Jamesyco

From Ashes We Rise: The Galaxy At Large

Belivahnn

Part Three

"Father." Johannas whispered quietly, "The stag has fourteen points..."

"A stag born the year of your birth... It fits that we find one upon your birthday and the end of the war."

Johannas stood towering over the man by several feet, he drew back what could only be considered a tree branch, but it was a thick bow made for the young giant. He drew it back slowly, letting it glide upon thick white skin, and nocked an arrow upon its string. He slowly let it rise to his eye level. He balanced the bow before loosing the arrow.

There was a squeak as the animal dropped to the ground impaled by the thick arrow.

"Fourteen years at war, it is all you have known, let us hope you never have to see war again."

"I hope I never will... it was needed, but now, let peace and harmony reign."

---

Johannas leaned against the stone looking over the white fields into the forest. He saw the blackened field and trees of his birth, a beautiful place far away, it was one of his favorite places to visit, he was one of the few able to go there still. He loved it, no longer did fire rage, but most were still too afraid. He had met a friend who lived there long ago, and it is where faith sprouted there.

Faith, something that he had known since birth, it was the reason most fought now, and it is the death of thousands. He had visions as well, along with the blind priest the two had felt something coming. He knew it was something he hated now, he hated what it meant, but he did not know what it was. He knew that it was his burden.

"It is your birthday; you should prepare for your party... it is your first, you will enjoy life away from the field. It will be your first in a long time." An old man with clouded eyes said weakly, "Everyone knows where you are, but... no one has the heart to come up and speak to you as I will... Did you have another vision?"

"No... no, I haven't had one in several weeks, but something is coming... I look out into the sky and see a flicker of light far out into the void of night; even in day, I can see it far into the green skies. It knows me, I feel it... him... I feel him, I feel fire, and war... I feel birth, like I was in Johannasburg... I feel like I was born again when I look into it, a baptism in fire." The young man was shaken, and it was visible, "I feel it now..."

An old hand felt the palm of the young giant, "I knew you since you were the size of your hand, I knew that your parents were right for you since she dragged you from your fire crying. When she hushed you, I knew that this world would become beautiful and wonderful."

"Father Ekhearv... you can't see it's beautiful."

"Oh, but I can... I know that you, your friends, siblings, I know that everyone in your life is happy, everyone you touch has become happy, even those you took everything from, you did nothing to them... They know you, and you are friends with many of those young children of your namesake. You have helped everyone you know since that day... You have warmed quite literally the hearts of many, you are merciful and bright. Deep inside you is a fire that burns, bravery and beauty; you learned to tame fire and made it beautiful..."

"I have killed thousands out of anger..."

"You were in a war against those who see you as nothing but a witch... you are a son of the suns. They spoke against what you were, and you gave them chances, but they threw it away into the flames of war."

"I got angry and burned them and their families."

"I know... but you are strong, and since coming back to me, we have quieted that anger." the priest said, "You have not burned or destroyed anything in some time; you controlled your fire."

"I suppress it; I never wish to see the fire again..."

"Then continue, and live free, live happily... Those visions are far into the future, machines that can destroy mountains, flying metal boats through the stars. War in the stars, those are visions, dreams. Nothing like that can happen, giants like you. I know there are giants, but nothing will be larger than you... You are the titan. You are not one of his sons. It is your choice if war determines the stars, that is your realm, and everything you see now is yours. You will be the king of it all."

"Father... They are visions; they are something happening far away from here. There is a war. There is only war, whatever he is, I don't want it... I don't want more war, I do not like the fire, I do not want to see it grow again."

"Then I will stand with you forever, we all will, all of those who believe in you on this world, we will stand beside you, and you will never see that flame again." the priest lied.

---

"Fourteen years, fourteen summers, and fourteen winters have passed, my son... You are the heir; you have brought this world to purity; the fields are white... The world is pure, fields of white grain and grass. To you, the purity of this stag shows us all that there is a heart of gold." Aleksandr said quietly, "It is time we grow this world and see culture flourish instead of death. Tomorrow, enjoy life and explore some; you have not been back here since you were my height; when was that... nine years ago, eight?"

"Father... I know... I have grown quickly compared to my siblings and cousins..." he said, "But, they are still children; I am a giant. I know I was born from fire, but still..."

"You are my son... whatever you see will pass, you will see, it will be alright. We will be a jewel; this place will be the brightest point. Art will line the streets, and we will see stone and statues dot the land around. Fields able to feed all. Our people will live free and happy till the end of time."

"Father... if that is your belief, I will trust you... but I would wish to start seeing this place become beautiful... and that darkness of my past covered and buried by the future... I will focus on my studies; instead of weapons of war, I will make tools of innovation and science. I will build cities that can feed, house, and let all enjoy life in a humble way...like we were, I love the culture, but simplicity is where my heart lies."

"Then do as what is needed tomorrow... start, I will allocate funds for your projects, and we will see what happens."

---

The morning came, and work was set; he was given ten stacks of coins and twenty men to follow him. Then they marched and found a place just before the wall, it was black, soot caked on from years and years of being left alone. It has been guarded since his birth, fire still rages, but untamed wilds come from beyond the eight cardinal gates. Men still died in the hottest parts of the year when the suns were shining together. They livened up the untamed wilds and the trees that had turned resistant to fire, but they often spread their wings of firey death with the firey creatures that still arise from time to time.

"This will become the last fortress I ever build." the young man said, staring at the dark dust that flaked around him and radiated toward him. "Stone... get as much stone as we can, marble, granites, jets... We will start on the southern gate, and this will be the last one... It will be a fortress of solitude, one of peace and harmony, I will end the fire I created forever... I will make sure it never burns again."

Raven Squad (An Eccentric Military / Spy - Fi RP)

Always

Raven Squad (An Eccentric Military / Spy - Fi RP)

so long ago, I have remembered this since then.

In The Guard Now (Warhammer 40K)

WAR HUH, YEA, WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?

KILLING XENOS AND HERETICS!

𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝙾𝚞𝚝𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝

Right on

𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝙾𝚞𝚝𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝

Same @DeadDrop

𝚆𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚢 𝙾𝚞𝚝𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝

Definitely sounds interesting; I'm in.

From Ashes We Rise : The Imperium Is Born

Veharr

Wastes

Sand had fallen over the pathways of those fleeing war; he was thankful for that. He tightened a cloth around his face and moved it underneath his cloak, tucking it in so it would hopefully stay in place. Within his hands, he carried a long knotted branch that acted as a staff, something more suited for this journey as it gave more surface area than his usual walking stick. It helped him move, not that it kept him up, in his age, he didn't need that much, but it did keep the sand from overcoming him when it was getting out of hand. He was thankful for that, having to travel from his home more and more, from the safety of the mountain home. It was a lonely mountain, there were several nearby, and it once sat upon ancient borders. But it would be safe; they were old mountains, and a few days without him there would be fine. He hoped the sand and the runes he created would conceal his flock from all but the strongest of psykers. It should last until he arrives back; if not, the sand was a good way to elude all but those with luck upon their side.

Vaharr pulled a small mask down just a tad as he began to survey the endless tides of sand in front of him. He pulled out his telescopic glass and placed it over his walking stick for stability. He smiled as he didn't need it but enjoyed using the old device. He scanned the horizon end to end without seeing much. But he saw the clouds of war off in the distance, and it was a revolting sight, in his opinion. The powers used he saw like stars in the sky, and it blinded him with the sorcery used. He held onto the staff as he coughed up bile. It made him nauseous, and he felt hate rise in the bowels of his stomach as he closed the glass and tucked it into his robes again. He spits out the rest of the bile that clung to the inside of his throat and cheeks before pulling up the cloak around him. He pulled the cloth around him again to tighten it, and he stared out as he pulled goggles low to cover his eyes. Then another cloth to keep the sun from glinting off of them and to keep the light from his eyes.

"Guide me... I shall save as many as I can for your service... send me a sign savior of mankind, and you shall have a hundred to rebuild in your name... Send me a village, and I shall give you a city, great one..." he whispered in chorus with faith, "Send me in the direction of a soul, and you shall have a thousand. This one who travels these lands shall bring all who come to your flock back into your light Khader savior of my soul, Great Emperor, and slayer of the ancient god. I shall try to return all that you have given me since I have walked the sands of this world."

WH40k: Warspite - An Astra Militarum Adventure [Currently Full]

Here o/

From Ashes We Rise: The Galaxy At Large

Belivahnn

Part Two

When I was young, my father spoke of titans, gods, and giants. Beings that controlled the world we lived on, shaped it, and created it. Some were good, some were evil, and the titans were primordial. Those who came before the gods were kind, but most have long since been dead. To warriors with long ears and heads, they were gods, and they still worship those they believed to be alive. The gods, those my husband's people worship, and to them, well, most of them, benevolent, but some of the clergy have fallen upon dark ways. Jihad and conviction have made these priests bloodthirsty. When I look to my husband's land and then my homeland, that is why so many of my people are now gone. His father, jihad, and ritual death are a corruption that spreads across the lands, and if it were not for larger kingdoms, it would encompass the world. I was lucky he found me, but now I am a part of a game I do not like.

When I look back to when I was young, I remember stories, many of them of these gods, titans, and giants fighting. The three had been around since the beginning of time, and many other divine beings spread out, but those three were the most important, for they controlled the world. They controlled the universe; they allowed time to flow and to be something. But they work in mysterious ways.

The titans and the gods have always been in a battle, and they sing to those like the witches, the wizards, the priests, my father. They sing to those who listen, and I've tried to listen, but I cannot hear them. I cannot hear anything besides emptiness; those who use the wyrd, or magic, had a rough time with her, some screamed when near her, others just got headaches, and a lot of people got headaches around her, but my husband saw me and believed I was his savior. I changed him, he was supposedly cruel, but I changed him. He saw everything and needed it. It was everything, and he believed that I was the deceiver of his faith, but he believed something besides that. In my faith and in his, several events are similar. One is that of the son of the giant; one is that of hope, and one is that of destruction.

His father, the priesthood of his father's lands, they called me the deceiver. Maybe I am; maybe I am the mother. Tonight, I talked my husband and my guard into walking with us. There is a gap in the line where my husband's guard is holding, and they will let us slip in through. The fire didn't touch me, and I won't let it touch them. We have reinforcements should anything go wrong, but it shouldn't; prophecy dictates this happens either way. I must do this, and I have heard his wailing since I came here. Few have, now I shall stop it.

---

It was dark three hours after the sun dropped down below the horizon. We went out in leather and dark cloth, hidden in the clouded ash sky from what little the moon shined down upon the world. When we reached the wall, we passed underneath a stone archway that was to have a door emplaced eventually on the outside, while the inside facing the fire would be a blanket of flat stone slabs, but those weren't there yet. We entered the fire zone, and it was as if a tunnel was formed in the fire, but it was for me alone. Those behind me walked through hell, they all would, but they would regardless of what would happen.

My husband, and our retinue that marched out with me heard the screams of the dead, and they saw ashes; they saw death and destruction. All I saw were ash statues littering the ground, running, holding each other in fear. They saw much more in flames, hounds were heard all around us, and tiny flickers of light followed us like wolves prowling. Maybe we were being hunted, or maybe they were guardians but were they protecting the wailing child or us? We went through as quickly as we could into the wood; the heat got intense, and I felt it, every moment of it. It began to burn, it began to feel like I was walking through hell, but they continued to move forward toward the crying.

Then it hit, fire hit us, it felt like an inferno, and the screaming stopped. I looked around and saw everything, and the firestorm continued around us, but we were also flames. We were walking flame. We continued to move forward, and we were flame. It was nothing before seen. The fire couldn't touch me, I was more of a walking ball of flame, but the others were flame; their armor and life were flames. They saw all in the world; all I saw was my son. I reached out forward, and I saw him, a perfect son. He had thick brown and red hair like he was born out of the fire. He was a large babe. I took him in my arms, and the crying stopped. I looked into my son's eyes and felt my child inside me kick, a family at once.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and we had to go. I turned, and we started running. The fire subsided around us, and we burst like phoenixes through the forest. We continued to move swiftly, quicker than we came in. We got to the town and started low to the ground; I was thankful that the boy was no longer crying. We would be heard across the fields, but we continued back to the wall. I heard fighting, so much fighting. We were caught; the prophecy was broken by her and the others. Then the crying began again, and my husband's soldiers lit up like warriors of the night. The night was lit by fire. I listened for hours as a fight raged; those sixteen soldiers and my husband were warriors like nothing. They were fast, and their blades cut through steel and iron like it was nothing. The soldiers of his father, of his faith, were nothing against just those seventeen men.

The men protecting the wall were good warriors as well, and others joined in. It became a battle of the ages as my husband fought and bled for our family. Hours went by, it seemed, and I was standing there listening to crying. It died down sometime around noon, with the firestorm, and with so many men. Two thousand, maybe two and a half thousand, were dead. Plenty more were dying; almost every order and army lost men, and almost all were gone. There were around sixty left in total. When the orders from the north came, they joined the reconstruction. A new fort and city are to be built in the north.

Belivahnn would be the name of this settlement.

The name of her fathers house, it was a fitting name. But, there was a new house born with her son.

---

Part 3. etc.