Rise of Lamentation

Chapter 2 - The End

"Hello?"

He said as he looked up to see who was at the door, and he was momentarily surprised by what he saw. He saw two men dressed in armor, steel from the looks of it, with swords at their sides. One of the men looked pretty normal, he wasn't that tall or that buff, he looked like your average joe, the other man, however, was massive.

Eleazar was tall for his age, he stood at around 5'4 and he was only 13 years old, yet this man looked like a mountain before him, Eleazar quite literally had to look up just to see his face. He also had a rather large frame, with muscles that could barely be contained by his armor, if he didn't look completely human, Eleazar would've doubted that he was.

"Is-"

Snapping back into focus by the voice of the shorter man, Eleazar didn't give the man time to speak, and instead just closed the door. He turned and ran to call the Matron. Eleazar wasn't stupid, these guys had armor, and from the crest he noticed on their chest plate, they most likely belonged to some noble family. He may be old in his mind, but he wasn't going to be responsible enough to deal with something like this.

Was slamming the door in the face of two armed men a wise choice, no, was Eleazar thinking about this fact when he did that, also no. He was really just in a daze at the size of that man. Anyways, he quickly rushed to where the Matron would commonly be around this time, the backroom sorting out the smaller children that couldn't help around the place.

He was there in a matter of minutes, maybe even less because of how fast he moved, bursting into the room in the most, quiet, way possible he drew the attention of the Matron who was aware of his task today and didn't expect for him to visit so suddenly. In fact, most of the other kids weren't allowed in here because they might accidentally injure the young children, even if they didn't mean to, she only allowed some of the older kids that were helpful and she trusted to be safe, to do so. Eleazar was one of them.

"What's the matter Elea? Don't you have to sweep the halls today?"

The Matron asked with a soft voice as she laid the young child in her hand onto the child's bed, making sure to not wake up the child that had just fallen asleep. Once this was done, she walked over to Eleazar to listen to him.

"Um, there are two armed men at the door?"

Eleazar replied to the Matron's question with a bit of hesitance because he knew he shouldn't have been opening the door, so he was not only a bit worried about that but also about the men in general. His tone was questioning, as if unsure, because he wasn't sure why theey were here, or what they wanted.

"Is that so? Ok, run along now, go and help some of the other kids that haven't finished their tasks yet."

The Matron was surprised at first with the thought that armed men were at the door of the orphanage, Eleazar could tell this from the momentarily raised eyebrow and concerned look that flashed on her face, but she quickly hid it with a smile and sent Eleazar on is way as not to worry him.

"Yes, Matron."

Eleazar replied quickly and then ran out of the room, he ran down the hallway, heading towards the back to help the other kids, but then he suddenly stopped and turned around, looking at the back of the Matron as she exited the room and made her way towards the doorway, to speak to the men. He really wanted to do what the Matron said and just go help the kids, it was after all how he was raised. But, something that overpowered this sense of responsibility, was curiosity, he really wanted to know what the men wanted.

After a bit of hesitating, he made up his mind and turned around, quickly following after the Matron, keeping a distance so she wouldn't notice him. He knew that if he got caught he might get in a bit of trouble, so he needed to be as hidden as he could be.

When the Matron had reached the door and was about to open it, he had reached a room that was near the entrance, hiding just inside the room, and listening as best as he could to hear what they were saying.

"Hello there, how may i help you today Sir?"

The Matron was the first to speak, she was also surprised by how tall one of the men was, but she was much more used to talking with others, so she didn't daze, and instead greeted them with a question. The shorter man was the one to speak first, he was clearly the more talkative of the pair it seems.

"Of course, we are looking for someone, I'm sure you can help us. We were sent by the Zaleska family to pick up their heir who got dropped here a few years ago."

What. That was the first thought that entered the head of Eleazar, utterly stunned that they were in fact here for him, not only that, they were apparently sent here by his family to come and collect him, didn't that mean he could finally meet his parents, his actual family. No, he can't get too excited yet, he saw the crest on their armor, it wasn't the crest that was stamped on the note that he was left with as a child. They could be lying, he hoped that they were lying.

It's not that he didn't want to meet his family, in fact, he wanted that more than anything else. But the idea that his family, his parents, sent two knights to collect him without even coming themselves, he didn't like that idea. It was as if they could get rid of him and then pick him back up whenever he wanted like he was nothing.

"I see, do you perhaps have proof of this? I'm sorry to say, but i can't simply hand to you one of my children without any proof that you are who you are, plus there is a whole procedure to go through."

The Matron replied in her usual calm voice, however, Eleazar could tell it was laced with confusion and worry, but he wasn't sure what the worry was for exactly. Just as he was peeking out from the corner and listening, what he saw next froze him instantly.

"So he is here, good to know. Thank you for the help, you're no longer needed."

The short man spoke once more, his hand grabbing the hilt of the sword that was decorating his waist, and before the Matron could even react, he withdrew it and stabbed it into the Matron. There was a pause, it felt like time had stopped, Eleazar didn't even know how long he stood like that, frozen as he stared at the sword piercing through the Matron's chest, the woman that rose him for his entire life. The blood that gushed out was so red, he didn't even realize how red blood truly was until he saw it just now.

Time seemingly resumed when he heard the Matron's previously calm voice, screamed out in pain, and anguished. It was not a tone he was used to hearing from her, he was so used to her, sweet, calm voice, that he couldn't even tell this was her if he wasn't staring at the scene that is.

His feet moved before his thought did, he didn't even notice what he was doing, and then he was running towards the falling Matron, dropping to the ground to help her, his eyes starting to fill with liquid, tears, dripping down his cheeks.

"Ah, the mice that was listening in, well, this makes it easier."

The voice of the short man caused Eleazar to look up at the two of them, his eyes filled with fear, terror, anger, and sadness, his emotions simply bubbled to the top unhinged, but before he could even do anything about it, the same blood tinted sword that killed his Matron, stabbed through his chest.

"How annoying, let's just kill the rest of them and get this over with."

Was the last thing he heard from the taller man, as his vision drifted into darkness, his mind slowly shutting down, his body falling into his own blood. Blood that mixed with that of the Matron, to create a pool of mess.