Tales of Yggdra: Chapter 2

by **Weiss Schnee** Sun Aug 17, 2014 11:46 am

Chapter 2: A Grand Undertaking

Daeris was standing in the Elder’s house, frowning at what had come to pass. He seemed very distraught, and she was sure some of her actions had made it worse. “Daeris...do you have an explanation for this?”

She nodded. “I saw them leave the Inn. I followed them, and I….I thought I would let them get in the middle of what they were doing so I could catch them red-handed. I never thought…”

“I’m sure you didn’t. But I’m also sure you understand the implications of what has happened here. Not only did humans enter our holy forest, but they have summoned Origin without our consent.”

“I take full responsibility for this.” Daeris looked down. She knew she should face her punishment, but she also did not want him to see her face. He nodded.

“Then...I hereby banish you and your newly formed group from this village. It pains me to do this Daeris, but I will not tolerate what you have caused to happen. If you ever return to this forest, we will execute you. Do you understand?”

Daeris nodded. “I...I understand.” That was the last thing that was said. Daeris left the Elder’s home and walked back to the Inn, where everyone was resting. Upon her arrival, she found Doon was already awake. She also noticed Malik standing nearby, attempting to order some kind of drink. Doon immediately jumped up upon her arrival.

“Daeris! What happened with the Elder?”

Daeris was about to answer before Malik turned in his chair. “I would assume she was banished. You did just defile their most sacred ground.”

Doon turned towards Malik. “What?! But it was me and Rita that did it, not her!”

Daeris shook her head. “It is quite alright Doon. We will need to leave the village soon. I suppose you will head back for Aspio while I…..well, I’ll figure that out when I get there.”

Doon looked down. “This is unfair.”

Malik chuckled. “Life isn't fair Doon. You’ll understand that as you grow older. I'm good with leaving this village. They don't have a decent drop of liquor for miles.”

Doon sighed and turned to Daeris. “Origin asked me to form a pact with Maxwell, how would I do that?”

Daeris seemed surprised. “Wait, you are actually going to do that?”

He nodded. “I want to know what’s going on. Why I can suddenly summon when I never knew I could.”

“That’s great and all, but I don’t really see the purpose of going on a pilgrimage all of a sudden…” Malik seemed very unimpressed with the quality of Elven drinks as he spit out something he was drinking. “You call this hard liquor!?”

The Elf seemed to empathize with Doon. “I understand. I will help you then. It’s not as if I have anywhere else to go.”

Doon seemed surprised. “You'll...really help me?”

She nodded. “Yes. I will. Now, if you wish to form a pact with Maxwell, the first step is to form pacts with Efreet, Undine, Gnome, and Sylph. Maxwell requires a summoner to have the four chief elementals before you can approach him.”

Suddenly, a new voice was heard. “And just what is going on here?” Rita came walking into the room. “Trying to go off on a trip without me Doon?”

Doon turned to her confused. “Wait...you want to come with?”

“Of course. If I let you go off, I won’t have an assistant anymore. Besides, I'm curious as to why you could summon Origin as well.”

“I guess that means I’m sticking around too.” Malik got up and walked toward the group proper. “I was ordered to keep an eye on you after all. It would be rather difficult to do that if I wasn't traveling with you.”

Doon couldn’t help but smile. Even though he barely knew Malik and Daeris, he felt as if they had become friends already. “Well...I guess we need to figure out our first goal then.”

Malik nodded. “If you need to hit the four elementals...the fastest one to make a pact with first would be Efreet, in Kalor.” Malik looked inquisitively at Daeris who seemed to cringe. “Is there a problem? You're not afraid of fire, are you?”

Daeris looked at him with indignance. “Just because I use Ice does not mean I am afraid of fire! I am simply not looking forward to the desert.”

“No matter what we have to head back east to Darilsheid. We might as well just hop on a boat to Janna.” Rita already seemed to have her stuff. “I request we stop by Aspio on the way so I can collect some research materials.

Doon almost cringed. “Which I'm assuming I am carrying…” He sighed, and the party headed off out of the forest.

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Hope Town was a town built on the outskirts of southern Kalor, deep in the Ifriti Desert. While not a big and impressive town by any stretch of the imagination, it was a town full of spirit. Within the small wooden homes of the town were the orphans the founder of the city had so kindly taken in.

As the children of the city went about their business, a new face seemed to join the crowd. A lone girl came wandering in. She wore a large traveler’s cloak that seemed to hide her brown hair from sight. As she walked along, her blue eyes scanned each corner of the city, as if expecting someone to come out of hiding.

A couple of the children came up to try and play with her, but she brushed off their attempts. She kept wandering until she got to the main building of the town, which was the Orphanage itself. She entered the building and hear a jingle ring out to alert the owner someone came in. As the girl sat there, she heard some scuffling and a “I’m coming!” from the other room.

Eventually a young woman with long red hair tied into two ponytails entered the room. She wore an outfit one would associate with a hunter rather than a orphanage owner. Her leather breastplate looked like it had seen better days, and her belts hang loosely around her white and black skirt. Her red eyes looked the newcomer up and down before speaking. “Can I help ya miss?”

The girl sighed. “I don’t know..I'm kinda on the run and looking for a place to hide out.” Her voice was shaky, and it seemed to catch the owner off guard.

“On the run? You poor thing...you look no older than me. Who you on the run from?”

The girl shook her head. “I refused to pay the money the Church was asking for in my hometown...so they ran me out of town. I got back at them by messing up one of their cathedrals a bit and…”

“Did you say the Church? You can stay here as long as you like. I won’t let the Church have more victims to play around with.”

The girl looked up. “Wait...you’d really go against the Church for me? A complete stranger?”

The owner smiled and nodded. “Well hopefully we won't be strangers for long. Name’s Nanaly. Nanaly Fletcher.”

“Sinya.”

“Nice to meet ya Sinya. Now, hope about I give ya a little work to keep ya busy?”

That was a week ago. Sinya and Nanaly had formed a somewhat kindred bond in that time. It seemed they both hated the Church, which was a good start for any relationship. They also were around the same age.

However, as they both sat in the orphanage one day, they heard a commotion outside. As they got up to check, they saw a group of Oracle Knights outside, pushing the children around and out of their way. Nanaly’s face was scary at that moment. She grabbed her bow and immediately dashed out the door, with Sinya following close behind.

She immediately stopped with an arrow drawn on one of the knights. “Do you have a problem with these children, Mr. Oracle Knight?”

The Oracle Knight turned, and chuckled when he saw Sinya. “So the reports were right. The girl we are looking for is here. Hand her over Miss.”

Nanaly looked him dead in the eye. “And why do you need her handed over so badly?”

Another Oracle Knight walked forward. “That’s none of your concern. Now hand her over if you want nothing to happen to your precious little orphanage.”

“You wouldn't dare.”

‘Try us.”

Sinya stood there and felt her blood had run cold. This is all my fault….

She began to walk forward. “I'll go with you.”

Nanaly held out an arm and stopped her. “Don't start that Sinya. You're a good kid, I’m not gonna let you get captured by them for a stupid reason.”

The Oracle Knight stared at Nanaly. “So what’s your answer?”

“I think it should be obvious.”

The knight nodded and turned to his comrades. “Burn the place to the ground!” Nanaly gasped as she saw a mage shoot fire balls off to hit the homes. Immediately the wood burst into flames She was almost too shocked by the fact they did that to react. Thankfully, she was already planning to attack. She fired a shot straight into a man’s chest, causing him to collapse. The knights responded with drawing their weapons and charging. Sinya drew her daggers and fought alongside Nanaly.

The entire time they were fighting, they saw more and more men coming. After a while, some of the children attempted to fight some of them because of what they were doing to Nanaly. To Sinya’s horror, the knights brutally slaughtered the children right in front of them.

Once Nanaly saw that, she went into a berserker rage, killing man after man in quick succession. The entire fight however, Sinya felt a deep sting of guilt. All of this...is my fault…

Eventually the Knights were drove off, however they seemed they were simply retreating to regroup. Nanaly fell to her knees as the fatigue of battle caught up with her. Sinya ran over and helped her up. “Come on! We gotta get out of here!” It seemed as if Nanaly didn't hear her. She simply stared at the carnage and burned buildings.

After a minute, she finally spoke. “I swear...the Church will be taken down by my hand or I'll die trying!”

Sinya cringed and helped her up. “Why did you resist them. This was hardly worth keeping me.”

Nanaly turned to her and seemed to soften. “Sinya. We may have known each other for a short time...but I feel like you're just the right gal for me. Besides...this is mostly my fault anyway…”

Sinya didn't respond and simply carried her off out of the town.

It seemed as if they were wandering through the desert for hours before they collapsed. Sinya struggled to keep crawling. “Come on...just a little farther. Yu Liberte has to be around here somewhere….”

Nanaly sighed and let herself lay in the sand. It was an endless stretch in every direction. “We should have just tried to get to Higard…”

Sinya finally stopped and just let herself lay there. “Shut up...you're the one that insisted we go this way….”

“You’re the one that didn't disagree…”

They both sat there, feeling the heat taking over their bodies. Sinya started to wonder if she would die out here. However, a miracle seemed to happen in the form of them hearing a voice from nearby.

“Hey! You ladies need some help?” They looked up and saw a man approaching them. He wore a brown overcoat, a nice looking pair of pants, and his brown hair was styled to be slick and smooth.

His eyes seemed to have the hint of a man who had seen a lot, yet still he didn't seem overly sad. “I'm just not the type of guy to let two young women travel around in the desert alone, you know?”

Nanaly looked at him confused. “Who the heck are you?”

He did a little bow and adjusted his black scarf. “Name’s Alvin.” He even adjusted his dress shirt he wore underneath his coat. “And you are?”

Nanaly stood up. “Nanaly. And we’re fine on our own.” She began to walk off, Sinya looking after her.

“Wait! Nanaly…”

Alvin nodded. “I see. I guess you already pegged me. Yes, I am a mercenary, and no I don't want your money. Can't you see I'm simply doing this out of the kindness of my heart?”

Nanaly stopped. “That would be a first. Your type is not someone I want to do business with.”

Sinya turned to him. “Do you know the fastest way to get to Tinnsia?”

He seemed surprised. “Tinnsia? You are quite a ways away from there…”

Nanaly sighed and walked over. “Sinya, we can take care of ourselves.”

Sinya frowned and turned to her. “Look. You said you haven’t been out of the desert much...and I came from the west. The north is our best chance, and he probably knows more about the lay of the land than we do.”

Alvin sat there with a smile on his face. “She’s right. I do know quite a lot about Kalor. I’d even be willing to give you a pretty girl discount, Miss Nanaly.”

Nanaly was about ready to barf. “Fine. Whatever..” She just sighed once again, defeated.

Alvin smiled. “You won't regret your decision.”

As the unlikely trio came through the desert, they found out they were nowhere near where they wanted to be. In fact, they had traveled past Yu Liberte and had ended up near the capital of Kalor, further north.
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Kanbalar was an icy city located on top of the mountain range known as the Devil’s Craig. For the party to even enter, as the mountain path is considered impossible to cross, they would have to take the train to the station, then take an air car to the city proper.

Being the most technologically country, Kalor was the only place one could find a city built with such an elaborate way to get there. The building were Gothic in nature, and statues of gargoyles dotted the city. The castle of the city was off some ways from the city, and stood as a black forbidding fortress.

Upon arriving in the city, Rita was the first one to complain. “This place is freezing! How the hell do they stand having this as their capital?”

Malik scratched his stubble of a beard as he answered. “The Devil’s Craig is an obstacle they would have to cross no matter what. As it is in the center of the country, it makes the most sense to have the capital be here.”

Doon sighed. “I suppose so. Well, we just need to hop on the next train and head south, right?”

Malik nodded. “We will head for Yu Liberte, then travel across the desert to the Ancient City Efreet calls his home.”

Daeris frowned. “The desert…”

Rita looked agitated. “So, let me get this straight. First we head to the freezing cold, then the scorching heat?”

“Yes, that sounds about right.”

“Martel kill me now…” Rita sighed.

Doon sighed but looked determined. “We knew it wasn't going to be an easy trip, let’s just-” He was cut off by the sudden sound of an alarm.

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