Dynasty || TVD [1] ON HOLD

000 | Prologue

000.
PROLOGUE

1406

A mixture of screams and metal scratching against one and other filled the night sky. But it was the least of Eloise's worries, the flickering flames dancing around her slumping body against the wall was the more immediate danger. Her hand firmly pressed against the crimson blood staining her side, she struggled to breathe.

How did she manage to get into this mess?

Pressing her free hand against the blood-soaked floorboards, the remains of the blood that hadn't dried in slipped between her fingertips. A muffled voice called out from behind the shut door. "Eloise it isn't worth your time hiding from me, you should know that," the statement was enough to send a terrified shiver up her spine. Sucking in a breath that only fill her lungs with the burning smoke made it more difficult to hold in her breath to keep silence.

Thud, thud, thud. Eloise's felt her heart hammering hard against her ribcage the sound echoing throughout the corners of her mind. With the heat rising from the flames raising mixing with the coldness of fear that coated her skin in sweat. She couldn't sit there any longer, the simple thought of her demise being in this room was enough for her to act. A cough splutters out from her lips when she removes herself from the wall that had been her only support so far. Her bright blue eyes stung, the black puffs of smoke were her greatest enemy at this moment, making it a challenge to locate anything that she could use to defend herself.

Something shines back at her, the orange glow of the flames that surround a single blade that lay amidst the destruction hurled about the room was a sword. Wincing when her foot hit the uneven floor beneath her, she dragged herself to it.

If any of her comrades could see her now, they would look at her with disgust of how far their most promised warrior has fallen. Struggling to get the nerve to fight back even with everything on the line to lose. The mocking laughter crept in from the depths of her mind, taking the blood-soaked hand from her side she hissed in pain but wrapped each finger around the hilt of the sword.

Wood that encased the handle fits into the palm of Eloise's hand as if it was a missing puzzle piece. Staggering tirelessly from the swords resting place Eloise weakly approached the door knowing full well that death would be ready to greet her.

The tip of her worn sword dragging across the floor, the sound screeching through the racket of crackling flames. It masked the stumbled footsteps caused by Eloise's beaten and bruised legs, pain floods through every inch of her skin.

Burns, bruises and cuts littered her skin like words scribbled on a page, each telling a story but one that she never will get the chance to tell.

Using her forearm to push the strands of hair that stuck themselves to her forehead, she stopped at the door. Who knew a single piece of wood would make such an immeasurable barrier, stopping one from reaching their objective.

A shaky hand stretched forward for the handle only a hair's breadth away. While one hand held on tight, ready to battle but the other, the other seemed reluctant.

It was as if it knew that this could be the end.

Faded images of faces that Eloise knew far too well melted into her view. Her mother, her father, serval of her comrades and the friends that she had made throughout the small village entered her mind.

It dawned on her that she may never get to see these people again.

Eloise gritted her teeth ignoring the stabbing pain in her heart. The emotionless mask that she had worn for many years easily slipped into place allowing her to press onwards. Sadness and pain faded into nothingness with each stride out of the cage she had trapped herself in that manifested itself as a single room.

Instead of stepping into a hallway which Eloise knew, fire extended up the walls, embers and smoke curtained her view down the hallway. Closely resembling the hellish version of her home. Placing her over her mouth blocking out the thick smog. The creaking of wooden floorboards slowly approached from somewhere within the haze, Eloise couldn't locate where the sound emanated from through the darkness. "So you finally came out of your hiding spot, dear?"

Adrenaline flooded her veins.

Everything kicked into overdrive. Eloise's eyes darted around her surroundings, nothing but glowing embers and suffocating smoke surround her. But she knew she wasn't alone, the haunting chuckle was an excruciating reminder of their presence. A warrior's worse nightmare is hear itself. Slowly the dreaded feeling enveloped Eloise, her hand around her only means of defence, the sword, began to shake. Metal clanking against its surroundings was music to her mysterious monster lurking in the environment, to it she didn't have the inner strength to face them head-on.

In the corner of her eye, through the mist, a shadowy hand reached out from within it. Eloise swallowed down the lingering doubts and fears in her mind the best she could with a dry mouth.

Remember why you are fighting.

Her eyelids coming to a close and a cold breath enters in through her nose washing away the flustering heat that took ahold of the warrior.

Her trembling fingers tighten around the sword's handle and without hesitation, the metal blade slashed through the smoke. An empty metal clank rings out when the sword didn't strike anything but the wall.

Whatever the shadow manipulating the smoke wasn't the source of the tormenting laughter, it ricocheted off the walls of her skull. The volume only increased becoming ear-piercingly loud. Eyes squeezed tight and hands clutching her head causing her fingers to intertwine with her knotted brown locks.

Pain, head-splitting pain grew, forcing Eloise to her knees dropping her sword in the process.

Sword clattering on the wood, crackling flames and the creaking footsteps became the single thing she could hear. Breathing was becoming a painful experience as Eloise breathed in more flames than air. A chilling hand pressed against her shoulder snapping her from the pain she fell into.

Darkness filling her vision while her eyes grew heavy only letting her catch a glimpse of death's human appearance that loomed over her.

A single gasp escapes her lips while their hand slips around her neck. The Last thing she ever would feel was the cold tinkling touch of her killer's hand.

. . .

Author Note

I don't know how I feel about this start. I thought it would make an interesting starting point for everyone to get a feeling on what happened to Eloise during her final moments but it didn't turn out as well as I hoped. But I'm just being a writer and am never happy with my work so yay. I want to thank LemonCoughDrop  for reading through this before I posted it. I was nervous on how others would think.