Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 6:00 am Post subject: Chapter One
Myrddin Loch lay against the brick wall, the sun blocked out the alley way by the tall buildings on either side. The air was stale as he glanced up at his superior, Gladsen, on the roof of the opposite building. Gladsen had the bird’s eye view of their approaching target and would signal at the right time. Loch did not know the target, other than it being a young woman spying for Andwire. His team had acquired a target the day before and discovered a plot that started with a meeting between this woman and the prisoner. He had been told to eliminate the woman before her team could be alerted and their plan carried out.
Loch had been training for the elite unit of spy hunters since he lost his sister six weeks prior to another Andwire spy. The spy had infiltrated Brandish and ingratiated herself to Lilian before poisoning her and stealing the blueprints to the underground sewers of Brandish. Fortunately, she had been found and publicly hung, as was custom for spies. Myrddin wasn’t very close to his sister, but it was his military duty to attend the dual public execution and funeral for spies and their victims. Loch had been rising through the ranks, and when his captain offered him the opportunity to train for this unit, he took it quickly, regardless of the reasons it was presented.
He made eye contact with Gladsen, and saw the signal. Looking to the corner, he saw elongated shadows grow into view and suddenly stop. One single shadow continued, stepping into the alley. Myrddin grabbed the woman from behind, his knife at her throat and his hand covering her mouth. She didn’t move, but Loch suddenly froze too. Her clothing, her hair, her scent… she was an Oracle. The Oracles reported to King Galleaus and only him. They had been given the gift of foresight and the words that passed through their lips was truth for the betterment of the kingdom. Their kind had served the kingdom of Brandish for over a century, though they themselves were not immortal. They only went into public on occasion and were always accompanied by the most decorated military guards. The people revered them and in their presence, there was a sense of awe. Myrddin was rarely shaken, but the blood of an Oracle on his hands made him hesitate.
He suddenly had a cold sweat on his neck, searching the alley for anything out of the ordinary. Catching an Oracle completely unaware would be impossible with their gift. He wasn’t afraid, but this made him very uneasy.
Myrddin saw the flash of his commander landing in front of him, short sword drawn and ready to finish what he hadn’t. Loch loosened the grip on the woman just enough for the words to escape her mouth. “Your sister is being tortured, I can take you to her.”
The words seemed to swim in Loch’s head as he found himself spinning the woman around behind him to safety. Gladsen swung past Myrddin, narrowly missing the woman. Gladsen tried again, but this time found himself locked up in Loch’s blade.
“Just wait a second, Commander” he whispered under his breath.
“Loch, we finish this now before she can get away.” His captain barked.
“She has information, we need her alive.” Loch snarled back.
“The sniveling bitch is lying, now move!” Commander Gladsen ordered, moving to push him out of the way.
Loch’s mother appeared in his head, words of respect and kindness towards women and the Oracles filling his mind. Loch pushed back, sending the commander sprawling against the wall.
The commander sprang back and rushed Loch, engaging in a fight that lasted a mere thirty seconds, but felt like an eternity in the Oracle’s eyes. When it was all over, the commander lay in the alley, blood slowly pooling under his head.
Myrddin stood over the body, trying to comprehend what just took place. The Oracle leaned down and touched the broken man’s neck, her eyes closing slightly…. She suddenly looked up at Loch and said, “We need to go, there are others nearby.”
Loch grabbed her by the arm and led her down the opposite end of the alley, and out into town, covering her regal white gowns in his cloak. They quickly made their way across town and found a quiet stable behind a tannery.
“Tell me about my sister.” Loch demanded.
“I don’t know much, I only saw her in a dungeon being tortured by several men. I could see others locked up nearby, but I couldn't see their faces.“ She responded.
“Where is she?” He questioned
“I don’t know, it doesn’t work like that. I only get glimpses of the future, I won’t know more until we get closer to the actual time of my vision.” She explained.
“Ok, so why did you let me capture you, I know you had to have seen it coming?” He asked.
“I had a vision of you, but in it, you didn’t kill me. I still don’t know why, but I knew you were not a threat. Our fates are somehow connected, we are involved in something bigger that is yet to come.” She said.
“I don’t even know your name.” Loch stated.
“It’s Delphine. Now, we need to keep moving, I have seen myself somewhere else soon.” She told him.
She got up and walked out, and he followed for reasons that he could not explain, even to himself. They walked through several alley ways until moving into an area of the capital city populated with farmer’s tents. There were passages between the tents where people could travel back home after long days in the fields, growing the food for the metropolis. The only ones there during the day were the young maidens, left to tend to the youngest children and take care of the homes. Loch could not tell the reason for the path chosen by Delphine but she seemed to know something he did not. He looked up and saw someone he recognized a few houses down, a good friend from military training, Marcus. He started to get his attention before the woman grabbed his arm and pulled him down another passage way.
“Our paths are not to cross just yet.” She explained. He found this bewildering, but went with it, for now….
She led him into an empty tent and simply stood there waiting. He could hear the muffled sounds of his friend on the other side of the heavy material. He heard his captain explaining how sometimes the soldiers come down here during the day to relieve stress with whatever maidens they could find.
“And how do the maidens feel about this?” Marcus asked.
“We never stop to ask, it is an unwritten right given by the government officials as a perk for our hard working soldiers. If they put up a fight, we just find a good way to calm them down” The captain explained accompanied by the familiar sound of a sword being drawn from its scabbard.
The sword slammed back into its scabbard and Loch could hear a dull thud followed by what was obviously a body sliding down the support pole to the tent. Loch moved to the doorway quickly, but Delphine stopped him once again, holding her finger to her lips in silence.
Within a few seconds there was the sound of quite a commotion on the other side, but it was over shortly thereafter. Delphine reached through a backdoor split in the curtain and pulled a sweating Marcus into the tent. His eyes wide suddenly turned to confusion at the sight of his friend Myrddin. His heavy breathing slowly calmed down and the three stood there staring at each other.
Finally, Delphine looked at the two men and said, “We need to move on, they will be here soon.”
“Who in the underhaven is she, Loch?” Marcus asked.
“I’ll have to explain later, I still don’t understand myself, but we are all in trouble now, so we need to find somewhere quiet and safe for now.” Loch stated.
“I have an idea of a place that is out of the way we can go for now.” Marcus offered. They agreed and set off.
By darkfall, they were in a barn a long distance from the center of the capital city. Marcus led them to a corner of the barn and kicked the hay with his boot. He reached down and pulled up on a handle, lifting a large door. “This is a hideaway shelter left over from before the wall was built, to hide our loved ones in the case of invaders. I don’t believe anyone remembers it’s here, we should be safe.”
The three walked down the stairs to the underground room…
Last edited by TheStoryteller on Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:01 am; edited 1 time in total
Loch held up his hand, and a glow emanated it, lighting the room up like a torch. He took a look at his surroundings and made a mental note of them (will let GM describe), but he then turned around to Marcus.
Joined: 05 Jun 2013 Posts: 25 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:36 am Post subject:
Marcus seemed to retreat into a deep thought as he absently pulled a small chair from the corner of the room out and slumped heavily onto. He crossed his arms over the back of the chair and leaned forward.
"It's wrong," he muttered as he shook his head. "So wrong."
Tears did not come easily for a man like Marcus, yet one single tear managed to break his demeanor and slid down his cheek as he looked up at the man who was probably one of his oldest and best friends.
"How could the king allow, nay... SANCTION such activity?! Did you KNOW ABOUT THIS?!" His voice raised at the last words and Marcus caught himself. "No, surely you wouldn't have known."
Seeing the perplexed look on Myrrdin's face, Marcus explained further, "My C.O. was taking me to visit the men. I assumed he was going to place me in charge of a new contingent. When we got to the tent, there was a woman inside being raped by the men. I... I lost control Myrddin. I don't know what happened... all I could see was red. And then there were the two of you. How could this have been allowed to happen?!" There was a hopeless pleading in Marcus' eyes.
Loch acted as if he had been hit as well. He grabbed another chair and slumped down into it, his hands rubbing his eyes and temples.
He then proceeded to tell Marcus what had happened with the oracle. "It seems are fates are destined to be the same. Perhaps she would care to shed some light on the situation?"
Here, he turned to the Oracle, letting his silence speak the questions.
"Every Oracle's gift works differently. My foresight can be vague. I may receive visions for weeks, months, or years before an event actually occurs. The vision becomes more and more clear as the event approaches."
At this point Delphine is slowly pacing back and forth. It is apparent she is choosing her words wisely. "I have seen you both in my visions. At this point the meaning or purpose of our union is unknown to me. The three of us love our government and desire a fair and just government worthy of our loyalty. I believe we will help each other in our endeavors."
Joined: 05 Jun 2013 Posts: 25 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:09 pm Post subject:
Marcus mulled over the current situation.
"Our greatest advantage right now is to stay hidden. We can lay low here for a short time, but we must eventually find a more long term solution. Since none of us are clear on what we should do next, perhaps we should find a quiet place where we can rest and regroup? Maybe you will have another vision?"
Loch nodded his head in agreement. "I would suggest moving sooner than later. It won't be long before what happened here is discovered, and then they will send more like us looking for answers. I would rather not kill any more friends today. We can wait here till dark, but then we need to move. In the meantime, I agree that we should form some sort of plan for our next steps."
Loch had never been much for torture as a profession, but he did know a few classmates that had a penchant for it in school. The problem lie in getting to them without getting caught in the process. He did not like the prospect of being handled by Harkes or Bowen if they got the drop of them. The blood on Loch's hands would only make Bowens job easier, it was his commander too. They would have to be very careful on approach...
Myrddin looked up at Marcus, "You aren't going to like it, but I think we are going to have to meet up with Harkes."
Marcus shuddered, "You know how it went last time, Myrddin, besides, that guy gives me the creeps. There's just something...wrong with him."
"He would be the one to know where something nasty like this would be going on, I don't think we have a choice." Loch explained.
"I guess, but if he causes problems, I won't hesitate. So where do creeps like him hang out?" Marcus replied.
Delphine looked up slowly, "I think I have an idea..."
Joined: 05 Jun 2013 Posts: 25 Location: Right behind you...
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 12:39 pm Post subject:
Marcus stood, glad to finally have settled on a direction in spite of his distaste for their mark. He slid the chair back to the corner and stretched his arm across his chest. He looked at his companions, first to Delphine and then to Myrddin, and started toward the door.
"Never been one for hiding in a hole, and besides the quicker we move the better. We might be able to slip in before word reaches them of what happened."
Marcus slowly opened the trapdoor and peered out, but the coast was clear. The three left the safety of the barn and ventured back out into the open.
The sun had settled into mid-afternoon and the market they were headed to would be quite busy. Marcus took the lead with Loch following behind Delphine. The trio was very alert and wary of every person they passed, looking for watching eyes or sideways glances. They didn't find anything out of the ordinary, but that didn't still their paranoid thoughts.
As they approached the market with the high tower that Delphine described, they paused to take in the market. There were people everywhere, selling food and textiles, calling out for the shoppers attention. Loch knew this market, it was not far from his parent's home and he had visited it on several occasions with his mother as a child.
In fact, there was a particular vendor that he had long forgotten. It was a man that dealt with magic trinkets and things. As a child, he had always longed to look through his wares, but his mother would never let him go into the man's open tent. He never understood what problem she had with the man, but once he was chosen for the school of magic, he hadn't thought about it again. Seeing the market again brought back that same sense of wonder he felt as a child.
The man's tent was just off the center of the market, near the tower.
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