|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 4:28 pm
 |
|
|
 |
All right people, I figure the best way to get this guild active again is with a hot as the sun contest! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a short story using the following sentence as a theme to work from:
On a cursed world, a demon tries to find justice.
You must stick to the theme, but other then that, you're free to go nuts. Length? Who cares? Setting? Doesn't matter! What does matter is that you have an awesome tale to tell!
Post your entries in this forum. I will judge said posts, and decide the winner when it's all said and done.
Other, completely minor details:
The prize? 15,000 gold. That's half of what I had on the time of this posting, people.
The contest will run until the last Friday in August. I look forward to seeing your entries!
Oh yeah...feel free to comment on other people's entries.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2010 7:00 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:01 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:02 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:38 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 1:46 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:41 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 4:40 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:38 am
|
|
|
|
((Finished my entry. I will post it here AND send it, in case I was supposed to post it elsewhere.))
Yenara
Huros had knelt down and closed the eyes of the fallen demon, Tenro. Not as a last kind gesture to the deceased, as it probably should have been, but to shut away the hatred that burned there even after the light of life was long extinguished. But Huros used to look up to those eyes; wine red and dancing like the embers of the pit-fire, with that wicked half-smile that made them seem even livelier whenever a good plan came together successfully. Now those eyes simply haunted. Even as Huros ran through the forest, leaving the forsaken cadaver behind, he could see Tenro’s eyes staring at the Heavens--still burning in hatred for their murderer. Yet, demons were the bane of the Earth. Hurting, or worse, murdering innocent people with their tricks and devilry without cause or remorse. And Tenro had been no different, he’d just needed time to grow into himself like Yenara had said. Huros had only waited longer than most to begin his path of destruction. No demon deserved to live--not one of them, because all would choose to tread that destined path to darkness eventually. All would.
Huros only had to make it to the river now. Follow it back to the cave, which was the meeting place. Yenara said she would meet him there at noon for the news, in their cave hidden behind the waterfall. Tenro had been harder to kill than Huros thought he’d be, which made him fall behind in time. He didn’t even have a moment to clean the blood off of his hands, face or clothes. But she wouldn’t mind, would she? Even after Tenro had hurt her so? By the time she had gotten the courage to tell Huros of the attack, she had learned she were pregnant. The little bruising she had was gone and the swelling was back to normal. Huros squinted and cursed at himself at the memory of that conversation. He hadn’t even known anything was wrong between her and Tenro before that. Everything had seemed the same.
Well, thinking back now, things weren’t exactly how they used to be--back when he and Tenro had met Yenara. Tenro was ten and a full-blooded demon, with red eyes, high cheeks and coal black hair. Huros was nine and only half-demon, with violet eyes and sandy blonde hair. Both were orphans and eked out a living back and forth between the city and their forest cave hidden behind the waterfall in the river. They were returning from a trip to the city, having stolen their daily bread, and found her bathing in the river beneath the cascading water. Unaware of the cave sitting in the rock’s wall some fifteen feet above her head. She was sixteen and human, with the palest skin, the softest blue eyes and the most beautiful long, blonde hair Huros had ever seen in his life. She was tall and had a slender figure, with long, delicate fingers. When she spoke, her voice and soft and tinged with something mildly alluring. Now, years later, Huros might have described it as sort of seductive. But he knew better. If that were what he’d heard in her voice, it was only because he was half-demon and wanted to hear it. Yenara was as pure and innocent as freshly fallen snow. She was an angel, fallen from heaven in human form.
As Huros recalls, Tenro wasn’t quite as impressed. She told them of how she, too, was an orphan and had run into the forest to escape pursuers after a botched theft where her former friends tried to betray her. Then Yenara had asked to stay a while, but Tenro, being the demon that he was, refused her. It was after much of her begging, a river of tears and a little whining from Huros that Tenro finally relented. And too soon that little week had turned into six years. Where had time gone?
The three had grown into close companions, or so Huros had always thought. Tenro played the leader. He led raids and thefts, decided when and where they’d eat and sleep, and decided what things were worth having and when. Yenara was weak but very wise. She couldn’t do much when it came to muscle work but she was full of plans and ideas. However, much of the time Tenro didn’t want to listen to her suggestions--no matter how good they were--simply because she was a girl. Or, that was what Yenara said. Huros couldn’t quite explain why Tenro acted the way he did. But her reason made sense. None of that mattered though, because she and Huros would always prevail. And, if there was trouble, Tenro always got them out. Always. A pang of guilt passed through Huros heart with that sobering thought. It was a poor shame that he and Yenara would have to make it by without him now. It was okay though, because she had been fearful of Tenro for a while and feared that he would try to get in between Huros and herself. That’s why Tenro was always taking her places in private and things, telling her horrible lies about Huros behind his back to break them up. But she’d known better and she’d always assured Huros that he would always be the one in her heart. And then the worst happened... That d**ned Tenro!
Huros, tired as he was, picked up his pace. Letting the anger and disgust he held for that fiend fuel his every determined step. Wait until she hears what blasphemies Tenro had uttered in his last moments before death! Huros shook his head in pity for that poor lost soul. Tenro considered himself “warning” Huros of “the real” Yenara, but Huros wouldn’t hear of it. Not a single irreverent word. Yenara was as virtuous and god-fearing as the Saints she always spoke of. And, though he’s a worthless half-demon, she found good in Huros heart and loved him despite himself. She told him so herself, all of the time. That was real, everything about her was. It was always Tenro that was the problem.
The quiet rumble of rushing waters brought Huros back from his dismal thoughts and he followed the growing roar of the river until he made the clearing and was standing only five feet from its shore. The river wasn’t lined by trees, per se, but had a space of grassy clearing that was about twelve feet across on each of its sides and ran the full length of the river. There were bends in the river that kept him from seeing its full length all at once, but he knew he was close now. Simply a bend or two more. Leaves swayed in a gentle breeze and he turned his face to it and let the refreshing coolness of the air catch in his lungs. He just needed a moment to catch his breath, he was so tired. It was work running through thickets and vines and trees--even for half-demons.
He was going to meet up with his beloved in the cave--the one the three of them had called home for years--and the two of them would run away together. Well, three when including the baby. Huros felt it would be awkward to raise the child of his old friend, especially in remembering how that babe came to be. What if the child had eyes as red and hair as black as its father’s? How would he feel to look down into such a face six more years from now and see the face of the life he’d taken. Demon or not, Tenro had been a brother to him all of his life... What had he just done by murdering him? Huros squeezed his eyes shut until the feelings past. Yenara was right, Tenro was just another demon, and no demon deserved to live. Anyway, there was no way he could be forgiven for forcing Yenara into such a state. And what OF the kid? Huros was fifteen and old enough to handle it. He might even be sixteen by the time it was born. As old as its father was. Huros was plenty mature enough to handle such a trifle of responsibility. Even Yenara believed so, and wasn’t that enough?
Huros walked to the water’s edge and cleaned his face and hands. Letting that filth and all of his memories wash away along with his disgusting black blood. Unfortunately, there was nothing that Huros could do about his clothes. He had others in the cave, but that wouldn’t help him now. Maybe it was best. This way, Yenara could see that he had successfully avenged her, just as he promised he would, long before he reached the cave entrance.
He was beginning to stand when he noticed something odd in the mud next to him. A track... no, a shoe impression... The sound of his name made Huros stand abruptly, instantly forgetting the odd find. It was Yenara’s voice, like a song rolling down from Heaven. Hunters could wait, but he wouldn’t leave his darling love to do so.
“Yenara? Yenara, I’m almost there! Wait for me, okay?!” She yelled a reply but it was lost in the sounds of crunching leaves, the howling river and snapping trigs as he reentered the woods and began heading for the cave again. He followed the river, keeping it ever to his left as he ran and leaped through the brush. His heart pounded, not only from the exertion, but from the thrill of being so close to a future with Yenara. Just the two of them! Oh, and the baby too.
The breeze rustled leaves overhead as he ran beneath the ancient, arching limbs, and whispered indecipherable secrets as it hissed past his ears. In his haste, he paid no heed to the strange scent it carried. All was lost in the perfumed fragrance of Yenara that carried to him even now as he hastened to meet her.
When he finally reached the waterfall, He stumbled out into the clear and stood in frozen awe, just shy of the woods behind him. Yenara stood on the other side of the river, by the rock wall. At first she was looking away, off into the woods behind her, but slowly, as if by some magic or attraction felt, she suddenly turned and met his gaze. The breeze picked up and fanned its fingers through her hair, momentarily making a halo of golden tresses before letting it fall fall again. Huros smiled despite himself. It always made him so happy to look upon her angelic face. She looked him over for a moment with an air of tranquil curiosity. Noticing the blood, Huros imagined. Maybe she would think he was hurt... “Do not worry, my love,” he called in a reassuring tone. “I’m all right. And you have been avenged, for the evil demon Tenro is no more!”
Huros worried that she didn’t hear him for the tumult of the water fall. He was still out of breath and could hardly get the words out, much less scream over the roar of the water. But she had heard him, and she smiled. At first it was a curious half-smile that reminded Huros too much of the one his old friend used to give, but then it swiftly changed to the wide, loving grin Huros adored so much. The change was so swift and sudden that it was almost a wonder that the expression had passed her face at all.
“Huros, I am so glad that you are well! How I had worried... Come hither to me, and let us be together!” Her voice didn’t carry very well, but he’d understood her. And when she held out her arms he was more than glad to obey. He wanted so badly to run to her. But after running the great distance here already, he just didn’t have it in him anymore. So he approached walking, making long strides to cover the distance quickly. He walked right up to the river’s edge, prepared to cross the rocks to her, when the wind picked up and that scent hit him again--this time as abruptly as a stone wall. Humans! At least a dozen of them, and all around him! His demon instincts had been picking them up, but he had paid it no mind for focusing so much on his beloved. And now she was in danger! He moved to warn her when the first one struck. An arrow hit him in the left shoulder from somewhere in the woods behind Yenara. Then suddenly, there was a barrage of arrows. They rained in from all directions. Huros dodged as many as he could, but his reflexes were slowed with exhaustion and he only managed to dodge a few. Each wave caught him with a few in the chest, legs, back and arms; and many went in deep from being shot at close range. The pain was excruciating, but the terror that gripped him was immeasurable. It took everything in him to keep a level head, and much more so to keep his body standing.
Men suddenly appeared out of the woods. Demon hunters, judging by their armor and weapons, and experienced ones too. Huros had seen some of them before. One of the men took Yenara by the arm and began leading her away into the woods. She looked terrified and spoke to the man, but didn’t struggle. And when Huros called out to her, she didn’t look back. Instead, she clung tighter to the man’s arm, leaning her head on his shoulder as he led her away with a wayward arm around her waist. The other men advanced upon Huros, their swords drawn and spears raised. But all Huros could see was the sway of his beloved’s back as she and the stranger disappeared into the darkness of the forest, leaving him further and further behind. Suddenly all pain was gone from Huros, and only a deep sense of hurt remained. The haunting image of red eyes flashed before his vision, even as the blades of the sword’s pierced his flesh, and all at once things began making sense. But it was all too late. In a cursed world, a demon sought justice... and died empty handed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 2:41 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:40 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 4:41 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 11:41 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:11 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2010 7:29 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
