Blood and Gold

Ari and I were jolted awake by the sound of the door slamming open.

Four armed men stormed into the room. One of them stepped forward and introduced himself.

“I’m Valmore, leader of the local militia. You are under arrest for the theft of 100 gold coins.”

Before either of us could react, the other three men rushed forward and slapped heavy cuffs on our wrists.

Ari muttered under her breath, “Shit... magic-constraining cuffs.”

They shoved rough straw sacks over our heads. I felt someone yank me out of bed. One man pushed me from behind while another gripped my shoulder, guiding me forward. All I could see were slivers of light cutting through the holes in the sack.

I heard the inn door creak open, and then the cold morning air hit my face as they marched me outside. They forced me into what felt like a small, metal wagon—a steel box on wheels.

But Ari wasn’t inside with me.

Why? What’s going on? Theft? I hadn’t even collected the gold yet. Was Denerlark behind this?

It wasn’t long before we stopped. They dragged me into a building—I could hear wooden floors underfoot—then down into a basement. The air was thick and damp, smelling faintly of mold and earth.

They yanked the bag off my head and shoved me into a cell.

I stumbled and turned around, shouting, “Where am I? Where’s Ari?! Tell me now before someone gets hurt!”

But the guards were already gone.

The basement was cold and dim. A single candle flickered weakly from the wall beside me. The floor was damp dirt, and just a few cells down, I could barely make out the silhouette of a rotting corpse slumped against the bars.

Time crawled. Every minute felt like an hour. My chest tightened with panic.

Where did they take Ari? Why split us up? What’s really going on here?

Then I heard footsteps. Heavy. Slow.

A shadow emerged from the hallway—and when I saw who it was, my heart sank.

Denerlark.

He stepped closer, grinning.

“Hahaha... Look at this poor little human,” he sneered. “Squirming in a cage like a pathetic worm.”

His voice deepened, twisting into something unnatural—demonic. His laughter echoed off the stone walls.

And then—his skin began to peel off.

It slid from his body like wet cloth, revealing the creature beneath: some humanoid thing, glistening and slime-covered, with small holes and twisted divots running across its flesh. Its eyes gleamed like wet stone.

I couldn’t move. My whole body went numb. I just stood there, shaking.

This is it... I’m done. Sorry, Mom. I guess the family line ends with some slimy demon freak.

My mind drifted—back to the days when Mom used to bake apple pies… when Uncle Cerk would come over and tell wild stories about his adventures with Dad.

Maybe my life wasn’t so bad.

But then something snapped in me.

No. When did I become such a crybaby? I’m not dying here. Not like this.

I felt something surge through my arms—a powerful, raw force. With a scream, I tore the cuffs in half like they were made of twigs.

Then, as if summoned by instinct, my sword appeared in my hand—glowing, humming with energy.

“Damn...” I breathed. “I guess I can summon it now. This shit’s getting cool.”

I looked up at the creature, eyes blazing.

“AHAHA—DIE, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

With a roar, I lunged forward—and drove the blade straight through the demon’s chest.

The monster’s eyes widened slowly as it looked down at the blade. The blade had begun to suck the soul out of the demon, and its old, smelly carcass dried up.

A faint voice had begun to whisper in my ear, “You really thought you could get rid of me that easily? Hahaha.”

I caught my breath and continued down the basement. At the end of the long, dark hallway, there was a door. My heart began to pound; something with a heavy presence was on the other side.

I opened it.

A sight no human should see. My bones began to shake, and my face became pale as I looked at Ari, chained to the wall, scratches all over her body, a pool of blood at her feet, and her eyes—always blank but not dead—not the eyes that have seen and felt so much that it looks like their soul itself had been tortured. Her cloak had scratches and tears, her soft and gentle face bruised.

I slowly walked over, tears beginning to run down my face as I used my sword’s power to cut through the chains and watched her body drop to the ground. I picked her up; I could see her head move slightly, and her whisper, “Riven... Riven... Riven.”

She was still alive, and that gave me hope. I ran up the dungeon stairs and into the main floor; it was Denerlark’s home. I ran out the front door to the inn and burst in. The tavern part of the inn went silent, and the fat lady who served us earlier came rushing to us.

I pleaded, “Please, miss, help us!”

She quickly took Ari’s fragile body out of my hands and rushed her to the back.

“Don’t worry, Hun. I used to be a medic during the time of the war. This is pretty bad, but I’ve got medical supplies here.”

I watched as she took out sticks, a bottle of this, and a bottle of that from the shelves of this pretty small room or closet. Ari lay in front of me on a wooden table. I could barely see her chest rising and falling.

The lady had gotten to work, stitching, disinfecting, patching all the wounds.

I asked her nervously, “What are the odds of her surviving?”

Her answer was one I did not like. “Honey, worry about that when we’re done here, ok?”

Please, Ari, just a little longer, just a bit more, hold in there.

Before I knew it, she was finished.

She looked at me with her face full of sweat. “Alright, you bring her back to the room you guys were in and get some rest. Tomorrow, I want to hear about how this happened.”

I carried her up to the room and placed her down on the bed. The room wasn’t much—a desk, two beds, a window. I went and lay on the other bed.

Just as I began to fall asleep, I heard her call my name.

I went and lay with her just for a bit so she could relax a little.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting.