NOVEL WEB Chapter 2: Near The Border
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===[Chapter 2: Near The Border]===
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A cyan blue sky dotted by puffy white clouds draped over the Kiote Peninsula this morning. Golden rays of sunshine basked the tropical forests and wetlands with familiar tropical heat. Yet, further along in the skies, dark clouds signaled a coming storm.
Otaes kept a strong grasp on the reins of Archer as they flew over the ground. The jungle passed underneath them, dark green foliage and mountains that rolled on for as far as the eye could see in almost every direction but North, for there the blue Gulf of Helena interrupted the jungle and stretched out into the horizon.
She could see it all underneath her, watching the land roll past. Her mind retreated to a faint beauty that she couldn’t describe but retreated to in order to find solace. She enjoyed flights like these, able to see for miles unobstructed. The temperature couldn’t be better. As far as reconnaissance missions went, this one was one of the more tranquil. Otaes’ mind dared to dream about a time before. Nostalgic. Warm and hazy, like the world around them.
“We’re close to Canau! We should start landing!” Temetet fought against the blowing wind so she could hear, reinforcing his point by giving her a tap on the shoulder. She nodded, and with a slight adjustment of the reins, Archer knew exactly what to do. The Griffon descended, folding his wings, and they went into a freefall through the air. The thrill of the fall sent shivers up her spine immediately, and she couldn’t help but feel a smile grow on her face. Temetet seemed less amused though, more terrified. She could hear a scream escape his lips, and she could feel his fingers dig into her shoulders as if he’d fall off.
“OTAES! OTAES THE GROUND!”
The ground of the jungle below grew larger. The details more refined. She could feel the air blow past her. It washed against her clothes and tribal armor like waves of water rushing past. Wind caressed her mask and face, rushing past her with speed.
With a pull of the reins in the opposite direction, Archer’s wings spread apart and the griffon slowed. They hovered mid-air for a moment, and then all it took was one push with his massive brown wings until they touched the ground. Temetet practically fell from Archer’s back the moment it was safe. His wobbly legs forced him to lean on the Griffon as he caught his breath.
“Oh my stars… oh I think I’m gonna vomit.”
Otaes sighed again, her hand idly petted the Griffon’s brown head – much to Archer’s delight – as she slid off the saddle. Her boots crunched against the ground when she landed. They were out in a clearing where they would have to travel downhill to investigate the disturbance around Canau.
Whatever it was, the Council was adamant that it was of the utmost importance. Probably fearful that the Riverlanders or the Avonians – or both – were up to something.
The thought terrified her, but she tried not to dwell on it. She had already lived through one war. Fought in it too. The last thing she needed was yet another rearing its head out on the horizon.
She grabbed her belongings from a pocket on Archer’s saddle. Mostly her scouting gear, and of course her two weapons. A spear and a bow, “Come on Temetet, get your stuff ready – oh you actually threw up,” She avoided her eyes to give him at least some privacy, but inwardly she had to keep herself from laughing.
“You know I hate heights! Why would you do that?” He weakly complained.
“Quit whining, it was just a little dive!“
“LITTLE?”
“Aye-yai-yai,” She sighed, “You begged me to be here. Keep up with the pace.”
“Yeah, I didn’t think you would try and kill me along the way!”
“We aren’t at the ‘Me killing you’ stage, yet. You want to be a Kitchi so bad? This is how you train for it.”
“That’s what I get for offering to help,” Temetet muttered to himself.
“Bite me.”
She took satisfaction in watching her brother squirm in discomfort at her words, slowly he stood up, grabbing his own spear and his bow. Otaes knew he could fight well. He just needed to be guided so he could hone his skills, and like his sister, become one of the Kitchi warriors. And under her protection, he’ll do fine. Especially since Temetet was practically a modern wizard when it came to computers. If he could push himself to use his skills with electronics towards his Warrior Training, then there was nothing stopping him.
She turned to Archer, raising a hand to brush the brown and down like feathers on his cheek, “Find someplace to stay hidden around here. We’ll be back soon, okay?”
Archer chirped in recognition, and as soon as Otaes stopped petting him, he was off into the bush. Hidden out of the clearing. She gestured for Temetet to follow, and the two of them walked in the opposite direction, northwards towards Canau. From the satchel around Temetet’s shoulder, he pulled out one of his contraptions. Or rather, one of the Avonian contraptions that Temetet managed to rig to fight for them. Clutched in his hands was a dark metallic box, no larger than his fist if he balled it. Markings and insignia from its previous operator covered its surface, engraved. With a push from a button, the box transformed, opening up to reveal the lens of a camera and four thin metallic arms on either side with blades.
It was a captured reconnaissance drone manufactured by the Avonian Empire. During the war, the Imperials had sent thousands of these things into the jungle in order to peer underneath the dense foliage and keep an eye on everything lurking within the dense undergrowth – all without them knowing. They were a particular nuisance to the Warrior Elves who depended on the jungle’s cover to fight effectively, it was the only way they could grapple with the overwhelming might of Imperial war machines. And as an added bonus, when the drones finished their jobs, the imperials liked to ram them into formations of Warriors – using their sharp blades to slice skin or even crack skulls. She’d seen it happen far too many times during the fighting, to the point that seeing the one in Temetet’s hands was enough to send a shiver down her spine. Even if she knew that it was technically on their side now.
The blades of the drone started to spin, and with a slight toss from Temetet, it took off. Darting upwards into the skies.
“I hope this one doesn’t get shot down,” he said, turning to yet another device that he carried in his satchel to view the feedback from the drones camera.
“It might,” Otaes said, “You were working on it earlier today, right?”
“Just tweaking its friend or foe program. Hopefully it’ll trick the Riverlanders into thinking it’s one of theirs.”
Otaes watched the drone virtually disappear into the air for only a second before she tried to ignore it.
The jungle air was particularly hot and humid today. Stormy weather brewed over the mountains to the west. Dark clouds threatened to swamp the still air in a torrent. The two elves were used to the temperature. They had lived in the Kiote jungle their whole lives. The sloping green mountains, the dense inner jungle, the land, the sea, the skies. This Jungle was a part of them, and Otaes felt as if she knew every inch of the land as if it were her own home. But even with her knowledge of the Kiote jungle, they had to be cautious, for this region was no longer their home. This was the Republic’s side of the border, and out here, everything was a threat.
The palms gently swayed in the faint breeze and the thick jungle flora cast a shadow over the ground. A perfect place to hide, right in plain sight. Sunlight trickled in through the gaps in the leaves, leaving sunbeams to trace a path towards the dirt. The humidity was especially strong underneath the canopy, especially with the plants surrounding them. Damp, moist, almost suffocating heat in the thickest part of the Kiote wilderness, “How can you wear your mask in this place?”
“We might run into Imperials or the Militia. You know the rule-“
“Yeah, yeah, nobody outside of our tribe can see our face.”
“And if they do?” Otaes queried, seeing if her brother had remembered one of the fundamental tenets of the Kitchi warriors.
Temetet sighed, “We kill them.”
“See, you’re getting it.”
“But it’s so hot, I mean, I’m suffocating with my mask off.”
“You’ll get used to it.”
“What if I don’t?”
“You will.”
“You are just a piece of work, aren’t you?”
“And you are about to step on a landmine.”
“Yeah well-wait what?!”
Temetet screamed, he jumped to the side in a flurry of panic. Otaes only sighed, walking forward. Not bothering to turn back to meet what was undoubtedly going to be a look of absolute betrayal from Temetet, “You know what Otaes, I bet there wasn’t even a landmine there! I’m done. I wanna go home! I hate it here!”
“That was a lesson. If you were keeping an eye out, you would’ve known. Always understand your surroundings. Especially out here. We’re near the border, everything can kill you, and everything wants to kill you.”
“Yeah well…there’s a spider on your back.”
“No there isn’t.”
“Well, I’m looking at it and it’s a braineater -”
Otaes stopped in her tracks, turning to face Temetet. She raised a finger to her lips, “Shh. We’re getting close. Focus. And put your mask on.”
Temetet sighed but said nothing, giving in to her lead. He put his mask over his face– though it had yet to be painted because he wasn’t a Kitchi. With Temetet quiet, Otaes pushed on through the dense jungle.
What Otaes had told Temetet wasn’t totally far from the truth. The border between the Avonian-backed River Republic, and the Kiote Union had become heavily militarized following the end of the last war. While the ceasefire brought an end to the bombs being dropped and the bullets being fired, there was hardly peace in the peninsula. Even now, Otaes could imagine the sounds of Avonian dragons screeching as they burned through great swathes of forest, only to be matched by the Ostralander Jets – whose distinct roaring engines were almost always followed by bombs and devastation.
And then there was the gas. Pinkish-yellow clouds of death that melted the lungs of those who inhaled it. The green jungle painted a hazy Orange, as canisters of noxious smoke fell from the Avonian war machines. Suffocating the elves until their lungs turned into a meaty slurry. As stoic as she wished she was, she could never quite bring herself to forget the image of the dying and dead, slumped over the streets of Raritan, drowning in a pool of their own liquefied internal flesh.
The Peninsula was torn asunder, a fire in the jungle. More a hellish inferno than a flame. It had only been two years since the ceasefire brought an end to the devastation, yet the war still lingered on…
Her ears twitched at the sound of gunfire echoing through the skies. Loud banging was coming from Canau. There had to be a battle going on somewhere over there. But between who?
There was a beep from the monitor in Temetet’s hands, “Oh wait, it’s got something.”
“Soldiers?”
“Yeah. Lots of them, they’re just up ahead.”
She could hear another sound coming from up ahead. Voices, and the sound of engines. There was a slight incline and then a road. She sprinted over, avoiding the trees and cutting her way through the bush until she had a clear view of the road.
Soldiers. They carried their rifles on their backs as they marched on the road. Behind them were armored vehicles. Dragons flew across the open skies. Otaes had become well familiar with them in her years, her eyes narrowed as she watched their modified bodies glisten in the evening sun.
“Who are they?” Temetet whispered, “Avonian? Riverlander?”
“Both. Riverlander conscripts, Avonian vehicles,” She took out her looking glass to survey the area closer. Noting the flag patches and the soldiers themselves. The soldiers were a patchwork of humans and elves. The River Republic’s militia was always the worst equipped. Their soldiers wore basic uniforms with dingy helmets that reminded Otaes of a cooking pot. They were easy to tell apart from the far better equipped – and trained – Imperials.
“What are they doing out here?”
“We’ll find out.”
All of the soldiers and equipment were headed towards Canau. If there was a battle going on there, and both the Avonians and the Riverlanders were working together, then who were they fighting? Otaes felt something rumble in the ground. Where she stood, she could feel the ground literally shake. The familiar sinking feeling told her what it meant.
An echoing roar accompanied it as it appeared into their view. It towered over the landscape. Nearly the height of the mountains nearby. Effortlessly, the four-legged contraption stepped over the jungle forest. It raised one leg up and then slammed it down with enough force to shake the very ground it walked on. Its engine filled the air with a droning whir that followed it wherever it travelled. And the searchlights on its face beamed down on the terrain below.
“Behemoth! Get down!” Otaes warned.
Otaes and Temetet crouched down low, fearing being detected by the searchlights. She’d remembered during the war when fleets of Behemoths terrorized her home. Almost unstoppable. Despite her best efforts, they always managed to get to her. Their size was titanic, their metal hulls impenetrable, and the lights on their face – like eyes – omnipresent. All seeing. All knowing. They were more fearsome than the soldiers themselves, even the dragons that circled the skies. The Behemoths were the embodiment of Avonian terror warfare. A show of might that could send even the sturdiest of warriors a deathly chill down their spines. Monstrosities of steel and iron that gave nightmares to the most experienced of battlefield veterans.
The Avonians were masters of terror warfare, they based the crux of the army on it. If you can make the enemy run with their tails between their legs, you don’t need to fight them. The Behemoths were the epitome of this line of thinking. Sent in with the rest of the army - if there was a Behemoth on the battlefield, then hell lurked around the corner.
She held her breath as the duo watched it pass, even though it must’ve been a half-mile away. It wouldn’t have noticed the two of them. Unsuspecting. Yet it moved on.
The two waited for some time until Temetet pulled out the monitor again, “They’re gone. We should be clear.”
“It didn’t pick up the behemoth,” Otaes said, “Are you sure that thing works?”
“It’s not programmed to find behemoths. You can just look and see them, they’re massive!”
Otaes remained unconvinced. She checked everywhere, certain that nobody was watching, “Come on, stay close.” The duo sprinted across the dirt road into more jungle ahead. More walking and cutting through the thick forest, but eventually they came to a opening on the hillside. The gunfire here was louder, and the situation much clearer.
Otaes nearly gasped at what she saw. The seaside city of Canau, one of the most important cities along the border of the Kiote Union and the River Republic, was on fire. Soldiers were fighting each other, buildings almost demolished. Magical attacks, explosions, gunfire, missiles…it was an intense battle between two equal forces. She took out her looking glass again to see clearer.
“Who are they fighting? Ostralanders?” Temetet asked
“No. I don’t think so. It doesn’t look like them.”
“What do you mean? They’re all human, right? Just like Ossies.”
“No, their uniforms and equipment are different.”
“Then who are they?”
Otaes looked out to the forest. Further uphill along the coast was a new sight. A fenced off area with several alien-looking buildings. They looked reminiscent to tents, there was more of those human soldiers there.
Nothing familiar clicked though. Though they resembled the Commonwealth’s soldiers, they were too dissimilar. Like looking at something recognizable, but not identifiable. Otaes shook her head.
“I have no idea…”
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==[FAREWIND'S FINAL FRONTIER]==
On the continent of Farewind’s westernmost extreme lies the Kiote Peninsula. A region covered by warm climates, thick jungle, staggering mountains, arid central plains, and a miniature world of nations vying for survival in Farewind’s final frontier. The peninsula is primarily dominated by The Kiote Union, a loose confederation of kingdoms, tribal nations, republics, and cities that have united around their shared history, culture, and identities. From The Seville Kingdom which has embraced the industrial era and are rising to become the Kiote Unions’ most powerful nation ahead of the Warriors. To the close cousins of the warrior elves, the tribal humans in The Canarsee Tribal Confederation, who live in isolation within the protection that the jungle provides, unwilling to give up their cultures and history to the forces of modernity ever encroaching. The Kiote Union is as diverse as it is expansive.
Even beyond the established empires are roving bands of nomads who cross the jungles, countless independent tribes whose peoples are tied to the land, bandits who lurk in the wilderness, slavers whose ruthlessness terrorize undefended villages as they hide from Confederate authorities, traders opening up markets across the Peninsula spreading ideas and new technologies wherever they travel, and militias who fight to spread their ideals among a region caught in the past. The Peninsula is a region trapped in stasis. Although new technologies and modernity are crawling into the Kiote interior, the vibrant historical cultures of the Kiote people and the diversity of their nations thrive in this almost anarchic realm. A fantasy landscape, the final frontier of a continent in the midst of a globe consuming Cold War...
Yet, the Kiote people must be vigilant. To the North is the Avonian Empire. A modern, absolutist, and imperialist superpower. An unstoppable Phoenix, one whose hungry eyes look south on what she considers to be a barbaric, uncivilized, and savage landscape. Though The Kiote Union is protected by their alliance to the cutting edge modern forces of The Commonwealth in the Belford Alliance, one wrong misstep will trigger an escalation of tensions, and a invasion by the forces of The Iron Phoenix. A Second Kiote War, one that will prove to be even more disastrous than the first’s apocalyptic devastation...
==[DIRECT IMAGE LINKS FOR CLEARER RESOLUTION]==
>>>[STRATEGIC MAP OF THE KIOTE PENINSULA]
>>>[THE KIOTE WAR]
>>>[A WAR BETWEEN MASTERS FOUGHT BY PUPPETS]
>>>[CONFLICT PHASE]
==[END TRANSMISSION]==