Rise of the Horde

Left with no choice, he sluggishly got up to his legs then stretched his body a bit but then it suddenly dawned on him that he was supposedly to be on guard hours ago. He peeked out of the window praying that it was just his imagination that it was already past early morning but the bright sun hanging up in the sky betrayed him as it seemed to be staring at him with a mocking smile for his tardiness. “Shit!” he can’t help but curse as he hurriedly headed outside while thinking fast of reasons that he should give to his captain for being so late.

He pushed open the door and he was prepared to be greeted by angry gaze of their captain and the annoyed expression of his fellow soldier after failing to relieved him of his post at the arranged time but he wasn’t ready for what actually greeted him as soon as the door of the room was flung open by him. Crows flew around in panic after being surprised by the sudden opening of the door and the noise that it created, black colored feathers were left behind as the birds of death took flight.

The young man’s stomach churned after seeing the sight that welcomed him, he just had to see a crow turn its head towards him with an eyeball clutch on its beak before taking flight. There in front of him lay his fellow sentries with their necks slit open and dried blood all around it. The crows seemed to have considered his presence as no threat and they returned to the corpses on the ground to continue on with their feast. ‘What happened while I was asleep? Were we raided?’ there were a lot of questions running through his mind.

He felt lucky that he was still asleep when the attacked happened or else he might be also among those who lay dead on the ground but he still can’t help but feel sorry for his fellow soldiers especially to the one who he was supposed to replace in guard duty. There were five of them assigned to guard the bridge and they had to alternate between them to stay on post except for their captain who will only be on guard whenever he felt like it but he was so unlucky that he felt like guarding when the attack happened.

The young man chased the crows away with his sword and the crows cawed at him and the eyes of the birds that turned to look at him seemed to say that he was annoying as he had disturbed their meal. His attention then turned towards his comrades who all had one thing in common, all there corpses had their eyeballs missing. He could feel his stomach going crazy as he felt the acids on his throat but he suppressed the urge to puke as he stared at the eyeless corpses of his comrades.

The crows s came back once again to continue with their meal but the young man wouldn’t allow them to continue in desecrating the corpses of his comrades as he chased them away with his weapon and the anything that he could throw at them. He started to move the dead bodies of his comrades to the room where he came from but when he was about to take the second of the corpses away from the crows he was suddenly reminded of the beacon that they were supposed to light up when an attack happens as to warn the town of the enemies. The body on his shoulders was dropped down as he sprinted towards the top of the small tower that was beside the bridge, he turned to the body of his dead companion that he just dropped with apology as he run.

After going through the tiring stairs of the tower and grabbing one of the torches that was on its walls, he set light to the beacon. As the flames surged up, he fell down on his knees as the sense of fatigue overwhelmed him. It didn’t take long for him to be on his back as he huffed and puffed trying to catch his breath after running up the winding stairs of the tower.

.....

“I hope it’s not too late.” He muttered as he lay there on the top floor of the tower. After a few moments of rest, he got up to his feet and distanced himself away from the heat and thick smoke that was coming from the beacon.

Still tired and drenched in sweat, he slowly made his way down the stairs of the tower while using its walls for support as his legs were shaking due to fatigue. When he exited the tower, the sight of the crows pecking on the dead bodies of his comrades annoyed him but he was too tired already.

The crows turned their heads towards him and cawed continuously seemingly trying to tell him ‘Have you given up? Good! Don’t disturb us.’