Selphite Serenade:Chapter One New Chord
It was cold outside, the coldest frostvale Zaphrias had seen since the great cataclysm. Many had begun to gather for the annual bazaar in the markets of Heliotrope the hume capital. Merchants and peddlers set up their wares hoping to catch the glancing eye of a passing adventurer or fool hardy noble. It was this time of year when the knights were wore thin, crime was at a rise during events like these and crowds easily gave pickpockets a stealthy escape. Those who had the coin hired guilds or freelancers for protection; others had to suffer at the limited number of knights dedicated to the protection of the people. They easily patrolled the city for hours on end sometimes never crossing a disturbance. There was the occasional rash knight who looked for conflict, ready to test out his pact with his Genite companion.
Ezra Miller strolled casually through the market, the bustling pedestrians took little notice of him as continued in stride. he basked in the solitude he found himself in, it was not often that one could find peace amidst the hounding of merchants and buyers. It was different for him, being a captain of the Guardian Enforcer Korps caused him a lot of unwanted attention so much in fact he often found himself shirking off his lesser knightly duties. "Peace of mind at last"he said placing his hands to the back of his head. He wore the attire of an average commoner, an attempt to blend in with the crowds and avoid 'her'. "Captain!" a young female called pushing roughly through the crowd. I can't believe she found me so soon... he thought, turning himself from her view in a last ditch effort to conceal himself.
"Captain Miller I know that's you!" her high pitched, peppy voice was a contradiction to his lieutenants personality. She's going to kill me this time I know it! He mentally bludgeoned himself as he faced his lieutenant.
"Captain you do realize there is no place on Zaphrias you can hide from me...." her voice trading its tender nature for chilling edge.
"Hello there Eloise I hadn't expected to see you on this fine evening," he said meekly his eye's glancing everywhere but the woman before him.
"Oh I see, so you happen to forget today's the anniversary of your greatest accomplishment?" she crossed her arms impatiently, strands of her vibrant crimson hair waved in the frigid wind.
"Well..." Ezra was cut short as she piped up again.
"Of course you didn't forget you just snuck away like you always do!" throwing his hands up in mock defeat Ezra tried to quell the beast.
"Listen Eloise I know you deserve a better captain than me, you do more than you have too..." He took his time to look at the female he spent the last two years with; her snow-white complexion added a nice contrast to her hair color. She had a nice lean feminine body enough to consider her attractive but not overly voluptuous. Ezra found her eye's her most tantalizing trait, her light violet eye color seemed to suck him in.
"you were saying?" she interrupted his train of thought causing his light tan complexion to turn red. "You know how I feel about this day" she seemed to calm at this comment and she softened. "I'll always stand by your side captain" she assured him grabbing a hold of his arm "But you need to attend the ceremony anyway so lets go!" she pepped up dragging Ezra by the arm.
** It didn't take long for the crowd to gather around them as they passed. "That's Captain Miller" one bystander spoke in a whisper "I heard his brother took after their father and worshiped the demon's" Ezra seemed to tense at the comments. "I heard his brother destroyed an entire city" the whispers seemed grow in strength over powering his mind. "His brother was a bastard and he deserved what he got, I'm glad we have a captain who would put his duty above all else" Ezra's mind seemed to warp between the people before him and the memory of his brother.**
"Ezra...." A young boy identical to Ezra called out to his brother. His eye's fixated on a corpse brutally stabbed to death.
"Theta... The knight's they were protecting us father was..." Ezra stopped to glance at the corpse of their father.
"Father was what? Go on say it!" Theta screamed tears streaming down his eyes at the murder of his father.
"Father was a monster who worshiped the accursed!" he yelled back equally frustrated "He deserved what he got! I hope he burns for letting mother die!" Theta grabbed his brother by the shirt and lifted him up
"When are you going to open your eyes!" he yelled, the same words seemed to echo throughout his mind as if someone was calling to him. "Ezra open your eyes damn it!" someone was calling out to him.
Ezra's eye's snapped open and he looked into the fearful eyes of an old man. Ezra realizing his error placed the man down and broke Eloise's grip "I'm going for a walk.... I'll make it to the ceremony on time," he stated coldly before walking off.
Ezra leaned against the cold cobblestone further within the market. His eyes were downcast as he steadily regained his composure. "I can't have outbursts like that" he mentally beat himself for what could have happened. "I wish things could have turned out differently" he sighed almost leaving until he heard a commotion coming from a nearby alley. "That doesn't sound good...." He said with a half sigh before entering the dark alley.
"I told you old man" The scene was a brutal one. A group of four men circled an old man curled into the fetal position. "All we want is the girl...so where is she!" the man grunted defiantly and received a sharp kick for his troubles. Ezra could sit by idly no longer and spoke up.
"Four on one poor old man..." he taunted shaking his finger back fourth as he addressed them. "Tsk tsk tsk...I can hardly call that fair" Ezra narrowly evaded a blast of electricity that came from what seemed to be the leader.
"Stay the fuck out of guild business!" The man gave Ezra a crazed look, tiling his shaved head sideways as his wrists began to glow. "Use of a battle type mana-drive within the city is illegal... should I also add that to your list of offenses?" Ezra gave him a wry grin before reaching for his weapon of the choice the transform bow.
The man didn't react instead his fellow guild members rushed Ezra who in return gripped the bows center tightly causing the bow to fold and create a short sword. The first goon swung his axe belligerently in an attempt to cleave Ezra in half, which failed earning him stab to the abdomen. The man fell to the floor in agony; the wound was not fatal however.
"You might want the get him to a hospital, I think he's gone and hurt himself" The other two men backed off at the sight of their comrade defeated so easily. "Fuck I should have known I'd have to finish this myself..." the man grim face turned to that of a blood thirsty maniac. "Its time for me to have some fun" he sent forth a wall of electricity which Ezra barley dodged landing on the ground behind him a few feet away. The other members were not so lucky and were killed instantly.
** Ezra was almost worn since he had taken the defensive and his opponent realized this. He feinted a rush and sent of bolt of electricity into Ezra's chest causing him to hit a wall with incredible force. "You were good...lasted longer then I had anticipated but its time for you to just die" the man walked up to Ezra and was about to deliver the killing blow when from above an attack rang out.**
"Cries of the fallen hear my plea, send back my enemies from whence they came...Pulse!" The leader was sent crashing into the adjacent wall where he lay motionless. "I don't remember them teaching you how to sit on your ass in the academy ..." A figure dropped down from above without much difficulty, his black skin color rivaled Ezra's tan complexion. "Thanks for the help Zeke but I'm sure I could have handled him" Ezra laughed coughing up a bit of blood as he did. "I'm sure you couldn't have or I wouldn't have had to intervene" Zeke shrugged in a matter of fact manner.
Ezra stood up dusting himself off walking towards the old man who had been beaten thoroughly. "Hey old man are you alive?" Ezra asked kneeling beside him. Zeke leaned against the wall satisfied with his role in the event. Ezra shook the old man who seemed to wake up shortly
"You have to hurry, I don't have much time to explain but you need to take this envelope..." the man coughed violently blood spilling from his mouth. "inside there is a key and map along with a specific set of instruction...please you have to follow them carefully the fate of the world is at stake" with a dragging breath the mysterious old man perished. "Well what was that all about?" Zeke asked doing a hand gesture for the old mans passing. "I'm...not really sure but if what the old man said was true then the weight of the world rests in my hands"
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