Miles
Flight of the Nightingale (Updated 05/05/2015)
Miles
Re: Flight of the Nightingale
Chapter One - Naevaer
The snapping of dry branches and the rustling of dead leaves signaled the remaining wildlife of intruders with a heavy step. The snapping quickly turned into trampling as the two men struggled to maintain control of their horses. Both of them equipped with a leather cuirass and an iron sword. However, one of the two swords was embedded with a red gem in the pommel of the sword.
“Calm yourselves! Lieutenant, why does this have to happen at the worst possible time?”
A gentle breeze swayed through the forest and the rustling of autumn leaves naturally followed. This was a song that could only be heard within the natural state of nature. The horses suddenly ignited into a terrible panic and during its attempt to escape tossed aside both riders. The horses quickly fled and were swallowed up into the darkness of the thick forest foliage.
“It seems that a demon has struck fear into our noble stallions” the lieutenant whispered as he instinctively gripped the hilt of his blade.
“Did you see that?” The man quickly pointed ahead of him with his sword drawn. Both of his hands nervously shaking as the fear began to overcome his wits.
Subtle rustling from the darkness of the forest pervaded the air. It stopped as suddenly as it had started within the span of a minute. A dark figured dashed from between the shadows and trees as he began his descent.
“Steady. . .” the lieutenant replied as he unsheathed his sword slowly, fearing that any sudden movements would awaken whatever beast lurked in the shadows. They had defensively turned their backs to each other and began circling towards a clearing in the woods.
“I’m not going to die to some forest demon. I’ll kill this forest demon for you lieutenant” the man hastily charged into the foliage with his sword raised and let out a blood curdling cry piercing the suffocating silence. “HAHA it’s just a rabbit lieutenant! Looks like I found our next meal.”
“Get back here, that’s a direct order! There is something evil at work in these woods.”
The man stumbled out of the foliage with a plump rabbit in one hand and the other pressed against his neck. As he made his slow approach to the lieutenant, he collapsed onto the blanket of dead leaves and broken branches, coughing up copious amounts of blood. He laid there face-down into the earth coughing blood, until he drowned in the scarlet liquid that once gave him life.
The lieutenant was unable to move, his eyes fixated on the pool of blood accumulating on the forest floor and his body became increasingly numb with fear. He was paralyzed, unable to raise his sword in self defense if the need had risen. The subtle rustling was growing louder and louder with every passing second that the lieutenant was frozen in fear.
The snap of a branch sent the lieutenant frantically running towards the clearing, hoping to escape death. However, the shine of the red gem had made him an easy prey to track. In his state of panic the lieutenant had lost his wits, the only thing that concerned him was the need to survive. With no attention to the terrain, he tripped and lost consciousness.
The lieutenant regained consciousness shortly after a few minutes had passed. His entire body had given into fatigue as he dragged himself towards a nearby tree to rest. The leather cuirass was scratched all over, and his arms were covered in cuts resulting from pushing aside branches and debris in his desperate attempt to escape. After his self-examination, the lieutenant’s gaze wandered to random shadows that manifested in the forest.
A sudden rustle of the leaves caused him to grasp his sword. A whistling noise breached the silence and was replaced with the distinct sound of flesh being penetrated; blood was running down the lieutenant’s sword arm. It had happened so swiftly that he had no real reaction until the pain violently shook the entirety of his body. As his gazed returned to the forest foliage surrounding him, he witnessed a hooded man emerge from the shadows. With the hooded man slowly approaching him, the lieutenant struggled to grasp his sword with the other arm.
Anticipating the reaction from the lieutenant, the hooded man vaulted another dagger into the incapacitated man’s second arm. The penetrating sound of metal against flesh could be heard once again, trailed by a screeching cry of pain. The lieutenant battered and bloodied, resigned to death. The last sight he would grasp before death overcame him was his assailant lowering his hood to reveal his sharp, violet coloured irises.
Recovering his daggers and cleaning them on the pant leg of the deceased man he whispered a hushed prayer “Naevaer”.
Re: Flight of the Nightingale
Interesting start, looking forward too more.
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Miles
Miles
Re: Flight of the Nightingale
Chapter Two - Treachery
Cassiel’s mind kept replaying the same words over and over again.
“The North is strong, and my loyalty fulfilled. Accept me as I stand by the hearth that awaits me in the great halls of the North. Summer-Wind shall be no more.”
He had tracked those two suspicious men after numerous reports of bandits pillaging and harassing folk on the unguarded trade routes. The whole continent had become rife with bandits because of the chaos that was spreading from the Northern reaches of Valera. The two men he had trailed were professionally armed and militarily trained. Besides being loud, and lacking the proper knowledge to traverse a forest, Cassiel thought these two peculiar. Fearing that the affliction of bandits had seen an influx of disbanded and deserted military units he shadowed their movements. Cassiel monitored their activities until they had reached a small pond in the depths of the rustic forest. The two men spent more than twenty or so odd minutes probing every nook and rock that they could lay their grubby hands on until one of the two had found a parchment bearing an unidentifiable seal.
The parchment which Cassiel would obtain after he had summarily disposed of the two men would cause all life to drain from his face as he read the message transcribed within.
His breathing quick and shallow as his diaphragm struggled to force air in and out of his lungs. Completely sapped of energy, yet his body continued to push itself through the exhaustion. His legs refused to stop, there would be no rest until he had reached the gates of Summer-Wind. The eerie silence of night was supplemented with Cassiel’s need to nourish himself with the cool autumn air. Otherwise, Cassiel’s movements were agile, efficient, and silent. Lunging forward like a shadow in the night, he appeared here and then disappeared only to appear once again.
Cassiel’s violet eyes continually scoured his surroundings as he traversed through the dishevelled forest under the cover of night. By moonlight he navigated his way through the ancient forest burdened with solemn thoughts of darkness. Emotion had been the downfall of many a great men and Cassiel was no stranger to this testament. Weakness was unacceptable, and all flaws would be concealed within a technique he had perfected in his years at Summer-Wind. However on this frosty night, Cassiel's wits were scattered and his emotions ran wild within his entire being, no technique could contain the fear that plagued his thoughts.
The autumn scent of the forest was rapidly violated with whiffs of smoke as Cassiel neared the ending of the forest. Instinctively drawing his hood down as he reached the clearing of the forest his gaze hunted for Summer-Wind. Cassiel stood petrified as a great inferno illuminated the dense darkness of night.
Re: Flight of the Nightingale
Good start. Maybe I got this all wrong but is the second chapter the same as the first, but from the opposite point of view?
[CW] Zero Kelvin [in progress]
[MTW2 SS] Weder heilig noch Römisch [on a ridiculously long hiatus]
[RTW RS] My dearest Clymene [a single-chapter commemoration]
[RTW RS] The enemy of my enemy [suspended]
[MTW2 SS] Snakes in the sands [suspended]
[MTW2 SS] Omnes viae Romam ducunt [suspended]
Miles
Re: Flight of the Nightingale
Great start, in the first chapter I thought the rabbit was going to kill theme ala Monty Python's the Holy Grail. Can't wait to see more and this Cassiel guy seems pretty cool.
Frothy Goodness
Re: Flight of the Nightingale (Updated 02/05/2015)
I like your writing and look forward to more. I'm intrigued by the way that your story is using demons. I wonder if you are basing them on a particular real-world or fictional mythology (for example, Hitai's Yokai uses Japanese myths about demons) or if you are inventing your own mythology.
Miles
Re: Flight of the Nightingale (Updated 02/05/2015)
Chapter Three - Into the Inferno
Cassiel had regained his wits after the petrifying sight of Summer-Wind had overwhelmed him earlier. The sight had awakened adrenaline within his weary body, energy now surged throughout his blood. Through the dense smoke and heavy fumes of the flames he headed for the sanctuary. Stopping by an overturned wagon Cassiel stopped to regain his composure and evaluate the situation calmly. He had only blinked when he had heard a scream in the near distance.
“Please… just take anything you want. Leave us alone!”
“I don’t want any of your stinking possessions, just get to the market square and shut up”
“Please… just let us go, aren’t you human? Let the children go at least!”
“I said shut up and move before I get rid of them legs for you before you even reach the gate”
Cassiel dashed into cover of a nearby shed to see 3 heavily armed men equipped with spear, shield and sword shoving a family in the direction of Summer-Wind. His eyes scanned the perimeter for any other hostile forces besides the three he had counted. With the blazing fire consuming everything the human eye could see, it would be impossible to see anything beyond a dozen footsteps. But there in the flickering fires, a silhouette of a person could be seen looting inside the house.
The soldier remerged from the building with his mouth stuffed and bread in hand.
“Wait up for me, these stinking peasants don’t have anything worth taking, just some measly bread and scraps of veal.”
The three manned squad escorting the family was far beyond earshot of the straggler and continued on harassing and shoving the family towards Summer-Wind. Cassiel took the opportunity to trail behind the isolated soldier silently navigating from shadow to shadow. The soldier had been preoccupied stuffing his face with the remainder of the food he had looted that he didn’t notice that his squadron had left him trailing behind.
Cassiel lobbed two daggers aimed precisely into the back of the man’s kneecap, one for each leg. The daggers met no resistance as it tore into the soldier flesh, his cries of pain consumed by the raging inferno around him. This would incapacitate the soldier effectively avoiding all of his armour. Cassiel knew that armour was only as useful as its weakest point, and its weakest point being that it can’t possibly protect every valuable limb, especially from behind.
The soldier affixed face first on the ground squealed in agony as bits of food flew out every time he attempted a sob. The lone solider would die, the way he had lived. Cassiel crept towards the man after he had full knowledge that no one had heard his plea for help. Pulling aside his hood and upon revealing his violet eyes, the soldier grew silent. Cassiel grasped the grip of his sword without hesitation, drawing it halfway out of the sheath before dropping it into its resting position once more. Cassiel had other intentions as he reached for a burnt log underneath the smoldering ashes and smashed the soldiers hand as the soldier stared in utter fear.
“What have I done to deserve this?”
The soldier cried in pain, attempting to turn his unresponsive body to reach for his weapon.
Cassiel replied coldly as he positioned the log for the next point of impact on the soldier’s body.
“Why are you here? Why do you want to see Summer-Wind razed to the ground?”
“I have been nothing but loyal to the emperor and he pays me back by sending a man from the Imperial Auk division to kill me.”
Cassiel’s attempt to recover more intelligence only resulted in more questions for himself: Who was the emperor and what was the Imperial Auk Division?
The soldier shivered violently and lashed his arms forward in an attempt to grab his violet eyed assailant. Cassiel parried the attack with the log and drove it into the soldier’s skull with a fierce thrust. The log snapped as it had struck its target, rendering the man lifeless instantly. Cassiel recovered his scarlet daggers from the deceased man whispering “Naevaer” in the process.
Wiping off the blood from his weapons, he rolled the man onto his back in an effort to obtain more intelligence. Unlike the two men he had executed in the forest, this soldier was heavily equipped from head to toe for war. Fear slowly crept into Cassiel’s mind as he observed the same unidentifiable insignia imprinted on the soldier’s neck. The illumination of the fire also revealed the colour of the metal cuirass and other armoured parts; it was a distinctive shade of blood red.
Re: Flight of the Nightingale (Updated 05/05/2015)
More mysterious killing by our protagonist. I don't quite know what Summer-Wind is though, I think I missed something...
Miles
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Originally Posted by SanyuXV
