Looking Forward

Chapter Five - Jean

After I woke up from my weird dream my whole body felt like it was slowly heating up, a bright white flame shot out of both of my palms, it burned the people around me and my body heated up once more. It hurt so bad, I fell over and a large burst of fire and heat waves exploded out of my body. I fell into a hole behind me and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes I was in some sort of red landscape. The ground around me was a bright red and looked like it was sand from a desert. In front of me was a big, very menacing large blackstone fortress. I realized my clothes were all burnt and ripped. My body hurt and ached, my belt was now gone which also meant I had no dagger and no weapons. I stood up and started to walk towards the castle but I could barely walk. I fell in the sand and stumbled my way back up. I saw that the gate of the castle was open so I walked in. The place seemed barren and abandoned, occasionally I would hear footsteps and whispering but I never saw anything. I eventually found a rusted moldy wooden door. I tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. I pushed harder and harder. But it still wouldn't budge, I kicked the door below the lock and it finally burst open. I fell to the floor from the force of the kick and hit the hot stone floor. I pulled myself up and looked around. There were several men in black capes and dark black armor. They wore helmets that each had a symbol. It looked like a J surrounded by a circle of flame. The symbol was a bright red which was a big contrast to the dark black armor. One of them began to walk towards me, I braced myself to dodge but they extended their hand like they were offering help. I reluctantly took their hand and they helped me up. I stared at them looking straight into their eyes. Their eyes shined with a bright white glow, it seemed like they all had these bright eyes. They closed the door behind me and went back to standing with the others, they were standing around a large table with a map. I walked over to them and they moved out of my way like I was an important leader. I looked at the map and saw what appeared to be the castle I was currently in and a large campsite on the opposite side of the castle. There was a large red X on the campsite and what appeared to be battle positions around the camp. Then I heard a loud horn and suddenly everyone started running towards the gate. One of the knights grabbed me by the arm and dragged me towards a room. He opened the door and I saw a table with a sword and what looked like a mini crossbow. There was an armor stand with a set of armor that looked similar to theirs but also different. It was still black with the red symbol but this one looked more expensive and higher quality. The cape was only on one side of the armor and covered one of the shoulders. There were gold chains wrapped around the wrist of the armor giving it a special shine, the knight left the room and I put on the armor. It felt like it wrapped around my body like it was specifically made for me. The sword had some writing on the hilt it read "Ηγέτης της κόκκινης ερήμου Ζαν" I picked up the sword and it felt perfect in my hand, the crossbow was the same. I unsheathed the sword and saw that the blade was a dark orange like a fire that was about to extinguish. After fully equipping the armor and putting the weapons on my belt I ran outside with the rest of the knights and saw thousands of men running at us. They were dressed in bright blue armor and their eyes shined a bright blue, they were fast too just like lightning, They each had a necklace shaped like a bright blue thunderbolt. They ran around the battlefield in an unpredictable manner, I had no idea what they were planning. The knights around me looked like they were awaiting an order so I pointed my sword to the sky and brought it down pointing it towards the blue knights. I yelled "CHARGE!!!". All the knights ran towards the blue knights and began to clash. In very little time the sky was cloudy and full of smoke, there were piles of bodies from both sides in the battle. Catapults and cannons were being fired every minute. And the sand was soaked in the blood of fallen knights. It had been almost a year since I showed up here, at least according to the calculator. I was eating dinner at the table in the dining room when a knight named Francil walked in. Francil was also the one to help me when I fell and give me the armor, none of the knights spoke but I still felt connected to them. After dinner I began to wait inside the castle waiting for the next rush of enemies to come at us. I heard yelling and screaming and lots of loud footsteps. I unsheath my sword and ran at the enemies. I would block using my sheath like a shield and I would strike with my sword. In no time I was covered in blood. I had realized I could focus on my sword and it would burst into flames. I would chop and slice through the enemies like butter. I dodged and blocked while cutting and stabbing. I was already through almost all of the knights sent to attack when a large boulder flew in my direction and it hit the ground with a loud crash. The ground around me flew in the air from the crash. Me and everyone else near the crash also went flying. I was launched backwards and flew through the walls of the castle. My vision was weary and I heard ringing. I also heard lots of footsteps and yelling. I saw a knight wearing blue jump through the hole in the wall and several more followed. I slowly stood up and walked towards them. A few of them charged at me, one tried to slice my arm but I blocked it using the sheath and I thrusted my sword into his stomach. He fell over whilst gushing blood. Another one tried to hit me in the back of the head but I sliced at his face leaving a massive cut. I chopped at his leg causing it to come off. He fell to the ground yelling when I stomped on his head causing him to quit. I felt a sting of pain in my shoulder and realized I had been shot by an arrow. I turned around and saw a man holding a bow with fear in his eyes. I charged at him, I hit him in the head with the hilt of my sword and he fell back against the wall. I then kicked his head into the wall leaving a red stain on the wall and on the now corpse. I stumbled my way into a hallway and saw hundreds of soldiers fighting, it looked like the blue knights were pushing back my knights. I stumbled my way towards a group of the blue knights and tried to stab one. They dodged and punched me in the face. I fell back and was on the ground, too weak to stand up. The roof of the castle was collapsing and wood was falling down over me. I grabbed a piece of wood and suddenly an intense heat burned in the palm of my hand. The wood suddenly lit on fire and I threw it at the blue knights. They all suddenly combust into flames and a bright fire shot out of my palm. All the wood around me was on fire and the castle was slowly beginning to be covered in fire too. There was lots of yelling and crying. I began to stand up when a knight tackled me. I fell on the floor and reached for the knight. I grabbed their neck and began to squeeze the let go of me but I didn't let go of them. I kept a hold until they stopped breathing and they stopped moving. I began to walk towards the exit when I saw a group of knights standing there ready to fight. One ran at me and I fell backwards. I lifted my hands up to block my face when I heard a sound that sounded like blades colliding. I looked up and saw Francil, he blocked the strike and began to cut them down. He would swing and cut, but he was also getting hurt too. He had an arrow sticking out of his side and cuts all over his armor. Blood was dripping from his body and everytime he moved he grunted in pain. He cut down all the knights and turned around to walk towards me. He extended his hand to help me up and I took his hand. Once up I grabbed my sword and looked behind me to check for enemies. I heard a loud gushing sound and a moan of pain. I turned around and a sword was going right through Francil's stomach. He elbowed the man behind him and slit his throat. Francil had a big hole in his stomach and was losing blood rapidly. He grabbed my arm and dragged me outside the castle. He kept walking even after leaving the castle, we were now far away but I could tell Francill wouldn't make it. He could barely stand and was constantly gushing out blood. He collapsed on the ground and I sat down next to him. An arrow flew past my head and landed in the ground next to me. I stood up and pulled out my sword, ready to fight when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Francil punched me in the face, knocking me over. Thousands of knights ran towards us and Francil pulled out his sword. He took off his necklace and threw it at me, I put it on and my vision started getting blurry. I saw Francil run towards the knights and he began slicing through them. He cut and slashed but he was also being cut and slashed. Blood was pouring out of him but he kept fighting. My body began to feel incredibly weak and my vision more blurry. I saw Francil fight and fight, he thrusted his sword into a knight. He was pulling his sword out of the knight when another knight stabbed his back. Francil flinched in pain and got pierced by three other swords. He went limp and he fell to the ground, he dropped like a bag of rocks. "Francil, no..." My vision went dark and I fell to the ground. When I could see again I was in a cart, still wearing my old ripped and burnt clothes. I held a bag in my hands, inside the bag was all of my armor and gear, including the necklace. I noticed that the necklace had letters on it. It read "Η κόκκινη έρημος περιμένει τη μάχη των δύο θεών. Ο Θόρλικ και ο Ζαν θα τσακωθούν για τελευταία φορά. Επιστροφή στο μέρος που κάποτε ήταν το σπίτι της πόλης "Χος"" More words in this language, I didn't know what it said but it felt important. Outside the cart I saw Kyros and some girl sitting outside. I put on my armor and attached my sword and crossbow to my belt. I exited the cart and they just kinda looked at me, they looked surprised but also tired. "So, who's this?" I asked. Kyros looked at me then looked at her "Angela." he said. "Hey, let's get going, I'm hungry." I said.