Blood of Darksky
The cloak of night falls swiftly on the village of Darksky. Whether it was named after that phenomenon, or a curse befell an innocent village is unknown, but the inhabitants do not seem to care either way. Their only worry is being home before darkness touches, for terrible things happen to those caught up in its claws.
All houses are lit up, closed with numerous locks on all doors and windows. Nobody dares getting out. The street lights are often abandonned, not lasting long enough if lit before nightfall, requiring to be out at night otherwise.
Why not leave then? Simply because the same fate befalls those who try to leave and those sucked out by the dark. In the center of the village stands a great red tree which never bears a single leaf. The inhabitants call it the blood sucker, for all who are lost can always be found in its clutches, impaled or hung, without a drop of blood inside them.
Darksky is a deadly trap, forgotten by gods and rulers, at the mercy of the most wicked forces. Humans,elves, kanns and dwarves all tried ridding the village of such forces, none have succeeded. Rumors spread far and wide, but hopelessness has settled in now and nobody dares take their chance anymore.
Not too far away, in a tribe of mysterious and fearsome creatures, Kuled senses the malevolence surrounding the village growing more powerful. Something needs to be done, and the failures of other leave him no other choice than step in himself.
He left alone, and arrived near the village not long before twilight. He had barely ventured out of his tribe, but he knew differences tend to scare people. Especially in this context, seeing a beast more than two meters high, nearly one lage, with tusks rising to its nose, scarred, tattooed and dressed with animal skin appear short before dark, provoked unsurprizing terror in the villagers eyes.
For different reasons, Kuled is terrified too. The air, the dirt, the trees...everything here reeks of evil. The stench of corpses is overwhelming even for a great shaman such as him. Moreover, he knows his task will prove much more difficult since he does not speak the common tongue properly.
As this monstrous beast steps inside the village limits, all locals immediately wrap up their businesses and start rushing inside. Guided by his instincts, Kuled slowly makes his way towards the center of the village. The vision of horror waiting for him, he was definitely not prepared for. Orcs do not scare easily, but this shook him so deep he felt his heart stop beating for a moment.
"You shouldn't have come here." was the first thing he heard. "You're stuck now, just like us, and just like...them."
"Them?"
"Unfortunate souls. Travellers, warriors, drunk sometimes. And unless you want to join them, you should come with me quickly, I've got light inside my home."
"Light good?"
"Yeah, whatever's out there doesn't like it. The sun's setting though, we should hurry."
"Thanks."
"I'm Nigel, pleased to meet you."
"Kuled."
As a gesture of friendship, Nigel sticks out his hand, while Kuled covers his tusks with his hands, an orkish symbol of peace. The two look at each other in misunderstanding for a second, before hurrying inside and closing the door, leaving the street to be taken over by darkness.
Kuled would not have bet on it, but finding himself surrounded by walls, locks and light was indeed a source of comfort. It's a small house, but the orcs are used to live a nomad life inside even smaller tents, so he does not mind. Nigel had been cooking it seems, as a pleasant smell progressively replaced the stench of evil and guts lingering in Kuled's nose.
"I hope your specie eats beans and lamb, because that's about all we manage to produce around here."
"What is?"
"Beans are those little curved things right here, lamb is meat."
"Bean hard. Orc eat meat."
"Well, that's good news! And don't worry, we cook the beans before eating them. It'll be ready in a moment."
"People afraid. Why no you?"
"Well, I used to travel a lot. I've seen weirder than you. And scarier. I've heard tales of all kinds, and even lived some of them, never thought I'd meet an orc someday though, especially not here."
"Why?"
"It's just that I got told orcs don't leave their tribes often."
"Had to come. Evil here."
"Tell me about it. But it's unbeatable. The only thing we can do is live with it, we're stuck. I mean, to be perfectly honest, once I was told we couldn't go, I didn't try to."
"Wise human."
"Why thank you."
"Tree outside bad. Why live you here?"
"Do orcs mourn their lost ones? Do you honor them with sacred rites maybe or salute them?"
"Orc offer food and give weapon on day orc die. Orc get safe in next life."
"Speaking of food..." Nigel serves Kuled a fair portion. "We got rites too, but if nobody knows where these people are, or dares look for them, then those are never accomplished. I settled here to honor all those who find themselves on that tree."
Silence falls at these words and both start eating. Kuled never tasted anything quite like it. Perhaps he could bring some of it back to his tribe. If he could ever leave this place, obviously. As Nigel shows Kuled to a bed he could use, a loud complaint arises from the night.
Nigel claims it is the wind carrying the pleas of the innocent. Their souls are bound to this place, they are doomed to relive their last moments for all eternity. Whether it is but a myth, or the truth, matters not. Kuled knows this place is corrupted and needs his help.
"Must go."
"Whoa whoa whoa, are you serious? Go where? Did you not hear you're stuck here now? And anyway, if you get out there now that the night is here, you're just gonna find yourself on the tree like the others!"
"Go help. People danger, dead not rest."
"Look, lots of people have tried to help, see how that worked out? I'm sorry but you should just accept it."
"Light good. Make light."
"If it were that simple, we wouldn't be so afraid. There is something out there, but in here we're safe. If you really want to help, go get some rest, try to get a job here, stay safe, don't play hero. Even if you want to, it would be better! You just arrived so you're probably still tired, you'd have better chances, assuming you have any to begin with, after a good night's sleep. You could even gather some information tomorrow I suppose."
"Wise human. Visit tomorrow."
"It'd be my pleasure."
This night is perhaps the most uneasy Kuled has ever had in decades. The wind does not stop, the relative safety and the comfort offered by this home are not enough to shield him from the feeling of distress pressed upon him. Even during his sleep, he only gets nightmares.
Visions of decomposing corpses, souls roaming endlessly in the night, unseen evil lurking around every corner, fill his mind. The tree slowly entrapping residents or making its way through their bodies, ripping them apart. Smell of rotten flesh filled his nose, screams of agony and pain, cries for help could almost render him deaf. There he was, in the middle of this carnage, alone. When Nigel's lifeless face appears before him, guilt and terror finally get to him.
Despite all this village endures, the scream of an orc waking up from a nightmare is still powerful enough to give just about everyone around a chill down their spine. It only takes a split second for Nigel to be knocking on the door, asking in a panicked voice if Kuled is alright.
Wise, selfless and brave. This is how Kuled would describe his newfound housemate. The frail human settled right in front of the most fearful place in this village, out of pure kindness towards lost souls. Even now, his voice shaking, he still went against his most basic survival instinct to check in on him. In both cases, he remained carefully protected from the potential threat.
Even in the daylight, Darksky and the blood sucker are not much more reassuring. Kuled knows the tree is the key, so does everyone, but how? That is the real mystery. Perhaps it must be destroyed, however, it can not be burnt or frozen, and nothing can cut through it. It is a product of magic for sure, unfortunately nobody can tell him any more here.
Knowing more about this requires doing something Kuled hoped he would not have to do. He is going to have to talk to the only being he knows has been around long enough to get him the answers he needs. He has to connect to the tree itself.
Magic works in mysterious ways. Actions, reactions, laws or at least rules have been studied, but somehow orcs and their own are even stranger. They appear to know magic from birth, a trait not even elves share. Their magic is by far more powerful, but it is also raw, unrefined. Each of them have affinity towards certain types of magic, which defines their place in orc society.
Shamans have a strong link to the world beyond sight, the spiritual world. They can commune with the very souls of those around them, and this is precisely what Kuled needs right now. He sits in front of the blood sucker, under Nigel's watch, closes his eyes, and starts chanting and moving in rhythm.
Second by second, it seems his conscious fades, his movements and voice become more and more monotone, his tattoos start glowing a light blue, and when he eventually opens his eyes again, so are they. He finds himself alone, in the void of this world, with only ghostly outlines of homes and roads, still that massive tree in front of him.
He places his hand on it, and focuses on what he wants to know. Language is an outworldly concept here, only intentions are used to get messages across. Slowly, his surroundings change. The village seems to recolor and slowly deconstruct, until the tree gains golden leaves and its trunk changes from red to white, a beacon of hope.
The sun rises and sets several times, the moons make their way through the sky in between, and after a few minutes it's like time stands still. Kuled understands it just started passes normally when he sees someone approach the majestic tree.
The stranger is cloaked, but a female voice rises from under the hood. Chanting a nefarious anthem, the stranger cuts their already pale red palm with their dagger. A sudden change in atmosphere happens as soon as their hand touches the tree. The air becomes asphyxiating, colors once again turn to black, the red stain spreads on the tree like a disease, its leaves start falling and even though the stranger leaves, Kuled feels he is not alone anymore.
Nigel had agreed to watch without intervening for about ten minutes, but decided already five minutes ago to give Kuled some extra time. He had been feeling uneasy for some time now, so now is probably the time to do something. Carefully reaching for the moving mountain before him, he hopes to wake Kuled before getting hurt himself.
Flashes of desolation rush through his mind. This entire village, the people he knows, even Kuled, are destroyed, decomposed, lifeless. The only thing standing is the blood sucker, roots and branches extended, reaching through every home and body. Cries of terror resonate in his ears, a shivering cold runs down his spine, and the lingering vision of a mildly glowing translucent gaunt head staring right at him is the last thing he sees.
Nigel immediately takes his hand off Kuled, realizing the world around him has not changed a bit, as the latter regains consciousness. This haunted nightmare Nigel went through only lasted for a fraction of a second, how long and horrible Kuled's must have been? At the very least, his mission was successful. The tree is cursed, and needs cleansing.
Removing a curse in shamanic ways is not the hardest of tasks, but it does involve some conditions. The first one is already filled, going back to the location the curse was cast, given the tree never moved. The second one would be more challenging, as he would need to perform a complete ritual without interruption, which could last for hours. But the real trouble was the last condition, the one which rendered the latest a most daunting task. The ritual must be performed while the curse is active.
"You can't seriously expect me to let you just go out in the middle of the night!"
"Have to."
"You'll end up just like the others, what good will that do you? Just let it go, with your strength and magic you'd probably be greater help for us if you stayed alive."
"Not die. Help."
"That was easier than I expected..." Nigel smiles and points to a small space with no house. "We'll set you up somewhere to live, don-"
"No. Go help. Not die. Cure tree."
"Oh, I see. And how can you be sure you're not going to die, huh?"
"Tribe home."
"That's not insurance! Look at the tree again! Look at those people on it! They were not only peasants, some of them were warriors, mages, inventors, clergy of any and all religions, and whatever else you may think of. They all had something, family, friends, a god to return to. They were all sure they were the one, reassured us they would succeed in bringing back peace, and what did we find when morning came? Just one more victim."
"Not orc."
"And you think the first dwarf didn't say that about his kind as well? The first elf? Kann? I've heard rumors about orcs, and if half of what they say is true, your people is truly amazing. But that doesn't mean you'll get through the night alive."
"Why care you?"
"I've seen so many try and fail already, I can't help but think of what they've lost, and what others have lost because they were reckless. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate their efforts, and though not all were doing it out of the goodness of thei hearts, most were good people and trust me, the world never has enough good people. We shouldn't lose some over a silly cursed village."
"You good people."
"Thanks, I do my best."
"Good people save people."
"Yes, I suppose so..."
"Me good people?"
"You are in my book."
"Me save people."
"You're quite the stubborn one. I guess I could try and stop you by force, but clearly that would be pointless. Farewell then, I wish you luck my friend."
"Thanks."
Nigel disappears behind his door shortly after, not looking back at Kuled who starts preparing his ritual. When night comes, he is surrounded with candles, facing the terrible blood sucker, and starts his chants and dance. His movements are more fluid than what could be expected from a creature this massive, his tattoos slowly glow a deep purple, and his face doesn't let transpire the terror he feels as the moons rise up in the ever darker sky.
The howling wind perturbates the rhythm of the chant, but Kuled is not discouraged. He raises his voice to cover the wind, still moving graciously, extending his arms, raising them, crossing them in complicated manners, his legs drawing circles on the floor asynchronously, his back bending in all directions, even his fingers making subtle movements.
Howling continues and gets even stronger. Only, as Kuled comes to realize, it is not an effect of the wind. Pale figures come to him, floating through the air, fingers pointing at him, skinny, almost skeletal faces looking at him, snubbed lips. Looking around, other things are moving too. Between the cracks in the ground, the houses around him, even in the middle of the air, the tree sneaks and crawls everywhere around, and the corpses raise to walk the earth once more.
In his circle of light, Kuled seems safe for now. However, the whole scenery terrifies him so much, he even gets nervous his rhythm might get affected. Unfortunately, rhythm is the core of all magic. Should he fail to maintain it, he would have to start it all over again.
The seconds pass, then minutes, before Kuled finally realizes he may have made a mistake. Lights surround him, but just beyond their reach he can see the dangers for now kept at bay do the exact same. If the lights fail, then Nigel's warning becomes the truth. He has trapped himself.
And just like that, a flame disappears. Kuled's heart start racing, and he almost fails to keep his rhythm. Ghosts, corpses and tree creep closer to him, when another candle is snuffed out. As time passes, Kuled's safety is more and more at risk, his heart and mind more turbulent, and his hopes of going home grow thinner. Worst of all, he can feel the curse has barely weakened ever since he started, probably due to its age and all its victims making it even more powerful.
His heart rate drops suddenly when he understands he is not strong enough. There is no way he can break that curse, no way he is ever going back home. His tribe will never taste beans and lamb, apparently. As he is about to give up, he hears something. Not a terrifying noise like the rest, a sound of hope. A simple sound of door opening, followed by the sight of a bright torch light coming straight for him as fast as possible, repelling the creatures of the night on its way.
"Good people save people." The only words Nigel pronounced were enough to give Kuled back the strength to go on. Even with candle going out, the presence of a friend by his side is comforting enough. The curse is finally starting to fail, the creatures try getting closer, acting more agressively, but the shield of light stands, for now.
It lasts long, but not long enough. The pair is only protected by a few candles and a dying torch now. The ghosts hiss, the tree parts move around them, the corpses look angrily, ready to plunge on them the moment the lights go out. That is when Kuled sees the most fearful thing: Nigel's torch flying through the air.
The curse is so close to be lifted, he can not stop now. But their cover is now almost gone. Whatever reason Nigel might have had to throw his torch, Kuled either succeeds or dies, hence why he chooses to keep going, a huge knot in his stomach, a tear in the corner of his eye at the thought of having trusted the wrong person, being deceived by pretty words.
In the panic, Nigel had doomed them. He doesn't even remember now, less than a second later, why he did what he just did. He falls on his knees, sobbing, muffling apologies Kuled does not even hear. The candles around them fade out. Just as darkness is about to fall onto them, the ground starts to reflect a bright light. Nigel remembers.
Despite the different emotions assailing him right now, Kuled manages to keep his focus. When the light lower around him, and all his feelings intensify, he keeps chanting. Looking into the eyes of the ghosts before him, he keeps moving, knowing the curse is almost defeated. When finally the lights go down, and the corpses run towards him in an attempt to interrupt the ritual before it is finished, he thinks of himself as big as possible to be courageous in the face of certain death.
There is no point in owning a house if you are dead, bound both body and soul to serve a cursed tree. It is probably what was going to happen there, but there was one hope. Nigel's house is made of wood. So, no matter if he died trying to do something or survived having broken the curse, burning down his house to make a huge fire did not seem like such a terrible idea. The result is right here in front of his eyes.
The light reaches Kuled and his opponents, making them retreat screeching in the dark. A new wave of hope rushes through Kuled, followed by sadness as he sees his friend's house in the worst of states. Finally, the ritual is about to be completed. Everything around Kuled and Nigel is agitating, growling, rushing towards them, but the fire from the house is too much for them.
Kuled plants his feet on the floor, crosses his arms and brings them on top of his head, before extending them on his side and let out a ferocious roar, mixing itself with the screams of agony of every ghost and moving cadaver around him. When he gets quiet again, silence embraces them. Ghosts seem to regain their faces and even let out a slight smile before vanishing, corpses fall limp on the ground, and the overgrowned parts of the tree disintegrates into dust, while the color of blood covering the tree leaves place to the bright white Kuled had seen in his vision.
"It's beautiful..."
"Tree good now."
"Yeah, it does look a whole lot less scary now!"
"Village peace."
"It's really over then? The villagers won't have any more trouble with it?"
"Yes. Village peace...where live you?"
"Ah, well that's the part I didn't think through. Who knows, I might go back to travelling, I kinda miss it. On the other hand, I think it won't be so bad here now that there's no more danger. In any case, I'd like to show everyone it's safe so I'll probably just sleep here for tonight."
"Wise good Nigel."
"If you say so my friend."
"Travel together? Friend good."
"It would be my honor."
Darksky wakes that morning with a feeling of tranquility it has long forgotten. Thanks to Kuled and his friend Nigel, everyone knows the tree they called blood sucker has regained its place as their protector instead of their greatest terror. Soon, its leaves will even grow back, shining the light of hope through the long nights of Darksky. The orc and the human then go to bring the delicious beans and lamb to Kuled's tribe, before leaving together, guided by a lingering feeling that they must find the cloaked figure Kuled saw in his vision.
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