Meltrus: A History
-by Ranger Aragorn

Chapter 1: The Journey
A ship waited in the docks of the busy city of Thais. Many citizens beheld the great galleon, packed full of supplies and warriors. On the top proudly stood the symbol of the Royal Explorers of the Kingdom: two swords crossed over a map of the continent. The final farewells were said; some with laughs and others with sorrow. It seemed to be a mission of high importance. Yet still, the commoners didn't fully understand.

The sun was on its highest point in the sky. The temple's bell rang twelve times. Not much later, a man walked down the street, calmly, in the direction of the ship. He was tall with dark-blue eyes and long hair falling on his shoulders. His robe was heavy and white with golden details. On his right arm, a Dark Shield with no specific traits. At the right side of his belt, a Longsword was guarded. A beautiful woman followed him with fire-red hair touching the ground. Her green eyes were full of light. Her dress was white; her skin was very pale.

The crowd opened space for both to pass. Their sight impressed all; whispers could be heard here and there. The couple didn't seem to be bothered with the attention. Ignoring the people, they headed straight to the great ship. As soon as they stepped aboard, a soldier came to the man,
�General Meltrus Halgin, we have to go immediately to the newfound land. The entire REK team is ready to leave.�
�Excellent, let's move then,� he answered with a joyful voice. �I hope you have stocked all the provisions we will need. We don't know what kind of plague or storm we will find there.�
�Yes, sir, we have every kind of medicine and clothes our land could provide. We are ready to depart.�
�Alright, then tell the captain to take us away. By the way, what do the natives call that island?�
�Tanelorn, sir.�
�Ok, that is all I need for now. Let�s move!�

The knight made a reverence and went up the stairs to talk to the captain. The lady turned to Meltrus with a concerned look on her face.
�Don't worry my dear Dana. Everything will be fine. Remember, I swore to protect you with my life and love��
�I don't doubt that, dear. I just had a� feeling. Maybe it is just my head��
�Sleep, Dana. It will take us some days to arrive. Save your strength, this may be our greatest mission for the king so far.�
Following a short kiss, Dana O'Hara retired to her room. Meltrus had one last look at Thais, as the ship sailed north. They were about to make a journey that would change the fate of many that lived in that far away kingdom.


Chapter 2: Traveling Through the Sea
The King�s Gulf was not too far from Thais, 10 days in a good ship would be enough to arrive at the new land. The crew had been traveling for five days and everyone was dreaming about what they would find.

And then the dreams were interrupted at daybreak on the fifth day. From afar was seen a strange moving of the waves, very strong moves. The ship went on and Captain Kiran ordered everyone to stay alert.

Meltrus hugged Dana and bade her stay at a safe place, and started to walk to the front part of the ship. He could see something that looked like a giant serpent, coming from the waters. Many were scared, but the only move Meltrus made was to move one of his hands to his backpack.

The sea spawn advanced and shocked himself against the ship. Shouts and cries of fear were heard as the boat rocked from the blow. The sorcerer ran to the left side of the ship with a grey skulled rune in hands. It shocked fast against the creature, followed by two more hits of the same kind of spell.

The movements of the monster were slowed, but it didn�t die. It was just enough to oblige the create to flee.

Dana ran to Meltrus and hugged him, and everyone was happy about Meltrus and how his magic was decisive to save them. At night it was offered to everyone food and wine. Meltrus was telling the others that Muriel had showed the spell to him, which stops the heart, dealing great pain, and this way the travel went on with many stories and dreams.


Chapter 3: Arriving at Tanelorn
The sun was at a high point of the sky. The smell of the sea was good at the beginning, but it started to be disgusting since the seventh day. The endless horizon was nauseous, but finally they found something at the end of it. An island, huge, beautiful, Tanelorn. That was what the seamen said when they saw it. �Tanelorn! Tanelorn! Tanelorn!�

Meltrus glanced that the white-laced island, while Dana placed her head against his right shoulder, each one looking into the eyes of the other, and they smiled. After some hours they arrived, and Meltrus was given the honor to be the first of the crew to step at the new land�s beach. He looked back to the ship, put his staff in the sand and yelled �For Thais!!! For King Tibianus!!!�, and his voice was followed by the voice of his fellows.

They used many hours to take the resources out of the ship, time enough for General Erinton arrive and greet Meltrus and Dana. They were friends since childhood, played together in the streets of Thais and enjoyed nice pieces of chocolate cake at Frodo�s Pub.

Everyone went to the base of Thais, it was right north at the end of the beach. The were warmly welcomed, the fight of Meltrus against the Sea Spawn was told several times by many people, with many details by some, and some overacting by others.

It was already night and it was time for a new story to be told by who was already at the base before, the last night was not so nice and comfortable as this night�


Chapter 4: Darkwood Forest
The Thaian base was located at the south of the island, and after one or two days of traveling it met with the Darkwood Forest, the place where General Erinton and his men were last night. The night was dark, as dark as the woods, many trees covered the sky, making it unable to see much more than two meters ahead. Erinton and 10 knights were exploring the place, as reports of dangerous things had came to the base from the previous groups that tried to pass the woods. Now it was time for Erinton to show his skills again and make it.

Silence, there was nothing to hear but the breath of whomever was beside you. It was dark and 5 knights were holding torches instead of weapons in their right hands. A small crack to the north, fear in the air, tension, an arrow, all that hit one of the front knights in the chest, he got on his knees screaming and died after some seconds. Silence again, fear again. Erinton yelled,
�Shields! Get your shields up!�, two of his men were not fast enough, and died when more arrows came from nowhere and killed then. They could hear things moving in the air over their head.
�Circle! Circle!� yelled Erinton and immediately his men started to form a circle with their shields in front of themselves. Nothing more was heard, it seems the things had stopped. There was nothing else to do besides returning with 3 men dead for nothing�


Chapter 5: Proving to Be Skilled
Meltrus heard this story the night he arrived at the Thaian base, and he thought a lot about it during the night and when he woke up the next morning the first thing he did was to talk to Erinton.
-� I�m also a general under service for your magesty King Tibianus, Erinton friend. Let�s go together to that, how your men say� cursed? Yes, cursed forest tonight, I shall help you to pass through that place so we can continue our exploration.�
- �That is a tough place for you friend Meltrus, knights with heavy armors and shields died, whatever shoots inside there has a very good aim, I doubt you would last much with that cloak of yours.�
- �Don�t worry about me Eri, I have commanded these forces for too long, I will be fine. Oh, and bring archers with you.� Meltrus said, looking far ahead.
- �Sorry Meltrus, I didn�t mean��
- �There is no need for that General, let�s just go together, with also some men of yours, to that place this night� � Interrupted Meltrus.
- �As you wish��

Nothing important happened during the day. The crew collected supplies, food was gathered mainly from fishing at the south sea, since no one would enter the Darkwood Forest to hunt animals. At the dawn, Dana said
�take care, please!� to Meltrus after a long kiss, he smiled but said nothing, and started his journey with Erinton and his men to the feared woods.
Finally they arrived after one day traveling with good horses. They left these near the entrance of Darkwood. As they entered the dark forest it was clearly shown in the face of some knights, and perhaps even Erinton, a bit of fear...

But Meltrus was the same as ever, walking calmly and watching everything around him. After some hours of walking the first arrow was shot.
�We can�t see them but they can see us, it is helpless Meltrus, let�s turn back before more men die!� whispered Erinton near Meltrus� ear. Meltrus only raised one hand to him like that who would say
�Stop, I�m thinking�. Then he moved his other hand and started to cast a spell.
�Utevo Vis Lux!!!� said the General, and a great flash of light appeared, some knights thought they were blind, but after some seconds they started to see again and everything was clear.
�Archers over the treeeees! Crossbows! Crossbows!! Ordered Erinton. Quickly the knights started to protect the paladins in the middle of the group. Very skilled they were, and the crossbows helped a lot, since it is more easy to hit and deals more damage to the target. It was not hard for them to reach the scouts over the trees. Those scouts were men dressing in clothes made of fur, and Thaians would take them to be wild barbarians. Meltrus started to walk closer to the fallen bodies.

Erinton saw more scouts approaching over the place Meltrus was, but said nothing. One of the archers yelled
�General!!! Over your head!!!�. Meltrus was checking the bodies and looked to the high points of the trees near him. Three scouts were sneaking, with bows aimed to his head, and then they shot. The arrows nearly pierced Meltrus' flesh, when suddenly a magic blue light appeared around him, after hitting the magic shield the arrows fell on the grass.
Meltrus took a purple rune from his pocket and 3 yellow missiles started to float in front of him. One of them quickly hit one the scouts. Another one started to follow one of the scouts who jumped to another point, the missile hit a tree, and the third missile finally hit this scout, who also fell dead. The last scout was ready to shoot again but he tossed his bow and moved a hand to his chest, with a face full of agony and pain. Meltrus was holding a gray rune, and when it disappeared the scout fell to his feet, dead. Meltrus placed his right foot on the dead scout's face and turned to the group, who was watching the problem he solved in a few seconds.
�Our work here is done, let�s go back to our base and tomorrow all the exploring group will be able to pass through this forest.�

Chapter 6: The Bride
As planned, the group rested at the base close to the southern shore of the island. After waking up and preparing the supplies they started walking through the Darkwood Forest. It was not hard at all, and despite some wild animals, they made it to the other side easily.
A new camp had to be set now, and everyone started to work. Meltrus asked Dana to come with him, and Erinton to take care of the camp while he was gone. Erinton did not like this much, because he was in charge to take care of the camp anyways, no matter if Meltrus was there or not. The couple went to a beautiful place near the camp. There was a river with green trees around it. The sound of the birds and the smell of the clean water made it a comfortable place after all the day walking through the dark forest.
�Dana, I have something for you�.
�Yes?! What is it?!" came her surprised reply. The sorcerer took a ring out of his bag. It was made of pure gold with a white pearl in the middle, like the ones you can find inside the rarest shells, with the letters MD engraved on it.
�Dana, will you marry me?�
�Yes, of course I will!!!� He put the ring on her finger, and gave another ring to her, and she put it on his finger. They had a long kiss and an afternoon of love beneath the warm sun.

Chapter 7: Jealous
Meltrus and Dana started their way back to the camp.
�What�s wrong my dear, you seem to be worried?�
�Oh, it is nothing my love, I think it is just this new land, I�m not used to it��
�C�mon, you always loved to travel, what is truly wrong?�
�Erinton� he is acting strange Meltrus. He always come to speak to me at night. The other night he was complaining a lot, I think the is jealous about how you handled everything so well in the forest��
�Don�t worry, Dana. He knows he need us here� as you said he can�t handle it alone�� It was not exactly Erinton�s thoughts. How could that sorcerer handle it so easily? His men started to adore him, to respect him more than himself! And Dana, he also had some feelings for her when they were younger, but it was Meltrus who got her! Why did he always get everything?!
�I�ll give you what you deserve�� whispered Erinton when he saw the couple approaching the camp. After two days, the jealous one came to the skilled one and asked �Hey friend, why don�t we have a duel�. Meltrus looked to Dana who had a concerned look.
�For what?� �Just to entertain the men, they must be bored, all these days setting a new camp, you see��
�Sure, why not?�
Thirty minutes later everyone was watching the fight. Erinton, as strong and skilled knight he was charged to try to knock down the weak sorcerer in a single hit. Meltrus whispered some words and disappeared! The sword cut nothing. Five magic missiles hit the back of the knight some seconds after that and he fell on the ground, angry as ever. He charged again against the sorcerer. A beam of pure energy came out after he pointed his staff, sending the adversary back to the ground again.
�Utani gran hur� said Meltrus. Erinton tried to hit him again, but Meltrus easily dodged his attacks, and finished the fight by hitting his friend in the head with his wooden staff. A big cheer of the crowd came out, Meltrus threw a blue healing rune to the semi conscious knight.
�You�ll need it�. A big wave of hate came in Erinton�s mind. Defeated, knocked, humiliated�

Chapter 8: Wastelands
The group moved on the next morning. They decided that Meltrus and Erinton would lead a group of ten men to explore the northern region. They would be back in one month.
Dana was named the general in charge of the camp while both were gone. After a long kiss she said farewell to her love and the group departed. After ten days walking to the north everything they saw was a wild and destructed land. Piles of animal bones and also many human remains lay about. Their mind started to think of what could have happened to that place, and what danger would lie ahead.
At the first night Meltrus had a dream with his beloved bride and how wonderful their marriage would be. The rest of the day he spent thinking about having children and educating them in the art of sorcery, and maybe Dana would educate their daughter in the art of nature. The next night was followed by some kind of nightmare. The sorcerer was in the middle of a ruined place, and he saw a shining golden thing with a blood red gem in the middle. He did not know what was it, but it made him feel great pain. He woke up in the middle of the night, and the guard at his tent asked him
�Any problem, sire?�
�No, don�t worry� I�ll get back to sleep�. He did sleep all the following days but he didn�t dream anymore, he mind was empty and confused.

Chapter 9: The ruins of Tanelorn
After fifteen more days of walking they arrived at a ruined city. It was huge and exotic. Big houses and a great castle stood in the middle. Meltrus could see how it should be full of people walking around, merchants selling their wares, children running and playing, just like the good old Thais.
�Keep your guard up�� said Erinton.
�I don�t think anyone survived, but if you say so�� replied Meltrus. The group marched to the castle. It was the most impressive building and it really called their attention.
�If someone survived, they must have been living in the safest place� said Erinton pointing his finger to the castle. After one hour walking they arrived.
�Guard the entrances, watch out while Meltrus and I look around inside it!�
�Yes, sir!� Both generals entered together. It wouldn�t take long to examine all the place, since the roof was destroyed and debris covered most of the ground. There was only one hall left, and upon entering it, both generals were very impressed. The architecture of the place was splendid, lightened by the sun of that morning. The wind moved their hair while Meltrus started to walk to a pile of gold near a throne.

Chapter 10: The Betrayer
There were several gold coins, staffs, jewels, but something in particular called the attention of the wizard. A crown made of pure gold, with a blood red jewel in the middle. It seemed that the blood was moving inside it.
�It was in my dreams�� said Meltrus while putting the crown on his head, though he didn�t know why� that was the first step of his dreams, he started to feel a great pain, and then he realized that he knew this would happen.
�You always wanted to be king� didn�t you?� a voice whispered in his ear�
�You took my men from me� you took my woman from me�� the voice continued.
�Everything for you! That is how you shall be king� king of the dead!� almost yelled Erinton while taking his sword out of the mage�s back. Meltrus felt on his knees, after turning back to Erinton.
�Look how pathetic, the king with his crown, bowing to me! But it is to late to regret, general. No one will ever remember you, you shall be forgotten, fool king!� And then a move of his sword made a deep cut in Meltrus� neck. All the colors turned to black, all the sounds were his heart beating until it stopped, all the smell was of his own warm blood. Then all feelings stopped.

Chapter 11: The Crown
Meltrus woke up, his head pounding, and some time was needed before he could get his thoughts in place. In a slow rate, he remembered everything that happened. Now he started to get confused again, all those feelings, hate, sorrow, playing games inside his head.
Suddenly, a voice appeared inside his mind, just like when people are caught doing something wrong and someone says
�Hey!�. Though, the voice said �Finally you woke up, it has been 15 years!�
�Who is there� the sorcerer said while rising up and looking around�
�You can't see me, I thought you would me more wise than that, and you will have to be��
Meltrus noticed the already solid, chilled blood inside his mouth. His heart was not beating and he couldn�t breath.
�Dead�?� He thought.
�Yes, dead� replied that cold whispering voice, and then he realized it could read his mind, or maybe it was even a part of his mind.
�The crown�� he took the crown out of his head, and then he started to look to the red blood jewel, the blood started to move and he could see things inside the jewel.

Chapter 12: Revelation
His beloved bride, Dana, was marrying, but not with him. She married to Erinton, and they educated a child, one that could only be his son, for he made love to her the night before departing to his death.
The couple educated the child and named him Thanu, a young beautiful boy, trained in the arts of the sword and shield by the now famous and respected General Erinton.
The child grew up and the Thaians started to lose control over the Tanelornians, just fifteen years after Meltrus death.
�Traitor� murderer� he took it all from me! My wife, my child, my men, my glory!�
�Yes� he did, and you can�t let him to get away with it! And that woman� the one you loved, the one you call Dana, she betrayed you! She married him right after your death, gave your son to that man, to become a knight like him!�
�No! This can�t be! You are lying! I�m dead inside a nightmare��
�Denial� predicable, you know you are now an undead, and if you will it, I�ll take you to your enemies and you will see with your own eyes��
Meltrus talked to the Crown for long hours, they discussed a lot and the crown told him everything that happened, finally he accepted to go to where Dana, Erinton and Thanu would be in that night.
�Who are you?� asked Meltrus.
�Some know me as Zathroth, but I have many names. I�m offering you power to become one of the most powerful undeads, but you will have to glorify my name, spread my objectives, death and destruction. I offer you power to take your revenge.�
�Revenge� vengeance��
�Yes� against your enemies� Erinton, Dana, they represent Thais� Thais is your enemy!�
�MY ENEMIES! DEATH TO THEM!�

Chapter 13: The Blood Meeting Over the Mountain
With the guidance of the crown, the reborn sorcerer started to walk in the direction of a mountain. It was white due to the snow, it was cold like his dead heart.
Noises came from the mountain top, a horse, yells of people and the cry of a child. Meltrus ran to the top and saw a man with brown hair and beard, over a brown battle horse. He had shining armor and a crown with a golden jewel, and this jewel put a pain in his chest. In one hand a sword of pure flame, flaming like volcanic magma even in that cold snow, and on the other hand a shield, with the symbol of the kingdom of Tanelorn.
At the other side of the mountain, Erinton, now an older and respected knight, and at his side Dana, beautiful as always, healing that murderer. Yes, they were together on this. Trying to hide in the snow, a young child was crying.
�I�m Telerius, king of Tanelorn, and with the flames of the sword of justice I shall kill you both, and my people will be free of your domain, Thaians!�
And then the king charged against Erinton, who was already hurt, for the battle had started long before Meltrus� arriving. With a single hit of his sword on the chest of the Thaian General, Telerius killed Erinton, and he fell to the ground.