The Chronicles Of Kei Silex
04-04-2019, 10:09 PM
All lore posts involving Kei Silex will be posted within this thread from now on.
Previous Entries;
In Remembrance
A Simple Man
Previous Entries;
In Remembrance
A Simple Man
In Deep Loss Conviction Is Found
230th day of Lakeshine, 424 ACE, Kei Silex had been handed Leadership of the former Kingdom Of Aerilon by it’s former leader. Though the new Leader had intended on renaming the nation and making changes, by Cyros, 424 ACE, Kei Silex disbanded the nation. Due to a lack of confidence that he could lead a nation with so little experience in being a leader, Kei decided to set out and travel Athera instead, aiming to learn more of the continent and it’s people.
With only his wolf companion, Jubilee, and his horse, a beautiful black mare called Black Orchid, Kei became a nomad. By this time, there were already rumblings of the Shen dealing with a revolution, and tensions were rising in the aftermath of the Yukrovian Summit. It was clear even to him, that the world on the verge of war, but Kei set out on his journey anyway, hoping such a thing wouldn’t come to pass.
But his hopes were in vain, as things only got worse when Redspire, and then Yukrovia, were captured in quick succession by the Vantian Empire.
Kei had been visiting Kimara and Takental when word got to the villages of what had occurred in Yukrovia. Kei was devastated, having visited the Northern city to complete his Holy Magic training only a couple years before, and had been the region Kei had met Jubilee. Kei hoped the people of Yukrovia were alright, particularly Templar Orgara.
Sadly, it seemed war had finally ensued, with little getting better over the next few years. Travelling became more dangerous, as in the Dunsmoor and Iron Foothills, skirmishes between the Purelakers and Vantians occurred more and more often, and the Southern region of the Plains Of An’she were seized by the Shen. Kei was particularly affected by the skirmishes in the Dunsmoor and Iron Foothills. In the year of 427 ACE, Aerilon Village was caught in the crossfire of a particular skirmish, and sadly burned to the ground, destroying everything Kei had left behind when he decided to set out on his nomadic travels.
But losing Aerilon Village was only the start of the man’s losses, as the year of 430 ACE would prove.
Kei had been traveling to The Crossing from Teleria, he, Jubilee and Black Orchid traveling at a casual pace. Though a little tired from the slow journey, Kei had been excited to visit the trading hub as it had been several months since his last visit. But the man took pause when Jubilee briefly stopped beside him and Black Orchid, fur lifting along her back and hearing her growl. Even Orchid now shifted uneasily and Kei could feel a change in the air.
Looking ahead, his eyes widened at seeing heavy smoke on the horizon.
“Oh shit!” Kei hissed under his breath, as he spurred Black Orchid into a gallop with Jubilee right beside them. By the time they arrived, it was chaos. Vantians had breached the walls and most were in battle with Crossing guards, while innocent citizens were desperately trying to flee the conflict with what little possessions they’d been able to grab. Fearing for the innocent trying to flee, Kei rode over to the point where most were fleeing from and drew his sword so he could defend them if he had too while encouraging the fleeing citizens to keep going.
Perhaps it was his calls that drew their attention, or they’d already been on their way to try and stop people from running, but a few Vantian soldiers approached with weapons drawn.
Seeing this, Kei moved into action to defend the fleeing peoples of The Crossing. Remaining on horseback, sword in one hand and shield on the other arm, Kei charged at the approaching Vantian soldiers. It seemed they hadn’t quite spotted Jubilee when Kei charged though, as the wolf suddenly out-paced Orchid at the last moment and pounced at one of the soldiers. The others were caught off guard by the sudden appearance, and Kei took the opportunity to bring his sword down in a slash on one soldier as he passed, while practically almost running over one other.
Quickly wheeling around, the one he’d slashed had fallen to the ground with blood pouring down his chest. The other two that were still standing had now regained their focus as what happened caught up to them, turning to angrily face Kei. Just to the side, Kei briefly caught a glance of Jubilee, standing over the soldier she’d pounced on, body twitching horribly as she shredded the soldier’s neck. Forcing himself not to focus on the rather horrific sight, Kei looked at the two remaining soldiers.
For a moment, it was a stand-off as no one wanted to be the first to move, before Kei finally spurred Orchid on and began charging again. The soldiers prepared themselves, readying themselves to attack, but at the very last moment Kei twisted hard on the reigns. Dust, dirt and sand were kicked up as Black Orchid turned and skidded to a halt. Spooked by Kei’s sudden action, Orchid squealed and lashed out with her hind legs, which was exactly what Kei had been hoping for as the way he’d stopped Orchid put one of the soldiers right in position to take the horse’s furious kick.
There was the sound of hooves slamming hard against armor and the sound of a man suddenly winded as the soldier was sent backwards onto the ground before pained groaning followed.
But Kei’s attention was now on the other soldier, whom had jumped back to avoid the dust and sand kicked up into the air, and was now raising his sword as he sprang forward.
Mostly to protect Orchid, Kei got the mare to shift position enough that he could use his shield to parry the incoming attack, then struck down with his own blade. The man slowly crumpled to the ground, as the sword opened a deep wound from his neck down and across to about his armpit.
After taking a brief moment, as if to make sure the man wasn’t about to get back up, Kei looked over at the soldier Orchid had kicked. He blinked in surprise. The soldier had been struggling to stand back up, one arm wrapped around his chest and clearly gasping painfully for breath. Orchid’s kick had most likely broken a few ribs. But then from behind him, a couple of citizens came running up. Perhaps emboldened by Kei’s willingness to stand his ground and protect them from the soldiers, or maybe they simply wanted to get in on the action.
Either way, one cracked the pole of the pitchfork they were carrying across the back of the solder’s head, and the man tumbled back down to the ground and remained still this time.
Kei had been about to nod his head in appreciation to the men, but a horrid cry from behind him made his heart freeze and he twisted his body around despite fearing what he’d see.
Another Vantian soldier had been running over in Kei’s direction, aiming to take down the foolish man who dared get involved and kill his fellow soldiers. But as he neared, Jubilee had seen him and charged at him, pouncing with bloodied jaws aimed at his neck. Though her jaws had found their mark, the man had managed to raise his sword and the blade pierced through her body as they both toppled to the ground in a heap.
“Jubi!!” Kei yelled in distress, quickly and smoothly dismounting from Orchid and running over. The soldier wasn’t quite dead yet, but Jubilee had managed to tear out a sizable chunk of his neck, so all he could do was gurgle on the ground as his life slipped away from him.
Jubilee laid beside him, still alive with the goldblade thrust straight through her abdomen. Kneeling beside her, Kei had begun reaching for the blade purely out of instinct before he abruptly yanked his hand back as if he’d touched something hot. No, if he dared remove the blade, she would surely die in minutes and there was little chance he would let her die here. But her pains whines with every pant had his chest clenching, almost as if he was being stabbed in the heart repeatedly.
A hand on his shoulder brought his attention from his dearest companion, glancing up at the man with the pitchfork. The look on his face was sympathetic, yet urgent. “We can’t stick around.” He said with a frown.
Kei knew the man was only trying to look for them, but small it of anger boiled deep down and he responded in a strained voice as he tried to keep his roiling emotions from breaking through.
“I will not leave her here.”
Then he sheathed his sword (he would clean it later) and moved as if to try and pick Jubilee up. But that was a difficult task, as he had to pick her up in a way that didn’t shift the blade too much. Just by him, the man with the pitchfork said something he didn’t bother to try and hear, then felt himself being pulled back slightly by the man as his friend came over to join them.
“Get to your horse, friend. We’ll carry her.” The man said, before he and the other man moved to kneel on opposite ends of the light grey wolf. Kei eyed them both briefly, almost as if conflicted on whether to let them. As he watched though, he could see they were truly trying to help. The other man had brought a pickaxe with him as a makeshift weapon, but now like his friend, they slid the shafts of their tools under the wolf and as they lifted wrapped their arms under the shafts, giving them a stable way to carry the injured canine between them.
Kei stood up with them, watching them for a few seconds just to be sure they would be okay before he quickly looked around them.
It seemed they’d gotten lucky, as no other soldiers came to stop them. Obviously now was their chance to get away without challenge, so Kei quickly jogged back over to Orchid and lifted himself back onto the saddle. Keeping himself between the chaos still occurring within The Crossing and the two men carrying Jubilee, Kei followed them back the way he had come.
It felt like it took forever for them to catch up with everyone that had fled, at least, it did to Kei.
A fair way from The Crossing, they had caught up to a few stragglers; the man with the pitchfork’s family as it turned out whom had lagged behind for a short while to wait for him. Kei couldn’t help but admire them for taking such a risk, but it was only for a moment as his worry for Jubilee returned.
Thankfully, the family had a small cart attached to a horse. It was mostly full of what few things they’d managed to grab before fleeing, but there was just enough room towards the back to settle a dying wolf. Which is exactly what the men did, making sure they were careful so they didn’t irk Jubilee too much. The man with the pitchfork settled on the back with her to make sure she didn’t fall out, while the other went to the front and started pulling the horse along.
Kei followed behind, partly to keep an eye on Jubilee and partly to protect the rear, not that it was entirely needed as no Vantians came after them. So eventually Kei kept all his attention on Jubilee, getting deeply anxious as he could see his dearest companion was fighting to stay alive but was slowly fading.
When they all finally caught up to all the others that had fled, taking a much needed rest though the air was thick with anxiety and fear, Kei was only slightly relieved. His relief was more for the fact that no one had dropped on the journey, but clearly there were a few injured amongst the people.
A few rushed forward to greet the stragglers and make sure they were okay, with Kei getting some curious yet grateful looks for his actions back at The Crossing. A part of him wished he could acknowledge the looks better, but all his focus was on his dying friend as he got off Orchid and walked up to the back of the cart.
His hands shook as he gently began petting between Jubilee’s ears, and it killed him a little inside as Jubilee almost seemed to sigh in relief at the familiar touch.
“Easy sweet lass. We’re safe now.” Kei said quietly, paying no attention to whatever was happening around him now. And it seemed they were being left alone to have this moment.
He saw her tail give one weak wag and he let a shuddering sigh leave him as he fought to keep himself from breaking. Not now. Continuing to pet her head, he lowered his own down closer to hers.
“You’ve done good, girl. I’m so proud of you.” Kei whispered, knowing Jubilee could hear him. “You can rest now, luv. Get some well deserved rest.”
He shut his mouth tightly and lifted his head back up a bit, fearing if he kept going he’d lose it. He did give the wolf a soft smile though, and after weakly leaning her head against his hand, she gave a final soft sigh, and was gone.
Fingers curling tightly into her fur, Kei’s head dropped down against Jubilee’s neck and the floodgates finally broke as tears rolled unbidden down his face. He really had no idea how long he cried into her fur, but eventually he finally lifted himself back up and tried to calm down enough to start thinking of what to do next.
So when a small rag suddenly appeared in front of him, he started a bit and looked up to see Commander Olmstead by his side. Sighing softly, Kei gratefully took the rag and dried his face of tears, even taking a moment to lower his eye-patch to wipe at both of his eyes before trying to dry the eye-patch a bit as well. Only when he blew his nose afterwards did he offer the rag back to the Commander, but Olmstead just raised a hand and shook his head. Giving the man a one-eyed ‘you sure?’ look, Kei just stuffed the rag in a pocket of his jacket and lifted his eye-patch back over his left eye. It was a bit uncomfortable, as the underside was still a bit damp from his tears, but he’d just have to deal with it.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Silex.” The Commander said quietly, glancing at the wolf before them.
Kei nodded in thanks, not quite willing to trust his voice yet. Since he’d been a regular visitor at The Crossing back when he’d lived in Aerilon Village, he gotten to know some of the people quite well. Particularly Commander Olmstead. Kei would give what reports he could of any occurrences he saw around Aerilon Village, though that eventually became rarer when he decided to become a nomad.
“Have to admit, I didn’t expect to see you come to our aid. You have my deepest gratitude for that.” He continued, briefly glancing behind him in the direction of The Crossing, where smoke could still be seen rising into the sky far on the horizon.
Kei let out a soft huff, and gave a small, if sad, half-smile. “I didn’t expect to come upon ya’ll being attacked.” He gently retorted, then sighed and lightly shook his head. “What else could I do? Like hell was I just going to stand there and watch innocent people be attacked like that.”
He had done what had felt right. That was all. If he had the chance it do it over again, he wouldn’t change what happened. Commander Olmstead gave him a look, but said nothing as his gaze went back to Jubilee. After a moment, he finally ventured to ask, “What will you do now?”
Kei frowned, looking down at the lifeless form, then sighed and straightened. “Help me lift her off.”
With Commander Olmstead’s help, they lifted Jubilee off the small cart and onto the ground, where kneeling down beside her Kei finally removed the goldblade from her body and threw it aside with a small scowl. He had to think for a moment after that, then looked over at Black Orchid calmly nibbling at the grass nearby and clicked his tongue a few times at her. Her head lifted and ears turned towards him, before the black mare walked over.
Commander Olmstead watched as Kei stood and went over to the packs tied to the saddle, and pulled out a rolled up blanket. He seemed to realise what Kei was going to do and took a step forward.
“Wait, I could ask if anyo-”
Kei held up a hand and shook his head. “No. Your people have already lost enough. All they have is what they managed to grab, if anything at all. I won’t take anything more from them that the Vantians haven’t.”
Commander Olmstead frowned, but relented, as he did have a point. So he watched as Kei knelt back down beside the lifeless wolf. The blanket wasn’t quite big enough to wrap her entire body, but it was enough to wrap around her middle and Kei was fine with that. He just wanted to wrap the wounds as best he could to keep them from bleeding out anymore than they had already.
Once he was done, he stood for a moment to check it. It seemed good enough for what he intended, then he glanced at the cart and cringed a little at seeing the slight pools of blood staining the wood where Jubilee had laid.
“Shit, I should apologise for that.”
Olmstead raised a brow and looked at the cart, seeing the blood and shaking his head. “I doubt they’ll mind, Silex.” He replied. Of course, the stain would be impossible to get out of the wood, but compared to what they’d all just gone through, a bit of blood was hardly anything to worry about. Kei looked unconvinced, but also looked too mentally exhausted to argue. Looking around, he couldn’t even see where the family was, and a part of him did want to thank the man who’d had the pitchfork for his help.
At the same time though, he couldn’t stay for too long. He needed to do what he intended for Jubilee before her body started decomposing.
“Well, please apologise to them for me, and please thank the man and his friend for coming back to help me. That was a big risk for them.” Kei said, before he knelt back down by Jubilee.
Olmstead blinked and watched as Kei picked the dead wolf’s body up. “You’re leaving? Shouldn’t you rest first, Silex?” He questioned in concern. The man surely hadn’t had a chance to rest at all since that morning, nor ate anything.
“Sorry Commander, but I’m afraid I have to do this. I won’t be able to properly rest until I’ve buried her. And I won’t bury her here.” Kei replied, moving over to Black Orchid and lifting Jubilee’s body up to rest her over Orchid’s shoulders, right in front of the saddle. He’d be able to make sure she didn’t fall off once he started riding.
Commander Olmstead frowned, wanting to stop Kei from leaving, at least until he’d had some food and a bit of rest. But he had a feeling Kei would fight him on it no matter what.
“Where will you go then?” He asked.
Kei lifted himself into the saddle and looked down at the Commander with a small smile. “Home.” Kei answered simply, before turning Black Orchid in the direction of The Crossing again. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to go around a fair distance so I don't get attacked.” He called over his shoulder, as Black Orchid began walking away with Commander Olmstead silently watching as they left.
It took a few days longer than Kei would’ve liked, but to avoid The Crossing as best as possible it had to be done as Kei kept more than a reasonable distance from the former Purelaker settlement. He was sure the Vantian soldiers there wouldn't soon forget he killed their men.
By the time he finally arrived at his destination, Jubilee’s body was smelling awful as all heck, but Kei had bared it with a forced expression. When he got there, there really wasn’t much to look at anymore.
Three years hadn’t done much to change the burnt down village once known as Aerilon Village, their former home. Small parts of burnt structures still stood; a wall here, a partition there, a lone log post. Most of it was collapsed and resembled nothing of the lovely buildings that had once stood here. Kei could think of no other place. He had considered taking Jubilee’s body back north, to bury her in the region he’d found her in. But that journey would’ve taken much longer, and he could only just bare the smell anymore.
Riding up to where the backyard of the former Lord’s house, Kei stopped and dismounted before carefully lifting Jubilee’s rotting body off of Black Orchid. Laying her on the ground, he then went to the saddle packs and pulled out a shovel.
Hours later, Kei was getting back on Black Orchid, looking a bit filthy but less strained and a little more relieved than he’d looked since leaving Commander Olmstead and The Crossing citizens. He glanced over at the freshly dug grave, the flattest chunk of rock he could find at the head. Crudely carved into the face of it was ‘Jubilee’. He would’ve put more, but just carving her name had been exhausting enough. So her name would simply have to do.
After a moment, he sighed. “Farewell, my dearest friend. Rest in peace.” He spoke softly, then turned Black Orchid and started riding back the way he had come.
Now, he had to think of what to do now, and he’d already been starting to figure that out on the way to Aerilon. Witnessing the attack on The Crossing and the citizens fleeing for their lives had stirred something in him. His main thought was where could those citizens possibly go now? Their safest bet, of course, was Telaria. But Telaria only had so much space, there couldn’t possibly be enough for all those homeless people. And beyond Telaria? There were so few other places they could go without being persecuted.
There needed to be more safe places for people like them. For if this war continued as it was, the people of The Crossing wouldn’t be the last to be left homeless due to the war, and there were fewer and fewer safe places left.
Tightening his grip on the reigns, Kei’s eyes narrowed as he finally seemed to come to a conclusion. He had done enough traveling, and learned enough. He might not have been ready back then, but now he had to do something whether he was ready or not. He would do what he could to build a safe place from war, for all people of Athera that had no where else to go. It was going to take time, of course. And a lot of hard work, sweat and tears. But for the sake for those who just wished to live in peace and without fear of war, he would do it. He couldn't just be a simple man anymore.
He would finally step up as a Leader and start the Zalkeor nation.
((Hnn, hopefully it was okay to involve the Vantian's attack on The Crossing, and Kei interacting with Commander Olmstead (I hope I wrote him okay). I didn't go into any details of the attack since I've really nooo idea how the attack really happens, so I more focused on those escaping as Kei would defend them rather than join the major conflict.))
