The forest scenery rushed by in a blurry image as Alex stumbled through it.
Crunch!
Twigs snapped in his wake as he brushed past the leafy green bushes, their branches poking at him.
Small critters buzzed in the night air as they scampered to clear a path around him.
Long branches extended from their trunks and poked him as he stumbled through the forest.
He glanced up bleary-eyed at an overhead branch as he ducked to avoid it.
'Too much'
'It hurts so bad'
Alex grabbed his head in pain as he shoved several branches out of his path.
The exotic smells of the forest permeated the air as the scent of flowers entered his nostrils.
The sound of rushing water filled the air as Alex neared a small creek by a clearing.
The intoxicating smell of water floated through the forest, causing Alex to pant slightly.
A bitter taste filled his mouth as he licked his exceptionally dry lips.
The feeling of the rough underbrush upon his skin as he briskly walked through it felt nice, it seemed to caress his skin.
The pale moonlight shone through the small gaps in the dense forest trees, it shined brightly against Alex's face causing him to squint slightly.
The bright stars shone down upon him in the eternal night sky.
Stumbling through a bush he pushed ever deeper into the forest.
All he remembered was drinking quite heavily once he got back to the camp, the next thing he knew he was wandering through the forest.
Slam!
Alex hit the ground hard as his foot snagged on a root.
Groaning Alex rolled over onto his side.
Dark tree trunks entered his sight as their large shadows spread across the ground, seemingly sucking him up.
The wind slipped through the branches causing the leaves to flutter.
He looked up at the dark sky which appeared to be near dawn.
'The stars…'
``They're so pretty.'
The sound of the creaking tree trunks entered his ears as he gazed up at the stars in wonder.
"Look what you did to us…" whispered a voice in his ear.
Alex turned sharply to the side, however, there was nothing there.
Twisting his head side to side he still found nothing.
Only the large trees cast in shadow entered his vision.
Thinking he must have imagined it, he went back to gazing at the stars.
"Why did you live…" came the voice again.
Alex sat up this time, he twisted his head each way but still found nothing.
"Who's there?" he called out.
No response came to his question.
The dryness of his throat had reached an all-time high as his head twisted side to side.
"I asked who's there?" he shouted.
"Were here…" came the voice from behind him.
Spinning around he came face to face with a boy.
The boy was dressed as if he was about to head into battle.
Loose leather armor hung on his shoulders and was strapped to his body.
Alex stared at the boy mutely.
For several tense seconds, they gazed at each other in silence.
The trees and bushes swayed in the late-night breeze as the blades of grass tickled their feet.
The rough ground underneath Alex suddenly crumbled slightly in his grip as his eyes widened in realization.
"No…" Alex muttered.
"You can't be here…"
"But I am…" whispered the boy's disembodied voice, as his lips curved into a smile.
Blood stained the boy's armor causing this scene to look even more horrifying
"No… No…. No, No, No!" Alex clutched his head in confusion.
"You can't be here, it's just my imagination, it's okay Alex, get a grip, you're dreaming."
"But we are real…" whispered another voice behind him.
Whipping around Alex came face to face with a tall man.
He was broad-shouldered and still dressed in armor.
His body was scarred and burned, his face looked half-melted.
His rough-looking features stood out as he gazed at Alex with hatred.
"No! You… you… I killed you, it's not possible…" Alex said, backing away from them hurriedly.
Thump!
Alex bumped into something hard behind him.
"We are real…" came the voice of his father.
In front of him was a man dressed in a ceremonial outfit with a long robe trailing down his back.
His long beard and the crown on his head were easily recognizable.
Alex gaped silently at the figure of his father.
"What's wrong, nothing to say?" said his father.
"He has no responsibility…" came another voice.
"He's but a boy pretending to be a man…" said another.
Alex turned around, all around him people surrounded him.
"You killed all of us!" shouted a man dressed in commoner clothes.
"No… No… stop… STOP!" Alex shouted.
However, the voices kept ringing through his head.
"Look what you've done to us…"
"Is this what you wanted…"
"Give up…"
"Join us…"
"What are you even fighting for…"
"SHUT UP!"
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Alex screamed over and over, however, the voices wouldn't stop.
"Please… stop...." he whispered as he clutched his head in agony.
He bent forward resting his head and arms on the ground.
"Please… I beg of you… I'm sorry…" he whispered.
"You're sorry?" came a sharp voice.
Alex whipped his head up.
Staring at him angrily, was a man.
A man he knew all too well.
"I trusted you…"
"I followed you…"
"And look what happened to me…" said the voice of William.
"No… No… it was an accident." Alex muttered.
"William, you have to believe me! You weren't meant to die!" Alex screamed in frustration.
"But he did…" came a gentle voice from his left.
Alex's eyes opened wide in horror.
Turning his head like a rusty machine, he gazed in horror at the sight before him.
"What's wrong, you can't look at us?" came a gentle voice.
In front of him stood two people.
One was a tall blonde woman dressed in a silky blue dress, her hands tightly wrapped around the second person.
A little girl no more than seven years of age stood wrapped in her mother's arms, her luscious blonde hair curled around her shoulders as she held a brown teddy bear in her arms, clutching it tightly.
"Why did you kill us daddy?" the girl whispered.
Alex looked at her in horror as tears streamed down his face.
"Did you not like us?" her small voice came again as tears streamed down her face.
"No baby… no I didn't mean-" Alex began hurriedly,
"You didn't mean what? To kill us?" came the blonde-haired woman's voice.
"No, I-" Alex tried again.
"I thought you loved us…" she whispered, glaring at him.
"I DO! I DO LOVE YOU!" he shouted desperately.
"Then why did you kill them?" came Williams' voice.
"Why did you kill all of us?" came the voice of the boy, Robbie.
"What could have been worth so many lives…" came his father's voice.
"70 Million…" came the voice of the burned man.
Behind him stood all those that had died.
They stretched endlessly through the forest, their faces blurred together in the masses.
"How greedy could you have been to sacrifice all of us?" said William.
"And what did you get in the end? An empty throne?" said his father.
"After all a kingdom is nothing without its people…" came his wife's voice.
"And in the end, who was left but you?"
"How did it feel standing in that field of corpses…"
"Did you finally accomplish your dream…"
"Were you happy?"
"Were you sad?"
The voices came from all around him, each shouting their feelings.
Alex merely sat there on his knees gazing at the angry faces silently.
His expression was empty, devoid of life.
"You don't deserve the life you have…" came William's voice.
"Join us…" Whispered his wife.
"I miss you, daddy…" whispered his daughter.
"Hehehehe...." a quiet chuckle resounded in the clearing, halting all the shouting.
"Huhuhuh…" the chuckle turned into a laugh as Alex gazed up at them.
"HAHAHAHAHA…" his cackle resounded through the silent night.
"You want me to die?" he muttered.
"Is that it?"
"Sorry just doesn't cut it, huh?" he chuckled as he gazed at them with dark eyes.
"Alright then, I'll die…" he whispered.
But then he remembered what had happened the previous day.
His mind recoiled in terror from the image in his head.
"I can't die yet, however, first I have to put on a good show, don't I?" he muttered to himself.
"Yes… Yes… a good show, a good show indeed."
"Hehehe…"
"I suppose if I put on a good show, I can die."
"What's a few million more lives anyway?"
"Ha… ha…. Ha… hahaha…" his mad laughter rang through the forest as the people around him slowly faded away, then everything went black.
***
Alex woke up silently, the early dawn light spilling through his tent flap.
Rustle!
Rustle!
The soft linen sheets next to him shifted slightly as Alice turned in her sleep.
Alex gazed at her silently.
Reaching out his hand, he extended his fingers and gently brushed her black hair to the side exposing more of her pale rosy cheeks.
If anyone were to see his eyes right now, they would see something besides his usual coldness.
Something broken.
Madness.
Sitting up, he pulled the blanket off himself and stood up.
Stretching his body slightly, he walked over to a chest in the corner of the tent.
Opening up the ornately carved piece of wood, he proceeded to pull out several pieces of armor.
The black-hued tint to it added a dark and almost razor-sharp look to it, unbuckling it he then stripped down to his undershirt and pants. After all the winter air was cold so more layers were needed.
Lifting each piece carefully with an almost elegantly cold edge, he strapped each piece in place.
Once finished he held his helmet in his arm as he reached into the belly of the chest once more.
Extracting a long and slender sword from it, he then strapped it to his side.
Reaching back inside he pulled out a worn-out-looking war pick, buckling it tightly to his side.
He then reached into the chest one final time and delicately extracted a small dagger from it.
Its golden hilt tinted with black onyx lining shone brightly in the morning sunlight.
Its sharp edge looked dangerous yet beautiful.
It was the dagger Alice had given him, he had kept it with him ever since then.
Running his fingers along the edge of the blade, he glanced up to look at Alice's sleeping figure once more.
He sighed heavily.
His dark eyes flitted across her once more before he stood up.
As he walked out of the tent, he whispered.
"Forgive me, Alice…"
Pushing past the tent flap, he squinted as the bright rays of sunlight shined in his face.
Gray still clouded the sky however small rays of sunlight poked through it.
Guards flanked both sides of the tent dressed in their usual armor, they seemed to look even more at attention than usual, a deep gloom hung over them compared to the day before.
When he exited the tent they glanced at him silently, their gazes sharp yet heavy.
The events of last night, still fresh in their minds.
Nevertheless, they performed their duty impeccably, they stood ready to move out with him.
"No need for an escort, I'll be fine on my own," he said.
They were slightly taken aback however quickly nodded in assent and resumed their posts.
He walked in the direction of the command tent, his feet trailing softly against the rough ground, the blades of grass gently flicking against his armor.
Reaching the white linen tent he pushed past the soft flap and entered the humble space.
Inside was a large blanket covering the ground with a large birch oak table stand atop it.
Stands with placeholders for torches stood to the side unlit.
At the table sat two seats, made of dark oak wood, they looked lonely, sitting there unused.
Atop the table lay a large map, it sat unfolded, pinned to the table for all to see.
The contents of the map showed the surrounding terrain, encompassing the snowy mountains of the Toryn kingdom as well as the dense forests of the Arturian kingdom.
Alex sidled up to the map as his gaze roved its contents.
His mind ran rampant with ideas as his finger slowly trailed a path down the map all the way to the heart of the Toryn kingdom.
His finger would pause at each city that stood in their way as he contemplated what to do.
Letting his finger drop from the map, he stretched his hand behind his back to where the dagger rested.
Wrestling it from its sheath he gazed at it silently.
Then he raised it high before lowering it, creating a deep gash in his palm
Grimacing slightly from the pain, he closed his fist and trailed a path of blood down the route he had traced with his finger.
"Blood for the blood god…"
"Skulls for the skull throne…"
"Long live death…"
"And all hail destruction…"
He gazed down at the map with dark eyes.
"A dark time comes.
"My time…"
"Stop me if you can."
***
Alex pushed past the rough tent flap as he directed his gaze in the direction of the medical tent.
Spotting it amongst the rabble of other tents, he began a slow and steady pace towards it.
Blood dripped silently from his closed fist, leaving a small trail behind him.
The coarse dirt scattered in his path, remnants of the melting snow leaving his footprints in his wake.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the medical tent, a wizened old man saw him.
"My Lord! What brings you to this old man?" he asked quickly.
Alex raised his hand silently, the healer's eyes widened as he rushed to pull Alex into the tent.
The healer forced him onto a small rough looking bench as he hurriedly pulled out a basin filled with water.
Quickly grabbing a bandage from a sack in the corner, he rushed back to Alex.
Grabbing his hand gently, the healer dipped it into the basin as he began to clean out the wound.
"How did this happen?" asked the healer.
"I cut myself while peeling a fruit," Alex responded.
"Tsk. you should be more careful in the future." said the healer as he muttered something about youth and being in such a hurry.
Once he was done tutting to himself, he finished wrapping Alex's palm in a bandage more akin to a piece of cloth.
"Do we have any wounded from the camp we raided?" he asked the healer.
"Hmm… I believe we have 20 or so in that tent over there…" he said thoughtfully as he pointed to a large white tent across from them.
The healer then got up from his seat and walked over to a corner where a large bucket of water lay, dipping his hands in the bucket he looked over his shoulder and told Alex he could go.
Alex nodded silently, as he got up his eyes suddenly widened slightly.
Turning back to the healer he said.
"Can I borrow the bucket?"
"Huh?" The healer stared up at him confused.
"I need to borrow the bucket," Alex said once again.
The healer looked at him confused but nevertheless handed him the bucket.
Grabbing the bucket in a tight grip, Alex strapped his sword to his hip before hoisting the bucket up and walking out of the tent.
The tip of the sword trailed against the ground as he slowly marched over to the tent.
Originally he had planned to interrogate the prisoners of war about the whereabouts of their comrades tomorrow, however deciding that since he was already here, he might as well do it now.
Pebbles sprayed to the side as his sword dragged along the ground.
His slow pace eventually made it to the front of the tent.
Blocking the entrance to the tent were two guards, their less formal attire along with their lax expressions showed Alex that these two hadn't been in the raid last night.
"I am going to interrogate them, make sure no one enters," he said as he brushed past them.
They looked at him confused, they couldn't help but wonder what the bucket was for.
The tent flap closed silently behind him, the small breeze making it flutter slightly.
Alex put the bucket on the ground as he stared silently at the 20 people laying on the beds.
They were all in various states of injury.
These were the ones that hadn't died from the search parties the enemy sent out.
Some of them sported grievous injuries such as loss of a limb, or in the worst case a punctured lung.
The nearest one to Alex had a large bandage wrapped around his head.
His eyes were shut tightly in pain and his broken arm draped over his stomach, its bandage hanging loosely.
He was curled up tightly on the soft cotton bed that had been provided for them.
"Numbers…" Alex muttered, staring at them.
"Just another number on the list…" he chuckled softly.
Walking over to the man he stood above him silently for a minute, then he reached out and grabbed the man by the hair.
"Ah!" The man woke up alarmed as Alex yanked him off the bed.
"Ah! Ah! It hurts!" the man yelled as he was dragged on the hard dirt floor.
His screaming prompted the other people who were resting in the tent to wake up as well.
"What's going on?" Asked one of them as he rubbed his bleary eyes.
"Hey! What are you doing to Dorian?" shouted another.
Alex ignored them as he dragged Dorian to where the bucket lay.
Once he was in front of the bucket Alex let go of him.
"Don't move or I'll kill you," Alex said, gazing down at him.
Looking up, he stared into the faces of those in the tent.
Some looked indignant, while others looked angry.
Most looked scared.
However, all remained silent.
"Listen up!" Alex called.
"You can either answer my questions truthfully, or you can not answer."
"If you answer truthfully, your friend here doesn't get hurt. If you do not answer, he will suffer."
"And believe me when I say he will suffer."
"However…"
He said darkly.
"If you lie to me…"
"You're going to replace your friend here...:"
Alex looked each of them in the eyes, causing them to gulp audibly.