Chapter 11: Terror Above the Stables
The night having ended, the sun made its first appearance in the sky above Bradford, causing the city lights to shut off with a simultaneous click. Tom, eager to begin his day, exited his small home and shut the door behind him. He then turned around and walked onto the street where, as was the case every morning, the "clip-clop" of horses trotting their way to the town's exit could be heard.
"Good morning, Tom," a voice said from behind him. He turned around and smiled.
"We always end up walking together," he said to his neighbor. "I swear, this is crazy."
"We sure do!"
Tom lived near one of the town's stables, and so from early morning to late in the evening, there was always a great deal of activity around here as passengers looked to book a caravan to one of several nearby destinations. As for Tom himself, he was simply walking to the goods shop where he worked every day of the week. It also happened to be across from the bakery managed by his neighbor.
"Today's the day, Tom," the man said, smiling. "You're gonna class-promote to Merchant. I can feel it."
Tom sighed. "I wish."
Tom was pushing 40, and he'd been stuck at level-22 for the past few years. He was beginning to lose hope that he'd ever be able to move beyond Peddler. He wasn't sure what he was doing wrong or what he needed to change in his life, but as he aged, it became increasingly less likely that he was ever going to make Merchant.
But…at least he had a good job in one of the best towns in Ostros. Or perhaps it was because of that he'd become so content in his life—to the extent he'd become unable to push beyond where he'd plateaued. Or was that even true at all? Was he actually content? At night, he would experience such morbid, existential dread while realizing it was becoming less and less likely he'd ever find himself a wife.
"You look upset," his neighbor said as the two of them walked towards the town square together.
"I'm just a bit depressed. I need to find a good woman."
His neighbor laughed. "Well, if you do, let me know how you found her."
"But you're married!"
"Exactly."
Tom returned the laugh. "At this point, I honestly think I should just accept that I'm forever destined to be…huh?" His words trailed off as he noticed something unusual. Up ahead of him, on the concrete path on which the two of them walked, a very bizarre shadow began to form, and along with this shadow, the sound of a constant, heavy thwapping began to echo from somewhere above them.
"The hell is that?"
His neighbor paused, gave him a questioning look, and made as if to respond. But before a single word could escape his lips, a horse stopped short in the middle of the road and let out a loud neigh as though spooked, drawing both their attention.
"Whoah!" its rider cried out, and so too did another as a wagon pulled by two horses came to an abrupt halt behind the first horse and its rider. This led to a third wagon stopping, and before long, an entire jam had formed. Now, people were getting out of their carriages and pointing upwards while shouting.
Something very strange was happening, and curiously, Tom turned his head to look up at the sky, wondering just what it was that had everyone acting so unnerved.
And then he saw it.
And like the others, he screamed as well.
********
Alain and his companions were standing together just outside the pub in the town square when a guard came frantically running towards them. "Your Highness!" he screamed, fear in his eyes.
Immediately turning his body towards the sound of the voice, Alain cast his gaze upon the guard, whose entire face had become contorted with terror. He looked like he was running as fast as his legs could carry him, and as he halted just in front of where Alain was standing, he paused for a moment to pant and breathe.
"My prince!" he cried.
"What's wrong?" Alain asked the man, drawing a concerned grunt from Garrick and a compassionate smile from Rethi and Denin. But that smile quickly fell off their faces as he spoke.
"Something's happened!" he shouted. "There's something…something unexplainable floating above the stables." He pointed behind him in the direction he'd run here from.
"Something unexplainable?" Alain asked, becoming alarmed.
The guard wiped sweat off his face and nodded while continuing to pant. "I saw it with my own two eyes, Your Highness. At first, I thought it was a bird, but then I got a closer look." He extended both his arms. "It's some kind of creature with black wings and…oh, God above, I've never seen anything so awful."
Alain briefly met Garrick's eyes, and both their expressions turned dire. "Is this what it sounds like?" Alain asked. "Can it be…?"
"It must be," Garrick replied, to which Denin and Rethi offered an uneasy bow of their heads.
"Wait a minute," the guard said. "Do you know what this creature is, Your Highness?"
"I'm afraid so," Alain replied in a whisper. Then, finding his strength, he spoke with command in his voice, and unflinchingly, he said, "Go find your captain and tell him to spread the word: on the orders of Prince Alain Erickson, all guardsmen in Bradford and all garrisoned militia are to immediately prepare for a battle." He paused for just a moment, then added, "Against a Greater Demon."
The guard took a step back, looking as though Alain's words had slammed into him with the force of a physical blow; for the moment, Alain feared he might faint. "I'm…I'm sorry, Your Highness, but did you just say a demon?" he shrieked. "As in, an actual fucking d—"
"You heard the prince!" Garrick snapped. "Do as he says! Now!"
"Y-yes, Lord Ashmere!" And with that, he took off running. And so did Alain, only in the opposite direction.
His companions followed.
********
Filled with joy, Dal jogged his way down a bustling road. He was feeling elated: better than he had in years. He'd lost touch with how good it felt to be free. Still, he reminded himself it was too soon to feel relief, and he even chided himself for it. No, until he was at least fifty miles away from Bradford, he couldn't allow himself to let his guard down. And especially not while he still hadn't even managed to leave the confines of the town itself.
I should at least wait until I'm back in the fields before I celebrate.
One thing was for sure, however: Dal was leaving Ostros for good. Now that he'd earned the attention of the prince, his two prodigies, and one of the most famous and decorated warriors in the entire kingdom, it was clearly time for him to start over in Jorminia or maybe somewhere even farther away: somewhere not caught up in the throes of a deadly war over electricity.
Not that I disliked the prince, he thought.
The people were lucky to have a young man like Alain Erickson as their prince. He and his companions all seemed like decent enough people. And part of Dal actually felt guilty over the notion of slipping away like this. Yet he simply could not trust their word. Although their intentions were likely good, it was only a matter of time before whoever they stuck Dal with came to fear him and ordered his execution or imprisonment. For someone like Dal, he was destined to either live a life of nomadic freedom or otherwise end up in captivity like a lion.
I should go tame some, he thought. Then he shook his head and again chided himself. He really needed to learn to resist the Class-Draw, as it put such errant thoughts in his head. After all, he wouldn't even be a lion tamer pretty soon. Actually, how long did he have until his next shift, anyway?
Time Remaining: 8 minutes, 3 seconds
Dal suppressed a yelp that almost escaped his throat. That was barely any time at all! There was no way he'd get out of town before his next shift. This was bad. It was now morning, and daylight had chased away the night. The absolute last thing he needed right now was to have a guard or a citizen observe him, report him, and begin this whole cycle anew. If that happened, then in addition to being captured, he'd have to explain to Lord Ashmere why he'd dare escape, and that would not be very fun. Put simply, it was unwise to piss off a Dragon Knight.
It'll be okay, he told himself. I'll just find someplace quiet to shift.
But where? Definitely not here, that was for sure. Walking along the pavement beside the road, he noticed that there was something of a jam going on. Horses were lined up one behind the next, and many of their riders had either gotten out of the saddle or out of their carriages to stare up at something. Come to think of it, exactly what the hell was going on here?
"What is that?" a man in a black suit cried aloud, his fancily dressed wife clutching his arm. "God above!"
Confused, Dal looked up—and then he gasped.
Oh, shit!
Something was there. Something awful. Something from out of a nightmare.
The prince wasn't crazy after all, he thought.
Floating in place above the stables was some kind of horrific, deformed, and vaguely humanoid creature. But it was unlike anything Dal had ever seen before. Its face had no nose, but it did have two yellow-orange, goat-like eyes that glared out at the world with the purest hatred Dal had ever seen. It also had two horns that jutted out from the top of its head, and it had a large mouth that actually wrapped around its entire face, which was slightly opened to reveal four separate sets of razor-sharp teeth.
The creature, whatever it was, was staring down at the town of Bradford while floating more or less stationary just above it. It made no sound except for the constant flapping of its long, veiny, and perfectly black wings that extended widely to both sides of it as it seemingly observed the world around it with undeniable malice and rage. Dal also noticed it was armed; in its right, clawed hand, there was a thin, but very long sword that was slightly curved, and though its left hand was bare, the claws poking out of its reddish-black knuckles were sharper and longer. But more than any thing else, it was the hatred in its visage that made Dal shudder.
Dal knew anger. He knew rage. He even knew malice. But from one look alone, he could tell that this creature was a master of all three. Even as it hovered in the air, its spiked shoulders began to quiver and tremble with what Dal surmised was rage: one that seemed to be intensifying as the creature seemingly grew angrier and angrier. Its goat-like eyes were bulging, and the hand gripping the sword seemed to be clenching even tighter.
"Mommy, what's that?" a little boy in the street near Dal asked.
"I don't know," the mother replied, whimpering.
Dal swore. "You two!" he shouted at them. They turned to look. "That's a demon. Run!"
"A what?" the mother asked fearfully, her eyes widening. "Did you say demon?"
"Yes! You need to—"
"Did that man just say the word 'demon?'" an older gentleman still seated in his carriage asked. "Is that thing...? But surely it cannot be!"
Dal, having unintentionally brought attention upon himself, soon had to ward off questions from five, then eight, then more than a dozen terrified citizens, who demanded answers from him while looking up at the creature with every bit as much fear as the creature was looking back down upon them with hate. But Dal was unable to answer a single one of them, because a noise filled the air: one loud enough to drown out even the screams it gave rise to.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" the demon screamed, misery and anguish in the sound of it as it shook intensely and furiously.
Now, at last, the black-winged creature made its move—and it was fast. With a speed that made an audible, high-pitched screech, the creature tore through the wind itself as it dropped down to the street level and blasted forward, its incredibly long sword drawn back, its body angled forward while each powerful flap of its wings propelled it like strokes from a paddle against an ocean.
"Wh-what is that?" a man screamed. "What in the name of God above is—"
The creature flew over and beyond his head, slicing with its blade and decapitating him. Blood drained from the newly formed stump above the man's shoulders. "Tom!" someone cried. "No!"
Immediately, a panic broke out. Horses began turning and galloping away unguided, causing several of them to knock down and trample their own dismounted riders. One wagon turned over with people still inside of it, causing its wooden siding to smash against the concrete-paved road and shatter, spilling several passengers onto the street. Elsewhere, women picked up their children and began running in the opposite direction. And now, as the creature began viciously swinging its clawed hand back and forth, blood began to flow—everywhere.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Dal pursed his lips, filling with uncertainty. He wondered if he should make a run for it.