Ryan

The Realm of Men

My Hider

youtube.com/watch?v=iriiZOeInDg#

The high flung curtain walls dominated the entirety of the horizon ahead; the vibrant, bright vineyards and farms with all possessed different coloured plants, crops and flowers to give the countryside its mesmerizing appeal - she took it all in with a warm. Content, she smiled as the horse jostled her around in its staggered gait, tired gait.The young Kenneth, Freda's wayward squire, was silent; the entourage of Knights streaming behind the Princess perhaps being the reason to have his usually active tongue so dormant.
The road they wandered along curved around ever so with wooden fences to keep the fields separate from them. Even now, nearing winter, the sun was sweltering; beaming down upon the armoured Knights to send reflections off their freshly polished breastplates and helmets. A small dribble of sweat trickled down the Princess brow though it did nothing to hamper her excitement at the sight of home. It had been a long, gruelling march and she was not about to waste it walking and with that spurred her horse on, taking to a sharp gallop that had the men behind her startled. They set their armoured destriers after the Princess. Freda made swiftly for the great gates...

An extract from: Midway, The City of Heroes.

"Midway in-and-of-itself is truly massive, its walls ran all the way to the sea in the distance from the gate; nigh three leagues off, trailing off through through the vibrant vineyards and farmland that Midway boasted so proudly. The Kings banner flowed over the walls at all times - the battlements hanging the flag over each three protrusions on the curtain wall. A formidable defence was built up in several layers of defences, though the outer wall was the grandest of them all - it towered eighty metres high and boasted a thickness that seemed ludicrous though in truth it was merely two walls stacked up against one another, the older walls built hundreds of years past were too costly to bring down and ended up becoming the foundation and anchor for the far more sophisticated and stronger mortar and stone wall we see today. Watch-towers dotted along the great line and each bend in the wall ended in a tower though these towers were only on the front wall and were domed over in red. Red is, and has been for as long as one can remember, a very prominent theme here. The Kings banner; a flaming orange blade on a crimson field, was testament to its importance in the culture here.

The 'great-gates' as they had been dubbed were a true wonder to behold; some named them one of the great wonders of the world though it was more a jape by other nations and a pride-filled-boast for the locals. The entire depiction, in detail, was of the great unification war and the end of the necromancers. Being situated over the wood and metal coverings with great warriors, Kings long dead and evil men fought and died in an endless battle across its lavishly crafted surface. It ran in corresponding order, from the very start with the first King of Midway; who was but a noble at the time - Fredrick the Great; the unifier. He was depicted as the true hero of this art; for he truly was - he had unified the entirety of the territory Midway now holds to this very day, was the founder of the Order of the Phoenix, now one of the largest theocratic Order in the Realms of Men. Founder of the King's Conclave that organises the entire central realms and keeps peace from unity; lest the Raylian's pick at the weakest of the city states surrounding there vast Kingdoms. Midway is, and will always be, the greatest of the City States; it is the only one with enough land to boast a Kingdom after all."

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She crested past the great gate, running her steed straight past the guards present in their distinctive armour and plume helmets- the plated warriors did not bother to stop the galloping Knights; their flaming banner more than enough to convince them otherwise. Freda made route through the city's main causeway - the houses were all the same, she thought to herself absently as the wind picked up her blonde locks. She gazed up and past the grand terrace houses all running down in a straight line towards the bridge ahead. The Anduin River ran straight through the city, running all the way down the hill to the docks and sea. Most of the old city had been long lost to the flood lands that the river tended to expand out during the season of heavy rain - it was said if one dived deep enough they would find the ruins long since sunk beneath the rising waters. Midway, at least, was all stone - built up from the flood-lands and was a true testament to the masons, engineers and builders that had constructed it after the unification wars. Each house was unique in-and-of-itself but all of them had the same theme; a white stone, dark wooden windows and doors with red linings on the frames; some houses that could afford it even had redden roofs over the standard wooden colour but this was a rarity, only the Inns and business paid the expense to appear lavish.

Freda, at any rate, did not go unnoticed for long - soon cries followed: "The Princess returns!" "Salvation has come from the flame; the Princess returns!" Within a few moments, satisfaction filled her upon the recognition, she greeted her fellow kin with a warm smile and a gentle touch of the hand, letting her gauntlet run through the crowds that began to gather on the causeway - each one raising up their bare hands to be graced with the royals touch; the Knights did not approve however and rode closer to keep the crowds from mobbing her. Kenneth, on the other hand, had his eyes where the Freda was sitting on the saddle, trying to imagine what lay beneath. As he oft did.

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My Hider

youtube.com/watch?v=iriiZOeInDg#

"The canals are as beautiful as I remember. This district was always my favourite." Freda turned her head to look at her Squire, trying to at least rouse some conversation from the wayward boy and it seemed to work; he was humbled and leashed well as of late.
"... They're alright. I like the docks more; it's got that sea air, you know. Not that, egh, stagnant smell you get 'ere." He nods, managing a short smile before keeping his mouth shut further. He was reserved in the face of the entourage of twenty armoured men trotting behind him. By now said entourage had neared the great Keep at the centre of the city, they followed one of the canals that was cordoned off from the Anduin river and was used for major goods transportation - most of the bridges accommodated for this by being ridiculously large and slooped upwards just so a barge with cargo could fit through unmolested. These were perhaps the only wooden structures in the entire city.

The inner sanctum of the Orders great-hall was down the hill from them though they only caught glimpses of it as the houses broke off for a crossroads and allowed gazes down through the entire city itself; the massive causeways of homes and shops, the great bazaar by the docks - the docks themselves; teaming with merchant and military vessels alike. The great cathedral was the grandest building of them all. It stood out even above the walls; the depiction of a great bird curled around its exterior - the great phoenix's wings were spread wide and dotted with gold; though it was impossible to make it -entirely- out of gold they had very well tried.
It gleamed brightly in the sun, giving off a orange hue that those of the faithful claimed was the great cleansing fires to wash away the darkness of night. It even shone in the night, though it gave off an entirely different type of light; those that the locals dubbed the guardian light. That when the fires of the day had settled, the calm moons rays would quell the land and lull it into sleep to wait for the greatness of the next day's burning fires. Freda was less than convinced but it made for a great tale. The building itself was more akin to a gargantuan tower than anything else. The phoenix clung to the building like a Dragon in its perch. The faithful were not wanton for the glory it brought their faith.

Ahead sat the great Keep, her true home in-fact; a place she could truly call home. Her entire childhood had been spent among the mighty keep of Frederick the Great and his lineage before her - his blood was in her veins and it granted her access to its majesty. The keep was much like a mini-version of the city in truth, though it was far more enclosed and no buildings were allowed near the much shorter, but still impressive, thirty metre high curtain wall that dominated the entire perimeter whilst the keep itself was situated back against the curtain wall and boasted far more formidable defences than the rest of the city. With its own personal towers, artillery posts, an elite Royal Guard regiment that's only purpose was to defend the keep let alone the Royal Guards Battlions that could be rallied up to defend the outer walls should the worst occur. It was built by a conqueror and his predecessors and it showed. It was built to withstand an attack from anything imaginable in this world - though Freda wondered how well it might stand-up to a few Trolls.

Dominating, vibrant spires shot out from main construction of the building - which was one solid keep, it resembled a castle in all respects though its beauty and surroundings were far more than just that. The portcullis was raised for and it ushered her and the entourage into the courtyard that lead to the stairwell to the plaza a few metres up-ahead. A depiction of the great founder and King - Frederick, was positioned in the middle of the courtyard; his likeness was remodelled every year Freda recalled and his gaze stretched out over all he had built and created in his lifetime - though the city was supposedly half the size in his final days.
Freda ascended the stairway, none of the far more lavishly armed Royal Guards halted the entourage of the phoenix. The horses clambered up the steps and circled around the plaza momentarily only to be greeted by her father himself; and the entire court. All of which cheered upon her arrival - the Princess' return was always a big deal for her father and he never skipped it, everyone seemed to just play along. She hated it.

The elderly man known as and titled Lord-Protector, King of Midway and the Middle Kingdoms; custodian of the central powers conclave and guardian of the Peace, Alfred Risley the third of his name. He was a man late in his sixties and had since surpassed the ability to wage war personally though he was not as frail as one might expect of a man of his age. With broad shoulders, stern and stalwart features he was a man bred of and into war. His grizzled complexion faltered at the sight of his daughter. Freda dismounted to kneel before the Lord Protector and the entire court joined her in this ceremony. The Knights, not bound by the Lord-Protector's vow, remained mounted. They were warriors of the faith and it would be seen as an affront to the gods if they did so - though Freda was a child of the blood. She had too. Alfred smiled warmly, meaning to aid his daughter to her feet and sought to clasp two hands; both which were adorned in rings and coverings of metal, around her cheeks and squeezed. His voice was always the same as Freda remembered. Sweet to her, and strong. "My beautiful warrior-child. We worried for you after all of the news we had heard from the barbaric lands up north. I am pleased to see you once again. Come! A feast is prepared for you..." He smiled and let go of her, the rest of the court rose after his words and all began to disperse as the King went to lead her and Freda's entourage inside the great Keep of Midway...

The Realm of Men

Holding a dignified gait and stature befitting one of monarchy and with shimmering golden eyes none possessed that caused the courts to wallow at the supremacy she possessed. Though they were not looking at her; they never did. She sat on the lowest pedestal with only enough power to trickle at Enid's stupid boots. They both sat down at their new, temporary stations and reclined back within them. What -she- had brought, he would address; such was the duty of a King and -not- a Queen. It left her bitter.
"So? What is it? You bring me twenty mages through an unstable portal and risk shattering the thinly veiled defences we set up upon arriving to keep the shadow at bay. For..?" He addressed her, for once; it was mildly refreshing - even if his eyes didn't speak of formality. He was still such a child.

"Because, husband, they are here to bring an end to tyranny. We located a certain... incantation your sorcerers can keep up. To hold down and subdue malevolency itself." That caught his interest, as did Ge'es - who promptly craned his ugly head around to look. Thank the goddess he wore a helmet.

"-What- incantation do you speak of? I know the books through and through, and have the gift to cast every spell once written by Gall'an. Do you question his solidarity?"

If he could pull that awful grin, he would have. She could positively feel it though it would not get under her skin -at- all. Not today. "Of course not, venerable Ge'es. I merely -know- more than you, is all. Isn't that right husband?" She grinned this time, with no one to question it - the power felt intoxicating. "It's simple, really. But we'll need to practice. It took quite the research. With you leave, my King." She could feel Enid sneer and twist his fingers around in the gauntlet he cherished. He finally stood up and nodded.
"So be it. Work with my wife and queen, wizard. Compromise your pride for the evening and then join me in the morning; we finally ride to battle." The gracious King of the Riders wandered off and brought all the mages with him; clearly having a better purpose for them than target practice, or so she hoped. They were all so young.

Her poor apprentices...

--

My Hider

youtu.be/TRT3FOOk9ZI

She pulled up her skirt and descended the stairwell, taking to leaning against the wall to avoid falling down the genuinely tiny steps. Ge'es followed behind with a far bigger struggle. He had to walk sideways to avoid smashing through the rock beneath him. "Can we not simply teleport ourselves to the bottom? Surely we can just-..." He stumbled, hissing. All she had to do is calmly wander down; her feet were small enough.
At the bottom she gazed around the terribly droll and bland dungeon level. It was awfully dark, though a swift flutter of the hand was enough to ignite all of the scorns and torches hanging from the walls. It illuminated what she expected, an equally droll and foul place. Ge'es soon joined her, falling down several flights of stairs and sending a good portion of the ornamental parts of his armour flying all across the room. The Queen barely lowered her head, gazing down at the slumped mess of a man with a tactful grin. "I didn't know you were in such a hurry." Again, magic made things uncomplicated as with a flutter of a wrist and a spoken word the man was on his feet once more.

"My thanks." He uttered in a sharp tone. He proceeded on ahead, unsure what they were looking for.

She chimed in. "There is a portal down here, one that leads to the white gates of eternity. Where only spirits may enter. But... we mortals are damned to endure damnation if we enter; which leads me to believe that is a lie. For we have surpassed death itself with magic. Why can we not pluck the spirits one by one from their resting places? Claim this land for our own. You know full well of what I speak, grizzled wizard." The last line made her giggle softly, covering her lips to seem prudent. Ge'es was hardly amused.

"Are you mad, woman? We cannot just gallivant into the eternity beyond and come out the same. There's no spell known to anyone able to withstand the unbridled fury of these spirits. They can level our world ten-times ov-..." She interrupted him as they walked, tracing her golden stave across the ground - it left behind a golden trail of magic in its wake.

"Silence your false fears and anxiety. You know full well they are on the same plane as us when we enter. We simply need to centre ourselves there, becomes -spirits- ourselves, or at least have the guise. Benevolent and malevolent, we will seem as one and can wander freely until we find what we seek. This." She produced a book from the trail of magic, it opened up and began to fly past pages so quickly it created a gust of wind in the barren, stale dungeon. With a delicate cough she brought it to a halt, setting a finger on the spine of the page, pressing inwards. "Golden essence, that of what spirits are truly born from in the great, dark beyond. Pure cosmic energy itself. It is apparently falling from the very sky in this plane of existence. And will give us the power to bind anything to our whim. To end tyranny, as my husband aptly put it." Ge'es seemed awe struck, then went to grab the woman's arm firmly and without care for her station.

"This is -madness-. Where did you get all this? Who gave you it?" He demanded.

She gave him his answer. "Who else, sweet wizard? I have travelled to our homeland and back. Oh and such a tale it was. We -were- the masters before. The spirits cried out for mercy and we gave nothing back. Monsters they called us, immortal devils. They decimated our plane of existence. I simply... used a tool to get there myself. You'll never believe it." The Queen's smile could shatter bones, it twitched cruelly before the book disappeared and opened up an image through the guise of a mirror. An image of something Ge'es had no idea what it was. It looked to be a woman, oddly enough. Shimmering in red and silver.
"This is your tool? A mere Human-being? Let alone a woman, in armour."

"... Her name is Freda and she's going home. We will use her to ascend to the very heavens."

The Realm of Men

Snow crunched underfoot, the ice smashing off from the doors in a massive flurry of ice erupted from the walls that was once the seat of the North. What swaggered out from the gates was the tool they would use to bring ruin to the realms of men. Ge'es guided it out, using magic to lift the massive construct that was the great cannon. Which followed its wake were Knight's, thousands of them. They all poured out, lining up before the siege lines of the enemy.

Before long horns began to blow, the men of the North began to rally for war, men went to shore up barricades and prepare for a charge, halberds were dropped - swords drawn and drums. The drums of war sounded over the camp, men joining the chorus with rattles of mail and splinters from axes crashing against stakes; they were in a hurry to finish the barricades, though the Knight' seemed to be in little rush. Men began to file out, forming into lines as Mage's went to take up their positions in-front of the lines, creating barriers beyond the sights of the mere Human eye. Archers were taking up position; though the Riders of Red and Black. Among the masses approached a crowned figure, alone. He calmly cantered his way up to the lines.

He his gauntlet glowed brightly, leaking pure, freezing energy from its depths. The heavens around them erupted into a torrential blizzard and the giant cannon echoed voices - cries of the damned pierced the sky, though so faintly it could barely be heard above the clatter of men, horses and war-machines.
Before the King could even reach the perimeter he was halted by the approach of a cascade of Knight's, all of which surrounded the man - letting one single figure enter the circle of men. Another King, aptly enough. Leofrick bore heavy-plate, a full-helmet in the shape of the lion. It bore a faceguard, which was risen to show off his grizzled features. On his waist sat was an enchanted sword, none other resembled its likeness - or at least it was not the only enchanted sword, for a great King usually held a great weapon to boot. The King from the North spoke first:
"There is no hope for you, invader. You are surrounded on all sides and outnumbered with no way out. We can starve you out even if it would take us years, and if you sally out to meet us in the field you will be overwhelmed. Surrender, return from where you came and never set foot in my kingdom again"
Enid looks at the Knight's surrounding him and booms a laugh, it was chilling to even behold - magic warped his voice and he leaned forward, glancing at the King in his fancy armour. "There is no hope for anyone, little King. We're all pawns. I mean to end that today. All I need is your blood - so you will relinquish it now or I will do it with force."

The King in the North stared the invader down, hand over the pommel of his sword. Enid laughed, quickly dismounting from his horse to draw his runic, almost ice-like sword. It rippled and dripped with magic. The Knight's around him all drew their swords and their horses began to back away from the massive, armoured King - his cloak billowing out from behind him. "Very well. Test yourself against me, King. I will make it a tale for the ages." Another chilling laughed the man as he awaited the King to dismount to face him. The Knight's began to back off as he dismounted to meet the gesture.

My Hider

youtube.com/watch?v=Xkkt5X_ydmI&index=..

Leofrick wasted little time in starting the fight, he spun his sword over his head to take up a high-guard and charged, though halted part way to switch stances into a thrust, causing Enid to real back from the attack, letting his armour take the blow to no real avail; he swiped his sword over his head to replicate the same blow, trying to catch the over-extended King though the blade was parried, the man was swift with a blade and trusted fully in the plate-armour. They locked swords for but a moment before Enid grew tired of games, his gauntlet shimmered brightly with the orb within it and as he thrust it forward he unleashed the energy upon the King as he tried to real back. It promptly flattened him, causing a blast of frost to seal over his breastplate. The King, in his massive armour charged forward only to be caught on the rebound, the King recovered far quicker than he respected, the sword went straight into his breastplate, though he veered off, slamming his sword into Leofrick's to send it up and then slashed over his chest, the blade piercing the armour to at least some extent, freezing over the mail underneath - though that mail prevented the slash from going through. The man was not phased, he came forward with an unbridled fury and enchanted metal crashed against enchanted metal, blows were traded over armour and blade.

The entire camp had grown silent as steel and magic crash against each-other and as King battled King. The King of the North fought with a fury, his sword coming down with precise blows - the enchanted metal tearing through Enid's plate liker butter, though there was an equal exchange - no armour could withstand such weapons. Before long magic became the Riders main tool. He drew it from the orb on his gauntlet, using it to deflect off the sword and then strike, which proved to be quite an effective tool as the blows he could rain down were harsh and brutal. "Submit or perish!" He cried, though his confidence grew to cloud his vision, the King soon became over-whelmed, being parried by the King only to have the sword crash against his helmet, digging into the crown atop his brow - though it did not shatter, even still it chipped his very blade! The crown hummed, though the King was stunned and before long the King just tackled the hulking giant that was the Rider to the ground, going to start smashing into his helmet with a fist, which proved quite effective, buckling in his faceguard before he could finally rebuke, sending his plated, glowing gauntlet into his chest to throw him off - quite literally the King was launched into the air by the impossibly powerful force. He, however, landed down on the Winter King - who felt nothing and stood up, kicking the Warden of the North off him to get back to his feet. He readied his blade, though he did not charge instead he looked upwards, the sky had begun to clear and it very much interrupted the duel. The Winter's King began to cackle underneath his buckled faceguard, laughing hysterically for a good few seconds.

My Hider

youtube.com/watch?v=SiyOajnJnTg&list=R..

From the sky came a golden beam, tracing through the air and from the heavens; it cleared the sky of all clouds, the snow blew aside with a force. The great cannon sat at the gate charged up, it began to shimmer with a thousand souls in its depths, sucking the energy straight out of their very essences - Ge'es stood at the fore-front of this beam of light. He had distracted the forces enough to bring down his prize. His voice boomed out from the depths, sheer force of magic began to tear at the ground - cracking and fracturing it as each mage joined the chorus.

From the very heavens came a Divine being, a Spirit in all its glory. It shimmer like a golden, swirling mass that had no form or shape - it simply was, it radiating with power yet... it the magic that was swirling about it was not of its own design, the Mage's of the Winter's King held it there - suspended it in the air with a chain , positioning it just in the arc of the cannon. Both King's had stopped to watch the display, every man on the field had as-well - the battlements were full of other Knight's and mages watching.
Enid's helmet began to echo out words, though they were of a foreign dialect causing the King to snarl, spitting out. "What is this foul sorcery!" Enid simply responded with another laugh. He went to stand straight, regaining his breath - the other man across from him agreed with the very temporary ceasefire as they exchanged words again.
"It's time to give up, King. Surrender your pride or the spirit you hold so dear is dead. As it should be." He smirked under his mask, going to show off his gauntlet - he showed an image of the great-cannon preparing to fire, preparing to tear the soul of the spirit to mere matter. The King of the North did not yield, he merely lowered his faceguard and readied his sword again.
"Kill it, then. I care little. This ends here and now." He launched himself forward, a new vigour filling him as he churned up snow underfoot. Enid roared, raising his blade up.

The Realm of Men

My Hider

youtube.com/watch?v=TRT3FOOk9ZI

"What do you mean she's coming here?" Ge'es said, coldly - there was fear in his tone. "How? Only I know how to weave through the void. Bah. Head-Enchantress? More like-..." He felt a prick on his neck, then peered down the length of the house the men had refurbished into a tavern. It was homely he thought, in fact, even the King had come to see their new abode to show a sign of faith, hence why he was even here. There was little else to do now so each and every man was un-armoured, well dressed and jolly. Drink and song was flowing aplenty. Though there was an avid complaint about a lack of women.

Ge'es had taken to occupy the far booth so he could sit by the fire in a high-bank chair. "So when is she arriving, then?" Enid sneered and laughed, tapping his fingers against the wide table as he sit across from the advisor. His crown was tilted on his brow; being the one he pilfered from the throne room of the Northern Kings no less.

"What? Not a fan of my Queen? Go on, finish your sentence." The King nodded, grinning stupidly. Ge'es just grinned back, standing he bellows to the tavern.

"All hail Queen Hei'ann! Queen of magic and icy rage!" He raised his mug and laughed aloud, his tone was in jest as the rest of the Knight's soon realised after a brief silence and then the tavern broke out into an uproar. The music went even louder to compensate. Enid seemed to find it deftly amusing, slamming his hand into the table whilst rolling his head back in laughter; which just spurred the men on further by example. The Magus grinned and sat down, taking another draught of the northern mead the men had taken a great liking too. The uproar ended gradually as everyone else returned to their loud discussions.

My Hider

youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detai..

"She will be here this evening." Enid paused, pointing at him. "Keep your tact and do not cause another faux pas." The King's tone was stern and he knew not to question it, thus bowing his head obediently. But this was a time for jests and amusements, so he pushed it some.
"One must admit she did start the first-... brawl? I would call it a brawl. She flung a spell at me that nearly tore me asunder!" Ge'es quivered his lips, he still felt the pain of that day. Enid smirked triumphantly.

"And in her defence, I will add that it was you whom provoked her into doing so. You did not need to have a battle of the ages in my damn Throne Room. I had nobles crying out for -both- your executions."

Ge'es laughed wholeheartedly, making the King snicker. "The noble council cries out for everything and gets nothing. So why did you chose to punish no-one?"
The King just shrugged, pointing at the ceiling before taking another deep draught of the mead. #

"I could not be bothered, really. Plus I have to sleep with the woman; if I tried to have her arrested I would, for one, fail. Then end up with a scorned, fiery brunette in my covers. I think I would prefer to leave my bed warm and happy rather than on fire. Or not at all." Enid sighed, rubbing his eyebrows.

"Women."Enid rolled of his tongue. Ge'es couldn't help but agree, snickering loudly. He quaffed from his mug.

"Can't say I envy you for that."

"That is because everyone woman you have designed to court ended up either running away to the distant realms of who-knows-where or died horrifically." His pause was meaningful and he sounded more like the friend he used to be than the King he knelled before years past. "You really need someone... plain. It will counter-balance in the right way, I am certain. Not that I will help you - last time I tried the council scolded me for 'interfering in un-Kingly business.'" Enid grunted, taking a look around the noisy tavern once more - Ge'es followed his gaze as the silence lingered between them to notice that the cards and dice had been put out. The trusted and tried old games never failed and it caused more than a few curses or forced drinks.

By now he was sure they had already conquered this drink, though the tingling in his fingers and swimming head quickly proved otherwise. His gaze met the King's for a moment as he leaned back in his high-bank chair. "Maybe."

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe I should try, after we're done here. If we're ever done here. It seems hopeless, really. Our kindred tried eons ago and failed. What has even changed?" He sensed Enid's pride building up and probably a speech to come.

"Because I am leading us this time. Because the conjunction is about to trigger and -then- we act. Once-... what am I saying, you already damn well know what we're doing. If not, we'll have to wait another godless age for it to happen again. Which won't happen." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "We've already lost our homeland and now we're stuck in a dimension one man and one woman can traverse out of because of our ancestors being utter cretins."

"We trusted 'gods' once. My father told me that on his death-bed, of all the Spirits and their grand plans. Now half of them are mad and the other half are deranged beasts. With, what, the one's that linger here uncorrupted?"

"Indeed. We've one, now. You saw it-.. her... whatever it was."

"I believe you remember me removing her from that insufferable prison, no? Only to put her into another one."

"I would say it was willing, really. She didn't argue - or speak, or do anything. All she did wa-..."

Ge'es interrupted him, with a half laugh. "Touch your face and make you fill your pants!"

The King was not pleased with the comment as he threw a punch and missed spectacularly. "Bastard. I was already near death at the time - I still feel the blade slices everywhere, too. It was-... it was an ethereal moment. We -need- them to do what we've worked so hard to do. None of these primitives will understand and we need a large staging ground. This was the first stop, now we just need to-... you know."

"I do. I think it folly, but we are still missing vital components and the conjunction is nearing. It's very near."

"You sense it, do you?"

"Not per-say. More... it's inevitable and everytime reckless Queen's tear the world asunder to meet their husbands, it only makes it worse. Coming here with as many people as we did was extremely risky. You didn't even tell them the risk; we all just followed blindly."

"Because I told them too. Everyone was sick of waiting; the people cried out to me to do -something- this time. Not so we could run away again. Once we've gotten every piece of what we need, then they'll remember me as the King that stood his ground; one that said no and fought back."

"It was why I followed you, indeed. That and I would dare say you are some fool of a friend I made, Prince." Ge'es sighed as he reminisced, smirking bitterly. "Your father hated me to the end, too. He hated everything."

"He was a bitter old man. But he knew what he was doing - we built up, he entrusted me with the plan. His plans, not mine; I would of botched this if not for his guidance."

Ge'es went silent, as did the King whilst the tavern raged on around them - drink flowed, cards piled up and the odd man that couldn't hold his liquor collapsed to the floor only to be dragged out by his comrades for a cruel punishment to the weak - which was probably going to be something hilarious; the men had a humour for things like that. Two mugs were set down onto the counter by one of the other Knight's, bowing to both the King and the Royal Advisor.
"My Liege, Your Excellency. Mead for you. We're nearly down to the last barrels in this place; I'll send the men out tomorrow to search for more - think this will lay us by for today, at best." He glance behind him at the conclave of men drinking to their hearts content.

"Maybe not." Enid smiled, taking the mug after downing the other. "Indeed. True you are. Have the men on-duty search for it. Divert a patrol or two to start ransacking the town. Do not burn anything down, Captain. We've already had a few fires and they were annoying." The Captain nodded, bowed and then departed to go do as he was commanded.

"Bottoms up, then." Ge'es said, going to down his other mug to then start dishing into the other more than eagerly.

*

By evening the tavern was even louder and the amount of drunk men in one place was staggering. Enid lay his head on the table, groaning and Ge'es stared gormlessly at the fire, half asleep. It was safe to say the mead, now completely dry, had made felled the Knight's of Red and Black. The only thing that roused the King from his nigh slumber was the sound of the door opening and the rattling of a chain; he knew full well what that was and then looked at his advisor for support - it was not answered. "You... bastard. Damnations." The King grabbed onto the edge of the table and pushed it out the way, locking the passed-out Magus into his chair awkwardly then made his way over to the door.

Before even taking a few steps he saw her, crowned and dressed up as ludicrously as most aristocrats were. The Queen was short of stature and thin, dangerously thin - he swore she was like a twig half the time but her violet eyes, smooth visage, flowing brown hair and a dangerous smile was all that he wanted to see. Her garb was a icy-blue dress with the odd spikes coming from the shoulders that acted as pauldrons but probably made going through doors awkward, he seemed to conclude dumbly in his head. The rest of it was golden embroidery of the puffed up and rather tactful attire of the Queen, it almost looked as if the thread and cuffs were silver but he knew it was just thread; his wife had a thing for silver thread. Everything had to be that colour or of moonlight or she was not pleased, for accessories at least. The past few years he had learned that when buying her clothes or jewellery. Not that it stemmed the fire in the little icy Queen of his.

"You're drunk." She said, with a stare that made him want to keel over.

"... We were celebrating-..." He paused to hiccup into a hand. "...your arrival! And here you are with such... lovely company. Did you have to bring all of them? I-.. It was dangerous."

The Queen face-palmed and looked back at the royal handmaidens and namely the -entire- council of Magi that were looking at the drunken stupor of people in the place with disgust; it was hard to please Mage's that did more research than anything else. "You disgrace yourself, husband. We can talk tomorrow. Point me in the direction of my quarters and -I- will do your work for you, pompous oaf. Where's Ge'es? I want him with me t-... oh, of course." She spied the drunken man in the highbank chair, making her want to facepalm again but it would likely upset her make-up balance too much - she already had a subtle hand-print on her face. In Enid's great wisdom, he went to go run a knuckle down the woman's cheek, which she didn't refuse but the stare she gave him had more venom to kill a man.

"I-... missed you."

She sighed loudly, going to knock his hand away subtly. "And I you. Now shut up, stop grovelling and point me where I need to be. Unlike some, I have work to do." Enid rolled his head back and shouted for a Knight, just in general - he bellowed so loudly it silenced the room which was already getting more and more quiet, due to the presence of nearly twenty or so delegates and cabinet members - even drunk Knight's knew not to upset such people in the aristocracy. An armoured fellow eventually marched up from the other room where the men whom did not partake in the consumption of alcohol decided to reside. He kneeled before the King and Queen then just followed the Queen's orders as the world went blank.

The King of the Riders of Red and Blank, head of the Aristocracy and Sovereign of the Hunted fainted. Ge'es woke up at the thud, only to faint as-well - falling face first onto the floor after hitting the booth.

The Realm of Men

The Butcher of A Monarch: Chapter Two.

Monarch's rise Keep was astonishing. It rivalled his own people's architecture in grandeur. However, it seemed too reminiscent; painfully so. It was like home, nearly, all be it in the wrong colour - this King clearly was droll. Smart, but droll.
The two little girls incessantly tugged on his hands as if that would make the plated figure move any faster - he was too engrossed in the levels. It went up, and up only to end in a massive piece of art strewn over the ceiling - a massive art on the battle of old. The uniters battle; the great King of the North was the centre piece. What looked like some form of deity beside him. It was unfortunately faded, it was a relic of ages long past. He seemed to doubt that anyone could ever reach up there now unless with some obscene ladder from where he stood. It seems he stumbled upon the throne room itself; or this was just how the castle had been lain out - or where he came in from. His guides were not very helpful, either, both tugging on plated hands and fingers trying to move the awed man.

The Throne room itself was lined with red carpets with black linings onto the old Throne of the North; the Winter King's metal throne. It was as black as obsidian and represented more than any of these Northmen could comprehend. On the sides depictions of mythical fables and beasts, paintings of all kinds and statues of each and every King that had ever reigned - and there was a lot of them. They stood on the sides of the hall, ever vigilant with marble eyes and stone swords.
His eyes drifted at the balconies and the deserted, silent halls. There was distant fighting, however. Seems his soldiers had not penetrated the inner courtyard yet and given steel clashed with steel, it was safe to assume there were still defenders It boded ill with him

*

"Come on!" The little brown headed girl exclaimed, followed by the blonde one's incessant pulling. They both groaned in annoyance at the 'old' man's antics.
"You said you're living here now! Look at it later, my room is this way!" The blonde one exclaimed. He surrendered to them easily enough; scorning a little girl was the last thing he wished to do.
"Wise as you are smart. Very well, I will stop gawking. Show me these illustrious, well praised quarters of yours then little ones." Enid smirked brightly and enthusiastically at the two girls who quickly dragged him forward, even if he was just walking; they wanted to be in control, he guessed.
Though something came into vision from his right peripheral and before he could react a crossbow bolt struck him in the chest. His armour caused it to bounce, but it damn well hurt. He ushered the girls forward, pointing ahead to the stairwell that was a good distance from the throne - there was a lot of room to work with, that was for sure. "Go! I will meet you up the stairs. Seems I am not very welcome."

My Hider

[ youtube.com/watch?v=kkfKzBRzwGY ]

The bells began to toll in the Keep's tower above them and from what seemed like beneath the very walls came the Black Knight's. The Grave Guard of the North.
From each corner of the giant hall came one Knight; the defenders of the ancient crypt below - all using secret passages of escape or tunnels; it mattered little as each and everyone struck fear into the heart of the Rider. He had not accounted for them and cursed.

The gruff voice of a gruff, steel armoured Knight followed. "Invader! Girls, to me!" Both of the little terrors glanced between the two before just running off up the stairs. Terrified.

"You-... you bastard! Die!" He readied another bolt in the crossbow though found his hands growing numb under the sudden chill. The man's fingers became stiff whilst the King manipulated the air in the room; turning it into a frigid landscape in seconds. Snow began to fall from the clouds forming around the second layer of the gargantuan Keep. He drew forth his blade.
The rasp of the large, thin blade leaving the icy scabbard sent chills through the spine of men and spirit alike. He donned his crown and moved to the centre of the room where Knight's began to surround him. The crossbow wielding Knight gave up trying to load the thing with the sudden chill forming through him and chose to use his shield and sword.

He was the first to attack. Enid held out his gauntlet to deflect blows whilst his sword was as long as any claymore but with no weight behind the mysterious metal. It made for a very deadly weapon. The first Knight charged, striking the magical shield and quickly met his end because of it. The King threw his gauntlet back and then cleaved into the side of his neck in a downward arc on the back-step. It slid across where his helmet met his neck and sliced through mail and bone alike. Enid pulled back in time to parry another Knight, sweeping blood through the air in a vicious parry. A blast of magic was enough to cave in his helmet, imbued into his fist. The man dropped dead, silent as ever. He was joined by the gargling man who had his neck rended. He plummeted to the ground, beneath the foot of the Throne of his Kingdom.

*


"A vow of silence for the darkness! I see, I see! Well then, come and face doom unkindled!" Enid drew back, though he was utterly surrounded at this point. Each crunching step of the Grave Guard was ominous enough. Enid knew he was a good fighter but he was no match for this many Knight's. The entire garrison of the Black devils. All silent, omniscient and angry. One lunged, breaking the ice. Luckily, the time spent spinning around gave him time to make a quick jump through the magic of souls and around, though it cost him dearly. He landed a small distance away on his knees. Breathless and exhausted, he had avoided the surrounding but now had a line of Knight's advancing towards him.

"GE'ES!" The King bellowed, spitting into his helmet in hopes his trusted advisor had not betrayed him. Or had betrayed himself. The ploys of home were always a worry, even for one with such overwhelming popularity as himself.

"Not the time. Come!" He bellowed, unleashing a wave of energy from his hands that held the Knight's at bay but didn't break their formation. The rippling in his hand grew further as he continued to throw deliberating magic but there was nothing he could do offensively. Knight's were trained the way of An'áh. Defence. Mage's the way of An'Yoh. Offence.

It was pointless now, he had his back to the wall with a column of Knight's preventing his escape. He could not use magic again, not without sucking his own soul from his body. It was hardly an option. He chose to die honourably.

Enid lunged at the first target then immediately broke the formation with his mass, barrelling through the middle Knight in the formation but quickly found himself surrounded. The magical shield was the only thing that saved him from immediate death, deflecting three calculated blows as the six grave Guard broke off into groups of three, each one covering the other in a disciplined fashion. These were not soldiers but monsters of war; trained to kill one thing. The Undead masses. The sharp rasp of steel trailed over the gaps in his ceramic steel plate, slicing through into his flesh - his eyes widened from his mask before he erupted in a blast of frost, sending each Knight and their own to the ground. It was enough for him to stagger forward and prepare for another defence.
It was a hopeless advance, he swung and struck a shield only to find his sword being dragged away by two other swords and shields - he only barely managed to retrieve it and riposte. He struck a Knight's helmet and sent him straight the floor, only to have him get back up again and hang back in the row; he was reeling from the blow, that much was clear. He went again only to feel a sword burrow into his armour from below, a sword sent straight through his plate and into his flank, it send him reeling, though the recovery was swift and his blade slammed into another neck just by sheer range of his mighty, frost-ridden sword. It sent spikes of ice into the man's neck, suffocating him slowly in his own blood - he dropped to the floor. One death was not enough to save him. He found himself in an awkward position only to take another few blows, each one hitting him harder and harder to the point of exhaustion. Most wounds were benign but the weight of his shielding, the casting, the fighting. He cried out once more.

"GE'ES!"

His icy voice bounced off the walls, the Sorcerer hummed and looked around - soon enough he heard it, the King's command, coming through the web-way to his ears. Without a thought, he weaved a portal through his fingers to drop down in the middle of the fight, in-front of the king. To the dismay of the sorcerer, swords were flying in his direction as he landed. His armour absorbed them all, which the black Knight's seemed to have no idea what happened and retreated back swiftly, reforming back into the five-man line. Readying to fan out and surround. Ge'es didn't need to use a sword and promptly showed the Knight's the power of magic. Walls of ice began to trickle around them before ultimately closing it - the floor of the castle was demolished in the mighty spell. No Knight screamed as the walls came in around them, they simply looked and prayed. Dropping to a knee with sword-outstretched. Faith was their shield.

It was a poor shield.

*

Enid sheathed his sword, limping his way back to where he had started on the precipice of the throne, it was elevated by thin stair-ways, to symbolize noble status. Each step had three steps, then a platform - this continued all the way to the door. Or it once did, Ge'es spell had destroyed much of the lower platforms and parts of the gateway. A short price to pay for not dying. The Sorcerer assisted his King to the black Throne of ages and set him across it, going to tend to his wounds with a tracer spell whilst the bleeding, battered Lord of the Void rested in the big chair. Now the fighting had stopped the two little girls cautiously approached the Sorcerer from behind before poking out from his legs to peer at the King, laden on the Throne of King Leofric, which confused them.
"You can't sit there! Only the King can!"

Enid peered at the girls through the mask of his glowing crown, he smiled and replied in a deep, echoing tone due to his crown.

"I am the King now."

The Realm of Men

The Butcher of A Monarch: Chapter One.

"[Four thousand civilians, my Lord. They are conten-...]" The man was silenced with a looming stare, the piercing, glowing white eyes of the Lord of Red. "[We have been placement too long. I will get inside of that Keep today. That is certain. Release three thousand.]" He sneered under his metal faceguard and nearly coughed, the decision left him twitching but otherwise he marched off as Knight's fell to their knee before him. The King of Red.

"[Raise the weapon. Bring me fire and brimstone. We go to heavens above for our ancestors!]" The King broke out into a cry, raising his hands in the air. The archers on the other side of the wall sprung to action. There had been silence for nearly three days. Darkness and silence amongst the mist that swirled beneath their walls. Shielded from the light and all other things.
"[For once we were betrayed. For once we were slaughtered on our knees! Bending to their whim! Never again, today we have our revenge!]" The King drew his sword and wandered forward, he was quickly joined by his entire army - roaring and screaming in preparation of storming the Keep.
It was in the silence the King thought of the loses. The men who would die for this vengeance. One that made him King. To be blessed and thrown aside, to be given everything but turned to madness. This world could be saved; it just needed a few less spirits in them. "[We will bring down the walls of the worlds! We will beckon in the dawn of the Ander Folk! The inheritors of a lost world, re-forged anew in fire!]" An uproar broke out in the droops then... hellish silence.

It had fired.

It sounded like the snapping of a thousand necks at the same time in his head; though it was so fast. He could only sense it because of his crown, the one that let him see more than any mortal being alive. And all he saw was the faces of the damned, sucking life through its machinery. A crackling of concentrated energy enough to smash the most powerful barriers in the next world. The weakest, poorest, lowest of scum in Monarch's Rise put to the sword all at once, their blood littered the streets as cries came from the walls - screams of curling death as the blast of energy transferred through the wall - it levelled it in seconds, creating a second bridge of the moat that separated them - the water being damned and thrown all over in the moat - the riptide soon froze as it left its current. The river was quenched and dead. Life froze in the proximity of the weapon as all the warriors jerked forward suddenly at the massive wave that rippled from the recoiling gun. It seemed charged, still, even after it firing though the one blast had smashed the magical barrier in twain and the wall asunder.

Enid was the first to step through the breach, sword flailing. The King of the Riders tore through the front with his sword and magical empowerments - blood and bodies fell beneath the King whilst his army swarmed in around him; soon enough all the enemies around him were too far away. The King laughed whole heartedly, the heat of the moment allowed clarity. In the blood of your enemies; as a conqueror. "[Kill all who do not surrender! Find the one marked!]" The Rider turned to the Keep itself, it would take hours to route the entire keep and puncture the inner defences. But sneaking in would be easy enough by himself. There could be no chance of an escape.

The Crown allowed him to see foot-prints now only the echo of souls, the illumination of objects and walls. His hand brushed over the stone wall in a vain search for a way inside through the back. Taking it from the front was easy. But around here... he slipped, rather suddenly, and fell down into a pit. Quite literally a well dug out pit. He fell for a good few seconds before slamming into the ground and then through it, as he had hit a wall of sorts - through a door, in fact, and through it onto the cobble floor of the basement beneath him. Smashing a table and the ladder on the way down. He landed with a thud and bang. "[Reduced... to... fuc-... bah!]" The King twisted and threw himself around, writhing in agony from the plated fall. He tore off his helmet only to notice something, there was two children staring at him.

The King, for once, was speechless. He slowly moved to stand up before they both screamed as loud as they possibly could. Enid, dumbfounded, tried his best to hush the two little girls. "Come now, little ones. No need to-... cry. Please. Stop." He groaned loudly, now they're wailing and his bad back was two things that were really not necessary to endure. He lowered himself down to their level as they huddled away in fear. The King removed his helmet to show off his real face, which terrified them even more as they ran to the corner of the room. "N-No! Momma said monsters aren't real!" One of the girls cried, curling into the corner as if that pathetic yet heart-burning display. The King sighed and just slid the crown over to them - what could children do with such a powerful artefact. It made him laugh, though the two girls suddenly grew curious as to why they were still afraid and turned to inquisitively inspect the crown.

"Spiky." One of the girls prodded her finger over the dulled daggers that made up the Crown of Conquest. To see two little children no older than five play with it was truly amusing. He seemed to think that was a good warm-up to go wander over to them then crouches down again, struggling to not show any pain.
"It is a powerful tool, this. Do you see it? A crown. But inside, look." He picked up the helmet and activated the centre gem which expanded out the helmet itself to give it the glowing affect he had donned in the battle. It radiated magic in all directions and made him quite distinct on the battlefield. Or to woo two little girls.
"Wow!"
"Look at it!"
The two girls reached out for the mist but grabbed back nothing. Amazed still. The King deactivated his little trinket of significance and set it over his knee and offered out his hand. "How about we find a way out, hm? I assume you are lost. Or were you coming out the way I was going..?" He raised his brow inquisitively which both the girls just shook their head at.
"We heard fighting."
"So we ran here. We were scared."
"I couldn't find mother!"
"She was gone!"
The two girls, piece meal, added up their quaint story. Two little, highborn children. "Well, fret not, girls. I am a King of legend and I have come to say hello to your mother. We must speak immediately for it us of the utmost importance. If...-" He pouted some, lowering his head, going onto his knee. "If I pledged to protect you will you take me to your esteemed mother? No man, spirit or monster will ever harm you again." He smiled thinly and stood up, both of the children grabbed onto his hand and then, briskly, went to lead the King by his hand through the less-than-bright dungeon. How he even fell in here amazed him.

"What a nice... place this is. I do hope the castle is a -bit- better than this. I am going to live here, you know." Enid smiled, that confused the two girls but they soon agreed.
"Okay! We can show you our rooms, if you want."

"I would be delighted..." Enid laughed quietly to himself, he felt like a father again."

The Realm of Men

My Hider

youtube.com/watch?v=fEFAMMq5S0k

The fog rolled into the King's camp. It bustling with activity, soldiers moving and preparing around, a hectic chaos of clattering in weapons over the field in which they had camped. Tents came down as quickly as men started to run into formation for marching.

A horn sounded in the distance that set the entire in on edge. Another came from behind, the side - all around, sounding almost like the cry of the damned as they echoed through the camp that was quickly struck within a blizzard. The fog swirled as snow began to pour out from the heavens as heavily as it could, yet there was no wind as it snowed; the wind around here had passed long ago, creating a still, chilly environment. One that was on stand-still, on either side was moor-land and for a hundred miles in all directions even if villages dotted all over the place, in-between cities and roads. It is there the final horn sounded.
The Northman replied with drums, blood-curling drums that sounded the coming of the deep. Thunderous booms echoed as more and more drum-men broke into their chorus. A man, at the front gates watched. He watched as hundreds of riders emerged from the mist and slowly approached, every man on horseback wielding a white flag. They came from all directions, surrounding the camp entirely in two rank deep horsemen formation, all ready to charge in need be. The men on horseback were clad in a steel plate, clear to the eye from the short distance the north-man just gaped at. They wore red-cloaks, each man to their own - some were dismounted, nigh a hundred mages wandered forward and presented their staves, though they dug white banners all around the camp - the signal of a ceasefire.

"Come at us then, ye' pricks!" One voice shouted out from the crowd of Northmen, all coming to bare weapons at the invaders. Though white-flags had quickly shot up in response. The neigh of horses arrived as a lone rider marched out from the column of riders, draped in a black and red cloak and wore a large, circular crown that radiated a white glowing, as did his right hand. He spoke as he arrived, his voice booming through the Staves of his Magi.
"I come bearing gifts for your King! An honourable gift. Come forth, King of the North. Grace me with your presence! I would look upon your face!" Enid spoke lightly though his voice echoed for miles through the Magic of the Magi in their own splintered line, a mage for every ten riders and their steeds.

It came in response as the King in Black and Red arrived at the entrance of the camp, carrying his own white banner with his own sigil beneath it. It bore a black sigil of a tree, it's leaves shedding on a red field. The King dismounted with a thud and wandered to the gate which was met by halberd men and archers - the fighting men did what they were trained for in the sight of a threat; especially one as this.

It took merely a minute for the King and his large entourage to arrive, the King's Knight's followed him on their own armoured Warhorses. King Leofric of the North dismounted to meet this man face to face.
"You're the one who has assailed my country?"
Enid smiled, digging his pole into the ground before he took off the single strap around his throat, plying off his crown to show off his face - it garnered more than a few sneers and laughs. The blizzard only grew more intense with the twitching of the man's features. "[Primitive fools.]
His eyes turned on the King.
"I am. I hold your city and am prepared to trample you here and now. You've been gathering men to attack me. This will not do. So allow me to explain."
The young-looking man held up his hand.
"I am from a place further from your comprehension than you could possible realise. I came for one thing and he happened to be in that city. This... unfortunate mishap sparked your 'garrison' to attack my men. Barbaric, indeed. Without even a hailing and your dreaded Black Knight's wandered through the fold killing my men. And yet still! You kill more of my men." His expression darkness.
"And still, you think this is something I would accept. When my first warriors died, my brothers, it sparked a war I will not submit until I receive something akin to an apology, formally and now. With that, I will withdraw. As soon as you relinquish the wizard to me." Enid's eyes drifted to the glowing sword he could sense in the scabbard; his pale, moon-like eyes drifted towards the sword itself for a good few minutes as he awaited the response.

Silence followed for a good while as the King took a step forward to look at all the men arrayed before him, he gave a good look around and stiffened his jaw. He calmly turned back around and faced the towering, armoured figure and showed only confidence.
"We have no sanctioned wizards in the Northlands. Whoever you are looking for is not there Although, one of them did visit last night. He told me to make peace with you - but how can I make peace with someone invaded my country without the slightest provocation?"

Enid clasped the hand around the sword at his flank, running his plated digits over the pommel before smirking in confidence. It was a battle of wits, or that is how the King of the Riders took it.
"Sanctioned? [By God.] He visited you and spoke wisdom? Int-... oh yes, I sense it. Seems we missed him by a few hours. How... unfortunate. Either way this is how it stands, North-man. I have invaded your sovereign territory. I have men ready and willing to drop your land into an un-survivable winter that will be followed by waves of blood. Every village and un-walled town will burn and everyone inside of those houses will burn also. That is what will be if my demands are not met. I will smash your force here and then smash any others that come down onto my men once more. Your city is mine and I will not allow my possession to be removed. I will break into the castle and capture all within. I already have nigh... what was it-..." He paused, tapping his chin in a cocky manner.
"Oh, yes, three-thousand civilians. Oh no, don't pull that face; I did not kill them. But you can." He leans back some and straightens his back - the men behind the King all looked at each-other and were prepared to laugh; they seemed very eager to knock down this funny-looking pretender. The King waited and valued his words, never dropping the demeanour of a proud man - he couldn't.
Leofric frowns irritably, though he doesn't reach for his weapon. "Your threats do not intimidate me, you wretch. We are no strangers to harsh winters or ruthless war. Even if you kill me and this army here, we will bring down an uncomfortable number of your own. And when you limp back to the capital to lick your wounds, others will be ready to take my place and hound you out from this kingdom."
Enid smiled and donned his crown, giving him a nod. "How amusing. You bite back. I like that in a man; a Human, no less. No matter, then. I believe I have said what I came here to say. But, my gift. How rude would I be not to bring you one." The Rider turned about on his heels and marched over to his steed to offer him the small little box that contained a mystery object, clearly. Enid brought this over to King Leofric and took a low bow before offering over the item, head lowered. Seems it was a sign of respect, in his culture at least. The men behind him too it as a sign of weakness, most burst into laughter for a second before the King raised his gauntlet - it quenched all humour in the crowd. Leofric reached for the box...

He took it in his grasp and clenched around it with his fingers, twisting it around in his gauntlets and just nodded slowly, tapping a few fingers on it. "Thank-you." He replied, thinly. It was short lived as the King bowed lowly once more and went to mount up on his horse.
"You have shown me tact, Lord. I merely tested you. I will release all your civilians to you in a day's time. You will do well do well to find them shelter. In the mean time, I will occupy your city until I get what is mine. If the Wizard is presented to me, no more blood will be shed. If not? Then it will flow like a river. A river of corpses and blood."
The King of the North stood stalwart and just stared at the box curiously, tapping a finger over the item absently as the Rider steered his horse away as did all his riders in near unison, all turning around and marching away - no man was left on the field by the time the King reached the miss. He visibly disappeared into a swirling, icy vortex in the distance.

The King of the Red Riders disappeared with his entire army. Into nothingness. Enid had accomplished what he came to achieve.

The Realm of Men

"I-... I need some air. Excuse me." Freda groaned loudly as she chucked the papers into the table and left the Officers to send her scornful glances at her back, leaving them to the paperwork as she waltzed off. None dared say it to her face. She pushed the tent flaps open she was met with a flurry of salutes and bows, the entire army was starting to form up as whole divisions began to move off towards the sight the Northern King had directed, lead by several different officers all staying in communication. The logistical side of all this truly made her want to vomit; it was so damn intricate. "Bloody hell." Boiled out her mouth in a low shout, which oddly enough went utterly unnoticed.

Her sharp, tired eyes spotted the young huntress bobbing around with her dog. It made her smile. She was so very out of place here, that much was clear. A gargle from her left made Freda shoot a glance to Henry who was lurking outside her tent, drunk and asleep. The urge to kick him in the face rose so high that she was forced to march off and intercept the Huntress with a brisk gait; lest she smash his at least one redeeming feature.

They both met just before the small duo of tents she had set up for them specifically, right next to her own - all be it a small walk away. Her lips went ajar for a moment only to forget what she was going to say. The blonde Princess flicked a piece of hair behind her ear and just smiled awkwardly, which was soon met with a brief smile from the Huntress then the damn dog. It leapt up to give her the best greeting she's had in days. Freda broke out into baby talk for a moment to give the dog it's necessary kisses and praise then let it go back down to its master, which was met with two equal smiles; the awkward silence elevating slowly with Miriam speaking up.
"Been busy, huh?" She rubbed the back of her neck, throwing sleeves up in the air to give her hands some room.

Freda responded politely. "Quite. There has been so much to do, so many troops to command; move around. I enjoy it, though. Which I suppose is the only saving grace."

"...Yeah. I guess it's okay if you do. It's..." Miriam paused to think of something. "... big, here. Haven't been this far sound before. Well, I have, just... try to avoid it, y'know. Messy place." She nodded briskly and affirming.

"It is a natural barrier. Alas, I must thank-you sincerely, Miriam. I would of not been able to return here without you. We had... quite the adventure. One that you were unconscious for at least one half. Ellie... for the entirety. I went to check on her last night. She seems to be doing better, all be it her eyes. It's... harrowing to look at."

Miriam gulped, she had forgotten all about that in her own misery. Ellie was doing even worse than her - she was but a fragment of what that poor Walker went through. "Ellie's tough. She has to be, I suppose. Didn't tell you how we met, did I? Eh, another time. Minus nearly dying thrice times, it was... fun? Sure..." She coughed awkwardly, unable to really say otherwise. Freda guffawed.

"Indeed. I suppose that brings me to what I wanted to ask. Or offer." She paused for a moment, removing a leather-bound purse, jingling as she brought it free from its holster on her belt. "Do not refuse this, for I know it will help you more than it will help anyone here. A thanks in the way Royalty only knows how. Which reminds me, don't... call me Princess. Please. It's starting to drag on in my ears." She smiled in what she concluded to seem humble and thrust the pouch at the woman, which Leia barked happily at - probably knowing what that pouch meant. Food!

"I-... well, uh." Miriam choked on her words as she had no chance of refusing the woman of stature, nor just giving it back. Her eyes spoke more than her lips did which just seemed to be a thanks. A minor one but it was all she could really do in this situation.

"Don't be sorry. You did a better job than any tracker we have which... leads me to what I wanted to ask. We have many agents all over nations who act independently. Spies, essentially. They keep track of any users of dark magic or assist other agents in special tasks or... just tracking. Wandering. They're under employment, obvious; just loosely. More like Huntsmen, I suppose. So we can broaden our-..." Freda paused, the look she was getting was enough to make her nod.

Miriam didn't need to respond, but she did. "I'll think on it. Thanks... Freda." It was all she needed to say before going to stand there awkwardly, Leia staring up at her expectedly. The idea of food stuck in her head. "You should get going, I bet. You look busy. Haven't slept much, huh?"

Freda nodded and sighed, pushing her ratty hair aside, it was bundled up in a less-than-neat bun. Her eyes were blood-shot, bags hung under their lids and her cheeks were puffed up from the heat of the fort. She wore a large gambeson jacket with puffed up platoons and riding boots, very casual and comfortable - her shirt was underneath was wide opened, exposing more than was modest for Royalty; the flustered Princess couldn't care less, however. "N-.. No. Not after-... well, you were there. Many people think I am mad; a charlatan with insane ideas and heretical deisgns - to think I spoke with the holy Phoenix. Bah, no matter. I will be off, after seeing Ellie. Coming?" She smiled and nodded her head, going to spin around and then lead the way without even thinking.

[b][i]The two guards outside Ellie's modest tent parted the flaps and let her inside - Miriam slowly trailed after her, still thinking deeply on what to do; though it was quickly decided.
[/b][/i]

Meanwhile, in Monarch's Rise.

"[My Lord. We have housed the civilians as you requested, they are being watched but seem content with what we have given them. I must ask, though, my King - why do we treat them so? Why no-...]" Enid snapped his head to look at the man talking to him, his icy stare caused him to cease speaking at once. A smile spread over his lips as he lifted off his helmet to let his long, flowing and crisp white hair settle down over his ears and down to his shoulders.

"[Because, Ge'es, we are not barbarians. Would you treat our neighbours with such indecency? Such arrogance? No; we are above it. Our people are strengthened by our kindness. Tempered over years of understand and -hardship-. Now if you find any descent about my decisions, bring them before me so I can explain what is to be done. For now, summon the council. We will convene-...]" The King was interrupted as his ear twitched, someone was coming up the stairs, hurriedly.

The King of the Riders had set up his base of operations inside one of the larger Manor's just outside of the inner Castle walls. It gave him an unparalleled vantage of the city and what the defenders were doing. He had the walls guarded by a few hundred men, the streets patrolled by an equal number to make sure no attackers sneaked over the walls, and even then into the city. The breach they made, as the gates, had been sealed with a thick ice no battering ram could dare to penetrate. The only way in and out of the city was through portals - or destructive magic they would be sure to counter.
The doors of his upstairs abode swung open, making the Mage Ge'es spin on his heels to look at the Knight that forced his way through the door. It was one of the men he sent out on a patrol; the officer, in fact. "[My lord.]" He dropped to his knees to speak, presenting up a dilapidated and frozen head of a Northern Knight - Enid gathered this by his shattered helmet that had just been bludgeoned into his face with magic. "[We were attacked by the Northmen on horse-back. Several riders. We engaged them and suffered minimal casualties, they were outriders at an educated guess. To harry our supposed supply-lines. Most of them escaped once they saw us use magic on this comely fellow.]" He broke into a grin, huffing out cold air through his face-guard. "[These people are primitive but they fight with the fury of a the Yel-Aen.]" The Knight rose up, offering the head to the Mage whom held it in two hands, giving it a look over and smirked - Ge'es the Mage was of equal complexion yet had an entirely different face, one of a gruff man; even sporting something akin to a beard. They were whiskers at best but no-one could deny he was not comely. His helmet sat neatly on his outer thigh, strapped too it by the chin-strap.

Enid stood, leaving behind his crowned-helmet. "[I think it's time we showed these so-called Northerners what a true chill is like. Ge'es. Bring me Uslev. We are going to meet this King. Or, rather, I am. You will prepare the portals. My Knight, stand with me and be my brother. It is time we calculated our enemy's moves."] The Knight thumped his chest and nodded, going to storm outside with a thunderous echoing of boots and armour. Ge'es, being the lazy mage he was, teleported away using the same icy-portal to go do as his King commanded. This left Enid in the chamber of what he concluded was some aristocrat of these people. A noble born. He snatched his crowned helmet and glanced around; this was not home. But it would be soon. There was no dying that.

Enid, King of the Riders in Black and Red, donned his crown and slid up the face-guard. "[I wonder what man you are, King. I wonder..."]

The Realm of Men

My Hider

youtube.com/watch?v=QTFLYCMkyiM

"You... what are you!?" The Watcher cried, tensing his hands around the warp-wood staff. Enid set the skeletal face-guard around his heft belt's clasp and gripped his sword tightly in the opposing hand. The face he bore was, to the most surprise, of a very handsome man. His eyes were laced with starlight and his face was smoothed like a teenager girls. Yet held more weight than possibly imaginable to any Human. He was scarred and had the stare to freeze any fire within. His lips curled into a soft, dangerous smile and the King bowed his head low in jest. Before long the Watcher was surrounded by Rider after Rider, they all readied their hands around their weapons and grinned eagerly underneath their skeletal face-guards. The Watcher sighed, giving one glance behind him before standing up-right. He lost all volatility in his stance and the King raised his hand and the Knight's would lower their weapons.

His boots crunched over the cobbles on the bridge too the Keep and ice followed his step. A thin smile spread over his lips and her sheathed his weapon. He knew their chat would be short, but a potentially vital one. He took a calculating tone, having to pause to think of the right words to say. "My predecessor wanted carnage. To end everything. You know full well where we come from and I am the ushering of a thousand anguished cries. The endless torment of a million souls that -push- on this plain. To end all evil, a little bit of it must be dabbled on. Your world is dying just like mine did, so long ago." He paused, touching a hand over his breast and presumingly where his beating heart lay. The sincere moment ended as his head turned to look behind him and a coarse shout left his lips to the Knight's behind the Walker to make them prepare something in the distance. "I do not want death. No, no, it would only hasten the end. We only seek sanctuary. But to do so in this world, you must claim it. All and everyone will come to stop me, but they will be busy soon. Too busy to notice. Too busy to stop it. They cry out for war and cannot even fight it themselves! You, on the other hand, can prevent it all. Join me in my quest to restore balance once more. To seek an end and see my people housed. These... cultists that rally to me as their 'dark' lord are puppets. Nothing more than a filth and vagabond to stir the darkness. They cannot last, no spirit will allow them to live. I will outcast them soon. Then you will see my true intentions."
The Walker kept a stern gaze on the man's visage, staring down his otherworldly complexion with confusion, doubt, envy and anger. He replied with the only word that ever came to mind. "No. Never." He shook his head, almost disappointed and turned away only to vanish in a plume of blue smoke that ate his form in moments. The Riders of Black and Red turned in uproar, jeers and cackles came from them in their refined language - if not brutal in their hands. They had began to collect every single civilian that drew breath in Monarch's Rise before the long bridge to the Capital's keep, in the large plaza just before it the line grew. As many man and women long and deep as it could possible go.

The cries of anguished souls rippled from the walls outside the keep, the King snapped his head and snarled in displeasure. He waved his hand and barked in the same tongue to have the Knight's quickly disappear to conduct whatever order he gave. Leaving behind the King and his entourage of a hundred Honour Guard's, draped just like him yet lacked the Steel Crown of Conquest, his most powerful and prized possession. The anguished cries outside the walls turned to blood-curling cries of death and mercy as every single cultist outside the walls began to feel the wrath of the Black One. "Here their cries! The hollering of monsters and demons! The void, they call it here! I call it heresy! To the heights calling and stature. I am -done- with games. Done with lies and deceit and WAITING!" He turned about, stretching out his arms to the Keep that was lined with the remaining guard in the enchanted Keep of Monarch's Rise; they may not even know it, but the hallowed ground they stood on was nigh impenetrable to anything but heavy artillery. And even that would take too long, thus Enid, the King of the Riders in Red and Black, motioned to the poor, unfortunate souls laid out in the plaza. "I will treat with you, brave souls of the North. I will give you safe passage, but you must leave -MY- Keep. Only then will you save these innocents. The remainder, if not... they die to fuel my weapon to destroy you. Either way, I will win!"

The Crown atop his brown began to glow a voracious energy, glowing an unknowing white as his gauntlet. It possessed an odd, glowing orb within; the orb spiked out with energy - it was a façade. But clearly he trusted these lowlifes not to know. Finally, from the walls, a man shouted out with authority in his tone. "And who are you, Crowned Killer, to tell us to surrender!? We are loyal to the King, as are all those... innocents you threaten to kill! We do not trust you, or your riders! Be gone from these lands and never return!" The Castellan or even the King, he concluded. The King of the Riders lowered his hands and groaned quietly, there was little time for a siege and he could not feed any of these pesky Human's; their appetite too fickle and droll for his tastes. Yet he seemed almost hesitant to condemn every single one of them to the sword - such brutality was not fitting of a King crowned. Not a King of such power. He turned again, glancing back up to the Keep. He took a step forward, which was met with a volley of arrows - he dismissed it with a wave of energy and kept going, stopping before the raised draw-bridge. His voice boomed out.
"The right of Conquest is clear, guardian of home! Would you truly condemn these thousands to the sword!? I will give the command right now and my engines will roar with souls until they burst!" He needed to display power thus he turned, motioning to a staff-wielding Rider on a horse and bellowed in an old, forgotten tongue that held a mystic air too it. "Azaz'cor den! Fes len dor wrath! [Raise the gates! Show them our engines, quickly!]"

Within moments of the command several other Magi-like Riders, wielding orbed staves, teleported in from the edges of the giant, huddled mass of meat and behind them began to raise a magical gate of swirling ice. The magic held aloft by nigh ten mages of similar garb that the Riders were becoming well known for. The cries of the anguished and dead roar out from outside before abruptly dying off. Soon after portals started to ripple open over the city as the remaining Riders, fit from their slaughter, rode in with cultists heads aplenty - no room was there in his Kingdom any-more. No more would the Void control every fibre of their conquest. No more. The portal exploded in energy, sending a few poor, crying Human's deeper into the pile with a chilling wind of winter that it froze the walls, houses and everything else it could touch; no harm came to the living beings as Knight's absorbed the energy to keep them alive, if only barely - they being utterly immune to their own magic. Or perhaps just magic in general... it was impossible to truly tell.

The outcome was a shock to those on the wall and every other Human there. The thing that rippled from the portal was a frozen block of ice which quickly thawed into something akin to a barrelled dome with several holes sticking out of it. It hummed with white snows and began to emit an energy that screamed out at them, all be it like an icy wind. It hungered.

Enid grinned, turning around to face the high curtain wall of the Keep and smiled thinly, motioning to the construct that stood just as tall as the houses, perhaps even higher; nigh reaching the top of the walls. It caused immense panic amongst the Human captives that excited most of the Riders, they readied their weapons and awaited their order. They started to scatter duplicated and decapitated heads of withered dead things amongst the people to make them shout louder, all for added affect he concluded. "Do you see now my power! You are hopeless. Take these people and find a new home. I offer you safe passage through my new Kingdom. Take your people and go, this is my final offer." He dips his head and wanders off, half expecting to be shot in the back but he did not fear it. Enid walked on fearlessly towards his Knight's and began to shift through the crowds of people which only stirred more fear at simply how he looked. "Anal el dal voran. [They cry over my visage.]" He said, sending an uproar of hallow laughs and even more screams from the terrified populace.

...There was no response from the Keep, only a raven... Enid watched it fly over head and smiled, he knew where it was going.

The Realm of Men

My Hider

youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detai..

A thud and crunch came from his boots, colliding down and with the ground. His armour rattled madly in protest to the movement but he was un-phased. From the frozen horse he pulled his sword from the scabbard that lay on the saddle of the frozen steed. He adjusted his crown and cackled, those that had come to stop him were all Black. A laugh filled his primeval throat, echoing out into an icy chill. The sword was swung then flung over a shoulder. "I remember you. Faces are new, but there is no mistaking it. You are the predecessors of my demise. My banisher and conquerors. This time... you will all die." He rolled his shoulders and the ten men that stood their ground.

The Rider in Red raised his gauntlet into the air, it crackled with energy that set every man there on edge. From it rippled open a tear in the fabric of reality. He threw like a glob out behind him with a roar. He readied his blade and charged. Reinforcements would come. His sword swung far, striking one Grave Guardian's shield, battering it and bending it. He was alive but barely. The next man he grabbed at with his spare hand, ripping his helmet from his head to grab his face. He would be his shield, he concluded with a wide grin. He flung the man to the side with some real struggle, yet the weight of his armour tore the head from the body. It was nigh shear luck, the Rider in Red was no taller than any ordinary man and held the same disposition and strength. Yet, the time asleep had made him forget his true power. The Red Rider roared in malicious laughter, taking several blows to his chest in that time which forced him to recoil - these were no ordinary blades and he surely felt it. A swing of the skull-encrusted blade was more than enough sway off any more attacks as the Knight's were defenders, not aggressors.

The Riders of the Damned began to ripple through the portal, dressed in armour made of steel-bones and face-guards of skulls of the lost. The energy started to spill out, turning the land around them into perpetual winter and darkened the skies. The ground froze and ruptured into void as the riders began to march off towards the city and keep itself. The hooded figures of the damned had already began to work their dastardly magic over the fields and pits of old. The dead would rise. Not just the dead of men, oh no. The King of the Death's Hand needed a mount worthy of his new crown.
"Raise it! Bring it to me!" Clarity filled the King and he charged again. He barrelled through the remaining Grave Guard and swung, striking another shield and dislodging another opponent from his defence, yet there would be no death from his blade yet.

A great battle raged on outside the walls of Monarch's Rise, as it had been come to be known. These Northmen were nothing but impudent fools to think they could seize his castle of old; it was time to reclaim his birthright. Ten-fold devout cultists perished for each Knight's of the Grave. The riders that joined the fray on their frozen steeds were being cut down with ease, the Black Guardians were no force of fools. A crisp, known voice echoed out from behind him, giving the Grave Knight's the chance to pull back from the crowned Knight.

"My Liege! We've broken through the walls! There resistance crumbles!" A Rider dismounted swiftly off his horse and knelt before him.

".. Grm. Good. Bring me their leader - I will require his services. I need King's blood. Find the Wizard! He was here. I can sense it." As he turned to fight the remaining Knight's he saw them flee off to secure the flanks, they would defend their dead until the very end.
There was no more time to waste and he marched on, his boots took off onto the hallowed ground of the Void and led him off into the city's gates, which were smashed and splintered all over the small mote that sat around the curtain walls -he- brought up in time's past, long, long since past.. The screams and iced over walls were like a ballad, true and pure. As he entered the once Capital of the Northlands. He pushed his way through crowds of screaming dead, through monsters of the void and beasts of darkness to keep searching. The Wizard was the key - the master of it all. His blood would bring about his final fate.

The King of the Hand smashed his way into the Inn, breaking open the door and smashing it off its hinges, though it proved futile. A fine place for another portal, he concluded. The ball of energy generated by his gauntlet shot forth and into the room, sucking the dear life out of the living beings within to fuel the malice filled portal. It writhed and screamed with anguish but it was like music to his ears, to be one with it was pure harmony. Then something hit him, something hard. He was flung forward, through the portal and then out of it again. He spun, smashing through the wall of the wooden Inn and then through another and over into a room. Nothing but the Arcane could do this. Was it the Wizard? He could not sense him, perhaps it was another. A Spirit Walker? As he rose he found the man had teleported to him and held up the glowing staff, to threaten him.
Enid'anar gripped the staff with his gauntlet, freezing it to a solid block of ice in that instant. This did not sway this Mage, however, who threw the King further back through the home. "You will not return! You will go -back-! To darkness with you, King of Red and Black!"

He flew back further, smashing through house aplenty as he seemed to take momentum and go further and further. He felt a solid thud arrive and then his breath leave his gullet. "Agh!" Was all he could say before he ground to a solid halt. The draw-bridge was up by the time he landed on the bridge. The Walker teleported a few feet before him, taking up a slow gait. Enid stood and smiled thinly. He would grace this man a look at his face first.

He reached up for his face-guard and slowly clicked it out of place, sliding it down and off his visage to reveal something that made the Walker gasp, blink and then sigh; expressing more emotions than any man should or could at a reveal of such a level.