The sword of Salvation - A New beginning

Yes, Im re-posting my rewright back on here now.
http://shatteredsilence.motionsforum.com/t33-sword-of-salvation-rewrite

Prologue

Rhiannon lay back on the bed, her stomach was swollen as she carried a child. King Nathanial stood beside her, blinded by love. Rhiannon smiled at him, though deep down she wanted him gone. Nathanial lent down and kissed Rhiannon on the forehead before heading out on a hunting trip. As he left two guards stepped in and bowed to their Queen.
‘I want him gone, he is not to return from the hunt, you hear?’ she said before signaling them to leave her.

King Nathanial sat astride his dark brown stallion; he wore his crown upon his head and held his hunting bow with an arrow notched. He aimed it at a sick doe that was grazing on the soft grass on the other side of the clearing. Two elves stood on either side of him, they too held bows, but not the hunting type. The two guards who had spoken to the Queen just after Nathanial had left stepped out of the nearby trees, they looked at the two elves who had raised their bows in order to protect the king. The guards just smiled and held their hands up high to show they were unarmed.
‘Urgent news my King’ Malgrath informed him. Nathanial looked at the two unarmed men then turned back to the doe just to see it skidding back off into the forest. Nathanial looked back at Malgrath, a frown creased across his face.
‘Yes what is it?’ he asked, his tone showing irritation.
‘The Queen has gone into laborer My King’ Malgrath informed him. Nathanial’s face changed into a look of alarm before he started to unstring his bow. The two elves looked at each other before looking towards Malgrath as he walk back into the forest.
‘My King,’ Bialaer, the taller of the two elves said. His voice was like the song of a bird, delicate but fierce.
‘Yes Bialaer?’ Nathanial asked as he turned to look at him.
‘Morthil and I think it is a trap. The High Priest said the child was not due for a few more moons’ Nathanial just looked at him blankly.
‘There is still the possibility, and I for one am not willing to stay here to discover I missed the birth of my child. Besides, who would desire to do such a thing to their King?’
The elves looked to one another before following their King back into the forest. Nathanial rode down the path to where Malgrath stood blocking the way.
‘Captain, what is the meaning of this?’ Nathanial inquired.
‘Only what the Queen has ordered’ he replied with a grin before raising his arm above his head.
The forest was silent, not a sound to be heard apart from the slight swaying sound as the wind blew though the leaves, not a bird could be heard. Then there were two dull thuds on either side of the king, followed by two cries of pain as two arrows hit the elves, causing them to fall off their horses. Nathanial looked from side to side at his two fallen guards, his face covered in bewilderment and alarm. The pain struck as an arrow imbedded its self into the flesh of his right leg. He slid off his horse and drew his sword. Malgrath drew his own sword and started towards his wounded King.
‘You won’t get away with this Malgrath, I’ll make sure of that’ Nathanial cried as he got his sword into a ready stance while leaning heavily on his horse.
‘I think I already have’ Malgrath smirked as he easily deflected Nathanial’s blow before plunging his own into Nathanial’s stomach. Nathanial gasped in shock as his breath left him and his sword fell to the soft ground before he collapsed.
Nathanial was only just conscious when he saw two archers walked out from the surrounding trees.
‘It is done, we will leave him here to die slowly and painfully and blame it on those two elves. The Queen will be pleased’ Malgrath laughed. That was the last thing Nathanial heard before falling into darkness.

Malgrath smirked as he killed Nathanial’s horse and moved the bodies of the elves to where they had dug a crude grave to hide the bodies.
‘What now Captain?’ Dalis, one of the archers asked as they finished filling the grave.’
‘Like I said before we leave him…’ Malgrath paused as a strange horn sounded in the surrounding forest.
‘What was that?’ the other archer asked.
‘I don’t know but we should leave now before we get seen.’

Chapter one – the Conquest

As the darkness fell, the surrounding forest was dormant, only the sound of slight chatter could be heard, the wind was silent as it blew though the long deprived forests, off towards the distance, slid a long slithering trail, but a remembrance of what it once was. It wrought its course though the land around it, eternally imprinted with its mark upon the land, never regaining what it held in its last life.
Within a nearby clearing stood a tree upon a hill, trying desperately to keep its grip in the earth.

A tall man appeared upon the hill, astride a magnificent beast. He held a staff as black as midnight; he looked around at the approaching crowd. Word had spread about a man with power predicting change, though only though several settlements that remain unknown to the queen. He smiled as he removed the hood that engulfed his face in shadow. His long white hair shimmered in the moonlight as he ran his hand though it. His bright blue eyes scanned over them as he dismounted. They came to a halt before him, the chatter descending into silence. He ran his strong hands over his slightly crinkled deep green tunic. A richly embodied cape trimmed with the delicate fur of an Astronian White Bear hung from his muscular shoulders glittering as it swayed ever-so-slightly in the light wind. His eyes were relaxed though slightly slanted as he looked at the mass of people. The large winged horse behind him whinnied nervously.

The man looked towards the slowly diminishing light before clicking his fingers once, two large balls of dim light appeared on either side of him, he waved his arms till they were in the positions he wanted them. The people looked at him in awe having not seen something so amazing in many years.
‘There once was a time where we could roam free, say as we wished, do as we wished, but things have changed since our king was killed, many say it was the elves who did so for his companions were never found. From that day forward the Queen forbid all elves and another magical creature from mages, to unicorns and goblins from setting foot on her territory, any who were found to carry blood from any magical creature was condemned to death, and not a pleasant one either. That is what started the wars with the Taspens in our neighboring country.’ His voice magically amplified so all could hear. He paused for a moment to see if the people were taking in his words before continuing.
‘Do you wish to re-live our peaceful lives, back to our freedom? To see our lands magicians perform and show off their powers? To watch as the beautiful creatures like Kaylon here wonder the roads freely?’ he said pointing to the pegasus behind him. He waited as the people started yelling their agreement, their thoughts at what the Queen has done to the land.
‘Silence!’ he yelled looking out towards the crowd before it went back into silence.
‘The Inferior Queen has destroyed our destroyed our once beautiful and warless world, making it her own realm she cherishes so much, no matter how much impact that has had with the people living here. King Nathanial was blind with love and did not see what she was deep down. But there is hope my friends. Hope that one day the Aldie River will no longer be that empty slithering trail and that it would once again be filled with water. A chance to have a new king, Prince Thanatos has the power to win over his mother, to save our land’ He looked over the deathly silent crowd before him. After a minuet silence a tall ragged looking man stepped out of the crowed.
‘The Queens son, you have got to be kidding, he for one is just a boy and two is by his mother’s side, in her constant company almost. She would sooner have him killed herself to keep the thrown to herself if he doesn’t follow her terms of how the land is meant to be. And who are you to say that petty prince will live to for fill that journey to our side?’ The man voice was gruff and full of anger, his hands rested crossed across his chest. The man upon the hill brought in a deep breath to calm himself from the rude interruption.
‘My name is Saturnin, if you must know. The prince may be young and at his mother side for the time being but at the moment I have a man in there whose job it is to get him out safely.’ He paused as the man interrupted again.
‘And how do you pray tell to teach a boy who is born of evil to do good things?’ Saturnin sighed.
‘He is not born of fully evil, his Father King Nathanial was a good man, Thanatos is born of both good and bad, he has power stronger than his mothers if he can conquer the evil side, to control it and use it against his mother’ A woman stepped out of the crowd and looked up at him.
‘We don’t know if this Saturnin is lying or not, but what is wrong with feeling a little bit of hope that this land would change for the good. Yes the prince may not be suitable for the job but who says he cannot do it. Let us fight for our old Astronia and win over the queen. We have sat back and done nothing for ten years after the kings death, his body was never found, yes maybe the elves did kill him, but who says it wasn’t the queen who organized it?’ Another man stepped out of the crowd just after the woman had spoken, all their voices carried on the silent wind that blew around the clearing.
‘I think what she says is correct, I heard something, and it is the same thing that made me leave the army. I heard her guard who she now has guard her son, say that the body was gone, it had just disappeared. And how would they have known where to look? Something is wrong here and I do not like it. I want our old land back, who is with me!’ with that Saturnin smiled broadly as the crowd yelled in response, in agreement to get there luxuries green grasses back and be able to walk though leaved canopies over their forest walks. With that the council was made. Made up with several people representing each town for people with suggestions on how to help the land as best as they could. Some even suggested seeing if the Taspens would help out on the conquest.

Chapter Two – The Potential Savoir

The light in the castle corridors was slowly diminishing as the sun slowly set over the horizon. A young boy with messy black hair and bright blue eyes ran through the corridors playing one of his many games. He was a tall boy with a small build, but he was clever, not that his mother took much notice of him to see that. As the boy ran he could hear the heavy footfalls behind him, but the boy was faster than the old overweight man his mother made babysit him.
‘My Prince come back here!’ The wheezing voice yelled from behind. Thanatos was smart enough not to stop, and kept running.
‘I shall never return to my chamber and never with the likes of you’ Thanatos yelled back as he continued to run. He came to one of the many dead ends in the corridor; he stopped to catch his breath while he thought about what he would do. The man behind him was laughing and came to a halt not far from Thanatos.
‘I have you now you little brat’ he said before lunging towards Thanatos, but Thanatos was faster and ducked under Malgrath’s arms and ran back up the hall, only to come to a quick halt before a dark figure in front of him. Thanatos gulped as he worked out who it was and slowly started to back away from her.
‘My son, what have you been told about being away from your chambers after dark?’ The evil voice of Queen Rhiannon said as she glared down at her disobedient son.
‘I, I, I’m sorry mother.’ Thanatos said shuffling his feet on the marble flooring. Malgrath came up behind him and grabbed his wrist in his strong grasp.
‘I’m sorry Your Majesty; I will see to it that your son gets the right punishments for his disobedience.’ The Queen looked at Malgrath.
‘You better; ten lashes should do it then to bed without dinner.’ She said before stalking off towards her own chambers. Thanatos’s eyes were full of fear; his mother treated him like he was a mere servants child, Thanatos tried to struggled away from the strong grip around his wrist but it did nothing but make Malgrath grip harder, to the point it hurt.

Thanatos had no choice but to be dragged, back up the seven flights of stairs and though the eight corridors that he had ran down with Malgrath on his tail the whole time. They got to Thanatos chambers and Malgrath pushed him though the large door before grabbing the long whip that hung on a hook outside. Malgrath walked into the room and closed the door behind him pushing the bolt back in place. Thanatos had hidden himself under the large four-poster bed that sat on the other side of the room. The fire in the hearth was blazing to give warmth and light to the dull room. Malgrath looked around the room before his eyes rested on the floor next to the bed, where the corner of the rug had been moved in haste.
‘You brought this on yourself My Prince’ Malgrath said as he reached under the bed grabbing hold of the boy and pulling him roughly out. Thanatos struggled in the large mans grip as his shirt was removed and his bareback revealed, several scars already visible on his skin. Malgrath positioned the boy against the wall before stepping back and flicking the whip. Thanatos cried out in pain as the whip cut deep into his skin, leaving a red bleeding line. Malgrath did it another nine times before leaving the boy cowering on the floor, his back covered in welts and blood. That night Thanatos just sat on the ground in the darkness, the fire having burnt out ages ago. His face streaked with tears. He loved his mother because she was his mother but he hated her for the things she did. He wished he had got to meet his father, he had always dreamt of seeing his father alive, playing with wooden training swords with his father, but that was short lived when he came back to the true world where his father was dead. Once Malgrath had finally fallen asleep a young man came in with some food and bandages, as well as some different crushed herbs. Dalyor held a torch so he could see then walked over and lit the fire. Dalyor had short messy black hair and light bright blue eyes; he usually walked around wearing a servant’s outfit but usually always came to help the prince.
‘My Prince?’ he asked crouching next to Thanatos with sympathy in his eyes. Thanatos looked up at the man who was the closest thing to a father he had ever had. Dalyor smiled and placed a damp cloth on the boy’s red back wiping the dry blood away. Thanatos cringed with pain but let the man work as he dug into the food that had been brought in. After a while Thanatos was tucked into bed, sleeping dreamlessly. At certain times Thanatos wished so much that Dalyor was or could be his father, they looked alike but Thanatos knew that would not happen. He was never that lucky, not with a mother like his.

The next morning Thanatos woke up, his back sore and itchy, he forced himself to sit up, though slowly it still hurt. He looked around the dark room before swinging his feet out of the covers and set them down on the ice cold floor. He stood up ignoring the pain that shot though him as best as he could. Slowly he walked over to the windows and drew the large heavy curtains open to let some light in. He remembered the look of worry he had seen on Dalyor’s face last night and turned his back to the glass mirror just to the side. Thanatos eyes opened wide as he seen the gashes almost completely healed. How could that be possible? He pushed the thought out of his mind and got dressed into his tunic which no prince would be expected to wear but him. He looked up as the door cracked open and a young girl creped in. When she seen him awake she ran towards him and hugged him tightly.
‘Mummy mean isn’t she Thanny.’ She said in her childish voice as she looked up into Thanatos’s face.
‘Kelissar, you should not be here, you will get in trouble, your father hates me remember.’ Thanatos said looking towards the door.
‘But Daddy is asleep with Mummy at the moment’ she said looking up at her half brother.
‘What? He isn’t at the door?’ Thanatos looked surprised.
‘Nope,’ she took his hand and led him to the door, ‘Come on Thanny me will look after you, we leave castle and find somewhere better’ Thanatos smiled at that before letting her pull him out though the door, Thanatos stopped as he looked at Dalyor who stood outside with his back towards the door. He turned to look at Thanatos before raising a hood over his head.

Chapter Three – Wheel of Motion

Thanatos looked up at Dalyor wondering why he was here.
‘It is time boy, come put this on and follow me.’ He said passing Thanatos a cloak and hood. Thanatos took it and looked at Kalissar before looking back at Dalyor.
‘What about Kali?’ he said looking at the little girl beside him. Dalyor looked at her, his face full of emotion.
‘I’m sorry but she has to stay. We will return to get her I can assure you.’ He said watching Kali’s eyes as they started to water. Thanatos looked at his sister then back at Dalyor.
‘I’m not going without Kali. And where are we going anyway’ Thanatos asked. Dalyor looked at Thanatos; rage could be seen clearly in his eyes.
‘To get you to safety, you are destine to be king and Kali has to stay here, she will be safer here than with us. We will come back for her.’ Thanatos looked at the little teary-eyed girl before looking at Dalyor.
‘No. Not without Kal…’ he pause as Kali touched his hand, her big eyes looking at him though a mop of golden brown curls.
‘Go Thanny, I be k, you come back, get me when time, I stay’ with that she hugged him tightly and went back to her chambers across from his, her eyes full of tears as she went.
Dalyor watched her go, she was smart and bright and Dalyor new she could survive a few years before they came to get her. Thanatos watched his little sister go, emotion filled his face as his eyes became blurry. He looked at Dalyor with eyes full of hate and followed him reluctantly walk down the many passage ways towards the bottom floor. Not many in the castle had ever seen Dalyor walking around, and when they did they thought him a ghost, a hallucination.

As they turned the corner just they ran into two guards that were lazing by the large main entrance doors. They looked at them strangely before guarding the way though the door.
‘Nun shall pass, Queens Orders. And who shall you be?’ the guard asked, his voice sounding bored and tired. Dalyor looked at them before taking a step towards them, testing them.
‘Someone you thought dead Dalis, someone who will end your life now’ Dalyor said looking at Dalis. Dalis cringed at those words and slowly drew his dagger that he held tied to his belt.
‘Y-you shall not pass, it is the Queens orders sir and you must obey.’ Dalyor was not in the mood and drew a long sword from its sheath before removing his hood. Dalis stepped back in horror, his back hitting the door with a quiet thud.
‘I-i-it cannot be, it is not possible.’ Dalyor smiled and took a step towards the frightened man. Dalis dropped the dagger and started to plead with the attacker.
‘P-please, i-I didn’t mean to, I-I was forced, she was going to kill my family, and you wouldn’t kill and unarmed man would you?’
‘And Dalis, wasn’t I unarmed when you ambushed my men and me ten years ago?’ he asked before plunging the point of his sword though his chest, giving him a quick death. He ripped the sword from Dalis’s chest and turned it on the other, who was but a boy and was slowly edging along the wall to get away.
‘And you,’ he said as the man froze in mid step, ‘what is your name’
‘H-H-Henry sir’ he stuttered.
‘Take this message to your queen, tell her that her time is coming to an end, her death is near’
With that Dalyor grabbed Thanatos’s arm and pushed the large doors open, walking out into the bright moonlight.

Henry ran as fast as he could to the queen’s chambers where he banged loudly on her door. Malgrath yelled something from the other side of the doors before they flew open.
‘What in the name of Kiaran are you doing banging on her-majesties door like that?’ Malgrath was wearing only cloth pants which hung loosely.
‘I was given a message from a man before he rudely went out the main doors and after he killed Dalis.’ Malgrath was about to send Henry away when Kalissia ran up to Malgrath.
‘Daddy, daddy! Thanny is gone; he is not in his chambers, Daddy you must find him’ Malgrath looked down at her stunned before ushering them both in as the queen walked out of the sleeping chamber.
‘What is going on here?’ She demanded. Henry bowed low to the queen before speaking.
‘My Queen, a man who just left the castle gave me a message to give you; he said that your end is coming and that your death is near.’ Her eyes looked at him daringly before looking at Kali.
‘Kali, sweaty what are you doing up?’
‘Thanny was gone Mummy, he is gone, just gone’ Henry looked at her than to the Queen.
‘There was also a boy with him, about the prince’s size my queen’ Rhiannon shot him a look of pure disgust.
‘And why did you not stop him, where is Dalis? Has he gone after him to fix his mistake’ she screamed.
‘Dalis is dead my Queen. The man also said that he was someone who was thought dead, he also said something about an ambush ten years ago’ there was a look of pure horror on the queens face.
‘Malgrath, have this boy publicly hung for treason, and then get that over side ass back here.’ She screamed and took Kali into her arms. Before Henry could get away Malgrath grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him to the dungeons before getting back to the queen as fast as possible.

When Malgrath returned Rhiannon was pacing around the room, Kali was asleep on one of the large fluffy chairs on the other side of the room. She turned to look at him, rage filled her eyes.
‘You said he was dead’ She yelled at him loudly forgetting about Kali.

Chapter four – The truth

The Dim light shadowed over the castle grounds as Dalyor and Thanatos creped out the large main doors. They walked along the large marble bridge that sat over a long downward drop which use to be filled with sparkling water, filled with all kinds of fish and ducks.
Thanatos had never seen life outside the castle walls; he looked around at the wasteland that everyone calls their home. Dalyor looked at the boy, his eyes sad his mouth creased into a frown.
“The land was not always like this, It use to be a luxurious environment with birds, butterflies and many other small creatures,’ he paused to look out at the surroundings. ‘The land will change you Thanatos, weather it is for good or for bad.’ He looked back at Thanatos.
‘Why is Astronia like this? What happened to it?’ Thanatos asked looking at him.
‘You will find out when we get you to safety, you are not safe here. Now come with me’ He said as he started to walk towards the castles stables which were situated on the other side of the bridge.
When they got to the stables they were stopped by three knights, in full chain mail armor. They stood in their way blocking any further movement into the stables.

‘What have we here?’ a tall knight with long red hair asked as he moved to the front of them. Dalyor looked pushed Thanatos behind him.
'Nothing that concerns you.' he said slyly. The lead knight smiled as the other two came up beside him.
'We will see about that' he said rudy as he drew his sword from the sheath. The sound of metal scraping metal echoed though the stables. Dalyor was unarmed apart from a long burnt black stick which he held in his hand.
'You would attack an unarmed man and his child?' Dalyor asked turning his head to the side.
'You’re a thief of corse we would.' he said with a snarl. Dalyor gripped the stick tightly as he stared at the knight.
'Fan? Do you really think that is a good idea? Maybe we should wait for the others to come, what if he is a mage?' The youngest one of the three asked.
'Shut up Kinferd.' Fan said turning to look at the knight beside him.
'I am in charge here and there is no way that man there is a mage.' The third knight just stood towards the back not saying a word, staring off into nothingness with sightless eyes.
'What is wrong with your other man Fan? He looks like he has seen a ghost.' Dalyor asked looking towards Gen who was the tallest and biggest knight there. Fan looked towards him.
'Gen cut it out, kill that man now.' Gen did nothing but stand there stunned into stillness. Fan then turned to Kinferd and seen he was acting the same way.
'What is going on here?' Fan said then turned towards Dalyor.
'Put your sword down and move out of the way or the same thing will happen to you to Fan.' Dalyor said with a crude smile. Fan dropped his sword it landed with a dull thud on the straw covered floor. Dalyor smiled as he made the sword move towards him over the small distance. Fan backed up fear clearly showing in his eyes.
'Thanatos get two horses and bring them back to me. Saddle them two if you please.' Thanatos nodded and walked past the cowering knight and choosing best two horses in the stable. One was a pitch black one which use to belong to his father King Nathanial. The other was a dapple gray which was his own. Thanatos saddled them both up and walked passed the still cowering knight.
'Dalyor, you may ride my fathers old war horse.' Thanatos said and gave the rains to him. Dalyor smiled and helped Thanatos up onto the horse before mounting his own.
'Oh Fan, I hate to see you die so young.' Fan looked confused.
'What do you mean?'
'Well the Queen will be here shortly.' He said with a smile before riding out the doors, dropping the grip of the other two men who fell to the ground.

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Dalyor led Thanatos across the fields that front the castle then down Stone Hill. The sun had since risen above the peaks and shed its warmth over the landscape. The ground crunched beneath the horses hooves with each step as they went towards the Lambra Forest east of the castle. Dalyor looked over at Thanatos, sighing before breaking the long silence that had come between them.
'Thanatos, I think you will enjoy it where we are going. You will learn to fight and many other things as well as learn how to rule the country when the time come and use the powers that are hidden deep within you.' He smiled as he spoke then waited for an answer.
'Rule the country? But my mother rules the country, how would I be able to claim the thrown if my mother still rules?' Thanatos enquired as he rode beside Dalyor.
'There are many things you will learn when we get to the monastery. You will meet many different people who believe you can rule the best country. As well as meet with the elves which...' Thanatos pulled the horse to a halt before interrupting Dalyor.
'Elves? I will meet elves, but they are dangerous, the killed my father. I don't want to go if I am going to meet elves.' Dalyor stopped and turned to the boy.
'Thanatos, your Father is not dead. He is alive because the elves found him mortally wounded. This might be hard for you to grasp but it was your mother who tried to kill him, me.' Dalyor looked down at his hands as they gripped tightly on the horses rains. Thanatos looked up at Dalyor.
'You’re not my father you can't be and my mother didn't try and kill my father. She just didn't.' Thanato's eyes started to tear up as the words sunk in, but that did not mean he believed them.
Dalyor looked back at Thanatos sadly, then he looked behind him at a raising dust cloud which had risen from outside the stable.
'Thanatos we must go now. Come on' Dalyor said ergently. When Thanatos didn't make a move Dalyor grabbed onto his horses rains and tied them to his own before kicking the horse into a steady trot before urging it into a gallop, Thanatos held on tightly as his horse sprung into a gallop, being pulled along behind Dalyor.

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The Queen walked out the doors, Marlgrath close behind her.
'They must have gone to the stables to get a mount. I had three knights stationed there, they would have stopped them your Majesty.' Malgrath said as they made their way to the stables.
The three knights looked up when the great doors to the stable were opened suddenly.
'Your majesty, what a surprise to see you here' Fan said in a shaky voice. The Queen looked from one knight to the other, a look of pure hatred covering her face.
'Where is the man and the boy that supposedly came in here?' She asked keeping her anger at bay.
'T-t-they escaped, T-the man was a wizard your majesty' Fan said.
'THEY WHAT? That boy was my son, I want him back now. GO BEFORE I PUT YOUR HEAD ON MY WALL!' she bellowed loudly.
The three knights ran franticly to saddle up their horses then race out of the stable and after them.