The Blade Chronicles: Book One

by boykingkilla


Chapter 2: Flames Rising

A week had passed since Seeking Blade and Barnaby had arrived at Kailani and met up with the stallion's family. Seeking Blade had spent the rest of the week after teaching Barnaby how to speak Sylvan, which was, of course the very language that Ponykind had spoken. The lessons were hard to teach to the troll, of course, due to him not being the brightest bulb in the pack. There were many times during the lessons that the stallion would have to take breaks in order to compose himself and continue to try and teach Barnaby. By weeks end, however, Barnaby had given Seeking Blade quite the surprise... he had spoken a full sentence to where the stallion was able to understand him! The stallion and troll continued to teach and learn from one another until the weeks end. The week went by fast, despite having just returned from space and the Sylvan lessons.

Seeking Blade, Serene Morning, Night Eye and Sun Spot were working in the kitchen a week later. They had been doing the dishes and making sure that the house was clean, there was a knock at the front door. Barnaby's voice shook and rattled the house as he spoke. “Smart pony and pretty ponies, there is a weak pony here who wants to speak with you... I don't think he strong enough to speak as it is...” The troll was able to be seen through the nearby window, looking down at a stallion that was waiting was a unicorn who had red fur on his body. He had a white tie around his neck and a short grayish-purple mane with a somewhat long tail that flowed elegantly behind him. His Brand was that of a shield as he continued to knock on the door with an almost unrelenting fervor. The stallion was frightened by someone or something. Seeking Blade rolled his eyes as he approached the door. He knew who it was, and as he opened up the front door, he gave a smile.

“Hello, Blood Shield, is something wrong?” Seeking Blade asked the stallion, who had inadvertently hit him on the chest. It didn't hurt one bit, but he was still annoyed by it. Blood Shield, the Unicorn stallion, tensed up and nervously rubbed his forehead with his right front hoof. His voice was filled with worry as he began to speak. His dark green eyes glanced from the ground.

“Seeking Blade, did you hear the news this morning?” the red and black maned stallion shook his head a bit, his ears were up as he listened to his friend.

“Um, no... I have not had the opportunity to turn on our TV yet. What's the matter?” Blood Shield took a slow and somewhat quiet gulp as he looked around uneasily. His voice shook as he leaned to where his face and Seeking Blades were close enough and only he could hear.

“It was on the news briefly this afternoon before it was pulled off and the newscaster had to change the topic... but Viljatown was destroyed! It ended up being made into a dark city of some sort by somepony and... everypony and everything that was in the city, was either killed or destroyed...” his legs shook a bit as he took a breath in a attempt to steady himself.

Seeking Blades eyes grew wide as he felt worry arise in his throat, it felt like he had swallowed a piece of charcoal. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking in return. His voice was gruff, blunt and a bit worried. “When did they find Viljatown in the state that it's in? Where were the guards and watch when whatever it was that happened, occurred?” his mind was racing with thoughts, worries, fears. Seeking Blade took a look at Barnaby, speaking with the same gruffness in his voice as earlier.

“Well, Barnaby... I guess we'd best go and check it out, but I don't want to leave my family alone if some pony is out there destroying the towns and cities.” Barnaby gave a soft grunt in approval.

During the entire time that the two stallions had been talking, Serene Morning, Sun Spot and Night Eye had been listening in from the other side of the front door. Their ears were pressed to the door as the two foals and their mother heard the news, Serene Mornings eyes went wide as she gasped quietly, a wing covered her snout as she shivered. A couple moments later, her wing left her snout after she had taken a moment to calm down. She stepped away from the door and trotted towards her and Seeking Blades bedroom, only to return with a harness that had a pistol inside of a holder. The harness was wrapped around her neck and hung securely to her chest. She had on a light looking outfit on her body, it was a gold chain shirt that had her name embroidered on the outside of the collar. Against her front right shoulder was a sword that was resting in its sheath, which was tied securely so that it wouldn't fall off and inconvenience her. A serious tone came into her voice as she looked to the two foals. “Sun Spot, Night Eye... do you remember the armor, short sword and daggers that I bought you both for the self defense lessons a while back?” the two foals gave a nod as they backed away from the front door. They looked to their mother with curiosity in their eyes as she spoke once more. “Go get that stuff on and secured to your bodies, and meet me out in the front yard. Your father and Barnaby won't be going anywhere alone, because we're going with them...”

Sun Spot and Night Eye blinked a bit as they soon gave their mother a nod, and went to their bedrooms. Serene Morning took the moment as she opened up the front door and stepped outside and into the sunlight. Her head turned to Seeking Blade as she cleared her throat, her voice kept the serious tone from just moments before. “You aren't going to be going alone, honey. I won't let you, and neither will the foals. And don't even try to tell me, “Oh, it's alright. I'll be okay!” like you said the last time, and ended up stranded on a freaking mining planet!” she took a moment to catch her breath, and once she calmed down she was able to notice that she had caused him to stare at her. She watched as he composed himself.

Seeking Blade had been quite surprised by Serene Morning and her serious tone. However, he managed to shake the surprise off and managed to speak in response to her. “Serene, as much as I want you and the foals to join me and Barnaby on this outing, I really don't think it would be wise for you to join us. We don't know the exact nature of this threat, and what if we were to be separated by large groups of enemies?” he tilted his head a bit, and was surprised by a playful yet assuring smile. He laughed a bit as he was able to tell that she wasn't going to give up. “Well, I can tell that you won't be giving up. As well as that you have something up your sleeves, if we did end up separated were to happen. Alright, sure, you and the foals can come along and help out. “

As Serene Morning and Seeking Blade talked, Sun Spot and Night Eye walked out of the house and joined them. The two foals each had a different set of armor on and different weapons in sheaths wrapped and tied around their sides. Sun Spot wore a set of white plated armor that protected his entire body, His wings had been set through two wide openings on the sides so that he could fly properly without being grounded. A long sword rested in the sheath by his side and as he stood there, he felt like he could take on anything. His sister had on a set of studded leather armor that covered her body, in the several sheaths by her front legs rested daggers and throwing knives. She looked to their mother and nodded. “Yeah, no way are you going alone.” she said, her brother decided to chime in as well as he looked to his father.

“The last time you went off planet, we swore to never part ways with you. So, we aren't going to let you do this on your own. Besides, what's that old saying? Ponies that stand together, stick together?”

As he stood there and looked his and Serene's two foals over and looked at their arms and armor, Seeking Blade thought that he saw himself... no, he knew that he saw himself inside of them! They both had the very same strong and proud looking stance that he did when he was their age. He felt happy that his family wasn't going to let him go through whatever fresh hell awaited him alone, and he wasn't going to keep them from following him this time. He gave a nod to the two foals and approached them, his front legs wrapped around their heads as he hugged them close. “You know what, you three are right. I should let you all join me and help others that need it. so, I will not turn any of you away from following me.” he looked from Barnaby to his wife and their foals after he let go of them. “I need to go in and get prepared, Barnaby. Go get the equipment that we brought with us, where we are going. We are going to need all of the help we can get for this journey.” the stallion turned and trotted into the house.

Blood Shield gave Serene Morning and the two foals a nervous nod with a smile as he trotted off and vanished down the street. Barnaby grunted as he got to his feet and walked over the fence of the back yard that rested around the sides. It was a white painted fence, but Barnaby didn't have the time to stop and admire the pretty fences color. He walked over to the shed that was pony sized and carefully tried to open the door, which promptly broke away from the doors frame at the slightest tug. He let out a growl of frustration as he reached his left hand inside and felt around for the locker he and Seeking Blade had brought back full of equipment. After a few sharp tools fell on his hand and cut it open, he managed to find the equipment locker and pulled it out. The front of the shed gave a weak and wooden snap as a hole the size of the trolls fist ended up remaining. Though the shed itself was still supported by its remaining three walls.

As he was changing into his armor and grabbing his rifle and long sword, he heard the loud snap that came from the shed and trotted to the sliding glass door. As he looked outside and saw the damaged shed, he went wide eyed as he watched Barnaby push a hole the size of his fist into it. He watched his large, blue and black friend pull out the equipment locker. He watched the troll return to the front yard. The stallion grunted as he turned back to his armor and finished changing into it. Seeking Blade then wrapped and tied his long sword in its sheath around his front right shoulder, trotting over to the rifle that rested against his bedroom wall. He picked it up and rested it on his back, slinging it into the harness on the side of his armor. He turned around and trotted out of the bedroom and to the front door. It was a matter of seconds that passed as he walked out the front door and closed it behind him. He looked to Barnaby and narrowed his eyes briefly, before he laughed. He looked to Serene Morning, Sun Spot and Night Eye. Seeking Blade then looked to Barnaby after a few moments had passed, a smile came over his face as he began to walk towards the harbor. He turned his head and stopped as he stepped onto the sidewalk, a playful tone came into his voice as he spoke. “Well? Let's get going! These events can't go unchecked, can they?”

Barnaby, Serene Morning, Sun Spot and Night Eye grinned as they hurried over and all five of them began to gallop and run towards the harbor. As they walked, every pony stared at them. Their armor and weapons rested in their sheaths and against their bodies as they walked. The foals looked to the onlookers, gave a smile, and waved. The other ponies pulled their eyes away from the group and went back to what they were doing. As they headed towards the harbor, Serene Morning looked to Seeking Blade. Her voice was a somewhat nervous tone as she spoke to him. “Why were they looking at us like that? They didn't seem scared or afraid, but... even still, it's like they can't help it.”

Seeking Blade nodded as he looked back to his wife, his voice was calm and reassuring as he spoke back to her. “Yeah, I can tell that they are surprised. That's really all that it is, Serene... surprise. Specially since you and the foals are joining Barnaby and I. Hell, it's very rare to see a Chaos Hunter in this day and age where technology is so prevalent. But, to be fair, we need the Chaos Hunters now more then ever. And I don't see any wandering the streets here on Kailani. At least, not yet.” He stared ahead as they made their way closer and closer to the harbor. The smooth, paved road soon met with the cold stonework of the docks as the smell of salt water and the soft breeze blew gently against their bodies. The steamboat was docked and a stallion was hard at work taking the boarding passes of the other passengers.

Seeking Blade trotted calmly to a nearby stall which had a very bored looking mare behind the counter. She was a Unicorn who had a well kept blonde mane and a slim build, her tail was long, blonde like her mane and dragged along the ground. She stirred to reality as she saw the strong and dashing stallion, her blue eyes went wide as she sat upright on her chair. Her fur was a scarlet red that shined in the sunlight and her cheeks turned a dark red as she got a look at Seeking Blade. Armor and all swayed as she gave a soft smile and spoke to him. “Oh! Hello there, sir... is there anything that I can do to help you?” she couldn't help but stare at him. Serene Morning saw the mare oggling her husband, and felt agitated over it.

Seeking Blade blinked a bit as he nodded, looking back to Barnaby, Serene Morning, Sun Spot and Night Eye. He looked back to the mare with a soft chuckle as he took out a small pouch the jingled with gold. “Yeah, I would like five boarding passes for the steamboat right there. It's heading to Port Mareheart, right?” he asked, his eyes glanced around the harbor and stopped at a shadowy alleyway. He saw a vague, pony-like shape that was there briefly before it vanished into the shadows. He stared for a moment more before he turned his head back to the mare behind the counter. He was more alert then before, he wasn't wanting to draw attention to himself or the rest of his company. He was ready for action, though. If it came down to fighting.

The mare gave a nod as she blinked, lifting up a binder that as she opened it revealed a schedule and pages of boarding passes. The schedule was printed out and Port Mareheart was indeed on the schedule. She looked to him and batted her eyelashes at him in a flirtatious manner. Her voice was more professional this time as she spoke, with a sultry undertone. “Yes, we have boarding passes to Port Mareheart... so, you want five of them? That is normally two-hundred gold, but, since I like you. You can get a discount of fifty gold, taking the total to one-hundred fifty gold. Or, you could repay me with a favor when you return.” she gave a sweet smile, one that caused Seeking Blade's wife to feel the anger begin to really rise up inside of her.

She saw the unicorn mare bat her eyes in the same manner that she did. The same way that she and her special somepony had ended up connecting and finding one another. The pegasus mare began to trot forward towards the stall, her eyes narrowed as she made her way up and stood beside Seeking Blade. She spoke in a annoyed tone as she opened up the bag of gold and pushed the two-hundred gold over to the mare. “Just give us the boarding passes and we will be on our way...” she spread her wings in an intimidating manner, causing the unicorn mare to gulp as she pulled out the boarding passes and handed them to her. Serene Morning pulled the gold pouch closed and turned to Seeking Blade.

“We got the boarding passes, let's get going before the steamboat leaves.” she said, turning around as she took the passes in her hooves and flew off back to Barnaby and the others. She gave a motion to the steamboat and flew to the line, with the other three behind her.

Seeking Blade lifted the pouch back into his armor and turned, trotting off to join them. As he left, the unicorn mare nervously began to act busy. She watched their boarding passes get stamped by the stallion that was working there and they all trotted up the boarding ramp. Barnaby stomped up the boarding ramp with loud, heavy thuds of his feet. As the troll stepped onto the steamboat, he sent ponies of every sort flying up and five feet into the air. Thankfully, when they all landed, they were unharmed. The boarding ramp was pulled up and back into place as the steamboats horn let off a loud tooting sound as it detached from the dock of the harbor and set sail for Port Mareheart.

The unicorn sighed as she watched the steamboat chuff away, the smoke billowing out of its smokestack. She began to daydream about the handsome stallion, clad in his armor and with his weapon at the ready. She was so busy daydreaming that she didn't hear the sound of hooves trot up behind her. The last thing that she remembered, was the wooden counter meeting her forehead before she fell unconscious. The figure that had knocked her out used magic as his horn glowed, lifting her up onto his back as he then vanished with a soft glow. No pony that was around saw him, despite all of the active guards that had been patrolling the area.

The steamboat traveled for a day and a half before it arrived at the docks of Port Mareheart. The passengers disembarked from it and made their way towards the many rows of buildings that lined the streets. Seeking Blade, Sun Spot, Serene Morning, Night Eye and Barnaby headed to a hotel. The place was known as the Shattered Rose, it looked well maintained from the outside. As they walked inside of the Shattered Rose, they found themselves in a welcoming and inviting lobby where ponies, humans, dwarfs, elves and beast people were walking around with red uniforms on as there was a stallion behind the receptionist counter. He looked up as the group walked inside and gave a wide smile. His voice was joyful and happy as they approached the counter. “Good mid-day to you! I'm guessing that you need a room for five? Though the big guy will have to stay here in the lobby, he's too tall for our rooms... well, most of them. Five rooms all together comes up to-”

Seeking Blade stopped the stallion mid-sentence and set three-hundred gold on the counter. He looked to the stallion with a grunt. “Alright, then here. Take the gold and give us our room key. I have a bad feeling about tonight, so if I were you, I'd keep a watch and report anything that seems suspicious to the city watch.” he didn't hide his serious tone as the receptionist looked to the gold. He handed Seeking Blade the key to the hotel room and grinned. As the stallion trotted away with the key, he would hear the one behind the counter mumble something. But he couldn't tell what it was that was said. Seeking Blade looked to Barnaby and his family, his voice was calm as he spoke. “Okay, Barnaby. You won't be able to fit in any room aside from the lobby, so keep a lookout once every two hours. Serene Morning, Sun Spot, Night Eye and I will take the hotel room and shift out every two hours for watch, ourselves. Something feels off, and I have a bad feeling about tonight.” he said as the rest of them nodded.

As they went to their hotel room, Barnaby settled in as the lot of them went to sleep. Besides Barnaby having a retroactive look every now and again, Seeking Blade had spent his first two hours on watch. The rest of the night was going by relatively smoothly, up until midnight. A fire started and Seeking Blade and the others were woken up by a scream of terror. And flames that had begun to engulf the entire port city. Seeking Blade, Sun Spot, Night Eye, Serene Morning and Barnaby grabbed their gear as they quickly rushed out into the streets. Their eyes went wide as they noticed a large crowd of some sort walking their way. Though, they didn't have to guess as to what it was. The crowd, as it approached them, dispersed into various buildings. The sounds of screams filled the air. As the leader of the crowd approached them, Seeking Blade got a very bad feeling about him. He drew his sword, and began to clash with the stallion as long black tendrils and tentacles moved from his back. He had no brand, and as he locked swords with the stallion. The rest of the crowd began to surge forth towards Serene Morning, the foals and Barnaby.