(OOC: Prepare for a bloody well massive flashback story! But no really, this will pretty much explain where Hale's from without him saying it yet. I'm sure he'll have a talk about everything with his ol' buddy Simus sooner or later, and whomever he makes a solid connection with
)
As Hale slipped further and further into the deepest recesses of his unconscious mind, he fluttered through memory after memory, years of warm, loving times with...her. Though, the one, most prominent memory always crept back into his mind. And, it was the darkest of them all...
The Druid-Ranger, dressed in his finest cloak, his fine emerald armor shining as never before, stepped into the Grand Throneroom in the Ivory City, the court of the High King of Evondale and all his Lords and Ladies. Seated around an enormous, marble U-shaped table were everyone from the nobles of the Kingdom, to the liege Lords, to the King's immediate family. The rugged-yet-regal man strode forth in front of the busy scene, with everyone trying to talk over each other, everyone attempting to make their own concerns heard above everyone else's. With not a word, the Ranger knelt down on one knee in front of his King. Finally seeing his old friend above the commotion, the King stood up and exclaimed, "My dear, dear friend...you need not bow before me, for all that you have done for the land! It is I, if anyone, who should bow afore you!"
Immediately standing up, The Ranger saw who had been his closest friend for many, many decades, walking towards him. Reflexively, the Ranger's eyes flicked to the flame-haired woman seated directly to the left of the King, his beloved, his princess. The Princess in return gave her love one of those flashing, disarming smiles that said so much more than words ever could. There was no time for the two lovers to converse, for the King had urgent business for him; the Ranger could see it in his old friend's eyes. Putting a gentle hand upon the Ranger's shoulder, the King kindly steered him away from the still-bustling court.
"My old friend, it seems that rulership has been treating you quite well!" the Ranger joked. "Ahh, well, do you think I would give it all up, and leave Evondale to the mercies of those greedy nobles? Not a chance in all the Hells!" replied the King with just as much jest. However, the King's hardened features suddenly turned from jovial, to dead serious. Seeing this immediate change, the Ranger tensed, stating grimly, "It is him, isn't it? He's made another appearance?" The King nodded, replying with just as much grimness as he had joviality a moment ago, "Yes, my friend. And by all accounts...well, from the survivors at least, he is coming for you. You were, of course, the one who struck down his master three decades ago. The vile necro-lord is back, and he carries a heavy vengeance. Which is why...I need you, my oldest and most trusted friend, to ride out and meet him head on, with the might of the Army of Gold at your side!"
*******
"But WHY must you ride out, yet again my love? Was he not defeated those many years ago by you and my father's hands?!" implored the Princess, laying on her silver-colored bed the next morning, watching as her beloved strapped on his ancient armor, preparing to meet his fate.
"A thousand times I wish I did not have to leave you, leave this city again. For centuries now, myself, your father, and all of our people have wanted peace. For the last two-score decades, we have had just that! And for the last decade...I have had you, my brightest star. I go now, only to protect that which I hold most dear in this world," replied the Ranger, walking over to the Princess, stroking her fair cheek as he spoke. "I swore to your father I would protect you, my star-in-this-world, and even had I not sworn such a vow, I still would do whatever it would take, to keep you safe from harm."
Smiling that radiant smile, the princess bent downwards once again, and gave her love one last, magnificent kiss. When the kiss inevitably ended, she smiled once more and said to the Ranger, "And I could not have asked for a more perfect man, one as humble, as brave, and as magnificent as you. Just...promise me, you'll watch over yourself, and bring yourself home safe to me?"
Beaming, for this was truly one of the most perfect moments of his long life, the Ranger replied with a nod and a warm, "Promise."
****
The badly wounded and burned Ranger crawled up to the top of the Ninth, and largest, Hill on the plains outside of the Ivory City. Looking back, the Ranger held back a surge of tears as he beheld the greatest city in the lands, in flames. The King dead, or dying. The Army of Gold, slaughtered. The Princess...taken.
It had been a grand deception.
It had been trickery and deceit in their highest forms.
It had been the necro-lord.
Forcing himself to stand, ignoring the spasms of pain wracking his wounded and weary body, the Ranger was driven by one, singular thought now: he had to, against all odds and all enemies, find...her. No matter what the survivors of his kin had told him what the necro-lord had done to her, no matter that it would be impossible, no matter that it was so obviously a trap for him, the Ranger HAD to go. For in reality, there was no one else left to do it.
Drinking his last health potion, which restored movement in his left arm, mending the fractured ribs, and shoring up some of the slashes on his lean body, the Ranger steeled himself for what was to come.
Nothing could have prepared him for what actually did.
As he crossed the River Lothbrok, the ever-valient Ranger came upon a host of devils and demons, goblins and orcs, evil men, dark elves, and many other variants of evil creatures, in a pitched battle with what remained of the Army of Gold and its goodly allies. But what captured the Ranger's attention most, was the structure directly in front of him:
It was an exact replica of the dark fortress in which he and the King had walked into with their other friends and companions all those years ago, fighting their way up the tall, overlooking keep, and had finally slain the Dark Tyrant, freeing the lands of his over-encompassing evil. However, this replica was made of pure ice. But, what captured his attention even more so, was the lone figure at the top, icey window of the ice keep.
Using the last remaining power of his mana, the Druid-Ranger conjured forth a beam of solid light, which carried him from his spot on the ground, right up to face his captured beloved.
"A pitiful sight, isn't she now?" a cacking, evil voice said from behind the Ranger. "Such an even greater pity, is that you arrived too late to save her, too late to save the one you claim to hold most dear to you...now, look on as she becomes the frozen princess, she was always meant to be!"
The Ranger knew the necro-lord was right behind him, but he did not care. That vile man could strike him down at any moment, but he would die with his true love in his eyes. She was battering at the iced window, trying desperately to get out, her efforts as fiery as her hair, but to no avail. She soon stopped, realizing her efforts were in vain, and held one, fair hand up to the window, as her whole body began to freeze in place through the necro-lord's dark magics. Gasping desperately, with the look of one's whole life fading away in his eyes, the Ranger held his ungloved hand up, pressing it against his beloved's, yet separated by the impenetrable, magical ice. The cackling voice spoke up once more. "I will not kill you on this day, Hale Loneshadow, no...For as you watch your Princess succumb to the ice enchantments, as you watch her freeze in the very spot she's in now, to stay that way for all of eternity, and to know that there is no way that you can know of to free her...that, my old enemy, is victory enough! I expect you will chase me, that is certain. All I have to say is, I pity you, Hale Loneshadow, and I wish you as much luck as one of your misfortune can find in the coming hunt!" With that, though the Ranger could not see it, his eyes too focused on his freezing love, the necro-lord vanished into nothingness.
The Ranger could only look on in horror, as the woman he had sworn to protect, finally succumbed to the freezing magics. However, before she fully succumbed, a silent tear rolled down her fair cheek, though that too froze along with the rest of the Princess.
****
Hale woke up with a near-violent start, covered in a fur blanket in an unfamiliar bed, with the same mage woman he had seen before he collapsed. Unable to contain himself any longer, the usually stoic and optimistic Ranger buried his rugged, handsome face in his hands, letting out a cry filled with both intense anger, and intense sadness.