Unseen Darkness

Unseen Darkness1

The loud cry of the rooster pierced the early morning silence. For most, this call was unimportant and was simply ignored. But for a rancher, this was their wake up call. 2

A tangled mess of hair appeared from under the covers as Gareth rolled out of bed, drunk with exhaustion. Life as a rancher was anything but easy. Gareth made his way down stairs to eat a quick breakfast of fresh milk and eggs. After, devouring the meal like it was only a snack Gareth walked back to his room, put on his stained work shirt and tidied up his long hair in the mirror and ducked under his door frame to knocked on fathers door yelling3

“Hurry up, I’m not planning on doing all this work myself!” In a matter of seconds a tall, weathered man, stepped out of the room already dressed. 4

“Me hurry up? I’ve been awake for hours waiting for you!” laughed his father. In no time they were out doing their daily chores of milking, shearing, and feeding the live stock. 5

They walked out of the house together, Gareth looking like a younger version of his father. Both were tall and had an untidy mess of brown hair upon their heads. But the only noticeable difference between the two was their eyes. His father’s eyes were a faded green where as Gareth’s shown a bright blue.6

“Gareth, come here” yelled his dad “I need you to take this gallon of milk down to the Williams. You know how they get if we don’t deliver on time, so hurry up”.7

With the keg of milk in hand Gareth quickly made his way down to the village. Gareth’s ranch was placed on a high hill covered with green grass and shaded by tall trees. Anyone in the village would agree that it was the most serene place in all of Loream. As Gareth made his way down the hill he noticed he was being followed. He quickened his pace, but felt the purser quickening his step.8

He suddenly stopped. “Okay, come on out you guys, this isn’t funny” Gareth said almost laughing.9

With that three little kids popped out of the nearest bush and surrounded him. “Awww, come on Gareth, honestly how long did you know we were following you?” said the small, fat one. “Well for starters Finny, you breathe too loud. If you ever want to sneak up on me you got to learn to control your breathing and never let the person see your shadow.” 10

Finny scratched his head trying to figure out what Gareth just said, when the oldest one looked up embarrassed “Sorry, we have to go through this every day. You’ll have to excuse my brothers; they just want to be like you.” Neil said smiling. 11

Gareth returned the smile with a grin before realizing that he had to deliver the milk to the Williams. After promising to play with them later Gareth doubled his speed on the way to the Williams in order to make up for lost time. Gareth finally delivered the milk and was on his way back to the ranch. 12

“Gareth!” someone called his name as he was making his way past the picket fence of the Williams. It was their oldest daughter Saria. Not only was she Gareth’s age, but she was beautiful. Gareth turned around to see her standing in the door way waving at him. Gareth turned a shade of crimson before waving back. As she ran up to him the sun illuminated her finer features. She had long, chestnut, hair that was pulled up into a bun, but what always amazed Gareth were her eyes. Her eyes were the bluest eyes he had ever seen, and as the light hit them they seemed to radiate, brighter than any gem.13

“Hey, silly!” she said as she stood in front of him. “Thought you could walk away without saying hi!” she said teasingly.14

“I...I…I assumed you were still asleep” Gareth said tripping over his words.15

“Me? Asleep? It’s like almost noon do you really think I would still be asleep?”16

Gareth of course knew that she wasn’t asleep, but didn’t want to embarrass himself like last time.17

As if she was reading his mind she asked “Oh, I meant to ask you if you were okay. Last time I talked to you, you fainted.” 18

Gareth’s crimson color took an inhumanly shade of dark red. “Ya, I’m fine it was just hot and I hadn’t had anything to drink since breakfast.” Gareth said hesitantly.19

Luckily, Saria looked convinced so she dropped it. “Well, it’s been great seeing you, but I really have to get back to the ranch. You know lots of chores still to be done!” Gareth said quickly to break the silence. 20

“Of course, well I guess I’ll be seeing you” Saria said quietly. Gareth began to make his way back to the ranch when he heard foot steps behind him.21

“Wait, actually I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go to the lake tomorrow and maybe have some lunch!” she said beaming at him. 22

Gareth’s heart felt like it was as light as a feather and that at any moment someone would wake him up from this fantasy. 23

“I’d love to!” he yelled, not knowing how loud he was actually speaking.24

“Great! I’ll meet you here tomorrow…how about same time as now” she said giggling at his excitement. Gareth walked home as fast as he could, whistling along the way. 25

He thought to himself “Life could not be better”. 26

That night he could barely sleep with the thoughts of the next day racing through his mind. He stared out the window waiting for the sunrise to come. Suddenly, there was a flash.27

“Was that the dawn?” he thought to himself. 28

But it wasn’t, he saw another one, and another one. Before long he had seen ten or so flashes. Something was going on. Gareth quietly slipped out of bed and put on his stained shirt and pulled on some boots and went outside. As he was making his way down to the village he heard a pounding in the distance. At first he thought they were drums, but being a rancher he quickly figured out what it was. In a matter of seconds a small legion of men on horse back covered in a dark armor, riding steeds as dark as their masters rode into the town carrying torches. Gareth, scared out of his wits, ran back up to the ranch as fast as he could to warn his father. Soon, the town was full of screams as the horsemen torched everything in sight. Gareth ran into the house to find his father coming out the door. 29

“They’re torching the town!” he exclaimed in horror “We have to protect the ranch! Lock the gate at the bottom of the hill! Take a horse! Quick you must hurry!”30

Gareth quickly went to the barn and mounted his horse and sped down the hill to the gate leading to the ranch. It was a race against time; he had to make sure they didn’t get there before him. He pushed his horse as fast as he could and made it just in time. Gareth successfully closed the gate, but quickly realized he locked himself out. He screamed in frustration, only to realize that the sound of hooves was getting closer. He didn’t have time. He mounted his horse and bolted for the side road leading out of the town. Tears ran down his face as he thought about the fate of his town. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hooves pounding in his ears. He was being chased. He looked behind him to see the dark rider pull out his sword. Fear overtook Gareth as he beckoned his horse to quicken its pace. His pursuer seemed to be riding with extraordinary speed. Gareth took his chances and made a quick turn into the wilderness. Luckily, he caught the rider off guard and was able to widen the gap.31

“Whack!” as he turned around to see where his pursuer was, he rode right into a giant limb and fell unconscious off of his horse. His thoughts were filled with painful thoughts of his father and friends as his head throbbed with pain.32

Gareth woke up feeling as though he had just been clubbed in the head several times. Remembering what had happened Gareth slowly got up. He was in the middle of the forest still, however his horse was gone. As his memories come flooding back he began to make his was back to the village. After several minutes of walking he came back to the village. No more was it the green, flourishing, utopia he once thought of, but a scorched town devastated by unimaginable events.33

Gareth fell to his knees and began to cry. All that he had grown up knowing was destroyed. 34

His thoughts drifted from the village to the villagers. “Had any survived? What about the ranch! And father!” he thought as he sprinted up to the ranch. 35

Adrenaline was carrying him now as he had never run so fast in his life. He made it to the bottom of the hill to find no trace of a gate. He searched around for any kind of piece of it, when he finally found small pieces of the gates hinges 36

“The gates… have been demolished!” he thought praying that his suspicions were false.37

He unlocked the gate and made his way to the ranch, only to see nothing but ash and devastation. Gareth continued to scan the area till he broke down once more, tears falling on the once fertile soil. He got up and ran to the scorched barn to see the body of his father. Burned and bloodied his father’s body was pierced with several stab wounds. The world began to spin, his head filled with thoughts of despair and anger. Gareth stood and let out a cry in pain as he crumpled to the ground. Gareth slowly got up and quickly ran back down into the village in hope of finding someone who survived. He surveyed the village and began searching the ruins for anything or anyone. 38

“Hello!” he kept yelling, each time less hopeful than the last. 39

“Hello?” someone finally answered. Gareth looked up and couldn’t help but smile as he saw Mr. Williams. 40

Mr. Williams looked terrible; he had burn marks all over and the ash on his clothes gave him the appearance of a blacksmith. “What happened to everyone” Gareth asked.41

“Most of us made it alive, we are camped out about a mile out, I came back to see if there were any survivors.” He said. “But, the kids…they were taken…Saria too” He burst into tears. 42

Once Mr. Williams began to come to his senses he asked “So what happened to you? We assumed that you got taken as well.” Gareth began to think about the chase and how close he was to being captured.43

“Ya, I went down to close the gate to the ranch and locked myself out. I realized that I would be taken if I took the time to unlock it and relock it so I hopped on my horse and was pursued through the woods. I split of the trail to lose him and was knocked unconscious by a low branch…” 44

Mr. Williams seemed impressed and patted Gareth on the back. “Let me take you to where we’re camped.” 45

They traveled a mile out In the middle of the woods to the remote campsite. Most of the villagers were there with a few exceptions. As they entered the campsite many looked up trying to manage a smile. Mr. Williams led Gareth to a spare tent and gave him some bread and soup. The food reminded Gareth how hungry he truly was and ate it all within a matter of minutes. Gareth stayed in his tent all night lying there thinking of what he would do. The ranch was his life and with his father dead he had no where to turn. Exhaustion finally kicked in and Gareth fell asleep. 46

“Could life get any worse?” he thought as he slipped into sleep.47

He was awakened by the smell of cooking and slowly got up. Gareth got out of tent to see the villagers gathered in groups around cooking fires, each making something different. Gareth sat down next to Mr. Williams who seemed to be having trouble chewing the rabbit-like stew that was prepared. Gareth sat down as Mrs. Williams gave Gareth his own serving of the mystery meat. Everyone ate in silence as if a spell had been cast on the villagers. Despite the chewy ness of the animal, Gareth enjoyed the hot meal. Once Gareth was finished Mr. Williams looked over and said “We are having a meeting this afternoon to decide our course of action”. 48

Gareth nodded and took a walk to the nearest stream to clean up. Gareth cleaned the small cuts and soaked his body in the cold water for a while. He got out and dried off. Mr. Williams had given him some fresh clothes earlier to put on, so he did. He walked back to the campsite to see the entire village gathered in a semi circle listening to the mayor of the town. The mayor had short dark brown hair and a thin smile. He was heavily disliked because he never did anything to help anyone. All he thought about was how to help himself rather than for the benefit of the town. Everybody glared at him as he attempted to soothe the people with false words. Gareth stood in the back watching him talk to the people as if he was some kind of idol.49

“In times like these we must stick together. This is a terrible time for all of us and we can’t risk losing anyone else by chasing the young ones”. With this the town yelled words of protest.50

“How can you say this? You have no idea how we feel, they’re our children!” yelled one mother. 51

Even Mr. Williams was in an uproar about what the mayor had said. Gareth could see the worried look on the mayor’s face after realizing what he had done. He looked frantic to get away before the crowd got violent. The mayor took a deep breath and raised his voice so everyone could here 52

“Then what do you propose we do? All of you complain about us not taking action, but how can we? I don’t see any of you stepping up to take charge!” The crowd fell silent, many looked up with apologetic eyes and some even mumbled apologizes to the mayor. 53

Gareth looked around him at the broken hearts surrounding him. Many began to cry realizing that there was nothing that they could for their poor babies. Without any thought, acting only pure sadness and anger54

“I’ll go” he sighed. Everyone turned around to look at him, and it was then he realized how stupid he was for doing this. 55

But as he looked among the startled faces he felt an energy rushing through him. Before he knew it he stepped up in front of the village next to the mayor and yelled “I WILL DO IT! I will find the children and bring them back!” behind these valiant words he thought “And I will have my vengeance…” 56

The crowd looked upon Gareth as if he were they’re god. He was sure that if he had asked them to build him temple that they would with a smile on their face. He had never felt this kind of pride in his life, for a moment he had forgotten why he was now the town’s hero. Gareth scanned the admiring faces of the crowd until he saw the shadowed face of Mr. Williams.57

“You don’t have to do this!” he said “This journey will be the death of you. How do you intend to fight them or let alone find them!”58

Gareth felt as though he had just crashed back down to earth. “How was he going to fight them? There was only one of him and who knows how many of them. Let alone where to find them.” Gareth thought in dismay. 59

“I can help you there” cried an old man. He stepped forth in front of Gareth his head barely reaching his chest. “They traveled west I think… towards the Hiryla Mountains.”60

“Well, that solves the problem of which way, but that still doesn’t settle the fact that you’re just one person. You can’t do this alone.” Mr. Williams pleaded.61

“Mr. Williams you’ll have to trust me. I know I can find them and I won’t rest until I do! Just leave me alone, you have no right to complain! I’m doing the whole village a service!” Gareth said becoming frustrated with the protest of Mr. Williams. 62

Mr. Williams was hurt and walked off to go be alone. Gareth’s heart was pounding. So much was happening in so little time. 63

“In a matter of minutes he had just become a hero” he thought to himself. 64

The clouds began to part and revealed a glorious day. Slowly, everyone’s mood lifted with the recent events. Hours seemed to fly by as people came up to Gareth giving him gifts and words of encouragement. It felt like it was Gareth’s birthday, and by the end of the day his jaw was sore from the his constant smiling at the many gifts he received. Among the gifts though, only several seemed to stand out: A brand new saddle and saddle bags, a fine hand-crafted bow with a quiver full of arrows, and a compass. Gareth turned off his lamp, lied down, and closed his eyes thinking about the upcoming day. Just as Gareth was slipping from reality 65

“Pssst…Gareth” a voice came from the outside of his tent. Gareth moved to open the tent flap and was surprised to see Mr. Williams standing in front of him, nothing more than a silhouette against the twilight.66

“I just wanted to see you before you headed off” whispered Mr. Williams “I brought you something…but you can’t tell anyone.” Gareth nodded looking up bewildered at the old man. “Before I moved to our village I was a world renowned blacksmith, people would come from other countries for my swords, but I quit when I realized what my creations did…But I saved one and I believe you need it more than I.” 67

With that last sentence hanging in the air he pulled out from behind him what looked like a long stick draped with a velvet cloth. Mr. Williams knelt before him and presented him the sword. He slowly withdrew the cloth and revealed a glistening sword made of the brightest steel he had ever seen. It had a ruby in the hilt that seemed to illuminate the night with its radiance. He brought his lamp closer to notice the engravings upon the hilt of it. He ran he fingers down the sword, giving him a chill down his spine as the cold metal met his flesh. This sword would avenge his father. 68