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.