Fan Fiction ❯ Kingdom Come ❯ The Sun at Noon ( Chapter 4 )

That night, in a small sea-side town, villagers were slept fitfully. In the homes of the only two noble families, the Winsors and Dalkeis, beds were abandoned completely. It was thus that many people were awake, several hours past midnight, to see something that had never been seen before in the realm of man.

 

A new star stone forth for long seconds, spitting out a shooting star before dying. Moments later a loud rumble emanated from the south-west and the ground shook, awakening everyone who was not already up. Men and women raced to their swords and bows and children dashed into their rooms and shut the doors tightly. In the whole village, only two people did not feel worried over the spectacle in the heavens. Lucien of House Winsor and Elias of House Dalkei. At the very moment the angels' portal opened, they were looking at the sky, in fact, at the exact spot where it opened. Shortly after the rumbles and shaking faded, the sun rose, early, chasing night away at the height of its strength. And men marveled at the sign, saying it heralded the victory of light over darkness, of righteousness over evil.

 

Eldon Dalkei was wondering if he should give all his workers the day off, seeing as technically they had started early, when his wife Althea walked in the door, carrying a tray with some food on it.

 

"I've told you again and again El, stop forgetting to eat!"

 

"I was just going to come down." he lied quickly.

 

"Not believing it. Now you aren't going to get me to leave unless ... "

 

"Hail!!"

 

Looking out of the window to his left, Eldon saw something he had only read of in books - two angels hovering over the town square, looking around curiously. He blinked, but they remained solid. A glance in the other direction showed his wife, also looking outside. So it wasn't a hallucination. "Well, I guess you can stay, but I need to leave for this."

 

Hurriedly leaving the room and his frozen wife, Eldon ran down the stairs and outside into the town square. Its was completely empty of people, except for him and the two angels, who were occupied in discussing something while hovering two stories above the ground. "Uh, greetings!" he shouted to them, waving like an idiot.

 

"Damn." he thought. "Do they even know our language?"

 

After a moment, they stopped and looked down at him before lowering themselves somehow. He was glad to see that while they both were wearing full plate armor, the numerous sheaths and belts were empty. The shorter of the two had what appeared to be two quivers sewn together; both full of long arrows, as well as a small pouch which he assumed were for bowstrings, but no bow.

 

"Hail, mortal. We wish to speak with your leader, whoever he may be."

 

"Lord Faust left at .. daybreak, good sirs." One of them laughed a little. "He was traveling to the south-west if it pleases you."

 

"See?" said the shorter angel, in a high voice. "I told you they would come and investigate."

 

Clearly they were unarmed and had no violent intentions, but Eldon was still a little shaken by having to deal with what were obviously supernatural beings, ones that had earlier been children's tales at that. "Erm, if you would state your business, I will gladly aid as much as I might?" he said, in a slightly questioning tone. Ignoring him, the smaller angel turned and flew out of the square, lightly gliding over the buildings, heading southwest. "Where is .. she going?"

 

"Patience, mortal. She will only be gone a second to bring the news to the rest of the Council." And with just that information to chew on, Eldon walked over to the fountain in the north corner of the square and sat down on the smooth marble. After a second, his new acquaintance moved over and sat nearby before closing his eyes. Sleeping? "Hmm. You know mortal, you fountain will dry up soon, judging by the amount of sediment in the channels you made to bring the water here. Though it doesn't matter since you have a well further north of here."

 

"What? Fountain?" Eldon choked as five angels came flying over the roofs. Leading them was the one that had just left earlier. She - he assumed from the voice that it was a female - had a large bag in her left hand, with something sticking out. She left that near the middle of the square and waited.

 

"Come now," the angel next to him said, standing up. "You need to meet the - "

 

"From the sea! Raiders are coming!" Eldon cursed silently. This was he worst possible moment for it.

 

"Raiders? You are afflicted by pirates and brigands here?" the angel asked. He nodded slowly. "They have troubled us very little so far this year, and we feared they would attack in strength. I must see to my men and - "

 

"They are known murders? You would execute any you capture?"

 

"Yes, lord. They have slain and kidnapped many citizens. They all lie under the sentence of death, if somehow captured."

 

"Ah, I see. It would be a pleasure - honor to aid you against these immoral people. Alavaria, if you could?" he motioned towards the bag. The angel - Alavaria took the bag she had brought and emptied it onto the paved square floor. Eldon gaped at the large amount of weaponry that spilled out. No less than four longswords, two long daggers, numerous throwing knives as well as a long, unstrung bow all presented themselves to him. The two angels picked up swords and sheathed them, one on the hip, another on the back, placing their daggers on the opposite hip, tucking the knives in among their armor. When they were done, all that was left was the bow. Alavaria picked it up and hesitated before plucking a bowstring from the small pouch on her quiver and smoothly stringing it.

 

"I would prefer to take on these enemies myself. You kept me out of the fight in the Temple earlier, so I will take part today."

 

Eldon watched as Alavaria described a spiral with her left hand. He felt himself rising. Panicking, he struggled slightly but could not stop himself from moving.

 

"Relax," commented Alavaria, not looking at him. "We're just taking the shortcut to your watch post near the coast."

 

"How did you know about that? It's hidden!"

 

"Suffice it to say that 'hidden' doesn't apply to magical methods. Even an anti-magic shield is blatant if you use magical scouting methods."

 

Eldon was still trying to understand it all when he was set down in front of a small cave. In fact, it was more like a large crack in the large rock formation ahead, but he knew that once he squeezed through, he would find several rough hewn steps that led to the watch post.

 

"Well," Alavaria commented. "There is no one there of course, since he brought the massage to you, but there should be at a looking glass for you to use."

 

Carefully making his way up, Eldon saw the looking glass and picked it up. When he reached a flat stone room, he lifted the glass to his eye and looked out. The pirates were still quite far out, well out of bowshot, but he could still see them quite clearly. Shifting his gaze, he saw Alavaria standing on the beach, fitting an arrow to her bow string. Taking a step forward, she waved a hand over the water and began to walk upwards on an invisible stair case until she was two stories above the surface of the sea. Making a large circle in the air with her right hand, she waited until they were close enough to hear.

 

"Greetings," she thundered, her voice amplified many times over with Amplify. "I have heard that you are intending to attack a town. I would suggest you turn back now and go back to where you came from. Your target happens to be under my guarantee of protection." Eldon blinked.

 

An unseen archer in the largest ship shot an arrow. A dark streak dashed toward Alavaria - and bounced off a wall constructed by magic. The angel frowned, conjuring several thin things he couldn't make out. They reached out towards a ship.

 

"This is really pointless. You have no hope whatsoever of defeating a Council member. Turn back now!"

 

When there was no reply, the threads reached out, lazily moving towards their target. When one touched the ship, there was a small fire. In reply, from the large ship again, a clear, shining hemisphere grew until it covered the small fleet. Alavaria's spell was forced back as the white magic shield pushed at it. She raised her bow, aiming at something he couldn't see. The arrow began to shimmer as she drew it back. She didn't release an arrow, but rather something that resembled a ray of sunlight that lanced downwards, for an instant connecting her bow and the ship. The anti-magic shield faded, releasing small motes that twinkled as it dissipated.

 

"Cute, but I lose patience. Goodbye mortals."

 

Alavaria tossed her bow over her back and spread her hands out. A long cable of solid flame erupted from her hands, stabbing into the water as the ships tried to rush forward. In almost no time at all, the sea was bubbling and steaming away. Alavaria turned slightly to keep the ships in view and released her spell. Raising hands to the sky, she spoke a word that he couldn't hear, even though he could see her mouth moving. Several more arrows dashed at her and were deflected by her shield. The clear sky rumbled and lighting stabbed down, a bolt crashing into each ship. Eldon watched, frozen, as they caught fire. The screams of the pirates floated up to him as, a minute later, he was flying though the air towards his town. Held by Alavaria, of course.

 

"Was it really necessary to heat the sea until it boiled and then set their ships on fire?"

 

"It wasn't really that hot." she replied absentmindedly. "I just wanted them to see what it felt like to be on the brink of death. They should be able to swim to safety, if with some minor scalds. However, they won't be good for any kind of fight, and you'll have help for any other attacks of any sort. If you can't guess, anyone who was nearby where the lightning hit had no chance at all, and that is quite enough for now."

 

Eldon was silent for the rest of the short trip. Alavaria put him in the town square. Althea ran up to him, clearly worried, and not over his uneaten lunch. Many of the local villagers were out of sight, but every now and then he would catch sight of a head being drawn back behind a corner. Not surprising, given that he would have given in to curiosity pretty quickly himself.

 

"Er, so since those pirates were taken care of, what were you, uh, Eferlon, about to say?"

 

"Well, I think .. right. I was going to introduce you to the rest of us, as well as discuss our terms - " Eldon started on hearing that. "But since Alavaria has already given her personal guarantee, I suppose we're bound by that." She chuckled when he said that. Blinking, Eferlon continued, "In any case, we haven't been introduced. My five colleagues and I make up the Council of Heaven. We're usually known as just the Council."

 

Eldon blinked. Guarantee? Council of Heaven? "You're not the Commanders' Council of Heaven?"

 

"I see you know your .. ancient history. Sadly, I'm the only one left from the time it had that name. The 'Commanders' was dropped, never mind why, a couple of centuries ago."

 

"Why, if I may ask, do I have the honor of a visit from the Council? The last recording of any action from you was, as you said, three centuries ago."

 

Eferlon gave him a pitying look. "Yesterday, you must have heard when the Temple of Glory fell down from the skies. Hell is poised to engulf this realm." Althea went limp on his arm, but Eldon didn't notice much beyond that. "They have sacked the City on the Mount."

 

"I see," said Eldon unsteadily. "Perhaps you would be more comfortable in my library. Of course later, if you are not pressed for time, we might eat, at some point."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Just out of sight, Elias chanced another peek at the strange visitors. He was quite sure that he recognized on of them, the one that was speaking with his father earlier, but for some reason when he tried to remember where, he only ended up thinking on a tangent. The wind brought him several words - "hell is poised to engulf this realm" and something returned to him. Suddenly, he could remember many things, things no human would ever survive having seen. They exploded from his memory, flooding out all else. It was a quick battle - reality evaporated, fading even as he managed a grip on it.

 

Ardana, his younger sister by two years, was nearby and saw him suddenly stiffen up and fall over. Hurrying over, she shook him ineffectually before running to get someone else to help. Catching sight of Lucien, she quickly enlisted her help. By the time she returned he was conscious, but complaining of a splitting head. They hurried him into Lucien's home; seeing that there was no one there, and that Eldon had brought in his strange, but obviously powerful, guests.