The Legend of Tantus - Book 3

Chapter 1.1 - The beginning of the new crisis

    Laguna Leon, at the height of his twenty-eight winters, in addition to his splendid competence and sense of honor, worshiper of the ancient traditions of the legendary warriors, an excellent blade handler, talented, but like many in times of peace, devoid of dominance elemental. He was a man with long dark brown hair, light skin and blue eyes, always dressed in the beautiful blue armor, light and traditional of his kingdom when he was in service, he carried with him a long sword, very good and of excellent quality, lucky with the women but unlucky in the game. He entered the military force of the country of Balvera at twenty-one winters, due to his natural talent with the sword and, mainly, his character, allowed him to rise in rank in a short time, at twenty-seven he was already captain of the Kingdom of Balvera. Laguna was married to Amelia, called "the golden one", for her beautiful and long hair, and eyes more blue than the sky itself, with her had a daughter, Minka, who pulled her mother's eyes, but was more like the father. With his family Laguna kept his spirit in peace in every way, and life was generous, he also enjoyed good friendship with the Wolver Colony, he was one of the few to actually visit the great wolves, their king, Korgan, a direct descendant of the great Lorben, the king who brought his people into friendship with the other races, was probably Laguna's best friend, and it was this friendship that allowed him to send his family to spend time with them. One day, with Laguna on military assignments across the kingdom, Amelia and Minka traveled again to the wolf colony, but were attacked by cyclops on the way, this was probably the last recorded attack by the corrupted giants, but it took the lives of the two women. Back from his duties, the captain received the terrible news, taking time to believe in the sadness that was beginning to take his heart and drain his strength, and even worse, their bodies were unrecognizable, such was the violence and cruelty of the murderers. After that Laguna fell in the shadows, his sadness became too much for his now fragile heart, and seeking revenge, even under Korgan's disapproval, the captain wandered throughout the country, searching the distant mountains and caves, murdering all the goblins and cyclops found, practically extinguishing them from that region. That became a private war of pure violence that lasted for a winter, and the surviving goblins only whispered among themselves about a ghost of a cyclops hunter, who roamed the ice in search of victims, and when he met any of the giants he cut them up in a terrible and merciless way, as well as everyone around them, making blood practically rain, and so he quickly became called "the maker of the red rain". His stories even reached the ears of the kingdom and the wolves, causing astonishment and terror to everyone, and Korgan lamented the darkness in his friend's heart.

    Determined to bring Laguna back, the lobime king left the kingdom under command of his daughter, Walkan the silver, and wandered for three months across the country, following rumors and information from traders and travelers. After all this time the king had lost hope, but on his last trip, to the southwest, he wandered near the Navoc River, and by sheer luck, or strength of destiny, he found the captain standing near the river, in the distance three unrecognizable cyclops, huddled in pieces, a macabre scene that terrified even the great wolf king, and his friend was unrecognizable, totally bathed in blood and living up to his new and terrible fame.

- Laguna... – said Korgan.

- Old friend Korgan... – said Laguna. – Why are you here?

- This is a place where you should not be either.

- No, I am exactly where I should be, on the bodies of these creatures.

- What did you do to yourself, my friend?

- Just what they did to my family...

- Forget this. Go home, honor the family you had, live for them, and keep them in your heart.

- They are dead, Korgan, and when they died they took my heart with them...

- Do not give in to the darkness, you can still hope for a new life.

- Tell me, friend, if Walkan was murdered what would you do?

- ...

- As I imagined. You are not much different from me.

- ...

- Maybe you should understand me better.

- You are right, perhaps, or rather, I would certainly be in your place now, but I am not. But the question is, would you be in mine?

- ...

- Wake up old friend, get rid of this poisonous dream.

- Go away, Korgan, go back to your home and let me finish what I started.

- Still do not understand? The path you are on is endless, it is nothing more than an infinite cycle!

- Shut up.

- A cycle of death...

- Shut up! – And drawing his sword for the lobime king. – No one will get me out of here, not until my revenge is sated.

- Do not lift a sword for me, Laguna.

- Are you afraid of my sword?

- How about you? – said Korgan, also drawing his great sword. – Are you afraid of mine?

- Should I continue my revenge on you too?

- If there is no other way to get you out of this curse, I will drag you back!

- So come on wolf!

    The fight between Korgan and Laguna, a fight that should not have happened, started. Despite being a man, weaker physically, Laguna enjoyed a lot of respect for Korgan and not for nothing, the maker of the red rain was a spectacular warrior, and even the great skill of the lobime king was not enough to bring him down easily, swords crossed violently across the frozen landscape, the sound of battle was heard by animals that fled away in fear, they were two great warriors. Laguna was fast and lethal, Korgan in turn was extremely strong, but also agile, and in his most violent blows his opponent wisely led him to hit trees, not making the mistake of attempting such a defense, and some were incredibly severed! But Laguna managed to make his enemy retreat with his great skill and he already wounded Korgan in the arms and legs, even slightly, he was not hurt at any time, as being hit by the king's great sword would be disastrous. After some time of fierce combat it started to snow, and a magnificent epic battle scene happened without witnesses, astutely, Laguna managed to make Korgan tired, causing him to decrease his strength and so he could face him physically more efficiently.

- Do not you fight to kill me? – asked Laguna.

- I do not think about killing you, I just want to cripple you so I can take you back.

- But I do not think that way.

- What have you become my friend?

    The swords fought spectacularly while the snow fell beautifully, their eyes met, but they could no longer understand each other, in Laguna's eyes only the blind hatred of insatiable revenge, and in Korgan the sadness for the darkness where his friend threw himself. After a few more minutes of terrible fighting, the captain hit the king with a powerful kick, breaking a canine, but he was grabbed by the neck and thrown violently against a tree, which shuddered shedding a lot of snow, exhausted and tied they were, the strength of Korgan, even visibly more tired, was impressive, but it was amazing how a man like Laguna managed to match, in direct combat, against such a powerful lobime, they were outstanding warriors who deserved a chapter in the most precious records, but it was time to end the fight. In their final attack they both ran determined in their last and decisive strokes, the captain pierced the king's left thigh, and the king in turn crossed his left shoulder, they could have aimed at each other's hearts, but they did not, a proof that the friendship still spoke loudly, and the hope of emerging from the darkness still existed.

- You could have killed me. – said Korgan. – But you did not, I still see hope in you.

- It's too late, too late for me, old friend.

- It's never too late to do the right thing, Laguna.

- With this leg you cannot follow me. Forget about me, Korgan, my revenge will not even come back. – said Laguna leaving, injured and exhausted.

- I failed in the goal, but one day someone will succeed. – said the king prophesying to the skies. – Our friendship may have come to an end, but I still hope for your best, because an honorable man like you I am sure will never remain on the wrong side forever...

    Korgan returned to his kingdom with great regret, Laguna continued to wander for many days across the continent, but now he no longer found any victims, perhaps he had already extinguished them all. Finally he ended up sailing, in a small boat built by himself, to the island located in the northwest of the country of Balvera, there he still found some more goblins and cyclops, murdering them without mercy, but there was something else in that place, something that attracted strongly and strangely. He searched the island for four days until he found an old and discreet building, the old summons temple. The captain entered without thinking, still attracted by something inexplicable, he felt something dark, evil, and for that very reason he was called, upon entering he could see that the old legends were true, a place immensely bigger inside than outside, built and carved in white stones, but it was dead as a cemetery, in the center an altar and two statues of broken summons, only its bases still remained, and he did not understand what he was doing there, it was when he felt an unhealthy and negative presence filling the entire temple, frightened and taken by fear of something as evil as he had ever felt, Laguna drew his sword and began to walk towards the exit slowly and alert, regretting having entered there, he knew that something terrible was about to happen, and it did happen. A black figure, like a cloud and shadow together, appeared and stood at the entrance preventing him from leaving, he was as big as a cyclops, biped, but he could not know exactly what it was, he was only stared at by three pairs of red eyes and macabre, a great evil was before him, who paralyzed dropped the sword and could not have the slightest idea of reaction.

- You mortal have an unusual destiny for this world. – said the shadow, with a mixture of several voices together, somber.

- What...? What... are you?

- I am the one who was born from time, and from time I will take possession through you, Laguna Leon, the one promised to be the Traveler...

- What do you want... from me?

- The shadows that surround you, the darkness in your heart, are my home, they attract me.

- ...

- From now on your destiny will be changed. Your life is mine!

    Everything became as dark as a fall in the abyss, Laguna was taken by the shadow and raised in the air, black clouds and thunder surrounded the whole island and an immense evil will could be felt for a few seconds until everything returned to normal, except in the temple, where now the captain, kneeling, rose like a demon:

- And here, Laguna Leon, my destiny begins...

    Ninety winters have passed since the strange phenomenon that occurred on the island, but that no one dared to verify. The Kingdom of Balvera remained prosperous, peace continued, until the resurgence of an old acquaintance who was exactly as he was the day he left. Laguna returned to the kingdom and had not aged for a single day, dressed in dark clothes, black as night, wore light armor with a crow's helmet, a long cloak next to a sinister black wing on the left side of the back, which was part of the armor, and still with the good old sword, his blue eyes so striking in the past were now menacing. He headed to the regent's palace under everyone's eyes of fright and surprise, but they did not dare approach until he arrived before the guards at the entrance:

- Sir... what do you want? – asked one of the guards, clearly startled by the terrible figure of the former captain.

- Get out of the way.

    Laguna's evil aura was terrifying, nothing like that was recorded even in ancient times, they all went out of their way like lambs before a wolf, and once faced with the regent, he spoke:

- Hail, regent.

- Who are you?

- I am Laguna Leon.

- Laguna? The former captain of the kingdom?

- ...

- Impossible. Laguna disappeared several decades ago, and you are younger than me.

- Time is my creator, so it means nothing to me.

- ...

- From today this kingdom is under my command, and world domination will begin soon.

- What you mean? You are crazy?

- Accept me or die.

- Guards!

    The Balvera regent was called Argyle Travius, he was a middle-aged man, known for his wisdom and efficient administration of the kingdom, reacting to the fear that Laguna imposed on him, he knew that his eyes did not lie and that something very serious would be starting if all that wickedness took command of his army, so it should be stopped immediately. The guards, carrying their elemental weapons and swords, surrendered the former captain on the steps of the throne, but he just smiled sinisterly, drew his weapon and attacked, jumping among the soldiers so that they would not fire, forcing them to fight directly, but none of them were a match for Laguna, the strength of the maker of the red rain was tremendous and his skill worthy of the ancient warriors. Several were seriously injured or killed, until at last he found himself in the center of the hall surrounded by a troop from afar, who immediately fired their weapons, but to the general surprise Laguna created a powerful blue shield, element of light! The former captain was never credited with being an elemental user, in fact he was devoid of magical mastery like many there, so how did he come about using ancient magic at a high level? Isolated as he was (or so they believed), very unlikely to have taught himself this way, not to mention that he should already be dead. As the soldiers fired Laguna just laughed inside his protection, until his power exploded, knocking down many, and he began to fire his magic from the light itself, as well as fire, thunder, and shudder the entire place with earth making more victims, Argyle, paralyzed and astonished, just watched a single man taking over his kingdom. More and more soldiers entered the great hall in an attempt to stop the old captain, and the order to kill him came as a consequence, Argyle sensed that he should be stopped there at all costs or a new black age would begin. To the complete terror of all the soldiers, Laguna concentrated his power frighteningly, making appear from the ground, crossing the floor, a huge and terrible statue of humanoid rock, this one had four arms and two of them were handcuffed on the back, its mouth had long canines and its eyes were blindfolded, “Heretic Demon Statue”, powerful and fearful magic of the elements earth, nature, life and gravity. The former captain controlled it like a ventriloquist, with simple hand movements over the eyes of despair of the whole kingdom, devastating the entire regent's palace, imposing fear on all people, and when everything was dominated he undid his magic, moving on ahead of Argyle, who overcame fear, drew his sword facing Laguna, but he would never be a rival to the maker of the red rain, who simply defended himself, until he buried his blade in the regent's chest:

- What... are... you? – asked Argyle agonizingly.

- I am the one who will have it all. – replied Laguna.

- You... will bring ruin... for all of us...

- This is a consequence.

- You... demon... so you do not... are...

- How did you guess?

    Argyle seems to have seen something else before he lost his life, but he never had time to alert anyone. Completely seized, the Kingdom of Balvera knelt to Laguna in terror, for there was no power or strength there to stop him. One by one he conquered all the cities and towns of the country, using the strength of the army with their elemental weapons, and with his terrible power he added more and more soldiers under his command, no one could stand up to him, except the wolves, but these neither could they abandon the guaranteed protection of their kingdom, an open battle against Laguna's great army was an invitation to death, on the other hand, the now regent of the kingdom would also not dare to attack the wolves, he knew that their technology was strangely advantageous, and more, they were the only people, alongside the once mercenary shinobis, who kept the elemental dominance intact, like born warriors who always have been, although they hid this for hundreds of winters, Laguna knew that to beat such formidable enemies in their fortress he would need something more than just brute force, and to complete, in the last decade, they created strong friendships with the descendants of the former mercenary clans and lived as neighbors in good faith, helping each other and sharing technologies without a doubt, the wolves and shinobis together would be terrible enemies of his plans. Korgan had passed away a few winters ago and the new king, Rothgar, Walkan's husband, was as honorable as his predecessor, he mourned Laguna's doom, revealing that the former king chose to die before the time, sensing that a great disappointment was in store for him, to be felt by his heart... The new king was grateful that his father-in-law was no longer alive to feel such disappointment for his friend. According to Rothgar, Korgan may have been the most exceptional of the wolves, even in these times, in elemental power, he could have easily killed Laguna, but he chose not to use his great power in the fight between the two, in honor of a disadvantaged opponent, but mainly for being his true friend. 

    Leaving aside wolves and shinobis, Laguna concentrated on the rest of the continent. He went into a terrible war against the country of Varzog, which resisted for four months, apart from elemental weapons, armies also used vehicles, the so-called Aerodrons, small fighter-like ships and with greater firepower, and the Armored vehicles, humanoid tanks, piloted by only one soldier, also with high firepower and resistance, being able to be coupled, transported and launched in battle by aerodrons, what made this an efficient strategy, the only negative point was the relatively low speed of locomotion, but the warlike equality of the kingdoms was unbalanced by the strength of the new regent and his power capable of destroying walls and palaces. Then the regent Willard Madmartigan of the Kingdom of Varzog, losing ground, without supplies, all blocked by Balvera's armies, surrendered after seeing his people starving, being murdered by Laguna in front of everyone to show that they should be submissive. In fact, both Balvera and Varzog still did not believe that the war had returned, for a long time the armies planned to assassinate Laguna, but their power was greater than everything he had shown until then, they knew this, as well as they knew that their women and children would be the first victims, no one was willing to risk the family, and aside from the indescribable fear that he caused there was no option, without the wolves and the shinobis they would have been able to do nothing but serve him.

    Laguna now had dominion over the entire Saitar continent, there were resistance movements formed in several cities, but since the army's loyalty to him was now complete, little could be done. But still they kept hope for freedom, someday.

    The new regent seemed to foresee many things in addition to the rest, and spent hours alone planning his next steps. One winter had passed since the continent's total domination and the others knew very little about it, nothing more than rumors, everyone thought a boldness to try to dominate them unlikely, even so they remained alert, but Laguna still did not have it in mind, his plans were more audacious. He traveled, unbeknownst to his army, who imagined him in isolation, to the country of Terrus as a simple wanderer, discreetly dressed, just a two-day journey to the Strut Harbor, passing through Frostnor and then Nargile, where got the information he wanted by torturing and killing the captain of the Kingdom of Terra, who was in town visiting his family, Laguna cunningly predicted the footsteps of many people and was there to give the most important of his plans. About seventy winters ago, the continent of Tantus was presented with five magnificent ships, inspired by birds of prey, with large claws capable of carrying out various jobs, incredible firepower and the ability to start the space exploration project, a long time ago planned by the Terra leaders, they were: Ragnarock, Ragnatar, Ragnavolk, Ragnacloud and Ragnahawk. Ragnahawk was the most powerful of all and the only non-operational one, because unlike the others, which were fed by the unique crystals of Isil, it had no source of energy. Their creations were a total mystery and even more so the crystals, which for centuries had not been manufactured since the death of the great Tantaluz Primadril. According to engineering information, with the exception of Ragnahawk, each of the ships was basically identical in all its "privileges", but they had a quality outstanding from the others, were more capable in certain points and were delivered to the Kingdom of Terra by Arkan Marne , the immortal, brother of the guardian prime, legendary since ancient times, as this place has always been the most advanced of all in terms of city development, and its people were the most capable of taking the world to the next step of evolution.

    Laguna has reached his destination. For days he wandered around the kingdom collecting simple information from citizens, killing some palace soldiers to get clearer answers, these disappearances were making the city restless, and three weeks after his arrival he finally attacked. The military installations, where the ships were kept, were affected by his great power without having much chance of fighting back, as mentioned before, conventional elemental weapons were not even close to the powerful spells of old times, there was simply no warrior capable of effectively facing Laguna, but he was not there to take Terra, as he did not intend to face alone an army of thirty thousand enemies who would soon be reunited, he was in search of ships. Raising a shield of light across the base, keeping soldiers out shooting the shield long enough to complete his objectives, he found them in large hangars, and they were spectacular, Ragnahawk, the most powerful, was black with wings detailed in silver, for never having entered into operation its greatest highlight was not known, Ragnarock was red with black details, and was simply the most efficient in underwater exploration, with propellers and wings especially designed to make it as agile as a fish in water, Ragnatar was golden with blue details, had the ability to change to more efficient aerodynamic shapes, which made it the fastest, agile and most offensive of all in the air, Ragnacloud was green with golden details, carried the toughest armor, so the best defender, Ragnavolk was not there, was the first to be sent to space exploration for having the most powerful propellers, perfect just for long trips in a vacuum (but it was silvered with details red). Laguna intended to steal two of them, obviously the most powerful was already intended, even without a source of energy, and had trouble choosing the other in a scene, in a way, comical, he crossed his arms watching them while the soldiers continued to force the shield , looking like a child choosing the best toy, he was actually amazed by the real masterpiece that were the ships (worthy of Darkan), until finally opting for Ragnarock, as he secretly had plans against the mers in the future, to his delight its controls were as simple as those of aerodrons, and even though he needed flight aids, for full capacity operation, flying it was no mystery. The mighty ship smashed the hangar as if it were made of paper the moment the shield gave way, the soldiers simply stopped in astonishment at the spectacular machine taking off, no one yet believed in the boldness and power of a single enemy, he placed himself on the hangar of Ragnahawk, and using the powerful claws of prey he tore off the ceiling and simply "took" the other ship, thus taking the two he intended. Leaving the continent, due to the great load and lack of auxiliaries, his ship could not reach a very high speed, the regent of Terra, called Alaster Sona, better than anyone understood the crisis that was to come with that event, and sent all the army of aerodrons to chase Laguna and bring the ships back at all costs, the soldiers spotted Ragnarock in the distance and approached slowly in the middle of the ocean between Tantus and Saitar. Due to the great weight, the claws of his ship were not able to maintain Ragnahawk, and when the army was already attacking with their elemental weapons, it plunged into the sea, leaving the marks of Ragnarock's claws on the sides, now without the weight Laguna continued at speed total back to his continent, frustrated by the loss of one of the ships, but at least the most powerful of them would sleep on the bottom of the sea and probably nobody else would recover it... Terra's army stopped, unable to follow Laguna, and in vain attempt to recover the slowly sinking ship. The design of the ships, although mysterious, as already mentioned, was simply a work of art, complex and perfect, apart from the spectacular design, flight crew of five including the pilot, cargo compartment capable of carrying a medium vehicle, system with internal sealing, oxygen cells practically unlimited, the stupendous power of the crystals of Isil, not to mention the metal, different and naturally more resistant than aerodrons, which were also noteworthy, made their armor perfect for travel, unforeseen space and, consequently, underwater voyages too, as they withstand the pressures of the depths impressively. Only their own firepower was able to damage them, a monstrous technology that symbolized the pride of a new era, and it was apparently destined to fight. In almost six hundred winters the world evolved that way, it was a prodigy.