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A Hero Tale: Mikhael

Lillian narrowed her eyes and jerked Killion back on to the loosely laid path leading west. "It's not a secret. We don't really know where we're going, either- Well, I don't, anyways. I have no doubt that Joshua or Ezekial probably have an idea, though. Hell if they'd share anything if Maya refuted the idea," Lillian hissed quietly, assuring that nobody in the cart could hear her. She glanced at Mikhael's stump and cringed at the thought of losing a limb. "How'd you lose your arm.. Exactly? Queen wouldn't tell me shit, and I wasn't exactly around for whatever the hell happened after that big lumox toppled Lucas like a toy."

"I heard that," Lucas groaned from the frame leading back inside of the cart, "We're less than ten feet away from you two. The horses only make so much noise."

"Tell me I'm wrong, then!" Lillian barked, shooting Lucas the briefest of glances. Lucas glared at her through his pointed face plate, but didn't back away.

"What did happen, Mikhael?" Lucas asked, prodding the shoulder of his missing arm with an armored finger.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

~ Chapter 45 ~

_Checkmate

"I've grown rather tired of this game, anyhow!" Ada groaned, lazily flipping her wrist towards Jenso, "So I've adapted the Vane in my body to trigger those silly meteor myself! Though, with my magic behind them, they won't just kill everyone, hahaha.."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

"About that..." Dacer turned and pointed to the earth's display. Suddenly, all four of the meteors in the world were glowing yet again, but purple this time, like something was still trying to trigger them. "This doesn't make any sense, you destroyed the elementals but the meteors are still charging! What's worse is that they've got some weird goopy energy around them now, I aint got a clue as to whats going on! This wasn't in the Gaian Texts.." Dacer turned around again and scratched his head. "This is-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a flash of black smoke appeared above him, and the black-haired lady from before grabbed him, and pushed him into the ground, where he disappeared from sight along with the girl. Tiger roared in a panic, but black smoke appeared beneath him as well, and he was torn out of sight.

"My my my, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" A woman's voice echoed inside of Jenso's skull. "Thought I would just disappear and let you ruin my fun? Think again you little brat!" It was Adarine's voice, the masked woman from before. They'd returned so soon! But where was she? Suddenly, the doors that opened moments earlier turned purple and slammed shut, trapping Jenso back inside the wet room. A figure appeared near the edge of the massive domed area and glared at him through a set of piercing purple eyes.

---

~ End Of Chapter 44~

A Hero Tale: Mikhael

Maya stared at Mikhael as he wandered into the cart and disappeared from sight. She was unsteady, but not because of his departure, or the dangers that threatened his life on the road ahead. No, there was a twisted possibility that clawed at the back of the Queen's mind, wherein Mikhael might have became that which he sought to destroy. If there were to come to pass, there was no telling where that would put Kale, or humanity itself, for that matter. Maya narrowed her eyes and turned back to the city, heading towards her castle and dismissing every pointless thought that plagued her. She had a duty to uphold, and nothing would stop her from leading her people in the months to come.

Unfortunately for Mikhael, the knight who'd taken helm was none other than Lillian. She paid him a disdainful glare as he sat at her side as he moved as far away from her as he could without falling off of the cart. The woman shook her head and yanked on the tassels that guided Killion and Raltz. In mere moments, the two horses neighed obediently and trotted fourth, pulling the cart at a steady pace. The giant wheels clicked into motion and the hay rustled above the cart's inhabitants, but everything held together fine. Noisy, but without error.

"You don't know where we're actually going yet, do you?" Lillian blurted, not expecting a response from the young knight.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

The sphere flew higher as Jenso approached, but his angle was off, and instead of colliding with the sphere directly, he'd gone for the door. His maneuvers were becoming less and less predictable, especially for the simple little sphere. As Jenso kicked off the wall, and landed atop the sphere, the kinetic energy sent it crashing into the ground like a softball, and Jenso's flames easily overpowered the cold aura around the elemental.

Upon striking the ground, the sphere cracked clear in half, and exploded into a flurry of energy, releasing three orbs, blue red and green respectively, that crashed against the ground and all cracked into pieces as well. As this happened, the temple shook briefly, and the doors that trapped Jenso inside the room opened to reveal Dacer and Tiger standing before him. The looked upon the defeated elementals with widened eyes and their jaws dropped. "Did uh," Dacer started, pointing at the orb shards. "Did you do that?"

A Hero Tale: Mikhael

"I've no joy to feign Mikhael," Maya said in a stern tone, straightening her back with a heavy breath. She did smirk for the briefest of moments at Mikhael's poor attempt at smiling, but shook her head. "But I shall find respite in knowing you are on a road far clearer than mine. I will promise only this... Hope shall not leave us here in Kale, hope that you will return with a gift far beyond the shadow of my own." Maya grabbed Mikhael and pulled him in close. The embrace was short lived, but the Queen had held an honest love for Mikhael. No matter the rhyme or reason, and no matter his success, Mikhael would always be her son, and nothing less.

"Any damn time," Lillian urged from within the cart, peering at the Queen and Mikhael from inside. Maya lowered her arms and glared at Lillian, but lost all contempt for the girl with a calming sigh.

"They will keep you safe, and you shall do the same for them." Maya turned away from Mikhael, but stopped and faced him for one last moment. She looked at the boy's face, and glanced at his missing arm. "We are the same, Mikhael. But please... Change. Purge the darkness, or you may end up just as that golden giant. Power is not worth what those men and woman surrender."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

The sphere attempted to propel itself backwards with a jet of flames aimed directly at Jenso, but the man's quick movements had him on its right side before it could properly react. His speed was too much to deal with while the sphere wasn't flying! The following kick struck home and launched it further, towards the giant door that shut behind Jenso earlier. The sphere cracked all-the-way through its body, lengthwise, but didn't split open. It attempted to tear itself from the dent it created in the door, and float above Jenso, summoning a flurry of icy energy around itself.

A Hero Tale: Mikhael

~ Chapter 4 ~

_{A Crass Caravan}

Maya explained the details to Mikhael as the group had made their way across Kale in record time, stomping past the curious citizens as a single unit, with Ezekial at Mikhaels side to keep him length-wise. He couldn't let the young man fall after all. Lillian led Henry, Lucas, Joshua, Ezekial, Maya and Mikhael to a large wooden cart, covered with a hay-strewn roof, and pulled by a pair of horses, free of the dastardly corruption that turned so many of their kind into dread steeds. Kale had very few horses to spare, as breeding had become an unpredictable gauntlet. Babies would fall prey to corruption faster than fully grown horses, and those that survived their infancy would struggle to maintain purity. The two horses drawing the Caravan however, were the strongest that Kale's stables had to offer, named Killion and Raltz by the Queen herself. Nobody questioned the two peculiar names, but they made the Queen very happy. It didn't matter, they were just names after all.

"We're prepped for three weeks of travel, the supplies will only keep us fed for that long. Bread, Water, and non-perishables. We can set out whenever you're ready," Lillian announced, hopping aboard the opened back-side of the caravan. The cart itself was almost as large as a small house, leaving room for the six soldiers to sleep peacefully on the open road. The four massive wooden tires were built to withstand quite a bit of punishment, but there was no telling how well it would do out on the open road. They were destined to enter no-mans-land. Hell on earth. "There's no rush, of course!" Lillian howled from inside, sounding just as annoyed with the entire ordeal as before.

"Right," Ezekial mocked under his breath, patting Mikhael's shoulder gently. The six knights had quite a journey ahead of them, but no destination in sight. Maya looked onto the Caravan as the soldiers stepped into its back entrance one by one, leaving her, Mikhael, and Ezekial behind.

"Alas, it is much heavier when the reality lays before us, is it not?" Maya whispered, holding back a whimper.

A Hero Tale: Mikhael

Maya Bit her lip and stepped back from Mikhael as he pushed himself out of bed, mulling over his dedication to return. Would a year really be enough time for him to learn more about his unique traits? Or would his body fall prey to the already ever-present darkness within? Ezekial nodded and moved to Mikhael's side to help him off the bed. Joshua did the same, with far less enthusiasm. Maya nodded a little later, and headed for the door. But as the Queen was about to reach for the handle, a series of knocks sounded from the other side. She paused, and opened the door to reveal Lillian standing before her, with Lucas and Henry waiting at the foot of the porch's stairs several steps behind her.

"Maya, the Caravan is prepped as you've ordered," Lillian barked, clearly just as unhappy with the outcome as Joshua. She, however, was not above making her angst painfully obvious. "Is the brat ready?" Maya narrowed her eyes and turned to Mikhael with a coaxing smile.

"Ah, perhaps there won't be as much of a wait as I thought.." She mumbled shyly.

~ End Of Chapter 3 ~

A Hero Tale: Mikhael

Maya nodded and slapped Joshua's hand off of her shoulder. The knight scowled at his fellow knights and crossed his arms, distancing himself from the conversation entirely. Answers he was promised turned out to be yet another deception. 'answers my ass' Joshua thought.

"As mentioned, I've spoken with several knights, Ezekial and Joshua included. They will be escorting you across the continent, while I stay here and maintain Kale in all of its glory," Maya explained curtly, "You will be searching for an answer that I simply do not have right now, Mikhael." Joshua shifted uncomfortably and huffed at Maya's words. He'd known about this plan for a while now, but he wasn't happy with it. "The most important thing, is that you are not in Kale when Rajaka returns. There is nothing I can do for you here, and allowing you as much time as possible to grow-"

"You need not explain yourself further, m'lady," Ezekial cut in, looking to Mikhael with a faint smile beneath his metal mask. The fully armored vanguard nodded and placed a hand on Maya's shoulder. "Maya has entrusted your safety to us, and we know where we must take you. I urge you to trust her decision, as I have done so myself so many times in the past."