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DINOTALES: Book I - The Quest Begins (Chapter 18)
By Vader
February 2nd, 1800
As the rain showered down upon us in a thick drenching, I helped Harold make his way down from the roof, climbing down the side of the top of the castle, onto the ledge near his window, leading back into his room. He was surprisingly strong and determined after the battering of the winged leviathans, and despite his stubbornness, I still helped him down. We got into his room as fast as possible, out from the chilling cold. I left Harold to get warmed up in bed while I ran to find Avatolon. I could not forget the image in my mind of those two men running from the shaking woods. Something was coming . . . and I suspected it was a war.
-Jack Bradbury
The woods were shrouded in a cloak of mist. The grey haze had settled over the still treetops at the brink of the woods. In the distance, the woods were rocking violently and whatever was causing it was moving forward, trashing the trees back and forth as it came closer and closer to wide plain of green grass before the city of Logilathe.
Two men ran from them across the plains. They were clothed in knight's uniforms, with brown cloaks, leather pants and boots, had carried bows and arrows. They panted heavily as they ran, one of them had no arm and the other was limping from his wounds on his leg. Coughing, the one with no arm fell to the ground, unable to stand any longer. The other man turned a crouched down to him. "No! Not now! Please, get up!" he said, beginning to cry.
"I . . . can not go on. Be brave . . ." the other knight said starting to choke and shake from his loss of . Before any more words could come out, the ground shook, and the chirping of birds grew rapid as they flew away from their shaking trees. The knights turned around and braced themselves as they were trampled by heavy feet coming onto the plains.
Jack raced down the corridor of the castle to a guard post located overlooking the central square. He stopped short, noticing something entirely unusual - the guards had left the post and were all congregated in the middle of the square below, spears aimed forward, seeming to be ready for battle. He was about to call down to them when a hand gripped his shoulder from behind and pulled him into the shadows.
"They should not be disturbed," a familiar voice told him. The figure moved his face into the dim moonlight to reveal himself as Avatolon.
"I have been looking for you! Harold and I have been attacked by winged creatures sent from Roschar! I fear there may be more coming! I saw things moving in the woods!" Jack exclaimed in a rush. Avatolon only sighed and shook his head with a highly distressed look on his face.
"Your fears have become reality, my young friend. One of Roschar's army is moving at a swift pace toward Logilathe. All the knights have been sent to the surrounding wall of the city to defend the citizens and all the palace guards have been stationed below in case a beast should sneak its way in here to kill the rulers." Avatolon looked away up into the sky, making his hands fists, as if trying to bear an inevitable sadness. "This is an incredibly dark night, for it is where the New Dark Age begins. And this time . . . I suspect we will not win the fight."
Jack immediately felt the same way Avatolon did. Both of them were now trying to control harsh and dark emotions coming up inside of them. Jack stood up strait, grabbing the knight's arm. "But we can try," he said. Avatolon looked back to him with his warm and gentle smile, one that did not convey happiness, but hope.
"I admire your bravery, Jack. And we shall fight our hardest, it is the Knighthood's pledge. I must now go to the surrounding wall with the others." He began to leave when Jack stopped him.
"Can I come?" Avatolon looked down and slowly shook his head.
"I advise you not to, for the chances of your survival are few. Yet if your heart is set on it, than I shall not force to stop you." Jack nodded his head firmly, his intentions clear. He followed Avatolon, running down the corridor, running past the rooms of Jack's companions. Yet Rick, Emma, and Harold were not in their rooms - they standing outside of them.
"We saw the army embling outside through our windows. Going to fight ‘em, Av?" Rick smirked. "We're going with you!" Emma and Rick looked back around to a less determined Harold, who stood with his arms crossed and rolling his eyes.
"Oh, alright, fine!" Harold spat and everyone ran to follow Avatolon and Jack. They sped out of the castle as fast as possible, running light the wind through the now dark streets of Avatolon.
As they ran, fearful people in the streets, standing still, were watching them. The s were trembling and the children were crying in the dark. The moody atmosphere filled Jack's heart with sorrow. And the remembrance that because of him, all this was happening, was aroused in him again. Before he could dwell on it, they had reached the wall.
At least a fifty knights were standing there. Some were atop the wall, their bows and arrows ready and aimed strait ahead. Others stood at the base of the large, wooden gate, their swords and spears standing erect. All were focused. "Fear can motivate," Avatolon whispered. Jack seemed to be the only one that picked it up, but it certainly was true in this situation. "It was an ancient saying from the ancestor's books. It was written during the first Dark Age," Avatolon concluded.
He drew four swords from a nearby knight that held a case of them. He handed them out to Jack, Rick, Emma, and Harold. "You shall be fighting with the swords of old. You, Jack, have the sword of Benavuar, to carry in this battle. It is one of the most elegant ever made," Avatolon informed him. Jack gulped. "May you use it as he once did."
Jack nodded, too sad to reply. He turned with his friends, and walked over to join the other knights standing at the base of the gate. And for one moment, there was complete silence, and there wasn't a sound. Trembles filled the air and everyone seemed to be looking in each other's eyes for strength. Time seemed to slow and stop. And before anything else happened, that single moment ended and the huge gate began to creek open.
The opening of the doors revealed the large plain beyond, and about a quarter of a mile away, the brink of the woods. Lining the trees was the most breathtaking and gut-wrenching sight Jack had ever seen in his life - an entire army of Roschar's lined up, ready to charge forward. The leviathans ranged from twenty feet tall, to a man's size, all snarling, ready for the rampage and siege of Logilathe. They were of all different colors and tones, yet they were barely recognizable in the black night.
Jack wiped his forehead, laced with beads of sweat from anguish. Rick slowly twisted his hands back and forth and ened his grip on his sword. Emma brought her weapon right up next to the side of her head, ready to strike down a leviathan. Harold straitened himself, refusing to allow his life to be lost in this battle.
Avatolon jumped atop the wall, looking outward with his keen eyesight. He exhaled, and a small puff of warmth traveled into the cold night air, creating a very small grey cloud that seemed to disappear as soon as it began. "Forward!" Avatolon suddenly and bluntly shouted. Once the word was out of his mouth, everyone in the fighting crowd below was aroused and went charging through the gate, determined to let nothing get in their way.
The knights, along with Jack, Rick, Emma, and Harold in the middle of them, went running at a swift and steady pace against the plain towards the leviathans army Roschar had in his command. The beasts roared and charged forward at well at an even faster pace, their strong legs causing them to sprint forward in a dash towards the middle of the field to meet their opponents.
In one split second, the two groups came together in the center. Claws cut into skin, teeth ripped away flesh, feet crushed bodies, swords ripped at muscle, and arrows flew with precise aim in the giant haze of chaotic warfare. A new battle for Logilathe had begun.
(Next chapter shall come soon)
1/1/02 12:19:48 AM
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