//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Legends of Caribouria // Story: Guardians of Harmony: Rise of the Knights // by Postwarmonkey50 //------------------------------// A few days had passed since they became Knights from within the secret location. The Humane 7 continued to train under Goldenrod. The husbands and Emily were quick learners. Thanks to their weapons, they were able to make. They, minus Beau, had begun to learn hand-to-hand combat to fight properly. Then they tried the weapons they held in their hands. Soon, they began to learn how to fight with their weapons. Emily learned how to use the Dragon Halberd as she carefully moved her weapon. Frosty used his War Hammer to twirl it around as if it were a bo-staff, but he would also ensure how to use it properly when facing great foes. Bolt used his double edge sword as he twirled it around him like a Shaolin Monk. He made good work of them and ensured that his skills with a blade were good. Genus trained with his Butterfly Battle Axe. He acted like it was a spear and made good use of it. Silver trained with his Rapier sword. He remembered that during his youth, during his depressing days, he would often train himself in the art of fencing and other forms of sword fighting to make him properly trained. Bucky trained himself to use the Boar Bomber Gauntlets. They were a little bulky, but thanks to his hard work on the Apple Farm and his training in that boxing match, he could make good work of them. Once they were finished, Goldenrod personally began training them. She had her metallic bo-staff, indestructible to any weapon that tried to strike it. She moved with ease as if she was the wind, blocking and striking when countering their moves. At the same time, while they were standing at the entrance of the sacred place, Brightstar continued to teach Beau about the world around him, even Equestria, and what the Mane 6 had gone through, despite what they had told them. “Whoa,” said Beau, “I had no idea they went through so much.” “Indeed.” Said Brightstar. “Sometimes I wonder if Celestia made a mistake of making Twilight a Princess.” “Excuse me?” said Beau as if he felt like his grandmother insulted his wife. “Walk with me, and I’ll explain.” Said Brightstar. The two of them walked back to where they thought would help Thorin. But unknown to them, they were slowly being monitored and observed from the shadows by an unknown assailant. The assailant squinted its eyes and continued to follow them from the shadows. As they walked, Beau asked, “So what did you mean by Celestia making a mistake?” “Everypony and Creature knew Twilight as the Princess of Friendship.” Said Brightstar, “But unfortunately, during her time, her emotions and mental stability tended to get the better of her, and she would make brash decisions, which would spell disaster for Equestria.” “Oh, come on, that’s not fair.” Said Beau. “Sure, she may have made mistakes, but she didn’t know that things would fall out of place.” “And since when did any of her plans work?” asked Brightstar. “They plan, they move in, all hell breaks loose, and her friends would sometimes have to pay for the consequences. Take what happened at her brother’s wedding, for example. When she tries to expose the fake bride, she thinks that Cadance is evil and that she doesn’t have any proof or evidence and acts like a jealous sister. And because of her previous rant, her friends didn’t believe her, and they ended up leaving her, even after they promised to listen to her, delusional or not.” “But Chrysalis had them fooled.” Said Beau, “She knew that their senses would be so dull and lowered, and she used that to her advantage. From the rumors I heard spreading, folks said that ponies are the dumbest, considering how many times they were nearly conquered and nearly froze themselves because of the overzealous leadership.” “I’d be offended if it weren’t true.” Said Brightstar. “Then came the day when Tirek came along. She didn’t tell her friends about her keeping the Alicorn magic from the other princesses with her.” “But she had to,” said Beau. “Princess Celestia ordered her to keep it a secret so Tirek wouldn’t get his hands on them.” “Yes,” said Brightstar, “But she shouldn’t have kept it a secret from them. The first rule of Friendship is no lies. Cause if she had told them, they would’ve come up with a better plan, and Tirek wouldn’t have used them to get her into surrendering. The first rule of friendship; no lies. After all, it is the same with humanity. They have kept many secrets from one another, and it is because of secrets that caused many to distrust one another.” “How could I forget.” Said Beau. “It’s what started the Cold War.” “As a leader, she shouldn’t let stress get to her.” Said Brightstar, “A true leader’s role is to be focused and to ensure that they need to have a calm mind; otherwise, they’ll end up doing more harm than good. Otherwise, she’d make the same mistake as she did at the Wedding.” “Ain’t that the truth.” Said Beau. But then something had bothered Beau for a bit, something that he had wondered since they first heard of him. “You’ve been around long, right?” asked Beau. “From your point of view…how did Dainn become what he is today?” Brightstar was silent the moment she stopped. She had a worried look on her face. But from the shadows, the assailant was surprised that he brought up Dainn and that the female pony knew how Dainn came to be. “It is a tale not to be taken lightly.” Said Brightstar, “But to tell you how he became like this is to tell you how all of this began.” They walked to the opening, where both of them could find a place to sit down and make a campfire so that Brightstar could enlighten him. “It began so long ago,” said Brightstar as she looked at the flame, “When King Dorian still reigned, and his son Dainn had fallen down his dark path.” ************************************************************************ ******************************** (To the readers, I’m going to put her conversation into Italic mode as a way of flashback cause it’s way too much detail to go through to make it easier for everybody.) ************************************************************************ ******************************** Long before Equestria had been founded, long before Gusty had been born, Caribouria was also young. Many creatures had lived apart in this world, as some would want nothing to do with the other. That was, until Dorian’s great grandfather, Thorium, had planned to have a world live in unity. So the first thing he did, united the Caribou, his people. Thanks to him, he made Caribouria flourish into what it had meant to be. But once he was done, he didn’t want to stop there. He had a vision of every creature throughout the world living as one. When many creatures, Humans, Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, Dragons, Yaks, Griffons, Hippogriffs, and so on, came to be, he invited them over to his kingdom. With every creature’s leaders, they planned how big the kingdom should be. Once they did, they could get large enough territories for other creatures. And in time, formed the first council. And during those times, while exploring the land, they discovered new dangers. But even in those times, we also had many dangers; before Grogar came along, during the reign of King Tyr, one of his disciples by the name of Svarndagr until he felt threatened when Tyr took another by the name of Freya in to be his disciple too. Then one day, she performed a miracle; she developed a way to rid of the Cycling Curse for good. The first she did was use to remove a curse that was placed on Tyr’s son, Durin. King Tyr was so thankful he gave her his blessings to marry his son, with whom she fell in love. But Svarndagr got angry, believing an old fashion heresy that had been outdated since Caribouria came to be, believed that a doe couldn’t be queen because the females had no right to rule. He tried to kill her, but young Durin and his council came and saved their lives. Because of this, the king was so furious he personally removed Svarndagr’s antlers and made sure that the curse of the Cycle would forever remain in him and banish him to the farthest land. Svarndagr swore revenge before he left. But as he traveled, he continued to march deeper into a forest of unknown power, that one would not find on any map in Caribouria. He soon made his way towards what appeared to be a pool, an ancient well of sorts, larger than an average lake. It contained mystical powers that none could fathom. He thought he could use it to exact his revenge on Caribouria. So he cut his hand and spoke about an ancient spell using a demonic chant that had been forbidden before Caribouria began. The moment when he spilled his blood in the pool, it caused the waters to be corrupted and transform the entire forest into a half-evil place. Once he was done, he used the power of the well and his newfound power to create a fortress surrounding and protecting the well. But simultaneously, he gathered the Warg Horde and gave them all his power. Soon, he created a large enough army to destroy all of Caribouria and all who would live in it. One by one, settlements and towns had fallen by his power. But as they were halfway conquering, Durin caught wind of this and led three hundred of his strongest soldiers against the invasion. The attack had been repelled, but he believed every creature needed to stop Svarndagr together, not alone. So he sent out a message to each creature’s leaders. Each leader answered the call and came together. Durin said that now was the time to unite, or they would not have a future. They agreed, and from then, the first Alliance was born. An Alliance of many creatures. Caribou, Humans, Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, Yaks, Griffons, Dragons, Changelings, Hippogriffs, Kirin, Wolves, Deer, Abyssinians, Diamond Dogs, Harpies, Ahuizotles, Minotaurs and Sirens, all united as one and marched against the Warg Horde, and on the plains beyond the forest, they fought for the freedom of the world. It had been a hard battle; for many, victory had been near. But Svarndagr’s power could not be undone. He fought with the full power of the forest he had corrupted. And during the fight, he killed King Tyr, but his son, Durin, did not take kindly to it, and, with the power of the blessings from this cave, he used it to defeat Svarndagr. Soon, half the Horde was wiped out, while the other half was forced to retreat. It was a great achievement for them and showed that as long as they worked together. But Svarndagr. He was wounded beyond recognition. He walked back to the well from within his fortress with what strength he had. With his last breath, he used his power and his life force, along with the Cursed Cycle, upon the forest, turning it into Helheim Forest, a place that would be forbidden to travel to for all of the time. As for the kingdoms, the leaders began to divide the territories of Caribouria. They would still keep the kingdom’s name, but they would also be at the center, with many other territories surrounding it. Over time, it became a beacon of paradise for many who wished to live in peace. But over time, Caribouria became overpopulated, and other kingdoms decided to find new lands beyond the kingdom. They chose their first-ever colonists and ventured beyond their borders. At first, every creature was happy with the territories they picked, and everything seemed to go well. They had no idea how wrong they were in the end. In time, Grogar and his brother… “Wait,” interrupted Beau as he said, “Grogar had a brother? But there’s no mention of him in Equestria’s books.” “And we chose to keep it that way.” Said Brightstar, “Grogar may have the power to control monsters, but his brother, named Salazar, was the true leader.” “I see.” Said Beau while Brightstar continued with her story. Before Grogar became a monster, many other monsters roamed the world, destroying everything in their path. Many others had suffered under their wrath. Gusty the Great, a human, named Achilles from the House of Rohan, and I, realizing that the world is very dangerous, have decided to become protectors of the world with many others on our side. Twenty each from every kingdom, to show that we are a unified force to be reckoned with. But we needed something special to help. But one day, we felt a powerful urge to go to a secret location, which led us to where the Grand Tree of Harmony would rest. We combined our power into a single seed and planted it onto the ground. With the aid of the Kingdom of Cunabula, we created our very own trees of Harmony. And with its power, we could create the Grand Tree of Harmony, where all of Harmony would spread. Once that was done, they took pieces of the tree’s branches and ended up scattering them throughout the world, and in time, they began to grow their own trees as well. But by the time they wanted to reach Equestria, Discord had already been on a rampage and caused tons of damage to everyone around them. He even turned the other guardians of other trees against one another. Cunabula’s Knights wanted to destroy the trees, but I, Achilles, and Gusty seeing that we were the founders and the leaders told them they had no right to do that. The powers of Harmony had called to us, telling us we needed to spread harmony and protect the world. We even reminded them that back in Caribouria, during king Tyr’s reign, Svarndagr nearly took over and destroyed the world. Because of the combined might of every creature, he was defeated. And we reminded them there will always be evil forces like him and Discord. We also had a duty to uphold, for just because they hit a small bump in the road doesn’t mean they can give up that easily. But they refused to listen and were consumed by paranoia and madness. Seeing that we had no other choice, we immediately told King Thaddeus, King Dorian’s father, what their intention was, so with their help and the Grand Tree of Harmony, we could stop them before they could do any more damage. We soon stripped them of their knighthood and ensured they would never do something like this again. But soon enough, when Grogar and his brother Salazar came to power, the Knights of Cunabula sold us out to them and his legion of monsters. Their first act was to ensure that Harmony would be destroyed, and the first ones to fall victim were the Changelings from outside of Caribouria, the ones you would one day know as Queen Chrysalis’ Changelings. Seeing that we had no choice, we gathered every single knight and soldier from around the world and launched the biggest attack we could ever muster. But I’m afraid it came at a large price. Many brave Knights had fallen in battle, and many soldiers were lost. But through it all, in the end, we won. Grogar had his bell taken away before he was destroyed, and Salazar had disappeared into the wilderness, never to be seen again. But then, one day, we began to hear rumors of how humans were to blame for the cause of what happened. It was faked by the Cunabula, but slowly they were beginning to take effect. And realizing they had no choice, every single human worldwide chose to leave this world behind before moving on to the human world, including Achilles and our child. It broke my heart when I was forced to watch the love of my life and my child leave. But for their sake, I had to make that sacrifice. And while I was forced to be an immortal, I had watched the world change while Caribouria continued to advance on their own. I had watched the pony tribes unite as one, how the land they chose became Equestria, and how the heroes of that land came to be, including Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. But I feared that Equestria wouldn’t be safe from future enemies, so I and a few Caribourian representatives, including King Dorian himself, traveled to Equestria. We met the Pillars of Equestria, and with their help, we created a powerful seed that would one day grow into the Tree of Harmony. But after they left to face their former comrade, we realized that the tree would take too long, so we could make the tree grow faster with our combined magic and the Grand Tree’s power, we could make the tree grow faster. But we knew we couldn’t make a move without Stygian detecting us, so we had to wait it out. After Stygian was placed in Limbo through Starswirl’s foolish decision, we began to work. Once the tree was active, Harmony slowly began to spread while the Elements of Harmony were instantly created. But after what Starswirl had done, we could no longer tolerate their decision, so we chose to change the Elements into what Equestria knows today. After the Princesses found the Elements and used them to defeat Discord, King Dorian came to both and invited them to his kingdom. Dorian had planned to unite the other creatures from other kingdoms to establish an Alliance with the other kingdoms to open trade routes and unite them, starting with Equestria. One of them, however, was not keen on that idea. “Dainn.” Said Beau before looking at Brightstar. “That’s right.” Said Brightstar. Dainn was born before the Pony Tribes were united. The royal family had tried to ensure that Dainn would grow upright and be a better Prince to be a better king. Unfortunately, the power went to his head, thinking that because of a simple title alone would make him a better ruler, and he began to think he was better than anyone else. He even belittled other women, thinking they were inferior and unimportant. King Dorian tried to teach Dainn from right to wrong for many years, but every attempt failed. Dainn had become cold and severe. He belittled his own brothers for what he perceived to be their weaknesses and treated many women like they were cattle that had been outlawed for a hundred years after Equestria had been founded, and even argued, sometimes violently, with his relatives, teachers, and his own father. Then one day, about a month before he would’ve been crowned and Celestia, Luna, and the Equestrian delegates came to visit, Dainn had secretly tried to watch them bathe for amusement. Then he attempted to corner and rape Princess Luna. But thankfully, I was able to secretly tell his brother and Princess Celestia about what he was doing. The two of them were able to stop him and injured him. They went back to King Dorian to tell him, but an all-out fight occurred when they returned. They didn’t know what was going on, but thankfully Dainn’s other two brothers were able to stop the madness. When the king arrived, the three brothers revealed what Dainn had attempted to Dorian. He tried to rape Princess Luna, and the two brothers discovered that Dainn had secretly spread lies and deceit among other ponies and caribou to ensure that he would lead a war to conquer pony kind. Kind Dorian was outraged and ended up banishing Dainn for his betrayal of his family and kingdom by cutting off his one antler and erasing his memory completely, forced to wander for all eternity. And seeing what had transpired, the king realized that what had occurred would be too dangerous for any outsiders. Hence, he made a decree that every creature beyond Caribouria’s borders would be forbidden to ever set foot upon them. But shortly after Dainn was banished, a fortune teller came along. The Fortuneteller mysteriously appeared one night while the king was on the balcony. The Fortuneteller told King Dorian that a great evil would one day return and enslave not just Caribouria but Equestria, as well as the darkness, who wished to exact revenge on them. The King thought the fortuneteller was talking about Malekor or Salazar, so he summoned his brothers and most trusted allies for a meeting. After they combined their power to ensure that no evil would ever leave, they split the seal into pieces, and each of them hid them away so that no Caribou or any other creature would ever find them. Dainn, on the other hand, would not back down so easily from what had transpired. He wandered beyond Caribouria’s borders for centuries until one day, he stumbled upon the one place that time had forgotten; Helheim Forest. Dainn had wandered through the forest as a great force had drawn him closer and closer to the center. He finally reached the ruined fortress of Svarndagr, which had been left to rot into ruin. He wandered within the fortress until he finally reached the center. And from that center, he had found the one he had not expected…Salazar. Salazar, after his defeat and the fall of his brother, had wandered all over the world, trying to find ways to survive, and he had stumbled upon the Warg Horde, all who had lied dormant underneath the Fortress for centuries; its armies had grown beyond recognition, with their general, Azog, Svarndagr’s second in command, still alive. But they were not the only army that had grown into a massive force, turning half of them into Wargals. Right below them were three other armies led by three different generals. The first one was Poe, the leader of the Crow Tribes. He and his tribe were cast out after the Griffon Empire exiled them. They had stumbled upon Salazar, who had placed Poe and his tribes into a deep sleep. He did the same thing to Smaug, ruler of the Black Dragon Empire, but he was defeated and banished by Dragon Lord Torch. The dragons wandered aimlessly, but he did the same thing to the Crow Tribes. Then finally, Mor’du, a large bear that happened to be the strongest one. His goal was to become stronger and kill anyone standing in his way. Thorin’s father, when he was about eighteen, fought Mor’du and defeated him. After that, he was banished from Caribouria. Salazar noticed Dainn coming towards him. He wanted to use his strength to kill him because of his heritage. However, deep down within his soul, he saw a deep darkness within him that could rival Svarndagr himself. Salazar couldn’t help but smirk and use what remained of his own magic to restore Dainn’s mind. After he recovered, Dainn remembered and was furious that his own family had banished him, while Salazar pointed out how his own horn was also severed. Dainn became enraged as to what little power he had begun to surge all over the place. Dainn made a vow that he would make them pay for what they had done. Salazar had offered Dainn his mighty battle axe, telling him that with it, he had the power to exact his vengeance against not just Caribouria but also every creature beyond its borders at other kingdoms. He asked Dainn what he would do. Dainn then told Salazar how he planned to kill the royal family and take over the kingdom that was rightfully his and would exact his revenge on anyone who dared stand in his way, starting with Equestria and then the other kingdoms that would be soon to follow. Salazar then gave Dainn an armor known as the Death Knight, a high rank that once was the enemy of the Knights of Harmony. He told Dainn how this armor, combined with the power of his powerful axe, would give him the power to destroy anyone who would dare stand in his way. That being said, he handed Dainn the axe. The moment when Dainn took the axe, the last of the Well’s power, as well as the armor, the axe, and Salazar’s power, they all merged with him as the power began to surge through him while he raised his head in the air and screamed in rage as the power began to course through him. During the power build-up, Salazar, no longer having the power to sustain himself, immediately turned to dust as if he had never existed. Once the power and transformation were complete, Dainn became a force to be reckoned with. He used his power to awaken his armies, and slowly woke up from all over Caribouria, with the generals being the first to awaken from their slumber. He first gathered his armies in secret and began preparing his invasion of Carinthia, the capital city of Caribouria, but not before killing his brothers for their betrayal of him. Knowing their entrances and exits, he gathered over eight hundred elite forces. He snuck inside with him and the generals through the secret passageway from a large cave to the citadel of Carinthia. Their plan was to invade the city from within while the rest of the army would wait outside the castle walls. Once their defenses were lowered, they would send the rest to attack in full force. Once inside, the elite forces secretly spread all over the city and disabled most of the defenses, while Dainn, his generals, and his elite guards would go straight for the sacred flame room, where the blessing would take place. Once they were close enough, Dainn fired a flair upon the sky, signaling the armies to attack. As the elite troops attacked from within, the rest of his armies attacked from the outside. Right as this happened, Dainn made his move. He killed his father while Thorin escaped before Dainn could do anything else. After the Capitol fell, Thorin quickly fled to warn the other houses of what had transpired. Once Caribouria’s capitol had fallen, Dainn had taken his elite guard in an attempt to invade Equestria. But by the time he got there, he realized that a large magical barrier had encased all of Caribouria, meaning no one could go in or out. Dainn was confused, but then Salazar spoke to him from the afterlife, saying what his father had done. This enraged Dainn, and thus would do whatever it took to cross the border. At the same time, Thorin quickly went from house to house, desperately trying to warn the other creatures of what had transpired. Many were horrified to have learned of this, and thus each had no choice but to cut off their own territories from one another to protect themselves. “Wait,” said Beau, “You mean to tell me the other kingdoms refused to work together, despite the promise they made to the family line?” “That’s right.” Said Brightstar. “It was truly a dark time for Caribouria.” But Thorin didn’t want to just sit around and do nothing. Even though he was a young boy, his desire to protect the kingdom was greater than any Caribou had ever seen. So he gathered many youths like him and called them Thorin’s Company. They would secretly operate from the shadows and did everything they could to ensure that every other citizen would be safe. Lord Dainn’s forces continued to undermine many Villages and Towns just to raid their resources, and even some cities fell victim to his onslaught. But Thorin would not give up. His company continued to undermine Dainn’s forces to ensure they bought every other town for some time. But they also needed a headquarters to be safe so they could continue operating from the shadows. Thorin remembered the mines of Moria that were abandoned long ago; no one would even think to go there. So they used it as their base of operations. But during their fight, they encountered Balin and a few others, leading the remains of Caribouria’s military as a Resistance movement. Combined with them, they were able to establish other bases all over Caribouria to continue to strike them from the shadows. It had been very costly for them, but many brave people chose to side with them, while some would rather surrender because of their fear of Dainn. And they’ve kept this fight up ever since. “They’ve been fighting for how long?” asked Bea. “About sixty-six years.” said Brightstar, “His race is known to live longer lives by using their magic to retain their youths. They can choose to age and die if they wish. It’s a rare occurrence, but they chose to accept it.” Beau then wondered about something. He looked at her and said, “What about Lizzie and Daisy?” asked Beau, “Where do they fit in all this?” Brightstar leaned back and thought about this. During the times they continued to fight for the freedom of their kingdom, Lizzie, after she died, somehow ended up in the sacred Caribourian Forest. She looked around and was surprised to see that she was somewhere else. But while she was looking around, trying to find her bearings, Dainn’s forces had discovered her. She began to flee, but they still continued to give chase. They had her cornered against what appeared to be a large rock formation. Just when they wanted to kill her, she was suddenly saved by Thorin’s Company, saved by Thorin himself. He approached and gently looked at her, much to Lizzie’s surprise. He gently presented his hand to her to lift her up, and she accepted it, allowing him to lead her to safety. He took her within the safety of the mountain, and they fed and sheltered her. They offered her a place to stay, as it is a safe haven for those threatened. She asked what he meant by it. Thorin explained how he lost everything to Dainn many years ago, and even though he was young at the time, he refused to just sit aside and do nothing while all of Caribouria would suffer under their wrath. Lizzie was horrified, not just what Thorin had gone through, but all of Caribouria. She asked if there was anything she could do to help. Thorin said that any help is required, for they need everything they can get. During that time, she helped many of its patients as a doctor. Both who are sick and those who are injured. She helped out those who could. Then one day, she began to really impress Thorin. She looked over the map and showed them other ways to undermine their enemy instead of a straight attack to help turn the tide in their favor. Thorin grew to admire a woman who could hold her own and demand such great leadership, so he placed her second in command of their Resistance. But in time, the two of them grew closer and developed a romantic relationship with one another. Thus, they have been together ever since. On the other hand, as you heard from Bucky, Daisy died when she was about eight years old, and she also somehow ended up in Caribouria. But unfortunately, she ended up being captured by Dainn’s forces to be enslaved, along with a handful of Kirin and Changelings whom Dainn wanted information. But as she was about to be brought halfway to Dainn’s new Capitol, Lizzie, who heard of another slave group being taken, led the charge and killed many slave traders, freeing many prisoners. After they were freed, they were offered to join the cause. At first, Lizzie was stunned to see Daisy but offered to help her as Thorin had done for her. She accepted it, and they trained her to be a good fighter. When she turned sixteen, she was ready to lead her own. They gave her the temporary title of Lieutenant to see how well she would fend. After two successful missions, they gave her the title of Commander. ************************************************************************ ****************************** Brightstar concluded, “And the fight had been this way ever since.” “I see.” Said Beau as he lowered his eyes, feeling sorry for not just Caribouria but the entire world for what they had endured. “And it may come as a shock to you,” said Brightstar, “But all of you weren’t even supposed to be here.” “Wait, what?” said Beau as he sharply looked up and stood up. “What do you mean we’re not supposed to be here?” “Remember when Starlight tried to change the timeline?” said Brightstar. Beau was about to say something but was shocked by what she had revealed. It began to make sense. If what he could remember from that one show he saw about the Flash, where he tried to change the timeline, is that no matter how many times they go back in time, it will never be fully fixed. Meaning the moment she tampered with the timeline, certain events had changed that caused all this to happen, namely him and the others coming into existence. “And because of that,” said Brightstar when she could tell how Beau figured it out, “More races began to exist, and humans used to reside here before coming to your world. And because of it, the humans from before were able to help forge everything into what it is today. And now that you and the others are here, all of you have a bigger role than you could imagine.” “Which is why we’re here, I assume.” Said Beau once he was done recollecting himself. “Yes, and another reason why we are here.” Said Brightstar as she stood up and led Beau further down the tunnel, with Beau following along with the mysterious assailant that had watched from the shadows. They walked further down the tunnel and said, “Remember when I told you about the sacred flame?” “I do.” Said Beau as he and Brightstar were out in the open and walked straight toward the flame. “We were thankful that Caribourian history had forgotten about the original sacred flame and had taken a percentage of it to a different location.” Said Brightstar. “If we are to bring hope to Caribouria, we will need to free its people, give them hope, and convince them to unite in arms. And for them to do that, they will need the guidance of a king.” “But how?” said Beau, “I’ve seen that look on Thorin. He may be the leader of the Resistance, but ever since he didn’t receive the blessing, he lost his confidence that he would one day be king.” “Which is why I have something else in mind.” Said Brightstar as they were halfway there. Beau suddenly felt they were being watched, causing him to pull out his sword and block whoever it was attacking. It was revealed to be a female Caribou, holding an axe, bearing her teeth while trying to cut Beau down. She kept trying to strike from different spots from the other, but Beau managed to successfully block them. When they clashed again, the Caribou kept her stare. “You will not go near the sacred flame.” Said the female Caribou. Brightstar pointed at the female Caribou’s neck, gaining her attention while she said, “Alright now, that’s enough, Angi.” “Brightstar?” said the Caribou, then kept a stern glare. “What is the meaning of this? You dare bring an intruder here?” “The intruder happens to be my grandson.” Said Brightstar. “Grandson?” said the surprised female Caribou. Brightstar’s staff lit up, allowing her to reveal Beau’s face, much to the female’s surprise. Angi immediately backed up and said, “That’s impossible. No human has been sighted since the days of old.” “Well, until then, I never heard of this world or my legacy, so we’re both clueless.” Said Beau. “And you are?” she said with a stern glare. “My friends call me Beau.” Said Beau, “But my real name is Thomas Rohan from the House of Rohan.” Angi was taken aback by the name and immediately bowed. “Forgive me, Lord Rohan.” Said Angi. “Hey, it’s cool.” Said Beau as he reassured her, “No need to address in titles. It makes me feel uncomfortable. You can call me Beau if you want to.” Angi stood back up and said, “Very well then.” “How did you end up here?” said Beau with a flexed eyebrow. “I brought her here.” Said Brightstar. “Indeed.” Said Angi. She looked down, saddened, and said, “Like many Caribou, I had lost everything to Dainn.” She looked back up and said, “Many years ago, my village was trying to live peacefully with our neighbors and clans. But then Dainn’s forces came along. They slaughtered the men of my village and took the women and children to be their slaves. I was the only survivor among my tribal warriors who stood their ground to defend them from Dainn’s wrath. I went from village to village, warning them of Dainn’s attacks. Many women, children, and a handful of able warriors fled from the villages to safety, while the strongest warriors, with their chiefs, would fend Dainn’s forces off until they were safely away. At one point, I tried to lead over three hundred brave warriors to fend them off at the Caribou pass, for it was the only access point to where the rest of the villages would be located.” She looked away and said, “I tried as hard as possible when we fought them, but many of them were slaughtered until the last Caribou were slain. I was the only one still standing but soon collapsed from my wounds and exhaustion. Though we couldn’t stop them all, we were thankful we could buy the civilians time to escape.” She motioned to Brightstar and said, “But moments before a handful of Dainn’s forces were going to kill me, Brightstar came and rescued me. She nursed me back to health and asked me to guard this place. She told me of the importance of this place and said that when the time is right, the true king of Caribouria will need it once more.” She looked at Beau and said, “But from what you told me, this Thorin Oakenshield. If he has doubts about him being the ruler, then he has lost his fighting spirit. If he is to truly succeed in becoming the next king of Caribouria, then he will need it once more in the fight that is to come.” “First thing’s first,” said Beau as he looked at the sacred flame. “We will need to lure him here first.” “How do you propose?” asked Angi. Beau looked at the flame while he was thinking. After a few minutes, he slowly smiled and looked at the others. Said Beau. He walked towards Brightstar and said, “We’ll need to send a messenger to gather the rest of Thorin’s Company. The originals, he’s going to need support. “I’m already on it.” Said Brightstar while her eyes suddenly glowed and were still, as if she was concentrating. “And you.” Said Beau as he walked over to Angi. “I assume you’ll know how to bring it out of him?” “I will try.” Said Angi as she readied her axe. “Caribouria needs its king to return.” Beau smiled while placing his hand on Angi’s shoulder and said, “Then let’s get to work.”