Patrick

Thanks to Mynx for allowing me to write my own lynching!

Joshua never left for work. He had not seen Bill Marsh in the crowd and that had been the reason he had mentioned his name to Johnny. Apparently it had been a mistake. Bill stood in front of Joshua as he tried leaving his cabin. From the corner of his eye, Joshua saw Roland the gunslinger and his ka-tet arriving in front of his home as Bill threw another accusation at him. "Is that it, Joshua? Is that your idea of this whole thing? Revenge? On those who would dare accuse you of killing your sister?" His sister. Sweet Tania, so brutally deprived of the life she had ahead of her. "I merely put her out of her misery," Joshua said softly, almost inaudibly, but still his voice carried to all around in the silence, which followed his words. "Calla Bryn Sturgis is agonising as my sister had been agonising back then. I merely wanted to help put her out of her own agony. The wolves won long ago, there is no point in fighting them anymore. Everything we had ever done, nothing helped." Joshua looked in Roland's direction. The gunslinger had already drawn his gun. "I do not regret anything I have done, do what you need to do." Roland pointed his gun at Joshua's head. "Cry pardon," he whispered and pulled the trigger. OOC: I'll let Mynx make the closing post.

Joshua emerged again from his home an hour later. All the while feeling Johnny's eyes on him he chopped some firewood in his back yard. Once he was satisfied that the wood would last him through the night he proceeded to cut a small sized log into kindling so as to be able to light the fire when he came home. He turned to Johnny before preparing to leave. "I'm heading off to work in the forest. The roof repairs still need some wood. Follow me around if you want, but I need to work. Alternatively you could go and watch others, more suspicious than me. Take Bill Marsh for example. Now, he is a silent one. I'd warrant he's up to something. Something bad." OOC: vote against Mardrax - Bill Marsh

Joshua had heard the crowd led by Johnny approach. He had woken not long ago and was just having breakfast when the knock on the door came. He stood up, wiping the corner of his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt and went to open the door. Only then could Johnny and the rest of the assembled crowd see that Joshua was shaking with anger. "Johnny Drumwoode!" he shouted, his voice loud, but calm, in contrast to the emotions written on his face. "You come here, yourself admitting that you have no proof, yet you accuse me? Have you forgotten that I hate the wolves as much as everyone here? Have you forgotten what happened to my sister? You were not around when she came back, a wreck of her former self, unable to recognise even her own brother! And you dare accuse me!" Joshua did not want to lose his calm. He paused for a couple of seconds, allowing his nerves the time to calm down. "Take your baseless accusations elsewhere Johnny!" Joshua finally shouted and slammed the door. Only when he sat down again next to the table did memories of his long lost sister overwhelm him and Joshua started crying.

Very interesting start. I'm definitely looking forward to more.

Yes. An Elder can change it for you.

Welcome back to the Pen! I remember you from the days when I was still new here. Glad to have you back!

up

Blood had been spilt again that night. Life and death visited upon the same household. The tragedy of the events had left Joshua speechless most of the day. He had delivered the wood he had chopped to the roofwork, unloading it without a word. Not even work could ease his mind. Mindless physical labour, the sound of his axe tearing chunks of wood apart; did not work. The monotony of his labour only gave him more time to think. He had realised in light of the recent tragic events that letting the mind run free was a dangerous game. A game he did not like playing with himself. Solitude had been his chosen way of life after the death of his sister. He had never regretted that choice. Until now. He wished above all that his sister were here with him now. Even when they were younger and she was still alive, she always knew what to do, always made the right decision. OOC: Vote for Ozy - Tam Cardeen.

I'm not regretting one minute of reading these two stories. I find your descriptions for scenery to be absolutely stunning. Autumn Wings is a beautiful twist on a classic story, and the ending brought a smile. Ivy, more original rang a tone similar to what I read in Return to Kilcad. The Lord of the Forest seemed to be quite similar indeed. The story was quite enjoyable thouh. Looking forward to reading more of these.

First off: welcome to the Pen Unimatrix! I'm liking this story so far, and looking forward to more of it. Nicely stopped at a cliffhanger, making us want for more.

power

Thanks for these glimpses into your life Regel. It's nice to get to know the members of the Pen better. I can certainly relate to the first post, being 21 myself. I don't know the specific band you're referring to, but there are certainly lyrics, which I can relate to. Seems that there is a fitting lyric for every mood I might have.

First off let me start by saying that I really enjoyed this story. The descriptions you use are wonderful, I particularly liked the expression of "lightning kissed a tree in the forest". The very few (compared to the length) typos only made me stop once during reading the story. In the Lady in the wood chapter you wrote "Yvain gave the sword an experimental sword". I think you mean swing instead of the second "sword". That said I felt that the end of the story was a bit rushed. The whole story is built on the threat of the Saxons and in the end they are brushed very simply aside. Maybe you could show what the Saxon threat consists of prior to the ending to the story. It also wasn't really clear to me why the two warriors had been turned to stone. I might have missed a small detail, but if that isn't the case then it might bear some extra explanation. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more from you.

Yay! I have time to have my exam (actually not yay on that) and then post later.

Best (belated) birthday wishes Wyvern! May the new year bring you even more success than the last and may at least one of your almost dragonic schemes succeed!

Congratulations!! Sounds like something really hard to get into, so well done! Good luck with the course!

Welcome back! Nice to see you around again.

sweet

geek

help

Welcome to the Pen LilacFlame! I've already read a few of your works you've posted at the Pen and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Great start to the story! *wants more*

Great story Finnius! Object 5: The hammer "Look at that wee hammer lads! Ain't it the smallest ye've ever laid ye eyes upon?" Laughter erupted following the words. "Small man, small weapon!" The merriment was even louder this time. I don't reply to them. Another long sip of beer. A sign to the barman. Another golden coloured brew arrives. My right hand never leaves the hilt of my hammer and my eyes roam round the room. "Maybe he's small elsewhere too!" A chorus of laughters follows. My hand itches to act, but it's not time. Not yet. The group of elves behind me stand up to leave, leaving only the five young dwarves making fun of me. Them and the barman. And Crusher. We have a peculiar relationship Crusher and I. She was given to me as a toy, when I was barely four years old. No one knew that she was magical at the time. No one knew that she was actually female. I found out about that sixteen years later. She spoke to me for the first time when it was my twentieth birthday. My life changed that night. Another beer finished. I don't even need to call the innkeep, he's already there with the next. The same old routine every night for three weeks it has been now. Ever since my fiftieth birthday. I give out a deep sigh, and allow the next insult aimed my way to simply drift past. Then something snaps in me. It might be the nine beers in me, or her talking to me again, but I get up. Two minutes later the dwarves are dead. Blood covers Crusher's sides and the hilt. Some of it is even on my face. She appears then again, in all her elven beauty. She gives me a gentle kiss on the forehead. Before I can open my mouth to speak, she is gone again, and I'm holding Crusher in my hands again. The blood is gone and the steel is immaculate. She hasn't had enough. I need to kill more. I have things to tell her. I have to see her again. Only the calling of blood does she answer...

I jump back in sheer terror as the furry creatury, about my size, appears in front of me. Fear quickly fades though and is replaced by a healthy dose of curiosity. I sniff out the smell of this new creature, while keeping away from it and from the big one which came with it. It smelled of wet fur, for it had rolled around in the snow. I tentatively approach, one pawstep at a time, and when I'm close enough, I touch noses with the funny little creature. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Meanwhile, not far away "Shhhhh...do not wake the sleeper. He is not ready yet." A shadow moves in the semi-darkness, playfully moving from darkness to darkness. A voice, almost inaudible, follows its passing. "The sssleeper sssleepsss...the ssshadow foressshadows eventsss. We can not wait much longer. You mussst hurry." "It can't be rushed. You know that. Now go and get me that book from the top shelf."