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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