"Young lord Kit do you know the legend of the turtle?" Asked Madanne Irene.
Kit obviously interested in another of the Madanne's tales, replied;
"No, I don't think so?"
"Well let me tell you of the legend of the turtle."
Kit leaned in closer, throwing the geography lessons out his head.
Seth sat closer showing visible interest in one of the Madanne's tales.
"At the earlier stages of the Great war of angels, the Casian empire conquered vast Leagues of land and many territories and cities fell under the power of the empire.
Stephos was slain and the war would have come to an end easily in the empire's victory.
If not for one man, or demon as the texts would call him.
You see, the city libias was the last city in the Northern continent to be annexed. "
"You mean libias, the capital of the Neduian Republic?" Asked Seth.
"Yes child.
Libias was the only Neduian city left, and down in the southwestern continent the entire Holy state of the Lo had been annexed.
If libias fell then we had won the war.
But a champion known as the Turtle appeared
He and his battalion held back three brigades.
Till he alone was left standing.
Even then he continued to protect the city and time passed.
This gave hope to his allies and soon enough the tide of battle started to flow in his favor.
Resistance built up in the newly annexed states and cities, and our might diminished at an alarming rate.
Agrippo sent his champions one after the other.
Even his immortal champions fell to the legendary Turtle knight.
The Turtle Knight, whose real name was lost in the annals of history, a humble peasant with an extraordinary destiny. Clad in a weathered suit of armor adorned with the scars of countless battles, his helmet concealed his face, adding an air of mystery to his persona.
His armor, though worn, was rumored to boast an intricate design reflecting the resilience of its wearer. The Turtle Knight wielded a massive shield, and a sturdy silver broadsword.
His bearing was stoic and deliberate, embodying the patience that defined his unique combat style. In the midst of battle, he moved with deliberate slowness, earning him the moniker "Turtle." His signature move, the Turtle Dance, was an artful display of unshakable defense, allowing him to parry even the most ferocious attacks.
The Casian empire weakened
And was inevitably pushed back.
Till the Emperor, Agrippa the serpent came to destroy the turtle knight.
It was recorded in the scriptures
The fight was unlike anything ever witnessed
The emperor a demi god in all his beautiful fury
And The turtle a demon clad in a man's skin
Like a harbinger of revenge.
Armoured with conviction and ghostly silver
In the end, it was the man who played god that felled the great serpent
But the glorious battle ended in Agrippo's demise
The emperor was unable to accept his defeat at the hands of an unworthy mortal,so revived as a rotting demised demigod
Only to be slain a second time by the turtle.
And the Neduians, seeing their champion fell, the demi-god emperor, countered attack.
The empire lost and withered back.
At the end of the war, the turtle went mad
No one knows what happened to the turtle after "
Both boys stared at Madanne Irene with a dazed expression.
"Alright no more stories, you have more of the flaming texts to study." She snapped.
Kit didn't like studying the texts, he loved listening to Madanne's stories.
"But I love your stories." He whined.
The old woman smiled at him toothlessly. "My stories? No, my little lord, not mine. The stories are, before me and after me, before you too." She was a very ugly old woman, Kit thought spitefully; shrunken and wrinkled, almost blind, with only a few wisps of fading red hair remaining, the rest were snow white. No one really knew how old she was, but his father said she'd been his tutor even when he was a little boy. She was the oldest person in Mytirk for certain.
In all honesty he sometimes believed she was immortal.
Irene had been given as one of many gifts The flaming emperor gave Grandad.
Apparently Grandad had led a battalion to victory against some rebels in the red war around 80 years ago and was raised to lordship.
Irene was given as a gift, a tutor for his children or was it as a concubine?
Sometimes Irene told it one way and sometimes another.
It has been a week since they set out from Mytirk to the capital Agyes, with a host of a hundred fighting men and 10 knights and 15 squires, not counting the servants and slaves.
Lord father left their uncle Harr in charge of Forte Mytirk and his territory.
The days have been monotonous, in the light of day they travelled through the road while at night they set up camps and tents.
Kit, Mother and Meer would sit in the large carriage in the middle of the procession. Father was at the head of the procession riding Parr, his favourite horse. Sometimes he would come to rest in the carriage.
Seth rode his horse Dania by the day, he preferred staying away from the carriage and liked mingling with Herkins, Tomry and Casti, All children of the branch families, peasants and servants.
He smiled more with them, and was rather stiff when speaking with the main family members.
But he never mingled with the slaves, it was something he always avoided. He dreaded talking with them.
Maybe it was the fear of becoming a slave again or something deeper.
Pitrak rode his horse until he was exhausted, maybe he felt challenged that his adopted brother could ride better and longer than him.
Today the host had reached a major landmark , they had arrived at Tamine Grove.
According to Madanne Irene the grove was named after Tamin the great.
He was a man who visited these lands a hundred and fifty years ago when he got lost in a storm on his way to visit Agnekath The flame.
It was once a beautiful ash beach, but it was overrun with thieves and bandits.
While Tamin rested, the bandits snuck up on his host. Only to realize they had made a mistake.
They stole a few of the presents that Tamin planned to gift Agnekath. They only managed to escape with forty percent of their men killed and left behind injured.
But Tamin didn't stop there.
Enraged, he and his soldiers went after the bandits and slaughtered each and everyone of them like goats and fowls.
It was said the Red Ashen beach soaked so much blood that day it forever turned a deep black.
At Least that's what Madanne Irene said in one of her stories.
In another she said it was the blood of an ancient God that was fell by one of the heroes, that caused the
And when Tamin landed on the beach the blood acted as a charm that warded away bandits.
Sometimes Madanne Irene told different stories.
Most of the times they were from the age of heroes and the thousand year war against the ancient gods.
Other times it would be about empires of old with their names eroded by the passage of time.
She even had stories from the east.
One example being; Tamin the great.
Supposedly, Tamin was a great emperor and conqueror that lived 150 years ago.
Born the youngest of his siblings and in a time when his family was weak.
Tamin watched his weak father fracture the Chyn Kingdom.
Different houses fought over states and cities, And his father, Geshuwo, was powerless to stop them.
Tamin became king after his father's passing despite being the youngest.
He vowed to unite the kingdom to its full glory.
So he sought the counsel and help of The six eyes, a demi goddess.
She gave him the blessing of discernment and sight, informing him of all that concerned him.
He was almost omniscient and all knowing.
So he started his reconquest of the broken states and united the kingdom in a 34 year long war.
At the end of the war he united most of the fractured states and forced a pact from the remaining 3.
He truly was a man worthy of a legend.
By night the host rested as they were only a day's distance from Agyes.
Seth was out practicing his sword play near a large tree before noticing someone sneaking up on him.