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Collection: Submissions/Lormere - Guest Chronicle by Ghasty
The silhouetted figure watched as the portal slowly closed. She turned and walked a few paces while making sure she wasn't observed. She carried a bow with her fashioned from blackwood with topazolite gemstones socketed within. She also had a quiver strung across her back. This quiver was made from tanned leather and it held arrows tipped with obsidian arrowheads. The feathers at the other end of the arrows were those of crows. She had six wings which seemed to be made of shadows. She unfolded these wings and flew to the top of a nearby building while making no sound. Collection: Submissions/Lormere - Guest Chronicle by Ghasty
Azarias and Quaxius were traveling down into the dark abyss that was Lormere. He took an unlit torch from his rucksack. "Fotralici ahl trasuja!" Azarias roared. Suddenly, a fire burst into life atop the torch. The torch illuminated the first twenty steps in front of them. Collection: Submissions/Lormere, Guest Chronicle by Ghasty
Their footsteps echoed as they walked through the barren halls. The halls had once been part of a vast subterranean metropolis called Lormere. It had been full of people, like a hive packed with bees. They had all mysteriously disappeared one day with no clues as to what happened. Some theorized there had been a mass evacuation of the city; others theorized it was caused by something supernatural. Whatever had happened had caused the nearby inhabitants of the village of Eriwynne to fear for their lives. They wanted an explanation for the disappearance of the Lormerians and were willing to look to anyone for help, but first, we must discuss how they got there. Collection: Submissions/Ages of Youth/the Halleaux Guest Chronicle by Daniel
Chapter 3: Homecoming Ren walked down a hallway that looked exactly like the others, but he had memorized the way in the two weeks since he had moved into his rooms. He stepped through a door and into another hallway. He stared left first, then right. To his right were his quarters locked behind a set of double oak doors. To his left were another set of oak double doors which hid Marius’ quarters from the other recruits. He was, after all, a commander. He was one of Petra’s right hand men, the other was an englishman named Mech, whom Ren had never met. He walked to his right and unlocked his door. As he stepped inside he caught a whiff of his favorite smells: cinnamon, cloves, pine, and white sage. They blended together in the air to form an altogether not-unpleasant medley. The First room was lit by the soft light of a candle that burned on the table, filling the room with a gentle glow. Inside was everything on his list, plus a few things he had not asked for. The double king- sized hand carved bed, with a mattress stuffed with down, had not been slept in. He slept instead on the floor in a sleeping bag. He walked to the table and took off the top portion of his armor. He sat down and thought of his last two weeks, joining the Haven Fighters, telling Petra mostly everything, and meeting Marius. He sat at the table for several minutes lost deep in his thoughts when he was jolted back to reality by a loud knock at the door. He stood and slowly walked to the door, grabbing a large knife on his way. He opened the door just enough to see who was there and found, to his great surprise, Petra waiting in the hallway. “Ah, I was hoping that you were home, may I come inside?” She asked Ren was shocked that she had come to see him. After all, he never got the impression that she considered him anything more than someone to watch as closely as possible. He was glad that she believed what he said about being a soldier because technically it was the truth, not the whole truth, but the truth nonetheless. “Of course, Milady”, he replied smoothly, “ I have been hoping to speak to you myself” Ren opened the door the rest of the way and Petr strode in, she took a moment to stand there and take in the sight. “Excuse the clutter, I wasn’t expecting company” Ren said, moving his armor off the table along with a long thin box engraved with what appeared to be glyphs of a language long lost to the world. Petra took a seat and rested her hands upon the table, staring at a point somewhere beyond Ren. “Can I get you something to drink?”, he asked politely “Water, please” she stated tensely. He poured her a glass of crystal clear water and set it on the table in front of her. He then walked across the room and poured himself a small glass of an unknown liquid that was light brown in color, walked back to the table and resumed his seat. “What is that?” she asked “The juice of a berry who’s name I can’t pronounce. it comes from the northern forests, where the native tribes make all sorts of things out of it. Try it” he said pushing the glass towards her. “I’m not sure that it’s a good idea,” she said, “Are you even sure it’s safe?” Ren chuckled quietly to himself and handed her the glass. “It's perfectly fine, as long as you don’t-” Ren began. Petra took a big gulp of the juice and inhaled sharply. “It burns” she said between gasps of air. “Well, yes, I was going to say it’s perfectly fine as long as you drink it slowly and take small sips” Ren said, “However, you didn’t know that because you were too busy chugging it to hear” Ren poured her another glass of water and dropped a small tablet into it making it fizz and bubble, saying “Here, drink this, it’ll help with the burning” She took the glass and drank deeply not stopping until the glass was entirely empty. “Why?” she asked “Why what?” came his answer “Why does it burn, and why do you drink it” she replied “It burns because it contains so much acid that in large quantities the acid of the fruit begins to burn you, just as any acid does with time, as for why I drink it, well, because it tastes good.” He answered her, “Now, you wanted to speak with me about something” “Um, yes, as you can see I have kept my end of our little deal and I think it’s time you fulfill yours” She said suddenly businesslike. Ren did not quite see where she was going so she stayed quiet. “Tomorrow you will go to the computer room and meet with Mech, you and him will begin to work on strategic maps of Javert’s command posts, understand?” “Yes, Ma’am” He said. “Now, didn’t you want to speak to me about something?” She asked politely “Yes, for the past two weeks I have been here, I have done nothing but walk around the base and report to you.” “Okay”, she said looking slightly unsure of what was to come. “I want to go to the training field, or leave the base, or go somewhere other than your office, my lab, and my quarters” he said “I will see what can be done and we will revisit this matter tomorrow” “Good”, he said obviously satisfied. They sat there for a moment and finished their drinks. Then he gathered up their glasses and took them to the sink. “Now, is there anything else I can do for you” He asked quietly “I actually have a question about your past.” She said Oh great, he thought, here it comes, then I’ll have to tell her the rest and I’ll lose one of the only people who trusts me around here. “What did you do in the time between leaving Javert’s army and joining the Haven?” She asked. Ren breathed a sigh of relief because it was not the question he had been expecting. “I wandered around and eventually found the native tribes of the north and made friends with one of them. They taught me many of the skills I learned.” He answered “Which one?” “Come again” He said “Which tribe did you make friends with” She asked “One of the larger ones, I believe they are called the Wolf People in this tongue and the Nikitari in their own” he explained. Petra stood and walked to the door, opened it, and stepped into the hallway. Before she left, she turned and said to him “Ren?” “Yes Ma’am?” came his response “Have a good night and I will see you tomorrow” “Yes Ma’am” He replied Ren shut the door behind her and took off the rest of his armor. He layed down on his sleeping bag, rolled over, and soon fell into light, fitful sleep. He woke the next day at 5:00 as usual, and ran through his usual morning workout. Then he hustled to the shower. He sighed to himself, after all, there was nothing like standing under ice-cold water early in the morning. He wrapped a towel around himself and stepped out of the tub. Smiling to himself as he breathed in the fresh morning air he stood before the mirror and picked up his shaving razor. After applying a salve to his face to his face (just one of many from his collection of homemade remedies for everything) and began to shave off what little hair had managed to grow since the last time he had done this two days ago. He was happy, pleased that he was going to be around people for the first time in almost three weeks. Then he stopped and peered into the mirror. He had just taken notice of his hair. He was going to meet people and he would not meet them looking like a prison escapee. He picked up his knife (never leave home without it) and the short length of cord he usually tied his hair back with. He proceeded to tie his hair back and cut it just above where it was tied leaving him with a shaggy, shoulder length mess. He continued to cut it shorter still until he was satisfied. Almost there he said to himself and he picked up his razor. Five minutes later his hair was finished in a standard military haircut, short around the sides, longer on top. It had been almost four years since he had his hair cut like this last. He walked over to his bag which was lying next to his sleeping bag and pulled out a pair of black linen pants and a thin, black, sleeveless cotton shirt. He put them on, belted on his knife and one of his handguns, and grabbed his training gloves. His gloves were black tactical gloves with steel reinforced carbon fiber knuckles. He had worn his armor for so long it felt weird leaving without it, but wearing his training gear again felt good, felt right. For the first time since he had left the army, he truly felt like he was home. Collection: Submissions/Ages of Youth/the Halleaux - Guest Chronicle by Daniel
Chapter 1: Ren: The Genesis “What, Marius, is that?” asked Petra. She stood at the entrance to the compound. Her black and white coat stood out against the rocky landscape that surrounded them. Her dark brown hair contrasted with her lightly tanned skin. “Can we go inside Petra, you know I don’t like waiting around on the surface” Said Marius. Marius was dressed the same as usual. The button down shirt, the black vest, paired with black slacks and those ugly brown gloves. “We will stay here as long as it takes to figure out what we are going to do about that” exclaimed Petra. “The that to which you are referring has a name, Petra” Said Marius “And what might its name be?” She shouted. “Ren, my name is Ren” Said a voice “Also, are you aware that it is considered rude to address someone as it or that?” Ren stood next to Marius; he had been there the whole time and had been listening to this entire conversation. He also did not take kindly to being ignored. His armor glinted in the light of the sunset. It was blood red and accented with black. His helmet was tucked under his arm. His hair was long and black and his skin was dark from days in the sun. He was also armed quite heavily. He wore a handgun on each side and a rifle slung across his back, a long fixed-blade knife was strapped to his leg, and those were only the weapons Petra could see. “So what’s the story this time, Marius?” Said Petra irritably, “a stranded traveler, or an escaped prisoner, or even better a-” Marius cut her off “He saved my life, Petra” “Ah, well that changes the situation considerably now doesn’t it?” said Petra, clearly taken aback. “Yes, I believe it does” said Marius, “You see, I was scouting the enemy camp as you ordered me to and was ambushed by a patrol. Ren dropped out of a tree, and knocked them out with the butt of his rifle” “There’s no way he knocked out that entire patrol, there are too many” Petra heard one of the most oddest noises ever, which turned out to be Ren laughing. His laughing was so infectious even Petra smiled. She didn’t think someone so serious could make such a noise.Then Ren swung his rifle off his back with blinding speed smashed the stock against a nearby boulder. At first Petra didn’t see anything but then she noticed a crack in the boulder. Towards the center of the fissure there was a round indentation. “How did you do that?” asked Petra, amazed. Ren smiled at her and put his helmet on. “That’s for me to know and you not to, Milady” Said Ren “Shall we, Marius?” “Aye, we shall” Marius said with a grin. With that the two friends strolled past Petra and into the base. “Wait, you can’t just go in there without my permission, stop, come back here” Petra yelled. Ren stopped and turned around “With all due respect Milady, I’ve walked the last 10 miles and stood around listening to you gripe forever and a day, I'd like to get off my feet and that is precisely what I intend to do.” Petra stood there, shocked. No one had ever spoken to her that way before, especially a potential recruit. The oddest thing was if anyone else had spoken to her like that she would have shot them. But when Ren had done so, he had done it in a way that told her it wasn’t a statement, it was an order. It also told her that he was someone who was used to having their orders followed. Normally Petra would have been livid, but he had given her orders in a voice that made her want to obey. His very tone of voice compelled her to say “Yes, Sir”. His tone had said more than his words: he had given his orders and you would be unwise to disobey them or even disagree with them. There was no argument, he was in charge, what he said went. And that made him dangerous. Chapter 2: Files, Files Everywhere, but Nothing Good to Read Petra walked through the front doors and into the entrance hall. “At ease” she said to the guards at either side of the door who stood and saluted as she approached. She walked past the guards and into the central chamber and turned right and walked into a side corridor. She walked down the intricate maze of chambers, vaults, and corridors that she knew so well. She stopped next to a silver door that looked just like the others in the corridor. To the outsider it would have appeared nothing special, but Petra knew different. She pressed her thumb onto a scanner concealed in the wall and a card reader popped out of the door. She slid her keycard through the slot and the door slid sideways with a slight hiss. She entered a room about the size of an office with computers from floor to ceiling. She flopped down in one of the chairs and slid over to one of the monitors. “Good day, Ma’am” Said the computer in its metallic voice. The monitors turned on flooding the room with light. “Computer, initiate search” She ordered. “Input search subject” It said calmly. “Search subject: Ren, spelled r-e-n” she articulated. “Search complete, six hundred thirty-eight results found” the computer replied. “Oh, great. Computer, filter search to public records and images. “Search complete, one hundred five results found” Wonderful Petra thought to herself. How am I supposed to find someone who I know nothing about? But wait, she did know something about him, or at least his personality. “Ha, I’ve got it. Computer, search military enlistment, promotion, and retirement records” She exclaimed “Search complete, five results found” Said the computer in its usual monotonous voice. “Read the first result”She said excitedly, she thought to herself “It's not much, but it’s a start. “Enlistment record for Michael Ren into Javert’s army, date unknown” The computer’s voice said. “Result two, then if you please” Said Petra “Order of promotion to Michael Ren, date unknown” “Result three” She said. “Order of promotion to Michael Ren, date unknown” “Result four?” Petra asked. “Letter of recommendation from Javert’s second in command to Javert regarding Michael Ren receiving the medal of valor, the mural crown, and the purple heart” Said the metallic voice. “And the fifth?” She asked “A certificate of death for Michael Ren, date unknown, cause of death: grenade explosion” Replied the faithful computer. “Any pictures?” asked Petra “One picture found, opening now” On the monitor appeared a black and white picture of six men dressed in military camouflage and in the middle of the front row sat Ren. He was younger, his skin was lighter, his hair was shorter, but it was definitely him. Judging by the look on his face, the photographer had caught him mid-laugh. He looked like he was having the time of his life without a care in the world. Petra wondered what could have happened to turn him into the serious, brooding, dark, and cruel-looking person she had met earlier. For some reason, looking at the picture made her feel sad, almost as if she could see tragedy about to happen to those happy young men immortalized in this photograph. “Sad, isn’t it” said a voice from behind. Petra jumped, startled, she hadn’t heard the door open. She turned and there stood Ren. “How did you get in here” she asked angrily “Come now, a man can’t spend three years in the service and not learn how to pick a lock” He said. He almost looked amused, a halfway smile played upon his lips, life and mischief glinted in his eye. He looked remarkably like he did in the photo. “The day after that picture was taken, my squad went into combat. We were running in a tight group and an I.E.D went off and killed them all and knocked me out. When I came to, there was a man sitting next to me. He told me that my place was not in the army, or at least Javert’s army, he told me that I was destined for a greatness that I would never achieve where I was and that the explosion was Javert’s fault. So I gathered my things and left. And since then I have been waiting, biding my time to strike back at Javert. So far I have only been a minor inconvenience to him, but now I am ready to strike with a fury known only to the spirits of hell. I no longer care whether or not I live or die, only that Javert’s death comes from the actions that I take directly. However, I do wish that you keep my identity a secret to the best of your abilities” He explained. “Why have you told me these things” she asked. His expression changed and he looked more like the man she had met a few hours ago. “I knew that it was only a matter of time before you figures out who I am, or rather who I was, so I told you this with the hope that you might trust me enough to not tell the other troops” He said “The fact that I served as a soldier in the army of your enemy would do me no favors and would possibly make my life even harder, which is something that I do not need at this point in time. I would be happy to be treated as any other recruit would be, with a few exceptions” “Like” she asked “I will make you a list of various items that I will require, and in return I can give you any information that you require about Javert’s plans, bases, troop movements, strengths and/or weaknesses” He replied “Fine” She agreed “but you will be expected to toe the line just like the other recruits” “Deal” He said, and that was final. |
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