The Four Kingdoms: The Arrival of the Desert Kingdom

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Necropolis

Weeaboo Author with No Preferences or Opinions
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. Multiple posts per day
Writing Levels
  1. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. No Preferences
Genres
Fantasy, magical, action, sci-fi, romance, modern, slice of life.
The story begins with Halkrax, after it had just finished teleporting to the top of the mountains. Everything was, at first, going fine, but then a large cloud of smoke began to rise from the ground. The few people that noticed this thought that it was a simple sandstorm and nothing more, continuing on with their humble lives. More people began to notice when the dust began to settle quickly. As the dust settled, an army was made visible, later estimated to be at least 10,000 strong. Some citizens fled to their homes, while some came to watch the army, seeing as how their city's shield would obscure them from sight. The citizens watch as 5 strangely garbed men, later discovered to be "Wizards of the Sand" or Sand Wizards, approach the front of the army and each one shoots a strange magical bolt. At first, the citizens laugh at the audacity of the action, but supremacy quickly turns to fear as the bolts hit the shield, cracking it in multiple places. The shield begins to crack apart, large fractions of crystal falling from the sky; crushing, maiming, and killing the citizens and buildings. The citizens began to flee and some tried to fight back,but never got close as every soldier in the army had mastered their weapons, so the archers picked them off quickly, hitting them only in the vital places.........
...The slaughter that followed the destruction of the shield was equal to none other in all of history, and because of this, a mother sent her only son, at the age of 13, to tell the council that Halkrax has fallen to an army from the desert. The son rode quickly on horseback to the council of kings, knowing full well that his beloved home may not be there when he returns.........
The boy arrives at the council after 5 hours of hard riding, and the council was easy to sneak into, being as there were only a few guards at every door. The boy climbed through a window and into the building, where he could hear someone shouting in another room. He rushed as quickly as possible, and burst though the door, causing the kings' conversation to abruptly halt. The king of Solidaria rushed to him, and turned to the other kings before saying The boy has been riding hard for quite some time now, so we should listen, right? The general of Galadromia stood up and laughed a hearty laugh before asking Why should we listen to some young boy who has rode hard for a couple of hours in his life? The boy cut off other people's comments by standing quickly and saying Halkrax has fallen to an army from the desert... My mother sent me here to tell you that... Somehow, those strange men knew we were there... They, destroyed the shield... How can someone destroy an invisible shield? There is no way in history that could happen, is there?! The king of Merlodamis approached the boy, grabbing him by the shoulders hand bringing him up to look at him before saying Where is it child, and we may be able to help. Some of us for our own needs... turning to give a cold stare at the king at Damalthia, who was sitting there using a file on his nails. He unfolds his legs and stands to give a careless glance before turning and saying You boys can go and get yourselves killed trying to follow a child to a city that is probably destroyed by now. I will be going back to my kingdom to prepare for the army, if there is one that is. He turns and leaves before anyone else can stop him and the other three kings leave with the boy, following him to Halkrax.........
After another 7 hours of average riding, they arrive to the chaos of Halkrax, staring in awe and anger as buildings were burning and people were hung. The worse sight of all was the thousands of citizens that were nailed to the only building left standing, the sky tower. Some of the citizens were still alive, and the kings worked quickly to pull the stakes out of their hands and take them to refuge. It seemed that they saved hundreds of people, but there were still so many dead or close to dead. The boy found his mother, who was luckily one of the few that were still alive. Once they had saved everyone they could, the men, women, and children were taken to the other kingdoms.........
...The separate kings have since fortified their own kingdoms and haven't had a war since. Fortifying payed off for each of the kingdoms, as a strong force of "Knights of the Desert Order" or Desert Knights charged at the four kingdoms simultaneously. Desert Knights are like normal knights, but their armor is made of strong, flexible scales, and they ride on large lizards that can run close to the speed of horses. If the kingdom of Solidaria had not had the assistance of Galadromia, they would have perished...
The knights attacking Merlodamis didn't find anything except for a few structures that could not be hidden, like the jail and the pub. Surprisingly, they did not destroy their structures, as there were only a few not worth destroying. Most left, while some stayed and went to the pub, finding many criminals who didn't give a damn if they were under attack or not. The knights were shocked by this at first, but they quickly got over it as they were suddenly watching a brawl brought on when a wide man with a scraggly beard knocked over a "giant's" pint of grog, pissing him off and causing him to grab the man by the collar of his shirt and smash his cup over the bearded man's head. The man friend came from behind and slammed a chair on top of the giant's head, and eventually everyone started attacking each other. After a good five minutes of brawling, the bar has calmed enough for the pub to look normal again. The desert knights go to the bar and get their own drinks, and they eventually have a lot of attention, being challenged to drinking contests and arm wrestling, and also getting the "special" attention from the women. The knights eventually become citizens and help defend the town without the king's knowledge. As for the rest of the knights that left to go back to the main force, they were ambushed and easily killed by an equally large force of assassins from Merlodamis. The assassins only suffered three casualties and one injured, while the knights were absolutely obliterated...
The rich folk payed the knights to leave as they were about to attack, launching many large bags of gold with a catapult just barely over the walls. Surprisingly, the knights took the bribe and "retreated" back towards the desert army...
Galadromia used several hundreds of troops to attack the desert knights, and while many soldiers were killed, the sheer numbers were too overwhelming to handle and the knights collapsed like a Jenga tower...
The kings of every kingdom have made a call to arms of sorts, calling all heroes who were willing to defend the kingdom. This is where we begin...
 
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Necropolis stood in his jail cell, as normal, noting how the room was still frozen, like his heart. A man approached his jail cell, like most people do,but he didn't say anything, he just stared at him, like a gawking child. Necropolis stood and looked up before asking Is there something you need, stranger, or are you just going to stare at me? It was one of the sand knights, and he tells Necropolis of the desert army attacking the kingdoms and how he was once a part of it. Sounds intriguing, but what do you think I will do? The man sighs before saying I need you to get out there and help your kingdom. I have been told about you and how you have never left this cell since you have arrived. You need to now, or your kingdom will fall to ashes around you. Necropolis laughs a cold breathless laugh before saying You seem to forget that I am a lich, knight. Destroying a kingdom is my daily bread and butter, and this cage is what has stopped me from doing so already. The knight sighs before cursing and leaving, saying that someone else could try to convince this frozen bag of bones. The book begins to vibrate, and Necropolis opens it to see that James has left a message. [BCOLOR=#ffff99]YOU SHOULD HAVE ACCEPTED THAT, YOU KNOW.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=#ffff99]Yes James, that is what you think on the subject. You know that releasing me on the world is a last resort and a death-wish in one undead package.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=#ffff99]DO YOU THINK THAT MATTERS IF EVERYTHING DIES AND IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT?[/BCOLOR]

[BCOLOR=#ffff99]Nope, but your bickering has finally convinced me, I think.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=#ffff99]REALLY?![/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=#ffff99]No, I was just saying that to get your hopes up, I obviously mean it if I say it.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=#ffff99]HUZZAH!!! YOU ARE FINALLY GETTING US OUT OF THIS BORING CAGE. I HAVE HAD TO DRAW FOR THREE YEARS SO I WOULDN'T DIE AGAIN FROM BOREDOM. YOU ARE LUCKY BOOKS DON'T GET CRAMPS LIKE HUMANS DO![/BCOLOR]
Necropolis snaps the book shut before freezing the bars of his cage so much that they crack and a small kick blasts the door off it's hinges,not to mention that it shatters most of the metal. The knight comes running back with his four allies and sees that Necropolis has broken free from his cage. Come, you must see the king and queen! Necropolis leaves his cell and many soldiers see the lich. The king receives word of this and sends his soldiers to stop the lich, having confidence in their ability to stop the undead legendary unit. Necropolis closed in on the gate, and as an assassin jumped from a rooftop to assassinate him, he stepped to the side and froze the ground where the assassin would land. The assassin did land there, and he slipped on the ice, doing a full back-flip, before landing on his back. Necropolis simply continued, and nobody could stop him. He eventually reached the throne room and pushed the doors open by freezing part of it an breaking it, being as there are multiple bars holding the door shut. The royal guard rushed at him, being better than all the other assassins, but they could still not hit him. He freezes their feet in place before turning to the king, who was standing in front of his wife with a sword in hand and his head held high. So are you a desert unit as well? Have you come to destroy the city by killing it's king and queen? Necropolis simply laughs, which stuns the king, before bowing before him. A friend of mine has told me that the king needs heroes to help him fight the desert people. Is this true? I believe I have proven myself a worthy hero, making it through all of your soldiers without a scratch. The king looks shocked, too much to speak it seems, as the queen comes forward and looks hard at Necropolis before asking So you aren't with the desert people? A lich would be perfect with them, being as they seek to destroy us. Your goals would coincide with one-another, don't they? Necropolis is silent for a long time, barely breathing before saying This lich is different, and I do not seek to destroy or overthrow any kingdom. My ancestors had to live up to their previous generation's expectations, and the only way to do that was by being a bad guy. Now that the desert people have arrived, I can do good instead of bad and still live up to the title of lich. I can be one of your kingdom's heroes if you want, or I can be my own lich and destroy the desert people without the title of hero. The queen nods in understanding and turns to speak to her husband in private. There are many strained whispers from the king and angry ones from the queen, but they eventually return, albeit with the queen scowling at the king, who looked like he had just had a thrashing. Alright lich, we accept you as *sigh* one of our heroes... You will have the benefits of being able to travel freely and the other kingdoms shall not hinder you, yadda yadda yadda... Necropolis nods, and turns, unfreezing everything as he goes. He is about to leave the kingdom when the book vibrates. He pulls it out and converses with the book/James.
[BCOLOR=#ffff99]DON'T YOU NEED HELP TO DO THIS? I MEAN, EVEN THE PAST LICHES HAVE HAD AN ARMY OR SPIES OR SOMETHING. LOOK, ALL I'M SAYING IS THAT YOU MAY WANT TO GO FIND SOME HELP BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE CITY.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=#ffff99]Good point human, I will find help if it makes you stop whining.[/BCOLOR]
[BCOLOR=#ffff99]SHUT UP, I AM NOT!!! SO YOU ALREADY HAVE THE DESERT KNIGHTS ON YOUR SIDE, SO WE MAY NEED SOMEONE THAT CAN CHANGE OR BLEND IN...[/BCOLOR]
 
Evangeline.

Vic arrived at their small cave around dusk. They had moved to several other locations before settling on this one. Even though it was fairly empty and reeked of isolation, they had camped out with no intention of leaving anytime soon. Vic placed the letter she had gotten on Eva's sleepingbag and stretched out on her own. Closing her eyes, she thought of what could possibly be in the letter that was strictly given to her for Eva. Luckily, Eva's figure came rushing through the small entrance of their cave in excitement. "Look what i got!" She shrieks as she drags in an animal twice her size. Vic looks at her as if she'd grown another head and gets up to examine the animal.
"Why couldn't you have just gone to the marketplace and got us some fruit." Vic rolls her eyes.
"Where's the fun in that? Plus it would arise to many questions." Eva mocks as she contemplates on where to put it. Dragging it in the corner, she lets out a long sigh.
"You've got mail." Vic says as she gets up to get some firewood burning.
Alarmed, Eva walks over to her sleepingbag and picks up the letter. "Why would you take this. It's from the general. They probably followed you-"
"No one followed me." Vic cuts in, taking their stash of firewood and placing it in the middle of the small room. "If anything, the guard sounded urgent for you to get it."
Opening the small folded envelope, Eva gently takes out the paper and examines its contents.


To: The Shadowseeker
Shadowseeker,
It is evident that we are not very close. Though current events have led me to seek your help. We are under attack. I do believe that you will help me because this involves you too. Rumors have been going around about this...power that you have obtained. If you help us, you will no longer be a threat. You will be announced as a hero and live among us. I will understand if you deny this. But if you accept, please come see me as soon as you can. I will be waiting for you. Also, bring Vic with you.
~The general.


"Whats it say?" Vic says as she attempts to light the fire. Eva looks down at the note again and furrows her brow.
It could be a setup. A way for the general to catch us. Eva thinks before handing the note to Victoria. It would make sense. Make us come to him instead of him tracking us down. But then again, i have heard some people talk about an attack. It would explain the soldiers that were sent out earlier this week.

"I think we should go." Vic says simply. "Help me Evangeline." She motions towards the unlit pile of wood. Eva slowly gets up and goes outside to retrieve a cluster of leaves. Throwing it in the pile, she rubs two pieces of wood together until smoke starts to seep out. Suddenly, a small fire emerges and Eva tosses the two branches into the pile of wood. "I dont think we should." Eva says, staring at the fire and basking in it's warmth.
"Why not, heres a chance to clear our names. We've been in hiding for a long time. Arent you tired of it." She pleads. Eva looks at her sister with a sigh.
"Yeah, im just...I dont trust him." She says.
"Lets take the chance." Vic gets up and changes into her battle clothes.
"Right now?" Eva questions.
"Yeah, as soon as we eat. And if i were you, i wouldn't go walking around as the Shadowseeker." She says
Eva goes to change her clothes, throwing on a hoodie and that will cover up her face. "For the meantime, I'm Angela." Eva says, going into disguise.



The meeting with the general had come and gone. Happily, they were actually granted the freedom to walk around as their normal selves. Eva gladly ditched her hoodie and begin walking towards the marketplace in her normal clothes. But her normal clothes is different from everyone else's.
"Where to next?" Vic asks.
"No clue." Eva says. they had a lot of freedom now that they didn't even know what to do with. Soon enough, they would be thrust into battle, and they wanted to make the most of their time before that. Little did they know, that time would be ending before either of them knew it.
 
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Another day, another bandit. Bandits bandits bandits. Malace has been doing nothing much but hunting bandits for the past few months. Most of these guys weren't even worth the arrows. Just start throwing the heads of the other bandits she killed and scare them out of work. Teach them that plowing fields and picking rice wasn't as dangerously decapitating as having a silent orc stalk you like a cat, only to unceremoniously kill you in the middle of the night and chop off your head. After a few too many run-in with vampires, Malance has simply taken this precaution. Stab them in the heart or chop off their heads. And chopping heads, morbid as it was, is also fun.

But still, bandit hunting gets boring. Most of the village's she passes tend to be doing fairly well off, at most worried about things like harvest or taxes. If they had a pack of wolves or a gang of thieves to deal with she might be willing to converse about such trivial things, if she was actually interested and could actually speak.

Opening her mouth Malace touched the bottom of her mouth. It has been so difficult living without a tongue. She figured... She figured she could still communicate. To say something. maybe muffle out a coherent sentence. But without a tongue to guide her breath and articulate her words it just sounds like she's trying to give different screaming pitches. It also made chewing food a chore. She never realized how much she needed her tongue to keep good in place while she chewed something. Now a days she eats things slowly, or just orders soup. And there was also the issue of her... Masculinity.

She's taken to calling it "Shanks". A silly name, but it's not liken she actually tells anyone his name. Frankly, it was the only one of it's kinds she's ever seen. She normally... Doesn't really observe the manhood of others. Just her own, and even then only rarely. She's largely comes to terms to it but feels that... As strange as it was, she does feel a bit like a man. A stupid, horny, meat-headed man. Or really orcish. One of the two. She has come to enjoy it's company and found her private meetings with Shanks also has opened her mind to possibilities of entertaining her other aspect, her Femininity. Malace calls her "Lock". Honestly, most of the day-to-day biological functions have been passed onto Shanks. It wasn't until recently that Malace ever used Lock for anything, even recreation. She suppose it would only be fair to share her time with them evenly. Curse aside, it did make her body feel good. And that's all that mattered right? Feeling good?

Which was also why Malace needed to find something else to do. Or at least someone else to kill. These bandits are hardly as much of a threat as people make them out to be, so Malace was looking for a more challenging adversaries. She's heard word that some king was looking for "heroes" to fight desert warriors or something like that. Honestly Malace only heard it in passing and all the fliers related to it is written in elvish for some reason, so she might as well go visit the king herself and figure what she could do. It was a long trip filled with harsh weather and littered with bandit corpses, but eventually she arrived to the castle of the king. Now she just needed to know which king actually called for heroes, and just which kingdom she arrived in. She... Sort of stowed away on a boat. Until she got off! In the ocean.

Cause the guards found her.

But she was here. Damp, but here. Malace did her best to look both intimidating but also confident. A sort of fierce aura that would hopefully make the guards allow her to past without "stating" her business. Then she'd open her mouth, close it, and then wait for the guards to figure out some sort of solution, typically involved with writing. All the insufferable writing....
 
Necropolis had since been travelling, his first destination being the kingdom of Solidaria. At first, Necropolis expected to be attacked on sight, but while he did get a few curious glances, nobody really paid him any mind until he reached the most heavily guarded building, a tent much larger and fancier than any of the others. Currently, their focus was turned to an orc who seemed to be trying to gain access, but would not speak of her intentions. Necropolis approached the guards, and a younger one nudged the shoulder of an older guard, who looked at Necropolis and raised his halberd slowly in preliminary caution. Another soldier was repeatedly telling the orc to state her business, getting more annoyed before almost sending her away for wasting their time, not caring to write anything at the moment, until Necropolis spoke up, saying Excuse me, but why can you not speak to this woman? The guard becomes irritated by this, becoming haughty and saying "I do not need to waste my time with this prattle, be on your way citizens!" Necropolis stands his ground, and the guard spits an insult, questioning his hearing, also throwing in profanity to spice it up. Necropolis laughs at that before saying I wonder how your king would feel after telling him that, being as I am the hero of Merlodamis. I will give you one chance to answer truthfully, and I will tell if you are lying, because do not forget that I am also a lich. The guard seems stunned, angered, and slightly scared by this, but before he can speak, Necropolis cuts him off with a wave of his hand before asking. Soldier, do you know how to read or write? The guard seems to fumble for words, looking at his companions, who avoid his gaze, before finally sighing sadly. "No sir, I do not know how to read or spell, and please do forgive me for my earlier ignorance." Necropolis ticks his tongue before putting his hand to the guards head. The other guards move to assist, but Necropolis holds up his arm to stop. After a moment, Necropolis releases the guard, who holds his head and shakes it a few times, being as how it was slightly frost covered. After shaking off the cold, he begins to chuckle lightly as he writes in the dirt with his sword. I can read! The guard begins to thank Necropolis before holding up his hand yet again, before requesting permission to speak to the king about whether he had any heroes thus far. He also asks that they let the orc through, as she appears to also be seeking an audience with the king and queen. The guard nods and Necropolis passes through the tent's doorway, immediately coming to the king and queen, who had just finished eating and were willing to speak to the villagers and guards, along with outsiders. Necropolis kindly speaks for the orc, as he knows how people dislike reading unless they have information to gleam from doing so.

(@Lucius Cypher, if your character needs to speak, just use mine.)
 
Eva was way to busy munching on her apple to hear the talk of a lich in Solidaria. She hadn't even had a chance to leave the kingdom, much less finish her apple before Vic came running to her talking about a lich. "We should go see what he's here for." Vic suggest. Eva stared at her apple, which Vic had snatched out of her hand and thrown on the ground. It was now covered in dirt as it rolled away.
"I was eating that." She said, rubbing her temple. Vic shook her head and sighed. "We can get more apple's on the way to their tent. I've never seen a lich before and i want to get a glimpse."
"Fine." Eva complies, taking her focus off of the apple and grabbing her sword.

The journey to the tent was a short one. Mostly because they already knew where it was and what it looked like. The guards seemed to be intently talking about something, so when Eva and Vic stood in front of them in annoyance, they were unprepared. "What are you doing here shadowseeker? Were you not here earlier? Or does someone like you require a second visit?"
Eva did not take to kindly to his tone and it irritated her. "Your words make me sick and fill me with rage." She said as she stepped closer. Vic grabbed her arm in an attempt to stop her. "Eva, you need to calm down." Vic said, taking over the conversation. "We have been informed of a lich here."
"And your curiosity brought you here?" The guard sneered. "Little did you know, there happens to be and orc here as well."

This statement shocked both Eva and vic. An orc? I have heard of one but have never seen one. Eva thought, her mind going in different directions. "Let us through." She said, composing herself. With a smirk, the guard stepped aside, and motioned her in.
"One day, you will learn not to be as nosy Shadowseeker." He said. Annoyed, Eva threw up the finger before pushing past him.
 
Malace smelled him before he showed up. Undead. The supernatural stench of the unliving was hard to mask without a heavier musk, typically that of life. The lich stepped up to the guards who Malace was trying to deal with and chose to speak for her. If she could she'd tell him that wasn't necessary; she wasn't some helpless princess. Her only issue was that these guardsmen would refuse to give her the time of day to try and understand her. Letting out a sign she decided to forget about it. The lich used his witchcraft to somehow teach the guardsmen how to read and write, and presumably had telepathic abilities to somehow figure out what Malace wanted to say. But for the most part she was content to listen. If one thing without the ability to speak has taught her, it's how to listen to others and figure out what they're saying, instead of jumping ahead and putting words in their mouths.

After Malace and the lich entered they were followed by a couple of women. Likely here for the hero job too. Fine with Malace; competition made things fun, and even if there wasn't going to be such a thing she wouldn't deny help if they're useful. now they just needed to find the king and queen and get this party started.
 
Necropolis tells the king and queen that he is the hero of Merlodamis, and that he has come to find the other heroes so that he could accompany them. The king nods, and explains that so far, they had no other heroes, as he is the first. Before he could speak to the others, however, the guards burst into the tent with two sand knights, Necropolis' companions. Necropolis waves off the guards, saying These are my allies at the moment, they got me out of my cage so I could become a hero. They have changed their ways, so leave them with me. The guards are confused at this, but the king waves them off and they leave without complaint. The knights stand and one of them gives Necropolis a quick hug, which stuns him for a moment before turning back to the king, bowing in thanks. The king nods lightly before turning to the others, listening to what the two newcomers have to say and, reading whatever the orc had to write.
 
Eva had found out a lot about the orc and the lich. Surprisingly, they were both supposed to fight alongside her in the war. Though she couldn't help but feel as if it were she that were fighting with them. They both seemed so tough, like in one punch, she would knocked into next year.

She had found herself not saying much, mostly listening to what was being said. Vic stood by her side asking most of the questions, but they were mostly stupid and useless. though there were a few questions she asked that had been proved useful. Questions like: How do you think they would respond if they they were on the losing side of the battle? or stating things she could help with, like scouting the area just incase. She was small and not as strong as the others, but what she lacked in strength, she would make up for in her own way.
 
Malace didn't have much to say or ask. The Sand Knights were strange considering that they were going to be her enemies soon, but she guessed that having them as allies aren't as strange as having a lich as one. A "hero" of all things. Malace would admit that it has a nice ring to it, but she was no hero. She does heroics, but a hero was more... Perfect then she was. She could be a heroic. But she was no hero.

Listening to what everyone else had to say Malace just stood there with her arms crossed. When they looked at her wanting to know what she wanted, she slipped a quickly written paper for someone to read. "When do we start?" She had no other questions or concerns. Things like knowing who the enemy were, what their strategies was, that was something for armies or weaklings. Not that Malace was so arrogant as to think none could harm her, but she intended to make full use of the lich. If death couldn't claim him, she doubt these sand men would.
 
Necropolis opted for them to leave, and as soon as he did, he felt a tingling in the back of his head that signals that Halkrax had teleported again. Necropolis turns and motions for them to follow before walking towards the town. The strange thing was that everyone could see the city, since the shield had been destroyed, and this made Necropolis weary. He turned to the group and said Do not let your guard down, this could be an ambush of some sort. Just as he had, an arrow whizzed past him and the main sand knight yells GET DOWN!!! The other knight walks casually forward while the main knight drops to the floor with everyone else, pulling his large scimitar from it's sheathe, which in turn was hidden under his cloak. The archers mainly shoot at him, but this was a gravity user, and he simply causes the arrows to fall short by raising his blade and pointing it towards them. Follow him, but don't move ahead of him, as the archer's arrows are filled with fire scorpion poison, and it can kill you in a time range of a few minutes to an excruciating hour. Necropolis nods and, after thinking on it for a moment, making ice armor around the sand knight with a wave of his hand. He is confused by this, and the moment of distraction caused an arrow to break through the knight's gravity well. It shocks him at first, but he smirks as the ice armor just deflects it and continues to make the arrows drop from the sky. After a few more volleys of arrows, the archers retreat, sending one last arrow, a magic arrow, towards the group. It is not affected by the gravity well, and the knight is blasted back into a batch of tall shrubbery. The other knight runs towards him, but stops and laughs as the gravity knight stands while staring down at the arrow now protruding from his chest. The ice armor was cracked now, but if it had not been there, one of their knights would have died. He pulls it out and cracks it in two, not caring that the armor crumbled off his body like a blanket.
The knight continued to lead the way to the city before stopping at the outskirts and staring up at the only tower still standing, which seemed to rise up past the sky itself. Necropolis explained that the citizens of Halkrax called this tower The Sky Pillar. It is the reason that this place was made, and some say that it is the reason that the town teleports, and even stating the fact that it would need to be controlled, lest they accidentally teleport to the Dristabal Desert. Necropolis tells them that they need to get into the tower by completing the riddle that opens it. However, before they continue, the main knights tell them some important news. I have not told you my name yet, and I feel that I need to now, being as we may die here. My name is Drake, and his is Rock. We have begun to attack the plains and the four kingdoms because our desert kingdom is not only growing because of reproduction, but also because of the amount of people that have been abandoned or banished. If my old allies succeed in destroying the four kingdoms, we will have enough food to sustain ourselves for the rest of time. Knowing this, there is a group of renegades in the desert army who have sent us to help the heroes stop the invasion by any means necessary. Now that we got that out of the way, we should find the archers and kill them quickly so they don't sneak up on us. Necropolis nods and goes after one of the 5 archers, which is equal to the number of group members, so everyone gets a kill. Necropolis doesn't kill his target, as he would rather freeze him in ice and let him suffer with starvation, which he does. Rock increases the gravity around his target and crushes the air out of him while pinning him down so he can't move. Drake kills his target by stunning him, then putting a piece of glass upwards in his mouth before slamming his jaw closed, shoving the glass into his brain and killing him instantly. Drake doesn't talk for a while after that, but once everyone gets reunited, he is back to his old self.
 
Eva was getting more and more upset by the minute. She somehow found herself in a battle this early. All she intended to do was come here and seek out the rest of the hero's. Instead, she has come face to face with battle. Eva has always had a bad temper. One that she has learned to cover up in order to survive, but standing there, rage was slowly filling her.

An archer had his arrow aimed at her. She nearly laughed at his certainty that it would kill her. She barely had to do much. It would only take a small spark of lightning to dispose of the problem, but looking around, she knew she had to get closer so that it would hit the target dead on. Therefore, she ran, only stopping when an arrow sailed at her. Stepping aside, the arrow skimmed her face, leaving a gash on her right cheek. She put a hand on her cheek and lightly touched it so realise that it hurt.

Anger raged like a burning fire that was no longer containable. She tilted her head in shock as her eyes widened. Holding out her palm, she focused on the target before releasing a strip of lighting from her hand. She had known she hit the target due to the screaming that follow shortly after. Screaming which slowly turned to pained whimpers and eventually dissolved into silence.

Her palm started to feel warm and she knew that if she didn't have her gloves on, she would probably die. Not that she would ever take them off...not that she could.

"Serves him right." She muttered before catching up with the others. She was not fully aware of a burning tree nearby and thought nothing of it. It could not start a forest fire due to its isolation, so she merely glanced at it before adding. "I hope his corps is burning."

A smile plastered on her face, she gave an innocent look at the others. "Came a little earlier than expected. I guess it's safe to assume that attacks like these might happen more frequently."

"Yeah." Drake said, eyeing her cautiously.

"I will not stay here to become a target. I suggest you all come with me. I will need your help with direction." Eva starts. "Where to?"
 
Snorting, seems like trouble found them first. Fine with Malace. Less time looking for them, more time ending them. The orc followed the desert knights out into the town where they were promptly ambushed. Drawing out her Bow Staff Malace got low to the ground to determine the location of each archer. They chose good spots to ambush them all, but they failed to realize each of their individual abilities. most of them used magic. Malace simply needed her bow. She saw one archer zero in on her and fire his arrow. Stepping to the side, Malace grabbed the arrow as it was flying past her. It was magical, but it's effects wouldn't trigger if it didn't hit her. Smirking she loaded the arrow into her own bow and arched it high into the sky. She then took cover and loaded another arrow, getting ready to eliminate more archers. Seemed like everyone else took care of one each however, with Malace's man being the last. He didn't make it far before the arrow she shot landed right into his skull, the magical fire engulfing his body.

With the current threat eliminated Malace promptly vanished. Or rather, she went into stealth mode; no magic, no tricks, simply her hunter's instincts allowing her to keep a low profile and remain hidden from her foes, and possibly her allies as well. She would follow in silence, using her stealth to get the drop on her enemies. If what the other two ladies and Drake said was true, there will be more ambushes. Better to let the enemy shoot at the knights then at Malace. She operates much better with less arrows in her system.
 
Necropolis smirked and turned to the group before moving forward, but not after touching Eva's face where she had been grazed. Indeed, the skin was already starting to blister from it's own heat. Necropolis touches a wall that was dripping water, freezing it and making icicles. He breaks one off and snaps the point off as well before handing it to Eva, saying The ice will battle the poison until we find an antidote, but be careful not to touch it too much, or else it will spread quicker. Drake approaches, pulling out a strange plant, some sort of cactus, and breaking it in half, revealing a slimy interior. Drop the ice, this plant is an antidote we discovered long ago. Don't struggle, it will hurt a bit at first, but it will save your life. He applies some of the slimy plant sap, and it tingles as the antidote rushes to catch up with the poison. As soon as they meet, waves of painful heat begin to rush through the wound and seem to seep into her veins. This goes on for a minute at least before the medicine overpowers the poison, flushing her skin with a sense of victory. Necropolis scoffs and resumes walking...Surprisingly, there are no more enemies to stop you as you reach the Sky Pillar, but there is only a strange text on the wall that reads.
"You must solve this riddle to gain access to the pillar. The riddle goes:
If you look you cannot see me. And if you see me you cannot see anything else. I can make anything you want happen, but later everything goes back to normal. What am I?"
Drake laughs at this and moves forward. Please, I could solve this in my sleep! It is obviously MAGIC. The base of the pillar glows white for a moment before turning to a red glow and sending a lightning bolt at Drake, harmlessly blasting him on his arse. He sits up with a slight groan before saying Okay... I was wrong... It's not magic. Rock face-palms and Necropolis approaches before smacking him lightly on the back of the head. Necropolis sits down to think while Drake begins to prod at his hair, which was now standing on end.
(Comic relief does people good after a battle, you know.)
Necropolis sighs and looks at the group with an annoyed look set on his face. The riddle changes every 5 years, but the last time someone solved it, the entire pillar illuminated the city in a gentle blue glow that seemed to warm the heart and caress the soul. Also, the pillar opened somewhere that allowed him to move to the next stage. Unfortunately, he came out in a battered mess, and swore that he would never try to beat the tower again. He disappeared a few days later, so he can't help us here. Try to think of the answer guys, but without showing any offense, I will probably solve it first, being as I have been alive for 78 years now.
 
"If you look you cannot see me. And if you see me you cannot see anything else. I can make anything you want happen, but later everything goes back to normal. What am I?"

Malace thought long and hard on the answer. Her first thought was "Darkness" since it made sense with the first part, but then second half had nothing to do with it. So she scrapped that and thought of something else. "Dreams" perhaps. Malace figured that it's hard to remember (see) dreams when you are looking for them, and when you are dreaming you can't really do anything else. Anything could happen in a dream, but in the end a dream was a dream. Seemed reasonable, but there were others. Another thought was "Imagination", which is sort of like a dream, but more lucid. One cannot see another imagination but yourself. And like dreams, anything could be possible with an imagination, but ultimately it was all an illusion. Which brought up another possible answer: "Illusions". She didn't know much about illusion magic, but generally only a selected few tend to be affected by illusion spells, and those who are are victim to whatever the spell does. Illusions rarely ever affect the real world however, so like dreams and imagination everything was back to normal when the illusion was over.

Coming out of stealth Malace walked up to Eva, handing her a scrap of paper with the answers "Dreams, Illusion, Imagination" on them. She also put her name on the paper as "Malachite". after giving Eva the paper Malace went back into hiding, just in case something troublesome happens.
 
As soon as Malace had wrote down Malachite, the building began to glow again. It turned to a red glow and zapped the paper, harmlessly transforming it into a minuscule pile of ash in Eva's hand.
 
Eva stared down at the ashes in her hand. Stunned she hurriedly got up and examined it. Unfortunately, she wind stared to pick up speed and effortlessly blew the ashes away.

"Well, that was... interesting." She said, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head. "But if that thing doesn't stop doing that soon soon, i'm going to knock it down." She said, becoming frustrated with the wall. She scowled herself at such a ridiculous thought. It was just a wall after all.

Wiping off her hands from the ash, she walked up to the wall and inspected it. It was an awesome work of craftsmanship. Also an awesome work of magic.

"I've never been good at riddles. Fighting, now thats my game. They should've added this in training." Eva says and shakes her head.
 
Malace sighed. "Stupid magic bastard... Wall... Thing." Malace once more emerged from hiting, using a stick to physically write the answers on the ground. "Dreams, Illusions, or Imagination" Then Malace returned to hiding. She swears if that wall tries to wipe out her writing again, she's going to carve the answer into the wall herself. While hidden, she actually started to look for a different way inside or past the obstacle. She could probably just take on the form of a bird and fly to the city, if she was willing to leave her armor behind...
 
Necropolis is about to say something, but stops abruptly as the tower begins to glow again. The tower turns to a blue glow as the winds whisk away two of the words, leaving one of Malace's words, Imagination. The word begins to glow, and the glowing letters float from the ground onto the wall. Once the word touches the wall, the entire town begins to thrum with energy and a gap in the tower opens, perfect for people of all sizes to walk through. Necropolis stares for a moment before approaching, and nodding at the tower before walking inside, where there is a room, roughly the size of a football field. There is another pedestal with a single torch lighting the words.
This pedestal reads: "Congratulations on beating the first challenge, the test of intelligence. Speak this poem to begin the next challenge, the test of speed. In order to reach the top, you must never stop. Speed is a must when your cause is just. Good luck on the challenge, and I hope to speak to you again on the next pedestal. Your's truly, the Sign Maker~"
Necropolis turns to the others to make sure they all were ready before turning and reading the quote. Once the quote is read, the room illuminates, revealing a stone path with a staircase at the end, made extra perilous by the boiling pit of lava at the bottom that had apparently been covered. On both sides of the wall, there is a large clock that counts down from 60 seconds. Necropolis attempts to freeze the timer, but the clocks simply deflected his ice. They had no choice but to run, and this was made apparent by the fact that Drake had already started. COME ON, HURRY! Necropolis doesn't need to be told twice, as he ran quickly, not caring if the others followed. Rock came last, as he was slower than the rest.
 
Out of breath, Eva puts her hands down on her knees and gasps for a breath. She was no longer in shape and finally her laziness had started to catch up to her.

By the time the clock reached 0, everyone was safely over the other side. Rock, who had barely made it, stared wide eyed at the floor as it began to uncover the lava again. A laugh escaped Eva as she looked at him. Shaking her head, she follow the others up the stairs. It was evident that no one had used them in a while. The stairs looked at if they'd crumble any moment. Cracks littered them, and moss seeped out of open spaces.

Reaching the top, they slowly progressed through the dimly lit room. It was then that Eva wished there was some kind of torch. She hated to be without light, it made her feel as if something could pop out at any minute and slaughter them all. It was creepily silents as they walked, only the sounds of their footsteps could be heard. Suddenly, a light began to shine. It was strange because the exact location of the light was undeterminable, and like most of the things they saw today, it made Eva uneasy.
 
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