Chapter 6
A lone boy stood beside a tall man on a horse. The man nods to the boy, and in response the child hands him a lance he can barely lift. The man says his thanks and lowers his weapon at his opponent, another knight. The boy cheers for his master, as the two warriors charge towards each other. Lances clash, and the one held by the opponent shatters across the boy's master's shield. The enemy grumbles as his squire hands him a sword. They charge again and the enemy is knocked to the ground. The duke rises and smiles, congratulating the victor. The boy smiles and his eyes widen as his master lifts him to his shoulders. Roses rain down all around them and cheers fill the air.
"A...dream?" Luc awoke from his slumber. If only those days were still here, but Sir Andre was long gone, off to slay dragons. Luc shook leaves and twigs from his hair and rose to see the pale moon overhead, waning at this time of the month. He took to the road, following his map ever northward.
Eventless hours passed, and Luc was thankful that for one night in these past few weeks there was no combat. Safety was a fine feeling; at least peace was better than death. However, Luc did not know how wrong he was. Leaving the forests, he entered open fields with only the occasional shrub for miles. "Fool that I am!" Luc muttered tom himself, for there would be no place to hide from the dreaded sun. But there were still hours left in the night and something would be found. A roar alerted Luc's senses and he noticed a tribe of marching Beastmen. Not human, not animal, these creatures were created by Chaos...that was it! Luc moved swiftly and silently to observe if any demons walked among them.
One of the horned Gors sniffed the air. He made a low growl toward another and they turned to the direction Luc came from. Roaring at the tops of its lungs, the Gor pointed a long spear towards Luc. The herd of Beastmen turned and charged at him and Luc realized he had no chance.
Turning, Luc ran full pelt back the way he came, but there was no safety he could see for miles, only open plains. He felt like he was tired and losing energy. "Blood..." he said to himself. Racing like a madman, Luc rushed and turned to draw his sword. "Thank the Lady those mercenaries were armed," he said in prayer.
The unholy Beastmen surrounded him and moved in quickly stabbing through with their spears. Luc's pale skin was pierced and the dark blood of a vampire flew into the sky. He tried to retaliate, but his strength failed him, his death was nigh. Even if he could escape, it would not be long before the sun appeared to claim his life. Then, something strange occurred inside of Luc's mind. He opened his mouth and uttered two words: "Heru Nehek!" The ground below them shook and out of it rose thirty skeleton warriors clad in ancient armor and holding rusting iron weapons. The raced toward the Beastmen to defend their master, cutting down the Chaotic Bulls one by one. Luc smiled at his good fortune and joined the fray.
In almost a blink, countless Beastmen lay dead. Luc put his lips to their necks and drained them of any blood that remained. The skeletons bowed, and then returned to the Earth. "How did I do that?" Luc asked himself. "Maybe there are advantages to this curse..." Luc picked up a dagger from one of the Beastmen and skinned him. Then, he donned the skin as a blanket to protect him as the sun rose. "How clever I am, now I can travel by day," he said happily to himself. Racing along the plains, Luc continued his great journey.
The winds blew wildly around him as night appeared again, but Luc did not stop to rest, he merely moved onward. Thinking back to his younger days, Luc thought of that battle...
The battering ram slammed the massive gate of Castle Grone. The yeomen fired in vain as the Orcs continued their relentless assault. Luc stood on the wall, handing full quivers to the men. The crashing grew ever louder as the tired warriors were replaced with fresh Black orcs, large beasts, unstoppable in combat. Arrows continued to fly but most ricochet harmlessly off the armor of the monstrous beasts.
"Use the braziers!" Came the general's cry. The torches were lit by squires, including Luc, and the men set fire to their arrows. These flaming missiles were more effective, but it was too late. The gate crashed down with a mighty clang. The knights mounted their horses and began a charge against the invaders, and cut down many a foul Orc. Luc grasped an abandoned bow and let loose an ash wood shaft. It flew, but fell harmlessly off of an Orc's armor. The battle was nearly won...
It was strange...Luc came back to reality as his quest continued. It seemed like months he had been walking and reminiscing. In truth, he had. This place was cold...snow fell around him and lay at his feet. It seemed like an evil presence was all around him. These were the Chaos Wastes. Luc smiled at his Luc as he saw an odd beast lying dying in the snow.
The creature resembled a great bird, with human-like legs and arms. It was dying, obviously attacked as it was missing an eye and was covered in slashes. Luc approached slowly for he did not know if it could still retaliate. He drew close, and readied his sword and a small vial he had stolen from Wyla's men. He cut slowly and carefully at its chest and a trickle of strange purple blood emerged. He lowered the vial the catch it and, pleased, corked it, placed it in his belt and turned away. This was his mistake.
Something hit Luc in the back of the skull throwing him forward, face down into the snow. He rose and looked upon his attacker. The Demon rose up, and screeched at him and proceeded the relentless onslaught. He was knocked on his back this time as the enraged creature attacked him. Luc remembered his combat with the Beastmen and snickered. "Heru Nehek!" The Demon was beset by twelve skeleton warriors that slashed and clawed at the creature. They were thrown off, but got up and attacked again. Slowly, it was brought down, and it lay; now dead, as the snow covered it. The skeletons bowed and returned to the earth.
"That's four items, one more," Luc said happily to himself. "Only the sword of a king is necessary. There are many kings, but who's to get?" Luc walked off as snow fell onto his shroud and knew his quest was nearly finished.
End of Chapter 6