Serena with her training bow and arrows met with her uncle Degrasse, before he went to his cavalry. Degrasse gave her his gift, a small pendant while saying
“Princess it has been long since I saw you, but I’m afraid I still cannot stay for long again?
“ Why uncle, I thought you are going to train me ?”
“I do not have time I’m afraid princess, but I have another gift for you.” He showed the pendant of a moon and a star on its center.
“It is beautiful uncle, it looked like the other moon I saw last night.”
“You saw it as well yes? When I go back we can continue with your training but I’m afraid I have to leave now Serena. I have another mission.”
“Why uncle? You just came back”
“I know princess, but if I do not go, the empire will not be protected.”
“When will you come back? When are we going to train again?”
“I will be coming back before you know it, hold on to that gift my princess. Take care of yourself Serena”
Serena hugged his uncle as her mother was approaching her.
“Farewell knight of Myrina, may the light guide you to your path” the queen bowed her head as Degrasse kneeled before he left.
The King of Myrina accompanied by the King’s guard, together with several men held a meeting at the council hall. These men that were with King Parthas wore expensive tunics and appeared to be traders coming from a different kingdom.
“How was the travel?” asked King Parthas
“We were caught by a storm on the way here, we are lucky to have arrived here.” The rich man replied
“Please, you are welcome to stay in Myrina, as long as it fits you ” King Parthas offering his hospitality.
“Thank you, my King, but I am afraid we have to leave shortly, we are expected to head back as soon as we agree to the terms.” The rich man implied
“Oh yes, you are referring to the Myrstone agreement? What is it with traders that love precious stones?” Parthas uttered.
“Young King, I believe we are not talking to common traders here, you are talking to the prince of Taniya, Grifith the next high king.” Alias, Parthas’ advisor, whispered to him, after recognizing the tatoo hidden on his neck.
Taniya is a wealthy kingdome located at the eastern islands of Margal, which is a land rich in gold.
“I know he is of royalty, I can see it on his intent.” Parthas agreed
“You must choose your next words carefully when talking to this man my king, we might spark another war we do not need.” Alias cautioned Parthas. Parthas then nodded.
“King Parthas, how are you doing with these rebels? I believe you must be having a hard time against these Taruks. We Taniyans would like to offer you our help.” Grifith extending his help
“No need for that prince of Taniya, we believe we can handle this lowly threat on our own.” Parthas answered
“Is that so? Then how did these savages took one of your villages? Oh and your mines are located there too I believe? How can we proceed to the trade then when you have nothing to offer?” Grifith questioning Parthas.
“I already have my best men to take care of that situation. With that said, how did you know about that?”Parthas giving a question of his own
“The empire of Taniya has its eyes and ears everywhere” Grifith answered.
“Well then your eyes and ears deceive you.” Parthas said to Grifith
Knowing that the argument could escalate, Alias quickly told Parthas of the implications if he disagreed with the deal. Knowing that a war might soon unfold with Taniya, Parthas still disagreed with the deal.
“The Myrstone is precious to us, it will be used and protected by the Kingdom of Myrina. This discussion is over.” Parthas implied
“Very well then, we will have our leave. We will see each other again Parthas, next time it will be king against a king.” Grifith left after saying this.
Serena was outside the castle grounds playing with her servants as they saw Grifith and his men leaving. Grifith suddenly fell ill and felt a burning sensation on his neck, his guards soon accompanied him away from the castle, Serana was taken inside the castle when suddenly it rained and thunder rumbled.
“We must find it now, the shard… This city will burn soon” Grifith whispered to his advisor
As the knights of Myrina marched on to the mountains of Leshruk, there they saw a small passage that will lead to the plains Maramut. General Degrasse ordered scouts to locate the rebellion in the area first before they leave the border. “Rest now men, for when dawn comes we make ready for battle. This war is inevitable, for the sake of our kingdom we will retake Maramut.” Maramut is a small village located at the south of Myrina, where the Taruks encamped after plundering what was valuable to the village. Maramut was the birthplace of Degrasse there he grew and became the finest knight of Myrina, reserves of the stone Myrstone were mined in the caves of Maramut, which was used for forging their mighty swords including Tigris, the sword of Degrasse. Upon knowing that the village was plundered by rebels, the King Parthas ordered Degrasse to retake the village and investigate how the village was attacked surprisingly. Degrasse and his cavalry immediately prepared for, but only few of the entire knights of Myrina were capable of returning to war as they just came back from another siege. King Parthas ordered his 200 Royal Guards to accompany the cavalry and one of the royal guards was the father of Flavius, Lorias. Lorias was once the youngest and the most loyal Royal Guard of King Marthas, the father of Parthas. Lorias reported to King Parthas upon knowing the attack at Maramut, King Parthas then selected Lorias as the new captain of his Royal Guards. Degrasse recognized Lorias from before, but he did not know that he was a skilled warrior. He then ordered Lorias to muster his Royal Guards for they will leave by tomorrow.
The night at the border passage of Leshruk, Degrasse and Lorias planned the attack for Maramut.
“We must presume that the Taruks outnumber us” Degrasse said.
“You are the commander of the Holy Valiants, and the general of this army, what will you have me do?” Lorias replied.
The scouts that were sent earlier came back from the plains. “Sire! Taruks are marching fast, they are headed to the passage and will arrive here by sunrise.”
“ You have done great , grab some meal and rest up, for tomorrow we take back Maramut.” Degrasse replied.
“We will meet them by dawn, none shall pass the border. The Royal Guards will hold the passage as my Valiants face this rebels.” Degrasse said to Lorias.
“General, you will face a thousand men, do you not need our help?” Lorias uttered.
“Lorias, have you not heard of the Holy Valiants? Let the Taruks face us alone, do not interfere, I will not have a single Myrinian die tomorrow. Let them tremble before the light”. Degrasse insisted.
“As you command general, may the light guide you” Lorias agreed.
“Rest well captain, for tomorrow, your son will know of our victory” Degrasse with these strong words, left Lorias in awe.
As the morning came, Lorias and his 200 Royal Guards were in formation, protecting the pass at all cost. The Holy Valiants, the hundred immortals as they were named by their foes, led by Degrasse met the Taruks.
“Men, the light is with us, never fret from the darkness ahead of us. Cleanse them with your sword and no knight shall fall today.” Degrasse shouted
The Taruks led by Karuf the brute, recognized the Valiants from a far. “Are they mocking us, my thousand against these few men? Slaughter them all.”
As the sun was beginning to rise, the Valiants wore their helmets and raised their shields. “Hail the light!” shouted the Valiants. As the sun shined in their armor, the Taruks who were running towards the Knights were blinded by the bright light that met them.
The horn sounded, the Valiants were ready for battle. Degrasse held his Tigris, raised it as the light shined on it, the Valiants formed a single line as they ran towards the enemy meeting them. Taruk horsemen saw what appears to be a wave of light approaching them, scaring their horse. The 200 Royal Guards with Lorias saw this wave of light, “this is Degrasse and his cavalry, expect it to be over soon men” said Lorias to the Royal Guards. The Valiants with their swords ran towards the horsemen, who appeared to have no match against them. They were fast as lightning, their fast swing created the sound of thunder, as Karuf’s men were frightened with their senses.
“How can we win against them?” said one of the rebels. “They are coming for us! Run! They will kill us all!” said another rebel.
“You cowards! Raise your swords and stop them now, all of you! I will kill you myself if you ran away from them.” Karuf shouted.
The thousand rebels then soon were halved as most of them were already dead and some ran away scared. All of what’s left of Karuf’s rebels pursued the Valiants.
“Degrasse! Fear the wrath of the Taruk Balak! I will cut your head off and gi… Agh!”
Degrasse appeared and swung his Tigris cutting the sword of Karuf, he then placed his sword at the neck of Karuf.
“Your men have no chance against us, surrender now and let this slaughter end.” Degrasse implied
“You Myrinian scum, you do not know what you are up against…” Karuf replied “…Light shall soon fade and your people will fear it.” Karuf continued
“How shall this day end? Death or freedom? Choose for the fate of your men.” Degrasse was quick with his words.
“Killing me will not change anything. Remember what I said” Karuf seemed ready to face his end.
“Very well then, the killing ends for this day” Degrasse turned around and walked away as the Taruks surrendered, but not Karuf, he grabbed his dagger and swiftly ran towards Degrasse, but the knight already knew of Karuf’s scheme, and quickly dodged him. He then was quick to swing his sword and cut Karuf’s arm.
“My arm!” Karuf shouted.
The Myrinan army rejoiced and shouted “Hail the light!” as the Holy Valiants destroyed the army of Karuf, all of what’s left of the army were freed and returned to their homeland. Degrasse quickly sent messengers to the kingdom to report the victory. Maramut was now under control of the Myrinians.
The Myrinians quickly occupied Maramut, and villagers started to settle in the once peaceful town. Degrasse ordered twenty of the Royal Guards to be the temporary peacekeepers of the village, while the rest will head back to Myrina after two days. Lorias was with Degrasse as they were continuing to investigate how the village was quickly outrun.
“The forces that we met in the battlefield were intact, it seems to be that they came as early as us.” Degrasse stated.
“Aye, but the scouts that came to the kingdom, they only saw that the village was on fire. They could have only presumed that it was pillaged by the rebels.” Lorias added
“This is not right. There are no bodies buried here, no human ash in the fire. We are played from the start.”Degrasse insisted
“Let us not delve deeply into that conclusion General, we still have that leader whose arm you severed.” Lorias replied.
“Yes, everybody leave this room, Lorias ask the men to bring that rebel here. I have a few questions to ask.” Lorias agreed and the rest left the room. Degrasse quickly removed the gauntlets on his right arm, where his burn marks can be seen.
“Tie him up before leaving the room.” Lorias came back with two men carrying Karuf.
“You will know nothing from me!” Karuf shouted.
“We can stop that arm from bleeding you empty, just answer my question.” Degrasse said.
As Degrasse prayed, his burn marks lit suddenly like a flash of lightning across the room, Karuf suddenly was able to talk out of force as he was afraid of that flash of lightning. Karuf revealed Olgrim’s return and the search for the shard. No one knows where the shard is, but every soul is looking for it. The Shard of Ethereal, the one to be embedded onto the Dawn Sword whose power darkness dreads. The Dawn Sword is protected at the Altar of Light located at the castle of Myrina, anyone who tried to wield the sword without the shard turned feverish and weak, unable to stand as if the sword was heavy. It is still unknown, “He who seek the light, shall reveal the light and he who despise it shall the light reveal.” Engraved in the stone table where the sword lie and its legend shall never awaken, for now.
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