Exile (Open to two)

[black shadow]

Black Shadow, once known as Ardon Firil, lay under the stars thinking about his past. Pain, Suffering, Once a great and powerful king, now a lonely fugitive. I will take back what was stolen from me. My honor, my throne, my ability to talk, they shall all pay for what they've done. Black Shadow thought to himself. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The next morning he was awoken by the sound of something running through the trees. Black Shadow jumped up, not making a sound, and hid behind the the tree in which he was going to build his home. My bow, where is... he thought as he looked to where he had been sleeping. Dang it, I should probably have grabbed that. He looked around, hoping whatever it was he heard was gone. Ok, I don't see or hear anything, now's my chance. he jumped out from behind the tree and grabbed his bow and arrows. Ok, now to see what made that noise. He stood still, calmed his mind, shut his eyes, and listened. There you are. He thought as he pulled his bow string, mounting an arrow, aimed, and released. He heard a muffled "Thunk", telling him he had hit his target. Black Shadow turned and walked towards where he shot his arrow.

[Sentinel]

Travelling was one of Sentinel’s favorite things. The golem hadn’t gotten the chance to get out much in the years after his creation, as was expected of a magical construct that had been created to be the guardian of a wizard’s abode. But now that he had gained his freedom after attaining intelligence, Sentinel loved to spend his time out of doors. There was something relaxing about having nothing over one’s head but the empty sky and the warming sun. Of course, Sentinel thought happily as he stared at the verdant life around him, the woods weren’t so bad either.

There was something about the forest that opened a well-spring of pleasure within the golem’s breast. Created to be a defender as he was, Sentinel enjoyed the sights and sounds of prolific life all around him. Looking around shyly, though he knew that there was no one to see him, Sentinel decided to engage in some wanton revelry, throwing caution to the wind and letting himself go. He joyfully began to run, delighting in the feel of life moving past him. For a creature comprised of a massive block of clay, Sentinel moved surprisingly well through the forest, and while he could not be called lithe by any means, he left surprisingly little destruction behind him. Everything could be said to be going well for the golem until an arrow shot out of nowhere and slammed into him.

Sentinel came to a skidding halt as he stared down upon the arrow protruding from his shoulder, his almost featureless face nevertheless registering a mixture of confusion and discomfort. While the massive creature of living clay didn’t exactly feel pain as a flesh creature could, being stabbed was still an incredibly uncomfortable experience for him. Moreover, he hadn’t been doing anything wrong when the arrow had streaked out of nowhere without warning. Gingerly plucking the arrow from his thick body, Sentinel stared dumbfounded at the clay-smeared tip. A sudden panic arose within him at the sight.

“H-hello?” he asked timidly, looking around wildly.

[black shadow]

Hmm, whoever i just hit, must not be trying to hurt me, i better try to communicate with him. Black Shadow thought to himself as he moved the leaves in front of him, revealing the Golem. The sight of this clay structure creature was a little disturbing to Black Shadow, although he noticed it seemed was a little frightened. I best try and calm him down, before anyone else notices him luring them to me. He never did like helping others since his exile, but in order to keep himself hidden he might have to. Black Shadow looked at Sentinel and motioned his hands in sign language in order to say, "Hello, I am sorry for shooting you with an arrow, I thought you were going to try and hurt me or something."

[Sentinel]

Wounded and panicked, Sentinel’s first instinctive reaction was to lash out at the shadow clad creature that had seemingly appeared in front of him from nowhere. As a general rule he had become disinclined towards violence since gaining sentience and yet he had been crafted as a guardian and the magical command impulses with which he had been imbued were hard to overcome. Still, knowing that it would take more than a few arrows to drop a construct like himself, Sentinel forced the bludgeoning clubs of his fists to remain still at his sides until he could assess the nature of the creature in front of him.

The bow and quiver that the creature bore left the golem with no doubt on where the arrow that had struck him had come from. But while the creature may have been the one who had attacked Sentinel, the waving motions of its hands made the golem think that he wasn’t hostile. Sentinel lowered his guard a bit, but maintained a cautious stance.

It, as it turned out, was a person clad all in black. Even the depths of the person’s eyes reflected nothing back at the golem, sucking in the very light around him.

“You’re not going to try to shoot me again are you?” Sentinel asked before, seeing the gestures of apology from the black clad figure, slumping into a more relaxed posture.

“As long as there was no harm meant then I’ll offer you forginess,” Sentinel said. “Most people have never seen a golem let alone an independent one, so I’ve come to expect a somewhat hostile reaction.”

Sentinel gestured to the arrow wound in his shoulder, which had almost completely resealed. “See, no real harm done, I suppose. Though you might want to be a bit more careful about who you shoot at next time. You might hurt someone who doesn’t deserve it and isn’t made of animated clay.”

“I’m Sentinel, by the way,” he continued, holding the man’s arrow back out to him. “What’s your name?”

[black shadow]

No one understands sign language these days, i'll have to figure out some way to communicate with him though. Black Shadow thought to himself, while he took the arrow from the Golem and returned it to his quiver. Well i hope he can read, otherwise I can't communicate. Black Shadow looked around for a small stick in which he could use to write in the dirt. When he found one small enough to use he sprawled over to it, picked it up, sprawled back, and began writing on the ground

"Hello, My name is Black Shadow. I am sorry for shooting you with my arrow, I meant no harm to you. Those hand movements i did earlier is known as sign language, a language beginning to be lost among people these days. I have lost my ability to talk, which is why I use sign language.

Black Shadow then looked up at the Golem and awaited his response. Oh, please let him know how to read.

[Sentinel]

Sentinel knew that he had made the right decision as the black clad figure gingerly plucked the arrow from him and replaced it in its case. He did feel a brief moment of hesitation as the figure stripped a fresh switch from a nearby birch tree, but the thought of the smaller figure viciously thrashing at Sentinel’s clay body with a thin piece of wood brought a humorous chuckle to the thick clay rolls that fashioned his lips. Besides, once the figure began scrawling in the dirt there was no doubt left in Sentinel’s mind as to what he was doing.

“Black Shadow, eh?” Sentinel said as the person finished his short message. “I’m very sorry I seemed to misunderstand you, though you can surely imagine my apprehension given the fact that you did shoot me with an arrow.”

Sentinel slumped to the ground with a loud thump which caused the ground around his massive bulk to jump up a bit. An expression twisted the features of the clay golem’s face, one best attributed to thoughtfulness. “I’ve heard of sign language but I’ve never seen it,” he admitted with a shrug, massive hands absentmindedly pulling bark from a fallen tree limb which they had plucked from the ground. “I honestly have no idea that you were doing anything more than gesturing that you weren’t trying to attack me.”

A deep rumbling chuckle poured from the golem’s wide mouth. “I suppose that’s a good thing that I figured it out though.” As is to emphasize his point the golem’s thick fingers curled around the branch he was playing with and snapped it easily in half, despite the fact that the wood was thick as a plower’s arm. Mere seconds after doing so, however, the golem’s face changed again, taking on a more solemn appearance. “I don’t like hurting people if I can help it,” he said.

“But enough about me,” Sentinel shook off the malaise that was threatening to settle upon him. “What about you? I assume someone’s hunting after you if you’re hiding way out here. Is that how you lost your voice?”

[black shadow]

Oh no, this may take a while. Black Shadow thought as he swept his hand across the dirt where he had written before and began to write again.

I guess you could say I am being hunted. I don't like to talk about my past, it's very personal. I lost my voice because I had been in a duel, My father had blamed me for the death of my brother and had order me to participate in a duel. Of coarse I obeyed and went strait to the dual arena. When I faced my opponent though i couldn't fight. My father knew that I would win the fight and said I must know what it's like to deal with the thought of death. I had to face my younger brother. I stood there not knowing what to do, He cut my throat severing my vocal chords. I managed to get out of the arena but was attacked by the guard my father ordered to kill me if I was to run. I got away from them too, but Haven't been able to talk since.

He then looked at the Golem and wrote down

What's your name?

[Sentinel]

Sentinel’s face darkened as the words of Black Shadow’s tale were scratched into the loam beneath them.

“No offense to you or your family,” the golem began, finding himself almost too horrified to speak. “But that’s one of the most barbaric tales that I’ve ever heard.” He shuttered as if in disgust and stepped back from Black Shadow. Though he was a massive creature of magic and dirt, Sentinel certainly didn’t think of himself as much of an aggressor. He had certainly taken lives when the need was necessary, but it was always the last option that he sought and was one that he chose only with regret. He often wondered how many creatures had met their ends under his massive fists in the time before he gained his sentience but since then he could remember with vivid clarity the faces of those he had been forced to kill.

“Forgive me,” he said, suddenly realizing that he’d left Black Shadow hanging with his own question unanswered. “I suppose that my unorthodox nature brings as many questions to you as yours does to me.”

Sentinel looked around as he spoke, once more unnerved by the thought that the agents of Black Shadow’s father might be even now closing in on the two of them. Certain that there were no others around them at that particular moment, Sentinel turned his attention back to Black Shadow.

“My name is Sentinel,” he said, the picture of his clay face pulling into as friendly a look as the golem could manage. “I don’t suppose that we’re safe from your father’s men here?” he then asked, the concern in his voice obvious.

[black shadow]

Black Shadow took in the question along with the answers Sentinel had given him. He began to write again.

We should be safe here. The kingdom is miles from here, it would take days to get from here to where I came from on horses, let alone foot. I killed the last of the men initially following me, which means unless he sent others out to help and they found the ones I killed, only you should know about me.

Black Shadow paused as he finished the last sentence and listened. Something or someone is here. The question is who? He drew his bow and listened some more. Horses? How did they find me? He then looked back at the Golem listened some more Maybe it's not them, maybe it's... He then heard a voice yell "He must be over here, hurry!" No, it can't be. He aimed the bow to his right Wind is blowing at 5 kilo's an hour, adjust the trajectory 18 degrees. He then released his arrow and heard a "THUD" Horse is down, now to make sure this isn't my brother. He walked over to where he shot his arrow, moved the leaves causing him to be unable to see his target. Good, it's not my brother, but who is this?

[Sentinel]

Sentinel watched the words appear with great interest. Black Shadow said that there shouldn’t be anyone following him. That he had killed the men that his father had initially sent to trail him. Yet he had been so quick to open fire on the golem as he had run past. He supposed that a certain amount of paranoia was to be expected from the archer, especially given the story he’d been told, but something wasn’t sitting quite right with the golem. He knew that he was seen as a monster by most of the people that he came across, people who were usually more likely to attack than listen to reason, but Black Shadow was being hunted by people, not giant golems. He supposed that the mistake could have been confusing him with a mounted rider, as he had certainly not been stealthy in his romp through the trees, but even if that had been the case he hadn’t been running towards Black Shadow’s position. It appeared that the archer wasn’t the type to hesitate to take a life regardless of whose or what’s life was on the line.

After reading Black Shadow’s final message Sentinel was just about ready to wish the man well with what he was doing and warn him away from randomly firing arrows at things, but an approaching sound of mounted riders caught his attention and before he knew it Black Shadow was again launching arrows into the nether and sprinting off. Despite the nastiness that Black Shadow had to say about his father, it was apparent that some of the man’s fiendishness had rubbed off onto this son just as it had the others. Sentinel seriously considered just leaving the man to his fate, he had certainly done little to defray it after all, but the golem’s defensive nature pulled him away from that course of action and propelled him after Black Shadow.

The golem’s thick clay body crashed through the underbrush easily, tearing through the grasping roots and tangles thickets like a heavy axe punching through a helmet. “Stop!” the golem roared, his booming voice shaking the trees around him. As a reply to the command, two bolts stuck deep into Sentinel’s chest. The golem winced as the bolts hit him but ignored the discomfort in favor of bellowing again and charging forwards.

“What the hell is that?” one of the panicked men in front of him asked.

“I don’t know,” the other replied, hastily grabbing for his sword. “Just kill it!”

Sentinel didn’t give them the chance. As skilled as they were, they weren’t neither the riders nor the mounts were prepared for a charging golem. The first man barely had the chance to clear his sword from its scabbard before Sentinel crashed into his horse, knocking the animal and its rider into a tangled, thrashing heap on the ground. A sharp pain sliced into Sentinel’s back as the second man slashed wildly as the golem, but Sentinel paid the attack no mind as he turned and backhanded the man off his horse with a heavy, open-handed slap.

There was a chorus of angry yells and terrified whinnying as the two frightened horses extricated themselves from their riders and bolted back the way they had come from. Sentinel let them go, knowing that they were innocent animals in all of this. The men who had attacked him however…

“I told you to stop,” Sentinel said, standing tall over the two men who had wisely dropped their weapons and were not remaining deathly still in the golem’s shadow.