Chapter 1
Arothmir woke up with his head throbbing and a strange crackling sound in his ears. As his eyes bolted open he remembered what had occurred...
*The day before*
Arothmir was on duty as one of his village's two Rangers, the other being the mysterious, silent, and somewhat deadly Claudia, when a flash of motion caught his eye. "Who goes there? Show yourself!" Nothing happened. By this point, he was concerned. Could this be another attack? But there hadn't been an attack in almost three months... in fact, he was now certain as shapes began to move about inn the forest. He ran over to the left side of his perch, and blew the hidden sitting there. No sooner than he had done that, he heard the sound of fire art the base of the porch, too late for him to hold the point. He jumped, but it was an explosive. The ever-deadly Hydran Fyre, to be precise. His eyes widened in shock as the Fyre detonated, knocking him cold.
*Back to current day*
With the realization of this, he sprinted towards his village on long, elven legs, firing of those of a Ranger. The sight that met him was pure devastation; the Burners had struck... and he had been too late in blowing the horn. As his eyes shot around the compounds while he ran down once pristine streets told him that nothing was left. Suddenly, he heard the sound of a blistering stretching behind him, and he wheeled, pulling out his swords as he went, only to find the face of Claudia. As the tension went out of both of them, he could tell that she had been in the thick of the battle, which was more than he could say for himself. She immediately cried, "Where were you? While the battle raged, we never once heard your horn! We only heard your horn as the battle ended." His eyes widened, realizing that he must have been the last one standing, and he told her his tale. At the conclusion of the story, he asked, "Is there anyone else still alive?" As she solemnly shook her head no, she stated "They were on a 'take no prisoners' mission." He gasped, and sat down to prevent himself from collapsing. "I... I have never heard of them doing that kind of a mission. Something must have changed in the higher ranks of their kingdoms." She nodded. "I overheard two of them speaking after the battle, before the... I can't speak of it. Anyways, they were taking about somewhere I had never heard of. Tuntred? Runnted?"
"That's it. It's the name of a legendary kingdom of terrible monsters on the other side of the Frozen Wastes... not that anything could exist there."
Claudia surprised him by shaking her head, and replied "They spoke of it in an almost reverent tone, as if it led their kingdoms. Could this be the leader that we couldn't find, all those years ago? "
"Perhaps. We need to get to the capital, however,and report the... disaster that has occurred. I doubt that we will retain our commissions, and if we decide to make a mission to the Wastes, then we will have to go out alone...and we will not return from that. Not alive, at least."
"Should we not at least travel to the capital? The penalties for remaining silent are, severe at best."
At this, Arothmir thought. Perhaps there was a way to retain their commissions! It would be better to lose their commissions than their lives, however. "You're right. We should travel to the capital at once, and report to the king of what occurred and what we think we might have found out." Their eyes locked in a solemn agreement, and they gave the fallen village a Ranger's salute as they left their home, for what would be the final time.