A Guide to Kingdom Building

Jovis, Year of Severus, 15, I.R., the 29th day of Fall, Arenfall

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The town looked desolate under the faint light of the moon. The narrow streets were dusty and not even a single soul was out there. No drunk could be seen loitering at that time of the night nor knights doing their nightly patrols. The streets were filled with vermins running from one home to the other.

The rats nibbled a dog's corpse at the sidewalk, while a cat distracted them for a moment as it caught one of the rats before fleeing. The darkness became the cat's perfect disguise and Adaloun mimicked it perfectly too. He walked stealthily crouching at the shades of houses, away from the moonlight's glow.

Escaping from the Arenfall Castle grounds was easier said than done. It was a total opposite to the interior. The castle grounds were filled with armed knights, roaming about every 300 hundred counts per area.

There were hounds roaming around the garden, sniffing out peasants or unwanted visitors out from hiding. Adaloun was skillful enough not to be detected by the angry dogs passing by him. He knew how to. He did a few times in his previous lifetimes. Of course, it was a trial-and-error method but somehow, he managed to sneak out without being detected.

His ability could have been handy, but he chose not to use it in fear of exhaustion. At times like this, overly consuming your energy would spell your doom. So, he had to rely on skipping rocks and other distractions to get the dogs off guard.

One thing he noticed while observing both the knights and hounds was their aversion to the castle. Everytime a knight goes near the castle's doors; they would momentarily be fidgeting before scurrying away. Most of them would simply avoid that part all together, as if they knew too well that no one was ever going to enter using that route. The dogs on the other hand, would occasionally approach the castle doors but then would whimper away in fear.

He didn't blame them from doing such act. He'd seen a lot from that castle, a whole lot. He was relieved to finally be away from that damned place and that damned deity living there.

He wanted to rest a bit before continuing his journey to the Hillsprung encampment, but his current location wasn't the most ideal one to do it. The houses where all shut closed. Although there were no lamps lighting the streets, just the presences of rats made his skin crawl.

He has never been afraid of those pesky vermins, but they were as big as a cat and awfully hungry. If he mistakenly rested in some hidden area in that town, he would more likely be eaten by the rats. Adaloun heard a loud sound of clay pots breaking just behind him.

He turned around and saw a cat fighting for its life against a mischief of rats. He saw the cat struggled, it hissed, clawed, and bit the rats as far it could but unfortunately was overwhelmed by its sheer numbers. The cat breathed its last as it was frantically devoured by the rats, tearing it apart piece by piece.

"Yeah, I really need to get out of here." He said to himself as he imagined his fate if he weren't careful.

Even with the abilities he had, being cautious was a smart way to living longer. He learned that the hard way one time during his 4th incarnation. Being eaten by that monster wasn't pleasant especially with all the powers he had at that time.

It took him almost an entire night to finally escape the town. He was able to find a small hole on the blind side of the stone fence. From what he could describe it, it looked like a fox hole. Using his weapon, he dug through the small opening until he reached the other side. He then had to descend carefully into the drained river and cross under the bridge to avoid being detected by the pair of knights roaming the area.

The sun was already peeking at the horizon by the time he managed to finally exit the forsaken town. As he looked back, the sun's rays cleared his notion of the town's façade. It was indeed in ruins. The trees withered along with the straw houses that looked unevenly placed along the side of the river.

The light also showed the overlooking castle and its less than grand appearance. Its crumbling roofs and moldy walls were but the few witnesses to the horrors it held for all the time that it existed. Adaloun was lucky not to be part of the unfortunate souls who wail within its walls.

As relieved as he was, Adaloun had to walk another ildwyrm of plain dusty land before he finally saw lush greenery of the hills. He was relieved to finally see a glimpse of his refuge, but his body was far too tired already to take another step.

At the foot of the hills Adaloun saw a small shallow cave unsuspiciously hidden from plain sight by a freshly uprooted oak tree. Although tired, he hastily checked the site for any dangerous animals. When he saw that it was a safe spot, he hurriedly cut the young branches from the fallen tree and made a cozy bed out of it at the bottom of the shallow cave.

He laid down on the bed of leaves, shifting every now and again for comfort. It wasn't comfortable as he thought it was, but it was better than the cold solid ground. His eyes voluntarily closed by itself as his fatigue had finally caught up with him. He slept soundly as the sun rose to its highest peak at noon.

"Might I interest you with something you longed for?" Zados snapped his fingers and the image of Adaloun's lover materialized in front of him again.

He couldn't believe his eyes; he was able to see her once again. Tears slowly ran down his cheeks as he inched nearer to his beloved. He reached for her cheek as he came closer. The beautiful girl smiled at her with the sweet innocent smile he always remembered.

Adaloun wasn't able to contain himself any longer, he hugged her as she stood motionless. He looked at her again just so he was sure it was her. That feeling of joy he thought he'd lost this lifetime came back to him and he smiled so wide his cheeks hurt but to him, it was all worth it.

It was all worth it for her. The touch of her hair caressing his face. The warmth of her body radiating as he hugged her. The smell of her skin as he drew closer to her. These things were everything that he missed about her.

As his lips were about to touch hers, suddenly she vanished. Adaloun looked around and saw the world plunged into darkness. From the distance he could hear the wails of crying women. Their cries were painful and torturous.

He then heard a loud bang from above and saw a dark tentacle broke from the sky. From there he saw his lover materialized once again, but this time, being in the clutches of the dark tentacle.

"Rhaenel!" He cried out.

Adaloun awakened his ability and flew towards his lover to save her. But everytime he tried to; he was simply struck down by the menacing thing. He tried it a few more times until he laid on the ground feeling hopeless.

Zados appeared to him again holding the gladius in his hands. "I think you need this more than just that." The deity grinned and gave him the blade.

Adaloun took the blade from the deity's hand and felt his power surge. The gladius glowed its pale blue light and the swirls began to dance along with the flow of his exousia. He flew once more and tried to swing his sword towards the giant tentacle but before he could do so, Oyue appeared from nowhere.

"Adlaw-on!" She called. "Don't!"

With that call, Adaloun woke up from his sleep. He was sweating profusely and catching his breath as he looked around the dark cave. The sun had already set by the time he woke up. The cave was colder than it was earlier that day.

Adaloun knew that he had no time to waste but make his fire and wait for the morning to resume his journey. Using a few dried leaves and twigs from the ground he was able to make a small fire to keep him warm.

But the warmth from the flame wasn't enough to calm his chaotic mind. His dream seemed real. As real as how Oyue would visit him in his dreams but there was something surreal about it. It felt wrong and somewhat prophetic rather than a direct communication with a deity.

In his mind he was torn about the validity of his dream. He knew that was probable, but he doubted Zados was strong enough to do it. Even during their conversation, he felt the same vibe from Zados what he felt from the previous gods he blindly served all his lifetimes before.

The deity and his sweet words could convince anyone even him. But after witnessing firsthand, the madness his worshippers brought, he was glad he didn't answer him. He was glad he got to kill his worshippers.

He knew deep down what he did made the world less crazy and if given a chance, he would go for that deity as well.

"This world would be better off without that bastard!" The flame crackled as he threw a twig on his flame. He looked behind him and made sure that he covered his blade with soil. The last thing he wanted was that ugly deity listening to him.

The campfire crackled once more, Adaloun sat there staring at the flames keeping his thoughts to himself.