The Legend of Zachary Sainte part 1

Jp with Thaen

Several days had passed since the people of Dalen were free from the Nameless. In fact, everything in Dalen seemed to change for the better. The demons began to repair the old ruins of the battlefield of Gelt's attack and the reconstruction of Opra Dale. The ground had become fertile and wildlife long thought gone were spotted once again.

A few captains watched over the demons and the people who were repairing Opra Dale. It was an odd sight, the same monsters that ravaged Dalen acting as it's citizens. A horned devil had even buried the long dead, giving them proper graves.

As Soldor watched over the reconstruction, a servant arrived at his tent. She placed a ice blue book beside the book of the Nameless Soldor was gifted by Dalroth. "I found the scripture of the Sainte family, as you requested my lord." She gave a proud smile at the man.

The book itself was designed as if it was frozen gold, the pages worth as much as the information they carried. The cover was designed with the golden title that read, "History of the Sainte Family." Below it was the crest of the Sainte family, the two-headed dragon wielding a sword.

An ice devil entered the tent, "You requested me Lord Soldor." The creature, like many other fiends loyal to Draken, had begun wearing some semblance of clothing to show the mortals they weren't the same monsters that ransacked Dalen for years; that they had in fact changed, perhaps for the betterment of everyone.

The bug-faced devil was named Ictris, if Soldor recalled correctly. He looked away from the sight of Opra Dale's ruins, and towards the servant and devil. "Ictris, correct?" The devil gave a slight nod, the servant was visibly uncomfortable by the sight of the creature.

Soldor motioned to the servant, "Thank you, you may leave." The servant left without question, leaving Soldor with the fiend. "You claimed to have fought in the mage wars when you were alive, correct?"

Ictris looked at the book of the Sainte, "Yes, I did. If you are to question me about Zachary Sainte, I can tell you of what I knew about him being a ruthless general."

"Ruthless?" Estoban went, raising an eyebrow. "Historians would disagree with you. His…" Soldor stopped, heaving a short sigh before looking to the devil. "His victories tell stories," he said with a dryness. "It is our history as he has won for us."

"Ah, Lord Soldor, you have learned the first rule of history well!" chuckled Ictris. He grew serious again. "Zachary, no, Lord Sainte held his name of Lord of the Frozen Heart . I've seen the hero of Dalen freeze entire families, crush them, and reform them into ice sculptures. He would then send these sculptures back to their families. Is that not what you call ruthless, Lord Soldor?" This monster spoke in fear of Zachary, a fiend of hell was afraid of a man.

Soldor raised an eyebrow at that but nodded his agreement. It was, in truth, downright psychotic in his father's time. Yet, enemies of the kingdom feared the name Sainte for a reason, even as mages respected the name with reverence.

"He was also one of the few to see the Abyss and keep his mind… that is how you all know him?" Soldor asked.

"The Lord of the Frozen Heart ventured to the Abyss, yes. But his deeds echo all across the Nether," spoke the devil very seriously. "Technically it was the second time we met. In life, I knew him when he was young. As for what happened in the Abyss, best to leave that a secret."
He approached the table with the two books.

The ice devil picked up the book of the Sainte family and flipped to the history of Zachary Sainte. A portrait of the man was shown, he has strong and sharp features, with fair skin. His long flowing hair was silvery white, and his eyes were the legendary cruel eyes of a Sainte. Ictris began to read passage of the man "Zachary Sainte was the son of Slyvia Malth and Gabriel Sainte. His father trained him young for combat, from tactics to hand to hand combat to his specialty of the Sainte magics; Cryomancy. He became a master in these skills by the age of ten. His parents would have been proud, had they not been assassinated by Verden inquisitors. He was no older than nine years old when they were slaughtered, his father's throat, sliced. His poor mother, drugged, done away like a common wench, before being poisoned. This is when Zachary gained the cruel eyes of the Sainte."

He flipped the page, looking at Soldor, "He was taken in by his uncle, Leon Sainte, where he was groomed to be the most ruthless of killers. The two left for the Dalen Alps, and were gone for five years. Leon never returned, but Zachary did. The first thing he did was take his spot as the rightful head of the Sainte, not that it mattered much, he was the last of the Sainte during the time. Did you know Zachary actually poisoned himself, taking small doses, before taking bigger and deadiler doses? He did so he wouldn't die from poisoning like his mother." The devil chuckled at this, like it was a big secret.

The devil continued, "Zachary swore to Thalia at the ripe age of sixteen. After he decapitated the head of one of her best knights, they insulted him. He soon made a name for himself slaughtering hundreds of Verden's inquisitors. When he was twenty, when he was seen as a man of ice, with no compassion or love, went on a journey to Karvoss. There he met a priestess of the goddess of peace. The details are fuzzy, but Zachary came back to Dalen with a new wife. That priestess was no other than Octavia Kin, the mother of Emilia Sainte. Zachary was pleased with the maiden, more so overjoyed with his daughter. As you should know Lord Soldor, before the Mage Wars happened, Octavia was murdered by Verden assassins. Thus began the wrath of Zachary. In fact, a certain mage named Enanth had his own account of his meeting with Zachary." The devil cleared his throat before reading.