Chapter 02

The knights were approaching quickly but I still had a little bit of time. If I could find terra before they got here we might be able to make it back to the bunker. If we don't then they will have to close it and hide it without us, to protect the rest of the villagers.

Where could terra be, she would know by now that the houses get searched. She would have a new hiding spot somewhere she thought she could be safe. I glanced around in the village just in case, but terra was smart enough to avoid where the knights would be. I turned towards the nearby trees and started running just to the edge of the village.

"terra!" I loudly whispered. I knew the knights weren't close enough to hear or see me just yet but I didn't want to shout either. "Terra!"

Just then she appeared. "Torin!? You're supposed to be in the bunker!" She was hiding in a bush. I'll admit, it was a great hiding spot. The place was just close enough to see, the bush was large enough to cover her and then some. She was peeking out of a small hole that was hidden behind another bush.

"terra! Are you insane!? We have to go! Now! If the knights caught you, we'd likely never see you again!" I crawled in the bush after her. The bush was hollowed out but still bushy enough to hide us from the outside. "What is this place? nevermind, terra come on!" She sat down.

"torin, I'll be safe here. I just want a peek at the knights, I've never seen them before!" She was pouting at me but she seemed confident about the hiding spot. Terra was too young to remember the knights at all. By the time she could, we had already started using the bunker. By now the knights would be getting close, but if we hurried we could sneak back to the bunker... Was it closed? Maybe we have to stay here now... There were too many unknowns. We didn't know how close the knights were and the villagers wouldn't open the bunker after they had closed it.

"agh! Why did you come out here, you should've come with us! We'll have to stay here now and hope they don't find us!" I scolded her.
This was an uncomfortable situation, but I had to admit I was curious about the knights as well. Last time I remember the knights they wore white armor...

"shhhh!" Terra hushed me quiet and we both looked through the bush as we heard horse neighing and hooves clomping in mud. They were really here, it was good we stayed.

We finally saw them approach the offering table. They were wearing black cloaks and armor that covered every inch of them. They dismounted approached the table then flipped it like it was garbage.

The leader spoke in a raspy nightmarish voice, it was unearthly like a ghost. "Find it! It's here! I can sense it!" The knights began to spread out and rummage through everything. They moved in an oddly professional way, I thought they were just greedy dogs, but these guys were on a mission.

"burn down the houses, lure it out!" The leader cried out again. The knights started to light torches and began to burn our houses. "It's definitely here... I can sense it stronger than ever before. The last time I felt it this strong was when the old king was still ruling!" The leader glared around the village trying to find something. He finally turned towards our direction and stopped.

We could see his face. Or should I say it's face.

Flesh was torn and missing from the knights face, it was frostbitten and decaying. One of his eyes was missing from its socket. Horror took hold of me, I glanced at terra and she had just realized that this was a grave mistake.

The leader knight tilted his head, "found you..." He grinned, half of his cheek was gone making the grin almost look maniacal or crazy. Then he started walking towards us picking up the pace, "you can't hide the flame from me boy! It's too warm to not see!" He started running towards us. My body wouldn't move, where would we go anyways. I held onto terra and covered her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" A man shouted with all his might as he brandished a long great sword with two hands.

Clang!

A wave of cold rushed across the area. At its center was my father holding that great sword clashing with the dark knights blade. The knights blade was made of pure ice and where the swords met it seemed like the ice was spreading. My father's sword was becoming engulfed in ice.

"RUN!" My father shouted as he pulled his blade away to swing once more. It was a mighty swing. I did not know my father knew how to use the sword. The knight parried my father's blade from the side and side stepped in towards him. My father backed up with a quick jumping motion and he parried the Knight's frozen blade.

Soon the other knights began to close in on my father's location. We needed to get out of here, I grabbed terras arm, "come on, we have to go!" Terra sat there in shock, with tears running down her face, "m-my l-legs... They w-won't move!" The fear was creeping in further down my spine. I quickly picked her up and jumped out of the bush. The only way to run was towards the forest.

"GO NOW!" My father called out to us one more time.

"you should be paying more attention!" The leader knight lunged forward with his blade.

Shink

The sound of a blade piercing through flesh. I knew it all too well. The times my father would butcher meat came to my mind. A swift motion is all it took to slice through meat.

"urgh!" My father grunted in pain. I dared not look back, but he was likely surrounded by the knights now.

"get the boy! He has the flame!" One knight started running towards us. I faced forward towards the forest and I kept running. I ducked through trees and thickets. It was a thick forest and so I stopped behind a tree. "Terra you have to stay here, if they are after me then you will be safe. I'll lead him away." I got up, but then terra held my hand tightly, "no torin. Don't!" I shook her grip away and I jumped from behind the tree.

"hey bucket head! Over here!" I could see him. He looked like a decaying corpse as well. He silently trudged towards me with a frozen blade. I turned and ran. I ducked, dodged, and jumped over tree roots and bushes. I knew these forests. I hid again to catch my breath. The knight quickly caught up to me like he had infinite stamina. I tried to breathe quietly but I could hear the silence in the forest. If I made a sound he would likely know where I was.

I covered my mouth with my shirt and tried to slow down my breathing. The knight crushed branches close by but where was he coming from? I dared to take a peek around the left side of the tree.

The knights grisly face appeared from right behind the tree to meet mine, it let out a nasty stench of breath and it's jaw moved like it was laughing, I shouted and fell backwards. The knight was laughing? No verbal sound came from the knights voice. Only the cracking of bones and clacking of teeth. Then it lunged at me and pinned me down to the ground. I was completely restrained.

The knight froze my hands and feet together, then dragged me back to the village. I was pulled over mud, roots, and dirt, but the knight kept pulling. Blood was dripping out of my new wounds from being dragged.

Finally it threw me forward, we were in the village again. I got onto my knees and I looked up.

In front of me were 10 or so decapitated and lifeless knights surrounding a man who was pierced with several ice swords. It was my father kneeling there lifeless still clutching the great sword he was using, ice swords were sticking out of his ribs, shoulders and other parts of his body. Tears filled my eyes, "NO! FATHER!" I couldn't hold back my tears. I fell forward and cried uncontrollably.

"who knew the old captain of the knights was protecting the flame. Ha! What a fool!" The leader approached me, "shut up boy! You can mourn your father when you're dead!" He grabbed my chin and forced my head up. I stared into his one eye. The stench was revolting but I didn't back down. "Hahaha! A feisty one" clicks and clatters came from the remaining 10 knights that were now surrounding me. They were laughing. "Well boy, how were you able to evade us all these years? We've been riding around searching for you for so long! Well, please do tell us..." I remained silent. I still didn't even know what they were talking about about.

"eh oh well. We have you now. Declan truly gave us a hard fight, didn't he boys! Hahaha alright you can stop playing dead!" He waved at the knights that were lying on the ground, then they started to move again. The ten knights my father had slain, rose up again. Some reattached body parts, others crawled on the ground towards their torsos. What was this nightmarish immortal army?

"hahahahah! That never gets old! Well what do you think, boy! Pretty amazing right!?" I watched in horror as I became surrounded by all 20 knights.

"you're no fun..." The leader's demeanor changed. "Let's take him to the king. Oh I almost forgot. The new recruit." He grabbed my father's head and pierced his chest where the heart should be with his ice sword. My father's eyes opened and they were filled with a blue light. He convulsed in pain, "what are you doing to him! Stop!" I shouted, but he kept going. Soon my father's body was covered in pale skin and frostbite.

No, this can't be happening.

"Arise Declan, answer the summons of the king and serve your master once more!" My father stood up and grabbed his greatsword which began to be covered in ice too but it wasn't like the other knights' blades it was still made of iron at its core. "Dad!" I cried out. But no response.

"your father serves the true king now." He smiled a sinister smile. "Give the boy a taste of the cold blade before we leave!" A knight walked towards me, pulled out his sword and stabbed me. It was freezing, "agh!" I screamed. All I could do was focus on the pain. Even after the sword left me it felt like it was still there stuck inside me. No blood fell from my wound, the wound was frozen. I started to lose consciousness.