Born to Fight Ch. 01

"Sire, Vrallenrock has finally fallen under the onslaught of the Eveldraken armies, Predonia is now the last kingdom of the alliance, Predonia now stands alone." The travel weary soldier reported to the king of Predonia with despair and anguish in his eyes.

The king looked down upon one of the few survivors of the Vrallenrock army with pity and sympathy. This soldier must have been traveling for weeks, his family and friends had been either enslaved or slaughtered and his home, which he had probably lived in his entire life, had been either torched or was being used for housing Eveldraken's vast armies. His kingdom had been conquered and now he had nothing.

What was he meant to do? His father had been killed in the opening days of the war -- when Eveldrake first attacked the Alliance of Unified Kingdoms; no-one knew the threat they posed, we just assumed they were a barbaric ill-trained rabble come to loot and pillage a few towns, not the efficient killing machine that we now know they are.

Anyway, he had to forget about his father...it would just bring more pain, he had to focus on the here and now. Perhaps he should just surrender...surely they could never defeat this threat, not after it had taken all allies and left Predonia alone? No! He couldn't let them go unpunished -- they would pay for their crimes, no matter what.

"You have my thanks and my condolences," Said the king, without letting his emotions be seen. "You have honoured yourself and Vrallenrock by coming here and warning me, I shall make sure you have accommodation and that Vrallenrock's heroic courage shall not go in vain. Now please go and get your wounds seen to and return with a full report in the morning."

"Thank you, my lord." The soldier bowed and then slowly walked out of the throne room.

"My king, this is grave news indeed. Vrallenrock was one of the founders of the Alliance, and also one of the most powerful. For them to have fallen so easily speaks much of our foes, I fear that victory may not be attainable any longer."

As he said these words he already knew that the king most probably knew this, but he had to confirm his own beliefs with that of the king, and share his doubts -- after all the king was his best friend, they had been together since they were children and had been through a lot of hardships together, he was now the general of Predonia's armies, and his best friend was now his king. Heh, Kelneth and Rallek, a real life prince and the pauper story!

"Kelneth, I know that better than anyone, but you know as well as I do that we can never let those bastards win. They must never set foot inside our kingdom. We must let them know that the proud warriors and people of Predonia shall not so easily let trespassers violate our lands."

"Yes sire, so shall I set the soldiers on high alert?"

"No, I think that as the last kingdom Eveldrake knows that we pose little to no threat -- I am almost certain they shall take their time in attacking us...they will probably restore their forces to full power and fully occupy Vrallenrock before they try anything. We must use that time to our advantage, set up more outposts and scout groups so we know if and when they do go on the move. Oh, and please stop addressing me as your king, we have been friends for a long time -- you know my name."

"Well, I figure it took me so long to get used to calling you by title that it's become ingrained in my mind, I'll try to call you by name in private, Rallek. I'll tell the Scout Master to send out extra squads and I'll make sure the soldiers are on stand-by anyway."

"Thank you, Kelneth, now please leave me to think over what's happened and to think about the preparations necessary."

Rallek watched his best friend leave and wondered once again if Predonia would have what it took to hold off the invaders -- let alone drive them back to where they came from. He went to his bedroom and started making plans for the upcoming battles -- he had just finished rations and was going onto garrison listings when sleep finally embraced him in its sweet delights and the last thing he thought before he went into deep slumber was this... We need a hero...

Five Years Later

"Hey! You! Come back here! Thief!! Someone catch him, he's a thief!!"

They tried catching him but he was far too fast, he kicked a mans legs out as he tried to grab him and then quickly gave another a left hook to the stomach which winded him, then carried on running through the side streets of Predonia's capital city Travenia, until he finally reached his hideout. He checked to see if anyone was looking and then dived into a small hole in an abandoned building, which no-one would've noticed unless they'd been looking.

He was greeted with a shout of recognition and as his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness he saw his childhood friend Valiana sitting in the corner examining something.

"Hey, Valiana, what's that?" The thief asked curiously.

"It's a jewel of some kind...I took it from an Eveldrake scout that I saw in the woods, I waited till he went out hunting before I went in and grabbed it, too bad, serves him right for trespassing into Predonia!"

He noted her beautiful long dark brown hair as it swayed along with her body as she got up and walked towards him.

"How about you Arawin, find anything interesting?" She asked the thief questioningly.

"Just food, you know you're the one that gets all the good stuff!" They both laughed and then Valiana started to inspect the food.

"Sooo...lemme see here, you have fruit...bread...and a sword? What's with the sword? Are you planning something without me?"

"Nah, of course not, it's just what with Predonia being at war, I just thought I might get some practice in before the real fight starts...anyways, I think the food should last us a week or two, you should've seen the woman that I stole 'em from! She was chasing me for about fifteen minutes!" He said proudly.

"Don't worry Arawin, even if the real fight starts I'll protect you!" She stuck her tongue out at him as she said it.

"Hahahaha, you probably will!" He laughed. "But seriously...I think I do need to learn how to fight, properly, you know...I'm thinking about joining the Predonian army, it pays quite good, and you get free food and a bed to sleep in." He had thought about it before now and decided this was a good a time as any to voice his concerns.

"Are you kidding? We're only 15, we can't join the army, and I say 'we' because I know that I can't leave you alone to fend for yourself, who knows what trouble you'd get into!"

"Very funny, Valiana, and besides, with the situation being what it is, they'll accept anyone into the army right now....and...I...I want to avenge my parents death...they were brave enough to go to Vrallenrock and help...I want to follow in their footsteps and fight those Eveldraken scum!" He nearly choked as the memory of his parents seeped over him.

"It's okay, Arawin, if you're so dead set on joining the army, you know I'll go along with you, just don't do anything you'll regret, ok?"

"Thanks Valiana, I really do want to join the army and I'm glad you'll be there with me, you're the best fighter I know, apart from me!" This time it was his turn to stick his tongue out at her.

She lit the small fire in the stone fireplace and it instantly lit the room up. She saw the raw excitement in his grey eyes and the goosebumps on his lightly tanned skin. She saw the way his longish, wavy brown hair was ruffled up from running and she saw how much alike they both were, physically and mentally, they were both around 5'10" and of an average build, and they made each other laugh all the time. Their parents had all gone to Vrallenrock to fight and died and they had no-one else but each other, she couldn't let him join the army on his own, if he died she would be completely alone.

He was also looking at her and noting her amazing green eyes which conveyed her emotions so easily, yet could steel themselves and become like a wall in a second if she got angry, upset or if she detected danger. He remembered how they first met as kids, he had gotten into a fight with three or four other kids way older than him, and just as they were about to mob him Valiana came along and they both beat them all, even though they had no weapons and the other kids did, it just seemed effortless whenever they fought together, it became almost a dance, it was so fluid.

Eventually after having their food and agreeing that in the morning they'd go to the army recruitment offices and apply to join the Predonian Royal Infantry, they went to bed and slept well, thinking forward to the next day's events.