Shadow of the Dark One

Chapter Seven - Splitting Up

The next town of Devai sat inside a tree-laden valley. Huge, towering pines sprang up all along the route, blocking everything in any direction. Massive tree-trunks grew along the trail, sticky needles covered the ground along with large seed cones. It would be dark soon, and the men needed somewhere to bed down for the night. The road signs were the only reason they'd known a town lay ahead. But, the signs showed signs of aging.

"Are we close yet?" asked Ricardo. "I could really use a hot bath." He twitched on the plank seat, coddling, crossing and stretching his legs, fidgeting and complaining.

"You've got numb-butt." laughed Jed. "You can't feel your dizzy-doo because you've sat too long."

He spat a huge lump of brown skank right into one of the horse's rumps, causing it to jump and kick. The horse passed gas and veered to the right, forcing both men to shout and curse. The disheveled wagon weaved into a ditch, knocking a front wheel lose, in turn throwing both men from their seats and landed them in the needle-laden ditch. The wagon bobbled up and down as it drove slowly by the filth-covered men.

"You idiot," screamed Ricardo.

Jed whistled very loud. Sano sat up and watched the two men further distance themselves as the wagon dipped and bumped, especially hard in the front. The young Prince couldn't reach the dropped reins, so he held both arms in the air from his perch high atop where he'd slept. But, the horses knew the way down the road, so the young Prince took his time, savoring the humility.

"That Goldie is gonna leave us to die," shouted Ricardo.

"Nobody's gonna die." laughed Jed, picking up the pouch of snuff he'd dropped, and whatever else he could find.

Ricardo began to walk, limping, holding his right foot higher. "Gonna die if I don't get a bath soon."

The two followed the trail, not exactly sure where they were headed. The sun shone in their eyes while they trudged down the tan and red trail, and sinking lower by the minute. Huge pine trees made the setting sun feel more ominous. It brought shadows the likes of which they'd never seen. At one point, the road wound north and south, where they swore the sun would cease to exist.

"Find somewhere to hole up," said Ricardo.

Jed slung an arm downward, disgusted and grunting. "Ain't gonna stop till we reach town. Probably right around the next turn."

Ricardo stood still, watching the old man continue along the trail. "You're gonna miss me when you're dead," shouted Ricardo. "Something's gonna make a poopie outta you."

The old man raised a finger in the air, leaving his friend a friendly gesture. Ricardo returned the kindness.


Prince Sano's wagon hobbled into an old town, one full of buildings half-overgrown by trees and vines. The road didn't widen in town but seemed to narrow, meandering around shacks, storehouses, and sheds that'd seen better days. Some homes had already fallen over, some bore collapsed roofs and others appeared air-tight and in decent shape.

He pulled the glass wand and pointed it at the lead horses. "Whoa," he said. The stallions halted, bunching up the horses in the rear. The three-wheeled wagon wobbled to a standstill in a dusty, red-stained breeze.

His white horse trotted beneath him, allowing the young Prince to slide down and mount. He untied the rope and set off across town. "I don't smell anything," he said. "This town is dead." He continued riding until the sun began to settle in for the night. "The men," he said. "Must not forget about the men."

He rode at a fast gallop with his back to the dissolving sun. The Prince passed the busted wagon and found two sets of roads leading out of town. A towering structure stood beside one road, a busted plank hung from a tree marked 'Danger'. Sano steadied in front of the plank and noticed more laying on the ground. He dismounted and pulled vines away from the boards. 'Dead Army' shown one and another read 'ALL is lost'.

Heading out the trail to the right, the trees grew thinner and cleared near the road's edge for a few hundred yards. He couldn't remember riding in from that direction but, he'd been enjoying the view of the tree-tops from his back.

Pulling his glass wand and opening the leather pouch, the Prince placed a gold coin beneath the wand. It began to glow. A shining, shimmering stream of golden flakes emerged from the coin and poured into the air, towards the tree-line. He steered his horse and trotted off into the woods, following the golden path pouring across the trail.


Jed walked until the road grew dark and dreary. Stopping to find his bearings by the emerging stars, he decided to turn around. As he continued alone, he heard distant noises, rattling and drumming on metal. Up ahead, something emerged around the bend. It stopped, a tall figure staring straight at him. He raised an arm. It raised an arm. He pulled a knife. It pulled a knife. He grunted, "Get." It grunted, "Get." "Boy, don't do that," yelled Jed.

The creature began walking again, almost running. It sped up, barely limping, but gaining speed. Jed held his knife to his waist, poised and ready to strike. "Come get some," he growled. Then he saw something else. Behind the running creature, a hundred creatures, some with faint-red eyes erupted like a flood down the road. A hundred more rounded the corner behind those. "No, go back, go back," yelled Jed.

Jed realized who the creature had been and Ricardo sped past, still limping, but doing very well on his own. "Told you," he huffed. "Somebody's gonna die."

Jed stared for a second and followed. They did well to outpace the hundreds of creatures, but stamina accounts for more than speed. In the dark, they trotted and kept up with one another, each taking a moment to huff and cry, bent over and gasping for air when they thought they were able. Jed kept looking back.

"Don't look at it and it'll go away," said Ricardo.

"I can't not look at it." coughed Jed. "It's not an it, it's a whole bunch of its."

The two gained a hundred yards on the traveling horde and were barely able to make out anything in the dark. Some wore clothing and some wore bones, bare enough to make out their skeletal features. Every now and then, a silver sword glinted, but no fire lit their way.

Unworldly shouts filled the air, screams and curses, grunts and clanking metal broadcast throughout the valley. The noises frightened the men and echoed back and forth, sounding like it came from everywhere at once.

Up ahead, a white horse burst through the woods. It leaped over the ditch and halted in a roar of red dust. Neither man could make out anyone else, except the lone horse. They slowed and called to the stallion, making sure it didn't run. Ricardo mounted first and reached for Jed, grabbing his arm and taking off before he'd fully mounted. He held tight until reaching a safe distance.

The horde marched onward, slowing their masses to an even pace down the dirt trail. Hundreds of boney figures, some skin and bone faces and several without chins passed where the horse had appeared. In their wake, a dark figure returned to stand in the center of their dust trail.

"Gentlemen," said the shadow. "Dead, dead army."

A bright blue prism formed, one encompassing the shadow's view of the horde. Inside this, a blue, encompassed by yellow, and green emerged. A colorful piece of paper floated end over end over the red dirt road, though inside the now purple prism, a mauve-en arrow unleashed itself into the backs of the horde of undead. It passed through and beyond each and every single one of them until reaching the other side. Trees lit up from beneath, limbs and needles fell from the sky, random fires erupted in the presence of such powerful energies. Marching soldiers fell or bent. Yet, they didn't perish, they persisted.

Zombie-men fell to their knees. The ones with wrinkled skin dropped any semblance of humanity in the form of ashes. The smells of smoking flesh ran amuck and into the valley. Through the burning light of many who'd once been men, a shadow cast itself against the trees to its back, forming a tall, demonic figure.

It stood in the glow of marching, burning men and held ground, summoning another round of prism magic. A blue coiling paper melted and simmered into infinity. The horde of unthinking, undying zombies rushed, gaining speed as the weight of their burning lives fell away. A large flaming ball bounced and rolled along the ground, grabbing every other zombie and knocking every other one back. It finally shot a ring of fire in all directions and, in an instant, the blast was gone.

Those closest to the cataclysm broke apart and flew into the wind. Those already on fire shattered into black charred bones. Those farther away were burning, losing sight of their target in the smoke, yet kept going. A gut feeling told them to keep going. The fires took with it their last bit of humanity. The skeleton army continued forward.