Normal User
Posts: 355
|
okies, I am attempting to write a book and am making it about my pets and other peoples pets if they want them included (see my profile for more details) ok, i have so far only done two and a bit chapters but i have decided to post up chapter 1 to see if anyone likes it so far, ok, here goes... Chapter 1-The Shadow Amien had just woken from his daily nap where he slept silently in front of the great hearth at the back of the food hall where he was startled by a large bang in the fire. For a while, he sat staring into the flames that where dancing among the black logs. Sparks flew upwards in great spirals and pranced out of the embers. The fire was like a brilliant moving painting that pounced, always to the sky, with the deadliness and grace of a panther. Amien turned round to see if anyone else had noticed the bang but all was as it should be. Acannah was dozing quietly as she lay on her soft cushion bean bag thing. Her pinkish scales shone in the fire’s light and so did her razor sharp talons which were quite intimidating at first but when you got to know the lazy old dragon you learnt that there was nothing to be afraid of. Acannah was very boring to talk to, she had almost unlimited knowledge which Amien would have usually been interested in but her conversations were so dull it put even him off. Amien was also quite worried near Acannah because when she stood up her tall frame would completely outsize his cat sized vulpine body. Amien sat up and stretched his forepaws then wandered out of the lounge doors although he had to squeeze through the cat-flap and he was glad no one saw. He trotted down the bottom corridor of the west wing, passing the Ace’s key on the way. He suddenly stopped and his claws skidded on the wooden floor to turn back. The priceless key shouldn’t be lying like a piece of scrap metal on the ground! He stared down on the beautiful key, one of the five golden segments of the Ace’s spear. Amien would truly and utterly hate if even one of the Ace’s segments were harmed. Amien stood staring at it for a while, its beauty was astonishing. I was quite small with a luscious golden gleam and rare gems such as rubies and diamonds pin-pricked all over. Amien bent down and picked it up very gently in his jaws, as not to scratch it. He tip-toed very carefully back down the way he came to find the Ace. He once again squeezed through the cat-flap and trotted past Acannah, still sleeping. He made his way down to the far door which had no pet entrance so he would have to manage to open it himself when he noticed that the fire had gone out. That was very odd because it had been roaring a few minutes before. Amien tilted his head and stared into the black logs and the only half burnt coal. It puzzled him as it would anyone. He moved forward and could feel absolutely no heat coming from it and it felt unused and cold. This was very strange, as was the key just lying on the ground. He stared into the fireplace and thought about some kind of reason why it went out. It was not wet or draughty so that wasn’t how it went out. Amien decided to worry about it and walked away to find the Ace. He had to go to the library where the Ace usually was studying. Down the hall to the library Amien walked past a strange cloaked figure walking upwards to the lounge. The figure, as it got closer, it turned out that the cloak was its skin. A very shadowy skin in fact, little slivers of its skin would squirm off and float for a split second before evaporating into the air. Amien was terrified, he shouted down the corridor,“Medial?! Is that you Medial?!”Medial was a terrible great black-furred dragon with a disgusting sense of humour. But, this creature didn’t even seem to walk, but float ever so slightly off the ground. Amien started barking and from the depths of the shadows came a pair the most startling yellow eyes. The creature stopped for a second, opened its jaws the size of a man to reveal hundreds of thousands of blade sharp, scythe fangs. It then produced a giant viper for a tongue, Amien just stood there but from within the shadow demon came two long arms ended with the most deadly swords for talons. The creature whooshed forward and Amien took a few paces back, his eyes filled with fear. He felt a growl rise in the back of his throat. His small fox body was shaking uncontrollably. His bat like wings wouldn’t even stretch out and let him flee into the air. His tail ducked deep in between his legs and he wished that his paws weren’t frozen to the ground so that he could sprint to the safety of his quarters. The shadow beast was almost upon him, its claws towering over him. He couldn’t move, and even if he could the beast would snatch him up and swallow his body whole. Amien then saw a flash and knew exactly what to do. He threw up his head and howled.Howling was usually forbidden in the fortress, for it was a call of complete danger to summon the deities, slaves and the Ace. The howl rang through the fortress like church bells, it was very long and painful but the others would know that he was in terrifying danger. At the howl the shadow creature drew back and started screeching with pain as it clutched the sides of its face where, presumably, its ears were. It then went deathly still, a soft growl digging from the back of its throat. Then, it opened its mouth wide with a disastrous roar that erupted from the depths of its black heart. Amien stared, stunned, as the creature roared and as it did, thousands of eyes appeared all over its body just like the pair of eyes that had came out of hiding earlier on, looked like great luminous scales. The creature then lunged at him, its great arms grasping the air around him. Amien stood there, the few seconds seemed like an eternity. The beast then strapped his arms around the winged fox’s body, he couldn’t run away, he couldn’t jump so he decided to do something before he couldn’t even move. So he lunged forward into the shadow and immediately was plunged into darkness. As soon as Amien went inside the shadows he was immediately tortured by immense pain. It felt as if he was drowning, by set alight and get pulled limb by limb all at the same time. His eyes opened ever so slightly and he could see the most horrible and complex shapes he had ever set his eyes on. He then made a terrible mistake, one he would regret the rest of his life.He opened his mouth.Shadows swan down his throat and his fangs felt like they would snap at the immense pressure of the crushing darkness. It felt like lumps of ice sank into his belly and horrible images entered his mind. Blood, torture, demons, shadows, poverty and an image that kept appearing constantly in his head. A heart. A black heart spider-webbed with blood red veins. The heart was terrible and gory, its constant thumping sent shivers down Amien’s spine. He then experienced something he had never before, to cause the blood and torture, to command the demons and shadows and to own the heart as his own, to be as evil as it wanted him to be. For a few seconds he accepted the fact, commanding a world of pain and chaos, leading an army of unimaginable monsters but then he realized. He couldn’t, he couldn’t destroy an already unbalanced world, he couldn’t bring a hellish fate to everyone he knew and loved. He fought the feeling, but it was very strong, he knew he would always have it from now on but at that time he managed to push it away. The shadow of which he was it, realizing what stupid thing he had just done, laughed cruelly, a terrible shrill cackle. The monster then started to dissolved and Amien was spat out, he looked feebly into the shadows many eyes which were disappearing except two which were filled with menace and evil. The shadow then sank into the floor, the laugh still echoing in his ears. Amien felt faint, the whole experience would curse him for life, he would never get over it.‘Amien!’ A voice cried out, ‘No!’A few seconds later, the Ace was holding him in her arms. She had a human body, cloaked in a brilliant silk dress. She had a jackal’s head though for she was the half-sister of Anubis, the god of death. She held him,‘Amien! Please don’t go!’ ‘Mis...Mistress....’He began, ‘the...the shadow...’He coughed as he couldn’t keep his eyelids open any longer. ‘Amien? Oh no, what happened?’ His best friend Plague’s voice called,‘I don’t know...’ The Ace replied, ‘We must see Rememberance, he might have a remedy.’Then all went black.Rememberance paced around the chock-filled shelves of herbal remedies. He was a long serpent short of creature, he had no forelegs but tucked in fins and muscled legs for climbing up the ladders and steps that inhabited the fortress.‘So what is wrong with Amien?’ he asked,‘Not sure,’ Plague said, ‘but the Ace said that before he closed them, his eyes were almost pure white in fear and parts of his wings are ripped.’Plague was a lion but was cursed with some kind of hex that made his bones and flesh show all over the place but he could still move them as easily as anyone could. He had curled horns that protruded from his head and dragon like wings sprung out of his light green furred back.‘Uhh...anything else, that’s quite a vague deion.’ Rememberance sighed while sniffing out the perfect bottle. ‘Nope, oh yeah one more thing she mentioned....’ Plague began,‘Well spit it out!’ Rememberance snapped impatiently. ‘He had very badly chipped teeth and claws,’ She finished.‘Yeah, that helps...’ He mumbled.‘Well you said, spit it out and I did!’Rememberance pretended not to hear and kept on humming to himself. He crawled up the towering shelves as Plague looked up impressed. ‘Hmm...’ he said whilst grabbing a bottle in his jaws, he then jumped down and landed hard on the counter with an astonishing thud. ‘Ow! I think my old joints are getting a bit too stiff to manage that every day!’‘Well...’ Plague began, ‘It seems to me that you need someone to take the business of your shoulders...’ She winked at him,‘Oh no Plague! I am not, ever, giving my precious remedies to you! Maybe Vertiyson, but defiantly not someone as clumsy and spiteful as you!’She sighed, ‘He would rather break them all on the floor than help others in need! While me on the other hand...’‘No! And that’s final! Okay...maybe this one, it will help him sleep right rather than be tortured by the insufferable nightmares he’s probably having.’‘Okay, give it to me, you can trust me Rememberance, yes?’‘No and I never will, I’ll take it up oh and be helpful, bring that bowl too.’Plague snatched up a plain wooden bowl sitting on the counter with her teeth and trotted on after Rememberance. Although quite old he was still one of the fastest in the fortress and Plague had to run to keep up with his slightly faster walk. ‘Can you go any slower?’ sighed Rememberance.‘Not my fault,’‘Well you could lose some weight,’‘What?!’ Plague snapped,‘Oh nothing, nothing at all.’ He laughed.He started running and got up to the tower entrance, some of the deities got their quarters at the top of certain towers just like Amien’s. Plague sighed as Rememberance bounded on ahead up the spiralling staircase,‘Still got the bowl?’ He called down to her,‘Yep,’ she replied, ‘Why? Do you not trust me?’‘I think you’d know the answer to that by now!’The stairs seemed endless, Plague felt bad being slower than the faster amphibian. But she kept her pace, even though it was snail-like in Rememberance’s eyes. ‘I’m at the door Plague! Hurry up!’‘Okay! I’m coming, I’m coming!’Plague strained her muscles to move the slightest bit faster but by the time she reached the top Rememberance sighed and snapped,‘Took your time,’‘And proud of it!’ Plague grinned.‘Okay, you go in first, after all, you are his best friend,’‘You don’t need to tell me!’ Plague shouted as she stomped into Amien’s quarters. His quarters were like a museum, shelves and shelves of pretty rocks he had found in his travels, old dusty books and strangely shaped artefacts he had piled one on top on the other untidily. Amien was sleeping in a huge basket assorted with giant fluffy pillows, one of his obsessions. He was shaking violently and he was mumbling in his sleep,‘Cold....cold fire.....shadows....shadows!’ He shouted, stood up for a second before collapsing down again, ‘....heart....’‘Heart?’ Plague asked, ‘Shadows? Cold fire? How are you supposed to have a cold fire? It’s impossible!’‘I’m not sure,’ Rememberance sighed, ‘It could be that maybe, something spooked him and he thought...and he’s going....’‘No! He would never!’‘When certain creatures are scared deeply, especially clever ones like Amien they...they...’‘They go Casgast....’ Plague finished.Casgast was a type of disease that affected the creatures of the fortress on a rare occasion. It happened whenever the creature found the fire demon. The fire demon would creep out of his flaming domain and petrify the bones of his victims. ‘Well, it’s not for sure,’ Rememberance looked up at her, ‘It could be some kind of...other illness.’They stood in silence for a few moments,‘Pass me the bowl Plague.’ Amien shuddered in his nightmare, the experience would haunt him and he could feel the darkness slither in his belly. He wished it had never happened, then he would be eating his dinner and laughing with the other creatures of the forest. Every now and again he would hear voices, calling to him from the reality which was the path out his nightmares, but as soon as he was out another would creep back into his mind and he would be tortured once more. His nightmares were all the same. The shadow, creeping out from the fire chasing the key and lunging out at him. Then, the scene would go black and all that could be heard was a thump thump, thump thump, then, the heart would appear. He shook in his nightmare. His nose went dry, always a bad sign. He lay there in torment until a strange scent reached his nostrils, it was absolutely lovely, like the brilliant lavender and the sweet smell of honey, he forgot about his worries, the scent carrying him off to a beautiful place where in it the scents and smells gathered in perfect harmony. He lay for the first time in hours happy, but then, the nightmare came again and poisoned the heaven. He whined and yelped for it to come back but the peaceful haven had fled, his nightmare continued. The heart with its constant thumping hurt his sensitive ears and his nose still twitched for the brilliant scent but it had long gone. For a few more minutes that seemed like hours he lay in torture but then his nose picked up a different scent, this smell jolted him out of his nightmares into a sharp jagged place. He couldn’t stand it any longer, the light was too strong, he woke up.
Lost has left Rescreatu.com
For information:
http://www.rescreatu.com/forum/cat/general/general/lost-be-leaving-res/~page/1/
|
Normal User
