Kingdom in Ruins ~ Part1

The last hope of survival.

All was lost. The king nothing but a rotting corpse, the once golden crown covered in a pool of blood. His eyes fixed upon the weapon protruding from his chest. A spear clearly enchanted with dark sorcery had struck the noble warrior and penetrated his armour like a nail driven into a piece of wood. His guards were even worse off, with loose fingers, legs and arms covering the floor. Most of them resembled training dummies ready to be assembled. The Dragon Hall was filled with the dead and dying. Those still standing were clad in night black armour. Their eyes burned with small flames, standing over seven feet tall with great double-bladed axes wielded in iron spiked gloves. The faces were covered by long hornet helms with tips ending in the shape of a dragon's head. These beings were all but human, speaking a language filled with hatred and anger. All was lost, but one.

One of the great warriors stepped forward, crunching bodies beneath him. He loosed his grip on his axe and left one hand free. Suddenly he stopped walking and pulled a man from the ground as if he weighted nothing more than a bag of feathers. A hole appeared and a smell of rotten flesh blew across the man's face. The man was barely alive, the right part of his face had been smashed to pieces. "Gûl-Ar-Roq" Came a low voice from the black creature.

"I yield. I yield. I yield..." Squealed the man, his eyes widening and shaking his legs in midair.

 

The creature turned his head slightly as if to inspect the man a little better. Next he dropped the man to the ground and turned half around. Grunting deeply, which sounded close to a bear's roar.

"Thank you, thank-" The man had brought his hands together as if praying but the warrior had brought down his axe in one swift motion decapitating the man in an instant. The creature continued to the next survivor repeating the words he had spoken to the first man, just before finishing them with a final blow to the head. Suddenly the creature stopped and remained perfectly still.

"Trai-tor" Each syllable pronounced with great effort as if the creature had difficulty speaking. He turned around and watched as a figure broke through a window from the side of the hall, crashing to the ground loudly and rolling back up. The figure was clad in similar dark armour but significantly smaller and obviously human. The knight did not wear a helmet, instead long blonde hair gulfed down the back of the iron mail. The knight drew two small daggers and brought them close to the face. "Gûl-Az-Haraq" Replied the new intruder.

The other warriors closed the distance to the knight standing opposite their leader and blocking the knight's only exit. Their eyes burned with an even darker red when the woman had spoken. They formed a half circle and brought their axes down on to the ground, again and again, like a massive war drum vibrating through the hall.

 

The knight took a stance, readying herself for the charge. The leader spoke again, "trai-tor". The low, alien voice echoed off the walls. The creature swung his axe in a large circle and charged in on the human. As his speed increased, the weight of his body and armour caused small cracks to appear in the granite floor. Each step causing a small wave of shocks. The human didn't rush in on the creature, but instead raised her daggers into the sky as if reaching for an invisible opponent. Golden rays of light broke through the ceiling and danced around the blade's edges. The metal absorbed the light like fluid gold, turning the dagger yellow. By the time she had brought her daggers back to her original stance, the creature was only a few steps away. Raising his massive axe above his head the creature roared loudly. A roar twice as loud as a lion, and twice as ferocious. The axe came down with tremendous force, but the human crossed her daggers and tried to block the blow. Miraculously, the knight managed to stop the attack and the weapons clashed together. They held their weapons locked for a few seconds, trying to get the upper hand, but both warriors didn't win any terrain.

 

The woman reacted first, retreating with one dagger and planting it sideways into her opponent. A black glove managed to smash the assault away and pushed her back. The other warriors started to slam the ground even louder, silencing any other sounds. As the woman steadied herself, the creature was already upon her. Swinging his axe horizontally hoping for a clean cut from hip to hip. The human swung around, but as she did the axe brazed her back, knocking her off-balance and sending a jolt of pain down her spine. The creature rotated the axe knocking her down with the shaft of his axe. But as the creature made his move, the woman threw one of her daggers to the creature's chest. The aim was poor, the distance too short, so the dagger didn't penetrate the armour but simply bounced off the dark metal and fell to the ground harmlessly. Yet, the creature had slightly raised his arms giving the knight just enough space to dive under the attack. She reached for her missing dagger, but the creature stepped on the weapon making a sickening crunching sound. So the human brought her arm back and rolled out of the creature's range. Back on both her legs again, the creature shoved the dagger, or what remained of it, to the knight. The golden aura had been broken, the blade had been dented and the wooden hilt had splintered making it impossible to hold the weapon. For a moment she felt afraid, but she quickly focused her attention back to the black monster.

 

The creature made a fist with one hand and brought it down to the ground with unnatural speed and strength, driving the spikes into the ground. As a thousand pieces of rubble flew through the air, the creature stood to his full length again, towering above the small knight. As the last pieces clattered on to the floor, the warrior brought his head back and roared another savage call. A black mist started to take form and descended to the broken pieces. Suddenly, the pieces started to transform and bind together. Small hideous creatures were born, with skin of broken stone and dust. They didn't have much of a face, only three clear red eyes in which small flames flickered brightly. The minions looked like small golems as they made their first steps with their solid legs and arms. Five minions crawled up from the ground and formed a solid wall before their master.

 

This time the woman screamed at the top of her lungs and charged the bloody beasts.

Author's Note

I ended up with a longer story than intended, so I will post it in two parts.

Reviews

[PureHeaven]

This is great. Very original. Quite the mystery too! Can't wait to read the second part.
I only noticed one mistake ~ As a thousand pieces of rumble *rubble* flew through the air~
Great piece yo.

[Acropolix]

Thanks again for the positive words! I will fix that quickly, probably a slip of the pen (or keyboard).

[NoblePariah]

This is certainly an interesting story, its good and filled with vivid imagery. The only thing that I noticed was that, in the beginning, before the battle between the warriors and the creatures begins, it's a bit hard to tell one from the other. Until the fighting started, I thought the blond-haired warrior was the "creature" and that she was the one killing her brethren. nothing major of coarse, it becomes clear as you read further, just wanted to mention it. As I said, a great story so far, well done.

[Acropolix]

FIrst of all, many thanks for reading and reviewing my work. Now I read that part over again, I see what point you are making and it certainly causes some confusion, so I will have another look on that. Part 2 is coming up end this week hopefully. Glad you liked it.