"Hey Shad, it has been a while." were the kind words that were spoken to me when I merely passed by a local shop. In less than a second, I turned around and tried to search where the voice came from. My question was quickly answered when I noticed Walton Reynolds, an old local shop keeper standing just outside of his shop, probably trying to find customers to buy his remarkable drinks.
"Sir Walton, yes!" I immediately shouted, perhaps a bit too loud, when I saw the shop keeper looking at me. Walton has always been like a second father to me. The friendly shop keeper and my father often took a break from their usual chores, and went fishing or something. Sir Walton and my father, Alexander Mack, were good friends of each other, and he promised my father that he would keep an eye on me when my father passed away. "Have you heard any news from the east? I heard something about a lot of killings by a single man with an axe!"
Upon hearing what I said to the shopkeeper, the man was slightly suprised. His suprised expression didn't take long, but quickly regained its usual form. "Yes, Shad, I heard those rumors too. What are you going to do when he happens to come to Thet-Nirio?" Walter asked me. Sometimes I thought he could even read my mind from time to time. I always had a heart for adventure, and I even asked the two royal guards at the castle to train me in the arts of the sword. They told me I was talented, but they could do little ot help me, except sparring with me from time to time.
"I'll fight him of course!" I shouted. "He's no match for me! I was even praised by the royal guards because of my skills!" I quickly added to it. Without any doubt, Alvaro Fischer and Ramos Odom, the two royal guards, were the most skilled warriors of the island. Not that they were actually needed though. Thet-Nirio used to be the most heavily defended island of all the lands. "An axe is too slow to hit me!"
The bearded shopkeeper laughed at my ambitions. But it doesn't matter to me, he may laugh as much as he wants. He knows just as well as I do that it doesn't matter how skilled you are in combat when you are a civilian of Thet-Nirio. "I'm sure you'll fight him, Shad. As a matter of fact, I'm even sure he would be willing to fight you too. Two men with such skill cannot keep avoiding each other forever, now can they?"
"Of course not, Walton" a heavy voice suddenly spoke up while shade was falling all over me. Something was blocking out the sun. "But when that axe-bearer, decided to come here, Ramos and I am more than ready for him. It has been a while since I've had some action."
"Lord Alvaro!" I quickly spoke up when I tunred around and recognized the voice. Rumor has it that Alvaro Fischer, a royal guard, was a body guard of King Glodich once. As a matter of fact, Alvaro was taken to the Central Palace to continue his duties, but Alvaro complained about being home sick, and requested to return to Thet-Nirio.
"Shad, how often have I told you, you should call me Lord Fischer. I'll be in trouble when our King gets any word of this" the royal guard laughingly mentioned. With a quick move, Alvaro pushed some of his long black hairs out of his face. It was no secret that Alvaro hated hair cuts. He said it was too hard to adjust to the difference of tickeling. No one actually understood what he meant with it, but respected just about everything he said. Therefore, everyone's view of Alvaro has always been a tall, muscular, tanned man, with black hair of the length to his shoulders, and married to the lovely lady Angelique Valarie.
"I'm sorry, sir!" I quickly apologized. It was a habit of mine to call everyone with their first name. It is a habit that slowly developed itself when I had a part-time job in the shop of Sir Walton. Even though Thet-Nirio is quite a big city, most people know each other because it is an island. The island isn't all that big, but it is big enough to build a city and a castle on it. But when the King learned that the city could easily be evaded, he quickly requested to build another castle on a smaller island. Though Thet-Nirio is the "Royal City", as people call it, hardly ever does anyone of 'royalty' comes around. The gates of Thet-Nirio, which is the only entrace and exit in and out of the castle, haven't been opened for years either. Not that it would really matter. Except for a few small harbors, no real dockside has ever been made. Though there were plans for a dockside, when King Glodich Valentine decided that the royal castle should be build elsewhere, the plans of the dockside were canceled, and never been finished. A little unfortunate perhaps, because it also ended with us unable to leave the island under any possible options.
"Calm down, Shad. I'm sure Lord Alvaro didn't mean anything with it. Now tell me, Alvaro, what can I do for you?" The kind shopkeeper finally spoke after a short moment of silence from his side. When you look at the two men you could get the idea that they might be related to each other. Except that the shopkeeper was clearly older than the royal guard, and less muscular. But the shopkeeper's beard was similar to the one of Alvaro. Rumor had it that Waltor used to have long black hair as well, but because of his age, most of his hair is either gone, or became grey. Eitherway, it has nothing of similarity left to the hair style of Alvaro.
"Oh, yes. Nothing special this time, Waltor. Just the usual drink of Ramos and me" the royal guard answered with a little shock. Because of the short conversation with me, it made Alvaro forget about his purpose here for just a moment.
"Coming right up, Alvaro" Waltor kindly answered as he turned his back to me and entered his store to get some of the 'usual drinks' of the two royal guards.
"Tell me, Shad. How has your mother been the last few days? Is she still sick?" Alvaro kindly enquired as he bended his knees a bit, getting on the same height as me so we could look each other in the eyes. The eyes of Lord Alvaro were just as impressive as the rest of his body. His eyes showed extremely focused determination and his love towards the people of Thet-Nirio.
"My mother? She has been sick for the last couple of days, sir. There is no sign of recovery at the moment" I explained to the man. When my father passed away, Lord Alvaro was one of the few people who tried to comfort my mother in hard times. Perhaps that's because my mother, Dianna Mack, grew up with Lord Alvaro's wife, Angelique Valarie.
"She is? Oh, that's a shame. You are bringing her the right the medicine, are you?" Alvaro asked me, this time without showing much compassion. Even though my mother has been sick for a couple of days, which is nothing serious, Angelique, Alvaro's wife, has been visiting her nearly every day. I'm sure he knew about the current condition of my mother, but he probably was just searching for a random subject to talk about.
"Of course! I don't want anything to happen to mum!" I shouted to the black haired man.
"Alvaro, here it is." The shopkeeper spoke when he approached us with two bottles, filled with a liquad. I never really knew what kind of drink it was, but he never gave me, or any of my friends a sip. Even though he does when he is drinking any kind of other stuff. Some of my friends called it his 'magical drink', something that gives him magical power.
"Yes, thank you." Alvaro mentioned as he looked up to the shopkeeper. Within a second, the royal guard straightend his legs and it was clear again that the guard was still a lot taller than me. Even his arm length, which he stretched to grab the two bottles from the hands of the shopkeeper looked taller than mine. "And you, young Shad. You should come by from time to time. Ramos and I are bored sick out there!" Alvaro laughingly told me as he turned his back to me once again and started to walk to the castle again, where he left Ramos waiting.
"Um... Sir Waltor? Could you keep me updated on the action of that axe-murdering event?" I asked when taking a quick peek to the shopkeeper who stood next to me, looking at the walking royal guard, Alvaro.
"Sure. I'll ask the mages and priests to keep me in touch." Yes, it was true. Even the well-known mages and priests were familiar with the local shopkeeper of Thet-Nirio. A city, on a small island, with a large amount of once-warrior people and everyone knows each other. Isn't that what they call:
"a tiny world?"
<div align="center">---</div>
The readers of 'If, and only if' (which this is is a side story of) might be familiar with the name of 'Thet-Nirio', as it is the most important city in that world because of events that take, or took place there, which will eventually (or not) be described in this story. The "axe-bearer", has been introduced in 'If, and only if' though I don't think you can miss him in that story, I'll give him a proper introduction here too.
Note that the three champions, Kain, Dain and David, who are mentioned several times in If and only if, made their fame in Thet-Nirio.
As a little background history of Thet-Nirio. Thet-Nirio is a city build on a small island, in order to give the best protection to the king of the lands, Lord Glodich Valentine. Eventually, taken over by Lady Chelsea Valentine. But because the city was made too big, guards were afraid that the castle would have options to be evaded. The castle was (mostly) completed at Thet-Nirio, but rebuild at a central island, not too far from Thet-Nirio. The 'Central Castle' was rebuild and Thet-Nirio was ignored. Fact remains that Thet-Nirio is the most heavily defended city in the world, and completely unable to be evaded without the approval of the guards.
The castle is still being used for magical purposes, and some say that it is even heavier protected than the four royal castles, with an exception with the Central Castle, where King Glodich and Lady Chelsea are living in. Taos Levens used to live in the Central Castle as well.
'If, and only if' happens when this story (more or less) ends. Even though I'm not 100% sure, 'If, and only if' spoils a bit of this story. But then again, I never really planned to write this before I started at If and only if. Another fact is that If and only if was created when I was bored at work... and that it was a story I had to make someday.
Uhhh... I'll keep it with this for now.
-Fladian
"Sir Walton, yes!" I immediately shouted, perhaps a bit too loud, when I saw the shop keeper looking at me. Walton has always been like a second father to me. The friendly shop keeper and my father often took a break from their usual chores, and went fishing or something. Sir Walton and my father, Alexander Mack, were good friends of each other, and he promised my father that he would keep an eye on me when my father passed away. "Have you heard any news from the east? I heard something about a lot of killings by a single man with an axe!"
Upon hearing what I said to the shopkeeper, the man was slightly suprised. His suprised expression didn't take long, but quickly regained its usual form. "Yes, Shad, I heard those rumors too. What are you going to do when he happens to come to Thet-Nirio?" Walter asked me. Sometimes I thought he could even read my mind from time to time. I always had a heart for adventure, and I even asked the two royal guards at the castle to train me in the arts of the sword. They told me I was talented, but they could do little ot help me, except sparring with me from time to time.
"I'll fight him of course!" I shouted. "He's no match for me! I was even praised by the royal guards because of my skills!" I quickly added to it. Without any doubt, Alvaro Fischer and Ramos Odom, the two royal guards, were the most skilled warriors of the island. Not that they were actually needed though. Thet-Nirio used to be the most heavily defended island of all the lands. "An axe is too slow to hit me!"
The bearded shopkeeper laughed at my ambitions. But it doesn't matter to me, he may laugh as much as he wants. He knows just as well as I do that it doesn't matter how skilled you are in combat when you are a civilian of Thet-Nirio. "I'm sure you'll fight him, Shad. As a matter of fact, I'm even sure he would be willing to fight you too. Two men with such skill cannot keep avoiding each other forever, now can they?"
"Of course not, Walton" a heavy voice suddenly spoke up while shade was falling all over me. Something was blocking out the sun. "But when that axe-bearer, decided to come here, Ramos and I am more than ready for him. It has been a while since I've had some action."
"Lord Alvaro!" I quickly spoke up when I tunred around and recognized the voice. Rumor has it that Alvaro Fischer, a royal guard, was a body guard of King Glodich once. As a matter of fact, Alvaro was taken to the Central Palace to continue his duties, but Alvaro complained about being home sick, and requested to return to Thet-Nirio.
"Shad, how often have I told you, you should call me Lord Fischer. I'll be in trouble when our King gets any word of this" the royal guard laughingly mentioned. With a quick move, Alvaro pushed some of his long black hairs out of his face. It was no secret that Alvaro hated hair cuts. He said it was too hard to adjust to the difference of tickeling. No one actually understood what he meant with it, but respected just about everything he said. Therefore, everyone's view of Alvaro has always been a tall, muscular, tanned man, with black hair of the length to his shoulders, and married to the lovely lady Angelique Valarie.
"I'm sorry, sir!" I quickly apologized. It was a habit of mine to call everyone with their first name. It is a habit that slowly developed itself when I had a part-time job in the shop of Sir Walton. Even though Thet-Nirio is quite a big city, most people know each other because it is an island. The island isn't all that big, but it is big enough to build a city and a castle on it. But when the King learned that the city could easily be evaded, he quickly requested to build another castle on a smaller island. Though Thet-Nirio is the "Royal City", as people call it, hardly ever does anyone of 'royalty' comes around. The gates of Thet-Nirio, which is the only entrace and exit in and out of the castle, haven't been opened for years either. Not that it would really matter. Except for a few small harbors, no real dockside has ever been made. Though there were plans for a dockside, when King Glodich Valentine decided that the royal castle should be build elsewhere, the plans of the dockside were canceled, and never been finished. A little unfortunate perhaps, because it also ended with us unable to leave the island under any possible options.
"Calm down, Shad. I'm sure Lord Alvaro didn't mean anything with it. Now tell me, Alvaro, what can I do for you?" The kind shopkeeper finally spoke after a short moment of silence from his side. When you look at the two men you could get the idea that they might be related to each other. Except that the shopkeeper was clearly older than the royal guard, and less muscular. But the shopkeeper's beard was similar to the one of Alvaro. Rumor had it that Waltor used to have long black hair as well, but because of his age, most of his hair is either gone, or became grey. Eitherway, it has nothing of similarity left to the hair style of Alvaro.
"Oh, yes. Nothing special this time, Waltor. Just the usual drink of Ramos and me" the royal guard answered with a little shock. Because of the short conversation with me, it made Alvaro forget about his purpose here for just a moment.
"Coming right up, Alvaro" Waltor kindly answered as he turned his back to me and entered his store to get some of the 'usual drinks' of the two royal guards.
"Tell me, Shad. How has your mother been the last few days? Is she still sick?" Alvaro kindly enquired as he bended his knees a bit, getting on the same height as me so we could look each other in the eyes. The eyes of Lord Alvaro were just as impressive as the rest of his body. His eyes showed extremely focused determination and his love towards the people of Thet-Nirio.
"My mother? She has been sick for the last couple of days, sir. There is no sign of recovery at the moment" I explained to the man. When my father passed away, Lord Alvaro was one of the few people who tried to comfort my mother in hard times. Perhaps that's because my mother, Dianna Mack, grew up with Lord Alvaro's wife, Angelique Valarie.
"She is? Oh, that's a shame. You are bringing her the right the medicine, are you?" Alvaro asked me, this time without showing much compassion. Even though my mother has been sick for a couple of days, which is nothing serious, Angelique, Alvaro's wife, has been visiting her nearly every day. I'm sure he knew about the current condition of my mother, but he probably was just searching for a random subject to talk about.
"Of course! I don't want anything to happen to mum!" I shouted to the black haired man.
"Alvaro, here it is." The shopkeeper spoke when he approached us with two bottles, filled with a liquad. I never really knew what kind of drink it was, but he never gave me, or any of my friends a sip. Even though he does when he is drinking any kind of other stuff. Some of my friends called it his 'magical drink', something that gives him magical power.
"Yes, thank you." Alvaro mentioned as he looked up to the shopkeeper. Within a second, the royal guard straightend his legs and it was clear again that the guard was still a lot taller than me. Even his arm length, which he stretched to grab the two bottles from the hands of the shopkeeper looked taller than mine. "And you, young Shad. You should come by from time to time. Ramos and I are bored sick out there!" Alvaro laughingly told me as he turned his back to me once again and started to walk to the castle again, where he left Ramos waiting.
"Um... Sir Waltor? Could you keep me updated on the action of that axe-murdering event?" I asked when taking a quick peek to the shopkeeper who stood next to me, looking at the walking royal guard, Alvaro.
"Sure. I'll ask the mages and priests to keep me in touch." Yes, it was true. Even the well-known mages and priests were familiar with the local shopkeeper of Thet-Nirio. A city, on a small island, with a large amount of once-warrior people and everyone knows each other. Isn't that what they call:
"a tiny world?"
<div align="center">---</div>
The readers of 'If, and only if' (which this is is a side story of) might be familiar with the name of 'Thet-Nirio', as it is the most important city in that world because of events that take, or took place there, which will eventually (or not) be described in this story. The "axe-bearer", has been introduced in 'If, and only if' though I don't think you can miss him in that story, I'll give him a proper introduction here too.
Note that the three champions, Kain, Dain and David, who are mentioned several times in If and only if, made their fame in Thet-Nirio.
As a little background history of Thet-Nirio. Thet-Nirio is a city build on a small island, in order to give the best protection to the king of the lands, Lord Glodich Valentine. Eventually, taken over by Lady Chelsea Valentine. But because the city was made too big, guards were afraid that the castle would have options to be evaded. The castle was (mostly) completed at Thet-Nirio, but rebuild at a central island, not too far from Thet-Nirio. The 'Central Castle' was rebuild and Thet-Nirio was ignored. Fact remains that Thet-Nirio is the most heavily defended city in the world, and completely unable to be evaded without the approval of the guards.
The castle is still being used for magical purposes, and some say that it is even heavier protected than the four royal castles, with an exception with the Central Castle, where King Glodich and Lady Chelsea are living in. Taos Levens used to live in the Central Castle as well.
'If, and only if' happens when this story (more or less) ends. Even though I'm not 100% sure, 'If, and only if' spoils a bit of this story. But then again, I never really planned to write this before I started at If and only if. Another fact is that If and only if was created when I was bored at work... and that it was a story I had to make someday.
Uhhh... I'll keep it with this for now.
-Fladian
i read the first paragraph, very interesting, but so long