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Date Posted: 16:28:15 02/03/02 Sun
Author: Scribe
Subject: The Gathering

A figure, adorned in a cloak of crimson, waited at the crest of a hill. Ruins of an ancient battlement lay scattered about him. Only one of the ancient walls still held up against the stress of time. Statues, broken and weathered, were chiseled from marble in the semblance of some long forgotten lord. Wild grass grew in the chasms between the stones on the ground. The sun was high in the sky, destroying all shadows and revealing all to those who observed.

The red-cloaked figure stood tall and unmoving in the light, his scarlet cowl pulled back to reveal a clean-shaven face with a head of greying black hair. His face seemed to be chiseled out of marble like a hero out of legend. His face belonged along with some of the statues in this ancient place. His eyes were ice blue and chilled those who were to look upon them for any length of time. The crimson cloak was held together by a brooch with a signet of a predator bird in a dive for its prey. The hilt of a great sword poked out from the red material. It was held had a steel gauntlet, unmoving as with the rest of the man.

The wind rushed by, fluttering and playing. It saw the unmoving figure and blew in his direction with a wind from the arctic. The red cloak fluttered, revealing a solid grey set of light platemail. The figure remained still and unblinking. The wind grew furious and attempted once more, only to be met with defeat. Its attention went elsewhere where its influence would be noted.

“Truly Ryas,” called a hidden voice from the ruins, “Not a soul can match your ability to stand perfectly still. Of course, I presume you might have some new talents since the last time we met.” An ivory -cloaked figure revealed himself from behind the erect wall, causing the red cloaked figure to move for once that day. The other figure was also male, and had his cowl raised up to cover his eyes from the intense sunlight. The cloak was held together by a metal brooch in the form of a crescent moon. Small, bright jewels were laid in a similar pattern within the crescent.

The figure reached back with a leather-gloved hand to pull back the cowl, revealing his identity. He had long ashen hair that was tied at the back of his hand. A light beard decorated the face of the man, and made him have age beyond his years. His eyes were the colour of jade and quickly took in every aspect of the situation. His hands disappeared within his cloak to thumb the hilts of two short swords. Underneath, he wore a shirt of adamant chain mail.

“I’ve learned a few more things that could surprise you, Irred,” Ryas, grinned, revealing a smile of pearly white teeth. He let go on his nervous hold over the hilt of his sword, as it the Irred. Both men walked halfway to the center of the ruins and grasped hands. “It has been a long time.”

“It has indeed,” responded Irred, beaming a smile that could mirror the other. The smile soon faded as his thoughts changed to that of the present. His eyes shifted about the hilltop. “I see we’re the first, I would have thought that I was late. At least you are here, early as always.” He returned to a slight grin, even as Ryas’ completely vanished.

“Indeed it is late. I begin to doubt that the others will make it here at all. That is,” He paused to lick his lips, “If they are still alive. How unfortunate that would turn out to be in a time as this one. Not to mention make our task grow tenfold.” He turned away to gaze upon the verdant plains below. Irred placed a hand upon the older man’s shoulder.

“Fear not, for they are all fighters as ourselves. And we all seem to have a knack for walking away where any regular soldier would have died,” These tidings brought a small grin back to Ryas’ face. Releasing his grip, Irred moved beside Ryas to gaze upon the fields. Small creatures ran quickly across, followed swiftly by some larger predator. All the while, predator and carrion birds circled in the sky.

“Sorry to intrude on this picturesque moment,” echoed a feminine voice from behind the two. Turning around, they found a black-cloaked woman with her arms crossed before her. “I just had to make my presence acknowledge.” The woman had her cloak bound by a simple knot of golden rope. Her hair matched the colour of her cloak, and was cut short at her shoulders. Her face was lightly tanned from various journeys under the sun, which didn’t impede her beauty in the least. Her mouth was small and full. Her eyes had the colour of a deep ocean, which match her curiosity and knowledge. She wore a grey chain mail shirt with matching gauntlets. In one hand, she held a long, curved sword with one side having an edge. It was pointed toward the ground, away from the two others. She smoothly sheathed the blade back into its scabbard when she saw the faces of the other men.

“Ilune, it has been too long,” Irred spoke first, moving closer to grasp the maiden’s hand in a friendly gesture. “Where’s Kryllos? Probably out scouting the area for potential enemies, if there were any brave enough to take on the likes of us.” The content expression on Ilune’s face soured at the mention of the name. A grim shadow fell across her water blue eyes. She looked at the two men, directly in the eye, one at a time.

“Kryllos fell. He died with valour on the battlefield, protecting a monastery from behind burnt to the ground. He was removed from the Gathering,” she answered, turning away from the men and pretending to be examining the face of a ruined statue. The two men eyed each other, and Irred made a move forward, however, Ryas put an arm forward and stopped him. Ryas moved beside the woman.

Ilune quickly wiped a single tear from her face as Ryas spoke words of healing to her. “Its all right. Everyone knows the risk when they take up the sword, death is one that we have to deal with everyday,” Ilune sobbed slightly, and sniffled back another tear. She looked at Ryas, her eyes were rimmed with a slight red. Her eyes pleaded with the man. “However,” continued Ryas, placing a light grip on her shoulder, “Never forget a fallen comrade, since they live on with us in memory as long as memory lasts. Just like your mother.” These words, combined with the supportive hand, made Ilune’s heart fell lighter and she straighten up. She flashed a smile toward Ryas and gathered herself.

So, the Red, White, and Black have already gathered. It seems that not is lost, especially with the addition of the Green and the Blue,” called out a deep baritone. Two figures were added to the group. One, blue-cloaked was standing tall atop of the ruined wall. The other, green-cloaked was propped up against an old statue.

The blue cloaked figure had his cowl back, revealing his shaven head. His jaw was square and strong. He had eyes of the deepest bronze. He was of dark skin and had numerous curved tattoos adorned about him. The most predominant starting from his wrist and extending as a vine with thorns up his shoulders and neck to finally rest in a circle at his temples. His cloak was tied simply and he wore no gauntlets or gloves. He did have in one hand a thick travelling staff, which could act as a weapon in any situation.

The green cloaked figure was female. She was long cherry-red hair that hung in curls back her back. Her skin was the colour of polish alabaster, and she had eyes that were somewhere in between the existence of green and grey. Her cloak was held together by a strong piece of steel in the form of a coiled serpent. She carried no armor, rather she wore a dress, that was slightly low cut, that was the colour of various shades of black and purple. Two staves hung limply from her belt. One was onyx with silver in a spiral around the wand, a serpent’s head was worked into one end. The other was white marble with gold wounded around into a spiral, a lion’s head formed at its end.

“Alas, my heart is calmed to find that Thalus and Shydris were able to make it,” cried Irred, stepping forward to greet the two newcomers. Neither of them made a move to get any closer, however Shydris did flash a smile in Irred’s direction. Thalus crouched down and leaped silently from his perch atop the wall, his cloak fluttering wildly around him. He made no sound as he landed on the ground. He placed the staff he held hard onto the ground, bringing about everyone’s attention. He looked at the others, with an impassive gaze that he had learned from long ago. “Now if only…” Irred was interrupted by Thalus’ baritone voice.

“We are all that is left. The Brown was lost to wastes to the North in his search. And the Purple was stroke down by an assassin’s poisoned dart at a feast that was meant in her honor. We are the last and must take up the quest,” the speech he delivered was concise and never wavered with emotion for a moment.

“Not Cail and Ysill, they were both invulnerable, untouchable. This is dire news indeed,” responded Irred. The man, unnerved, started a slight measure to pace his way. He cupped his chin in his hand and hummed deep in thought. Several moments passed as such, with everyone lost in their own thoughts, before he stopped and shook his head. “And I thought I would be the one that would most likely bite the dust. Not Kryllos, Cail, or Ysill, I mean…I don’t know what I mean.”

Pain washed through Ilune once again but a quick, comforting glance from Ryas calmed her. Ryas smiled slightly, and stepped forward. “Calm yourself Irred. There is no use in contemplating matters that cannot be changed. We have much to discuss and little time to do so in,” He spun around slowly, catching everyone’s eye, before stopping and standing tall. “We all know why we have gathered, and for what purpose. Now, with the loss of three of our comrades, our task will be more difficult but I know that we are up to the challenge.”

“What a strange company we make,” Shydris spoke, for the first time. She had a melodious voice that sounded more like verses to a song than common speech. “Three warriors, one battle-mage and a monk-prophet. Well…are we going to stand here all day and reminisce or shall we fight the good fight.”

Everyone glance at each other before nodding. Thalus nodded and started off in a direction, to the East. Shydris walked up to Irred, and spoke a few words to him. She then eyed Ryas and Ilune. Grabbing a hold of Irred’s arm she led him away in pursuit of the monk. Ryas and Ilune were left alone for a while.

After several tense moments, Ilune broke the silence. She said two words and left the ruins of the hilltop. She quickly caught up to the rest of the group. Ryas was left to his own thoughts.

“Be Strong,” those were the words that Ilune had spoken. His heart quaked slightly as he remembered the final moments of his wife. She lay dying in his arms, where she had uttered that phrase for the last time. He also remembered her smile, which brought a smile to his face in turn. He gazed at the green plains below one last time, before departing after the rest of the company.

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