Pale moonlight shown throughout the sleeping village, casting deep shadows. The air was still and only the sound of clinking armor parts albeit very subtle, could be heard .
A lone knight traversed through the stone roads of the town. He moved slowly, his eyes periodically darting around.
He wanted to call out to the people in their homes, but chose not to. Something felt very odd.
On first reaching the town he had expected to be greeted by people. It wasn't every day a knight of his caliber visited a village, and the lack of people astonished at his arrival, troubled the accomplished knight.
It was late at night, but there should still have been people stirring around preparing for the new day.
Instead a strange silence had enveloped the land.
The knight finally gave in and let out a cry "Hello?, any that can hear I am Sir Tanner" no response.
"I have come to your town seeking small refuge for a few days, I hope you will accept me kindly" only the rustling of leaves from a few trees replied the knight.
Tanner grew angry, what are these people doing, he thought. Were they afraid of him, or was there another reason for their disregard.
He hurriedly walked to the nearest house and barged through the doors. He called out again and searched the house for a living soul only not to find anyone.
The house was empty but showed signs of recent activity, with plates of half eaten food on the table and a kettle with water that had long evaporated, sitting on the fire.
Tanner's worry grew even more.
He checked five more houses and met the same scene. Once lively houses now vacant and deviod of life. Even stables appeared empty.
His mind raced, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for the people's sudden disappearance but came up short.
He could not wrap his mind around the strange occurrence.
He let out an exasperated sigh and froze. His eyes grew wide with horror and a chill ran down his spine.
Since when could he see his own breath? He exhaled through his mouth and saw wips of cold steam flow into the air.
He shivered, and since when did it get so cold.
It was late in the summer, no time at all for this level of cold, and yet through his metal armor, the knight could feel the temperature dropping...fast.
His bones rattled and his teeth clattered. He couldn't help but hold himself as he walked forward.
And then he heard it, a loud shriek that tore the silence. It sounded like a wounded animal, crying out for help.
The cry seemed to last for an eternity and when it finally stopped, silence ensued.
The knight held his breath, scared to make a single sound.
His heart began to beat loudly, the sound reverberating through his armor.
He tried to back away slowly but the sounds of his armor made louder by the creepy silence, prompted him to halt.
His mind ran into a frenzy, trying to understand what was happening. And then he heard it.
"THUMP!"
The earth shook with the sound, and then another followed, and then another. Rythmically, they followed each other sounding a lot like footsteps.
Tanner did not wait to see what monstrosity could make such a noise.
He dropped his sword once fastened to his side, and ran.
But the sounds, they never seemed to diminish. Instead they grew louder, implying that Tanner was running for naught.
But it didn't matter to him, all he had to do was escape the village and maybe whatever it was would not follow.
He continued to run, with the sounds of the large earthshaking footsteps growing louder behind him.
He only came to a stop when his eyes spotted a familiar figure lying on the road.
It shone in the moonlight, just catching a slight gleam as the white rays bounced off it.
It was his sword.
He stopped to observe his path, the road leading to the entrance of the village was a straight one, so how had he returned back here?
The thumping grew louder.
He ran again, this time hell bent on sticking to the straight narrow road.
His efforts, were all in vain.
The sword greeted him happily once again. And the thumping, only grew louder.
This time Tanner did not run. He simply stood there staring at his sword, with a look of terror mixed with confusion.
Slowly he turned his head to his back. He didn't know why but he wanted to see it, he wanted to see the terror that had trapped him in this inescapable reality.
The thumping grew louder still.
And then silence.
Pale moonlight shown throughout the sleeping village, casting deep shadows.
The air was still and cold.
Tanner had disappeared.
Along with the villagers.
And like them, the only proof of having ever existed, was his sword that lay on the empty road.