Ranma/Lone Wolf Crossover Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or the Lone Wolf Series or any other characters. The rights to Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi and for the Lone Wolf Series Joe Dever. This story is created solely for entertainment purposes and no profit as gained from this.
Note.
Kai Names:
* Ranma Stormgard (Saotome) - Wild Horse
* Braxus Stormgard - Swift Blade
Wild Horse of Kai
By Montymouse
' ' - Thought
" " - Speech
This Chapter happens between Chapter six and seven.
Chapter Ten - The Good, The Bad and the Downright Ugly
***
Alema Bridge
The battle of Alema Bridge between Prince Pelethar's men and the Darklords' forces was being fought fiercely as the constant waves of Giak and Kraan parties assaulted the defenders of the bridge. Aiding the beleaguered defenders was Braxus Stormgard, who had stayed behind to help Prince Pelethar while his Brother Ranma went to Holmgard to warn the King about the Darklords' invasion of Sommerlund.
For more than four hours the number of defenders of the bridge had slowly diminished under the constant waves of attacks. It wouldn't be too long until the Darklords' forces overran the bridge. Prince Pelethar had recovered from his injuries thanks to Braxus' efforts.
The sky was slowly becoming darker as daylight gave way to night; the defenders of the bridge would be in trouble as it was now much more difficult to anticipate the Darklords' next assault. Nighttime didn't provide any comfort for the tired and exhausted men; this was an ideal opportunity for a strike to come, so they had to remain active. For the next six hours nothing came as a silence filled the nearby woods, which was unnerving to the Sommlending Defenders.
Braxus Stormgard was stationed near the forefront of the bridge as his keen night vision provided a crucial advantage for the defenders. Prince Pelethar walked up to Braxus and tapped him on his shoulder.
"Why haven't they attacked by now?" whispered Pelethar.
"They're probably mustering their forces for the final assault as they know we won't defend the bridge for any more longer," Braxus whispered back.
"When do you think they will attack?" Pelethar asked as he checked the bandages on his leg. He reckoned that if they were attacked, he wouldn't be able to escape because of his injuries.
"Probably at first light."
"I see. You know that we won't be able hold the bridge any longer without reinforcements." Pelethar sat down next to Braxus.
"I know. We're outnumbered three to one and most of our men are exhausted due to the non stop assault." Pelethar nodded at Braxus' statement.
"Rest assured, we will be ready for them despite the fact that our chances of survival are almost zero."
"Don't let the other men know about this for the sake of morale." Braxus whispered to Pelethar.
He nodded silently.
"Well if we're going down, we better take as many of them down with us as we can. So let's give them a fight they will never forget!" Braxus said as he sharpened his shortsword. Pelethar laughed quietly.
"I must admit Swift Blade, if you were one of my men you would probably be one of the best general in all of Sommerlund. Tell me, Kai Lord, what is your real name, if you are allowed to give your name?"
"Braxus Stormgard," Braxus whispered to Pelethar who seemed quite surprised.
"Are you related to Jerek Stormgard by any chance?" Pelethar asked.
"Yes I am, he is my father. Why do you ask, My Lord?"
"So you're Jerek Stormgard's son. I should have recognised the family resemblance." Pelethar noticed that his statement confused Braxus.
Seeing the confusion in Braxus eyes, he decided to explain what he meant.
"Jerek Stormgard was considered a legendary commander of the Sommlending army and royal bodyguard to our family. He resigned his position to go to Durenor with his wife, so I am quite honoured by your presence at our final hour of glory," Pelethar said as he noticed that dawn was coming soon.
"Thanks, but I think you should..." Braxus then heard the sounds of Giak warriors in the dark woods as they preparing to assault the beleaguer defenders.
"Prince Pelethar, get your men ready; they are about to attack at any moment," Braxus ordered.
Pelethar started to put on his helmet in preparation.
Prince Pelethar nodded and quietly gathered the rest of his men. Braxus saw flames being lit up along the forest's length, indicating that they were severely outnumbered. He estimated at least a hundred Giak warriors judging by the number of flames appearing. The Darklord forces were poised to attack in the eaves of the dark forest. The defenders of the bridge only numbered twenty-five including Prince Pelethar and Braxus but at least the men on the bridge were experienced and highly trained troops.
Prince Pelethar returned to Braxus to say that his men were ready to fight to the death, as they did not fear death as long as Sommerlund would be saved. Out of the forest, war parties of Giak warriors emerged, making such a racket with their shields and swords.
Braxus unsung his silver bow and drew back an arrow.
The leader of the war party, a black clad Giak warrior, issued the order to kill the defenders.
Drawing his bow, Braxus aimed at the leader of the assault party in the hopes that it would slow down the oncoming assault. Letting go of the bowstring, the arrow flew towards the Giak leader, piecing its armor cleanly and killing him instantly. This caused the Giak party to pause for a moment at the death of their leader, but then another Giak warrior resumed command and continued the assault.
They were about a hundred yards in when Prince Pelethar unsheathed his sword as the Giak warriors engaged the defenders of the bridge. There was a loud sound of clashing steel as the Sommlending soldiers and Giak warriors fought. The fighting was fierce and bloody, and although heavily outnumbered, Braxus gained a little ground in the midst of the battle while fighting off multiple Giak warriors. No sooner had Braxus drawn his bloody shortsword from the chest of a Giak warrior, a large grey Gourgaz jumped over the corpse to engage Braxus. After skilfully killing the Gourgaz, Braxus climbed over the pile of corpses to survey the battle. With the noise of war ringing in his ears, he looked around to see how the defenders were coping.
Braxus saw that half of the defenders were dead and the Giak warriors were trying to push the brave defenders back against the bridge.
'This is not good,' Braxus thought.
He saw to his left Prince Pelethar fighting off the battle-raged Giak warriors; despite his wounds he fought on bravely. To his right, a large Gourgaz was clubbing one of Prince Pelethar's knights to the ground. Deciding to help the Knight, Braxus leapt off the pile of corpse to aid him.
The Giak archers who were stationed near the bridge recognised Braxus as one of the Kai warriors. Their orders were to kill any Kai Lord on sight. Seeing Braxus' Kai cloak and uniform, they aimed their bows at Braxus and, taking careful aim, they fired a dozen arrows at the Kai Lord, who was unaware that he was being marked out.
Prince Pelethar had finished taking care of his opponents and he was about to fight off another Giak warrior, when he noticed the Giak archers lined up along the riverbank aiming at Braxus. Seeing the danger, he ran and dove headlong at Braxus, pushing him out of the path of the arrows. Braxus got up from being roughly pushed to the ground and noticed Prince Pelethar near his feet.
"Thanks, Pelethar, I owe you one," Braxus said as he offered his hand to help Pelethar get up.
"No need to. Think of this as a life debt fulfilled for saving me when I was injured. We are now even," Pelethar said.
Braxus smiled and nodded.
"Come Prince Pelethar, let us show them what we are made of," Braxus said
Braxus and Prince Pelethar renewed their assault on the attackers with renewed confidence as they pushed back the Giak warriors. Braxus picked up another weapon from one of the dead warriors and fought two opponents at the same time, while a large black clad Giak warrior assaulted Prince Pelethar.
No sooner had Braxus drawn his shortsword from his adversary's body, than he sensed someone behind him. Quickly spinning around, Braxus swung his sword at the adversary behind him. Nearly too late, he noticed that it wasn't a soldier of the Darklords, but a young red haired girl.
He managed to stop the swing of his sword before it hit her due to his Kai training and years of experience with practising with his father.
"Who are you and what in hell is a girl like you doing here in middle of battle?" Braxus shouted.
"The name's Ranko, a close friend of Ranma. Nice to meet you," Ranko said as she shook Braxus' hand.
Braxus sweatdropped in surprise; this girl Ranko was unaware of the dangers that were happening around her. The odd thing was that no one had attacked her yet, and she didn't seem to be injured. Prince Pelethar saw Braxus talking to a red haired girl and thought he was seeing things due to battle fatigue.
He rushed over to Braxus.
"Err... Braxus who is this girl?" Pelethar said.
"She said she a friend of my brother Wild horse," Braxus replied.
"Oh." Pelethar then turned to Ranko who still smiling in a way that was starting to make him nervous. "Young Lady, may I ask why are you here?" asked Pelethar.
Suddenly, volleys of arrows were fired and were heading toward the trio. Braxus and Pelethar tried to shield themselves against the volley, as they didn't have the time to do anything else, Ranko just stood still. The volley of arrows suddenly stopped as they hit an invisible barrier that Ranko had placed earlier.
Seeing the reaction of Braxus and Prince Pelethar, she started to giggle.
"What is so funny? We're could have been killed!" demanded Braxus and Prince Pelethar.
"You!" Ranko giggled.
Braxus and Prince Pelethar suddenly noticed that the noise had stopped as the Darklords' forces had surrounded them. All the defenders had been defeated and they now possessed the bridge; only the Prince, the Kai Lord and the red haired girl were left. Pelethar and Braxus had their backs together as they waited for the forces to overwhelm them, but noticed something was wrong.
"What happened?" Pelethar asked.
"Don't know, they look like they're frozen in time," Braxus replied, seeing that the Giak warriors were frozen motionless.
"You are correct, Swift Blade. I have frozen time for a brief moment and I am willing to help you," Ranko offered.
"Can we trust her?" Pelethar whispered to Braxus.
"We got no choice, otherwise we're as good as dead," Braxus said to Pelethar who nodded. He trusted Braxus' judgement and agreed to his decision.
Braxus turned toward Ranko.
"We accept."
"Good."
Ranko then clicked her fingers and a bright flash consumed the trio. Time then resumed, leaving the Giak warriors wondering where the hell the Kai Lord and the Prince had gone. Never mind, they had the bridge now, so on to Holmgard, their leader ordered and they marched towards the Sommlending Capital.
***
Ranko had teleported Prince Pelethar and Braxus Stormgard to safety, but instead of returning them to Holmgard, she had sent them to another dimension, as she wanted Braxus to go on a particular quest, which would help aid Sommerlund.
With a flash, Braxus and Pelethar appeared in woodland clearing with Ranko nowhere to be seen. Looking around, Braxus had no clue where she had teleported them. Judging by the position of the sun, it was about two in the afternoon and they were currently in a dense forest. Prince Pelethar was thinking the same, as he too couldn't work out where he was. Feeling a bit tired; Pelethar walked over to a tree stump and sat down before removing his helmet.
"Do you know why that red haired girl teleported us here?" Pelethar asked as he checked his equipment.
"Haven't a clue. Don't know why she sent us here, but maybe she wants us to do something."
"How do you know that she's working for good? Maybe she wants to kill us," enquired Pelethar.
"I don't think she's evil; and besides, there was something in her eyes that makes me think she's on our side. If she wanted us dead she would have left us to die at Alema Bridge. Besides that, I want to know how she knows my brother."
"Well, if you say so. At least we're alive. Still, we have to get back to Holmgard to warn my father of the Darklords' invasion."
"I'm sure that Wild Horse made it and warned the king. Come on, Prince Pelethar, let's see if we can find a village or something."
"Okay, but we better be quick; it will be dark soon," Pelethar said as he got up and followed Braxus through the forest.
Two hours later, Braxus had managed to find a deserted village. Walking through the village, Braxus assumed that the village had only been deserted since a couple of hours ago. Judging from his surroundings, it looked like someone had rounded up all the villagers, as there was evidence of struggles all over the small village. There was no one alive in sight. The front gate of the stockade that was protecting the village was smashed and there were scenes of a recent skirmish. Braxus was about to enter a nearby house when he heard someone calling him.
"Braxus, I found something you should see. Come over here!"
"What is it, Pelethar?"
"Come over here see for yourself," Pelethar called back.
Wondering what Pelethar had found, Braxus walked over to where he had heard Pelethar calling. Prince Pelethar was standing near a small hut and standing near Pelethar's feet was a half-human, half beast-like creature. It was clearly dead as it had a spear protruding from its back.
"What do you think it is?" Pelethar said as he crouched down and examined the Beastman.
"Don't know, but I think this creature was part of raiding party that attacked the village," Braxus said as he pointed down the path to see some dead villagers.
"It sickens me that someone would attack innocent villagers," Pelethar said with bitterness.
"I know, but we can't do anything to help. If we were here a few hours ago, we might have done something to prevent this," Braxus said.
"I supposed you're right... hey what is that?" Pelethar pointed to the north as he saw a glimpse of light coming from the rocky hill.
"Don't know from here. It could be signs of activity; let's check it out."
Pelethar and Braxus left the village to investigate the strange light that they had seen appearing near a rocky hill, hoping that there were some survivors of the raid so they could help. Quietly climbing the rocky hill and peeking over the rock, they were horrified to see a bizarre ritual-taking place. A horde of beast-headed, inhuman creatures was gathered at the foot of a small mound on which stood a huge wicker structure. The wicker structure was made out of cages of wooden poles, lashed together in the shape of a giant man.
The Beastmen and wicker structure didn't horrify them, though, but what was in those cages did. The Wicker Man was packed with live human prisoners who were doing nothing to try to escape, almost as if they were under a hypnotic spell. The Beastmen were making a terrific din, braying, roaring, bellowing and banging weapons against their shields. Some held torches aloft and all were watching a smaller figure that was chanting and carrying out a peculiar dance between the feet of the wicker structure. Pelethar and Braxus hid behind a large rock as they considered what they should do.
"Those are the villagers from village, I'm sure of it. Braxus, we must help them, otherwise they are going to be sacrificed by that Shaman and will be burnt alive!" Pelethar said frantically.
"I know, I know, but it's only us against roughly twenty of them," Braxus replied as he started to come up with some sort of plan.
After a minute or so Braxus had quickly formulated a plan to rescue the villagers. He realised that the shaman's dark magic was preventing the prisoners from saving themselves, so if they could stop him they would break his hold on the villagers' minds.
"Got it! Pelethar, you see that shaman dressed in that weird patterned robe with a pair of antlers growing out of its hideous, bestial skull and doing that weird dance?" Braxus pointed.
"Yeah, can't really miss him with those antlers," Pelethar commented.
"Well, I think he's the one that is controlling the villagers and preventing them from escaping. If I was to kill him, maybe the villagers would be able to break free of the hypnotic spell that he's cast."
"So you're telling me that you will go down there, go through at least twenty Beastmen, kill the shaman and free the villagers?" Pelethar said making sure he heard it right from Braxus.
"Yeah, that's about it."
"You must be out of your mind!" Pelethar replied.
"Well I won't have to go through those Beastmen if they were to be distracted by something."
"And how, may I ask, are you going to do that?" Pelethar said.
He then noticed Braxus grinning and pointing at him.
"Oh no, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to be the bait for those stinking Beastmen. I'm royalty, you know!" Pelethar hastily replied.
"Oh come on Pelethar, for the sake of the villagers; we must help them. You know it's the right thing to do," Braxus pleaded.
"Oh right, I'm going. You had better make sure you kill that Shaman, otherwise we'll both be in trouble."
Prince Pelethar then made his way round to the other side of the rocky hill as Braxus quickly used his Kai discipline of Camouflage to make sure none of the Beastmen would notice him. Keeping low and making use of any cover that was available; Braxus quietly crept past the Beastmen towards the Wicker Man. Braxus was almost a few yards away from the dancing shaman when he stepped on a loose rock ledge, which broke and fell, causing some of the Beastmen to turn in his direction.
'Oh crap! Pelethar, where are you?' Braxus thought.
Two of the Beastmen decided to check out what had caused the rocks to fall. Braxus was hiding behind a large rock and they were about to find him when...
"Hey you, you stupid half human pigs! I think you're all stupid, and if you want a piece of me, come and get me!" Pelethar shouted from the opposite end of the rocky hill as he waved his sword at them.
'Braxus, I hope you know what you are doing,' Pelethar thought as he started to leg it down the rocky hillside, closely pursued by armed Beastmen. The Beastmen were outraged by this human insult, and half of them started to give chase.
Braxus slowly looked around the large rock to see only a dozen or so Beastmen were still left, and seeing that his chances of success had improved, he crept around the mound and ducked behind it. Looking around, Braxus noticed a cauldron full of oil just a few yards from where he was. Creeping over to the cauldron and putting all of his weight behind it, Braxus managed to tip the vessel over. Its content gushed down the slope and collect around the base of the mound. Confusion between the Beastmen ensued as Braxus watched.
"Now for the finishing touch," Braxus said as he lit a torch and threw it at base of the mound.
The torch fell into the river of oil, instantly igniting it, causing a wall of fire between the Beastmen and the mound, and leaving Braxus and the villagers unharmed, but with the furious Shaman trapped with him. Braxus unsheathed his shortsword and leapt toward the shaman, to the sounds of the other Beastmen roaring encouragement to their Shaman.
Running toward the Shaman, Braxus saw him raising his right hand and pointing it towards him. Realising that that Shaman was about to cast a spell, Braxus rolled to his left as a bolt of dark energy narrowly missed him. Not wanting the Shaman to have a second shot at him, Braxus doubled his efforts to get near to him, so that he would him from using his dark magic. The Shaman cursed the human as he pulled a sacrificial dagger out from his robes.
The Shaman was no match for Braxus' swordmanship and Kai Weaponskill, and he chopped off his head with ease and no remorse. The death of the Shaman caused the imprisoned villagers to suddenly become aware of what was going on, and in their desperate panic they tried to free themselves. However, Braxus noticed that many of the villagers were exhausted or too weak to be of much help to themselves. Braxus saw that the fire was getting ever nearer to the wicker structure, and if he didn't free them soon, the wicker man would catch alight quite easily. Also, the ring of fire that separated him and the Beastmen was slowly dying out. Seeing that he had to free them himself, Braxus sheathed his shortsword.
Grabbing hold of a pole, Braxus started to climb the precarious structure, trying to free the villagers before it was too late. It was a difficult climb. He had to cling onto the wicker man with one hand and use his other to open the cages to free the prisoners. That wasn't the problem as he had the strength to do it; it was the volley of spears and other projectiles being launched at him as he tried to free the villagers higher up that was the problem. As Braxus was climbing up, he could hear the howling and cursing from the Beastmen as they tried to knock him off the wicker man structure.
Finally, the last cage at the very top of wicker man structure was open, and the villagers made their break for freedom. Looking down he could see the firewall dying down; Braxus began to make his way down from the wicker structure when he heard something from below.
'CRACK, SNAP, CRACK'
'This can't be happening,' Braxus thought.
Looking down, he could see the structure had caught light and the fire was starting to spread rapidly. Seeing that there was no other option but to jump for it, Braxus leapt into the air away from the now burning, empty wicker man
The landing was okay as Braxus hadn't been too far from the ground and he only suffered minor bruising and cuts. Getting up, Braxus felt the rest of Beastmen behind him as he could hear their growls of rage and anger. Turning around slowly, Braxus pretended to look shocked and pointed behind them.
"Hey, look behind you!" Braxus shouted.
The Beastmen were dumb enough to look around while Braxus took this as the opportunity to bolt it as the wicker man, now well ablaze, toppled forward as the wooden supports holding it up burned through.
The Beastmen just looked in shock at the falling, blazing structure as it leaned towards them. With a tremendous crash, it collapsed on top of the crowd of Beastmen, sending a great flurry of sparks up into the night sky. Braxus, who was now on top of the rocky hill, watched this happen.
"Serves them right for trying to kill innocent people," Braxus thought, though there was something nagging him that there was something important that he must do.
Ten seconds later.
'PRINCE PELETHAR! HE IS BY HIMSELF AGAINST THOSE BEASTMEN!' Braxus immediately started to run in the direction in which he had seen Pelethar distracting those Beastmen, hoping that he wasn't too late to save the Prince that he had promised to protect.
Using his Kai Tracking skill, and also following the dead bodies along the rocky path, he managed to find Pelethar fighting off the Beastmen one-on-one as he had his back against a rocky wall. Breathing a sign of relief, Braxus ran up to aid the Prince but not before dispatching a few with his Ranma's silver bow. There were only five or six Beastmen left, so it wasn't much of problem. After all, they were both trained by the best. Master swordsman Jerek Stormgard had taught both Prince Pelethar and Braxus. Pelethar had also received addition training from the best tutors in Sommerlund, while the Kai monks had trained Braxus. Afterwards, both Prince Pelethar and Braxus Stormgard sat down on a rock, exhausted and tired.
"So what took you so long? I had to deal with those awful Beastmen!" Pelethar asked as he wiped his sword clean and sheathed his weapon.
"Well, considering that I had to take out the Shaman, save the villagers, escape with my life and saved yours, I'd say I did it in a reasonable amount of time." Braxus tried to say it in a serious voice but couldn't as he started laugh. Soon Pelethar joined in.
"So, do you know where the villagers went? The last time I saw them was when you freed them and headed into the woods." Pelethar had almost stopped laughing.
"I think they went back to their village. Come on, let's see if they are still there," Braxus said. He got up and started to walk back to the village.
"Hey, wait up. I'm tired you know," Pelethar said as he caught up with Braxus.
***
After walking back to the village, they found it no longer deserted as when they had first arrived, but it was now the opposite as the villagers had returned to their homes and had started to repair the stockade gates. As Braxus and Pelethar approached the village, the guards that had been posted recognised them as the rescuers who had saved them from the terrible atrocity that would have taken place if not for their courageous efforts. Hastily the guards ordered the gates to be opened as a crowd of villagers gathered near the entrance, all looking a bit nervous and tired.
Braxus told Pelethar not to reveal his true identity as the Prince of Sommerlund, but to say he was a Royal Knight or something. As they approached the crowd in a non-threatening way, the general mood turned to relief as they saw that the two men meant them no harm. At the head of the crowd was an old man who greeted them.
"Greeting stranger. May we ask the names of our saviours?"
"My name is Swift Blade and my friend next to me is Pelethar of the White Pegasus."
"Welcome, Sir Swift Blade and Pelethar. We are in your debt for saving us from a terrible fate. If there is anything we can do, just ask." The old man bowed respectfully and the rest of the crowd did the same.
"There is no need for this humble gesture, it is our duty to protect the innocent from harm and evil," Braxus said.
The crowd looked with awe and surprise at the two men who were willing to risk their lives to save them, as they were ordinary common villagers.
"Surely there is something we could do to reward your efforts in saving us?"
"Well, there is one thing you could do," Pelethar asked.
"What is that, sir?" the old man said, waiting for their request.
"We need somewhere to rest and some food as we've been travelling for quite some time," Pelethar requested. The old man smiled.
"Of course sir, it is the least we can do for our saviours." The old man then gave out orders to the crowd to find some food and offer shelter.
Half an hour later, Braxus and Pelethar were in large hall, sat around a large round table with the village council as food was served. It wasn't a lavish meal as they hadn't had much time to gather food but to Braxus and Pelethar it was the best meal they had had because they hadn't eaten a hot meal for quite sometime.
One thing they found out was that they weren't in their home world of Magnamund anymore but on a different world in a province called Palin, and when they mentioned Sommerlund or Kai no one had any idea what they were on about. All had been peaceful until an evil sorcerer came and started to attack nearby villages as his hordes of Beastmen started to pillage and raid the region. No one had dared to stand up to the sorcerer when they found out he was very powerful and evil. It was also rumoured that he was immortal and could not be killed by normal means.
Some brave adventurers had volunteered to try to kill the evil sorcerer but ended up with their heads struck on poles outside his keep. They explained that the Beastmen hordes came at night and without warning rounded them up so that could be sacrificed to their dark gods. As the village council was eating and discussing what had happened, Pelethar noticed Braxus in deep thought.
"I know what you are thinking Braxus. You want to free the people in this foreign land don't you?" Pelethar whispered to him.
"Was it that easy to read my thoughts?" Braxus replied with surprise.
"Not really, but I assumed that's what you wanted to do anyway."
"It can't be that difficult to defeat a sorcerer."
"I don't know much about this sorcerer, but I do know it sounds dangerous because we have to find him first. Then when we do, we have to get past his minions and all sorts of traps he will have set for us," Pelethar explained.
"Yeah and once we find him, we kick his ass back to whatever hellhole he came from so that peace would be ensured in this region."
"Think about it carefully, Braxus. The sorcerer is immortal and they say that he cannot be defeated by normal methods. Neither of us is skilled in magic, so how, may I ask, are we going to kill him?"
This caused Braxus to think seriously about Pelethar's words.
"I don't really know," Braxus replied honestly. He really wanted to help the people rid themselves of this evil, though.
Braxus then decided to have a talk with the village council to see what he could find out from them. After half an hour, Braxus found that the sorcerer's keep was due south of here in the Banarask Hills in a region called the Darklands. From there, the sorcerer kept sending out his hordes to wreak havoc and chaos on the defenceless region of Palin. To the East was Kavlin Manor where Lord Kavlin resided, and to the West was the mountainous area where it was rumoured that the ancient Temple of Kings was located. It was said that the temple held a very powerful weapon that could only be wielded by a chosen one.
After the meal, Braxus and Pelethar were led to an inn where they would rest for the night.
Pelethar was about to enter the inn when he saw Braxus had remained outside.
"Hey Braxus, aren't you going to get some rest?" asked Pelethar.
"Huh... yeah, be there in moment. I need to clear my mind first," Braxus replied to Pelethar who nodded in understanding and went inside.
Everyone in the village was asleep apart from the guards that were stationed on the stockade, keeping an eye out for any more raids. Although the village defences were weak they still had the spirit to carry on.
"What am I'm going to do?" Braxus said to himself as he walked through the village.
"Well, you could always get the sword and kick the sorcerer's butt!" a feminine voice said from behind him.
Surprised by the sudden voice, Braxus span around to face the red haired girl that had teleported him and Pelethar here. She was wearing a green blouse and loose fitting pants. Braxus also noticed that on her left wrist she wore the white bracelet that Ranma had bought.
"It's you... Ranko. Why did you teleport us here?" asked Braxus.
"I want you to do something for me."
"What is it that you want me to do, may I ask?"
"That's easy. All you have to do is to retrieve the sword from the Temple of Kings and defeat the evil sorcerer."
"What is in it for me?" asked Braxus, still not sure about trusting her completely.
"Stop being so paranoid, Braxus. I wanted to help and I did, didn't I?" Braxus nodded at Ranko's statement.
"If you do what I request, I'll send you and Prince Pelethar back to Sommerlund, is that a deal?" Ranko offered her hand.
"Before I accept your proposal, I got one question to ask you."
"And what is that?" asked Ranko.
"What is your relationship with my brother Ranma Stormgard?" Braxus asked Ranko, who immediately began to turn a little red.
"Err... well you see... me and Ranma, well... we're just close friends that's all," Ranko managed to say.
She hadn't expected Braxus to ask such a personal question.
"Okay then, I accept your proposal." Braxus shook Ranko's hand.
'Yeah right! I really believe that Ranma and this girl are close friends. I'm sensing from her that she has deeper feelings for him. Maybe it's the girl that Ranma has been thinking about?" Braxus thought.
"Good, once you defeat the sorcerer, I will teleport you and Pelethar back to Sommerlund," Ranko said as she pulled out a scroll from her blouse and gave it to him. Braxus almost had a nosebleed for some apparent reason.
"Here is a map to where the Temple of Kings is located. It's about a day's ride to the temple. Good Luck." Ranko then vanished into thin air leaving Braxus alone again.
Putting away the map, Braxus walked back to the inn to get some rest. Tomorrow he would tell Pelethar about what he was going to do.
The next day, Braxus and Pelethar were on horseback near the village gate. The villagers had generously donated the horses. When they had heard that they were going to defeat the sorcerer, they were eager to help them if it meant that peace would come back to the region. After getting enough supplies from the village they set off with the villagers wishing them good luck.
"Tell me again, what are we going to do?" Pelethar asked about Braxus' plans as they continued travelling south.
"According to what Ranko said, I am meant to retrieve a sword from the temple that is the only weapon that could defeat the sorcerer."
"So where do I come into this?" Pelethar was wondering.
"Well, I want you to go to Kavlin Manor and see if they are willing to help us defeat the sorcerer," Braxus replied.
"Why me?"
"Well, you know how to deal with Lord Kavlin as you are royalty. Also, I have great confidence in you that you will manage to persuade him to help."
"Oh right; at least it sounds an easy task. Where do we meet after?" Pelethar agreed to Braxus plan.
"Near the outskirts of the Darklands. I will signal to you the location, okay?"
"And once we defeat the sorcerer, this Ranko said she would teleport us back home?"
"She said she would and I believe her," Braxus said to Pelethar.
"Alright then, see you in three days." Braxus nodded and wished him the best of luck.
Pelethar then galloped eastwards to Kavlin Manor while Braxus headed westwards, following the map that Ranko had gave him.
***
Braxus had managed to reach the mountainous region in one day and night, having followed the map carefully. The landscape became even more odd-looking as Braxus passed through the mountainous area. Currently, Braxus was riding on his horse as they passed between the half-buried bones of some massive leviathan from a bygone age. Further down the path, Braxus came across a huge stone statue. The statue was visible from its waist up, while the rest of it was buried underground.
'Must have been someone important,' Braxus thought, estimating the height of the buried statue to be about two hundred metres or so. He couldn't identify whom the statue represented as years of erosion had made the statue impossible to recognise.
After ten minutes of carefully navigating through the difficult mountainous terrain, where all he could see was rocks, Braxus noticed something unusual out of the corner of his eye. Making his way over to the place, Braxus noticed that the something was imbedded in the side of a rocky hillock. Wondering what it was, Braxus quickly made his way over to it for closer examination. On closer inspection, Braxus could make out that it was some sort of ancient temple or shrine by the two huge great stone doors, flanked by statues of two armoured warriors. Braxus thought they looked more like knights in shining armour rather than warriors.
'How the hell, am I going to get in there?' Braxus thought. He reckoned that he would probably need at least a hundred men to actually move one of those solid granite doors.
Dismounting of his horse, Braxus went closer towards the doors to see if there was another way in. On closer inspection Braxus could see there was some sort of strange runes and carvings on the stone doors. Brushing away the dust, he could see there was more ancient runes imprinted across the huge doors.
Suddenly a voice boomed out from nowhere, causing Braxus to jump back with surprise, reaching for his shortsword.
"WHO SEEKS ENTRANCE TO THE SACRED SHRINE OF KINGS?"
It took Braxus a few minutes to regain his composure and to think about a suitable reply to answer.
"Braxus Stormgard, Son of Jerek Stormgard. Warrior of Kai and the last of my order," Braxus shouted.
Then Braxus felt a strange sensation flowing within as he saw the statues' eyes start to glow faintly. Braxus resisted the urge to use his Kai discipline of Mindshield to repel the psychic probe. Sensing that it wasn't an attack, he allowed the probe to continue.
The probe was actually a test to see if this mortal was worthy of entering the sacred shrine. The two statues were actually the Guardians of the gates of the shrine, and they examined him to see if he was worthy of entering. If he weren't worthy, they would have blasted Braxus into non-existence. The Guardians of the gates could see deep within Braxus' soul and they balanced the good and acts of honour against the evil and dark side of him.
After a few minutes, Braxus was still waiting for the Guardians' answer as to whether he was allowed in or not. Waiting a few more minutes, he was about to leave. He got up and was about to get on his horse when the guardians suddenly replied.
"YOU MAY ENTER SWIFT BLADE OF KAI!"
'It's about time,' Braxus thought as he gathered a few things from his horse.
As he turned around, the two huge doors swung open causing the ground to shake and tremble. It took awhile for the doors to open just enough to allow Braxus to enter the sacred shrine.
"Hmm... the doors are open now, might as well go in," Braxus said as he stepped into the Shrine of Kings.
Braxus walked down the long pillared corridor, which was lit by a golden glow from the ceiling. He passed by statues of knights, warriors and heroes, who were either standing to attention or kneeling in prayer. The only sound was Braxus' footsteps as he walked down the corridor; all else was total silence. The silence was beginning to unnerve Braxus, who had his hand resting on his shortsword as a precaution. He was entering a sacred shrine; who knew how many traps there would be. Braxus could see ahead of him a large circular chamber at the end of the long and winding corridor.
Reaching the circular chamber, Braxus noticed a beautiful mosaic design on the floor. Examining it briefly, he couldn't recognise the design but was impressed with the work put into it. However, it wasn't as impressive as the set of double doors ahead of him. Unlike the first set of doors that Braxus had seen, these were plated with gold and unlike the plain granite doors, these were adorned with two huge dragons and lions.
Braxus whistled in awe and appreciation, admiring the beauty and majesty of the golden double doors. As Braxus was marvelling at the intricacies of the decorations of the shrine, his Sixth Sense was picking up something happening somewhere in the centre of the room.
'This doesn't sound good,' Braxus thought as he reached for his weapon in readiness.
Looking around the circular chamber, Braxus couldn't see or sense anything that was a threat. Seeing nothing, his dismissed it as paranoia. He walked across the circular chamber towards the dragon doors. Before Braxus had the chance to touch the doors, his Kai senses detected the sound of footsteps behind him. Turning around quickly, Braxus saw a mirror image of himself standing there on the other side of the mosaic chamber. He was almost an exact duplicate of him except for his blood-red eyes and he was dressed completely in black compared to Braxus' grey and green attire.
"You're me? What is this? Who are you?" demanded Braxus, bit spooked at seeing his double.
Braxus' double said nothing as he approached slowly. To his horror, Braxus could see his double undergo a horrifying transformation. Firstly, his double grew in size, then terrible sores started to appear on its skin and they burst open, revealing decaying fresh beneath. This caused Braxus to turn green, and he tried to keep himself from vomiting due to the disgusting sight of his double's transformation. Its hands became cruel talons and unholy fire burned within its eyes. At the same time his weapons became tarnished and darkened. The tunic became a grave shroud as the symbol of Kai changed into a skull shape. Basically, once the transformation was complete, it looked like it came from hell. Then the double raised its twisted shortsword into the air and advanced towards Braxus.
"That was different!" was Braxus' first thought as he went through the list of options available to him. He either had to attack him or defend himself as his double was almost in front of him, poised to strike.
There was something about the double that Braxus couldn't place his finger on, almost as if he was the exact opposite of him. Suddenly it dawned on Braxus and he knew instantly what he had to do. Laying down his shortsword in front of him, he knelt down and bowed his head at his double.
'I hope this works,' Braxus thought as he closed his eyes in anticipation of his double about to strike him.
Braxus' double raised his black weapon to slay him, but before he managed to make contact with Braxus, he vanished into thin air. After a few moments, Braxus looked up to see his double was nowhere to be seen, confirming his idea that his double was a dark manifestation of his own nature.
Braxus correctly guessed that his double represented all the hatred, anger, malice, envy and pride that lurked within him, but it was multiplied and exaggerated out of all proportions. By submitting to his double, Braxus was admitting that his negative qualities were a part of him. It was part of the Kai training that his tutors had emphasised the most in becoming a Kai lord. To become the best and greatest Kai Lord, one must know and face one's own weaknesses as a sign of strength and courage. Braxus also realised that this was a test to determine if he was worthy of entering the inner hall of Kings. No evil was allowed to enter the temple, and it had many wards to prevent such a thing.
After a few moments to regain his composure, Braxus then heard another noise from behind him.
"What is it now?" Braxus thought. He turned around to see the golden doors swing open just enough for him to enter the inner sanctorum.
At the end of a short hall stood a stone altar with golden drapes, and behind it there was a massive golden statue of a heavily armed warrior. Braxus couldn't identify him, but assumed he was some sort of God or King.
There on the altar was a golden sword, shimmering with a golden light, and next to the sword was a jewelled scabbard. The sword was about a metre in length and was beautifully designed with craftsmanship long forgotten. The only craftsmanship that Braxus knew that even came close was on weapons created by the greatest Kai Lords or the Gods themselves. Inscribed on the shining blade were runes and symbols, which Braxus couldn't translate or understand - except for one word.
"Excalibur," Braxus whispered as he reached for the sword.
Picking up the blade, Braxus could feel the divine energy flowing through him as he gave a few test strokes. Testing the weight and balance of the blade, Braxus noticed something in the corner of the chamber. Sheathing the sword in its jewelled scabbard, he decided to investigate what it was.
In the corner, was a stone altar upon, which was some sort of cage that was covered in a black veil. Deciding not to touch it, Braxus went to walk away when he heard a voice inside his head say,
*Brave Warrior, free me please.* Braxus realised that was coming from the black veiled cage.
The voice filled Braxus with a sense of wellbeing and calm. Deciding to see what it was, Braxus turned around and walked back to the covered cage. Reaching for his sword just in case it was a trap, Braxus took one corner of the black cloth and pulled it away to revealing a...
A blue feathered bird that sort of looked like an Articuno but much smaller. It had gold and silver highlights along its wings and head, and was trapped within the cage. Braxus had never seen this type of bird before so he was understandably surprised.
*Thank you, Kai Lord Swift Blade,* It said, surprising Braxus again by knowing who he was.
*I am Kalona, and you, sir, are my master now,* the bird said, staring at him with its red eyes.
"May I ask why you consider me as your master, Kalona?" asked Braxus nervously. Those red eyes staring seemed to be looking into his soul.
*Are you not the wielder of Excalibur? Otherwise, if you were not worthy of the blade you would have been destroyed,* Kalona thought, seeing the jewelled scabbard near Braxus waist.
"Err... Yes I am." Braxus gulped quietly. He hadn't realised the danger involved in picking up Excalibur.
*Then you are my master. Could you please free me from this cage? I have been in here for quite sometime now,* Kalona asked politely.
"Sure, okay," Braxus said. He used his Kai discipline of Mind over Matter to unlock the cage. Braxus assumed that the bird was harmless, as he couldn't sense any evil emitting from the bird.
A few seconds later, a click was heard as the lock on the cage was opened.
*Freedom at last.*
Kalona then flew out of the cage and circled around the chamber a few times to spread its wings before it landed on top of the cage. It stared at Braxus for quite sometime now before it said anything.
*Master, I am at your service. What do you request of me?* asked Kalona.
"Nothing right now, but you are now free, so why don't leave on your own will?" Braxus asked. He saw confusion in Kalona.
*Master, I am magically bonded to the wielder of Excalibur, and besides, I am the last of my kind, so there is no point in this discussion. Can I come with you? I won't be a burden.*
"Well, if you don't mind, you can come with me," Braxus said. Kalona gave off a happy sound and perched itself on Braxus' shoulder. Braxus was surprised at how light Kalona was considering its size, but assumed that it was using its magic to make itself as light as a feather.
*Thank you Master.*
Braxus nodded and left the inner chamber, making his way out of the Temple of Kings. Kalona told Braxus the right path to take to avoid all sorts of traps that were laid out, including spiked pits, swinging blades and poisonous snake pits. Seeing all those traps, Braxus was extremely glad that he had Kalona on his side, otherwise he probably would have set off those traps and would have been in big trouble when leaving the temple.
***
Braxus was riding southwards to the Darklands where he would hopefully meet Pelethar. Hopefully, Pelethar would have persuaded Lord Kavlin to help with their plans to rid them of the sorcerer. Along the way, Kalona was perched on Braxus' shoulder. He had learnt from Kalona that she was the guardian of Excalibur and that she was ordered by a powerful Goddess and wizard to protect the sword until someone came who was a worthy wielder of such a weapon. Kalona had been stuck in the cage for at least two thousand years, as it was a magical bird, the last of its kind. Many had tried to obtain Excalibur, but Kalona had the power of seeing deep within people's hearts and she had judged that Braxus was worthy.
Braxus also learnt that the previous wielder was a King called Arthur, and once he had passed away, his wizard advisor Merlin had decided to put the sword away and had given it back to the Lady of the Lake. The description that Kalona gave to Braxus about the Lady of the Lake sounded like Ranko, but it couldn't be as Ranko had red hair while the Lady of the Lake was said to have long flowing metallic hair. Braxus asked Kalona the name of the lady, but she didn't know. They had never mentioned her name, and always referred to her as the Lady of the Lake. Kalona explain that she could only talk to Braxus, as he was the wielder of Excalibur as they share a psychic bond between guardian and wielder of the sword.
Braxus had arrived at the place where he was supposed to meet Pelethar, hopefully with support. Fortunately, Pelethar had managed to persuade Lord Kavlin to listen to Braxus' plan and he had arrived in person along with three hundred men mounted on horses. Lord Kavlin was a tall and well-built person. Judging from his scars and facial features, Braxus could tell that he had seen too many battles, and underneath his hardened looks were years of experience in warfare. He was currently dressed in full plate armour like Pelethar's royal armour, but it had his family symbol on it.
Lord Kavlin's troops were camped just near the border of the Darklands, and Pelethar, Braxus and Lord Kavlin sat around a campfire. Braxus was currently explaining to Lord Kavlin his plan to take out the source of the problem that had been plaguing the land of Palin.
"Tell me, Swift Blade, what makes you think that your plan will succeed while all others have tried and have failed miserably? I will not send my men into a suicide mission if there is no chance of success, but Sir Pelethar has told me that you possess a weapon that will defeat the sorcerer," Lord Kavlin asked Braxus.
"Well, for one thing all those who tried didn't have this!" Braxus said as he unsheathed Excalibur to show to Lord Kavlin, whose jaw dropped as he stared at the magical weapon.
"Where did you get that?"
"From the Temple of Kings," Braxus simply replied.
Lord Kavlin took a couple of minutes to think about the plan.
"Alright, Swift Blade, I will agree to help. We will only have one shot at this, as you must kill the source of plague, the sorcerer. Otherwise, his retribution will be deadly and swift." Lord Kavlin explained the situation.
"Lord Kavlin, we must attack the sorcerer's tower at first light to prevent him from preparing for our assault."
"Indeed, we will attack at first light," Kavlin agreed and Braxus nodded.
The next day, Lord Kavlin's men were marching towards the sorcerer's tower. On the horizon they could see the cursed tower perched on a large cliff face. On the ground were roughly eighty Beastmen lined up near the bottom of the cliff, blocking the path to the tower.
"It seems that we have caught the Sorcerer at a bad time," Lord Kavlin said as he counted the number of opponents compared to their numbers.
"Don't be so sure, my Lord," Pelethar added in a warning of caution.
"Why?"
"You know these evil sorcerer types; always paranoid and suspicious of everything also they always have a backup plan."
"Like what?"
"That!" Pelethar pointed to what was next to the hordes of Beastmen.
To Kavlin's horror, things were coming out from the ground, emerging from their resting-places. The sorcerer had resurrected an army of seven hundred skeletons and zombies to combat Lord Kavlin's forces.
"Damn! I knew this sounded too easy," Lord Kavlin cursed.
"Don't worry, my Lord. You don't have to defeat them all, just give me enough time for me to kill the sorcerer," Braxus said.
"Alright Swift Blade, but remember: we cannot hold out against them for long. Good luck." Kavlin said.
Lord Kavlin and Prince Pelethar then unsheathed their swords and charged at the sorcerer's army.
"CHARGE!!!" Lord Kavlin gave the order.
***
While Prince Pelethar and Lord Kavlin were fighting off the sorcerer's minions, Braxus sneaked around using his Kai disciplines of Tracking and Camouflage to get to the sorcerer's tower. Kalona was still perched on Braxus' shoulder, being as quiet as possible as to avoid detection. The element of surprise was important if they are to succeed and using Kalona natural magical aura, she shielded him from the sorcerer's senses. Braxus could see the cursed tower atop a sheer cliff face, meaning that he would have to climb the cliff in order to reach it.
"Why can't evil guys have normal places to live?" Braxus muttered to himself as he started to climb the difficult rock face while Kalona flew up to see if there were any guards stationed.
*Master, the sorcerer's tower is unguarded as they all went to fight Lord Kavlin's forces,* Kalona reported back to Braxus, who was still climbing.
"Thanks Kalona. Keep a lookout, okay?"
*Yes, Master,* Kalona thought as it flew around looking for any signs of trouble.
Ten minutes later, Braxus had finally reached the summit of the cliff and spotted that the entrance was indeed unguarded. From where he was, Braxus could see that Lord Kavlin's men were outnumbered as a majority of the sorcerer's minions were undead while only a small fraction were Beastmen. If he could take out the sorcerer then the undead minions would be destroyed, giving Lord Kavlin a better chance of victory. With renewed determination, Braxus entered the cursed tower as Kalona returned to his shoulder. Inside, he could hear the sorcerer's evil cackling and laughing echoing in the tower and assumed that the sorcerer was at the top of the tower, which meant climbing a huge spiral of steps to reach him.
"Great, that's all I need! More climbing." Braxus cursed as he started to climb the steps.
Five minutes later, Braxus was outside the sorcerer's chamber, but had to wait as he tried to regain his breath after the tiring climb up the tower. Once Braxus had recovered, he threw open the door and entered with Excalibur unsheathed. Across the room, near the balcony of the tower, was a snarling, cloaked person, shrouded in a black miasma of magical energy. In one hand it held a scimitar, glowing with brilliant, cracking blue light, while the other held some sort of amulet. Braxus had no time to take in the hideous decoration of the room, with its mummified bodies, skeletal figures and all sorts of disgusting things stored in jars and pots.
The cloaked figure, sensing Braxus' goodly aura, turned around from his viewing of the battle below to face Braxus and pulled back his hood of his sorcerer robes to reveal itself.
To Braxus' horror what he witnessed was like something out of his worst nightmare.
'Yep it's definitely evil. Classic features of an evil Sorcerer: evil laughter, mutated body and creepy tower,' Braxus thought.
The body of the sorcerer was decomposing, and it still wore the robes of a sorcerer. A sinister smile formed on its decaying lips and a rasping hiss rose from its throat. To top off the appearance of this foul creature, Braxus could see protruding from the decomposing body four huge spider's legs, covered in bristly black hair.
"Well, well, what do we have here? It's sseemss I have a vissitor." The undead sorcerer raised its other decaying hand and fired a black lightning bolt towards Braxus.
Braxus instinctively raised Excalibur to block the lightning bolt. It glowed a brilliant light that filled the room as black lightning was absorbed by the sword.
"Sso, mortal, you have come prepared. You may be able to overcome my minions, but you will never destroy me. I wasss exsspelled from my grave by the foul sssicknesss that isss in the land. Now none can ssslay me. Prepare to die mortal."
Braxus immediately rushed up to the undead sorcerer before he had the chance to cast another spell. The Sorcerer smirked evilly as he simply snapped his fingers. Braxus stopped in his tracks as he heard groans and moans from behind him. The mummified bodies that were in the room started to come alive.
'Oh great, this is all I need!' Braxus thought.
"Meet my friends. Now have fun, won't you?" The sorcerer gave an evil laugh as the two mummies approached Braxus.
*Master, I can help you,* Kalona said.
'How?' Braxus thought. He knew he had no time to deal with the two mummies as time was running out. The forces of Lord Kavlin couldn't hold out against his undead forces for much longer.
*Leave it up to me, but you have to act fast as I cannot not hold them off very long.* Kalona started to concentrate on helping Braxus by keeping off the two undead mummies.
As the two mummies approached Braxus, they met an invisible magical barrier that Kalona had placed between Braxus and the mummies.
"Right," Braxus nodded, "This ends now, foul sorcerer!" Braxus shouted as he charged towards the undead creature.
"Ssso be it." The sorcerer drew its cursed scimitar.
Braxus was aware that the sorcerer's touch was deadly to humans, so he had to stay out of the reach of his decaying hand while also avoiding his cursed scimitar. Normally mortal weapons would not even wound the sorcerer as he was already dead and had the ability to regenerate. Good thing that Braxus had Excalibur, a magical weapon that could harm the undead.
After five minutes of dodging the undead Sorcerer's attempts to rake his flesh with his decaying hand, Braxus managed to pierce the undead Sorcerer through the chest.
"Foolissh Mortal, mortal weapons cannot ssslay me!" the Sorcerer cursed as he stared at the blade that was currently impaled in its chest.
Braxus gave the Sorcerer an evil grin.
"Good thing, this sword isn't any ordinary weapon. Bad news for you," Braxus said as the blade started to glow with a bright light.
"WHAT! THISS CAN'T BE HAPPENING?!!" The undead Sorcerer let out a deathly shriek as the blade glowed brighter and brighter and the rotten flesh started to drop from his bones, dissolving into slime.
Braxus removed Excalibur as the glowing faded and stepped back as the smell was intolerable. Soon, all that was left of the diabolical undead sorcerer was a pool of fetid sludge, his sorcerer's robe and his scimitar, which Braxus would not touch. Looking around the chamber, he noticed Kalona perched near the balcony where the two mummies had stopped moving.
*Master, come over here,* Kalona communicated.
Braxus rushed over to the balcony just in time to see the Beastmen hordes fleeing as their undead allies had returned to their graves. The death of the sorcerer had released the trapped souls of the undead zombies and they crumbled to dust. He could see Lord Kavlin ordering his men to drive the Beastmen from their lands. He spotted Braxus on the balcony of the tower and waved to him. Prince Pelethar also spotted him and waved as Kavlin's men started to cheer in victory.
When Braxus, Pelethar and Lord Kavlin returned to the village, they were given a hero's welcome and a celebration was quickly organised in their honour for ridding them of the source of the plague in the land. Braxus and Pelethar were about to join in their celebration when Braxus noticed Ranko standing outside the village gates. Politely saying they could not join the celebration as they had other important things to do, they left to meet Ranko. Lord Kavlin and the villagers said that they would be warmly welcomed if they ever returned, as tales of the defeat of the undead sorcerer would be told in folktales for generations to come.
"Ranko, we did what you told us to, so can we go home?" Braxus asked her, Kalona perched on his shoulder.
"Yeah, we've got a war to win," Prince Pelethar replied.
Ranko smiled and nodded.
In a flash, the trio disappeared into thin air. The villagers and Lord Kavlin just stared at the spot where they had disappeared. They somehow came to the conclusion that they had been sent by the Gods to help them.
***
Ranko kept her promise like she said and returned them back to Magnamund, dropping them just outside Holmgard. When Braxus and Pelethar arrived, the Darklords' forces had already begun their siege of the capital. Pelethar, however, knew a secret way into the capital. There was understandably surprise and shock when they emerged out of a secret tunnel right into the chamber of state. The King was crying tears of happiness as he was reunited with his only son and also celebrated that another Kai Lord had survived.
Soon the Sommlending defenders heard that Prince Pelethar and Kai Lord Swift Blade were alive and repelled the oncoming assaults with renewed confidence and determination. But there was no time to celebrate as the Darklords' forces were still undertaking their siege of Holmgard's defences. Braxus had decided to help defend the eastern wall of Holmgard as it was in need of a strong commander to help hold things up until Kai Lord Wild Horse returned. Prince Pelethar had taken overall command with Braxus there to help as a tactical advisor.
Many times had the Darklords attacked the battered defenders, and soon it became clear that it wouldn't be long until they succeeded. Thirty-seven days had passed since Wild Horse left for Durenor and panic started to spread as it seemed the Darklords' forces were attacking by sea as a huge fleet was spotted approaching. Soon the fears and panic were replaced by cries of joy and relief as it was identified as the Durenese home fleet.
Braxus aka Swift Blade, Captain D'Val and Prince Pelethar were in the command tent discussing how long they could hold out when an officer came racing into the tent.
"Explain yourself Sergeant! Why did you barge into our tent without proper authority?" Pelethar demanded.
"I am sorry, my Lord. But the Durenese fleet has arrived in our harbour, and at the head of the fleet is Kai Lord Wild Horse," the Sergeant quickly explained.
"By the Gods, Wild Horse did it!" Pelethar said in shock.
"We are saved!" D'Val cheered.
"I knew that my brother could do it." Braxus smiled, glad that Sommerlund was saved and that his brother was alive.
"Once Lord Wild Horse has set foot on land, I want to see him here immediately," Pelethar ordered.
"By your command, my Lord." The Sergeant then bowed respectfully before rushing out of the command tent.
In the background the Sommlending people could be heard cheering and chanting as their allies had arrived in the nick of time.
'Lord Wild Horse of Kai has returned.'
TBC...
***
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or the Lone Wolf Series or any other characters. The rights to Ranma 1/2 belong to Rumiko Takahashi and for the Lone Wolf Series Joe Dever. This story is created solely for entertainment purposes and no profit as gained from this.
Note.
Kai Names:
* Ranma Stormgard (Saotome) - Wild Horse
* Braxus Stormgard - Swift Blade
Wild Horse of Kai
By Montymouse
' ' - Thought
" " - Speech
This Chapter happens between Chapter six and seven.
Chapter Ten - The Good, The Bad and the Downright Ugly
***
Alema Bridge
The battle of Alema Bridge between Prince Pelethar's men and the Darklords' forces was being fought fiercely as the constant waves of Giak and Kraan parties assaulted the defenders of the bridge. Aiding the beleaguered defenders was Braxus Stormgard, who had stayed behind to help Prince Pelethar while his Brother Ranma went to Holmgard to warn the King about the Darklords' invasion of Sommerlund.
For more than four hours the number of defenders of the bridge had slowly diminished under the constant waves of attacks. It wouldn't be too long until the Darklords' forces overran the bridge. Prince Pelethar had recovered from his injuries thanks to Braxus' efforts.
The sky was slowly becoming darker as daylight gave way to night; the defenders of the bridge would be in trouble as it was now much more difficult to anticipate the Darklords' next assault. Nighttime didn't provide any comfort for the tired and exhausted men; this was an ideal opportunity for a strike to come, so they had to remain active. For the next six hours nothing came as a silence filled the nearby woods, which was unnerving to the Sommlending Defenders.
Braxus Stormgard was stationed near the forefront of the bridge as his keen night vision provided a crucial advantage for the defenders. Prince Pelethar walked up to Braxus and tapped him on his shoulder.
"Why haven't they attacked by now?" whispered Pelethar.
"They're probably mustering their forces for the final assault as they know we won't defend the bridge for any more longer," Braxus whispered back.
"When do you think they will attack?" Pelethar asked as he checked the bandages on his leg. He reckoned that if they were attacked, he wouldn't be able to escape because of his injuries.
"Probably at first light."
"I see. You know that we won't be able hold the bridge any longer without reinforcements." Pelethar sat down next to Braxus.
"I know. We're outnumbered three to one and most of our men are exhausted due to the non stop assault." Pelethar nodded at Braxus' statement.
"Rest assured, we will be ready for them despite the fact that our chances of survival are almost zero."
"Don't let the other men know about this for the sake of morale." Braxus whispered to Pelethar.
He nodded silently.
"Well if we're going down, we better take as many of them down with us as we can. So let's give them a fight they will never forget!" Braxus said as he sharpened his shortsword. Pelethar laughed quietly.
"I must admit Swift Blade, if you were one of my men you would probably be one of the best general in all of Sommerlund. Tell me, Kai Lord, what is your real name, if you are allowed to give your name?"
"Braxus Stormgard," Braxus whispered to Pelethar who seemed quite surprised.
"Are you related to Jerek Stormgard by any chance?" Pelethar asked.
"Yes I am, he is my father. Why do you ask, My Lord?"
"So you're Jerek Stormgard's son. I should have recognised the family resemblance." Pelethar noticed that his statement confused Braxus.
Seeing the confusion in Braxus eyes, he decided to explain what he meant.
"Jerek Stormgard was considered a legendary commander of the Sommlending army and royal bodyguard to our family. He resigned his position to go to Durenor with his wife, so I am quite honoured by your presence at our final hour of glory," Pelethar said as he noticed that dawn was coming soon.
"Thanks, but I think you should..." Braxus then heard the sounds of Giak warriors in the dark woods as they preparing to assault the beleaguer defenders.
"Prince Pelethar, get your men ready; they are about to attack at any moment," Braxus ordered.
Pelethar started to put on his helmet in preparation.
Prince Pelethar nodded and quietly gathered the rest of his men. Braxus saw flames being lit up along the forest's length, indicating that they were severely outnumbered. He estimated at least a hundred Giak warriors judging by the number of flames appearing. The Darklord forces were poised to attack in the eaves of the dark forest. The defenders of the bridge only numbered twenty-five including Prince Pelethar and Braxus but at least the men on the bridge were experienced and highly trained troops.
Prince Pelethar returned to Braxus to say that his men were ready to fight to the death, as they did not fear death as long as Sommerlund would be saved. Out of the forest, war parties of Giak warriors emerged, making such a racket with their shields and swords.
Braxus unsung his silver bow and drew back an arrow.
The leader of the war party, a black clad Giak warrior, issued the order to kill the defenders.
Drawing his bow, Braxus aimed at the leader of the assault party in the hopes that it would slow down the oncoming assault. Letting go of the bowstring, the arrow flew towards the Giak leader, piecing its armor cleanly and killing him instantly. This caused the Giak party to pause for a moment at the death of their leader, but then another Giak warrior resumed command and continued the assault.
They were about a hundred yards in when Prince Pelethar unsheathed his sword as the Giak warriors engaged the defenders of the bridge. There was a loud sound of clashing steel as the Sommlending soldiers and Giak warriors fought. The fighting was fierce and bloody, and although heavily outnumbered, Braxus gained a little ground in the midst of the battle while fighting off multiple Giak warriors. No sooner had Braxus drawn his bloody shortsword from the chest of a Giak warrior, a large grey Gourgaz jumped over the corpse to engage Braxus. After skilfully killing the Gourgaz, Braxus climbed over the pile of corpses to survey the battle. With the noise of war ringing in his ears, he looked around to see how the defenders were coping.
Braxus saw that half of the defenders were dead and the Giak warriors were trying to push the brave defenders back against the bridge.
'This is not good,' Braxus thought.
He saw to his left Prince Pelethar fighting off the battle-raged Giak warriors; despite his wounds he fought on bravely. To his right, a large Gourgaz was clubbing one of Prince Pelethar's knights to the ground. Deciding to help the Knight, Braxus leapt off the pile of corpse to aid him.
The Giak archers who were stationed near the bridge recognised Braxus as one of the Kai warriors. Their orders were to kill any Kai Lord on sight. Seeing Braxus' Kai cloak and uniform, they aimed their bows at Braxus and, taking careful aim, they fired a dozen arrows at the Kai Lord, who was unaware that he was being marked out.
Prince Pelethar had finished taking care of his opponents and he was about to fight off another Giak warrior, when he noticed the Giak archers lined up along the riverbank aiming at Braxus. Seeing the danger, he ran and dove headlong at Braxus, pushing him out of the path of the arrows. Braxus got up from being roughly pushed to the ground and noticed Prince Pelethar near his feet.
"Thanks, Pelethar, I owe you one," Braxus said as he offered his hand to help Pelethar get up.
"No need to. Think of this as a life debt fulfilled for saving me when I was injured. We are now even," Pelethar said.
Braxus smiled and nodded.
"Come Prince Pelethar, let us show them what we are made of," Braxus said
Braxus and Prince Pelethar renewed their assault on the attackers with renewed confidence as they pushed back the Giak warriors. Braxus picked up another weapon from one of the dead warriors and fought two opponents at the same time, while a large black clad Giak warrior assaulted Prince Pelethar.
No sooner had Braxus drawn his shortsword from his adversary's body, than he sensed someone behind him. Quickly spinning around, Braxus swung his sword at the adversary behind him. Nearly too late, he noticed that it wasn't a soldier of the Darklords, but a young red haired girl.
He managed to stop the swing of his sword before it hit her due to his Kai training and years of experience with practising with his father.
"Who are you and what in hell is a girl like you doing here in middle of battle?" Braxus shouted.
"The name's Ranko, a close friend of Ranma. Nice to meet you," Ranko said as she shook Braxus' hand.
Braxus sweatdropped in surprise; this girl Ranko was unaware of the dangers that were happening around her. The odd thing was that no one had attacked her yet, and she didn't seem to be injured. Prince Pelethar saw Braxus talking to a red haired girl and thought he was seeing things due to battle fatigue.
He rushed over to Braxus.
"Err... Braxus who is this girl?" Pelethar said.
"She said she a friend of my brother Wild horse," Braxus replied.
"Oh." Pelethar then turned to Ranko who still smiling in a way that was starting to make him nervous. "Young Lady, may I ask why are you here?" asked Pelethar.
Suddenly, volleys of arrows were fired and were heading toward the trio. Braxus and Pelethar tried to shield themselves against the volley, as they didn't have the time to do anything else, Ranko just stood still. The volley of arrows suddenly stopped as they hit an invisible barrier that Ranko had placed earlier.
Seeing the reaction of Braxus and Prince Pelethar, she started to giggle.
"What is so funny? We're could have been killed!" demanded Braxus and Prince Pelethar.
"You!" Ranko giggled.
Braxus and Prince Pelethar suddenly noticed that the noise had stopped as the Darklords' forces had surrounded them. All the defenders had been defeated and they now possessed the bridge; only the Prince, the Kai Lord and the red haired girl were left. Pelethar and Braxus had their backs together as they waited for the forces to overwhelm them, but noticed something was wrong.
"What happened?" Pelethar asked.
"Don't know, they look like they're frozen in time," Braxus replied, seeing that the Giak warriors were frozen motionless.
"You are correct, Swift Blade. I have frozen time for a brief moment and I am willing to help you," Ranko offered.
"Can we trust her?" Pelethar whispered to Braxus.
"We got no choice, otherwise we're as good as dead," Braxus said to Pelethar who nodded. He trusted Braxus' judgement and agreed to his decision.
Braxus turned toward Ranko.
"We accept."
"Good."
Ranko then clicked her fingers and a bright flash consumed the trio. Time then resumed, leaving the Giak warriors wondering where the hell the Kai Lord and the Prince had gone. Never mind, they had the bridge now, so on to Holmgard, their leader ordered and they marched towards the Sommlending Capital.
***
Ranko had teleported Prince Pelethar and Braxus Stormgard to safety, but instead of returning them to Holmgard, she had sent them to another dimension, as she wanted Braxus to go on a particular quest, which would help aid Sommerlund.
With a flash, Braxus and Pelethar appeared in woodland clearing with Ranko nowhere to be seen. Looking around, Braxus had no clue where she had teleported them. Judging by the position of the sun, it was about two in the afternoon and they were currently in a dense forest. Prince Pelethar was thinking the same, as he too couldn't work out where he was. Feeling a bit tired; Pelethar walked over to a tree stump and sat down before removing his helmet.
"Do you know why that red haired girl teleported us here?" Pelethar asked as he checked his equipment.
"Haven't a clue. Don't know why she sent us here, but maybe she wants us to do something."
"How do you know that she's working for good? Maybe she wants to kill us," enquired Pelethar.
"I don't think she's evil; and besides, there was something in her eyes that makes me think she's on our side. If she wanted us dead she would have left us to die at Alema Bridge. Besides that, I want to know how she knows my brother."
"Well, if you say so. At least we're alive. Still, we have to get back to Holmgard to warn my father of the Darklords' invasion."
"I'm sure that Wild Horse made it and warned the king. Come on, Prince Pelethar, let's see if we can find a village or something."
"Okay, but we better be quick; it will be dark soon," Pelethar said as he got up and followed Braxus through the forest.
Two hours later, Braxus had managed to find a deserted village. Walking through the village, Braxus assumed that the village had only been deserted since a couple of hours ago. Judging from his surroundings, it looked like someone had rounded up all the villagers, as there was evidence of struggles all over the small village. There was no one alive in sight. The front gate of the stockade that was protecting the village was smashed and there were scenes of a recent skirmish. Braxus was about to enter a nearby house when he heard someone calling him.
"Braxus, I found something you should see. Come over here!"
"What is it, Pelethar?"
"Come over here see for yourself," Pelethar called back.
Wondering what Pelethar had found, Braxus walked over to where he had heard Pelethar calling. Prince Pelethar was standing near a small hut and standing near Pelethar's feet was a half-human, half beast-like creature. It was clearly dead as it had a spear protruding from its back.
"What do you think it is?" Pelethar said as he crouched down and examined the Beastman.
"Don't know, but I think this creature was part of raiding party that attacked the village," Braxus said as he pointed down the path to see some dead villagers.
"It sickens me that someone would attack innocent villagers," Pelethar said with bitterness.
"I know, but we can't do anything to help. If we were here a few hours ago, we might have done something to prevent this," Braxus said.
"I supposed you're right... hey what is that?" Pelethar pointed to the north as he saw a glimpse of light coming from the rocky hill.
"Don't know from here. It could be signs of activity; let's check it out."
Pelethar and Braxus left the village to investigate the strange light that they had seen appearing near a rocky hill, hoping that there were some survivors of the raid so they could help. Quietly climbing the rocky hill and peeking over the rock, they were horrified to see a bizarre ritual-taking place. A horde of beast-headed, inhuman creatures was gathered at the foot of a small mound on which stood a huge wicker structure. The wicker structure was made out of cages of wooden poles, lashed together in the shape of a giant man.
The Beastmen and wicker structure didn't horrify them, though, but what was in those cages did. The Wicker Man was packed with live human prisoners who were doing nothing to try to escape, almost as if they were under a hypnotic spell. The Beastmen were making a terrific din, braying, roaring, bellowing and banging weapons against their shields. Some held torches aloft and all were watching a smaller figure that was chanting and carrying out a peculiar dance between the feet of the wicker structure. Pelethar and Braxus hid behind a large rock as they considered what they should do.
"Those are the villagers from village, I'm sure of it. Braxus, we must help them, otherwise they are going to be sacrificed by that Shaman and will be burnt alive!" Pelethar said frantically.
"I know, I know, but it's only us against roughly twenty of them," Braxus replied as he started to come up with some sort of plan.
After a minute or so Braxus had quickly formulated a plan to rescue the villagers. He realised that the shaman's dark magic was preventing the prisoners from saving themselves, so if they could stop him they would break his hold on the villagers' minds.
"Got it! Pelethar, you see that shaman dressed in that weird patterned robe with a pair of antlers growing out of its hideous, bestial skull and doing that weird dance?" Braxus pointed.
"Yeah, can't really miss him with those antlers," Pelethar commented.
"Well, I think he's the one that is controlling the villagers and preventing them from escaping. If I was to kill him, maybe the villagers would be able to break free of the hypnotic spell that he's cast."
"So you're telling me that you will go down there, go through at least twenty Beastmen, kill the shaman and free the villagers?" Pelethar said making sure he heard it right from Braxus.
"Yeah, that's about it."
"You must be out of your mind!" Pelethar replied.
"Well I won't have to go through those Beastmen if they were to be distracted by something."
"And how, may I ask, are you going to do that?" Pelethar said.
He then noticed Braxus grinning and pointing at him.
"Oh no, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to be the bait for those stinking Beastmen. I'm royalty, you know!" Pelethar hastily replied.
"Oh come on Pelethar, for the sake of the villagers; we must help them. You know it's the right thing to do," Braxus pleaded.
"Oh right, I'm going. You had better make sure you kill that Shaman, otherwise we'll both be in trouble."
Prince Pelethar then made his way round to the other side of the rocky hill as Braxus quickly used his Kai discipline of Camouflage to make sure none of the Beastmen would notice him. Keeping low and making use of any cover that was available; Braxus quietly crept past the Beastmen towards the Wicker Man. Braxus was almost a few yards away from the dancing shaman when he stepped on a loose rock ledge, which broke and fell, causing some of the Beastmen to turn in his direction.
'Oh crap! Pelethar, where are you?' Braxus thought.
Two of the Beastmen decided to check out what had caused the rocks to fall. Braxus was hiding behind a large rock and they were about to find him when...
"Hey you, you stupid half human pigs! I think you're all stupid, and if you want a piece of me, come and get me!" Pelethar shouted from the opposite end of the rocky hill as he waved his sword at them.
'Braxus, I hope you know what you are doing,' Pelethar thought as he started to leg it down the rocky hillside, closely pursued by armed Beastmen. The Beastmen were outraged by this human insult, and half of them started to give chase.
Braxus slowly looked around the large rock to see only a dozen or so Beastmen were still left, and seeing that his chances of success had improved, he crept around the mound and ducked behind it. Looking around, Braxus noticed a cauldron full of oil just a few yards from where he was. Creeping over to the cauldron and putting all of his weight behind it, Braxus managed to tip the vessel over. Its content gushed down the slope and collect around the base of the mound. Confusion between the Beastmen ensued as Braxus watched.
"Now for the finishing touch," Braxus said as he lit a torch and threw it at base of the mound.
The torch fell into the river of oil, instantly igniting it, causing a wall of fire between the Beastmen and the mound, and leaving Braxus and the villagers unharmed, but with the furious Shaman trapped with him. Braxus unsheathed his shortsword and leapt toward the shaman, to the sounds of the other Beastmen roaring encouragement to their Shaman.
Running toward the Shaman, Braxus saw him raising his right hand and pointing it towards him. Realising that that Shaman was about to cast a spell, Braxus rolled to his left as a bolt of dark energy narrowly missed him. Not wanting the Shaman to have a second shot at him, Braxus doubled his efforts to get near to him, so that he would him from using his dark magic. The Shaman cursed the human as he pulled a sacrificial dagger out from his robes.
The Shaman was no match for Braxus' swordmanship and Kai Weaponskill, and he chopped off his head with ease and no remorse. The death of the Shaman caused the imprisoned villagers to suddenly become aware of what was going on, and in their desperate panic they tried to free themselves. However, Braxus noticed that many of the villagers were exhausted or too weak to be of much help to themselves. Braxus saw that the fire was getting ever nearer to the wicker structure, and if he didn't free them soon, the wicker man would catch alight quite easily. Also, the ring of fire that separated him and the Beastmen was slowly dying out. Seeing that he had to free them himself, Braxus sheathed his shortsword.
Grabbing hold of a pole, Braxus started to climb the precarious structure, trying to free the villagers before it was too late. It was a difficult climb. He had to cling onto the wicker man with one hand and use his other to open the cages to free the prisoners. That wasn't the problem as he had the strength to do it; it was the volley of spears and other projectiles being launched at him as he tried to free the villagers higher up that was the problem. As Braxus was climbing up, he could hear the howling and cursing from the Beastmen as they tried to knock him off the wicker man structure.
Finally, the last cage at the very top of wicker man structure was open, and the villagers made their break for freedom. Looking down he could see the firewall dying down; Braxus began to make his way down from the wicker structure when he heard something from below.
'CRACK, SNAP, CRACK'
'This can't be happening,' Braxus thought.
Looking down, he could see the structure had caught light and the fire was starting to spread rapidly. Seeing that there was no other option but to jump for it, Braxus leapt into the air away from the now burning, empty wicker man
The landing was okay as Braxus hadn't been too far from the ground and he only suffered minor bruising and cuts. Getting up, Braxus felt the rest of Beastmen behind him as he could hear their growls of rage and anger. Turning around slowly, Braxus pretended to look shocked and pointed behind them.
"Hey, look behind you!" Braxus shouted.
The Beastmen were dumb enough to look around while Braxus took this as the opportunity to bolt it as the wicker man, now well ablaze, toppled forward as the wooden supports holding it up burned through.
The Beastmen just looked in shock at the falling, blazing structure as it leaned towards them. With a tremendous crash, it collapsed on top of the crowd of Beastmen, sending a great flurry of sparks up into the night sky. Braxus, who was now on top of the rocky hill, watched this happen.
"Serves them right for trying to kill innocent people," Braxus thought, though there was something nagging him that there was something important that he must do.
Ten seconds later.
'PRINCE PELETHAR! HE IS BY HIMSELF AGAINST THOSE BEASTMEN!' Braxus immediately started to run in the direction in which he had seen Pelethar distracting those Beastmen, hoping that he wasn't too late to save the Prince that he had promised to protect.
Using his Kai Tracking skill, and also following the dead bodies along the rocky path, he managed to find Pelethar fighting off the Beastmen one-on-one as he had his back against a rocky wall. Breathing a sign of relief, Braxus ran up to aid the Prince but not before dispatching a few with his Ranma's silver bow. There were only five or six Beastmen left, so it wasn't much of problem. After all, they were both trained by the best. Master swordsman Jerek Stormgard had taught both Prince Pelethar and Braxus. Pelethar had also received addition training from the best tutors in Sommerlund, while the Kai monks had trained Braxus. Afterwards, both Prince Pelethar and Braxus Stormgard sat down on a rock, exhausted and tired.
"So what took you so long? I had to deal with those awful Beastmen!" Pelethar asked as he wiped his sword clean and sheathed his weapon.
"Well, considering that I had to take out the Shaman, save the villagers, escape with my life and saved yours, I'd say I did it in a reasonable amount of time." Braxus tried to say it in a serious voice but couldn't as he started laugh. Soon Pelethar joined in.
"So, do you know where the villagers went? The last time I saw them was when you freed them and headed into the woods." Pelethar had almost stopped laughing.
"I think they went back to their village. Come on, let's see if they are still there," Braxus said. He got up and started to walk back to the village.
"Hey, wait up. I'm tired you know," Pelethar said as he caught up with Braxus.
***
After walking back to the village, they found it no longer deserted as when they had first arrived, but it was now the opposite as the villagers had returned to their homes and had started to repair the stockade gates. As Braxus and Pelethar approached the village, the guards that had been posted recognised them as the rescuers who had saved them from the terrible atrocity that would have taken place if not for their courageous efforts. Hastily the guards ordered the gates to be opened as a crowd of villagers gathered near the entrance, all looking a bit nervous and tired.
Braxus told Pelethar not to reveal his true identity as the Prince of Sommerlund, but to say he was a Royal Knight or something. As they approached the crowd in a non-threatening way, the general mood turned to relief as they saw that the two men meant them no harm. At the head of the crowd was an old man who greeted them.
"Greeting stranger. May we ask the names of our saviours?"
"My name is Swift Blade and my friend next to me is Pelethar of the White Pegasus."
"Welcome, Sir Swift Blade and Pelethar. We are in your debt for saving us from a terrible fate. If there is anything we can do, just ask." The old man bowed respectfully and the rest of the crowd did the same.
"There is no need for this humble gesture, it is our duty to protect the innocent from harm and evil," Braxus said.
The crowd looked with awe and surprise at the two men who were willing to risk their lives to save them, as they were ordinary common villagers.
"Surely there is something we could do to reward your efforts in saving us?"
"Well, there is one thing you could do," Pelethar asked.
"What is that, sir?" the old man said, waiting for their request.
"We need somewhere to rest and some food as we've been travelling for quite some time," Pelethar requested. The old man smiled.
"Of course sir, it is the least we can do for our saviours." The old man then gave out orders to the crowd to find some food and offer shelter.
Half an hour later, Braxus and Pelethar were in large hall, sat around a large round table with the village council as food was served. It wasn't a lavish meal as they hadn't had much time to gather food but to Braxus and Pelethar it was the best meal they had had because they hadn't eaten a hot meal for quite sometime.
One thing they found out was that they weren't in their home world of Magnamund anymore but on a different world in a province called Palin, and when they mentioned Sommerlund or Kai no one had any idea what they were on about. All had been peaceful until an evil sorcerer came and started to attack nearby villages as his hordes of Beastmen started to pillage and raid the region. No one had dared to stand up to the sorcerer when they found out he was very powerful and evil. It was also rumoured that he was immortal and could not be killed by normal means.
Some brave adventurers had volunteered to try to kill the evil sorcerer but ended up with their heads struck on poles outside his keep. They explained that the Beastmen hordes came at night and without warning rounded them up so that could be sacrificed to their dark gods. As the village council was eating and discussing what had happened, Pelethar noticed Braxus in deep thought.
"I know what you are thinking Braxus. You want to free the people in this foreign land don't you?" Pelethar whispered to him.
"Was it that easy to read my thoughts?" Braxus replied with surprise.
"Not really, but I assumed that's what you wanted to do anyway."
"It can't be that difficult to defeat a sorcerer."
"I don't know much about this sorcerer, but I do know it sounds dangerous because we have to find him first. Then when we do, we have to get past his minions and all sorts of traps he will have set for us," Pelethar explained.
"Yeah and once we find him, we kick his ass back to whatever hellhole he came from so that peace would be ensured in this region."
"Think about it carefully, Braxus. The sorcerer is immortal and they say that he cannot be defeated by normal methods. Neither of us is skilled in magic, so how, may I ask, are we going to kill him?"
This caused Braxus to think seriously about Pelethar's words.
"I don't really know," Braxus replied honestly. He really wanted to help the people rid themselves of this evil, though.
Braxus then decided to have a talk with the village council to see what he could find out from them. After half an hour, Braxus found that the sorcerer's keep was due south of here in the Banarask Hills in a region called the Darklands. From there, the sorcerer kept sending out his hordes to wreak havoc and chaos on the defenceless region of Palin. To the East was Kavlin Manor where Lord Kavlin resided, and to the West was the mountainous area where it was rumoured that the ancient Temple of Kings was located. It was said that the temple held a very powerful weapon that could only be wielded by a chosen one.
After the meal, Braxus and Pelethar were led to an inn where they would rest for the night.
Pelethar was about to enter the inn when he saw Braxus had remained outside.
"Hey Braxus, aren't you going to get some rest?" asked Pelethar.
"Huh... yeah, be there in moment. I need to clear my mind first," Braxus replied to Pelethar who nodded in understanding and went inside.
Everyone in the village was asleep apart from the guards that were stationed on the stockade, keeping an eye out for any more raids. Although the village defences were weak they still had the spirit to carry on.
"What am I'm going to do?" Braxus said to himself as he walked through the village.
"Well, you could always get the sword and kick the sorcerer's butt!" a feminine voice said from behind him.
Surprised by the sudden voice, Braxus span around to face the red haired girl that had teleported him and Pelethar here. She was wearing a green blouse and loose fitting pants. Braxus also noticed that on her left wrist she wore the white bracelet that Ranma had bought.
"It's you... Ranko. Why did you teleport us here?" asked Braxus.
"I want you to do something for me."
"What is it that you want me to do, may I ask?"
"That's easy. All you have to do is to retrieve the sword from the Temple of Kings and defeat the evil sorcerer."
"What is in it for me?" asked Braxus, still not sure about trusting her completely.
"Stop being so paranoid, Braxus. I wanted to help and I did, didn't I?" Braxus nodded at Ranko's statement.
"If you do what I request, I'll send you and Prince Pelethar back to Sommerlund, is that a deal?" Ranko offered her hand.
"Before I accept your proposal, I got one question to ask you."
"And what is that?" asked Ranko.
"What is your relationship with my brother Ranma Stormgard?" Braxus asked Ranko, who immediately began to turn a little red.
"Err... well you see... me and Ranma, well... we're just close friends that's all," Ranko managed to say.
She hadn't expected Braxus to ask such a personal question.
"Okay then, I accept your proposal." Braxus shook Ranko's hand.
'Yeah right! I really believe that Ranma and this girl are close friends. I'm sensing from her that she has deeper feelings for him. Maybe it's the girl that Ranma has been thinking about?" Braxus thought.
"Good, once you defeat the sorcerer, I will teleport you and Pelethar back to Sommerlund," Ranko said as she pulled out a scroll from her blouse and gave it to him. Braxus almost had a nosebleed for some apparent reason.
"Here is a map to where the Temple of Kings is located. It's about a day's ride to the temple. Good Luck." Ranko then vanished into thin air leaving Braxus alone again.
Putting away the map, Braxus walked back to the inn to get some rest. Tomorrow he would tell Pelethar about what he was going to do.
The next day, Braxus and Pelethar were on horseback near the village gate. The villagers had generously donated the horses. When they had heard that they were going to defeat the sorcerer, they were eager to help them if it meant that peace would come back to the region. After getting enough supplies from the village they set off with the villagers wishing them good luck.
"Tell me again, what are we going to do?" Pelethar asked about Braxus' plans as they continued travelling south.
"According to what Ranko said, I am meant to retrieve a sword from the temple that is the only weapon that could defeat the sorcerer."
"So where do I come into this?" Pelethar was wondering.
"Well, I want you to go to Kavlin Manor and see if they are willing to help us defeat the sorcerer," Braxus replied.
"Why me?"
"Well, you know how to deal with Lord Kavlin as you are royalty. Also, I have great confidence in you that you will manage to persuade him to help."
"Oh right; at least it sounds an easy task. Where do we meet after?" Pelethar agreed to Braxus plan.
"Near the outskirts of the Darklands. I will signal to you the location, okay?"
"And once we defeat the sorcerer, this Ranko said she would teleport us back home?"
"She said she would and I believe her," Braxus said to Pelethar.
"Alright then, see you in three days." Braxus nodded and wished him the best of luck.
Pelethar then galloped eastwards to Kavlin Manor while Braxus headed westwards, following the map that Ranko had gave him.
***
Braxus had managed to reach the mountainous region in one day and night, having followed the map carefully. The landscape became even more odd-looking as Braxus passed through the mountainous area. Currently, Braxus was riding on his horse as they passed between the half-buried bones of some massive leviathan from a bygone age. Further down the path, Braxus came across a huge stone statue. The statue was visible from its waist up, while the rest of it was buried underground.
'Must have been someone important,' Braxus thought, estimating the height of the buried statue to be about two hundred metres or so. He couldn't identify whom the statue represented as years of erosion had made the statue impossible to recognise.
After ten minutes of carefully navigating through the difficult mountainous terrain, where all he could see was rocks, Braxus noticed something unusual out of the corner of his eye. Making his way over to the place, Braxus noticed that the something was imbedded in the side of a rocky hillock. Wondering what it was, Braxus quickly made his way over to it for closer examination. On closer inspection, Braxus could make out that it was some sort of ancient temple or shrine by the two huge great stone doors, flanked by statues of two armoured warriors. Braxus thought they looked more like knights in shining armour rather than warriors.
'How the hell, am I going to get in there?' Braxus thought. He reckoned that he would probably need at least a hundred men to actually move one of those solid granite doors.
Dismounting of his horse, Braxus went closer towards the doors to see if there was another way in. On closer inspection Braxus could see there was some sort of strange runes and carvings on the stone doors. Brushing away the dust, he could see there was more ancient runes imprinted across the huge doors.
Suddenly a voice boomed out from nowhere, causing Braxus to jump back with surprise, reaching for his shortsword.
"WHO SEEKS ENTRANCE TO THE SACRED SHRINE OF KINGS?"
It took Braxus a few minutes to regain his composure and to think about a suitable reply to answer.
"Braxus Stormgard, Son of Jerek Stormgard. Warrior of Kai and the last of my order," Braxus shouted.
Then Braxus felt a strange sensation flowing within as he saw the statues' eyes start to glow faintly. Braxus resisted the urge to use his Kai discipline of Mindshield to repel the psychic probe. Sensing that it wasn't an attack, he allowed the probe to continue.
The probe was actually a test to see if this mortal was worthy of entering the sacred shrine. The two statues were actually the Guardians of the gates of the shrine, and they examined him to see if he was worthy of entering. If he weren't worthy, they would have blasted Braxus into non-existence. The Guardians of the gates could see deep within Braxus' soul and they balanced the good and acts of honour against the evil and dark side of him.
After a few minutes, Braxus was still waiting for the Guardians' answer as to whether he was allowed in or not. Waiting a few more minutes, he was about to leave. He got up and was about to get on his horse when the guardians suddenly replied.
"YOU MAY ENTER SWIFT BLADE OF KAI!"
'It's about time,' Braxus thought as he gathered a few things from his horse.
As he turned around, the two huge doors swung open causing the ground to shake and tremble. It took awhile for the doors to open just enough to allow Braxus to enter the sacred shrine.
"Hmm... the doors are open now, might as well go in," Braxus said as he stepped into the Shrine of Kings.
Braxus walked down the long pillared corridor, which was lit by a golden glow from the ceiling. He passed by statues of knights, warriors and heroes, who were either standing to attention or kneeling in prayer. The only sound was Braxus' footsteps as he walked down the corridor; all else was total silence. The silence was beginning to unnerve Braxus, who had his hand resting on his shortsword as a precaution. He was entering a sacred shrine; who knew how many traps there would be. Braxus could see ahead of him a large circular chamber at the end of the long and winding corridor.
Reaching the circular chamber, Braxus noticed a beautiful mosaic design on the floor. Examining it briefly, he couldn't recognise the design but was impressed with the work put into it. However, it wasn't as impressive as the set of double doors ahead of him. Unlike the first set of doors that Braxus had seen, these were plated with gold and unlike the plain granite doors, these were adorned with two huge dragons and lions.
Braxus whistled in awe and appreciation, admiring the beauty and majesty of the golden double doors. As Braxus was marvelling at the intricacies of the decorations of the shrine, his Sixth Sense was picking up something happening somewhere in the centre of the room.
'This doesn't sound good,' Braxus thought as he reached for his weapon in readiness.
Looking around the circular chamber, Braxus couldn't see or sense anything that was a threat. Seeing nothing, his dismissed it as paranoia. He walked across the circular chamber towards the dragon doors. Before Braxus had the chance to touch the doors, his Kai senses detected the sound of footsteps behind him. Turning around quickly, Braxus saw a mirror image of himself standing there on the other side of the mosaic chamber. He was almost an exact duplicate of him except for his blood-red eyes and he was dressed completely in black compared to Braxus' grey and green attire.
"You're me? What is this? Who are you?" demanded Braxus, bit spooked at seeing his double.
Braxus' double said nothing as he approached slowly. To his horror, Braxus could see his double undergo a horrifying transformation. Firstly, his double grew in size, then terrible sores started to appear on its skin and they burst open, revealing decaying fresh beneath. This caused Braxus to turn green, and he tried to keep himself from vomiting due to the disgusting sight of his double's transformation. Its hands became cruel talons and unholy fire burned within its eyes. At the same time his weapons became tarnished and darkened. The tunic became a grave shroud as the symbol of Kai changed into a skull shape. Basically, once the transformation was complete, it looked like it came from hell. Then the double raised its twisted shortsword into the air and advanced towards Braxus.
"That was different!" was Braxus' first thought as he went through the list of options available to him. He either had to attack him or defend himself as his double was almost in front of him, poised to strike.
There was something about the double that Braxus couldn't place his finger on, almost as if he was the exact opposite of him. Suddenly it dawned on Braxus and he knew instantly what he had to do. Laying down his shortsword in front of him, he knelt down and bowed his head at his double.
'I hope this works,' Braxus thought as he closed his eyes in anticipation of his double about to strike him.
Braxus' double raised his black weapon to slay him, but before he managed to make contact with Braxus, he vanished into thin air. After a few moments, Braxus looked up to see his double was nowhere to be seen, confirming his idea that his double was a dark manifestation of his own nature.
Braxus correctly guessed that his double represented all the hatred, anger, malice, envy and pride that lurked within him, but it was multiplied and exaggerated out of all proportions. By submitting to his double, Braxus was admitting that his negative qualities were a part of him. It was part of the Kai training that his tutors had emphasised the most in becoming a Kai lord. To become the best and greatest Kai Lord, one must know and face one's own weaknesses as a sign of strength and courage. Braxus also realised that this was a test to determine if he was worthy of entering the inner hall of Kings. No evil was allowed to enter the temple, and it had many wards to prevent such a thing.
After a few moments to regain his composure, Braxus then heard another noise from behind him.
"What is it now?" Braxus thought. He turned around to see the golden doors swing open just enough for him to enter the inner sanctorum.
At the end of a short hall stood a stone altar with golden drapes, and behind it there was a massive golden statue of a heavily armed warrior. Braxus couldn't identify him, but assumed he was some sort of God or King.
There on the altar was a golden sword, shimmering with a golden light, and next to the sword was a jewelled scabbard. The sword was about a metre in length and was beautifully designed with craftsmanship long forgotten. The only craftsmanship that Braxus knew that even came close was on weapons created by the greatest Kai Lords or the Gods themselves. Inscribed on the shining blade were runes and symbols, which Braxus couldn't translate or understand - except for one word.
"Excalibur," Braxus whispered as he reached for the sword.
Picking up the blade, Braxus could feel the divine energy flowing through him as he gave a few test strokes. Testing the weight and balance of the blade, Braxus noticed something in the corner of the chamber. Sheathing the sword in its jewelled scabbard, he decided to investigate what it was.
In the corner, was a stone altar upon, which was some sort of cage that was covered in a black veil. Deciding not to touch it, Braxus went to walk away when he heard a voice inside his head say,
*Brave Warrior, free me please.* Braxus realised that was coming from the black veiled cage.
The voice filled Braxus with a sense of wellbeing and calm. Deciding to see what it was, Braxus turned around and walked back to the covered cage. Reaching for his sword just in case it was a trap, Braxus took one corner of the black cloth and pulled it away to revealing a...
A blue feathered bird that sort of looked like an Articuno but much smaller. It had gold and silver highlights along its wings and head, and was trapped within the cage. Braxus had never seen this type of bird before so he was understandably surprised.
*Thank you, Kai Lord Swift Blade,* It said, surprising Braxus again by knowing who he was.
*I am Kalona, and you, sir, are my master now,* the bird said, staring at him with its red eyes.
"May I ask why you consider me as your master, Kalona?" asked Braxus nervously. Those red eyes staring seemed to be looking into his soul.
*Are you not the wielder of Excalibur? Otherwise, if you were not worthy of the blade you would have been destroyed,* Kalona thought, seeing the jewelled scabbard near Braxus waist.
"Err... Yes I am." Braxus gulped quietly. He hadn't realised the danger involved in picking up Excalibur.
*Then you are my master. Could you please free me from this cage? I have been in here for quite sometime now,* Kalona asked politely.
"Sure, okay," Braxus said. He used his Kai discipline of Mind over Matter to unlock the cage. Braxus assumed that the bird was harmless, as he couldn't sense any evil emitting from the bird.
A few seconds later, a click was heard as the lock on the cage was opened.
*Freedom at last.*
Kalona then flew out of the cage and circled around the chamber a few times to spread its wings before it landed on top of the cage. It stared at Braxus for quite sometime now before it said anything.
*Master, I am at your service. What do you request of me?* asked Kalona.
"Nothing right now, but you are now free, so why don't leave on your own will?" Braxus asked. He saw confusion in Kalona.
*Master, I am magically bonded to the wielder of Excalibur, and besides, I am the last of my kind, so there is no point in this discussion. Can I come with you? I won't be a burden.*
"Well, if you don't mind, you can come with me," Braxus said. Kalona gave off a happy sound and perched itself on Braxus' shoulder. Braxus was surprised at how light Kalona was considering its size, but assumed that it was using its magic to make itself as light as a feather.
*Thank you Master.*
Braxus nodded and left the inner chamber, making his way out of the Temple of Kings. Kalona told Braxus the right path to take to avoid all sorts of traps that were laid out, including spiked pits, swinging blades and poisonous snake pits. Seeing all those traps, Braxus was extremely glad that he had Kalona on his side, otherwise he probably would have set off those traps and would have been in big trouble when leaving the temple.
***
Braxus was riding southwards to the Darklands where he would hopefully meet Pelethar. Hopefully, Pelethar would have persuaded Lord Kavlin to help with their plans to rid them of the sorcerer. Along the way, Kalona was perched on Braxus' shoulder. He had learnt from Kalona that she was the guardian of Excalibur and that she was ordered by a powerful Goddess and wizard to protect the sword until someone came who was a worthy wielder of such a weapon. Kalona had been stuck in the cage for at least two thousand years, as it was a magical bird, the last of its kind. Many had tried to obtain Excalibur, but Kalona had the power of seeing deep within people's hearts and she had judged that Braxus was worthy.
Braxus also learnt that the previous wielder was a King called Arthur, and once he had passed away, his wizard advisor Merlin had decided to put the sword away and had given it back to the Lady of the Lake. The description that Kalona gave to Braxus about the Lady of the Lake sounded like Ranko, but it couldn't be as Ranko had red hair while the Lady of the Lake was said to have long flowing metallic hair. Braxus asked Kalona the name of the lady, but she didn't know. They had never mentioned her name, and always referred to her as the Lady of the Lake. Kalona explain that she could only talk to Braxus, as he was the wielder of Excalibur as they share a psychic bond between guardian and wielder of the sword.
Braxus had arrived at the place where he was supposed to meet Pelethar, hopefully with support. Fortunately, Pelethar had managed to persuade Lord Kavlin to listen to Braxus' plan and he had arrived in person along with three hundred men mounted on horses. Lord Kavlin was a tall and well-built person. Judging from his scars and facial features, Braxus could tell that he had seen too many battles, and underneath his hardened looks were years of experience in warfare. He was currently dressed in full plate armour like Pelethar's royal armour, but it had his family symbol on it.
Lord Kavlin's troops were camped just near the border of the Darklands, and Pelethar, Braxus and Lord Kavlin sat around a campfire. Braxus was currently explaining to Lord Kavlin his plan to take out the source of the problem that had been plaguing the land of Palin.
"Tell me, Swift Blade, what makes you think that your plan will succeed while all others have tried and have failed miserably? I will not send my men into a suicide mission if there is no chance of success, but Sir Pelethar has told me that you possess a weapon that will defeat the sorcerer," Lord Kavlin asked Braxus.
"Well, for one thing all those who tried didn't have this!" Braxus said as he unsheathed Excalibur to show to Lord Kavlin, whose jaw dropped as he stared at the magical weapon.
"Where did you get that?"
"From the Temple of Kings," Braxus simply replied.
Lord Kavlin took a couple of minutes to think about the plan.
"Alright, Swift Blade, I will agree to help. We will only have one shot at this, as you must kill the source of plague, the sorcerer. Otherwise, his retribution will be deadly and swift." Lord Kavlin explained the situation.
"Lord Kavlin, we must attack the sorcerer's tower at first light to prevent him from preparing for our assault."
"Indeed, we will attack at first light," Kavlin agreed and Braxus nodded.
The next day, Lord Kavlin's men were marching towards the sorcerer's tower. On the horizon they could see the cursed tower perched on a large cliff face. On the ground were roughly eighty Beastmen lined up near the bottom of the cliff, blocking the path to the tower.
"It seems that we have caught the Sorcerer at a bad time," Lord Kavlin said as he counted the number of opponents compared to their numbers.
"Don't be so sure, my Lord," Pelethar added in a warning of caution.
"Why?"
"You know these evil sorcerer types; always paranoid and suspicious of everything also they always have a backup plan."
"Like what?"
"That!" Pelethar pointed to what was next to the hordes of Beastmen.
To Kavlin's horror, things were coming out from the ground, emerging from their resting-places. The sorcerer had resurrected an army of seven hundred skeletons and zombies to combat Lord Kavlin's forces.
"Damn! I knew this sounded too easy," Lord Kavlin cursed.
"Don't worry, my Lord. You don't have to defeat them all, just give me enough time for me to kill the sorcerer," Braxus said.
"Alright Swift Blade, but remember: we cannot hold out against them for long. Good luck." Kavlin said.
Lord Kavlin and Prince Pelethar then unsheathed their swords and charged at the sorcerer's army.
"CHARGE!!!" Lord Kavlin gave the order.
***
While Prince Pelethar and Lord Kavlin were fighting off the sorcerer's minions, Braxus sneaked around using his Kai disciplines of Tracking and Camouflage to get to the sorcerer's tower. Kalona was still perched on Braxus' shoulder, being as quiet as possible as to avoid detection. The element of surprise was important if they are to succeed and using Kalona natural magical aura, she shielded him from the sorcerer's senses. Braxus could see the cursed tower atop a sheer cliff face, meaning that he would have to climb the cliff in order to reach it.
"Why can't evil guys have normal places to live?" Braxus muttered to himself as he started to climb the difficult rock face while Kalona flew up to see if there were any guards stationed.
*Master, the sorcerer's tower is unguarded as they all went to fight Lord Kavlin's forces,* Kalona reported back to Braxus, who was still climbing.
"Thanks Kalona. Keep a lookout, okay?"
*Yes, Master,* Kalona thought as it flew around looking for any signs of trouble.
Ten minutes later, Braxus had finally reached the summit of the cliff and spotted that the entrance was indeed unguarded. From where he was, Braxus could see that Lord Kavlin's men were outnumbered as a majority of the sorcerer's minions were undead while only a small fraction were Beastmen. If he could take out the sorcerer then the undead minions would be destroyed, giving Lord Kavlin a better chance of victory. With renewed determination, Braxus entered the cursed tower as Kalona returned to his shoulder. Inside, he could hear the sorcerer's evil cackling and laughing echoing in the tower and assumed that the sorcerer was at the top of the tower, which meant climbing a huge spiral of steps to reach him.
"Great, that's all I need! More climbing." Braxus cursed as he started to climb the steps.
Five minutes later, Braxus was outside the sorcerer's chamber, but had to wait as he tried to regain his breath after the tiring climb up the tower. Once Braxus had recovered, he threw open the door and entered with Excalibur unsheathed. Across the room, near the balcony of the tower, was a snarling, cloaked person, shrouded in a black miasma of magical energy. In one hand it held a scimitar, glowing with brilliant, cracking blue light, while the other held some sort of amulet. Braxus had no time to take in the hideous decoration of the room, with its mummified bodies, skeletal figures and all sorts of disgusting things stored in jars and pots.
The cloaked figure, sensing Braxus' goodly aura, turned around from his viewing of the battle below to face Braxus and pulled back his hood of his sorcerer robes to reveal itself.
To Braxus' horror what he witnessed was like something out of his worst nightmare.
'Yep it's definitely evil. Classic features of an evil Sorcerer: evil laughter, mutated body and creepy tower,' Braxus thought.
The body of the sorcerer was decomposing, and it still wore the robes of a sorcerer. A sinister smile formed on its decaying lips and a rasping hiss rose from its throat. To top off the appearance of this foul creature, Braxus could see protruding from the decomposing body four huge spider's legs, covered in bristly black hair.
"Well, well, what do we have here? It's sseemss I have a vissitor." The undead sorcerer raised its other decaying hand and fired a black lightning bolt towards Braxus.
Braxus instinctively raised Excalibur to block the lightning bolt. It glowed a brilliant light that filled the room as black lightning was absorbed by the sword.
"Sso, mortal, you have come prepared. You may be able to overcome my minions, but you will never destroy me. I wasss exsspelled from my grave by the foul sssicknesss that isss in the land. Now none can ssslay me. Prepare to die mortal."
Braxus immediately rushed up to the undead sorcerer before he had the chance to cast another spell. The Sorcerer smirked evilly as he simply snapped his fingers. Braxus stopped in his tracks as he heard groans and moans from behind him. The mummified bodies that were in the room started to come alive.
'Oh great, this is all I need!' Braxus thought.
"Meet my friends. Now have fun, won't you?" The sorcerer gave an evil laugh as the two mummies approached Braxus.
*Master, I can help you,* Kalona said.
'How?' Braxus thought. He knew he had no time to deal with the two mummies as time was running out. The forces of Lord Kavlin couldn't hold out against his undead forces for much longer.
*Leave it up to me, but you have to act fast as I cannot not hold them off very long.* Kalona started to concentrate on helping Braxus by keeping off the two undead mummies.
As the two mummies approached Braxus, they met an invisible magical barrier that Kalona had placed between Braxus and the mummies.
"Right," Braxus nodded, "This ends now, foul sorcerer!" Braxus shouted as he charged towards the undead creature.
"Ssso be it." The sorcerer drew its cursed scimitar.
Braxus was aware that the sorcerer's touch was deadly to humans, so he had to stay out of the reach of his decaying hand while also avoiding his cursed scimitar. Normally mortal weapons would not even wound the sorcerer as he was already dead and had the ability to regenerate. Good thing that Braxus had Excalibur, a magical weapon that could harm the undead.
After five minutes of dodging the undead Sorcerer's attempts to rake his flesh with his decaying hand, Braxus managed to pierce the undead Sorcerer through the chest.
"Foolissh Mortal, mortal weapons cannot ssslay me!" the Sorcerer cursed as he stared at the blade that was currently impaled in its chest.
Braxus gave the Sorcerer an evil grin.
"Good thing, this sword isn't any ordinary weapon. Bad news for you," Braxus said as the blade started to glow with a bright light.
"WHAT! THISS CAN'T BE HAPPENING?!!" The undead Sorcerer let out a deathly shriek as the blade glowed brighter and brighter and the rotten flesh started to drop from his bones, dissolving into slime.
Braxus removed Excalibur as the glowing faded and stepped back as the smell was intolerable. Soon, all that was left of the diabolical undead sorcerer was a pool of fetid sludge, his sorcerer's robe and his scimitar, which Braxus would not touch. Looking around the chamber, he noticed Kalona perched near the balcony where the two mummies had stopped moving.
*Master, come over here,* Kalona communicated.
Braxus rushed over to the balcony just in time to see the Beastmen hordes fleeing as their undead allies had returned to their graves. The death of the sorcerer had released the trapped souls of the undead zombies and they crumbled to dust. He could see Lord Kavlin ordering his men to drive the Beastmen from their lands. He spotted Braxus on the balcony of the tower and waved to him. Prince Pelethar also spotted him and waved as Kavlin's men started to cheer in victory.
When Braxus, Pelethar and Lord Kavlin returned to the village, they were given a hero's welcome and a celebration was quickly organised in their honour for ridding them of the source of the plague in the land. Braxus and Pelethar were about to join in their celebration when Braxus noticed Ranko standing outside the village gates. Politely saying they could not join the celebration as they had other important things to do, they left to meet Ranko. Lord Kavlin and the villagers said that they would be warmly welcomed if they ever returned, as tales of the defeat of the undead sorcerer would be told in folktales for generations to come.
"Ranko, we did what you told us to, so can we go home?" Braxus asked her, Kalona perched on his shoulder.
"Yeah, we've got a war to win," Prince Pelethar replied.
Ranko smiled and nodded.
In a flash, the trio disappeared into thin air. The villagers and Lord Kavlin just stared at the spot where they had disappeared. They somehow came to the conclusion that they had been sent by the Gods to help them.
***
Ranko kept her promise like she said and returned them back to Magnamund, dropping them just outside Holmgard. When Braxus and Pelethar arrived, the Darklords' forces had already begun their siege of the capital. Pelethar, however, knew a secret way into the capital. There was understandably surprise and shock when they emerged out of a secret tunnel right into the chamber of state. The King was crying tears of happiness as he was reunited with his only son and also celebrated that another Kai Lord had survived.
Soon the Sommlending defenders heard that Prince Pelethar and Kai Lord Swift Blade were alive and repelled the oncoming assaults with renewed confidence and determination. But there was no time to celebrate as the Darklords' forces were still undertaking their siege of Holmgard's defences. Braxus had decided to help defend the eastern wall of Holmgard as it was in need of a strong commander to help hold things up until Kai Lord Wild Horse returned. Prince Pelethar had taken overall command with Braxus there to help as a tactical advisor.
Many times had the Darklords attacked the battered defenders, and soon it became clear that it wouldn't be long until they succeeded. Thirty-seven days had passed since Wild Horse left for Durenor and panic started to spread as it seemed the Darklords' forces were attacking by sea as a huge fleet was spotted approaching. Soon the fears and panic were replaced by cries of joy and relief as it was identified as the Durenese home fleet.
Braxus aka Swift Blade, Captain D'Val and Prince Pelethar were in the command tent discussing how long they could hold out when an officer came racing into the tent.
"Explain yourself Sergeant! Why did you barge into our tent without proper authority?" Pelethar demanded.
"I am sorry, my Lord. But the Durenese fleet has arrived in our harbour, and at the head of the fleet is Kai Lord Wild Horse," the Sergeant quickly explained.
"By the Gods, Wild Horse did it!" Pelethar said in shock.
"We are saved!" D'Val cheered.
"I knew that my brother could do it." Braxus smiled, glad that Sommerlund was saved and that his brother was alive.
"Once Lord Wild Horse has set foot on land, I want to see him here immediately," Pelethar ordered.
"By your command, my Lord." The Sergeant then bowed respectfully before rushing out of the command tent.
In the background the Sommlending people could be heard cheering and chanting as their allies had arrived in the nick of time.
'Lord Wild Horse of Kai has returned.'
TBC...
***