1 The Bloodmen

Long ago, during the dark ages, there had been stories that a man himself couldn't even fathom, but there had been one story that kept everyone away from the woods that lurked around their homes and towns. Where the darkness and shadows eat up the lands, and there is nothing to be seen. Where nothing but trees and the sounds of wild animals were for miles and miles. This was the story of the Shubleaw Shadows.

A loud, shaky shriek had been heard on the outskirts of town. The king made sure that everybody knew that he was going to be the first to see what had happened. He was going to check it out with his right-hand man. Everybody was asleep as the night sky filled the air, but the galloping of horses had caused people to be up and about and have wonder what had happened before the sun arose. Word spread fast in the village of Dark Oats. Woman gossiped to the guys. Guys gossiped to the elderly, and the word would pass to the songsmen, who would sing it to other villages.If something was said in town, there would be no doubt about it that every other village would hear it.

As the king arrived towards the edge of the forest his horse had stopped. He tried to move the horse but it would not go any further. He even patted it so it would go, but it still had not budged, so the only other option he had was to get off of the horse and walk. He and the right hand man tied the horses to the trees next to them and started to walk, but it had not taken long before they had stumbled upon the body of young Aurora.

"Oh my." The king had said. He hadn't said it with surprise or shock, but with horror. The young girl had been laying on her stomach, but her head had been completely twisted towards her back. The eyes looked like they had been ripped out of her head. Dark-red- blood fell down her face.

The king's right hand man pointed towards the woods, and there stood a little girl. She had maybe been the age of 12, but she had stood on the other side of the woods. A smile had been put upon her face. Her hands were coated with dry-dark-red blood. She stared at them with blind eyes. She started to whisper.

"She has strayed too far from home." Her blind eyes start glowing red. "Such as you!" She screamed. "Shield your eyes! Get Aurora and jump onto the horse. Ride back into the village and inform her parents." The king had said to his right hand man. The girl laughed. "You take the body and the curse shall follow you to the village." She said, The king looked back at the right hand man. The blind girl ran to Lewis and started to slash him with her nails, but once she touched his face she gave a slight gasp. Then out of the corner of Lewis's eye he saw the king punch the girls head. She fell to the ground and got up and shook herself. Then she turned to the King.

"Sir watch out!" The right hand man, Lewis, had yelled but it was too late. The girl had jumped onto the king and claws formed on her hands. She dug them into the king's neck and twisted it. The king fell flat on his stomach. The right hand man stared in horror, but he knew that he had to leave. The little girl flipped over the king and dug her fingers into the kings' eyes. Her eyes had been blind once again, but she ripped them out and tried to put the kings' eyes in herself. . She said a slight curse when they fell and picked up the eyes again, and ran quickly into the forest.

Lewis had a hot shiver go through his veins, and he does not know how he had just escaped this creature, but what he does know is that the next thing he will do is rush back to the council. Lewis jumped onto his horse and left the bodies behind.

"A little blind monster killed the king?" The head leader in the council roared. "What a foolish man he had been. To see such a creature and think he may fight it himself." He yelled and the members of the council stared in disbelief. "Sir without a king the village will go into chaos, and if we have a new king in the village, the folks will know that something has happened. There is already word in town about Lewis coming back without the king. They will know about the forest and I believe that we all know that our people's curiosity will get ahead of them." One of the council members had said.

Lewis nodded. "I think that he is right. People had seen me coming without the king, and they had started to make assumptions." The head leader nodded. "I wouldn't see why. You came here bloody." The head leader started to think. Jalima, the second highest woman on the council, spoke, "Sir what person would be better to be the king than his right hand man?" Lewis looked at Jamila from the head leader in a little disbelief. "You have a good point Jamila. What do you say Lewis?" Lewis looked around with his heart pounding. Everyone in the council started agreeing with Jamila and some were even shouting his name. He felt as if his heart was beating out of chest. Being king would take a lot of responsibility. "I accept." The head leader nodded in acceptance and as Lewis was leaving he heard the council chanting his name.

As the moon rose into the air and the stars shown, the howling of the wolves had started. A knock came to Lewis's door. Lewis rose from his sleep and went to open the door. Though when he had opened it, there had been nothing there. He felt a push of wind but thought nothing of it. He headed back to his bed. It had gotten awfully cold. As if someone had put their hand into a bucket of ice, and then they very lightly touch your check. The cold then spreads through your body like a virus. As soon as Lewis had gotten back into bed he heard a shriek from upstairs. His son! He ran up the stairs and busted into his son's room. There in the bed was his son. He was crying. His face was as pale as snow and he looked like he had just seen a ghost. Josh, his son, had been 16 years of age. After that terrifying night years ago where Lewis's wife and daughter had died, Josh had meant everything to Lewis.

"Son! Are you ok?" The up-coming king said. "R-Red eyes." Lewis went and sat down next to him. "Son it was probably just a bad dream don't worry." He said as he gently squeezed his shoulder. "It.. it said momma's name." Josh said with sadness in his voice.

Lewis grabbed Josh's hand. "Son you were just dreaming. I will be with you until you shall fall back asleep. Okay?" He said even though he knew it wasn't true. It came back. Just like it came for his wife.

During the council meeting the next day, after the official ceremony of Lewis becoming King, the head leader tells Lewis, "You are the king of this land, the town's people's lives are in your hands." "Hasn't it always been." Lewis says. The head leader gives him a sharp look. As soon as the meeting is done Lewis gets on his black steed and goes back to his house. He can't wait to tell his son the big news, because this would mean that his son would be next!

As he arrived home, he found that no one was there. "Josh, Son where are you?" He started saying. Then a panic struck him. It had only been the next day since Josh had seen those red eyes. Lewis took his sword and got back onto his steed. "Sir.. ma'am.. Ma'am have you seen my son. H-He is 16 years of age, dark brown hair, crystal blue eyes, and some freckles on his face." But no one knew where his son had been. Then a thought blasted through Lewis's head. The woods. Where he had seen his wife and daughter last.

Rocks flew from under Lewis horses hooves. It had been all morning since he had been away from home. What if Josh had been.. No Lewis could not think of that right now. As he comes in front of the woods he sees a village boy and his son practicing their sword fighting in a field by the woods.

"Josh! You two come down here at once!" The king roared. The boys stopped running and looked at the king. "Oh! Hey dad. Why? What's wrong! We are just practicing." He had said. The village boy that was next to him laughed. Behind the two cheerful boys something rushed past a bush by the woods. Lewis clenched his fists. "Come here now." He yelled to the boys. The village boy got frightened and ran to King Lewis. "Son." He had carefully said. The boy looked behind him and back to the front and smiled. "It is because of these woods? These old things can not do anything to me." He then started to walk towards the bushes that rustled next to a dark tree. "Son no!" King Lewis said very frightened.

The boy slashed the bark of the dark oak tree with his sword, "See dad. Nothing happened. I am ok." he said as he turned around. Then he saw the look on his father's face. "Dad? Are you o-" but before he finished the sentence he grunted. Then he slowly looked down and there was a shadowy dark black dagger that had pierced through him. It pierced him through his back to his stomach. The dagger went out and blood rushed out of the boy. Josh fell and rolled down all limpy. There, where the boy had been stabbed stood a woman. Though she did not look like a woman at all. She looked like she had been dead for almost a decade. Half of her face had been gone and replaced with a skeletal like figure, while the other half was very rotten. Though with such hideous looks, a beautiful, gentle, sweet, smooth voice came from her. "Welcome", but Lewis could not hear what else she said. Soon a slick long tongue about the size of 40 feet came out of her mouth and she wrapped it around the boy's leg. She then started to drag him. Lewis runs up on his horse. "No! You won't take him away! You can't take him like you took her!" He yells and pulls out his sword. He slashes the tongue and as soon as it split, blood squirted out. He quickly got off the horse and pulled his son's dead limp body on top of the horse. "No! Stop! You can't do this!" The village boy roared. "You are going to curse our village. You cannot take the body!" He screams. Lewis gets onto the horse and gallops past the village boy. "Stop!" He says. King Lewis stops. His mind had been blank and started to be overfilled with darkness. "People are going to find out." The village boy whispered. Lewis turned on his horse and he kicked it. The horse ran right into the village boy and he fell into the stream behind him. Lewis then slows down and turns his head. "No they won't." He whispered back and sped toward the village.

As soon as he got there he took Josh downstairs. He set him onto the table and then went out and locked the door. He knew what he needed to do. He ran to his horse and jumped on. He started to run towards the castle. THey opened the gate and he tied his horse to the stables as he got off. He started to run into the main hall and then he ran down the stairs to the dungeon. Lewis grabbed a torch and the keys.

"Look. It's a man." Someone said from one of the cells. He kept walking. "Look at him. He has blood all over him!" A lady screamed from another cell. He kept walking. He kept walking until he got tp the cell that had iron bars instead of stone.

"Oh hello there my boy." An old voice came from the dark. "It's been a long time." She said. He put the key into the cell and looked at her. "Sylvia." He whispered. "Lewis. Oh my! You even remebered my name!" She laughed. "How can I forget." He said. "Look I need you to do me a favor again, but you better do it right this time." He said. A hint of glowing gold came from her eyes. "Oh yeah?" She said. "Yes. My- my boy.. he is.. dead. I-I need you to bring him back. Please he is all I have left." He said. The lady cackled. "You know that there is a price." He nodded. "Alright take me to him." She smiled.

As they were passing through the village, there had been fires and smoke on almost every house. Ladies were crying trying to find their kids, and men were trying to work hard to take the fire out, but it kept growing. When they got to Lewis's house, the witch grabbed Lewis by the arm. " What have you done? You brought the boy into the village when THEY killed him?! You have opened the gate."

"I had no choice! Now hurry up. He is downstairs. I will try to deal with them." He screamed. The witch sighed and let go. They ran into the house and she walked down. Lewis ran to his room and pulled some hunting bear traps from under his bed. He put one in front of the doors and put the others by the windows. He ran downstairs to where Sylvia and his son had been. She was examining where Josh had been stabbed. She looked at Lewis and lightly said, "They marked him, so this is going to be harder than just bringing him back to life." He looked at where his son had been stabbed and a dark shadow substance had been gnawing at his flesh. "Do whatever, just help him." He begged her. She grabbed a sharp rock then his hand and split open his palm. "Agh! What the-" She was about to start, but she shushed him. "The work of a witch is quiet. I need your blood to substitute his blood. You wanted to help him right?" Lewis looked at him soon and nodded. Then a knock came from the door, and Lewis ran upstairs. "Hello?" He said quietly. Then he krept forward, and very gently he opened the door. A village man stood in front of him. He had terror and panic in his eyes. "S-Sir! There! There is something in the village. You have to come and see. I think that the stories are true. Sir!" He said as he tried to step inside of the house. A bear trap clamped onto his leg. Blood started to pour out. "Gah!" The village man cried out. Lewis was about to go down to undo the trap, but a dagger slashed the villagers neck. His head falls in front of Lewis. Then the body dropped. Lewis looked up, and it was.. her. The same lady that killed his son! She had a wicked smile on her face. She very lightly took a step toward Lewis.

"Come one more step towards me and I will have to end you!" He yelled. Even though the rage inside him of wanting to kill her roared inside of his heart. She stopped and her eyes started to glow a bright red. She smiled and her tongue, that had somehow regrown, crawled out of her mouth and quickly tried to wrap around Lewis. Spikes formed on her tongue as she wrapped it around his arm, and they dug into his skin clenching his bones, and the lady started to slightly glow. He tried to take his other arm and slice the tongue but failed. He picked up his sword once again with the other hand and sliced the tongue after three tries. The spikes faded away and the tongue slipped off of his arms. When he looked at the lady, a piece of her face had become.. Human. She had tan skin and beautiful brown hair.

"You! He is mine!" She yelled and claws grew from her hands. She lunged forward and tried to stab him. She slashes his hip and more skin on her hip forms on her. He slashed her back, and then his back started to hurt. "What is happening." He whispers. He tried to slash her again and then she stabbed him in the stomach. She looked at him and the little light glow formed around her grew. A beautiful woman formed in front of her. "Marila?" He says. That can't be. That can't be his wife. Then she fell. Blood came from his stomach and he struggled to breathe. His wife is on the floor clutching onto her stomach. "We.. we are connected by pain." He starts to realize. He took a knife. "You won't take my son." "Wait." He heard her say. He looked at her and she reached for his hand and grabbed it. "Before you do this, I just wanted what was best for our son. I-I just wanted to b-be with him." A golden tear fell down her face. Flames started to gather around his house. "You wanted to take him away from me." He angrily said. "I risked so much." He started to cough blood. "I risked so much to try and save you, and you didn't even fight. You let them take you." He said. She put her finger up to her mouth. "Shh. I know. I am sorry. I knew you were trying to deal with the kingdom." She said and he couldn't take it so he let go of her hand. How selfish and corrupt had his wife become. "Well. I think it's best if he doesn't meet you." He said and grabbed the dagger and stabbed himself in the heart. He fell onto the floor and his last breath came out. Marila fell. She stopped breathing as well.She tried her hardest to try to go to the stairs that lead downstairs, but she didn't get very far. Her arms collapsed and her last breath came. An icy little fog came out of her mouth.

A group of soldiers ran into the house a couple hours later. "My king!" One of them yelled, and then they saw their king dead on the floor. They also saw the lady, but no one knew who she was. The soldiers picked him up. "Wait down here!" One of them said. They busted through the basement downstairs. Sylvia turned around with golden eyes. "It is done. They paid the full price for their son's life." She said and disappeared. The soldiers saw Josh and rushed over to him. "Bring the king back into the castle and his prince. The prince has a pulse and since the king is dead, Prince Josh is our next king." Said the head soldier.

When the soldiers had arrived at the castle there had been families lined up without homes, and without loved ones. Some were hopelessly crying while others stared off into the distance in disbelief. Some were even screaming at the guards demanding answers. When the soldiers with the bodies had finally gotten through the gate safely, the head Soldier explained to the head council member of how they had found the bodies. The head-leader of the council couldn't help but let a tear fall. He had not gotten very close with many people, but this was one person that he watched grow as his own son. "He sacrificed his life to save his people. Put his son into the royal room. You said he has a pulse? We will check up on him daily. Understood?" He told the servants. They nodded. Then he looked at Lewis. His face turned red and he let out another tear. His eyes shifted over to the woman and a gasp came out of his breath. "Marila.." he whispered.This had been the first king's daughter, his friend's daughter, and when she had disappeared, it made the king mad and he was constantly looking for her . It's been years since he had seen her last. Many questions filled his head.

The servants put the boy in a bed in one of the royal rooms. Josh hadn't woken up since the day the witch came, three months ago. A servant came into the room. She had blonde hair and hazel eyes. She took a wet rag and patted around his face as she was ordered to do everyday. But she noticed that he started to move his fingers. She got up and locked the door. Josh slowly started to move and, like a wave, his body started to feel again. Then he opened his eyes. But something changed.. his crystal blue eyes. Bright red glowing eyes had been laid on his face instead. His head snapped towards the girl's direction. "Hello sister.." he whispered and the girl smiled and her eyes flashed red. "Brother."

The end.