The
wind was carrying the sound of the metal hitting the ground in the entire
cemetery.
It was past midnight and
outside was no light from the moon, just the dark color of the clouds. All over
the place there were tombs and graves that gave that place a sinister look. Death’s
robe was thick there. The metal sound was heard again, and again with a clock
precision like someone was digging.
Deep in the graveyard the sound could be heard louder and louder
as behind a big angel statue, two shadows were standing on the edge of a grave
half unburied. "Do you really think that it's okay to use him like this?”
Asked the voice of a girl taking a look inside the grave where someone was
using a shovel for digging.
"He's a demon, I think he is showing his gratitude for
letting him live, and after all, he insisted in coming with us...ah wait...with
you, because if it was me, he would have been dead long ago!" The voice
that replied was a little more mature than the first one, but still the voice
of a girl.
“Yrallih do you already
know that is a good person, although he's a demon, he’s still a being. He just
wants to help us.
The one named Yrallih was
the older sister of Xandriale, a young girl with blonde hair and green eyes. They
were from a family of demon exorcists. Demon exorcists were families that along
the generations were training their children to fight with the creatures of
night that were harming people. But now the three of them were not in such
noble mission. They were in the search of an artifact that after receiving
certain information was located in the grave of a dead cleric from centuries
ago.
Being from the Shadow Kingdom, although the girls were servants of
the Throne Skatar, they were here on their own on a treasure hunting.
"Manaor, do you want to take a break? asked Xandrial. Hearing
his name, the man raised his head. He was a young man, with dark hair and pale
skin. He was well built, fact that could be confirmed from the shapes that
could be seen through his green shirt. He was rather tall and on his neck a
white scar was going down to his chest. The only thing that was different about
him were the black eyes.
"No, I'm good" a little longer and I'm done."
"Good...because we don't have all the night you know"
replied Yrallih.
"He's doing his best" defended him the little girl, and
beside do we really know that what we are looking for is here. If I remember
correctly, the man who told you the name of the cemetery didn't even have the
chance to say anything else because the blade of your dagger was already in his
throat”.
"It's here, don’t worry" said Yrallih and took another
look inside the grave where Manaor was busy digging,
All of sudden he sensed
that he was watched from behind and he turned around. The girl quickly
redirected her look blushing in the dark. In front of her eyes, she could see
the day the two of them encountered.
It was in the central market of a town within the Shadow Kingdom's
lands and they were searching a creature responsible for multiple massacres in
the near towns. As the two of them were walking down the market's streets,
suddenly at their feet someone fell from the sky. Yrallih, in an instant discovered
that a man was thrown from the third floor of an inn window by exactly the
creature they were looking for.
It was a powerful creature that could take the shape of a human,
the green eyes being the only difference between him and a real human.
Without a second thought, the girl took out a small bottle from
her bag pack and she drank it. Suddenly her skin started turning red and two
large wings rose from her back, followed by big sharp claws. Her eyes turned
purple and in a blink of an eye she was entering through the broken window.
Taken by surprise the creature tried to flee but s spell from Yrallih who
turned in an incubus, thrower him in the wall. He rose up and he attacked the
girl with an ash burning spell, but her wings dispersed the spell and using her
short silver blade, she pierced the creature to death.
Down in the street, Xandriale was checking if the man was still
breathing. She touched his neck and a second later the man was sitting over
her, with the hand in her throat. His black eyes looked a little while at the
girl who realized that she's at the mercy of a demon.
The most unexpected thing happened. He suddenly let go of her
gently and then he fell down on the ground.
"Why...you're...you're...why would you let a human
alive?" asked Xandriale confused.
“I have no reason to kill you or any other human...I just thought
you were one of them." replied the man and he tried to rise up but he fell
immediately.
"Are you okay?" asked the girl coming close to him.
"I think I got injured when I fell through the win..."
that's all that he got to say before being knocked out by the lack of blood.
The girl turned him and she saw in his back a big piece of glass
deep in his flesh. While she was trying to get the piece of glass out and
bandage him, her sister came back from the inn.
"Help me sis, I think his going to die".
"He's still alive after a fall like this?" asked
surprised the girl.
“No, the fall is not at fault. He's a demon and the fall barely
scratched him. He's going to die because of the wound from his back."
"A demon?" asked surprised Yrallih, and her silver
dagger was already at his neck.
"No!" screamed
Xandriale and stopped her sister's hand before the blade could reach him.
Yrallih was surprised by her reaction, and she retreat her dagger back to its
scabbard.
"Why did you do a stupid thing like that? We were supposed to
kill demons, instead of taking care of them." said the older sister with
her hand still on the dagger's hilt. "No, we are supposed to kill
creatures which hurt people, and help those in need, or you forgot the vow we
made when we were children?”
No, she didn't forget, she couldn't forget the day when their
older brother was killed by a demon. He was the only one that took care of the
two of them after their parents died. At that time, the sisters vowed to kill
all the creatures that were a threat to the human kind and the top of their
list was the demon that killed their brother. So it has begun their personal vendetta.
They took care of the demon
that after several days got better. After that he insisted of following them
until he could repay the debt for saving their life. The flow of memories in
the Yrallih's head was stopped by the sound of the shovel hitting the coffin
casket.
Manaor removed the casket
and inside the coffin the rotten corpse of the cleric was holding with his
skeletal hands an old book full of dust. Xandriale got inside the grave and
took the book. When she opened it the pages fell down the grass. All that
remained was an object folded with an old leather rag.
“This is it?" asked the girl looking at her sister.
"Manaor, what do you think?"
The young man tried to take the little thing in his hand but as
soon as he touched the leather he was thrown away in to a funeral stone.
"Are you ok?" Xandriale picked up the object and threw
it in her sister's hand. She then helped the man to get up.
"It's nothing, I'm ok, but that thing is enchanted. The one
who did it made sure that the only one that touches that artifact are humans”.
His black eyes looked at the small rotten rag.
"Well, then this must be it" said Yrallih and removed
the folding. She revealed a small yellow stone that started to shine.
As soon as he saw the light, Manaor filled strange; he felt a
strange desire of getting his hand of that stone.
"Put it away, please", said the demon and he approached
Yrallih. “What you have there is a very powerful stone that could kill someone
in an instant but it could make someone invincible as well...and not just
demons, anyone who can manipulate its power it could turn that stone in a
destructible weapon. The Stones of Falaria are not something you should play
with."
It was the first time, the two sisters heard Manaor speaking like
this.
"How do you know about
this? The legend of the Stones?" asked Xandriale, who was more than
confused.
"It is a legend that every demon heard in his life...that's
the Legend of the Falaria. Long time ago, before the flow of time was set in
motion, there were two entities. Barandul and Falaria, who spent an eternity
just by the two of them. At one time, Falaria asked Barandul for a baby, because
she wanted to become a mother. After long requests, Barandul accepted with one
single condition. If it was a boy, they could keep him, but if it was a girl,
then Falaria must kill her. She accepted and when the time came, what she
feared the most happened. She gave birth of a girl and when Barandul saw the
little girl he got mad and requested that Falaria take her life, but she
couldn't do it. She started to cry, on the rock that later would be known as
Earth. She shed 13 tears that turned to stones of different colors. One of the
stones it's in your hand Yrallih.”
“What happened after that" asked Xandriale, curious to know
the end of the story.
" Barandur took the baby and killed it. What he didn't know
was that while he was dying, the child caused screamed so loud that both
Falaria and Barandur's life ended from the pain of their children. With their death
life begun to spread across Universe, allowing time to flow as it is today. All
that remained from the two great entities was Falaria's tears. Very powerful
stones that if gathered together could bring the hell or heaven on this lands."
"Are you seriously think that's true?" asked Yrallih,
but the demon's eyes were not lying and she could see that.
"So what does this have to do with us...we are just simple
girls trying to do better to the world as much as we can. This is way over our
heads" complained Xandriale looking at her sister.
"Well....we'll get out
of this mess as soon as we hand the stone to Padal." tried to calm down
Yrallih her sister.
"Are you sure you can trust this person" asked Manaor
not knowing the person she was talking about.
"Of course, he's a distant relative of our brother. We know
him since our brother died; he offered to find the demon that killed our
brother, and all he asked in return was to aid him in his quest of finding this
stone". Xandriale's words did not make the demon fully thrust this Padan.
"And where are you supposed to meet this person? asked the
young demon.
"We'll meet him in Gri’stol" said Yrallih. You shouldn't
go there until you find more about this about this Padan, you’re about to hand
him a very powerful item" warned them the demon.
"Well, you don't have to come if you don't want to. We are
fully capable of taking care of us as we are" replied Yrallih.
"That's the main reason I'm going to come with you"
ended his pledge the demon taking a last look at the mummy in the coffin before
putting the casket back and covering it with soil.
The three of them started a two weeks journey heading to Gri'stol.