Spread out over miles and miles, as far as you could see, they came. The ground trembled from the force of over 300,000 horrendous war horses. Their galloping conjuring up the sound of thunder and storms, as their dark clad riders shouted with vehement poison filled throats. Raven's breath was ragged and delayed.

Every step he took felt like he was ready to fall over. But he couldn't stop running, the army was almost upon them. It was actually a miracle he was capable of keeping his balance with the way the ground shook. He had past the boundaries of exhaustion long before his sweat stopped pouring.

He and 2 other's were running as if their lives depended on it...and it did. They had fled for the entire night against the onslaught of the army. The night was at the brink of leaving within minutes and for some reason, this worried him.

Their survival depended on the night's assurance of safety. His two friends looked back to him yelling at him to hurry up. "We need to get out of here! NOW RAVEN" Raven nodded, though knowing his time was almost up.

For some reason, between his blurred vision and spinning head, he couldn't recall their names. He was shrouded in only one thought, survive. Everything else had been pushed out of his mind.

 

All hope of survival died upon realizing what lay ahead.A large cliff stretched in front of them. The land continued on the other side 300 meters away. This meant an almost instant death as you drop 16 miles down into a dark dampened earth.

The other 2 sped up. It appeared as if they were preparing to jump over the vast space. Raven nodded, preparing to attempt the same.

He was already 15 meters behind his comrades, he couldn't allow himself to be holding them back. With all his mind now focusing on increasing his strength and speed, he seemed almost as if he wasn't tired at all.

Dust kicked up behind him on the sandy patch where his footprint remained. But before he could even get 30 feet ahead, his legs gave in.

A horrid pain kicked through him and his body was sent tumbling 20 feet in the sand. He coughed up dust as his head remained flat upon the unforgiving ground.

He looked down at his leg, trying to see what had caused his fall only to realize an arrow piercing through his calf. It was no good, he was too weak against the onslaught of his opponents. He truly was a burden to the rest.

No...he couldn't let himself start thinking like that. Biting onto his lip, he pulled the arrow out, getting up on all fours as he attempted to dash forward.

 

"HURRY RAVEN!! JUMP!" she cried out desperately. The two he was traveling with were already on the other side of the cliff. He could feel the grief in her voice, the feeling of having already lost someone before it was to happen.

She really cared for him. The other male in contrast was much more reserved and seemed not to care. His back was turned to him as if accepting that it was already to late. Raven doubled his efforts running forward and jumping through the air.

The scene that played out was iconic. The last struggle of a being, knowing he was going to die anyways. The sun shown through the night air as he glided past the cliff.

13 arrows whizzed past him and shot into his back, his stomach, his legs, kidney, heart, one through his neck and one protruding from his left eye. He wasn't really going to make it across the cliff anyways.

He had only managed to jump 30 feet before he lost momentum and the arrows struck into him. A sense of ease spread form within him. His struggle was over.

His eye locked onto the woman on the other side of the cliff who cried at his death and he mouthed the words "I'm sorry..." Whatever other words he wanted to say to her were lost as he plunged 16 miles to the bottom of the darkened ravine.

 

Raven woke up gasping air and the tears swelling in his eyes. Pain filled over all of his body as he scanned the insides of his tent. The pain faded away as he realized he was just dreaming again. He sat up clenching his teeth.

This was his scar, his burden from the long war. That same dream came over and over and over...almost every few nights, sometimes more than once. He couldn't possibly head to sleep at this point.

Sighing, he sat up and looked outside of his tent. The fire wasn't alive anymore and it seemed that everyone else had already gone asleep.

 

As careful as he could, he crept out of his tent, making sure not to alert anyone else. A walk would help clear his mind much better than anything else.

The ground mushed upon taking his first step, courtesy of the bloodied soil from the earlier battle. He hadn't slept long, probably only 2 to 3 hours. He knew if he went back to sleep it would only replay the events in his dream.

Images from his dream constantly filled his mind, particularly the image of the two he were with, the giant spike armored horses, and the dismayed look in her eyes at his own downfall.

The woman and the other man that was with her, he couldn't remember a thing about them. But for some reason, he greatly missed them.

 

Raven wasn't sure how long he had been walking, or how long he had been sleeping for that matter, but the sky was beginning to brighten ever so slightly.

What actually made him realize morning's approach was the sounds of chirping birds. In a few minutes, the rest of the group is to wake up and prepare for their ambush. While they did kill all 11 bandits, that was only in their minor fort. They have 6 different locations.

The minor one composed of 11, watch the western half while a second group of bandits perhaps 10 miles to the east, camped further down the forest. The other one is composed of 32 members and is by far the biggest threat.

But, their plan was just about to be set in motion. At noon, there's always a visit by an envoy on horse back from the other tents. When he approaches, he'll find the entire camp slaughtered and quickly call the rest of them over.

That's when the huge explosion is bound to happen

 

Before we set off from the village, Vel had asked to observe all their weaponry. Orin picked out an axe, while Ralva kept with her rapier blade.

Vel didn't really pick anything out either, but he chose a couple of plastic dolls and acrylic glass display weapons. At first they thought he had lost all sense of rationale. However, taking some Fowl Oils and Klers acid, it seemed there was more to his thought process.

When Acryl or even plastic is combusted, a horrid nerve and blood agent is released upon inhalation, Hydrogen Cyanide. When the time came for them to release the chemical reaction, it's safer that none of them are around to witness it.

 

Whatever Raven was thinking about, he stopped short and immediately drew into a defensive position, his hands reaching for his knife. In front of him, he could hear some rustling in the bushes, but it was a bit dark to see.

He wasn't one to ignore any signs, no matter how vague they may seem. He was already on full alert, ready to make a strike at any given moment. It was always the unprepared that faced death at situations they could have avoided.

"I'll give you 3 seconds to come out before I bury you in dozens of throwing knives" He said calmly. A second past before a familiar scream was released from inside the brush of leaves.

Vel jumped out from the cover with both of his hands in the air, frightened that at any moment a plethora of daggers would find themselves inside his gut.

 

Raven exhaled deeply and threw a dagger at him anyways, purposely missing him by a couple feet. "You fucking idiot. What the hell are you even doing here? I almost mistook you for a dusk wolf."

Vel laughed. "You honestly scared of dusk wolves that bad?"He took a step out of the bushes and walked towards Raven. "Well, they aren't anything to take lightly. You don't understand the danger they possess until you actually come face to face with one."

Vel yawned at his statement.

 

Raven had told him quite a few times of his encounter with the 8 dusk wolves, where he was left gravely injured and bleeding out for days before a wander chanced upon him.

He was attacked by just 1 dusk wolf, leading him down a certain path into 8 others. The thing is, they weren't hungry at all.

They were merely practicing. "I know all about dusk wolves" Vel chimed. "They just aren't anywhere near as dangerous as the native animals of Helios." Raven took his words with skepticism. "Name one."

 

"Well for one, in the southern parts of Helios, there's the Sarhski. They're a ravenous group of feral cat-like creatures. Though they aren't as cunning and manipulative as dusk wolves, they're a lot more dangerous."

 

"how so?" Raven asked.

 

"Well, for one, they travel in groups of packs of atleast 30. And two, they have needle like hairs that shoot out at people. Once you get hit by one, you start hallucinating."

As much as it didn't sound true, he wasn't joking. The Sarhski were indeed one of the worst predators in Helios.

 

Raven looked highly doubtful, slapping him on the back of his head. "Do you really think I'm that gullible? I wasn't born yesterda-" He stopped mid-sentence upon realizing Vel's hand.

Glistening under the moon's ray, he was sure of it, it was blood. Raven stopped walking and quickly pulled Vel's hand up to him. "Vel, you're bleeding." Vel immediately put his hand up to him and feigned surprise.

He brushed his hands against the wraps around his body. "I'm sorry, my wound opened back up a when I first started walking. I completely forgot I still had some blood on my hands." Something was off about that explanation as well.

The blood already on his wraps...were dried hours ago. This one was fresh and still wet.

 

"Anyways, let's get back to the camps, it's almost morning" Vel put his hands out of view, crossing them in front of his chest. For the rest of the night they walked talking about life, experiences they've seen, memories from the war, and different aspects of their country. Raven found Helios to be a really interesting place.

Their traditions, their lifestyle, it all seemed very strange. Moreover, their loyalty to their king was beyond comprehension. Some would offer up their children to be sacrificed for him, and as per tradition, they did this every 3 months without any ill will towards him.

They almost regarded him as a god. Vel explained how after king Alverx's disappearance, the country flew into a rage. As the minor countries Helios previously colonized attempted to revolt, they quickly destroyed every single one of them mercilessly, even without a king they banded together.

It wasn't that they were trying to fight over the king position, but rather that, they didn't deem anyone there currently worthy of such a position. Alverx did have a successor, but that successor fled the country as well and is quite possibly dead.

Thus currently, Helios is governing itself with a council of 9 elders that are keeping things in control.

 

"Huh...it's much different than the events that happened here in Falk'rin." Raven said, recalling the events that were set in motion.

On the day the world leaders were to have their summit, each and every single one of them disappeared without a trace.

Emperor Corovar L Lens, the leader of Falk'rin was already facing quite a couple different problems at once. First was the rise of a rebel unit within his very own court.

 

"Emperor Lens was extremely terrified of Rebels. To such an extent that one might call him maddened. His need to crush all opposition grew so much that he eventually became unstable and after 2 assassination attempts, he slept less, grew tired and paranoid.-"

 

"Ah thats right...that's when he killed the 60 people, isn't it?" Vel interrupted. "It was spoken about over all the great nations. We questioned his sanity and ability to continuously lead a nation in peace."

 

Raven laughed. "Something like that. He meant to do a scare tactic to the rebels. He captured 60 people who may or may not have even been rebels and had them tortured publicly for days. This was meant to scare off all opposition and have them rethink the thought of going against him."

 

"But it didn't, huh?" Vel yawned, resting back against the tree he now sat by.

 

"Well, we could never know for sure if it had worked or not. He mysteriously disappeared the very next day. The rebel army grew, and when his son was put in charge. Lacking the experience the palace fell within days. And all the nations the nations began to fracture again."

 

"Well that's the problem with Empires. They're too fragile. At the slightest bit of weakness, it will shatter." Raven nodded.

 

They spent the entire night talking about their lives before and after the war. Vel had a lot to say, always talking about his wonderful family and siblings.

He had one younger sister, and two older sisters. They lived in a small village within the southern part of Helios, and for the most part, remained ignorant of outsiders.

 

Raven didn't have much to say. He had woken up only 5 years ago. When he came to, he wasn't certain what year it was, what was going on in the current state of the world, or even what his own name was. Nor did he care.

Around him were mounds and mounds of corpses from the Falk'rin army, though he didn't seem to mind the company. He just sat up amidst the chaos, hands and nails covered in dirt and blood. At the moment of his awakening, it was strange...his thoughts were entirely blank. He felt nothing.

 

After he had been sitting up for hours, a group of villagers came by from a nearby settlement. An old man named Ghale, and a young woman, Deneve.

The girl was no older than 16, and clearly had been unfamiliar of the events taking place around them. They've stayed mainly out of the way of wars, and with their village being so remote and hidden, not many warriors crossed paths with them.

Upon spotting him, Deneve ran passed the mound of corpses, not even hesitating to try and assist him. He recalled feeling...astounded by her bravery. Not many her age could carelessly walk passed a hell like the one before him.

She was shouting something in his ear, but he couldn't hear her, or comprehend what she had said. She did realize the look in her eyes though. It was fear. Not for herself, but for others.

 

After surveying his body, and seeing that all his limbs were working, they had been pushing him back and fourth, attempting to get him to wake from his strange trance. However, he dared not move.

For an hour, they tried getting him to react, and Ghale who had assumed the poor man was already gone inside, had opted to leave him and return in the morning.

They had to ascertain that they weren't bringing a threat into the village first before moving him with them and with his lack of response, it was impossible to tell exactly what kind of man they were trying to help.

Against her father's wishes however, Deneve had came later on that night to see if he was getting any better. Raven had not moved the entire time. It was only when Deneve slapped him did he react, swearing under his breath.

 

"You're stupid." He sighed. "why would you go meet with a stranger alone without knowing anything about him. Do you not know what the battlefield is like?"

To his surprise, Deneve had ignored the entire question and instead just looked shocked that the man was talking. "Y-you're awake!" Her face had lit up. "Can you move? Are you hungry?"

 

"You didn't answer my question." Raven seemed uninterested in the frantic stranger besides him, instead, his head turned around, surveying the area before him.

They were in a long narrow pass, and when he looked up, he could see that it was between to large trenches. They must've extended miles high, though he could not ascertain the distance.

All he could realize, was an unfamiliar army and the broken banners of unfamiliar countries. A hand waved in front of his face, interrupting his thoughts. He turned slowly to face the girl, growing irritable.

She had in her hand a bottle of water which she had intended to bring over to him. "I thought you might've been thirsty. Can you move?" She asked again for the second time. Raven reached out taking the drink and hastily downing the entire thing.

He wasn't particularly thirsty, but he felt unusually empty. As he finished drinking, Deneve answered his question. "Well, what kind of person would you be if you were to kill someone who was only trying to help you." This response only caused Raven to chuckle.

 

"You'd be surprised the things people can do." He gulped down the last of the water and gave her back the bottle. "Thankyou." The words slipped out of his mouth and immediately, he had wondered where it came from.

He knew nothing of what it meant, or what it was used for. Deneve nodded and took back the bottle. "What's your name? I'm Deneve."

 

Alarmed, he realized he didn't even remember his own name, what kind of person he was, or even what he was doing here.

These questions came out throughout the night before they realized he absolutely had no idea. That night, he slept outside in the battlefield until the morning after. Ghale and a few of the villagers pulled him up and carried him back to the village.

It didn't seem like his legs would work again.

 

They briefed him on the events of the world, from the history to the current events. The trench in which he woke up, was the result of two conflicting armies; what would later become known as the Battle of Baskings Bridge.

A rebel army from one of the annexed countries had lured the Falk'rin army to the bridge, and forced them off the cliff. The entire army took a 16 mile plunge into the abyss.

None of them survived except for Raven who miraculously came uninjured...though he seemed to have suffered an absurd amount of memory loss. This was only what the village had speculated, since they had no way of proving his identity.

But, as time progressed, memories slowly began to fill his mind; Muscle memory. When his legs came to, he moved like one of the most refined warriors within the country. He was indeed trained.

 

Raven looked over to see Vel, fast asleep midway through his story. "You bastard. I'm not entirely sure how long I was talking to myself." Vel laughed from his slumber.

"I'm not asleep you dolt. It's just...that is the most boring story I've heard in a while." Vel yawned tauntingly. "Then how about you tell a more interesting one. How did you guys survive the skullers?" Raven inquired.

 

Vel answered with a deflection, claiming he had a much better story. The two of them talked for the entire night and before you knew it, the birds were chirping, and it had come to morning.

Etski, Ralva, and Orin woke up just a few minutes after each other, in that order. Orin refused to wake up until Ralva cut open the top of his tent and forced the morning light into his eyes.

Cursing loudly, he got up in a rage, ripping open his tent door. "Man, I guess the big man likes his sleep." Raven said, not surprised. This was about only the 7th time he had seen such a situation. It was only ever Etski and Ralva who had awoken him.

Had it been Raven or Vel, or anyone else who didn't have good looks, he was certain Orin would toss the unfortunate soul half way across the country. Vel smiled as the trio got up and began stretching.

"Well guys, the envoy should be here in approximately"...He looked down at the clock he had now inscribed into the ground. "2 hours."

 

Without eating anything this early, they spent their time setting up their trap. Digging a pit, he placed the tools in them. A wide hole was dug into the ground about 4 feet wide and 3 feet deep.

In it, he placed all of the plastic toys he got, along with several old rusting metals. With that, he doused everything within with Kelser acid. Raven watched eagerly.

He could tell by the looks of everyone's face, he wasn't the only one confused about what Vel was trying to do.The Kelser acid surrounded the entire encampment and later, once doused with Foul oils, allowed the entire thing to be set ablaze in an instant should it be ignited.

Though, this confused Raven to no end. Kelser acid, causes flames to continiously burn, but at the same time, it encases things that are meant to be burned, preventing the items from catching fire. If that was the case, he saw no point in dousing the items in kelser acid before setting them on fire.

 

They waited until the first envoy came...it wasn't just one person, but an entire group of at least 8. They stared at the camp and began cussing profusely. They were enraged and Raven could see they were clearly distraught.

One of the bandits, a man with a red rag tied over his head, turned back around and, mounting his horse, headed in a separate direction to the east. He was going to alert the rest of them. The other 7 stayed around the camp, observing what had occured.

They walked over to the bodies and knelt besides the leader, closing his eyes and pulling the arrow from his face. Whatever they were saying, Raven could not hear from the distance.

 

About 40 meters away, Raven, Vel, Ralva, and Orin all huddled underneath the brush, watching them. Etski remained perched high against the tree. A burning arrow held in her hand, ready and drawn.

Giving the signal, Etski released the Arrow and it zipped passed with a whistle before landing right in the middle of the camp...where they had the hole. The moment it hit the fowl oils, the entire camp lit ablaze in an explosive inferno.

The light show obscured everything that was going on. That's when Vel signaled. "We're done here. We're heading 2 miles west, then continuing our straight course to Soverin.

Etski climbed her way down the tree and they waited her descent. "That's it? But what about the rest of them? Isn't there a bandit camp 2 miles to the west also?" Etski asked curious. "I thought we were supposed to mow down the lot of them."

 

Vel simply continued, packing his bags and placing on his green cloak. "The massacre thats about to ensue here, isn't one you want to see.

I'll explain on the way." The group, and Raven shared with each other a concerned glance and hesitantly followed. Minutes after they left, they could see the tall tornado-like cloud of smoke in the sky.

"This fire...will burn for 3 days. I'd already advised the villagers not to enter the forest until at least a week." As we speak, the cloud of smoke, along with the envoy, is alerting every camp of theirs to the location. "Ah, so there's noone to watch the borders now."

Orin smirked. "That's smart."

 

"And what of the villagers? Surely you didn't just doom them after you promised to help. The Manged Eaters will tear them up and kill every last one of them." Raven added. "We can't just leave the lot of them alive."

Etski seemed to agree with him, though it made no difference to Ralva and Orin.

 

In response, Vel tapped Raven on the shoulders and pointed up towards the sky nonchalantly. A flock of geese had been flying in a V formation through the sky.

As they neared the smoke cloud, every single one of them fell to the ground. "They'll be walking into hell." Raven watched astounded. Vel's genius was much more than he had estimated. Orin and Ralva were also surprised.

 

Vel elaborated on the way there. Though Kelser acid doesn't burn objects, it does make them melt when introduced to hot temperatures.

Upon first burning, coming in contact with fire, Kelser acid turns into a very harmless gas. when it does turn into a gas, the items that were liquefied within it releases fumes. The mixture of Kelser and fowl oils specifically, is dangerous.

Once fowl oils turn into gas, they can easily ignite again when in contact with fire or even hot air. "So...essentially, anyone who breathes near the camp, will explode from inside out. And those who breath outside of the camp, will ingest hazardous fumes."

All three of them were impressed. At times Vel was like an idiot, then at other times, he acts as if he was a scholar from the most learned institute in the world.

 

On their travel, they came across the bandit camp to the west. Despite it having a fort built, it looked entirely empty. Their horses were all there however. Vel as did Ralva. They had the same thoughts in mind.

 

When they came to the camp, they were astonished to find that everyone was still there. About 32 men were before them. Not a single one living. The scene looked horrendous. Limbs tore about throughout the camp.

Men were ripped in half and bloodied. On one of the horses, a hand could be observed holding tightly onto the reins, yet no body accompanied. Everyone stood confused and horrified at what could've done something like this.

Immediately after observing, the trio glanced at each other and nodded. Raven knew that look. They knew something that he didn't. Vel simply glanced over and sighed. "I had wished I'd never see a sight like this again."

The five of them agreed, each taking a horse of their own, except for Etski, who boarded with Vel. She knew not how to ride one. Out of the six horses there, they took four, and killed the other two.

 

The group traveled in silence for the next few hours, not saying a word to each other. Raven could tell the heavy toll the scene had weighed on their conscience. He didn't feel like saying much either.

Though he couldn't help but wonder what the hell happened. Scenario after scenario played in his mind, and he none of them made any sense....except one.

One single thought that he could not get out of his mind and upon realizing this thought, he frightened himself. He didn't want to delve any deeper into the explanation his mind had provided him.

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"They say that the entire kings Regime in Velihn, that had caused so much trouble for everyone was all whiped out...The entire army of 30,000 was found slaughtered in their camps. Limbs, head, and brains scattered about to paint a koleidoscope of death."- General Locus, 1214 R.C.

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