DISCLAIMER- this is a work of fiction, and has Graphic violence and profanity in it. Character names and places are mere concidences. have a good read

“You must have, heard of it before, right? A deep gravelly voice growls, the line of sight you have is black; nothing, just void and the voice. You don’t know where it’s coming from. “Oh, don't worry, we don’t need to rush this. Come take a seat,” the voice spoke again. While you listened, you noted chairs appearing out of thin air. It felt like you should go over there, and sit. So you did, the seat was uncomfortable but bearable. It almost felt like you have sat on this seat before. 

A candlelight flickered and a table, another chair opposite you, appeared. A ghostly figure sat on that chair, their eyes were white with no pupils. Stared at you, a chill ran up your spine whilst looking at the figure. “Now, then, shall we start this tale? This tale of the knight called the Watcher.” You lean forward and are interested in the tale, you sensed the figure was smiling at you, which made you shiver. 

“Normal tales always start with once upon a time, correct?” he asked You, and You nodded. He chuckled, and took a deep breath. “Then, let's start with that”

***

Once upon a time, in the 1300s; there was a continent called Darkwood. In this continent were many kingdoms striving to be the most powerful one of all. Those kingdoms had armies, one such army. In a division of that said army, is where our story starts.

There was a young man, in his early twenties. He had black hair, with a streak of silver. He had a lean body with leather clothing covering him as well as an iron chest plate. That man walked down a dirt trail, which progressed down towards the gate of the kingdom of Dusk. An older looking man approached him, he looked like he was in his late 50s.  The older gentleman looked distressed at the young man.  

“Drake, please don't, it's not worth it” he said, grabbing Drake’s arm while Drake's hand rested on the handle of his short sword on his left hip. Drake stopped walking and gave a determined face to the man, “father I need to do this.” Drake put his other hand on his father’s shoulder to show he knows what he’s doing. “To protect you and mother” he looks into his father’s eyes; more determined every time he speaks. “Since you're too weak to join the war against the Tungsten kingdom”, Drake said. His father saw how strongly Drake felt about protecting them, to even go as far as join the military to help end the war.

His father refused, tightened his grip to where it was getting painful. His fingernails imprinted onto Drake's arm; Drake winced, his father saw the wince, so he backed off “ah sorry, I… I just don’t want you to go since…” He said, looking down in shame at what he did. Drake just smiled and felt loved and hugged his father tightly, “I know…” he replied gently into his father’s ear. 

“Look after mother for me” Drake said calmly while letting go of him, his father nodded and Drake turned back around facing the gate gulping. He felt nervous but determined, he gripped his hilt and then walked towards it again. Drake waved the back of his hand to his father. 

 “I will see you soon” he shouted, and his father shouted back “be careful!” Drake got to the gate. Drake whistled of the marvel of the gate with its gold accents on the edges of the wooden doors. He looked at the guard and nodded at him as the guard approached a lever and pulled it. 

The ground shook while the gate lifted towards the sky above. Drake’s eyes drew onto the horizon ahead of trees, fields and the many soldiers on horses as well as foot. “Here we go” he whispered, undecided to step forward towards his future. He now felt uneasy and not as determined as he realized. He clenched the hilt tighter and stepped forward towards the army stationed outside. The rising blue sun shone its blue light across the mountains and through the trees that were scattered across the surrounding area. 

Drake walked up to a brown-haired horse that had a saddle filled up with supplies, Which made them a bit agitated. The horse neighed at him, which took him by surprise but not an unpleasant one. “Hey Kaine, it's alright” Drake softly said while brushing Kaine’s fur to calm him. When Kaine calmed down, Drake put his left foot on the first stirrup while swinging his right leg over the saddle onto the other stirrup. 

He positioned himself so that he could easily get off, Drake grabbed the reins and softly kicked the sides of Kaine to make him move. The ride was bumpy, but Drake was used to it since he used to ride. To the centre of the Kingdom to sell their family’s goods. But this was different; he was riding towards the battlefield. Clouds glided across the sky, until it covered the blue sun; covering the surrounding area in darkness.

Drake saw this, it made him feel more anxious since there's a superstition whenever it's going to rain on a battlefield it is almost certain that someone will die but knows that loads of people die in war. It made him uncertain that he made the right choice to join the war. The clouds rumbled, and then a patter of raindrops hit him and streaked down his cheeks like tears.

He sometimes glanced back to the entrance of the kingdom, every time he did it got smaller and smaller. It showed him there's no turning back now, “I hope I can see them after this” he thought while riding through the woods. Unsure whether the animals that dwell in the forest will attack before he even gets to the place of the battle. 

It became cooler and cooler, since it began raining, the trail got more muddy and influenced Kaine, which got Drake’s attention; he knew horses had more trouble moving through mud than humans. Drake kicked Kaine to go forward even though it made Drake devastated doing this to his horse.

He got to the area where the battle will take place; he made Kaine stand next to the other horse riders. Drake looked to either side of him, he saw the other horse riders gripping their reins and hilt of their short swords tightly, ready to charge. Drake waited like the rest of them.

Rain got heavier and colder like ice, but they stayed waiting for the signal. Drake sensed that it was nearly time, he swallowed and unsheathed his blade from this sheathe. He leaned forward, grabbed both the sword and the rains tightly. 

His heart raced, as the trumpet bellowed out. It echoed across the field where he was. It sang out signaling the start of the battle. He widened his eyes as he saw his comrades galloping, running down the hill towards the enemy army but while they did that; arrows shot rained down. They were like meteors crashing onto the earth.

He charged as well down the hill towards the enemy while yelling loudly. Drake noticed how much blood was staining the ground. He was distracted but luckily managed to block a sword slashing towards his abdomen “fuck” he thought while pushed back on the attacker’s blade. 

He saw his opponent on the floor. He took this chance to stab them in the chest. The blade smoothly slid into the skin and stained the blade with their blood. He removed it and flicked it off while kicking his horse forwards and gathered momentum, getting faster by the gallop.  Dodging the stray arrows, cutting down other soldiers as well. 

Until suddenly one of the arrows hit Kaine. It made Drake fall onto the ground with a massive thud, splashing into the bloody mud. He quickly got up and ran into the woods that were next to him. Annoyed that he had to abandon his horse since he grew up with Kaine. While he ran his breath showed from the coldness while he scanned the area. Running endlessly through the dense forest the mist from the rain made the visibility and sight harder for Drake.

The rustling of the leaves,breaking branches and snapping of twigs made the isolation even more apparent to Drake. His mind was picturing many scenarios how this would turn out. His death, by decapitation, being stabbed in the back. 

His eyes were wide open, while drifting left to right. He was sweating profusely while running until he got to a clearing which was a graveyard next to a ruined church. The cobblestone which the church was made off was covering the area, and the shattered stained glass as well. 

He gulped, shivered while he was feeling that this was a sign from the gods. That he was going to die, he tightened his grip on his sword and slowly, canvassing while he walked through the graveyard.

The mud kept making him sink in the puddles which made him feel the sign was becoming more real. Also it made  his already soggy shoes even more drenched. It made him feel uncomfortable,  since the mud was clambering onto his bare feet when he moved.

He got to the arch which previously had doors but now it’s just open. He went inside it and went down the corridor. At the end of the corridor was a statue of a female angel. Drake weakly sat down, in front of it with his back touching the cool quartz. He put his sword in front of him breathing heavily waiting for the enemy. 

His eyes were getting heavy and heavier as the minutes passed which turned to hours. He didn’t dare to close his eyes for a second, he knew that if he closed his eyes for a moment somebody would jump him and kill him. 

Few moments he would close his eyes, and let go of his sword. While he did that he  leaned backwards, onto the wall of the fountain. He was so still, breathing so softly like he was a stone. 

Drake was so deep in his sleep. He didn’t even hear the footsteps, of a person who came into the church. That person came closer and closer. While their footsteps grew louder triggering Drake to wake up. 

He was very startled by the opponent who was staring at him with resentment and anger. Drake felt so little against them but he shook that insecurity because it would be detrimental for this confrontation. 

He was also surprised that they didn’t attack straight away while he was sleeping. They just stood there waiting for him to get up and grabbed his sword from the floor. 

“Why are you waiting for me to get up?” He asked while putting his left hand behind him.  He pointed his sword towards, the enemy in a fencing position. “Because it would be unfair, for me to do that it would go against my code” they replied while stepping closer towards him. 

“Oh, why do you have a code in war?” Drake asked with curiosity and touching the tip of their sword with his own. “I see it as improper. A disgusting act, even in war, killing an enemy who cannot defend themselves!” they responded by putting more force onto the locked blades. 

Drake slid his blade down the other blade but the opponent saw and kicked him backwards. He stumbled a bit but regained his posture, he lunged forward slashing down towards them. 

To his dismay, his opponent dodged it. He  saw that their blade, was coming towards him. In a split second act Drake  pulled his weapon to block his side. He grunted and head butted them, they stumbled and landed on a bench. 

He felt pain from that act but the adrenaline of the battle made it unnoticeable to him. He dashed towards them and stabbed downwards but they slid apart and Drake's sword got stuck in the wood of the bench. 

He let go of his sword and jumped back while he saw that they grabbed the sword and threw it back at him. “Shit” he thought while he moved his head to the side and saw his sword rushing past him cutting his cheek and embedding itself into the quartz. 

He felt the warmth of the blood streaking down his cheek. He touched his cheek and brought his fingers to his eyes. He saw blood on them.

Drake knew that this was very bad for him, since he didn’t have a sword anymore. To defend himself. He made a split second decision and started to rush that them, forcing himself to go faster then can normally could. 

Swerving and dodging every slash, stab that came towards him until Drake got control of their wrist to direct it to the ground lodging it in.