Dawn of Darkness: Part 1 (Where the Shadows Stalk)

by Adam Watson

  He came crashing through the roof like a tonne of bricks, bringing down tiles, debris and dust. He landed on the ground with such force that it instantly shattered his back. His skull cracked, hitting the ground hard, and whatever he had landed on, it had been sticking upright; it skewered right through his back and out through his chest - he thought the pain was the only thing keeping him alive.

  The Oracle rolled to the other side of the room and then got up miraculously unscathed, and Dray smiled - he had protected her. He had gotten her out of that room alive and to relative safety. She might be able to make it on her own from here. The Oracle knelt over him looking down, and when she did tears welled in her eyes.

  "Tempus no," she gasped, realising the severity of Dray’s wounds. Dray was on the point of blacking out, she bent down and quickly grabbed his head in her hands. "Dray, Dray listen to me. You have to get up, you have ..." The words trailed out of her mouth.

  "Oracle?" whispered Dray hoarsely, he was losing strength and blood fast. The Oracle knelt closer to Dray.

  "Dray I'm here, you have to stay with me."

  "It's over." It was all he could do to get the words out, the pain unbearable. "I-I can't move, my back's b-broken … i-it can’t be fixed, I'm finished. Get away while you still can." The Oracle was already shaking her head from side to side.

  "No, please don't make me do this. No Dray, no … please get up!" Dray closed his eyes and began to slip into unconsciousness. The thought of Dray's death sent the Oracle into a panic, and she shook him to keep him awake long enough.

  "TORAC!" she cried. "I command you to get up and protect me." Bright lights sizzled across the surface of Dray's eyes like azure lightning bolts, his right hand turned ice blue and burned like fire. Despite his broken body Dray began to stand up. The pain was incredible, and he screamed like he had never screamed before.

  "NNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!" He wanted to black out, he wanted to die - he could feel everything that was happening. The bone fragments scraping together inside his skull, the shattered vertebrae in his spine crunching together unnaturally, the gaping wound in his chest oozing blood and matted with dust and debris, and yet still he was rising up, his body defying everything his mind wanted it to do. "MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!" he cried. The Oracle turned away, unable to look at him and vomited violently; tears streamed down her face.

  "W-We have to g-get out of here and into the street," she managed. She was holding her stomach and had her eyes cast down. "T-Torac g-get us out of here," she stuttered.

  Dray started running, running like he had never run before. He could feel the bones crunching in his spine, and every step was agony, but he had no choice, his body was doing against his control. He ran into the door with such force that it ripped off its hinges and fell to the ground outside.

  The Oracle looked around and saw that it was just as chaotic out there as it was inside the castle. Men and creatures were fighting all around; not just the creatures from inside the castle, but creatures that flew through the sky. Further down the street, great beasts of fur and muscle rampaged; destroying all that they encountered.

  She looked down the street to her left, there was a great rumbling sound nearing them at speed - the thundering of hooves. They were soldiers on horseback with swords and spears, but they weren't heading towards the castle to fight, they were fleeing the city to live.

  "Torac! We need a horse!" Dray turned, unable to control his own actions and even though his body was broken, he could feel great strength flowing into it. The sudden surge of power mixed with the pain of his injuries sent him into a rage - he charged into the street and the oncoming stampede.

  Horses and armed men streamed past him, never slowing. It seemed they would rather trample him to death than stop, and who could blame them, when stopping could mean an end their lives?

  Nevertheless, he needed to get the Oracle out of there, and that meant procuring a horse. He reached up to the next rider that passed and even with the full weight of a charging horse, he stopped them both dead in their tracks and threw the rider to the ground. He didn't like doing that. After all, this soldier was on their side, but this was a life or death situation, and that soldier would die a thousand times before he let the hellspawn get their twisted claws on the Oracle.

  Dray got up onto the horse and rode to the Oracle. He held out his hand and pulled her up behind him - she felt light and sprang up easily.

  "Torac! Get us out of here!" Why does she keep calling me that?! There was no time to think, they needed to keep moving, to get out of Candelier City and as far away as possible.

  "RIDE!" he yelled to the horse, digging his heels into its side and the horse took off at speed - it seemed it didn't want to be there any more than they did.

  They thundered down the streets at break-neck speeds, there was no time for caution. Dray knew only one thing, they had to get past the walls before the city guards decided to close the gates – and the way the battle was going, that was a real possibility. Soon they will be using the walls to keep these things inside the city rather than out - the notion troubled him greatly.

  Following the other soldiers would be their best chance to get out. Not only did they know the quickest way, they could provide protection as well - to a degree. Dray didn't kid himself, he knew full well that if he or the Oracle became a hindrance, the soldiers wouldn't hesitate to kill them both.

  They followed the riders for some distance through the city unhindered, which was a relief, except that now all Dray could think about was the pain.

  He rode along the cobblestone paths, barely able to keep his eyes open. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep forever, yet his hands held onto the reigns with a vice-like grip. His legs were sturdy, his feet firm in the stirrups; somehow he knew he wouldn't fall out - there was a power that transcended himself at work here.

  He could see the soldiers ahead of him, speeding between the houses, across the gardens, through the market; never slowing, not stopping for anything … or anyone.

  Dark shadows flitted through the night; sometimes shadowing them, sometimes they seemed to fly beside them. No-one dared slow down, for fear that they might just find out what those shadows were.

  The night was dark and ominous; in the sky thousands of bats swarmed, swirling chaotically and blocking out the crescent moon. A heavy mist hung in the air, thick with corruption and Dray knew he if didn't get them out of there soon it would taint their minds and drive them mad - only he feared that the pain would do it to him first.

  Every now and then one of the creatures would be on the road; sometimes standing, sometimes running, sometimes crossing from one side to the other. However they got there, the soldiers would simply lower their swords and spears and run them down, hacking and slicing as they went and those unfortunate villagers who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time - well, they got the same treatment too.

  Dray could feel the Oracle behind him, her arms wrapped around him, her hands holding on tight. He could hear her sweet voice chanting softly, he couldn't make out what she was saying, but it sounded beautiful; his head nodded and bounced as his mind began to wander.

  "We have to get past the gates," he muttered in delirium. He wasn't even sure if she could hear him, but he kept talking anyway - at least he would know he was still conscious. "Tempus make it stop, please I beg you, make it stop." More mutters, but suddenly he burst out laughing - a wild, mad laugh. "Tempus you are playing games with me," he whispered cheekily.

  "Are you all right Dray?" Sssshhhh. It was the Oracle. Dray tried to wipe the burning sting out of his eyes, and it seemed to bring back some clarity. "Don't let this mist affect your mind Dray." Yes, so easy for you to say princess, you're not the one with a gaping hole in your chest!! No, wait … he must calm himself, how could he be angry with the Oracle? It's the pain. I can't think straight. "Dray?"

  "I'm all right." His eyes were shut tight, and his face was grimaced to its full extent; he took a deep breath. Yes,
that’s it. He felt a little better, his mind felt clearer if nothing else. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take, but when he looked down at the ring ... something deep inside of him said that he could endure a lot more than the pain he was feeling right now - that thought made him want to retch.

  He could see the gates now; soldiers were holding them open, waiting for the last remnants of the army to trickle through. Peasants and common folk were making their way through as well, but Dray knew as soon as those soldiers made it out, the gates would be closing no matter who was left on the other side. Then, even as he had that thought, it started to happen - what he had feared, what he had dreaded.

  At first, he heard a loud shout; one which he recognised to be the shout of a wall commander. Too far to hear it clearly, the chill down his spine told him exactly what had been said. They're going to close the fucking gates! Soldiers from all around the city were merging together and streaming through the gate. Looking around he could see the desperation, nobody wanted to be left behind the walls when those gates shut.

  The soldiers that he had been riding with had already joined the mass making its way through; he and the Oracle had fallen behind and were left with the stragglers.

  "GET THOSE FUCKING GATES CLOSED!!" came the command over the din of chaos. "I DON'T CARE WHO GETS LEFT IN THERE, JUST GET THEM FUCKING SHUT!" Dray's heart began beating faster and faster as the gates began to close. He dug his heels into the flanks of the horse, ignoring the pain. He leant down to streamline and urged the horse to run.

  "Run damn you! If you want to live, run!" The horse bolted into a gallop as though it understood what Dray had said; the Oracle clung on for dear life. By the gods, we're not going to make it. He knew he had to push through the pain and go faster if they were going to make it. "FASTER!" he shouted. "FASTER!" The horse surged, galloping like its life depended on it - which it did.

  "We're going to make it!" he yelled with a sudden uplift in mood. The gates were closing, but a mass of horse and people were still making their way through.

  "GET THAT OIL UP THERE!" barked another command. He can't be serious. "I SAID GET IT UP THERE! THOSE GATES ARE SHUTTING ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!" The soldiers on the walls hauled up a boiling cauldron; the horse sped over fallen debris, abandoned tools, stones and belongings. Dray did the maths in his head. We're not going to make it! People were now running in both directions; through the gate and away from it. The soldiers up top were getting ready to pour the oil, and the commander's tactic seemed to be working - the gate was clearing out fast. It appeared that some people would rather take their chances with the demons than the boiling oil - Dray was not one of them.

  He dug his heels in again, causing the horse to jump forward. Dray felt the Oracle’s hand slip when they landed. At the bottom of the gate, pikemen were assembling as a deterrent to the crowd - soon their window to pass through would be closed.

  "Hold on," he urged, he knew he couldn't slow down or he'd never make the gate. Dray could see the loud-mouthed commander on the top of the wall now; the one that was barking all the orders.

  "RELEASE!" The soldiers obeyed, and suddenly there was boiling oil splashing down around the gateway; both soldiers and commoners screamed and ran - those that weren't already scalded to death.

  "Dray I can't hold ..." The Oracle slipped and fell off the back of the horse. Dray turned his head and saw the Oracle tumbling violently across the ground. Then a sharp pain pierced his shoulder, and suddenly he too was on the ground. He raised his head in a daze and watched as the horse cantered through the gates, splashing boiling oil on each step … the gates shut tight.

  The horse made it! It might have burnt feet, but it'll be all right. He almost burst out laughing. The fucking horse made it! He looked down at his shoulder and saw a quarrel sticking out of it.

  "ALL RIGHT, NOW SECURE THOSE FUCKING GATES AND BURN THOSE STAIRS TO THE GROUND! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING GETTING OUT OF HERE!" The commander disappeared down the other side of the wall and out of view.

  Fetid doglover! Dray couldn't believe that the soldiers had actually shot him with a crossbow to stop him from getting out of the city, but even though he was outraged, he no longer cared. Exhaustion had taken him; now he just wanted to lay there and rest - he closed his eyes.

  "Who the fuck do you think you are?" screamed a shabby-looking man, he was dressed in plain dark clothes and wore a little round hat upon his head. "Let us out of here." There was no answer; smoke from the burning stairwell rose into the air. "I said let us out!" More people joined in the screaming and shouting; others begged for their lives; others pleaded for their freedom and demanded to be released from their newfound prison.

  The wall commander and his garrison soon reappeared on the walls, he had a determined look on his face and a crossbow in his hands.

  "YOU PEOPLE NEED TO LEAVE THIS PLACE!" he shouted, lifting the crossbow up in front of him. "I DON'T WANT YOU ATTRACTING CREED HERE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

  "Where are we supposed to go?" yelled an older looking woman.

  "I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU GO. JUST GET AWAY FROM THIS GATE!" The wall commander spoke in such a way that it was clear that this was his final warning.

  "Then let us out!" screamed the man in the little round hat. 'THOD!!' A bolt pierced through the front of his skull, and he dropped to the ground dead - the hat rolled three yards along the ground and to the feet of a large woman standing near him. There was a moment of stunned silence, and then violence erupted, causing a stampede as a swarm of people charged the gate.

  As quick as the rebellion started, it was quelled upon the first volley of arrows; now some of the stragglers lay on the ground dead, others were wounded, but the message was clear - there would be no protection or sanctuary here.

  "GO FIND YOUR SALVATION ELSEWHERE ... IF YOU CAN. DON'T COME BACK HERE, UNLESS YOU WANT TO DIE! "The commander disappeared down the other side of the wall again, but his men remained to guard the gate.

  "Bastards," muttered another man under his breath. "They're going to leave us here to die."

  "Listen to me." A large man dressed in the garb of a soldier stepped forward. "This bickering will get us nowhere." The others stopped and listened, if anyone was going to keep them alive, it was going to be a soldier. There were other soldiers amongst the crowd, but this one; the one named Haman took charge now. "Clearly they're going to sacrifice us in an attempt to keep the Creed contained to the city. We're on our own now. We all need to work together if we're going to survive." The silence told Haman that they knew his words to be true. "We need to arm ourselves and find sanctuary in the city, and we need to do it quickly before we find ourselves fighting the horde."

  The ‘horde’ or more specifically 'The Demon Horde' was the collective term that royalty and common folk alike used to describe the foul, twisted beasts and animates that were controlled by 'The Creed' - the highest echelon of the so-called 'demonic' society; the elite hierarchy of the night.

  "Everyone grab a weapon and stay close." There were about three hundred men and women still alive, some of them started to sift through the debris, finding lost and abandoned weapons, others grabbed farm tools like hoes and picks, and some just armed themselves with planks of wood.

  "Where will we go?" asked a young woman called Lisa, she was short and wore a tattered dress of white and maroon; she normally wore a crooked smile, but now she had a distressed look on her face.

  "To the 'Cathedral of Candare.' The walls there are fortified, and if we can secure the doors and windows, we can be safe, at least for a while, until we can work out how to get out of this city." Lisa nodded, and some others agreed.

  "Anything will be better than being out in the open." Many voices agreed with that. The soldier named Haman, who was now the leader of this group it seemed, walked out to address the crowd.

  "Listen to me, now we face the creatures of the night ..." Before he could say any more he was interrupted by a long, loud howling. Three hundred heads turned to the soun
d, and for a moment there was dead silence. Red eyes glowed on the rooftops, and in the distance more howling could be heard; howls that answered the calls of their brethren - and they were closing in.

  The villagers readied their makeshift weapons and faced their enemies. More creatures emerged from the shadows; twisted and deformed - infected mutations and abominations of nature. Larger humanoids approached; ones with huge, muscular bodies and melded beast-like faces - their eyes glowed red in the night. Some had horns, and all were clad in darkened armour emblazoned with the blood-red sigils of 'The Creed.' Swords and axes shone in the moonlight.

  "Heavy infantry," remarked one of the soldiers.

  "Yeah ... we're fucked," answered another. Dire wolves; huge beasts of teeth and fur joined the ranks standing next to their masters.

  "Looks like they're bringing in the dog-squad," noted a third soldier, "and all we've got is a bunch of fucking villagers." He spat on the ground with contempt. Crying could be heard amongst the crowd and piss ran down the legs of the weak as the fear of imminent death began to set in. The second soldier drew his sword.

  "I'll tell you what ... they're not taking me down without a fight." Another soldier walked out in front and tried to keep the morale of the crowd from falling apart.

  "Well, it looks like this is it!" He screamed at the crowd with an increasingly higher pitch. "You fucking villagers better get your fucking shit together! We're going to take this fight all the fucking way to the Cathedral, and if we all work together, we might just fucking make it!"

  The sudden tirade sprang life into the crowd, maybe they could all make it after all. If they all worked together, maybe they could make it to the Cathedral of Candare and be safe; within seconds the mood had changed and the crowd was now ready to fight, even one of the commoners felt bold enough to pipe in.