The Herald from the Far Beyond/Princemaker

Road of the Princemaker

Cast of Characters:

Than: Young adventurer selected to save the princess.

The Grand Vire: Leader of the notorious underworld.

Mage Superior: Leader of the community of humans.

Princess Ella: Damsel in distress, captured to be the dinner for the Grand Vire.

Aunt: Than's maternal aunt and caregiver, she is his instructor in the arcane craft.

So it Begins,

Along with the other tales we Sauticans would like to share with you, there are many which are light hearted, exciting, and action driven. While the elite literati consider this form plebeian, adventure stories can be cherished as civilized literature. The Most High has granted this tale a permit to be shared in your world. We hope you enjoy it. It is a lively and popular one among the youthful boys dreaming of young beautiful girls.

1

In the ancient days of the rural region of Baysel, before the swarms of fleeing migrants from the western shores crossing to the east, this was a land of wonder and magic.

The Bayselites were a tribe of warriors who battled against the dark forces from the rocky area of Skargcast. Every season change, the evil would mount an attack to corrupt and overcome the region’s purity, eat whoever they could, and then return to their lair until the next season change. The sorcerers tried to build a mystical barrier around the rockplains to contain what was inside, but it was not powerful enough. In retaliation, the princess of Baysel was nabbed by the dark forces and taken to the heart of the underground lair inside the threatening rock outcrop.

The warriors led an attack but were repelled before they crossed the barrier. They knew then that many could not cross, that the recovery of the princess was best suited for a solo infiltrator. Each brave man volunteered for the quest, but this would require one who was keen and agile. The one who was required must have knowledge of the arcane craft and swordsmanship. The only one fit for this task was the young Than Mottry, a warrior in training. The veteran warriors grumbled and complained that he was too inexperienced and young, but the Mage Supreme knew the boy’s heart was pure and his strength was at its peak. He would be agile and keen beyond the mystic barrier, whereas the others would be brave and foolish. The young Than was outfitted and the sorcerers blessed him with good fortune.

Than had been raised by his aunt who was a sorceress, and her second husband was one of the great warriors of the tribe. With a mixed rising, he was able to invoke and cast spells as well as wield various weapons and handle shields in conflict. It was also the intention of the Mage Supreme to have the boy become the husband of the princess, as this experience should bring the two intimately together. But Than did not know that.

At the gateway of the mystic barrier, Than waved farewell to all comfort and protection and prepared to cross into the danger ahead. His aunt gave him a small charm to protect him from the evil forces. It was the charm of Lotar’s Forces. She said he could use it best when he could not escape from overwhelming danger.

After the Mage Supreme opened a doorway for Than, the boy crossed over. Nervous and unsure he turned around to see a sight completely unexpected. From the inside of the barrier looking out, the sorcerers created a field of terrifying impossibility. At the edge of the rocks began a series of molten rivers boiling and scorching the lands. Bubbles and steam filled as far as he could see. After a shriek in terror he realized it was a mirage to scare off the dark forces from attempting to break through the barrier.

He turned back around and began to make his way unnoticed into the centre. His size and weight made him silent in this realm of evil. He found the entrance to the core. It was a large cave which resembled frightening jaws. Towards the throat of the mouth was nothing but darkness. He clasped the charm of unbinding and entered.

2

Than slowly walked through pitch black, dragging his hand against the wall and slowly sweeping his feet making sure there were no pitfalls. Eventually, with persistence, he saw light. Growing larger and closer, Than noticed a torch before a grand door. Before this grand door was a sleeping beast, a troll.

Than approached the troll and gazed at his ugly hairy face. The Troll snored and wheezed while it slept. It was large and fat, and smelly. Mud and dirt was caked onto its hands, and it had hay, grass and thorns in its clothes. The troll must have been a tunneller, Than thought. He looked at the door to see how he could pass and realized the handle was blocked by the back of the sleeping troll. Than went to unsheathe his sword to attack, but stopped himself because he did not want to attack a defenceless opponent.

So, the pure hearted Than flicked the long wart on the nose of troll. The troll brushed it aside and stayed asleep.

Then, Than pinched the cheek of the troll. The troll grumbled and stayed asleep.

Than thought for a moment and stepped back. This time, he stomped on the floor and yelled “Hey wake up you stinky troll! I am here to pass through this gate!”

The troll jumped up in alert and screamed when he saw the boy. Than jumped back but did not pull out his sword.

“Troll, I am sorry to have woken you up. Let me pass, please.”

The troll sniffed Than up and down and grumbled.

“Why should I? You smell like the other side of the barrier. You are no friend to Pogos.”

“Pogos is your name? I am your friend Pogos. If not, I could have slit your throat while you slept.”

The troll touched his throat to check it was still together.

“Outsider boy could have, but outsider boy did not. Why?”

“Because I would like to pass in peace. My name is Than, I am here to pick up the princess your people borrowed.”

“Than? Pick up? Pogos was not made aware of this.”

“You should have been, I have a schedule to keep and I must pass through this door. Would you please open it for me? Your superior would be very angry if you do not, and would have likely approved of me slitting your throat if he caught you sleeping on the job. You don’t want me to tell him about your nap when I meet him do you?”

“Oh no! Pogos is dead should Grand Vire know of his tired tired eyes. You stay quiet? You pick up girl? Okay, you pass through.”

“Thank you Pogos. Sleep tight.”

Pogos the troll smiled and bowed as he opened the door to let Than through. The door emitted a heavy smell that was incomparable to the outside world. A heavy, repulsive smell.

Wincing, Than entered.

3

Beyond the large door was a whole underworld of activity. The dark forces built a subterranean city unknown to the surface. It was enormous and probably covered the whole of the Grand Island. Than thought why Skargcast was the only entrance to this vast world, but then thought it was better this way, it would have been harder to defend against multiple entry points.

Unsure of where to begin, his first instinct was to disguise himself. Noticing the multitude of creatures that inhabited this world, human was not one of them. He found a potato sack and a lot of dirt to use to turn him into a scruffy haggard-like thing. He quickly developed a sagging gait similar to the dwarfs that just crossed his path. He was amazed and horrified at the same time. All of the things that made the world fearsome and degenerate lived beneath the surface and he was in the thick of it. It was incredible to see it with free eyes and not as a dinner item.

He began to look for the princess. Wondering again where to begin, he found a merchant selling live rats in a busy area. He approached the talking beetle and asked if he has heard anything about a special captive. The beetle shrugged and waved a rat in his face asking for human teeth, which must have been the underworld’s currency.

Shaking his head, Than returned to traffic. He then saw a snake charmer, which itself was a wild boar, playing a flute for a crowd. The snake slithered higher and higher, slowly, as the boar squealed and touted the instrument.

The crowd was impressed and clapped, and when it dispersed Than came up to the boar.

“Excuse me, are you aware of any special captives from the surface?”

“What do I look like? The Mud Proclaimer? Go ask that swine!”

A proclaimer? This was an odd world indeed.

“Where can I find...it?”

The boar snorted and pointed far past the market towards a flame in the distance.

“That’s the Dirty Beacon, the proclaimer lives beside it.”

Than nodded and embarked. The boar watched him leave and snorted. It knew exactly where the boy came from.

Than made his way through the crowds of unusual creatures but got lost. He looked up trying to see the great fire that the snake charmer pointed to but could not. There were too many mud huts and buildings in the way. He kept walking in the direction he figured it would be in and came to a dead end. Turning around he realized he was sent into a trap!

Before him was the hungry wild boar showing his salivating teeth. Then above him was the boar’s accomplice crawling down a makeshift rope. It was a giant spider!

“Ah, Rimddig help me!” The boy screamed.

The spider shot a web at his chest and began to wheel him into a tight net, but Than used his sword to cut himself out. The boar rushed towards him. Than kicked and stabbed knocking the boar over, the spider leapt to block the exit and hissed.

Than pointed out his hand and used a magic incantation to blind the arachnid.

“See the light, fear my might, see the light no more!” from his hand a flash of white blinded the spider’s many eyes. Screaming it did not notice Than run past. The boar got back up and charged after him, pushing the temporarily blinded spider to the ground.

“I’m going to eat you boy! I know where you are from! I know!”

The boar raced after him and grabbed the back of Than’s potato sack, lifting him off the ground. Than stomped on the boar’s face and stabbed the sword into his shoulder. The boar released Than and screamed.

Everyone around noticed the scuffle and alarmed the security force. Than dove past a carriage and hid in the closest basket, breathing heavily, heart racing, and frantically trying to figure out how to escape the guards. Unfortunately, Than did not notice what sort of basket it was that he jumped into. It was full of live rats!

He leapt out screaming, knocking over the basket releasing all of the vermin. The crowd shrieked at the rats running a mock, and the guards saw Than run the opposite direction. They chased after him. Than tried to run as fast as he could, but in this strange exotic infested world he did not know where he could run that was safe. Inevitably, he ran in a circle right into the gruesome guards.

The Captain of the Guard grabbed Than and put him in a sack. Inside, Than heard the guards cheer and squeal, most were pigs, though two were goats, bleating.

The grotesque gang brought the sack back to their headquarters on inside the keep of the wall, near the Dirty Beacon. The wild boar followed them complaining the whole time that the boy was his dinner. The spider tried to put up a fight too, but both were pushed aside by the corrupt guards.

Inside the sack, Than pulled out his charm and rubbed it. It began to glow. From the outside, the beast-guards saw a light emitting from their sack and wondered what was happening. The Captain, a fat faced pig with horns, opened it up to look in. Just then, the charm shot out a bolt of lightening at the pig and zapped him unconscious. The guards jumped back in fear. Than stood up and pointed the charm at another one, a goat, and shot him down too. The others screamed and ran to hide. Than ran with them outside of the guard quarters and shot the wild boar and the spider sulking outside.

He kept running and leaping out of the way of any danger. When he saw another guard he electrocuted them too.

This quarter of the town went up into frenzy, all the ordinary beasts and occult beings terrified of the lightning wielding human. Than was terrified of the intelligent and brutal monsters about him. He ran continuously until he was too tired. He found an alley way and lay down.

4

Than was tired and hungry. Dirty and confused, he lay trying to hide from the commotion around him. He felt trapped and alone beyond the barrier of his home. He questioned his reason for being selected to journey into this misery. He tried hard to bring strength into himself to get up and press on. But he could not. He lay there alone, tired and hungry. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. The smell was the thing that prevented him from drifting too far into dreamland. This underworld was a nostril’s nightmare.

Some quiet time passed and the young Than opened his eyes. In front of him he saw a few rats, recently liberated by his escape, twitting with a piece of cloth as they played with it. He saw in live with a happiness that he remembered from outside this horrible world. He thought of how sad things must have been for the princess, trapped somewhere in the unknown. It occurred to him that what was important was returning to his world, and bringing the princess back with him.

Than stood up, inhaled (then gagged from the paunch smell), and returned to his journey. Armed with the charm of Lotar’s Forces he was determined to succeed.

Out in the wild world beneath the surface, things were returning to calm. The guards had forgotten about their prey and found amusement in the drink instead. The residents went back to their daily routines. Than, wearing a new disguise, came up with a new plan. He would capture one of the guards and threaten him with the charm unless it told him where the princess was. Easier said than done.

Than found a guard patrolling in a side street and jumped him. The beast, a rhinoceros beetle, was not the right one to mess with. It grabbed Than from its back and tossed him into the wall opposite. Then, it stomped on him twice and lifted him by the throat. Coughing and bleeding, Than raised his charm and shot the guard. The bolt shocked right through the beetle and electrified Than too. They both hit the ground hard. The beetle, a very tough creature, was not too disturbed by this form of attack, but Than needed time to recover, time he did not have. Just as the rhino beetle was about to begin another round of stomping, Than raised his palm and said,

“Stay be still, stay be nill!” a paralyzing charm.

This was not one of Than’s specialties and he knew he only had a short time to get the information before the guard returned to mobility.

“Where is the princess!” he interrogated.

“Tell me where she its!”

Eh electrocuted the guard again, this time it hurt him more because there was no way for his muscles and shell to absorb the shock. He was paralyzed.

“Ahhhkk! Stop using that!” the beetle said.

“Tell me where she is!”

“Alright, she’s in the ground. There is a cell next to the Untercastle’s dungeons where they have an underground cage. The Grand Vire threw her in there.”

“Where is the castle?” Than demanded, he knew the spell would wear of very soon.

“Follow your nose north, past the Feral Feast Hall and up across the Bridge of Doom. You can’t miss it when you get there, unless you are caught first!”

Than raced towards the direction he thought she was in. He heard the beetle release from the paralysis and begins to chase after him, roaring for the other guards. Than dodged in and out of the streets towards the Feral Feast Hall, a large open structure with many troughs and deep bowls. This is the place for communal gorging. It was also the source of the foul smells.

Feeding time was not now, luckily for Than. He made his way past this sacred shrine of gluttony and raced towards the Bridge of Doom. It was exactly how it sounded. A bridge which thinly led across a pit so profoundly deep you’d think it ended up on the other side of the world as a surface chasm. As far as Than knew, it did.

With a full heart and a determined step he ran across the undefended bridge, which was a bit of a surprise for the young boy, but one he did not stop to check.

Across the bridge he found what he had hoped to avoid. A bridge ogre! Large and armed, the beast was asleep beside a toll booth. Than stopped and tip toed past the bridge guard. He hoped that the creature would not smell him and awaken, either way, to get to the princess was to go past him.

Safe, Than followed a dirt path towards the Untercastle in the distance.

Finally, he found what the beetle had told him about. He knew he did not have a lot of time as the guard knew exactly where he was going and would probably round up the whole gang of beasts to catch him at the bridge, plus it was only a matter of time before he had to face the bridge ogre, but no matter, the princess must be saved.

Than found the cage. Looking through the bars it was dark and filthy. He could not see anyone inside so he yelled.

“Hello? Anyone in there?”

He saw some mud stirring near the corner and then two white eyes and a hand reach up.

“Help me!” the princess replied.

“I am Than, I am here to rescue you.”

“Hurry up, the leader of the monsters is coming to eat me soon! He is preparing a big feast, he could come back at any time!”

Another danger looming.

Than touched two of the bars with his hands and used his magic spells.

“Tight grip, smite this, be tight no more!” and the bars released and fell down into the cage. He did it to two more bars and then held them to the ground as the princess climbed up. When she reached the top she fell into Than’s arms exhausted.

“Don’t be afraid princess. You are free from that prison now but there are still more dangers ahead so you must not sleep yet.”

She looked into his eyes, covered in filth she was, smiled and said,

“Oh brave young Than, you have crossed the barrier and made your way through hell to save me. You are my hero!”

They kissed warmly.

5

Then Than lifted her onto his back and began sneaking towards the bridge again. As he got closer, he heard a crowd arguing. In front of the bridge was a group of guards arguing with the bridge ogre. The guards are trying to get past him to catch Than, but the ogre is insisting that no one crossed the bridge and that if any of them wanted to cross they’d have to pay him. The whole group yelled at the bridge ogre who stood his ground. Then one of the guards, a pig, kicked the ogre on the leg. The ogre became very angry and threw the pig down into the depths of the chasm. The others jumped on him and a melee broke out.

The princess squeezed Than in fright and Than had to stop moving closer. The thought of a quick plan and charged towards the hustle. The group, focused on their own battle, did not notice him. As Than was running he performed the paralysis spell on the whole group then with full speed pushed them off the cliff. They were unable to stop him. His speed knocked them into each other and over the end of the land, and because they were paralyzed they could not react to grip anything. Down they fell hollering and cursing him to their doom.

The princess cheered, and Than kept running. As he came closer to the Feral Feasting Hall more guards were waiting. He used his charm to shoot at them and kept on running.

He ran through the streets, dodging the busy laneways and stepping on small free rats. He apologized to them as he made his way over. More guards and some soldiers started to appear, and Than was shooting at them all. The soldiers deflected the bolts with their shields and stood their ground at the end of the street. Than was running out lane so he stopped short to assess his surroundings.

Then, as more soldiers blocked the streets, the Grand Vire itself entered the arena. It was a tall fully armoured lizard with a really big cleaver. It stood between Than, the princess, and the soldiers who blocked their freedom.

“Release my meal.” The Grand Vire demanded.

“Never! She is my princess, you will not eat her. You will not eat anyone!” Than replied, the princess was hanging on to his back and her legs squeezing his chest in fright.

“Release her or face punishment.”

“Let us free or you will face punishment!” Than yelled back.

“Your opportunity for salvation is over. Now you are doomed with her.”

The Grand Vire begun his attack. Very quickly he swung his cleaver backwards and knocked them both to the ground, then the Grand Vire lifted the blade up and prepared to drop it into Than. Than raised his hand towards the villain and said.

“Looks like that, feels like that, but is really a bat!” and the cleaver transformed into a bat and flew away.

Then Than pointed his hand towards the face of the Grand Vire, and said,

“Too warmful, too harmful, this is what happens when your face is a fire!”

And the Grand Vire’s head lit up on fire. It roared and fell back. Than stepped up and pulled out his sword, the princess hanging on all the tighter. The soldiers moved closer and closer as they watched their master’s head burn. Than stabbed the Grand Vire in the stomach then pointed his hand towards the soldiers blocking the street ahead of him and said,

“Can’t go around, so you must fall down!” and he force pushed them to the floor. Than and the princess leaped over them and kept running. The Grand Vire roared when he finally doused the fire and pulled out the sword. He took to the chase with a fast ferocity.

6

Than’s aunt and the whole community sat outside of the barrier waiting. They were too worried to leave the gateway and return home, as the Mage Superior suggested. He was just as concerned and stayed with the group too. They ate lunch and kept watch, waiting for Than and the princess to return. Time went by, and they set up camp. The men started to practice with their weapons, and the women started gathering herbs and spices, preparing for the dinner. They ate dinner and sat around a camp fire, still waiting.

“What if he never comes out?” Than’s aunt said in distress.

“If he does not by tomorrow then we are all going in.” One of the warrior men said.

“What if it is too late by then?” The aunt replied.

“This is the Mage Superior’s decision. Why don’t you ask him?” The warrior said back.

The Mage Superior smiled and said,

“I trust our young Than can do it. So should you. It will be any time now before he and the princess come through that door. Any time... now - !”

Just as the Mage Superior said that, Than and the princess on his back burst through the barrier running. Behind them was the Grand Vire and his raiders. The warrior men armed themselves and fought.

The soldiers from beneath the surface were caught in the accidental ambush and decimated. The Grand Vire was speared to death. Whoever survived retreated back into the barrier defeated and hungry. They were always hungry.

On the surface, everyone gathered around to find an exhausted and crud covered duo. Than and the princess stood panting and clinging to each other.

The princess whispered to Than,

“Thank you kind boy, you know that I am seeking a partner’s hand in matrimony? I know of no better suitor than you.”

Than dislodged her and faced her. He wiped the mud of her light skin and said,

“Princess, if your hand in marriage is the reward for my deeds, then I have been rewarded beyond imagine, but it is a vain reward. If you have find it in your heart to love me, then, and only then will I take your hand.

“I do love you Than, I do!”

“Then I will marry you Princess Ella.”

The hugged and kissed and everyone wooed. The Mage Superior looked at Than’s aunt and nodded. She smiled in return.

They had a beautiful ceremony and lived happily ever after, safe from the creatures and beasts beyond the mystic barrier.

The End

Keep this story in your minds fair adventurers, for a reward as kind and beautiful as the princess is a rare treasure. Most likely none of you will ever find such a prize but let the story resound in your wandering hearts nonetheless. It cannot but keep you fuelled day in and day out during your long journeys.

May the Most High warrant you love and comfort!