<div class="floatleft">(http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m543/jakendy/HumanKing.jpg)</div><strong>Arkand - The Human King</strong><br/><br/>Arkand's shifted in his throne as the weight of his position made the reluctant king comfortable. Killer, Raider, Vagabond, all these names had been given to him many years ago, and at the time at least, he had hated them. However, he inwardly knew that he would take them all back, take all the scorn, just to be back in the saddle and, at the very least, wander the country side forever. Those days, were of course past him. Though he did occasionally take sojourns into the wilderness to the duress of his courtiers, he knew he had to do it to keep himself sane. But that wasn't the case at this moment. At this moment, he was stuck here in court, trying to make the best of his throne. It was grand and elegant, but was made to be imposing, not comfortable. Of course, it brought back thoughts of the outside.<br/><br/>His eyes shifted from the view of the window he had been looking at to a small horn that lay on a plaque, in a small corner of his throne room. It wasn't very large and it didn't stand out. Compared to the great trophies and weapons, gathered by his ancestors, most people over looked it. But he ordered it put there for his own benefit. He took few trophies in his lifetime, but that one, he wanted, mostly to remember. In his life before those 4 months that changed his life, he had only tangled with 4 demons, all of them lesser. They were hardly a match, despite being stronger than a normal person, and he was able to dispatch them like anyone else, using a blessed sword he had "Liberated" from a monastery  that he had raided in one of his earlier campaigns. Despite that, just the mention of slaying a demon, no matter how weak, put him in a different light. Going into his last job, he had done his homework, studied the rumors and his own deductions to theorize his opponent. And with that knowledge at his fingertips, he was quickly able to deduce that this was, indeed, a strong and powerful demon, ranked possibly even as a small time general of sorts. He knew how challenging even the smallest of demons could be, so he had come prepared. More "Liberated" weapons, and of course his best troops beside him.<strong>"Kill them all"</strong>He spoke aloud, remembering his orders to his troops. It went as predicted. The demon and his minions were strong, and many of Arkand's best died horrible gruesome deaths, until finally he had to change his tactics, playing a hide and seek game over the period of a month, slowing taking out the demons one by one until they could take on the boss.<br/><br/>And said lord was, of course, on another level, and in the end, all but two and Arkand himself out of 100 were left. Yet the demon lay dead, and part of his horn was taken as a prize. And that would have been a great story to tell, a songworthy one, but what happened next... was worse, far worse. While 98 of his people died fighting a horrible death, his last two, who had survived even the attacks of the great demon, lost themselves with not even a whimper. 3 months of hell. Three months of something that made him rethink his situation in life, three months of...<br/><br/><em>"Your majesty... while I of course abhor to the wisdom of your orders, "Kill them all" is rather an odd choice to give for a group of peasants who wish to rename their village to honor you."</em><br/><br/>The voice of one of his courtiers shook Arkand out of his daydreams and made him realize how loud he had said "Kill them All". He sat up straighter, putting on his sternest voice and stared out at his court.<br/><br/>"Yes indeed, I agree. I was... distracted. No, tell them they may do as they please, and send each family two loaves of bread."<br/><br/>The Courtiers bowed to him and sent out his request, in which time he took to breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, he didn't enjoy this job, but.... he wanted to help.. But that was enough of this, too much of his time was spent in this hall today and he stood up, the entire court immediately bowing to him as he did so, causing him to almost roll his eyes.<br/><br/>"I need a small rest, I think I believe I will retire for the evening."<br/><br/>He quickly exited the throne room, heading to his own personal quarters and making sure the door was securely barred. With his eyes going to the window, he opened it, looking out at his favorite view, the one not over looking his kingdom, but the one over looking the untamed wilderness. Once again it brought back throughts of adventuring. Adventuring he would have to put on hold because of his responsibilities. Responsibilities that were important for him to-...<br/><br/>"Hell with it, I'm leaving for a few days."<br/><br/>With a flick of his wrist he threw his crown on the bed, grabbed his cloak and a small sword, exiting out the secret passage his father had taught him about as a child, entering the forest outside.