Jacob was standing at the massive wooden door. It had carvings in it, and on of them was a symbol showing three broken swords crossed. It was the symbol of the Nithcur. Inside the center of it though was an iron symbol of a fist holding back a roaring lion; the Lion Tamer symbol. Jacob noticed the door was ajar, so he pushed it open. Inside was a large hallway leading on for what seemed to be forever. On the right were shields with their owner’s name underneath them. Jacob walked along careful to check every room along the way. With every step he became more nervous. He knew something was wrong, but it didn’t seem like an intruder.

More like this was a trap.

Suddenly a small round object flew in through one of the windows. He didn’t waste time to see what it was. He knew what it was. It was called a deathfruit.

Suddenly the small object tore open exploding in fire and smoke. He was unharmed, but he had to find the person because the next attack he might not be so lucky. He reached for a deathfruit on his hip and plucked it off. He may need it soon.
He crept slowly through the dark shadowy hallways looking for his attacker. He peeked into several rooms cautiously. Nothing was moving, and Jacob could hear his own heart beating rapidly. His feet clacked on the cold stone floor.

Suddenly an arrow struck a panel next to him. He jumped away into a room and pulled out his sword. A shadow approached the doorway, and then he saw the shadowy figure of a man, and he was prepping another arrow.

Jacob quickly pulled out a deathfruit, and yanked the pin on it. He threw it just before the man fired. Jacob quickly hopped out the open window, and found himself out in the cool air again. While running in the moonlight he tried to stay out of the view of the windows. Another arrow shot out the window in front of him, but he stopped before being hit by it. He turned back and tossed his last deathfruit threw the window on the other side. After the explosion he jumped back inside as quickly as he could, but the man stood facing him with his bow. Jacob rammed himself at the man with his sword raised. The sword cracked his bow, and knocked the man over with his momentum. The man punched his sword away.

They both rolled over quickly and reached for their weapons, Jacob quickly grabbed his sword and swung it upward at the now standing figure, but it stopped half-way as he heard a familiar clang. The man pulled back his sword and swung down again, but Jacob blocked his blow easily. Jacob jumped up onto his feet, and still being on the defense blocked a couple more swings by the man. Jacob kept swinging but the man was getting faster and fancier with his moves.

Jacob pulled out and ran into another room with only a small window; it was the darkest room in the building. The room he was in was the weapons room. It had all kinds of weapons lining the wall. The man searched for him in the dark, but it was just as hard for Jacob to see the man as it was for the man to see him. Finally Jacob spotted a movement, so he leaped forward sword first. The man turned and swatted his sword away, but Jacob reached with his other hand and punched him. Jacob drove him into a wall where they both were unable to use their swords, and were unable to fight effectively. Finally the man pushed Jacob off of him and swung his sword down at Jacob’s arm, but Jacob repositioned for it to hit his shield. Jacob then broke from the fight again to get back out in the light. Jacob ran down the hall, but then quickly ducked into a room, and out another window.

By now he had figured out who he was fighting, and for some odd reason he knew it had to be Martin. Nobody else he’d seen had that much skill. Jacob knew how to fire a bow, but he left his at home thinking that this was just mere sword training. Jacob knew instinctively that he was supposed to fight and not flee. He ran as fast as he could toward the entrance. He finally had a plan.

He reentered and saw that Martin had been waiting for him with his new bow. Jacob realized his mistake of entering the weapons room just when the man fired his arrow. Jacob jumped away, and heard the arrow whizz by. He pushed back up and ran for the wall. He snatched up one of the decorative shields, and held it front of himself. They were large and better capable of handling a barrage of arrows than his small shield. Martin fired arrow after arrow as Jacob inched closer while moving the shield in time with Martin’s shots. Finally Martin reached for one, but came up empty, so Jacob ran forward yelling.
He shoved the shield into the man’s fighting arm, and pinned him to the wall. Jacob started groping for the man’s sword, but he could not find it. He punched the guy in the chest repeatedly, and then repositioned to take a swing at Martin’s face, but saw something glimmer on the floor.

“Enough, young man it is over.” Martin grunted. Jacob pulled back and saw to his wonder that Martin’s sword was broken, and in pieces on the floor. Martin looked down at them, and laughed.
“Come on boy we need to find the torches, I stuck them outside.” Martin said. He was getting up and straightening his helmet, and armor. They both walked slowly out to the well, and that is when Jacob noticed Martin was limping a little. They both grabbed the metal torches, and Martin struck his against metal. Sparks flew and then the torch lit, and using the first torch they lit the second.

Jacob split from Martin and started lighting the front rooms, and Martin lit the back ones. Jacob first walked into the library and lit the three torches, and noted that this room had been unscathed, but the dinning room across from it wasn’t so lucky, chairs were torn apart and knocked over. The table was charred, and the room still smelled like sulfur. Jacob left the room, and realized that he still had his visor down, so he lifted it, and was able to breath easier. He walked into another room and lit its torches, and continued to observe the damage.





Jacob set his torch out in the holder near the well, and walked back inside. Things were quiet now, and as he walked through the hall he felt somewhat proud of himself, but at the same time he felt nervous. He walked all the way to the back room. It was highly decorative unlike many of the other rooms. He noted the sculptures lining wall depicting many monsters both real and myth. Some of them were wolves, and others were large long necked dragons that walked around on massive legs. He carefully examined the monster on two meaty bird like legs, and had a small flat head, but Jacob could only look at it is gut which at first glance it looked like a big gaping hole, but upon closer examination he realized it had teeth and a tongue .

“That is a Gombrah; not a fun thing to run into.” Martin said.
“Good thing no one ever will.” Jacob said.
“Ah, but how do you know it is not real?” Martin asked.
“Look at it.” Jacob said “It is nothing but a hunter’s tale.”
“I disagree, but that is not important right now.” Martin said.

Jacob turned away from the figurines. Martin was sitting at the middle of the table in the back facing the door. He had a grimace upon his face that made Jacob concerned as he proceeded to walk up to the table.
“You have been a good student Jacob, but I can not tutor you any more. You see we all must strive to be the best, and here at this school I have taught you what I know, and not only have you learned how to fight; you also learned how to beat your master.” He said. Jacob took it all in, but he felt a bit bored as he felt like this was unnecessary. He did not interrupt him though.
“You must understand that now you must move on. There is nothing left to learn here.” Martin said.
“Jacob I must tell you that unlike most Nithcur I never have found any joy in the art of killing.” He said quietly. “So I am going to ask you, when would it be appropriate for you kill?”
Jacob widened. He was taken by surprise with this question. He stood there for a minute and contemplated the question.
“Not to sound rude, but I do not think there is a clear cut answer.” Jacob said reluctantly.
“It is not rude at all; you see I never could come up with a good answer,” He replied. “But I want you to at least give me something.”
“I will tell you when to never do it. You never do it for pride or honor, and never for revenge, but I would mostly only ever kill to protect the innocent from those who harm them.” Jacob replied firmly. Martin turned around, and looked hard at Jacob. Jacob stared back ready for him to yell about the answer.

Instead he turned around, and grabbed a box.
“Here you go.” Martin said while handing him the box. Jacob flipped the latch, and gazed inside. Inside was the broken sword pieced back together inside the holder. Jacob smiled.
“It is yours, just as I received the broken sword from my instructor. Now we must handle the most important thing.” He said, and then walked out from behind the table. He pulled something out of his pocket. It was a metal medallion, and it had a round dragon head on it, and behind the dragon’s head was a sword.

“I name you Jacob the Dragon Slayer.” Martin said. With that he slid the circular medallion onto a chain and placed it around Jacob’s neck. “You are now part of the Nithcur.” He said while wincing.
“Are you ok, Sir?” Jacob asked, but before Martin could reply, he collapsed.

__.....__


Jacob pulled the armor off of Martin quickly. He checked for holes, but unfortunately could not find any. Then he saw the blood around his hip. Jacob ripped the part of the armor off, and saw it was dented and torn.

Martin was unconscious, and Jacob worked feverishly to find the source of the blood. He saw a small puncture wound. He looked around for a cloth he could patch it with. He opened a drawer on a nearby desk then slammed it. He remembered they carried basic medical supplies in the dressing room. He got up and ran to the dressing room. It was a small room just large enough for a person to stand in and for a few cabinets. He quickly pulled out two large strips of white cloth. He ran back to Martin, and then wrapped his leg tightly in them.

He had learned all of this in his training. Martin always stressed that if he got injured he would need to know how to keep himself alive. He hated learning it, but was now glad he knew how. He Kneeled over Martin, and wondered why he would not let him know what was wrong. He checked the pulse again, and it was still strong, but Jacob needed to get a doctor. He picked up Martin and moved him to out into the master bedroom, and gently laid him on his bed. After he made sure Martin was still alive he ran out to his horse.

Surefoot was waiting for him as he quickly ran out to him. He hopped up onto Surefoot, and with a quick double pat Surefoot charged out and into the open. His horse carried him out to the old abandoned street, and then through the alley. He urged his horse through the streets, and finally he saw the lights of the festival again. He took the long way around, and his horse gained speed through the empty streets.

He made his way around the festival until he arrived at the small street with an even smaller house. Above the house was the sign that said Ron’s Heals. He got down and tied his horse to the stake. He then took the knocking stick from it is holder beside the door, and whacked it against the door. A young man stepped out.

“Are you Ron? I need you to see a badly injured man.” Jacob said.
“I am not Ron; he is away attending to a patient.” He said. “But I am his trainee, and I know a bit about wounds. Can you tell me where he is injured?”
“He has a wound on his left hip. It is a small wound, but it was bleeding hard. I have it wrapped up now.” Jacob replied.
“Is the patient conscious?” He asked while grabbing a bag.
“No.” Jacob replied.
“What caused the wound?” He asked as they both headed out their horses.
Jacob hopped up onto his horse. “I do not know, but I think it was a deathfruit.”
“Wait, was he in a fight?” The man inquired.

Jacob started to explain as they rode out to Martin.







Jacob was picking up the items strewn around the dinning room. He was waiting for the trainee doctor to come back out. After he wiped the smoke off the table he heard the door open, and the man walk in the room.

“Well he does not look too bad.” The young man said. “I removed a couple small fragments, and stitched him up.” He showed Jacob the fragment, which were tiny shreds of metal. “Pour this cleanser on his wound four times a day to keep it from swelling, but I think he will be fine.”
“Thank you.” Jacob said.
“No problem. Oh he is awake, and he wants to see you.” The man said just before leaving.
Jacob turned to enter the room. It smelled of disinfectants, but Jacob overcame the stench, and entered anyway. Martin was sitting against his headboard.
“Come in. I want to thank you.” Martin said. “I hadn’t realized how bad my leg was.”
“It is alright, the doctor confirmed you were hit by a deathfruit. Are you ok?” Jacob replied.
“My leg hurt, but I will be alright. There is one other thing I wanted you to know.” He said. “Some people are going to need proof that you are Nithcur. Always wear that necklace, and always keep the sword with you.” He said.
“And that will convince them?” Jacob said.
“Some, but others may need to see your skill as well.” He said. “You need to go home.”
“Yes sir.” Jacob replied. Jacob turned, and left the room




“You are ready.” The man on the ridge said to himself. He looked at the small brick house that Jacob called home. “You have joined the ranks of the Nithcur, and that is an amazing feat.” He bit a chunk out of his sandwich.

He stood up and brushed off his cloak. It was a large black cloak that covered his body. It looked as though here were part of the shadows. He tugged on the twisted metal that looked to be his face. It didn’t budge; it never did. He walked back to his horse.

“Jacob, you will learn who you really are.” He said, and got up on his horse, and rode away.

Jacob now sixteen was outside sharpening his sword against the smooth stone. He had been working at this for hours. He had neglected it, and Martin was complaining. A boy named Caleb had come to watch him. He stared intently as Jacob slid the sword carefully across the smooth surface.

Caleb was about ten, and had messy light brown hair. He was Jacob’s brother by adoption. When Jacob and his mom escaped North-point village of the region of Nikrook they went and rented a small country house in the region of Lookook. Jacob’s Mom had taught Jacob how to ride the horse, so Jacob usually rode to town and got things. Eventually they had a large farm going, and Swift had a colt named Surefoot. Jacob owned Surefoot, and loved him.

Everything was normal until one day Jacob came down with the flu, and his Mom had to take care of him, take care of the farm, and run items down to town, so that she could sell goods to a marketer. His Mom had met Caleb who was trying to sell an old beat up cart, and seeing how they’d always needed a cart, she offered to pay a small fee to rent it before the harvest. He would only accept if he could stay with his cart. Not wanting to argue she let him help her, but one thing led to another, and not only was she renting the cart from him she was paying for his services running the vegetables to town as well.

A week later Jacob was back up on his feet and helping with the farm, but Caleb became a more effective way of transporting the vegetables and wheat. Jacob was also relived to no longer have to ride to town for sales. And since finding Caleb they’d found an in-town Marketer that would consistently buy their vegetables. Everyone was happy, and everything was calm.

Things changed a year later. A terrible storm was blowing through, and Caleb showed up unexpectedly. He wanted to come in out of the rain. Of coarse Jacob’s mom let him, but it took no time at all for her to ask why he wasn’t with his parents. He said they had died long ago, and that is why he had been selling the cart, and even running services for them. Little more was said before she put Caleb to bed. She came out that night to Jacob who was watching the last few lightning strikes before the storm disappeared forever. She asked him what he’d thought about Caleb living with them. It was a question he knew she was going to ask, and he’d already made up his mind that he liked Caleb, so he told her that he wouldn’t mind it.

That was that, Caleb accepted living with them, and to this day Caleb helped with everything. Jacob enjoyed having him around. Jacob bounced ideas off of him, and often needed his help with personal hobbies. Caleb on the other hand was not normal in his choice of hobbies. He loved explosives. This they learned shortly after they had bought some fire powder. Caleb got into it and burned a pile of it. He was burned by the explosion, but he was so thrilled by it he kept trying to get into it. His mom long gave up on keeping him out of it, and instead focused on him using it safely, and on his own time.

Today though they had nothing but free time; as the fields had been harvested, and they had finished selling everything, and Jacob was training with an old Nithcur known as Martin the Lion Tamer. Nithcurs were hard to find because they were the elite soldiers of Melendy. This one had greeted everyone in his village as he was opening a school. Martin met Jacob’s mother, and after talking with her apparently offered free lessons to Jacob.

So here they were, Jacob was preparing for his lesson that evening, and Caleb was watching him. Jacob looked over and saw that Caleb was holding the hunters knife he bought him. Caleb had already learned how to take down a small animal with one. Jacob used to see Caleb running through the fields chasing rabbits that plagued them badly. They had to eat the rabbits though, and Jacob had never liked rabbit.

Jacob picked up his sword and looked it over. There wasn’t a way to get it any sharper, so he slid it into his scabbard. Caleb got up and ran back to the house. Jacob slowly lagged behind. The fields had turned brown for the coming winter when the ground got cool, and the winds were starting too cool down from the blistering heat of summer and autumn. His mom was waiting at the door of their small home. The home it self was run down and old, but his mom still kept it tidy. Unlike in the north where they used to live homes here were made of brick instead of a hardened mud. He walked inside the dark home.

Inside did not look run down at all. The brick walls had tapestries on them, and the wood floors were swept of any dirt from the outside. It was a small area, in the corner was a table with three chairs around it, and in the back of the hut was a fire roaring, and above it looked to be one of his mom’s stews. The aroma filled the house, and made Jacob hungry.

“The food will be ready soon. Caleb can you go get me some sweet apples from downstairs, I thought I would make a pie.” His mom said while cleaning up some more things before dinner. Jacob walked upstairs for he was going to remove his workman’s cloths and don his warrior suit for his lesson tonight. His room was shared with Caleb, who for all his help in the field could not seem to pick up anything in the house, so his side of the room was a wreck.

While Jacob was putting on his silvery armor he was listening to his brother and mother talking.
Jacob always loved his armor. It was custom made for him by a blacksmith. He’d never learned exactly why the blacksmith had done it, but on his market day Jacob used to ride down into town, and he always liked stopping by the blacksmith and seeing him work. Eventually the blacksmith asked him why he hung around, and Jacob said because he wanted armor. He was young at the time so He didn’t think about how silly that sounded. The Blacksmith laughed and then asked Jacob what he should start with. Jacob had replied “a shield,” and so the blacksmith the next time Jacob arrived at his shop gave Jacob a shield. It was a small shield in reality. It was a sword fighter’s shield, but at the time it was huge for Jacob. Later Jacob stopped by and was given arm plates, and so it continued as Jacob received his helmet, his chest plate, leg plates, and one thing Jacob had never expected his leather under-armor. All of it too large for Jacob, but all of it Jacob had later grown into.

Now Jacob stood in his armor, it was light and easy to move in. The blacksmith he learned made light armors out of stronger metals. He could walk in it almost as easy as his work cloths. He shield was even smaller than most sword fighters shields, because he needed that hand free the grab other weapons.

He went to his dresser and pulled a drawer open. His brother did not know where kept them, but Jacob had locked the second drawer down, and made it to where you had to reach around the top drawer to access. Inside were a bunch of small round objects called deathfruits. They contained a large about of fire powder, and had small metal pellets inside. Jacob had those, and the dummies. Dummies were like traditional deathfruits, but without the pellets. That was the kind that martin used for training, so Jacob grabbed three and clipped them to his belt.

On top was a sword. It was a single handed sword. It was around two and a half feet long. It was completely straight, and had no real design to Only this that made it interesting was that it had nothing to distinguish it. Other students had all chosen very fancy and elegant swords, but Jacob had chosen something that looked like it could kill. Jacob slipped the sword into the scabbard. He strapped that to his belt as well.

He jump down to the floor below, and landed with a thud.
“Hey Jacob the food is ready.” His mom said, and then she looked him over. “I see you are ready for tonight.”
“Yes, I am going to run down there after dinner.” Jacob said, and readjusted his sword.
“Alright, I and Caleb will put the chickens away later then.” She replied.
“Thank you.” Jacob said “I am already going to be late as it is.”
“Then eat!” His mom motioned to the table

The meal was as good as it had smelled, and the pie had been even better. Jacob was getting prepared to go down when he saw that his Mom and Caleb were going down to the chicken pen to feed them and get them back in their cages. He watched them for a minute before setting out down the dirt road. It was an old chicken hut like everything they owned, but it did its job.

The road leading up to their home was trampled grass and dirt. It was a very ugly road, but it was the only way to get to the stables. The thing Jacob hated was that unlike most farmers they’d chosen to live outside the city. This meant they saved money traveling out of the city every day to work, but it also meant that the stables were a distance away. Luckily there was an old stable that farmers kept for there work horses, and this meant that Jacob didn’t have to go all the way to town.

Jacob reached the stable which a man was guarding. He was little old, and Jacob knew the man was no match for him, but he clearly was taking his post seriously. This was good if he was going to protect that stable from horse thieves.
“What happened to Jake Jones?” Jacob asked.
“He is taking the day off, so I am working his shift, the pay is good you know.” He said. “My name is Frank Hensley.”
“Glad to meet you, my name is Jacob.” Jacob said holding out an armored palm. The man reached out his hand and clapped it down on Jacob’s hand, and held it firmly before letting go. “Good to meet you too.” He said. “I guess you have come here for your horse, and may I ask what horse you own?”
“I own Surefoot.” Jacob said.
“Ah, one of the half-breeds.” Frank replied.
“You know about him?” Jacob asked.
“Yes, gave me fits while feeding him, and not much better when it came to his water” Frank growled.
“That is him.” Jacob said while the man was unlocking the gate to the stable. Inside it smelled horrible to Jacob. Unlike others he knew Jacob never liked the smell of a horse. It was a dirty smell that one had to get used to. He walked past several horses of all sizes and markings. The man led him to two horses, his mother’s horse Swift, and to the right Surefoot. Surefoot was a larger horse like the southern breeds, but his build and his shaping made him look like a northern horse. He was all white except for a large black patch around his eye. The man prepped the horse to be ridden, and Jacob glanced over at Swift. Swift was getting old, and wasn’t as fast as other younger northern breeds.

The horse was ready and Jacob mounted him, and then they clapped their hands again, and he rode out of the stable. Surefoot for being large was one of the fastest horses he had ever seen. He let Surefoot run as though they were being chased. Jacob never liked going that fast, but his horse did. After a few minutes the horse settled down and they both relaxed.

The sun was setting and it would soon be nightfall on their land. Jacob saw the rolling brown fields, and took in the view. The sky shown a brilliant orange as the sun set on the flat lands of Melendy. Up in North Melendy in the region of Nikrook he and his mom watched the sun set over the mountains, but now he lived in the region of Lookook, and it was flat. He heard that Nikrook was the only region like it, and that all the rest of Melendy was flat, but he still longed to see those mountains again.

It was night as Jacob entered the village filled with small huts. Everything at first seem as Jacob always knew, but something had changed. He could see lights in the middle of the city. It was off of his path, but he headed there anyway. As he approached the light He could here sounds of music, and laughter. When he arrived he realized what he was hearing and seeing.

Before him was the yearly festival of freedom. Jacob never quite understood it. It had to do with the battle that freed Melendy. Jacob just never knew why it was a three day event. His mom never attended it, but they all celebrated it at home. He had forgotten it was almost that time of year. He let his eyes adjust to the bright light, and then moved forward.

As he rode in he saw several events happening. The thing he saw first were two men on a platform fighting with sword dripping and sparking fire. He knew he was supposed to be impressed, but he found himself snickering at the poor job on the two famous fire swords. He looked at them for a fleeting moment, and then turned his attention to the fireworks display. It was impressive he thought how that could achieve all of those colors. He noticed that some people were startled by his armor. He nodded at them, and rode on to the large dance in the center of the village.

He arrived at the dance, and looked at the thirteen pillars with fire at the top of them. The pillar stood in a huge circle in the middle of the city square. The dancers were mostly clothed in skin tight blue or red clothes, but some were wearing street cloths. The performance was impressive by some, but others who joined the dance were clumsy. He noticed on each of the thirteen pillars were a man trying to keep the fires lit. The band on the far side was playing a well known battle song.

All of it was great, but not what Jacob rode into town for.

Jacob rode out of the festivities, and into a darker corner of the village. The street could only easily be accessed by alleys as the street ended way off to the south which was the only way to enter it. Jacob rode into the alley and came out on the poorly lit street. The houses were all old, and most were abandoned, but Jacob was going further. He came out to a road leaving town, and took it. It was the road that led him to the training grounds.

It had been a week since his last session. Longest period of waiting Jacob had ever had. Jacob had been training for the past few years, and had gotten quite skilled. The thing he dreamed of was to become one of the Nithcur. A Nithcur was an elite soldier that was highest rank of warrior in the military. Nithcurs were both master fighters, and great strategists. They usually held rights to lead armies off to battle, and were well paid by the King, or Council.

Thinking of that reminded Jacob that there was no king anymore. He had heard it from several men, but When Jacob was an infant the King was said to either have been killed by Devioun, or driven away by him. No one but the Council knew exactly what happened.

Jacob looked up at the shadows that lay ahead. Off on a hill stood a dark ruin; it was part of an old castle, and all that remained was the tower, and a smaller stone building connected to it. He breathed deeply as he approached the building. He arrived at an iron gate which always stood open. Martin had always said “If the gate were closed it would not stop an intruder, but would stop any help.” He rode his horse in and noticed that none of the lamps were lit. Jacob found this unusual, so he checked the area with caution.

Something was wrong, he could feel it. Everything was neatly put away; arrows taken off the board and put away. Not once had Jacob come to these grounds to find things put away. He rode his horse into the personal stable of Martin. He then noticed everything was neat and tidy in there as well. Jacob got off his horse quickly and ran toward the door.

Felicia put out the dying fire. She pulled her brown hair off her shoulders, and put a few more dishes back in the cabinets. She was in her mid twenties, and looked younger. The place was filthy from the dirt that came off the streets. Not that the place was that clean anyway. There was only so much one could do with dirt floors.

She set down her rag and looked at the chair. Her eight year old son, Jacob, lay draped in it. He had blond hair, and was blue eyed. His long hand clutched the blanket the blanket that was keeping him warm. He was not quite asleep, but he was close enough to be in an uncomfortable position. She touched his shoulder, and told him to go to his bed. He nodded, and went without protest. She watched as he drug his feet off to his bed.

Felicia dumped her water bucket out the door. The dirt street had at least twenty houses just on their side of the street. She felt privileged to own the home. She pulled the window garden inside to protect it from thieves.

She looked over the house, and realized here was nothing more she could do. This revelation made her relax. She walked into her room and changed into her nightgown. It was worn thin, but she loved it regardless. She heard a noise out side her bedroom, so she decided to go outside to see what it was. After exiting the bedroom it did not take her any time to realize who made the noise.

Jacob was standing on a chair holding a wooden sword when she entered his room. He leaped into bed upon seeing her. He hid under the covers when she approached. She reached down and tickled his ribs, and he giggled his way out from under the covers.
“What are you doing up?” She asked him.
“I was a warrior.” Jacob replied.
“Oh you were? Did you slay any gombrahs?” She asked.
“What are gombrahs?” Jacob asked with confusion. Felicia shook her head. “Maybe some other time.” She said. He pouted, but did not protest. She stood up and walked away.
“Can’t you tell me a story?” Jacob asked. She looked at him, and sighed.
“Sure.” She said. “What do you want?” She asked.
“I want a story about Sulfire.” He said.
She knelt against his bed. “Sulfire? Why there?” She asked with surprise.
“Because James told me it is ruled by a dragon.” Jacob said. Felicia laughed.
“No silly. It is ruled by The Dragon, he is a terrible man named Devioun.” She said.
“James said it was a guy who turned himself into a dragon.” Jacob said.
“No, James was wrong.” Felicia said. Jacob sat there thinking about this new knowledge.

Felicia sat down and thought about what to say. She then thought of a story Jacob might like.
“How about the story of Allan Nithcur?” Felicia said. Jacob nodded. “Well then, a long long time ago…”
“How long ago?” Jacob asked.
“What do you mean?” She suddenly asked with surprise.
“Was Dr. McCarthy around? He is really old.” Jacob said. Felicia stuttered, and then regained her composure.
“No silly, we are talking dozens of ages ago.” Felicia said.
“What is and age?” Jacob asked.
“An age is forty years.” His mom replied.
“Well then were his parents around? I bet they were 20 ages old.” Jacob said.
“No one lives that long.” Felicia said.
“James said the dragon did.” Jacob argued.
“Devioun is special.” Felicia said. “I guess I will go if you do not want to hear the story.”
“No! Please finish it.” Jacob pleaded. Felicia smiled and continued.
“Well over 40 ages ago, a man named Allan Nithcur owned a farm.” Felicia said.
“What did he grow?” Jacob asked.
“Will you quit interrupting?” Felicia asked him with annoyance. Jacob sat back and shut up.
“Ok, now Allan had owned a farm here in Melendy. He was told by Sulfirian soldiers he had to leave the farm. He fought them for the farm and won. The General of the Sulfirians was furious though, so he sent more troops. By this time his neighbors ran to help him, and they fought off the soldiers.” Felicia said. James snuggled into his bed to listen.
“That was when all his neighbors gathered together, and with him leading the army, went and took down all of the Sulfirians and drove them out of the city for good.” She said.
“Did Allen dance afterward?” Jacob asked, and Felicia stared at him.
“No, they decided it was time to move on. They wanted to free the other cities too.” She said.
“Oh, so they killed all the Sulfirians in Melendy.” Jacob said.
“You can say that yes.” Felicia agreed. “Then they celebrated for ten days when the Sulfirians were driven out.”
“I wish I had driven them out.” Jacob said.
“Oh it got worse.” Felicia said.
“It did?” Jacob asked with surprise, and tipped hid head over the side of the bed, so that he was looking at her upside down.
“Oh yes, much much worse. Devioun heard about these cities being taken away, and so he sent an army out to fight us.” She said.
“Was the battle really big?” Jacob asked.
“Very much so, Devioun sent his biggest army, and worse he came himself.” She said. “The army was so huge that it was impossible to see where it ended.” She said. Jacob sat there contemplating just how big that was. His eyes were really wide.
“Devioun would have won if Allan hadn’t cheated.” She said.
“He cheated?” Jacob asked in surprise.
“Oh yes. It was considered a terrible cheat.” She said. “He covered the fields all in fire powder.”
Jacob’s eyes were huge.
“When the army arrived, Nithcur had the sky filled with flaming arrows, and they blew up the entire field. After that the armies charged, and Devioun’s was weakened badly. Worse, his troops had to run around the flaming tar and woodchips.” Felicia said.
“I bet they won really easy then.” Jacob said. Felicia shook her head.
“No, quite the opposite, they nearly lost. Devioun started swinging his terrible sword called ash, and it burned up anyone whom it touched.” She said.
Jacob was just staring at that point. Felicia smiled.
“Nithcur took out his mighty sword. Unlike the red sword Devioun carried, it was smothered in blue flames, and was called Stonespark.” She said. “Nithcur started mowing down droves of enemies, and after a while they quit attacking him, and instead just ran by him and attacked other men. He made his way to Devioun.”
Jacob started squirming.
“The two fought very hard, but in a few minutes Nithcur overtook Devioun, and he acted like a coward and ran away.” Felicia said. Jacob giggled. “And that was when the armies of Devioun retreated back to Sulfire.”
Jacob gave her a hug. “Good night.” He said.
“You get some sleep, or you will be so tired that you can’t do anything tomorrow.” She said, and returned the hug.
“I will beat up and kill Devioun when I grow up, I will become just like Nithcur.” Jacob said.
“You are going to become a Nithcur?” She asked with a smile.
“Yes!” Jacob said.
“They are elite warriors.” She said.
“I know. I will become the best one ever.” He said. Felicia smiled.
She left him to his thoughts. She saw that she had left the curtains open, and went to them. She walked to the window and looked out to the sky.
“If only you knew.” She said, and drew them shut.





Northpoint village was quiet as Jacob sat on the dirt road with his friend James sitting next to him. He was a year older, and had much darker hair. They were waiting for dinner, and Jacob’s mom had cast them both out of the small house so she could work.

“Want to go see farmer Ben’s new chickens?” James asked.
“Nope.” Jacob replied.
“I heard that he got white chickens.” James said.
“That is nonsense; all chickens are brown.” Jacob replied.
James started picking up small rocks out of the ground, and threw them out at the other huts across the pathway. Another boy ran by their house, and stepped in Jacobs circles. Jacob who was furious went back to work making them again, but James got up.
“I am going to go see farmer Ben’s chickens.” He said.
“Okay.” Jacob said brushing some dirt off of his clothes.

They both got up and started running down the old dirt road. They were towards the middle of town, so it was going to take them a few minutes to get to farmer Ben’s field; his field was out beyond the old bridge. They came up to a bend that lead them through the town market. James took the lead and started running down towards the market.

The market was different from the rest of the town. When you arrived at the market you would see that there were bricks instead of dirt to walk on, and everything and everyone got louder. People having conversations would be walking from stand to stand, mothers would be carrying sacks of vegetables while dragging their screaming kids, but nothing was as loud as the stall-keepers.

Stall-keepers often were yelling as loud as they could to get potential customers. Every stand was competing against another, and every stand seemed to have the loudest person yelling for them. They kept displays up all the time, and were always sweeping the space around their stalls, so they had clean and tidy spaces, but the middle of the walkway was covered in patches and blotches of dirt and mud.

James ran slightly ahead of Jacob. They ran by people wheeling carts full of vegetables, and furs. James jumped and hopped on crates as they tore through the market. They turned down a smaller street to avoid the main street hustle. Jacob then took the lead and ran between houses with clothes hanging between them, and out into an open field. They ran through the field till they could see the brook.

The brook had long been said to be the deepest in the land. Some had drowned because they thought that just because it was narrow that it was shallow. James and Jacob walked around to the bridge, and crossed there. The roads lead them all the way to the farm of farmer Ben.

Farmer Ben was considered a crazy man, and most children stayed away from him. The farmhouse was a small and old place. The wood was so old that it was starting to rot in areas. The fence the surrounded the old place was equally old, and truly unfit to contain the sheep. Jacob could see the chicken coop from where they were, but it was empty.
“I do not see any chickens.” Jacob said disappointedly.
“Dennis said they were here.” said James.
“I do not see them though.” Jacob said.
Jacob ran toward the other edge of the farm, but before the he reached the edge he heard the city’s horn.






Felicia walked down to the market to buy some potatoes. She was almost relived when she saw the two boys had run off. Not that she wanted to be rid of them, but Jacob was always trying to help, and had a tendency to get in her way. She usually sent him out while she was prepping a meal. She was also glad to see he had made friends with the neighbor’s kid. She always worried about his tendencies to be a hermit.

She was preparing a potato soup, but she had run out of potatoes, and that was why she had to go get some. She loved going down to the market, and was usually glad to have an excuse to go down there. Many women had never paid much attention to her because she was an outsider. She never quite fit in to the lifestyle they lived, but she did try her best. She and Jacob had moved to this small village only two years before, but she and Jacob had become friends with their next door neighbors, so in some way it had somehow balanced.

Their neighbors at least had been kind to them from the beginning. They had been the ones to help them get the house they had needed. Felicia was poor compared to her old lifestyle when she first moved to Northpoint, and most of the rental homes had been taken, so her only choice was to buy one outright. She had only half the money needed, so in exchange for some labor help their neighbors agreed to help the buy the next door home. As it turned out the whole line of work had turned out to be something that she knew about, carpentry. Her father had been a carpenter, and before she had married she used to watch him during any free time she got. Her father had even shown her a couple of time how to saw wood and to use a sanded paper to scrape the splinters free. They helped her through all of this, and while others were cold to her, she knew she could depend on them.

She had finally reached the market. When she had moved here she was still recovering from the loss of her husband William. William had gone off into the war against Sulfire, but it was not two months after he’d left her that they brought back his sword saying he’d been killed in a hail of boulders.

“Hello, my lady!” She heard a man call to her. He was trying to sell furs. She sometimes liked looking at such things, but she needed to go get potatoes not furs. She headed down to a vegetable stand and started looking at the potatoes. The stall-keeper was talking to everyone but her. She ignored his rudeness and grabbed ten large potatoes. Suddenly he did notice her.

“Hello, how may I help you, my lady?” He said.
“I would like to buy these potatoes.” She said.
“Just a second here and we’ll see.” He replied.
He grabbed the sack of potatoes from her hand and set them on a scale. He brought them back.
“Five gold coins.” The man said, and she paid him. She took the potatoes and started heading back to her house.

She got near her house and saw that her neighbors had left. She set the potatoes on the counter and grabbed a large iron pot out of the corner. She grabbed a rod and used it to put the pot on a hook above the fire. She had added the water and seasonings earlier, so the pot was almost too heavy. She tossed three potatoes in the pot to boil. He job was almost done; she still had to clean up after the mess she had made earlier.

She heard the city’s horn blast. She dropped everything she had and ran outside. She saw men already scrambling. The horn blasted again.
“Jacob!” She said hoarsely.



The horn was unbelievably loud. Jacob and James charged from the farm back towards the market. Jacob looked around and saw red covered men gathering in the distance near the surrounding woods.
“What is going on!?” Jacob yelled.
“Attackers!” James said. Jacob decided that the horn was about the men gathering then.

The scrambled across the field, and Jacob could hear a bunch of smaller horns being blasted by the red armored people. He ran into the alley and out into the street.

Jacob ran through the panicked streets. James took a turn, and Jacob couldn’t see him. He suddenly realized he was separated from James, and was trying to find him. He was lost in the market, and was nearly run over by stall-keepers who had packed up and were trying to get out. There were spooked horses and other large beasts running through the streets unguarded.
“James!” His yell was drowned out. He hopped onto a crate and yelled again. People were yelling and screaming. He tried to get out of the way of another cart, but his shirt caught on a corner, and tore. He ran quickly for another safe spot.

Suddenly soldiers with their swords drawn ran through the streets. They were in leather armor with light blue metal plating, and each carrying a metal shield with the eight point star of Melendy.

The soldiers were running towards something, but Jacob was just trying not to get trampled. He ran down another street only to see the cavalry heading his way, so ducked back out. He was trying to get home, and still looking for James. He was scared, but he kept trying anyway.

Finally he spotted James, but they were on opposite side of the street. James spotted him through the madness as well.

They both could not get to each other.





Felicia spotted her son trying to get to the other side of the street. She ran through the crazed crowd trying to get to their individual homes. She pushed through stands that had been abandoned in an attempt to escape. Her son spotted her, and ran toward her. Just before they reached each other a policeman riding on a horse rode between them, but after that they embraced each other.

“What is going on?” He yelled in her ear. Despite being loud she could barely tell what he’d said.
“We will be safe.” She assured him, but wasn’t so sure herself.
The policemen were out directing people to their homes. Felicia was trying to find her way. Normally she could figure out how to get somewhere, but with everything and everyone in a state of terror she was a bit turned around.

“Hey!” she yelled at an officer. He stopped and turned to her.
“I need to find the stable; can you help me?” She yelled.
“Ma’am please we advise you to head home.” He replied
“I have a horse, a fast horse; please point me to the stable.” She pleaded.
He started to argue, but then he pointed of toward the heart of the chaos. “Better hurry that side of town is pretty much destroyed Ma’am.” She barely caught that last part as she was tearing through the streets with her son. He was weaving better than she was so they only held hands.

They were running down a street when the started hearing rumbles. At first she could not figure out where it was coming from, but then a giant fireball flew overhead and landed off to her left somewhere rumbling as it hit the ground. The city was being bombarded, and she was still with Jacob trying to get to the stables.

They got to a clearing, and what they saw wasn’t pretty. It appeared that the enemy was attacking the city plaza. Jacob pointed, and she almost cried in relief, the stables were still standing. She however noted that the gate keeper was no longer there. She and Jacob ran to the gate, with a little caution she lifted and dropped Jacob over the tall gate, and he promptly opened it for her. She ran in and saw all the horses bucking and kicking, but she was looking for her horse.

She found her horse which was strangely calm compared to the others, but she still seemed anxious. The horse was a perfect white, and was a small horse. Her name was Swift. Felicia’s husband had bought the horse long ago, but it had taken a long time to tame her. She was a wild horse of the north, and as such she had roamed the plains. Northern horses were highly sought after.

She entered, and Swift nearly raised onto her hind legs before Felicia calmed her.
After reassuring her everything was fine she put the blanket on and then the saddle. After fastening the saddle she proceeded to put on the bridle. A small chunk of rock tore the roof open. Jacob screamed, and clung to her leg.

She put Jacob up first, and then rose upon the horse herself with Jacob behind her. After unfastening the horse she made a noise in her ear and they rode the horse out. The city was still being bombarded, but now there was little left, rocky mud homes had been demolished by the flaming boulders, and the hay roofs had been burned down.

In one direction she saw the Melendian army fighting the soldiers in black and red. She gasped at how few there were left. The black and red army she knew very well. It was the Sulfirians, and they were already riding the red banner in. She quickly turned the horse around, and took off in the other direction. There was little left of the Melendians anywhere; only a house or two stood standing. The site horrified her, and yet didn’t surprise her either. The Sulfirian’s king, Lord Devioun, had burned down cities before, so there was little to be surprised about.

She rode down from the village hill to a little bridge, and quickly crossed it. She saw that the fields ahead were not clear, but filled with siege weapons and cavalry of Sulfire. She knew there was little she could do, but either wait them out, or charge them and hope she made it through alive.

She charged at them.

Her horse ran over the rolling field, but for her speed Felicia wondered how she was going to slip out of the wall of horses ahead. The catapults still launching their flaming boulders above her head; she rode down at the wall, and that was when the charged at her. She turned her horse to the right, and some of the men jumped out of line; exactly what she wanted. She turned around and some of the men went around her, and turned around in pursuit. She took a sharp right again and found herself out of the ring of soldiers. She charged her horse toward the war machines.

She thought she was in the home stretch until she saw a man standing in front of her. He was not any man though; he was Lord Devioun. She stopped her horse, but the other men were not pursuing anymore. She was in a trap.

“Enough men!" She is mine!” He yelled. She was close enough to see his young face. He looked no older than 18, but anyone who knew anything about him knew he was very much older. His long fine blond hair was lashing around in the wind, and he had terribly dark eyes. His armor was a simple and rounded in shape, but not many gaps in it, and it was painted in black with red design much like the rest of his army.
“Do you surrender?” He yelled.
“Never!” She roared back, but she did not waist time she charged her horse forward, and tried to go way around. He then pulled out a sword; A red glowing sword. He held it high above his head, and then he stuck the ground beneath him.

At first nothing happened, but then she realized the earth beneath her was rumbling. She urged her now extremely frightened horse, but her horse reared and tried to buck her off. Devioun drew his sword out, and from the hole left the earth started cracking everywhere. She saw the land quaking and shaking beneath them, and the land tore it is self apart before her very eyes. She urged her horse once more, and this time the horse bolted forward so quickly that she nearly fell off. The horse in its terrified state jumped over loose rocks, and dodged the ever changing landscape. Jacob clung to her back tighter than ever. Felicia reached her arm around to hold Jacob, and pulled him around in front of her. The rumbling was quieting, but she now heard arrows whizzing by her head as she now was headed for the forest, but worse she turned to see Devon’s War dogs perusing them. They were small grey and white beasts, but they were as fast as any horse and as ferocious as lions.

She was nearing the forest, but the dogs were gaining on them. She looked for anything on her saddle that she could hit them with, but could not find anything. Finally she reached the forest edge, but the dogs did not break pursuit. What did happen though was she realized they were going to get out of there. She knew these lands, and so she carefully guided the horse down to lower ground. The dogs were still pursuing, but they had lost ground. She headed lower still down near the river.

As she neared the waters edge she looked for the perfect place to cross. Suddenly the dogs popped out of the trees very close, so she just pulled her horse out into the water. The horse resisted for a second, but then charged into the water and made her way for the other side. It was not a difficult task for them, but the water was rushing fast enough that the dogs were being carried away. She got out on the other side with her ankles damp, but she saw the dogs break pursuit and run back to their master. Jacob was still safely in front. She turned the horse, and headed south.