Chapter 6: Subordinates

 

        Skylar remained motionless where he stood, the event that took place just a minute ago playing in his head like a broken record. He was soon brought back to reality when he heard a few quiet groans. He and Spike looked towards the old lady and Jessica, whose eyes were beginning to open. The two boys slowly approached them.

        “Are you okay?” Skylar asked as Jessica and the old lady slowly sat up.

        “Yeah, we're fine,” said Jessica. “What about you guys?”

        “A little cut up, but we're okay,” Skylar replied.

        “Thank you for helping us,” thanked the old lady. “Who knows what would be happening to us right now if you two didn't step in to help.”

        “It's nothing,” said Skylar.

        The old lady and Jessica looked around for a moment, noticing that Steele wasn't even anywhere to be found.

        “Did that coward run away?” asked the old lady.

        “No, he was killed by someone he called Gore,” answered Spike.

        The two grimaced at the mention of the name.

        “What do you know about them?” inquired Spike.

        “I'll tell you, but first let us get into my house.”

        Both Jessica and the old lady stood up. All four of them walked into the small wooden home. Everyone but the old lady sat down around the coffee table. They watched as she went to a wooden shelf that was just barely out of her reach. From it she got down two vials of red liquid. She walked back over the table and handed Spike and Skylar the vials while telling them to drink it. The two boys looked down at the vials for a moment before deciding to do what the old lady told them. They downed the contents in one gulp and the wounds that were scattered on their body closed up as if they were never there.

        “So how do you know Steele?” questioned Spike.

        “Are you two familiar with the town called Rockham?” asked the old lady as she knelt down in front of the table.

        Skylar had never even heard of the name before. He shook his head while Spike gave a nod.

        “It's located up here in the mountains, right?” Spike said.

        “It used to be,” the old lady replied a little coldly. “You see, Jessica and I used to live there. Steele also lived there and one day he attacked Rockham. He destroyed everything beyond repair and killed about one-fourth of the population.”

        “Including my parents,” Jessica added coldly while she seemed to stare off into space as if recalling the horrible event.

        Spike looked towards Jessica for a moment in an almost understanding way before bringing his attention back to the old lady.

        “And what about Gore?” quizzed Spike.

        “It's surprising you haven't heard of him,” replied the old lady. “It is said that he lived in a town all the way in the north. He apparently killed every single person that lived there and he's gone on killing sprees since then.”

        Skylar's hands rolled into tight fists as he sat there and stared at the smooth surface of the table. Hearing this just infuriated the boy even further. The fact that someone could be so heartless was just sickening to him.

        “That's nice and all, but how exactly are they related to Blade?” asked Spike. “Gore mentioned something about him when he was talking to Steele.”

        “They're his followers,” answered the old lady. “They do his bidding for him to help him achieve his ambitions. They're not the only ones though. Besides Steele and Gore, there's Thorne and Wulf. Gore is Blade's most trusted subordinate though. He's the most skilled out of all of them. If you every encounter him, you can be certain that you're going to die. It's a surprise he didn't try killing you two.”

        An angered look came on Spike's face as he listened to this, mainly because of the fact that there were people helping Blade out.

        “I take it you once knew Blade personally?” questioned the old lady.

        “He betrayed our village and killed our previous leader, that's all,” answered Spike.

        Skylar looked towards Spike. There seemed to be something more to it than that though based on the angered look Spike had plastered on his face. It made Skylar a little curious about it, but he figured it probably wouldn't be wise to ask him about it at the moment.

        “You two should stay here for the night,” the old lady suggested after a moment of silence. “It's already sundown, so you two probably won't get too far before it gets dark out. I'm sure both of you are tired after battling Steele anyway.”

        “Thanks,” said Spike.

 

        After a period of time, it grew dark out. The full moon hovered over them and casted its light down on the earth below. Spike was sitting on the ledge staring out at the large field below. Thoughts swam about his mind as he sat there, most of them being about the journey him and Skylar were on.

        Skylar was inside the house with the other two. He stared out a window in a bored manner. His eyes soon came to rest on the still figure of Spike for a moment. A few thoughts passed through his head for a few seconds before he finally came to a decision. After getting to his feet, Skylar walked out of the door and slowly approached the other male before taking a seat next to him.

        “So how far north is Fairvald anyway?” Skylar asked a few seconds later while looking at nothing in particular.

        “It's pretty far,” replied Spike. “It'll take us several days before we get there.”

        Skylar gave a nod. He looked about the plains beneath the side of the cliff while silence passed over them for a brief moment.

        “You looked pretty mad earlier when the old lady was talking about Blade,” the younger male stated.

        “Of course, he betrayed the village,” Spike said. “Why wouldn't I be mad?”

        “I think there's something more to it than that,” replied Skylar.

        “It's none of your business, all right?” Spike told him a little coldly.

        And with that, Spike stood up and walked back to the house, leaving Skylar alone.

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[Clark]

Most of my previous comments still standing, I this time will point out the importance of period writing.
When writing in a past time period, you have to keep things consistent with that time. That said, I'm understanding this to be something fantasy like. If that's so, you might want to rethink choices like 'a broken record' and 'coffee table'. Is there coffee in your world? Are there records? That implies electricity as well as records and fancy machinery. If I am wrong, however, you should make sure that the world IS one in which these things can exist sooner, rather than later.