Prologue – The Beginnings of Embers
The Kingdom of Fornax is home to some of the most famous kings and knights. It is known to foster great people who help the rest of the world as they stand as a prime example of the best of humanity. Their children are taught the best in philosophy and in combat at a very young age so they can be wise and strong adults. At adulthood, they become productive members of society with each one of them being able to lead in their field of choice. Fornax is the only feudal system in the world that allows peasants to be kings or nobles if they can prove they have the wisdom and strength to do so.
Cinis and Favilla are two children of their parents who were able to become royalty. Cinis’ family is a lineage of knights and he follows in their ways with chivalry. Favilla’s family is a lineage of archers and farmers and she follows their ways with her cunning and problem-solving abilities. Both of these children are close since both families do business together. They are almost always together and get into trouble together almost all the time.
Unda, the most talented of all knights, has betrayed his kingdom and is escaping the kingdom. He greyed out his shield and takes his specially made red, Roseus sword and armor with him. Though many guards and knights have tried to stop him, they cannot catch him due to his agility and finesse. He manages to get to the gates but is stopped by Cinis and Favilla. Cinis is wearing his older brother’s armor and wields his brother’s sword, Ignis, like a greatsword with two hands since it’s too heavy for him. Favilla has a bunch of rocks with her since she couldn’t sneak her bow and arrows away from her family.
“Face me, traitor!” Cinis says with his sword raised high.
“Yeah!” says Favilla while throwing a rock at the knight.
Stunned by what he’s seeing, Unda says, “Out of the way Cinis and Favilla. This doesn’t concern you.”
“Of course it does! You’re the greatest of all our knights and you’re leaving us?” Cinis states.
“You’re too young to know about this, but you should leave as well. Your parents and elders aren’t telling you everything.”
“No, we’re not traitors! I’m sure they’re telling us everything we need to know. Why would they lie to us?” Favilla asks.
“Listen to me kids, I don’t have much time to talk, so you’ll just have to trust me and leave. Okay?”
Cinis and Favilla stand their ground. Cinis keeps his sword raised and Favilla throws another rock at Unda.
“You give me no choice. I’ll have to push through you.”
Cinis swings his sword at Unda who casually dodges it while Favilla keeps throwing rocks.
“You two aren’t going to stop me. Like you said, I’m the greatest of all knights in this kingdom. What chance do you have against me?”
“Together, we’re more than a challenge for you!” Cinis says while repeatedly hitting his sword against Unda’s shield.
Favilla finds a tiny pebble and throws it through the eye hole in Unda’s helmet. It blinds him temporarily so Cinis can hit Unda on the head with his sword, which knocks him down. The guards catch up to Unda, strip him of his armor, then put him in chains.
One of the guards says to the two, “You kids got lucky taking down Unda. He would’ve seriously hurt you if he didn’t still have his knight’s code of honor.”
“It wasn’t luck,” Cinis says, “We knew what we were doing and Unda underestimated us.”
“We’re smarter than we look,” Favilla adds.
“Well you are the children of royalty, so I guess I shouldn’t doubt you. I’m sure your families will reward you for your accomplishment today.”
“They better.”
“They better make us a cake bigger than us!”
“They better!”
And so Cinis’ and Favilla’s families have a little get together and reward Cinis and Favilla. Cinis is gifted Unda’s sword Roseus and is allowed to keep his brother’s sword while Favilla is given unrestricted access to her family’s bow, Lampas and allowed to go out at night with Cinis. Cinis’ father takes the two out onto the balcony and points to the setting sun.
He says, “Do you see the sun, children? See how it always burns brightly in the sky, rises then descends into the sky, only to rise again?”
“Yes, father.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You must be like the sun. You must be a source of goodness for others and what keeps them alive with the tenacity of the sun.”
“I don’t know if we’ll burn as brightly as the sun and always rise like it does.”
“What if we don’t always rise like it does?”
“It is true that even life will burn you, but you will burn more brightly than us. It is the duty of all parents to make sure that their children are wiser and stronger than the previous generation, so humanity will be better. Sanctor will be with you through it all. Let Him guide you as you grow and journey through life.”
“Yes, father.”
“I will sir.”
After a small party, the families say their goodbyes and go to their homes for the night, but the children aren’t tired. Cinis and Favilla sneak out of their parents’ houses and go to an area just outside the gates.
“Father said we should be like the sun, so let’s make some fire.”
Cinis and Favilla try different ways they’ve heard of to make fire and they manage to do so with flint and some sticks. They set up a campfire and lay underneath the moonlight together.
“What do you think is out there Cinis? We’ve never heard of what lurks beyond the horizon.”
“Father told me not to worry about it since everything we need is here.”
“My mother told me that too. I wonder why Unda would try to leave here. It’s not like him.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing. I’m fine spending my life here with you.”
“Me too.”
The two holds hands until they hear something rustling the grass in the darkness.
“Do you hear that? Something smells around here. It isn’t you, is it?” Favilla asks.
“No. There might be a dog out here.”
Soft whimpering comes from the grass and the darkness carries with it a crying baby’s face. Multiple crying baby faces come from the darkness until they form a singular being with a body made of darkness that has four legs. The monster then begins to loudly cry. It’s an inamatus, a monster of decay born from the souls of infants that either died in the mother or was discarded after birth. It is an unloved being that forms together with others such as it. It is known to kidnap and devour children who are loved by their family as an act of jealousy when these children are alone. Cinis and Favilla light sticks on fire and try to burn it and end up lighting the field of grass on fire. This attracts the attention of guards on the wall who see the inamatus. They bring holy water and holy icons to dispel the creature, put out the fire, and bring Cinis and Favilla to safety. Once they do so, they begin to create flyers to pray for the unloved children as this is the only way to get rid of an inamatus completely.
Cinis says, “Let’s get home before-”
Cinis’ and Favilla’s parents yell their names then smack their butts publicly. They are disciplined by their parents on the dangers of using fire and going out the kingdom’s walls at night. This is a lesson they won’t forget anytime soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment