Nyctophobia - 12 The Kingdom Of Golden Knives

30th March 1066 II: The Border City of Merva

“Hey! The supplies in yet?” Called a soldier form the walls down to a group of soldiers passing by on patrol below. They looked up to him an shouted “No not yet! Should come tomorrow morning!” He waved in gratitude and then resumed his watch of the marshlands past the wall he was stationed. He found his job relatively easy due to the low chance of an actual invasion or a powerful monster. In fact, the elves had seen now activity from chaos so they had little to worry about a psychotic God. Instead, they focused inwards although their border defence was somewhat lacking thanks to the massive marshlands that separated them from Erendale which would prove a valuable asset if there ever was an invasion. The soldier stood at the ready as the sun dawned in the horizon. He turned to his comrade to his side “This job can be really slow.”

“But the pay’s good.” The soldier chuckled in amusement and looked back over the wall but this time he noticed something in the encroaching darkness. A figure. It was small. In fact, it was childlike but one thing convinced him otherwise; It’s eyes. They burned a deep red. Not of madness or hatred but of hunger. A terrifying hunger that made him ring the alarm bell. “What’s going on?!” His commander rushed over and immediately he noticed hit too. Yet no matter how long they stared. It stood still. Not moving a single step. Until finally it disappeared under the dead of night. “What was that?” The commander asked the soldier. “I don’t know.”

“I think we may have to send out a few squads just in case that thing does attack.” The commander said before rushing off to notify the city warden of the strange figure they had seen. Upon hearing what they had seen, the warden sent out a squad of four soldiers on horseback who were to hunt down and kill the creature before nightfall.

“What’s going on?” Asked a woman to a bartender in a semi-outdoor bar as she watched the soldiers rush out of the gates. He responded “Probably a monster. Might just be undead again. They’ll be back in an hour.” He then went to serve another customer upon their call.

The soldiers road out into the marshlands keeping a careful eye on the darkened marshland around them. Looking for anything remotely similar to the description they were given. Just as they were about to head back one of the soldiers said “I see it! Over there!” He pointed to the distance where a childlike figure stood with the same red eyes described by the warden. So they rode towards it confidently with their weapons at the ready when all of a sudden their horses all fell to the floor disorientating the group for a few seconds.

“Is everyone alright!?” Called out one of the soldiers as he stood up. He looked around for his horse but found no sign of it as if it was never with him at all. He noticed the other getting up also in the distance and began to jog towards them struggling against the sticky trap that caught his feet every time he moved.But as he got closer and closer. He noticed their shapes where changing. They were becoming taller. More menacing until finally he realised they were not his comrades and turned a 180 but just then the creatures began to charge towards him. In a panic, he swung his blade at the creatures but was surprised when his blade fazed through the creatures but his bewilderment was quickly replace by fear as the creatures were upon him and tearing him to shreds. One of the creatures pulled a stone from his chest and absorbed it into its body before it dissipated into the night. Leaving only the soldiers torn body as they were slowly pulled into the marsh by many child sized hands consisting of darkness.

3 hours passed since the soldiers had left to deal with the monster and with no sign of their return many became concerned. Until finally, one soldier did return. Covered in blood and sweating from running. His horse and the other soldiers were nowhere to be seen and his sword was snapped in half. He collapsed into the arms of the soldiers sent out to retrieve him before he could tell his story. He was dead.

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31st March 1066 II: The Border City of Merva

Nothing had happened for the rest of the night but the people who knew some of what had happened began to spread rumours of supposition and fear as stories of the figure in the distance that claimed the lives of a group of soldiers spread through those who lived in the city. A group of soldiers were patrolling the sewers of the city looking out for any monsters that had snuck their way into the sewers or even bandits. They were joking around and discussing their upcoming bonus when something caught their attention. A figure at the other end of the tunnel. It was childlike and resembled a small girl but contrary to the story that had been spreading around the city their eyes did not glow red in fact there were no glowing eyes at all. So they approached the girl thinking that she had been kidnapped or was lost and just as the light was to touch her. Her eyes opened revealing the deep red they tried to avoid. They turned to run but found themselves surrounded by freakishly tall creatures made of shadows that pounced upon them tearing them apart as the soldiers tried to hit them with their weapons and despairing when their weapons feed through them leaving now damage. They were overwhelmed and soon not a trace of them was left behind.

By the end of the day, the cities guard gathered for a head count and the missing individuals was taken into account and search parties were assembled to search their patrol route for any signs of them. They did in fact find signs of them. In the form of dried blood spatter that coated a section of one of the tunnels. After this discovery, the rumours ran wild with many believing the creature to be living within the city’s sewer only to emerge at night.

Night came once again and coated the wary city in an ominous black. The night stirred as Nox prepared her next attack.

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1st April 1066 II: The Border City of Merva

That morning people awoke to 20 missing peoples; this time however, their bodies were found torn to shreds to far from where they was last seen. This lead to people believing that perhaps someone was committing murder and using the rumour as a cover up due to the common case of the victim disappearing entirely except for the blood where they were taken. So investigations began and many suspects were labeled despite the lack of proof and so they were jailed for interrogation. The city continued on warily through the day as the night encroached upon them threatening them with more death.