A Sacrifice for Varkanah (On Indefinite Hold)

A Sacrifice for Varkanah Chapter 1

“Stay here, men,” he said to the soldiers. “Don’t even think of engaging them until I return.” With that, William ran across the now deserted cobblestone streets of Valdi, his heavy leather boots slapping against the dusty stones of the road.  It was not long before he arrived at a modest wooden house, with a thatched, conical roof. The windows were dark, and William silently hoped that his wife and children hadn’t left the house without telling him. He quickly pushed open the door and walked into the entryway, wherein a single candle was flickering dimly.

“Orra,” William called for his wife, “where are you? Orra?” Please be here, please.

 Just as nervousness began to eat away at him even more than before, he caught sight of his wife standing in the doorway to the main room, silhouetted against the dim light. She wore her long blonde hair in the typical Valdian fashion, braided down to her waist. Her dark blue gown, embroidered with white flowers, appeared black in the shadows of dusk. 

“What’s happened?” she asked him, her deep blue eyes frantic with worry as she nervously patted her gown.

William hesitated. This could be his last chance to say good-bye to his wife, and he wanted to make it count. After a long pause he spoke again, his voice calm and rational—the very opposite of how he was feeling, “Nothing, dear. I don’t know who they are or why they are coming. All I know is that you need to take the children and leave.” He choked. Seeing the look of sheer worry pasted on his wife’s face, William wished fervently that he could tell his love why this was happening, how this was going to turn out, but he truly didn’t know. He couldn’t bring himself to lie to her, not now.

“Go south, into the Westerhaven Woods. Drennan is gone after Saeran so don’t wait for him. I’ll try and find you later, when this is all done with. I must go now, though,” he raised his hand in the air, preventing any interruption she could make. “Goodbye.”  He grabbed her then, pulling her into one last embrace as he fought back the tears that welled in his eyes.

“I will wait for you there,” she whispered in his ear. “Just… be careful.” She sobbed then, unable to control her emotions any longer as she wept salty tears into his shoulder.

William gripped her even more tightly. “I will find you when this is all said and done. I promise you that, if nothing else.” He let out a long, ragged breath. “I wish things didn’t have to—”

“Do not tarry here with me, William. Your men are waiting for you.” She stood on her toes, pressing her lips against William’s, successfully silencing any arguments he might’ve made. “Go, now. Save the city for me.”

William nodded. Then, after one last, lingering glance at the woman he’d married two decades earlier, he turned and walked out back into the darkening streets of Valdi where his loyal soldiers awaited him.

The dark army was less than one hundred yards away from where William stood with his awkward platoon, when they suddenly stopped dead in their tracks. The man on the largest stallion rode his horse farther ahead of the rest of his soldiers, into earshot of the men of Valdi. “Good evening, people of Valdi!” the man cried, loud enough for the soldiers in Valdi to hear, along with many of the people of the small village.

“Who are you and what do you want? We are just a farming community, and we’ve got nothing special to attract the likes of you!” William called back just as loud, but quite a bit less forceful.

The man laughed coldly, throwing back his black hood. His hair was, as far as William could tell, just as black as the robe and the horse. Everything about this man was darkness, except for his eyes of the deepest crimson. “We are but the clergy of the church of Varkanah, the Forgotten One. We come to bring back the memories of our God, of a time when he reigned on high.”