Place: Grimtol Stronghold
Upon arriving at the Grimtol Stronghold; Peter realised he had not asked the stranger his name.
What do I call you? Peter asked
Am Cyrus, the stranger replies, They seem to be moving well together
The slaves passed through the first gate of the stronghold, There and then they meet the king and his daughter Eritrea, They both rode individual horses to the direction of the slaves.
Upon getting close the king starts to give a speech, Silence covered the surroundings as everyone payed attention,
The King Gomah :
You all have been abducted from your homes, brought in to my household, You are here to fulfill my will, I am King and you'll do as I say!
That being said you all already know of the situation at hand, The Salem is dying...
He points towards a huge tree at the other side of the vast compound,
The crowd are in shock,
They began to mutter.
As you all know as long as the Salem Tree stands, The barrier holding the demons at the spirit realm stands firm.
As each leaf leaves the tree each demon is being released from the barrier, Those demon must be found and executed,
Unless they'll form an army and it'll be impossible for us to deal with!
Our Ancestors using the magic of the Ancient Healer, a druid, was able to create this tree, Connecting each demon to a single leaf, The demons were locked away at the spirit realm also known as the forbidden realm.
The tree has stood tall for hundreds of years,
I didn't believe in such old legend, until I encountered a demon myself...
It'll be hard to deal with demons of such as a human, that's why I assembled all of you!
You all are shinjin and are capable of such a mission,
My daughter, The princess Eritrea will stand as the general as she leads all of you into battle.
Anyone who has something to say now should speak up!
The Entire crowd went silent,
Then a man shouted at the top of his voice:
And You expect us to believe all this?
Even if they're true, you expect us to risk our lives?
The King replies :
That's why my daughter will be leading this party to dispatch all demons, and she's only human the only thing she has is her skill unlike you who have special abilities to protect yourself.
A lady raised her hands, I want out she said. I can't do this
The King nodded to a guard, who went towards the woman and strikes her chest with a silver sword.
Blood gushes out as she slumps to the ground,
Anyone else has something to say? The King replies
Peter who has been quiet all this while, raises up his hands, and says: So you sent your men to my territory, killed everyone I ever knew just so we could help you?
Especially on something that affects the whole state? Why not ask instead?
Peter shouted at the top of his voice!
The King slowly climbs down from his horse, the guards helps him.
What if we were to protest right now, we're stronger we have abilities we could destroy everyone and everything and walk away like nothing happened.
The King walks majestically to him, then says:
I know you won't, I have your sisters, and your dad?, He's within my reach.
You'll do as I say!
Peter gaze on the king gets stronger and meaner
a wrong move from you and they're gone.
Says the king
HE faces the crowd and says to them:
That applies to all of you I have every single person that you all cherish, you mess up and they're all gone!
He faces the guards in charge of the slaves and says
Get them to there cells, they will eventually earn there freedom and trust!
The Princess Eritrea takes a deep look at Peter,
She feels for him, knowing what he had lost, she also feels for everyone but for Peter? it's deep
She thinks to herself how badly her dad has changed, he is not the man she once knew,
She could have sworn that my dad will never do this!
Something is terribly wrong....
She then says: I'll see to the slaves, they're in my care
Do whatever you want
says The King as he gets back on his horse and gallops away.
There are three walls before the main palace building.
Wall Maria, the first outer wall of the stronghold
Wall cemel the middle wall
Wall port the last wall before the main building
Each wall has a significant past, and a reason for there names.
The soldiers/guards are giving new cloths to the slaves as well as taking the old ones away from them.
Cyrus walks over to Peter,
You have guts I'll give you that, for someone who has lost alot you are unusually calm..
Peter says to him:
If am to be honest I don't know anymore, I really do miss them and I have a strong need for revenge, but at the same time I feel at peace.....
AT THE DEMISE OF YOUR LOVED ONES?
Cyrus curiously asks
Peter looks down,
I don't even know anymore, it's not like I don't miss them or I don't feel for them, it's just that everything feels so so..... Peaceful right now. Peter says to him
Are you insane? Weren't you like in shock and pain some while ago?, you're not normal I'll give you that, or could it be your Ability?
I don't really know about my ability, but you could be right. Peter answered....what about yours what are your abilities?
Cyrus answers
Well, it's complicated, but let's just say I switch objects or people with other objects or people.
That's actually Overpowered, if used wisely
Peter replies
But you know what, THE KING WAS ABLE TO ABDUCT US, ONLY BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE SOLDIER OF HIS WORE SILVER...
It drains us,
A guard approaches them and hands a cloth to both peter and cyrus, upon handing them The clothes he sees the Limiters at Peter's arms and says: You're one of them aren't you?
Peter doesn't reply he walks past him while telling Cyrus, the draw backs of our abilities are more than the advantages.
I feel like it's also a curse, Salt weakens us, so does silver and crimson chalks, they could be more out there that we even don't know about....
Cyrus nods in agreement
So tell me about this limiters you got on you..
That's definitely a story for another day, they both walk into there cells,
As they do, Peter thinks to himself, the king doesn't want me dead, matter of fact he wants me alive, I can use that to my advantage...
The cell is a large room with gate for doors,
Three persons stays in a room so the entire cell building could contain as much slaves as it can.
Cyrus and Peter coincidently happen to be in the same cell, with another older man who they never knew what his name was.
So what now for us?
Cyrus says to thinks to himself aloud
Peter replies: We will be tested, on our feats such as strength, speed, smartness and durability.
We might probably face off against ourselves, the best will continue the mission, the weak will be put down
You're partially right,But how can you predict so far ahead, if nothing of such happens you would look so stupid you know?
Says Cyrus.
Am good at predicting so yeah that's likely what will happen, Even if I end up killing demons for this Kingdom, My main objective is to get my siblings and my Dad.
What are you plans Cyrus? What's your story?
Peter askes
As Cyrus was about to speak the Princess walks in.
Behind her are maids about three to four of them serving preparing to serve the people in the cells.
I want a private audience with YOU, she points directly at Peter.
Peter gets up and walks towards the gate, the guards did the opening, she put peter on chains and takes him out.
As they walk out she apologizes for the king's behaviour so far, Peter says nothing He just stares at her.
That aside I have once met someone like you Peter, I know your strength I know what you can do,
You will be leading a four man squad to Cullington in two days time, there's been demon sightings there, you'd go there investigate and executive any demon involved.
We will do some training at first light tomorrow so you and your squad can get to know each other well
Find out who you want to pick and make your decision as soon as you can.
What if I don't come back?
Peter asked.
Then your sisters would pay the price, Eritrea answered.
So you're just like your father after all,
Peter says to her.
She hands him over to a guard, Then say's:
I am nothing like my Father, he's not the same person I knew.
Peter thinks on his way back to his cell, Cyrus is definitely in my team, but who else do I pick, he says to himself.