miércoles, 10 de octubre de 2018

Paula de Vera García: Landeron I: the oracle's daughter (Part 1)



Chapter 1: Blood-moon (Part 1)



That night could have been like any other. The waxing moon projected the shadow of the tile roofs onto the street creating whimsical designs on stones. The castle rose imposing in the background of the city, standing out above the most humble of homes which surrounded it almost completely.


The fields, scattered outside of the walls and protected by the mountains known as The Crossed Horseshoes, shone with diminutive specks of silver: ripe grain which would soon be harvested and divvied out for the inhabitants of the region to eat.


However, that night was not like the rest. In fact, it would be remembered as one of the bloodiest nights in the history of Landeron. The first indication, silent and from which something strange happened, was the dark mass that advanced from the horizon in the form of an arch closing in on itself more and more. With each step, it quickly drew closer towards the city from the eastern plains of the Nïedar.


The centennials posted near the gates were the first to see it and they sounded the alarm immediately. The torches were lit and the archers took up their positions. The murmurs which passed from mouth to mouth became more and more intense as they reached the palace and the ears of the very king. But it was all useless.


In an instant, the dark procession arrived at the gates. Immediately afterwards, various hooded figures jumped over the walls with insulting ease and began climbing them with agility.


Their gauntleted hands appeared to merge perfectly with the dark stones and the sergeant in command momentarily feared what kind of creatures these could have been. Rumors had spread throughout all of Landeron about ill-boding dark armies that assaulted cities at night, in silence, and left no survivors. But no one would have ever expected to encounter them face to face.


With an imperious shout, the sergeant called for reinforcements, but as soon as they arrived, one of the strange climbing creatures reached his position, grabbed the gadarath by the neck and mercilessly tossed him over the armaments. The two soldiers, who arrived in just that moment, remained frozen in terror seeing how that unknown creature, almost two meters tall, threw their sergeant into the air. However, it was nothing compared to the sensation that took up residence in the pits of their stomachs when it focused on them directly. Beneath the dark hood, aface, stone-like in the literal sense of the word, was hidden. It was grayish, lined with dark veins and illuminated by two incandescent red eyes. The sinister assailant contemplated them for an instant as if evaluating them, before giving the hint of a macabre smile and advancing towards the first of the two. The man, in a moment of sanity, tried to stop it by raising his sword, but it served him little. Given the force and impenetrability of the skin of the creature, the sword skidded off it with a clang immediately before the bearer suffered the same fate as the sergeant.


The other soldier, for his part, upon seeing himself alone facing that nightmarish being, fled running in the opposite direction to find reinforcements. However, he was barely able to make it a few steps before another monster would interrupt his path. Without being able to emit a sound, he felt as a stone claw close around his throat before losing consciousness and following the same lethal path of his companions. After ridding themselves of their opponents, the two stone beings looked at each other for an instant, satisfied, and for a following act, jumping the five meters of wall that separated them from the ground, landing with force and smashing the stones that received the impact of their enormous bodies. All manner of shouts were heard proceeding from the nearest houses and as they advanced through the streets they encountered the inhabitants of the city, who, while they ran afraid and trying to hide themselves, did a one-eighty and screamed upon seeing the beasts appear, whether those two or one of the two hundred that comprised their battalion.


In the castle, the panic spread as well. The monarchs had rapidly been awakened from their beds at hearing the commotion and the king, at hearing what the source of the disaster was, leaned out the window to see with his own eyes what had happened in the patio. However, he barely had a couple seconds to do so before an enormous rock, thrown against an indefinite point of the wall, crashed into him, ending his life immediately. The queen let out a terrified scream when she saw this and hurled herself at him taking him into her arms. But, it was already too late.



(Continuará)


© Paula de Vera García
 



Traducción : Isaiah O’Bryon (USA).

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