King of Darkness

Burgundy

The men on the horses rode down a little, but it was only to make room for more footsoldiers. They all wore the same burgundy uniform, but they weren't one group. I could smell the fear in the air. They saw our numbers, they were frightened of us. I was sure of it.

"I don't know how to fight." Amelia said beside me, her voice slightly panicked. When I turned to answer her I saw that she didn't nearly look as excited as I was. In fact, she looked scared. Her big brown eyes were filled with terror, she didn't want to be here.

"Go into the trees," I told her. "Wait until you see who is winning. Either leave or join in."

"What about you?" She asked, grabbing my hand. The group was starting to move forward, with us slowly being swallowed by the people who wanted to be on the front lines. I halted for a moment, did I want to be here or not?

It only took one look at the burgundy soldiers for me to decide. I wanted to rip them to shreds. I wanted to kill, to finally feel free. "I'll find you after." I said, my throat dry with anticipation. I watched as she disappeared into the trees, before rejoining the group myself. I was now somewhere in the middle, though I was anxious to get closer to the front. They had started running and over the bobbing heads in front of me, I could see the burgundy men storming down the hill.

I could visibly hear the impact when our soldiers met theirs. It was like a dull thud, followed by screaming and gurgling noises. Before I knew it, the people in front of me had halted, causing us all to roughly bump into each other. I was too small, I couldn't see what was happening, only the backs of those in front of me.

There was fighting happening and I wasn't involved in it, which made that god awful feeling return again. I could stay there and wait for them to come to me, but my muscles were aching for a good fight. I couldn't wait any longer than I needed to. I went around to the side and saw that some sort of wall had appeared. Upon first glance I thought the wall was made of dirt, but when I looked closer. I saw it was entirely made out of bodies.

Her golden hair was mixed with blood now and her wide eyes were staring right at me, but they did not see anything. For a moment I felt my rage subside, I felt shocked most of all. How did I end up here? How could I have possibly considered killing people?

The men in burgundy were moving insanely fast, my eyes could hardly keep up with them. Our people, our troops, were being mowed down as though they were mere toddlers playing with the grown-ups.

The fight started to spread out more, no longer were there two groups meeting in the middle, but people broke off to fight one on one. I spotted our leader taking out two burgundy soldiers with the same speed they possessed. He was more advanced than us, which had already been clear. But it hadn't been clear that he was making us fight his own kind.

A burgundy soldier fell dead beside me, courtesy of three fellow cave dwellers. They ripped off his arms after he had already fallen to the ground, his scream never seemed to stop. I still felt angry, I still felt disbelief but mostly I just felt very underqualified for this.

Then something new popped up on top of the large hill. With the sky painted pink and orange behind him, a man rode down on a black horse. He was like nothing I had ever seen. He wore the same burgundy uniform as his troops did and had his blond hair in a bun at the back of his head. There was a look of utmost concentration on his face as he sped down the hill. Nothing was supposed to be special about him, but it was as though he had a spotlight on him at all times. It didn't matter where I looked, I could always see where he was on the battlefield.

He, of course, paid me no mind and started killing our troops. Some were simply run over by his horse, others he killed using his hands or weapons he took from others. I felt like I could watch him for hours and still not get bored. But I didn't have hours to spare.

Survive, a voice rang out in my head. I had never heard it before, but it urged me to get my legs moving. Survive, it said again. Our troops were on the losing team, anyone with eyes could see that. Their men were trained for this, we weren't.

A man appeared in front of me, his burgundy robes stained with blood and mud. He had a knife in one of his hands and a wicked smile on his face. Before I could even register what to do I charged at him, the anger flaring up to the surface yet again. I felt it taking control of my limbs, making me do things I never knew I was able to do. The voice urging me to survive was drowned out by a primal growl from within me. Before I knew it, I was on top of the man.

He seemed just as surprised by me as I had been. I had him knocked on the ground, but his hand was still wrapped around the blade. Before he could move it I grabbed his wrist and started banging it into the ground, hoping he would let go. 

He didn't, and I was beginning to run out of options until I spotted the rock a few centimetres above our hands. I went in to smash his wrist on the ground again, but instead made sure his wrist hit the sharp edge of the rock. He cried out in pain, but I grabbed the knife and put it through his throat.

If there was ever a moment to stop, that should have been it. I should have left things as they were and go find Amelia. But I couldn't. Once the fire had reignited, there was no stopping it again, not by shock anyway. My body moved at its own accord, and every moment of sudden violence felt like the music of my soul.