Midnight Flight

Chapter 1- Chance encounter

The guard shifted nervously, his right hand tightly gripped to his sheathed sword.

It was his first night shift patrolling the wall. He was on edge. This was his first post guarding somewhere important- before he'd been stationed along supply routes, in the middle of nowhere.

Snap

The sudden sound caused his head to jerk to the left. A large object flew at him, hitting his head and causing his oversized helmet to fall over his eyes. Cursing, he lifted it up again, but it slipped once more to obstruct his view. Letting out a stream of obscenities, he removed the helmet, placing it carefully on the high stone wall which he was patrolling along the top of.

Remembering what had caused his helmet to move, he looked once more, peering into the darkness behind him.

He was interrupted by the bark of the sergeant behind him.

'Peters!'

'Sir, yes, sir!' He stood to attention, straightening up and lifting his hand to his head in salute.

'Where is your helmet, Peters?' The question, like everything the sergeant said, was asked loudly and impatiently.

'Well, sir...' He paused, looking at the helmet that was sitting just behind the sergeant, which he thankfully hadn't noticed.

'Well? Out with it!'

Peters cleared his throat, 'It was- I um...'

'I asked you about your helmet, Peters.' The sergeant's voice was becoming dangerous quiet.

'Yes, sir. Well, it...'

He huffed impatiently, 'I don't have time for this! Peters, get a helmet. Now!'

Peters breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't enjoy being yelled at by the sergeant, he'd expected to receive a punishment.

'And Peters...'

'Yes, sir?'

'Why are you facing towards the castle? You're supposed to look out for intruders coming into the castle, not people leaving it!'

'Y-Y-es, sir'

'Stop your stuttering and get back to work! One more show of incompetency and you're finished.'

Peters paled at these words, and stood to attention as the sergeant marched away, muttering about 'boys these days' and 'incompetency'.

Peters didn't actually know what that long word meant, but the sergeant used it a lot when talking about him, so he assumed it was a bad thing.

Reaching for his helmet, he felt a sharp sting on his leg, and saw a small creature scuttle along the wall.

He cursed, and hopping on his uninjured right leg, his arm reached out for the wall as support.

Glancing down to get a better look at his injury, he didn't see his helmet, which had been balanced precariously on the edge of the wall, tumble into the darkness as his flailing arm brushed it.

Clunk

The sound was loud and distinctive, as Peters froze, injury forgotten.

His mind raced, panicked, as he thought of the Sergeant's face when he discovered that he'd lost his helmet.

Hopping to the edge, he crouched and peered down into the darkness, hoping in vain to see where it had landed.

Instead, he heard angry muttering, and a distinct male voice.

'Gah. Curse you, heavens!'

He could just make out a figure, and a gleaming object that lay near it. The figure seemed to be crouched down, rubbing his head. As Peters watched, fascinated, the person reached for the object and threw it at the wall.

Clang

'Shoot.' Peters heard, and then watched in horror as the figure looked left, then right, then straight up, into his eyes.

And froze.

°°°
Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading! This is my first attempt at writing a story- tell me what you think?

(This has not been proofread, so sorry for any spelling/grammar errors)

I'm hoping to update fairly regularly, but that will depend on how popular this is, so please vote if you enjoyed! :)