The Story Teller's Debate

Chapter V: Kings of the ReachBrick by brick, the wall collapsed. Jon and Eric ran for the stairs, but the doorway was gone. Bricks had replaced what used to be an exit. Jon looked back and saw it... The blue that used to light the sky... It was gone. Jon kept looking about hoping to see an exit. The boys were in a hurry, no time to question the missing door. Suddenly, things felt calm... Jon wasn't sure why, but he turned in place trying to find out where a sudden breeze was coming from, and then a leaf flew down beside him. His eyes begun their slow raise upwards to see what they hadn't noticed... The vaulted roof was engulfed in a Autumn filled painting. It was painted onto the roof, full of color and... The columns collapsed, the roof fell onto the two, and the tower begun to tilted. It was horrifying to the peasant below. The smell of death and warfare was about them, and then they heard the screeching of the giant that was the tower... It tilted endlessly to the side in a roar that shook the ground. Bricks and columns came down around them, escorting the giant to the ground. On impact, it flooded the streets with dust that flowed through the district and dripped into the buildings. The smoke was followed by stone and debris that tore away at the nearby buildings, and they too begun to crumble...Bryan walked in the halls of Falnhaul, escorted by the columns and portraits of Kings past that lined his broaden path. Stopping, he turned to Baron."Yes, sir?"Bryan replied simply, "Count of this hall the number of Kings."Baron counted, and replied, "29 kings, sir. Why?""I fought across the world, earning my place as king... And 29 of these men ruled instead... What makes them so great? Why them... Why... not... ME!" Bryan's words seemed to echo a from each portrait.Bryan walked to the throne before him... He was ready to sit down in it... But no. Not yet. The King was still alive. Bryan knew where the king was. He just needed patience. Bryan heard laughing from behind him. When he turned to look, only Baron was there, confused."... Bring forth Corbal."Baron nodded and left. Bryan walked around to occupy his waiting.The men of Bryan's Army scavenged the city. A group came across a round of 2 Centri Atari. The Centri pulled their swords and grabbed out at the men. The men quickly lifted from the ground, turning as they rose to face away from the Centri, arms stretched out and struggling. The Centri's fingers also struggled to stay in place. But it was laughable, the screams of the men could be heard across the district.Morgan moved in on the Centri. He thought he saw men run in there earlier, but couldn't see any now. He laughed and continued to the Plaza of Alddar. That was where Bryan's army was to hold their public executions. Morgan was most certainly going to watch them die, even if metaphorically. Making his way across the halls and roofs of slightly broken buildings, he reached the wall. Across the crumbling wall was the District of Alddar... The King's District. The Centri were approaching the Krec Du' Alda, the Castle of the King. Anyone inside opposed to the King wouldn't last long there, except for Bryan and Baron. Morgan begun his way through the gates. He met some of Bryan's men along the way. They were standing guard... Were...The breeze was felt across Jon's skin... He had never felt this before... Falling leaves and warm sunlight... It was Autumn. He had never known such warmth. Eric seemed to have recognized the feeling.The world in the painting had crashed onto and around them... The brick floor below them was still there, outlining the circular borders that was the tower. Everything else was a valley and trees of red and orange. The bricks were dark and moldy in comparison. "Jon... Let's go. We have to find a way out of here.""Okay. Where do we start?""How about that?" Eric pointed to a tower in the distance."Um... Ya. That looks good." Jon said, turning to the tower. They begun walking towards it.Upon arriving to the Tower, Jon was grateful to see the door opened. The boys walked into the tower, and begun up the stairs. There were portraits lining the stairs. Each one seemed to show a person of great age. "Who are these?" Jon asked."These people... They are the Order. Some dead, some alive." Eric replied."Really? Wow...""The Morthlings used to be in the Order... They broke away a long time ago." Eric looked around."Really? So... You have a portrait here?" Jon asked with excitement. Eric smiled and went to show him...Eric found his portrait. Jon wasn't sure what to think... "Why... are you so old?"Eric laughed. "I wasn't always young. The Order and Morthlings are Faul Wizards.""Faul Wizards? So... you mean there is more than one type?""What I mean is... there is more to the world than you think. Nothing within the existing world... But so so far out there, you find out about new people and cultures. I remember two strange looking Wizards from the West arriving. They seemed, um, blue... They didn't stay long."Jon laughed. "So whats a Faul Wizard?""Well... There were the Faul, Mor, and Anon Wizards. Faul Wizards can only have sons, one each. Every Faul Wizard has two souls. A sender and a reciever. The Reciever takes the form of the son, and the other stays in the Father. When the father dies, his soul enters the son through the connection between the two souls. Because both souls are his, it's literally him breaking into two people, and then becoming one. It's how we live thousands of years. That's why I look so young.""What if the Wizard dies without a son? Or if you kill the son?""He dies... If you kill his son, he has no way of continuing after his own death. You kill his son, and his son's soul, so he can't have another son.""That's... Strange...""Haha, yea." Eric smiled at the humor. "Let's keep going. We can't wait around." The two continued up the Tower.Bryans wait was over. Corbal had arrived at his order."Which portrait?" Bryan looked at the walls."The King's Portrait." Corbal pointed... Bryan looked over to it. The portrait stood high with the rest of them, of course, the King's image wasn't there, just a background of a land with tall trees and light. Bryan walked to it and placed his hand upon it... It felt like silk, and a breeze?He turned around and everyone was still. They seemed frozen, and everything looked a colder blue. A blue highlighted the portraits, and figures seemed to pop out of them. The figures of older kings twirled and danced around him! The breeze that came from each of their place of rest, their portraits, blew between them, and swirled up around Bryan..."Who comes and sees, a summer's breeze, that twirls and warps around him?" spoke the first king.The second spoke up, "Who is he, that comes to me, seeking to attack them?""He wants to attack them? Let him then, We're let him in to see them."Bryan was surrounded by ancient words from ancient men. "What.. What is this?!" Bryan shouted..."Do you think you deserve to be king?" The third king spoke up."Of course I deserve to be king!" All the kings stared at Bryan as he spoke this."Why?"All was still... Bryan couldn't answer... More than seven hundred years, and he froze to one word... Why did he deserve to be king? Because he could raise armies against people?"I cured the sick in the District of Boe." "And I saved the peasants from the House of Haulan, who stole their children and wives from them." "And I increased their pay, from 3 crests to 10." The words kept coming. All the things a King could do... Should do... "And now we ask you. You can raise armies against your own people. You justify what you do by pretending you'd be able to defend them, but once you are done killing everyone, who do you have to defend? When no one is left to attack you, what is your worth?"Bryan couldn't reply to it. He just stood in fear of these things. The figures begun moving back to their portraits, until all was straight again. Bryan looked over at Corbal."What interests you?" Corbal stared back."Nothing. Lets just go." He said. He looked at the King's portrait. He laid his hand on it, and to his amusement, felt nothing. He push forward, and his hand just moved into the portrait, followed by his body.Jon and Eric walked to the top of the tower. It seemed far larger inside than out.Upon reaching the top, they looked out across the valleys and forests, a hundred miles wide. "The Reach...""The Reach?" Jon was curious what Eric meant."Everything you see is the Reach." Eric stared across it."And down goes the Farmer." The voice roared behind them. The two turned to see The Beast behind them, in a vast portrait. It's skin was an armor of scales, hiding the body of a horse with the head of a loin. It stared down on them. "The Order has been given, and The Order will rise." It spoke with a voice that trembled the Tower."Beast, how do we get out of here?" Jon asked the giant god that stood before them. It did not reply."Beast!" The Giant looked down at the angry Jonathon Taylor. The Beast stared over at an exit. The same exit they were looking for before the Tower crumbled. The Beast continued it's chant. The noise echoed across the Reach."Down falls the exile, down falls the Morthling" "Out spreads the fire, up goes the morning" "Now ends the slumber, the Knight drops his armour""Now the towers crumble, and down goes the Farmer"The Boys ran towards the exit, but Eric stopped. "Jon.. I wanted to remind you... Prophecies don't always go the way you think they will..."Jon listened in on the Beats prophecy. His eyes matched the tired and worn Eric. "I... I'll remember that..."The two ran down the stairs. They reached the bottom, a were greeted by a large door. "It's a portrait..." Eric remarked. It was, Jon could see the borders of the Canvas. Opening the door, they walked through, and into a large Cathedral. Stairing across the long and broad nave, Jon and Eric could see a figure."Oh good. Visitors." Greeted the King with a smile.