Dark Days

This is the second chapter to the book...

The sound of horses trotting up the road alerted the old man. He looked up to find that a troop of knights were riding up the path, the dust from their horse’s hooves billowing out behind them.  Suddenly he heard a shout and a loud whinny then a soldier shouting some loud curse. The old man walked towards the road slowly, almost cautiously. He could here the voices now and to his horror one of them belonged to his son.
    “I told you to get off the road!” shouted a behemoth of a knight. His son replied in a small voice,” I was trying to,  the horses wouldn’t budge!”
    “No you tried to prevent us to get to your house,” another soldier said. The elderly man stumbled down the slope and halted next to his son.
    “What’s going on here?” he asked in a raspy voice.
    “ This young lad disobeyed a direct order from a Soldier of the Shadow Army,” snarled a knight.
    “I didn’t do it on purpose I was-,” began the boy.
    The knight glared at him at first but, then smiled.
    “Of course you didn’t,” he smiled,” Why don’t lead me to your house?”
    The old man frowned, what were they up to now? His son walked up the road leading the snuffling horses towards his house up on the hill. Both him and his father were dressed in simple farmer’s cloths that had been patched up so many times that you could hardly tell what was the original fabric. The boy looked backward nervously, he was about twelve with golden yellow colored hair that was tucked underneath a simple straw cap. The old man stumbled a bit up, straightened himself then dashed ahead to the house. The knight growled.
    “Hurry up we don’t have all day!” he said brusquely. The boy looked back but he was blinded by the glinting light off the soldier’s brilliantly onyx shined armor.
    “The horses are tired from hauling all this grain,” he said shielding his eyes with a dirt covered hand. They continued to the house when they halted and the old man’s son heaved a grain sack towards the pitiful pile of food. The knights entered the little shack ignoring the sniffing animals and the cramped space.
    “It’s time to take the taxes,” one said to the old man tidying up the little belongings they had. The elderly man glared.
    “Is this what you came here for?” he said in a hoarse voice. The knights ignored him and started searching around the house for payment. They took all the sacks of grain plus the food that the old man had stored for the winter.
    “Wait I need that!” he yelled at them,” I’ll never survive the cold nights!” The soldiers just snorted.
    “Well you don’t have enough to pay taxes,” one said pointing at the pathetic amount of food.
    “It’s all we have!” said the man. The knights smiled evilly.
    “Not all you have,” said on and grabbed the son roughly by the shoulder,” You’re coming with us.”
    “Wait, No!” shouted the man,” Please not my son! He’s everything to me! Please! Take me instead!” He grabbed a knights arm.
    “Get off of me!” shouted the soldier and pushed the old man to the ground. As the man tried to get up another knight kicked the man and drew his sword.
    “If I were you I’d stay down,” he said,” And don’t try to follow us.” The knights exited the house, leaving the elderly man to fend for himself.

The knights threw the scrawny boy into the cart. The boy lay their whimpering softly. Seizing the opportunity one soldier took out a torch, lit it, and threw it on the pile of dry wood piled up on the side of the house. The flammable wood quickly caught and spread up the side of the shack. Hauling rocks and debris in front of the door the knights made sure the old man couldn’t get out. The son started screaming.
    “Father get out of there!” he yelled before a knight covered his mouth with a piece of cloth. The knight kicked him and mounted the horse. Looking around wildly the old man searched for a exit. He saw an open window but he knew if he escaped now and the soldiers saw him then he would surely be killed.

The boy’s brown eyes flashed with fear and he tried to jump out of the cart. A knight struck him on the head with a black mailed fist. The boy cried out in pain.
    “Get back in the cart!” he shouted. The boy struggled to get past the soldier but was knocked unconscious when he was pounded from behind by another knight.
    “Zale!!!” shouted the old man,” What are you doing with my son!?” The knights ignored his pleas and rode off leaving him in the burning hut. Beams fell from the ceiling catching the straw floor on fire. The man struggled to his feet. He moved slowly to the window, the black smoke choking him and making it hard to breath. Dragging himself to the opening he suddenly collapsed in a fit of coughs. His face was blackened and his usually dirty blond hair was filthier then usual. The window was just inches away now, his safe shelter  from this choking smoke unbearably close. He reached up and hauled his body up and out. He rolled onto the ground hacking and wheezing. He lay there for a moment then sat up shakily.
    “Zale…” he breathed,” Why didn’t I fight! I could have taken his place! Or even better save him!” The man laid down. His decision only moments ago would haunt his dreams for a long time. If only he could’ve replayed it over again; may be he could have rescued them both.

    The pain was the first thing Zale noticed when he awoke. His head was throbbing and it was raining hard. Not just drizzly weather; this was a gale force downpour. The only thing between him and the drenching water was the soaked blanket the soldiers had draped over him and his wet clothes.

Author's Note

Please review.

Reviews

[StoryTailor]

AHaha! I know you! Yes, well, I must say that this is much much better then it was before. I know more about what the boy looks like, I know more about the father. Ooh... I love how you've improved, makes me feel good inside. Haha, anyway. I like this piece, can't wait to see where you're going with this. Hmm... I think that's it really.... Ah well, maybe I'll come up with something else later on! I like this piece, good job writing it!

[Hi]

THis is a lot better then your first story because it has a lot more details.