Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New profile posts
Latest activity
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Come and join our gamer community by
registering for free here
Anything & Everything
Stories
If, and only if
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Fladian" data-source="post: 107296" data-attributes="member: 5833"><p>Still not enough room to put it in one post. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick Out Tongue :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> It was even more than I thought.</p><p>After this post, It's about 2/3th of it.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p>In the mean time, at the Empirical Castle.</p><p></p><p>"Again?" was screamed through the halls to the Throne Room. "You must be kidding me!" was added soon after. A man who carried a large mustache that nearly covered his entire face looked furious. The armored man looked at the Emissary who had to give him a message. The young man next to the man with the large mustache was looking afraid to the Emissary, not exactly knowing what was going on.</p><p>"Are you saying that Wind attacked us again?" the larged mustached man yelled out, full with unbelief. After hearing the name of 'Wind', the young boy quickly opened his book to look up information about this "Wind" and what her role was in this story. Wind was one of the more dangerous enemies of the Empire. A woman that once served the Empire, no matter at any cost. It was always the question if she could finish a mission properly. She ignored most orders because she thought they were "unworthy" for her pressence and therefore refused doing them. Missions such as an infiltration was something what was far more attractive for her. A small year ago, she disbanded the Empire and made a small group of fighters, naming them after her Renegade name in the Empire, "Fallen Angels". Together with her two most trusted assistents who have been a danger to the Empire since they were born, they attack Empirical Strongholds for their amusement. Both assistents heavily skilled in all sort of different arts with something unique to them that makes them look like they are invincible - not to mention that they are brothers and therefore they can just 'feel' what kind of attack they may make.</p><p>The infamous woman named Wind has somehow negotiated with them, and named them after 2 Fallen Angels that once served the Sacred Gods. Aurora, the Sacred Angel of the Crystal Gate betrayed the gods by letting a mortal stepping into the gate to take the test without collecting any of the Star Keys. Aurora became the younger brother of the two men and was extremely skilled with most kind of weapons, especially with the long sword. His skill could not be touched and he followed his brother everywhere. The third man, who would grow out to be one of the most dangeroust men in the world. Named after the Fallen Angel that once served the Sacred Kingdom himself. The Angel was found to be giving information to the darker gods. Therefore, he was banned from the Kingdom and his wings were ripped off while he swore that he would get his revenge someday; named with a name the world would shock - Herasiel.</p><p>Herasiel is now one of the most skilled sword fighters in the world who is perhaps even more skilled with a one-handed axe. The Black Cleaver, a personalized weapon of Herasiel that has a large amount of unique abilities.</p><p>Together with the more than excellent leader Wind, 'The Shock' also known as, Aurora and his brother, 'The Nightmare' also known as the blade master, Herasiel.</p><p>With Aurora and Herasiel as her assistents, her 'Fallen Angels' became something to be feared. After attacking small strongholds of the Empire, she grew out to be one of the more dangerous enemies of the Empire together with the Black Shade Thieves.</p><p></p><p>"I can't believe Wind is attacking us again... wait, did you said that she attacked the Waterfall valley?" the man with the large mustache suddenly mentioned as well. As if something very bad happened, the serious expression on his face confirmed it for people that something very bad was going to happen, or was already happening.</p><p>"Yes, sir. The Fallen Angels attacked the Waterfall Valley, Sorznar, to be exact sir." the Emissary replied with, not knowing what is going on, still looking at the man with his large mustache. "Is something wrong, lord Black?" the Emissary added to it, clearly showing that he was talking to the Grand lord Cruz Black.</p><p>"As a matter of fact, yes. How was the situation when you left?" Cruz asked the Emissary while a glimmer of hope was crossing the eyes of the Grand Lord. Having an expression in his face that had hope in it, as if that 'bad' thing just turned out to be something good.</p><p>"The door was broken through, and I heard someone screaming for the help for a price. Should I have checked what that price was?" the Emissary asked as he looked at his lord with a questionable look on his face. Absolutely not knowing what was going on. 'Could it be a good thing, or not?' the man was clearly thinking.</p><p>"Wrong, Emissary. Our Empirical Soldiers weren't calling for a price, they were calling the help of Terres Price and Dale" Cruz grinningly mentions. Knowing that Terres Price and Dale was an incredible duo that was not easily defeated. Terres Price is an incredible Paladin that works best with the help of sir Dale, one of the older veteran fighters and Lord Gunthar, a man who was able to create more power than an Elite Squad. The young boy quickly looked up to the name of Dale, Price and Gunthar - only to find that Dale was missing in the book.</p><p>Terres Price, one of the Paladins that has made a huge name for himself. Though he is several years older than the paladin named 'Lord Gunthar', Price was able to keep a morale higher than anyone. His words could motivate huge armies that were supposed to go to war. Terres Price was an excellent fighter and made a name by winning many important battles during the war of the Gods. When Terres recently joined the Empire, he was made a fool because of his last name. Jokes as, "won a price, Price?" or anything similar were often made. But even though they made fun of him, in his debut fights, Terres Price always walked out of the battlefield, no matter what the odds were. One day, about 6000 men, lead by Sir Gregory Ottovus were sent out, to search a group of Bandits, to dispose of them. Unexpectedly, the bandit group was far larger than the group of Sir Gregory Ottovus and Ottovus' group was instead, quickly disposed off, and it was only a matter of minutes until the group of Price was clearly in the minority. While the Empire already gave up on the survival of the squad of sir Ottovus it was unexpected when a small 250 men walked back to the base mentioning that more than 4000 people survived and were injured at the scene. Not yet even mentioned that they disposed of the group of bandits under the leadership of rookie soldier, Terres Price. Price was instantly promoted to a commander.</p><p>"I've never seen someone with that much potential. How he lead the group in a matter of minutes. Screaming "We will not fall in battle" apparently gave the necessary confidence in my men, and he just rushed the enemy. While losing, he screamed 'we will not dissapoint the Empire! We are far more superior than them!' what gave the last bit of motivation and slaughtered the enemy. Never, and I mean never have I seen someone like that" were the words of Sir Gregory Ottovus after seeing Terres Price in action.</p><p>Lord Gunthar is a completely different man. His skill is different from a normal soldier and not even possible to compare it to even the skill of Terres Price. Lord Gunthar was clearly a man that could be added to the squads of the Hall of Fame and people who were the most elite of the elites. Lord Gunthar fights with a huge one handed mace that would smash his enemies instantly to the ground. His huge shield was made to defend with, but he uses it for attack due to push it against his opponents while twacking him with his mace.</p><p>In the average loss of soldiers a squad is 2000. Or at least, that's the average what was brought down because of lord Gunthar's friendship with his group. His loss of soldiers in 3 years was exactly 2 men. Yes, 2 men. Lord Gunthar's body is full with scars that was often hid by his steel armor that covered his body - but that couldn't defend him from everything. "We fight for lives, not for numbers" was what Gunthar said when he came back from the battlefield with one loss.</p><p>After 7 years of his services in the Empire, he was scouted by the scouts of the Empire and got an invitation to train together with the Elite soldiers. It was a decision you could not refuse, and Lord Gunthar did not refuse it either. He quickly packed his necessary equipment, said bye for a short while to his squad and left to the training field of the Elites.</p><p>The scouts made no mistake in invitating him as he ended up in the Top. 10 at exactly the 9th place of 'Best Soldier' and the exact number 4 of 'Best Leader on the Battlefield' in result. Leaders of the Elites waited no moment and instantly asked Lord Gunthar to join the Elite Group of soldiers. "Give me a week to think" was the answer of Gunthar when he heard it and went back to his squad, that he leads.</p><p>When the people asked Lord Gunthar if he had an invitation to join the Elites, Gunthar laughed at it and answered with, "as if" and told them that the Elites existed out of people who were far stronger than him. In truth, it was not true, but he believed that he could motivatie his squad of soldiers by saying that. Like he expected, it worked, and the people looked in utter surprise that there were groups of soldiers that were far more superior in battle than their lord Gunthar. When someone asked at what rank he ended, Gunthar mentioned one of the lowest positions that were available as well.</p><p>It came to a surprise to people that Jason Sharpe, the number 1. of the Elite Soldiers and a group of scouts approached Gunthar for a second time during the training. Gunthar's soldiers looked in awe to see Lord Sharpe for the first time in reality. In further surprise to Gunthar's soldiers, they wanted a small spar-fight between Lord Jason and Lord Gunthar that ended up with a huge loss for Gunthar. While Jason knew it was all an act of Gunthar to be beat so easily by him, he knew what to say. He declared himself in every way, superior to Gunthar to his soldiers, but whispered to the scouts that Gunthar was only weeks away from his own strength.</p><p>Finally, after a month after the spar fight with Jason, Gunthar got a letter that he was forced to read to all soldiers. It said that Gunthar got his final invitation to the Elite Squad. He was accepted as the leader of Squadron B-12, one of the highest ranked positions available in the entire Empirical Battlefield. When the scouts appeared one last time to hear the answer of Gunthar they got an answer they would never forget. One of the most important positions of the Empire was offered to Lord Gunthar, who was nothing more than a normal commander.</p><p>"Let me ask you this, gentlemen" Gunthar replied to the scouts. "These soldiers of this squad, they trust me. Would they trust a sudden other commander?" Gunthar asked them. All soldiers of Gunthar looked up to hear what he was saying about them, and the scouts looked confused, replying slowly with 'no, I guess not'.</p><p>"Good, then you understand why I won't leave" Gunthar replied in answer and ripped the letter in two and gave the shreds to one of the scouts and commanded his group to resume training. The answer shocked the scouts amazingly much and they were hugely impressed. Declining an option such as this while being so extremely good.</p><p>Gunthar, who was from that moment on called, Lord Gunthar went on with his 5000 soldier squad and lost about 1 person every 2 years. His opinion was that the lives of humans were far more important than the success of a mission, no matter what mission. Because of the leadership of Lord Gunthar, Lord Gunthar's squad grew out to be even more skilled than the elite squadrons. Lord Gunthar's squad was claimed to be unbeatable and they were not easily disposed of, partly because of Lord Gunthar's amazing defend-skills.</p><p></p><p>"Lord Dale and Lord Price were there?!" the Emissary asked in surprise to the large man.</p><p>"Yes, Price and Dale are there. Shall we see how they did it?" Cruz answered kindly in reply. An evil grin crossed his face, already knowing what the result was. Wind and her squad are no match for the heavily skilled soldiers of Dale and Price.</p><p>"Y-Yes, sir!" the Emissary quickly replied with, quickly grabbing his stuff together and leaving towards the exit while Cruz Black slowly walked to the stabbles.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>"Well, Lince? Have you made up your mind?" the armored man asked me. He told me about lord Price and lord Gunthar who also started out here, in the Waterfall Valley. They were amazing people, and good people to look up to, seeing them as a model for the soldiers. They were excellent soldiers, strong, good leaders and very loyal. Working with them would be an honor, an honor as great as being saved to live yet again.</p><p>My answer was a simple nod, and a broad mysterious smile on my face. I was happy that they asked me, and when he explained why he would ask me, I was only more happy.</p><p>"Well then Lince, you are welcome to enter our grounds whenever you want. Just ask for someone named 'Mason Bridge' and I will be flying to ya'" The man tells me, confirming that his name was 'Mason Bridge' and a commander of the Strike Force here near Waterfall Valley. Specially trained to attack other places, defending is for someone else, coincidentally, lead by his brother, Dirk Bridge.</p><p>I thanked him with full appreciation, extremely happy that I was able to join them on the training.</p><p>"If you'd excuse me now, Lince, Jes." the man named Mason quietly mentions as he places his helm back on his head and prepares to leave back to his stronghold again. His steps were rather fast, even though his armor looked quite heavy.</p><p>"Are all soldiers that strong?" floated through my mind as I saw the soldiers marching back to the stronghold.</p><p>"Congratiolations, Lince" was something I could clearly hear from behind. Fortunately, it was a voice I could recognize. I quickly turned my head to see the lovely Laura looking at me with a smile on her face. Her clothes were something that typical fitted her, especially her bust. It was as if she was trying to turn me on or anything similar, though I knew it was pure nonsense what I was thinking. She barely knows me, and I barely know her. The only times we got contact was when I woke up and felt a fist against my head and only minutes ago when I bumped into her and she growled at me.</p><p>"Thanks, I guess... Laura, was it?" I mentioned, as I saw the door closing again, seeing that the mother left the scene. She apparently just wanted the soldier, Mason to hear from me. But why should I care about the mother now that someone else took interest in m-...</p><p>Before my thoughts ended, I could hear the door again, and I was alone in the flower garden. "So much for the interest" floated through my mind as I looked at the closed wooden door.</p><p></p><p>I sighed and turned to look up in the sky. It is actually a pretty nice house. I could see 3 houses around me that were about the same size and in general, it was just one huge farm. Animals walked freely around and it wasn't uncommon to see a pig walking against your leg or anything similar.</p><p>"Life here isn't all that bad" passed my lips as I kept looking at the sky.</p><p></p><p>...but, how did I come here?</p><p></p><p>"Living on a farm isn't all that bad. I can live the way I want to, and do whatever I want" floated through my thoughts as I looked up to the sky, seeing a part of the house blocking my view. If I would look a different way, a part of another house would block my view. No matter what I would do, the houses would remain in my sight. They were huge, but that could be logical. In the family I was spending my time at, a lot of time that is. Then to think, I don't even know the last name of the family. For some reason, I woke up in the bed of the little girl named Caitlin and been here ever since. I met Laura, Caitlin, Jessica, Mason, Alex and Claes, but right now, I only had a serious talk with Mason and Alex... "could it be that the others are avoiding me? But why would they" flew through my mind in an instant. I instantly started to think about things more. I was interested in the place I was and I have yet to meet an amount of people. I still haven't talked with the little boy named Sean... or even saw him in my living state.</p><p>But the question remained, "how did I come here?" kept repeating in my mind. It was a question that came to mind the moment I woke up in the bed of Caitlin, while not knowing where I was. I was not familiar with most people from the house and I am not yet comfortable talking with everyone of the house hold. "It was pretty clear that Laura wasn't fond on me and I am sure I can't get a decent answer from Caitli-" before I could finish what was on my mind, I heard someone mentioning my name.</p><p></p><p>My head automaticly went up as I saw a boy sitting on the edge of the window, looking at me with a mean face.</p><p>"What are you doing out there?" the boy asked me in a harsh and loud voice, clearly not appreciating the point that I was spending time in, or around the house. Was it Sean? Or was it yet someone else. The sun was shining in my eyes, and I hard time seeing who was talking to me. It was quite a distance as well but I could feel his eyes burning on my skin. A 'deadly stare' is what they call such, or 'staring daggers'.</p><p>"Who are you?" I called back at him.</p><p>"Sean" he replied bluntly with, moments later adding: "you're Lince, aren't you?" while the questions looked kind, his face and the tone of his voice were exactly the opposite. Sean was looking at me with the burning sun above the house that kept my eyes small, not being able to see how he looked like from close by.</p><p>Finally, I replied with a nod as an answer to his question to ask if I was Lince.</p><p>"Stupid name, but it is nice to meet you" Sean answered with, after taking his time looking at me. "I saw my father talking with you. What was it he wanted?" the boy asked me as he finally stood up, shaking the window a little bit.</p><p>Nice to meet me? The way he looked at me was like an eagle and its prey. His tone was extremely unpleasant but his reaction was completely unexpected. But even though he looked me with such a face, his intention seemed kind to me. It took me moments to come to the conclusion and I finally replied with that his 'father' was asking me to join the Empirical Strike Force. When I answered his question, I clearly surprised the boy as a clear "oh" gave my answer. It is very understandable why he would be surprised, I was surprised as well when I heard the offer of being accepted into the Empire, especially since I was placed in the Strike Force. Then to think, I'm only 16!</p><p>"Do you know even anything about the Empire's Strike Force?!" the boy yelled at me again. It looked like he was angry yet again. But to be honest, I don't have much ideas what the strike force of this area has to do. Mason said that there wasn't much the last amount of months, and because of that, they accepted me... partly. But even though I had no intentions of training there with people I don't know, it was very attractive to hear that Dale and Price came from the same training camp and grew out to be two of the most famous soldiers in the world. Unfortunately, only Price and Dale came from there. Other famous soldiers came from places which had a long distance from Waterfall Valley. Though it is great that at least Dale and Price came from there, it is a shame that all other people who've made a name aren't from the area in the long range.</p><p>"Unfortunately, no, I don't know much about this strike force. Could you explain this to me?" I asked, hoping that I could get a chance to seriously talk with him. I was wondering about his personality as for one, but it is understandable that he was mad at me. I was living in his room after all. I wouldn't be happy either if someone would take residence in my room, just like I am doing.</p><p>A loud sigh could be heard from the boy as he stuck his head out of the window, making his face completely dark for me. "Very well, come up to my... our room" the boy said as he pulled his head back in, and walked back inside, letting me lose the sight of him.</p><p></p><p>A sigh of me could be heard as I made an "oh well" gesture and walked to "our" room in a rapid pace, ignoring most things that I found during my walk up. Luckily, I didn't meet anyone of the family as I was walking up to "our" room.</p><p>Moments later, I was ready to knock on the door. The moment I wanted to know, it was already opened by a boy, that was clearly one or two heads shorter than me and his blond hair confirmed for me that he was Sean.</p><p>"Come in, I'll explain it to you" he said as he walked to a chair and sat down when he reached it. Taking a book from his desk and showing it to me. "Legends" was the title of the book. I was clearly wondering what he wanted with it while I closed the door behind me. After all, I did not ask for a complete history, I wanted to ask about the Strike Force.</p><p>"Look, Lince. Mason Bridge, my father, he and his Strike Force had a problem with a bunch of Black Shade Thieves that took residence near this place. Because of this, my father is very little home because those thieves can do a lot of awful things" the boy told me, keeping me wondering about several things. Before I could let him continue his story, I broke in and asked why the thieves took residence here. After all, the only impressive thing what can be found here is a farm.</p><p>"You idiot!" the boy yelled at me again, looking at me furiously. "The Fallen Angels, the Black Shade Thieves and us, of course, know that we have a secret passage under the ground. It is a safe place that is specially made for bosses of the Empire who come here once a month" the boy explained to me. Meaning, that there is a hidden passage here somewhere that leads to this secret hallway that is made for the Empire to discuss, whatever is necessary to discuss.</p><p>"Why can't they just go to a different place. The Empirical "bosses" that is" I asked, hoping to get a kind answer instead of an insult again. My patience is long termed, but even that can end.</p><p>"The cave down below is a gift of nature and very easily to defend in opposite of something that man makes. I know it sounds strange, but I've been there once, and I could not make a step before I was discovered" the boy explained to me.</p><p>"Alright, but then I understand that both the Fallen Angels as the Black Shade Thieves are aiming to capture one of the "bosses", right?" I asked him.</p><p>"Probably. Why?" The boy asked in reply, not knowing where I was trying to point out.</p><p>"Well, why don't they work together if they have the same option?" I asked him, hoping that he knew the answer. It was very unfortunate that I knew barely anything about the Fallen Angels nor the Black Shade Thieves.</p><p>Right when I finished my sentence of my question, he pushed the book with the title 'Legends' in my hands and commanded me to read it. Moments later, he left the room, clearly being annoyed by my pressence. I sighed in reply, not knowing what else to do, I decided to read the book and quickly found a category about the Black Shade Thieves.</p><p></p><p>Apparently, the Black Shade Thieves were created by a brave Empirical Soldier named 'Azakar' who was able to create the perfect soldier by using certain magics that raised the dead. He named the undead-chimera Tain, a creature that could feel no pain and was in every way invulnerable.</p><p>Months after Azakar created Tain, he was found that he was murdering Empirical Soldiers for training of Tain. Because of that, Tain was locked underground and Tain was thrown in prison. But because of the people who were loyal to Azakar he was released after days in prison and together with his loyal soldiers, he released Tain yet again to cause havoc. The soldiers under his command were one of the best and not to mention that they had a nearly invulnerable soldiers on their side that was completely unstopable.</p><p>After the group of Azakar showed that the Black Shade Thieves were just as dangerous as the Fallen Angels, it was only a matter of time before the organisation got the name of 'Black Shade Thieves' and gathered a team that was about half of the Empire. Azakar became stronger and stronger until he announced his final attack to the Central Palace where lord Glodich and his guards were waiting for him. But when Tain come, the battle was a masacare. All Glodich's body guards died until one of the last soldiers stood up, facing the creature in combat only carrying a half broken two-handed sword. The man decided that the best way to destroy Tain was to use a certain 'thing' on him that would destroy its body. That "thing" was lava from the Volcano that can be found on the same island as the Central Palace was located.</p><p>After Tain was destroyed, the man was recognized under the name of 'Dale' and quickly a part of the Black Shade Thieves fell apart. But even though their number were less, they were still a huge danger to the world. And even though Tain was killed, Azakar was still alive and ruling the Black Shade Thieves from his stronghold.</p><p>Wind and Azakar were in the same section when they worked in the Empire. Orders that were given to Wind, Price, Dale, Collins, Bridge, Hacanson, Ilja and Holm were always given by the combination of lord Cruz Black and sir Azakar Rind. Because Wind was unsatisfied with her jobs, she quit Empire and swore that she would never talk to Black and Rind again.</p><p></p><p>My fantasy was quickly playing as I saw sir Bridge fighting Wind, Azakar and Tain and winning the battle. But then again, it is only fantasy.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>"Black, I told you, if we gone through the mountains, we would've reached the valley by now!" a dark haired man yelled at Cruz Black as they both sat on a horse cladderd with all kinds of heavy armor with several bataljons of soldiers behind them. Riding horses in a rapid pace to reach their destination as soon as possible, knowing that the Fallen Angels attacked the Waterfall Valley stronghold. Though Cruz was sure that Price and Dale managed to keep the stronghold standing and easily disposed of the Fallen Angels, Cruz was hoping to see the head of Herasiel and his brother on a plate. Though unfortunately, Black was forced to ask Stephan Collins with him. The entire Empire knows that Cruz Black was never able to get along with three of the Champions, Price, Collins and Dale.</p><p>"Shut up, Collins! I made a mistake, but we're nearly there now!" Cruz shouted back at Collins with an angered face, knowing that he made a mistake and that Collins would remember it, because it was a way to get back to Cruz.</p><p>"Nearly there, you say?" Collins asks Cruz with an awful look on his face, clearly intending to prove him wrong. "Terres and Tyler are fighting people like Herasiel out there! Even though Terres and Tyler have an advantage over them, Herasiel and Aurora won't just fall in combat that easily." Collins shouts back to Cruz, with an angered face, like usual.</p><p>"I know! I know! Don't worry though, Edgardo Hodges is there too" Cruz mentions, hoping to get Collins back to his mood.</p><p>Edgardo Hodges was one of the champions from the North. Specialized in defending against heavy hits and very skilled in counter attacking the opponent by using a one-handed spear and a Tower Shield. Edgardo is not stronger than Dale or Price, but he is far more skilled when it comes to defending. Edgardo was at his golden years and at his very best, because of that, not many people could win from him in combat when they faced him. The battles with him always take a long time, but the longer it takes, the more chance Edgardo has to win.</p><p>Collins and Edgardo aren't the best of friends, but they know that both of them are skilled in combat and in the hope that they would never face each other in combat. Collins and Price were team mates when they fought together in battles and made the title of a 89% chance of success, that is very high, considering that battles they are sent to are often failures.</p><p>"You mean that both Terres and Tyler are there, but Edgardo is there as well?" the man asks Cruz as he looks at him in a huge state of shock. The combination of Edgardo, Price and Dale was something to be surely be feares, especially if they fought at a place that was in their advantage.</p><p>"Enough talking, we must hurry! If the battle went out well, we still have a large amount of injuries, surely." Cruz quickly mentions now Collins was back to normal. Personal fights were something to be ignored now, now it was more important to get to the stronghold as soon as possible to get a report from Price or one of the brothers Bridge.</p><p>"That's right! How much time do we have before it gets dark?" Collins quickly enquires as he makes a gesture to the troops to speed up.</p><p>"Less than an hour. But by the time we will reach the stronghold, it is surely dark already." Cruz mentions with a sad face. He knows that Black Shade Thieves and Fallen Angels had a small advantage in the dark. Thieves and Assassins where the Black Shade's were formed of was there specialty and the Fallen Angels had their own share of advantages as well.</p><p>"Make haste men! Whoever reaches the Stronghold first will be treated to a beer from me!" Collins calls out, motivating his soldiers to speed up to reach the stronghold as soon as possible.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>While looking at the window to the sky, I found that the sun was setting and a huge red glow was surrounding the area with a feeling of comfort. "Beautiful, but red is also the color of blood" shot through my thoughts as I looked at the blood red sky that was filling the sky.</p><p>They taught me once that every minute, a person died and a baby was born. If that is true, then thousands of people would die in a few days. It was not hard to believe something like that, for all I know, Fallen Angels were fighting Empirical Soldiers in the mean time. Death was something that could not be avoided from such a battle. Especially not with people like Herasiel and Aurora on the Fallen Angels side and people like Taos and Gunthar on the Empirical side. Seeing them combine forces in combat would be like a dream that came true. Who would win, could not be predicted.</p><p>"Lince?" I could hear someone saying, as I slowly turned around, to see a woman standing in the door opening looking at me. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail as she looked at me. A few grey hairs sticked out of it, even though most of it was calmly pushed back.</p><p>I can remember seeing this woman in the garden only an hour ago. She was together with her husband, apparently, Mason Bridge. So, her name must be Jessica Bridge, together with Claes Bridge, Laura Bridge, Sean Bridge and Caitlin Bridge. Exceptional name, not that my own name is all that great.</p><p>Finally, after moments of thought, I answered with a calm, "yes?" as I kept starring at her, wondering what she would want from me. If she wanted to ask where Sean went to, I couldn't answer her that since I wouldn't know it myself.</p><p>"Would you like to join on dinner, Lince?" the woman kindly asks me as she was still standing in the door opening while I suddenly saw Claes coming out of her room and walking downstairs. But for all they know, I'm still a stranger to them.</p><p>"Could I ask you a few things first? This is the first time we talked after all" I mentioned to her as I looked at her with a smile on my face as I pushed the small patch of hair out of my face that almost instantly fell back again to hide my eye.</p><p>A little nod from her was the answer to my question as I stood up from the chair I sat down on when she got in.</p><p>"Could you tell me how I came here? I have been wondering that the moment I arrived" was definitely the first question I asked as I looked her right in the eyes, and I made it sure that she couldn't avoid the question. She looked quite unsure to me. 'Was she afraid of me?' floated through my mind as I looked at her being all shy to me. 'No, that's impossible' my mind answered my own question as she finally moved her lips to answer me.</p><p>"Well... on a certain day, Claes was out during the night and Alex was waiting for her return. The moment she returned, she had you in her arms and Alex quickly tried to tend to your wounds. After I heard what happened and checked up on you, you really looked like you had no chance of surviving" she explained to me. I could remember something like that. I remember feeling a stab between my ribs and my consiousness floated away right after that. The moment after, I could only remember that someone was bandaging my wounds and the moment after that, I noticed that I woke up in Caitlin's room.</p><p>"Then I must thank Alex and Claes for it. But, why are you all so friendly to me? I am nothing more than a stranger to you people" I asked, considering it would also be my last question as I looked at her in the eyes yet again. Once again, she could not avoid the question since she knew I would ask it eventually, it was only a matter of time before I would ask it.</p><p>"Didn't you notice that already?" she asked me with finally a small smile crossing her face. "Caitlin likes you, after all" she explained to me. My mind quickly raced through several thoughts, remembering that I had some pleasant conversations with the little girl, but I have yet to talk to Laura for one. "Claes likes you for some kind of reason as well" the mother went on as she looked at me with a smile. "And Alex told me that he hasn't seen the smile of Claes for a long time until you came along" the mother, Jessica, explained to me as she looked pleased at me.</p><p>"So, therefore everyone is being nice to me? It feels like something is very wrong. Everything is going far too easy..." I explained to her, while looking at the ground with a thinking face. Something was clearly wrong, that Claes wanted to learn the songs I memorized and that Caitlin finally has a friend was clear to me. It is quite clear to me as well that Alex was happy to see Claes smile again, but that doesn't explain why I may live with them in the same house.</p><p>"Don't think too much about it, Lince. Just come and eat with us." Jessica mentioned to me as she grabbed my hand and pulled me downstairs to the dinning room where I could see all family members, except the father sitting at the table, waiting for their dinner to be served. Only Alex wasn't here, but I already knew that he wasn't a family member of this house.</p><p></p><p>Without really noticing it, the sun has finally set outside and the moon took its place. It was finally dark and my first recovered day was nearly over.</p><p>I wonder what Mason is thinking as I sat down in one of the stairs. 'He is probably missing his family,' was what floated through my thoughts as a small embarrassed smile crossed my face.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>"Ike!" was screamed by a dark haired man as he jumped from his horse and quickly ran to the man who had an arrow in his chest.</p><p>In the opposite thought of Cruz, the Stronghold did not survived the attack of the Fallen Angels and the roofs were on fire, the soldiers were killed from the outside and some of the remaining Fallen Angels outside were fighting several Empirical Soldiers. Then to think, no one has gone in just yet.</p><p>"Ike! Ike!" Collins kept calling as he tried to place the man named 'Ike' in a comfortable position so he could talk. Apparently, he was one of the only survivers of the onslaught.</p><p>"C... Collins... C... Cruz..." the man named Ike could mention as he saw both Collins and Cruz standing near him. They were looking down on him, he was badly injured and at the brink of death.</p><p>"Ike, where is Price?!" Cruz quickly mentioned as he tried to gather as many of the soldiers that were not fighting the exhausted Fallen Angels that were slowly being killed or captured. "Ike!" Cruz shouted as he tried to speed up the reaction of Ike. For once, Collins did not react to the reaction of Cruz as he was desperate to find Terres, Tyler and Edgardo as well.</p><p>"H... Hera... siel... is a living... Nightmare..." Ike was able to mention as he tried to point to the gate of the stronghold. "P... Price... insid-..." Ike was not even able to finish his sentence before Cruz stood up, and shouted to his men that they should surround the stronghold and prepare to fight anything that is still inside.</p><p>"Stop!" Ike shouted with his last remaining energies, ignoring Collins that was trying to keep Ike safe and on the ground. "Herasiel!... is also inside!" Ike screamed as his sight was becoming blurry and blood was starting to run over his armor because of his wound. It was already a miracle that he survived an arrow that pierced through his armor like that, but that he was able to talk was really pushing the limit.</p><p>"Herasiel is inside?" Cruz surprisingly answers as his sight instantly went back to Ike. "What about Price, Dale, Bridge and Edgardo?!" Cruz managed to ask as he looked Ike strictly in the face.</p><p>"They... are fighting Herasiel. Together with..." Ike made several deep breaths as if his last minutes finally began. "Together with... with... loyal soldiers" Ike finally ended his last sentence with. Though Ike did not die after his last sentence, he did lost his consciousness because of a loss of blood.</p><p>"Collins! Leave Ike here for the medics, we're going in!" Cruz mentions as he gathers the best of his team to join the battle to go inside. Inside the burning stronghold.</p><p></p><p>It only took a moment before the team was gathered and ran inside. It took another moment to come in and find the Fallen Angels. Apparently, they didn't leave the stronghold at all. They were still fighting the Empirical Soldiers, led by Dirk Bridge who was very badly injured, and the broad smile on his face was very clear as he saw Cruz Black, Stephan Collins and their team coming in. The faces of most Fallen Angels were dissapointed as most of them dropped their weapons and gave up on the battle, knowing that they would have no chance of winning now Black and his team has arrived.</p><p>"Dirk! Where is Price?!" Collins quickly shouted at Dirk Bridge as he stood on a platform, above most others.</p><p>"Inside the building. Aurora and Wind already left, but Herasiel is still inside. He is fighting Price, Dale and Edgardo" Dirk managed to shout back at Collins as he finally sheeted his blade and climbed back down the ladders.</p><p>"Is he mad? Fighting Price, Dale and Edgardo at the same time? He stands no chance!" Collins laughingly calls out; making an awful expression on many faces of the Fallen Angels. Words like, 'Herasiel ain't that weak!' or 'your people aren't strong enough to win of Herasiel' were constantly heard as Cruz made a gesture to Collins to go in and find Herasiel.</p><p>"Wait, Collins! You may laugh at that. But Herasiel is still pushing them further and further into the stronghold until he reaches his goal" Dirk managed to say before Collins was out of sight. "Our calculations about Herasiel were wrong, Collins... be careful" Dirk whispered to himself as he closed his hands and prayed to Lady Aceci to keep Collins and the others safe. The calculations considered Herasiel as the greatest threat in the lands and only combined efforts of champions could win from them. If those calculations were wrong, does that mean Herasiel is even stronger than that?</p><p></p><p>"Dirk! Go to the medics for your wounds, I'll use my soldiers to keep everything guarded here. If, and only if Herasiel is able to win from people like Price, or if he runs away, he stands no chance against my soldiers" Cruz shouts at Dirk as a large distance was between them. But how could you not worry about them, if he has seen Herasiel fighting all three of them at the same time, and winning that battle. A combination of Price, Dale, Edgardo and Collins should be stronger than Lord Taos, so it should be OK, but still...</p><p>"Price, Dale, Collins and Edgardo are champions. They won't lose that easily from a Fallen Angel, no matter how strong he is. Taos isn't invincible either" Cruz tries to reassure Dirk with, knowing what he is going through. But everyone knows that Taos is the most skilled man in combat and not Herasiel, no matter what. Taos won of Herasiel before, about 3 years ago after all. If the combination of that 4 is stronger than Taos, than they should manage to win from Herasiel. That was clear in the mind of Cruz, but they could not permit any loss of one of the champions, but if they had to lose one or two in order to kill the man named 'Herasiel' then it is gladly given.</p><p>A little sparkle in the eye of Cruz could be seen as his lips whispered a few words. "Come on, Price, don't let me down" were his whispering words, that could not be heard by anyone except by Black himself.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>"Price?! Dale?! Edgardo?!" the black haired man was shouting as he ran through the halls of the stronghold, not knowing where Herasiel was heading to. "Damn you, Herasiel!" Collins screamed as he ordered his men to split up to search for them as soon as possible. In groups of 6, they should at least leave 5 people to help Price and let the other get all other soldiers. "I will go to the middle tower alone, if anything is going on, come and get me there" Collins orderd to his men as they quickly split up to search for Herasiel. A moment when everyone left, Collins left to the middle - and largest - tower.</p><p>"You won't lose, right, Terres?" floated through Collins' mind as he ran as fast as he can - which isn't all that because of his heavy armor - to the middle tower, in the hope that he would find Herasiel there. 'Herasiel is a living nightmare', Ike said. With words such as that floating through his mind, it is hard to get it out of your mind as he kept running on the stairs.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>"Dirk! What happened here?!" the words of his brother reached him as his soldiers arrived at the stronghold.</p><p>"Ask Cruz, I have to check up on my men" Dirk quickly answers his brother, Mason.</p><p>"I will, wait for me, Dirk." Mason quickly mentioned as he increased his pace and searched for Cruz Black, that was still tightening the defenses of the stronghold, which wasn't all that hard.</p><p>"Sir Dirk, is it true that Aurora and Herasiel is in there?" one of the soldiers of Mason decided to ask the brother of their commander.</p><p>"Only Herasiel" Dirk mentioned as he placed some bandaged around his left arm because of all his injuries. "I'm going back in when I've tended to my wounds. I won't let them fight him alone" Dirk mentioned as he tried to hurry up with his bandages what was starting to become a huge failure using one hand.</p><p>"If Herasiel is still in there, with who is he?" the soldier asked as he helped Dirk with his bandages, seeing that he had trouble doing it on his own.</p><p>"Price, Dale, Edgardo and Collins, surely" Dirk answered, still trusting that none of them has been defeated just yet. "Don't worry, Herasiel can't win of those four" Dirk quickly mentions to back it up, even though he is not trusting his own words.</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>A loud sound of blades clashing against each other could be heard from one store above Collins who is still standing in a small white room that has a stair that goes up, and one that goes down, where Collins just came from. With a quick look outside the window, to see where he was, he notices that Herasiel has pushed the 3 champions far enough to make it dangerous for them.</p><p>"Lord Malathander, let us slay Herasiel!" Collins yelled as he quickly ran up the final stair.</p><p></p><p>A loud scream of pain could be heard and the sound of clashing swords stopped.</p><p>A black haired man of average size just burried his long sword into the chest of a red haired man, dressed in gold colored armor.</p><p>"Edgardo!" Collins screamed as he saw the sword of Herasiel piercing through its armor, right into his heart. The huge smile on Herasiel's face was hideous as he was still looking at the sword that was burried in the heart of Edgardo, who died instantly after the hit, and the turn of the sword. It wasn't just the face of Herasiel that was shocking, but the desperate faces of Terres Price and Tyler Dale that stood only steps away from Herasiel, full with injuries, was not pleasant to see either.</p><p>"Edgardo!" Price called out as tears streamed down his face, not even noticing that Collins was now standing in the room as well.</p><p>"Sweat and blood was running down the heads of Price and Dale, but Herasiel was not even showing any sign of fatigue. It looked as if he was enjoying the entire carnage and had no trouble in keeping himself standing and fighting. The moment Collins saw this, he quickly unsheeted his blade, grabbed it tight and started to approach Herasiel with a rapid pace, only to be stopped easily with a little lift of the blade of Herasiel.</p><p>"A puny attack, of a pathetic Empirical Champion" Herasiel softly mentions into the face of Collins as he stood only inches away from Herasiel. The teeth of Collins could clearly be seen as he was using all his effort to kill Herasiel, and as soon as possible. By putting all his weight in the strike, the faces of the two warriors were awfuly close and they could even count the amount of hairs they had in front of their face.</p><p>"If you would open your mouth a little bit, champion" Herasiel softly mentions with a very calm face, as if he wasn't using any effort to protect himself from the full effort attack of Collins.</p><p>"If I would open my mouth, then what you bastard?!" Collins shouted at Herasiel as he saw Price crawling up intending to attack Herasiel now he is using his effort to defend himself against Collins.</p><p>"...I'd kiss you" Herasiel whispers back to Collins, in answer to his question. With a broad smile on his face.</p><p>Because of the words of Herasiel, Collins lost his strength and his grip became a lot weaker. The answer was unexpected and a clear 'what?' could easily be heard from Collins as his entire facial expression changed from furious to surprised. Naturally, Herasiel took advantage to this by pulling his sword back, and back forward, hitting the face of the falling Collins. While doing this all in a mere second of time, making a bad injury on the forehead of Collins. "He missed!" Collins could hear himself thinking as he fell to the ground.</p><p>"You!" Price screamed as he managed to push Herasiel, forcing him to miss his attack, but not falling to the ground. Herasiel only smiled to the reaction of Price.</p><p>"You bore me" Herasiel mentions as he grabs his sword with two hands. "I expected more from 4 champions of the Empire; you consider yourself elite?" Herasiel mockingly added to his sentence. His smile was very true, he fought and won from 4 champions without even breaking much of a sweat. 'Was he so much stronger than the calculations?' floated through Price and Collins' mind.</p><p>Collins' sight quickly went to Dale, who lay unconscious in one of the corners of the room. His head was bleeding, apparently he was hit by the back of the sword against the head of the brown haired man.</p><p></p><p>After a moment of quiet, Herasiel finally made his move by dropping the Empirical sword he picked up somewhere. "It is time we'd end this little game, isn't it?" Herasiel softly whispers as he reaches for his back, picking up his black spiked Cleaver-Axe. "Funny how things could change so easily, isn't it?" Herasiel mentions as he placed the cleaver in his hands. "Wind will be pleased with the death of four champions" Herasiel softly mentions as he looked at the three champions, one by one, ignoring Edgardo, who he killed only moments ago.</p><p>"Only if, and only if you can defeat us, Herasiel" Dale managed to mention as he stood up again.</p><p>"Recovered already?" Herasiel mentions with a surprise factor in his voice.</p><p>"Recovered? From what? You gave me all the time I need to rest. Now that you've exhausted yoursel-..." before Dale could finish his sentence, he was quiet already. Seeing no sweat, no shaking legs or any show of fatigue in his form, Dale could not offer any word anymore. Herasiel didn't have any problems pulling the best from the 3 champions. "No! Now Collins is here, we are once again, the famous combination of champions! You can't defeat us now, Herasiel!" Dale yelled at him. Knowing that it probably isn't true, but it was hopefully enough for a motivation for Price and Collins, who were more than 10 years younger than Dale is.</p><p>"How much percent was it again? 98% Success rate?" Herasiel softly mentions as he looks up to the sealing. Clearly mocking the three champions, intending to humiliate them.</p><p>It's 89% success rate, and I'll prove it to you," Terres Price confidentally mentioned as he grabbed his stuff again and stood up, while Dale and Collins are walking to Price as well, showing that they are the team with the best team work of the world. But even though the expressions on their faces look similar and confident, their thoughts were clearly asking themselves how a man could be strong enough to fight, and win from 3 champions.</p><p>"I was hoping for a real challenge, that's why I came here, but I find out that the strongest people of the Empire do not even stand a chance against me. Is Taos really that much stronger than you guys?" Herasiel asks, mocking the three once again. "After the golden man, I became bored with you. He was the only one who fought decent" Herasiel mentioned as he lifts his enchanted cleaver once again, ready to defend himself against whatever attack is avaiable.</p><p>"Collins, have you read about the skills of Herasiel?" Dale quickly asks as he tighten his grip a little tighter, ready to strike or defend against Herasiel, if necessary even though Herasiel did not have the eyes to attack someone any time soon.</p><p>"No, I didn't. Was there something I missed? I heard something that Herasiel has a normal fighting style" Collins whispered back to Dale.</p><p>"Tut, tut. Better do your homework next time, Stephan" Herasiel mentioned while putting his left index finger in front of his lips. Surprising all 3 champions that he was able to hear what Collins was saying.</p><p>With a loud sigh, Dale looked desperate at Collins. "Herasiel's information says that he is a man that is specialized in finding the weak spot of his opponent... and striking that" Dale explained. "A dangerous man indeed" floated through the mind of the three champions after the explanation of Dale. Fighting a man such as him, was complete suicide.</p><p></p><p>With a little 'dare' move of Herasiel, he finally reached the limit of Price's patience as he rushed Herasiel while running at him in a defensive form. "What? Afraid that I'll hurt you?" Herasiel mockingly replied as he simply took a step sidewards and using the shield that was surrounding his left wrist to block the effortless attack of Price. Without any moment to waste, the eyes of Herasiel sparkled for a little moment as he quickly pushed the back of his cleaver backwards, hitting Dale in the stomach that was effective instantly. Again without a moment to waste, the blade of Collins quickly followed to the face of Herasiel the moment Herasiel pushed the cleaver backwards.</p><p>"So, Price's attack was a decoy" Herasiel softly mumbles as he easily dodges the attack of Collins. </p><p>"Too wide swing, 12 critical open spots" Dale shouted as he quickly lifted his sword in an effortless decoy attack against Herasiel.</p><p>"13" Herasiel smilingly answers as he immediately take use of it and hitting Collins between the ribs. 'Bah, missed again' crossed Herasiel's mind as he felt a sword hitting the protected part of his ankle. It was unavoidable to hear Collins scream in pain as the cleaver cleaved through his armor into his flesh, making it an awful wound.</p><p>With no time to waste, Price quickly crawled up again and rushed Herasiel from behind, only to be stopped by the left hand of Herasiel. "Rushes are no-no against me, big boy" Herasiel mentioned as he used his left hand to push Price and open up spots to attack, this time, being careful of not getting a hit against his ankle, making it sure by kicking against the head of Dale.</p><p>The eyes of Herasiel went big for a mere moment as he saw Price losing his balance. "What?" Herasiel managed to say as he saw Price turning himself into mid air, dropping his blade and using his family dagger to stab Herasiel with.</p><p>"Hahaha! Worthy effort, champion! But you should know better!" Herasiel managed to say before Price fell to the ground, deciding not to attack Herasiel with his dagger. Dale's eyes became larger when he saw Price grabbing for his dagger and turning himself into mid-air, but was clearly dissapointed when Price decided not to do anything. 'Why' were the only words that came into the head of Dale when he saw Price fall to the ground.</p><p>"...no opening..." was the only thought that crossed Price's mind. "Herasiel showed no opening at all. His whole body was guarded" Price could only think of. Herasiel was not just 'the best' in finding the opponents weak spots, but he also knew how to guard his own body while he was fighting.</p><p>Collins held his hands on his ribs where the blood was streaming from. He was very badly injured, and didn't have the most chance of surviving is he wasn't treated fast. If he wouldn't get help fast, he would follow Edgardo.</p><p></p><p>"Herasiel!" was shouted as several soldiers came up the stairs, clearly surprising Herasiel as his entire facial expression changed.</p><p>"Bah, you spoil the fun!" Herasiel calls out, quickly increasing his pace to run up the stairs while th esoldiers quickly guard the entire room. He could not jump from up there, since the room they were fighting in, was the last room. Above that room, was nothing more than the roof.</p><p>It took a few moments before Price stood up and quickly followed Herasiel to the roof. Within a moment, they stood only several steps away from each other, looking at each other with a deadly stare.</p><p></p><p>"Terres Price, wasn't it?" Herasiel softly says, but in a far more serious tone than before.</p><p>A little nod from Price was all he got as an answer. "You're an impressive fighter, Herasiel" Terres managed to say as he lifted his blade once again.</p><p>"You're willing to continue? Even though you already lost?" Herasiel asks with still a serious look on his face and a lot of seriousness in the tone of his voice. The facial expression of Herasiel completely changed from a moment ago, and now. As if he was playing around when he was inside and that the playtime was over now he was outside again.</p><p>"Eventually, one of us will die in battle. If it is now, or later, it doesn't matter" Price mentions as the fire in his eyes could clearly be seen. His determination was like no other at that moment, and both Herasiel as he knew, that someone with such determination had a sudden boost in winning chances.</p><p>"Indeed, but do you want to die that soon already? You're still young" Herasiel softly mentions while placing his Cleaver on his shoulder for support, not taking the chances of sheeting the cleaver again.</p><p>"Who says I am the one who will fall in combat here?" Price mentions as he took a step forward, forcing to take the attention of Herasiel. Herasiel could easily find weaknesses from the opponent but something like that isn't what you just hear from a little voice in your head, you can only achieve that if you concentrate fully on your opponent(s) and calculate every movement he makes. In other words, Herasiel's instinct, sight, hearing and reflexes are superb.</p><p>"Dale found 12 openings in the defense of Collins when he attacked. I counted exactly 10, and you said 13. I sparred a lot with Dale and my strength is probably not too far from his. If he can count the openings just as easily as you, then you and he should be a little equal in something" Price said before pulling back his weapon, ready to strike Herasiel.</p><p>"Indeed, Dale found 12 openings, I found 13. But that doesn't say he can even be compared to me" Herasiel softly mentions as he deeply breaths and closes his eyes.</p><p>"My que!" raced through the mind of Price as he instantly pushed his blade forward, hitting the shoulder pad of Herasiel, forcing him to lose his balance a bit. "Come on, mister Fallen Angel! I'll let you 'fall' if you go on like this!" Price quickly spoke.</p><p>"Too much confidence, rookie!" Herasiel quickly mentions as he tightend the grip of his cleaver and used his shoulder to block the second attack of Prize, this time, without losing his balance.</p><p>"Confidence? No, it means that I'm superior!" Price quickly mentions as he prepares for a final wide swing. Pulling his arm a bit back and using his other arm as a shield for defense.</p><p>The moment Price's arm was on the right distance, he planned on taking a step forward and attacking Herasiel from short range, increasing the chances of success. Unfortunately, the plan quickly fell apart as Herasiel stepped on the toes of Price, forcing him to lose his balance. With a little extra agillity, the sudden hard knee-kick from Herasiel sent him in the sky.</p><p>"Fare thee well, Terres Price" Herasiel mentions as he sees Terres Price floating in mid-air in front of him while Herasiel pulled his arm back to make a wide swing to cut Price in half.</p><p>'The easiest ways are the best ways, that is my mistake' floated through the mind of Terres as he closed his eyes, knowing that his death was nearing.</p><p>"Hey, Terres" Herasiel managed to say before his swing, that instantly got the attention of Price. "All critical places are open" Herasiel mentioned as a broad smile crossed his face.</p><p></p><p>"Herasiel, catch!" could be heard right before his swing. It instantly took the attention of Herasiel as Terres fell to the ground and a dagger was thrown into his left arm, piercing right through his chainmail.</p><p>Herasiel's eyes grew large because of the sudden attack and how unexpected it was. He quickly watched who it was before he suddenly dissapeared, as if he never has been there.</p><p>Dale grabbed together all his guts and picked up the dropped dagger of Price and threw it was close to Herasiel as possible, coicidentally hitting the arm of Herasiel.</p><p>With a shocked look from both champions they looked each other with a smile on his face, knowing that Herasiel is no longer here in the stronghold. How he dissapeared, no one knows, but he's gone... for the time being.</p><p></p><p>"Hey, Terres" were the words that softly crossed the lips of the taller champion.</p><p>"What is it, Tyler?" Terres slowly replied with as he looked him in the eyes while lying on the ground, not having the strength of standing up just yet. Now that Herasiel is gone, nothing bad could happen for the first amount of minutes.</p><p>"I think I'm gonna retire..."</p><p></p><p>---</p><p></p><p>Dinner went completely different than I expected. I didn't have the courage to start a conversation since everyone was quiet. Alex was having a very worried look at Claes though, but Claes didn't show any expression. Laura still didn't seem to look at me, I must've done something wrong. Jessica, the mother, was litterally ignoring everything and was just quietly eating, just like Sean and Caitlin. Not knowing what to do, I just calmly ate, and took for granted what people did.</p><p>It was clear that Sean and Laura felt uncomfortable that I was around. It was also clear that Alex was worried about Claes and that Claes just ignored Alex. "I should try to talk with them" crossed my mind a million times when I sat there at the table, but I did not have the courage to mention even one word to them. In the hope that I would meet some of them later on the day, I decided to keep it like this.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Fladian, post: 107296, member: 5833"] Still not enough room to put it in one post. :P It was even more than I thought. After this post, It's about 2/3th of it. --- In the mean time, at the Empirical Castle. "Again?" was screamed through the halls to the Throne Room. "You must be kidding me!" was added soon after. A man who carried a large mustache that nearly covered his entire face looked furious. The armored man looked at the Emissary who had to give him a message. The young man next to the man with the large mustache was looking afraid to the Emissary, not exactly knowing what was going on. "Are you saying that Wind attacked us again?" the larged mustached man yelled out, full with unbelief. After hearing the name of 'Wind', the young boy quickly opened his book to look up information about this "Wind" and what her role was in this story. Wind was one of the more dangerous enemies of the Empire. A woman that once served the Empire, no matter at any cost. It was always the question if she could finish a mission properly. She ignored most orders because she thought they were "unworthy" for her pressence and therefore refused doing them. Missions such as an infiltration was something what was far more attractive for her. A small year ago, she disbanded the Empire and made a small group of fighters, naming them after her Renegade name in the Empire, "Fallen Angels". Together with her two most trusted assistents who have been a danger to the Empire since they were born, they attack Empirical Strongholds for their amusement. Both assistents heavily skilled in all sort of different arts with something unique to them that makes them look like they are invincible - not to mention that they are brothers and therefore they can just 'feel' what kind of attack they may make. The infamous woman named Wind has somehow negotiated with them, and named them after 2 Fallen Angels that once served the Sacred Gods. Aurora, the Sacred Angel of the Crystal Gate betrayed the gods by letting a mortal stepping into the gate to take the test without collecting any of the Star Keys. Aurora became the younger brother of the two men and was extremely skilled with most kind of weapons, especially with the long sword. His skill could not be touched and he followed his brother everywhere. The third man, who would grow out to be one of the most dangeroust men in the world. Named after the Fallen Angel that once served the Sacred Kingdom himself. The Angel was found to be giving information to the darker gods. Therefore, he was banned from the Kingdom and his wings were ripped off while he swore that he would get his revenge someday; named with a name the world would shock - Herasiel. Herasiel is now one of the most skilled sword fighters in the world who is perhaps even more skilled with a one-handed axe. The Black Cleaver, a personalized weapon of Herasiel that has a large amount of unique abilities. Together with the more than excellent leader Wind, 'The Shock' also known as, Aurora and his brother, 'The Nightmare' also known as the blade master, Herasiel. With Aurora and Herasiel as her assistents, her 'Fallen Angels' became something to be feared. After attacking small strongholds of the Empire, she grew out to be one of the more dangerous enemies of the Empire together with the Black Shade Thieves. "I can't believe Wind is attacking us again... wait, did you said that she attacked the Waterfall valley?" the man with the large mustache suddenly mentioned as well. As if something very bad happened, the serious expression on his face confirmed it for people that something very bad was going to happen, or was already happening. "Yes, sir. The Fallen Angels attacked the Waterfall Valley, Sorznar, to be exact sir." the Emissary replied with, not knowing what is going on, still looking at the man with his large mustache. "Is something wrong, lord Black?" the Emissary added to it, clearly showing that he was talking to the Grand lord Cruz Black. "As a matter of fact, yes. How was the situation when you left?" Cruz asked the Emissary while a glimmer of hope was crossing the eyes of the Grand Lord. Having an expression in his face that had hope in it, as if that 'bad' thing just turned out to be something good. "The door was broken through, and I heard someone screaming for the help for a price. Should I have checked what that price was?" the Emissary asked as he looked at his lord with a questionable look on his face. Absolutely not knowing what was going on. 'Could it be a good thing, or not?' the man was clearly thinking. "Wrong, Emissary. Our Empirical Soldiers weren't calling for a price, they were calling the help of Terres Price and Dale" Cruz grinningly mentions. Knowing that Terres Price and Dale was an incredible duo that was not easily defeated. Terres Price is an incredible Paladin that works best with the help of sir Dale, one of the older veteran fighters and Lord Gunthar, a man who was able to create more power than an Elite Squad. The young boy quickly looked up to the name of Dale, Price and Gunthar - only to find that Dale was missing in the book. Terres Price, one of the Paladins that has made a huge name for himself. Though he is several years older than the paladin named 'Lord Gunthar', Price was able to keep a morale higher than anyone. His words could motivate huge armies that were supposed to go to war. Terres Price was an excellent fighter and made a name by winning many important battles during the war of the Gods. When Terres recently joined the Empire, he was made a fool because of his last name. Jokes as, "won a price, Price?" or anything similar were often made. But even though they made fun of him, in his debut fights, Terres Price always walked out of the battlefield, no matter what the odds were. One day, about 6000 men, lead by Sir Gregory Ottovus were sent out, to search a group of Bandits, to dispose of them. Unexpectedly, the bandit group was far larger than the group of Sir Gregory Ottovus and Ottovus' group was instead, quickly disposed off, and it was only a matter of minutes until the group of Price was clearly in the minority. While the Empire already gave up on the survival of the squad of sir Ottovus it was unexpected when a small 250 men walked back to the base mentioning that more than 4000 people survived and were injured at the scene. Not yet even mentioned that they disposed of the group of bandits under the leadership of rookie soldier, Terres Price. Price was instantly promoted to a commander. "I've never seen someone with that much potential. How he lead the group in a matter of minutes. Screaming "We will not fall in battle" apparently gave the necessary confidence in my men, and he just rushed the enemy. While losing, he screamed 'we will not dissapoint the Empire! We are far more superior than them!' what gave the last bit of motivation and slaughtered the enemy. Never, and I mean never have I seen someone like that" were the words of Sir Gregory Ottovus after seeing Terres Price in action. Lord Gunthar is a completely different man. His skill is different from a normal soldier and not even possible to compare it to even the skill of Terres Price. Lord Gunthar was clearly a man that could be added to the squads of the Hall of Fame and people who were the most elite of the elites. Lord Gunthar fights with a huge one handed mace that would smash his enemies instantly to the ground. His huge shield was made to defend with, but he uses it for attack due to push it against his opponents while twacking him with his mace. In the average loss of soldiers a squad is 2000. Or at least, that's the average what was brought down because of lord Gunthar's friendship with his group. His loss of soldiers in 3 years was exactly 2 men. Yes, 2 men. Lord Gunthar's body is full with scars that was often hid by his steel armor that covered his body - but that couldn't defend him from everything. "We fight for lives, not for numbers" was what Gunthar said when he came back from the battlefield with one loss. After 7 years of his services in the Empire, he was scouted by the scouts of the Empire and got an invitation to train together with the Elite soldiers. It was a decision you could not refuse, and Lord Gunthar did not refuse it either. He quickly packed his necessary equipment, said bye for a short while to his squad and left to the training field of the Elites. The scouts made no mistake in invitating him as he ended up in the Top. 10 at exactly the 9th place of 'Best Soldier' and the exact number 4 of 'Best Leader on the Battlefield' in result. Leaders of the Elites waited no moment and instantly asked Lord Gunthar to join the Elite Group of soldiers. "Give me a week to think" was the answer of Gunthar when he heard it and went back to his squad, that he leads. When the people asked Lord Gunthar if he had an invitation to join the Elites, Gunthar laughed at it and answered with, "as if" and told them that the Elites existed out of people who were far stronger than him. In truth, it was not true, but he believed that he could motivatie his squad of soldiers by saying that. Like he expected, it worked, and the people looked in utter surprise that there were groups of soldiers that were far more superior in battle than their lord Gunthar. When someone asked at what rank he ended, Gunthar mentioned one of the lowest positions that were available as well. It came to a surprise to people that Jason Sharpe, the number 1. of the Elite Soldiers and a group of scouts approached Gunthar for a second time during the training. Gunthar's soldiers looked in awe to see Lord Sharpe for the first time in reality. In further surprise to Gunthar's soldiers, they wanted a small spar-fight between Lord Jason and Lord Gunthar that ended up with a huge loss for Gunthar. While Jason knew it was all an act of Gunthar to be beat so easily by him, he knew what to say. He declared himself in every way, superior to Gunthar to his soldiers, but whispered to the scouts that Gunthar was only weeks away from his own strength. Finally, after a month after the spar fight with Jason, Gunthar got a letter that he was forced to read to all soldiers. It said that Gunthar got his final invitation to the Elite Squad. He was accepted as the leader of Squadron B-12, one of the highest ranked positions available in the entire Empirical Battlefield. When the scouts appeared one last time to hear the answer of Gunthar they got an answer they would never forget. One of the most important positions of the Empire was offered to Lord Gunthar, who was nothing more than a normal commander. "Let me ask you this, gentlemen" Gunthar replied to the scouts. "These soldiers of this squad, they trust me. Would they trust a sudden other commander?" Gunthar asked them. All soldiers of Gunthar looked up to hear what he was saying about them, and the scouts looked confused, replying slowly with 'no, I guess not'. "Good, then you understand why I won't leave" Gunthar replied in answer and ripped the letter in two and gave the shreds to one of the scouts and commanded his group to resume training. The answer shocked the scouts amazingly much and they were hugely impressed. Declining an option such as this while being so extremely good. Gunthar, who was from that moment on called, Lord Gunthar went on with his 5000 soldier squad and lost about 1 person every 2 years. His opinion was that the lives of humans were far more important than the success of a mission, no matter what mission. Because of the leadership of Lord Gunthar, Lord Gunthar's squad grew out to be even more skilled than the elite squadrons. Lord Gunthar's squad was claimed to be unbeatable and they were not easily disposed of, partly because of Lord Gunthar's amazing defend-skills. "Lord Dale and Lord Price were there?!" the Emissary asked in surprise to the large man. "Yes, Price and Dale are there. Shall we see how they did it?" Cruz answered kindly in reply. An evil grin crossed his face, already knowing what the result was. Wind and her squad are no match for the heavily skilled soldiers of Dale and Price. "Y-Yes, sir!" the Emissary quickly replied with, quickly grabbing his stuff together and leaving towards the exit while Cruz Black slowly walked to the stabbles. --- "Well, Lince? Have you made up your mind?" the armored man asked me. He told me about lord Price and lord Gunthar who also started out here, in the Waterfall Valley. They were amazing people, and good people to look up to, seeing them as a model for the soldiers. They were excellent soldiers, strong, good leaders and very loyal. Working with them would be an honor, an honor as great as being saved to live yet again. My answer was a simple nod, and a broad mysterious smile on my face. I was happy that they asked me, and when he explained why he would ask me, I was only more happy. "Well then Lince, you are welcome to enter our grounds whenever you want. Just ask for someone named 'Mason Bridge' and I will be flying to ya'" The man tells me, confirming that his name was 'Mason Bridge' and a commander of the Strike Force here near Waterfall Valley. Specially trained to attack other places, defending is for someone else, coincidentally, lead by his brother, Dirk Bridge. I thanked him with full appreciation, extremely happy that I was able to join them on the training. "If you'd excuse me now, Lince, Jes." the man named Mason quietly mentions as he places his helm back on his head and prepares to leave back to his stronghold again. His steps were rather fast, even though his armor looked quite heavy. "Are all soldiers that strong?" floated through my mind as I saw the soldiers marching back to the stronghold. "Congratiolations, Lince" was something I could clearly hear from behind. Fortunately, it was a voice I could recognize. I quickly turned my head to see the lovely Laura looking at me with a smile on her face. Her clothes were something that typical fitted her, especially her bust. It was as if she was trying to turn me on or anything similar, though I knew it was pure nonsense what I was thinking. She barely knows me, and I barely know her. The only times we got contact was when I woke up and felt a fist against my head and only minutes ago when I bumped into her and she growled at me. "Thanks, I guess... Laura, was it?" I mentioned, as I saw the door closing again, seeing that the mother left the scene. She apparently just wanted the soldier, Mason to hear from me. But why should I care about the mother now that someone else took interest in m-... Before my thoughts ended, I could hear the door again, and I was alone in the flower garden. "So much for the interest" floated through my mind as I looked at the closed wooden door. I sighed and turned to look up in the sky. It is actually a pretty nice house. I could see 3 houses around me that were about the same size and in general, it was just one huge farm. Animals walked freely around and it wasn't uncommon to see a pig walking against your leg or anything similar. "Life here isn't all that bad" passed my lips as I kept looking at the sky. ...but, how did I come here? "Living on a farm isn't all that bad. I can live the way I want to, and do whatever I want" floated through my thoughts as I looked up to the sky, seeing a part of the house blocking my view. If I would look a different way, a part of another house would block my view. No matter what I would do, the houses would remain in my sight. They were huge, but that could be logical. In the family I was spending my time at, a lot of time that is. Then to think, I don't even know the last name of the family. For some reason, I woke up in the bed of the little girl named Caitlin and been here ever since. I met Laura, Caitlin, Jessica, Mason, Alex and Claes, but right now, I only had a serious talk with Mason and Alex... "could it be that the others are avoiding me? But why would they" flew through my mind in an instant. I instantly started to think about things more. I was interested in the place I was and I have yet to meet an amount of people. I still haven't talked with the little boy named Sean... or even saw him in my living state. But the question remained, "how did I come here?" kept repeating in my mind. It was a question that came to mind the moment I woke up in the bed of Caitlin, while not knowing where I was. I was not familiar with most people from the house and I am not yet comfortable talking with everyone of the house hold. "It was pretty clear that Laura wasn't fond on me and I am sure I can't get a decent answer from Caitli-" before I could finish what was on my mind, I heard someone mentioning my name. My head automaticly went up as I saw a boy sitting on the edge of the window, looking at me with a mean face. "What are you doing out there?" the boy asked me in a harsh and loud voice, clearly not appreciating the point that I was spending time in, or around the house. Was it Sean? Or was it yet someone else. The sun was shining in my eyes, and I hard time seeing who was talking to me. It was quite a distance as well but I could feel his eyes burning on my skin. A 'deadly stare' is what they call such, or 'staring daggers'. "Who are you?" I called back at him. "Sean" he replied bluntly with, moments later adding: "you're Lince, aren't you?" while the questions looked kind, his face and the tone of his voice were exactly the opposite. Sean was looking at me with the burning sun above the house that kept my eyes small, not being able to see how he looked like from close by. Finally, I replied with a nod as an answer to his question to ask if I was Lince. "Stupid name, but it is nice to meet you" Sean answered with, after taking his time looking at me. "I saw my father talking with you. What was it he wanted?" the boy asked me as he finally stood up, shaking the window a little bit. Nice to meet me? The way he looked at me was like an eagle and its prey. His tone was extremely unpleasant but his reaction was completely unexpected. But even though he looked me with such a face, his intention seemed kind to me. It took me moments to come to the conclusion and I finally replied with that his 'father' was asking me to join the Empirical Strike Force. When I answered his question, I clearly surprised the boy as a clear "oh" gave my answer. It is very understandable why he would be surprised, I was surprised as well when I heard the offer of being accepted into the Empire, especially since I was placed in the Strike Force. Then to think, I'm only 16! "Do you know even anything about the Empire's Strike Force?!" the boy yelled at me again. It looked like he was angry yet again. But to be honest, I don't have much ideas what the strike force of this area has to do. Mason said that there wasn't much the last amount of months, and because of that, they accepted me... partly. But even though I had no intentions of training there with people I don't know, it was very attractive to hear that Dale and Price came from the same training camp and grew out to be two of the most famous soldiers in the world. Unfortunately, only Price and Dale came from there. Other famous soldiers came from places which had a long distance from Waterfall Valley. Though it is great that at least Dale and Price came from there, it is a shame that all other people who've made a name aren't from the area in the long range. "Unfortunately, no, I don't know much about this strike force. Could you explain this to me?" I asked, hoping that I could get a chance to seriously talk with him. I was wondering about his personality as for one, but it is understandable that he was mad at me. I was living in his room after all. I wouldn't be happy either if someone would take residence in my room, just like I am doing. A loud sigh could be heard from the boy as he stuck his head out of the window, making his face completely dark for me. "Very well, come up to my... our room" the boy said as he pulled his head back in, and walked back inside, letting me lose the sight of him. A sigh of me could be heard as I made an "oh well" gesture and walked to "our" room in a rapid pace, ignoring most things that I found during my walk up. Luckily, I didn't meet anyone of the family as I was walking up to "our" room. Moments later, I was ready to knock on the door. The moment I wanted to know, it was already opened by a boy, that was clearly one or two heads shorter than me and his blond hair confirmed for me that he was Sean. "Come in, I'll explain it to you" he said as he walked to a chair and sat down when he reached it. Taking a book from his desk and showing it to me. "Legends" was the title of the book. I was clearly wondering what he wanted with it while I closed the door behind me. After all, I did not ask for a complete history, I wanted to ask about the Strike Force. "Look, Lince. Mason Bridge, my father, he and his Strike Force had a problem with a bunch of Black Shade Thieves that took residence near this place. Because of this, my father is very little home because those thieves can do a lot of awful things" the boy told me, keeping me wondering about several things. Before I could let him continue his story, I broke in and asked why the thieves took residence here. After all, the only impressive thing what can be found here is a farm. "You idiot!" the boy yelled at me again, looking at me furiously. "The Fallen Angels, the Black Shade Thieves and us, of course, know that we have a secret passage under the ground. It is a safe place that is specially made for bosses of the Empire who come here once a month" the boy explained to me. Meaning, that there is a hidden passage here somewhere that leads to this secret hallway that is made for the Empire to discuss, whatever is necessary to discuss. "Why can't they just go to a different place. The Empirical "bosses" that is" I asked, hoping to get a kind answer instead of an insult again. My patience is long termed, but even that can end. "The cave down below is a gift of nature and very easily to defend in opposite of something that man makes. I know it sounds strange, but I've been there once, and I could not make a step before I was discovered" the boy explained to me. "Alright, but then I understand that both the Fallen Angels as the Black Shade Thieves are aiming to capture one of the "bosses", right?" I asked him. "Probably. Why?" The boy asked in reply, not knowing where I was trying to point out. "Well, why don't they work together if they have the same option?" I asked him, hoping that he knew the answer. It was very unfortunate that I knew barely anything about the Fallen Angels nor the Black Shade Thieves. Right when I finished my sentence of my question, he pushed the book with the title 'Legends' in my hands and commanded me to read it. Moments later, he left the room, clearly being annoyed by my pressence. I sighed in reply, not knowing what else to do, I decided to read the book and quickly found a category about the Black Shade Thieves. Apparently, the Black Shade Thieves were created by a brave Empirical Soldier named 'Azakar' who was able to create the perfect soldier by using certain magics that raised the dead. He named the undead-chimera Tain, a creature that could feel no pain and was in every way invulnerable. Months after Azakar created Tain, he was found that he was murdering Empirical Soldiers for training of Tain. Because of that, Tain was locked underground and Tain was thrown in prison. But because of the people who were loyal to Azakar he was released after days in prison and together with his loyal soldiers, he released Tain yet again to cause havoc. The soldiers under his command were one of the best and not to mention that they had a nearly invulnerable soldiers on their side that was completely unstopable. After the group of Azakar showed that the Black Shade Thieves were just as dangerous as the Fallen Angels, it was only a matter of time before the organisation got the name of 'Black Shade Thieves' and gathered a team that was about half of the Empire. Azakar became stronger and stronger until he announced his final attack to the Central Palace where lord Glodich and his guards were waiting for him. But when Tain come, the battle was a masacare. All Glodich's body guards died until one of the last soldiers stood up, facing the creature in combat only carrying a half broken two-handed sword. The man decided that the best way to destroy Tain was to use a certain 'thing' on him that would destroy its body. That "thing" was lava from the Volcano that can be found on the same island as the Central Palace was located. After Tain was destroyed, the man was recognized under the name of 'Dale' and quickly a part of the Black Shade Thieves fell apart. But even though their number were less, they were still a huge danger to the world. And even though Tain was killed, Azakar was still alive and ruling the Black Shade Thieves from his stronghold. Wind and Azakar were in the same section when they worked in the Empire. Orders that were given to Wind, Price, Dale, Collins, Bridge, Hacanson, Ilja and Holm were always given by the combination of lord Cruz Black and sir Azakar Rind. Because Wind was unsatisfied with her jobs, she quit Empire and swore that she would never talk to Black and Rind again. My fantasy was quickly playing as I saw sir Bridge fighting Wind, Azakar and Tain and winning the battle. But then again, it is only fantasy. --- "Black, I told you, if we gone through the mountains, we would've reached the valley by now!" a dark haired man yelled at Cruz Black as they both sat on a horse cladderd with all kinds of heavy armor with several bataljons of soldiers behind them. Riding horses in a rapid pace to reach their destination as soon as possible, knowing that the Fallen Angels attacked the Waterfall Valley stronghold. Though Cruz was sure that Price and Dale managed to keep the stronghold standing and easily disposed of the Fallen Angels, Cruz was hoping to see the head of Herasiel and his brother on a plate. Though unfortunately, Black was forced to ask Stephan Collins with him. The entire Empire knows that Cruz Black was never able to get along with three of the Champions, Price, Collins and Dale. "Shut up, Collins! I made a mistake, but we're nearly there now!" Cruz shouted back at Collins with an angered face, knowing that he made a mistake and that Collins would remember it, because it was a way to get back to Cruz. "Nearly there, you say?" Collins asks Cruz with an awful look on his face, clearly intending to prove him wrong. "Terres and Tyler are fighting people like Herasiel out there! Even though Terres and Tyler have an advantage over them, Herasiel and Aurora won't just fall in combat that easily." Collins shouts back to Cruz, with an angered face, like usual. "I know! I know! Don't worry though, Edgardo Hodges is there too" Cruz mentions, hoping to get Collins back to his mood. Edgardo Hodges was one of the champions from the North. Specialized in defending against heavy hits and very skilled in counter attacking the opponent by using a one-handed spear and a Tower Shield. Edgardo is not stronger than Dale or Price, but he is far more skilled when it comes to defending. Edgardo was at his golden years and at his very best, because of that, not many people could win from him in combat when they faced him. The battles with him always take a long time, but the longer it takes, the more chance Edgardo has to win. Collins and Edgardo aren't the best of friends, but they know that both of them are skilled in combat and in the hope that they would never face each other in combat. Collins and Price were team mates when they fought together in battles and made the title of a 89% chance of success, that is very high, considering that battles they are sent to are often failures. "You mean that both Terres and Tyler are there, but Edgardo is there as well?" the man asks Cruz as he looks at him in a huge state of shock. The combination of Edgardo, Price and Dale was something to be surely be feares, especially if they fought at a place that was in their advantage. "Enough talking, we must hurry! If the battle went out well, we still have a large amount of injuries, surely." Cruz quickly mentions now Collins was back to normal. Personal fights were something to be ignored now, now it was more important to get to the stronghold as soon as possible to get a report from Price or one of the brothers Bridge. "That's right! How much time do we have before it gets dark?" Collins quickly enquires as he makes a gesture to the troops to speed up. "Less than an hour. But by the time we will reach the stronghold, it is surely dark already." Cruz mentions with a sad face. He knows that Black Shade Thieves and Fallen Angels had a small advantage in the dark. Thieves and Assassins where the Black Shade's were formed of was there specialty and the Fallen Angels had their own share of advantages as well. "Make haste men! Whoever reaches the Stronghold first will be treated to a beer from me!" Collins calls out, motivating his soldiers to speed up to reach the stronghold as soon as possible. --- While looking at the window to the sky, I found that the sun was setting and a huge red glow was surrounding the area with a feeling of comfort. "Beautiful, but red is also the color of blood" shot through my thoughts as I looked at the blood red sky that was filling the sky. They taught me once that every minute, a person died and a baby was born. If that is true, then thousands of people would die in a few days. It was not hard to believe something like that, for all I know, Fallen Angels were fighting Empirical Soldiers in the mean time. Death was something that could not be avoided from such a battle. Especially not with people like Herasiel and Aurora on the Fallen Angels side and people like Taos and Gunthar on the Empirical side. Seeing them combine forces in combat would be like a dream that came true. Who would win, could not be predicted. "Lince?" I could hear someone saying, as I slowly turned around, to see a woman standing in the door opening looking at me. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail as she looked at me. A few grey hairs sticked out of it, even though most of it was calmly pushed back. I can remember seeing this woman in the garden only an hour ago. She was together with her husband, apparently, Mason Bridge. So, her name must be Jessica Bridge, together with Claes Bridge, Laura Bridge, Sean Bridge and Caitlin Bridge. Exceptional name, not that my own name is all that great. Finally, after moments of thought, I answered with a calm, "yes?" as I kept starring at her, wondering what she would want from me. If she wanted to ask where Sean went to, I couldn't answer her that since I wouldn't know it myself. "Would you like to join on dinner, Lince?" the woman kindly asks me as she was still standing in the door opening while I suddenly saw Claes coming out of her room and walking downstairs. But for all they know, I'm still a stranger to them. "Could I ask you a few things first? This is the first time we talked after all" I mentioned to her as I looked at her with a smile on my face as I pushed the small patch of hair out of my face that almost instantly fell back again to hide my eye. A little nod from her was the answer to my question as I stood up from the chair I sat down on when she got in. "Could you tell me how I came here? I have been wondering that the moment I arrived" was definitely the first question I asked as I looked her right in the eyes, and I made it sure that she couldn't avoid the question. She looked quite unsure to me. 'Was she afraid of me?' floated through my mind as I looked at her being all shy to me. 'No, that's impossible' my mind answered my own question as she finally moved her lips to answer me. "Well... on a certain day, Claes was out during the night and Alex was waiting for her return. The moment she returned, she had you in her arms and Alex quickly tried to tend to your wounds. After I heard what happened and checked up on you, you really looked like you had no chance of surviving" she explained to me. I could remember something like that. I remember feeling a stab between my ribs and my consiousness floated away right after that. The moment after, I could only remember that someone was bandaging my wounds and the moment after that, I noticed that I woke up in Caitlin's room. "Then I must thank Alex and Claes for it. But, why are you all so friendly to me? I am nothing more than a stranger to you people" I asked, considering it would also be my last question as I looked at her in the eyes yet again. Once again, she could not avoid the question since she knew I would ask it eventually, it was only a matter of time before I would ask it. "Didn't you notice that already?" she asked me with finally a small smile crossing her face. "Caitlin likes you, after all" she explained to me. My mind quickly raced through several thoughts, remembering that I had some pleasant conversations with the little girl, but I have yet to talk to Laura for one. "Claes likes you for some kind of reason as well" the mother went on as she looked at me with a smile. "And Alex told me that he hasn't seen the smile of Claes for a long time until you came along" the mother, Jessica, explained to me as she looked pleased at me. "So, therefore everyone is being nice to me? It feels like something is very wrong. Everything is going far too easy..." I explained to her, while looking at the ground with a thinking face. Something was clearly wrong, that Claes wanted to learn the songs I memorized and that Caitlin finally has a friend was clear to me. It is quite clear to me as well that Alex was happy to see Claes smile again, but that doesn't explain why I may live with them in the same house. "Don't think too much about it, Lince. Just come and eat with us." Jessica mentioned to me as she grabbed my hand and pulled me downstairs to the dinning room where I could see all family members, except the father sitting at the table, waiting for their dinner to be served. Only Alex wasn't here, but I already knew that he wasn't a family member of this house. Without really noticing it, the sun has finally set outside and the moon took its place. It was finally dark and my first recovered day was nearly over. I wonder what Mason is thinking as I sat down in one of the stairs. 'He is probably missing his family,' was what floated through my thoughts as a small embarrassed smile crossed my face. --- "Ike!" was screamed by a dark haired man as he jumped from his horse and quickly ran to the man who had an arrow in his chest. In the opposite thought of Cruz, the Stronghold did not survived the attack of the Fallen Angels and the roofs were on fire, the soldiers were killed from the outside and some of the remaining Fallen Angels outside were fighting several Empirical Soldiers. Then to think, no one has gone in just yet. "Ike! Ike!" Collins kept calling as he tried to place the man named 'Ike' in a comfortable position so he could talk. Apparently, he was one of the only survivers of the onslaught. "C... Collins... C... Cruz..." the man named Ike could mention as he saw both Collins and Cruz standing near him. They were looking down on him, he was badly injured and at the brink of death. "Ike, where is Price?!" Cruz quickly mentioned as he tried to gather as many of the soldiers that were not fighting the exhausted Fallen Angels that were slowly being killed or captured. "Ike!" Cruz shouted as he tried to speed up the reaction of Ike. For once, Collins did not react to the reaction of Cruz as he was desperate to find Terres, Tyler and Edgardo as well. "H... Hera... siel... is a living... Nightmare..." Ike was able to mention as he tried to point to the gate of the stronghold. "P... Price... insid-..." Ike was not even able to finish his sentence before Cruz stood up, and shouted to his men that they should surround the stronghold and prepare to fight anything that is still inside. "Stop!" Ike shouted with his last remaining energies, ignoring Collins that was trying to keep Ike safe and on the ground. "Herasiel!... is also inside!" Ike screamed as his sight was becoming blurry and blood was starting to run over his armor because of his wound. It was already a miracle that he survived an arrow that pierced through his armor like that, but that he was able to talk was really pushing the limit. "Herasiel is inside?" Cruz surprisingly answers as his sight instantly went back to Ike. "What about Price, Dale, Bridge and Edgardo?!" Cruz managed to ask as he looked Ike strictly in the face. "They... are fighting Herasiel. Together with..." Ike made several deep breaths as if his last minutes finally began. "Together with... with... loyal soldiers" Ike finally ended his last sentence with. Though Ike did not die after his last sentence, he did lost his consciousness because of a loss of blood. "Collins! Leave Ike here for the medics, we're going in!" Cruz mentions as he gathers the best of his team to join the battle to go inside. Inside the burning stronghold. It only took a moment before the team was gathered and ran inside. It took another moment to come in and find the Fallen Angels. Apparently, they didn't leave the stronghold at all. They were still fighting the Empirical Soldiers, led by Dirk Bridge who was very badly injured, and the broad smile on his face was very clear as he saw Cruz Black, Stephan Collins and their team coming in. The faces of most Fallen Angels were dissapointed as most of them dropped their weapons and gave up on the battle, knowing that they would have no chance of winning now Black and his team has arrived. "Dirk! Where is Price?!" Collins quickly shouted at Dirk Bridge as he stood on a platform, above most others. "Inside the building. Aurora and Wind already left, but Herasiel is still inside. He is fighting Price, Dale and Edgardo" Dirk managed to shout back at Collins as he finally sheeted his blade and climbed back down the ladders. "Is he mad? Fighting Price, Dale and Edgardo at the same time? He stands no chance!" Collins laughingly calls out; making an awful expression on many faces of the Fallen Angels. Words like, 'Herasiel ain't that weak!' or 'your people aren't strong enough to win of Herasiel' were constantly heard as Cruz made a gesture to Collins to go in and find Herasiel. "Wait, Collins! You may laugh at that. But Herasiel is still pushing them further and further into the stronghold until he reaches his goal" Dirk managed to say before Collins was out of sight. "Our calculations about Herasiel were wrong, Collins... be careful" Dirk whispered to himself as he closed his hands and prayed to Lady Aceci to keep Collins and the others safe. The calculations considered Herasiel as the greatest threat in the lands and only combined efforts of champions could win from them. If those calculations were wrong, does that mean Herasiel is even stronger than that? "Dirk! Go to the medics for your wounds, I'll use my soldiers to keep everything guarded here. If, and only if Herasiel is able to win from people like Price, or if he runs away, he stands no chance against my soldiers" Cruz shouts at Dirk as a large distance was between them. But how could you not worry about them, if he has seen Herasiel fighting all three of them at the same time, and winning that battle. A combination of Price, Dale, Edgardo and Collins should be stronger than Lord Taos, so it should be OK, but still... "Price, Dale, Collins and Edgardo are champions. They won't lose that easily from a Fallen Angel, no matter how strong he is. Taos isn't invincible either" Cruz tries to reassure Dirk with, knowing what he is going through. But everyone knows that Taos is the most skilled man in combat and not Herasiel, no matter what. Taos won of Herasiel before, about 3 years ago after all. If the combination of that 4 is stronger than Taos, than they should manage to win from Herasiel. That was clear in the mind of Cruz, but they could not permit any loss of one of the champions, but if they had to lose one or two in order to kill the man named 'Herasiel' then it is gladly given. A little sparkle in the eye of Cruz could be seen as his lips whispered a few words. "Come on, Price, don't let me down" were his whispering words, that could not be heard by anyone except by Black himself. --- "Price?! Dale?! Edgardo?!" the black haired man was shouting as he ran through the halls of the stronghold, not knowing where Herasiel was heading to. "Damn you, Herasiel!" Collins screamed as he ordered his men to split up to search for them as soon as possible. In groups of 6, they should at least leave 5 people to help Price and let the other get all other soldiers. "I will go to the middle tower alone, if anything is going on, come and get me there" Collins orderd to his men as they quickly split up to search for Herasiel. A moment when everyone left, Collins left to the middle - and largest - tower. "You won't lose, right, Terres?" floated through Collins' mind as he ran as fast as he can - which isn't all that because of his heavy armor - to the middle tower, in the hope that he would find Herasiel there. 'Herasiel is a living nightmare', Ike said. With words such as that floating through his mind, it is hard to get it out of your mind as he kept running on the stairs. --- "Dirk! What happened here?!" the words of his brother reached him as his soldiers arrived at the stronghold. "Ask Cruz, I have to check up on my men" Dirk quickly answers his brother, Mason. "I will, wait for me, Dirk." Mason quickly mentioned as he increased his pace and searched for Cruz Black, that was still tightening the defenses of the stronghold, which wasn't all that hard. "Sir Dirk, is it true that Aurora and Herasiel is in there?" one of the soldiers of Mason decided to ask the brother of their commander. "Only Herasiel" Dirk mentioned as he placed some bandaged around his left arm because of all his injuries. "I'm going back in when I've tended to my wounds. I won't let them fight him alone" Dirk mentioned as he tried to hurry up with his bandages what was starting to become a huge failure using one hand. "If Herasiel is still in there, with who is he?" the soldier asked as he helped Dirk with his bandages, seeing that he had trouble doing it on his own. "Price, Dale, Edgardo and Collins, surely" Dirk answered, still trusting that none of them has been defeated just yet. "Don't worry, Herasiel can't win of those four" Dirk quickly mentions to back it up, even though he is not trusting his own words. --- A loud sound of blades clashing against each other could be heard from one store above Collins who is still standing in a small white room that has a stair that goes up, and one that goes down, where Collins just came from. With a quick look outside the window, to see where he was, he notices that Herasiel has pushed the 3 champions far enough to make it dangerous for them. "Lord Malathander, let us slay Herasiel!" Collins yelled as he quickly ran up the final stair. A loud scream of pain could be heard and the sound of clashing swords stopped. A black haired man of average size just burried his long sword into the chest of a red haired man, dressed in gold colored armor. "Edgardo!" Collins screamed as he saw the sword of Herasiel piercing through its armor, right into his heart. The huge smile on Herasiel's face was hideous as he was still looking at the sword that was burried in the heart of Edgardo, who died instantly after the hit, and the turn of the sword. It wasn't just the face of Herasiel that was shocking, but the desperate faces of Terres Price and Tyler Dale that stood only steps away from Herasiel, full with injuries, was not pleasant to see either. "Edgardo!" Price called out as tears streamed down his face, not even noticing that Collins was now standing in the room as well. "Sweat and blood was running down the heads of Price and Dale, but Herasiel was not even showing any sign of fatigue. It looked as if he was enjoying the entire carnage and had no trouble in keeping himself standing and fighting. The moment Collins saw this, he quickly unsheeted his blade, grabbed it tight and started to approach Herasiel with a rapid pace, only to be stopped easily with a little lift of the blade of Herasiel. "A puny attack, of a pathetic Empirical Champion" Herasiel softly mentions into the face of Collins as he stood only inches away from Herasiel. The teeth of Collins could clearly be seen as he was using all his effort to kill Herasiel, and as soon as possible. By putting all his weight in the strike, the faces of the two warriors were awfuly close and they could even count the amount of hairs they had in front of their face. "If you would open your mouth a little bit, champion" Herasiel softly mentions with a very calm face, as if he wasn't using any effort to protect himself from the full effort attack of Collins. "If I would open my mouth, then what you bastard?!" Collins shouted at Herasiel as he saw Price crawling up intending to attack Herasiel now he is using his effort to defend himself against Collins. "...I'd kiss you" Herasiel whispers back to Collins, in answer to his question. With a broad smile on his face. Because of the words of Herasiel, Collins lost his strength and his grip became a lot weaker. The answer was unexpected and a clear 'what?' could easily be heard from Collins as his entire facial expression changed from furious to surprised. Naturally, Herasiel took advantage to this by pulling his sword back, and back forward, hitting the face of the falling Collins. While doing this all in a mere second of time, making a bad injury on the forehead of Collins. "He missed!" Collins could hear himself thinking as he fell to the ground. "You!" Price screamed as he managed to push Herasiel, forcing him to miss his attack, but not falling to the ground. Herasiel only smiled to the reaction of Price. "You bore me" Herasiel mentions as he grabs his sword with two hands. "I expected more from 4 champions of the Empire; you consider yourself elite?" Herasiel mockingly added to his sentence. His smile was very true, he fought and won from 4 champions without even breaking much of a sweat. 'Was he so much stronger than the calculations?' floated through Price and Collins' mind. Collins' sight quickly went to Dale, who lay unconscious in one of the corners of the room. His head was bleeding, apparently he was hit by the back of the sword against the head of the brown haired man. After a moment of quiet, Herasiel finally made his move by dropping the Empirical sword he picked up somewhere. "It is time we'd end this little game, isn't it?" Herasiel softly whispers as he reaches for his back, picking up his black spiked Cleaver-Axe. "Funny how things could change so easily, isn't it?" Herasiel mentions as he placed the cleaver in his hands. "Wind will be pleased with the death of four champions" Herasiel softly mentions as he looked at the three champions, one by one, ignoring Edgardo, who he killed only moments ago. "Only if, and only if you can defeat us, Herasiel" Dale managed to mention as he stood up again. "Recovered already?" Herasiel mentions with a surprise factor in his voice. "Recovered? From what? You gave me all the time I need to rest. Now that you've exhausted yoursel-..." before Dale could finish his sentence, he was quiet already. Seeing no sweat, no shaking legs or any show of fatigue in his form, Dale could not offer any word anymore. Herasiel didn't have any problems pulling the best from the 3 champions. "No! Now Collins is here, we are once again, the famous combination of champions! You can't defeat us now, Herasiel!" Dale yelled at him. Knowing that it probably isn't true, but it was hopefully enough for a motivation for Price and Collins, who were more than 10 years younger than Dale is. "How much percent was it again? 98% Success rate?" Herasiel softly mentions as he looks up to the sealing. Clearly mocking the three champions, intending to humiliate them. It's 89% success rate, and I'll prove it to you," Terres Price confidentally mentioned as he grabbed his stuff again and stood up, while Dale and Collins are walking to Price as well, showing that they are the team with the best team work of the world. But even though the expressions on their faces look similar and confident, their thoughts were clearly asking themselves how a man could be strong enough to fight, and win from 3 champions. "I was hoping for a real challenge, that's why I came here, but I find out that the strongest people of the Empire do not even stand a chance against me. Is Taos really that much stronger than you guys?" Herasiel asks, mocking the three once again. "After the golden man, I became bored with you. He was the only one who fought decent" Herasiel mentioned as he lifts his enchanted cleaver once again, ready to defend himself against whatever attack is avaiable. "Collins, have you read about the skills of Herasiel?" Dale quickly asks as he tighten his grip a little tighter, ready to strike or defend against Herasiel, if necessary even though Herasiel did not have the eyes to attack someone any time soon. "No, I didn't. Was there something I missed? I heard something that Herasiel has a normal fighting style" Collins whispered back to Dale. "Tut, tut. Better do your homework next time, Stephan" Herasiel mentioned while putting his left index finger in front of his lips. Surprising all 3 champions that he was able to hear what Collins was saying. With a loud sigh, Dale looked desperate at Collins. "Herasiel's information says that he is a man that is specialized in finding the weak spot of his opponent... and striking that" Dale explained. "A dangerous man indeed" floated through the mind of the three champions after the explanation of Dale. Fighting a man such as him, was complete suicide. With a little 'dare' move of Herasiel, he finally reached the limit of Price's patience as he rushed Herasiel while running at him in a defensive form. "What? Afraid that I'll hurt you?" Herasiel mockingly replied as he simply took a step sidewards and using the shield that was surrounding his left wrist to block the effortless attack of Price. Without any moment to waste, the eyes of Herasiel sparkled for a little moment as he quickly pushed the back of his cleaver backwards, hitting Dale in the stomach that was effective instantly. Again without a moment to waste, the blade of Collins quickly followed to the face of Herasiel the moment Herasiel pushed the cleaver backwards. "So, Price's attack was a decoy" Herasiel softly mumbles as he easily dodges the attack of Collins. "Too wide swing, 12 critical open spots" Dale shouted as he quickly lifted his sword in an effortless decoy attack against Herasiel. "13" Herasiel smilingly answers as he immediately take use of it and hitting Collins between the ribs. 'Bah, missed again' crossed Herasiel's mind as he felt a sword hitting the protected part of his ankle. It was unavoidable to hear Collins scream in pain as the cleaver cleaved through his armor into his flesh, making it an awful wound. With no time to waste, Price quickly crawled up again and rushed Herasiel from behind, only to be stopped by the left hand of Herasiel. "Rushes are no-no against me, big boy" Herasiel mentioned as he used his left hand to push Price and open up spots to attack, this time, being careful of not getting a hit against his ankle, making it sure by kicking against the head of Dale. The eyes of Herasiel went big for a mere moment as he saw Price losing his balance. "What?" Herasiel managed to say as he saw Price turning himself into mid air, dropping his blade and using his family dagger to stab Herasiel with. "Hahaha! Worthy effort, champion! But you should know better!" Herasiel managed to say before Price fell to the ground, deciding not to attack Herasiel with his dagger. Dale's eyes became larger when he saw Price grabbing for his dagger and turning himself into mid-air, but was clearly dissapointed when Price decided not to do anything. 'Why' were the only words that came into the head of Dale when he saw Price fall to the ground. "...no opening..." was the only thought that crossed Price's mind. "Herasiel showed no opening at all. His whole body was guarded" Price could only think of. Herasiel was not just 'the best' in finding the opponents weak spots, but he also knew how to guard his own body while he was fighting. Collins held his hands on his ribs where the blood was streaming from. He was very badly injured, and didn't have the most chance of surviving is he wasn't treated fast. If he wouldn't get help fast, he would follow Edgardo. "Herasiel!" was shouted as several soldiers came up the stairs, clearly surprising Herasiel as his entire facial expression changed. "Bah, you spoil the fun!" Herasiel calls out, quickly increasing his pace to run up the stairs while th esoldiers quickly guard the entire room. He could not jump from up there, since the room they were fighting in, was the last room. Above that room, was nothing more than the roof. It took a few moments before Price stood up and quickly followed Herasiel to the roof. Within a moment, they stood only several steps away from each other, looking at each other with a deadly stare. "Terres Price, wasn't it?" Herasiel softly says, but in a far more serious tone than before. A little nod from Price was all he got as an answer. "You're an impressive fighter, Herasiel" Terres managed to say as he lifted his blade once again. "You're willing to continue? Even though you already lost?" Herasiel asks with still a serious look on his face and a lot of seriousness in the tone of his voice. The facial expression of Herasiel completely changed from a moment ago, and now. As if he was playing around when he was inside and that the playtime was over now he was outside again. "Eventually, one of us will die in battle. If it is now, or later, it doesn't matter" Price mentions as the fire in his eyes could clearly be seen. His determination was like no other at that moment, and both Herasiel as he knew, that someone with such determination had a sudden boost in winning chances. "Indeed, but do you want to die that soon already? You're still young" Herasiel softly mentions while placing his Cleaver on his shoulder for support, not taking the chances of sheeting the cleaver again. "Who says I am the one who will fall in combat here?" Price mentions as he took a step forward, forcing to take the attention of Herasiel. Herasiel could easily find weaknesses from the opponent but something like that isn't what you just hear from a little voice in your head, you can only achieve that if you concentrate fully on your opponent(s) and calculate every movement he makes. In other words, Herasiel's instinct, sight, hearing and reflexes are superb. "Dale found 12 openings in the defense of Collins when he attacked. I counted exactly 10, and you said 13. I sparred a lot with Dale and my strength is probably not too far from his. If he can count the openings just as easily as you, then you and he should be a little equal in something" Price said before pulling back his weapon, ready to strike Herasiel. "Indeed, Dale found 12 openings, I found 13. But that doesn't say he can even be compared to me" Herasiel softly mentions as he deeply breaths and closes his eyes. "My que!" raced through the mind of Price as he instantly pushed his blade forward, hitting the shoulder pad of Herasiel, forcing him to lose his balance a bit. "Come on, mister Fallen Angel! I'll let you 'fall' if you go on like this!" Price quickly spoke. "Too much confidence, rookie!" Herasiel quickly mentions as he tightend the grip of his cleaver and used his shoulder to block the second attack of Prize, this time, without losing his balance. "Confidence? No, it means that I'm superior!" Price quickly mentions as he prepares for a final wide swing. Pulling his arm a bit back and using his other arm as a shield for defense. The moment Price's arm was on the right distance, he planned on taking a step forward and attacking Herasiel from short range, increasing the chances of success. Unfortunately, the plan quickly fell apart as Herasiel stepped on the toes of Price, forcing him to lose his balance. With a little extra agillity, the sudden hard knee-kick from Herasiel sent him in the sky. "Fare thee well, Terres Price" Herasiel mentions as he sees Terres Price floating in mid-air in front of him while Herasiel pulled his arm back to make a wide swing to cut Price in half. 'The easiest ways are the best ways, that is my mistake' floated through the mind of Terres as he closed his eyes, knowing that his death was nearing. "Hey, Terres" Herasiel managed to say before his swing, that instantly got the attention of Price. "All critical places are open" Herasiel mentioned as a broad smile crossed his face. "Herasiel, catch!" could be heard right before his swing. It instantly took the attention of Herasiel as Terres fell to the ground and a dagger was thrown into his left arm, piercing right through his chainmail. Herasiel's eyes grew large because of the sudden attack and how unexpected it was. He quickly watched who it was before he suddenly dissapeared, as if he never has been there. Dale grabbed together all his guts and picked up the dropped dagger of Price and threw it was close to Herasiel as possible, coicidentally hitting the arm of Herasiel. With a shocked look from both champions they looked each other with a smile on his face, knowing that Herasiel is no longer here in the stronghold. How he dissapeared, no one knows, but he's gone... for the time being. "Hey, Terres" were the words that softly crossed the lips of the taller champion. "What is it, Tyler?" Terres slowly replied with as he looked him in the eyes while lying on the ground, not having the strength of standing up just yet. Now that Herasiel is gone, nothing bad could happen for the first amount of minutes. "I think I'm gonna retire..." --- Dinner went completely different than I expected. I didn't have the courage to start a conversation since everyone was quiet. Alex was having a very worried look at Claes though, but Claes didn't show any expression. Laura still didn't seem to look at me, I must've done something wrong. Jessica, the mother, was litterally ignoring everything and was just quietly eating, just like Sean and Caitlin. Not knowing what to do, I just calmly ate, and took for granted what people did. It was clear that Sean and Laura felt uncomfortable that I was around. It was also clear that Alex was worried about Claes and that Claes just ignored Alex. "I should try to talk with them" crossed my mind a million times when I sat there at the table, but I did not have the courage to mention even one word to them. In the hope that I would meet some of them later on the day, I decided to keep it like this. [/QUOTE]
Verification
Post reply
Anything & Everything
Stories
If, and only if
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
Accept
Learn more…
Top