Legends (The Revival)

The castle woke to the cry of a watchman...bells rang echoing through the old building, feet of Servants and guards could be heard scuttling around. Lord Anderson woke up to a knock on his door, he threw on his robe and made to it... A messenger stood scared behind the door, as he spoke his lips quivered and he stuttered. "Lord Anderson a… a…spy...a spy escaped the retreat...he's headed south" the messenger managed to say "By Lalin!!" The noble exclaimed. "Kingdom Rolin is to the south" He retreated into his chamber to wear his armor...and to address the breach in his territory. "Send word to the Capital, summon the elders...do anything, just the spy, don’t allow cross the border." The messenger scurried away, he wasn't sure where he was going or what he was doing...all he knew was King Rolin II of Rolin Kingdom was not to know of Layrim's Lost. The king walked restlessly back and forth in front of his throne, he had been restless since he was told of the spy that infiltrated the retreat in Lalin the whole kingdom was restless. "My Lord, he will not go far, if he was headed south toward Rolin then it will not be easy to cross, our Calvary Legion will stop him at the border." the royal Advisor said, trying to calm the king. The king turned to his Advisor amazed at his words and at the same time exhausted... "Henry, the Calvary Legion is in Arena's borders with Lalin in the out-lands, now leave me...please" The old man slowly trotted away, he too was in an inward frenzy, he knew the spy had gotten out and the Legend of Layrim's lost was now at every curious person, king, nobles, and peasants. As he was about exiting the throne room, the door was flung open by the duke who looked very haggard his feet were dusty from the long walk and his clothes were sticky from perspiration. "I'm sorry your highness, that it will be me who'd bear this unfortunate news...the spy... got ... out" he paused for effect and observed his audience. When he saw the king was not surprised, he continued more confidently. "The elders have called a meeting for every lord and lady, your highness...you should go now or you won't make it in time". The king dismissed him with a nod and retired to his chamber to prepare for the meeting, he dreaded what the meeting held, but he had to attend nonetheless, the future of Layrim depended on this. ************************** Conrad raced through the woods on his majestic horse, as they ran he took out his sword from its sheath and slashed at every branch attempting to knock him off from his horse. He was neither conscious of his speed, nor his destination, he just kept going deeper and deeper into the woods. He spotted a panther and started chasing after it, shooting arrows from his bow....he missed every shot because of the galloping of his horse and branches leaning to give him a harsh kiss, despite these obstacles he kept going after it taking whatever bend it would take and leaping over what log it would. "Come on Maje, don't lose it!!" He said urgently encouraging his horse. Conrad was a young boy of about 17, he was from the tribe of Lalin, from the noble home of Lord Anderson, since he was a second child he did not need to worry about his duties to the tribe, he left every assignment having to do with Lalin and instead took up the humble job of a mercenary, though he was not a Knight nor had he been enlisted among the army. The people of Lalin loved young Conrad because he completed every quest he took up, he was true to his words and continued to serve the people outside the castle, and he was a model for the young and a natural charmer to the ladies. His father, though, Lord Anderson did not approve of his son's ‘irresponsibility’, he saw Conrad's path as an excuse to escape bigger assignments, like making sure the people had enough food and good homes before the winter and seeing to the older ones of Lalin, but in truth, this was what Conrad did. His sister was very supportive of her younger brother and Lord Anderson always complained of how she pampered him, she argued that the people had enough royals assuring them the winter would pass soon and they'll dance under the rain while themselves -the royals, wore robes and stayed within the castle's warmth. In her opinion, Conrad had the people's hearts and this was true. "Hey, little brother, what are you after?" "Get out of my way Isabella, this is my hunt and that panther is mine" "You know saying...there, that panther is the hunt, works just as well" Conrad frowned and kicked on Maje to go faster, he wanted this kill for himself, knowing his sister to be the fierce and precise archer she was, he struggled twice as hard as he was before her arrival to hit on target. He was a skilled archer, though not better than his sister he was talented and better than the elite archers in his father's army. He shot, double and triple arrows at a time in his bid to take credit for the kill. He missed so many arrows and his pack was starting to feel lighter, reaching his hand to it for more arrows, he was met with nothing, he unstrapped his spear from Maje's side and aimed at the Panther, but when he got a clear shot and was about to let go of the spear, the panther leaped and climbed on a tree, with the target above him, he doubted his thrust and looked to his sister with pleading eyes, she winked at him and brought her horse to a halt causing Conrad great confusion and a tree branch succeeded in knocking him off his horse. He looked pleadingly at Isabella who threw her spear upward toward the growling cat, the spear connected with its throat and it lost its hold on the tree, falling to the ground where its murders waited. Conrad raised himself in shame and aggressively cut off the attacking twigs, a curse making its way through his lips. He took the kill, put it in a bag, and tied it to the back of his horse, he muttered a thank you to his sister and climbed on Maje. Isabella looked up at the falling sun and said to her brother... "It will be nighttime when we return to Lalin, I hear something happened in the retreat. The capital is in chaos, a meeting was arranged and father had to attend. Lalin is under our care" "How did you find me?" "Simple! Your cuts are bad" she pointed at the branch he just cut. Conrad growled at his sister who only smiled in pride as she got the reaction she desired... “Next time you come into the woods don’t trim branches as you go and if you can avoid it don’t take the horse in. You’ll be easy to track” "The last one in Lalin sees to the older ones...." "You're on!" Conrad replied as he kicked on Maje and raced through the forest with his sister trailing behind. She didn't mind losing as long as she got home early. _________________________ Lady Isabella and her brother Conrad made it to Lalin before dark, since Isabella made a race so they'd arrive much earlier. By the time they got back, their father was already gone to the capital. They attended to the matters of the castle and sent assistance to the people to calm them, assuring them that the elders and the King would find a way to keep them all safe... News in Layrim spread like wildfire. Young Travis held tight to his mother, he could not understand what was going on or why everyone was in a frenzy, he heard the Lord and Lady calming the people saying something about Layrim's lost, he knew well about the legend but he never bothered what it said. "Come, Travis, your sister Lucy is already at the table, let's go in and pray for your dad and all of Layrim, perhaps by Lalin's mercy we will be saved" a solemn melodious voice came from beside him. The kid went in with his mother into their house, it was a small cozy home, one that gave you a feeling of comfort the moment you went in it. The fire was burning and a little girl lay on a mat in front of it, reading from the Legends and Travis remembered the question he was going to ask his mother. "Mom?" "Yes, son..." "What is going to happen to dad? Will he be alright?" "Your dad is a skilled and fearless swordsman, he should be fine, but he will be getting involved in a big war that's sure" "But we have not fought a war for two centuries, why now?" Lucy asked looking up from her scroll. "Well you see the chaos outside?" their mother asked, pointing at the door behind her with her thumb over her shoulders, she continued after she received an understanding nod from her children. "A spy was in the retreat, and he knows now that the Knights of Layrim are no longer in Lalin, I hear there were spies in the other two tribes too, and they met an empty retreat..." "But we have the army, don't we? What difference does it make?" Lucy asked again with annoyance in her voice, she knew the warriors of Layrim were still strong and the numbers kept increasing as every male took pride in enlisting into the army. "You see Lucy...every kingdom have their pride and secrets, the legend of our knights drove fear into the neighboring kingdoms, you know of the hundred and twenty years war between us and Rolin...you read from the legends" she paused looking at her children wondering how they would understand such complex matters, but the kids didn't look at all confused so she continued. "Well Rolin has the Arqueros a strong group of elite archers, they did not match our Knights because our knights are skilled in both swords and archery. Rolin retreated from that battle as soon as the Legends got involved, they - the Legends - had left the war for Arqueros against our soldiers to fight but when women and children began crying over fathers and husbands who were away for too long, they went to the war front and the war that had lasted so long was turned around, Rolin's soldiers fell by the sword of the legends in numbers of thousand, they had no choice but to retreat. Now the knights are no more and Rolin once again desires Layrim's wealth and intelligence, they think they have a chance because the knights are no more, we kept this secret for two hundred years but as it is said...nothing stays hidden under the sun" The room went quiet as the children took in their mother’s words, Layrim was not scared of defeat they were scared of losing sons and husbands, fathers and brothers, lords and ladies, and at worse the great King Julius, victory or loss both came at a price with the latter only being more expensive. "Mum, are you sure the Knights and Arqueros existed?" Travis asked looking up at his mother with bright eyes. "The knights did alright, and still exists and there is the problem" "So we will have more losses than Rolin?" Lucy asked earning an absent-minded nod from her mother who was weaving baskets. “Perhaps” she answered after a pause, with regards to the military she knew nothing. "But Rolin should also know that two hundred years of peace for Layrim has made it prosper and grow beyond the hundred and twenty years of siege" she questions further, doubting the credibility of the cause of the chaos outside. "Lucy dear, Rolin is a fierce kingdom of war, they take pride in the fall of legendary kingdoms like ours, their youth male and female alike are trained in the art of war from the moment they begin to walk, they neither plant nor harvest, they plunder and destroy... the only reason they kept from Layrim so long is because of the legends. With the knights gone we are evenly matched, victory and defeat is uncertain now go to bed and leave me, stop asking questions for the elders" The kids reluctantly said goodnight and went into the inner room to continue questioning in their dreams.