It's been a while since I've published anything, I've actually been working on my other stories and stuff, but I've been unhappy with my work and out of self-consciousness refused to publish my works; so, here I am after a very long time, feeling good about this so here goes! Please leave feedback and enjoy!
This is the tale of three champions, each of different origin.
This is Sennrc's rising.
Akira trained her bow on the target in front of her, the sun was hanging low in the west and she'd been at the practice range since sun rise, each shot she fired split the previous arrow and by now the centre of the target was riddled with splinters and the quiver on her back was empty for the 24th time today, "Last shot..." she muttered, releasing the bowstring the arrow whistled through the air before shattering against a shield, "I hope that was your last" Rosa said, as she stood up from behind her shield, she'd jumped in front of the target to show off her strength, she began strutting towards Akira, her sword over her back and the shield rested in the grip of her left hand, she was in her armour, "You'd best get something to eat, Akira, we're heading out soon, Phoenix's orders" Rosa placed a small hamper of food down next to Akira, in the hamper she found some bread and soup, she guessed that's what the cooks had served at meal time in the camp, it normally was on a Thursday, "Oh joy, another assignment for the talented three... I really need to think of a better name for us" Onyx chuckled as he dropped down beside Akira, a cloak around him and a strap for his two daggers around his waist and throwing knives on the bandolier across his chest, as always he wore leather gear, similar to Akira's, but her gear had the crescent of the ranger on the left shoulder an eagle, whereas Onyx's sponsored the scouts' emblem a wolf head, Akira smiled and began to eat, tossing her empty quiver at Onyx, "Fill it up then, and make sure the flights are straight!" She ordered, her mouth half full as she rushed to eat the food, Onyx dashed into the shadows and left, making his way to the armoury, Rosa on the other hand sat opposite Akira and smiled, "He still has a crush on you, doesn't he?" She asked, inspecting her shield, "Nah, Onyx gave up on that pursuit after joining the resistance, I'm sure of it" Akira replied, her mind focused on the food in front of her, Rosa laughed half-heartedly and watched the shadows for Onyx's return.
A few minutes later, as Akira finished the food Onyx re-emerged from the shadows and placed the strap of the quiver over Akira's back as he made his way to a cliff edge near the range, "I'll meet you ladies at the bottom, orders are as follows: scout out Fort Ayvendale, identify high value targets and take out any warlocks that could mess with our own during the next battle, same shit as always..." as he finished relaying orders Onyx leaped off the cliff, his cloak bellowing behind him as he plummeted towards the earth beneath him, "Woo-Hoo!" he bellowed as he fell, Rosa sighed and rose from the ground opposite Akira, "We'd best get going then" she said, beckoning towards the cliff edge, she breathed in deeply and began jogging towards it, "I'm still not comfortable with this!" she called, her cheeks burning red as her jog turned into a sprint and she leapt from the cliff, heights weren't exactly Rosa's thing; Akira on the other hand, was wrapping some rope around a tree trunk, "Show offs" she muttered, the rope was attached to an arrow she'd fashioned for zip-lining, she cocked her bow and aimed into the sky, she closed her eyes and released the arrow, letting it take flight through the sky, she trusted it to land where she wanted it to land, it always did anyway.
Suddenly the rope went stiff; her arrow had collided with something sturdy and planted itself firmly, without hesitation Akira jumped towards the rope, holding her bow overhead she began to zip line into the canyon below, a smile on her face as the wind rushed against her bare skin and tossed her hair behind her, this was the life she wanted, she knew it; Akira began to close her eyes, enjoying the breeze as she descended but her peaceful trance was soon lost as something raced past her, "Sleeping on the job!?" Onyx mocked, his cape billowing behind him like wings as he glided quickly towards the base of the canyon, he rushed past Akira, before circling around and allowing himself to keep pace with her, Rosa was already at the bottom of the canyon, standing in the middle of a small crater, her shield held high above her, it became visible now, that Akira's arrow had landed there, Rosa held the rope tightly, until Akira reached the ground, she let the bow go with her right hand and allowed herself to drop the small distance to the ground, rolling to soften her impact.
"Nice crater, Templar" Onyx exclaimed, landing on one knee next to the two girls, a smirk on his face; both of them glared over at him playfully, "I can't help it if the gods bestow their powers upon me" Rosa replied, smugly, "Yeah, yeah… We can't all be Templars now, can we?" He chuckled, sticking his tongue out playfully, Akira sighed at the two and pointed out towards the horizon west of them, "The sun is going down, you two need to kick it up a notch and get moving, or you'll have no chance of reaching the fort before sunrise" she claimed, checking that her quiver was secure before breaking into a jog, she headed southwest, making her way towards the destination, it was 5 leagues away, the army behind them would take 3 days to get there, but she knew that her and her companions could get there before the sun rose in the east the next day, "The sun's going down? Oh dear, I don't think our Templar will be any good to us then" Onyx mocked playfully, he took a few steps back into the shadows and muttered , "Race you" Before vanishing into the dark, nothing more than darkness, that was the way of his kind, a shadow-walker.
Rosa, the Templar sighed and began to march southeast, after her two companions, "Gods, I beg that you hold me strong… Because these two are going to do my bloody head in" she laughed and began to jog into the darkness, after her two companions, her armour clunking softly with each step, she was determined to beat them to Fort Ayvendale.
This is how it started, the tale of the three champions, the Human, the Shadow-Walker and the Templar.