Chaper 1 (Update)

The Gatekeeper 

 

Prologue 

"Wake the f**k up, Kalder" a voice shouts as a poker is driven into my ribs, I feel the white-hot steel sear my flesh, my blood boiling and fizzling in the heat. 

I thrash against my restraints in a futile effort to escape, the torturer chuckles at my display and leans on the poker pushing it further into my rib cage "You deserve every second of it, you f****n' traitor" he says, spitting a thick string of mucus and saliva into my face.  

My mind drifts, an attempt to flee the pain of the poker in my chest. I find myself musing on how I ended up in this decrepit dungeon being tortured by a man I once called my brother, I guess pain makes me nostalgic, the smell of damp stone and dried blood taking me back to a time before I was a gatekeeper, to a time before I even had a name.  
 
 
 
Chapter 1  
Kalakos City dungeon  
 
The smell of rot and decay filled the air as I was tossed into a cell, I collapsed onto the damp stone floor "Filthy casteless, thief's and murderers all of 'em" the cell guard muttered as he slammed the iron cell door shut. I stood up and approached the thick cell bars before glaring at the guard on watch, he lent against the wall half asleep "P-please sir, let me out" I whimpered in my best-frightened child voice, he roused from his trance and sneered before smashing the bars in front of him "shut the hell up vermin before I decide to do the world a favor and rid it of you" he snarled at me before returning to his position, half asleep against the wall. 

I sighed before slumping against the cell wall letting myself slide down to the floor, I looked around the dark cell block, the grimy straw bed covered in filth and the floor coated with damp straw stank with the smell of stale urine. "You'll get no sympathy from them lad" I head a gruff, haggard voice chuckle from the shadows in the cell next to me. I turned my head to see the owner of the voice. A pale, muscular man in dirty rags sat against the far wall of the next cell, his body half concealed by shadows, his arms and legs just barely visible. What little that could be seen was a cross hatch of scar tissue and burn marks "So what are you in for kid? Must have been something terrible" the man asked in a sarcastic tone.  

I laughed at the man's question "Oh me, I shagged the queen on the king's bed" the man chuckles again and sits forward, I could now see his face clearly. Three long claw marks ran down over his eye, a missing chunk of lip left a few of his sharp, yellowing teeth exposed, his eyes were deep grey with a gaze as steely as the bars that separated us "Ah a sense of humor, not too common in casteless" he chuckled as his thick grey mustache bounced on his lip "So what did you actually do?" He asked once again, his voice taking on a slightly more serious tone, I let my head rest on the moss-coated wall behind me "Got caught picking the pocket of some noble arsewipe" I muttered while staring at the cracked stone ceiling "man's got to eat, either you steal the gold or try your luck at catching a rat, nobody wants a castles working for them." I muttered absentmindedly before turning to face the man "So what are you in for old man?" I asked with faint curiosity. 

The old man chuckled again before pulling up his sleeve to reveal a small tattoo depicting a demonic skull crossed by Spears "Gatekeeper kid APPARENTLY WE SET FIRE TO THE LOCAL TEMPLE!" he yelled, directing his sentence more towards the cell guard than myself. "We catch the blame for everything. Anything goes wrong within a hundred-mile radius of us and it's our doing. dead sheep, lost crops, f*****g flooding, it's always our fault somehow" he exclaimed.

A sudden smash silenced the old man "Shut the hell up feral, I don't want to listen to any more of your bull-" the guard was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a door slamming open, a bright shard of daylight sliced into the dark room, quickly followed by the sound of heavy footsteps and clinking armor, a short pot-bellied man in a bright red and black tunic rounded the corner followed by two tall, stockily built men in blue and yellow plate armor, the short man paused for a moment before turning towards the cell guard "Stop lazing around and open the keepers cell, I don't have all day" the short man barked "Yes commandant" the cell guard nervously spluttered while fiddling with the large ring of keys on his belt, after a few failed attempts the cell doors lock clicked open and the cell door swung outward with a shrill squeak, without a word the men accompanying the commandant moved into the cell with speed and grace not expected from men of their size, they lifted the old man up by his arms before quickly dragging him from the cells dark corner. 

The Commandant began walking towards a small wooden door tucked away beneath the stairs, he stopped beside the door and stood tapping his foot expectantly, after a few seconds the cell guard quickly rushed over unlocking the door with a look of embarrassment on his face "my apologies commandant" he muttered before he pulled the door open. I glimpsed into murky room, a large metal chair sat bolted to the floor in the center of the room, my attention was drawn to the small tray of metal instruments glinting in the dim torchlight as well as the leather restraints that dotted the chairs rusted frame, the guards dragged the old man into the room with the commandant following quickly behind them.

For the next few hours the dungeon was filled with echoing cries of agony, eventually the small wooden door swung open and out came the guards dragging the old man, bloody and bruised, from the room behind them. The guards swung open the old cell door and tossed the unconscious man into the iron confines of the room before slamming the door shut again with a loud echoing clang, the two guard's marched back to the commandant before exchanging a few hushed words, the trio nodded as the commandant looked back over to the cell guard "Keep your eye on the feral, if he escapes before his execution you'll be filling his place on the block" the commandant snapped before turning and walking towards the stairs, the cell guard let out a sigh of relief as he watched the commandant waddle up the stairs and out of the dungeon followed by his guards.

 I peered through the bars at the old man, his broken form lying limply on the cell floor, blood trickling onto the damp hay. For the first time in a long time, I felt pity, no not pity, sadness, sadness that the one person that treated me as a fellow human was now bleeding out onto the damp stone a few feet away from me. "Please" I cried out "You have to help him, he's going to die" I shouted, the cell guard looked over at the man's crumpled form casually "Not my problem freak, if the feral dies he dies" he grunted in a dismissive tone. 

I crawled towards the cell wall, I could see the blood pooling around his crumpled form reflecting the dim torchlight. Suddenly my sadness twisted and burnt into a rage, I threw myself at the cell door startling the cell guard "the hell you think you're doing?" He sputtered in an angry tone "help him" I growled, the guard looked from me to the old man before snickering "or what freak? You'll make your mommy and daddy come and make me?" He chuckled in a mocking tone before walking towards the cell door, with lightning speed the guard brought the blade of his sword down onto one of my fingers severing it from my hand, I screamed before falling back onto the ground clutching my hand.  

The guard cackled at my cries of pain before sheathing his now bloodied blade, he quickly assumed his previous position asleep against the wall as I writhed and squirmed on the floor in a paroxysm of agony, I felt my own blood flowing down my arm and onto the stones below me. I Felt the searing pain creeping up my arm as the ground below me becomes sticky with blood, my head begun to spin as my vision blurred, I felt my eyes fluttering as my strength seeped from my body as my consciousness attempted to flee, as I lay on the cold stone I felt a strange calm wash over me. I stopped crying, I wiped the tears from my eyes before tearing a piece of cloth from my tunic, I quickly wrapped the torn cloth around my hand before standing up and facing the guard. 

I slowly crept towards the cell door, I braced myself before screaming at the top of my lungs. 

The guard jumped up before drawing his sword, he began spinning around the room frantically searching for the non-existent threat, after a few seconds he regained his composure and glared over at me "What the hell is wrong with you, you little freak" he snarled before storming over to the cell door "Do I have to remove another one of your-" a sudden wet thud stops his rambling, he peered down to see his own dagger buried deep in his chest with my hand on the hilt. He stared back up with a shocked expression plastered onto his paling face, he attempted to choke out some final words but all that escaped his mouth was a few bloodied coughs before he keeled over with a heavy thud.  

I stood stock still, the reality of the situation still sinking in. I had just killed a man, a hate-filled, angry man but an innocent one none the less. "What if he had a family? A wife? Children to care for." All these questions and more tore through my mind and body as I recoiled from the corpse "why had I done that? How had I done that, I didn't even notice my hand reaching for the dagger, didn't feel the cold metal until it was too late It had been almost mechanical." I stumbled to the ground before curling up into a fetal position, the staring, glazed eyes of the now dead cell guard locked with mine, silently damning me for what I had done.

Out of the corner of my eye I just faintly registered movement, it was the old man, he was groaning, attempting to pick himself up from the ground. After a few minutes he eventually managed to drag himself into a sitting position, he turned his head and saw the guard's body lying on the floor, his eyes widened as he dragged himself around to face me "Kid? Kid! Snap out of it" he shouted, I only faintly heard him, my eyes and mind were still firmly locked on the man I had just murdered, my mind reliving the man's final moments over and over again. 

Suddenly the sound of something smashing against the cell wall pulled me from my trance, my head shot to the left to see the old man slamming his body against the cell wall in an effort to gain my attention "Listen to me kid, we have to get out of here now." He hissed "It won't be long before the guard change, if they see what you've done they'll execute you, probably on the spot" he whispered through the bars, on some primal level my body understood and forced me out of my trance into action.  

I noticed the dim torchlight reflecting off of the large ring of keys on the dead man's belt, I scurried over to the cell door before reaching out and pulling the keys free, I flicked through the keys, testing each in the lock of the cell door. After a few minutes, I heard the lock click open as the door jutted open, I shoved hard against the heavy metal of the door attempting to push the corpse away, after a few seconds I squeezed through the gap and out of the cell.

I stepped out onto the cold, bare stone "Great job kid now unlock my cell so we can get out of here" the old man wheezed. I spun around and darted over to the cell door before slotting the key into the lock, the door swung open with a shrill squeak, I cringed at the sound, worrying the slightest noise would draw the attention of the guards.

The old man let out a pained grunt as he pushed himself to his feet, he took a small shaky step towards the door before toppling over with a yelp "Its no-good kid" he hissed through clenched teeth "They really did a number on my legs" he chuckled weakly "Just get out of here kid, I'll get out by myself" he smiled as he looked up at me, for a brief moment I considered it but quickly came to the conclusion that leaving the old man there was not an option "If I helped you, do you think you could walk?" I asked bluntly. The old man smiled "Well aren't you full of surprises kid" he chuckled before using the cell bars to pull himself to his feet.