Honour

Steel rang against steel. As the battle became fiercer with each blow, the crowd went wilder and wilder.

The two opponents warily circled each other. Sweat dripped down their faces, and blood flowed freely from various minor wounds.

The crowed cheered and roared and screamed.

Breathing heavily, Zanith stared at his opponent. Zanith was a veteran of two wars, a man in his prime, a master swordsman, but he knew the fight would not be easy.

The pair of eyes that met his was hard and stern. Yet Zanith sensed behind them fear and anguish. But the eyes did not belong with the youthful, craggy face they stared out of. A face too young for the horrors Zanith sensed the eyes had seen.

His opponent lunged.

Zanith took the blow on his shield, then ducked and thrust up, trying to get through the man's defenses. But his thrust met nothing but air, as his opponent twisted away and spun, bashing Zanith's head with his shield.

The spectators roared like berserkers as they anticipated the end of the clash between the two fighters.

Zanith reeled back, ears ringing. Shaking his head to clear it, he barely got his shield up in time to meet his opponent's riposte.

As his opponent pressed the attack, Zanith fell back unable to withstand the furious combination of blows. Disoriented and hard-pressed, Zanith tried to disengage, but his opponent sensed victory and moved in for the kill.

Suddenly, Zanith stopped, then threw his whole weight at his opponent with his shield.

Taken off guard, his opponent took the full force of the blow as Zanith crashed into him, then stumbled and fell.

With a cry of victory, Zanith leaped forward and slashed down at his opponent's neck, but missed, opening a small shoulder wound instead as the man rolled away and leapt to his feet.

"That was a good move, brother," the man said, wincing as he tested his shoulder.

Zanith nodded in acknowledgement, then leapt at his opponent, his sword a blur of motion. But his opponent was ready and met him blow for blow.

Thrusts were countered, slashes parried, feints discovered (the easy way or the hard), body slams dodged and chops and hacks blocked, but still neither could gain the upper hand. After five minutes of furious fighting, they disengaged by unspoken agreement, trying to catch their breaths.

"You're not like the rest of them," his opponent offered. Zanith understood.

"Neither are you," he replied.

The youth smiled grimly.

Zanith felt weariness seeping into his bones. Two hours of continuous fighting had taken its toll. But Zanith could see that his opponent was exhausted too. He knew that one mistake now, from either of them, and it would all be over.

The fight was coming to an end.

Moving beyond weariness, Zanith threw himself into the fight. But blow by blow, Zanith could feel that they were both growing weaker.

Wary now, they circled each other once more, each intent on the other, searching, waiting for that final mistake.

Then Zanith saw it.

A slight misstep in footwork, a slight over-balance in exhaustion, the lowering of a shield a bit too much, and Zanith pounced.

With a final burst of energy, Zanith leapt forward, sword raised and angled to take his opponent over his shield, body pressed forward, knowing that his opponent was too overbalanced to retreat or dodge...

Then a head slammed into his own as he simultaneously felt his thrust miss and his nose break with a crunch.

The 'mistake' had been a trick. Instead of trying to dodge or retreat, his opponent had moved INTO him and headbutted him. Hard.

Zanith knew he had overextended. He could not pull back, as he would die before he recovered.

So he dropped his sword and surged forward.

Letting his momentum carry him forward, he twisted as he felt his opponent's sword cut a furrow through his side, then slammed into his opponent, knocking them both to the ground. With his shield, Zanith pinned his opponent's sword to the ground, while his right arm scrabbled for the man's throat...

Then froze as he felt something cold and sharp against his own throat.

Curses, tricked again!

The man had let go of his own sword the moment he felt Zanith pin it down and had drawn his dagger.

"Never forget your extra blade, brother," the man said harshly.

Slowly, Zanith got off his opponent and they both got to their feet, the dagger still pressed ominously against Zanith's throat.

Zanith grimaced.

"Do it quickly, brother. No regrets. Go free."

Zanith saw something flash through the other man's eyes.

Then suddenly, the pressure at his throat was gone.

The dagger fell to the ground with a thud.

Surprised, Zanith looked at his opponent.

The man looked back at him straight in the eye.

"You're not like the others," he repeated softly. "And I'll not kill and unarmed man in cold blood. Even among gladiators, there should be honour."

Zanith nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

The crowd jeered and booed.

As the guards closed in and hauled them away, Zanith and his fellow gladiator exchanged glances.

Something flashed between them.

And a legend was born.

A Love Poem from Edenia... =P

You
You are beautiful
I mean it, it's true.

Not just your beautiful face
Nor your beautiful eyes
But your beautiful heart
And your beautiful mind
And your beautiful soul.

I love the way you laugh
And the way you smile
And the way the sun touches your face

When you look at me
You see right through me
You see my heart
You see my soul
I can't hide from you
You strip away the masks
With you I am me.

To me these words seem hollow
They can't express what I really feel
But the essence of it is this
I love you.

Who can strain the blue from the sky?
Who can hoard the gold of dawn?
Who can choke the breath of life,
Or drown the shimmering seas?

Breathe the freshness of the air
Gaze upon the snow-capped mountains
Watch the gazelle run, the lion roar,
Or just be amazed by a waterfall.

Listen to the sounds of night
Drink in the sight of the moon so bright
Look at the splendour of the stars
And the shimmering beauty of auroras.

Then tell me why,
When I look at you,
I can find no beauty
To compare you to
And why do you still take my breath away?
When I look upon you day by day?

Tell me
Am I a fool,
To put my trust in something so beautiful?
When time starts to rust,
And promises don't last
While hearts turn to dust
But trust in love I must.

But this I know:
When it starts to snow
And when life turns cold
I only want you to hold.

Beauty will fade,
And wars will rage,
Empires rise and fall,
While history laughs and culls.
Curtains will close onstage,
The candles blown out, the lights turned off,
But in the heart and mind and soul,
There love remains.

-Asheroth, The Third Age

Logging In...

*Not an Edenia story*

This is Jw3rn speaking. Like J@ve said, time is short, my SAT's in three weeks, so I can't stay long. This short message is just to let everyone out there know that i'm here, supporting this blog, alive and speaking. Don't expect much of me till February, but have no fear, this is just the beginning. In each of us is a longing to shape, to create, and this blog is a manifestation of that desire.
Stay tuned, and reiterating j@ve,

Welcome to Edenia.

The Birth

In the beginning, there was nothing. But, when He contemplated the possibilities, risks, benefits, consequences, reasons and worth, He willed The Universe into be by sheer force of His mind. Millions of galaxies, billions of stars, and trillions of planets were pulled into being. And, on a hundred of the numerous planets, He granted something different; He granted life.

One of them was called Edenia.

He split and cracked, formed and moulded, carved and chiseled, united and merged matter and energy until Edenia was a place where creatures capable of sentience can and will prosper.

In the north, He caused the continent of Is'aren to rise. It was a cold and frosty land, full of glaciers and white-capped mountains. Is'aren was the home of the bison, the mammoth, the snow tiger, the mighty drychnaths and the white-haired, white-skinned 'Is'allamein'; the Snow People.

And, in the south, He caused the continent of Nari-Is'aren ('Sister of Is'aren') to rise. This land was as icy as her sister continent, abundant with the beasts of the permafrost and the Is'allamein race.

In the middle of the Ice Sisters lay the Lands Between - a trio of continents named Mallar, Madgar and Minarth, linked to one another by the Forbidden Pathway and separated from the Ice Sisters by the wide, wild and stormy Oceans of Despair.
Mallar, Land of the Trees, was dense jungle, full of wild animals and Pygmirites.
Madgar, Land of Sand, was all desolate desert, boling in heat and the fury of the Xanatahts, the Sand Beasts.
Minarth, the Beautiful Land, was temperate and home to the beautiful creatures of Minolathi.

To the realm of Edenia, He bequeathed two wills: the Will of Love and the Will of Justice; and one rule: the Rule of Free Will. This is so that none may lord over another race yet all have freedom to hold right upright. The Wills governed the minds of the sentient while the Rule limited their power. None could have had wit vast enough to weave through the Wills and the Rule. Yet, even the noblest of Wills and the most stringent of Rules can be subverted....

He also gave a Gift to the sentient creatures of Edenia; the Gift of Power - the ability to manipulated the strands of energy Within and Without. Manipulation of the Power Within allows growth, training and disciplining. Manipulation of the Power Without enabled the beings of Edenia to shape their surroundings and this gave life to great civilizations. Monolithic towers, gargantuan cities and monstrous abode complexes were built. Cities and megalopolises exploded onto the lands and the people prospered on the fertile lands.

But under the Rule of Free Will, a new Knowledge emerged from the deep recesses of the minds of the sentient beings of Edenia: intricately melded into the Wills of Love and Justice was the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Philosophers and great thinkers contemplated, debated, argued and waged mental wars unto themselves as they began to realise the things that could happen when people really understood the concept of good and evil. One way or another (by chance or by fate) each settled on one answer: Good is doing deeds for the sake of others and evil is doing deeds for the sake of oneself and oneself only.

That sparked a psychological revolution; everyone was more conscious of themselves and the people around them. The Will of Love evolved into Love for Others and Love for Oneself. The Will of Justice evolved into Will to Convict and Will to Condemn. Many became confused by the new Knowledge. Which of these new Loves and Wills are Good or Evil? Or, are they just fragments of deluded imaginings? One thing was for sure: Edenia was never the same.

Thus, the land was divided: one side believed in the purity and strength of the original Wills of Love and Justice, whereas the other side was disillusioned and sought to subvert the Wills to their own purposes. Because of this division, peace on Edenia was ended forever....

Amidst the advent of chaos, the Skygrazers emerged. They were a sect of the Minolathi who had become infatuated with the Love of Oneself and the Will to Condemn. In retaliation, arose the Seraphs who fought for the cause of Good and sought to vanquish their Evil brethren. And, in the early Ages, the power of Good held sway over most of the Minolathi and thus, the Skygrazers were defeated. In desperation, they looked to the Forbidden Pathway for escape. The remaining Skygrazers invaded Madgar and conquered the Xanatahts. In their arrogance and fury at their defeat to the Seraphs, the Skygrazers acted hastily; they attacked Mallar but their intent of annexing Mallar was thwarted by the native Pygmirites.

For two Ages, Good and Evil battled in the Lands Between while the Skygrazers consolidated their power in Madgar until a final coalition of Seraphs, Pygmirites and rebel Xanatahts overthrew the Skygrazers' fortress of Nagorath. Due to the defeat, the remnant of the Skygrazers fled across the Oceans of Despair and were never to be seen again (or so it was thought). By fate, surviving Skygrazers landed on Is'aren. They mated with the Is'allamein and slowly twisted the Is'allamein into following them down the path of Dark.

However, while Is'aren traversed down the path of Dark, peace reigned in the Lands Between. And, in a little, sleepy, forgotten town in Minarth is where our story begins....