WARNING: You must be a REAL fan of T.O.L or nothing will mean shit!

Kerines

by: bloodysword99

Epilogue: Cruel Start

Kingdom of Terises* and all of it's great people had fallen because of the unsuccessful elimination of all earth dwellers, Orerines. The Merines, at the time, had failed to wipe clean of the disgusting vermin and their precious lands completely. She felt defeated as she and her Ferines retreated to her Palace at the Legacy. In their safe haven, the Merines was never the same. Weaken from the summoning of the Cataclysm; she could not muster the strength for a comeback. And she was outraged by this. Mirage Palace would be her death place but she refused to die without seeking vengeance.

Yes, vengeance.

Not on the Orerines but the little red ants, the tyrants who her people took in and accepted. The abandoned race that the Ferines nurtured and educated.

Those barbarians…

The Merines needed to punish them for their betrayal. No…punishment was too good for the likes of them. They needed to die for their crimes!

Accompanied by two Ferines guards, a woman was bound by the hands as they walked to the Merines' throne room. Clothes were ragged, long red hair messy, tanned skin covered in dirt and ashes, also battered and bruised, this unfortunate woman was a prisoner. Captured by the Ferines after they raided her village, this woman at the age of 18 was charged with treason. Treason against...a monster. The Merines and her people.

The woman passed through the huge double doors to see the Merines and her subjects waiting for her. And they were not happy.

"Come along, traitor." The guard behind pushed her roughly.

Drawing her breath, she held her head up high and red eyes determined. She stood proud and tall because she knew where she came from. She knew what she fought for. She knew why she was there. She was there for the sake of her race. For the sake of her kin. For the sake of the ancient fire people. The folk of red.

Kerines.

"I should have known your kind would be nothing but trouble." The Merines lashed out her harsh words on the poor woman from the safety of her throne.

"…" The prisoner held her tongue but her gaze was strong.

Her red eyes were disgusting. Unafraid. Burning with bravery of a Kerines warrior. Fearless. Dignified. It made the Merines sick.

"How do you plead, Kerines!" She demanded.

"If protecting my kin from the likes of you and cut the ropes of your tyranny and slavery, then I plead guilty. GUILTY!" She raised her voice in a courageous manner. All who heard her resolve shook in anger or fear. The Ferines people knew the Kerines were dangerous little creatures. The fire people were just as powerful as they were. It was pure luck the Ferines and the Merines had them on a leash for all these years. It was just a matter of time before the Kerines would realize they can rival them in a second.

"W-We took in your kin, we welcome you into our village and homes, we offer our hospitality, we nurture and care for your people, we educate you, and you—you savages have the audacity to betray us!" The Merines was shaking. In both wrath and fear.

"You offer your kindness to us, yes. That is true. But at what price? Our Freedom? Merines, with due respect, but our freedom is worth more to us than all your gifts!"

The Merines grit her teeth while witnessing such disrespect.

"How dare you—" But before the Ferines leader could continue, the brave Kerines spoke.

"My people have done nothing! We simply want our freedom! We want peace for all races. My lord, the great UresKel*, fought for this at the cause of his life! He fought for the freedom of all kerines!"

The Kerines prisoner then looked at each face of the people of Terises.

"You. All of you. You're tyrants of mankind. Especially you, Merines. You shun all races except your own. And it shall be your down fall time and time again! And even if a new Merines shall take your place, another Ureskel will fight!"

She believed in the Ureskel so much. Ureskel, the chosen one of their goddess, Gerises*, was brave man even when he faces death. And…she shall do the same.

The Merines blinked away her anger. Her subject thought the weak agent of Nerifes would explode. And she did, I mean, explode in laughter. Crazy maniac laughter.

The Kerines didn't stop glaring at the Merines though as she laughed and laughed till it died down. And the Merines had this to say.

"Oh you Poor Pathetic Savages!" She cried in amusement.

"It doesn't matter if your dear Ureskel would rise once more or your poor-excuse-of-a-goddess Gerises would be there." The Merines then rose from her throne and pointed at her.

"Any of that doesn't matter. Both of your protectors aren't here to save you!"

"N-no! Gerises will—she!"

"Is not going to protect you! Your eres, the power I took from your kind and—your only connection with her—is gone!"

The Merines was right. Their eres was their bridge to the goddess. The way to hear her teachings, her wisdom, her warmth and…her love.

"With that gone, your race is…vulnerable." The evil Merines smirked when she spoke her words.

The Kerines didn't like it.

"People of Terises, Hear my decree!" The Ferines announced to her subjects.

"I, Merines, have one final judgement to bring. These creatures! These vermin have betrayed us! They have defiled the judgement of the voice of the sea! Their own agent, Ureskel, has ceased the power of the oceans and prevents us to claim the planet that is rightfully ours! And with Nerifes as my witness, I shall bring them to justice!"

The Merines voice was strong and powerful like a leader, an evil dictator. And the fools of Terises roared in agreement to her speech.

"I decree that all Kerines, people of the fire, shall be mercilessly executed without question!"

"No!" The woman pleaded.

No, not her people. Not her kin! Anything but that!

The indignation boiling in the Merines was right to be feared. Her fury cannot be stopped. The Merines gave a sly grin. She had finally won. Even at the time of defeat, she had a prize; the blood of the traitors.

Yet, her victory was short lived when the Kerines, despite the panic in her red eyes, spoke courageously before the Merines and the Ferines.

"The blood of our kin…shall haunt you, Merines. Your sins will legion and will pay for each blood you spill, each soul you will burn and each body shall you kill. But our spirits will not fall!"

The Merines' turmoil was building up. She couldn't take this anymore.

"Guards! Kill this wretch and be done. We have more of her kind to hunt down like beasts."

Her subject put the Kerines to the hard floor. The brave face never faltered even as a blade was against her neck.

"The Ureskel will stop you! The Goddess shall make sure of that!" She uttered her last words as a true Kerines.

"Then, I'll make sure every Kerines is slaughtered. That way no Ureskel shall be chosen." The Merines gave her orders.

The Kerines woman braced her death with dignity. Before the ax met her neck in a gruesome manner, she prayed to the Goddess one last time. She prayed hard. She wanted nothing but salvation for her people.

Her head was severed from her body. And the first kill had begun.

NOTE: *Kingdom of Terises is the old people of Ferines. The ancestors of the Ferines. (this is in the game!)

*Ureskel -Relares: Translation Life Flame/ Flame of life, agent of the goddess. Like a Merines of the fire people.

*Gerises- Relares: Golden Being/ Golden Goddess, the goddess of the Kerines. The mother of the fire people.