Chapter2- Dreams

"Brother, help!"

Orange flickered through the glass of my window, creating eerie shadows on the yew wood walls. I threw my sheets off and hastily pulled my short sword from the corner wall and flung the doors open. I could not find anyone, the house seemed empty if not for the horrid screams coming from outside. As I ran down the stairway I saw the strong ironwood door leading to the street was in splinters all over the ground, but I grew pale and paralyzed when I saw the scene just beyond the frame. I ran to help but looked into a mirror mother hung from the wall; in the tilted cracked glass I saw the reflection of a 12 year old boy. I noticed the sword grew heavy and I became overwhelmed with fear and doubt. Tears streamed from my eyes as I passed the threshold where the door once stood, I gripped my blade with my very soul.

I saw bandits, hordes of them, looting, plundering and burning every building on the road. Dark magicians threw fire from the tips of staffs and summoned mighty daemons from the pits of hell, while the screams and cries of women and children echoed from the surrounding buildings in homes on the outskirts of Britain. The once peaceful farming town became engulfed in fire and blood.

"Get back inside, now!" my father yelled with a voice of worry and panic as he parried a blow from a war hammer with his large wooden shield, the shield broke apart and he stumbled backwards. I saw only a silhouette against the roaring flames behind him. The man stood over six feet tall, bulging with the muscle of a mighty paladin, to see him afraid made any sense of security fail me. Adrenaline pumped into my veins, and ignited a fire in my soul that needed to help.

Out of nowhere my mother appeared, being dragged across scorched earth away from my father. My father let out a fierce battle cry and a holy aura flowed down his arms and made his blade glow brighter than the fires burned. With tears in his eyes he stampeded towards the bewildered bandits. With blows powered by his anger father tore through 5 bandits with the ease like of his shovel in new spring soil.

My father stood in anguish as a man, marked with the runes of a mage appeared from the flames, not alone, but with my sister held by her hair. She was beaten, bloody and her night dress torn. She was young, 9 years old, and this man held her as a shield. I could not stand this, mother was slipping away, my sister was in the clutch of death, my father fell to his knees and cried, grinding his teeth and squeezing the hilt of his sword with all his might.

He leaped from his feet and planted the blade into the magicians face in one swift stroke, my sister fell to the ground and I raced over and embraced her, crying like I never cried before. Father now dashed down the cobblestone streets towards mother, men from other families fell down into pools of blood left and right, and dad took 3 arrows but still pushed forward.

Then all hope died. An enormous red figure appeared from the fires and stood between father and mother. Legs bent inward, hooves to the ground the beast stood a story tall, it was that of tales and fables, a daemon stood between husband and wife. I screamed out for him but he stood firm, clenched his sword and muttered a prayer I was never taught. White light burst through the dark night sky and engulfed my fathers' entire body, he lunged towards the monster with a yell that shook the earth.

My father hit the ground with a dead thud. Blood pooled around his headless neck and I lost control. I threw my sister behind the wall of a fallen house and ran with my sword towards the beast. I yelled a prayer with all my breath and swung my sword at its turned back, nothing happened.

"Mother!" I cried with all my being and I toppled backwards over rubble in the road. I lifted my head to see a man grab my sister; he was marked with symbols of arcane, and wore the finest armor I've ever seen. I yelled for her but he dragged her into the darkness. I felt immediate pain as a talon was driven into my back; mother fought the bandits with her bare hands. The daemon vanished into a bright vortex of energy. My vision was becoming dim, the pain dwindled, but I saw with my final glimpse something I would never forget. My father dead and my mother raped beside his corpse. I heard screaming and crushing of bone as my eyes closed. I felt a body thrown atop of me, and a final embrace.

I awoke to the sound of birds chirping and the crackle of embers. The sun was bright and made me open my eyes. I stopped breathing as I saw my dead mother staring blankly into my eyes. Her arms were stretched around me, her mouth open in prayer. My wounds were healed, and I remembered the spell father told me about, Dium Prostra, a holy sacrifice, one life for another. She was naked, her ribs caved in, dry blood all over her figure. I crawled from beneath her corpse and stumbled away in disbelief, I spotted my fathers dead body and collapsed on the ground, I picked up his severed head and broke into a hysterical cry. I looked around for any sign of life, and found none. I searched for my sisters' body, and nothing. I had nothing left.

I wiped my tears and vowed to never look back; I pulled the cruciform from the chain on my neck and discarded it on my mother's body with hate. God had failed me, and I would never trust him again. I will find my sister; I will kill all of those who ruined my life, with vengeance and hate.

I buried my parents in the garden my mother grew her flowers in. I took any valuables I could find, dawned some ragged leather armor and heaved a wood shield. The rubble of the weapons shed was empty, so I grabbed mother's cleaver from the ashes of the stable. I walked into nothingness, ready to pave my road with the bones of all who stood in my way. The hate burned inside, anything that breathed would pay for my loss.

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I awoke to dark churning clouds above a cracked and scorched city, the green plains gave way to burnt dry earth, and lush trees turned to blackened twigs. I was home, I dismounted and patted my steed, I poured a potion down his back that he was too familiar with. He neighed at the cold concation and shrunk to the size of a figurine in seconds. He crawled up onto my arm and I opened the gates to my house. A stone tower… nestled between the line of light and dark. I had the dream again, I must be getting close. I'm going to finally end this.