Kingdom's Horizon

The night falls, and the vultures of war fall quiet as a shadow sweeps across the world, bringing with it, a dreadful silence…

As the war's thick fog clears, you try to see. You hear crows and buzzards cawing in excitement for their next meal. Did you save your empire?

No.

As your vision comes into focus, you see the truth. Your men, your comrades, your brothers-in-arms have all fallen to the Power of Darkness. Their own spears have been used to impale them, the fire from the diabolical hordes seared the flesh from bone. You see miles upon miles of your dead armies. You've failed the world.

''Can you feel it, Hero? Closing in all around you? Staring down at whatever has left of you.

Every man, woman, and child you have slaughtered, all these monstrosities you committed in the name of justice, all this blood your hands have shed. Though my heart was one of the first to be devoured by your wickedness, there are millions more out there, bound within this broken body of mine, ready to burn down everything you hold dear...

Oh. Do you feel the very earth shake? Do you see their dark souls tremor for release? They will want to destroy the world… consume all that is pure. Barbaric and full of malevolence They will rise above us. Within this body is the injustice of death and evil that will soon cause the end of this world as you know it. They will me to continue, but will I risk my very life to pursue this dark desire? Of course, this Will has sunk deep into my thoughts…I think it's too late now.''

As the war raged on, hope began to dwindle. One by one the heroes fell to the unstoppable onslaught of the fiendish horde until only one remained. All the people prayed for the hero to save them, clinging to their faith in the prophecy. As the final battle commenced, the hero was savagely torn into pieces.

Humankind has fought monsters for centuries. They held but it was certain that soon their defenses will break and humankind will be wiped out. Humans started to lose and everyday victory was becoming nothing more than a dream.

The Emperor is dead, the war has ended, and We have failed. I often wonder what could have been if I had only the strength to fight harder. How many lives I could have saved if my weakness hadn't stopped me? But now, it all means nothing. I will ride out into exile, vanishing into the shadows, waiting for my chance at redemption.

Centuries later on a dark windy day, a figure ascended to the skies.

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''Johnathan, time to get up, you have school in 30 minutes'' A sweet piercing voice, calm enough to soothe your worries yet make you feel like you are about to have your ass whooped if you don't oblige, was all it took for me to get up and get dressed. After I close my eyes for a bit, that is.

'' If you aren't ready in five minutes, there won't be any pc-gaming after you come back home'' My mother screamed this time, ready to make her promise a reality like she did plenty of times in the past.

''Just a sec mom, just looking for my bag'' I lied, trying to buy some more time until I wear the cringy uniform my new school forced upon us.

I could already hear her footsteps up the stairs, ready to drag me by force if needed, to my new school.

After my dad passed away, She believed that a change in our lives was a must, the next step in our adventure called life, trying to deal with our loss by turning a new page, so to speak. It wasn't easy for her, I could tell that much, she truly needed to find a way to keep herself busy, not only for her sake but for mine as well. I respected and loved her for that. It isn't easy losing someone so close to you, yet it was my life that was turned upside down by her impulsive decision to drop everything and go to the capital.

She always wanted to see the big city, to witness the tall glassy skyscrapers that seemed like they could touch the sky if given a little push, the busy streets full of people going to and fro to their jobs and visiting all the stores she dreamed of since she was a kid. Growing up in a God-forsaken village near the mountains, where your most promising form of entertainment was a bunch of old people trying to perform various theatrics you have seen a million times can mess up with your psyche sometimes. When you aren't very tech-savvy like most of the grown-ups in the city, it becomes even harder for you to entertain yourself without going nuts. So in a sense, I could understand her. for the most part that is.

With a loud bang, my door opened, revealing the silhouette of a middle-aged woman, ready to give me an earful as she always does when I am late. Light-brown hair, long enough to reach her shoulders but short enough to display a rare form of maturity, the kind moms tend to have, green eyes that could certainly captivate any man was she in her prime, was standing at my now opened door. Not devoid of life yet full of the vicissitudes of time, she was standing as the final boss of a legendary tale, keen on watching me mumble excuses as to why I wasn't up yet.

''You had that dream again, didn't you?'' she suddenly asked, trying to mask the concern that filled her green-lit eyes, praying to whatever God there was out there that it wasn't something to worry about.

''So I was shouting again, huh?'' I lashed back in a pathetic attempt to brush it off as fast as I could. The last thing I wanted was my mom to worry about me as well, especially during this challenging period in our lives.

''It's okay honey, we all miss him'' she said while hugging me tightly, trying in her way to help me get over this nightmare that has been haunting me since That day.

I was at school when he died. I remember the knock the teacher gave before entering our class to announce his presence, his pity-filled eyes when he asked me to come with him to the principal's office.

Who would have thought that in mere moments my world as I knew it would crumble down, washed away like a castle built in the sand. .. They said it was a working accident, fell from some stairs while he was trying to place some books back to their shelves. You see, he was a librarian, and a fine one too I might add. at least that's what his friends and colleagues kept saying. Maybe it was true, maybe they tried to console me in their distinctive way. Who knows? I certainly don't. He never truly talked about his work with us and we never truly asked, or cared, as long as he was happy there.

From the moment he passed away, the world somehow changed for me, like a switch was turned on and now everything was different. Something was off, yet I couldn't figure out what.

Then just like that, the dreams happened. At first, I thought they were just a nightmare, a way my mind tried to convey the deep sadness and pain I felt. With time the dreams became more vivid, more detailed, and of course, scarier.

With the dreams came the anxiety. Imagine walking around in the woods at night, your gut screaming that something is watching you, that something is out there, yet when you find the strength to look, you only see the dark-engulfed trees swaying gently in the night breeze. This feeling of uneasiness has been tormenting me for over four months now and I don't know how to get rid of it.

This stupid dream keeps repeating in my head every time I try to sleep. Like a broken record in a haunted asylum, only this asylum is in my head and I can't find the way out no matter how hard I try. A soft pang snapped me back to reality and away from these miserable thoughts.

''It's okay mom, you don't have to worry about it ''I quickly said with a slight hint of annoyance, begging for her to release me from the bear hug that was taking away my breath.

''how many times do I have to tell you?'' she replied, smacking me lightly on my shoulder, ''it's an academy, a quite prestigious one as well, so don't mess this up, young man. It cost me a lot to sign you up there so you will be in a world of pain if you cause trouble to your poor old mother on your first day there.''

'' Do I have to wear the uniform though? it looks...weird'' I mumbled, preparing myself for my new school life, or should I say, academy life.