It was many years since lucas story and legend has ended, his sons and daughters continued his legacy, each step of his was followed by his offsprings.
Meanwhile from a far away lands...
There was a female slave named Mariah, she has spent her living days in the cage waiting for someone to buy her. Then, a silver haired man with a armor comes inside the slave market to purchase. His cold eyes roamed and walks around to see something that will caught his eye.
Mariah was a fearful and bashful person, she hides her face. Yet, the man stared at her and walks closed to her cage. The slave owner said that Mariah is incapable of being a battle slave and suggested to pick better. The man orders the slave owner to open the cage so he can look closely.
As the cage was opened, the man gets inside with Mariah. The man squats down and caresses her chin to look up at him. He sees a pure, afraid and nervous eyes, expected from a young, innocent, gentle slave girl. He also noticed she's malnourished, a small gentle smile escapes from the man.
Before the man heads to the slave shop and met Mariah...
He was ordered by their father king to get the girl based on the prophecy. The prophecy was told by a witch, this girl is innocent and weak, soon, she will be ruthless and cold, making the kingdom of aria strong and dominant once more. The father king only stood and listened quietly, he turns his back and walks away with his assistant like he had no interest. Yet, the father king orders the man, lohuyo, to get the a innocent girl in the slaves shop.
Lohuyo scatters the land to find the innocent girl while being followed by a talking crow as his communication from the kingdom. The crow spoked, saying "Great news that has come for you, master lohuyo, the girl also has a birth mark on her chin, the father king said, based on listening to the witch."
Lohuyo then continued to roam the land to look for the slave girl with his army. Day and night, tirelessly yet determined doing it for their king. From all the hardships they faced and the patience they gave. Lohuyo found the girl and that girl is Mariah, who has a birth mark on her chin. This is the reason why lohuyo caresses her chin and raises it up gently. Lohuyo then snaps his fingers, one of his men gave the slave owner a sack of gold.
Lohuyo withdraw his sword and cuts off her chains before carrying her out gently. The slave owner is confused and thankful at the same time. The soldiers stripped off her clothes and cleans her up using a barrel of water and rubbed her with a clothing, then she was wrapped with blanket. After being cleaned up she was put Infront of lohuyo while riding the same horse and going back to the kingdom. The father king wasn't impatient and gave so much time for lohuyo to find her. He feels their presence getting closer, as he sits on his throne patiently.
After a long way, they arrived the kingdom of northaveron, a aggressive and honorable kingdom, known for their ruthless conquering, where no matter what talent is admired and respected with different races. Lohuyo carries her off the horse when they arrived at the gates, Mariah sees dark elves, orcs and dwarves in the kingdom. The witch greets them politely and stares at Mariah with a grin. The witch claims that Mariah is the right person, then she leans close to her ears and whispers-
"You're life...you won't live in a princess way, no days will be gentle for you, everything will be hard, many hardships to prove your worth, this life is much more less painful than being a slave living in a dungeon."
Mariah looks up at her with fear, she also felt shivers down her spine. The guards grabbed Mariah's arms and drags her near a blacksmith. The blacksmith sees them coming, he then pulls out a heated up symbol made of iron. Mariah notices what will about to happen, she squirms violently and cries loudly. Lohuyo was on his horse watching the scene. They holded down Mariah as the heated symbol touches her bare skin, marking her with the northaveron symbol. After letting go off her, lohuyo squats down and checks on Mariah. Mariah hugs lohuyo and begs for him not to leave her. Lohuyo pats her back and gives her an assuring smile.
"I won't, Mariah, I won't."
Days have gone, Mariah was surely feed efficiently after her training. She was firstly taught how to wield a sword and swing. Her training wasn't simple since her mentors doesn't give her any gentleness on her traing. Everyday she suffers mentally and physically, always waking up with the other new recruits. In the camp, they couldn't avoid riots, fighting each other, even Mariah's considerate heart wasn't welcomed. She was punched on the face for interrupting, causing her to lose a teeth. She felt anger for the first time, she have thoughts about hitting back, so she did. She throws a sucker punch to the girl. The other was furious and charges towards Mariah. Mariah and the girl grabbed each other's hair and throwing punches.
Lohuyo and the others stopped them, they were taken somewhere after the scene. Mariah was locked in a cage and lohuyo visited her. He was holding a whip while staring at Mariah. He leans closer to her ears and spoke softly-
"I'm sorry little one..."
The guards dragged her and ties her up. Her back was exposed and beside her was the girl from before. She stares at her with confusion and they were both whipped mercilessly by some soldier. Lohuyo leaves the place since he doesn't want to hear Mariah's screams. There was a part that he wanted to let her punishment slide but the rules must be followed.
Months later...
Mariah loses her fragile and soft body, replaced with scars and muscles. She was sparring with lohuyo with a sword. Lohuyo always take advantage from reminding her past to make her angry and sloppy. He scolds her and always reminds her to focus, if not, she will take a painful hit from his wooden sword. Mariah was aggressive like an animal, always trying hard and bold, making her respected by lohuyo but not the others. Meanwhile, the witch was in her lab, always monitoring the future ffrom meditating. She saw the future about someone dying and helping the father king to strive the kingdom. She laughs hysterically and decides to keep this news by herself.
After a hard training for Mariah, she became a warrior of northaveron. Claiming lands while covering it with blood from those who refuses. She always follows orders especially lohuyo. Yet, sometimes lohuyo assign her to do simple things, patrolling and guarding, Mariah has no right to complain. In the battlefield, Mariah was strucked by an arrow on her shoulder. She pulls it out casually without reaction, showing how used she is from training to war. From lohuyo's tactics, they've won many lands with violence and dominance.
While in their breaks, Mariah chases lohuyo and shouts at him, telling lohuyo about when she will fight alongside him. Lohuyo spokes calmly and said to her-
"Work harder, Mariah, you'll be there beside me soon."
Mariah lights up with joy and spoked at him enthusiastically-
"Promised!, I promised to work hard and fight alongside you!, also achieving our dreams for the kingdom!"
Lohuyo smiles softly and nods at her before walking away.
When they got back to the kingdom, lohuyo showed five flags of kingdoms that had been conquered. The father king remained on his throne and nods, lohuyo bows down before leaving. Meanwhile, Mariah was busy carrying supplies for their next attack. She was bumped by the girl again that she had a fight with. She introduces herself, named kyline, she came from an orphanage and treated poorly and abused. Mariah said to her maybe that's the reason why kyline is a rude bitch. Kyline laughs at her, clearly taking her insults as a satire.
Mariah praises kyline from her archery skills, kyline also praises her for being aggressive and smart at battle at the same time. They were still talking until they were interrupted by a shouts. Lohuyo shouts at the soldiers, telling them to prepare. Lohuyo and his soldier are looking at the telescope, seeing smoke signals all over. It was their comrades being ambushed, the army hurries and rode their horses. Mariah and kyline split ways, focused on joining in action.
As the soldiers head to the woods, they were greeted by raining arrows. It was the sofina race, half breed creatures with dog and cat ears. The sofina were feral and fast, killing everyone who was just approaching the woods. Some soldier's set fire on the trees while some of them kept them busy. Some of the sofina generals sneaked inside the castle, killing off guards to make their way to the father king.
The father king was staring at his window bluntly. He hears a knock on his wooden door, instead of opening it, he blasted it with his red flames. The sofina who were waiting behind the door gets burned alive quickly. The sofina then uses wind magic to take out the flames. The father king was already behind them, he cuts off the head one of the sofina intruder. The leader then hisses and fights back with his group, giving everything they can just to kill him.
"In this kingdom, I'm the weaker side, even though I am the king, I am not that strong, but what made me dangerous is...all of you are too dumb to step in one area."
The father king already set a paralyzing trap spell on the ground that they're also stepping. Once they were electricuted and paralyzed, the father king burned them alive. As the sofina knew that their plan failed, they quickly retreated and escaped. Mariah was sitting on the bodies she just killed, 12 dead bodies that she made. She was tired and wounded but lohuyo orders a mage to heal her up. Lohuyo gaves her a soft smile before running back with his horse to report the ambushed.
In the kings halls, lohuyo was shocked that how even the enemy got inside. The father king softly replied-
"Someone let them inside, someone here in this kingdom is a traitor."
The father king gave a side eye towards his second commander, named vauws. Vauws is much more high ranked than lohuyo but vauws seemed suspicious to the father king. The king threatens the people who's inside the meeting. Then, the father king changed topic and talks about the army and offenses. Back in the camp, Mariah and kyline were having a conversation about the father king. Kyline said to Mariah that she saw the father king's face by accident. The father king was walking outside the castle with his assistant. When the father king was being angry from losing many men and lands, he ripped off his masked and reveals himself as a young, good looking man, Mariah has a hard time believing her because kyline didn't explain how did she get inside.
After sometime, lohuyo visits mariah to check on her, he talks about how's her day going and is she doing fine. Mariah smiles and enthusiastically said yes to him. Lohuyo smiles genuinely and tells her to come closer, after she walks towards him, he hands her a necklace. Mariah jumps in joy and excitement, forgetting she's a warrior for a moment. Lohuyo then insists to put the necklace on her so he puts it on her gently.
Mariah looks back at him with a joyful and grateful smiles.
"Thank you, father lohuyo!, for being my father figure and taking care of me!"
Lohuyo tears up and laughs softly, also embarrassed from her words. He wipes his tears and excuses her that he needs to get going. Mariah nods happily and waves her hand goodbye to him.
One day, the northaveron army attacks the west. Clearing and conquering every land with their unstoppable power. But as the war continues tirelessly, Mariah and her comrades had a hard time. They started losing numbers that made them overwhelmed. Also the west is a forest lands, so the woodland elves used it against them, ambushing and setting traps.
In their final war against the west, Mariah and kyline were fighting off the elves. It was hard to fight in the thick smoke made by them, setting fire on the woods to destroy the place. But Kyline and Mariah had their backs together and defends each other from the attacks. They soon faced the elf king, who's riding a deer. The deer charges towards them but they quickly evade the attack but it seperated them. The elf king gets down from his deer and attacks on Mariah, kyline gets a clear aim but the arrow was only slashed by the elf king. The elf king was fast and agile, wounding Mariah many times. After Mariah was taken down from the elf king wounding her ankle, he now attacks kyline. Kyline only dodges and she knows she's weak in close battle. He distance herself yet the elf king is to fast and doesn't give her space.
Mariah forces herself to stand and limps towards the two. In the thick smoke, she sees kyline on her knees and coughing blood. Her neck was sliced open by the elf king, this made Mariah trigger her rage, her closes friend dying right Infront of her. Her injuries was forgotten and she moves violently and her swings of her sword has murder intentions. She overpowered the elf king but her right arm was cut off with a sneaky move from the elf king. Then the airstrike of fireballs arrived, wiping out every remaining elf and also friendly fire from their comrades. Mariah and the elf king were hit, causing them to flew away.
The elf king coughs and stands up and plans to escape. His cape was pulled by Mariah, losing one arm and bleeding, half of her face was burned but her eyes was filled with determination and murderous intent. She headbutts the elf king, causing him to stumble. She follows up with a punch to his throat. Then she picks up a nearby axe and whacks the elf king's face, killing him surely. But Mariah didn't stopped. She straddles on the dead body and continues bashing the elf king's face until the sun came up. She was stopped by lohuyo and tells her that it's over and they won the west part. She then loses consciousness from lohuyo's arms.
Three days have passed, Mariah wakes up with a prosthetic alloy arm and her half face was healed up but leaves a huge burned scar. She rises up and sits on the edge of the bed enduring the headache. She soon leaves the tent and the first thing she sees is lohuyo. Lohuyo looks at her with relieve and a bit of concern.
"Mariah!, how're you feeling?!"
Mariah embraces lohuyo and asked him where is kylines body. Lohuyo leads her to the graves, seeing the cross made of sticks and kylines stuff was on the ground. Mariah tears up and sobs, she hugs lohuyo tightly and releases her pent up emotions by crying for the first time. The father king then visits the fallen soldiers and places flowers on the graves one by one. Everyone kneels down from the father king. The father king calls out lohuyo and whispers at him.
"vauws was the traitor, he's the reason why the back up was late and the artillery striked the soldiers, we took care of...painfully."
Lohuyo nods and understood the delay. Then lohuyo calls out Mariah, Mariah limps towards them and bows down to the father king. The father king tilts his head and looks at lohuyo in confusion.
"what is this, lohuyo?"
The father king said in a soft, slow voice.
Lohuyo proudly and loudly tells the father king that Mariah, the woman standing Infront of him, killed the elf king by herself. As a clear proof, lohuyo takes out a finger wearing a ring. It was the elf's kings finger that they only retrieved since the body was burnt. The father king stares at Mariah and commands her to raise her head up. The father orders his assistant to fetch him a oil. The assistant nods and rushes, they found a oil in a burned elf tree house and rushes down with a teleportation magic. The father king then pours Mariah's head with oil while he chants.
"Mariah, warrior of northaveron, I the father king, loves what you have proven, admired and praised your services, I, the father king promotes you to commander, taking the place, of the disappointment, traitor named vauws."
Mariah felt a huge happiness and good pride in her heart. She nods and bows down, thanking the father king for giving her the title. Lohuyo smiles proudly and he was surprised when Mariah jumps on him and hugs him tightly. Mariah stutters from trying to tell him that she got promoted. Lohuyo laughs and pats her back, embracing her back.
Mariah then honors kyline's death and it will not be in vain, also she now fights along side with lohuyo. Her prosthetic alloy arm helped her even more on attacks, breaking skulls and jaws using it. Also she gets more tough, confident at her skills and becomes a good leader. Together with lohuyo and the other generals, they were unstoppable and was synchronized to the kingdoms aggressive expansion.
Mariah then claims the defeated kingdom's flags. She shows it to the father king but the father king only turns his back on her and walks away. Mariah fuels her determination to prove her worth. She continues doing her job as one of the genarals well. Lohuyo always stares at her and smiles, he raised a good commander.
Then, years have passed, Mariah then gets frustrated and having hatred towards the father king now. She assumes that the father king only uses her for his selfish dreams. She clinched her prosthetic fist but lohuyo notices this from the very start, he holds her hand to calm her down.
"Mariah, don't let your anger make decisions towards our king, make it a fuel to prove your worth more, remember... he's just making sure if you really desert it or not."
Mariah nods and stands up, she bows her head to the father king and walks away....
Outside the castle, inside a room, Mariah punches and throws everything in rage. She shouts pouring her anger to it while slamming a chair. Lohuyo was behind her all the sudden, grabbing her arm stopping her to hurt herself. Mariah's gaze softens and hugs lohuyo and sobs.
"Don't worry...soon this will be over, you're almost there, Mariah, stay strong!"
In a battle on the mountains, lohuyo leads the army to advance and pressure the sofina army. Mariah then joins them and slaughters the sofina soldiers. She jumps off her horse and brutally makes her way towards the army. The northaveron army chants her name and gets morale boost from her presence. Then the sofina female warrior challenges Mariah to a combat. Mariah agrees and spits on the ground, the sofina warrior uses her wind magic to kill her instantly.
Mariah is used against magic users, the two have a hard fight, both were physically strong and durable. Mariah takes her down and breaks her neck but they were double crossed, arrows started raining at them and she gets hit multiple times. She then shouts in pain, lohuyo then shouts her name and runs towards her, then a dark aura surrounds her. She sees the father king's figure from the distance that made her determined as she fights. Her rage fuels her more and takes her sword and continues fighting, lohuyo was frozen and surprised seeing her like this.
"I'LL SHOW YOU!!, HOW WORTHY I AM IN YOUR KINGDOM, YOU BASTARD KING!!!"
Mariah shouts echoing against the sofina and made them scared for their life.
Each battle from conquering lands, her rage becomes more stronger in the battlefield. Lohuyo sees it as a cursed and his Mariah was slowly changing. He then tries to talk to her but she dismisses him and talks about the strategy of their next attack....
Back in their kingdom northaveron, Mariah brings seven flags of their conquered nations.
Then the father king, slowly turns away like there is no worth to what's Infront of him.
Mariah then releases her anger, punching the ground and making cracks. She tries to stand up but lohuyo grabs her shoulders. Mariah is so strong when she stood up making lohuyo lose his grip easily. Mariah then shouts at the father king.
"What is it you want?!, I sacrificed my body!, my life!, the beauty of being a female!, just for this damn kingdom!, you're just using us for your selfish dreams!, I don't feel like we're part of it!"
Mariah chases her breath and shaking from anger. The father king look back in a short time and continues walking away with his assistants. Mariah's eyes widens and she laughs softly.
"He...hehe..so that's how it is..."
Mariah looks at the father king with a dark smile and she charges with blinding sipped towards the father king. Lohuyo then captures her using his chains and pulls her back. She then cuts the chains easily with her sword. Lohuyo was then targeted by Mariah, who's filled with uncontrollable anger that made her not mind who's she's fighting. Lohuyo shouts at the father king to get to safety before lohuyo fights off Mariah.
"Mariah!!, it's me!, snap out of it!!!"
Lohuyo shouts at her while he parries her attacks. Lohuyo counters her attacks and fighting styles. He then makes up some decisions if he will end her or talk to her more. He decides to talk to her without hesitation, he then surprised Mariah from behind and hugs her tightly.
"Mariah!, it's me!, lohuyo!, your beloved father!, the man who took you!, trained you!, feed you!, mold you in this cruel world!, didn't we promised to each other that we're achieving our dreams together?!"
Mariah's rage was too overwhelming and she slams lohuyo with ease. Lohuyo stood up while being dizzy. Mariah then tackles lohuyo and breaks the window. They roll over the roof while lohuyo groans in pain. He stands up and blocks Mariah's punch painfully. It was her prosthetic alloy arm that he blocked. It sended lohuyo flying and almost fall on the roof. He clings on the edge and calls out for her to save him. Mariah's eyes were filled with rage and coldness, she stares at him coldly and turns her back.
It hurted lohuyo's heart from that stare and actions that she did. Mariah then climbs up and retrieves the sword and she searches for the father king. The father king was only sitting on his throne again. He didn't leave or find a safety place away from her. He only sits there like he's waiting for her intentionally. Mariah then charges at the father king, the assistants tries to stop her with teleportation magic but she sliced their heads off. Lohuyo gets there in time and for the last time, he defends the father king. Lohuyo spins around and so does mariah...
Blood splatters on the ground, lohuyo's eyes widens and shakes. Seeing his guts are falling out of his stomach. Lohuyo collapses but Mariah's was gone when she sees what she has done. She catches him and hugs him tightly. She doesn't know what to do and she is lose in words.
"NO!...no...no...nononononono..."
Mariah tries to stop his bleeding even though it's impossible. Lohuyo looks at her with a small smile and relief that his Mariah is now back to normal. He carreses her cheek and spoke weakly.
"there... you go, that's the Mariah...I wanted to see, beautiful and adorable same as the first time I saw you..."
Mariah cries hard and kisses lohuyo's forehead and shakes him, begging him to stay alive.
"NO!!, NO!!, DONT CLOSE YOUR EYES!!, DONT LEAVE ME!!, LOHUYO!!, PAPA!!!!"
Lohuyo slowly closes his eyes, he lastly tells her with a grateful voice.
"Thank you, Mariah, for coming to my life, in this kingdom, even you're not my biological daughter... it's feel like you are my very true daughter, I love you so much, so please don't give up, promise me you'll help them strive....
Lohuyo dies on Mariah's arms, Mariah cries harder and hugs lohuyo's dead body tightly. She blames herself and will never forgive herself. But then, the father king stood up on his throne, he walks towards Mariah who's grieving. He offers his hand out for her and spoked softly.
"Come, Mariah, you have proven yourself, enough."
Mariah's dark aura surrounds her again same as the father king. Mariah smiles cruelly with tears still falling from her eyes and spoked-
"Yes, father...I'm grateful for the title you'll be giving me..."
The father king then tells her.
"You, Mariah, will be my personal right hand as I rule this kingdom, also, my strongest soldier from this kingdom."
Mariah takes the father king's hands softly as the dark aura becomes violent and bigger.
THE END...