Out of Light, Into the Dark

[Proto Man]

“What business do ye have in Darkshire?” The young man who stood at the top of the gate house held a crossbow in one of his hands, but he had it pointed at the ground. He wore leather armor that had certainly seen better days, and while his features lacked scarring or bruises, it was clear from his eyes that he hadn’t lived an easy life thus far. To his left and right, two skeletons in chainmail were staring down at the trio.

“We’re trying to track down the source of the Blight,” Proto Man shouted up to the gate keeper. “We had hoped that we might stay in your town a few days while he try to find some leads in our investigation.”

Oddly enough, the young man let out a soft chuckle and shook his head in disbelief. “The Blight? As in Blight with a capital ‘B’?”

“Yes… Is that amusing?”

Another little laugh came from the formerly skittish guardsman. “It’s been over eighteen months since I last heard someone shout up something very similar to that. Were you friends of those two women? Do you know if they escaped or not?”

The man had gone from somewhat skittish to giddy in the matter of a few sentences, which had Proto Man furrowing his brow. At a loss for an appropriate response to the string of questions, the android just shook his head. Upon seeing the wordless response, the guardsman’s shoulders sagged. After a silent moment, he turned around and vanished from site. A beat later, the portcullis in front of the trio started to creak and groan as it was slowly winched up into the stone structure around it. As it continued to rise up off the pale ground, the man from up top appeared from behind a wooden door between the two portcullises, dipped under the gate, and extended his hand to Proto Man.

“I’m Dobson Skendor, Brevet Garrison Commander and Senior Gate Overseer. For what it’s worth, I want to welcome you to wholesome little Darkshire.” It was obvious from the man’s faint smile that the last part of his introduction had been intended as sarcasm (something Proto Man still struggled occasionally to understand). “I’ll relay a signal to the guard tower near the main square. If you don’t mind, I’d like to escort you there personally.”

“I don’t think we mind,” the preteen machine replied after glancing back at his comrades to see the clear lack of minding displayed on their features.

“Then, by all means, please follow me.”