Tales of Ovelia: Seeds of Freedom

[Penelope Burns]

Sari hesitated after the last of the armor was set on the plate. Her breathing had rapidly increased since realizing her situation. When he left at first she didn't call him a coward or otherwise insult him. He didn't deserve that, he worked hard to get this far.


After she saw him retreat to a safe enough distance, Sari took a deep breath and stepped off the plate. Nothing happened, Donovan was right. She ran to him and hugged him, so thankful to be alive again. "Thank you Donovan." She said. She was alive, somehow. She owed him her life.


Of course nothing was going to stop her from finding Keval and killing him, no matter how suicidal, but she was glad to have the chance to finish her mission.

 

[Willow Pillow]

(Part of me wonders if Donovan wasn't considered a joke by the whole party maybe he would have strategically planned a way for more of them to survive. You never know)


He was startled. His cheeks betraying him and going a nice shade of red as she hugged him tightly. He held her and everything was ruined as he took a peak at her ass.


Jesus fuck he seriously had issues. This was neither the time nor place)


"You would have done the same...let's keep going."

 

[Penelope Burns]

Sari thought she saw him glancing at her ass, but surely he wouldn't do that at such an emotional moment. She ignored what she thought she saw and continued onward, walking at a much slower pace so Donovan could keep up. She owed him her life, now more than ever.


They continued walking, Sari disarming or avoiding traps as she noticed them, until they finally reached two doors. The doors stood on the wall farthest from the previous room. Sari saw a glint of something gold under torchlight in the room on the right, but the one on the left was total darkness. "I think we found it the treasury." She said, smiling. Their mission may not have been worthless, after all.

 

[Willow Pillow]

(I hope you laughed when he did that I laughed)


He was an asshole....god damn it he was a genuine asshole.


So there really was a treasure. O'Donovan stared tapping the hilt of his sword as hr itched sr the possibilities. Hr could be set for life. Screw the magistrate.... He could grab this get out and...


He rubbed the bridge of his nose and groaned. "You think he's in there?"


Why...just why...grab the treasure and run.

 

[Penelope Burns]

Valid question. They had no real reason to believe he was even in this mine or cave or whatever it was. This all could have been where he stored everything while he lived and worked in his Tower. There was also the fact that he was still considered MIA, they had no reason at all to even expect him to be there, it's why they were stealing everything. Sari just saw revenge as her priority, despite the fact that the mission began as a hit and run.


"Donovan, inspect the treasury for traps. I'll check out the other room." Sari said, walking towards the door as she spoke. As she grew closer, she felt cold, as if all the heat in her body and from the torches was worthless. As soon as she touched the door her mind was bombarded with memories. Her father's death, her squad staying behind to save her. The sword stabbing Damien in the back. She wanted to fall, to break down and die right then and there.


In a moment of clarity, she forced herself to throw open the door and let go. Thankfully as soon as her fingers were off the handle the torment ended.


The moment her torch entered the room its flames died away, leaving a useless club. Sari dropped it and tried using the lights of torches outside the room to see what she could. She couldn't see a thing, but she knew she could smell blood. In the center of the room, she saw the makings of a star in blood, surrounded by a glowing stone on each point. What the hell was Keval doing with this?


Before she could get ahold of Donovan and share her findings, Sari felt a wave of overwhelming pain take hold. She couldn't move, couldn't breath, couldn't see. Her entire body felt like it was being rearranged, atom by atom, and she couldn't do a thing about it.


When she finally opened her eyes, the sky was above her. But that was impossible, she was underground with Donovan, trying to loot Keval's treasure. Concerned, she sat up to see where she was. The first thing she saw was the forest surrounding the city. How was she able to see that? One would have to be extraordinarily high up to see the entire forest.


That was when he opened his mouth.


"Like the view? It truly is a wondrous sight." The familiar voice of an old man spoke. "Living underground may have benefits, but nothing can beat seeing the world from atop a Tower."


So that was where they were. Sari turned around to see none other than Magister Keval, alive and well. He still wore the same robe he had the day he invaded Oris, and his grey beard had only grown longer. His lack of eyebrows or head hair was almost disturbing, but she had seen it before. In in instant, Sari jumped to her feet and loaded her bow, mentally preparing herself for a duel to the death. She didn't say a word to him, there was nothing she wanted from him.


"You know, I had hoped you would at least speak to me. Back at Oris you and I had no real opportunity to talk, but now I have a chance to speak with you. The pride of the Outcasts, powerful, brave, intelligent. You would have made a wonderful Magister, you know." Keval began his monologue, implying that he knew everything about Sari. She was suspicious of his words, but even so she felt her tight grip on her bow slightly lessen. "We've been watching you for some time, you and a few others. All non-magic users, and all rebels to the great unity of Ovelia. Ever since you met your pathetic excuse for a husband we realized your potential, your capabilities. 'She could be capable of killing us' Drax the Cowardly said, 'She could be a worthwhile enemy.' Falker the Honorable claimed. Unlike with the other few, you had the resources to defeat us. A loyal team, years of practice, and more experience in combat than nearly everyone else alive." He kept talking, unnerving Sari with his way of speaking. They knew everything? Every moment of her life they saw? Was the power of the Magisters truly so all-encompassing?


Sari felt terror from this man. His knowledge, his power was so much that she, Donovan, and all of the Outcasts were nothing more than ants trying to stand in the way of a titan. She was shaking, she didn't want to fight, fear was overtaking her.


Keval didn't seem to notice her panic as he continued. "Oh, we could have killed you in your sleep, but where's the fun in that? It's entertaining, watching people like you come so close, only to fall.


"The problem we have with you, however, is that you died. Before we even noticed your existence, you were killed by some moron serving Falker. And then she came along, the being we spent centuries searching for, found you and kept you alive. When Falker recognized you, he watched you further, knowing you should have been dead. When he finally noticed her presence inside of you I lead an assault on Oris, killing the vermin once and for all." Fury enveloped her at calling her friends, her family, nothing more than vermin. Her panic was gone, vengeance had taken control again.


She tightened her grip on her bow and loosed three arrows within seconds. One wildly missed, but the other two hit his left leg. She watched him scream in pain as she loosed another arrow, this one aiming for his heart.


It hit right on target, and he screamed out in pain. She watched him shake, blood flowing out of him, as she got up to finish him off. As soon as she began to move, however, she was greeted by a flash of white.


When the light faded, Sari was back in the dark room, alone.

 

[Willow Pillow]

Money, treasure, and wealth were a sign of honor. You were respected. You weren't some second class citizen beaten to the ground with an inch of his life because you looked at a soldier the wrong way. O'Donovan looked at the treasury unsure he should go in. Was Sari making the right choice here sending him in? He was nothing but a thief....a cowardly thief. He looked over at her, unsure this was the brightest idea...tempting an addict with what was definitely something he wanted.


Suck it up, and nut up.


He held in his breath and touched the handle of the door. He felt small. Weak. Pathetic. His father looking down with him in shame as his younger brother had the honor of being trained to be a soldier, but clearly the oldest was the defect in what barely resembled a family. He felt the loss of Charlotte to his brother's hands, on the run with the outcasts. The feeling of worthlessness so overwhelming as he was just a joke and a coward wherever he-


He let go and it was over. "Sari I think something's wrong with the...." She was already in the other room. Keep it together. Look for traps do your job. He dug in his bag and pulled out an old hankerchief, wrapping it around the handle and using it to twist the knob and open it. One step in,


he fell face first to the floor of silver coins as he felt the blunt of of a sword smash is the back of his head. Disorientated, He pressed his hands on the silver, but felt a metal boot slam into his chest, he coughed blood. "Shannon, Shannon, Shannon," Slamming in another kick, O'Donovan rolled on his back to see his brother, in top General clothes staring down at him. Beard trimmed and cut, he held the body that his father strived for both of them.


"You...you're not even in this district this isn't-"


"For someone who pretends to be so smart," the wind was knocked out of him as the boot slammed, resting on his chest. "You really are so foolish. You couldn't even be a simple slave. Couldn't even get that right? Had to run off and be an outcast. Not a very good one. Most of them have a cause. Fire in their bellies, a need for vengence and something better....but no, not you. Shannon the coward. Shannon the weak. Every outcast is watched. We entertain you, and you thought you were just so clever to escape the radar."


"This is magic...it isn't real. You are not in this-" he spat out blood as the boot slammed in further in his chest.


"Does this feel real to you, brother? You cannot weasle your way of this . You will die. And you will watch your new little bitch die....just like the last." He leaned in closer. O'Donovan was pulling the sword out of his hilt. "Here's a little secret," he whispered. "I fucked her little brains out the night before i killed her. She was going to leave you. She wanted a real man."


"AHHHHHH!" Shannon screamed with rage thrusting the sword into his....


His brother was gone. O'Donovan scrambled to his feet running out of the treasury.


Sari.


Skidding into the other room he looked for her, he couldn't....there she was. Sleeping. He knelt down gently and almost in a panic shaking her shoulder. "Sari...Sari I need you to get up. Sari!"

 

[Penelope Burns]

Sari was shocked at Donovan's shaking her. She had only just survived her mental assault by Keval, and now Donovan was back. "I'm fine, Donovan, I'm fine. What do you need?" She asked, getting up despite her intense drowsiness.


*****


Keval sensed someone had activated his favorite trap. They were more than likely unconscious right inside those rooms, just waiting to meet him.


He teleported into his study and began walking down the hall, less than a hundred yards from the would-be assassins.

 

[Willow Pillow]

"Enchantments. Magic. Whatever it was, you were passed out. He knows. Or they know....someone knows we are here."


You'll watch your new little bitch die.


O'Donovan pulled her up to her feet. She was still looking like she was walking in a dream.

 

[Penelope Burns]

Sari, still drowsy, looked to Donovan for a moment before trying to keep herself up on her own. "Thanks." She said after he helped her. A moment later she heard the echo of footsteps down the hall. Sari tensed up, she knew who that was.


She handed Donovan her pistol "He's here. Close range is best, it's only got one shot. It's got a kickback like a motherfucker, but it completely obliterates unprotected targets. If you can, hide it until you're a few feet away." With her advice done, Sari pulled out her bow and notched an arrow, waiting for Keval to come into range. She wasn't letting him talk her into panic again.


*****


Keval heard muffled voices down the hall. Were there more than the one? Most likely, getting into the city and getting through his underground guards would take more than just one person.


Wanting to know how they would react, Keval summoned a small flame in his hand and threw it down the hall, not intending to do any real damage.


((Congrats, it's now your turn to describe Keval!))

 

[Willow Pillow]

(Wonderbar....I feel intimidated xD )


More than one, but I doubt he would believe it had just been two.


O'Donovan saw the flame down the hall swerving into the room. He dove, pushing Sari out of the way.


"Protective little weasle." Keval mused. He was over six feet tall, and for his age his posture was amazingly straight. His beard long, grey but perfectly trimmed went to the chest, his head bald and shiny, hair only on the sides around, a bald shiny top. "Two survived to make it this far. Out of how many? Five? Seven? To reach your goal only to have it dashed and ripped from you."


Sari and O'Donovan would be instantly slammed back, their bodies smashing the wall like he was tossing small balls away.

 

[Penelope Burns]

((Just a reminder, there are no curtains in an underground area because there are no windows))


Sari felt the force of a horse slam into her, throwing both her and Donovan into the wall, only an inch from the door handle that brought Keval to them. She wasn't going to let that get her, she renotched her arrow and fired a single shot, hoping to land the hit.


*****


Keval threw the arrow aside by barely motioning his hand. "Such hard work for naught." With another motion he was instantaneously in front of Sari, and he punched her in the gut, throwing her into the wall once again. He looked to Donovan, a stranger to him, and threw a wave of flame at him, hoping to set the man on fire.

 

[Willow Pillow]

(I edited! sorry about that. i be derpin. derpin derpin derpin)


How do you fight magic?! How the hell do you even fight magic?! he was panicking as he felt crushed, slamming into the wall. As he struggle to his feet, he saw a wave of fire coming at him.


He was just agile enough to avoid host of the wave, but as some hit him, he tried to calm himself down, rolling to cut off the fire's oxygen.


A man rolling out flames was not amusing, what he really wanted to shut down was the woman. He raised her hand and she went with it, gripping his fist she would feel it around her very own throat. "So what was your plan? Do enlighten me." He mused.


O'Donovan got up on his feet taking a shot with the pistol, only to feel an invisible hand on his throat lifting him up in the air he began gagging.

 

[Penelope Burns]

Sari didn't have much time to think. Keval was strangling her, going to finish her off within seconds. She tried freeing herself from his grip with one hand, but with the other she was feeling her belt, searching for a knife or one of her daggers. After too many seconds she found it, and immediately put as much strength as she could into Keval's wrist.


*****


Keval didn't even notice her attack until it was far too late. He let go of the girl and shoved her into the wall, crushing her bones with wind energy. He wanted to scream, he hadn't felt pain like that in almost a century, how had a pathetic normal woman been so effective under such stress? He decided, crush the boy and then study the girl. She would make for decent research later. He turned his head to look at Donovan, grinning. "Any last words, scum?"

 

[Willow Pillow]

He couldn't breath. His vision became spotty ass he felt light headed.


He would see Charlotte again.


But he saw Sari, being slammed against the wall. He was going to die. THat was final...but atleast he could take this bastard with him. His arm struggled as he reached for his bag, his hand could barely grab it but he managed to find one of his little sacks.


He'd see Charlotte soon. "Maagic....sparks...boom" he forced out as he tossed the sack of gunpowder. THis guy would be swirling with kinetic eneergy....and gun powder was so unstable.

 

[Penelope Burns]

Sari felt like a giant stone was crushing her, she could barely breathe, let alone act. The knifes in her bag, the throwing knives, they could distract Keval, buy Donovan a few seconds to escape. He needed to survive, she had to keep him alive. She had to.


Using energy she didn't even know she had, Sari forced herself to throw the knife at Keval, her aim had to be perfect, otherwise all of her energy was wasted. Spending only a moment to aim, she threw the knife, praying it would land.


*****


Keval watched the pitiful knife fly toward him. Was that all she had? He almost felt bad for her as he raised his hand to melt the knife into nothingness.


As the flame grew in his palm, he felt an insane sensation on his legs, and his arms, and his entire body. What was happening? He didn't have time to form another thought as the explosion of gunpowder blew him to bloody bits.


*****


With the bone breaking magic gone, Sari felt herself able to move once more, and the first thing she did was crawl to Donovan. She didn't even notice the explosion hit him, but the blast took its toll.


She saw him, covered head to toe in soot and burns. Tears fell down her face, she couldn't hear him breathe. She was shaking, cradling him in her arms. "Please don't be dead, please don't be dead." She cried, hysterical. "Please please don't be dead."


With tears blinding her, she didn't notice a magical aura flowing from Keval's corpse and into Donovan. She was too upset, too hysterical, to notice it happening.

 

[Willow Pillow]

Everything went white as his ears rang with the popping sound. Body was propelled and everything had appeared in slow motion. The ringing wouldn't end, as the white brightened. A woman with long chestnut hair knelt down down by his side, her emerald eyes looked at him, cusping his hand. "It's time to go home, Shannon."


"Please please please don't be dead."


"It's time to go, honey."


"Don't be dead."


Shannon's eyes snapped open as he gasped for breath, his vision blurry he looked and saw the curve of a woman's breast. His burn marks began to heal, including the wound he had Sari burn as well. His vision began to clear as he looked at her....her breast and back at her. "We're alive?

 

[Penelope Burns]

Sari felt a wave of bliss when his eyes opened. He was alive, he was alive! Tears of sadness were replaced by tears of joy, he wasn't gone, he wasn't-


He was staring at her breasts!


"You bastard!" She said, and punched him in the stomach. "We just went through HELL and that's the first thing that you... UGH." She owed him everything, but she had to give him hell for that. He couldn't just scare the hell out of her and then respond by being a perv.

 

[Willow Pillow]

She knocked the wind out of him as he curled in a ball. "they are very nice breasts...I'm sorry!"


He clearly had a problem. Literally, just survived a frikken magic man and this is what he does.

 

[Penelope Burns]

Sari appreciated his compliment on her breasts, but she slapped him anyway. You didn't stare at a woman's breasts without her consent. It was just wrong.


After the excitement of surviving was over and the adrenaline faded, Sari realized what kind of shape her legs were in. They still functioned... Sort of. They were in intense pain, but she would live.


*****


A week had passed since Keval's death, and a busy week it had been.


His soldiers switched allegiances, explaining that Donovan was their new Magister.


The slaves were given freedom, and upon hearing of this the slave masters everywhere ran far and fast to the borders of other lands.


Donovan was having fits of some kind, his body reacting to a vast amount of magic filling him in a very short time. According to General Vey this was healthy for new Magisters after killing their masters, though where the lifetime servant of Keval learned this was unknown.


Sari was rapidly healing from the fight. Her legs were still too damaged to do any longtime walking, but in only a week she was able to support herself for several minutes. Nobody had a clue as to how she was healing so fast, but it was a blessing.


Chaos filled Keval's former land in the week that passed as celebration overtook the countryside. They were forced to bring in soldiers to calm things down, though there was no real force used beyond a metaphorical slap on the wrist.


Sari stayed underground for the most part, giving Donovan advice when asked but mostly enjoying the solitude of the library. The knowledge inside was vast, filled with the history of the Magisters and the studies of magic. She could spend years doing nothing but reading and she still would never completely absorb the history and science of Ovelia.


Finally, after seven full days of recovering in relative solitude, Sari met with Donovan and Vey to decide how they would set up their new nation.

 

[Willow Pillow]

O'Donovan rubbed the temple of his head. Both fingers back and forth to try and control the raging headache inside his mind. He felt like someone shoved two icepicks up his earlobes just through the brain, doused the tips with electricity and let them run a current.


"None of this was part of the original deal, Sari...." Something he ffound himself saying....repeatedly as the week went by. He let out a sneeze and several chairs flew across the room.


Fucking...FUCKING...they said this was normal. OH SO NORMAL. He just wanted to punch people's faces.


"Ok....let's just get this over with....I want to lie down..."

 

[Penelope Burns]

Sari didn't even react to the sneeze. Her chair was unaffected by the magical sneeze, and she had been bracing herself for it from day 2. "You love this and you know it." She said, smiling at him. He was an ass, but he was a good ass to have around. Already she found herself engaging in light banter with him.


"Now then, down to business." Vey said, keeping things moving along like usual. If there was anyone they owed everything to, it was her, between her keeping the border settlements under control to giving advice about how to organize the work force. "We are a brand new nation, completely independent of the rest of Ovelia, and we are completely surrounded by several bitter rivals of Keval, kept away only by his immense power. With him gone we have to prepare border defenses, especially around Treya and Drax. The others will be more passive, but those two are bound to attack within weeks of learning that Keval was killed."


Things of that nature filled the meeting, only finally ending with her mentioning the need of a new government as soon as possible. "If we don't have a working leadership and economy within the next few months, this rebellion is over." Vey said, sounding incredibly stern, almost condescending. "We'll fall apart without a new, working economy that isn't run on slave labor. That mean's we'll need coinage." She looked to Donovan. "Your newly acquired treasure stores need to be melted down and turned into currency, and soon. It won't last forever, but I've seen Keval's treasury, and it could last us at least a decade. Unless, of course, you two have a better idea?" Vey looked like she was hurrying to finish the discussion, she obviously wanted to be near her garrison so she could order troops to secure their borders.


Sari shook her head 'no' at the question, and looked to Donovan to see if he had anything to say.

 

[Willow Pillow]

"Love and hate are on a fine line and right now it's more on loathing." He plopped his head on the table as his head throbbed in rhythmic succession.


Vey talked, and he tried to keep up. He honestly did but it twas hard. "Wait....weeks? How am I supposed to fight magisters? I can't learn magic that fast....Keval was a bloody frikken miracle...and...train of thought gone, searing head pain replaced." He groaned.


Tapping his fingers he thought about what she said. "We need to write a Constitution. Set up a judicial law, where people are tried for their crimes but are not killed on site. So....we need rule makers....people to judge the law....and a group of people overseeing it and keeping it balanced. We have rivers....we should do proper water irrigation to grow our agriculture. That should create jobs. You work to grow the land, you get paid....then you have more laws to protect the people. I feel like my head is spinning and I no longer know what I'm talking about. Vey.....are there resources we provide a large amount of we could trade for coinage to other regions? I mean we have to have more of a certain object other nations can't produce we can trade to get other commodoties...right?"

 

[Penelope Burns]

Vey laughed. "That's the blessing of Keval. He has everything we'll need, we don't need any sort of trade beyond our own nation, at least for a while. Simultaneously, however, we have no large stockpile of resources. We can keep ourselves stable, but what little we don't have can't be traded, especially since I'm sure you're seen as a rebel upstart by most of the others." She wasn't entirely right, but she wasn't wrong either. The general of the military was trained in every aspect of society, but due to their intense focus on military matters they didn't care too much on anything not related to the army.


"And I'm not the woman to talk to about Constitutions or judges. We need to first set up a plan of action for the immediate problems before doing anything else. My men will practice military law for now. Death for murder, fines and confinement for theft and other minor offenses." Vey didn't sound in the mood to debate that, if they wanted to change things they could plan it on their own.

 

[Willow Pillow]

"But we're worried about paying for labor to keep us sustained....am i getting that correct?" The headache began to die down as he stretched his body like a cat. "So....if we have minerals, food, water, clothing....we should have enough excess to trade to get coinage to pay for labor. If I'm getting that correctly. I did have a few ideas on how we can utilize our rivers to produce product faster....and creating these would give jobs I think."


(That's right...water mean you can generate energy. Beginning stages of INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION here we come....maybe) "I had drawings and plans...somewhere...nope left them in my room. BUT Maybe..." He snapped his fingers and a cat appeared on the table. "Not what I wanted." He did it again. Eggs, Again. An axe. Again. Silverware. It was the tenth time when a leather bound journal appeared in his hands as he showed drawings of wheels by the river. "Whatever free time I had at the library...anyways..."


He paused looking at Vey. "I know you're right. Sari is still healing and I'm dealing with pregnantal hormonal mood swings every few hours with complete lack of control of what is going on. Adding more on our plates than we can handle is probably not a good idea. Which," was he actually trying to look at her breasts too.


Yes...


"Which I do appreciate. We'll stick with military law for now but we need to let the people know that we can set up a government where there voices are heard and they are not going back to the way it was. If we have people ready to attack us its a priority we keep our military strong and i....learn how to use....this. What do you suggest are our next steps?"

 

[Penelope Burns]

"Finish outlining the basis. Find the most experienced people at smithing, mining, farming, anything else you can think of. Interview them. Give the best of them a spot on the council, keep the rest in or near the city so you can best get their opinions. Keval did that in my early years, before greed and paranoia overtook him. When things are stable you can determine the less basic things to do." If she noticed him staring at her breasts, she didn't say anything, too busy giving her new leader advice. "With that said, you have access to a vast library and an extremely intelligent librarian. Use your resources, try to find ideas from them. If that's everything, I'd like to organize our troops and keep them along our borders." Vey looked prepared to leave, but she was completely loyal to Donovan, she wouldn't do anything without his permission.


"Thank you for your suggestions, Vey. And if you have time please find your 5 most promising young soldiers, either sex. I'm feeling far more healthy and would like to begin plans of my own, if that's alright." Sari sounded distant with Vey, though attempted to still seem kind. She appreciated the general's help, Vey easily could have quit when her freedom was given, but she didn't. She stayed by Donovan's side, and thanks to her loyalty the vast majority of soldiers continued to serve as well.