The Lost Heart {M}{IC}

[MidKnight]

"I am very sorry Lady Alessia, but it's just that...um." She decided to not speak any further of what she had experienced, though the vivid images that poured into her head felt real, like old memories she had long forgotten. "It will never happen again." She said with a calm tone and followed the young lady.

Later that day, night had come. The Emperor was given a room with high quality luxury, the best the Lord could have given at the time. And during night hours, there was a team of experienced builders and warriors that had been dispatched to begin their work on creating the tournament grounds. However, back at the manor, Velayna had trouble with her sleep, she moved around and mumbled out words. A few servants had heard her before, but most of the time, she would awaken and the others would try and comfort her. This time, they only watched as she continued moving and thrashing about. Some seemed concerned, others were worried.

The next morning, the Emperor walked around the manor. He was with the Lord at the time and laughed about old times.

In a few short hours, travelers from other realms and regions had come across the vast lands of the Kingdom to join the tourney. Mages, warriors, archers and many more. The leaders of each land had also visited the lands of Lord Artonis and his family. Each had greeted both the Emperor and the Lord, and prepared for the tourney events.

The Lord walked with his daughter to the armory for her outfit that was required by Tourney rules. "Remember Alessia, if you are challenged in a melee combat, magic is forbidden, but if challenged in a magic duel, melee combat is forbidden." The Lord stopped outside of the tent and takes in a deep breath, "I was also informed the contagious disease our mages had found had gotten worse for the one who is quarantined, he had to be killed." He shook his head slightly. "But something is not right...I can feel it." He takes a slight step, facing the lands of his. "I dispatched patrols at least five miles from the tourney, and so far everything is doing fine." He coughed a few times, patting on his own chest and breathes in raspy. Velayna had carried a water jug and poured a cup for the Lord, whom took it gladly and drank the cool refreshment, and thanked Velayna for it.

"Still, we must remain cautious." He takes in a deep breath and exhales slowly. "I think whatever you had found...was not meant to be found." He groomed his beard and hummed. "But we must worry about it any longer, go and win to become the prodigy his royal majesty has longed for!"

[Numbers]

"You do not need to worry about reminding me the rules of the tournament. I doubt any will request to duel me in magic though, my talent with it is known far and wide. What they don't know is my talent extends to melee as well." She said with a sly smile. She moved her hands in a way that made daggers slide from the underside of her armor to the spots in her hands so that she was now holding them. She then flicked her hands in a way again to hide the daggers back under her armor. "Now to play the weak mage role, something that will make all of them want to fight me in melee. As well father, before the duels get ready to start, I have an offer for you to go announce as well. If any of them out there want to challenge me for marriage I will allow it to. The only thing is that if they want my hand in marriage they must challenge me to a duel that uses both magic and melee." With that, she motioned for him to leave so that she could then be alone again. She looked around her now empty tent and put a few fingers to her mouth before letting out a whistle for her servant to come find her.

She moved over to the couch in the tent and sat down on it, putting one leg over the other as she waited. She had prepared several artifacts to be used in case something went wrong today. Like her father, she had a bad feeling, like something was on the edge of her vision waiting to strike. Because of that, she had placed several enchantments around the area, as well as some special enchantments on certain artifacts. For now, everything was going fine, but she must always be careful. Likewise, with the new type of duel that she told her father to announce about, she needed to make sure even more stuff went well. She had no plans on getting married to someone, not for a while.

[MidKnight]

Several servants had entered the Lady's tent and helped her with her armor to use for the Tourney. The Lord had already picked a flag to represent her, it was the family icon, a moon crescent with a sword in the middle. The icon represented both magic and combat, it was in the family for generations.

Velayna walked in the tent with a staff her father had picked for her. She walked over to Alessia and held it out to her. "He said this was required...and it was your grandfather's." She smiled, letting the woman take it in her own hands. She stepped away for Alessia to have her space. "It is beautiful." She admired the craftsmanship, it was made from an old branch, but strong and sturdy, with a blue gem on the tip. It gave a strange aura when Alessia would wield it, like it had belonged to her.

The Tourney matches had begun, the magic duels were quite challenging for the young lady. Especially those who were more experienced then her. The arena left with scorch marks of fire, ice and many other elements used. The King had enjoyed watching the magic duels. Then he announced the winners for the magic combat session. The audience had cheered for Alessia whom had overcome the odds.

The Combat was next and soon had the challengers to be ready. Velayna watched as the servants had brought in Alessia's armored that was required for the Tourney. She examined it before Alessia could return, she made sure it was properly made and had no flaws.

Back at the mage tower. The room where they kept the man was filled with fire, the mages used their magic to destroy whatever was killing the one who was quarantined. But whatever had affected man, was quite difficult to kill. The Lord had returned to the tower and wanted to learn more of the results. The head mage was with him. "We burned it, and it took quite some time to kill him." He reported, "But the fire did not seem to effect him, so we tried ice, dark magic, and other sources..." He stopped at the front door of the room with a window viewing inside. "...and still it moved."

The Lord looked through the window and sees the figure laying on the ground, burnt to a crisp. "Leave it for now, to make sure it is fully dead...what about the beast?" He asked looking at the head mage. "Anything new from it?"

The head mage hums before answering. "We decided to place it in another room for quarantine purposes, other than what happens when you touch the heart...everything else seems fine, we can not learn anything else further more." He looked to his fellow mages and waved his hand, watching them leave the room. It was quiet, silence was their new friend. "I can feel something coming from this beast...and whatever had plagued on of my mages...it feels as if death is coming closer here...cold burns on the walls...and on the ground." He stopped speaking to clear his thoughts. "I sense something will arrive soon."

The Lord nodded in agreement, "I can sense it too...but what?"

Back at the tent, Velayna had finished securing the weapons that were required for the combat duels. Swords, shields, and several choices of other weapons. She takes in a deep breath, in seconds she could hear odd moaning coming from outside. She looked to the entrance and walked outside to search the source, only to find someone by their tent covered in blood. She quickly rushes to the wounded soldier. It was one of the patrol guards, there was arrows on his back, blood coming out from his armor. "What happened?" She asked clearly, looking over her shoulder. She sees several servants walking over to the tent. "Get help! Quickly!" She shouted.

The soldier grabbed her hand. "Monsters....monsters are coming....warn the Lord...warn the Emperor!!" He slowly moves to the ground and his eyes lifeless. There was a rumble in the ground, her eyes slowly looked up to see smoke coming from the forest. Then the bell tower started to ring, warning others of an enemy force heading their way. She could hear someone shouting, "Get the Emperor back to the Capital!" Then movement increased and people started to panic, more soldiers started to form. "Where's the Lord?!" Someone shouted.