[b]DAY 11: ENDLESS WALK – CONVOY OF THE DEAD[/b]

A land so dry and barren that nothing managed to grow on its soil. There were only sand and mysterious rock formations, some of them had taken the form of mystical beasts. Were they sculpted by someone or did they happen to actually be entities spoken of in legends, now standing as stone as guardians of the land? Nobody knew. Barely anyone talked about these vast plains of nothingness, probably because not a thing lived here. Only two kinds of beings would come here in the first place: those who had got awfully lost or the experienced wanderers who were seeking for the lands beyond the desert.

Vasri was the latter. He was a simple man, driven by a powerful wanderlust. Ever since he was a young man, he had been traveling around the world, visiting as many places as he possibly could. He didn't live anywhere or stay around for long, because he would be eager to get back on the road. Many years he had devoted to wandering and maybe not a lot of people could understand his way of life, but for him, this was happiness. Some people liked to settle down and raise a family while some found bliss in the seas. But wandering and being able to go wherever your feet would take you, it made Vasri feel happy.

These past few days have been strangely misty. Vasri was following the old road through the desolate landscape, but it had been quite difficult to spot any landmarks or really anything because of the thick fog that was lingering in the desert. Vasri hadn't seen sun in days, not to mention that the mist was making his surroundings seem rather eerie. Sometimes he thought for a second that he had seen a shadowy figure in the haze, but just like that, they would vanish. Maybe there were spirits roaming around. Vasri wasn't afraid of spirits, he was more afraid of those that were flesh and blood since they were more dangerous than any ghost.

At some point Vasri decided to rest for a while. He wasn't exactly young anymore and his left leg had been in pain for a while already, slowing him down. He sat down on a rock and searched for his pipe from his bag and lit it. Smoking his pipe, blowing smoke into the chill air, he enjoyed his rest.

A little while had passed when Vasri started to hear something. This confused him greatly, because it would be very unlike to meet anyone else traversing these lands. He focused on hearing and just listened. It seemed like there were multiple people coming. He could even distinguish the sounds of flutes and drums and some stringed instruments. He was curious about this and was pretty sure they were coming his way, so he remained on his spot and just let those mysterious wanderers come to him.

Dark figures started to appear from the mist. At first glance, they looked quite ordinary, but when you managed to get a closer look in, there were some disturbing things in their appearances. For example, one of them was all bloody and had a gaping hole in their stomach, guts hanging out a little. One person's head was missing, the neck was just a bloody stump. Some had withered frames and were basically just skeletons with dry dark skin covering their emaciated bodies. Some were rotting. But despite the grotesque looks of these individuals, they didn't seem to be in any distress. In fact, they appeared rather jolly. Vasri didn't feel threatened by their presence at all.

The strange convoy stopped on their tracks once they had noticed Vasri. One of them, a man whose face was half-rotten and being eaten by maggots, took a step closer to Vasri and offered him a slight smile.

“Good afternoon, Vasri”, the man greeted him.

“Good afternoon”, Vasri replied. “I hope it's not rude to ask, but how do you know my name?”

“Because we are wanderers like you”, the man said. “We travel all around, our wanderlust never satisfied. We are the ones who have lost their lives on the road, but who still want to roam the world. Death won't stop us, in fact, it has granted us the power to do what we most desire. And now, my good Vasri, we are here to ask you to come with us.”

The man offered his hand to Vasri. The old man smoked his pipe and pondered the man's words.

“The choice is mine, I assume?” Vasri asked.

“Yes, of course”, the man responded. “You can keep going on your own or join our journey and wander with us endlessly.”

Vasri didn't have to think about his reply for long. He blew out a puff of smoke and said: “I'll come with you.”

He stood up and grabbed the strange man's hand. His grasp was firm but gentle. The smile on his face had widened a little.

“Welcome, friend”, the man spoke.

Vasri noticed that the pain in his leg had disappeared. There was no ache anywhere in his body and he felt decades younger. The weird convoy of the dead welcomed him warmly; he was now one of them. They were on the move soon and Vasri felt better than in years. Endlessly he would now walk with his new friends, because that was exactly what he desired.



[b]DAY 12: STRANGE DEER – REMNANT OF THE PAST WORLD[/b]

Aaron was spending his late Friday evening at home. The work week had passed and now he could just relax and enjoy his time for a couple of days. He was feeling content, sitting on a couch with his dog Millie by his side, drinking tea and watching television. A lame horror movie was currently conquering the screen. It wasn't a good one, but it was rather amusing to watch, so Aaron didn't change the channel. He sipped his warm drink and petted his dog and at that moment, it felt like he had no worries at all.

Millie left the couch at some point, heading to the kitchen to drink water. Aaron didn't pay attention to what his dog was doing, not until she started to bark. Millie was at the glass doors that led to the backyard, clearly seeing something in the darkness. Aaron got up from the couch, placing his cup of tea on the table, and walked to Millie to check what she was barking at.

He could see it too the moment he peered into the darkness of the evening. A ghostly white quadruped figure was slowly moving around the backyard in strange ways. Aaron could recognize that the creature was a deer, although a very odd individual. Its movements were like a mix of intoxication and mechanical, everything it did had this stiffness to it. The deer would raise its legs higher in the air than it should while taking a step and it frequently tossed its head backwards. There was something clearly wrong with this animal, although Aaron wasn't sure what. He slightly opened up the glass door and yelled at the deer in order to startle it so it would leave his backyard. It barely paid any attention to him at all. Eventually it did leave, but was still sluggish.

It was quite common for deer to come to his backyard, but he had never seen anything like this one. Both demeanor and appearance baffled Aaron. Even more confused he became as the deer visited him again.

Millie was again the one to notice the animal and barked at it to notify Aaron that it had come back. He checked the backyard once again and saw the white deer. But now there was something slightly different about its appearance. It looked like it had bloody wounds, but the strange thing was, they were clean lacerations, not something an animal could do. It gave Aaron the chills and he wanted the animal out of his property. He tried to make some racket in order to scare the deer away and eventually, it did leave. However, before it turned around to head into the darkness where it came from, it looked Aaron directly into his eyes. The eyes of the deer were empty and filled Aaron with dread. He hoped he wouldn't see it again, but of course, he wasn't so lucky.

The deer visited him the next evening. Aaron felt like he was having a nightmare as soon as he saw the animal again. The wounds were deeper and it looked like the deer had started to decay, maggots crawling all around its body. It was almost decapitated, the head dangling from a sliver of flesh. This time Aaron didn't have the courage to open the door and demand the animal to leave. He just watched. It seemed like the deer was looking for something, but what could it possibly seek? Too disturbed to look away, Aaron followed how the nightmarish creature wandered around his backyard. Surprisingly, however, it did leave. And the thing that perplexed Aaron the most, after this encounter, it didn't come back. He was left to ponder what the hell that thing had been.

But it was a remnant from the days when gods still existed. White deer were able to communicate with the god of the forest. Ever since the gods died, they had no purpose anymore. And still, they retained their duty to connect with deities. It was more of a curse than a blessing at this point. They would roam the world, dying and reviving, yearning to hear from the gods again. But of course, there will be no one to answer them.



[b]DAY 13: NOISY GRAVE – BLACK COFFIN[/b]

The mountain region was often shrouded in mysterious darkness and today was no different. Farleth was longing to see his family again and this desire empowered him as he traversed the dark mountain road. Some wicked entities that dwelled within the mountain were clearly trying to make his journey as hard as possible, for callous winds were blowing, grasping with their claws Farleth's cloak. The winds wailed and it almost sounded like the dead were screaming. But the man kept going on and would continue walking even if a strong storm was about to be unleashed. His determination was fiercer than any force of nature.

But as Farleth followed the road that was now taking him uphill, something odd traveled into his ears even through the raging breezes that tried their best to torment him. At first he had thought that the sound belonged to the winds, but as he proceeded further, he eventually realized that it wasn't the wind. Someone or something was wailing and it sounded like they were in distress. Farleth wasn't sure what to think about the noise, it gave him the chills but on the other hand, it may be a person in trouble and only he could help them – there probably wasn't a single soul around these parts. Nonetheless, Farleth continued to walk and kept a close eye on his surroundings in case he would encounter or at least find a clue of the person who needed help.

At some point Farleth noticed the ominous frame of an old dark building. It appeared to be a church of some kind, but the strangest thing was, Farleth had never seen this building before even though he had walked this path many times in the past. It looked like the church was mainly made of black stone – or maybe it had turned black after being tainted by dark magic. Perhaps once it had been a grand building but now, it was decaying, windows broken and was on the verge of collapse. Farleth hadn't seen the church with his own eyes but he had heard stories of it. Some people said that it was because of this building that the mountains were always dark. Allegedly it was used by worshippers of an evil deity until they all just mysteriously disappeared, leaving no record behind. It was said that the church was cursed and it would be wise to stay away from it. The place had this strange trait that it would move around the region, never staying in the same place for long. It was something people feared, naturally, but it also intrigued.

The reason why Farleth found the building so interesting at that moment was because he could hear the wailing coming from its direction. He knew that he shouldn't approach the church, but he wasn't going to enter it, just explore a bit outside. Carefully he began to proceed towards the building and the closer he was getting, the louder the wailing became. Before he managed to get to the building, he noticed that on the ground, there was laying a black coffin made of stone and it had a round grey talisman put on it.

And the sound was coming from the inside of it.

“Um, excuse me?” Farleth said nervously. “Can I… help you?”

The wailing suddenly stopped. “Oh, is there actually somebody outside?” The voice belonged to a man, that much Farleth could tell.

“Yes, yes, I heard you”, Farleth responded. “Are you trapped or something?”

“Indeed I am”, the stranger in the coffin replied. “Wrongfully imprisoned… oh dear, I don't even know for how long. You pretty easily lose your perception of time when you're stuck in a coffin for a while.”

Farleth did realize that a normal person can't survive in a cramped airtight place for a long time. This trapped individual was clearly not a regular human being. Still, Farleth asked: “Maybe I can help you out?”

“Oh, I'd be grateful!” the trapped man exclaimed. “Just remove the talisman and I'm free!”

That was exactly what Farleth did. He grabbed the talisman and picked it up. It came off so easily, he almost couldn't believe that this small object was the thing that managed to keep the person in the coffin trapped. As soon as the talisman had left the surface of the coffin, the lid was slowly lifted. A very skinny man climbed out of there, his once gorgeous clothes now nothing but rags. His skin was withered and all in all, the man looked exactly what you would think for a person who has just risen from the grave. The most disturbing part of him was probably the exposed ribcage, giving Farleth a nauseous feeling so he tried to avoid looking at it.

The strange man stretched his limbs after being in a confined space for so long. “Oh thank you, truly! You really have done a favor. What is your name?”

“It's Farleth, sir”, Farleth responded.

“Hmm. Farleth.” It almost seemed like the odd person was trying to taste his name. “Well, Farleth. You've done good, helping me out and all. But I have one last favor to ask from you.”

“I'll listen. Maybe I can help”, Farleth said.

“I think you do.” The man glanced at his clawed hand. “I need your heart.”

He struck his hand into Farleth's chest so abruptly that he didn't even have time to realize what was happening. Farleth's blood was flowing from the wound the stranger had inflicted, his hand infiltrating deeper into the contents of his chest. Forcefully he ripped Farleth's heart out and as he did so, Farleth's dead corpse collapsed on the ground, laying in the pool of his own blood.

“I'm sorry I had to do this, but they took my heart when they imprisoned me and it's quite difficult to live without one”, the stranger said.

He put the freshly harvested organ inside his own ribcage. His body accepted the heart and connected with his veins and flesh. Then the strange man started to walk away, just leaving the body of the man that helped him to rot.



[b]DAY 14: GILDED KNIFE – A MURDER WEAPON FIT FOR A KING[/b]

Ranever was an unfortunate king bestowed with a miserable kingdom. The sun had forsaken the land he ruled a long time before he even became king. Constant darkness prevented crops or any other plants from growing; now there was nothing left but the withered trees and bushes as a ghostly reminder that once this land was able to sustain life. Now there was nothing. Animals had disappeared a long time ago, the only ones you could maybe see were lost ravens and crows. The people were starving, the lack of nourishment making them look like walking skeletons. Nobody wanted to be here. Not even Ranever. But they were all chained into this land, cursed to walk on it for all eternity.

The king and his people suffered. But, one day Ranever got blessed by a light, it was something he hadn't ever expected to experience. A foreign man came to his kingdom, coming from a distant land from the south. His name was Ikahan and he also had noble blood flowing in his veins. He had traveled many places before ending up in Ranever's kingdom, seeing the world and the various wonders it held. Ranever was captivated by his stories and Ikahan would tell him tales from his travels eagerly. Ranever eventually fell in love with this man and proposed to him to stay here and rule together. Ikahan accepted this and so began the happiest period of Ranever's life.

He had believed that he didn't deserve bliss in his life, being the king of the wretched land. But with Ikahan he was able to experience such warm emotions he hadn't experienced ever before. He was the light of his life and together with him, it wasn't so bad to live in a cursed kingdom anymore. Ranever fell so deeply in love with Ikahan that he couldn't think of a life without him. It was like he had found his missing part.

But of course, as a pitiful king, his happiness wouldn't last. After all, he was meant to suffer. While Ranever was blinded by his love for Ikahan, his dear king was plotting to betray him. Maybe the madness of Ranever's land was too much for him and he wanted out. No one could blame him for harboring such feelings, he didn't want to become part of darkness and despair. From the greatest blacksmith of the region Ikahan commissioned a gilded knife. With his superior skills, the blacksmith was able to make the knife Ikahan wanted, and so began the last act of Ranever's life.

Ranever didn't suspect a thing. He barely even noticed that Ikahan was acting a little strangely that day. He was more quiet and seemed to be stuck in his own thoughts, but Ranever didn't even try to pester him with questions; he believed that his dear king would talk to him about it if he wanted. Ranever embraced the man he loved, not suspecting at all that it was their last one. Ikahan held him dearly; Ranever deserved one last embrace. But the gilded knife had been ready this whole time, like a sneaky snake, and Ikahan struck the blade at Ranever's back.

The shocked king looked at Ikahan with wide eyes. Why this betrayal? He couldn't get a word out of his mouth, but the devastated look in his eyes told everything. Ikahan simply stared at him with an expressionless face. He slightly spun Ranever around in order to stab him in the back multiple times. The beautiful blade spilled the royal blood onto the floor as Ikahan brutally extinguished Ranever's life. The king collapsed on the floor and with his last wretched breath, Ikahan was free from his madness. He could go and be free once more. He struck the corpse of Ranever one last time, stabbing his heart. He left the knife there and fled from the castle.

Ranever's reign wasn't long, but it was tragic. But there are no happy endings here. Still, the kingdom needs its king and who knows what kind of poor soul would have to fill that role.



[b]DAY 15: CRIMSON CELEBRATION – SEVEN CELEBRATED SINNERS[/b]

It has begun. The whole town was like in ecstasy, their minds were on a completely different level, dancing like madmen. The people laughed and screamed the names of their deities. There was no place for sadness during the festival that was held every seven years. And now those seven years had passed and the songs and wine streamed through the streets. Just for this occasion, the sky had turned crimson and nothing, not even the sun, would pierce through it. The wind was blowing fiercely, joining in the celebration of the town, carrying the songs and laughter with it. Through a stranger's eyes, all this seemed like a festival to celebrate the end of the world, but the truth was something else.

At the center of the town stood a grand old tree. It had been there since ancient times and to the townsfolk, it was a holy tree that blessed their land. The people believed that offending it would bring great calamity into the land and so, they treated it with utmost respect. And today's celebration centered around this holy figure.

The tree was standing tall, its mighty branches reaching for the crimson sky. Its pure white trunk that had black stripes on it seemed almost glowing that day and the crimson leaves were vibrant and made the tree look like it was engulfed in holy fire. A few bloodred ribbons were tied around the trunk as a decoration. People were gathering around the sacred tree, applauding it for it had been protecting them yet another seven years. Some people were raising their bottles in the air as a gesture of showing appreciation and praised the tree.

Then the townsfolk retreated from the holy tree for it was time to truly show their gratitude. However, seven different people were allowed to step forward. These were the seven greatest sinners and they would lend their power to the tree.

One was a man who was the slave of his own lust. Men or women, it didn't matter for as long as his needs were satisfied.

One was a woman who couldn't help her gluttonous desires. While there were people who starved, she still ate more than a small group of people combined.

One was a man whose every action was guided by greed. Never feeling content, he would just keep taking more.

One was a woman who barely ever did anything useful because of sloth. She was just a burden to her family.

One was a man whose insides were scorched by the flames of wrath. Violent and destructive, he only knew how to hate.

One was a woman who was never satisfied with what she had and would always look at others with envious eyes. It didn't matter how big or small the thing was, she would always find a way to be jealous about it.

One was a man who was blinded by his pride. No matter what, his picture had to be perfect.

These people represented all the sins of the townsfolks. And now, it was time for them to make the sacrifice. They were singing in unison, slowly approaching the holy tree, ready to become one with it. And as they sang, the stripes on the tree's trunk turned crimson and from there, they went downwards, becoming like veins upon earth. And from these crimson veins emerged the roots of the tree, twisting and turning like snakes. The roots wrapped themselves around the seven sinners and held them in place. But like a vampire, the roots then started to suck the blood of the sinners until nothing was left, just empty dry husks. But they had gladly given their lives. When the roots returned to the soil, they took the corpses with them, burying them under the center of the town.

Then the tree was normal again. The sacrifice had been made and now the town could live in prosperity for the next seven years. The crowd cheered and continued their celebration and there was only joy under the crimson sky.