Algoria and the Maidens Key

The year is 3025, and the world is controlled by mages and templars who are in a constant battle for control over the people of new Algoria. It wasn’t until late 2026 that the world started to fall apart from madness, corruption, and dominance that the world leaders showed. Through political actions everyone lost their rights as well as the will to live. Oil was lost, gasoline was almost gone and food production was almost forced to stop. An order arose through military power and they called themselves the Templars of Atlas and strangely enough people were given strange powers. The people with powers thought they were chosen to defeat the templars and they called themselves the mages of old. It was said the two battled so hard that the demons below were rattled out of their cages and started to spawn on Earth. Not only did monsters of every size spawned but a disease from above crashed into this world and caused a sickness like no other. The infected were called reapers because they changed into creatures known as zombies and they blindly hunted and fed upon weary travelers on the old open cities. It wasn’t but a century ago that the two rivals joined forces to create Algoria with a council to see over them. Together they backed off the demons and reapers to the outskirts passing the men of old built. Algoria was seen by other villages as a city of paradise.

“Hey, Sholka.” Berus , a man twice her size, nudged the girl away, “We have to go before the templars see us”

Sholka nodded while she rubbed her eyes. Getting up she noticed the glistening city of the tallest towers. Cars were being driven around by the rich and kingly while people like her and Berus were forced to hide their identity out of fear of being recruited by the Templars. A new power from the north was rising and this had the Templars scared and on alert. President Lady Ariel was swiftly contacted by the council to plan a siege on this new power but she warned it was too early for something of such extreme. Berus ran them down an alley, stopping at a corner where hustlers were gossiping about the new tech coming to Algoria. Sholkas heart raced as she began to sweat at the sound of two templars approaching the hustlers. “No! These are valkyries of the council. What the hell are they doing down here?”, Berus whispered under his breath.

“You there,” One of the Valkyries shouted as she came up on the guys, “You are Johnson of Yul. There is a warrant out for you.”

The woman's voice gurgled off as Johnson shoved a blade into her helmet and quickly took it out to slice the other's throat open. The two of them fell down disintegrating into nothing. That is what happens when you are transcended into a Valkyrie. You lose your humanity and turn into a soldier for the cause. Johnson wiped off his blade that was passed on to him through african heritage that was lost decades ago. He closed his eyes before turning back to the hustler, “Now, where were we? Ah, you were about to tell me about the Maiden”

“Y-yes. She was rumored to be traveling up north to the lands of rapture.”

Johnson grabbed the hustler's shirt with two hands , slamming him into the wall, “Why?”

Sholka leaned over too far and slipped right from behind Berus. Her eyes grew wide as Johnson gave his attention from the hustler to her. He didn’t budge his stance and looked back to the hustler before hitting him unconscious. The man patted himself down as he put his knife back in its holster. Berus eased his way out with his hands up, putting himself in front of Sholka. Sholka wore rags and her hair was jet black coming to her waist. She was only 17 and was found by Berus long ago. The two of them traveled from the east in search of a paradise but found nothing but reapers and monsters that keep coming from different worlds. Berus was a tall and average masculine man but he was suited up in the old Valkyrie armor. He served for the old militia that fell to the Arachnids of the baron islands. Sholka glanced past the opening behind Johnson and pointed as two templars were running in their direction with guns raised. Johnson gritted his teeth and nodded towards a door. “That leads out of the city towards Venice.”

“Venice? That town has been decimated to the ground!” protested Berus as he grabs the back of shlokas collar as she tries to slip pass.

“I’ll explain later, let's go!”Johnson shouted as he lifted a c-class pistol and began to open fire as all three backed into the door.

Behind them a metal door shut over the wooden one. They listened as one of the templars opened fire on the door but they stopped as the bullets repelled. Berus stands close to Sholka as she curiously studies the hall they were in. The hall lit up like an old subway with movie posters on either side from the early 2000’s. Graffiti was drawn all over the tiled wall and the further they walked down the more graphic things got. Weird symbols caught Shlokas' attention. There were stars on top of stars with an atom in the center of it. She wondered what it meant but Johnson seemed to read her mind. , “Those belong to the mages that pass through here. Young ones like to draw what they believe in. What it really means is left to imagination.”

The passage led to a couple of green doors which opened up to an old subway system. The atmosphere was dark and eerie. Papers were scattered about the floor and there were a couple of working lights that would blink off and on and then a wail of the wind that echoed through the train tunnel. Sholka crept closer to berus back, clenching on to his robotic hand.. He gently squeezed hers to let her know everything was fine. Johnson pointed at a carcass of a spider scorpion skin that was half as big as a grown man. Berus gently shoved sholka behind him and went to study the shed of the arachnid. This one was completely new to the two which worried them both.

“We shouldn’t be here”, Berus muttered.

“Agreed”, replied johnson

Both turned but a bigger one was behind them and this one was alive and snarling its fangs. Its tail whipped towards sholka but berus deflected it with his back. He threw himself over Sholka as the stinger tried to penetrate his armor. The arachnid quickly lost interest and tinkered over to johnson. It sweeped its claw towards the man, but Johnson was quicker and threw himself over the claw, throwing himself on the pincher. He took out his automatic firearm opening fire onto the hard shell busting it open. The injured monster squealed and shiolettes of more from down the subway began to shriek. Berus quickly threw sholka over him to piggyback her behind Johnson as they narrowly escaped to another hall. Slamming the door behind them, three of the arachnids pressed their claws in as they shoved themselves into the doorway getting stuck on one another. Berus quickly took out his combat knife and jabbed it into two while Johnson shot the other one. There was more scattering behind. Berus rushed sholka down the hallway for a couple of minutes before they made a turn to another door which led upstairs to an old office room with stacks of papers and books.

“I’ve never seen those during the fall of Simira”, Berus muttered pacing back and forth as Sholka watched him uneased by the shrieks beneath them.

“Neither have i and that is all the more reason to make it to Venice to warn the Mayor.”

Berus stopped mid trance, “The mayor?”

Johnson shook his head nodding in response, “The mayor of venice is a gentle old man who ran the town after the templars bulldozed everything. They rebuilt it using old concrete and wood. It isn’t much but they built a little town to travel to on your way up north, or into the city if you’re coming from the North”

Berus rested his back on the wall and crossed his arms. He didn’t know or trust Johnson but what he says doesn’t seem to be much of a threat. The two remained quiet until the sun started to set. The creatures below didn’t make much of a peep but they probably retreated to their nest. Berus patted sholka and helped her to her feet as Johnson opened the door to the outside. They were surrounded by desert for miles and all they had to go on was a long stretch of road. The three began to walk north passing old gas stations and exits that led into bigger abandoned cities. Johnson played around with his knife for most of the journey and Berus found himself carrying Sholka who complained every other mile about her feet.

“So you served in the old guard huh?”Johnson asked, looking down the sights of his gun.

“Yes.”, berus replied coldly.

“So did i. Damn bugs made things more difficult to push back the reapers.”

“I never had a problem.” Berus said, scooting Sholka further up on his back

“Did you take down any Goliaths?”

“A couple.” Berus muttered looking off into the distance. His eyes are fixed on glowing lights on the horizon. THe lights twinkled like stars in the night sky. There were no lights in the desert, just a crippling darkness. The night sky above them painted a masterpiece of the milky away with stars falling and showing its gasses lighting up the darkness.

A steady wind picked up giving a chill to the air making it crisp to breathe in. Sholka shivered as she hygge herself tightly to keep warmth to her upper body and Berus continued walking not feeling any change in temperature. The closer they got to the entrance of the city the louder laughter could be heard as kids played in the streets as their mothers scolded them for being out late and in the cold. The men drinking outside noticed them walking up and their expression changed from friendly to hostile. Two guys picked up their rifles and ran to the entrance as they aimed. “Who speaks the tongue of the snakes?”, shouted the man.

Berus cocked his head not understanding the question the man just asked and had his hand ready on his throwing knife. His head snapped to attention as he felt Johnson's hand ease his hand away with a shake of his head. , “Antonio! A Hydra of course!” Johnson exclaimed unamused by the answer.

Antonio chuckled as he lowered his firearm.

“It's good to see you , John. What word from the city?” Antonio asked.

“The information was false.” Johnson sighed walking through the city gates.

Berus followed the two to the tavern with sholka tailing his steps as close as she could. Walking in sholka, at least seven men spread out drinking and gossiping about mages and the vanguard of algoria. She only got a glimpse of the vanguard as Lady Ariel came through the city 3 months ago. People don’t think they’re human at all with how quickly their reaction time is. They don’t fight like any human or demon. A few people rumor that they are nothing but machines. Berus stopped her thoughts as they reached a back door of the tavern where an old man was sitting in the back dressed in a tunic and had a smile on his face. He welcomed Johnson with a handshake and waved two of his guards out the door.

“Have you found the maiden?”, the old man asked but the sound of his voice was frail like he was dying.

“No. The city was in an uproar though. Someone out there has the attention of the council. The mages have infiltrated the citadel in search of the maiden's key. A key that has the power to destroy and create life supposedly.”

“Yes,” The old man chuckled, “Yes I think it does.”

The two stayed quiet until a bell dingling got their attention. A girl stepped out of the shadows in a purple garment. Her hair was short, her eyes brown and she had ears of a wolf on the top of her head. Behind her was a tail beautiful in color. Her nails were thick and sharp which could cut through steel. Berus tensed up at her sight but sholka just stared as the two girls made eye contact. The old man seemed troubled by her coming out. “Yes,” the man whispered, “This is Steffi, the last lycan.”

Berus had one hand reaching for his blade, “She is a demon. Why is she here?”

“Son, not everything out there was born with evil intentions and certainly not this girl.”, the man snapped.

The room grew silent again. Outside Antonia was sipping on some rum at the gates looking out in the darkness. There was nothing but a howling wind coming from the North. A bad winter was coming this year and they weren't prepared. Last winter they had 3 feet and the predictions this year will be 6. Antonio was a cop who worked for the city but he left for always being overshadowed by the templars. He didn’t see any reason why there should be police if they were just going to get their job taken from the real police force behind the scenes. Antonio was just for show and was nothing more than a chess piece in Ariel's game. He had a family of three and lost them all to the war. His attention turned to a flickering coming from the north about 110 stories high. His eyes grew wide with fear and his throat clumping up with sheer terror. A goliath. He turned and started to ring a bell screaming , “A goliath!”, over and over until the townspeople woke up to come outside. The mayor limped his way out along with berus and johnson as they saw the flickering of lighting and sparks headed in their directions. Berus scanned the area with his visor and picked up signatures of tiny scattering dots following the monster.

“Is it a wave?” Berus asked himself , looking at Sholka.

“Berus, they know.” Sholka whispered.

Overhearing, Steffie pulled on sholkas hand while looking at Berus, “I know a secret passage out of the city”

Berus turned to the mayor who looked at the three of them, “It's okay, Johnson and I will get the townspeople to safety and rebuild if we have to. Just take care of her.”, the mayor smiled.

Berus had strong doubts that they could escape anywhere else but he followed Steffi into an abandoned mind on the other side of the town where they made a descent into the dark. Steffie took out a flashlight to shine on old wooden structures that held the mine together. This mine was an antique from the old world and was considered valuable. People that find these often sell them as landmarks for v-coin. Sholka stayed closer to Berus as he drew out his sword from the sheath on his back. The goliath got closer to the town, making earthquakes with every step. It had six giant legs, and its neck was upright like a dragon. There were wings the size of a city that could spread out and destroy a whole city. Its tail was a massive stinger that could pulverize with a high dense energy made from concentrated plasma which is what made the twinkling spark everyone was seeing. Johnson gave the mayor a nod and began telling people to follow close.

The arachnids usually don’t travel in large armies such as the one Johnson was witnessing. Hundred of the same arachnid he saw in the subway were scattering towards the mines. The goliath wailed as it approached the town. The people of Venice left back towards Algoria. They have no choice but to become refugees until they find a new town. The few that followed were mauled down by nearby templars. The templars rejoiced with them with the satisfaction of being heroes but they truly didn’t care about the well being of others. Mordred, one of the knight commanders took an interest in the new arachnids and headed off to the citadel to meet with lady ariel. The knight commander was a little old fashion and although he wore the advance armor of their time he also kept a cape towering behind him to move with grace. An hour of waiting passed and he didn’t budge until Lady Ariel arrived .

“You don’t have long, Mordred. I hope you have something to take the council off my back?”, she stated as she sat down at her deck with her hands rubbing her temples.

“I do have something that may interest them. The arachnids have a new spawn. It appears to be a mix between a spider and a scorpion. A few of them are no match for our weapons but a legion of them could quickly take the city.”

“Hm, well have a team go out and exterminate them. This is no concern of the council”, Ariel remarked as she sorted through papers.

“My lady, there is a goliath with them.”

Lady Ariel stopped on a report on a Maiden but her gaze was not fixed upon the paper but she was lost in thought of a goliath at their doorstep. No army of theirs could beat a goliath along with the new arachnid spawns. She had just got done providing the council with an extermination of the pre-infected through the city which only cost her more hate. The pre-infected were those who were suspected to have the pathogen, not actually have it. The council feared an outbreak that would set the city in collapse. She turned in her chair to look out at the skyrise. The night was fair and quiet in the city. Algoria was a city of paradise but nobody knows what happens under the fine print. People must be sacrificed for the greater good in the eyes of the council and Lady Ariel was ready to retire because of it. If she did, the council would only hire an assassin to kill her so she wouldn’t tell the world what they were really up to. Mordred saw the anguish in her eyes.

“Ariel,” he spoke gently, “all you need is to say the word. The council needs to come to justice”

“No, my old friend. We must abide by their rules for now. Someone else must take them on.”

Mordred gave a nod and began to walk out the door letting her guards back into the office.

As he left, Ariel began typing up a memo for the council members that there may be an attack on Algoria from the arachnids. Mordred made his way into the lobby where he noticed a shady figure wearing a cloak. He watched the figure walk to the front desk and ask for something. The front person handed a card to the cloaked figure. Mordred followed the figure outside watching them slip into an ally. Pacing as fast as he could he lost them in the corner but was quickly greeted with a short blade to his throat from the figure.

“Why are you following me?” A woman's voice asked.

“You’re suspicious of me.” Mordred growled, “Who are you?”

The woman lowered her hood with her free hand. Her eyes were blue and her blonde hair was long and straight. Her ears were pointed and she bared two fangs. She was obviously not from this world and she knew that mordred knew that. She smiled as the blade inched closer into mordred’s throat. He tensed up and began to sweat thinking he may die in an ally like this but to his surprise she lowered her knife. He was almost tempted to react with a counter attack but he knew he would surely die since he didn’t see her first attack.

“Those who know me call me the maiden.” The woman introduced herself with her hand out for a handshake, “but my father named me Wicce Evangeline”

Mordred was taken back by the humanization of this demon but he shook her hand nonetheless. Was this wrong of him? As a knight commander he should be killing demons. Why was this one not set on killing him like any other demon would?

“Ah, Mordred is it?”, The maiden asked as she was walking away, “If you would like to talk to me again, all you have to do is say my name.”

The maiden disappeared into a smoking vortex leaving the knight commander standing there. Rushing over was the valkyrie commander Vix.

“Knight commander Mordred?”, vix asked out of breath, “You wouldn’t have happened to see some kids running over here?”

“Kids? No”, Mordred answered quietly, still astonished by the demon he just met. He almost wished he could have talked to her more. Was he tranced by her beauty or did he really wish to get to know her.

“Commander?” vix asked stepping closer to see view his blank stare

“Vix, have you ever encountered a demon that didn't kill?”

Vix chuckled, “You’ve been to kaitlins bar, haven’t you?”

Modred didn’t reply but just began to walk home by himself. He was done for the night and if he was going to plan for the arachnid invasion he’ll need to get his head straight. Maybe she wasn’t even real and was only a mere illusion of his mind. He pressed past Valkyrie commander vix and left her questioning what she just witnessed. She pulled out her phone which started to ring. Rolling her eyes she answered, “I was just coming to meet you”

“I had an interruption “ Wicce replied as she was pacing down the road towards the city's exit.

“You didn’t happen to run into the knight commander, did you?”

“Unfortunately I did but he won't be a problem. I may have begun a domino effect to bring the end of the council for good.”

“I see,” vix replied, “Where will you be headed?”

“I must go find my key. She must be at least 18 by now.”

Wicce walked outside the gates with the guards collapsing behind her as she gazed upon the monstrous being coming from the north. It was over a hundred miles away but she could see it as if she was facing it a foot away. The air was growing stale as to her assumption something else was aching to the west. Reapers? No, something else is coming. There was a rumor that another power was rising up to take the mages and templars out of the play but she wasn’t sure who or what it could be. Her key may be the only solution when it boils down to a war on all fronts of Algoria. She sniffed the air and caught a most undesirable scent. Father.. What are you doing here? Her eyes focused on the road before her and she began walking to her next destination. The kingdom of Onyx.