Chapter 6: The Demon's Reign: A past 2

Something...

It came.

"So you two survived...hm..? I thought the hiree would be good enough hm...? But you guys lived, hmm? And you two will die now...hmm?" It laughed, a chilling, fearful laugh.

Claws grabbed at us, and Jarald shoved me away.

"Jarald!"

"Only one, hmm? No matter, since I can always track the other, hmm? Eheheheh...or, want to watch your brother die...hmm? Better, yet, watch him die at the hands of your father, hmmm?"

And to the disbelief of my wretched soul.

Father.

"I rather let others do the dirty work hmm? Now..let's get the show started."

Father, no, the puppet lurched toward the struggling Jarald, while I stood frozen in fear, trapped by this horrible image, and the creature's piercing laugh.

None of this could be happening..

No..

NOOOO!

"No! You, you monster!" There was no thinking, no wondering of consequences. I picked up a knife and charged at the creature, only trying for Jarald. But 'father' attacked me. I fell the ground stunned, as he picked up the knife and creeped towards me.

"Harald! Harald! Run! Get up!" Jarald was screaming.

I couldn't do anything.

Closing my eyes, I waited for the end.

And in the midst of the darkness, I heard a swift slash of a sword, and the world faded to nothing.

Head hurting, my surroundings slowly came into focus as I woke up to a bleak world dimmly lit by dancing flames.

"Where..is this?" I asked myself, with no response. Suddenly, things rushed into mind and I lurched out of the blankets I had been lying in. Surveying the site, I saw a man, grizzled with brown whiskers and mousy brown hair.

Carefully, as to not wake him, I grabbed a short stick underneath a tree and painfully crawled towards the man, with no sound except a rustle of leaves and the crackling fire.

Steadily raising my stick, I prepared to hit when he grabbed me by the arm.

"Hey, you're not supposed to hit someone who helped you." the man said, not unkindly.

"How am I supposed to trust you?"

"Who else are you supposed to believe?"

"Nobody!" I growled and flopped back down on the forest floor, ignoring the man's stare into my back.

I guess I needed someone to trust.

Jarald was wary of him, but I grudgingly got along with the stranger, who was called Kirsod.

He treated us kindly, yet strictly taught us in fighting. If we failed to live up to expectations of him each day, we went to bed hungry. Which was often.

But slowly, Jarald and I learned the rules and actions of battle. "You won't need me at this rate." he sometimes chuckled and said, as he prepared meals. We never asked about him though. All questions were turned into other topics faster then we could recall that it was a question in the first place.

All was peaceful.

"And then?"

"Kirsod went and died on us." Harald said bitterly.

"How?"

"He used to be a prisoner of war and when he escaped out, murdered masses of people in revenge. Bounty hunters finally caught him unwary and stabbed him in the heart, but suffered death for it. He told us what he actually was, and regretted it. Jarald took it hard, I think, since Kirsod was like a second dad."

"And what about you..?" Kriel asked with caution.

"I don't know anymore. I just don't know. But we wandered for a while until we listed in the King's Guard, well, I listed and Jarald unwillingly joined. He doesn't like noble folks ever since that day."

"And now you're here." Kriel leaned against the wall. "Through everything that happened, why'd you come here?"

"Because it was the only place left to go that has some safety left."

The king was confused. "Safety..?"

Harald shrugged. "It won't matter to you. Let's get back, shall we?"

Note: Mehehe...okay, this one took a while since I was busy, procastinating, and such. Thanks to my friends though, managed to finish it.

Yeah, lame a cliche, but what else? I like tragic stories...ehehe.

Chapter 5: The Demon's Reign: A past 1

Edit: Fixed the dialog.

"Who's Lord Kriel..?"

"You..you don't know..."

"I'm not smart like you Harald." Jarald, still a bit woozy, snapped at his brother.

"Well, for the start, he's the king. You should know that at least." His brother stated hesiantly.

"WHAT?" A long silence held the room. Harald wondered when Jarald had become so ignorant.

"Hey guys?" Kriel broke the quiet. "I'm standing right here."

"But, you're a kid!"

"And? You're a kid too."

The squire proudly stuck out his chest, and winced from his injuries. "Well, unlike you, Mr. Fancy Pants, I can kill a monster."

"Jarald!"

"Oh? It looks like you're the one who was about to get killed."

"I was NOT." Jarald replied indigantly

"Says the person who DIDN'T get out of the way."

"Guys, guys!" Harald tried to ease the tension between the two. "Shouldn't we try to get along? Besides, Jarald, His Majesty, uh, saved you."

"Oh great." Jarald growled. "Now I'm in debt to some noble. The spawn of that damn bastard of the king. Probably gonna be no good as him."

"Hey! You're not so perfect either!"

"I'm better than any greedy noble. Look how your father did. Do I really expect better from his son?"

"DON'T YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO THAT THING."

The king was about to throw another lecture when Harald tackled Kriel.

"Mmph!"

"Not now."

He dragged the resisting figure out the doorway.

"What's your brother's problem? He's so biased and nasty." Kriel grumbled, "And you didn't have to drag me out. He needs someone to set him right."

"I reaaally don't think you'll have lived with him in that mood."

"Why?"

"He gets kind of..scary. I'll say."

"Still doesn't explain his attitude."

Harald sighed. "I will tell you, but don't tell anyone else, okay?"

"If you don't want me to tell anyone, why are you telling me of all people?"

"Because I feel like I can hold your word for it. Not many people would charge a Ebony Bear just to save some random squire's life."

Kriel shrugged. "Couldn't leave someone to die."

Harald laughed. "Usually, if it's dangerous, no one would risk their life to save someone. Especially Jarald. Not even the Knightmaster. 'He's worthless.' is something we hear a lot."

"That's har-" Kriel recalled his own troubles. Memories resounded..and that moment..the moment where he saw his father push his mom down that hole..and something, something laughed...cruel and amused...

"Your Majesty?" The squire was looking with a worried look on his face. "Are you all right? You look a bit pale..."

"I'm fine!" Kriel snapped. Harald looked startled. ""I-I'm sorry. Just remembered something."

"Well.."said Harald, sitting up. "Is it a meeting or something perhaps? Did we sidetrack you from something important?"

"No..." Desperate to get the attention off, Kriel asked, "So, what's up with your brother."

Harald smiled sadly, as if he were reluctant. "Well...it happened years ago."

We lived in a small village, so small that it wasn't on any map we've heard off. The villagers there worship spirits of the dead, who they believed to foretell the future.

The villagers there had strange predictions. There was one, however, that was effective in our lives.

"When the two arrive, the doom will fall."

My father and mother were running..from something. They hid there, in the village. The villagers did not respond kindly to new residents. And when mother had us, they turned hostile. They believed that we were the two.

'Kill them, or we will kill you all.'

Mother and father were also visited by the lord of the village. Having been bribed by the villagers, and trying to gain profit, he asked them to give us to him, so he could sell us to the villagers who wanted to see us done away with.

'We refuse. We'll leave tomorrow.'

Father and mother fled the angry village, and lived in complete isolation in a forest. We were raised with care, but was taught to fear and be suspicious of people. For the villagers, still unsatisfied, roamed the woods, looking for us. Fortunately, our father used to be a ranger in the king's army, and was a roaming mercenary for years, and managed to hide us away. Until...

'He's been paid, he's coming...run!'

The noble has paid high sums by a stranger to get rid of us. He swept the forest with his men, and found the living place.

'Go! I'll hold them off. Take the two.'

Mother refused.

'I'm staying with you. Harald and Jarald are old enough to know their way around.'

No matter how much he argued, mother stayed. And so we were left, on our own.

The two of us were just a few meters away when the house caught on flames. The noble's men charged upon us.

'MOTHER! FATHER!'

'RUN!'

Not knowing where to go, and following no trails, I dragged Jarald through the darkened forest.

After running for what seemed forever, I finally heard the hoofbeats stop. Tired and still mourning, we collasped under a tree.

'Harald...'

'Yeah..?'

'Are they really gone?'

'I..I don't know...'

'What do we do...?'

'I guess we wait until morning and see if mother and father are still alive.'

The night was long, cold, and unfriendly. Both of us wished this had never happened.

Day came, and we found our way back to the remains.

I found the noble's slain body with father's swan arrow. Picking it up, I held it as I viewed the wreckage. There were many bodies that suffered the same fate. Some had sword slashes though, most likely from mother.

I was still in a daze when I heard Jarald's cry.

'Jarald?!'

Running to the sound, I found him sobbing uncontrollably near a recognizable figure.

It was mother, stabbed through the heart. But something wasn't right. She was a glowing pale white, and there was no blood. The wound was also jagged, not like an actual sword stab.

'Harald..' Jarald had stopped crying and was looking at me with a scared expression.

'I know.'

Something came.

Note: Yippee...more to this lame story. If anyone's reading this, they're probably bored by now.

Cliche beginning, cliche middle, lame ending.

But peoples, THIS WAS HARD.

Yeah.