FAITH: A Tale of Courage

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Awakening

Zleet stood upon the gray colored earth that surrounded him, poised in a battle stance. The sky was pitch black- not a star to be seen- and the few trees around were charred, and broken. He was a tall and lanky elf, with waist length brown hair and golden-brown eyes. Chain mail armor adorned his chest; an azure tunic over top of it.

A silver and gold colored shoulderpad rested on his right side, and brown leather pants covered his long legs. His long-fingered hands wore the same color gauntlets laced with black string. Partially broken, rusted silver buckles adorned them.

In his right hand was a dark gold guarded sword. The steel was a bright sky blue with streaks of purple and red; the purple outnumbering the red. In Zleet's left hand was a silver shield, decorated with a kite shape turned on its side.

Just in front of Zleet stood a dark-haired man, whose eyes seemed to be blazing with fire; his sharp teeth shining a terrible grin. The right side of his hair pointed upwards in an unnatural way, almost appearing more as a horn than hair.

Another figure, on his right, was a leathery winged, pale skinned man with long ears- which also seemed slightly fluffy- and two sets of dark green eyes, one set above the other. Huge black horns that curved slightly backwards were sprouting from his long obsidian locks, with a second smaller pair of horns below them that stuck almost straight up.

The bigger horns had silver rings around them with a thin string decorated with colored jewels connecting the rings. His feet were big, clawed and monstrous, while his hands had long, black, talon-like claws.

Covering his body was black armor with strange silver markings along the sides made of a light material, and peeking out underneath it were dark purple markings.

The man with blazing eyes spoke in a deep, raspy voice.

"Still, you fight? Still, you hold on to your lives, even though I am the one in control? You're nothing! When will you pathetic children understand? I am a God, don't you see?!"

"No," the winged man blurted, "You're no God. You're just a weak, empty husk! Now, finally, we're the ones in control!"

He then jumped into the air and dove at the fiery eyed man, only to be stopped midair, encased in a faint golden bubble.

"No. You?" the man spoke, vanishing from sight and reappearing in front of Zleet.

The elf swung at the man, only to have his blade grabbed, and taken from him. The sword slowly changed in color in the man's hand to a black and red color, as he laughed, "You are a failure, Azim!" He then plunged the blade through Zleet's chest...

...Who...? What...? Why am I here...? Where is here? Think...Feel...Focus...

***

Zleet awoke with a start, sweat dripping from his brow. Patting the world around him, he realized he was safe in his bed in his own home. He breathed a sigh of relief and laid back on his pillow, rubbing both cheeks with his hands. The elf looked over at the wooden clock hanging on the wall.

"Eight thirty," he mumbled.

His room had walls and a ceiling made of wood, and a floor covered in soft wool. To the left of his bed was a nightstand with a candle, and on the right was a closed window. At the foot of his bed was a short dresser, and just beyond it a partially cracked mirror. In the corner of the room was a table that had a long black case on it.

Zleet sat back up, on the edge of his bed. It was the same nightmare he'd had for weeks now, though something was different about it. He never remembered the name of the scary dark-haired man, though the words he said always echoed in his mind. The nightmare always ended in almost the exact same way, too, with the man ending Zleet's life. "Nothing".