View User's Journal

Tales from the Obel Kingdom

Sighing to himself and looking down at the people streaming through the open gates, Fayt wondered if the girl he saw the other day at the tavern would be here, doubt it, he thought. Fayt stood at six foot, he wasn’t skinny, but he wasn’t overweight either, he had an average body build, the left side of his face was scarred from just barely escaping a knife fight when he was younger, his hair hung halfway down his back and was a deep midnight black colour, his eyes were a shade deeper then blood red, and his skin was lightly tanned. Raising a hand up and brushing a stray bit of hair back from his face, he looked over at the other guards on duty and noticed something not exactly right about them.

“Hey guys, what’s wrong?” he said and looked up at the sky. Coming back to his senses and looking at the guards, he noticed that he was alone on the rampant above the crowd. Hurrying to the edge and looking over the side, he saw the guards sprawled on the ground, as if they had been pushed. People in the crowd started to look up and saw Fayt looking over the edge, they started to point fingers and a murmur soon arose, a guard had killed his fellow guards, was it out of spite, or did he think it wouldn’t go unnoticed. Stepping back from the edge and sitting down on a bench there and put his head in his hands to think, who could have killed them, why were they killed and not me, why spare me, I’m nothing but a peasant with an aptitude for fighting. As these questions whirled around his head, the guard commander, a dominating man named Roga, came out of the tower which led up to the rampant, and walked over to the young man and sat down on the bench next to him.

“You know, they won’t go easy on you, you’ll probably be exiled” Roga said and sighed, “Why? Why did you do it, Fayt? You were so close to becoming something that everyone in your shoes wishes they could even touch.”

“I know that sir, I didn’t do it. Some…someone is setting me up, I just wish I knew who and why they are doing this” Fayt replied and let a tear slid down his cheek. Standing up and looking out at the sun glistening off the sea, he sighed and turned around, “I suppose I should come along, and not try to escape” he said and looked at Roga, who hadn’t moved from the bench.

“Actually no, I was hoping you would actually escape. You do not want to be taken to the prison. Go, escape before the guards come” Roga said with a slight grin on his face, “I would go the back way though” he added and stood up, stretched his back, and walked towards the tower, leaving Fayt staring at the back of the only man who he could call Father.

Shaking his head and walking towards the other end of the rampant, Fayt searched around for the little hole in the floor which led to a secret room that only two people knew about at this time, Fayt and Roga. Lifting the stone and sliding into the tunnel, he reached back up and pulled the stone back into place. Crawling through the cramped space, the armour he was wearing was soon covered in slime and lost the shine it once had. After fifteen minutes of continually crawling, Fayt emerged into the room and groaned a soft sigh of relief, his muscles were all knotted up and he could hardly stand straight. Leaning against the wall behind him, he slowly massaged his arms and legs till he could move them freely, and after walking around the room a couple of times, his back was better. Stripping off his armour and wrapping it in a cloth bag he found, he put it down in a corner behind some other bags that were roughly the same shape and size and filled with food and ragged clothing. Poking his out and seeing that he was outside the castle, but still inside the grounds, he quickly stepped out and ran into the castle and to the guard quarters. Coming close to be caught several times and having had to take several more detours to avoid the patrols, Fayt finally came to his room and slipped inside.

“Now what am I going to need?” he said to himself and looked over at the so-called dragon egg on his desk, “I am not leaving that behind.” Walking over and picking it up, he put it down on his bed and walked around his room, picking up clothes and eventually finding his weapons, twin daggers named Moonlight and Twilight, he picked them and strapped them onto his waist. Hearing a knock at his door, Fayt looked around for somewhere to hide, but too late, a figure entered and looked at him.
“Please tell me Fayt, please tell me you didn’t do it” Emiyoka said. Fayt and Emiyoka had been friends ever since Fayt was brought in to be a guard. Emiyoka stood at just under six foot, he was heavier set then Fayt, but still not overly heavy, where Fayt’s left side was scarred, Emiyoka had a gash going from his right ear down to his mouth caused by his father, his brown hair was just long enough to cover his ears and his eyes, his eyes were the brightest blue, they were compared to the ocean when he was younger, his skin was just slightly more tanned then Fayt’s. That was thirteen years ago, now both of them were turning eighteen, they were still best friends. “Fayt, you didn’t kill those guards did you? They were our friends, our comrades.”

“Emiyoka, I had nothing to do with those deaths, but someone is trying to set me up. I don’t know what to do, so that’s why I need to get out of here” Fayt replied and packed his bag, “I hope you can find someone else to be your friend, you’re my best friend, we’re closer then brothers”, he finished and hoisted the bag onto his back, the egg nestled in-between the clothes he had pack.

“Well, if you’re leaving, I am too. I was getting sick of being ordered around anyway” Emiyoka said and opened the door and picked up his bag that was sitting against the door. “Besides, what would I do with my spare time if I can’t bug you about something?” he added and chuckled softly.

Letting his shock show on his face, Fayt regained his senses and shook his head, “It’s your funeral” he said then stepped up onto his bed and climbed out the window, Emiyoka not far behind. Peering through the shrubs and out over the courtyard of the castle grounds, Fayt saw a regiment of guards searching various places around them, sooner or later one of them would come to the shrubs and find them, so he pulled back and looked at Emiyoka, “If one comes and finds us, we’ll have to kill them, I am not going to prison for something I didn’t do” he said and sat down and waited. The search party never found them, that night while the guards were changing shifts; Fayt and Emiyoka snuck out and jumped on the next ship, not caring where it was headed, as long as it was away from the castle that they had both called home.

Two days into the sea voyage, hunger got the best of Fayt and Emiyoka, so they revealed themselves to the captain of the ship. After telling him of their plight, he agreed to keep them onboard as long as they kept their share of the work, and they would get a bowl of food. While learning what different parts of the ship done and how to keep them in working order, Fayt was memorizing everything in case of another need to escape. Emiyoka was kept busy washing the deck while he wasn’t helping Fayt, the only time the two had a chance to spend alone was at night, when they shared the room they had managed to get out of the crew.

“Fayt, how much longer do you think we’ll be at sea? I don’t think I can take much more” Emiyoka said and let a grumble escape from his stomach, “You know I need three solid meals a day, otherwise I get sick.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. But you’re sliming down a bit, and we’re both getting darker tans, plus we’re getting more muscles. I think this might do us a bit of good” Fayt replied and rolled onto his back, “We might be able to go back home someday, it won’t happen anytime soon. For me it won’t, but you’ve got nothing against you” he added, and started to close his eyes.

Six hours later…..

Fayt and Emiyoka were jolted awake by the ship hitting something and grinding to a sudden halt. Looking at each other, they pulled some shirts on and ran up onto the deck. When they stepped up onto the deck, they were immediately swallowed up by a thick fog, looking around they found a light coming from near the side of the boat, as they walked closer to it, then stumbled over fallen forms on the deck, reaching down and touching, they found the crew and the captain. Coming up against the railing, the fog suddenly cleared, Fayt looked around for Emiyoka and saw him laying on the ground, not moving, not breathing, “EMIYOKA!!” he yelled and jumped over the bodies to reach his friend. Upon reaching him, Fayt turned his friend over and looked his body up and down, he was pierced by tiny needles, and he looked like a human pin cushion, “No. No, who would do this? You never done anything wrong, you were so innocent. I didn’t mean what I said” he stumbled out as tears started flowing from his eyes, “You taught me not to be afraid of letting my emotions show, I’ll miss you my brother” he finished and laid Emiyoka back down and turned back towards the other ship.

Walking back over to the railing and looking at the distance between the two ships, Fayt judged he could jump it, “Whoever you are, I’m coming to kill you. No one messes with my friends, Emiyoka done nothing wrong, why? Why did you KILL HIM?” he shouted the last two words and jumped across to the other ship. As soon as he landed, he was surrounded by skeletons, pulling out his daggers; Fayt stood up and waited in the middle of this nightmarish battle until one of the creatures attacked. Ducking the blade swung at his head, he struck out with Moonlight and shattered the spine of the skeleton, at the same time striking at another skeleton with Twilight, he kept striking out at two skeletons, till he was panting heavily and standing alone on deck.

After getting his breath back, Fayt slid Moonlight and Twilight back into their sheaths and looked around for a way down onto the lower sections of the ship. After searching for five minutes, he found a staircase and walked down into a strange looking area, it was pulsing, as if the ship it’s self was alive. Walking along and looking at the walls, he came upon a door, when he reached out to touch it, it opened. Walking in slowly and noticing a cloaked figure standing at the other end of the walkway, Fayt walked towards him, wary of what was happening around him.
“Welcome stranger. Have you come to claim the power of the True Rune?” asked the figure, his voice soft and alluring.

“I am here to ask why you killed my best friend” Fayt said and reached behind him to pull out his daggers, only to find them missing. Turning around quickly to see if he had dropped them, not seeing them on the ground, he turned back to the figure to see him holding the daggers in his hands.

“My my, aren’t we the feisty one” the figure said, “Why would one need to resort to some barbaric weapons, they would have no effect on me, you see, to kill me, you would have to kill this very ship.”

“Well, what’s this ‘True Rune” you were talking about?’ Fayt asked, trying not to let his anger get out of control.

“You see, you do see it my way. The True Rune I hold at bay here, is the Rune of Punishment, in exchange for it, I took the life of your friend” the figure said and threw Moonlight and Twilight back at Fayt, “With it, only two other Runes may challenge you, and both of those women will be looking for you.”

Catching the handles of his daggers, Fayt slid them back into their sheaths again, “Why should I take it then? If I’ll have people after me” he said and suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from his right hand. Clutching his wrist with his left hand and screaming in agony, Fayt collapses and the pain suddenly subsided.

“You have no choice, you will bear that rune until the day you die” the figure said then whisked Fayt back to the boat.

“I’ll…I’ll get you for this, whoever you are” Fayt stammered out then collapsed on the deck, utterly exhausted.

Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

More Information