Curse

ischuros · Jul 25, 2006, 06:35 PM // 18:35

Well, this is my first atempt at this kind of fiction, outside of school anyway. Well feedback would be welcomed, new chapters will go up sparodicaly, when i feel they are complete. Normal copyright things apply. The characters which i have created are mine. you can post this story wherever you like, but not for profit, its free here and will be everywhere else. If you post you must give me the author credit and must not edit this in anyway. Well apart from that, enjoy, and post your response.

Prologue: Elynius' Training & Ivor's story.

It was hard and sweaty work. The drills they were doing now had been done and re-done countless times before. "1.....2.......3....4" The instructor droned. Sometimes he would go four then three, but that would only happen if you were really lucky. "One" Upper cut, "Two" thrust, "Three" Slash, and finally "Four" hack. Swordplay was what Enylius most looked forward to doing when he entered the Academy, and still enjoyed to a certain extent. But he could never get the hang of axes, and hammers were just too cumbersome for him. Swords and shields, now that's where victory lay. Enylius always wanted to be a warrior. Even though his father was a Ranger, and his brothers were necromancers and elementalists, he always wanted to be a warrior. When he told his mother and brother's that he was going to the Acadamy, they were hardly surprised, but still a bit disappointed; they always wanted him to become a Ranger like his father. He was probably the best suited to that profession; Ischuros and Kratos were both excellent casters. After a while his family embrace the idea of having a warrior in their midst, and Ischuros even sent him a sword from Cantha, where he was adventuring. This lesson was one of their last, as graduation was in a week. In two days they would have to choose their second profession, and Enylius still was not sure what he would choose. He was considering becoming a monk as well, but too many of the people in the Academy were Warrior Monks, Paladins. He wanted to be a true fighting machine, with sword and bow. Running through the wild with a tamed Tiger by his side. He thought that since I did not take Ranger as my first choice, it's sure as hell going to be my second. And anyway, he could always re train in Cantha. His brother sent a letter telling him that there was an excellent trainer that could teach you a new second profession. But, really that was not necessary. So, now his decision was made, he was going to become a warrior ranger.

Ivor Trueshot stood at the top of the ridge. He looked down at the column that Sir Tydus was bringing to the Valley. The green warriors were always assigned to him. There were not many warriors that became secondary Ranger's; nearly all of them became monks. Ivor didn't mind monks, but the Paladins that were trained were too cocky, too loud. He liked the warriors he trained. They were thoughtful and tactful. They knew what they were doing and how to do it. There were five in the group. All of them male. Some carried hammers others swords and one was wielding an axe. Soon they would have a quiver strapped to their backs and a bow in their hands. They would learn how to charm an animal and how to set traps how to survive in the wilderness and how to fire a bow. Ivor stepped down off the rock he was standing on and ran down to meet them.

The training to become a ranger wasn't as hard as the tough grind run by Grast in the Academy. Usually it consisted of hunting during the day, setting traps at dusk and then cooking, singing, eating and sleeping at night. They always slept under the stars, either in make shift tents or just out in the open. Enylius became quite a good trap setter, the best in the group, and always, by the next morning, there was something caught and edible in his traps. They camped and lived in the woods in Regents Valley for a fortnight, before what they all were looking forward to. On the fifteenth day Ivor woke up his recruits early, as they had a long march ahead of them. Today they were going to charm their pets.

"We only charm Melandru's Stalkers in these woods. They are the perfect companion, able to fight, run fast and are very loyal, once you charm them that is. While you are chanting the prayer, they will attack you just like most other creatures in this forest. It takes about five seconds for this spell to work, and after that you have a pet. The place where you can find Stalkers are near the statue of Melandru. It's around three hours hike west of here. So, I will meet you tonight here. I expect you all to have your pets and food with you. Now, go!" All the warriors took their bows (their other weapons having been locked up) and set off towards the statue.

Some were faster than others were, some did not go directly to the statue, but in the end all got a pet. Ivor congratulated them all on their need companions and he told them that their training was nearly at an end. Tomorrow he would bring them to Fort Ranik where they would be enrolled in the Ascalon Army. "So, in light of your recent accomplishments, we will have a feast tonight. Elynius and Rotheim go and get a deer for tonight’s meal. I will go to Foible's Fair and get some Hunter's Ale and the rest of you prepare a fire and get some herbs for the venison." All of the cadets were excited about the feast and what tomorrow would hold. There was alot of frenzied activity as the group organised themselves. Elynius and Rotheim got their bows and some arrows from their bags and went out hunting.

They moved silently through the undergrowth shadowing a deer. Elynius made hand gestures to Rotheim, which they were all trained for, seeing as the Army would most likely use them for nighttime and silent reconnaissance. They both notched an arrow in to their bows. Rotheim snuck behind the deer, and Elynius was in front and to the right of it. He could hear the birds calling as dusk approached. The smell of the forest filled his lungs and he could hear the distant tumbling of water as it raced down a waterfall. Underfoot he could feel the damp leaves, from last night’s rain. He was holding his breath now, as the deer shot its head up. Rotheim let loose with his arrow, but it missed and thudded into a tree too near to Elynius to be comfortable. The deer, startled now, began to bound away from Rotheim, who having failed with his shot had released a sigh of disappointment. Elynius tensed his bow, and pulled all the way back to his chin on the sting. He followed the deer, which, too preoccupied with escaping from Rotheim, had not noticed Elynius hiding beside a tee in front of it. As the deer passed Elynius released the bowstring and heard the sound of air been torn apart by the rushing arrow. It struck home and sent he deer side ways. Still it limped on, determined to escape its assailents. It staggered west into the setting sun, but by now Rotheim had notched another arrow, and this time hit home. The deer was sent reeling to the ground, and Elynius rushed in to finish a painful, traumatic and ultimate experience for the deer.

Ivor came into camp a couple of hours later. The sun had set and the ark had settled in for the night. He brought several flagons of ale from his pack and passed them around to his trainees. Elynius and Rotheim had arrived an hour or so earlier, and the smell from the cooking venison was enticing. They had lived off rabbits and tubers for the past fortnight and welcomed the break. They drank the beer swiftly as they had a very bland menu in the way of drink aswell for the past fortnight. They sat around the fire, not for warmth as the summer nights in the valley were warm enough, but to hear the story Ivor was telling. It was about his days in the Guild Wars. He was very young when they had really started for him, no older than the cadets here. His guild was a smaller one, compared to the main guilds that had participated in the wars, but still they saw there fair share of the action. There hall was deep in a forest not unlike this one, he said, and owing to their knowledge of the surroundings they had defeated many rival guilds when they came to attack the 'Iron Hunters' as they were known as. There guild leader, a man named Janus Storlisky, was a famed trapper, and the guild was protected well inside and outside. One of the fiercest battles that they had fought had resulted in his death. Tired of the attacks that they were being forced to defend against from another guild in the area, The Earth Shakers, they went on the offensive. They came upon the wall hall of the Shakers early in the morning. They had taken out most of the wall guards with their bows, but one of them tolled the alarm and the battle was on. The enemy elementalists let loose with a devastating barrage of fire and meteor's, setting the surrounding woodland alight. The Hunters warriors were, by this time, scaling the walls, and Ivor was providing cover for some of them. The enemy warriors had not appeared, as their armour was the hardest to get on. The walls were captured quickly, and secured by the warriors. This allowed for the casters and other guild members to climb them. Ivor and the other rangers fired down into the Shakers courtyard. The enemy warriors by this time had appeared and rushed the walls and gatehouse. They managed to break through the first line of defence and engaged some rangers and casters. Admits the confusion, a band of warriors had surround Janus and were attacking him. He ordered one of the few necromancers on the hunters attack party to cast Death Nova on him and that the Elementalists barrage the warriors surrounding him with Flares and Meteor showers. They did so reluctantly, destroying the enemy warriors and killing Janus. With most of their warriors killed the Shakers had capitulated soon afterwards. The hall was torched and the remaining shakers armour and weapons were taken from them. No doubt they would reform soon afterwards, but a cruel blow had been dealt, and because of Janus' sacrifice, the Hunters and the villages they protected could live in peace, for a short time at least.

"What happened to the Iron Hunters after the Guild Wars?" asked one of the cadets. "We were broken up like the rest of the guilds. All of us were invited into the Ascalon Army, I accepted along with some others, the rest of the guild went back to farming, trading and whatever else they did. I served as a Ranger for the Army for a couple of years before been offered an instructors position which I took, and ever since then I have been living here and training young rangers like yourselves. Well enough talk, it is late, the meat is eaten, we have no more beer and it's another early start to get to Fort Ranik tomorrow, so I think we should go get some sleep."

Full, slightly drunk and well entertained Elynius went over to his mat. His experience over the past fortnight had been one of the best of his life, and he was looking forward to life in the army. He now knew why his father had so enjoyed being a ranger. Then he went to sleep.