Border Crossing

First topic message reminder :

"You're late." Baralai Fairchild despised the rain, almost as much as he despised mages. He was waiting at one of the bridges that crossed the river that in turn divided the two largest kingdoms in their land. It was the same bridge where he had waited countless times. Templar or no, gold was gold, and this gold also got rid of troublesome mages.
"You want the gold or not?" A black clad man snarled as he jumped down gracefully from his equally black steed.
Baralai muttered something rather unbecoming of a Templar, then held a gloved hand out. "Gold first, then the cargo. Try anything..." He words were cut off as the mage he was transporting broke free of his restraints. It all happened so quickly that he didn't see the flash of lightning and the proud Templar was crashing into the raging river below.
Six months. It had been six months and the fallen Templar still woke in a cold sweat after dreaming of that night. The mage had rendered him immobile, though wide awake when he had plunged into the river, his heavy armour weighing him down until a pig farmer had dragged him from the river several miles away. It had taken months to get back to health and pay back the farmer for his kindness. In that time word had gotten out that Fairchild the Templar was a deserter.

Alice Gormanghast was scowling into the mirror. She hated this world she had been born into, even now as her maid pulled tightly on the laces of her dress she thought of nothing but a way to escape. Her brother's were all war heroes, famous to everyone in the kingdom for their brave deeds and triumph in defeating several of the dragons. But Alice... All she was known for was to be the prize her father handed over to the man he deemed brave enough to end the war altogether. She was the proverbial Princess in the tower, useful only for luring in prospective suitors. The young brunette didn't even realise her rose coloured lips were quirked into a slight smile 'if only they knew'. Indeed, her father would have a literal heart attack if he knew his prized daughter had secretly been learning how to shoot a bow and handle a sword. She lost herself for hours at an end in books that told of the thieves guild, and their mysterious leader who was sometimes known to have a higher moral code than the knights of their kingdom.

Alice tried to cover herself up, but as Kane had tossed her breastplate out the door, that left little but her pants, boots and gloves. It didn't help that the guard was leering at her as he stepped into the carriage with fresh rope.

"Yena? What's the matter?" It seemed to take a moment for Baralai to realise what had happened. He couls smell blood, and instantly believed Yena to be the wounded one, until he happened to glance down and see the arrow.

The guard gave her his shirt but he certainly took his time doing it. "You are his now, sweetie. You'll never escape..." he didn't get anything else out as a strange roar echoed through the campsite. "What the hell?" 

"Bear..." Yena didn't have time to say more than his name as the Templar tumbled to the ground. It took her only a moment to realize that he was not getting back up. Ever. 
She threw her head back and howled in grief, the sound terrifying to say the least. It was then that things went from bad to worse...

The guard was pulled away by the angry roar before he actually tied Alice up as instructed. The young woman had pulled his shirt on, and despite the bruising to her slender thighs, she got up and made the choice to not be the victim. She was going to free Anaris, and they were getting far far away.

Baralai could see nothing more feet from where he landed on the ground. He thought he heard a roar, but it seemed so far away. Everything was far away... Even the ground now.

The camp erupted into chaos as the mud colored dragon appeared from nowhere and began bathing the trees in fire. There was nothing but screams at this point. There would be little left alive when the beast was finished.

Alice could barely see through the smoke, but what she did see, was the tent where Anaris was being kept erupt into violent flames.

The dragon landed hard in front of her, billowing smoke from its nostrils. The last remaining elf was still shooting arrows and she turned her head and ate him, crunching on his bones and sinew as he screamed.

Alice stared up at the dragon far less fearful of her than she had been of Kane. "Why are you doing this?" She asked in dragontongue.

The dragon turned her head and looked down at Alice. Through her rage filled haze she recognized her. "They killed him." She answered. "The only one that saw me and they killed him. I...returned the favor."

"I wanted to help you!" Alice suddenly shouted. "I wanted to teach you... and you killed the only one I loved!"

"I am not sorry!" The dragon shouted back. "Your king was at fault for his death! He made them patrol the woods! Bear wasn't hurting anyone and they killed him!" She wailed. 

Not far away a young thief had been digging through the ashes of the first bonfire. She found a strange looking necklace. Satisfied she'd found a good prize she ran, only to trip over a broken limb and shatter her prize into pieces. She gathered what she could, not even noticing that one shard had fallen on the chest of a now cold body of a large man.

"Anaris was trying to save you!" Alice practically screamed, tears streaking her cheeks now in a way even Kane hadn't managed to cause. "He was being a good man and doing the right thing... And it got him killed!" Ironically, it was this moment that set the princess down the darker path she was about to travel, not abuse at the hands of her own brother.

The man affectionately known as Bear drew in a sudden breath, his now pale grey eyes wide, unable to understand where he was right then. All his life it had been drilled into him that death was not to be feared... It was his chance to finally meet the maker upon the throne in the Black City. There had been nothing. Only darkness.

"Apparently that's what being good will do for you!" The dragon hissed, flames licking at her lips. "Go now. I  not done here." Turning she began setting the forest ablaze. The world would burn for Baralai's loss. There was nothing good left in it.

Alice turned and fled the blaze, stumbling blindly through the forest. She had no weapons, no armour, and only the shirt the guard had given her which was hardly warm if it chose to rain. In spite of all this, the young woman knew she had to keep going. Once Kane realised she was gone, he would no doubt have all his men out there looking for her.

Alice had one thing going for her. Kane had been in the tent when the dragon had burned it. it would take him a while to recover. 

Yena saw nothing, heard nothing. She barely felt the rain as it began to pelt her now iron like scales. She had no sense of who or what she was. She only knew the crippling agony of grief.

Alice had followed the road all the way to a small port town. She had no money, and so was lurking in the shadows, stealing what she could when she could. It took several days, but eventually she had taken enough to clothe herself and then stowed onto a ship with a destination she didn't even know.

A year passed rather quickly. Things back in her homeland changed rather dramatically. 
Though Anaris and the thieves guild was long gone, a few pockets remained. They did not seem to know or understand that their king was gone. They acted under orders that still had them freeing mages and working to maintain the health of a captured dragon they no kept from harm sealed away in a mountain side. 

Alice's father had met a sudden and unfortunate end that no one could explain. A funeral was to be held the coming Friday that very few had even been invited to. The following day was to be a coronation ceremony for his son Kane, the one who had once tried to save his sister and her husband from being killed by a dragon. He had failed but who could blame him when he had been horribly scarred and nearly lost his life as well?

News of the King's passing had spread to many lands, even if none of them actually mourned him. But the coronation of the new, younger, king was enough to pique the interest of a captain sitting in a bar that evening. Would only be right to pay respects, and offer a gift.

Bear had finally woken when all the forest was no more than smouldering ember as ash continued to flutter like snow. His chest ached, but when he looked down he saw only an angry looking scar. It was a year later and the pain was still there, as though he longed something he couldn't have. Unlike many who lost loved ones in the dragon attack, the templar had refused to give Yena up for dead until he saw her body.

Kane was more than a little pleased at his father's death. Even if he hadn't been directly the cause of it. He sat alone, watching the boat floating away, a flaming arrow at his side. This would change everything. He would finally have it all and for the first time he hesitated. The road here had been such a hard fight and he'd suffered more than his share. But he deserved this. That thought was enough to have him raising the bow and firing the single shot at the small ship, engulfing it in flames.

"What are you looking at?" A pair of surly looking young men sat near a herd of sheep, one of them wiping his knife after killing a lamb. The one with the knife gave Bear a nasty snear, shaking his head. "Ain't no food here for soliders."

A large, albeit battle worn, whip was docked at the town nearest to Kane's castle. Word spread that the Bloody Rose was here, which only meant bad news. This ship's reputation preceded it. It was known to be captained by a rather ruthless pirate who gave people to option of joining the crew, or walking the plank with cannonballs in their pockets. Needless to say, few chose death once they met the captain anyway.

Bear grinned and shook his head. Some days it was nice that people still assumed him a good enough man to be a soldier. He looked at the lamb, then at both men. "Then you had better run, because I'm hungry, and I'm no law abiding soldier."

Kane recieved this news as he was walking away from the funeral pyre. He was more than a little put out by it. "For now we ignore it." He instructed. "What's the loss of a few villagers when I'm about to become king?"

"Nothing doing." The other man said. "The dragon's hungry too and we're not about to piss her off." He snorted, shaking his head.
The first was still eyeing Bear, not too sure what to make of what he'd just said. "Yes. Get your own food." He said cautiously.

"Sire, this particular ship could bring much trouble for you." The woman who kept Kane updated on the happenings of the common folk warned him in her usual soft voice. "It's arrival in other kingdoms has been known to cause revolution." She added, big brown eyes looking up at her king adoringly as they walked.

"Dragon?" Bear asked, his voice little more than a snarl. "She's here? Where?!" He demanded, shaking the second man roughly.

Kane no longer saw himself as much more than a monster. He barely even noticed the young woman walking beside him. "Revolutions don't scare me. I've killed more than my share of men who thought they were brave enough to fight even a dragon. While the pirate ship is something to be concerned about, I will worry about it only when it dares to get close to me. Those stupid villagers can try and fail to rise up against me all they like. We have a dragon and an elf that can break open the veil to the Fade. I have nothing to worry about." 

"Hey!" The first man launched to his feet, holding a dagger still bloody with sheep's blood. "Let go of him if you want to breathe for the rest of your flea bitten life, shem!" He roared, making no secret he intented  to stab Bear.

The young woman nodded her head, understanding it wasn't her place to say any more. "Can I bring you something to eat, your majesty? Some ale, perhaps? I know it must be hard losing your father so close to the anniversary of your sister's death too."

"You make a lot of assumptions, knife ear." Bear snorted. "Perhaps I want my life ended, ever think about that?"

"Don't you talk about her!" Kane lost his temper in an instant, turning on the young woman and putting his hands around her throat. He lifted her off the ground, baring his teeth. "Never mention my sister to me! Are we clear!" He howled, shaking her violently. 

The man stabbed the dagger deep into Bear's gut. Yanking it back so that his guts would spill out onto the ground. When nothing happened, he stood where he was, his mouth wide open. 
"Maker's breath, he's a ghost!" The other man howled. "A demon sent to torment us!"

The young woman simply closer her fingers over Kane's and nodded. "Sorry." she wheezed, though didn't plead for him to stop. It was painfully obvious this girl was in love with her king and would let him do whatever he liked to her.

Bear smiled sadly and nodded his head. "Now you see why death is no way to threaten me?" He asked, snapping the neck of the man he had had hold of.

Kane tossed her aside and stalked toward the castle, his mood even more foul than before. Losing that victory over his sister had been a bitter one that had very little to do with death.

The first man dropped his knife and ran, sure that he would escape the nightmare he had been faced with. This made the dragon's teeth look far less sharp.

No one would likely see Kane again until the coronation the next day. Many people were there ready to shout forced cheers of celebration, nobody for a second thought the pirate ship was there just for Kane.

Bear sighed heavily and picked up the blade. He looked it over for a moment before deciding it was worthless and tossing it to the ground.

The new king hated the ceremony. He didn't even pretend to smile. He simply sat on the throne and looked like the royal he was. He had ordered the ceremony held well after dark and the candles lit away from his throne. Except for his ice colored eyes and the sword at his side, it was hard to see him at at all.

"You are making it hard for my men to do their job." A dark haired elf came striding down the hillside toward Bear, not for a moment looking afraid or impressed. "Is there some reason you've come here? You know you're in the king's outer lands. Fereldan soldiers aren't welcome here."

The heels of someone's boots could be heard clicking against the ornate stone of the castle floor as someone approached the throne room. The entire hall hushed when people quickly came to realise it was a pirate, albeit a female one. "Now what kind of subject would I be if a I didn't pay my respects to handsome king Kane?" The voice would seem familiar, even if it no longer had the royal tone. The pirate lifted her chin a little higher until her blue and black flecked eyes were visible from beneath the wide brim of her hat. Alice was at the foot of the throne now as she tossed the head of one of Kane's guards at his feet. "Congrats, your majesty." She drawled. "Now you truly can say you've had everything you ever wanted."

Bear groaned and rolled his pale grey eyes. "There you damn knife ears go again... Assuming every shem is a goddamn soldier!" He growled. "Can't a beast just wander where he likes?!"

Icy eyes locked on her face. Kane never moved. He simply stared at her. His stomach was twisting in knots. He'd never felt this way before. "You...You will never find him." He hissed after a moment. "No matter what you do I will never give the satisfaction of winning. Get out. You are not welcome here! GET OUT!" He roared, launching to his feet. 

"You are wearing the armor of a Templar. Excuse the assumption." The elf said darkly. "I see you've killed one of my feeders. You know they are very hard to replace. And she is picky. You're making my job hard."