[pl] Chapter 1 - Enter Darkness (rewrite)

project: LeGard by

JOHN VOLTRON

Volume: 1 Enter 'Dragon' Chapter: I Enter Darkness

“The shades of darkness; the strange illuminating force that

turns every ray of hope and changes it into utter despair, which torments and consumes.”

O

n a cold winter night, with no snow for miles, and a deathly desert. The moon was shining brightly in the despairingly black night sky. A hooded figure wearing a dark blackish-brown manteau was leading on a group consisting of a resolute squadron. One glance at their constantly maintained formation, made it evident that they had been well-informed about how they should act—lest they should have no choice but to escape. Even the sharpened eyes that their Leader was wearing showed signs that they had been developed over the course of many a grueling years. And they were undeniably professing—his concern of the situation to be precise. He was very concerned; since there was a monster that was chasing this group. The fact that a monster was chasing them was not as haunting as the fact that the vile beast that was chasing them down was not normal. No—it was 'something' that had been born out of regret and pain. “We have to keep a steady pace!”, said the hooded figure to the squad, with a sense of urgency while pounding the completely desert laded ground and almost completely rocky terrain surrounding it. Immediate signs of ruins everywhere. And the sand, it was almost as if it had been dyed in black blood, as if someone had completely devastated everything. The group was trying it's best to keep up with their leader, but somewhere along the line, it was evident that all of them didn't possess the same amount of stamina their leader did. They knew—Each and every member of that squad knew exactly what kind of mercenary they had chosen for themselves. But, he was one of the best in business. And so, they could care less. Better be saved today than not have tomorrow to regret on. The last man on their squad was particularly slow. Their leader knew he was not going to last very long. With a hand gesture, he signaled all of them, to increase their pace, as the next set of the terrain included some downhills. This was going to be the chance they so desperately needed. The view of the backs of his men that were leading, was quietly yet seemingly been drawn out the vision of the last man in the squad. He knew he was slow, but getting slower downhill? No. It was another case altogether. He was in fact, being slowly dragged in by the very monster he was trying to outrun.

And there it was, just some feet behind him, was a beast like none other. With its jaws like that of a Piranha, and eyes like that of a demon, and the body of something seemingly dead, it was something that could be easily drawn out of anyone's nightmare. This creature was happy to have finally caught it's prey. The fact that it had been hungering was blatantly revealed to the terrified man. “DRAGON!!”, he wailed to their leader. “HELP ME!!”, he continued screaming in agony. “Don't look back, now matter what happens! If you try to help him, our entire squad will be devoured”, said a stern Dragon. “But.. but... he's one of us!”, cried a man in their group. “No! That is exactly what the Amalgam wants you to do! Don't let him!”, said Dragon. “...” “We keep moving!”, said Dragon. The troops in the squad though reluctant had no other choice as they valued their lives more than his, they were ready to pass his death as bad luck and move on, such harsh were the times. Dragon, within the blink of an eye, was no where in sight near the squadron that was running, but the man from the squad, who had been close to his death, saw him, he was relieved to the ends of the world. Dragon stared down on the Amalgam that had almost sunk his teeth into the man. One look at it could clearly show a commoner that it was not a natural existence. They were worse than the most vile humans, their favorite food was human souls, they relished it as they thought this would do as the humans punishment. Dragon could clearly make out how the monster was scheming on devouring them both. Before the monster could even reach his next thought, Dragon yelled, “BUSTER DESTROYER!!”. With swift movements, Dragon slid his sword from its scabbard made a dash for the Amalgam, quickly side-stepping the Amalgam's reptile-like tongue which could effortlessly extend up to 4 feet, holding his longsword in one hand and aiming with the other, Dragon made a swirling movement with the sword. The sword resembled a mini-typhoon rotating as fast as it could on Dragon's hand. His movements became more faster and apparent. It was almost as if the sword was accelerating his movements and dragging the heavy mass, which was

the Amalgam to him. In a sudden flash there was a sword lodged in the heart of the monster, the monster couldn't seem to breathe, and was coughing out blood. The man was amazed at the swordsman ship shown by Dragon, it was nothing ordinary, it was just as unusual as the almost dead being that lay on the waste laden desert. Dragon removed the sword embedded in the monster, shook the dirty blood off it, and swiftly put it back in its scabbard on his back. This fight had worn Dragon out by a bit. There was sweat that was quickly dripping off him. The hood had also worn off the face of Dragon. The man took a look at his savior, but was horrified to look at him. By stature Dragon could easily be considered to be near 6 foot tall in height. His build was rather average. His age could be guessed near the late teens at best. His uniqueness stemmed from his hair and his eyes. His hair was pure white. It was disturbing as a natural hair color. His eyes were pure grayish white; the kind that gray moonstones are made of. The very sight of Dragon was scary to a commoner. The man tried not to look at him but was drawn into them. The more he looked into his eyes the more lost he found himself. At first they were not as dazzling as he'd expected, but soon enough he had been hypnotized by those grayish-white eyes. They showed him something. A light? No, it was like he was gazing into another world. In his blurry vision into this world he could see a room. The room was evidently empty. Weaponry. The only thing he could manage to uncover from this blurry, dusty world was that this room was or had been used to store armory for somebody. A cross-shaped insignia had been delicately but elegantly carved into a shield that he could see, seated on an empty chair. This shield bared signs of being used heavily in the past. The fact that it was very old could be made out but the dust and also the faded glitter on this finely crafted shield. Wait? Was he imagining this place or was it a still-memory? He thought processes were disturbed when he heard a loud thud. It was the sound of a body hitting the cold rubble of the flooring this structure held. After a few seconds, he could hear screams. Judging from the pitch of the voice the man figured it to be a boy. Out of instinct the man ran towards in the only door that room contained to try and see what all the racket meant. No sooner had he opened the door, a bright streak of light struck him. Almost as if someone was trying to conceal identities out of this illusion that he was

experiencing. Instinctively, the man covered his eyes using his arms; while quietly trying to judge who these people were by trying to notice something from their feet. The first set of feet he saw confirmed his doubts about there being a boy in danger. Quickly scanning through the room revealed to him, that there was something that resembled the corpse, of a man lying face flat on the cold rocky floor. Apparently, after he gave it another look, he confirmed that the man had been knocked-out, and was nearing his death. Looking around the ground and the fresh pool of blood surrounding the body told him that he had been done-in by someone that was still inside the room. Finally he found a clue. There was only one person in this room that was capable of something like this. It had to be the next set of feet he saw inside the room. There was something odd about this next set of feet. The first abnormality had to be, that they were five times the size of feet adults had. Immediately noticing the man lying on the floor, the screaming boy and the huge set of feet, while still trying to cover his eyes from the bright and narrow rays of light intensifying near his face. Gathering all of the guts he could muster, he finally spoke up, “Leave the boy alone!” But judging by the impassiveness the scene showed him. He was struck. The boy continued to scream for help at the top of his lungs, he yelled while running towards the body, “No!” “Not you Mr. Ford.. Please don't be dead!”, staggering he continued, “If you won't be here.. Then I'll be all alone! Please don't leave me!” The figure with huge legs advanced towards the boy, snickering, he said, “Tha's wa' 'appens ta people tha disobey our orders!” The man panting and gasping for breath, tried to be strong and whispered to the boy, “You.. have.. to run.. Ragnar..!” Still as desperate, clutching his blood covered head with one hand, he continued, “Quick..! you mustn't.. waste... any.. more time..” “If... they.. capture you.. it's.. all over...” “No! I won't, I can't”

Ragnar replied, with some haste. “You.. have to.. This.. is the... only.. way...” His voice became more distant, until his eyes finally closed. Ragnar was on his knees. Praying, and hoping that the inevitable had not really happened. He wanted to believe it was a dream. He didn't want the most important person, the only person that accepted his existence to die. The man could see that the light was quietly subsiding over his eyes. His vision was not distracted anymore, but the afterimage of those vivid rays of light were being his vision's undoing. The only information he could gather, was the fact that the huge set of feet, were steadily, now unhindered making its way towards the boy, that couldn't protect himself. Or so he thought. He could hear a whining; sad yet angry voice emanating from the boy. “You killed him..” Sobbing bitterly, he continued. “You are the reason he's dead..” The man with the huge set of feet, replied, “Well tha's yer own fault!” “Yer own fault ya 'ear?” He continued, “It's cause yer cursed!” “First you took Mother away and now Mr. Ford..” “Mr. Ford he did so much for me, he was the only person that took me in.. when everyone in the town hated me.. So then why?” “Why? Why did you have to take him away.. He wasn't a bad person..” The man hastily replied, “Why? O' course he's dead cause he got too used ta bein' around ya..” “Tha's why it's all yer fault..” “An' besides... Tha's wha ya were meant fer anyways.. Don't be goin' thinkin' you'd be good fer anythin' else.. Ya filthy beast..” Getting closer, he continued,

“Yer jus' as bad as those filthy Demon Amalgam beasts.. Tha's all ya are, an' tha's wha you'll always be.” Ragnar, completely ignoring the man's words, bending over Mr. Ford's corpse, kept repeating while sobbing, “I was the reason he died?” He started laughing hysterically, “You...” “...” “That's so funny that it hurts..” He tried pretending to laugh until his lungs gave out. With all seriousness regained, he continued, “That man was an idiot you say?” “He was the only person that believed in me..” “DON'T RIDICULE HIS DEATH!”, he yelled so loud that the other man began to shake, “It's.. your.. fault..” “It's.... all your fault..” “YOUR FAULT!” And with that final angry howl, strange colors of light began to surround him, it was as if those lights were an indication of his increasing rage. Picking up a sword that was quietly sitting on a stone chair and had a jewel embellished in it, the boy dashed towards the man, in a mental-rage-like state. By now, the light that was emanating from his had grown in intensity, and it managed to completely block the view of man who had been there as a simple bystander. The light kept growing and growing, until a point was reached where the man could neither see, nor hear, not feel. It was as if he had been trapped in a intensely bright abyss. He felt himself floating around. His sense of balance and direction had become distorted to variably large extents. He kept wondering why he was floating in this void. He felt himself getting warmer and warmer. This strange warmth was obscurely stealing his state of consciousness away from him. He wondered to himself,

“Huh?” “What am I doing here?” “Why did I imagine all of that exactly?” “Is this an illusion too?” He kept on murmuring until his eyes were completely shut. The next thing he knew, cool water hit his sweat borne face, and he opened his eyes. When he was widely awake, he realized that he had fainted, he scanned around and found that Dragon was sitting waiting for him. “Yo.” “Did you have a nice dream?” Startled, the man replied, stuttering as he did, “Eh?” “Dream?” “That was..?” Thinking for a few seconds, the man asked, “Wait. Then for how long was I out?” “Hmm. Judging from the shadow from the moon light.. I should say, close to an hour and a half.” “An hour and a half?!” “I was out for that long?” He could see that deadly sword on his back again. Dragon arose, got to the man, held his hand and helped him get back on his feet. The man didn't have the slightest clue of what was the right thing to say to him in this situation. He wanted a few answers, but when he looked at the corpse of the Amalgam again, he hastily changed his mind. Before he had a chance, to inquire about what the bloody hell was going on, Dragon said, “You'd best be getting back to Section V right now, before they realize what happened here and come back in bigger numbers.” Slightly pausing, he continued in a more serious tone, “I can't guarantee I can take on an army of them. in my current state.”

The man still looked determined to interrogate Dragon bit more, “Wait.. Were you the boy that was...” “...And besides that you have family right?”, Dragon said, quickly interrupting him, “They must be worried sick by now..” “Oh, and all the others managed to get there fine.” Feeling surprised and relieved, the man asked, “They did?” “That's a relief!” “Oh, and thank you for saving me Mr. Dragon.”, said the man in a cheerful manner. The man continued with a gentle smile, “Despite the way you look and how wildly the rumors about you have spread. You're a pretty good kid.” This disturbed Dragon a bit, he couldn't believe a normal person was thanking him. At some point of time, he forgot that he was on this mission as a mercenary. That was the job he had picked. Remembering this, the first thought to strike him was money. He needed to collect as much money as he could. This was another one of his many traits. “Oh. And make sure you guys pay for this job at the mercenary headquarters!” “This job is costing you guys double, you hear?” “Sure.”, the man replied as he rushed towards the direction the rest of them had been heading too. As soon as the man was out of sight. Dragon slouched. Grabbing his arm revealed that it had been badly wounded. “Damn!” Dragon started angrily. “I have to find that bastard, I need to get stronger than this.”, he mumbled. Clenching his fist, and holding the injured arm in the other hand, he started

walking. Walking on that desert. The desert that resembled dark blood, and remnants of war and conflict. He kept walking on, and sand kept on blowing. He didn't know for how long he had been walking, minutes turned into hours, the desert was unforgiving, Dragon knew this well, all too well, the everlasting desert in the European continent that had been formed as a result of the countless wars. This desert had become one of Dragon's best companions over his countless journeys through it. At least the desert brought him more comfort than his life for sure. As he walked on, he wondered what caused the man on his way to Section V to faint just by looking into his eyes. Was it the pain that he carried? Was it because he had always been labeled as a misfit; an abnormal existence that could be nothing but a demon sent from hell. More so, was his intrigue of being thanked. That had to be one of the few experiences of kindness he had in his life. He smiled at the thought of it, somehow it reminded him of his previous life; the one he lived before his world was forcibly turned upside down and hung for everyone to see. Before he knew it, he reached a town. This town had been built magnificently, or so it seemed from the craftsmanship it had. It was as plain as the light of day though, that this town shone brightly in it's prime. But right now, it had turned into a pile of rubble like most of the other places. That wasn't a surprise. An old rusted signboard outside read:

SECTION II A place for inns and resting, with medical facilities. “Just great.”, he thought to himself. Advancing inside the town, quickly scanning the area with his gray eyes, he noticed a man walking towards him. The man was stout, having a wide waist-line. It was evident from the way his body was shaped, that he was a lazy person. Dragon could smell strange scents of him. But he decided to play the man's game and listen.

“If he schemes anything, I'll just kill him.”, he thought. Finally both of them were face to face. The man quickly noticed Dragon's sword. Scanning his expression for any signs of suspicion, he interjected Dragon's thoughts, “Excuse me sir.” “But do you plan on spending the night in our fair town.” Judging from his speech patterns, Dragon gathered that he had to be the head of this town. “Well, I have been searching for a place to recuperate..”, replied Dragon. “Well then you have come to the right place.”, said the man. Signaling Dragon to follow him. The man started walking on a path that had many broken buildings surrounding it, he walked on. Dragon quietly followed him. Whilst walking Dragon was quietly trying to gain information from his trained observation skills. The town had huts and buildings surrounding many different paths, which led to a single origin. At the origin of the town was a well. One whiff from the air, alarmed Dragon. This smell. He had smelled it countless times before. It was the stink of rotting blood. It was far too familiar too him. The man proudly declared. “And this well right here, is the pride of our town.” “It has been said that most of what exists in this town was all thanks to the life giving powers of this well.” Dragon could clearly figure out that he being made for a fool. Retaining his calm he replied, “Ah. Is that so.” “The sight of it is lovely.” “Yes, and right this way”, said the man, pointing his finger to his left, “This is where you will be staying..” His finger was pointing to an abandoned two-storeyed shack. It was one of the few structures in this wasted town that had been strongly built.

This place talked to Dragon. It was pretty obvious that the entire Section II idea was a ruse. It was an excuse someone needed to relinquish lived to the Demon Amalgams. Seeing through this scheme. Dragon quickly accepted the proposal to stay at this place. “Well, I guess I'll be doing night-duty tonight.”, he thought to himself. He quickly made his way to the shack. Thanked the man. Closed the doors. And decided to get some rest before the inevitable happened. A couple of hours had passed since Dragon had been in his room. He tried to sleep but he just couldn't manage too. Besides that there were other things that were bothering him. On the way to the hotel, he didn't see many people, and the stink of human blood was undeniably strong, even for him. He was anticipating the awaited moment when a bunch of Demon Amalgams would be coming his way. “Oh well. Time for some work out”, he thought to himself. And right then he heard the sickening howls and drools the Amalgams made. He quickly got to his feet, grabbed his sword, and waited. Right before they could bust the door open, Dragon with his agility sprang to it, and gave the door the strongest thing he knew, swords at the ready, he yelled, “BUSTER CYCLONE DESTROYER!!” Again, with swift movements, Dragon slid his sword from its scabbard made a dash for the door, this time targeting the door knob, holding his longsword in one hand and aiming with the other, Dragon made a swirling movement with the sword. And soon enough that typhoon like formation was back in his hand. Holding this typhoon in one hand and forcefully putting his sword holding hand into multiple rapid oscillations, with the other, he plunged the sword towards the door, with the intent to blow the door knob off. Before the Amalgams could do anything. Dragon, slashed them up, right from their vitals, to the door and the door knob which cracked, split into various sized pieces which went flying along with them. As he regained from the knock back effect of this new move, he scanned the corridor to find a really scary welcoming party, waiting for him. “Damn!”, he yelled, “They've got so many of them just to take me out? Thats bloody insane, even for them.”

He knew he was going to die unless he did something radical here, but what? What could he possibly do in this situation, he didn't know. The Amalgams made a sound that signified war over the spoils.

End of Chapter I To Be Continued...

Author's Comments [This part is optional / Only those brave souls that are bored to death should enter]: Well there you go. The first Chapter of project: LeGard. It's been one hell of a ride. And, to be perfectly honest, this Chapter is a rewrite of something that was written, well over two years ago.. Time sure flies, when you're having flies.. ... All lame jokes aside, it feels really great to be back to writing something.. It just feels odd not to write sometimes, for me anyways. [Also side-note, that “Did you have a nice dream” line is a reference to the Get Backer's, Mido Ban's line which goes the same way] In other news, there have been a few things keeping me occupied lately, most of it has, had to do with Air Gear. Air Gear is, basically a Japanese manga series, that is serialized weekly in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine. The story follows the use of Air Trecks, an in-universe invention derived from inline skates. The early parts of the story carry out the introduction of characters that eventually join Ikki. As the story progresses, it focuses on their roles as “Storm Riders” and their quest to be on the top of the Trophaeum Tower. [Oh. And yes, I did copy paste it from Wikipedia... So what?] I know this isn't supposed to be advertising space, but it's my duty as a writer and fictional content creator to discuss influences, or something great I read or

watch, to better contribute to the community as a whole. And let's see.. Anything else great I noticed? Nah. Not much of anything else I guess. ... Oh.. and if anyone hasn't tried it yet. Even though it's an old title, you should give Need For Speed: Most Wanted a go. It still kicks ass in today's gaming scene. Lately, it seems as if EA Games is starting a new trend that is downward spiraling into oblivion with the later Need For Speed titles. I just hope it can get better than it's current state. Then what about Undercover, you might ask? I don't know, I'll let you know, when get around playing the damn thing. Bully is another game you should consider playing. I've heard a lot of good things about it. Undoubtedly, having something to do with Rockstar games being at their best. I'm planning on giving this game a shot as soon as I can. ... Oh. And that reminds me! I'll be accepting questions from Volume 2 onwards.. [The questions along with my answers, will be posted in this space.] That should be pretty soon. As for all other queries, suggestions and other assorted feedback, you can feel free to contact me at: john.voltron[at]rocketmail[dot]com I'll be waiting to hear from you guys! So you'd better comply, or this sword will EAT YOUR SOUL! Muhahahahaha *cough* *cough* [Where are my pills?] hahahaha. Till then, Ciao! - John Voltron

Project: LEGARD by John Voltron is licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNoncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/2.5/in/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.