Gates Of Oblivion

• Michael Collins
• Short Story
• 2007

Gates of Oblivion



By Michael Collins



Once upon a time there was a boy named Michael, He was born on January 21st 1323 under the star sign called the Warrior in Ravenswood one of the larger towns in Tamirak. This was not a normal world as it was filled with magic, swords and shields- there were always wars! His father was a blacksmith and taught his son all the tricks of the trade. His mother on the other hand was a dairy farmer and worked on their farm next door, to tend to all the livestock. Michael at a young age showed great courage and vigor and lived up to his early-teens ‘on the edge’. But when he struck fourteen his life went into a spin, on a bleak overcast day his mother disappeared into the forest near the farm she had been searching for a runaway cow and she was never seen again, there were search parties for months searching for remains of any sort.

However 9 months later his father was killed saving Michael’s life from invaders. Michael was adopted into a widowed family and met another teenager Michael’s age called Clarion. These two grew unto they where sixteen when also very suddenly Clarion’s mother was held hostage and taken away on horseback to the forest. Michael thought all of the sadness and loss was because of him and ran away into the very same forest that took his mother away from him.

1 month later
Ripped and cut I ran screaming from the forest. After a few minutes run he made it into town and headed straight to his adoption home, when he got there Clarion was sitting on a chair sharpening a blade.” Michael what are you doing here, are you ok we thought you were dead”.” not dead, filled with hate and anger, it is time I kill those things in the forest and restore peace to all of Ravenswood”. “What do you mean exactly by those things in the forest?” “At night I saw things they were jumping through the trees some were white and some were dark black and the had red lines on them.”” I’m still not following you, you saw things jumping through the trees what exactly did they look like?”. “Did I not just tell you that is all I saw”. “Sorry I’m trying to get a mental picture”” well lets go you and I need some money to train and for weapons and spells etc”. “I haven’t even said that I was coming”.” Well you better be or ill rip open…”.”Ok ok ok I’ll come” .I stormed out of the house eager and for the first time I felt scared and worried, It was the first time since being scared in the forest but this was something else.

When I open the door there was a crowd already assembled I stopped there were a few whispers and then…”YEAH!!! HE”S BACK” the crowd exploded yelling and clapping.”…. w...What are you doing? I’m no God” someone in the crowd yelled out “yeah but you’re the only one who has ever made it out of the forest”.” everybody go back to your work and your homes, but thank you for your kind and sincere greeting”.” it’s good to have you back Michael” a crowds man said” Thank you”. Clarion and I walked back to my old home on the doorstep was a long metal case on it was a letter wrote in parchment, I flicked open the letter it read




Dear Michael

If you have this letter you know that I am dead, son I loved watching you grow up, Michael you have made me very proud and know that I am watching down on you with smiles and esteem because I have watched a fine little boy grow into a young man I love to call my son. Inside is a sword I casted made with 100 % pure gold and it has all of our names engraved on it.
Use it wisely
Ps. the key is for the vault under the table, do me proud.

Dad

I closed the letter I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I clicked open the lock and opened the box with great anticipation, I stumbled back it was absolutely beautiful and the names were written in Firestone by the way it looked he had written it in Knorvenish(language of the Mountain Knorves). I clasped the handle with great pleasure it swung with ease.

I picked up the key I opened the front door I pushed the table out of the way and searched for the keyhole when I found it I stuck the key in and opened the safe inside were massive piles of Gold (money) ”wow, that’s a lot of money!” Said Clarion with great exclamation “now we have no need to work, but were not gong to use it all”. I pulled out a large bag from my rucksack and stuffed a few hundred Gold in the bag “by the way who was looking after the horses in my barn?” “Ooohhh those, they died …. Nar I’m just kidding I was”. “Thanks, let’s go get some saddles. I know a blacksmith that my father had known, write a note and leave it on the council hall doorstep and then we will go”.” I got it”. I ran out to the barn “Pyrox there you are, I haven’t seen you in a while” I walked up to the horse and gave it a stroke on his back he whinnied and moved his head from side to side. I put a saddle on Pyrox and on Flarox they were the two fastest horses we had, Clarion came running into the barn “are we good to go?” “Sure” We both hopped on the horses and rode of onto the road to Dusk’s Mountain.

It was autumn, I could feel the petals falling from the trees onto my face, I could smell the lovely scent of wildflower and listen to the sound of birds singing and chasing after each other the sun was shining on my head. I turned around to look at Ravenswood before we turned the corner and into the rocky pass. On the side of a lake we made camp we ate fish and bread and drank the most natural water in the region it all came from here the Lake Of Remune. I didn’t have a nice sleep I had visions of those things in the forest slicing at me and when I looked down I had no skin they were slashing away at my heart.

I woke covered in sweat I willed my head to turn outside my tent. Clarion was sitting by the river I moved over next to him he had tears in his eyes “what’s the matter?”.” I had a dream of my mother, she was crying out for me and I could do nothing about it she would run for me and the guards would beat her down”.” I had a nightmare as well, do you know those things in the forest?”. “Yeah”.” They were attacking at my heart I was chained up and I had no skin all I saw was a bleeding heart and then I woke”.” I too am filled with anger and I will stop at nothing till I have my mother back, I know she is alive” Clarion said “Let’s keep moving we are not far from the town of Dusk’s Mountain, we will get answers from them!”

We packed up and moved on through with our horses. When we reached the village we headed for the blacksmith. I pushed open the door we walked up to the counter” is …is that…no it…. It can’t be…Michael?”.” Yes Tyramillion it is me“.” I heard, I’m so sorry about your parents I don’t know what to say”. “you have already said your sorry’s don’t worry about it”.” Ooohhh ok, what can I get you? “We need two full sets of armor” “ahhh, yes we have two sets of everything in stock what’ll it be?” “your strongest” Imperial Knight Steel?” “That will have to do” “450 Gold” “for one set?” “No, for both, I’ll reduce the price for you” “we don’t need your sympathy but thank you for your kind gesture”. I handed over the money,”keep up the good work”. We walked out of the door and then I heard it there was a scramble inside and then….nothing, we ran inside Tyramillion was on the floor with a sword in his chest I pulled out my sword, he was still alive “Dark..Dar...” his eyes closed “MICHAEL!!!!” Clarion was out the front of the shop, one of the things in the forest was stalking off, it was wounded and was going slow, we chased after it. We were just about to pounce on it when an arrow came soaring through the treetops and hit the thing it fell over and vanished, there was another, this one was purple, I had never seen a purple one before, there was a roar we looked behind us there was a dragon the purple thing must have been a mage and summoned a dragon to cover he path.

We rushed to get the people from the town into their homes and shops some guards came running to our assistance one said “are you knights?” “No, were not, can you help us out?” “That’s what were here for” the guards pulled out their swords and began to charge at the dragon, we too followed after them striking at it’s neck and shoulders the fight continued for about fifteen seconds until one of the guards was struck by the dragon’s tail he fell clutching his wound on his torso. A guard marksman shot a ballistae arrow straight into the dragon’s chest; it stumbled for a while and then fell over. The guards had come running to check on their fallen comrade “he’ll be ok, thanks for your help as a token of our appreciation we would like you to join any guilds in Dusk’s Mountain” “thank you for this but we are no heroes."

The man handed us each a letter “give this to the guild master of the one you chose” “we need to get into the forest of Remune, do you know how?” “You can’t get into there until one of you is fifteen” “I am fifteen in 3 months” I said “good that means you can stay, with two strong Apprentices like yourselves this town would be much safer!” the guard began to walk in the other direction “I like the look of the guards I must go see if I can join them” said Clarion “I might too” “excuse me sir…” Clarion yelled out to the guard that was walking away “we would like to join the Guards guild!” “Give the letters to Eldaflame in the guard station, she’ll direct you from there” “thank you.”

Clarion and I went back towards Tyramillion’s shop to get our armor off the front doorstep I put on the chest plate, the pauldrons, the greaves, the boots, the gauntlets and finally the helmet. I pulled out the long metal case and pulled out the sword and sheathed it in the Imperial Knight Steel armor. Clarion had done the same but something was missing he didn’t have a weapon “you don’t have a sword?” Clarion pulled out an elvish long sword “this was my fathers”. The both of us walked towards the guards station “hi, I’m looking for Eldaflame” “sure, I’ll tell her you’re here” the guard walked into a room in the back of the hall you could hear the faint noise of a conversation and then the guard and a woman came out she had long glowing red hair and she was wearing Mithril armor and had a silver broadsword “did someone want to talk me” “yes” I handed over both the letters. She opened it up and began to read “what’s this” one of your guards gave it to us when we fought that dragon today” “awwww, you’re the people who fought the dragon so this states that I must let you into my legion, so I welcome you both as guards if you want orders already I may have some small jobs that need taken care of” “we’ll take whatever you got” “you two need to kill a bandit that calls himself Kenso-The-Blind he lost a bet with a noble and stole the noble’s money and not paying his share of the bet, we don’t know exactly where he is but ask around some people might have seen him, be careful he has been called as mentally unstable” “thank you.”

We strolled out and towards a villager “ have you seen Kenso-The-Blind?” “As a matter of fact I have he was down by the outlaw’s gang drug house be careful down there, there have been strange noises down there for a few minutes” “thank you for helping us.”

We walked down to the drug house there was a tall shady figure stumbling around. When we finally got to the man he stopped in his tracks “stay away, the end is coming!” “Excuse me, we need you to come with us for awhile” “I’m not going into the forest again…noooo!” “You’ve been in the forest before?” “Yes, I was taken into the forest’s castle, no it was horrible” “we need you to tell us all you know of the castle, guards, everything” “go to my house heres the key, in my kitchen there is a book on top of the stove, it has it all.” “You still need to come with us.” We seized the man and brought him up to the guard station. We left him in the prison cells and walked outside the station and towards Kenso-The-Blind’s house, we unlocked the front door and walked over to his stove, we found the book he was talking about inside were the layout and a full description of the things, they were named Shadow Wers.


The next three months were lazy doing the occasional odd job and a lot of studying, finally the two boys found out what was happening the Shadow Wers and their master Kyras were trying to open the Gates of Oblivion and letting loose a power that could destroy and enslave all of Tamirak. Michael and Clarion had risen through the ranks and had reached the rank of Knight giving them the power to create an army of people. Michael and Clarion set out for Ravenswood to get their army ready, after a day or two they reached the city I was in flames they ran to the town hall they could hear faint noises of people calling for help. We kicked the door open and pulling all the people to safety “get water, we must put out the inferno”. After a few minutes the blaze was out, “so what actually happened?” I said to one of the villagers”things from the forest came taking all of the children, they killed all the guards.”

“They WILL pay in their life for this!” I said meanwhile Clarion was taking to the village elder he saw him nod his had and then shake hands. Clarion came running up the elder has given us the power to create our army!” “Good, I will not perish until the forest is cleared of the Shadow Wers” “we better get to work then “ALL MALES REPORT TO THE GUARDS STATION IMMEDIATELY!” I called out. A line had massed out in front of the station “you men are now part of the Ravenswood 3rd legion, fight with honor, vigor and courage and you will be rewarded for it.” The men began roaring and cursing the Shadow Wers. I walked into the guard station and into the armory 100 sets of Imperial Templar armor was up on the walls “that’s good enough” I exclaimed “those must have been a new order or something, everybody gets one suit and broadsword each, c’mon we still gotta do training” “don’t you think you’re pushing them to much?, after all they just witnessed a terrible thing” “maybe you’re right but the more gentle I am the weaker they will be!” “I guess your right.” Clarion lowered his head and walked off.


Five months went passed and the troops were completely ready for battle they were among some of the best troops in Tamirak. ”Tomorrow we leave for the forest so use this night to spend with your wives and loved ones, and tell them you will come back dead or alive you will still be coming home.



Marching in line formation the men of the Ravenswood 3rd Legion were heading into battle with a ferocious enemy- the Shadow Wers. After a few minutes walk they reached the central castle “Men into positions, archers form up!” half of the men snuck up to the walls and waited to ambush, there were archers on the main road and hidden in the bushes. “Archers, attack!” a volley of silver arrows soared into the keep, there were strange noises coming from inside and then… Bang, the front gate fell down unleashing the Wers. The men stood in position waited and then charged at the Wers “make them pay with their life!” I ran into battle cleaving and chopping through the crowd of Shadow Wers, the blade swung with ease as I engaged in a battle with a Wer commander “I know you!” the Wer sniggered “I captured your mother, I don’t think you have much of a chance for saving her now!” “You WILL die!!” I stabbed fiercely twisting my sword and inflicting the most amount of pain, he fell to the ground smiling at me I looked at him in disgust as I dealt the final blow to his head.


I ran into the keep searching for my mother, I busted into a room and found a purple Wer praying to an alter, he turned around but it was his last look at the world before he died. I run out to check in the main room, Kyras was standing about to kill my mum “turn, and face me and I shall kill you!” “it is to late, the Gates of Oblivion are opening, the only way to stop that Is to kill me and you and I both know you’re going to do that, prepare to die!” He charged at me attacking once, twice and then he struck me on the shoulder “awwww!” I made a promise that I would not die until he died and I stood up “you know Michael, fairytales always end happy, but this is not a fairytale you are just a young foolish child and this will not end happily, you will die.

He tried to slice my head off but in a quick gust of wind he fell to his knees gasping his wound blood coming through his mouth and through the wound in his chest. Clarion was standing behind him “you cut off his head we will post it on the front gate,” “It looks like the story backfired on you, your plan has been foiled.” There was a rumble and some medium-large humanoid broke through the floor. Clarion moved over to the humanoid and begun to fight with it “now, you have failed the gates have are beginning to open” these were the last words he spat before his head fell to the ground “the only way to stop it now is to throw his body into the blazing gates. We jumped down into the crack in the ground I was carrying Kyras until we stumbled upon the gates they were beautiful one was the gate to hell the other the gate to heaven if both opened it would unleash the wrath of both the worlds. “Quick, throw him into hell and push the gate closed!” Now a large amount of legionnaires had arrived. As I tossed him into the fiery hell from whence he came I ordered the men to brace the gate closed.

The men held it for about five minutes when there was a great earthquake as the wind blew past my face “you have done a great thing for this world and when you perish I will have a spot in heaven for you” The One and Only God had spoken to him, maker of heaven and earth, God of all Gods he must of accomplished a mighty deed by doing that. My sword began to burn as I dropped it, it engraved I live and love for man. I grasped my sword and embarked on a huge battle cry the men erupted in chanting and cheering “DEATH TO DARK!” When we had cleaned up he carried our fallen, children and ones who had survived. We pilled the Wers into a massive pile and covered them with oil as our archers volleyed their last flaming arrow to burn the castle to the ground.


1 year later…

Michael and Clarion were the shared Generals of all Tamirak’s armies and united them under God; there was one King and one Queen. Michael filled the position of General very well and rose through the ranks as he did in the guard’s guild to become King of Tamirak his wife was Kaila they had three children. Michael passed the crown onto Clarion who had married a women call Tiara they only had one child, but alas all of Tamirak was a safe haven for everybody, but questions linger on. Michael and Clarion were asked how they found out all the stuff from Kenso as he had sown his mouth shut many years before, and it was granted that the two were telepathic and could read minds however Michael and Clarion never ever read a mind after Kenso’s.