Past the Edge (An Item for Greed Book 1)

Chapter 5- Dark

 So in his chapter, its a bit different from the rest, and it has a darker mood to it, and so will the one to follow. Thanks! Please comment/vote/fan!

Chapter 5- Dark

Castor stepped past the guard, and glanced upon the beautiful city. Statuesque buildings adorned the long, winding cobblestone road. The building varied in height, but were each over one story high. They were painted all the same colour, a bland opaque. Most of the buildings were shops, and markets, all having very large windows for display cases. Littering the streets were merchants, each having a cart of goods to sell. People swarmed around them, trying to get a look at the new items of the day.

From behind him, Castor heard Sam gasp in awe. Chuckling a bit, Castor walked forward. Peering into the closest vendors cart, he saw items that he had never seem before. The merchant was holding a small brass instrument, and was explaining its function to onlookers. Castor paused to listen, but quickly hurried away when he heard the man shout about its powers of warding off enemies.

Castor soon noticed that Sam wasn’t following him, and when he turned to look for Sam, he was still at the vendors cart. In fact, he was paying for the brass instrument. “Sam! What did you buy?” Castor asked him, while shaking his head.

“Not really sure to be honest. Thought it might be useful, since we ain't got any idea about where we are headed,” Sam replied, shrugging his shoulders.

“I guess,” Castor replied, agreeing. “C'mon, lets find some food,” he added, and continued walking.

They walked further along the narrow road, until they came upon a small fruit merchant. They bought several of each, and tucked them into Castor's rucksack.

As they neared the end of the long road, they came to a large square. In its center was a tall, luminous fountain. It had a large basin, and looked as if it had been carved from silver. Strange runes- ones that Castor had never seen before, coated the fountain. Wrapping its way around the fountains base, were words. Reading, “Knowledge is power, but power is useless to the wise.”

While trying to comprehend its meaning, Castor saw Sam walk up to the fountain and peer over its edge and into the water below. He trailed his fingers along its surface; the water rippling out around his touch. He began to mutter strange words. Words that Castor had never heard before. Sam then stood back up straight, and walked back over to where Castor stood motionless.

“I know where we are going next,” Sam told Castor confidently.

“Okay, where are we going then?” Castor asked, confused and slightly annoyed.

“Somewhere in the Cyan Desert. Not really sure where exactly, but its bound to be a small town or village,” Sam replied.

“What would we want that is in the Cyan Desert?” Castor asked, smirking slightly.

“You see that fountain over there right? Well, its kind of like a wishing well, but only its a fountain. Once you make your wish, you don’t get a yes or no answer. Instead of that, you get a sort of conversation about your wish. It will tell you anything, you can even ask more than one question; although it does have to be related to the original question,” Sam informed Castor of, murmuring the last bit to himself.

A shrill, high pitched voice screamed out into the square. It was stained with fear, “The darkness! Run! Hide! Save yourselves before it gets you!” the voice screamed.

Castor looked over at the horizon, and sure enough, the sun was setting. The clouds were stained purple with the dwindling light, and just as the outer edge of the sun touched the landscape, a flash of ebony scoured the sky, staining it black. It was dark, and suddenly extremely cold. Castor could hear people running and screaming all around him. Doors slammed from around the square and suddenly, it was quiet. An eery quiet. The fountain had stopped flowing, and nothing made a sound. No rustle of leaves as the wind blew softly through them, nor the steady breathing of someone close by. With only the brightly shining moon for company, Castor and Sam were alone, locked outside with something that everyone in this town feared. The darkness.

Castor looked over at Sam, who only shrugged. Together they looked at the fountain, only beginning to worry about the horrors that might lurk hidden in the shadows of the darkness.

A long, drawled out rasping noise came from somewhere behind them. They both slowly turned around, only to meet more darkness. Slowly they turned back to face the fountain. The full moon cast ghastly shadows on the fountain, making it seem alive.

Something on Castors right drew in a long, shaking, rattling breath. The thing shuffled its feet, and bits of dust flew up around it. Sam whipped his head to the side at the noises, squinting his eyes to try and catch a glimpse of the creature.

Still focused on the spot that the noise came from, something from behind Castor and Sam growled deeply, sending saliva flying in every direction. Castor cautiously spun around, and his eyes widened at the sight that he saw.

Standing a few paces away, was a small skeletal like figure. Most of its skin was torn away, leaving bloody gaps where bone was exposed. The figure was hunched over as if it was in pain, but its head stared right at Castor. It had a human like skull, although no flesh was left on its head. It had beady black eyes that bored into Castors head. Pointed fangs hung from its mouth, black slime was oozing out of their tips. In the place of where hands should be were giant, black, curving claws. The creature flexed its claws, but continued to stare at Castor.

“Hey Castor, you might want to look at this,” Sam told him tentatively, still looking towards the fountain.

Castor broke the gaze of the creature and turned to look at what Sam was watching. In front of Sam were hundreds more of the skeletal figures, but they weren’t standing. They were rising up out of the ground, pulling their bodies along with them. Sam was watching the one that was closest to him. Just its head and claws were sticking out of the ground. Its claws were scrapping furiously at the dirt that was holding it underground. Putting its claws on the edges of the hole, it hoisted itself up and out, so that it was standing behind its hole. It starred at the hole in disgust for a moment, and then it looked at Castor and Sam. It grinned maliciously at them, turning its head from side to side as if it were stretching its neck. The creature looked over its shoulder, and beckoned for all of the other monsters to follow it. The creature laughed at Castor and Sam for a moment, and then in a low and rasping voice it said, “Stupid Human.”