Chapter 1: MASTER FIND
The entire cell echoed with loud footsteps and clanging metal as multiple soldiers marched through the jail thrusting keys into locks and violently kicking open the doors.
“Get out!” the leading officer yelled in broken Cordivan language.
Reaper had no idea what was going on and the sudden ambush on his slumber at such an early hour of the morning, had startled him. His fear subsided as he realized these were not King Melkio’s soldiers he was used to dealing with, but foreigners that knew nothing of his identity. It was obvious a power shift had taken place. All the commotion of Prince Guo’s takeover had gone unnoticed by the prisoners held deep below the palace grounds.
The soldiers shoved Reaper and his fellow occupants towards the stairs at the far end of the dimly lit hallway and motioned them to make a hasty climb which they did in single file up the narrow steps. At the top of the stairs stood dozens more soldiers frenzied and on high alert. Reaper paused. There stood his foe, right in front of him. Guo’s guards surrounded Melkio’s father King Esham, his wife and all the senior advisors and servants to the king, waiting to escort them down to the jail cells. King Melkio and Queen Elliza had already been sent for sentencing and execution in North Cordiva where Prince Guo was.
Senior commanders screamed orders across the giant hall at their subordinates and combined with all the heavy footsteps, rattling of armor, running back and forth, the din was deafening.
Reaper caught eye contact with King Esham and gave him a wicked smirk as the soldiers continued to funnel him towards the palace doors with a light push. The former King stood motionless, unwilling to give his captors any joy in seeing their trophy squirm. As soon as the last prisoner vacated, the royals and their loyal entourage, were hurriedly marched downstairs and promptly locked away out of sight.
The cool morning air was glorious to Reaper. In fact, it had never felt so refreshing after the dank, foul smelling prison he had just escaped. He breathed deeply, exhaling loudly while chuckling to himself. All the freed prisoners were rounded up together in the palace courtyard. Once they stopped moving Reaper had a chance to take in his surroundings. The enormous perimeter wall gates were wide open with signs of destruction and fighting everywhere. Arrows punctured the ground haphazardly and a mound of swords had been built, most likely from King Melkio’s surrendered guards. Soldier’s lay around dressing their wounds and fixing armor, huddled in groups around turned over carts, which burned fiercely from the siege. Captured Cordivan palace guards sat in organized groups shaking their heads and looking shamefully at the ground while Guo’s soldiers gloated and mocked them.
“You go!” Shouted the same commanding officer from earlier and pointed towards the gates. He did not have to say it twice.
“I am free!” Reaper exclaimed and took off running with all the other prisoners, still mindful to keep a safe distance from Guo’s soldiers that he passed, in case they mistake him as an approaching threat, given his significant height advantage over them all.
Out of the gates, Reaper ran for as long as his legs would carry him across the adjacent fields, before entering the nearby forest and crumpling in a heap on a grassy heath in the shadows of the trees. He lay there resting inconspicuously, as little blackbirds above, serenaded him with their harmonious little tunes, echoing his ecstatic heartbeat. After his dingy prison sentence the magical forest colors and sounds were magnified tenfold. He could return to the humble abode he called home in the village, but for now he just wanted to enjoy the quiet and serenity that nature had to offer and be as far away from humans as possible. He loathed them more and more with each passing day. The longer he spent in his cell the more bitter and enraged he had become.
“Don’t they know who I am?” he would reason with himself. “The battles I fought for my country and this is how I am treated, like a common crook!”
Blind with rage his own shortcomings and failures where completely invisible to him. Now, here, free in the world, he had a second chance to be great again, to find power… to extract revenge. It was time for Cordiva to be taught a lesson and Reaper decided he was going to be its teacher. King Melkio and Esham would be sorry, their families would pay and especially that meddling old man Jeffers who had caused his incarceration. Month after month he had dreamed of nothing else. He spent the rest of the day basking in the beauty of the woods, picking at strawberries and other wild fruit vines. For now he was going to enjoy one night of complete freedom secluded from everyone in the forest and decided he would return to civilization the following morning. Before sunset, he built a small fire from twigs and broken tree limbs and managed to catch a couple of fish out of a creek which ran nearby. He cooked them over the flames and thoroughly enjoyed every mouthful of delicious, fishy protein. In comparison to the slop he was usually fed once a day this was like a royal banquet.
As the sun went down, the temperature dropped, so the warm fire was a welcome relief; a luxury he was never afforded in confinement. The flames danced and cracked with hypnotic magnetism and Reaper found himself staring silently lost in fantasy. Perhaps Prince Guo would have use for him and recognize the great warrior for who he was. They certainly had a common enemy. His fantasies unfolded in his mind eye escalating beyond reasonable ambition. It did not matter. He was well practiced at dreaming. They were all he had before, but now, with his freedom, they took on a whole new exquisite taste. He could indulge himself.
Out of the darkness a deep, gruff voice suddenly interrupted with a single, slow word “Master!”
Reaper scrambled to his feet hastily. “Who goes there?” he demanded, unable to see far beyond the glow of his campfire. The shadow of a creature with beady white eyes drew closer. As it stepped forward the flames illuminated in slow succession claws, face and torso of a large wolf, bearing oversized fangs and mangy fur.
“Master!” the wolf repeated with certainty.
Reaper had no idea what to do and tripped over a log as he stepped backwards. The wolf was fierce and intimidating. Without a sword he felt completely vulnerable before it. Yet scarier still, it had spoken. His brain could not even process the fact it had called him ‘master’. Animals do not talk. He froze, sitting helplessly on his behind, before the terrifying creature.
In the full light of the fire the beast ceased his approach and as far as Reaper could tell, it smiled at him.
“Are you ready to take what belongs to you? Are you ready for revenge upon this world?” the wolf asked in a low rumbling tone, echoing everything Reaper had just been dreaming of.
“How did you know my…” Reaper began to inquire, but his words trailed off in shock.
“I was sent to serve you, by the true master over all of us. I will be your guide, one step at a time. He has chosen you to stand by his side as he brings this world to its knees before him. Are you ready to fulfill your destiny?”
“How do I do that?” was the best he could answer, his nerves settling a little.
“With the ‘Sword of Man’ you will have the authority to do anything. To write law, to govern the mortal world and the immortal one. You must take it for yourself. The Queen named Elliza carries it, though she does not know its full power. Even as we speak she is making her escape from North Cordiva and travelling this way by means of the river.”
“Why does your master not just take it for himself? Why would he need me?” asked Reaper his confidence growing as he took to his feet again.
“He is not of born of man. He cannot wield the sword. Its power only obeys man. He wishes to share his rule with a mortal of similar ambitions. The Master has watched you from a distance since birth and knows who you really are. All your dreams can come true if you will serve him.”
There was no hesitation, Reaper knew this was the opportunity he had been waiting for all of his life.
“I am ready and willing to serve!”
The beast growled approvingly, “Then follow me. We have no time to waste. I will lead you to the sword, but you must take hold of it when opportunity arises.”
The wolf turned and swiftly walked away in the direction Reaper knew was the river. He promptly followed taking up a light jog to keep up, until they were within view of the water, yet still safely hidden among the trees.
“Wait,” instructed the wolf and said nothing further.
Reaper stood for a while and then took to sitting, watching the river the whole time. It was a beautiful night and the panorama of stars was not wasted on Reaper, but he remained focus on the task at hand. Within the hour sure enough a boat came quietly gliding by carrying four occupants.
The wolf let of a ferocious howl, which caused Reaper to almost jump out of his skin in fright. Then it growled more softly and motioned with its snout for Reaper to get going without him. He set off on foot alone, following the boat from the cover of the trees. Reaper knew exactly who was in the boat and what his mission was. He was going to get that sword from Elliza and a new era of rule was about to be born; a glorious one, where everyone would bow the knee and call him ‘master’.
