Chapter 7

It feels like burning torches are being drilled into my eyes when the creature looks at me. But even as painful as it felt, I couldn’t close my eyes or even turn away. It only looked at me for a moment before turning its head but for that moment that seemed unending, I wasn’t in control of myself. The creature’s head was completely bald and the shape of its face slightly resembled a human’s to me at first but it was distorted in a way that removed anything humanlike. Where its nose should have been were just two large empty dark holes that I’m pretty sure I could have stuck my fist into. When the creature looked at me, it was snarling and I could see its sharp, yellowed teeth as well as long fangs that extended all the way to the bottom of its jaw. When I saw these teeth it slightly reminded me of the pigs back at the farm. Since I had to sleep right next to them, I could sometimes see their dirty, dark yellow, gnarled teeth and this creature had similar teeth. The creature’s head was round and on the left side of its head, I could see a huge dark hole where its ear should have been and for whatever reason, I had a tiny urge to stick my head into it to see what was inside. The most memorable feature on the creature’s face had to be its eyes. They were red and glowing, like burning charcoals that pierced through the fog and could even see through my body. When the creature ran past the tree, I could see a chain flying through the air behind it.

I didn’t notice a chain before because I was fully fixated on the creature and memorizing what I saw but I got another chance to see it immediately after because a moment after the creature disappeared into the fog, another identical creature passed our tree. This time I could see a black metallic collar wrapping around the second creature’s thick neck. On the collar itself were strange bright orange symbols that seemed to burn. Wait, they really were burning. I could see the symbols move around slightly in a manner exactly like flames in a campfire. The symbols were orange one moment and then bright red the next. The back of the collar had a chain attached to it seemingly made of the same black metal the collar was made of and it was pulled taut. Actually, I could still see the chain from the first creature and it was pulled taut as well. This second creature didn’t turn to look at us but instead kept charging forward and right as it disappeared into the fog, it roared with all its might shaking my eardrums once again. Before the ringing in my ears went away, I heard several more identical cries right behind the second creature and before long, dozens of the ash colored monstrous beings ran past our tree.

I held my breath because I felt that just one of these creatures could crush our tree under its foot, killing us instantly, but these numbers wouldn’t just kill us, they’d erase us from existence. We’d be reduced to a blood smear on the ground if they chose to come in our direction. There were tens, no, hundreds of these creatures that looked exactly the same as each other charging in the same direction and what was even more worrying was every single one of them were being controlled by whatever held the chains. About three minutes go by and hundreds of these ash colored creatures stomp past our tree and all I can see now are the chains gathering in one place that’s just about to pass in front of me.

I can’t see whatever is holding those chains. It just looks like an enormous shadow but there’s nothing distinguishable about it. I can’t even see its head or any arms or any legs, there’s nothing there. The ends of all the chains sort of just end inside of the center of the shadow, right about where the stomach would be if it was a person. Oddly enough, the shadow doesn’t move as quickly as the creatures pulling it as it kind of glides across the ground without touching it. Nothing changes as it passes by my tree but all of a sudden, I can’t breathe. It’s looking at me. I don’t know how I know it’s looking at me but it’s looking at me and it hurts. My heart feels like it’s about to explode and I can feel my entire body collapsing into itself. When I open my eyes, the shadow is gone. I don’t even remember closing my eyes but when they’re open, the pain stops and I can breathe normally again. Well, not really normally as I’m forcefully gulping for air. It feels like I haven’t taken a breath for hours and just remembered how to breathe. My whole body is covered in cold sweat and I’ve pissed myself again. The warmth from my pants actually feels pleasant right now. The fog dissipates as quickly as it came in and the sunshine on my face has never felt so good before.

“Holy fucking shit.”

“Holy shit!” I shouted in surprise because I had completely forgotten Wraine even existed. “I forgot you were here.”

“You’re so fucking dumb. Whatever. Did you see that just now?”

“Yeah I saw everything. The fucking gray monsters scared the shit out of me but the shadow looked at me I think and it made me piss myself.”

“So that’s what that smell was. What do you mean by the shadow?”

“All the monsters were chained up right? After all of them passed us, a shadow holding the ends of all the chains passed right in front of us. There’s no way you didn’t see it.”

“You saw a shadow? That’s fucking creepy. I saw a beautiful naked lady riding a chariot holding all the chains. She had long, black hair that sort of absorbed the light around it I guess. It wasn’t just black but I don’t know how to explain it well. Like it was so dark that it wasn’t supposed to exist I think. And then her skin was so pale it looked like she’s stayed inside her house her whole life and never let the sun shine on her. And then her tits, holy fuck were her tits great.” Wraine grasped the air in front of his chest emphasizing the woman’s supposed large bust. “I’ve never seen a better pair of tits in my life. I’ve never seen that many to begin with but I know these tits were great and she had these perfect little pink-” He stops when he notices my glare. “Anyways, she was the most beautiful woman I think I’ve ever seen.” Wraine stopped talking and it looked like he was lost in his fantasies.

“Dear fucking gods man, she was probably a monster or a ghost and you’re getting hard over her. Tell me about the chariot. What the fuck’s a chariot?” I ask in exasperation.

“I saw one once in a picture book from a traveling merchant that was doing business in Misanth. It’s like a wooden cart kind of but doesn’t have a back side. I think it used to be used for wars but people have stopped using it for a long time now. Just think of half of a wooden cart with two wheels and that’s what she was riding. It was also a weird color too. It looked white but just saying it looked white doesn’t explain it well. It felt like it was so white that no other color in the world ever touched it I guess. I don’t know, that’s just what I thought when I saw her and her chariot.”

“Did she look at you?”

“Yeah she did, that’s why I said she was beautiful because I saw her face when she looked at me. Her lips were red like blood, she had a perfect little nose, and her ears were the cutest ears I’ve ever seen. Her eyebrows were straight and the same color as her hair. And then her eyes, holy shit her eyes. They looked like the night sky, just a beautiful black and I swear I could see stars shining in them. Do you think we’ll be able to see her again?”

“What in the fucking blazing hells is wrong with you? I’m over here pissing myself in fear and you’re over there falling in love. How the fuck did we see different things in the first place?”

“What can I say? Women love me and she only showed me her true self because she thought I was cute.” Wraine had a huge grin on his face and if my hands weren’t still shaking from what just happened, I’d have the mind to beat him until I couldn’t see that grin anymore.

“We’re going back to the river for the night. I need to wash myself and my legs are shaking too badly to go any further.”

The two of us climb down the tree and after taking a minute to calm myself down, I walk over to where the parade of darkness just occurred. Looking at the ground, the nearby vegetation, and checking the nearby trees, there’s no sign of anything. The trees are fine even though they should have been knocked down by the creatures, the grass and plants look normal even though they should have been trampled, and the ground doesn’t show any signs of having been stepped on by anything besides the both of us. It feels like a dream.

After spending the last few hours of daylight backtracking to the river, I strip off all my clothes and jump into the water. The river itself isn’t too deep and I can feel my feet touch the bottom of it while the water doesn’t go past my waist. I have to make sure I never go too deep into any water now because a few days ago I learned that I don’t know how to swim and Wraine had to jump in and save me. He’s even tried a few times to teach me how to swim but the feeling of letting my feet leave solid ground freaks me out and I start panicking. I’ll learn eventually. Once I feel clean enough, I leave the water just as Wraine gets the campfire started. After the first failure right outside of Misanth when he had a breakdown, he’s been practicing diligently ever since and he can get a fire started now within ten minutes. Grabbing my linen pants, I give it a halfhearted wash in the river before grabbing a wooden stick and wrapping the pants around it. I prop up the stick next to the growing fire and squat down next to it as well, trying to warm up. I never realized how much I liked washing myself since leaving the farm. Living right beside pigs will distort your need for cleanliness I suppose.

Having dried myself, I give my linen shirt a sniff before putting it back on, it’ll be fine for another few days. I like feeling clean but at the same time my sense of smell has been distorted as well and I don’t mind the minor odors anymore. Wraine told me not to wash leather clothing too often or else it’ll get ruined and I haven’t, I only washed it once and that was just to get the blood and dead body smell out. When the linen pants are done drying, I put them back on as well as the leather vest, pants, shoes, and I tie my hair back with the string. After eating another handful of assorted flora from his bag, I lay down and closed my eyes, visualizing what I saw today.

The image of hundreds of black metal chains pulled taut by a shadow is horrifically disturbing and utterly mesmerizing at the same time. One of the main reasons I left the farm was because I knew that if I stayed there, I could never fully realize my dreams. The beatings were a pretty important reason as well, but seeing those fantastical sights in my dreams fueled a burning desire in my heart to strive for greatness, to search for and serve a greater purpose. I started dreaming about that city ever since I could remember and that was when I was being passed around from house to house in Abermock, no one willing to take me in for more than a few days at once. I don’t blame them. I was what, three or four winters old and couldn’t do anything to help around the house. My blood red hair didn’t help me in any way and based on some gossip I heard when I was a bit older, my parents kept to themselves when they moved to Abermock until they were both found dead in our home from illness.

The neighbors found me next to the bodies, alive and free from sickness but nearly dead from starvation. In a village like that, keeping to yourself breeds rumors and the most prevailing one was that my parents were cultists who worshiped Zephira, the Sanguine Goddess, which although flimsy, could explain my hair color as both my parents had dark colored hair. The villagers made up a pretty interesting backstory and described how my cultist parents were escaping from inquisitors from the Church of the Inextinguishable Light when they ended up arriving in Abermock. Although it sounds interesting, it didn’t help me fit in with the villagers and I ended up with Augustine in the end. Even at a young age, I knew being different from others would get you hurt which is why I never told anyone about my dreams. They just stayed my little secret and nourished my growing ambitions to leave the mundane and embrace the extraordinary. I don’t even have any plans to tell Wraine anytime soon. Why would I?

Opening my eyes while still lying down on the ground, I look up at the night sky and the beautiful full moon out tonight and I slowly come to accept just how insignificant I am compared to the rest of the world. I nearly died during that ambush a week ago. I should have died. Surviving that ambush and escaping that corpse pile were miraculous and I can’t count on those every time something happens. No matter how magnificent the city in my dreams is, I’ll never be able to reach those extraordinary heights if I’m dead. I don’t want to be a farm hand pretending to be a soldier again, I don’t want someone else dictating my death, if anything, I want to be the one in control of others’ deaths. If I die doing what I want while I’m trying to reach my dreams, then so be it, at least I died trying to become something better, something great. But how do I go about doing that?

“Wraine, you still awake?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“I’ve decided, I’m going to become a king.”

“Okay buddy, whatever you say.” He says with a chuckle. This little bitch.