Ruins of Raven Castle

© 2005 by Rick Ricci

“Vanbelk has not been himself these last few months; I think the loss of his family in the wars is playing hard on his mind.  I also think he is starting to question his faith, he is blaming the Church for their death.”

“If this is true, Brother Thomas, why did you send him to the ruins of Raven Castle?  He needs to stay in the Church and be cleansed.” 

Looking around the gathering hall in the Church, a cool breeze was felt as it worked its way around all the support columns. In front of each column stood a statue of a fallen protector of the Church. 

“You see these statues Brother Ted?  Every one of these paladins died protecting the Church.  They all had their personal battles with their faith and Vanbelk is no exception.  The answers are not in these stonewalls; this is not the faith but only a place to focus it on.  Vanbelk’s answers are out there; he must find peace in himself.”

Pondering for comments to reply back, Brother Ted turned away from the statues and walked down the hall.  He still had an unanswered question, “Why did you send him and his squires to the ruins of Raven Castle?”

“The answer to his faith is there.  Vanbelk will face his fears and let us both hope he chooses the right path.”

Brother Ted abruptly turned around toward Brother Thomas, “Choose the right path?  I find that statement rather harsh.  Vanbelk is at a weak point in his life and he will need support to pull him back.  I am sending a message to Sir Marcus, Vanbelk must be brought back now.”

“Milord?” spoke the tall, armored man walking into the commander’s office, “The Church sent me here to speak to you about a situation.” 

Milord, a man of stature and power, stood with his back to the conversation.  He had heard this conversation many times and every time he lost good men to the Church.
 
“Sir Marcus, what is the Church asking of me this time?  Please tell me it’s an orc, or troll problems, or even a giant problem.  I can justify the loss of good men defending the land fighting that.”
“No commander, it’s about Sir Vanbelk. He has been gone for two weeks on a trip that should have taken maybe one week.  The Church has bestowed on me the task of finding him and that is why I am here.  I need to ride to Hexeiden Keep to deliver a message, then cross over to the ruins of Raven Castle.”

“Raven Castle, the only things left are the outer walls.  Why would he have gone there in the first place?” 

A cold chill ran up Sir Marcus’ back while he though of a way to dance around the question, dare he tell Milord about the lowers sections and what they contain?

“I do not know sir, I did not send him there.”  

Milord spun around, anger in his face.  Leaning over his desk toward Sir Marcus, his fist hit the table. 

“Quit lying to me, you know!   I am so tired of the Church running my military the way they see fit.  We are here to protect the land, not search for lost men!  I will give you five men, but the Church is paying for all supplies.  I am holding you responsible for their safety so this search party had better be worth it.”

“Thank you sir, we will leave in the morning”, Sir Marcus turned and started walking out the door when Milord spoke up. 

“I want you to take Reginald with you, it would be a good experience for him.”

Sir Marcus could feel a cold chill flowing through his body. 

“Reginald, your son?  Is that a good idea?” 

A smile grew on Milord’s face, “There should be no danger, just a pleasant trip in the country side, right?”

“Right commander, he will be safe.”

A line of dust approached from the east on the trail that had been followed most of the day.

“Sir Marcus, our scouts are returning and I fear there is trouble for the speed they approach!” 

The riders entered camp, out of breath, foam dripping down the sides of the horses. 

“What is the meaning of riding those horses so hard, we have no horses to spare!”

“Sir Marcus, it could not be helped. We found Sir Vanbelk’s camp site, well what was left of it.” 

Marcus and Vanbelk had been friends for many years; this was the worst news he could have ever gotten.  With a calm voice to not worry his squires, “Please explain what you saw.”

“We followed his trail like you asked which led toward Hexeiden Keep, but then for no reason, turned toward the ruins of Raven Castle.  We followed the horse tracks for about an hour then we saw it. It was bad Sir.”  Emotions poured through the scout’s body, with a staggering step he fell to the ground. 

“What did you see, was Vanbelk there?” 

“Yes and no, Sir.  The camp was attacked by something but we could not tell by what.  His whole contingent of squires was killed while they slept.  All the guards’ bodies were cut to pieces and scattered all around the camp.  They even took their blood and drew some weird symbol in the dirt.  Sir who would have done this, all their armor and weapons still there in a pile?”

“What about Vanbelk, was he killed also?” 

The scout looked up with a glassy look on his wet face. 

"Sir, it was hard to tell from all the body parts, all we found of Sir Vanbelk was his armor. His sword and horse was gone.”

Sir Marcus spun his horse around toward his troops, all in shock from the news, “We ride to Raven Castle, I fear an evil presence there.” 

The horizon broke to show its view with the new sun working its way up the sky.  The ruins could be seen, mighty stonewalls that had held so many battles, now empty and forgotten.  The land was consuming the main trail leading to the castle, in time there would be no trail left.  Growth had taken hold of the ruins; gloomy trees now hid the fabulous views of the towers. The town that was once here was no more except for a few wood frames still trying to cling to the nails.  To the left, the foothills that protected the keep were now overgrown with trees.  The orc had likely taken control of the large cave in the hills as well as the old silver mine. 

The riders dismounted and approached the gate entrance, cutting branches at every step.

“Sir Marcus, there is the drawbridge and it still looks to be intact.  Should we cross it?”

“No, lets watch for a bit.  I have a bad feeling about this.” 

The vines were so thick growing up and over the walls; it was hard to see anything.

“There is movement on the western tower!” yelled one of the men. 

At that moment, a presence of evil hit Sir Marcus, an evil that he had not felt in a long time. 

“Oh by the gods, what have you done Vanbelk?” 

A tall figure appeared on top the castle wall, above the drawbridge, wearing gray armor. In his hands, he held Vanbelk’s sword.  An aura of evil radiated from him, the evil that Sir Marcus felt.  This just could not be Vanbelk; his faith was too strong to be pulled away.  At his side stood two orc wearing plate mail and carrying crossbows. The walls then showed its guest as orc appeared all along the upper wall walkway and on top the towers.

“Reginald, mount your horse and ride to your father, do not look back nor stop until you get there!  Tell Milord that Sir Vanbelk has found his path; the evil in the keep has taken him."

  "The rest of you prepare for battle, we have orc to kill!”