The last flame

Chapter 2

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I would never ever let a few foolish people ruin this kingdom, I kept going ignoring the awful headache I suddenly got. Most of the roads were blocked by an invisible force so it wasn't difficult to find my way. All at once i found myself at the entrance of the pit of agony, the screams and cries could be heard even though it was deep inside the ground, the familiar glow appeared once more no words or orders this time, only as guide that I was going the right way. I closed my eyes and let the darkness of the pit swallow me. The sound of splashing water echoed through the pit, quickly I pulled myself out of the burning water and moved towards the black land among the water, I could see the women roam in the darkness, the sounds of their agonizing screams filled the whole pit, despite my memory being blurry I could still remember the bed time stories my mother used to read for me when I was younger, this place is for all the past lord's wives who failed to give birth to an heir, they were dropped here, back then this pit had a curse that made people's desire's attached to their back, most women here had babies attached to their backs with their stomachs wide open just wandering around the pit thirsty for blood, revenge for what happened to them.

I knew there were hundreds if not thousands of them down here and attacking them was an unintelligent move.

The best strategy was simply avoiding them, I had to fade and become a part of the darkness to pass through this place, I looked around and spotted a small pit of mud and quickly started splashing it onto my armor with urgency until I became completely black, quickly I faded into the darkness of the pit. My steps were as quiet as a mouse, I kept going and going until I reached a few of them in a group passing by, the agonizing cries of their babies on their backs was traumatizing but I've seen worse, way worse..
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"PLEASE HELP! HELP! FINISH IT" He yelled at me with agony
He was under a rock, his lower body completely crashed but he was somehow still alive, he was begging me to finish his anguish, I raised my sword and tired to think of the least painful way to finish him off, I knew the least painful way maybe not even recognizable, I dropped my sword and took a rock.
"You deserve an honorable death.." i mumbled more to myself quickly destroying his brain in 1/10 second.

"It was an honor to fight beside you my friend.." i said with a sigh, closing my eyes being silent for a few seconds honoring him, then closed his eyes with my gloved hands letting him rest in peace before standing up, picking up my sword and going back to battlefield.
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I thought maybe someone was messing with me because it wasn't normal for me to remember all of these traumatic experiences and moments while I remembered nothing about myself or the good moments I shared. I felt one of them grab my arm wanting to push me in her opened stomach, in a swift motion I slashed her throat wide open causing her to let out a silent scream and fall to the ground. Quickly I started moving again, I reached a few columns and a dark staircase heading towards gods know where, I reached what seemed like an endless loop, dead trees were surrounding the whole sky, nothing was visible except the path infront of me the was no trace of the glow, i kept walking until I froze in fear, there were huge white creatures all sitting on the side of the path, white and pale, soulless eyes with a huge smile that showed all their sharp teeth.  I saw the familiar glow once more only one simple word "RUN" rapidly I started running as fast as my legs could carry my weight, I felt so heavy, maybe it was because of my armor, maybe it was because I hadn't ran this fast in decades, I could hear their steps behind me, they were intimidating a woman's voice while chasing me, the voice kept repeating the same thing over and over in an endless loop
"Elion! You promised to tell me the meaning and story behind your name!" The female voice said in such a soft voice that made my knees weak
To my horror the next voice I heard was mine..
"It's because my mom always thought I was a gift from the Sun so she named me after it in the Greek language.."
I ran faster, faster than I ever thought was possible and the next thing I remember is falling on the ground and the usual darkness swallowing me once more..

Elion, Elion, Elion, Elion.

It's the only thing I can hear in my head, the girl's voice, the unusual softness, my name.

I opened my eyes covered in cold sweat and the first thing I saw is at least 10 people infront of me, men, women, children.. all of them staring at me. I reached my hand to grab the hilt of my sword but it wasn't there, I wasn't even wearing my armor anymore, I was in normal clothes. I hated it, I felt naked without my armor and weapon

"What's your name?" The woman infront of me asked kneeling infront of me

My name, my name.. Elion, Elion..

"Elion.." i said, the word tasting like ash on my tongue

"I'm Amara..." she said extending her hand towards mine but I just felt frozen due to shock.

"We found you unconscious at the entrance of the tower.." one of the men said

"What tower?.." i asked my eyes wide, I just remembered running from those creatures, I wasn't paying attention to where I'm going I just wanted to escape from that voice

"Tower of sacrifice, the tower were the lords sacrificed us to the gods.." she said

I jolted from the ground, quickly backing away from them, I always heard rumors about how they are evil and full of hatred towards everyone, I didn't know to believe the rumors or what I was witnessing right now

"Please we do not want to harm you Elion.." she said reaching for me

Stop calling me that name, stop talking like you know me when I don't even know myself

"Elion, you shall pass through here but why are you here?.. it's been ages since anyone set a foot here.." she said as she snapped her fingers and caused my sword and armor to appear

"You're a witch.." i said looking at her appearance, her features were misplaced a sign of the sacrifice that was made years ago, she was wearing a dark purple robe covering most of her body except her hands..

"Please show him the way.." she said to one of the many children standing there

The little boy showed me the way, he was holding onto my hand, for the first time after coming back to life I felt alive.. I felt like I was breathing once more.. I had a name, I knew a few people now, I could finally hear some normal human voices and not only the agonizing cries or screams..

"What's your name?.." i asked the little boy but he didn't answer me, he just looked at me and shook his head a little pointing to his lips then made an x with his fingers.

I immediately understood what he meant, he couldn't talk, the lords sacrificed his tongue in order to make the gods happy, I always knew how awful some of the sacrifices were but a child?.. I never knew this was possible but the lord always knew the best..

We reached the exit, it was a huge bridge heading towards a mountain

"That's the dragon nest.." Amara's voice appeared behind me making me flinch and immediately grab my sword

"I don't know why you're here Elion but be careful, this is not safe.." she said looking at me with so much sympathy like she knew me

"I know what I'm doing.." I said flatly, a lie.. a big lie because I didn't know what I was doing, I didn't know what type of cure I should look for, I didn't know the root of this problem, I knew nothing.

"If you ever needed help, feel free to come back.." she said before holding the little boy's hands and disappearing back inside the tower.

Quickly I wore my armor and started heading towards the bridge, I looked down for a second and saw skeletons, not one, not two, at least two hundred.. I kept walking until I reached the mountain and looked up, I could do this, I faced way worse than this..