Talos'+Gate

The day started out as any other. Dealing with the usual business of the region. Arcis was beginning to regain its culture and the liveliness that once flowed within it's borders. Before the Great War, that is. Smiles were starting to be seen all around. The inhabitants haven't forgotten the war, but it seems that they are starting to accept it as the past. It happened. And now its over. If you continue to live in the shadow of its memory, it will only continue to have control over you. Talos was in his main working quarters when he was approached by a man. This man didn't look like he was native to these lands. He had on a torn and scratched leather vest with dirt all over his body. He wreaked of body odor and poor personal hygiene. His hair was a long silvery grey that reflected the light. His eyes as brown as the dirt that he had apparently been sleeping in. You could tell by his facial features that he did not have an easy life. Little scars were all over his face. The majority of them near his forehead and eyes. Talos couldn't really determine an age for him. But if he had to guess he would say that the man was in his late sixties, early seventies. "My king." He said as he knelt at Talos's feet. "There is something that I have to show you out in the forest! Im not sure what it is, but I feel that it is very powerful." Talos was beginning to get concerned already. If there is something in Arcis that would cause a tough, experienced man like this to come running into his quarters to tell him about some odd thing that is in the woods, Then this could be a problem. "Do you have any idea what it might be? Why did you report this directly to me in lieu of the regular authorities?" Talos noted. "I did report this to them! They just laughed as if i was a fool. I had decided to come beg you to investigate, because I knew that you would be interested in such an object. I fear that it might have magical qualities." The old man warned. Talos knew that if it had magical qualities, that it must be acted upon immediately. Arcis could not withstand much more incidents involving anything with magic. "Fine." Talos grunted. "I will personally assemble a group of warriors and investigate the object myself. We will need you to navigate, old man." "Of course, my king." Whispered the old man. Something about him did not seem right to Talos. Yes, he had gone to him with urgent news concerning magical items, but it wasn't his words that made Talos uneasy. It was how they were spoken. Upon leaving his main quarters, Talos made his way down to the army barracks to find the five best warriors he could. Three of the men instantly volunteered. The other two were a bit different. One of them was chosen by Talos, but the other was a little different from the others. He was a man turned away from Talos by the name of Vesom Rothyn. He was a pretty big man. He had a burly body type, with veins bulging from each of his arms. He was dressed in full battle attire from head to toe. He wore a steel and chain link cuirass with large neck guards on the shoulders. His bracers looked as if they were a thick metal with underlying hardened leather that also covered the top of them. His boots were identical in style, but on the heel of both of his boots were little letters that appeared to be his own initials. He had a scabbard on his hip, but the sword was not there. "Wheres your blade?" I curiously asked. Vesom turned to him and kelt almost instantly. "My king." He said. "My blade is at the blacksmith. Would you like to accompany me to retrieve it? It should be ready by now." Talos and motioned Vesom to lead the way to the smithy. They exited the barracks and entered a long corridor with multiple doors branching off from the sides. At the end of the hallway was an archway that led outside to the black smith. Once there, Talos and Vesom called the smith over to talk to him. "Your sword is ready. But it'll cost ya for the services." The smith pointed out. "I already paid you!" Complained Vesom. "Ah, but you only paid me for the cleaning. Not fixing the smashed hilt." the smith clarified. The two continued to ramble on and on. Back and fourth. The argument had to have gone on for about fifteen to twenty minutes before Talos finally had enough of their bickering. "I WILL PAY FOR IT!" Talos yelled in a fit of anger. "Im tired of listening to this nonsense. I will pay for your sword on one condition. You accompany me to explore an... item of interest." "What exactly is this item?" Vesom replied. "I cannot tell you exactly what it is. Only for the reason that I do not yet know what it is. All i can tell you is that you will be greatly rewarded for you services." Talos answered. You could see the sudden reaction in Vesom's eyes as soon as the word "rewarded" was spoken. But the look left his face slowly as he saw Talos reach for a little coin sack that was tied around his waist. "You've got yourself a deal. But I guess you can keep your reward. The payment for the hilt is good enough. " Vesom added with a smirk. After Talos and Vesom were done at the black smith, they returned to the barracks where the other four warriors were waiting. The group simultaneously grabbed their gear and headed for the exit, with the elderly man (who had told them of the object in the first place) trudging behind. They were finally ready to venture out into the woods to find this bizarre object. They traveled in a strategic defense formation with Talos in the front, the old man behind him, and the others all following and surveying their surroundings. Not long had passed before they came across a great stone arch with its back against the side of a large rock. Suddenly out of nowhere the elderly man fell to his knees and began shaking back and fourth very fast. It looked as if he was starting to transform into something. A darker being. It didn't take long for them to realize what was happening. The old man was actually an agent for The Silhouette. The dark art specialists of The Mage. They started to appear all around us. One-by-one. Talos and his men were completely surrounded by them. They had lured us straight into a trap. The shadowy figure that was once the old man was now something of great power. It had wasted no time in its attack, killing two of the warriors as he was headed straight for Talos. Talos was turned away, waiting for an attack from a different direction. He was completely un-aware of the enemy behind him. The Silhouette lunged itself forward at Talos' unsuspecting back. But with quick reactions, Vesom was able to unleash a mighty swing of his sword right through the spirits vertebrae. It had let out the most blood curdling screech that anyone has ever heard and then its broken body dissolved and blew away in the wind. "There's three of us and six more of them. I like these odds." Vesom mumbled to himself "More for me to kill." Its almost like the spirits had heard what he was saying, because right after those words were spoken, the rest of the Silhouette had leaped into the air. They came down to the ground with so much force that all of the warriors were knocked off of their feet. Even to his own amazement, Talos had also fallen down. The men quickly pulled themselves together to put up a formidable defense against these creatures. The huddled group slowly made their way toward the arch so that nothing could attack them from the rear. The Silhouette had wasted no time on attacking them. Their powerful and consistent attacks were starting to wear the warriors out. Not even five minutes after the spirits had started their attack, one of the brave fighting warriors had been slain. Only Talos and Vesom remained. Both of them were tired, but only Vesom was injured. He had a large gash going down his chest from the pit of his arm all the way down to his navel. He looked back at Talos who was right beside him as they were making their stand against this nearly unstoppable force. They both knew that they were going to die on that day. But something strange had happened. One of the Silhouette's had tried to make a desperate attempt at ending Talos' life by swinging its blade at his jugular. Vesom saw this happening and pushed Talos back out of the way and stabbed the Silhouette right through the ribcage. Vesom looked back to make sure that Talos was alright But when he looked back, Talos was nowhere to be found. With him being all by himself, he went down to one knee, and accepted his death as there was no avoiding it.