Fan Fiction ❯ When Heaven Falls ❯ Chapter 1

We should not enter the village.

"You know very well that I will, with or without you…"

You are wise, my dying friend. You know I will go along with you but I sense evil from this land.

"What is the demon horse afraid of?"

I fear the very creature we pursue, for it is more dangerous than you or I.

"Then we go on to face our destiny, my friend, but we will not find it or any trace of it by standing here."

A nicker was the horse's response as both he and his master stood on the edge of the cliff, above the fading lights of the village. A small kick to the sides of the large war-horse and tugging the black leather reins to the right, he turned and they soon made their way down the rocky cliff.

You are aware that we are being followed.

There was no response. Kaibutsu took this, as a hint to do what he will and that is what he did. With a loud whinny, he soon began to charge down the cliffs at an incredible speed, leaping from rock to rock like an elk. His master held on tight to the reins, shards of rock and dirt hitting his covered face as he waited for the mountain climbing ordeal to end.

Upon reaching the bottom, the horse turned, rearing up, and whinnying as he saw their stalkers, three of them, coming forth. The two golden amber eyes of the massive red stallion watching the three bandits coming forth on their own steeds.

"Be calm, Kaibutsu," was the whisper, followed by a gentle pat to the stallion's neck.

"You owe us a toll, mate," said one as he approached the man.

"Yeah, I think you ought to pay us right now 'fore we have to rough ya up!" laughed another.

The three bandits now approached him and the stallion nickered, stepping back and pawing, anxiously, at the hard ground below. A gentle kick to the sides was the signal and he reared up, screeching horribly. The men fell back, lifting up their hands to their faces to defend themselves. When the horse finally rested on the ground, the man was gone.

"What? Where'd he go?" the leader said, looking around, quickly.

A screeching whistle pierced the air as an arrow flew from out of the darkness and punctured the left breast of the companion at his right. Yelling loudly in pain, he grabbed the small weapon and tore it out, screaming and the blood came pouring out.

"He's in fron-" but it was cut off as an arrow flew through the third man's neck, from behind, a splatter of blood erupting out from his throat with a garbled cry and landing on the bandit leader's face.

"What the hell?"

"What was that toll again?" the traveler was back on his horse, looking at the bandit.

"N-n-no toll! Please, go r-ri-right ahead, sir!"

With a small 'hm,' the horse turned and took off back on its way towards the village.

A sigh and the bandit rubbed his head. How did he do that?

You should have killed him.

"Yes, but I should have not killed the other two. They were only following a fool's orders."

Then they, too, were fools.

"You have a way of manipulating my words…"

As they approached the gates, which surrounded the village, two guards came out in front of the path to stop them.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you're not allowed to enter. The gates have been closed for the evening."

The rider didn't look down at the men who guarded the gate entrance to the village, but they continued to look up at him, and the horse he was mounted on. The horse didn't look to happy as it snorted irritably, waiting for passage through the gate. After a few moments of silence, save the pawing of the horse's hoof against the ground, the rider turned to look down at them.

"I need a place to rest. If you cannot let me in the village, surely you have some place where I can feed and clean my horse, and perhaps rest for a few hours."

They each looked at one another then turned their backs away, beginning to whisper to one another. Their words were inaudible but it did not really matter to the traveler as he gently patted the horse's powerful neck, waiting in silence. As the soldiers talked, he continued to stroke the horse's neck, ignoring their muttering words and attempts at keeping voices low. With an annoyed grunt, that was obviously unheard by the soldiers, he rose in the saddle and took a flying leap off it.

By the time the soldiers had turned to tell the traveler of their decision, all there was that was standing there was the horse.

"Where'd he go?"

"Dunno."

"Just forget about it."

"What about the horse?"

"We'll keep it out here until the next relief comes in."

They nodded to their captain and returned to their spots, chatting every now and then, unaware of the male climbing up the wooden fence of the gates that surrounded the city.

The cloaked man continued to slowly make his way up the wall, searching for clutching points to pull himself up, ignoring the splinters forcing their way into his hands as he worked. He stopped sometimes to look down to watch the men, being wary of their presence and careful of his own, attempting not to make any noise. Silently his lips would mutter curses behind the cloak around his face as his foot gave way, the gate's hard wood nearly tearing through the thin lining of his boot.

His body froze as he heard the voices of the men rising below him; what a great way to try to blend in at the late hours of the evening. Hopefully the men wouldn't look up and he turned his head to gaze down at them, his body still frozen in place. After a few moments, the men down below began to relax and so did he, letting out a sigh of relief before turning his head back up to look.

There was still quite a bit of ways to go and the strain would soon be taken on his body but then he would be able to rest once he pulled himself over the top. Closing his eyes, he allowed his mind a moment's rest before lifting his lids again and proceeding to search for another knot in the fence to use as he climbed.

During the climb, stepping foot onto a knot, pulling body up by using another, he could feel his thoughts traveling back to the one spot where it had all began. A few grunts of annoyance as he forced himself back to reality, blinking to see that he was only a few feet from the top.

Light mutters of the word, "Finally," from behind the sash around his lower face as he proceeded to force his body upwards once more. His thoughts he kept focused on the climb that could be treacherous and devastating if he fell or slipped a second time; he didn't need that.

Sighing heavily, it was another few minutes before he finally gripped the top of the pillars that had been sharpened. Clutching his fingers around the wood, his body forced itself up, padded feet scraping against the wood as he attempted to climb up the fence as if it were suddenly a tree. After moments of this, his body finally yanked itself over with a groan and a wince as the sharpened edges of the pillars cut into his cloth and into the flesh. Then flipping over, he crashed on a walkway that had been erected there, ending on his rear with a grunt. His form leaned back against the wall, heavily sighing as he began to rest there, thankful for being able to sit now instead of stand.

"What a waste of time… I should have waited until morning…" He grumbled to himself before closing his eyes, allowing his senses to relax but not before he heard something, like faint footsteps but they were ignored. Probably some stray cat exploring at the late hours.

The woman was unnoticed as she slowly made her way across the platform, keeping the lantern she carried half hidden so no patrolling guards would see her. Each step was gentle and barely caused any noise as she made each step, cautiously looking around with wide eyes to look at her dark surroundings. One mistake and that would be it for her.

A chilling wind blew suddenly, causing her raggedy clothes to flow and send a chill all along her form. Quickly clutching the clothes, she pulled them back and held, waiting for the wind to slowly drown down into nothing but the already cold air once again; once this happened, she began walking again, looking at the dying candle light of the lantern with a small mumble before looking ahead. Something caught her sight, like a human body, and her body froze instantly. A guard sleeping on patrol? Would she be able to get by without being noticed?

Inhaling deeply, she nodded, not giving herself much time to think about what consequences could come of being caught but she had to get around so she began walking again, slowly and more timidly than she had before. The lantern was held by its handle and by the bottom so it wouldn't make any racket as she walked. Better to be safe than sorry.

The closer she got, the more she noticed he didn't look like a guard but it could be her eyes playing tricks on her; she was never able to see very well in the dark in the first place. Pulling her clothes closer, she continued on her way, moving to hold still the shaking lantern that had begun to rattle with her shaking arms. Damn this cold winter, always worse than the one before it. Only a few more feet and then she could step over him and be on her way. It didn't turn out the way she expected though.

When she got there, she stopped to look down at him, standing only three feet away from his slouching form. His body wasn't dressed in the rickety chain mail that most of the guards had, but it was nothing but normal clothes; a traveler? How did he get here? It was better not to think about it now and her thin lips parted just some so she can inhale the chilling air and exhale a warm breath before preparing to step forward and over him, ready to run if necessary.

The man, however, had a different plan. He had her coming closer a while ago and he didn't want someone walking over him, and he didn't know if it was a guard or not so as the foot falls came too close, his form rolled to the right and flipped upwards, opposite of the girl, facing her.

The sudden movements caused a startled gasp to arise from the girl, a sound of shattering glass following as the lantern fell, and the hot wax and candle flame fell down onto the cold wood. It went unnoticed though as the man stared at her, his brows having fallen into a fixated glare.

"Who the hell are you?!"

She was paralyzed as she heard the shocking voice of the intruder, blinking back a wall of tears that threatened to fall from the fear swelling up inside her. Her smaller form tucked away as her throat tightened and she couldn't force any words out. He took a step closer as she began to move away, hearing the heavy falls of his boots as they hit the wooden platform below. Oh gods, what had she done to deserve this?

"Well?" The tone in the man's voice was irritated, perhaps with her lack of answer.

Her attempts at breathing were choking her lungs and she shook her head as quickly as possible, trying to recompose herself to look at the man who now only stood an arm's length away. She couldn't even answer, as much as her head told her to, her lips only parted as a cloud of frozen air was exhale from her throat; what did he want with her? The girl was so concerned with the approaching male she didn't notice the ember from the fallen flame were beginning to ignore the platform, only mere inches away from where she stood.

He apparently didn't notice it either, or didn't care for it at the moment, beginning to step towards her again. It was hard for her to take her eyes off him, the closing form of the large man, and she shut her eyes tightly, her head turning as she repeated to herself in her head that it was all just a nightmare. When she opened her eyes, however, she saw him standing directly in front of her, too close and invading her own personal space. Her breath caught in her throat as she stumbled backwards just as the slowly spreading fire exploded a large pile of wood next to them. The man turned his head after the explosion, feeling the bits of debris flying, some cutting into his face and he turned back to her, looking right back into her eyes as they met his. With an annoyed grunt, he ran forward, this causing her to scramble backwards as quick as she could but was obviously not able to as he grabbed her in his arms and lifted her up just as another explosion rang out behind them and the wave hit them, sending both crashing into the ground. The last thing she saw was him up on his feet again, looking down at her before her world went black.