Fear: Into Darkness

Chapter 1- A Difference

Fear awoke in his manor house next to Esmeralda, as he had done for the past five years. As long as it's been, he thought to himself, waking up like this never gets boring. He got out of bed and got dressed in his usual attire. It had seen many a battle but his red cloak once belonged to his mother and no harm had come to it, as it was one of his most prized possessions. As he put it on, he heard Esmeralda awake, "good morning my love" she said as she stretched and smiled at Fear. He smiled back and kissed her forehead before saying good morning back to her. He suddenly heard crashing and laughter and as he rolled his eyes he went into the enormous living room to find his children, Tamera and Slye, both roaring with laughter as they had spun around on the globe and both blew off in different directions. Fear stopped the globe from spinning before picking up his excited children who began to question him almost immediately, "daddy!" Tamera started, "are we going today!? Are we are we!?" Fear chuckled and ruffled her long brown hair, it was almost the same colour as his, but with bits of red at points. He picked her up and put her on his back, and she clung to him like glue. Slye climbed up on Fears back without assistance and as Fear got to the front doors, Esmeralda had walked downstairs and gave Fear a list of supplies and materials that they would need for the week ahead. She kissed his cheek and waved goodbye to the children as Fear stepped outside and into the small front garden, very unusual for a manor house but Fear liked it. He had began to like a lot of things since he inadvertently saved The Citadel. His perception of the world and it's inhabitants had changed dramatically and just as his grandfather had predicted, as of now he was a very happy man, and only at 32. The scars on his face had faded being belief and Esmeralda saw little things on his face she never noticed before. The three giant scars on his chest however haven't faded at all, and it remains a reminder to his adventures and lifestyle as a mercenary. He still was a mercenary but, at Esmeraldas request, he kept the killing to a minimum.

As they walked to a nearby town, Slye began, "daddy can you do the zoom again? Walking slow is boring". Fear laughed and said, "you know how your mother feels about that. I don't think I can" Tamera soon joined in the begging, "but please daddy? We won't tell her we promise!" Fear suddenly stopped as the reached the edge of the field that was quite close to the hotspring Fear and Esmeralda first spent the night together. He entered a running stance and both children got a grin from ear to ear. Fear smirked to himself before belting it towards the town at almost full speed. Every bit of grass and leaves that were resting peacefully on the ground had now been blown sideways or thrown up into the air at the sheer force of Fears feet hitting the ground as he ran. It didn't take them long to reach the town and Fear stopped just in time to stop barrelling through the town. He leaned against a broken stone pillar to catch his breath and Slye and Tamera jumped off his back. They helped Fear to stand up and then he gave them the list of things they needed and told them to meet him back here in an hour. They both nodded and ran off to a nearby store. Fear shook his head and smiled before heading of to the local blacksmiths. He had known this blacksmith for quite some time, and he liked to drop in whenever he was in town. The people of the world had began to see Fear in a different light after Oculus' defeat at his hands. His legend had spread throughout the land, and many people regarded him as a hero, although Fear still has no idea people think of him this way. He killed Oculus out of his own pure rage, and he did it because he wanted to. But ever since then things have been a lot better for the people of the Citadel as well as Fear. But Fear has been hearing rumours of a vicious vampire hunter, who has dark powers that rival Fears. Ever since he has been more cautious and always on alert, though you wouldn't be able to tell by looking at him. As he approached the blacksmiths, some of the town's folk who passed him greeted him and even made small conversation with him. This was very unusual but he had gotten used to it. People had become a lot nicer to him and as much as it freaked him out he enjoyed not being called "demon" for once. He knocked lightly on the blacksmiths door before opening it to see him sat at the grindstone sharpening his axe. He saw Fear and laughed as he bear hugged him. This wasn't unusual; Bearmise greeted his most favourable customers that way. Fear pulled out a small piece of cloth and handed it to Bearmise who's eyes lit up brighter then the moon. "Is this it!?" He asked in pure excitement and Fear nodded, laughing as Bearmise almost jumped out of his skin laughing and he began dancing around. Fear shook his head and smiled as he put his hand on his friends shoulder and asked for his payment. "Oh yes of course!" Bearmise roared and he went into a back room to fetch Fears payment. Fear waited and as he did both of his children came through the door with what Fear had told them to buy. He told them to wait quietly and as he did, Bearmise came back with a special set of dragon leather armour for Fear. " Dragon hide mister Drawkwind is the strongest leather in the world! But it will only take so much damage. Once it does I'm afraid dragon leather is too expensive so it'll be back to normal leather". Fear nodded as he finished strapping it to his chest and shoulder. Fear had taken a bit of precaution to wear armour a bit more often, as a brush with Eastland archers had shown him never to take it for granted again. He paid Bearmise and he and his children waved goodbye and made their way home.

One quick run later and Fear was home. He opened the front door and let the children go in first, and he was greeted by Esmeralda, who seemed far more happy than she usually was, "some guests have come to visit us there in the kitchen". She laughed as she saw Fears eye get brighter as he ran to the vast kitchen hall. He opened the door and sat around the table looking at him were his old friends. Ork stood up and hugged Fear so tightly he almost broke his back. He shook hands with Acule who has gotten a little braver over the years. Jraken had just turned 21 and had grown a little taller, but he was still towered over by the others. They were all soon sat around the table laughing over old times and basically just being the friends they have always been. " I have a woman with me now" Jraken scoffed rather proudly, "Never thought I would see the day" Fear joked, making Ork laugh "oh neither did I my friend" he said through roaring laughter. Suddenly all three of their happy expressions turned from happiness to worry. Fear looked at them all and asked them why they had come. And he knew that whatever the reason was, it clearly wasn't a good one. He just hoped he didn't have anything to do with it....