Fantasy The Ebony Guard: Champions of Namira

[Lain.Laurent]

Now that Abelard had calmed down Lord Thalion decided to dignify him with a response "My name is Lord Thalion, I am the head of the Tharna Council, I deal in matters closely related to the Queen. Although it might sound impressive you will find Lady Tayana to be the Queen's official advisory. My secondary job here is to maintain the law, pass sentence on those that break our laws and over see their sentences. You was ambushed and brought here for the sole purpose of being a human in proximity to Tharna, the Queen passed the law that no humans may gain entry with very strict circumstances. While that is our law currently with Queen Ondell on the throne, that is to not mean the whole society is in agreement with it". Lord Thalion's nostrils flared "If those other humans hadn't waved the banner of Ebony Guard over their heads Lady Tayana would of seen to it that they too would be sitting exactly where you are now". A shuffling noise announced that another was in the room, in the jail cell next to Abelard's wrapped up in rags with a hood placed delicately over their head. The only features that could be seen was two pale bare feet poking out from under the cloth and when it spoke it had a gentle sweet ring to it "There are humans here in Tharna?"


Lord Thalion sniffed loudly "Do not get your hopes up, Abelard this will be your cell neighbor, her name is Lady Anira Malwyn, you two might as well get acquainted..."


Queen Ondell clicked her fingers to which guards quickly surrounded Varick and Norven, they looked rather threatening but none had their weapons drawn. Ondell licked her lips "I am afraid to hear that from you Norven, you seemed to be such a good candidate and only people with power can do what others can't. Surely the protectors of Namira should be the strongest of all mortal men? As for you Varick, seems we have made some progress, I bid you two goodnight gentleman, Varick I will send someone to see you in the morning, Goodnight".


Back in the west wing of the palace Lord Rimédur gave a soft smile at Sarvi who had finally slipped in to a deep sleep among her pile of cusions curled up in a cat like position while he swigged another glass of the golden water. "Well Tayana I am going to have to bid you goodnight, my tiredness has gotten the better of me". He bowed low to the Queen's Adviser.

 

[Dreesirk]

"My apologies, your highness, but the answer remains a no. I simply can't accept."


Norven's eyes briefly shifted toward Varick, "Don't try to banter words. You know exactly what I mean, Varick. The Ebony Guard doesn't exist to be the most powerful, but to help the people of the land. If it were all about power, then we'd only need one or two of the most powerful men and women instead of several." Several guards began to surround Norven as he spoke. Norven took note of how many - at least five, probably more though - and mentally prepared himself in case he had to fight. He knew he wouldn't win, but he didn't seem to be gaining much ground. "There is no honor or respect in what you're doing," Norven spoke aloud to no one in particular.

 

[Lain.Laurent]

The sun shone brightly over Tharna in the early hours of the morning flooding the city with a golden glow. Sarvi stirred, her eyes fluttering open as the sun lit up her face, apparently she had fallen asleep upon the mountain of cushions that she had curled up within the night before. Lord Rimédur was nowhere to be seen and she sat up rubbing her eyes wondering where Tayana had got to as well. She didn't remember Varick or Norven returning to the room but maybe it was after she had fallen asleep. She got to her feet stretching, her back aching from sleeping in a weird position when a booming knock was heard throughout the drawing room of the west wing.


Tripping over a few of the cushions scattered across the room she pulled the door open and stared in surprise as two of the largest royal guards she had ever seen stared down at her with rather stern expressions. "We have come for Varick Malwyn and Castien" they said in unison to which Sarvi raised an eyebrow wondering what they wanted with them both "Uh... Ok hold on one second".


She had no idea where either of them had gone to sleep, there was doors everywhere leading in to many different bedrooms. She peered in to the first one and saw Norven stirring within his bed to which she quickly jumped out of the room and hastily shut it. The next door she tried she found Castien to which she crept up and cautiously poked his shoulder "Wake up... there is people asking for you". She remembered the first time she had did this to Varick who had grabbed her rather threateningly and hoped Castien wasn't about to do the same.


Down in the jail the elf woman Anira stirred as the golden sunlight flooded the cell rooms floor. She sat up gripping her rags tightly around her before getting to her feet and lightly treading over to the bars separating cell from Abelard's to see if he was awake.

 

[Maeve Valor]

Tayana did an elven bow before she left towards her own room. Once there she shed all her clothes and equipment to change her clothes to a comfortable pink nightgown and then tucked herself into bed. Thoughts wandered through her head as she tried to go to sleep. Today was very eventful. Oh the places they must have traveled through not only that but the battles they must have won to get here. They really don't know how lucky they are through my eyes. I mean it was only today that I have ever seen a female human and... a half-elf. What an oddity that is. She thought about the half-elf a bit longer before she brushed it off and turned to her side falling asleep.


As the light shined through the windows waking Tayana up she groaned and lazily threw a pillow towards the window which it didn't even hit. She shoved her face into a pillow for a while before finally groggily getting up and changing into her usual uniform then brushing her short, white hair. After she closed the door to her room she walked down a hallway and yawned wiping some sleep from an eye almost bumping into Lord Rimedur. He saw her in her state of tiredness and smiled at her, "Still haven't gotten used to being a morning person I see."


Tayana just slouched a bit and yawned again, "shut it."

 

[Thewarsword]

Abelard was leaning against a wall while sitting. The black hair was unruly. He didn't open his eyes or give any indication of being awake besides what he spoke.


"I am Abelard the monk, unjustly imprisoned by the mannerless elves. Why are you here? What is it you need?"


Despite the cold words, his voice was warm, the tone vibrant, and his voice was laced with primal compassion, and concern for another fellow.

 

[maxacec]

Castien groaned in protest at the interruption to his sleep. His eyes opened slowly as he realised he was staring at the ceiling. He frowned before turning to see Sarvi. His eyes widened immediately as he sat up. "Asking for me ?", he asked through a muffled yawn. "What would they want with me?", he continued while stretching his arms above his head before scratching his head.


It didn't take him long to be rid of the grogginess and soon he was out of the door, standing next to Sarvi. He eyed the two guards, who had apparently chosen to stay at the rim of the door, before looking back to Sarvi with a puzzled expression. "You sure they're asking for me? I haven't exactly given them a good impression of myself yesterday.", he said in a low voice so that the guards couldn't hear him.

 

[Lain.Laurent]

Lord Rimédur gave Tayana a laugh before acknowledging her order to shut up with a wink. "Well I suppose I better get over to the group and arrange todays activities otherwise those Ebony Guard members are going to be bored and I don't recall them eating a thing last night". With a wave towards Tayana he jogged over to the west wing of the palace.


"A monk?" Anira asked curiously in her soft voice, her ragged hood falling to her shoulders to reveal an extreme mane of silvery white hair and rather large piercing grey eyes. She halted her questions however as Abelard continued to fire more at her, despite the harshness of each question she was pleased to find someone in the same situation as her, she had no one to share this jail with for a huge chunk of her life. "I am here because Queen Ondell hates humans, we are both quite old by human standards and most of the time views them as nothing more than primitive beasts. I know better!". She tilted her head to the side leaning her forehead against the bars "I loved one, after the birth of our second child he ran taking our children with him ensuring their safety in Windell. Queen Ondell somehow managed to find out I had given birth to halflings and thew me in here. I waited for my man to return but he never came back. I have been within these walls for sixteen years". A tear slipped silently down her cheek but quickly brushed it away "I am sure a human monk has a much better story to tell".


The guards looked at the pair "Well there is one, all will be revealed when Varick appears as well!". Sarvi who had forgotten to get Varick in her success to find Castien quickly ran back to see if she could locate him somewhere. After pushing open the last door panting out of breath, she saw Varick passed out laying rather awkwardly across his bed "Varick? There are guards waiting for you". She said rather awkwardly jabbing him in the shoulder.

 

[Chao5Th3ory]

The sudden pressure on one of his shoulders caused Varick to bolt upright from the bed, but instantly calmed himself when he noticed Sarvi standing to his side. "You seem to have a nasty habit of doing this", He said with a small smirk on his lips. Without warning he quickly swung himself to side of the bed and pushed himself off, standing still for a moment to stretch his back. After he felt satisfied he began walking out of the room, noticing the guards standing near the door when he came through.


"So I see we have company", He said to no one in particular as he noticed the guards waiting for him near the door and began walking towards them over to the door, however he also noticed Castien standing not too far away from them. A look of confusion flashed on his face as he looked over to him. "What would they want with him?", He thought to himself, but decided it would be best to not ask questions.

 

[Lain.Laurent]

The Guards peered down upon Castien and Varick and beckoned for them to follow them as they turned to walk away however Sarvi hastily ran after them, she didn't want to be left doing nothing. Norven it appeared hadn't woken up yet and Tayana hadn't appeared yet either "May I come too please!". One of the guards stopped giving Sarvi a piecing look "No, the Queen asked for these two only, no one else". The group marched away leaving a rather disappointed Sarvi standing in the hallway.


The guards marched through the city, the sun lit the buildings up beautifully but not a single elf could be seen. At a quick and silent pace the guards were soon marching away from Tharna across the bridge to the wilderness that filled the rest of the landscape. They had kept silent thus far but the guard on the left that had rather harshly told Sarvi she couldn't join them finally spoke out. "Have you two ever bested an elf in combat?"

 

[maxacec]

'Bested an elf in combat? Would beating up an elven bully as a chile count? Probably not...But still, seriously? I mean, look at Varick. He's an assassin for crying out loud.', Cas thought as he followed the two guards, falling slightly behind Varick. "No, I can't say that I have. I've never been in a bout against an Elf....... *in combat* before.", Cas said looking lazily at the back of one of the guards as they moved further into the wild.


Castien thought it was odd for the guard to something like that. Different scenarios began playing out in his mind. 'Are we going to be left in the jungle and asked to fight our way back? Or are we going to have to fight against a group of elves for some reason that I can't fathom? Maybe its a trap, to separate us from the group?', he wondered before shaking his head, pushing the thoughts away. He knew whatever it was, panicking was not the answer.

 

[Lain.Laurent]

Sarvi was leaning her head against the window in boredom, Norven still hadn't woken up yet, Tayana hadn't shown up and there was no sign of Lord Rimédur anywhere, with the exception of Castien and Varick being taken away by the guards it was as if Queen Ondell had forgotten about them. On that note Lord Rimédur entered the room "Hey Sarvi can I ask you something, besides you lot was there anyone else within the Ebony Guard?". She raised an eyebrow at the odd question "Uh, Yes there was..."


Lord Rimédur sat himself down at the table by the window deep in thought "Could you tell me a bit about him?". Sarvi looked at him curiously, if any other elf had asked the question she would of denied the existence of another member but Rimédur always seemed like a kind trust worthy person just like Tayana. "His name was Abelard, we traveled together up to the edge of Tharna but we got separated when he had to go to the monastery". Lord Rimédur gave a frown "The Monastery?". Sarvi nodded "Well yes, he is a monk you see... is something wrong?"


"Well no, I just went to bring food down to the prison cells and saw that we have acquired another human and by the looks of him is a monk... that wouldn't be him would it?". Sarvi bolted upright "Well if you don't normally get human visitors then most likely, he after all knew we was here! Can you get him out?!". Lord Rimédur shook his head "Not without arousing suspicion, we would have to try and do that on the night you plan to leave". Sarvi growled "Well if that's the case I want to leave tonight!". He leaned his head against his hand in thought "I can try and get some of the essentials, food, spare clothes and things like that... just give me a few hours".


Lord Rimédur got up from the table and headed to the door before Sarvi quickly ran over to him "Will you be coming with us?". He gave a small smile "I honestly don't know..."

 

[Thewarsword]

Does castien ring a bell? "


Abelard stood up and stretched. He looked over at her noticing her hair and what. She seemed to be very fancy for a elf.


"Do you want out of here? I feel like I should help you for some reason".


Abelard began the stretches, and the exercises, kicking, punching and other training maneuvers.


His skin was still more grey then its normal tan however and he didn't !love as fast or as hard. It explained why he couldn't knock the gate down he told himself. His tattoos still devoid of color, and full of shame he worried he might be found this way, or worse yet not be found at all.


" Well elf are you going to respond or just stare at me?"

 

[Lain.Laurent]

Anira gave Abelard a quizzical look, she couldn't understand why he was being so short with her, she was imprisoned just like him. She highly doubted his ability to escape the prison but this was a chance she rarely got so she tilted her head giving the monk a small smile "Yes I would very much like to escape and no, I had no children named Castien but it was similar. My youngest was named Caiden".


The guards had marched Varick and Castien to a small clearing within the forest surrounding the Tharna, the morning sun lightly up the surrounding area. They both whipped out two extremely thin and intricate designed swords and held them tightly. They appeared to be a pair of twins, both having the same facial features with extremely long silver hair flowing down their backs. The one on the right sneered at them "I hope you two know how to best an elf in combat otherwise you won't be leaving here alive...". The other one on the left chuckled to himself "The greatest gift we can give you is your death".


Sarvi upon hearing that Abelard was being held within the prison went charging in to Norven's bedroom "NORVEN! WE NEED TO HELP ABELARD!"

 

[Maeve Valor]

Tayana walked hurriedly towards the Queen's chambers until she heard another one's steps. Down a hallway where it intersected in on one part leading to other rooms she saw the female human glide across also in a hurry. Tayana really quickly wanted to say good morning to them and then be on her way but then she heard that the human yelled that she and the rest of them really needed to save someone named Abelard. Save? From what I wonder. And that name does sound familiar. Wait... that's what they called the monk before he left towards who knows where! Tayana just stood in the hallway from their vision and just listened to them thinking that this was a personal conversation that did not want to be intruded on.

 

[maxacec]

It took him some time to fully grasp the situation he was in. "Wait, what !?", he asked, increduled by the notion that the two guards had went to all that trouble to call out to them and escort them only to get them isolated from the rest of the group. Almost immediately, Cas turned his gaze on his left arm and cursed under his breath, "Damn it, I shouldn't have left my crossbow in the room." He sighed, hoping his teammates would be kind enough to take the crossbow with them when they left. There was certainly no going back for Varick and himself. Suddenly another though popped in his mind, 'Wait, there's only Norven and Sarvi left. What if they got attacked too? What if that was the plan all along ?'


He turned to see Varick. 'Varick still isn't completely healed and if they *did* plan this all along, who's to say that the healers didn't do more harm than good when they "healed" him and Norven.', he thought as he reached for his weapons. A sudden change in the atmosphere prompted him to move his body into action. Managing to pull out his parrying dagger just in time to place it between his throat and one of the guard's rapier. His eyes widened. "These people are crazy !!", he shouted in exasperation.

 

[Chao5Th3ory]

Varick simply stood there and laughed to himself because of the actions of the guards in front of him. "I wish I could say I am surprised by this but......well I'm not.", He said as he quickly reached for his blades and swung them outwards to his sides. Without warning one of the guards raised his sword above his head and swung it down diagonally.Seeing an opening Varick ducked under the sword just in time and thrust one of his blades tip first into his right forearm, causing him to drop the sword to the ground shouting from the sudden pain.


After noticing the sword on the ground Varick took the chance to finish him and used the blade in his forearm to pull him closer, and used his other blade to thrust it upwards into the center of his chest and almost immediately pulled it out noticing him not struggling anymore. "I think I would say I have bested you, wouldn't you say?.", He said without allowing a response as he raised his left leg and kicked him backwards onto the ground, the blade in his forearm slicing through to his hand completely, and his body going limp. After observing what he had done he turned to see Castien continuing to struggle with the other one. "You need any help over there?.", He asked him while laughing slightly.

 

[Dreesirk]

Norven groaned himself awake, stirred because of someone's loud shouting. "Who the..." before Norven could finish the sentence, Sarvi burst into the room, shouting his name. Startled, Norven jumped up from the bed, getting tangled in the sheets in the process, and tumbled to the ground. "What is this news of Abelard?" Norven asked as he attempted to unravel himself. His half-asleep mind couldn't quite grasp the full depth of the situation, so he wasn't worried. Norven managed his way out of the blanket, having to rip it off of his armor in one or two places before standing and dusting himself off.


"Ah, Sarvi," he yawned and smiled, "What seems to have happened?"

 

[maxacec]

"I'm.....ugh.....fine.", Cas said through gritted teeth as he struggled, moving his dagger downwards, causing it to slide the length of the guard's rapier as he used his free hand to unsheathe his own rapier. As the guard moved backwards to disengage Cas's parry, Castien sent a faint with the newly drawn rapier which, as expected, sent the guard moving sideways in an attempt to avoid it. Smiling as he did, Castien sent his dagger into the Guard's left foot. Surprised that the dagger pierced right through, the guard growled in agony. Surprised at the sight himself, Castien shook the feeling off before disarming the elf; sending the elf's weapon a three to four feet away. Not able to bend down or retrieve his weapon due to the pain, the guard could only stand still in anticipation, wondering if it will be a quick death or a painful one. Grimace on his face, he screamed for Castien to finish him off but his eyes widened when Castien's threw his rapier downwards, jutting out from a ground like a pin on a cushion. What happened next came as a surprise.


Castien sprinted towards the disabled guard, grabbing the elf's arm and at the same time throwing his own legs up in a swinging motion behind the elf, grabbing the guard's other arm with his legs in a modified arm bar position. Moving the guard's first arm to Cas's side, he pulled on the arms backwards, sending jolts of pain through the Guard's chest and arm muscles. The guard screamed before Castien loosened his pull. "Did the Queen send you? What is the purpose of this?", Castien said before lightly tightening his hold. "You better start talking or I might get impatient and break off your hand. Then I'll be forced to move to your legs and trust me, that is *NOT* pleasant.", Cas threatened, his voice was eerily calm through whole conversation.

 

[Lain.Laurent]

Sarvi growled rather impatiently as Norven stirred awake from his slumber, in order to hurry him out Sarvi started to shake him. "Abelard! The elves have Abelard! We need to save them! We need to get out of here!". She stepped back a concerned expression spreading across her face "What are we going to do..."


Back at the clearing the elf in Castien's grip glared up at him, he had found himself in an awkward position. There was no way he would be able to return to the palace now, his life had been destroyed in one moment. He was either going to die now, when Ondell found out or leave Tharna altogether. A life on the run sounded much better than a permanent death sentence, mingling with humans while not experienced at sounded more appealing than to find himself on the end of either Castien or Ondell's executioners blade. "Alright.. I'll talk... Queen Ondell sent us to end your life! You two are the only halflings from Tharna in centuries... We are a proud race it is true... but Ondell takes it too far! We was only doing what we were told!"

 

[Maeve Valor]

At this point Tayana could easily sneak away to warn Queen Ondell as well as other guards at work in the palace but she genuinely respected these people so instead she herself came out of hiding from the corner and yelled to Sarvi down the hallway, "Stop right there human! What makes you think Abelard didn't do anything that would offend my people? From the looks of the last time he and I met he did not seem as trustworthy as the rest of you. Aside from him, do you really think that the Queen will allow you to just leave without a fight? Be careful with your response because either I will help you..." Tayana then unsheathed her rapier with a stern expression on her face just as she looked as when they had first met her all while keeping eye contact with Sarvi. "... or I will take a stand on this matter and blades will clash."

 

[Lain.Laurent]

Sarvi turned noticing that Tayana was coming towards her down the hallway holding her rapier at her side looking ready for a fight. In response she slipped her bow off her shoulders and held it tightly in one hand pulling an arrow from her quiver and held it across her bow, ready to be drawn if this didn't go down the way she wanted it to. She hoped that Tayana would be more willing to help them out, after all Lord Rimédur seemed to dislike his own race enough.


"Abelard is one of us, a member of the Ebony Guards, he wouldn't do anything wrong and regardless he is a comrade we aren't going to leave him behind!" Sarvi pulled the arrow gently against the bow, she was sure what she had just announced wouldn't sit well with her.

 

[Maeve Valor]

Tayana stood her ground ready for anything and responded, "And the queen? What do you plan to do with her if the problem should arise that she sends to the guards to come after her?" This was the deciding factor for Tayana. Either the Ebony Guard is for the people of Tharna or against them. Tayana tightened her grip hoping that she would answer correctly because she still saw her as a good person. She knew deep inside that Queen Ondell wasn't a fair person but regardless of that the people of Tharna still needed a person to rule as queen.

 

[maxacec]

Castien subconsciously loosened his hold on the elf, his confused eyes had turned towards Varick. Slowly, he slipped away from the elf, Cas's eyes remained on Varick, it was almost piercing. The elf was still writhing in discomfort of not being able to do anything about the blade holding his left foot in place. There was no more pain, only numbness. His vision blurred with the loss of blood and slowly, his consciousness faded.


"You're a half-elf? Like me? Why didn't you say anything?", his voice was audibly shaky but it had a serious tone nonetheless.

 

[Dreesirk]

'The elves have Abelard?" Norven was quite confused at Sarvi's yelling, and even more confused when she started to shake him. "Sarvi, my friend, I thank you for your help in waking me, but I assure you I'm wide awake now. Now tell me, how do the elves have Abelard?" Norven's thoughts rushed through his head quickly. "How could they get him? He'd gone off. Perhaps he came back. But why would the elves have him?" A frown passed along Norven's face, "It must have been the Queen's doing." Sarvi's question brought Norven back to reality.


"We're going to save him, of course!" Norven smiled broadly, "First thing's first: we find out where they have him."

 

[Thewarsword]

Abelard sat there thinking for a moment. He looked at the elf women. "I am sorry that I might be angry, or upset. A lot has happened in the past few days, and I am terribly sick" He opened his arms wide to show his, now grayish, skin.


Abelard slid over to the bars separating their cells, and put his hand next to the lock of her cell door. He put his hand against it, and heat flowed from his hand to the lock mechanism. Shortly there after it glowed red hot, and pushed the door open. The solidus metal flowing down around bottom of the door before quickly turning back into a hard metallic cake, that was once the lock to her door.


After the battle with the griffin his tattoos became colorless sketches of art and power. After he opened her door they began to lose some of their detail and became faded outlines of what they once were.


"Your free in terms of the gate. My friends are in tharna and most likely help me to escape. I suggest you go before someone else finds you, and don't worry about me. It will make me even more sick to free myself...and if I do anymore of this I would have to crawl out of here at best...."