Chapter One: Nightstone, Part Four

As the corpse hovered above Ledias, she tried to run out the door, but it closed on her, sealed shut. She turned around to see the spector's hand reach towards her face. As a reaction, she unsheathed her sword and swung at the ghost. The sword flew and clanged against the wall. It was too small of a space to swing it.

She swung again, but the blade went through the spector, as if it never existed, and grabbed her face.

It felt as if all of her life was being sucked out. Nothing matters anymore…. Thoughts of death and depression entered her mind as her soul was slowly getting sucked up.

She didn't know what gave her that final push of strength, but her lungs filled with air and she screamed as loud as she could.

The north wall of the tomb suddenly exploded with a loud roar from Grog. When he heard the sorrowed scream of Ledias, he instantly came to his senses and charged where he heard the noise. His mind was broken, but mended at the same time. He finally knew who he was.

Since Grog was a baby, all that he could remember was the pain of a whip hitting his body. His race, the goliaths, were commonly captured and sold as slaves. They were looked down upon as monsters of society but were praised as hard workers. They were captured, labored, tortured, and executed into near extinction.

There were only roughly 2,000 Goliaths left in the world. Almost all of them were slaves. Grog and his parents were runaways. Grog was only a child back then. They were running away as the humans charged at them with swords and whips screaming, "Get back here you slaves! If you leave, we will find you and make you go through something worse than death!"

They ignored these death threats and kept running. "Son!" Said Grog's mother through quick gasps of breath. "There's a family I know in the north. We've been communicating with each other for generations. If you get there, they'll take care of you."

An arrow whizzed by and sank into the back of his fathers skull as he fell down into the dirt. "Papa!" Grog screamed in terror as he saw his father die right in front of him.

"That was a warning shot, you imbecile! Now next time I say warning shot, miss!" scolded the general behind them.

As they ran in the fields, the ground gave out and Grog fell through. His mother screamed his name and ran back where he fell, only to get stabbed by one of the soldiers. "Got the mother! Find the child!" He yelled. They cheered and charged forward.

Grog sat there in the hole, traumatized about what he just saw. He sat there, hugging his broken leg, covered in scars. That's when his mind broke in two. He was never the same after that. At times he stayed as a child, and other times he became a brainless beast, doing whatever instinct told him to do.

When he still had his senses intact, he got out of the hole and started in the direction his mother told him, limping and starving after 18 days of hiding in that hole. He had no choice but to drink dirty mud and rain water, and if he was desperate, eat dirt. His mind was slowly starting to break. He could feel his memories start to slip away. The tall trees surrounding him made him feel like he was going to be crushed by them, but as he looked up at the sky, he saw the beautiful stars dancing freely in the heavens. The trees started to glow as fireflies flew off of them and soared through the air. Butterflies of many colors boastfully showed off their beautiful colors as they flapped around.

Everything seemed so free there in that beautiful forest. Spirits glowing colors that even humans have not seen, danced before him, leading him on a journey to his safe haven. As he chased the colorful spirits, he saw a house in the distance. It was a small house made out of brick and wood, and smoke arose from the chimneys.

It was the house his mother told him about. He started to walk towards the house and got to its entrance. He was so tired and light headed as he approached the door. Before he realized it, his knees buckled and he face planted the welcome mat.

Day approached as the morning rooster sang. Ledias, who just turned ten, sat up and stretched her arms. It was another peaceful day. She got up out of bed and went towards the living room. Her mom was skinning a rabbit while the broth boiled by the fire. "Good morning, sweetie," She told Ledias as she saw her get out of bed.

The kitchen was near the back of the room with the sink and drawers behind her. The kitchen table was to the far right corner with her dad sitting there, making a wooden house made out of smooth sticks he found in the back. In the front was a couch and a fireplace with a table between them with an incomplete game of chess on top.

She looked out the window in the front and saw a strawberry growing there. She went up close and stared at it in awe. She turned around and asked if she can go pick it, for it was ripe. The mother smiled and nodded.

Ledias ran towards the door and opened it to find a tall person laying on the floor. She screamed and her parents rushed to her side.

"It's one of the goliaths! Quick, darling, let's take him in," the mother said.

They took care of him and nursed him to health. Over the years, Ledias and Grog became close; they were like family. She treated him like he was her blood brother. When she turned 11, the University of Health and Magic recommended her to their school, and she studied to become a doctor until she reached the age of 12, when she came home with a P.H.D in health, science, and magic. At the age of 15, she became a Paladin and went on adventures with Grog as adventurers.

Grog, even with his mental disability of changing personalities, became a great wrestler and fighter. He was soon known in every wrestling ring as Big G. They later joined the battle field as a paladin and a barbarian. They had many adventures together, but now what would come to an end at this moment.

The wall exploded as the Goliath smashed through it, determined to save her from whatever was attacking her. The first thing he saw was the floating Spector, strangling her to death. He charged at it in rage and attempted to grab it.

Ledias, seeing all of this, wanted to tell Grog to stop, but she couldn't speak and lost all of the air in her lungs as she crashed out of the tomb as the Goliath accidentally smashed into her. She rolled into the grass, nearly blacking out. Her mind was scrambled and scared. She's never experienced this before; it was weirdly refreshing. She suddenly remembered what she was taught in class while she was training to be a Paladin.

"There are many aggressive spirits in this world, and are put in categories. One of the ghosts is called a Spector," taught instructor Lee. "The Spector can and will touch anything with life in it and suck the life out of it. With this information on Spectors, researchers have found out that anything that is alive can get touched by the ghost." She pulled out a leaf out of her pocket. "For example, this leaf can be used as physical armor against the spectors. It'll be like a barrier between you and the ghost."

Ledias started to cover herself in plants to make a barrier against the Spector. Grog was still fighting the spirit; his will power and soul being sucked out by it. The Spector became enraged and annoyed at the Goliath and wrapped itself around him.

Ledias witnessed her dearest friend being sucked dry by the ghost, his body becoming shriveled and turning into bones, but his strong hands still endured its shape. When Grog started to die, he felt at peace. He was...happy. He could finally remember his parents and what happened. He could finally see them again. He closed his eyes with a faint smile on his face as his hands detached from his arms and his body turned to dust.

The Spector, full from its large meal, returned to its grave. Ledias got up and slowly limped towards her friends hands. Tears streamed her face as she picked them up and cradled them in one arm, and holding the cursed watch in the other. She looked up and saw that the tomb returned to its original state, but the entrances were gone. Her mask slipped down due to her tears to reveal her beautiful tear-stained face.

"Grog…" she mumbled under her breath as she fainted and fell into the field. While she was unconscious, she dreamt of herself and Grog when they were still children, playing with each other in the tall grass without a care.

The butterflies would dance and the birds would sing with them. Then millions of black hands grabbed on to Grog and took him into a deep black abyss of nothingness. She tried to reach out to save him, but the hands reached out and grabbed her too. They too started to pull her in as she struggled to hold on to land.

She slipped and fell, but she caught a thin spider web that held her in place. She desperately held on to what little hope she had left. As she attempted to raise her self, she heard Grog's voice from the pit. Come home, Ledias. Come home with me… She started to slip. She reached out towards the pit, wanting to go to him, but her eyes opened to view reality.

She was in some sort of room with pajamas on. She turned to her right and saw Grog's hands on the table. They were coats in some kind of substance. She felt a longing sensation as she looked at it. She then turned to her left and saw Phil there, sleeping on the chair. He was watching her overnight to make sure that she was okay. She felt relaxed that there were still people that cared for her, people that she could call "friends."

Another night's rest and they were ready to go. They gathered at the bar. Ledias was left behind to recover from the shock of the battle. Cyprus and Riley were somewhat sober, but only enough to where they could understand what was going on.

Everyone was now full of energy, except Phil who was still worried for Ledias. He got up from his stool(which made him seem shorter) and started to lay down the plan. He pointed towards the edge of the map; north-west.

"Here's our plan for today," started Phil. "Today we're going to head here. Apparently there's an abandoned mansion that was owned by the Lady of this land. If we go there, we could get some clues." He got out his charcoal pen and circled the area on the map. "The only problem of reaching our destination is that the bridge that connects these two land masses is broken." He drew an X over where the bridge was supposed to be.

"The let's just build our own bridge then?" stated Slayer. Everyone turned towards him.

"Wow, did you actually have a decent plan in mind?" asked Phil sarcastically.

"What do you mean? All my plans are masterpieces." He raised his head with pride, but everyone just ignored his claim.

"Okay so we'll build a bridge here with local resources. We'll use the rubble here, wood, stones, whatever and build a bridge with that. Riley, you stay here and watch over Ledias." They got up and started to leave, but before Phil left, he went over to Riley and whispered in his ear, "If something were to happen to her at all, you'll be responsible." Riley looked him dead in the eye and nodded.

As they left, Riley smirked. He was going to steal the Goliath hands at all cost.