One
You are here for a reason. You don't know what it is, and may never know. But here you are, ready and waiting. This story is about man that you don't know. But will get to know very well over the course of the story. I know what you might be thinking; I'm crazy, well I'm not. I am a well educated human being and I know what I'm talking about.
Oh, mind my manners, I've forgotten basic courtesy. My name is Theophilus Fairasee. However I don't except you o remember that so just call me Phil. I know Phil doesn't sound that posh, but I like it better than Theo. I once knew someone called Theo; unfortunately I now wish I didn't know him. Alas that is a story for another time.
Coincidently the man in the story is also called Phil, except this time its short for Phillip, Not Theophilus. He was a normal man, although anyone that can lead an army or kill hundreds of men without a scratch probably isn't normal. So let's say he is not normal in the sense that he's not a farmer. Except that he was a farmer, once. That was a lifetime ago, literally.
One crisp winter's day, early in the morning Phil was raking up the solid mass of leaves that had formed on the path leading from his front door, luckily the snow had not started to fall yet, he could still go and get the pumpkins in ready for the harsh winter that was on its way. He would be needing them to survive as nothing else would grow in the harsh landscape that he lived in.
In the fields, the spotted pattern of the stark orange pumpkins made Phil chuckle with delight. It's not every day you see a sight like that which warms the heart. Securing the woollen hat on his head, he started picking the pumpkins one by one. Each individual treated with the same care as the last, so not to waste any. Each would be needed to last out the winter. The food would be very bland for the next four months or so, but alas that was all he had.
Once the sun was half way past the horizon Phil went in for the day, happy in the knowledge that he had collected at least three quarters of the pumpkins in his fields. The rest would have to wait till tomorrow.
When inside his house, Phil was safe from the outside world, there were things out there that his grandmother had told him about. Things that only very few people survived encounters with. Alternatively she also told Phil about the amazing wonders out there, animals that can heal any wound, no matter how fatal. Others that can run faster that sound can travel and can run from one side of Algoria to the other in a matter of hours; a feat that would take the fastest horse man has ever ridden about 12 to 14 days, depending on the route taken.
Once, Phil had gone to the local pub, about 10 minutes away, to see the travelling storyteller. The man spoke of a great evil that was sweeping across the land; of how it had already taken over the western plains of Jerada, despite the resistance. They forced the inhabitants to work on war machines and other fearsome apparatus that can kill hundreds of men in a few minutes, let alone a whole battle. More able bodied individuals were enchanted so that they fought for the army, killing their own friends and family without knowing what they were doing, just vessels for the evil controlling them. As they moved, despite casualties, the army grew in strength. Day by day it swept across the land, consuming different inhabitants; unaware of what was right on their doorstep. Some tried to fight back, but were crushed. As they say if you can't beat them, join them.
That evening whilst Phil was putting another log on the fire, a knock sounded at the door, followed by cries for help. Who could be there this time of night thought Phil? The cries for help erupted from behind the old wooden door, more desperate this time round. Upon opening the door his eyes laid upon a young sorceress, her robes told him all he needed to know about her branch of magic. Clutching her side in pain, she groaned as blood seeped from between her fingers.
"Come in quickly, you don't look so good?" Phil said.
"Hurry...its coming...attacked suddenly... My horse, where is m..." She gasped, as she collapsed into Phil's arms. In the distance he spied her horse pacing nervously outside his front gate, blood streaks up the path revealed that she had almost crawled up to his door. She definitely was desperate. Before closing the door, the horse turned the opposite way form before and Phil noticed a barbed arrow protruding from the saddle of the horse, its design was very different to anything he had ever seen, yet.
Phil rapidly closed the door. Just in case the woman wasn't lying about something attacking her Phil bolted it with his free hand. The other hand supported the wounded sorceress as she slowly lost consciousness, exhausted from her long trip
Her boots scraped against the stone floor as he dragged her to his kitchen table where she could lay down to rest. Once he had checked the window for any signs of attackers Phil returned to the sorceress, realising now that he had let a random woman into his house late at night, not knowing what she could do to him with the flick of a finger. Luckily she had passed out, however unluckily she was still bleeding from her side. Reaching over he removed her hand from the wound, instantly applying pressure to stem the bleeding slightly, turning towards the sink behind him, Phil picked up a wet cloth he had used for his dishes only hours before. It was definitely clean as he had washed it out after washing the dishes, so at least he wouldn't make the wound more infected. He ripped open her shirt to see how large the wound was, ignoring any feminine qualities that would have otherwise distracted him. Wiping away any excess blood around the wound, Phil could then examine the extent of how bad it really was. Once the blood was gone Phil could see that it wasn't as bad as he had once thought, the reason it looked so bad was the amount of blood that had come from the wound. Getting his thread from the draw, Phil noticed the dagger attached to her belt. It had blood on it, however this blood was green. In the whole of his life Phil had never seen blood this colour, although he had never actually been out of the valley in his whole life, so he wouldn't know.
Early in next morning a groan erupted from the kitchen, she had woken up. "Where am I?" croaked the woman.
"In my house, you appeared at my door about 7 hours ago. I've stitched your wound and bandaged it up, hopefully you'll make a full recovery" Phil answered. Whilst getting up from the table, the sorceress clutched her side in pain. "It will still be sore for a while, so try not to move much."
"No, you don't understand! We have to keep moving. It coming for me, we cannot stop."
"What won't stop? What are you going on about?"
"There is something out there, don't ask me how large it is, because it grows every day. It doesn't stop, not for anyone, or anything. It's like a giant black cloud that sweeps across the land. We will die if we stay here!"
"I think I know what you're talking about. I thought it was only a story. Not a real thing, that old man was always drunk, we never believed him. It was just a place to get away from the toils of the fields."
Clambering down of the table, she hobbled through the kitchen into the hallway then out the front of the house. Her horse was still there as it was very loyal and a good horse. It was brown and mottled with black stripes like the horses his mother had told him about. She heaved herself up onto the horse groaning as she went.
"You're not in as fit state to ride! You'll just open the wound again." Phil protested.
"I don't care; I'd rather endure some mild pain rather than be killed in a few hours, or be conscripted into an army!" She shouted back down the lane.
"You can't go by yourself, it's too dangerous."
"No more dangerous than its going to be here!" She argued.
"Fine, I'll come with you. What should I take?"
"Bring any food that will last us the journey, also canteens of water. But not large ones as they will weigh us down too much." Phil ran into the house, almost tripping over his own feet as he went. He grabbed bread that he had made a few days before. Some dried beef as well as some biscuits and a pumpkin or two. Stuffing them into his bag, he carried on running. Going through to the back of the house, Phil picked up two of his medium sized canteens, filling them with water from his tap.
As he got to the back of the house he realised that he would need a horse. Sprinting to the stables he chose his best horse, fast but with good stamina. Opening all of the stable doors, he shooed and shouted the horses out of the stables, all apart from the one he would be riding. Better they be free rather than serving under a giant evil. Saddling up his horse, he led it round the front of the house, bagged up with food and water for the journey.
"Do you have any kind of weapon you could use to defend yourself with?"
"I have a bow and arrow that I use for hunting, and a sword that I keep under my bed, just in case."
"Go and get them, quickly! We are running out of time" She shouted. Sprinting into the house again, he flew into his bedroom, diving under the bed grabbing his father's sword. Then he went into the living room and grabbed the bow and arrows off of the mantel piece. He heard footsteps coming from the hallway leading into the living room. Shouting dwon the hallway thinking it was the sorceress telling him to hurry up.
"I have them!" He shouted out of the window.
"And we have her!" A voice answered as his world fell into darkness.