Blog has moved.
Hi guys, my blog has moved over to Wordpress now, if anyone uses it feel free to subscribe to my blog (:
First proper post
Aww bless you Martyn, has your following grown yet? Follow as many people as you can.
Follow this guy people.
So i’m new to tumblr, well not so much but i’m breaking my duck on posting today. I created a account a while back after seeing my friends, dan pos who is my only follower bless him.
I’ll use this mostly for fun, posting amusing pictures for the benefit of my 1 follower. When my life gets more interesting i’ll probably update it with that.Peace xx
I want to see birds fly with bubbles in the night dawn.
I found this post whilst looking for the “Do want more like” post, I think this is a really good writing exercise and I think I’ll try and keep up with doing it.
Serpent Sand - Final Draft
900 words over the assignment brief >_<
———————————-
Ella looked up towards the sky, a dark cloud hung on the horizon, promising more rain than this part of the world had seen for decades. But as she and Brandon drew closer it soon became clear that the cloud was in fact smoke, the smell of burning filling their nostrils.
Under better circumstances Va’Lohren would have been a sight to behold, but the spires and turrets of buildings just gave the impression of chimneys as smoke billowed out of the city centre.
The pair went into the city, directing themselves by listening to the commotion, the strange cries and calls echoing around the city. In the middle of the city stood a square, strange bodies littered the floor, neither human nor belonging to The Fated. In the middle stood a huge podium with a stone ramp leading up to the centre. Flanking either side of this huge construction were two immense poles.
A Gateway stood proud between the two poles. But it was unlike anything Ella or Brandon had seen. Usually you could see straight through unimpeded, like looking through a window. But in this instance colours crackled across the surface, rippling like water. Ella’s hair started to stand on end.
Groups of The Fated stood around, paying no attention to Brandon or Ella, focused entirely on the portal. Four of The Fated stood at the base, hands raised, chanting something that sounded strange, yet familiar, to Ella.
The portal started shrinking in size, but the rainbow lightning that was arcing across the surface grew in fury. All of a sudden a huge arm appeared through the portal, its skin matching those of the bodies on the floor. Ella knew that this thing was colossal. The arm retracted.
The chanting grew louder as they struggled with the portal but then, all of a sudden, the chanters were blasted away. The pressure seemed to drop and everything that wasn’t secure to the floor started moving towards the portal. As the power of the suction grew, screams arose once they realised what was about to happen.
“Run!” Ella grabbed Brandon’s arm and tried to drag him away, “come on.”
Ella knew they wouldn’t make it away in time even if they employed all their powers but she started to run anyway.
Just as she turned, the portal opened again to its full height and the suction grew, the screams growing louder. Ella and Brandon, along with hundreds of the Va’Loherinians were dragged through in an instant. The portal crashed back together as if made from elastic, snapping shut with a devastating explosion.
-
People screamed. Buildings collapsed. Reddish sand blew throughout the city, covering everything. Huge Gateways opened throughout the city. Human in appearance, but with long slender limbs, creatures came storming through. The creatures were attired in battle armour. Swords drawn they charged civilians cutting them where they stood. Men, women and children slaughtered because fear rooted them to the spot. Even if they could run it wouldn’t do much good. These creatures were fast.
The sand was blowing faster, more and more coming through the portals as they opened around the city. She heard the screams over the other side of Royal Park. Sprinting towards the sounds she all of a sudden skidded to a halt. She wanted to go aid the people in trouble but something compelled her to stop. Suddenly sand blew through the park out of nowhere. Ella covered her face, the sand stinging the back of her hand, she could feel it cutting her skin. Then suddenly she couldn’t feel it anymore, although she could hear the sand rushing past. She lowered her hand and saw through the reddish sand a stream of golden sand coming towards her. It didn’t seem to be blown, but to slither through the air.
As the sand got to Ella a sense of peace came over her. The sand wrapped around her, serpentine.
Images rushed through her mind, and she felt an incredible power settle inside her, instantly she knew things, more than she wanted.
“We are The Fated,” she heard in head, “and we run.”
-
Ella floated, or at least that’s what it felt like. Nothing surrounded her, she hung in a void, she had knowledge of this from the Infusion, but it should only last for the briefest of seconds before you were on the other side of the portal.
Thoughts raced through her head, she worried she would be trapped in the void forever. She tried to shout out and even though she heard herself in her head, no sound escaped her mouth.
Something reached out and grabbed her arm, looking around she could see nothing, but as she focused on her arm a hand materialised, she traced this hand to its source and a man appeared.
-
Ella finished her first drink and was half way through her next before anyone came over to the empty seat. With a tip of his hat the stranger sat down at the bar and waved the barman over. Ella stole a few looks as she pretended to look behind her. He was dressed in old combat pants, desert patterned and he wore a black neck bandana. He pulled this down and knocked back his drink. Sand clung to his body and clothes, the skin of the desert. Something was special about this man, Ella could tell. She couldn’t help looking, it was as if she was drawn to him for a reason she didn’t know. All the other patrons didn’t seem to notice, to them he obviously seemed normal, no-one glanced at him oddly, yet she keenly felt a strange power emanating from him, but then it vanished and she could only vaguely recall what it felt like.
The mysterious man looked at her whilst she was stealing a look and met her eyes.
“Hey there, I’m Brandon.”
“Ella,” she said, and without missing a beat offered him her hand.
Brandon’s eyes flicked down to the guns holstered at her hips, and looked back at her with a smile.
“I assume you’re a Watchmen then?”
“I’m just passing through. I highly doubt this town has a guard, they seem like simple folk.”
“True.”
Not knowing what to say next, she chose to say nothing.
“Well I’ll be seeing you Ella.” Brandon got up and left and was quickly lost in the crowd of the inn.
-
With a silent gasp she tried to speak out loud, but again the sound was only in her head, “Brandon?”
“Ella?” She heard back, “what’s going on?”
Suddenly, the nothing changed. In the distance a black speck appeared, looking like it was miles away, but with no point of reference it was hard to judge. Within seconds it was upon them and Ella and Brandon flew through the exit portal and emerged into a charred clearing a little above ground.
Gravity took hold and dragged them both to the ground, the air exploding from their lungs.
Brandon groaned as he got to his hands and knees, Ella following suit. Ella instantly keeled over, falling back to the floor.
-
Ella exited the solitary abandoned house she had found. It stood there, defiant in the middle of the desert. She had taken shelter here from the heat and the man from the inn, Brandon, had showed up seeking refuge as well.
She looked up at the stars; they were the one constant you could rely upon when your world was turned upside down. Little pieces of wood stuck up here and there, and over there the sand was a little depressed, almost as if following what was once a street. At the end of the would-be-street she noticed a slight shimmer on the air, like the heat shimmer of a hot surface. But she knew what this meant, The Fated were about to come through.
“Brandon!” she yelled.
Brandon was through the door in an instant and just as he realised what was happening, the high pitched, ululating noise followed by thrumming, filled the night.
The air was ripped open, and through the rent in space came five of the creatures. A roar of rage burst out of Brandon and he fired his rifle taking out two of The Fated in one shot. Ella was impressed. The creatures moved extremely fast and appeared to almost vanish, or so they thought, they didn’t know Ella had been Infused and she could move as fast as them.
What did surprise Ella though is that Brandon had the ability to. She drew her pistols and gunned down one of the creatures. The two remaining enemies split, one after Brandon and one after Ella. The creature took a swipe at Ella but she dodged back and took a shot, killing the creature before it even regained its balance. Brandon made short work of his combatant, killing it a second after Ella finished up.
Brandon stood over its body and fired into the back of the skull. A look of madness was in Brandon eyes, she could feel that strange power emanating from him, slightly different this time, but as before it vanished just as she become aware of it, and the madness faded from his eyes. Looking down at the corpse, seeing the gore he had just created, Brandon looked appalled.
“I think we need to have a chat,” Ella said, “now.”
Brandon and Ella talked and recounted their tales to each other, Brandon revealing he had the powers that Ella had but it fluctuated between being either really powerful and dominant to just being mild.
“So that’s why you had that outburst?”
“Yeah, though it only seems to happen during battle,” he replied, “over the years though it’s got more frequent.”
“And what happens when it happens outside of battle.”
“It won’t.”
“You seem so sure,” Ella said.
“I’ve already had to surrender some control to this thing, I won’t surrender any more to it.”
Ella was skeptical but let it slide, for now he didn’t seem a threat but she would have to watch him.
“Over the years have your powers grown along with the outbursts?”
“A little, not in strength, more in stamina, I can use my powers for longer,” Brandon replied. After a brief silence Brandon asked, “what’s next?”
“I’m heading to Va’Lohren, to find answers, how about you?”
“I can’t let you go on your own now can I?” he said with a smile.
-
Ella screamed in pain as the last of her memories came rushing back, she remembered everything now. She drew in a deep breath and opened her eyes. It was night time, two moons hung in the sky, one brighter than the other. The dual moonlight provided enough light to see her surroundings clearly.
“Brandon?” She yelled. Brandon emerged from the tree line to her right, a Va’Loherinian walked a few paces behind him. “Behind you,” Ella drew her pistols and took aim, hesitant to shoot in case she hit Brandon.
“Put your gun down, it’s fine.”
Slowly she lowered her gun, finally holstering it at her hip.
“You must be who he was talking about.” The words were strange on her ears, like the chanting in the square. If she concentrated hard enough she could decipher it.
“Yes.” The word left her mouth and she understood what it meant but it didn’t sound like her native language. Brandon saw the confusion on her face.
“I know, it’s weird right? It’s because you’ve never spoken it before.”
Ella looked the stranger up and down, now she wasn’t desperately fighting against his race, they were actually quite a beautiful race.
“My name is Vi’shiel but your friend here has taken to calling me Vish, either is fine.”
Ella looked to Brandon, feeling out of her depth, but he seemed extremely calm and almost relaxed. Deciding to just go with it she said, “I’m Ella.”
“He has a lot to tell you,” said Brandon, excitement filling his voice. “You were out a while, so he filled me in while we waited.”
“Come, we’ve found space to sit just beyond the tree’s, away from all this destruction,” Vish turned without waiting to see if she followed.
Ella followed Vish and Brandon through the trees for a few yards finally emerging into a small clearing. They had dragged logs into the centre to form a seating area. In the middle of the makeshift benches, branches stood in a pile, ready to be ignited if it got too cold.
Vish started the tale of his people, it was nothing she didn’t already know from the Infusion. The Fated believed they were the chosen ones, fated to rule the cosmos but then their world had been invaded by creatures, like the ones that littered the square. The Fated were a violent race by nature but the sheer terror and strength of these new invaders caused them to flee.
The Sen’gahl came flooding through great tears in space, but more violent than the controlled portals The Fated used. They were bent on conquering, Vish and his people had put up a fight to protect their home world but in the end they had to give up.
“We opened portals and escaped through them, for whatever reason they had zoned in on this world.”
“We were scared, for the first time in our recorded history we were brought to our knees. If there was one race more powerful, what’s to say there wouldn’t be another? We didn’t know what we would encounter. We saw strange yellow lumps of moving metal, stone buildings as high as the sky. People screaming, cries of battle, or so we thought.
We needed to get a footing in this world if we had any hope of surviving. Everywhere we went we encountered resistance, but there were a lot of us.”
“What about the white sand?”
“It was sent out to get someone from your race to come to our side, act as a go between, the reward for doing this was the powers, but as far as we were aware it didn’t work.”
“So how many more people like me and Brandon are there?”
“No more than five.”
Ella was stunned. She knew a lot of what she was told, but the sand hadn’t informed her she was meant to act as envoy. All she remembered after that moment is waking up, the world changed. Sand blowing furiously everywhere, it deteriorated everything.
The temperature had started to drop, Ella shivered, “so what now?”
“We find out where we are, and how the hell we get home,” Brandon flashed a reassuring smile, but she saw uncertainty littering his face. That said, he had put forward a good suggestion.
Where were they indeed?
Dan, what theme is your page?
I haven’t the foggiest…just checked its: Stacky Theme (Ver. 2.0.2) by Andrew Stichbury (www.stichbury.de) for Tumblr
Retold Story - Hugo Mann’s Perfect Soul by R A Salvatore
This is based on a small part of the story Hugo Mann’s Perfect Soul by R A Salvatore. This is my story for my Creative Writing class. Enjoy!
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Arne sat alone in his room at his writing desk. The walls of his room were covered in posters that his father brought home for him. “Hitlerjugend” they read. Hitlerjugend. Hitlerjugend. All over, covered from the floor to the ceiling, Arne’s role model was Adolf Hitler, it was only another couple of years before he could join the HJ and he couldn’t wait.
Tomorrow Adolf Hitler would be driving through Berlin to gain awareness for the speech he was due to perform later in the evening. See that was the good thing about Hitler, he wasn’t scared to show his face. He loved his people and for the most part they loved him, and if they didn’t love him they respected him.
Arne finished his drawing and took it over to a space on the wall and put it up. Taking a step back he appraised his work, he took his favourite elements from the Hitlerjugend posters and created his own.
Arne went back to his desk and started putting away his mess when from downstairs his mother shouted him to come down for the evening meal. Arne wanted to finish tidying the mess away but his mother called him again and reluctantly he went down stairs.
He took his seat at the table, the food smelt so good. Arne enjoyed meal times with his family, he was an only child at the moment, although his mother was pregnant again. Because he was only a child he got a lot of attention which he liked, but he liked his alone time as well, even though he loved his family.
Arne and his family lived in relative luxury, his father was becoming one of the top scientists in the country. The house was quite small, big enough for a three man unit, but it was decorated lushly. Paintings line the walls, decanters full of the finest Italian wine were on proud display. The most expensive of these being an antique silver decanter.
‘How go your studies Arne,’ asked his father.
‘Fine father, my teacher said I was really good at math.’
Arne demonstrated this by saying out loud a complicated sum he had learned today, something way above the standards of a normal 10 year old boy.
‘How are you doing in your other lessons Son?’ asked his mother.
‘Good I think, especially in art.’
Arne got asked this questions at least once a week, he had become bored of answering them recently though because not much had changed, he thought he had learned everything there was to know, and he only paid attention really in math and art because they were his two favourite classes.
Dinner seemed to drag tonight, he just wanted to go to his room and study before going to bed to get sleep before the big day tomorrow, he was just so excited. He excuse himself as quickly as he could and escaped to room where he immediately finished putting his art supplies away and he got out his books to study. He was lost in his books until night time when his mother came and told him gutenacht.
***
Arne woke up very early the next morning, excitement filling him, today he would get to see Adolf Hitler in person for the first time in his life and he could not wait. He sat in his room reading until he heard his mother waking up to start the chores of the day and he went down to breakfast.
‘Hitler will be coming through the city today mother.’
‘Eat your food dear.’
‘There’s going to be a parade before he comes through.’
‘Do you have any clothes in your room that need washing love?’
‘A marching band will go before him signalling his arrival, it will be so fun.’
‘Seriously Arne, your food will go cold.’
‘When can we go down, I don’t want to be stuck at the back of the crowd.’
Arne’s mother sighed, putting down the clothes basket on the table, ‘Arne, you know I hate crowds. It will be shown on the television, I don’t have enough time to take you down and your father will be working until late this evening.’
Arne’s face dropped, he felt like crying, like screaming at his mother. He had been looking forward to this.
‘Well I’ll go on my own then.’
‘No you will not. End of.’
Arne got up and stormed off to his room. He was 10 years old, he wasn’t a säugling anymore. He would go to the parade whether his mother liked it or not. He proceeded to get dressed and picked up his coat and slung it over his arm. Arne’s room looked out over the back garden and he sat on his windowsill keeping watch. After what felt like an infinite amount of time his patience was rewarded, his mother entered the garden to hang the washing out to dry in the cool November air.
Arne left with haste, quiet as a mouse he went down the stairs and when he got to the front door he eased it open and slipped away. As soon as he was free from view of the house his hurried pace turned into a flat out run. He was putting as much distance as possible between himself and his mother so she couldn’t bring him back. After about five minutes he slowed down and eventually stopped and leant against the trunk of the tree in the park he’d ran into. Arne was in pretty good shape but he wasn’t the best runner. Slowly he got his breath back and set off again.
Eventually he gets closer to the city centre, he can hear cheering and noise in the distance but to him it sounds like it’s coming from all sides. Arne had only ever been into the city centre with his mother and he never paid attention to the journey just following his mother, but when he set off he was so sure he knew the way. But he quickly admitted to himself he was lost. He wandered around for at least half an hour and eventually he started to hear the noise of the crowds louder and louder.
His excitement boiled up again and he couldn’t hold on any longer. He started to run again, turning this way and that but somewhere along the way he must have took a wrong turn because the sound of the crowd seemed to grow distant. Worry started to worm its way into Arne’s head, he was completely lost. Not only would he not be able to find his way to the parade now, but he wouldn’t be able to find his way home either. He would be lost forever!
But then in the distance a family of five left there small terraced house a few blocks away, and Arne assume instantly that they would be heading to the parade. They had adults with them, they would surely know the way. He runs after them stepping into the road and nearly gets hit by a truck. The driver leans out and yells something at Arne but he ignores it and carries on running.
‘Excuse me?’ He asked as he caught up with the family.
‘Yes?’ The father of the family replied.
Arne chose to ignore the rudeness of the blunt answer and politely asked, ‘Are you going to the parade?’
‘No we are not. We’re going to a relatives.’
‘Oh.’ Arne looked lost and didn’t know what to say next. The family started to walk again but as they did he burst out with, ‘please you have to help me, I’m lost.’
‘Give the poor lad directions,’ the mother whispered.
The father of the family gave the Arne directions to the parade and it turns out he wasn’t as lost as he thought, just a ten minute walk. As he drew closer to the main street the crowd got louder and louder, he turned the corner into an alleyway and went down the alley and suddenly he was in the midst of the crowd, they seemed to almost spring up out of nowhere. It was positively overwhelming.
Noise surrounded him on all sides, a sea of colours and he was drowning in the depths of peoples pant legs. Everyone was a giant and he was an insignificant child. The suddenness of the people took a while to drain from him but when it finally did he overcame the choking sense of claustrophobia and broke free of the crowd and ended up at the barriers.
Arne climbed up onto the barrier and peered left and right to see what he had missed, to see if he had missed Adolf Hitler, his leader, his idol. At first he couldn’t see past the marching entourage but eventually he saw in the distance a slow moving vehicle. It gradually grew larger and larger until eventually you could start seeing details. The armoured Mercedes glistened in the afternoon sun, clearly having been polished for the ceremony. The huge headlamps protruded from the wheel arches like eyes. It was a magnificent limousine and what interested Arne most was one of its occupants. Adolf Hitler. In the flesh.
Arne had only ever seen the flickering black and white images on the television before, and that grainy picture did nothing to promote the air of power that almost exuded from Adolf. The car drew closer and closer and Arne’s excitement built and built. And then the strangest thing happened.
Hitler’s car was drawing up to Arne’s position and as it came parallel with Arne, Adolf looked out, sweeping the crowd with a wave, and the crowd as one, saluted, arm in the air at an angle. Arne joined in with the salute, but his arm faltered and dropped to his side as he locked eyes with Adolf Hitler.
Something shone deep within Adolf’s eyes. Arne had never noticed it before in any of the images on the posters or on the television set. Hitler’s stare was captivating, and something shone out.
Arne did not know how he knew or what it meant.
Hitler had a perfect soul.
Serpent Sand
One
Ella was sat in the inn, she had come straight here after she had arrived. The tow, if you could call it that, was comprised of huts and sheets hung on poles, weathered hide and old blankets. There were no walls or a roof of the inn, no cover what so ever, just rope sectioning an area off. A rough painted sign told the patrons, “None of the good stuff beyond the line.” The red paint was peeling and flaking off. Not knowing why, Ella smiled at the sign, and then decided it was because of the sense of normality it portrayed, even if most of the customers were on the wrong side of the sign.
Ella went up to the bar and sat down. One of the stool legs was shorter than the other and the bar was sticky with beer in front of her. People crushed her either side. She sighed as she sat down, relieved to be off her feet. The barman, noticing her, tucked his cloth into his apron and walked over.
“Wha’ you on luv?” said the barman with a gruff voice.
“Vodka, please honey.”
“Wha’a dear like you doin’ out ‘ere.”
“Travelling,” Ella replied, not giving away any more than that. The barman, noticing she wasn’t up for talking, charged her for her drink, brought it to her and then went back to glass cleaning.
The man to the left of her, a big chap, head full of long flaming red hair, got up next to her, let out a long belch and then left.
The seat remained empty for a long while and then up came a man. With a tip of his hat he sat down at the bar and waved the barman over. Ella glanced at him a few times, and stole a few looks as she pretended to look behind her. He was dressed in old combat pants, desert camouflage. On his head sat an old, worn, ranchers hat. He wore a black neck bandana with a strange pattern on it, he pulled this down and knocked back his drink. The man was covered in the skin of the desert. Something was special about this man, Ella could tell. She couldn’t help looking, it was as if she was drawn to him for a reason she didn’t know. And only her, and she keenly felt a strange power emanating from him, but then it vanished and she could only vaguely recall what it felt like.
The mysterious man looked at her whilst she was stealing a look and met her eyes, he did not take his eyes off.
“Hey there, I’m Brandon.”
“Ella,” she said, and without missing a beat offered him her hand.
Brandon’s eyes flicked down to the guns holstered at her hips, and looked back at her with a smile.
“I assume you’re a Watchmen then?”
“I’m just passing through. I highly doubt this town has a guard, they seem like simple folk. Not big enough for thievery.”
“True.”
Not knowing what to say next she chose to say nothing.
“Well I’ll be seeing you Ella.” Brandon got up and left and was quickly lost in the crowd of the inn.
Ella finished off her drink and headed off to make camp, in the morning she was up early. She would resupply and head off.
Two
Time passes although exactly how much Ella doesn’t know, she lost count of the days a while ago. She has been travelling for what feels like eons. It has been at least three weeks since she was left the hut town.
The sun felt hotter today, maybe this was summer, Ella wasn’t sure. She knew she had to get out of the heat and fast. Luckily about a mile later she crested a small ridge and looked down up a strange sight. It was a house. From her vantage point she saw the roof had collapsed in, but the walls seemed to be standing strong.
She went into the house and let her pack drop to the floor, and a second Ella crashed to the floor.
“Ella?” A voice called to her, penetrating the dark fog of her mind. “Ella?”
All of a sudden Ella was drowning, deep in the ocean, but then she awoke with a start water dripping from her face. Brandon stood with a deflated water skin in his hand.
Licking her lips, Ella’s thirst was reawakened. Brandon hand her a water skin from her pack and she drank lightly, fully aware of what happened when you drank to fast on an empty stomach. After satisfying her thirst she pours a little water into her hands, scrubbing her face, bringing back some of the moisture to her eyes.
“Put these on before you step outside next,” Brandon said offering her some desert goggles.
“Thanks,” she said taking the item, “what are you doing here?”
“Much the same as you I guess, I needed to get out of the heat, saw this building.”
“Lucky you found me, I may have never come back from wherever my mind was.”
She held her hand up so Brandon could help her to her feet, he took her and lifted but she stumbled back and began to fall but he managed to catch her.
“Maybe you should stay sat down for a bit then,” he said as he helped her down. “I’ll brew us some bitter bark.”
Ella nodded weariness suddenly hitting her again after the shock of the water. She laid back and slept.
-
People screamed. Buildings collapsed. A reddish sand blew throughout the city, covering everything. Huge Gateways opened throughout the city. Through the portals came creatures that confused the mind. Human in appearance, but with long slender limbs. They were all the same greyish colour, with not much variance in the tone.
The creatures were attired in battle armour. Swords drawn they charged civilians cutting them were they stood. Men, women and children fell where the stood, fear rooting them to the spot. Even if they could run it wouldn’t do much good. These creatures were fast.
And the sand, it blew faster, more coming through the portals as they opened around the city. The smell of ash stung the nose. Ella was patrolling the park, just recently getting the rank of Sergeant of the police force. She heard the screams over the other side of Royal Park, sprinting towards the sounds she all of a sudden skidded to a halt. She wanted to go aid the people in trouble, not knowing what was going on, but something compelled her to stop. Suddenly sand blew through the park out of nowhere. Ella covered her face, but the sand stung the back of her hand, she could feel it cutting her skin. The suddenly she couldn’t feel it anymore, although she could heard the sand rushing past. She lowered her hand and saw a through the reddish sand a stream of white sand blowing towards her. It didn’t seem to be blown, but to slither through the air.
As the sand got to Ella a sense of peace came over her. The sand wrapped around her, serpentine.
“We are The Fated,” she heard in head, “and we run.”
-
“Ella!” She was instantly awake, hand on gun. She heard a commotion outside. Getting up she ran to the doorway and saw Brandon, rifle in hand aiming at…nothing. Looking closer to where he was aiming she noticed a slight shimmer on the air, the like the heat shimmer of a hot surface. But she knew what this meant, The Fated were about to come through. Just as she realised what was happening, the haunting, high pitched, ululating noise followed by thrumming, filled the night.
The air was ripped open and out blew sand, followed by five of the long limbed, grey creatures. A roar of rage burst out of Brandon and he fired his rifle taking out two of The Fated in one shot. Damn he was good, Ella was impressed. The creatures used their flitting ability and appeared to almost vanish, or so they thought, they didn’t know Ella has been Infused and she could move as fast as them.
What did surprise Ella though is that Brandon had the ability to. She drew her pistols and shot down one of the creatures. The two remaining enemies split, one after Brandon and one after Ella. The creature took a swipe at Ella but she dodged back and took a shot, killing the creature before it even regained its balance. Brandon made short work of his combatant, killing it a second after Ella finished up.
Brandon stood over its body and fire into the back of the skull. A look of madness was in Brandon eyes, she could feel that strange power emanating from him, but as before it vanished just as she become aware of it, and the madness faded from his eyes. Looking down at corpse, seeing the gore he had just created, Brandon looked appalled.
“I think we need to have a chat,” Ella said, “now.”
Three
Brandon recounted his story of the arrival of The Fated, over a mug of the bitter bark he brewed. He happened to be in the same city as Ella when it happened, it also turned out that white serpentine sand also engulfed him, imbuing him with the powers, not unlike Ella but he could do some things Ella couldn’t and vice versa.
This was a huge relief to Ella, she thought she was the only one it happened to. In the two hundred years since the attack she hadn’t come across one other person like her. Because she was so long lived she kept moving, never settling down so no-one noticed.
The human race abhorred The Fated, and she was scared that if anyone discovered her abilities she would be shot dead. To find someone like her, was a huge relief.
They skirted around his violent outburst during the attack, although she was deeply offended. When they became Infused, they also understood the nature of creatures that destroyed this world, and she sympathised with them. The fact that Brandon must have known this information too and yet he could do something like that shocked her. She hated killing them, but when they came through in a violent state like that, it was self-defence.
She also discovers they have the same destination in mind, they are travelling to Va’Lohren, the city that The Fated have claimed as their own. They hope to find some kind of kinship there, being distant from their own race.
They travel together for just over a month before they get close. They have been following a valley with the sand ending over a week ago. Ella has heard tales of huge expanses of land that escaped the wrath of the sand, but since the attack she has not seen grass, or even a tree, just dry shrubs. They travel along the valley, taking in the sights of the plant life, and the smell of moist earth.
But eventually the grass is replaced with red sand again and the smell of the earth is replaced with the dryness of desert. Up in the sky a black cloud blows towards them, promising more rain then has fallen for years. But it soon becomes clear that the cloud is in fact smoke as the smell of burning fills both their nostrils.
That night as the sun sets the sky is a glow. Calling on their powers they flit the last few miles and stop a mile off the city. Under better circumstances Va’Lohren would have been a sight to behold, but the spires and turrets of buildings just gave the impression of chimneys as smoke billowed out of the city centre. Ella had been planning for ages what she would say to the guards at the gate when she finally reached her goal after decades of exploring. But all those plans went to waste because no-one manned the wall.
The duo ran to the middle of the city, directing themselves by listening to the commotion, the strange cries and calls echoing around the city. In the middle of the city stood a square, the buildings around the edge and deeper into the city were ablaze. Strange bodies littered the floor, neither human or belonging to The Fated. In the middle stood a huge podium, a stone ramp leading up to the centre. Flanking either side of this huge construction were two immense poles, made out of a material that she had never seen before, almost like metallic leather. A Gateway stood proud between the two poles.
But it was unlike anything Ella or Brandon had seen. Usually you could see straight through unimpeded, like looking through a window to the other side. But in this instance colours crackled across the surface, the surface rippling like water. Ella’s hair started to stand on end.
Groups of The Fated stood around, paying no attention to Brandon or Ella, focused entirely on the portal. A group of Fated stood at the base of the portal, hands raised, chanting something that sounded strange yet familiar to Ella.
The portal started shrinking in size, but the rainbow lightning that was arcing across the surface picked up growing in fury. All of a sudden a huge arm appeared through the portal, its skin matching those of the bodies on the floor. Ella knew, just from looking at its forearm, which was still coming through, that this thing was colossal. Sensing it wouldn’t get through the thing retracted its arm.
The chanting grew louder as they struggled with the portal but then, suddenly, the chanting stopped, the bodies of the chanters hitting the floor. The portal hung still for a second than out of nowhere the pressure seemed to drop on this side of the portal, everything that wasn’t secure to the floor shot through the portal, as the power of the suction grew, screams arose as they realised what was about to happen.
“Run!” Ella grabbed Brandon’s arm and tried to drag him away, “come on, it’s so unstable.”
Ella knew they wouldn’t make it away in time even if they employed all their powers but she started to run anyway.
Just as she turned the portal opened again to its full height and sucked her, Brandon, and everyone else that hadn’t got away in time, through in an instant and the crashed back together as if made from elastic, snapping shut with a devastating explosion.
So full of beauty
So full of beauty,
You own this world.
Ruler of hearts,
Catcher of eyes.
So full of beauty,
You pass through this world.
So full of beauty everyone can see,
Except you, maybe.
Emperor of souls,
Turner of heads.
Realise your beauty,
Or sooner than later,
You’ll end up dead.
