Chapter 1: The Riversrun People (and how I ruined their day)
This really is no way for me to be living, is it? I walked through the gates at the towns’ entrance and started heading toward the middle of town. Walking past markets and bazaars I eventually made my way to the inn. Looking up to the sun I saw that it was sinking below the skyline. I went inside the inn and immediately went to the reception desk.
“Hey there, and welcome to the Pig-Riders Inn!” said the red-headed lady at the reception. She must have been the bartender as well as the innkeeper because the neckline on her dress was much too low to be otherwise. “How many nights will you be stayin’?”
“Just two, thank you.” I replied.
“Okay that’ll be forty Emeralds. The tavern comes free for all people stayin’ ‘ere.”
I placed the stones on the counter and she passed the sign in log to me. Instead of signing my cover name like I usually did when coming to an inn, the name of Haley Starshine, I signed my real name, thinking that it was no use using that name anymore.
Nekona Fallowsword. I signed my name cleanly on the line and the innkeeper gave me a small key.
“Enjoy your stay in Riversrun, young lady. Oh, and by the way, me name’s Katy, if ya ever need me.” She gave me a wink and walked over to the bar yelling, “Who wants another round?!” with more yelling replying. I rolled my eyes and started heading up the stairs to my room.
The floorboards of the upstairs creaked and groan as I stepped on them making me feel like they were going to collapse under me. Turning a corner I bumped into someone.
“Sorry,” I said. The tall man was wearing a dark red cloak that hid most of his clothing and his hands were tucked into the opposite’s sleeves. He grunted and started to walk quickly to the stairs.
Well that was strange, I thought to myself. Trying to push the man to the back of my mind I proceeded to my room.
Turning the key I walked in, closing the door behind me. The room seemed nice enough; a small chest to my right and a bed at the far end with draped windows on either side of the. I set my pack and sword in the small chest and locked it. Turning toward the windows I opened them to see the sun setting on the horizon. Below, I saw the river the town was on reflecting the sunset with a soft orange glow. I stared at the fading light for a while, feeling a little sad for some reason. After the glow faded, I sighed and walked over to the chest, grabbed my emerald purse from my pack and started to walk down to get dinner, locking the door behind me.
Back at the Pig-Riders Inn’s front doors, I could still hear loud noise- I actually think it got louder than when I first checked in- from inside and the lights were blaring onto the dark streets. Inside I saw the men at the tavern yelling at someone who was drinking strait from the large keg of ale behind the bar. Shaking my head I went inside and hurried back up to my room. Safely inside, I closed the door and went over to turn on the redstone lamp hanging from the ceiling that I hadn’t noticed before. I put my pack away and went to my bed, quickly falling asleep.
In my dreams, I was standing in a small room made of dark red bricks. There didn’t seem to be any doors or windows at first, but as I watched a small doorway opened on the far side of the room. I thought it would be my escape so I headed toward it. Then I saw a glow coming from the door way and saw a wave of molten fire slowly creeping towards me. I ran to the back of the room but the walls started to shrink, pushing me towards the lava. The molten slag washed over me and two red eyes flashed in front of me.
I jolted up in bed, panting, my right hand gripping the bed sheets. Looking down at my hand I saw that the segment of bed sheets under it was torn. I held up my hand to my face and examined the mark wrapping around my forearm, usually covered by my gloves and arm bracers: A ragged scar-like blemish, wrapping around most of my wrist.
I frowned. “It’s bigger than when I last looked at it.” I murmured to myself. Sighing, I got up and opened the drapes on the windows. Dim light filtered in and I saw the moon setting on the horizon. Down in the streets there were already a few merchants starting to open up their shops and people were strolling on the paths.
I walked over to the chest where I had stored my things and put my gear back on: Leather boots, arm bracers, brown gloves covering everything on my hand but the finger tips, and a dark cloak with a low hood. I grabbed my pack and took a quick inventory of what I still had with me: about four sticks, a flint and steel, two or so small wooden planks, a small dagger and some food consisting or two cooked pork-chops and some apples.
I’m going to have to go shopping today, I thought to myself. I grabbed the dagger and tucked it into my shoe so that I could get to it easily if I got into a fight. Looking in the small and murky mirror next to the chest, I was startled by how beaten I looked. My hair looked like a spider had attacked it and I had bags under my strange, gold and silver bicolored eyes.
My metallic eyes are what always get me into trouble, aren’t they? I thought to myself, a grim smile crossing my face.
By the time I was ready to go the moon had disappeared off the horizon and the sunlight was bright and strong. I went downstairs the main room of the Inn was empty and the innkeeper, Katy, was nowhere to be seen. Heading out the doors the streets were already bustling with people; some were dressed in armor so I assumed they were the town’s guards, while all the rest were dressed in regular street clothes. I started to walk around the town for a while, seeing what shops there were.
I passed an assortment of different merchants selling things like gold ore, piles of cobblestone, new tools and food. I bypassed most of them-I didn’t really need any of the supplies considering I’m not a miner or anything-but there was one stall that caught my attention. In front of an alleyway sat a woman wearing nothing but white robes that covered most of her body and face. Spread out before them was a cloth with weapons sprawled out on it; I saw quite a few swords of any material that can be made into a sword, some daggers, a flail, and several bundles of arrows. Sitting in the middle was a sturdy wooden bow in perfect condition with shiny gold colored limb tips and a black string.
“How much for the bow?” I asked the stall owner.
She looked up to me through a hole in the cloth. “You want to buy the bow?” She asked the question like she couldn’t believe someone actually wanted to but something from her. I nodded.
“Okay then,” She replied. “For you, it’s sixty emeralds.”
Sixty emeralds?! That’s, like, half of the money I have left!
“Oh, I’m sorry but I can’t afford that much-”
“Then let me buy it for you.” I cut off and I turned to see who interrupted me. It was a guy dressed in maroon armor, his helmet in his hand. He looked about sixteen or seventeen, around my age, and had short-ish dark hair and blue-green eyes. In his hand was a small pouch that probably held at least a hundred emeralds. He had a kind smile on his face but something about his armor troubled me and his presence gave me a cold feeling of unease.
“But-” I stammered. “You can’t-”
“It’s fine,” He said. Turning to the lady. “I’ll take that bow, ma’am.”
“That’ll be sixty emeralds.” The lady replied in an amused voice. Though I couldn’t see her mouth I was pretty sure she was grinning teasingly.
He tossed her the pouch. “That should cover it.”
She took the bag and looked in. She grunted. “Take it then, boy. It’s a nice present for your girlfriend.”
I felt my face get hot. The guy started to look a little red. “Er, she’s not my, uh, girlfriend, miss.” He said embarrassedly.
She waved her hand dismissedly, a glint of amusement in her eyes. “Whatever you say, boy. Now off, you two, you’re hogging my shop.”
He offered me the bow and I snatched it out of his hands. “Thanks for the bow. I’d better be going-”
He interrupted me again. “Sorry for asking but does your name happen to be Nekona Fallowsword?”
A shiver went down my spine and even though it was at least seventy degrees out the temperature seem to drop below freezing.
“N-no,” I mumbled. Then I realized how suspicious that sounded and put in, “Is that a thing with you? Always interrupting people and then asking or doing something stupid? And for your information my name is
not Nekona it is, in fact, Haley Starshine.”
His blue-green eyes widened a bit. “S-sorry,” He stammered. “I was just wondering; I’m looking for someone with that name. I asked because my superiors told me to look for someone with silver and gold eyes.”
“Well you must be mistaken.” I said, trying not to let my fear creep into my voice. There was something about his armor that seemed familiar…
That’s it! That’s the same armor I saw on the monsters when they raided the town! I didn’t know there were humans
in the Dark Forces!
I slung the bow over my back and started to walk away. “Now I really must be going, I have other errands to run and-”
“Wait!” He grabbed the tip of my right glove and it slipped off my hand as I walked away. I turned to look back at him, angry shock on my face. My hand and wrist were fully visible and he was staring right at the scar on it. I grabbed the glove out of his hands and started to run through the crowded streets, weaving my way through the shopping people. I turned a corner into an ally and slumped against the wall, well away from the street, trying to catch my breath.
“Who the hell was he?” I asked quietly to myself. “Well at least I lost him.” Sighing with relief I looked down at my hand again and put the glove back on so that it covered the mark.
“And what do we have here?” A wispy voice came from behind me. I spun and found myself face to face with a tall man in dark clothing with pitch black skin. “Looks like someone stumbled into the wrong ally way.”
A second voice came from behind and another tall figure appeared. When I say appeared I don’t just mean walked up from behind, I mean exploded into existence in a puff of teal sparks. “It seems so. And she looks familiar too.”
“You’re right; you’re the girl our superiors told us to find. I can’t think that anyone else would have such strange eyes. I’m afraid that you’re going to have to come with us, Nekona Fallowsword.” He lunged for me but I dodged and started to run toward the streets. Out of nowhere the second person appeared in front of me. I skidded to a halt and spun around. Both of the monsters- Well, I assumed they were monsters considering I’d never seen anyone with pure black skin before- were on either side of me, their mouths gaping and their whole bodies jittering. I crouched down and grabbed my dagger out of my boot and held up the blade defensively. The creature deeper in the ally ran for me but I slashed at his chest but he disappeared in a puff of teal smoke after the first injury. I looked at the spot where he disappeared in confusion. Suddenly, I felt something hard jab my back and I jolted around to see the monster right behind me.
What the-?! My surprise quickly turned to annoyance.
How in the Nether did he do that?!
He tried to grab for me again but I stabbed at his chest again. He made a horrible hissing noise and fell onto the ground, disappearing in a puff of black smoke. Small little orbs sprung from the ground where he died and floated toward me, a little bell noise coming from them when they floated over to my feet.
“You little-” I looked back at the other black monster, a smug look on my face. He was staring at me with pure hatred. “You killed my colleague! The Endermen race does not tolerate murderers of their kind!” My smile soon melted. He teleported until he was standing right in front of me and jabbed at my ribs. The breath was taken from my lungs and I fell backward landing on my back. The Enderman stood over me and raised his hand in the beginnings of a punch. I started cutting at his chest with my dagger but he didn’t seem fazed. He knocked the dagger out of my hand and it fell to just out of reach of my left.
“Now, I’m supposed to take you to my master, but he never specified that you had to be alive!” I brought his fist down but before it hit me something strange happened. Under my right glove came a faint reddish glow and my hand shot out and caught his fist mid-swing. In his moment of confusion I grabbed my dagger and slashed his neck open. He fell back and dissipated in a small cloud of black smoke.
I waited a moment for him to reappear but he didn’t. I let out a sigh of relief and started to walk back towards the street, ignoring the quiet echo of cackling behind me.
Walking into my inn room I collapsed on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
“Last night in town,” I sighed and got back up to pack up my bags. I cleaned the monster dust from my dagger and put it back in the bag along with the rest of my supplies other than my sword, my new bow and... Never mind, it’s not important at the moment. I put my bow and sword on the bed and checked the room for anything I might have dropped.
I was about to go to bed considering it was already around ten when a crash came from down stairs followed by loud yelling. Grabbing all my belongings I ran downstairs, sword in hand, ready to make a run for it if necessary. At the middle of the stairs I stopped and crouched to watch what was going down.
About six men in red armor like I saw on the guy from before stood with their weapons level, blocking the entranceway. All of them look much older and aggressive than the boy I met before. Opposite the soldiers was Katy the Bartender and the rest of the Inn staring at the men in a mixture of anger and confusion.
“What do ye want ‘er for?” Katy asked one of the men who was standing a foot or two in front of the rest; I instantly assumed he was the leader.
“I told you already,” Said the leader guy. “She’s a thief and has been stealing from our troops for months.”
“Then good for her! No one gives a bats rear about the welfare of your damn army of monsters. Besides, she’s just a kid you can’t take her.” I gained a little more respect for Katy.
“Ma’am, she is a wanted criminal. The metal-eyed girl must come with us!”
A shiver ran down my back.
No! How did they- that gravel-brained guy that bought me the bow! He must’ve seen me go into the inn. I looked back at the mercenaries and found a pair of blue-green eyes looking back at me. I let out a gasp. It was the same boy from before looking at me with smug amusement in his eyes and a smirk on his face.
“Sir,” He called to the leader who was still arguing with Katy. He pointed to where I was hiding and the leader turned towards me.
“Well, well, well, looks like we found our prize.” He turned to two of the soldiers next to him. “Seize her. But try not to hurt her.”
The two men ran over to me but I was ready. When they were two feet from me I leaped over them and unsheathed my sword, spinning and hitting them both with the flat of the blade. They hit the wall and I ran over to the rest of them as the people of the inn exploded onto the soldiers, overcoming them with fists and mugs of ale. I hit the first solder I came to in the head with my sword hilt and he crumpled to the ground. After that everything was a blur; I didn’t think about my movements or paid attention to my injuries, my only focus was to defeat them.
Over the yelling of the battle I heard a shrill scream and turned to see the leader of the soldiers with a knife at a small girl’s neck. In that moment something barreled into me from behind, knocking me to the floor. I felt hands grab my shoulders and heave me to my feet. I struggled against their grip trying to break free.
“I wouldn’t struggle if I were you.” He pressed the blade under the child’s neck. A thin trail of blood trickled down her neck and she let out a cry of terror.
“Stop it!” I cried. “You’re hurting her!” I noticed that the fighting had died down and that everyone was looking at me.
“D-don’t hurt her,” I said shakily. “I… I’ll go with you just don’t harm anyone else in the town.”
The leader grunted and a smug look crossed his face. He sheathed the knife and pushed the girl away from him. She stumbled over to a woman and buried her face in her skirt. The two guys holding me grabbed some rope and started to tie my hands together behind my back. They took my bag, sword and bow from me and started pushing me out the door. I glanced back at the crowd still gathered in the inn, mixes of shock, terror, and anger rippling throughout them. I saw Katy glaring at the soldiers with her frying pan still raised like she was going to clobber them. But she didn’t which I was thankful for; it might start up the fighting again and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
We walked out of town without disturbance. All of the people still in the streets parted to let the group pass. Even the town guards didn’t try to stop them and help me. They all just stood and watched.
We made it out of town and I gasped. In front of me was a smallish campsite, with a few beige tents and a central fire pit. I saw about another dozen soldiers all wearing the same maroon armor of the ones around me. But that’s not what scared me. What scared me was the large dark orange tent in near the middle. Even from here I knew what it contained: All the supplies and provisions for the entire monster- and now human- army.
I had reached the main cargo transporting group, the place where I could cut short the entire Dark Empire.
