Morior Invictus
“Open the Barrier!” Zareck yelled to the keepers. Two men in long white coats on each side of the barrier gate opened the Light Force Field for the Captain Zareck and his men. It was a privilege only a handful of people could do since they were men specially chosen by the Light King, devoted to keep the people from Lumina safe inside the protection barriers.
Zareck felt the pulsating electric tone in the air as the Force Field was slowly being opened. He extended his hand up to signal his men to move forward. The barrier was closed instantly the moment they were all outside, sending a violent burst of power through the air, reminding them they were now without it’s protection. They headed their horses to the right, to the forest located in the south-east. That was the mission of Survey Squad #43 had to fulfill yesterday but they never came back. The forest was not too far away but it was a dangerous place. His own son was in charge of the mission.
“Captain!” one of his officers yelled snapping Zareck out of his thought. “I see the Colossal’s Forest!”
“Disperse!” Zareck ordered to his men as they got closer. The plan was to cover as much land as possible searching for Survey Squad #43, whoever found anything had to shoot a flare gun for the others. An easy task in a normal forest. But not in the Colossus’s Forest.
At first sight it looked like any other, with many trees but not too tall. But that changed the further you went into the woods. Miles inside, the fog would start to appear and get thicker while the air became more suffocating. The trees would get bigger and taller, the rivers would look like seas, the sky would disappear and the animal’s size could tower entire houses, at some point you would feel like a small insect between giant beasts. It was said that in the center lived Colossus, the creator of all life in the forest. There were limits signals just before the fog started but it was still easy to be confused and get yourself lost which is why only the best of the best were assigned to the missions of the Colossus’s Forest.
Zareck and his partner behind him put a halt at the first warning sign. “Have you seen anything yet?”
“No Sir! And I still haven’t heard the gun flare signal, I suggest we split to search for the others, that way we will come back before the hour of The Shadows surround us” said Lieutenant Skylar, his right hand and second in command. A small built man with the most brilliant mind in the army. He looked tired and was breathing heavily. The fog was still far away but the heavy air was affecting them.
“No! This forest is too dangerous to be wanderer alone, we will keep looking together until we hear a signal from the others” Zareck said with a firm voice. He knew damn well they had to come back before the hour of The Shadows but he couldn’t risk the life of his men more than he was already risking it. He brought 30 of his best men to this mission and split them in pairs, that way they could search in a more wide range and no one would be alone. But even the best warrior couldn’t be alone here without been in extreme danger.
There was the sound of a gun flare signal on their left, they headed quickly to investigate. He hoped they find something useful, some clue of where his son might be.
“Captain! Over here!” he saw Officer Liam waving his hands in the air. He and Sergeant Mikel were standing next to what looked like a small tunnel. Strange. There were no previous reports of this and no humans lived outside the barrier to build this. Or at least no human with enough conscience or iintelligence to do something like that.
“Sir, you have to see this”. Officer Liam said with a shaking voice. He walked slowly to him and extended his hand. Zareck grabbed and inspected what he gave to him. It was a necklace covered in mud and blood, he cleaned the small golden square pendant and froze in horror. The figure of a Lion was engraved surrounded by the words Morior Invictus. His family emblem. The same one he gave his son a few months ago.
Zareck’s whole body started to tremble, he felt shivers running down his spine “Where did you found this?”
“Inside the small tunnel, sir” he stopped to look back at Mikel whose face looked pale and sickly. Liam breathed heavily and stared at Zareck again “We also fou-” a loud shriek coming from the cave stopped him from continuing talking, it was nothing like they heard before, so loud it made them cover their own ears and kneel down. “What the-” two more shriek were heard before it completely stopped. It left their ears buzzing and in pain.
Running fast to the entrance of the tunnel Zareck pull out his sword and turned around to face his men “Everyone raise your swords! Survey Squad #43 might be inside that tunnel and in need of our help! Skyler, flare a signal for the others to come and wait for them!” he rushed inside while the others stand up and followed him.
The tunnel was too small for them to stand up, they had to bend their knees and heads a little. Going further inside they started to see marks in the walls and the floor, marks that looked like scratches, marks that could only be made by someone trying to hold onto something while it was being dragged. The air felt cold and heavy, it was worse than breathing the fog but they kept walking. If his son was inside then was going to do anything possible to get him out and kill whatever attacked him.
The kept walking slowly through the cave until they reached the center of a hall with entrance to 5 more tunnels.
“How is this even possible? For more than 250 years there were no reports of something like this from de Survey Squads and suddenly we have 5 tunnels here?” Liam said with disbelief and Zareck agreed with him. In all the years he had been in the army there were no reports of something like this and no documents in history that mentioned it. For more 250 years the Survey Squad reported every single change in a territory of 100km surrounding the barrier. They had a full map with every tree, river, rock within that distance but no record of tunnels.
“Skylar, do you have a close idea of where we might be?” Zareck asked.
“Well... The Colossus’s Forest is headed south-east but the tunnel was directed to north-west, in direction to the barrier and considering how far we walked we might as well be very close to the barrier” Skylar said thinking thoughtfully, he then looked at Zareck with eyes wide open “These other tunnels... if they go even lower and deeper they could easily reach...”
“The Penumbra” Mikel spoke for the first time. His face filled with shock and horror. “If these tunnels can reach The Underground City then when the hour of The Shadows comes there will be no barrier to protect us from them”
Zareck moved quickly to the entrance of the tunnel. It was now clear for him that his son wasn’t here. Or at least not anymore. He had to return to the city to save what was left of his family “We must go back! We must tell the others abo-”he stopped suddenly. An almost pitch black darkness started to surround them, there was no way to return now. They grabbed their swords firmly, ready to fight as the shadows came closer to them. He would fight to death for his men, for his king, for his family. And for his son. “Morior Invictus!”
