Wilderness Of Bewilderment,
Dead bodies scattered about in the wilderness.
Some were placed above one another in a pile.
Most of them were rendered heartless by a heartless murderer.
A tall knight looking figure,his fists were his lethal weapon, responsible for all holes in the chest of his victims.
His fists radiated fire mixed with blood.
He maintained a straight face while observing how much he did, unfortunately his calm demeanor was shaken when he saw there was a survivor.
He was a brownie; Tharros by name.
Crawling from under the pile,his entire body was bruised,blood dropped from his nostrils.
He raised his head, spitting blood on the ground and cast his gaze upon the killer,an influx of rage brewed within him.
"Your world is no more",said the armored warrior,reffering to all the fallen soldiers accompanying Tharros earlier.
"Well ….so am I", replied Tharros as he leaped, clenching his fist,ready to give a painful blow with all his might.
Sadly,his momentum was no match for the knight.
He gave Tharros a kick to the stomach, beating him to a pulp.
Every hit resulted in an amount of blood coming out from him.
His vision slowly faded, seeing nothing but a burning fist in motion.
The knight stopped for a while, wondering why he wasn't dead yet.
He kicked him again.
This time over to the pile.
Holding his fists together,he jumped all the way there, wanting to smash all of them at once.
Yet something he had never witnessed in his life occured -the sand swallowed all of them before he could succeed with his plan.
He too wasn't left out,it took him to a different location, making him unable to find Tharros.
The knight regretted not eliminating him when he had the chance, and made himself a promise not to let any other wanderer to walk away unscathed.
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Every creature was created in it's own uniqueness, bound by territories to fulfill their purposes.
They were inhabitable(?), inescapable (Earth) and unexplainable (Greenhills).
The Founding Ancestor along with his grand majesties grouped creation into these three homes.
Migration was allowed, trespassing was forbidden.
Yet, creatures when given too much privilege, always go for the consequences, just to remove themselves from the coordinated.
They were unpunished because the Founding Ancestor gave us the will to protect ourselves.
He would not come down to save you, neither would his first children.
He made this existence for more beings to transcend apart from His firstborn.
Yet this was still abused.
What they valued didn't correspond with what He valued.
As a result he made brownies, little creatures meant to restore order.
They didn't choose one home to reside,they spread out themselves to ensure everyone is attended to fairly.
All but Greenhills.
Refused, thinking it'll affect their status.
Marcus(the alpha of Green hills)saw no need for extra "blessings" when he's regarded as one already.
He convinced everyone with his feats that he was second to none.
He kept on building this reputation till his might was universally agreed to be incomparable with others.
Stories of old about him were passed throughout generations.
Yet no greater one was more celebrated than when he and the Green guilds declared war against the Abundance.
A force so threatening to existence,Marcus himself was left with no option than to request for help from a brownie.
Not an ordinary one, but the legendary king of Elsewhere.
His contribution in the war earned him a title.
A title taken from the after- form of the Abundance.
After its defeat, it became "The Heart"
It's main duty was to mislead misfortune from anyone having access to it.
So he was called "A friend of the Heart"
Decades later,signs of new threats started emerging.
What a busy time it was for the Brownies.
Offering mostly military help.
The wolves eulogized for ages were nowhere to be seen.
Were they hiding?
Could this be more intimidating than the Abundance?
Their faith in these mythical creatures began to decrease.They discovered what caused disasters across lands had long history with the wolves.
The source of the calamities were still unclear.
The brownies took it upon themselves once more to get to the root of this.
It ended in a shocking revelation of an impending doom.
what's more daunting is they were major targets, and if they aren't aided by those they have connections with, they'll be obliterated.
Sadly,the people they laid down their lives for turned their backs on them.
They were left to suffer their own fate if they don't fix it themselves, they'll be forgotten.
They were confused,if they reached out to them chaos would come closer,if they don't it'll still be near.
As a result they divided themselves into two groups:one for achieving their purpose,the other for seeking solutions.
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(Why must life choose to be unfair to those who treat people fairly)
Each quarter were to give off one determined soldier for the mission.The heads were not supposed to involve their households,yet in Elsewhere, Victor,the second son of the late king offered himself to go,as a way of opposing thoughts of him being a failure.
They set out on a journey to seek for liberation through truth.
But as they kept going,one by one they died.
Eaten by different monsters,the closer they got the lesser the lives.
Numbers reduced from 300 to 5(including Victor).
The remaining soldiers swore they'll stay alive to ensure he got home.
Fate had other plans,they were torn apart in horrid ways by monsters they came across,their lives were compromised for the sake of Victor.
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The Forgotten Prince:
(Victor's Standpoint)
I miss the blue skies; can't tell whether it's day or night.
The green shallow light above reminded me of our arable fields in Elsewhere.
I'm nothing but a plant that lost it's sunshine and water, causing it to wither.
Yes, I'm a withering grass in this wilderness,a wanderer with a destination that disagrees for me to reach it.
My feet were sore,I couldn't feel them, the faint air must have been responsible for my movement.
Can I retreat?it changes nothing, this tree would still maltreat me despite having no strength to find it.
Imagine I return with nothing,all the lives taken would be in vain.
I won't even be able to face Vincent, neither would Lowin have any belief in me.
I brought out the last energy potion in my bag to drink, and I regained zeal to continue walking.
After a long time,I saw something -the cause of all my suffering and losses-i saw the tree!
Though it was far from me I cared less,the joy I was about to receive was more important.
A smile ashamed to come out finally dawned on me.
That smile was cut short when fire from nowhere descended on it.
I gasped in disbelief, there was no way I could imagine something that prevents seekers from uncovering hidden things could not hide itself from danger.
It felt like a cheap trick to mislead me, I went in anyway regardless of how it burnt.
Few steps away from it and it showed another sign that I wasn't welcome.
The burning roots sprouted out, resulting in an explosion.
Thankfully, I threw a damage nullifying stone I picked from my bag before it could touch me.
That didn't stop the pressure from throwing me off into another corner.
Smoke from the fire cleared immediately.
Prior to it's clearing,I saw a huge figure with flame on his fists,I hid myself in the sand.
Sadly,he must have known my whereabouts and instructed I come out or face persecution.
I pretended not to hear him,
"He's proving stubborn",from his voice his ferociousness was audible,his entire body decorated with dull silver metal armor.
Joining his fists together he leaped to the sky and smashed the floor, sparks of dusts flew, although I wasn't within the impact's range.
I sighed, thinking he'll head back to wherever he emerged from.
To my suprise he remained standing.
I observed keenly, sighting cracks from where he stood.
I wondered if that was the reason he didn't move an inch,the section where I hid cracked too, I panicked in silence.
There was no chance of escape, everywhere shattered completely.
It happened so fast, hard to say how I ended up falling into the darkness with rocks.
I closed my eyes and asked the Founding Ancestor to grant my survival wish and show me a way out,I dozed off while doing so.
Only to wake up after hitting my head on a rock, I finally landed in a safe place.
The sight of dead bodies of past travellers with punctured chest terrified me.
"I'll do that to you also if you don't kill yourself willingly",that voice was familiar, I turned around, squinting my eyes in search of it.
My guess was right,the same tall armored figure followed me here or perhaps this was his home afterall.
He sat in the mouth of a large dragon skull like it were his throne.
"Who are u and why do you want me to take my life?!",my face fumed.
He arranged himself in his chair "I am Andriea...and I have no mind to kill hopeless souls."
I gave him a nuanced look "What makes u think I'm hopeless?you must be close to the Omniscient tree".
"You remind me of a certain traveller….Tharros,he belonged to the same race,had the exact expression of anger you're faking….. what sets both of you apart is weakness; you're more weaker, you're not a soldier.Tell me were you forced to be here?"
I felt embarrassed,so my inferiority was that easy to see through?
It didn't matter if I obeyed him or not,it won't be long till my heart is ripped out of me.
I began to fall back slowly as I saw an open exit, "What is your connection with the tree?"
The question didn't buy time as I presumed rather it drove him mad.
"You ask too many questions,is that where you derive your strength from?as long as I haven't gotten there myself no one else will".
I wasted no time to head to the exit.
He got up from his throne and appeared in front of me, almost kicking me.
I blocked it with another protective stone,the pressure flung me into the exit, little did I know it was another hole.
I put the last stone between my teeth so as not to land in pieces.
I landed safely without the stone turning to dust.
Meaning the ground was somewhat safe.
He jumped down too preparing to punch me.
He eventually succeeded in doing so, however instead of the stone preventing it,the ground sunk me in.
I thought I died finally, turning around to see if I can meet with my soldiers again.
Then I remembered I wasn't noble so I wasn't supposed to expect myself in where they were taken.
This wasn't the river Styx either.
Then where was I?a special eternal prison for my worthlessness?
I figured I was in the middle of a maze.
Each door had a mystery I bothered not to find out.
Two lights from the opposite side were approaching with a great force, I shifted back close to the doorway behind me,lest they hit me.
Lo and behold,one of the light was Andriea.
So determined he came down here just to torment me.
I raised my arms in a battle stance,ready to face him.
If I were to lose a thousand times to win once,then so be it.
He hands extended towards me for a grab.
I was about to block him,when in a flash the second light landed a blow on him.
It was another figure,this time with the same height as me.
He wore a cloak so I couldn't see his face.
"Take this necklace and run to where I came from, immediately the crystal shines smash it on the floor."
"How can I trust you?, where would I go?,am I not dead?"
"You aren't" he replied, " I am Tharros,he must have spoken to you about me".
Andriea actually did so, I took the necklace and ran into the doorway.
He warned me not to look back but I did.
Andriea stood up excited to see his long lost enemy,"We meet again, salvation's sin."