Legends of Arkn

Ch. 14 - Ghosts

"Welcome to Wakefield," said the General.

Wakefield was quiet but for the low moan of the wind as it blew through empty streets devoid of any signs of life. Phan shivered, though not from the cold. Something was wrong.

"Too quiet," Chaz said nervously, echoing Phan's thoughts.

A door creaked open to his right and Phan whipped his rifle up, his nerves getting the better of him. A few villagers ventured out, hands raised.

"Please, don't shoot, we mean you no harm," said a man at the fore of the group. He was unshaven and disheveled and his eyes had a slightly wild twinge to them.

"What's going on here?" demanded the General, dismounting from his horse. "We come to call on Duke Markus."

The man looked at his companions, as more doors opened from some neighboring houses. To Phan's surprise, most of those who came out were children.

"Where are the rest of the adults?" asked Duke Robert.

"Where is the rest of the town?" asked Baron Bradd.

"They've been taken by the madness," whispered the man. "We've been hiding for a week. The madness set in after the soldiers came. They told the Duke he would join them or watch the town fall before his eyes. That's when the smoke rose from the keep and the madness set in."

The man pointed west. Phan gazed into the distance. A thick column of smoke rose from the stone keep in the distance. It was unlike any smoke he'd ever seen, a deep red, almost the color of the blood.

"Tell all the children to lock those doors, I've seen this smoke in the sky before," said the General.

"Is the madness going to get us?" the man stammered, even as he motioned for the children to follow the order. They quickly disappeared inside houses and a smattering of locks slamming closed broke the eerie silence.

"Everything is going to be fine," said the Duke Robert. He waved his hand in a circle and shouted, "Mount up, we ride for the keep. If you're attacked, do your best not to kill anyone, these people are under a curse."

"What's the madness?" asked Phan as they left the houses and headed into town toward the keep.

"It's a war crime is what it is," growled the General under his breath.

"It's a compound that when burned or put in the water supply causes those who consume it to be filled with a mindless rage," said Joh. "Old, dark magic. From the time of The Fall."

Phan scanned the buildings. Motion caught his eye, but when he looked to follow it, there was nothing. They rode on into town, passing empty, lifeless houses and shops, the streets completely desolate. Not even a stray cat or dog could be seen.

It was as they passed through the gates to the keep that they saw them for the first time. A dozen townsfolk stood, hammering on the door to the keep. He turned when they heard hooves clopping on the stone road. Phan's breath caught in his chest.

"What the fuck?" Chaz muttered beside him.

Without waiting a moment, the townsfolk charged the line of soldiers.

"Don't kill them unless you absolutely must, we need to disabled them without maiming them. These are innocent people under the influence of magic," shouted the General, dropping from his horse.

He drew his sword as the mass of hysterical people charged him. As the first of the maddened reached him, the General side-stepped a frantic lunge and slammed the hilt of his sword into the back of the man's head. The man collapsed, unconscious before he hit the stone.