Well, its a monday. I have mixed feelings about having Monday off. It does make the school week shorter and gives me a day off of school but it also makes preparing for tests even more stressful. Bah, whatever. Expect a double update as I dont have much to do today. Uh, now that We Stand Alone and Sun Thief are done...I only have 3 stories that I can update. I really dont want to rush Dragon Myth and Ravens have tails so I guess Of Body and Mind is my only option.
I am also currently working on an original story but that just gives me a headache when I think about it. Making two guys steal potatoes from Prussian food trains in 1777 is harder than you think. Its about the Bavarian War of Succession and its nickname is "The Potato War".
By the way, I'm King's Crossing on FictionPress. I dont have any stories updated so I will let you all know when I do. Anyways, here is the chapter.
The Angkol kingdom had a peculiar way of choosing their heirs. If the reigning king had more than child, whether they be male or female, when it came time for one of them to take the crown, they would have the children fight to the death to decide who would become the king. That way, even the youngest child or a daughter could become the next ruler.
The Angkolians did not care whether the ruler was a woman or a man. It had not meaning to them. Rulers will be rulers and it is their decision that will either allow their kingdom to prosper or fail into bitter poverty.
Angkol capitol, Hemr*
Although Derlados had a very dull color scheme due to the heavy clouds, the architects that had built Hemr had tried to make it as lively as possible. And they had succeeded. The entire city seemed to be where all the color in the drab grey of the western continent seemed to pool. The capitol of Angkol was the envy of any ruler, even Lidia envied their beautiful capitol and had many times considered moving the capitol officially to Arcana.
The several rising towers with tiles plated with gold shone in the dull sunlight and the smooth black streets all led to the palace. Shops and places to eat lined every street and their buildings were full of colors. Houses of various sizes and colors were also around the capitol. However, what was most impressive was the huge palace that stood in the very center of the town. It had great big domed towers with gold plating down the sides. The top of the domes were painted blue and several scenes depicting battles. There were 4 of these towers that stood around the central building, a huge palace made of black marble. It was shaped like 3 huge cylinders made of beautiful black marble, connected by a roof made of gold. The walls that went down the sides were made of black iron but had sloped sides to prevent battering rams. But the gates to the palace is what impressed visitors the most. They were made of solid gold.
But inside the palace, there was a very important meeting going on. Something that could affect the lives of many millions of people and create a shift in the balance of power.
Prince Sebastian's private quarters
Prince Sebastian was a young man, barely in his twenties. But even at this young age, he had proved himself a skilled warrior, killing his brothers and sister in fair combat to be the undisputed heir to the Angkol throne. He was a lanky but muscled man, green eyes and tanned. His eyes were intelligent and he had a just a small amount of stubble on his chin. He wore red robes that had golden thread woven in elaborate patterns.
There was another man in the room with him, holding a...plate of some sort. It was made of shiny silver that had several runes carved in and the center piece was golden with holes drilled around the perfectly circular piece. The man holding it was also a young man with blonde hair and brown eyes which was unusual. He wore dark red robes that split at his feet for room to walk. He was looking very happy as Sebastian studied the object he was holding.
"A fascinating object...you went through all that trouble just for this?" Sebastian asked as he looked at the man who held it.
The man bowed and smiled. Everything was going perfectly.
"You are leaning towards war your highness. The powerful Garlan Empire is coming to crush you and your culture! You must act quickly and be prepared for the attack. And this weapon," the man said as he gestured at the object he held. "will help you crush the Garlan Empire and allow you to create your own empire! The Amgovar** family shall be the strongest!"
Sebastian nodded and stood. It was true that war was coming. The Garlan Empire were heretics with their magic and their many goddesses. The one true god shall root them all out!
"I will gather my soldiers. When we go to war, I expect you and your group of "warriors" to join me with your powerful weapon." Sebastian said as the man bowed.
The strange man turned to leave the room when Sebastian suddenly stopped him.
"Wait! What is your name stranger." the princes, soon to be king, asked.
The man turned his head and smiled slyly.
"They call me Gitz my prince. But you can call me 'Lester'."
The Unh Forest
They had entered the Unh Forest easily without detection. The forest was actually quite beautiful with huge pine trees that never lost their needles during winter. The forest was teeming with animals and many deer had come up to them to say hello. Raymond was especially enjoying the forest. Jellal was carrying the map, looking around the forest. Everyone else talked quietly as they walked on the dirt path that cut through the middle of the forest. Suddenly Jellal stopped. They had been walking for about an hour or so.
"Hold on...there is something weird about this place..." Jellal said as he looked around the pine trees, trying to see something.
"Whats wrong?" Ultear asked as Jellal turned to her.
The fugitive mage's face was serious as he spoke to her.
"I thought I heard...voices. Must have been my imagination." Jellal sighed as he looked down at the map again. "But, this is where the magical signal ends. Perhaps this is where the Witch Doctor lives?"
Azami looked around. Asura was also frowning as he looked over Jellal's shoulder at the map. Meredy was next to Raymond and Raymond was staring down at the dirt, looking at a bug that was crawling in the dirt.
"Danger lurks around every corner. You have given yourself away! Hide now!" Vincent suddenly screamed in Raymond's head.
"Vincent is right! Get away now!" Julius shouted in agreement.
Raymond was about to warn everyone when suddenly Jellal let out a shout of pain and he lurched forward. There was a knife stuck in his shoulder. Everyone whipped around to see a group of soldiers come out from the bushes and out from behind pine trees. They wore leather armor and carried knives. Scouts. Jellal growled as he pulled the knife out of his shoulder and tossed it to the ground. No blood dripped from Jellal's wound as he faced the soldiers with the rest of the group.
"Nice try. But its going to take more than a knife to take me down!" Jellal growled as the soldiers ran forward, knives ready.
There were a handful of soldiers, not too many but more than the group of mages. The scouts were not very strong, barely enough to keep the group occupied. Asura burned the scouts to a crisp. Azami sent the scouts flying with her Spirit Make. Meredy and Raymond proved to be a good team as Raymond could easily dodge the scouts' attacks and give them punishing blows while Meredy finished them off easily. Ultear and Jellal also teamed up to effectively finish off the scouts.
The defeated scouts lay on the ground and the group of mages turned around to continue looking for here the Witch Doctor lived when suddenly a voice stopped them. Walking down the path was a soldier, wearing the armor of a foot soldier but wearing the black and white armor of a general. The general wore a black Great Helm and they had their sword drawn.
"I knew something was suspicious about you. Mages, one the western continent. Not smart." the general said as the helmet was pulled off, revealing long blonde hair that ended in curls and purple eyes.
The woman tucked the helmet underneath her arm and threw down her sword and grinned.
"How dumb can you be? My name is U.N. Owen, you may have seen me earlier. Now, who was the one who killed my beloved Gin? I will make the short remainder of your life a living hell." she said, smiling sweetly at the group.
And there we go. U.N. Owen has revealed herself! Funfact: Sebastian is in love with Tate although its more one sided on Sebastian's part.
References: *Hemr pronounced "Heh-mur"
**Amgovar is the ruling family of Angkol. Pronounced "Am-go-var"
And that is for the chapter. You got to see a few cool characters today and I hope you guys enjoyed. Possibility of a double update tonight. Thanks for reading! FF