Shadow of the Colossus

Chapter 2 – False Truths

Markus spun around blocking another blow from his unknown attacker. He landed on his right knee feeling a warm stream of blood dripping down the side of his arm. He stood up slowly and looked at the soldiers and looked deeply into the ivory mask that stared back at him. Markus sighed and let out a breath of air looking at him again with an evil intent. The soldier rushed forward without hesitationa and pulled a curved blade from his side and jumped in the air.

Markus dropped his blade and spun around dodging the slash and ended the confrontation with a strong solid blow to the mask. He stood there with his prize hooked on his fist, but he couldn't move at all from the pain throbbing through his hand. He grunted and used the last of his force to knock the masked soldier to the ground. He shook the pain from his hand and saw the man flipping back to his feet. Markus's face erupted with agner, but he couldn't summon any more strenght, his wound was holding him back.

"Very good, very good." The soldier removed his mask, but a hood quickly covered his nose and eyes. Markus started to walk towards him, but he fell to the ground looking up at him. "So you're the one they call the demon on the battlefield. Nice to know that you have no style of fighting." Markus wanted to summon his power to finish him, but he couldn't move. "Markus Reus, would you like to fight more?"

Markus's eyes opened up wide as he stood back up. Paul's words reawoken themselves inside of Markus's head, but he wanted to go with what his soul was saying. Choas and dismay was what he was yerning and he couldn't help what he was becoming because that what he was. Markus looked at the man's armor and recognized the seal of the lion painted in blue. The soldier removed his hood revealing a face with a pink scar that was placed on the side of chin. "What do you want to do, boy?" Markus didn't say anything, he was in too much shock.

"What do you think of the boy Eros?" The silver haired man looked at the display and shook his head. "A beast nonetheless. He's more like Douglass than Saul, but Douglass won't admit that, Foan?" Eros looked over the giant smirking and rubbing the hair on his chin. "I would think that he would be a good soldier to have around, I can tell you that he's more loyal than Saul. That's for sure." Foan turned around and saw the man chewing on weed again. "Thomas?" Thomas spit the weed from his mouth and shook his head. "I want him to kill for the alliance. No one else."

"Well that's cleared then, Eros. Take the boy to the temple and give him the power." Foan saw the dislike in Eros's face, but the digusted face went away. It was going to eventually happen to boy, either by force or by his own mean. "Do you think we are playing god? He's a soldier, but not a soldier like us. He's one of the demons that only are born here in this cursed land." Thomas put another piece of weed in his mouth and smiled. "Would you rather have him on the Magi's side?"

"No, no. He's just a liability when it comes to things of carnage and death. What makes you think he'll stay with us and fight for the Alliance. What gurantee that you have that he will not leave and kill others?" Thomas shook his head at Eros and spit. "You should be ashame of yourself. This boy is more a help than a harm. If he does get out of order and starts become unruly in anyway or fashion. We will silence him, along with Saul. That's a garuntee."

Markus felt his body starting to give in to the pain from his previous wounds and the most recent ones as well. Markus stood as steady as he could, but the pain gripped his mind and tossed him into a frozen moment in time. Then the soldier grabbed Markus's shoulder and brought him back to life. "I will make you into a fine soldier, Markus." The soldier's face revealed a long pink scar along side his face and Markus quickly recognized him and bowed. "Master Douglass."

For the next three months, blood spilled and thousands of lives were lost. The Alliance continually poured young men and women on the fields to battle, but opposition would not rest. The soldiers continued to grow stronger and greated in number. Markus was launched mulitple times and found himself fighting more for his life than fighting for the kingdom. Each day was a blessing from the gods and nights were hell. Markus's soft honor became a blind faith follow of commands and he would not compromise.

A soldier in blood soaked armor and cloak walked in dragging a broken blade behind him. The temple was grand and mounds of dirt and stone were piled together in their own spots. Markus removed his helmet and looked at the brokens statues and then the pile of sand. He quickly turned and saw the alliacnce soldiers running towards his current location for safety.

"Damn magi."

Markus wiped the blood from his lips and cheeks and shook the sweat from his face trying too regain his senses. "Sir! We have a blockade formed and we're awaiting orders from you!" Markus turned and stared the young soldier seeing the fear and pain in his eyes. Markus turned slowly and removed his chest plate armor and leggings and threw his cloak off him. "Then we set up camp."

Markus walked past the reporting soldier and saw a sea of wounded and tired staring back at him. He sighed and looked at the three scouts to his right. "I want you to give word to Master Douglass and the other masters our location. Each one of you will leave in different sets of time and you will travel horseback. Stay among the master's rank until otherwise." The three soldiers nodded and disappeared in the crowds gathering their equipment.

Markus turned to the reporting soldier and placed his glove on his shoulder. Blood smeered off his glove onto the soldier's armor. "Gather all the sick and move them into the temple. Have the archers on shifts during the evening and keep morale high, can you do that?" the soldier nodded and rushed off yelling at the commanders of each division. Markus threw down his gloves and walked back into the temple seeing his armor and sword. He passed them and grabbed his cloak tying it around his neck.

"What did I ask for?"

Markus wiped his eyes again and walked deeper into the temple feeling something calling out to him. He turned around seeing soldiers helping the wounded to the front entrance and up the stairs. Markus nodded and disappeared in the darkness near the back and heard a drop of water. He continued to move until he saw a pool of water in front of him.

Markus quickly bent down and placed his hand on the water finding it refreshing. He quickly threw it on this face and then slam his face against the surface of it drinking as much of it as he could. The blood peeled from his face and floated beside his skin. Markus quickly removed his clothes and tossed them to the side of the pool diving into the water. The light from above the water lit a path to the bottom of the pool.

Markus dived deeper seeing the darkness towards the bottom leading to something. His arms pushed him deeper in until a familiar feeling surrounded him. He qucikly tried to pull back but the darkness started to move in around him and swallow him up. Markus gripped for the light in front of him, but the darkness at the bottom swallowed him completely.

"Sir…" Markus saw a soldier standing in front of him with rag and clothing. "Sir, we thought you were dead. What happened?" Markus shook his head and looked at the water seeing his reflection. He was sitting beside it and the pool seemed like a shallow dip into the earth with water filling it. He stood up and turned his head to the soldier. "What happened?" The soldier shook his head. "I don't know, sir. We were calling for you but you disappeared and then we found you floating on the water naked with water running off you. Are you a magic user, sir? We thought you were healing and…"

Markus let him continue to speak as his memories started to come back to him. He swam in a bottomeless pool and was welcomed to darkness, but what happened after that.

"And sir, I would suggest you to wear your hood when around the soldiers." Markus stared at the soldier and felt his face. "Is there something wrong with my face?" The soldier shook his head and turned away a bit. "You see, only four of us have seen you. I had to kill the three because they spoke of taking your life because of your horns." Markus felt shocked and grabbed the soldier by his shoulders. "What happened? Tell me everything." The soldier started to shake violently. "They spoke of you as if you were a demon. The way you fought and how you raised in the ranks so quickly. You have to understand, I wouldn't let anyone kill my leader."

Markus felt the fear in his eyes, but he saw something in the reflection. Markus removed his hands from the soldier and saw two points sticking out the side of his head. "My god…I've become the demon of legend." Markus turned to the soldier and stared at him. "Don't tell anyone of this…leave my camp and report to General Thomas." The soldier jerked and moved quickly running away.

Markus bent over the water seeing the huge horns sticking out of his head. "By the gods, I have become one of the marked." Markus lowered his head deeper and placed his hands on his face. "I'm a monster of the state."