The Phoenix's Legion

The wall to the east was undoubtedly the most formidable of the Rovahn walls, it has stood tall and mighty since the completion of the Rovahn walls. The reason for its success was because of the clan that defended it, the dragon creed. The clan was once part of the phoenix's legion; it was known to produce many army slayers but when the shoguns had begun to infest Rovahn it was the eastern wall that took a personal approach to fighting off the beast. When king Titus had ordered to focus all of the legions clans to the walls of Rovahn, the dragon creed had been abandoned to deal with the monsters alone, in fact it was the dragon creed that named the monsters shoguns because of the similarities that the monsters had in their facial appearance with the masks of the dragon creeds mightiest warriors, the samurai. The king's orders were seen as a betrayal in the eyes of the dragon creed, it caused the dragon creed to separate from the phoenix's legion and stand as a separate entity.

For years the countries to the east worked on their underground systems, the legion believed that the tunnels where meant to evacuate the dragon creeds civilians but that was never the emperor's intentions. The dragon creeds leader was Ryoko, a proud samurai warrior that led the dragon creed with honour and an iron will. It was he that ordered to build the massive engine beneath their countries to the east, while the legion was deceived in thinking that the dragon creed was planning to swallow its pride and open itself to the legion, the dragon creed had turned its entire country into a flying ship. They had done this by studying the floating shogun hive that Madmar had been imprisoned in, by the time the legion had heard of this plan it was too late, the dragon creed had already placed a giant impregnatable dome above its countries to the east. Before their eyes they saw the eastern lands rise to the sky and disappear into the dark cloud, the legion never knew how the dragon creed achieved such a thing, they had completely separated itself from the legion and from Rovahn. What could have powered such an engine? How could they possibly protect themselves from the dark cloud? So many questions were asked but none where ever answered. The only thing the legion had to remember the dragon creed by was the massive canyon they had left behind, the same canyon in which Thomas Noble had discovered the red stone.

The large canyon that stretched to the eastern wall attracted thousands of shoguns to it, image an entire wall completely overrun and controlled by shoguns, the legion couldn't allow such a thing to happen so they assembled as many warriors they could to fight off the shoguns. Many mercenaries also joined the fight, humanity couldn't allow a canyon of that size to be owned by shoguns, at the rate the creatures populate the human race would be completely overpowered by the shoguns. The battle was long and hard and many lives were lost, it almost seemed an impossible task, so impossible that the legion nearly made a retreat that would have forsaken the canyon, it was at that moment when it happened. Two lightning bolts of immense power struck the earth and burned thousands of shoguns, from the smoke emerged two young warriors that wore the symbol of the dragon creed but their armour was more distinguished, it was the kind of armour that would have been worn by members of a prestigious family. The two warriors had identified themselves as Kazuya and Kyoji, the sons of Ryoko, unlike the other legion warriors they used the lightning element instead of the fire element. None of the legion warriors to this day know how they accomplished this but one thing had been made clear, the sons of the dragon had returned to Rovahn. Outside of their father's knowledge they would restore the strength of the east and reconnect the dragon creed to the legion.

It had been many years since Rovahn had seen a warrior of the dragon creed and to think that the heirs of Ryoko would return to rebuild the ties that had been broken by their father. They reclaimed the east and established a dragon creed of their own, they recruited mercenaries to build an army and with the legions blessings, the brother's where able to build an army of elites that where trained by them. The canyon had become a sophisticated city that put other cities to shame, the two brothers had rebuilt the east and brought honour to the dragon creed. But their father had never returned, the lands that flew to the dark cloud didn't descend, the brothers only assumed that their father had found their actions has a direct betrayal and had undoubtedly disowned them. Despite this the brothers resolve was unbreakable, they continued to strengthen the east and eventually began to strengthen all of Rovahn, they had even been given a place in the legions council, a privilege that only the highest ranked warriors were given.

The eastern lands had once again become the mightiest strong hold in Rovahn but something had begun to change in Kyoji, something that would force him to attempt the unthinkable. Kyoji had started to hold a great grudge towards king Titus, Kyoji had witnessed the death of many innocent people at the hands of the shogun, no matter how many he and is armies killed it was never enough, the east simply couldn't do it alone. Kyoji pleaded with the king to release every warrior of the legion and exterminate the shoguns but the king chose to stay true to his command and leave the legion's warriors stationed at the walls. Kyoji had begun to understand why his father had abandoned the legion, he stormed to his brother Kazuya and told him to close their borders to the legion. When he told Kazuya of the king's actions he expected his brother to be enraged with the king but instead Kazuya had come to find sense in the king's actions and advised his brother to understand the king's logic, by keeping our forces to the wall we can ready ourselves to face the vampires and the legion at the walls surrounds the shoguns, the legion needs to strengthen and our dragon creed needs to be a part of it. Kyoji did not agree with his brother, the king's actions went against everything he stood for but Kyoji knew his brother, once he has adopted an ideal he would gladly die for it. Kyoji couldn't stand against his brother, such a thing would bring a civil war to the east, after all they had accomplished Kyoji simply couldn't risk destroying it all, not to mention destroying his relationship with his brother.

The only way he could possibly realize his ideals would be if he ruled Rovahn as its king, such a thing was undoubtedly beyond his reach. Yes, Kyoji was a well ranked warrior and he had restored his clans honour in the eyes of the legion but the fact of the matter was that it wasn't the true dragon creed that he and his brother had restored. The true dragon creed abandoned the legion, it is because of that betrayal why the legion would never accept Kyoji as king, not willingly anyway. Despite this Kyoji did have one right to rule, it is a right that humanity has passed down through the ages, only the strong can rule the weak. If Kyoji could gain enough power to defeat king Titus in singles combat in such a way that it would leave king Titus appearing has a completely inferior warrior compared to Kyoji, then no one, not even his sons could dispute his claim to the throne but sadly there was no such power that existed. Although few have seen it, king Titus's power is considered to be God like, he had slayed thousands of Vampires during the establishment of Rovahn as well as the battle of the Rovahn walls, he would live for thousands of years without challenge.

Kyoji nearly abandoned his suicidal plan until he remembered the teachings that his mother had told him behind his father's back, she spoke of ancient scrolls that could grant one with great power, scrolls that where hidden in the fog forest, scrolls that could only reveal themselves to those who carried the blood of the dragon creed's royal family, blood that run through his veins. Kyoji secretly travelled to the fog forest and just as his mother told him, the fog forest opened itself to Kyoji and shined a path for him to walk. The fog forest had always been a place of great mystery, from the outside it was a thick fog but once one entered it, they would find a deep forest full of trees with black leaves. Even when the dragon creed left Rovahn the mysterious fog had somehow disappeared and reappeared in the great canyon, the place was considered a place of great evil.

Kyoji walked the path for hours and hours until he could barely stand and then it appeared to him, a giant cave whose face appeared to look like that of a demon. In the cave he found several scrolls that revealed many secrets to him, Kyoji stayed in the fog forest for years without the need to sleep or eat, he studied every single scroll in that cave until there wasn't a single piece of knowledge that the scrolls had not shown him. Kyoji had finally left the fog forest reborn, he had been gone for years but outside the fog forest he had been only gone for a few hours, he rushed to his brother and told him of what he had discovered but Kazuya only reacted in complete rage, Kazuya was convinced that his brother had gone mad, he simply didn't believe what Kyoji had told him, Kazuya only saw a man who had become desperate for power. Despite Kazuya's reaction Kyoji was not at all surprised, he knew that anyone would have the same reaction, he would prove his new found power to his brother and Rovahn once he used it to smite the king and claim the throne of Rovahn.

It was a cold and dark night that was drowned in a violent rain full of thunder and lightning, Kazuya had not seen his brother Kyoji since rejecting his story. He couldn't help but feel uneasy as his mind played that story of his brother finding power in the fog forest over and over again.

His uneasiness soon turned to terror when a scout had rushed to inform him that the king and Kyoji where locked in a vicious battle at the royal capital, the scout described Kyoji as a raging demon with black soulless eyes. Kyoji appeared to the king pale as a vampire with cracks all over his body releasing a black sparkling mist and his voice was no longer alone, it was as if several voices where speaking all at once. A heavy guilt had dropped on Kazuya, if only he had taken Kyoji seriously he would have been able to talk some sense to his brother, Kazuya rushed to the Royal capital in hope that he could stop his brother but when he arrived he had found his brother on the ground burnt, bloody and bitten. The king who was considered the strongest warrior of the phoenix's legion could barely stand, the capitals walls crumbled to the ground and the city appeared as though it had been at the cross fire of a vicious war. He ran to his brother and held him gently, Kyoji looked at Kazuya and told him that no matter what you feel in your heart you must submit to the king for as long as you live, the people of Rovahn and the dragon creed have a future, Kyoji died right after he said those words to Kazuya.

Kazuya was filled with rage, his proud brother asking him to submit to the man that killed him? He simply couldn't except such a thing, as he looked at the king he saw that he was weak, so weak that Kazuya could easily succeed in killing him but as he looked around him he saw hundreds of the legions heads staring at him with excitement. He realized that if he killed the king in such a way it would only be the start of a long line of killings that would bring Rovahn to its knees. He approached king Titus and bowed to him, he begged the king not to take his brothers actions as second betrayal from the dragon creed, the king looked around and he too saw what Kazuya had seen and without saying a single word to one another, they had made a gentle men's agreement without any one realizing it.

The king ordered the legion not to bring any harm to Kazuya or the dragon creed, Kazuya was allowed to leave so that he may burry his brother in peace and in exchange he committed himself to the royal family, the dragon creed no longer stood as a separate entity. Kazuya continued to care for the eastern wall and its lands, he lived the years in complete solitude, many small clans had tried to wed him into their families but Kazuya knew better, the only thing they wanted was the blood that would grant them the ability to navigate the fog forest and gain access to the scrolls that Kyoji had found. Over the year's people had begun to call him the dragon that sleeps on the eastern wall, he had never attempted to enter the fog forest or stand against the king, he remained loyal to the royal family. It was in the royal family where he had found a brother in Helios who he had come to love more than anything in the world and it was through that brotherhood that aided Kazuya to cope with the death of his brother.

Now here we are in the present, it has been a year since Dante and Madmar had presented the green devil and the dark well to the royal capital, the capital had begun to create the same type of weapon that the green devil used, only the legions commanders where permitted to use these weapons that Threant had called cursed arms. Each commander at the walls and the capital where given these cursed arms, they were instructed to only use these weapons as a last resort, Kazuya's cursed weapon had finally arrived, like all the commanders he had sent a sample of his blood as well as the weapon he wished to use. Kazuya's weapon of choice was a samurai's long sword, the very weapon that Kyoji had once used to defend the eastern lands of Rovahn. He remembered the sword being heavy and hard to use but it had strangely become very light, the blade of the sword had become black and its razor point was blue, as he looked closely at the swords blade it appeared as though it had dragon scales and the scales appeared to be moving. The sword appeared to be alive but when Kazuya asked his subordinate of the sword he swore he saw nothing out of the ordinary with it, to him it was just a cool looking weapon, as he tried to further investigate the sword he had heard the roar of a mighty blow horn. The horn's sound was that of the royal capital, it was prince Helios with an army of sh.i.p.s that could travel through land and sea, once again Helios had gone against his father's wishes, instead of standing with the royal army at the capital he was going to attack the Vampire forces to the east head on.

Kazuya: "please tell me this isn't another one of your heroic quests."

Helios: "no Kazuya it isn't, this army is set to face the vampires head on, if we can weaken their forces before they reach the eastern wall we could...…"

Kazuya: "you would be killed!!! We stand a better chance if we fight them using the wall!!! Please Helios, don't do this."

Helios: "you forget Kazuya, the water is my element, if this works then my forces could strike the immortals attacking the other walls from the rear and sides, they expect us to hide behind our walls but they will never expect us to attack head on."

Kazuya: "but you know nothing about aquatic war fair, how on earth will you find victory if you can't even lead your sh.i.p.s?"

Helios: "one, because you will be aiding me with your forces on the wall, am not giving you a vacation and secondly I won't be the one leading the sh.i.p.s."

Kazuya: "then who damn it!!!! Who!!!"

Kill-shot: "I will."

Kazuya: "what the... when on earth where you released, if the other clans learn of this they'll...."

Helios: "they will do nothing, despite what those fools think the fact of the matter is that the members of the hellboken crew had the ability to face the odds and achieve, we will need every single one of them to aid us in this fight. Kiva stands with her siblings to the west, Vanessa and Thomas to the north and Ragna stands at the capital where he will fight alongside my father and brother in the royal army."

Kazuya: "you know as well as I do that the only way the water can become your weapon is if you remove that mask that limits your breathing."

As Kazuya told this to Helios, the brave prince removed his mask, the one thing that aided him in controlling the compulsion that Kali had inflicted on him. For the first time in years Kazuya had seen his friends face, he couldn't help but feel that it could very well be the last time he would see his friend.

Kill-shot: "I know fear grips you, it grips all of us but this is the day that the phoenix's legion has been waiting for, every single man has come ready to sacrifice their own lives to protect Rovahn and her children, I swear to you Kazuya, this army won't stop fighting until it has drowned every single one of those cursed immortals to the see!!! Onward men, to the black ocean, to the liberation of Rovahn, to the liberation of man, to victory!!!!"

Kill-shot, the former leader of the hellboken crew had rallied the army and with their heads held high they made their way to the black ocean outside of the Rovahn walls to the east. Despite his fears Kazuya had realized that all was to be sacrificed if man was to prevail, even if it meant using a dishonoured soldier as a commander, even if it meant fighting the commands that constantly compelled man to submit to the vampires, even if it meant using a weapon that would turn men into monsters. The battle is now fast approaching, all that man holds dear now stands at the brink of distraction, the weight of Rovahn and her people now rests on the shoulders of the phoenix's legion, a weight that only the strong can carry, a weight that many will die carry. All that could have been done has been done, now all that is left for our heroes to do is stand fast in the cold harsh winter and wait for the ultimate storm, stand and wait they shall, stand and wait.

Far in the black ocean, Kali and her vampire army make their way to Rovahn with one goal, the absolute destruction of Rovahn. Now the time has come for the army to split into four so as to attack all of Rovahns walls simultaneously.

Kali: "long have I waited, they believe that they will resist us, rather than except the system of things, rather than swallow your pride and except your fates you have chosen to challenge us. Despite the generous Razeal allowing you to keep your country, you have shown no loyalty to your master's generosity. If it is death you want, then it is death you shall have, we shall simultaneously attack all of Rovahns walls, Emrick shall strike the north, Ashling shall attack the south, Lorcan shall attack the west and you Orfeo shall attack the east."

Ashling: "where will you go my queen?"

Kali: "I shall make my way to the royal capital, I shall free my dear Acheron who remains imprisoned, once that is done he shall join Orfeo to the eastern wall and then, then I will burn that miserable kingdom and her people to the ground!!! I shall rejoice as I see their skin melt from their bones and sing as the pride of the phoenix's legion falls, Besides, Drago has never forgiven me for what I did to Helios, I owe the eldest son of Titus a dance."