Samual draft, rather messy

Chapter 1. 

A flash of lightening exploded across the sky, lighting up the land with a sickly red, the hills and trees looked as if they had been bathed in blood.

Masses of gnarled dead trees stood out in stark relief, there countless branches crookedly reaching outwards and upwards as if beckoning the raging storm. A savage wind howled through the long dead forest, sounding like a cry from the trees themselves at the storms near cataclysmic fury.

Towering high above this was the palace, home of the Lasaan line for generations. It stood there, huge and menacing, it was almost as if it was watching, keeping guard over the land. Inside the palace, soldiers, civilians and royalty all clung tightly to their bed sheets in terror, sleep was far from anybody’s mind.

One man alone was outside the walls that treacherous night, it was the emperor lasaan himself, men heard his name and trembled, and with good reason to, the lasaan line had kept the people at bay for generations, for the land was in a state of perpetual drought, and they controlled what little water there was to be had. The emperor stood alone, watching the storm from the uppermost balcony of the highest tower, it reached up to the sky like a hand reaching to the gods themselves. He stood there looking down, the wind whipped his midnight black robes around him, he didn’t appear to notice.

With a sudden violence, another flash of lightening lit up the sky, this time it was accompanied by thunder so loud, it shook the palace to its foundations. The lone figure looked down on the palace sprawling below him, a sheer drop which would have been dizzying even for the bravest of men.

“It appears that the prophecy has come to pass” the lone man said to no one in particular, he gazed up to the sky as thunder once again rolled across the land,

“A red storm, oh dear. Who would have thought it?” he laughed softly to himself as he turned and walked slowly into the darkness of the tower.

“Allistor” he barked sharply to a small grubby looking man who stood trembling against the far wall. Obviously trying to keep as far away from the storm as he could, the man looked up towards the voice timidly.

“Allistor, my dear boy” he said, his voice turning sickly sweet “it appears the time is finally upon us” a small hint of a smile crept onto his lips, his eyes narrowed ”Fetch me the seven” blood red lightening flashed across the sky, as if he had done it himself to emphasize his words.

The grubby man known as allistor gasped with wide eyes, before turning and scurrying away down the stairway, the man in the robes as black as midnight listened to the hurried footsteps for a few seconds as they tapped and clattered down the stairway, before returning to the balcony to watch as the blood red storm raged.

                                                                                                *  *  *

The heat was intense, Samual’s skin burned, as if it was on fire. He had been walking for three days solid, and still ahead of him he saw nothing but bare, withered trees and the shimmering horizon.

He shook his water horn upside down half heartedly, not even a tiny droplet fell. He groaned at the prospect of walking the last agonising miles in this heat without any water.

“Still a long way off“ he sighed “I shall be as withered as these trees by the time I get home”. He wasn’t wrong, over the past few months of this intense heat, Samual had become so ragged and bony that a number of times while sleeping in his bed back home his mother had looked in on him and panicked thinking he had died in his sleep.

Samual stopped an looked about him, he was approaching the bottom of a huge hill, almost a mountain, his house lay just over the other side of the peak, but this, he knew, was the hardest, most agonising part of his trip home.

He continued walking, each step less sure than the last, the heat was overwhelming, it was to much, he felt as if it were rolling over him in burning hot waves. As far back as Samual could remember, it had been getting gradually warmer, each passing year added a little to the overall temperature. The water was also in short supply, many villages had been abandoned, with everyone leaving in a group to go in search of water. This lack of water was part of the reason that most of the trees and plants were now withered and dying, to Samual, it was a sad sight. The drought of recent years had forced people to be more resourceful and they discovered that if you chewed the roots of trees or plants then it would relieve your thirst a little. But now even roots were becoming few and far between. 

Samual’s mind had been wandering as he walked and he didn’t see the small ditch in the floor, inevitably he stumbled, throwing his hands out to catch himself as he fell but it was to no avail, his head smacked off the rocky trail with tremendous force. Head swimming and trying  hard to keep consciousness he lay there, looking at a rock to try and focus his vision, he tried for what felt like hours but it was no use, he lay back on the scorching hot trail and waited for the pain to ease. While lying there he felt something trickling behind his head, this was all the motivation he needed so he jumped up and wiped his hand around the back of his sore head. He found it fairly easily, an egg shaped lump which felt wet to the touch, he didn’t want to look but he knew he had to. Bringing his hand up to his eyes, it took him a few seconds to focus on what he was looking at, he stared in disbelief, the liquid dripping on his hands was not blood, it was clear, and now that he thought about it, it was quite cool. He moved his fingers close to his nose and sniffed it gingerly. His eyes opened wide,

“Water!” he squealed “It’s water!”

He dropped instantly to his hands and knees to search for the source of the water, he patted around in the dirt rather blindly for a few seconds because his vision was still blurred. Then suddenly he felt something wet against his fingers, he wiped it into his eyes to get rid of the trail dust, his vision returned practically to normal and he could see a small pool of water, barely a glass full trickling into a small hole between two rocks. He marvelled at the site, he felt so relieved he could cry, after spending months drinking barely enough to survive, he had found a well, although small, it was enough for him and his mother.

“Mother” he said to himself, staring into the clear pool, he decided he would keep this secret and he would come here every now and again to fetch water for him and his mother. He eagerly dipped his water horn into the clear liquid and filled it, he took a deep drink, longer and more thirst quenching than any he could remember, he sat back with a smile on his face and began filling his spare horns.

“Mother will be pleased” he spoke to himself again, it was becoming a habit. He took another deep draught from one of his horns, it was as clear and refreshing as anything Samual could ever remember tasting. He placed the cork stopper back on his horn with shaking hands and stood.

In all of his life time the young boy could never remember being as excited as he was right then. He felt as if his and mothers prayers were answered, at last something good was happening.

He began walking with a quick step, he had been walking only a few moments when he was stopped dead in his tracks, there was an almighty crash, Samual had never heard the like, it sounded like the very earth was being torn apart.

                                                                                            *  *  *

Samual awoke with a start, he glanced about with bleary eyes.

“Just another dream” he sighed to himself “surely my mind has gone a bit funny” he shook his head vigorously to clear it, like a dog that had just been unexpectedly soaked, his sweat drenched straight brown hair flicked droplets around the room “Must be the lack of water”

He had just decided to roll over and go back to sleep when that thundering sound ripped through his ears again, it sounded like an explosion in his head, this time his eyes opened wide, all trace of the fuzziness gone, there was only one thought in his mind, it shouted desperately at him Mother, he sprang from his bed clumsily and ran crashing out of his room.

He froze, hardly breathing, staring out of his doorway in disbelief, where the night before there had been the main room of his small house there was now nothing but timbers and thatching all over the dirt floor, some of them smouldered red and orange, sending snakelike slithers of grey smoke twisting upwards, where it twirled about slowly for a few moments before dispersing into the air . looking up, there was no roof, he could see clearly the cloudless blue sky and the blistering hot sun, it seemed to leer at him, He hated the sun, he hated its burning caress on his shoulders, he hated its blinding light, he even hated its beautiful golden colour, to him it didn’t look beautiful, all his life it had burned above him, Samual considered it nothing more than a big fiery spot on the face of the world. The sun was his enemy, and he hated it intensely.

A groan broke the now oppressive silence, it came from the rubble. Samual scrambled around on his hands and knees trying to find the source of the sound. He heard it again to his left, with a grunt of effort the young boy jumped over some beams and began clearing away the debris from where he had heard the sound.

With fingertips cut and bleeding painfully, he made slow progress, the debris was piled thick and his young arms were just no match for some of the heavier timbers. He prayed for help as he clawed away all the debris he could, but he had little hope that it would come, no one had helped them before, why would they now, nobody even knew he existed. After a few desperate minutes a dusty face emerged, its brown hair tangled up with twigs and soaked through with blood, although the dust and dirt covered it like a mask, there was no doubt to who it was, the angelic face Samual had always thought about when he was afraid or upset was right in front of him. He cried out, his scream echoing off the walls sending birds from the trees surrounding his house fluttering up into the air. He couldn’t believe his eyes, what he had feared most was right before him, it was his mother, she had made the sound, she lay there with her eyes closed, her breathing very shallow, he knew he didn’t have much time.

Samual hurriedly pulled the rest of the debris off his mothers dusty body, she was a frail looking woman anyway, but like this, he couldn’t bare to look at her, he had never had to comprehend losing his mother before, but now the severity of it was right in front of him, slapping him in the face. This thought spurred him on and he hurriedly pulled the rest of the debris from his mothers dusty body, he could see that she was in a bad way.

“Mother” he gasped in disbelief,  “Mother please… tell me what I can do” he was helpless, he couldn’t move his mother, no matter how much he wanted to, because there was a roof timber impaling her, it run straight through her right shoulder and into the floor, the sight sickened Samual.


“Mother” he said again, more desperately this time, with tears stinging his eyes “ Mother, please wake up”

She did not stir, Samual knew he should run and get help but he could not leave his mother on her own. These thoughts rushed through his head until it began to spin, what is happening he thought to himself please god help me.

With an almighty crash, the front door burst open, Samual jumped and stared at the doorway, desperately hoping it was someone coming to help his mother. The light shone intensely through the opening, it was almost blinding, but he could just about see the shadowy outline of a man, quick as a flash the man hurried across the room, moving out of the light so Samual could see him clearly, Samual stared in disbelief, he could not believe what he was seeing, this had to be the largest man he had ever seen, over six feet tall, with long flowing black hair that hung around his broad shoulders in greasy tangles. The man moved towards them, he stumbled over the dusty debris to where Samual knelt, clutching his mother. The man knelt next to them on the floor and spoke, in a calm friendly voice.

“What happened boy” he looked into Samual’s eyes,  as if searching for something, for some reason unknown to Samual, he wanted desperately to give it to him, but he didn’t no what it was. “Boy” he shouted, not in a harsh voice, more in a desperate worried voice, “You must tell me what happened”

Samual was struck dumb, a stranger he thought to himself, this was a big issue for Samual,  for reasons unknown to him, he and his mother had lived in solitude for the majority of his life, never daring to mix or mingle with wanderers or travellers, his mother had always seemed so afraid when one passed by there hut, and had always been so glad when they had gone past. Always telling him he must never go to the cities, or even to a village, she swore the world was an evil place, and that it was best to stay put. Samual believed his mother, or he wanted to believe her, but sometimes his imagination got the better of him, he thought if his mother was kind and gentle, there must be others like that in the world as well.

“Boy!” The man shouted more loudly this time.

Samual snapped out of his almost hypnotised state and looked at the mans face for the first time, he was young, of thirty summers at the most, but there were deep creases here and there, worry lines, Samual thought, this man must have a lot of responsibilities. His eyes caught his attention next, of a striking sea blue, which made him recall the time he had crossed the ocean years before, he was lost in his wonderings untill the man spoke again, more softly this time

“Boy, can you tell me what happened here, we must do something quickly to help”

Samual continued to gaze into those shocking blue eyes and managed a few stammering words,

“I… I… I woke up” he swallowed “ And the roof had fallen on my m… m… mother” the severity of the incident hit Samual hard, like a blow to the chest, he began to sob and cry hysterically, he tried desperately to shake his mother awake.

“Boy you mustn’t” shouted the man in alarm “We do not yet know the extent of her injuries”

Samual felt rage bubbling up within him, he couldn’t believe this man, how dare he tell him how to look after his own mother after he had looked after her for so many years. He continued to shake his mother by the shoulders, he was shocked to find himself crying, great racking sobs erupting from his throat, he was beginning to panic.

The strange man laid his arm around Samuals shoulder

“Stop crying boy, I’m here to help”

The man reached to the cracked leather belt he wore on his waist, it held many pouches and small drawstrings bags of many colours. Samual stopped shaking his mother and watched suspiciously. The man slowly produced a small clear stone from one of the draw string bags at his belt, it glimmered and shone in the early morning sunlight, every colour Samual could imagine cascaded before his eyes, once again he was lost in his dreams, but was brought quickly back to attention as the man placed the small stone on his mothers chest. Alarmed, Samual made to remove it but the stranger grabbed his wrist. Samual almost struck him instinctively, but for some reason unknown to him, he didn’t.

“Be still boy” the man whispered, almost unheard, “Do not disturb the aura”

Samual was unsure what the man had meant until something in the corner of his eye grabbed his attention, he looked back to his mother. It seemed as if she was on fire, but the flames were a bright blue, as bright a blue as the strangers eyes. The air about her jumped and cracked like a fire, but some parts of it also swirled and shone,  transfixed, he reached out to touch it but the strange man grabbed his wrist once again.

“Be still boy“, he said more harshly this time “You cannot see it, but there is an aura surrounding your mother that you must not disturb, it is vital to your mothers survival that you don’t”

“But I can see it” Samual announced “Its like fire, it jumps and crackles, but it is of the brightest blue”

After a moment he looked back up at the stranger to discover he was being watched, there was a look on the mans face that Samual did not recognise, and it scared him. He continued to gaze into his eyes.

After a few moments the man turned back to Samual’s injured mother, he placed his hands on her forehead, after a few moments it had a dramatic effect on the blue flames that Samual saw, for a moment they shone a bright golden colour, Samual gasped, but as he did so it changed again, quick as a flash the flames died out, not a flicker was left.

After a few moments the man spoke

“There Is nothing more I can do. I’m sorry boy”.

Samual’s head reeled, what’s happening? He jumped to his feet and looked down upon his mother, the panic was beginning to make him shake

“What do you mean there’s nothing more you can do, there must be, there must be” he looked back at the man, his face stained with his tears of grief. “There must be something you can do, please help her” He fell back to his knees next to his mother, and knelt there on the dusty dirt floor holding her hand, and whispering to her, telling her it was going to be ok.

The strange man sat back and regarded the boy, there was nothing more he could do, it would only be a few minutes more and the womans body would give up the fight, he only hoped the soul would be in peace. After a few moments he got up and stood behind the openly weeping Samual.

“Boy, your mother has moved on, she has gone to a better place now, I think you should come with me”

Samual stood there, lost in his own grief, the pain consuming him like fire, he didn’t think he could stand it, he felt like he was suffocating under grief, or drowning in despair.

Samual ignored the strangers voice, it meant nothing to him, nothing this man said could be of any use to him now. He continued to sob quietly until there was a sharp tug from underneath his armpits, without even anytime to react he was pulled backwards swiftly until they were crouched behind a pile of wood and thatching, the remnants of what was once the roof of his house.

“Let go of me” Samual struggled against the mans iron grip. “Why are you doing this?”

“If I don’t do this then we will surely die” and with that a hand clamped over his mouth and nose, Samual could now barely breath never mind scream. It was then he heard the noise, cracking sounds from outside, like someone walking slowly through the dry leaves and twigs which blanketed the ground, before Samual could even try to ask it, his question was answered, in a voice which was barely a whisper the stranger that held him spoke into his ear,

“Those sounds are made by troops from the city of Cassus, they came here hunting for you, I am here to keep you safe, do exactly as I say and you will be, one wrong move however, could prove the death of us“

Samual was now petrified, there was more strangers near him than he had ever seen in his entire life. His mother was forever warning him about strangers, about the evils of the world and now Samual supposedly had them looking for him, he didn’t even know why, he felt so afraid that he was on the verge of throwing up. Everthing was moving too fast for him to even begin to comprehend.

With a loud bang the door burst open and the grip on Samual’s shoulders and chest tightened, so tight now that he gasped for air, a small choking sound slipped from his throat, a deep voice rang out

“There here somewhere, I can hear them” the disembodied voice of a man echoed around the room, just beyond the debris a figure walked slowly into view, Samual guessed it was the man who had just spoken. Slowly treading across the splintered and charred remains of the roof, he was unlike anything Samual had even seen before, dressed all in black from head to toe, a hood covering his face, all that was visible were his eyes, they gleamed grey and cold, the sight of them sent shivers down samual’s spine . As the man took a few more tentative steps forward, Samual noticed that he wore a terrifying array of weapons on his body, knives of all lengths and descriptions hung from his belt, and a gleaming silver sword was strapped across his back, just as samual noticed it the man reached around and drew it slowly, there was a faint metallic ringing and then it was free, the bright morning sunlight flicked about the room as it reflected off the blade. The man held it before him, he cut a terrifying figure standing there, he didn’t move, just stood breathing deeply, Samual guessed that he was listening for another sound, a clue to where Samual was hiding. In desperation Samual shifted his foot a little, just enough to better hide it from the man in the centre of the room, but his efforts were wasted, as he shifted his foot a small timber was disturbed, it slid gently down the pile and knocked loudly against other debris on the floor, quick as anything Samual had ever witnessed the man whirled around and something silver flew through the air, it thudded into the wall behind him, instinctively Samual turned his head to look and saw a small knife embedded hilt deep in the wooden wall a mere hands width away from his face. Samual was still in a state of shock as he was pulled upward, the stranger who held him pushed him sideways just as the man threw another knife, his captor spun and instead of his throat it struck him in his upper arm, near his shoulder. The wounded man grunted in pain but stayed standing, he looked at his attacker malevolently.

“You shouldn’t have come here Borus, this does not concern you”  The man with the weapons smirked at this and slowly started advancing,

“Oh but it has everything to do with me Aphrael, Unlike you I am loyal to our emperor and to our great nation, my part in the grand scheme is to see traitors like you brought to justice.” With that he advanced on the man Samual now knew as Aphrael, shaking with fear Samual tried to scurry back into his hiding place but Aphrael grabbed at his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

“Stay behind me boy, that will be your best chance at survival” just at that moment the armed man leapt forward, his sword sweeping through the air aimed at Aphrael’s head. There was a sudden whooshing sound in the air and for reasons Samual couldn’t fathom the armed man fell heavily to the floor, he seemed to be choking, gasping for air, his heavily armoured arms grabbed frantically at his throat.

“Quickly boy, now is our chance”  with a sudden pull Samual was back on his feet and running, through his bedroom doorway and into his room, “Quickly, the window” not completely understanding what was going on Samual just stood there, not moving, he had never felt fear quite like it, his arms and legs felt like lead. There was more noises and shouting from outside the room. The man shoved him hard

“NOW” He screamed, shocking Samual into movement. With a lift he climbed through the window but slipped and crashed to his back on the dirt floor outside, as he looked up he saw shadows move from inside, there was a quick rushing in the air like wind and then many terrible screams, Samual wanted to get up and run but he couldn’t his arms and legs still felt like dead weights, a shadow as black as night passed over him, and then the darkness took him.

Samual woke to a faint tapping sound, he tried to ignore it and go back to sleep but he couldn’t, he sat up to shout for his mother, he wished to ask about the noise, but he was silenced when he noticed his surroundings, it was then that all the memories came flooding back to him. Getting slowly to his feet Samual began to gingerly explore where he had woken up. He was not in his bedroom, he was not even in his house, he was in a clearing in the woods. Taking a few tentative steps away from  the clearing, he began to make his way into the darkness of the trees, he wished to stay out of view, he did not know what had happened back at his house, but he did know that he didn’t want any of those people to find him again, the thought of all those strangers and there screams made his blood run cold. Tapping his fist against the trunks as he passed them, he planned to find a dead tree large enough for him to hide in, he had done it many times when he was younger, many of the trees around his house had been dead that long that they had begun to rot away inside and you could easily find trunks which had become hollow enough to hide in, it was a game he had often played with his mother in his youth.  He searched for about ten minutes until one of the trees made the hollow thudding sound he was looking for, with a few swift kicks the trunk of the tree gave way and he managed to create a hole just big enough to hide inside. He sat there for a long time, his mind wandered over many things, his mother and her untimely death, the stranger who had first appeared and then of course the stranger that had tried to kill him, it made no sense, in his whole life he had only seen a handful of strangers, and most of them had been too delirious with dehydration to even notice him. A cracking sound from outside brought Samual back to the present, he crouched down as low as he could, not wanting whoever was outside to find him, he was sure it was one of the strangers from his house. The cracking outside continued, Samual was now positive it was someone walking around the clearing, the steps came near, Samual didn’t even dare breathe, then they stopped. Thinking he had been discovered Samual sat and despaired, but then the footsteps began to move away once more, fading until they could no longer be heard, relief washed through him, it was a feeling Samual had rarely felt in his life and he sagged down against the trunk of the tree he hid in, exhausted from the ordeal.  A familiar voice rang out,

“If you think I’m going to sit out here all day waiting for you my boy, then you are very much mistaken”

Samual never forgot that moment, it was at that exact point in time that it hit him, his life had been irreparably changed, there was nothing in the world he could do to make things as they were before, from then on everything would be different. It was a daunting thought, one that plagued his dreams for many years after, but there and then it mattered little to him, he just wanted to escape, he could hear the cracking sounds once again and this time they made there way unmistakably toward him. Cowering down as low as he could Samual shook and sobbed with panic, he couldn’t believe how stupid he had been, why did he let his fatigue get the better of him? He should have carried on going, not stopping to rest until he was far away, away from the strangers which now plagued his life, he cursed himself for his stupidity and he cursed the strangers for there evil ways, his mother had been right, she was always right, he had been wrong to doubt her,  but it was all too late now, nothing could help him. 

The footsteps stopped directly in front of him and Samual held his breath, clinging desperately at the hope that the stranger was bluffing and hadn’t actually found him and was just saying those things to try and flush him out. Samual screamed in panic when something touched him on the shoulder, lurching upwards in panic he cracked his head of the inside of the trunk, for a moment he forgot everything about the stranger, he could concentrate on nothing but the pain, his vision swam and his legs shook, he fell, his body crumpling down into the corner like an empty bag.

“Dear boy, I am deeply sorry, I never dreamed to give you such a start” two strong hands reached inside the trunk and around his torso, they pulled his limp body out of the hollow trunk and sat him upright on the floor

“Try to stay awake my boy, without more experienced help I could do nothing for you if you slipped into a coma”  Samual looked up at the man who spoke to him, his mind still foggy and confused

“Mother? Is that you mother? you sound different” The man Sat down next to Samual and pulled him so that he was leaning against his shoulder.

“No dear boy, I am not your mother, I’m just a friend” Samual smiled groggily up at the old man who moments before had terrified him.

“A friend? That’s nice, I’ve never had a friend before”