Victor Deus (Heritage of the Blood Book 1) (2 page)

Everyone raised an eyebrow at that, even the big man from the royal guard, that guard had either been stupid, or he was very good.

“Now, you've all heard about my grandfather when he did his time in the Queen's guard?”

The men all around him nodded, and the big man surprised everyone by saying, “Aye, we've all heard of him, hell, most of us want to be him. One of the strongest quickest men who did ever protect the Queen, and she was sad the day that his time was up. I've often heard her majesty say that she wished she had a guard as good as her mother had.” The big man grimaced at that admonition, but he continued his statement. “His war hammer is still in the armory on display, and I'll tell you, I can hardly lift the thing. 'Tis said that he could swing that thing like it was a light war hammer.” The big man shook his head. “Aye… we've heard of him.”

The man nodded, and made sure everyone was listening before he continued. “Well, my grandfather was unused to being told what to do, but for some reason he realized that this man knew his business. He saw the crossbow lying on the ground and picked it up surprised at the heft of it, and he
tried
to cock the string into place.”

“What do you mean tried?” the big man intoned.

“Just what I said, he
tried
to… I remember my grandfather shaking his head at the memory while telling me that he wasn't able to pull it back even an inch let alone the full foot or more that was needed to latch the thing.”

“Was there some sort of trick to it maybe? A release?” the big man asked quietly.

“That's the funny part, my grandfather swept his eyes across it and couldn't see one, and by the time he gave up looking for one the ground has stopped shaking. He looked up and saw that what was left of the herd at the bottom of the hill had stopped and were looking at this lone figure running down towards them. Well, their confusion didn't last long, and what most of them probably saw at that point was an easy lunch.” The man shook his head, and leaned on the bar before he took another swig.

“My grandfather said he didn't even realize how big the creatures were until he saw the guard running down the hill and those creatures coming up it. They were about twice the height of any man in this room.” He looked at the big man and nodded. “Yes, even you Ulysus. My grandfather was saying another prayer to the god of death instead of the god of war this time, asking Ol' Thom to watch his soul and guide it to the plains. The guards steps got faster and faster, and my grandfather said he couldn't even see the man's feet touching the ground as he widened his gait. About ten paces from the creatures the man jumped into the air and over one of those creatures, planting his sword firmly into it's skull before pulling the blade back out. The man landed behind the creature, a few good-sized paces, before the creature crumpled. Four of the six remaining beasts screeched as the man took down another of their number and moved to surround him. The other two continued to rush up the hill towards my grandfather and his three remaining companions. All of them were good soldiers who had fought with my grandfather for years, none would leave his side.”

“The first creature was upon them in the blink of an eye, and my grandfather barely dodged out of the way of the creature's talons, which instead caught the man directly behind my grandfather who hadn't been fast enough. My grandfather told me that those next few moments were the longest of his life. The creature moved like lightning, and its claws and teeth were sharper than a well-honed blade. By the end of the fight, two of the three men with him were dead, and the other would have to re-learn the sword. The creature lay dying from all of the wounds that the men had given it, and my grandfather looked around for the other one that had been running up the hill. The second one had ignored them, running past the four armed men, to go after the fleeing men instead. It didn't take long to hear the screams of the men who had ran to be heard from the other side of the hill. As he looked to where the last four creatures had stopped to fight the guard he expected to see the worst. What he saw instead was the guard facing off against the only one of the four Grim-le still standing. To my grandfather the creatures had moved like lighting, but they seemed to move like molasses when compared to the way the guard moved. He swept in and got three stabs in before the creature could even swing his claw.”

Now everyone in the room drew a collective gasp. “Your making that up Leo, there's no way anyone can move that fast.” One of the soldiers said, but the way his voice rose an octave at the end seemed to make it more of a question.

The man who was telling the story simply shrugged and said, “That's the story that my grandfather told me.” If anyone else had any doubts about the truth of the story they were not spoken, no one wanted to talk bad about the man's grandfather.

The old bard walked over to the man and clasped him on the shoulder. “Well spoken friend and every word of it rang with truth in my ears.” His vocal tone and sudden movement managing to gather all the eyes in the tavern to himself. “See, this is what I was trying to tell you, one of the greatest men you have heard of in this area, and he was outdone by a simple guard.”

He saw the arguments coming from the posture that some of the men had assumed, and he put up his hand to forestall the comments. “Hold friends, I am not trying to demean you, and I do not wish a fight. My duty is simply to inform and to carry the truth amongst the common folk of the land. Have no doubt, that the soldier who accompanied this man's grandfather into those lands was an excellent warrior, but rank in Protectorate is determined by prowess and the deeds you've accomplished. This man may not have been a low guard, maybe he was a sergeant or a lieutenant, but he asked his captain if he could go, and his captain is even better than he is, and the line continues up the chain of command.”

“But how is that possible?” another man who was sitting at one of tables asked resignedly. He looked around at all of the other men in the room. “I don't think there is one of us in this room who doubts the word of his grandfather, but how can men be so strong?”

The old bard scanned the room, noticing that the person in the corner now had their head fully up, but he still couldn't catch the visage of the person inside the darkness of the hood of their cloak. “Now, that's where the real story begins.” He said with a grin and a flourish.

Now that he had everyone's attention, it was time for the main event. “About five thousand years ago, the world was in upheaval, evil was growing stronger and seemed to be overrunning the civilized kingdoms. That was when the leaders of the nations, got together with their military commanders and the wizards guild. They concluded that the evil had to be stopped at all costs before it overran all of Terrazil. The wizards argued that they could not simply wipe evil from the world, because that would upset the balance, and somehow they persuaded the nobles and the military that that was the truth of things. So instead of wiping their enemy off the face of the planet, they managed to capture most of the enemy's armies in barriers and send them through temporal displacement traps, or teleport traps as the general public likes to call them. They were sent to the continent of Terroval, whose only residents at the time were several large tribes of Orcs and some goblin-kin. Those that they couldn't catch in their traps, or that didn't go to the continent when given the choice, were eradicated.”

“Everything went well for a time, and even crime was down to a low that no one had even believed was possible. It seemed to those foolish enough to believe so, that evil was losing its power, but that wasn't the case in Terroval. All of the creatures of an evil nature or malicious intent had been sent to live on one continent, and it became a proving ground. Kill or be killed became the new edict of Terroval, and only the strongest would survive. The wizards had been monitoring the situation sporadically over the years, and finally realized that something had to be done. So, a thousand years after the creatures had been sent away, the same three groups that had worked together to trap the evil, came together again for a conference on what should be done about the new situation.”

“That was when the Terrazil Protectorate was formed. It was comprised of the wizards, to be the guiding force, the military, to be the physical might, and the nobles, to be the face of the Protectorate. The wizards would come to be known as the Mages of Terrazil when they started allowing other magic users into their order, and the military would soon become the Knights of Terrazil. Several royal houses had come together during that time, and they had somehow figured out the pecking order, and from that the royal house of Terrazil was born. This whole process took about two hundred years to complete before the first true members of the Protectorate touched Terroval soil.”

“The first few years on Terroval were tough, and many men were lost. The members of the Protectorate could see that they were fighting a loosing battle, but they fought on. It has been whispered that the good dragons of the world took note of these men's courage and tenacity in the face of certain doom. The dragons knew that their own time was soon coming to an end, because there had been fewer and fewer of their kind being born every generation. They knew that in 10,000 years there would be hardly any of their kind left to watch over the world as they had been doing since the beginning times.”

“Those that believe these stories say that the great Golden Dragon Elyalyas was the first to come forth with a plan for dragon kind, and the future of all of the races of the Protectorate. The council of nine decided in secret that the dragons would mix their blood with the good creatures of Terroval. The dragons who agreed to this all willed themselves to permanently take the form of the race that they held in highest esteem, thereby changing their base structure, and allowing the blood of the mighty dragons to flow through the veins of the lesser races, while still maintaining the chosen race's visage.

*****

3750 years ago

750 years BGD (Before the Great Disaster)

Continent of Terroval

City of South harbor

Alexander Dalton was surprised to see ships sailing into the bay of South harbor, there were no ships expected, and thus far surprises on this continent had been anything but good. Two dozen large ships coming into view on a hostile coastline was in fact not something he was equipped to handle. Immediately he issued orders, all of the guards that didn't want latrine duty for a month would report to the courtyard in ten minutes, battle ready. There was no hope of sending for a Mage before the ships were in firing range, and it was too early to rouse the King of any of his lackeys. He hoped such a display of readiness would dissuade any hostile actions.

Five minutes later, all four thousand men, who weren't on duty at the walls, or bedridden, stood at attention in the courtyard in thirty two rows. Some were still donning their armor, but they were all there. Alexander Dalton was proud of his men, and the discipline he enforced amongst his ranks. He marched his men down towards the harbor, where the ships were waiting about two hundred yards off port, arranged them in four lines of a thousand and told them to have their crossbows at the ready. He didn't have to tell them to not fire until he gave the command; they were too well trained for that.

A small boat was now making its way towards the shore. In the craft there were seven people, three who stood looking towards the shore, and four rowing the vessel. Alexander could see no weapons on board, but something made him feel uneasy. The woman in the boat caught his eye immediately, and he got the feeling that he had seen her somewhere before. She was stronger looking than most of the women he had known, but her curves declared to all without a doubt that she was a woman.

Her hair reminded him of sunset, light red from one angle, and a darker red from the next, always changing. She looked directly into his eyes as the small craft approached. He was sure that she hadn't looked anywhere else before that, just straight into his eyes. The eyes that stared back were the color of a calm sea, blue with just the faintest hint of green. Those eyes tickled the wisp of a memory in the back of his mind, and the look she gave him was one of an old acquaintance too long unseen.

“Excuse me but may we come ashore?” The question came from the man who stood at the front of the boat, whose voice sounded more used to oratory than to casual conversation.

As if the man's voice was an alarm bell, Alexander Dalton pulled his gaze away from the woman to fully take in her companions. A small part of his mind rebuked him,
good thing you looked for weapons before she looked up or you'd be a dead man.
The only other thought that occurred to him in that brief moment was,
She's gonna be trouble
. The man who had asked the question was one of the largest Dwarves that Alexander had ever seen. The dwarf's skin was a golden hue, and his beard had a golden sheen, and he possessed arms that looked as worked by the forge as they were used to working one. The old dwarf looked from Alexander back to his female companion and shook his head with what he would swear later was a slight grin.

The third of the strange company was a tall and well-built Elf whose hair was like spun silver, and whose eyes were deep pools of mercury. Alexander waved them towards the shore. As they got out of the boat he noticed that they moved awkwardly, it reminded him of a butterfly just coming out of its cocoon, newly formed, and unused to having wings. He wasn't sure why that image came to mind, but it felt right.
Except this time it might be the other way around
. He shrugged that thought away, and assumed it was from their being on board a ship for too long.

Given the signal, his lieutenant welcomed the party ashore and brought them over in front of the assembled knights. The lieutenant saluted sharply before speaking. “Gentlemen and Lady, I have the honor of presenting you High Commander Alexander Dalton of the Knights of Terrazil, last in the line of defense against the evils that would ravish our world.”