MAP's Short Story Thread

Dear Writers & Readers,

I thought it would be fun to make a thread where we can write short stories on the spot while having some fun with it.

So here are the rules:

1) You can write about anything (TOS always stands of course)!

2) It has to be written on MAP, or on Word but MAP has to be open. (Hey I am the OP my rules )

3) Have Fun!

Let's try to avoid overtly long posts. Keep it short and simple. A master wordsmith is one that can convey complex ideas as simply as possible. I would like to quote Leonardo Da Vinci:

"Simplicity is the highest form of sophistication."

Let's get started!

Also, this is a great way to get some feedback!

 

Well Sir, I believe an example of your own work would be appropriate! Since you're the OP, it would be nice to have a template for what you're idea for length would be rather then "try to keep it short" for your thread : P!

 

Damn, I have a couple of written works I think you might enjoy but they would be too long for your thread, and wouldn't fit in your rules.

 

A Nightingale's Song...

In the distance an ominous structure looms. A castle so ancient that only the superstitious myths spoken in hushed voices by the locals is all that remains of its history. Some say that it is cursed and that the spirits of those long dead still haunt its halls, others say that it is filled with all matter of strange beasts that devour all that is flesh, but some whisper of an even more sinister evil; Dracula, the Consumer of Souls.

My dear childhood friend, Helen, always had a burning desire to go to that accursed place, ever since her parents went missing when they sought to cure the locals of strange alignments that are unique to that land. They say that one morning they simply vanished and could not be found. A local boy said that he saw them go up to the castle, and that was the last account anyone ever had of them. Helen couldn't accept that they left her, so she made it her life's dream to look for them as soon as she was old enough.

Now she has been gone for months, and no word has reached me of her. She was last seen going up to the castle, just like her parents. I fear for her.

I should have gone with her when she had asked me, but I did not have the courage. I failed her when she needed me the most, and for that I can never forgive myself. I cannot allow my cowardliness to intervene any longer, if Helen's still in there, she needs me, that is if she is not dead already- oh God no.

None of the locals would even speak to me once I made my intentions clear of going to the castle. They avoided me like I was carrying the plague and shut their doors against me. Only an old woman came to me and said that I am going to my death, and that none returned after setting foot into the castle. I said that it holds something very dear to my heart, and that I have no choice. She looked at me with sympathy, and then simply said: "take heed the nightingale's song," and walked away.

Now as I make my way up the overgrown, stone laid path, I can see the castle more clearly. It is the early morning, yet darkness seems to cloaks the place. Dead, twisted trees seems to stretch their dried fingers towards me, as if to grab me. What did that woman mean by the nightingale's song? Probably another baseless superstition.

As I approached the castle, my heart began thumping hard against my chest. The gate is of black iron, rusted and rotting in many places. It is a miracle how it still remains standing. AS I passed through I felt a chill run down my spine, as if I am being watched by something menacing. I should have brought a weapon, but I am not much of a fighter.

The castle's door was open, but nothing could be seen inside. I almost turned around and left, but a glimpse of something caught my eye at one of the windows high up the castle's wall. Yes, a woman in a white gown. Wait, could it be Helen?! I shouted her name, but the figure was gone.

I stood there for a long terrible moment shaking with fear I have never felt before. Helen could be in there, I have no choice, and with a prayer I walked in through the darkness.

As I went in I felt trapped, as if against my own will I could not turn back. The outside looked so welcoming, so safe, but Helen...that must have been her through the window.

I took out an oil lamp and lit it, illuminating the darkness around me. The place was choking with dust and cobwebs. There was a table, broken and splintered, a chandelier hanging by a chain that disappeared into the darkness above, a rug so worn that its original color cannot even be guessed, and two staircases that turn towards one another and led to the second level.

I walked slowly, lamp held out front as if to shield me from the overwhelming darkness. I wondered how there are windows, but no light seems to come in through them. I took a step on the staircase and it groaned and creaked. I walked up. At the end there stood a painting, hung above the door. A man, in his early thirties perhaps, with red lips and a knowing smile. A man whose full life is ahead of him, and with the spirit of youth still coursing through his veins. Still it brought a sudden discomfort as I realized that the painting seems to be untouched by time.

I entered through the doorway and suddenly froze. There Helen stood, her arms open, looking at me with a soft smile. Her white gown shimmered in the lamp's light. I instinctively reached out for her, but she turned and walked into the darkness. I ran after her, but I could not catch her even though she seems to be only walking. The hallway appeared to have no end. She then opened a door, beckoned me in, and disppeared through it.

All my instincts screamed at me to turn back and escape this wretched place, but something deep within me would not allow it. Helen is here.

My body started shaking uncontrollably as I went through that chamber's door. There was an eerie light that seems to be emitting for the center. I dropped my lamp. There in the center stood a throne made from flesh and bone, and there Helen lay sitting besides it on the ground. In the throne sat a man with his head bowed, a chalice in his hand, wrapped in a cloak darker than the darkest night.

I reached out and whispered "Helen," but when she looked at me I finally saw her eyes; lifeless.

The man's head lifted. He looked at me in mockery, and said, "If you perhaps have come when she asked you to, then she wouldn't have given herself up for me," and then he laughed a terrible, terrible laugh.

"What have you done to her?" I whispered in fear.

He only smiled at me, his eyes glittering in the dark. He reached out without taking his eyes off me, and put his hand on Helen's head; stroking her hair, and as his smile deepened, her crushed her face; a sickening sound of bone and flesh breaking against one another was all that could be heard. In my moment of utter shock I noted that no blood left her blood.

Instantly I was blinded by pure rage. I felt no fear, only hatred. I shouted her name as I charged him, wishing to tear his body limb from limb.

He rose, almost levitating, and in a flash was in front of me with his cloak outstretched in his arms. He only said: "welcome to the darkness," and embraced me.

...

Darkness.

..."Helen," I called. "Helen, where are you beloved?"

No answer.

"Helen, I am sorry for not coming with you. I am here now, please forgive me."

Nothing.

"HELEN!"

...only silence.

"Where am I?" I asked after a while.

Suddenly I heard a song.

I got up hurriedly to my feet, even though I can't tell if I was sitting or standing. Yes, a song. I tried to tell where it was coming from and followed it.

It grew louder, it was a nightingale's song. Something in the back of my head went off, but I couldn't remember.

I kept on going. I shouted Helen's name one more time.

A voice replied, "closer, you are almost free."

"Huh? Helen?"

"Yes, beloved I am here. I have been waiting for you. I knew you would come and I could not leave without you."

Helen appeared out of the darkness. A pure, light radiated from her being. Ah, she is as beautiful as she always was. She smiled at me and grasped both my hands in hers, and she then lead me through the darkness, into a light I did not see before. The nightingale's song now fills the air, a sweet song of hope.

"Where are we going?" I asked Helen. Her hands warm with life.

She smiled, "we are going home," and then the light was all around us.

"Helen..."

 

Hehe Ero, I was brainstorming ideas!

Unreal, it would be awesome if I could read what you wrote. I am trying to keep it simple for easy reading, but perhaps you have a blog? I could pm my email.

Edit: now that I read what I wrote again, I am not happy with it. The narrator is too weak, and the story could use more background information. Well I had fun writing it which is the main point

 

I don't have a blog, it was some fan fiction I wrote for some forums.

I'll post them here and use spoiler tags for anyone that wants to read them.

 

DEMONS OF WAR

Inspired by and based on Gears of War

Chapter One

Welcome to Blood Company

Spoiler

It's not often you hear a Locust Grenadier begging for its miserable life as your foot comes crashing down upon its reptillian skull. Shards of bone flying and reddish-orange blood splurting messily onto the ground of which it had rested in anticipation of the Grenadiers forthcoming death. Its large eyes squelching underfoot as they were squashed into a gooey mush. Yet for the first time in four years of service, Second Lieutenant Selket Arkasha actually felt sorry for the enemy. Maybe there was more to this war than the meets the eye. Hidden agendas. We all know that many wars stem from political intrigue, and corrupt backhanded deals that are only ever brought to fruition by public scandal. In essence, though, there was only one thing that was ever certain from any war. Death.

Kill or be killed. That was the code that most humans had learnt to live by on Sera. Those that didn't live by the code learned their lessons the hard way, either in death or by other horrors suffered at the hands of Locust torture camps or Stranded bandits. Sometimes death is a reprieve. A rest from the tiring labours and terrors of war. A respite from the bloody and brutal mental torture of fighting beside dead people. Brothers and sisters whom you have come to love and hate, have created pacts with, come the next morning one will mourn before moving onto the next battle with a single thought in the back of your mind. Am I next? Sometimes Selket would just look up to the sky and wish the ground would swallow her whole, then another round would crack past her ear bringing the Second Lieutenant out of her intrepid day dream and back around to the harsh reality of life on Sera.

Life on this planet truly does suck!

The harsh reality of life on Sera was that humans lived in fear of their lives. If the Locust didn't kill them with bullets and explosives, then the Lambent would with Immulsion fueled anger offering no reprisal. No feeling or emotion. Just one thing in mind. Your death. Attacks would come out of nowhere and with there being no truly safe haven, there was little time to relax, little time to rest. You slept with an eye open and a hand on your personal weapon. Which was a rule that had saved not only Selket's life but most of the lives of Zulu Six, an eight man COG squad of Blood Company, whose sole purpose was to deal with high priority tasks and whom were assigned to Selket as her personal bodyguard.Their mission was to escort her to Anvil Gate, a COG fortress which overlooked the plains of Kashkur and protected the silver mines, and city, of Anvegad behind it.

Selket's eyes opened to a seven foot tall Locust staring right in her face. The half moon reflected off its skin as it snarled, illuminating the distant trees behind it. Fortunately one can smell the Locust from a mile away, something which had alerted Selket to the Locust presence among their camp while she was sleeping. The Locust was not quite so fortunate however. A sharp kick to the leg and a double barrel shotgun blast to its face ensured its quick demise and was most definitely a wake up call for the rest of the squad. The unmistakable boom caused Corporal Mike Ashton, the squads specialist in heavy weaponary, to jump to his feet in a half asleep state unsure of his surroundings just for a second or two. The Locusts skull had exploded like a watermelon, peppering the ground in small fragments of brain covered in blood. The body fell back quivering, blood spouting from the gaping hole at the neck where its head had previously been. It wasn't a pretty sight, but then again shotguns were never meant to be pretty weapons. Selket screamed for the squad to stand to as she got to her feet reloading her weapon, which was smoking furiously, the smell of sulphur overcoming the stench of the now lifeless Locust. As she brought her weapon around to bear onto another Locust she struck a flare and threw it down ahead of her. Its red flame flickered against the slightly reflective skin of the Locust thundering toward them, and illuminated the foliage and rock jutting up from the ground around them.

Corporal Mark Hainsworth, the squads second in command, had his helmet torn off by a thunderous blow from a Locust Grenadier. He was then beaten to an almost lifeless pulp with it as the Grenadier bellowed an almighty roar. His crimson coloured blood smearing the helmet more and more with each brutal blow. He was finally finished off with a round to the head. The rear of his skull exploding out toward the ground, covering it in blood and brain alike.

Private James Lemming, fairly new to the squad, was struggling against one particular Drone. Their weapons knocked away, both stood toe to toe wrestling with each other, the Locust's hands clamped firmly around the Private's wrists. The Locust ferociously kicked Lemming in the chest. A kick so powerful that both of Lemming's arms were ripped off in unison by the force. Still holding the Private's arms by the wrist the Drone threw them at the COG, as he lay on the ground screaming in agony. Blood poured out like spilt milk from the stumps on his shoulders where his arms had once been. The Locust then drew his sidearm, a Gorgon Pistol, and put three rounds into his chest. The end of the Privates screaming seemed more haunting than the harsh, shrill, noise the screams had generated before.

The rest of the COG squad had formed a rather crude defensive perimeter around Selket. An act of bravado and desperation more than tactical strategy. Lancer chainsaws revved, smoking as they grinded through splintering bone and splattering flesh, carving the Locust in two as they met and severed limbs from bodies. Gnashers boomed across the dimly lit night as 'shot pelted bloody masses of Locust grey matter across the plain. Hammerburst and Gorgon rounds cracked past the COG, illuminating the area in an almost strobe like effect, some rounds pinging off their hardened armour. The roar of the Locust echoed around them. The skirmish was loud, terrifying, and horrific. As were most skirmishes with the Locust. It seemed to last an eternity but in reality only lasted for around ten minutes.

"Die you motherf*cker!" An enthusiastic Corporal Bruce West, the squad medic and wisecracker, screamed as he hacked his Lancer chainsaw into the shoulder of the last Locust Drone, revving and revving as the blood caked his face and armour. West's face twisting into a sickening maniacal grin. The Locust was already lifeless, yet its limbs were still twitching as the chainsaw cut through its entire body, making a bloody mess of its vital organs, tearing it apart from shoulder to hip before falling to the floor in two pieces amidst a sea of blood. "Have it you b*stard!" He spat onto the mutilated pieces of the Locusts body. Ashton put his hand on Wests shoulder and looked down at the fallen enemy. They had both been quite lucky at one point, a Locust frag grenade had landed at the feet of Ashton and West but refused to go off, surely someone up there was watching over them. There was simply no way either one of them should have survived.

Selket surveyed the scene of the confrontation. She counted nine Locust dead, including the one who's skull she had just put her boot through after it had been downed by West with rifle fire. There wasn't much left of them, their bodies mutilated by the business end of COG Lancer chainsaw attachments and Gnasher shotgun blasts. Several limbs lay upon the ground in beds of blood, awaiting to be collected by their owners. They would never come. COG weapons were efficient and effective. They didn't do a pretty job, but they got the job done.

Ashton found their appointed sentry Corporal Samuel Alban, who was an obnoxious yet skilled engineer, lying dead in a pool of his own blood. Judging by the tracks around the body, he had been approached from behind and taken out silently. His throat had been sliced wide open from ear to ear, it wasn't a pretty sight. The Locust had also somehow taken out the Sentry Turret, an automated weapon capable of tracking moving targets and taking them out with an electric mass of energy that would shock, paralyse, and eventually fry the brain. Stealth was an unusual tactic for Locust to use. They normally weren't very subtle. They weren't a large group either, they were lightly armoured, and carried mainly light weaponry. This seemed to be a more tactical team. One with leadership, cunning and guile. They were clearly equipped for a hit and run raid. One with a purpose, a sole purpose. It seemed likely that kidnapping Selket was their goal, after all she was the high priority Blood Company had been assigned. The Locust were brutal, and savage, but they were certainly not stupid.

Selket looked down upon one particular Locust, noticing a set of COG tags around its neck. She bent down to grab them, her gloved hands smearing away the blood that covered its neck from the large gaping wound in its chest where a Lancer had erupted through it from behind. Once she had hold of them she sharply tugged upon them, snapping the chain.

She swept her shoulder length jet black hair back behind her ear. Her bloodied fingertips brushed past the hook shaped scar on her tanned right cheek, which she had gained unwillingly during an encounter with a couple of Stranded men. An encounter she would rather forget, that she would never forget. She was lucky to get away with her life, though that was pretty much all she had managed to walk away with. In fact she had barely managed to walk away. It had been a long time ago. She had been only eighteen at the time. Just a child in the eyes of some, but she had to grow up fast. Sera was not a forgiving planet. Humans were a desperate race. Some desires were seemingly more important to satisfy than others. The encounter had left her unable to bear a child, and in need of a place to focus her anger, she enlisted within the COG establishing herself as a Squad Leader before being battle commissioned to Second Lieutentant and then being assigned to Intelligence.

She looked at the COG tags, wiping away the blood from the pressed letters and numbers, in an effort to see if she recognised the name of the soldier that they had been stolen from. Her deep brown, slanted eyes gazing over the metallic cog shaped pendant. Of course, it was very unlikely that she would know whose they were but one just never knew.

"Grab only what you need, travel light, we're moving out in five!" Sergeant Durkon Liebahn, the Squad Leader of Zulu Six, ordered to the remainder of the group. He looked at Selket whom was still pondering over the COG tags she had collected from the fallen Locust. "You too, move it!"

Selket put the COG tags into her pocket so that she could hand them in later at the COG outpost. Maybe a relative could be informed of the poor soldiers fate. She then turned toward the handsome, yet aged and battleworn Sergeant, nodded her head in acknowledgement and then quickly began to go over her kit. She made sure to grab food, water, and ammunition. She intended to grab some spare communications kit also.

"Leave that extra coms kit!" Durkons order to Selket was sharp. He then addressed the rest of the squad. "We'll destroy any kit we leave. If we don't need it, don't take it, that includes spares but not including batteries. We take those," He looked over to West who nodded back in return. "Food, water, ammo. Throw the rest into a pile in the centre there," he pointed just in front of Selket, "and get a ****ing move on!" He was on edge. Durkon didn't want to be there any longer than was neccessary. He felt vulnerable, and had lost three good men without really knowing why. All he knew was that Colonel Victor Hoffman wanted Selket. That was it. No questions to be asked. Just follow orders and be done with it. It was bulls*it, but it was part of the job. Sometimes a neccessary part. Sometimes it was better not knowing. Sometimes knowing got you into all kinds of ****, and Durkon knew that first hand. What he did know however was that Selket was of a lot of importance for some reason. The Locust simply could not get to her, no matter what the cost. She could handle herself pretty well it seemed and she was certainly no stranger to combat. However she was still the responsibility of Zulu Six, and Blood Company always got the job done. No matter what.

Navigating the contours of the plains that preceded Anvil Gate was a b*tch on foot. It was blind luck to not step in some form of hole in the darkness. The group didn't need to worry too much about going through foliage, as they could've mostly navigated around all that by sticking close to the broken road. A direct route along the road, however, was out of the question. There would be far too many eyes watching the roads, and not only Locust. ZUlu SIx had to stick to cover along the way keeping their sillohuettes hidden against the moonlit sky. Durkon began to wonder if traveling on foot was such a good idea after all but vehicles created too much noise though and drew far too much attention, as did large units. This had lead to the choice of using a small squad that could get around more easily unoticed. Ravens were a no go for a majority of the route thanks to Locust anti air artillery. They would need to be in range of Anvil Gates artillery for a safe pickup. The squad had already passed two downed Ravens wrecks within the past day, one of which was still smouldering, the smell of burnt flesh was one that lingered among the COGs senses. Durkon knew that if they had attempted the same method of travel they would have suffered the same fate. They stood a much better chance of getting there on foot, under cover of darkness, or at least so they had thought. Now their presence had been alerted to the enemy, now they had become hunted, their time was running out. The squad needed to move on before the Locust arrived reinforced. Once in range of Anvil Gates artillery and snipers they would feel more at ease with the extra support.

As the last of Zulu Six strode past him Durkon looked over to Selket who was still rummaging through her belongings.

"Come on damnit! We haven't got all day!" The frustrated Sergeant shouted over to her. He was getting impatient, and didn't like that he had lost three good men for an unknown cause. Not to mention the impending risk of losing more men. Some guys he had served with for years now. A tight unit. Brothers until death. She looked over to him holding a data disc up in her right hand.

"If this falls into wrong hands then your men would have died for nothing Sergeant," She stated. It was a bitter pill for the squad leader to swallow, but he withheld from biting it. He just wanted rid of the damned b*itch. The less his men were at risk the better. At the moment they were a high priority target.

"Just hurry up ok?!" Durkon snapped, pointing his finger at her, then turned to join the rest of his squad resting his Lancer upon his right shoulder as he walked away. Selket quickly packed the data disc into a little leather bag that had a chain strap attached to it and secured it around her neck placing the bag within her armour to protect it and hide it from view. She picked up her weapon and sprinted quickly to catch up with the rest of the squad.

Durkon insisted that their tracks were covered upon their exit from the hide. He knew it wouldn't make much difference, the Locust Reavers, if they were sent, would pick them up eventually anyway but they needed as much time as they could afford to give themselves. They waited until they were at the maximum remote detonation distance for setting off the charges which lit up the night sky for a couple of seconds by the flash that they caused, a thud could be heard in the distance echoing across the plain, then it all went dark and silent. From there they marched onward toward the riverbed where they used the river to hide their tracks as they marched downstream for around two kilometres. The river was cold but fortunately they didn't need to worry about getting wet as their inner clothing was waterproofed by design. After what seemed an eternity wading knee deep downstream the squad emerged out of the river. Durkon ordered the newly battle commisioned Corporal Jim Bowers, who had only just recently joined Blood Company and Zulu Six, to establish their location. Once the Corporal was happy with where they were Durkon gave the order to begin marching on a new bearing toward Anvil gate.

"Selket on me! I don't want you out of my sight until you are in the Colonel's hands!" Durkon ordered. Selket quickly shuffled up to the Sergeant and fell in behind him tapping twice on his shoulder to silently inform him she was behind him. He turned slightly to view her, a bleak smile upon her face, and grunted in disapproval. "Try to keep up, ok?" Selket ignored his belittling comment. She had the power to pull rank if she wanted, but knew the argument wouldn't get them anywhere. This was Durkon's squad, they answered to him, and rightly so. She had pulled his file before the operation. He was a highly decorated man but also had a number of judgments against him for fighting and arguing with officers. She was initially surprised he hadn't been executed for some of his grievances. He could have been running his own Battalion by now had he rolled over and played dead. Despite his misdemeanours high command felt he was of better service to the COG alive than dead. Selket didn't doubt that for a second. He was instead transferred to Blood Company where he got the jobs no other unit would want to do.

After an hour of forced pace marching along the plain they took a quick break for water at the hulk of an abandoned, and now rusted, APC which lay just off the left hand side of the road. It had a track blown off and all of its weapons and computer equipment stripped from it, though by whom was unknown. The partial remains of a deceased Stranded, of unknown gender, were just a few feet away from the broken vehicle. It looked like the remains had been there for quite some time. The plains to the right of the road veered up slightly forming a long, gentle, ridge. Several trees and bushes could be seen at the peak of it, sillouhetted against the moonlight. As the weary squad took on some water it gave them time to reflect back on the past encounter. A chance to collect their thoughts for their fallen.

Bowers, the newly promoted Corporal, wept uncontrollably as he sat himself down inside the APC. His shoulders heaving up and down as his sobs echoed within the hulk. Noticing his emotional state Selket moved over to him, placed her hand on his shoulder and offered him her water bottle. This seemed to anger Bowers rather than comfort him. The near seven foot tall giant of a man jumped to his feet in a flash, slapping the water bottle out of Selket's hands, and grabbing her by the throat pinned her against the inner walls of the hulk. The top of her head collided with the roof of the hulk within the confined space.

"They died because of you!" He yelled pulling his Snub Pistol from its holster. "YOU!" He cocked the weapon and pointed it at Selkets temple. His face was red with rage, tears streaming down his face. His grip on Selkets throat tightened as she struggled for breath, his large ape like knuckles whitening and his eyes widening with rage. She scrabbled at his hand and arm, before lashing at his chest and face with little effect. "Why them and not you!" He screamed. Selkets eyes started to roll back almost lifelessly into her head, her mouth wide open begging for oxygen, her arms began to feel heavy and she began to give up her struggle. As she approached the point of unconciousness she fell suddenly to the floor of the hulk, gasping for breath, seeing white specks flashing in front of her eyes. Bowers lay semi-unconcious in front of her, Durkon standing above him with the butt of his Lancer ready in case he needed to hit him again. He turned to Selket.

"Are you ok?" He asked, genuinely concerned.

"Yes" She croaked. "Thank you." Selket coughed dramatically, rubbing her throat where Bowers hand had previously been violently placed.

"Don't thank me, just stay out of their way in future, for your own safety and theirs," Durkon ordered the rest of his men to restrain Bowers, tying his wrists with cable ties and making his weapon safe. "We've lost three good men already. I don't want to lose another over you, understand?"

Selket left the remains of the APC and stood outside in the cool breeze of the night. She could hear Bowers, still sobbing, as Durkon comforted him. She knew she had brought a huge weight of responsibility down upon these men, knew that they were putting their lives on the line for her, for the information she carried. She knew that morally she should tell them just what they were dying for. That she may have the means to an end to the war . It would give them hope. She also knew that the more people who knew about it the more chance the enemy had of getting a hold of their information and using it against them. It was a risk she just couldn't take. It put her in the bad books, made her the black sheep, but she could handle it. She had to handle it. The future of humanities existance depended on it.

Selket snapped suddenly toward the sound of brush breaking in the distance. She stood quiet, her heart pounding as adrenaline started to fill her body. She stared hard in the direction of the noise but couldn't see anything. She heard more brush snapping. It was evident they were not alone. She ran over to the APC where the rest of the squad had begun formulating a quick plan of action from their current position.

"I think we've got company," Selket stated. I can hear something moving around out there for definite." Durkons jaw tightened as he took in Selket's information.

"Stand to Zulu Six. Don't let any one of those Locust bastards take another one of our guys, you all understand? No one!" He looked down to Bowers, taking out a rather large combat knife from its sheath on his chest and cutting the cable ties that bound his hands. "On your feet Corporal!" He said, handing the big guy his weapon. Bowers looked at Selket but said nothing as he stepped out of the APC and into the darkness. "Stay in the APC." Durkon ordered Selket as he followed Bowers. Selket crouched down and moved toward the entryway of the APC hulk, looking out for any signs of the enemy. Zulu Six had adopted positions behind various options of cover afforded to them by the rocks, wreckage, and foliage of the plains. Private Juri Hansen, easily the squad's best marksman who had won many awards for excellence in sniper school, had taken position in what was once the APCs turret with a Longshot, a manual bolt action, high powered, anti personnel sniper rifle. Durkon quickly scurried back to the APC and handed Selket a radio pack.

"Try and reach Anvil Gate, see if we can get some support, anything!" His voice was stern but calm. Selket acknowledged him and proceeded with setting up the radio kit as quickly as she could. "And stay out of sight!" He warned before dashing back out into the darkness Lancer in hand. She had the radio working and the correct codes in place for secure transmission, she picked up the handset and spoke into it.

"Anvil Gate, this is Zulu Six over?" She waited a few seconds for a reply but none came. She repeated herself. "Anvil Gate this is Zulu Six over?" Still no reply. She turned the radio off and attached its amplifier before switching it back on and attempting to establish contact with Anvil Gate again. "Anvil Gate this is Zulu Six over?"

"Anvil Gate over," A radio operator's voice, calm and clear, spoke over the radio. A sense of relief washed over Selket, as well as one of joy. They were finally not alone out here. That joy was short lived however as the crack of Hammerburst rounds whipped past the APC, some hitting the side which echoed within what was now an almost hollow shell. The sound of Lancer return fire very shortly followed, and what ensued was pure and utter audio chaos as both sides exchanged fire.

"Contact! Wait out!" Selket then immediately shouted up to Hansen for an assessment of the situation.

"Multiple Locust bearing down on our location. I count at least thirty Drones, and five Theron," He shouted down to her.

"S*it!" Selket muttered to herself as she grabbed the radio handset to relay the information to Anvil Gate. "Anvil Gate this is Zulu Six. Sitrep. Grid two, four, seven, three, nine, eight, two, three. We are under attack by minimum three zero Drones and five Theron. Possibily more. Requesting immediate assistance, enemy too close for artillery, over?"

"Wait out," Anvil Gate replied. This was where it got tense. Waiting for an answer with the possibility of being told in as poilte a manner as possible to shove a grenade up your a*s and kiss it goodbye. At least that's what they may as well say if they deny a request for aid. Selket peeked her head outside only to quickly snap it back in as a round cracked off the hull of the APC. The unmistakable voice of Colonel Hoffman crackled over the radio.

"Zulu Six is the package still secure? Over!" Yes thanks for asking if we're ok, Selket thought to herself.

"Affirmative!" Said Selket. "But not for long if we don't get some god damned assistance asap, over!"

"ETA on assistance fifteen minutes," replied the Colonel "keep your heads down, out!"

Selket placed the reciever down, and grabbed her weapon. She was about to step outside the APC, despite Durkon's orders, when she heard the sound of something falling behind her. She turned to see what it was. Hansen had been shot. He lay on the floor of the hulk writhing in agony from his wound, a rifle round to the left shoulder. Selket quickly moved over to him, assessing his injury. He clutched his shoulder with one hand applying pressure, looking up at Selket with his ice blue eyes, as she expertly and quickly applied a field dressing and a painkiller.

"Just stay still," She said. "Help is on the way." Without another word she quickly jumped up into the hulk's turret, picking up Hansen's Longshot on the climb up and, after taking a brief look at the battle that unfolded in front of her, looked through the scope. What she saw in the distance made her lower her scope in dismay and curse. They had a Berserker.

"S*it! A Berserker? S*IT!" She shouted to herself. She looked down to Hansen in disbelief. He smiled back at her. Rounds cracking past her head. Hansen laughed slightly, only to stop because it caused him pain, though a small smile still remained on his face. For him this was a typical day in the life of a Blood Company soldier. The painkillers kicking in probably had something to do with it as well, they worked fast.

The unmistakable sound of a single Raven could be heard in the distance. Durkon knew it would be coming in fast and low, most likely with some form of package as it simply would not risk a pick up while the area was hot. The rest of Zulu Six had been using Incendiary grenades and suppressing fire to keep the Locust at bay but it would not hold them for long. They were running out of ammunition. Their time was running out! Whatever assistance Anvil Gate had planned for them had better be good, Durkon thought to himself has he popped off another few rounds at some Locust Drones hiding behind distant rocks for cover.

He looked over to Hansen to see that Selket had taken his place, firing down at the Locust from her vantage point. He held himself back from running over to the hulk and dragging her down. Despite orders he needed every gun he could possibly get, and without someone up on that Longshot they would be hard pressed without the long range support to pin down the Locust. To make them fearful to pop their ugly heads up.

The Raven was transiting a Silverback, a mechanized suit loaded with weaponry, and had finally reached their location. However as the Raven pilot quickly turned his craft to drop its cargo, firing down on the Locust below, a Boomshot grenade hit the underside of the Ravens hull causing the Silverback to crash violently to the ground. It landed next to the APC, on one side. The injured Raven pilot in a final act of defiance veered the damaged Raven toward the Locust, flipping the bird, before crashing down between the Locust and the COG battling for their lives in the middle of the plain. A broken twisted heap of metal, its flickering shadow looming over Zulu Six from the incendiaries burning the ground behind it. No one, it seemed, survived. Durkon's heart sank. Even if they radioed for more help there just wouldn't be enough time. Once the Berserker got into the fray it would most likely be all over. They were simply overwhelmed and outgunned.

The Locust were slowly advancing upon Zulu Six. The advancing strike force had not suffered many casualties. The Berserker could be heard behind them, its piercing scream all but instilled fear and dread into their hearts. Selket fired a round from the Longshot into the head of a Theron. It's head popped apart in dramatic, bloody, fashion much to Selket's satisfaction. This however caused several Locust to focus fire on the APC. She had no choice but to withdraw back into the hulks shell as rounds rattled against it. A Boomshot grenade thundered off the side of the hull. It wouldn't hold up against many more blasts like that, not in its rusted condition. She glanced outside of the APC and saw the Silverback laying on its side. She wasn't sure if she could get it on its feet but one thing she was hopeful of was that its weapons would at least work.

Amid a hail of rifle fire and grenade rounds whizzing past her she bolted for the Silverback, sliding into cover behind it as rounds ricocheted off rocks and metal alike. The rockets, much to her dismay, would be unusable, as the Silverback was laying on the same side of the mounted rocket launcher, but if undamaged the gatling gun should still be operational. Quickly she flipped the power switches for the Silverback, its computers flickering into life, while mechanized parts whirred into operation. She moved the arm which housed the gatling gun, aimed it at the Locust, and opened fire. She wasn't prepared for the recoil at first but quickly became accustomed to it. Blood and limbs were sent flying through the air as the large rounds smashed through the Locust, tearing them apart piece by bloody satisfying piece. Selket's bloodcurdling battlecry could be heard over the deafening torrent of gunfire, an endless screaming yell as battle rage washed over her.

Durkon couldn't believe what was unfolding in front of him but he was the sort of man who took the cards that he was dealt in life. He ordered his men to advance on the Locust as the gatling gun of the Silverback cut down cover and Locust with relative ease. As if spiritually pushed by the teams sudden bravado Hansen had also somehow managed to get back into the APC turret placement and began firing at the Locust, albeit at a much slower rate of fire than before due to his injury, the sudden turn in battle lifting the spirits and the morale of Zulu Six. They charged forward to finish the fight, the Locust were ready to receive them but their numbers had been severely cut down and they were no match for Zulu Six's ferocity and refocused mentality.

Durkon ducked underneath the swipe of a Drone and smashed the butt of his Lancer into its jaw knocking it onto its back. He revved the chainsaw attachment and thrust it into the Drones chest as it screamed and kicked, lashing wildly as its blood sprayed upward like a geyser. Another Drone tried to catch him off guard from the side but West saw to it that it never happened, holding his Gnasher in one hand as he aimed it at the Drones head and pulled the trigger. Its head exploded gloriously into tiny fragments, while its body was still staggering, its weapon still firing. West pulled out a frag grenade and ran up to the headless body. Knocking away its weapon he slammed the frag grenade into the bloody stump where its head had previously been and kicked it away with force, the resultant explosion taking out another two Drones in a bloody shower of meat. As he chambered another round into the Gnasher a Theron rushed at him, preparing to strike at him with the Torque Bow it was holding. Before it could get to him however a round cracked past West's head, and flew through the Theron's head, blood spraying out from the exit wound, its eyes rolling back into its skull as it slumped down onto its knees and then fell forward to the ground motionless. West looked over his shoulder to the direction of where the round had come from, the APC, and saw Hansen making an ok sign to him. West turned and got back into the battle, smiling in the knowledge that the proverbial eye in the sky was watching him.

The Berserker had finally entered the fray, shrieking and screaming at the COG, rounds bouncing of its impenetrable skin. While Zulu Six focused on dispatching the remainder of the Locust strikeforce Selket turned her attention to the Berserker, firing rounds into it. Doing nothing. It was the first time Selket had seen a Berserker, the oversized female drones of the Locust, this close with her own eyes. It stood two metres high, and was the width of a Boomer. She had the overall impression of a Drone on steroids. Standing in a pool of the Ravens fuel, that had leaked from its tank, the Berserker smashed the wreckage of the Raven with one giant fist, sending it flying over the disabled Silverback, skimming just a foot over Selket's head. It roared, smelling the smoke filled air around it for its human prey, and looked toward Selket ready to charge her. Its blind eyes staring blankly, yet evilly at her, poised for an easy kill.

"F*ck you b*tch!" Hansen screamed as he threw his final Incendiary at the Berserker, igniting not only the Berserker but also the leaked fuel around her. She screamed in agony, her arms waving in pain, as she howled she breathed in the fire. Her howling soon stopped. She sturggled to breath as her lungs had been subjected to first degree burns. "Shoot her now!" He screamed to Selket. She opened fire on the huge beast, the rounds penetrating her body, tearing her apart. Selket did not let go of the trigger. She poured round after round into the Berserker, her body jerking with every round due to the recoil, until it slowly began to fall like a giant hitting the ground with a large thump. The Berserkers body was still burning. Selket was still firing. She did not stop firing until the gatling gun had overheated and refused to fire any more, the barrel glowing a bright pinkish red almost igniting the torrent of smoke exhaled from the end of the barrels.

She looked up to Hansen and then surveyed the battlefield before her. The remaining Locust at this point had been killed or retreated having seen the Berserker fall. Slowly crawling out from behind the Silverback, double barrel shotgun in hand, she warily walked toward the Berserkers fallen body.

"Is it dead?" Selket shouted up to Hansen, who shrugged before popping off a round at an unfortunate Locust that was fleeing the battle, its head exploding into giblets as its body tumbled into the brush. As if to answer her question the Berserker sat up. What was left of its nostrils flaring and snorting as it wheezed to try and get some oxygen into her still burning body. Slowly it managed to support itself enough to get back onto its feet, it's arms outstretched as it growled.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Durkon took aim with a Torque Bow he had scavanged off the corpse of the Theron Hansen had earlier dispatched and fired. Selket raised her arm up to protect her face as the Berserker, still smouldering, exploded into pieces from the explosive charge tipped bolt that pierced her skin with a final earth shattering howl. The force of the blast knocked Selket off her feet causing her to land in an untidy sprawl on her back a couple of feet away from where she had previously stood. As the dust settled Zulu Six cheered as a collective. Somehow they had managed to fight through hell and back, without suffering any losses. Bowers walked over to Selket, the lumbering giant towering over her small, in comparison, frame. He offered his hand out to her, which she took without hesitation, and helped the second lieutenant to her feet letting go once she was upright and stable. He didn't say anything to Selket, but he didn't have to. He just looked into her eyes and nodded.

Durkon looked over at Selket, and also nodded, in approval. Hansen could still be heard screaming obscenities at the molten chunks of the Berserker. Durkon looked up at him, motioned with his hand, and Hansen fell silent.
"Hansen needs medical attention. It's not life threatening but I would suggest you see to him as soon as possible," Selket advised the Sergeant. He turned toward her.

"Ok," He replied before barking an order to West. "West get over to Hansen, he needs attention on the double!"

"Yes Sergeant!" West rushed over to his comrade aid, who laughed and joked off his injury despite Wests initial concern. While the rest of Zulu Six were gathering arms and ammunition, checking the Locust for any survivors, Selket went with to the APC to gather the radio equipment. She picked up the handset and pressed in the send button.

"Anvil Gate this is Zulu Six. Sitrep over!" She called into the handset.

"Send over!" Hoffman replied. He had clearly been waiting in the whole time in nervous anticipation of the situation. His concern could be heard in his voice, even over the radio.

"We have defeated the Locust and are back on route, we have one casualty, Raven is down with no survivors, Silverback disabled, over!" After what seemed like an eternity Hoffman eventually replied.

"Stand fast Zulu Six. We are arranging a pick up at your location. Out." Hoffman ordered. Immediately Selket left the APC, ordering West to keep his ear to the radio, and relayed the information to Durkon who was stood next to a pile of Locust weaponry.

"Thank you Second Lieutenant," He replied. It was the first time that any of Zulu Six had referred to her by her rank. As she turned to return to the radio he called out to her. "Hey Selket!"

"Yes?" She asked as she turned around, walking backwards slowly, the sound of several Ravens could be heard in the distance. The sun was slowly beginning to rise giving a slightly eerie orange glow to everything that reflected.

"Any time you want to request a transfer to Zulu Six, you'd be more than welcome to join us." Durkon rested his arm around the shoulder or Bowers, who had his elbow resting on the shoulder of Ashton. They all looked at each other, a slight smile was on Ashton's face, and they all nodded in agreement. Her bravery had earnt their respect.

"Once this operation is over I'll keep that in mind Sergeant." Selket smiled also, then turned away quickly and headed to get the radio packed away ready for transport assuring everything was packed securely.

As a Raven touched down for pickup, the other Ravens circling around them observing the ground below, Selket pondered over the idea of transferring to Zulu Six once the operation was over as she made her way to the Raven. Her hair blew furiously in the downforce of the Ravens rotors as she was about to step onto the Raven. An outstretched hand greeted her, which she took.

"Well I'll be damned, you made it!" Selket looked up to the source of the familiar voice and replied politely.

"Thanks to these brave men who put their lives on the line for me, yes I did," In her exhaustion, and tiredness, she almost forgot who she was talking to and quickly added the appropiate formality.

"Colonel."

 

Great idea for a thread! I'll try to get something up this weekend. I like the idea of feedback too, it's so valuable to get another perspective on your style.

 

The Assassin's Promise

Inspired by and based on Guild Wars.

Part One

Way of the Assassin

Spoiler

Another arrow whistled past Selket's head as she stumbled through the moonlit woods towards the village which she intended to seek refuge in. Bloody and wounded Selket had to stop to regain her composure, though almost as soon as she had stopped another arrow that narrowly missed piercing her athletic body forced her to press on. The guards had been chasing her for three days now with no relent in their pursuit though having assassinated their employer she couldn’t say she was surprised. Selket cursed to herself after reliving the moment of being spotted by the Ministers mistress, probably the main reason why she was still being chased by the deceased Ministers guards, to keep his affair quiet to the public. She needed to make a stand, she had no choice, those guards would not stop pursuing her no matter how far she ran. It was at that sudden thought Selket stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face her pursuers. As they came crashing through the undergrowth of the forest they stopped when they came into her view and started forming a circle around her, heart pounding as she assessed the situation. There were five of them, lightly armoured but well armed, the Minister obviously looked after his employees well. They had all drawn melee weapons at this point, too close to risk hitting each other with their bows in such close proximity.

The first guard charged straight at her sword high in the air, ready to bring down onto the top of her head. Selket sidestepped him, at the same time drawing a dagger from a sheath on her armour and stabbing it into a chink in the guards armour in his back. The poison on the blade started kicking in before he even hit the ground, thrashing and scrabbling as his face turned blue from the lack of oxygen that the poison so quickly deprived him off. He was dead by the time the rest charged her, weapons raised to mob her and get an easy kill to finish the fight quickly. Shadow steps really come in handy in situations like that, specialist spells learnt from Selkets training as an Assassin.

“Now you see me” She said out aloud as some of the guards swung their weapons to take her life. ”Now you don’t” She whispered in the ear of a guard as she teleported behind him and drew her knife across his throat. Selket pushed him away towards his comrades, gurgling and bleeding out from the fatal wound she had inflicted upon him. As he slumped dead on the floor the last three remaining guards shifted towards her nervously, unsure of how to handle someone trained the way she was in close combat.
It was at this point Selket charged them, silently but swiftly, not giving them a chance to recover from her assault. Relentlessly, she drove home her attacks on them, using a combination of Shadow Steps, and hexes. They were well trained but were no match for Selket, they were scared to die but she was not. To Selket death was just a path to another life, an escape from the life she currently lived. As the last guard fell dead to the ground and exhaled his last breath from Selkets final blow, she heard a whistling sound behind her, as she turned around she felt a sudden and stinging pain in her chest. She looked down at the arrow protruding from her chest, the blood trickled around Selkets gloved hands as she grabbed it around the head of the shaft to extract it from her body. With a scream and a spurt of blood the arrow was expelled from Selkets chest. She fell down to one knee clutching her wound. As she looked up from the ground the last thing she could remember seeing was the pommel of a sword before it struck her in the head, rendering her unconscious.

It took a while for Selket to focus clearly on her surroundings when she awoke from unconsciousness, it didn’t take her long to realise that she was hanging from a thick tree branch by her tied wrists. Selket looked down at herself to examine her wounds and noticed that her armour and clothing had been stripped and her weapons taken. She shivered, not so much out of fear mind but more because she was naked hanging from a tree in the middle of the night. Selket didn’t know how long she had been hanging there but felt cold enough to know it had been quite a while. Noticing Selket had awoken a short man limped over to her and struck her across the face with the flat side of a Longsword.

“So, you have awoken assassin huh?” He said in a gruff voice, prodding her slim, but toned, bloody abdomen with his sword. Selket looked at him as he spoke, she couldn’t focus much but noticed he had long black hair in a pony tail and wore an eye patch over his left eye. Before she could make out any more of his features he grazed the point of his Longsword down her body cutting her skin, laughing with a twisted look upon his face. Selket couldn't hide the pain from the cut being made, which only fueled the mans laughter more. Somehow, from somewhere Selket managed to speak.

“Who are you? What do you want? You want me? Huh? You sick freak! Don’t you get laid at home? Minister not pay for your whore last night?” She hissed, her body in pain, blood welling from the cut he had made. He looked at Selket and laughed coldly.

“My name is not important to you Selket Shadowdancer, as for what I want, well the only thing I want is your slow but inevitable death” He replied, a sinister smile on his face. “You are infamous for getting out of tight situations, so I’ve made sure you have nothing at all that you can use to your advantage to get out of this one.” He pointed over towards her armour and weapons. Before she could make any form of reply he stabbed her with the point of his sword in the stomach. Selket could do little more than whimper quietly in pain, she was so weak from her injuries she couldn’t have been louder if she wanted to, any sound she did make was drowned out by the mans laughter. Selket could feel the blood seeping from her wounds and travelling down her limp body, looking down she could see it dripping off onto on her assailants armour and onto the ground below, her life slowly draining away. She noticed that the man seemed injured slightly as he seemed to tend to his arm for a second after his attack upon her.

"You will pay for this! I promise you, you will die by my hand!" Selket voice was soft, almost forgiving in tone.

"I doubt that" Her assailant replied, waving his sword about randomly in the air. "You'll be lucky if you manage to make it through the night by the time I'm done with you, Assassin!" He stabbed her again with his sword, grinning maniaclly. Selket couldn’t even utter a sound, the pain was too great. She closed her eyes awaiting the final strike but would never know if it would come. Whether due to blood loss, fear, cold, or death, she passed out, a sea of darkness embracing her.

Selket wasn't sure how long had passed before she regained consciousness again. She was surprised to find she wasn't dead. The rope that bound her wrists was biting into her fair skin, not surprisingly seems she'd been hanging here for a while now. Selket had lost a lot of blood and her life was still oozing out of her wounds. Her assailant was nowhere to be seen. Her weapons, armour, and clothing were still on the ground around 10 feet away from her. No matter how much she tried Selket could not slip out of the binds that tied her wrists, they were tied too well. "So, this is it then" she said to herself, hanging her head. All she could do now was wait for the inevitable. Selket was feeling so weak, she could feel her life slowly draining away from her, she knew she didn't have long before death took me. As Selket contemplated her fate she noticed a small Hare gazing at her naked and bloody body.

"Think yourself lucky Hare; most men would be dead by now if they saw what you just saw." She smiled weakly. She found it ironic that in her last moments before death her final company would be a rodent. Almost as quickly as the Hare had appeared it was gone and Selket was left alone to her fate. Yet again she slipped into the darkness of the void that was called unconsciousness.

Selket awoke to find herself not hanging from a tree anymore but lying on the ground with a cloak mostly covering her body, and a Hare sitting on her chest. Sunlight flickered between the branches of the surrounding trees, illuminating the area in an orange hue. She could smell a campfire burning away and the roasting meat skewered above it, and as she looked around for her armour and equipment, clutching the cape close to her body to give herself at least some form of dignity, the Hare scurried off into the foliage. She found her equipment close by, relatively untouched, and as Selket put it on, along with the cloak she had been covered with, she noticed that the majority of her wounds had been tended to, though not fully healed. She looked around for any sign of her would be saviour, but there was no one to be seen. Not wasting any time Selket cut off some meat from the skewer and salted and packed it away for travel, then cut off some more and ate quickly. She hadn't eaten in a while and it tasted good, so good that she just had to have more. Selket saved some on the skewer for her unknown saviour, in case they returned, and dowsed the campfire before getting her bearings and making her way from the camp towards the village that she intended to seek refuge in while she was being chased.

Coming to the edge of the woods, Selket quietly observed the village from a distance to make sure that there was no activity there due to her presence. She decided it would be safer to approach the village at night, just in case, and waited at the edge of the woods under cover of the foliage there until nightfall. Once night fell Selket approached the village cautiously, pulling up the hood of her cloak over her head, as she approached the main gate. Selket entered the village unchallenged, and made her way to the closest inn for food and shelter for the night. There were several inns in this village, as it was quite large suprisingly. It was an amazing settlement popular among traders and merchants for it's large population and extravagant night life. It was also a great place to go unseen for the same reason, while locals were known to each other very well it had enough commercial trade to pass yourself off as simply another traveller looking to earn coin.

Selket entered the inn she had chosen to stay in for the evening and sat down in the darkest corner, waving at the local maid for some food and drink. After going through all the usual formalities of buying her consumables, renting a room for the night, and gaining directions to the local herbalist, the maid left Selket alone to serve the many other customers they had. As Selkets meal was brought to here along with a jug of wine she thanked, and tipped, the maid and started to eat her meal, which while looking nothing special, was at least nourishing enough to pass as a meal. When Selket finished eating she left the inn, informing the innkeeper she would be returning later that night. As she stepped out of the door she took in the hustle and bustle of the night life of the village and made her way towards the Herbalists premises to gather her much needed supplies, with one thought on her mind.

Revenge.

Part 2

An Old Friend

Spoiler

The sound of a skirmish could be heard in the distance of the forest. Durkon stopped to think about whether it would be wise to carry on in the direction he was taking or go around and take a safer route, then smiled to himself.

“What do I have to be scared of a few bandits for? He looked down at his hand, a small fireball forming within his palm. “I’m the greatest Elementalist in all of Tyria.” He always travelled alone and often spoke to himself. Fortunately no one was about to comment on how mad he must have seemed though that was nothing new for the solitary life of an Elementalist. Almost as soon as he had spoken the sounds of the skirmish had stopped, an eerie silence fell upon the forest, and not even the sounds of the wildlife within it could be heard.

“Quietly now, we don’t want to disturb our new found friends.” He whispered quietly to himself. He brushed back his silvery white hair from his face, a face that showed youth yet also showed great wisdom. In the pale moonlight he could make out a broken trail, not worn by the years but seemingly freshly made by recent passage, and decided to follow it seems it was pretty much going in the same direction as he was anyway. After following it for some time he could hear the sound of laughter close by though it sounded far from friendly. Durkon stopped to see if he could get a better understanding of what was happening before he pressed forward into the unknown situation ahead of him. A male voice could be heard, quite clear in the quiet that surrounded him.

“You are infamous for getting out of tight situations, so I’ve made sure you have nothing at all that you can use to your advantage to get out of this one.” The sound of someone obviously in pain could be heard afterwards. Durkon could just barely make out another voice, female, but whatever she said was said in such a quiet tone he couldn’t make out the words. "I doubt that" The male sounding voice said again. "You'll be lucky if you manage to make it through the night by the time I'm done with you, Assassin!" Then all went quiet, the eerie silence that followed the previous skirmish fell upon the forest again, leaving Durkon with a choice to make.

“Whether deserved or not someone’s death may be on your hands if you do nothing Durkon” He contemplated what challenge may lie ahead of him then answered himself. “Should I really be getting involved in this? This isn’t my problem after all and I really dislike being involved with Assassins.” He looked down at his hands, fire flickering around the tips of his fingers as he came to his decision. “I am Durkon Thunderstorm, master of the elements, I have nothing to fear from whoever is ahead of me whether man or bea...” He stopped himself short to convince himself if that was actually true. He was a good Elementalist for sure, but perhaps not the greatest, that part was just every Elementalists fantasy. “Damn it; let’s just get this over with shall we?”
As the source of the voices came into Durkons view he was unprepared for what he saw. A woman was hanging naked, bloodied, and hands bound from a tree not to far from him. A man wielding a Longsword looked to be preparing to deliver what would be a final strike to end the woman’s life.
“Unless you wish to end up on a skewer as my meal tonight I suggest you drop your weapon and take what miserable part of your life you have and go back to whatever stinking cesspit you came from!” Durkon bellowed, fire forming in his left hand as he spoke out to the man.

“This is none of your business! This woman is a murderer and will be punished as one!” The man said as he turned to face Durkon. He was surprised to see someone so young looking standing before him with fire burning in their hand.
“How about give the woman a fair trial before condemning her to death? Isn’t that the law of this land? Or do you wish to become what you claim this woman to be?” Durkon allowed the fire in his right hand to grow, illuminating the area around him so he could see more clearly.

“Sorcerer leave us or you will meet the same fate as this Assassin, and I assure you her fate will not end well.” A sadistic grin crept across the mans face. He was old and battle hardened that much Durkon was sure of. The grip on the mans sword had tightened, his knuckles whitening in the glow of fire before him as he prepared himself to battle the Elementalist standing before him. Durkon realised that there was no other option but to fight this man to save this woman’s life.

“The only person who decides my fate is me!” Durkon shouted as he launched a powerful fireball towards the man. Surprisingly the man avoided it with ease, much to Durkons dismay.

“You think a mere fireball is going to help you Sorcerer?” The man let out a rapturous laugh before rushing forward to attack Durkon who quickly responded, slamming down his staff on the ground, pushing out with the elements of the air to throw his attacker backward far away from him crashing into the depths of the forest. Durkon chuckled somewhat to himself lightly; he always loved doing that to people in a fight. He quickly closed in on the man, entering the shadowy forest but couldn’t see him anywhere. He slowly and quietly searched the area for him.

“Damn you Sorcerer!” The man screamed as he threw a knife that was strapped to his armour at Durkon which narrowly missed his head. As Durkon recovered from the instinctive attack from the man he was hard pressed to defend against the mans second attack. The thrown knife allowed the man to close in on the Elementalist and start attacking at close range with his sword. Durkon was too busy blocking the mans lightning fast attacks with his staff to be able to cast any spells as they required intricate inscriptions drawn with his hands to be cast. Suddenly the man lashed out with his fist cracking Durkons head hard and dazing him. The mans sword came thundering down towards Durkons head leaving him just a split second to move out of the way and avoid the quick attack under his condition. As he moved out of the way of the death imposing strike his staff was caught by his attackers sword and knocked out of his hands. Reaching out to grab the staff from the ground beside him the man relentlessly attacked at Durkons hand, narrowly missing taking it clean off from the wrist. He summoned a quick fireball and launched it at the mans face. It was too minor to do any major damage as all his power came from the ornate inscriptions and runes set onto his staff, but it was enough to give Durkon the time needed to reach down and grab his staff to quickly block against yet another relentless attack. The smell of burnt flesh as the man drew his face close to Durkons, his sword locked against Durkons staff, was sickening. Durkon kicked out, landing his blow straight in the mans ribs forcing him to stagger back and quickly launched another fireball at him that was more powerful than the last. It hit the man square in the chest, setting him alight, his skin and clothing burning as he thrashed about on the ground rolling to put the fire out. Durkon walked over towards him, ready to deal a final spell to end the fight.
Without warning the man threw a handful of dirt and stones at Durkons face forcing him to cover his face so that he wasn’t blinded. When Durkon moved his arm away from his face the man was nowhere to be seen. Durkon readied himself for another attack, slowly turning on the spot to anticipate an attack from the shadows surrounding him. There was none.

“Why do they always run?” Durkon smiled, rubbing the bruised side of his head where the man had hit him previously as he made his way back to the area where he had found the woman that was hanging from a tree. As he approached where she was he looked up at her, quickly averting his gaze from her bloodied and naked body. He removed his cloak and wrapped it around her before he burned away the rope that bound her and kept her tied to the tree. “My magic only hurts those I choose to hurt with it.” He said softly. It mattered little as she was unconscious; nothing he said would be heard by her. “I need to keep you warm don’t I?” He said as he laid her down on the ground wrapped in his cloak. He quickly gathered some wood from the surrounding area to make a small campfire igniting it with his hands as he laid it down. He unpacked his cooking kit and meat from his backpack, which he skewered, then started roasting it above the small fire while he tended to her wounds. It was then that he got a look at her face properly for the first time.

"Selket Shadowdancer?" He brushed away her blonde straight hair from her bruised and bloodied face and was mesmerised by her hidden beauty. She too was quite young, surprisingly scar less considering her proffession. Her face was slender and her lips full. Her nose was slightly flat and wide. Durkon couldn’t see her eyes as they were shut but recognised they were slightly slanted upwards marking her as a Canthan. “What are you doing in this part of Tyria?” Durkon asked himself. After he had tended to her wounds he headed into the forest to find something to kill for food later. He pondered the question he had just asked himself, and then asked himself one more question.

“What the hell have I gotten myself into this time?”

Part 3

The Assassin's Remedy

Spoiler

Beetletun. Now a largely populated, and prosperous, settlement. The crumbled watchtowers now rebuilt. Historians speculate that these watchtowers guarded Kryta from some unknown northern threat. Now restored to their former glory they stood like ancient stone soldiers still awaiting the arrival of that mysterious enemy from across the great sal****er lake, Giants Basin. The nightlife bustled with activity with market traders eagerly trying to persuade customers to part with their coin and Guards actively patrolling the crowded streets in groups of two. The smell of various animals and vegatation being cooked was strong. Beggars, while few and far between, could be seen approaching people for coin.

Wind chimes jingled melodically as Selket opened the door to the local Herbalists trading shop. Stepping in from the cold night, she pulled down the hood from her cloak and looked around for an assistant to aid her in obtaining the supplies she needed. The shop was fairly large; being the only Herbalist within the village it was also well stocked. Jars of various antidotes and herbal remedies lined the many shelves along the walls of the premises. A clinical smell filled Selkets nostrils as her gaze wondered over the many supplies within the shop.

“Is there anything in particular you are searching for young miss?” A short man asked from behind the counter at the back of the shop. He was middle aged, with a face that showed a lot of knowledge. He was bald, though it looked shaved rather than due to ageing. His eyes slanted upwards which gave away his Canthan heritage.

“Yes.” Replied Selket, showing the wounds inflicted to her stomach.
“Let me have a closer look at that.” The man said, walking around to the front of the counter to inspect the wounds more closely. “You are quite lucky that they were tended to quickly, they could have been quite fatal.” He said, squinting slightly, as he examined her wounds. “Wait here a moment please as I ready what you will need to keep them clean and to make sure they heal properly, I won’t be too long.” With that he disappeared through a doorway towards the back of the shop. Selket noticed as he left that tattoos decorated the back of his head, tattoos she recognised to be assigned to the Monks of the Shing Jea Monastery.

“You are a Monk from Shing Jea Monastery?” Selket asked, as the Monk returned, Selkets needed supplies in hand.

“Yes, how did you know what Monastery I was trained at?” He replied, slightly taken aback by the knowledge of the young woman stood before him.
“I recognise the tattoos you have. They are the same as those a friend of mine has. He was trained under Master Togo himself.” Selket replied.

“Ah the great Master Togo. We still mourn his passing to this day. He was a great man, did many wonderful things that helped shape Cantha as it is today.” His face was slightly saddened at the mention of Master Togo. “Tell me young miss, why are you so far from home?”

“Let’s just say that my work brings me away from home.” Selket replied with a smile.

The Monk smiled back at her, nodding his head in understanding.

“Here are your supplies, apply the cream twice a day and allow the wounds some fresh air when you sleep.” He advised, placing the supplies on the counter. That will be 50 gold please.” Selket quickly handed over the money for the supplies without fuss. With hands clasped together he bowed and said “Be sure to tell your friends to visit Brother Seraphs Herbs and Medicines if they ever visit this wonderful village young…”

“Selket, my name is Selket, Brother Seraph.” Selket replied, also with a bow and hands clasped together.

“May Dwayna watch over you young Selket.” Brother Seraph said as Selket left the shop. Selket looked back at the Monk and nodded to him, smiling, as she walked through the door back out onto the streets of Beetletun.
Selket returned to the inn so that she could apply her medicines to her wounds and rest. The innkeeper greeted her warmly as he did all his customers and showed Selket up to her room. It certainly wasn’t made for a King but it would suffice and was pleasant enough to want to stay in. He showed her where the necessary commodities were then left. Selket locked the door behind her then proceeded to strip her armour and clothing to wash her self clean and tend to her wounds. As she washed herself clean she pondered over all that had happened the past few days wondering how such bad luck could fall upon her. Then she smiled, after all if her luck was really that bad she would probably be dead now. Her thoughts tracked back to whom had saved her from her almost certain fate. She still had no clue as to who had saved her life and surely owed them a great debt for their deed. She dried herself down and wrapped around herself the towel that had been provided and sat down upon the bed.

“I don’t know which of the gods is watching over me but one of them surely was.” She said to herself as she applied some cream to her wounds, wincing as the medical solution stung a little. Her wounds were healing well considering, surely some sort of minor magic had been at work as her wounds were indeed, as Brother Seraph said, surely fatal. The events that had passed were a mystery to her. Someone had saved her life and she needed to know who and why. In the life of an Assassin deeds like that normally come at a price. Soon the thoughts that clouded Selkets mind disappeared and she drifted off to sleep, this time voluntarily, a hand resting on the Dagger placed under her pillow.

Just in case.

Part 4

Illusion of Weakness

Spoiler

A heavy rain fell upon the town of Beetletun, a strong wind carrying it across the town sending it crashing against storm shutters, rattling them, trying to pry them free. A small figure crept quietly through the town against the rain, completely hidden by the cloak worn around its head and shoulders. Keeping to the shadows and making no sound as it strode toward its destination, the figure was seen by none. Reaching the location it strived to seek the figure began to look for a way into the building it was hidden against that would keep it unseen from the watching eyes of the guard patrolling the streets.

As the wind picked up and slammed the storm shutters of the building against the walls the figure looked about, slightly startled by the sudden noise, checking warily to make sure it was undetected. It slowly began to climb up a sewage drainage system that was fixed upon the wall. Reaching out and grabbing a storm shutter that was loosely blowing in the wind the figure shimmied over to the ledge of the window it was meant to protect. Carefully the figure checked to see if the inhabitants of the room were awake before slowly prying the window open with its blade. Once opened it crept into the room and pulled the window shut, then remained still for a moment allowing its eyes to retain focus in the darkness of the room. Lightning flashed, illuminating the room slightly for a moment, showing someone sleeping in the only bed within the room. The lone figure remained still, awaiting the inevitable thunder that was to follow before making its way across the room to the door, which was the only other exit.

The door was locked from within, no latch existed. The shadowed figure quietly pulled out a lockpick and started picking at the lock. Lightning again bathed the room in light and the figure quickly glanced around to make sure the occupant of the room had not been awoken before carrying on with the task at hand. As the tumblers started to click into place the figure felt a sharp object pressed against its back. Slowly the figure rose hands held out high and to the sides showing no signs of any weapons. The owner of the sharp object spoke out, a soft, yet commanding voice drowning out the sound of the unrelenting rain.

“If you have a good reason to be within my room then now is the time to give it!” Lightning lit up the room at that point showing the cloaked figure to be around the same size as the woman holding the sharp weapon. The mysterious intruder remained silent, slowly turning to face the woman holding the weapon, hands still outstretched. Thunder echoed through the night, and with the end of the thunder came the end of the rain, the sound of gentle dripping being the only sign it ever existed in the first place. An eerie silence shrouded the room, the woman seemed nervous, her arm shaking slightly. The figure seemingly noticing this struck out at the woman, knocking the weapon from her hands and grabbing her by the throat, lifting her from the ground one handed then throwing her across the room. Crashing into the wall the woman landed hard on the wooden floor, choking and gasping for air. Just as she managed to stumble to her feet the cloaked attacker grabbed her again, throwing her across the room into the mirror hung upon the wall. As the woman crashed into the mirror fell with her smashing into large sharp pieces that cut her as it landed upon her. As she got up the figure strode across the room, arm outstretched to grab her again.

The woman lashed out as hard as she possibly could, out of sheer desperation, knocking the arm aside before plunging a shard of the broken mirror deep into her assailants ribcage. The intruder screamed in pain, but the woman had no relent as she lunged and lunged at her attacker in the darkness. As the body of the assailant fell to the ground, the woman for a moment stood silently still in shock before almost in a frenzy, leaping upon the intruder to land a final blow. As she raised her hand to strike lightning illuminated the room once more, the hood of the cloak had fallen revealing the face of the intruder. The woman gasped in horror at the face before her, sat atop her assailant, shard of glass raised above her head poised to strike.

“How can this be?” Before she could utter another word a sharp blade pierced her chest, rupturing her heart. Her eyes rolled back into her skull as she collapsed in a heap on the floor beside the intruder. She could feel her life quickly ebbing away as her heartbeat grew weaker and weaker. As she took her last breath everything around her began to distort into a kaleidoscope of colours as her mind began to rest. She could no longer feel any pulse of her heart beating in her body.

They say that when you die the last thing you see is your life flashing before your eyes. The last thing Selket Shadowdancer saw before she died was a Canthan face before her that was completely identical to her own.

Part 5

Underworld

Spoiler

The sound of a thousand whispers pulled at her soul, tormented screams ravaging at mind. Almost unbearable. Around her was nothingness, emptiness, yet everything. The moans and wails of the dead were intolerable, and it was at that point that it became apparent to Selket Shadowdancer that she was dead. Suddenly everything around her became silent and she found herself standing within a medium sized chamber. The walls glowed slightly blue hue in colour, and around the outskirts of the chamber was shrouded in darkness, not allowing one to see too far away.

“Come… Talk to me Selket Shadowdancer” A spirit quietly whispered, yet the spirits words were so clear it seemed like it was talking normally. Selket warily stepped towards the ghost, instinctively reaching for a dagger that she found, to her dismay, was not there. She cursed to herself at her apparent state of arms. She stopped just out of reach of the spirit which was stood before some sort of home made shrine. Candles burned on shelves tackily made behind the spirit.

“Who are you? Where am I? Am I really… dead? Selket couldn’t ask her questions to the spirit quickly enough.

“My name… is Sarah. You are within the Underworld, the realm of Grenth himself. If you are not dead then it seems the god of death himself has some purpose for you. Alas I am not a keeper of souls, so it is beyond me to tell you what your fate truly may be” Her voice went from a quiet whisper to a shrill scream. “RUN!!! The Grasping Darknesses, they will damn us both into oblivion!” The fear was evident in her voice as the clicking and screeching of the Grasping Darknesses could be heard in the darkness that surrounded Selket. She looked around the chamber and saw a chest across the other side.

“I will protect you Sarah… somehow.” Selket said, immediately running towards the chest, which at the time seemed like an offering of the gods themselves. It was ornately decorated and, at a closer inspection, had what seemed like no sort of lock at all. “If there’s no lock how the hell am I supposed to open it?” Selket exclaimed loudly, feeling around the chest for any form of hidden catches. Almost as soon as she had touched the chest the lid slowly opened, making no sound as it did so. Selket cautiously looked within the chest and was astounded at what was within it, a bow and a quiver of arrows. However this was no ordinary bow. It glowed an ethereal pale blue in colour and as Selket picked it up ripples of lightning surged up and down the length of the bow. She looked over toward Sarah, the ghost was cowering in fear, sobbing, it was evident she feared for her soul as the mob of Grasping Darknesses leered ever closer towards her. “Leave her be!” Selket shouted aggressively at the floating grey coloured Octopus like creatures, notching 5 arrows to her newly acquired bow as their tentacles flailed at Sarah. The Grasping Darknesses stopped at that point and quickly turned and closed in on the lone assassin.

Selket released the barrage of arrows into the clumped together mob that charged at her, and quickly readied another before releasing again. Lightning surged through the Grasping Darknesses as they fell to the overwhelming assault from Selkets repeated barrage of arrows, their tentacles flailing and twitching as they lay in their final throes of death. She looked down at the bow in her hands again, and smiled slightly at the weapon she now carried.

“I could get used to this” Her joy was quickly interrupted by Sarahs voice, slowly and calmy whispering across the chamber to her.

“Thank you, Selket Shadowdancer, you have no doubt saved my soul from everlasting torment. I cannot give you the answers you seek, but perhaps I can lead you in the right direction to gain them.” Almost as soon as she had spoken she started running towards a set of steps that the Grasping Darknesses had previously entered the chamber from. “Come Selket, follow me quickly!” With almost no hesitation Selket broke into a quick dash, bow in hand, to catch up then ran just behind the spirit at a steady pace.

“Where are we going Sarah?” Selket asked, cautiously watching her footing as she took in the nature of her surroundings.

“To the one and only place you can get the answers you seek Selket Shadowdancer. The hall of Grenth himself” Sarah let up no pace as she spoke, but then one would not expect the dead to. They encountered no resistance on the run to the hall through icy wastes, though many strange creatures and many spirits could be seen along the way. Sarah pointed out the names of some of the creatures to Selket, creatures that had only previously been known to her in folklore. After nearly an hour the duo came to a halt within a large hall that was roofless. An ethereal sky lay above their heads. Before them were a large set of doors with what seemed like a shining light glowing between the cracks of the doors in the middle. Stone pillars lined to the left and right of Selket as she approached the stairs that the doors stood at the very top of.

“Thankyou for your assistance Sarah, but now I must venture forth alone.” Selktet turned toward the ghost but she was nowhere to be found. She had disappeared and now Selket was all alone before the very doors of Grenth himself, a shudder travelled down her spine as she thought about what she should do next. This was after all the realm of the gods, and before her was the chamber of Grenth himself.

“Disturbing the peace of the gods themselves, however they may find that peace is probably not a good idea, but answers I must have!” and without any further though Selket climbed the steps to the great doors before her. As she reached the top she took in the marvel of the decoration inscribed upon the great doors of Grenths chamber before reaching out to push open the doors and head into the chambers of the god of death. However, Selket had a slight problem; the doors simply would not budge. It would have taken a giant to open those doors, and no matter how hard Selket pushed they just would not open, not even an inch. Selket tried to peek through the crack in the door to see beyond, but the light that shone through was almost blinding, not allowing her to see anything.

“Great, I come all this way for nothing, now what do I do?” As if it was a magical password the great doors slowly started to shudder open. A mighty rumble shook the hall as they opened up, the light that was shining within suddenly bathing the hall, and Selket, in a great, blinding light. A female laugh could be heard in the distance, almost chaotic, yet at the same time soothing. As Selket stepped forward the light quickly dimmed and the source of the laughter was visible before her.

“Welcome Selket Shadowdancer.” The voice came from a woman whose beauty was unsurpassable, tall, dark haired, slender, and fair skinned. Her clothing was alluring, almost provocative. Selket stood mesmerised by the womans looks before another woman, identical to the first, approached her.

“Welcome indeed.” The second woman spoke softly. It was at this point Selket realised she was not in the hall of Grenth, she wasn’t even in the Underworld. It was at this point that Selket realised who the women before her was, and that they were certainly no ordinary women.

“Lyssa…”

 

Unreal, that was very entertaining! Please post more :love:

Edit: You already did! Great!

 

I once went to go get milk....I got milk.

 

Going to have to find some patience to sit down and read!

 

I know I said the weekend but I'm actually pretty busy this weekend so I'll give you a rough first draft and weather the constructive abuse it receives. I've added a link to the original inspiration for this short which comes in under the 800 wordcount mark.

Baker’s Expendable

Spoiler

Accelerating at 38 standard gravities, it had only taken minutes for the Jupiter AM-13 to reach an apogee of 300 miles above sea level. Restricted by her confined life support capsule, Miss Baker sucked harder on the oxygen valve affixed to her face as she felt the 9 minutes of weightlessness begin that signalled the IRBM’s re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.

As her increased oxygen intake and heart rate were relayed back to Cape Canaveral, Ed Carter’s concern grew. While Miss Able’s measurements had quickly fallen during the ascent, Miss Baker’s had remained elevated but tolerable throughout, bucking the predictions that they would both be unconscious before re-entry. Ed knew that re-entry was going to add to her stress levels, despite her calm nature and high intelligence that had marked Miss Baker as the clear favourite ahead of the 25 other potential candidates. Ed also knew he had gotten more attached to Miss Baker than he should have been.

“The parachute hasn’t deployed” director Jack Buckbee’s voice brought Ed’s attention back to a far more serious issue than Miss Baker’s stress levels.

“It’s the automatic release” an engineer replied. “Can we trigger a manual release?”

“Send the signal” Jack told the engineer.

Ed knew that the radio signal would cause a red indicator inside the nose cone to flash in one second intervals, the signal for Miss Baker to release the parachute manually. With months of testing and training for exactly this kind of scenario it should have been a simple task, yet as the seconds ticked by it was apparent that something had gone wrong.

“Look at her levels,” Ed shouted “she’s panicking up there!”

“There’s nothing we can do, if she won’t respond to the signal it’s out of our hands” the engineer replied.

“Calm down Ed,” Jack intervened, “our mission is to test the effects of space travel on live passengers. We have the data already; getting them back alive was only ever a bonus. Miss Baker’s expendable.”

“I can’t accept that as easily as you can, Jack. If there’s any chance of them making it back I want to do it. Isn’t there any way to contact her?”

“There’s a radio receiver in there” the engineer interceded, “we may be able to calm her down in time to pull the release.”

“Let’s do it” Ed immediately replied.

“Use this” he said, handing the microphone to Ed “but don’t expect to hear anything back”

Ed held the microphone close to his mouth and spoke gently into it. “It’s me Miss Baker, it’s me, Ed. I know you’re scared up there, I know you’re terrified but I really need you to calm down for me” He watched as her levels began to drop “I need you to remember your training. I need you to see that light and remember what to do.”

“We’re running out of time,” the engineer told him “we need the parachute soon if they are to have any chance at all”

“Listen Miss Baker,” Ed continued calmly “I want you to pull that release. I want you to land safely. I want to see you again but I can’t do that unless you remember what the red light means. Please pull the release Miss Baker.”

“It’s worked,” the engineer interrupted “the parachute has just been deployed. They may even survive the descent.” Ed collapsed back into a chair as the room erupted into a chorus of cheers. Soon the room was back to the task of monitoring the descent of the nose cone. In just 16 minutes the nose cone had travelled 1,500 miles from the launch pad, coming to rest in the Atlantic Ocean near Puerto Rico. Within the hour they had received a communication from Captain Joe Guion aboard the USS Kiowa.

"Able Baker perfect. No injuries or other difficulties."

The happiness that message had brought Ed Carter was far greater than he would have believed possible at being re-united with the affectionate one lb squirrel monkey that had stolen his heart and almost vanished before he had found out.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Baker

 

I write short stories in my science fiction blog occasionally. Most are way to long to post here but if anybody is interested:

http://joninspace.blogspot.com/

 

Here is the shortest horror story of all time:

Once there were three.....then....just two....

 

Awesome stories guys! I haven't had time to read them all, but I will as soon :love:

I really like your story Gary, I was shocked at first but laughed at the end

 

Cheers, that's exactly what I was aiming for!

I do need to clean it up a bit since this is really a 1st draft and I felt the final line needs a rejig a bit. I've been focusing on dialogue a bit more recently so I'm hoping that will improve too.

 

It's awesome to see the things people can write

I've been reading what I can but my computer broke down on me these past week. I was working on a story, but it didn't survive the crash

I'll try to come up with something, and guys I would love too see as much feedback as you can give. It'll improve all of our writing. :hammer:

 

This thread has given me an idea for a shorts challenge thread, possibly once the community has grown a bit. I was thinking 1,000 words limit and some arbitrary rules set by the winner of the previous challenge. Just a bit of fun but great practice for writing.