Camlann: The Lost Heir NaNoWriMo2022

NANOWRIMO PROLOGUE: THE STRANGER

A.N. So officially everything from here on out is what I wrote for NaNoWriMo. Enjoy! I appreciate feedback and constructive criticism.
PEARLKEEP
TWO MONTHS AGO

LEONORA

It was on the day that they carted the last mage away that the stranger came. At first, nothing about him seemed amiss. He came through the harbor and had seemed friendly enough, though Leonora had distrusted him from the start. Despite his beauty, there was something grotesque about his coal-black eyes against pale white skin. And yet he seemed harmless enough. He had been tall but lanky and seemed to be no older than five and twenty. His story was that he was coming from Telephia to claim land deep in the cold lands he had inherited from the cold lands. Never mind that not many humans lived there, he spent enough gold in the marketplace and tavern that no one thought to ask questions. Leonora noticed the way he eyed the townspeople with a hungry gleam.

It would not be until his last day in town that she realized her feelings would be warranted. It had in his early days in town, crossed her mind to express her instincts about him. Yet she suppressed them, lest her own secrets be revealed. The people of Pearlkeep had not realized the scope of having mages in town until the fog came in over the ocean. That last day had started out normal, the sun bright in the sky, the sound of the marketplace in full bustle a symphony blended with the sounds of children playing. It was not until midday when the fog began to drift in not off of the ocean but from the dark forest that Leonora knew something was terribly wrong. By evening time the fog was so thick that all of the townspeople retired indoors early. The town was eerily quiet without the taverns open and in full swing. It was at midnight it began. By then Leonora had drifted off into sleep.

It was the sound of laughter that woke her. It was gleeful, soft, the sound of a young girl child. Yet something about it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. The laughter stopped, and there was a sound of a thwack, and then blood-curling screams. The laughter began again, stopping with each thwack and then beginning again. The screams never stopped. And although she knew whatever evil was occurring was occurring in another house, the screams sounded as if they were in the same room as her.

She went to leave her house, to find the source and found that she could not leave. It was as if there was an invisible barrier keeping her in. She could hear shouts, of people, men mostly who too heard the screams, who also found they could not leave their homes. It went on for hours and then suddenly nothing. It was silent, the fog still cloaked the town, and still, she found she could not leave her home.

The next day, the fog lifted and the people in the town found that they once more could leave their homes. Leonora thought perhaps she had just imagined the screaming. However, as she made her way to the marketplace all the others had expressions of unease. She had just finished shopping for the day when she heard screaming. This time nearby, and without thought, she ran in that direction. Outside of the house, she saw the Ori baker's wife on the ground in front of the house. The Ori's face was contorted in horror. Leonora walked towards the house slowly. Ori's screams began attracting a crowd. As she stepped inside the house she froze. Blood was everywhere in splatters across the wall and ceiling. A sick feeling settled into the pit of her stomach and she did not hear the owner of the tavern come behind him. Did not hear him curse before pulling her out of the house. Later she would not even be able to recall how she had made it back to the inn, her home. All she knew was that she would never be able to forget the sight that she saw, for as long as she would live.

It would be hours before the people in the town would even begin to suspect that the stranger was behind it. When they did, they would find that he was long gone, only a single note left behind. "This is only the beginning." The next full moon, it happened again.