I'm sure you have heard of the smallest army ever that had only five members and conquered the world as if it was the easiest thing on Earth. This is a mighty legend that everyone knows by heart and not only in the Land of Eagles. The people tell tales about them to their children, they admire their bravery, their heroic deeds. Little boys want to fight like them, and girls want to enchant the world as they did. But it's not just a story about great battles. It's about the rise of heroes, finding love, family and home. If you ever tell the tale to your children, tell it from the beginning, so they can learn, that everyone can be a hero.
Chapter 1: MeetingThere are many who hail fom King's Nest and tell the tales of The Smallest Army with such proud fire in their eyes. The real story however begins in a long forgotten village by the name of Laurel. We don't know much about this small settlement for it is long gone, but we know for sure that a young lad named Pellerin used to live there with his family. They had to work hard to earn that little money they had, but they lived in peace for a long time until the firestorm came. Not just any firestorm. A noble man, named Lord Raban lived in a catsle not far from this village. He started a war with his neighbours, and was trying to cause damage by burning their farmlands. That's how the peaceful village of Laurel was destroyed forever. Lord Raban's men came at night, shut the gates, threw torches to every roof, and put many people to the sword. Pellerin only just escaped with his life. He was very young at the time, but still the tallest in the village. He climbed the paliside, and following his parents' commands ran to the woods.
The next day, when the fires were out, and the wind was blowing away Laurel's ashes, Pellerin went back to search the ruins, but found only death. He was angry at Lord Raban and not just because he destroyed his home, but Pellerin couldn't do anything about it. There was only one person who could bring justice in this matter, the most powerful nobleman in the Land of Eagles, the king himself. He was so furious at the time he immeadiately decided to go to King's Nest and report this treachary to King Arvid. As he prepared to leave the smoky ruins behind, he saw something moving in one of the houses. He realized there was a girl trapped under the ruins. He quickly freed the young woman, and aksed what happened to her. Her name was Fidelia and she came to Laurel in the company of traveling actors. She was with these actors since she was very little, they were the only family she had. They sent her to the village to get some supplies and when the firestorm came she got trapped and the actors saving their own skin, left her behind. Fidelia said she wanted to find them again, but she couldn't go alone, so she joined Pellerin on his way to the capital.
The two didn't get too far from the ruins of Laurel when the forest started to get extremely cold. It was like winter decided to come early this year, and the air got colder with every step. Suddenly they heard an angelic voice from behind the trees, the most beautiful voice they've ever heard, singing the most sorrowful song in the world. The melody led them to a snowy clearing, where all the trees were frozen, and every leaf was frosted. A beautiful young man was sitting there, singing his mournful song. Pellerin recognized him from the village, his name was Johan, but he hadn't seen him in years. Johan told them that he left Laurel because everyone was mean to him, and made fun of his voice. Pellerin and Fidelia didn't understand why he would run away, because he had such magical voice. They begged him to stop singing before he freezes everyone, and told him jokes to make him laugh. When Johan started laughing the snow melted and the flowers revived. Pellerin told him he was going to see the king and ask him to do justice, and Johan decided to accompany them.
After a few weeks the three of them reached the capital, King's Nest. It was a huge city, bigger than anything they've ever seen. They knew King Arvid would never agree to see them, the only chance they got was a tourney held in the king's honor. The winner would feast with the king and ask him for any favor. But they were no noblemen and no warriors, they didn't even know how to swing sword. A leader of mercenaries overheard them talking about the tourney, and he offered his help for a great deal of gold. They had to refuse, because they had no money, but the mercenary told them he would lead his soldiers on their side if they proved they were strong and brave enough to win the tourney. He said if they went to a cave nearby where an evil dragon lived and retrieved one of the beast's claws they would prove themselves and win the mercenaries' favor. They had nothing better planned, so they agreed to do it, and searched for the dragon's cave.
They found the place, but there was only a caved in entrance. They've been searching for another way in for hours, but eventually they gave up, and prepared to leave when Fidelia told the others to be quiet. They were listening to the wind for a while, then they heard a soft whispering from the old entrance. They went closer, and heard that someone was trapped in the cave and was asking them to get him out. Pellerin said it could be some kind of trick of the evil dragon, and demanded explanation from the whispering man. The man said his name was Etele and he lost a bet against his friends, so he had to spend ten minutes in the dragon's cave. He was alone in the dark when he heard an alarming noise, he shouted in his fright and the rocks fell down, and shut the entrance. There was no dragon only this trapped man, abandoned by his freinds, so they cleared the rocks away, and freed him. Etele owed them his life so he offered his help in reaching King Arvid. He has heard tales of a man who arrived from foreign lands and lived in the king's library, studying from its books for many years now. Some people said he was the wisest man in the realm and never left the castle. Others stated that it was just a rumour because no one has ever seen this man.
They returned to King's Nest, and talked to people in the tavern, who told them various rumours about this man. Some said he was a scholar, others said he was a wizard, or a priest, and they also heard he was just a sharlatan. The only detail that all the stories agreed on was that he was called Levent. The four companions decided to reach Levent somehow, if he really was the wisest man in the realm he could certainly help them. Fidelia dressed up as a servant of the castle, and brought some food to the library. There she found a man sleeping on a desk. She woke him, and asked if he could help her and her friends. Levent was too busy with his sadness, because he read all the books in the country and haven't found the truth in knowledge. There's no more books te read, no more art to learn. Fidelia told him about her companions, described the curious talents they had, and Levent found it interesting, asked her to tell more. She admitted that the actor she used to travel with used her talents to rob people. They made her sing, the audience fell asleep instantly then the actor cut their purses and left them with nothing. It was a whole new thing for Levent, so he told Fidelia he wanted to meet these people and learn from them.
Levent was talking to them for a long time and each of the told him about their strange stories. At last Etele asked him in his whispering voice if he knew how to acquire a dragon's claw, but Levent told them no dragons lived near King's Nest. The tourney was on the next day, so they had no time for quests to distant lands, they had to decide what to do. Pellerin had no home to go back to, only the craving for justice. Fidelia didn't know where the traveling actor were and even if she did, she didn't want to help thieves. Johan didn't have anyone who liked as he was, he ran away from every place until he join Pellerin's company. Etele was abandoned by his friends, didn't want to go back to them, because real friends would be loyal. For Levent all the world's libraries were empty, he knew every science, every art, but still he wanted to learn something new. That's how they decided to enter the tourney, because they had no home to return to. There only five of them against twenty or thirty soldiers on the side of each nobleman. They had no weapons, only hope in their hearts.