Unevia, The White Locket

Darkness Falls

Bromaric, fort Barad Colmi, northwest of Lochcrest, winter (1611 a.L)

It was a cold winter night and Tias Pegason leaned against the stone brick wall of the watchtower. He looked at the stars above him, sparkling slightly in the dark night while the full moon cascading its light down over the fort. When the man looked over the vast plain, he heard the howling of a wolf. Tias was one of the head guards of fort Barad Colmi, the residence of King Ichas Barde. 

The king had ruled Bromaric for over 45 years and was loved by its people. During his long regency Ichas had made a peace treaty with the other six realms. It was the king who had provided the people of Unevia to live their quiet lives in peace. It was for this reason the people of Bromaric loved him so dearly. Once every year there was a giant festival in honor of King Ichas, during which he received gifts from every realm in Unevia. The people were given food and drinks until they could have no more. The streets were filled with music and joy until the sun came up. Tias once had the pleasure of meeting the king and he was kinder than he could ever imagine. The head guard loved his job and his king. 

Once more the sound of a howling wolf echoed across the field. He turned towards the church clock. One more hour until his shift ended. Tias yawned when his gaze returned to the plains. He waited impatiently until he could return home, where he could kiss his two children goodnight before crawling next to his wife in their bed.

Soft rustling of the tall grass alerted him. Tias placed his hands on the wall and leaned forward in order to see more, but the dark night hid every sign of life. The guard focused as he peered over the plains, but he found nothing that could confirm a sign of life. Slowly he relaxed and rubbed his eyes. The man had been guarding the fort for over six hours, it must have been his imagination playing tricks on him. He gazed in the distance when he could just see Lochcrest, the capital of Bromaric. There must have been a feast going on because if his eyes did not deceive him, he saw the light of a big campfire. 

His thoughts wandered off to the upcoming festival in honor of King Ichas. He could already see the flags fluttering over the streets, the giant campfire on the square, people dancing until the break of dawn. Tias had met his wife at the festival long ago. It was love at first sight. Which is why, only a couple of years later, he had asked her to marry him. He could still picture her tear-filled eyes and her beautiful smile as she nodded her reply. The festival meant a lot to Tias. 

A second rustling woke him from his fantasy and grabbed his attention. This time he swore he heard something. The guard peered through the darkness that was only lit by the faint glow of the moon, but was unable to find anything.

Suddenly, he noticed a spark in the dark that spread into a small flame, floating in the air. Tias looked on as the floating flame slowly rose above the grass when suddenly it approached the fort with great speed. It zoomed through the air and struck the wall of the tower behind him with a scraping sound. He turned to see what had hit the wall. "An arrow..." he whispered. Quickly, his gaze returned to the field, where he found thousands of small flickering flames shooting high into the sky. His eyes widened, and he gasped. "Oh no..."

The arrows began descending, increasing in speed. Tias dropped to the ground and crawled against the stone wall to take cover from fiery rain that fell onto the fort. Most of the arrows hit the walls or scattered onto the streets; others caused more damage, hitting the hay in the stables or flying through the windows of houses. When the volley of arrows finally ceased, and Tias overcame the sudden fear, he jumped up and ran toward the tower behind him. A rope dangled from a hole in the wall of the watchtower.

The head guard grabbed the rope and pulled with all his strength. The muscles of his upper arms bulging with the strain. As he pulled, the bell at the top of the tower began to slowly move to the right. Tias relaxed his muscles and let the bell swing back before pulling the rope once more when it swung to the right again. He repeated his movements until, finally, the sound of the bell echoed loudly through the fort.