On this day the moon hid behind a curtain of dark clouds.
A river of cold, steel-touched blood streamed down the hill, overlooking the ancient castle.
A boy whimpered, struggling to breath, weighted down by his throbbing heart that wanted to tear itself out of his rib cage.
Clang, clang.. The boy took a step and then another, slipping on the wet armour beneath but catching himself before falling. And then.. He slowly made his way atop the mountain of corpses.
The air was refreshing and the boy gasped desperately for it. It's leg shook.. And then it shook some more. It trembled with greater and greater intensity. His vision started to blur. He tried to focus on the forest, then the river underneath the hill, then the little wooden house that had been there for ages and then it looked up towards the sky, searching for the light of the moon but.. Even it, his only comfort and friend, had abandoned him on this day.
It had finally seen his true nature..
Whimpered- the boy whimpered some more. A cold tear came out of his twitching dark eye. It ran down his bloodstained cheek and dropped, making a little splash sound on the face of a dead man that he was standing on.
The boy tried to take a deep breath but his trembling leg gave out completely forcing his body to fall down, on his knees. The boy looked at his bloody hands full of cuts and bruises. His long nails and the little pieces of flesh trapped in them. He shook, his body trembled with disgust.
"Why.." he whispered. His voice was hardly there, shaky and raspy.
The battle was over so quickly.. And it was suddenly.. Too quiet.. All you could hear was the gentle sound of the river beneath the hill and the boy's ragged breathing.
And yet. Inside the young one's mind was a concert of painful screeches, the breaking of bones, the clashing of steel and powerful blasts that made dents in armour. The heavy roars of men and the agonizing whimpers of the dying.
The noises wouldn't stop. They got louder and louder. Rage, regret, sadness - he felt an unbearable mix of emotions.
And finally. The boy collapsed. Another corpse to the mountain.
The moon slowly came out and shined a light on this accursed hill.
The boy's long black hair had spread its length across the iron armoir of the fallen. Its tears ran across the broken bodies of those beneath and like gems they shined in the moon's light.
"So.. that was it huh?" A deep raspy voice spoke out.
A tall man with long black hair, straight as it could be, dressed in a black coat took a few steps towards the pile of the dead and looked at the boy.
" You are a disappointment to your family and to your kind.. " He stared at the boy for a bit with a stern expression.
"There they are!!" A voice pierced through the silence of the night.
"Over there ! " Another followed.
A few lights appeared in the darkness, torches carried by more armoured men coming from the castle.
"..This is all your fault boy.." The black haired man walked away and vanished in the shadows.
"Wait!.. Wait for mee!!" - it was a girl dressed way too nicely to be out running in the mud with the knights. Wearing a very clearly expensive white dress she slammed her feet boldly into the pools of mud as she ran after the knights towards the top of the hill.
"Princess this is not a sight for you to see!" The leading knight shouted harshly as he kept running.
"I said! Wait for me!" She gasped for air as she ran " This.. is an order!" she furrowed her thin blonde eyebrows.
".." the knight reluctantly let her come closer to the vile sight.
"They are.. All gone.." one of the knights shook.. He couldn't believe all those people.. That he looked up to.. No, the entire nation looked up to were all killed in just one night.
"This.. must be the devil! It has to be!" Another night unsheathed his blade and looked around.
"The devil isn't real you fool.." The leading knight quickly shut him down. " There is no one around.. Just protect the princess!" he ordered as he started to cautiously approach towards the pile of corpses.
"I've never seen something like this before.." The princess's beautiful big blue eyes shone like diamonds in the moonlight. "Ugh-" She quickly put her hand on her mouth trying not to throw up from the piercing stench of the dead.
"Princess go back to th-"
"I said! I'm staying!" She muttered under her hand which was still covering her mouth.
The knight who had approached the pile just paced around it, horrified at the sight. All of his role models, legends and masters - all of them hardly recognizable.
"Is this.. Garal!?" The princess asked in disbelief, pointing at one of the corpses at the bottom of the pile but all she could hear was the clanging noise the knight made as he walked around inspecting the horrid pile.
"Princess.. I really think it's best if you-"
"Shut up!" In a quick motion the princess shoulder-punched the armoured soldier next to her who kept trying to convince her otherwise. "Ouch.." She shook her hand "I'm going!"
"Princess-" Another knight interrupted him, placing his hand on his shoulder.
"By the gods.." the leading knight just couldn't take his eyes off of it..
"They are ..all dead.." The princess caught up to him.
"They.. are.."
"What was it you said.. The devil isn't real.. Still sure about that?" She looked straight into the man's eyes.
He paused for a second, slightly intimidated by what his princess had just said.
"Perhaps.. No group of assassins or anyone for that matter could have done this.. Not to these men.."
The chilly night breeze ran its fingers through the princesses' long hair making it dance around in the air and in that moment - her gaze - guided by the wind - turned the princess' attention towards the top of the corpse mountain, where the moonlight was hitting the strongest.
It illuminated a scrawny boy, wearing regular peasant clothes. The only one without a sword or armour- his face looked so gentle, so harmless and kind and yet he was covered in blood.
The princess just stared at the boy in trance, lips slightly parted, Eyes wide open. And it all somehow clicked.
"He did it.." She said.
"What?.." The knight took a few steps closer to the princess and looked up. "..Who.. is this peasant? What is he doing there?!" he furrowed his brows in confusion and disbelief.
"Take him!"
"What?"
"Get him out of there and bring him to my room!"
"I-I'm sorry princess but I can't bring a corpse into your room!" the knight looked at her with disgust.
"I said. Take him to my room!" her eyes pierced the man's soul. " He's not dead.."
"He certainly looks dead to me-"
"Take him to my room and.. Don't tell a thing to my father, unless..." She had a daring look.
"Unless I don't want my balls chopped off? Your threats are getting old, princess.." The knight sighed "Listen.. you are either bringing a corpse and all the smell and nasty that comes with it into your private quarters or you're putting yourself in grave danger that I simply can not allow.."
"I'm not scared of him!" She looked at the boy, she was tense.. She wasn't sure but her curiosity always got the best of her.
"Then you are a fool.. If this.. Boy really did all this by himself.. Then he is no boy.. He's not.. human.."
" Exactly why I need you to listen to me and follow my orders! It must be done in the name of knowledge!"
"How do you even know he did all this? He's just a boy.. He could have just happened to be there and died with the rest of them.."
" A peasant this far out of town? On this day of all days? I don't think so.." she shook her head.
"Ahh.. boys are curious creatures - he might have just wanted to see the life of royalty for himself.. God knows I certainly did that at his age.."
"You snuck around spying on rich people?.. I'm not surprised…" The princess smacked him on the back of his armour plate." Now go, drag his body away from the pile and help me look for wounds.. I'm certain he won't have any.."
"Gods.. alright.." he took a few steps and begrudgingly set foot atop the neck of a former master whilst placing his palms on another body to grab onto.
"And Lex.. be careful.." The princess was worried.. She couldn't tell if the boy was pure evil or good, if he was alive or not and Lex was the only person in the kingdom she could tolerate..
"Oh don't act like you care.. Making me do all this nonsense.." he grunted.
The princess had a gentle half-smile as she watched Lex slowly make his way to the top, apologizing profusely to his role models as he used their faces and broken bodies to get to the boy.
"I'm just following orders! I'm sorry!" he kept going, trying not to vomit from the stench and horrid sight.
"You got it!" The princess saw he made it to the boy. Lex pulled the boy up and grabbed him but as he tried to turn around and go back he slipped on the bloody armour beneath and tumbled down the corpse pile face planting in the wet mud right in front of the princess' feet.
"I said be careful, idiot!" She exclaimed
And there it was - the boy was helplessly laying on the grass, his hair covering his bloodied face.
The princess quickly made her way to him and dropped to the ground to examine the fallen boy.
" I wish I had an expensive dress I could just carelessly roll around in the mud with.." he sighed as he kneeled next to her watching her examine the kid."
"See.." She pulled his shirt up and looked around, grabbed his face and.. Nothing.. No wounds on his body, only bruises and battle dirt.
"So.. did he die of a heart attack or what?" Lex looked perplexed. He didn't want to believe what this could mean for humanity..
"Lex.. please help me carry him into my room - the others can't know.."
"You are crazy, princess.."
"I know.. But so are you - Now go tell them off or something, those fools can't see this."
"..Right.." Lex sighed and stood up and walked around the pile to order the others to go.
"We need more men to.. Sort this mess out.." He commanded.
"BLAHH"
"BURHGh" the other two knights just wouldn't stop vomiting. Like a chain reaction they had been doing it for a while.
"Okay.. Hey! Get your shit together, the both of you! Go tell the others!" Lex commanded and then put his arm around his mouth. How he managed not to barf his guts out he didn't know..
"R-right sir!" The two could barely walk, their stomachs were still tight from throwing up so much and they stumbled down the hill towards the castle.
"The gods hate me.." Lex let out a sigh.. "Alright princess! We got a few minutes!" He jogged to her and kneeled down to pick the boy up.
"Just be.. Gentle!" The princess tried to help but Lex did all the lifting and carrying himself.
"Yeah, yeah.. Again.. If you're right.. You better hope he decides to be gentle with us.." he said as he trudged as swiftly as he could down the grassy hill possibly carrying the body of a monster.
The moon, having observed it all, vanished into dark clouds. And night turned into morning.
The town awoke and stories of all kinds about this night of legend leaked and spread across the town and then the entire kingdom.
The king, Princess Elaris's father, was furious - Within the same day he executed a few suspect knights because someone had let the public know.. His power dwindled like a dying flame for the core of his military power was sapped by a monster or monsters unknown, within a single night.
The Kingdom of Laraxia fell into terror - Stories of the Devil and his revenge had everyone by their throats. The mist of fear spread in the streets, in the fields, in the schools. No one was safe and so the process of assembling a new military force began. The other kingdoms caught wind of the stories and began preparing for war.
Chaos took over..
Chaos awakened..
"Lex! He's awake! " The princess gasped.