Flame of the Kingdom

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time ... A long time ago ... Well not quite that long ago, like ... Not quite dinosaurs long ago but like ... Long enough to be a long time ago ...

One night on the threshold of an old remote church... Church that belonged to no one... a basket with a baby was left there. No one knew who and why left the child there, but when they brought him into the church, miracle happened. The baby's eyes began to glow like two glowing balls. Blue color was shining all over  the roof of the church and the name Alaric was written on his hand, which also glowed. The nuns gave him that name, but they never told him about what happened. Word spread among the nuns that he was chosen to protect the world from the darkness that was spreading nearby. The dark forces spread at the speed of light. They destroyed the villages that did not want to join them. Despite the fact that they were human, they did not differ much from animals.

Fight between the dark kingdom and the surrounding ones has been going on for decades. Sometimes they manage to reach a compromise and sometimes... Sometimes they themselves destroy the village they were negotiating with...

Two decades later, Alaric grew up in the Church. His life was calm and peaceful. They taught him how to write and how he should talk with people, no one ever told him that he was left on the doorstep of the church as a child. He daily went to the nearby village to bring the food that were not produced in the church. Of course, they had some gardens in the yard. One day , Alaric went to the river to fetch fresh and clear water. He was walking till there with only a wooden bucket in his hand and wearing the most ordinary brown tunic and a belt that held the tunic on him. He slowly approached the river, bent down next to it and felt the freshness. River was transparent ... So clean that he could see the fish in it and even bottom. It didn't even have any depth, so Alaric bent down slightly and put the bucket in the water, and then he heard voices across the water. He couldn't see much of what was happening on the other side of the water, dense forest was beyond, but he tried to hear. He slowly leaned towards the forest and tried to listen and then he heard cries and a scream. Frightened, he threw the bucket and ran back towards the church, but then he saw thick black smoke and the horses belonging to the church running towards him. Terrified, he begin to run towards the church, but then one of the horses jumped out in front of him and he fell to the floor and the horse reared up on its hind legs.

He thought that horse was going to jump on him, but horse calmed down and stood next to him. Alaric slowly stood up and breathlessly watched the church burn as tears were flowing down his face. He got up and patted horse and then he saw some knights on black horses leaving whatever is left out of church. He lightly grabbed the horse's mane and climbed onto it, and then he took another look at the burning and collapsing wooden church...

FLAME OF THE KINGDOM

It had been a few hours since Alaric had been homeless again. He rode slowly through the forest and looked around. He didn't want to end up getting robbed, but then he heard something approaching him. He stopped the horse and looked around in fright, then he saw a man crawling out of the bushes and reaching out his hand towards him and his horse, he fell into the mud, all bloody and with his clothes destroyed. Alaric jumped off his horse and crouched beside him, then lifted his head onto his knee.

Alaric: Uhm ... Are you okay ? *he spoke and then he put his hand on his neck and he didn't feel a pulse, he slowly lowered him to the ground and then he was tempted. He thought about whether to take something from his clothes and then he heard more footsteps coming towards him and he jumped back on his horse*

When he jumped on his horse, he heard footsteps all around him, he didn't know where to ride,  people with hoods on their heads and in long black coats came out in front of him.

Alaric : W-Who are you ? What do you want from me ? *he looked around scared as he lightly held on to the horse's mane and then he heard someone singing and walking through the people*