Young Writers Society

Tara

Tara laughed lightly as she ran through the woods jumping from tree branch to tree branch. She skillfully glided across them as if running on flat ground. Below a giant white tiger ran roaring in protest when she started to pass him.

Oh come on, Bear, don't tell me you're a sore loser. She teased the tiger as she sped up again.

Why don't you run on the ground, I'd win for sure if you did. Bear replied surging forward, but still not able to catch up to her. I honestly don't like that you run on the branches just to make your mind concentrate on one thing. You need to focus on getting Sayra back.

It's harder to run on the trees thank you very much, and I am thinking about how to get her back. Just doing it so that I'm not over thinking. She laughed as she jumped down on the ground and flicked Bear's nose before taking off again. She ran all the way to the clearing of the castle and stopped at the edge of the woods. A few seconds later Bear caught up and stopped next to her looking around for any threats.

Do you see anyone, Kilo? She called to her hawk who flew towards her from over the castle.

No one that is a threat. Kilo replied perching on her shoulder. The prince has Sayra in the court yard right now.

What are they doing? Tara asked a little weary of the fact that the prince would be stupid enough to be holding her friend hostage, let alone that he had her out in the open.

Walking. I flew around several times, I couldn't find any hidden traps or soldiers. Kilo replied.

Keep me informed. Tara said pulling a cloak over her head and walking towards the village. Bear stayed on the tree line watching her carefully as Kilo flew over head.

Once Tara reached the town she slipped in and out of allies until she reached a back door to the castle. Calling it a door was nice, it was more like a tiny window in the side of the castle that had no bars or glass and it was a good fifty feet up in the air. It was a quick climb though and Tara welcomed the challenge. She wasn't sure why the prince kept trying, he never won a fight against her and honestly she was getting tired of it. She had been gone for two years on her quest with Haven and to come back to find out Sayra had been taken prisoner was ludicrous! She really wished Haven was with her to help her, but he was getting his country back in order and had promised to come be with her after he was done.

Focus, Tara! She thought as she wiggled her way through the window.

Tara, I'm not sure Sayra is here against her will. Kilo said just as she was pulling herself out of the window.

What do you mean? Tara asked.

They're holding hands and laughing! Kilo replied just as Tara's hands slipped and she hurdled towards the ground. TARA!

Tara curled up in a ball waiting for the bone breaking impact, but it never came. It was like the ground gave way right before she hit and swallowed her into an utter darkness.

Celestia

It was just before dawn, and all in the palace were asleep, save for one. Princess Celestia, or Selena, as she liked to be called, hurried through the stone corridors of her home, the great castle her father had built when he first became king. Her long, icy blue dress rustled as she hastened on, dearly hoping that no servant saw her leaving. Armed with a bow, quiver of arrows, and two hidden daggers, she carried a knapsack, as well as her black boots. Reaching the kitchen, she slipped in and filled her pack with some apples, bread, cheese, meat, and a canteen of water. Then, she went to the courtyard walls and unbarred the north gate. Before opening it however, she silently rubbed each of the hinges for a time to be sure that no squeaks would reveal her escape for the day. After doing so, she stepped outside, closing the gate behind her. Once outside of the palace walls, she quickly and silently headed towards the stables. Reaching the second, she entered and went straight to the last one on the right. "Hello, my dear Silverstreak, are you ready for a run today?" She said. Her response was a low nicker. Quickly feeding and watering the young mare, she opened the stall door and led her horse out. Not bothering to saddle her, Selena jumped on bareback and walked Silverstreak out of the stables.

Once in the open fields, Celestia gave the antsy mare her head, spurring her into a gallop. The two rode as one, hair, mane, and tail all blowing in the wind they created. Slowing only when they reached the woods, horse and rider thoroughly enjoyed the early morning exercise. By now the sun had risen gloriously, giving the sky tints of pinks and purples. It was going to be a perfect day. As she rode into the forest, Selena entered a world of emerald green light. Soon, she stopped Silverstreak at a cheerful, bubbling stream that flowed over some rocks. While her horse drank thirstily, Selena had a meager breakfast of a wedge of cheese between two slices of bread and an apple. After finishing with most of the water, she dismounted to refill her canteen. When she was done, she took out a container of oats which she had grabbed before leaving the stable. Spreading a third of it on the ground, she allowed Siverstreak to eat. Then, remounting, she pushed into a trot.

After going on this way for about an hour, Celestia stopped her horse, having heard a peculiar sound. "What might that be, eh, Silver?" The mare flattened her ears against her head, listening. Suddenly, she gave a low neigh and seemed ready to rear. Calm but firm, the princess controlled the skittish horse and kept her on the ground. Forcing herself to go forward, Selena quietly reached for the dagger stuck into her high waistline belt. In less than a minute, they came upon a clearing of trees. In front of her eyes, Celestia saw the most strange scene she ever had crossed. About ten feet in front of them, levitating above the luscious grass, there was a sort of film, showing an odd kind of moving picture. There was a large building, in front of which was a large crowd, very weirdly dressed. The windows had been broken, but she was unable to see inside. Standing directly in front of the building, she saw a scattering of several equally oddly dressed young people, no more than thirty years old. They were facing her, making motions as if beckoning her to come to them.

Drawn by the mysterious scene, Selena gently kicked Sikverstreak forward, walking towards the screen. When they reached it, the continued walking, disappearing into it! There was a bright flash, and the whole appearance was gone, leaving both the clearing and the forest as gentle and quiet as it had been before, as if nothing at all had happened.

Kaya 

I walked through the village, stopping multiple times to admire the beautiful layouts of the many displays scattered around the marketplace. "Miss Kaya!" A void boomed behind me. I turned and saw the large innkeeper, Tucker, standing there with a huge grin on his face. "Not now, Tucker! I have to get somewhere." I exclaimed, weaving my way through the crowd till I reached him. "I know!" He laughed again, handing me a package. "I was supposed to deliver this to some villager but I knew you'd do it for me!" I sighed and took the package, looking at the name. "Ah.. I know him. Met him on my way to the castle.." I waved to Tucker and elbowed my way though the teeming crowd until I reached the gate. I took one last look at the village, then pulled my knapsack string tighter about my shoulders and pressed on towards the forest. 

I felt surprisingly cheerful to be out of the bustle of the village. I whistled a merry tune as I neared the woods, which were now looking more forbidding than I had thought. Never the less, I knew what my duty was and so kept going, stepping my pace up all the more. I finally reached the edge of the woods and paused for a moment, knowing what I was doing but yet, I couldn't stop it.. I took a pace into the woods, then another and another, not stopping till I spotted the queer cottage nestled among the trees. I knocked lightly on the door, then stepped back, awaiting the reply. The door was opened by a grumpy faced man, who obviously didn't like visitors. "Tucker?" He mumbled, looking me up and down. I shook my head. "No, but I'm a friend of his. He asked me to deliver this." The man stuck out his hand. "Well, then give it here!" I held it back. "I would be civil to ask for it, sir." "It's my property!!" He said loudly, his face growing red. He snatched the package from me and slammed the door. I growled but remembered that he was a grouch anyway. I put it off my mind and started to walk away, when I heard a scream coming from up ahead. I broke into a run and in a few moments crossed a hill and a horrid sight met my eyes. A wizard or mage of some kind was trying to cast a spell on a little girl, whose face looked petrified. He raised his hand and started to mutter some words over the girl. I ran as hard as I could but I was too late to save her. Some strange portal opened in the ground and the wizard shoved the girl into it. HeIr scream rent the air as she was sucked in. Without a thought, I bowled into the wizard and jumped headlong into the portal, which closed behind me. "Kaya, what have you done?" flashed through my mind before I fell unconscious. 

Lorcan

With a small ding the bell above the door rang as I stepped through the door of the local grocery store. My stock of nonperishable food that I kept in the my apartment, which technically isn't mine, is now gone and I'm starving.

I looked around and the store was mostly empty. Not like many people live here anyways. The dark haired boy behind the counter was flipping through the newspaper, waiting for customers to line up for check out.

"Hey, Brendan." I called sweetly to the cashier.

His head whipped around and his cheeks flamed at the sight of me. I laughed quietly to myself at how easily I hooked him and hopped up on the check out counter.

"Lorcan." He gulped. "You shouldn't be up there. I could get fired if my manager saw you."

I rolled my eyes and motioned for him to come closer. He hesitantly took one step forward and pushed his large frame glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose.

"You see, Brendan," I whispered leaning into his ear. "That's part of the fun." I threw my arms around his neck and looked innocently into his widened eyes. "But if you really want me to leave.."

"N-No. It's fine." He stuttered. "Like you said it's.. fun."

I let out a huge sigh. "No, you're right." I hopped off the counter and knocked over the box that held donations for the annual cancer fundraiser. "Oops."

As he dropped down to get it I quickly grabbed a protein bar from next to the counter and shoved it in my back pocket right before he popped back up with the box.

"It's fine!" He said, like I cared about the plastic box.

"Mmm." I nodded and leaned across the counter. "Brendan?" I asked softly.

"Y-yes?" His cheeks turned bright pink again.

"Maybe sometime you and I could-"

A loud bang cut me off as the doors burst open as a couple of masked men ran into the store carrying guns.

The woman with the groceries let out a mangled cry and one of the men aimed the gun at her.

"SHUT UP!" He screamed at me.

My heart raced and I fought hard to keep the little girl wailing inside me quiet. I glanced over at Brendan and he had ducked under the counter.

I held my hands up and cautiously walked towards the door but the other man grabbed me and held the gun to my head.

"No body move or I'll shoot her." He growled at the the frightened customers.

He pressed the gun into the side of my head and I winced. Tears flooded to my eyes but I squeezed my eyes shut so they wouldn't fall down my cheeks.

Taggar: The Fall of Taggar, the Visions of Darkness

"Taggar!"

Taggar suddenly bolts upright in his bed, the woolen sheets slipping down to gather at his waist. He rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands, trying to erase the screams from his sleep-muddled mind. The dream still blazes through Taggar's racing thoughts and burns in his memory.

A swish of a black cloak. A man's snarling face. A dark throne. A lizard-like creature...

Swinging off of the cot, Taggar snatches his leather boots resting beside the bed and slips his nightshirt over his head. His mind reels while he replaces the nightshirt with a cotton tunic.

"I need a morning spent outside," Taggar mutters to himself. He swiftly snatches his longbow and quiver then takes up his sword, before padding across the hardwoods to his bedroom door. Another image from his nightmare dances tantalizingly before his dark eyes, sending shivers down his spine. With a resolute slam, Taggar stalks out of the room and heads for the front door of his cottage.



Brown leaves crisply crunch under Taggar's heavy footsteps as he cautiously strides through the woods, easily maneuvering in the tangled labyrinth of tree branches and shrubbery. He adjusts the leather pack slung across his shoulder, feeling the familiar weight of his Seven Stones shifting inside. Smirking to himself as a frigid breeze suddenly whips through the forest, Taggar continues onward.

Then, abruptly noticing a strange sensation of paranoia, the young man spins about different directions attempting to find the source of his fear. He knows he is being watched, but continues his trek despite the odd, hair-raising feeling.

Dry twigs snap under a foreign footstep, immediately alerting Taggar and confirming his suspicions. The footfall was too heavy to simply be a woodland creature. Whipping around, Taggar instinctively draws Elendi from its jewel encrusted sheathe, moving into a defensive position. The sword glints wickedly under the pale sun as if daring the unseen foe to strike.

Before he has time to react, however, the ground around Taggar seems to collapse beneath him, sending him spiraling into darkness. He falls unconscious, and Elendi slips from his grasp, plummeting down, down, down...

Paul felt weightless as he plummeted, or was it was lifted. He couldn't tell which. It felt like both sensations were happening at the same time. Was he dead? Had he fallen in a hole and died? Was this his journey to heaven?

He continued to drop. He still held his musket, and his hat didn't fall off, even though it felt like he was dropping out of the sky. He tried to open his eyes but couldn't, so he just continued to plummet, his heart thumping like a herd of stampeding horses.

Suddenly everything fell out from underneath him and he collided with the ground, getting breath knocked out if him. He opened his eyes and heard screaming and yelling .Pulling himself to his feet he looked around. He nearly choked at his surroundings. Long metal cabinet-looking things were covered in bright boxes of all different colors. He noticed what looked like bread on one of the racks, and then saw the man dressed in blue pants and a black jacket, face covered by a mask, walk by.

He was holding what looked like some kind of weapon, but Paul didn't recognize it. The ground was smooth white lake marble, and high above were strange yellow things glowing bright. Over by counters where strange colorful glass pieces attacked to big tan box things was a girl, maybe twenty, being guarded by a man who held a pistol to her head.
Paul was absolutely confused as to what was going on, but knew one thing. These masked men weren't good. He was about to walk forward and confront the man, when four bodies collided into him from behind.

Selena felt herself being pulled through the screen in which she had seen that strange yet spectacular vision. Silverstreak had disappeared, and she was barely conscious. She seemed to be traveling at a rapid pace, with strange blue light surrounding her. Suddenly, a sweet smell filled the air, and she quickly blacked out....

Awaking when she landed hard on the ground, she was blinded for about a minute. Not knowing where she was or what was truly happening, she stood and began groping about. Running into three or four persons, she was finally able to see. She had collided with a few very oddly dressed people, with a variety of weapons. "what is going on?" she thought to herself. "I must be, this can't possibly be real."

The people she had run into looked just as confused as her. Looking around for the first time, Selena noticed the strange setting. She was standing inside a small building, and besides her and those few others, there were several masked men, one standing at a tall shelf-type thing and holding a sort of metal weapon to a young woman's face. There was also a small crowd of equally oddly dressed women and children, terrified and trying their best to hide behind many racks containing strange items. She was ready to observe more, when three more young people appeared on the scene and joined the five, including herself, also carrying weapons.

Kaya

I felt an overwhelming pressure closing in on my lungs and ears. I reached out and felt the touch of the girl's hand but she was yanked away by a sudden jolt that sent us both hurtling towards some distant light. I soon realized through the light that in mere moments, I would smash into the ground. I quickly tucked into a ball and waited for the impact. 

It wasn't nearly as hard as I had first thought but I knew my back would be sore for a while. I stood up and began to dust myself off, looking around in awe. I was surrounded by tall buildings, which seemed to stretch up to the sky. They were even taller than the walls of the King's castle! I saw immediately that there were many citizens, bustling about here and there, speaking often with strange words and phrases. No one seemed to have noticed me yet, but soon, someone happened to glance my way and a snicker came out in address to my garb. I brushed off the look and moved on, elbowing again past the strange crowd, many of which tossed seemingly crude and mean words at me. I ignored all of them as I got to what seemed to be some sort of food store. I made a note of it's location and moved on. 

Torkon

I opened my eyes to see the top of some boy's head. I blinked several times, taking in my surroundings with each blink. What had happened? I lifted a hand to my forehead to check for a fever, because I knew, suddenly, that I must definitely be sick. This couldn't be real.

I had traveled to every part of the kingdom and had spent months in every village and city. I knew what glass was, I had seen it in the fancy houses of Ciopal. But the entire wall behind me was made of flawless glass far beyond the skills of any glass-makers I'd met.

Ahead of me I saw shelves, like the wooden panels that lined pantries in the largest markets and pantries. However, these shelves seemed to be made of metal, and the contents on top were all strangely different from anything I would have expected to find.

My first instinct was to look around and explore. As a traveler, I always tried to discover as much as I could about every place I visited. Now I want to open the strange little boxes and search through their contents.

However, the other people in the room stopped me. They all stared with massive eyes and question mark faces, and I knew that somehow my presence did not belong. I noticed that no one else in the room wore a cloak, though a few figures stood with masks covering their features. I wondered why they hid, or whether they wore the coverings as punishment for something.

A child somewhere in the building whimpered, and then began to cry, erupting into a series of sobs that shook my body. I found her among the crowd, blue eyes and curly brown hair. She looked like my sister had at that age. Kaira. I wondered, suddenly, if Kaira had sent me to this new place as punishment for allowing her to die.

With my sister's image still burning behind my eyes, and the bright unnatural lights of the building causing everything except the child to blur, I ran forward and place my hand on the girl's cheek.

"Sh. Don't cry, dear. Everything will be all right." Though I knew I could not make the promise. In fact, I didn't even know what had gone wrong, much less how to fix it. Still, something was wrong. I could feel it in the air, hear it in every stifled sob and heavy breath. "Don't cry..."

Paul turned as he stood and noticed a group of people, all looking as confused as himself, slowly standing. There was one man, about eighteen or so, who stood, ignored Paul, and stepped over to where a baby was crying. A masked man ran up from behind, pointing a short weapon with no stock, against the back of his head. Startled, the stranger held his hands up slowly.

At that moment another person, dressed in medieval clothing, stepped in looking totally confused. Suddenly a shout rang out. Paul turned back to see the masked man with the pistol raising his hand to smack the girl who he held at gunpoint. In that moment Paul knew that whoever all these people were, whatever their names, where ever the were from, where he was, these masked men were not good.

"Hey!" he shouted, walking forward.

The masked men turned, apparently noticing him and the others for the first time. The man swung the pistol on Paul's direction.

"Who are you?" the man shouted in a gruff voice, grabbing the girl next to her. "Stay back or I'll put a bullet through her brain!"

Paul stopped. Then raised his musket ho is shoulder, and before fired. The masked man got off one shot which echoed through the store. Paul's bullet grazed the man's arm, and he let out a grunt of anger.

Paul charged, dropping his musket and pulling his tomahawk out in one swift motion. He dropped and rolled on one shoulder as the man fired again. The bullet whistled over his head. He came up on his knee and sent the tomahawk whistling through the air.

The weapon took the masked man in the chest. The blade sunk in two inches, sending blood spurting out onto the floor. The man let out a strangle cry and dropped to the ground dead. The store went silent.

Tara

Tara didn't know what to think as wind wistled past her, yet her clothes didn't move. Everything was black and she felt like she was floating and falling at the same time. The feeling didn't comfort her at all. What was going on? Where was she? She had climbed through that window hundreds of times and never had this happened before.

Seconds later she fell on a pile of people and she jumped back still in a crouching position as she looked around. The floor was made of a weird almost fake feeling stone, and the shelves made of a weird hard material almost like those made of metal like a sword. She took a deep breath as she looked at things that almost looked like food and the likes. There were people screaming and children crying. Everyone was on the ground except for several figures with masks on their face, people that were obviously here to hurt people. One of them held a weird contraption to a girl's head, and when one of the people she fell next to ran to a crying child one of the masked men put one of the weird contraptions to his head.

Another one of the people she fell next to was a young looking guy that held a long contraption that when a masked man threatened to put a bullet, whatever that was, in the girl's head he raised and shot the man. It sounded almost like a cannon when it went off and Tara's left hand went straight to her knife and her right hand rested on the grip of her whip as she backed away looking around as she undid the tie on the whip letting it unravel on the ground next to her.

When the kid with the long cannon charged the man throwing a tomahawk in his chest Tara jumped up and let the whip fly at one of the other men that charged towards the tomahawk kid. It caught his left leg and she yanked it pulling the man's feet out from under him. She yanked the whip back and whipped it out again it flying and wrapping around the man's throat as she tried to stand. She quickly cleared the distance between him and her and she yanked him up putting her back to the wall and shoving the blade of her knife against his throat.

"Don't even try anything." She whispered harshly as she looked around the room. What on earth was going on here and where was she? None of this looked familiar, all of the clothes except for a few looked completely foreign to her and she'd been everywhere. And she still wasn't fond of the cannon like contraptions.

The princess saw much happen within a few minutes. One young man crossed to a sobbing little girl, and was rewarded with a contraption, similar to the one pointed at the girl she'd first seen, aimed at his chest. Seeing this, the boy she had originally collided with raised his own longer weapon at the man threatening the girl and fired it at the man. Then, swiftly pulling out his strange ax-like weapon and ducking, he killed the man with a single thrust. Another masked man was dealt with by one of the few she'd run into.

When Selena saw the girl about her age ensnare the man with her whip and hold a knife to his throat, she also noticed another masked man sneaking behind the brave young woman. In the blink of an eye, Celestia had unslung her bow and shot the man in the arm. Then, acting quickly before anyone could come to his aid, she reached him and put her own dagger against his throat. "Don't dare move or you shall die." She said savagely to him, tightening her hold on him. The store, full of tension, once again grew silent.

Kaya

20 minutes had elapsed since I found the store and I soon began to come near it again. But there were screams and people milling around the entrance, trying to get away. I knew it would be useless to try and get through the crowd, so I climbed up to the roof, sliding across it until I reached a sky window. "Glad I rhoihht to bring some rope.." I muttered, tying the end of a long coil to a thick rod. I kicked open the window and tossed the rope inside, slid down it and landed, staring at the scene unfolding in front of me. My bow was already in my hand, with an arrow on the string. I glanced cooly at a masked man who was pointing some strange metal device at me. "Just try it.." I muttered.

Paul noticed a woman dressed in medieval type clothing climb in a high window to his left. He noticed that the others strangers weirdly dressed, had taken out two more of the masked men. Two remained, and they began to fore rapidly.

Paul dove behind a shelf of colorful cartons and bullets ripped above. He had taken the tomahawk out of the body but not reached his musket. He dashed down the aisle and turned to the right where the masked men were standing, firing with their pistols. Paul wished he had a weapon that fired that fast.

Suddenly he heard a noise and spun to see a masked men, arrow protruding through his back, stumble and fall. The woman who had climbed through the window was now drawing a second arrow back. The other strangers were taking cover behind the aisles. All except for the man who had comforted the baby. He tackled one of the armed men, knocking the pistol to the ground.

Paul took the moment to charge into the second man, ramming the tomahawk against his throat. The man tried to push it away, but ended up slicing his throat. Paul's hands were covered in blood in seconds. He saw the second masked man unconscious, the stranger looming over him.

Paul looked back and saw that the remanding strangers were huddled around two of the masked men who were standing against the wall, unarmed. One of the girls watching them had a whip, and the other a sword.

"What is going on here?" he asked to himself out loud.

The man beside him responded with an "I have no idea."

Paul turned to him. "Come on, I think we're all on the same side."

He walked over to the group of strangers. "I have no idea what is going on, but let's start out with some names."

Seeing this scene play before her, Selena was surprised at the skills of these strangers. She admired the different abilities of them all, especially the swiftness and cool-headedness they all showed. When the man with the tomahawk asked for names, she decided to be the first to introduce herself.

Stepping forward, she began to speak. "My name is Princess Celestia of Genovia, but I would prefer to be known as Selena, my second given name. I do not know exactly what is going on, but by observance I can see you several are good people, against these evil men." She replied, pointing to the captives. Going on, she said "I know not their purpose of evil, simply that it must be wicked to threaten innocent people's lives. I see through your actions that you agree with me. I believe that we have been brought here together to stop these men by what some people would call fate, or destiny, but what I believe was God."