A Blackwood Heart in the Chapel

[Reeg_ 75]

Image from ElderScrolls.net

 

Rosa trekked through the thick mud in her leather boots and Istrian uniform. She shivered as snowflakes fell down all around the quiet town of Redwood, late at night.

“Maybe I’ll stop at the tavern and see if anyone’s there,” she mused.

 

As she approached the tavern doors, a group of three characters shuffled their way out of the nearby chapel. “Good evening.” She spoke to the first one to come out: a pregnant woman, looked to be about 5 months. The woman wore a purple dress, had shifty blue eyes and long brown locks coming down past her shoulders.

 

“Lo,” another spoke. Rosa turned to the one who had spoken. Here stood a mountain dwarf, with a surprisingly short beard. Curiously, half of his face was (painted?) green. But most curiously, a body hung over his shoulder. Rosa’s face turned a sickly shade of pale. “What… happened?”

 

The third character piped up: a small girl, perhaps ten years of age, wearing a blue dress with reddish-blonde hair. She wasn’t looking at anyone in particular. “My…sister…” she sobbed. The pregnant woman fidgeted nervously.

 

The dwarf dropped the body. There was a sickly sound of organs spilling, bones shattering, and teeth clattering. By now the body was completely unrecognizable.

The pregnant woman pointed a finger towards the green-faced dwarf. “He murdered her, I saw it.”

 

The dwarf grunted in response, “No! I onle’ came into ‘te church and found it.”

 

The child practically screamed, “No! I found her dead.”

 

The woman replied savagely, “How would you know, you’re blind, child!”

 

Rosa now, with furrowed brows, walked over to the child and knelt down beside her. She spoke softly, “Do you know either of their names, child?” The girl shook her head, wiping her nose on her dress sleeve.

 

There was another horrible crunch as the dwarf flippantly stepped on the body as he turned to exit the scene. “Sir, you must stop,” Rosa addressed him with a stern voice. “I’m a member of the legion of Istria.”

 

I hope this doesn’t end in more bloodshed, Rosa thought to herself. I can’t take on that dwarf alone without running a sword through him.

 

The dwarf turned to her, and she spoke again. “I need to know your name, master dwarf.”

 

He responded, rather, proudly, “Runi Ireheart, son o’ Rhorik Ireheart.”

 

The red-headed soldier rolled her eyes. “Alright, Runi Ireheart, son of Rhorik Ireheart. I will be reporting this to the Duke."

 

The dwarf merely scoffed. “Okay, whatever ye say, lass,” mumbling curses under his breath.

 

Rosa turned to address the girl with a gentler tone, “And you, child, what is your name?”

 

She responded, still sniffling a bit, “Anna. Anna Blackwood.”

 

The pregnant woman seemed keen on leaving. Rosa turned to her. “M’lady, I’ll need to know your name as well.”

 

The woman hesitated a moment before replying, “Ashley Jan.”  

 

It was then that the girl piped up again. “None of these people did…”

 

Rosa looked to the child. “Who, then?”

 

The blind girl began to sniffle, hot tears running down her face. “Innocent, innocent…I know who did it…”

 

Rosa waited patiently for more words to come, in-between the tears.

 

“A man. He made voices in my head, and led me to the church.”

 

Rosa noticed the pregnant woman sneaking off just behind her.

 

“He sounded like a large elf… He made a wisp of red guide me there….” When Rosa inquired about how she could see red, the girl responded, “The man made it appear in my head. I went blind a few months ago…I used to see.”

 

The girl took another shuddering breath before continuing. “Villy showed up.” (After more of Rosa’s questions, she learned Villy was Avilda Blackwood).

 

“He sounded like a large elf. I saw Villy, there, in the church, she told me to flee…I did, and…” She took another breath. “And she never returned.”  

Rosa took the girl’s hand. “Show me where the body was when you found it in the church.” After guiding her to the chapel door, they both walked up in front of the pulpit. They breathed in the musty, damp, air. Moonlight fell through the windows.

 

Image from Deviant Art

 

And there Rosa’s heart nearly stopped beating. Her face turned deadly white.

 

Dried blood stuck to the floor. A horrible smell came from it. Rosa’s eyes scanning up on the altar, she saw a heart.

 

A human heart.

 

Upon the wall were the words, written in blood.

 

HE IS AWAKE.

 

Later that night, Rosa wrote a letter to the Duke explaining everything she saw.

 

[Jentos 9425]

The patriarch of the Blackwood family freezes as he hears the news, locking himself in his manor, he then swipes his sword upon the tables of the dining room in grief and rage "I shall avenge m-my people..." Says he, his eyes lit with the flames of vengeance... And madness, coming upon the old highlander, once more "Allllllvillldaa!!!"

[Elad™ 560]

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.