The Fated Three

Chapter 1: The Beginning

      "Man that guy is so unbearable" Rose groaned. She walked down the old stone path taking in deep breaths of the cool air. As the kingdom gates closed behind them, Delgan finally spoke. "He is our king Rose, we must show him respect and deal with the nonsense" he scoffed. Rose chuckled. "Oh please, he can barely remember our names" she protested. A smirk fell on Delgan's face. He turned to glance at the king's estate once more before looking back at Rose. "Come on Rochelle, we have a mission to focus on" he teased taking the lead in the walk. Rose shook her head in annoyance. "Oh don't you start that shit" she warned. Delgan chuckled. "What do you mean Ruby?" he snickered. Rose paused from walking, glaring at him. Feeling the instant increase in heat around them Delgan quickly turned on his heels to face her. "Alright alright, Rose, let's just go" he settled, hands raised in surrender. With a roll of her eyes, Rose pushed passed him, ready to start the journey.

    Rose and Delgan are hunters working for the kingdom of Lynxfell. The king has assigned them to kill an ancient Lich who has cursed the lands by raising hordes of undead.

     Rose was a little different from most girls in the village. She was tough, hard-working, and dedicated. After her mother died when she was nine, she was left to learn from her father, the butcher of the village. He taught her to hunt and cook the animals of the forest. It was on one of the many hunting trips that she came across Delgan.

     Delgan was headstrong, ambitious, and dutiful. After serving his time in the military, he set off on his own journey until he eventually stumbled upon Rose. It took no time for them to become inseparably close. And as the years went on, the two became unstoppable hunters. Together they went deep into the forests of Sorrows and began to earn the name the "Forest Lord's Bane '' as they had killed many beasts of the land.

      The two had been on this journey for days. The sun beamed down on them, and there were no clouds for comfort. Delgan wipes sweat from his brow. "Hey Rose are we going the right way?" he questioned. Rose turns from the path and chuckled "you'd think after all this time you'd trust my excellent navigation skills." she sighed. " Yes, we killed some undead a while back and they seemed to be coming from this way," she added gripping her bow tighter, preparing for anything.

    Noise could be heard from a distance. "Do you hear that?" Rose whispers as she turns up the path towards the source of the noise. "Yes, I think we should investigate," Delgan suggests. Rose rolls her eyes "a detour... really?" she scoffs but follows close behind him. The two hunters slowly walked up to the noise, it sounded like a lot of voices screaming and crying. "Is that a village?" Delgan asked curiously. Rose squinted her eyes to focus her vision through the trees. "I think so," Rose answered. "Let's stick to the shadows before charging in'' she instructs. Delgan nods in agreement and the two of them hug the trees until they are nearly at the clearing.

    As Delgan and Rose enter the village they see a group of villagers being attacked by the undead. "We need to help them," Rose states plainly. "What's the plan?" Delgan thinks for a moment before responding. "The plan is to sneak into their village and help whomever we can, we should do this stealthily to take as many out as possible," he instructed. Rose glances around before seeing a stack of boxes. Deciding to take the high ground, she hid behind the boxes for cover. "Alright, I'll start by firing an arrow from above at some of the undead and when they start closing in on me I'll release some of these fire arrows," she explained. He nods as she gets in position.

    Delgan watches as Rose takes careful aim while shooting her arrows down at the undead. When it looks like she is safe, Delgan calls out to her. "Spread the fire." He commands and she nods vigorously. Delgan stands on a box nearby, as he calls his elemental brethren to aid him in protecting Rose. He releases a pulse of frost at the advancing horde. Rose pulled back her flame arrow before releasing it in the center of the undead. The hay spread across the ground instantly burst into flames surrounding the undead stopping them from escaping. Delgan notices that the fire has done its job and is burning the undead, but it wasn't enough they needed something else. As the undead continue to burn he calls forth a blast of ice to freeze them in place. For backup, Rose shot more fire arrows. "Burn you bastards!" she exclaimed. He watches as Rose sets the horde alight with her flames. "Take them out!" She quickly commands. Delgan instantly raises his hands and clasps them together. The ice that surrounds the undead crackles as icicle spikes tear through their bodies shattering them into pieces. Rose sees this opportunity and shoots hardened fire arrows at the remaining undead. As the last undead fell, Rose surveyed the battlefield to check for any stragglers. "Looks clear to me" she states. Suddenly, a voice cried out. Delgan quickly scanned the village for the owner of the voice.

     "Stay where you are, it's not safe" Delgan shouted at the voice. Rose looks in the direction of Delgan's voice and sees a man in a robe running at them with his arms outstretched. "What the?" Rose muttered. As Delgan and Rose confirm their kills, the man stands there in awe. Breathing heavily he graciously cheered "I'm da Priest, you saved everyone!" Rose scoffed at his thanks but nodded. She had a bit of bad blood with religious folk and rather kept her distance. "mhm." She simply said."Thank you." Delgan adds politely. "Thank you, thank you! I can't believe it's really you! You're real- '' Da Priest was cut off when a stray undead man jumped up and tore into da priest's throat. "ahhhh" da priest screamed. Delgan instantly sliced into the undead man, but it was too late. Da priest lay still on the ground with his throat ripped open. The villagers come out of hiding and look grief-ridden at the dead friends and loved ones. "What's going on?" They seem confused and scared. "The undead has been attacking our village, and thanks to you two they have been repelled." A woman who watched from a distance explains. "Sorry, we couldn't save everyone" Delgan gave his condolences The woman looked at the man in the robe before returning her gaze to Delgan "it's alright.. no one liked him anyway. He was weird, but thank you so much for everything you did for us" Rose hated feeling crowded as more villagers came by to give thanks. Sharply she said, "Go collect our reward. I'm going to do a second sweep to make sure there are no stragglers" Delgan nods and begins to head back to the village but the woman stops them. "No, you need to go deeper into the forest, there is more undead in the area," she explains. "We are not here for the undead, we are here for the lich," Delgan says. "It's dangerous, you'll need more help, I can call in the hunters from a neighboring town to come with you." The desperate woman suggests. Delgan was about to protest, but Rose looks at him. "This village couldn't cover their own ass. What would make me believe these "hunters" could assist us in any way?" Rose answers. Delgan shrugs and the woman seems ashamed. "Ok then, I won't call in the hunters'' She says somberly. "Probably for the best Rose and I work better alone" Delgan chimes in. The woman grins and nods. "I understand, better that they do not get themselves killed, anyway let me show you to the center of the village and the best places to sleep tonight." She offers. Rose takes in a sharp breath but nods in agreement. They had been traveling for days and a good night's rest actually sounded nice. "Fine, which way?" Rose huffs.