Chronicles of Lay
The Search of the Black Crystal
Copyright 2013 O.K.Kiptum
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It was a bright Sunday morning when an army of demon knights from the temple of Tot, which belonged to a ancient demon called Flex, attacked a village near the coast of Midland, in a city called Zun, were a little boy called Lay, whose parents and relatives were killed, lived.
A few minutes latter he heard a harras of horses stampeding towards him. He quickly hid inside a barrel of wheat, which was half empty. He heard someone coming towards him. When he looked up he saw a tall, dark figure coming nearer. The tall being approached him and told him to stand up. He stood up and immediately came out of the barrel. Standing in-front of him was a tall muscular man with a long beard. He was wearing heavy looking armour with a gold chassis. "Come," he said. Lay followed him. The man asked with a horse voice, "What is your name?" Lay said with a scared voice, "My name is Lay, what is yours?" The man said, "My name is Lord Voile, king of the Vykings. "Who are the Vykings?" Lay asked. "The Vykings are sub-kings who rule parts of my kingdom. I had thought of calling them mayors but 'king of the mayors' doesn't sound that cool." Voile explained. Suddenly, they heard a loud cry at Lay’s home. They rushed towards Lay's home and were perturbed when they saw a body moving on the ground. They quickly approached the body and to Lay's surprise it was his mother. Shortly after, they heard another cry. They rushed towards it only to find Lay's father still alive. They took them to Vicar, where they were rested on a comfortable bed in a spare room in Lord Voile's castle. One of Lord Voile's caregivers told them that Lay's parents were wounded by magic and that normal medicine would not work. Lord Voile ordered an assembly in the city to happen the following day in order to find anyone who could help Lay's parents or knows someone who could.
Outside, Lay decided to explore the city. "You there," a voice emanated from a old house near the city's marketplace. Lay approached the house slowly until he reached a black rugged door which sure looked like the entrance to the house. Lay knocked at the door but nobody answered. Just as Lay was about to leave, the door flew open as he barely managed to dodge it. "Come," the voice once again emanated from the house. Lay bravely entered the house. Inside, there was a long dark hallway that had a ring of light at the end. He walked towards the ring of light. As he approached the ring he saw a old woman sitting on a chair in the middle of the ring. "What do you want from me?" Lay asked. "I can see it. I can see it!" she said. "See what?" Lay asked. "The future." she said as she vanished. "There's great trouble in your future. Trouble! Trouble! Trouble!" Lay jumped and turned around as she spoke from behind him. "What trouble?" Lay asked. "Whatever happens the answer is from within. Never forget," she said as she walked away. "Wait, what trouble?" Lay asked as she faded away until there was nothing.
Lay walked out of the house. At that moment, a girl who was running bumped into him. "Hey watch were you're going you moron," the girl said. "I'm the moron?" Lay remarked. The girl picked up her bag and ran away. A fat bald man ran towards Lay. "Have you seen a strange girl pass by," the man asked. "No I haven't," Lay answered. The man moved on in the opposite direction the girl went. Lay started to run after the girl. After an hour of running around the city Lay finally caught up with her. He saw her enter what seemed to be an abandoned house. He walked towards the door of the house and knocked. The door was opened. "Who are you?" the girl asked while holding a sword and standing in-between two boys. "That's a really rusty sword," Lay said. "I bet it can still do quite some harm," she said. "Put the sword down. He seems like a harmless guy," the boy on her left said "by the way I'm George." "Fine," Mary said. "Come in quickly before someone sees you," George said. They all went in and locked the door.
"I'm Jack and she's Mary" the other boy said. "I cannot believe you told him my name!" Mary yelled as she smacked Jack on the head. "What's your name?" George asked. "My name is Lay," Lay answered. Everyone burst into laughter. "What type of name is that?" Jack asked while laughing. "Where are you from?" Mary asked. "I'm from a village near the cost of Midland," Lay answered. "Where's that?" Jack asked. "It's in Zun you fool," answered George. It started to get dark outside. "You need to get out of here. This side of the city is quite dangerous at night," George said. "Let's go to Lord Voile's palace," Lay suggested. "We won't be let in," Mary said. "Trust me," Lay said. They went to the palace. The guards let them in for they recognized Lay. "How did you get to know Lord Voile?" Jack asked. "My village was attacked by demon knights and my parents were wounded by some type of magic. Lord Voile brought my parents and I here and is trying to help them," Lay said. "If you need us for anything we'll be there to help," George said. "Thanks," Lay said. Everyone was given a room and they slept for it was quite late.
The following day every body in the city attended the assembly for they wanted to help. "Is there anyone who can help?" Lord Voile asked the large crowd. An old man came towards the front stage and said, "I know the cure." He then continued," Come to my house tomorrow and I will show you." It reached nightfall very fast and every body was tired and exhausted. Lay’s new friends told him that he should go to bed and be exited for the day to come. They went to bed knowing that the following day would be an exiting day. The next day they woke up and found sumptuous looking breakfast on the table awaiting for them to eat. After they ate they went together with the king and his men to the old man’s house. When they arrived, the old man welcomed them to his home. Lay asked him happily, "What is your name?" The old man answered, "My name is Sacra." Lay continued to ask, "What is the cure?" The old man answered, "The cure is the black crystal" He continued, "It is also a very rare and difficult thing to find." " You will need this sword," Sacra said said as he gave Lay the sword. Lay asked, "Why?" The old man replied, "Because there is great power in that sword and it also senses evil." The old man told them that the black crystal is found in the temple of Tot. Sacra also told them that the temple belonged to an ancient demon called Flex. "I've read about Flex. I thought he was sealed off of this world," Lord Voile said. "As with any historical recording, they are wildly inaccurate. He was never sealed off. He vanished while retreating from the then king Robert's army." Sacra explained.
Nightfall was approaching fast and the king ordered everyone to go home. Before they could go, Sacra gave them an herb to eat. "This herb will protect you from the demons' powers and magical weapons but not their strength and it will be useless against Flex's attacks," Sacra explained. They went home and rested in anticipation for the following day which was going to be a big day.
In the dawn of next day Lay and his friends together with the king’s men and the king himself packed all the things they needed for their upcoming quest. Lay’s friends were given weapons so they may defend themselves when in danger. After all the preparation they set off on their journey. On the way they met a young man running towards them saying, "Go away while you are still alive." Everybody was wondering what could have made the young man that terrified. By noon they had reached the edge of the protected grounds where the safe areas in the kingdom were. Suddenly, a small group of demon scouts attacked them but they defeated them swiftly. "HaHaHaHa. Maybe this was what the young man we encountered earlier was running from," Lord Voile happily said. The soldiers accompanying the king burst into laughter.
It was almost sun down and they decided to set up camp before nightfall. Lay and his friends were scared that a
demon might come at night and finish them off while they were sleeping. The king was not worried because the sword that Lay was given could show that evil is coming or that it is near. They went to sleep. Luckily for them the demon soldiers did not attack them that night. In the morning they continued their journey to the temple of Tot. At that moment, the sword that Lay was carrying started to glow with a fiery blue colour. Everyone looked around for something to attack but were surprised to see a very large wall protected by a spell from the demon Flex. They wondered what they would do to get through the large wall. It took ages to try and figure out to how to get through the wall. Three days passed and they were no closer to finding a way through than they were the first time they saw the wall. During this time Lay and his friends were taught how to fight and defend themselves in battle. "It appears that we've reached the end of our journey for the only other way is round the wall and we cannot travel that distance while leaving the kingdom unguarded." Lord Voile said. "That's alright, we can go by