Ok, so I have had a story on my mind for a while.
One sleepless night at my boyfriends I managed to type up a prelude.
Tell me what you think?
It was Autum, the river was ebing at its banks from the early rains this year. Alse was in her favourite tree picking the golden leaves from its branches, watching them float to the floor as she dropped them from her delicate fingers. She was humming a tune that she had heard the Guild chior singing, although she didn't know the words, no one knew the words apart from those special enough to be chosen to join the Guild. She saw a bug crawing along one of the branches and reaced out to it, letting it crawl onto her hand. Bringing the creature closer to her face she smiled, stroking its hard, oily shell. She laid back watching the bug crawl across her arm when she heard some footsteps crunching the leaves that had fallen. Looking down her heart jumped excitedly withing her rib cage. Flicking the bug off she quickly adjusted her clothing trying to show off as much of her small cleavage as she could. "Ual!" She cried out leaning as far out as she could whilst still in the tree. Ual looked up at her, smiled and waved. "Hello Alse, how are you today?" Alse felt like she could melt at the sound of his voice but concerntrated on not making a fool of herself. "I am good. Where are you going?" Ual had stopped under the tree that Alse was in now, looking up at her. He admired her and felt a strange attraction to her, although she seemed to be in another world all the time and was too young for him. "I am back off home now," He replied "You should think of doing the same thing, it will be getting dark soon and you know that is when the mountain creatures come out. You really shouldn't be on your own at that time." He smiled again, nodding to her. "I suppose," Alse sighed "But it is so beautiful here, I could stay here for ever."
She started to climb down from the tree, on which Ual offered his hand when she neared the bottom. She took his hand jumping pourposfully from too high up and fell into him as she lost her balance on landing. She giggled and blushed looking up at him shyly. "Would you be able to walk me home kind sir?" She said as poshly as she could. Ual laughed and took a step back from her, still holding onto her hand as he raised it and bowed to her. "It would be my honor little lady." Alse tried not to laugh as she curtsied back. Ual did't let go of her hand as he started to lead her back home, much to Alse's amazement. She seemed in a trance state following him as if douted on him. Her feet felt light and his touch.. Seemed a little strange. Alse pulled her hand from his stopping in her tracks. She looked at her hand, then looked at Ual who had turned to face her, looking slightly puzzled. "What's wrong Alse?" He asked, a little dissapointed as he had enjoyed the contact with her. "Y-your hand.." She started "I.. I could feel something strange.. It was making my hand tingle.." She held her hand in her other hand, staring at it in puzzlement as the tingling sensation started to fade.
Ual got onto one knee to come down to her level a bit more, seeming as he was up a slope too, and took both of her hands in his. He closed his eyes, sighed and then looked her in the eyes. "I will tell you what that was Alse, if you promise not to tell anyone." Alse nodded egarly and leaned in closer to him. Ual sighed again and then took in a deep breath. "Alse, do you know why people are chosen to go to th Guild?" She nodded egarly again, hanging on his every word. He continued "A couple of years ago two of their messengers came to my house requesting for me to join them.. I refused because my family were unable to adequatly work to sustain the family. So I went into the city to work instead." He looked down and shook his head. "Because my power in the Shadow had been developing since I was young they tried to block it. It would have been great had it of worked, but it didn't, and now my power is more than before. Only because I have not been trained to use it, I don't know how." Alse was still watching him egarly but she had a frown on her face. "I thought that those who refused the Guild were blocked and banished.." Ual nodded, a crooked smile crept on his face. "I am banised Alse, but I never left. The members of the Guild just thought I had-"
Ual was cut off by a loud bang and a bright flash in the sky. "The village!" He cried out grabbing hold of Alses hand again as he ran up the mountain. Alse being half dragged by Ual tried to pull in the opposite direction. Another loud bang and the sky was turned momentarily white again. This meant trouble. Her home town was sending up signals saying that they were under attack and required help from all that possesed the power of the shadow. They were mainly people from the guild that were required to attend and defend the small villages under their juresdiction. Alse looked down the mountain, they were almost at the crevice that made a path through to the village now. She saw some dust rising from near the bottom of the mountain and on squinting her eyes she could see ruff men riding on horse back. She panicked, running past Ual and diving through the crevice. She fell to the floor just as she got in sight of the village. It was in flames, smoke bellowed from some while others were just smouldering ash now. Ual grabbed hold of Alses arm, hauling her to her feet. "I have to find my family!" Alse exclamed to him. Ual took a moment to think then nodded to her. "Follow me." Holding onto her hand once again Ual lead Alse through some back alleys as close as he could to her house. The next bit there was a big chance of being seen. Thankfully this side of the village hadn't been set alight yet, there was still chance her family were alive.
Some of the rough type men she had seen at the bottom of the mountain were standing round the corner talking to each other. A short dirty man ran up to them and started shouting out orders above the noise of people screaming and other terrufying noises. "Master sed tha' we leave ha'f the 'ouses n'tack so we can live in'em. But we 'av to clear out the scum livin' in'em first. Master sed tha' we leave the weak an' the women also." The scruffy man laughed because they all knew what the women would be kept for. "'ne one tha' be a threat to uz be killed" He motioned a knife running across his throat as he said that which sent a shiver down Alses spine. "Tha' meanin' anyone wiv tha' freaky powers they 'av too." The man run off again and the small crowd of scruffy people dispersed. Seconds later screams were head even closer than before. Alse felt tears well up in her eyes so much so that she could not see. Thankfully though she did not have to because suddenly she was being pulled forward by Ual again.
There wasn't far to go now, and so far so good, they had not been spotted. As irony has it, just as Alse thought that a man cried out. Alse and Ual span round to see some men charging at them, no sooner had the turned to run were the men on top of them, grabbing at them both. Uals hands started to glow as he fought back trying to help Alse get free too. He managed to get Alse free from the mens grasp and told her to run. She done so without thought. She ran directly to her house, slammig the door behind her. She couldn't help but look out of the window as a strange bright light was coming through it. She gasped as she saw Ual surrounded by half a dozen men, but it wasn't the men that made her gasp, Ual seemed to be encased in shadow... And yet emmiting this bright light. Suddenly there was an explosion, the brightness blinding her for a moment. As her eyes adjusted again she saw in the space where Ual and the men had been standing a burnt out circle with a diameter of about fifteen feet. Ual had been in the middle of it.. Now there was nothing there. "No... NO!" Alse shreiked, which brought the attention of more men outside that had gathered staring at the burnt out circle.
Alse was grabbed from behind and thrown into a hidey hole that she had not known about. "You must hide!" It was her father. "Daddy!" She cried out to him as he closed the concealed door on her. "No Daddy!" She was plunged into darkness apart from one little spy hole that she moved to look through. Men burst in through the door grabbing her father. Alse sobbed as they started beating him and slashing him open with their rusty blades. She covered her mouth to muffle her sobs and on wanting to look away and not watch, found she couldn't look away at all. Her father cried in agony which then bubbled in his throat as he started coughing up blood. The men laughed and others started running around the house, presumably looking for more people. The men were soon left afterwards and Alse emerged from the hiding hole. She headed for the front door but side-stepped her fathers corpse. She wretched at the smell and sight of his intestines and other parts of his guts spewed across the table he died on. His blood still dripped to the floor, each time the splat seeming to sound louder and louder. Tears flooded her eyes as she fan from the house. Everything was blurry from her tears again and the jumble of emotions in her mind muffled out the sound of the cries when she was spotted. All Alse knew was that she was running away. Running from everything she had ever known that was now destroyed.
Fumbling her way up the mountian further she gradually tired out, staggering to a stop. She was much further up the mountian now, tears burnt at her red face. The smoke was still rising from the village. On finding a small den that had been creted by what looked like wolves in the long past she crawled inside. It looked like it had been uninhabited for a long time so she felt pretty safe to sleep there for the night. She settled down pulling together bits of dirt to make into a bed. Just in the distance she could see the sun setting through the smoke, and the white towers of the guild. 'They never came...'
Now I will destroy him.
