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Old November 16th, 2010, 08:18 PM
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Horde Lorde Horde Lorde is offline
 
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*NEW* Journey Of The Elves Chapter 4

This is a story of an elf and his companion as they journey through many lands, make friends and make enemies.


Prologue: Fire

Fire. An almighty force of destruction. You can smell it, hear it, feel it. Shooting fire from your fingertips is not a gift, it is a curse. Fire cannot heal nor can it help. Fire can only destroy, it cannot help a friend only harm him. The destructive force of fire is overwhelming; it spreads so quickly it is nearly impossible to stop. Control over fire is not a gift, it is a curse.

Chapter 1: Ice

Trudging through the snow is not exactly my idea of a great vacation. An intense blizzard is raging around us and it doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon. All I need to do is find a nice shelter, start a fire and try to get a decent amount of sleep before we have to get moving in the morning. But first, we have to find some sort of shelter, and it doesn't help that I can't see five feet in front of my face.

While I'm searching for somewhere to rest a while, I see something that makes me stop dead in my tracks. Footprints. Broad footprints with claws that dig deep into the snow. Judging from how fresh they are and how intense the swirling blizzard is these tracks couldn't have been made more than ten minutes ago.

"Orcs," I curse under my breath.

"What is it?" Asks Arkmer, who is my companion.

"Orcs," I say, louder this time.

"How many?"

"At least twenty, maybe more."

"Alright! We can take 'em!" Arkmer exclaims. He has been itching for a fight a while now.

"No," I say, "It's just a patrol, but these are tundra orcs. We're in their territory now. Besides, even if we did manage to kill them all if they didn't return to their base after their patrol their leader would just send more orcs, except that they would know we are here and they would be looking for us. So we'd better just lay low for a little while and find some shelter from this storm."

"But, Chardris--" Arkmer starts.

I cut him off before he can finish, "Quick! They're coming back!"

We duck down and watch as twenty or so orcs pass by. Thankfully our white garbs blend in with the snow so they don't notice us.

We keep going forward until we find a nice cliff and some large branches that we can use as a lean-to for the night.

"Can't we light a fire?" Arkmer complains.

"I'm sorry, but lighting a fire would alert the enemy to our location. Besides, even if we wanted to, we couldn't, because all the wood is wet and the wind would just blow it out anyway."

So we eat some bread and try to some sleep in the cold before our long journey in the morning.


Chapter 2: Poison

When I wake up it's still dark outside and Arkmer is sleeping so peacefully it almost makes me feel guilty to disturb him.

I tap his shoulder and shake him gently.

"Hmn? What's going on?" Arkmer says groggily.

"C'mon. It's time to go."

When I look outside I notice the blizzard has stopped and the sky is clear. As I step out of our makeshift shelter there's an unusual silence, but I suppose no animals have woken up yet. Looking around I notice a single pine needle on the ground, but I pay it no mind. I move forward a little and Arkmer steps out. We stand there for a minute or two when I notice faint indents in the snow, like footprints that have been covered and filled with snow, leading up to the big tree.

Then it all clicks. The pine needle, the awkward silence, the footprints.

"Get down!" I yell as I dive for Arkmer.

"What the--"

As I tackle him a sleek white arrow whizzes past my head, scratches my shoulder and buries itself deep into the cliff face behind us.

"Aagh!" Blood trickles out of the wound in my shoulder. The warm blood feels hot against my ice cold skin.

I focus some energy into my fingertips and shoot a bolt of fire at the orc in the tree. But it's too late. The orc has already jumped down and is going to get it's comrades some distance away. The fiery blast smashes into the tree and it bursts into flame.

Having recovered from the shock of the attack, Arkmer fires a series of arcane blasts at the fleeing orc, but they miss.

After a little while a band of at least fifty orcs comes our way and surrounds us. I try to fire a ball of flame but it's no use.

My vision starts to fade and a high-pitched ringing sound fills my head as my ears start to bleed. I realize the arrow was poisoned and I fall to the ground.

"Chardris!" I can tell Arkmer is shouting but he sounds like he's a mile away.

I see Arkmer frantically firing bolts of arcane magic when another poisoned arrow pierces his leg. His leather leggings become soaked with dark blood. The poison affects him much more quickly, because he has a larger wound, I suppose. Arkmer falls beside me as the orcs creep closer. That's the last thing I see before I fall unconscious.



Chapter 3: Prison

When I come to, I'm in a damp cell made out of hardened clay. There's a cot a one corner and a latrine in another.

Arkmer is beside me, and he's still unconscious. His hands and feet are bound and his mouth is gagged, so guess he put up a fight. When I look closer, I see that he has a dark bruise the back of his head. I guess the poison didn't keep him out for long.

Then I remember Arkmer's leg. Looking over I notice that the arrow has been removed and his leg is bandaged up. I guess they still need us for something. When I stand up I hear a clanking noise and notice that my feet are chained to the wall, and so are Arkmer's.

I move toward the bars and see two orcs guarding the cell. They both have swords and one has a ring of keys around his waist.

Looking outside the cell I see that the sun has passed it's apex and is descending. So that means I've been out for six or seven hours. And I'm starving.

I walk up to one of the guards, tap his shoulder and say, "Umm... Excuse me... Could I get something to eat?...Please?"

The guard look over his shoulder, says something in deep, guttural orcish that I can't understand to the other guard, who nods and walks away. He returns several minutes later with an uncooked piece of rotten meat and a loaf of stale bread.

I eat the bread but avoid the meat. After I eat I sit and think about how much has happened in the past two days. We've been trapped in a blizzard, poisoned, captured by orcs and thrown in prison until who-knows-when. Wonderful. My life is perfect. All I need now is to get taken to some great orc captain and get sentenced to death.

Suddenly, the orc with the keys opens the door and says in broken Common, "Come. Time to see master now."

Oh, the irony.

The other orc comes in, prods me with his sword, picks up Arkmer, slings him over his shoulder and we're on our way.

We pass through the orc camp and see hundreds of orcs, some working, some training, some eating, and others returning from their patrols.

We come to a large ring with a giant door on the other side.

By now Arkmer has come to and is looking around. The big door across the ring opens and a muscular-looking orc comes out riding on a giant white beast with huge fangs. I instantly recognize him.

"Nerak. Why am I not surprised?"



Chapter 4: Nerak

"Ah. So you heard of me," Nerak's guttural voice gives me chills.

"How could I forget? You destroyed my village when I was a child." I say with a hint of hatred in my voice.

Nerak looks up and smiles evilly, "Ah, yes. Good times."

"You monster!" I yell and begin to stand up, but two guards point spears at my neck and I sit back down.

"Now, now, let's not be hasty, my good elf. I have matters I wish to... discuss with you."

"...Discuss?" I'm calmer now, but I'm still on edge.

"Yes. You see, we have a bit of a problem up here at our little camp. And, well, we need your help." He's obviously ashamed to be asking an elf for help.

"A problem? And what possibly could two elves do that so many hundreds of orcs can't?" I'm choosing my words carefully now.

"Well, you see, there's a sort of barrier around our camp, so we can only go so far away from here."

"And...?"

"We need you to take it down."

I see where this is going now. I say, "Why? So you can go back to raiding and pillaging other villages?"

Nerak is quiet.

Arkmer chimes in, "And what's in it for us?"

"If you help us, we will let you go free."

"And if we don't?" I ask.

"You die."

Short and to the point.

I think for a minute and say, "And who's to say that once we help you that you won't leave us alone?"

Nerak is quiet again, but then he says, "Fine. We'll leave you alone."

I ask him, "So how did we get in the barrier?"

He replies, "The barrier can sense magic. Anything without magical properties can't get through."

"I see. Please excuse us for a minute."

Arkmer and I talk quietly for a minute or two and I turn back to Nerak.

"We'll do it."


Chapter 5: The Barrier

Coming Soon.

Last edited by Horde Lorde; November 23rd, 2010 at 07:14 PM. Reason: Added 4th chapter.
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  #2  
Old November 16th, 2010, 09:36 PM
bumper15 bumper15 is offline
 
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Re: Journey Of The Elves

This is a good story. Although I think you forgot something. Fire is not only destruction but also rebirth. I am pretty sure you put that statement up top for a reason however and am excited to see where it will go.

Excellent start, keep up the good work.
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  #3  
Old November 16th, 2010, 10:52 PM
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Scapemaster Scapemaster is offline
Gluing The Mask On This Time...
 
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Re: Journey Of The Elves

Looking good. Interesting way of having first person view of an Heroscape character.

~Those who live by the dice, die by the dice.
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  #4  
Old November 17th, 2010, 06:53 PM
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Horde Lorde Horde Lorde is offline
 
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Re: *NEW* Journey Of The Elves Chapter 2

Added 2nd chapter, 3rd chapter should be out by Friday!
Enjoy and critique, as always!
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  #5  
Old November 17th, 2010, 07:07 PM
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Keep it coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sweet. Really neat way of writing things. Give us more!
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  #6  
Old November 17th, 2010, 07:17 PM
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Horde Lorde Horde Lorde is offline
 
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Re: *NEW* Journey Of The Elves Chapter 2

Will do mysteruim!
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  #7  
Old November 18th, 2010, 06:38 AM
bumper15 bumper15 is offline
 
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Re: *NEW* Journey Of The Elves Chapter 2

Good post! Word of advice, always listen to mysterium so get going on that next chapter.

We want more (stomp), We want more (stomp), etc.
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  #8  
Old November 18th, 2010, 06:51 PM
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Horde Lorde Horde Lorde is offline
 
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Re: *NEW* Journey Of The Elves Chapter 3

3rd chapter up top, 4th coming soon! Enjoy and I will continue working on it!
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Old November 19th, 2010, 03:56 PM
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Re: *NEW* Journey Of The Elves Chapter 3

The funny thing is, I used to like Chardris the least of the elves, until now. I really like his wit and lack of pompous elven behavior (which isn't bad for writers to do, just makes the characters less likable). I'll be curious to see what the Orcs want. Please, write more!
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  #10  
Old November 23rd, 2010, 07:16 PM
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Horde Lorde Horde Lorde is offline
 
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Re: *NEW* Journey Of The Elves Chapter 4

Added 4th...etc etc you know the routine.

Sorry for the delay, I was busy, BUT I should even have a chapter up tomorrow. (maybe, we will see, I might be busy)
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  #11  
Old November 23rd, 2010, 10:40 PM
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Re: *NEW* Journey Of The Elves Chapter 4

Interesting twist. Keep it up!

~Those who live by the dice, die by the dice.
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  #12  
Old November 24th, 2010, 08:16 AM
bumper15 bumper15 is offline
 
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Re: *NEW* Journey Of The Elves Chapter 4

Nice post, I wonder how this barrier got there?
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