Kingdom of Heildin, Remote Village: 930, December 31st, Tuesday, 10:00 PM.
“Now!” Sebastian roared at his daughter who observed the commotion from a distance.
The girl was too startled move however, shuttering with teary eyes at the sight of her home being devastated by a large horde of demons. Their black armored bodies were concealed under the shadows of the vast forest surrounding the village, and only the flashing crimson light of their glowing veins could be seen from within the dense family of trees. Fire spread all around, illuminating the dirt roads and setting the nearby houses aflame, with the horrified cries of the people echoing throughout the flaming woods.
Sebastian watched as his daughter built up enough courage to escape the fire, and the specters’ desire for blood distracted them enough for her to go unnoticed by their glowing crimson eyes. The man smiled despite his hopeless situation, but the tight sensation in his chest could not be mitigated as he knew the fate that awaited him.
Preventing Sebastian’s escape was a specter of gaunt appearance, its skeletal arms held him in place while gnawing at his shoulder with insatiable hunger. He attempted to fend off the demon by pushing against its chest with one arm, and its head with his free hand. The soft fabric of his green polo shirt had been severed by the beast’s claws, and blood began to pour freely from the gaping wounds in his back as the creature tore his flesh with slowly.
“Grh!” Sebastian gritted his teeth at the staggering pain afflicting his body. “Claire… Clara…” his mind traveled back to the two most important women in his life.
No amount of human will could restore the blood he had already lost however, causing his vision to blur, and his knees to tremble. The man’s suffering was far from over still, as many more skeletal creatures assembled all around him. Sebastian felt every bite, and every cut tearing his body apart little by little. Despite his strong and healthy composition compared to the gaunt and skeletal monsters, he still lacked the power to break out from the swarming horde that now focused solely on him—the last person alive in the village.
“I can’t…” Sebastian tried to speak as he drowned in his own blood. His eyes looked at the dark sky above, watching the embers of the charred remains of his home fly away with the wind. “I…”
Somehow, as his mind began to fall into a blank state, both the sky and the stars seemed to have moved further away from him—as if pulled away by the moon itself. His bleeding eyes were suddenly blinded by the crimson glow of the demons piling up on his body, screeching and growling with joy at the feast of violence they’ve been eager to engage in ever since their awakening at the Deadlands. Sebastian’s expression went blank, and his broken body was left in a pool of blood once the specters grew bored of mangling the now deceased man. Their animalistic instincts had yet to be satisfied however, and the scent of fresh blood in the air only agitated their hunger even more. They turned their sunken glowing eyes towards the dense forest, ready to chase after the one remaining soul that had escape their sight during the violent onslaught.
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It was a tranquil and quiet morning, with the gentle rays of the sun caressing Sebastian’s slumbering face, putting an abrupt end to his peaceful rest. The man opened his eyes with a gasp, and quickly lifted himself in a sitting position. Every nerve in his body pumped with adrenaline despite the serenity of his surroundings, causing his limbs and breath to shiver.
“Where…” he whispered while feeling the tiny blades of grass tickling his hands, and settling his gaze in the enormous field of green that expanded as far as the eye could see. “Is this… Heildin?”
“This is my home,” a young man replied to him.
Sebastian turned his head from side to side in a quick motion at the sudden reply, but failed to spot the root of the young voice talking to him. Startled, he attempted to pull himself up in a hurry, but his legs quickly gave in, and forced him back down in an instant. The man placed both hands in his thighs, and began to softly squeeze them with his fingers, feeling his breath become heavier with every touch his senses could not perceive.
“I can’t… feel my legs…”
“You have no legs,” the voice replied.
“Wha... where are you? Where is my daughter!”
“…”
“Hey, are you there?”
There was no need to decipher the man’s mental state, as everything was revealed in the tone of his voice. It quivered with fear, but also growled with anger, demanding an explanation about the fate of the young girl that fled through the burning forest—his own daughter Claire.
“Please…” Sebastian begged for a response. “Is she safe? Did you save her?”
“I can’t…” the young man replied with a soft tone.
“Then help me stand! I have to get to her!”
“You can’t…”
“Like hell I can’t! She needs me!”
“…”
“Answer me!”
“What are you willing to give… in order to save her?”
“Everything I have!”
Sebastian shouted his answer at the sky with not a single thought behind it, knowing too well that both his mind and heart had already agreed to the decision. He continued to push his palms in the tiny blades of grass, pulling every stop necessary in order to stand, but failing time and time again as his legs gave in at every turn.
The stubborn man ignored the agonizing cries of his body, which implored him to stop with every move he made. He felt nothing but the crushing pressure in his chest. His heart shrunk, and his brain twisted at the thought of his daughter—hopelessly begging the goddess to protect the only thing he now had in this world.
“I can help you,” the voice said.
“Then do it!”
“Relax,” it told him. “Time works differently in this place… You have no need to rush.”
“…what?”
Distracted by the voice in his head, Sebastian failed to perceive the rustling steps that approached him from behind. The last step called for his attention with a stomp, and he recoiled at the sudden sight of a young man standing right in front of him as he turned. His hair was of an exotic silver color, but the blinding light of the sun behind him concealed the young man’s eyes under a shadow. Despite his calm and composed behavior, the silver-haired man was still nothing more than a youth, being closer to Claire more than Sebastian when it came to age.
“I can help you save her,” he said. “But you will have to trust me, and do as I say.”
“I’ll do anything, just tell me what to do.”
The youth nodded, pressing his lips together before replying. “There will be no turning back after this, but if you are willing to go through with it… then I’ll explain everything to you later.”
Kingdom of Heildin, Remote Village: 930, December 31st, Tuesday, 10:00 PM.
Awoken by a mysterious power that kickstarted his heart, mind and body with a burst of energy, Sebastian was lifted into a sitting position to find himself surrounded by fire and dust. He panted heavily, and watched the black smoke raise high in the sky as the uncontrollable flames continued to spread. Mauled bodies were scattered all over the place, and the houses of what used to be his home village had become piles of black coal under the fire.
“Claire!”
He wasted no time in jumping back to his feet, proceeding to valiantly leap into the dark depths of the woods. Sebastian ran through the thick trunks of the forest, punching and swatting away the leaves and branches that popped in his path. The terrifying screeches of the demons could still be heard nearby, but his ears only listened to the faint cries of a girl being drowned by the specter’s screams and growls.
“You have no way to fight them yet,” the young man spoke inside Sebastian’s head—who replied with little concern to his warnings.
“I’ll punch them all to death if I have to…”
“That won’t do… here, have this.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Particles of crimson light suddenly enveloped Sebastian’s body, merging together in his back to form the shape of a gigantic sword with a thick and heavy blade—strapped to his body with a fancy belt of black leather.
“You can… do something like this?”
“I can do anything.”
A specter suddenly emerged from inside the shadows to abruptly interrupt his conversation, leaping at Sebastian with its teeth ready to tear his flesh chunk by chunk. The man recoiled at the sight of the demon, but the superhuman granted to him by the youth forced him to avoid the attack.
He rolled on the dirt before landing in one knee away from the demon, gripping his fingers tightly on the sword hanging from his back. The beast roared furiously at him, exhibiting a stronger and more intimidating body than the gaunt demons from before. Its head and mandibles resembled those of an ant, with its body following a similar structure, displaying four arms and two legs of more humanoid appearance. Its throbbing crimson veins glowed in the dark, and the beast growled hungrily at the sight of the living man.
“What is this thing?”
“It cannot kill you,” the youth told Sebastian—calming his nerves slightly. “End it quickly and go save your daughter.”
The specter suddenly lunged at Sebastian a second time, who did not hesitate in defending himself this time. He unsheathed the sword in his back with little to no effort, lowering its blade in front of him, and pressing on the offensive against the specter with a powerful tackle. The gray steel of his sword smacked the demon’s face, forcing it to stumble backwards, and granting him a wide opening to exploit in his favor.
“Die!” Sebastian roared, twirling the blade above his head, and repositioning himself into a better stance.
He allowed his new instincts to guide the attack, and swung his sword against the beast with all the strength he could muster. The weapon felt like a feather in his hands, being relatively weightless despite its enormous size. Its steel blade connected with the demon’s ribs, and tore through its armor like a hot knife through butter—shattering the creature, and slicing its body in half.
“Gh!” Sebastian’s reacted with shock—watching both halves of the specter flop down and vanish once they touched the ground.
“Hurry!” the youth urged him.
“R-right!”
Such a long and violent night would’ve consumed the mind of any other man that found himself in his situation, but the thought of his daughter had momentarily overridden any possible trauma that his mind could’ve gone through. Sebastian rushed through the dense forest with an unstoppable advance, encouraged by the youthful voice telling him that nothing could even come close to harming him—words proven true by every specter that Sebastian demolished in his path towards the crying girl.
A gasp suddenly escaped his lips, and his eyes widened at the sight of his crying daughter. A specter of terrifying size approached her, savoring the moment before lunging at the girl with its jaws ready to crush her small body.
“I will not allow it!”
Sebastian quickly jumped into action, bending his knees slightly, and propelling himself forward against the beast. His powerful roar stopped the demon for merely a second, enough time for him to arrive, and destroy its body with a single swing of his sword. The sheer strength behind his attack caused a violent gust of wind that smacked the trees and branches, lifting dust from the dirt at his feet.
The remaining pieces of the specter crumbled into the ground, disappearing almost instantly into embers. Sebastian looked at the weeping girl, and the sight of her teary amber eyes returned the soul back to his body. A tear almost rolled down his cheek, but the growls and screeches of the approaching demons snapped him back into the fight. He simply offered words of reassurance to the girl, and met her terrified expression with the warm smile she had always known him for.
Kingdom of Heildin, Small Northern City: 931, January 1st, Wednesday, 12:00 AM.
It was the beginning of a new year in the continent of Hemel, and many lives had been taken a mere couple hours before the end of 930. Sebastian sat in a small wooden stool next to a sleeping girl lying in a hospital bed, gently running his fingers through her straight black hair. He looked at her face with furrowed brows, but smiled knowing that she was now safe and sound. The thought of his now deceased wife still lingered in his mind however, bringing tears to his amber eyes.
News about the incident began to spread quickly, causing a massive uproar among the citizens of Heildin. Sebastian reported the specters attack as he was rescued from the burning hell of his village, and what began as a widespread wildfire, turned into a global emergency for the king himself to handle. Despite the noise of the outside however, all that mattered to Sebastian was the peaceful face of his daughter taking a break from it all.
“She is safe…” the youth spoke to him. “You did well, Sebastian.”
“It’s all thanks to you,” he replied. “I cannot thank you enough…” he clenched his jaw, holding down the tears from flowing freely. “I… I only wish I could’ve saved her too… Clara.” His voice broke at the name of his deceased wife.
“I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine… you helped me save my daughter.”
“No, you don’t understand, Sebastian. It was… it was… me… who attacked your village.”
The youth’s words rained on him like cold water during winter, and no words could explain the mix of emotions he felt at the time. Sebastian was speechless at the sudden revelation, twitching with emotions not even he could understand at the time.
“It was… it was an accident… I—"
“An a—!" Sebastian almost yelled at the youth, biting down on his words as to not wake up his daughter. “Who… who are you?”
“…”
“Tell me…” he growled.
“I… have my own name now, but… I’m someone who’s known by the people as… Specter.”
Sebastian’s eyes widened in shock, knowing the young man’s name all too well. Despite not being a fan of reading himself, his own daughter loved every story involving the individual revered by humanity as ‘the champion,’ who was known for destroying the evil god known as ‘Specter.’ A harbinger of death and destruction, with no other purpose than to exterminate every possible living being on earth. He felt silent for a second time, remembering the youth that found him in the vast field of grass after his death.
“Explain… explain everything…”
“I will…” claimed Specter. “You… you are now a specter, Sebastian. Your life ended by the hands of the horde that attacked your home, and I brought you to… well, my own.”
“That empty field?”
“Yes… I kept you alive there, and transformed you so you could save your daughter.”
“So, you are him… Specter?”
“… I am.”
“Then why didn’t you stop them?” Sebastian held the urge to scream by shaking his fists, wanting nothing more than to scream at the sky in protest to the youth’s claims. “Aren’t you a god or something? Why…?”
“I told you I couldn’t… I’m not… I’m not what I used to be. That’s why I sent you instead.”
“… then you brought me back to life?”
“Not exactly,” claimed the young man. “You are dead, Sebastian, but I want you to be alive.”
“What? What do you mean?” his anger was momentarily replaced by confusion.
“It’s hard to put into words, but if I want you to be alive, then you will be alive.” He began to explain. “Think of it as… the will of a god. All specters must to answer to the will of their god, if I want them to move a finger or two, then they must answer without protest. If I say they don’t exist, then they don’t exist.”
“Then—" Sebastian jumped at the youth’s last words, but was quickly interrupted.
“But I forgot many things about my past self, and understanding how it works has become almost impossible for me. That’s what caused the incident at your village… I wanted to do something about the Deadlands… I wanted to help, Sebastian… please, you have to trust me.”
While both anger and confusion caused the man’s blood to boil at high temperatures, inside the powerful and intimidating size of his body was an even bigger heart. He felt deep compassion for the youth pleading for forgiveness, sensing the distress and sorrow in his voice. Sebastian sighed deeply with furrowed brows, and continued to speak to the young man in his head with a calmer mind.
“So… what now?”
“The Deadlands is where I can operate,” the youth said. “The closer I am, the more control I have. I… I’m afraid you won’t be able to spend too much time with your daughter, Sebastian.”
“What?”
“Keeping you alive, it… well, it hurts me, and the further you are from the Deadlands the more difficult it becomes for me to protect you. You will need to stay there until I can understand my powers better, as of now... I can’t really do anything about you being a specter. If you don’t… then I’m afraid you won’t last for long out there.”
“… this is what you warned me about.”
“It is… I’m sorry.”
“So… will I be immortal as long as I’m in the Deadlands? That’s a scary thought.”
“As long as I want you to be, then nothing in this world will come even close to harm you. Don’t worry, I will always have your back.”
“That’s…”
“I do have a warning to offer,” the youth said. “Humans, animals, technology, specters, and even nature itself… none are strong enough to put a dent on you, but there are warriors out there not bound by these rules.”
A single word came to Sebastian’s mind at the young man’s claims, having not only heard or read about them, but learned plenty about them through the tales his own daughter enjoyed before bed. “Gladean knights…”
“Yes, they are the only ones that can break that will. I… I want to get closer to the Deadlands, but I’m not ready yet. If I do that, then I can weaken the specters, and save as many lives as I can. Sebastian… I want to ask for your help, but that could mean that a gladean knight may claim your life if you are not careful. Will you help me?”
The man’s strong determination faltered at the thought itself, but the sight of his daughter was enough to steel his heart and mind. Nothing mattered more than her happiness, her protection, and her life. He took a small azure ring from the pocket in his pants, stroking it gently with his fingers before sliding the item in one of the sleeping girl’s fingers.
“I guess my life depends on you now…” he said. “But I want you to promise me something.”
“Promise? What would it be?”
“My daughter… I want her to be happy… I want her to not live these horrors ever again. I want her to grow strong and healthy, far from those demons… and when all of this is over… I want you to promise me… that I will see her again, no matter how long it takes.”
“No harm will come to you or her, Sebastian.” The youth announced with confidence, lifting the heaviest of burdens Sebastian has ever felt in his life. “I can’t make any decisions for her, but I will do anything in my power to keep her far from harm. This… this is my fault after all, and I want to compensate for the pain I caused her too… I will ensure her happiness, Sebastian. I promise.”
The hardened expression from Sebastian’s face suddenly faded. His shoulders dropped, and his eyes narrowed with a smile. Pain and sorrow overtook every thought in his mind, but if there was something that both his wife and daughter loved about him, was the bright smile he had plastered in his face every single day of their peaceful lives. His lips curved, and he smiled warmly at the young man before speaking.
“Alright…” he whispered. “Then I will follow your lead from now on, and leave my daughter in your hands.”
“I will not let you down, Sebastian. That’s another promise.”
Sebastian chuckled softly, keeping his voice low to avoid waking up his slumbering daughter. “Thank you… buddy.”
END OF CHAPTER