Hello everyone; as promised, here is the newest chapter. Unlike the previous chapters, this one will act as a preview of my next story I am working on. Let me know what you think by giving me a review after checking it out.
Henri ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He jumped over roots and rocks as he raced through the rainwoods. The only thing pushing him forward was the fear of what would happen if he didn't make it to his destination.
Slightly above the treeline, Henri could see the walls of Mistwood, the seat of House Mertyns. As he drew closer, A white great-horned owl came into view, the symbol of the noble house. But, before Henri could make it across the drawbridge, he was stopped by two guardsmen.
"Off with you, boy, our lady will have no begging today," The taller guard sneered.
"Please, I'm not a beggar; I need to see Lady Mertyns. It's an emergency." The guard looked at him as if he was shit under their boots.
"Our lady's husband just died; she's in no mood to hear about your petty issues. Now leave before I throw you out on your arse." The shorter one warned. He wasn't going to get anywhere talking to these men. Henri bolted past the guards and ran straight to the front door, heedless of the guards shouting to come back.
He searched through room after room trying to find the lady of the house. As he continued his frantic search, more guards began to try and force him out. It eventually resembled one giant hunt, with the guards as the hounds and Henri as the prey.
Henri burst into one last room just as the guards were within arm's reach of him. It was a large room with a gigantic dinner table in the center; at the table was an elderly woman, an older man, and two young boys of similar age to himself. The woman was Mary Mertyns, her son, and his children. Before he could begin to say anything, his pursuers grabbed him and forced him to the ground.
"Forgive me, my lady; this little rat managed to slip past us at the front gate. We'll be sure to give him a proper beating before we throw him out." Panic shot through his entire body as the guard hoisted him up to his feet.
"My lady, please listen to me. I need your help, or everyone is going to die." He shouted. Lady Mertyns looked at the boy for a few moments before motioning for the guards to release him. She then motioned for him to continue. Henri took a moment to recall everything the adults instructed him to tell her. "I live in a small village between here and Weeping Town. A few days ago, some of our neighbors began to get sick. After a few days, I was told to come to you for aid and tell you… our village has the Shivers." This elicited a reaction from everyone. The guards quickly stepped away from him as if he were on fire, and Lady Mertyns' son dropped his fork in shock. Lady Mertyns was the first to regain her composure and turned to one of the guards.
"Go fetch Maester Burgess," She ordered. The man ran out of the room as fast as he could. She then turned back to Henri. "Young man, are you absolutely sure that the Shivers plague your home?" Henri only shrugged; all he did was repeat what the old men of the village called it. Before they could continue, the guard returned with an old man with a chain around his neck. "My apologies for bothering you, Maester, but this matter couldn't wait. Young man, describe the symptoms of the sick."
Henri described them as best he could. The chills that wracked the body so badly that the entire body would convulse. He described the way lips would turn blue as if the body was swimming in a frozen lake. The worst was the coughing, the rib-shaking coughs that ended with blood soaking the ground.
"Your fears are well-founded, My Lady, the boy's description does indeed match the Shivers."
"Then we have no choice," she sighed. "Have the village quarantined. No one is allowed in or out until the sickness has passed." Henri tried to fight down the growing pressure building inside of him. The image of his mother lying in bed, coughing up blood, played in his head.
"Why? They're just sick; can't you cure them?" The maester was the one who answered.
"I'm afraid there is no cure for the Shivers. The only ones to survive are those with a natural immunity and can live through the symptoms."
"So you're just going to leave us to die," Henri shouted, unable to hold himself back any longer. Lady Mertyns looked at him coldly now.
"An outbreak of the Shivers cannot be allowed to spread." She said as if explaining herself to a fool. "I will not have my family known as the house that caused a plague to ravage the Stormlands." She motioned with her head, and the guards from earlier began to force him out of the room. Henri tried to escape their grip, flinging curses, shouting venom, and even begging. None of it mattered to the guards as they threw him to the ground outside of Mistwood.
"You almost got us into trouble, you little shit," The guard punctuated his statement with a kick in the stomach.
"What would we have done if she dismissed us, probably be stuck in some plague-ridden village like yours," Another boot went into his back. Kicks began to rain down on him from every area; the only thing he could do was curl into a ball and try to protect his head. With each blow, the pressure inside him continued to build.
Suddenly, the guards were picked up and sent flying into the nearby wall. Henri picked himself up to see that the guards were unconscious against the wall. He looked around to see who could have done this, but no one was there. With nothing else to do, Henri limped his way back home.
I hope you all enjoyed this sneak peek at my newest story. It is only a rough draft, but I'm really excited to get this out. I'm really enjoying writing again. I'm planning to upload two more stories to the vault, and after that, I'm going to focus on getting back into writing my unfinished stories. My main focus will be The Crimson Demon of Outworld, my plan is to finish that story before even considering uploading any new ones. I hope you enjoyed this latest addition to the vault. My next chapter should be out by the end of this week. See you next time.