Days of the Living Darkness

At the dusking of the day, the sun conceals its presence behind the glooming woods of Lance, the supreme and largest kingdom in the western plains, ruled by his majesty; King Eric Levia. Along a rocky narrow path leading out of the woods rode a stallion mounted by Elroy, an average heighted fair alluring boy in his mid-twenties, with a good physique. He smiled so cheerfully even the unkind twilight breeze rejoiced in his short brunette hair.

“At last Celsius, our search is finally over.” Elroy said, stroking the mane of the stallion, gazing up at the walls of Lance miles away.

At about half a mile, Elroy halts his stallion on seeing a boy struggling with a sack; out of his gentle heart he trots his stallion closer to the boy with an intention of help.

“Do you need help boy?”

“Sure, I’ll be highly grateful” replied the young lad

Elroy immediately dismounts Celsius then walks up to the boy and lifts up the sack from the swollen hands of the young lad.

“Wow!” he exclaimed “This is heavy, what’s in it?” he asked with a suspicious thought.

“Muerte y anos de sustantivo (Death and years of suffering)”

“Aha, you must be from the East.” Elroy replied jokingly, not knowing what the young lad had said to him.

After mounting the sack on the back of his horse, a familiar stench came upon his nose; as he tries to grasp the stench a flash of lightning struck behind him, not too bright, but enough to cast a huge shadow in front of him. Elroy instantly turned around in a bit to draw his rapier, but what he witnessed was far beyond him.

He trembled in fear as chills strolled down his spine, for the aura blazing out into the atmosphere signified nothing but death. Before Elroy came back to the realism of the situation; he found himself spinning in the air, with a brutal force enough to knock a child out cold landed on the ground meters away from the creature.

The creature saw no pity in devouring Celsius alive; it nibbled and chewed like it hasn’t eaten for days. Elroy, on the verge of blacking out saw a flash of blinding white light followed by the head of the beast gyrating into the dark.

At once Elroy opened his eyes with a weighty breath then exhales at a snail' pace.

‘What a nightmare?’ He thought, but came to realize he was lying on a bed stationed on a bunk in an unknown room; with each hand chained to each handle of the bunk. Likely to be owned by a shaman, it was stuffed with various sizes of kegs oozing with medicinal stench. Looking at his reflection casted upon the window by his side, he could see a white cloth tied round his head as well as a man standing by the entrance of the room.

“Hey! You” He called out to the tall sender man, with bristly white hair dressed in black wooly cloak, who gently turned to him, “Why have I been restrained?”

“Don’t pretend to be innocent chap.” The man said, disgust roving all over his ripened face, “either way my pay shall come.”

“Let me go this instant.” Elroy demanded, shaking the bunk as he tries to set himself free.

“You must recompense for the carnages you committed; Sara!!”

A young lady rushed into the room.

“You called for me sir”

“Go get the guard, tell them the boy is awake and fit, don’t forget to collect the silver.”

“Yes sir” Sara agreed then stepped out of the room.

Elroy now lost in the confusion of how he ended up in such an obscure situation, kept arguing in his thoughts failing to notice the shaman falling down unconscious due to a hard whack to the back of his head, nevertheless he soon came back to reality when he saw a light skin young lady, endowed with rare magnificence holding a wooden staff; she had the expression of one who wouldn’t hesitate to run into evil, her dark hair knotted to a bun at the back of her head along with the brown leather sleeveless and trousers she wore crowned it all.

“Who are you?”

“You ask too many questions; so let’s make a deal, shut up and stay still then I won’t have to kill you.”

Elroy nodded positively to avoid further implications while the maiden tried unlocking the bolt holding his left hand. Not quite long from when she had opened the bolt a warrior stepped in; cladded in dark blue leather armor with a white star crested at the chest region; the capital armor for a Lancian warrior. Looking at the floor he could see the unconscious body of the shaman, over at the bed Elroy being freed by a strange lady.

“You there, stop!” the warrior ordered, reaching for his sword

“What seems to be the problem sir?” the fair beauty asked kindly as she straightened up.

Not minding the words of the lady the warrior drew his sword from the scabbard hanging by his side, killing intent engraved in his eyes, but somehow the young lady had closed unto him; a swing from her staff unto the unguarded head of the warrior shattered the staff, knocking him out. Meanwhile Elroy had already unlocked the bolt on his right hand but most of all amazed at the girl’s reflex.

“Well don’t just sit there, we don’t have much time; there is a troop of cavalry waiting downstairs.”

“Then how do we leave this building?” asked Elroy while he stood up on his feet.

Devoid of much thought, the girl dashed towards the window pulling Elroy with her then off the window they went from the third floor of the four floor cottage, yelling until they crashed on a pile of haystack. Like the girl knew what was coming, five Lancian warriors stormed into the room with arrows drawn on their bows ready to annihilate any enemy. As Elroy and the girl got off the hay everyone in the hectic neighborhood began staring at them, murmuring indistinctly.

“Are you insane?” yelled Elroy, “What were your chances of landing safely?”

“Nothing” the girl assured with a smile.

“I’m not going anywhere, not until you tell me your true motives for helping me.”

Within that instance, an arrow breezed Elroy’s face, placing a sharp cut on his cheek before piercing into a moving wagon.

“Fucking hell” Elroy exclaimed, holding his cheek and staring at the arrow on the wagon.

An archer standing inside the room missed his mark due to the prickly rays coming from the afternoon sun; the girl quickly pulled Elroy towards the crowd. As they force their way through the enormous and eventful crowd, a group of Lancian warriors slacking behind raced after them.

“Hope you know how to fight?” asked the girl, now wearing a serious look.

“To an extent, why do you ask?” Elroy asked curiously, noticing her expression.

“You’re going to need it.”

As soon as they came to an open space in the district square, two royal guards wielding their long swords hurried out in front of them. Royal Lancian guards are heavy muscled warriors trained specifically to defend a royal blood or one of the council members of the king or heads in a district, attached to their Lancian armor is a black cape to single them out from normal warriors; although their brute nature already did so.

Splitting from each other one charged towards the lady while the other towards Elroy.

One look at the advancing warrior Elroy sneered like he knew the attack coming, as soon as the warrior swung his sword Elroy who was nippy on his feet avoided the fatal blow, which sent the warrior crashing into the dirt. One of the limitations of using a large sword; Elroy without delay followed the girl, who had already knocked out her foe and fled towards the bridge leading out of the district.