Chapter 14

"The Black Knights of Gilbor"

Arianna knew not how long she stayed holding her grandfather's lifeless body in her arms as she continued to rock back and forth. Her dream had indeed turned into reality and she realized that there was no doubt she was living her nightmare. Her eyes wide and frightened as the reality of what had passed finally took over her entirely. Arianna slowly quieted down and she stopped rocking once her tears were all spent.

As Arianna carefully rested her grandfather's head on the stained ground she looked carefully at her grandfather's wounds. The gashes on his face were thin and most were merely scratches, bruises were everywhere. The long deep ones on the lower portion of his body were more horrendous and gory to perceive and it took every ounce of strength left in Arianna to behold her grandfather's wounds more closely.

Peeling off his ripped shirt, the smell of fresh blood filled her nostrils strongly. Arianna took one brief glance at her grandfather's body before she gave a horrified gasp, quickly put a hand to her mouth, closed her eyes and turned away. She dared not look on him any longer. For sliced deep into his mid section, starting from his neck, passing across his thin chest and ribs, ending straight into the center of his abdomen was a large diamond shaped cut and the blood that oozed from the open gash was putrid and purplish. Arianna blindly covered the gruesome sight as best as she could before turning her gaze back to her grandfather's face and wished that she had asked before he had left her the two questions that was plaguing her mind at that moment,

What happened to you, grandfather? Who did this?

Arianna sat transfixed at the sight of her grandfather lying dead on the ground, her head was still spinning madly and her heart was slowly breaking into a million pieces all over again. The suddenness and affliction of the recent events were summoning a number of questions, which lain hidden underneath her frenzied thoughts, to surface. But knowing she was neither in the best place or state to ponder or decipher the meanings to these impeding riddles, she struggled to stand but the weight and aches of both her external and internal wounds caused her strength to falter and she slumped back to her knees on the ground. Pounding her fist on the earth in frustration, she moaned hopelessly,

But just as she was about to get her bearings back together to attempt another try to get back on her feet, the air suddenly turned icy cold and the wind that whisked by was bitter, harsh and stung her open wounds. Arianna sat very still. Her hair stood on ends as an iniquitous cold chill crept into her heart. An ominous aura seeped in all around her and she felt the earth slightly rumble beneath her. The first sounds she could hear were the slow heavy thuds of horses' hooves steadily approaching.

Arianna dared not look behind her as she felt the foreboding presence of unwanted guests drawing closer to her.

The sharp sound of a crow-like cackle jolted her heart like a strike of lightning and she felt the cold chill rushing through her very veins and freezing her blood. They had seen her!

Almost instantly, an unseen force took over Arianna and brutally threw her around, she cried out in agony as her burned back scraped the rough ground as she fell. She opened her eyes and found herself staring into the cold merciless indigo eyes of a lean and shrunken rider. His long black greasy locks were elucidated in the fiery light and a malevolent sneer spread wide across his face revealing sharp yellow teeth. He sat astride a monstrous steed whose coat was as dark and black as the starless sky, its hooves were stained with muck that was damp with the blood trickling from its foamy muzzle and its eyes were a piercing color of purplish red that glinted precariously in the night.

The rider's gaunt face was of a sickening color and he was garbed in black garments and on his dark cape was an insignia of a purple diamond, the real and actual gem hanging below his neck on a thin cord. He cackled again menacingly when Arianna turned to face him.

He mumbled indifferently a few words in a low guttural tone the gray mist that enclosed them seemed to mold and take shape, and Arianna watched in horror as four more riders clad in armor the color of charcoal that seemed to be made of a strong metal or steel. Their steeds were as terrifying and as grotesque as the one ridden by the lean man. Their faces were shielded with the dark visors they wore and she could hear their coarse wraithlike breathing underneath them, indicating that they were indeed no mere mortal knights Fear choked her as she swallowed hard, her heart beating at an incredulous pace, she could hardly believe what she was witnessing as she lay unmoving on the ground.

The Black Knights of Gilbor!

Indeed, it seemed to her as if she had fallen into one of the fearsome tales of the South she used to hear from the town's storyteller. The Black Knights of Gilbor, the darkest, strongest, most powerful minions of the dark force that was slowly putrefying the country. Gilbor was the land in the South that they rampaged and corrupted and without hesitation, taken as their own, as a reward from the power they so acquiescently served. The vicious steeds they rode were called the Cotherians, taken from the river Corthin from whence they were created.

Arianna felt her limbs quivering; she could feel the penetration of their gazes burn into her, as she lay rigid on the ground. The lean, emaciated man, who seemed to be their leader, urged his restless steed forward and with a spiteful leer, he garbled in what she could make out, was the little he knew of her language.

"Ye gwirl. Pathetic little cre'tur! Not quite the gwand parson spoken in them lore of old'n. Non' wat the Gar-eat One has told." He laughed cruelly and spat some words of his own tongue before lapsing back to the former, "Ye wilt cum wid uss…the Gar-eat One has d-ire need of 'ee…"

"No." Arianna mumbled, wondering in awe how she could have managed to loosen her thick tongue when she thought her entire body had been stricken with cold fear.

" What ye say?" the man grunted, his vindictive sneer sliding off his face.

"No…No I won't!"

"Ye has none to pra'tect ye now! Thy old parson is de'd! Ye art alone, now aren't ye? Ye foo'ish rat…" he growled back into his own guttural speech. Turning his steed around, he began barking what sounded like orders to his dark companions.

Arianna sensed that the implication of his words were taking on a great effect on his cohorts as their monstrous horses neighed and stomped quite ferociously. She could discern the sadistic threat in his tone and knew that if she had to escape, there would no better moment than now.

Her limbs still lay limp and dull but she urged them to take strength as she scrambled backwards on her hands. At once, it brushed the swaddled box near her grandfather's body as well as her bow, but she knew she had no arrows at hand, she cursed under her breath. But luckily, the lean man hadn't taken notice of it. Clutching both of it subtly, she could feel her energy flowing back into her veins warming the chill that possessed her. Arianna mustered every ounce of potency she had and painfully got up on your feet. Before she had a moment to falter and fall back, she turned around and limped as fast as her fatigue and injuries would take her, the swathed box and her bow carefully pressed to her abdomen as she shambled off.

She knew that against those hot-blooded steeds of her adversaries, she had very little chance of going too far from their sight and it seemed that the gaunt crow-like man comprehended her palpable vulnerability immediately as he made no impulse to pursue her in haste when he saw her escape. Instead, he cawed a malignant laugh and called after her,

"Run whilst ye stilt can! It wud been more fun tuh chase such prey!"

Arianna hobbled forward as fast as she could, ignoring the growing agony in her limbs. As she moved on, she noticed that the fires all around were slowly dying and some were merely glowing rubbish and debris. Then, suddenly she noticed that she seemed to be going around in circles. Every corner she turned exactly similar to the ones she had already passed by. She passed burnt houses wanting to find somewhere, anywhere, she could hide and escape her trailing foes in this bewildering maze. She crouched in low corners and stumbled into tall grass but everywhere she went, she knew she couldn't conceal herself from them. She knew that she was merely a sport of fun, a sort of entertainment to keep them amused before taking her, like a cat lazily toying with a defenseless mouse, and since this was their game, she was playing their rules and she didn't have the power or right to run off anywhere. She felt as if their inhuman sight could pierce through anything and she was running nakedly across plain slopes, easily distinguished from anything she ran into. Whenever she found a small nook or cranny to find some refuge in, the sounds of their horses' footsteps were never far away and the cackling voice of their leader seemed to always follow, taunting her in his gruesome language.

She ducked behind another burnt edifice but that sensation of being openly watched never left and soon enough she heard his voice again,

"Come, lil' rodent! Come owt! Come owt! Ye think ye can still hide from uss? Dost ye?"

Arianna groaned with trepidation, she looked around in sheer panic, where can she go where their penetrating gaze would never find her? Who can she call to aid her in her hopeless condition? What can she do? The red mark on her arm was softly fading and Arianna was drenched in her own sweat and blood. Life was slowing draining out of her and she knew it won't be long before her pursuers will tire of this game of hide-and-seek and will soon complete what they were tasked to do.

All the fires had burned out finally and her world was as dark as it had ever been but then she noticed a strange pinkish glow shining not far from where she was slouched on the ground. A spring of hope sparked in her, it might be villagers who had escaped the village fire., they might still be here and alive!

"We can sees ye…"

That wretched voice that interrupted Arianna's hopeful thoughts boiled her very blood and again she struggled advancing towards the light. The heavy trotting hooves and the ghastly breathing were not far behind her.

She winced as she limped hurriedly away. She was nearly there.

Please let me make it! Please let them be there!

Arianna was already imagining the scene. She would step out into the open and see the villagers carrying the pink lanterns that had given the glow. They would notice her as well and then maybe try to aid her or else hide her. Though, she knew they wouldn't have the power or might to subdue her fierce enemies at least she wouldn't have to die alone and maybe Hollin would be with them. She knew that he must be worrying about her.

She was nearing the last burnt house and the pink light grew brighter. She thought she heard the comforting sounds of a familiar voice. She was near the hope of safety and consolation. She was almost there; just a few more steps and she would see them…

Nothing in the world could have prepared her for the sight she was about to behold.

Arianna moved from behind the house with a strained smile to greet her townsfolk but when she came out, the smile obliterated and from her mouth emanated a piercing, bloodcurdling scream.

No word could describe the horrendous scene that erupted before Arianna's fearful brown eyes. There was blood spilt across the vast farmland, coloring the dull fields with a shining bright red and pieces of human limbs were scattered to and fro. The plain reeked with the foul stench of death and blood. But these were not as repugnant as what was hanging above them.

Bodies of the dead hung limp in mid-air surrounded by a bright radiating orb that was the source of the faint pinkish glow. Mortals of all ages, men, women, elders and children were afloat; none were spared from this grisly massacre. Pale white skin were illuminated by the pinkish glow were torn and peeled revealing bloody tissue and bones, some had limbs missing and blood continue to flow freely from their severed body parts. Their contorted faces were slashed and torn skin hung flaccidly on what bones they had left. Greenish fungi drooled from their hanging jaws and already huge white maggots were already crawling about their skin.

Arianna staggered in shock and antipathy focusing on the many faces she recognized and knew.

All dead… All rotting away…

Then as Arianna turned sideward, her eyes fell upon a scrawny lifeless corpse enveloped in a similar pinkish orb and though she didn't want to look, to see anymore, her eyes continue to behold this grotesque image.

It was Hollin.

He was hanging half-nakedly, both his legs were sliced off and his arm was mangled in malformed manner. His bloodshot eyes were open and held a haunting stare that shook Arianna's bones.

No….

Arianna's legs finally gave way to the weakness she was feeling and the revolting stench of the air as well as the sickening scenery made her head spin nauseatingly and churned Arianna's stomach, prompting her to retch horribly on the bloody ground.

When she finally felt as if she had nearly emptied her insides, she moved back from her mess, heaving with frantic sobs as she tried to get back on her feet and move away. Holding the covered box and her bow weakly with one hand, she turned around and hobbled back to where she came trying to escape from this vile site.

Just then, a spine chilling sound made her look back. Large black hordes of crows had appeared from the air and were descending upon the suspending carcasses. Arianna watched as they landed on the bodies and began ravenously picking at the putrefying skins, gobbling up maggots and fungi as they did. Cawing viciously as they pursued their sickening feast. Arianna saw that they were indeed the same multitude of black creatures who attacked her in the forest.

Arianna prayed that they would not see her as she tried to make her way out. But she could go no further.

As Arianna turned her attention back on the road, she realized that she had stumbled into a heavy gray mist, and that sneering cackle filled her ears once again. All around her, Dark Knights molded into solid form and she was surrounded.

"Your folk has made a charm'ng feast to me petss…" he whispered menacingly, "Dost ye want to join 'em?"

Arianna's legs trembled so greatly, she couldn't hold her stance much longer and clumsily dropped down to her knees, the box and bow pressed to her bosom as she looked up powerlessly into the malevolent indigo eyes of her assailant.

"Whatss this? No long'r wish to run, lil' mouse? Tired of the game, my foo'ish one?" he taunted with a humorless smile.

Arianna knew there was no hope for her now. All strength and willpower were gone and she already felt as lifeless as the dead. As soundless tears streamed down her face, Arianna pondered at how it all came to end like this, to someone like her, hardly at the prime of her age. Silently, she begged with her eyes to make her death swift and painless. She couldn't suffer like this anymore, she wanted it to be all over and done. She wanted to die so badly, if she had the strength she would take her own life instead but now it was in this cruel man's hands that she must deliver her life to.

"Come wid uss…" he snarled.

"No!" she found herself answering in a strong voice, "I'd rather die than be led off to an unknown place by the likes of you!"

The Dark Knights hissed and spitted viciously under their black metals helmets, their hideous steeds neighing fiercely. The indigo-eyed man lost his wry humor and snarled, "If tis death ye wishes, death ye shall have if ye shalt remain refused!"

An abrupt wave of his hand and Arianna heard the massive fluttering of wings and caws as the black mass of crows immediately abandoned their ghastly banquet and flew to hover threateningly above the lean man's head.

"Come or die!" he growled savagely.

"Do what you must! But know that I will not go!" Arianna declared, her heart set with determination, she may die alone and afraid under the hands of the most abominate creatures known to man, but death to her was a far better penalty than losing her freedom to them. She only wanted to be rid of this forbidding place eternally and if that meant death then so be it.

Arianna closed her eyes and waited for the final blow. She heard her perpetrator muttering some guttural words and the excited caws of the black crows as if another fresh meal was about to be served to them at last. The seconds ticked by, Arianna's heart was racing… she could feel the moment nearly coming to its peak…

But just as she thought her time had finally come. A strange faraway sound seemed to rouse her from her stupor, a sheer call that silenced the raucous caws and sliced through the lethal tension in the night air.

Arianna opened her eyes and saw a glint of bright silver soaring swiftly towards her.

A silver falcon…