Fantasy Sample #2

Fantasy Sample #2

The sun finished its descent and left darkness in its wake. Along the sidewalk street lights flickered into life, their harsh beams illuminating the deserted streets throughout the small town. Walking beneath them was a young girl, her auburn hair's curled ends bouncing with every step. She was wearing her usual, plain attire of a short sleeved, blue blouse and matching shorts.

She kept her arms crossed and pulled tightly to her chest with her head down, staring at the cracks as she walked over them. Her shadow trailed behind her, steadily growing and shrinking as she passed each light. All around her was silent. Only the rhythmic stomping of her custom made, steel-toed army boots, and her personal mumblings challenged the peace.

This continued until she finally came to a halt below an oddly dim light. She sighed and looked up at it curiously, as a brisk wind blew by. She shivered and let out a quiet sneeze then, for the first time on her walk, she looked behind herself, checking to make sure she wasn't being followed. To her satisfaction there was only a red, plastic cup tumbling about the ground. She turned her head back and sighed, raising her right foot. This triggered a chill that rushed up and down her spine and before she could process any thought time slowed to a crawl.

Cracks tore through the ground all around her and red bled through the immense fissures. Beneath her, the floor ripped open, exposing a black void. Her heart jumped into her stomach, and her stomach entangled itself in her throat as she fell deeper and deeper into the dark abyss. Desperately, she tried opening her mouth to let out a scream, but unable find her voice, she exhaled sharply as her warm breath scraped against her dry throat.

A burning sensation rippled through her skin, sending spikes of pain from her toes to the backs of her ears, and around her heart. She looked to her sides, making out of the darkness small, ghoulish creatures latched onto her. They held each of her muscles, restricting her movement, seemingly, chuckling to themselves as they flashed their sharp, glistening fangs at her. She looked into their green, luminous eyes, searching for a consciousness to match hers only to find a darkness that not even the black hole she had fallen into held.

She opened her mouth to plea for mercy, but the sound became muddled in her throat. Rapidly, her muscles tensed up and she began to fade from consciousness. The feeling of needles paraded her skin from all over, numbing her senses as she closed her eyes, leaving her in darkness. Drowning, her figure was lost.

From an infinitely expanding void above, the girl's body floated downward into a dreary room. It welcomed her with its chilled winds blowing in from the many open caverns about the walls. The flickering fires held within the torch lights scattered about the perimeter and scarcely touched the center. The cold, lonely remains of buildings that were reduced to crumbling walls surrounded a stone slab beside an empty basin, but did not conceal it. Contrasting the frost was the floor , which was spotted with living flames, almost hot enough to burn any bare flesh that accidentally fell upon it.

It was onto the slab that her body landed again and her new form touched light. Her skin had turned a pale, sickly white along with her short hair. Her eyes were tightly shut, and clumped around her were the now medium sized monstrosities.

They were a seamless mesh of blazing red, short fur with spikes down their spines, stopping only before reaching the tops of their heads where two dull horns stood. The tails, crinkled and small, were laid off to the side, occasionally twitching with excitement as the demons’ gnarled teeth pressed together to smile. In each of their claws was a small, dark blue pouch with a light blue aura around it.

From behind a wall behind the slab a tall, elderly man appeared, looking of a dark priest. Atop his crown laid a wreath of gold adorned in ruby and diamond, the wrinkles rolling off his tired skin fell from his forehead to his jowls which dangled and jiggled as he shook in place. His robes were dark red, the cuffs and edges outlined in a coal black, a golden pentagram in the middle of his chest. He spoke in a light, scratchy tone, murmuring to himself, “Good. Now, lift the girl for the ritual to proceed.” He raised his arms, and the basin next to the slab began to pool with green water.

The small abominations snickered to themselves as they released their holds on the girl and slipped beneath her. The elder began to chant, “Au mune rah as sha la dee way nee...” as they hoisted her up, lifting her high enough that her chin was level with the pentagram on the false priest's chest. He held onto the word, “Raaaahhhh...” as he shoved his hand into the water and then sprinkled it around her head, droplets falling onto her shadow. He paused only a moment to pull a silver rosary out of his sleeve and whisper, “The king is sure to be pleased this time...” He raised his hand, holding the rosary tightly, moving it downward to strike the girl's chest, but then, from the silence came a thunderous roar that quaked the ground.

The tremor knocked the old man and the creatures underneath the girl off balance, rocks crumbling and chipping all over. And then the entire room shook again, an intense magnitude following a howl that rang throughout the cave. They all fell to the ground, the monsters rolling onto the floor from the slab and the old man landing in front of the girl's growing shadow.

He rubbed his head and began to mouth, “What in...” but he froze as the girl’s shadow rose off the ground and materialized before him. The shape shifted from a silhouette of the girl's form to that of a man, standing upright, over the priest, though his feet still shared the shadow with the girl. The man was incredibly tall, at least nine feet in height, with a well-defined muscular frame.

However, from its sides, dark, thick fur began to grow, soon reaching the mid-section of its body, going upward and downward at the same time as its feet shifted from humanlike to canine. From behind a wolf's tail shot out and a set of small, ragged, raven wings sprouted from its lower back. Further up huge, muscular, bat wings that could easily wrap around the being formed. Finally, the top of the figure shaped into a wolf’s head with braided dread locks of fur to its left side.

It opened its eyes, which burned with a bright red intensity, looking as though flames were raging through its irises. The faux priest began to let out a yelp, but before he could push the sound out of his mouth, the giant wolf creature picked him up and slammed him against the ground. It slammed him over and over again until he was drenched in his own blood. Quivering and sobbing the priest was beyond defeat, but the shadow hadn't finished with him just yet. It lifted the red mass over its head and, hurled it with as much force as possible into a wall opposite of it. By that time, the girl was beginning to regain her consciousness, and she lifted her head, groaning as she grabbed the back of it. She opened her eyes and blinked before noticing the thing in front of her.

The beast turned and swung his claws at her fiercely, growling and snarling wildly. But, just before he could land a swipe on her, his muscles tensed and he froze, unable to move further. She sat calmly, merely watching as the monster struggled to touch her. Eventually, the beast's eyes calmed and turned a softer shade of red. He backed away, slouching a bit as he relaxed his muscles. He looked curiously at the girl for a few moments and then looked around, noticing scurrying shades escape into the numerous orifices about the wall. He scowled at the sight and then looked above him, seemingly searching for something he couldn't find.

He reached up, toward the center of the void above and noticed his claw. He studied it for what seemed like hours and began to tremble until he put it against his chest and ran it up to his face, resting it on the top of his nose. “So, this is …” he grumbled quietly. He pursed his lips and touched each tooth in his caned mouth with his tongue, encircling around the incredibly thick and pointed canines. “This is me now…”

From behind came a weak voice, which asked, “Excuse me…” The beast’s eye rolled to the side, looking behind him to see a young girl, devoid of any color. “Do we know each other?”

After a few moments of silence the shadow turned around and replied, “Yes. Yes, we do.”

“H-how,” the girl coughed and forced herself to stand upon her wobbly knees.

The shadow waved his hand saying, “It doesn’t matter.” He suddenly snaked his way to the girl and put a claw to her chest. “What does matter is that you’re the only one who can get me out of here. Out of… This.”

“I’m sorry… I’m not sure that I understand…” The girl shook the dust out of her hair and put a hand on the shadow’s claw.

Puzzled, he stared into the girl’s eyes, his red irises burning through her pale blue eyes. He looked into them until she said, finally, “What are you looking for?”

“Something… I’m not sure is there anymore…” The beast sighed and let his claws fall to the ground. “Maybe I was wrong. I don’t think there’s anyone out there that can help me now.”

The figure slowly started to sink back into the girl’s shadow. “Wait! Don’t go yet! I can’t be left here all alone… Can I?” The girl ran over to him and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, but then, from the corner of her eye, she saw a bright blue glimmer.

Immediately, the girl switched the bulk of her attention to the item, which she swore beckoned to her. She walked over to the glowing blue stone and kneeled down beside it. Its aura captivated her and without thinking, she reached out to it and grabbed it with both of her hands, then pressed it to her heart. Instantly, the stone was absorbed into her heart and the girl fell to her side.

From the darkness that surrounded her dream ground, came the image—the image that she knew and yet couldn’t recall. It was of a newspaper. A newspaper dated August 8^th, 2003. She stared at the date, stared until she heard a bell chime three times. Three separate times—the sound of a doorbell. She ran to the door that was now in the room and opened it. This is something she remembered—A man in blue, dark blue. A man in dark blue with a whistle in his mouth and the saddest look she’d ever seen on anyone’s face. The man knelt, requesting her small, fragile hand and said, “I’m so sorry, little lady… I have the most terrible news…”

Eventually the girl groaned, slowly opening her eyes as she felt herself coming to and being dragged away from her dream. Groggily, she raised her head and started to look around, slowly remembering where she was and whom she’d met. She looked to the openings to the caverns on the wall. “Did you see where they went?”

From the girl’s shadow rose the beast again and he growled, “All I saw was them go in there…” He turned to her and checked her eyes, “What happened to you anyway? You seem…different.”

“I’m not sure…” The girl’s eyes fell to the ground, and then ran up the length of her shadow’s body. “I think that we can help each other, though… If I get those things back, then I remember more and maybe I’ll remember how to help you.”

The creature blinked blankly. “Um… I don’t know about this, kid…” He let out a hefty sigh. “But then again, I don’t see what I have to lose…”

“So...what's your name?” she asked with a smile.

“Darren.” He asked dryly, “And yours?” She shrugged. “You don’t remember your name...?” he asked, putting a hand behind his head to scratch it.

“That would’ve been helpful, but no… All I remember is waking up here and getting news that I lost some important people some time ago…”

“Well, I have to call you something so, uh...” He searched his memories for the last thought he could muster; the last thing he'd seen of the world of light. “Luna. I'll call you Luna.”

The girl stood up and dusted herself off. “I think I like that, Darren. It's a pleasure to meet you, so...” she held out her hand to him, “Do we have a deal?”

“As if I have a choice...” Darren chuckled as he stuck out his claw to her and took hold of her hand, giving it a gentle grip and shaking it.