Scene 3

I struggled along. My stomach growled. After a day of moving through the ruins I finally came to th edge of the army’s path. I never knew how much I had missed the grass, trees, and birds until I saw them in the distance. I doubled my pace, eager to be out of the desolation. Soon, I moved through knee-high brush, reveling in the feel and scents of the aliveness around me. I had heard my parents—the thought of never seeing them again clenched my stomach—I had heard my parents talk of a town in the direction I walked. I’d never been outside my village, but I didn’t care except that I had no home to return to, and no parents. I’d heard of people without parents. Now, I was one of them. My friends were gone. The apple orchard where I would occasionally steal an apple was gone. No more would I hear the crowd at the inn on a Saturday night. Although, my father wouldn’t allow me to drink, he would on occasion allow me to come with him. I miss my father.

Searing pain gripped me by the shoulders. Suddenly, I was flying upward. In a panic I glanced upward, breaking out of my self-pity. The large angular body above me flew higher, flapping its bat-like wings. I had been taken by a gargoyle, a creature of the sky. Higher and higher it flew, its talons gripping my shoulders. Blood fell to disappear below me. I grew weak as the creature flew ever upward. The world around me grew red then black as I passed out from the pain. It didn’t matter. I knew I was already dead.

Scene 2

I moved slowly as hunger set in. I scanned the devastation, searching for anything edible. I clutched the sword in my hand, ready to strike anything that might jump or scamper across my path. Nothing did.

The day passed as slowly as I made my way across the army’s trail. The rain had eased to a fine drizzle, but the large puddled remained having filled in the giant footsteps made by the rooks. They were small ponds that littered the land now. My mind drifted and wandered as I struggled to remain awake as made my way. I was startled to reality as a small lizard ran across my path. I cursed. It was too fast to catch. I stood watching as it raced away. My stomach growled. “I know. I’m hungry too,’ I grumbled. The lizard stopped and looked back at me as if taunting me to give chase. A moment later it ran off.

A sound like metal scraping on rock drew my attention. I froze. There it was again. I hadn’t imagined it. Gripping my newfound weapon tighter, I took cautious steps toward the sound, being careful not to make noises of my own. The sword, I held point-first in front of me trailblazing the way.

The sound repeats, over and over—redundantly like an axe being sharpened on a stone. Approaching with as much caution as I could muster, I’m unsure what I’m about to encounter. What I find causes me to stop in wonder.

My name is Paladian. I’m the son of a farmer’s son. Now, as I survey the trampled landscape, what I am doesn’t matter, or more accurately, has no meaning. Frantically, I scan the destruction around me for my father—a large terse man, and my mother a slip of a woman with a determination of steel.

My calls turn to screams of despair. But even the silence has no echo. I stare. The small things—the living town of buildings, farms, a small inn and all of the people have been replaced by flattened rubble and debris. I stumble, dazed searching for my parents, as I leave the remains of our house and home into what used to be the Main Street. I’m aghast. Even the trees have been pulverized into small splinters of wood.

The rain pummels down on me dripping off me to drill small holes in the mud at my feed. The sound of the rain thunders in my ears the way my pain, despair and blood roars in rage.

The Darkness rolled over the hills and farms the way storm clouds had the day before. The Black Army moved methodically and with deliberate intent across the countryside. The people of Starhaven, my town, fled before the onslaught. Those who remained were mercilessly slaughtered. No one could stand before the vast army. But before the slaughter came the terror and realization that the army was proceeded by the Purple Rooks. Each rook, was as large as a small mountain that moved mechanically before the sword and shield bearing humans. Seeing a rook in the wild was one thing. But when the knowledge hit that these purple rooks were being led and controlled by a single man, caused panic and despair among what populace remained.

Many simply fell prostrate onto the ground as if praying to the huge magical automatons. Whether prostrate or not, the army spared no one. All were killed or crushed by the rooks. No one was prepared or able to resist. Not even my parents who, in a panic, shoved me into a small cubby hole in our root cellar.

I heard their screams as the home above me was flattened by the carnage of the Purple Rooks. I sat cowering and crying, unable to think or move. The darkness around me was filled with the noise of the destructive and deadly stomping. I sat for hours, afraid to move. It felt like an eternity as the earth shook around me.

Then, there was silence. Dust filled my nostrils threatening a sneeze, but I fought it, as I was afraid of alerting the army and the rooks. Eventually, I fought and dug my way out of the cellar through the debris and of collapsed and crushed stone and timbers.

I stood and stared at what remained of my town and home—a flattened and barren plain. All the houses, the people, were gone or killed. Even the trees were gone, crushed under the feet of the Purple Rooks. In desperation, I ran calling and searching, screaming for my parents. That is where my story begins.

I've been playing a solo RPG named Colostle. https://www.colostle.com/ 

I'm using this section to document my adventure. The content is free and unedited. It is full of typos, grammar, and tense errors that would normally be fixed in rewrites and edits.

This, however, is never going to be a book, sold, or published.  I'm sharing it, but the content here cannot be sold or republished.

This is per the Colostle FAQ and intellectual property statement.https://www.colostle.com/faq

Enjoy.