25th of Leviac 14 B.E, Creevewood
The crunching of twigs and the first littering of leaves of the Harvest season polluted the woods as a dishevelled looking man erratically made his way through the Black forest of Creevewood, a trail of blood dripping behind him from a cut somewhere beneath his tattered guard uniform. The only thing upon his mind was to reveal his discoveries of his reclusive month. This night had been good to him, he had found the bones; nothing else remained and no signs of an animal attack like the other guard had said. He was so close now, the clearing could be seen ahead, illuminated by flickering light, sourced by the lanterns that illuminated the Dorian gate and cobbled path.
“Ernie? Is that you?” a man said as he rushed from beneath the torchlight ahead. “You’re looking horrible.” He looked at the wreck of a guard up and down as he left the tree line, inspecting the ruined uniform of the guard. Leather boots that had begun splitting at the seems, the once navy blue trousers lay in tatters speckled with dark splotches, the once fine buttoned shirt of the guard no longer shone with its brilliant white and green insignia but instead had been torn to shreds by what seemed to be a large claw, his shirt mottled by red and brown with no inclination that it had ever been white. Shaggy long black greasy hair rested upon his shoulders and a grimy face with tear streak marks from his downcast eyes.
“ ’Ello Gery,'' the man, Ernie, looked up to meet Gery’s eyes. “We ain't got much time I’m afraid, they’re coming you see. I caughts’d em with what they did to my precious Ella. I had to free her see.”
“Ernie slow down, who’s after you? Caught who? What do you mean free Ella?” Gery’s stared at Ernie for a moment, a silence passed between them. “Ernie.” Gery’s voice came out tentatively. “Ella was taken by coyotes”….. “Ol’ Machpharley sai..”
“TO ELL WITH WHAT OL’ MACHPHARLEY SAID” Ernie yelled defiantly. He looked down to what he was holding, her skull, foreign markings dimly illuminated by a purple glow. “I found ‘er bones Gery…. They… did something to em… something wicked.”
Gery looked down to Ernie's hand. His face slackened to a glower, he paused, trying to figure how to approach a difficult question and decided to be direct “How do you know that’s her Ernie?
“I mean she’s been missing for almost 2 months now, along with a few other unfortunate souls, how do you know that you found her?”
Ernie stayed silent for a moment, seething anger began to arise, he looked up to his old friend. Managing to control his temper. A whisper escaped his lips, “can you not see the markings Gery? Even if it weren't ‘er, do you not see the evil emanating from….” the whisper became inaudible, as the last few words were said.
Gery looked down again. A pristine pearl skull held reverently between two grimy hands. “I see nothing but a skull, Ernie.”
“Look closer,” Ernie pleaded. “Look into ‘er eyes.” He brought the skull to eye level.
Gery’s eyes stayed on Ernies for a moment, uncertainty flickering between the skull and Ernie before deciding to focus on the black holes of the skull. Moments passed by as Gery prayed for a sign that his old friend had not completely lost his mind in his grief. Nothing. He began to look away when a maleficent purple light began to become visible in the centre of the mass, deep with those empty eye sockets. The pulsating light began almost invisible, something you would miss if you were truly not looking for something. It completely enveloped Gery’s entire attention as the light grew brighter until a hue of purple removed any remaining darkness within the sockets and spread its ominous glow outward, drowning out the yellow from the lanterns resting upon Dorians Gate. Gery snapped his attention away from the glow lest his mind frayed, his eyes darted around, seeing shadows dance upon the cobblestone of the gate, shadows of creatures that have not been seen in a long time, something evil. Abruptly the glow disappeared as Ernie threw the remains of a cloak over the skull before putting it away in a makeshift bag strapped on his shoulder.
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“I know its ‘er because she led me there Gery, She ‘ad me burn the other bones. I just couldn’t bring myself to burn all of ‘er”
Gery’s eyes were wide with fear. “Commander Yakson is patrolling the Green Guard around the forest tonight, He must know of the horrors that are to come!”
Ernie stood straighter than he had in hours and began frantically looking upon the tree line searching for what it's hiding from him. “ ‘E’s out tonight?” a whisper only Ernie should be able to hear.
Gery’s face turned to confusion. Why would Ernie fear the Great Commander Yakson? A man adored by the entirety of Creevewood and surrounding villages. “Of course he is patrolling the Blackwood perimeter, He has been ever since your disappearance a month ago.”
Ernie stopped his frantic movements, as fast as a Fay Wolf, he grabbed the collar of Gery. Stunned Gery looked down at Ernie's hand, the grime transferring to his pristine white uniform. Before he could react Ernie brought his mouth to Gery’s ear and whispered in a gravelly voice “He is one of them, You must take this bag directly to Dorian, hopefully ‘e knows what it means.” and released him. Before Gery could retort, the bag he witnessed Ernie put what was supposedly Ellas skull in, was shoved into his chest. Fear began to twist Ernie's face before he let out a low whine.
“They’re ‘ere. Go now before they can mark you, They cannot follow you through that gate, not while I live and more importantly, not while Dorian lives.”
An instance of resistance occurred in Gery’s feet before Ernie kick-started them with a final shove, pushing Ernie towards Dorian's gate. The rapid thumping of boots on cobblestone was the only thing that could be heard for miles as Gery made his way toward salvation, that is when he realised how quiet the forest had become, the thought stopped him just before he entered. He looked back towards his friend. A smile tugged at the corners of Ernies face as the two guards stared at each other for what would be the last time, then Gery, with a tear leaking from his eye, disappeared.
A set of large finger-like claws appeared from the darkness and rested upon Ernie's shoulder.
“Now why would you think your life has anything to do with what stops me from entering that gate?” a cooing voice lulled to Ernies ears.
Ernie closed his eyes and replied in what he hoped would be a courageous voice “My life may not be what stops you, but Dorian’s definitely does.”
“Yes, well you have put a thorn in my side for the foreseeable future, but those two stones have lost their usefulness by now and it would seem you have to.
“I will graciously forget this treasonous plan of yours and grant a gift, in honour of our past dealings, I shall allow you to see her, before you join the missing of course”
Claws dug into Ernie's skin as he was forced to turn and face his soon to be murderer. Ernie defiantly shut his eyes, almost as a child would if they had seen shadows of clothes and thought it was a monster before bedtime.
“Tsk….tsk….tsk, we can’t have you miss out on seeing your daughter for the last time.”
A purple light surrounded Ernie's eyes right before they were forced open. The radiant sight of Commander Yakson in all his glory towered over him, a shine of glee permeated his eyes. Suddenly his form began to distort, his body shook violently and body began to shrink, white lush hair began to grow and darken to black, male features began to turn feminine, the tall figure began to shrink until a height of roughly 5 ft was achieved. Ernie began to thrash in an attempt to struggle free and escape this nightmare. Two finger-like claws pierced both sides of Ernie. A howl of pain was heard throughout the calm night before his vision began to fade. The final thing he saw was his once beautiful daughter staring at him. Cold dead eyes met his and a malicious smile spread across her face, no familiar red dress, only the oversized uniform of Commander Yakson.