Monday, August 14, 2006

   Chapter two... Not one..

Okay, chapter one was deleted due to a virus. But here is chapter two that has no connection with chapter one whatsoever! ************************************************* TWO: THE STONE Craig ran through the streets of Igorath, hoping no one would notice the small, brown-haired, green-eyed boy charging to the cathedral of the sacred guarder gem. He ran through the crowds dodging every person he could avoid as he ran through the mobbing tourists. Almost there, he thought, only twenty more yards until— “Hey! You! Stop where you are!” shouted a voice from behind him. “Blark!” Muttered Craig, he’d almost made it. (The translation is not important). He turned around and saw three chubby, out of shape empire guards chasing a poor man who had pilfered a loaf of bread from the local bakery. The unfortunate man had taken bread from the bakery before, only no one had caught, let alone notice, him. Craig sighed, why must the empire be so strict? And besides, if you wish to steal, you have to do it, not randomly, but cunningly and slyly. Such as Craig had done to steal a whole bushel of apples right from the merchant’s nose the previous day. He was not evil; he simply couldn’t afford anything to eat or drink, so he devoted himself to stealing, not for fun, but to gain food. Craig knew how the poor man felt; he had been chased by many officers, only to escape in a matter of minutes in the crowd. He stepped aside from his route and slid in front of the officers, stopping them their tracks. The tallest one spoke. “Out of the way! That man is a criminal!” Craig pretended to look shocked “He is? What terrible deed has this man committed?” The fattest one took his turn to speak. “He has taken bread from the local bakery! He must be punished under law!” Now Craig pretended to be bored “Oh really? How much of a fine is necessary to pay for all charges?” Now it was the shortest ones turn “If you must ask, its 300 pars, which I am sure you can’t afford.” Craig was unconvinced “ 300 Pars for pilfering a loaf of bread? Sounds pricey, but if you say so...” He reached into his robes pocket and pulled out a bag of money. He thrust it at the tallest officer. He held it in his hands and shook it. The Pars jingled inside it like bells. The officer was impressed. But there was no way he would let some boy free a criminal without a fight. “I’m sorry my boy, but it’s going to take a lot more than this to make this encounter never happen.” Craig shrugged. “If you must,” he said he reached into his robe again and pulled out another bag, bigger this time. He tossed it at the same officer. “Will this erase this incident?” he asked. The officer grinned greedily “You were never here.” The men walked away discussing how they would spend their great wealth. Craig walked over to the man who had watched the whole display. “You should take this from me- run. They’re going to be none to happy when they open those sacks. They were my tin caps. I was saving them for an emergency such as this.” The man nodded- then ran for all he was worth. Craig turned around and started again towards the cathedral. In a matter of minutes, he was staring at the front porch. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. The stained glass windows were magnificent! Craig was hypnotized in their odd display of colors. He was snapped out of his gaze by a voice. “Sir? Are you here for a reason?” Craig snapped his head around and saw a man no taller than his chest, standing next to him. “Er... Eh...” Craig was deeply embarrassed, an emotion he did not experience often “er... I have come here to worship the sacred guarder gem- if that’s not a problem with you...” The man nodded “All are welcome to worship it. But please, do not call it the Gem simply call it, the Stone.” “Er... right, So were is it?” The man walked over to the wall. “Right here.” He said, and he turned towards the wall held out his hands, fingers facing up and said four words. “Iknosh forto nixto tweek!” Instantly the wall slid away, revealing a secret door. The man walked inside it, turned around and said “To get through this door you must find out how observant you are. And don’t worry- all you have to do, is open the door like I did.” And at that, the door slid shut. Craig walked over to it. He held his palms up, fingers clenched and said the words. “Iknosh forto nixto tweek!” nothing happened. Craig thought for a minute and remembered. His hands were the wrong way. He held up his palms again and said “Ikwash ferto nicto tweep!” Still nothing. He thought harder. Ah! Of course! His incantation was wrong! He held up his palms for a third time and said “Iknosh Forto Nixto tweek!” The door slid aside. He stepped inside. The man stepped out of a shadow. “Very good. Now to get through the next door you must learn how to obey orders.” He said. “Very well then,” said Craig “what must I do?” “First you must take off your shoes.” Craig removed his sandals. “Now what?” “Now you must light that candle on the desk, then there is only one more thing you must do.” Craig did so, using two rocks he had found on the road. The man looked slightly impressed. Instantly another door opened, this one led to the Stone chamber. Craig stepped inside. He the saw the Stone sitting on a pedestal carved of wood. Nothing to special. He was expecting a lot more. But at least he was at his goal. Time to proceed with the rest of his plan. “Uh Sir?” He asked the man who had brought him into the chamber “what is the legend of the Stone?” even though he already knew the answer. The man looked at him. “The prophecy! Not the legend! It’s the prophecy!” Craig was startled at the man’s sudden outburst “Okay! It’s the prophecy! So, what is the prophecy?” “The prophecy of the Stone... according to the inscriptions, The one with the purest heart will unlock the true power of the Stone and they will be the one who helps the sword bearer close the door, thus restoring power to all Sectionss!” Craig was confused. This was not the legend he had heard when he was younger. “Sir? What, exactly, is the sword that the sword bearer weilds?” He asked. “First of all, you can call me Jerome, and the sword? What sword did you think?” He answered “I thought maybe it was a magic sword of some sort... maybe able to, I don’t know, cast spells like a wand?” Jerome grinned. “Magic, my boy, is the key word here. It is the sword of all elemants. It can cast spells of terrible power, and only can be used by the true bearer.” “So... who is the bearer anyway? Some powerful Warlock? Or maybe a dragon slayer? Or possibly even a mighty king?” Jerome shook his head. “The bearer has not been decided, but this much is certain: The bearer is not a warlock (st least not yet), or a dragon slayer, or even a mighty king. The bearer, is a kid. Just like you.” Craig was taken aback, another not commonly expressed feeling. “A kid? Amazing. And you said he’s not decided yet? Who decides anyway?” The man grinned. “The bearer does not get chosen by anyone. And the bearer is not the chooser either.” “Then who decides who the bearer is?” “The sword.” The silence was deafening. No one said anything. Everyone even seemed to have stopped breathing. Craig walked over to the Stone. He reached out his hand to touch it. It seemed to glow yellow when his hand went near it. He stepped away from the pedestal and looked at Jerome. “Eh... Jerome?” he asked “Don’t you usually preform some sort of ritual about now?” Jerome seemed to wake up as a new person. “You’re right!” he shouted and jumped up “You! Get the candles! You! Get the chair! And you!” he pointed at Craig “Move the pedestal into the center of the room! Hop to it!” Everyone obeyed orders. Craig ran towards the pedestal, picked it up, and moved it to the center of the room. The yellow stone seemed to be made of glass as he moved it to the center of the room. He just settled it down on the floor when everyone came back with there items. The man with the candles spread them out on holders around the stone. The next man put a silver throne in front of the pedestal. That man must be stronger than he looks to carry that thing! Thought Craig. Everyone walked-no, ran- and formed a line in front of Jerome. Jerome tapped the hourglass on the table next to him. “It is time.” The men formed a circle around the pedestal saying a prayer that was unfamiliar to Craig. After the prayer was over Jerome stepped up to the Stone and said: “Oh mighty Stone! Let us harness your power to seek the true chosen one!” and laid his hands on the Stone. His hands were on the stone for less than three full seconds when his eyes snapped open. “Everyone! We must inform the leader! The Stone we have worshipped for many years, is now missing!” ************************************************* tell me what you think!!! Comments (3) « Home