The group now walked carefully around the edge of Comodo. Brent donned his
customary Sakkat and gave another to Tier. Tier wanted to wear a disguise
so that no one would realize who he was. No one else in the group knew of
Tier's background, no one that is except Myria, Brent and Nallia.
Soyee was the first to see the enemy ranks. They were all hidden behind the trees and crouching in bushes. Myria smiled softly to herself. What would it be like to put fire to those trees?
Aeron and Nallia first went through the gates. They pretended to not see the guards trying to stay hidden while a number of them seemed to be impatient. Myria, Brent and Tier gathered among the crowds entering Comodo and joined them in walking in. Soyee joined a group of priests and started talking to them about the Order while they strolled inside the city.
Inside, they gathered at the middle of the city and started planning. They couldn't leave the city in trouble to go to the enemy head quarters. They must stop this fight before it began. Myria and Nallia decided to work on the western end of the city and routed out the attackers among the forest's edges. Tier took the north end while Brent and Aeron took the east. Soyee would be in charge of gathering all the citizens in Comodo and explain to them their situation.
Myria flicked her fingers and large fire balls appeared in her arms. Standing on one of the tallest buildings in Comodo, she sent her fire balls flying towards the hidden soldiers among the forest foliage. Nallia shot any remaining soldiers with steel arrows. The two worked together and Myria even set Nallia's arrows on fire while she shot them, combining their attacks.
Brent and Aeron laughed as many of the soldiers ran off as if they were ducks. Brent had scared off a whole line of soldiers with his hammer attack while Aeron slashed those that remained to fight. Together they knocked the soldiers unconscious leaving them to be picked up by the Comodo guards later on.
Picking their way across the eastern forest edges, they rid the forest of the Easter soldiers. "You're a pretty good fighter Aeron. Almost like your dad."
Aeron smiled. "My old man could fight huh? Well imagine that." The image of the bloody knife entered his mind again. Anger ran through him. Something was wrong with that picture. Accidentally, Aeron watched as three soldiers died with fatal wounds to their backs. They were retreating, why did he kill them. Brent watched Aeron in silence. Patting him on the back, he continued with the fighting, "Don't worry. Death is bound to happen in battles. They wouldn't care if they gave you a wound." Smiling, Aeron tried his best to forget about the three men. Looking around him, he started to fight off the other soldiers who tried to get into Comodo.
Tier on the other hand was not enjoying the battle. The soldiers lay around him fatally injured. Letting lose his anger on the soldiers was not acceptable, but he could not forget the emotions that had taken him over during the Great Wars. Everyone thought of him as being a great mage, but he was only a man who could not deal with his anger. When he was six years old, the War had cost him his father, mother and sister. At the age of eight, he had been orphaned two times, kicked around by his remaining relatives and thrown into the street by strangers. The enemy then came to his town and destroyed the only home he had ever had. Tier had had enough. He couldn't take it anymore and in a rage he let his anger fuel his magic.
Within the next three years, he had helped the people of Midgard push the enemy back to the South while killing thousands of their soldiers. Everyone marveled at the boy who saved Midgard. The one who's magic surpasses all others. But they didn't know the pain that encompassed this power. To let the rage burn him and leave him with no more soul. No one understood the pain that developed in not able to love. The years where he had been loved by others but he did not show it in return. Tier remembered the day his lover hanged herself because she was so depressed. All because Tier had not showed her he loved her, all because he was a man with no soul.
Soyee looked up in surprise at the huge thunderbolt that had hit the northern forest. Was that the power that Tier possessed? By talking to the elders in Comodo, Soyee had learned that Tier was the Great Mage. He was a man who could beat an entire army within seconds. Feeling herself getting hot, she looked towards the blaze that now issued forth from the forest. "I hope he doesn't burn the whole forest down." The priests nodded and silently prayed for the safety of all.
Praying a short prayer, Soyee ran off to the northern part of the city and met the injured soldiers and the Comodo guards. Taking in the prisoners of war, the Comodo guards donned a grim face. From Myria and Nallia's group, many came in with burn wounds or arrow wounds while from Aeron and Brent's group, there were many who had fainted from exhaustion or had fallen unconscious. A few came in with sword wounds but not a lot. Looking towards Tier's group, Soyee saw only dead bodies.
Swallowing, she saw Tier emerge from among the carnage. He had no wounds on his body and his clean white robes showed that he had not been touched by the soldiers. Frowning, Soyee started cleaning the wounds of the rest of them. She felt Tier walk up to her, but she was still surprised when she heard his voice, "How can I help?"
Soyee looked at Tier with wide eyes and said, "Do you have any extra potions or bandages?" Nodding, Tier took some out of his pockets and knapsack. Going off to some of the soldiers, he started binding their wounds and letting them sip from the bottles of potion.
Soyee watched in discomfort. Was this really the man who killed all those soldiers? Myria and Nallia entered Comodo just in time to see the dead corpses being burnt and Aeron and Brent followed suit. Nallia frowned and looked away while Myria's eyes turned red with tears. Aeron tried comforting them while Brent stared at the pile of corpses. He stumbled up to Soyee and stammered, "What...their..." Looking at Tier, Brent asked, "His?"
Nodding solemnly Soyee continued with her healing. Brent shook his head and took out more potions from his cart while the Comodo guards took the healed prisoners back to the dungeons. It would take a long time before all the enemy soldiers were put on trial.
That night, Soyee watched Tier with curiosity. He seemed to be more lonely than usual. His eyes seem to wonder off to somewhere else, some past that was unseen by them all. Soyee noticed Aeron's sister, Myria trying to converse with Tier but she would always fail in getting his attention. Myria felt great love towards all man and animals alike. She would have been a great acolyte.
Noticing Nallia had gone off to sleep; Soyee smiled and sat down next to Aeron. Aeron seemed to be miserable. "What is it, Aeron?"
Acknowledging that Soyee was now sitting beside him, he sighed, "I think I'm in love with a girl but she doesn't know it."
Soyee's heart raced. Could it be? "Who is this girl? Is she someone I know?"
Looking around, Aeron nodded. "I think...I think I'm in love with Nallia!"
Soyee felt her heart break. There was no denying the fact that Aeron had feelings for Nallia, but for a moment, just one moment she had hoped that she was the one Aeron loved. But being kind and nice like an acolyte should be, she said, "Well, you should tell her about how you feel. She might feel the same way."
Aeron sighed. "Maybe."
Standing up, Soyee walked towards the beach and sat down to think. Aeron looked over at Soyee and raised his shoulders. Standing up, Aeron joined Brent in the Comodo Pub. It was their last night before having to enter a foreign land.
"Myria."
"Yeah what is it?"
Tier looked miserable. All night, he had not spoken and ever since the battle, he isolated himself from the others. "Do you know about my past?"
Myria smiled and leaned against him, "You mean the fact that you single handedly defeated the whole South Army and saved Midgard from being taken over?"
Tier sighed. "Yes, but something else. Something more personal." Interested, Myria shook her head and looked at Tier, "Would you like to tell me?"
Tier nodded. "A long time ago, I had a lover. She was the world to me, but I didn't know it until she was gone." Pausing he felt Myria tense slightly. "I could never forget her face, her words, and her beautiful loving spirit. But I killed that spirit. She was everything that I was not. I kept her caged and she felt like the whole world was taken away from her. She loved me, and because she loved me, she tried to change me. The problem is...I couldn't change. I was long dead."
Myria looked off towards the bright stars in the dark night sky. "You're not dead now."
Tier put an arm around Myria. "But that's because her death, gave me another chance. She said that if she had to die to make me understand, she would do it. She hanged herself."
Sitting up, Myria's face was unreadable. Tier continued on, "I lost the only person I ever loved and now I regret everything. You know the history of the Great Mage. You heard all the titles, the stories, but do you know the truth?"
"You see today what I have done to the soldiers? It is because seeing them again reminded me of all that the soldiers have done to me. I raged inside. It was so consuming that I did not think before I acted. They all died because I was too immature to think before I killed them. Do you understand how maddening this rage is like bottled up inside? I remember the war took away my parents, my sister, my family and friends. All that I remember disappeared under the word, war."
Myria leaned closer towards Tier and whispered, "Now you can make everything right again. I understand that it's hard for you to see them again, but you can control yourself. I know you can, I believe in you."
Shaking his head, Tier stood up. "Myria, I want to tell you this." Pausing he looked down at the expectant girl. Her eyes were so beautiful, so lovely.
"You're too young for me. There's no way this will work."
Without turning back to see her reaction, Tier walked into the inn and returned to his room. Myria sat on the bench outside the inn and stared at the place where Tier was. Tears started rolling down her cheeks and she wiped them furiously away. When had she felt this way? Why was she crying?
It was now too late to realize that she had fallen in love with Tier. Too late to do anything, because he told her that he didn't love her. Too late...
The morning came and the whole of Comodo was busy yet again. The city of Comodo seemed always to be night time but the beautiful fire works made the city a wonderful place for lovers and party goers to go to. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and music while friends partied with bards and dancers. Aeron however did not feel like partying. He was entirely angry.
"What did you do to my sister? She wouldn't go to the South by herself if you hadn't made her angry. I saw you with her last night. What did you do?"
Dodging the knife that Aeron threw at him, Tier sat down and read the letter,
"Dear Aeron and Friends,
I'm sorry. I decided to go to the South without you. I understand you will be quite upset about this, but I have a few things to do on my own. Please forgive me. I'll take care of the enemy head quarters. All you have to do is back me up.
I'll be seeing you and if I never see you again, I hope you all safety and happiness. Don't worry about me; I know I'm destined to do this. Aeron, I have heard news of our parents. Please! You have to come to the South, I believe our parents are captured and is now prisoners to the Enemy King. Be careful!
From you loving sister and friend,
Myria."
Soyee was the first to see the enemy ranks. They were all hidden behind the trees and crouching in bushes. Myria smiled softly to herself. What would it be like to put fire to those trees?
Aeron and Nallia first went through the gates. They pretended to not see the guards trying to stay hidden while a number of them seemed to be impatient. Myria, Brent and Tier gathered among the crowds entering Comodo and joined them in walking in. Soyee joined a group of priests and started talking to them about the Order while they strolled inside the city.
Inside, they gathered at the middle of the city and started planning. They couldn't leave the city in trouble to go to the enemy head quarters. They must stop this fight before it began. Myria and Nallia decided to work on the western end of the city and routed out the attackers among the forest's edges. Tier took the north end while Brent and Aeron took the east. Soyee would be in charge of gathering all the citizens in Comodo and explain to them their situation.
Myria flicked her fingers and large fire balls appeared in her arms. Standing on one of the tallest buildings in Comodo, she sent her fire balls flying towards the hidden soldiers among the forest foliage. Nallia shot any remaining soldiers with steel arrows. The two worked together and Myria even set Nallia's arrows on fire while she shot them, combining their attacks.
Brent and Aeron laughed as many of the soldiers ran off as if they were ducks. Brent had scared off a whole line of soldiers with his hammer attack while Aeron slashed those that remained to fight. Together they knocked the soldiers unconscious leaving them to be picked up by the Comodo guards later on.
Picking their way across the eastern forest edges, they rid the forest of the Easter soldiers. "You're a pretty good fighter Aeron. Almost like your dad."
Aeron smiled. "My old man could fight huh? Well imagine that." The image of the bloody knife entered his mind again. Anger ran through him. Something was wrong with that picture. Accidentally, Aeron watched as three soldiers died with fatal wounds to their backs. They were retreating, why did he kill them. Brent watched Aeron in silence. Patting him on the back, he continued with the fighting, "Don't worry. Death is bound to happen in battles. They wouldn't care if they gave you a wound." Smiling, Aeron tried his best to forget about the three men. Looking around him, he started to fight off the other soldiers who tried to get into Comodo.
Tier on the other hand was not enjoying the battle. The soldiers lay around him fatally injured. Letting lose his anger on the soldiers was not acceptable, but he could not forget the emotions that had taken him over during the Great Wars. Everyone thought of him as being a great mage, but he was only a man who could not deal with his anger. When he was six years old, the War had cost him his father, mother and sister. At the age of eight, he had been orphaned two times, kicked around by his remaining relatives and thrown into the street by strangers. The enemy then came to his town and destroyed the only home he had ever had. Tier had had enough. He couldn't take it anymore and in a rage he let his anger fuel his magic.
Within the next three years, he had helped the people of Midgard push the enemy back to the South while killing thousands of their soldiers. Everyone marveled at the boy who saved Midgard. The one who's magic surpasses all others. But they didn't know the pain that encompassed this power. To let the rage burn him and leave him with no more soul. No one understood the pain that developed in not able to love. The years where he had been loved by others but he did not show it in return. Tier remembered the day his lover hanged herself because she was so depressed. All because Tier had not showed her he loved her, all because he was a man with no soul.
Soyee looked up in surprise at the huge thunderbolt that had hit the northern forest. Was that the power that Tier possessed? By talking to the elders in Comodo, Soyee had learned that Tier was the Great Mage. He was a man who could beat an entire army within seconds. Feeling herself getting hot, she looked towards the blaze that now issued forth from the forest. "I hope he doesn't burn the whole forest down." The priests nodded and silently prayed for the safety of all.
Praying a short prayer, Soyee ran off to the northern part of the city and met the injured soldiers and the Comodo guards. Taking in the prisoners of war, the Comodo guards donned a grim face. From Myria and Nallia's group, many came in with burn wounds or arrow wounds while from Aeron and Brent's group, there were many who had fainted from exhaustion or had fallen unconscious. A few came in with sword wounds but not a lot. Looking towards Tier's group, Soyee saw only dead bodies.
Swallowing, she saw Tier emerge from among the carnage. He had no wounds on his body and his clean white robes showed that he had not been touched by the soldiers. Frowning, Soyee started cleaning the wounds of the rest of them. She felt Tier walk up to her, but she was still surprised when she heard his voice, "How can I help?"
Soyee looked at Tier with wide eyes and said, "Do you have any extra potions or bandages?" Nodding, Tier took some out of his pockets and knapsack. Going off to some of the soldiers, he started binding their wounds and letting them sip from the bottles of potion.
Soyee watched in discomfort. Was this really the man who killed all those soldiers? Myria and Nallia entered Comodo just in time to see the dead corpses being burnt and Aeron and Brent followed suit. Nallia frowned and looked away while Myria's eyes turned red with tears. Aeron tried comforting them while Brent stared at the pile of corpses. He stumbled up to Soyee and stammered, "What...their..." Looking at Tier, Brent asked, "His?"
Nodding solemnly Soyee continued with her healing. Brent shook his head and took out more potions from his cart while the Comodo guards took the healed prisoners back to the dungeons. It would take a long time before all the enemy soldiers were put on trial.
That night, Soyee watched Tier with curiosity. He seemed to be more lonely than usual. His eyes seem to wonder off to somewhere else, some past that was unseen by them all. Soyee noticed Aeron's sister, Myria trying to converse with Tier but she would always fail in getting his attention. Myria felt great love towards all man and animals alike. She would have been a great acolyte.
Noticing Nallia had gone off to sleep; Soyee smiled and sat down next to Aeron. Aeron seemed to be miserable. "What is it, Aeron?"
Acknowledging that Soyee was now sitting beside him, he sighed, "I think I'm in love with a girl but she doesn't know it."
Soyee's heart raced. Could it be? "Who is this girl? Is she someone I know?"
Looking around, Aeron nodded. "I think...I think I'm in love with Nallia!"
Soyee felt her heart break. There was no denying the fact that Aeron had feelings for Nallia, but for a moment, just one moment she had hoped that she was the one Aeron loved. But being kind and nice like an acolyte should be, she said, "Well, you should tell her about how you feel. She might feel the same way."
Aeron sighed. "Maybe."
Standing up, Soyee walked towards the beach and sat down to think. Aeron looked over at Soyee and raised his shoulders. Standing up, Aeron joined Brent in the Comodo Pub. It was their last night before having to enter a foreign land.
"Myria."
"Yeah what is it?"
Tier looked miserable. All night, he had not spoken and ever since the battle, he isolated himself from the others. "Do you know about my past?"
Myria smiled and leaned against him, "You mean the fact that you single handedly defeated the whole South Army and saved Midgard from being taken over?"
Tier sighed. "Yes, but something else. Something more personal." Interested, Myria shook her head and looked at Tier, "Would you like to tell me?"
Tier nodded. "A long time ago, I had a lover. She was the world to me, but I didn't know it until she was gone." Pausing he felt Myria tense slightly. "I could never forget her face, her words, and her beautiful loving spirit. But I killed that spirit. She was everything that I was not. I kept her caged and she felt like the whole world was taken away from her. She loved me, and because she loved me, she tried to change me. The problem is...I couldn't change. I was long dead."
Myria looked off towards the bright stars in the dark night sky. "You're not dead now."
Tier put an arm around Myria. "But that's because her death, gave me another chance. She said that if she had to die to make me understand, she would do it. She hanged herself."
Sitting up, Myria's face was unreadable. Tier continued on, "I lost the only person I ever loved and now I regret everything. You know the history of the Great Mage. You heard all the titles, the stories, but do you know the truth?"
"You see today what I have done to the soldiers? It is because seeing them again reminded me of all that the soldiers have done to me. I raged inside. It was so consuming that I did not think before I acted. They all died because I was too immature to think before I killed them. Do you understand how maddening this rage is like bottled up inside? I remember the war took away my parents, my sister, my family and friends. All that I remember disappeared under the word, war."
Myria leaned closer towards Tier and whispered, "Now you can make everything right again. I understand that it's hard for you to see them again, but you can control yourself. I know you can, I believe in you."
Shaking his head, Tier stood up. "Myria, I want to tell you this." Pausing he looked down at the expectant girl. Her eyes were so beautiful, so lovely.
"You're too young for me. There's no way this will work."
Without turning back to see her reaction, Tier walked into the inn and returned to his room. Myria sat on the bench outside the inn and stared at the place where Tier was. Tears started rolling down her cheeks and she wiped them furiously away. When had she felt this way? Why was she crying?
It was now too late to realize that she had fallen in love with Tier. Too late to do anything, because he told her that he didn't love her. Too late...
The morning came and the whole of Comodo was busy yet again. The city of Comodo seemed always to be night time but the beautiful fire works made the city a wonderful place for lovers and party goers to go to. The atmosphere was filled with laughter and music while friends partied with bards and dancers. Aeron however did not feel like partying. He was entirely angry.
"What did you do to my sister? She wouldn't go to the South by herself if you hadn't made her angry. I saw you with her last night. What did you do?"
Dodging the knife that Aeron threw at him, Tier sat down and read the letter,
"Dear Aeron and Friends,
I'm sorry. I decided to go to the South without you. I understand you will be quite upset about this, but I have a few things to do on my own. Please forgive me. I'll take care of the enemy head quarters. All you have to do is back me up.
I'll be seeing you and if I never see you again, I hope you all safety and happiness. Don't worry about me; I know I'm destined to do this. Aeron, I have heard news of our parents. Please! You have to come to the South, I believe our parents are captured and is now prisoners to the Enemy King. Be careful!
From you loving sister and friend,
Myria."