City of IF

[LordoftheNight]

Chapter Nine: A City in the Mists

“What? Explain yourself,” Ulliana demanded, her forearm pressed to his throat. Her green eyes flashed menacingly, her tail swishing audibly from side to side. Kagemusho stepped forwards, placing a calming hand on her shoulder. His face remained impassionate with the new-found knowledge, almost as if he had expected the information. The Prince’s brother smiled down at her, in an almost patronising way. Years of experience had taught her that no-one, repeat no-one, is happy about being forced against a wall without reason, or unless their masochistic side is showing through. Neither were alternatives she was happy with. In anger, she shrugged Kagemusho’s hand free, simultaneously snatching at the Prince’s throat with her hand, and swinging him round before throwing him to the floor.

Before he could recover, she had pounced on top of him, her sleek lithe body, curved above his, armoured breasts pressing into his chest, and hard eyes meeting his glare. Running her hand down his body to his legs, she withdrew a small dagger from it’s hidden location at the top of his left boot, and held it before his eyes. She purred mockingly, fingers tracing an elegant pattern with the blade, turning it back and forth before his silent gaze.

“So,” she murmured her voice soft and caressing. “Talk.”

“I am Prince Anvei, third son of King Mutulum. It is my brother Crown Prince Oukan, who has ordered the hunt for you. He believes you are a spy for your people – the Rakshasa. There are rumours of trouble brewing in the south, in Somalia – where your people traditionally come from. Nai-bu and I denounced his beliefs, and now Nai-bu is dead. An accidental hunting accident – would you believe?” He shook his head ruefully. “My brother has always been aggressive and impulsive. But I believe he has gone too far. He is too ambitious, not content with ruling Dartian and the Sutain; he wants to expand further south as well.”

“My people – we will not let him. The Rakshasa are a proud race – a warrior race, and your brother thinks he will force us to bended knee?” She snarled, the sound harsh in her throat, and stood up, stepping off the prone Prince in one motion. “Your brother is a fool! His actions will destroy us all.”

“Ulliana – have caution. Think carefully before you act,” was Kagemusho’s only offer of advice. “Do not let your emotions over-rule your better judgement.” As usual there was no change in his demeanour, the same calm presence and sound mind as he always outwardly appeared to be. The Prince on the other hand was agitated, and adamant in his desires.

“You must stop him. There is no telling what lengths he will go to, in an attempt to ensure the elimination of his opposition. He must die.” Anvei clambered to his feet, his robes no longer carrying the same airs as when he entered the room. “His room is the one down the hall, that way,” he pointed out, left hand raised in anxiety. “Go now – do the deed.”

In a flash Kagemusho had moved, his body travelling at speeds faster than the eye could see. He stood in front of the trembling prince, his bladed staff held horizontally behind him, ready to strike in an instant. Slowly he extended his left hand, the grey robes slipping down his arm to reveal a symbol burnt into his hand. Two jagged scars, running near parallel to one another, over lapping outside of a circle. As Ulliana watched, dumb-founded and in awe, the symbol began to glow, and the air around it took on a faint blue tinge, radiating away from the rune emblazoned to his palm. The Prince stared at it in horror, then looked towards Ulliana in obvious distress. He staggered backwards, stumbling over a chair and falling to his feet in his panicked retreat.

“Get away from me you…you…Devil-Spawn! You have no right! I…I am…” Ignoring his pleas Kagemusho continued to advance, his impeccably slow advance steady and unhurried. Closing his hand and forming a fist which he brought to his lips, he stared down upon Anvei with his bandaged eyes, and spoke softly.

“She is under the protection of the Hoeder. Do not try to influence her like that again. You are both children, struggling to make decisions in life. Each must choose their own path. Tell her the full story about why she has been targeted.” His order delivered, Kagemusho stepped backwards once more, leaving Ulliana staring at him in shock. Before she could demand what had just happened, the Prince coughed once, and climbed to his feet. He settled himself into a red velvet chair, and began to speak.

“Yes, I see now. She should have the full tale. Very well.” Reaching over to a nearby table and laying his hands upon a decanter of wine, he poured himself a glass of the dark liquid and swirled it, staring into the vintage depths. “Thirty seven years old this is – a glass of the original Vermidian Red, aged to perfection. Though this wine is older than either or us, the tale of how it came to pass is far older than it, older than if it were aged a hundred times further. Before Dartain and Sutain became a single country, before the castle of Akbar was built, back when the glorious city Alphabaks was little more than a hovel of villagers is when the tale should truly begin.”

“In those days Dartain was ruled by the Vespin – a warrior race from the West. Their empire stretched from the coasts of Francos to the furthest point of the Isles of Tar Sonia, from the borders of the Sutain to the Scandamonviomia lands of the north. It was a race consisting solely of knights, champions, warriors. They fought with each other, and against each other, one moment fighting side by side for a common cause, the next each striving to prove their worth in single combat as soon as the enemy was defeated. The lands they conquered were merely to provide them with food, a giant farm to keep the armies of the Emperor going onwards, striving to rule the Earth. Unlike us, their rulers were not born to power – they fought for it, one could be replaced at any moment. In those times death was celebrated – another warrior gone to join the eternal war, waged in the Heavens – the one which would decide the fate of eternity.”

“It was a small village, located in the South Sutain Desert, which was to prove the undoing of the Vespin. A lone Rakshasa, like yourself, travelled north towards Scandamonviomia. He brought with him a weapon of terrible potency, a dark blade, etched with runes of burning white.” Startled, Ulliana looked down at the blade still cradled in her arms, and shook her head. “Yes, that very same sword you hold in your hands. None know from whence it came, though it must have originated north of Somalia, for reasons that will soon become clear. This nameless warrior passed through the village – whose name has been lost in the mists of time – and in doing so gained great strength. He challenged the people of the mighty Vespin Empire, and defeated all who came against him. Some say he had the strength of a hundred men; others say he could breathe fire and deflect blows with his bare skin. Yet more declare he could summon forth an army of the dead, daemons from the nether realms, great beasts from the depths of the earth and sea. The legends all agree on but one thing; he was accompanied by a lone man, dressed all in grey.”

Ulliana looked at Kagemusho, the question plain from her raised eyebrow, but he merely let out a small smile, and shook his head.

“Continue. She must hear it all.”

“Hmm. What more is there to tell? This champion defeated all who opposed him, walking through the warrior race as if they were mere children. Eventually they fell apart, their Emperor defeated in single combat, a stranger about to take the throne. The day he was to be anointed, however, he and his advisor disappeared, and none heard of them since. The remaining leaders gathered their forces, and all moved against one another, each claiming their own right as supreme ruler. The old ways had gone – single combat became the extreme – not the norm. Men, women and children lost their lives in the resulting power struggle, and individual territories were marked out. It was from the ashes of the crumbling Empire that Dartain was formed. A coalition of three powerful chieftains together fought off the warriors of other tribes. Similar groups erupted throughout all the land, and it is from those surviving alliances that the world has formed as we know it today.”

“And let me guess, your brother fancies himself as the true Emperor? He wants to conquer the lands that the Vespin held once more?”

“And to do so he needs your sword. The blade that once defeated armies. The weapon that single-handedly brought the greatest Empire on Earth to its knees. That is not all, he also needs to find the City of Mists – as it is know known. He needs to bring forth the power that was contained within the blade once more. And most of all – he needs you dead to do so.” Ulliana spat.

“He can try. And this blade – it is nothing special. It’s been in my family for generations, handed down to me by my father. Not once in my life have I seen anything like the miracles you have described to me, nor any sign it is but an ordinary blade. You and your brother listen to old wives tales Prince. I have had my fill of this nonsense.” She strode towards the door, only to find Kagemusho’s strong hand on her shoulder. He stared into her face, a look both questioning and almost painful. The type of look that appeared to see straight through you, even though he could not see at all.

“Will you truly go?”

[Shady Stoat]

Good chapter Lordy - even if we did have to wait months for it :P

I'd say that killing this prince is now less important than finding the truth out about the sword. If she really does hold all this power in her hands, then the prince is a symptom of a problem and killing him will just bring about the next ruthless fool who thinks he can unite the people.

Better to find out if he's telling the truth or if it's just an old wives' tale. Find out about this City of Mists. Maybe even go there. If the sword is powerful - then why shouldn't Ulliana be the one wielding the power at the end of all this? :D

[Solomon Birch]

Finally! But it was good, so I won't castrate you just yet... ;)

A little correction:

Quote: but one thing, he was accompanied

This would be better as a ;

As for what to do, I think that Ulliana will listen to Kagemusho. He seems to have gained her trust somewhat, so I think she would at least hear him out. Then, I think that, if possible, she should eliminate the prince who wants her dead. As Shady said, in the long term this wouldn't be of any great benefit as some other power hungry monster would just come along to take his place, but as the opportunity is here, I think she should take it. It will buy her some respite, for a time, while she can better learn the secrets of her apparently miraculous blade, and about this mysterious city of mists.

And although some could deem it lazy, I actually kinda like you using real-world names and areas. Makes a nice change. :D

Let's just hope we don't have to wait as long for the next chapter, eh? Holding my breath that long was really rather painful... ;)

*warily holds breath* :shock: ©

[LordoftheNight]

Real names of places - I don't know what you mean. I worked long and hard on inventing those names I'll have you know.

"Oi, Chance. Give me a random name." See - effort.

And changed. I'll put up some maps of the area shortly as well.

[Solomon Birch]

Really...
'Scandamonviomia'? ;)
'Somalia'? ;)

[LordoftheNight]

I didn't make Somalia - that would have been Chance.

And Scandamonviomia isn't actually the name of a country...

[LordoftheNight]

well, it sort of works

[Ravagerrr]

Seems she needs to find out as much as she can about the nature of her sword. While she has proclaimed the whole story to be a bunch of hogwash, I think she would doubt that in her mind, and be expressing this because she is actually beginning to be scared of the potential of the item she carries.

She really should try to figure out a way to best research the capabilities of this item. Her companion might be a good first place to look for answers as he seems to have some magical capabilities and may know more about this than she. She knows where she got it and she knows it was a Rakshasa who carried such a sword of legend so putting the legend aside would be foolish.

As far as what to do about the prince, well, his agression is rather understandable, if not overly ambitious. She should take this as a warning that many more will come for her artifact and that she needs to master its power herself before someone else finds a way to strip her of it. She also needs to look into the history of which the Prince's brother speaks. Ask the guy where he heard all this, read up on the subject in all the libraries she can find, speak with sages, get lore, no matter how misleading some of it may be, she might be able to piece together the truth.

That's my basic suggestion: research the sword and the legends behind it using all available means and methods.

[Smee]

Great chapter Lordy - I enjoyed it. :D

Couple of typos:

Quote: before snatching at the Prince’s throat with her hand, and swinging him round before throwing him to the floor.

Before he could recover, A lot of 'before' repetition there. And the sentence sounds awkward.

Quote: declare he could someone forth an army Should that be 'summon'?

~

I agree there's no real point in killing the prince's brother, but it is going to be inconvenient to be looking over her shoulder for his thugs as she tries to discover the background of the sword.

One thing she could try - maybe Kagemusho can help if he's on the ball - is declaring that she does know one thing the sword can do.

Then, make a series of small shallow cuts on her current captive, matching one of the runes on the sword and that will scar.

She can tell him that it binds a person to a promise, and that promise is for him to prevent his brother from going after her, and incapacitating him if necessary. Then make up some torture if he breaks the promise.

If Kagemusho could make the blade glow or something that'd really 'burn' the idea into his head.

In general though I'm with everyone else - reseach and find out.

Happy Writing :)

[Araex]

Interestingness...

There seems to be a lot of legends flying around - I think we should clear the air by killing the Crown Prince [and are we sure that this isn't him bluffing?], and then migrating somewhere. Perhaps we can find out more about our sword as we go?

If Alveoli [:D] is really who he says he is, what's his motive in telling? To gain power himself - he's the next in line. And who says after we kill his bro, he won't order the Black Knights on us whilst we're still in the castle?

et:

lordofthenight wrote: as it is know known

Knigget knugget.

[Ravagerrr]

oooh, I like the idea Smee, that's brilliant!

[LordoftheNight]

Good suggestions all of you.

I've editted the mistakes Smee, but I wasn't sure where your one was Araex. And also - Alveoli? Where did that come from?

Kagemusho's powers are limited, he wouldn't be able to affect the blade in anyway. And it is doubtful the Prince would believe her attempting to curse him, after she just declared the story was false.

Researching the sword - where would you suggest? Going back to Somalia, which takes her across the Sutain desert anyways (unless she goes by boat of course*), returning to the city of Alphabaks, heading to the City of Socerors, otherwise known as Myst - located in the East of Dartain?

Or should she try journeying to another country - such as Franco where the Vespin orginated from? See what information they still have about the sword, as they were the most advanced race of their time.

[LordoftheNight]

Well, unless anyone else has anything to add, I think I'll be putting up the poll tomorrow.

Might have to make it two polls though, one to decide what to do, and one for how to do it.

[Chinaren]

*Bides*

[Solomon Birch]

*bides and pokes* ;)

[LordoftheNight]

So it's resorting to pokes now is it?

Very well - the poll is up.
It will remain up until it goes down, to be replaced by a second poll about how to do so.

[Kalanna Rai]

To quote Lordy 'Voted and Winning'... :anggrin:

[Ingrothechundyer]

Ah tough decision but I'm looking foward to seeing what happens :)

[Ravagerrr]

I like the idea of visiting the city of the Sorcerers... History isn't so important as unlocking it's potential.

[Solomon Birch]

Went for researching sword, as she'd probably discover things about her family in the process.

[LordoftheNight]

Well, it seems the consensus is to go and search out the sword's history. Now, next poll we be about how to go about it - where to visit and ect.

Suggestions please.

[LordoftheNight]

Right then, poll is up. Have fun making many votes people, so it's all up by the time I return from Iceland.

[Chinaren]

Ooh, that's good idea Lordy, adding an 'author vote' option.

[LordoftheNight]

I thought so too.

And whose clever idea was it to give me a four way tie?

[Solomon Birch]

Did that voting thing-amy-bob. :biggrin:

[Smee]

Voted to go to Myst.

Love the simple idea of the extra poll option Lordy - ingenius. I will most likely copy.:D


Happy Writing :)

[LordoftheNight]

Thanks Smee - but yet another tie.

Does anyone recall whose reading but not voting?

[Ingrothechundyer]

You could try the following readers who haven't voted...

OldJoe
Vampireidiot
Phang
Shogun
Black Widow

[LordoftheNight]

Cheers.

[Vampireidiot]

Ah, I've finally caught up.

Great chapters Lordy :D
And I voted for The myst as it sounds like a good idea :biggrin:

[LordoftheNight]

Cheers Vamps.

And if you're one of those people that I PM'ed asked to vote - please don't know. The poll is know closed.

I should get the next chapter up tomorrow, unless I get side tracked by needs to play Vampire.