Virtues Vol. 4 - Valor

From Atlantic Roleplay Wiki

Title: Virtues Vol. 4 - Valor

Author: Atlas

Chapter IV

Valor

Eben returned to town and thanked the merchants for what they had done. He tried to convince them to change their minds, but they would not have it. Besides, the deal was done. Eben was now a free man, and discussed his future amongst his friends.

"Well, I want to make amends for my past, I don't feel that I can do that as a farmer. I think I will join the King's army and defend our kingdom against the orcs and other invaders!"

The merchants sat in silence thinking over what Eben had just said. Finally Gareth the tailor spoke:

"Eben, you are a free man, you somehow managed to avoid a death sentence and now you want to risk your life for people who don't even know you? This is madness!"

"My friends" Eben said "I am thankful for your concern, and I respect your opinion, but I made a promise to someone and I feel that I must do this."

Eben and the merchants talked more and were soon swapping stories.

When it came time to go, Eben thanked them all again and made his way to the castle.

Eben was worried that he would be recognized by the guards, but to his amazement no one seemed to be able to make the connection, it seemed that enough time had passed since the unfortunate event.

Over the next several months Eben was trained to be a soldier. He honed his combat skills, became an expert shot with a bow, and studied formation fighting and battle tactics.

The temple in the castle was magnificent, much better than the barn. The other soldiers would tease Eben about his daily trips to the temple and gave him the nickname "Red Knee's".

One time Eben was sent out with 3 other soldiers to remove some deadfall that had blocked one of the main roads out of the kingdom.

As a tradition new soldiers were often used as cheap labour. The area outside the castle walls was always dangerous, but the soldiers frequently trained outside the castle walls and never had a problem.

They set out the following morning and a few hours later they had reached the spot were several trees had fallen across the road.

Between the 4 of them and their 2 work horses they calculated that it would take them only a few hours to clear the area.

While Eben was rigging up one of the horses he made a startling discovery. Eben noticed wood chips near the base of the tree. Eben's eyes widened as he realized what had happened, the trees did not fall on their own.

"It's a trap!" Eben shouted. Before he could move, a lone arrow drove it's way into his thigh dropping him to the ground.

Eben glanced around to see one of his comrades go down with an arrow projecting from his neck. 3 orcs crashed through the brush, 2 swordsman and an archer. They had been waiting until just the right moment to attack.

Eben cursed himself for not noticing sooner. The swordsman went at the horses trying to cut off their escape.

Eben knew he had to take out the archer. he glanced around and saw his fellow soldiers fumbling about, one trying to save the horses the other taking cover from the archer.

Eben knew he had to strike while the swordsmen were busy. He figured with the archer gone it was 3 on 2, then they could get the wounded soldier back to the castle.

Eben charged towards the archer, he saw the orc targeting the wounded soldier, the man was hunched over and holding the side of his neck, oblivious to his fate. Eben drew his short sword:

"I'm not going to make it!" he thought.

"Faster, you must move faster" it was the voice encouraging him on "You will make it!... lunge... NOW!"

Eben threw himself at the orc, he felt the blade tear into the orcs side. Blood swallowed Eben's hand as the orc screamed in pain. Eben finished it of by dragging his blade across to it's opposite side, spilling the orcs internals to the ground.

The archer was able to get the shot off, but the weight of Eben's blow sent the arrow harmlessly into the woods. Eben looked up to see 2 of his comrades riding the remaining horse back to the castle at full speed.

"NO... COME BACK!!!"

Eben was livid. the other 2 orcs whirled about, seeing the one soldier down they advanced upon Eben.

Eben picked up the bow and fired an arrow, striking one of the orcs in the eye.

The lone orc stood with its jaw open trying to figure out how a measly human could drop an orc with one shot. The orc screamed and ran back into the woods. Eben wanted to follow it, but he knew where it was going and he knew he had to get back to the castle.

Eben ran to the wounded soldier. He had fallen unconscious, but was still alive.

Eben knew the orc would be back with reinforcements, he had no time to build a stretcher. He tried to lift the wounded man but he was quickly reminded of the arrow in his thigh.

Eben broke the shaft off of the arrow and put it in his mouth to bite for the pain.

He took a deep breath and placed the wounded soldier over his shoulder as he staggered down the path back towards the castle.

Eben had discovered the virtue of Valor. It was nearly evening when they found them. Two men lying in the path, both injured and unconscious. They were taken back to the castle. Both men recovered and told the story of what had happened.

Based on his actions and courage in battle, Eben was made a knight.

Stories of battle with the orcs spread through the kingdom. Some of the knights said Eben got lucky and did not deserve his title, but most welcomed Eben as one of their own.

After they heard about his battle with the orcs, they changed his nickname to "One-Shot".

Eben became Eben the knight.