Vlandimer: The Curse of the Grey Folk

The Beginning of a Tale



It was a cold dark night in the land of Vlandimer. The cloudless sky revealed the stars and the moon looked big and bright.

On top of a cliff a young man stood, attired in all black clothing. He was tall and muscular, his black hair laid at one side not moving unlike his blue eyes that were constantly searching the land below him. His name was Silas.

Below him for miles and miles was nothing but flat land. A small stream could just be seen.

Suddenly the young man threw himself down onto his chest. Down below several hooded men and woman were gathering into a tight circle.

“Here we go.” the young man said to himself.

The group below came to a stop by some unseen signal and sat on the ground in a tight circle. Out of nowhere, a tall attractive young woman appeared in the middle of the circle wearing a simple red dress that sparkled, which kept Silas’s eyes enticed.

After a short while the young man averted his eyes from the woman and watched the strange group sitting on the ground.

They all kept their faces down towards the ground not daring to look at the beautiful woman. It was as if they were afraid of her. Something in the back of Silas’s head clicked into place, he suddenly wished he was at the other side of the land. He was about to crawl backwards when he heard a twig snap behind him.

He twirled round onto his back and found a man pointing a sword at him. Silas glared up at the man.

“What are you doing here?” demanded the man.

“What’s it to do with you?” he spat as his reply.

The old man was about to answer when he put a finger to his lips to silence Silas and then pointed down to the group on the ground.

The young man raised an eye brow at him. He was not going to fall for an unhanded trick of the likes of that just for his enemy to stab him in the back when he was not looking.

The old man rolled his eyes as he put his sword away and flattened himself on the ground to crawl beside Silas, who turned on to his stomach and looked down the ground after giving the man a quick look.

Down below on the ground Silas saw what the man had pointed to. The hooded group were brandishing small golden daggers as the woman in the centre of their circle spoke.

“Got a name kid?” the old man whispered.

“I’m nay kid and aye I do, it’s Silas.” Silas replied angrily.

The old man nodded his head as he continued to watch the group. The tall woman had disappeared into thin air and as for the group they were already marching away at an unusually fast pace.

“Do you know what that was about?” the old man asked Silas.

Silas shook his head as he got up onto his feet. The old man done the same and looked down his large nose at Silas. He was at least a foot taller than him and was bald with dark brown eyes.

“What do you want?” Silas demanded.

“I’m looking for someone.” He replied.

“Bye then.” Silas said.

The old man laughed as Silas turned his back on him.

“Before you leave Silas answer me one question.” The old man said.

“What?”

“How are you planning to get close enough to kill the Black Neon?”

Silas froze on the spot. He hadn’t spoken to anyone since he had left his home town. No one was alive to know of him. His family was dead, but here on top of a cliff he stood with this old man, who knew or seemed to know of the prey he hunted.

“What makes you think that?” he asked.

“Come now. Look at how you’re dressed, look at where you and I are and what we were just doing.” The old man replied simply.

“You automatically make your own assumptions?” Silas said.

The old man shrugged his shoulders then nodded his head.

“Who are you?” Silas asked.

“My name is Chaz.” The old man said casually. “But I do intend to go by other names here and there.”

“You go by other names? What does that mean?”

“All you need to know is that I’m looking for someone who happens to be you by the way. Words got out that there is a strange warrior who hunts for his revenge.” Chaz said. “I’m also here to help.” He added as an afterthought.

Silas looked at him as if he was mad. He was unsure whether to believe the old man or not. He had been through too much and lost even more to let his plans go to waste.

“Why would you want to help me?” he asked as he tried to decide what to do with the old man.

Chaz sat down on the ground. Silas mimicked him.

“You are not the only one who wants revenge. Out there in the land hundreds maybe even thousands of people want it. Outside of the Queens command every man woman and child wants their justice. But they hide waiting for the right time. I too have been waiting a very long time to get my own revenge. I have waited many years for the one person who can make my dreams come true. You.” Chaz said.

Silas just stared at the man. He didn’t have a clue what was going on. To go from all the distance he had come from to find out he was being searched by a stranger made him feel slightly uncomfortable. He didn’t know if he could trust the strange man.

“How can I trust you?” he said voicing his thoughts.

“You don’t, but you will learn to trust me in time. I truly wish you no harm. I am here to aid you in your quest.” Chaz said quietly.

Silas nodded his as he thought about the man’s statement.

It happened a long time ago. The Black Neon came to his village and set the place on fire. Since he had left he swore to himself he would kill the Black Neon if it were the last thing he would do.

He would do anything to get his revenge.

“What is on your mind?” Chaz asked even quieter than before.

Silas did not know how to respond. He had a bad feeling about something, but he did not know what about.

He was still trying to gather his thoughts together when Chaz jumped onto his feet, pulling out his sword faster than the eye could follow.

Silas copied him as he made a mental note to quiz Chaz about his speed. Turning his back on him, Silas faced the bushes were, now that he was paying attention, were swaying backwards and forwards.

The bushes suddenly stopped moving. A shiver ran down Silas’s spine, it felt unnatural to him. After a few seconds had passed and Silas thought of putting away his sword a very old woman walked into their path.

“Blasted bushes.” She said angrily as she brushed off twigs and leaves from her long travelling coat.

She then looked up at the men and straightened her position as she saw Silas and Chaz pointing their swords at her ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

“Why on a night such as tonight would there be men upon this cliff.” She said her voice full of wonder.

“I could ask you the same.” Silas said simply.

“Yes you could. But then, why would I answer your questions, especially here of all places.” She stated.

Silas looked at her bemused. He was truly confused with this woman as well as slightly amused, especially as he could not see any weapons on her apart from her sharp tongue. 

Chaz laughed softly. Silas turned to look at him, one eye brow raised. He had already put his sword away.

“She is no threat to us. She is a friend.” He said to Silas.

“About time.” The woman said. “Put your metal toy away.” She said to Silas.

Silas did not move. He was glaring at the two people who stood with him on top of the cliff. He did not trust them and had lost all trust for people a long time ago.

“I mean you no harm warrior. I may have answers to all your questions.” She said in a sweet voice.

Silas was intrigued by her. Her voice was soft and gentle upon his ears. He put his sword away unaware of his actions until it was too late to notice. He kept his eyes fixed on the woman while she put a hand inside her cloak and pulled out a flask and a box of matches, which she threw to Chaz, who caught it.

Chaz walked around Silas and started collecting firewood. Silas was unsure of what to do , while he tried to collect his thoughts Chaz had walked back over to where he stood and dropped the firewood and started a fire.

While he was busy the old woman took a long swig from her flask and then offered it to Silas. He glanced at the flask and then back to her face.

“It’s black current wine, nearly as nice as my name I have to admit.” She said.

“Which is?” Silas asked taking the flask.

“Here was me thinking you would never ask.” She laughed. “My name is April.” She added happily.

Silas took a swig out of the flask and found that he quite enjoyed the wine. He also had the feeling that April was enjoying herself whole heartedly as well.

Chaz stood up as the camp fire was lit. April sat down near it unfastening her cloak. Chaz sat down beside her. They sat near the cliffs edge on the opposite side of the fire from Silas.

Curious about the two of them Silas handed back the flask and sat across from them with his back to the bushes. The fire between them crackled and all around was complete silence.

After a short while April spoke.

“Do you believe in legends?” she asked of Silas.

He shook his head.

“Well here is a legend that might change your mind.” She said as she took another drink from her flask before continuing.

“Long time ago in a where hate and evil did not exist there was a Queen who had four daughters.

Each daughter had the power to control the seasons as they saw fit but for some reason they disappeared. No one knows where or why they vanished.

Slowly afterwards the races of the land started to fight. For many years the land was filled with blood and sorrow. Many were injured beyond your wildest dreams. In some cases death would have been preferable.

Just as it seems that every race would fight to their extinction an unknown woman put a stop to the bloody war.

At first the human were full of joy but alas for it was not meant to last.

The woman Selena appointed herself Queen of the land. At first, the humans could see the advantage to have a ruler but Selena made her intentions clear.

She wanted to rid the land of the other races. Confusion was spread among many. Others agreed with her plans. They believed that ridden the land of all who were not human was the solution to their problems.

Another war started but amongst the humans only this time. Those that opposed the Queen were killed.

After a short period of time when the fighting got too much those who wished to save their families and their own lives fled their homes and started a community far out the reach of the Queens command.” April paused in her tale to wet her throat from her flask of wine.

“In the end...” April continued. “All the races vanished but the humans who did not flee remained within Selena’s control. The land has suffered terribly ever since and the time to strike back would one day return rewarding those who waited with patience.”

Silas sat where he was still as a statue. He had never heard a tale of such before. It explained a lot to him although he was unsure if there was much truth in the legend.

He never held much belief in legends, but some of the ones he had heard where uninteresting too him. But this legend had held his attention.

“What makes this legend true?” he asked.

“No one would be able to answer that Silas.” Chaz replied.

“What a load of rubbish!” April half shouted. “Silas you can find the answers if you know where to look that it.”

Chaz looked at her with his face full of disbelief. Silas nodded his head in acknowledgement watching the pair of them.

“Where the hell would he look? You are full of stupidity woman!” Chaz said heatedly his face colouring red with anger.

“The power to win a war is behind knowledge and understanding. Not an over large butter knife.” April sneered at him.

Chaz looked furious at the old woman. His face was gradually getting more redder with anger.

Silas watched as Chaz opened and closed his mouth several times before he looked away from her. Silas was strangely amused at the sight of the man.

Ignoring Chaz, April looked right at Silas as she spoke.

“A war is coming. It is inevitable. But the question is Silas, are you ready to face your destiny?” she asked quietly.

“What are you talking about now?” Silas demanded confused.

“It is your destiny to unite the races of the land. To do the things that no one else can do and to rid the land of the Queen.”