the man before me.
"I have, I appointed a bodyguard, but not long after his appointment, he was found dead in a well."
"Well then what do you think I can do about it?" I ask harshly.
"PLEASE! I have no one else to turn to, you are my last hope!" The man grovels in front of me, his body shaking, tears falling from his eyes.
Suddenly there was a scream from the entrance of the cave, a group of bandits was trying to make off with the man's daughter.
"A'ATA!" The man yells, trying in vain to stand and fight the bandits.
Watching his reaction, I decide to help him, I unleash the power of Saradomin, a beam of energy impales one of the bandits, he drops the ground. Using the eye of Saradomin I force my body to be nourished, and my muscles to be strong, I rise, my body had sat for so long I was half immersed in the stone and dirt. I use a spot teleport to get to the other side of the cave, but not in time, the bandits are already making off, with A'ata. I watch them try to get away on a horse, I use the eye of Saradomin to propel myself forward, sword at the ready, I fly forward, the bandits look in shock as I'm suddenly in front of them, sword ready to plunge into them. I do just that, my Rune longsword, though rust covered, easily goes through the lead bandit's cloth armour, there's a sound as the air leaves his body, I reverse the force of my motion, and my sword is pulled from his body.
I send a beam of energy from my eye into the other remaining bandit, then I use my power to calm the horses, they had been riding. I turn them around, and ride them back to the cave, Aadil is standing at the entrance, sobbing uncontrollably. A'ata dismounts and goes to Aadil, I dismount and watch as they embrace, maybe I should help these people, I think, just at that moment I make the mistake of deactivating the eye of Saradomin. I collapse to the ground, being immortal I was in no danger of dying, however, my physical form had been greatly diminished by my two century long absence from action. The world fades to black as Aadil, and A'ata stand over me, trying to help me, next thing I know, I'm in a dream world, everything before me liquid and viscous.
When I open my eyes, I'm in a field on the outskirts of Falador, back at the old house I had lived in with Elora. As I stare, I see her, her pale skin, flowing black hair, and ocean blue eyes, as beautiful as they had been 200 years earlier. Then I see my son, Sauren, running toward me, suddenly the field burns, Elora's image erupts into flames, Sauren collapses to bones, the house I could see in my peripheral vision turns to dust. I scream out, but my voice isn't present, the fire consumes everything in my vision, until it surrounds me, not burning me, but burning everything I loved. Then my right eye explodes, the pain makes me drop to my knees, blood pours from the wound, I wish I could just plunge into the fire and end but the fire moves with me.
"E… Elora!" I say as I collapse to the ground, the pain too much to bare.
"ELORA!" I scream as I wake up, I instinctively put my hands to my right eye.
It takes a moment to realize I'm not in pain, and my right eye is still there, I feel tears rolling down the sides of my face. A man rushed into the room, he wore a white cloak, and had an aged face,
"Welcome back to the world of the waking." He says in the common tongue of Misthalin.
"Where, am I?" I say, managing to sit up a little.
"You are in the palace, of Aadil Al'am, lord of Al Kharid." The man replies, checking my pulse.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"My name is Devaris Hex, old friend, I'm not surprised you didn't recognize me."
"D… Doom?" I say hesitantly trying to figure who it could possibly be.
"Good, 200 years in a cave in the desert hasn't completely destroyed your brain." Doom says, sitting down in a chair next to my bed.
"What in hells name are you doing here?" I ask, surprised.
"I was trying to get close to the desert flower, I was her bodyguard, but then someone stuck a knife in my back, so I decided to alter my appearance and become a physician." Doom replies, leaning back in his chair.
"Typical, you don't think with your head, you think with your–"
"Don't even go there."
"Anyway, can you give me some information on the situation here?" I ask laying back down.
"Not really, haven't really been paying attention, all I know is that some religious leader was making a big fuss a few days ago, was yelling in front of the palace 'a women cannot lead our empire!'. He was saying" Doom replies.
"Al Kharid hasn't been an empire for at least 200 years, why are they calling it an empire now?"
"I have no idea, all I know is that I'm close to convincing Lord Aadil to let me give his daughter a mmmmm… checkup…"
"You're absolutely disgusting." I say, not even dignifying him with a glance.
"Hey I just wanted to be alone in a room with her."
"Absolutely disgusting." I repeat.
"Hey give me a break, not all of us know how to charm the ladies. Anyway, now that you're here things are bound to get better, you never could leave a country in peril."
"My fatal flaw."
"Listen, I'll try to get some more information for you, but listen, you've been out of commission for 200 years, you need to give your body a chance to recover."
"If I let my body recover naturally, it'd be months by the time I'd be of any use, I'm going to need to use the eye of Saradomin to force myself into a position to fight."
"Then leave the eye active until it's all done, you slept for 2 days from the last time you used it, after all this is done, I can get you out of Al Kharid, or else they might bury you thinking you're dead." Doom says standing to leave.
"You'll probably have to do that, this could take a while." I answer, activating my eye.
"Just don't push yourself too much, basically use it to make yourself healthy, but don't use it in combat, or anything else."
"What are you now a physician?" I say sarcastically.
"I was considering it as a… 57th career." He replies, in the same manner.
"Get your filthy ass out of here." I say, glad to see my good friend still had a sense of humour.
Not long after he left, lord Aadil came to express his never ending gratitude, and the like,
"Really you don't have to, I'm fine with just a place to stay."
"nonsense, nonsense, I'll have your armour and weapons polished and trimmed with gold, we'll have a feast–"
"Don't you dare touch the sword!" I yell.
"All your equipment was just brought down to the amoury to be worked on."
"Thank you."
I use the power of the eye of Saradomin to locate the armoury and teleport there, the armourer jumped when I appeared.
"Where's the sword?" I half scream.
"R-right here." He says handing me my sword, it's been polished, but luckily not re-forged in any way.
"Are you sure you don't want to have it worked on, it looks positively awful." The armourer says staring at it.
"It has character, I've been using it for 200 years, it was given to me by a friend."
"I'm sure your friend wouldn't mind if I made it if you had it worked… a little." The blacksmith says reaching for it.
"It has character, every scratch and chip tells a story, all it needs is a polish and it will be fine." I say pulling away from him, "What's the state of my armour?"
"Well, Rune doesn't rust, but it attracts particles of metals that do, over time it loses it shine, and 'rusts', but it doesn't lose its integrity, the leather straps in
the armour, however, are rotting, and will need to be replaced."
"Very well, I will need my armour to help Aadil, and I will need a scabbard for my sword.
"Y-yes, right away sir." The armourer says, looking over the Rune armour I'd been wearing when I was brought here, "I will need your sword if I am to fit it to a scabbard."
"In that case, I'll craft my own scabbard." I say walking out of the armoury.
Later that night I was looking at the sky, in the desert the stars shone brighter than in Asgarnia or Misthalin. I raised my sword, the reflection of the moon against its newly polished surface was beautiful, the stars made it look like something magical. Doom climbed up to the roof I was sitting, he had dispelled the illusion that made him look old, and was wearing a simple white robe, he had a rune sword strapped to his belt.
"Enjoying the stars?" he asks, sitting next to me.
"I was, it has been many years since I've seen them, they looked the same as they did 200 years ago." I reply, continuing to look up at them.
"They may not have changed, but what exists under them has shifted drastically."
"You've been watching over it all haven't you?" I ask, sheathing my sword in its newly crafted scabbard.
"Unfortunately." He answers, raising his right arm, "I'm stuck with immortality, you can end it whenever you want."
"What do you mean?" I ask perplexed.
"Come on, don't tell me you haven't figured it out?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" I ask sitting up.
"If you remove your eye, you will lose immortality, and continue to age, until you die naturally."
"Now you tell me, wish you'd told me that 200 years ago." I say angrily.
"And what would you have done? Killed yourself, you were unstable mentally back then, you needed time to come to terms with your own immortality." Doom
answers.
"How long did it take you to come to terms with yours?" I ask him.
"300 years, it took 300 years for me to come to terms not only with the destruction of the Reapers, but also with what Rune Scar did to me." He answers, raising his right arm.
"He was trying to atone for what he did, you know that." I reply to him.
"Doesn't change what happened, he took my arm, then gave me the arm of a god he had recently slain." Doom says, "You had, and still do have, a choice."
"So what's to stop me from ending it all right now?"
"The desert flower of Al-Kharid." Doom responds.
"A'ata Al'am." I whisper almost to myself.
"You see Elora in her don't you?" Doom says inquisitively.
"She is like an eastern version of her."
"If you cut your hair and shaved, she just might fall for you." Doom says sarcastically.
I quickly unsheathe my sword and swing it toward his throat, he blocks it with his own Rune sword, a foot away from his body with no effort.
"I've been training the last 200 years, I'm a lot stronger than I was all those years ago."
"You could block back then as well." I say, not even glancing at him.
"Heh, I always was stronger than you." He replies.
"In your dreams."
"So you thought she looked like me?" Elora says, looking at me with a sly smile.
"Yes, the likeness was astounding, I almost thought you had reincarnated right there in Al-Kharid."
"And you entered into a relationship with her?" She says, getting an angry look on her face.
"For all intents and purpose, you had never met me, I swore to never love again after the genocide in Corbinith, I felt that I did not deserve it, but the heart
cannot be controlled so easily, and thus I was doomed to love again."
"You've become even more of a romantic in the last 786 years." Elora says, her look softening a little.
"My words have deeper meaning now, I haven't become more of a romantic, maybe even less than I was 800 years ago." I reply.
"I can't believe that." Elora says putting her hand over my mine on the table, "I want to hear the rest of this story."
"Alright, where was I?"
My armour sparkled in the harsh sunlight, its new gold trim glinted brilliantly, it was worth far more than it had been, if I ever chose to sell it. I was walking around the capital city of Al-Kharid, I had never been to Al-Kharid before, I had never seen the people, or the culture. My armour attracted some rather seedy individuals to my wake, though they backed off when I broke the arm of a pickpocket trying to take some of my gold.
I had elected to travel the city without an escort, Aadil wasn't happy about it, but I reminded him that I wasn't defenseless. The city was interesting, certainly different than Falador, or Varrock, the buildings were whitewashed, vendors lined the streets, and interesting smells of various meat cooking filled the air. A hand grabbed my cloak, I looked around to see A'ata, she had a hood drawn close as to obscure her face.
"Did you come to this land from Asgarnia?" She asks, her eyes filled with curiousity.
"No, I come from Misthalin, but my wife was Asgarnian, and so was my son…" I trail off.
"What is it like in Asgarnia?" She asks.
"Perhaps we should talk about this somewhere, more private, the eyes here are not all good."
We quickly find a secluded café off the beaten, the food and drink is horrible, but at least its away from the prying eyes of the street.
"Asgarnia, is a beautiful country, sharing a border with Misthalin, Kandarin, Karamja, and what was Corbinith. It's fields are green with grass, and the water sparkles, its cities are magnificent, they rise from behind white marble walls, and inspire hope in travelers. I lived in Asgarnia for many years with my family, and I have not yet seen a country more beautiful, its people are trusting and open, always willing to take in a weary traveler." I say, remembering my time in Asgarnia.
"It sounds much better than Al-Kharid, the people here are paranoid, untrusting, they see women, and especially me as nothing more than a tool for pro-creation." A'ata says, looking solemnly at her cup of coffee.
"It only takes one person to change the perception of an entire society, be that one person." I say trying to cheer her up.
"The people here will never change, it would be better it I just went to Asgarnia, at least there I would be welcome."
"What would happen to the throne?" I ask her.
"It would go to my uncle Altair."
"Do you think he would make a good ruler?"
"Maybe, but he's harsh, he wants to make Al-Kharid an empire again."
"And what would be wrong with that?" I ask, trying to take another drink of my coffee, and failing.
"He believes that all land within 200km is the birthright of the Al-Kharidian emperor, he's spoken many times about how he'd make Al-Kharid a city to rival the ancient cities of the legendary Corbinith."
"200 years and Corbinith is already a legend?" I say, grinning at the funny twist of fate.
"What do you mean, Corbinith is an ancient myth, if it ever existed it existed thousands of years ago." A'ata says, getting a confused look on her face.
"A'ata, do you want to know why I chose to help you, and your country?" I say, setting down the awful coffee.
"You did it because it was the right thing to do… right?" She says, hesitantly.
"I did it because you remind me of my long dead wife." I say, leaning back, and stroking my beard.
"I-I remind you of your wife?" She says, blushing slightly
"Long dead wife, A'ata would like to have a lesson on history?" I ask her, getting a serious expression on my face.
"Very well, proceed." She says, regaining her composure.
"About 236 years ago, a war was fought between the nations of Asgarnia and Corbinith, it was a bloody conflict, at first it raged for 2 years. Asgarnia almost won it then, but they halted just before entering Corbinith's original territory, and refused to deal a finishing blow. They signed a peace treaty with Corbinith, but Corbinith took advantage of Asgarnia's trusting nature, and built a corrupt demon army. They attacked again after about a year, only this time they easily took over Asgarnia, and began an assault on Misthalin not long after, over the next year and a half a bloody war was fought the likes of which you will probably never see." I say pausing for a moment, "The war was ended, when the power of Saradomin was unleashed in this world, practically erasing Corbinith from history."
"You speak as though you were there, how can you speak about it with so much certainty?" A'ata asks.
"It's because I was there, I watched it all happen, and I used this eye" I point to my right eye bearing the symbol of Saradomin, "To destroy Corbinith for killing my wife."
"If you had the power to destroy a nation why didn't you revive your wife?"
"The issue is more complex than that, you see to gain this power I made a deal with Saradomin, he gave me power, and revived my dear Elora, but in exchange it would be as though I never existed, he basically erased me from existence in that time, over the next decade I made a name for myself with the Reapers, then the Archers the decade after that, and the decade after that I tried to revive the Reapers, and when that failed, I looked at all the damage I had caused, and decided to leave it all. I travelled to that cave you found me in, and I sat down with my alcohol, I sat there for 200 years, unable to die because of this damn eye." I say, not realizing tears are rolling my face.
"You said the name of your wife was Elora?" A'ata asks me.
Wiping tears form my eyes I answer, "Yes, her name was Elora."
"My mother was named Elora, she was named after a famous Asgarnian political activist for women's rights." A'ata says her eyes lighting up.
"That sounds like Elora, she hated 'conservative old men'."
"So your wife was a famous political activist that still has influence 200 years later?!" A'ata says, practically shaking with energy.
"I suppose–"
"That's so cool, father said you were a wise man, but this is, this is more than I could've guessed!" A'ata says standing.
"Elora never knew me, to her, and everyone else back then, I was nothing more than a void spot in their memories." I says, trying to calm her down.
"What did you look like back then, I bet you looked like–"
"Do you want to see?" I ask her.
"Can I?" She says, her eyes filling with wonder.
"You can, but later tonight, for now let's get back to the palace."
When we get back to the palace, I shave my beard, the hair that had adorned my face for so long felt weird falling to the ground. When my beard was gone, I looked at my face, minus the stubble I was about to shave, my face looked noticeably aged. I cut my hair next, once it was all done, I looked in the mirror again, a face stared back at me that I almost didn't recognize.
"A'ata…" I say, the wind blowing gently through her window, the moon was full tonight.
A'ata began to stir, I said her name again, her eyes began to flutter, then she opened them and sat up, she looked at me with eyes filled with wonder.
"Kidemonas…" She says, "It has been so long…"
I use the power of the eye of Saradomin to put her back to sleep, then quickly exit through the window, I land on a nearby rooftop. I thought I would never be called by that name ever again, I think to myself, a tear rolling down my cheek, I am not a Kidemonas anymore. I quickly make way back to my room, remembering a time when I actually did do good by the people.