Chapter 1 - Prologue (1/2)
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The Woods Near Khoron
Usually, the familiar sounds of an army marching to war would soothe me. As a veteran of thousands of battles, I trusted my men, and they trusted me as their leader. We were the First Regiment. The elite core. The vanguard. We had been through countless wars together. Nothing truly scared us anymore. And yet, even when surrounded by the reassuring strength of my regiment, I couldn't shake the thought that we were marching towards our deaths. I felt the gaze of the reaper upon my back and it terrified me. I never felt the presence of death in such an overbearing manner before. Not before a battle. Not before a duel. Not even before a meeting with the emperor. The day was permeated with a sense that something was terribly, horribly wrong and I had learned over the years to trust my instincts. The beginnings of panic crept in and I could see it spread to the rest of my men.
The reports I read earlier in the morning only contributed to my sense of impending doom. A black cloud that killed nearly everything as it passed the farming town of Shiria. People slaughtered by their own shadows in the trading post of Khoron. It could just be a strange magical creature, but I suspected far worse: a demon. Those bastards from another dimension, enemies to everything in this one. My instincts screamed at me as we approached the forest. I set the entire column on high alert, swords sliding out of their sheathes throughout the regiment with a loud ring. I drew my own swords and continued the march into the forest. The shadows grew longer as we stepped between the tangled oaks and seemed to move and dart around while the regiment trekked deeper and deeper. Suddenly, that sinister feeling intensified, a freezing snake of animalistic fear sliding down my back. Something was there, I knew that for sure. I stopped the column and ordered everyone into a defensive formation. We scanned the forest around us, the trees seeming to lean in, awaiting our demise. The pale moon failed to penetrate the darkness, and within it, we saw things move. Shadows flickered in and out. It was watching us. It surrounded us.
And as if the Fates had damned us, the lieutenant to my left cried, ”By the twelve Olympians, what in the name of Hades is that!”
The shadows around me suddenly felt malicious. Unnatural shivers racked my body. I felt violated just by standing in the forest.
”Oh, this is going to be fun.” I muttered to myself.
Three days later and I still couldn't do anything. My men were slaughtered, falling left and right, reduced to one feeble company fighting with their broken wills. The shadows of my fallen comrades, given physical bodies kept coming, rising up out of our own shadows, pouring out of the forest. They mimicked our every attack. My men's bodies blackened and withered. The battle dragged on and on. Blood stained the ground. Screams of agony echoed the woods. My friend stood beside me, frantically chanting, causing explosions of flame and light throughout the battlefield. Scales formed on his face as he overused his draconic powers. He was out of breath, with blood seeping down his face and side.
I was in no better shape, having lost my arm in the second day of fighting. Bandages, stained black from blood, wrapped tightly around the stump of my left arm. Blood trickled out of a fresh cut across my face, obscuring my vision.
”We are the undefeated first, the proud defenders of Galia. Don't let some bastard from Hell defeat you.” My voice cracked in desperation.
A chuckle resonated from the shadows.
”I hate to overshadow your little speech, but you pathetic humans should just give up. Your cruel insults bring shame to your insignificant existence, well, to the end of it.”
As those words pierced the woods, shadowy hands spiraled out of the darkness and slowly wound their way to our wary battle lines. At the same time, my friend whispered a crazy idea into my ear.
Solaire
”How many bodies have been recovered?” My father asked grimly.
After a pause, Erik, the captain of the Crown's guard replied, ”As of yet? Roughly a thousand.”
I always looked up to Erik. He was kind and honorable. In the local tavern, he would launch into tales of glorious fights and chivalry. Almost always, these stories were about the Galian Royal Army. Most of the town, including Erik and I were Skanadian, but Erik harboured an deep admiration of the Galian army. An admiration he instilled in me. Erik was a second father to me, as well as my role model. I spent every waking moment following him, dreaming of joining the army and serving the ruler of Galia, Emperor Galiga, as one of his guardsmen. This was my dream. I would constantly pretend to be a soldier on a great adventure, swinging twigs I found in the nearby forest like swords and fighting the great bush dragon.
”Odin's beard! That is an entire regiment of the King's army massacred. Unbelievable!”
”I know. It looks like they were pretty elite too. First regiment, the veteran vanguard. Those soldiers of the empire are a mighty fierce bunch.”
”What kind of beast sent by Hel could do this!”
”How am I supposed to know? A tarrasque? That is the only beast I know that could massacre the Royal army like this. The army has been known to win against insurmountable odds.”
How? I was always told that the army was unbeatable. What about my dream of becoming a royal guard?
Something had drawn my attention away from the conversation. A figure in the distance had slowly stumbled their way toward the town. ”Hey, what is that?”
The guardsman squinted into the distance. ”It looks like a soldier. Is he a survivor?”
The figure came to a halt before crumpling to the ground as its legs gave out from under him. We could hear mȯȧns of pain coming from the figure's direction.
”Stay here, Son. Erik and I will see to him.”
With cautious strides, they walked off towards the figure, but stopped before reaching It. Horror smeared across their faces as they took shaky steps back. With a sense of curiosity mixed with nervousness creeping over me, I began walking towards It. I had a clear view of It now. Its body was black, leathery and tough. Wisps of black smoke clinged to It's body, and it looked pained, as if at odds with itself. It began mȯȧning softly. It's voice sounded human, but there was something that wasn't quite right about it.
”Get away. Stay away. I can't hold him in. Go aw-” It choked out, before opening its eyes. They were an unnatural yellow, and the smoke thickened around itself. It spoke once again, but It seemed to have a different presence, with a voice that was not befitting of an earthly creature.
”He was very annoying. He had more willpower than your average speck of dust.” It smiled to itself before noticing our presence, ”Why hello there. You have just volunteered to be my newest insects… to crush.” The black smoke that had been collecting around it billowed out, enveloping all of us in darkness.
”Run!” Cried my father. ”Back to the village! Warn them!”
”Go, go, go. Don't look back!” Screamed Erik.
I sprinted blindly in the direction of what I hoped was the village. I heard It laugh behind us.
”Run, my little ant. Back to your nest to give me new toys.”
I tore free from the smoke, saw the village, and sprinted toward it, yelling the entire time.
”Get the guards! Monster! There is a monster!”
The two guardsmen at the gate froze in horror as they watched the wave of darkness rush towards them. My alarm snapped them out of their shock and the older sentry turned to the second and shouted, ”Ring the bell! We need to warn the villagers.”
”Yes, sir. Kid, come with me now!”
I followed the soldier to the center of town where he furiously rung the bell, shouting, ”Attack at the gates, to arms!”
Men begun pouring out of their houses, brandishing swords, spears, and other makeshift weapons. We all gathered into a mob and charged towards the gates. However, before even reaching our destination, a wave of darkness crashed into us, and the world was engulfed in it. All was silent. I grasped around for someone to comfort the intense dread and panic that swept over me. Suddenly, laughter pierced the silence. I curled up on the ground, praying to Tyr to protect me, to protect all of us from that evil thing.
Behind me, I heard someone shouting, ”Evacuate the town! Out the back gates, quickly! Follow the sound of my voice.” It was Erik, but he sounded pained. His cry roused movement from around me and I soon found myself being swept along by the mass of people as they rushed past me.