The Silver Reckoning
The Beginning
In this land, war has existed almost non-stop for centuries. It was once protected from evil, but the great gods killed each other in a final battle. And their holy divine and dark divine god powers filled the land, causing much more people to hate and be evil, and more people to be good and holy. In this land there are several types of power, magic, mostly chanted the ancient tongue to cast a spell. Or use of a wand to help channel the spell, with enough practice one does not need either for the particular practiced spell. This is the most powerful of the power sources, but it is limited. Another power source was ones inner Ki energy, unlike magic; no one is born with it. It is earned through very hard training. It is more of a force of the surrounding area, rather than the ability to cast spells of all kinds of magical schools of power. It is very powerful but limited. Most warriors use their Ki energy without realizing it while they charge into battle with their heavy armor and weapons. Lastly there is the third power, it is much like mana and allows one to both cast spells, and freely use Ki energy. But instead of draining one from their mana or Ki it drains their stamina, making them very fatigued. Not many practice this because if you go too far and use too much of your stamina in a short period of time, you die. These are the three sources of power, although the most popular is Magic due to the large variety of magical schools and abilities. And very few fighters even know of their Ki energy, let alone how to use it.
Chapter 1
In the large forest, full of wildlife of all sorts, near the town of Onshion, there was the sound of fighting. It flowed through the wind. Satheram was trying to sleep at the base of a tree stump. As the fighting got closer, Satheram got more and more awake. He could sense the fighting. But, it did not involve him. He did not want to get involved. He heard a Ching very close to him. As he opened his eyes, he saw a dagger that was deflected, land in his camp. "Alright they have to go... now" said Satheram to himself. He grabbed the dagger that landed near him. As he leaped into the shadows, he was quieter than air. "There." he whispered to himself. As he spotted the enemy, he rushed out, and stabbed the dagger thru one of the fighter’s sword wrists. The unknown fighter fell to his knees screaming out loud in pain. Dropping his sword, Satheram grabbed the other fighter’s sword arm and flowed magic into it. This paralyzed the arm. As the two fighters stood shocked and confused, they saw a tall man with long silver hair down to his shoulders. He had a dark thick set of robes over his entire body and a deep slash thru his right eye. As the two fighters finally realized someone had interrupted their fight, Satheram created an energy field with his magic. The energy field knocked both of the fighter’s back. Before they realized what had happened, they were dazed and confused. Satheram said, "I don’t care why you’re here, or who you are, you’re going to leave, separately, now". One of the fighters was wearing full mail armor. He was unable to move his sword arm. He yelled out "who the hell do you think you are? I am John Wave, of the Hunt, Greatest bounty hunter, in the land. This person you see there is a wanted criminal. I’m here to take him in to the authorities." Satheram looked at the one claimed to be the criminal. He had just pulled the dagger out of his wrist. He looked up into Satheram silver Eyes. The criminal was unable to speak. He looked at the bounty hunter and then back at Satheram. There was fear in his eyes. The bounty hunter caught on. "YYYou are Satheram the Silver Death! YYYour eyes say it all!" the bounty hunter stammered.
“I am Silver Death. Now leave. Before I decide to devour your souls” Satheram threatened. Satheram walked back to his camp. Both fighters were stunned and scared. The bounty hunter said rather bravely
"hey, aren’t you wanted by the dark lords of the abyss dead or alive?" Satheram stopped and turned around slowly. He replied "why, yes I am. And I’m going to show you exactly what that means to you.
Now die!" Satheram jumped upwards, and used his ultimate control over his magic to extend fragments of his bones out of his skin. Something only members of the advanced clan Bone Claw were capable of doing. Now he had spikes all over his body. They were sticking out of the thick robes he was wearing. There were cracking sounds coming from his entire body as he popped more bones out of his body. He extended them and sharpened them as he created some bone daggers in his hands. He threw them at the bounty hunter. Then quickly, Satheram spun thru the air. John has healed his sword arm. He was ready for Satherams attack and leapt forward to avoid the bone daggers. John then transferred power into his shield. The sound could actually be heard. He surged power into the shield from his entire body. Then he threw it at Satheram, hoping to break his extra bones, and render him powerless in one blow. Johns shield was very fast. As Satheram saw it, he closed his eyes. Everything was silent. All Satherams senses closed. It was as if time froze, just for him. Suddenly, he opens his right eye and the pupil had a strange glaring fire behind it. He had bones sticking out of his body through his black robes. He started to glow and rise through the air. His whole body was surging with power. It was like a storm, only Satheram was the storm. Satheram yells out "Face the Ryugon." He catches the bounty hunters twirling shield. The bounty hunter was shocked at what he saw. The Silver Death Exploded sending waves of power and sound thru the forest, Satheram shot to the ground and grabbed the bounty hunters forehead. With a spike filled palm, in flash of light, he had killed his opponent. The bounty hunter was on the ground. His stuck head tilted back. He had white bones sticking out all over his body. Huge spikes were holding him in place. He was lifeless. The loud clashes that shook the land faded away, the criminal started begging for his life.
"Stop begging fool. Will you leave or fight me? Pick now. So I can go sleep or kill you" he says to the criminal.
"Y-yes, I will leave, thank you." the criminal replied as he ran away thru the moonlit forest. The trees were still shaking from the rumble. The criminal ran as fast as possible towards the town of Onshion.
Satheram powered down retracting the many bones he used to kill John Wave of the hunt. He began to channel magic to patch up the many holes in his robes. He used the mana to morph into the fabric to replace what was lost. He sensed an Indula. A creature that served unknown masters, their loyalty was to someone, but no one really knew. They were made from the bodies of dead demons with mass amounts of power. The demon body was essentially melted so a young soul may pass into it and take the shape of a human. They glowed with powerful magic. As Satheram sensed this being, he stopped and extended a small layer of bones all over his body. He charged a lightning energy blast in his right hand. The lightning was screaming. It was ready to strike at any moment. It was enough to destroy the entire area, and then some. He was trying to find the indula, but, before he could, he heard a soft female voice from his back left. He quickly turned, ready to destroy it. He saw it. It was sticking out of the tree like it had used magic to become part of the tree. She branched out to speak to him, "hello there, Satheram the Silver Death or should I call you by an older name, General of the Blood soaked blades?"
Satheram quickly identified the strength of the Indula. "How do you know such things?" he asked “I know many things mortals, and others, do not. Our masters fear you can become a great problem for them in the future. So I’m here to offer a deal. You join with my masters in destroying all life on this world. They wish to remake the world in their image; they can remake the entire world. My masters have very strong magic. I am an example of such magic. Will you join them? Or do you choose to die like the rest of the mortal races?" Satheram thought for a moment. Then a small grin broke out on his face. His right eye began to burn again. "Do you take me for a fool, Indula? I know what you’re made from, how you’re made and where you’re made. Tell your masters I wish to be left alone. They can have this world if they want it. I won’t stop them. Just leave me alone for now. And ever if I ever see another messenger from them, I’m going to slay it! Tell them that.”
"Very well, Satheram, I will tell them. But they will only send assassins. Are you sure you won’t reconsider?" after hearing this from the Indula, Satheram releases all the lightning energy he had built up. The trees are destroyed. The huge explosion shook the land, yet again. The lightning disbursed from the explosion caused fire in some of the trees that were not completely destroyed. There was a forest fire that would soon consume the area, and perhaps, thousands of lives.
The voice said, "I will take that as a no. Very well, I shall tell my masters of your decision. May the spirits guide you Satheram the Silver Death, and remember. Don’t use your Ryugon too often. It will devour you." The Indula faded into another plane of existence, vanishing from sight. It looked as if she just turned into the blowing wind. Satheram looked around. Thought to himself "looks like I started a huge fire..... Reminds me of that time....." before he started to remember that one time, he went back to business and he used his magic to quickly teleport to his camp. There he grabbed his sword and put it on his waist. It appeared to be a Katana, very rare. Many thought it not very strong, but Satheram was very powerful with it. After he finished grabbing his gear, a few small one handed weapons, He began to carry the bag and walked away from the fire that was quickly consuming the forest. He thought to himself “I could put this out easy, and probably should. But then the council of the storm lords will surely feel my magic and probably come seek me out."With an annoyed look on his face he told himself that he did not want to get involved. He wondered what his good friend Nanerium would say if she saw him now.
Meanwhile, in a land very far away, in the town of Bala-ushi there was a tavern. In the tavern a waitress walks up to a soldier. He had just got off shift. She was serving him and his friends a round of a secret Dwarven brew.
"Ahh, thank you miss." The soldier said standing up, and grabbing his glass off her tray. As she set the other glasses on the table, she heard “My names Alex, What’s yours?” She has seen this all before. Most of the time, some guard or some other comes in, sees all the cute waitresses, and gets all giddy and red over them. She looks at him, and says. “My names Celia it’s nice to meet you Alex." A small grin comes over his face. She goes back to get other people some more drinks. Alex and his friends kept sitting around the table playing and joking while they kept getting drunker and drunker. She went back out to give him and his friends some more of the secret Dwarven brew. As she did this she noticed a man in the corner of the room. He had semi long black hair that went down to the bottom of his ears, all the way around his side, and a clean cut under the top part of his head. He looked to be a young adult, about twenty two, very youthful. He was wearing a pure black cloak that looked very heavy. Dark red pants and a dark red shirt were under the cloak, both fitted tightly. He had a huge blade on his back it stretched from his right shoulder where the grip was, all the way down to his left leg, the blade was sticking out of his cloak, and appeared to be wrapped in bandages. This made it impossible to see the actual blade. Just seeing the outline was somehow more mysterious, and frightening. As Celia went to take his order, she looked at him. He asked her if they had anything non alcoholic.
"Yes, I’ll be right back." she replied. She went to hand Alex and his friends another round of brew. The stranger never moved. His face was half covered in a black mask. She wondered if he was here to cause trouble. She handed Alex and his friends the brew. Alex asked if they could hang out after she got off work.
She knew exactly what he meant and she replied, "No, sorry, I can’t, it’s against policy. Besides, you are far too drunk right now."
This rejection angered Alex. He was extra angry because, by now, he was really drunk. He pushed her a little more, and she kept rejecting him. The owner of the tavern came out and grabbed Alex’s hand that was holding onto Celia’s arm tightly. He said "If you don’t let go of my employee, I’m going to call the guards." Alex was really angry now, so he shoved the owner back and yelled out “I am with the city guard you moron. If you do anything to me, you will be arrested.” T he owner was furious with this drunk. He started to call his body guard in. Before the owner could finish yelling out his name, Alex’s friend jumped up and forced Alex to sit down. He apologized to the owner of the tavern for the trouble, and told him that it wouldn’t happen again. They realized who the owner was about to call. He was known in the town as Brute. He was very strong and was capable of throwing someone a mile. The owner sees that they won’t cause any more trouble, so he goes back into his office. He told Celia if anything at all happens, to come and get him. And he will send the Brute after them. The tavern went back to its normal routine. Bards were playing music and telling tales of the great people. Drunks were buying more alcohol. Waitresses were bringing it to them. Celia brought the stranger his drink. The stranger quickly grabbed it and held it in front of him for a second. He says nothing, not even the usual grunt of acknowledgment. Right before Celia walks away he asked, "Is there poison in this?" Celia is confused. She replied, "No of course not." He then asked her if she was scared of the, so called, guards. She replied, “No, that kind of thing happens almost every day." “I see.” said the stranger. Alex noticed that Celia was talking to the stranger. He starts to get angry again. He was so drunk he had some trouble thinking straight. He felt like grabbing his own sword, which he carried around off duty, and stabbing the stranger in the heart. But, it was not allowed inside the tavern. As he thinks these dark and drunk thoughts, everyone hears a sound coming from outside the inner door. It sounded like a big thump then silence. Before anyone could investigate, a small half elf resident is thrown thru the inner door into the tavern. The half Elf looks to be an employer. Three half Orcs barge inside seconds later, with their scowling faces, gray skin, stinky clothes and Huge muscles they demanded to see the owner.
Celia got really frightened. She was a worker here, what if they came for all the employees? The stranger pushes her to sit down in front of him. She had not even seen him move. Alex saw this and got even angrier. He jumped up from his seat. His chair banged loudly against the floor. He decided he was going to kill these intruders, and the stranger. That would show Celia how tough he was. He grabbed the hidden dagger in his boot, stepped onto the table in front of him, and jumped from it onto one of the three half Orcs. He stabbed one in the right arm near the wrist. The half Orc threw Alex back across the room with his mass strength, and charges him. Before Alex had a chance to collect himself, the half Orc grabbed his skull with the hand that was not bleeding, and he pushed Alex against the wall. The whole wall shook from the Impact.
Alex's friends charged the other half Orc monsters. The half Orc that was holding Alex did the simplest thing and threw Alex on to his friends who were charging. The blow wounded them badly. Alex’s drunken friends realized that they would stand no chance against one half Orc, let alone three. They realize this harsh fact. The owner comes out from the back and yells "STOP. Do you want money? You can have it, just leave my customers alone." the half Orcs laugh. And one of the half Orcs responds in a very deep voice "no, you fool. We are not here for money. We are the three Beasts of the muscle. And we have come here to kill the one you call “the brute.” He has been ruining our reputation, so he must die. Bring him forth or we will kill everyone in this room.” Another of the half orcs joined in, “Starting with this one.” The half Orc used his magic to pull one of the standing waitresses closer to him so he could grab her with his large hands. “You got fifteen seconds before I crush her skull!” The owner told them not to do it. But, while he would not bring forth the brute, he offers to tell him where to find the brute. The half Orcs do not listen. The leader slowly crushes the skull of the waitress. She cries out in pain. The waitress was one of Celia’s best friends. She can watch no longer. She knows a bit of magic. She hopes that maybe, just maybe, it is enough to save her friend. Celia sprints from her chair getting in close. She needed to be in range to use her limited magic.
As she got close enough, she cast a basic fireball spell, and chucked it at the half Orcs leaders face. It hit! “Yes” She thought, “I did it. I really cast it, and it hit him perfectly.”Once the flames from her fire died down, she realized that she had, actually, very little effect on the half Orc. He instantly crushed the skull in his hand and charged Celia. Before he could reach her, he stopped and looked down. His arm was missing. He yelled out, "WHAT IS THIS? WHAT HAPPENED?" He looks around. He saw the stranger, no longer in the corner. He was holding the Orcs arm. Blood was everywhere. The Orcs yelled what sounded like gibberish. T he orc charges up a fireball of his own. Only it is not the kind of weak fireball that Celia had just thrown. It was clearly much stronger. The power that came from the fireball had a sound and it sounded as if an entire building was on fire. When he was done charging it in his hand, He threw it at the stranger. Enough energy to kill all life within a five mile radius was thrown at the stranger. Before it could explode, and kill every one, the stranger caught it. Everyone who thought they were seconds away from death, are now surprised and shocked. The other two Orcs had also summoned fire ball spell attacks that were almost as strong as their leader’s. With both their fire bolts, they made a wind bolt. (Wind bolts have the most push effect of all, when combined with fire; it can instantly burn everything in the area.)
Most the people in the pub were filled with despair. Because they were so sure they were going to be dead in a few seconds. The stranger just laughs. It shocks every one; no one could understand why the stranger was laughing. As the energy is launched towards him, he absorbed the power. His hand deflected the wind bolt shooting at him, with his own wind spell. He made it shoot off into the sky. It made a hole in the tavern roof as it disappeared. As he turned to face the other fireball, it was a foot away from his face, it simply vanished. Everyone in the pub and the Orcs are so shocked that no one moved. The people and the Orcs pretty much thought the same thing at this point, which is- What?! How could he have done such a thing? It’s impossible. The stranger took the mask off his face and, in a very proud voice he said, "I am the last Heir to the kingdom of Arduzar. Who was the last to fall to the dark Clouds. My name is Bromzar, the Crimson Dragon. And you are no match for me." Then he vanished into the wind. Before any of the Orcs realized what was going on, he had already summoned a huge flame beneath the tavern. It rushed for the Orcs, Burning the wound of the leader Orc. It stopped his bleeding, and caused several severe third degree burns on the orcs. With incredible power, the flames pick all the Orcs up, and forced them outside. The pain knocked them unconscious. They fly out onto the street, and landed with a loud thud, on the Dirt.
The owner of the tavern knew that he was only the owner of a small tavern, but, and also knew who he was with, the Covert Ops of Madrigan. The owner quickly spoke "thank you for taking care of these half Orc my good prince, but please tell me why you are here. We pay our taxes, and secure our own town just fine." Bromzar vanished into the wind once again. He reappeared right in front of Alex, the drunken fool who tried to fight the Orcs. Bromzar grabbed a small dagger given only to the very elite of the Covert Ops of Madrigan. He stabbed the dagger into Alex’s right hand. His friends tried to tackle Bromzar, but he just easily throws them back with his power. Bromzar may look weak, but he is no human. He is as strong as fifteen strong men. Even though he looks like just an average human. Bromzar said calmly "Sorry, but, with the power given to me over this land, by the king Madeira, I hereby deem you unworthy of serving this empire, or any other, as a fighter. So I am taking your hand away." Alex realized his intention was to cut Alex’s hand off. He quickly tried his best to get his hand free. Bromzar flowed energy into the blade. A fast, bright, sharp, hot Flash exploded. It sounded like a small bomb. And it made every one jump. As Bromzar took the blade out of his hand, Alex can see his right hand, it is still there. It is hurting a lot. Alex screams in pain. Cursing Bromzar, he stumbles away. Bromzar replied to his curses "your hand will stay like that because I’ve just burned many of your nerves. You won’t be able to use your hand in combat ever again. And thus you’re unable to serve as a fighter for anyone. Everyone should know their place and you should know yours. Learn it, then your hand can be repaired and you may fight again." after Bromzar said this in a calm voice, he walked over to the owner. He is scared. He is afraid that Bromzar will do something to him that will also cause him much pain, or maybe kill him. Hearing Alex screaming in pain just makes it all worse. Before he could think much of the pain that he believed would be caused to him, the owner yells out, "BRUTE!!!!" Bromzar stops. With a curious expression on his face, he asked "Why did you do that?" he asks, half a second after, a full battle ready Pure Orc Charges from the back of the tavern. Filled with bloodlust, he had two axes, one in each hand. Both weapons were relatively short. He had a helmet with two horns. One horn was chipped and had many scratches in it. He also had full plate battle scarred body armor. This armor had seen many, many brutal battles. The pure Orc simply to charged Bromzar. Bromzar grabbed the massive sword on his back that had been wrapped in black cloth, and swung it at the Orc. The Orc dodges it by lowering himself to the ground. After the massive blade had passed he extended his legs quickly, and jumped at Bromzar. The orc swung his axe at Bromzars head. The blade hit Bromzar on the skull. There was a very loud sound. It was louder than the screaming Alex and the Screaming Orcs. But, it is not the sound of an axe cracking a skull. The axe! It is cracked! Pieces have fallen from the ruined axe. Bromzar states, "Mere metal won’t be enough to pierce my skin, not even in my sleep." He grabbed the raging Orc by his throat. He surged power thru the Orc. No one could really see what he did. They could only see what the Orc did. The Orcs bloodlust had gone completely away. He dropped his second axe. He looked tired, defeated. As Bromzar let go of his neck he silently commanded the Orc to sit down and sleep. The Orc named Brute slowly walked over to an empty chair, took his helmet off, laid his head on the table, and fell asleep. To defeat an Orc was no easy task. And to defeat an Orc with no bloodshed is near impossible, the owner thought.
“Well, do you have anyone else you would like to call?” Bromzar asks. "No." The owner replied, fearful again. Bromzar started walking to the owner. He put his blade back on his back beneath his cloak. The owner looked into his eyes and is surprised. He forgot his fear for a moment. "WHAT?! You posses the Ryugon?!" the owner asked, confused. Bromzar replied "of course.” The Ryugon was a very special technique only the people of the Arduzar clan were capable of. The ability was given by birth, and the power was obtained thru knowledge, wisdom, and above all, strength. “I heard the silver death also has it. He stole it from your clan, and claimed the power his own." Bromzar thought for a moment. "Yes, well, my sister gave that to him as a dying gift. It is his by right. Don’t get me wrong though. If I see him, I’m going to kill that traitor." The room went silent with only a snoring Orc and a now silent human with a burnt hand. "I wanted to apologize for the wreck I caused here. Those half Orcs left me no choice, really. When the Madrigan troops arrive in a few days, I’ll make sure they pay you nicely for the tavern I wrecked. They will pay you well for the damage. You won’t be unhappy all, though it will take a few days. I’m sorry for the inconvenience." As the owner tries to reply to thank him, and apologize for calling the brute on him, Bromzar vanishes before everyone’s eyes. Before the Owner could even get two words out, it was as if he was never there. But, clearly, he was.
i have this and more on my blog, http://zakutisstories.blogspot.com/
