Blackheart

The Citadel

Alexander immediately noticed it became much colder as he entered the dark wall of fog, but aside from that, he didn't feel much different. He looked over his shoulder. He could still see the silhouette of the priest facing him. Doesn't seem like this black fog teleported me anywhere...I'm still where I just was. That means I just need to walk to the city.

With no other options appealing to him, Alexander simply walked forward, and kept walking. The fog didn't go away, and the knight could still barely see right in front of him. He ignored this, and continued forward, huffing to himself. The fog seemed to defy the laws of physics, swirling about in random directions wildly, switching direction at a moment's notice. This is no ordinary fog...the work of demons, perhaps?

After about an hour of walking through a pitch black, empty grassland, Alexander's mind began to wander as he continued walking forward, when suddenly a booming voice nearly made him leap out of his skin. "You!"

Alexander stopped and spun around, trying to identify the source of the voice. "I know why you're here." Alexander became extremely worried as he realized the voice was in his head, coming from no direction in particular.

"A telepath?! Who are you?!"

A loud, but somewhat effeminate voice replied to him. "Brave knight...I shall guide you. Turn to your right, and keep walking. You are nearly there. We can talk when you reach us."

Alexander grimaced as he looked around, confirming this was indeed no trick. No one else was here. He was speaking with a magician. More specifically, a telepath. "Where are you in the city?"

"There are many still alive here. Seek a survivor, and they will surely direct you to our shelter."

With those words, the voice departed. Alexander turned right, and continued walking. The knight carefully scanned his surroundings, believing this may be a trap. Not that he could scan for much in this thick fog of black.

After a good hour, Alexander realized the fog was dissipating. The further he walked, the farther he could see. As the thick, curling smoke became nothing more than thin wisps of darkness occasionally swirling through the air, Alexander's eyes moved up as he saw the landscape ahead of him.

A huge wall of gray stone, and a large, open gate with a path made of dirt leading towards it. Large towers were on the top of  either side of the walls, holding what Alexander assumed was a path on top of the walls for guards to station archers on. Behind the impressive walls stood a cobblestone road leading to several large buildings, presumably some guard houses, civil workplaces, and other city luxuries.

Alexander strained his ears. Dead silence, aside from the howling wind. The knight noticed the sky was dark as night, even though it was midday only an hour ago. Whatever this evil was that blanketed the city of Palethorn, it tainted all. The air, the sky, the soil...all looked dark and sickly.

Alexander took a deep breath and readied himself. Thinking of everyone that was counting on him, the knight stepped forward.

What he first mistook as a sprawling pile of discarded armor made Alexander freeze in place. The color drained from the knight's face as he took in the grisly scene before him.

A massive pile of corpses lay piled up around the gateway.

A wave of adrenaline hit Alexander. He was in danger just from being here of course, but being around so many dead made him realize just how much he stood against. He had been in battlefields with less corpses, and yet here they all were, surrounding the entrance to the city.

As he made a cautious approach, Alexander got a better look at the bodies. They were most certainly human. Most of them wore the military standards. These were the contingents of soldiers that had been sent to investigate Palethorn when the fog first descended.