In the year 58 of R.I.C, Reign of the Ice Clan, a local warlord loyal to outside influences, received some good news: his inheritance from his long dead parents. Finally, it's been too long.
The warlord, Zachariah Nedem, leader of the Nedem Coalition, sat on his throne. Not a big one as it was just a dining chair. His hair was short and brown, a long braided beard, his eyes were large and grey and he had cuts and scars all over his face. If he and a bear went face to face, he would win on sheer size alone. He had a few missing fingers, but they were replaced with metal ones.
His armor was chain-mail under plate with an insignia of a bear with a sword and spear crossed above it, his family crest.
Around him were his comrades, his brothers-in-arms. They all had different armors ranging from leather, to chain, to scale.
His second-in-command, a thin-looking man named Seth Dresden, opened the tent flap of the main tent and exclaimed, "Zach, your inheritance has arrived."
"Send it in, Seth," Zach said in a booming voice.
Seth stepped to the side and a male child, no older than 14, stepped through the opening.
The child's face looked scared, his face flushed white. His hair was brown and down to his shoulders, his eyes were piercing blue and small. He had on royal clothes with the Nedem Crest. He was as thin as a board. The child stood, looking at each of the men; each of the men stared back.
Zach motioned the child to come closer, which he did, slowly. Stepping around all the weapons, loose items, and dropped food, the child made his way up to the burly man.
The warlord got up from his chair. It groaned as he stood and knelt down to the child. "What's your name, little one?" Zach asked.
The child blinked a few times, looking around. After a few seconds of silence, he answered, "Connor; Connor Quaran of clan Nedem." It was as if he practiced the name many times.
"Well, Connor, welcome to your new home. If you're hungry, eat; if you're thirsty, drink; if you're tired, sleep. You're one of us now." Zach said to the boy, smiling. My inheritance is very polite and well mannered. That's good. Tomorrow, I'll start training him to defend himself.
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The next morning, Zach awoke to the boy in his tent, looking out the entrance. "What're you doing?"
"Watching."
"For?"
"Enemies."
Humph, well, I don't need to teach him to watch. "Have you slept?" He asked, getting up from his sheepskin bed.
"Two hours. But it's enough." The boy said, still looking at the entrance of the tent.
“You need sleep, little one. Especially for a boy your age,” Zach said, standing next to the boy.
Conner didn’t answer, only watched the area outside the tent. “There’s people coming.”
“Hm?”
“There’s people coming, sir. They’re angry.”
“Ah. I see. Let’s go meet them,” Zach whispered, walking out of the tent.
Conner got up and caught up with the enormous man. He had to take four steps for every one of Zach’s.
They reached a part of the wall that was surrounding the camp. There were two guards with pikes standing on the outside. A few meters away was a group of four armed guards. Three were in chain-mail and the other was in plate-mail. The three guards in chain-mail had swords and shields. The one in plate-mail had no weapons they could see.
A mage? Zach thought. “Hail, guardsmen. How are you this great morning?”
The group stopped and the guard in plate-mail said in a harsh voice, “We’re doing very well, Bear of the Mountain.”
“Good. Now, may I ask why you have come? Is your liege in need of men? Does he wish to speak to me?”
“Oh, no. He has not wished for you to meet with him. He has wished for your extinction.”
The pikemen readied their pikes.
“Is that so? That’s odd, because he told me last month, in court, that I was free to where I wished, and do as I pleased so long as it doesn’t interfere with his plans and goals.”
"Those plans have changed." The man in plate-mail’s hands glowed purple.
“You’re with them. I see. Talking won’t work. Conner, stay away.” Zach stood to his full height, breathed in, and roared. An aspect of a bear seemed to glow around him.
Zach ambled towards the group, staring at the mage.
The mage’s hands glowed as he took a readied stance and shot a few bolts of purple light at Zach. They didn’t touch him.
The three others behind the mage readied their shields and ran in front of him, watching the bear of the man getting closer.
The Pikemen ran towards the shield men, one getting a lucky strike, killing one of the shield men.
Zach eventually reached the shield men after getting shot with many more bolts. He slammed a fist against the shield man to his right, grabbed him, and threw him against the other.
The mage shot fire from his hands in a cone, barely missing the pikemen but hitting Zach.
When the bear reached the mage, he picked him up and said angrily, “You tell the sonofabitch that sent you, the Bear of the Mountain is coming in force. He has earned my ire. The peaceful one won’t be trifled with like this.” He broke the mage’s hands and threw him down. “And remove that phoenix insignia while you’re at it. They’re dead.” He went back to Conner, calming down.
“Y-you won’t get away from killing his men! For he already knows! He is after you and will stop at nothing to kill you.”
“I’ve survived worse.”
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“My liege, he has killed the Hunter.”
A raspy voice came from a throne, “I know…”
A devil in white appeared beside the throne. "He may have killed a Hunter, but that means nothing." The devil walked down a few steps. "If he tries to come here, we kill him at every turn. He won't make it past Unlian."
"He has the child."
"He what!?"
"He has the child. You failed, devil. He arrived a few days ago. He watched the Bear as he killed the Hunter."
The man on the throne spoke again, "Send Sara..."
The messenger bowed. "Very well, my Lord."
ns 15.158.61.23da2
