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The bards of Bant speak of an ancient prophecy,
The prophecy tells of the end times,
The end times are coming.
The prophecy also speaks of hope,
The hope of a warrior,
A son of Bant.
In the land of Aeru, in the kingdom of Bant, in the year 212 NE, a boy of 14 wakes to the sound of steel on steel.
"This way Hannir," Captain Rinock said "we need to get you to safety, there is an intruder in the Citadel." Hannir was led by the captain and some of his men through the halls of the Citadel, which were decked with pictures of royalty who used to walk these halls, Hannir was led through the maze of the Citadel to a picture of his grandfather King Meldelorn, Captain Rinock lifted the picture off the wall to reveal a small passageway.
Captain Rinock led them through the small entrance, as they were running through the passageway the Captain told the others how the intruder had entered, "No one is exactly sure how it happened really, he walked right up to ten of our best guards, and slew them all before my eyes. Hannir couldn't believe it, the Citadel guards were some of the best fighters of the Kingdom, and for ten of them to be slayed by one man, that seemed hardly possible.
"I saw him take a hard hit towards the end of the fight, that should slow him down enough for us to make it out without him knowing, Rinock said, "Who would go to so much trouble to get into the Citadel, what does he want?" Hannir asked, Rinock paused for a moment, and then said, "He is looking for you." "Why is he looking for me?" Hannir said, "I don't know," Rinock said, "but you're not safe here, I am ordered to take you away into the wild where these men can't find you." "I won't be safer in the wild," Hannir said, "I should stay here in Lionsreach." "Nevertheless, those are my orders, and I will carry out those orders no matter what I believe is right," The Captain said, "however I believe that you will be safer outside of Bant." "Outside of Bant!" Hannir said, "Yes outside of Bant, and you will remain outside until these men are caught."
At this moment they came to the end of the tunnel, which was blocked off by a stone wall, Rinock reached into a small hole in the wall that Hannir had not noticed before, and with a click, the stone slide down and he could see that they were beside the stairway to the Citadel, and in the city of Lionsreach.
Captain Rinock led Hannir through the city and sent the other guards back to help secure the Citadel, and as they were walking through the city Hannir said, "Who do you think the intruder is?" "I don't know but whoever he is, he bested some of our best fighters, and he is not to be underestimated."
After about half an hour, they could see the front gate of the city. "Were almost out of the city." Rinock said, they were only a few moments away, when suddenly out of the shadows of the houses, a man in black hooded robes stepped out with his blade drawn.
The man's sword seemed to be made of some black metal, and on it were red glowing runes. For a few moments no one moved or said a word, but then the man broke the silence with a voice so inhuman and cold that it made Hannir shiver, "Stand back Captain, this one must die!" "You'll have to take him over my dead body!" Rinock yelled back, "Very well, you have chosen death!" The man said calmly.
Rinock charged the man, striking at the man in rage, but the man stood his ground and blocked each strike with equal calmness, and then the man fought back with a speed that seemed inhuman, it was all Rinock could do to survive the onslaught of the stranger, but at last Rinock did a twist with his blade that made Hannir remember why the guards of the Citadel where considered the best of the best, and the attacker's sword flew from his hand and the Captain drove his sword though the strangers chest.
But then the man laughed, and pulled the blade out of his chest. "You would have killed me, if I was a mortal man, however as you will soon see, I am not. |
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The Son of Bant Series: Pilot, part 2.
Rinock paused for a brief moment-which was rare in a citadel guard-and then
instinctively picked up the thing nearest him, Rinock stood up tall and defiant, brandishing a burning torch, and then launched himself at the phantom.
The creature seemed to be toying with Rinock, and it looked like he was only putting off a little effort to hold back the Captain.
Hannir dived for the enemy's sword which the Captain had knocked out of the creature's hand, and instantly regretted it, no sooner then he had touched the hilt when large burns started to appear on his hand.
Meanwhile Rinock was just barely holding the man off with his torch, and at last the creature spoke again, "Enough games, I came here for the boy and you are standing in my way." after saying that, the phantom drove Rinock's own blade through his heart.
"No!" Hannir screamed at the creature and ran at him with the sword that had killed his friend, and Hannir noticed that as he approached the figure, the figure's hand started to glow with a faintly blue-white light, and then with a crash he landed more than twenty feet away from the attacker.
After a few seconds Hannir staggered and then fell down again, his vision was blurry, and he could dimly see the man approaching him with his black blade in his hand.
But before the creature had gotten within five feet of him, Hannir saw huge columns of fire leap toward the black robed man, and then the creature started to melt before Hannir's very eyes, and when he had recovered enough to see properly he saw that where the man had been only a few seconds before, was a heaping pile of ash.
Hannir turned to see from who or where the fire had come, and saw a young man in a brown robe, he had brown hair, a short beard, and was obviously only a few years older than himself.
the man also was brandishing a strange weapon, which looked like a normal sword apart from one thing, where the blood channel would be there was a large gap which spanned the whole length of the blade and made the whole thing look like a pointed tooth from some animal.
"Who are you?" Hannir asked the stranger with surprise, "and what was that you just did?" He added afterward, "My name is Renius," The man said, "and that was simply a quick spell I cast to get him off you, I had no idea that it would actually banish him."
Hannir's head was swimming with questions now, but the first one he asked was, "Banish?" "Yeah," Renius said, "I banished that Enforcer over there. But we need to hurry, there are more of them and they'll be coming soon."
Hannir stopped beside the body of the dead captain, "We don't have time for that now," Renius said, "We have to make it to the crimson pass before sunrise, and we may have to get even further than that if we are going to make it without another clash with the Enforcers tonight."
Hannir got up and nodded, "Alright, I'll follow, you lead the way." he said with deep exhaustion, "Oh I forgot, you were hit by a plasma bolt." Renius said, "Here drink this, it should keep you awake for the rest of the night, and also get you back on your feet."
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The Son of Bant series: Pilot, part 3.
Renius led Hannir on for about three more hours, and during this time neither one had said a word because of exhaustion, "My father says you probably don't even understand why they're hunting you." Renius said, "I don't." Hannir said truthfully, Renius stared at him in shock, "You mean they never told you!" "Told me what?" Hannir said, "You're the Chosen One." Renius said.
"What do you mean I'm the Chosen One?" Hannir said, "You're the one chosen by Arlaren to defeat the evil in the east." Renius said, "I think their must be some sort of a mistake," Hannir said, "I'm just the king's son, not the Mage or warrior you think I am." Renius looked at him with a grin, "You're not yet, but you will be."
Hannir looked down at Renius' sword and wondered why his sword was split down the middle, it seemed familiar somehow, like he had seen it in a book or painting.
"Why is your sword like that?" Hannir asked, "What, you mean you've never seen a Mage's blade?" Renius said in surprise, "No, I don't think so." Hannir said, "Well, the reason it is split down the middle is for the casting of spells, some spells work better for Mage's blades but they all can be cast through a Mage's blade," Renius said, "Some are enchanted to do incredible things like shoot flame from the end, or cast plasma bolts, anyway most of the common spells will work with this weapon."
"And what are the common spells?" Hannir asked, thoroughly intrigued by these items of magic, spells, and enchantments, which were supposed to be so far off, that no one ever saw them.
"Well, There are the five common spells which all Mages learn," Renius said, "Plasma bolt, Radiance, Ignite, Charge, and Ward."
"Are you a Mage?" Hannir asked Renius, "Well sort of, I know a bit of Magic, like the spell I cast on the Enforcer."
"So is it possible for me to learn magic?" Hannir asked, "Well," Renius said, "Only a very small portion of people are able to use magic. But you're the Chosen One, and the prophecy states that you are a magic user as well as a warrior."
Hannir couldn't believe it, there was no way that he had magic, was chosen by Arlaren to end the age of darkness, and most important, he could not ever imagine that he was the prophesied warrior who was to kill Grixis.
"You don't believe me do you." Renius said, "let me prove it to you." He held out a small torch and said, "By the time this night is over, you will have ignited this torch with magic."
Hannir thought a second and decided that there was no harm in trying, and so said, "Well show me how you do it, and I'll try to do it myself."
They were getting close to The Crimson Pass, he could see the large mountains looming up in the distance, there were fewer trees here on the mountains and those that were up here looked black and dreary.
Hannir had been trying to do what Renius had said, but the torch still stayed as it was, and it also looked as though it was going to rain, "I can't do it." Hannir said in frustation, "Focus on the torch, and picture it burning brighter than the fires of Dwzal Mnaak." Renius said, "Dwzal Mnaak?" Hannir said, "didn't your father ever tell you stories of what it was like before the Great War?" Renius said, "Dwzal Mnaak, means Great flame in the Dwarven Language, and it was the greatest fire that was ever seen in Aeru, it was the great forge of the Dwarf lords before the Great War destroyed it."
"Now remember," Renius continued, "Picture a fire that great, and say 'Vraal' without losing focus on the torch."
Hannir pictured the large Dwarven furnace, so huge that you could not see the other end of it, and without losing focus on the furnace or the torch he merged them together in his mind and said, "Vraal!"
The torch suddenly sparked, and slowly the spark grew into a large flame, and at last the torch was lit.
"Well we're here." Renius said, "How can you tell?" Hannir asked him holding the torch proudly in his hand, "Hey, you got it lit, I told you that you would have that torch lit by the time the night was over." Renius said, "And as to the other question, look at the ground at your feet." Hannir looked, and saw that the ground was the color of blood, "The Crimson pass." Hannir said with wonder. |
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The Son of Bant: Chapter 1, part 4.
Rain started to pour down on the two figures, it had been more than three hours since Renius had told Hannir to wait for his father to come, Renius looked worried, but he tried not to show it.
"What do we do if he doesn't come?" Hannir asked cautiously, "He will come." Renius said with firm conviction, but after two more hours, there was still no sign of his father, and finally Renius spoke, "We can't waste any more time waiting for my father, we'll make for the small Inn near the borders of Old Bant."
Hannir didn't argue, or say anything at all for that matter, he knew that Renius was worried about his father, and didn't say another word for the next three days unless it was absolutely necessary.
They made their way through The Crimson Pass after a day or so, and then through what Renius had called "The unmarked lands" which was a large portion of the map that didn't have any landmarks or villages labelled.
During the long walk from The Crimson Pass to the Inn that Renius had spoke of, Hannir and Renius went through an old city that was now a crumbling ruin, and spent the night there.
Hannir was impressed by the beautiful artwork that existed in the city, especially because the statues and designs were only a small fraction of what must have existed in the city before it's destruction.
"Do you think that these statues were made by the Elves?" Hannir asked, forgetting that Renius was still worried about his father, "probably," Renius answered without seeming interested, "Most of the statues made in that time were made by Elves."
After two more days, Renius finally turned to Hannir and told him that they were nearing the Inn, a few hours later, after spending about half an hour finding a way to ford a river that blocked their way, they arrived at the Red Tankard Inn.
The Inn seemed to be ancient, but strangely the stable beside it was full of horses, which suggested that this ancient, old, and battered tavern still was a popular place of talk after all these years.
Even from the outside the Inn bustled with the uproar coming from the patrons inside.
As Hannir entered with Renius, he noticed that this Inn's visitors were very different from those of Lionsreach, all of them were armed to the teeth with many sorts of weapons, and half of the patrons were not even human, in a corner of the Inn's darkest table he saw a group of Leonins, which were highly intelligent cats who could speak and talk like men, and were considerably larger than your usual ally cat.
In a table near the center, he saw a troop of Dwarves talking loudly and drinking ale as if their lives depended on it.
And the Barkeep looked to be at first an unusually beautiful lady, but when he looked closer he thought he saw a pair of pointed ears.
Renius seemed to cheer up when he entered the Tavern, and he walked right up to the Elven bartender and boldly asked for two pints of Lions mane, Hannir looked at Renius and then said softly, "Renius, I'm only fourteen." Renius looked back at Hannir and laughed, "This isn't an ale or strong dwarf drink, this is Lions mane, a drink made only by the Elves, completely nonalcoholic, and this Inn is the only place it is sold in all of Bant." Renius said proudly.
The Elven lady returned a few seconds later with two mugs filled with a creamy and foamy yellow liquid that looked exactly like the yellow mane of a lion when poured into the mug.
It tasted rich and creamy, and was almost worth the long walk that they had made to get there. |
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Should I continue this?
I will still work on the Argo Series, but I just want to know if you guys like this. Because I am hoping that eventually you will like this one better than the Argo. |
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zarloftJoin Date: 2011-03-22
Post Count: 1 |
Yes, but i have one qeustion, If rinock died,then why is he in the group? Did he come back from the dead? |
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