Tales of Astora: Legacy

Chapter 24: March of the Fallen

Chapter 24: March of the Fallen

Sinforma's POV

"Death is just the beginning.

As we rest in the soil, the world continue to move forward without us. We, those who were abandoned, the forsaken ones, shall rise again to remind the world of our existence. Our legends may have been scattered, our legacies may have been passed on but as time went on, we were forgotten, relics of the past.

Now we march onward, toward the capital of the living, to let them know that we are still here, no matter how they want to refuse us. For we are the Fallen. We are Sinforma."

* * *

The World's Graveyard was always a place under constant surveillance from the Church. After all, it was where they buried their Heroes and their Saints along with all their followers including warriors and clergy. For centuries, the cemetery continued to expand as the dead continued to pile up. But that was not the problem. The main concern of the Church was that grave robbers or necromancer might desecrate the tombs of the dead for wicked purposes. This was why a large wall was built along the frontier of the graveyard to keep outsiders out.

To protect the wall and what lay beyond it, the Church established the Grave Watchers, a military force whose job was to keep an eye on the wall and to punish trespassers. Four keeps, each in a corner of the cemetery, was supposed to watch their wall. But It made you wonder: who would watch their backs if the threat was actually from inside?

On the northern wall facing the capital of the Theocracy of Light, Deus Lucem, next to the North-West keep, two guards were standing on the wall in the middle of the night. The wind, as it flew through the surrounding forests, made the only sound that could be heard in this night. Along with the torches on the wall, the consoling gentle moonlight was their only source of light.

"Another quiet night heh?" one of the guard asked.

"As usual. I really don't know why they would spend so much money to keep this place running. When was the last time we see an intruder?"

"Aye. But there are petty thieves who occasionally sneaked into this place. We just caught one a few days ago didn't we? But when I see what he managed to take, I suppose it's understandable. All these jewelry and such buried with some old skeletons. What a waste! Some of us don't even have enough to feed our families and some dead dude is even richer than us. It's not like it's useful for them."

"Careful of what you say mate. Don't want to lose our jobs now. At least we got paid for doing absolutely nothing."

The two men laughed out loud. The worst they saw was just some thieves who wanted a share of the offerings to the deceased. And the Church paid a decent amount to keep these keeps running.

"HEY! Are you two slacking again?" an angry voice shouted at the two men.

"Knight Captain!!!! Of course not sir! We are just talking about how dutiful you are!"

But his lies did not work. Walking to the two, the captain smacked them both on the head. Even though they wore a helmet, it would still hurt.

"Don't lie to me you dimwits! We are tasked to watch over the wall and it's our responsibility to do it. By God's name if I see you two slacking off again,...." said the captain. It has been more than ten years since he took on the job to watch the wall. While it was a quiet life compared to his former life in the army, he still took it very seriously. Not for the money but because of his faith. He saw himself as the keeper of theses graves, to help the dead rest in peace without obstruction.