1
As his horse topped the spiked hill in the middle of the large field on the border of the grand nation of Skylin, Dairin Gallhin slowly swept his head back and forth across the small Skylin outpost in the mere distance, knowing that was where he was headed. His thoughts were troubled, as always, but now that it was night, and he was nowhere near sleep, he knew that his mind would be wandering in the morning.
The large hilly field surrounding him was lighted in the full moon's glow, the knee high grass slowly swaying in the steady wind from the East, the trees standing tall, and the darkness around him seeming to close in and then pull out as if afraid of him.
Swinging his solid black stallion, StormBeater, towards the small Skylin outpost, he lightly kicked the stallion's sides to start at a trot down the hill. His mind was unaware of anything that was happening around him, his thought concentrated on the outpost. I have to go to Skylin, not the desert, he tried to tell himself, knowing that his voice would be doubtful. I do have to go to the desert. Never mind, don't even think about it now. I might have a hard time getting into Skylin territory.
As StormBeater trotted into the outpost, trained soldiers, clad in the white colors of the winged dragon banner of Skylin, moved out of his way and Dairin wasn't sure what to believe. If he could frighten these people, then he didn't know what an army would do to them. He thought it might have been the black bladed three-foot long broad sword hanging around his waist, but then he noticed that it was hidden beneath his solid black trenchcoat. His eyes traveled to the seven-foot long curve bladed lance tied to the side of his saddle, the blade nearly cutting his stallion's neck. No one even knew about the daggers he had hidden within his trenchcoat.
Dairin didn't see himself as dangerous, not on the outside at least. His hazel eyes, short midnight black hair, and casual smile insisted that he was of noble blood. Clad in a short sleeve dark tan shirt, a long sleeved solid black trenchcoat, which fell to the ground, long dark brown breeches, and solid black boots, he surely wasn't dressed like a nobleman. In fact, he wasn't a nobleman, but instead he was a warrior trained in deadly arts with weapons. A silver chain hung from his belt hanging down to the ground on his right side, ready to be used as a weapon if the need arose.
Dairin didn't even return the looks and stares he got from the soldiers. The entire outpost was an entry party that allowed people into the territory of Skylin, and he could have easily killed all of them without a blink. He didn't want to remember most of his life before he left Daskin, his hometown far to the south. He couldn't even believe that he had once lived there, as long ago as it may seem to him.
Dairin had left Daskin a little over five years ago, not knowing why, except that something in his mind told him to travel East towards the desert; that something there would be his destiny. He couldn't make anything out of it, but he wasn't going to ignore it. The presence inside his head was too great for him to just walk away and pretend that nothing had happened.
Rearing up the reins around StormBeater's neck, Dairin halted the stallion in front of two guards, each with white armor, and spear tipped lances. They held their hands up, halting him from passage into Skylin territory, their eyes secretly questioning the sword and lance that he carried.
"Halt your horse, stranger," one of the guards told him, moving closer to pat the stallion's nose. StormBeater quickly pulled away from the guard. The guard's face was as smooth and hard as stone, his _expression changing to shock as he backed away from the stallion. "Quite a horse you have there. Temperamental! The true sign of a warhorse."
Smiling, Dairin leaned over and patted the stallion's side. "He doesn't want anyone near him. Don't ever anger my horse; his anger rubs off onto me." The smile faded and Dairin quickly scanned the land beyond the guards, the land of Skylin. "I need passage through Skylin land."
"What is your business in Skylin, stranger?" The guard asked, gripping the lance tighter, ready for battle. "I can't allow strangers into Skylin without knowing what they want crossing the King's land." He smiled; a mocking smile, a knowing smile of truth. It was as if the guard was taunting Dairin. "So, I ask again, why do you wish to enter the King's territory?"
Anger flashed across Dairin's eyes, but he calmed down quickly. That's what got me in trouble in the first place. Damn my anger. Don't worry about it, and don't think about it. Stay on task, get into Skylin territory, I have to. "Captain," Dairin gave the guard a questioning look and the guard merely nodded in reply. "Captain, my business in Skylin is my own. I need to reach the Twin Moon Desert, on the other side of Skylin, that's all I need."
"Then leave here," the guard replied, staring Dairin in the eyes. "Take the Falling Rock path to the North, it'll bring you into the desert without going into Skylin land." He laughed and turned away, heading back to his post with the other guard. Dairin quickly rode up behind them, StormBeater nearly kicking their backs.
"My business is also in Skylin, Captain," Dairin said in a frustrated angry voice. "Let me through this gate, and I'll be on my way. You'll never see me again, and I can assure you that my business in Skylin is short." They both merely stared at Dairin as if he were asking to kill the King. "Do you want money for my passage? If you do, it doesn't bother me. But I have to get through this outpost!"
He could have fought his way through and won, but he wasn't willing to wage war with the entire army of Skylin once they learned of his deed. He would find a way through, if he had to pay this outpost all of the money he owned. He couldn't help thinking this way, the presence at the back of his mind, the presence that was pulling him, and pushing him towards the Twin Moon Desert, was getting worse the closer he got to the desert. It was a dull voice, or many dull voices muttering indescribable thoughts at the back of his mind, and it had been there ever since he was born. And as he got closer to the desert, the voices got louder and much more annoying.
The Captain turned his head and merely looked at the guard behind him, quickly exchanging a word or two with him, words Dairin couldn't pick up, before turning his head back to Dairin. A small smirk of a smile was twisted onto his lips, and his face was still unreadable.
"You do not need to pay to get into Skylin territory," the Captain said holding his lance straight and stepping to the side, giving Dairin a clear path into Skylin land. As Dairin kicked his stallion, StormBeater started forward to quickly be stopped by both of the guard's lances, StormBeater nearly bit the Captain in protest. "But I must speak to you first."
Shock had covered Dairin's face, but it quickly vanished. "Fine, speak, but make it quick." The Captain laughed, but stopped at the warning glance from Dairin. He didn't have time to waste, and this surely wasn't called for.
"Listen, stranger, I'll let you travel into and through Skylin Territory, but you must know how dangerous the land is. Things wander the land that haven't seen the light of day in over a thousand years. Make your way as quickly as possible to Skylin, that's the only place safe here." He paused and lowered his lance, motioning for the other guard to do the same. "Listen, I let another stranger through here two nights ago. He wore black and acted quite strangely. You don't happen to know him, do you?"
"No," Dairin answered, eyeing both guards with concern. "I don't know anyone else, I travel alone, and all I want to do is to get to the Twin Moon desert. Other people's problems and quests have no place for me." He kicked StormBeater into a trot, the lances not stopping him this time.
As he exited the outpost, finally in Skylin territory, he heard the Captain yell after him, "Good luck stranger. Remember, watch your back. These are dangerous times." Once the outpost was out of view, Dairin kicked StormBeater into a fast run, hoping to reach Skylin as soon as possible, his right hand wrapped around the hilt of his sword.
Around midnight, a good three hours into the king's land, Dairin slowed his stallion down, letting the breeze carry the ends of his trenchcoat up. Turning his head in both directions, he studied the land around him, with still no sign of Skylin. He had never been to Skylin and honestly didn't know what the city looked like.
His stallion stood in a large field in knee high grass, a pond in the distance to his left, a small forest of dead trees a few hundred yards in front of him, and an evergreen forest a few hundred yards to the right. The glow of the full moon still illuminated the surrounding landscape, trees casting shadows over the darkness. The breeze slowly died as he leaned forward to pat StormBeater's nose, sighing heavily, the horse repeating his sigh seconds later.
"What am I thinking?" Dairin asked the horse. StormBeater kicked the ground and shook his head, neighing. "My head's throbbing with these stupid voices that are urging me towards the desert, and I can't do a thing about it. If I could only.!"
He was violently cut off as StormBeater reared up and threw Dairin off his back. Dairin landed hard on the tall grass of the field, the breath knocked out of him. Sighing, his eyes closed, Dairin moved his hand up and rubbed the back of his head. He slowly lifted his head off the ground, his eyes open, a shocked _expression on his face.
Now in a sitting position, still rubbing his head, Dairin looked at StormBeater, the horse staring down at him in shame. Out of the corner of his eye, Dairin saw a black wolf disappear into the shadows of the evergreens. "You don't mind charging into battle, but you run from a wolf. I'll never understand you." His horse nuzzled his head in embarrassment. Dairin pushed him away.
Sighing again, Dairin fell back to the ground, his eyes wide open and staring up into the clear night sky, the many stars hidden behind the full gray moon that hung close to the planet every night all year long. The moon was huge, and not that far from the planet.
As Dairin stared up at the sky, his thoughts wandered from what he was going to do when he reached the desert, to troubled thoughts about his life back in Daskin before he left to start his quest. Suddenly, he noticed a silver-yellowish streak that shot across the sky. Rising to a sitting position, Dairin's eyes grew wide with disbelief, his mind focused on the sky.
A large comet, shooting across the sky, disappeared behind the moon for a few seconds and then reappeared on the other side, the comet slowing down in speed, and eventually falling into the planet's atmosphere most of it burning up, but the rest crushing into the planet's surface hundreds of miles away from where he was located.
His eyes moved back to the moon, and he noticed tiny dust trails shooting off from either side, gray dust flowing in every direction. Suddenly, a deafening boom echoed through the night, the source of the sound coming from the moon. "What the hell?" Dairin whispered in disbelief jumping to his feet. A cracking sound filled the night air seconds later. The noise came from high in the sky as a crack appeared on both sides of the moon where the dust had been.
Unable to believe what he was seeing, Dairin stared at the full gray moon as it cracked down the middle, and broke apart into two large pieces, one piece staying in orbit around their planet, the other broken piece, slowly falling towards the planet. Small pieces broke away and fell towards the planet, some burning up in the atmosphere, and others causing large fireballs to crash in various places.
The comet had been large enough to crash through the moon and cut its core, cutting the entire moon in half. Dairin didn't know of anyway to stop it, which meant that it would crash into their planet and surely kill every soul on it. He quickly turned his eyes to StormBeater, took the stallion's reins in his hands and walked the horse to the edge of the evergreen forest.
Taking his saddlebags, lance, and bedroll from the horse, Dairin made a small fire using a flint and steel, and fed StormBeater some oats. After eating a late dinner of dry bread and water, Dairin laid out on his bedroll, his hands behind his head, his eyes staring up at the broken moon, the two chunks still struggling to break free from each other.
"There's nothing we can do," Dairin told StormBeater. "As long as I reach the desert before our time is up, I'll be satisfied. I want these voices to stop plaguing my head." Closing his eyes, he quickly fell asleep, his dreams troubled as always, troubled with his old friends, long dead now, and people he had never seen before in his life. People that talked to him as if they knew him. People that seemed too real to be just dreams.
The deafening crack of the moon continued through most of the night, the entire world in motion, terrified of what was going to happen to them. Even the strongest wizards wouldn't be able to stop it. To everyone, the fate of their planet was made; they were all going to die.