Avalon/Roleplay Section/Hector/Hector's Return
Previous: Uncertain Times
Hector’s Return, part I
Hector was gone nearly a month. Jessica and Arian had grown worried. As Jessica waited, she slept more. She dreamed more. She had terrifying nightmares of the evils the creatures have done in the past. The horrors of families being devoured while the youngest watched on, and was last. Terrible, terrible dreams. They have been increasing over the past few days.
One morning, Arian comes upstairs, Jessica is slumbering, yet again, and Arian wakes her. “Jessica, you must awaken. We’ve waited a long time for Hector’s return, but I fear, we can wait no longer. We must return to Zod. We must complete the cycle. I’ve receive word that the Colony Tree is deteriorating fast. There is an increase in monsters around our local lands.” As he spoke, a loud ruckus was heard outside. Arian runs to the window, and looks out. He sees a couple of wraiths hovering above, He hears a large number of Monsters attacking in the distance near the gates of Cteduul. He sees about a hundred Militia through some buildings off in the distance. They are running towards the gates.
“We need to go now, Jessica, the city is in danger.”
Jessica springs out of bed, and grabs a bag. “I must leave a note for Hector. See if maybe one of the local scribes in town can find him and deliver the message of what we are doing.”
Arian turns to Jessica, “Dear, right now, the only thing that matters as that I get you out of here. I’ll get a message to Hector, you get packed, you have a minute to do so!” Arian spins and runs off to gather his things.
Jessica packs with haste and her clothes are partly hanging out of her bag as her and Arian dart downstairs to a couple of horses. Arian grabs her bag and quickly ties it down then mounts his own steed, and off they ride. There is a secret way out of the city, towards the rear, guarded by Royal guards. As Arian approaches, the guards spring out of hiding and challenge Arian. “State your business citizen!”
Arian looks over and declares he works for Hector, the Minister of Finances, and that he is on an urgent mission. The guards reluctantly allow him and Jessica to pass. A large gate makes a groaning sound as it is opened, and through they pass, to the forest beyond.
“Where are we going, Arian?” Jessica asks.
“We go to Zod, the birth place of the tree.”
Jessica looks over at him and says, “I really want Hector to be part of his, Arian, send your message and have him hurry!”
Arian nods and they stop. He gets off his horse, and takes out a wooden whistle. He blows, but no sound comes out. Suddenly, a dove flies over and lands on his shoulder. Arian takes out a small, long piece of paper, and writes a note. Then, he takes out a piece of bloody cloth. He removes a vile, and drops in the cloth. A puff of smoke and a pop causes the horses to jump, scaring Jessica. The vile is now in the form of powder. Arian whispers something inaudible, “fessh mikal broca levite” Then pours the powder into his hands and sprinkles it over the dove. He ties the note to his leg and throws the bird in the air. The dove flies off, towards Henhower. “There, the message is sent”.
“What on earth is that unconventional method? What was that?” Jessica says, looking like he’s crazy.
“That, my dear, is a guarantee that Hector will get the message. See, that cloth was from Hector’s clothes, it had his blood on it. The liquid turned the cloth and the blood into dust. I cast a spell on the dove to seek out the one who’s blood was in the dust, and it will.” He says matter of factly. A wry smile crosses his face.
Jessica shrugs it off, and mounts her horse. If Hector trusted him, so could she, she thought.
They rode off towards Zod, Jessica’s thoughs wondered towards Hector. “I hope he’s OK.”
Hector’s Return, part II
Hector marched to Cori as ordered to attack some monsters who’ve overrun the area. He arrives into the makeshift camp just outside of Cori, and sees a familiar face. “Revan! What a pleasure to see you!”
Revan turns and smiles, “Oh by the gods, he’s alive. I heard your men tied you up and took your gold.. Is that true?”
Hector smiles, “I was drunk, or they would have been killed!”
Revan laughs, “It’s good to see you, how do you fare?”
Hector looks down, a bit uneasy, “I haven’t been to Cteduul for several weeks, and I fear that Arian and Jessica will leave without me. Especially given the increase in Monsters in our area, something must be happing to further destroy the Colony Tree, allowing them to pass through, in small numbers. So, I fear they’ve gone without me.”
“Ahh, old friend, have no fear, we’ll get back there and help. But right now, we have to focus on killing these hideous creatures!” Revan says, slapping Hectors back.
Hector smiles, “Yes, let’s get busy, who’s hosting the briefing?”
They walk into a large tent where the general, el mariachi, and their Ruler, Grim-Reaper are beginning the briefing. To his left sits Kain. “Kain, old friend, how are you? General, Sire… how are you?” Hector bows a bit, showing respect to everyone.
“Hector, good of you to come… How many men did you bring?” Grim-Reaper says, as he places a large map on an unstable table.
“I have 5 sire, that’s all I could muster. But Revan, he gambled all of his men away, and he only has one.” Hector says picking his voice up at the end.
The room bursts into laughter and Revan nudges Hector, and then laughs himself.
“Great, lets get started, Intel shows that they are on the outskirts of town, and won’t be here for at least a couple of ….” el mariachi is interrupted by a large, low horn.
The men scramble, “get your units, they are here already!” el mariachi says.
The men dart from the tent and charge to their men who are already in battle formation.
“Charge!!” el mariachi shouts out, followed by a loud horn. The troops charge in unison. Revan and Hector charge forward with el mariachi, while Kain and Grim-Reaper follow in the column behind. They smash into the Monsters and begin their assault. Monsters start to fall. Revan’s man goes down, causing Revan to drag him from the field, while Kain and Grim fill the gap and destroy the resistance before them. After an hour of battle, the small remaining monsters retreat into the forest. The leaders gather around the camp and trade battle stories.
The next morning, the remaining Monsters attack the camp. The Troop Leaders counter attack again, wiping out the remaining creatures. As Hector is seeing to his wounded men, a pigeon flutters down and lands on his shoulder. He looks at the bird in amazement, and spots a band wrapped around his leg.
He grabs the bird, and pulls off the message. The bird flies away. Hector reads the note.
“Hector, if you are reading this it means about a day has passed and the bird survived his flight. Jessica and I are heading to Zod. The monsters have nearly destroyed what is left of the Colony Tree and are starting to break through to our world. This would explain the increase in creatures roaming Avalon. We have to stop it, so we’ve headed out. Join us if you can in Zod. We will wait two days before we come out of hiding from the woods in Zod to try and plant the seed. It is possible we won’t make it as by now, Zod has many things trying to stop us from succeeding. Hope to see you soon, Arian.”
Hector looks up in horror. “Revan! REVAN!!!!”
Revan comes running. “What’s the matter old friend?”
“Arian has taken Jessica to Zod, I must go there, or all will be lost, I fear.”
“Of course, of course, get moving, hurry.” With that Hector rides off to Cteduul to regroup his men, then to go to Zod to complete the mission to plant the seed. His heart feels a lot of pain, he senses something troubling, but can’t put his finger on it.
Next: The Seed
