ShadowBlade

ShadowBlade is the start of a story where shadow people terrorise the people have begun to show up everywhere, killing and imprisoning the commonfolk. feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Shadows

It was hard, exhausting work following inside the large line of travellers; having to pull her boots out of concealed rifts in the soil. The sun had baked the top level dry, masking the moist lower levels. As the huge line of travellers moved onward, Annie found herself trudging unceasingly to match the hurried pace, her feet sore and her legs burning.

A large group of them had separated in order to prepare the next campsite. So far there had been no word from one of the scouts as to say where this was. Panic was beginning to form along the lines as the sun dipped lower. The only comfort was the thin spread of soldiers marching on the queue’s border, some of them with families in the cluster.

She moved further right onto steadier ground but the feeling was only replaced with bulbous, grinding pebbles digging into her soles. She found her path to be easier than others; she had nothing to carry. Allot of the folk striding beside her were poor; peasants who worked in the fields, mines and the lakes. There were also the children and elderly to think about.

The sky had moved from sunny to a thick overcast. Dust still billowed upwards, dirtying people’s skin and clothing. Annie was so tired of breathing in the dirt so she moved further up the line. As she drew nearer to the front she noticed that these were the physically stronger, better fed and clothed people; the lucky ones.

Thunder in the distance brought fear rippling along. Annie felt it too. They had to reach camp soon. Nute, a young soldier, dropped in beside her. He was as grotty as the rest of them, though he never seemed to tire. He smiled at her and held out a helping hand as they walked on.

Annie always felt safer with him there. He was well-mannered, gentle and high-spirited. He had no family there, but he was acting as a paid escort. Over the last couple of weeks they had become good friends.

He stared at the darkening clouds and smiled reassuringly. ‘Don’t worry Annie. We’ll reach camp before the storm hits.’

She gripped his hand firmer and nodded. ‘I sure hope so. We’ve already seen a whole days march.’ She kissed her hand and held it to her heart, praying.

Before she knew it she was standing at the head of the line. She looked ahead and saw huge hills. These had no vegetation and were covered in damp brown soil. The sun had disappeared behind them, but it was not yet under the horizon. The earthen hills shocked everyone. No one in their right mind would set up camp in country like that.

There came a shout to the right and heads turned. It was a soldier studying prints in the soil. ‘The trail’s gett’n fresher’ he called. ‘They couldn’t have passed here more than a half hour ago.’ He called over some of the other soldiers, Nute included, and had a silent discussion as they looked closely at the forward-parties prints. Their faces were grim and serious, but Annie couldn’t work out what was being said.

The captain coughed some orders and each soldier returned to their post. The line started moving again, but the pace was increased. As Nute settled in beside her he put a hand around her shoulders and held her close.

‘What was that all about?’ she whispered.

He looked towards the earthy hills nervously and shivered. ‘The prints were fresh, but the forward scout says they were hurried and out of order, as if they were in a great rush.’ He sighed. ‘There were no other prints, but he said that they all lead into those muddy hills up ahead.’ Kicking at a rock, he exhaled noisily. ‘It just doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone set up camp in a place like that?’

‘Maybe there’s a clearing’ she said hopefully. ‘Maybe they found firmer ground.’

Nute peered of into the distance and bit his lip. ‘I’m sorry Annie, but it doesn’t seem like that kind of land. There’d be no foundation to base a camp in a place like that.’

After a short while the hills neared. Nute rested his hand on the hilt of his sword. ‘I’ll be right back’ he said reassuringly, and then he walked over to the other soldiers surrounding the group and brought them back to the captain. He had a short discussion with Nute and the others, and then a small huddle of them broke off and headed towards the hills at a slow run.

They reached the hills a few hundred paces before the others and split up, each one trudging on or in between different hills. Nute was with them, directing what looked like a search. There were a few muffled curses and they disappeared. They were gone a long time, Annie’s heart pounding in her chest the whole time. The entire queue had stopped, silent.

There were frantic calls. Nute appeared at the top of a hill and blew a horn. There was an answering call from the captain. He turned towards everyone else and in a loud voice he called, ‘Everyone! There has been a situation, so please move your arses!’ The soldiers got everyone moving and the band quickly made its way forward.

When the crowd had trekked its way to the crest of the hill, the other soldiers were there to meet them. There were white-faced, panicked words from each of these to the captain. He ran a hand through his grey hair and signalled for the camp to move on, led by one of the scouts. When the next rise was passed, Nute and a few others could be spotted halfway up the next hill.

Everyone moved on. When they were closer they could see that they were kneeling down beside something. Being at the front of the line, Annie was one of the first to see what it was. She slapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying out. It was a young man, one she vaguely recognised. He was pale and covered in mud, and his eyes seemed to be closed.

There were screams from the travellers as they all gathered round. The body of Sergeant Emerald was pale and bruised. He was deep in the mud, as if a great weight had rested on him. There was a wet black substance leaking from his ear, probably a mixture of grime, blood and his own brains.

Annie marked a quick cross on her chest, but then realised that she felt fine. In fact, she wanted to look at him more closely. She went to take a step forwards, only to be stopped by Nute, a stern look on his face. He looked unsure what to do, ruffling his blond hair.

‘Get everyone back!’ he ordered. Every soldier, even Captain Balstred, followed these orders. They were desperate to do something to take their minds off the matter at hand. Everyone was pushed back, except for Sergeant Emerald’s wife, Silvy, who shoved her way towards him.

She fell to her knees next to him and screamed out his name, bursting into tears. It wrenched Annie’s heart to see it. The whole camp was thrown into silence as she wailed. Eventually she just sat there motionless.

Nute looked to the soldier next to him. ‘Let’s get him on one of the wagons.’ The man gulped but nodded. He went over to lift the man’s sunken torso out of the earth as the soldier went to his legs.

Nute gripped Emeralds arms and nodded. ‘On three. One… Two… Thr…’

A cold, muddy hand shot out and clasped on Nute’s wrist. His eyes widened and he looked to see one of Emeralds eyes cracked open and staring. As if he hadn’t breathed in minutes he gulped down huge breaths of air, coughing out blood and even teeth.

There was mass hysteria as everyone’s attention was brought towards what was happening. At the sound of the cries Emerald’s wife looked up. ‘Em?’ she asked so hopefully and quietly that Annie’s gut wrenched. He gave no indication that he had heard her, looking to a frightened Nute and trying to force out stuttered words.

‘B-b-b-black!’ he gasped, looking terribly frightened. ‘Sh-sh-shadows! W-w-w-we t-tried to r-r-run… w-w-weren’t f-f-f-fast en-nough.’ He looked distant for a moment. ‘I fell. The oth-thers stamp-p-peeded.’

 Nute popped the lid to his flask and held it to the dying man’s lips. Half of it dribbled out the side, the other half was spurted out as he went into a coughing fit. But he seemed slightly better afterwards. The two men lifted him out, pained groans and cries escaping from his lips. They laid him down on his back with a pack under his head for support.

Emerald looked at his wife and let out a crack of a smile. He then looked up at Nute who knelt beside him and took hold of his tunic. He croaked out gibberish for a while then got his bearings. He tried for one last word. ‘R… r… r…’

He wrenched Nute closer and whispered the word into his ear. He patted Nute on the cheek and then contorted. He was dead.

Annie thought back to what had just happened. She didn’t have to be a lip reader to tell what Emerald had whispered. RUN; he’d told Nute to run.

There was silence. His wife didn’t say anything, just patted his eyes closed and walked into the crowd.

Nute looked to the Captain, who was walking forwards with mattocks and hoes from one of the carts. He threw them to the ground and looked around. ‘I want a grave dug immediately.’

Annie, shocked by what he had just said, stepped forward. ‘You can’t just bury him here’ she whispered. ‘He deserved better than that.’

Balstred looked just as shocked and crushed as the others, but raised his head and motioned to his soldiers, who went to digging. They hacked at the hole Emerald had just been in, deepening and widening it. Balstred rubbed at his eyes with his sleeve. ‘We have to’ he reasoned. ‘We can’t take him with us.’

‘Yes we can’ Annie pleaded.

‘And do what?’ he whispered sarcastically. ‘Bury him at the camp. That’s assuming there is a camp left.’ He looked around at all the faces, one by one. ‘You all heard what he said. Something was chasing them, and they weren’t fast enough for it. They were so scared that they even trampled one of their own people.’

He walked away silently with his head hung low.

The grave was dug fast enough, the ground being soft and void of things like stones to stop the blades. When it was done, Emeralds wife took a look inside and shook her head. ‘Not big enough’ was all she would mumble.

The men went back to work as everyone silently watched them. When the grave was six foot down and five wide they stopped. The body was slowly lifted down and rested facing upwards. The travellers watched as the dead man’s wife stepped towards the edge. She nodded her thanks to the gravediggers.

‘It’s wide enough’ she whispered to her husband’s lifeless body, smiling dreamily as tears rolled down her cheeks and her brown hair slowly moved about in the wind. ‘Big enough for two.’

Annie realised what she meant but was too slow to react. Silvy took a small, sharp knife from her sleeve and gouged it in the side of her neck. She pulled it out and tossed it away, blood spurting from her artery.  Before the knife hit the ground she was dead. She tumbled forwards and fell down to rest right beside her husband. It was over in seconds.

The beauty and sadness of it brought tears to Annie’s eyes. To her surprise there was no screaming. Everyone stayed perfectly still, even the children. The men simply buried them, no words spoken.

When all was done the Captain spoke. ‘Now I don’t like any of this, but we have to move on.’ He pointed forwards. ‘If what this man said was true, we have to go and help our people. We’re leaving, NOW!’

As the line started moving again Nute moved in beside Annie. ‘If what Emerald said is true’, he whispered, ‘then we’re all dead.’

 

*****

 

The sky above where the sun was being washed away by the horizon was an angry red. The last rays speared outwards, not wanting to have their light swallowed by the muddy hills. The clouds were becoming heavier, and it wouldn’t be long until a single drop tipped the balance and it all came crashing down.

There was still no vegetation on the hills; they were just brown, muddy masses. It had been less than half an hour since the incident, and the tracks were getting fresher and fresher. Nute sighed as a droplet of water sprinkled his hair.

‘The rain’ll start soon Annie’ he said. ‘The main giveaway is the thick cloud above us, but you can also tell by the breeze, feel, temperature and smell… and smell. Smell!’

All eyes turned to him. ‘It’s the smell’ he yelled. He looked at the confused faces and explained excitedly. ‘I can smell the horses!’

Over two hundred people breathed inwards deeply. ‘I smell it too!’ came a cry. There were several more.

Suddenly there was the faintest sound of someone’s voice. No one could tell whose it was or what was said, but everyone’s hopes went up and they all ran in the direction it came from. No one cared for reason. Like a herd of cattle they all moved on.

Annie and Nute exchanged glances as they were swept along. Neither of them looked comfortable with what was happening. But then she looked at all the other faces and saw how desperate and worried they were.

The hills had gotten bigger and bigger as they had made their way through, so the one they started climbing was huge, and peaked over four times as high as the first. She looked to her left and right. Both sides of the hill were rather steep, impossible to climb with a cart. The hiking tired everyone, but they were so scared and led only by hope so they carried on.

The top of the hill could be described as nearly flat. Relieved sighs escaped everyone’s lungs as the climb ended. They kept running though, for the sound was clearer and must be on the next hill.

As they reached the edge of the opposite side the rough outlines of people and carts appeared halfway up the next hill. There were choked sobs and relieved cries as each person took this in. They poured down the hill like ants, the fact that the side of a muddy hill was not ideal for a campsite never crossing their minds.

Annie did notice this, and she knew that Nute had as well. He was trying to tell this to the other soldiers but was drowned out by the commotion. The sound of high-pitched laughter caught in her ear. This was confusing. It also appeared that all the children were wrestling or playing tag. What the hell is going on!? the voice in her head screamed at her.

All these questions were answered when they were two hundred paces away. The children were not wrestling and playing tag, and the sound was not laughter. They were screams. Screams from people who were being ripped apart, slaughtered and chased; not tag or wrestling.

Everyone stopped running and stared in shocked horror at the events that were unfolding. Annie couldn’t believe it either. She pinched her arm to make sure that she was still awake.

The sight before them was horrific. Dozens of people lay on the muddy ground unmoving. They were covered in blood and some of them were missing limbs. There was a man stumbling around blindly with only one arm.

Annie thought back to what Emerald had said. Black shadows. There were dark figures moving around on the hill. They were almost hovering. She screamed as she saw one of them appear behind the armless man. It raised an oddly-shaped luminous blade. It looked like cloudy glass crudely cut into a sword. It swept the blade in a sideways arc and chopped the man’s head off in a single stroke. Blood burst from his neck stump and the head bounced on the mud and rolled down the hill.

The suspected game of tag turned out to be people trying to run away from these strange creatures. What she had thought was wrestling turned out to be what happened when they caught them. People were crushed and torn apart by small hordes of them.

They had the outline of a human, but they had no legs or arms. Instead thick shadows sprouted from their shoulders. It looked like they wore a cloak of shadows. Their features were unreadable as they were cast in darkness.

Men and women were tackled by these monsters and were either killed right away or were feasted on alive. These had the worst screams.

For an unbelievable moment people’s throats were torn out, they were beaten around and slaughtered. Annie leaned forwards and vomited.

There were still pockets of resistance. Small groups of soldiers huddled together with their lances facing outwards. Several of these collapsed, and the gore that followed afterwards was unbelievable.

The man’s head finally reached the bottom of the hill and rolled to a stop at their feet. The screams that came afterwards were ear-piercing. This was what Annie wished hadn’t happened. The sound drew the attention from the closest of the monsters.

They lunged down the hill towards them. Panic spread like wildfire and everyone started their way back up the hill. Annie lost sight of Nute as both of them were engulfed by the crowd.

Her leg muscles began screaming at her. She felt short of breath and her heart was thumping in her ears. She knew it was useless as another group of them topped the side of the hill to their left, pushing them closer to the edge to her right.

They let out shrilling shrieks and hungry growls as they closed rapidly on the desperate group. Halfway up the hill the first straggler was picked off. Annie didn’t dare risk turning around to see what had happened but she heard a scream and an unnerving crunch. The creatures to their left picked off the furthest people from the centre. This caused everyone to push right, which pushed the others towards the edge of the hill. A man wandered too far and fell, breaking his neck as he tumbled downwards.

Halfway up the rise they were boxed in. nobody could move as the people unfortunate enough to be on the outside were wrenched away screaming. Soldiers used lances, bows, spears and swords, though most of these encounters didn’t end favourably. When one of the creatures was struck it burst, the human meat it had consumed spraying the crowd.

Annie was about ten paces from the edge, though that gap was slowly decreasing as people were pushed over. She doubted if many if any of these people survived. She looked up to see that she was now eight paces away.

The thin line of soldiers broke and the monsters swarmed through the opening. The blades made quick work and very soon dozens of people had been gutted, crushed or torn into pieces.

One of these things turned towards Annie and came lunging forwards, letting out a breathy roar. Before it reached her though, a soldier stepped in from the side and stabbed a spear through its head. It burst into darkness. The man turned to her and smiled at his handiwork. He was so caught up in the moment that he didn’t even notice one appear behind him and raise its blade. It drove it downwards onto his skull, splitting it right down the middle. Blood spurted from what was left of his head and lightly sprayed Annie’s cheek.

Annie’s body froze as the shock took control. She couldn’t move, even as the beast finished lapping at his brain fluid and stalked towards her. It glided towards her, lashing out and dismembering the people it passed. She saw her reflection in the blade as it raised it. Time slowed down to almost nothing as it swung it towards her neck. She couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. This was it. She was going to die.

Suddenly there was a blur beside her and Nute appeared, swinging his sword in an arc. It clashed with the beast’s, letting out a sharp jarring sound. The boy in Nute’s appearance had vanished and was replaced with a steel gaze as he battled strength with a monster a whole foot taller than he was.

The two swords were crossed. It leaned forward an inch from Nute’s face and hissed. Nute saw his chance and turned his sword so it was parallel with the one it held, chopping the monsters head off like a pair of scissors. He reared back as it burst.

He turned towards Annie and wiped the blood from her cheek using his sleeve. He threw his arms around her, breaking her paralysis. They turned around to see that they were but a pace from the edge. She could see the bottom now. To her surprise it was solid, rocky ground that led in between the hills. The first people to have fallen had found themselves crushed by the fall, but as more and more bodies piled up, people had started surviving the fall; barely.

But most of them died from the tumble downwards, breaking bones and tearing muscles. Over fifty people lay motionless at the foot of the hill, and it would be less than fifty heartbeats before the two of them were pushed over as well.

They looked the other way. Red was the focus colour as her eyes scanned the catastrophe. Balstred lay on the ground dead, blood foaming at the side of his mouth. The creatures tore through people like a spade through the soil. The endless screams clogged up her ears. The sun was gone gone and everything was darkening.

Eventually her toes reached over the drop. She was nudged from the back and fell, losing her grip on Nute’s hand. As she fell backwards she saw Nute screaming. She couldn’t hear what was said but she knew his lips were miming her name. She smiled thinly and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact.

She hit hard but it wasn’t the muddy hill she landed on. It was a cold body. She opened her eyes as she tumbled downwards. She fell down on her sides, rolling with her arms folded across her chest for protection. Every bump and impact with the earth sent a shock through her body, throwing her around like a ragdoll.

As the ground loomed closer rocks appeared in her path. They were small at first, but as she tumbled on they grew to sizes bigger than her fist, smashing into her ribs and every other unprotected place, tearing at her clothing.

In her whole life she had never known such agony. She came crashing down on the thin sheet of bodies. She bounced off, her momentum bringing her skidding to a rough halt on the rubbly surface.

She was stuck there on her stomach, the wind knocked from her lungs and the life drained from her body. She could only lay there motionless, tears slowly parting the dirt as they rolled down her cheeks. She could still hear the slaughter, but she could barely do anything. She couldn’t even escape, and after all that wasted effort. She just lay there with her hands over her ears, crying for all those she had lost and waiting for death.

She had no idea how long she rested there. Everything was dimming slowly, the clouds were nearly bursting and the sounds of people’s screams became fewer. She didn’t care about anything, not even her own life. She had started the trip with nothing, and now these things were taking everything she had gained.

A sudden realisation passed through her and her eyes shot open. What had happened to Nute? Had he fallen too, or was he still up there? New will came to her and she found the strength to resist the pain. He had wanted her to live, and that’s what she planned to do. Her hands shot out in front of her and gripped solid ground. Her aching muscles strained as she dragged herself forward.

The first drop fell on her cheek, one becoming two and two more becoming three. A light sprinkle of heavy drops began to dot the earth. The cool touch brought her mind elsewhere and she managed to get her knees up from under her. It took quite a strain, but eventually she forced herself to stand.

Her left knee almost buckled. Her clothes were torn in places that she would have cared about before, but she didn’t then as she limped away from the helpless and unanswered cries. She stumbled from side to side leaning forward heavily with her shoulders hunched. Her blond hair hung down in thin, reedy clumps over her pretty face.

She was only half awake and had no idea where she was going to go. She just had to leave. Walking on flat ground, she looked around. She was in between a few hills, wide paths between them leading elsewhere. Where she stood was roughly flat ground, a wide open space less than two hundred paces from where she’d fallen.

A sudden weariness took hold of her and her vision began to slant, blackening and rapidly disappearing. She stepped forward shakily. She took another step, then another. And then all her thoughts flew out of order as she fell over, her forehead hitting a hard rock. As she drifted off, she glimpsed the bottom of the hill. They were massacring the survivors of the fall.

*****

Silence. The smell of warm blood; her own. Annie opened her eyes, trying to blink out the blurriness from them.

She hadn’t been out long. A few minutes at the most. Running a shaky hand over her eyes, she wiped the blood away and her sight returned. The light rain had stopped, but it would surely start again. If Annie didn’t move soon, she’d either freeze to death in the rain or be killed like the others.

She couldn’t stand, but she managed to slide to her knees under to support herself. Her mind spun as her eyes vaguely made out the shapes of the hills. She blinked her heavy eyelids and when she opened them in the dimming light of the late afternoon she noticed a dark figure heading towards her.

Though her sight was still clouded, she knew what it was. Its thousand tendrils of shadows made it almost glide along the ground as it moved in for the kill. As it got closer she saw what they looked like almost clearly for the first time. It was large and muscular, its mouth the only thing on its face. From it sprouted long, sharp glassy teeth. It had no eyes and no nose. It paused to relish in the moment, emitting a low growling noise.

Annie watched as it leant down slowly, reaching out with sharp fingers and flicking its black tongue in expectation. She wanted to pull away as it opened its huge maw, but she was frozen by a mixture of pain and fear. The fingers slowly ran down her cheek, cutting three corresponding lines like razors. It hurt, but her mouth couldn’t make any noise.

Its fingers spread and curled under her chin. It going to rip my throat out, she realised in horror. She tilted her head upwards and looked at the beasts face in the hazy light. Before it tensed its muscles, it flashed a toothy grin. I’m enjoying this was what it was thinking.

But then something unexpected happened. In the blink of an eye something small pierced through the side of its head, shooting through the other side. The creature paused, removing its hand and feeling the wound. The talons came back trailing black ichor. Its head slowly turned back to her in shock horror. It fell forward, but before its huge frame crushed her, erupting into a torrent of shadow and disappearing.

It took her a while to get her bearings. She slowly turned her head to see Nute running towards her, cranking a new bolt into his crossbow. The mixture of sadness and relief flushed through her and she managed to whisper his name before falling forward.

He caught her in his arms, brushing a hand over her hair and whispering calming words to her as she shook. ‘We have to move’ he said in a soothing tone. ‘They’ll come for us, and it’s going to get dark soon.’

She numbly shook her head as he supported her with his shoulder. The two of them barely took two steps before there came a growl. Thirty paces away there was another one. It came flying forward and Nute had hardly any time to lift her down as it dove. Nute managed to take the blow on the wide of his sword, but the impact sent him and the creature flying forwards. Annie found herself thrown to the side, cutting her skin and clothes on the gravel even more.

She whipped her head around to see Nute and the creature eyeing each other off. His crossbow laid a few metres to the side, but there was no time to dive for it. He waited with his sword drawn outwards, but it circled him, producing one of those razor-sharp swords that looked like murky glass. Hissing in anger, it barged forward.

The two swords clashed and sparks flew. Nute feinted and shot forward, but it was smart. It dove out of range, growling. He swung his sword in from the side only to be blocked. As the two of them fought, Annie’s eyes were brought one hundred paces away. One of those things was trying to creep up behind him. Even if its surprise attack failed, Nute couldn’t take the two of them on at once. She looked back at Nute. The look in his eye told her he’d seen it.

At seventy paces away it worked out that he’d seen it and began shooting forwards. Nute had little time. The other creature was in between him and the crossbow. As it got closer and closer he realised that he had to make a quick decision.

If he’d had the time, he could have finished it off, but there was another less than fifty paces away. He was the best shot in the camp, but getting to the crossbow in time wouldn’t be easy. He looked at Annie and found strength. Wielding his sword behind him, he threw it forwards and ran at the creature, unsheathing his knife.

It had not been expecting this, lifting its sword up for protection. Its sword had less force, so Nute’s crashed into its, smashing into its body and causing it to lose its balance. Before it could recover, Nute came hurtling past while slashing with the knife. Its head popped off and it burst.

Nute, out of the corner of his eye, saw the other monster closing in and he ran. Seeing the polished metal of his crossbow he dove forward and slid along the ground, managing to clasp a hand on it. He came to a crashing halt, aimed for less than half a second at the diving creature and fired. The steel bolt shot right through where a man’s heart would be and whistled out the other side. Before it struck the ground it let out a deafening howl and exploded into darkness.

Nute came to his feet but flinched, clutching his side. The material there was dampening. He must have been injured, she thought, saving me.

She forced herself to stand and stumbled towards him. ‘We have to go!’ he said hurriedly. The two of them started to move away but there were more cries. A small group of the creatures were moving forward, and there was no point in trying to outrun them.

Nute cursed and turned towards her. ‘Run!’ he yelled. Annie shook her head in horror. Nute’s steel gaze held and he turned away from her. ‘Just go’ he whispered. And with that he walked forward. Both he and Annie knew the outcome. He’d be overpowered and then she’d be caught, forced to watch him be slaughtered.

She backed away a few paces then stopped. Nute retrieved his sword and notched another bolt in his crossbow. Bringing it to his shoulder he fired, hitting one of them it the head. Before they were on him he managed to shoot once more, hitting one in the chest. This creature didn’t fall like the other. Nute held his sword in both hands waiting.

Four of them broke off from the group, the others staying back. As they moved closer Nute ran to the right, not allowing them to surround him. Swords clashed as each had a turn at tormenting him. As he crossed swords with one of them he kicked outwards, knocking it into another.

A heavy blow forced his sword to the side, a creature managing to slash his shoulder with its talons. He yelped and swiped his knife forward, removing its fingers.

He was tiring quickly, and every wound he received bled more blood than the next. Annie knew it was moments away. Somehow she knew for sure. Indeed, it did happen.

The monster with the arrow through its chest dove forward but was slashed in its side, tumbling behind him. Nute went to finish it off but the others attacked him all at once. He was forced to turn away. As soon as this happened it leapt up and drove its sword through the lower right of his back.

The rain started falling, slowly at first but then it grew heavier. His eyes widened as he looked down to see the blade sticking through his abdomen. The creature leaned in closely and growled its victory. It held the handle, twisting him around so Annie could watch.

She screamed as it slid the blade out, blood spurting everywhere. He dropped to his knees, a look of shock on his face. He had turned pale in moments, blood leaking from both sides. He clutched at his wound, blood trailing through his fingers.

What tore at Annie’s hear most was when he looked up at her and smiled. ‘Annie’ he managed. ‘I will always love you. Not like a man loves a woman but as a man loves a good friend.’ He coughed. ‘I want you to live!’ he yelled. Then his voice sank to a whisper. ‘Goodbye.’

He kept that warm smile as he fell sideways, blood seeping from his lips. He lay there motionless, his eyes locked on hers.

Annie had never felt so terrible. This was was her best friend, a man she loved and wanted to keep on loving. These things were stealing that, and the anger that burned within her was incredible. Looking up into the rain, she screamed. The scream was so full of passion that it made the creatures take a step back. ‘Die!’ she ordered.

After a moment they hissed back and the one that had skewered Nute stood over him. It flashed a toothy smile at her and raised its sword, ready to swing it down.

Right before it did Annie raised her hands, the rain having washed away all her tears. ‘I said die!’

Something flew right past her shoulder and cut the unexpecting creature in half. It was a sword. As it burst into a million shadows all of their eyes looked towards Annie, but not directly at her. They were staring at something behind her.

The sound of slow footsteps approached, but she kept looking forward. A cloaked figure appeared beside her. She knew it was a man. He was tall and heavy with muscle. Only his mouth could be seen in the shadows of the hood, his features a mystery.

He tilted his head towards her, staring for a while. He pulled off his cloak and flung it around her, covering her nakedness. He pressed a finger to her forehead and the pain disappeared.

She could barely make out his features. His face was a shadow in the disappearing light; his hair was dark, short and stood upwards. He turned away and walked forwards with unsure glances from the creatures. Annie watched in wonder as he walked towards them without fear.

One of them grew excited and swept forward, swinging its blade towards him. The man never faltered in his step. Before the blade reached him its torso went one way and its legs went the other. Annie saw black ichor on the sword at his side and blinked unbelievably. This man was incredible.

She must have blinked because suddenly he stood right in front of them. One swept a talon at his head but he caught it, crushing it in his fist like an insect. Before any could react he’d swung his sword through all of them in a single motion. Triplet burst sent shadows shooting outward.

The five that had stood back hissed their dislike and moved in to surround him. He never gave them that chance. One moment he has there and the next he stood behind one of the unfortunate ones. It twisted around to strike him but before it could his fist burst through its chest.

Letting it drop to the ground, he blurred towards another. This one managed to avoid his first attack but was cut down the middle the second time. Two of them charged at once. He swung his sword so hard that it chopped through both sword and monster.

The only remaining creature ran away. It made the mistake of turning its back. The man tossed the sword forward and the force of it cut a hole the size of a melon in its chest. It screamed as the darkness blasted out in all directions.

When all grew silent the rain seemed louder. It grew heavier, lightning striking nearby. The man ignored it and walked towards Nute. Annie wanted to walk forward, but her legs wouldn’t let her. She just stood there as the man kneeled down beside him and said something. Nute coughed out warm blood and let out a few words.

When the last word left his mouth, Nute’s eyes closed and his head rested on the ground. A smile crept along his lips and his chest stopped moving. He was dead.

Tears welled in her eyes and the man walked towards her. Her best friend was dead and now she was at the mercy of this stranger. He stood before her and offered her his hand, but her eyes closed and she fell forward only to be caught in his arms, crying herself asleep as the rain thundered down around them.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2: Exorcism.

 

Strange dreams clouded her mind as she slept. The vastness that was her dreams offered up images of her lying beside a handsome man, naked. She felt the warm touch of his skin tingle against hers, making her shiver. She dreamt of a pungent food being spoon-fed to her, and her hurts being cured.

The violent shivering in her dreams went away as this image played over and over again in her mind. Suddenly it vanished, replaced by nothing.

The feel of a damp cloth being lifted off her forehead interrupted her slumber. Her head swam as she opened her eyes, seeing a glaring light. She blinked the tiredness out of her eyes, yawning from what felt like a long sleep. With no memory of how she’d gotten where she was, Annie looked around curiously.

Everything came into focus. She appeared to be in a cramped basement of an old house or some kind of underground cellar. The walls were carved from small sandstone blocks, the colour of honey and eggwhites. The floor was fashioned from rough, stone tiles. A small chandelier hung from the uncomfortably low ceiling, full of burning candles, which appeared to be the only light source, apart from a few other candles on the walls. It was very small; perhaps two spans by four, but was pleasantly warm because of a burning fire at the end opposite her.

It was in front of this fire that crouched a tall, hooded man, his visible hair glowing in the shadow of the flames. He seemed to be dipping a cloth in a small trough of water.

Annie instantly recognised his frame, feeling so frightened that she sat right up and pressed her back against the wall, her knees out in front of her. Unfortunately, she hadn’t noticed how much pain she was in. Pain shot to her brain from a million places, bringing tears to her eyes and allowing a muffled gasp to escape.

Instantly the man’s head turned to her. When he saw her he stood, his shoulders hunched because of the low ceiling. He slowly approached her, every muscle tightening as he moved, his dark eyes locked on hers. Annie felt scared, bringing her knees up and holding her arms around them.

He stopped in front of her, her heart racing. As he reached towards her she held her eyes shut, almost squealing. She kept on waiting something to happen, like his strong hands seizing her, but grew puzzled as she felt the familiar warm touch of that wet cloth to the wound on her forehead.

Annie felt the pain subside more, unclasping her arms but leaving her eyes shut as he continued to clean it. she suddenly felt so carefree, her hand reaching up and pressing up against his. She opened her eyes to see him lay the cloth aside. A shiver ran up her spine as he rested his hand on her chest, then her belly and back, looking for injuries and bruised. She found it to be an extremely uncomfortable situation, almost sighing in relief when he stopped.

Her body did feel terrible though, hurting in so many different places. The man said nothing, lowering his hood. Annie gasped and held the blankets up to her chin.

He was incredibly handsome, but the deep scar running down from his lip and the emotionless, cold look he wore made him seem so unwelcoming. His spiked hair was a deep brown, his eyes a dark chocolate and his skin only slightly tanned.

There was unnerving silence, then Annie whispered, ‘Where am I?’

He removed his cloak, putting it aside. ‘About a quarter of a day’s march from where I found you’ he said in a deep voice.

A flash of images crossed her mind, but the shock prevented her from remembering it properly. ‘What happened last night?’ she asked.

The man nearly chuckled at this. ‘You’ve been asleep for near two days. You caught a deep chill from the rain, and I didn’t think you’d even make it to this hut.’

Annie ran her hands over her shoulders, the blanket falling down to reveal her figure. To her shock she was completely naked except some bandages, which covered her nudity as best they could, as well as her wounds. Her eyes widened as the realisation of what this man had done came to surface.

‘You undressed me?’ she asked, not able to look him in the eye. ‘You took off all my clothes.’

‘Yes’ he admitted. ‘And I also slept in bed with you both nights.’

‘Why on earth would you do that!’ she burst out, her temper rising and her face reddening.

The man stared at her blankly and shrugged. ‘There are two good reasons. The first is that there is only one bed, and the second is that you had severe hyperthermia, which would have killed you if I hadn’t used my body warmth to keep you alive.’

They weren’t just dreams then, she thought. This man has seen me naked. She said nothing, lying back down and turning her back to him. She heard him sigh and walk back to the fire, but he left the cloth by her pillow before he did.

She heard the sound of him unsheathing his sword, and then his footsteps travelling upstairs. When he was gone Annie pressed her face into the sheets. Nute. Nute is dead. And I’m stuck here with this dangerous man, and my body’s completely useless.

*****

He returned less than an hour later, his footsteps on the grey stone bringing Annie back to her senses. She rolled over in the warm sheets to see him with some kind of huge wild animal slung over his shoulder. Both of them were sopping wet, the water dripping at his feet. He met her eyes for just a second then slumped the creature on its back, a groan sounding from its maw.

It was then that Annie realised it was still alive, yelping when she recognised what it was. It was a huge desert lion, the mane not yet complete. It was young, but bigger than any she’d ever seen. Its lips peeled back as it breathed to reveal large, sharp pointed teeth.

‘W… What the hell is it doing here?’ she asked. The man unsheathed his knife and stood, looking at her. She cowered deeper. ‘I’m sorry.’

The man gave no indication of being angered, so she pushed the blanket down to her chin. He pointed the knife towards the lion. ‘That thing is our supper, and is that will save your life.’

‘She gagged at the thought of eating lion, but more importantly she felt pity for it. ‘Why is it still alive?’ she whispered, only feeling a little more comfortable talking to him. ‘Isn’t this cruel?’

‘It has to be alive’ he said, peering into her eyes. He pressed the back of his hand to her forehead, grunting. ‘You’re burning up, your wounds are infected and you’re bleeding from somewhere inside.’

‘But I feel fine’ she thought to herself. ‘How do you know this?’

‘Because’, he said, his gaze turning even more serious, ’you told me this yourself.’

Confusion took over. ‘No I didn’t’ she protested. ‘My body feels fine, just a few bumps and bruises.’

‘You told me this’ he insisted. ‘You used a very dangerous link to do so called dead-man’s-reach. In your fevered state you called out for help, just like you did the other night.’

Annie looked hurt for a moment, then pointed a shaky hand towards the lion. ‘And how will eating that thing fix me? Is it magic too?’ she asked sarcastically.

‘There’s no such thing as magic’ he growled, the first sign of emotion he’d allowed to escape yet. Then calmly, ‘And yes we’re going to eat it, but not until later.’

He unsheathed the knife. ‘It has to be alive’ he said. Reaching out he grabbed the blanket and pulled it down to Annie’s waist. She was so overcome by fear and embarrassment that her body froze. Her fear grew as he lifted the knife closer to her bandaged chest.

‘There’s enough blood’ he said. There was indeed fresh blood staining the bandage running down her side. He flipped the blade on its side and ran its flat surface downward, painting it red. Annie tried to say something, but her vocal cords had frozen as well. He did this to the other side and then gently applied her blood to the tip of the blade.

He rubbed two fingers in the blood and pressed them to her forehead, painting two smudged dots. He laid the lion on its back, kneeling down beside it. He waved his hand over its body, its concussed state waring off slightly. It lifted its head and managed a low growl, pawing a huge leg uselessly.

He mumbled a few words to the beast and pressed a hand to its heart. The creature stopped struggling and listened to his words. He lifted the blade to the lion’s mouth, its dry tongue lapping up some of the blood. The man whispered a few more words and its eyes flickered towards Annie, widening.

Resting its head back down, the man ran a hand over its neck. ‘It has to be alive’ he repeated. ‘That is the only way it can save you.’ He pressed the tip of the blade on the lion’s side. Before he pushed it deep he hung his head. ‘A life for a life.’

The blade pierced the lion’s heart, killing it instantly. The blade made not a sound, a thin trickle of blood seeping from the wound. The man ran his fingers through its lifeblood and walked towards Annie.

Without any decency he pulled down her blanket and ran the blood across every bandage, painting them red. Her fear rose again as he ran the blood over the bandages covering her chest, but he gave no notice of her discomfort. She cringed at the warming feeling the blood gave her. When he was finished he smudged it on her forehead with the other blood and stepped back.

A sudden weariness overcame her and she found she couldn’t move. Against her will, her eyes were drawn towards the lion, only there were two. One was the dead husk that the man had killed, but the other was a beautiful, flaming beast that looked luminescent.

It took one, thundering step towards her, then another. Its golden eyes never left hers as it strode right past the man towards her. Annie felt her heart pounding in her chest, sweat rising on her forehead and the paralysis growing stronger. The lion stopped a few steps away and let out a shrilling roar that shook the room. Then it leapt.

Annie wanted to hide under the covers but her arms wouldn’t listen. She tried to close her eyes but they were fixated on the lion’s. It reached out with both paws as it flew through the air and hit the bloody patch on her forehead.

To her surprise its arms went right through. As its head flew at hers it snapped, but it passed through as well, as did the rest. Nothing exited the other side, but when the lion had disappeared she was thrown back. The bloody mark on her forehead glowed and started heating up.

It was then that she realised that the man had been right. She felt the blood pouring out into her insides and the torn muscle and deep internal bruising. The pain was excruciating, but then it worsened as her insides began to burn, like the fire of the lion. She screamed and arched her back, tearing at her bandages and cursing.

Her skin began to glow a faint orange, but then it brightened, enclosing her body. She had no idea how long she screamed; it could have been for minutes, seconds or even hours, when suddenly the burning fury inside her stopped and the glowing stopped. The blood in her body no longer spilt and the most part of the damage was gone. The pain had turned into a dull throbbing in seconds.

She lost all feeling and would have fallen onto the floor if the man hadn’t caught her. He laid her back down into the bed and pulled up the blankets. He ran a hand over her forehead and sat down. As the darkness began to take her he allowed the hint of a smile to cross his face. ‘My name’s Cleef by the way’ he whispered.

Annie dried her lips with her tongue and tried to speak. ‘Annie’ was all she could manage before her mind fell away.

*****

Author's Note

allot of critical feedback would be greatly appreciated