Chronicles 3 by J. Cob
I've been writing on a snail's pace, but I promise you, guys, this story's going to be finished. I'll be posting installments of this story even if it takes a year. Just kidding! Of course, I won't take a year to finish a chapter.
It's finals exams for us this week and after that, I'm free!!! WOOHOO!!!
Actually, not so much, because I still got a job. Guess where I work... I don't want to work anymore but my mom kept pushing me saying I would be idling around the house during the summer vacation.
Oh...I changed my pseudonym to J. Cob. Why did I choose Color Blind anyway?
Same address guys. Send me your comments at colourblinded@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Anyone, or anything, remotely similar is purely incidental.
Chronicles of a Kingdom 3
by
J. Cob
The kingdom of Eadzon is composed of six rich large cities. Odean, the seat of the kingdom, is second largest and the oldest of all six. It is located at the heart of the kingdom. Iven, the largest, is northeast of Odean. River Omen marks its southern borders and separates it from Sumar, southeast of the capital. Both Iven and Sumar are wealthy harbor cities. Yeran guards the northern boundaries of the kingdom and is the place where the kingdom's best soldiers come from. Peron, the city west of Odean, produces most of the food for the kingdom with its vast farmlands. Southwest of the capital is Thero, the city at the foot of the Ereos Mountain Range.
It is a powerful kingdom that even the Maguian Empire at the north wouldn't dare think of expanding southwards. Eadzon kept to itself but continued trades with other kingdoms and fill the kingdom's coffers. It was glory incarnate and no one can deny it. They are witnessing the kingdom's zenith and time can only tell if and when Eadzon would fall to its knees. But four hundred years of history seemed to make it all look impossible. Not once in four centuries had Eadzon succumbed to invaders.
This is not to say no one ever tried. The first invasion happened before Eadzon was established as a kingdom and when it was nothing but a settlement on both sides of the river. It was a large settlement of families of farmers and blacksmiths from different places. Hearing of the valley that was now Odean, they left their kingdoms with everything they own and ventured to start a new life. One night, Elitomian soldiers surrounded the settlement. They had orders to take everyone and everything back to Elitomia where everyone would become slaves. They were all forced to come out of their houses peaceably, as no one wanted anyone of their family to get hurt. However, this wasn't what destiny had in store for them.
The deceptive night was interrupted by the screams of a soldier followed by two shining beings levitating off the ground. All, captors and captives alike, shook with fear and stood with gazes frozen at the beings above them. The one who looked more like a female seemed to blow her breath out. Instantly, clouds gathered and blocked the moon from everyone's sight, every fire died out, and the winds started to blow harder. There was darkness all around and the only light came from the two beings.
"Eador! Ayzon!" A man visibly shaking all over exclaimed. He dropped to his knees and bowed his head to the ground. Then an old woman next to him followed suit. Soon the whole settlement was bowing down to them and only the soldiers were left standing. They looked all around them, and one by one, they all dropped to ground kneeling before the shining beings. The whole settlement, it seemed, was shaking with fear. The male being gave them a small smile and opened his mouth to speak.
"Elitomians, go back to your kingdom." The voice was loud like thunder yet smooth like water. The soldiers jerked up from the ground as one and scrambled in all directions in a blind panic. "Have peace, all of you. Rest." The people walked to their homes with their head bowed, afraid to look at the gods. Eador nodded at the man who had revealed their identities. "Eron, my friend, rest," he said, for the man was still standing outside the door of his house staring up at Eador and Ayzon, his neighbors ever since the day he came to the valley.
After two days, the Elitomians came back. Not as one troop, but as an army on both sides of the river. Nobody believed the soldiers who first came to the valley and they had been executed for not following orders. Burning arrows rained on the settlement and there was immediate screaming and children crying. The air was filled with the acrid odor of burning houses. Soldiers came out of every house with a captive and almost every mouth cried the names of Eador and Ayzon.
They had disappeared two nights before after revealing their identities and now, they have come back again. They were still shining but the clothes they wore were different. They were donned in the whitest robe which shone with them. No matter how bright they shone, they weren't blinding that their features couldn't be seen. Eador appeared at the west side of the river and Ayzon at the east. A cry of joy immediately went up from the settlement.
"Had we not bid you return to your kingdom?" the two voices boomed as a hundred battle cries filled the air and the soldiers charged as one at the two.
At the east, Ayzon watched as an army came to attack her en masse. An ear-piercing scream sliced through the air and interrupted their advance. For a flicker of a second, their leader screamed as fire engulfed his body. But anymore sound from him was cut off as his body was reduced to ashes and mere smoke. With renewed vigor, the soldiers raised their swords and charged at her. More screams followed as the whole army was turned into nothing but ashes on the wind.
On the other side of the river, the soldiers advanced towards Eador, seemingly mirroring the actions of their comrades on the other side. But there was only one difference. Silence. Not a sound was heard as their leader, in one split second, became a statue of ice in front of them and shattered into pieces as small as grains of sand like the most brittle glass. Every soldier was rooted on their spot, as they became ices from the feet up to the ends of their hair and shatter into grains.
Only one soldier remained of the army. His eyes were wide open as he whipped his head left and right surveying what was left of his comrades. His body shook all over and he turned pale realizing he was alone. He dropped to his knees in front of Eador and begged, "Please mighty deity, let your servant live."
"Go and tell your king what you have witnessed. Never come back again."
A victorious cry broke out of the whole settlement. There was dancing and singing. Everyone brought out their best meats and was cooking up a feast. Eador and Ayzon joined wearing their regular clothes and without the light emanating from them. There was celebration even until the sun rose from the east.
After the celebration, everyone collected the armors and weapons the Elitomians left, or rather what was left of them. Seeing this, Eador remarked, "You must learn the art of fighting. You must learn to defend yourself." And with those parting words, he disappeared with Ayzon, leaving the settlement without any evidence of what transpired the night before. All wounds were healed and everything was as good as new.
Four generations had passed and chaos reigned in the settlement which had multiplied immensely. More children were born to families and travelers had opted to stay after seeing the fast progress that the settlement was making. But there was no definite leader. The people were torn between the oldest of them and the best fighter of them. Disputes were not settled and the place threatened to erupt with anarchy.
At last, Teram, the oldest of them, called for a meeting by the river. The eastern settlement crossed the river and joined them for they were, after all, only one settlement. The problem of leadership was discussed but nothing was settled. There were a lot of sides that wanted their own choice of a leader to take over and not one backed down to concede. In the end, there was more conflict than before, but they were all determined to settle the issue before they all retire to their homes.
"How about we call upon Eador and Ayzon?"
There was an instant silence after that as everyone appeared to be thinking. The older ones were thinking if the gods would hear them and heed. The younger ones had heard the stories but they were trying to think if it was all true.
Still, a more deafening silence reigned on them as two shining beings suddenly appeared right in the center of their meeting. They wore the same shining white robes as before but Ayzon's long golden hair reached to the ground. She watched as Teram hurriedly dropped to the ground and bowed down before them. The rest of the people stood still, stunned at the apparition. Ayzon's lips broke to a smile as she spoke.
"It's been a long time. I thought our people have forgotten about us."
The people seem to jump at her words and suddenly, they were all bowing to ground before them.
"Rise," Eador said. "We shall address the problem at hand." He paused, looked around him, and settled his eyes on a young man with long black hair, sky blue eyes, and a skin of bronze. The young man dropped his gaze to the ground realizing the god was looking at him. "Pireo, great-grandson of Eron, I name you the first king of… Eadzon. Yes, you shall call yourself Eadzon."
The people were stunned. They all sat on the ground comprehending what the god had said. Finally, Teram stood up and made his way towards Pireo who stood with a blank expression on his face. The wise old man bowed to the ground in front of the newly proclaimed king. The sea of people came to life and dropped to the ground once more to give honor to their new king, Pireo.
"May my actions please you, oh gods!" Pireo said as he fell to his knees before Eador and Ayzon.
"Behold your kingdom!" At that exact moment, a palace appeared right before their eyes at the island in the center of the river. The two gods disappeared in the midst of the joyous celebration that followed.
Nine kings had passed and Xylor found himself on the throne of Eadzon. When he assumed the throne, the valley was overpopulated and the new king announced his plans to build a temple. He thought he would take advantage of the large manpower available. By then, some people claiming to be called by the gods were roaming around the kingdom and preaching what they said to be the gods' message.
They have associated Eador with life and Ayzon with death. Water and fire. Rain and famine. Peace and war. Love and hate. They have associated the two gods with two extremes and made a religion out of them. They taught the people to offer thanksgiving to Eador and peace offering to Ayzon when a child is born to avoid death. They taught them to praise Eador during good luck and appease Ayzon during bad luck.
The people believed them and so did the king. He asked their advice and they told him to build two temples instead of one. A temple for Eador at the west and a temple for Ayzon at the east. They even volunteered to take charge over everything. The king, very much pleased and impressed, agreed with them.
The temples took six years to finish. And they were the most beautiful things next to the palace. The air was filled with celebration, for the people who volunteered themselves to become priests of the temple said that surely, the gods would bless Eadzon. Meanwhile, King Xylor had found a solution to the rapidly growing population. He had commissioned five of his sons to take with them willing citizens to find a new place to settle in. Only the king's heir to the throne, Odean, was left behind.
It was how the kingdom of Eadzon had come to be the kingdom it was now. Eadzon became the name of the entire place that included the cities founded by Peron, Iven, Sumar, Thero, Yeran and the valley that was now called by the name of Odean, all sons of the great King Xylor.
Four hundred years of peace and now everything is going to change, Opiter thought sadly. I'm the king's prime minister, why wouldn't he listen to me? "What an idiot," he muttered. From the time Aestrad ascended the throne five years ago, he had commanded the recruitment and training of more soldiers and the increase of production of weapons. I am not stupid, I know what he is doing, Opiter thought. "If I hadn't made a vow to his father that I will serve him, I would have left him a long time ago."
"My lord, the ministers and the merchant, Javan, are now assembled in your dining chamber," came the voice of the servant that interrupted his thoughts. He rose from his chair and walked out of his room. It had become a habit for all the ministers to assemble in his house everytime Javan is back in the kingdom from traveling with the caravan. They had commissioned him to spy on the kingdoms around Eadzon and he thought it was ingenious. No one would ever suspect him because he is a well-known trader. And he was willing to be of service to the king, as he put it.
"Javan, welcome back," Opiter said as he entered the room. The merchant stood, bowed his head and smiled at the minister who sat at the head of the table where a sumptuous feast was being served. They had all been good friends and there wasn't any difference this time around except for the king they were serving for the moment. "So, any news, good or bad?"
"Hmmm… the Maguians are everywhere…"
"No news there, Javan," one of the ministers quipped and the room became filled with laughter.
"Seriously great ministers of this kingdom, the kingdoms around us are becoming agitated. They knew of what's happening here and I've heard the Maguians are assuring everyone of their help. If I may say so, that's not a really good thing."
"We do have allies, don't we?" Eledar, the minister from Yeran, asked.
"Yes, but they're as agitated as the others. King Aestrad seems to have a talent at alienating our friends," Javan said sadly.
"It's that high priest of Eador. He got him all convinced the gods will protect us," Meroln of Sumar said. The table immediately fell silent at that.
"There is really no way we can stop the king at this point in time," said Opiter, sighing and looking at his fellow ministers. "Or even in the future. We shouldn't show the people we disagree with the king; we should say we're totally behind him in all these. There's no need for the people to have doubts with the king. However, we must steadfastly do our duties to the kingdom, and that is, give advice to the king even if he doesn't want it. Our efforts will pay off. Eador and Ayzon will help us." The group collectively sighed, each unsatisfied with how everything was settled. But like Opiter, they too believe there was no way to stop King Aestrad's stubbornness. What an idiot, everyone at the table thought.
So... a brief rundown on the history of Eadzon.
I hope you guys like it, but how would I know if you wouldn't tell me? Criticize my work... Tell me what you think about it... Have any suggestions?
Please write me at colourblinded@hotmail.com
Thank you very much!
J. Cob