NARRATOR POV
Across a barren wasteland which recieves alot of rain, but grows almost no vegitation, a village lies. A village that used to be a prosperous trading route before the darkness came, and with it, the devils. With no apparent way to stop the devils until after they appear, the towns of the world are being slowly killed off. They come at night, usually in small numbers, but this night was an exception. They hit several towns at once with large groups, but the town that got hit the hardest was the town of Kahl.
The pouring rain slowly subsides along with the crashing lightning and booming thunder. All that can be heard are sobs from around town. The scream of pain and moans of the injured have already stopped. The injured are all dead from the devils. This latest attacks from the devils was the most devastating one yet. This time the town of Kahl lost thirty people. Ten of which were just children. The guards at the town are skilled, but they are few. It was on this night that the massacre occured that the council decided to meet to find a solution to the devils plague.
COUNCIL POV
"Maybe we should build bunkers for everyone to run to." Suggested Harold.
"They come out of the ground itself." States the leader of the guard, Malcom. "What good would running underground do us? What we should do is find out where they come from and kill them. But we have insufficient manpower to defend, let alone take the fight to them." He says the last part more to himself than to the others.
Coughing to clear her throat, Yria draws everyones attention. "What is the word of the other towns? Have they found anything useful?" Her voice soft and quiet, the rest of them are forced to lean in and strain themselves to hear her words.
"Maybe. The town of Gyik reports that they found a strange door in the hills that was not there several weeks ago. Furthermore they saw two guys and a girl come walking through. Strangely dressed is what reports say. Our reports of most of the other towns report that they are gone. Aside from Gyik the next nearest town is several months journey."
"Thank you Gyberon. I think we should send someone over there to investigate further and find this trio. Unless anyone has any better ideas?"
"Madame Yria, once again you find a solution before any of us, but who should we send?"
Speaking for the first time, Brehjite startles them all. "I would have to suggest three people for the job. Although the duties they normally do are very useful they are the first ones that come to mind." She rasps her fingernails along a walking stick on her lap before continuing. "Those individuals are Alluicius, Renda, and Vern."
"I am not familiar with these individuals Yria. Could you please enlighten me?"
"Fine Malcom. Renda is fast on her feet and just as fast with her bow. She is one of our top scouts and hunters. Vern is an proud member of the Magatoria, which as you are all aware is full of our best scholars, mages and healers. And as for Alluicius, like his deceased father he helps to keep parts of the city free from Slavers. I believe you knew his father Suvik."
"Suvik, yes a great friend, and a greater man. May his soul rest in peace. If those are the ones chosen by you I support them then."
"If there are no objections tthen we are concluded on this matter." Pausing for several moments Yria moves on. "Then it is settled, send some messengers to these people. Now on to other matters of importance."
Once the messengers had their orders they dispersed and went to the homes of the individuals. The trio had there mission before sunrise and when they awoke they prepared.
MY POV
My name is Alluicius. I was woken up during the night by a messenger with a note from the Council. After reading the note I went back to bed to prepare for a long and dangerous journey. After I woke up and got dressed, I went about gathering everything I would need. The food supplies were basic, some dried Pew and several canisters of Cij to wash it down with. I picked up the sword I have wielded since childhood and left the house with extra clothes. As I walk towards the meeting point in the center of town at the Church's steps I walk past friends and neighbors waving at me from their windows and doors, all wishing me luck while saying goodbye. Several of my female friends have tears in their eyes as they call out to me. Once I get past the gates leading to the Church there are no more people around. Already sitting on the steps are my companions whom I do not know. One of them is leaning against the wall with arms crossed. And the other one is sitting on the steps reading a thick book. My footsteps ring on the stone ground as I head towards them. The the one leaning against the wall looks up and I can tell from the face that it is a girl. The other one slams the book closed before standing up.
"You finally arrived. Now we can get aquainted with each other. I am Vern."
The girl looks downwards while she tells us her name. "I'm Renda."
"I am Alluicius. Now that that is over, shall we be off?"
"Whatever, you arrived last man." He places his book inside his robe. "I was told that we have to head to the town of Gyik. Lets us be off now, the sooner we get done the better."
Without waiting for distractions we departed for the gate. When we approach it the guard at the gate opened it up for us. As we walked past he places his right fist in his left palm and places them over his chest, the salute used by the guard. This is both an honor and a sign that he wishes us the best of luck.
"All right everyone, from what I was told the town of Gyik is about two days travel from here. I know the way so as long as you follow me we will be there in no time." He continues by mumbling to himself. "So long as the information is correct on the map."
Vern looks over at Renda while he says this. Then he looks forwards and pushes his spectacles back up on his nose. I take this time to get a look at who is accompanying me. Vern is walking beside me, in the green robes of a middle ranking member of the Magitoria, he has a red bandana across his forehead forcing his bangs to go over it His black hair runs down to his shoulders. He has a small beard below his mouth that lacks emotion. His skin is pale, from spending too much time inside the Magitoria. This causes his blue eyes to stick out. If he was sent to accompany us then he must be a skilled mage. Turning my attention to Renda the first thing I notice is her red hair, which is mostly hidden underneath her hat. Red haired people are rare in our town. She has some blue earings that look like they were made from some gems, one on each ear. Above those are green bars with another blue earing above those. Her skin is tanned from being in the wastelands hunting. Her eye color is also rare in our town, they are a soft but strong yellow. She has quiver full of arrows which look to be of a special make. She is deffinitely a skilled archer. And then there is me. My outfit was custom made for the mercenary type work that I do. My shirt is sleeveless and is made from a sturdy yet lightweight animal skin, the skin of a Pew. I have a shoulder guard on my right shoulder and a wrist guard with a built in dagger on the same arm. I attached some armor of similar design to my belt on either side of my hip. I have spiky brown hair with green eyes. I am neither as pale as Vern nor as tannedas Renda. I prefer to use my sword, which is three and a half feet long with a three inch thick blade. At the tip it curves back several inches allowing swift cutting at a distance. The guard on the sword is four sharp points that aim towards the tip of the blade.
Walking out across the wasteland we see an ocean of weeds mixing with the rocks and hills. In the far distance we see mountains rising up threatening to block out the sun. The mountains would be a perfect area to get attacked by the devils.
We walk down the path in silence, listening to the wind howl at us, sounding almost as if it is demanding that we turn back. Not daring to look back, afraid that we will still see our home despite hours of walking over treacherous terrain. The mountains slowly loom closer, appearing smaller than they did when we left Kahl, such is the effect of the wasteland.
Night seems to fall faster in the wasteland and we soon find ourselves standing in the dark.
"That... was rather... sudden..." I go silent after saying this while I looka bout attempting to see the stars or anything. I can hear Vern mumbling something, probably just cussing our the darkness. But what he does is not what I thought, instead of cussing out the darkness he created a fireball in his hand, which currently has a glove on it. He must have put that on during the falling darkness. The light from the fireball illuminates a small area around us letting us see for about ten feet.
"Look there." In the darkness Vern and I can barely see where she is pointing, but when we follow her finger we see a light in the distance. One that is a short way off of our path to Gyik.
"I do not think we should head that way, it is off of our path."
"Vern, If that is what I think it is, then it is a hunting village."
"Renda, you never seem to say much, but I think it would be a good idea to get out of the darkness. And with a vote of two to one we shall head there."
"Two to one? whos two votes. I didn't vote for... wait you mean you and Renda right...?"
"Lets go." She turns in that directions without waiting for us and starts to walk off. She stops when she reaches the edge of the light. I follow behind her until I am at the end of the light. Vern sighs before he follows us. About an hour later we finally make it to the light. It is a hunting village, with most of it burning to the ground.
"Did the devils do this, or something worse...?" I ask this question and they give no answer, They must silently be thinking the same thing.
"It was bandits." We whirl around to find a girl standing there. She looks younger than the rest of us, maybe mid to late teens. She has a blanket wrapped over her, but from the way she leans against a broken wall for support it is obvious she is injured.
"Bandits? I didn't think they were in this area." After I say this she mutters something that I did not understand, possibly a rude comment directed at me. She falls away from the wall and lands in the street. While she is falling the blanket drifts away from her, caught by the breeze. Without the blanket I can see that she is even more injured than I thought. She has a gash across her back, which is still bleeding, several cuts and scrapes litter her arms and legs. Her clothes look in no better shape than she does.
"Stand back. Let me take a look at her I might be able to help." Renda and I step aside so that Vern can walk over to her. He stops next to her and kneels down. He starts to mutter things while he places his hands above her, a green light starts to emit from his hands and her cuts and scrapes close up. "She should get better after she gets rest and something to eat." He looks over towards us, our eyes and faces glowing red and orange from the flickering flames. "If we leave her she will die, but if we take her it will slow us down, I'll leave it up to the two of you."
Renda and I look at each other. "What do you think Renda?"
At first her only answer is silence. When she does speak it is quiet, even for the night. "Bring her." Looking up from the ground momentarily she makes eye contact before looking down again. "Your thoughts?"
"I do not know if our reasons are the same, but our decision is."
"Sounds like the two of you made up your minds. Watch over her and I will see if I can find somewhere in this town that has not yet been destroyed." As he walks off we set her up against a wall and sit beside her. Renda has gone back to her silent self, just watching and listening to our surroundings. She has her bow in her left hand and an arrow in her right. She reminds me of the assassins I have heard about; silently waiting for their pray, always ready to strike.
"I guess it is something worse than the devils." She only nods in agreement to my statement. She must not be used to company.