Drifting into Existance: OPEN TO ALL

[Axiron Stormholder]

Axiron drifted unconciously on his back along the gentle river that ran in the center of the forest. An arrow stuck out from his right shoulder. His clothes were torn and a few bruises and scrapes covered his face and arms.

Flash.

General Dienico, a tall dark man with a strong stern face, walked from behind the four men holding crossbows. "Forgive me, your highness. But, there can only be one king to the throne of Alcoran."

Axiron scowled at Dienico. "You betrayed the whole royal family, including my father. His death only came as an advantage to you, as you would use mine to take the throne."

"Well, look whose eyes are finally opened."

"Your rule wont last long, I will see to that myself." Axiron retorted.

Dienico gave Axiron one last look before he turned around and ordered, "Kill him."

Axiron quickly turned around and ran toward the edge of the cliff. Arrows wizzed past him and one penetrated his right shoulder. Axiron stumbled and grunted in pain before he jumped off the edge of the cliff.

Flash.

Axiron drifted to the shore of the river next to a mossy fallen tree and continued to lay there unconscious.

[I. R. Shogun]

The ancient elf walked along the old river. His once silvery armor has since faded to a much more opaque shade. He once wore a visor and helm that covered his head. He'd since lost those, and his cape, once a beautiful velvety red the touched the ground now barely reached his legs, and had become black with grime and age. His name had been forgotten by most, and to those who remembered him, he was little more than a footnote on the pages of history. His once celebrated deeds were told as bedtime stories to children, recalling the days of elven victory over evils long laid to rest. His glory days had long passed, his swords hadn't been drawn in over a century.

He seemed to have been walking along this river for ages. He remembered when this great deep river was little more than a tiny stream. He remembered when he'd planted the acorn that became the tallest tree in this forest. He remembered all the old days, he'd seen three generations of elven kings pass before he became secluded to just this great grove. Before he'd met those two lovers long ago who helped him win his last great battle. But there was something different about the forest today.

The deer and other creatures had grown used to this ancient being, they no longer fled from him. However today the animals shyed away from this section of the river. The ancient wondered what had frigtened them until he came to the foot of the great old tree the ancient had planted long ago. A younger elf lay unconscious in the river. As the old elf began to approach the younger one began to stir.

He looked up upon his elder with eyes filled first with fear, then wonder. He wore the symbol of an elven king from another kingdom not too far away, but it was faded with the centuries. The younger elf recognised the symbol, and in a moment he spoke, "Who, who are you?" Now for the first time in nearly two hundred years the old elf spoke, his voice not weakened at all by the years, still full of life and wisdom, "I am known only as the Holy Avenger. Though some have addressed me as, Pops. I must ask you stranger, how did you happen to fall asleep in the river. It seems like that would be a hard thing to accomplish."

[Axiron Stormholder]

It took a moment for Axiron's eyes to adjust before he gazed into the eyes of Pops. They were gentle eyes, yet it seemed full of age and wisdom. "No, sir." Axiron responded struggling to get up. His body was weak and the arrow shot with pain each time he moved his arm or shoulder.

"Maybe we should take care of that." Pops said noticing the arrow. "Even any Elf would say that you are pale."

Axiron ignored him and continued. "I did not fall asleep." As soon as Axiron reached full hieght, his head began to throb. He placed a hand to his head and almost lost his balance before Pops grabbed and helped him stand. "Where am I?"

[I. R. Shogun]

The younger elf was wounded, likely due to blood loss. Still, he was able to stand strait before it began to affect him. "I did not fall asleep," he said just before he started to fall. Avenger caught him and helped him stay steady. "Where am I?" That was probably a good question. He was thoroughly soaked to the point where his clothes couldn't hold any more water. He must have drifted some distance.

"You are in the Sage Forest, one mile east of Palados, some distance south of the capitol."Avenger said trying to remember the exact location of this forest. It had after all been some time since he'd been to the nearby town, although he did see travelers from time to time.

[Axiron Stormholder]

Sage Forest! Axiron suddenly realized how far off he had drifted. He must have been drifting for days. He was nowhere near the Kingdom of Ascalon. He had no time to lose! Dienico could have been crowned king by now.

"Forgive me, kind sir, but I need to get back to my people. They are at the mercy of a human tyrant. If I don't get back to them soon, they could all be enslaved." Axiron began to rush away and into the forest.

[I. R. Shogun]

The younger elf began to stagger off into the forest. It was strange, this youngster was so like Lief when they had first met. Before that whole adventure with him and Nause before they were wed. If this young elf was like Lief in any other way Avenger knew he'd be going headlong into trouble, and he was in no shape to be fighting. So it seemed he wasn't quite done fighting yet. Oh well, the old elf had promised he'd come back to visit those two someday, and now was as good a time as any to get reaquanted with the civilized world.

Avenger quickly caught up with this young go getter, he remembered when he was so passionate as this one. "Now now, I understand that you must save you're home, but how are you expecting to defeat this tyrant?" "I can fight..." the young elf replied. "Even so, you're injured, you won't be any good to anyone if you collapse before you get back." "I thank you for your consern, but if you don't quit trying to stop me I'll have to subdue you."

Now here was an interesting situation. "Fair enough, but if you are unable to subdue me, then you must stay here until you're well. And you must accept my help in defeating this human tyrant." "Very well, but you should know, I'm one of the best warriors in my kingdom."

Avenger now sped up his pace until he and the younger elf were a few feet away, then turned and faced him. He realised the young elf had no weapons. So he took off his sword belt and tossed it aside. Avenger thaught of what this youngster had said moments ago, his people. He was no doubt a prince, he would be well trained in hand to hand combat, still, Avenger doubted he would be able to keep up a fight for long in his current condition.

The two squared off, but in his wounded state the young elf wasn't thinking clearly. He made the first step, moveing with his body compleltely open. Avenger side stepped and grabbed his opponent's wrist, then pulled it towards himself, then behind the young elf, bringing him down to his back. The young elf quickly sprung up, hardly fazed, but after three passes with similar results he realised if Avenger wanted to do him harm, he very easily could. He may have been about to surrender, but before he could, he passed out again from exhaustion.

He awoke some time later. The arrow had been removed, and bandages applied. But it felt as though the wound had been treated by some means he wasn't familiar with. He looked around. He was in a simple house, typical of servants in elven villages. In the corner sat a very plain shield with an inscription of some sort on it, and two swords in their scabbards, which seemed to be very very old. Near that was a table with a very small painting on it of two young people, a human man and an elven woman, looking like they were being wed, and a small note that had been written by two different hands, and above that hung a tremendous sword that had been kept very well polished. He smelled the air, it seemed someone was making tea in the next room.

The young elf walked into the room to see the older elf still in his armor was sitting at a small table pouring himself a cup from his kettle before putting it back over the fire, the smoke from which poured out of a hole in the roof above. Avenger looked over to see the youngster had finally awakened. "So you're finally up? Well have a seat, some tea perhaps? Tell me some more about what it is that is so urgent you were ready to fight with no weapons, and nearly no blood, rather than wait for a little while. I've also been wondering, what am I to call you while you recover?" He wasn't sure how the young elf would take to this all of the sudden, but Avenger figured there was no point in dilly dallying around things when you were as old as he was.

[Axiron Stormholder]

Axiron looked to the floor as he moved his hand over to his shoulder in reaction to slight pinching pain. He took a chair across from Avenger and gave a large sigh as Avenger handed him cup of tea. "Well," Axiron began looking up at Avenger. "I am Axiron Stormholder, Prince and Future-King of Alcoran. My father had died in his bed recently and my mother and brother only two days afterward. General Dienico blamed it on a helpless beggar and sentenced him to his death. I was to be crowned king the following day, but instead, he lead me to a cliff on Silverwind Mountain where I was born. I guess he thought it suitable for me to die where I was born, as if I had never came into being." He looked at Avenger with a skeptical look. "I don't know why my father promoted him to general. He is not even an elf. He is, in fact, human." Axiron shook his head. "My father was a great friend to Dienico's father and he insisted that my father promote him, promising that he would be a great and noble general. Dienico, is nothing like his father. He was like an uncle to me, a good man. But Dienico wanted things of his own; more power. I never did trust him, and my father could sense it, but he didn't think much of it. Dienico had shown his arrogance a hundred times over, yet my father kept to his word." Axiron paused to think.

"Dienico knows that no human can take the throne of an elven king, so he will challenge all the elven generals until there is no one notable enough to take the throne. Dienico may be human, but with the title my father granted him, he is still greater than any common elf. He will kill all that challenge him and he will enslave all elves to do his bidding and he still has the control over his own army. And, no elf under his command will break their oath of allegiance to him, especially being that everyone believes that I am dead."

"So you see, I am the last of the royal family and the only one who can put an end to it all." Axiron looked toward the open window that emitted a bright light into the room and took a sip of the hot tea. He felt the cool gentle breeze on his face. He looked down into the cup of tea and said, "This is the life of my people. I can't have them suffer."

[I. R. Shogun]

The younger elf, Axiron was his name, told Avenger his story. A human becomming lord of an elven kingdom. That was not something that boded well for the rest of the world. And by the way that Axiron spoke of him, there was no one who would be able to stop him from taking over within the kingdom. Avenger had heard similar stories many times, but normally it was at least an elf who desired control.

Either way no one elf could win back a kingdom. If his people thought he was dead then he'd have a hard time gaining support. The young prince was going to need help, and there wasn't any reason why Avenger wouldn't be his ally. Still, they were going to need to work if they would save this kingdom.

"Well, you won't be any good to anyone with that arm in the shape it's in. Once it's healed I'd be glad to help you out, if you'll have my aid," Avenger said. "But until that's taken care of I can't let you leave, you won't do anyone anygood if you can't even swing a sword."

[Axiron Stormholder]

Axiron frowned at Avenger. "Battles are not always won with the blade of a sword." Axiron gave him a smirk as he paused. "Very well," Axiron muttered as he stood from his chair. "I shall take refuge here for a couple days, and then we will set forth. I cannot linger here for any moment longer than need be. There is work to be done and we must raise allies to their feet. I know I can get allies from the King of Palados. He and my father have been sour toward each other for the past few years but I am sure he will listen to me. In the meantime, I will do what I can to prepare and I will rest." Axiron turned to the door and as he approached the doorway, he turned back toward Avenger. "Thank you for your everything, kind sir." He gave a short headbow and returned to the room where he had awoken from.

[I. R. Shogun]

It didn't take long before Axiron had recovered and they were off. Everythng that had been in the room Axiron had slept in was now with Avenger, he wasn't planning on going back after this journey. It felt odd to Avenger to have his swords back around his waist, the giant one on his back, and the shield strapped to his arm once more. He desided it felt good, he had been raised to be a warrior, and his long seclusion had almost let him forget what it felt like to be ready for battle.

It wasn't long before they reached the nearest town. They weren't going to take much time there, but one incident struck Avenger at least as a bit odd. They were passing a tavern when three bodies burst through the door. One was an elf clad in an odd sort of green armor. The other two had no distinguishing features, but they seemed to be fighting the elf. It wasn't long before he dispatched them and made a few remarks about how they should watch their mouths next time they were around a high elf. Avenger had trouble figuring this out, seeing as few high elves would be mingling with humans in an average pub. They didn't stop for long, but Avenger still wondered about that elf and if their paths would cross again.

[Axiron Stormholder]

Axiron and Avenger entered the Old Willow Inn and walked up to the innkeeper. "Greetings! Welcome to the Old Willow." Said the innkeeper putting down a cloth and mug. He rested both hands on the counter and leaned over. "What could I do you folks for?"

Axiron tried to hide the symbol of his royalty on his forehead behind the hood of his dark green robe as he pulled out a small pouch of gold coins that he had kept with him. He thought to himself for a very short moment about how fortunate he was not to have lost it while he drifted in the river a few days ago. He took out three gold coins and placed them on the counter. Generous enough. The innkeeper took the coins and placed them in his pocket. "We need a room to stay in for the night."

"Certainly. Right this way." The innkeeper moved from behind the counter and led Axiron and Avenger upstairs.

As Axiron followed he asked, "Has there been any news or rumors going around?"

The innkeeper gave a short frown as he thought. "Well, there ain't been much goin' 'round here. There have been rumors of Arlunian soldiers goin' round towns and patroling forests. I saw one just yesterday on a horse. It seemed he was searchin' for somethin'."

"Any idea what he was looking for?" Axiron asked.

"No, sir. They be strange folk them elves."

Axiron gave a hidden smirk.

The innkeeper opened the door to their room and stepped aside for them to enter. Avenger went in first and Axiron turned around as he approached the doorway. "Is there a smith in this town?"

The innkeeper frowned. "Surely, sir. But if it's weapons your interested in, he don't have much. The be a small town and not many already have weapons of their own."

Axiron didn't really like what he was hearing, so he gave the innkeeper a false smile followed by a nod, then turned around and entered the room. As the innkeeper left, Axiron closed the door, put down his things and pulled back his hood. He faced Avenger and gave a sigh as he said, "Guess we ought to kept low."

[I. R. Shogun]

The inn they were going to stay in was nothing of extravagence. But it was sufficient for no longer than they planned to be here. The innkeeper was a small man, mid-forty year old human Avenger woud say. Axiron got them a room with a small sack of gold and he and the inn keeper spoke of the rumors that had been floating around. Avenger figured it was something to do with the Prince's kingdom, but his mind was elsewhere.

This was a small city, he doubted their town guard numbered more than fifty. Still, they were going to need to start recruiting somewhere. Axiron mentioned laying low, Avenger couldn't help but chuckle, "You really haven't been on a quest without other soldiers have you? We're going to need to go to a pub to get a few allies here soon."

[Axiron Stormholder]

"Well, I would suggest that we keep our allies to a minimum, until we approach Alcoran. We don't want the guards to detect our presence, especially mine, and I don't want to spill more unnecessary elven blood." Speaking about killing other elves was beginning to get Axiron angry. He tried to calm himself down and then he smiled and put a hand on Avenger's shoulder. "Forgive me. It's just that I don't like the idea of killing our own people to save the others." Axiron took a deep breath. "I am glad to have you by my side." He took a moment to think. "Are you familiar with anyone here?"

[I. R. Shogun]

"No, my home land is far to the south of here, and I've not been there in ages. But I've been on a good many adventures where I started out not knowing any of my companions," he patted his chestplate where he'd tucked the painting of that had been in Axiron's room at the cabin. What a quest he'd been on with those two. "But I'd say we'll need one or two allies at least on this journey. Yes I'd say two would suffice. They'll need to be good with a blade, not dummies like your average warrior. And hopefully they'll have a bit of personality too."

[Axiron Stormholder]

Axiron nodded in agreement.

Night came and the town didn't seem to settle. The street was still busy and the most noises came from the taverns. Axiron and Avenger was already headed there. Axiron wore his dark green robe with his hood up to conceal his identity. He wore a black band around his forehead to conceal his royal symbol in case he was ever forced to look up to satisfy somone's speculation as to why he would always keep his head down. But even that would happen only if there was no other choice. Avenger entered first, it seemed that even all his years in hermitage that he was still more comfortable in the tavern more than Axiron. This would be the ninth time that Axiron entered a tavern. He was used to the ale being brought to him not the other way around.