Chapter 1: The Birth of the Herald
Achymigaal, a primitive planet with mages, dragons, and many different types of sentient beings. This story involves one specific family on the planet. The Yaleasares.
Grey elves, who are long lived and scholorly, were the epitome of status on Achymigaal. Simply having spoken to a grey elf would grant somebody great prestige and popularity in their community for a season. The grey elves were the wisest and most intelligent of the races on Achymigaal, and they could keep this why by segragating themselves from the rest of the populace. Those who left the Great City of Kotasek, did so as mentors or explorers.
A grey elf mentor by the name of Lythal Yaleasare, journeyed through a great many towns, teaching the same message to those who came to hear him. One day while Lythal was buying food from a town’s market place, he notice a women who he had never seen before. He found this quite odd, as he had been in the town for a fortnight, and he had never seen her attend one of his sessions. He approached her calmly, with curious questions as to why she would not attended.
He realized she was quite able on her own. Her mind was sharper than any human, and her insight and wisdom riveled that of Lythal’s peers. He was immediately taken by this human women, and began to see her regularly. They would engage in lengthy debates, both having their turn at proving their point to be the wiser. Lythal soon forgot his duties as a mentor, and stayed in the town permentantly. The women, who’s name was Sara Norrey, soon fell in love with Lythal, and him with her. They knew they were soul mates.
They were wedded secretly, and Lythal moved them out to the town outskirts where they could live in peace. The townsfolk had grown jealous Sara had such an imitimate relationship with a grey elf, and wanted her to “share” Lythal with them.
It wasn’t long before Sara became pregnant, and when she brought the news to Lythal, she was expecting him to be happier than she was. It was quite the opposite. Lythal was speechless, and would not say anything. He simply stared off at nothing for the rest of the night. Sara stayed by him, but she could not last long enough and eventually fell asleep. When she awoke, Lythal was gone.
Less than a year later, Sara gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The name she chose, she chose because deep down she felt he was responsible for the loss of her soul mate.
Bayne.
Chapter 2: Before the Darkness
Dispite how Sara really felt about Bayne, she raised him with as much love as a mother could. She saw his father in him everyday, and she found some peace with that. Bayne’s hair was a soft, silky black. His skin was natrually pale, and his ears were much longer and pointed on the ends. However, the real feature that stood out, were his eyes. They were a deep crisp purple, shimmering with a hidden knowledge.
Bayne grew up much more slowly that his mother expected. He was half-elven, a race most uncommon on Achymigaal. Sara, scared how the villagers would react, kept him inside the house, never letting him outside for fear somebody seeing him.
Sara would travel into the town once a month, to buy what supplies her and Bayne needed. They had a few animals, a cow, a couple chickens, and Sara spent most of her time in the garden, making sure the crops were all doing well.
Bayne, spending all his time inside his home, was a very bored child. He found entertainment with his own imagination, creating make believe friends and talking with them. Sara thought nothing of this, as her attention had to be focused elsewhere.
When Bayne turned 60, his mother being in her 80’s, a message came one day, from Lythal. It was an invitation to Kotasek, the Grey Elf city. Sara, despite her age, maganged to arrange for her and Bayne’s transportation.
Upon arrving, Sara and Bayne realized humans were not as well like by Grey Elves than they thought. Sara had no idea so many existed. They were taken to Lythal’s home, where they found him on his death bed, ill with a fatel disease. Lythal apologized to Sara, explaining the Grey Elf way. The Grey Elves are to live an entirely strict life. Any offspring, must be pure blooded (inbred), to ensure the families stay the same. When Lythal realized he had a child, a half-breed no less, he knew what the consquences would be, should the Grey Elves ever hear of such a tale.
Sara and Bayne would have been killed.
But another Grey Elf custom, is to obey the wishes of a dying one. Lythal asked for only 2 things. For his family to be treated with the same respect as the Royals, which they agreed to with no problems. The 2nd, was for his family to be brought to see him. The elves found this quite odd, and soon realized the truth behind Lythal’s wife and son.
Kissing him tenderly, Sara left Lythal to have a word with Bayne. Lythal found it hard to speak to Bayne, so decided he would cut straight to the point of him being brought there.
The Yaleasare family, was very special indeed. Their blood contained the essecance of darkness, or to say better, could contain the essecence of darkness. Around Lythal’s neck, was an amulet passed on to the firstborn of every Yaleasare generation. Lythal took the amulet off, and gave it to Bayne. He told him he would not be able to wear it until he was of age, which in elven standards was 150 years old. Bayne nodded slowly, saying nothing, and then shared a moment with Lythal, where they simply stared at each other.
Lythal looked softly at Bayne, seeing his son. But his expression soon changed, to one of utter fear. Bayne, confused, stood there, unsure what to do. His father tried to scream, but no sound came from his lips, he began grasping his chest, his heart beating faster and faster, until it exploded. Bayne stood there for a long while, staring at his father’s corpse. Then, he quitely slid the amulet into his pocket, and left the room.
Over the years, Sara began to grow quite ill, due to the loss of Lythal, and she slowly began to waste away. Bayne realized that if he did not do something to help his mother, that they would both suffer. Bayne tended to his mother, keeping her comfortable, and dispite her pleas, tended the garden and the animals. Bayne told his mother he would never go into the town, and he never did… while she was awake.
Bayne knew the reason why his mother didn’t want him in the town. He was bright. He knew he wasn’t the same as his mother, as he had different features. So, out of respect of his mother, Bayne wore an old cloak that belonged to his father, one of the few momentos left behind, he would wear it with the hood up, to avoid contact with people, save for the merchants that he bartered with, and he would only enter the town at night. He was a quiet boy, unaccustomed to socialization. The merchants took pity on him, and kept their dealings with him a secret.
However, with time, problems arise. One day while Bayne was in town, a tavern regular spotted him exiting a shadowy alley. The next day, he spoke of a “demon from the shadows”. The town, having nothing better to do than gossip, spread the rumor around like wildfire, until it was a raging inferno. The villagers began posting guards at night, and indeed, once a month, the “shadow demon” would travel through their town.
After a month of watching Bayne, the townsfolk actually got an idea, and decided to follow him. The had trouble keeping up with him in the shadowy town, but they spotted him leaving, and had no trouble following him. Following him home.
They watched him walk up to the door, and remove his hood. They saw the pointed ears, and began to piece the plot together.
The began blaming “Bayne” for all their problems. Crops and cattle dying, children getting sick, losing a game of bones. Soon it was a common phrase to say “It was the Shadow Demon!” As the townsfolk fed the rumor with another rumor, more of them began to get “fed up” with the chain of events.
Bayne, unaware of the quickly increasing mob, continued to help out his mother.
One day Bayne was out in a nearby grove, chopping firewood to keep his mother warm. He carried the load back towards his home. Before he got there, he knew something was wrong. He could see a red glow on the horizon of the night sky. Dropping the wood, he ran over the crest of the hill, and he could see his home, surrounded by the townspeople, who were weilding pitchforks, hoes, a few swords, and the rest had torchs. They took turns lighting them and throwing them onto the house.
At that moment, Bayne was overcome. He could feel anger and hatred burning inside his chest, and suddenly, he began to hear a whispering. A voice. It called to him. Without thinking, Bayne reached into his pocket. He withdrew the amulet his father gave him.
Had Bayne been thinking rationally, he would have thought it odd for the amulet to be in his pocket, as he had stored it in a safe place the day he returned from seeing his father. But instead, Bayne slowly put it on.
Chapter 3: The Darkness Cometh
The amulet wasn’t just an amulet. It was a focal point, a nexus, for the Demi-Plane of Darkness. An artifact of pure negativity. The Yaleasare blood, had been blessed long ago. They had the ability to keep the Darkness within the amulet, inside it. The amulet had to be passed on to the firstborn. Many times a Yaleasare would try to get rid of the amulet. They would hide it in places none could ever find. However, the amulet had a life of its own. It would call out to those closest to it, whispering to them in the night. Those who heard the call would never find peace until they found the amulet. When they found it, they would don the amulet, and become tools of Darkness.
The Darkness always commanded them to search out for the Yaleasare who hid the amulet. You see, the amulet could only control the person who wore the amulet. If they were not a Yaleasare, the contol was very limited, only to the body. But if the Darkness could control a Yaleasare, the Yaleasare would magnify the powers of the Darkness ten fold. They would become an Avatar of Dark.
Everything changed for Bayne when he donned the amulet. He was not of age, and worse yet, he was not a pure blooded Yaleasare.
Bayne was not able to control the powers of the amulet, he was helpless to their whims. But all was not lost, for when Bayne place the amulet around his neck, there was a great explosion of Negative Energy. Bayne only noticed that something was different, about himself. Then a voice spoke, or a thousand voices it seemed, speaking in unison. Bayne tried listening to it, but all he could make out was a dull whispering. He looked down at the amulet around his neck, and when his attention focused on the amulet, the whispering became more and more understandable. The voice told Bayne many things, many things that were to come. Bayne’s life would never be the same, and he would be doomed to a life of loneiless. Bayne looked around for the source of the voice, never seeming to find it. It seemed to be coming from right beside his left, but he saw nothing. The voice told him not to worry about such things, and that he should leave, before the villagers spot him. Bayne agreed, and left for the Northern Lands. As he turned away from the blazing house, he noticed something odd about his shadow.
On the shadow’s left shoulder, was perched a bird, a large bird, a predator, a sign of darkness.
From then on, Bayne gave the voice a name.
The Birdman.
* * *
The Birdman was actually a part of Bayne. When he put the amulet on, the Darkness from the Demi-Plane instantly moved to take control of him. They did so, by focusing on Bayne’s personal darkness. But, for reasons still unclear, the darkness inside him seperated itself, creating another entity, outside the influence of the amulet.
The night of the burning, Bayne travelled to the North, finding his way to the Cliffs, which overlooked the endless ocean of black. Needing a break, Bayne sat upon the cliff, staring out at the ocean. There was no moon in the sky this night, and the stars shone down upon land, blanketing it in a soft light. Bayne stared out, feeling nothing but anger and hate burning inside him. How much he wanted to go back and make all those villagers suffer! He wanted to make each one suffer forever, their screams to keep him company at night.
But he knew he couldn’t. The Birdman realized how weak Bayne was, and how he’d be unable to travel long distances in a day, let alone defend himself from bandits or many of the other scum along his path.
As Bayne sat on the rocks, regretting his own weakness, something brushed agaisnt his hand. It was a snout, the snout of a dog. It moved it’s head underneath Bayne’s arm.
Bayne had given life to the dog, who was born from Bayne’s anger, hate, fustration, and fear. The dog was, like the Birdamn, an aspect of Bayne manifested. Bayne looked down the dog, staring into it’s ebony eyes. He smirked softly, feeling what the dog was. The dog looked up at him, eagerly, and Bayne slowly nodded.
He stood up, and headed South, back to his home, to his village.
The Birdman had a wisdom and intelligence beyond any mortal comprehension. It was able to see into every shadow and dark corner, secrets continuing to pour themselves into the essecene of the Birdman. Such knowledge and wisdom gave the Birdman a gigantic ego. He constantly critized Bayne, insulting him even. It did no good however, as Bayne was the one in control of what they did, and the Birdman could only follow Bayne, and give him what advice he had.
The amulet still had influence over Bayne, it suggested to him things to do, things Bayne for the most part agreed with doing.
Bayne stood on the hill, where he had watched his home burn, and looked across to the village in the distance, and his dog was running full tilt towards the town.
Once the dog was out of sight, Bayne’s perception of it changed. He could see through it’s eyes, feel it’s anger and hate, see through the darkness, brushing it aside like smoke.
The dog ran through the village, and shifted through the cracks in a door, into a home. It jumped onto the master bed, growling and stirring up the sheets.. The two in the bed awoke, and began to scream. The dog grew in might from their fear, as they ran out of the house into the streets, pleading for help. They awoke all the others in the village, who poured out of their homes in confusion.
The dog left the house, and faced the crowd that had gathered. It slowly walked towards them, and all the villagers simply stared in fear at it. The dog soaked in every moment of their fear, until one of them took the inititive to move. In the blink of an eye, the dog darted over to the man, and pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. Biting for the man’s throat, the dog ripped something out of him. No blood was shed, but the villagers would never forget the scream of pure terror. They began to run hysterciaclly throughout the town, not a rational thought in their minds.
Bayne sat on the hill, snickering.
The Birdman knew where each villager went to hide, and the dog spent the entire night hunting down each and every one of the villagers, terrorizing them before ripping their souls out of their bodies, consuming the esseence of their life.
But that was not the end of their torment. Dawn was quickly approaching when the dog returned, and Bayne grinned happily, pleased with his pet.
As the suns first rays came up, the dog vanished into the amulet, taking with him the souls of all those he killed, taking them to Purgatory, where they would exist forever, in the Demi-Plane of Darkness. Their fear feeding the dark plane.
Bayne turned around to face the north, walking calmly with a satisified smirk upon his lips.
Later that day, when merchants returned to the village, they would find the bodies of the villagers, each with a look of pure terror on their cold faces, but not a wound on their bodies.
The merchants left the town in terror, spreading word that a town was, literally, scared to death.
Chapter 4: The Shadow’s Behold
The weeks that followed, brought Bayne very close to his companions. During the night, Bayne would travel. At the end of the night, he would find some secluded place to sleep through during the day. He discovered more uses the cloak he wore had, with guidence from the Birdman. He realized with the cloak he could fly during the night, and attach himself to the underside of a roof. He would do this right before sunrise, blending in with the shadowy rafters of old barns, and he would sleep there with bats. The dog would always appear beside Bayne at sunset, and disappear at sunrise.
There was always some sort of encounter Bayne woiuld have to face, most of them being bandits who wanted to take advantage of a lone traveller. The cause of these encounters, never revealed to Bayne, was the Birdman, who wanted Bayne to grow in experience, and therefore power, much quicker than a “normal” life would allow him.
It the dog wanted to remain out of sight, it would. It’s body surrounded in an aura of darkness, that would blend into the nights perfectly. Bayne had little use for weapons, as his dog could preform quite well. However, the Birdman did not want Bayne to come to rely on the dog, as the dog was only present during the night.
So during the later hours of the day, as sunset neared and shadows were most present, the Birdman instructed Bayne on how to manipulate them. Bayne at first thought it was magick, but the Birdman scoffed at him, saying this was the “simple manipulatation of the physics of reality”, Bayne came to trust the Birdman’s wisdom, so he shrugged it off.
One of the first things Bayne learned to use, was what the Birdman called “Shadow Melee”. But, for it to work properly, Bayne had to do some recon. He travelled far east, to a miltary camp. During the night, he snuck into their basecamp with ease, becoming one with the shadows. He waited until sunrise on the roof of their mess hall, and from his position, he could see the entire basecamp. But he only wanted to focus on one thing, the training grounds. He spent the day watching fighters pick up and use various weapons, daggers, short and long swords, battle axes, halberds, maces, morning stars, and the list only goes on. He watched how they moved with the weapon, how it was most effective to use, how to block with it, and every other application. He stayed in his position until night fell, and travelled just outside their camp.
Standing near a watch fire, Bayne tested his new ability out. He held his arm out, closed his eyes, and willed a dagger into his hand. He could feel the shadows mix with him, and he felt a shiver unlike any other. He slowly opened his eyes, and his face turned to one of disappointment. There was no weapon in his hand. He sighed softly, downcast, and then the Birdman began to laugh.
“Look down Bayne.”
Bayne did so, looking for something that might be attacking him, he continued to look, and the Birdman continued to laugh. And then suddenly, Bayne realized what had happened. In his hand, or more specificly, in his shadow’s hand, was a dagger. Bayne smirked, and fell back into a stance he saw a fighter use, and he began to practice the manuevers they displayed with ease. He stopped trying to see the dagger, and began to feel it.
There really was no weapon in his hand. If somebody were to place their hand in front of Bayne’s, they would not be cut. The true power of Shadow Melee, lies in the shadows. Bayne learned a completely new style of combat, one that no man or beast could properly defend themselves from. His weapons cut the shadows of his victims.
Bayne spent the rest of the night practicing each of the weapons, until finally, a guard noticed him in the reflection of the firelight. The guard stood there with an amused smirk on his face, watching a “boy” practice the common katas the miltary had to. He figured the boy watched them during the day, and was probably going to try and join.
“Kid’s pretty good.” he said. He was just about to turn to his buddies, to tell them, when he saw that the boy stopped. The boy stopped, and was looking up at him. The guard stood there, perplexed for a moment. The boy suddenly disappeared, and his expression changed to one of worry. He called out to his fellow guards “Uhh, guys..”
But before he could raise his voice, he felt an odd tingling sensation in his back. He slowly turned around, and he saw the boy standing there, his purple eyes glistening with delight. The guard could feel something spilling out of his stomach, which he assumed to be his guts, and as he pawed at it, he slowly fell to his knees.
Bayne watched as the life force of the man slipped out of it’s mortal coil. He watched the shadow of the man drop to the ground, and something, darker, that existed only as shadow, rise from the shadow of the man.
Bayne calmly walked the parapets, towards other guards. They noticed him when he got close, and started to fumble for their weapons, they were unsure how to react to the calm boy, albeit creeping, who was walking towards them. The dog took the first move, and pounced on the first guard in the group, knocking him down, and taking the other guards down with him. Bayne jumped into the air gracefully, and carefully glided downwards onto the ground. He stabbed each one in the centre of their chest once, his shadow dagger piecing the container that was their body, and allowing their soul to escape. Bayne allowed the dog to leap off the wall, into the basecamp, to start his own chain of destruction.
Bayne continued to walk along the walls, and the guards he encountered now, were on alert. The screams from below stirred them, natrually. As Bayne walked towards one, he jumped forward, thrusting with his long sword. The sword, oddly enough, went right into Bayne, or through him to be precise.
The cloak he wore sepereated his physical form, and turned in into shadow stuff. Bayne simply smirked at the guard, two purple glistening eyes, laughing at the poor fool, who stared in awe. In a flick of his wrist, Bayne brought the dagger across the man’s throat, which he held, feeling what he thought to be his life blood flowing out.
Down below, the dog was having just as much fun. He approached a group who had been telling stories around a fire, and jumped into the circle. The men all stared in horror at it, turning to each other.
“It’s… it’s…. it’s Hades!!!” one of them yelled to another, speaking of a fearful beast from a story they just shared.’
The dog decided that he would leave that man for last, and began to dart in and out between them, so fast they could actually see mutliple dogs, and they all felt their calves and ankles being pulled at, and they fell to the ground in unison. The dog contiuned to run around them in a flash, each pass taking more and more of their soul out of them. When the last of them was lifeless, the dog slowly stood infront of the man who named him, grinning.
“Hades… no…. you’re…. not real!” the man reached for his sword, ready to strike the beast down, and the dog lept for him. The guard managed to swing the sword through the dog, which he felt great about, thining he had beat the beast. But as quickly as he hit it, the blade passed through air, and his expression changed to utter fear and loss of hope, as the dog began to feast on his soul.
The carnage at the camp only lasted an hour, as Bayne quickly learned to use the weapons which bore no weight, and did more damage than any phyical blade.
Bayne waited for the dog outside the camp, knowing he was having his fun and clearing out the rest of the camp. When the dog trotted back, triumphantly, Bayne turned to him and smirked. Bayne had liked what he heard, and deicded to call the dog by the nickname as an inside joke.
“Good boy Hades.”
Hades was the Name they called hell….Cerberus was the name of the dog…..pay more attention to detail….other than that quite a delite to read.
i like this. very very much.
good writing. descriptive and dark.
Nevarsong:
Cerberus had 3 heads, and guarded hell.
I made Bayne over 4 years ago, my 2nd AD&D character. I called his familiar Hades, for lack of a better name.
Since then, I’ve expanded the character quite a bit, and decided “hades” would be more than just a familiar. But, I still wanted to respect the original character, so I thought I’d throw something in to give him a name.
I could have chosen a better name in the beginning, but I wasn’t that original back then.
But, thank you for your praise 🙂
I’m working on Chapter 5 currently, so stay tuned…
spechless…very very nice…sorry for answering so late!
*smirks*
Wow… thank you. I really needed this… you’ve just inspired me to keep working on the story. I had almost given up… thank you.