Fall Festival Stories
They're posting the masks so I thought it might be fun to post the stories. There's bound to be more than 2 good ones. :) This is not the version that was sent in. My wife and I had to cut it down to 500 words, but this is "fuller" version.
Lost with a Broken Heart
Sly Loki was never one to panic. The golden haired saris rogue had been around much too long for that. He wasn?t sure if what he?d heard was a knock on the door to the old windmill where he lived, or just the creaking of the gears on a slightly windy night. It was a rather noisy and drafty place to live, but Sly still liked it.
?Come in.? he shouted as he lightly tread down the ramp to the door. Had there been no wind, his movement still wouldn?t have been heard. The door opened and a small black saris walked cautiously into the windmill. He looked frightened.
?It?s been ages.? Sly responded. ?At least one came each Fall Festival. Is that why you?re here??
The young saris nodded, too frightened to talk.
?And your friends dared you to come and hear a whole story did they??
A sudden burst of wind caused the gears of the windmill to creak loudly and the young saris jumped. Sly remained calm. It was only an early winter breeze. The windmill could become much more vocal in an actual storm.
?Well then,? the rogue said smiling, pulling up two chairs and seating himself. He motioned for the youngster to be seated, but the poor lad was shaking so badly he couldn?t move. ?Wow,? Sly thought to himself, ?They must have really talked it up on this one.? Then he said aloud, ?Can the gifted die??
The younger saris slowly shock his head back and forth. ?N... n... no.? he managed.
?Oh,? Sly responded slowly, his voice going deep, ?but they can.?
That alone seemed enough for the youngster to bolt, but he held his ground and even managed to sit in the chair.
?Her name was Airie, and she was a human. Gifted like you are.? Sly began. ?She was a ranger. Powerful and strong, she spent most of her days fighting the forces of the Withered Aegis. Her and her lover, Tynel, traveled throughout Istaria, He was a cleric and the two seemed unstoppable. During the time before the cataclysm, they alone were able to hold back the attacks the Aegis sent to stop the building of the Novo.?
?But unknown to Airie, Tynel had been lured by dreams of power. Through dark magic, darker than the blight itself, Tynel sought power. He consorted with Kwellen and Aegis both until he found the way to achieve it.
?He betrayed Airie. During a nasty battle that he himself had planned, he turned on her, and cut her heart from her chest. No other bring would have been able to do that to her, but she trusted Tynel and his attack was swift and startling.
?Calling again upon the dark powers that gave him the knowledge he needed, he cast a spell over her beating heart and took the life force from her to add to his own strength..
?She wanders the Eastern Deadlands, just east of Harro, where she was betrayed. Not a ghost, but an illusion or image of what she once was. He roams free and fights for the Aegis, doubly powerful than almost any Gifted.?
?The.... then she?s dead really for... for good?? the younger saris asked.
?Oh no,? Sly responded, his voice almost a whisper. ?She only wanders until Tynel can be defeated and her heart returned.? the rogue was silent for a moment and then added quietly. ?I will show you her.?
The lad became petrified to his chair as Sly began to chant words in an arcane language. Then a mist came through the wall. A mist in the form of a beautiful human in ringmail. Her image would have been one strait from a daydream, if it weren?t for the huge gash in the center of her chest and the blood which still seemed to run fresh down the front of her armor.
Confronted by this horror, the young saris bolted from the windmill, not even pausing to the close the door behind him. Sly laughed, waving the mist away with a small motion of his hand.
