Chp. 2 The Zodiac Stones
"My lord." A Shrine Knight kneeled in front of another man set in gold and black armor. "The unit sent out to bring in the Heretic Cloud has returned.
"With Cloud I hope." His voice cold and low, straight to the point.
"Unfortunately not." The Shrine Knight spoke with an uneasiness in his voice.
The other sighed heavily at the news and then turned away from the flicker hearth he had recently lit. He watched the shadows jumped around in his chamber like a puppet show. He smiled slightly looking at the shadows. Each one had a memory attached to the statue or object that they projected.
"I see. Leave it up to the Church to fail so miserably. The entire squad was wiped out I presume?"
"No my liege. One survives." Boy did he want to leave. When the General was this calm, someone was going to die and he really didn't want it to be him.
"Contact Alexie. I need to speak with him." The General turned back to the hearth and walked even closer to it. The fire licked at his face, arms and armor but he neither moved nor flinched. He didn't want to. The warmth and pain he felt gave him the sensation of being alive. At least more alive then he was.
"My liege but we have already attempted to contacted Priest Alexie and he refuses to acknowledge you."
The man hummed to himself and backed from the fireplace. He then painstaking took his time to turn to the side and walked up to his desk. He picked up a single piece of paper and returned to the Knight.
"Here. Give this to him as you see him. Once he sees this, he will have no choice but to acknowledge my presence. Also tell him that the entire unit sent to capture Cloud Strife had been annihilated."
The Knight slapped his fist against his armor and swiftly accepted the paper. "Of course my liege. I will do as you command." The Knight stood up and turned to leave though he questioned silently his last order.
"One more thing." The general called out.
The knight instantly turned on one heel and looked at his commander straight in the eyes.
"Bring in the Knight. I would like to ask him something."
"Yes, my liege." The Knight turned back around and quickly exited the room.
The General sighed yet again and pulled out a large thick book from his wall of books and set it carefully on the table. The cover was old and a little rotten, a pukey green color but he wasn't interested in the cover. It was the pages that rested between the book that could seal the fate of the Galbados Church. How quaint that he find it just lying around. Fate must had planned that joyous event. Including the object that accompanied the book. Two of them in fact. Who should he give the second one to? He had pondered that question many times.
He rotated around the room and saw the shadows playing again against his walls of books. Of course he had no small room. It was a King's chamber. Books lining up from corner to corner, floor to ceiling. He was always a fan of knowledge. That's what helped him become such a powerful General and an even more powerful Knight. He was so close to reaching the level of Heavenly Knight. A task only accomplished by the famous and yet ridiculed Balbanes Belouve. He had struck out violently at anybody, including his own men, who had spoken negatively against him. Though the family had suffered greatly, completely destroyed, ending with one son a dead traitor, another son a dead madman, a third son a dead heretic, and a dead daughter who was foolish enough to join the heretic, he still held tremendous respect for Balbanes' battles and tactics. He was a brilliant strategist and an even more powerful Knight. The type that he wanted to be.
Soon the shadows stopped playing and the Knight entered the room. He seemed fit and well taken care of. But the stench of fear reeked from him. For a moment the General felt like hitting him but advised against it. The Knight was a member of the Church's army and the Church held the most power next to King Delita. So instead he welcomed him with wide arms and a hearty smile.
"Welcome Knight. Have you found my Barracks comfortable?" He asked though this was not what he wanted to know. He wanted to know how a single man could kill off 50 of the Church's best men. He had to have a-
"I dare not insult the Barrack's of the famous Dragon Knights. I will admit, they were quite…..interesting."
"Good. I'm glad a member of the Galbados Church army finds my Barracks comfortable. Now I must ask you, what happened?" The General was very curious to find out.
"Well, as you know the entire unit, save for me, was wiped out." The Knight started.
"Yes."
"But it was not because of Cloud Strife, milord." He explained.
The general was obviously stunned by this information. Someone else had interfered? "Regal me." He demanded.
"Another fighter had came. An Archer. A very powerful and extremely skilled Archer. One of the likes I have never seen before. I never in my time ever seen an arrow pierce three heads covered in armor before."
Another shock covered the General's face. "Did you find this Archer?"
"No. After hitting over half our group, the subject vanished as if disappearing into the night itself. We had been left with only 14 men and still the heretic was able to dispatch them all in a matter of minutes."
Silence accompanied them now. The General hadn't realized that Cloud was that good and that somebody might be helping him? It couldn't have been a Mercenary could it? No Mercenary he had ever heard of could do that.
"General Elquis, I don't wish to be rude but may I be excused to return to the Church. I have to report to them this distressing news."
Elquis looked up at him brushing some of his long white hair aside from his face. "Yes of course. But will you do me one thing before you leave?" General Elquis twirled around and grabbed the head of a statue he had standing. He carefully lifted it up and pulled out a sphere from the neck.
The Knight was puzzled as to what he was doing but quickly recognized the ball when Elquis turned to him.
"Wait! Is that a-"
"I need to know if it stills works. Shall we test it out here?" Elquis voice took to heavy and dark tone as the familiar sound of locking emitted from the door behind the Knight.
The Knight whirled around and ran at the door only to find that it had been indeed locked. He pounded his fist against the door and screamed out in terror. "Open the door! In the name of the Church open the door!"
The hearth increased in size covering that half of the room in flames, but flames that did not touched the General or his precious books. They overshadowed him and gave him the look of the devil himself.
The Knight valiantly reached for his weapon and shield and unsheathed them ready to defend himself.
Elquis just laughed at him as the stone reacted and filled the room with all of the following, an eerie glow, a devilish roar, and the all too wretched sound of crushing bone with flesh and meat.
In an instant it had been done and Elquis returned the stone in its new rightful place. Under his armor accessible at any time to show all who stand in his way.
"Wonderful. It still works."
Wasn't that naughty! Well this is my second chapter, reviews are welcomed, critics are allowed, but flaming is NOT! I don't take lightly to asses who diss in all caps. If you have something to say then saw it in a positive manner. One thing I wanted to say was sorry that this chapter was so short. I the original planning stages it was supposed to be much bigger but you know things change. Till my next chapter, peace be the journey.
"My lord." A Shrine Knight kneeled in front of another man set in gold and black armor. "The unit sent out to bring in the Heretic Cloud has returned.
"With Cloud I hope." His voice cold and low, straight to the point.
"Unfortunately not." The Shrine Knight spoke with an uneasiness in his voice.
The other sighed heavily at the news and then turned away from the flicker hearth he had recently lit. He watched the shadows jumped around in his chamber like a puppet show. He smiled slightly looking at the shadows. Each one had a memory attached to the statue or object that they projected.
"I see. Leave it up to the Church to fail so miserably. The entire squad was wiped out I presume?"
"No my liege. One survives." Boy did he want to leave. When the General was this calm, someone was going to die and he really didn't want it to be him.
"Contact Alexie. I need to speak with him." The General turned back to the hearth and walked even closer to it. The fire licked at his face, arms and armor but he neither moved nor flinched. He didn't want to. The warmth and pain he felt gave him the sensation of being alive. At least more alive then he was.
"My liege but we have already attempted to contacted Priest Alexie and he refuses to acknowledge you."
The man hummed to himself and backed from the fireplace. He then painstaking took his time to turn to the side and walked up to his desk. He picked up a single piece of paper and returned to the Knight.
"Here. Give this to him as you see him. Once he sees this, he will have no choice but to acknowledge my presence. Also tell him that the entire unit sent to capture Cloud Strife had been annihilated."
The Knight slapped his fist against his armor and swiftly accepted the paper. "Of course my liege. I will do as you command." The Knight stood up and turned to leave though he questioned silently his last order.
"One more thing." The general called out.
The knight instantly turned on one heel and looked at his commander straight in the eyes.
"Bring in the Knight. I would like to ask him something."
"Yes, my liege." The Knight turned back around and quickly exited the room.
The General sighed yet again and pulled out a large thick book from his wall of books and set it carefully on the table. The cover was old and a little rotten, a pukey green color but he wasn't interested in the cover. It was the pages that rested between the book that could seal the fate of the Galbados Church. How quaint that he find it just lying around. Fate must had planned that joyous event. Including the object that accompanied the book. Two of them in fact. Who should he give the second one to? He had pondered that question many times.
He rotated around the room and saw the shadows playing again against his walls of books. Of course he had no small room. It was a King's chamber. Books lining up from corner to corner, floor to ceiling. He was always a fan of knowledge. That's what helped him become such a powerful General and an even more powerful Knight. He was so close to reaching the level of Heavenly Knight. A task only accomplished by the famous and yet ridiculed Balbanes Belouve. He had struck out violently at anybody, including his own men, who had spoken negatively against him. Though the family had suffered greatly, completely destroyed, ending with one son a dead traitor, another son a dead madman, a third son a dead heretic, and a dead daughter who was foolish enough to join the heretic, he still held tremendous respect for Balbanes' battles and tactics. He was a brilliant strategist and an even more powerful Knight. The type that he wanted to be.
Soon the shadows stopped playing and the Knight entered the room. He seemed fit and well taken care of. But the stench of fear reeked from him. For a moment the General felt like hitting him but advised against it. The Knight was a member of the Church's army and the Church held the most power next to King Delita. So instead he welcomed him with wide arms and a hearty smile.
"Welcome Knight. Have you found my Barracks comfortable?" He asked though this was not what he wanted to know. He wanted to know how a single man could kill off 50 of the Church's best men. He had to have a-
"I dare not insult the Barrack's of the famous Dragon Knights. I will admit, they were quite…..interesting."
"Good. I'm glad a member of the Galbados Church army finds my Barracks comfortable. Now I must ask you, what happened?" The General was very curious to find out.
"Well, as you know the entire unit, save for me, was wiped out." The Knight started.
"Yes."
"But it was not because of Cloud Strife, milord." He explained.
The general was obviously stunned by this information. Someone else had interfered? "Regal me." He demanded.
"Another fighter had came. An Archer. A very powerful and extremely skilled Archer. One of the likes I have never seen before. I never in my time ever seen an arrow pierce three heads covered in armor before."
Another shock covered the General's face. "Did you find this Archer?"
"No. After hitting over half our group, the subject vanished as if disappearing into the night itself. We had been left with only 14 men and still the heretic was able to dispatch them all in a matter of minutes."
Silence accompanied them now. The General hadn't realized that Cloud was that good and that somebody might be helping him? It couldn't have been a Mercenary could it? No Mercenary he had ever heard of could do that.
"General Elquis, I don't wish to be rude but may I be excused to return to the Church. I have to report to them this distressing news."
Elquis looked up at him brushing some of his long white hair aside from his face. "Yes of course. But will you do me one thing before you leave?" General Elquis twirled around and grabbed the head of a statue he had standing. He carefully lifted it up and pulled out a sphere from the neck.
The Knight was puzzled as to what he was doing but quickly recognized the ball when Elquis turned to him.
"Wait! Is that a-"
"I need to know if it stills works. Shall we test it out here?" Elquis voice took to heavy and dark tone as the familiar sound of locking emitted from the door behind the Knight.
The Knight whirled around and ran at the door only to find that it had been indeed locked. He pounded his fist against the door and screamed out in terror. "Open the door! In the name of the Church open the door!"
The hearth increased in size covering that half of the room in flames, but flames that did not touched the General or his precious books. They overshadowed him and gave him the look of the devil himself.
The Knight valiantly reached for his weapon and shield and unsheathed them ready to defend himself.
Elquis just laughed at him as the stone reacted and filled the room with all of the following, an eerie glow, a devilish roar, and the all too wretched sound of crushing bone with flesh and meat.
In an instant it had been done and Elquis returned the stone in its new rightful place. Under his armor accessible at any time to show all who stand in his way.
"Wonderful. It still works."
Wasn't that naughty! Well this is my second chapter, reviews are welcomed, critics are allowed, but flaming is NOT! I don't take lightly to asses who diss in all caps. If you have something to say then saw it in a positive manner. One thing I wanted to say was sorry that this chapter was so short. I the original planning stages it was supposed to be much bigger but you know things change. Till my next chapter, peace be the journey.