Nights of Fire: Black Scourge
Ch.1 The Night Circle
The Lord that lived at the base of the mountain walked into the town that Lord Rien and his daughter Lady Sell lived. The young girl followed after him from the mountain pass and clung to his hand for protection. They walked through the town and headed towards the back part of the outer town where the farms were located. The little girl stared at all the cows and sheep that grazed in pens full of lush grass, watched farmers ride their horses as they went up and down the fence line looking for bad wood, watched farmers plant crops and take in their harvests. She had never seen such big farms before nor had she seen how much a horse helped the Minecraftian's.
"This is amazing!" she cried out in happiness. "I've never seen so many animals in one place before!"
The Lord chuckled. "I take it you've never left the mountain pass?"
The girl shook her head. "Never. I've always wanted to go explore though! I hear all these stories of battles with the things that come out at night and how they find jewels and riches in caves and dungeons!"
"It's great fun to be an adventurer," the Lord smiled as they began to come upon Lord rien's farm. "We're here."
The girl looked about watching the cows graze and moo at them. Some horses were in their own field taking it easy, sheep and pigs were scattered about in their own pens resting or eating. It didn't matter. All the animals were happy. Her face beamed with excitement. "He's a farmer! Does he have a dog?"
The Lord shook his head. "He hates dogs. Never could train them very well."
He pushed open the gate letting the little girl go in first before following behind and shutting the gate behind. The front door opened and Lord Rien's wife greeted them. "Ah! Welcome! You must be one of Rien's friends?"
The Lord nodded. "Yes ma'am. Is he home by chance?"
She shook her head with a frown. "He left with our children, Lones and his son to go someplace. To see another friend that moved out into the desert. I don't know when they'll be back."
"The desert?" the Lord repeated. "You mean the desert that's just Northwest of here?"
She nodded. "Yes. Why?"
When he was about to reply a strong feeling hit him. There was an urgent cry for help to all Lord's. He gasped touching his chest as it sent chills through him. "I have to go. Will you watch her for just a moment? I have to quickly run an errand. She needs to see your husband about something!" The Lord turned sprinting away, leaping the gate without opening it. "I'll be back! Stay there!"
The girl and Rien's wife watched him sprint away. The girl looked to the woman and smiled. "There was a urgency for him. Something happened."
Rien's wife ushered her inside and made small talk with her, fixing her a sandwhich and getting to know her. They exchanged names and began to become friends as girls often did with one another.
"Where did you come from?" Aumi asked her with a smile.
"The mountains near the pass." The small girl replied drinking the warm milk. "It's cold up there."
"I bet it is. We get your snow every winter." Aumi sipped her tea and looked over the rim of her cup. "Your snow is harsh on my flowers. Did you know that?"
The little girl nodded. "It's harsh on ours too. It's why we transplant them into the green house."
Aumi stopped and set down her cup. "I think I'll get my kids and husband to make me one of those. They are good all year round, right?"
The girl nodded. "All year."
The gate outside could be heard opening; a bunch of running was also heard. Aumi stood going to the door. Fists banged on the door urgently. "Ma'am!"
She opened the door to see the same man from before. "Oh, you're back!"
"Your daughter, husband and your husband's friend has been badly injured. You need to come to the hospital right away!" he said breathlessly.
She stood there as a hand went to her mouth. "What…?"
Before she knew it she was standing in the emergency room leaning over a counter at a curly haired nurse. "I need to know where Sell, Lones, and Rien are."
The woman glanced at her before flipping through sheets of paper. "Down the hall, take a right then take a left. Go all the way down and they are on each side."
The child grasped the Lord's hand as they sprinted off through the hospital to stand before the three rooms. The door opened to one and Toc stepped out wiping away tears. He looked up to see his mother standing there worried. They embraced tightly; Toc murmured to his mother that it was going to be ok.
"What happened?" Aumi asked stepping away from him.
"We got into a huge fight. Well not me and Des but Sell, dad and Lones defended us. They saved us. Me, Des, and Skelar. Sell… You should've seen her mom! She took on this guy singlehandedly in the Nether!"
Aumi blinked at him not understanding anything he was saying. "What are you talking about? Who attacked you? The Nether?"
The Lord gave a frown at Toc but Toc ignored it. He stopped then and covered his mouth. "I've said too much. You weren't supposed to know."
"I better damn know since it's my daughter and my husband that lay in the hospital injured!" she snapped making him flinch. "Tell me right now!"
The Lord placed a hand on her shoulder and walked her outside to the waiting room. "I'll explain."
Toc stood there watching the Lord sit down with his mother and talk things over with her. He left them alone and went back into his dad's room to watch over him. Des had taken Sell's room to make sure she was alright. She had sustained more injuries than their father and Lones combined. It would be some time before she was going to be up and about.
The little girl stepped into Sell's room quietly. Des looked over at her and smiled. "Hello. May I help you?"
"I'm looking for her. I was told to come and tell her about Sister Spirit and the bad guy that took her and our sisters away."
Des turned his whole body towards her. "Six women? I think I know who you're talking about. One had fiery red hair, a blonde, brunette, orange, tan, grey, and silver?"
The girl nodded excitedly. "You saw them?"
He placed a finger to his lips to calm her and nodded. "Sell is too injured to talk right now. You'll have to wait. Once she comes around I'll tell her. Who are you anyways?"
"I'm Los." Her eyes lit up brightly when she spoke her name.
Des smiled holding out his hand. "Des."
She took his hand and shook it gently. "Nice to meet you. I met your brother, Toc."
"Yeah, he's taking care of my dad." Des said looking depressed. "We were beaten pretty badly by Hatos."
Los looked past him towards Sell. She stepped around him going closer to her. She moved a strand of hair from her face, her eyes looking at all the bandages covering her body. "Who is this Hatos?"
"A man that locked me and Skelar away to be used but never got around to doing it. Sell, dad, and Lones came to save us."
Los turned to him. Her eyes in question. "Hatos uses people? He used my sisters?"
"He is." Spoke a voice quietly.
Los turned towards the corner that was shadowed to see a man leaning there, his eyes closed. "I didn't see you there. Gave me a startle."
Hel opened his eyes staring only at Sell. "I do that. So, your sisters have been taken by the Dark Lord and you are here seeking Lady Sell's help but she's unable to help at the moment. What's your next course of action?"
"Wait." Los said with a small smile. "I don't mind. Sell is the one I've come for and I shall get. I can't let my sisters down."
Hel stared at the little girl, looking her over carefully. She carried herself with purpose, determined to get her job done and her sisters saved. He could tell she wasn't going to leave even if they wanted her gone. He looked to Des who sat in his chair frowning. He sighed tilting his head up to the ceiling tiredly.
He had been given a fractured skull, three fractured ribs or something like that, a fractured arm, fractured leg, and one missing k-9 that would be growing back in time. He was told he had come out of this fight lucky but he wished he had taken more damage instead of Sell. He was beating himself up for not finishing off the brothers faster and being there to aid Sell but he didn't think Hatos had gotten more help or had created all of those creatures with the help of those Dark Orbs. He hadn't realized how unprepared they all were.
No one had expected Hatos to get away scott free and be in the Minecraft world. His hands clenched his upper arms. Pain shot through his left arm making him flinch and relax it. "Damn it. Fuck Hatos!"
Des looked back at Hel as he passed by and went outside the room to disappear from view. Los sat at the edge of Sell's bed watching her breath. "I'm sorry I've come at such a bad time for you, Lady Sell. I've come with a plea for help. My sisters need your help in being rescued from this Hatos, whom you battled with."
Des and Los watched the woman's chest go up and down taking in new breath, her body striving to live. Los took Sell's hand and squeezed it. "You must save them. It's up to you, Lady Sell!"
Des stepped from the room with Los as the door shut behind them. "I think it's best if you went home with my mom."
He stepped past her to open the door of his father's room. Aumi sat in a chair next to her husbands bed sniffling. "I take it you're staying the night?"
Aumi nodded to her son with teary eyes. "I have too. I can't leave him in this shape, Des."
Des nodded. "Where's Toc? It's time he relieved himself from here and went home." Des turned at the soft steps that approached from in the hall. His brother stood there. "Toc, I want you to take Los back home. Make sure the house is good. Feed the animals."
Toc nodded. "Come, Los."
Los took his hand. "It'll be ok. Lady Sell will survive this. As will Lord Rien."
"Lord Rien," Aumi whispered as fresh tears spilled down her face. "How could you take up such a job and not tell me? How? And including our daughter?" She cried putting her head in her hands. "Rien…! My only daughter! Why?"
Toc and Des watched their mother cry over what she had been told by the Lord. Los let go of Toc's hand and entered the room. She handed a bottle to the woman. "Take this. It'll help you."
Aumi looked at her and the bottle. She took the bottle wondering what it was. Los smiled. "Drink a sip and nothing more. If you drink more than just a sip you might not wake up for quite some time."
Aumi gawked at this, her body began shaking. Los grasped her hands to wrap around the bottle. Aumi began crying, fear within her that wouldn't let go. "Rien…Rien…!"
Los smiled knowing something about Aumi that others didn't. "Do as I say, Sell's mother. It'll help you rest and have a clear head tomorrow."
Toc and Des looked at one another wondering about Los before she turned around and left Aumi. She looked up at Toc, taking his hand and guiding him away. "Come on, brother. Let's let sister Sell rest."
"Brother?" muttered Toc looking behind him at his brother who looked slightly amused at the little girl. "You're going to help me right? Des? Right?"
Des only waved at him from the doorway chuckling. "Take care. Hold down the fort."
"Des!" Toc called out as he was pulled around the corner and out of sight.
Des mused himself before turning back and heading to his sisters room. 'Los is quiet a strange girl but for some reason I think she knows all that's going on without us telling her much.' He looked out the window at the distant wall of the town. 'It creeps me out to say that she isn't normal but then again dad and Sell aren't either.'
Toc walked down the gravel road with Los next to him. They had been walking in silence for the longest time. He stared ahead into the distance, hands in his pockets. His mind raced on questions that dealt with his dad and Sell. 'Are you going to be ok, Sell? Will you smile to us when you wake up? Say, Sell, what will be your first words when you see us?'
"Are Lord Rien and Lady Sell the only ones that live here?"
Toc looked down at her with a confused look at her question. "Oh! Yes. Other Lord's live nearby in other towns and cities. They travel here from time to time to hold meetings. Lord Rien and Lady Sell are the two main speakers though."
Los looked out at the farm that Lord Rien owned. "Can't anyone else lead them?"
Toc shrugged. "I don't know. I never thought that this sort of thing would fall upon them."
"Can't you?" she asked turning up to him.
He shook his head. "No. I'm not a Skeletal Lord nor am I part of the race. It's only for blood members."
"Why?"
"That sounds so stupid, you know that?"
"But it's all so strange to me to have this big of an organization and there's only two people in the organization that can speak."
Toc stared at the sky, watching the clouds pass over them. "That's true. I've never thought about that before. Then again, I've never thought about the organization to begin with."
He felt pain in his side as he was struck. "Ah! Ow!"
Los huffed at him. "Think more! Sell and your dad are lying on a bed badly injured!"
Toc frowned at her as he dropped to a knee. "The organization isn't that simple if they only have two people as spokes people. You think about it."
He rose and pushed open the fence gate before going inside the house. Los followed after him thinking over the organization's situation. What if Hatos were to attack and use more people? What if she was taken and used? Sell wouldn't be able to save her nor anyone else that needs it.
Lord Rien wouldn't be able to either. Who then would step up? The door was left open for her. She looked around at the kitchen just as they had left it just a while ago. As Toc fixed them some food she went upstairs to look around.
Opening the first door on her left she noticed a small room that someone slept in. There were picture frames around the room of the family and of others. She picked one frame up that appealed to her, basked in the setting sun's light. She saw Sell and the man from before that had spoken very little before leaving the room. What was he to her?
She set the picture back on the table and looked at the others. It was Sell and her family at different gatherings or outside playing. They all looked so happy and content. These didn't have the man like the picture on the table had. There were solely Sell and her family.
'I guess he came later.' She thought looking out the window next to the table. It looked out at the wall and beyond a distant field with a few sheep wandering about. 'Her boyfriend?' She looked at the picture studying it. 'No. He'd have a more loving look in his eyes. They're just friends. He seems to protect her though. The way he holds his arm about her shoulders in this picture is of a protective friendly measure.'
Footsteps from Toc made her turn around and see him holding a plate of sandwiches. "Hungry?"
The two sat at the table eating. Los looked up at him as she swallowed a bite. "Who's the boy in this picture with Sell?"
"Hel," Toc replied over his bite. "He protects Sell and quite well."
"A bodyguard?" Los asked looking at the boy in the picture. "Is he blood to the organization?"
Toc shook his head putting his sandwich down. "He's a werewolf that's been genetically altered by my dad. He and Sell have been good friends for years. Dad left him at the mansion though, to protect it and defend it from robbers. Sell found him once again and brought him with her back home." Toc scratched the stubble at his chin with a look that seemed lost as he thought back to the younger days. "Hel… Loves Sell and won't ever leave her side if he can help it. That's how attached they are."
"So they really are lovers then?"
Los's question made Toc look at her funny. "Huh? Hel and Sell? No! It's against a Minecraftian code! Plus werewolves aren't known to be so tame.
"I keep expecting Hel to break free of his collar but he never removes it. Not once has he ever raised a hand against us. I don't understand it."
Los thought back to when Hel made himself known in the hospital room. How he had gotten furious over her injuries and had walked out to be alone. She took a bite out of her sandwich lost in thought.
As night fell upon the town, dark figures moved in silence and disappeared into a building. An iron door shut and all cloak hood were pushed back. The Lord's had all gathered together to hold a meeting about Lones, Rien and Lady Sell's conditions. An eastern Lord took the podium. His sand colored swept back hair glowed beneath the light above.
"Gentlemen! We gather here tonight to talk over our two Lord's and our Lady's progress in the hospital. Lady Sell has not woken from her unconscious state and neither has Lord Rien. Lord Lones has woken one time but not anymore, he's fallen into a coma."
Murmurs of surprise and worry went through the Lord's throughout the room. There were new faces among the Lord's seeing as how the news of the great battle between Sell and the Lord of the Darkness had traveled far. Distant Lord's from farther out were there tonight to hear more of the things that were going on.
"We must guard these lands vigilantly. Keep aware of all the evil that comes out at night and we must not bite off more than we can chew!" the eastern Lord ordered.
"What is to become of this town since the protectors are injured?"
"Should some stay and guard?"
"What if the Lord of the Darkness comes here to finish them?"
"Lady Sell is down! She'll be doomed!"
"Lord Rien and Lord Lones too!"
"Skelar can protect his father! He's fought alongside our Lady when adventuring!"
The Lord's protested against these thoughts among one another going back and forth.
"Lord Rien will regain consciousness soon! We have to pray!"
"Notch won't hear us out! We've asked him to end the war but has he made it stop? No! What good is praying?"
A figure leapt onto the stage and turned to stare at them all. His blue eyes piercing the dimly lit room. "You call yourself Lord's when you sit here fearing the Lord of the Darkness while Lady Sell, down for time being, wouldn't even worry about it."
The Lord's stared up at him in silence. He took the podium from the Lord and gazed at them all. The new faces stared at him in question while others reflected.
"It doesn't matter if Lady Sell is down, if Lord Lones is in a coma, or if Lord Rien hasn't woken yet. What does matter is that your job as Lord is to defend the weak from the evil, keep those that cry out for help saved, and to bring the ones that have fallen to Lady Ananon!"
The Lord's all nodded in agreement. The gentleman straightened his black coat before standing there looking at everyone with his deep blue eyes. The eyes that seemed like a vast ocean that could be calm one moment and turn violent in a split second.
"I stand here before you Lord's to say this. Do not give up hope just because our strength is down! It will return like a hurricane and be tall and powerful as a tornado once more! The hand of Lady Ananon, the one that seeks justice for all, will rise up and end the evil that threatens Minecraftian's worldwide! Do not give up on our two Lord's that have sacrificed their lives to protect you all! How would they act if they were told that you all tucked your tails and hid like pussies?"
The lord's stood with anger at this towards him. "That's enough! We won't tuck our tails at the sight of evil! We will stand and fight like our Lady Sell! Like Lady Ananon!"
"We will protect those that need us!"
"We will be what we have always been! Skeletal Lord's that protect the innocent of this world!"
The eastern Lord turned to the gentleman that had taken the podium. He smirked crossing his arms. "Nice job, riling them up once again, Hel. I couldn't have said it better myself."
Hel smiled to the Lord with a nod of his head. "Sell will make a recovery. I swear on it with my life!"
Hel stepped from the podium to stride out of the room quietly into the night. He needed to take up his position on the wall for the night. He was going to be a minute or two late because of the meeting. He didn't mind. Nothing was going on around the city anyways. All was quiet and would be for a while to come he hoped.
