The Story of Aires

This Story Takes Place During the Second Age. The second age was a time of magic; a time when Elves; Dwarves; Trents and many more walked the realm of Vasten along with men. Our story takes place a thousand years before the appearance of Zombie Pigmen.

Aires was a young man that was slowly losing his teen features. He was a hunter by trade inside the mountains that many years later would give rise to Port Breigh. Every day he would journey into the countryside looking for wild animals to hunt for his family's dinner.

One day, on his journey through the forest teeming with shadows that surrounded the bay, he discovered a cave. Aires got goosebumps whenever he looked inside as if there was something whispering, calling him.

Full of curiosity, Aires cautiously entered the cavern sticking close to the walls. While setting foot into the deeper parts of the cave, the calling he felt got stronger. At some point, whisperings appeared beyond the corner that led to the end. Fearing that there were bandits or something worse, Aires unsheathed his sword in preparation for a battle.

After reaching the corner, he stopped and peeked through some rocks. Once his eyes got used to the light intensity, Aires was shocked by what he saw. The source of the light appeared to be a set of armor. The armor looked grand as if made to fit a king. Quickly shaking his stupor away, Aires looked around to see if there were other people but instead found no one.

Guardedly Aires stepped forward, soon realizing that the origin of the whispers was the ominous yet alluring armor. Curiosity and greed got the best of him. He poked the suit with his sword to make sure it was safe. The whispers stopped, and a chill went down his spine. After noticing that nothing happened, his hand stretched out to gently touch the glistening crystal suit adorned with streaks of gold.

Just as his fingers were grasping the enchanting suit to take it away, he felt an invisible hand take hold of his arm. An enormous pressure washed over him and stuck him in place. With enough force to make him scream, it pulled him forward. Aires fell into the suit, and something happened, for they both disappeared. Soon after, the cave regained its usual darkness.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Aires tumbled down a hillside. As he came to a halt at the bottom, he groaned while trying to stand from the pain. Soon he noticed it was pain, but instead, a heavyweight accompanied by a restrictive feeling across all of his body. Stunned, he took a look at his body and was shocked to see that he was wearing the armor suit that was inside the cave.

After failing to stand up, he rolled on his chest and slowly pushed himself up while taking note of his surroundings. What greeted him was a forest that soon gave way to a vast wheat field that appeared to be near harvest season and a dark sky that gave the feeling that heavy rain had passed, but more was yet to come.

Looking at the horizon, one could see a knight mounted on horseback. The knight had a dark grey armor with markings that gave a similar feeling as to the golden accents of Aries' armor. It seemed to be galloping down the road when it slumped and fell down the horse, much to Aires' confusion.

The horse seemed to have been given a shock by something as it ran away. The young man slowly neared the knight that looked wounded. While getting closer, he inspected the knight and noticed that the helmet had fallen. Inside the armor was a man whose hair was starting to grey out, and whose face had many scars. The man had the air of a veteran warrior, one that had seen bloodshed yet by luck defied death.

Aires was about to leave the cover of the forest, to enter the road when he heard a harsh, yet guttural sound from nearby, which halted the young man. Soon three new presences let themselves known, and as he peered, he saw a group of creatures walking towards the wounded knight.

The creatures which were not very tall, to begin with, were hunched over, which made them even smaller. They had green skin, red eyes, and sported rags with some crude weapons.

He deduced that they were an archer and spearmen. The last one he couldn't quite figure out, but he noted it used an ax. They seemed to be goblins, at least according to the village tales. They had to be goblins, he affirmed himself, since he couldn't imagine them being any different.

One of them spoke, and by how it moved, he thought they were talking about the knight. The spearmen said something, and he figured the contents were about how to deal with the knight. From the way they spoke, it seemed they planned to eat him, or at least he wouldn't have a good ending.

Right now, only the knight could help him, and he wouldn't have it easy with the goblins if found. He sprung into action from his hiding spot and made full use of the skills he developed as a hunter. Quickly he charged towards the one nearest to him, which coincidentally was the one with the ax, and hit it using the part of the armor that protected his elbows.

The brunt of the surprise attack was enough to knock out the goblin. Aires took the fallen ax and hit the second goblin in the back of the neck. He noticed that the archer was about to knock an arrow at him. Using the body as a shield, he got close enough then threw it onto the archer. The archer stopped for a moment to dodge the oncoming body, which left a gap. The young man used it to lodge the ax with all the force behind its body into its head. After dealing with the unconscious goblin, Aires turned towards the knight.

Aires started mulling over what he experienced while breathing heavily. First, he found an ominous armor in a cave not far from his village; then, the suit transported him to another place and maybe time. As he looked around, it dawned on him that it was too early for harvest season as it was spring in his village, yet the wheat field told otherwise.

Once he calmed down, Aires went towards the knight looking for answers. Soon the man noticed that Aires was walking towards him.

"I've never seen such ferocity when dealing with goblins," said the old knight as he coughed a couple of times.

"Really?, I thought I was trying not to die back then," responded the young man, as he stopped near the knight. Surprised that both of them spoke a similar tongue, Aires quickly asked his name.

"Vance, my name's Vance," said the man to which Aires gave his. Noticing the pool of blood beside Vance, Aires quickly got near to help, but it was to no avail. The young man could see the pain written in the face of the knight, and while he had many questions, they were not worth asking in a man's last moments.

Vance pulled out an envelope from inside of the armor.

"Please deliver this message to the Baron Ains," he said.

"The ring on my hand proves that you are the messenger, don't lose it."

Once Vance said what he needed, silence descended, and within this silence, the veteran warrior gave his last breath. Aires was left alone in this strange and unfamiliar land. Knowing this, the young man steeled his will as he picked up the envelope and ring.

After standing up, Aires said, " I swear by all the gods, good and evil, that I will deliver this."

And it started to rain. It was as if the gods were crying for Vance. And while Aires would have liked to stay a bit more, he now had a destination in this unknown place. After picking up the silver sword of Vance and the bloody ax of the goblin, Aires started to move. He walked in the direction the knight seemed to be heading. After making an oath to deliver the envelope, Aries now had a purpose. One which he believed had answers at the end, which will serve as a starting point of figuring out how to get back home.

That's how Aires' journey through an unfamiliar and strange land began. It will be a long journey for young Aires, and only the gods know if he gets to go home.

**Date of Setting**

Sompoint in the First Age