The darkest burden
Hello all, it’s time for another edition of the Roll of the Dice challenge. And ho boy am I in for it now! I rolled an 8 which means a friend of mine from Discord KrisDenger came up.
And oh boy he’s chosen something for me. The Genre is Death scene, and the word is Recursion. Looks like I’m heading back into the darker region of my imagination. Well let’s do this, pray for me folks.
The ache through his whole body was the first thing he felt as he came to. He grimaced as he sat up the pain offering his body's protests. A hammer-like pain pounded in his mind.
He shook his head to clear it and then take heed of his surroundings. The man found he wore blue with gold trim armor. Yet the shine of the armor had a dulled look to it. He checked his belt and felt himself touch the hilt of his long sword.
He felt the tower shield strapped behind him. How did I get here, and where is here? He wondered as he got to his feet.
He tried to think about who he was. He remembered he was some kind of warrior. The armor, shield, and sword were proof enough of that. But that still didn’t explain how he got here and where here was.
He looked around the room and saw based on the lack of any furnishing and the barred door that it was some kind of cell. The warrior made his way to the cell door and opened it. Pulling out his sword he saw the torchlit passage ahead was empty of anyone.
The warrior began his slow trek through the hallway. He passed by other cells that proved empty. The hallway itself deathly quiet.
To this the warrior felt a sense of dread wash over him. He rushed up several sets of steps and down several passageways finding nothing. Finally, he came to a set of double doors.
He opened them on to a vast courtyard of a castle. The warrior grimaced as he felt a dagger like shot of pain in his head. Then he recovered and looked around.
Yes, yes, I know this place, this is my home. Or at least it was, but where are the gardens and what happened? The warrior thought in puzzlement.
Then he thought out loud. “Wait, wait a moment, my name is Andreus. Yes, it’s Andreus of clan Markham, and this castle was my home.”
Andreus readied his shield and pulled out his sword. The warrior trembled in fear, yet he had this deep set feeling that this was the only way he could go. This was the only way to figure out what was going on.
“I remember Markham castle and the nearby village were full of life and hope. So, what could've caused whatever's happened?” The Markham family member wondered.
And then he looked up at the eerie black sky above him. This is not the sky that I remember, he thought.
The warrior heard a set of doors open before him. He looked to a tower before him and a set of steel double doors. From the tower a woman stepped forth.
She had white hair and wore the traditional long dress of royalty. She walked down the empty cobbled courtyard towards Andreus. The warrior walked forward his nerves on edge.
He had this feeling that he knew this woman, though from where he didn’t know. As they approached Andreus noted the woman had an aged and haggard look about her.
In her light blue eyes, he saw a sad look on them. As if a great burden weighed on this woman.
“You shouldn’t have come back." The woman told him in a shaky tone.
“Now his sick and twisted game begins again, and we're all his players.” She stated.
Before Andreus could ask anything, things went to the Hells in a hurry.
Her eyes became golden like those of a cat. She began to grow taller as her dress tore and purple fur grew on her. Her nose and mouth grew until they became a bird-like beak.
Her white hair grew longer and longer. Her legs and arms became elongated even as the skin changed to a purple hue.
Andreus grimaced in disgust. Yet he felt sympathy for the woman undergoing this horrific transformation. Finally, before him stood a giant beast covered by purple hair. The creature bellowed out a roar of challenge even as it shot a clawed fist downwards at Andreus.
The warrior leapt out of the way and found himself rolling to his feet. The creature turned around and tried to kick him. But again, the warrior dodged the blow.
His sword began to glow with a strange blue light. A strange voice whispered, “Use it.”
Without another word he ran towards the creature. It tried to reach down and grab him. But the armor-clad warrior dove out of the way and to his feet.
The warrior swung his mighty blade at the creature’s legs. His reward was the sickening sound of metal sinking into flesh and blood spewing forth.
He leapt away as the creature screamed and punched downwards. The warrior panted as he stepped away.
All he knew was he was fighting for his life against a creature that had once been an elderly woman. Again and again he dodged the blows of the creature while striking at the legs. All the time Andreus hoped that his stamina would hold out.
And then he noticed his efforts were having an effect. The creature dropped to one knee as it struck out. The warrior went for the other leg using the same strategy as the first leg with similar success.
Finally, the creature fell to the ground. It reached out with both hands to grab the warrior. But Andreus dodged the blows even as his sword began to glow brighter.
He clambered up the back of the creature and soon found the area between the head and neck. The old woman's voice called, “Free me, free me please my son.”
The warrior gritting his teeth began to stab the creature in the back of the head. The monster let out shrieks of pain as it tried to grab for him. But the warrior kept stabbing and stabbing with his sword until it moved no more.
He slid off the beast his armor covered in blood. The creature began to shrink. “Thank you, my son.” The voice of the woman said.
Andreus then felt another sharp pain as he dropped his sword. In a flash, memories raced through him. Memories that he had known yet not known.
They were his memories, and he knew the woman. The armored warrior fell to his knees as he began to wail and sob in anguish. The elderly woman had been his mother Lady Danica Markham, he had killed his own mother!
He wasn’t sure how long he’d remained like that. So, he was unaware of what had happened since then. He looked up to find the body vanishing.
He found the courtyard had transformed into an eerie dead garden. Several benches covered in soot were nearby and a dried cracked fountain stood in front of him. Another knight in full armor sat on one of the benches.
“So, you’ve come again,” the knight said in a flat tone.
“I don’t imagine you’ll do much better this time than the last. You may have killed Mother, but you’ll figure out what’s going on. That thing created this sick and twisted game well.”
Andreus looked on the other knight. “You’re…. you’re my brother, aren’t you?’
The knight shrugged. “Who can say, the master of this game took away our memories. Or at least the parts he saw fit to continue with this little game of his.”
“Game? I’m in some kind of game?” Andreus asked.
“Indeed, and tis a sick and twisted one for certain.” The nameless knight moaned.
“You’ll never be able to win this, he won’t let you. Sit here with me instead, we’ve got a long time to wait for the inevitable end, in fact we have all eternity.” The other warrior chimed before he let out a sad laugh.
For a moment Andreus wondered if this man was right. Should he give up sit there and wait for the end. “You mustn’t give up,” the voice whispered in his mind.
Andreus looked around startled by the voice. “What’s the matter, ghosts of the past getting to you already? They got to me too you know.” The other warrior added before he let out another sad laugh.
Andreus got to his feet and looked around the strange courtyard. “You mustn’t give up.” Came the voice again, this time Andreus knew it sounded female and familiar somehow.
He shook his head and picked up his sword. “No, no I can’t give up,” He responded.
He looked towards the open doors the woman had come out of. “Suit yourself, it’s not the first time you’ve chosen not to give up. You’ll learn how to and live with things soon enough.” The other warrior responded.
“I’ll be back to deal with you soon enough!” Andreus snapped.
“I’ve heard you say that before too. You might or might not, it doesn’t matter.”
The warrior turned and headed for the open double doors. As he did, he saw ghost visions of himself.
Some unsheathed their blade and sliced at the other warrior. Some visions showed him sitting down beside the other. Other visions showed him impaling himself on his own sword.
Yet others showed him getting to his feet and doing what he was doing now. The warrior shook his head before he headed through the double doors.
Before him stood a warrior clad in silvery plate armor. He stood a head taller than the blue and gold clad warrior. And he carried a large and formidable looking halberd.
The silver warrior looked on Andreus, from beneath his visor covered face. Andreus could sense the man smiling.
“So, come for another round, have you? Doesn’t matter my halberd will cut you in half. And even if it doesn’t, he won’t let you win."
The warrior rushed forward. Andreus drew his sword and dove out of the way. Yet as he did, he saw visions of himself getting impaled or chopped by his opponent.
Andreus didn’t know how this was happening, but he knew from instinct he needed to take advantage of this. The warrior scrambled to his feet. And dodged out of the way of the swing of the axe part of the halberd.
Then Andreus slid in and swung his blade. He cut into the chest of the other warrior. Blood spewed forth covering Andrus’ plate armor.
Twice more he did this with the same result before he backed away. The warrior sank to one knee before he gasped and said, “So, you’ve learned huh? Well, it won’t matter, I’ll have to change.”
Andreus heard the sickening sounds of bones cracking and the metamorphosis taking place. The helmet burst open to reveal a head that looked to be part human, part praying mantis. Gauntlets shattered as hands became long bladed scythe like appendages.
Soon the insectoid human scampered towards Andreus. He dove out of the way of the slashes from the creature. He swung his glowing sword a at the beast, and found it bounced off.
Andreus dove away from more slicing blows from it. The human warrior noted the halberd the knight had dropped on the floor. He turned again to his opponent.
And then he saw the visions of himself appear. He saw that in all cases cutting at this beast had the same effect, nothing. A desperate idea came to the warrior.
He ran for the halberd and picked it up. The creature let out a high-pitched derogatory laugh before it hissed and rushed him. But rather than cut it Andreus extended the spear part of the halberd.
The momentum of the praying Mantis humanoid carried it right onto the point of the spear. The impaled creature let out a scream of pain. It pulled away as a viscous green liquid began to spill from the wound in it's left side.
In that instant Andreus knew what he needed to do. He sprang forward and stabbed at the creature with his spear part of the halberd. The monster leapt away but it was clear the wound was affecting the thing’s speed.
The creature attacked but Andreus dodged and caught it in the other side with another spear shot. It screamed in pain and turned towards Andreus. But the warrior went in with another spear strike.
Again, and again, Andreus struck with the spear. Finally, the creature fell to the ground as it transformed back into its human form.
He felt another dagger like blast to his mind. When he recovered, he understood more. Andreus was a paladin, a member of the Holy order of the Sun Knights.
This man that had attacked him had once been his childhood friend. Even more horrifying the man outside was Andreus' older brother. They and their castle were in this nether realm by…someone.
Someone trapped us here, but who, and why? The paladin wondered in disbelief.
"My son," a voice whispered from all around him.
The spectral figure of a man dressed in royal white garb appeared. The man had a full beard and hair white as his garb. He also wore a simple gold crown on his head.
"Listen well Andreus my son. The recursion curse spell on this place is weakening. You have a chance to end the doom brought on this family by me, and free yourself from this fate." The spirit explained.
Andreus looked at the ghost and asked, “You, who are you?"
“In life I was your father York Markham. We must hurry my son, the demon who has created this game has already sensed that the trap he’s created is weakening.”
Andreus was about to act when he heard the familiar female voice call, “Follow, but don’t believe him.”
Andreus’s face furrowed. The female voice sounded familiar. And then a memory came to him. Yes, there was a woman I adventured with. We…we were going to get married. But her name somehow escapes me.
“Follow me my son.” The ghost of his father coaxed. Andreus decided to do as the ghost asked. Yet he kept the whispered warning close.
Back outside he saw the still ruined remains of the courtyard. The knight who Andreus knew to be his brother got up and looked at him. “Ah, you made it through the second guardian, I guess that leaves it up to me now.”
The other warrior sniffed the air. “The scent of blood is thick on you.”
The warrior seemed to stumble almost as if he were drunk. “The smell is so sweet, it’s almost sickening.”
Andreus saw the warrior fling off his helmet as his teeth became sharp and pointed. The man’s ligaments extended to inhuman angles as his hands grew claws. The man’s face changed into a wolf-like one.
From his back he pulled a nasty scythe weapon. Oh no, here we go again! Andreus thought.
He saw ghost visions of himself fighting this thing and getting ripped to shreds. He realized he had been through all this before, many times before.
But he had no time to contemplate anything else as the wolf-like knight leapt at him scythe swinging. Andreus caught the blade with the halberd axe. The metal of the two weapons clanging like chimes of doom.
Andreus felt his strength fading as the creature pushed towards him and growled. The beast pushed more and shot its open maw forward. Andreus screamed in pain as the creature bit deep into his shoulder.
White hot pain shot through him, and he felt his blood oozing from the wound. The creature pulled away and licked its bloody maw. The burn of his wound caused Andreus to lose more of his strength.
Before him he saw the possibilities of what had been. It can’t end like this, it can’t, not again, the warrior thought.
“Beloved, use his strength against him,” came the female voice in his mind.
In that instant, a name came to Andreus. “D-Denissa?” he asked.
“Hurry beloved, hurry!”
The creature let out a half-chuckle half snarl as it pushed further. But then Andreus saw a possibility. Gritting his teeth, the warrior slid to the side of the beast.
He swung the hilt of the halberd at the legs and caught it! The humanoid wolf-beast wasn't prepared for this tactic. The momentum of the pole swept its unbalanced legs out from under it.
The creature fell backwards as its scythe went flying into a wall. The weapon broke as if made of glass.
Somehow Andreus managed to swing the halberd around so that the axe swung at the chest plate. The weapon tore through the armor like it was nothing and embedded itself in flesh. The creature let out a scream of pain as blood gushed from the wound and covered the warrior.
The warrior then pulled out his sword and with his uninjured arm swung it at the neck of the creature. The head of the beast went flying off. The warrior sank to his knees as white-hot pain struck his mind.
Memories came back to him. As he cleared his eyes his mind raced over the memories. “Yes, I remember now, I came here with Denissa to warn my father about…” he thought out loud.
His mind raced as he tried to remember, and then it hit him,. “Yes, I was trying to warn father, the so-called ambassador. I was going to warn him about…”
The spirit appeared before him. “You were going to warn me that the so-called ambassador to our kingdom was a demon in disguise. You were going to warn me he was using my paranoia against me.”
Realization dawned on Andreus as he sank to his knees. “No, I failed! Denissa and I arrived as the spell on the orb of protection took effect.”
The paladin felt the pain of the wound sink in. “No son, you can still avenge us.”
Shame came to the paladin with his lost memories. “But father how can I? I’ve killed mother, my brother Jorgen, my childhood friend and bodyguard Benviric.”
“It is not too late my son, there is a way you can end this.” the ghost assured.
The warrior clambered to his feet. "You believe I can?” Andreus asked.
The spirit of his father nodded. “I know you can. But to do so you must defeat the creature that possesses my body now.”
Andreus found himself believing this ghost. “Careful beloved.” The voice of Denissa warned.
“I must do this!” Andreus thought.
“Come with me.” The spirit called.
Andreus followed the ghost in and up several sets of steps until they were at the very top of the tower. A podium shaped like a dragon claw stood at the center of the floor. Held within it was an orb that glowed ghost white and blood red all at once.
“My greatest pride, and greatest shame. Created to protect our kingdom from the savage raiders around us. Yet possessed by a powerful demon as my body has been.”
Andreus looked around, "But father where is your body?”
The ghost shook his head. "Held within the confines of the orb for summoning at his petty whim."
“And to defeat him and free my body you must do something drastic," the ghost explained. "Only the blood of my kin can free this land. You must give of your own lifeblood in full.”
Andreus nodded and prepared to do so, until a bright flash occurred behind him. “Don’t do it beloved, he’s lying to you!”
Andreus turned with a start. Before him was a woman dressed in the attire of a priestess. Her long blonde hair fell down her back.
Yet she had bird-like wings that glowed with yellow light. “That is not your father Andreus, what that thing told you was a half-truth! Your father's trapped in there, that's true, but he and his spirit are being used by that demon!”
“But how is that possible?” The paladin asked in open perplexment.
“Don’t listen to her,” said the spirit of his father.
“She is the demon who controls my body. Slay her, and then make the sacrifice to avenge us my son.” The ghost called.
“Andreus after all the times we’ve adventured you know me, you trust me. So, trust me now, that is the demon, not me.”
The warrior drew his sword despite the pain and confusion. “I. Must. Obey.” He said as he raised his sword.
“I win again,” the spirit of his father said in smug triumph.
In that instant Andreus had a flash of memory. He saw before his eyes all the times he’d done this, hundreds of times. And he saw how they ended, which brought a new understanding to him.
Not this time, the paladin thought in anger.
He swung his blade. And struck at the so-called spirit of his father! The sword bounced off the ghost's shield as it got knocked back.
“Boy what is the meaning of this!” the spirit roared.
Andreus glared in anger. “Save the faux-outrage demon! I’ve fallen for your treachery too many times as is, not again!”
The ghost looked surprised at first. Then his demeanor changed. His face took on a predatory smile as his eyes began to glow fiery yellow.
"You actually held back and didn’t obey this time, impressive. This will make your failure and the restoration of my recursion game that much sweeter!”
The ghost transformed before his eyes. It became a crimson-skinned humanoid five times taller than Andreus. It had cloven hooves for feet, bat wings, had black horns and claws. A humanoid face with a bulbous nose close to it looked down on them.
“Time to perish paladin!” The demon taunted.
The warrior scrambled out of the way of the closed fist the hellish fiend shot downward. He knew that he had to end this fast lest the tower collapse around them. He swung his blade at the thing’s right leg, and it bounced off as if it were nothing.
“My magic protects me from your pathetic holy artifacts:” It mocked.
The paladin dodged a grab by the demon and ran towards the podium. My only hope is to destroy the orb.
“Oh no you don’t!” the creature snapped.
It reached down and grabbed the orb with a hand. It lifted the orb high in the air. “
"Trying to end the recursion curse by destroying the orb? Sorry after all my summoners did to give me the means to do this, I can't allow you to thwart my plans! You and your family will continue to feed me with your blood and pain in this nether realm for all eternity!"
“And you talk too much oaf!” Denissa's echoing voice snapped from behind the demon.
It screamed as a spear made of light burst through his chest. "My Goddess protects me and gives me the means to aid the man I love!" she stated the enlarged woman holding the spear that impaled the demon.
The orb dropped from the demon's hand. “This is your moment, destroy the orb, destroy it! So that this recurring nightmare may at last end!”
The paladin put all his strength into throwing his holy sword at the orb. The blade collided with it, and the magical orb shattered from the impact. The darkened sky exploded with cracks as the world began to shake.
The demon looked on in horror then smiled in derision.
“So, you beat me, it doesn’t matter! Your peasants, servants, and friends are dead, and you've done the unthinkable! You’ll never be welcome as a Holy Warrior again Markham, so I win anyway."”
The demon let out a cackle as he disintegrated. A burst of light blinded Andreus. A wave of disorientation overcame the paladin.
When he recovered, he found himself back in the castle courtyard. But the sky above was full of clouds and there was a chill to the air. The walls around him had weeds and ivy covering them.
The walls showed signs of falling apart from lack of maintenance.
The paladin looked around, "Denissa?" he called.
But there was no response. The covenant with her Goddess must've destroyed her, Andreus thought his heart sinking.
And then he spotted a figure in white on the ground before him. He rushed over and turned the figure to face him. It turned up the sickly wrinkled elderly man was his father.
But based on his weakened state it was clear the man didn't have much time. The elderly man looked up and smiled, "Well done my son. It..is the sky after all. We've returned to our realm, well done my boy."
"Father please, don't go! You're all I have left now." Andreus begged as the tears came to him anew.
"There's nothing you can do son. That demon when he used the orb and recursion curse drained almost all my life force. Soon I go to join your mother, brother, and friends in paradise, but you must go on for our family's future."
The dying man waved a hand towards a wall. A small pile of treasure appeared.
"Take the last of our land's treasure and go. Go far away and start anew. Tell the story of what happened to all the generations to come."
The old man shivered before he recovered himself. "Tell of our triumphs and our mistakes. And let them learn from events, the rest…is up to you."
And with those words the old man's eyes glazed over as he shuttered and stopped breathing. Andreus set him down as he began to sob. I can't…I cannot go on father I have nothing left.
"Andreus, Andreus I'm here!" he heard a familiar female voice shout.
The paladin turned to see Denissa running towards him looking very much alive. At first Andreus couldn't believe it, until the woman reached him and took him in her arms. At which point the paladin held her close and wept.
-Wipes brow- Phew, this was a hard one.
This took more time than I thought. This was definitely a hard story to write as I’m not a big fan of stories that are super dark or sad endings. But one must expand one’s horizons somehow.
Anyway, I hope this Roll of the Dice story proved entertaining. I hope the next story will take less time.
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The Roll of the Dice challenge continues next time. I’m Animeman73, stay true to yourselves, stay classy, and God bless you all.
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Roll of the Dice story #1
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Roll of the Dice story #4