Nick_Alderson

Ever since Beam’s family was killed, and he was sold into slavery, he’d been affected by a certain sensation in his chest. A dark gnawing. As if there was someone else inside his body, cackling at his struggles. Even as he wields his pickaxe deep within the slave mines, he feels the grip of another hand, trying to guide his own. Something dark, something ominous and powerful, wanted everything that he had left. He could feel its want. In the place of despair, he felt rage, and he resisted it.

Years later, it still remains. He trains to try and silence it. Every day, for hours on end. In the pouring rain, and in the freezing snow. Naturally, after so many years, someone – or something, finds him in such a state. With the lightning flashing, he is discovered by a creature of vaguely human shape, but with a left arm so purple it looked like it should have been rotten to dust long ago. “If you’re going to do it, do it properly,” the monster sneers, slapping the stick out of Beam’s hand, and putting a sword in its place. “Swing it,” the creature commands.

Only when he begins to train with the creature does Beam begin to notice changes. The voice is louder now – angrier. But there’s also something else along with it. A yearning to go with the gnawing. It’s a warm feeling, as if it was a woman’s hand on his shoulder. It stays with him, and only continues to grow in intensity. Two voices speak their mind, and they grow louder. With them, Beam’s desire to grow stronger grows– and finally, true progress begins to come his way, along with a strength that few can believe.

Months pass, and once more, Beam’s world changes. The villagers that had once avoided him begin to show interest in the boy. There’s something mysterious about him, and something that seems to be almost incredible. That fact is sealed for them, when one day he turns up with the corpse of an impossibly strong Hobgoblin. He almost seems too big for the village.

Tragedy occurs, and once more, Beam’s name is taken. The hands of the powerful look his way. They see strength, and they include it in their games. Under the guise of immense secrecy, his past is hidden away, and he is given a new name, that of Oliver Patrick, and he is given a new place amongst minor nobility.

Join Beam - and later Oliver Patrick – as he fights against his fate, and claws his way up out of the mud that he was born into, and begins his war against the powerful men of the Stormfront.

A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"Poetry, is it?" Oliver said, sighing.

"Well, a poem could be as short as four lines. It could be the simplest of metaphors, one could take it at face value, and be completely unmoved by it. But as soon the eyes begin to see deeper, they see things that the writer might not even have intended, things that aren't there – and thus does the heart stir," Verdant said.

"Stop!" Amelia said, she was bright red by now. "Don't make it worse, Lord Idris, I beg of you…"

"It is a mere bandage on a hand, Amelia," Verdant said. Even he seemed to have lost his patience now. "Snatch it off, and be done with it."

With Verdant telling her to hurry, there were no more corners for Amelia to back into. With her hand moving as fast as a cat's, she clawed at the bandaged, and pulled it all off in a single swift and sudden jerk. The bandage caught, and the fingers and thumb well pulled. It was enough of a wrench that it pulled Oliver sideways in his chair.

The Hammer and the Chain - Part 3