RADIANT: Bearer of The Dark Soul

Chapter Ⅱ: The Usual Day

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20 Years. That's how long it had been since the dark soul had been lost from the world. The sun rose up above the horizon, shining down on the bright continent full of life and light. The world had remained watchful in those years, those who had felt the darkness keeping a keen eye out... but slowly, they forgot, they felt their souls and minds be put at ease, as the dark power had never returned from its disappearance. And so, they moved on, and the legend of the dark soul dwelling in 'The Peaks of Oblivion' faded, remaining as a simple story. But for the simple folk, time and life moved on as it always had, and today should've been the same as every other one. The sun continued to rise, light pouring through the tall forests that dotted the landscape. It shone over the walls of a small village, through the cracks of old moss covered stone, and through the gaps of wooden supports, and it peeked through the curtains of peoples homes. On one large home on top of a hill, it shined through some of the windows, filling the rooms with light. One of them however, it barely peeked through, the curtains to the window and the trees outside perfectly blocking most of it, only a sliver able to come in... but it was enough. Enough for what? To stir the person sleeping inside. In the corner of the room, there was a large single person bed, and as the room slowly got brighter, they shifted more and more, their eyes slowly opening. The rays of light from the window caused their golden eyes to gleam, the pupils slowly contracting as light came in. With a sigh, the person slowly rose up, pulling their blanket off and pulling their legs over the side, yawning and stretching out their arms before they walked over to the window, pulling one of the curtains open to let more light in. At first their eyes squinted shut, but they turned and let out a groan as they stretched out their back and torso more, looking to the side and seeing the full body mirror next to the bed.

-"huff... another dream, another late morning."

As the light lit up the room as much as possible, they looked at themselves in the mirror, and what it reflected back at them, was an image of a young man, just turning 20 a day or two ago, standing at about average height with a slightly toned body, looking lean and nimble, but still moderately strong. His hair was a little long and messy, having some bangs hang over his forehead, the light shining off it and giving a gleam to the ebony black hair. His eyes were a deep gold, looking like brilliant gems or crystal with how they shined in the light. He yawned and rolled his shoulders, grabbing the cloth shirt he was wearing and throwing it off, walking over to his wardrobe to change into something better for the day, but as he went, he noticed something missing. On the wall, there was a rack for a blade next to his bed, but today, it was gone. He looked to the window as his eyes narrowed, and he saw that it had been opened, the curtains having been put back while he wasn't paying attention and just waking up. As he stood there for a few seconds, he heard a voice mutter in his mind.

-'He's hiding it from you today...'

He nodded slowly, grabbing his gray pants and shirt from the wardrobe, and then pulling out his darker coat, slipping it on and getting it fitted as he strapped on his metal scaled shoes. Leaving the room and quietly closing the door behind himself, he slowly made his way down the stairs from his room, trying to be as silent as possible, placing his feet on spots he knew didn't creek. As he went, he made his way into the dining hall and pantry, making his way to the front door. As he gripped it, he heard the voice again.

-'He's waiting for you outside. He'll pounce if you open that door.'

He sighed as he tilted his head up, looking up at the ceiling.

-"Hmmph, he's on the roof. Clever, but not enough for me."

He opened the door, and low and behold, his sword was there at the foot of the door, stabbed into the grass covered ground between the large rocks of cobblestone. It was a large blade, the metal deep and black, made of rich dark iron, its edge a honed dark grey in color, shining in the light. It was a single edge, going straight down the length of the blade until it reached the end rising up to a point, and the handle was bent at its end, allowing the user to slide their hand down for a different style of grip and swinging. He stared at the blade for a couple seconds, listening. He heard birds chirping outside, the distant sound of water falling and flowing over rocks... but what heard right above him was soft panting, the sounds of something shifting its footing. He stepped back from the door, walking away and moving off to the side, going to the wall on his left. There was another door there, and he slowly lifted the lock, making sure it didn't make a loud racket, and he opened it up. There, it lead to a stable on the side of the house, grass and hay clumped up in the corner like a bed, and large imprints of claws raked the dirt and and stone. He looked to the right, slowly making his way over to the open side, peeking around the corner and looking up. As soon as he did, he heard a quiet growl, and he went wide eyed as he then lunged and rolled forward, hearing a large thud behind him. He turned around and tried to dodge again, but he was met with jaws and claws as he felt a large weight on him, and he was pinned to the ground.