"My name is Captain Ryan Pandorum of the Order of the Three Lights, and I am leading the 184th expedition to go beyond the Wall of Noduz and search for the lair of the infamous Tor'qux."
"Sir? Do you have to narrate yourself as we ride?"
"Of course, someone could be watching us right now, our every move, even what's going on in our heads. I'd like them to know who we are."
Ryan was clearly a Crusader, thick armour covered every inch of his body, he was atop of possibly a specifically bred larger horse to support his weight, a large flail on his back banged against his shield, most likely denting it every now and then. Atleast 220 Paladins accompanied the Captain, forming in rows of four, two regular fighters in the middle, and Lightbearers on their sides to light the way in the forest. It was named the "Black Forest" not only by it's dark hued trees, but for the canopy atop the trees that block out almost all sunlight. The Captain and his small battalion were nearing the wall on horseback, every last person in this small force was mesmerised by the sheer height of the ancient construct; several hundred meters in height, stretching on for miles on either side, however the Wall had been shattered in one location that made it very noticeable, this was the only way in and out of the Black Forest. The Wall itself had been standing for well over 13,000 years, and it's done it's job well; it is chipped in thousands of places, roots and vines of the darkened trees pierce the wall, and even the trees themselves stretch higher than the Wall...
The faces of wonder soon turned to fear as they edged closer to the forest that had damned hundreds of thousands of innocent souls to eternal suffering, yet they still pressed on as the horses kicked up grass from the plains beneath them.
"Steel your hearts, men! We are delving into the depths of the black abyss!"
"Is it true... sir? What they say about the Forest?"
"What do 'they' say exactly?"
"That.. once we enter, we cannot leave. Ever."
The captain began to cackle as the Paladin next to him grew worried, his laughing died down as they neared the Wall.
"That is merely a scare tactic to keep people like us from ever going in there! You've nothing to worry about, we'll be in and out in a jiffy."
A faint shimmer could be seen from within the Wall's breach, it was Gia's barrier that she had put up hundreds of years ago to keep the horrors that lie beyond here at bay. A faint hum could be heard as each one of them passed the barrier and into the Black Forest, there was no turning back. The light dimmed rapidly to a faint glow, they sped up their pace to go deeper, in order to avoid anything they no one should have to encounter. The trees, when at their largest could be up to a dozen meters in thickness. Several minutes had passed, as any sight of the Wall behind them had dissipated, everything was silent... too much so, the crows that they had heard before fell deathly quiet. The Captain raised his hand high enough so it was visible for everyone, and gave a signal; in reaction, every Paladin that followed him withdrew their weapons, the Captain himself withdrew his gargantuan flail and held it by his side. They came to the entrance to a large opening, Ryan rapidly raised his hand in order to halt his force, as they stopped, he dismounted his horse... his gaze was fixated on something, or someone. A Crusader was directly in the centre of the opening, rocking his head back and forth, oddly enough, the Crusader was wearing the exact identical armour as the Captain, but he didn't dare approach him; they knew what horrifying traps rest in the Black Forest. The most noticeable thing about this opening was the writing scratched into the trees. "Don't look at the eyes" mostly.
"We're moving on..."
One Paladin dismounted as well as the Captain.
"We can't just leave him here!"
The Paladin stormed towards the suspicious Crusader, making his way across the opening.
"Get back here! Now!" Ryan said without making too much noise.
The Crusader had his back turned to the Paladin, he reached out his arm to place on the Crusader's shoulder, but was immediately halted by a voice.
"Go back. That's an order." The Crusader spoke in the exact same voice as the Captain, still not turning around. The Paladin, horrified, turned his gaze back towards his group, but they were gone? Instead a new tree was in their place, he turned back towards the Crusader only to find that the Crusader itself had turned around to the Paladin's direction, the front plate of it's helmet removed as he held no emotion whatsoever, but the eyes... they were hollow, black and empty, staring directly into the Paladin's eyes.
Nothing was as it seemed, the Captain and the rest of his Paladins were still there, the Crusader was still facing away and the disobeying Paladin was just stood there. Was it all an illusion going on inside his head? He lowered his arm towards his waist and pulled out a small blade, making a blank face staring at the back of the Crusader's head. The Paladin pressed the end of the knife up against his own throat, and thrusted it, still holding no emotion, showing no pain as the blade pierced his throat; pushing it further in and dragging it across to create further damage. Blood spurted from his mouth and the gaping wound in his throat. Everyone watched as one of their own was forced to end their own life, but the attention was drawn to someone in the back starting to panic, before yelling "CENTIPEDE!" They had little time to react. As quick as lightning, the monstrous centipede slammed down onto a dozen Paladins, crushing them and most likely killing them instantly. Paladins scattered into the Black Forest to avoid the terror, which unleashed a deafening roar before aiming itself towards Captain Ryan who was dismounted by the shockwave, he quickly withdrew a greatsword that another Paladin had sheathed. As he gripped it, light pulsated through his wrist and into the blade; the Centipede lunged for him at an unfathomable speed, he lifted his blade as he dropped down to avoid the attack, the monstrosity slowed down drastically as it was cut clean in half; innards of the behemoth covered the Captain from head to toe, he stood back up and examined the faces of his minions before shuddering in disgust and almost gagged from the smell.
"Eughh.. fuckin' hate centipedes." He said as he scraped the black blood off his armour, and wiped it on the Paladin next to him. "We're going back, we'll do this another day. Mount up!" His previous force had diminished to just under half of it's original status, some were crushed by the Centipede, others were scattered and lost within the Black Forest, and one slit his own throat. The Captain turned his horse around and rushed past the Paladins just starting to mount up to get ahead and lead the way for them, he had memorized the path, despite each tree being identical, he recognized the roots in the ground and the scattered remains of those that had previously died in there. Paladins followed him, some had accidentally been separated, but the wall was in his sight now, hope filled those that had seen horrors that they should never have seen once again. They came to the edge of the Black Forest, coming to an immediate halt.
"Impossible.." The Captain muttered under his breath as he lifted his helmet and dropped it onto the floor, he had extremely short hair, to the point where you couldn't tell what colour hair he has, it had been cut down as it was most likely an obstruction; he was young, very much so, couldn't be barely over 20. There was no exit, there was a visible pathway on the floor where many people had worn down the flora, but it was as if the wall had been completely fixed. His bottom lip quivered as he rode up to the wall and placed his hand on the wall to see if it was just an optical illusion, but nothing, it was solid, he dismounted as his sabatons crashed into the dirt. "Five of you, go towards the left, and another five of you go to your right! We have to find the exit." He pointed in both directions as five Paladins rode each side. The Captain sat down by his horse and rubbed his eyes, angling his head back and gazing up at the border of the Black Forest, he could barely see the light.
Hours passed, and the sun was getting close to setting, the pounding noise of horses riding increased as the Captain rose from his position, both scouting parties were returning. He was greeted by saddened faces, "Nothing... sir, not even a single exit." One spoke in a dull tole, it was hopeless, there was no way out. The Captain mounted his horse once again and aimed towards the Black Forest. "Then we're going to deal as much damage to that insect bastard until we all either become a part of the Black Forest or devoured by the darker creatures that lurk in this place." He rode once again into the dense forest where even the light may die. Some followed him, some decided to stay at the wall, he did not care... all hope had died within the Captain, there was no escape from his horrible fate, and he had spent the last few hours wrapping his head around the fact that his own demise was inevitable, and instead of waiting for it; be it starvation or viciously butchered at the wall, he decided to face death head on, and deal as much damage to it as he could before it broke him in half.
((Gonna finish the rest of this short story later in another post, just too stressed to finish the rest of it right now.))
