The World of Heathmoor had changed tremendously.
Years after the Cataclysm that tore the world apart, after Apollyon made her cruel message clear, the world was still in ruin. War persevered.
To this day, the wars still raged throughout the lands of Ashfield, the frozen forests of Valkenheim, and the swampy marshes of The Myre. However, they continued in lesser doses.
There weren't enough warlords to make the world fear another Great War, like Apollyons.
Until a new legion rose, it was storming up with kills, takeovers, breaches, and invasions. It tore through the green plains of Ashfield, obliterated its way through the frosty mountain ranges of Valkenheim, and slaughtered anyone in the dangerous, and endless jungles of The Myre.
This new legion, known as The Ivory Legion, was led by a new knight warlord. One that taught others to forget their oaths. Forget their codes. Forget their honor.
"To bring peace," The Warlord had once said. "We all must prepare for war. Through war, comes peace. And once the world has been burnt to its core, then peace can finally come."
The Warlords name was quickly spread across the World of Heathmoor.
Abaddon.
"MOVE THE RAM FORWARD!"
Annora ruptured through the wooden door of the castle tower, leading her to the battlements. She took in a gasp as she examined the green lands before her. Spread as far as the eye could see were soldiers.
Enemy soldiers. Each of them dressed under the same emblem, The Ivory Legion.
The Knight examined her surroundings; her silver Arcturus-styled armor glinting as rain casually poured upon her. Her standards and cape were soaking, absorbing the water from the sky.
To her horror, the dangers below were moving a large battering ram forward. It looked menacing, protected, and destructive.
Leading the ram was a Gryphon warrior, a warrior Annora had only heard about in stories her friends would tell her. Stark Wolfhard. He was one of the Ivory Legion's best.
"Lord Stocious!" Stark yelled across the plains. "Please. Let's make this easy! No one has to get hurt."
Annora turned back, examining the center of the castle. Sure enough, her comrades and her Lord were gathering to fight. Lord Stocious was a brave knight, confident and charming. Perhaps…too confident.
"Come now," Lord Stocious called out. "We can win! Onwards!"
Annora observed as Lord Stocious' soldiers scampered for the windlass, lowering the bridge for the soldiers. Annora quickly dashed down the tower stairs, coupling with the other soldiers.
Annora's eyes suddenly caught onto a Lawbringer. His bronze Alkirk-styled armor glinted as lightning struck down around the castle. Annora quickly darted to be beside him.
"Silas!" Annora called out. "Wait!" The Lawbringer, known as Silas, halted. He turned to stare at Annora, nodding his head.
"Come on then!" Silas snarled.
Annora and Silas marched towards the battlegrounds. Swinging his Pinabel-styled poleaxe, Silas cleared through countless soldiers. Annora lifted her Sirius-styled longsword, high and brought it down against her foes. To her dismay, the foes blocked her attacks.
Annora examined the field again, briskly. She noticed some enemies, larger than some of the simple militiamen, a Centurion, a Conqueror, and obviously Stark Wolfhard, dressed with his Pilgrim-styled armor.
Catching her attention was another warrior. A Warden. Cast in black iron Dullahan-styled armor, with an Altaïr's Devotion-styled longsword. Annora recognized him from more stories from her friends. Arthur Revolt.
Arthur was Stark Wolfhard's second and one of the best warriors of the Ivory Legion. He charged forward, swinging his longsword across some of Lord Stocious' men. Annora backed away, knowing she stood no chance against someone like Arthur.
Silas swung his poleaxe at Arthur, only for it to be tossed aside. Arthur threw his longsword across Silas' chest, pushing him towards the Ivory Legion Centurion and Conqueror, who began picking Silas apart.
Annora watched in horror as the Ivory Legion's forces effortlessly massacred her friends. Limbs flew, blood splattered, and the squishy mud absorbed rainwater and dead soldiers. Annora felt her stomach churn as she watched the battle rage on, and shuddered as her skin went white-hot when her eyes caught onto Arthur, who returned her gaze.
Annora choked on her breath and fled back to the castle. Arthur began his pursuit. Their armor clinked and clattered as they ran. Annora raced through a small doorway, leading to the covered battlements. She gasped as she could hear Arthur approaching.
She trembled her longsword in her hands. She knew all too well that she couldn't fend off this threat. She'd let everyone down. Lord Stocious. Silas. Her parents.
As if her parents mattered. For all she knew, Lord Stocious was her only fatherly figure.
Annora found herself so far-fetched in her thoughts that she didn't notice Arthur watching her, armed and prepared for combat. Arthur slowly advanced towards her, holding his longsword close.
Annora yelped, falling backward and scrambling away from the dangerous warrior. Her fear of death, her guilt, and her insecurities. They all caught up to her, very quickly. Tears streamed down her eyes.
"Just do it," Annora snivelled. She tossed her longsword aside, kneeling before Arthur and waiting for her death. Arthur stood still, before raising his longsword.
Annora winced, not entirely sure she wanted this, despite trying to seem honorable.
She felt like she'd waited a long time, so she opened her eyes. She gasped softly as Arthur had lowered his sword, and knelt beside her.
"I can't," He said. "...I won't."
"Let me guess," Annora scoffed. "You won't kill me until we fight?"
"I won't kill you," Arthur said firmly. "Because where would that get me?"
Annora froze. When she put that thought into her mind, she understood what Arthur meant. The Ivory Legion didn't have a purpose for peace. It was just an excuse to forget your honor and senselessly slaughter whomever.
"I know I can't stop this battle…but maybe I could start to make a difference…by relinquishing this cursed legion." Arthur looked into Annora's helm, wondering what she looked like underneath. Annora stared back, considering the same for Arthur.
"I-" Annora began to say, but her sentence was shattered by the explosion of a catapult, which collided against the battlements. All Annora could gather was that Arthur was blown back, and she fell. Then everything went black.
Annora took in a huge gasp of air, feeling her chest expand before setting back down as she breathed out. She looked around, finding herself in a dense, damp forest. She looked down to see she was bundled in a thin blanket and shivered, realizing she was down to her garments. Her armor had been neatly set beside her.
"That was a loud gasp," a snarky voice commented. Arthur. He was sitting beside a small campfire, poking at it with a stick.
Annora yelped again. Her easily startled nature was slowly getting under Arthur's skin.
"Mind controlling that yell of yours?" Arthur asked. "Trying to keep a low profile."
Before Arthur could chuckle at his comment, he was barraged by questions.
"Where am I? What happened? What did you do to me? Why am I down to my garments? Where's Lord Stocious' castle? What happened to him? What happened to Silas? Why are you here?"
Before Annora could ask another question, Arthur's hand covered her mouth. His black iron gauntlet was warm but dirty. He answered her questions quite well.
"You're in a forest. I had to carry you here after you blacked out. I saved you. You were bleeding, so I had to remove the armor to help you. The castle is south. Lord Stocious and your Law-buddy have unfortunately passed. And, I couldn't just leave you."
The handful of answers stung Annora. Particularly the second to last one. Her eyes shined.
"They…they didn't?" Annora choked, a thin stream of water sliding down her rosy cheek.
"I'm afraid not," Arthur lamented. "I'm sorry, but like I said. There wasn't much we could do."
"Then why do anything?! Why bother trying to help me? Why me?!" Annora yelled, her eyes flooding with tears. She curled herself into a ball and turned away from Arthur, who gently reached for her shoulder.
"I couldn't just leave you," Arthur murmured.
"But you could've saved someone more important…someone who deserves to live," Annora whimpered, not looking at Arthur, but not rejecting his shoulder pat.
"And that someone turned out to be you. I see something in you." Arthur said, trying to comfort the miserable Knight.
"What? A coward?" Annora shuffled, this time shaking off Arthur's hand.
"Someone who I can train. Someone willing to work with me." Arthur said.
This caught Annora's attention, quickly. She slowly turned to face the warrior, her blue eyes still leaking. Arthur reached forward to brush some blonde hair from her face and pushed some of his jet-black hair from his face. His hazel eyes locked onto hers.
"I've been fighting for as long as I can remember. I was ready to give up. Ready for someone to execute me, just to finish it."
Annora listened carefully to Arthur, thinking about how she kneeled for her execution just hours ago.
"But I realized I didn't need to quit. I just needed to change. You showed me that."
"How?"
"When I told you that I couldn't kill you, you didn't betray my trust. You didn't go for the kill. You…"
"Showed cowardice?"
"No!" Arthur reprimanded. "You showed…honor."
Annora froze. No one had ever considered her honorable before. Arthur shuffled closer towards her and stuck out a hand.
"I believed, then and there, that you would be the one to help me stop the Ivory Legion and show that the world can have peace, not through war."
Annora looked down at his hand, worrying about what would come.
"I don't know…if I'm ready…"
"I'll be with you, every step of the way. I can teach you. Train you. Make you something better." Arthur gave a soft smile, which complimented his otherwise hard face.
Annora returned the smile, though hers was full of hope. She reached for Arthur's hand and shook it.
"I'm Arthur Revolt."
"I know," Annora murmured. "I'm Annora…"
Arthur waited for a surname. It never came. "Nice to meet you."