12. Encounter—
The kingdom to the west did more than bring a peace between Corneria and Doma. It established disarmament treaties with those two and numerous other states. The Western king, shrouded in mystery, yet proclaimed a wish to see violence end so that an era of prosperity could be ushered in. Trade lines were opened up to the vast resources of the West in exchange for reductions in armed forces, in standing armies, and in weaponry.
In exchange, the West was providing plenty of food, as well as magical artifacts that were unknown to the eastern continents at that time. The economy of the eastern continent, the one that held Corneria and Doma near its western coast, was soon shifting to accommodate further trade. Farmers were less needed with such large quantities of produce arriving from the West, and so farmers were becoming merchants and artists.
Ten years passed in this way, and people's lives were becoming more peaceful, and they were becoming easier. Thus, it was all the more sad when that came to an end. Not long after the eastern world had begun to finally trust the Western lands more completely, the shipments of food stopped arriving. There was no explanation given, despite the urgent demands of the merchants who usually unloaded the boatloads of grains, fruit, and exotic vegetables from the Western ships. Food prices soared, and only a few places were able to provide it, so many fields having gone fallow from disuse under the influence of inexpensive Western food. People from all walks of life were quickly enlisted to replant the fields and begin farming again, but the first new crops would have to wait an entire season before becoming available. In the mean time, emergency food stores were quickly diminishing, and people were beginning to grow desperate.
Only three remaining shipments of food were provided by the Western traders, but the price they demanded was much more severe than any they had previously requested. They asked not for gold or machinery, but for the sacred crystals that each of the three major kingdoms on the eastern continent kept as symbols of power and religious significance. Indeed, these jewels were only symbols, after all, having no actual practical use for the people of Corneria, Doma, or Solom, so the respective kings reluctantly gave up their treasure in order to gain the food they needed to provide a little more time to save their people from starvation.
Always keen on self-reliance, the monks of Wutai were not affected too directly by the food shortage, since they planted and maintained their own meager crops of rice, beans, and a few small patches of herbs and tubers. However, in response to the increased need, the monks willingly fasted, limiting themselves to one meal a day, providing the excess to the nearby needy, unable to afford the new food prices.
Then, within a few months of the food stoppage, as if to remind people that there are worse things than starvation, a horde of magically-empowered demons began pouring over the Western sea into the lands of Corneria and Doma, ravaging the land as they went. They were headed east, but the powerful forces of Corneria and Doma would change their cease-fire into a full alliance against the Western foe. They marked the first line of defense against the demon horde, and numerous other states began sending their best warriors and mages to the front lines, realizing that they had little hope if Corneria and Doma fell. These demons were vicious, bloodthirsty monsters. Some of them resembled more familiar monsters from the wild lands to the northeast, but these were different. A dark force emanated from them, corrupting all they touched. Wounds inflicted by these foul beasts took weeks to heal, if indeed they healed at all, without the aid of healing magic. Others looked like creatures approximately the size of ponies, but with grotesquely large, bulbous heads and wicked-looking long, black blades protruding from their forearms. Still others walked upright like men, but had eerily twisted features in the shapes of their heads, vaguely resembling the twisted wood of rotting logs. These were the most dangerous, protected by some sort of hardened carapace, though a dark magical barrier may also have been part of why blades and arrows did much less damage against them than was expected.
Among the many forces sent to defend the front lines were the monks of Wutai. One particularly powerful monk in his thirties led the charge. The order of monks, being unaffected by the reduction in either food or weaponry across the land, was among the most important of the elements that would eventually lead the eastern world into victory, gods willing.
Already, the knights of Doma and Corneria were putting up a tremendous fight, having pushed the demons back to the eastern coast of the Western sea. If they could win there, then all that would be left would be to push forward into Western territory and seal away whatever was the source of all of this evil. Much of the victories for the eastern lands were credited to a great Cornerian paladin, whose charisma and boldness were providing the troops with the morale they needed to continue pushing as their bodies were beginning to give out. The paladin's skills in battle were also unparalleled among Cornerian and Doman soldiers, but the paladin could sometimes become over-confident. Such was the case when the Wutai monks arrived. The monk leading the charge directed his men to support the diminishing flanks of Cornerian soldiers as reinforcements arrived from Doma. Ahead of him, the flaxen-haired lead monk witnessed the awesome grace and power of the paladin who, now wearied and wounded from constant battle, was still tearing through two demons at once, her sword glowing with a holy light as it pierced the darkness. However, the paladin had left her back turned, and one swift demon was about to plunge its claw into the back of the paladin's neck, snuffing out the life of this noble warrior until the lead monk charged into action, summoning all the power within his body, heart, and mind, delving deep into White magic he had not touched for ten years, an aurabolt of pure white light poured out from his hands, vaporizing the demon only inches away from landing a deathstroke against the paladin. The field being calm then, for the moment, the paladin lifted her visor to see the one who had saved her.
"Thank you," she said to her benefactor.
"Agrias?!" the monk replied in astonishment.
I hope that, if you are still reading this, that means that you are still enjoying my story. I am nearing the end of the plot, as it was granted to me in a brainstorming flash months ago. I realize that I have not yet imagined a total conclusion for the grand conflict that I have brought up in this chapter. I hope that the plot twists and jumping ahead years at a time in Kiro's life have been acceptable. I suppose I tend to grasp onto a few major turning points, and then I only think to write things that progress to that story point. Is my writing too dense, or is it going well? Please review. Let me know how I may improve my writing, and tell me how you feel about my work. I appreciate not only praise, but also constructive criticism. I also appreciate a variety of perspectives. Thank you for reading.