《Flames of Dawn》Chapter I: The Angel of Death
Advertisement
Act I
The Dark Dawn
"That's a mean mark you have there. Don't worry, though. It didn't penetrate your skin. With some rest, it should heal pretty quickly. Others seemed to be less fortunate than you."
The healer softly dipped a damp cloth on the girl's skin where the whip mark was while she was sitting straight on her bed. A strong herbal scent filled the room, along with cries of pain of other people. The girl nodded, sometimes retracting her body from the healer's hand when it hurt, inhaling sharply.
"What's your name?" the healer smiled warmly. She wore a simple cloth robe with a hood that rested half on her head, with beautiful black curls showing.
"Kiera," the girl replied, observing the healer's movements.
"Oh, that's a gorgeous name. My name is Ayska." the healer smiled. Judging by the darker color of her skin and her name, she must've been Volarian. She then noticed Kiera's trembling hands. With a soft touch, she grabbed one of them in both her hands and kept it steady.
"Don't worry; you're safe here. The entire city is under control of commander Marlock. He's planning to expand even further."
"My family, they're still in Etheon. You have to go save them, please." Kiera's eyes began watering up and turning red. She started talking faster and faster, "They will kill them, especially my brother, he will never be a slave, he will-"
Ayska muted Kiera by hushing and holding a finger across her lips. It was only then she noticed that Kiera had a small old scar across her mouth. She decided to ignore it.
"I will inform commander Marlock of this and we will get your family out of there, okay? But for now, you need to rest. Even the infirmary is guarded, nobody can touch you here."
Somehow, Ayska's warm and comforting words calmed Kiera down. She still wasn't fully convinced that she was safe, though. She just wanted to go home.
"I will apply some salve from the Yogiil plant. It will ease the pain and moisten the skin to make it heal faster." Ayska said, taking a small wooden bowl with a transparent substance, dipping her finger into it before softly rubbing it out on the bruise. She felt a strange feeling of relief, as the pain quickly faded away. It felt cold and refreshing.
"Woah, that..really works." Kiera smiled softly.
"Of course, it's supposed to!" Ayska giggled, wrapping a clean cloth around Kiera's hip, "There. All good! All you have to do is rest, and it should be healed very quickly. If you need something, there's always going to be a healer around."
Advertisement
Ayska wanted to leave, but Kiera raised her voice. "Wait."
With a questioning gaze, Ayska turned around.
"Thank you," Kiera muttered. Ayska replied with a simple smile and nod before tending to other wounded.
Since it was already getting dark, and she had a long sleepless journey in that slaver ship, Kiera went to sleep.
Night fell upon windy islands. Where once seagulls squawked, crickets chirped. A chirping, that was barely audible due to the loud singing of drunken pirates. Six big galleons anchored around the island, and torches gave the shores an orange tint. There was one place on the island where it was quiet though. An eerie silence loomed around inside a wooden shack. Pirates filled the room, all aiming their heads to one person sitting behind a desk, listening to a story like admiring children.
"So you're asking me if this captain can promise you prizes, plunder, adventure..and freedom?" the mysterious man's voice sounded rather raspy and deep. As he wore his black tricorn hat, the light of the lantern on the ceiling shaded his entire face.
"Aye. He's rather new to this pirate life, but he picked up on this game faster than any lad ever did. He's amongst the most clever. There was a time when I thought of me'self the deadliest scourge of these seas." with a soft chuckle, he continued...
A hurricane raged over the middle of the Sleeping Sea. The waves were almost reaching the top of the masts, but that didn't stop the little brig ship to defend herself against a massive Valquen galleon, carrying black sails of a gryphon spreading its wings. Their sails fluttered with the devastating winds.
"Batten down the hatches!" The captain of the small brig screamed. His voice barely caught any wind to his crew because of the storm. Luckily he still had his quartermaster, who carried his voice to the rest of the crew. One by one, the hatched opened, and the cannons were pushed through. Sailors engaged themselves with keeping the ship in one piece, while others tended to the cannons, loading in cannonballs and lining them up, ready to fire.
The captain's quartermaster returned, panting heavily.
"Captain, they're going to crush us, we have to lose 'em in this storm! We are faster than them!"
"There's no time! This ship will never survive the rest of this hurricane!"
The captain's quartermaster replied with widened eyes. "What?"
"We either take their ship or turn into food for the sha-" his sentence was interrupted by a rain of cannonballs flying overhead and digging into the ship, making them duck instinctively.
Advertisement
"We're making water, captain!" it sounded in the distance.
"It doesn't matter lads, we're ramming her straight into them!" the captain answered his crew's worries, again, his voice barely cut through the air.
"Brace!" the quartermaster screamed. With all of his might, the captain turned the wheel and made the bow face straight towards the galleon.
"Release the traveling sails; we need full speed!"
"Aye captain! Release the traveling sails!" the quartermaster yelled. With all sails catching the raging winds, the little brig seemed to be flying over the waves, approaching the galleon with incredible speed. As the ship wasn't controllable anymore, the captain released the wheel and unsheathed his two curved blades. His black hip scarf and long black hair violently fluttered with the wind as he ran towards the forecastle, holding onto a mast pole.
As a flash of lightning lit up the pouring skies, the massive Valquen galleon seemed to be much closer than they thought when it revealed their intimidating silhouette. Unfortunately, too close for comfort. Nobody prepared for the impact as the little ship dug its way into the galleon's hull, snapping planks and throwing them around in the air. Despite holding on, almost everyone lost their balance, except for the captain...
He was nowhere to be seen on the brig anymore. Vanished like a shadow. Instead, the Valquen captain saw his silhouette on the bow of his own ship when another lightning lit up the skies.
"The Angel of Death..." he muttered, "Kill that man!"
Valquen soldiers charged the captain with raised swords and axes. Like a ghost, he cut his way through dozens of them, parrying and countering every attack with the rasps of blades and reaching starboard in almost an instant. When he saw an archer aiming at him, he immediately grabbed a soldier and used him as a human shield before throwing one of his swords straight between the archer's eyes.
Having to tend to other attacks immediately, he slaughtered soldiers on the deck in a brutal fashion.
The Valquen captain couldn't believe his eyes. Another lightning struck, and never before had this captain seen something like this before. It revealed his deck covered in his soldier's dead bodies, only with the captain of the brig standing between them, looking right at him.
With a calm pace, the Angel of Death approached the galleon captain, who fearfully took steps back, a shiver in his voice.
"S-stay back! Devil curse you, you're a monster."
The ship still rocked over the tall waves, but that didn't bring any imbalance to this mysterious brig captain. Another lightning revealed his face for just a split second, a wide scar across his entire mouth and left cheek.
"No, that's where you're wrong. I am Captain Valmir, and this is my ship now."
"...so if his fortune and adventure you seek, then Captain Valmir Valquen is the man you need."
Some sailors looked at each other before the squeaking door of the shack opened. It was him, captain Valmir himself. He wore black leather gear, mixed with red cloth underneath. Tight boots and his hip scarf topped it off as the glow of the torches outside reflected onto his dual curved blades.
"Stop sharing these stories, Harper. We need to get ready to set sail." his voice sounding the complete opposite of this storyteller. Young and warm.
"Are we now? Where are we headin'?"
"Jiron. We received a letter from the rebellion calling themselves the Flames of Dawn. They promise a lot of gold if we help them fight."
Harper grunted and snorted loudly before spitting onto the ground next to him.
"Since when do pirates meddle in political affairs?"
"They don't only promise gold, but land to call our own as well. Away from these tiny cursed islands. They're fighting for freedom. Isn't that what we pirates want?"
Harper slowly stood up and looked at the sailors around him. "Choose your captain, and scurry off to prepare our fleet to set sail."
Valmir stepped aside from the doorway when all the sailors left the shack, and Harper took a few steps towards him.
"This trip better not disappoint me, mate. Think about your reputation. You don't want them to think the 'Angel of Death' is nothing but a royal puppet." he said before leaving Valmir as well. Standing alone, he watched Harper for a short moment as he muttered something to him, which he clearly couldn't hear anymore.
"Reputation is not what drives me for this life, my friend..."
Advertisement
Saving 80,000 Gold in an Another World for Retirement
An 18-year-old girl who lost her family in an accident, Yamano Mitsuha falls off a cliff one day and transferred to a different world with a civilization level of medieval Europe. Mitsuha who discovered it was possible to go and return to Earth after a deadly fight with wolves decided to live in both worlds.「For the sake of security in old age, I will aim for 80,000 gold coins!」I will try not to let strange things circulate and distort the progress of the world, but I won’t hold back for the sake of my easy life and safety! While carrying three handguns along with words and deeds that appear decent, in her head, Yamano Mitsuha is a sly girl.Making an effort to make money even with a small body that looks like a child to foreigners!Oh, my secrets are too dangerous, you said? It’s fine, it’s fine! I’ll transfer away when push comes to shove!
8 292The Runesmith
What happens when a man gets transported into a foreign world filled with magic?Will his knowledge in hardware technology help him out after he discovers its correlation to the words of power?How will he fit in with the other noble houses as the lowly 4th son?How will his story play out in a world where stats and skills equal power and status?Come and find out as we embark on his journey.
8 438VINES
At 6:08 PM, the superhero team known as VINES will die. The building they’re in will explode. How? Why? Who would do such a thing? They wish they knew...
8 145The Crucible - (Terror Infinity Fanfic)
There has always been those that stood out from the crowd. Heroes of old, undefeated warriors and demigods battling beasts of myth. These stories are written off as fiction and folk stories of ignorant people long lost to time. Nothing to prove them true except old family stories but what if people just weren't looking in the right place. Old truths no longer apply to the modern age of science but that doesn't stop them. The system that protects and finds these great people still exists and asks the same question it always has. “Do you want more than this life? Want to live… a real life?” YES/NO Who hasn't read Terror Infinity and thought I wonder what upgrades I would choose. I love the Web Novel and Side B. I did change a lot but the basic premise is still the same. Feel free to leave thoughts and suggestions in the comments. This is my first attempt at writing and I haven't done much of it since I left University 13 years ago. This is also more of a hobby than trying to become an author but that doesn't mean I will drop it just don't expect fast releases. I will mainly work on an Arc and post the arc's chapters in groups when I finish a whole arc. Kinda like Side B used to be.
8 189First of The Author's Lore: Fatherly Dragon
And so, the chronicle begins. With a dragon adopting a baby human.
8 93Your Majesty Is Annoying
It was already her eighth suicide attempt.Empress Medea did not die again this time, but this time it was a little strange."Memory loss?"Emperor Lyle was amused with Medea's words."You've been tormenting me terribly this whole time, and now you've lost your memory?"Even if I had postponed it, the appointed night of union came back every two weeks. It was useless.I didn't even want to give it to you.But if there was anything Lyle overlooked, it was that there really was another kernel in the shell.Namely, Oh Soo-yeon, an ordinary Korean office worker.Absurdly, she died from drinking too much and entered the novel.Medea was an extra dying in the very beginning.So what happened to the heroine Seira?Originally, she should have gotten together with Lyle.The couple's night came amidst confusion.For some reason, the mysterious fragrance of Medea stimulated Lyle's heart."Your lips can't be this sweet..."As of that day, His Majesty's annoying obsession began.Was it really okay like this?[Offline purposes only/Story not mine)[Novelupdates] ⬆️⬆️⬆️[Somethings might have change. No major changes so don't worry. Don't want it then go to the website above, after all, this is just an offline reading purposes only]
8 197