Prologue

The Kingdom of Brozegrad. A city built ingot the mountains, and one of the largest, and most technologically advanced cities in Ageria. Constructed from stone and steel, this city is almost fifteen kilometers in length. Rather than a flooring completely of stone, the ground was layered in thin bluegrass, with a massive oak tree, with branches that stretched, and weaved there way through, and around the various tall buildings of the city. The tree was covered in blue leaves, that almost glowed in the dark. Several pillars were constructed to keep the ceiling of the massive cave from collapsing in on itself.

This city was well known for being owned by the dwarves. It was here that new technology was created. Steam-powered robots, and new weapons. Machines built to drill into the mountain where built, and a series of minecarts ran through the city, to carry whatever those drills find. Mine Shafts were spread out on the outskirts, each one leading to different and winding paths, far out from the city, and deep underground. In the city's dead center, however, was a massive tower. As tall as one of the pillars, this structure served as the castle for the king of the dwarves. There was only one way into the castle, and that was by a guarded door, across a bridge, that arched over a small ditch of clear water. Inside the door was a single platform, with a gated door, that was pulled up and down by a series of chains.

Beneath the castle, was the feasting hall, and the king's quarters, as well as different parts to the castle. At the time, the king was in the middle of yet another daily feast. He ate with his subjects, at a long table, covered in all different kinds of food. The people of the city where welcome to come down at any time to feast if they were the first to a seat that is. Servants were running back and forth, cooking food, and delivering it to the table, trying to keep it constantly stocked. As one of these servants came running back to the kitchen, she couldn't help but hear a cry for help. It came down the side path from where she was supposed to go. Quickly, the dwarven servant changed directions and made her way over to the scream. As she approached the point where she believed the sound to have come from, the little dwarf peered around the corner to see a woman. She looked to be in her young twenties and was nowhere close to being a dwarf. She was taller and looked more like a human. She wore all black, showing no skin aside from that of her face. Her boots were flat and went up to her knees. From the looks of it, they were made from leather. She wore black leggings, that was covered up by a coat, that stretched down to halfway past her lower leg. The top was made from black leather, with a silver engraving into it. Her long sleeves top was also covered by protective gear, and the gloves she had were made from the same material. A hood was over the back of her shoulders. The woman's hair was rather long, and her eyes were dark blue.

This unknown woman had fallen over and was leaning up against the wall, holding her leg, as it bent in a nonhuman way. There was no sign of blood, but it looked like she had either pulled something or dislocated her leg. Quickly, the dwarf servant knelt to her side.

"Oh dear, what's happened to you?"

The woman looked at her with a thankful expression.

"T-Thank you. I was just looking for a lavatory to relieve myself when I slipped and dislocated my leg against this wall."

The dwarf looked up and saw a small hole in the stone wall, as well as a trail of water left on the smooth wooden floor of the castle. She squinted her eyes and followed the water trail down the hallway, seeing it bend around the corner. The dwarf would have to clean that up, and she frowned because of it.

"Well, never mind that. Let's get you fixed up." She said, helping the woman to her feet.

"Thank you so much." The woman said, before kicking the dwarf in the back of the head with her foot. The leg she dislocated snapped back into place with a loud cracking sound, and the woman shuttered. She stretched, and bent over, grabbed the dwarfs body, and started to drag her into the room off to the side. The room was made for storage and held several ingredients that needed to be kept in cold storage. The woman looked around for somewhere to stash the body and eventually attempted to stuff the dwarf into a cabinet. Before she did, however, she snatched the keys in the dwarfs pocket that unlocked all the doors on that floor.

She then cracked her neck and stepped back out into the hallway. The woman walked slowly through the halls, making no sounds whatsoever. Her footsteps left no thump behind them, and she cast no shadows on the walls around her. The hood was flipped back over the woman's head, and a black mask was pulled up from under her neck, which stretched up to cover everything beneath her nose. After a minute of walking, she picked up speed, now sprinting down the hall quietly. It wasn't until the woman found herself in front of a specific door, leading to a series of staircase's, that she stopped. The woman used the key to open the doors, and dived inside, quickly and quietly closing the doors behind her. She now had two paths. One led to one side of the castle, and one led to the other. From what it looked like, the woman knew where she was going, as she immediately turned down the dimly lit staircase, and made her through a long hallway, which led her to a large ballroom. She looked around and smirked under her mask.

The woman took her time from this point on. Guards patrolled the hallways, each one carrying spears and swords. These dwarves were armored and expecting combat. Lucky for her, this part of the castle wasn't lit very well. Torches on the wall provided the only light sources across the hallway, rather than the fancy chandeliers that were hung at every corner on the first floor. The woman stuck to the shadows, moving only when no guards where in sight, and the coast was clear. She snuck her way around corners and quietly took out every guard, one by one. The woman hid there body's anywhere she could find. Behind barrels, in barrels, in rooms, under beds, and tables. She soon found herself standing near a heavily guarded door. The only thing standing between her and that entryway was about four guards. Each one decked out in golden armor, and shields. The woman assessed the situation and saw no possible way to sneak past them. The door was at the other end of a long hallway, with nothing in it whatsoever.

She sighed sightly, under her breath and stepped out into the middle of the path. The guards all immediately took notice of her.

"Hey. Who are you? You can't be here." One said, stepping forward from his post. The woman kept quiet, however. Her hands slid down to the sides of her legs, and she pulled out two knives, hidden under the coat she wore. She twirled the knives in her hand a single time before jumping at the first dwarf. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, he was killed instantly as one of the knives were derived deep in between the slots of his helmet, stabbing him through the eye. He let out a scream, and the knife was pushed deeper in, killing the man. His body fell limp as the woman removed the knife, and looked up to the other three guards. Collectively, they ran at the woman, holding there shields up to block any attacks from her. She put one hand on her hip and sighed, waiting for the dwarves to get closer, and once they were, she jumped over them, driving both her knives into the backs of the dwarves armor. They both grunted, but their protective gear prevented the knife from getting too far. She kicked the third, uninjured dwarf, and grabbed one of the dwarves who she stabbed. Being as small as they were, she was easily able to overpower them. She ripped the helmet off of the dwarf and grabbed the back of his head, before repeatedly smashing his face into the nearby wall. Blood splattered over her, and she threw the dwarf towards his friend as he came to help. The woman then turned to the final dwarf, and kicked him down, pinning him beneath her boot.

"W- Who are you?" He asked, spitting up blood onto the woman's boot.

"No one you need to worry about, well not anymore at least." She let out a mischievous laugh and began to crush the dwarf beneath her boot. The metal armor bent as she applied a surprising amount of pressure, and within a moment, her boot broke through the armor, shattering it, and rupturing the dwarves insides as her boot broke the skin and crushed his bones and organs beneath it. He gagged and let out a cry in pain as he died. Slowly, the woman lifted her boot and walked over to the remaining dwarf. He had pushed his friend off of him and got up weakly. Just as he reached for his weapon, the dwarf was met with a knee to the face. He stumbled back and coughed up blood as his nose broke. The last thing he felt, was his arm being grabbed, then flying through the air, followed by the excruciating pain of his spine shattering against the stone wall. He laid there, limp and unmoving, but still alive. All feeling in his body from the neck down was gone.

The woman locked some of the blood from her fingers, before walking casually over to the large door the four where guarding. She looked at the lock on the door and crushed the metal with her bare hand. It caused the woman to strain for a moment, but it did little to stop her as she pushed the door open. It led to a large mine shaft and was one of the few doors that led to mines. These places were used to bring resources straight to the castle using the mine cart system the dwarves had in place. However, standing before her were not materials or mine carts, but rather men. Every person before her stood wearing brown leather armor. Each one of them carried the same kind of sword and bow over their backs. Across all of their faces, was a blue handprint, tattooed into their skin. Standing before all of them, however, was one man. His body was covered from head to toe, in blue tattoos. They glowed a bright blue, and a ghostly sword was formed in the man's hand, which he held over his shoulder. The man wore heavy black armor, similar to that of an old warrior.

"Took you long enough." He grunted, stepping into the castle.

"Yes, well I had some other things above ground I needed to take care of first."

"Do you know where it is?" He asked, in a deep and scratchy voice."

"Yes. Lazarus and Twilight are going to wait for our signal once we have it."

"Good, let's get moving then." The man held an arm up and pointed straight forward. "Go wreak some havoc boy's." With that, the men behind him ran into the castle, and down the various halls. The woman and the man walked behind them, making there was down more stairs, and the halls of blood and bodies left behind by the tattooed man. Once the two made it deep down, and far enough they made their way to the one door they wanted to find. A wooden door, locked behind several rows of metal bars, and steel casing. The woman looked at it and sighed, as there was no visible way to remove the bars.

"Stand back." The man grunted, putting his hands between the bars. The woman did as told, and watched as the man summoned something in his hands. She couldn't make out what it was, but as the man pulled it out form the bars, it brought them with it. There was a loud crack as the metal was ripped from the stone wall and a chunk of it was torn away. With them out of the way, the woman ran towards the door and broke it down. Once inside the room, she could see the floor made from gold. The ceiling was a reflective clear substance, as were the walls. In the middle of the room was a pedestal, and on it, was exactly what she was looking for.

***

The doors to the kinds feasting hall were broken open, interrupting the meal the dwarves were enjoying. Smoke filled the entrance, and out stepped a man. He wore thin black armor with a blood-red cape covering up the two large wings on his back. Like the other two beneath the castle, his wardrobe was fairly similar in tone. Stepping out from the smoke behind him, was another woman. While she wore the same outfit at the woman below, her hair was shorter, and much more blond, rather than black.

"Who are you two?" The king asked, sitting up from his seat.

"Who are we?" The man said, and chuckled, "You really don't know me?" There was a hint of disappointment in his voice, "I am Lazarus Delacroix, and this is my associate, Twilight Bloodworth."

The woman glared at the dwarven king.

"We," She started, "Are here, for one thing, your majesty." She started to walk forward, and the other dwarves at the table distressed. As they ran, however, Lazarus cast a spell, causing several dark spikes to fly from hi shand, each one pinning the dwarves to the ground, and killing them. There blood staining the smoothed floor.

"We are here, for the dwarven relic. The Hammer of Moradin."

The king laughed out loud.

"Why on earth would I give it to you!" The king grabbed his weapon from beside his seat.

"No, you aren't." A voice came from the king's side. He turned his head, and his eyes widened as he saw the black-cloaked woman, and another black armored figure walks up to his side. The woman was carrying the relic in her hands. The cracks in the hammer's appearance glowed brightly.

"How did you...?"

"Oh, don't worry your little head about that." She teased him, swinging the hammer, and smashing it into him, sending him flying against the wall. The king grunted and laughed as he fell to the floor, and weakly got up.

"W- Who are you." He repeated himself, blood dripping from his mouth.

"Well, you already know who we are, but those two are Aries Drach and Eleanor Ripper."

"You're all nothing more than a couple of criminals then?" The king growled.

"No, we are far bigger than some low life thief." Eleanor frowned, and aimed the hammer towards the king, "We, are the four horsemen. And Valhalla is our lord."

The king stood there in confusion. Never before had he heard of any 'horseman' as they claim themselves to be.

"Valhalla?" the king asked, "The one and only?"

Lazarus nodded. It was with that faint gesture of the head, that reality set in for the king. If they worked for Valhalla, then they must have been powerful. Where had they come from though? The king questioned this before getting smacked by the hammer again. This time, however, a chunk of stone shot out from the ground, and formed a sharp spike, which impaled the king mid-air, and pushed him high up. He let out a cry in pain as his blood began to spill out and down the newly formed rock spike in his feasting hall.

"Don't worry, my king." Twilight said in a taunting voice, "You will die soon enough." She laughed and turned to walk out with the other three. The king watched helplessly as he bled out, and his organs spilled out onto the table below, landing, and splattering next to the plate of ground sausages.

The four horsemen took their time walking through the streets. They cut down every living thing they saw. Men, woman, and children, all ran screaming. Blood paved the pathways, and the bluegrass that covered the ground of the cave turned red. The city went into a panic as guards were killed and buildings were set on fire. Bodies were left behind the horsemen, and as soon as they reached the gates to Brozegrad, the city had been shaken. Lives were lost, and families separated in the chaos. The people meant to protect the city, where dead, and the one relic meant for there people had been snatched from under them, and most of the people didn't even know it.

"What is the next move?" Aries asked, turning to Lazarus.

"Yes." Eleanor added, "You were the one who came and found us all."

Lazarus stopped walking and chuckled.

"Friends, it's good to see you all again, to work with you all again. Just like old times, and we will have a lot of time to catch up with each other. But for now, we must return to Avondufff Island. Our lord is waiting."

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