An Unlikely Alliance (Start of Volume 4)

Day: 10/11/991; Time: 12th hour

It is in man’s nature to get impatient, make hasty decisions, and take unnecessary risks. Sometimes, the results of these decisions make it a worthwhile endeavor, but this was not the case for the houses Nyr and Eris. Their rebellion was plain for everyone to see when they withdrew their troops during the battle at Gamma. Allying with the Blades of Malice was a fatal mistake.

King Janus offered a pardon to the soldiers of Nyr and Eris that were willing to lay down their arms and join the rest of the kingdom. The fault was with their leaders and not with them. It was a wise decision on Janus’ part; needless bloodshed could be avoided. Two of the greatest houses of Charon had suffered a major blow and it did not look like a recovery was possible. Civilians and soldiers alike were quickly fleeing their lands in hopes of avoiding the King’s incoming army. Nobody wanted to be caught in the middle of another battle; the lands had become desolate in only a matter of days.

Lady Aria, the ruler of house Nyr, found herself in an uncomfortable situation following the battle at Gamma. If it weren’t for the support of her most loyal troops, there would definitely have been a mutiny already. However, her own vassals and the king’s advancing army were not her only enemies. There was a threat to the east that was much closer; in just a few days the Twin Keeps of Nyr had been overtaken. It was the Kali that attacked in the middle of the night. After 80 years of silence, the tribal elders finally decided to strike when the kingdom was at its weakest.

Aria was now spending her time in a dungeon and contemplating her existence; the Twin Keeps were now under the control of Kirtos of the Umi Tribe. After losing almost 70 percent of her troops from desertion, Aria had lost the means to adequately defend her territory. She surrendered within a few hours to the vastly stronger Kali army. Aria was a proud woman, but she was not foolish enough to die a meaningless death. She allowed the Kali to imprison her. It was her first time inside of a jail cell; she was more accustomed to looking at people from the other side of the bars. Aria had never envisioned herself facing such humiliation. However, her spirit was not so easily broken; she was already plotting her escape.

After sitting in the stuffy dungeon cell for an entire day, Kirtos decided to pay her a visit. He walked up to her cell and looked down at her as she sat on the floor with both of her hands tied behind her back. Aria’s green eyes glared at him impudently; she did not have the face of someone who was going to accept her defeat easily. Her short and curly red hair had become a mess, but her appearance was the least of her concerns at the moment. Aria’s face remained smug despite her situation.

Her captor, Kirtos, was tall and had a regal appearance. He had brown hair and appeared to be middle-aged; this usually meant around 60-90 years old for a Kali. His eyes were dark blue like the ocean; this feature was common to all full-blooded Kali. Those eyes were capable of striking fear into the heart of a grown man, but Aria did not flinch. Kirtos looked annoyed when he saw her resolve.

“Perhaps a few more days in this dungeon will wipe that smirk off your face,” said Kirtos.

“Keep dreaming. I’ll just bide my time here and wait for you to kill off my enemies for me. I think I’m getting quite a good deal here; house Nyr was already an enemy of Charon. You just wasted your time coming here,” replied Aria.

“It is Kali policy to never trust humans. Allying with you is unthinkable,” replied Kirtos.

“That’s why the Kali will never succeed; your pride robs you of true victory. We humans learn to tolerate even those that we hate. Sometimes we go as far as joining them if it means that we can get closer to attaining that which we desire. Your methods are inefficient; you are not smart enough to outwit King Janus,” said Aria with a smirk on her face.

“You underestimate us, Aria of house Nyr! ” bellowed Kirtos. “The Kali are stronger and fiercer than you humans. Your larger numbers mean nothing before our superior military. While your kind indulges in every vanity and excess imaginable, the Kali hone their battle skills. One of our children can take on several of your puny soldiers,” he continued to speak in a confident tone.
“The Kali were never meant to live on land. Go back to the ocean where you came from. King Janus might still forgive you if you leave now,” replied Aria in a mocking tone.

“I will personally see to it that the king begs me to spare his life. Once we have the Stones of Ethos we will be unstoppable!” exclaimed Kirtos.

Aria sighed and responded, “we have already discussed this, Sir Kirtos. You fail to understand the full extent of the power of those stones and the conditions under which they may be used. The Blades of Malice already used the only stone they had. You are out of luck; that thing won’t be recharging for another year.” Aria then briefly stopped speaking and said, “The stones’ power is too great; I saw it with my own eyes. It’s a double-edged sword; be careful that it doesn’t consume your own men.”

Kirtos was about to laugh, but he noticed that Aria was being serious for once. She was uncharacteristically earnest when she gave Kirtos her advice. He did not know how to respond. It was at this moment that the sounds of clashing swords could be heard upstairs.

Kirtos sent three men upstairs to find out what was going on, but they never got the chance to find out what caused the commotion. As they headed up the stairs two of the men were attacked by a black panther and one of the guards got stabbed by a man with a blue lance and quickly turned to ice. The wielder of the lance kicked the newly-formed ice sculpture and watched it shatter all over the dungeon floor.

The panther, not allowing himself to be outdone, slashed the throats of the two guards and instantly ended their lives. Kirtos and the remaining Kali could only stand and watch in horror at the two newly-arrived assailants and their black auras. They were not even given ample time to comprehend what had transpired.

The Kali all clutched their lances and were ready to strike at any moment, but they were stopped by the man shrouded in black. He held up his hands and said playfully, “Hey, let’s talk this out. There is no need for bloodshed; I’d hate to have to kill even more of your men.”

“The time for discussions is over!” bellowed Kirtos, as he sent five more soldiers to attack the two intruders. The tall red-haired man in green armor decided to use a different weapon this time. He took out his black bow and shot two arrows; one hit a left leg and another hit a second soldier’s chest. However, where the two soldiers got hit was of trivial importance because the end result was the same. The two soldiers screamed in agony and their bodies vanished without a trace.

The remaining three soldiers halted and looked on in horror. They turned back, looked at Kirtos and awaited further instructions. Their supreme commander’s face held the same expression of terror; it was not something easy to hide.

“Now can we talk?! You just made me waste two valuable arrows,” said the red-haired man in an annoyed voice.

“Very well. You may speak; we the Kali obey the strong,” replied Kirtos hesitantly.

“I figured that’s how things would play out. Unless I kill a few of your guys, you aren’t going to take me seriously,” said the red-haired man. He paused briefly and continued speaking, “You probably remember me from that gathering last month held by the Kali elders. I’m the guy that’s been going around building an army and causing chaos all over southern Ethos. Does any of this ring a bell?”

“I do believe that Lord Gil mentioned a mysterious man at the last tribal council who proclaimed about the powers of the stones. So it was you that divulged this information to the Kali. Your actions caused quite an uproar; I must thank you for spurring the Kali into action,” replied Kirtos in a humble tone.

The red-haired man looked rather amused and responded, “Wow. I guess you do know how to be reasonable. Allow me to tell you why it is that I am here then; it is merely to aid the Kali in their goal of overthrowing the kingdom of Charon. All troops, whether Gray tribe, Nyr, Kali, or anything else under your immediate command are now under my command. Lord Gil of the Umi gave me this letter if you don’t believe me.”

The man walked over and gave Kirtos the letter. The Kali commander grudgingly accepted it and read the letter to himself.

“The man does not lie; the seal is authentic. The Kali are now under this man’s command,” said Kirtos in a solemn tone.

The Kali soldiers tried to hide their looks of disbelief as they came to grips with the event that just took place.

“Sounds great. Now that we got that out of the way, I think I’m going to go upstairs, greet my new troops, and have some lunch,” said the man as he was getting ready to head upstairs.

“Excuse me, sir, but I do not believe that you properly introduced yourself. If you are to be our commander then we must know how to address you appropriately. You must have a dignified title and name,” said Kirtos.

The man turned around and laughed. He then replied, “There was a time when I had a human name, but those days are gone. Call me “Ranger”; it is the profession that I once had when I still dwelt on Ethos. But it doesn’t sound evil or sinister enough.” He thought briefly for a moment and said, “Call me “Dark Overlord”. That should strike fear into the hearts of our enemies.”

Kirtos and the other Kali all had puzzled expressions on their faces. Kali were not known for having a sense of humor; the Ranger’s behavior was beyond their comprehension.

Aria was beginning to get annoyed; she had been ignored this entire time. Neither the Ranger nor Kirtos paid any attention to her.

“Excuse me! Surely you aren’t going to leave an innocent girl like me down here in the dungeon, Sir Ranger?” announced Aria.

The man looked over at the red-head and smiled, “Of course! How could I forget?! You are going to be a vital part of this operation, Lady Aria. As of this moment, you are to be released and promoted to the rank of general of our unified anti-King Janus army.”

The red-headed girl smiled and then stuck her tongue out at Kirtos.

The Kali general spoke hesitantly, “With all due respect, Sir… “Dark Overlord”, I do not believe this is a wise decision. Lady Aria is a valuable hostage that…”

The Ranger quickly interrupted him and said, “She’s a lot more useful to you out there. You’ll never gain the respect of Lady Aria’s troops if you leave her in here to rot. You are losing the talents of one of the greatest mages in all of Ethos! Are the Kali always this wasteful?” He looked Kirtos straight in the eye and the Kali general held his peace.

“Release her!” bellowed Kirtos in an irritated voice.

A minute later, Aria was released from her shackles and allowed to finally leave her cell.

She stretched out her arms and looked at her savior’s face for more than just a few seconds. The ranger looked back at her with equal intensity in his eyes. The two had forgotten where they were for a moment and continued to stare at each other's green eyes and red hair.

Then they both laughed and the Ranger said, “You are just as beautiful as I had imagined; the songs do not lie.”

“You flatter me, sir “Dark Overlord”. It will be my pleasure to serve you in the days to come. I cannot wait to see the day that King Janus is dethroned,” replied Aria with a smile.