Beginning of the End

Chapter 1

Fire.

That word kept echoing through CaptainSparklez's head as he trudged across the forest. He didn't know where he was going or why he was still moving. All he had ever remembered was gone within a few minutes. His family, his friends, even his home; it was all gone. He shouldn't have had any motivation to move on, but something told him to keep going, to simply just survive another day. He could still smell the awful stench of blood and ashes. Captain remembered the screams piercing through the smoke. He remembered running away, just barely escaping. He tried to ignore it, but it kept coming back every time he stopped thinking of it.

Captain barely had any energy left to move on, his legs felt like logs posted onto his torso. He could barely feel his arms, or any part of his body for that matter. As far as he knew, he was covered in blood and burn wounds from the fire. That word again… fire. He tried to forget about it and just move on, but what else was there to focus on? The next thing he knew, his energy was spent, and he collapsed onto the ground. His vision blinked out, and the last thing heard before he lost consciousness was the voice of a man that said something he couldn't hear.

-=+#+=-

Sky looked at the devastation of the village and wondered if anyone could have survived. He doubted the thought though; the place was completely destroyed by the raging fire. Smoke still streamed from the embers scattered everywhere, and the bodies that were lying around sent a shiver down Sky's spine. The only sign that a village had been there before were the burnt wooden planks lying here and there. Sky wondered what could have caused such a fire, but he knew it wasn't any natural cause. The eerie cloud cover shrouded the place with despair. He looked at his companions: Deadlox, Jerome, and Bajan; who had come with him on their horses to investigate the fire, and said, "Nothing's here other than death, I think we should go back."

"But shouldn't we at least try to look for any survivors?" Deadlox questioned. Sky turned to look at him.

"Look at this place! We would be wasting our time here," Sky reasoned, holding out a hand towards the destroyed town.

"I agree with Sky," Bajan piped in. "What is the chance of any survivors?"

"Let us go back now, the city is waiting to hear what happened," Sky said finally before sending him and his horse back towards the City of the SkyArmy. The others started to follow through the dense forest.

-=+#+=-

On his way back to the city, Sky saw something lying on the ground in a pile of death leaves. He halted his horse, then held up his hand to stop the others behind him and exclaimed, "I found something guys, hold up right there." And with that, he jumped off his horse and started to walk over to the thing.

As he got closer, he saw that it was the body of a man on his stomach, and on the realization of that, he rushed over. When Sky got to the body, he flipped him onto his back and checked for any signs of life. He saw the man's chest rising and lowering, he was breathing. Sky looked to his companions and yelled, "Hey! I found a body over here, and he's breathing!"

With that, Jerome, Bajan, and Deadlox rushed over to Sky and the man with concerned faces. Jerome seemed to have been studying the man for a while until finally saying, "He doesn't look good at all, we should bring him to the infirmary in the city."

"I will carry him on my horse, the rest of you can go ahead to the city," Sky offered. He looked at the man and how beat up he looked. The man had burn wounds all over him, and he was caked in blood and dirt. He looked fatigued. Sky rushed him onto his horse and rode towards this city, following his companions.

-=+#+=-

Captain's eyes fluttered open as he woke up on a pile of cloth and sheets. He craned his aching neck to look around the room and saw that he was in a small wooden room with a stout chair. No one else was in the room except for a man garbed in mostly gray and black clothing with a single purple amulet on a necklace going around his neck. The mysterious man looked at him from his seat on the chair with eyes covered in glasses. "Finally, you are awake. You have been out for some time I must say," the man said.

"W-who are you?" Captain asked.

The man chuckled. "My name is Sky, but the real question is who are you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "And did you come from that village that burnt down?"

Captain turned to face Sky better. "I am CaptainSparklez," he managed and then continued with, " and yes, I did come from that village."

Sky nodded and said, "I thought so, you look pretty burnt up." With that, Captain looked at his body and saw bandages all over him that were soaking up blood. "Luckily, none of your bones were broken," Sky continued in a cheerful tone as if to give some good news.

Captain didn't care about that good news though, all he cared about was everything that was now lost from him. He wished he could find out what had caused the flames to start, but nothing came to his head.

"I will tell the others that you have gained consciousness," Sky said finally after what seemed like a long pause. Captain tried to sit up, but his wounds immediately started to hurt. He moaned and lay back down."Just rest for a while and regain your strength," Sky said. "I won't be too long." With that, Sky walked out of the room, leaving Captain alone to think about what had happened.

Captain thought about the village and how awful the fire had been. Flames covered the houses, turning them and anyone inside them into ashes. He tried to rush the thoughts away, but they kept coming back. Fire. That word kept coming back to him like a horrid nightmare that wouldn't go away. Captain got lost in his thoughts and the next thing he knew he had fallen back to sleep.

His dream was like no other he had had before.

He was standing in a cave that seemed to tunnel on forever in front of him. There was no iron, or even any coal. The cave was completely empty, making it almost seem useless. He was surprised to see he had no more burnt marks on his skin, only his casual clothes. He had no pickaxe or sword to wield so any monster could attack him and he would be vulnerable. Captain felt a strange presence behind him, an ancient and evil feeling that sent a shiver down his spine. He swiftly turned around only to see a man.

The man was like no other Captain had seen before though. The man was wearing a simple blue shirt with darker blue pants, but his eyes were completely white. Those eyes bore into Captain's very being even though it was just a dream. It was as if the man was real.

Then a voice suddenly echoed through Captain's head. It was evil and ancient, Captain knew it was. The man never opened his mouth, but Captain knew the voice was someone coming from the man in front of him. The voice simply said, You will not defeat me.

With that, his vision fluttered back to reality and there he was, back in the room.