Prologue: The Gate Opens
Author's note: I sincerely apologize for my mistake the first time in skipping the prologue. It was a mistake and hope you guys are still willing to give the story a chance.
"Life's not fair, born at the top of society, and I'm still not free." Itami Von Gemischt groaned to himself.
The young Reich nobleman ran a hand through his spiky black hair as if to ease his headache, but the strain remained. Intrusive thoughts on the drilling schedule of his troops, supply briefings, and the upcoming campaign season refused to go away even now amid his brief escape from it all. A soft dog-like whine echoed through the air, and a warm green-scale-covered snout pressed against his face, followed by a moist tongue.
"Ahhh, komm schon, Forest. You're not helping."
Despite his words, Itami smiled a little, and the dragon licked harder. He rode atop the orca-sized emerald green beast that soared above the Reich Empire. Savoring the cool breeze against his face, Itami and his dragon took in the vast countryside below. A sea of rolling green hills flowed as far as the eye could see, broken up by islands, trees, low mountains, and vast stretches of farmland.
Forest took a large whiff of the nearest fields, or rather the pastures of pigs, cows, and other animals. Itami grimaced at the stench of their waste and glared at his dragon, who bombarded his mind with mental images of the beasts on her dinner plate.
"We'll get lunch at the commune. No stopping at any estates. Someone will recognize us."
Itami leaned in and kept low when they started passing massive castles and estates with other dragons flying or resting around them. Once clear, he and Forest fixed themselves on a grand town ahead of them. All the roads from the countryside and a port further off in the distance lead to it, with massive caravans of people flowing across the cobblestone highways like fish in a river coming to and from the commune.
Unlike the castles and walled towns they passed earlier, which all flew a matching banner of the Reich Empire, a golden two-headed crowned dragon on a black background, this town's battlements flew an orange standard with a cargo wagon emblazoned in the center.
"Pforte! Finally, my hobby will live on if they have it."
Forest gave him an assuring nuzzle before taking them in lower. A handful of men clad in yellow brigandine chest plates and open-faced sallet helmets stood guard by the open gate and above it. Those below collected tolls from merchants wishing to do business, while those above manned two Scorpios.
Itami eased Forest until she hovered just over them and blasted the guards with wind from her wings.
"Guten Tag, Mein Herr. Welcome to Pforte. What is your business here?"
"Buying. Are there Kaigai merchants in town this day?"
"Ja, a few. Enjoy your stay, Mein Herr."
The guards inclined their heads, and Forest flew past them, scattering a few people as she landed in the streets below. A thick bead of sweat ran down Itami's face as he offered apologies to those she frightened, then gave his dragon a stern look. Forest smirked back at him. Itami climbed down and took in the vast commune around him.
Well-paved streets broke up rows upon rows of fine wooden buildings, all two stories high at least. Most had colorful tiled roofs or shining wooden ones, while marble manors broke up the rows with vibrant gardens and flowing fountains around them.
"Guten Tag, Mein Herr."
A deep voice sent a shiver down Itami's spine. He gritted his teeth and cringed while Forest panted and wagged her massive tail, almost knocking over a few people behind her. Itami looked up at the giant who emerged from the shadows adorned in a tailored dark blue frock jacket barely containing his titan-like body of pure muscle and broad shoulders. The man stood a foot taller than Itami at seven feet, with a powerful jaw, deep blue eyes, and short brown hair.
"Bruno, what are you-"
"I had a feeling my Captain might run off to satisfy his hobby. As a Lieutenant in the Imperial Army, it is my duty to protect my captain and a prince-"
"Shhh!" Itami slapped a hand over the titan's mouth and frantically looked around. He breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing no one had heard them, then glared at Bruno.
"That explains why you're not wearing this." Bruno held out a well-tailored black jacket complete with golden epaulets on the shoulders and the Imperial sigil sown into the back.
"The last thing I need is to get recognized here, Bruno. If my father finds out about this-"
"He won't. I have no issue with your hobby, mein freund. I just want to keep you safe. Even Forest can't protect you from everything."
The dragon growled but then wavered and started to whine as Bruno scratched her chin. Itami pondered ways he might escape his bodyguard but groaned in lament upon realizing that each ended the same way. Relenting, he led the way through Pforte's streets with Forest and Bruno close behind.
People from around the world flooded the commune. Commoners were in colorful tunics and gowns, tradesmen in tailored doublets, nobles in frock coats and dresses, and knights with gilded spurs on their boots. Merchants in luxurious robes rode horses alongside the middle class, while knights used far larger beasts. Seven feet tall grey horse-like creatures, equoferri. Itami's mouth watered when he smelled fresh bread and seasoned pork from local Reich shops, and he had to push his dragon's snout away when she reached for one, drool pouring from her snout. The moment he did so, Itami required restraint upon seeing vintage Royaume wine poured out from a merchant for a knight.
"Careful, Itami. Once one gets a taste for Royaume wine, they find their purse empty and bladder full."
"Ja." Itami muttered.
He let the titan pull him on when they passed several merchants from Noshfael. A pair of dark-skinned merchants offered up coffee, spices, and perfumes, and the dragon rider struggled to resist. Bruno smirked and passed a few coins to the merchant woman, who handed him a sack of coffee.
"Bruno-"
"It's fine. Consider it a gift. I know it helps with your hobby."
"Vielen dank."
Itami put the grounds in one of Forest's saddles, but as he did so, he took in all the different Aciemes peoples around him. Men and women from Royaume, Doraulion, the Reich, Envidia, the Water Republic, and Noshfael. With the exception of the Noshfael and Water Republic, the other Aciemes looked similar enough, with fair skin and broad bodies. All of the men stood over six foot five on average, and those from the Reich sported blonde, brown, red, and some black hair with blue eyes. Itami, however, stood only six feet even, with very dark brown eyes and a more slender frame. He took a deep breath and tried not to stare at his people, but a lifetime of living among them while not being entirely one of them took its toll on him. Forest whined a little and tried to comfort him with a nudge, but Itami still struggled to look at those around him. That was until Bruno gave him a pat on the back that almost threw him onto the ground.
"You're still fretting about only being half Reich? Ehrlich, when has anyone ever given you trouble for such things?" The giant muttered.
"I know, it's just. Sometimes, I wonder if I was born into the wrong culture, is all. If the other half of me is my true identity."
"We are more than just our culture, Itami. Who we are as individuals, and our relationship with the Father is what defines us." Bruno added.
A sheepish expression overtook Itami's face that soon spread to a feeling within him. He took out a Christogram from under his tunic and stared at it. How could he feel so alone when the one who loved him regardless of his culture was always with him? Itami pressed the cross to his forehead, then moved it down to his heart before clasping both hands over it. Then, in prayer, he said. "Father, grant me strength. May I not toil over such doubts and focus on my life so I may live it in your name. And-and Father. Please, help my dad understand my hobby and the beauty I can bring with it. Amen."
Itami performed another holy sign when a surge of excitement flooded him via his bond with Forest. The green dragon panted with her tongue out and gestured toward a merchant stand ahead of them. A wide grin took over the young man's face when he saw them, and his eyes lit up. A little shorter than the Aciemes around them, the merchants stood in colorful kimonos with a blue eastern-style dragon coiled around their wares. The dragon was longer than Forest but not as bulky. Many customers lined up for the exotic pottery, silk fabric, and magic powder. One of the merchants poured some of the powder into a cylindrical container with a point at the top and then lit a fuse. The crowd gasped, then awed in delight when it shot off into the air and burst into a bright blue display of glittering light.
"That's one way to use ground-up magic. The Envidians found a far more interesting use. I can't wait to see it on the battlefield." Bruno laughed.
Itami, however, paid little mind to the fireworks. Even if his official status was unknown, having a dragon marked him as a high noble, and many cleared the way for him as he got to the Kaigai merchants. The tallest of the foreigners was Itami's height, at six feet, with a similar slender athletic build behind his blue kimono. Thick black hair hung behind him and came to a topknot. His dark brown eyes met Itami's, and soon, his companions all stared at him with interest. Despite this, he pressed on and inclined his head in respect.
"Samurai." Itami said.
The young man before him stroked the pommel of his sheathed katana and inclined his head back. Forest tried to greet the blue dragon, but he lurched back, earning a disappointed groan and pout from her.
"Ahh, knight. Forgive me, for a moment I thought-"
"I might be Kaigai." Itami wanted to groan. "My mother is."
"Ahh, that's it then." His dismissive tone said it all. There was no such thing as half-kaigai; you either were or were not.
Not Aciemes, and not Kaigai. Then again, Itami remembered Bruno's words and took strength from them. He stood up tall and asked the samurai. "Paint. Do you have any paint?"
The samurai muttered something to one of the merchants, who grumbled back. The older man was with a customer, and the samurai rolled his eyes and then held up a single finger to Itami to signify needing a minute or so. The samurai rummaged through the inventory with his dragon. Every few moments, he stroked his katana again and sighed before glaring contemptuously at the market around him. Itami almost wanted to chuckle. Perhaps he ought to switch places with the samurai. He looked like a position in the Imperial Army suited him far more than escorting merchants. Then, Itami saw it. His eyes fixed themselves on a canvas painting. Vibrant colors, blue, green, yellow, red, and orange swept over the material. A samurai clad in green armor held a katana high while his dragon danced among the clouds and fields below. The Kaigai artwork almost sprung to life and glistened in the morning sun.
Itami lost himself to the endless possibilities of what such paint could create. He imagined knights, lumen from Envidia, dragons, or even the lives of the great Saints! Itami pictures his magnum opus! Saint Petronas raced into battle, dragging men from both sides to safety while enduring blow after blow without dying. The samurai snapped Itami from his daze as he set glass jars filled with various paint colors down. The dragon knight almost jumped and fumbled about with his money bag. After bargaining, Itami cradled the paint like a child and very carefully set them in one of Forest's saddle bags.
"Arigatou gozai masu!"
Itami spoke Kaigai without an accent, and the samurai blinked. A blank expression overtook his face and his dragon's. Itami, Bruno, and Forest chuckled at this.
"My mother taught me Kaigai. Sometimes, I think I speak it better than Reich." Itami said in Kaigai.
"Hmm, it's not bad, I suppose-"
"Itami. Herr Itami. This Forest and my chaperone, Bruno. You are?"
"Suzaka. This is Crusher." Suzaka said and petted his dragon.
The samurai gazed at a few of the passing city guards with another longing gaze, then asked. "I don't suppose you know of any trouble going on here. Something that requires an honorable warrior."
"No. Things are peaceful in this neck of the woods. Raids from sea peoples and unruly islands are usually in the north these days. This commune is ruled by a council of merchants who pay tribute to the Kaiser for protection from the local Imperial nobility and army forces. The local Duke, Heinrich, is an army General Brigadier. He keeps this area safe and quiet-"
Itami went silent with Forest. For a moment, it was as if the world itself went still, and a premonition sent a shiver down his spine. Forest sensed it, too, and she growled toward something. Suzaka and Crusher clearly felt the same in their expressions. Bruno looked like he wanted to ask what was the matter but soon stared with them. Dozens of people across the streets all gaped in disbelief at a massive gate that appeared out of nowhere in the town center. Strange symbols decorated the steel doors, and a few guards inspected the structure.
"What is that? Where did it come from?" Itami muttered.
He reached for his green sword of magicae steel while Suzaka did the same with his katana. Then, both dragons snarled as the gate swung open and figures poured out. Small in stature and with fair skin, armored men marched out wielding spears and scutum shields. Gray galea helmets covered their heads while lorica musculata and lorica segmentata chest plates protected their torsos. The men looked around five foot five on average, far smaller than the Aciemes around them, but came nonetheless.
Itami's eyes widened, and he almost dropped his sword when he saw what else came through. Monsters followed the humans, creatures Itami knew, and those alien to him. Minotaurs with clubs, gray-skinned orcs, and yellow-skinned pig-like monsters augmented the soldiers with jagged weapons in hand. Then, they attacked!
The guards nearest to the gate fell first. Despite their size, the legionaries formed ranks and drove them back until the monsters cut them down. Men, women, and children fled in panic, backing up the crowded streets in a horrible bottleneck.
"Now we're talking!" Suzaka cried.
Itami, Bruno, and Forest stared at him in disbelief before coming back to their senses. A child collapsed from a cut to the leg, and a priest raced from a nearby church. The clergyman knelt down and guided sparkling magical water from his bejeweled Christogram, washing away the injury. Yet, as he looked up, a minotaur loomed over them both.
The priest covered the child with his body when the monster raised its club, but a halberd caught the blunt weapon and held it in place. The bull-like monster huffed and turned to Bruno, who stood several inches taller than him, and narrowed his eyes. "Pick on someone your own size."
Bruno shoved the minotaur back and then stabbed its unarmored stomach with the spike end of his polearm. The monster dropped its club and clutched at his wound, groaning until the titanic warrior split his head open. Suzaka and Crusher took fighting stances in front of their merchants, who scrambled to get their money and escape.
One of the pig creatures lashed at him with daggers, but the samurai easily knocked it away and decapitated it. Without breaking stride, Suzaka kicked an orc in the side before it could outflank him, then stabbed through a gap in its armor. Crusher snatched a minotaur in his mouth and sent two orcs flying with a tail swipe. A third minotaur came over to Suzaka with two pig beasts only to go still and grunt.
The samurai held his offhand up in a fist while Crusher did the same with his head. Thrusting down, they brought magical gravity upon their foes, crushing them into the pavement before finishing the monsters off. "This is worthy of legend! The legend of Suzaka!"
Itami ignored the samurai and slashed a pig monster in half. His magicae sword and sheer strength let him slice clean through the armor before he turned and punched an orc's head, shattering the monster's skull. He cut down two more before a minotaur and two pig beasts tried to flank him from the front and another group from behind. Forest snarled and tore one group apart with her front claws and fangs while Itami dealt with the second.
Reaching out with his left hand, Itami made the ground shake until huge spiked roots shot up from under the pavement and impaled the three monsters. Blood oozed out, staining the roots while Itami sighed. Despite their success, the legionaries pressed forward in their phalanxes, pushing back the town guards who fought as individuals.
The young man groaned and realized there was no escaping his duties as a Captain. He went to his saddleback and pulled out a suit of green magicae armor done up to look like a dragon. With Bruno's help, he donned the plates before placing his helmet on and draping the epaulet jacket cape around his shoulders like a cape.
Bruno, too, put on his gothic-styled suit of plate armor while Suzaka adorned himself in magical samurai plates. Itami approached the nearest group of town guards, who fled, and with some help from Forest's snarls, he stopped them.
"Form ranks, ihr feiglinge! Form a line!"
Bruno helped them line up as a single cohesive wall with their polearms held out. When the legionaries approached, their spears could not reach the guards, who used the hook ends of their halberds to pull the scutum away and jab at unarmored areas. The priest from before raced over and started healing a few wounded guards when Itami spotted a cloaked man behind the legionaries with a bejeweled staff.
The man muttered something, and a ball of fire shot from his staff straight for Itami. The priest raced up and washed the fire away with his water, absorbing the magic without incident. Curious, Itami and Forest unleashed a series of roots behind the legionaries, impaling the wizard and several pig monsters who raced through the gate.
"They have no means of absorbing magic!" Itami almost laughed.
"Wunderbar!" Bruno laughed.
He tore through a legionary's helmet with his halberd, and Suzaka wasted no time. He brought gravity down on the other legionary formations, holding them in place while Itami formed up more guards on the other streets and impaled more monsters with his roots. As the minutes dragged on, he breathed easier as the non-combatants melted away and more guards raced to join them.
"Father, thank you. Saint Petronas, give us strength-"
Itami heard something else coming from the gate. He, Bruno, and Suzaka readied themselves when their eyes widened once more. Armored cavalry raced in, carrying short lances and carrying red banners with roses emblazoned on them. Each rider wore muscle cuirass with shoulder tassels and a cape. But rather than men, it was women. A few dozen young women who could not be older than twenty-three stood before them.
Itami tried to comprehend the absurd sight before his eyes but could not. His time in the Imperial Army introduced him to a few chivalric maidens, noble women trained as knights, but they were rare in the Aciemes world and unheard of outside the Aciemes. Typically, the women who became chivalric maidens were larger and stronger in stature than the average woman and grew even fiercer with years of training and combat. He knew many whom enemies of the Empire feared.
But the women before him were not like this at all. They were beautiful and closer to ordinary noblewomen in stature, standing a little shorter than any of the legionaries before them. They tried to look fierce but failed spectacularly. Their leader shouted something in her language while holding up a spatha sword.
Itami's eyes fixed themselves on her, and for a moment, he found himself lost. Her smooth and fair skin matched too well with her long, dark red hair and eyes. She sat there like a beautiful ruby, glittering in the sun. Forest smirked and nudged him towards her, and Itami jumped, his face a little red.
"Nani? What are they doing?" Suzaka almost laughed.
Itami wondered that himself. Surely, they would not be foolish enough to charge their polearm formations on horses. Only Equoferri could break such lines. However, Itami got his answer after Forest snarled and snapped her jaws back at the gate. Crusher did the same, and moments later, their snarls were answered by eight wyverns ridden by armored legionaries who few out and over them.
"Vorsicht!" The guards cried and scattered before the dragons, who snatched a few in their jaws while the rivers stabbed down with lances.
"Scheiße! Bruno, reorganize the men, Suzaka we need to deal with those wyverns!"
"Hai!" The samurai jumped onto Crusher while Itami climbed into Forest's saddle.
Forest kicked off the ground and propelled herself straight into one of the wyverns. The smaller beast tried to fly away, but despite being twice its size, Forest moved faster, snapped her jaws around the beast's neck, and bore through the scales while blood and wails escaped it. Itami wasted no time and knocked away the thrusted lance with his sword, then stabbed toward his foe's head.
The rider whipped out his sword and exchanged two blows with Itami before the dragon knight gripped his sword by the blade and smashed the pommel across the wyvern rider's face, sending him tumbling to the ground below, alongside his beast. Two more tried to fly at them from both sides, lances and jaws ready. Or so they thought.
Itami reached out with his offhand, and smaller spiked roots shot out. Forest, too, unleashed roots from her jaws. The magical plants bore through armor, flesh, and dragon scale before sucking the bodies dry of their internal liquid until both dropped as shriveled husks.
The third wyvern shrieked and tried to get away. However, Forest was on him in moments. Itami commanded the rider to drop his weapon but sweatdropped upon remembering they spoke different languages. Instead, he made specific hand gestures, and the rider obeyed, dropping his sword, lance, and daggers. Forest groaned yet restrained herself and helped Itami bind the two down with roots, trapping but not killing them.
As much as Itami wanted to celebrate, the battle below prevented this. Bruno managed to reform one group of guards, but the others waivered under the combined attacks of legionaries and the women riders. He stared at the beautiful rose-haired leader. Who held her sword high and barked out commands while trying to fight one of the guards.
"Better cut the head off the snake. Suzaka, can you handle things up here?" Itami asked.
A few guardsmen on the walls managed to hit and kill a wyvern with their scorpios and drew two others off, leaving three to Suzaka and Crusher. The samurai howled in delight and held his katana out tall and proud. The samurai parried lance and sword tips while his dragon danced through the air, avoiding the wyvern's jaws. Once positioned just right, Suzaka slashed, knocking a sword aside, then curving back to slice a rider's head off. Crusher likewise snapped his jaws around the wyvern's head and snapped the neck.
The other two came together, but Suzaka held his hand out and forced them down with intense gravity. Back on the ground, Bruno barked out orders to his guards, who buckled under the pressure of the organized legionaries and the women riders backing them up. When a spear pierced the guard beside him through the throat, Bruno roared.
"Saint Petronas!"
Going for broke, he forced himself at the legionaries, forcing three spears up with the shaft of his polearm. He then shoved the dying man into the priest, who worked on his neck. Bruno overpowered the smaller men with a combination of brute strength and refined skill. One by one, his armor clanged against their shields before he ripped them away with his polearm. One unshielded, the legionaries fell to his halberd with three brutal swings.
Bruno started to smile even as sweat soaked the inside of his visored helmet. For a brief moment, it looked like his line might reform. Yet, that hope vanished when one of the women riders charged him. The Imperial Lieutenant groaned in pity but had to defend himself. He readied his halberd to impale her horse.
Yet, as she came in, her long blonde hair flowed in the wind, and her deep brown eyes glistened. Bruno's grip on his weapon eased the longer he stared at her beautiful face, even as she lowered her weapon to try and kill him.
"Scheiße!" Bruno snapped back to reality just in time.
He jabbed at the horse with his polearm, making it rear in panic while the young woman gripped the reigns. She cursed and tried to jab at Bruno with her lance. The knight knocked it away with ease, then reached up and picked her up in his left hand. She thrashed about, drawing her sword and a dagger, but Bruno knocked them away before pinning the young woman down.
The rage and aggression in her eyes melted into pale terror as she lay quivering beneath the giant knight, whose face lay concealed.
"Bozes!" The rose-haired commander cried.
She raced for Bruno with her other riders until the ground shook, and Forest loomed over them. Itami sheathed his sword and, too, stood up, arms crossed. The women riders' confidence started to fade as their horses backed up, but their leader held her sword out and issued a clear challenge to Itami. Forest bit her tongue to prevent snickering, and Itami sighed.
He removed his helmet and met the young woman eye to eye. For a brief moment, she paused and seemed to hesitate before raising her sword again. That was until a root came up from behind and lifted her from her saddle. She thrashed about and tried to cut the plant but to no avail. Itami climbed down and walked over until they met eye-to-eye again.
"You've caused enough trouble for today, fraulein."
The other female riders found their courage and almost charged Itami when another thunderous roar shook the air. The women yelped as a second Aciemes dragon tore through the last two wyverns, and his rider did the same to the soldiers. The ground shook as the gray dragon, twice Forest's size, landed behind the women riders.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here." A powerful voice chuckled.
Itami grimaced when he saw her. A six-foot-five broad-shouldered woman stood on the dragon's back wearing a similar suit of armor and epaulet jacket cape as him. She cracked her knuckles before removing her helmet. The woman's long green hair flowed three, and a sinister grin matched with sparking silver eyes turned the riders paler than snow.
"A bunch of frauleins playing soldiers? I suppose they need to be taught a lesson."
She jumped down as the women riders screamed before ruffed-up noises drowned them out. Their leader's mouth dropped, and she shivered as if in snow while Itami rubbed the back of his head. As this happened, formations of imposing men wearing standardized black brigandine or steel breastplates and visored half helms marched into the streets. They relieved the exhausted guards and drove the remaining legionaries back with a solid wall of polearms.
Once all of the legionaries lay dead or taken prisoner. Bruno led the soldiers in a cry of victory. They gave thanks to the Father while priests and nuns tended to the wounded. The imposing woman grinned as she stood over the pile of ruffed-up women riders who lay swollen beneath her but alive.
"You ruined my paint." Itami groaned. He looked back at his saddleback, which was now dripping with pain from the broken cases, and almost teared up while Forest comforted him with a nuzzle. "My hobby."
Author's note
Greetings, I hope you guys are enjoying so far. If you did not guess, the Reich Empire is based off the historical Holy Roman Empire, which was essentially medieval Germany and some other places. The world they are in is inspired by the real world and is my creation.
If you guys are interested in the world Itami comes from, I have written a novel set in the equivalent of Spain. The story is on my Wattpadd account under Fictionknight2 and is called Righteous Ambitions: A King's Journey. It is heavily inspired by anime like One Piece and Fairy Tail and also takes inspiration from history. If you are interested, please consider taking a look.
As for this story, it is already completely written so I am afraid I cannot take requests for characters.
So until next time,
Please review, comment, suggest, or ask (VIA PM)