Faraway Saga

[VanGarrett]

A long time ago in a fairytale land where myths and monsters are realities, and where powerful wizards and mighty warrior kings reigned, there lived a boy who dreamed of great adventures and fame.

This land is called Faraway. It is a place of possibilities.

Our hero's name is called Aluanda.

[VanGarrett]

Striking left and then right, Aluanda severed the goblins' head cleanly off their neck. Spinning around, he thrusted his sword into the belly of the sneaky goblin whom he knew was creeping up on him. A surprised look registered on its face before it kneeled over.

A brief moment of respite.

The remaining goblins were spooked by this human warrior. He fought as if he had got eyes behind his back, they tried to sneak attack him from his flanks and rear, but every attempt met the point of his blades. They tried to overwhelm him with their greater numbers, but was horrified by the ease which he dropped their brethren, dead, to the ground. Those sword blades were a blur in the air, flashing as if they were streaks of lightnings. Each stroke drew blood and bought death. The goblins knew they were outclassed by this superior fighter, yet they refused to acknowledge the fact that he had singlehandedly slain more than half of their numbers. The two dozen goblins ramaining stood there, growled and nudged one another. Fear of those deathly blades quailed their hearts, and none dared to launch another offensive at the human.

Aluanda was breathing with bated breath, he was not tired, but rather he felt exhilarated by the slaughter. Adrenaline was pumping in his veins, fueling him with a bloodlust. The vile scent of blood was overpowering, not his blood, but the goblins'. Now they stood at no more than twenty. Aluanda estimated the tally of the slain was around that figure too. Worthless goblins, he mused to himself, they were not really worth the effort. It was not even a challenge. Perhaps one hundred goblins would ruffle him up? Then again, the goblin den was a small one. He knew by now the goblins had lost their nerves after having witnessed his amazing swordmanship.

"Come! Fight me, you are not afraid of a human are you?" Aluanda goaded them.

The goblins parted rank at his response, and revealed the passage out of their den. They placed their gold, valuables and treasure on the ground, bade Aluanda to take them and leave them in peace.

A derisive smile played on Aluanda's lips.

Cowardly goblins.

[VanGarrett]

Aluanda entertained the idea of slaying the goblins in cold blood and then take their treasure rather than letting them live. Faraway would be a better place with one less goblin. The longer he thought about it, the more it appealed to him. He shrugged, brandished his blades and surged forward.

It was over in short while.

He had destroyed a goblin clan, this one was one out of the hundreds found in these mountain crags. A bonus, thought Aluanda as he scooped up the scattered treasure on the ground. The bounty for the lives of these goblins was nominal. They were wanted for banditry on the trade routes. The local authorities found them a pest, placed a reward on their heads, and that drew adventurers, bounty hunters and swords-for-hire to the region.

Aluanda was a bounty hunter. He had been in the trade for three years now, his experience had taught him to strike at his quarry without mercy. The speed and ferocity of his swordplay earned him the nicknames: The Whirling Blades or The Twin Blade Devil despite his short tenure as a sell-sword. Normally Aluanda would not bother with such a menial job of eliminating the local goblin bandits, it was out of convenience that he accepted the job as he originally intended to visit Craken Crags for another purpose, besides, he considered it a good deed to rid the world of lowly goblins.

And then, Aluanda noticed a strange clay figurine amongst the booty. Picking it up and examining it further, the figurine resembled a fairy or pixie of sort. There was a frozen scream on the face of the figurine that bore uncanny resemblance to the real thing. Aluanda smiled and weighed the figurine with his hand. A whim came upon him.

He dropped the figurine to the ground. It shattered as expected. His fancy thought manifested into reality as he witnessed whiffs of red and green smoke issued from the broken figurine.

Before his eyes, a fairy emerged from its clay prison.

A trapped or cursed fairy?

[VanGarrett]

"Oh, thank you~ thank you~ thank you~." went the fairy in an almost hysterical voice as she flirted around in the air with her tiny iridescent wings.

Aluanda laughed aloud. The scene was rather comical.

"I thank you, human," she continued in her shrill, squeaky, but little voice. "For freeing me, I shall grant you one wish. Well, one wish that is within my mean that is. I'm no genie, but I do have some magic powers. So tell me your wish."

This was the first time Aluanda saw a true life fairy, and he was more amused than amazed. He had heard fairies or faeries were whimsical creatures, given to mirth and merry. Some were helpful, some malevolent but always frivolous.

The fairy before him resembled a miniature human being, but with sharp elongated ears and elvish features. A pair of feelers liken a butterfly's sprouted from her head. A pair of iridescent wings that looked like oversized dragonfly's wings fluttered rapidly on her back. She had free-flowing hair that was coloured an outlandish pink. She wore a fanciful tunic of red and green. A wand of silver topped with a crystal crafted in the likeness of a star was held in her hand.

Aluanda could not help but continued to laugh. Fairies were funny creatures indeed!

"Hey, what's so funny?" demanded the fairy with a scowl.

Her voice reminded Aluanda of tiny ringing bells.