Author's rant

Hello, it's been a while. Responsibilities hit a little harder lately than I would have liked.

So to clear things up: This story is not retired, I'm not gone, and I'm not dead.

I know it was a horrible note to end up on, I didn't really want it like that either, but when there's not enough hours in a day, there's not enough hours in a day. That's hopefully done with, to the extent I can write again.

As demonstrated last chapter, I happen to have issues where I go out a tangent sometime (Don't worry, this chapter DID pass the second-day-reading-test, so it should be true to the characters) - I have the overall plot planned and everything, but when it comes to the mid-grade planning (Where they go before X Y Z happens) I'm pretty poor at it. If anybody's got some tips for how they plan this kind of stuff, feel free to tell me.

Actual Story:

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“So where are we going?” Lamia asked, as the party had been walking for several hours.

“Away. Far, far away from the capital - but away from the kingdom of Phoenicia in general.” Kaneis answered.

“No specific destination, huh?” Ryko said. “How about looking for our mother?”

“Well… Where would that be?” Kaneis asked.

“In a big city - more people means more rumors and more information.” Lamia answered.

Kaneis nodded “But more danger, as well.”

“I’m no political genius, but shouldn’t the queen and her henchmen be occupied with warfare and wrangling this fake hero in the capital, Voltimum?” Ryko asked.

Kaneis nodded. “I’d assume that too.. Which is what worries me. If there’s warfare,there could be combat at the borders, I risk walking straight into the hands of Phoenician forces. I need information… Badly.”

Lamia pondered the options for a moment. “How about going to the city of Torpedo? It’s the second largest… But the queen and her henchmen should indeed be too busy with the border fighting and the managing of Voltimum to pay much attention…”

Kaneis put his index finger and thumb on his chin, pondering.

“I’m disguised… but if they recognize me, it would spell certain doom… I’m not quite sure a small village has information about exact locations of warfare and… your mother. Additionally… I have unfinished business in Torpedo… And it’s overdue by centuries… It seems I have little choice in the matter. It might have been wiser to gather information from the smaller towns… But It might very well end up with me being caught inside warfare on accident if i hesitate.”

Kaneis put his hands on his hair and rubbed violently “Gah! There are no good options, as always!”

“Careful! the colour is coming off!” Lamia said.

“Ah, Right.” Kaneis said as he lowered his hands again.

“So… It’s decided. We will chance it, and get the heck out of here before they find us.” Lamia said.

Kaneis nodded. “No choice.”

“How far off is Torpedo anyway?” Ryko asked.

“I’m not sure. Several days I’d guess” Kaneis said.

And so, several days travel through all kinds of terrain began. As the days passed, huge mountains became visible in the far off distance. Yet even closer, there was a large city, placed next to a lake as wide and deep as the eye could possibly see. The city followed the coast of the lake for tens of leagues - and it ended up with a large castle. The city had no real wall, due to the growth it had experienced over centuries. In the very other end of the city, furthest away from the castle was a smaller castle bearing blue banners.

Finally the party reached the outskirts of the city.

“I’ve got some business to attend before asking around for information, rousing suspicion. Are you going to an inn, or coming along?” Kaneis asked.

Ryko and Lamia both looked at each other and nodded. “Of course we are coming along.” they said in unison.

“Very well. Let’s go… To the castle you see in the distance” Kaneis pointed with his index finger. “It has the banners… Of the Order of torpedo.”

“Order… of Torpedo?” Lamia asked.

“It’s an order I hold in high regard. They taught me… over eight hundred years ago.”

As they approached the castle, it became clear that it was not factly at the edge of the town - it was surrounded by houses and other constructions. The castle itself was in a bad shape, the colorful banners on closer inspection were tattered and pale from exposure to the sun. The grey boulders making up the castle were cracked and had small green plants growing from several of them.

Unfazed, Kaneis went to the door.

SLAM SLAM SLAM

After waiting for a while without response, he decided to enter.

Creeeeeaaaak

The castle was less dusty than expected, and the dim light of a single candle cast shadows at every corner.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ryko asked.

“I thought you were used to dark castles.” Kaneis responded.

tap tap tap tap

somebody running echoed throughout the halls.

tap tap tap tap

“pro torpedinis” Kaneis said in a loud voice.

tap.. tap… tap….

“Torpedinis aeternum” a female voice resounded in response.

Kaneis took a deep breath. “Reveal yourself!”

a blue glow appeared. “Torpedo i̱lektrikí̱s!” the female voice resounded.

Kaneis scrambled for his sword.

WOOSH!

DING!

“Who are you?” The green haired lady said, as the two swords crossed, and the electricity faded from her sword. Her green hair and green eyes, as well as full metal plate armour gave her the look of a warrior, but the crest on her tabard told a different story.

“I am Mavros. Personal friend of Viridis, third High-knight of the order of torpedo. And who might you be?”

Her eyes narrowed in disbelief. “Friend of the third high-knight? Ha! If you knew anything about us, you’d know he died three-quarters of a millennium ago. I don’t take kindly to liars.”

She smirked “See if you can keep up, Mavros, friend of Viridis.” “Torpedo celeritate!”

Kaneis flinched. “Speed?!” All his muscles strained up in anticipation of the lightning fast movement about to happen.

The green haired lady’s sword slowly started to slide down Kaneis’ sword.

She shouted “i̱lektrikí̱s!”

Brrzzz Brzzzz.. ZAM!

Urgh

A bolt of lightning struck, dancing over Kaneis’ blade, jumping straight into his chest.

Kaneis body went numb. He forced his limbs to move, as he slowly backed off, sword held high. At the same time, Ryko and Lamia dashed towards the lady with drawn swords.

“Whatever you are trying to prove, if you’re dead it’s not gonna do you much!” Ryko yelled as he swung his sword at the lady.

DING!

in an instant, the legs collapsed under the green-haired lady, pulling her to the floor. In that moment her hair was grazed by Lamia’s sword.

The green haired lady proceeded to swing her leg, ramming Ryko. “i̱lektrikí̱s!” she shouted again.

Ryko cramped momentarily from the electrical shock, dropping his sword a second later.

The green haired lady proceeded to stab her sword at Lamia, who dodged.

Kling kling kling.

Ryko’s sword fell to the ground, with what seemed an imprint of his fingers imbedded in the hilt.

The green haired lady had gotten up in the meantime, and swung her sword at Lamia.

Ding

Ryko darted at the green haired lady, who dodged backwards, placing Kaneis between herself and the two companions.

“torpíli̱ ti̱s megáli̱s i̱lektrikí̱s enérgeias, dó̱se mou ti̱ dýnami̱ sas .”

Electrical sparks jumped up and down Kaneis sword.

“Believe me now?”

“I see you know the most basic chant… And have some degree of favour with the Torpedo god.” she calmly stated. “Picked that skill up from a traitor, no doubt.”

She sheathed her sword. “Very well, why have you come here?.. And more importantly, what took you so long before showing the chant?”

Mavros sighed. “I have come here to pay homage to the great Torpedo and the High-Knight Viridis.”

She nodded slowly. “You can pay homage to the great Torpedo, but I can’t help you with Viridis.”

“What?” Kaneis responded. “Why?”

“He isn’t buried here like the rest of the high-knights.”

“Why not?”

“Kings aren’t buried here. You’d have to go to the great crypt under the castle in Voltimum.”

Kaneis eyes widened. “Kings?”

“Well… Technically, Prince consort”

“So… Ruby is a decendant of Ponica the first AND high-knight Viridis?”

“Have you been hiding under a rock somewhere?” The green haired lady asked in disbelief.

after a brief moment of silence, Kaneis spoke up again.

“So… Who are you, green haired lady?”

“Don’t call me that, that’s quite rude. I’m Knight-Commander Uaine.”

“So where’s the High-Knight? he’s the top of the hierarchy, right?” Ryko asked.

“We don’t have one. Haven’t had one for years.”

“What happened?” Lamia asked.

“War.” she coldly responded. “Now, if you wanted to pay Homage, this way.”

She started walking through corridors and ended up in a large room. The room was dark, but illuminated by a blue glow stemming from the water in the room. The water was replacing the entire floor of the room except for the first three paces of the room, which were from side to side covered in gray stone slabs. The remaining ten paces consisted purely of water instead of floor. Along the walls of the room some of the water had a blue glow, which illuminated the otherwise dark room. (It’s bioluminescent plankton generating the light, look it if you feel like seeing what the water is like)

“I trust you know what to do?” Uaine said to Kaneis.

Kaneis nodded. He bent his knees and jumped in one smooth motion.

Uaine’s eyes became frantic as she reached out, failing to grab Kaneis. “What are you doing?! It’s JUST THE FINGER!”

Splash

the water glowed heavily in a trail behind him.

Uaine glanced over at Ryko and Lamia. “If he doesn’t come up, don’t blame me. He just jumped into an altar… Something only done to already-dead animal sacrifices”

Ryko looked at Lamia, and she looked back at him.

Kaneis swam around a little bit. Suddenly a small ray swam up to him. Kaneis let his hand sweep across the back of the ray. As a response Kaneis arm went numb. Several more rays swam up from the depths, and circled around him. His entire body went numb, like when Uaine had used the power of Torpedo on him. He started to sink deeper and deeper. Only the blue glow of the water around him, and the similar blue trails behind the rays were keeping him company. He could barely hold his breath. A large ray swam up, many times the size of anything he expected could fit into the pool of water in the first place.

A deep, yet gentle voice resounded. “Breathe.” Kaneis did as he was asked, and took a mouthful of what he expected was water. To his surprise, he could breathe without a problem.

“Why have you come here, Mavros of Tribe virium, son of Tenebris and Lucida?” The ray said.

“I have come to pay Homage. To the great Torpedo god, and to the high knight Viridis.” Kaneis responded.

“Viridis is not here, he was already sent along two decades ago.”

“Sent along?” Kaneis asked.

Ignoring his question, The huge torpedo ray continued talking. “While your age is impressive, young one, your naivety knows no bounds. Despite all the time for acceptance, you still fail to accept even a part of yourself.”

“For now, I will aid you. You can expect this to change, if I determine your growth is hindered.”

“What do you mean? A part of myself?” Kaneis asked.

Completely ignoring him, the ray continued the monologue. “Regardless, your homage has been accepted. Your energy in this moment has been given to me as a small tribute. Don’t breathe before you are at the surface, no matter how hard it is. May we meet again.”

Kaneis took a deep breath, as he felt the water close in around him. He became excruciatingly short breathed. Kaneis’ lungs burned for air as he wildly flailed to get to the surface. After a few moments he surfaced, and greedily gasped for air, to the extent he swallowed water along with it. In a brief moment Ryko and Lamia had him pulled onto the stone surface.

Kaneis slowly got up.

“Can’t swim?” Uaine asked.

Kaneis didn’t respond.

Power was teeming inside Kaneis, and he focused for a brief moment.

Boom!

Electrical sparks danced and jumped along Kaneis’ sword.

Kaneis lifted his sword and inspected the sparks, running his finger along the blade.

“No chant?” Uaine said in surprise. “It’s still pretty basic, but Torpedo likes you, alright.”

Uaine pondered for a second. “You could stay. Half a decade might be enough for you to become a full blown Torpedo Knight.”

Kaneis shook his head. “Now is not the time. Thank you for the offer, and thanks for your help.” He turned around and walked out of the castle, with Ryko and Lamia closely following.

“But what happened?” Lamia said, when the gate closed behind them.

“I met a Torpedo.” Kaneis responded, without further elaborating.

“...Alright… So what do we do now… Except for rapidly and liberally applying colour to your pitch black hair?”

“We search for information…” Kaneis touched his hair. “It’s black again?

“Yep, and you are outside. One of those facts need to change.” Ryko said, while already holding an open jar of pink colour.

“Pink again?” Kaneis sighed.

The amaranth pink colour was rubbed into Kaneis hair. “Hm, I guess that works. Just let it dry” Ryko said.

“As I was saying...” Kaneis continued “We will split and look for information. The shorter we are in this city the more safe I’ll feel.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer together?” Lamia asked.

“If we are discovered we’re done for anyway. If we split, we can cover ground faster. This is the approach we chose - less time taken but higher risk”

“So how will we split, and who goes where?” Ryko asked.

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Thanks for reading!