Dungeon Hunters

The Story of the Steel Cross

The streets of the Central Capitol were evenly paved with smooth brown stones neatly laid in the ground. The feeling was odd to Michael, being used to only walking on uneven streets and dirt roads.
"Well," Matthew said, "since this is the first time here for all but one of you, allow me to official welcome you to Central Capital. I'm sure the first thing you noticed was our rather impressive wall. Standing at 45 meters tall, it was built by the first of my order, the Order of the Nine, 500 years ago during the first Great War. The first of the Nine were recruited and assembled by Thelgen Jor, the first head of government, ancestor of the current head of government, his Lordship, General Bradley Greer."
"So, the seat of power is passed down through blood lines?" Daemeon asked.
"No no," Bianca spoke up. "The Lord General is elected through popular vote by a council of advisors. The current council just believed my father to be the best man for the job."
All seven of them were walking through a crowded market. However, as they walked through, people moved out of Matthew's way. As they kept walking, they saw one person standing at a booth, not moving as everyone else was.
Nicolas let go of Matthew's and his mother's hands and ran forward. "Allan, Allan!"
The man was a giant, standing at least six foot six seven, wearing the same attire as Matthew, blue mantel with gold trim, matching blue pants, and a pair of black dress shoes. He had a mess of shaggy black hair and his skin was a very deep tan color. He saw the young boy running over to him, scoped him up mid run, and lifted him effortlessly into the air. "Hey buddy, good to see you." When he spoke, his voice was deep and slow. He placed the boy on his shoulder, holding him in place with his right arm.
"Guys, meet ninth Captain Allan Falldrin," Matthew said. "Allan good to see you."
"Matt, good to see you back from running the Lord Generals errands."
Matthew shrugged. "Hey man, orders are orders. So how's everything been? I didn't miss any challenges while I was gone, did I?
"Yeah, you did. Landrix challenged Raph again."
"What?! Are you kidding me!? Who won?"
Allan chuckled to himself. "I'm just yanking your chain man."
Matthew let out a sigh of relief, "Oh thank the almighty. Don't do that to me man."
Allan chuckled again. He then turned his attention to the four. "So, who are they?"
"Oh right. This is Eden, Riley, Michael, and Daemeon. These four protected Ms. Bianca and Nicholas in the midst of a train-jacking."
"No kidding?"
"Oh yeah, Patrick Hale of all people was leading the attack. He's in custody right now."
"Well, gotta say I'm impressed."
"Yeah, you and me both. Hey, Allan, if you don't mind, could you look after Bianca and Nicholas for me, make sure they get to the Lord General? I was gonna show these four around a bit, introduce them to the gang."
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Allan said. "I'll handle it. But if the General finds out, he's going to be pretty mad."
"I guess we just have to make sure he doesn't find out then," Matthew winked. "Alright you four, come on then." Matthew strode off, Michael and the others close behind. Matthew walked until the street they were on teed into another, where he took a right. Since they were out of ear shot of Allan, Michael spoke up.
"Okay, Sir,"
"Please," Matthew interrupted, "everybody just calls me Matt."
"Okay, Matt, why did you really want to leave the other two?"
"To get a stiff drink."

Matt and the four others walked up a decent looking building with light brown sides and a green roof. A sign hung off near the front door that read "Unlucky Chuck's" in red paint.
"Wait, we can't go into a bar," Eden said, "we're under aged."
Matt shrugged. "Don't worry about it," he said.
Matt opened up the door and walked in and was immediately treated with a resounding "MATT" from almost everyone in the bar.
"Fellas, gals, great to be back," Matt responded. "Chuck, I'll take the usual," he said to a rather gruff looking man behind the bar. The man was wearing a whit shirt with a number of stains on it. He had a stubble beard and a toothpick in his mouth.  The man began to poor a beer from the tap when he noticed the four kids standing behind Matt. "Hey Matt, those kids old enough to be in here?"
"Relax Chuck, they're with me. Nothin' in here they probably haven't seen already."
"Alright," the man said, "but no booze for 'em. I ain't losin this place again."
"No, really Chuck?" one of the men at the bar said in a sarcastic tone. "No booze for the minors? Come on, not even Matt's that stupid."
The man turned around on his stool. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a thick build. He had spiky blond hair that looked on the messy side. He was wearing clothes identical to Matt's only his was a dark grey color with the same gold trim. Over his right eye was a tattoo of a lightning bolt that started just below his hair line and went to the middle of his cheek.
"Loke, always good to see you," Matt said.
"And you too. Aren't you going to introduce us?" He gestured at the four.
"Of course, this is Riley, Michael, Eden, and Daemeon."
"A pleasure," he said. "My official title is Fourth Admiral Barry Lochinsky, but you can just call me Loke. I'm little Matt here's superior. By a good number of ranks."
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Matt said. "You ever gonna let that go?"
"Not a chance," Loke said with a laugh. "Speaking of, nice promotion there Mr. Seventh Captain. Sorry I wasn't around to see it. I heard Raph was pretty pissed."
"No, he wasn't, we were both very civil about it," Matt said defensively.
"So wait, how does the ranking system work around here?" Michael asked. "And how does someone get a promotion? And why did you flip out when you heard about Raph and...who was that other one?"
"Raph and Landrix," Matt said. "I'll tell you that story in a sec. Alright, let me break it down for you. When you first join the military, where ever you are, you're going to start off as a common solider, the lowest rank. However, if you posses magic or simply extraordinary abilities, you can apply for higher rank at central. In order to even make it, you're put through a series of pretty grueling tests. But make it through all of that, and you take a higher position, a commanding officer. Then, if you want to take it even further, you can challenge the lowest ranked officer in the nine, who, at this current moment, is Allan. Beat him or her, and you're in."
"Now, rankings work like this," Loke said, "there are three Captains, three Admirals, two Vice Admirals, and one Lieutenant General, the second in command to the Lord General himself. In a sense, you almost promote yourself. You move up in ranks by challenging the person ahead of you. I'm giving him a hard time because he just moved up by beating Hayley Mason, and she's in a relationship with the second Vice Admiral, Raphael Thurum. I swear to the almighty man, when I heard that, I thought for sure he would take your head off."
"I already told you, we were both civil about it," Matt said annoyed.
"Alright then," Daemeon said, "so what's this Raph, Landrix thing?"
"Oh right right right," Matt said. "Well before, I tell you that, I've gotta give you some background on Kaitlyn Landrix, possibly the most badass chick to ever walk into central and the only person every accepted directly to the order."