Young Writers Society

Well this is the Prologue to something I've been working on, enjoy!!! And please give me feedback!!!!

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Darkness shrouded the world of Kanik. It was as if the people’s god, Alak, had abandoned them. War racked the earth, no nation went without blood shed and death. And the country of Rowina -which had at one time been the strongest nation in the world - was ripped apart as it’s enemy in the East - the Gallevians - advanced upon them. Rowina lost thousands of men, women, and children to the sword. And as the final battle raged on the people’s last glimmer of hope went out. For they now knew that their god, Alak - after years of keeping peace in his world - had turned deaf ears upon his people. He abandoned them, to the fate of death.

Like a ghost watching the world below her, Queen Gwenevine of Rowina watched her soldiers die from her vantage point on the castle parapet. The wind of death blew chilly in the air, playing with her long golden curls. She wore full knight’s armor, and ran her fingers over the golden embroidery on the sheath at her waist. Tears ran in gentle streams down her white cheeks, as she realized this was the end. Rowina would cease to be. The land would become barren, and no one would remember what had once been.

“Open the gate!” Echoed from a soldier near the center of the wall ripping Gwen’s attention away from the battle field. The lever was turned, the rusty gate ground open, and a horse reared into the courtyard, dragging a man behind him. Fear rippled through Gwen as she recognized her husband’s limp body.

“Terik!” Gwen screamed, scrambling down the steep granite stairs to her husband. One of the guards with a grim look set on his face untangled King Terik from the saddle. He bent over Terik pressing his ear to the king’s dry, cracked lips, searching for life in the still body.

“He’s....” The guard’s voice caught in his throat for a moment. “He’s dead My Lady.”

“No!” She cried, falling to her knees at Terik’s side. His face was bloody and grimy, and dirt caked the wounds that covered his body. His beard and hair were soaked with sweat, and his armor was ripped to shreds. “Terik... Terik please!” She sobbed, clinging to his limp body. “I can’t do this alone!” She stood wildly, on legs that felt like butter. She had to save him some how!

“My Lady?” A soldier asked his innocent blue eyes wide with terror.

“Rayer!” She exclaimed, grabbing him by the front of his armor. “Do you have any rayer?”

“No, My Lady...”

“Does anyone have a vial of rayer?” Her eyes were wide with horror and grief. The soldiers looked down at their feet shaking their heads slowly. Rayer, the precious potion that could restore a man to life could not be found.

“Terik! Terik no!” She collapsed to the ground, her head in her hands as the realization that she could not bring him back hit her. She had failed him... Her body shook violently with sobs, and tears flowed rapidly down her cheeks.

“My Lady,” A young soldier stepped from the group, fell to his knees, and pulled his queen gently to him causing the other soldiers to gasp at his boldness. For a moment Gwen was so numb she couldn’t feel his arms around her, but as the seconds passed her senses sharpened and something in his trembling body halted her tears and gave her courage.

As the sounds of dying men floated over the castle wall and echoed across the courtyard, sunlight burst through the storm clouds overhead for the first time in days. Gwen tilted her face up toward it, letting the golden rays soak into her bones. She found strength in the light, and shakily stood, facing the soldiers around her. She would do what she had to now. She would do it for Terik.

“Open the gate!” A soldier called from above. Men dived to pull the lever, and the gate was thrust upward. A wave of battle weary soldiers scrambled through the gateway, arrows flying after them. Once clear the gate was pushed quickly downward, and the great wooden door was slammed shut and barred.

The soldiers, with wide, frightened eyes, stared at their queen waiting for instruction. Many of them were very young, many of them were old, and many of them were wounded. Yet they still stood before her with as much pride and dignity as an army twice their size.

“My Lady?” Someone asked hesitantly. “What would you have us do?” She blinked slowly her eyes sweeping over the battered soldiers, and then she cleared her voice.

“I would have you fight.” She raised her chin and with tear filled eyes looked them over. “Fight for me.”

“M-My Lady, you can’t b-be serious?” a boy stuttered. His face was a sheet of white, and his blue eyes were dark with fear and pain. He was only fourteen, he wasn’t ready to die yet.

“There is no other way.” A man near the back whispered, “Rowina will fall.” The only sound that could be heard in the courtyard was the shaky breathing of the soon to die warriors. They held the somber look of forgotten hopes and dreams in their eyes. Their bleak future struck them plain in the face.

Gwen looked up again and watched as the sun abandoned them, disappearing once again behind those black, foreboding rain clouds.

A middle-aged soldier stepped forward breaking the silence. “I will fight for you, My Lady.” He held his sword loosely in his grip, and an uncertain hope in his eyes. He wore his battle scars and tattered uniform well. He held his chin high, and met her eyes with a confidence that gave her courage. He smiled slowly, then knelt at her feet and bowed his head in respect.

“I will serve you.” A younger man stepped forward. His blonde hair fell over deep hazel eyes, and a gash ran down his arm, and across his stomach. But despite the pain he must be feeling in his face she saw pride for his country, and pride for a god who had abandoned them. He nodded courageously, then knelt next to the older man.

“I will fight.” Men began stepping up, their chests swelling, their faces glowing.

“I will die for you, My Queen.” They knelt at her feet, like a wave sweeping across the ocean. Gwen’s eyes were wide with astonishment, and she was filled with a renewed sense of pride and love for these men, who in their final hour pledged their lives and honor to her.

“I thank you... my friends,” she said quietly. They knelt in silence for a moment, reflecting on what had to be done. “Now quickly... prepare in what way you know best. Use whatever armor is left to shield yourselves. Barricade the gate, and bring out every last horse we have in the stable; and do it quickly!” She nodded, and the soldiers scattered. They only had moments before the Gallevians would be knocking on their door.

“BOOM!” The raised draw bridge shuttered as men scurried every which way to prepare for the task at hand. A wave of terror swept through the knights as the sounds of the wood breaking echoed through the courtyard. They were swiftly running out of time.

“Do not be afraid!” Gwen shouted climbing onto a horse and guiding it to the front of the small block of soldiers. She turned the horse around and faced the knights for the first and last time. The terrified soldiers turned their eyes to their queen. Gwen swallowed hard. She knew they needed to hear final words from her, but she didn’t know what to say to comfort them.

"Don't fear death...” She trailed off for a moment, but finding strength in her own words continued on. “If these are to be our last moments in life than take comfort in knowing that you are the most loyal knights I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. You followed T-.” Her voice caught in her throat, and she blinked back the tears. “Terik to the end. And now you are all willing to follow me. I can think of no one better to die beside then all of you." Her eyes moved over the soldiers. Many of them had tears in their weary eyes but they were also filled with pride and love for their country. A wave of strength washed through Gwen, and she thrust her sword up in the air. “Long live Rowina!” She roared.

“LONG LIVE ROWINA!” The soldiers repeated, rearing their horses, and cheering. Then together they saluted their queen for the last time. Gwen saluted back, then turned her horse around and backed up into the front lines.

With a sickening crack the door crumbled, and in poured the first wave of Gallevians.

“Alak be with us,” A man next to Gwen murmured.

Gwen held her sword high in the air then snapped it downward. The small army roared to life, and galloped through the front line of Gallevian soldiers who were on foot. Gwen slashed her sword left and right, focusing on taking out as many Gallevians as she could.

They flew out of the castle walls, and through the thousands of Gallevians crushing them beneath their powerful horses. But as the moment passed the men around Gwen become sparse, their horses were falling, taking the rider down with them. Suddenly her horse took an arrow, and then another and another. She felt its front legs stumble and in slow motion it began to fall. She flung herself from it in a desperate attempt to save herself from being caught beneath it, but she fell short, and she was crushed under the dead animal’s weight.

She lay on her back, almost numb from any feeling. Her helmet lay a few feet from her... she had lost it in the fall. Her eyes were cloudy, she noticed, as she gazed at the blood red of the sunset -the sun had dropped beneath the cloud studded sky- and noticed how it blended with the blood red of the ground. She could hear the cry of men being sliced in half all around her, and she could hear the Gallevians snarl in triumph at the fall of her people.

She blinked slowly, and saw her children’s faces in that glorious sky. Her mind was ripped back to the memory of their parting only a few days before.

“Mommy!” The eldest had cried as she was thrown over a horse. “Where is he taking me?”

“To safety,” Gwen had replied, her child’s terrified cry tugging at her heart. She handed the baby to the second rider.

“No mommy, no!” The child screamed as the rider guided his horse out of the stable. “Don’t let him take me! MOMMY!” Tears had slipped down Gwen’s cheeks as she watched the two men ride away with her children. One to the west, and one to the east... splitting her family apart forever.

Gwen was ripped back to the present as another man screamed in agony, and fell dead beside her. Pain suddenly and intolerably seared through her body causing her to cry out in torment. She bit her tongue to keep herself silent and clutched the bloody grass beside her.

A dark shadow was cast across her face, and her eyes rolled up to see a Gallevian grinning above her, swinging his sword loosely in his hand. Gwen desperately tried to move her arms, her legs... anything! But she was thoroughly pinned underneath the horse.

“Time to die!” He snarled, raising his sword above his head.

“Alak!” She screamed, her eyes wide as the Gallevian swung the sword slowly downward toward her. “Why have you abandoned us?” The last thing she saw were the rain clouds bursting open, and silver drops descending toward the earth, and then the blade met her neck, and everything went black.