The fallen's lament

On a cold Winter’s night, the wind howled amongst the forest’s dark and eerie ground. Like a silent predator the forest remained still as the creatures stalked and fought each other.

As the creatures prowled into the dark, two figures could be heard creeping into the depths of the forest, unaware that a grave that was not made for them would soon accept them with open arms.

The two figures were a young couple, young, naïve – they’ll learn; the young female was shaking, a sign of easy prey for the many predators that loomed behind them in the sanctuary of the dark; the young male was confident, displaying strength, but also concern for he knew his companion was afraid. This was the first time she had ventured beyond the palace walls, the glorious golden prison her father had kept her in for over 17 years.

The young male smiled to the young girl as he turned to embrace her. “Trust me, we’ll be fine, I’ve been here many a time.”

The young girl looked up to her new companion. “I do trust you, but I’ve heard many a creature follow us through this darkened forest. Where are you taking me to such to at such an hour…?” The girl’s voice ended to a gasp as the male led her to an opening, the full moon shining like an orb of silver onto the lake. Glorious, she thought as she saw the moon’s glow bounce off the surface of the water, but something was amiss, as though something was meant to be there, but it wasn’t.

A wolf’s howl sounded in the distance – the girl had never heard such a romantic sound before. As the howl ended, the male turned slowly to her. “That was a wolf, they howl when they are alone, in the village they have been named the children of the night, for the sweet music they make.”

Sitting down, the girl leaned against her companion. “Why did you take me from the palace?”

Before he could answer, another howl issued from the distance, but this time the wolf was afraid, and it was moving towards this clearing. The male knew they had to run; picking the girl up quickly they ran, they ran and they ran, away from the wolves, away from the safety of the moonlight, and into the cold embrace of the darkness, but to the boy, something odd came into his mind – he seemed to know exactly where he was going and with nothing else to follow he went with this new found instinct.

They shortly came across a moonlit path of red marble. After stopping for air they walked slowly down the path, as they both became aware of the lingering stench of the dead extruding from the dark forest on either side of the path. The path came to a clearing. A village could be seen in the middle; all of the inhabitants seemed to be dancing a ceremonial dance around the towering flames in the centre. Holding the young girl close to him, the male edged towards the outskirts of the village, where he spotted a hooded figure, not dancing, but merely watching. As though with a sixth sense the figure turned as he raised a burned and scarred hand to signal them to stop, gazing steadily at them with his icy blank eyes.

The figure spoke in a dark haunting voice: “You do not appear to belong here. Identification and information required before entering.”

The male took a step forward bravely as he addressed the figure. “My name is David, I work… I used to work at the palace; we are here only for refuge for one night so that we may continue our journey to the border in the safety of daylight.”

The stranger, however, had a slightly annoyed tone in his voice when he next spoke. “And the girl? The one who is currently cowering behind you, is she from the palace of corruption, the place that has condemned our existence for over twenty years?”

The young lady spoke up, fear apparent in her voice. “My name is Sophia, my father owns the palace, but I was not there at my own free will; my father had intentions to trade me off to the richest young man that he could find.”

The stranger huffed in amusement. “As I said, an evil place. I have plans for your father, dear daughter of Phillips, as I know your names. You may address me as the Everseer, and I protect this village, not like it needs protecting...” His voice trailed off as he turned his head towards them, the firelight revealing his venom green war staff and steeled metal mask which seemed almost welded to his face as he resumed speaking. “You may enter – just remember that every person in the village will kill you in a second if they see you as a threat.” Turning away from them he went back to watching the villagers dance.

David, however, still had questions. “What are they celebrating?”

Chuckling, the Everseer did not turn, but just answered: “they are celebrating the death of a heretic, a traitor, in your tongue. Those flames represent her eternal damnation; it’s an amusing tale of how she met her downfall, to be quite honest.”

David pulled Sophia into his arms as they walked into the village, finding a small sitting spot and resting, watching the villagers dance and dance until the early hours of the morn, when the flames had died away. As David woke from his slumber, he noticed a man armed with two blades was strolling towards him, smiling quite happily as he handed David a small cup of ice cold water.

“You look thirsty, my friend. Here, always nice to see new faces here!” David handed the water to the now awake Sophia, only taking a small amount for himself as she drank the majority of it. “And a gentleman too! That’ll go far in this village!”

Turning over, he beckoned two people over to him, a slim lady and a small young girl, the girl wielding a large dagger and the lady wielding a sapphire blue katana. Looking rather cheerfully at them, the lady bent down next to Sophia. “Now aren’t you a pretty one? From the palace too, judging by your clothes. Poor thing, you’re still in shock.”

Leaning up to the man that beckoned her over she went on to say, “More guests, Howard my dear? I don’t cook that much do I?”

David, rather taken aback by all of this spoke up: “I don’t mean to point this out but I really don’t want to cause any trouble.”

The small girl walked forward and began tugging on David’s sleeve. “Please come have food with us, mommy always makes too much delicious food and we can never finish it.”

David merely smiled and nodded, but unaware to the all, the Everseer watched from his tower, watched and waited, waited for the sun to reach the top of the sky…

Over the vast meal that the mother had prepared, they introduced themselves as Howard, Rose (mother) and Katie (daughter). David told them of the world beyond the village, of all the corruption and violence, of how he had rescued Sophia from her golden Prison, and of how they made it to the village. Katie hung onto every word with unnatural attention; Howard seemed almost impressed; whereas Rose broke the glass she was holding when the palace was mentioned.

Sophia, who had been quiet since they entered the village, spoke up. “Who is the Everseer?”

Rose chuckled as she turned to Sophia. “The Everseer is the forsaken one – his life has been declared forfeit, and he’s what you may call an arbiter of sorts. Because of his past he has been charged to protect this village with all he has and is, but he’s powerful enough without those duties. I should know, I trained him…” Her sentence ended in a sigh as Howard turned to David.

“You did a noble deed: you risked your own life to save your wife. You’ll go far in this village.”

Sophia expelled her drink in surprise – thankfully back into her cup – as she coughed from hearing what Howard said. “I AM NOT HIS WIFE!”

Howard smiled. “The young lady finally shows fire. I’m aware that you two are not wed, you show no rings or markings to show it.”