Rohan - Prologue: War and Tragedy

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This is one of my first pieces of writing, if you like it will put more chapters. enjoy.

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Prologue:
War and Tragedy


Everything stood still in Grintii'el; nothing caused a sound but the howling wind that brushed on the soldier's faces, hundreds of them. All their eyes met at one place, Helbid forest, waiting for the attack. Every gust of wind caused the men the grip tighter to their sword's hilt. The captain was the only one on his horse, and his amour had a beautiful gold trim, which gleamed throughout the night. His face was full of confidence; he kept turning his face around to his comrade, and whispering: "Ha! I knew those darn elves were too scared." With nothing to reply with the man kept silent. Most of the army was soldiers, but some were Feriyeas. Feriyeas were very short, they only reached to the waist of a normal man, but they were not shorter than Dwarfs, who usually reaches to the knee of an average man.
Feriyeas were always underestimated by humans, because of their shortness, but their strength is three times stronger than any human, even the weakest Feriyea can overpower the strongest human. It also takes five men to kill one Feriyea, and only a group of fifty of them can ambush a whole town. They have a great love of gambling, they always seem to be gambling or betting even in the rage of war, even though they were the slowest race in all of Alz Darge.
A sudden stir of movement from the bushes near the Helbid caused the first three rows of the army to draw their swords, after they realized that it was a small rabbit, they gave out a small sign of false alarm. This was the only distraction the elves needed, in a matter of seconds the elven arrows were released and a musical of vibrating strings was heard. Before the soldiers had time to lift up their shields, half of the army was wiped-out, because the other half was out of bow range. The captain was also taken out with them, but the loss of him didn't cause the army to back down. Another swarm of arrows was released, but all of them failed to hit their target. The soldiers would have charged but didn't know were the archers were, because the arrows were black and seemed to fall out of the sky. The musical tones stopped and everything was quiet except of the heavy breathing of the men and Feriyeas, or cries of dying members of the army.
For minutes for what seemed ages the frightened soldiers stood there with their knees bend down ready to strike any foe that stood against them. The Feriyeas were not really frightened, because if another swarm of arrows was shot, they for tall man to block them. The new captain called for reinforcements, and soon the army has grown back to its original state.
None of them dared step in Helbid forest; even get close to the bushes twenty yards any from it. The sorcerers and other magic users were stationed behind the archers on a high ledge, the whole battle ground was visible, and so they can see how the battle is going and warn them of anything going on that shouldn't. At first the magicians weren’t doing they're job, because they thought no enemy can reach them without going through the army first.
Suddenly the strongest magician amongst them was disturbed, he sensed something wrong, when his assistances looked up at him, he hesitated and shrugged, "I felt something coming, but I am sure it was nothing—what in the world?" The glass of water on the ground that he was drinking started to slowly ripple then small waves were created. Their eyes were also fixed on the rattling pebbles. Soon the man realized he wasn't wrong, he climbed out of the chair and stared at the accursed forest, the farthest tree he could see was shaking then suddenly trembled, and another and another, and it was coming there way.

"We have to warn the army!" the magician focused his energy, and whispered "Louriea Comidous."
"The people of the King, this is the chief magician, there is a huge monster is approaching us with high speed, archers get ready to shoot it down before it reaches here, and captain be careful…" his voice trailed of leaving slight echoes. His voice was heard by the whole army, the chief knew their reaction. The archers strung there bows, and the men and Feriyeas had their swords drawn and spears ready to use.
The outer row of trees in Helbid, started to shake violently, even the soldiers peered to the glow from the distance, as it came closer the soldiers realized, that their foolish king had brewed up a war with the elves without knowing that the king of the Orkus was supporting them. Only two thoughts rushed through the army, we're dead, and the second, we have all lived to see 'The orb of Athireii', which was the crown of the King Orkus, it was a pure yellow orb that can bewitch any mortal who sets his eyes upon it with greed. There was an ancient saying that if any mortal would slay the King Orkus, would obtain the great unimaginable power of the orb. All the creatures hoped that this man the saying speaks about was from the ColdBreath Kingdom, and not the Zigo Kingdom. The land of Alz Darge was divided into two main parts. The eastern Zigo Empire where the treacherous King Valkaro rules, and the western side belonged to the Jukaro Empire. The Jukaro Kingdom was ruled by a kind but manly King named Kuqe. There is a third part of Alz Darge the northern part when all the lone tribes and banished live at. No one knows who or where this man is from the ancient saying, or if was just a dim-witted story made up by a poor man just to gain some copper coins.
The final trees of the forested crumbled as the monster was completely revealed. Almost like a large round ball, its height it usually from 100-two hundred feet, it has one large eye on the top of its circular body. The king of the Orkus usually wears a crown, since its war he was wearing five feet thick iron plate on its chest. It would take the entire army to kill just one of these creatures, people to get to see one Orkus have a slight change to living to tell the story. It was very rare to get the King himself to battle; in any case this must be a very important night to Orkus. The mighty beast's weapon was horrifying it made half the army to shrink down in its armor. His weapon was a gigantic blood stained axe, with a leather handle and had three big gleaming gems stuck on both sides. One swipe with that axe and a dozen of men would have been slaughtered.
The loud feet stomping on the ground suddenly stopped, and a row of men—or elves where lined up beside the king. One of the magicians flew down looking terrified as if he saw Death's actual face. "There are about three thousand of the elves! And two more Orkus! We are doomed! Argh!" the last work was a shriek of pain caused by the head magician casting a spell that suddenly calmed down the man.
"This is a warning, don’t back out of the battle! Ever! Jider send a message to the Dwarfs as soon as possible them give them all they want for there support, we need help!" said the chief magician, praying he would live to see his family.
The dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did. -- T.E Lawrence




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Hi Ahmed, Thanks for the compliment about my reviewing skills. Here I go:

Every gust of wind caused the men the grip tighter to their sword's hilt.
Hmm, the sentence doesn't sound right here, there's either too much or too little words. How about: 'caused the men to grip tighter their sword's hilt' or 'caused the men to their sword's hilt tighter.' Just a suggestion.

His face was full of confidence; he kept turning his face around to his comrade,
'face' is said one too many times here; it really stands out. Maybe the second one you could replace by 'he kept turning to his comrade, or turning around to his comrade.'

who usually reaches to the knee of an average man.
Reached

but their strength is three times stronger than any human, even the weakest Feriyea can overpower the strongest human.
Was and Could. You're just going to have to reread because there's a few slips of tenses here.

It also takes five men to kill one Feriyea, and only a group of fifty of them can ambush a whole town. They have a great love of gambling, they always seem to be gambling or betting even in the rage of war, even though they were the slowest race in all of Alz Darge.
I'm slightly confused here. First of all, why would a human want to kill a Feriyea? Second, you should mention in the first part of the sentence that it takes five human men because the second part is confusing. If it takes five grown human men to kill only on Feriyea, how many Feriyea's are there in the village(ha! Sounds like a riddle) but seriously? Are there so little people in the village that you need ONLY fifty men? ANd when you say they are the slowest race, do you mean stupid? Or litterally slow?

A sudden stir of movement from the bushes near the Helbid caused the first three rows of the army to draw their swords, after they realized that it was a small rabbit, they gave out a small sign of false alarm.
I would end that sentence at the comma and restart with But or something else. The flow is disturbing in this sentence

The soldiers would have charged but didn't know were the archers were, because the arrows were black and seemed to fall out of the sky.
I would add 'fall out of the DARK sky' which would explain why they don't see the 'black arrows'.

with their knees bend down ready to strike
ONly Bent here.

because if another swarm of arrows was shot, they for tall man to block them
Not quite sure what you meant there.

The glass of water on the ground that he was drinking started to slowly ripple then small waves were created
Maybe : On the ground was his glass of water, and as he watched, the water started to slowly ripple . . . Or something like that.

and it was coming there way.
their

The Jukaro Kingdom was ruled by a kind but manly King named Kuqe.
What do you mean by Manly? Tough?

Ok. Well. Ahmed, I hope you weren't too discouraged about my review. The story has potential, real potential. I loved the way you described the arrow-fight, if you will. You're going to have to reread your story because a lot of it changes tenses. You might want to space out your paragraphs because they are somewhat hard to read and follow.

There's one thing I noticed is that we lack background. I don't know if you plan to expand this story, but we have no idea why there's a war and why the soldiers are so unprepared. Did the King not know that King Orkus would be there? Why didn't he tell his soldiers? They must have known that Elves are very powerful creatures; why weren't they better prepared? WHy did the magicians not react any sooner?

Well, that's all I can find to say right now, hope it helped.

Tanya :D




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well.. many mistakes.. thanks, i'll fix them all. Its a prologue so nothing really seems to make sense, i understand what you mean. Again, thanks for the review. its exams time for me so ill be inactive for like four days.
The dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did. -- T.E Lawrence




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Hello, Ahmed. I said I would check out your prologue and I have. :)
Note: I will use smilies a lot, in hopes that they may make some harsh words easier to stomach. Psychology, you know? :wink:

Now, let me just say, there were a ton of errors in your piece. It was downright disorienting at times.
:smt101
A sudden stir of movement from the bushes near the Helbid caused the first three rows of the army to draw their swords, after they realized that it was a small rabbit, they gave out a small sign of false alarm. This was the only distraction the elves needed, in a matter of seconds the elven arrows were released and a musical of vibrating strings was heard. Before the soldiers had time to lift up their shields, half of the army was wiped-out, because the other half was out of bow range. The captain was also taken out with them, but the loss of him didn't cause the army to back down. Another swarm of arrows was released, but all of them failed to hit their target. The soldiers would have charged but didn't know were the archers were, because the arrows were black and seemed to fall out of the sky. The musical tones stopped and everything was quiet except of the heavy breathing of the men and Feriyeas, or cries of dying members of the army.


About that battle scene. It was mostly telling. Allow me to explain, it was mostly, this happened, then this, and finally this event happened. There were no descriptions in between that showed the transitions from one happening to another. Don't get me wrong, I rather liked the beginning with the rabbit. But from there, things deteriorate as they go down hill. :smt032

The best way to avoid these kinds of issues in the future is to not rush things. Build up to a new action with a descriptive sentence in between. Otherwise, we as readers will not know how you got from point A to point B in an action scene. :smt017

I did not dislike your story, but the innumerable amount of errors detracted from the reading experience. :smt095

Closing words:

What I liked:
I liked some of your descriptions. I liked the mood of darkness and despair that you conveyed at key moments.

What I did not like:
The consistency of mistakes that plagued your piece. :( There were so many that it would have taken me at least an hour to point them all out to you. In the paragraph that I quoted there were not very many mistakes, but the same cannot be said about the rest of your story.

Happy writing Ahmed.


- :smt059
"Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
-John 11:25-26




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Well, it's not that easy you know.. Having English as a second language.
The dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did. -- T.E Lawrence



Eating rice cakes satisfies that part of my brain that makes me want to eat styrofoam
— RangerofIthilien