Chapter Four: Arrivals
"Does the might of our kingdom astonish you, thief?"
Jakk nodded to the knight to his left, still stunned by the grandeur of the Dream City. His horse, a sturdy stallion, gave a human-like harrumph when lead away from a massive fountain in the city square. The streets were paved, not with sand, but with cobblestones, and a click, clack sound from the horseshoes of the horses made a beat.
Far ahead, the Dream Castle rose with spikes of silver, tall towers and walls marking the power of the Conerian kings. It was there the fate of the thief lay.
This is a city to make a living! Jakk thought, looking at the rich, bejeweled carriages of nobles and merchants mingling with men and women with fat purses of Gils. This, indeed, surpassed any type of living the thief could have made at Tranmankand.
But he could not steal away under the shadow of night to purloin those rich purses, under a ring of heavily armed Guards. The procession, however, looked innocent to a bystander's eyes. The Commander, Alyn As'yan, had given the young thief clothes fit for a noble: silver embroidery of Coneria stars and moon intertwined with a handsome brown orb that was on the back of the coat. Underneath, a shirt of silk, complete with lace by the throat fit handsomely on the thief's frame. The boots of black leather and brown pants also fit the style of a noble's closet. Jakk looked every bit as a lord riding with an escort.
They had arrived only yesterday, taking residence in a village inn on the outskirts of the towers of the Dream Castle. It had not been a friendly trip. Everyday, before the sun rose, they would awake and start their journey, Jakk under tight guard, surrounded by a ring of knights. From afar, they looked a like a passing caravan, escorting a noble or rich merchant across the Wild. But Jakk was a prisoner, bound by steel lances to the procession.
Getting off his horse, he neared the fountain, looking at his own reflection in the pool of shimmering water. Elegantly carved, the water spouted from a horse's mouth, the steed tall and proud, bearing a Coneria Knight, impaling an ugly Imp to death. It was the symbol of the struggle between Good and Evil that had persisted in the world for so long.
The soldier closes to him motioned with a flick of his head.
"Come, thief. We will be in the Castle tonight. He motioned again to the most splendid building in the citythe Dream Castle, its thick walls and sky-defying towers reaching towards the Taras, the Heavens.
Tendrils of long past memories and histories of the world suddenly inflicted Jakk, as words crept up and into his mouth, making it move.
"It is said that the walls of the Dream City shall forever hold if the Dream Castle cannot be breached," he said, surprising himself with his clean voice, and in his mind another voice sweetly whispered "but all will fail if the Four cannot be reached."
"You are lored in the history of our kingdom?" The knight who had just a moment ago asked him with an uttermost calmed contempt about thieving was looking at him with a incredulous stare.
Jakk gave him a cool look, trying to calm himself from wondering where the voice had come from. "Thieves have minds too. And we can learn as easily as anyone."
Giving a snort similar to the horse he was sitting on, the knight moved forward, leaving Jakk still confused from where the words that erupted from his mouth had come from, and where the riddle that was echoing in his mind first found residency in his head. It certainly wasn't from his mind.
Aki watched curiously as the newcomer in the castle walked into its grounds, escorted by two of those tall Conerian Knights. The castle was in hush, as servants and ambassadors from Coneria's neighboring kingdoms milled around, whispering to each other in rasping tones.
She was in the outer castle grounds, her white cloak with red stripes on the hood and sleeves making her stand out in the colorful, multi-colored clothes of the nobles and soldiers in uniform. Nervously, she was still fingering the orb, though with hesitance. Was this the source of all my troubles? The knights that escorted me to the city always looked at the orb when they thought I wasn't looking, spying it as if it was the source of their troubles and greatest dreams.
"At first they know not what they are, only that they are the Chosen, of four."
"The Chosen, mage?"
Aki was startled out of her daydream, still uncertain who had said those last words. Was it her mind playing tricks on her?
"Did I say something out loud, Sir Commander?"
Vesigh smiled, handsomely, with his well-worn face making his youthful grey eyes standing out even more. "You mentioned something about the Chosen, and the Four, about the Warriors. Is that what I not told you, the night I arrived to your house?"
Aki nodded. The Knight had not mentioned a whit about the Light Warriors for many days until now. As she looked at him, it seemed he was off-balanced and deep in thought.
"Commander Vesigh?"
"Aki, your room in the inn has been transferred to the Castle, along with three others. You will meet with the Lore-Master, Lukhan, tonight. That is all that I can say." Quickly, he left, leaving Aki feeling both confused and curious. Three other strangers were looking at her, one, in the robes of blue of a Black Mage, but the only thing that she could see that was human were two yellow eyes poking out of the cape and yellow cap. Another was dressed in the uniform of a Knight, unusually slender and handsome. The last, as a noble, his youthful, immaculate face proud.
And, it seemed each of them knew Aki, and Aki knew them. And all of them had their orbs visible, and all were dark in color.
"You are Klad," she murmured at the soldier.
"And you, you are Jakk." She pointed to the noble.
"You already know who I am, Aki. But allow me to introduce myself as Bane, your fourth Companion." The black mage stepped forward, bowing low, hands clasped in some kind of greeting.
The soldier nodded, but the other man, in his rich dress of nobility, stepped forward, his faced pained with confusion.
"I know you too, mage, but I know not why I know you? Who are we? What are we doing here?"
"Thos questions will be answered shortly. Tonight, I promise. But now, young warriors, you must go to your rooms. Go on."
An old man, like a sage walking out of nowhere, smiled at the four, watching their hesitant faces relax with kind, calm words. They must be calm, he thought, as they went off to their rooms. They must be ready to face their duty and adversary, or else all shall fall.
Far away, in the ruined kingdom of Amlador, blast furnaces and iron-works bellowed with fire, as the armories of man poured out war machines and weapons, as slowly, the ghost cities became alive with the feral growls of Imps and Ogres, as the Regent of Amlador looked on. It was time for Coneria to fall, as his kingdom did during the Second Age. Soon, with the strength reforged of the Fiends, Amlador would be strong.