Chronicles of the Lord Of Power
COTLOP Chapter 1: Tear of light
Light lingers after shadows fall...these are embers of hope that warms the wandering knight and stays the cold dark hand of madness from the one who wears the bucket . : Cloaked figure

A ball of light streaks through the warm air of spring passing threw a stray could on the cusp of a passing spring thunder shower it forms a shaft like a tear from a sad transparent face as it heads to a bed of misty grass warmed by the midday sun peeking out of rolling clouds. The people in the town are not the only ones to see it, it’s been far too long since a blessing or a cursing took place, those that wish to tarnish the light will seek to destroy the gift, a gift is a blessing something that strengthens the light, generally a ward or scheduled delivery rarely a person for great heroes arrive and depart on beams of light.

Personal have less flashy means of transport and even with abundant magical energies of this world it’s difficult to move more than 5 people at once and even less if they hold great amounts of magic, magic what a fickle energy its fundamentally a force of nature and creation. To use magic one merely must be taught it by book and magical items to teach one the nature of feeling the unseen and forcing it into reality by shaping it with their will. What is left from there is instinct and honing their own skill, raising through meditation their spiritual and mental stamina, this hones their ability to warp and bend more energies and gain higher results, those who are gifted enough can comprehend magic as its used before them and grasp how to apply it, mastering it is another thing without a strong focused will even genius are damned to be dismissed as fools.

Those below don’t yet know of the warrior pawn sent to them as a test, they would call them emissaries of light but in fact they are finalists in creations war lottery, win it and be gifted with power and duty lose it and be filled with madness and terror and sent to the abyss or worse yet returned to their homes to further spread darkness as darkling’s who have lost their souls to darkness. Two male Protectors, guards of the light guild entrusted to protect towns and villages run through the quaint little village, filled with a few dozen houses made of stucco, thatch roofs, stone shops and taverns dot through main street though half are closed or abandoned this was once a thriving town but now main street lies partly abounded as are the outlaying houses of the area. Both men looking for long carts to take to the drop site as they run their wears and armaments slow them but little both are wearing a combination of cloak and armor the cloak like suit is under their equipment belts and chest armor enhanced with magical runes to maintain body heat and fend off both the environment and attacks.

Only the upper mantle covers some of the equipment  within the oilskin like mantel lies a hood to wear to keep out both the rain, snow and cold from their head, they wear matching pants that delve into their leathery boots, both have standard armaments for protectors the details in both sets of equipment are slightly different, officers have white/gray primary colors with gold/yellow trim, commissioned soldiers of note wear blue and silver trim, while green, brown, black, pink and orange trim designate lower ranks, un commissioned ranks do not get trim and generally where brown to dark gray cloaks, higher ranking  wear red, purple and  white trim on white, red, blue, black, gold, green cloaks, also commissioned soldiers have personalized weapons as do those who come from aristocracy and the greater families of the region.

Their armaments  a boot knife, a short sword and a matching long dagger that’s 10 inches shorter than the sword, a first aid pouch, some writing tools, a tin of water, some rope, a map, and stout hatchet mounted on their back for you see Protectors are more like rangers than normal warriors they are trained to live off the land, most can use a bow but do not carrying them in town for only perimeter guards carry their bows at all times otherwise it’s not normal to see bows being carried by normal troops outside of conflict zones, the area has not seen fighting in a long while but darkness has other ways of decaying civilization through less direct ways fear and despair, crops withering while weeds and the forest blossom steadily, forcing people to move about the land looking for a better place to live, but even with the loss of most of its farming population it still tries to thrive.

They stop at a fruit stall and ask the female vendor if she seen any long carts the younger male tries to hit on the woman while gnawing on a piece of fruit he "liberated", the tall stern looking older blond with shoulder length long hair looks down at the spirited shorter man, “We have no time for this fool!” The younger male says in a joking manner “Yes yes captain my captain you never have time for women and frivolity, besides it will take another 30 minutes to land, beat you down the street!”  *He turns with much speed to steal a kiss on the check of the nearby woman and another apple and dashes off with great speed.* A sigh is heard from the captain as he says under his breath “Childish fool...” while tossing a couple coins to the vendor 3 times worth of the apples the other took he nods his head the woman bows in return and raises her head to see the captain has vanished she looks about but does not see either of them and returns to selling fruit.  

Not to be beat by a fool of a subordinate or let him goad him over trivial matters he dashes along the roofs tops of the well built but unkempt main street buildings, he quickly dashes past his tiring subordinate jumps and stands on a post near the main street fountain, his subordinate tired and breathing heavy turns and smirks as he looks back to see his captain has not yet caught up with him he laughs a bit as something falls on his head he ignores it till he sees an apple more land on the ground as another hits him on the head and lands near the other, confused he looks at it and then he raises his head to see his captain above him as the sun crawls out behind a gray cloud pouring light and shadow down on the slightly exhausted man. Surprised He screams “Captain Laurence!! “As he falls to his “end” the captain looks down upon him from even a greater height than normal, he says in a stern manner while taking out another apple wiping it on a sleeve as he takes a bite out of it. He pauses for a moment to swallow, tilts the arm holding the apple to the side and says “Satisfied yet my fool of a lieutenant, Mr. Drake Evermore, or should I call you by your other name since you called me..”  The clicking sound of a cart and 3 farmers talking caught their attention at the same time. Both of them honed in on it at once but before Drake could get off the ground the captain was already 10 feet away on the ground dashing toward them and to add insult to injury another apple core hit him on his head, fueled by his rivalry with his dear captain he leaps to his feat and chases after him.

Meeting with the gloomy framers the captain sees the long cart is filled with mostly junky wears and asks “We require you and this cart to help us with the gift that’s landing not too far away, the gentlemen behind me will pay you 15 coins for your service and goods, leave the goods here.” “Captain my captain” Drake whines as he catches up, 15 coin is my weeks drinking budget! The captain gives the young lieutenant a stern look as the farmers brighten up alil hearing they will get almost half a week’s pay each they quickly start unloading the long cart as they do the Drake tries to talk him out of it and as he says "Captain my.." the Captain quickly turns around and places his hand directly in front of Drakes face says. “STOP!” in a loud tone followed by a stern “Do not call me that, Young Dragon of the forest.”  The farmers stop and brighten up even more, thrilled to know that one of the men before them is a young well known soldier one of the youngest low borne lieutenants in the areas history.

As the Captain well knows nothing embarrasses and quiets his brash suburbanite like fan fair from the peasantry. The farmers done with unloading the cart pat Drake on his back and try to talk to him as he stiffens up more, an odd contradiction of a man of 18 years age to his captains 29 while a fun loving drunk in front of women and tavern goers, put him in front of a crowd and he “shies up” he is more laid back around aristocracy seemingly annoyed with their existence but since meeting the captain he has been more quite around the arrogant upper class, both deeply trusting and respecting each other endlessly prodding on each nerves in jest, even if the stern and pragmatic captain would never admit it.

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Drake evermore Bio/backstory
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Drake in battle defending the last of his outpost against the forces of darkness, he “popped” his spiritual cherry summoning forth a dragon of fire, it leveled half the forest in rage but found merit in this boy and pity for the actions of his rage bringing forth the azure flames of healing  which is costly for a creature of destruction, he said as he vanished “Boy you are worthy, maintain your chastity for 5 more years and shall come before you again if not I release myself as your guardian sprit and we both can get on with our lives.”  With that the dragon bound himself in a tattoo around the boy of 15, as the azure flames died down plants stated to sprout up everywhere and most of the humans where fully healed, it has been so long since a mere low born summoned a greater sprit the region rejoiced, once the boy was healed and the spirit and binding method was determined he went through some special training to hasten his arrival as a low ranking officer.
The tattoo is a red dragon with orange highlights, typical western design, large wings on the back, legs that he can walk bipedal on and front arms with 5 digit hands , has a tail that’s almost as long as the dragon is tall, has a orange/brown hue along the bony back and horns and spike sticking out and nails and claws, the body tattoo consist of a image of the dragon that wraps around him, Imagine the dragon standing facing forward with a slight tilt with his left hand above him blanching on a wall, primary tints are red and black with some orange, there are some floating fire balls around to fill in the areas around it, his wings stenches out warping around the front of the shoulders and his tail trailing off some steps warping around his right leg, the left hand is on the back of Drakes neck, the head of the dragon and most of the wings are his upper back, the wing tips  across his shoulders showing a few inchs below the top of his shoulders in front, the other hand across his left side both work their way to his front without losing proportion, the right hand is near Drakes heart it has a flame in it  with a blue tint,  the left leg has a orange tint comet like fire trail that jets around the right leg and goes up the hand on his neck, the personality of the Dragon is much like Drake only he’s more pragmatic and more fun loving, think if the Captain has a open sense of humor and a raging berserk mode in battle and around females.

Because of the pact with a greater elemental his ability to control and form magic is hampered as the tattoo controls and regulates magical and physical energies, he was never adapt at magic so adjusting the level 2 form has grown difficult, there are 3 stages for magic wielders be it warriors, summonses or typical mages,(magic is energies controlled by will so any fighter can attain a form of “magic”) you start out being able to do minor things and focus spells using chants, chants and word phrases are only needed for mediocre mages and spells, at stage 2 you gain a high level power state in a trance, this state is generally random and under duress under normal circumstances most move to stage 3 pretty fast with only some types not leaving the berserk phase of growth, variants of  stage 2 are glowing in the color of your subconscious aliment or by glowing magical tattoos/scars, rage based fighters use these as control mechanisms over their power since they hate “reading” and the subtly to control mass amounts of energy, if by cruse or pact the sprit within controls it to as per the will of either the person or the sprit , stage 3 gives one command over their abilities without losing focus or huge stamina lose after it ends, it’s a state that can be summoned at any time as needed, there is a stage 4 where one goes into a perfect berserk state their powers and abilities expand by 10 times however the cost is complete energy loss coma or death, the spirits of the land took petty on those that had the ability to reach this state at the price of their lives while bored of their own petty fights or reclusive life they started to wonder the land to find mortal partners  to join with and see the world through a sometimes differenting pair of eyes, thus why some come to those that pop their cherry on stage 2.

To blow off steam he drinks too much and enjoys himself as much as he can, plays with as many women as he can but not taking them to his bed because he wants power to protect others from the encroaching darkness that and he can have all the women he wants when he turns 20, he’s been buying “stock” in the local brothels it also gives him a excuse to police them a little even the captain comes along now and then on his “research outings” because of their endeavors the regional government is planning proper levels of regulation to keep slavery and abuse out, to ensure proper distribution  of coin and healthcare.
Drakes reputation has ensured him a roaring “20’s”, the Captain however takes his lovers more sparsely even his father is worried and wants him to get out more so he can start finding a proper wife.
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Bio end
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While Drake is occupied a spear girl in a brown cloak with green trim with the hood down waving one hand and holding a spear as long as she is runs up to the captain calling out “Can’n PLaw” in a playful manner which snaps Drake out of his embarrassed state and forces him to chuckle, he’s heard it a few times before and brings him to tears almost every time he hears it for this girl is as rambunctious as he is, 2 years younger and a distance cousin of Captain Persious Laurence, her up brining was on a ranch that catered to higher ups in the family they played together when he was there learning horsemanship and other aristocratic camping things the man in charge of the stable was an old war hero he taught both how to fight when she became old enough she ran away and joined and the local light guild she’s one of the better spear dancers in the area and despite her parents interference has been made a middle ranking non commissioned officer, its mostly a in name only title but ups her chances at better assignments.

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Alucia Bio/backstory
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She has a reputation to be fierce and unforgiving in confrontations be it word or battle when she has her mind set to being right even creation would have trouble “altering” her mind, once alil after she joined  she was royally pissed from dealing with the higher ups and her parents and the rainy season, she went right to the tavern  closest to the barracks and proceeded to bark out drink orders by the time she finished her 2nd pint she “saw” Drake who was a bit gloomy working on his 5th pint 5 or so sentences into a “conversation”  she goes flaming red the bar clears out in less than 30 seconds, they are use to fights and join in under the right sprit however this is not the sprit they want to play with they already know she has a pension for fighting and a event beforehand have them fearing a bit, after she takes a couple swings at Drake then the spear comes out Drake is partly a drunken fighter so he’s dodging everything she’s throwing at him jumping on the bar, tables, chairs while she does about 50 coin worth of damage to the bar(broken chairs, tables, bottles of wine a couple barrels,ect) ,after jumping about like a monkey dodging her swings he lands on the floor near the door she quickly turns and rams him full force with the blunt end of the spear, he blocks with his hands but his footing is all wrong he goes flying out the door, as she walks to the door she grabs a bottle on a untouched table takes a swig grimaces at the taste and tosses it behind her.

Drake lands on his arse near a watering troff he stagers up brushing of the dust buckets and broom that fell on him, the street is nearly empty but if you look you can see the bar goers hiding watching the commotion from alleyways, rooftops and opened windows, they don’t want to get involved but refuse not to watch, a couple brown glad Protectors standing off in the distance, Drake yells at them “oi…you 2….come here for a second!” they came to him and say “Y-yess  Lieutenant?” he grabs their short staffs as Alucia comes out of the building glowing red, the atmosphere changes as fear and excitement tingles in the spines of in all around, he flips the short staves around like dual swords and says “This will do nicely..” he turns around and walks to her as he dose he says “I’ll return these in a minute, you can hide now.” “They both say Thank you lieutenant.” *then run and hide stumbling over some of those who have already found hiding spots.*

It’s an overcast day again, showering on and off part of the regions rainy season, she stops 5 foot out the door and makes a stand he picks up speed they meet as they start trading blows blocking every one, a spear verses 2 middle swords length staves this goes on for 5 minutes they dance about trading hits with no loss to form or movement it starts to rain as it showers steam pours off them she is not even moist from it the red glow keeping the water at bay, by this time word reaches the captain, he is not amused but sees a heavy storm coming in he thinks to himself “That should cool them off some…” as he makes ready to "visit" them in full rain regalia.

About a minute into the heavy storm, one of the on lookers hiding in a dry alley conversing with and placing bets dud's it “fighters sex” , it’s not a uncommon word to this world not with magic influenced highly passionate people in it, the fight goes on for 3 more minutes as the heavy rain pours down then stop drenched to the core and relaxing their defenses satisfied if not exhausted, wet and dripping he looks at her and sees a beauty in the child before him he has never seen, before he can say anything the rain stops and behind him the Captain shows up in full rain regalia befitting a prince, Drake can feel it, the menacing glare of his Captain, mentor and friend , Drake is frozen in place as he raises his head to get another clear look at her she winks at Drake playfully as she walks to the Captain and says while tapping him on his shoulder “I know I’ll pay for the damages and help with clean up tomorrow.” the Captain can only muster a “Is that so.” From his lips, she replies “For now I need a bath and nap, she wonders off back to her assigned room in town, the captain stands in the passing rain eying poor Drake, if one listened between the pitter patter of the rain and the quite thunder in the distance you could hear the wrinkles forming on his brow, the silence deafening a couple minutes pass Drake mutters a ”Uummmmm, the captain releases a loud yell "YOUNG FOOL!!!"  then wanders back to his office to fill out paper work over today’s “incident”, while Drake sighs and falls to his knees, by this time a lot of people have come out hiding and what not to well wish and speak of how cool the fight was, this alarms him to the point of standing up being embarrassed and running back to the pub closing the door and locking it, he can’t stand a crowd if their attention is directed at him and does not want to go back to the barracks tonight, the bets that were placed 5 to 1 on Alucia winning by K’O, 3 to 1 Drake winning by K’O 2 to 1 on a stalemate most betted on Alucia sadly, the owner is already in cleaning some glasses in a almost ‘this is normal’ manner,
he says “Toss the broken wood on the fire I'll get ya some blankets, want a couple pints too eh?” all Drake could do is nod and mutter “Sorry…” the owner/bartender went about to get something for Drake to sleep by the fire in and a couple pints to help him sleep as Drake went about cleaning up alil and made a place by the fire to rest.

The next day comes as the Captain brings some extra table and chairs, with Alucia without her spear, the Captain wonders what happened to Drake but is pleased to know he spent the night to clean up and is working through a hangover to clean up this morning as well, bringing a book with him he sits in the shade and keeps an eye on both of them while they clean the outside, both already have a garnished wage of 35% of their salary for things like this so they  do not have to pay out of pocket, but do pay the pub owner 30 each, Drake nearly in tears his life savings gone in a night glaring as if he would dare to do so at her all she is today is smiles and happiness almost girl like which is almost a contrast to her normal rough playful manner, she winks at him sending chills of pleasure and pain down his spine, from that moment on he knows 2 things she’s beautifully cute, dangerous and better at almost everything he is....a thought runs across his mind as he sweeping the floor “Captain how do you do it?” the Captain looking on watches them both and looks at her in a almost fearfully annoyed manner a brow goes up and he says to himself “How do I do it?....” both wondering how to handle this fiery spirit.
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Bio end
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The brow on the captain’s forehead shifts annoyingly for this is one of the few people he cannot talk down or sternly to because her fiery temper and moods are not worth fooling with, standing 5.1 feet tall , short temper, red hair she’s a firebrand and a capable fighter. “Not now lil one.” He tries to say gently. She replies bluntly with a stern look on her face making him a little uneasy. “I know the whole town has seen it, dear cousin, what has taken you and dragon boy so long to get yer butts in gear, I already sent the moronic duo to guard the entrance to that area. ”
As she scoffs out the words “dragon boy” Drake tightens up again, he’s lost to her 3 out of 5 “duels” not to mention all the conversations and even the few drinking games they have had even the other members of the local guild know her to be fierce, stout and fast but never lose, those that walk under the Red star of passion are given a special gift if you retain your chastity long enough you can call upon that pent up emotion and call upon a spirit of fire that binds themselves and walks beside you for the rest of your days, she has glowed red with the fires of passion in battle and vocal” fist’de’cuff “ more than once, if the sprit is summon in “peaceful“ situations things can become “difficult”  passion and rage are closely linked so the results  can be either or both and none will be ready for it.


With Drake off nearing the entrance to the outskirts and “Cap’n Plaw” being pussy whipped by a girl, 2 shadows stalk far away in the dark of the forest rushing tirelessly to the location of the light tear, passing through shadow after shadow their forms are reveled, forms corrupted by malignant nature, they have forgotten what they were and are merely manbeasts now, pawns of darkens nay not even pawns they are fodder, darkling’s is what they are called, not all mindless but fodder none the less as much as any peacefully living thing is darkling’s are fodder,  war fodder  sent to be slaughter and advance darkness 1 inch at a time.
As they make their way through the dark murky corrupted forest, they come to a precipice before them, It’s a short run to their target they can see its light glittering between the uncorrupted trees ahead but on the wind is a wif of humans, Protectors none the less they advance cautiously and slowly.  The captain now tired of the constant chattering of his younger cousin to the point where he’s holding his head with his left hand looks out to the edge of town not 500 feet away, “They have made it to the edge already….what I have been doing” He thinks to himself in a slight daze if one knew of the circumstance one could only laugh at a man who can look done all on all creatures of darkness and very sternly “advise” everyone else in creation yet to have a girl nearly half his age talk him down is quite humorous indeed.

While he’s in a slight daze she “kneads” him in the side with the blunt end of her spear and yells “HELLO?!?! “ Shocked he snaps out of the trance he has learn to go into to deal with windy politicians/superiors and aristocrats. He then says “Sorry dear little cousin I must go now.” He tosses  his last two apples at her, noticing a figure behind him another brown cloak with no color trim yelling “Alucia” He dashes a few feet away from her both watch as he stops and bends down ready to jump, the guy in the brown cloak says “He’s going to do it, hey Alucia he’s going to do it!”
Captain Laurence then activates the boots by willing magical energies to do his bidding, not all magic is casted by chants, but sentences tend to magnify power and focus so chanting is merely a way to focus, the white boots glow with a green energy, wind is seen whipping around them he then jumps 200 feet in the air and then as if to dance in the air he flips and engages the boots lil by lil to change his direction and momentum, the term dancer is a honorary title given to female warriors after gaining a certain rank they can change their title, no one would dare call the captain a dancer even though he himself is not reluctant to the terminology because even he sees himself as both graceful and elegant, he falls for about 30 feet upside down calculating distance and landing vectors, the boots are effective but need care in landing since the built up energy can cause an explosion, he then activates the boots again jetting 300 feet away he turns and have the boots jettison energy every few seconds to reduce his speed.

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Persious Laurence  Bio/backstory
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The Captain is stern and elegant but try as he might still human, he never really grasped the concept of females well he just doesn’t know how to handle them he pretty much treats them all with respect and while he might have a traditional mind set on their roles if they can perform a job well then that’s the life they should live, he is a intellectual and logical being but also comprehends the word "Human" thus he’s tried to get out alil with Drake who’s really the first real friend he’s had so while he can build his relationship with Drake he can try and see what a simi normal man dose around women that and his great sense of justice begged him to tag along with Drake on his Cat house patrolling, So far the Cat house district has not been burnt down as the odd pair seem to be able to keep each other of too much trouble.

The captain is a son of a great lord his house has been even handed with both other houses and the peasants around them while stern and seemingly cold they truly are “sons of kings” noble proud and always mindful and caring of those around them, he is treated like a Prince in most of the places but in this little town he can live as a skilled officer away from some of the spotlight aristocrats live in.  In past another name graced his path and it stuck, ten years ago he fought sky pirates as a secret agent, some pirates aligned themselves with darkness and tried to take the underworld over,  even after being found out, the flamboyant pirate leader said “We are neither light nor dark we are neither chaos nor order, nor do we live by the rules of your world, tell me young lord what shall you have us do with 10 to 1 odds ,and what will be paid for not tossing you out and leaving?”

The young officer replied “I shall have your ship and your men, we will fight them now before their power grows, you payment will be your lives your ship and its belongings will be returned to the king. ”  The pirate leader replies “Then I ask you this, must we return with the ship. “The young lord smirks and says. “Only if you consider yourself my belongings, I must have a prize to give the kings court to distract them from your disappearance and I do not wish to lose rank due to an assignment gone wrong. I require not your heads but your arms, prepare for battle.”

The flamboyant Pirate leader replied   “Yes me captain, me captain.” He commanded his men to attack during the battle he fought using his aerial ark boots, smashing 3 of the air ships while taking some damage to himself somehow they won even if only 1 ship remained operational and it was not the Grand ole Mare, the pirate leaders ship she was intact but disabled, the remaining pirates hobbled aboard the single enemy vessel and sailed off far into the distance as kings army ships flew in and picked up anything that remained living, due to the sensitive nature of the incident the young lord got into some trouble, during public insight hearings the young lord was asked why did he let them go he replied “What justice would there be for criminals to serve their time to society twice, if they do wrong again I shall hunt them if is my duty before the law of my king.” The crowd went wild not many of the upper crust understood justice, the King himself pardon the honorable young lord and gave him the ability to chose his post, for the last 9 years he has headed training efforts and other posts all over the region, his name..ah yes.. Captain me captain and other variants are some, but they also call him……
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Bio end
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“Ahoy Sky Captain.“ Drake yells as he walks away from the cart after he stopped past the edge of town when he heard the boom of the captain’s boots, returning the rub the captain lands rough 4 feet in front of him knocking him down from a heavy gust of wind. Standing dusting himself lightly “What did you say lieutenant? “Giving a glare to the famers to not even think of the word, the overturned lieutenant replies “Nothing sir…nothing.”  The tear becomes an orb as it descends into a field of short and tall grass 600 feet away the Captain says. ”We still have time let us hurry.”
He then takes to the front of the cart and tells Drake to get behind and tells the famers we’re dashing to the orb of light get in the cart, they load up and hold on as both Protects run in time bouncing the cart over the rough overgrown cobble stone road, they get to about 130 feet away and leave the farmers to catch up with them and move forward to the edge of the field not 30 feet away the orb is landing.
Overlooking the area the hard breathing Protectors rest for a moment the Captain sitting cross legged meditating regaining his strength quickly his young subordinate opens a pouch and produces a flask, it has recovering liquor in it, the captain opens an eye and says  while Drake downs some of  it “That stuff will rot your will power you know.”  Lieutenant Evermore replies “Magic is wasted on the young I need to move and feel…” *as he says that he turns a bit green turns around and pukes alil* The captain says while sighing “I cannot take you anywhere, if you can’t hold your liquor.“
The farmers arrive and are worried about the young Drake, one of them asks.”Are you ok?” *he stands up and takes another swig and says.* “I am perfectly fine that just means its working!”  *he turns around and pukes again.* the captain makes a remake *Disgusting..* Drake stands up and shakes off fatigue and “indigestion” he wipes his mouth with a cloth and walks over into the filed alil he says
“Ready yet?”   The captain already rising up says “Yes, you farmers follow behind us with the cart slowly, you see that rock.” *He points to a bolder that’s barely above the knee high grass* “Wait there while we secure the area.” Holding onto their weapons they walk through the knee high grass toward the light something intangible tingles their warriors instincts something is wrong here, something is very wrong..
As they near the hovering orb of light not 8 feet away shadows stir in the grass, movement is heard, Drake yells “WE HAVE COMPANY” 5 shadows dart around in the grass “T’would seem the shadows are growing long these days indeed.” The Captain proclaims as one dashes out from the grass and takes a swing at the farmers but misses Drake tries to get to it before it hides in the grass again he swings at it with his sword but misses and takes a chunk out of the boulder, as he misses one pops up behind the Captain claws first but he deflects it with his unsheathed sword holding it in the middle like a staff the beasts momentum sends him 9 feet into the air and back into the grass, Drake then yells “Shadow melding here? What are advanced scouts doing out here.”  The Captain replies “To steal our light I’d wager…”

he pauses giving Drake a nod as a signal, the Captain then says “Do try and not destroy your new sword, it’s quite embarrassing to ask for a new one every few months.” In hopes his banter would make the beasts strike him when he is ready for them. As Drake tries to respond one of the beasts claws his left shoulder, he manages to spin kick it before it fled into the grass another one jumped out of nowhere and he ran the beast through right into the tall boulder he senses the one he kicked is going to attack from behind, so he spins around and tosses his hatchet into the tall grass, the beast stands and groans being hit in the shoulder and returns into the darkness of the grass. Drake tries to pull his sword out but its stuck the impaled beast man slashes one last time at him cutting the back of his shoulder.
Drake head butts the beast as a final blow as he deals with his stuck sword the Captain deals with 2 at once, drawing his dagger he fights them at the same time blocking and dodging he dances with them he manages to block 4 of their attacks as one lunges at him with the other close to follow he jumps up above them both and lands in between them showing his dexterity by splitting his legs on their shoulders and stabbing both the one closest with his dagger from the top of its rotted brain down the other though its neck with his sword before they fall he jumps spinning around crossing his arms and lands just as the blades glow cleaning them of the putrid blood, as fire cleanses metal of impurity.

Drake pulls with all his might to get his sword out as a beast is lining up to attack him he glows red turns over and swings boulder and all at it, squashing it thoroughly, retrieving his slightly worn sword he smirks as he sees a beast man popping its head out of the grass getting ready to toss his own hatchet at the captain he tries to unsheathe his dagger but it’s too late he cries out as the captain turns around his weapons already sheathed in a blink of an eye he catches the spinning hatchet aimed at his head, he shakes his index finger glaring at the beastman almost stunning it, before the beast could regain himself in a blink of an eye he initiates the arch boots and covers 15 feet in an instant kicking the beast 30 feet into the trees.

The wind kicks up and dies down as the orb energies stabilize and dissipate winded they keep a cautious eye out, one of the farmers yells one of them was hurt, the captain tells Drake to go see them and bring the cart for we have a guest, a figure starts to merge from the light floating above the grass, as they witness a rarity the kicked beast grovels on the ground trying to crawl away to a darker place to hide, a hooded figure appears and says “So another fool has been sent to their death.“ the beast cowers in infinite fear as the figure bends down and transfers some dark power to it, the beastman raises up enraged its muscles gaining mass as it becomes even more bestial it howls out and dashes from the edge of the forest to where the Captain is, the Captain using all his speed manages to stab and kick his dagger deeper into the beasts side but it was for not the beast claws the left arm of the emissary before crashing off in the distance the dragger in its side and the chaotic state of its body withers in pain and melts away.

The damage to the emissary creates a pillar of 5 lights that separate into the sky and zig zag off into different directions, as this happens elsewhere a pawn falls on a old chess board somewhere in the misty haze between creation and nothingness, two ancient figures warped by time sit in the pale haze, between them a small table with a chessboard upon it and two bowels designs to match the owner lite elegant lines in orderly patterns for Lightness and dark random jagged lighting like for Darkness.

“A pawn………. fell” one mummers in an absent minded way, “Yes…….. yes it did” the other grumbles in a low rumbling tone, both perplexed because a move was not made yet reality itself shuddered….they sit gazing at the pawn ….while back upon the world below the pawn lays injured,  annoyed the Captain runs to the emissary the damage to the arm seems minor even if it’s bleeding but the energies around the emissary are warping and chaotic, he bandages up the arm ignoring the pain from a good dose magical radiation once he tightens the bandages up some he was knocked away by the chaotic energies, he stands up dusting himself off and yells at Drake to cover him up with his cloak, the serious tone of the captains voice sent a chill down Drakes spine as he started to strip off his gear so he could get his clock off , the Captain worried stands watch over Drake as he wraps the emissary up the chaotic energies fade some, as the famers bring with them the cart with their wounded friend in the back the Captain pulls alil string from his belt and gives it a tug his dagger fly’s out from where boney melty mess where the beast man was and he grabs is, holding it to the side almost disgusted with it he walks over to where Drakes hatchet is laying on the ground. He says “Heads up.” to Drake whose now slightly cold from the start of sundown being wet with sweat and minus a nice warm cloak his half shirt barely covering his muscular torso and body tattoo the wounds on his shoulders almost healed, the tattoo glows a bit as he shivers and warms him, he doesn’t have much of a knack for magic but his subconscious makes up for it now and then, there are those who control magic via thought and those that control it through feeling, Drake who runs on the flames of emotion after all is the latter.

The Captain pops the hatchet in the air with his foot and kicks it over to Drake like a ball; Drake catches it and places it on his belt while he yawns, he is tired from the stamina drain the use of his healing and strength abilities give him. He picks up the emissary and lays him in the cart somewhat roughly. The Captain usually a stickler for details lets it go and says “Can you hold your, liquor till we make to town.“ Drake takes a swig from his “medicine” and manages not to puke and grins at the Captain, the Captain shakes his head while he cleans his dagger some then wraps it in the cloth he is cleaning it with and puts it in a leather pouch on his thigh, “I’ll have to thoroughly clean this later…” he says in disgust of the whole situation.

Drake motions for the famers to get in the cart, as he grabs the backend of it, the Captain grabs the front and looks down on those in the cart and says “Gentlemen hold on tight.” Together the Captain and his lieutenant raise the cart and start running hard to town, lanterns light up as they rush towards town. The Captain eager to make it to town steps his speed up alil with the younger Drake barely able to keep up, Drake whines alil “Captain n..n..not s..so fast huff huff.”
The Captain says “Bear with it we are almost there.” as they make it into town Drake turns green and passes out the Captain anticipating Drake failing in some minor way jumps over him and tries to aim the cart as so it comes to a stop without roughing up its passengers, the captain has 2 choices wall or double swung doors, he takes them into the doors where he manages to get it to stop before rushing into a wall.

Sitting at a table not 5 feet away from the grand entrance of the captain and the trail of broken chairs and barrels the commotion startles the 2 nearby guards who are slacking from duty sitting at a table with a confiscated half barrel of apples which they were happily eating on, they gawk at Sky Captain and .co for a minute before his glare pierces through their pea brains , they stand at attention while he dusts himself off yelling at them to get a med team down here they stand up rush into each other then scuttle to the doors only to trip on their way out, a foot can be seen, disappearing to the side as Alucia walks in and says “Ahoy Captain”
With her she brings 3 medics 2 of which wearing brown cloaks with pink lining and one wearing a pink cloak, and white suit a middle ranking medic of some kind, she quickly rushes to the cart and the Captain explains the situation and looks at Alucia funny, the Pink cloak calls to one of the medics to see to the injured famer, while she tries to ascertain the damage to the emissary while the dimwit duo look through the side of the door, the other medic “nudges” Drake gently with his toe who’s passed out in his own puke outside, seeing the bottle of his “medicine” laying next to him he smells it a bit and turns his nose up to it quickly realizing the concoction was poorly made and over powered…..perhaps young Drake was out of money and tried to make his own elixir….
The medic outside sticks his head in the door giving the ditwits to the side a odd glance he says “Sergeant Major, got a potion OD here, me thinks too much rum in the hum.. I’ll drag im off to the med station at the barracks now if that be alright with you.”
She snarls “Alight!, I’ll use the cart here to take this one to the doctors house, he has private quarters in back, if that is alright Captain.” *She lowers her hood revealing the woman to be in her mid 40s alil wide for her height with a voice and texture of skin that would make most elder tress look smooth and young.* the Captain taken aback only alil starts to say something but she responses “What did you expect MS. Nightingale?” He replies holding his aching brow “Whatever I’ll come to check on him later I have to report the current situation to the guild.” Alucia then interjects. “I had the watch tower keep track of you dear cousin, just in case Dragon boy screwed up, I didn’t think they would attack, there’s not even been a Drakling sighting for months around here.” as she says that the dimwit trio it would seem can be seen dragging Drake off, the Captain raises his head and says “Stay here I’ll send double the normal watch to all entrances.“ Alcuia replies “Aye Captain” and walks out the door, the medic now has the inquired famer patched up by the bar in the room, with the 2 other farmers nearby sitting and talking to each other, they recall this place once was a small tavern that’s now used as a storeroom of old barrels chairs and whatnot.

The farmers are in good shape ,even passing around a bottle they found, the one that was hurt has been bandaged and healed by the medic, magic healing cleans the wound and preps the body to recover faster than normal, still a deep wound can tear open after a few hours or days even, magical healing is a form of magic hence magical healing (he he)... it can be a tricky process when you want to adjust certain things and leave others alone, you can heal a area or a whole person and use almost the same amount of stamina regardless of the wound because healing takes focus without it you would use  2  or even 4 times as much magical energy, its takes great will to focus on proper restoration, destruction is after all always easier.

The Pink Crone asks the Captain to help her with the cart and he dose as it’s on the way to the guild, only some guards know of what happened others only know the watch has been doubled…for now the town rests gently before the coming of the dawn as they have the day before.