The League of Exiles Book 1
The League of Exiles
Book 1
By Michael Jones
Chapters
Terinth pg. 2
The Greenvine woods pg. 5
Exiled pg. 7
The league of Exiles pg. 9
The Fire Dragon pg. 13
Sins of the father pg. 17
Terinth
The city of Terinth is divided into 8 sectors each belonging to a race, and a center sector for the governmental buildings and the three towers in the dead center. Terinth has a rich cultural history due to the many races living in the city. When it’s night time, the city has an assortment of colors of neon blues and reds from her local cantinas and theaters. The city is equal in many ways but there’s no shortage of racism and bigotry regardless that laws forbid them to be that way. While slave trade is still legal in the system of Tanis IV, Terinth often doesn’t support it considering who their leader is. For twenty years the shift of power has swapped support or the non-support of slave trade at least 10 times, with a break in the more recent leaders, Hedin and Rosh who both outlawed slave trade. The city is surrounded by a wall with defenses such as mortars and other artillery pieces, one of the more common defenses seen on the wall are the antiaircraft guns which are big enough to cut through a battle cruiser. Dave Olson a human with dirty blond hair and dark blue eyes with a short beard stands on the roof of his house in one of the sectors. He wears his helmet with a tactical visor and a com on it. His body is of good build, his muscles deceivingly medium but everyone knows he could bunch through a steel wall if he was mad enough, his armor is light on his chest with shoulder pads on him and knee pads both of which are metal. His chest plate is a flat bulky metal that covers his chest to his waist with the middle part being the thickest part. His blue shirt and pants are tucked inside the metal armor that protects some parts of his body. Dave’s friend Riko Travis is an anthro fox whose fur color is orange around his back and parts of his chest, and white around his chest down to his waist with the fur on his hands and feet being black. His hair color is brown with a hint of red in the hair lines. Most of his head is shaped like a fox only bigger due to his size. He is 7 ft. 5 at least. His head is orange like the rest of his body, with the exception of his mouth and neck being white. He has long whiskers that point back towards his orange ears with black tips. He wears his casual wear that is a brown jacket and brown pants. His shirt is light green that is a v shaped neck. He doesn’t wear shoes due to his feet being shaped the way they are. His tail is not tucked into his pants but a hole in his pants allows his tail to stick out and wag if necessary. His tail is not bushy but small and mostly orange with a white tip at the end. Dave and Riko have been friends since they were both five. Riko was adopted by Dave’s dad James, who was friends with Riko’s father before both of them died in a battle, leaving Dave and Riko fatherless, but both of them are old enough to fend for themselves. Dave stretches his arms out to the heavens and yawns saying. “We better get to President Rosh Aldul; I hear he’s got a mission for us.” “Yeah, I heard it’s important,” Riko says in reply. “Race you to the building!” Dave shouts jumping off of the roof of his house onto the roof of the next house. Riko soon races after him catching up with little problem. They soon have to climb the taller buildings. Riko gets to the top before Dave as they land in the central courtyard where the governmental buildings are. The Embassy is to the far left, the courtyard is to the right with the three towers in the center. The towers are where the trade center is and at the very top is where the presidents seat themselves with a grand view of Terinth and the surrounding lands. Dave and Riko stand enter the trade center tower and enter the glass window elevator with the glass window facing the exterior of the towers. When the elevator reached the top, they go down the hall to the door with the seal of Terinth. The seal of Terinth shows a white silhouette of the three towers in a blue oval outline with five gold stars surrounding it and a red ribbon on the bottom with the saying, Enim Terinth et populus, For Terinth and her people. “How serious do you think this is?” Riko says worriedly to Dave “Let’s find out.” Dave opens the door to meet Rosh Aldul eye to eye. Rosh’s eyes are weary and his hair is graying. Though Rosh’s complexion is strong, he is growing weak. The mark of the shadow dragon shows on his head, for he was once a member of the now rumored Shadow Legion, who threatened to destroy the world 20 years ago. “Dave, your reputation precedes you. Your actions on the field are unmatched and on opposed. Now you have a priority 5 mission. Rescue my son Brian, fail this, and you are exiled. Do you think you are capable of doing so? My predecessor Garrett thinks so. Do not fail me.” He sighs. Dave salutes and replies, “I will do my best.” “Good, assemble your squad and proceed with the mission.” Rosh lets them leave. Dave and Riko quickly go to the barracks outside the governmental zone to address the members of Dave’s squad. “All right everyone; we have a priority 5 mission. Get your gear and suit up, it’s going to get hot!” Dave yells at the group. The five soldiers group around Riko and Dave as they leave the walls of Terinth to the Greenvine woods five miles out from the tan and gold grassy plains outside the walls. The soldiers soon enter the high hills where the forest begins. “Let’s go get him.” Dave says.
The Greenvine woods
The Greenvine woods as a large amass of trees that surround the city of Terinth in a 60 mile radius. The forest was the stage of many battles of the first and second Suralian wars 300 years ago. The majority of those scars are still amongst the foliage where trenches once weaved through the trees and behind rocks. The Suralian wars were a series of battles between Terinth and Sural, who are now allies. The thousands of holes dot the landscape where trees once stood, a perminate reminder of the damage the war had done. “I bet Brian is being held in one of the bunkers.” Riko whispered to Dave, “I doubt any of the bunkers that still remain are stable enough to keep them inside for long.” Dave orders the men to spread out 30 yards. They reach a large hillside where they converge to overlook the valley below them. “Do you see them Riko?” one of the soldiers whispers to Riko who sighs in reply, “Can’t see anything in these woods for miles they could be in the low valley.” They soon hear several gunshots in the low foliage up ahead. “Damn they shot him!” Dave yells over the com, “All groups converge! Take them out!” more shots are fired as Dave and Riko move fast through the forest soon to realize they are the only two left alive. “Fall back! Mission failed.” Dave yells to Riko as they rush back through the forest. They fire blind shots back at the large group of mercenaries who race after them. Riko trips over a trench as he quickly stumbles back to his feet. “Come on Riko they’re gaining on us!” Dave yells as he shoots two more mercenaries in the head, killing them instantly. Riko soon catches up to Dave as they dodge bullets and holes alike towards the open plains that marked the boundaries of Terinth. Once they reach the plain, the mercenaries are gunned down by snipers from the walls. “Damn!” Dave yells as he pants by the wooden fence near the road that leads to Terinth.
Exiled
It rains hard around Terinth as numerous people gather at the exit gate of the cities walls where Dave and Riko had left to take on the mission given to them the day before. “Dave Olson son of James Olson, Riko Travis, son of Richard Travis, both of you have been exiled from Terinth for failure of the mission given to you by your leader Rosh Aldul, president of Terinth. You will not attend his son’s funeral and you will grab your belongings and leave by tomorrow, else you will be shot.” The judge says to them as they soon make their way to Dave’s house. “I can’t believe they ambushed us like that.” Dave says, “We didn’t even see it coming. Why did they jump us like that?” Riko replied solemnly.
“Never mind that, we did what we had to!” Dave slams his fist on a coffee table mad at himself for letting his confidence get the best of him. “Do you think we’ll ever get to see this house again?” Riko looks at Dave worriedly. “I doubt it.” With that Dave went upstairs to grab his katana from its mantle. Riko retrieves his claymore from the basement and they strap the weapons on themselves as they reach the gates. The two friends, practically brothers, stare at the city one last time. What had been their refuge, their home for their sons, and their future sons, had now become nothing more than another city that dots a spot on the planet Tanis IV. Dave hesitates at the gate, not wanting to leave the comforting warmth of the cities grasp, “Come on Dave, let’s get the hell out of here.” The gates open up as they leave towards the plains, now giving off a brown color from the pouring rain. They soon leave on the roadside covered with brown, red and yellow leaves from the trees that marked the Greenvine woods. For what seemed like miles, they stopped at the river Sol, who flows from the crest of the lone mountain Sirius to the northeast. “We’ll camp here for now but not for long.” Dave says as he sits on a lone stump and ushers Riko to do the same. They soon make a fire as the rain subsides to a low sprinkle of mist, giving the campsite the smell of pines and other welcoming scents. The two stare up at the stars as they count the light-years from Tanis IV to Earth and wonder how things are going back on Earth. “It’s been at least a year since we were on the planet Earth, I wonder if they are ok now that they finally fixed the planet.” Riko whispers to Dave, “They are fine.” Dave lies down in the leaves prepared to fall asleep when they hear a low scuffle of the leaves behind them. Dave quickly draws his katana out of its sheath, prepared for a fight. “Show yourself!” Dave shouts. More rustling of the leaves as a tall figure shows up and comes into view. “My name is Sam,” the figure says “and I’m the leader of the League of Exiles.”
The League of Exiles
The League of Exiles is an organization whose objective is unknown by all known governments. Their agenda is unclear but it is known they are not hostile nor are terrorists of any kind. Their leader is Sam Turick, who fought in the battle of Sural during the war against the Shadow Legion. “Sam what the hell are you doing in the Greenvine woods?” Dave asked. Sam has brown short hair and brown eyes. He wears a tan trench coat that he leaves open. His katana is in a belt to his right. “Well Dave, word travels fast. You got exiled.” Sam replies. “Indeed it does.” Dave sits down as Riko reclines on a log. “Join us Dave, our intentions are good and you’ll get a second chance with us.” Sam sits down next to Dave. “Why should we trust you? You damned near killed us when Terinth and the remaining Surelian troops tried to reclaim the city. They had to spend Trillions rebuilding the city.” Dave shouts frustratingly. “Dave, we need your help. Those guys who killed Brian weren’t mercs; they were members of the Shadow Legion.” Sam looks grimly at Dave.
“The Shadow Legion,” Thought Dave “He’s got to be joking!” “They’re leaders are long dead. Whatever remnants they still have of their demonic cult is little more than a common rabble.” Dave says looking doubtfully at Sam. “That’s where you’re wrong Dave; there are two new leaders that now command their garrison; Sandera and Ivan, two hard asses who are known to kidnap and rape any who are too weak to defend themselves. We are the only ones trying to stop them. We need your help Dave.” Sam sighed as he looked up towards the heavens. “All right you got me, I’ll help but if I find out we’re chasing ghosts I’m out.” Dave says as they fall asleep for the night.
The next day they pack up and douse the campfire as they leave. “Let’s find the rest of my group.” said Sam. They walk to a clearing in the forest where they see a large IFV with an experimental plasma machinegun mounted on top of it. Beside it was a man with black hair and a burgundy leather jacket with a blue bandanna around his head. His left eye was black, but his white eye was white and looked like a wolfs’ eye. To his left was a Korean man with a black coat with two swords on his back and several different types of guns. “The man with the wolfs eye is Tom and the Korean guy is Kenari.” Sam said pointing the two out. “, Tom is a werewolf and Kenari was an assassin.” Then two more come, a man and a woman. The man had black spiked hair and a jeans jacket with a white shirt. The woman had red hair and a Japanese red robe. Both of them had staffs but the woman’s staff had a wicked sword at the end. “That is Danny and Jessica.” Sam said, “They’re married.” Then a blond haired man comes up. “And this is Darkin, he’s a shape shifter. He can turn into a golden anthro dragon.” There’s more but we’ll meet them later.” With that, they got into the IFV and a jeep that was parked elsewhere and left. “We are on our way to our base of operations.” said Tom. “We should all get acquainted.” Jessica said. As they travel down the asphalt road, Dave and Riko learned many things about the people they were about to spend the rest of their lives with. Kenari had once been a member of the Yakuza gang but was exiled for killing one of his own. Tom chose exile because he didn’t believe in what the rest of the pack was doing. Darkin was a Surelian dragon warrior, a legendary group of shape shifters who turned into anthro dragons. When their leader Shawn was gunned down by Ryan, the members were disbanded and are all now members of the League of Exiles. Jessica and Tom met each other in New Haysward where they got exiled together. The group is like a family, Dave and Riko didn’t notice it at first but they all worked together to find a way to manage. A group without a government, anarchists in a way even. They all had their own beliefs, their own ideals and traditions. The blend of unique and powerful warriors reminded Dave of his father, how James led thousands of troops alongside the legendary Dariuths’ 24th division. Through countless battles they fought alongside each other, the Halsburgh pass was where James met his demise. Through the fire, the smoke the bombs exploding around James and only a single shot pierced his armor and into James’ lung causing his death shortly after. Dave could never forget that image, because he was there. “You all right Dave?” Sam said worriedly. “I’m fine; I just have a lot on my mind right now.” Dave sits back in the chair as the environment outside the small window changes to a marsh. “We’re almost there.” Sam said. They soon pull up at a reasonably large compound with double doors at the front. The only flat place in the marsh area that was stable enough to hold the compound. The compound had four stories to it with defense towers on four corners of the structure. Then all the sudden, a blond woman runs out of the building screaming happily as Sam and the others exit the vehicles. She hugs everyone, glad that they are back from their trip. She wore a cap backwards and a military vest and she had a shouldered barret 50cal on her back meaning she was one hell of a sniper. “Leslie we have guests.” Sam said. “I saw you guys in my scopes, if you were the bad guys you would have been dead before you left your vehicles.” Leslie said teasingly. “Leslie, do we have any room for our two new members Dave and Riko?” Sam asked. “Yes we do.” Leslie replied. Dave and Riko soon go through the entire facility seeing other people who were once soldiers, or random civilians who no longer had a home. The halls were all metal except for the tiled ground beneath them. There were holographic TV’s on some of the walls displaying the security cameras stationed through the compound. They heard many people speaking to each other. There were a few anthro dragons and anthro foxes playing basketball in a makeshift court. Everyone was busy, mechanics repairing star fighters and jets. Scientists working on experimental drugs; the sound of machinery at work echoed through the hall as they reached the barracks. “We’re here.” Leslie said as she showed Dave and Riko the open room that they would sleep in. “Thanks Leslie.” Dave said as they shut the door behind them. They unpack their belongings and quickly got in the beds. They were tired from the long trip through the Greenvine woods. They pull the covers on themselves and quickly fell asleep. Then a voice called out to Dave, “Go to the tomb of your father, there you will find the answers you seek.” Dave immediately wakes up and says, “What was that?” Dave goes to Riko, who is meditating in his room. “Dave,” Riko said. “I want to believe my dad, Richard, is still alive.” Dave sighs looking at Riko, “It’s unfortunate.” Dave said. Outside Danny and Jessica survey the surroundings, looking for signs of contact. There was none. “Come on we have to go somewhere tomorrow, we need the rest.” Jessica said.
The next day, Dave asked Sam if he could go to Terinths’ cemetery. When he said yes, Dave and Riko set out to trek back to Terinth, where this “Truth” That the voice had told about was waiting for him.
The Fire Dragon
The trip to the cemetery was not smooth; they had to stop three times to fight a few bandits patrolling the roads. As soon as they reach the graveyard, they park their vehicle and get out surveying their surroundings. The entrance to the graveyard was a large monument commemorating fallen soldiers in the wars fought since the first colonization of Tanis IV. Thousands of names were on this monument. Dave steps on a platform that was past the monument, on the platform was a series of plots that when tapped on displayed locations of each burial site and mausoleums. Dave finds the mausoleum that his father was in and presses the “liftoff” button. The platform rises up then takes off over the graveyard towards small hills where the mausoleums are. The platform stops at the one he needed to go to and steps off the platform. Dave stops at the entrance, unsure what this “answer” was.
The thought dissolved as Dave enters the Tomb. The inside of the mausoleum was made of marble with carvings of Dave’s dad James and his great accomplishments written underneath each carving. Some show James fighting impossible odds or rescuing people from certain peril. Dave’s father was a hero, an icon, someone who was loved by all people, someone who Dave thought he could never be. “Even now I do not belong in such a marvel.” Dave whispered to himself, ashamed of letting his father down. He stops at his father’s tomb, written on the top says “Here lies James Olson, a true hero of the people” Also on top of the tomb was James’ double edged buster sword. Carved on both sides of the sword was a dragon that snaked from the hilt to the top of the sword. It was known to glow blue with power, and the rumors proved true when Dave stepped towards the sword. He doesn’t reach for the sword, Dave feels unworthy of wearing such a sword. There was another presence in the tomb, one of mass unimaginable power. The mausoleum lights up with red fire as a shape rises up above the grave surrounding Dave with fire, fire that does not harm him. A voice fills the air, “The hour comes, the shadow dragon makes his move, and the world needs a hero.” The voice came from the fire itself which took the form of a dragon. Dave was staring at the legendary fire dragon! Dave looks up at the dragon, speaking “I do not deserve a title such as that; I am nothing but an exile.” The dragon looks down at him, “You must believe in yourself, Dave. You need to unleash the power that was given to you by your father. Take up his sword and unleash my wrath upon my foes.” “I, can become you?” Dave asked, confused. “Alas Dave, you have known the truth since your birth. You can become like me, a fire dragon, but for a short time. You have to believe if you are to use this against the shadow dragon.” The dragon disappears as Dave yells, “But how?!” but a low whisper replies, “You must believe.” He then looks at his father’s sword, still contemplating on what just happened and rather or not to take up the sword. He reaches for it and picks it up as he straps the sheath to his back and places the big sword on his back. Dave returns to the group with the sword. “I think I had enough of this place.” He said and gets back in the IFV. They drive back into the Greenvine forest when they are suddenly stopped by a large man.
Sins of the Father
Darkins’ father was not mentioned because his father was so power hungry he abandoned Darkin in search for more power. He found the Shadow Legion and was recruited by Sandera. From then on Darkins’ father was known as Legion. Legion’s preferred weapon is a lance with a large, double edged sword as its blade attached to a long metal pole. He holds his weapon out as he looks at the exiles and notices Darkin amongst the group, “Ah, there you are.” He speaks in a low rasping voice.
“What kind of deal did Sandera give you Legion? Power, Land, or did he just simply buy you off?!” Darkin yelled at Legion, with hatred boiling deep within his blood. “Son, you could have had all the powers you desired and lived like a god… now you waste your time with the common rabble. Take fear into your heart; look in despair of true power!!!” Legion shouted as he lunged toward Darken with his lance as Darkin blocked it with his buster sword. The two clashed on the road as they parried each other’s blows with fury as Darken yelled at his companions, “Go! I’ll hold him off go!!!” The others hesitated but got back into the vehicles and sped off as Darken continued to fight his father sending fireballs at him that Legion quickly blocked with magic spells. “You have yet to learn the fullness of true power son!” Legion smirked as he sent Darkin flying into a tree. Darkin got up and he started to shape shift into a dragon. His father followed suit in his dragon form and slammed Darkin into the ground. The fight between father and son resumed for an hour when Legion threw Darkin into the ground creating a huge hole. His father took his lance and slammed it into Darkin’s chest as his life faded into darkness.
The Shadow Legion
“What the fuck was that back there?!” Dave yelled. “Legion is member of the shadow legion!” Sam shouted at Dave. “But they were wiped out…” Dave said as he sat down on a chair in the Exiles base. “Not completely Dave.” Leslie said as she walked over to a wall and pressed a button which brought up a screen that displays a strategic analysis of activities of the Exiles as well as the militaries of Tanis IV, one of them shows activities by the Shadow Legion. Leslie touches this part of the screen and it brings that section to the front and shows full analysis of the disturbingly large spike of activity by the Shadow Legion. “As you see here… they’re not as dead as we hoped they were.