<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="color: #0080FF">Prologue: </span></span></div><br/><br/>Two rival kingdoms; Sirmia and Veruu, have been at war for decades with neither ever truly gaining the upper hand. Eventually a truce by marriage was proposed by the Sirmian Kingdom to the Veruan Princess in order to initiate peace between these long rivals. Although highly reluctant, the Kingdom of Veruu accepted the proposal and offered to send the princess by way of a escort. It is almost a week's journey from Veruu to Sirmia, so Veruu plans to take no chances while sending their Princess so they call the on a Ranger for the task, and this is where our story begins...<br/><br/><span style="color: #FFFF40"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold">Chapter 1:</span></div></span><br/><br/>It was a bright morning on the Veruan plains. The sea of grass waved playfully in the harmony of the cool breeze, hardly disrupted by the galloping messenger horse. It's rider; a young stable lad dressed in simple stable clothes, rode anxiously towards his destination. His eyes wandered the vastness of the plains impatiently searching for a sign he was getting close. Then all at once the tree line broke the horizon at the top of the next hill and a trickle of chimney smoke could be seen slithering up past the leafs. In an exaggerated motion, the messenger boy tucked himself in behind the horse's neck, the beast took note and burst into a final sprint towards the small cottage hidden in the trees. In seconds the rider and horse barely slowed down to a gallop before coming to an abrupt stop with the rider practically launching himself off the horse. His steps were quick and unbalanced due to his rushed momentum and before he could knock on the simple wooden door, a voice from within the cabin spoke calm but firm.<br/><br/>"Stop right there, Will." The voice was low but audible, masculine but subtle. It was the voice of Durzo, the Ranger neutral to both kingdoms. A few slow footsteps could be heard before the door opened and Durzo stood before the Veruan messenger. He was of average height, standing a few inches shy of the average six foot Knights of either kingdom. His slightly wavy hair was dark brown in color, coming just past his jaw in a messy fashion that actually seemed to work for his rugged but handsome looks. Durzo rubbed a hand over a few days worth of stubble on his chin and seemed to look right through the messenger with piercingly dark blue eyes and a dry, expressionless look on his face.<br/><br/>"What's the mighty King of Veruu want with me now?" Durzo spoke very matter-of-factly as if he knew the exact reason why Will was here. That kind of grim bluff that was very much a Ranger trait, made just about anyone nervous. The messenger Will was no exception.<br/><br/>"B-b-by ord-d-der of the King..." Durzo's eyes rolled skyward as his impatience with Will was quickly disintegrating. A quick hand shot out and snatched the royal document from Will's hands, "Just come out with it boy, you live in a castle, and you're a messenger. One would think you had better dictation than what you're presenting me" Durzo's eyes grazed acrossbthe page, reading only what he needed to read: "...escorting the Princess to Sirmia" In an exasperated sigh, the Ranger rolled up the document and tossed it back towards Will who fumbled trying to catch it. Durzo simply disappeared into the house, heading towards the bedroom while mumbling something to himself, eventually from within the house Will heard, "I'll do it. Now get out of here."