- Joined
- Feb 21, 2010
- Messages
- 7
Chapter 1
The blue sun of this over-industrialized planet, Invictus, lit up the city of Beldarin, home to the lowliest of criminals and the upper crust of society. This city was divided into three districts: the rich district, Corona, where the government was centered; the middle district, Solera, where the markets were located; and then there was the poor district, Luminata, the epicenter of evil where criminal activity thrived and the black markets were stationed. The planet, especially this city, was very diverse in cultural. Our races included the humans of the Sol System, the Elves of the Hyperion System, the feline humanoid race called Lupa of the Pandora System, and much more. Being that I was an Elf, I lived in the poor district with the rest of my race, where we were stated to belong and where I assumed I'd be my entire life.
As the alleyway shops opened up and the little dirt covered children came out to play, I entered the streets body aching from last night's rest. I slept in an uncomfortable one room apartment with various other Elves and Lupa which made it a wonder how I even got to sleep. Each morning, I'd leave as soon as possible to get away from the pains of life at home. Besides, the majority of them were younger than myself and that put me and my two other friends in charge of gathering food for everyone. Work like that was tiring to do with little money on hand.
"Leavin' early again?" My elf partner-in-crime, Elliot, called after me.
I turned around cursing him in my head. "Hey, El. Where are you heading off to?"
"Jietto's bar. I'm gonna see if he needs anything done. He gives me scraps for odd jobs."
"Might as well come with you. I can do what I had in mind later."
"What did you have planned, Sven?"
"Nothing important. Come on, Jietto's place is over in the middle district. We mustn't miss the train over there."
We walked through the slow moving crowds of the poor district watching the beggars and prostitutes going through their daily routines. In Luminata, it didn't matter what time of day it was, business was business as usual. Elliot and I let our hands trail through the crowds picking whatever pieces of gold were on these poor bastards. Generally, only pimps and prostitutes had any type of money, but stealing from them was quite unintelligent because they always had some sort of weapon on their person. I didn't care how we got what we needed so as long as we got it.
Usually, running around alongside Elliot was one of the highlights of my day, but I woke up today with other plans. Every couple of weeks or so, the city was attacked by raiders and wild beasts roaming the planet. Employed to protect Beldarin was the Knightmare Covenant, a group of warriors from all races sworn to an oath that kept them in service for the common good. I had a silly dream of watching them in combat up close and personal. Today, an attack was predicted and I hoped to be out of the city walls to see it, but Elliot changed my plans. I didn't mind but so much, because if I skipped another day of "work", our other co-facilitator would have my head.
"Morning, Jietto!" Elliot greeted loud as always.
The rugged, war-hardened elf groaned. "Same to you, Elliot. Hello, Sven, nice of you to drop by when you aren't stealing from the people."
I took a stool at the bar. "The only one stealing from the people is you, old bartender. These prices are outrageous."
"My shipments haven't been coming in lately. This bandit Nio has taken control of the southern port and he won't give me my goods until I pay a fee. I don't have enough money as is to keep this place running."
"Where's Jaina at?" Elliot asked. "She said she was coming by here today."
"Just left before you boys came in. She's running some errands with her parents in Solera like a well-raised individual unlike yourselves."
"Unlike her, we don't have parents to raise us...."
"Jietto, what do you say about work?" I changed the subject. "You want us to make money honestly, we'll do it."
The bartender eyed me curiously. "What kind of work can you boys do?"
"What do you have?"
"You two seem like you can get yourselves out of trouble fairly easy. Get my stuff over here and I'll see what I can do to help you two. Nio has been keeping it all in Warehouse 23."
Elliot nodded. "We'll get it back for you, old timer."
The two of us stepped out of the bar and walked through the middle district to get to the port. The middle district didn't have street merchants like ours. Here, they were all in respectable buildings with apartments above almost all of them. Coming here was a welcome change as the streets here weren't crowded with disease and sin. There was still the occasional criminal activities, but they operated under the cover of night. I pocketed a few valuables from the middle-class people. They carried items that could be pawned for a moderate, but valuable, amount of gold.
"Hey, Sven, can we get something to eat?" Elliot asked rubbing his belly.
I eyed him puzzling. "Really? We're trying to work so we can afford food and you want to squander what little we have?"
"It'd be a shame if I'd have to work on an empty stomach."
"Fine, then. I don't feel like paying or stealing though. Let's see if we can find the Farrons; I can probably charm Jaina into letting us have some food."
"She always does things when you ask her to," Elliot complained as we started walking. "I can never get her to do anything for me."
"You do not know how to properly treat a lady, especially one such as she. To charm her takes subtlety, something I'm afraid you don't have...."
The trumpets of the kingdom went up in a great symphony with discordant notes. No one was being maimed nor was this done by mistake; the city was being attacked as usual. The wretched sound ordered us into the nearest buildings for cover while the Covenant dealt with the intruders. Elliot and I ignored the warnings and ran to the eastern gate to find the troops heading out for battle. These knights wore blood-stained armor of various colors to signify their ranks. White was the color of initiates and it went up until pitch black, the color of the prestigious veterans. My friend and I watched as they took to battle with the bandits and their creatures. Citizens were fleeing for safety as the groups traded blows. The Covenant was being pushed into the city by the savages causing damage to buildings located by the gates. Of the people fleeing the carnage was my dear friend, Jaina.
"Sven!" She called as she fled towards Elliot and me.
I kept my eyes on the battle. "Hello there. What is it, Jaina?"
"We have to get out of here!" The Lupa girl screamed over the sounds of battle.
"You go, we're watching the festivities."
"Are you kidding me?! We have to go now!"
Elliot sighed. "Relax, it's not like they're gonna attack us...."
A stray flaming arrow was shot towards us. I pulled Elliot out of the way causing the arrow to miss him by a few centimeters. Realizing the growing seriousness of the affair, I conceded to Jaina's nudging. We started running alongside the other citizens as catapults launched projectiles into the city. Using her keen senses, Jaina kept us out of the way of incoming attacks, just barely I might add. To add more trouble for us, the trained beasts of the bandit forces were released throughout the city streets. I pulled Jaina and Elliot into an alleyway as their numbers grew greater.
"Can we take a break?" Elliot huffed. "I need to catch my breath."
I groaned. "Are you serious?! We're about to die and you want to stop running?!"
"Guys!" Jaina said to get our attention.
El ignored her. "It's not my fault that we're gonna die. You're the one who had to get up close and personal with his idols!"
"Guys!"
"Stop complaining! You wouldn't be here if you just left me to do what I wanted to...!"
"Guys!"
We turned to Jaina. "What...?"
As we turned, we caught sight of a twin-headed boar rearing to charge us. I turned around to find another on was closing off the other exit. Elliot and I formed a barrier around Jaina. We all closed our eyes shut as the creatures began charging towards us with bloodthirsty roars. All I could hear was the sound of ear-piercing screams in the dark.
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