forum Writing Competition (Closed!)

Started September 18, 2018 by @SaltyLasagna

tune

It was actually very long (yet still within the word limit) and I had finished it, but whatever.

I can extend the deadline if you need me to!

Ok Here's my full entry Jensen. I added to it just for you. It's now 3,000 words.

All of it is property of me. I plan to use it for later use, so technically I have to put it as my property…
It was late Autumn. The leaves were the golden, honey color that Cassius loved. It reminded him of his mother, and her golden hair. He was riding out to meet his best friend, and his protector for that matter, Amirael. She was the offspring of the greatest warriors that had ever lived. Her father, Sio, led his father, King Jarin, to the victory of Barrow hill. That battle secured his father’s throne, and his lineage, and to that, Cassius was greatful. Amirael’s mother, Lara, was a different story. She was a strategist. She pointed out every flaw, and fixed every problem that the queen saw in the kingdom. From battle, to food shortages, Lara covered it. She was the one that the kingdom depended on, and his mother, Queen Jaina, loved that Lara brought the kingdom so much prosperity, and peace. Together, Amirael’s parents were unstoppable. That’s why his parents loved them. They brought everything to the kingdom that they couldn’t have. They solved every problem that the kingdom had. Until they disappeared. No one knows where they went, and why they left Amirael behind. She was fine though. It seemed she flourished under all that pain, and rejection. But only Cassius knew what was really going on. He knew every fatal flaw Amirael had. She was scared of being rejected by everyone, and she was scared that someday, the world would finally crash and burn around her, because of something she did. Cassius shuddered at that thought. He knew how much damage she could cause… He once saw the fire in her eyes, that cold fire, that burned heartlessly. She was trained to fight, and fight she could. Nothing could stand against her. Whatever was thrown her way, would be thrown back sevenfold. In all honesty, Cassius was scared of that power. He knew that one crippling blow, or misstep, in her case, would break her. She would tear herself apart. That was part of why his father entrusted him with the kingdom’s most precious jewel. Amirael. All she knew was that King Jarin had put his heir in her custody for protection. It was all a ruse. It was for her protection, and hers only. Only Cassius and his father knew the truth. Cassius sighed. All this thinking, and reflecting, was hurting his head. He started focusing on the colors of the leaves, and the sounds of the birds. It was a peaceful day. Until that is, off in the distance, he heard Amirael shout.
“What has she done this time? I swear if she bent her sword again… That’s the third time this week…”
Cassius just leaned back on the saddle of of his horse, Merrick. He straightened up, and snapped the reins, and the horse started moving at a slow trot. He crested the hill that overlooked Amirael’s home. What he saw made his stomach turn. There were enemies of the kingdom, lying dead all around her house. That shout he heard earlier, must have been her crying out in pain. He muttered seemingly to himself,
“Ami, what have you done? This may cause a war that we aren’t ready for… A WAR…”
That word, war, made Cassius’ stomach turn. He dismounted slowly off of Merrick. He made sure that he was silent as he unclasped the saddle bag, and drew his sword. Cassius crouched low, and started making his way through the tall, dry grass. The wind was a gentle breeze. When it blew through the grasses, it turned them into whip-like blades. They cut, and provided cover for those who could stand the pain. That’s why Amirael stayed out here… It mirrored her soul. As Cassius got closer to the house, he heard a scuffle inside. Over the sound of chairs being broken, and plates being shattered, he heard Amirael’s voice. It sounded like steel.
“General. I’m sorry the negotiations were shorter than you expected, but that’s what happens when one of your men jumps me. They all pay the price.”
Cassius heard a grunt from the man he only assumed to be the general. The man spoke.
“Well child, I thought you wouldn’t get this far. You’ll die like the rest of my men. You have no help coming, and you have no strength left. Your weapons are blunt, and broken. Soon, you will have no will left, none whatsoever. You want to know about your parents? They left this kingdom for ours…”
Amirael faltered. “No. That can’t be true. I’ve known they left me, and I’ve accepted this. But to go to my enemies kingdom, I just can’t…”
Amirael seethed. She pushed back against the general, and he slammed against the wall. “How do like that General? You are between a rock and a hard place. You’re stuck. Tell me what I need to know. Who sent you here to kill me? Come on, you can tell me…”
Cassius was shivering outside, even though the day was moderately warm. He was scared. Amirael’s voice was so smooth and even, that one would think she was dead calm. But she was an expert at covering things up. He knew that tone well. This was her tone of deepest panic.
“Ami… What are you getting yourself into… I can’t understand your logic… Or you for that matter…” Cassius muttered to himself.
Suddenly, her front door was thrown open, and Amirael was thrown out. She hit the ground with a clatter. She got up as fast as she could, and fixed her armor. The general walked out with utter confidence, but Cassius noticed a bruise on his throat from Amirael. He stifled a laugh. Amirael stood stock still. She had heard a person in the grass, and she recognized that huff of air, and that whisper of a voice. She cocked her head sideways, and rolled her eyes. She backed up, and stood near Cassius’ sword hand. She then faced the general, and dusted her shoulder off. It was a signal, that she hoped that Cassius had caught. She taunted,
“For an old man, you can throw me pretty far. I underestimated you, but that doesn’t get you anything. I mean come on! I killed your best men! You should have taught them better! They were weak… I mean, they fought honorably for their skill level, but at least give me an even match. They were nothing to me…”
The general smiled a cruel smile. “Come on child, they let you win. You think you can out fight a grown man?”
This time, Amirael laughed. “General, I out fought you. And what, you’re approaching your seventies? I mean you’re an old man…”
Cassius had an idea on what Amirael was going to do. He balanced his sword on the toe of her boot. He hoped he had read her signals right… Or else this was going to go up in flames…
Amirael had felt Cassius’ sword on her boot. “He read my signals right… Smart boy…”
Amirael tensed up, and drew the attention of the general to her face.
“So general, do you have any last words? Any last confessions?”
The general smirked, “No, why would I have any last
wor-…”
The general staggered back, and looked down. A sword was sticking out of chest… Amirael had kicked up the sword, and grabbed the hilt, and threw it like a spear. She smirked. “See general, this is why you don’t mess with a child. For they are unpredictable…”
The general croaked out his last words, “Child… You have… Started a… War… The end… Of your… Kingdom… Is… Near…”
Amirael walked over, “Now, general, this is where you’re wrong. I know what I have started, and I know what I have to do to end it. I’m tired of your senseless blabbing. I think it’s time for you to go…”
Amirael watched as the light left the general’s eyes. After she knew he was dead, she pulled the sword out of the general’s chest, and cleaned it off. She turned back and looked at the body of the dying general. She turned toward the grass.
“Alright your highness, you’re safe now. You can come out of the grass…”
Cassius got up and dusted the dirt off of his pants. “Ami, I swear, one day you’re going to get yourself killed…”
Amirael stood in front of Prince Cassius. ‘Cas, I’m fine. Now, you need to clean yourself up. If you don’t, your father is going to kill me. Oh, here’s your sword by the way.”
Amirael tossed Cassius his sword back. Cassius sighed.
“Ami, what am I going to do with you? You are going to get me killed one day…”
Amirael put her hands on her hips.
“Cas, you listen here. I didn’t call your butt over here today. I had it covered. I didn’t need you here. But I have to admit, your sword was a welcome presence. By the way, do you think your father would mind if I asked him for another sword? The one I got two days ago kinda broke in someone… Cas, fix your hair…”
Cassius grumpily mumbled as he fixed his hair. He fixed as best as he could
“No, Ami he wouldn’t mind. You killed a band of enemy soldiers with it. In all honesty, you’ll probably get honored with a royal sword…”
Amirael huffed.
“Royal sword my butt. Those swords are used only for decoration. I just need a good old iron sword to replace the one that I broke today. Anyway, why did you come to me today? Cas, come here. You have fluff in your hair…”
Cassius narrowed his eyes, but he crouched down to let Amirael get the fluff out of his head. He started in an mock official voice, “Amirael, I have come to you today, by the request of my father. He wishes you to grace his presence…”
Amirael rubbed her face.
“Your father probably wants me to solve a border dispute. I guess on the Western side of the kingdom, near Lake Rihon. Let me get my horse, Arrowwind, and a few days worth of supplies, and we will follow you. You know me, I gotta stock up on food, water, and only I know how many weapons I need…”
Cassius sighed.
“Alright Ami. Get your horse and crap together. I’m waiting on you…”
Amirael turned sharply an her heels, and went into her shack of a house to collect her supplies, and weapons. She finished in a matter of minutes, and walked out wearing fresh clothes, and glowing with health. Cassius surprised himself by noticing these things. He thought to himself, “What is wrong with me? I know what she looks like… But, it’s like I see her in a different light… What’s happened to me…”
Amirael noticed that Cassius seemed lost in his thoughts. She walked over and looked up at the six foot two prince.
“Hey, Cas? Are you ok? You seem out of it. Are you feeling ok? Do I need to run and get the apothecary?”
Cassius snapped out of it. He looked down on the face of the five foot tall warrior.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just thinking about something. Something that I haven’t thought of before…”
Amirael gave Cassius a funny look.
“Is it about your coronation? I’ll be there, but I’ll be in ceremonial armor, and I’ll have to kneel before your father to give him your crown… I’m just freaking out because I’m scared that I’m going to trip… And, not to mention, after your coronation, you’ll have to start looking for suitors. I bet that’s the joy of your life right now. Soon, your life won’t be yours. It’ll be the life of thousands, and I’ll have to ride without my trusty sidekick…”
Cassius groaned.
“Ami, just get your horse. What about not having my life? I’ll be ruling over thousands, and going down in history. What’s more to ask?”
Amirael sighed.
“Cas, my prince, sometimes there are more things to life than ruling a kingdom, and going down in history. You’ll most likely move out of this kingdom, and marry into another one. You’ll go rule your betrothed’s kingdom. You will forget that this kingdom ever existed. What I’m trying to say my prince is, Cas, don’t grow up to fast. You’ll regret it. I know I do…”
With that, Amirael turned sharply, and went to go get Arrowwind from her stable. She saddled him up, and before she left her stable, she let a solitary tear glide down her cheek, and into the dirt of the ground. She wiped her face, dissolving the trace of the tear, afraid of what Cassius might say because, warriors don’t cry. She fiddled with Arrowwind’s bridle, until she got control of her feelings. She took a shaky breath in, and walked out with Arrowwind following her. She put on a brave face.
“Alright Cassius, let us go to your father. If I am requested, I best not keep him waiting…”
Cassius nodded, and they started trekking up the hill, back to Merrick. Cassius knew something was wrong with Amirael. She was never so serious, unless she was with his father and mother in the meeting room, discussing random things. He turned to Amirael.
“Hey, are you ok? Did I say something that offended my protector? Or, are you thinking about what will happen to you if I leave?”
Amirael turned her head, trying to hide her face.
“You hit it dead on. I don’t know what will happen to me when you leave with someone else. I’ll just probably fade into legend, and become a myth… No one will remember me.
I know I hold a place of high honor, but that means nothing when you are gone. I only hold this place because of you. Your father only put me in charge of protecting you until you were old enough to protect yourself. After that, I’m useless to him. If only my parents were still here. I could be living and learning in the best places…”
Cassius was shell shocked. He didn’t know that his protector, was this scared of what would happen when he left for another kingdom. He turned and looked at her.
“Ami, you know that I couldn’t bear to lose you. We grew up together, and you are the only one that I will allow to protect me. You know this. This is part of why my father sent me to get you. I know that it’s a days ride to get back to the palace, but hear me out. We are bringing you back for my protection. You haven’t heard, have you?”
Amirael’s head snapped back to Cassius’ face.
“Heard what? Cassius, tell me, NOW.”
Cassius knew he was going to hear it from his father. He didn’t care. He had to tell her.
“Ami, I was sent to come get you because there was an attempt on my life. Someone tried to kill me. It was two days ago. I was out in the arena, and someone tried to kill me with an arrow. They missed by mere inches, but, it was still an attempt on my life.
My nerves were shattered. I’m still afraid to show my face in the main city. Out here, I’m safe, but in there, I’m in danger… That’s why I came to get you. For my ultimate protection…”
Amirael took it all in with a steel face. She spoke softly,
“Cas, you should have gotten me sooner. I knew this would happen eventually… I knew that attack on me, wasn’t just random. They were going to wipe you out, and then me. I know you hate riding at night, but this time it’s necessary. If you follow me, you should be relatively safe. Relatively…”
Cassius’ eyes grew wide.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY RELATIVELY SAFE?!?! I came to you for protection. Don’t fail me now…”
Cassius suddenly stopped. He wished he could take back his words.
“Ami, I didn’t mean that. You have never failed me, and you never will. Please. I didn’t mean that… I’m sorry…”
Amirael’s face steeled.
“I know what you meant Cas. Now, if you follow me your highness, I’ll get you back to your father in one piece…”
Cassius knew he had crossed the line. He looked at Amirael as she mounted Arrowwind.
He did the same, and he mounted Merrick, and waited for Amirael’s command.
Amirael knew he didn’t mean it that way. He couldn’t have. Still, her brain ran rampant at the possibility that he didn’t trust her judgement… She tried to calm her raging feelings, but everything seemed like it was out of her control… She shook her head hoping to clear it, but to no avail. She looked toward the road that would lead them back to the kingdom. Amirael thought for a moment, and suddenly and idea flew into her brain.
“Alright your highness. Follow me, and put your cloak on. I have an idea…”
Cassius’ eyes widened, and he sighed.
“Ami, I hate it when you get an idea. It usually involves me wearing your clothes, and you wearing mine…”
Amirael gave Cassius a grin.
“There you go Cassius. You know me so well. Now, get the extra pair of clothes out of my bag, and go put them on, like a good prince.”
Cassius rolled his eyes.
“And I’m assuming that when I change, you will want me to bring you my clothes so you can change into them?”
Amirael nodded.
“Good boy Cassius. You know what to do. Also, you need to swap out your saddle bags for mine…”
Cassius stopped fiddling with the reins and looked up.
“Why do I need to swap my saddle bags out?”
Amirael just sighed and rubbed her temples.
“Cassius, have you not noticed that your saddle bags have the royal crest embroidered on them? I’m trying to hide the fact that your a royal, and not let your saddle bags ruin it. Now hurry up. Go change, and I’ll switch saddle bags.”
Cassius mocked a salute.
“Yes ma’am, general Ami. I will promptly do what you ask. Now toss me your extra clothes.”
Amirael rolled her eyes, and reached back into her saddle bag, and pulled out her extra clothes.
“Here you go, your highness. Oh, by the way, you may want to untie your hair. You look more feminine when it’s down…”
Cassius glared at Amirael.
“Why do you like to tease me so much? I don’t understand you…”
Amirael threw him the extra clothes.
“And you never will understand me. Now hurry. I could have sworn I heard horses up ahead…”
Cassius rolled his eyes. He grabbed the clothes that now rested in his lap, and dismounted Merrick. He looked at Amirael.
“Now where do you suppose I can change? I’m not going back down the hill, to your house…”
Amirael thought for a moment.
“Cassius, have you ever heard of trees? They are these big, tall, leafy, green things that you can hide behind. You can change behind one of them. They’ll cover you well enough. And, you don’t need to go back down to my house… There is quite a mess in it… I’m afraid you’ll be scared of me if you walk in and see what happened to roughly thirty well-trained men. It’s not a pretty sight…”
Cassius nodded.
“Point taken. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go find a tree to change behind. I can never understand why you are so short… Your pants are literally 8 inches too short for me…”
Amirael laughed.
“I mean if you just want to wear your pants, that’s fine. But, I’m going to need your shirt. That’s what has the royal crest on it. The shirt that I gave you should be fine. I made it extra big so you can fit in it.”
Cassius smirked.
“Just wear my pants? Ooohhh, Ami. You are a disgrace…”
Amirael’s face turned bright pink.
“Cas! You know what I meant you idiot. Now hurry. People are coming…”
Cassius smiled.
“Yeah, no problem Ami. I’ll give you my shirt. Wait a second…”
Cassius then took off his shirt, and threw it at Amirael. She gave him a disapproving look, and slipped his shirt over her armor. He then put on her extra shirt, and mounted Merrick again. Cassius gave Amirael a confused look.
“I thought you were going to swap out the saddle bags? Did you forget?”
Amirael shut her eyes, and sighed loudly.
“Yes Cassius, I forgot. Now please hand them to me. Here’s mine, hurry. I think I see someone. Oh, and put your cloak on, and put the hood over your head, and ride in front of me. I want it to look like you’re me, and I’m you…”
Cassius nodded, and switched the saddle bags. He whispered,
“Hey Ami, do you think this is going to work?”
Amirael put her cloak on, and put the hood over her head.
“I hope so Cassius, I hope so…”
Cassius followed suit and covered his head, and let his hair down. It was just in time. Some calvary, and foot soldiers from the enemy kingdom were slowly making their way down the path. He overheard a foot soldier.
“Oy, do you think the general got the girl? I heard that the assassination attempt on the boy failed. This is why you should never let a bowman do a swordsman's job. They can’t do it right.”
Another foot soldier bitterly retorted,
“You know Jervan, I once was a bowman myself. I wasn’t too bad. I killed off many a senator. This one probably just got nervous and released too early.”
Cassius dropped out of that conversation, and looked at Amirael. The look on her face was of panic. She looked at Cassius.
“Cas, I need you to lead me past them. As of now, I look like you. I need Merrick to charge them. Arrowwind will follow. Keep your head down, and lay low on Merrick’s back. You got that? Do I need to repeat anything?”
Cassius smirked.
“It’s gonna be like last month in Fenech. Ami, I’m ready. I know what to do. You just tell me when to blaze past them…”
Amirael nodded.
“On my signal. Charge in 3… 2… 1… Go Cas, go!”
Cassius spurred Merrick into a gallop. Amirael did the same with Arrowind. Cassius flew past the enemy guards before they had time to register what had happened. Amirael wasn’t so lucky. The enemy horsemen, stopped her. She stopped short, and pivoted Arrowwind on a dime. Amirael cursed.
“Dang it! Well, at least Cassius is safe… Arrowwind, take the fox trail. We’ll either lose them, or I’ll guess my kill total will go up today…”
The horse registered what Amirael had said. He obeyed, and ran back the way he had come. The enemy horsemen however, decided to follow suit. Through the roar of the wind rushing past her ears, Amirael heard the one man shout louder than the rest.
“It’s the boy! I saw the crest on his shirt! The general must have gotten the girl! The boy came back for his protector! The other horse and rider was a decoy! Follow the Prince! Forget the other boy. He’s of no use to us…”
Amirael let out a huge sigh of relief. Cassius was safe, but she wasn’t…

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaasssss that was absolutely worth the read yaaaaaaaaassaa good job!

You mean my writing?

yES YOUR WRITING WHAT ELSE

The prologue was just me fooling around for like 30 minutes. This took me like a day…

yES YOUR WRITING WHAT ELSE

Idk, a roleplay? XD…

Bro it’s rough around the edges but it’s good. Neat. Yis. Whatever. It’s good.

yES YOUR WRITING WHAT ELSE

Idk, a roleplay? XD…

Op yep ima waltz on here and be like, “Bro i know you just copied something you wrote, and Im a jodge but did you see that RP doh?”

yES YOUR WRITING WHAT ELSE

Idk, a roleplay? XD…

Op yep ima waltz on here and be like, “Bro i know you just copied something you wrote, and Im a jodge but did you see that RP doh?”

Lol… I may potentially use this idea for a book. I have a pro looking at it, seeing what age it appeals to the most… So idk. Maybe I'll get the go ahead to write it…