Scarlet Crypt

The Realization

I was dumbfounded as I realized that the attack was a test. I shook my head and thought about how we defended ourselves and that the effort that we had for the attack was all exerted for a fraud incident. I also thought about getting killed which almost happened a while ago. The scar on my wrist gave me a burning feeling and made me remember my first scar.

It was a morning of December when I got my first scar. My brother and I were running around the castle when my sister shrieked a scream of fear. “What was that?” Cristoff asked. I stared at the ground, thinking of possibilities that would happen to Cyrielle. “Cassel?” Cristoff asked again and I snapped out from my thoughts. I shrugged and ran towards the scream of my sister. I felt panic when I heard her scream, but I didn’t show it to my younger brother. I was the older brother; I had to remain strong.

We found her in front of the doorway with a man covering her mouth and a sharp knife on her neck. “Don’t come near!” the man said. His eyes were wild and… scared. I didn’t know how he got inside, but as I looked at him from head to toe, I realized that he looked like he worked inside our castle. “Let go of her!” my brother exclaimed. I was confused how the soldiers didn’t even hear her voice. I didn’t speak nor did anything. I just stood there and stared at his eyes.

I took a step forward and he pointed the knife to me. “Do not move!” the man said again. I grabbed the knife from him and instead of pointing into my direction; I twisted his hand behind him and he let go of my sister. Cyrielle went directly to Cristoff and cried. I tried to pull the knife, but his strength was incredible. He pulled his hand from me and he turned. He pointed the knife towards me again and he stabbed, but I dodged it. He did it again and I dodged, but the knife didn’t miss my eyebrow. Blood was on my face and I used my palm to wipe it. “Cassel, no!” Cyrielle screamed. “You think that I was that easy, boy? You are weak! You can never beat me,” said the man. He drew the knife towards me and I took a step backwards. When I thought I was going to die, soldiers were marching towards the man, grabbing his arms and pulling the knife from his right hand.

Soldiers were heading towards us and they lead us towards our room. I was silent the whole time while Cyrielle was crying. I placed my arms around her and she cried even more. A doctor went to the castle to examine the wound that the man made to see if the knife had poison in it. Luckily, it hadn’t and I was safe. My father made sure that the scar would be erased, but somehow that was impossible. “It’s okay; I don’t care about the scar,” I said to the doctor. He nodded and placed some ointments on my wound that relieved me.

I erased my thoughts and focused on what was happening. The remaining young adults gathered around and listened to the words of our so-called leader who was all covered with black leather. He was wearing a special helmet that covered his face. For a leader, he was pretty small.

“.. We are gathered here for you to meet your leader. The pseudo-attack was your leader’s idea and it was pretty much an effective technique for us to know who are strongest and who are the most likely to survive in the battles to come,” the fat man beside our leader said. “His name is Malty,” Garrick said; it’s as if he read my mind. I nodded at him and focused to what Malty was saying. “And now,” he continued. “I would like you to meet your leader.” Our leader pulled the helmet on his head and everyone was astonished to see the person behind the helmet.

Our leader, the one who made us kill, the one who planned the so-called attack was a girl. Her eyes were as gray as the stormy sky and her copper-colored hair shined as she smiled at us