Aketon returned to his sense not too long after the being had left. When he woke up, the captain started to ask him about the being. But everything about it was blurry to him. He remembered that it could do something strange and kind of menacing. Other than that, he couldn't scrap anything else from his memory about it.
The captain dismissed him. Aketon was moved to the tower since the captain concerned that he might faint during the day.
Aside from the incident earlier that day, there wasn't much during the day. People came in and came out to work on the field or to trade with the elf and the dwarf. Some hunter returned from their night hunt with their preys. A white line made of sheep slowly moved across the gate, blocked the way of a merchant cart.
Aketon felt like nothing had happened. But something did. Oddly enough, he didn't remember much about the being, but something about it made him couldn't think of anything else. Jacob told him that the dwarf thought that was a warrior from a land far away, wore an armor covered them from head to toes. Of course, Jacob held on to his idea of a humanoid insect. What of the young Aketon? He didn't believe in neither. With the little pieces of memories he had, he thought of a being from beyond the stars.
But of course, he didn't say that out loud. Jacob was made fun of by the dwarfs and the guards. He didn't want to follow his friend's path.
The day when by like any normal day. Not a single chatter about the being, other than the words from the dwarf or the guard on this side of the city. He found it strange. Such a thing would had spread like moss on a rock in a rainy day, especially in the taverns. But no one spoke of it, as far as he knew.
His eyes lazily turned to the sky. The sky was clear and blue. The sun had left its zenith and moved toward the horizon.
"What a peaceful day, isn't it?" The captain said from behind the young guard, made him startled. "Can't believe that anything had happened just this morning."
"S-Sir?" Aketon stuttered. "Why are you here?"
"Sightseeing, what else?" Boromir laughed. "Of course not. I just can't shook the image of that thing from my mind, so I decided to take some fresh air."
Aketon stood stiffly, tried to look as vigilant as possible. The captain chuckled and slapped on his back.
"No need to be so tense, I just want to chat."
He then sat down, his eyes turned to Aketon.
"What do you think about that thing?"
Aketon gulped. "I have told you everything about it earlier, sir."
The captain waved his hand. "No, no. I am not ask it, I want to ask you. What do you think of it?"
The guard turned to meet his captain's gaze. "Sir… pardon my stupidity. But I think it was a sign."
"A sign you said?"
"A sign, sir… about a disaster rolling toward us."
"Why?"
The young man looked around, as if someone else was listening to their conversation.
"Sir, that thing… it was strange… as in… ancient and strange. I felt like it was something from there." He pointed at the sky. The captain was silent, he wanted to hear the whole thing.
"A-and the boy. He came to our city looking for shelter. His village was attacked… Why would a being like it cared about a mere child?"
"It can be a good hearted being."
"Maybe… It was protective to the child… but I think there is a different meaning to its actions."
"You are saying that the boy was a warning?"
"Just my thoughts, sir. It... no, they brought the only survivor of an attack to this city. It had to be a warning for us about something."
The captain turned his head toward the sky. The recent raid near the dwarf's city, the silence of the elf... A man could easily be superstitious, and for a good reason.
"Alright, I will have a talk with the boy, see what he can tell us about it. Don't keep that kind of thoughts in mind, Aketon. We have to be vigilant, not negative."
The captain climbed down from the tower, left the young man by himself.
Aketon sat down. His shift was almost over.
He sniffed the air. Although Braton's place is far from the gate, he could taste the smell of freshly baked meat pie. Maybe he should go grab one or two of them, as a treat for what happened to him earlier that day.
"Aketon, I am here!"
A guard shouted from bellow. Aketon saw a man climbed up the tower.
"But the sun hasn't set yet?"
"What? You want to stay? Come on, I can take the shift for you. Go get something and rest."
The guard dusted his gambeson, the took out a small bag. "Here, take this."
Aketon looked into the bag. "What is this?" It was dried herbs.
"Medicine! My brother is a herbalist, remember? I got this from him, to cure headache or something. I don't really have a reason to use them. You can keep it. Just boil them in water then drink the soup."
Aketon thanked him. When he moved toward the ladder, something shook the tower.
"Woah, careful!"
The other guard grabbed him.
"Did someone shook the tower?"
They looked down, nothing and no one was there.
"Weird…" Aketon shrugged.
Thunder rang from the sky, black clouds gathered.
"Looks like it is about to rain, a big one too." The other guard said.
"Hope it just a rain. The harvest time is coming…"
"Yeah… Maybe this isn't a bad thing. It could be the dragon's blessing or something like that."
"Dragon blessing? You are a follower?"
"My sis is. She is a believer, you know? Always talk about their greatness whenever I meet her."
"Oh yeah, Aya… Say, do you think they are real? The Dragon Lords?"
"Pretty sure they are, the elder said that they met them when they came to the city, even the dwarf and the elf met them too. Living gods, as they said."
"Living gods, huh…?" Aketon's thought drifted back to the being, could be a… god?
Aketon shrugged, he decided to get some pie, then hit the hay. As he descend from the tower, he heard a thundering roar from the sky, followed by the guard's scream.
"BY THE DRAGONS!"
Something stirred the Temple City.
People felt a slight tremble from the ground, the dwarf said that it was normal. But some couldn't took the butterfly out of their stomach.
Aside from that, everything was… fine. Blacksmiths started to check on their new batch of iron, workers got their payment and quickly moved to the trading post to buy their salt. The farmer returned and looked at the sky, prayed that nothing bad would happen to the field at this moment.
It was then it all started.
A farmer looked at the sky, clicked her tongue when she saw the black cloud gathered on top of their city. Thunder and lightning rang across the heaven, as if the gods was fighting with each other. Some spoke of the Dragon Lords, some followers thought that the Shinning Dragon God had returned to bless the city again. After all, a rain is good for the crops, unless it was the signal of a storm.
A drunkard looked at the cloud and laughed. "Would you look at that? The dragon and the god are having an argument again!"
Children would jump up and down, some might cry, people would laugh at the man's words.
But they didn't.
Because even to the eyes of a sane man, there was something within the cloud.
Like a moving star, a thing flew across the sky, spark of lightning followed its path.
By the light came from the lightning, they could make out its shape. It was something akin to a dragon, dancing within the cloud. There was also something else, something smaller, flew near the dragon, like a fly flew around a cow. It and the dragon collided, it and the dragon moved across the sky. The more they moved, the clearer the image was to the eyes of the people of the Temple City.
It had the figure of a man, covered in a teal light. Flew by its side was a dragon, shone as bright as the moon. The two things danced on the sky, slowly descend upon the ground. They moved from the view of the people of Jericho, except for those sat on the highest roof top or those stood on the watch towers. And their eyes focused on the two, until they touched the ground.
The entire earth shook, even the dwarf fell down.
The two being shook the heaven to the ground.
The captain soon caught wind of what happened and rushed out of his house with sir Heldain.
His house was near the gate, so that he could instantly react to any threat.
Boromir ran toward the Gate, asked his men.
"What happened?"
Aketon was the first to reply.
"A dragon, sir! A dragon fell from the sky!"
"A dragon?!"
"Yes, sir! They fell not too far from our city."
He took a moment to process the situation.
"All of you, return to your post. Prepare my horse, call the hunters, we have to investigate this!"
The guards followed his command, and soon, a group of hunter and horses were gathered near the gate. Heldain also took his ram out.
"Sir Heldain, please stay here."
"What are you sayin', lad? A dragon fell! Chances like this don't come once every decade!"
"But what about your saf-"
"No need to, I can still fend off a troll by myself." The dwarf said as he don his helmet on.
Knowing that nothing could change the mind of a dwarf once they were set, Boromir returned to his companions, commanded them to follow him closely.
The air was burning. The closer they got to where they thought the dragon fell, the hotter it became, as if they were being seared by the sun.
They could see it in the distant, the dragon were fighting something. It moved on the ground, occasionally flew up and struck what ever it fought against. But despite the dragon's assault, it was pushed back.
A little closer.
They saw the silhouette of a man, hand held an axe, other a shield, blocked the dragon's claw and struck true at the dragon's body.
A blast of fire came, knocked a few out of their steed.
The dragon used some kind of magic, came out of its mouth was a burning stream of light.
The other being responded by a swirling storm of ice, as cold as the worst winter.
"We can't get any closer!"
An old hunter shouted. But even without his words, everyone halted. They all stood in awe as the two godly being fought.
Boromir couldn't believe his eyes. They had hear stories, of how powerful a dragon could be. And it was showed in front of their eyes. The world turned and shook with each strike, strong gales swept across the field from a mere flap of a wing. Thunder, lightning, fire, the forces of the world bended by its will alone. Spears of light, maelstrom of fire, pillars of wind rose and fell with mere word came out of its tongue.
The dwarf, however, recognized what it was fighting against. A humanoid being, cladded in black armor and covered in teal hue, the very same being they met. Each earth shattering strike from the dragon was either dodged by an evasive maneuver from the being, or blocked by the rune shield. The runes on the shield shone as bright as the stars on the night sky. The being was of equal might as the dragon, its axe swings teared down the dragon's scale pieces by pieces.
The dragon flew up, to the sky, the dived down, unleashed its breathe upon the field, a line of thunder and lightning scorched the earth. The being leapt up, a faint whistle could be heard from the chaos of the battle, and the ground underneath the being cracked open, revealed a cow like creature. The being rode on the creature's back to dodge the dragon's assault. From thin air, a spear manifested in the hand of the rider, replaced its axe. The spear provided greater reach, let the being attack the dragon from a safer distance. An opening, came as swift and small as a tiny firefly in the dark night, but the being caught that firefly. The black spear delivered a piercing strike at the dragon's throat, drove deep into the flesh under the thick scales.
But even a spear couldn't reach to the sky, the dragon flew up and started to rain down magic and fire upon the being. The shield shone as it protected the being and its mount from the dragon, with the armor of both the being and the beast shone in the same fashion. The being took out the bow on its back, a bow as long as a man, as curved as the moon. A bow of such size couldn't be drew even in the hand of an orc. The arrow itself was more akin to a short spear, with a metal head long as the shaft and as big as a man's arm. Each arrow drew, a clean shot. Barrages of arrow came toward the dragon. It tried to dodge, it tried to destroyed the arrows. But soon, the wings of the dragon were pierced with holes, forced it to lower down.
The battle continued on the ground, the being returned the dragon's assault with its own magic. Vines, trees started to gather around the dragon, bound it down. Moon light shone upon its scale, seared its wings with a pale flame. Nature itself moved as the being commanded, pillars of stone rose from the ground to lock the dragon in place, the air froze and burn as the being saw fit, walls of light were raised. The spear continued to strike at any weak point it could find, while the being dodged the dragon's lashing tail.
But the dragon was relentless. No vine nor pillar could bind it, no walls could stop it. Light covered the dragon, as it flew up to the sky once more. The dragon dove down, knocked the being off its mount. But the being managed to held on to the beast and quickly recovered. With all of its might, the dragon spread its wing, then thrusted itself up to the sky high above. The world turned black as if he sun was devoured, wind turned into gale, swept everything on its path, water vaporized. Suddenly, a light shone bright in the dark night, where the dragon was. Then, a ball of light dropped upon the being.
A sense of dread washed over them. The ball of light, as bright and hot as the sun, descended. It was the end of all.
With a bellowing voice, the being called upon what they could only describe as the words of the ancients. As the words echoed around them, a sphere of teal light surrounded the being and its mount. The sphere then expanded, covered the area around the being.
The ball of light and the sphere collided.
A powerful blast appeared where the two forces met. Strong gales knocked the riders from their mounts. The world was filled with a bright white light. For a moment, everything seemed to cease to exist, they could feel the force from the blast shredding them. Life flashed before their eyes.
When the dust settled, they tried to bring themselves up and observed the battle field.
The being stood still, the sphere of light faded. The dragon was dazed, its gaze fixed on the being. A thundering roar shook the entire space around it.
"WHY WON'T YOU DIE!"
The being pointed its spear to the sky. The dragon's eyes followed it. Suddenly, vines and pillars of stone rose from the ground, bound the dragon in place. Each time it destroyed a bundle of vine, another rose up and wrapped around its limbs.
The being spoke, a whisper, but bizarrely clear and loud enough to be heard by the bystanders. The words were… otherworldly and strange.
Nothing happened. The dragon finally broke free from its binding, leapt forward to attack.
A small hiss could be heard, followed by the heat.
The captain looked up. His eyes couldn't comprehend what happened.
The stars, so far above, a gem on the sky used by the gods to decorate the vast black canvas. The stars, unmovable by any forces, a loyal companion to those lost their way in darkness.
The stars, fell from the sky, turned into a rain of fire upon the dragon. Stars, burning white, fell down as fast as ripe fruits fell from a tree. Even the dragon, with seemingly invulnerable scales, tried to get away, but something kept it in. Soon, the stars hit the dragon, like a small fly under a heavy rain. The earth trembled, the ground shattered. The field burned to oblivion. A hunter was blown away far from them, the dwarf and his ram had to hold tight to the earth.
When they came back to their sense, the fight was no more. The being sat on the dragon's body. The giant being breathe was heavy, like a man ran too far and too fast. The armored being however, was indifferent, surrounded by a steam mist. Its godly aura radiated, shone in the dusk. The sun set behind it, created a scene as majestic as it is mighty. Its armor, like a starry night, like a forest engraved on the metal surface. Its eyes, two orbs of light radiated the purest light.
The being looked at them, then to the dragon. With a tap of its spear on the ground, murmured words unknown to them, a gate opened behind it. The gate opened to a void space, but from the void, came light, then shapes. Opened behind it was a path to a heavenly palace, adorn with the rarest gems and metal, with overgrown plants covered white walls. A paradise. The being dragged the dragon with it into the gate, followed by the beast. When they passed to the other side. The gate closed.
A hunter fell to her knees, her breathe ragged, whole body shook uncontrollably. Her mouth opened, throat dry, yet, she muster all of the strength she got, she whispered.
"Was that… a god?"
Nile dragged the dragon with him. If he had a heart, it might jump from his chest.
Everything started innocent at first. All he asked was why the dragon was there, and how could it talk. One thing led to another, and he ended up fighting it when he told it to leave his property.
And to be honest, he didn't expect [Banishment] could fling a dragon all the way up to the sky. But… he didn't mind the thrill, even if he couldn't really feel it. It reminded him of the good old day of dragon hunting. Since he came to this place, everything he stumbled upon always went bad, one way or another, must be his luck. Could his luck be better if he increased it by spells? Nah, everything happens for a reason, luck is overrated.
'Note to self, don't use [Banishment] near a populated area.'
Character Sheet #1:
Name: Nile Hilt
Epithet: The Historian Made of Metal & Magic
Other Titles: Mage Slayers, World Guardian, 'Master'
Status: Administrator of the Grand Archive, Guildmaster of the Loreseeker
Race: Warforged (Construct)
Karma: 0
Alignment: Neutral (Lawful)
Racial classes:
+ Warforged (15)
+ Living Sentinel (10)
+ Aegis (5)
Total: 30
Job classes:
+Paladin (15)
+Eldritch Watcher (10)
+World Guardian (5)
+Battle Smith (10)
+Bard (15)
+Lore Keeper (10)
+Lore Master (5)
Total: 70
Ability Chart:
HP: 20
MP: 250
Physical Attack: 100
Physical Defense: 100
Agility: 50
Magical Attack: 70
Magical Defense: 20
Resistance: 100
Special: 100
Personal Character:
The Guildmaster of Loreseeker, a Pker hunter and one of the top 50 players of YGGDRASIL, Nile is renowned for his build and moto: "Keep it simple, you idiot!". Initially, Nile wasn't a gamer, he had little to no knowledge about game before he played YGGDRASIL. Nile rose in power due to his ability to adapt, improvise and learn. While his performance in 1v1 is decent at best, he can take a large amount of players at once with the record of fighting against 4 level 100 players during a guild war, which made some player compared him to a boss rather than a fellow player. The reason behind it was that he built his character toward tank and crowd control. While Nile was okay with pvp, he didn't participate much in pvp, instead he enjoyed roleplaying with his friends or explore the game's lore. He made friend with Punitto Moe and despite the later annoyance about how open Nile was about information, the two were good friends. Despite being a warforged, not an awaken armor or helmed horror, Nile often refers to himself as a living armor due to the similarity between Aegis and the classic spirit in armor trope.
Author note: Yep, I deleted the last chapter and rewrite it completely
Also, I am looking for a proof reader, so if you are interested, please DM me. Every review is great, and I need reviews to improve my work, so please leave a review.