This Story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright (c) 2024 by Yshomatsu
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this story or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. The following is meant for Adults only, if you are under the age of 18 leave now.
~*~ Chapter One ~*~
An exhausted brown war horse with armored plates charged for the southern jungles. Miles of grassy planes stretched out in all directions. Foam had begun to form at its mouth as the noble animal pressed on. Trained for war, the animal would never stop, unless its heart gave out first. The veteran warrior upon its back named Vince struggled to stay awake. His heart also pounded hard, however, caused by a completely different reason. For the man had barely made it out alive. A creature that should not have existed had hunted his group down, eliminating them one by one.
Vince had served the Horadric Legion proudly for well over sixteen years. Their army had never known defeat. Until recently... unnatural forces spawned on the battlefield overwhelmed them. Many good men fell that day to an unfathomable, green fog. Vince and three others had been ordered to retreat. Tasked with a desperate mission to get reinforcements. Their General had to know it was already over when he ordered the last four riders to get away. A true hero in all meaning of the word; sacrificing himself to allow his surviving men time to escape.
The four men fled with fear and regret. They were riding without rest for days when a storm began to form overhead. Powerful winds forced the party to seek shelter that night. Unbeknownst to them, the unnatural demonic force had followed them. Only Vince survived the events that unfolded that horrific night. The veteran once again fled without rest; fearing that the demon still followed him.
The violent storm never dissipated. The strong winds threatened to throw Vince from his horse. The noble steed that had once belonged to a young soldier named Tommy--Vince didn't know the animal's name, but he could hear the painful gasps for breath. The poor animal had truly been through a lot the past several days.
Large trees formed on the horizon like a painted canvas. On any other day the man would have admired that beautiful sight. Desperation prevented such emotions from baring fruit, however. He felt a wave of remorse as he kicked the noble steed for a boost of speed. One thought kept repeating in his mind. 'Make it into the tree line to hide and rest, just a little further.'
"Only a bit further, you can make it boy." Vince called out after leaning forward; lightly patting the animal's neck as it protested verbally. Regardless of the neighing in way of response the animal pressed on, all the harder. Truth be told, the veteran was frightened to look back. A cold shiver ran up his spine at the mere thought of seeing the demonic seductress flying after him.
Suddenly the horse halted, panting, wheezing for air. Vince's body jerked forward. Almost tumbling over the animal's head. It had finally pushed itself too far as its strong legs gave out and they fell hard onto the ground. The armored warrior rolled off into the dirt. Only to rise painfully, spitting out a mouthful of earth. They had almost made it to the tree line, now less than a quarter mile away.
Hundreds of trees that grew into all kinds of sizes were just part of the dense vegetation at the jungle's border. Vibrant greens so thick they blocked the view passed, like a giant natural wall. The veteran's people had called these lands home for longer than anyone could recall.
Vince wiped his greasy black hair back out of his dirty face. Patches of gray had formed over the years, making him feel old. The man watched the horse's body spasm painfully; a single tear fell down his filthy face. Vince's steel gray eyes began to water as guilt overwhelmed him. It's not like he had a choice though, they had to escape. If the horse survived, he swore he'd find it a good home to live the rest of its life, in peace.
Thunder roared overhead, interrupting his thoughts. Slowly Vince rose to his feet when the white flashes lighting the area morphed to red. The loud, pounding thunder transformed until it sounded like a raging hell mouth, screaming bloody murder. He looked up in horror as the dark clouds appeared to explode, spitting fire and brimstone. A deep red circular silhouette quickly grew in size. The object burst out of the clouds in a fiery blaze, plummeting towards them.
Vince's eyes opened wide as he threw his body over the horse's head. His body wouldn't provide much protection, but the horse deserved all he could give. The demoness had followed them after all! Fear filled his panicking heart as he thought of death. Having lived his life as a warrior he had always expected to die in battle, with honor... not like this.
The massive ball of fire raced towards the ground with a howling roar. On impact the ground shook violently. Vince swore he heard screaming before he realized the cries were coming from him. Chunks of earth flew out in all directions; spreading fires throughout the valley and jungle, sounds of splintering tree trunks echoed in his ringing ears. The intense heat began to burn his exposed skin as the horse cried out, knocking Vince to the side. The warhorse had found that one pain lessoned another and quickly chose to flee; leaving the armored man to fend for himself.
"Wait!"
Large flames reached up for the sky, burning everything in their reach. Vegetation on the jungle floor melted to ash almost instantaneously. Vince squinted as he covered the rest of his face with his arms. From what he could tell the large object had impacted a few hundred yards within the jungle. He had attempted to run after the horse, but the spreading flames boxed him in. Reduced to panicking the warrior spun around, searching for a way out.
The tight armor he had 'borrowed' from Johnny--Tommy's older brother, another that fled the great battle--began to burn. Its once polished sliver shine, glowed red. Vince stumbled and crawled in desperation, air became hard to breathe. Each breath became a gasping struggle as smoke filled his lungs, causing a coughing fit.
The storm continued raging as lightning sparked along the horizon. The fires had spread out into the jungle before rain started to fall. At first it felt like sharp needles stabbing his burnt flesh, adding to the horrendous pain he already felt. The glowing armor let loose a flurry of steam as the downpour rapidly cooled the metal. But once the sizzling had stopped, he felt the cold wet chill spread throughout his veins.
He watched with relief as the large flames slowly died. Nature it would seem had answered the jungle's painful cries for help. The veteran sat there in the mud baffled. He felt defeated, exhausted, burnt, and now freezing. Almost cooked alive only to freeze to death moments later, what a way to go. A neigh and hoof slamming into the mud behind him caused the warrior to jump. The noble horse came back for him, a smile spread upon his chapped lips. He wiped the filth from his face since the rain loosened it.
Vince didn't hear the animal approach and realized that he had been sitting there shivering for a while. Steam rose off of anything left standing. Massive trunks had been reduced to burnt carcasses of their former glory. The jungle floor had been turned black; its vegetation all but destroyed. Only small patches of the plants remained, appearing like skeletons among the surrounding jungle.
The veteran couldn't quite see how far the damage had spread. But one thing did catch his eye. A massive crater with a large chunk of rock glowing within the soil. All this time he had feared that the demon had descended upon him. Yet he had remained motionless long enough to dispel that theory. The priceless mineral from the sky in front of him caused his mind to overload with thoughts.
