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A/N: This Fantasy features only humans, as it is an alternate version of Earth, where instead of technology, there is magic.
An Untitled Fantasy
Chapter One
The light from the quarter moon filtered down between the closely set, two-story houses. Though calling them houses would be a bit much. This was the Low Quarter of the city, where the poor lived. And crime was rampant. And the figure walking down the winding, narrow streets was extremely out of place.
A young woman with auburn hair that ran to the bottom of her shoulder blades, and wore an emerald green dress with golden swirls, quietly wandered around, an air headed look on her face, unaware of the two raggedy-looking men following her. One of the thieves slipped down an alley when the woman turned left, and cut her off. Frightened, the woman turned and found the other one standing behind her, wielding a broken club. She faced the first thief, who drew a rusty dagger. The one with the dagger gave her a toothless grin and licked his lips.
“Just follow us missy, and do what we say, and you can go home,” he croaked. Then they both pounced...
And flew back. They shook their heads, and gazed with stunned surprise at the bubble of impenetrable golden light that surrounded her. Then, as she smiled arrogantly down at them, their jaws dropped as they realized who she was.
“My…My Lady! Forgive us, please. We didn’t know it was you!” the one with the club begged. But the woman simply exhaled loudly.
“It doesn’t matter. With you two gone, these streets will be that much safer. Take them away.”
Two men in plate armor stepped out of a doorway, bowed to the woman, and dragged the two would-be thieves away. The woman continued her stroll, but no one else challenged her. So she headed toward the largest building in the Low Quarter. It was a large building, exuding age and holiness. When she finished a prayer under her breath, she looked over her shoulder to find a Mayoral Messenger running up to her. She smiled gently. This particular messenger was a boy of ten, whom she had saved from the life of thievery, and helped him receive his position. The messenger was barely able to speak, so she waited until he caught his breath.
“Grand Marshal! We’ve received word that an assassination order has been placed for your death. The Mayor advises caution. We, the city that is, can’t afford to lose its greatest defender,” he reported. The woman smiled again, shook her head.
Go rest at the temple. Tell the Order that said so,” she gently ordered him. The boy grinned, and entered the temple, so tired he forgot to thank her. The woman decided that her duty was done, and headed for home.
Celise Marcella Allenar, Grand Marshal of National Defense, and High Commander of the newly restored Order of the Silver Shield had lived in New York City her entire life. She even helped with the rebuilding of the city when it was destroyed, five years ago when she was only 16. Since then, after receiving her status as a Paladin, she had searched endlessly for the one responsible for that devastating attack. During that attack, she had lost her older sister, her parents, and her fiancée. But so far, she had been unsuccessful. She’d even asked for help from the Council Arcanum, but they had turned her down. It was beginning to look like a hopeless cause.
Celise was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost passed the turnoff into the Middle Quarter. The Mayor of New York had offered her quarters in the Keep, or a house in the High Quarter, but she had turned them down, preferring to build a house over the spot where her father’s smithy once stood. She unlocked her door, climbed up the stairs to her bedroom, and changed into a lavender nightdress.
She had just lain down to sleep when somebody landed on her bed, and placed a dagger against her throat. Her attacker lit a torch, and Celise heard the dagger drop to the ground.
“Oh my God, Celise?!”
The attacker was a woman with tan hair cut at her shoulders, whose tight fitting, long sleeve tunic, and tied leather hose matched her hair perfectly. On her head she wore a matching beret with on off-white feather, and her piercing, glacial-blue eyes matched Celise’s. And apparently, the woman knew her personally.
Celise used her attacker’s hesitation to throw the woman off the bed, and leap to her feet, combat ready.
“Who the hell are you,” she asked furiously. She was a very calm person until you pissed her off.
She was finally able to get a good look at her attacker. The woman’s lithe, athletic form was perfect for stealth ad agility. She carried two curved, vicious looking daggers, both of them made of a dark metal that blended into the shadows. There was no doubting that this woman was a Rogue. And there was something strangely familiar about this woman, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
“I’ll ask you one last time. Who are you, and what do you want?”
Celise’s voice was getting dangerously low. She felt a great rising power from within her, telling her to fight, but she held it in for the moment.
“My name is Shadow, Assassin Second Class, Charleston Assassin’s Guild. I was sent by an unnamed client to that wanted New York’s head defender out of the picture. But I just realized that I can’t do it. My apologies Celise”
The rogue tried to flee, but Celise had been anticipating that, and was a step ahead. She threw out her hand, and chains of golden light flew from her hand, and wrapped themselves around Shadow’s legs, causing her to fall hard to the ground. Celise placed her foot at the small of her back, making sure she didn’t move.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere toni-“ Celise was cut off as Shadow rolled over, knocking her to the ground. She swung her daggers downward, and sliced through the chain. There was only one thing that could do that. Celise leaped to her feet, and called on that power inside.
Shadow covered her eyes as a blinding ring of golden light appeared at Celise’s feet, and began moving toward her head. Everywhere the ring passed, her nightdress was replaced with powder-white plate armor, every plate edged in gold. When ring vanished, Celise wore that plate over her torso, and her feet. Her arms and legs were covered in chain mail, colored the same as the plate, and she wore a belt with a cloth skirt that went down to her left ankle. She wore no helmet, only a white circlet, along with a pair of green reading glasses. On her back was an azure cape that flowed down to the floor, and an enormous greatsword. Celise grabbed her hair, twisted it, and a piece of white cloth appeared, holding her hair into a ponytail. She drew her sword with one hand, and pointed it at Shadow.
“Obsidian. You dare to bring that in here? I should smite you where you stand.” Celise’s voice failed to hide the disgust. Obsidian was considered an evil metal, because it absorbed Holy Light, which meant that Shadow was a very exceptional Rogue.
“You won’t do that Celise. It would go against everything you stand for as a Paladin.” Shadow replied. She seemed confident, but her voice displayed fear.
“Besides, I have to go.” Shadow threw something to the ground, and black, acrid smoke filled the room. Celise waved her hand, Cleansing the room, only to find it empty.
“Damnit.” She knew she wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight.
***
Because of the ever expanding population of New York City, the walls around the city had been moved countless times, and were now on the opposite side of the Hudson River, stretching almost 200 yards from the riverbank. Outside the walls, the farmers had complained since the movement, saying that if the walls move any more, they will lose their farms. A plan was underway the secure them inside the walls, but until then, they were exposed. Which made them an ideal target for raiders, as did the multiple gates. A group of 30 or more had taken position outside the wall, and every now and then, made half-hearted attempts at the open Trade Gate, easily the weakest structure in the defenses.
Celise stood on the wall, adjusting her green-tinted glasses, sword point in the stone, watching as the bandits prepared for another run at a caravan that was passing into the city. Then the alarm sounded. Celise grabbed her weapon, and ran toward the direction of the alarm. Her plate armour should have been extremely heavy, yet she moved as if it wasn’t there. At the source, she discovered that the bandits were a simple distraction.
On the plain below was a good sized army of what appeared to be a mixture of Warriors and Rangers. The battle standard was that Trenton, New Jersey. This was the fourth time they had attacked this month.
“I don’t think Lord Mohan learned his lesson, My Lady,” a guard observed.
Celise sighed. He was right. Lord Arthur Mohan seemed to take a special interest in New York City. Normally, when someone was beaten back, especially as many times as Lord Mohan, one gave up. Yet here was his army again for the fourth time.
“Send out the Warriors. Have our Rangers use their bows to take them out before they get in melee range.” Celise ordered.
The message was relayed to a guardhouse, and then to the Defense Gate, a small gate located a few feet from the Trade Gate. From the Defense Gate, a group of Warriors trained by Celise stepped onto the field, ready to defend their city. The combatants clashed, and the sounds of battle began.
Lord Mohan’s troops may have outnumbered Celise’s , but these Warriors had been retrained and tested by Celise herself, and therefore, easily able to hold their own against a number of enemies. But all that changed when light flashed, and an Icebolt froze a Warrior’s feet in place. Lord Mohan must have nabbed a Sorcerer. Only Sorcerers and Mages fought in battles like this, and a Mage would have been on the front line. Celise had never been able to teach her Warriors how to deal with magic from a source they couldn’t see.
“Do we have any Sorcerers or a Mage left in the city?” she asked a guard, who solemnly shook his head.
Celise sighed. She would have to deal with this problem herself. As she descended the stairwell however, a guard stopped her.
“I’m really sorry My Lady, but the Mayor said that you were not allowed to leave the city until that Assassin is caught. That order was approved by the Monarch. So here you stay, My Lady,” he explained.
Celise tried to move past, but the guard refused to move, and she could see that he had help lurking in the shadows, so she went back to observe the battle. Her Warriors were being decimated by the hidden Sorcerer who seemed to like ice, even though that school of magic was basic Spellcaster level.
“Screw this,” Celise whispered.
She ran forward the edge of the wall, and leapt. She fell 60 feet, rolled, and drew her sword. Catching two attackers off guard, she slashed both across their bare chests, and kept moving in the direction of the Sorcerer. Whenever she came across a Warrior of hers that was injured, she healed him, disabled his enemy, and kept moving. With so many enemies around, her world narrowed to hack, slash, parry, and heal. Within moments, the attackers had decided that she was too much to handle, and fled, leaving the Sorcerer exposed.
The Sorcerer was Lord Mohan himself, a Warrior, yet he carried the book of a Spellcaster.
“Lord Mohan? But you’re a Warrior.” Celise was amazed. No wonder the spells weren’t very fatal. Lord Mohan must have just picked up the Spellbook without really studying its contents. Furthermore, he had made one other mistake.
“Lord Arthur Mohan, Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey, I sentence you to death for the acts of repeated siege of the city of New York, the senseless slaughter of skilled men, and for violating the Warrior Arts by using that book,” Celise announced. Lord Mohan simply grinned.
Lord Mohan was a wiry, rat-like man with a bald head. He wore Iron plate armour and carried no weapons.
“Sorry Grand Marshal, but this book contains a special spell, mainly designed for combat with Paladins,” he sneered, using her rank as an insult.
He began an incantation, causing the words in the book to glow with a sickly-blue light. His hand sank into the book, and when he pulled it out, he was clutching the light. With one fluid motion, he drew his arm inward, and threw the light at Celise. But she had been waiting for that.
She held her sword point down in front of her, placed the palm of her left hand on the blade, and bounced the magical energy back at Lord Mohan. He flew a good ten feet and landed supine on the ground. Celise strode over to his still form, and held her sword up high.
“But…how…” he asked.
“Because iron and arcane magic don’t mix. Your spells should have been fatal. Instead, they fizzled. Besides, all that particular spell would have done was stun me for a few seconds, not really long enough for you to do anything,” she informed him.
Lord Mohan squeezed his eyes shut as she brought the sword down on his neck. Blood splashed on her breastplate, but slid easily off the gold tree design. Celise sheathed her sword, and began making her way back to the city, healing everyone she could. After all, these men were only fulfilling their duty to Lord Mohan.
Before she could cross the gate, she heard a cry from the walls. She whirled around to see a massive club before it struck her on the forehead. She fell to the ground, dazed from the blow. The attacker raised his club once more, to bring it down on her face.
A figure leapt from the battlements, landed behind the man, and using two dark bladed daggers, slit his throat from ear to ear. When the dying man slumped to the ground, Celise got a good look at the figure.
It was Shadow!
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