Gaiden 1: The Ancient's Champions

The giant, hollow tree echoed with the sound of metal clashing against metal. This was not unusual, for the two champions had been dueling within the tree for well over two thousand years. Ellen, the fairy, easily deflected the massive battleaxe of her foe with her shield, but her thin blade was, in turn, deflected by Jeorth’s metal gauntlet. Jeorth was a bugbear, crafted from stone and slime and mud by his First, and he easily outsized Ellen, but she had the swiftness required to outpace him. As they circled, Jeorth saw his master out of the corner of his eye, but he never turned his gaze from his foe.

Jeorth’s master, Rook, was one of The First, and was larger even than his champion. His four arms lay folded across his massive chest, and he sat in his throne, unmoving but for the rising and falling of his chest with each silent breath. He watched the fight intently, but his mind was far away, planning the armies he would raise after this battle was finished. The possibility of defeat hadn’t crossed his mind once. He planned only for victory. His gaze lazily drifted to his rival, across the room, and he made plans for her, too. He had plans for everyone.

Ellen’s master, Grace, was taller than her champion, but smaller by far than Rook. She was also one of The First. The youngest before Kraken, in fact, and she remembered well the face of The Protean. Once Ellen defeated Jeorth, Grace would have to imprison Rook in the same manner they had imprisoned Kraken. Grace was practical, though, and she knew that after this long, there was, in fact, a possibility of her defeat. She unfurled her wings from around her body, baring her large, naked breasts to the room as she stretched, before folding them back over herself. If she lost, Grace would accept the consequences.

“Soon,” Whispered the quiet voice that only spoke to her, “The fight draws to an end soon. Have you reconsidered my offer?”

The voice had first come to her two centuries prior, and she ignored it for the first few decades, but it was quite insistent. It always proposed the same trade: If Grace surrendered the fight, the voice claimed it would guarantee safety for both her and Ellen, in exchange for a favor. Grace was practical, and she knew that if the owner of this voice was powerful enough to break into her mind and speak to her directly, then they were also powerful enough to fulfill their end of the deal. But admitting defeat was not only an affront to Grace’s pride, but also a danger to the entire forest. Rook was too dangerous to be left unchecked. And besides, defeat was a possibility, but it wasn’t an inevitability.

Jeorth swung his axe once more. Ellen blocked. A single spark flew from the clash of metal on metal. Rook smiled the first time he saw that spark, over two thousand years ago. That spark proclaimed him the victor, it was just taking some time for everyone else to see it. Rook was The First craftsman, and he was the best. His metal was the strongest metal, his weapons were the sharpest weapons, and his fighters were the strongest fighters. Soon Ellen’s shield would shatter, and the fight would end. Rook would let Jeorth keep Ellen as a trophy. The fighters had grown close over the years, he knew, in the way that only two immortals locked in an endless duel can. But the endless duel was coming to an end. Soon. Then, after performing a favor for the mysterious patron who had helped Rook arrange this duel so long ago, Rook would finally be able to create again, and to take what was his.