//------------------------------// // 3. Fall of Kirldan // Story: The Paladins of Light-Prologue // by Cobalt Bristle //------------------------------// Sandrick woke up with a throbbing headache. His leg had lost feeling, but it was most certainly there. Whoever managed to save him from that nightmare of an encounter had to be around him somewhere, unless they left him to die. He took a look around him, first taking a look at the sky. It was definitely night time, but the exact time was unknown to him. He was in a clearing in a forest of some kind. His leg was wrapped in some kind of a cloth which was stained red. When he tried to stand, his leg refused to move properly, opting to stay limp. Annoyed at the realization that he couldn't stand, he tried over and over again. Each attempt resulted in him falling down, making him even more determined to get up. On his sixth attempt, he heard a female voice come from the shadows. "Careful there. You might hurt yourself more than you already are," she called, a trace of annoyance in her voice. Startled at first, Sandrick looked to where he thought the voice came from, but it sounded again from a different direction. "You should really be more alert. You look the part of a warrior, but your vigilance needs a little work. Sloppy movements won't get you anywhere," she smirked at him. "You could at least show yourself. I'd rather match this voice to a face," Sandrick shot back. At these words, a small snicker could be heard. Shortly afterwards, she jumped in front of the paladin, making him jump at the sudden movement. She wore a skin tight suit that seemed to blend into what she was standing in front of. A red dagger was hung at her hips, held in place by a ring sheath. She had a simple bow in her hand, but it was died a color resembling blood. The center of the bow had a white grip, becoming quite distracting in the moonlight. Sandrick was speechless as he looked at the woman who he assumed had just saved him from certain death. "Well that wasn't what I was expecting," he said under his breath, but it was still caught by her. "Well what did you expect? A bugbear?" She asked teasingly. A bugbear? What in Riyara is that? Sandrick thought. Instead of voicing his thoughts, he decided instead to reply a bit more appropriately. "Honestly, I didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't anything like this," Sandrick replied, gesturing towards the woman. "I'm not sure whether to think what you did back in Wolf was stupid or brave. Either way, we could use a fighter like you, even if you are wounded. I'm Kirileth, by the way," Kirileth informed him, before offering him her hand. For the first time, Sandrick noticed that she was wearing fingerless gloves that only covered her palm. Taking the hand, Sandrick found that he was able to partially stand, with the support of Kirileth anyway. "Thanks. I'm Sandrick," He told her, managing a smile. She didn't reply, instead continuing to lead him deeper into the forest. After a while of hobbling along on Sandrick's part, they reached what looked to be a cave of some kind in the side of a mountain. A figure stood outside of it, a torch in his hand. A helmet covered all of his facial features, the rest of him equally armored. When they reached him, he took a look down at Kirileth and stepped aside. Sandrick was led inside by her, and it took him awhile to realize that two guards had followed them when they first entered. For the most part of the walk, everyone stayed to themselves, only giving them a curious glance every now and then. A man who looked similar to the one who attacked him before Kirileth saved him was having a conversation with a man in a tan trench coat. He quickly dismissed him when he saw Kirileth and Sandrick approaching him. "Ah, Kirileth! Welcome back," he then cast a suspicious glance down towards Sandrick. "Who's this then?" "This is Sandrick, I didn't try to press any information out of him. I saw all I needed to to know that he's not with them. He walked into the palace and was attacked by the thing that took over," she explained. "Interesting. Come with me Sandrick. Kirileth, you're dismissed for now," he ordered, getting a salute from her. He led Sandrick into a back part of the cave, stopping when they got to something that resembled a desk. It was made of wood, but it was evident that a novice made it. It curved in some parts and had a slightly domed top. "It's not ideal, but this is where I talk to newcomers. It has minimal echos and I managed to get one of my men to get something close to a desk in here. I guess we better start with introductions. You met Kirileth, former Jarl of Azuel. I'm Crion Lightfoot, former general and co-leader of this broken nation. You are either one of those hermits that come out every ten years, like that man who calls himself a Doctor, or you're not from here," Crion explained. Sandrick paused for a second, thinking about how much this general knew about 'not from here.' He decided to tell him the truth, what else did he have to do at this point? "No, I'm not from here. I'm not even from this planet. I come from a land called Riyara," he explained, getting the general's attention. "Riyara? You're from one of the other dimensions?" Crion asked, trying not to yell. "Yes...." Sandrick answered, hesitantly. "Then what I feared is true. The Prophecy of Forgotten Realms is coming true," he sighed. "A prophecy? You mean this is documented?" He asked, hope starting to rise. "Not exactly this. After 'The hold of a nation will be lost' there's a line that says 'A soldier of light will come from another land and aid the seven realms.' I never understood it, but now I may. A soldier of light is a paladin, but there are only 3 users of light magic not under the thrall of those things. Kirileth, Rah'zalt, and myself. I wouldn't describe any of us as paladins though," Crion elaborated, getting a bit aggravated. "I think I may have the answer to this one Crion," Sandrick informed the confused general. "Many think they do, but this prophecy hasn't been cracked in years. Any insight you have on it will be appreciated though," Crion replied, sounding a bit bored. "I believe that I am the soldier of light. Where I'm from, I'm the commander of a legion, and a paladin," he continued, a hint of smugness seeping into his voice. He was unimpressed by Sandrick's little speech until he hit the last word. When he said that, Crion immediately took his hands of the desk and put his hand on his sword. "If you are infact a paladin, and you come from Riyara, then we need to get you out of here. If there's even the slightest chance you're the paladin in the prophecy, then you're not safe," Crion told him, putting his hand over Sandrick's leg and whispering a word that was incomprehensible to him. "You should be able to stand on your own now, but even my magic has limits," Crion commented. "Thanks, but I still don't know what you mean. How am I not safe?" Sandrick asked. Crion looked over at him with a saddened look on his face. "When they attacked Wolf, none of us expected it, not even my co-leaders. We fought as much as we could, but there were too many of our own men fighting against us. I still have no idea why they were attack me, or why Black Wolf and Shrub turned against me. All I know is that I have to protect you if I have any chance of getting my friends back, and I will do so if it costs me my life," Crion explained, motioning him to follow. "General, care to tell me why this guy keeps claiming that he was sent here to help us?" Kirileth asked Crion as soon as he exited, motioning to the person Crion was talking to when Sandrick walked in. "I honestly don't know if he's telling the truth or if he's gone insane. Either way, it would be helpful to have him around. He knows a thing or two about what's happening," Crion replied, looking back at the man. When he was looking at him, the man instantly came over to them. "All right, chaps, what's the plan then?" he asked, in an accent Sandrick couldn't place. "And who are you?" Sandrick asked, his eyebrow raised. "I'm the Doctor," he replied, a smile on his face. "The Doctor? So, a medic?" Sandrick asked him, getting more skeptical. "No, well, not really. I think I've dawdled around enough though. Allons-y." With that, the Doctor left. "That was, strange, to say the least, but we have more pressing problems right now. Kirileth, I believe we may have found our soldier of light," Crion told her, causing Kirileth to widen her eyes. "You don't mean Sandrick do you?" She asked, gesturing towards him. "The very same. He claims to be a paladin where he comes from. If what he told me is true, the situation is more dire than we thought," Crion said, urgency in his voice. "Indeed. We need to get him out of here. We need to get out of here. I'm not sure how many of our men are actually our men. Without trust, this place will fall apart," Kirileth agreed. At this time, the same soldier who was guarding the outside of the cave stumbled up next to Crion. He whispered something into his ear, causing Crion to draw his sword. "They're upon us. Kirileth, we need to move. Sandrick is our priority, make sure he gets out of here alive. Rah'zalt, with me," Crion ordered, the soldier who Sandrick assumed was Rah'zalt nodding. For the first time in what felt like ages, Sandrick put his hand on the hilt of his sword and drew it out of his sheath. The steel reflected the light off one of the torches, giving it a dramatic flair. The moment didn't last long though, as Crion and Rah'zalt could be heard fighting the shades. "C'mon, let's move. If anyone can outlast what's happening down there, it's going to be them," Kirileth comforted him. Sandrick nodded, leveling his sword. His armor had taken quite a beating during the battle against the shades, his leg plate had started to fall apart, but it was still intact. His chestplate had a slash in the back from the shade pulling the blade from his leg, weakening its structure. Regardless of his poor armor quality, Sandrick still stuck near Kirileth, or at least tried to. "Can you at least slow down a little? Not everyone is stealthy and agile," Sandrick commented. "You're right, you're not stealthy or agile," she shot back with a smile. At this point, Sandrick just shut up and tried his best to follow her. "How big is this cave?" He ended up asking. "Oh quit you're whining. We're almost out," Kirileth replied. When moonlight could be seen, Kirileth finally dropped her stealth and jumped down next to Sandrick. As they were about to walk out, Crion could be seen running behind them. Several shades could be seen chasing him and Rah'zalt through the passageway. "Kirileth, keep going! We've lost the main hall!" He shouted out to them, causing Kirileth to motion Sandrick out the door. When Crion and Rah'zalt were nearing the exit, the shades were gaining on them. Rah'zalt stopped and yelled back to Crion. "Go, I'll hold them off! You need to get out of here!" Shortly after, the guard turned around and started to fight the shades. His sword was a blur to the rest of the group, Rah'zalt giving it all he had left to make sure the others got out safe. Crion finally reached the duo, a red sword with a silver grip and guard in his hand. "We need to move. Rah'zalt's sacrifice cannot be for nothing," He ordered, following the other two out. "And where do you think you're going? Shouldn't you two be dead already?" A voice sneered at Crion at Sandrick, not seeming to notice Kirileth. Crion looked over at me with a playful look in his eye. "Why, we were just on our way out. Whatever are you talking about?" He called back. "That was a rhetorical question," he replied, drawing what looked to be a warhammer. "Kirileth, initiate take down!" Crion shouted. The shorter figure looked confused for a second, right before the pommel of a red dagger smashed into his face, before embedding itself into his heart in one fluid motion. He gasped, then fell to the ground, unconscious or dead was to be determined. "No time to check. If he was a shade, he's not now. If he wasn't, let's just say that no man alive, not even me, could've withstood that," Crion remarked, before running, Sandrick doing his best to follow. "That base was the last resistance that Kirldan had against them. Without it, I'm afraid that Kirldan won't last much longer. Sandrick, if you can still change dimensions, this would be a helpful time to do it," Crion informed him, many emotions flickering on his face: a few being anger, sadness, and desperation. "I can, but I'm not sure you'll like where we're going," Sandrick replied. "Even if I don't, it's better than dying here, knowing that they won," Crion called back, stopping his aimless running. "Well, I'm gonna need you and Kirileth to put your hands on top of mine," Sandrick informed them, putting the dimensional transporter in his left hand and covering it with his right. Crion and Kirileth followed suit, a serious expression on Crion's face and Kirileth having a neutral expression. Sandrick whispered "Equestria," and they were whisked away from Kirldan.