So, as we all probably know there was a fanfiction contest! The 5 possible winners were selected, and I was not among them. I'm going to post it here anyways though And who knows, maybe I'll actually go and finish my other fanfic one of these days :P
Part 1: Midnight
Ventar could feel the cold hands of the Vozitian midnight attempting to put a chill into his spine, and so he hurried into The Swimming Drake, the tavern where he had tended to spend most of his nights ever since he arrived at Eldrest. Inside he was met by the familiar smell of sweat and alcohol you quickly got used to when visiting establishments by the docks. He gave the tavern keeper a polite nod and began looking for a decent place to sit. There were more people than usual tonight, but there were still plenty of space. The Vozitians were mostly friendly, but they were also known to be treacherous and stealthy, so he made sure to always keep his back against a wall. He sat down at a table that filled the requirements and shortly after the fat tavern keeper came over with a pint of Eldrest Mead, which the tavern keeper knew Ventar had taken a liking to. Ventar rewarded this gesture with a smile and the man left to take care of the other guests.
He took a sip of the mead and felt a great warmth flow through him. He sat there for a while, absorbed in his own thoughts. He was so lost in his thoughts that he did not notice the two men before they sat down at his table. He stopped staring into his drink and looked up. “What do you want?” he asked, in calm but skeptical tone. The two men smiled to each other. The fair haired one pulled out a book and a quill from under his cloak. “My name is Talvor of Lyth,” he said with a huge smile. “And this is my good friend, Bathor Dreamsinger,” He continued, pointing at the black haired man next to him. “We collect stories, and you look like someone who has a story to tell.” Ventar was about to tell them to go away, but before he could do that Talvor pulled out a bag of coins and put it on the table. “And if it is a good one, we would love you to give you good coin for letting us write it down.”
Ventar opened the bag and stared down into the pool of silver and gold. While he did not especially want to think back at the evens that brought him to Vozit, the promise of coin was too tempting to resist. He sighed, preparing himself to relive the unpleasant memories. “Alright, I’ll tell you my story. But I’m going to need quite a bit more to drink.” This made the two men laugh furiously. “Ah, so it’s that kind of story,” Bathor roared as he scratched his unkempt beard. They both waved the tavern keeper over. “Keep the mead flowing! We are going to hear a story tonight!” It didn’t take long before three new pints of mead were at the table. Ventar sighed once more to gather his thoughts before he started. “I am sure you have all heard about what happened in Tycer during the celebration of the harvest,” Ventar almost whispered. Despite this, the rest of the locale seemed to pick up on the mention of the Tycer Celebration and started coming closer. He decided to ignore this. “It is there my story begins”
Part 2: Flames
The Tycer Harvest celebration that year was a wonder no one had seen since before the Last War. People came from all the corners of the world to see the dancers and the musicians march through the city and taste the foods. Farmers brought their families to the city to sell their crops and buy supplies for the winter, and I looked after the little shop I had inherited from my father. My wife Wendith had joined the crowds, so I was alone. It was obviously busier than usual, but I managed just fine. As the light coming in through the window grew dimmer, a lady in a blue cloak decorated with gold entered. She started looking around. “I’m sorry, milady, is there anything I can help you with?” I said in the same polite manner my father had taught me. I could feel the air getting colder, and I started to shiver. I recognized this kind of magic instantly. My uncle Kelvin was a mage as well. I did not see him often, but the temperature tended to drop quite dramatically whenever he was around.
“I am looking for someone,” she said. Her voice was cold as ice and sounded almost distant. “A woman. Ash grey skin, pointy ears, beautiful, silver hair. If she had been here, she would be impossible to miss.” I simply shook my head. The woman sighed. “Well, thank you anyways. If you see her, go find me. My name is Eladwen.”
“I am right here, Frostmire!” It wasn’t especially loud, but the soft spoken message could be heard through the entire city. I could hear lightning strike down right outside of my shop, and I could see the windows shatter, and I was knocked into the wall from the shockwave.
It took me a minute before I managed to get back on my feet. I first considered running into our basement to hide, but the constant sound of explosions reminded me that Wendith was still out there somewhere. I gathered the courage to stand back up and run outside, and was overwhelmed by a wave of heat as I opened the door. Eladwen was standing in the middle of the street facing a stunningly beautiful woman with skin as grey as ash. I ended up staring at them for a while. They looked at eachother for what felt like an eternity until they both unleashed a flurry of spells. The streets lit up in an explosion of fire and ice and as the sound died down I heard a shout.
“Majiya, you are not welcome here!” Eladwen’s voice was no longer distant, but angry and determined. “Leave Balor, go back to your world, or I swear, elf, I will kill you like I killed your brother!” It was obvious this was meant as a taunt, but Majiya’s response was not as expected. Instead of getting angry, she started laughing. “Your ignorance is adorable, Eladwen. We want the same thing, you and I. We both crave knowledge. It is the reason that we both exist. You cannot kill me! “You would never give up the chance to know the things I know! And as for my brother, he very much enjoys being dead, isn’t that right, Gravebone?” A skeleton wearing nothing but rags stepped out of the shadows behind Majiya. He laughed the most horrible laugh I have ever heard, and I hope to never hear it again. “There is something in this city we would very much want to have,” he said in a voice as terrifying as his laugh and even Eladwen seemed to get uneasy. “A farmer found something in his field, and he came here to sell it. Just let us search for it, or we swear we will burn everything here to the ground!”
Behind him figures started to appear, as if they had always been there and had just now decides to step out of the shadows. I almost threw up. They were all just bones. Some had pieces of flesh still attached to them. Eladwen shouted something I could not hear properly because of the screams of the people who were trapped within the burning buildings. A dozen armed men and women arrived behind Eladwen, and while I couldn’t see all their faces I am sure at least one of them had visited my shop earlier that day. Then both ran toward eachother. Eladwens friends soon overwhelmed the walking corpses with quick strikes. As they stepped over the bones they just had defeated, slowly approaching the grey woman, she smiled as if it was her troops that had prevailed. It was then I realized I had completely forgotten why I had left my shop in the first place. I started running. I saw the sky light up in flames. And as if the sun itself was brought down on us, we were all surrounded in flames.
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