by Dennis Jode
It was indeed strange. A lot of people witnessed the large group of monsters making its way towards Gallohall, all split up in different kingdoms. It couldn’t have been a lie.
What the knight reported was also strange. The kingdom of Gallohall is one of the largest kingdoms in Gladmont. It was even called the capital, but yet, the place was completely silent.
“Prepare to enter.”, the bearded man commanded the entire army.
They unsheathed their weapons and made their way towards the kingdom gates. They noticed that there were no guards, and the gate was left completely open. Inside the gate, the buildings looked undamaged, but there was no one at all.
As they entered, they took caution in every step. Despite not seeing any monsters, the soldiers felt a sense of dread. It felt as if they had stepped into a dangerous place.
They could not see a single human in the kingdom. They went through multiple residences, but there really was no one.
“What the hell happened…?”, the leader of the knights couldn’t believe it. The capital of Gladmont became a ghost town just like that.
“Captain!”, one of the soldiers reported to the leader. A look of panic could clearly be seen in his expression.
“A thick black smoke suddenly started coming from the castle!”, the soldier reported.
“Quickly! Tell everyone to make their way to the castle!”, the leader commanded the soldier, who hurriedly went around to tell the others.
When they arrived at the castle gates, they couldn’t believe their eyes.
A veil of black smoke covered the castle.
“This wasn’t here when we checked it earlier.”, one of the soldiers who was waiting for them reported.
“Where did this come from?”, the leader asked him.
The soldier shook his head, as if to tell the leader that he didn’t know the answer.
“One of us went inside to check, after that, the smoke slowly started forming. He hasn’t come back yet.” the soldier continued his report.
The leader of the knights looked at the castle, which was shrouded in darkness. The sight gave him an eerie feeling.
“We’re going inside.”, the leader of the knights commanded a small group from the army.
As soon as they approached the castle gates, an inexplicable sense of dread suddenly washed over the entire army.
CHAPTER 5
As the small group entered the castle, the feeling of dread continued growing.
The castle interior was clean, but there was black smoke lingering around everywhere.
“This place creeps me out…”, one of the soldiers couldn’t help but let out his thoughts.
The leader silently reprimanded him and gestured for him to keep quiet.
They arrived at what seemed like the throne room. The room was clean, but it was completely empty. There were supposed to be multiple chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and a large throne where the king is supposed to sit, but none of those were there. It was a completely empty room.
“Did they get robbed or something?”, one of the soldiers asked the leader.
“If that was it, then the entire population wouldn’t have disappeared…”, the leader replied.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps in the hallway.
The group of soldiers hid behind the pillars in the throne room. The door to the throne room was wide open, and they could see a small man walking through the hallway.
The man looked eerie. The same black smoke that was covering the castle also covered him, making it look like an animated cloak. His skin was red, as if his skin was ripped from his body. They couldn’t make out his face from the angle they saw him from.
One of the soldiers came out and pointed his weapon towards the small man.
“Who are you? What happened to the kingdom?”, the soldier threatened the man.
The small man slowly turned around.
When the small man turned around, all of the group of soldiers were surprised.
His face looked disgusting. His skull could be seen through his face. It was covered by a thin layer of flesh.
The soldier who pointed his sword towards Grimmere was the first to move.
“M-monster!”, the soldier charged towards Grimmere.
As he was about to swing his sword, the black smoke that was lingering around the castle suddenly formed and covered the soldier.
The screams of the soldier could be heard throughout the castle. The black smoke that covered the soldier was so thick, that the others could not see what was happening inside.
After a while, the smoke dispersed. The soldier that just there disappeared.
“What the…”, the leader of the soldiers was still in shock, but it didn’t last very long. The man who the soldier had just attacked were looking at them.
“Everybody! Run!”, the leader commanded the others. He didn’t bother being silent about it, since he knew that the man had already knew they were there. He also knew that they were no match for the man.
The group was split. There were a few foolish soldiers who still dared to attack Grimmere, but they all met the same fate. The others ran for their lives.
As the soldiers who ran approached the castle gates, the ground beneath them suddenly rose. The open gate was now covered by a thick wall of earth.
“Can any of you use magic to make a hole?”, the leader asked the soldiers.
A few of them came up to the wall and used a few spells, but they barely scratched the surface.
“Who are you people?” A voice came from behind them.
It was Grimmere. The soldiers started cowering in fear except for their leader. He stood up and faced Grimmere.
“I am a knight from Covenmore. My name is Arthur Woodsend.”, the knight politely bowed.
He was afraid, but he tried his best not to show it.
“Why are you here?”, Grimmere responded.
“We were tasked to subjugate a large group of monsters that was making its way here.”, the knight responded.
“I see. There is nothing here, so you should leave.” Grimmere told Arthur as he turned around and went back into the castle.
The wall of earth slowly started going back into the ground.
Outside, the rest of the army curiously looked at what had just happened in the castle. They saw the cowering figures of the soldiers who were inside.
“Where are the others?”, one of the soldiers asked.
Arthur shook his head.
“They’re gone.”, he responded.
The soldiers were shocked. Some of them felt anger. They looked at the castle and saw a small figure walking back towards the castle.
“Was it that bastard?!”, one of the soldiers exclaimed while pointing at Grimmere.
The leader immediately reprimanded the soldier.
“Shut up! That man is something that we can’t handle!”, Arthur angrily told the soldier.
“Are you scared of one man?!”, some of the soldiers expressed their anger. Their leader ordered them to retreat because he thought they couldn’t take on one small man.
Other soldiers couldn’t handle their temper and started casting spells and threw them towards Grimmere.
Grimmere stopped walking. As soon as their magic reached him, it dissipated.
He turned towards the soldiers.
Black smoke slowly rose from the ground beneath the soldiers. As the smoke touched the soldiers, they felt like the places the smoke touched was burning up.
The leader of the knights immediately went up to him and bowed.
“Forgive their impertinence!”, Arthur apologized towards Grimmere.
“Please let us go! We will peacefully retreat!”, Arthur continued.
“It seems that they do not share the same sentiment.” Grimmere told him while pointing at the army.
The leader turned around and saw that all of the soldiers had already drew their weapons.
“Don’t do it! You’re all gonna die!”, the leader
angrily shouted at the army, but they didn’t listen. They started charging towards the castle.
The black smoke that was slowly rising from the ground started spreading faster. It didn’t take long before the smoke had completely covered the army, except for Arthur.
As the smoke dissipated, not even the remains of the soldiers could be found.
He felt conflicted. He was angry that the entire army that was under his command easily fell just like that, but he knew that he couldn’t do anything about it.
He looked at Grimmere.
“W-what are you…?”, Arthur asked. His voice was shaking. He couldn’t hide his fear any longer.
“I am… just a gifted magician.” Grimmere hesitated. He knew that he wasn’t normal.
Arthur looked at him with a look of disbelief. He thought that he was far more than just a gifted magician. In Arthur’s eyes, he wasn’t even human. No human could use magic that could eliminate an entire army just like that.
Grimmere knew what he was thinking.
“I do not intend to cause harm as long as I do not get disturbed.” Grimmere told Arthur as he turned back towards the castle.
Arthur was surprised. He knew the man could eliminate kingdoms if he so wished to. He didn’t want to be on the man’s bad side, but he knew that it was going to be hard to do so.
The man had just destroyed an army consisting of soldiers that belonged to different kingdoms. Even if he could convince his kingdom to stay away, the other kingdoms would attack Gallohall for sure.
“I will have to report this incident to my kingdom… I will tell them not to attack Gallohall… but as for other kingdoms… I can not guarantee their cooperation.” Arthur hesitantly told Grimmere.
Grimmere did not even turn around.
“Do as you please.” Grimmere said as he walked towards the castle.
Arthur stood there and watched as Grimmere’s figure disappeared into the distance.
He hurriedly made his way outside the kingdom, fearing that the man would suddenly change his decision of letting him live.
As Arthur left, Grimmere called for one of the figures.
“Can you discreetly follow him?” he asked.
The figure nodded as it turned into smoke and went into the ground. It looked like a small shadow. It started following Arthur. As soon as it was near him, it blended into his shadow.
…
“A-are you telling the truth?”, the king of Covenmore asked the knight who was kneeling in front of him. He felt like he just listened to the most unbelievable story of all time.
“Yes.”, Arthur responded as he knelt down towards the king. He just told the king about everything that happened.
The story of an entire army disappearing in a few minutes left the officials who were listening dazed.
“What do you suggest we do?”, the king asked Arthur.
“Nothing, Your Highness. I believe we should not disturb him… he felt as if… he was the harbinger of death.” Arthur immediately responded. He believed the man when he said that he would not cause harm if he wasn’t disturbed.
Hearing this, everyone in the room was shocked. They all felt anger slowly welling up.
“Are you serious?!”, the king exclaimed.
“We can’t just let a man that dangerous loose! What if he decides to destroy everything on a whim?! And what about the soldiers from the other kingdoms? We have to take responsibility, and they obviously won’t leave this matter alone!”, the king continued.
His rambling went on and on. When he finally finished, Arthur spoke up.
“Your Highness… He was able to easily eliminate the army, as well as casting magic that is far superior to what normal magicians could conjure. I am sure that he is capable of something even worse.” Arthur warned the king.
Hearing this, the king was in shambles. A man that had the power to eliminate kingdoms easily came out of nowhere and started living in a neighboring kingdom. He also had to deal with the backlash from losing the troops sent by other kingdoms.
The king sighed.
“Alright, we will leave it be. As for the other kingdoms, I’m sure that I will be unable to convince them.”, the king gave up.
“Just for precaution, go back and tell the man that we do not have anything to do with any attacks from here on.”, the king continued.
Arthur hesitated. He was scared to go back, but he knew that he had to do it. If the other kingdoms continue attacking him and he decided to take action, the kingdom of Covenmore would be caught up in it.
“Understood.” Arthur bowed and made his way outside the throne room. He immediately started preparing and moved towards Gallohall. He didn’t bring any more men, out of fear that they would be killed.
As he rode on his horse, he noticed a small black shadow separating from his own shadow. It made its way towards Gallohall with incredible speed. He thought it was just his eyes playing tricks on him, and so he continued towards Gallohall.
Moments later, a familiar figure could be seen at a distance. The familiar black smoke rose up from the man’s figure.
Arthur immediately stopped the horse and got off. The figure from the distance was Grimmere.
Before Arthur knew it, Grimmere was already right in front of him.
His body started trembling. The person in front of him looked different. He looked like he was made out of black smoke.
“Don’t worry. I am an illusion.”, the figure started speaking, but it's facial expression didn’t change. The mouth didn’t even open.
“You do not have to come back to Gallohall. I already know what you intend to tell me.”, the figure continued.
Arthur was shocked, but he felt a bit relieved. After all, he did not have to go back to that dreadful place.
The figure slowly dissipated. After a while, not even a trace of it was left.
After seeing this spectacle, Arthur was reminded once again that that man was not someone they should mess with.
…
“What do we do?”
All the kings of the neighboring kingdoms thought the same thing. They had received the news of what happened in Gallohall.
At first, they were furious as to how all of the troops that they sent just disappeared. They wanted to avenge their fallen brethren and attack Gallohall once more, but when they heard of how the army was defeated, they had second thoughts.
Where did such a powerful magician come from? They already had their hands full dealing with monsters, and now they had to be wary of a magician like that.
Reclaiming Gallohall would be a great asset. The land would be theirs, together with any treasure that was left behind. If they could successfully take Gallohall, their kingdoms would not face any hardships for the next few years. After all, Gallohall was the capital of Gladmont before it fell.
The story of what happened in Gallohall quickly spread all throughout Gladmont. All of the kings, except for the one in Covenmore, had the same thought: “We have to reclaim Gallohall.”
This was not for anything honorable. The soldiers and commonfolk all thought that the kings ordered the reclaiming of Gallohall in order to restore its honor, but the only motivation that the kings had was their greed.
Because the story was spread through word of mouth, the kings became overconfident. They thought that the story of the army being wiped almost instantly was made up.
“A story made up by the king of Covenwood to hide his embarrassment.”
All of the different kingdoms prepared for battle. Even the kingdoms who are far away from Gallohall started amassing supplies for war in order to join the fray.
Grimmere sat in a new throne made by the black, smoky figures. He heard of everything that was happening. He sent his subjects to different kingdoms to gather information for him.
He did not like hearing the news of the kingdoms attempting take Gallohall. If one of them succeeded, the others would wage war, trying to take the riches of the former capital all to themselves.
After meeting Arthur, Grimmere decided to make a self sustaining kingdom. The kingdom was large, and so he used spells to make crops grow, and asked his subjects to gather different livestock.
It proved to be a daunting task at first, since everything starts to wither and decay as soon as any of the living things touch the black smoke, but after noticing the problem, Grimmere ordered the subjects to avoid direct contact with the produce, and he would use spells in order to gather them.