Overlord: Darker Legends

by PirateRaider

This is how Dark Legends should have been. A much darker, more gruesome story of blood, death, gore, rape and suffering, where the Overlord cuts a path of bloody destruction, amasses a harem and steals piles of treasure on his path to the top. Rated M for lemons, blood and death, you're been warned.

10. 9: Putrid Pools

Overlord: Darker Legends.

Chapter 9: The Putrid Pools.

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Overlord Valgaav and his horde of minions made it to what used to be called the Shining Springs. Once full of rivers and springs with water so clear, fresh, and beautiful, that it was considered to be the best water in the world. And all throughout the area, delicious, sweet, juicy fruits grew in abundance. It was like a slice of heaven. But all that was long gone, as they suspected. Like the Death Jungle, the place was poisonous and polluted, but around there it was even worse. The water sources were now filled with some smelly green liquid that could probably kill anyone who fell into it. There was an abundance of those plants that released the poisonous green fog gasses. And everything else was rotten, dead, and disgusting. The place had been renamed the Putrid Pools, and it was a name that fit it almost too well.

Following the pipes on the path forward, they soon found a huge container with pipes sticking out of it and the Green minions inside. They were strapped down, their blood was being drained, and the vapours they exuded were getting sucked up.

"Well, I'm seeing the Greens, but not the hive."

"It shouldn't be far Sire. Just free them and start looking around."

Overlord Valgaav got to work on the pipes. He tampered with a couple of them, then ripped one right off. Air was getting sucked into it, it led to the top of the machine, and it was just big enough for a minion. He grabbed a minion and began throttling it. Then he released it at the pipe. It got sucked up and exploded as it hit the machine. What followed was an explosion that shattered the glass, sent machine parts flying, and caused a mana relic to land in front of them.

The Overlord sent his other minions in to free the Greens. They were in bad shape, but they were still alive.

Scratch that, they died seconds after exiting the broken machine. Luckily the Blues were there to revive them. After that they were good as new and ready to serve their master.

After they retrieved the mana relic that powered the machine, they continued on their way. The Overlord had the Greens led the way, as they had the power to destroy the poison spewing plants along the way. Once they got through there, they reached a clearing. In there was an elf in a protective suit, hanging out near what looked to be an alarm system. The way forward was in clearly in his line of sight, and if he spotted them he'd surely hit the alarm, and Valgaav would get overrun. To take him out without alerting everyone, he'd have to use the Green's stealth ability. He put them on a guard marker, they turned invisible, then he had them creep towards the elf unnoticed. Once he was in range they struck like assassins and killed him instantly. And with that the tutorial section where he learned how to use the Greens came to a close.

As they continued on their way, they saw some familiar plants. It was more of those disgusting penis shaped plants that rotted the crops of Greenvale until Valgaav destroyed them. He was not happy to see them again, but he hadn't forgotten how to get rid of them. He chopped the tops off and set the insides on fire before continuing on his way. He was planning on burning the whole jungle down anyway, so there was no real need to waste any time on them, unless they were in his way.

They reached another clearing, but this time there was a fight waiting for them. Another Tri-Face was blocking the path, and this one had Tree Freaks and Vine Freaks guarding him.

"Another one?"

"How many of those things are there?"

"Wait. Do you see that mark on that thing?"

The tri-face had a spot that looked to be a wooden plaque with a symbol on it, embedded in its bark.

"That look familiar?"

"Yeah, but I can't remember where I've seen it."

"I remember that symbol,' said Gnarl. "That thing's one of those three big trees the Black Barron stole."

"Ah. I remember hearing about that. The three trees were important for some reason, and him stealing them and replanting them here was a huge deal at the time. But then everybody realized they were just regular trees with nothing special about them after all, so they all got over it and just forgot about them. He could have chopped them down and used them for firewood, and the only difference it would have made in the long run, is a lot less time and effort would have been wasted, and he would've gotten a giant pile of firewood out of it, instead of some worthless trees in a forest full of trees."

"Do you know why they were important?"

"Nope. Gnarl?"

"Sorry, but I can't remember."

"In any case, that means there's still another one out there."

"There's three giant trees with three giant heads?"

"What's up with that?"

"I don't know, but I'm blaming the elves. I'm pretty sure they weren't alive and didn't have faces when the Black Barron took them."

Not wasting any more time on idle chatter, the Overlord had his minions attack. The stealth attacks of the Greens proved to be quite an effective way of dealing serious damage to his unsuspecting opponents. Not only did they turn invisible and strike hard, they leapt an incredible distance to do so, giving them almost half the reach of the Red's fireballs. They were a fine addition to his forces. Not that the other minions were slacking off or anything.

Once they wiped out the nearest ones they had to get in closer to battle, within tri-face's striking range. Its acid sneezes did very little to the other plant monsters, and its four giant branch arms never struck at them, but its bottom face would gobble them up if they got too close. The last fight against Tri-face was pretty straightforward, but the addition of the other plant monsters made things a lot harder and more complicated.

They had to keep moving while they fought, because if any of them stayed in one spot for too long they were sure to get crushed. They resorted to a hit & run strategy, first mostly going after the vine freaks, and then the tree freaks, while also hacking through the branch arms when they got stuck. Everybody rushed in, attacked one single target all at once, got outta there before they could get counterattacked, then they repeated that on a different target. Gradually they were whittling down their opponents, and before long they'd start dropping one after another. But it was taking too long for the Overlord's liking, so he tried out his new Petrify spell. The monsters hit by it were temporarily frozen in place and turned them into an extremely fragile, stone-like substance. In that state they were defenceless, easy to smash, and for some reason, no harder to cut through. Through a hard fought battle, they managed to slaughter all the plant monsters and sever all the giant arm branches. Now all they had to do was finish it off.

Like before there were tumbleweed-like plants nearby, and the minions sent them in. Valgaav also chucked in a few dead vine freaks for good measure. Then they lit it up, stepped back, and watched the great demon tree go up in flames from the inside. This time Valgaav noticed something he hadn't last time. Once the fire got up high enough, flames started shooting out of the pig-like nostrils. Add in the fire breaking out all over, and what appeared to be suffering people embedded in its bark, and it made for an incredible sight.

"Congratulations sire."

"I think I might use one of those the next time I celebrate something."

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Past there was a narrow path that led them to the Green hive, which was inside a machine much like the Greens were in, surrounded by poisonous plants, and powered by dryads manning pump-like contraptions. For a moment he wondered how to deal with the dryads, but then he noticed they were all held in place with chains, and partially covered in lacerations. The dryads were clearly slaves, and thus were more likely to rejoice at the hive getting stolen than they were to do anything to stop him.

He sent the Greens in to clear out the poisonous plants, then he tampered with and ripped apart the pipes. When the dryads took notice, they began begging and pleading for help. He grabbed a minion, throttled it, and sent him up the pipe. The machine was blown to bits, but the hive was completely intact.

Before getting the hive, he debated what to do about the dryads. All of them were female, and while they were currently in bad shape, it was easy to tell they'd be beautiful once they were cleaned up. But looks aside, would he be better off taking them, freeing them, leaving them, enslaving them, or killing them? Leaving them as they were meant leaving scorned witnesses, which could lead to a whole mess of trouble, so that was clearly a poor choice. Freeing them meant they could be the ones to take the blame for his actions, but it also ran the risk of them becoming witnesses against him, so that choice was risky. Killing them off was an easy solution, but then they couldn't be blamed for his actions, and if they turned out to be valuable assets then killing them off would be a huge waste. And taking them with him and putting them under his rule without knowing anything about them was also risky. He had no idea what they could do, or what they needed to survive, so he had no way of knowing if they'd be worth taking in or not. They could very well make his kingdom thrive, or bleed it dry. Using Dark Manipulation to enslave them seemed like an obvious choice at first, but if he did that, he could run short of mana in the upcoming battles, and that would put him in danger. It felt like there was no clear answer.

"Hey, what can you do?"

Desperate for help, they eagerly informed him of everything they could do. He could tell they were exaggerating, if not completely lying, but if even the basics of their powers was even somewhat true, they could become huge assets by helping the crops and trees grow.

"Alright. I'll give you chance. You'll all be coming with me. If you can prove you're worthwhile, I'll let you live decent lives. If not, you die."

"We will more than prove our worth."

He cut them loose, but left the chains and shackles on. The path back was too narrow for the hive, so he grabbed the chains, had his minions pick up the hive, and they pressed onward, seeing as how the path back was a bit too narrow for the hive. If they tried anything, he would beat them down and cast his Dark Manipulation spell on them. If not, he'd save it for later.

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Not far from there they encountered a small structure that seemed to be a tiny elf base, built over a river of fresh-looking water, surrounded by bodies of various creatures, many of which were dryads, the rest seemed to be plant-animal hybrids that either failed to survive their creation, or were put out of their misery. There were several elves standing guard, two Mirror Gates, and a raised bridge, with the wheel to lower on the other side, where it was guarded.

"When the elves tried to play god and tamper with nature to destroy the land, we rose up to stop them," a dryad said. "We lost hard, and the only ones who survived the battle were forced into slavery."

He had the minions put the hive down as he tried to think of a plan of attack. The river was deep enough to easily drown all but the blue minions, so he needed them to turn the wheel and lower the bridge. But they weren't strong enough to fight through the elves on their own, so if they got spotted, that could spell the end for them, and there were more than enough elves to spot them easily.

The solution was simple enough. He had everyone stay out of sight while the Greens moved in while invisible. They struck and assassinated the elf guards one by one, without raising any alarms. Once that side was clear, he called them back. Now that those ones were dead, the Blues were less likely to be spotted. Especially if there was a distraction.

Valgaav had the Blues sneak across the river and make their way to the wheel while no-one was looking. When it looked like they were about to be spotted, he crossed the river himself and launched a sneak attack. The elves were caught off guard, but they responded quickly and they all attacked him while reinforcements started pouring through the Mirror Gates. The Overlord fought through several of them at once, just to give the Blues the time they needed. And before the elves could gain the upper hand against him, the bridge came down and he was able to call his forces to him.

A huge wave of minions came across the bridge and swept away everything before them. The tide had begun to turn, but not before the Overlord took some damage. To ensure he wouldn't get too banged up before reaching the next Waypoint Gate, he had to momentarily retreat and direct the minions from a safer point. He had them strike down their foes, then tear down the Mirror Gates one after another.

Once the area was secured, they searched it for loot. There were a couple potions, and not much else. The Overlord broke down the door to the base and they went inside. The place turned out to be a key point for their pipe system. There were pipes and valves, and also a Minion Relic and some boxes of loot. Noticing that everything in there was open, he closed it off and broke the handles, in the hopes that it would cause the whole thing to back up and blow up. But he was no mechanic, and taking into account the damage he already caused, he had no idea whether or not that was the right call. So the best he could do was mess with things and hope for the worst.

Then he had his minions grab the goods and they left.

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The path forward held some new things, including trees that grew weird pulsating fruits, man-sized walking trees with no way to attack, and plant-animal hybrids that were so brain dead that they couldn't figure out what to attack.

"What are these things?"

"Early experiments I'm guessing. Success is often built on failures, and when you're making something as crazy these monsters, odds are you'll have a whole mountain of failures before you start getting anything right. It looks like I'm nearing their stash of failures."

It was a simple matter to wipe them out. One ranged attack and the trees dropped their fruits, which functioned as poison gas bombs that killed everything there, including the very trees they grew from. After that all they had to do was wait a couple seconds for the air to clear.

They soon reached the Waypoint Gate. And just to the right of that was a clearing full of had to be earlier attempts at tree freaks in an assortment of designs. There were walking flytraps, a giant trap weed that was above ground, munching on a rock, ugly walking flowers that looked like vileplumes and shot things out of their heads like cannons, Groots with huge thorns, a giant monster made of wood that looked like Violator from Spawn, more plant-animal hybrids, walking acorns that blew up, and the third and final Tri-Face. And along the sides there were several of those disgusting dick plants.

"Wow, that one looks awesome. Why didn't they use that in their attack?"

When the giant wooden monster spotted them, it snarled loudly, then charged at them. It moved like lightning and was on them in an instant. Valgaav had never seen anything like it before. And just before it reached them its left leg snapped, causing it to fall. It tried to stop its fall with its arms, but they snapped like twigs and it hit the ground hard, causing its body to break apart and its head to fall off.

"Okay, never-mind. It looked great, but I'm already starting to understand why they didn't use it."

Valgaav looked at the severed head for a moment. It was dead, made completely of wood, had demonic face, three horns curved forward, (one on each side with another on top,) and an absurdly oversized bottom jaw. It looked more like a piece of artwork that he would hang on his wall. So he tossed it onto the Waypoint Gate to send it to the castle. Followed by the Green Hive, the Minion relic, and then the boxes of loot.

"Looks like I won't have to deal with the last one after all."

"Wait!," cried a dryad. "Our sisters are being kept just past there!"

"So? I'm not a hero. What reason do I have to rescue them?"

"Please, we may very well be the last of our race!"

"Doesn't matter to me."

She broke down in tears. Then another one spoke up.

"That's also where some of the elves stored some gold and stuff."

He paused to think about that.

"Alright. But each dryad I save will be my slave for life, unless I choose to release them."

He sent the dryads to Castle Gromgard and readied himself for battle. Being that these monsters were nothing but early failures, Valgaav thought that getting through this would be easy enough. Just wipe out the fodder, send a few tumbleweeds into the Tri-Face, set it on fire, and that'd be the end of it. But he got started on that, he suddenly noticed that the tumbleweed-like plants that he used to burn the first two Tri-Faces down weren't growing there. Not only that, but more monsters were continuously entering the clearing from behind the demon tree.

Before he could think of a way through this, he was blown off his feet by a walking acorn. The damn thing was about half the size of his head, it killed itself when it blew up, and the small explosion wasn't enough to break through his armour or cause any serious damage, but damn that was annoying.

As he rose to his feet he noticed a lot more of them heading his way. He unleashed his Chain Lightning spell, and it blew them all up. Then he was attacked by a man-shaped tree with huge thorns, some of which served as claws. He struck with his sword and cut deep into its arm, it struck back by punching him in the face and then knocking his sword away. It then brought both hands down hard onto him, but he caught them and it turned into a test of strength. The tree man seemed to have the advantage, as it was overpowering the Overlord, but then he shifted his weight and threw him to the ground. Then he picked it up and slammed it back down. Then as it tried to get up, he brought his foot down hard and broke its leg in two. Then he did the same to the other leg. Then he grabbed its arm and broke it over his knee. Then he grabbed its other arm and punched through it, breaking it at the cut made earlier. Then he stomped its head until it was nothing but splinters. The tree man may have had more raw power, but Valgaav was a lot heavier, and he was able to use that to his advantage to get the win.

The Overlord then grabbed his blade and had his minions regroup. The battle wasn't going as well as he thought it would. The monsters weren't that easy to take down, they hit harder than they should've, and their reinforcements were coming in too fast.

"Something's wrong. If these guys are early failures, then they should not be this tough."

"You're right Sire. Something here must be strengthening them. It's those disgusting plants! Destroy them!"

The Overlord smirked. That was just what he wanted to hear. He wasted no time and led his minions to the side. He chopped off their heads and had the Reds set their insides on fire. Once he got through the first half, the plants somehow smartened up and created a wall of poisonous green gas. That alone was not a problem, as the Greens were able to go right through it and chop the tops off themselves, and even at a range the Reds were easily able to set them on fire, but doing that while Tri-Face and the other monsters were trying to destroy them, complicated it.

And with that the tables had begun to turn. The monsters got a lot weaker, and their reinforcements weren't coming in as fast. He replenished his horde and went back into battle.

The plant-animal hybrids and walking bomb acorns had already been taken down. The ugly walking flowers that shot things out of their heads were now easy targets. The giant trap weed was soon torn apart, as were the arms of the demon tree. That only left the walking flytraps and the tree men, but in their current states they were no match for fully equipped minions. That said, their bodies made for a fine substitute for tumbleweed.

They cut the plant monsters down, then threw them to the demon tree. It wasn't long before it gobbled up enough of them. Then he had the Reds light it up. The tree went up in flames in a glorious sight. Then the fires spread behind it, all the way to where the plant monsters were coming from, causing that to go up in flames. When the flames hit the bomb acorns they blew up, sending a number of other bomb acorns into the sky where they blew up in what could easily be described as a fireworks show.

Everybody watched on in amazement at the display. The Overlord, the minions, and everyone watching from the castle couldn't take their eyes off of it, and occasionally added in a comment.

"Okay, I don't care what it takes or how we do it, I want that for out future celebrations," Valgaav said once it was over. And everyone agreed with him.

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Just past there was some ruins with a set of statues, and a prison. The statues were of beautiful naked girls with incredible figures, doing seductive or submissive poses, wearing slave collars and assorted bondage gear, and were incredibly realistic. And now that he was paying attention, were in incredible shape. They looked brand new, despite the conditions and everything else. Even the building around them was nothing but a pile of rocks, yet they were flawless.

"Wait, these are the enslaved goddess statues. Black Barron once got his hands on a bunch of nude goddess statues that he had altered to show that even before the gods, he would never bow and grovel like so many others,and in fact the gods would be the onesto bow and grovel before him."

"That sounds pretty bad-ass."

"Then he built some fancy place here with some luxurious bath, or pool, or something, and he had it decorated with those statues."

"Any idea what goddess the cute, big boobed loli with the twin tails is supposed to be?"

"Nope. We'll have to figure it out later."

He had his minions start collecting them and sending them to the castle. Then he checked out the prison. There were dozens of dryads, all locked in cages, along with one giant bag of gold. The dryads all pleaded for help as he helped himself to the gold.

"Okay, listen up! I can free you, but in exchange, you'll be living under my rule for the rest of your lives!"

Only a select few agreed without hesitation, the rest paused, not wanting to trust their fate to a man they didn't know who looked pure evil, but also not wanting to remain in prison as slaves to the elves. Soon many of them decided to put their faith in the stranger and join him. As more and more sided with him, some going so far as to show off their privates and attempt to seduce him, many decided to just go with the flow and submit to his rule, until only a select few held out and stubbornly refused to join him, believing that what he had planned for them could be even worse than what the elves were doing, and wasn't worth the risk.

He didn't have keys for cage doors, but they were easy enough to break down. The minions escorted them to the Waypoint Gate, making sure that none of them got away. While debating on what to do about the ones left behind, the Overlord noticed the fire from earlier was spreading, and heading towards the prison. It would reach it in a few minutes, and those inside would be burned alive not long after.

He shrugged and walked off, considering it a problem that was about to solve itself. It wasn't his fault they decided to refuse his help and stay behind where they were suffering and their lives were in danger. He honestly would have enjoyed sticking around and listening to their screams, but he had work to do and had to return to the castle.

"I hope my messenger boy's getting his job done," Valgaav said as he stepped onto the Waypoint Gate.

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And now for the Overlord's Messenger Boy minigame. Brought to you by the realization of how short this chapter would be without it.

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William had been given a horse drawn chariot, four Brown minions, a shield, and some weapons to help ensure his success. But that didn't mean he wasn't scared. There was a reason why the people couldn't just pack up and leave when hard times hit, and he was experiencing it firsthand. Within the lands of Greenvale, there were all kinds of monsters and savage beasts, and none of them ever hesitated to attack travellers. Past the lands of Greenvale, there was a lawless neutral territory where dangerous bandits and criminals of all kinds fled to escape the law. And they had a nasty habit of going to great lengths to ensure nobody made it through their turf alive. And the nearby kingdom of Aragon may have been far more peaceful, but some of the men keeping the peace were homicidal and made up excuses to kill whoever they wanted, and their territory was a lot bigger than the neutral territory.

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Area one: Greenvale.

William got his horses going full speed, but right off the bat things went south. A small pack of wolves came running, looking to make a meal out of them. He pulled out his spear, and every time a wolf would catch up and lunge at them, he'd thrust his spear into it. He wasn't sure how many of the wolves died, but he did know they all went down and didn't try again. He had to take out a bunch of them before the survivors gave up.

Once out of the wolf territory, he entered slug territory. Seeing as they had no chance of catching up to him and none were on the road, he decided to just speed right by them. To his surprise, they were still able to attack by spitting rocks at him. He had to use his shield to protect himself and his chariot. Which would've been a lot easier if they weren't attacking from both sides, or if he had a second shield. He had to quickly keep moving his shield from one side to the other to block it all. And it kept getting progressively harder.

Once out of the slug territory, he entered the elves' jungle territory. There he was attacked by vine freaks. As soon as they spotted him they started flinging themselves into the air and landing on the chariot. Then tried tearing it apart and killing him. To get rid of them he pulled out his blade and cut through them. His blade was more of a machete than a proper sword, but it was sharp and its cutting power was actually above most swords he'd seen. It only took two or three strikes to each of the vine freaks to take them out. But he had to act fast before they wrecked his chariot.

Once out of the elves' jungle territory, he reached the edge of Greenvale. Seeing a safe spot to rest, he stopped to give the horses a break and do some repairs. Then he was off again.

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Area two: Bandit Territory.

He entered the lawless neutral territory, and right away a huge group of bandits on horseback started chasing him down. Most of them were using spears or lances, some had bows or crossbows, and a few were brandishing swords for some reason. Maybe they were just trying to look cool or something.

As they tried and failed to take him down with their arrows, William pulled out his bow and arrows and started shooting at them. Lucky for him the chariot provided a fairly smooth ride and he didn't need to keep his hands on the reigns, making it a lot easier for him to use his bow than it was for the guys on horseback, and they weren't wearing armour or carrying shields, making them vulnerable to his arrows. It only took one or two shots to make each of them to fall from their horses, but even with those advantages, it was still very hard to deal with so many. They relentless, fast enough to catch up, and the ones with spears and lances had far better accuracy than the ones with bows. He had to take them all down before they got too close. For a while it seemed like there was no end to them. Then the survivors decided they'd had enough and broke off the attack.

Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, a new group came. These men were fewer in number, but they were clearly a much bigger threat. They were larger, covered in plate armour, rode much bigger and faster horses, were armed with good quality lances, huge crossbows, and had broadswords at their sides. He had to swerve out of the way to avoid their powerful crossbows, which they then dropped to increase their speed.

Knowing that his arrows were useless against armour like that, he had to think fast. Then he realized that while he couldn't take them out, their horses were another story. The horses had helmets to protect their heads, but that was it. A few well placed arrows to their bodies and the horses went down, along with their riders.

Once that was over he reached the edge of the neutral territory. Seeing a safe spot to rest, he stopped to give the horses another break and do some more repairs. Then he was off again.

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Area three: Aragon Kingdom.

He crossed the boarders of Aragon Kingdom without issues, and then was on his way. After a while he found himself under attack again. Armoured men on horseback were chasing him down, firing arrows, and trying to kill him. He had run out of arrows, so he had to try something else. He spotted a couple boxes of small pots filled with oil. He started lighting them on fire and throwing them at his pursuers, while hiding behind his shield. If the fire pots landed in front of the horse, it would take two to bring it down, and if the fire pots hit the horse or the man on it, it would bring them down in a single shot. But the riders weren't eager to get hit and kept trying to get out of the way, leading to a bunch of misses.

Even with the horse going full speed and heading straight to the capital, it was still a long trip and he kept getting hounded by those psychotic men on horseback. But eventually he manage to lose the last of them. Or at least he thought he did until a giant chariot-like contraption full of them showed up, trying to end him. A dangerous high-speed battle between them ensued. It took a lot of fire pots to take that thing down, and his shield was reduced to scrap in the process, yet somehow he managed. It burned, went down, and he escaped.

Noticing that he was close to the capital where the king lived, William decided somewhere around there would be a good spot to put the Waypoint Gate that the Overlord wanted. He soon found a mostly secluded spot that should perfectly. It was out of sight, someone coming from that direction shouldn't arise too much suspicion, and even if it was found it, it probably wouldn't be seen as that serious of a threat.

"Hey minion guys. It's your turn. Go get that gate thing put over there for the Overlord."

Up until that point the minions had been doing nothing but relaxing, goofing around, and laughing at everything they saw. They hadn't been any help until then, and he probably would have been better off without them, but having them fulfill their purpose and call forth the Waypoint Gate made it worthwhile. Especially if it meant a fast and easy trip home for him.

William entered the capital and soon found what had to be the king, surrounded by bodyguards that were dressed a lot like the psychos that tried to kill him. Just the man he wanted to see, and just the men he didn't want to see. Them's the breaks.

He slowed the horses, worked up his courage, and went to him.

"Are you the king?"

"I am."

"My name is William. I bring an urgent message from Valgaav Gromgard, the Overlord of Greenvale."

He pulled out a sealed letter and one of the bodyguards brought it to the king, who ordered the man be seized. Word of his destructive acts towards the police and peacekeepers on the way there had somehow already reached the king, who was in the mood to see someone executed.

As they restrained him and prepared to cut him into pieces, he pleaded that it was the other guys that attacked him, and he was only defending himself. The king laughed at it.

"The only way you'll get out of this alive, is if this really is a serious issue, and he clearly states not to kill you."

He opened the letter and read it.

"Okay, let's see... There's a war coming, its aimed to destroy both Aragon and Greenvale... That is serious... He wants to form an alliance and trade critical information for military might... Fair enough. Doesn't look like it says anything about you though... DAMMIT!"

"What is it?"

He handed the letter to his guard, pointing to the last part, which he read aloud.

"PS: Don't kill or harm the messenger. Decent messengers are nearly impossible to find these days, and I can't afford to lose him."

The only one there who wasn't disappointed was William. Had any of the king's men actually died, he would've been executed regardless.

"Release him. You're free to go back to your master, but don't think you're off the hook. If he wants this deal to go through, then I'll have your head on a pike!"

He took off running and went straight to the Waypoint gate.

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A.N: There are two types of writer's block that I can think of. Type 1: You're mentally incapable of thinking of something to write, and no matter what you try, you just can't get your creative juices flowing. Type 2: You're physically incapable of writing. Your creative juices could be flowing like a waterfall, but that won't matter if your computer's broken, or someone's stopping you from using it.

I just went through both. First my computer broke when my creative juices were flowing like a river, then when I replaced it, I had nothing to put down. Hopefully I'll finally be able to get over it and catch up.