Fabula of Vir Liberi

Two swords clashed together in epic battle, each vying for victory over the other. Neither sword seemed to have the advantage as they savagely struck each other again and again. Both seemed to be similar, like their wielders, except one seemed to be stained red with the blood of his many, now dead, opponents. The other seemed to almost glow with purity as it attempted to end the life of the blackguard who dared to go up against its wielder, the king. "Vos have adultus vetus, Rex Rgis. Is est vicis ut step down, quod permissum mihi take per!" (You have grown old, king. It is time to step down, and let me take the throne!) The king gritted his teeth. "The only reason you are not dead yet, older brother, is because you sold your soul to the demons of hell!" A short clash between their swords echoed over the silent village, the villager's voices stilled by the blackguard's sword. A dark laugh rang over the battlefield; it could not be called a tower as it was ravaged beyond repair. "Sic vos would quinymo intereo? Vos vetus fossor." (So you would rather die? You old fool.) The old king breathed hard. He couldn't keep this up for long. He was fighting against a superior opponent. All he had to do was delay this monster from getting to any other villages. The evil paladin ran over and brought his sword over his head, fully intending to kill his brother. The king brought his sword up to guard against the attack. However, his sword shattered under the force of the blow, allowing the tainted sword to slice right through his jugular vein, causing blood to spray all over the blackguards already dark armor. The unholy paladin laid his brother down on the ground, and stood up, hands clasped together, praying. "Misericordaliter filiolus, commodo tribuo meus frater animus tutus obduco ut polus." (Merciful gods, please grant my brother's soul safe passage to the heavens.) He laid his brother's sword's hilt on his chest, over his heart. He walked away, to take over the land.

5 Years Pass…

Primus woke up to tapping. He groggily looked at his window to see his friend Khar tapping on his window. Khar pointed down at the windowsill, wanting Primus to let him in. Primus grouchily thought of a few places where he could put that finger and got up, walked over to the windowsill, and opened the window. Khar jumped inside. "Primus! Primus! Guess what?!" Primus yawned and said tiredly, "If I wasn't tired, I would hurt you, Khar. Now, what is it?" "In two hours, there's gonna be an announcement in the village square." Primus sighed in relief. At least the info was useful. "Alright, thanks, Khar. You steal anything lately?" Khar shook his head sadly. "No, they're getting wise to me. They even boarded up the windows because of me." "I doubt that, Khar, they probably boarded up because of the bandits that practically rule this town." Primus's face shifted into a scowl. "I tell you, man; we are this close," he held two fingers close together for emphasis, "to living in anarchy!"

Primus got out of his pajamas and into his standard outfit. He was now wearing a common leather shirt, providing some protection against a stray knife. He had leather pants and leather boots. The only thing that wasn't leather was the red bandana that partly covered his brown/blonde hair. His strikingly violet eyes stared ahead with some sleep in them. He rubbed his eyes to wake up. He picked up his short sword and sheath and went out the door.

The town was surprisingly empty, for a town. The town had been raided by bandits many times over, killing most of the villagers. From a population of five thousand, in 5 years, the number dropped to 246. Soon, the two hours passed and he made his way to the town square. He immediately spotted Khar and lazily wandered over to him. He was talking with his three other friends, Aria, a cleric in training, Mai, the scary necromancer that had an obvious crush on him, and Helius, a ranger in training. As soon as Mai spotted him, she tackled him to the ground. After he gathered his bearings, he noticed she was straddling him in a very interesting place. He blushed and greeted the flirtatious young woman with a weak, "H-hello, Mai. Could you please get off me?" She smiled a sadistic/flirtatious smile. "Hey, handsome, I don't feel like getting off you." He blushed even deeper at the implications. "Mai, must you be so immoral in public?" He looked over to the side to see Aria, sending a disapproving glance at Mai. "Oh please, holy girl, you just want me to get off so you could get on." Aria blushed at the implications. Mai was a master at doing that to people.

The gathering had begun. The resident mayor of the town stood up on the podium. "This has gone too far. The bandits must be stopped. We are organizing a strike force in order to sneak into the bandit's main camp and kill the leader, disorganizing the bandits, allowing them to be finished off easier. Who shall go?" The silence was deafening. Some were even making jokes to the people closest to them. When one voice rang out, "I'll go!" Everyone turned towards the voice to see Primus. Khar whispered to him, "Are you insane?! You'll get killed before you even reach the camp!" Primus whispered back, "At least I'll die for a good cause, coward!" Primus shouted out at the mayor, "I'll enlist the aid of 4 others. I'll leave at 6:00 sharp." The mayor smiled. "Then it shall be done. Dismissed!" Primus turned around to see his less than happy friends glaring at him. "What?" "We're not going to do it." "Why not, Khar? Its revenge for all the hell they put us through!" "We'll get slaughtered!" "Have you no sense of adventure? I remember a year ago, you telling me you wanted to get out of this godforsaken place! Well, here's our chance!! You're nothing but a hypocrite! You say you want out, but you decline a chance to actually get out!" "…fine…I'll go. We need three more people. You guys in?" "Of course I am. Anything to be near my Primus," Mai flirtatiously said, making Primus cringe. "Well", said Aria, "I better come too, just to make sure Primus doesn't get raped by Mai." Primus looked over at Aria with a happy look on his face. Everyone looked over at the typically silent Helius. "Fine, I shall go, if out of pure boredom…" Primus smiled at him, silently thanking him. "Alright, guys, we leave at six. This will most likely become a great adventure…"