Young Writers Society

Evron Hunter

I stepped over next to Tasha before anyone got to the door- she was a fierce fighter and a loyal woman but no one could call her diplomatic.
However, I can't say I wasn't caught off-guard when it was an animated suit of silver armor that answered. Over his chest was a draconic crest. Who it represented I didn't know. I glanced at Inialos to follow his lead- he was, after all, the most experienced of all of us.
"Hail," Inialos greeted armor. "We've travelled many leagues and so we seek refuge for the night."
Wow, that guy really was diplomatic. Odd for the Dragon- diplomacy was my job. But I was new, so I let him do it.
Tasha eyed the animate armor in that cold, analytical way she does everything new. She was probably considering how to kill such a thing and whether or not she should be expecting a fight. Wolfsbane, her dog, snarled quietly at the newcomer, uneasy with such an...odd person.
Bran, my wolfhound, wasn't sure about the magic thing either. He came close to my and eyed the armor uncomfortably. The only one of us that didn't seem uneasy was Inialos and his dog, Adalhelm, who was sitting next to his master, panting.
I hoped we could stay there. If we were refused it would mean another night on rations stuck in the wind and the open sky. Tasha would probably prefer that over staying overnight in a strange place with a suit of animated armor as our host. At least the horses would get a good night's sleep.

He glanced over his shoulder at Nen. With the size of the castle, Aska knew that they would have enough rooms for everyone they had run into or were currently with, and would have plenty to spare. Still, it was supposed to be the Dragon-Human Ambassador that made the major decisions like this. Nen quickly stepped forward and greeted the group at the door. They looked understandably shocked by his appearance, along with the appearances of several of the group assembled.

"Hello," he said. He refrained from smiling; Aska wondered why. Nen almost constantly smiled. In retrospect, he hadn't been smiling as much as usual since the visitors began to trickle into the castle. "My name is Nendros Exel Xenon. I'm just as human as you are. I was put under a curse by a dragon and brought here to be the current Dragon-Human Ambassador after the last one died a little over a year ago. The people you see behind me, with one exception, are all guests like you are. We'd be happy to let you stay." Nen slung an arm around Aska's shoulder and brought him back to the front of the group. In response, Aska averted his eyes from their gazes and stared down at the floor. "This is my best friend, Aska. He's the semi-unofficial - very human - knight of the castle-"

"How can someone be semi-unofficial?" a girl spoke up; it the one that had been hugging Briar.

Nen turned to face her. "It's not a title, but, as you can see, he's wearing a suit of armor that's meant for a knight. It's obvious that's what his role is supposed to be, and he does a great job protecting me."

Aska stared at him. "I do?" he asked, bewildered. He couldn't think of a single situation where he had been the one to do the protecting. Nen was the stronger, more powerful one of the two of them.

His best friend was quick to nod, giving him a brief but very large grin. "You're great at defending me from the terrible beasts known as boredom and loneliness. Which I think means a lot." As Nen turned his attention back to the newcomers, Aska found himself feeling very happy at the kind words. "I'll get back to introductions now. There's Tom, there's Micha, there's Adrian, there's Chessy, there's Ryan..." It was long before the introductions were finished, the newest of the group - Mackenzie, Natalie "Nat" Cooper and Enide - supplying their names when Nen gestured at them.

The people on the doorstep were ushered inside, each giving their own names as they entered the castle. Aska was terrified once he realized how many people were in the castle, and that some of them were unlikely to be leaving anytime soon. Nen seemed equally terrified by the prospect of having to socialize and deal with people other than each other, but both knew they couldn't abandon the people who had sought out the Castle of Blood for shelter.

"Now," Nen began. He and Aska were at the head of the group. After all, they were the ones who knew the castle the best. "Let's go find Enide's husband and that other guy!"

Mackenzie

The throbbing pain in my wing was getting worse. I turned my head and drew my wing ao I could clearly see the wound, grimacing as I saw it. Magic swirled around the arrow- either stone, dust, or ash enchantments if you asked me. If I didn't find a healer soon, I'd turn into one of the aforementioned substances. So what else was new?

"Right... sorry but I cannot stay. I'll be off to find Maya now since you don't seem to have any idea where she is." I said, walking towards the door. All of a sudden the pain became unbearable. I clenched my teeth and subconsciously diverted any magic I could get a hold of to the arrow, to slow it's progress. The invisibility amulets on my wings flickered and went out, leaving my big, metalic, golden wings exposed.

Crap.

Enide:

She didn't have time for this.

New arrivals, as curious as they made her, took essential seconds away. After they had entered and had blended in with the rest of the crowd, the strange people and their hounds walked in and among the gathering of people. They all seemed suspicious and somewhat tense, although that was understandable. This was the Castle of Blood, and nobody looked anything that might qualify as normal. Still, Enide disliked how the hounds growled faintly whenever they went by her, as though unhappy with her presence. She wondered if they were, in any way, sentient, or if they recognized her for who she was. Both possibilities made her wary.

However, that, along with all her other emotions, was buried by a sense of impatience. It was odd of her to feel this way; she had been trained from a young age to be silent and watchful. Both of those required an intense degree of patience. Yet, here she was, staring intently at the awkward-looking leaders of this group as they moved towards the front of the assembled masses, waiting for them to set off on a path that would take her to her husband. That was it, wasn't it? Her relationship with Shiruba wasn't stable; they had been forced to marry each other, and had had to get used to each other's presence and behavior. While surpassing their initial barriers of dismay and finding a common interest had been easy enough, Enide had rarely felt so strongly about her husband as she did now. This was worry, rather than her normal level of concern. She smiled faintly. As terrible as her situation was, and as much risk as her husband could possibly be in, this was progress - a step forward in their relationship. Or, perhaps, for her, since he was already overprotective and devoted to her, although full-fledged love was still a good ways in the distance as a proposition.

When the large girl in the skintight suit sprouted massive wings, thus allowing the onlookers to see the strange arrow protruding through one, Enide lost her patience. Particles surrounded that arrow, and it seemed to be imbued with magical energy. It was beyond her flimsy knowledge of healing normal wounds, much less anything like this. Enide had sincere doubts that anyone else had any expertise on the topic either. The leaders of the procession, surprised by the girl's wings and concerned by the arrow, turned around to face the large girl as she tried to fly away. However, thanks to the injury that she was trying to focus on, the girl's efforts were proving incredibly futile, and she struggled to take off the ground, kicking the ground in frustration. Enide pushed her way through to the front of the crowd, realizing that neither Nendros nor Aska were going to deal with her situation. They would probably be kind enough to try to help the girl, and that would take too long for Shiruba and for her.

Her hearing took charge, pinpointing the distant shouting. Getting lost in the maze of passageways and corridors was a great risk, but she decided it was worth the effort. Breaking free from the crowd, she sprinted into the complex corridors.

And, as she turned a corner and vanished from sight, she transformed, and a small figure darted through the castle.

Inialos Hunter

After recovering from the initial shock of realizing the girl had wings, I ran to her aid. I didn't know much magic, but I did know how to deal with an arrow wound. Tasha and Evron were by my side in seconds. Tasha was being her usual stone-cold self as she waited for instruction in silence, letting me handle the talking.

"Here," I told the girl. "Let me help. I've dealt with arrows before."

She seemed a bit uncomfortable with me as it was, but when she saw Adalhelm she freaked out. She squealed and jumped back. "Get that thing away from me!" she cried. "Or I swear I'll tear it's heart out and bathe in it's blood!"

My first reaction was surprise at her reaction- both the intensity and the violence of it shocked me. But as was my job I recovered quickly and signaled Adalhelm back and gestured for Tasha and Evron to do the same. Evron did so without hesitation; it took Tasha a moment longer to decide whether or not she was comfortable with being separated from her companion. She made up her mind and nodded to Wolfsbane who disappeared into the back of the room with Adalhelm and Bran.

"They won't hurt you," I assured her as she stared wide-eyed at the canines. "I promise. Let me help you with your injury. I have experience with arrow wounds."

Mackenzie

"You ain't dealt with arrows like these sunshine." I said, glancing at the dogs warily.

There came a knock at the door, the cat-girl vanished and returned with a woman who seemed to be of Asian origin. She had long black hair that curled around the edges. She was very thin but also looked very healthy.

"Hello! Anyone seen a pompous blonde brat with no magical abilities to speak of but an invincibility complex, but will run away squealing when she actually gets hurt?"

"I don't squeal!" I whined.

"Let me see, demon arrow, stone enchantment, dogs, hole in the ceiling. You're lost and terrified." She smirked.

"If you could shut up and maybe help out that'd be great."

"What's the magic word?" She said, becoming more obnoxious by the second.

"Puh-lease mother." I retorted through gritted teeth.

James

Not all those who wander are lost.

But he was lost. Lost. So lost. Irrecoverably and irrevocably lost.

James pushed through the thick of the forest with his sword in hand, wishing his eyes would adjust to the darkness faster. But alas, his sight refused to aid him in its full strength, and for quite some time, he felt he was wandering frantically in circles. His only desire was to get away, and to increase the gap between him and his inevitable pursuers more and more by pushing forward mile by mile. It was of course, a daunting and exhausting task, but nonetheless necessary and unavoidable given his situation.

He stopped briefly, feeling the weight of tiredness, and traveling in a soldier's armor on foot. With one hand on his knee, he looked ahead through the trees, and curiously, he saw a light. For what felt like days, he had been wandering aimlessly through the forest, hoping to find some place of refuge. Living off of the land was difficult moving at the pace he was forced to, and the hope of even the smallest possibility of shelter began to drive him forward towards the castle in the distance.

He didn't presume to know anything of the whereabouts of the castle - who owned it, their nature and temperament, and whether or not they would throw him out at first sight. Certainly he wasn't so infamous a face that they would recognize...

James shook his head. There was no way of knowing. Worse came to worse, he would flee, which he had become particularly good at. That, and his exhaustion was beginning to cloud his judgement. With a clearer head, on a sunnier day, he probably wouldn't think to approach the castle at all. But it had been far too long since his last step into a building for him to question his already bubbling fantasies of sleeping in a warm bed or in a rocking chair by a fireplace. Such ideas only grew more vivid as the picture of the castle became clearer. Soon, he could see the door from a distance (but he held his breath, waiting for something to go wrong, or someone to burst out - observing always seemed the best route before jumping into action when he actually had the time to do so). He saw what looked like a female figure enter in with the door closing behind her, and judging from the lights inside, it seemed to oddly enough, be quite the busy place.

Tasha Hunter

"Puh-lease mother," the girl said, obviously unhappy with the whole idea.

Evron covered a quiet chuckle at that. I might have found it funny had I not been preoccupied by the fact I was trying to keep track of every individual in the room. I was used to dealing with criminals, not crowds of non-aggressive people, besides the fact I had unnaturally keen senses like the dog I was named for. With everything that had been happening, all the hard travel- it was too much.

"I'll be outside," I muttered to Inialos. He nodded understandingly as I gestured to Wolfsbane and slipped outside, breathing in the fresh air. Finally, I was out of the smoky din of the crowded room.

I leaned against the wall and closed my eye, reflecting on the past...

"Please, tell me it isn't true. Tell me you aren't working with the Pack." My words echoed in my mind. "I'm sorry," I whispered, and plunged my blade into my mentor's throat...

The girl stared up at me, silver eyes wide as I prepared to deliver the killing blow...No. I couldn't kill an innocent to protect them...

The blood...the death...the horror that followed that decision....

"I'm sorry," I told my mentor....

I shook myself out of it. No need to dwell on that when it was already done. Besides, it wasn't like I had a choice. Kolvar had betrayed us and left me no other choice. He knew the consequences if he was caught.

I stroked Bane's fur, letting the closeness of my pack comfort me.

Chessy

The woman- who I assumed to be Maya- used some magic then removed the arrow. The winged lady healed quickly, the sides of her wound mending together. She immediately began heading towards the door, but Maya plucked one of her feathers, causing her to squack. "Don't be rude Kenzie, these people have been kind to you. I know- there's canines, but maybe you should just let things go for a change."

"Right, we all know the only reason I'm here is because a pair of amulets decided 'gee, that gig with the fuhrer was a bit rubbish, I think I'm going to lend my power to a street-kid'" She mimed her head exploding.

"I like canines." I put in.

"That's 'cause you're nuts." Mackenzie said bluntly.

It was becoming increasingly hard to keep track of everyone; people seemed to be coming and going almost constantly, and there was a sort of chaos that continued to fill the hallway. Despite the hallway's large size, it still felt crowded. If he didn't watch where he moved, he would easily bump into someone.

He did a quick headcount. They were down by two people. He had seen one of the newest arrivals exit the building – most likely in an attempt to get away from the growing group – but Enide was missing. Nendros groaned. Tieth had never specified when she arrive next. If the group was with him or Aska, they stood a chance of being allowed to live and possibly stay in the castle. But if people went off on their own, like Enide, her husband and the other man had, he knew Tieth would spare them no mercy.

Aska peered out the window. “Someone's coming, Nen,” he said, pointing at the figure quickly approaching. He appeared to be human. Nendros was torn. He didn't want to leave the newcomer alone, but he also needed to find the three people wandering the castle.

“Aska, escort everyone to their rooms after that man arrives,” he finally decided. “I'll go and try to find the other people-”

“I can stay behind and wait for the man,” Schadel offered with a smile. She took a step towards the door and met Nendros' gaze. “I've been keeping track of where everything is, and I remember where the guest rooms are. That way everyone won't have to wait.”

He hesitated. “Alright,” he finally said. He had the strangest feeling, though he couldn't explain why he had it, that Schadel was perfectly capable of handling herself. The person who had been outside was called inside, and the group departed for the guest rooms.

Soon it was only him and Schadel in the hallways. “It can get dangerous,” he quickly said, feeling like he should warn her. “Even though I'm the Dragon-Human Ambassador, I don't have complete control over what happens here...Someone is supposed to be coming, and they won't take kindly to people wandering the castle without me or Aska by their side.”

Schadel nodded. “I understand.”

Nendros reluctantly departed in search of the three rogue humans.

James

He heard someone call him inside. Of all things, he hadn't expected someone to beckon him to come - in fact he had been expecting the opposite. Could, perhaps, this be a fortunate change of luck? He wearily slid inside through the door, seeing the two people inside become one as the other left. He didn't say anything, but he did not step further from the door. He awaited instruction, as this was not his home, nor was he familiar with anyone in it.

Enide:

It was incredibly hard to form any coherent thought in her most basic and dull form, but she was fortunate enough to not have to. All she needed to focus on was the distant shouting, and her ears could easily pick up on that. Besides, there were no other sights and sounds in this castle to distract her - most of the rooms contained a few pieces of furniture arranged in an almost random fashion. A tad depressing that the place was so neglected, but anybody who attempted to decorate it would end up stranded in the midst of its labyrinthine structure. There was simply no variance in most of the rooms, and only those with a clear knowledge of the size and expanse of the castle would be easily able to navigate themselves. And those people would be the kind to be stuck entertaining a slowly-growing audience and trying to deal with a new problem every minute or two (not that she could blame them, since such had degenerated into a good part of her own royal functions).

Admittedly, she was discovering quickly that her hearing skills didn't translate to navigation skills. Enide found herself dashing into dead-end after dead-end, whereupon she had to turn around and investigate another room. As swift as she was, she was growing incredibly tired of this. However, she was distinctly lost now; there was no turning back and attempting to find her way to the castle's entrance without spending as much time as she had already spent getting here. Besides, she could not hear the sounds of pursuers in the distance. Or, perhaps the singular set of footsteps in the distance was. Nevertheless, it was too far away, and she had already found a staircase leading upwards to the second floor.

Bounding up the steps as quickly as her legs would take her (and they, being short, didn't carry her much farther than two at a time), she arrived on the second floor and continued to run. Though the rooms were all similar in appearance, she had the distinct impression that there were less of them to run through. On the other hand, that may simply have been because the shouting was now much closer, and it was definitely more than one voice. Although, in her present form, she was unable to distinguish any words - assuming there were any - it seemed that some kind of fight was taking place. There was the distinct sound of a sword scraping against stone and the roar of flames. Her nervousness doubled, and so did her efforts. She scrambled through hallway after room after dead-end, with that faint sense in the back of her mind that her husband was in danger or in harm's way.

Finally, she could hear two sets of frantic footsteps echoing down the other end of a hallway she was about to enter. One sounded like a pair of boots, while its companion had the distinct sound of metal striking stone. That irritating sword-scraping noise was with them, as was the occasional sound of a blast of flame. Pressing herself against the wall of the room she was in while transforming back into her human form, Enide peeked into the hallway. To her surprise and amazement, she found the sailor and the red-headed girl desperately running from a rapidly moving column of flame in the distance. It burst into life and sputtered out shortly afterward only to reignite, but she could not identify who was making it in all the smoke it was producing. In the meantime, the short sailor was attempting to carry a sword taller than him with both his hands (and dragging it behind him), while the red-haired girl looked behind her and conjured blasts of fire indiscriminately into the smoke.

Sighing, Enide plucked the sword from the sailor's hands as he ran past, before she joined in step with the two of them. Kellach yelped, but seemed more relieved to be free of the sword, as he started running faster and more wildly, swinging his arms about him. Terasu smiled at Enide briefly, only to return lobbing fireballs.

"I'm guessing you found him?" remarked Enide sarcastically as Terasu ducked from a fireball passing over her head.

Kellach replied with what Enide thought was a nervous shout at first. "Yep!" he said in a shaky voice, turning the corner to enter another long hallway, the other two in tow. "We found him, we cornered him, I thought I'd humor him, here we are."

"Sailor boy was scared," said Terasu, who would've likely been laughing if she wasn't running for her life, "and decided to lighten the mood. Who could've guessed the angry and tense guy didn't have a sense of humor?"

Enide sighed. That this was so typical of her life was honestly depressing. It would be only a matter of time before they ran into a dead-end and have to console and calm him down. Unfortunately, it had been a while since he was this murderous, especially now that he had lost his sword. She was now slightly afraid that even she couldn't calm him down. And what were the odds something worse would show up?

Too likely, she reasoned.