Butterfly Dark

Prologue

Darkness covered the surface, as the fog erupted from cracks in the ground. The creatures of hell ran free, breaking the spirits of the people who cowered in caves and what used to be buildings. The people who still walked the plains were thieves, killers, criminals. Purity and love were no longer attributes of humanity, and hope was a work of fiction. Amidst the darkness, one light shown brightly, mapping out what used to be Las Vegas.

Shadows followed the light, skittering along the jagged ground, reaching up to devour it. The shadows longed for one thing, total darkness, a blackout that would consume existence and destroy the last signs of life. Dark, clawed hands stretched out, ready to kill the light, kill the last hope.

"Aaahhh!" A small voice yelled out, a silver blade striking the shadows, delivering a flash of light as metal hit darkness. The shadows let out a low growl, creeping back into the ground.

"It's ok, the shadows are gone now."

The light flew around a small figure, and landed on its arm, showing the figures face.

"It's ok little butterfly." She said, blood seeping from a deep cut on her face. Elia was a rare breed in the world of hate, purity ran through her veins and chaos had not broken the young orphan. The butterfly had raised her since age six, and she now protected the small light.

"We have to move, the sun is setting, and the shadows are raging tonight"

The butterfly sat on her hand, and spoke to her mind, emitting messages to the girl.

<LAS VEGAS IS CRAWLING WITH REAPERS AND LUNGERS TONIGHT, THE SHADOWS ARE THE LEAST OF OUR WORRIES CHILD>

Elia looked at the butterfly, then let it fly around her. She grabbed her blade with her right hand, and held it high. Light rose the edges, and power ran down to the hand gaurd.

She ran, with the light behind her, heading towards the ruins of the city. Buildings lay on there sides, and decayed bodies scattered the ground. Everywhere she went, each new city, it was all the same. Death, hopeless, pain. She knew the world couldn't get any worse, but she also knew there was a small chance of it getting better.

She knew this was no kids story, but there would be no magical sword, no special item, no time reversing redo. Hell had seeped into earth, and heavens gates were shut tightly. The sun had long since gone red, with a dreary light during the day, and at night the shadows roamed free. Small spirits of light walked the earth, but father had told her stories as a young girl, the stories of contractors to the light, who had been killed off years before she was born.

Silence haunted every step as she grew closer to the city entrance, looking hastily for a place she could make home for the night, as she was a long way from her last underground cavern. She was scared, but she held tight to her blade, this wasn't her first night out alone. Every night she was alone, alone with the small light, and every night she feared for her life.

"We can do this, we have to know for sure, the city is a scary place, but we have to know." Elia panted, keeping up pace, knowing her reasoning for entering Las Vegas would be found upon first red light. The only reason anyone came to this city anymore, the center of the ruins, thats what she was after.

In the distance, she heard a single sound break the silence that followed, it was a dark, repeating voice.

"The end of your life is near, neal before the hell spawn in fear. You can tell me what's the matter, before I turn you to blood splatter."

The voice repeated the lines, over and over, seeming to come from all directions. Elia knew the source, but not the location. It was the taunt of a Lunger, a dark demon of illusion. No one knew what they truly looked like, for if you got close enough to see thier true nature, thier true body, you were already torn apart.