The Storming Of Verjhe

Chapter 2

The night was humid, beading his forehead with sweat, suffocating like an uncomfortable embrace. He frowned and picked at the black fabric sticking to his skin like a petulant child with distaste. He had never really liked the black robes they were all mandated to wear, but Command said it reflected their cohesive team. Team? More like a pack of ravenous wolves. A blur of slick blood, pressing terror, chalk white faces, and last breaths when they were unleashed. Bending down on his knees,  he cupped his hands, gathered the whitish soil, and brought it closer to his face. Small white pebbles, granulated grey stones shining faintly in the moonlight. The full moon was exceptionally bright tonight,  hovering above, looking down like a reproaching silver orb. He muttered a few words as a spark suddenly made him hiss and let a little of the cupped sand filter between his fingers. A characteristic dark blue mark was visible on the underside of the stones, a telltale sign of an enchantment woven in the past. He dropped the remaining left in his hand. and stood up quickly brushing his hands on his thighs.
"Command?" He called out south where a few other dark-cloaked figures were crouching on the skull-white beach. A hulking man, with his broad shoulders dark against the pure moonlight, lifted his head in the direction of the sound.

The figures came rushing,  black hollow cloaks billowing behind them.

"Here, it all starts here," He said tapping his foot at the designated spot.
The hulking man swiftly bent down and whispered something under his breath. Glowing red arcs started snaking across the beach, burning invisible ropes and breaching defenses.

He turned around partially, a hooked nose silhouetted against the red, burning light, and said quietly,
"We are through. The blood lines have fallen...."

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Loud hurried footsteps pounded urgently against the stone steps leading up.  A dark haired woman with her hair frizzy from incomplete sleep, glasses askew paused against the doorframe for a moment then rushed over to wake two boys, their faces peaceful against the comforting moonlight.

They woke, confused, pillow marks against their young, sleepy faces.  Alarm registered on their faces, as the woman hauled them out of their beds, protests unheard and silenced with a warning look.

Forced downstairs, they were separated, limbs clinging in desperation, pulled apart, a hand over the mouth turning the screams soundless.

The more happier one, his frame wilting in scared bewilderment was pulled out of the shadows of the house , propelled in haste towards a group of people, the dark hoods of their cloaks shrouding their faces. A hand on the neck stopped him from looking back, as they lifted him lightly on to the back of a horse, and rode away, leaving dust and crushed stones in their wake.

The other looked on horrified as the scene unfolded in the reflection of a mirror hanging near the front of the house, rough hands pressing him strongly against the wall, preventing any movement ,any sound.

As the commotion outside grew fainter reaching almost null, he was nudged out of his cramped position.
His mouth shoved open, a cool liquid forced down his throat, sinking in his stomach like a dead weight. He was pulled towards a strange creature, its dark blue eyes regarding him curiously and unceremoniously dumped on its back. His body weaker and the moonlight fainter against his eyelids, a blackness swept against his brain , lulling it to silence.

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Ahahahahah (imagine me saying it in an evil voice and rubbing my palms lmao), things are just beginning to pick up. Where do you think they are going to take Darian? Who is Command, and his team of black cloaked people?

Thank you so much for reading , and I would love to hear from you!

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