Bound - NaNoWriMo2020 11/27

They pressed forward together, now every watchful. At first they came against no resistance, aside from the magical lights there was no difference to the last time they walked these halls, in fact the light made traversal all the easier. They were starting to even feel themselves calm, that is until Kassadi’s foot sunk as it pressed down on a pressure plate. The Wizard didn’t have more than a second as the mechanism she triggered went off, a panel to her side opening with a clunk revealing a half dozen nozzles that all sprayed boiling water. Kassadi’s hand moved on instinct alone, gripping the clay in her satchel and casting her spell before even drawing it. Steam erupted as the super heated water cascaded against the stone wall Kassadi raised in front of her. She panted heavily, heart pounding in her chest. 

“This is gonna be super not fun.” Kassadi mumbled when she could finally manage to speak. 

“I think it might be to our benefit, actually.” Madrona said, leaning in and investigating the nozzles. She could feel the heat radiating from them. 

“How is nearly being boiled alive to our benefit?” Kassadi exclaimed, furrowing her brow. 

“I mean, Travlona reset all these traps to wear us down and maybe even kill one of us.” Madrona turned and leaned around the rock wall to glance at Kassadi. “That means she’s not sure she can beat us in a fair fight.” 

“Small comfort if we get there and my skin is sloughing off.” Kassadi said morbidly. 

“Hey.” Madrona said sharply. “Listen to me, I’ve met a lot of people in my life, lot of self projected egg heads so confident in their own mental prowess and I can tell you, I’ve not met anyone smarter than you. From the moment I met you you’ve been on top of figuring things out, even when you don’t know you’re there putting the pieces you have together. I have no doubt you can get through this.”

“Oh.” Kassadi was, for once, speechless. She stared at her hands as she fumbled with the clay in her palm. Her cheeks took on a deep shade of pink and red and she couldn’t stop smiling. “Thank you. I’ve never met anyone with such strength of character and resolve as you have, Madrona.” 

“That’s called being a stubborn ass.” Madrona stated with a smirk. “But thank you.” 

Moving along together the women were able to manage themselves quite well. Over the next hour they were able to navigate around a pitfall trap, an arrow slit trap, and three glyph traps. The glyphs proved to be both easiest to spot but hardest to avoid. Mechanical traps all had a trigger, whether it be a trip wire, pressure plate, or seismic trigger it was simply a matter of avoiding the trigger. Glyphs were all about proximity, no matter how carefully you stepped if you got to close the magic would go off. Two of the three they managed to avoid were the classic explosive type, but the third was an ice glyph trap, triggering it would cause the entire hallway to flash freeze, coating the stone with ice and freezing the blood of any creature caught in the blast. Kassadi found it facinating and wanted to get a closer look at it but Madrona insisted on moving on. She insisted by dragging Kassadi by the shoulder away from the ice trap.

Avoiding the traps was going well, however, it was slowing them to a crawl. They had to be cautious with every corner taken, every stone touched or trodden on. The problem this presented was that traps were not the only threat within the labyrinth’s walls. Over the century as the maze was conquered by adventurers and the advent of time the halls became nothing but shaded stone caverns. Dry and secluded, it was the perfect place for creatures to take refuge in, and not just any creatures, but monsters. With all the traps now reactivated the creatures would become agitated as their havens became hostile to them. They would become incised and seek something to lash out against, something soft and warm and made of flesh. 

“Do you hear that?” Madrona stopped in her tacks, holding up a hand to Kassadi. 

“Hear what?” Kassadi looked around, she couldn’t see anything, but worried about a poison gas trap now. 

“Sounds like scratching.” Madrona turned and narrowed her eyes, seeing nothing to coincide with the sounds he knew she heard approaching from behind. 

“I don’t hear anything.” Kassadi turned around as well, glancing from floor to ceiling. As her gaze trailed up above them she gasped inward and grasped at Madrona’s shoulder in shock. “Madrona above us!” 

The creatures let out a piercing squeal as they were spotted and dropped. The worm like bodies wriggled as they fell from the ceiling and onto the two women, who only barely were able to leap from harm. Their skin was yellow and semi-translucent, slick with slime and covered in dozens of little claw tipped legs. They clicked at their prey with large mandible like beaks and stared with large black segmented eyes. They were both four feet long and came to the height of a large dog as they bore down on the women, two large tentacles snaking out from each of the creatures abdomen, all four of the appendages tipped with a barbed stinger that dripped a black and acrid liquid. Kassadi and Madrona looked on at these creatures with horror and disgust. 

“Gross!” Kassadi cried out, backing away from the worms. 

The worms struck, each of them throwing one of their stingers at one of the women. Both of the targets managed to duck the attacks, which seemed good until the second stinger went for where the women had moved to in what must have been a common hunting tactic for these worms. Kassado managed to deflect the stinger with a casting of her shield and Madrona twisted in such a way that the bard stabbed into her pack rather than her flesh. Realizing that these creatures were not dumb the women scrambled to gain even more distance. The worms kept pace, however, intent on not allowing their prey to escape. 

Madrona twisted around to face the creatures first, dagger drawn, and threw her hand forward. All noise vanished for a half second before a deafening boom filled the hallway. Kassadi stumbled as the ground beneath her shuddered and she could see the stonework around the two worms cracking under the sudden thunder. The creatures themselves were wracked with pain, they thrashed and flailed around helplessly. Their bodies shuddered and wrenched against the thundering energy. One of the creatures split open, white milky guts spilling out onto the stonework. The second managed to keep it’s body from rending itself, but one of it’s barbed tentacles was torn from it’s form in the throws of agony. It skittered up a wall over the ceiling before losing it’s grip and falling onto it’s back in a pathetic display. Kassadi frowned at the creature and raised her hand, three bolts of energy soaring through the air to perforate the creature, more so putting it out of its misery than anything else. The two glanced over the creatures for a moment before moving on, hoping the sound of the fight didn’t draw more creatures their way. 

While they were lucky enough to apparently not have drawn any monsters forward, what they had drawn might have been worse. From down the hall they heard loud metallic stomping. They quickly made their way down a branching hallway and pushed themselves into a tight alcove. Peeking out they saw a creature of metal and wood moving in even and stilted footfalls down the hall. A construct, an object given a false imitation of life. The golem like creatures were commonly used by wizards and other casters as Servants, able to handle simple tasks, and guards. These sentinels were tough, lacking any the vulnerabilities of flesh and blood opponents, they could withstand an incredible amount of punishment. They could also dish out just as much as they could take. They were walking battering rams, and something that it was best not to find yourself fighting against. Luckily they also tended to be dumber than a bag of rocks. No actual life flowed through them so they could only do so much on their own, needing their creators instruction to guide them long in their tasks. A guard construct would attack any creature not meant to be in a given location, but only if they were found. Kassadi and Madrona both held their breath as the construct passed them, and waited a solid five minutes before moving from the alcove to press down the hall, now all too aware of yet another hazard they needed to be aware of. 

Time passed, neither of the women could really tell how much, but with the slow and cautious movement, the hyperawareness, and the sickening feeling they would find a metal fist swinging at them when they rounded the next corner they were finding themselves mentally exhausted. They needed to hunker down somewhere and rest, if just for an hour. Kassadi let Madrona know she knew somewhere they could go, and she lead the way. As they approached, however, the women could hear a high pitched wail. They both felt the unease of another potential monster fight, sharing a glance with each other before pressing on. What they found was not a monster, but carnage. As they entered the Goblin camp they found blood and bodies. The last of the goblins lay slain on the ground, bodies slashed open by blade or, in some cases, split in twain by what was clearly a heavy axe blow. In the center of it was the source of the cry. Maryl, staring at the last of her people dead before her. She turned as she heard Kassadi and Madrona approach. 

“She killed them.” Maryl said with tears in her eyes. “She killed them!” 

 

Bound - NaNoWriMo2020 11/24

 For the second time that day the women found themselves tumbling to the dirt. Though this time instead of the hard dusty dirt of the road they found themselves face first in the soft lush soul of the river shoreline. Madrona lifted her head just in time to see their canoe, sans them, crash into the rocks. The wood splintered under the force and the whole thing came apart and became hunks of wood flowing down the river. Madrona collapsed back to the ground, a wave of exhaustion washing over her. Maybe she didn’t quite have what was needed for a two person short hop and was not feeling the consequence of doing it anyway. Her body ached, though that might have been the hours of being battered back and forth by the rapids… What wasn’t the rapids was the deep hunger she felt, like no hnger she had ever experienced in her life, it was like she hadn’t eaten in a week. To top it all off she had a headache, the very act of blinking causing a thrumming pain to shoot from her forehead all the way to the back of her scalp. She realized that if she was like this, Kassadi would be much worse. 

Forcing herself to roll over and push up to her knees the Inferni woman reached over to check on her companion. Kassadi did seem to be in bad shape, panting and huddled into herself and letting out soft wines, Madrona di her best to het the woman to a seated position. Kassadi was not happy with this. The human Wizard sat hunched and shivering, feeling as if every ounce of heat had left her body. She had a pallor to her skin and she was cold to the touch, Madrona wrapped her arms around the wizard and pressed their bodies together, Kassadi let out a sigh of relief and pressed into Madrona.

“Mmm, warm.” The human woman said.

“You pushed yourself way to hard.” Madrona said with admonishment. “That was stupid.”

“Yeah well it worked, didn’t it?” Kassadi rubbed her face, also suffering a rather severe migraine at the moment.

“That is so beyond the point, Kassadi.” Madrona said, shifting. “Come on lets get going, I’m starving.”

“Look who’s talking.” Kassadi said with a weak chuckle, though it became a groan as they stood. “Hunger is a clear sign of Magical Over Exertion. You pushed too hard too.”

“Yeah well I didn’t want the hassle of fishing you out of the rapids in your current state.” Madrona said as they began walking.

“Noooo.” Kassadi taunted, leaning into Madrona, needing the woman’s support. “You did it cause you were worried about me.” 

“Maybe.” Madrona shook her head, smirking at the girl.

“Ha ha.” Kassadi said, a mocking laugh. “You like me… sucker.”

The two made their way to the Goblin village slowly, and leaning into each other for support. They both felt as if they had just finished a triathlon and then proceeded to do a second triathlon for good measure. By the time they made it to the village they could barely stand, they hobbled towards Lidya’s home. Recognized from their previous visit the village guards left them alone, they knocked on the door, leaning against the frame to keep themselves upright. Maryl answered, she looked them both up and down and bit into an apple she had. 

“You two look like shit.” She said though her chewing. 

“Thank you ever so much, could you let us in now?” Madrona asked, aggrevated. 

“Don’t really think I can,” The goblin said, shrugging her shoulders. “Not really my house so I’m not about to speak for my mom ya know?”

“Oh for hells sake!” Kassadi blurted out, detaching herself from Madrona and pushing past Maryl and entering the house. 

“Hey!” Maryl cried as she was manhandled, Madrona followed after. “Rude…” 

Kassadi quickly found herself to the couch, collapsing on top of it. It strained against the weight of a falling human, but held firm. Madrona found herself slowly settling into the arm chair beside the couch, it provided support to the woman’s back, however her legs stuck straight out and her head rested about six inches above the headrest. It didn’t matter to the Warlock however, at that particular moment the chair was the most comfortable piece of furniture in the world. Maryl came in shortly after, taking her place in the stool across from Madrona. She bit into the apple and stared at the women. 

“So, you have the wands?” She asked. 

“You can’t give us like… five minutes?” Kassadi called out, her voice muffled with her face buried in the cushion. 

“Yes we have your wands” Madrona stated, her eyes were closed however and it was difficult to tell she hadn’t fell asleep. “But we will discuss all of that after me and my companion have rested and had a meal.” 

“Yeah whatever.” Maryl said, tossing the half eaten apple on the table as she rose. “Just don’t take too long, gotta get back to my people.”

Rest came, the two of them spending the next hour and a half sleeping right where they had fallen. As they both started to rouse they could smell the scent of freshly cooked meats and steaming vegetables. Stomachs growled and mouths watered and Kassadi and Madrona pushed themselves on to aching muscles to make their way to the kitchen. Inside they found an interesting sight, Lidya cooking up a storm and Maryl trying her best to keep up with her mother, and mostly just getting in the way. 

“No a pinch, pinch! That’s not a pinch that’s a handful!” Lidya called out as she rushed over to a boiling pot to save it’s contents from Maryl, who stepped back bashfully. 

The two tallfolk made their way to the table, but Lidya quickly shooed them away from the small table in the kitchen and pushed the towards a larger table in a separate dining room neither had seen previously. They were also sent in with a stack of plates, silverware, and a tablecloth they were told to set up. Kassadi and Madrona glanged at each other as they were directed to set the table and just shrugged. It was the least they could do, they figured, for all of Lidya’s ospitality. Throwing the cloth over the table with practiced ease Madrona went to work making sure the corners were all straight and the cloth hung at an equal length. Kassadi applauded this display, which made Madrona chuckle. Kassadi followed Madrona’s lead by placing all the plates out, six in total. She laid out the silverware, wondering who the other two guests were.

Eventually aftter the table was set and the food laid out, Kassadi and Madrona found themselves sitting next to each other on one side, Maryl and Lidya sitting at each head of the table, and Dulav sat with another goblin man, introduced to Madrona and Kassadi as Jax, Dulav’s partner. Jax was a startling departure from Dulav, who walked around with a shaved head, covered in pelts, and carried a twisted and gnarled staff that belied his nature as a Druid and signified a somewhat unkept and feral nature. Jax on the other hand was very well kept. A finely tailored jacket over a soft black silk shirt and slacks, shiny leather boots and soft golden blond locks slicked back against his scalp with a comb. He also carried a staff of sorts, a walking stick carved smooth and polished to a shine. Madrona and Kassadi wondered to themselves how two individuals who seemed so different could come together. But as Jax stood during the course of the meal to excuse himself to the restroom, the gentle squeeze DUlav gave his hand and the peck Jax pressed to the Druid’s shaved head made those curiosities vanished. The love they shared was clear and it didn’t matter, they made it work. 

The food was good and it did well to reinvigerate the two casters. They ate ravenously, and cleared their plate more than twice. Lidya seemed more than happy to feed the two, however, seeming just happy to have guests to dote over. Maryl stared at them however, scoffing at the fact that she was a bandit who lived in the labyrinth of a long dead evil wizard and yet it was these two who seemed starved. Eventually Kassadi and Madrona had their fill and they found themselves staring down Maryl Madrona drew up the bag of wands and dropped them on the table. 

“We have our part of the agreement, so why don’t you give us your part.” The Warlock state. 

“Yeah yeah.” Maryl said, wiping the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “Sure yeah I know whats going on with those bracelets. Let me guess, you think they’re Bracelets of Spell Empowerment.” 

“They are Bracelets of Spell Empowerment.” Kassadi jumped in, frowning. 

“Not just, however.” Mary said, sticking her finger at Kassadi. “When we first got to the Labyrinth we did some exploring, figured we’d see if we couldn’t find some magic to use against the township that was makin this village miserable. Found that the areas we could get to safely were picked clean, the places we couldn’t get to safely.. well, we lost a few goblins in our hunt. But I wasn’t happy with that, decided to go out on my own once we were settled in our encampment. Nearly lost my life a few times but I managed to wriggle myself into a room that no one had stepped into in over 200 years.” 

“Valel Hex’s thron room.” Madrona said, arms crossing over her chest. 

“Exactly.” Maryl tapped her nose. “What I found were a pair of bracelets. Was thinking about taking them, till I saw the scorch mark they were in. Decided it was best to leave em be. But there was something else there, shelves and shelves of books. Valel Hex’s research notes, her studies, and her personal diaries.” 

“You have Valel Hex’s reasearch?” Kassadi cried out, shocked. “People have been searching for that for decades! They figured they were destroyed with Valel.” 

“Nope.” Maryl grinned. “Guess it just means all those archeologists, researchers, and adventurers ain’t as good as me.” 

“So there was something there, in the books.” Madrona interrupted, pressing Maryl to continue. 

“Yeah. Valel wasn’t killed by two bands of adventurers.” She said. 

“No she was.” Kassadi said, furrowing her brow. “We don’t know the details but the tale is clear. Two bands drawn together to unleash their might but doubled. The ring of their clash with Valel, and the two bands drew out her very soul.” 

“Oh two bands came togther.” Maryl said, gesturing towards the human woman’s wrist. 

Kassadi glanced down at her bracelet, and then to Madrona’s. Her eyes widened with realization. She groaned, annoyed at herself for missing it. Two bands, not adventurers. The story was literal, two bands that came together were the Bracelets of Spell Empowerment! She gasped, her hands came to mouth in shock as the next revelation came to her. Two bands that came together, their ring heard round the world, which drew out the soul of the dreaded Valel Hex…

“That’s the Soul Grab! Its Valel’s soul. Valel Hex’s soul is in our bracelets!” She shouted, jumping from the table. 

Beginnings

This blog is intended to be a writing tool, a motivtor of sorts. The idea is to post at least a single short story of at least one page in length a week, minimum. I've always desired to be a writer, but the act of sitting down and writing has always come with difficulty. I once saw someone speaking, disparagingly, of NaNoWriMo that 'writers do not need a motivator to write. They simply sit down and write. ' While these words come off as unessisarily harsh and more than a little 'gate-keeper' to the act of writing and motivation, I'd be lying if they didn't strike me when i heard them and continue with me to this day. This blog is here for me to take that, albiet unwarranted, criticism and move past it. I'm going to teach myself to sit down and write.

It's also a learning exercise. Again I wish to be a writer, and while I have plenty of loose ideas, characters, disperate world building, I struggle with plot. A to B to C. This blog will help be hone that skill, ideally. Here I will craft my, you know, craft. Teach myself to write stories, learn how to tell tales. No better wy to learn something than by doing, so here I'm going to learn how to be a story teller by telling stories.

So hello, my name is Will, I don't know what brought you here, but I'm glad you're here all the same. Hopefully I can entertin you during your stay, and I'm honored to have you here with me on this journey.