Young Writers Society

He thought for a minute. "Since some of you have no idea where you are or how to get back to your homes, why don't you stay in the castle?" For good reason, the majority of the group looked terrified by that prospect. "The Castle of Blood is just a name - from what Tieth told me, the castle was built on the remains of a battlefield after a great war."

"Then it's haunted!" Briar exclaimed, shaking as he once again pulled his hood down.

Nendros shook his head. "No." He almost smiled at him, but realized that would only make him more terrified. "The castle isn't haunted. Both Tieth and Aska can vouch for that." Although some might say Aska is the one haunting the castle... "Even if you don't want to stay, I can at least show you around the place-"

There was a bright flash of light from right above him. He looked up and was startled to see a swirling mass of color above his head. "That's what I came here through," Briar whispered. Nendros was about to fly up to investigate it, but then, rather suddenly, a girl came tumbling through and fell onto him.

"My wings!" he cried out - of course she had to land right on the part of his back where they connected to his body! Though the girl initially seemed stunned by the events that had just transpired, she quickly got to her feet.

Nendros did the same.

She looked around at the group assembled with wide eyes the color of polished silver. "This isn't Germany, is it?" There was a tense moment of silence. "I must have gone through the wrong gateway...Wait! The gateway!" She looked up. Just as she did so, the the thing that had appeared without warning immediately disappeared. Her gaze turned to them all. "Hi," she dismally said. "It appears that I'm stuck here for awhile. My name is Schadel H. Kueper; I'm a detective-in-training and a necromancer-for-hire. It's nice to meet you all."



After everyone else introduced themselves and Nendros explained to the newcomer what they were about to do, they finally left the throne room and began to tour the castle. They were on their way to the castle's library (a place where both Nendros and Aska would happily spend their days) when they passed by the door. It was at that moment that someone knocked on it on the other side.

Inwardly, Nendros sighed. There was a reason he had never wanted to go to any major gatherings before arriving at the castle; he was a major introvert and all of these people made him desperately wish he was alone. He pulled open one of the giant doors.

There was a woman and a girl standing before him, both appearing to be very human. He immediately raised his hands. "Please don't be afraid," he said. "My name is Nendros Exel Xenon. I'm a human, but I was kidnapped by a dragon about a year ago and she cursed me to look like this-"

His explanation was cut short by the girl giving an excited cry and throwing her arms around the shoulders of a very startled Briar. He stood motionless for a couple of seconds before happily returning the embrace. "Oh my Lucifer," he managed to get out. To Nendros, it sounded as if he was crying. "Nat, you're okay!"

Mackenzie

Of course, volunteer me for scouting duty why don't you? Of course you forget that despite my bird-like attributes I do not have a bird's sense of direction. Of course you put me on scouting duty, and of course I get lost. Nice job Maya, nice job.

Plus side, the air was great for flying. Updrafts, wind currents, not too dry or too humid. I flew through a cloud, giggling as the water vapor tickled my nose. All of a sudden I felt something pierce my back, I let out a scream as I fell from the sky, seeing a castle that I hadn't noticed before. Of course I'd land on a hard stone roof, you know, instead of a forest canopy to at least try to slow me down.

I hit the first floor and fell right through it, I fell through several floors before coming to rest on a floor with a bunch of people on it. I sat up quickly, recovering from my aching back. "Man- the housing code must be pretty lax in this area." I said, rubbing my back. The stabbing pain in my wing returned and I winced.

"You're on my tail!" Objected some sort of Cat-person, who had run away from me falling before I landed on her- however she had managed to leave her tail behind...

"Sorry ma'am I wasn't aware people here were made of detachable parts." I said, getting off of her tail. It floated to her and re-attached itself.

"Any of you seen Maya?" I asked, getting back up and looking these... Strange people in the eyes.

Enide:

For an abandoned castle in the middle of a dark forest, there was a surprisingly large amount of people. Except, as she scanned through the wave of faces, for her husband. Of course.

The small gathering had been briefly broken apart by the arrival of a fairly large woman in a black jumpsuit. There appeared to be some kind of an arrow sticking through something that Enide couldn't see, not far from the woman's back. It was bleeding, however, and looked painful. Enide wasn't sure how she could ask about what had happened, what was wrong, and how the arrow had managed to pierce something that was invisible, yet clearly part of the woman's anatomy.

Frankly, she wasn't quite sure what to make of any of this. It was nice to see that Nat had been reunited with her brother, and they looked quite happy. On the other hand, everyone here was dressed strangely, and having seen a cat tail be separated and reattach itself to someone was particularly bizarre. The man who identified himself as Nendros, and said he'd been inflicted with a curse, looked strange. Almost draconic, which was consistent with his story. Enide was not familiar with curses, nor had she ever really seen one. She wasn't sure whether or not to take him on his word. Then again, here was a place that clearly didn't appear to be her own world, so perhaps such curses and their consequences were common here. The lady hoped it wouldn't happen to her.

Beyond that, she didn't know how to begin to look for her husband. There was a distressed looking man who appeared to have had gold paint poured on him, but he was towards the back of the crowd. Everyone else, in their variety of expressions and appearances, all looked like they could possibly tell her some information, especially since she did wear similar clothes to her husband. Yet, she wasn't sure how to ask. For once, she was in an environment where she didn't know what was going on, where she was, or what had become of her husband. Somehow, it was that much harder to break the ice, if only because she couldn't gauge its depth. It was frustrating, but she didn't show it.

Her ears caught the distant sound of some kind of shout. It appeared to be coming from another, higher part of the castle. Enide looked up through the hole that the woman in the jumpsuit had passed through. It was brief, and vanished quickly. Still, it gave her the determination to ask, out of the blue, while she continued to stare up at the higher floors of the castle exposed by the hole, "Where is he? Where is my husband?"

Inialos Hunter

I swung off Ormr- my stallion- and hit the ground. My legs protested from the long day's ride but I tried to ignore it. The sun would set soon and I would be able to seek refuge from within the castle grounds.
Tasha leaned against Nightmare as she dismounted and moaned.
"I still wish you would have let me run," she growled at me. "Then I wouldn't be this stiff."
"You know why that's a bad idea. I've explained it to you a million times." I knelt to check Ormr's hooves. His gait had changed about five minutes away from our destination and I wanted to make sure he was alright.
"It's never going to get through to her," Evron pointed out. "The Guard Dog is stubborn."
"It's my job to be stubborn," Tasha snapped at him and followed my example.
"Tasha, relax." I tried to calm her. She got irritable when she was tired and was struggling with something she wouldn't admit -- which I was sure she was -- and after the long weeks of traveling she was short of temper.
"I'm relaxed," she snarled, and took Nightmare's reins as she started down the winding road to the castle.
Yes, indeed. Very relaxed, I wanted to say, but didn't. Provoking her wouldn't help us at all.
I fell into step next to Evron as we walked down the road, the horses' hooves clacking on the cobblestones. "Do you know what's bothering her?" I inquired. Tasha and Evron were...together, so I thought he might know something I didn't. She had a hard time trusting people since Kolvar had betrayed us.
Evron shook his head. "Dunno. She's been like this for a good long while though. My best guess is that Kolvar's betrayal is still getting to her, but it is all speculation."
I sighed. Maybe if we gave her time she'd come round.

"Your husband?" Nendros questioned.

Briar followed both his and the woman's gazes up to the ceiling. He could hear far off shouts coming from higher levels of the castle, which made shivers race up his spine. What if Nendros was wrong, and the castle really was haunted? He knew the two men were unaccounted for, but what if the shouting was a result of their terror as a ghostly apparition approached them?

"There was two men who ran away from us earlier...Their clothing style matched yours. Maybe your husband is one of them? I'm not sure where exactly they went, but from that shout I just heard, I think they're on a higher level. Or, at least, one of them is." After a moment of thinking, Nendros added, "We can find them, if you want. The castle can be pretty confusing if you haven't spent some time in it before. Aska and I have spent plenty of time here; we know this castle like the back of our hands. After we find them, if you and your husband need a place to stay, you can stay here for the night or however long as you need."

Aska stared down at the floor. "Nen," he whispered. His voice was quiet. Briar suspected he was only able to pick up what he was saying despite being a good foot away because of his demonic hearing. "What if Tieth comes back? It's been a fortnight."

Nendros gave him a strained smile. "We'll cross that road when we get there."

"But Nen-" The knight sounded like he was on the verge of tears. "You know what she did to me when I trespassed. What is she going to do to them?"

Briar glanced at Nat. He knew they didn't have much of a choice. Going out in the woods, unknown and most likely filled with dangerous creatures like wolves, was far too risky. Likewise, there seemed to be some sort of threat inside of the castle. "Nat," he muttered. "I need to talk to you."

Noting the worry in his voice, she quickly followed him to the edges of the group. "What is it?"

He explained the situation to her.

With a frustrated sigh, she crossed her arms. "I would say our best bet is to stay in the castle. We do have strength in numbers on our side, and from what I've seen and heard, the group we're with seem to be at least a little powerful."

He reluctantly nodded. "Alright," he said. "We'll stay here."

Tasha Hunter

At least there was shelter for the night, unlike a few days ago when we'd had to sleep in the rain without so much as a tree so bed under.
"What is it, Tasha? You're being irritable and not talking to any of us, and I am sick of it. Spit it out," Wolfsbane growled at me. There was one perk of my job- understanding the canine beasts.
"If I were going to tell you I already would have," I snarled in retort.
"You're awfully prickly today."
"It's been a difficult few weeks."
"You aren't among wolves anymore, Tasha. You can talk to us."
"I'll be fine, Bane. I promise."
"It'd better be," Bane growled at me and then dropped it.
We lapsed into silence after that. I heard Inialos and Evron talking about me in low voices, which was kind of amusing. They knew I had dog-like hearing. It was no use muttering or whispering- I could make out every word. I didn't bother to, though. I knew what they were saying. They were talking about me, trying to figure out what was wrong, how to fix it.
No one could fix it. I'd killed my own mentor. One of the few people I'd trusted.
I wished Ian was still there. I wished that Kolvar was still an ally. I wished that I was still among the Thieves' Guild with Ari and Lyn and Felicia.
As we reached the huge double-doors of the castle I pulled an eyepatch out of my saddlebags and tied it over my missing left eye. Then I knocked...

Kellach:

As much as it had been brave of him to run off into the castle, he soon remembered that this castle was impossibly complicated and confusing. The distant scampering noises he'd heard when he'd started chasing after Shiruba had vanished in the space of a few rooms, and now he was lost.

He walked in and among the rooms, holding a katana that was a good part of his height (he personally preferred daggers than swords, as a rule). Now he understood why these swords were not typically used indoors - if he raised it above his head, it would smack a doorframe or ceiling. Holding it to the side imbalanced him and sometimes sent the sword into a wall. So, he mostly dragged it behind him, trying to avoid any carpeting or rugs.

Not that there was much to be had here - most of the rooms were bare, with only the occasional rug or random pedestal or torchlight adding any variation. They all looked the same, and formed row after row of dullness. He'd assumed that the blank spaces would make it that much easier to identify and pursue his quarry, but, after a few minutes of this, he concluded otherwise. On the bright side, Shiruba was probably as lost he was, even if that wasn't much comfort. Still, since Kellach worried that the other man might choose to pursue the sailor, and make that sailor the hunted, he could at least be sure that situation wasn't too likely to happen. At least, not on purpose.

A few minutes and a flight of stairs later, the sailor was now traversing through an equally-empty upper floor. Sometimes he shouted, waiting to hear for a response. Nothing - not even the sound of footsteps. It was probably a bad idea, since Kellach wanted the element of surprise in order to find and catch Shiruba, yet the sailor hated the quiet. It was unnerving and frustrating. Even if Shiruba would likely be aggressive if they met, as he had probably been convinced that everyone and everything was a threat he had to avoid/dispatch as he needed to, Kellach would've been somewhat fine with meeting him. At least, he was usually a lot less threatening when he made his presence known, which was almost always. The sailor could prepare himself for most attacks in those circumstances. As he convinced himself.

Those ideals were dashed when he nearly collided with a blue-haired girl in a suit of armor as he went around a corner. He hated corners. The girl in question was not that much taller than him, appeared young and vibrant, and was sweating, likely from marching in a suit of armor through the castle. Kellach recognized her at once, and so did she, although he did spend a couple of seconds jumping back in surprise, dropping the katana and causing it to clatter on the floor.

"So, I haven't gone crazy and dreamed this all up?" questioned Terasu, smiling as the sailor sighed and picked up the sword.

"Sorry to say, but I'm guessing not," grumbled the sailor. "Unless we both have."

The girl flipped back a strand of hair. "Hey, is that the sword of the angry guy? The one who always got us into fights because of his ego, or pride, or whatever it was?"

Kellach smiled dryly. "It's his. He got it pulled from him in - you guessed it, a fight - and ran off. I'm here to find him. Do you want to come?"

Terasu beamed. "I don't have anything better to do, so why not?"

"We'll see," replied Kellach, before they started walking through the corridors.

Enide:

"If this castle is as confusing as you say it is, I am fine with the help. I do not know, though, if we will stay here for long."

Enide was uncomfortable. Her own hearing was rather exceptional, and those distant screams had not missed her ears. They were coming from some far-off location in the castle, but they were loud. Her husband was, by no means, the quietest person in any room he stepped into, but this was unnerving. Either he was fighting something, running away from something, or...worse. The dragon-man seemed nice and respectable enough, despite his foreboding appearance, although Enide still wondered how legitimate it was. Still, there was no evidence to dispute him, and Shiruba was always the kind of person to enter a panic and run off when faced with some threat he felt himself outmatched. With this many people, that wasn't hard to invalidate.

On the other hand, that none of them had gone looking after Shiruba was disconcerting. There was a stunned-looking man covered in some kind of golden substance (Enide did not want to know what), and a few nervous whispers exchanged, but nothing else. And even those whispers were about another topic entirely. It now appeared she had a deadline, and that someone - or something - was coming, and, if the man in the suit of armor was true, it wouldn't be friendly. She was capable fighter on her own, and she didn't doubt the strength of anyone else here, as it was a dead man's wish to underestimate anyone. Yet she was better with her husband, and this was a place of strange rules and appearances. Enide could just as easily be outmatched by any threat that arrived.

It was becoming increasingly hard for her to hold together her calm appearance. She hadn't been this frustrated since the time she'd had to find a few potential assassins and repulse them before they killed her husband, who had been un-blissfully visiting relatives in what was supposed to be a secret location. At least, then and there, she had known what she was dealing with, and how to combat it. The incompetence of those assassins had helped. At this time, she wasn't sure if this coming individual - Tieth, apparently - was any bit incompetent.

And then, of course, there was a distant knock on the door. A few furtive glances were exchanged among those in the crowd who could hear it. After a few seconds, the man in the suit of armor walked over to open it. Enide sighed internally. Her husband was possibly in danger in a horrible situation, and it wasn't likely that her guides would help her until they'd brought in whoever had arrived. For now, she could only hope he was safe and not running into problems. Or creating them.

Chessy

The newcomer with the arrow was... interesting. I knew this because as soon as she saw the man in the cloak I saw as a wraith she screeched like a banshee and hid behind the closest object in the room- me. "Get that thing away from me or I swear I'll tear out it's heart and bathe in it's blood!" Needless to say- I was a tiny bit disturbed by her reaction.

"Chill, he may look antimidating but he's currently peaceful."

"It's. A. Pitt. Bull." She said as if that explained everything.