Prologue of a work in progress novel

Prologue

The battlefield before me was glazed with crimson. The blood of both friend and foe stained the ground, and my golden armour no longer shone, its glow diminished, echoing how the bloodlust I had felt had died. My helm lay at my feet, and the once radiant jewels were encrusted with pieces of flesh. The screams of the dying still rang in my ears, and the stench of the rotting corpses brought back a familiar, unwelcome smell. The city had fallen two nights ago and the sky was still a dull red colour. It was almost as if it was mirroring the bloodshed before me. The demon army and its followers had been repelled, but I knew in my heart that they would come again and stronger. This had to be finished quickly.

I leant over to remove my beast of a sword from the stomach of its prey. As the blade came out it was accompanied by my foe’s innards. A trickle of blood had formed at his mouth like a tear. I stared at the young body and realised that he was barely a man. “Curse the demons.” I muttered bitterly, kicking away my helm.
“Olyx, is everything alright?” The calming voice of Tor brought me back to my senses.
“Yeah…everything’s ok I suppose.” I replied weakly.
“You’re still not used to bloodshed are you?”
“It’s not that my friend, I was just thinking of what will happen next…” I looked round and saw the muscular, towering presence of Kastor and he waved at me, his long hair thick with sweat and blood yet still with a grin on his face. “Barbarians” I snorted, but I did feel a little safer knowing that he was still there to protect me. I then focused my eyes on the looming tower I had been striving to meet for what seemed like an eternity and prepared myself for our final battle with Zencar. Maybe with him dead I could finally be rid of the nightmares that plagued me.


I walked with Tor to meet the rest of the small band of companions that had followed me on my journey. We had all been through a lot together and this was where it would end. A pang of sorrow hit my heart as I thought of the few we had lost along the way. There lives cut short by betrayal, and bravery. As a soft sigh flowed from me I wondered how I had got to this point…It had all started on that fateful night one year ago…

Chapter 1

My eyes gazed at my feet, urging them to continue their running, the sound of angry voices reverberating behind me. Zor and Tor were up ahead, and I cursed the pain that had started in my lung…..(To be continued)