Chapter 1
Completely oblivous to all of the misinformation that’s been spreading through the news channels like wild fire, Kaz roared his motorcycle into the parking lot of his usual biker gang’s hangout near the outskirts of the Vailstone kingdom. The muscular biker looked at the bar and smiled before turning off his engine. Kaz was known for being a badass throughout motorcycle gangs, so when the black haired man thrust open the poorly lit bar doors open, it was not unusual for many to quieten down upon his arrival, but for his own gang it seemed at bit awkward.
“Hey.” he merely muttered expecting a welcoming cheer from his own members. Kaz looked to the bartender, “Woody, gimme a beer would’ya?”
The swordsman began walking over to his group, “It’s Kaz! He’s back.” his black haired bombshell mistress announced running over to him. She ran over to Kaz and was lifted by her lower back by one arm before he kissed her passionately while the other bikers cheered his return. “Baby what happen out there?”
“I’ll tell ya what happend, I slayed a mountain monster and got THIS baby!” he yelled revealing his impressive sword and gaining more cheers. He accepted his beer and began guzzling it down.
“No offense Kaz, but I think she meant with the whole dead royal family thing.” a friend of his corrected.
“Hm? Oh, that shit went sour so I got the hell outta there.” he nonchalantly explained taking another drink and finishing his beer entirely.
“But what about tha kidnapping? Is it for money?” his mistress questioned.
“Kidnapping? What are you talking about?” he inquired looking at her in his arm.
“The news is talking all about it, saying you and five other guys that got swords kidnapped the royal kids. Said you, that Wade Smith guy from all those porn movies, some fired cop guy, and three others.”
“It was a set up from the start?!” Kaz wondered to himself.
“Hey Kaz, I think these guys are here to talk to you.” one biker near the window announced.
Kaz and his friends approached the smoke stained windows, “Vailstone soldiers, just like when that general came here looking for you.” Kaz’s mistress stated.
“Yeah, but this times gonna be a lot different.” Kaz warned.
“Hey Kaz, here, take my ride. It’s out back.” his friend request offering his keys.
“Pht, I’ve got my own set of wheels.” Kaz explained looking at his bike around the five soldiers outside.
“Be careful baby.” the black haired babe requested.
“That’s not how I play.” Kaz said before walking through the doors and approaching the soldiers outside near his bike. “That’s a sweet ride.” he stated referring to the soldier’s jeep.
A soldier in charge looked up and noticed Kaz with a sword strapped to his back in a sheath. “We’re looking for the owner of this motorcycle here, but something tells me that would be you. Is your name Kaz by any chance?”
“Oh? You must think that because I’ve got this big long sword here that I’m one of those kidnappers you’re looking for from the news, huh?” he questioned sarcastically with a coy attitude while unsheathing his broad sword.
The five Vailstone guards began forming a circle around Kaz to easily apprehend him. As they grew nearer and nearer for the pounce the large biker continued.
Kaz looked around at the surrounding guards and smirked, “It’s gonna take a lot more than five’a you guys to take me down.” he boasted.
The Vailstone guard in charge waved his hands as he slowly stepped closer, “Now sir, there’s no need to get rough now.” he explained trying to defuse the situation.
“Hm, that’s NEVER been my policy.” he said swinging his massive sword around in the air before stabbing it into the ground causing a massive lightning bolt to strike where he stood and the five men around him which launched them all flying in separate directions.
The soldiers lay motionless where they landed as the crowd of bikers rushed out cheering and praising Kaz for taking on five guys at once without effort, not to mention the impressive sword he had collected along his way. Kaz’s mistress watched as he climbed onto his motorcycle and revved his engine.
“Kaz! Where’re you goin’?” she called out.
“I’ve been set up by cops.” he answered loudly, “So I’m gonna get some answers from one I know.” he quietly said to himself as he sped off in the direction back into the heart of Vailstone.
Meanwhile, deeper into the kingdom of Vailstone a strange looking man clocked out from work. Drove his average looking car home while listening to the propaganda over the radio and taking a draw off of his cigarette to calm down. He slowly came to a stop as smaller children evacuated the not so nearby school in light of the kingdom’s recent events. The man watched each child cross the street with the crossing guard on duty before driving on through and arriving home. He parked his car, walked up a five step porch to his apartment building, and entered his home.
The strange man was stunned to find his home had been trashed. It appeared someone had broken in somewhere looking for something. He pulled a handgun from his work bag and quietly placed the bag on the floor next to the open door before creeping into his house further. As the man began to approach a corner to peer into a nearing hallway the front door slowly began to close. As the door creaked shut the man turned around and noticed a tall man who had been standing behind the door the entire time. He wore an old trench coat and had long black hair. As the owner of the apartment saw, upon a more detailed inspection, the intruder had in his hand a long black bladed katana in his right arm.
The man was nervous, “Who are you? What’da you want?”
“Me? I simply want justice.” the intruder barely whispered to a hearing volume.
“Justice? What’da you talk’n about?”
“Maybe this will help jog your memory.” the man in shadows answered and flung a manila folder with a police report and picture of an innocent little child paper clipped to the top of the report. The man’s demeanor altered upon seeing the girl’s photograph. “Remember now?”
“I don’t know what this has gotta do with me?” the man lied.
“Tha hell you don’t. You remember that little girl’s face cause I personally made sure you’d NEVER forget. You sat in that interrogation room for nearly eight hours dodging questions, clamming up, eating up the attention. It’s a shame I never found that small knife you used on her. Or maybe it was just the district attorney’s fault, who knows. But I’ve always put the blame on myself for any shits like you that evaded justice. I usually got justice for my victims, but, something with your case, you just walked away. It killed my faith in the system a little that day.” Seth exposed.
“Detective Notch? I’ll see that you lose your badge for this.” the man happily threatened.
Seth walked out of the shadows completely and stepped closer to the justice system cheating murderer. Seth’s black blade glimmered slightly in the low housing light. “I’ve lost something more precious.” he paused, “My soul.” he announced looking up directly at the man.
The man smiled and pointed his gun towards Seth after noticing his only weapon on hand was a black katana, “You’re about to lose your ass screwing around like this with me cop. See you broke into my house without a warrant. Now, I can tell ‘them’ that I just got off work and was ambushed by some lunatic with a sword in his hand. I can shoot you dead, and not have broken any laws at all.” he advised almost excitedly.
“True, but do me one favor first......Why? Why’dya do it?” Seth wondered.
The gunman raised his arm and pointed the gun straight at Seth’s chest and smiled, “Because, she was a HOT little thing. Cutting her open was practically enough to make me climax without even a stroke.” he smirked, “Oh, and you were wrong. I didn’t use a small knife, I used a box cutter.” At that exact declaration the man shot Seth in the chest extremely close to his heart which forced the man to fall instantly with his fresh open chest wound, due to Seth’s katana being unsheathed.
The evil man dropped the gun as he fell to the floor dying and bleeding out. Seth sheathed his black katana on his waist, opposite to his handgun, in perfect health and slowly walked over to the bloody man. “Oh, and do me one more favor. When you go to hell, tell’em I sent you. That way it’ll be easier for Satan to tally my score card.” Seth walked out of the building as the man breathed his last breath.
The vengeful detective sat back down behind the driver’s seat in his car and glanced at the passenger seat, looking at only three police case files left remaining from his stack he had taken from the police headquaters. As Seth started his car and drove away to his next destination, the masked mercenary Cain walked out of an area of the apartment and looked at the lifeless man’s body. He picked up the case file in his gloved hand and had realized what Seth was attempting to do during the midst of all the chaos, why he was doing it, and now he knew how the detective had murdered the other nine victims before this criminal without so much as a scratch upon himself.
Better yet, the masked murder knew how and why he was cut when sword fighting against Seth in the cave inside the forest of darkness. Cain stepped back into a dark area to vanish quickly. The mercenary was determined to confront the vigilante detective once more.
Back at the Vailstone Dalton hospital, Christian remained motionless and unresponsive while propped up in his bed. His eyes strained, dried out, tired. The teenager was an emotional wreck.
Rufus walked into the hospital room, “Hey? I heard you were finally awake.” he said without a reply. “How ya feeling? You feel’n better?”
Christian’s glassy eyes glanced at the news channel slowly then looked forward into nothingness once again.
“Oh, you heard, huh?” he said reaching for the remote to turn off the television.
Christian grabbed Rufus’ wrist and made him drop the remote control, “NO! I want to know everything.” he snapped in a crackling hoarse voice.
“Okay.” Rufus complied. He pulled up a nearby seat and sat down beside the prince’s hospital bed. “Yeah know,” the large teen struggled, “if you wanna talk.” he offered reaching out. “I know what you’re going through. When I lost my dad,...”
“THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR DAD! It’s NOT tha same! GET OUTTA HERE! GET OUT!” Christian lost himself and freaked out on Rufus.
Rufus was surprised and scorned at the prince’s uncalled for response. “Forget it.” he muttered silently before walking out of the room.
The prince was left laying in his bed alone with his eyes open wide, glued to the television, absorbing all of the painful information reported to the public when suddenly a new announcement began stirring up everyone.
At the Vailstone castle courtyard Major Tydus walked out before the crowd of reporters and upset civilians and cleared a path for the ambassador. Hikaru walked out into the courtyard calmly with concern all over his face. As the ambassador prepared to inform everyone of the lie that was concocted within the holding cell, black birds of all variety and size flocked around landing on nearby ledges, gates, statues, and even stood by on the ground as if waiting for something.
Soldiers created a perimeter of protection for the ambassador. Hikaru stood tall as he prepared a speech. He looked about the cameras before starting, “My fellow Vailstoneians, our dear neighboring kingdoms, people of the world,...a great tragedy has befallen our beloved kingdom. It’s true....an evil wind did blow through our fair kingdom.” reporters started yelling questions and interrupting Hikaru, which he merely raised his hands to quieten them down once again. He took a deep breath before continuing, “I’m sure in the event of this dire moment in our lives you’ve heard many stories formulated already in such a small amount of time, but I am here to set things right. Yes.....it is true that our dearly beloved king and queen have passed on.” he announced causing a huge uproar.
Given a moment the crowd quieted down and stopped asking questions to further listen to the ambassador. “The manner of their death’s is irrelevant. The event of their death is what truly matters here. As many of you may have already known, the castle walls were attacked by a ghastly specter a few nights ago, which led to the venture that would forever change the course of our futures. A venture that resulted in finding the legendary armor of Kamisama. Upon this quest were six voluntary individuals, the grand duke,..“, who’s very mention excited booing and jeers amongst the crowd, “and our very own royal mystic.”
“We are all human....and as so we build bonds....believe and hope with in each other, which at times those of an unscrupulous nature take advantage of to misguide our trust. We placed our faith in the magic of the wrong man. The Vailstone kingdom’s royal mystic was in actuality an individual by the name of ‘Fire starter’. I believed in this man, the grand duke believed in this man, King Dorian believed in this man. Yet....he abused that trust to try and cripple our kingdom...shake the very foundation of our civilization....and force us to crumble as a society. In the assassination of our fair king and queen, this Fire starter’s goal was not only to destroy us as a whole, but also to obtain the armor of Kamisama.”
One reporter spoke up, “Excuse me Ambassador Hikaru, isn’t it true infact, that it was actually Raziel in the armor who murdered King and Queen Dalton? And if so, what’s to become of the armor now?”
Everyone grew silent listening with severe anticipation for Hikaru’s response.
The ambassador stood quietly with his hands by his side until he lifted his right arm, “Rather than tell you, allow me to show you.”
At that que Raziel walked from the castle doors freely and stood beside Hikaru. Major Tydus stood by keeping upset people at bay, despite his growing loss of respect for Raziel. Cameras blinded Hikaru as flash photography went crazy. Questions as well as threats roared throughout the crowd. Hikaru waved his hands in the air trying to quieten everyone down. Eventually the mass of people began to listen with the assistance of the crowd control.
Christian was at full attention while watching them on his hospital room television.
“Yes, it is true! As an instrument through the orchestration of Fire starter through the use of black magic, our Grand Duke, Raziel, was manipulated in carrying out the orders of our traitorous mystic against his will. But this mind controlling magic has been dispelled.” Hikaru announced to the world.
Raziel raised his arm, “I am not innocent. I will never forgive myself for what has occurred this day. It is true,..” Raziel paused, regretting his agreement with Hikaru to lie, “..through the Fire starter’s mind controlling magic, I was used to carry out his bidding. I, Raziel, was powerless to stop myself. I will regret this day til the day I die, yet, I do not seek your sympathy nor expect your forgiveness.”
“Ambassador Hikaru, will Raziel continue to wear the armor of Kamisama?” a reporter questioned.
“Yes. Solely for the protection of the armor, Raziel will continue to wear the armor. With the mind control spell broken he is back to his normal self and is devoted to protecting this kingdom as well as you and myself.”
“What’s to stop this event from happening again?”
“The mind control spell from Fire starter was placed upon Raziel before the armor was put on. He is protected from harmful magic while wearing the armor, before that was a different story. Luckily, a counter spell for his well being was somehow effective. It is truly a mysterious armor with much to learn from it. Next question please.” Hikaru carried on.
“What has become of the prince and princess? Are they still alive?”
“Yes, they were last seen alive. However, I have been recently informed by eyewitnesses and Vailstone authority that the six individuals mentioned earlier have been sighted in what at this time is speculated to be abduction. The authorities including Vailstone’s own general Grechov are locating these individuals and the royals as we speak. It is unknown whether they are working in tandem with the Fire starter at this time, but we will keep everyone informed as the information develops itself.” Hikaru answered professionally.
One reported shouted louder over the flurry of questions, “If the royal mystic is this Fire starter person as you’ve claimed, then is it safe to say that the kingdom is without a mystic advisor at this time, and if so, then who is the one who lifted the magic spell from the grand duke?”
Raziel looked to Hikaru for the answer, Hikaru was a professional liar so the moment of shock for not having an answer wasn’t noticeable to anyone, yet Raziel knew this question was not covered yet. At that time, however, all of the birds in the area began flying at once and circling in the sky with each other. All who stood in the courtyard were startled and confused by the massive swarm of birds blocking out the sun light. Then, all of a sudden, the black birds began flying into one spot close to the ground, forming a mass of black darkness until eventually a single entity began to emerge. From the birds, a tall, muscular, black haired man in an extremely dark black dress and high heels stepped forward. He wore a feathered cape and his dress was feather trimmed. The black lipstick and dark eye shadow on the man made his eyes appear more intense.
The mysterious stranger stood as if expecting a hero’s welcome, “Crow.”
Raziel stood beside the confused Hikaru, “Excuse me?”
“I answered the gentleman’s question, Crow. I am the one who saved the grand duke from the evil spell of the royal mystic.” Crow fibbed.
The crowd loved his showmanship and absorbed as much video and photography of the stranger as possible. Raziel and Hikaru were speechless, unaware if the other had known of this stunt.
“It is true. I saved our kingdom’s very own Raziel from the clutches of Fire starter’s evil magic. As you now all can see, I can manifest into many birds and those many birds can re-manifest into me, yet while I was in my bird form, I was trapped by this royal mystic. Locked away in a bird cage for some of his witchcraft no doubt. I was helpless and could do nothing but watch his trickery, but thankfully I witnessed the measures in which he created this mind control spell. Eventually, I was able to break free of my cage and free Raziel from this terrible spell, but sadly I was not quick enough.” Crow lied fooling everyone who listened, aside from Raziel and Hikaru.
“But as Hikaru has stated, we are strong and will not allow this evil wind to blow our great kingdom down. So, we must stick together and be united as one more now than ever. And so, for that reason, I have also accepted Hikaru’s offer to become the next mystic advisor for the Vailstone kingdom!” Crow announced happily as he walked over to Hikaru and forced his hand shake, both smiling for the cameras.
As the crowd’s attention was focused on Crow and Hikaru a massive burst of flame exploded within the mass of people. Spectators ran in a panic while others scurried while on fire. Fire starter stood before the three liars with Grunt by his side. “Well, that’s a hell of’a story ya got the’ya.” he confessed.
“Fire starter?! Come to turn yourself in? Or back to try and finish the job?” Hikaru asked loudly.
Fire starter’s rage burned as he refused to stand by as he was being framed as responsible for the death of the king and queen and even worst, blown his cover to the whole world, announcing his location to all enemies of his which may have been watching the news. “Ya lil snot!” he insulted blasting a fire ball from the end of his staff towards Hikaru.
Raziel blocked Hikaru and Crow from the fiery attack, “Fire starter! You’re under arrest for treason.” Raziel warned.
“Oh? Is that how it is, huh? Well, ol’friend ya seem ta be confused, let’n that arm’a get to yar head!? I’ve helped ya this whole time n this’ what becomes it? Fine, if ya insist n tell’n stories then lemme give ya reason ta tell anoth’a.” he said spraying a massive ring of fire around himself and Grunt which protected them from the kingdom soldiers before continuing. “If ya don’t confess, n tell everyboda that I’m not ta blame in this whole thang, then I WILL burn this kingdom to tha ground. I’ll unleash ALL my summon’ngs to destroy anythin’ n’ everythang until ya tell tha truth!” Fire starter declared cackling with his terrible laugh.
“Fire starter WAIT!!” Raziel called out.
But it was too late, Fire starter and Grunt both burst into a massive flare that allowed them to vanish. The entire world witnessed the promising threat by Fire starter thanks to the news cameras. Raziel regrettably looked back at a surprised Hikaru, worrying of the coming dangers to be unleashed upon them all.
