Kaelor veryl
Weltharas continent
Ten days before destruction of Aravan island
His sword lay in a puddle of bodies. Stained with smears of blood, marked by wind and rain, it looked worn but sharp.
"something has happened to him. Killing is not something I can look away from."
Dust and blood spilled from kaelor's mouth as he coughed, his voice muffled against the howling wind. "My king would not do this. He's a loyal servant... to his people, to his sworn god. He wouldn't dare betray any one of them."
King Bernard laughed, looking down at kaelor. "slaughtering my knights... Not a gesture any king appreciates. Fortunately for you, I... Happen to know your name. Kaelor veryl... Am I right?"
It was when kaelor swung his head back and forth between sharp hisses through his bloodied teeth that king Bernard continued. "A goldly knight, is that what they call you, right?"
Kaelor knew very well that this wasn't a question. His reputation preceded him, no matter, wherever he went. "not...a godly knight. Not anymore."
King Bernard made a face and laughed. "your king betrayed a god, didn't he? Sharp promises results in sharp punishments."
"what's that supposed to mean? Damn it... Don't play riddles while I am mourning a loss that doesn't even makes sense."
"Nothing in this world makes sense. Sometimes this... world is quiet and then all of a sudden, every king is at each other's throat without any reason. I know the reason. The kings may tear each other apart with their swords but the strings..." his finger in air, he looked up. "up there, the strings are controlled by them. Only them. Not us, not knights nor the tombs, only gods."
Kaelor grunted. "Gods are forever' controlled by their worshippers. Just like ship and weather. Both need each other to sail in the ever storming waters."
"Yet... Only those ships are broken that have the most faith. Alas, our genteel conversation is over," he turned around and summoned a sword, gold particles dancing around in air accompanied by a voice that reverberated through kaelor's ears.
"Wars for crown will never end. As long as kings betray gods, as long as greed takes over men. Stand up "godly knight", face me and my raroka."
...
King Bernard held his sword tightly, the steel glowing faintly with a sick black light.
Across from him stood kaelor, immediately grabbing his sword from puddle.
A tall spear rested along Kaelor's back, and tied beneath its blade was a long silver banner that moved even though the air was still. The cloth twisted slowly, as if breathing.
Bernard stared at it.
"You butchered my army," the king said.
Kaelor glanced at the bodies across the field.
"They fought bravely," he replied.
Bernard lifted his sword. Dark light crawled along the blade.
"Rise."
The earth answered. Mud cracked open with wet sounds. Armor scraped against stone. One by one the fallen knights began to stand again. Their eyes were hollow and their wounds still open, but their swords remained clutched in stiff hands.
Dozens of them.
Men Kaelor had cut down only hours earlier.
Kaelor watched them rise. A faint smile appeared on his face. "So this is the king's miracle."
Bernard pointed his sword.
"Kill him."
The dead charged. Kaelor moved. The silver banner snapped violently. Wind exploded across the battlefield. A roaring gust slammed into the charging corpses and sent several of them tumbling through the mud. Dust, broken shields, and fragments of armor flew into the air. Kaelor stepped forward. His sword flashed once. A corpse split from shoulder to hip. He stepped again.
Two heads fell in a single motion.
The wind screamed around him. It bent and twisted around his blade as if the air itself had become part of the weapon. Bernard clenched his jaw and raised his sword higher. More bodies clawed their way from the soil. "Rise!"
Kaelor did not slow. The banner twisted behind him. The direction of the wind suddenly reversed, slamming into the undead from behind and hurling them forward. Straight toward Kaelor. The slaughter became faster. Limbs flew. Helmets cracked open. Every swing of Kaelor's blade carried the weight of a storm.
Dead knights collapsed faster than Bernard could raise them.
The king's breathing grew heavy.
"This cannot be happening…"
Kaelor cut down another revenant and finally lifted his gaze toward Bernard. The wind died instantly. The battlefield fell silent.
Only the slow movement of the banner remained.
Kaelor began walking toward the king, stepping over the bodies of Bernard's soldiers.
"You believed numbers would matter."
Bernard lifted his sword again, anger burning across his face.
Three massive figures rose from the mud. These were Bernard's greatest knights. Their armor was shattered but their bodies still towered over the field. Pale light burned in their empty eyes. Kaelor stopped. The banner lifted behind him. The air tightened.
Then Kaelor spoke. "There is a reason people call me the Godly Knight."
The banner cracked like thunder. The wind vanished for a moment. Then it returned all at once. A violent cyclone burst outward from Kaelor. The three revenant knights were thrown into the air and smashed back into the ground with crushing force.
Before they could rise again, Kaelor was already moving.
One strike. A helmet split apart. Second strike. A body severed cleanly at the waist.
Third strike. Kaelor's blade drove through the chest of the last knight and pinned him into the mud. He pulled the sword free and turned toward Bernard.
Now the king stood alone. Bernard's sword burned darker than before. The ground trembled as dozens of corpses struggled to rise again. Kaelor exhaled slowly. The silver banner curled behind him like a storm gathering strength. Then the wind changed direction once more. This time it blew only one way. Toward the king. The gale became so violent that the corpses trying to rise were forced back into the soil, crushed by the sheer pressure of the air. Bernard planted his feet in the mud. His cloak whipped wildly around him.
"You think you are a god?" Bernard shouted.
Kaelor lifted his sword. The storm circled him like a living crown.
"No," Kaelor said quietly. He stepped forward.The wind surged behind him like an army marching to war. "I am simply grieving about my friend and my king."
Bernard planted his feet in the mud as the storm screamed around them. His sword burned with dark light, the power inside it straining to summon more of the dead. The earth trembled as corpses clawed weakly at the soil, but the wind crushed them back into the ground like a giant hand.
Kaelor walked toward him, slow and certain. The silver banner behind him twisted in the violent air, obeying his silent command. Bernard roared and charged, swinging his blade with the full strength of a desperate king. Steel met steel with a sharp ringing sound that echoed across the ruined battlefield. For a heartbeat Bernard believed he had stopped him.
Then Kaelor moved.
With one smooth strike he beheaded the king. The cut was so clean that Bernard's head left his shoulders before his body even understood it had died. The head rolled through the mud while the king's body collapsed beside it.
The storm began to fade. The screaming wind softened until the battlefield fell into a heavy silence. Kaelor flicked the blood from his blade and looked down at the corpse.
"Your kingdom will look better without you," he breathed.
The silver banner settled behind him as the air finally grew still. Broken armor clinked quietly in the distance and the smell of blood hung thick over the field.
Then he sensed someone approaching.
A lone figure walked across the battlefield, stepping between corpses as though they were nothing more than scattered stones. The air around her felt wrong, as if the land itself did not want her presence.
Amberia...
Across the continent of Weltharas people spoke her name with dread. They called her the Goddess of Destruction.
She approached slowly until she stood a few paces from Kaelor. There was that odd look on her face again, the distant expression she often wore when something amused her in a quiet way. Her eyes drifted briefly toward Bernard's head lying in the mud before returning to Kaelor.
"So the Godly Knight has finished his work," she said softly.
Kaelor slid his sword back into its sheath but said nothing.
Amberia studied him for a moment longer, that strange half-curious look still lingering in her eyes. Then she spoke again.
"You have a new knight to serve."
Kaelor raised an eyebrow slightly.
Amberia's lips curved into the faintest hint of a smile.
"His name is Sonvar Valemount."
World of sumaka through eyes of a mad king —
God... Betrayal... Penitence...
The cycle continues, it never stops...
Gods make sure of that...
It's in their blood...
We never betray them... It's they who betray us... How can we betray them? How can we even fight them? We neither have skills nor have power to defeat them.
If they will, they can defeat all of us with their blink. Something stops them or perhaps someone...
As long as gods control this world, it'll forever' stay doomed. It'll never grow.