The Battle for Esperen

[LogicfromLogic]

Esper; once a land of peace and plenty was now a wasteland. The green fields of Rimmell were now dry and yellow; no longer did the inhabitants dance upon it. The air was sick and cold, it no longer held that nice crisp touch to it. This world was now wrecked with such a sickness that no hope would again fill the minds of those who had once loved their bright and colourful land. This paradise was torn apart by war and greed. A once proud king and queen had ruled this part of the four kingdoms of Esper; king Jerald Gryfonhart and queen Keisha Gryfonhart; they were fair and just. No wars had broken out while they were ruling. Everyone loved them; or so they thought. The rebels attacked one dreary night, just when the queen was giving birth to their second heir to the throne. Fearing for their children's lives, they sent their young sons away. That night, the Northern kingdom fell to ruin and war, giving way to everything that the rebels brought with them. Famine shook the country like an earthquake, and plagues haunted the citizens of the north. Soon, their sickness spread to the East, West and South. Esper fell victim to a cu. Heirs of each throne were lost; dead or captured, nobody was sure where these heirs had been lost to. But with them, Esper's hopes of being liberated went with.

That tale had been told too many times to young Koda, whole by this time was too tired to keep on listening to Keinin as they rode through the thick forest land. He was a handsome boy; he honestly looked like he could be in his twenties. He had a light brown circle beard and piercing brown eyes. They were not as dark as his brother Keinin's, but they were close. His soft tannish white skin revealed no blemishes; he had quite a fine compaction for being as young as he was. His hair was thick; he could hardly keep it out of his face. His horse, Felix gave a jerk on the reins. "Felix, knock it off already," he groaned. They had been travelling for days, only resting every other day. "Keinin, why do we have to keep on like this? We won't get to Harth anytime sooner if we get sick from no sleep," Koda complained, his leveled out voice strained. Keinin stopped his horse and looked back at his little brother.


"Koda, stop complaining already; we have to keep moving in this woodland, it belongs to the rebels. If we are caught sleeping here we could be in serious trouble. Besides," he urged the horse on once more, "we are almost there. Maybe another story might help you." Koda almost fell off his horse. "Please brother, no more stories. You've told me that one since I was a boy; I won't forget it! I know where we come from, I don't need a constant reminder," Koda replied, "tell me the story about when dad went off on that quest and fought pirates! When he was our age, fighting in battles and claiming victory over the enemy! I want to hear about those." Keinin shook his head. He didn't reply to Koda's pleadings for another story. Besides, they would be nearing the wall soon and would need silence. "Stop talking for a little bit Koda; it is time we were silent," Keinin instructed. Koda sank back into his saddle and sulked a bit.

Keinin stopped his horse after they passed a rather large oak tree. Dismounting, he looked up to the sky. Night was falling fast and bane wolves would be prowling for their next meal soon. No clouds shielded Keinin's view of the stars. His dark brown eyes soaked up the beautiful lights the stars seemed to give out, his thick long black hair trailed down his back. His bangs fell loosely over his shoulders. unlike Koda, he only had a small beard on his chin. But he was shorter than his younger brother, a gene he had gotten from their mother. "We will rest here for a while Koda," his voice was deeper than his brother's. Koda dismounted his horse and tied him near Keinin's. Sitting down against the oak, Koda curled his knees to his face. Keinin sat across from Koda, leaning up against a smaller tree. He looked up at his tired brother and smiled. "are you hungry?" Keinin asked. Koda looked up and nodded; they had been rationing their food for a while, and stocks were getting low. Neither had eaten anything save from the apple tree they found. But there hadn't been many good apples on the poor looking tree. Keinin pulled himself to his feet, walking over to the pack pony they had acquired in the last town they were in. Pulling out some bread, he tossed it to Koda. "This will have to do until we get to the city. We'll be there before dawn," Keinin said as he sat down. He took none for himself; Koda would need food more than him due to the boy's fast metabolism.

 

[Miki]

Ain looked over the forest with a small sad sigh. This was one of the few places that wasn't affected by the plague as the rest.Hanging on the tip of a large spruce tree, surveyed the land below her with utmost awareness. It was devoid of civilization, the occasional abandoned farmer field and woodcutters hut dotting the landscape. It was plentiful of wildlife, a heard of deer consisting of mostly fawns right below her, a rabbit hole under the side of the tree, plenty of gnats.

Ain looked over the spruce she was in again. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to sleep here tonight. Se was exhausted as it is, and would likely pull something on the way down. But then again, the bark of the branches didn't feel so well against her back either, and neither was the thought of waking up to the jaws of a hungry wolf.

Shaking the thought out of her head, Ain brushed the hair out of her weary eyes and once more looked around. She was searching for something more... Comfortable, to sleep it, high off the ground and hidden from obvious view. Thankfully her wish was answered, and she saw a beautiful old oak not even a quarter of a mile away. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but given her state it could easily turn disastrous.

Slowly, working the stiffness out of the muscles, Ain extended her wings and retracted them, repeating this another five times. Quickly tightening any loose straps, grabbing her staff and letting out a slow breath, she extended them one last time. She should be able to make it, just glide down and hopefully not crash into it.

Springing her legs, Ain felt her wings automatically slam down, sending her a good ten feet into the air. Keeping her arms and legs straight, she tilted slightly more to the right due to a small gust of wind. She forgot about the wind, but it would likely only help her. Keeping this pose until she was a good thirty feet away.

Pulling up suddenly, Ain began to slow herself almost in the exact way an eagle would during its descent, letting out a pair of strong gusts to keep her from diving straight into it. She toar through a thin line of leaves, and she was lucky to be able to stop herself against the thick trunk of the Oak. Flailing madly until she was able to grab a hold of a branch. Panting heavily, clung to the branch with all her might.

Ain made it, although very noisy and not very impressive, she made it. Slowly relaxing her panicked grip on the branch, hoisted herself up so that she was sitting. It felt like her left wing was on fire, and looking over she discovered it was torn from one of the branches. The purple feathers now mixed with red. a few even missing. She let out a loud curse, i would take a week for her to be able to fly straight.

Ain pulled back her wings until they were flat against her back, gritting her teeth, begun to work on making the area more comfortable. Lacing some thin vines from the invading branches of another tree, made herself a snug little hammock, and took the time to spread it out with the leaves of the oak. Sliding herself in a cross legged position, was thankful it would hold her because she completely forgot to test it.

Gritting her teeth, Ain brought the injured wing forward and began to set forward with cleaning it. First by picking out the dirt and grime, then tearing off a sliver of cloth from her shoulder. Flinching at every little sting, she rapped it tightly, and tied a loose knot to finish it. "What a night..." She thought outloud without even noticing it.

Laying on her side, Ain slowly closed her eyes, and tried to sleep, blocking out the sounds of the night by covering her face with the well wing. She knew she was going to wake up stiff and cranky, but might as well enjoy the night while it lasted.

 

[LogicfromLogic]

While Keinin sat, he allowed himself to drift off. Slumped up against the trees, he was unaware that they were not alone. In fact, the two brothers were in danger; a pack of bane wolves had caught their scent. But both Koda and Keinin were too tired to move at the moment, what after traveling for four days with just a little sleep the two were exhausted. The wolves at this point were more than a match for the two brothers. Koda slept quietly across from him, leaning against the large oak. The horses were growing in their agitation. A distant howl made Keinin's eyes fly open. That howl was too close for comfort; looking up at the sky he realized that they had over slept two hours longer than he meant them to. The sky was still dark but the stars, like every night on the planet of Esper, had long since disappeared. He jolted up, shaking Koda awake he drew his spear. "Koda, climb the tree now!" he whispered. Bane wolves had a wonderful sense of hearing. They could hear someone breathing for three miles away, and their sense of smell was even better. Koda looked around with panic pulsing through him. "What? What is it?!" he cried, his eyes wide. "Bane wolves, now do as I tell you," Keinin ordered as he pulled his younger brother up by the arm. "What about you brother?" he asked as he reached for the lowest branch. Keinin thrust his brother up, and waited until Koda was all the way up on the first branch. "I've got to tend to the horses," he told him as he turned away, running for the horses. He could't just leave them there to die so horribly. Untying the reins, he slapped their rumps to get them to run. Not that he really needed to do that; they were ready to run anyways. Both Keinin and Koda would have a better chance on escaping if they were not on horseback. besides, Tibber and Felix would return to them as soon as Keinin called them back.

Heading back to the great oak tree, he could see the faint outlines of bane wolves as they crossed the moonlit forest. Koda was already halfway up the tree, sitting there waiting for Keinin. Keinin looked up and shouted, "Get your arrows out! aim for their foreheads!" this of course drew the bane wolves's attention and the pack howled a rally. Keinin gave a good jump and got hold of the lowest tree branch. Heaving himself up, he barely had gotten up before a single bane wolf snapped its jaws at Keinin's foot. Keinin reached the next branch and kept climbing until he was up where Koda was. Koda was arming his bow with an arrow, taking aim at the grey bane wolf's head. Making sure that he had the right wind current and position, Koda's fingers released the arrow, leaving it to tear it's way through the bane wolf's skull. A yelp echoed through the woodland as the wolf fell limp against the forest floor. Keinin waited for another attack but nothing happened; just silence. Koda looked at Keinin confused; there should have been an immediate retaliation. Bane wolves were known for their vengeful retaliations. They valued pack members like Espers valued their own kind; nothing was more fierce than a bane wolf out to avenge a fallen member. But nothing was happening; only the wind that blew through the trees made a sound. Koda started to smile, thinking that it was over. "Maybe they've just seen how good of a shot I am and decided to go home," he joked as he started looking for a way down. Keinin grabbed his brother by the strap for his arrows. "It is not over yet little brother, they are out there. That was a decoy; we will stay in this tree as long as they are silent, or dead by my blade or your arrows!" Keinin snarled at his little brother. Koda nodded and held on. He knew that this wasn't a joke; if the bane wolves caught them, their lives wouldn't be spared. Suddenly, a cry from the surrounding trees seemed to carry everywhere; how many were in this pack? Koda's eyes were filled with fear as he pictured them. "Keinin, I don't have that many arrows!" he told Keinin in a shaky voice. Keinin looked up at Koda. "We just bought a whole new load, what happened to them?! I swear that if you've been off shooting at birds again," he started. Koda shook his head. "They were on the horse!" Koda replied. "Great," Keinin mumbled. He could see dark shapes running down the slope towards them.