The Cursed Stone [M] <Rikaya & puzzlez>

[Rikaya]

Rated M for violence, gore, strong language and possible intimate situations.

Hundreds of years ago, the kingdoms were in turmoil, a power struggle to prove themselves as the higher power in all the land. War raged among the kingdoms and both sanity and life were lost in the conflict. Eventually, the desperation for power has reached its peak, and the kings decided to turn to magic. Magic has always been a prominent force in this world but it wasn't always accepted. Those who can do magic were scrutinized if they were found out and thus, most witches chose to live in remote locations where they could not be reached. However, some still chose to remain with their homes and conceal their abilities from others.

Dark magic was prohibited, but it was what the kings had desired to aid them in their quest for power. A young powerful witch was discovered, who was eager to show her abilities, and thus agreed to aid the kings in battle. Unaware of how dangerous this could be, the witch created three stones of power, Death, Omnipotence, and Pestilence by using her dark magic. The stones destroyed more lives and kingdoms than the kings were able to do on their own. While some kings were satisfied with the results, the dark magic within the stones became too much and these stones of power needed to be destroyed. Today, in a more peaceful time, it is unclear whether all the stones are truly gone but word has it that one still remains.



The Silver Arrows were on their way back to the castle in the kingdom of Verisia. They were given a job by king Leroi to take out a five-hundred pound brown bear that has been intruding on the villagers as of late. Successful in their hunt, they were bringing the bear back to the king as requested. The Silver Arrows were a group of hunters who were famously known for their hunting and tracking skills. They made a name for themselves by offering their services to various kingdoms and hunting whatever game the kings desired. Annalise was part of this group, a twenty-five year old woman in her position was uncommon, but The Silver Arrows were all inclusive. There wasn't much judgment among the members as long as you can prove yourself as useful. Many of it's members came into the group from a young age and were trained to be skilled hunters overtime. Annalise was one such member and was taken off the streets by the leader of the Silver Arrows at the age of 10. To Annalise, The Silver Arrows were her saviors.

Once the game was delivered, Annalise was informed by one of the king's guards that her presence was being requested in the throne room. Confused, she asked what this was about and was simply told that this was approved by her leader. What was approved? Annalise was skilled, but she was never one of the main members of the team, so she could not understand why her presence specifically was being requested. If the king needed something personally, Annalise could think of at least 5 other people within The Silver Arrows who would be considered first for the job.

Following the guard into the throne room, there were already others there waiting. The king was seated in his throne with a smile on his face as he seemed to be having a casual conversation with another man around her own age, who appeared to be a knight. Perhaps he was a higher rank knight judging by the armor he was wearing. When Annalise approached the king, she stopped next to the young knight and bowed to the king. "Your highness, I have been informed you requested to see me" Annalise spoke up and then straightened up, one of her hands resting on the handle of her sword, which was fastened to her belt and sheathed in fine leather.

King Leroi straightened up in his throne as well and smiled at Annalise, "Yes, I sure did. In fact I needed to see the both of you" he pointed at both Annalise and the knight and Annalise glanced over at the man next to her. "Not to worry Annalise, I have cleared everything with Bruce, your leader. He has informed me that you being away for a little while will not be a problem" king Leroi reassured the girl, even though his reassurance confused her even more. "Now, I'm sure you both have many questions, so allow me to explain" Leroi began. "I have something that needs to be done, it needs to be done in secret and handled with great care. Thus I needed to find someone who I can trust with this task as well as someone who can offer guidance and aid on this journey. This is where the two of you come in" the king went on.

"You see.." he sighed heavily, his smile from earlier turning into a serious expression. "Our world has seen very dark times and very dark power which should never have been used or exposed in the first place. I assume you both know of the three stones of power? Death, Pestilence, and Omnipotence?" he inquired briefly and saw a nod come from Annalise. "These stones were believed to have been destroyed years ago and their power to have faded with them. However, in recent events this has been proven to be untrue" king Leroi explained and seemed to have been finished with being cryptic.

Leroi motioned for someone to come over from the nearest hall of the throne room, another one of his guards walked in carrying something that looked to be in the shape of a box but was wrapped tightly in some red fabric. "I suppose you can guess what is in this box..." the king spoke and paused for a moment. Annalise tensed almost instantly and gripped the handle of her sword harder than before. The war for power happened well before her time so she only heard stories of the three stones and the destruction they have caused. Never did Annalise even dream of seeing one of them in person, and if she was correct, that's what was in that box. Suddenly very worried, Annalise spoke up, "Your highness, you can't possibly own one. How is that possible?" she wondered and hoped she did not step out of line.

"The way by which I have acquired this stone shall remain between me and the person who gave it to me. However, it is no secret that I want it gone. Such power should never have come into existence and it needs to be destroyed. This is why I have chosen the two of you, Luther..." the king finally addressed the young man standing next to Annalise. "You know I trust your father with my life, and you have served me well over the years. I don't know anyone more reliable than yourself to help me rid the world of this evil. Annalise...." Leroi turned to the girl. "I asked Bruce to offer me someone from his group that will be able to succeed in such a journey. He offered me you, I believe the skills you have acquired from The Silver Arrows will greatly help aid in this quest I am sending you on" Leori finished addressing them both. "In short, I need the two of you to team up and destroy the stone. This is the only one I know that is still in existence and under no circumstances can it get into the wrong hands" the king concluded.

"If you have any questions, now is the time to ask" the king opened the floor to Luther and Annalise and leaned back in his throne.

[puzzlez]

When Luther had received a private summons from the king, he had assumed the king was going to speak to him about matters of defense. While Verisia didn’t necessarily have particularly tense relations with any of its neighboring kingdoms at the time, most wars began over sudden, unexpected attacks when people let their guard down. It hadn’t been unusual for the king to send him to towns or areas along Verisia’s borders to gather intel and gauge the general population’s feel towards their king—those borderlands were usually the first to show signs of unrest and were too often the first to become victim to outside threats due to their distance from the safer heart of the kingdom.

The king, however, did not immediately begin discussions on defense, but merely expressed humor at Luther’s punctuality and announced that Luther had arrived much sooner than he anticipated, and would have to wait for the other invitee to the summons to arrive.

Luther did not question his king, though he did perhaps assume the “other invitee” would be his father, or another esteemed knight or member of the guard. So when a woman walked in—one he completely did not recognize, and who surely was neither a member of the guard nor a knight—Luther wondered if perhaps he should have previously questioned his king’s intentions. Annalise, this woman was apparently named, and that merely confirmed his thinking he had never met her. He knew no one with the name, and he burned with curiosity as to why the king summoned both Luther and this unknown woman at the same time.

Impatient as he was, though, he knew his king would answer his question before he even asked it. And when the king finally revealed Luther’s new quest, Luther was floored. King Leroi had managed to obtain one of the stones of power? There whereabouts had fallen into legend, and myths spread about their destruction.

Luther’s mind reeled with questions.

Were the other stones still intact?
Why had the king chosen Luther for this quest?
Why had the king chosen this unknown woman for this quest?
How could the king trust someone he knew barely a thing about for such an important task?
How the hell were they supposed to destroy a magical stone this powerful?

Luther decided a few of those questions would merely imply he was questioning the king’s judgement and stuck to the ones that were more impertinent to the task at hand.

“My king, how are we to destroy this stone? What I know of the stones comes from legends and myths, but I was under the impression that it required a great deal of magic? Unless this Annalise is as skilled with magic as she is with tracking, I fail to understand how we can complete this task.”

Luther eyed the box dubiously.

“Ah, yes. I nearly forgot,” the king mused. “I have no expectations that you destroy this stone by your own means. You are to transport it to a witch who will destroy it.”

Luther felt a chill at the word witch, but said nothing.

“You are to protect this stone,” the king continued, “and see that no one else knows of it, except this witch. Her powers are beyond measure, and she is the only one who can destroy this accursed thing.”

“And… why do you trust this witch so?”

While Luther wasn’t necessarily under the impression that those who could wield magic were inherently evil, it was no secret that most magical persons were not overly generous… and considering the fact that it was unlikely that the king was grand friends with this witch, he wondered why King Leroi was so quick to trust her with such a powerful object that could be used to hurt so many.

“I shan’t bore you with the specifics, but… I am fully confident that she will destroy it. She is the same witch who destroyed the other two, if my intel proves correct. Which I fully trust it does.”

Luther really wasn’t entirely convinced that was enough to go on—for all Luther knew, whatever “intel” the king received could have been forged, or simple lies. However, he swallowed his protest in that regard and decided to trust the king—Leroi certainly would not take such a risk unless he was utterly certain on this. Of that, Luther was sure.

“I understand,” Luther finally relented.

“Excellent,” the king breathed. And then muttered, “Just as careful as your father—but that is precisely why I’m trusting this mission to you.”

Despite his small swell of pride at the king’s words, Luther still felt a bit uneasy. “Which stone is this, then?”

“Ah,” the king breathed. And then just one syllable: “Death.”

Luther felt another chill run through him, this one deeper, chilling him to his bones. There were a thousand things Luther wanted to say—

Is it really wise to give arguably the most powerful stone to an unknown witch based on intel alone?
What if this witch uses it to destroy the whole world?
What if this unknown woman, Annalise, turns on you and steals it for her own whims?
What if?
What if?
What if?

—but he bit them all back. His trust in King Leroi was absolute. He simply replied, “I understand.”

“Excellent,” the king replied. “I don’t mean to rush you, but I would rather you two be on your way sooner rather than later. While I’ve taken measures to ensure that no one knows of this, I fear the longer it stays in the castle, the more I risk being found out.”

Understandable. While Luther couldn’t picture any specific person trying to steal and harm others with the stone, he could easily see its presence bringing an air of unease. Who knew what enemies Verisia could make in an instant if whispers of the stone penetrated other kingdoms…

“Where does this witch live?” Luther asked.

“In the southern most swamplands.”

Luther frowned. “Those are uninhabitable.”

And particularly far… Verisia’s borders extended much further south than any other direction. As the swamps were too soft to support life, and too wet to grow crops, neighboring kingdoms had never bothered disputing Verisia’s southern border, despite the fact that the swamps went on for miles upon miles. Eventually, the swamplands grew firm enough to form mountains at its southern most point, and that had been the agreed southern boundary for Verisia.

“You would be surprised at the resourcefulness of those with magic,” the king answered simply.

Even so…

“The swamplands stretch for miles. It would take days alone to walk through them if we were familiar with the territory, let alone walking in blind to their layout and the residence of this witch…”

“And that, Luther, is where Annalise excels. I have been told she excels at tracking and understanding the land. While you may easily surpass her with your knowledge of weapons, she does the same to you with tracking and moving through unchartered lands quickly. I will need the two of you to work together for this task to be a success,” the king answered solemnly.

Luther glanced at Annalise again. He was immensely displeased with the magnitude of this mission, but a small part of him felt proud that the king would entrust him with it.

“Understood. I won’t fail you,” Luther finally said.

“I’m glad to hear. Move quick, the both of you.”

The king handed Luther the box. And with that as the king’s parting blessing, the two of them were apparently dismissed. The king left the room, and Luther was alone with Annalise.

Luther looked down at the box, frowning. It would be hard to trust her, but Luther trusted the king. So indirectly, he supposed, that counted as trusting her.

“Have you a horse?” he asked, turning to face her. “This is going to be a long and arduous trip, and we’re going to need all the speed we can get.”