literature

Shadows of Mysterium - Chapter Seven

Deviation Actions

skipwr3ck's avatar
By
Published:
53 Views

Literature Text

Cornered


After a night of virtually no sleep, Rune woke to a sickeningly familiar voice in his head- and he wasn't the only one.

"All persons receiving this message are to report to the main hall immediately."

Everyone had heard it. Not just his own unit, but all the hundred or so people like them. A few things came to Rune's mind when he saw everyone in the same spot for the first time, the most prominent thought being either most of them were powerful enough to take on a good hundred people themselves, or this war was of a much smaller scale than he originally thought- or perhaps there were more soldiers at the front than he'd originally thought. Whatever it was, he'd find out soon enough.

The Videna sent them off with few words. Apparently, they had lost a lot of soldiers in a very short amount of time to an unknown cause. This made the whole of the room nervous, but none more than Rune himself. He was fairly tall, sure, but even so he was still half the size of even some girls and on top of that, he had nothing that could protect them like the rest of the world did. That sentence repeated itself in his mind even far after he willed it to. Part of him hoped he'd be pulled aside; told he should stay; in fact, for the first time in his life, he wanted to be told that he wasn't good enough. But alas, it was not so. He, along with his company, took to the road only mere hours after the announcement, lead by nothing but a beaten path that avoided the edge of the forest entirely.

Days passed with the tense silence rarely broken. The journey supposedly took two weeks on foot- maybe three with the wagons of supplies they brought. Some that were able went directly there without waiting for the rest. These included someone with teleportation, someone that could run faster than light traveled, and even one that could fly. Most of the noise came from people arguing over turns to sleep in the wagons and occasionally someone would let a power slip out of anger or playfulness.

Then, the day came that marked a week since Rune had arrived dazed at the edge of the forest. At times, he could still feel the cold metal of the necklace he wore under his uniform, but most of the time he forgot it was there. For whatever reason, whenever he tried to take it off he felt too bare and it ended up right back around his neck. But as he walked down the path with the others, it felt heavy. After a little while painfully aware of the weight around his neck, Rune gave in and pulled it out from under his shirt and studied the tag. The rustic black markings had not changed, but he still could not make sense of them. Then he turned his attention to the ring, looking rather crushed and melted in some places now that he looked at it closer.

"What's that?"

Jumping with a startle, he looked over to see Alair peering curiously at the thing. "I mean I've noticed that you always wear it, but where did you even find it?"

Rune shrugged and looked back down to it, turning it around in his fingers. "I don't know. I had it when I got here."

"Oh,' she said simply. "Can you read that?"

"No," he said with a sigh, tucking it back in his shirt. "I have no idea what it says- if anything."

"Well it looked like some kind of language," she pointed out. "I hope you figure it out someday," she added with a smile, which he halfheartedly returned.

Just then, a funnel of flames illuminated the dusk uncomfortably close to his arm and he jumped to the side, nearly knocking Alair over before he whipped his head around and angrily barked, "Eirian!"

"Hey!" She shouted back, having stopped and craned her head towards the sky. "As much as I wish it had been... That was not... Me."

He narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "Right, then I suppose it was some other horrific creature that can spit fire."

Before the last word left his mouth, another flame burst from the low hanging clouds above, causing Eirian to jump to the side. "You were saying?!" She snarled accusingly.

Her words were drowned out by an awful screeching, causing most of them to cringe and cover their ears. Then, out of nowhere, massive a figure swooped low and suddenly everything was on fire.

Eyes wide with panic, Rune staggered back and looked around wildly. Others had just been surrounding him, and now they had either scrambled or were blocked from his vision with a wall of fire. Heart racing, he turned his sighed towards the sky, peering into the purple-gray clouds of evening and waiting for whatever had caused the destruction to show itself again. His head whipped to the side when the dreadful cry sounded again to the left- and then the right. There was more than one of whatever these creatures were and it hadn't taken long for the others to retaliate with a flurry of utter chaos. Meanwhile, he could do absolutely nothing.

Just as he looked up again, one of the beasts broke through the clouds. It was a huge tawny bird, it's beak cracked and glowing as it readied to spit flames his way. And was that... Someone on it's back? He didn't have time to think about it, for talons the length of his forearm were reaching directly for him.

Snapping back to his senses, Rune scrambled to turn around and ran at full speed in whatever direction happened to be fire-free. He wasn't quite sure when he left the road, but he soon found himself sprinting through the grass with the glow of raging fires and the din of battle fading behind him. Still, he could feel the presence of the bird growing closer. He knew there was no outrunning it, and so at the last second, he allowed himself to trip.

Rune fell to the ground hard enough that his arms buckled and his chest and chin slammed into the ground, knocking the air from his lungs. He was dazed for no longer than a second before he forced himself to push up just enough to look around. He looked up, sore chest heaving with heavy breaths as he heard a screech from above, the bird curving back up and flying into the clouds. However, as quickly as it disappeared, it was back in sight, diving at a dangerous speed towards him.

Suddenly, it looked as though firelight became concentrated on the eyes of both the beast and it's rider, causing the flight pattern to swerve. Aware that it was losing it's path, the bird let out a burst of flames in a last attempt to hit it's target before crashing into the ground and sliding at least the length of itself, creating a deep rut and throwing the rider.

Feeling the heat of flame on his face, Rune was still too petrified to move from his position on the ground. That is, until rushing footsteps sounded behind him and suddenly there was a tight grip around his upper arm, hauling him to his feet. He scrambled to keep his feet under him, the person not stopping as they dragged him along. When Rune regained his footing, the hand let go and Rune looked up to see Säde's pale pony tail streaming behind her, soot streaked across her horrified face as she ran.

Then, suddenly, she let out a cry and was no longer by his side. By the time he noticed, he was a good distance away, skidding to a stop and turning around to see her on the ground frantically tugging at a rope around her legs. "Säde!" He called, wild eyes looking up to see the rider limping towards her, the man's skin dark and freckled and his ears at an odd point, war pain streaked across his face and chest. He took only a few steps towards her before he was stopped.

"No!" She gasped turning around and shooing him away. Her expression was surprisingly composed. "Just go," she demanded. He stopped but did not keep running, looking between her and the man, wide-eyed and conflicted. The painful truth that he could do nothing nagged at the back of his mind, but on the other hand, he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Then, with a snap and flash of something sharp in her hand, the ropes binding her fell loose and she scrambled to her feet. "Rune," she growled sternly over her shoulder. "Go!"

He simply couldn't.

When the sound of the man drawing his weapon caught her ear, Säde whipped around and immediately sunk her dagger into his forearm, holding a tight grip as she kicked his hurt leg and he cried out, falling to his knees and allowing the blade to slide from his flesh.

Without a second glance, Säde marched back towards Rune with a stone glance, walking fast enough for her hair to sway behind her. She grabbed his wrist without stopping, though his jaw gaped as he stared and stumbled after her. "When I tell you to run-" she stopped short and turned to face him with a sharp glare. "Do not hesitate." Without waiting for a response, she turned and continued to pull him straight into the shadows on the other side of the treeline.
© 2015 - 2024 skipwr3ck
Comments0
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In