First Tale : Odin's Trust
Chapter III

"There are those who make a difference in our world and there are those who choose to keep it the same, unchanging forever. But do we know change as we know other things in our lives? Change is, and always has been, one of the fundamental aspects of human existence. We have never lived without change, for to be the same would be to give in to monotony. That is unacceptable as has been proved time and again by history. Why do we fight among ourselves? Why do brothers, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters fight with steel, sometimes side by side, at other times at each other's throats? Do they fight to win? Or do they fight for change? A change in their lives? A break from the normal routines of life? A break that will not be given to them by the government that rules them for their own good? Perhaps that is why people fight. We do not know this for certain, but then can we be sure of anything? Can we be sure of anything, but the fact that human society demands change? It is a basic thing…a fundamental thing of our existence."

- The words of Sigmund. W. Pronterus, Historian, Prontera Capital Library

There had been a lot of changes since Hijo Ramurao had last visited the Glast Heim sewers. The sword master walked swiftly past the hut settlements in the northern part of the city. Indeed, things had changed! Hijo looked around at the new buildings that had sprung up around him. The huts had never been there before and neither had the weapon and armor shop. Some well to do entrepreneur had decided to turn the place into a business establishment of sorts and had built houses to support his working staff. The armory was quite large, compared to other smaller smithies and stores in the city, and Hijo could see the workers toiling away at the hearths and the anvils. The smell of hot iron permeated through the air and the sword master was forced to calm his senses and use tremendous control to sense his pursuers. Hijo had sensed them at the start itself…the minute he left the Tet'suname Dojo. The fact that they had masked themselves so perfectly reinforced his fears of a wizard leading them.

It had to be a wizard! The invisibility cloak of the assassins was easily visible to the sword master's eye, but some form of magic was strengthening their hiding skills. Hijo drew upon his experience and the teachings of his mentors and quickly slid in and out of houses, continuously making his way towards the sewer entrance. The Glast Heim Church had sealed the entrance, but Hijo knew that all seals could be broken.

"Oh yes! Have I not broken many such seals in the past?", Hijo asked himself as he increased his pace.

Confronting his pursuers in the midst of the huts was a sure recipe for disaster. A single spell of that wizard would tear the huts to pieces, scattering the sharp, deadly debris all over the nearby workers. The poor souls might have the hardened muscles, arising from the sweat and blood of their work, but they could never stand up to a warrior, let alone a wizard's arcane magic. The wizard, of course, would have his own problems to deal with. The Prontera Church had banned the use of magic within cities, except in arenas on special occasions, and the ban had been strictly enforced in all the major cities of Rune Midgard including Glast Heim. The Church had been persistent on the implementation of that rule and Hijo knew that the Arch Bishop of the Central Church of Glast Heim had bowed to the wishes of his superior, the Pope of Prontera. No magic user could wield the arcane arts within city limits and the wizard following him would be well aware of that. Hijo remembered the fate of the unfortunate fools, who had decided to ignore that decree during the initial days of its implementation. The Pope had sent his best champions to take care of the violators and it had been a brutally one-sided battle.

Hijo remembered the whole event like it had happened yesterday. Everything flashed through his mind at lightning quick speed. Those powerful pecos had charged into Glast Heim, with their riders wearing the Pope's blessed Cross.

"Yes, I would know, wouldn't I? Was I not there? Among those riders? Riding beside them tall and proud, carrying out my duty to which I was sworn!", Hijo muttered as memories flooded his mind.

Those pecos had not been the ones that had pulled the state carriage. Oh no! Hijo remembered them well. He had ridden them countless number of times and their powerful claws had crushed many an opponent and torn them to shreds. Their foreheads were covered with a strange scaly armor and their chests with a crest of the finest feathers the sword master had ever seen. They were grand indeed and in their honor, the Pope had blessed them as Grand Pecos, the holy and blessed mounts of the Crusaders of God! Hijo remembered them well. He remembered their emotions flooding through him as his mount became one with his mind. They had moved together. The grand peco's legs had been his legs and his arms were the peco's arms. There had been no difference between the two entities and they had moved with lightning speed. Beside him, his comrades rode as well, with the party leader wielding the great Cross staff of the Prontera Church. They had ridden down upon the band of wizards that had gathered at the city gates. The band of renegades had defied the Pope, insisting upon the authority, of the then capital city, of Glast Heim to be supreme! Hijo's mind reflected upon their terrifying spells, those blazing bolts of thunder and the poison clouds that had sprung up from the earth within a fraction of a second. He remembered feeling weak and drained of strength.

"It was my first campaign…", Hijo said out loud, "…yes! I remember. I was inexperienced and their spells affected me, unlike my comrades."

The others had been utterly unaffected by the arcane magic. Hijo had watched spell bound as his captain, and leader of the team, charged at the first wizard and swatted away a cloud of thunder, which he later learnt to be the dreaded spell known as Jupiter Thunder! The captain had swatted it away like a pesky fly and then, he had drawn his long sword. With one simple stroke, the first wizard had lost his head and his comrades soon followed their rebel leader to the abyss! That had been a terrible day for Hijo. The poison spell…the wizards called it Quagmire…had drained him almost completely and his comrades had spent well over a day trying to heal him.

"I almost died!", Hijo muttered as his emotions threatened to overcome his self control.

The terrible ordeal had lasted for many days, even after the healing, and the Pope had decreed Hijo Ramurao unfit for duty. He had been discharged with honor with his captain testifying that he had acted with utmost honor and bravery, although Hijo knew the real story had been very different. He had frozen on the battlefield. His faith had not been enough! His skills had not developed enough and he had failed his God…he had failed the Crusaders of God! Honorable discharge or not, he had packed up and left the capital city and had wandered into the wilderness, there hoping to welcome the jaws of death at the hands of some monster, which would get a meal at his expense.

"So many years have passed since then.", Hijo thought as he remembered his long journey, the exhausting trek into the forest.

"Dryads of the nether earth, I summon thee. Be turned to stone, thus I curse thee!", a voice hissed as two darts whistled through the air.

His thoughts interrupted, Hijo leapt into the air, dodging the cursed darts that flew head on to strike two armory workers. The unfortunate workers had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their body moisture was immediately drained as the effects of the stone spell spread through their blood stream. Hijo glanced at them as he completed his leap and landed right behind the wizard, who had uttered the spell. Even as the workers dropped to the ground and turned into dehydrated ash, Hijo's katana flashed and split the wizard's shoulder into two. Without his arm, the wizard would not be able to complete any incantations, but Hijo wasn't about to let him get away that easy. He slammed the hilt of his blade into the wizard's belly and the man doubled over and hit the ground.

"Where are the rest of your little friends? Why don't they come out and play?", Hijo asked as three shadows suddenly came into view, "There is no point in hiding, my friends, come out and fight. You have no other choice. I have your wizard. Without him, you are all useless!"

The three assassins slowly came into view, their hands concealed within the sleeves of their long robes. Hijo had a good idea about the dangers that were stashed away beneath those robes, ready to be used at the beck and call of their assassin masters. He had fought many of them in his day and had been fortunate to defeat and some…and even more fortunate to survive them all. They were fast, Hijo knew very well, and some were faster than him. But the difference lay in the technique and there, Hijo Ramurao was absolute master. In more ways than one, the assassins fought him on his terms in the past…and even now, they would dance to his tune. The assassins drew their poisoned blades. Those blades were unlike daggers and other weapons of common thieves. Hijo's eyes watched their every movement, knowing that a single mistake meant instant death. Those blades were coated…nay, drenched with poison, ready to stab any opponent and deliver the assassin's instant death! They were Katars, death weapons of every professional assassin!

Hijo sheathed his sword. He would not reveal his stance till the last moment. Every single advantage he could gain over the assassins added to his chances of survival. Their own pose and stance indicated a certain degree of professional training, but Hijo had seen far better than them. One of the sins decided that he could wait no longer and rushed forward, brandishing his katars for a death blow. He never lived to deliver it, for Hijo Ramurao had nimbly dodged to the left, slashing out with his right hand. The assassin's chest burst open and a fountain of blood poured forth onto the ground. His comrades stood shocked for only a moment, but that moment proved to be the difference between life and death. The sword master moved like the wind and he had all the training and experience in the world to help them. The hapless assassins, on the other hand, showed their lack of training by rushing forth to attack. One of them was so foolish as to attempt splashing acid on Hijo's face, thus dropping his guard and leaving himself completely open to attack. Needless to say, the sword master dodged the acid spray and took off the assassin's head, leaving only his sakkat spinning on the ground like a top! The third assassin managed to parry Hijo's sword thrust and the sword master cursed himself for executing it imperfectly.

"You cannot stop the Herald of Flames, sword master Hijo!", the assassin said in a whisper, his voice like a hissing snake.

Hijo Ramurao recoiled at those words as if he had been struck down by a thunderbolt! He struggled to maintain balance and succeeded only by thrusting his sword into the ground and using the hilt to regain his footing. The assassin, seeing his reaction, sheathed his katars and laughed.

"Your foolish band of primates thought they had destroyed us for good, did they not? We thought we were finished as well, after your assault on our keep. Fortunately, for us, we managed to regroup and rebuild our power base. I do not think that in your wildest dreams, Hijo Ramurao, you imagined ever seeing us again!"

The sword master tried to gather his wits, but the shock of the revelation was too great, "This is a lie! We destroyed your kind a long time ago. There was nothing left. We saw to it ourselves. Your dark gathering was annihilated along with your abomination of a horde!"

"We could hardly blame you for believing such a fairy tale, sword master Hijo. Your Order was exceptionally gifted with oratory talents and they made such a fine speech about your victories. If I remember correctly, your shameless priests even made up stories and legends of how we were destroyed. Your comrades sat together around camp fires, regaling in stories of slaughter! They boasted about how they slew our warriors, raped and slaughtered our women and children! YOU SWAM IN THE SEA OF LUXURY THAT YOU STOLE FROM US! YOU AND YOUR ORDER OF GOD ARE NOTHING BUT COWARDS. A MEASELY BUNCH OF DOGS, WHOSE FLESH SHALL BE OUR FOOD! WE SHALL HAVE OUR REVENGE AT LONG LAST!"

Hijo controlled his anger, "You are the swine that spreads the lies of the abyss! We destroyed the darkness that threatened to engulf the kingdom. Your dark rituals damned thousands of souls to the pits of hell and spawned countless minions from the fiery depths! You put hundreds of thousands of lives in danger. It was you and your damned warriors who committed those atrocities upon innocent people, slaughtering them to take their flesh back to the sacrificial altars of your damned temples. Your kind do not belong in this world. BEGONE TO THE DARKNESS FROM WHENCE YOU CAME, ABOMINATION!"

The assassin roared at the top of his voice and hammered into Hijo, his katars appearing from thin air within the fraction of a second.

"Damn them to hell!", Hijo Ramurao cursed, "They have altered this one's strength to demonic levels. I pray that I do not have to go back to the old ways to defeat him!"

The assassin's katars flashed and sliced through the air as he desperately tried to cut the sword master into extremely tiny pieces, but Hijo dodged his attacks, suffering a single cut slightly below his shoulder.

"Even this cut is deadly. His weapons are coated in snake poison! Damn him to hell!", Hijo cursed as he tried to slash at his opponent, in vain, "He is fast, very fast. They have altered his speed as well."

Hijo remembered the campaign that the Crusaders Order of God had initiated against the Herald of Flames. The Herald had been accused of, and sufficient proof had been secured pointing to tampering with the arcane magic of life. They had used the demonic spells of altering the web of life, granting them the ability to shape a person's features, skills and abilities according to their needs and wishes. Their 'abominations', as the Church deemed them to be, were sent throughout the land to conduct espionage activities, political assassinations, extortion rackets and many other dangerous activities. A number of underworld mobs and gangs had been established until the Church had decided to send its own warriors out into the battlefield. Hijo remembered the slaughter of a thousand lives as if he was seeing it in a mirror! He had participated in that slaughter and had killed many. It had been after his wanderings in the forest…after he had mastered the katana blade! Those had been terrible times and Hijo dodged the thrusts and blocked the slashes of one of those very abominations that had been responsible for the chaos and turmoil of old.