Days Gone Bye: Part One - Epitaph

Days Gone Bye: Part One - Epitaph

Midnight in Longfin. The sky painted with a tragic blue. A fitting look for the place where all souls come to rest. Maero was both revered and hated for that reason, as were the people living within it's borders. There are seven stages of grief, and the people of Maero always get caught in the way of "Anger." Maero is a small place located in the southern region of Longfin by the ocean.

Down on the banks of the ocean, two young souls lay down in the grass looking at the stars. They lay side by side. A boy and a girl, both ten years old. The girl turned her head to face the boy, her hair short and a brilliant ginger, her cheeks lightly spotted with freckles. "So...what do you think?" The boy turned his head to the girl. "What?"

The girl pointed up to the sky, "About them. The stars. Do you think they're the souls of the people here?" The boy shrugged, "I don't know. I never really believed in that kind of stuff." The girl quickly sat up, staring down at the boy in shock, "But...Osa...how can you not?! All the people buried here..they must go somewhere after they die, right?" Osa shrugged, "I don't know...no one can ever really know until it happens to them. So...I will just have to find out when I get there."

Mara slowly leaned over Osa. She spoke very seriously, an almost pleading expression on her face. "Osa...I want you to promise me something." Osa blushed as Mara leaned over him, "...W-What?" he stammered out, embarassed. She leaned in a little close to him, "Promise me....promise me that when the time comes...when we...die..that we'll meet each other up there....in the stars."

Osa was silent, unable to believe that she was being this serious. He then nodded to her. "I promise. We will meet each other up there when the time comes." Mara's face brightened and she threw her arms around Osa. The next morning, Osa woke up and walked out of his home. There sat Mara on the front ledge of his home.

"Mara! Good morning." He said with a wave. She quickly got up and walked over to him, jokingly scolding him. "Finally! So lazy, sleeping in this late. You could be doing something productive...like going adventuring with me!" Osa looked at her questioningly. "Adventuring?"
She smiled. "Yeah! A little ways outside of the village...the old burial mounds...we should go see what's down there!" Osa shook his head. "Mara, no. Those are sacred grounds. We can't..." Mara just chuckled to herself a bit. "Are you afraid of ghosts, Osa?"
"No! I'm just trying to keep you out of trouble. You know we're not allowed to go there.." Mara scoffed and turned around, her arms folded across her chest. "You're scared." Osa just shook his head. Why was she acting so strange today? "Okay..we'll go. But it'll be our secret, okay?" Mara smiled,
"Okay! Let's get going."

They wandered out to the outskirts of the village to the burial mounds. There were five of them, they were structured holes with dirt ramps that led under the ground. Osa and Mara sat before them. "Kinda eerie, aren't they?", a small hint of fear in her voice, which she attempted to hide from Osa. Osa nodded, hiding the small amount of fear in his voice from Mara, "Yeah..."
Mara urged him, "Well...let's go inside and have a look..."
"Yeah...let's each take separate ones."
Mara flinched, "You mean..alone?"
"Yeah..."
"A-Alright...I'll take the one on the far left.."
"I'll take the one on the far right.."

Osa went over to the far right burial mound. He gulped a bit, worked up what little courage he had, and began to make his way down the entrance of the mound, guiding himself down with his hand on the wall. As he made his way down, the dirt under his foot sank in and he lost his balance and he fell forward and tumbled down the entrance way. A dusty cloud enveloped him as he hit the dirt floor of the mound. Osa coughed as the dust slowly dissipated. Once it had, he looked around him. The walls were covered in paintings.

He recognized the black and white circle that was the Longfin coat of arms...but everything else was new to him. One group of paintings on the left side wall caught his eye. He crawled towards the wall to look at them more closely...the painting were of fish. But there was something sad about them. Like they seemed lost..and lonely. A raspy voice spoke from behind Osa.
"Spirits..."

Osa turned around to face the rear wall, where the voice came from..A shadowed figure sat leaning against the back wall. Their voice was soft and hoarse, but feminine nonetheless. She was young...seven years ahead of Osa. Once Osa's nerves calmed themselves, he spoke.
"What do you mean...?"
The girl grinned from under the long hair that hung over her face, down to her chin. Osa then noticed the smell..it was coming from the girl...it was a foul stench that made him think only of death...it was the smell of blood. The girl spoke,
"Spirits, boy...the lost souls who didn't quite make it across...and so they remain."
"I..I don't understand...who are you? Why are you here?"
She shook her head slowly, "Worry not, child...In years time, things shall become clear to you. So...just listen." Osa remained silent.

She drew in a long, raspy breath as if struggling to breathe and continued,
"There's a plague coming..for you..and everyone else in Longfin..."
Osa broke the silence, "A...plague? When? What is it?" She made no expression this time. She just stared at Osa. "You can't hear them...but I can." She tilted her head up to the side as if eavesdropping on someone. As she tilted her head up a thin, red line slid open along her neck, and blood trickled down slowly. "I hear them," she moved her head back down to look at Osa. "They're calling your name, little one."

So many thoughts were going through Osa's mind right now. Who is this girl? What is this plague she speaks of? Why does it feel like we've met before? She continued, "They will strike from the heart...lusting for power and death, and they don't even know that they're wallowing in it." Osa held his breath as the death stench became stronger. The girl lowered her head, blood dripping from her throat and down onto her chest. She muttered one final thing. "There will be no hope when the second flag runs red..." The girl then went silent, and for a second, a new sound echoed in Osa's ears. A sound that chilled him to the bone. A sound he hoped he'd never hear again for the rest of his days. It was the sound of agonized screams.


"Osa! OSA!! Is there anything down there?!" The sound of Mara's voice broke the echo out of Osas ears. Osa turned to face her, looking frightened. "Mara? I thought...weren't you just..." Osa looked back towards the back wall. The girl was gone. Osa and Mara climbed up out of the burial mound. Osa had climbed ahead of Mara. He turned around and held her hand as he gently helped her out of the mound. Mara slowly staggered to her feet and dusted off her clothes with her hands. "So! What did you see down there?"
Osa was silent for a bit, wondering if he should tell her about the girl he saw. He sjook his head, "Nothing exciting...just some old drawings on the walls..." Mara looked a bit puzzled, "Really? I came out early because I didn't find anything...but...it sounded like you were talking to someone." Osa just shrugged it off a bit, "I was just talking to myself." Mara raised her voice at Osa...but she sounded concerned and not angry, "But I heard you!", her voice became quieter and softer, "I...I heard someone else, too."
Osa was silent and he let out a sigh, "I saw someone...down there. A girl."

"Who...who was she?", Mara stammered. Osa shook his head slightly, "I don't know...I don't even know if she really was there." Maras voice had gone quiet again, "But she had to have been there! I heard her voice, too..."
"But, Mara, think about it. When you came in did you see anybody else in there with me?" Mara remained silent, but shook her head slowly. "Exactly. Mara, besides us, there was nobody else down there. Now let's just forget it and go back home." Osa and Mara's walk back was an awkward and silent one. Osa walked in front of Mara, always looking forward. Mara trailed slowly behind him, wishing she could hear more about this girl he saw, but she couldn't work up the courage to ask him. They parted ways back to their homes and went to bed.
That night, Osa was unable to sleep. The words of the girl in the burial mound quietly tip-toeing through his mind. He shifted in his bed, staring at the wall. He heard something outside. Footsteps. He heard them coming towards his house. Osa got up and walked to the entrance way of his house. He still heard the person moving around outside. He stood far from the door way and spoke rather sternly, "Who's there? Come out! Show yourself!"

Mara slowly peeked her head from around the left side of the entrance way. "Mara? What are you doing here?" She looked down towards the floor, "Well..I, uh....I need to talk to you about something." Osa walked outside and sat down next to Mara. They were once again staring up to the stars. Mara cleared her throat a little..she looked down at her feet., and she kept looking at them for the entire time she spoke, "I know..I know you don't want to talk about this, but I'm worried...about you...what did this girl say to you?" Osa just sighed a little, and turned to face Mara. "The girl..she seemed older than me. She had a wound across her neck," Osa said, tracing the tip of his finger lengthwise across his neck. "She spoke to me of a plague..."
Mara tilted her head slightly, "A plague?"
"Yes...she said that...'there will be no hope when the second flag runs red'"
Mara leaned in closer to Osa, "What did she mean?" Osa just sighed and shook his head.
"I don't know..."

At that moment, a crashing noise came from inside Osa's home. A sound of wood splitting and splintering and crumbling down. Osa and Mara stood up and ran inside, led by the sounds of a violent struggle. Osa ran to his mothers bedroom, and there she was...limply upright against the wall, a curved blade buried deep into her stomach, the wielder of the sword still gripping it tightly, a new entry way cut into the back wall. He pulled the blade out from his mothers stomach and her body crumpled down onto the floor. The Sword turned to Osa and Mara. He simply stood there, the blood of Osa's mother still rhythmically dripping from the tip of the blade down onto the floor. His voice was rough and gritty, "I'm sorry...I didn't want to do this in front of you." A grin spread across his face as he began to walk towards the two, "I was hoping to have gutted you first."
Osa grabbed Mara's hand and ran with her out of his home. They stopped and saw more sword-wielders running through the village, killing any and all people they caught up to. Mara began to panic.

"M..my home..my family..O-Osa! I have to get to my home!"
"I'll come with you."
The two of them ran across the corpse-ridden ground to Mara's home. Both of them ran into her home. Mara went to find her parents and Osa went to get Mara's baby brother. Osa got him and went to get Mara. He found her standing out in the main part of the house...alone. She was silent. Osa walked up to Mara.
"Mara? What's wrong? Where are your parents?"
"They aren't coming...they told me to just go on with you..."
"But...why? We hardly know what's going on!"
Mara began to walk to the door and Osa followed.
"They told me that they're from the sword nation..that this is something that's been coming for a long time...they told me to heard north with you. They say our army is organizing itself up there..."
Mara took her brother from Osa and Osa gently took Mara's hand and led her out of her home. They silently ran across the village of burning houses and cold corpses. They made their way out on the other side of the village, and ran..as they ran, Osa looked back at Maero.






He could still see the flames.






He could still hear the screams.







End.