Crossworld Between Harmony: Nightmare's Ascension

CHAPTER 0

There was a fortress with thickened walls and impassable mountains that surrounded the mighty structure of Ironcloud. Garrisoned over a thousand elites, the fortress was formed into an ideal shield that no armies would breach its sturdy defenses.

It would only take the mad, the desperate, and the willing to risk such a craze attempt, and those who tried will find themselves paused by the heavy roars of its mighty cannons and a whistle volley of blackish rounds.

And yet, unaware by the circulative world and to all such extent, someone, or something, managed to risk that dangerous attempt...

And succeeded.

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In the solitude of night, Ironcloud loomed majestically by the silver light of the moon as the men relaxed by the cooling breeze of scented trees and the warmth of a cozy fire. The fortress was very well-protected, rendering to any known threat that might breach through the walls and any hope for the enemy to siege this legendary fortress had either given up such idea, or died in the attempt.

Since it was a futile and pointless effort for the enemy to succeed, the soldiers were becoming too relaxed in their wake. Dormancy still left these proud and hardened elites into belaying husks of lazy fools who cared much little for duty and discipline. Even the officers, that were in charged to keep order, were contemplated by the men action and loosened themselves to an easy life of merry songs and the boozes of drinks.

For over than a decade, Ironcloud was impervious, invincible and impenetrable beyond to claim. Any thoughts of the next oncoming invasion was soon but forgotten. Their purpose, their reason, to defend such an important structure, was belittled into more than a vacation for them.

While no one was watching the outer perimeter, on the eve of night, a mysterious figure suddenly appeared from the shadow. Without the intrusion or alert from the guards inside, the stranger walked freely in front of the large gate. He snickered how easy it was to stood close to the gate.

Wearing a dark hooded robe, the figure stared up at the walls, hearing the ungrateful fools from the other side. All would soon learn that their mistake would be their last. All would learn that this was the day that their little vacation was about to be over.

The figure stretched out his hand, materializing a spear out of thin air. The entirety of its weapon was dreaded black. He grasped his created weapon and pointed at the unbreakable gate.

"Let's see if the rumours are true."

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While the rest acted freely inside in their quarters only one guard remained outside in the bitter cold. With only a rugged and dirty coat to provide some warmth, the guard managed to sleep in this terrible weather and dreamed of a wonderful feast that fit for a king. As the guard was about to eat his imaginary pie, a loud sound was heard at the gate that quickly woke him up. Startled, the guard stared at the gate and thought it was nothing, but the sound kept getting louder and louder that others seemed to caught the disturbance.

The guard and the others that heard the sound advanced to the gate, wondering what was making such a racket. As they were close to investigate, the strange sound suddenly ceased and silence loomed once more in the fortress. For a brief minute, they steadily drew their weapons as the guard peeked outside where he saw a blinding light.

This was the start. The beginning of the end for the defenders of stone. The rest of the guards soon heard the sound once more, but this time they saw the gate being crumbled into collapse and followed with an explosive force that went inward against the surprising men.

The gate was shattered like glass and flying shrapnel stabbed multiple times at the guards, killing or severely injuring them in the instant. The tremendous burst had sent a shockwave of the entire fortress. It was a sudden wake up call for the lazy men as they poured out from every corner. Throngs of musketeers were positioned for the target while a barrier of shielded sentinels rushed to the shattered gate.

Spears and swords and muskets were presented at the intruder, readying to battle them out. Yet they could feel this unease sense of dread and danger just outside as they saw the state of the once impregnable gate.

Who was so bold enough to attack one of the secured fortresses in the empire; brigands, neighbouring countries? The men, to some, were slightly astonished that somebody was willing to invade Ironcloud and to others, eager for some action.

The men remained steady in their defence, unsure to what enemy they would face. The cried out officers hollered to the men and everyone became deeply silent by the leader's presence.

The sentinels opened a line where the leader walked magnificently in his traditional pale armour. In front of the sentinels, the leader raised his cerulean sword and readied himself for the inevitable outcome. "Musketeers" he called out to them. "Have you sighted the enemy?"

"None yet, goodsir. No sightings yet from all this blighted smoke."

The leader nodded of the report. He was ever suspicious of the enemy's plan, but he was vigilant to the cause that his men would survive this conflict. Those that invaded Ironcloud would find themselves face to face with the empire's finest, and those that survived shall have the scars to prove their blight.

For a brief minute, they waited. So far nothing had happened yet until an ominous smoke rolled through the gate. The sentinels stuttered by this rather sudden event, but the officers managed to straighten the mens courage.

The smoke soon then after engulfed the entire fortress, thickening with its purple hue. In a foreboding silence, they heard an awful, ungodly laughter from the background. The sound was feminine and unnatural and the source came from the broken gate.

"Show yourself, coward," the leader shouted, pointing its blade at the unknown attacker. "Are you here to mock us with this laughter of yours. Present yourself, blighter, and be judge by the Patriots of the empire."

He waited for the response. Nothing.

After the laughter had faded the men grew mightily worried and showed signs of panic. They were vexed by the purple fog that surrounded them, ignoring the danger in front. While the men grew slightly disarray and the officers hollered for order, the leader (Patriot) had his eyes planted at the broken gate and waited for the enemy to reveal itself.

In truth, the Patriot was disturbed by the purple fog and sensed a disturbance that cried out to him in terror. He felt everything was twisted from reality, wanting to scream in all its fury.

He glanced back at the chaos in his ranks and struggled to keep his composure. He felt his mind was slowly reduced to the breaking point until at last he saw something at the gate.

It was a shadow.

Order soon returned to the men as everyone focused at the approaching shadow. The musketeers aimed at the target with fingers on the trigger. They only need the Patriot's word to unleash their blackish rounds.

With every force at the ready, the Patriot listened carefully of its step, but they sounded strange and odd. They weren't the sound of human footstep. They sounded like...

"A hoofbeat?"

With the purple fog slowly faded away, the shadow revealed itself at the broken gate. A moment of silence filled in the air as the men burst out in laughter.

The enemy that made the whole fortress quaked and men in unease was just an animal, a black equine.

Relieved with content, the men were overconfident of their ability to handle a small and puny threat. Some even volunteered to end the creature for an easy victory, but one was able to saw the true horrors that stood before him and slightly stepped back from this evil creature.

For the first time in his life, the Patriot was terribly afraid. Hesitant and shaken beyond of measure, he silently turned around and retreated to his quarter while the men were oblivious of their leader's fear.

The dark equine saw the retreated Patriot and grinned with amusement. It then spreaded its blacken wings for all to glimpsed at and her long horn glowed in a dark purple light. The men turned rather surprised by this outburst and advanced to the attack.

And, with that moment, the equine released its blight.