Return

It was a good day. The white sun shone down on the happy citizens of the human kingdom. The outer walls stood strong and powerful, intimidating any invaders. A mix of goblins, dwarfs, elves and humans chatted and traded freely for the first time in years. Inns and pubs were busy with customers, the most activity they'd ever had.
Two Scottish human guards stood at the main gate, chatting happily to each other. Their orders had been not to let anyone in or out of these gates, in case anything happened to the four rulers of this world on such an important day. All citizens had been informed though, so it was fine.
"You think they'll finally come to an agreement?" the shorter one asked, scratching his beard.
"I would've thought so, Niles', they wouldn't have gathered here if they didn't think so," replied the taller one, blissfully wiping his sword clean of dirt with a cloth he had on a table just inside the gate
"I guess you're right," smiled Nilsey, looking off into the woods not far away from where they were standing.
After a few minutes of silence, the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching.

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The goblin ruler straightened his back as he folded his arms. He was an incredibly tall man, about 6′3, with a long nose and blue eyes. He wore a leather robe, brown sandals and a grey woolly cap that covered his ears and all but a small clump of brown hair.
"Honeydew!" he snapped at the dwarven leader who hadn't been paying attention
"Oh! Uh, yeah, Angor?" Honeydew stumbled over their words a bit in surprise at the sudden yell from the Goblin ruler
"Honeydew! You need to be paying attention this! This includes your people as well, you know," the human said to them, leaning on the mahogany wood table specially requested by the elven leader, also in the room glaring at Honeydew.
"I'm sorry, man," the dwarf sighed "you just... know what I'm like!"
"Yes, but Xephos is right, not only is this important to us, but also important to the people that we rule," the elf added, furrowing his brow
"I- I'm sorry... I'll try to pay more attention" the dwarven leader looked down at their feet in shame
"It's ok buddy," Xephos smiled reassuringly
"Back to business then," Angor said sternly, slamming his hands down on the table, clearly annoyed that they weren't sorting out the conflict that they had gathered to solve.

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A figure wearing a black hooded robe stood at the gate. Their eyes and nose were covered by the shadow but they seemed to have a masculine figure.
Nilsey looked at his partner with concern
"Uh, Ravs...?"
Ravs held his hand up in a gesture that meant something along the lines of "I'll handle this" and stepped towards the mysterious figure.
"Um... hello? Are you lost?" he asked, slightly fearful.
The person shook their head
"I'm here for... business..." he spoke with a slight lisp and a fairly soft voice, picking his words very carefully.
"All of the carriages arrived hours ago, why didn't you take one?" Nilsey asked, walking to Ravs' side.
"They were all full," he replied simply
"Well, we're sorry, but our orders are to not allow anyone in or out of these gates, so spare us all the trouble and go home," Nilsey requested
"I see," the stranger sighed, placing his hand on the hilt of something under his robe, most likely a sword "but if you knew what was best for you... I'd let me through."
Ravs and Nilsey held up their swords, preparing themselves for a fight.

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A short goblin archer with scruffy black hair and milky blue eyes rested on his bow, watching the happy activity in front of the tower where the four rulers were having their meeting. His eyes locked onto a short elven woman with light brown hair and blue eyes rushing towards him in a panic. He straightened his posture as she reached him
"Someone has just walked through the gates and the guards aren't there," she exclaimed as she caught her breath and almost fell over. The archer caught her and helped her stay on her feet.
"Ok, calm down, go and find a place to catch your breath. I'll warn the others," he spoke with a soft but deep voice and a Dutch accent. The elf nodded and stumbled off into the crowd. When she was out of sight, the goblin rushed into the tower and to the top of the stairs where an elven scientist, human mage and dwarven warrior stood chatting.
"Guys!" the goblin called as he approached them, catching their attention
"Zylus!" The human exclaimed in his surprisingly calm Swedish voice "what's the matter my friend?"
"Yeah, are you ok?" the dwarf asked as she flicked her black hair behind her shoulders
"I don't know, someone told me that some guy walked through the gates and the guards weren't there to stop him, I'm worried" he spoke incredibly fast, constantly flicking glances over his shoulder. The mage looked at the elf and dwarf with concern
"Lalna, is it a good idea to interrupt their meeting?" the mage asked
"What? You don't think us four can take on one guy, Rythian?" the elf scoffed
"Well, I don't think the guards would've disappeared for no reason," Rythian replied
"Yeah, I know those two, they wouldn't disobey orders like that," Zylus warned
"C'mon, Nano, what do you think?" Lalna asked "we can take 'em on!"
"I dunno... they have a point, Lalna..." Nano sighed, biting her nails despite being covered in purple war paint
"They really do," chuckled a new voice from behind them.

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"I'm glad we could come to an agreement, Sjin," Xephos sighed, relaxing, even Angor let a bit of a smile slip
"So... are we finished?" Honeydew asked, with their head in one hand resting on the table, clearly bored out of their mind
"Yes," Sjin said pleasantly with a slight hint of sarcasm to his voice
"Thank fuck for that," they sighed, giggling.
Angor was the first to walk towards the door, this was the first time anyone had seen him smile besides when he was killing something. As they opened the large doors to the room they had been in a very familiar voice spoke
"Finally. I was starting to think you'd never come out."
Angor stopped in his tracks
"Aww..."the man cooed "didn't you expect to see me again... after leaving me to die?"
"Bedgar... I thought..."
"You thought what, Angor?" Bedgar growled "you think you could kill a necromancer as easy as that, huh?"
"Old friend of yours?" Honeydew asked, drawing an axe defensively
"Friend..." Bedgar chuckled
"More of an acquaintance maybe?" Honeydew corrected
Angor chuckled nervously
"Ah! Xephos! I assumed you would take over for me, you don't have to be so quiet," Bedgar exclaimed "Oh and Sjin! Isn't this lovely!"
Sjin shuffled uncomfortably and slowly drew his sword, as did Xephos
"Before you try, and fail, to kill me, I should give myself a proper introduction to Honeydew," he flipped his hood down revealing pale and shriveled skin, reminiscent of a corpse and took a bow, "Bedgar. I'm a necromancer."
"If you're so confident in your powers, why don't you demonstrate them for us?!" Xephos growled
"Gladly," Begdar snapped his fingers and six shadows appeared walking up the stairs
"Why did you have to say that?!" hissed Sjin
The figures reached the top and it was exactly what Angor expected and feared. Xephos gasped in horror.
"What? You don't like what you see?" Bedgar cooed sarcastically
"Bedgar... you don't have to do this..." Angor pleaded
"Too late for apologies now, Angor," Bedgar smiled "kill them."
The six lifeless husks that were once loyal soldiers wasted no time in advancing on their old leaders. Angor didn't even fight back. He knew what Bedgar wanted and he knew that he wasn't going to give up. He let himself die to someone... no, something, that used to be his loyal soldier.