A dream appeared before Astor. A young man was standing on a hill overlooking a battlefield laden with bodies. Off in the distance, Astor saw the crooked bank of a river. The young man’s bright blonde hair stood out sharply against the baby blue sky. In one hand held a deep blue sword and in the other hand, held a ring embroidered with a red gem. A small, bird-like shadow landed on the tree next to him.

“Make peace, lest we die young and wither to the islands of Avalon. The kingmaker; seek out and find your true name.,” the bird said to him.

The red glow from the ring grew stronger, blinding Astor. Astor strained to the dark figure of a huge beast with wings, flying mencaingly towards the man on the hill before the vision faded.

Astor woke up and found himself staring at the ceiling of his tent. Yawning, he stood from his bedroll to stretch his stiff muscles. Then, he proceeded to pack his belongings into a large sack. Astor could tell by looking through the opening in his tent that the day was still very early. After putting on his purple hood, he made his way outside to that the lingering traces of the night sky still looming over the horizon

Astor prepared for his departure. He never wanted to be praised as a hero. He kept up the facade as a common mercenary to remain anonymous. The young knight, William, probably wanted to recruit him into a knight's guard or something. Astor snuck out of the camp and made his way down the dusty path, walking freely past the multitudes of people stirring from their slumber.

As Astor's pace picked up, his heart began to race. The chance to see his family after all these years was putting an extra spring in his steps. He had heard rumors that his older brother had gotten married after he left to serve under his uncle. He wondered how their lives progressed while he was gone. The sun was warmed to a lazy shine. After a few hours of walking without interruption, he heard as the surrounding noise slowly died down. He slowed his pace and focused his senses. When he heard a crackle in the forest and an unnatural bird call, Astor began to trot forward leisurely. Out from the forest, five people appeared and stepped out to block his path. He also could hear some footsteps behind him. “Fork over your things pretty boy……HEY!” Astor didn’t stop. he watched as the bowman in front of him began to draw his bow. Dashing forward, he began closing the gap between them almost instantly. Astor looked at the face of the bowman. A gaunt, skinny looking man with hesitation in his eyes. Astor guessed when we would loose and arrow and dove quickly to one side. He heard the arrow whiz by him and quickly ran past the poorly-made line of defense. He looked behind him to see more arrows flying towards his direction. Wow..., what terrible shots, Astor lamented. The two arrows didn’t even land close to him. The shots only struck the ground he was on a few moments ago. They didn’t even try to predict the path of their own arrows. Astor was really lucky to have met such inept bandits this time.

The bandits soon went out of sight and Astor continued down the road at an exhausting speed. Plucking out a piece of his hair while resting in the shade, Astor was relieved to find it chocolate brown. The side-effect of the gem seemed to have worn off during the night. Panting with mild strain, Astor walked to the nearest inn. The city was also another Faldrick port city. Entering through its doors, Astor could smell the salt and grime of fresh fish. He walked to the counter and awaited service. “Please sirs, allow me to compensate for her mistake by giving you free lounging with your meals,” An old man said behind Astor. “We’ll take you up on that offer, along with some special services complements from this gal,” a gruff voice called out. Astor heard an eruption of chuckles behind him. Glancing back, he saw four Mayland soldiers harassing a younger waitress and someone who seemed to be the owner of this inn. Muttering to himself, Astor called to another waitress who had a concerned look on her face from staring at the scene. “Excuse me, one slab of salted ham with bread and cider please.” “Huh?.......Oh, right away sir,” the woman said, breaking from her daze. Now… how was he going to defuse the situation behind him? Astor glanced at the expressions of each man. They didn’t look like they could be reasoned with. Astor contemplated for a moment. These types of soldiers Astor knew too well. They were the ones that took full advantage of their lowly statuses while putting the bare minimal effort towards the war front. Astor felt a familiar feeling of hatred rise from within him. As he was about to stir into action, a plate of food was placed in front of him. “How much?” Astor asked. “Uh… that will be seven pence,” the girl said, glancing at the scene behind him. Pulling out his pouch of coin, Astor relinquished seven metal copper coins to the girl. “Who ever heard of payin ten coins for a chicken!” one of the harassers yelled out. Sighing at his depleting funds, he quickly gobbled up his food before standing from his table. Approaching the four men, Astor saw that the biggest one had his arms wrapped around the girl, stroking and grasping at her chests and groin. Another one noticed his presence and called out to him. “What do you want?” he questioned cockily. “You four seem to have some energy to spare. Care for a friendly bout?” Astor said unamusingly. “Who the fuck do you……” Astor didn’t let him finish. Stepping forward, Astor sunk his boot deep into the face of the nearest man sitting down. “YOU’RE FUCKING DEAD,” one of them yelled while they all pulled out their weapons save the man who Astor had kicked. As the soldiers motioned towards him, Astor watched as the girl was shoved away. Turning his back to the soldier, Astor ran out the door, while nearly running into a nearby passerby. “Excuse me,” Astor commented while moving past. Astor slowed his pace down to allow the slow trio to pursue him. Dashing his way to a nearly deserted alleyway. He stopped and watched as the pack approached him. “You’ll pay for hitting us soldiers,” One of them threatened. “That'll makes us both,” Astor replied. Unveiling his sword, he watched carefully as they slowly encroached upon him. The one in front had a sword while the others two had a makeshift of a hatchet and a spear. He noticed that he was probably not from a noble family by the way he his sword, but hired mercenaries. Focusing his efforts on the enemy in front, he swung at the soldier. Astor was pleasantly surprised as the soldier stepped back reacting to Astor swing by calmly raising his sword to receive the blow. Astor stopped his momentum quickly before jumping backward, then, he lunged forward again with blinding speed. Their swords clashed evenly at the middle. Astor heavy blow stunned the soldier allowing Astor to bring his sword up above him with his strong back muscles into a raised stance, sliding back to seize the movement of his opponent’s blade from by its tip, Astor then slid forward after twisting the handle of his guard against his opponent’s blade. Astor thrust his blade into his first victim, feeling his sword pierce into the neck of the first enemy. Astor watched as the body fell limp onto the pavement. The exhange ended almost immediately. His first opponent had probably tried to back up and block the tip of Astor’s blade with his blade near the guard. He assumed his opponent was also trying to take control of his sword too instead of resorting to a battle of strengths. After seeing Astor’s movements, however, he probably thought it was a better option just to overpower Astor instead. That option hadn't worked out well for him. He observed the faces of the other soldiers as it switched to fear. Astor fixed his stance as the next opponent charged towards him while yelling ferociously. He glared at his charging opponent and saw fear reflected in the man's eyes. Backing up as the soldier thrusted towards him with a spear, Astor pushed past the tip with the close edge of his blade. He motioned his pommel from the left to the right in an arching half circle (crossing his arms), pushing up and under the shaft of the weapon. Sliding forward with the weapon locked against his guard, Astor allowed some of the momentum from the previous unrestrained attack to slash through the soldier's own throat. Watching the body crumble while stepping to the right, he eyed the last remaining soldier. He saw the soldier attempt to run, but from around the corner, the straggling soldier Astor had kicked earlier ran into him. “Don’t kill that son of a bitch yet. I wanna see him beg as he...” *Wham!* The two collided into each other at great force. “HEY! Where are you go...." Astor didn’t let him finish as he shoved his sword into the man's throat as the other tried to run away frantically. Astor picked up the sword from the first corpses and hurled it with towards the man. Astor was surprised as the blade glided through part of the man's left leg. He walked up to the man lying on the floor and readied for a stab before hearing a desperate voice cry out. “PLEASE, WAIT!” Astor stopped his blade short a few inches from the soldier's neck. “Please, Spare me!” Astor stared at the man's face. “Only if you promise you'll never harass another innocent citizen,” Astor replied. “I promise, just please don't kill me!” the soldier begged while raising his hands up in submission. He examined the man more carefully. Looking for any signs of remorse from the man. “Alright, a promise’s a promise,” Astor said before quickly thrusting his sword into the neck of the unexpecting soldier. He hadn't genuinely meant it, Astor thought. He would have been satisfied by only slicing off a finger or two as punishment. After wiping off the blood on his sword, Astor slowly walked back towards the other corpses before hearing a terror-filled scream from behind. Astor wondered if he had enough time take the sword with him. Thinking against it, he trotted away to merged with the mass of commerce. Just as those soldiers would easily get away with their crimes, he would get away with their murder effortlessly. Astor continued with the crowd before casually turning the corner into a gem shop.