Blade of Light

((I appologise ahead of time for typos))

"My son, always fight honorably and with intergrity because to kill a man in treachery will leave an incurable scar on your soul" spoke an old man, whose hardended and scar lined face spoke of battles untold.
"Yes father, I will make you proud, and I will serve Aquilonia as a man, not a coward!" Replied the youth standing at arms length. His Shining hauberk and flowing blue cloak depicted his position as part of Tarantia's militia. The armor's bright silvery sheen and unmarred surface told of battles unfought, and adventures to come. The sheeth that crossed his back was resently oiled, and the light pang of leather stung his nose. Silence fell between the two, but a language unspoken passed between the intense eyes of father and son, veteran and greenhorn. After a moment, Ryld leaned in, and grabbed his fathers arm at the wrist. "Honor and duty father"
"Honor and Duty Son" With those short last words, Ryld about faced, and donned his steel helm which hid his short black hair.

Tarantia was a distance from his home in Pontain, and the journey would take him through Nemedian borders and beast infested wildlands. After two days of dodging Nemedian raiders and one massive bear Ryld arrived at the gates of Tarantia to start his new life. He served well amongst the ranks, consitently aiding in beating back Nemedian advances or monsterous aboninations, but he never once held him above helping even the most simple of Tarantias citizens. He quickly was awarded the rank of Sergeant, and was given his own patrol to lead outside of Tesso. It was hear he learned to lead men in battle, to bring out the best in his troops and the worst in his enemies. He always stood at the head of patrol, never to be caught dead behind the line, and because of this his men grew to respect him greatly. His patrol's main purpose was to protect from Nemedian incursion, but more often then not they where fighting bandits who would come from far off places to prey upon the citizens of Tesso. Most came looking for an easy fight, an unfair fight, and this drove Ryld to the edge of maddness. His patrol would sweep down upon the bandits with out mercy, and left their bodies littering the country side. He and his patrol became remorsless hunters of cowardly raiders, stalking them into far resesess of the Wild Lands, to make sure the bandits felt the bight of his mens steel. Alas, with such fame, comes constant danger. Ryld had become one of the largest targets in the underworld, assasins came at night, larger bandit raids by day. Every hill seemed to be an ambush, and Ryld's proud, honorable men started fall to the blades of evil. He sent messangers to Tarantia to plead for reinforcements, but the damned nemedians had invaded the noble district and no help could be sent. Only the strongest of Ryld's men remained, Atricles the bowman, and Pergus who was Rylds right hand man. Their days had been marked and the time for their ultimate end was at hand. Raiders harried the city, pillaging adventurers rightout side the gates, and becoming as brave as to slay a citizen behind Tesso's walls. Finally, their time had come...

"BROTHERS! You have served me well, you are the best and most righteous of my men! but now I ask you an order that you do not need to follow!" Ryld's voice range out in the nearly empty barracks.
"These villans have raided, plundered and pillaged our people and our town, We where once the strongest light in Tesso, now they have dogged us into submission! Alas I will not die a coward, they say a man is measured not by how he lives but by how he DIES! So come my men, march out with me and let us give these scheming bastards one fight they will not forget! Let honor and justice ring in the clash of our steel!" As he finished, a roar went up amongst his men, and town guard present at that moment.
"Sir! we would follow you to Set's hellish grave if that is what you wished!" Cried Atricles.
"Ay! Let us bleed them, let them know they will NEVER put fear in to a real mans heart!" bellowed Pergus, who was a bear of a man.

As the sun rose that morning, the three patrol men stood at the gates of Tesso, backed by six other guardsmen from the the town watch. In silence they marched through the gates, and waited just out front. His men where anxious, Ryld could feel it in the air, but they stood fast, even as a hoard of bandits crestred the hill in front of them, and with a blood curdling road, charged down towards the guard. Something was wrong though, fear started to make a home his men's hearts, and then Ryld saw them. At least ten undead men, oozing death and fear, where running with the bandits, their teeth and claws dripping with death.
"They were killed once men! Kill them again!" Ryld cried, and with that stole forward, rushing certain death. As the lines met the carnage insued in full, Rylds men cut down the bandits with natural grace, but the town guard did not fair as well. Their numbers where reduced greatly as the undead ripped past Ryld and his men and tore right into the guards. The chaos was complete, men's last cries echoed the fields, steel clashed so deffiningly loud and blood stained the dirt. After what seemed eternity Ryld had broke through the other end of the bandit line, and froze with fear. Before him stool a tall man, whose dark skin betrayed him as a stygian. He wore the finest silks Ryld had ever seen, but there was something mallific in his eyes. Not stopping to ask questions Ryld steped in the cleave the man at the waste, but with unnatural speed the man side stepped the blade and touched Rylds arm with a small pin. Fire ravaged Rylds insides and he cried out in agony, but the poison had immobilized him. Ryld stood completely immobilized, facing the sorceror, who just now smiled as the last cry of Ryld's best man, Pergus, rang out. Ryld was livid, but he could not speak, could not move, and could just barely breath. He was a helpless babe in the arms of a monster, and then the monster spoke.

"You will serve well, you will be marked and you will serve without question!" The dark skinned man cried, and threw up his hand, forth from it came a black viscouse mist the engulfed Rylds vision, and Ryld thought no more.

Many moons later, A man washed up on the shore of the Barachan Isles. He was half dead, but it was not his time. As he shook the water from his skull, and the grogyness from his brain, a man approached.
"I am Kalanthes of Ibis...and you are?"
"My name is...is...Ryld! but I don't remember much of my past.."

And so the story of Ryld is told, but in truth it is just begining.