The Three Kingdoms - Chapter One
#1 of The Three Kingdoms
Author: If you are apart of YC and some of these names ring a bell or look familiar, it is because they are good friends of mine, and i used them as cast with their permission. Right now my cast roster is full. Well, i hope you enjoy chapter one of this epic series ^.=.^
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"Is that the best you got?" Draconis, an eight foot tall, male anthro dragon jumped back from the swipe of a sword by Arus, a five foot seven, young male anthro gryphon, who was the pupil of Draconis. "Come on Arus, I know you can do this." Draconis was using just a bokuto, against Arus, who had a metal short sword. Arus charge at him again and swung two nice attacks, a left downward slash, and then followed up with and uppercut. Draconis stepped to the side and swung the bokuto, which he wielded with one hand, down at the back of Arus' knee, making the young gryphon fall forward to his knees, and then onto his front. "Arus, get up, there is no rest in battle." Nodding, Arus slowly rose to his feet and gripped the sword a little loosely. Charging again at Draconis and slashing in each direction, in which Draconis blocked by parrying, leaning to the left, the right, or just leaning back. Draconis then made a quick hit to Arus' knuckles, making the boy drop his sword, and Draconis then hit Arus right in the stomach, making the gryphon double over and cough up a bit. Draconis sheathed the bokuto and sighed.
The two were being watched by some of the soldiers in Draconis' army, and a few mages as well. Some of the guards were laughing, others smirked and the mages were feeling somewhat sorry. Arus shakily rose to his feet, but had a little help from Draconis, "We'll train again tomorrow, with a lesser crowd." Draconis chuckled a bit and Arus smiled. Arus' father had joined the same army Arus was joining, which his father had fallen ill and his last wish was for his son to join the great army of Ryoku. Draconis shot a glare over at the soldiers and they immediately headed back to their posts on the castle walls. The mages nodded softly and left to tend to anything else, the animals, gardens, crops and the fortress that lay within the walls.
Arus looked up at Draconis and gave a weak smile, knowing what he was about to ask was a rather stupid question, but he asked anyway. "Did I do any better today?" This got him a look from Draconis that told him no, which Arus nodded and headed off to the fortress to get some food and drink, leaving Draconis on the training field, thinking of the days ahead for Arus.
"The boy has great potential, wouldn't you say?" Draconis looked over his shoulder at a cloaked figure that was walking up to him. The figure was dressed in a brown traveling cloak, which had black runes on it, and a little bit of gold sewn into the hems of the cloak. The figure also carried a red oak staff, five feet in length at which the figure stood to about five feet, eight inches. The figure pulled back its cloak to reveal a draconic head. "What do you need of me this time?"
The figure bowed and nods softly, "My lord, there is a small uproar in the village. It seems a few thieves have slipped past your guards." The figure then stood back up and looked over to the direction she had come. "How would you like me to take care of them sire?"
"Take them into custody, and throw them into the dungeon, I will speak to them after I get a nice meal and a little practice in." Draconis smiled and the figure nodded to him, beginning to walk off. "Drega, I would like you to around up the finest marksman I have, about four of them if you would." Drega then nodded and left the presence of Draconis as he himself walked back to the fortress.
Once in the fortress, Draconis headed through the Great Hall, nodding to some of his servants as they greeted his return to the fortress. He headed up the large stone steps and down a corridor as light footsteps were heard, and a male voice. "Sire, sire. I must speak with you." The shaman looked around and dashed down a corridor, making a turn and running right into Draconis, who stumbled back a bit. "Ah, sire, there you are. I need to ask you something."
Draconis got back on balance and looked down at the fox that stood before him. "Well, you found me, what is it you must ask?" The two then headed to Draconis' room as they spoke to each other, silencing their conversation when others walked by, then starting it back up when they were out of earshot.
"The boy, Arus, I was wondering if I might could teach him a little magic. Not a whole lot, just the basics you know. He has great stamina and I'm sure he has great mana within him." The fox looked up at the dragon as they walked, a pleading look in the fox's hazel colored eyes.
Draconis sighed and nodded softly, "Alright, I will allow you to teach him, but just the basics understand? Anything else and I will punish you....or just hand you over to the guards, they love a good fox every once and a while." He laughed a bit as the fox nodded at the question. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go into my room." The shaman, a five foot five inch tall, male anthro fox named Girin nodded and walked off as Draconis entered his room. Right when he closed the door and turned around, he was pounced against the wall by two giggling nekos.
"Welcome back master. Did training go well for Arus?" The first neko, Rene, spoke up as the two nekos got off Draconis and helped him up. The other neko was named Autumn, both stood at five feet exact, twins, with pink hair that had some white strands, pink and white furred ears and pink furred tails. "And may we go play some games with him?"
Draconis got up with their helped and walked to his closet, removing the black cape that lay on his broad shoulders and putting it up. "He didn't improve any, but he held out longer than I expected." After speaking, he heard the two girls giggle and shook his head, looking to see what the two were wearing. Both girls had a black collar each amongst their neck, wearing a greenish colored shirt and brown skirts that came down to just above their knees. "And yes, you may go play some games. But make sure he is done eating first." The two girls nod and head out of the room quickly. Draconis then donned a white and brown tunic, with tan hued trousers. Putting the bokuto away, he walked out onto the balcony that was outside of his room, overlooking the castle gardens and some of the village below. "To protect all of this, father, Is that what you wanted me to do? If it is, I hope you watch over me," He reached into the tunic and pulled out a small necklace that had a dragon figure on it, clutching it in his right hand, "so I will not do wrong and everyone will be loyal to me."
"Speaking to your self again sire?" Came a female's voice, from the door to Draconis' room. He didn't look back, just kept his eyes closed and the figure in his clenched hand, muttering a little lower so no one could hear him. The female mage walked over and placed her hand on Draconis' shoulder, trying to be a little comforting.
Draconis opened his eyes and looked to the side, seeing one of his most loyal mages, "I guess I was a little." He chuckled a bit and placed the necklace back in his tunic pocket, then looked down at the gardens and the servants that attended to them. Noticing that his Sakura trees were growing nicely, as well as the roses he had also planted there, a request from his mother when she passed. "What is it that you need me for?"
"The executions sire. Executioner Haze hasn't been feeling well as of late." She looked down at the gardens as well. "The three thieves, they are from the other continent alright. They reek of the smell and then emblems." She growled softly and pulled down her hood, revealing the hybrid face of a dragon and a wolf.
"Alright Edania, I'll do it." Draconis sighed and stood up, walking over and picking up a nicely forged short sword he named 'Schmitar' looking back at her, "Well, are you coming?" Edania nodded and followed Draconis out of the room and down deep to the chambers under the large fortress. Upon arriving, the two saw the three thieves chained to the wall. Each one having a different colored tunic, one red, one blue and the final one was violet, all three of them were also foxes. "So, you three must be stupid, to try to invade my castle walls and steal stuff from my village." Draconis began to sharpen the Schmitar on a sharpening block. "What were they looking for anyway?"
"All three of them were put up to assassinate you sire. If one failed, then the other two would move in and do the job." Drega spoke up as she sat down against the wall, staff in hand. "I found out some other information as well. They were, if the assassination went well, supposed to steal your father's legendary sword and your mother's legendary staff." This earned a growl from Draconis, as he pulled the sword away from the sharpening block.
"Steal.... steal my family's most prized possessions!" Draconis growled and walked up to the thief in green. He then took the sword and placed the tip at the fox's neck. "Hmm let's see if you're hiding anything else." He lightly slid the tip down the tunic, cutting it right down the middle as he then stopped after cutting past the chest. "What's this?" He moved the tip up and revealed a necklace, gold and at the end had a pearl on it. "This is nice." He reached out and took the necklace, then yanked it from the fox's neck, breaking the chain and putting the necklace in his pocket. "Maybe I'll remember y-" He stopped mid sentence as the two sides of the tunic front that had been cut, slid apart and revealed two developing breasts, covered in white fur that had stretched from neck, and possibly down to her crotch. "Such a waste for a woman like you to die, but you should learn not to steal." He pulled back the sword and in a swift strike, stuck her through the heart with the blade. A bit of blood spurted out from the wound and got onto Draconis' arm. Pulling out the blade, he moved to the next thief. "Edania, have three graves made for them. I'm sure somewhere in their life they were good, so they should buried on this holy ground."
Edania nodded and walked over to the fox, unshackling her chains and taking her limp body from the wall. "Yes sire, I'll get right on that." There were two screams, and the mutter of 'damn you' and 'you'll get it good' plus the sound of a sword slicing air as Draconis struck the other two thieves dead. Spearing one through the heart and decapitating the other. She then watched as he left out of the dungeon and with Drega's help, gathered the head, the headless body and the final body, and moved to the graveyard to back the holes for the three thieves.
Draconis walked down the east hallway and heard the sound of a plate shattering and then someone, a woman, scream out. "Get your ass out of here! You'll know what it is when it comes time." Draconis sweat dropped as the door to the kitchens flung open and hit the wall hard as Naburus, a 7'6" male anthro dragon, stumbled out and into the wall opposite the kitchen. A plate then flew out of the opened door and he ducked as it then hit the stone wall and shattered, calling out. "Hah, you missed." Standing back up, he turned to look at Draconis and a frying pan hit him right in the side of the head, knocking him into a wall. A female leopard walked out, picked up the frying pan and went back into the kitchens, the door slamming shut. "Shit, that hurt." Naburus stood up and held the side of his head, "Oh sire, I did not see you there." He bowed quickly and snarled at the door, knowing it wasn't any use. "Sire, why is your tunic so bloody?"
"Still can't keep your nose out of the kitchens can you?" Draconis gave a small hearty laugh and waved off the bow. "Keep on doing that, and she'll kill you." He shook his head and looked down. "I had to kill those three thieves we had captured. I gave them burials though, so maybe they will rest in peace." He nodded and walked up to Naburus and whispered into his ear, "Stop by my room later tonight. I have an errand for you to run." And with that, he walked off to go change clothes and get ready for some practice.
A while later, Draconis stood on the training field, with eight other soldiers standing around him. "Alright Spark, and the rest of you, I want you guys to try and hit me with your best shot." He looked towards the male anthro equine that stood opposite from him. Clad in the finest silver armor, forged by Kakeru Kingdom's finest armor smith. Each soldier had a ranged weapon, four had crossbows and Spark, plus the other three, had normal bow and arrows. The four soldiers with the crossbows loaded a bolt and aimed. Spark raised his hand, "On my mark! Ready....," He straightened his hand and pointed it at me, "Fire!" The soldiers let loose their bolts at Draconis, who managed to grab three of the bolts out of mid air, and the fourth nearly hit him in the neck. Straightening up he then called out, "Nice job, your aim is still good." Draconis took all three bolts and threw then like darts at a bale of hey, hitting the same spot all three times.
"All right, notch your arrows, two at a time." Spark called out as he notched his own arrows and aimed at his lord. "Are you ready sire?" Draconis got in another ready stance, standing calm and still, nodding softly to Spark. "Alright sire. Troops on my mark! Ready.....Fire!" Spark and the three other soldiers unleashed their arrows, being a total of eight flying at Draconis. He whipped out the bokuto quickly and knocked down four arrows, then caught two others while the final two got him right in the shoulder. He grabbed the shaft of both arrows and yanked them out, growling a little in pain, as he quickly bandaged the wound tight. Spark rushed forward and kneeled down next to Draconis, "Sire will you be alright?" Spark placed a hand on Draconis' back and inspected the bandage, which had begun to turn a little black with the blood.
"I'm fine Spark; it's just a flesh wound, that's all." Draconis chuckled a bit and with Spark's help, was back on his feet, looking at Spark. He put a hand on Spark's shoulder armor and gave it a pat. "Your soldiers are doing well. Keep up the good training." Draconis then walked off back to the castle, as it was now time for dinner, and then after that he would go ahead and pitch in early.
Little did everyone know, during all this time, a figure sat on a branch in a tree near by, peering through the leaves that hid it well, spying on the people of the fortress since Draconis and Arus' small training. The figure was small, about four feet in height, clad in a brown traveling cloak and a crossbow strapped to its back. The figure had a quill and parchment out as it began to jot down notes of what went on. Grinning after it had finished, "Good, I got what I needed." The figure then, with a blink of the eye, disappeared from the branch.
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Who is this strange figure? What does he want with Lord Stormwalker and his people? What was this errand that Draconis had told Naburus to do? And what were the thieves actually there for? Was it for the family possessions and the assassination or was it for a completely different purpose? These questions will be answered in the next chapter. See ya around. ^. _ .^/
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