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Player of Fates
Citizen
Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Topics: 6
Posts: 214
Location: Darkness
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 Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 7:52 pm Post subject: The End-Chapter 2-ON HIATUS |
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Let us hope I succeed in this. I cringe when I over read it. It is semi-long and I apologize for its length, all the others may be shorter, whatever I choose Fate to decide.
The Tornado, The Forest, The Path, The People
Chapter One
The class was quiet. Everyone was listening to the howling wind outside as it tore through the school trees and uplifted stones as if
they were nothing.
Mr. Michael’s eyes were wide with fear and his eyes continually glanced up from his text book to the window. It was chaos outdoors, the huge bouts of wind were practically visible in gray tidal waves of air as they began to tear at the trees in the ground.
Everyone’s fear rose when they witnessed a bicycle smashing into the lamp pole.
“It’s all right everyone,” he announced, his voice shaking with his own fear.
I watched the school oak tree being pulled from its roots and tossed in the air like a small child’s toy and I swallowed the dry patch in my throat with apprehension. This couldn’t be happening. Nothing like this had been forecasted in the morning, I had the news and radio blasting and nothing had predicted a storm this violent. It had come like a hidden enemy from the shadows, finally announcing its presence when the clouds had started to gather.
“Oh my God!” Paul raised a shaky hand to point outside, past the torn blinds and the slightly cracked glass. “Is that a tornado? Why didn’t they issue a warning or something? Oh man!”
Everyone turned their heads to his window, eyes wide with fear and disbelief and I could have sworn that Mr. Michaelson’s muttered a small mouse like squeak. It was a tornado, the skinny end slowly reaching towards the earth as it descended from the clouds like some sort of god. It was a swirling vortex of destruction, the black wind making up its body tearing the air and gathering huge objects to feed its mass. It was a monster of the elements.
“We got to get out of here!” screamed a girl I didn’t know. She was chubby with a small scar running down her chin, probably from a food container. Her pencil had been chewed to a small nub. “We’re all going to die!”
Her words set off a chain of motion as everyone began to chatter and yell, voicing the fears and some of the older ones began to act brave and shouting instructions on what they should do. I kept quiet and watched the tornado as it finally rested on the earth and a large brown and gray cloud kicked up as its end began to destroy what was below. The roof of a house was torn off a small building and sent scattering towards the vortex.
“We stay in here! We might as well commit suicide if we go outside!” screamed another girl.
“We need to get home! With our families! They could be dead!” yelled a boy, his voice still scratchy from puberty. Probably a freshman.
“No! We stay inside, we’re safe here,” ordered Mr. Michaelson. I heard him get up from his desk and walk to the front of the class. His voice was shaky. “We’re safest inside and if the tornado begins to…enter here, we can always run to a safer place while it’s occupied with it.”
“It’s occupied now! We should go!”
“No,” I said aloud, finally voicing my opinion. My eyes were aimed at the approaching tornado, its speed unmatched and its fury out in full front. It tore through the street, sending chunks of granite and asphalt in the air. A large chunk punched through the metal roof of a truck and destroyed the interior with a loud crash. “We won’t have time to run if we go! It’s almost here…”
“Oh God, we’re all going to die,” sobbed a student next to me. His nose began to run and he clutched his long hair in frustration. “I didn’t even feed Sparky!”
I gave him a disapproving look and continued to watch the outside as everyone began to argue again. I brushed my black hair from my face as I tapped my desk quietly. The tornado would be on top of us in minutes, and I meant it literally. I was scared and I didn’t want to die. I was only a sophomore for Pete’s sake, I had a lot of life to live. My hands tensed as Honda Hybrid was lifted off the ground with ease and swept into the tornado, largely visible in the distance.
The tornado was heading right towards the direction of the class. Black and grey swirled around in a circular pattern, spinning at an unimaginable speed. My eyes couldn’t look away from its awe inspiring form; it was beautiful and ugly at the same time. Fear gripped my heart in a cold headlock and I stifled a gasp as a house fell to pieces.
Then, suddenly, happening so quickly I barely registered it, its body changed shape, the thickest and crown part anyways. It changed, the winds bending in an awkward angle. It formed a face, malformed and disgusting to look at.
A twisted mouth gaped open as if in full 3D with jagged edges made of the shattered stone inside, the one eye blinked and squinted as the two diagonal slits which was probably its nose puffed black smoke that I somehow knew was poison. It looked almost human, except deformed and shuddering ugly. It smiled at me then disappeared, all this happening in a flash of a second at the most.
“Hey, Jake, you okay?” A hand gripped my shoulder and I turned around. Ryan’s brow was creased in a frown as he stood over me. His eyes drifted from my face to the outside and his frown grew deeper as he stared at the killer tornado.
“Fine, saw a face in the tornado though,” I said lightly, as if it was a normal thing. It hadn’t been normal. I shook my head in my own disbelief. I had imagined it, my fear was getting to me. I let out a sigh and smiled, despite the terror that was charging at us.
“Funny, Jake, funny. No time to be joking though.” His hand left my shoulder but he stayed by my side, arms crossed and his brow wrinkling with so many lines.
“What are we going to do?” he asked.
I shrugged. “All we can do is sit and…oh sh-”
My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as a yell escaped from my throat full of fear and disbelief. I jumped on Ryan, knocking him to the floor, saving his life and mine. The windows shattered into billions of pieces and the wood and stone reinforcing the walls crumbled and exploded in a shower of dust. A huge Chevy truck barreled into the classroom, the dented roof facing us.
It smashed through the desks and tore the hard tile loose from the ground as if it was clumsily applied tape. Students screams like wailing babies as they jumped out of the way or were thrown to the side by the impact and force followed by the gusts of wind that ripped the pictures off the wall and peeled the paint of the ceiling.
It skidded across and punched through the other wall, entering the hallway. Sparks were thrown up as fiery dancers as it crumpled the lockers like aluminum cans, but the metal stopped its flow, making it come to a screeching halt and wobble in the hallway. I could hear screams and yells of disbelief coming from the other classrooms down the hallway. The wind struck out at us like slaves as the wind whipped our backs with invisible cat-o-nine tails.
A shriek was almost lost in the torrent as the chubby girl screamed and screamed her face paler than scattering papers around us. My eyes widened as I noticed her whole front end was covered in red except the face. Her eyes bulged out of her sockets and her mouth stretched open wider than I thought possible.
Other screams joined in with hers as they all saw Mr. Michaelson’s mangled body smashed into the remaining parts of the wall. Blood pooled in thick puddles all around him as his severed leg pumped red and the huge gash in his left side showed the broken ribs, dead lungs and dying heart. The girl threw up as the blood from the missing arm sprayed her with more crimson. She fainted.
“DUCK!” screamed Michael, a Senior on the football team. I saw his thick body being tossed into the air as the warning left his throat.
He sailed through the hole in the wall and smashed into the end of the truck. He didn’t get up.
Then the tornado hit us like a wrecking ball, it tore apart the classroom and tossed us into the air. Everything was a blur of motion as I was tossed upwards and around. Motion sickness gripped me as I was thrown in jagged circles violently. Screams were distantly heard in background as other students were picked up in the vortex. The last thing I saw before smashing against an upturned desk was Mr. Michaelson’s body flapping gently in the wind as it was thrown outside.
We were in a forest, that recognition was enough to kick me out of my daze. I opened my eyes to the blurry world and blinked rapidly.
A headache assaulted me as I tried to stand and assess where I was. I blinked again and again, breathing a sigh as my vision finally cleared to its 20/20 vision. I stood up on my shaky legs and looked around, my jaw almost dropping to the floor.
We sure weren’t in Kansas anymore, or rather California.
The classroom wasn’t even recognizable. It was all white washed walls puckered with huge holes and rips in the stones and paper. The tiled floor barely had anymore squares, the rest just white powder that barely offered any support. Two overturned desks were all that signified that this had been a place of
torture…er….learning.
But what made me catch the breath in my throat and squeeze the life out of it was what was outside where the truck had punched a new door in. A forest, a dense green, fable like forest. The trees were oak I think but they towered high the then I ever believed any could.
I couldn’t even see the sky, just green and brown splotches of leaves, limbs, branches, twigs and bird nests. Sunlight filtered through the cracks though, providing the misty sunlight you saw on fantasy movies or imagined in books. The air was filled with that out door smell, fresh and unchanging. It was beautiful.
I could only see past a few trees. There was no type of clearing or plain up ahead, just thicker giant trunks.
How? When? What? How had we gotten here? This was impossible; the tornado couldn’t have lifted us off the ground and dumped us in
Yellowstone or something. No, I had been to Yellowstone, the trees weren’t like this nor the air. Where were we? This was crazy! I had to be dreaming, had to be.
My fingers came together in a hard painful pinch and I almost yet out a yelp. I waited, expecting to blink and then find my self in some sort of hospital bed. I didn’t wake. Oh my God, how did this happen? I looked at the dust from the ruins on my jeans. This was impossible. I was going crazy!
I stumbled away from the trees and turned around. There were only four students from my class on the floor. They were in their own little heaps, curled up in unconsciousness. I had to wake them, to reassure myself that I wasn’t going crazy, that I wasn’t seeing things. I scanned the bodies for someone I knew and spotted Ryan.
Sounds were not echoed as my feet padded on the unstable floor and I stopped myself from kicking him in my moment of insanity.
“Wake up! Wake up! Ryan! Wake.” I kicked him in the ribs, lightly, but it hurt. “Up!”
He didn’t stir and I rolled him over, fearing the worst. My fears were justified. His eyes were open but rolled back, showing only the whites of his eyes. His skin was a sickly pale yellow and drawn back against the muscle behind it. A line of blood trickled from his split lip and his crumpled hand showed bone. It was only when I shifted in position to take a better look, that his head lolled to the side at an unnatural angle. His neck had been broken and the fact that I was holding a dead man made me jump up and drop him.
“Oh God, Oh God,” I whimpered, tears coming to my eyes. Ryan was dead? No! No! He had been a good friend! No! no! I whipped around and pushed a desk out of my way and rolled a girl over. She was the same, her neck twisted at an awkward angel. She was missing several teeth as if a metal pipe had rammed her in the mouth. I glanced at one of the desk legs, the steel still shining despite the spots of blood on it.
Every other body was the same the neck snapped from the impact of some object except for Tod, whose neck had been clumsily opened by a rouge tile that had probably been spinning through the air.
I sank to the floor, muttering words that I didn’t even understand. Why was this happening to me? I was going insane!
My legs shook as I stood up and I held back tears as the image of
Ryan’s dead face leering at me. Then the realization that I was next to very dead bodies dawned on me. I shrieked like a girl and back pedaled from the room. I was afraid that my insanity might cause the bodies to rise and chase me, teeth gaping and eyes rolling around and around. Oh God.
I took off in a run, away from the classroom. I should have run into the hallway but there was none. It was as if the classroom alone had been ripped away. Once again a product my breakdown. I dodged trees and weaved through them, snapping dried leaves and twigs in my escape. Green moss decorated the giant rocks that I came across as the towering trees seemed to magnify the thin mist around me. I continued to run in my desperate attempt to flee my own imagination, I fell several times, scraping my elbows and banging my head.
Soon the sunlight barely showed up at all, just a gloomy damp aura loomed around me as the light lessened as the trees grew thicker.
It was as if a shadow had blocked the sun above, but it was really the looming wooden giants. I ran till my breath eluded me and my gasping came to no avail. I fell flat on my face, sobbing and my tears made the damp leaves and twigs grow wetter.
Images of the dead bodies always appeared along with pictures of my family. Where were they? How had this happened? Were they watching me from a screen as I curled up in a ball in a big white room with pads all around? I was hallucinating, but everything was real. The twigs were real for they scratched against my face and elbows leaving marks and the mist was certainly real for it began to soak into my clothes making them wet and cold. Where was I?
I don’t know how long I lay curled up on the ground. Hours maybe. I continued to sob and moan, grief striking me from every direction.
I was homesick to the core and I missed everyone, even the gym teacher.
Finally, I had wasted away all my grief. Perhaps it was the family blood that stopped me from moping, the teachers had always praised me for it when I was younger. We had always continued on and the thought of simply giving up and dying never occurred to us.
I had never bragged about it, one because it had always drawn venomous looks from all the others kids, and two, I felt like an ego megalomaniac when I ever I though about. But it was the one who saved me from giving up in tears.
I stood. I had to find away out of here. I wasn’t going insane, was I? Everything was so real, but hallucinations were pretty real also. I had to figure this out. How had I gotten here? Magic? Those things appeared only in fairy tales and sci fi books. They weren’t real, if they were, they would have been discovered by now. I walked, not running as I slowly wandered into nowhere, alone with my thoughts.
I could go back to the classroom, to see if there was any clue how this had happened. The picture of Ryan’s limp broken body banished the idea away. I didn’t need to see his body again. What if all there was, was forest? Everything was wood. No people, no animals, no food except the bark of the trees and maybe berries if I was lucky. I stopped as my stomach growled, voicing its own thoughts. All the thinking of food had made me hungry.
I continued to walk, meeting more trees and greeting them like old friends. They were old, but they seemed to radiate a sense of dread. They weren’t my friends, they never would be unless I became one of them. “There has to be a path here somewhere,” I muttered out loud. I needed a voice to hear, even if it was mine, even if it meant I was going crazy. “There could be a road!”
“Or more trees,” I commented.
“There has to be something! This could be like the dark ages, with all the knights and crap,’ I said, not giving up hope.
“Or you could be in a white padded cell gabbling these words into the air,” I laughed.
An idea came to me. If I said something out loud and I was really in a cell, they would hear it. Right? I mulled over what I was going to say. How could I explain this to them? Why was this happening to me! God! Why me! My anger flared from a spark to a flame struck by a match. Why was this happening to me!
“Mom! Guys! If you’re hearing me! I’m crazy!” I laughed and spun around, not caring anymore. “I’m in a forest! In my head! No one’s around! Hahaha! I’m all alone!” I kicked away a pile of leaves and twigs. “I’m alone! You hear me! Where are you! Where am I? WHERE AM I!? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME! WHY?”
I charged a tree, crying out. My fist struck the trunk and the skin covering my knuckles split. A sharp pinching pain traveled around my hand and I shook it, scattering little drops of blood. Tears stung my eyes as I held down my head, ashamed of my tantrum even though no one had seen me. No one was here to see me. I continued to walk, alone with my thoughts as the silent forest echoed my mutterings.
The minutes turned to hours and my legs felt stiff and cold but I kept on. The trees started growing thinner in thickness and in appearance. They weren’t so close together and were spaced apart, giving me more room to walk between them. Then the ground began to dip forward, as if I was walking down some sort of hill. I was eager to see anything but the trees, perhaps even some plains, or maybe rolling hills. Who knew? I didn’t.
The mist became thicker and thinner in certain parts, as if in patches in fur. The snapping of twigs grew less incessant and the leaves began to thin. The trees were more normal sized, thin even in some places. The brown of dirt and leaves began to be replaced by green grass and sticking out ivies’ and leaves. They were smashed under my feet as I traveled in the middle of it, then I almost fell of the edge.
I stumbled backwards, saving my self from a fast head first fall. I looked down and smiled. It was just a little dip, even if I had fallen;
I wouldn’t have been hurt badly. I tentatively jumped from my standing place and over the dip. I landed amidst more branches and twigs along with green stems of plants and grass. Exhilaration filled my heart like a jug of water being poured into the glass.
Before me, was a small path, winding and twisting away from me, going backwards and forward, both ways. It was just two long stripes of brown where the wet ground had been turned over by wheels, whether by wagon or cars I couldn’t tell. But in the middle of the two strips was plants and grass running along the two strips.
Finally! This could be proof of people. I wasn’t alone! If I was insane, my mind was very kind. I ran to one of the strips and examined it. I could find no tire tracks.
The best bet was to follow the path, wherever it went. It could lead me into the forest…or deeper into it. What was I to do? The mist was thickening, making my clothes even wetter and sending chills up and down my body, I needed to find some place warm; I would freeze to death if I stayed in the cold and mist, especially to sleep.
I looked ahead and squinted. The forest had noticeable thinned down the road. I didn’t know if it was east or west or north or south. I could call it forward I guess. My wrist itched and I reached down to scratch it. My fingers brushed against something hard and plastic and I looked down. My watch! I can’t believe I had forgotten it, of all things to forget.
I pressed the side button and waited for the time to show. 0:00. I stared at it blankly in disbelief.
The mist thickened over the hour and I was thoroughly soaked because of the water vapor. I could see still, the mist only came up to my shoulder, leaving my neck and head dry. The ground under me still held some bark and I jumped every time I accidentally snapped a twig or branch in two. I weaved through the path, following its turns and twists and resting on high rocks along the sides where the ground rose up to meet the forest.
I was totally surprised when I heard the creaking of wheels. I jumped as the sound first reached me, coming from behind. The first instinct was to stand in the road and wait for it to come along and yell and shout for help. But what if they weren’t exactly friendly?
The thoughts of twisted men and women who feasted on
wanderers filled my head. I didn’t want to become lunch, or dinner judging by the light.
I leaped towards the side and scampered up the rocks. Dirt fell down in small avalanches as I climbed up, grabbing onto jutting sticks and rocks to hoist myself over. There was tall grass right at the top and I jumped over it so not to trample it. They would serve as an excellent shield. I lay down flat on my stomach a little ways behind them and bent them with my hand slightly so I could see.
It took a full two minutes for the carriage to come in sight. It was a sight to behold. It was like the carriages from the times were muskets weren’t even invented and long swords were still used along with plated armor.
The four wheels attached to the main body were large and perfectly round, rolling over the dirt easily and without a struggle. The compartment had elaborate doors on both sides with the handle shaped like dragons in flight with the wings servings as the locks.
Gold engravings decorated the sides and rails were on top to keep the four piece luggage from tumbling off during bumps.
The driver was a fat man with a large ridiculous hat. He reminded me of my Math teacher. His double chin wobbled like jelly as the carriage went over a small rise.
His pudgy hands were pale and smooth, devoid of any hair of any kind. The small squat nose was barely visible and his thin mouth contrasted greatly with his wide girth. He was dressed in a long coat with breeches and leather boots that almost came up to his knee. His shirt was made of leather and mail, the rings unnoticeable making it look like a regular shirt of metal.
A sword hung at his side, the sheath plainly decorated, baring no markings at all. The hilt had a small emerald stone set in the middle and the handle was wrapped with brown bandages, the type that you dressed cut in. The pommel was chipped and a little broken and gave off no sheen. He was something out of a medieval museum.
He was nervous, I could tell by the way his eyes switch from side to side, as if looking for an unseen enemy. He didn’t spot me even though his eyes went right to my position. He just glanced over me then switched back to the other side. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed and he flicked the reins, making the chestnut colored horses whinny and increase their speed.
I couldn’t see inside the carriage, there were windows but they were covered by curtains. So there were people here! I wasn’t alone! Maybe I wouldn’t go completely insane after all. The real problem was if they spoke English, if not, I might as well stay in the forest. Should I go down there and hail the man. He might cut me to ribbons. I eyed the sword. That would hurt cutting into meat.
I had to greet him, hours and hours alone made me want to bed for human company. The thought of actually talking to someone drove me to show myself, I couldn’t last long without some human contact. He knew how long I would have to walk before reaching civilization. I jumped up from my position and began to wave my arms.
“Hey! You! Look at me! Can I have a ride? Hey!”
The driver almost fell off his perch in shock. He whipped around, his sword leaving its home in a dull sliding sound. The point was sharp and the edge faultless as it wavered uncertainly in the air. The man’s eyes bulged with fright but he relaxed slightly when he recognized my age. His confidence returned and he stopped the carriage and jumped out.
“Aye! Boy! What are you doing in Elderwood Forest alone!” He started towards me, sword still in hand. “Are you madder than a fox? Come down here at once!”
He spoke and understood English! Yes! Finally, a piece of luck I could really enjoy. I slid down the side grinning profusely. I stumbled at my landing and speed walked towards him. I offered my hand in greeting.
He looked at me hesitantly then shook it, his grip was hard and strong and I made sure mine was like wise. They always said that you could determine a man by his shake.
The driver was impressed as he let go and his guarded expression softened a little. “What are ye doing wandering alone in these parts. Do you want Galats tearing you?”
I gave him my most confused expression. “What?”
The driver shook his head as if I was crazy. I probably was. “You’re not from these parts? Your clothes are definitely strange.”
I shook my head, eager to explain. He would understand, maybe he could even tell me what happened. I needed answers. “I’m definitely not from here! See, there was this tornado and I was at Yancerkille High, and the tornado, it picked us up and I guess it threw us somewhere and we landed. But it was weird, my classroom was the only one in the forest!”
I took a breath and my eyes became hooded as I began to tell the worst part of the story. “I woke up…and my friends were dead. Ryan was dead, Amy too. Their necks were broken…I got scared and ran into the forest. Found the path and I was just wandering around following the path when you guys showed up. What state are we in? What park? Am I even in America?”
The driver looked at me with wide eyes. He was probably wondering if he should run me through, to save me from myself. He took a subtle step back and tapped the hilt of his sword. “I know not this…Yancerville High, or this America. You are in Algonsei, land of Hills and Smoky Water. You are in no park and in Algonsei we hold no states, only countries and provinces. You are in Scytheia, country of Forests.”
I gave him the same blank look he gave me. He sighed, his double chin wobbiling ever so slightly and he sheathed his sword, a sign that he deemed me lost and harmless. “Let me check on our passenger. They will be wondering why we stopped.”
I watched him walk away and open the carriage door ever so slightly. I thought it rude to crane my neck to see who it was so I just waited, once again alone with my thoughts, and they were river torrents in my head.
I definitely wasn’t in America then. The way the guy dressed was continuous proof of that. Everyone knows who and what America is, I could understand the unknowing of my high school, it wasn’t very popular or large. I had never heard of Algonsei, it sounded Spanish.
My “A” in geography would help me here, not today. My brow furrowed as I shoveled some dirt with my Vans. Where was I? This was crazy, I was crazy, but the insanity plea was all but gone. This was all too real.
The man shut the door after a few moments and walked over to me, shaking his head in a mixture of mirth and anger. He tapped the sheath as he walked and his coat slightly flapped in the chilly breeze as the mist intensified around us like a swirling blanket of wet and cold. I shivered slightly. I needed a blanket or a coat. My thin T-shirt provided next to nothing except to hide my skin. My breath came out as vapor and I shivered again.
“The couple in there is feisty ones, they want us to move on. I can’t leave you here alone, would go against my conscious.” He chuckled and looked back at the carriage, his blue eyes going over the frame. “I think you will ride with me on top, I ‘ave an extra coat.”
I didn’t need to think about. I followed him quickly and almost passed him. He showed me how to get on. My shaking hands gripped the rail and I hoisted myself up, using the small windowsill as a foothold to bolster my strength. There was an extra seat next to the driver’s and a little ways behind a blade. It wasn’t as long as his but much longer than a knife, a short sword most likely.
“The name’s Cotlin, by the way.” He settled in his seat and began to readjust the harness and belt as he handed me a coat. I looked down from my perch as I put on the coat.
We were high up from the dirt and stones, higher than I thought it would be anyways. I glanced back at the bare short sword and the sudden desire to reach out and take it overcame me, I needed to swing it, to relish in the movement. My hands crept forward and I
grasped the hilt. The blade scraped against the roof and I heard a shout of surprise utter from inside.
Cotlin glanced back at me and the sword with alarm and I saw his guard rise up in his features. “What might ye be doing with Biter?”
“Biter?” I asked as I lifted the sword and laid it across my lap. I was being definitely rude with not even asking to touch the weapon but the urge had been strong and the sensation of such a deadly weapon resting my lap like some sort of kitten excited me. Blissful shivers ran down my spine as my fingers traced the flat of the blade from the tip to the hilt. Cotlin watched me nervously then flicked the reins. He trusted me still and I felt glad for it.
“ ‘tis the name of the sword," he said we bumped along the trail. The wheels rolled over the ground smoothly but jerked violently when they came over rocks and small bumps. Cotlin flicked the reins again and the horses started faster. I watched him work in silence, unconsciously memorizing the way he decorated the steeds and the way he twitched his wrists to control the speed in which we traveled. After long minitues of silence, I once again raised a conversation.
“You’ve never heard of America?”
Cotlin shook his head and tugged on the reins to steer the horses through a sharp turn. “No, I haven’t. I used to be a mapper when I was a wee lad, no more though. But throughout all my travels I never once encountered this America. Larianik, yes. Forthworth, yes. Doniscia, yes.”
The names of these lands swirled in my head like a drink. I knew none of them, absolutely none of them. I had never heard of them nor been to them. I was definitely not on Earth, I couldn’t be. This either was all in my head or there was magic. I was leaning towards the first.
Magic wasn’t real, it was impossible, it defied all laws of nature and man. I might still be crazy, but I had accepted that already. I might as well enjoy my sanity; it could be a worthwhile adventure. Hell, maybe I’d write about it if I ever came out.
“Do you know magic?” The question flew from my lips unheeded. I barely registered what I’d said before he gave me a quizzical look.
“A little. Little things I suppose. Tie and untie knots and lifting forks about so high.” He raised his hand about two inches from the ground. “Never been gifted at that.” Cotlin laughed, his deep throaty guffaw echoing among the misty forest. “No one is these days. All the real wizards and mages are gone, not in this land anymore. Probably in there own island somewhere practicing the Arts.”
“I don’t believe in magic,” I said simply. Might as well lay it all out there.
“You should,” he muttered darkly, a first shadow cast over his face. I kept away from the subject after that. We continued to talk and I learned much. There no such things as guns in this land, not yet anyways. Everything was by the way of the sword and shield and no advanced technology either. Kings and Queens were popular but to my surprise, there were some democratic provinces in the country of Algonsei.
“There are enemy at our borders,” he muttered as he leaned in his seat, relaxing because of the straight road. “The Gontols are crafty bastards and quick with the swords.” He reached into a small compartment with a secret latch. It was right by me yet I had not seen it. He pulled out a flagon and flicked off the cork. Cotiln took a deep pull and wiped his mouth with his sleeve and offered me some.
I eyed the flagon then took it. What would it matter? There was no one enforcing a drinking age law. I swallowed a gulp, taking more in then I had wanted. It was bitter yet sweet and it burned when it traveled down my throat, leaving me with a refreshed and rejuvenated sensation yet slightly dizzy. “Good ale,” I said.
I had guessed right. Cotlin nodded, confirming it was ale, and it was good. He tucked it away in his coat. “They say the Gontols came from the Speared Mountains, along with the dragons. Pasty faced men with hulking bodies but small brains. They’re lead by the smart ones, they lack in strength but are full of knowledge, and they put the kingdom’s best strategists to shame.” He shook his head flicked the reins out of boredom. “They haven’t even reached the first wall but the small kingdom of Evenden has been destroyed, the capital in ashes. It’s the Gontols home now.
“The king isn’t exactly inspiring confidence. He hadn’t even officially warned us, only rumors circulated ‘till an outpost was burned to the ground, leaving nothing but ashes. Then the king acted as if the Gontols had appeared out of nowhere. The man’s a fool, I’m surprised the queen decides to stay with him. Aye, she’s a real beauty. Delicate face, curves that make you regret your coupling to another woman, and eyes that will make your soul melt. Her daughter is even more of a looker, beautiful girl, has all the little princelings loping after her, even the elves are humbled.”
Elves? Elves! Oh God, I was dreaming. I didn’t bother answering as Cotlin rattled on about the court affairs and the saucy scandal with the ambassador and the princess.
My eyes viewed the trees as they passed in short blurs. The mist surrounded us like a sea of clear white, flowing here and there like snakes waiting for their prey. An enemy could be watching us at the very moment. My stroking of Biter continued as I looked ahead, squinting to see the road.
We traveled on for what seemed like hours, going at good speeds. I saw nothing but boulders and forests, the bark laughing at me and the mist whispering in the wind. I didn’t see the town ahead until Cotlin called my attention to it.
It was bigger then the word “town” conjured. A huge tower was the first thing I saw through the mist. After it building after building was neatly placed in decorative positions, the building had been carefully planned.
After the tower was two story building that was long as it was wide. A hanging sign swung slightly from an iron bar jutting right above the door. I could read the words but it had the painting of a severed head displayed comically with the tongue sticking out in a teasing gesture. Interesting.
Suddenly, Cotlin stopped the horses and his fat neck suddenly tightened with unseen muscles. He looked around quickly, his blue eyes scanning the misty area around us.
“The town’s up ahead, Cotlin. What are you doing? Let’s go.”
“Shut it, youngin’ ,” he said. His sword rang from his sheath and I heard muffled voices from inside wondering what the sudden stop was fore. “Something is wrong with the town. The guard hasn’t called out. I know the lad. He’s more of a hard nose then the king’s personal guard.”
I frowned and was slightly irritated at his over cautiousness. I was tempted to jump down from the carriage and walk to the town but my legs were cold and stiff. I let out a sigh and felt the edge of the short sword in my hand.
Then, there was the sound of a snapping branch behind us.
DP
What happens next?
Last edited by Player of Fates on Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:34 pm; edited 9 times in total
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Chinaren
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| Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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Oooh, pretty good start there Plates! No need to apologize for the lenght, as long as it is well written.
A couple of things I spotted:
| Quote: | | Yelling out in disgust, I ripped it off my wrist and threw it to the floor. With a quick stomp, I smashed it underfoot. It was time to go. |
I dunno about this. It felt rather false and unrealistic to me. I mean as crazy as he was feeling, I don't think you are going to take your watch off and smash it just because it isn't working. 
| Quote: | | , would go against my conscious. |
I think you mean concience.
DP? I assume it's what to do next.
Well, either they confront someone, which unless you are damned good with a sword for some reason, is probably not a good idea, or you hit the horses and hightale it outa there!
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| I doubt you have much expeierience with a sword but Cotlin might. If Cotlin was alone with you, I would say confrontation, but since there is a couple in the carriage, I say get the hell away and find a new way into town.
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Player of Fates
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 10:29 am Post subject: |
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| How might I create a poll for the option choices?
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Crunchyfrog
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:00 am Post subject: |
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What an awesome chapter! Very well written, and I enjoyed it.
For the DP, I'd say run and hide. You're getting used to being in a new environment, are you ready to fight just yet?
To create a poll option, go back to the first post in this thread, and hit the edit button. Near the bottom of the screen you are able to add poll options. Fill in the title for your poll, and then the text for the first option and click on 'add option'. Then a space for the next option will appear.
When you've finished, hit submit.
Good luck, and great start! 
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Player of Fates
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:40 am Post subject: |
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Thank you for your encouragement, CF. I appreciate and you have no idea how much it helps. 
The poll is up and it seems to be in working order. Please toss your cards in my fellow citizens, not just your votes.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Are you sure you don't want anymore comments before you put up the poll yet? It hasn't even been 3 days. I wait a minimum of 2 weeks after writing my chapter to put up the poll so I can get suggestions and ideas for my story.
But yet again this is your sg and not mine. I just think you are trying to rush through this. Just trying to help!!!!
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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I appreciate your concern and your advice Harley, but I'm very excited to start the next chapter. I enjoy writing, though I'm not very good at it. Rest assured that you advice will be taken and used after the second chapter. Once again, thank you.
The pose has been closed, and writing will commence...now.
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Chinaren
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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Wait times for polls vary, but if you have enough suggestions, then there's nothing to stop you going ahead! It's purely your call.
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| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:29 pm Post subject: |
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The End
The Carriage, The Arrows, The Siblings, The Town
Chapter Two
“Who goes there,” shouted Cotlin. His eyes scanned behind himself, hearing the snap of the twig the same time I did. His sword slid from its home smoothly and silently and the flat of the blade reflected my wide eyed face even though there was barely any sunlight. “I asked who goes!”
There was no answer forthcoming. The beings in the mist and shadows stayed silent and I wondered if we were going to die. This was just like in the movies where the protagonists would wait for the men or women to show themselves before the hidden monster would jump out and bite a side man’s head off. Hopefully I wasn't the side man in this situation.
I took comfort in Biter’s swollen handle as I lifted it off my lap, it was heavier than before.
“This is madness,” hissed Cotlin. He glanced down below at his couple, who were raising their voices in protest, covering any sounds our potential enemies were making. Gritting his teeth, he glanced at the shadows again and squinted. The couple was nearly shouting now.
“Go silence them!”
I gave him a surprised look. “What?”
“Get down from the carriage and go inside! Tell them to shut up!” He was in no mood for arguing and he whipped around at the slightest sound.
“You’re not serious,” I hissed back at him. “What if they have guns…er…bows or something! I’ll be killed!”
This was crazy, I could die the moment I stepped onto the hard ground and I could barely see as it was. Fear wrapped its coils around me and I froze, not wanting to move at the slightest.
“You will,” Cotlin said in anger. “Or I will force you!”
You’re sixteen for God’s sake, act your age, I told myself. This would be the time for the testosterone to start pumping, if I had any at the moment. Adrenalin started at a slow crawl as my heart beat faster. I slid down the carriage. And winced at the sound of my soft landing and almost groaned aloud. I had left Biter up top.
Pushing the thought of the safety of steel aside, I crept to the door and pulled it open, almost tearing the handle from the door. It wasn’t as solid as it looked.
I had expected an elderly men and women or perhaps even middle aged, but what I saw surprised me. They were my age, maybe a little older. The girl was probably the hottest I had ever seen and the boy was strikingly handsome too. I felt weird even thinking that, but it was true.
They were dressed like someone who had a lot of money to spend on clothing and accessories.
The girl’s dress was scarlet red and made of silk that was so fine it practically glittered. A slit ran up the left side, all the way to her knee and then it was outlined with some type of golden fabric that fluffed slightly. The straps that went across her shoulder to hold the red beauty up were thin but somehow sturdy looking and the bosom was high enough to cover any cleavage.
Her hair fell in black strands; each separated professionally and straightened till not a line curved. The girl’s face was perfectly shaped. Her was chin slightly pointed but round enough to show she didn’t starve herself to attain such beauty.
A straight nose lifted above full lips that were as red as her dress and faint eyeliner decorated around her eyes, and what eyes they were. Peircing green and you could get lost in them as long as they were not shooting daggers in your direction, but unfortunately, I was on the other hand of the point.
The boy reminded me like the pictures that artists drew of princes who attained the ability to woo any woman. His brow was a little broad, giving off some sort of rugged look and the jaw strong. His nose was straight like the girl’s and his eyes were slightly slanted, like he had some Asian in him. Green surrounded the black and they were just as piercing as the girl’s.
His hair fell in blond curls and was dutifully positioned just right around his face. His hands were long and almost feminine and bore no type of marks; the boy had never done a hard day’s work in his life. He was dressed fine like the girl sitting close to him.
He was clothed in a mixture of white and gold, the shirt poofing out slightly like an inflated balloon and his boots rode knee high. A leather vest with actual gold clips was worn over his shirt. His face twisted into a partially confused and haughty look as he viewed me climbing in.
I jumped right into it, fear making me lose my manners entirely. “Both of you shut up. Now. There are people outside who might want to hurt us.”
They gave me looks that told me exactly what they thought of me and my claim. The girl let out a little huff that I found strangely cute and the boy grunted as if someone had just told him he had stained his vest.
“Excuse, man? Do you mean to tell we are in danger?” he questioned.
“And how dare you tell us to shut up,” said the girl, her perfect eyebrows slanting in a “V” shape.
“Sorry but its true! There are weird people out there and yes, you need to shut up!” I was yelling now. I lowered my voice and glared at them, trying to convey my frustration to them by my eyes. No such luck.
“I will not be ordered around my some stranger wearing some queer garb! If that is what you wear in your land, you are indeed poor! Surely something is better than that!” cried the girl.
She put her hands on her hips and almost stood up then remembered where she was. She lowered back into her seat and gave me a vicious glare. Sassy.
Well, she had the poor clothing part right. The jeans weren’t exactly top of the line.
“Silence, Selina.” The boy glared at me then coughed, about to give a delicate speech. Just what we needed. “My sister is rightly angry but you have a point, if there are enemies outside, we should indeed lower our voices. Driver! We must make an escape! I have not the arms to aid you and you are but one man!”
The man was as dull as a butter knife. “Shut up!”
He gave me a venomous look and was about to say something when some sort of small trap door opened up in the roof. We all stared upward as Cotlin peered down at us, his face red with either anger of held back fear. “Will all of ye shut yer mouths!” His old slang seemed to slip back into him as his talk grew angrier. “I sent ye to quiet them, but the noise had practically exploded outside.”
“Well they-!”
“I don’t care,” he growled. “Get up here. I hope you know how to use a blade, boy.”
I didn’t. I gave the girl and the boy scathing looks but my gaze lasted the longest on the girl and not just because she had been a brat. I scampered out of the compartment and swiftly climbed on top, once again using the rail as a firm handhold. The mist had come to my shoulder again when I had left the carriage and it seemed to be thickening.
Before I spoke, I snatched up Biter, almost lying back when I felt its reassuring grip. I had no idea how to use the thing, but I still needed it. “Why are we just standing here like sitting ducks?”
Cotlin glared at me and resumed his peering into the darkness. “The town isn’t safe.”
“Oh and I guess that you waltzed on in there and actually saw for yourself?” My sarcasm had been wittier when I said it in my head.
Cotlin just glared at me and nervously gripped his sword. His hands clenched and unclenched around it and his layer of fat around his neck was tinged red. Even his blubber was scared. I came to resent the man. I could be drinking something warm and settling in a bed. Of Course, I had no money, but that’s what windows were for.
Why couldn’t Cotlin actually just drive into town like any normal human being and stable his horses? There was nothing wrong from what I could see.
I gave the front of the town a good long scan. Nothing. “This is stupid,” I snarled. I made a grab for the reins but he pulled them out of reach, making the horses whinny. He glared at them too.
Suddenly, there was whizzing sound and then a thunk like something had just rammed itself through wood. Cotlin and I both glanced down to the right side of the carriage door. A quivering arrow was embedded inside the door. It had buried itself so far in and with such strength, more than half of the deadly weapon had disappeared inside the carriage.
Then came the screaming. Selina let loose an ear piercing shriek that would make every horror and drama actress proud. It echoed through the open trapdoor and lifted into the night air like a bird taking flight. There were more hissing sounds and by this time, I knew what they were.
“DUCK!”
Cotlin gasped as I tackled him and knocked us both off the top of the carriage. We hit the ground, enveloping ourselves in the thick blankets of mist and rolled away from the carriage and each other out of instinct.
He was up first, recovering his breath far quicker than I. He cursed again and again, softly though, and bent low, reaching for his sword.
There were several more thunks, almost all at the same time and the carriage shook unsteadily under the force of the blow. There was incessant screaming inside and Selina was throwing herself into a panic. An arrow whistled over head and buried itself in the deep plant and bush growth three yards behind us. She had a good reason to scream.
There was another door on the side we were on. I reached for it, but Cotlin slapped my hand away.
“What are you doing?” he growled. Another arrow screamed by and buried itself where we had once sat, along with three arrows that we had avoided earlier.
“I’m saving the boy and the girl! What do you think?”
“Oh. Hurry then!”
Despite our situation, I rolled my eyes and pulled open the carriage door. Selina tumbled out, her red dress flailing after her like a wind blow cape. She fell into my arm with her facing me and her contact knocked me flat on my back with her on top.
We were both breathing hard as we looked at each other, watching at our confused expressions. Our eyes caught and her face grew redder as my cheeked tinged. She was beautiful, even more so this close up. I had seen moments like this in plays and such, we were supposed to be caught in an act of passion then kiss, but then again, people weren’t firing arrows at the actors. Very real arrows.
“Get off me!” she yelled lamely.
“You’re on me,” I pointed out.
“Oh.” She rolled off, throwing the welfare of her expensive dress aside. How brave of her.
She jumped up and looked around wildly, her hair thoroughly out of their proper positions. Her brother tumbled out after her, just as an arrow smashed through the glass and impaled the upper part of the roof, right above the doorway.
“William! Are you all right?” She rushed together and embraced him. Ah, brother and sisterly love. The closest thing I had come to showing affection to my older sister was when I pulled her hair while she was sleeping. I almost envied them.
“Quite, Selina.” He glanced at both of us. “What do we do?”
Everyone looked at Cotlin who was already trying to formulate an excellent escape plan. I could almost see his gears whirring, clicking and clinking as they turned. The man had explored this world over and over; he must have come along some situations like this. We would escape alive, hopefully.
While he thought and the brother and sister conversed in heavy tones, I was trying to figure out if this was some make up insanity. If an arrow hit me, would I snap out of it, or would I just not feel and continue on if nothing had happened. Then there was the gigantic fact that if this was real, I would die or bleed very very badly. I decided not to risk it.
“We stand in fight!” he crowed, announcing his brilliant plan.
“Your freakin’ crazy! Crazy! They’ll slaughter us!”
“Freakin?” asked Cotlin, momentarily forgetting his anger.
“Indeed they will!” said William, backing me up.
“We need to run! There’s the town up ahead! Why didn’t we go into it?” asked Selina.
Yes! Finally somehow who saw the sense of it all!
“It’s not right,” muttered Cotlin, eying us both as he dared us to disagree with him.
“Aye, it isn’t,” agreed William sagely.
Ok, what was this mysterious premonition of dangers all the guys were getting except me? Was I missing out on something, it was so frustrating. I glared at them both and grinded my teeth together. “We run! I’m running! Towards the town! I don’t even know how to use the sword!” I held up Biter who I had picked up from the ground while wondering about the arrows.
“Count William, do you know how to wield steel?”
William shook his head, red faced. “I always had strung the bow as a weapon. Never the sword, I could never find the inspiration for the song of the blade.”
The song of the what? This was all nonsense! Everyone here was crazy! I didn’t have time for this, I wasn’t about to become a pin cushion for arrows from people I couldn’t even see.
Suddenly there was a type of scream, but it was mixed with a pain ridden neigh. We all whipped around and one of the chestnuts tipped over, the legs limp and the body convulsing. Four arrows had punctured the side of the neck, almost coming out the other end.
Blood dripped from the death wounds and it writhed slightly on the ground as the other horse desperately tried to avoid its dying bucks.
“We have to go!” Without another word, I tore off into the wood behind us. I crushed bushes, leaves, grass and plants as I crashed blindly through it all. I heard the sound of rustling fabric and the panting of Selina behind me. William soon followed then Cotlin, his sword still out in the open.
No arrows followed us, none at all. I wasn’t the only one who found this suspicious. Cotlin ran up beside be, quick despite his expansive waist. His blue eyes constantly flicked back at where the carriage was stationed and it slowly was lost to our eyes as we continued to run, not as fast though knowing that no one was following us. Finally, I stopped, utterly confused. I had expected a big chase full of barking dogs and yelling men with the occasional arrow whizzing close to my ear.
“Why aren’t they following us?” I asked, breathless. I took a deep greedy gulp of air and bent down to catch more breath. My hands gripped my knees as my lungs began to refill like containers.
“I know not,” gasped Cotlin. He stuck his sword in the ground and narrowed his eyes as he looked behind us. He wanted to go back to the carriage; I could tell by the way he kept glancing at his sword. The man was a fighter to the end.
“Maybe they only wanted the carriage,” said William, voicing his own oxygen deprived opinion. He took several more gulps of air and then spoke again. “And the horses, those were good horses.”
Cotlin beamed at the compliment while I voiced my own opinion. “Then why kill one? There had to be more than one archer, there’s no way a human could fire off those things that quick, some of them were even at the same time!”
Selina looked for a place to sit but found none except dirt and green plants. She had already scuffed her pretty dress once and she looked as if she would never do it again by the expression on her face. She sighed. “Maybe elves?”
I almost laughed. “Elves? Come on now.”
“He’s right. Humans and elves are in an alliance. They wouldn’t dare attack us, I had the banner flying!”
I looked at Cotlin in shock. There were elves too! What next? Trolls? God, this was too weird, yet…somehow exhilarating, like riding a dirt bike for the first time. You had no idea how fast you could go without hitting the throttle all the way. “Then what?”
No one had an answer. We all stood in silence, absorbing what had just happened. It was several minutes, almost thirty before Selina spoke again. “I say we go back to the town.”
“No!” Cotlin shook his head. “No. The town is not right, it’s not safe.”
“How do you know?” I challenged.
“No one came to help us, even though we were in front of the guard tower! And people would have heard the arrows’ flight even if there hadn’t been any guards watching.” He pulled his sword from the ground and glanced at Biter and chuckled. “I let you carry my sword but I know not your name.”
I considered a moment then spoke. “It’s Jake.”
Selina sniffed. “Unusual name.”
“Is that a problem?”
“No, I was just merely saying that it’s a queer name.”
“Whatever.” I looked at William. “You’re a count right? Your supposed to be high and mighty, what do we do?”
“You act as if you have authority here,” said William, scowling. “How about you direct us in our movements.”
I was going to respond with a scathing reply before Cotlin interrupted me. He hit me in the back of the head and glared at William, I guess it wasn’t lawful to hit pretty boy. We glared at each other and I looked down at Biter. “What do we do?”
“I say we see the town,” voted Selina, her decision still firm in its root. “The lack of help was no real proof, perhaps everyone was inside a tavern. They can be very noisy.”
“How do you know a tavern can be noisy?” asked William alarmed.
Selina blushed. “From friends who go to such places.”
I smiled. Looks like Selina wasn’t exactly keeping to the royal standings and laws. I wanted to go to the town too and I said so, backing her vote with mine. I could have sworn she looked at me gratefully. Cotlin closed his eyes and though deep thoughts. A full minute passed with William muttering non stop, going over what we should really do. Finally Cotlin decided.
“We go to the town, but just the outskirts to see its welfare. I still think it a bad idea.”
It was big, that was for sure. It stretched wide and the out skirts on the other side actually touched the forest. The buildings in the center were higher than the ones outside. Barber shops, weapon stores along with market stalls decorated most areas occasionally with what I guessed to be regular good stores and restaurants. A pet shop with a crudely painted beast on the roof stood out among the rest. The logo animal was unlike anything I had ever seen. It looked to be a mixture of a dragon and a cat. Weird combination.
Selina’s tavern idea had been thrown out when we had first came to the ledge were on. We had laud down flat on our stomachs much to Selina’s dismay and watched for any signs of life. There were none.
We waited for what was about thirty or forty minutes before Cotlin quietly got to his knees.
“There is nothing here, let us go to the end of the town, and perhaps something is there.”
We stood quietly and slunk to the back of the town, weaving through the trees and bushes with ease.
Selina had more difficulty than all of us because of her dress. She had torn it twice and now it wasn’t even half the wonder it had once been, yet her beauty stayed the same. She looked even cuter with the small mud spots on her face, but that was just me. We finally reached the end of the town and what we saw made the gorge rise in me.
Selina gasped and back away, tripping over a rock and falling flat on her rump. Cotlin just stared, his face white and his sword dangling from nerveless fingers. William threw up in the forest a little ways back, almost staining his shirt. I just stared, horrified and wincing at the stench.
Two piles of body lying parallel to each other made large pillars signaling the exit of the town. Dead men, women and even children made up the thick abomination. Blood had dried on the clothes, turning brown and rotting meat filled the air with a choking smell, it was worse than you could ever imagine. Men and women, their faces permanently fixed in wide eyed terror and mothers still held their children in their arms.
How anyone could kill an innocent child I don’t know, but whoever did this could. Young girls and boys decorated the gruesome image with their tear stained faces, stretched and twisted with agony and shock. They would never grow to bear the excitements of growing up and the infants hadn’t even started life yet. Even the animals had been killed, what looked like a German Shepherd was stretched across the top of one pile with several dogs lying scattered around.
I threw up over the ledge as I witnessed a baby slide from the top and tumble down the hill of bodies.
“Who would do this?” whispered Selina, tears running down her eyes. None of us could answer. I had seen this stuff in movies, it was a way the directors made the audience hate the villains, but this was real. The stench you could smell, the feeling of death and destruction you could feel and the grief for the people tore your heart and flipped it inside out.
“We must flee,” warned Cotlin in a cracked voice.
“Where to? We’re supposed to be in Cordelain Court in less than a week!” said William. His hands were shaking, slightly green from the vomit had had wiped from his mouth. He had no care for royal manners when confronted with this atrocity.
“I don’t know!” snapped Cotlin. “This is the work of the Gontols. They are known for this. This is…disgusting. We should go back and kill them all!”
“We would be full of iron before we even got in a cut,” protested William. He took a deep breath and gagged. He only took small measures after that. “We must go. We’re not even in Scytheia!”
I looked at Cotlin surprised. “When we first talked in the forest, you said we were in the country of Scytheia, and we just got out of the forest. Aren’t we in Scytheia.”
Cotlin waved my confusion away with a dismissive and pained flick of his hand. “I was estimating. The forest and this town are at the border. It is another 100 or so miles to Scytheia and to safety. We’ll never make it.” He gritted his teeth as another realization struck him. “How had the Gontols traveled this far without being stopped?”
William paled. “No, my uncle is the border patrol of Scytheia, he would have told me. They have scouts all over, they must have heard something.”
“This is madness. We must get to Scytheia at once! But we still have Rodlard forest to go through and it is known for its share of demons. Then the plains. We’ll never make it. If we’re not killed by bandits, then by the heat and hunger.”
“Would horses make it faster?”
“Selina, where would we get horses?”
“The town!”
“Who are you so determined to go into this town,” muttered Cotlin. He examined his sword, eying the smudged dirt against the flat of the blade.
“We need provisions yes, and horses to carry them! We saw no Gontols in the town, they’re all probably left,” I said, marveling at my own daring. We would be slaughtered if caught, yet we needed the supplies that the dead town had.
“Or waiting for us to try just that,” muttered Cotlin.
----------DP----------
Ok, if you survived this long through the journey of my horrible grammar and lack of a good action scene, now it's time to choose a decision or make one of your own.
Do they go to the town and attempt to evade potential watching Gontols? Will there be a confrontation if they go?
Do they flee on foot, hoping to stumble on something by pure luck or quick decision?
Or does something expected happen?
You hold the cards, let us see how you play.
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Head Eater
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Location: Hovering above your sssssskull
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:29 am Post subject: |
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Well done mortal. I, the Eater of Headsssss, have found this sssstory worthy of promotion.
Enssssure it remainssss sssso, or I sssshall return! 
_________________
Heads.
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Player of Fates
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 12:32 am Post subject: |
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| I appreciate your judgment and your concern and I get paid for posting chapters, this is Extremely beneficial for me, now, hopefully citizens will comment and vote.
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Crunchyfrog
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:19 am Post subject: |
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| I say there's an act of God. The story started with a tornado, let's have a storm or something! Perhaps they go into the town ready to plunder, but an approaching deluge hampers their efforts, and the main character is freaked out by the further hazy border between his former reality and his present one. Of course, the storm may be in their favour, sending the Gontols into disarray.
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Player of Fates
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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Excellent Idea, Crunchy, I could definitely work that in if it isn't slain in the final poll choosing.
_________________
Pretty Thing
Vampires just got a whole lot Hotter
The Business
The fine print can kill you.
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Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2007 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| I say that they explore the town and they find the sole survivor of the attack. The person was hiding and too scared to fight, or something to that effect.
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Player of Fates
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| Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 9:11 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, I took Crunchy's advice and started writing on a different part of the third chapter, the one that would be remained unaffected whatever the citizen's decision. It's fifteen pages long and I haven't even traversed to the part of the alluring and seducing forest elves yet and the warring goblins*. The chapter will be released into the parts, periodically.
lol, I don't know if any of you noticed, but this post is much more...relaxed than all my other ones. I just got tired of writing like that and also I think everyone happy feel is rubbing off on me. Thanks for that, I guess. lol.
Thanks for readins!
*subplot alert!!!
_________________
Pretty Thing
Vampires just got a whole lot Hotter
The Business
The fine print can kill you.
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Chinaren
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| Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2007 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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Finally caught up! A good read.
I say go into the town, get geared up, incidentally find a wounded Gotol* who is unusual in some way, and then start your journey.
*Or whatever you called them.
_________________
Neil Hartley Books.
My Amazon page.
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The Meaning Of Fear
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| Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:03 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Ok, if you survived this long through the journey of my horrible grammar and lack of a good action scene |
I disagree! You did great! Well, better then what I can do, at any rate.
I say go into the town ignorantly and then get thrown into a fight, which they aren't likely to escape from. With their lives anyhow.
Incidently, this latest chapter seems strangely familiar to the part in Eragon in the entrance to one of the towns. The only reason I said what I suggested above was because I wanted to accuse you of copying. I'm just joking but hey, Christopher Paolini is writes quite good, so you, with me so graciously aiding you*  , you're bound to do well if I see you write like him.
*How am I helping? I helped you by posting.
_________________
Cherish all your memories, even the bad ones, for they are what makes you who you are.
Doors to the truth, an SG where a boy is propelled into worlds he is unfamiliar with. He crosses many worlds, and sees many things that force him to throw away his innocence, once, and for all. Fourth Chapter, out for viewing!
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:05 am Post subject: |
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Oh quit whining and go into town...it's only heaps of dead bodies...
_________________
"It's not just about living forever...the trick is living with yourself forever..."
"Music makes you braver."
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The Meaning Of Fear
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| Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 12:25 am Post subject: |
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| Kalanna Rai wrote: | | Oh quit whining and go into town...it's only heaps of dead bodies... |
Just because you eat them... 
Like I said, go in ignorantly.
_________________
Cherish all your memories, even the bad ones, for they are what makes you who you are.
Doors to the truth, an SG where a boy is propelled into worlds he is unfamiliar with. He crosses many worlds, and sees many things that force him to throw away his innocence, once, and for all. Fourth Chapter, out for viewing!
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Player of Fates
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| Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:24 am Post subject: |
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Yay! Two new readers! I think it's time to put in a poll, since I've waited long enough. 
_________________
Pretty Thing
Vampires just got a whole lot Hotter
The Business
The fine print can kill you.
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The Meaning Of Fear
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| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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Tied the vote Weee go my option
*looks at names of the 2 people who have voted* Hmmm... Me and chinaren...
*looks at votes*
OMG! CHINAREN!!! HOW COULD YOU!?!?! You voted for the BORING option???
*Gasps and lies down to die*
_________________
Cherish all your memories, even the bad ones, for they are what makes you who you are.
Doors to the truth, an SG where a boy is propelled into worlds he is unfamiliar with. He crosses many worlds, and sees many things that force him to throw away his innocence, once, and for all. Fourth Chapter, out for viewing!
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Player of Fates
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| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, it's tied in three places, which is kinda good for right now.
I blam Vists for my troubles, all of Microsoft in fact. I need to get a Mac, or, or something...
This story is being put in hiatus mostly because the 25 pages of the chapter three part, 2 and 3 are unable to be edited or even POSTED because of Vista's little "5" day demo under the cover of a "60" day demo. So I am unable to post them, edit them, copy, them and my computer slows when trying to even look at them.
I've managed to save them and hopefully when I try and uninstall Vista, the documents will work word 2003, if not...well, I guess I'll half to retype.
Until then, this story is on hiatus, not for long mind you, maybe for a week and half at the most. I'm going to Arizona soon anyways. So, uh, all the readers...THANK YOU for reading this and staying with me so far!
Yay for Carpal Tunnels!
_________________
Pretty Thing
Vampires just got a whole lot Hotter
The Business
The fine print can kill you.
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Chinaren
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The Meaning Of Fear
Respected Citizen
Joined: 06 May 2006
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Posts: 980
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| Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | It works well enough, and is freeware. |
Well, I didn't think you would pay for word, and I was right, wasn't I, my fatback-obsessed friend?
Make sure you don't put it on Hiatus for TOO long, or you'll lose readers, Plates.
_________________
Cherish all your memories, even the bad ones, for they are what makes you who you are.
Doors to the truth, an SG where a boy is propelled into worlds he is unfamiliar with. He crosses many worlds, and sees many things that force him to throw away his innocence, once, and for all. Fourth Chapter, out for viewing!
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| What should the group do? |
| Head into town for supplies and meet a company of Gontols? But a storm seems to be coming up fast behind them! |
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25% |
[ 1 ] |
| Wander in ignorantly and fall into a crude but effective trap with almost no way of getting out alive? |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| Into town, safely and quietly and escape safely and quietly (BORING) |
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25% |
[ 1 ] |
| As they "loot" the town, they find the sole survivor of the attack. |
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25% |
[ 1 ] |
| Find a Gontol "strange" in the head inside the dead town. |
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25% |
[ 1 ] |
| Ignore the ashes and continue on to the desert. |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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| Total Votes : 4 |
| Who Voted: Chinaren, Crunchyfrog, Kalanna Rai, The Meaning Of Fear |
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