Макс Хоффер - The Legend

For several years now, a bloody war has been going on between Meinard and the group of allied states of Arkon and Vauton. These three great countries were an oasis of civilization in the ocean of lifeless lands in the South and wild peoples inhabiting the Northern territories. Arkon and Vauton, once bitter rivals, rallied in the face of a common threat of extermination.

The "Marna" corps of the army of His Majesty King Virgil under the command of the famous General Swan, pushed back the army of Meinard, coming closer and closer to his capital. But the decisive battle was yet to come.

Athanasius Mirra – Arkon's warrior is on the front lines. He has nothing to prove in this war. He only does what he does best.

The sun had not yet appeared over the horizon, and Tan was already tying the laces on his boots. As often happened, he had a difficult night. Blame the nightmares that have followed him for a long time. These scary and brutal nocturnal references came from his childhood. In most cases, these were some small segments that were difficult to see in the fog. They were like a fuzzy reflection on the water surface. But sometimes, the dreams were vivid, as if it was happening now at the moment. The last thing he remembered before he opened his eyes was how his mother was screaming his name Athanasius !!! Athanasius !!! Run quickly, my boy …

He raised his head, took in the air heavily with his lungs, and exhaled just as hard. More than thirty years have passed since the moment when his village was attacked. But to this day, the past did not let him go and did not give him peace. He missed her! On her soft hands and tender lips that kissed his disheveled head. His eyes were suddenly saturated with moisture. But Tan drove those thoughts out of his head. The time in which he lives does not forgive weakness. He could show such vulnerability only in moments when he was alone, but leaving his command tent, he became Athanasius Mirra – the commander of the vanguard of the army of His Majesty King Virgil! It should be noted that by the age of thirty-seven, Athanasius had already become known as a great warrior. He visited five major battles, which won the king Virgil control over the vast territory that once belonged to people who call themselves Meinardians. Tan paid tribute to the ability of Meinard's warriors to take a blow. They were ferocious people. They were physically very strong and powerful, in part, it was because of this that Tan was constantly exercising! He could not afford to concede in anything to anyone. Unlike the people of Meinard, the Arconians, which Athanasius was, were not as physically developed, but they had impressive growth, on average about two meters in height. They had blonde hair and good vision in the dark, which was passed down from their ancestors who lived most of their lives in caves. Although, with a sharp change in lighting, it took some time for the eyes to adjust. And also differed in skin color. The people of the Arkon race had white skin, while the Meinardians had dark skin, the color of red clay. And it is not surprising, given how hellishly their sun was burning at its zenith. Looking through the window opening, Tan did not find a single cloud in the sky, which meant that another hot day awaited him, although the summer was already over. He swore to himself. But still forced myself to get up. While the sun has not yet appeared, he will have time to perform the ritual that accompanied him on all campaigns. Namely, jogging, with a distance of about 7-10 kilometers, and after compulsory physical exercises with their own weight.

Throwing open the door, Tan went out into the street. I breathed in the air. -Very dry, he thought. How Athanasius yearned for the rain. Approaching a barrel of water, which stood next to the entrance to the tent, he scooped water into a jug standing there and poured all its contents onto his head. Suddenly, as if waking up from a dream, Tan heard sounds coming from the direction of the forest: singing of birds, rustling of branches. An unknown insect chirped in the grass nearby. And all these sounds reminded him so much of home. Smiling slightly, Tan went to perform his morning ritual.

A few hours later, having heavily refreshed himself, Tan was at the training base, where he checked and supervised the training of his squad.. They weren't the best of the best. But these were the very people with whom Tan wanted to serve and those who eventually replaced his family. Under his supervision, everyone performed the exercises with special zeal, because Tan enjoyed indisputable authority, both among ordinary soldiers and officers. Tan knew that rumors and various tales were circulating in the detachment and beyond about his military exploits. Tan even heard that he single-handedly chopped an entire enemy squadron to pieces. He always found it amusing how from mouth to mouth five people turn into fifty elite thugs. But the skill in working with the sword was not to be occupied by Tan. At the same time, add the speed and mighty strength that he had. And believe me, there are few who would like to measure their strength with him. But nevertheless, from time to time such people were. As a rule, these were battle-hardened wars who wanted to write their names in history. Tan has fought over a hundred such fights. And he was never defeated. Therefore, there have not been many such challenges lately. The last challenge was accepted about two years ago. It was a large Arconian named Egon, who also had the blood of Meinard's people in his veins. Therefore, in physique he was not inferior to Atanasius. However, the battle did not last even one minute. Tan, like no one knew how to read his opponent, and after a little reconnaissance and parrying several blows of Egon's sword, he struck him with a lightning blow with his left hand from below in the jaw. The blow was delivered with such force that Egon's head threw back, and it seemed that it was about to tear off the spine. Needless to say, after that, he fell as if knocked down in the tournament circle, and Tan didn't even lose his breath. The face showed no emotion. He knew this would happen. This has always been the case. After that, Athanasius Mirra stopped taking calls. He even received an offer to go to serve in the guard of the castle of Virgil himself. Who would have thought, the son of a simple blacksmith, would be in the personal guard of the king. But Mirra did not need such work. Although he sometimes didn’t know what he wanted, it was definitely not city life in a warm bed. The army is his home!

***

Tan, awakened by a woman screaming. This scream was like a bolt from the blue. He jumped out of bed and immediately grabbed the scabbard, in which was his faithful friend and companion, the sword that was forged for him by the masters from Ancalite, a place where good steel is valued. Places where weapons for the king's army were forged.

Everything was like a fog. With an uneven, staggering gait, Tan moved toward the door. Grasping the handle, he pulled towards himself, but the door would not budge. Then he pressed harder, but the door, as before, stood on its own, like a silent guard. Tan felt as if someone had taken all his power. Suddenly he heard a noise in the opposite part of the room. Tan turned around and saw a gaping hole in the wall, from which screams and bright light could be heard. So bright that it is impossible to see through it. Tan swallowed, from the fact that his throat was wildly dry and went to the doorway with full determination to find out what was going on. But the body did not obey him and instead of the usual speed, Tan barely moving his legs, dragging his sword in its sheath, across the floor, moved towards the light. Entering it, Tan found himself on the street … The small village in which he was was half engulfed in flames. Some of the houses had already burned down, and some were just beginning to burn. People, women and children were running around, terrified trying to find salvation. At the end of the street, he saw a silhouette of a man emerge from behind a blazing house. He had a sword in his hands.

Dressed in all black, with a hood on his head, he began to look around. Noticing Tana, the stranger moved towards him. As he approached, there was a tension in the air. Suddenly, next to him, a shadow jumped out of the door of the house, it was Aengus, a neighbor's boy of about fourteen. The man cut off the guy's leg with a sharp movement of his hand, and with the second movement, he cut off his head just as quickly that Aengus did not even have time to utter a word. He did it without fuss, without unnecessary movements, as if he had swatted a cockroach. This was Wotan's representative. The territories of Wotan and Arkon were bordered by each other. However, a peace agreement was concluded between the rulers of both peoples, which had lasted for hundreds of years, and the representatives of Arkon were not afraid to build their houses near the borders. It is obvious that once it was one people, one tribe, but for some reason they split up. They were distinguished by the complete absence of hair and eye color. For Wotan's representatives, they were bright blue, which glowed in the dark. But this one was different. When he looked up, Tan saw that from the seemingly bottomless darkness in the hood, bright blue eyes with red blotches of bloody color were gazing at him. Tan waited, preparing to fend off the attacker. As the man in black approached, Tan began to realize how impressive his size was. Approaching a sufficient distance, the man in black lunged to the side. At the same time, with a lightning-fast movement, he raised his mighty hand, in which was a sword, and with deafening force sent it directly to Tan's head. But Tan managed to raise his hand and his sword took the blow.

Thane's sword, which had been forged by Ancalite's finest craftsmen, shattered into tiny pieces. From the force of the blow, Atanasius sat down on his ass, leaning on the ground with his left hand, and on his outstretched right, he watched the handle of his former friend, with a small fragment of metal remaining in it. Tan just couldn't believe it. And the man in black loomed over him. Only now did he notice his war paint on his face, which made him even more terrifying. He had already raised his hand to complete what he had begun, but suddenly he heard the sonorous voice of his mother.

– Athanasius!

Tan turned around and saw his mother standing near the house, covered in blood and shouting:

– Athanasius, run quickly, my boy!

***

As always, the sun had not yet had time to show its sharp rays, and Tan was already sitting on the bed and thinking about the dream he had seen. Suddenly his thoughts were unceremoniously broken by a knock at the door. "What the heck?! Who else is there! " Tan thought.

Opening the door, he saw a young man, his name was Bercy and he was the personal adjutant of General Swann. Tan nodded his head to him so that he would immediately come in. Bercy was slightly overweight and shifted from foot to foot, not looking into the eyes of Athanasius. But he was very fulfilling and did all the work entrusted to him with diligence. He was always so nervous in the presence of Tan that it even slightly amused the latter, because he knew that the reason for everything was rumors about his ferocity in battle and exactingness to the soldiers. Athanasius decided to maintain the tension, and, frowning, with a steel gaze in his eyes, inquired about the reason for such an early visit. Hearing the question, Bercy immediately stretched out like a string and his cheeks trembled with zeal. It looked so comical that Tan could not restrain himself, smiled and, going up to Bercy, patted him on the shoulder. – Relax guy, what's up?