Redemption's Side

"Now beginning our counsel together under the rule of King Oduda and Sovereign Lady Libitina Solovya-Obuda. With rule over the Kingdom of Ari, Kingdom of Erebos and the Kingdom of Mendi now are the government and counsel appointed by our rulers. We will now announce our officials:"

"Ambassador Alkaev, Secretary
Aleks Polzin, our Treasurer,
Abaddon Ransom, our general of the army who is unable to be here at this time
Lady Anastasii Sokolov, High Mage of Magic and Law-Maker
Lord Kazimir Volkov's, Head Executioner and Officer
Lieutenant Igor Zatsyev"

As the list goes on and on, there sits the queen on her throne with her scythe laying on the side of the throne. Her pet purred as the meeting continue as they discuss on the fate of Ari.

"And the Inner Circle of Mages?" "Ready to lend their power." "Then so be it. Lead the attack on the next town. The Forest Lands shall be ours to proclaim."

 

"Damn... its hot..." said a boy clad in a tattered military coat to himself as he walked through the desolate valley desperately looking for some shade or water, it was just him and the sun for now. Life used to be so much easier for Rush Ransom but he had to change, he was after all, the brother of the enemy he was supposed to kill with no remorse, so he decided to change his ways and atone for his previous lifestyle of murder and mayhem. He was searching for the last pure heart so he could hopefully protect the world's last hope for salvation. But for now, it was just him, his weapons, and the blazing sun which was currently driving him insane.

 

3...2...1 Ezzie counted down in her head and let her arrow go. It hit the makeshift wooden target with a loud thud you could almost here through the whole village. It was her last arrow for today, she had been practicing all day long even getting blisters on her fingers from them. Her fingers were sore and burned but still she went to all the targets and picked out all the arrows one by one and put them back in place. A few years ago she had decided to carve out little circles to hang on trees or bushes and sometimes even abandoned cottages around her village. They had helped her practice her aim but she knew she didn't need to, her aim was almost perfect. The horse she rode was getting ancy and started to try and untie himself from the tree Ezzie had tied him too, she knew it was time to go.

She was pretty far from her village, but not too far she knew not to go even anywhere near the forest. Nobody seemed to know what was there, but from the stories she heard she knew she didn't want to find out. But even sometimes she got the urge to go there for no reason at all, it was almost like something was calling her, telling her to go there but she always resisted the urge. If she looked back she could just see it off in the distance and she stared for awhile before getting on her horse and riding back home.

 

Rush looked up to see another person, "I'm okay... just hot..." he said before looking at the boy, he appeared to be no older than himself but wasn't sweating. "Odd..." he thought to himself before the thought hit him. 'You're not human, are you." he said to the boy before fainting from heat exhaustion.

 

"So, it is possible that we can find the person in that village?" "It seems so." "I want the Pure One's heart. With her, I can increase. I want the person, dead or alive. The King is the only one to override my decision." "Are you sure my queen?" "That is an order. Let us make a decree. A decree to where we have the whole land to obey this law. They must... give up their children to me. If they don't, they will be either be slaughtered or offered up as sacrifice. I will determine to see if their power is equal to the Pure One."

"The Queen of Death demands it. She is the Supreme Judge."

 

Rush almost immediately got up, spitting out muddy water and grabbing the boy by the collar, "Oh, wait... it's only you." said Rush as he placed the boy down. "Forgive me for that, just find water that's less dirty when you're going to splash it on me." said Rush as his stomach growled.

 

As Ezzie made here way back into the village, all eyes were on her. People stared and she slowed her horse down to make sure she wouldn't run into anyone. She knew not to make eye contact with anyone, they would look at her funny. For some reason the whole village didn't like her anymore, they had heard rumors and people whispered when they saw her but she never knew what any of them were saying. Slowly, she made her way to the little cottage that her and her mother lived in. She tied her horse to the stall and fed it some hay and water.

She smelled food as she walked into the cottage and into the kitchen. Her mother was already waiting for her at the table.
"Where have you been?" she questioned without looking up from her plate. Her mother had always been so nice to her and would have done anything for her but now it seemed that she was just like everyone else in the village. She would not talk to Ezzie anymore nor even treat her like a daughter.
"I was out with my bow and arrow." she replied as she sat down and started to eat.
"you could have told me you were leaving, I didn't know where you were." that comment made Ezzie mad because she knew her mother didn't care anymore if she left she didn't think anyone would care.
" I'm sorry mother, I didn't want to wake you."
"Did you go into the forest?" this was an odd question, she had never been asked that.
"No, you said to never go in there." did her mother not trust her? She thought. "what's in that forest anyways?"
"it doesn't matter, it's nothing you need to worry about just don't go there you need to stay in the village today." her mother knew the queen was coming and that she was looking for the pure one. She thought if she stayed inside today she would be safe.

 

Lady Anastasii stood up as she prepared herself to explain the topics. "Sire, under the Queen's command, we are preparing the army to go into the forest and lead any attack on anyone who lives within. All captives are acceptable. Another plan is to continue with the usual taxes in the capital and cities. Another thing is that the Inner Circle of Mages with the Queen as the leader has somewhat gained some power and now trying to create shadows. The next matter is that a small group of rebels have attacked the pub. A rebellion as usual. However, the next factor is... complicated. The Queen suggests that we track down the Pure One now."

"My liege. If I do say so myself, I do not believe that we need to try and find one person. The Light is almost gone and we have more than one-third control of this world. Pish-posh if you ask me my king," says Fitzgerald, Bishop of the Churches. "And even if the person is a child, why bother going after someone who may not even be a threat in the first place? Most likely fairy tales." "And yet, you are scared."

The queen revealed her face as she spoke. "Empress Solovya herself know about the Pure One and I do believe that there is one other person who know of several prophecies surrounding the Pure One. However, if the person gains power enough to rival us, then we may indeed lose our grip on this realm. Do remember how it is like to live in the dark, forgotten and how harsh it is to live in such a place."

 

Rush could tell he wasn't human just by the way he interacted, "Obviously you've never heard of personal space but I personally don't care at this point... I'm just looking for someone important, that is all." said Rush as he took a couple steps back just so the boy wasn't in his face anymore.

 

When Ezzies mother told her to stay inside today she already knew she wouldn't. There wasn't a day that went by where she wasn't out in the village or outside of it in the fields. She hated staying inside there was nothing to do and no one to talk to. At least she had her horse if she wanted to talk to someone. As soon as her mother went into her room she knew she was about to take a nap. It was her chance to get out. She quickly grabbed one if her long dark cloaks and tied it around her neck to keep her warm and walked out the door. Her horse started to squirm as soon as it saw Ezzie. She laughed a little and untied him and began to mount him. The horse slowly walked through the village, she tried to avoid hitting people and running into things. People stared and whispered as usual so she just put her hood up to cover her face.

As she got out of the village the horse started to gallop faster and faster. They rode around for a long time in circles and zig zags and straight lines until they came up to the forest and the horse halted to a stop. Even the horse knew not to go there and he refused to move. For some reason it was almost like something in the firest was calling her name. It was like she heard it as the wind blew. She had to go in there, she always wanted to but was always scared and today she thought might be the day.

 

"It makes sense, maybe I can find some food over there..." said Rush as he walked out of the room and into the junk yard, the smell was terrible but he didn't really care. It was highly probable that he could find the one who he was looking for, either that or some food.

 

"Hey !!!" yelled Rush as he was yanked and dragged out of the junk yard by Zechali, he freed himself from the android's strong grip. "Anyway, I never caught your name or what you really are, so fill me in before we go on an adventure." said Rush as he rubbed his arm which was now aching from being dragged.