Fantasy The Dragon of The North

[Spazzycat101]

As Ella surveyed the rest of the arriving company, and watched with wide eyes as an undead creature plodded up alongside them, she noticed one of their companions reveal herself as royalty! Obviously, she and the knight were acquainted already, sharing northern accents. Ella's eyebrows arched in a quizzical look, as if to question the validity of the statement. She herself had never bothered much with royalty, she found them to be much too... unwilling to dirty their fingers. Either way, it did not matter whether this woman was who she claimed to be, only that she did not hinder their quest and that there was a steed in these stables to fit her probably lofty criteria.

 

[XxLuluxX]

Bennett nodded in understanding. "Of course...Jocelyn" He replied. "Yet if you require anything, or assistance, don't hesitate to ask your highess" Sir William said with a sure, confident tone. Yet after all, he was in all aspects a servant of the north. A humble man whom was deeply respectful and trusting of his monarchy. Blindly loyal, as if a faithful hound. Was it such a bad thing? @DarknessSpirit

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Jocelyn nodded her head down, smiling, but not with her teeth, just her pale lips, slightly curving upwards. "Thank you Willam, but you needn't worry, I have been traveling outside more then Iv stayed in my kingdom." Which was true, she was always dissapearing off to somewhere. For days, weeks, months, or even years. She looked down at Sky, who happily and giddily trotted along. The horse was meant for speed and was lightweight, just what she needed and Sky seemed to like Jocelyn just fine.

 

[XxLuluxX]

Bennett gave the slightest hint of a smile. "I've sworn myself unto your family. Its only right of me" He explained, glancing forward again. "I just hope that our city may still be standing by the time we reach it." The knight now remarked upon solemnly. "Yet in any case, It is good to see we have even royalty supporting the company. I doubt many would be as brave as you." He turned away, looking out to the North. The dip of the valley and rocky mountains which contained the gateway, now visible to human eye. @DarknessSpirit

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

O"Aye, as do I." She solemnly replied. She too looked out to the North. Trying to shut out the terrible memories that invaded her mind. The people and kingdom of the North was her duty, and she would not watch her home burn down. She had to do this.

 

[XxLuluxX]

Nobody really knew what went on behind Bennetts eyes. Deep and sincere. Filled with unbearable sorrow, depression, the hate. Yet there was a small glimmer of hope. A small spark. His nerves were raw, memories of bloodshed fresh. He was a broken man, wouldn't you say? Of course he'd be described as that. Broken. Damaged. Different. Thats all he was. Nothing else to offer but shards of himself. The knight was no hero, nor was he a monster. He was not right nor wrong. Not judgement nor prejudice. Bennett was a man. A man whom had suffered for petty wars driven by the rich 'Armchair generals'. To them? To them he was a chess piece. Everynight, and everyday he would experience the bloodshed. Again, and Again. The screaming, blood, burnt flesh and hair. The faces, bathed in crimson, fear ingrained on youthful features. They asked what his mind was like. He replied 'Hell.'

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Jocelyn rode in silence, the memories flooding back. She remembered visiting a kingdom, it was in the North and it was the first city that was struck. They attacked the castle first. They stormed in undetected, Jocelyn was the first to notice. She found a dead gaurd and ran back into the the dining room at the castle to warn her family and the other royal family. But when she ran back, blood was already shed, she came back as she watched her mother become impaired by a enemy soldier, she remembered her father, the king fighting, but there were to many. He died, and so did the other royal family.


She remembered fleeing with her older brother. She saw soldiers being cut down, the fire burning the castle and towns..


Jocelyn squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, blocking out the memory. She rode on, trying to think of happier moments, and the journey ahead.

 

[TheDarkOwl]

As they rode out Senna started riding in the back, so she had a good view on everyone, especially that sorceress. Along the way one of her companions turned out to be a princess. She didn’t like royalty that much. She had met the royal family of Austrumi only a few times and one those times was when they had banished her from her home and all she held dear. They hadn’t even listened to her story as they only saw one truth, which was that she had attacked a royal man. She clenched her fist when thinking about. She saw she had gotten behind a little so she spurred her horse to go a little quicker, to catch up with the rest of them.

 

[XxLuluxX]

Bennett glanced back a little, toward Cyra, raising an eyebrow. "You alright back there?" The knight called out, breaking the deafening silence. He hated silence. Noise meant something was happening, it allowed you to lose yourself within either tune or voice. The silence left space for thoughts, imagery, paranoia. He hated it. @TheDarkOwl


Bennett had a range of illnesses. Most affecting his mind, yet sometimes his hands would tremor uncontrollably. His 'Episodes' were bouts of imaginary pain, tremoring, hallucinations, flashbacks, night terrors and feelings of intense distress when he was reminded of the trauma. He was in all cases, classified: Insane.


It was almost amazing how he'd managed to pass any medical examinations, but it was surprising to see how well it was all disguised.

 

[TheDarkOwl]

‘Yeah, I’m fine’ she said when she heard Bennett’s question. ‘I just got lost in my thoughts I guess’. Cyra looked ahead and could already see the gateway, with the sun already low behind it. She pulled the hood of her cape up with her gloved hands and said ‘Maybe it is better if we stop before night falls. I don’t like the idea of us entering enemy territory at night’ It was true, what she had said, but there was also a complete different reason she wanted to stop before the sun would disappear. She may had protected herself against the moonlight pretty well, but she didn’t want to risk her horrible secret being discovered. She had also realized that if it was discovered the group probably wouldn’t even make it to the north at all.


@XxLuluxX @DarknessSpirit @Spazzycat101 @Calcifer @Lorkhan @Kulu @SdrawcabDaer

 

[Spazzycat101]

The mismatched collage of people began riding, and did so for a time. It was just as the sun began to glow scarlet and low in the sky, illuminating an epic and foreboding shadow of the massive guardians of the north gate, that one of them, the woman riding rear, considered stopping for the night. Why as soon as the night began to fall? How peculiar. With a few hours into the night, they could arrive at the gates and camp beneath the stone warriors.


'Why so suddenly do you wish to halt? The gates are just beyond us. I see no ideal place here to camp, and no place to gather kindling for a flame if one can be conjoured. Now, we are in the open, plain and clear, and If we were to advance only a couple hour's ride toward the gates, we could doze with something to our backs.'

 

[SdrawcabDaer]

Uki mounted her horse and caught up with the group. While trotting alongside the team, she noticed that the big necromancer and that elf woman from earlier had joined them. Uki didn't really care for the reveal that she was royalty, as the tribes had never been involved in politics that much, not even following the rulers. Instead, she was interested by the necromancer, who had mounted some sort of undead skeleton. She trotted beside him.


-Why would you use a skeleton horse with no muscles? Wouldn't a living horse be stronger? she asked, genuinely curious, as she had never witnessed necromancy before. It was rather rare with necromancers within the tribes, as most of them feared dangerous magic.


@Kulu

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Jocelyn was disturbed from her thoughts when Bennett spoke, but she really woke up when somebody wanted to stop. It would be a full moon tonight, giving them light.


"It will be a full moon tonight, that light will guide us on our path for a while until we decide to rest." Jocelyn said calmly. Looking back at Cyra.

 

[Calcifer]

Astrid rode along, listening to everything people were saying. "It would be a good idea to find somewhere with cover if we stop... Trees perhaps." She thought outloud, but it was also meant for the people thinking about stopping. What Cyra was thinking was indeed understandable, but at the moment as everyone else had said, there was nowhere they could rest for the time being...

 

[XxLuluxX]

Bennett frowned slightly. "We keep going to the Northern pass. Then we may rest, and carry on at dawns light. To stop before then is simply madness. The pass will be closed tomorrow at noon, I suggest we get through before anything happens." He replied to Cyra. "A little bit of dark never hurt anyone now, did it?" He smiled in a reassuring manner, his hands gripping the reins a little too tightly. The pass will be closed at noon tomorrow. No going back. No second chances. The knight stared ahead at the approaching destination, his hands beginning to shake. Not from fear, a deeper psychological block. In response Ben gripped the reins even tighter than before. His knuckles turning white, from the force exerted. But the tremorings stopped.


@TheDarkOwl

 

[Ms. Sparrow]

Jocelyn rode up along Bennett, she noticed the tremors, his white knuckles. She couldn't blame him. She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder for a moment, and then a reassuring nod, before going on ahead.

 

[TheDarkOwl]

Cyra listened as all the others reject her idea. ‘b..but’ she stuttered. she wanted them to stop, to understand why they shouldn’t go on, but she just couldn’t say it. She was too scared to say it. ‘Well, alright, but we should look for a place to rest as soon, as we cross the pass.’ She then agreed feeling more guilty then ever for putting them all in danger.


She had heard the royal say that it would be a full moon tonight, but it was useless to tell Cyra that as she had already felt it. Every night she had the urge to just look at the moon and let the beast inside her roam free again, but she would never let that happen. During the full moon it was the hardest to control. To be honest she had almost forgotten what the moon looked like, only ever seeing it on a painting.


The comment the struck her feelings the most though, was what Bennett had said. As he didn’t know how wrong he actually was.

 

[Kulu]

"Well my tribesmen friend, a living horse can die, but a dead horse can live on." Xamien told the girl. "A living horse could be stronger that's true, but not only can an undead horse strike fear into the hearts of some, it can also quite simply never die. It never needs to eat, drink, or sleep, so I could ride this horse nonstop from one side of the continent to the other."


@SdrawcabDaer

 

[Spazzycat101]

Hearing Cyra's pathetic complaint, Ella began to wonder. Perhaps she disliked the night? Was thee some sort of pshychological trauma connected to the darkness? Ella gently nudged her horse, telling her to discreetly slow herself until she was only just ahead of Cyra. She seemed wary, as if the girl of the moon was afraid both of and for her companions. Ella wondered, perhaps she was wary of some thing? She wished to delay their arrival to the gate, it seemed. Perhaps she was afraid of some beast lurking there. Ella tapped on the back of her saddle, still riding sideways. She gave Dread and Daze orders to fly qhead and inspect the Northern Guardians for anything worth being wary of. Moments later, the birds alofted in a flurry of shiny black feathers, rising ahead. Ella pulled her mare alongside Cyra's.


'You seem afraid-- would you mind saying of what?'


Sure she could be considerate, but it was a stiff and awkward gesture. Ella didn't exercise much in the way of social interaction, nor demonstrating care. At the least, she was trying to comfort her companion.

 

[XxLuluxX]

The sun had begun to sink lower by the second. Finally now, in the distance, the two towering stone carved structures loomed. A carpet of golden wheat, serving as their entranceway. The rocky, snow capped mountains of the north shadowing their every move. It was silent apart from the birds chirping over head, and the occasional rustle of the wildlife. The area seemed to radiate a calm, dappled in the dying light of the suns beams.


Bennett looked over at Jocelyn. The reassuring hand set on a shoulder, her nod. It gave him the determination to see it all through... He hoped. The knight blinked, steadying himself as he took in the surroundings. He loved this part of the journey. The pass was always the same, the safety that comforted each traveller from the huge stone guardians.


He glanced back now, at the rest of the group. "Who believes the Dragon made the guardians?" He asked raising an eyebrow.


@DarknessSpirit @Spazzycat101 @Calcifer @Lorkhan @Kulu @SdrawcabDaer

 

[TheDarkOwl]

Cyra saw the sorceress slow her horse down and wondered what she was up to. Her ravens started flying away towards the pass, which was illuminated by the orange light of the sunset.


Her suspicions towards the sorceress and the pull of the moon made her feel like she was going crazy. So as soon as the sorceress had asked her question, she snarled 'I am perfectly fine, thank you very much' she said it with so much hatred in her voice she didn't sound like herself anymore and she wasn't going to stop there. 'And if I needed help, I certainly wouldn't come to a person like you' she snarled.


@DarknessSpirit @Kulu @Calcifer @Lorkhan @Spazzycat101 @SdrawcabDaer @XxLuluxX

 

[Spazzycat101]

Leah wasn't stung by Cyra's comment. Perhaps she was just in a bad mood, perhaps this was her personality. If it was the latter, Ella didn't much understand why this one had been selected for their team. Ella wouldn't take Cyra's word that she was alright, but she'd let the woman reveal her issues in her own time, however much time that may be. Ella nodded and pulled her horse on ahead once more after a few more words.


'Pity you should consider such an attitude as this to be fine, but so be it. Your ailments will be revealed and relieved in time.' Punctuating this with a sigh, she tread onward, draping her cloak about herself to ward off the cooling evening air. Her hair danced in the breeze of movement, and shimmered in the spotlight of the setting sun

 

[XxLuluxX]

Bennett heard the harsh tones from Cyra, and arched an eyebrow in questioning. She hadn't been so vicious before. What was changing that? He pulled the horse back, riding the other side of her. "Cyra. Calm down, there's no need for that tone of voice. She was simply worried about you." The knight in turn, looked worried. "If your up to speaking of it, I'll be glad to lend an ear." He remarked with a slight nod. "If there's anything we should know, maybe state it now before it has repercussions on the group or mission itself" His lips ghosted a smile, one of general openness.


@TheDarkOwl

 

[TheDarkOwl]

‘ughh, it’s just..’ she started irritated, but then trailed of as she wasn’t ready to tell them her secret. Maybe after having travelled with them a while she would tell them, but not right now not today. ‘I guess I am just kind of tired, it’s been a busy day you know.’ She lied, hoping they would believe her. She sighed and then spurred Tug to go a little faster so she would ride in front of the group as a sign this conversation was over.

 

[XxLuluxX]

He exhaled, shaking his head slightly. Yet everyone had their own secrets. All of these strangers did. Even the knight himself. There was no reason for him to pry into another's business. Bennett hung his head forward, dark blonde strands falling across his features whilst he sorted out the buckles on his saddle; brow creased in concentration, shadows striking his face to accentuate his sharp jaw.