This prologue from the book I started will give you some idea as to who my main character is and even give a small insight into the world I am trying to build.
Many of the short stories that will follow this prologue are set in this same world and hopefully this early piece will help you to understand a little more about the setting.
Thank you for reading. I hope you will continue to read (and hopefully enjoy) each new adventure as I write them!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Silentil...
Prologue: Let it Rain
All was lost.
Niiko was hunched over on her hands and knees in the hot sand, exhausted from battle, her fiery red hair now darkened with sweat as it clung to her face.
The hordes of the Reaper’s men were falling upon her as the final chapter of their siege on the desert city of Dawn began, her final defence had been broken.
She was broken.
It’s over, she thought, I have failed.
“My dear Niiko,” the Reaper swept into view as his horde began to encircle Niiko, his voice a booming mixture of charm and venom.
The Reaper was a tall figure, his body covered with gleaming silver armour, intricate runes carved along every inch of the chrome. His face was covered by a skull-shaped mask that curled around his head, the ivory weaved out into sharp curves at the sides, his long white hair slicked back behind it and poured down the back of his armour.
“A fighter to the last, you always were quick to violence,” he continued, staring down at her as he broke through the ranks of his men.
Not always, Niiko thought.
“Your fight is over, surrender to me now and I shall make your death a swift one. Well, slightly swifter than it will be if you don’t give in.” The Reaper stopped several feet from Niiko as he hissed his warning, his shadow looming over her in the light of the rising sun.
If you can’t do it, then I will, the voice inside her spat.
Niiko shuddered violently, her back arching as her hands gripped at the sand in vain. Another shudder caused the men and beasts around her to step backward, shooting confused looks all about them. The Reaper held his palms out to either side in a calming gesture, his gaze fixed on Niiko’s shuddering form before him.
It’s no use fighting, Niiko. Your feeble human weakness cannot hold me back. Niiko’s eyes widened as she realised the voice was right, she let out a scream and pitched back on her knees, her arms limp at her sides as her head lolled back.
“Niiko, your cheap tricks will not save you.” The Reaper began walking toward her, his voice assuredly calm, “you will die here. And you will not die slow, your screams will be a warning to those of Dawn City. A warning that will echo across the world.”
Your time is over, Niiko. I am here, it is time for the Crimson Rain to fall.
Niiko could fight no longer, her strength was gone.
She broke out into a laugh, her limp form still arched back on her knees. A demonic, guttural laugh that shook her body, a laugh that had struck fear into the hearts of many before.
A laugh that struck fear into the hearts of those surrounding her now, despite the overwhelming odds of several thousand to her one.
Unfazed, the Reaper stepped forward and unsheathed his sword, a curved blade several inches wide and a metre in length. A blood red blade that was said to have come from the Other Side, from the realm of demons, from where the Reaper himself was said to have been forged.
“I cannot be killed by anything of this world, Niiko. You should know that more than anyone else. You tried once before and, as you see, you failed,” the Reaper whispered as he leaned in, seizing her by the throat and hauling her up into the air.
Her head snapped forward, her eyes had filled with blood and rage. Her body shuddered one more time and her limbs stretched outward, the air around her pulsing outward in a shock wave that pushed the Reaper backward, releasing his grip.
“I am not of this world, Reaper,” the deep, rasping voice breathed as she landed, her legs apart and one hand holding her up, her eyes now fixed on the figure before her.
She rose slowly and took up her swords from the sand, two short blades still stained with the blood of Niiko’s fallen enemies and specked with grit and dirt.
“Come to me, mortals and immortals alike. Come to me and let me release you from this world!” The Crimson Rain had control of Niiko now, she was comatose somewhere inside.
The Reaper’s brilliant blue eyes were wide with fear and recognition through the slits in his mask as he stepped back, the guttural laughter rattling in his ears once more. He shrank back into his ranks, screaming at them to attack as he retreated.
The men began moving slowly toward The Crimson Rain, their swords and axes shaking in their hands as they inched ever closer to the fight.
“Come to me,” she laughed, stepping onto her back foot and adopting an attack posture, one blade pointed forward and the other toward the darkening clouds gathering in the sky.
“Let it rain!” she roared and leaped forward, unleashing a furious howl…
No comments:
Post a Comment