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Here for the Vibe while reading it
I would say put your volume to 2/5 for perfect not to loud and not too silent
So this story is about named William he was born in England in 1208 and the story ends in 1232
William
The first thing William remembered about Ashford was the smell of rain.
It was always there in some way. Sometimes it was strong, especially during autumn, when the roads turned into mud and the fields became almost impossible to cross. Other times it was barely noticeable, mixed with the smell of wood smoke coming from the houses.
Ashford was a small village in the south of the kingdom. There were only a few hundred people living there. Most of them were farmers, craftsmen or merchants. There was a small church in the middle of the village, a blacksmith near the main road and a tavern that was usually full by the evening.
Behind the village were large open fields, and beyond those fields was a thick forest. The land slowly rose into green hills, and further in the distance were mountains that were often covered in mist. The forest itself was beautiful during the day. Sunlight came through the trees in thin golden lines, birds could be heard between the branches and small streams ran through the mossy ground.
At night, however, it looked completely different.
The trees became almost black, the paths disappeared into the darkness and the mountains in the distance looked much larger than they did during the day.
William had always liked looking at the forest.
He just never liked going too far inside.
As a child, he used to go there with his younger sister Eliza to collect berries and fallen branches. Their mother hated it whenever they went too far because of all the stories people told about the woods.
William never took those stories seriously.
People in Ashford had stories about almost everything.
There were supposed to be witches living somewhere beyond the northern hills. Some old men claimed they had seen small creatures running through the forest at night. Others talked about enormous beasts that could tear a horse apart.
William had always thought it was just something people said when they had nothing better to talk about.
His father thought the same.
At least, that was what William believed.
His father was a blacksmith and owned the small workshop beside their house. William had spent most of his childhood inside the forge.
The workshop was always hot, even during winter. The walls were dark from years of smoke, and the floor was covered with pieces of metal, old tools and bits of wood. William knew how to sharpen a blade, repair a horseshoe and work a hammer without hitting his own fingers.
He was good at it.
He just didn’t love it.
Most afternoons, he would find some excuse to leave the workshop as soon as possible.
One afternoon, his father was working on a horseshoe while William stood beside him.
“Hold it there.”
William held the metal in place.
His father struck it with the hammer.
The sound echoed through the workshop.
Again.
And again.
William watched the sparks fly.
After a few more strikes, his father put the hammer down and looked at the horseshoe.
“You’re getting better.”
William looked at him.
“At what?”
His father smiled.
“Everything.”
William laughed.
“That’s not very specific.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
His father picked up the horseshoe and looked at it.
“One day, this place will be yours.”
William looked around the workshop. The old walls, the furnace and the same wooden table he had seen every day since he was a child.
“Maybe,” he said.
His father looked at him for a moment.
“You don’t want it.”
William didn’t answer.
His father nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
William felt bad.
His father had never forced him to become a blacksmith, but William knew what he wanted.
The problem was that William didn’t know what he wanted.
He only knew that it was somewhere else.
A few months later, everything changed.
The harvest had been poor that year. Several farmers had lost part of their crops because of heavy rain, and fewer people were coming to the forge.
Money became a problem.
One evening, William’s father sat down at the kitchen table and placed a letter in front of him.
William looked at it.
“What is it?”
“The army is recruiting.”
William stared at him.
“You want me to join?”
“I want you to have a choice.”
William looked at the letter again.
The army offered food, shelter and regular pay.
It also offered something else.
A way out.
William didn’t answer that evening.
But three weeks later, he left Ashford.
His mother cried.
Eliza tried very hard not to.
She stood beside the horse with her arms crossed, trying to look annoyed instead of sad.
“You’re going to come back.”
William smiled.
“Probably.”
“You’re going to hate it.”
“Probably.”
“And then you’ll come home.”
William looked at her.
“Maybe.”
Eliza smiled.
His father came last.
He didn’t say much.
He just placed a hand on William’s shoulder.
“Be careful.”
William nodded.
“I will.”
Then he rode away.
The road out of Ashford passed through the fields and eventually disappeared into the trees.
William looked back once.
The village looked smaller from the hill. Smoke rose from the chimneys, and the church tower stood above the houses.
His home was still there.
He turned around and continued riding.
He had no idea that he wouldn’t see it again for years.
The army was nothing like William had imagined.
There was no glory in waking before sunrise because someone was screaming at you to get out of bed.
There was no glory in spending an hour cleaning mud from your boots.
Most days were training, marching, carrying supplies and waiting for orders.
William hated the first few months.
He almost left twice.
He stayed anyway.
He learned.
He became stronger.
He learned how to fight with a sword and shield. He learned how to ride properly and how to survive in bad weather. He learned that sometimes the best thing to do in a fight was not to attack, but to wait.
By eighteen, William had changed.
He was around 6’3” and had a strong build from years of training and physical work. His shoulders were broad, his arms muscular and his movements had become more controlled.
He still looked young when he smiled.
He just didn’t smile as often.
His brown hair was usually messy, especially after wearing a helmet, and a small scar had appeared near his eyebrow after a training accident.
William didn’t care about it.
It was just another scar.
He had a few by then.
The army had given him one good friend.
His name was Thomas.
Thomas talked too much.
William told him that constantly.
One evening, they were sitting outside the barracks while cleaning their weapons.
“You know what your problem is?” Thomas asked.
William didn’t look up.
“No.”
“You don’t talk enough.”
William continued cleaning his sword.
“And you talk too much.”
Thomas smiled.
“Exactly.”
William laughed.
For a while, everything was normal.
Then people started disappearing.
At first, it was only hunters.
Then merchants.
Then travelers.
A group of soldiers disappeared while travelling north.
Nobody knew why.
There were rumors.
Some people blamed bandits.
Others said wolves were attacking travelers.
Then the stories became stranger.
People began talking about creatures in the forests.
William didn’t believe them.
One night, Thomas mentioned it while they were sitting outside.
“They say there are things living in the northern woods.”
William looked at him.
“Like what?”
Thomas shrugged.
“Kobolds.”
William laughed.
“You’re serious?”
“I didn’t say I believed it.”
“You clearly do.”
“I just said what people are saying.”
William shook his head.
“People in villages will believe anything.”
Thomas looked toward the dark road.
“Maybe.”
A few days later, their orders arrived.
They were going north.
The journey took almost a week.
The further they travelled, the darker the landscape seemed to become.
The southern countryside around Ashford had been open and bright, with wide fields and small forests.
The north was different.
The roads became narrower.
The forests grew thicker.
Old stone walls appeared beside the roads, covered in moss and vines. Sometimes William could see the remains of old buildings deep among the trees.
Nobody knew who had built them.
The weather was cold and grey.
Even when the sun appeared, it rarely felt warm.
They eventually reached a village called Redbrook.
William knew something was wrong before they even entered it.
There was no noise.
No dogs barking.
No children.
No farmers.
Nothing.
The village wasn’t abandoned.
That was the strange part.
There were horses tied outside the houses.
Smoke still came from one chimney.
A basket of vegetables had been left beside a door.
William climbed off his horse.
Captain Hale looked around.
“Search the houses.”
William and Thomas went together.
The first house was empty.
The second was empty.
The third had food on the table.
William touched a bowl.
Cold.
Thomas looked around.
“They left in a hurry.”
William nodded.
Then they found the body.
It was a hunter lying near the forest.
William crouched beside him.
There was no blood.
No visible wound.
Nothing that explained how he had died.
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
“That’s not normal.”
William didn’t answer.
He had noticed something else.
Footprints.
Small ones.
They disappeared into the mud near the trees.
William followed them with his eyes.
They had three toes.
Thomas saw them too.
“Those aren’t human.”
“No.”
Captain Hale came over.
“Don’t touch anything.”
William stood.
“Sir, what do you think happened?”
Hale looked toward the forest.
“I think we stay out of there after dark.”
That evening, they locked the doors of the village hall.
Nobody slept very well.
The wind outside was strong. It moved through the trees and made the branches scrape against each other.
William sat near the door with his sword beside him.
He tried to sleep.
Then he heard something.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Scratch.
He opened his eyes.
Thomas was already awake.
“You heard it too?”
William nodded.
The scratching stopped.
Then came a sound from the roof.
Something moved above them.
William stood.
Captain Hale raised his hand.
Everyone became quiet.
A shadow moved across the window.
Then something jumped down into the street.
William drew his sword.
The creature was small, maybe four feet tall.
Its skin was grey green.
It had long ears, sharp teeth and strange yellow eyes.
It held a small knife.
William had seen drawings of creatures like this in old books.
Kobolds.
He had always thought they were made up.
The creature attacked.
William blocked the knife.
The impact almost pushed him backward.
It was strong.
Much stronger than it looked.
Another creature appeared behind him.
Thomas shouted.
William turned and blocked its attack.
More creatures appeared between the houses.
The soldiers formed a line.
Then a door opened.
A woman stepped outside.
She wore a dark coat and had long black hair.
She looked at the creatures.
Then at the soldiers.
“Get inside.”
Captain Hale pointed his sword at her.
“Who are you?”
The woman sighed.
“Someone trying to stop you from dying.”
One of the creatures rushed toward her.
She raised her hand.
Fire appeared in her palm.
William froze.
The flame was small at first.
Then it grew.
She threw it.
The fire struck the creature and sent it crashing into the dirt.
William stared at her.
He had seen fire before.
He had never seen it appear from someone’s hand.
The woman looked at him.
“Are you going to keep staring?”
William blinked.
“What?”
“Get inside.”
For once, he listened.
Her name was Elara.
She was a witch.
William had never met one before.
She explained that the creatures were kobolds and that they usually stayed underground.
Something had forced them out.
Something worse than them.
William asked what it was.
Elara looked toward the forest.
“I don’t know.”
She paused.
“Not yet.”
That answer stayed in William’s mind.
Over the following weeks, he learned that the world was much bigger than he had believed.
There were old castles hidden in the mountains.
There were ruins covered by forests.
There were witches who lived peacefully among humans and others who wanted nothing to do with them.
There were kobolds living beneath the ground.
There were trolls in the mountains.
And there were things even Elara didn’t want to talk about.
William saw his first troll inside an old mine.
It was enormous.
Its skin was grey and rough, and its body was covered in old scars.
It carried a huge club made from a tree trunk.
The soldiers tried to fight it.
Their weapons barely slowed it down.
William was thrown against a stone wall.
For several seconds, he couldn’t breathe.
Then he heard Thomas shouting.
William got back up.
He grabbed his sword and ran toward the creature.
He didn’t know if he was brave.
He was mostly afraid.
He attacked the back of its leg.
The troll fell.
The other soldiers rushed in.
After several minutes, it finally stopped moving.
William stood there, breathing heavily.
His hands were shaking.
Elara looked at him.
“You almost died.”
William looked at the dead troll.
“I noticed.”
She smiled slightly.
That was probably the first time William realized that she actually liked him.
Not long after that, they reached the northern mountains.
That was where William saw the dragon.
It appeared above the clouds.
At first, he thought it was a bird.
Then it grew larger.
And larger.
Until William realized that it wasn’t a bird at all.
The dragon flew across the mountains, its enormous wings moving slowly through the cold air.
Its scales were dark red, almost black from a distance.
Nobody spoke.
Thomas finally whispered.
“Tell me that’s not a dragon.”
William stared at it.
“It’s a dragon.”
Thomas sighed.
“I really miss when I thought those were just stories.”
William laughed.
But the sight stayed with him.
There was something about the creature that made him feel very small.
It wasn’t like the kobolds.
It wasn’t like the trolls.
It felt old.
Much older than the kingdom.
Later, William learned that the dragon wasn’t the real threat.
The real threat was human.
A group of nobles had been searching for an ancient artifact beneath Castle Blackmere.
The artifact was called the Ash Crown.
Nobody knew exactly what it could do.
The witches believed it should remain buried.
The nobles wanted it.
They had opened old tunnels and broken ancient seals.
That was why the creatures had started leaving their homes.
They weren’t invading the kingdom.
They were running from what the nobles had disturbed.
The final battle took place at Blackmere.
The castle stood high in the mountains, surrounded by dark forests and cliffs.
Snow covered the rooftops.
The stone walls were almost black from age and weather.
William had never seen a castle like it.
It looked less like a home and more like something built to survive the end of the world.
The battle began before sunrise.
Soldiers attacked the gates.
Witches fought alongside them.
Kobolds came from tunnels beneath the castle.
Trolls attacked the walls.
Then the dragon appeared.
William fought through the courtyard with Thomas beside him.
They reached the main hall.
Lord Alric was waiting inside.
Behind him stood the Ash Crown.
It was made from black metal.
William looked at it.
For some reason, he immediately disliked it.
Alric smiled.
“You don’t understand what this can give us.”
William raised his sword.
“I don’t care.”
The fight began.
Alric was stronger than William expected.
William fell once.
Then again.
His arm was bleeding.
His legs were exhausted.
But he got back up.
Eventually, he managed to knock Alric’s sword away.
The Ash Crown fell from the table.
Before William could reach it, Elara entered the room.
“Don’t touch it.”
William looked at her.
“Why?”
“I don’t know what will happen.”
The castle shook.
A crack appeared in the wall.
Then another.
William grabbed Thomas.
They ran.
The ceiling began collapsing behind them.
They barely escaped the castle before the main tower came down.
Blackmere was destroyed.
The battle ended soon after.
The nobles were defeated.
The surviving witches disappeared.
The kobolds returned underground.
The trolls went back into the mountains.
The dragon disappeared beyond the clouds.
The kingdom called it a victory.
William wasn’t sure.
But he was tired.
He wanted to go home.
So he did.
When William finally returned to Ashford, the village looked almost exactly as he remembered it.
The same church.
The same old road.
The same fields.
The same forest in the distance.
But somehow everything felt smaller.
Then someone shouted his name.
William turned.
His mother was standing outside their house.
For a moment, he didn’t move.
Then she ran toward him.
William got off his horse and hugged her.
Eliza came running after her.
She wasn’t a little girl anymore.
William laughed when he saw her.
“You got old.”
Eliza hit him on the arm.
“You’ve been gone for years.”
“I know.”
She hugged him.
That evening, Ashford held a huge feast for William.
Long wooden tables were placed outside near the church.
People brought food from their houses.
There was roasted meat, fresh bread, potatoes, vegetables, cheese, apples and plenty of ale.
For the first time in years, William sat at a table without having to worry about what was happening around him.
People asked questions.
He told them stories.
He left out the parts that sounded impossible.
When someone asked about the dragon, William simply smiled.
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
Everyone laughed.
Music started later that evening.
People danced.
Children ran between the tables.
William sat with his mother and Eliza while his father watched from across the table.
William looked around.
He had spent years wanting to leave Ashford.
Now that he was back, he realized how much he had missed it.
For one night, everything was normal.
A few days later, a royal messenger arrived in Ashford.
The king had heard about William’s actions during the war.
William was summoned to the royal castle.
He travelled there with a small group of soldiers.
The castle was far larger than anything William had seen before.
Its walls were enormous, with towers rising above them. Banners hung from the stone walls, and guards stood at every entrance.
William was brought into the great hall.
The king was waiting for him.
“I have heard a great deal about you,” the king said.
William bowed.
“Your Majesty.”
“You helped save the northern kingdom.”
William looked down.
“I was only doing my duty.”
The king smiled.
“Most men would have said the same.”
He stood and walked toward William.
“You have served this kingdom faithfully. You fought beside soldiers, witches and creatures that most people believed were nothing more than stories.”
William didn’t know what to say.
The king continued.
“I would like to offer you something in return.”
William looked at him.
The king turned toward a young woman standing near the throne.
“This is my daughter, Princess Eleanor.”
William looked at her.
She was dressed simply compared to what he expected from a princess. She had dark brown hair and a calm expression.
She looked at William for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“Nice to finally meet the man everyone keeps talking about.”
William smiled back.
“Nice to meet you too.”
The king explained that he wanted William to stay at the castle and become one of his trusted knights.
But there was another offer.
He wanted William to marry Eleanor.
William was surprised.
So was Eleanor.
Neither of them had expected it.
The king left them alone to speak.
For a moment, neither said anything.
Then Eleanor laughed.
“Well, that was unexpected.”
William smiled.
“Very.”
She looked at him.
“You don’t have to say yes.”
William nodded.
“I know.”
They talked for a long time that evening.
William told her about Ashford.
She told him about growing up inside the castle.
They talked about the war, about the things they had lost and about what they wanted their lives to become.
Over time, William and Eleanor became closer.
It wasn’t perfect.
They argued sometimes.
They disagreed about things.
But they understood each other.
Eventually, William accepted the king’s offer.
The wedding took place several months later.
People came from all over the kingdom.
The castle was decorated with flowers and banners.
William stood beside Eleanor in the great hall while the king watched from the front.
When the ceremony ended, the hall erupted in cheers.
William looked at Eleanor.
She smiled.
For the first time in years, he wasn’t thinking about what might happen next.
He was simply happy.
That evening, another feast was held.
There was music everywhere.
People danced.
Soldiers who had fought beside William drank with him.
His mother cried when she saw him wearing his new clothes.
Even Eliza admitted that he looked good.
William laughed.
Later that night, he stepped outside onto the castle balcony.
The kingdom stretched out beneath him.
Far in the distance were the forests and mountains where everything had begun.
Eleanor stepped beside him.
“Thinking about the war?”
William looked toward the mountains.
“Sometimes.”
“Do you miss it?”
William thought about it.
“No.”
He smiled.
“I think I’m finally where I’m supposed to be.”
Eleanor took his hand.
William looked at her.
For the first time since he had left Ashford as a boy, he felt like he had found a home again.
The war was over.
The creatures had disappeared.
The witches had gone back into the forests.
The kingdom was finally at peace.
William looked out over the dark mountains one last time.
Far away, beyond the forests, something moved beneath the clouds.
He couldn’t see what it was.
He didn’t think much of it.
After everything he had survived, he finally had a reason to believe that the worst was behind him.
And for the first time in a very long time, William allowed himself to believe it.
Yall better don’t ,,DNR‘‘
First high effort post i think
Hopefully it doesn’t flop
I would say put your volume to 2/5 for perfect not to loud and not too silent
So this story is about named William he was born in England in 1208 and the story ends in 1232
William
The first thing William remembered about Ashford was the smell of rain.
It was always there in some way. Sometimes it was strong, especially during autumn, when the roads turned into mud and the fields became almost impossible to cross. Other times it was barely noticeable, mixed with the smell of wood smoke coming from the houses.
Ashford was a small village in the south of the kingdom. There were only a few hundred people living there. Most of them were farmers, craftsmen or merchants. There was a small church in the middle of the village, a blacksmith near the main road and a tavern that was usually full by the evening.
Behind the village were large open fields, and beyond those fields was a thick forest. The land slowly rose into green hills, and further in the distance were mountains that were often covered in mist. The forest itself was beautiful during the day. Sunlight came through the trees in thin golden lines, birds could be heard between the branches and small streams ran through the mossy ground.
At night, however, it looked completely different.
The trees became almost black, the paths disappeared into the darkness and the mountains in the distance looked much larger than they did during the day.
William had always liked looking at the forest.
He just never liked going too far inside.
As a child, he used to go there with his younger sister Eliza to collect berries and fallen branches. Their mother hated it whenever they went too far because of all the stories people told about the woods.
William never took those stories seriously.
People in Ashford had stories about almost everything.
There were supposed to be witches living somewhere beyond the northern hills. Some old men claimed they had seen small creatures running through the forest at night. Others talked about enormous beasts that could tear a horse apart.
William had always thought it was just something people said when they had nothing better to talk about.
His father thought the same.
At least, that was what William believed.
His father was a blacksmith and owned the small workshop beside their house. William had spent most of his childhood inside the forge.
The workshop was always hot, even during winter. The walls were dark from years of smoke, and the floor was covered with pieces of metal, old tools and bits of wood. William knew how to sharpen a blade, repair a horseshoe and work a hammer without hitting his own fingers.
He was good at it.
He just didn’t love it.
Most afternoons, he would find some excuse to leave the workshop as soon as possible.
One afternoon, his father was working on a horseshoe while William stood beside him.
“Hold it there.”
William held the metal in place.
His father struck it with the hammer.
The sound echoed through the workshop.
Again.
And again.
William watched the sparks fly.
After a few more strikes, his father put the hammer down and looked at the horseshoe.
“You’re getting better.”
William looked at him.
“At what?”
His father smiled.
“Everything.”
William laughed.
“That’s not very specific.”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
His father picked up the horseshoe and looked at it.
“One day, this place will be yours.”
William looked around the workshop. The old walls, the furnace and the same wooden table he had seen every day since he was a child.
“Maybe,” he said.
His father looked at him for a moment.
“You don’t want it.”
William didn’t answer.
His father nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
William felt bad.
His father had never forced him to become a blacksmith, but William knew what he wanted.
The problem was that William didn’t know what he wanted.
He only knew that it was somewhere else.
A few months later, everything changed.
The harvest had been poor that year. Several farmers had lost part of their crops because of heavy rain, and fewer people were coming to the forge.
Money became a problem.
One evening, William’s father sat down at the kitchen table and placed a letter in front of him.
William looked at it.
“What is it?”
“The army is recruiting.”
William stared at him.
“You want me to join?”
“I want you to have a choice.”
William looked at the letter again.
The army offered food, shelter and regular pay.
It also offered something else.
A way out.
William didn’t answer that evening.
But three weeks later, he left Ashford.
His mother cried.
Eliza tried very hard not to.
She stood beside the horse with her arms crossed, trying to look annoyed instead of sad.
“You’re going to come back.”
William smiled.
“Probably.”
“You’re going to hate it.”
“Probably.”
“And then you’ll come home.”
William looked at her.
“Maybe.”
Eliza smiled.
His father came last.
He didn’t say much.
He just placed a hand on William’s shoulder.
“Be careful.”
William nodded.
“I will.”
Then he rode away.
The road out of Ashford passed through the fields and eventually disappeared into the trees.
William looked back once.
The village looked smaller from the hill. Smoke rose from the chimneys, and the church tower stood above the houses.
His home was still there.
He turned around and continued riding.
He had no idea that he wouldn’t see it again for years.
The army was nothing like William had imagined.
There was no glory in waking before sunrise because someone was screaming at you to get out of bed.
There was no glory in spending an hour cleaning mud from your boots.
Most days were training, marching, carrying supplies and waiting for orders.
William hated the first few months.
He almost left twice.
He stayed anyway.
He learned.
He became stronger.
He learned how to fight with a sword and shield. He learned how to ride properly and how to survive in bad weather. He learned that sometimes the best thing to do in a fight was not to attack, but to wait.
By eighteen, William had changed.
He was around 6’3” and had a strong build from years of training and physical work. His shoulders were broad, his arms muscular and his movements had become more controlled.
He still looked young when he smiled.
He just didn’t smile as often.
His brown hair was usually messy, especially after wearing a helmet, and a small scar had appeared near his eyebrow after a training accident.
William didn’t care about it.
It was just another scar.
He had a few by then.
The army had given him one good friend.
His name was Thomas.
Thomas talked too much.
William told him that constantly.
One evening, they were sitting outside the barracks while cleaning their weapons.
“You know what your problem is?” Thomas asked.
William didn’t look up.
“No.”
“You don’t talk enough.”
William continued cleaning his sword.
“And you talk too much.”
Thomas smiled.
“Exactly.”
William laughed.
For a while, everything was normal.
Then people started disappearing.
At first, it was only hunters.
Then merchants.
Then travelers.
A group of soldiers disappeared while travelling north.
Nobody knew why.
There were rumors.
Some people blamed bandits.
Others said wolves were attacking travelers.
Then the stories became stranger.
People began talking about creatures in the forests.
William didn’t believe them.
One night, Thomas mentioned it while they were sitting outside.
“They say there are things living in the northern woods.”
William looked at him.
“Like what?”
Thomas shrugged.
“Kobolds.”
William laughed.
“You’re serious?”
“I didn’t say I believed it.”
“You clearly do.”
“I just said what people are saying.”
William shook his head.
“People in villages will believe anything.”
Thomas looked toward the dark road.
“Maybe.”
A few days later, their orders arrived.
They were going north.
The journey took almost a week.
The further they travelled, the darker the landscape seemed to become.
The southern countryside around Ashford had been open and bright, with wide fields and small forests.
The north was different.
The roads became narrower.
The forests grew thicker.
Old stone walls appeared beside the roads, covered in moss and vines. Sometimes William could see the remains of old buildings deep among the trees.
Nobody knew who had built them.
The weather was cold and grey.
Even when the sun appeared, it rarely felt warm.
They eventually reached a village called Redbrook.
William knew something was wrong before they even entered it.
There was no noise.
No dogs barking.
No children.
No farmers.
Nothing.
The village wasn’t abandoned.
That was the strange part.
There were horses tied outside the houses.
Smoke still came from one chimney.
A basket of vegetables had been left beside a door.
William climbed off his horse.
Captain Hale looked around.
“Search the houses.”
William and Thomas went together.
The first house was empty.
The second was empty.
The third had food on the table.
William touched a bowl.
Cold.
Thomas looked around.
“They left in a hurry.”
William nodded.
Then they found the body.
It was a hunter lying near the forest.
William crouched beside him.
There was no blood.
No visible wound.
Nothing that explained how he had died.
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
“That’s not normal.”
William didn’t answer.
He had noticed something else.
Footprints.
Small ones.
They disappeared into the mud near the trees.
William followed them with his eyes.
They had three toes.
Thomas saw them too.
“Those aren’t human.”
“No.”
Captain Hale came over.
“Don’t touch anything.”
William stood.
“Sir, what do you think happened?”
Hale looked toward the forest.
“I think we stay out of there after dark.”
That evening, they locked the doors of the village hall.
Nobody slept very well.
The wind outside was strong. It moved through the trees and made the branches scrape against each other.
William sat near the door with his sword beside him.
He tried to sleep.
Then he heard something.
Scratch.
Scratch.
Scratch.
He opened his eyes.
Thomas was already awake.
“You heard it too?”
William nodded.
The scratching stopped.
Then came a sound from the roof.
Something moved above them.
William stood.
Captain Hale raised his hand.
Everyone became quiet.
A shadow moved across the window.
Then something jumped down into the street.
William drew his sword.
The creature was small, maybe four feet tall.
Its skin was grey green.
It had long ears, sharp teeth and strange yellow eyes.
It held a small knife.
William had seen drawings of creatures like this in old books.
Kobolds.
He had always thought they were made up.
The creature attacked.
William blocked the knife.
The impact almost pushed him backward.
It was strong.
Much stronger than it looked.
Another creature appeared behind him.
Thomas shouted.
William turned and blocked its attack.
More creatures appeared between the houses.
The soldiers formed a line.
Then a door opened.
A woman stepped outside.
She wore a dark coat and had long black hair.
She looked at the creatures.
Then at the soldiers.
“Get inside.”
Captain Hale pointed his sword at her.
“Who are you?”
The woman sighed.
“Someone trying to stop you from dying.”
One of the creatures rushed toward her.
She raised her hand.
Fire appeared in her palm.
William froze.
The flame was small at first.
Then it grew.
She threw it.
The fire struck the creature and sent it crashing into the dirt.
William stared at her.
He had seen fire before.
He had never seen it appear from someone’s hand.
The woman looked at him.
“Are you going to keep staring?”
William blinked.
“What?”
“Get inside.”
For once, he listened.
Her name was Elara.
She was a witch.
William had never met one before.
She explained that the creatures were kobolds and that they usually stayed underground.
Something had forced them out.
Something worse than them.
William asked what it was.
Elara looked toward the forest.
“I don’t know.”
She paused.
“Not yet.”
That answer stayed in William’s mind.
Over the following weeks, he learned that the world was much bigger than he had believed.
There were old castles hidden in the mountains.
There were ruins covered by forests.
There were witches who lived peacefully among humans and others who wanted nothing to do with them.
There were kobolds living beneath the ground.
There were trolls in the mountains.
And there were things even Elara didn’t want to talk about.
William saw his first troll inside an old mine.
It was enormous.
Its skin was grey and rough, and its body was covered in old scars.
It carried a huge club made from a tree trunk.
The soldiers tried to fight it.
Their weapons barely slowed it down.
William was thrown against a stone wall.
For several seconds, he couldn’t breathe.
Then he heard Thomas shouting.
William got back up.
He grabbed his sword and ran toward the creature.
He didn’t know if he was brave.
He was mostly afraid.
He attacked the back of its leg.
The troll fell.
The other soldiers rushed in.
After several minutes, it finally stopped moving.
William stood there, breathing heavily.
His hands were shaking.
Elara looked at him.
“You almost died.”
William looked at the dead troll.
“I noticed.”
She smiled slightly.
That was probably the first time William realized that she actually liked him.
Not long after that, they reached the northern mountains.
That was where William saw the dragon.
It appeared above the clouds.
At first, he thought it was a bird.
Then it grew larger.
And larger.
Until William realized that it wasn’t a bird at all.
The dragon flew across the mountains, its enormous wings moving slowly through the cold air.
Its scales were dark red, almost black from a distance.
Nobody spoke.
Thomas finally whispered.
“Tell me that’s not a dragon.”
William stared at it.
“It’s a dragon.”
Thomas sighed.
“I really miss when I thought those were just stories.”
William laughed.
But the sight stayed with him.
There was something about the creature that made him feel very small.
It wasn’t like the kobolds.
It wasn’t like the trolls.
It felt old.
Much older than the kingdom.
Later, William learned that the dragon wasn’t the real threat.
The real threat was human.
A group of nobles had been searching for an ancient artifact beneath Castle Blackmere.
The artifact was called the Ash Crown.
Nobody knew exactly what it could do.
The witches believed it should remain buried.
The nobles wanted it.
They had opened old tunnels and broken ancient seals.
That was why the creatures had started leaving their homes.
They weren’t invading the kingdom.
They were running from what the nobles had disturbed.
The final battle took place at Blackmere.
The castle stood high in the mountains, surrounded by dark forests and cliffs.
Snow covered the rooftops.
The stone walls were almost black from age and weather.
William had never seen a castle like it.
It looked less like a home and more like something built to survive the end of the world.
The battle began before sunrise.
Soldiers attacked the gates.
Witches fought alongside them.
Kobolds came from tunnels beneath the castle.
Trolls attacked the walls.
Then the dragon appeared.
William fought through the courtyard with Thomas beside him.
They reached the main hall.
Lord Alric was waiting inside.
Behind him stood the Ash Crown.
It was made from black metal.
William looked at it.
For some reason, he immediately disliked it.
Alric smiled.
“You don’t understand what this can give us.”
William raised his sword.
“I don’t care.”
The fight began.
Alric was stronger than William expected.
William fell once.
Then again.
His arm was bleeding.
His legs were exhausted.
But he got back up.
Eventually, he managed to knock Alric’s sword away.
The Ash Crown fell from the table.
Before William could reach it, Elara entered the room.
“Don’t touch it.”
William looked at her.
“Why?”
“I don’t know what will happen.”
The castle shook.
A crack appeared in the wall.
Then another.
William grabbed Thomas.
They ran.
The ceiling began collapsing behind them.
They barely escaped the castle before the main tower came down.
Blackmere was destroyed.
The battle ended soon after.
The nobles were defeated.
The surviving witches disappeared.
The kobolds returned underground.
The trolls went back into the mountains.
The dragon disappeared beyond the clouds.
The kingdom called it a victory.
William wasn’t sure.
But he was tired.
He wanted to go home.
So he did.
When William finally returned to Ashford, the village looked almost exactly as he remembered it.
The same church.
The same old road.
The same fields.
The same forest in the distance.
But somehow everything felt smaller.
Then someone shouted his name.
William turned.
His mother was standing outside their house.
For a moment, he didn’t move.
Then she ran toward him.
William got off his horse and hugged her.
Eliza came running after her.
She wasn’t a little girl anymore.
William laughed when he saw her.
“You got old.”
Eliza hit him on the arm.
“You’ve been gone for years.”
“I know.”
She hugged him.
That evening, Ashford held a huge feast for William.
Long wooden tables were placed outside near the church.
People brought food from their houses.
There was roasted meat, fresh bread, potatoes, vegetables, cheese, apples and plenty of ale.
For the first time in years, William sat at a table without having to worry about what was happening around him.
People asked questions.
He told them stories.
He left out the parts that sounded impossible.
When someone asked about the dragon, William simply smiled.
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
Everyone laughed.
Music started later that evening.
People danced.
Children ran between the tables.
William sat with his mother and Eliza while his father watched from across the table.
William looked around.
He had spent years wanting to leave Ashford.
Now that he was back, he realized how much he had missed it.
For one night, everything was normal.
A few days later, a royal messenger arrived in Ashford.
The king had heard about William’s actions during the war.
William was summoned to the royal castle.
He travelled there with a small group of soldiers.
The castle was far larger than anything William had seen before.
Its walls were enormous, with towers rising above them. Banners hung from the stone walls, and guards stood at every entrance.
William was brought into the great hall.
The king was waiting for him.
“I have heard a great deal about you,” the king said.
William bowed.
“Your Majesty.”
“You helped save the northern kingdom.”
William looked down.
“I was only doing my duty.”
The king smiled.
“Most men would have said the same.”
He stood and walked toward William.
“You have served this kingdom faithfully. You fought beside soldiers, witches and creatures that most people believed were nothing more than stories.”
William didn’t know what to say.
The king continued.
“I would like to offer you something in return.”
William looked at him.
The king turned toward a young woman standing near the throne.
“This is my daughter, Princess Eleanor.”
William looked at her.
She was dressed simply compared to what he expected from a princess. She had dark brown hair and a calm expression.
She looked at William for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“Nice to finally meet the man everyone keeps talking about.”
William smiled back.
“Nice to meet you too.”
The king explained that he wanted William to stay at the castle and become one of his trusted knights.
But there was another offer.
He wanted William to marry Eleanor.
William was surprised.
So was Eleanor.
Neither of them had expected it.
The king left them alone to speak.
For a moment, neither said anything.
Then Eleanor laughed.
“Well, that was unexpected.”
William smiled.
“Very.”
She looked at him.
“You don’t have to say yes.”
William nodded.
“I know.”
They talked for a long time that evening.
William told her about Ashford.
She told him about growing up inside the castle.
They talked about the war, about the things they had lost and about what they wanted their lives to become.
Over time, William and Eleanor became closer.
It wasn’t perfect.
They argued sometimes.
They disagreed about things.
But they understood each other.
Eventually, William accepted the king’s offer.
The wedding took place several months later.
People came from all over the kingdom.
The castle was decorated with flowers and banners.
William stood beside Eleanor in the great hall while the king watched from the front.
When the ceremony ended, the hall erupted in cheers.
William looked at Eleanor.
She smiled.
For the first time in years, he wasn’t thinking about what might happen next.
He was simply happy.
That evening, another feast was held.
There was music everywhere.
People danced.
Soldiers who had fought beside William drank with him.
His mother cried when she saw him wearing his new clothes.
Even Eliza admitted that he looked good.
William laughed.
Later that night, he stepped outside onto the castle balcony.
The kingdom stretched out beneath him.
Far in the distance were the forests and mountains where everything had begun.
Eleanor stepped beside him.
“Thinking about the war?”
William looked toward the mountains.
“Sometimes.”
“Do you miss it?”
William thought about it.
“No.”
He smiled.
“I think I’m finally where I’m supposed to be.”
Eleanor took his hand.
William looked at her.
For the first time since he had left Ashford as a boy, he felt like he had found a home again.
The war was over.
The creatures had disappeared.
The witches had gone back into the forests.
The kingdom was finally at peace.
William looked out over the dark mountains one last time.
Far away, beyond the forests, something moved beneath the clouds.
He couldn’t see what it was.
He didn’t think much of it.
After everything he had survived, he finally had a reason to believe that the worst was behind him.
And for the first time in a very long time, William allowed himself to believe it.
[It might appear AI generated but i told AI to correct it so yall can read it because I’m not native English speaking]
[ @GZod @lowdimotrucel @5OuttaTen @Yuqwi
@Jason5000
]
@Jason5000
]
Yall better don’t ,,DNR‘‘
First high effort post i think
Hopefully it doesn’t flop
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