I'm not quite sure how to start. I guess I should at least start out by introducing myself. My name is Erik. A long time ago, I met a man who referred to himself as The Seer. He gave me a prophecy:
"One day you shall meet the Luminary somewhere deep underground,
and if you help him,
you shall be forgiven."
I didn't think much of it after then. It always lingered somewhere in the back of my mind, but I never put myself out there to find this so called 'Luminary'. One day, after stealing the most prized possession of the Heliodor Kingdom, I wound up deep underground in a jail cell.
That wasn't much of a surprise. I was a thief, anyways. Jails were basically my home.
After being in there for quite a while, I was mildly surprised when a newcomer got thrown into the cell across from mine. It took quite a lot of effort to be put so far down in the dungeon.
Hendrik, the king's right hand man, said a few words to the newcomer, calling him the 'Darkspawn' before he walked off with his servants trailing behind him.
The newcomer looked like any ordinary guy you would see on the streets. Straight, dark brown locks that fell to his shoulders. Piercing blue eyes. A regular traveler outfit that was dark purple with grey sleeves, and a greenish-tan pouch connect to his hip. His trousers were a dark tan color and his boots were a forest green.
Overall, he looked pretty normal. Even his hair was a normal color. I wonder what made him wind up down here...?
Instead of waiting a few days to try and get out, the newcomer began shaking the bars and fiddling with the lock outside his cage.
"Sheesh! Keep it down, will you? There goes the neighborhood..." I grumbled, mostly to myself as I turned my head away from him.
When he didn't stop, I said louder, "Will you keep it down in there? Most folks they throw in here have the decency to wait a while before going stir crazy."
I glanced over at him. With my hood hanging over my eyes, it was hard to see his expression. But at least he stopped shaking the cage.
I pointed at the ground. ""What are you in for, anyhow? You don't get free bed and board down here without having done something pretty bad."
He told me what he had done. Mostly about offending the king and-
Wait.
I sat up and uncrossed my arms and legs.
"Wait- did you say 'the Luminary'? You're serious?"
I couldn't believe this. That good for nothing strange man who suddenly appeared and told me my future had actually predicted it? Or was this dude just yanking my chain?
I stood up and faced him, mumbling to myself. "You're telling me that the Luminary has just shown up in the cell next to mine? This is crazy..."
Suddenly a Heliodor foot solider started walking down the hallway towards our cells. He was carrying of bowl of foul smelling food and his heavy armor made his footsteps echo loudly. He stopped in front of my cell and said, "One plate of delicious gruel for the gentleman in the dungeon suite! Come and get it!"
He set it down on the ground and slid it underneath the crack of my cell door. I walked over to him as he stood up from bending down. Then I smiled, reached through the bars, and slugged him hard in the stomach.
"Urgh..." the guard groaned, and then he dropped to the ground, unconscious. I shook out my fist from hitting the armor, then I immediately bent down and starting rummaging through his clothes. I found the chain of keys he was carrying, reached through the bars, and after trying a few keys, found the right one to my cell and opened it up.
Freedom felt good, I had to say.
I dragged the guard into my cell by his feet, then I grabbed his sword off his belt and walked over to the Luminary's cage. I unlocked it and he stepped back a little bit as I stepped inside.
I put the sword over my shoulder and said, "The Luminary? You're serious?"
He just stared at me, silent. I stared right back at him. Was he mute or something?
"So it's all happening just like the Seer said it would..." I said to myself. I tilted my head towards the now empty hallway and said louder, "We'd better get out of here."
I removed the sword from my shoulder, turned around, and walked out of his cell. I went back into mine and crouched down next to a straw mat. I glanced over at him as he came into my cell and I reached down to lift up the mat. Then I heard the heavy clanking of metal on the floor, and I stopped.
I stood and held my hand up to him. "Wait here," I said, then I grasped the sword in my left hand and ran into the hallway.
"You!?" he said when he saw me racing towards him. "But-! Arrrgh!"
I slammed his head with the butt of my sword and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
I noticed a bag sitting next to him, and an oddly familiar weapon. Sighing, I grabbed the two items and made my way back to the Luminary, who had exited my cell and now stood by the entrance.
He seemed concerned about the unconscious guard slumped against the wall. I glanced back at the guard and said, "Don't worry, I didn't kill him. But he won't be waking up any time soon..."
I held out the sword I had been using to him. "Things could get pretty hairy up ahead. You'd better take this."
He took the sword from me and strapped it to his belt. I held out the bag I had found. "Oh, and I found his in a corner over there. I guess it's your stuff, right?"
He silently took the bag from me also. I held up the weapon I had found. "Me, I got this little beauty back, so now I'm pretty much unstoppable." I strapped my favorite knife to my belt. "We'd better get out of here before more of our tin-headed friends come knocking. Holler when you're ready to move out, okay?"
I walked over to the wall and grabbed the lit torch off of it. I held it up and walked back into my cell, him following close behind me. I crouched down and move my mat over to the side. Underneath it was a deep hole.
"I spent ages digging this hole, and you just happen to show up the day I finish it? Heck of a coincidence," I said, mumbling the last part mostly to myself. "Guess I really was meant to help you out, just like the Seer said. Anyway, there'll be time to talk about all that later. In you go!"
I grinned, handed him the torch, and gently pushed him into the hole. After I heard a grunt and a little but of shuffling, I hopped into the hole myself, making sure to cover the hole back up with the mat.
After crawling behind the Luminary for a little while in the cramped hole, we emerged into a dank, weird-smelling area. He jumped down and I followed suit quickly after.
"The sewers, huh?" I said, looking around. "Well, there must be a way out somewhere. Lead the way- I got your back."
He nodded, turned around, and began walking along the pathway. I followed behind him, my hand always lingering near my dagger.
We walked for a bit along a path next to the sewer water when suddenly a voice shouted, "There they are! You lot- over here!"
I whirled around. There was a guard standing behind us, and two more guards were running towards us.
"Da** it! We better make ourselves scarce," I said to the Luminary, gritting my teeth against our bad luck.
We turned back around and began running down the path, the guards following and shouting the whole way. We got to a bridge and skidded to a halt when we noticed another group of guards running towards us the way we were trying to go. I turned around, grimacing at the other guards behind us who were quickly closing in. We were trapped.
"These guys don't give up, do they?" I said.
The guards on both sides began inching closer to us. Suddenly, bricks began to fall from the bottom of the bridge and land in the river far below. The whole bridge began to crumble and shake, making us almost lose our balance.
"Seriously!?" I exclaimed, looking down.
A guard stepped forwards, and the entire bridge fell apart. We fell down into the river far below us, the guards screaming the whole way.
I held my breath as I went under and quickly swam to the surface. I took a huge breath and frantically glanced around, looking for the Luminary.
He never told me his name, did he? What was I suppose to shout?
My head went under again and I popped back up sputtering and gasping for air. I noticed a body floating down the river and I swam against the current, finally reaching the body.
It was the Luminary, all right. His long brown couldn't be mistaken for anyone else.
I hooked my arms around him and swam towards the shore. My head kept going under because, honestly, I wasn't that good of a swimmer. And the current was very strong; the small waves it was creating kept going over my head.
Finally, we made it to the shore and I dragged him until we were a good distance away from the river, then I laid the Luminary down and fell down next to him on the wet brick, utterly exhausted. I groaned and glanced over at the Luminary.
His blue eyes slowly fluttered open and he glanced over at me before breaking out in a small coughing fit. I pushed myself to my feet and he started to get up, too.
"You okay?" I asked. "Looks like we shook the guards at least..."
He stood up with me, and we looked at the cave entrance before us. I glanced over at him. "And that looks like a way out. Maybe our luck's about to change."
We started walking down the path, me leading the way this time. Eventually we came to a huge, dark, open space. Something felt... off.
I held out my arm and the Luminary ran into it, stopping and giving me a questioning look.
"Wait. There's something there..." I muttered.
I slowly put my arm down and peered into the darkness. I saw something move, then a giant figure came into the light, roaring. It was a black dragon. But... what was a dragon doing under Heliodor castle?
It's tail swung towards us but we ducked, making it hit the rock behind us. Rocks the size of boulders starting raining down around us and dust rose into the air. I stood up just as the Luminary did and noticed the dragon behind down to snap its mouth shut around him.
"Hey, look out!" I shouted, tackling him to the ground just at the dragon's mouth snapped close.
I felt proud of myself for saving the Luminary. After all, I was suppose to be forgiven for finding him. Whatever that meant...
I sat up and looked at the dragon, who was snarling at us. "If we stand and fight, we're dead!" I said, scrambling to my feet. "Let's get the heck out of here!"
The Luminary quickly rose to his feet and we began sprinting towards the other side of the cavern; the dragon on our heels. We made it to the other side and hid behind a wall in a crevasse, that thankfully, was hidden there.
I peeked my head around the corner as the dragon stuck its snout in the opening, which was too small for it to come through. I held my breath, almost too scared to make any sort of movement. After sniffing the for a moment, the dragon back up, turned around, and went back the way we had came.
"Has it gone?" I whispered, moving away from the rock and taking a good look out of the crevasse. "Phew! That was way too close for comfort!"
I looked over at him. "What's that thing doing under the castle, anyways? Well, whatever. We should get going."
I glanced through the opening again, just to make sure that the dragon was gone. Once again, I didn't see it out there, so I assumed it was safe. We both began walking down the path inside the crevasse without another thought to our safety.
Turns out, I should've looked more carefully. There was a giant roar that echoed from behind us, and we both whipped around, peering back at the opening that led to the cavern.
"Uh-oh..." I murmured.
Through the gap, I could see the dragon standing there, smoke fuming from its nostrils. It took a small step forwards, then shot a column of fire into the crevasse.
I immediately turned and began running as fast as I could the opposite way. Thank g** the Luminary followed me.
"RUUUUUUUUUN!" I shouted, as if it wasn't obvious that we should be running away from the fire that was steadily gaining on us.
I don't really remember what happened after that. My mind always draws a blank whenever I try to think about it. But I do remember sitting on the ground in the sewers, coughing as I tried to breathe through the smoke-filled air. I could hear the Luminary behind me.
"W-We made it...just," I choked out, coughing again. "I don't know how much more of this I can take..."
I heard loud footsteps echoing towards us, and I quickly shot up and saw a group of Heliodor foot soldiers racing towards us. The one in front held a torch and pointed it as the Luminary while shouting, "There he is! The Darkspawn!"
I was confused as to why they called him that. The Darkspawn was the bad guy, was he not? The Luminary was the good guy, who in the old tales, saved us all from the bad guy. The guard motioned to his companions, and they all started running towards us.
"Ach, me and my big mouth," I said, looking down at the Luminary. "Move— now!"
We started sprinting in the other direction, away from the guards that were chasing us. But after running for that amount of time, I was getting exhausted. My legs hurt and I was started to stumble, but I wasn't in the mood to get caught just yet, so I kept pushing forwards. Up ahead, I could see a bright light that couldn't be mistaken for anything but the sun.
When we bolted into the light, I stopped and groaned. "Looks like our luck finally ran out."
It had been a while since I had seen the light of the sun, but my eyes still adjusted quickly enough for me to take in our surroundings. In front of us was a small clearing, but a it quickly sloped down into a large cliff with a huge waterfall running off to the side of us. I could hear the waterfall splashing against another water source at the bottom of the cliff; probably a lake of some kind.
Behind us, I heard a guard's voice echoing through the cave. "There they are! We've got 'em now!"
I whirled around. "Hm. No way back, huh?" I put my hand on his shoulder and looked at him. "If they catch us, we're dead meat."
I stepped away from him a little bit as a huge group of guards burst out of the cave. They pulled out their swords and started stalking towards us.
I glanced over at him again. Even after all that running and hiding, he still looked calm. Almost emotionless. I glanced behind us at the cliff edge.
"Let's do this," I said. "I believe in you. I believe in the Luminary... I don't have much choice."
He gave me a brief nod, then we turned around to face the cliff. Behind us, the guard said cautiously, "Come on— let's not do anything stupid now..."
I glanced over at the Luminary, then I reached up to grab my hood. His eyes lit up slightly with curiosity. I threw my hood back, which allowed him to see my full face and my hair.
"The name's Erik, by the way." I grinned, feeling a rush of adrenaline from what we were about to do. He smiled back. I nodded, then we started running towards the cliff side.
And at the last moment... we jumped.
Ever since then, I've been involved in this crazy, wonderful mess. It's still a little strange to me, being a part of a group and everything. But what really changed everything was when we all got separated.
I know I haven't uploaded anything for a while, but I've kind of lost motivation to write anything. I've had a weird sudden motivation to continue editing this story after almost a year of not doing anything to it, but I don't know when the next part will be published. Thanks for understanding and hopefully the next parts will be edited and published soon :D
Don't forget to vote and comment! Constructive criticism is welcome!
-ziakalar