The Tale Of The Wooden King

Chapter 3 Within The Darkness

The smell of iron thick in the air, Roger looked around, the wound on his leg still bleeding. He began to blank out due to the amount of blood he lost. Roger wondered where the beast had gone. Am I dead? he wondered to himself. The sharp pain made him realize that he was still alive. His body would not respond; he lost too much blood to move, and he lay there motionless within the darkness of the catacombs.

His vision had blurred and his body was motionless, he knew if the beast had returned then he would die. He tried with all his might to move but it was no use and if he tried to scream for help the beast might come back for him. He felt so weak and useless, and he could feel the tears streaming from his face but he made no sound. Then he heard what sounded like claws against bone coming from his rear. The sound grew louder and louder, until it suddenly stopped and the catacombs echoed the sound for miles. This is the end for me, Roger said in his head.

His breathing began to pick up and his heart beat faster. Roger managed to look up to see what was there. Through the darkness he  could make out a small figure no more then a foot tall. Relief washed over him. Thank the gods its not that mangy beast again! he thought. The small figure looked as if it was looking for something. It started to walk closer and closer to him. Before Roger knew it the figure was already by his head. The smell of wet fur was in the air and the figure let out a small bark. Roger's heart sank when he recognized that sound. The sound of an adventurous young pup that was hungry. The small pup barked again and again. Roger began to wish he would could just shove his foot in its mouth just to stop its barking.  Then in the distance he heard many, many more claws running on bone.

Then the sound of something whistling though the air smashed in to the young pup, sending it flying to its right. The pup yelped out in pain and crashed on the bone covered floor. Roger couldn't see a thing; only flashes of what looked like arrow heads flying across his very eyes. Throughout the battle Roger's mind went blank and he passed out. Before he was totally out he saw the figure of someone in a hood who had walked up to him. He could feel heat coming from his left side, and the smell of burning pine with the odor of cooking meat. Roger slowly drifted back in to reality and when his vision had finally cleared he saw a fire with sticks stuck into the ground and nicely browned meat slowly taking in the heat and smoke of the fire.

Roger tried to move but he could not, to him it felt like his arms and legs were in some form of shell. He looked up only to see the stars brightly shining in the night sky. Then he heard a voice. It sounded young but yet strong and calming. Out of nowhere this young girl in dark leather outfit with a red hood with what looked to be golden vines upon it appeared. She was about five foot four,  and she looked about the same age he was. She had flowing dark hair and green eyes though she was very pale. Roger tried to talk but his voice would not be heard. She stared at him and then started to walk over to him. She stood by his head then sat next to him and she picked up his head and placed it on her lap.

Then she pulled out a bottle of water and let him drink. "Do not try to talk just yet," she said in a calm voice. "You have lost too much blood and you need to rest. By the time I had found you, you were already on the door of death."

Roger was lost on what she was saying but when he looked down he saw what looked to be vines holding his arms and legs. They had a sight glow around them and were an off white. Then his eyes looked at her.

"My name is Lilith," she said as if she knew what he wanted to know. "As for those vines it is a small thing I managed to create with my mana."

Confusion took over Roger's mind. He started to wonder if he was dreaming. Lilith picked up his head and lowered it to the ground softly. "Mana is a dormant power in most humans only because they want to believe it's not there. While others try to master it and spend their life learning about it," she said.

Roger still didn't understand what was going on, then he heard the voices again. "Find the king and bring him the pendant" they whispered over and over again. Roger shut his eyes hoping, the voices would go away. When Lilith spoke the voices drifted away.

"Are you in pain?" she asked, Roger began to wonder why this girl he didn't know saved his life, but Roger only shook his head no. Relief washed over her. "Good. I thought I had failed in making the right spell," she said with uncertainly. "Because if I did there might have been a chance I could have made it suck the life out of you," she added in a sarcastic voice. Roger's heart sank the thought of her killing him by accident; it actually made him feel weak.

"Well, rest," she said. "By tomorrow your wounds should be healed- well, all but your leg anyway," she said and rolled over to her side. My leg? he wondered, but before he could think about it he fell into a dream.

Within Roger's dream he saw what looked like a man who was made of wood, standing on the shore with water rushing beneath his feet. He could feel the nice warm sun shining down on him. Then it started to rain and the waves grew. The man standing at the shore was no long there. The rain turned to blood. Roger could feel that it was still warm as it ran down though his hair and down his arms. The smell of iron was strong and Roger awoke from his nightmare.