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A Legend

Author's Note: Keep in mind that this is only a legend that had been passed down among the Symterrans and Gerynns, as far as the story is concerned. I'm actually working on the actual story behind this, and it will explain why there are differences between this story and what I'm writing.

As with all legends, they become corrupted; but there is always some twist of truth to the story. Think of this as a story that an elder is telling you as you sit near him/her late at night.

With that in mind, enjoy the story.

Act I: A Plea for Help

He looked all around him. There was destruction everywhere. Buildings were burning and corpses lay strewn about, as if some gigantic hand had picked them all up and had carelessly tossed them aside. Some of the few that had survived the attack wandered about, calling out hopefully yet helplessly the names of loved ones.

He had never thought it possible that his own town would be attacked. They had always been loyal to the emperor. They paid their tithes and any tributes he asked for. They had worshipped him faithfully without fail, and yet the emperor had still sent out his troops to decimate the village. They had done nothing wrong. Nothing that he could see.

He stood still, in utter disbelief. His own emperor had turned against him. The one man that he, his family, and his friends had all trusted and believed unconditionally.

He decided to leave. There was nothing for him here now. He would travel to a new town or village and try to start over there. Maybe, if he traveled far enough, he could escape the taint of the emperor that had betrayed him.

***

The Princess of Symterra heard a loud commotion outside. She looked toward the window and listened as yelling shortly ensued. She placed down her pen, stood up, and walked toward the window.

She could hear voices now. One of them was a woman’s voice. The others were the voices of the guards. Danae peered over the window sill and saw a young woman. Her brown hair was a mess and her face smudged in dirt, but the high cheek bones still stood out. She had a peculiar look about her that suggested an exotic background from a land far, far away from Symterra. Her clothes that had once been grand and bright were now ragged and dirty from traveling. Yet despite her appearance, the young woman, who was no older than seventeen or eighteen, stood before the guards and demanded to see the Princess of Symterra, her Symterran said with a strong accent and her green eyes glinting dangerously with anger.

Behind the woman were two older people. They wore the same grand clothes as the young woman. The older woman was dirty and disheveled, but otherwise unhurt. The older man, however, was hurt badly and being supported by the older woman. There were guards all around them, protecting the three. Then there were the Symterran guards circling them.

She saw Strite come forward from behind and ask one of the guards what was going on. When the guard told him, the princess could see Strite frown. Still frowning, Strite made his way through the Symterran guards, but was stopped by the foreign soldiers. Strite raised his hands in peace and slowly took off his weapons and shield. The guards only relaxed slightly and let the Champion pass. Many of the Symterran soldiers protested but Strite ordered them to stay where the were.

Strite stood in front of the young woman, hands on his hips. “Is there a problem?” he asked in a foreign language.

The young woman was shocked. “You speak language of Gerryn?” It was obvious that the Symterran language was very difficult for her to speak.

Strite nodded. “Tell me. What’s wrong?” He repeated himself twice, once in Gerryn and once in Symterran, so that the guards could understand what was going on.

The young woman bit her lip, considering whether or not to trust this young man in green. She decided to trust this stranger, hoping that maybe he could get the princess for her.

“My people are hurt,” she blurted out in her native tongue. “We were attacked by an evil paladin dressed in red armor. He said that he was good and that he was only killing our people for the good of the world.

“We did not believe him. We let in as many refugees from our country as we could. Then he attacked the palace. Our forces were deployed in another part of the kingdom. There was no way of protecting ourselves, so we fled our country with our people to surrounding kingdoms. My parents and I came here to Symterra to request any help that could be given. Please, we need help desperately! We need to speak to the princess!”

The doors behind Strite opened and Danae, in all her royal splendor, stood in the doorway. Without even batting an eye, she looked around her coolly, surveying the area. Her gaze finally rested on the young woman. All of the Symterrans bowed, even Strite, and the Symterran guards gave a small salute.

Danae recognized the young woman and the two people standing behind her now: the young woman was the Princess of Gerryn, Princess Asyria. The two behind her were her parents, King Gregor and Queen Anaira; however, there was something odd about them...

“Guards, at ease,” Danae ordered. Reluctantly, the guards backed down. “Guards, salute.” There was a shocked silence at first but they did as ordered. If Danae was right about who these people were then the Gerryn guards would salute back as well. The Gerryn guards saluted back. One of the soldiers even broke rank to pick up Strite’s weapons and shield and present them to the Champion. The Symterran soldiers were impressed. Even the Knights of Symterra were taken aback a little. Danae and Strite only smiled.

“Welcome to Symterra, your Majesties,” Danae said formerly in Gerryn. She motioned for several servants to come forward. “Take his Majesty to the infirmary and have the doctor look at his wounds,” she said in Symterran and then in Gerryn. “Strite, go with him."

“You, take her Majesty to the clinic and let her rest,” she ordered. “Your Highness,” Danae said to Asyria, ”please come with me.”

As servants led her parents away, Asyria followed the wise Princess of Symterra into the castle.

The soldiers stood where they were, dumbfounded.

“What just happened?” one of them asked.

“I don’t know,” another admitted.

“All right, you lot! Back to your posts!” the general of the knights ordered.

All of the soldiers scrambled back into position as the general shook his head, muttering about lamebrained guards.

***

“Why did you flee? I know your country has a Champion that appears in times of need, just as our country does,” Danae commented.

“We fled because we knew we could not defend ourselves against the Blood Paladin,” Asyria answered.

“Blood Paladin?”

“What we have named paladin. He told us that he needed the blood of Gerryns to cleanse the world and make him more powerful. So we called him the Blood Paladin.”

“I see. But what of your Champion?”

A moment of silence.

Danae had this nagging feeling at the back of her mind that something about this wasn’t right.

“I am the Champion,” Asyria whispered.

Danae stared. “How...?” her voice trailed off.

“I don’t know,” Asyria confessed. “We found out several years ago. I’m practically done training.”

“I thought all Gerryn people were trained how to fight.”

“We are, but it’s very basic. I had to continue when we found out.”

“Why didn’t you stay, Asyria?”

“Believe me, I wanted to, but my duty as princess of my people-”

“I understand. You had to stay alive just in case your parents were somehow killed.”

“Danae-”

“I can’t, Asyria. I can’t send the Knights of Symterra. We’re having trouble of our own.”

“Brimra.”

“Yes, Brimra. I fear that he will always plague Symterra. Even in death.”

“Could we borrow your Champion?”

Danae thought for a moment. “Yes, I believe we could spare our Legendary Champion for a little while.”

“Are you sure?”

Danae nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. None of the attacks have been terrible and I do not believe any of Brimra’s followers have the brains to engage a mass assault against all of Symterra.”

“Thank you, Danae.” Asyria paused for a moment. “Could we keep this from my parents? They won’t approve of me going alone with only another Champion to protect me.”

“Of course. We will also take in as many refugees from Gerryn as possible.” Danae smiled. “All will be well. I promise,” she reassured.

Asyria nodded. “Thank you, Danae, for all your help.”

***

Strite watched from the edge of the training filed. She was good, he admitted that, but he wasn’t sure if she was good enough to stand a chance against this Blood Paladin that Danae told him about. He watched as Asyria’s blade whistled through the air and flashed in the sunlight with blinding speed as she disarmed two guards and a knight.

“She’s fast,” a voice said behind him. It was the general.

“And resourceful,” another added, as they all watched Asyria get disarmed then back flip to pick up a fallen spear. “She reminds me of a certain someone, doesn’t she, general?” the captain of the guards asked the general.

Strite frowned. He knew they were comparing Asyria to him. In his mind, the only reason why she was winning was because the guards and knights were going easy on her and because they were distracted by her as well. Determined to prove to her, and to himself, who the better warrior was, Strite strode forward onto the training ground.

“Let’s see what you can do against the Legendary Champion of Symterra!” Strite challenged her.

“All right. A battle of two Champions then.” Asyria grinned in anticipation. “How do you fight?”

“Anything goes,” Strite answered. “Including magic!”

The two faced off, sizing each other up. Even before the first blow was struck, everyone watching could feel a battle of will between them. Suddenly, without warning, both let out a war cry and lunged at each other. On the first blow they locked swords.

“You said earlier ‘a battle of two Champions’ “ Strite growled out between his teeth.

“Didn’t you know? I am the Champion of Gerryn!” she cried.

Asyria kicked out and swept Strite off his feet. She had won round one. An hour passed and still no one had come out the victor. The two combatants were either equals in certain areas or what one lacked the other made up for in something else. Both were bruised, but neither too seriously hurt. Neither were gaining nor losing any ground. It was a total stalemate.

“Strite! You’re losing your touch!” someone shouted.

“I am not losing my touch!” Strite shouted out at the speaker, which was received with a few chuckles.

“Come on, Strite!” Yet another called out. “Just admit it! You two are equals! It would be pointless to keep on fighting!”

Strite silently agreed with the speaker. He and Asyria were equals.

Asyria had lowered her sword. “He’s right, Strite!” she called out to him. “Let’s call it even!”

Strite thought for a moment, then lowered his sword too. “A tie then!” he announced. He heard several sighs of relief and frowned once again.

Asyria came up to him and bowed low. “It was an honor to battle you, Champion of Symterra.”

Strite was baffled. No one had ever done this to him before. Unsure of what to say he merely nodded his head and said, ”Um, sure, your Highness.”

“Then I shall see you tomorrow,” Asyria said. “Until then.” And with that she left the training ground and disappeared inside the halls of the castle.

Strite stood there, scratching his head, wondering. “Are all Gerryns like that?” he wondered aloud to himself. Shrugging he went off to the kitchen to grab something to eat.

***

“What?!” Strite’s exclamation of disbelief reverberated around the temporarily empty throne room.

“You’re going with Princess Asyria to Gerryn to help her battle the Blood Paladin,” Danae repeated patiently. She knew this was going to happen. More and more often Strite was getting more obnoxious and rude. She thought to herself that maybe the Legendary Champion business was finally getting to his head. The princess hoped that this little journey would knock some sense into him, if not literally.

Strite turned toward Asyria. “But, aren’t you also the Champion of your country?”

“I am,” Asyria answered, “but I am also the princess. I need your help because you can do some things that I cannot do-”

“Because of your conflicting roles as princess and Champion,” Strite finished. The whole situation and the importance of it was just now sinking in. “I understand now.” Strite stood for a moment in thought. He had a million questions to ask Asyria now, but he didn’t know where to start.

“If you have questions I’d be glad to answer them,” Asyria offered.

“Perhaps they can be answered on the voyage to Gerryn,” Danae suggested.

“All right,” Strite answered absently. “I’ll go pack my things.”

After Strite left Asyria raised an eyebrow to signal a question.

Danae smiled. “Strite is really very serious about his job, his duty, and helping others. That is, after his ego has been gently pushed aside.”

Asyria bowed in thanks. “Thank you, Danae. We greatly appreciate this,” she said and promptly left.

Danae watched the Gerryn princess leave and frowned. She still had that nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right. She closed her eyes to concentrate on that feeling. The princess did not feel threatened. There was no danger. There was only confusion. Confusion about something...

“Your Highness, are you all right?”

Danae opened her eyes and saw her most trusted advisor: Balthasar, named after one of the three wise men, or magi, of a tiny planet called Earth.

“Yes, I’m fine, Balthasar,” she answered. “I was just thinking...” Her voice trailed off and her eyes drifted over to where Asyria had gone.

Balthasar followed Danae’s gaze and grew thoughtful. “I feel something strange, Princess,” he said quietly. “It is not a feeling of danger, however. It-”

“Princess Danae?!” a messenger interrupted from down the hallway. He stopped at the threshold of the throne room. “Princess Danae!” he repeated, out of breath. “More refugees from Gerryn!”

Danae nodded. “I’ll be right there to help,” she told the messenger.

The boy nodded and took off down the way he had come.

The Symterran princess turned toward her advisor. “Forgive me, Balthasar,” she apologized. “Could we finish later?”

Balthasar bowed. “Always, Princess. In the meantime I shall research my thoughts and theories. Call me when you have time.”

“Thank you,” Danae replied. She stood up and left the throne room to help the refugees get settled.

Copyrights & Credits

Eternal Legends © G. A. Mehan-Molina-:- All characters and related material belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved.
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