Author notes

A Soldier of Shadows

Hurricane Ivan

on Sept. 22, 2011

Once upon a time, in the great city-state of Illidea, lived a humble soldier named Garl Danan, a footsoldier in the King's army. Garl joined the Army during peacetime, and saw more of parades and drills than of the letting of blood and the din of arms. Garl lived a quiet life, and would have been forgotten by history, had it not been for his role in a great tragedy that struck the kingdom. In the blackest hour of one winter solstice eve, when the sun had hidden his face so thoroughly, a coven of necromancers attempted to take the life of the king. The first anyone knew of it was when a stream of ambulatory cadavers burst forth from the basement of the palace, devouring the servants until confronted by the guards.. By accident more than design, garl had been assigned to guard the royal bedroom that night, and consequently was at the heart of the conflict, desperately fighting to defend his monarch. Though the ranks of the unconvincingly deceased were innumerable, the defenders were fierce fighters, and fought with the desperation of men defending their homes. By dawn, only Garl remained, fighting furiously against the last remnants of the charnel horde. Finally, the last blow was struck, and the last corpse was sent once more before the reaper, while Garl collapsed in a fugue of utter exhaustion. Incensed at their failure, the necromancers laid upon him a terrible curse, the like of which has never been seen before or since, consuming themselves in the doing. Garl's shadow rose up about him like a black flame, consuming him, warping him and twisting him, Inflicting on him such pain that he must have thought he was being seared by hellfire. The dark flames burned for an entire day, resisting all attempts by the terrified courtiers to put it out. When midnight came, the fires wer quenched at last, but any relief it may have brought was short lived, for assoon as the last ember winked out, a soldier rose from the ashes, dark and terrible, seemingly composed of naught but shadow. The soldier butchered his way through a host of courtiers, and disappeared into the darkness. Though victory was won on the field, the flower of the kingdom's youth had fallen, some into death and some further still. That which was once Garl has been sighted several times thereafter, always at the peak of great battles, wading indiscriminately through the ranks of the living.