Prologue - Part Two

The beginning of it all

The lights of gold and the growing moans from the mouths of what had used to be the living had become brighter and louder. It soon faded away, the voices giving up their pleas, and the air going back to silence, the screams of torture echoing through the winds dying off to nothing. The king and his family had all stood together but they were no longer standing strong. They no longer needed the comfort of each other’s warmth or presence, their skin was already burning and they couldn’t feel a thing. Small pebbles and dust had begun to fall through the old ceiling that barely held together. From the center, a rotting chandelier had crumbled to the stone floor, but had missed the dead bodies that stood motionless.

The sky was suddenly blocked by a golden figure, translucent black feathers lined with silver covering each golden scale. For a moment the hall was silent and still, the next it was filled with blue crackling fire. The figure was gone as suddenly as it appeared, leaving not a feather left to the flames until there was nothing but cold white ash as it started to die out, like everything else in the lands of Revailles. Beyond the screams that howled in the wind was a faint voice, it was less than a whisper, nonetheless it was a voice. Awaken.

The dream ended, changing from a dark and gloomy yonder with soils drenched in blood, to a bright blue blinding morning sky, the voices of the birds sung from the trees above.           

“Did you have a nice sleep there Ruth?” The girl’s smile was wide, and bright " the reflection from the sun made it impossible to look at her directly,  “come on, we have to go off soon.”

Ruth rose up to her feet, and returned her hands into hiding under the  crisp black cloak she wore over her shoulders.

“Well; are you coming, or are you just going to stand there?” There was a slight chuckle in the girls voice, but Ruth could tell that it was only out of courtesy.

Ruth raised a hand to shoo her away. Before she  hid her hands in her cloak she examined every scar, and twisted  trail of flesh across her hairless head, covered with inks and the rest of her body that had ached ever since her first scar had come to the surface " bringing back memories of the past that she refused to forget, but hated to remember.

Drowsily, Ruth wobbled her way to the bank of a thin stream; the water clear enough to see the faint details of each pebble at the bottom, the river’s stream so quiet, that the current could have easily been missed. She cupped the water into her thin and scarred hands, it was cold " just what she needed to wake her up for the dry and boring morning.

“Stop, we’ve got plenty of time!”

“Leave us alone.”

The voices were distant, Ruth turned to look for who had spoken, but turned back when she decided she didn’t care. In the surface of the water, she could see inked markings on her neck, scars, and layered flesh everywhere else. Each reminding her of a secret.

“Ruth!” The girl from before appeared behind her; eyes a pale grey like the smooth stones in the stream, outlined in the dark green of the forest around her to give life to her face.

“Oh leave the poor girl alone Beatrice; can’t you see she’s praying? Give her some time, we need to pack up anyways.” He was a white man fit to be a king, wearing black and blue silks, and dark black leather boots that rose above his ankles. His hair was tied tight in a single braid, interlocking the orange and brown strands of hair together. He had tried to cover his story under his silks, but Ruth could see where his burns began on the right side of his neck where his skin had molded around an iron ring. The young man was named Donati. He didn’t bother to look her way; he disappeared back into the trees to continue packing up their camp from the night before, huffing at  the weight he was lifting.

Ruth made her way to the small clear landing where they had kept the horses and food overnight. Donati was lifting one thing after another " Forese was still asleep on the ground, Marco and Beatrice both shouting in his ears.

“Wake up you fat lump! " Forese! Fooo-rese!” Their voice had gotten louder and the snoring that came from Forese had gotten louder as well. Donati hid a faint grin, as he lifted the food to one of the Dicaballs’ back. It was a large steed that was made to carry great weight,each of its ten legs strong and its hide thick.

“Good girl, I can always count on you,” Donati said as he brushed his hand upon its back, repeating the gesture over and over.

I live with four legendaries, and they all waste their time waking up a fat legend, and the only decent one worships nothing but his burns and a Dicaball. It was frustrating for Ruth to think that she would have to put up with their bickering, and stories until she found what she was sent for.

 Once Donati had packed the last of everything, they  boiled some water in the pail he left unpacked. Ruth filled the boiling water with mint leaves and sweet grass. Beatrice and Marco gave up on waking the fat lump of a man to come join them.

“You know, it has come to my attention that we have all tried to wake Forese, except for you our sweet Donati. He is your brother after all, he might open his eyes and rise up to his oversized feet if you tell him to.” Marco was a man of pride. He was three quarters of a man, his hair made a pile of rotting leaves look neat, nothing but a black tangle that sat on his head. He had deep copper eyes to fight against the darkness both out- and inside his head. He saw himself as perfect, despite the right arm missing from underneath the black and blue fabrics he had covered himself in.

My God, I’ll do it. Ruth raised herself over them all, for the first time that day she was looking down on them. A wind came up from nowhere and swirled around the circle of legendaries, whipping the backs of their necks and just missing Ruth. All eyes fell on her.

“That hurts you know, if you wanted a try at waking up the big stump, you could have just said so.” Marco said with a rather cruel smile. He was well aware of what his words meant, but Ruth refused to react.

“You’re an inconsiderate b*****d you know that?”  Donati muttered. He had a voice, it may not have been confident and reassuring at all times, but it was a voice. Ruth couldn’t speak at all. She had to use the strength of magics to share her thoughts when she had to communicate with others, as rare as it was. Often times, her Pennax feathered sword was enough for her to make people understand.

The sword was a thing of beauty " a hilt of white ruby; crystal clear, with thin fingers of red running through it. The blade a steel black feather lined in silver; strong enough to cut through whatever it may face. The fuller of the blade a line of golden scales.

Ruth’s legs might have been small, but she got to the fat man just as quickly as any of the others, her hand on the pommel of her sword. She looked at Forese’s face, covered in snot and drool. Thank God the man’s a wizard; he would have died without a woman by his side as a mortal. Ruth often thought sourly of Forese. He wasn’t the nicest man to look at and his personality wasn’t any different from his poor appearance. She passed him and found a bush of sour berries. A rather foul fruit grew on the bush that seemed deadly to any living creature, yet it was a crucial element in her plan. She picked herself a rather large leaf from the bush and folded it around three of the large berries. They were larger than most fruits that grew on a bush, they were the size of apples " their skin a deep rotten purple.

Ruth made her way back over to Forese. The orange and red juices of the fruit began to drip as Ruth’s hand got tighter and tighter around the leaf holding the berries. The scent of the juice grew stronger, and brought tears to Ruth’s eyes. Perfection. She made to stand beside Forese again and she didn’t hesitate, letting the juice drip onto his fat, plump nose.  

She had beaten her record the moment Forese’s eyes shot open. He didn’t think as he placed his thick sausage fingers around Ruth’s tiny neck. The two weren’t friends and she had no problem with using her blade against him. Beatrice was the first to try to stop the fight, although her plan hadn’t gone as smoothly as she anticipated, she had forgotten about Forese’s weight and bounced off him when she attempted to tackle him. Ruth’s hand came closer and closer to unleashing her blade upon the thick arm with a hand around her throat Donati was the second to try to jump between them. Marco seemed to be under the impression anyone who tried to break up this particular fight was an idiot.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed it, leave a comment and send reading requests :)

Reviews

[rayman]

Sorry got distracted, I can’t wait to read the rest.

[Octavious]

Thank you so much, your words mean a lot to me, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. :)

[rayman]

I've read the first part and I can't wait to read the read.

[rayman]

I've read the first part and I can't wait to read the read.