Ping ...
A coin flipped into the air, rotating under the rays of sun peeking through the foliage of the trees above.
It sung through the air, rotating several times on it'd arc before landing in the outstretched hand of the one who had cast it into the air.
" What is it what is it" A boy, seven years of age, with green eyes and brown hair smiled up as he got onto the tips of his toes. Baby fat sat on this bright boys face as his light filled eyes stared at the silver coin.
" It's ... It's " The larger of the two smiled, building suspense as his right hand cradled the coin, lips curling upward, eyes twinkling.
Blone hair curved down his head in wavy tapestries, curling at the ends whilst his strong jawline curved towards a partially pointed chin. An angular small nose at on his face, as blue eyes as glistening as crystalline jewels glowed with amusement.
" It's tails" He laughed, producing the coin and howling in laughter as the youngster at his side sagged at the outcome.
" Bah .... You win " The little boy huffed, crossing his arms and storming across the soft fallen leaves that littered the ground in the soft autumn winds.
Turned away, the boys lips curled upward as a sly look came to his face, turning a squinting look through the side of his eyes at his elder brother.
" Round two all or nothing " He suddenly rattled off, tripping his brother over before sprinting away. " WHOEVER MAKES IT BACK FIRST GETS IT ALL ... YOU'LLNEVER BEAT ME FENRIC"
Landing on the ground with a thud, Fenric chuckled, a soft sigh escaping his lips as he dragged himself back to his feet, looking at his brothers shrinking silhouette as he rushed into the distance.
" BE CAREFUL ALERIC" His worry carried, the only response he received being joyous laughter echoing between the trees. " Ah ... "
He lifted himself from the ground, dusting off his chausses before slowly walking after his younger siblings. " Always so chipper"
It wasn't a complaint, rather grateful that despite the monotonous daily routines of village life, his little brothers antics kept him alive, gave him purpose.
PING
His coin launched into the air, landing in his outstretched hand once more, his hand rising to his face so he could see the result.
" Lady luck shines apon me Aleric "
And so he wandered, hands behind his head as he hummed a tune into the forest as soft light reached down onto him, his feet crunching leaves below.
Brilliant red orange and yellowed leaves hung above, a pleasant aroma wafting into his nostrils as he simply allowed himself to wander, to ease his mind on the treck through the autumn forest.
Following a small trickling river, Fenric smiled, ducking in a deep breath in nothing but peace, acceptance .... happiness.
His undergarment billowed, his breathing slow.
For several minutes he simply basked, the coin in his left hand being flipped into the air every couple of moments, listening to the birds chirp through this wood.
Slowly, but noticeably, the soft sunlight above bled away, as clouds gathered over the wood, casting the clawing forest into an eerie shadowed forest with reaching shadows.
The birds went silent and bugs froze, the colours of the world seemed to become dull, his lings became wound by a tight embrace, making it hard to so much as draw a breath.
Shadows stretched, cold bit at his prickling skin and his heartbeat hammered in his ears.
' What ... what's wrong' Never once in his seventeen years in this forest had it ever felt like this. His breath became visible, as the temperature plummeted, his legs shaking, freezing in place as his body refused to take another step.
'I ..I ... I need ' His thoughts became scattered, his head aching and veins in his forehead throbbing, pain arched through his body, looking around in wild panic.
Suddenly the a chitter made him whirl, as the hooves of a doe clapped onto the leaves on the ground not five metres away.
' Demon ... ' Horror dawned as it stared at him, a regular deer for the most part, white spots marred a beautiful brown coat. It was at most ninety centimetres tall at the shoulder. Had this been any other scenario, he may have tried to touch it, but now, with eyes wide with panic, he couldn't look away at what belied the true nature of this entity.
Blazing, sun's of black and yellow light sat in the doe's skull. Collisions of celestial bodies shining a bright light into the dim world beyond its sight. They glowed, shon with blinding light, yet he couldn't look away from their eldritch splendour. It didn't blink, it's head pointed at him, those orbs pinning him squarely in its unyielding alien stare.
A single step forward of its hooves made him fall back in terror, a scream escaping his lips on sheer instinct as he fell back onto the leaf covered ground.
" ST...STAY AWAY " His cry echoed through the silence, the doe freezing in place as it stared at him. " P...PLEASE ... LET ME GO... I don't want to die "
' Please ... ' His silent plea in his mind, derived from the very bottom of his soul, tears freely ran down his face as he shuddered visibly, quaking in place as the doe simply watched him.
It gave a single high pitched bleat, he didn't know if it understood or comprehended his fear, but with that single bleat, the entity turned away and trot into the forest amidst the shadows its presence permeated.
He didn't move even as the soft sunlight of the forest returned, didn't stop shaking even as the chirping of birds called all about, not as bugs crawled out from under the leaves below his body.
' Ah ... ' His eyes rolled back, falling onto the ground as the terror of the situation finally took its toll.
There under the shade of the trees, he lay unconscious, as the sun set over the horizon, it's fingers of light receding as the shadow of night bathed the light forest into a loud darkness, bugs calling out into the night around him as he lay.
...
His blue eyes flashed open, shooting up from the forest floor in panic.
" ALERIC" His voice loud, echoing in panic. He didn't register the fact it was nearing midnight, didn't focus on his own dishevelled appearance, no his focus was on his brother. And with the rising fear, urged further by his earlier experience, he took off running into the forest.
He ran, tripping over roots, getting smacked by low hanging branches, his blonde hair already marred by fallen leaves, became dishevelled by the repeated attack from the local foliage.
His breathing was laboured, his mind a buzz. ' I hope you're home Aleric ... please .. please be at home'
He slammed into a tree that sprung fron the dark, thrown to the ground where he rolled down a small hill.
Groaning, he forced himself to his feet, looking around in confusion, confused on which direction he was meant to go.
' Al... Where ... where are you' He rose to his feet, scrapes lining his arms and hands, small amount of blood trickling down his fingers.
Almost like a guiding light, an orange glow illuminated the horizon, visible now that he got a clear look through the trees.
' What is that ... ' He squinted, leaning forward slightly at the orange glow barely visible past the treeline.
A stench he couldn't quite describe assaulted his nose, flowing along with smoke that entered his lungs and made him gag and cough.
'Smoke ... Fire ... FIRE ' He took off once again, sprinting through the forest towards the glow as fast as his legs could carry him. Under the orange light, he dodged over the roots he had fallen over in the dark, dodging between trees and ducking branches.
But the closer he got, the more his fears became reality ... and panic rose, forced to cover his face the closer he got, the stench and smoke became unbearable, almost unbearable by the time he broke out of the forests edge.
' no.... ' His village, a small village wedged into the side of a mountain range, burnt like kindling in a fireplace. Gouts of flame rose into the skies, filling the air with smoke that bled into the surrounding forests, carrying the stench of everything the flames burnt into the wilderness.
Birds flew away, screeching into the night. Deer's and doe sprinted as fast as they could away from the burning air, and Fenric stood with his mouth agape as blistering flames burnt the hairs from his face.
" ALERIIIIC" He didn't care about the burning grounds, blackened fields scorching his boots as he crawled across charred stone with ragged breaths. " ALERIIIIC "
Skin blistered as his hand pushed away the village gates that stood at the main entrance to the town, affording him a sight he would never soon forget.
The stench, worse than even the gagging taste of the soot in the air, rose from tens of bodies littered about. Charred corpses hung from window sills, doors propped open by the fallen as billowing flames pelted their already black bodies with their heated jets.
He strode into the centre of the town square, every direction he looked was illuminated by bright orange light, the only sound being the crackling of flames and splintering wood.
" ALERIIIC " He cried, tears stinging his cheeks as he rushed forward despite the unbearable heat, hands raised to his head, braving ths streets even as buildings began to collapse.
He ran down the dirt road, as the town hall collapsed behind him, plastering the ground behind with debris, blocking his exit entirely.
Guided by love and fear, he persevered even as his lashes began to burn, the sound of glass exploding shaking him as he rushed.
His hurried steps didn't stop until he arrived infront of a particular building already half collapsed. His home, where he and Aleric lived by themselves for the majority of their lives.
" HOLD ON ALERIC " He ripped the sleeves of his undergarments off, winding them around his hands before grabbing the blackened door of the house, gritting his teeth through the pain as wood creaked and cracked.
" AaaaaAAAHHH" The door gave away as the pain and burns aye away at the flesh on his palms. He burst through the broken door, stumbling into the open den filled with smoke.
" ALLLL..." He cried, coughing and waving his hands infront of his face, spotting no movement he quickly moved between the rooms.
The bedrooms were empty or blocked, leaning closer got his face stung by the searing heat, the wash room was the only room sparred the flames as the curtains had already burnt away, but the wallpaper had become black and was on the cusp of burning.
The stairs to the second floor were completely blocked by fallen beams, pieces of floor and cracks in the roof exposing the inferno eating at the floor above.
" AL WHERE ARE YOU " He turned away knowing Aleric was smart enough not to be up stairs during the fires, and so he rushed to the only other room where he could he, and found what would scar him eternally.
He saw it, a blackened charred body huddled below the kitchen table, fallen under the debris and fallen beams. Flesh black and cracked, curled up into a ball, the body of a boy lay, pieces of fabric fused to his skin as tufts of skin and hair slowly peeled away from the charred body.
He collapsed, slowly to his knees, dragging himself over burning coals and splintered wood that embedded into his clothes.
Reaching for the charred body with agony of both the body and mind screaming at him.
" Al..." Before his fingers could brush the body, a glint out of the corner of his eye was caught too late.
" I knew it" A voice forced Fenric's head to twist around, only to feel a stabbing pain rocket upward from his abdomen, a thunderous clap erupting, deafening his ears as blood spewed from a newly punctured hole in his stomach. " There's always one rat hiding in the rubble"
A smoking flintlock revolver lowered as a man strode across the ashen ground, boots cracking blackened wood to splinters.
Black boots stepped over burning ground, neatly pressed trousers as black as coal lay tied at the man's waist, white undergarments covered by a white red soldiers outfit, with a white red Cape draped over his left shoudler, clipped to pouldrons attached to his uniform.
On his right hip lay the holster for his revolver, whilst a rapier and sheeth was attached to his left hip.
The man's head was uncovered, strong angular features pinching this wicked man's face. Stern features fit in a permanent scowl, a moustache twitching above a pursed lower lip as he stared down at Fenric. The man's brown hair, covered in soot, refused to burn despite the heat about.
" Ah....AHHHHHH" Pain, Pain unlike any Fenric had ever felt burned through his veins as he fell onto the smouldering ground, hands flying to the gaping wound blown into his stomach.
" How did we miss you " The man circled, adjusting the grip on his revolver. " Fortunately this mission requires the utmost care ... had we missed you "
The rest was left unsaid as he held Fenric's gaze as he slapped a second bullet into the revolvers chamber.
" Maybe in the next life, heathen, you won't consort with demons" The revolver pointed, and all Fenric could see was the revolvers barrel pointed between his eyes. " Any last words"
Lips quivered and rage flowed like molten rivers of magma, released deep inside him, he quivered in rage, hatred, bruning every ounce of pain he felt, roared to the forefront.
" I'll kill you ... "
" I'LL KILL YOU I'LL KILL YOU I'LL KILL YOU DEAD " His cry echoed even over the scream of the dead burning village,
" no you won't " A final gunshot wrung from the pistol as Fenric fell back onto the burnt foundations, the man lowered his pistol and stared at the body for several seconds.
" Good riddens " He turned away, flicking his Cape before simply passing through the flames blocking his exit, the flames touching him yet refusing to burn, his uniform as pristine as it would have been in any other situation.
Meanwhile, as the man left their shared house, Fenric lay, staring ahead with wide unseeing eyes as blood began to fall from his eyes and ears, his left eye a cavern as the floor behind his head was visible through a hole punctured through his head.
" Beeeaaah " A bleat echoed from the kitchen, a doe with glowing eyes stepping through the flames, it's hooves leaving blackened prints in the floor as it's star like eyes pinned the deceased body of Fenric with a unblinking stare.
" Beeeah "
....
" AAAAHHHHHH" His cry scattered the birds in the trees, amidst rubble as black as obsidian, hissing debris left trains of white steam in the air.
He sat up, half of his hair burnt away, heaving chest rising and falling despite the pain simply breathing imposed. It stung to take In air, but he took pleasure in the few gulps he managed to get down.
Blackened hands curled, where cracked skin fell away to reveal pink and red skin.
His breathing was a wheeze, but he did it regardless, the pain all over his red raw body an agony few would ever come to comprehend.
His gaze rose, as the cloud covered skies above rumbled with thunder, threatening to rain at any moment.
No walls remained of his home, little more than collapsed debris, all around where he lay, piling onto of eachother in mounds of wood.
" Aleric " His voice course, grinding, burnt by flames, crashed out of his sunken lips. His gaze fell to the place where the body lay, rising despite his bodies protest, he finally managed to place himself next to the charred blackness.
Carefully, with painstaking gentleness, his hands pried debris off of the body, laying himself down next to the body, with his hand shakily reaching out.
He stared ahead, not at the body, as his hand stroked the blackened scalp, tufts of brittle hairs scraping against his charred palm.
" Al ... " His teeth ground together, as hands continued to stroke, his burnt tear ducts releasing tears across the dirt and soot covered face, stinging his cheeks.
" I'm sorry" He wished, more than anything, to have been here at his side even if they ended up dying. Atleast they would have died together.
' I know it's a fools wish... but I hope you didn't have to suffer... not like I will have to' He leant down, whispering sweet nothing's onto the broken black ears before planting a single chaste kiss on the forehead of the body.
Even as small droplets of rain began to fall, soothing the agony his body felt, the agony of the soul remained, rising from his kneeling position, he found his eyes attracted to a silver coin half embedded into the ground where he previously lay.
' Watch over me, I'll be joining you soon enough' He stepped away, leaning down as his fingers raked through ash, clasping the silver coin in his fingers.
He didn't look back, he couldn't lest he collapse again, instead he fixed his hand on the horizon, stating at the sun rising over the mountains in the distance.
And as rain began to fall in droves, he stepped through the village, steps slow, memorising everything. Remembering his neighbours, the children that once ran throigh the streets, the old men that provided for them. And most harrowing of all, the smile Aleric would fix him as they would step out of the village to frolic amidst the forest.
As he stood in a tattered cloak partially burnt, brittle black wraps covering his blackened fingers, Fenric looked back at the village once more as he fixed a dagger to his waist. He pulled the robe over his hand, before turning and stepped away from the village under the intense rain that made the village hiss as the lingering heat was blown away.
' Guide me Aleric, guide me through pain, guide me through revenge ... guide me to my death '
...CHAPTER COMPLETE ...
HEY GUYS I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKED THIS OPENING CHAPTER, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LEAVE A COMMENT, IM HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY AND ALL QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. YOUR SUPPORT IS MASIVELY APPRECIATED, SO PLEASE IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT FEEL FREE TO SUPOORT THIS STORY IN ANY WAY YOU CAN
UNTIL NEXT CHAPTER FRIENDS