Divine warriors. The power of the gods in the hands of mortals. Young men and women who are blessed with power beyond the normal. Each lord scours his villages to find these talented future soldiers. They come in all shapes and sizes, they only have one trait in common, they are born with a red hand print on their chest above their heart. The mark is known as 'Goddess' Palm' and it symbolizes their birth rite, they will grow to be heroes.
That is what every Divine Warrior is told by their lord when they are ripped from their mother's teat and thrust into military training.
"Sir there is a camp ahead, it could be the thief we are looking for." Thrid was pulled from his thoughts by his spotter.
"Dismount." The order was whispered but every man in the unit heard it. Thrid was commanding an elite guard, all Divine Warriors, all hand chosen by him. His lord had chosen him for this mission, a thief had stolen something of great value and had fled before the guards could find him. The guards were not Divine Warriors.
With a quick hand gesture the fastest members of his squad shot off without a sound and signaled their arrival on the opposite side of the camp some sixty yards away. The rest of the group moved in and within seconds they were on the outskirts of the small clearing.
The campfire crackled as they approached, popping as if the wood was wet, even though it had clearly been burning for quite a while. The soldiers moved around the site and reached the tent.
Thrid raised his spear to the ready and clicked his tongue almost inaudibly. The tent was ripped up and thrown to the side spears thudded into the ground encircling the form that was lying in the center of the now open area.
"Trap!" The word had barley left the soldier's mouth when the figure snapped up grabbed him, breaking the spears on its rocky skin. Thrid jumped back, raising his shield and drawing a short sword from its scabbard. The figure was illuminated by the now roaring fire, exposed as a demon of rock with the shape of a bear.
"Back off ya bandits! I'll kill th-" The cloaked figure was quickly surrounded and slammed into the dirt. The bear incapacitated its prey and turned to its master's captors growling.
"Release the demon or we kill you" Thrid dug his blade into Master's back.
"Alright just don't kill me!" 'It was a quick summon anyway, it is too unstable to keep around much longer' the bear fell to pieces and Thrid removed his blade from his prisoner's back.
"Search his belongings, anything out of the usual bring to me" Thrid took a seat on the soft body that was being held in the dirt. He looked around the camp for any signs of potential danger. "Extinguish the fire, there is probably something hiding in there, Summoners have no honor."
"May I ask why y'are takin my stuff? I didn't know Divine Warriors ever had to work as brigands." A quick strike to his shoulder finished his questions and arrogant attitude.
"Did you find anything yet?" Thrid stood up as a soldier nodded.
"Aye, a vial of blood, it is too thick to be normal, looks like our blood. Aside from this it seems everything is normal, for a summoner that is." The soldier tucked the vial of blood into his vambrace and said a quick prayer.
Thrid stood up and kept his opinions to himself. He motioned to two of his faster men "Grab the Summoner and bring him to the castle." They tied Master to a spear and ran off with him hanging from it like a deer from a hunt. "The rest of you come with me, we have a thief to catch."
