text: Chance c Barrett A Story Of Sword And Shield, Book one. 
   
   
     
   A Story of Sword and shield. 
  Chapter 1: Infiltration. 
  I looked around as I ran weaving through the trees in the forest.  
  “It’s too calm” I thought to myself yet I continued as if a force was pushing me to carry on… 
   Suddenly, a razor sharp arrow flew by my head grazing me…. just enough to leave a small cut on the side of my head.  My heart started to beat faster and faster, I quickly ran behind a small scraggly tree, it was broken down and not the best cover, but it would have to work. 
   “How can I get out of here? Judging by that arrow it does not take them very long to find my position and attack.” I looked around for a moment and noticed that there was a guard not more than a few feet away quietly  I jumped onto a tree branch, grabbing the archer that was posted in it, with only the sound of rustling leaves he was no longer on this earth. I looked around for a second then took the armor and weapon from the body. 
  “Now, I just have to hope this fools them” I thought as I put the armor on, as I saw a few other archers’ approach I stood straight and said.  
   “Um, hello..” i said anxious.  
  Another archer stared at me for a moment. 
   “You do know you were supposed to be at the territory line, right?” the archer answered. 
  “Sorry, I am uh... new.” I said and tried to find an escape route. 
  “Are you okay?” the archer asked. 
  “Yes, fine...” I said as I reached for a case attached to my waist. 
  The archer stared at me “hey, what are you doing?” he asked. 
  “Nothing... except for this”  I said as I quickly drew a dagger and swiftly killed him. 
  I smiled “a job well done” I thought. 
  “Almost dark… I should hurry back...” 
   After about a mile of walking, I arrived at a small half decayed and hastily made shelter in between a few old trees; they were an amazing sight to show how anything through perseverance can withstand almost anything…  
  I walked in and looked around then walked up to a figure wearing a black and red cloak that showed his bright red eyes and nothing more. 
  I smiled “Rex, I see you made it back in one piece as well”  
  Rex lowered the hood part of the cloak and smiled. “Yes, well unlike you I am not near as reckless…”  
  He interrupted what I was about to say “well at least, I am smart about it when I am” 
   I smiled “well I should go, it is getting late and I have not rested in days…”  
  Rex smiled also and said “alright my son, rest up... for tomorrow is going to be important…” 
  “I know, we will infiltrate them... by becoming them...” I said as I walked away, toward a small cot-like bed on the far side of the shelter. 
  I laid down, I was tired... but the adrenaline from the fight a moment ago was still surging through my veins, and it demanded I not sleep, but I fought the urge and closed my eyes… slowly drifting into sleep. 
  The next morning I awoke and stood quickly to attention, was there anyone else here? Did something happen while I was asleep? I looked around to check, then removed bandages that were around my right eye and examined the room further, as my right eye glowed a dull red… then I quickly put the bandages back on, hoping I did not let it see for too long…  
  It seemed as if nothing was wrong at the moment, so I took a deep breath and left the shelter. 
  The sunlight was bright, and blinded my good eye momentarily… luckily the other one was wrapped in its bandages. 
  I walked down a short path that went toward a temple in distance, ah the famous golden wolf temple, known for, greed, order, and horrible leadership…”I just hope this plan works, the faster I get out of there the better…” I thought to myself as I approached the entrance to the huge temple. 
  An entrance guard looked at me through what seemed to be about 100 lbs of armor, yet without a closed helmet, odd that they would wear that much armor and not protect the head well…  
  The guards word snapped me back into reality “hey you! I need identification!” 
  “I don’t have any, I just wish to enlist…” I replied. 
  The guard laughed “YOU are going to enlist for the great golden wolf army? What makes you think that you have the skills necessary for such a position?”  
  “given the soldiers I’ve seen of yours walking here, it does not seem that it is that hard to get a position here, furthermore I killed all of the guard I passed, I took each of their medals they were carrying for proof” I replied. 
  The guard looked at me “well where are they then?” as if he did not believe that I could even kill one much less ten or more soldiers. 
  I reached into a pocket in my cloak and pulled out the medals, and sure enough each of them had golden wolf insignias and names. “Right here.” I said as I showed the guard the medals. 
  The guard looked at me, surprised. “Well that was just luck…but very well...proceed, and if you wish to enlist, talk to general grey”  
  “Yes…. Sir” I said, adding the sir with a condescending tone. 
  I walked inside the temple, it was much larger on the inside than I thought, it had a gold plating covering the walls, and the ceiling went up about 40 feet.  with all the soldiers talking, playing instruments, cheering, laughing, and even some of them were dancing, it reminded me of a circus or maybe a carnival…I shook myself from the distraction I was in and continued to walk down the halls of the temple until reaching what I figured was the barracks, and so I walked inside… there were sets of armor hanging from the wall and weapons leaned by them, there were what seemed to be beds against the walls. i  asked if anyone had seen this “general grey” sure enough one of the soldiers said that he was in the main hall with a group of other soldiers, so I made the long walk back through the halls and finally reached the main one, and then I wondered… how would I find someone in a crowd of over 300?. Well I looked and looked for about an hour or so and finally was about to give up when a tall soldier, bearing the golden wolf general insignias and armor stood up and walked away from a table, I quickly walked up to him and said “are you general grey?”  
  The tall soldier looked at me and said “yes, I am general grey, what do you need?” 
  “I would like to enlist in your army, and the guards told me to find you.” I said. 
  “Well I could sign you up... and I am assuming they gave you a test?” the general said. 
  “Yes... of sorts sir…” I replied. 
  “I see... well how did you pass?” The general questioned. 
  I took out the medals I had just shown the guards and handed them to the general. 
  He stared at them for a moment and then said “I will go enlist you now…” 
  I nodded and walked away, wondering if I had maybe done something that will come back in the future… but I shrugged the feeling off and explored the halls of the temple, after a few hours of walking, I grew tired, and fell asleep in a long hallway in the south end of the temple. 
  “Hey you wake up.” An unknown voice said to me. 
  I blinked a few times and stood up. “Who are you?...” I asked. 
  “Who am I? I should be asking who are YOU, you don’t have any armor, any insignia of any kind...” a female soldier replied. 
  “that is because I just enlisted… and my name is—“ I paused for a moment, I have been given so many names by the different groups I had been with that I did not know what to call myself any more… I decided I would just use the first one I was given… “My name is Blade…” I said. 
  “Blade, huh? my name is Sophia, but here they call me shining star.”  The female soldier smiled. “Nice to meet you”. 
  “The same to you, star… well I should probably get moving, I do not want to be late for any assignments they may give me” I said as I walked away 
  “Good luck!” The one I now knew as “star” said. 
  Chapter 2: Rituals. 
  “Today is when you truly become one of us” a soldier said holding a small knife. 
  “And how is that?” I asked. 
  “We put our insignia on you of course” the soldier replied, bringing the knife to my arm. 
  I stared at the blade, it looked slightly dull, it had been used many times lately… 
  The soldier slowly started to cut into my arm, carving a strange insignia into it; I winced as I held back the pain. 
  The soldier stopped and pulled the blade away from my arm, the wound bleeding “that scar will represent the sacrifices you will have to make being one of us” he said. 
  I quietly stood up and walked away holding the wound. 
  I arrived in the main hall a few moments later. 
  A tall slender male warrior walked into the middle of the main hall. “Attention everyone, today is an important day… today we honor the spirits, with blood.” 
  The warriors in the hall cheered as I stood in the back of the crowd, wondering what this could mean. 
  I walked down the corridor and had the insane notion that I was in danger somehow, but I quickly shrugged it off as I arrived at the front entrance the guards gave me a stare “You again? I guess you have permission to leave then, is that true?” the guard asked. 
  “Yes, permission of general grey, I am to get my first assignment after I gather some things from the secondary temple outpost in the tall trees area.” I replied. 
  “Very well, on your way then” the guard said, nudging me out the entrance with a long silver staff with a gold plated blade on the end of it. 
  I walked for what seemed like a day, but in reality was only a mere hour when I saw the outpost. 
   “There it is” I said to myself, walking up to it 
  “Hello, may I see identification?” a soldier at the front of the outpost said.  
  I showed the insignia on my arm, it had finally stopped bleeding and had now made a scab on my arm. 
  “I see you are new?” the soldier asked. 
  I nodded at him “yes, I just enlisted…” I replied. 
  “Well then, you must be here to gather some materials here?” the soldier asked. 
  “Yes, general grey sent me here.” I replied. 
  “Go inside and look for a small door on the left, what you are looking for is in there.” The soldier said, knowing exactly what the general had sent me for. 
  I walked into the outpost and to the very door the soldier has spoken of, as I opened it, I swore I could hear a voice telling me that I should not be here… that I should not have opened this door… 
  I spotted a large crate “I guess these are the materials I was sent here for” I said to myself lifting the heavy crate. 
  I walked out of the outpost and back toward the main temple; it would take me almost twice as long carrying...whatever this was…. 
  I suddenly dropped the crate, my heart started to beat faster again, my vision was blurred, and my head felt as if it had been hit by a ten ton bolder. 
  “What’s happening?!” I said as the pains got worse, and my heart beat even faster, and my vision got dark. 
  A human-like shadow appeared in front of me, with a slightly worried look. 
  “Hello…brother” the shadow said, in a slightly distorted voice. 
  “Draco…is this your doing?” I asked. 
  “No, i want to help you, but first you have to LET me help you” the shadow replied. 
  “But…who is doing this then?... if it is not you…”  I trailed off. 
  “That is not important right now... you just have to remember…five-hundred and eighty-nine…” the shadow said. 
  “But…” I trailed off, the pain still coursing through me. 
  “Just…remember…. And also… it is the leader of those who are opposites of the ones you now are a part of… who carry the answers to your pain, to your past, and even your future” the shadow said, slowly fading into nothing. 
  I stood up... the pain now gone... but I could not see….I could hear faint static in the distance. 
  I wondered if I should investigate the sound further or not…. 
  I walked toward the sound, as it grew louder I could feel the pain building up again… someone... or something... did not want me to follow  this sound, but I continued none the less. 
  I thought I had reached the source of the sound when all of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck, I tried to feel my neck to see what was wrong but instead I fell over onto the ground and passed out. 
  I awoke and looked around “what happened?” “Where am I?” “Am I alive?” I asked myself. 
  I tried to get to my feet, but found I had no strength left to move, it was as if I was held to the ground by a two ton weight. 
  “Do not waste your strength” a strange voice said to me. 
  “Who are you? Where am i? What happened?” I asked. 
  “All in due time.” The voice replied.  
  “I don’t have time for this!” I said, and forced myself to stand. 
  “Now, do not get ahead of yourself” the voice said, sending what seemed like lightning strikes of darkness toward me. 
  I did a quick duck roll to the side and threw a dagger at the stranger, aiming for his neck. 
  “You will not win that easily……for you cannot kill what is already dead” the stranger said, fading. 
  “I want answers!” I exclaimed, trying to grab the stranger but it was too late, he was gone. 
  “Well it seems I will be finding my own answers at the moment…” I thought to myself. 
  It was strange, one moment I could not see and I was hearing things, the next I am on the ground with barely any strength left listening to some stranger. 
  But there was no time to worry about such things now I thought as I walked slowly toward a sparkling blue lake in the distance. 
  It was then I saw the crate again, the same one I had picked up and quickly dropped on my mission.  
  “I should get it, no since in leaving it here…” I said as I walked toward it. 
  It was then I saw another human-like shadow appear in front of me, this one was far from friendly I noticed. 
  “Do not touch that crate or it will be your last move” the shadow said, in sophisticated yet aggressive voice. 
  “I am on a mission from the general…” I said, hoping that maybe the strange shadow would at least know who I was sent by. 
  The shadow laughed “so I see, well go and get it then.” As it disappeared slowly I began to walk closer to the crate. 
  Suddenly there came a scream in the distance and my head began to ache…I closed my eyes… and when I opened them I had a feeling a déjà vu…  
  I looked at a letter I was now holding in my hand “Mercenary, you have been chosen for contract #581, kill the rebel named “Draco” and take any of the other high ranking rebels out, good luck and spirits be with you – The Golden wolf temple” the year on the letter said “January 9th, 1470” …but that could not be true… that was all in the past.. But then... I saw myself walking past what was the battle of the rose petals… which actually had nothing to do with roses and was mostly painted the color of a red rose petal…but...that was the only similarity I could tell….  
  I followed my former self to the rebellions castle in the far corners of the forest; I knew what would happen…..it made me have an extreme since of dread. 
  Later, the former version of myself arrived inside the castle and I followed...nothing but a ghost of my future self. 
  “Draco, brother! How are you?” my former self said, in a fake happy tone. 
  “It has been too long! Where have you been?” Draco said. 
  “I have been here and there...business as usual” my past self replied, slowly reaching for a dagger. 
  “let me get us a drink, shall i?” Draco said, turning around. 
  My former self quickly drew the blade and stabbed it into the back of my brother, quickly pulling it out, sheathing it and walking away as if nothing happened. 
  Draco collapsed on the floor as guards rushed to help him, but it was too late. 
  My former self casually made way out of the entrance, holding a small medal that Draco was wearing moments ago “…too easy…” my former self said, walking to a strange figure. 
  “I assume you got the job done?” the figure asked. 
  “It was no problem; I was in and out in less than five minutes.” My former self said. 
  “Good, now take this and leave, we do not want them to be suspicious of your being here.” The figure handed my past self a small pouch and quickly walked away. 
  My past self soon followed in turn, but left in an opposite direction. 
  I closed my eyes for a moment, and then opened them to find what seemed to be home… 
  I looked around the room, “father?” I said whilst walking slowly toward the exit. 
  There came no response. 
   I slowly opened the door; it made a creek as it opened “it did not do that before….” I said to myself, walking outside. 
  It was then I saw that crate again… 
  I walked to it slowly, as I got only a few feet away, I saw a strange pool of blood surrounding it. “What in the…” i looked up only to see that the crate was gone. 
  Surprised, I jumped back, looking around. “What just happened??” I thought. 
  I closed my eyes again “Please all mighty spirits... I want to go home….” I said softly, holding a necklace that was in the shape of a cross. 
  There came no reply, no light, in fact... at that moment, was when it became dark again, I longed for the light, but I knew I would  get none… 
  Then, as If out of my own self, the darkness in the air started to take form around me, I could not see, could not hear, my breathing started to slow, I felt as if I was dying slowly… but felt no pain… 
  I opened my eyes; daring to look at what was making me a captive, but… there was nothing… my senses were back. “What just happened….” I said, looking around, hoping for answers. 
  But there was no time, for as soon as I thought I saw someone in the corner of my vision, my vision went dark again, and when I got it back… I was not in the forest any more…not in the temple… the shelter... the castle... or anywhere I knew of, it was some kind of village from what I saw at first… I would have to examine further to be sure… 
  Chapter 3:  Promises broken… 
  Date: March 21st, 1470. 
  “Promise no matter what, we will always look after each other…”  I heard Draco’s voice in my head… it was when we were but children… promises meant nothing then….right?   
  “I promise, no matter what, I will always help” I remembered saying… 
  I shook my head to snap out of the memory. “It was just a childhood promise, they never last….” I said to myself trying to reassure that what I did was strictly business and nothing more. 
  Then I walked further into the strange village, fog filled the air making it near impossible to see, but I kept walking 
  Moments later I saw a strange figure in the distance “hey! Can you help me I got lost in this strange place an---“the figure was gone… 
  I looked around “but just a second ago…” I thought. 
  I walked to where the figure was but moments ago, looking around for some sort of sign. 
  I struggled to even see a foot in front of me because of the thick fog. 
  “…maybe it was just my imagination… the fog is getting to me…” I thought, as I started to walk down a path in the village, which was slowly starting to look more and more deserted as I progressed… 
  I stopped as I heard the words in my head again. “Promise…” I heard my brother’s voice, this time in a much sadder sounding tone. 
  I looked up at the sky angrily “that promise meant nothing! I killed you because it was on the contract... not because I hated you…but because of my own greed, is that you what you want me to say?!” I said. 
  Then as I continued to stare at the sky, it did something I was never expecting, it started to rain blood. 
  I quickly looked down as to not get the blood in my eyes “what’s happening?” I asked myself, wondering if it was what I said that caused this. 
  But it was then I saw the figure again “you! Stop! Do you know what’s going on?!” I asked, running to the figure. 
  But as soon as I almost reached the figure… there was no trace. 
  I looked at where the figure had once stood, there was some kind of strange note, and I picked it up and looked at it. 
  The text was in some strange ancient language… even with all my years of training on these types of things I could not read it. 
  Suddenly the note burned in my hands, after staring at where it used to be for a while I walked down the street, arriving at an old church. 
  “There might be someone in here to tell me how to get out of this place” I said quietly as I walked inside, the church bells rang loudly as I did… 
  The figure was there again, sitting in one of the pews turned around and looking at me, as if knowing I would be there. 
  I walked to the pew and sat down next to the figure, “You again….why do you keep running every time I try to ask you something?”  I asked. 
  The figure spoke in a soft, almost hypnotic voice. “I…I did not want you to hurt me, like you did him…” the figure said, slightly scared by my presence. 
  “Why would I hurt you? who is ‘him’?” I asked. 
  “You kill others for money…” the figure said, with a hint of anger. 
  “I kill for the money because I need it… I have no other way to earn it……how did you know anyway?” I said. 
  The figure stayed silent for a moment then said “…what is your name…?”  
  “My name?” I asked, slightly confused by the question. 
  “Yes, your name…I thought maybe if I knew your name we could know each other as more than strangers…” the figure said blue eyes shining. 
  “Well if you must know, my name is blade…”  
  “You never answered me, who was ‘him’?” I said, with curiosity in my voice. 
  “…your own brother…I saw you…” the stranger said, and then ran off. 
  “Wait!” I said, but it was too late… 
  I sighed and looked at where the stranger was sitting; there was a piece of paper left there. 
  I picked it up and looked at it; it was some sort of map…maybe it could help me get out of this place. 
  As I walked out of the church, holding the map in my hands, I stared at it and then out into the town, I saw that the map had some kind of directions to get out. 
  I followed the path outlined on the map and soon arrived back into the forest.  “Finally” I thought as I walked further into the trees. 
  Then as I looked around I saw that my vision seemed to turn into static, it was strange…almost like a dream… 
  None the less I carried on, soon reaching a strange building, silhouetted in the darkness. 
  This is where the map led me, or at least, so it seemed. 
  I walked inside and felt a strange sense of dread…this place felt even more eerie than the town did. 
  “Hello?”  I said as I walked further into this mysterious place. 
  “Someone new has arrived, how wonderful” a strange voice said, laughing. 
  “That voice… it’s you!” I remembered the figure that I had tried to get answers from a while ago. 
  “Ah so you remember me” the voice said as I heard footsteps come toward me. 
  “My ‘assistants’ will escort you.” The voice said, the footsteps now becoming three strangers in front and to the left and right of me. 
  I stood silent for a moment and stared at the strangers. 
  They then said something to me, which I could not hear; quickly I fell into some sort of trance. 
  All I could do was listen to their directions “follow this path, move here, twenty paces to the right” it was as if I was a pawn in some sort of chess board… 
  When I finally arrived at the place the strangers saw fit, they said more words and I broke out of the trance. 
  “What….where?” was all I could manage to say. 
  I saw a strange person walk toward me, shrouded in darkness. 
  “We finally meet, face to face.” The person said. 
  “So it seems…” I said. 
  “Let me start by introducing myself, my name is Darkflame, and yours?” 
  “…my name is Blade…” I said quietly. 
  “Well now that the formalities are out of the way, let us get to business; I wanted to ask you to join our cause, the New order.” 
  “New order?...” I said questioningly. 
  “Yes, we will be the new government of all the clans, the rebels, the Golden-wolves, even the demons of the depths” Darkflame said. 
  “I see…well why would I join your cause?” I asked. 
  “Imagine a checkmate in chess, which side would you rather be on, the rook who outwits the king, or the foolish king who dies because he had not listened to his pawns?” Darkflame asked. 
  “Well if you mention it that way…it would be the most logical option to be on the winning side…” I said. 
  “Good, now think of this, we are going to take over ALL of the government on this land, so would you rather be in one of the ones under our control, or our side, the ones who are IN control?” Darkflame asked. 
  “Yours…” I said, realizing what I would now have to do. 
  “So does that mean I can count on your support?” Was Darkflames last question. 
  “Yes…I will do all that is needed of me and help in any way I can…sir.” I said. 
  “Great! now let us begin by giving you your first assignment.” Darkflame said, putting a letter in my hand. 
  I did not look at the letter yet; instead I smiled and said “I will do my best sir!” then finished with a quick salute before making my departure. 
  As I walked into the main room of the building, where there was just enough light to read by, I took out the letter and opened it. 
  The letter said as follows, “Dear assignee - This mission requires your upmost stealth and cunning, for what I need you to do must NOT be found out by ANYONE, now onto the mission. I need you to find intelligence on the clans, tribes, and settlers of this land, find samples of their culture, government structure etc. then once you do this, the last part of your assignment is to find a low ranking member from each group and capture him or her and bring them back to the new order headquarters, they must be low rank so that their absence is not noticed. Once you do all these things your assignment is complete. – Best of luck, Shining star.” 
  I closed the letter, “shining star? But that was one of the golden wolf soldiers… does this mean there are traitors at the temple?” I thought to myself. 
  As I looked at the envelope of the letter I thought about the temple, then I remembered my mission was still not over, the New Order did not know it, but they had a double agent on their hands. 
  I walked to the temple, in front of the entrance was the crate I had been supposed to do deliver to the general…I walked to it and tried to pick it up “well, it’s still heavy, that’s for sure” I said to myself as I struggled to lift the crate, I managed to and walked slowly inside the temple. 
  Something did not feel right…it was quiet “What happened to all the sounds and all the people…” I walked past the main room and into the hall ways, I walked to where General Grey was supposed to be, but he was no-where to be seen.  “General, I have the materials you request---“I was interrupted by a painful ringing in my ears, it was almost too strong to bear.  “W-What is g-going on?!..” I said in pain. 
  “Why did you?...for money?...power?...” a familiar voice said. 
  “…Both…” I admitted regret and guilt filled my voice…and soon my whole mind. 
  I felt tears building up in my eyes “I am sorry…I thought it was just another contract…” I said the sadness in my voice showing. 
  “Your greed has already cost many innocent lives, there is no turning back” said the voice. 
  “I will! There has to be a way!” I exclaimed. 
  “Then find the way…” came the now almost emotionless reply. 
  “I will…at any cost…” I said softly 
  The ringing stopped, as I got back onto my feet I felt that something changed in my mind…even if only by a small amount. 
  I looked at the crate and decided the general would know that i brought it here, then quickly walked out of the temple “Well so much for examining anyone from the temple, there is no one to examine…” I said as I went out the entrance and toward the next group I could think of, the rebellion. 
  Chapter 4: The Shadows tale begins. 
  Date: January 1st 1471. 
  It had been 365 passes of the sun or in ‘normal’ terms, one year, since the new recruit was sent on his mission, Darkflame knew that he would not be back any time soon, so he decided he would have a talk with his second in command to discuss this issue. 
  “Star” Darkflame said an emotionless look in his eyes.  “Can I have a word with you?” 
  Star nodded. “Yes sir,” then walked over to him, “What do you need of me?” 
  “I need some information.” Darkflame said, “On our recruit, you met him, so I thought you might have some details.” He continued. 
  “Right…well I could not gather much information, but judging on his psychology that I examined, he seems to be haunted by some memory, some detail of the past, if we can figure it out, he will be helpless to refuse our cause.” Star said.  She knew this info because, as a child she was gifted with or as most say “cursed” with a rare ability to read peoples psychology by their words, actions, and body language. It was quite a talent, gained by blood, tears, and horrible, horrible memories, Darkflame did not care, in fact he took advantage of it. 
  Darkflame decided he would find out what this was, so he left for the temple. 
  Later he arrived, walking inside he found that the temple was… empty… odd, because usually there were many of those arrogant want-to-be soldiers around that usually checked him for clearance. 
  As the minutes went on, there were no signs of life, not even signs of death, it was all too odd, especially considering it was not his doing, but he did not have time to think about such trivial things, the point was that his informant was not here, and so he had wasted his time and would have to find out this secret on his own, he walked back to his “home” or what he called home any way. 
  Later that day he had heard reports of the nearby town, people have been disappearing there for a few weeks now, he wondered what, or who, this could be caused by, so he decided he would have a look himself, along with his second in command of course. 
  They managed to make it to the town within a matter of hours, the fog was thick in the air, mortals would find it extremely hard to see if not impossible in this, but he found it as not much of a challenge for his eyes, he walked into a small broken down church in the middle of the town. 
  “Hmph, pathetic mortal building of worship, it sickens me so.” Darkflame said, scoffing at the crosses strewn across the walls and ceiling in various paintings, stained glass and such. 
  “It looks nice, for a place of the false one anyway.” Star said, looking at some of the windows. 
  “We have no time for sight-seeing we have to find out what is going on here, and why.” Darkflame replied. 
  Chapter 5: Follow the light…	 
  Date: January 2nd 1471. 
  Do not ask me how I managed to evade capture for a whole year, in-fact evading all sources of life, I had a moment of pride at my accomplishment, but that was cut short by the wave sorrow of remembering why it was that I was hiding. I stood up slowly to face the day, i was exhausted, that must have been why I fell asleep in the middle of a small clearing, which was not really the safest place to be, especially with soldiers after you like you were some kind of convict. Who was I kidding, I am a convict, it was worthless to deny it, I knew it and so did everyone else.  
  Deciding that it was best to start moving instead of standing here I started running, I thought of the past year and remembered that strange town I arrived in  before, it was deserted last time I saw it, so does that mean it would be the perfect hide-out? I would have to find that out on my own. 
  It took almost a whole day to get out of the depths of the forest, I arrived  at that strange town, I read a half decayed wooden sign that stood by one of the old buildings, it said “Daracia, town boundary” I thought about the name of the town for a moment, then I remembered, I had heard the name before in one of the books in the temple library, Daracia, it meant dark, fitting name for such an abandoned place I thought, deciding not to dwell on it much longer, I walked into the town. 
  When I arrived I heard talking coming from the church building, “I remember that building…” I thought to myself as I walked closer. The voices, both sound strangely familiar, I had to see who It was, but what if they were not on my side, like most everyone now, they would kill me, or take me prisoner, but I had to take the chance so I walked into the doors, quietly and without much of a sound. 
  I decided not to get involved, considering it was two against one, and listened to them for a while, they spoke about a plan to find what was causing disappearances, I decided it would not be wise to go in yet, so I decided to look around the town to see if there were any more places I could find to use as a new base-of-operations. 
  After looking for what seemed like an eternity, I found a small slightly broken house at the end of a long stretch of road in the west end of the town, it seemed fairly safe, and surely no one would look this far out or guess that anyone would be here, so I walked inside and put what little possessions I had on a table in the main room. 
  After my rest, I decided to go explore the town some more, so I put on all my equipment and ventured into the town once more, once outside I noticed that the fog was thicker than before, making it even harder to see, this fact frustrated me, but I hoped that I would still be able to venture, maybe this new thicker fog would even act as a camouflage of sorts. 
  As I was traveling through the town I remembered a piece of a quote I once read “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” although, I wished I could remember the rest. Was the sun out I wondered, it was impossible to tell in this place of constant fog, then, suddenly cutting through my thoughts came scream. They were not far from my current position, so I decided that I would see what was happening. When I arrived, there was a fog-covered person lying on the ground, blood gathering around the body, but still alive, it was then I noticed who it was. 
  “Father?!” I said, shocked. “How did you…?”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
  He struggled, and then managed to get to his feet; I could now see the wound, deep, near the heart too. “I was looking for you, the rebels caught on to you; they have been after you….” He struggled to keep his balance now, I never saw him injured like this before. 
  “That is not important, what is important is that you get out of here alive father…” I said, wishing I had medical supplies with me. 
  He shook his head “you needed to know… beware of Darkflame… he will be the death of us all” he said, he now seemed… tired, as if he needed to sleep, right that instant, which sadly, is what he did.  
  I stood staring at the now dead body, did this just happen? I thought to myself. Yes. Yes it did, and I was responsible, indirectly yes but responsible. 
  I found that one of the abandoned residences in town had a small patch of earth, I gave him a quick burial, sad my good-byes, then promptly left, not wanting anyone to see the place which he had been buried. 
  I now drew my sword, I kept it held almost to my side, but kept it out, I may have even WANTED to have to kill, to have blood on my blade, to have revenge, even though it was not them who killed my father, I knew that, but I thought that blood, any blood, would help. 
  I eventually found the church again, this time I looked inside, and no-one was inside, so I left, and then started down the long path-ways, again. 
  Then, out of what seemed to be thin-air I saw the sign that showed entrance to the town that meant I was out! The fog could no longer cause horrible thoughts in the back of my mind, and the fear of ambush, now it was the forest again, oh how I missed it. 
  The first thing I noticed is that it was light outside, the first time in what felt like weeks I saw light! I rejoiced, and then remembered the town, and what was left in it… my smile faded, and turned into sadness. After wandering around the forest I found a strange soldier patrolling a small village house, he wore no insignia that I could tell, but I had to take the risk, I had to know, it could mean anything. 
  I walked to the soldier, making sure the newly carved scar in my arm was visible “hello sir, I could not help but notice you have no insignia, and so I was wondering who is it you work for?” as soon as I finished my sentence he quickly drew a sword and slashed at me, managing to leave a gash in my light armor I still wore, I grabbed his arm and the elbow and hit it into a nearby tree, breaking the arm at the elbow, he quickly dropped his blade. “Who are you and who do you work for?!” I demanded, my voice had an edge of insanity to it. 
  “I am of the order, the order!” he said desperately trying to control the pain of the fractured bone. “The order?” I repeated, and then remembered the name and my eyes widened. “You work for Sir Darkflame as well?” I questioned. The soldier took a long breath then finally said “yes…” I stared at him for a moment, my regret though was not much, and all I knew was that he was definitely no longer a threat that was all that matters.  “I apologize, I must be on my way though, I will apply some medical help but then you must tell me the direction of the nearest Golden wolf outpost.”  The soldier nodded at this. 
  I did what I agreed to and managed to make a cast out of what little medical supplies I was keeping with me, gave him some pain-killing herbs and then as soon as he told me where the outpost was, I left. When I arrived I could tell already that this was a place of the Golden Wolves because of the loudness of it all, I never understood why they thought they had to be heard throughout the land, but I figured they had some overly pretentious reason for it. As I entered the outpost, I nodded at the guards I said a few quick words to them in the Golden Wolf temples native Latin tongue, then proceeded into the strange festival-like outpost, I walked up to a tall black haired soldier, his armor seemed light in my perspective, but from his appearance he did not need much of it, as he was covered mostly in muscles already. He stared at me as If he was trying to see how much time I was worth, and then sighed momentarily. “Who are you and what do you want?” he asked, meaning only business. 
  I stared at the tough soldier slightly impressed then said “I am Lamina Night, of the northern outpost.” I then showed my insignia. “I am here to request some information… how far am I exactly from the northern outpost?”  He seemed amused by the question and stifled a laugh “i have never heard of you before ‘la-mina’” he said, spacing my name to make it sound more feminine I supposed. “But as for your question, you are in the far west outpost, on the border of the territory! You are ages away from the northern outpost.”  I stared, shocked. “The western outpost? Are you sure?” I was hoping in the back of my mind he would correct himself and say “no you are very close to home do not worry” but instead he said “I am sure of it, I have lived here many years, but why would you want to go back? There are not near as many problems here as in the north, even the tribe here is peaceful for the most-part, in-fact most of the tribe members are here tonight!” he gestured to a strange, painted marking covered woman in the far edge of the outpost, waving some sort of staff around as if warding off spirits. “that is Christina, but few know that and simply go by the tribes name for her ‘silver’ she is the tribes leader and shaman,“  I nodded “well, I do need some rest, Is it alright if I stayed here the night, to catch my sleep?”  The soldier nodded “everyone is welcome here, even non-warrior material such as yourself” he grinned and playfully patted me on the head, as you would a little kid.  I began to interrupt, but I figured it was just playful fun and decided it was best to get some sleep, first I should talk to the tribe leader, maybe I could figure out a way to bring the spirits of my brother and father back, there has to be a way. 
  I walked up to the tribe leader “silver” and tried to make my presence as casual as possible “salve, ‘silver’?” I added the name as a question so that we would at least have a few words together. The leader took a moment to respond, carefully choosing the next words in the conversation I guessed. “it is me, silver, leader and shaman of the western tribe, what do you wish of me, sir—what was your name? I feel as if I know you from somewhere…” silver asked, dark ash colored eyes staring at me suspiciously as if I was a criminal of some sort -- which was an understatement – “I forgot to introduce my-self, excuse me. My name is Lamina Night of the northern outpost; I was going to ask some information of you.” I said, trying to add the information part as if it was no detail.  “Well—Lamina, what information would that be? I do not offer much information, as you can tell I am not one of the events here, that information would best be left with Sky, one of my close friends, he knows more about those things than I” silver said, as if my question was hopefully answered by that. “Well, no, I do not wish tales of the land at the moment, I wish to know about something you may be able to help me with, raising the dead?” I said, staring intently at silver, hoping that I would not get called insane by merely mentioning that. 
  “I am sorry, but that is a task not of my range, you could ask Darkflame of the south, he would know surely!” silver said, surprisingly eagerly. “I—I know Darkflame, in-fact… between us, I work for him, in part any-way. But if he knows I shall ask, thank you for your time Madame, I may ask of your assistance later if the time comes, but until then, au revoir.” I gave a short nod then walked toward one of the small living quarter areas, which to be honest were no more than two or so tents bound together with bedding made of various leaves in the tent areas. But, it was better than the unprotected emptiness of the town that I had grown almost accustomed to, so I lay down, wondering if I could ever make this all right again, then I fell asleep. 
  Chapter 6: The nightmare… ends? 
  Date: 
  I awoke suddenly, and then gasped checking myself for wounds, nothing. “just a nightmare” I told myself as I stood, but it was then I noticed, I was no longer in the living area, I was in the temple again, my arm suddenly stabbed me with pain, I looked at it and it was freshly cut, what was going on here?  
  Everything seemed normal, exactly as it was before all of this, but how was that possible? Slowly I looked around, hoping my surroundings would give me a clue, but it did not, yet I saw dozens of people walking around me. How could this all be? They were dead, missing, gone. I walked to the nearest guard and asked “where am i?” the guard smiled at the comment as if it were a joke “drank a little too much did you now? You are in the northern outpost of the Golden Wolves of course!” I stared, wide-eyed “the northern outpost… are you sure?” I asked, shocked. “As sure as the sun is bright.” He said, and then turned to continue his duties. “Thank you sir…” I said quietly as I left. So all of that was a dream? But it felt so real…  It was then the soldier who had given me my insignia had approached me “Hello there new guy, I was trying to find you, I hope you are okay, that blade I used seemed to have some poison on it from our last battle, and when I noticed it was too late and I got worried, it causes lots of problems you know? Well at least you are okay, I think, how are you doing?” he said quickly.  “I—I am fine” I said, slowly shaking my head in disbelief. 
  “Well that’s good to hear, anyway I have to be back to my duties, why not admire the sun light outside for a moment or two, to catch your breath?” he said.  At this I nodded eagerly and went outside of the temple. It was warm, the sun was shining and not a cloud hung in the sky, even the wind was but a slight breeze in my hair, I rejoiced in this and took in a deep breath, letting it out only when I could hold it no-longer, it is all going to be okay! I thought to myself, striding happily back inside, “hello, hello everyone! I am back at last! And you are all safe!”  I exclaimed into the main corridor of the temple, I got a few strange looks but other than that was paid no more attention to than normal, “they just need time to remember, that’s all” I said to myself. 
  It was odd though, because even though it had passed many more moments than it took for the sun to lower, it remained in the exact place it was before, though maybe it was just my imagination playing tricks on me again, so I ignored that too as I went outside, readying for my patrol. Later that ‘day’ while on patrol I heard a familiar voice, I turned the corner of the path to meet from where the voice came and with a shock, saw that it was my own voice, and the person I was facing was me the day all of the strange things started! The second me looked at me in shock and confusion, we both approached each other, slowly as to ready our weapons. We stared wordlessly for a moment then both drew our swords almost yelling “who are you?!” to which we both responded “I am Lamina Night!” we sliced out swords toward each other, yet since we were the same all our moves were blocked perfectly by the others. Once we gave up with what was obviously worthless we began asking questions, of which were “where did you come from?” “How did this happen?” “Are we dreaming?” none of which got a proper response, but at least it kept our weapons down.  
  Hours passed, I had decided to leave this “other self” be, now my question was what was going on and how can I solve it, so I went to the only place I could think of to seek answers, Darkflame himself. Once I arrived at the New Order outpost I found no one there, odd but it did not deter me so I decided that maybe since it from what I could tell the time was that of before I joined the Order  that I would have to wait until my other self went to the New Order and that was when I would get my answers, so I waited, and waited, then after what seemed like an eternity my other self left to join the order, so I followed and once he arrived in the New Order headquarters I confronted Darkflame “What is happening here?! Why are there two of me?! Why does nothing change, not even the sky?!” I demanded. “The answers to all of your questions are simple, this is just a delusion, you are not actually back where you started, you just want to be” he said matter-of-factly. I refused this and told him that there was no way that this was a delusion, it was too real. Then he in what seemed like slow-motion took out a dagger and stabbed me through the heart, I felt no pain though, and closed my eyes. 
  Chapter 7: The first sacrifice. 
  Date: January 31st 1471 
  I cannot say I was disappointed when I woke up, rather I was grateful that I was not dead, that I was not trapped in a world where the sun never set, but I was shocked slightly when I noticed that only moments had passed since I went to sleep and when I woke up, but I decided that I did not want to sleep anymore and just wanted to shake off the strange dream to continue with my pursuit. After gathering my wits I stood up and gathered what little gear I had left after all of this, and honestly, what I had, was my home and what was left of my family, and I reflected on this for a moment before going back out into the world that awaited me. I found ‘silver’ once more and decided I would say my good-byes, even though I did not speak much or get much help from the strange person. “Excuse me, I was just leaving and would like to bid you a fare-well before I left…” I said casually, yet my voice sounded tired, probably the lack of sleep.  “Leaving? So soon? As do most of the good people that pass through here, I understand, but I was thinking about what you said earlier, and there is another way, but it requires the death of two other members of the same family that you belong to, and also a sacrifice of your own, part of your very soul to be exact.” Silver said, almost business-like. “It does sound troubling, but if it can bring them back, I will do whatever it takes” I said. “It is good that you care so much about these people, but how will you perform this ritual without help? You cannot. But I can travel with you, and help you with this” Silver replied, looking at me questioningly. “I appreciate your help, but I do not know if it is safe to travel with others… there are many people who would kill anyone near me just for spite.” I said with a sigh. “Worry not, i can tell when people are following us, and I know this forest more well than most, and could help you escape before they can see us!” Silver said.  “Well, that is true…  I could always use some help” I nodded “you are welcome to come with me on this journey to the depths of the forest, and perhaps even to the depths of hell it-self if it takes, anything to bring them back!” I said, and then we left, off to find the first of two of my own bloodline. 
  Traveling through the forest with my new “guide” if you will has helped me much, silver was right, she does have extensive knowledge of this forest, and even I would have gotten lost many times if it was not for the advice I had been given. Now I am even closer to finding out how to bring them back, I can picture it now, we will all be back together, it will be like it was before Draco made his insane rebellion and forced me to have to kill him, and before my father died before my eyes. Of course their lives require two other lives, but I do not care for the rest of the family much, they had not been in my child-hood as much and therefore have little meaning to me, that does not how-ever change the fact that they are family, and killing family is not a good way to show the spirits what kind of person you are, but I am doing it all in good faith, right?  
  We arrived at a cave on the far western part of the forest, it took us three days from the outpost to get there, but I knew this is where one of my brothers lived, his name was Golden-Fang, he was a lieutenant in the Golden wolf army, he spent most of his days here though, why I never understood, but he made no real contribution to anything around him I figured, so the world could understand his death. Walking into the cave I noticed that it was decorated with leafs and strange colored substances made from various plants in the region, yet all these were merely distractions and I continued looking for my soon to be dead brother, and I found him, asleep, that made this all the easier!  
  I had drew my knife and put it to his neck, I waited for the moment he awoke until I pulled the blade across, swiftly coloring the wall in front a bright crimson, I examined my work and put the knife back, then I checked to make sure he was dead and looked at silver. “Is there anything we have to do while we are here, or is killing the only proof we need?” I asked, emotionlessly.  “I will prove, to spirits.” Silver said, she raised the staff--the very same one I saw her with the first time we met—above her head and began chanting. I watched for several minutes until the chant was complete then walked outside, I was already on the path to the second sacrifice, too easy I thought as I walked out into the forest again, this time toward the north, to find an uncle of mine who was known by the name of steel. 
  Chapter 8: the two last sacrifices. 
  Date: February 15th 1471. 
  It took many weeks to travel to the north, but we managed to make it successfully and without being spotted by patrols, I slipped inside the temple with silver and we both searched for steel, I cannot say he was too hard to find though, as he was, to put it gently, the loudest person I ever knew. He was proclaiming how great he was in the halls when I found him, I walked up to him and challenged him to a duel, to test the skills he so boasts, he of course accepted, and moments later we both arrived in the main hall, drawing our weapons, he was quick but had none of the skills he so claimed, I easily disarmed him and put the sword to where his heart was lightly. “You win, you win, and you have managed by luck to beat my legendary skill!” he said and laughed nervously. “Not yet I am afraid” I replied and quickly stabbed the sword into him, then ripped it out, sheathing the sword. “The second sacrifice is ready” I said under my breath. Of course killing in a duel is frowned upon and I was quickly given chase, though I managed to out run and outwit them with the help of silver, yet I still had to carry the body as the ritual was not completed on this one and it would be pointless to have killed him if the ritual was not completed. We reached a small tree-covered area and I laid the body down by silver “finish the ritual on his part, I will be back to complete it after I take care of our “guests” that have been following us. Then I left, standing in plain sight for the warriors, they stopped in front of me and drew their weapons, I saw their hands shaking and I grinned. “what is wrong, are you scared?” then I laughed – which must have made me sound and look like a mad man – then I approached them slowly, I drew my battle-sword – which was a twenty-inch blade with a hilt made of gold which had archaic symbols covering it, the same symbols covered some of the blade, which was now covered with blood – they ran at me as I expected and I quickly dispatched one with a ‘x’ shaped series of slashes, then stabbed the other one in the back – he had missed me and went past me slightly – then I examined them for a moment, left, and returned to silver “I am ready…” I said calmly, sheathing my sword.  “You do know you will never be the same after this, do you not? This will – if it does not kill you – will change your mind, and soul, the ritual taking half your soul and half your sanity.”  Silver said, a serious stare fixed upon me. I nodded, “I am sure.” I said quickly, but surely. Silver then proceeded to draw a large circle out of the blood from the two bodies, the circle had various symbols in it including an eye, the roman numeral for three and a picture of the sun, then I was instructed to stand in the middle of this circle and that I would know when the ritual was complete. 
  I did as I was instructed and stood, watching silver raise the staff once more, begin chanting, then tapped it against the ground as a sharp spike came from one end of the staff, I knew that meant trouble, but before I could react the spike was in my chest, I was lowered slowly to the ground and the last thing I saw was silver staring at me and whispering something I could not make out. It felt so strange being unconscious, there was nothing, yet I could feel everything, I could not move, yet I felt strangely free, thinking of this gave me comfort for some odd reason, and I was happy for the feeling. I struggled to keep my mind about me, I was jumping from thought to thought, hearing the whispered unintelligible words of silver over, and over in my mind, it was driving me slowly away from sanity, though it did not matter to me, I was dead, or at least that is what it felt like in this dark void of nothingness. But that was when I saw the image of Draco and Rex, I forced myself to look through the nothingness and found a small light, I followed it, and that was when I awoke. 
  I gasped, feeling for the wound the spike had left, but it was healed, just a scar remained, the blood on me had gone as well, I stood and saw silver standing in the distance, conversing with two people I swore I recognized, and then it dawned on me, could the ritual have worked? I approached the three slowly looking as if I was in a trance “did—did it work?” I asked shakily. Silver looked at me “Yes, everything has been set in motion, remember though, you will never be the same anymore, but I am happily surprised that you survived it at all, to be honest I did not expect you to.” Silver said.   “Thank – thank you so much… I said.  “It is my duty to help those in need in this forest, and I have accomplished that.” Silver said, literally as if the whole ordeal was nothing.  At a loss for words gave a quick embrace, hugging silver then letting go “sorry… I just wanted to show my gratitude, at least some of it, please understand” I said.  “I understand how you feel, you have lost so much, then gained it back, you must be wanting to speak to them, please, feel free” silver said, smiling.  “Thank you,” I said one last time, then went to Draco and Rex; we were all reunited once more. 
  I looked at silver again for a second, it was then it finally dawned on me who silver was, silver was that stranger I met in the town before, silver had been the one helping me all along… 
  Epilogue: The New Order	 
  Date: February 16th 1471. 
  Darkflame sat in the fog-town church, which was now covered in demonic symbols and blood, he laughed as another sacrifice was killed in his name, he would shape this land soon, he would become its God! “Ah, those poor fools, they do not know that I am coming, and that soon, there will be a New Order!”  Darkflame said, grinning at Star.  “Yes sir, the New order shall begin, and when it does, this world will be ours, they shall all hail us as their gods, we will change the world in our image!” star said eagerly.  
  They finished the ritual and left the church as they did, newfound power gained, and with this, the mortals would not stand a chance, they would fall effortlessly at their feet, they would all obey. Or die. The fog town had given its secrets to Darkflame, and in return he had given it blood, this, in Darkflames mind was a fair trade. Star though, did not feel the same, yet did not dare say so, she felt that it was pointless to kill all these people for this so-called power, but arguing with Lord Darkflame was not wise, and so these feelings were kept untold. 
  As the two wandered the lands, the sky got darker as they went, the temple warriors noticed this but could not understand why it was happening, but they knew it was not good, so they sent a patrol toward where the shadow was coming from. The warriors sent there were not in luck, for as soon as they reached the two figures, they were killed by seemingly nothing but darkness, then they were consumed by it, brought back as demons to aid the Order in their quest.  
  The temple fell quickly, darkness consumed it, consumed the people inside it, and Darkflame gained more strength from them, even though it was a small amount. The rest of the sky was covered by the shadow, causing an endless night. 
  Soon the rest of the mortal world would fall, and Darkflame would become its leader… 
  Meanwhile, as the shadow grow larger, I repeated once more. “And as I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” 
   
   
   Publication Date: August 10th 2011 https://www.bookrix.com/-chancebarrett