Novels2Search

Chapter 4

All the remaining explorers were awestruck by the actions of the obsidian giant and shivered as blood and pieces of flesh dripped off the studs of the mace head. Overwhelmed with fear and dread, as the obsidian giant stepped forward with his mace raised, many of the explorers defecated themselves. They had almost no time to think as the giant swept into their shambled ranks and decimated them just as he had destroyed the brutes. Screams of terror or pain once again echoed throughout the hall and blood sprayed from torn limbs and gapping holes in bodies. With no mercy Arwyn swept through the undisciplined ranks of the stunned explorers with almost surreal ease. Thinking how much the soldiers of the era had deteriorated, Arwyn cleaned the battlefield of the injured by putting them out of their misery, he thought that the soldiers would have put up more of a fight than they did and it left Arwyn almost sad because he was a legendary general. He was promoted up the ranks not from political maneuvering but by the piles of enemies he had slaughtered and the oceans of riches he brought to the Valorian Emperor. Flicking his acquired mace to rid it of the clinging blood and flesh he sat down to process his current situation, but one thing he knew was that he had to change his location as well as scavenge the remains for any information of his whereabouts as well as equipment.

Gathering the bodies in a pile Arwyn then bowed with his mace pointed downward as a sign of respect for the battle that they fought. Finishing the gathering, he moved out of the hall and inspected the surroundings and as far as the eye could see there was a plain devoid of plant life which was occasionally interrupted by the lonely skeletons of long dead trees. Turning around Arwyn found a forest of skeleton trees but surprisingly there were trees that stubbornly held onto their leaves. Deciding to take cover, under the sparse canopy, in the forest the trees twisted outwards as if they were trying to escape from some evil. Thinking of what his next move would be, Arwyn moved deeper into the forest hoping to discover some clue of which way he should go, but nothing of the sort happened but he was set upon by a pack of strange looking wolves that had spikes jutting out of their spines and their napes which look oddly similar the trees that made up this forest. Stretching his long powerful legs Arwyn bounded away from the wolves as they chased after him. Foam dripping from their maws and clouds of fog bellowing out their nostrils, they appeared to be rabid except for the glint of intelligence that sparkled in their green eyes.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Damn Wolves," muttered Arwyn under his breath as he ran from the wolves.

Looking back as he and the wolves raced across the open plains. Arwyn noticed that the wolves were slowing down as he approached a low stone wall that was at knee height. Jumping the wall in one bound he looked at the wolves as they stopped at the wall. Arwyn stopped and turned to observe the wolves as they paced the small section of the wall and snarled revealing their wickedly sharp fangs, he knew that they could jump the wall but why didn't they, wondering about the wolves strange behavior he put it out of his mind as he noticed colour bleed into the scenery the further he moved from the stone wall. Moving at a consistent pace Arwyn was able to keep a good speed as well as careful observe the surroundings from potential danger. This was a skill he had developed as a private in the Royal Valorian Army which had been his home from most of his career in the army until he transferred.

Putting his training to good use he moved rapidly across the increasingly lush land. Spending days of continuous travel across the mostly unchanging scenery would quickly become an eyesore for the majority of travelers, but that excluded Arwyn as he delight fully took in the majestic surroundings of lush bushes and towering trees that were accompanied with small animals and insects as well as the sounds of nature. Reveling in the scenery Arwyn remembered the land during the last few weeks of the Valorian Empire. The land was set upon by fire and pestilence leaving the ground and vegetation grey and cracked, nothing that was remotely healthy and dotting the land were bodies of men, women, and children, the majority had great open wounds on their back as they were cut down from behind and the few that had turned to face their deaths were violently cut down with many being decapitated. Those images filled Arwyn's memory of the suffering his land and people went through.

Moving through a small grove of trees Arwyn was faced with the distant image of reinforced walls. The sudden appearance of the walls was a sight for sight for sore eyes. Arwyn now had a goal, making it into the town and learn as much as he could about where he was and what had happened during his absence from the world.