Guest globalconfusion Posted March 29, 2002 Report Posted March 29, 2002 The setting sun was the only light guiding my path. Small branches whips at my face as I hurriedly run through the woods. The tall grass slaps against my shins, adding droplets of evening condensation to the pouring sweat. I run as fast as I can, despite my lack of shoes, hoping to make it out of this forest alive. I glance back to see if one of the guards on horseback somehow managed to catch up, but my attention is drawn to my foot as a searing pain explodes in my ankle. I land face-first in the mud, tripped by a tree root. I turn over, immediately expecting rough hands to pull me up, but there is still nobody there. Get up! I mentally scream, You cant let that bastard find you! I look around, and find that one of the trees nearby has a hollow large enough for me to crawl into. I slide over to it, and cram myself in as tight as I can. The mud I'm covered in helps hide me, the tree's trunk is covered in it. A few moments of waiting and I hear horse approach. My calmed breath quickens again as I hear his voice, the voice of the man behind all this. "The little cur couldn't have gotten this far," he says, "tell the men they'll all suffer half pay and half rations if he's not in the castle dungeons by morning. Heyaa!" He spurs his horse and gallops off. It figures, having others doing work for him. Confident that they wont find me in here, I get as comfortable as I can and begin to sleep. I awaken with cramps in every joint they have a name for as I squirm out of my tree. It has become night, and now my illumination is the waxing moon above. There are hoof prints in the mud from all the guards, but I strain my ears and still hear nothing but the crickets. I stand, stretch my limbs and continue my escape in a random direction. An hour later, I am on the run again. I just happened to cross paths with a guard that had given up chase and decided to go home because of a sore backside. Now I twist and turn in every direction, ducking under fallen logs and leaping over shallow streams, trying to lose my only follower before others join him. Eventually, I stumble along the path to Henuth, in which the young King had ordered closed to strengthen the trade boycott. The horseman bursts into the open to my left; I instinctively run right. He could easily outrun me, but he decides to tire me out untill I cant run anymore. I look back too see how far away he is, and just my luck, I fall again. I close my eyes and wait for the impact. I dont land. I open my eyes to find that it is now daytime, and I am standing on solid ground. Iturn at the sound of a horse's whinny, expecting to see the guard, but instead there is a horse-drawn carraige. A woman is holding a boy in her lap, showing him how to control the horses. A man walks beside them, sword strapped to his side. I approach them, still slightly covered in mud. "Excuse me, gentlefolk, but have you seen any of the King's guards nearby?" I ask. They do not reply, and continue to travel past me. I run up to the man on foot. "Excuse me, sir, but I....." I stop short as my hand passes through his shoulder. Am I dead? The man motions to the two driving to stop. He pulls out his sword and starts to walk ahead, scanning the trees for trouble. "What is it, dear?" the woman dares to say. The man turns back to say something, but he screams and falls, an arrow had peirced through his leg. The woman gets up off the carraige and starts to run to him, but armed men bearing the King's seal on their shields jump out of the forest and knock her down. Another man runs and grabs the boy off the carraige, much to the woman's protest. I rush to their aid and dive into the man holding the boy, or should I say, dive through. Everything I try is in vain, as I am forced to watch as the woman and child are forced closer to the man. I hear a voice behind me, a voice I recognize, the one voice I'll never forget. "My, my, my," he says. I turn to face him as my anger starts to boil. "If it isn't the former Head Knight of Desoria! What ever are you doing out here?" he asks mockingly. "You know very well what I am doing, you worthless dog," replies the wounded man. "I am taking my family to Henuth. The King gave me his permission." "Well, I regret to inform you that His Majesty has changed his mind. You are charged with treason. How do you plead?" "Changed his mind? More like you have changed it for him. And you know damn well that I am loyal to the crown and country!" "Then why do you flee?" "I do not flee. I am getting away from the man that killed the King and uses his son as a puppet." The man nearly vomits as one of the men holding him down kick him in the gut. "What's this? A confession of guilt? It's bad enough that you attacked my men, kiling one," he motions to one of them, who proceedes to slice open the neck of his companion with the sword from the wounded man, "But you say you sold military secrets to Valair? Oh, the King would be sad indeed." He begins to walk away, but turns and adds, "You know your job, Corporal." I look back to the three helpless victims as the guards mercilessly beat them to death, boy first, then wife, and finally the man. The world around me fades, and I am surrounding by nothingness. I start to fall, faster and faster, faster still. I close my eyes, and I mourn for these people, whomever they were, but my thoughts were interrupted by contact with the ground. I open my eyes, and it is night again. The guard is there, stopped some distance away, laughing at me. I reach over to the brush and find a sturdy stick, which I hold towards the guard. The time to run has ended.
Ozymandias Posted March 31, 2002 Report Posted March 31, 2002 Ozymandias sits on a nearby bench, dinner in hand. He stops twirling his fork in the noodles as the story is begun yet again, and looks almost disappointed when it stops once more. Then, as if just remembering it, the angular man looked down at his dinner. Lost in thought, he plans out the rationing of his remaining food. Yes, he was ready. He would wait.
Guest Brute3 Posted March 31, 2002 Report Posted March 31, 2002 Brute drags a big, comfy chair up and settles in with a cup of coffee, eagerly awaiting more of the story. Ahhh..finally! he mutters. Brute O Drunken One
Guest globalconfusion Posted April 2, 2002 Report Posted April 2, 2002 The guard snickers at my mesely display of a defense. "Is that all you got, boy?" he asks mockingly. He draws his sword and spurs his horse into action. I unknowingly shift my stance as I watch how he rides. He raises his sword, and time slows to a crawl. I notice everything around me the moment before it happens. The guard's sword is poised to strike, but he's holding it too high and he's gripping it too tight. An adult squirrel runs up a nearby tree. He is sitting down in his saddle, but he should be standing slightly to give more momentum to his strike. A pair of phesants fly directly overhead. His horse, a fine and muscled stallion, breathes in as it flies through the air. Time resumes it's normal pace. I duck under his wild swing, which is too high and should have been in a downward arc, and grab one of the reigns to his horse. The stallion turns as I jerk it's head to the side, but the guard is more surprised than it as I jump and bash his helmet hard enough to break the stick. I am on the horse behind him in a single fluid motion, catching his sword as it slips from his grasp. I push him out of the saddle and turn the horse around. A fine steed, indeed; we make it back to town before it collapses from exaustion. Dawn is but an hour away as I near the castle gates, heavily guarded since the assassination attempt. I know not of another way inside, but a gut instinct pulls me down a nearby alley. I move without thinking, walking swiftly and silently to elude unwanted attention, until I come across a dead end. A single door is embedded into the castle wall, with no handle to open it with, at least not from the outside. A large amount of garbage is piled off to the side; this is where the kitchen disposes of it's waste, the food too rotten to give to the poor. Did I know this? No, but I do now. I press my ear to the door and hear a pair of voices arguing about which meal the king will want this morning. The servants have already been fed, so this door will open soon. I spring into action. The wall is easy to climb, even for my first time doing so. It is not soon after that the door does open a crack, and after looking about a bit, one of the cooks pushes it open fully and quickly tosses the night's waste as far onto the pile as he can. He walks back inside to get the rest, and I leap from my position above the door and enter unseen. -------- need sleep. too tired to write anymore in first-person present tense keep you in suspense for part 3
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