Week 11 Story: The Fading Light

Two orphaned boys were out living in the streets of a small town. Their names were Justin and Alex. They were sleeping in a box with no protection from the harsh winter. One night Justin heard a noise outside the box, he went out to check it out and saw a dark figure wandering through the alley. As he approached the figure he heard a woman crying.

Unsure of what to think he asked "Ma'am are you okay?" The woman snapped her head back and Justin froze. This woman had an evil grin and in an instant snatched Justin up and took off. Alex heard screams and came running out but it was too late. His brother was gone.

 Alex followed the tracks in the snow and was led to a shack outside of town. There he heard the woman weeping just as Justin had heard. A fire was burning inside and lit the entire shack. He looked through the small window and saw how hideous the woman was. In the light he could see her wiry hair, long dirty fingers and a scarred face. Chills were sent up the spine of Alex just by looking at this woman. He then saw his brother, something was wrong though. Justin's body was laying on the table, lifeless.

"Nooooo!" Alex screamed, this alerted the woman and she came running outside. 

Anger flowed through Alex at this point and he grabbed the closest thing to him. The object was a ragged branch and he swung and knocked the woman to the ground. As she fell unconscious Alex ran inside and saw the rest of his brothers body. It was cut open as if this woman was dissecting him. still furious, Alex looked around and saw a blade inside a glass box. It looked like a small dagger. He broke the box and grabbed the dagger. When he turned around the woman was right behind him. she threw Alex across the room. 

"You foolish boy, didn't you ever learn that you're not supposed to come near the witches house?" she asked. 

"Witch?" replied Alex nervously, "D-d-don't kill me." he stuttered.

"Oh I think I'll keep you around for a bit." she said as she walked towards Alex.

Alex had the dagger gripped tightly in his hand hiding it behind his back. As the Witch walked closer Alex felt a hatred surging through him, the dagger seemed to amplify the effects. The witch grabbed him but as she did this Alex sprung forward and pierced through her heart. The dagger began to grow as the witch's life faded. It started to melt the witch and Alex noticed that the dagger had grown slightly but also became red hot. He was unaware of how this could be possible until a ghostly figure appeared. 

The figure began to speak "You have freed me from the curse that bound me to the witch. To show my gratitude I will serve you and continue to grow in power with every enemy that you defeat."  

Then like that it vanished back into the blade etchings. Alex at this point realized exactly what he needed to do. He began a journey that would define the rest of his life. He started small but he took on quests that required him to kill the supernatural evils of the world. He became, Alex the Reaper.

The Magic Dagger

Photo provided by Pixabay

Author's Note: The original story was The Eagles Revenge by Kathrine Berry Judson. It was originally about a Native American hunter whom woke one night to a loud whirring sound to find that an eagle was eating a deer. The hunter decided to shoot the deer and the eagle and bring them both back to his tribe claiming that he had killed both. The tribe had a celebration for a successful hunt but did not realize that eagle had a brother. Eagles brother appeared as a warrior and pretty much snapped his fingers and killed three of the tribe members without touching them and then vanished. For my story I decided to take the idea of revenge and make an origin story for an earlier story of mine "Reaping Feared Demons." Alex the Reaper is the main character in that and is also the main character in this story. I thought I would incorporate how the Broadsword from the earlier story got its magical powers. Kind of a follow up idea on the original story. Overall the story turned out how i wanted it too and I am thinking about doing a final Alex story in the next couple of weeks. 

Bibliography: "The Eagles Revenge" from Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Kathrine Berry Judson