Fanfare
Though Valor had initially requested only one day of rest, such had quickly stretched into a week.
The king and his newly reconstituted council had so much to deal with in getting the kingdom back to sorts, that it was amazing to Valor that only one week was needed. Amidst this, getting the caravan assembled with the artisans and materials necessary to rebuild a bridge had taken three full days all by itself. The Light Warriors were to escort the caravan back north where the old fallen bridge to a rather obscure little island just off the northwestern coast waited.
And despite Valor's protest that such a thing was unnecessary, the king insisted on making a great spectacle of the Light Warrior's second departure from the White City.
Currently in the antechamber before the throne room, Valor stood cultivating patience, his blue eyes closed as he stood in his plain armor, newly polished and repaired. He had a brand new bastard sword sheathed across his back, a replacement for the one that Garland had shattered during their fight. Indeed, Valor had gotten several new weapons from the king to place in his arsenal at home, ready to be utilized through his Summoning Steel. He would keep the new bastard sword on his person, however, more comfortable with a weapon permanently on him at all times, just in case he couldn't use his weapon summoning for whatever reason.
A slight stir to his right had Valor open one eye and glance there. Sana-Lynn Atha stood next to him, fidgeting with her white staff. The honey-blond girl seemed anxious and nervous at the same time, resplendent in newly laundered white robes, both them and her hooded cloak bordered all along the hem with red triangles, the signature accouterments of all white mages. "I am anxious to meet this seer that the Headmaster was so keen on having us go to."
Valor gave a slight nod. "Yes, old Dalton seemed quite impressed and amused with this odd woman's apparent wisdom… and eccentricity."
Gantz, standing to the side, folded his arms with a sigh. "Yeah wonderful, we have to go all the way back north just to greet some wonky old kook in a cave. Can't bloody wait."
Robin growled nearby. "Even the princess said the nearest Crystal is somewhere south across the Narrow Sea. This is nothing more than blatant dithering—not that I am surprised in the least, since that is all we seem to do!"
Valor shook his head. "Nothing about this journey has been expedient, Robin, and it certainly will not become more so now."
Sana-Lynn pointed her staff at the black mage. "Valor is right, Robin, besides, no one in Highland really knows where the Crystals reside and the southern continent is not small. We could spend a lifetime traipsing across it in an aimless search. The detour north will be worth it if this seer can pinpoint its location for us."
The black mage murmured angrily under her breath, but said nothing, which Valor was certain meant that she ultimately agreed. Though freshly laundered, Robin had refused new garments, still wearing the singed and tattered black high-collared robes and the roughly stitched wide-brimmed black hat. With her yellow glowing eyes and almost total concealment, she seemed a dark tattered wraith now more than ever.
Gantz had new clothes as well, a new dark leather jerkin over plain black pants and tunic of fine linen, though he still wore his fingerless gloves, which Valor had never seen the point of. All in all, it was the lightest of armor ensembles, so much so, that Valor didn't understand the why of the jerkin. Most jerkins were light leather shirts, sewn with metal scales or disks to provide some modicum of weapon-turning protection. Light infantry or archers usually wore them, but Gantz's plain jerkin wouldn't even do this much. Of course, Valor knew well that the thief's main defense was not allowing himself to be hit in the first place. Gantz also had a new belt consisting of many small hardened leather pouches surrounding his waist though still leaving room for each of his two long knives, one sheathed over each hip. This had replaced the small leather backpack he had always worn strapped tightly to his back.
Robin shook her head sharply. "Perhaps the journey north is worth it, but all this preceding pomp and ceremony most certainly is not! We could be out of this blasted labyrinth of a city in under an hour if not for this frivolous pretense."
Valor sighed. "It is to boost morale, Robin, something the people desperately need in these times. Another mighty greenskin force is gathering in the west and we don't have time to help fight this one. When we return from the north the whole city could be destroyed if the monsters manage to unite. The newly raised King's Army is still a nascent force and even the knightly orders that are not still furious with the king are barely enough to train officers to lead it. Our homeland could very well be wiped out before we even get the chance to head to the southern continent."
Robin just scoffed. "Your homeland, city-dweller, not mine."
Sana-Lynn managed her own growl. "You're being flippant as usual, black mage, what do you think will happen to your own homeland if Highland is overrun? Do you think the greenskin hordes will simply spare your people just because? Can you not see that Highland is the only shield protecting all the peoples of this land from being destroyed?"
The black mage's glowing eyes flared. "My people do not need your protection, lesser mage!"
From where Gantz stood, he pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. "Please, ladies, simmer down. I'm still trying to pretend like I don't have to keep risking my life fighting whatever damnable abominations we'll run into next."
The two mages continued to glare at each other for sometime before both suddenly turned away in similar huffs despite them looking so different.
Valor might have chuckled at their exchange if circumstances weren't so grim. Despite Garland's destruction, Highland was far from being secured, and he wouldn't even be able to lend a hand in its defense… at least not directly. Despite that seeking out the witch in the north was undoubtedly the wisest course for now, the warrior felt like he should be out among the army readying to meet another goblin invasion head-on. He quickly chided himself, however… even if this horde could be stopped, what about the one after that? He had no idea where all the monsters were coming from, but coming they were, and Valor could feel in the very depths of his being that it would never end until the Crystals shone once more.
"Valor…" Sana called tentatively…
The Chosen of Earth noted the oddly hesitant change in her tone. "Yes, Sana-Lynn?"
She fidgeted a bit with her staff. "…That light, Valor, when I used the Holy as a weapon against Garland, after it dissipated and you… you still glowed, in shining armor like I have never seen. I've been meaning to ask you about that, about what it was. I didn't last long."
To the side, Gantz suddenly perked up. "Yeah, that was pretty amazing. Thought it was just some spell that you cast on the blue blood, Miss Priss, though I don't know why you waited so long to grant Valor the magic armor. Pretty sure he could of used it against Garland from the get-go."
Sana-Lynn shook her head. "I was not responsible for that, Gantz, I focused the Holy as a weapon to smite Garland, and could not stop the torrent of power even once I noticed that Valor was in the area of effect. I could not pull back at that point, merely hoping that Valor wouldn't be harmed, but what happened to him was a side-effect I hadn't foreseen, let alone intended."
Valor thought back to that instant, which felt oddly fleeting and hard to remember. He could not recall what he had been thinking at that exact moment. After it had ended, he too had assumed that it was some consequence of being caught in the holy blast but…
"I do not recall exactly what I was thinking in that moment, and after I delivered Garland the final blow, the power faded so quickly it almost seemed as if it had not happened at all."
The black mage looked over, tapping her charred rod in one hand. "I sensed a very fleeting link with the past, Chosen of Earth, not entirely dissimilar to the one that Garland had within that cursed ruin."
Sana suddenly looked pensive, stroking her chin with a slender hand while she gripped her staff in the other. "Yes, perhaps with the Holy as a catalyst, you drew some ancient power from the past as Garland did. It is not unfathomable, considering the time-warped nature of the temple."
Valor nodded, supposing this could be true, but something still bothered him. "Yes, but Garland was linked to Chaos, his past incarnation that existed five thousand years ago. I am fairly certain I did not exist five thousand years ago."
Sana conceded this with a nod, but tapped a finger to her chin. "No, but the ancient Light Warriors did exist back then and they did confront Chaos in the center of an ancient temple-city of which now only the Chaos Shrine remains." She paused to look up, hazel eyes alight. "It makes sense, Valor, the ancient Light Warriors were Chosen of the Crystals bearing the same power that we must. You were probably able to tap into some of your predecessor's power."
Valor tried as hard as he could to fix exactly what was going through his head at that instant back in the temple. He had said something to Garland before stabbing him with a glowing broadsword, but the whole scene was now blurred in memory. He sighed irately: "Well, it might help if I knew anything at all about magic."
Robin scoffed. "Please, Chosen of Earth, do not burden your tiny mind with such complexities and stick to hitting things with your weapons."
Valor placed his armored hands on his hips. "You should know well, Robin, that I often consider hitting you with my weapons, my maul in particular."
"Here, here," Gantz agreed with a laugh just as Sana-Lynn giggled, nodding enthusiastically as she brandished her white staff in both hands: "I call seconds!"
Robin merely scoffed again, turning away swiftly to put her back to the three of them. Valor was almost certain he caught a slight chuckle from her though. "If you wish to be broiled alive in your metal skin then by all means try, Chosen of Earth." There was no sting to the threat, however.
The moment of levity vanished quickly, however, as Valor's mind focused on all the threats awaiting his homeland. Destroying the Fiends of Elements was now the new focus of the Light Warriors' efforts, but tracking them down and fighting through the forces they had accrued might very well prove impossible, even for warriors of legend… not that Valor felt particularly legendary. He could admit that he had accomplished some amazing things in the last month, but every time a grave threat was brought low, another simply arose to take its place. A potent feeling of futility drained all sense of accomplishment from the warrior…
Valor sighed heavily.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
The laughter had died quickly as Sana-Lynn noticed Valor's stony countenance return. She could sense the burden he carried, the weight of inevitable ruin that hung over the entire world if the Light Warriors failed in their task.
The white mage could only cope with this weight because she knew that innocent people depended on her strength of conviction, and it was conviction above all else that filled Valor Loftlan. Sana could feel the steely resolve radiating from him even as despair threatened to crush it. How he seemed, at times, to be a monument of mountains, a force of nature able to crush the foes before him with the weight of will-power alone.
She admired that focus in him; her own fears allayed because of the steel bulwark that Valor provided for the Light Warriors, both figuratively and literally.
Still… she wanted to comfort him—the mere thought making her flush, though she reinforced the notion that it was for purely selfless motives—after all, the Light Warriors needed their leader, and that is what Valor was, though she was certain neither Gantz nor Robin would ever admit such a thing. The Chosen of Earth was for certain, however, the stable foundation on which the other three relied whether they would admit it or not.
Sana could admit it easily, at least to herself, and in a bid to do something of showing support, however small, she sidled a little closer to the armored young man next to her, gripping her white staff anxiously for different reasons this time.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Gantz stood to the side of the others leaning against the white stone walls of the antechamber, having already appraised the gilded cornices and jewel-studded suits of armor situated around the room, the opulence no doubt to impress peasant and noble petitioners alike in normal times…
The thief shook his head. Normal times—what the bloody hellfire were those? He hadn't known anything normal for what seemed like years despite that only about a month had passed since he had first touched the cursed Wind Orb. If he'd been able, he would have thrown the damned thing into the river that defined the docks district that very night, but of course, he hadn't been able to then and he was sure if he tried now, bloody destiny or some other transcendent force would find a way to shove the sodding thing up his bloody arse again right quick!
Despite himself, the thief snickered as he noticed Sana-Lynn sidle up next to the warrior. Oh he was going to give the bloody blue blood no end of torture for this little… predicament… between the Chosen of Earth and Water, potent quips already coming to mind.
Gantz suddenly frowned, however, when he thought of own predicament. His battle skills the last few weeks had gotten one honing after another, but his thievery skills had become lax. He hadn't stolen anything in over a week now and it was making him antsy. Of course, the fact that he could now literally become invisible gave him a powerful advantage, but going unseen was just one facet of pulling off the perfect heist, and he was afraid his other skills would atrophy if he didn't start sharpening them soon. Unfortunately, with the great gathering in the throne room at the king's decree, and the imminent journey north—again—meant that Gantz would get no such opportunity anytime soon. He could not stifle a growl as a profound sense of reluctance toward this whole damned venture flooded through him…
Also… Garland had scared him like nothing else he had ever faced. It was galling to admit, but Gantz had come within a hairsbreadth of death in that fight in a way he never had before. Being held in the grip of that monster, staring into its unholy gaze was something he was still having trouble forgetting. Under that glare of bitter spite and depthless hate, Gantz had seen a form of terror completely alien to him, a seething well of churning incoherence that could give nightmares nightmares. And he could still sense some lingering darkness all around him, invisible, intangible and yet pervasive.
"You must fight it, Gantz," Sana-Lynn suddenly announced and the thief started, looking up immediately at the white mage's concerned face.
He forced himself to crack a smile. "Don't worry about me, Miss Priss, I'm right as the rain."
She gave him a commiserating look, which he immediately resented. Bloody girl and her bloody empathic know-it-all-ness…
He shook his head, gripping the hilts of his sheathed knives for reassurance, his fingers positively itching to steal something.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Robin Magus forced her foot to stop tapping for the hundredth time since she and other three had been made to wait in the gaudy hall, a disgusting display of avarice and arrogance in equal measure as far as she was concerned.
How the blasted city-dwellers managed to get anything at all done when they constantly dithered with vapid ceremony was beyond her. Still, she wrenched hold of her growing irritation and tried to quash it, though it was becoming harder with each passing minute…
And the seething primordial rage of the Blessing of Fire was always there, of course, the power in her blazing soul that bespoke of burning hellfire granted to her years ago by the Lord of Flames himself. As always, it wanted release, to rise through her being and manifest in bellowing roars of incandescent death: blasting and burning everything around her into embers and ash.
Under the high concealing collar of her tattered black robes, Robin suddenly smiled as her runes of fire flared around her, a surge of rage flooding her mind until she was cackling at the memories of the destruction she had wrought amongst the greenskins so far. Oh how she wished she was on the front lines of the new western invasion now, raining destruction down upon the mangy little subhuman slime: burning the very air from their lungs, lashing them with lightning, freezing their flesh solid, and breaking them with hunks of jagged earth…
Yes, she would be there again; it was inevitable. Her enemies were legion and she had no doubt she would be reaping devastation among them for sometime to come…
Now if only she could force enough patience to get back out into the world and find something worthy to eradicate—that was the true challenge!
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Chadler deLufron gave a nod to the two gold-armored guards that stood at attention, halberds held poised, one standing on each side of the tall arched double doors that led from the throne room into the antechamber where the Light Warriors awaited.
The Red Bard had dropped his stage name, True Herring, on account of his call to duty in intelligence gathering, though in truth he figured he had outgrown his old moniker. Other titles might become his as well as personas aplenty, different parts he might play in order to rid the kingdom of the corrupt sycophants and lackeys that had gathered in court during the king's madness, which had finally ended, something for which the bard was duly thankful for.
The palace guards gave him perfunctory bows—swell enough fellows, but not fans of his. Chadler waved such away light-heartedly. He had plenty of fans, most of them young and female but he tried not to think of that now with his new duty at hand. Ah, if only he could spend his time chronicling the Light Warriors' most recent adventures, but such was not to be. The heroes had to be on their way again soon enough, and even with a full week of their presence within the White City, the Red Bard's constant duties, as well as everyone else's, had meant he had not been able to spend anytime at all chronicling their tale…
Ah well, such was life.
As always, Chadler wore his freshly laundered red cloak, embroidered along the hem in alternating white and black triangles. A white silk shirt and red satin breeches were worn beneath, though the man's fine knee-high boots covered most the breeches. He wore his needle-sharp rapier sheathed at his side, going to stand before the Light Warriors just as he doffed his fine red hat, a white feather sticking out from its side.
He prided himself on his impeccable bows. "Greetings, Warriors of Light… my, it has been sometime since we've last met. I do so wish we had the time for you to regale me with all that has transpired since your last departure from the White City but I fear this is not to be."
The pretty young white mage perked up quickly at his entrance. "True Herring… ah it is you! You are right, it seems like ages since the incident in the Great Hall."
Chadler gave the girl his most winning smile, but reluctantly stopped himself from taking her hand to kiss when he met a hard flat glare from the Chosen of Earth at her side. Indeed, there was something sturdier and more—rugged—about Valor Loftlan than he remembered. So, with a prodigious reluctance, the Red Bard merely bowed before the young woman again.
The bandit-clad Gantz strode up to Chadler's side, giving the bard a grin so brazenly mischievous that Chadler was taken aback. "Well, if it ain't the pretty red dandy, come again to sweep Miss Priss of her feet. How do you feel about that, Val?"
The Chosen of Earth's hardened blue gaze switched to Gantz, though unlike Chadler, it seemed to have no effect on the thief, who merely grinned more insolently the longer the warrior stared.
Valor finally replied. "I think that I will not be taunted by you now, Gantz, so hold your peace so that True can facilitate us in doing our duty." That unwavering blue gaze switched back to Chadler. "I assume that is why you are here, True, to see us to the King's audience?"
Despite the weighty stare, Chadler stood straight, raising one finger before them. "Far be it from me to be so boorish as to correct the Chosen of the Dawn, but I must implore you to refrain from calling me anymore by True Herring. You see; I have shed that old moniker for reasons of state in which I have irrevocably entangled myself…" He paused to give them another sweeping bow before gracing them all with his grandest smile. It faltered a bit, however, when the volatile black mage came up to glare at him with glowing yellow eyes. She said nothing, but her vicious stare added to Valor's steely one made the Red Bard rethink matters of precedent. He decided that perhaps haste over style was more appropriate in this circumstance.
Chadler gave a slight cough into a white-gloved fist to cover his hesitance. "Yes, well, far be if from me to hold up the Light Warriors any further," he paused to reinforce his smile with full force. "Please, by all means, honored heroes, the king and court await as well as dozens of state and military officials, all to see your exaltation by His Majesty. I would be honored if you would follow me into the throne room where I shall herald your entrance."
The Chosen of Earth merely gave a curt nod, ready to follow, while the Chosen of Wind shrugged and motioned for him to lead the way. The shrouded black mage gave only a long low growl that bespoke of a barely contained explosion. Only the white mage seemed genuinely elated about moving on, though there was something unrelenting that underlie her enthusiasm, something that Chadler had not remembered in her demeanor from weeks before.
All in all, the Red Bard had to admit that whatever trials the Light Warriors had undergone had made them even more themselves than he remembered… more focused, more resolute—and though he was loathe to admit it—more dangerous as well, and perhaps not only to Highland's enemies. Yes… he could sense the monumental strain they were under. It was not really surprising at all, he supposed, considering the weight of what they bore…
Still, Chadler deLufron's steps hastened across the floor tiles.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Valor realized his face must seem hard as stone and so he tried to soften his countenance as he strode passed Chadler deLufron, the Red Bard announcing to all those assembled in the throne room of the Light Warriors' arrival in a suddenly resonant voice that seemed to permeate the whole of the grand chamber.
Valor came in at the head of his little procession, trying to force his gait to unstiffen, though such seemed beyond him. Certainly such an occasion required noble poise, but he was allowing his fears to effect his bearing overmuch. It was his duty to present confidence and resolve to all those assembled, as these were his people and they needed the Light Warriors to be… or at least appear to be… legendary, now more than ever.
Before he knew it, Valor was marching into the breadth of the throne room upon a strip of royal blue carpet that stopped before the great white stone dais that jutted out from the northern wall of the chamber. King Highland stood upon it before the thrones, his daughter along side him, both of them resplendent in all the richest accouterments of their royal station.
And lining the grand chamber all around, but for a squared-off space before the dais, were dignitaries of every stripe. Valor quickly noticed old Dalton Samar, Headmaster of the White Temple. The smallish old fellow stood in the middle of a line of other white-cloaked members of the clergy of the Order of the White Staff, none of them young, yet none as old as Dalton. Indeed, it seemed the old Headmaster had aged ten years since Valor had last seen him, though he still smiled warmly through his long white beard, stroking it with a wizened hand as he held his staff in the other, his white robes plain and worn.
Valor gave the old man a nod and the fellow nodded back, looking as if he swelled with pride when his gaze switched to Sana-Lynn standing just at Valor's left side.
The Chosen of Earth silently agreed. Sana-Lynn had been absolutely pivotal in their success against numerous grave challenges and Valor had no doubt she would continue to be so, so long as evil lingered over the land.
Valor then noticed Oster Arlington amongst the crowd, his father's best friend and second in command in the knightly Order of the Sacred Dawn, when his father had led it. Valor nodded to the older man, the knight resplendent in his full white-enameled plate mail, but now also wearing the ermine-lined white cloak of the Knight-General. Ah, so he had finally taken up leadership of the Order… that was good, no one deserved it more. Oster had been saving the position for Valor himself, but the Light Warrior could not be knighted, not yet; perhaps some day, if he survived all that he must face to free the world from the evil of the fiends. Who knew if that would ever be, and so Oster had done the right thing. Valor hoped Oster's wife was feeling better. Valor recalled that she had been ill for some time, and he was certain their daughter's betrayal had not helped matters.
Any further examination of the room, however, was stymied when the king suddenly spoke: "Knightly lords and stately ladies, guild masters and honored officials of both military and state, may I formally present to you the four Light Warriors, Champions of the Dawn and Chosen of the Hallowed Crystals, having arisen in our darkest hour as foretold by Lukahn's prophecy written three hundred years since. Give honor to them as I do for they have saved this land from certain destruction and brought low the betrayer, Garland of the Dark Sword… returning to me my precious Sarah, your Princess brought back to her rightful place at the side of her father, your Lord and King…"
The man looked to say more—when suddenly, in four flashes of light—the orbs hovered above each Light Warriors' head: yellow, red, blue and green. The audience gasped as their light increased until the individual colors had merged into a singular glow of pearl luminescence…
From different walks have their steps trod…
Bound together as worlds unwind…
Monsters fall and fiends brought low…
Before their wielding of holy might…
Give praise to them o' children of men…
Chosen of the present…
To realign the past…
For balance restored…
Reinforced of Earth…
Purified by Water…
Impassioned by Flame…
Hastened by Wind…
They are Chosen of the Dawn…
Vessels of Truth…
Warriors… of Light...
And as quickly as they had come, the Elemental Orbs returned to the secret containers upon their Chosen in brief flashes of light.
Valor blinked, as seemingly did the rest of the entire hall, snapping from the mesmerizing lure of that singular voice, filled with such solemn quietude and purity that more than one pair of eyes had moistened over. Valor's certainly had, for he had heard his late mother's voice in those hallowed words. She had been one of the Crystal's avatars, an Aspect of Gaia, having taken on flesh in order to bring him into the world… before having gone from it again…
The Chosen of Earth wiped an arm across his eyes, trying to regain a semblance of dignity, when he felt a hand upon his shoulder. He looked over to see Sana-Lynn looking up at him, her own amber eyes filled with tears though she smiled as he could not. He did put a hand over hers where it rested upon his left pauldron before the king spoke again.
"This is not the first time the Crystals have confirmed their holy status, but now is not the time for more delays. In sacred procession and great honor will the Chosen of the Dawn be escorted from the City of Dreams to once again take up the holy path that destiny has paved for them. Now, begin the procession as you take line in their wake, as befits an escort for the chosen saviors of this world!"
At once the music began, an entire mobile band coming to life. It started with a martial rolling of drums as the dignitaries to the right parted, opening a path that the Light Warriors could take, walking four abreast as they went through cavernous double doors into a long gilded hall, lined on either side with more well-dressed onlookers.
As the Light Warriors moved, twenty guards in burnished gold-enameled plate-mail, took up positions before and behind them in two rows, holding their longswords out before them as they marched steadily in a cadence determined by the drums.
Once outside the castle, the world opened up into a long road that led through the inner and outer bailies and eventually linked to the broad avenue that bisected the city into east and west sections from the fairly centralized castle. Other instruments had joined the drums' established cadence, woodwinds and trumpets combining to rise into a great crescendo that was indeed nothing short of fanfare. The music was uplifting, inspiring and triumphant as Valor went along.
He looked on as the four slowly made their way passed masses of the common folk now lining the avenue in the hundreds. Children ran along side the procession whooping and hollering, while people hung half out of open windows from second or third story floors, woman waving lacy handkerchiefs, men cupping their hands together and shaking them gleefully above their heads. Many others punched their fists into the air as the Light Warriors went by and many more flung out handfuls of colored paper. Others threw this confetti from upper story windows and it wafted down gently like multi-hued snowflakes. One even stuck to Valor's forehead for a second before flitting off.
The fanfare rose and fell in triumphant swells, a sea of sound in which all were awash, rising even above the cheering of hundreds, suffusing the day as surely as light from the midmorning sun.
Valor's chest swelled with pride as he really felt for the very first time how truly worth bearing his burden was. His people needed him and he needed them… indeed, he loved his people, his home, his country, and he was oathbound by duty, compassion and honor to see the evil that threatened them be wiped from the face of the earth… and as the great southern gates neared that led out into the land beyond the City of Dreams, he went to do just that…
As before, and now again, the young man was ready to take up his mantle with all the conviction instilled in him since as far back as he could remember.
He was Duke Valor of House Loftlan, Chosen of Earth and Warrior of Light, going forward once again.