THE CRIMSON LION AND THE IVORY TURTLE

PART 1: THE BATTLE, VORTEX, AND THE WHITE MEN

The golden ray of sunlight is dispersed by the lush canopy of towering trees, cascading on the mixture of green and brown undergrowth. Birds' merry chirping can be heard from amongst the leaves, but they are gradually disturbed by the sound of heavy breathing, getting closer, louder, and clearer. The breathing of a man, whom judging from this labored breathing, must be enduring a lot of pain.

Suddenly, the thick shrub that grows wild under a big tree breaks apart. Five blood-covered fingers are seen cleaving the bushy leaves with a sword that is not losing its gleam even under cakes of dried sap and blood, followed by the body of a man. 

He is no longer a teenager, but still not yet passing his thirtieth sun cycle. What striking are his armor and face. The fiery red Lion symbol emblazoned on his armor's chest is almost blurred by specks of blood. The thick metal is broken in some parts, dents and bruises, the steel cover of his left arm is gone, leaving only a bare arm under a torn white undershirt.

Yet his face is stern and dignified, although we know he is enduring a lot of pain which can be seen by him biting his lower lips once in a while. His blood-covered right-hand clutches the hilt of his equally bloodied sword that he sometimes swings in front of him to make a path. No one can tell whether that blood is all his or not.

"Where am I? How did I get here?" he mumbled under his short breath, "I can only remember, the middle of the battlefield, with that big ogre of a man, and then..."

He flinches a bit when he remembers the ogre's mace swinging at him.

"Then... a hard knock... then... this place..." his face shows annoyance that he couldn't remember anything clearly, and continues his way forward passing the oddly looking forest...

*******

It was not the ogre's mace hitting him, it was Sir Tawan's hand pushing his chest which shoves him to sway back thus missing the dreaded heavy mace from crushing his head.

His horse trots further away in shock.

He sits up straight again on his horse and quickly looks around him.

His trusted knights Sir Tawan, Sir Jumpol, and several soldiers are now pushing back the ogre, although it seems that the tip of the scale is not on their side.

He gallops his horse to the center of the battle. Blood spatters from the wounds on his forehead, chest, and left arm. Realizing him approaching, Sir Jumpol screams at Sir Tawan.

"Tawan, my friend! Don't let him come near here! Go and stop him! We'll stop this wretched beast." He turns his eyes towards the horizon, and sparks of anger burn in his eyes. The horizon is darkened, the land is covered by waves of incoming monsters. "These monsters are neverending!" Sir Jumpol yells a battle cry, "Stay strong, stay brave! More hoards of these hell-dwellers are coming. Protect our homes with our lives, men!" 

Sir Tawan comes rushing to the furious man on the horse, his King.

"Do not approach, my King, you have to protect yourself!"

"I have to fight, Tawan, you can't just let me save myself and let all of you fight alone! We need all the power we have, and you know I'm capable of fighting!" He runs his horse past Sir Tawan.

Sir Tawan can only think, "My King, I apologize for my next conduct..."

He reaches under his robe and takes out a small orb. A magical orb the Wizard Apaikhun has put in his hand earlier before the battle. Memories of the event flash in his eyes...

***

"Sir, we all know this battle would not end well. Our forces are too weak after the previous one. And the reinforcement hasn't reached the outer border yet. We will fight to the death, but we cannot let our dear King demise," the head of the kingdom's wizard sect, Apaikhun, said to Sir Tawan with a solemn look on his face. His marble white skin is in contrast with his raven-black hair and beautiful eyes, which are now clouded with disconcertment.