Character Castle 2.0
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Cries of pain. Odd snarls. Wind blowing past her as people rushed by.
Sadiq barked loudly, leading Riure away to safety. “Master Ziess?” she called, a little nervous now. What was going on? This was where eyesight would come in handy.
Someone gripped her hand, yanking her backward. Sadiq growled ominously. Ehud, probably. “I think we need to get outta here…” His voice was tight with fear.
“Why? How? What’s going on?”
A flutter of wings as Master Ziess flew in front of her. “We are being attacked by savage beasts of some kind, madam.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope,” Ehud answered, tugging her back farther. “Come on, Riure.”
“What kind of ‘beasts’?” Riure asked, following Ehud while relaxing her grip on Sadiq’s scruff. She felt Sadiq’s collar with her fingers, found the small compartment, and withdrew a small, metal stick, about the size of a man’s index finger. Flicking it, she opened the contractible knife. Now Sadiq was free to protect her better.
“Black blobby things,” Ehud replied, his voice shaking. “I was attacked by one.”
Riure froze.
Hot, rancid breath.
A strong, overwhelming stench.
An angry, strong presence.
“Sadiq, attack!” Riure shouted, then dropped to a ball and curled up as Sadiq jumped over her and engaged something. The furious snapping of teeth mixed with growling and barking rang in her ears as her faithful dog and some unidentifiable creature clashed again and again. Rolling over, Riure crawled away on her hands and knees. Keep your head down. Pay attention to all your senses. Find a wall or something stable to use as a reference point. Stay tense and ready to move, Master Hendry’s teaching rang in her head. Make sure you have a weapon, and make sure you know where it is. Remember that your kicks will hurt worse than your punches, unless they’re in a face. Elbows and knees are the sharpest points on your body.
Something whistled past her ear. She was in the midst of a battle, which was never a good place for a young blind girl, even if she had been trained to get the best in a fight.
Finding the wall, Riure stood quickly and ran her fingers over the stone, collapsing her knife and slipping it into the small pouch attached to her belt. Please Kening, keep Sadiq safe. Help her out. Don’t let anyone die. Please, please, please…
Aha! A crevasse, and another in just the right place for a foothold.
Trying to concentrate as well as pay attention to everything going on around her, Riure slowly inched her way up the wall. One crack at a time, she reminded herself. As she placed her boot on a tiny ledge, she began to shake. One wrong step and she’d most certainly fall.
Help them, help them, help them.
There! A ledge, close to the ceiling but still short enough for her to stand upright on. Limbs trembling with effort and fear, Riure heaved herself onto it and rolled onto her back, breathing deeply. Now what could she do?
Sitting up, Riure explored her ledge. It was maybe five feet long and three feet wide, with the back wall curving up to meet the ceiling behind her. Another window – mirror, she corrected herself – took up half the wall.
Examining the mirror further, Riure found that it was squarish, with some kind of beveled frame angling into the wall. Riure brushed her fingers across the surface, then felt around the edges of it, looking for… something. She wasn’t sure what. But surely this mirror was up here for some reason, and she was determined to find it.
There! A little catch between the wall and mirror. It felt almost like a lever, so if she pushed it down…
Click.
Excited now, Riure grabbed the mirror and gently slid it to one side. Yes! Behind it was a sort of cupboard, and something was bound to be inside it. By reaching as far as she could, Riure could feel the back wall of it, and the cool air that had been stored inside of it touched her cheek like a silk ribbon.
What was that? Something…
A low grown permeated the air behind her. Hot breath brushed her neck, rustling her hair. Riure closed her eyes. The things could climb. Was Sadiq dead?
She crouched as the thing sprang, fully expecting claws to sink into her neck. Help me, Kening! Help me help me help me!
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@rusted-knight (assuming this works)By the way, when Rosario asked what Riure thought of the dragons, you totally read my mind! I was so going to have her hand it over to Allen. 😉
@everybody: Sorry, my kindle doesn’t seem to be working properly and Every time I post it Pops up extremely late. I’m not sure if this post is In the right timing. Forgive me if it’s not.
“Stupid stupid stupid…” Muttered Gwendolyn. Why would she even do that? But what was done was done, the mirror was broken and the cave was flooded with beasts. She whipped another arrow to her bow and shot a bear-ish muskrat thing. It immediately toppled over and fell atop another monster. She spun and faced the broken mirror with an arrow knocked, then she spotted a huge snake-like beast claw its way up the wall. It’s yellow eyes staring straight at the blind girl who had somehow climbed up the wall. It looked at her as a cat might look at a mouse. Gwendolyn’s blood froze at it crouched to spring.
It sprung. It’s eyes wild with a hungry delight, jaws open to tear and kill. Gwendolyn loosed her arrow. It struck the beast in the head and it’s eyes rolled back in it’s sockets before closing. It crashed into the wall below the girl and tumbled to the ground.
Gwendolyn ran to the wall and stood underneath the girl. She loosed arrows as fast as she could and many of the beasts where taken down. But they kept coming. A seemingly endless amount flowed from the mirror and as hard as Gwendolyn fought, she couldn’t shoot them all. Two leaped at her at once, claws extended wide. She jumped over the first jabbing it with an arrow. The second one slammed into her in a mid-air collision. Her shoulder erupted in pain where it’s claws had caught her and her head felt as if had split open when it hit the stony ground.
She sat up in a daze. Somehow she had held on to her bow but it was useless to her because she couldn’t see straight. She stumbled to her feet and shook her head. Her vision cleared and she reached for an arrow. Fiery pain shot from her right shoulder and she realized her bow was useless. She slung it over her shoulder and snatched her sword.
Beautiful things don't ask for attention
I ’twas no longer than mine! 😀 Btw, I love the way you portrayed Riure in that post! The part where she remembered her training was particularly interesting, and it shows that although you are blind, you can still protect yourself! That knife was also a really cool idea! I just thought of this, but my mom knew an old man who worked at a mall by playing the piano. He was blind, and had a German Shepherd. He walked back and forth from his home to the bus all by himself, and that dog saved him from being robbed by attacking a thief at least a couple of times!
I think its in the right timing! And I love Gwendolyn’s resilience: she doesn’t back down, even when she’s hurt! 😀
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KIARK
“Arhhhggahhh!”
I cry out and fall to my knees as something leaps onto my head, its sharp needle point claws clinging into my scalp and grasping my thick, tousled hair. I reach up and grab it’s body — a floppy, shapeless body that you can get no hold on. I tear at the mucus covered blob in panic as I feel trickles of blood dripping down my face.
“Ahhckk!” I cough as I taste blood in my mouth. I force one eye closed as I feel a claw digging into my brow, and my heart races.
This thing came out of nowhere, just dropped from the ceiling. I can’t imagine what it’s doing to my head. The pain is so sharp, like the sting of alcohol.
My face will be mutilated, torn and grotesque.
***
WYLO
I hear a crash, the clink of glass, and I look up just in time to see a mirror explode in a burst of light as an arrow hits it smack in the middle. I scramble to my feet and cock the vice even as I watch Ehud stick his head into the opening. He is mesmerized by his loud and ringing echo, but I know that there is something alive in there, something un-human and fierce. I can sense it.
Then the creatures pour into the cavern. Lord Castle is tired of waiting.
I see Kiark plunging his blade into a strange, ugly creature. I see the princess swinging her sword, and I see Riure scaling one of the walls while her dog attacks a monster. At least the Prince is no longer arguing with that curly-headed girl.
But I stand frozen, unsure of what to do. Do I help — can I do that? — or do I let them fight it out?
I have no choice when the animal flies at me. It’s a bat-like vermin, with the head of a monkey and the fangs of a viper. Without even thinking, I aim and fire.
The creature shrieks as its chest blows up in a swirl of smoke and grungy flesh. The bang is deafening in the cavern, and I cringe slightly before quickly reloading. I hope I have enough bullets.
But it works; my vice works.
My eye catches a large, lizard-like creature scaling the wall toward Riure, but an arrow hits it mid-snarl. That girl — Gwen — is good with her bow. But then, I hear a scream, and see that Kiark has collapsed to his knees. He’s clutching a large, black blob on his head.
I don’t even think, which is so wrong — so wrong — for me. I just rush forward, dodging a galloping camel-footed squirrel. When I’m so close I could reach out and touch it, I send a bullet through the repugnant creature’s body. But the metal passes right through. It’s like jello. I look up to see if there are any more of the animals, but I can’t tell because the roof is so dark and blotchy.
In desperation, I grab the blob’s middle with my hands and feel its cool, icky sliminess. I pull, and Kiark growls in a strong attempt not to yell. I start trying to pry its tiny claws from his skin, but they dig in even tighter.
I need a hot iron.
A stange, yellowish creature, a cross between a worm and a tarantula, is skitter-slithering toward us. I note with alarm that it has two heads; one on each end — and each with hundreds of small teeth. I haven’t had time to reload, so I draw my sword and prepare to fight. I haven’t done this for so long.
It raises up on the long legs that hold up its glistening body and clacks them. I stab, but it swerves. It shoots a taloned-leg forward; I dodge. Soon, it’s like we’re dancing, none wanting to try a real blow for fear it will be our last. In the back of my mind, I hope that nothing else tries to attack.
My hope is in vain.
***
KIARK
I see Wylo’s silver pant leg through my one good eye, and then I nearly scream as he grabs the creature on my head. It feels like he’s tearing my scalp off, skin and hair and all. My hair.
Then he stops and tries to pry the claws away; they dig deeper. I nearly faint, I’m so scared and my head is pounding so hard I wonder if I’m at a ritual of the Flecker Indians. I hear Wylo draw his sword as if from a great distance, and I hear an insectile clacking that seems too close.
But I can’t black out. My life depends on it.
I’m near the wall, and so I inch towards it, and I stand up, leaning against it, chest heaving. My head feels twice as heavy and I can barely hold it up. I must look a sight, what with this black blob on my head and with it dripping blood. I realize that the less I try to hurt it, the less it hurts me. But that burn is growing stronger.
My sword.
It’s laying on the ground by Wylo’s feet. He’s got an arm behind his back and he seems to be dancing the caranati with the strangely intelligent beast. I don’t think to curse my pride that I don’t carry another weapon, I just feel hot anger in my chest for forgetting my only one.
Then I see the murky green frog crouched in front of me. I think its grinning, and for once, I can’t grin back.
I light the arrow, pull the bow,
Shoot that fire right through my soul.Allen charged with a rebel yell. Lifting his sword high over his head, Allen brought it crashing down on something that looked like a racoon goblin. Kicking the blade free, he let inertia throw him into some snake. A good stab took care of that one. Laughing, Allen flew toward another snake.
“Come! Let us show our ancestors how their heirs fight!”
Whipping at Allen with its tail, the snake lunged when he blocked the blow. Smashing its jaw with the pommel of his longsword, Allen kicked off and spun the blade around.
“You know, I’d appreciate some help, if you’re not too busy. My leg is slightly more than uncomfortable and that thing doesn’t look happy.”
It was the newcomer. Snapping his head around, Allen saw her. She had switched from a scimitar to a sling. Skittering past an attack, he called out.
“Fall back to the second row and support us as best you can.”
He was down a swordsman. Reaching out into the crevasse, Allen felt more enemies coming. It was time to change tactics. It wouldn’t be long before they were overwhelmed by superior numbers and fresher foes. It was time to bug out.
“Anyone who can, block up that entrance and fall back.”
Quickly scanning his front, Allen assessed the enemies. Most were beast type monsters. Mixes and melding of this or that animal. Intermingled in this mob were more humanoid creatures bearing primitive weapons. Goblins or orcs. Striking down another racoon thing, Allen noticed that Riure was missing. He couldn’t leave her. No man left behind.
“Riure! Where are you?”
Almost mocking his fear, the goblins croaked out an echo. Curse them. He heard the cries now. One of the lords was caught by a slime or something similar. It kind of looked like a facehugger alien. A second, frog like monster was closing in on him. Using magic to accelerate, Allen stabbed deep into the nape of the frog’s neck before flipping over and slashing the slime. The skin seemed to swallow his blade. Too bad, for it.
“This is going to hurt.”
Focusing, Allen let the electricity coarse into the monster. It was a cruel way to kill it but Allen lacked a better option. With its grip relaxed, the lord was able to push the thing off his face. Withdrawing his sword, Allen moved on. He had to find Riure before she was left behind.
The Devil saw me with my head down and got excited. Then I said Amen
Ha ha! We have a bunch of characters with a lot of over-developed nerves, lol!
Ikr, like all our babies are reckless headless chickens 😀
Hi Cathy,
I just wanted to say you’re doing an amazing job on both Ehud and Rosario! They’re both such great characters, and they’re a lot of fun to read about! I love how you wrote about why Rosario hides her emotions!
Thanks, there’re some of the most fun I’ve ever had with two characters! I also just about fell over laughing with Liorah grilling Kiark btw.
You-– Twelve? You killed a twelve-year old kid?….what?…. Why??
…not exactly what I meant but I’ll take it! I really like how you paced Kiark’s emotions with everything going on it flowed so well! I meant she was twelve the first time she killed someone but my brain tends to jump ahead of my fingers so I skip/change words without realizing it so…*sheepish grin, sinks behind desk to reread everybody’s posts cos they’re soo good!*
Ehud had pulled Riure to the farthest corner from the fight and paused to wipe the sticky red ooze off his arm. It wasn’t all that bad it just wouldn’t stop bleeding.
“This is my favorite jacket..” He grumbled to the blind girl, mostly to entertain her “also my only jacket; my favoriteonly jacke…” Ehud froze in the middle of the action. Somehow, one of those creatures made it past the group and was now edging toward them, its spin outside its body it crawled like it was near-pouncing.
“Sadiq, attack!” Riure curled up behind her dog and scrambled in a crawl way too close to the battle.
“Nono no! Wait!” Too loud for her to hear him. So he did the only unreasonable thing he could think of and ran after her. The problem; he ran right into a battlefield. Bang! Mr Pipe Man fired into a glob just in time for Ehud to duck under a bat-creature. For some reason he whipped out his pocketknife as if it would do any good. “Riure! Please answer me, Riure!”
His only response was a growl behind him. With a yelp he whirled around to face…Sadiq? Tussling wildly with a half-bear vampire mutant. So Ehud jumped the monster and clutched the fur on its back screaming while it howled in fury, twisting to get at him. He stabbed with his pocketknife but that didn’t do a dang thing. Beneath him the dog growled furiously biting the creature.
“This was a horrible idea I’m gonna die what was I thinking I’m gonna die I’m gonna die!” Abruptly he knotted his legs around the beast’s neck and dug through his pockets. “I need to through think my way this -yike! and find a different ang-ow! Oh…” His hand caught on a lighter so without thinking he set the fur on fire. Which was a bad idea. With that he tumbled off landing sorta on his feet and by then the creature was…a flaming torch, tottering straight toward him.
“That…that was poor planning…Help!?” He staggered back, not quite sure where to run. The dog snarled loyally. Bang bang! It toppled to the ground still crackling with fire through it’s mane.
“Could you stop trying to kill yourself for five seconds?!” Rosario looked him up and down. “Where’s the kid?”
“I gotta find her she gotta away from me!” Sadiq pawed around for its master before whimpering. Hesitating a second, Rosario glanced over his wounds and stared up at him. Ehud tensed.
“You can’t push me out of this!” he gasped. Rosario turned at the cave leveled the gun with one hand, so she could rotate to a second gun when this one ran out. Click in click out, click…click.
“Everyone get out of the cave now! Rilyn and Konyar the both of you can seal it, everyone else focus on getting the beasts out here, Wen and Eltar shield the dragons,” Click in, I can’t lose him, click out, I can’t save him. Click in click out click in click out. Don’t make me make this choice (that I’ve been pushing away forever).To be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
Yes, thank you! I totally did not know what I got Kiark into there, and how on earth he would get that thing off, ha ha.
Ikr, like all our babies are reckless headless chickens
Yes! 😛
And thank you! I’m so glad you liked it and that it actually flowed well…. I thought it was choppy, he he. And oh man, *face-palm* I misunderstood. Sorry ’bout that!
I light the arrow, pull the bow,
Shoot that fire right through my soul.I forgot to mention how much I loved Ehud’s fight with that thing! 😀
I light the arrow, pull the bow,
Shoot that fire right through my soul.Wow! Everyone’s posts are so good!!!
I also just about fell over laughing with Liorah grilling Kiark btw.
Thank you so much! I’m glad it was funny. It’s a very in-character thing for her to do😂 I love how you write Ehud and Rosario’s voices! They’re both really voicey, which is something I struggle with. Even if you wrote the whole thing in first person without saying who was speaking, I’d probably know right away whether it was Rosario or Ehud.
Liorah
The arrogant young noble started forward and thrust a sword through the beast’s heart.
I caught a glimpse of the blind girl, already halfway up the wall. Wait, what? The wall? How did that happen?
I didn’t have the time to register anything but the long, snake-like blob slithering toward it. The bullet was already in the pouch and I swung the sling in a figure-eight in front of me. The familiar whirr calmed me. Before I could release it, the creature dropped to the ground, penetrated by an arrow. The girl with the bow pulled another arrow out of her quiver and loosed arrows in quick succession. She didn’t need my help.
I heard a cry. It was Kiark. Some sort of black blob had dropped onto his head and spread over him. A man in a silver suit hurried up to him and a second later there was an earsplitting bang. I flinched, almost dropping my sling. I pulled myself together and spun around again. A ball of flame tumbled over the ground, with Ehud standing nearby and screaming,
“That…that was poor planning…Help!?”
He’d set it on fire? I didn’t know whether that was extremely idiotic or rather clever. Probably both. Another ear-splitting BANG and the flaming creature dropped. It was the girl who had been arguing with Kiark. She had the situation under control.
“Fall back to the second row and support us as best you can.”
It took a while for me to realize the voice was speaking to me, answering my earlier call for help.
I stumbled backward, firey agony shooting up my leg. I bit my tongue and let out a muffled curse. It was thankfully absorbed into the shouts, growls, and hisses around me. My head pounded with the adrenaline, making my fingers tremble and my legs feel weak. Something whirred past me, stopping before Kiark. He still hadn’t gotten the thing off? Now it was really starting to become a problem. Whoever stopped in front of him seemed to be helping him though. A flash of blue light.
Not far from him, the man in the silver suit dodged some sort of creature. It was something between a huge worm and a massive spider. He backed away, desperate to keep away from the creature. He needed my help.
I let my swing swirl in a steady loop, my wrist twisting in the familiar movement. I let out a deep breath, letting my lungs relax. The motion of the sling, the noise, everything was familiar, everything was right. I let the bullet whip forward. Snap! Woosh! Thud. The lead bullet splattered the creature, spilling green blood. A warm feeling of satisfaction rushed through me, temporarily dulling the pain. A perfect shot.
A cry from behind alerted me. The girl with the bow was surrounded by creatures of all sizes and descriptions, all vicious. Blood streamed from her shoulder and she was trying desperately to fight off all the creatures with a sword. My fingers darted into the pouch at my side, dropping a bullet into the pouch. Crack! Whirr! Thunk! The bullet bored into the side of one of the creatures, and another was on its way before I struck the target. The actions repeated, picking off the creatures one by one.
My mind whirled into the steady rhythm of fighting. It was like a song, so familiar it became a part of me. It was in the clashing of swords. In the tinkle of chain-mail, in the pounding of hoofbeats mingling with my heartbeat, in the thud of a bullet hitting a target. The melody of battle rang all around me, blurring into a symphony.
A voice broke through it.
“Everyone get out of the cave now! Rilyn and Konyar the both of you can seal it, everyone else focus on getting the beasts out here, Wen and Eltar shield the dragons,”
I scowled, rebellion flooding through me. Who was this girl to tell me what to do? I was managing perfectly well, thank you very much. Then I understood. She wasn’t talking to me directly. I had focused so much, I had lost track of the battle on the whole. I cast a quick glance around. It was not going well. The creatures didn’t stop coming and almost everyone was wounded, some more, some less. We couldn’t hold this position for long.
I stepped backward, slowly backing toward the back passages. The pain shot through my leg, unexpected and fierce. It collapsed beneath me and I crashed to the ground. My back thudded against the stone.
Black. Yellow. Slathering jaws and long fangs like knives. It was on top of me, its weight pressing me into the ground. A paw, or foot, or something with long claws crushed into the wound on my leg. Black spots danced before my eyes and a whimpering cry of pain escaped my throat. The clawed feet dug into my arms, pinning me to the ground. The fangs were centimeters away from my throat.
I was going to die.
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Ending on that high note! I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!
Without darkness, there is no light. If there was no nighttime, would the stars be as bright?
Riure breathed a sigh of intense relief as the thing attacking her – whatever it had been, it didn’t smell that great – let out a high-pitched squeal of pain and apparently tumbled off the ledge.
“Thanks!” Riure shouted to whoever had saved her. If it was Master Ziess, yay for him (and lucky for her)! If it was someone else, yay, she probably had a new friend.
Turning back to the hole behind the mirror, Riure reached inside as far as she could go, her fingers finding a small something, shaped like a wider version of her collapsible knife. Odd. Another knife wasn’t that helpful, at least, not to her.
Riure pulled it out of the hole, letting her fingers explore its smooth surface. What in the world? Grooves ran across it in a set pattern, although she couldn’t figure it out.
Arrows whizzed through the air below her, and Riure hoped everyone was okay. Surely this thing could help, and that meant that she had to figure it out.
Riure hunkered down near the mirror, doing her best to block out the sounds of the battle going on below. More than once something yelped, and her heart seemed to wrench right out of her chest with fear, but she reminded herself that there were too many yelps for them to all be Sadiq. Maybe there were dogs the group was having to fight.
Closing her eyes, Riure bent her head, touching her forehead to her knees. She held the flat shape in her hand, fingers feeling the grooves over and over. She tried turning it over, but the other side was flat and smooth. Nothing there. She tried rotating it, feeling the grooves in different directions.
A.
A? Riure’s heart began to pound with excitement as she ran her sensitive index finger over the series of grooves again. Yes, it was certainly an A. This piece of something was spelling out a message.
Starting at the beginning, her brow furrowed in concentration, Riure slowly let her fingertips traverse the surface of the flat thing.
L, then the capital A. Something, something really confusing, something.
Sighing, Riure started over. She tried not to hurry, but not to take too much time. This was important, she could feel it, and that meant that she had to both get the message right – which meant going slowly – and figure it out before everyone died – which meant moving quickly.
L, A… U! It had to be a U.
Something… an 8? That’s what it felt like. Riure moved on to the last letter, deciding she could figure that one out last.
A straight, vertical line. A short ways away from it was another vertical line, just like the first. They were connected by another, horizontal line that, at first, had felt like it was at the top. But now, as Riure examined it further, it was in the middle. H?
L, A, U, 8, H.
It seemed like laugh, but why was there an 8 there?
No… it wasn’t an 8. It was… a g! A lowercase g! Why lowercase? All the others were capital letters. Riure didn’t know, and didn’t care.
Lifting her head, Riure whispered the word to herself. “Laugh.” How did that help? She giggled at the message. What a funny word.
Instantly a whine shrieked through the air. Riure silenced herself, remembering that she wasn’t exactly the most warrior-like of all the people gathered. She didn’t want to attract unwanted attention.
The whine slowly died down, replaced by Rosario’s commanding voice: “Everyone get out of the cave now! Rilyn and Konyar the both of you can seal it, everyone else focus on getting the beasts out here, Wen and Eltar shield the dragons.”
Oh no! Too late Riure realized her mistake. She was stuck on the ledge, with nowhere to go. She couldn’t climb down, she knew that.
Laugh, the word whispered through her brain. The voice was male. Laugh, child.
Riure smiled. She’d heard that voice before, and it still sent shivers down her spine. Yes, my King. Smiling, she did as she was told, finding that it came naturally. Instantly the whine cut through the air again, joined by a few pained barking and squealing noises. Riure laughed more. The last one sounded like a disgruntled pig.
The more she laughed, the more the cacophony reigned beneath her. The sounds made her laugh all the more, which only caused more noise in a seemingly unending cycle. The whispers of arrows and other flying projectiles had ceased, as well as the stomping of feet, the swish of swords, and the human cries of pain.
Laughing hurts their ears, Riure realized with a start. The creatures attacking couldn’t stand the sound of laughter. It sounded like it immobilized or wounded them somehow. Finally! Her ridiculous quirk could come in handy!
“Hey everyone, laugh as loud as you can!” Riure shouted, standing and waving the tablet of stone, or metal, she couldn’t tell. “It hurts them!”
A moment later the animalistic growls had begun again, and Riure instantly cackled in her most crazy/contagious way. She bet this would make Ehud laugh, if he could hear her.
If he wasn’t dead.
Whines, barks, hisses, squeals, roars, every sound imaginable split the air. Riure grinned, took a breath, and laughed again.
Another voice, not the gentle one from before, said in her head, This tablet you hold, young one. It is the key. The voice was male, and rang with authority. Riure guessed it was probably Lord Castle, although that made no sense.
The key?
No answer.
Riure summoned oxygen and laughed again. Get them out safely, she thought. Then keep laughing until you die.
This didn’t sound very pleasant at all.
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I hope this was ok… I know it was kind of weird, but I wanted Riure to do something. 🙂
@everyone
Sorry for completely disappearing. A LOT of stuff happened in my family 😉Welcome!!! Good to have another spunky character thrown in with our lot.
And without further ado, here’s your request *bows* (And you may notice the weapon-psychopath reference..) Sorry if I did it wrong. I just got a heap of information from posts shoved in my as I caught up with the craziness that’s happened XD I had no idea that people had posted so much!!! So, again, if I did anything/portrayed anything incorrectly, that’s my fault for being away for so long 😉
***
As everyone argued, Rilyn drew Konyar to the side by guiding his shoulders with her tail. “I don’t like this cave,” she muttered to him, peering at the kaleidoscope-like light that reflected off the mirrors, creating zig-zagging streaks of color.
“Why not? Creepy mirrors, strange lights, being trapped in here with a bunch of random psychopaths who for some reason were carrying weapons when they were suddenly transported here … What’s not to love?” he asked, flashing his most sarcastic, charming smile.
“You sound really cheesy,” Rilyn told him, though a hint of a smile played at her mouth.
“Well,” said Konyar defensively, “Thwaping’s writing this on, like, two hours of sleep, so cut her some slack.”
“Thwapling?” Rilyn cocked her head to the side. “Who’s Thwapling?”
Konyar shrugged. “You know… the person who could make us live in a magical gnome universe with man-eating fuzzballs with a simple click of her fingers on the keyboard.”
“You’ve either been spending too much time with Ehud, or you’ve konked yourself on the head,” Rilyn grumbled.
At that moment, a new person emerged from a tunnel, curved sword in hand. The two dragons–Konyar still in human form, though–watched with interest as she performed a test and explained it to the others. “She’s a genius,” Konyar murmured, arms crossed thoughtfully. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”
But then Rosairo and Kiark had a heated argument before Liorah–she had said that was her name–argued passionately with Kiarkus, too, both shooting nasty phrases.
The next moment, an arrow whizzed past them, not only shattering a mirror but unblocking an entire new road for complete chaos. Nightmarish creatures streamed into the room, screams and shouts and commands riding on their wake.
Rilyn thwacked Konyar on the head with her tail. “Great!” she exclaimed. “The moment after you mention ‘man-eating fuzzballs’, actual man-eating fuzzballs start launching themselves at these poor humans’ heads!”
Konyar shifted into dragon form, eyes piercingly assessing the threats. They heard Rosario call for them to seal off the tunnel, but as they started forth to do so, Konyar’s ears pricked and he stopped. Riure’s laugh sliced through the fray, warm and welcoming. Somehow, that musical, light sound in the midst of chaos caused a surge of admiration for the blind girl to surge through Konyar’s heart. It was only a laugh, but summoning that courage to laugh while a fight you can’t see raged around took a boldness that Konyar wished he had. The monsters whined and cringed as they heard it.
Rilyn must’ve noticed it, too, because her head swiveled toward the ledge Riure was trapped on. “Konyar, you get her down while I cover you,” she said. She snapped around and plowed through the retreating creatures.
With a nod, Konyar started bounding forwards Rilyn knocked monsters out of the way, usually using her talons and tail; she’d learned from Ehud that it might not be the best idea to set them on fire.
“Riure,” Konyar said gently, sidling up to the wall. “It’s Konyar here. Do you need help getting down?” It was a dumb question. Of course she did. “Okay, I’m going to allow you to climb down my neck then onto my back. Is that fine? Or would there be an easier way?”
***
Sorry for the length. Tagging @joelle-stone
"I threw stones at the stars, but the whole sky fell."
Oh, and the “Thwapling’s writing this on, like, two hours of sleep” part is accurate XD
"I threw stones at the stars, but the whole sky fell."
To many. To many beasts and not enough people. Gwendolyn was doing far worse with her sword than she had with her bow. Beasts surrounded her along with bloodied allies. Cries of pain and triumph filled the air along with howls and loud explosions. Then, high, beautiful laughter filled the air.
what?
It was Riure, Gwendolyn knew. “Hey everyone, laugh as loud as you can!” Riure shouted, standing and waving a tablet of stone. “It hurts them!”
Gwendolyn tried but it came out as more of a mangled, gasping, shriek. It was no use. She would have to rely on her blade alone. But even that was not enough.
She saw the new girl on her back. Pinned down by a huge beast. She knew she couldn’t reach her in time.
Gwendolyn hissed with pain as she grabbed her bow from her shoulder. She knocked an arrow and let fly. The arrow flew in an uneven flight and caught the monster in the back. It reared back and roared but the poison did it’s work. The thing fell unconscious with a thud. Gwendolyn returned to warding of the monsters with her sword but her shoulder was worse than before. She clenched her teeth and fought on inching toward the exit with each blow she dealt. The dragon had taken care of Riure and Gwendolyn doubted anything could harm her now.
Beautiful things don't ask for attention
And thank you! I’m so glad you liked it and that it actually flowed well…. I thought it was choppy, he he. And oh man, *face-palm* I misunderstood. Sorry ’bout that!
But it really flowed so great! And it’d be quite reasonable if Kiark heard it a little wrong since Rosario was whispering and would get even softer with that. That and I tend to read so fast I’ll read the opposite of what was written (which is especially awkward with verbal commands that you really can’t reread and everybody be like :/ and/or ‘dude I’ve literally told you three times!’)
I forgot to mention how much I loved Ehud’s fight with that thing!
Aw thanks, the idea with the lighter part-came from Wylo wanting to use a hot iron to get the blob-monster.
Thank you so much! I’m glad it was funny. It’s a very in-character thing for her to do I love how you write Ehud and Rosario’s voices! They’re both really voicey, which is something I struggle with. Even if you wrote the whole thing in first person without saying who was speaking, I’d probably know right away whether it was Rosario or Ehud.
Thanks! It’s sorta a thing for me in nonwritten world that I’ve always been fascinated with peoples’ voices and verbal ticks and phrasing and I think Liorah has a pretty distinctive voice too; she’s a bit of Kiark’s in a more feminine way and Lizzy from Pride and Prejudice
Oh, and the “Thwapling’s writing this on, like, two hours of sleep” part is accurate XD
your poor thing I need to hug you!
To be a light to the world you must shine in the darkness.
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