The Meeting

The leaves of the forest glittered as rain sprinkled onto the greenery. Weak rays of sunlight shone through the canopy and glinted off the armor of a young man. His damp, dark hair stuck to his skin as the rain dripped down his neck into his clothing. His eyes scanned the tree line as he waited for his guests to arrive, his thoughts pulling him away from reality.

‘If this were a fairytale, like the ones the monks used to read to me, this is where it’d begin.’ He thought playing with the idea for a second. ‘That would mean I’m the main character; just a lowly orphan with nothing to his name and his only possession being the sword his father left him. I wonder what the monks would think of me now.’

A smirk crept to his mouth as he imagined the faces of those who raised him when he becomes king of the world. His grip tightened around his sword hilt at the thought of the power he held over his childhood tormentors. A glint of light caught his attention, pulling him from his daydream as his smirk became a smile.

“Princess Brai.” He called to the forest before him. “Glad you could make it.”

A low growl rumbled out from within the undergrowth as a panther, the height of a full-grown man, emerged; its paws striding forward in a soft and precise manner. Perched upon its back, her light armor glinting in the pale green light, was the princess of the Moorven jungle. With a graceful hand she lifted the dark hood from her head allowing her dark braid to spill out across her back and for the forest light to glint elegantly off her circlet, while the other hand flexed the long silver spear she held and pointed the head towards the ground.

“Commander Ty.” She said, her voice booming with authority, but still gentle in its tone. “Why have you called for this meeting?”

"And lovely to see you too." Ty replied, his smile becoming lopsided as he contained a laugh.

"Watch your tone swordsman." She said narrowing her eyes with a soft hiss on her lips. Dropping from the canopy and emerging from the undergrowth were huge, armored beasts, their hides exposing all kinds of powerful jungle cats; they crept forward, their teeth bared, and their hackles raised. The princess clicked her tongue; the cats stopping in their tracks and quietening to an occasional hiss. “Do not anger me.”

“Always straight to the point with you.” He murmured to himself as he lowered into a respectful bow, annoyance creeping in.

“Are we interrupting something.” A man announced as three men emerged from the forest, their heavy footsteps barely audible through the leaf litter.

The oldest of the three was covered in fine, white furs, made from the ice bears of the north which draped down over his silver armor, threaded with deep blue cloth. Sheathed beside his waist was a glitteringly white sword that seemed to be seeping with cold. His hair was a tangled mess of grey that stuck up in odd places and covered his startlingly blue eyes.

To his far left stood a man shrouded in dark black furs that seemed to absorb all the light around him and deepened the effect of his messy black hair that covered his eyes in shadow. Pulled across his cheeks and arms in thick lines was red warpaint that matched the red fabric entwined around his midnight black spear. He huffed a breath that coiled out in front of him as he eyed the armored beasts surrounding them.

Standing between the two brothers was the third and youngest brother. He was much smaller than the other two and appeared to carry no weapons, but the brown furs that draped across his small frame and the golden circlet that coiled around his head showed a sign of high birth. Plastered across his pale cheek was a single stripe of mint green warpaint that matched the green of his earrings, circlet, and eyes.

“Glad you could make it.” Ty said as he turned to the new arrivals, his hand resting gently on his sword hilt. “We were just getting started.”

“Your highness.” Murmured the youngest, as he tilted his head in respect towards the princess. His brothers followed suit and kneeled into a bow.

“Your majesty.” She replied as she tilted her head in return.

Around them the princess’s entourage began to growl and hiss, their bodies turning to face a section of the undergrowth with bared teeth. Emerging from the bushes was a pair of wolves, theirs ears raised and their eyes darting around their new surroundings before they began to growl and snarl; behind them emerged a figure so large and burly that it made the three brothers look small, and strewn over his shoulders was a massive battle-hammer that he swung wildly to rest on the forest floor. As he leant on the hammer’s handle, he made a short but loud whistle that caused the wolves to immediately stop snarling and sit back on their hindquarters.

“Evening.” He announced, his voice thick with his native accent. The princess and the three brothers eyed him as Ty nodded politely towards him. Silence fell between the group as they turned to Ty, the sound of the forest encasing them as they waited for him to speak.

“Well?” the second oldest brother said, breaking the silence. “What are we waiting for?”

“Verdain, hold your tongue!” the oldest brother barked.

“No, no, he’s allowed to ask.” Ty replied, his smirk playing at his lips again. “We’re just waiting for one more member.”

“No need to wait any longer.” A husky voice called as two women stepped through the undergrowth towards them, their bodies covered in a deep purple fabric that obscured their faces, excluding their deep purple eyes. The eldest of the two nodded towards Ty, “I am here.”

“Witches!” Exclaimed the Warlord as he lifted his battle-hammer ready to strike; his wolves beginning to snarl and growl beside him.

“Lower you weapon Ammon!” Ty commanded as he stepped in front of the two witches. “They are my guests as much as you are.”

“They are untrustworthy.” Ammon snapped back, his grip tightening around his battle-hammer as he took a few shaky steps backwards.

“This is Exie Thea,” Ty announced to the group. “Protectress of the Vafrana Provence and just as much a member of this meeting as any of you.”

Exie hobbled forward, her frail frame seeming to groan and creak with each step. In her hands she held a cane that she used to stabilize her as she walked; it was covered in ribbons and had a deep purple crystal encrusted into the top of the dark wood. Her counterpart stayed behind Ty’s protective stance as she watched Exie move to the center of the group; her eyes darting around to each member as she inspected them.

“She is just an old lady, Sisson.” Verdain whispered to his older brother. “What do we have to fear?”

“You do right to fear me War Bringer.” She hissed to Ammon as she eyed Verdain. “But I am not here to threaten you, nor your people. The king of Ushos threatens our borders as much as he threatens all of yours, and I am here for the same reason as all of you: to preserve the land and people I vowed to protect.”

“And what can you give us that we do not already possess?” Princess Brai asked.

“Let me show you Princess.” Exie replied as she turned to her friend. “Aheelia?”

Aheelia nodded, her pale hands appearing out from underneath her shroud as the ground beneath them started to rumble and shake. Emerging from the ground were bone-like creatures that clawed their way out of the earth and towards the members of the meeting; their horrible screams and screeches filling Ty’s chest with fear. Behind him Aheelia flipped her hands over, so her palms faced down, and pushed them towards the ground causing the creatures to lifelessly tumble towards the forest floor; their horrible cries dying with them. The Warlord trembled as his battle-axe crashed to the ground, unintentionally crumbling the skull of one of the creatures; beside him Verdain and Sisson shivered as they slowly sheathed the swords they had hastily retrieved.

“My Lady.” The youngest of the three brothers said. “We will be glad to have you in our fight against King Landon.” He tilted his head to her in respect as she returned the gesture.

“Right.” Ty announced as he shook the feeling of fear from his body. “Any other questions or can we get started?” Silence followed his question.

“Let’s get started commander.” Exie said with a scrunch of her nose as Aheelia stepped forward and helped her towards a fallen log allowing her to sit. Ty nodded to her.

“Okay, here’s my plan for infiltrating King Landon’s castle.” He said, unraveling a map on the forest floor before the group. “We’ll start here.”