From a time not so long ago

The night crept in as if it didn’t want to be felt against the coldness, Harley stood and admired his work, his destruction of yet another village, a smile crept on to his pale white face as he watched the burning village, he could hear the screams of the villagers, this was just another village in his hunt for the one thing that would make him happy. He didn’t know where it was but, it screamed out to him, calling his name and he wanted it so badly that he could taste it.

Elsewhere in the city of Degil, a young apprentice blacksmith, called Dim worked his heart out to make a living for his wife Nachorue and himself, his mentor and good friend Dede worked well together, they were friends first mentor and student second. Dede was no older than Dim, he had long dark hair he tied back while he worked, but when he wasn’t working he let it down, it flowed gracefully down and over his shoulders, his eyes were dark green and were rumoured to be able to change colour though no-one could confirm this. Dim not much taller than Dede had short hair, and a beard with the sharpest blue eyes anyone could see anywhere in Degil. Together Dede and Dim had built up a reputation in the city as two of the best blacksmiths in the land of Jaffar, people from all over would come and watch them as they crafted weapons, shields; theirs truly was a craft of showmanship and team work. This was how Dim had met Nach, she had come from Rose with her father Wags, Wags was looking for a new blade and had gone to Degil to get one of the magnificent ones crafted by Dede and Dim, Rose the small village not far from Degil with a low population and not much to do was a peaceful place where everyone knew everyone else, Nach had caught Dims eye while he had been crafting with Dede, after they had shut up shop for the night Dim said to Dede, "Mate did you see that girl in the crowd?"
Dede replied "Which one there were so many my friend".
To this Dim replied "The one with the beautiful brown eyes and purple hair".
"Nope sorry bud but I didn’t, you sure you weren’t seeing things Dim??" Dede said.
"Oh you’re too funny Dede, really funny" Dim said in a disgruntled tone.
Dim went home that night and couldn’t think of anything else but the girl, all he could see was her eyes, her face, her smile, he hoped she would be there again tomorrow, she was and he asked her out, and the rest is history. The King of the Jaffar Kingdom was King Marshal who was married to his Queen, Queen Hallety, Marshal had sent some of his men to request Dede and Dim go to the Palace and talk with him the next day as it was getting late and the King had a banquet to host, and as Dede and Dim were mere lower class people they wouldn’t be able to attend.

The following day Dede and Dim went to see King Marshal and Queen Hallety, both men waited outside the Palace until they were told to enter, Solbolt the Prime minister and second in command met the men at the doors and asked them to follow him. Dede and Dim followed and were taken back by the beauty of the palace, Dim whispered to Dede "Have you ever seen anything this beautiful before in your entire life mate?”
Dede replied "Only one thing Dim, my late wife, Rangequeen, she was as beautiful as this"
"Yeah well of course Nach makes this place look dull" Dim chuckled and gave Dede a wink.
Sol turned and asked them to wait here while he went and told the King of their arrival. A few minutes later Sol returned and led the two men in. Immediately the two men bowed their heads, Hallety then spoke in her voice of an angel "Sol can you leave us be".
Sol nodded and walked out of the room. "Ok Dede, Dim, I have summoned you here because I need your help, my army needs new weapons, and I believe you two are the ones to get it done." bellowed Marshal. "You two men are the best in my kingdom and I want the best weapons for my army".
Dim looked up and replied "But Sire we are mere simple men, we don’t have much, and what we do have we cherish, what makes you think we are the best??”
Marshal looked at Dim and then Hallety spoke "Dim you and Dede are like brothers and you, you know what each other thinks, you work as a team, that’s what makes you the best blacksmiths around".
Marshal looked at Hall and smiled "That’s exactly what makes you two the best in the land and that’s why we want you, if you do this we will give you anything you want, well within reason of course"
Meanwhile in the far reaches of Takfery, Harley was plotting his next move, he had already destroyed most of the settlements in Takfery, there were only a few left, after those were gone he would begin to destroy the settlements in Jaffar, Makdoc and the paradise kingdom of Crush. The skies in Takfery were full of thunder clouds, and the once green plains were now a dark brown, as his army of orcs, goblins had marched over it so much it had turned to mud. The darkness that came from the thunder clouds had given Harley his pale white skin colour, his black hair and dark eyes made his skin look even paler, he was a short skinny man, with a heart of hatred, after his mother had been cruelly taken away after she gave birth to him, he was left to be raised by another family, that would constantly beat him and starved him. This went on until he killed them at the age of 17, the way he did it showed off a lust for blood like a werewolf, his rejoices as the warm blood of his mother ran out of her neck and onto his hands. Lifting his arm he watched in amazement as the blood ran up his arm, his mother just looked at him with a look of total disbelief, his father wounded but not dead lay watching as he turned his mother into a ragdoll. Harley looked at his father and a sinister smile cropped upon his face he approached him and his father begged him not to do it, but in an instant he was dead, the arterial blood spurted out of where his head once was connected to his body, Harley watched and thought how beautiful it looked, after that he had locked himself away from civilisation and let his hatred of the world consume him, by the time he was 23 he was a mere shell of the man he could have been, he was very smart, and if he didn’t starve himself could of been a good looking guy, but his skin hugged his cheeks and made him look ill.

Dede and Dim were giving a week to think about the proposal given to them by the King and Queen, when Dim got home that afternoon he was greeted as always by Nachos smile, which in turn made Dim smile. Dim told Nacho about what the king had asked of him and Dede and she said to him, "Dim it’s up to you two, I don’t know what to say, I’m happy with what we have, although we could use a little extra".
As she said this she looked at Dim and smiled and put her hand on her stomach area. Dim suddenly realised what she was meaning, so he asked "Are you telling me that your pregnant sweetie?”
Nacho smiled and nodded, Dim walked up to her and hugged her with a smile from ear to ear. He then said "I have to let Dede know, he'll be so happy to hear!” Dim ran out and down the street to where Dede lived, knocked on the door and waited. Dede came to the door, his eyes were red and he looked as if he’d been crying, Dim immediately told him full of excitement "Dede, Nacho is pregnant, I’m going to be a father!”
Dede looked at him and said "Dim it’s been two years since it happened..."
"Oh shit yeah so it is, I’m sorry mate, is there anything I can do?" Dim asked in a now lowered less excited tone of voice.
Dede replied "Nope there’s nothing anyone can do... I’m sorry to ruin your good news, I really am, please let me be".
Dim looked at Dede, he didn’t know what to do, he decided to leave Dede alone as that’s what he had asked, Dim went to find his sister, Remora, when he found her and told her she was almost as happy as Dim, she congratulated him and they decided to head back to Dim's. The minute Rem walked into the house she ran over to Nach and hugged her and said "I’m so happy for you both, it’s about time Dim learned what it’s like to have kids", Rem had three kids, Dser, Zeeek and Rach. Everyone called Rach Little Rach as she was the youngest of Rem’s kids, Dser was the oldest and the laziest, not much was known about Zeeek as he had gone to live with his father. Rem told Dim and Nach about how much trouble Rach had been, she was now 6months old and still a handful, but she had been a very ill during her first few months, and cause of it she was tiny.

Ren looked at the piles of dishes that stood next to the tiny sink that was in front of him, he sighed and began to wash them, he wished he could be more than a dish washer but being the sold at birth by his parents he was forced to work wherever he was sold to at the moment he was working for King Hamrage, Harm was a tall slender man, with a dark brown beard and no hair, he was a proud man with his kids, Prince Roaf and his sister Princess Raynie, he missed his late wife Queen Vixen. Ren worked hard, a lot harder than any of the other slaves, he wanted to be noticed, he wanted more for him and his girl Tavy, he dreamed of being normal, not just a slave, with a slave wife, he wanted to protect her, defend her, so he worked himself to death trying to get out of being a slave. Always clean and tidy, Ren one day asked the king to help him.

Dim woke up the next day and decided that he would take the job the king offered him, as long as Dede would as well, he wanted to have a better future now that he was going to be a dad. Dim sat down to breakfast with Nacho and told her how he was going to take the offer the king had given him, but he would only do it if Dede would as well. Dim walked outside of his home after eating dinner to find Dede standing there smiling and jolly as if yesterday hadn’t happened, Dede said to Dim "Congratz on becoming a father mate, that’s some really good news. Have you thought of any names? How about if you’re going to do this job the King asked of us?"
Dim looked at Dede and said "Well I was honestly waiting to see if you were going to take the job, because I don’t want to do it alone, we work well because we are a team, and well I want that to continue".
Dede looked at Dim and said "I’m going to do it, and I was hoping you would too".
Dede and Dim headed to the Royal Palace where they were met by Sol who welcomed them with "I see you two are back again today, are you here to see the King?".
Dede replied "Yup that’s why we are here Sol, can you take us to him?"
To this Sol replied "I’m sorry but the king doesn’t want to see you, he told me to take you to where you’ll be working on the weapons, he is hoping you can make around three and a half thousand swords for his army"?
Dim looked at Dede and whispered "That’s a bit on the easy side; we'll finish this in a few of months".
Sol led the two men to the blacksmiths work area where they saw some of the best tools they had ever seen. Dede and Dim began to work on the weapons in question. They worked from 6am to 6pm then retired to their homes where they only slept and ate. Till one day Nacho said to Dim "Sweetheart I think you and Dede are working too hard it’s been 4 weeks and you’ve never really had a rest, I’m starting to get worried about you two, I hope your both ok, I love you Dim, don’t do too much I don’t want to lose you".
Dim looked at Nach, "It's ok, we aren’t straining ourselves there, and I love you too, with every part of my heart and soul".
Dim walked towards Nach and gave her a hug, it felt like it went on forever, they were so in love, nothing could get between them, Dim then left and headed back to work.

King Marshal saw the speed at which Dede and Dim were crafting the weapons and smiled and thought to himself, 'Soon we will be able to defend ourselves from that evil bastard that has ruined Takfery, he won’t do the same here or anywhere else he stroked his chin as he thought, he thought it made him look smarter but everyone thought it was silly for a clean shaven man to do that, even his wife Hallety found it funny, Marshal was a tall man with short hair, and a high hair line as he was going bald, his eyes were the darkest shade of hazel and they could make even the toughest man lower his head in respect, his Queen Hallety's eye could to the same with their rich blue colour, her long dark hair flowed half way down her back and had a mirror sheen to it, every woman in the Jaffar Kingdom was jealous of it. Marshal had been in contact with King Harm, Harm had been keeping him informed on what was happening in Takfery, and how his army was ready to join up with Marshals when the time came.

Over the 6th week of crafting the weapons Dim decided to make himself one, this blade was going to be special, he made it medium length and heavy, he engraved it with Nachos name on the bottom of the blade, then at the top of the blade he engraved it with the Chinese word for Fire. He named the blade a Lotus blade; it was tough, easy to handle for its size and weight so it gave him good accuracy. Once it was completed he went into the court yard where he had seen the troops practice and started to swing his new sword, to his surprise he found he was quite good with a sword. "STOP WHERE YOU ARE!"
Dim froze, he looked around and could see 15-20men standing around him, then one man walked forward, "Who are you Boy?!"
Dim looked at him and said, " I was hired to make weapons for the Kings army"
The man stroked his beard "Hmm is that so? Well why were you trying to train with that sword? And where did you get it?"
"I brought it from my home sir" replied Dim.
"Do you even know who I am son?" bellowed the man.
"Nope I’m just a simple blacksmith" whispered Dim.
"I'll let you know then, I’m the highest ranking Kane in the whole Degil army. I have trained countless men, gone into many battles and lived where any ordinary man would have died, I am the best there is, the best there has been and the best there will be, I am Ryu and your name is?" declared Ryu.
"I am Dim, the blacksmith" replied Dim in awe.
He had never seen a Kane before, he could tell why they were feared in battle, their heavy, bluky armour looked menacing, and they carried themselves like Kings amongst men, which they probably were. Right there Dim decided he wanted to become one, he wanted to be known as more than just a blacksmith, he wanted to make it to being a Kane with Dede, but he also didn’t want to, because he was happy with his life as it was, he had an amazing wife, a child on the way in 9months time and after this job he would be sorted. He also wanted to travel, but Nacho would leave her ill sister, Jammya, she had been sick for a long time, she couldn’t walk far, she had been in the same state for as long as Dim could remember, her husband Goatbust, Goat for short, stayed by her side all day every day, he was a mere shell of the warrior he had once been, Goat had been one of the members of the Kanes, he was said to be as fierce on the battle field as Ryu, but once Jam got sick, he dropped his weapon and put his life on hold for her. The Medicine man of Degil hadn’t a clue as to what was wrong with poor Jam, he'd tried everything he could think of, but nothing ever worked.

King Harm looked down at Ren with his long uncut hair, his shabby clothes, bare feet, and he said "Sorry are you speaking to me?”
Ren looked at the floor and muttered in response "Y-y-yes Sire, I don’t wish to be a slave no more, I wish to defend you, as I would a brother, please let me join the great army of Saphal" Ren lowered his head in respect.
Harm looked at Ren and noticed he was well built and looked strong, then said "Come to the courtyard tomorrow at 3pm, and we will see how you handle yourself with a sword, this will be your one and only chance".
Ren was so happy to hear the King was going to see how he handled himself he went straight back to the slaves quarters and told Tavy, who wasn’t as happy as him, even though she was a slave, she was happy, she spent her time with Ren, and they loved each other deeply. She hid this by hugging him and telling him what he wanted to hear. Ren couldn’t sleep that night he was so excited, he knew how to defend himself, as he had to defend his slum house, though a hockey stick is a long way from a sword, but he thought it would give him a bit of an edge when it came to his test. Ren finally fell asleep but as soon as he had it was time to wake up and get breakfast ready for the Royal family.

Later that day Ren headed out to the courtyard where he was welcomed by Prince Roaf, "Hey are you the one that is to take the test?" he asked in a booming voice.
Ren bowed his head and replied "Yes sir, I am here to take the test."
Roaf told Ren "Today we will see how you fair against one of our newest recruits, if you beat him we will talk more".
Roaf then showed Ren to the Battle Arena where they would fight, "So you know this isn’t a battle to the death, first to floor their opponent wins".
The newest recruit, walked in with an arrogant look on his face, he entered the arena and laughed at Ren. Roaf bellowed "Let the battle commence".
Ren drew his sword and stood confidently, the recruit looked arrogant, Ren knew he could take him, the recruit shouted at Ren "I'll let you take a free shot at me since you’re just a slave!"
Ren ran at the recruit lowered one shoulder and charged the recruit knocking him to the floor, Roaf looked on and laughed "Well you have passed, and you didn’t need your sword, good work".

Harley looked as his army grew and grew, it was now 50000strong and still growing, he thought to himself that no-one could beat him in his search. Down on the fields of Takfery the Orc leader Zenlorn, who himself wasn’t an orc, was a master mind in battle tactics, he had already got part of the army started on building catapults, battering rams, and bombs to strap to specially bred suicide bombers. Zen the former Kane member turned his back on the Royal Families after he was left to die on a battle field over 4years ago now relished the chance to take them all down and show them what they did to him. Zen was a short man, with broad shoulders and no hair; he had a scar from his left peck all the way up and over his left shoulder finally stopping just above his hip.
No-one in Jaffar knew what Harley looked like so he was able to pass easily through the city Kingdom and then into the city of Degil. He walked around, looking at the people he considered scum, he did his best not to be drawn into a fight when he was barged into by Dede and Dim as they walked towards the castle. Dede looked back at him and mouthed 'sorry' then Harley shouted to Dede "Sir! Can you tell me where the castle is?!"
Dede looked at Dim and then back at Harley and nodded. Harley ran up to Dede and Dim, "Can you show me?" enquired Harley.
"Sure, we are on our way there anyways, just tag along" replied Dim.
The three men headed for the castle, when they got to the main gate, Dim pointed and said "You'll want to go that way, there you'll meet Solbolt, the Prime minister, and he’ll try getting you an audience with King Marshal and Queen Hall."
Harley followed the path that Dim had showed him to take, he walked the path with a dark thought on his mind, was it an intent to murder the King and Queen of Jaffar, or something more sinister, only Harley knew what he was going to do and how.
Harley approached the door to the palace, where he was met by Sol. Sol welcomed Harley in his usual manner and offered to show him to the King and Queen, this is when Harley said in a lowered tone, "I’m here to offer you something, something you've been after for awhile".
"What is that my friend?" replied Sol, with a look of intrigue.
"Power, Power is what everyone wants" replied Harley.
Sol looked at Harley and thought to himself 'Who is this guy? and what is he talking about?' he didn’t dare, something told him that he couldn't trust this man, but deep inside he decided that he would ask further questions. "What kind of 'power' are you talking about?" quizzed Sol.
“The Power to rule everything, my friend” whispered Harley
Sol looked at Harley and said to him “And what would I have to do to get this ‘Power’?”
Harley looked at Sol and then gave him a piece of paper that had been folded in half and half again.

9 months past, Dim and Dede were nearing completion of the swords their King and Queen had requested, it had taken nearly double the time they had thought it would but these swords they had made, were things of beauty, not only strong, but light and easy to use, the Kanes loved them. Dim looked at Dede and said to him “Do you get the feeling we are getting taken advantage of?”
“What do you mean Dim?” quizzed Dede.
Dim pointed to the pile of swords they had finished “Does that look like the amount we have made?” asked Dim in a tone of utter disbelieve.
“To be honest I have noticed our pile has never grown more than maybe 300-350 swords” replied Dede. Awhile later Sol came out to Dim and Dede and told them that the number of swords they needed to make was nearer 60000. To this Dim said to Sol “Sorry but how the fuck are we going to make that many, we must of made around 4000 swords and to keep us working, you have been taking them away so we make more!” at this time Dim was right up in Sol’s face. To this Sol just stayed calm and looked at Dim and said “The King has the right to anything he pleases, now get back to work peasant!”
“THIS IS BULLSHIT! WE CANT WORK LIKE THIS, MY WIFE IS EXPECTING OUR FIRST CHILD TOMORROW WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO TELL HER” Dim shouted at Sol.
Sol turned and walked away, this enraged Dim even more, he went back to where they were making the weapons and picked up one of them, at the same moment Dede grabbed Dim by the arm and asked him “What do you think you will achieve with that?”
“I don’t know, but I know it’ll feel fucking good!” replied Dim.
Dede looked at Dim, he could see the anger, the hate that was in them, Dim didn’t hate anyone, he was a caring, helpful young man, Dede had a vice like grip on Dims arm now, and he would let his friend do as he wished. Once Sol was gone Dede released Dim and all the anger and hate was gone, Dede looked at Dim and said, “Dim what the hell were you trying to do? Do you think dying will help Nach and your kid? Think next time you idiot!”
Dede walked Dim home the entire walk they were silent, it was like Dim was in a trance, he wasn’t exactly walking but more like being dragged. Something had happened to him, and Dede didn’t know what. When they got to Dims house, Dede knocked on the door and Nach opened it and helped Dede carry Dim into the house and onto the couch. Dede told her about his outburst. Nach couldn’t believe he would think of hurting anyone, but Dede told her how he wasn’t himself when it happened, it was like someone was controlling him like a puppet master. Looking into Dims eyes she could see this wasn’t the man she loved, it was but it wasn’t, he was different inside.

Dede went to find the healer of Jaffar, she followed him to Dims house, again Dede knocked on the door and again Nach answered but this time she looked puzzled as to why Snow was there with Dede. Dede explained that he had heard of a way to control people and that he thought Snow might be able to do something about it. She sat next to Dim, who was still unmoving and unresponsive. She knew right away what to do, she took out a bottle of dark red almost blood red liquid and took out the cork, opened Dims mouth and poured about a third of the liquid down his throat.

He walked with his sword trailing behind him, he didn’t know where he was but he knew he had been in the fight of his life. He had just chased down and killed a gang of thieves who had entered his house and taken all his gold. The blood ran down his sword and left a trail on the sand, this was a man who had looked into the face of death and laughed. He carried his gold by his side and walked with his head down. On his sword the name Snow was engraved. She was the love of this man’s life, he would do anything for her, and the people that knew him called him Dser.

Dser, Remora’s eldest son, didn’t have an exciting life until he hit 17, which was around 4months ago. He had moved out from living with Rem and his siblings Zeeek and Rach, he now lived with his girlfriend Snow, who was the healer of Degil. Dser’s long dark hair flowed down over his shoulders; his eyes were a strange shade of blue/green, depending on how the light hit them. Snow had long fair hair; that reached half way down her back; she kept it tied back and out of her eyes while she helped the ill, sick and needy. She had the deepest brown eyes, she was of average build but she looked tiny next to Dser who was far too tall for his age.

Dser made it home and found Snow was gone; he put the door to their house back up and went to look for her as it was unusual for her to be out at this time. He came across an anxious Dede outside of Dim and Nach’s house; he asked Dede, “Have you seen Snow? It’s unlike her to be out at his time”
Dede looked at Dser then at the house then back again to Dser, “She’s in there looking after Dim” replied Dede. Dser looked at Dede and could see the fact he was worried made Dser hold back and wait till Snow was finished, he didn’t like waiting, he preferred to be doing something other than standing around. Dser paced from side to side while he waited, then Dede grabbed him and told him to stop.