A Better Way (Completed)

A Better Way - Part 1

Hey guys, thanks for giving this story a look!

It is my first work on Wat. So I decided to give you something short, but something I'm pretty proud of.

Please let me know what you think. If you enjoy a sentence or paragraph, comment!

And if you like a whole chapter, Vote!

I'm new to this place and would love any advice you have to give, and especially if you have any criticism or encouragement.

Thanks and enjoy.

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I shifted my spear to my other shoulder for the hundredth time that day. The sun was just setting over the ridge of the mountain pass and I figured I had just enough time to make it through before dark. I rolled my shoulders few times, thanking the Almighty again that I had been raised up in the Scouts. Valuing mobility over protection, my scale mail breastplate and dinner plate sized buckler where much lighter than a lot of the equipment I had seen used by others in my battalion.

My sandals were fitted so that my feet did not blister or chafe, but they had developed a deep ache all the same. I knew that the mission waiting for me on the other side of the mountain merited such a long trek and that leaving my horse behind was my only option when faced with the rugged mountain trails before me. But at the end of a long day of walking, all these things faded to the background and my mind was mostly set on putting one foot in front of the other.

The dusky evening light seemed to produce a purplish haze in the air. Squinting through the setting sun at the pass, three smallish foothills surrounded by what looked like yellow bones caught my attention. I was trying to decide if they were some sort of burial mounds when I thought I heard the sound of a millstone grinding in the distance.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I felt goose bumps run down my spine. Some small part of my mind realized that something was wrong as I took a few more hesitant steps towards the piles of rocks.

"The light through the pass does look really odd." I mumbled to myself as I approached. For some reason I was having trouble keeping my spear from dragging on the ground and my gate was growing uneven.

Warnings of the sorts of attacks I would face on this path started to run through my head. But at the same time the purplish haze thickened, materializing as deep rhythmic waves, thrumming off these same strange hills.

I barely had time to notice that my legs were growing weaker every time one of the purplish waves oozed over me, as I collapsed. I found myself laid out sideways on the hard stony path, my view of the pass completely blocked by the foremost boulder hill.

I felt so tired....

"It's been a long day" I thought drowsily to myself, "Might as well rest here and continue in the morning."

The sound of grinding stone grew louder, something that didn't seem to bother my sluggish mind at all. Through the last few slow blinks I blearily noted the strange behavior of the now moving rock formations, which seemed to be unfolding themselves from a crouch.

With that fuzzy thought, I let myself slip into the enveloping darkness. The buzzing of my concerns fading away with my consciousness.

Everything was black, as if I floated in a sea of oil, choking off any thoughts or feelings I might had.

Then something cut through the thick nothingness.