Faelian and Greyskull

8/13/2019 Faelian and Greyskull

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The Darkest Night

Faelian - Age 8

In the verdant green plains and lush forests of the continent of Alfheim, there wasa small bowl-shaped valle housing the village of !runwich" !ecause of its rather

isolated nature, onl humans resided within its borders" The other races of #berron allresided in more distant parts of Alfheim$ e%cept for the elves who lived in a forest some

da&s 'ourne awa" (owever these #lves were a ver secluded and secretive group, and

as such were regarded with fear and suspicion b the townsfolk of !runwich"

In this respect, Faelian was an incredibl unusual villager of the town" )ith a

half-elf father and human mother, he had a particularl bi*arre appearance incomparison to the other villagers" )hile a little small in build, Faelian had an almost

ethereal appearance, his hair falling into natural black curls and his prominent earsboasting of #lvish descent all served to give him a ver e%otic appearance" !lessed with

an affinit for magic his ees glowed with a msterious and bewitching light" +n top of

all of these features, Faelian was a prodig, possessing a heightened intelligence as wellas superb phsical capabilities" It was onl natural then, that all the other children of

!runwich, hated the little fucker"

heers could be heard from a small clearing 'ust outside the village&s area, awa

from pring ees" The children redoubled their cheers as !ron&s fist cracked against

the side of Faelian&s face for what felt like the hundredth time" !ruises peppered the sideof Faelian&s face, tilting his head to the side he spit out a broken tooth, while continuing

to stare defiantl at !ron" Two other children older than Faelian restrained him while

!ron continued his beating"

Honestly, why are they even cheering? It's not like its hard to hit a target that'sbeing held. Imbeciles, all of them. Did they really think I was that stupid to be caught

into their so-called ambush? mateurs.

Faelian had known for several das that !ron and his cronies were planning on

ambushing him" (owever because the desperatel needed some attention, the had

told most of the other children in the village that the were putting on a show withFaelian as the star" )hat was particularl galling was that the thought this made them

stronger" That the were smarter" That the were better than him" !ime to end this

farce"

Faelian started to chuckle which turned into a laugh that rocked his entire bod"


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!ron swung another punch into Faelian&s gut which caused him to gasp, as he roared

into his face, )hat&s so funn, ou little bitch./0

1ust that such a big gu like ou needs the help of 2 other people to hold a little

gu like me down" Are ou that afraid of me. +r are ou 'ust so incredibl

uncoordinated because our mother tried to abort ou.0

The clearing went dead silent, Faelian could almost see the gears turning in themoron&s head as he tried to process the insult" laton and 3orris, the two that were

holding Faelian, were badl tring to suppress smiles" A 4uick laugh coming from one

of the onlookers was 4uickl silenced as !ron shot a furious stare towards him"

5lancing around at the silent crowd, !ron gave a short retort,6ou&ve got magic"

It&s not like it would be a fair fight0

I have thepotentialfor magic" 7lus even if I tried to do anthing, wouldn&t ourlackes 'ust restrain me. ome on, everone here knows the real reason ou&re doingthis is because that ou&re the real bitch"0

That did the trick, as !ron&s ees went dead with cold fur, I ain&t afraid of

nothin&, ou fucking fair0 growled !ron" ignalling to laton and 3orris, the hands

holding Faelian released their vice-like grip on his hands" The children moved back,giving room for the two bos" )ith a resigned look on his face, Faelian settled into a

read stance" The crowd murmured with e%citement, knowing Faelian was gifted in

fighting as well" 6et !ron outweighed the smaller child several times in pure muscleand seemed to tower over Faelian"

Faelian broke the silence first, )hat&s wrong, !ron. Are ou scar-0 Faelian wascut off as !ron suddenl charged him and tackled him to the ground" "hase #, start.

The children cheered as the two struggled on the ground, each tring to beat theother into submission" 3ost were cheering for !ron who seemed to be prevailing over

Faelian as he began to fall underneath !ron&s blows" !ron had succeeded in pinning

him onto the ground and was straddling his chest, landing blow after blow against

Faelian who was desperatel fending off his attacks" No one noticed though, as Faelianslipped a small herb in !ron&s back pocket" "restidigitation, enhance smell" $nd

"hase #.

uddenl, Faelian stopped pretending to buckle underneath !ron&s attacks andstarted his own counter-attack" 9aising his legs as !ron began another series of

punches, the older bo stumbled midwa and fell to the ground, bracing his impact with

both hands" Faelian hooked his hands around the crook of one arm and collapsed it at


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the 'oint" )ith his balance destroed, !ron tilted to the trapped arm&s side, allowing his

left leg to be trapped b Faelian&s" !ime for my second spell to get to work. Invisible

hand.!ron recogni*ed the danger too late, as Faelian threw his weight to one side, the

force of the sudden shift in weight combined with a ver slight nudge from the Invisible

(and allowed the Faelian to reverse the positions" !efore !ron could come to hissenses, Faelian&s hand shot out and sank deep into !ron&s solar ple%us" 5rimacing with

pain, !ron&s efforts ceased momentaril as Faelian 'umped off his chest and backedawa from him" %ome on, hurry up. !his is going to be a bit hard if he gets up from

that"

As if to answer his praers, one of the girls in crowd suddenl shrieked, Dire

bear/0 #verone turned towards where she was shakil pointing and started to scream

themselves" The form of the dire bear emerged from the dense thicket, hulking andmassive in scope" It was also pissed"

)ith a blood-curdling roar, the dire bear charged for the group of children" All atonce the clearing became a fren* of movement with children screaming and scrambling

to get awa from the bear" ome ran blindl deeper into the forest, others ran towardsthe village to get help" As children ran all around it, the dire bear started to rapidl sniff

the air and found an apparent source of pre as it charged towards the centre where

Faelian and !ron were"

!ron was still picking himself up when he saw the bear coming for them, his

face draining of all color" Faelian shouted, !ron, run/ I&ll distract it/0 picking up alarge rock from the ground and throwing it at the bear" (e might as well have thrown

some grass at the bear, for all the good it did, as the bear seemed to unable to feel it as it

continued its mad rush" Faelian threw himself out of the wa as the bear charged, 'awssnapping at the air where he 'ust was"

)arned b Faelian&s cr, !ron had picked himself up and was starting to runtowards the trees when he suddenl slipped on the grass" !hank you invisible hand"

)hile Faelian had a mask of terror 'ust like the other kids who were still watching the

scene unfold with horror, inside he was laughing"

The bear stopped over !ron&s prone form and started to sniff him" !ron hadstopped moving altogether, some part of his mind remembering that one should pla

dead when dealing with bears" This might have worked if Faelian hadn&t slipped a small

clipping of Amoranthus into !ron&s pocket" Amoranthus gave bears such a nast caseof the munchies and when enhanced b 7restidigitation, it caused the bear to be worked

into a fairl savage fren*"

&ye-bye, &yron.


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9oaring once again at having found the tantali*ing source of the smell that had

called it, the bear opened its 'aws and sank its fangs into !ron&s flesh" The bearhungril tore into !ron&s bod, his screams splitting the air which became heav with

the scent of blood" Finall it appeared that the beast had found the plant it had so

desperatel desired and devoured it greedil" ell, I think it found it at least. Hopefullythe soporific I mi(ed in with the plant is enough" ure enough, the beast began to swa

as the soporific took effect and it fell heavil to the ground"

The bear was still snoring peacefull when several grave-looking guards were led

into the clearing b still cring children" The guards surrounded the beast and stabbedinto with their lances, killing the bear instantl as their weapons pierced its organs" As

an remaining threat, Faelian smiled and succumbed to the in'uries he had sustained and

all the magic he had used and fell into a peaceful sleep"

everal das later, the village was recovering from the initial uproar of !ron&ssavage death" everal villages had looked upon Faelian to blame, but were 4uicklshamed into silence as several of the children said he had leapt to !ron&s defence even

though he was being bullied b the older child" !ron&s mother had even come toFaelian and thanked him in tears for tring to help her son even though he had treated

Faelian so badl"

7laing the part of the guilt survivor, Faelian had turned from an ob'ect of fear

and suspicion and into the village hero overnight" (is parents showered him with praise

and affection and the children who had once looked on with apath at his treatment nowworshipped him" !hey do not even reali)e that this world is better off without scum like

&yron, that he should have been taken care of a long time ago. *ow they praise me for

coming to his defence and for playing the part of the foolish hero.

:ooking over the crowd of children following him, he noticed 3orris and laton

hanging back, looking shame-faced" The other kids have apparentl begun shunningthem, as the once did to Faelian" &ut I am better, I will not be petty against those who

were cowed into service by people like &yron. )alking over to the two with a smile,

3orris and laton showed incredulous looks that began to turn into hopeful

e%pressions"

&ecause I am better, I will re-shape everything else to be better. "eople are

simple creatures after all and they need a guiding hand. hy shouldn't it be mine?

3aelaeran ; Age 2


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It's the same dream again. I see D+, and Darkhadow dispatching the insectile

enemies that have suddenly ambushed us. aorge is kneeling by the small boy theywere about to devour, tending to his wounds. s I pour arrow after arrow into the

swarm of monsters, we hear the faint sobs of a second child somewhere further ahead.

/eave this place to us0 Hurry up and find the other kid, 1reyskull02 aorgeyells.

I'm running through these damn corridors in this 3eep, my head filled with the

sound of the child's cries. &ut I'm not fast enough. I'm never fast enough. I round the

bend in the corridor 4ust in time to see my own failure5 as she stares back at me, coldand unblinking.

3aelaeran came out of his Trance suddenl, his chest heaving with frantic breathswith the terrible memor still burning fresh in his mind" 3aelaeran was sitting at the

edge of a ding campfire in a clearing with four other people" haking off the dream,3aelaeran fed more kindling to the fire, stoking its flames so it burned bright oncemore" The wood crackled and snapped all the more loudl in the dead of the night, et

his new companions continued their peaceful snoring" 3ost of them, anwa"

(aving trouble sleeping.0 murmured one his companions whom 3aelaeran

thought was still asleep"

"""I&m an #ladrin, we don&t need to sleep"0 answered 3aelaeran"

The small issue of semantics elicited a laugh from his companion, now sitting up

from his bedroll and turning to face 3aelaeran, Fine, then" (aving trouble trancing.0

It&s nothing to worr about" 5o back to sleep" I&ll keep watch0

Ahh, don&t be like that" ome on, let&s get to know each other" I barel knowmore than our name, uh-0

3aelaeran, although I lost m right to use that name a while ago" Now it&s

5reskull"0 answered 3aelaeran"

+uch, how did ou manage that. 6ou lose a dice roll or something.0 bantered

the man, but seeing 3aelaeran&s sudden change in e%pression, he changed the sub'ect,

)ell in case ou forgot, the name&s :ightovius" I&m a paladin0 said :ightovius, puffingout his chest proudl"

I didn&t forget0I totally forgot his name"


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)ell here&s a little bit of info that I didn&t give out during orientation" I&m

immortal"0 said :ightovius in a conspiratorial tone"

uriosit pi4ued, 3aelaran asked, !ut ou&re human"""aren&t ou.0 his hand

sidling towards his dagger as he continued to converse with :ightovius"

)hoa, whoa" :et&s calm down, I am human >kind of? so there&s no reason to turninto 3r" tabb" I can e%plain everthing"0 4uickl reassured :ight" learing his throat

a bit, :ightovius began, IN T(# !#5INNIN5"""0

@ hours later, 3aelaeran had an entire plan of how he was going to kill himself as

fast as possible so he didn&t have to listen to :ightovius& life stor an longer" Indeed,3aelaeran&s hand was alread reaching towards 3ason, planning to take himself along

with 3ason out together when :ightovius finall said, Finall, after countlessgenerations of struggle, m famil had discovered the formula for the Infinite #li%ir" oou see, m current form is a result of that incredible potion"0 finished :ightovius with a

smile"

It took a few moments to reali*e that :ightovius had finall stopped talking" The

part of 3alaeran&s brain then 4uickl provided the answer that all sentient creatures gavewhen the want to end a conversation as fast as possible, )ow/ That was reall

interesting/ Thanks for sharing0 enthused 3aelearan"

Think nothing of the sort, friend/0 said :ight amiabl" That being said, I still

need some sleep like most creatures, so I&ll trouble ou to keep watch for the rest of the

morning"0 And with that, :ightovius walked back over to his bedroll and sank into adeep sleep"

The dream of hadowfell eep still haunted his mind, but the conversation with:ight had left him so tired that 3aelaeran 4uickl resumed his Trance" Thankfull, there

was no dream this time"

6unning through the halls of the keep, I can hear her pleas for help. he knows

that someone has saved her brother, that there are people coming to rescue her. !here's

so many of these insect bastards in the way, every time I kill one, two more take it'splace. I'm getting tired5 I've already teleported 7 times in this battle, one more is

beyond my reach. unny, considering all I needed was one more.


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I'm going around the corner and again I see that I'm too late. I kill the enemies

surrounding her in a blind fury, but she does not stir.

/1reyskull, we need to go02 says D+. /eave her, we need to get this kid out ofhere02

I get up and can only mutter two words, /I'm sorry.2

It had been almost one ear since 3aelaeran had parted from his formercompanions, though the had all promised to meet each other once again in the town

that the had saved together" For 3aelaeran, he simpl wanted to get as far awa from

hadowfell as possible, and once far enough, devote himself to training" trength,speed, skill$ power was his greatest desire" #nough power, so he would never fail again"

6et onl a few months later after parting from his friends did 3aelaeran find himself in

a new adventuring part"

Including himself and :ightovius, there were B other membersC (elvinth, adwarven warrior$ Aala, an #lven cleric$ and Nathaniel, a novelist" #verone has agreedto 'ourne together on the mission the had been given in the town of 9orikstead" A

week&s 'ourne la a large network of caves where a group of goblins had taken upresidence and were making raids against the village" #ver time the villagers had tried

to go after the goblins, the had lost them in the comple% cave sstem" ompared to

hadowfell, this was an e%tremel trivial and almost boring 4uest to embark upon"(owever, one fact had caught 3aelaeran&s attention" In addition to the supplies the

goblins had made off with, one grieving couple had lost their child to the raiders and

were desperatel searching for wa to retrieve her"

3aelaeran knew this would not erase his failure, but perhaps it might ease his

troubled conscience"

Two goblins, spotted ahead" I think this is it bos and girls"0 whisperedNathaniel"

The adventuring group were currentl hiding in a dense cluster of trees, peering

out into an open clearing where two goblins were conversing with each other"

)hat are the saing.0 said :ightovius"

3 5oblin isn&t good enough to translate at the speed their going0 repliedNathaniel

I thought ou were a novelist" houldn&t ou be able to understand all


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languages.0 asked 3aelaeran

For the last time, I&m not a novelist" I&m a bard"0 said Nathaniel in e%asperatedtones" (e then 4uickl added, )ell I&m not a novelist et anwa, I&m still working on

m book0

I did like what ou had wrote so far, does it have a name et.0 said :ightovius in

pleasant tones"

I&m thinking of calling it 89 1rey hades0" )hat do ou think.0 asked

Nathaniel, 4uickl losing interest in the goblins"

I like it, but mabe ou should change up the order of the words in the title-0

began :ightovius"

)ould ou idiots shut up./ The&re going to hear us/0 furiousl whispered Aala"eeing her cheeks burn red in anger, the three 4uickl dropped the sub'ect and focusedagain on the goblins in the clearing" eeing her B companions table the moronic

conversation, she said in grateful tones, )ell I&m glad ou aren&t making a ruckus foronce (elvinth-0

3aelaeran, :ight and Nathaniel turned their heads towards Aala and was about toask wh she had suddenl stopped talking when the all reali*ed something at once"

(elvinth wasn&t with them"

(e wouldn&t"""0 started :ight

(e isn&t reall going to"""0 began Nathaniel

(e is"0 gluml intoned 3aelaeran and Aala

366666 DIIIII, 6+ 5+!:INNN !ATA9D/0

shouted (elvinth with glee, as he swung into the open glade towards the pair of

astonished goblins" here the fuck did he find a vine to swing on?0

Near to the ape% of his swing, (elvinth let go of the vine he was holding onto andcrashed feet-first into one goblin" The goblin slid on the ground, (elvinth somehow

managing to keep his balance on top of the goblin&s chest" )hen the finall came to a

stop, (elvinth drew his battle a%e and brained the goblin" At this time, the other goblinhad re-asserted himself and was charging towards (elvinth, blade alread drawn"

7lucking an arrow from his 4uiver, 3aelaeran 4uickl took aim and fired at the


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goblin" The arrow sailed across the glade and sank itself, deep into the goblin&s knee,

who collapsed with a startled cr"

Do ou gus mind telling the idiot off. I want to check if anone else heard him0said 3aelaeran"

7eople in the ne%t continent, probabl heard him"0 muttered Nathaniel"

)e&ll take care of it, go and check it out0

3aelaeran sank back behind the group and started to search the surrounding area,

checking for signs of anone who ma have heard the confrontation" After about =

Faelian and Greyskull

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