NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC note:

This is closed. No RP, for now at least, just a background story. Thank you ;)

You are free to comment, you know :?

I advise all those who are going to read the following posts to first read the national factfile of the Grand Duchy of Tarasovka which can be found by clicking this line.
The said factfile contains some information that might aid one to understand better or at least to have a clue about what is happening/going to happen in this thread.

Thank you. (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=68877)

IC:

The Citadel of the Black Hand was standing on the cliff, magnificent in its might. The mightiest Citadel ever built by the Taraskath – the warriors of darkness -, made out in the form of an open hand, mighty walls withstanding centuries, high towers pointing high into the sky…

The capital of the kingdom, the home of the Shokath-Kshas – the Supreme Lord and Ruler of the Taraskath.

Uidath could not take his gaze away from the bastions of the Citadel’s Outer Walls, glowing in the far with the red light… red light provoked by flames…

It was the second month that he was besieging the Citadel. Him – the future Shokath-Kshas !
The future Supreme Lord and Ruler stood in the sunset, his features illuminated by red light.

He was a tall man, a drow, of around 185 centimeters. Rather young - only 200 years old. His long silver hair fell down on his heavy adamant armor, of a deep blue color, with rune scriptings on it, made out of pure mythril. His eyes were black, deep black with a silver pattern, as a night illuminated by myriads of stars becomes all silver, so did his eyes.

Uidath was from the Karetsah dynasty, which Lorded and Ruled over lands far to the north. High in the mountains stood the Emerald Spire - the Citadel of the Karetsah dynasty, plated with a green rock.
The Citadel stood near the location of a rich emerald mine, hence the name of the Citadel.
The Karetsah were undoubtedly the most powerfull of among the Lord and Rulers and the most disagreeing with the Supreme Lord and Ruler. For centuries, forges deep inside the mountains worked days and nights, forging highest quality weapons and armor for the day when one of the Karetsahs will finally step out of the Citadel to face the Shokath-Kshas and take his place...
And so it happened.
Uidath raised the long forgotten war banner of the Karetsahs, and, accompanied by several of his allies, attacked the Lord and Rulers loyal to the Shokath-Kshas. One by one their fiefdoms fell as Uidath became more and more powerfull...
And finally, the day came where the mighty armies of Uidath faced the Citadel of the Black Hand...

The drow finally turned away. Out in the far, sounds of a raging battle were heard. Uidath’s forces have finally pierced the Outer Walls, flooding the Outer Citadel, massacring the defenders. But it has cost them much… too much…

Uidath remembered the first assault… as he led his men into the charge…
Heavy sieging equipment was brought into action, crushing the walls. Arrows whistled all around and fell from the sky like a deadly rain. Swords hit against swords and made a deafening sound…
The moon was high, and there were no clouds. The myriad of stars were lighting the battlefield beneath with a soft silver light...
Uidath and a unit of his elite warriors rushed into an opening, only to see a Kshas-Ker in front of them. The High Dark Mage was still and calm… his dark-blue robes battered by the breeze…
He raised his arm, slowly…
Uidath only had the time to cross his arms in front of him and invoke a shield before a burst of energy sent him flying meters away, hitting the ground…
The entire unit was decimated. The ones that weren’t dead were stunned by the hit against the ground and were being finished off by the Black Guards that rushed out from the opening…
The legendary Black Guards of the Shokath-Kshas.

That day Uidath’s forces lost the battle and had to resolve to a siege of the Citadel. Uidath himself barely escaped the fate of a prisoner.

And now he was standing in his command tent, moving figures on a map, when suddenly, one of his own Kshas-Ker’s entered.

Hedrak was a a middle aged drow "High Dark Mage". He grew up in the Emerald Spire, in a family that supported the Karetsahs for centuries.
He was maybe the best mage in all of Uidath's army, the most cunning and intelligent, too. Often were times when Uidath asked him for council and advice, and never were the cases when he regretted it. Hedrak always had the right word for the right situation...

- What is it that you need, Hedrak? – Uidath turned around and looked at the High Dark Mage in front of him…

- Pardon me, Master Uidath… but… I might have a way to end this siege and bring you victory over your opponents, Master…

- You do? Tell me then, - Uidath rubbed his chin. Hedrak had never deceived him before…

Two young girls entered the tent. Hedrak stood behind them.
His deep blue robe, with mythril scriptings on it, was beldning with the dark leather outfits of the two young girls...
Hedrak's head was masked by a hood and his face had a mask on it - the distinctive sign of a Kshas-Ker. Indeed, a High Dark Mage was a too important person for his face to be seen by the common of men...

- They will end the siege, Master. And bring you victory…

- They will what? – Uidath had the feeling that the Kshas-Ker had gone mad…
Indeed - the Citadel has been repelling the attackers for already two months, and there was no end to the ferocity and determination of the defenders...
But Hedrak was only 500 years old and thus – too young to go mad…

- Master, these are the two assassins I have been training for the last years…
I took these girls from their families when they were little babies and raised them, teaching them the art of combat and magic. I swear on my head that they will bring you the head of Methalar by sunrise…

Uidath rubbed his chin again. Well, he personally had nothing to lose…

- What are their names?

- They do not have names, Master.

- How come? How do you call them than?

- They are the “Kunath”, Master…

Uidath grinned… Kunath was the name of the deadliest poison that ever existed – the poison with which was covered the blade of the Mighty Goddess Sathala herself…

- Then be it so! If by sunrise they do not return with the head – I will claim your head in return.

The mage bowed and went out, the two girls following him…
Uidath looked outside… The sun was only setting…
Out in the far, his forces were giving the assault at the Citadel.
A unit of dragon riders flew by the campement, their mighty beasts battering graceously their wings as they approached the battlefield...

In the morning, one of the girls came in and dropped a bag to his feet.
Uidath opened it… Methalar’s head rolled out on the ground, the face stunned in an expression of extreme surprise…
Methalar, the Supreme Lord and Ruler was dead!
Long live Uidath, the new Supreme Lord and Ruler!

A new Shokath-Kshas had arisen.
A new era had begun...

Elanor stood up from the bed. She walked to the window, undressed as she was, and closed the curtains, plunging the room in the dark…
The dawn was at hand and Vigvar was starting to slowly wake up. A hover police patrol vehicle passed somewhere in the far, its sirens breaking the silence of the early morning…
She went back to the bed. Mikhail was still lying there, asleep. She caressed his hair and suddenly, she felt herself grabbed. Mikhail was not sleeping after all, it would have seemed…
He gave her a long, passionate kiss, after which, he stood up himself and began to dress up.
She lay on her back, watching him.

- I have not seen you since… two weeks… I am getting jealous you know…
- I know, dear, I know…
- Are you sure nobody knows we “meet”?
- No, Ela, no…
- Why are you so un-talkative today?

Mikhail raised his gaze and looked her body over. He smiled. She was the most beautifull woman he had ever met. Her traits were thin, her ears pointing to the sky, surrounded by long, silk, golden hair.
Her eyes were blue, with a touch of green, as if it was the water of the oceans that was in them.
And those eyes were fixing him, with that joyfull and happy look in them...
But also a tad sad, as it should be when two lovers part with each other for some time...

- Sorry, busy day up ahead… There are some urgent matters of Sisgardian importance to attend to…
- Top Secret government matters, I guess…
- Yes, dear, - he said, and then added, - lle naa vanima...

She only waved her hand lazily at him…
He heard that over and over. And that wasn't an excuse. It was reality.
He was the leader of a large, technologically advanced and prosperous country...

- Not easy being the lover of a Grand Duke…

He burst into laughter. Elanor brought her knees to her face and sat on the bed.
She seemed to be thinking about something, her face all serious…

-Tell me, Misha…
- Yes, Ela?
- Is it true that the TDI is surveying the elves in the Grand Duchy?

The Grand Duke smiled. There she went again...

- Who told you such nonsense?
- Other elves… we are very few in the Grand Duchy, you know, so we stick together…
They told me that the TDI sees in the elves a threat to the current political power…

Mikhail, now dressed up in a casual civilian outfit, sat on the bed near her and stroke her hair.
She put her head on his shoulder…
Damn she was beautiful…

- The TDI is not a paranoiac organism you know. And especially not ever since my son leads it… Do not worry – the TDI has other more pressing matters than surveying a small elven community…
- But do they survey you? I mean – do they… know… about us?

The Grand Duke smiled and shook his head.

- Do not worry, dear, nobody knows anything.
- And… your wife? Your family? What about them?

Mikhail sighed…
His family… Ekaterina, his marvelous and loyal wife.
Anastasya, his energetic and ambitious daughter…
And his son, his heir – Mikhail the II…
The Grand Duke still loved his wife, but he… seemed to be torn apart between Katya and Ela, as he called Elanor.

- They do not know… and better if they never know…
But I must go now…
- Yes, yes, urgent matters to attend to…
- I will be back…
- In a month or so I guess, again?
- You know this situation is not easy… both for me and for you…
- Never said it was…

She sighed and added, whispering into the emptiness...
- Never said it was…
- You know I love you, Ela…
- I know… I know because I love you...
I just wish you were a normal man instead of a ruler…

They both remained silent for a moment.

- Tenna' ento lye omenta, - Mikhail said a last good bye and went out...

Elanor sat back…
She loved that man, madly… but this situation was driving her crazy…
He would come once in a month for a night and then vanish.
And she would only see him in the news…
She started to get dressed up…

Uidath was walking through the halls of the Citadel. The stone was still warm with the battle and the spilled blood. Here and there taken prisoners were washing the walls and floors from the blood, carrying out corpses of fallen soldiers.

The entire Methalar’s Black Guard preferred to fight to the death. All of them – warriors and mages… till the last…
The last battles were going in the throne room. Uidath stopped by the massive adamant doors leading into the throne hall…
The door, due to its consistence, bared no other marks of combat than traces of blood.
Uidath passed his hand on one of the biggest trails. It was still hot. He lowered his gaze. In a corner lay piled up bodies of Methalar’s Black Guards. Uidath’s men just piled them up because they did not have the time to carry them out, for now…
Somewhere in the lower dungeons the fight was still raging on, the last remnants of the Black Guard fighting off and dying, one by one, till the last…

Uidath went through the open doors into the hall. Everywhere were bodies. Uidath’s soldiers, Methalar’s men – this hall was not cleared yet. The bodies lay at the exact place where death caught them, recovering the floor entirely with a black adamant rug.
Uidath walked among the bodies towards the throne. All around the massive seating place of the Shakoth-Kshas were piled the bodies of the highest officers of Methalar’s Black Guards.
The drow shook his head and sighed.

- What a waste…

At that moment, Hedrak entered the room, led by one of Uidath’s elite soldiers. The soldier motioned to Hedrak at the commander and, with a bow, went out to attend to the clearing up duties.
The main dungeon was occupied by Uidath’s elite forces, while the rest of his army spread through the rest of the gigantic citadel…

Hedrak came near Uidath and bowed.

- You have called for me, Master?

Uidath watched the hall once again, slowly. Soon – all these bodies will disappear and the room will become symbol of his power. And it will be his descendants that will rule over the kingdom…

- Yes, Hedrak. I was greatly impressed by these “Kunath” girls…
- Thank you, Master; your esteem is the best of the rewards…
- I want you, Hedrak, to…

A dozen of soldiers and prisoners entered the hall. The prisoners began to carry the bodies out into the anti-chamber of the throne hall.
Uidath watched them do their gruesome work…
Hedrak glanced at them and then addressed Uidath.

- Yes, Master? Your humble servant awaits your orders…

Uidath’s gaze returned on Hedrak. The two drow stood silent for a moment.
Then, Uidath came closer to Hedrak and said in low voice, so that the soldiers in the other end of the hall could not hear.

- I want you, Hedrak, to prepare me a small group of such “Kunath” assasins…
For I want to have a force that I may count on whenever the need arises…
And I want to be able to dispose of my enemies before it comes to bloodshed, for many of those who follow my enemies are more useful to me as allies than corpses…

He looked the bodies of the Black Guard commanders around the throne.
They have stood for their fallen leader to the last man. Uidath could do nothing but admire such loyalty. And regret that these men had not fought for him…
Hedrak followed the gaze of his Master and nodded.

- If such is your wish, Master, I shall put myself to work at once…

Uidath nodded and turned around, facing the doors leading out of the throne hall. He silently walked through the hall and went out, going on a further inspection of his new Capital.
Soon – the news of his victory will spread through the kingdom and all of the Lords and Rulers will vow loyalty to the new Shokath-Kshas, to the new Supreme Lord and Ruler…

Hedrak also went out of the hall, but went into the opposite direction, to the place where two of his Kshas-Ker mages have been awaiting.

- And so, Hedrak? What did the Master say?

Hedrak smiled.

- He wants more Kunath…

Both mages nodded.
They were dressed in the same robes as Hedrak – of a dark blue color, with mythril
rune-scripting all over them.

- Well than, we shall put ourselves to work at once.
We shall send some men report to us about the most potential hosts and children…

The three mages nodded to each other and each of them went into their own direction from the citadel. They mounted their small dragons and flew away from the Citadel, each into a corner of the kingdom…

Meanwhile, the sun was setting over the Citadel, its red light enveloping the black stone.
The Citadel stood there, as mighty as before, passing from owner to owner, but outlasting each of them.
The Citadel stood there, as eternal as before, a silent legacy of the long forgotten ancestors…

OOC:

Okay then, if no comments, I'll ask a question.

Should I continue to add color like in the first post, or should I leave plain black text? :?

A little bump before going offline :roll:

And will have to get rid of some of the colors in the first post...

Got a bit... carried away :lol:

i'm not sure if i get the connection between the 2nd post and the other 2

that and that color can go, you really dont need it

i'm not sure if i get the connection between the 2nd post and the other 2

that and that color can go, you really dont need it

There are no connections between 1&3 and the 2.
For now :wink:
Unless of course you have read entirely my national factfile, to which you can access by clicking the red text in the first post. There will be certain "clues"...
But you will see anyway :)

And yes - I will edit most of the color out when I get some free minutes on my hands :?

It had been two months then. He wasn’t coming.
She heard rumors of an Arani led attack against the Taraskovyan allies of the Vortex Corporation, but nothing precise. The informational channels had no concrete information apart that the Vortex Corporations have issued a call for help to all allied nations.
The Grand Duchy seemed to remain neutral due to internal matters, but she knew – her Misha doesn’t drop allies like that. She knew something was going on, but she didn’t know what.
She really hoped that it would not come to an open confrontation…
As did all Taraskovyan people…

She pushed the channel button on the distance control. Some talk-show with the representatives of the Taraskovyan principal religions…
A man in the robes of a priest of Zynthris was arguing with an elf, probably a Sirithilist.
The presenter tried to calm both of them, when suddenly the elf stood up and emptied his glass of juice on the Zynthris priest. The Priest rose up and tossed his juice into the face of the elf…
Elanor smirked.
To the contrary of what most people think – the Grand Duchy did not persecute the elves. Indeed, the High Council valued the ethnical diversity and saw a true richness in it, using the particularities of each people and race to its advantage. The Skaven were used as underground warriors, elves made good medics, the Taraskovyan made good a bit everything…
She left the two “holiest ones” to their game and switched the channels again…
This time – some film was shown on the holoprojector…

She took some food from the kitchen and returned into her room. The holoprojector in the Taraskovyan houses was made of a sort that it could be placed anywhere. The projector was equipped with special hovering devices, which enabled him to do all the moves by himself.
Elanor ordered the projector to move to the bedroom and to position itself near the ceiling.
She then lay on her bed, watching the movie above her, eating some chips.

The movie was nearing its end when suddenly Elanor felt sick.

- Last time that I eat those chips, - she said to herself as she went to the bathroom to “evacuate” everything. Well, lets face it – vomiting is vomiting and its never pretty.

But everything ends. She walked out of the bathroom and looked at the date. Oh gosh! Tomorrow is the “Obligatory Medical Check” day…
Once every three months the Taraskovyan people had to undergo a medical check to see the state of their health. Elanor shook her head. She was an elf, elves don’t fall ill. Neither did most Taraskovyan people. But the Grand Duchy oversaw the health of its citizens vigorously.
The unofficial motto was: “If you do not want to be healthy, we will force you!”

***

She woke up late in the morning and looked at the alarm clock. Time to get dressed and ready.
She opened her locker and searched for something in it, finally taking out a black card…
This card was the Taraskovyan “passport”. Where you lived, your work, your family status, your health status, etc. etc.
If ever you got lost, the police would return you home in no time.
If ever you fell ill, the medics would immediately have all the information they need about your health.

She dressed herself, put her card into a small pouch and went out of the apartment.
Elanor lived in the so called “Memorial” part of Vigvar. Indeed – the highest buildings in this part rarely went taller than 20-30 stories.
The sun was already shining bright as she walked through the streets.
The Memorial part of Vigvar was built on a sort of a high plateau, 200-400 meters above the sea level, overlooking the Vigvar Gulf.
And in the center of the sea edge, on a high cliff stood the majestic Vigvar’s Winter Palace – the residence of the Grand Dukes. She looked into its direction, but her view was blocked by several 10 storey buildings.
All around the Memorial Part was the Skyscraper part.
The Skyscraper part was built in the low lands around the plateau and was separated from the Memorial part by small wood-parks. That part entirely consisted of tall skyscrapers, each around a kilometer tall. Each building had alleys and passages joining with other buildings, thus forming entire streets hundreds of meters above the land.
This district was seen in the far, tall and mighty…
And the buildings were as towers of some legendary citadel.

Finally, Elanor arrived at destination – the local hospital. She lived quite near to it, so made all her way here on foot.

And the procedures went on as before…
Nearly each doctor immediately uploaded “positive status” health parameters on her card. Normal – elves don’t suffer from illnesses. So it was quite fast…
Of course, there were certain other doctors, such as the gynecologists.
But well, laws are laws…

She pushed the door open. A woman in a white gown smiled at her and invited her into the expertise room…
The doctor was dressed in a standard white gown that all medics of all cultures on all Earth wear. She seemed to be a human, probably of Slavic origin, in her thirties.
She led the elves woman to the expertise room…

And after some time…

- Oh! Missis! I have marvelous news for you!
- Euh… Miss…
- Oh… Miss,I have bad news for you…
- Why? What is wrong?
- You’re pregnant, Miss…

Pregnant? Her face became pale…
Well, she always knew Misha was above the average, but to pierce through several contraceptive devices…

- Are you… sure?
- Yes, Miss, I am sure. You are on second month… and on this monitor I have here it is estimated that your child will be a girl…

Somehow, all this was new…
She was young; this was to be her first child…
And the father was a man that couldn’t even be there for her… most of the time…

- Miss? I will put this information into your passport…
But before, I have to ask you – do you wish to make an abort now?
- A-abort? N-no, no…
- Well then, by Taraskovyan law you are allowed to 20 weeks, after which aborting becomes illegal. You will have all the time to think about it…
- Ye-yes…
- Since I am the doctor responsible for the “find”, you will need my signature on the formulary for the “Single Mother Aid Coverage”, if you apply for it of course… Just call me when you decide, and if you decide…
- Oh, y-yes, I know… and… thank you…

The doctor shook her head. She took the card from Elanor and put it into a sort of a computer, hit several keys and gave the card back to Elanor.
The elf went out of the room, all shaking. She still had around 12 weeks to think it over…

***

Data, data, data, information, data, data, data…
He was tired. REALLY tired. Not easy being a TDI operative surveying the database of the Taraskovyan Healthcare Department…
He could not care less for all of these people, but he did his job. And his orders were to trail pure elven or Native Taraskovyan women, in beginning cycles of pregnancy.
He did not know why, nor did his superior. But it was his job, and so he was doing it.
A new entry found its place in the “Pregnancy” section of the database.
He cheered up. Finally, an elf!
Elanor Ruscon, ethnic Sindarin elf. City of dwelling – Vigvar. Health status – excellent. Pregnancy period so far – two months.

That was just what he needed. He sent the information to his superior officer, who then retransmitted it to the High Coordinator – the commander of the Black Wolves Tactical Forces.
The Black Wolves were the elite special forces, controlled by the TDI. Mixing saboteurs, assassins, anti-terrorist units and other “specializations”, the Black Wolves were a highly efficient and a very, very powerful force…

Nobody knew what the hell did the High Coordinator need the information about pregnant elves, but nobody asked any questions. At the TDI – everyone knew what they needed to know and not more, which enabled the organization to upkeep an overly high level of secrecy.

***

The data arrived directly at the terminal of the High Coordinator. The man quickly read through it and then gave appropriate orders…
Elanor was just what they needed…

* * *

Elanor opened the door to the apartment and entered. It was already night – she made a little walk over the city. He was on leave from her work right now – she still had one more week of vacations to spend.

That day was busy. She found herself out as a mother…

She entered the room and… felt so sleepy all of a sudden…
Her eyes closed and she would have fallen on the ground if two arms didn’t catch her.
There were three men in the apartment.

Two of them had some luggage packed; the third one took care of Elanor. The three went out of the apartment, closing the door and leaving the apartment as if the owner was planning to leave the country for some time and return later.

Nobody saw as they got into a car and it slowly rode out, vanishing in the night.

Everything was made as if a certain Elanor Ruscon had bought an Airlines ticket to some foreign resort city long ago, got on her flight and flew away…
A woman indeed flew to that city and was registered by the local authorities.
And then – that woman vanished.

Elanor herself never left the Grand Duchy. The three men brought her to an undisclosed location inside of the Duchy, where a top secret TDI installation was situated. The center of the Curare unit…

#Tag-because-I'm-too-busy-to-read-it-now-#

The halls of the dungeon were dark, with torches on the walls for sole source of lights.
In the dark shadows were fighting two young girls. The combat was violent – wielding a wooden sword each, they gave violent blows to each other, parried and dodged, attacked and jumped away, whirled in a dance that was to become a deadly one once they were ready.
And near them, stood a person, in dark-blue robes, with runic inscriptions upon them, made out of pure mythril. The head of the person was covered with a hood and his face hidden behind a mask.
A Great Dark Mage, a Kshas-Ker, too important a person for the common of mortals to see his face. The Mage was standing, his arms crossed on his chest, monitoring the fight between the two girls. The goal of the exercise was simple – teach the two students the art of combat.
Soon, two new Kunath would be ready, bringing it to a total of seven. Seven most deadly assassins there were. Uidath was satisfied with the works of Hedrak and of his two comrades. Several other Kshas-Kers have joined in the training of the Kunath.

In an other hall, three children – two girls and a boy – were also training, in a different manner.
They were taught to control their arm muscles by a very simple and effective exercise.
The mentors took a box, with two sides open and spikes all over the interior of the box. The student stretched his arm into the box, somewhere in the middle. The mentor put his arm on the student’s one through the other open side of the box and pushed the student’s arm down. The student had to resist with all his strength or the mentor would simply impale the student’s fist on the bottom side of the box. But it was not all. For at a random moment, the mentor would harshly and quickly take his hand off the student’s fist, causing the arm of the student to jump up and impale itself on the top side of the box.
The spikes were small, but sharp and painful. After each impaling, the mentor would heal the wounds with a spell and the exercise would to begin over and over again.
And the students had no right to express any feeling of pain. Each time one of them pushed a yell of pain, a Kshas-Ker mentor would lay his hand on the back of the student and pass a charge through the student’s body, causing the body to ache terribly. The students were given a choice: endure a small pike in the arm silently or endure much greater suffering. These measures proved to be effective – the three students were already controlling their arms completely, not impaling themselves on any spikes.

The dungeon was carved in the interior of a mountain, near the very top of it. Here and there corridors gave access to eternally frozen balconies. On one of such balconies, a large square, were fighting two young men. They wore no armor, nor did t hey have any warm clothes. All they had were light tunics. They wielded real swords, sharp and thick to such a point, that they cut through stone as through butter. It was very cold, the snow and wind blew hard and the entire square was covered in ice. But that did not hinder the two fighters. They whirled in a gracious dance, deadly and yet totally harmless. For they have learnt one of the most important lessons – how to use weapons and not to kill. They would leave cuts and burns on each other, but they would not kill each other.
Sometimes, they would quickly cast a spell or two at their adversary, before returning into the dance.
These two students were ready. Hedrak himself was supervising their training. He taught them how to use any possible weaponry, ranging from bows to daggers. He taught them how to use magic. He taught them everything and they have learnt well.

- And so, my dear Hedrak, I see that you have not wasted your time in vain, - a voice resonated behind the mage.

He turned around and saw Uidath himself watching the two students, with an approving and marveled gaze did Uidath watch.
- I am pleased to please you, Master.

- But tell me, why so few? You started out with a hundred newborns, if I remember correctly, - Uidath advanced into the balcony and stood next to Hedrak.

- Indeed, Master. The others did not prove to be strong enough and have joined the Realms of Sathala during their training.

Uidath shook his head. If to acquire seven assassins you had to sacrifice a hundred children, was it really worth it? And he raised his gaze and watched at the gracious dance in front of him, carried out by the two men.
Yes, it was definitely worth it…
He nodded to Hedrak and went into an other hall of the dungeon, in which the other five students were now training to shoot. The hall was very long and high and its floor was full of sand. The students were riding a horse each, wielding a bow. They rushed through the hall at the speed of wind and released an arrow at targets, which were hovering, moving and jumping all over the place. Several mages were animating the wooden planks just for the occasion.
Uidath marveled at their mastery. So young and already so efficient. It was sure that with such people at his side, no Lord and Ruler would ever rebel against him. The rebel would be dead and nothing would save him…