Disclaimer: I don't own MapleStory or Warhammer40K/Dawn of War 2 franchises. Companies with much more money, lawyers, and power than I do.
Hope you all enjoyed my first installment in this story. Enjoy and as always, please leave a review. Thanks!
-= None Shall Find Us Wanting =-
- Chapter 2: Blood from a Falling Raven -
It had only been one year since the Black Mage's resurrection, and most within the Black Wing organization did their best to keep that a secret as they continued to bide their time; removing every possible form of opposition and the Empress Cygnus herself began to fall under his sway. The Black Mage said little to nothing to his servants, as most of them already knew what their orders were if they were summoned. Meetings were a mere formality within his corrupt organization. It was here, through much sorcery and tearing through the veil of time that the Black Mage foresaw the arrival of a powerful warrior on his way to the Maple World. This one person would end up becoming a hero, someone everyone in the Maple World could rally around and could possibly turn victory back to their favor. The Black Mage would have none of this as he demanded his two of his henchman to track this warrior down and kill him.
"Track down this stranger to the world. You will know what he looks like as our master has told us that he will be substantially bigger than the average person and will be wielding strange weapons and red armor that bears the symbol of a raven with a blood drop. Kill this man, kill him! Do you understand? If you fail, I will kill you instead!" Arkarium bellowed out to the two henchmen covered in a black cloak, their pale, ghostly faces hidden from the Black Mage's top general. The Black Mage himself looked on with fiery glowing eyes that instantly instilled fear within the henchman and Arkarium himself.
"Space…Marine…" the Black Mage growled out.
With that, the two nodded and immediately departed as another entered the throne room, another general of the Black Mage's army, the Demon Slayer…
Present, Maple World, Victoria Island, Elluel Forest…
Aramus felt as if he couldn't breathe, as if the very life essence was being choked out of his body and he wanted nothing more than for it to end. The never-ending nightmare that was his life, crusades that lasted years at a time. The battlefields ever-changing, but the situation was still the same, blood, death, and destruction everywhere. It was a miracle that he didn't lose his mind during those never-ending crusades, but it was his stoic nature that allowed him to survive. His very essence, his life and servitude all in dedication to brother, chapter, and Emperor. Now his life was going to end in this void, and he was going to die…Or so he concluded.
The void itself seemed to stop sucking him in deeper and soon felt a rush of fresh air reach his nostrils. But soon another sensation overtook him; Aramus was plummeting fast to the planet's surface. His armor already taken quite the beating through the last battle with the Chaos marines, daemonettes, the Violators sorcerer, and his power armor began to glow red hot as he plummeted faster and faster towards the lush green planet. The space marine was powerless to do anything to break his fall and soon, he could feel the massive impact that was his planet fall onto the surface. Every inch of his body was screaming out in horrific pain. He looked around him and saw squishy globs of green jelly all over the place. Aramus looked around him, or at least he attempted to.
The strong thick scent of copper-scented blood filled the air around him, his own hand going up towards his eye that refused to open. The tall, well-built genetically enhanced warrior was greeted with the warmth of his own crimson blood. His trimmed brown-blond hair feeling the subtle wind within the lush green forest. And if only for a brief few moments, he retained all of the memories he had, all of them rushing forth like a raging river against a dam.
Nearby however, was a golden blonde-haired elf that happened to be hunting and training on green slimes but was interrupted by Aramus' planet fall. This particular girl wore the royal holly laurels upon her head, an elegant white dress accented with silver armor plating with semi-translucent ribbons flowing downwards, white high-heeled boots, and armed to the teeth with two dual-bowguns and infinite magic arrows. She was no ordinary elf, for in fact she was royalty. Her name was Mercedes, the queen of the elves.
"Ohh! What's that up there in the sky?" Mercedes remarked to herself, keeping her crystal greenish-blue eyes on the falling object in the night sky. Her long flowing hair blowing in the direction of the breeze.
At first she marveled at what she thought was a comet or shooting star, but the object continued to glow brighter and larger and eventually heard the loud, deafening thud of the impact. She fixed her royal tiara upon her head and gracefully, but quickly leapt through the air to find out where this astronomical object had landed. Aramus however was still going in and out of consciousness. He looked around him once again with his right eye, attempting to spot his brother, Babylon.
"Brother! Are you near?! Babylon! Speak to me!" Aramus yelled out as he felt something along with his pain, another sense of overwhelming sadness and dread. Another battle brother he assumed had perished. Thaddeus died only a few short days ago, and now, Babylon was nowhere to be found. If it were in his nature, if his space marine instincts that were hard coded into his mind would let go for just a second, he would have almost found his long-suppressed desire to cry. He immediately shook his head and scoffed at such thoughts.
"I am the eyes of the Great Father; my strength is the sword of the Emperor…" Aramus quietly muttered this old prayer to himself as he attempted to use his eye-piece intel, only to find it sparking as he activated it and for the HUD to display the words "UNKNOWN PLANET, UNKNOWN COORDINATES, ERROR. SEEK TECHMARINE IMMEDIATELY FOR REPAIR RITES."
"Emperor damn this infernal device for failing at such a critical juncture!" Aramus yelled out as he turned it off and placed it back into his storage pack in his armor. He then remembered his thunder hammer and immediately saw that it was still in his possession nearby on the ground, but the once mighty weapon was now shattered into pieces on the ground. "This just couldn't get any worse…" he thought to himself.
The hammer itself looked like it could be repaired, but he was no techmarine and even then, he wouldn't know how to re-activate the power field around the weapon. Only Babylon knew how, albeit using the power of the warp. Feeling even worse about the situation, he took and placed the various pieces of the weapon into his storage pack. He then inspected his bolt pistol and much to his relief it still worked along with Thaddeus' chainsword that he had with him.
Very little time had passed as Aramus continued through the forest that seemingly had no discernable path. To say that he was lost was an understatement. It was very quiet, the eerie kind of quiet that gave a lesser man chills. Aramus however knew no fear, but he certainly was well acquainted with pain as he knelt to the ground, attempting to get over his severe migraine as he continued to bleed out from his head and the rest of his battered body. His genetically-enhanced body threatened to give out on him if he didn't get himself to an Apothecary or at the very least a place to rest for a little while.
Not too far back was Mercedes who was tracking Aramus since his planet fall and saw the huge impact crater. She gasped but forced herself quiet as she saw two of the Black Mage's henchman investigating the same area as well. Quickly she leapt back through the air and hid herself with little trouble into a field of purple lilies. The henchmen were far above her level and she knew better to face them directly in combat, lest her life be forfeit. Mercedes used her keen elven sight and also spotted the stranger that crashed into her world, Aramus. For just a second, her heart stopped as she took in every feature of his body. Her pupils dilating and her face slowly turning a slight red, there was something just attractive about the towering space marine.
"For a human, he certainly looks really tall…and big, very big…" Mercedes said to herself quietly but then saw that the henchman had found their target, Aramus. Right as she was going to yell out to him, the henchman already started their attack, removing their cloaks and armed with poisoned daggers. Their poison was pure venom taken from a prehistoric monster in the Maple World long extinct, but deadly still even for a space marine.
"Our master sends you his welcome, strange visitor from the stars…" One henchman said to Aramus.
"…He'd come personally to greet you but then, the Black Mage doesn't deal with those who are about to depart the living…" Finished the other. Aramus was getting ready for his first battle in this unknown planet. Stoic as ever despite all the blood and pain he felt throughout his body. "…After all, isn't that why your pathetic Blood Raven comrade died after we tortured him? He is no more; his soul now belongs to the Black Mage…"
The henchman threw out to him Babylon's Blade of Archarius. Something had snapped in the commander as he took the force sword into his hands. He shook violently as he gripped his brother's weapon tightly as he finally did the unthinkable; he started to feel other raw emotions for the first time in over several decades. He felt that unfamiliar feel of liquid coming through his long-dry tear ducts and finally anguished tears began to spill through. Mercedes covered her mouth in horror after hearing the henchmen speak and finally decided to join the battle. She was not going to let this terrible act go unpunished but right as she did Aramus began to be surrounded by a red aura. This one was different as this was pure rage and fury emanating from him. The chainsword began to rev itself up as he growled out.
"…Babylon…I…" Aramus stammered out. He was going to make these two suffer and then he was going to find the Black Mage and kill him for the Chapter, for the Emperor, and for Babylon. "No more Blood Ravens die this day…NO MORE!"
Immediately he charged forward, kicking them both hard into their stomachs, stunning them both. Aramus kicked one off to the side while he manhandled the other, throwing him into a tree, smashing it down towards the forest floor. Firing his bolt pistol at him he swung and slashed several times at the henchman reeling from his onslaught. The Black Mage's servant had already been wounded several times with the chainsword but Aramus was determined to make an example of him as he slammed him hard into the ground again, bouncing back up from the sheer force and proceeded to stomp him in the face with his ceramite power grieves, blood bursting forth from where the henchman's face used to be. Mercedes gasped once again only this time at his display of power. The other henchman ran up to Aramus, stabbing him clear at an exposed portion of his broken armor as he screamed out in pain, lurching backwards as the venom began to overtake his body. He could see the henchman grinning to himself, cocky that he would finish Aramus. The marine spat out more blood, nearly throwing up more as he screamed out what he thought would be his final words.
"NONE WILL FIND ME WANTING, HERETIC!" With that, Aramus surprised the oncoming henchman, taking his chainsword, slicing his arms off first and then preceded to the finishing blow that resembled more of a summary field execution as he turned his chainsword sideways, the teeth of the serrated edges sliced and gnawed its way into his stomach. More blood spilled out as the chainsword revved up faster and finally split him in two as Aramus screamed out in fury and agony.
His chainsword flew hard into the ground, immediately stopping whilst clutching hard onto his bolt pistol as he collapsed onto his knees, his body slowly but surely succumbing to all the grievous wounds from battling on Torvendis and his first battle in the Maple World. Mercedes rushed out towards him to help Aramus in any way she could. Not knowing or seeing who it was Aramus assumed she was another enemy that needed to be killed as he pointed his bolt pistol straight towards her head as she stopped dead in her tracks. She placed her hands gently into the air as she attempted to reason with Aramus. He spotted her pointed ears and automatically assumed she was xenos (alien), specifically Eldar (elves). Amongst their hatred for traitor legionnaires, they were hard coded from the start through massive amounts of genetic alteration and mind programming that they were to abhor all xenos and to serve and protect mankind and the Emperor.
"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?!" Mercedes rushed over quickly but was met with a most cold greeting.
"Back…AWAY FROM ME! WITCH!" he screamed out, coughing more blood out. It was obvious that his injuries were getting to him and becoming more and more delusional from the major blood loss he was experiencing as well as the poison. His hands shook as he tried to keep the bolt pistol steady as he backed away, Mercedes stepping towards him, trying to get him to calm down. "STAY…AWAY!"
"I am Mercedes, Queen of the Elves of Elluel. I don't know who you are, but please, I mean you no harm, I only wish to help you. Please, let me help you, your bleeding profusely!" Mercedes gently told him. Aramus struggled to keep his eyes open and on his feet. All he could see was Mercedes' petite figure, her blond hair waving in the night breeze. He threw up more blood as he dropped the bolt pistol and right before he fell; Aramus could see her crystal blue-greenish eyes that comforted him in the past. He looked up at her with anguished tears falling, attempting to say something but was unable. With that, it all went dark for him as he fell towards the ground, but was caught by Mercedes, finally ending up in her arms. It was only a few short moments ago that he threatened her life with his bolt pistol but she couldn't help but cry for him as she held him tightly. She would have to work fast if she was going to at least try to save this human's life.
Mercedes didn't nearly have the strength to get Aramus back to the village. Looking back at Aramus and then back towards the village, she whistled to summon her unicorn mount and placed a note on her calling for help back to the village. She watched it run back towards Elluel as she sat down with Aramus' battered body close to hers. She barely knew the man she was holding so tightly in her arms, but something about him drew her closer. Sighing quietly she leaned back against a fallen tree and seeing the bloody remains of the henchman from earlier. Battles normally didn't get all that violent in that world, but it didn't mean it never happens.
An hour later, her unicorn returned with several of the villagers rushing to help their Queen back onto her feet and all of them placing Aramus onto a carriage. Danika and Philius were also close by, curiously inspecting the injured space marine.
"Who is he? Where'd he come from, your highness?" Philius asked.
"…He fell from the sky…Other than that, all I know is that he's severely injured and his injuries appear to be from a much earlier battle. All on his own, he took out two of The Black Mage's elite henchman. And he was wielding that strange chainsaw blade and that even more peculiar gun." Mercedes said as she sighed.
"I think we should leave him here! He can't be trusted in the kingdom!" Danika countered as she angrily protested to her queen.
"It isn't within our nature as elves to turn away those in need of aid, and it isn't something I do either. My mother always taught me to help those who can't help themselves. This man, by killing the two henchmen, kept the Black Mage's army from attacking Elluel. I will take care of him personally in my own chambers." Mercedes responded back, Danika about to state her protest further.
"Danika, I think her highness has a point. It's obvious that this strange man was a high priority target for the Black Mage. He must be something special for him to garner that kind of response after he fell to this land. From the way it was described, this human had the strength of ten humans and the battle wisdom of a seasoned warrior. That combination alone would give the Black Mage something to worry about." Philius chimed in once more as he turned to Mercedes. "I think it would be in our best interests if we kept him safe in the kingdom for awhile. His strength will definitely come to big use to us in our fight against the Black Mage."
"PHILIUS! I will not have this man coerced into anything while he's comatose! That's not right and I will not have it!" Mercedes responded again, overruling her elder council. The other two backed off, knowing well they wouldn't win. Eventually, they got back to Elluel, helping Aramus into her royal bath which looked more like a giant tub. Mercedes had all of them leave despite more protests and finally went to the task of removing Aramus' power armor, piece by piece. Eventually she got him down to his scarred body, the scarring coming from years of endless battles, genetic manipulation, surgery, and implantations.
Focusing quickly on his many wounds, she first began by giving Aramus some herbs to help fight the poison from the henchman's dagger. His breathing became much steadier afterwards and soon, much to her surprise, his natural bodily functions were accelerating his healing, but even so, he lost a lot of blood and wasn't nearly out of the woods yet. Mercedes got her sponge and very gently began to scrub his unconscious body of all the blood, fresh and dried, off. She couldn't help but blush as she tried to look away from his naked form, but could not resist taking peeks at him. When she got to a particularly sensitive area, she looked up guiltily with an even bigger red blush than before. Eventually she got him cleaned and bandaged him up around his wounds and had him dressed and with some help, up into Mercedes' personal royal bed. Aramus at this point was still unconscious, but his mind replaying events of years past; old crusades, old battles, and old brethren.
In the distance, he could see Sergeant Avitus in the clearing on the ice world of Aurelia. He had clearly turned traitor and at this point was wearing the Honor of the Blood Ravens, an elite terminator armor that had been painted over in Black Legion colors. Avitus himself was armed with an assault cannon and cyclone missile launchers and had it not been for Thaddeus, he and the rest of the Blood Ravens under Aramus' command would have surely perished.
"Thaddeus! NO!" Aramus yelled out as his breathing became more irregular, stirring up Mercedes from her sleep nearby on the ground. His vision persisted on further as he saw Thaddeus and his squad of vanguard veterans jump into the fray, attempting to buy Tarkus time to get in that killer shot with his boltgun armed with kraken bolts while Jonah shot out bolts of warp lightning towards the fallen Avitus. But Aramus' warning came too late as Avitus caught Thaddeus just a few steps behind him, seeing his brother cut down to pieces with the assault cannon by another brother who was now a traitor to the Chapter. The Blood Raven commander screamed out in agony as Mercedes quickly attempted to soothe him.
"He must be having terrible nightmares…I wonder what kind of horrible things he's seen in his life that robs him of peace like this…" Mercedes quietly thought to herself as she placed a cold, wet rag over Aramus' forehead as he breathed heavily. However, she noticed something move within the royal chambers from the corner of her eye as she drew her dual bowguns. It was a masked bunny monster that belonged in the Black Mage's organization. He was here to finish the job that the other two henchmen failed to do; only now he had the added bonus of killing Mercedes as well. Quickly she fired at him, a volley of magic arrows hurling it towards the masked assassin as he jumped from place to place. He quickly attempted to go in for the kill on the weakened Aramus, his katana drawn but only to be struck down by Mercedes' rising rush, pushing him backwards. He smirked at her, only to grab Aramus' bolt pistol to bring back to Arkarium to assess enemy technology and quickly disappeared into the dark night as quickly as he came.
Aramus soon began to groan out in severe pain as he stirred, slowly waking up. The atmosphere around him looked completely unfamiliar, foreign, and yet, it felt like he was being welcomed back, like he'd been there before. He also felt a strange, soft sensation, a feeling he hadn't felt since childhood; the feeling of waking up in a real bed with soft sheets, blankets, and pillows. For a space marine, this was a real departure to spending nights resting against a hard steel wall or the Apothecarion's steel beds. He quickly looked around him as he swore he was in a battle somewhere, watching someone close to him sacrifice himself. He began to panic and shook involuntarily as he slowly got up out of bed. His legs were still weak and his strength had been mostly drained, along with his great difficulty to focus his vision as Mercedes attempted to get him back to bed. He again, backed away but couldn't figure out why. Who was she? Why was he backing away from her? Perhaps, the better question to ask was who was he? When he did get to that particular question, he had not the faintest clue of what the real answer was.
"I am the eyes of Vidhya; I am the sword of the Emperor…" Who were these two important figures that sought to dominate Aramus' thoughts at every turn? He kept thinking about what possible significance there could be, but one other battle cry preceded all other thoughts. "By Chapter and Emperor, let none find us wanting."
Again, who was this Emperor that sought to have Aramus' complete loyalty and devotion; all of it confounded and scared the space marine.
"Who…who are you? Who…am I?" Aramus cautiously asked Mercedes as he backed away further into the wall. This time he was shaking scared.
"I don't know your name, but I hope to learn it and much more about you, mighty warrior. Again, I am Mercedes, Queen of the Elves of Elluel. I…helped bring you back to my kingdom and got you bandaged up. You were badly hurt…But really, it was you that saved me. If it weren't for you, those two Black Mage henchmen would have killed me and Elluel would have been destroyed. Th-…Thank you kind warrior." She responded, looking down towards the ground, attempting to hide her blush that crept on her face.
"Oh my…what's wrong with me? I can't seem to look him in the eyes without…" Mercedes thought, afraid to complete her own sentence in her mind.
"The…Black Mage? Where did I come from, who am I…" Aramus stammered out as he slowly began to lose balance once more and collapsed forward into the ground.
Mercedes quickly grabbed him, softening the blow of his fall and proceeded to get him back into bed. "It must be terrible to not know who you are and forget everything around you" She thought to herself as she gazed at the now unconscious space marine. Her thoughts concentrated on Aramus as she drifted back to sleep.
Somewhere near the Black Mages hideout near the Temple Of Time…
"How long does it take to destroy one person?!" the Black Mage yelled as his fist slammed down on the hard ground, shaking the temple walls.
"My…My lord, we shall f-…find him soon" one of his henchmen said in fear as he saw someone enter the room.
The masked bunny entered the temple with a sort of grin on his face, satisfied that he did better than he thought.
"Did you finish him like I asked of you, you pathetic weakling?!" The Black Mage demanded some answers. The masked bunny tilted his head to one said with his usual smirk.
"You asked me to take care of it and I did better than my lord had asked of me." Looking down rummaging through his brown pouch he reveals the bolt pistol taken from Aramus. The Black Mage's eyes widened with a fierce red glow as the bolt pistol laid into his hands.
"You think THIS is better than destroying that creature!?" He said with a strong harsh voice as he slowly rose from his throne. "This confirms what I had suspected all along. How many… HOW MANY of those loyalists are in the Maple World!?" His anger rose further as he instilled fear into his subjects.
"W…We don't know my liege…"
"You don't KNOW?! If there's one thing I have taught you ignorant fool is that knowledge is power! It seems to me you are lacking both! I have had enough of your weak and pathetic existence; you are too incompetent to handle a simple task let alone follow orders." The Black Mage exclaimed as he raised his hand to have the masked bunny taken away to be executed.
"Get to work! Find him, and if there are more, wipe them from existence. Bring his head back as proof you did as I asked." Most around the Black Mage found his obsession to hunt down these newcomers perplexing as really they seemed no different than the multitude of adventurers, heroes, Cygnus knights, and resistance members all out to oppose him. But they were not the ones to oppose their dreadful master as they wanted continued existence.
Present, Afternoon, somewhere near Edelstein…
Much unlike Aramus, Babylon had a much easier time with his first landing onto the Maple World. Luckily for Babylon, he woke up in time to notice that he was in free fall and immediately used his psychic powers to teleport himself safely onto the surface. He was wary of venturing to far into the nearby town he saw, Edelstein and had been circling the town for days, killing off various monsters nearby. However he wasn't to go on undetected for much longer after that as three of the Black Mage's armored henchman approached him.
"Identify yourselves! I am Epistolary Babylon of the Blood Ravens 4th Company!" Babylon called out to them but was met with only deathly silence as they charged in faster for their attack.
Their armor looked strangely familiar, but the color was off. A dark grayish-black color was painted on theirs but their bodies appeared to have no corporeal form but rather a dark aura of sorts. They soon began unleashing their melee attacks upon the psyker but immediately he shot back with his bolts of lightning, smiting one of the armored henchmen from existence. The remaining two began to circle him in either direction as he began to use the veil of time power in order to speed up his attacks by going faster through time. Immediately he charged forward, swinging his sword, completely disintegrating the armored foe with his psychic energies. However Babylon's psychic power was drained from the previous battle and the henchmen were already pressing the attack as they grabbed onto Babylon, slamming him twice into the hard ground and down the mountain face until he fell at the bottom. One of the henchmen turned around and took Babylon's Blade of Archarius with him. The thud below was deafening as the psyker fell hard onto the rocky ground. He looked up once and saw brown-uniformed man approach him as he lost consciousness.
A few short hours later, Babylon woke up from his unconscious state and looked around. He still had his psychic hood and power armor on which was a good sign. But something distressed him as he realized that he no longer had his sword, his main weapon. Only moments after he woke up did he see someone approach him in what appeared to be an Apothecary. A scruffily dressed man approached him and appeared ready to shake Babylon's hand.
"Hello stranger from the stars, I am Brighton. Welcome to the Resistance." He said as Babylon attempted to get a read of this person.
"Sir, what Imperial planet is this? In what star system? And where is my sword?" Babylon asked.
"Why sir, this is Earth, and we're in the solar system I think…At least that's what it was the last time I checked, and you weren't found with any weapon, sorry." Brighton replied.
"Holy Terra?!" Babylon exclaimed. But he looked around and saw that this was nothing what people had described Holy Terra to him as. It was supposed to be one giant monastery but instead he found many open fields and lush forests from earlier in Terra's history. "You're a Terran…Tell me, where is the nearest Imperial authority? I must speak with someone within the Administratum."
"Um, if you're referring to the Empress, she's in Ereve, very far away from here. What's your business with her? And what's an Administratum?" Brighton asked as Babylon slowly backed away, realizing that he had traveled not only through time, but through another reality as well.
"It's…nothing. I'm just a newcomer here, that's all. So, your organization is the Resistance…What exactly are you resisting against?" Babylon inquired.
"The evil Black Mage of course. He's a terrible sorcerer bent on taking over the Maple World as we know it. And his Black Wing army has taken over the town of Edelstein, our home. Up to now, we all thought it was a rumor, but they indeed succeeded in resurrecting the Black Mage. And now there have been reports of strange black and gold armored knights attacking our lookout posts. From what I hear, they are very powerful. So you can understand why if at first we're all suspicious of you. But as for me, I think your clean and one hell of a battle mage. I saw you take out two of those armored henchman of his!" Brighton continued.
"The connection to the warp…It's not as strong anymore, I feel devoid of most of my power…what happened?" Babylon asked again, beginning to panic, trying to harness what little of the psychic energy he had.
"You were badly injured after you took that fall off the mountain. You're lucky to even be able to walk right now."
Babylon sighed. He had no idea what happened to his brother as he last remembered seeing him charging at the Violator's sorcerer. He had no way of knowing if Aramus made it through or not, but with any luck, he'd see him again somewhere on this planet.
Present, Afternoon, Elluel…
The sun had long before arisen as Aramus continued on his comatose state. The windows had been opened as a cool breeze began to collect into the royal chambers of Mercedes. Talk and rumor had spread all throughout the quiet elven village of Elluel of a male human that fell from the stars and had the strength of ten men. Some responded with enthusiastic optimism while others expressed a cautious hope that Aramus was the 'foretold one'. Still, others responded with skepticism and unabashed fear of this stranger. For since his strength was so great, he indeed had the power to destroy the entire village, its 'magic', and wipe out the last remaining bastion of the world's remaining elves. Though still in a coma, his body was rather calm as he continued to slumber in a state of deep unconsciousness while Mercedes, stayed at his side, barely dressed in a see-through white gown she normally wore while being in her private chambers of her royal abode. A knock presided at her door as she quickly through on another thicker robe and answered, it was one of the Elder advisors to her royal court, Philius.
"Sorry for disturbing you, your highness. But might I have a word with you?" Philius asked as Mercedes nodded and motioned for him to come in.
"What is it that you seek my ear for Philius?" Mercedes asked as she never let her eyes wander away from Aramus on her bed.
"How is our 'little visitor' from the stars doing?" Philius asked.
"His condition stabilized and his wounds are healing, thank the Great Spirit!" Mercedes exclaimed happily. Philius looked upon Aramus with inquisitiveness but suspicion as he cleared his throat.
"I read through some ancient texts left by humans over the eons. And each of their sacred texts describe an all-powerful man that comes at some point in the future to 'lead' the forces of light and vanquish the darkness for all eternity. Here, let me read this little excerpt to you from an ancient Perion glyph." Philius continued.
"With great wings of fire and light
Powerful men dressed in radiant red armor
Their strength be numbered by the tens
Each impervious to all swords, powers, projectiles of all ages
Not even plague, nor natural disaster that does not burn with fire can fell these men.
They ride in with chariots fueled by light and fire
Their mighty knowledge that surpasses even the grandest librariums
Their mighty machines far beyond our fathoming
Their mighty weapons harnessing the power of the universe
With one swift movement they may destroy our world many times over.
But one of them, gallantly descending from the sky enveloped in light
Shall fall to the earth, dressed in brilliant golden armor
Bearing the sign of knowledge and power
Shall he lead man with the crack of his thunderous hammer
Splitting the earth below, setting a sunder all darkness."
"You asked me to look through his belongings, including his weapons that were not already stolen or completely destroyed. His armor was gilded just as the text described, and the demonstration of his strength makes his power quite obvious to even those with the simplest minds. Your highness, he is the savior of the humans…But suppose we use this man for our own ends, we could use his power to shore up our dwindling numbers, elves would rule and dominate these lands once more!" Philius exclaimed.
"Philius! You should not speak of doing such things. For the Great Spirit's sake, he is still unconscious!" Mercedes exclaimed. "And, interfering with prophecy can lead to disastrous consequences for us as a whole. Do you really want to risk enraging the surrounding human populaces who happen to believe in that legend?"
"My deepest apologies, your highness. I should not have spoken out like that." Philius backing off a tiny bit but looking towards Aramus with manipulative schemes.
Picking up the damaged hammer, Mercedes looked heartfelt at Aramus once more then quickly turned towards Philius. "No one else must know of what we have just spoken of. It has to remain a secret, for if this knowledge falls into the Black Mage's hands… I am fearful that at this weakened state, he will simply fall. I MUST help him regain his memories and his power."
"How will you do that your majesty? He is ten times stronger than any man we have ever come in contact with. What if he is violent towards you? I cannot allow that to happen!" Philius responded. "And don't think I haven't noticed your eyes for this peculiar human…What would your late friend Freud think?"
"I shall train him myself like how Freud trained me and I will help him through these hard times. I also add that it is really none of your business what happened between me and Freud or anyone else." Mercedes snapped back hastily as she tried hide her creeping red blush, glancing over to Aramus again but then quickly shook her head and looked back to her elder adviser. "So before you anger me any further, you best had take your leave and let me get back to nursing this man who saved my life. I also remind you, do NOT breathe a word of this to another soul or there will be consequences."
Very slowly Aramus opened his uninjured eye, wincing in all kinds of unfathomable pain that would render lesser men to madness. Even if it were for only a moment, just briefly Aramus could remember everything. He was tired of being held down by his own wounds, determined to show his stoic mettle and his defiance against circumstance he stomped on his feet, briefly forcing Mercedes and Philius to recoil a tiny bit. Aramus warily eyed the queen who had been his nurse for the past day or so and then to the elderly Philius, backing away from them. And just as quickly, Aramus forgot it all, all memories to be lost in the void of his mind. Immediately Philius approached Aramus as the space marine bucked backwards again in fear. He was cold, naked in front of two alien strangers and he had absolutely no idea what was even going on or what they might have possibly done to him during his long slumber.
"So I see your awake strange visitor from the heavens…Your arrival to this world has created quite the stir. I am Philius, one of the village elders and adviser to her royal highness, Queen Mercedes of Elluel. What is your name strange visitor?" The old elf asked the young space marine. Aramus attempted to remember what his own name but he just hadn't the faintest clue and shook his head in slight disorientation. "Don't worry, you'll have time to figure that mundane detail out later. First, I want to discuss the terms of you continuing asylum within Elluel. Now I recognize your mighty strength, it makes you seem like a god amongst men. In return for asylum all we ask is that you help fight the Bl-"
"PHILIUS!" Mercedes screamed at him, earning a shocked stare from the elder. "What the hell Philius? What did I just tell you a little while ago! You can't just conscript a stranger and force them to fight your battles for you! He's not a slave, we cannot predetermine his destiny!"
Without their knowledge, Aramus had already spotted the chainsword he came there with and pointed it towards the two. He shook violently, sweating, completely unsure of what reality was.
"I just want my clothes back, I want someone to tell me who I am, where I am, and why I'm here…" Aramus stammered out as he felt a familiar thought creep up in the back of his mind. "I…I…I don't want any trouble, I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want what's mine back!"
"Knowledge is power Blood Ravens, guard it well…"
His last sentence that came from his mouth felt foreign. Aramus didn't want trouble or wish to inflict harm upon a xeno? It sounded much less like a Space Marine and more like a frightened child in a genetically-enhanced monster's body. However, despite all the strange, anomalous emotions he was experiencing, he felt as if he was remembering long-dormant memories that have since his recruitment into the Blood Ravens chapter been suppressed. The whole situation was very frightening for Aramus but then looked to the crystal blue eyes of Mercedes and suddenly felt a wave of calm overtake his body.
"Honored visitor, you saved my life, do you not remember your heroic feats? Your display of overwhelming power? Do you not remember oh armored warrior from the stars?" Mercedes reached out to him but immediately blushed and looked away while Philius eyes' widened at the spectacle before them. There Aramus continued to stare at the elven queen with his penis completely erect, pointing towards Mercedes. Her words triggered an old memory he had during childhood of the comforting golden blonde female figure that visited him in all of his dreams. Aramus' mindset was that of a child's and far as it was concerned, he couldn't help his carnal feelings coming back to the surface that had been long suppressed for decades.
"Oh…my…I-" Mercedes stammered out as she continued gazing upon the space marine's erect member, twitching, almost begging for her hand to reach out and lightly touch it. And if Philius wasn't in the room, she may have actually considered doing so. Danika however, was infuriated by Aramus' display of his feelings towards the queen as she ran into the room with her bowguns drawn.
"How dare you insult and defile her royal highness with your filthy display, human!" she yelled out as Mercedes attempted to silence her.
Immediately Aramus felt a wave of disgust overtake his body. A voice inside of him admonished him, punished him for having those kinds of feelings.
"You are a disgusting traitor! Your sole duty is to protect and serve the Immortal Emperor! Wash your sins with their xeno blood! Kill them all!" The voice inside posed as his most revered deity but the voice just didn't seem to match. Nonetheless Aramus was torn between everything within himself and now he had another person that was likely going to attempt to kill him. Naturally, it was only right he defended himself and kill her before she could do the same. He raised his chainsword again, as if he were ready to battle Danika, Mercedes' adviser in all things war-related and her personal royal bodyguard but now he seemed unsure how to use his own bulky melee weapon.
"Get back! Or I'm going to kill you!" Aramus yelled out, feeling cornered as Philius looked with veiled amusement while Danika was escalating the tensions even further. Mercedes pleaded to her adviser to lower her weapon but that plea went on deaf ears. Immediately Danika took the initiative and fired several magic bowgun bolts and awkwardly Aramus dodged but another arrow pierced into his left arm as he screamed out in pain. She approached closer to come in for the killing blow but immediately with his all of his Herculean strength he fought back with swings of his bulky chainsword, Danika deftly dodging all of his strikes. She then knocked his sputtering sword onto the ground and fired a bolt from her bowguns but much to her shock and Aramus', a bright golden glowing energy barrier protected him from the killing blow. It was his iron halo that had conferred its blessed protection to him. The force from the barrier was so strong that it sent Danika flying back hard into the back wall of Mercedes' chambers. He stared at all three of elves in front of him, backing away from them as he fell back into the darkness once more. Mercedes immediately leapt forward into the air and caught Aramus before he could fall to the ground. Upset, she yelled out to her advisers.
"By the Great Spirit! Oh my g-! How dare you both defy the will of your queen and sovereign!" Mercedes held onto the warrior tightly as her legs were spread apart to accommodate his much larger frame as she angrily stared back at her advisers. "Just both of you, just leave and get out!"
"But your highness!" Danika protested but was met with an even sterner look and even she knew not to test her queen's patience and the two advisers left her royal chambers. Very slowly, Aramus opened his eyes and muttered out the words that Mercedes' keen elven hearing barely picked up.
"It was you the whole time…You were her…" Aramus croaked out, unable to say another word from extreme exhaustion. This time however, he completely surrendered himself to Mercedes and never in his entire life did he feel this much warmth and comfort.
Well, hope you enjoyed this! Please leave constructive criticism, comments, and of course, review!