Excerpt From Universes - Evil Is Revealed.

Oh hai.

This is 'the middle scene'. It occurs between Coltrane's Final Task and Prison Brings Us Together.

It's one of the major events in the story. The shadows' plans are revealed and Coltrane is betrayed by those he was betraying his people for. It sets up Coltrane and Klax's relationship, and later, a new drive for Col with the chance for redemption. It also adds a new layer to the story, with the addition of the Spirits. Indestructible, immortal, and holding immense power.

I'll just go over the 'Orbs' a bit so this makes more sense. Each race (like Heatian) has an Orb (Heat Orb) in their world (obviously the Heat World). Each Orb, when in its rightful world, grants its race their powers. Simply, if the Heat Orb were to be removed from the Heat World, Heatians would be powerless.

What people don't know, is that inside the Orbs, are the Spirits; creators of the universes, and the strongest beings in existence. And the Orbs are their cages. Their history is now only the stuff of stories and legends.



Something you should know:
The Shadow King is the king of the shadows, and Vicious is the king's key general. The King was the one giving orders to Coltrane, and sometimes Coltrane would have to work with Vicious, so the three know each other pretty well.

The throne room is where the Shadow King is. The Orbs that the shadows have captured are also there.

Btw, Shadows are actually Deathians but that's a long story. :P



After Coltrane finished his final task, he confessed everything he had done to Marc, his captain, his step-brother, his best friend, and the boy he loved, in the hope of forgiveness. What he got was a punch in the face.

...

Coltrane came out of the warp point outside the doors to the throne room. He was still tearful, and the fact that Marc didn’t even believe him made everything so much worse to deal with. He would now forever be seen through Marc’s eyes as a traitor, and not as a person who had simply made a wrong decision.

He dried his eyes, tried his best to compose himself and took a deep breath, and then he passed two guards and went through the doors to the throne room.

The Shadow King and Vicious were waiting for him at the throne.

“Coltrane. You’re finally here. We’ve been waiting," Vicious said, as he stood up and walked in Coltrane's direction. “Now that you’re here, the fun can begin.”

Vicious walked all the way back to the doors. He knocked twice, and there was a loud clank of metal outside against the door.

“Good. Everything is ready, my King.”

Coltrane spun around, and said, “What are you doing?"

From behind him, the King spoke, “Coltrane. Thank you so much for all your help in these past few years. Without you it would have been so much harder, but you really are quite stupid.”

Coltrane turned to face the King, but again from behind, Vicious added, “Did you really think we would want a lone Powerian living amongst us once we create our utopia?”

“But... What are you saying?”

“Powerians are weak," the king responded.

From behind, Coltrane felt Vicious’ firm hands on his shoulders. “We need to purge your kind from the universe.” He heard. Then Vicious whispered into his ear, “Every… single… one.”

Coltrane gasped and pushed Vicious away, and both the general and the King laughed.

“You were but a pawn all along Coltrane. And you believed all our lies," the King shouted.

“You’re going to the cells, Coltrane. You’ll rot with the rest of the pathetic weaklings," Vicious said.

Coltrane felt the grip of hyperventilation. He started shaking. He had tried to avoid death so long. Now it was upon him.

“Aah!”

He pulled out his sword and went to run at the King, but Vicious grabbed and restrained him and held a knife to his throat.

“A fighter to the end. Ha!" Vicous said.

“But you do receive one honour though," the King said. "You will be one of only three to see me gain the powers of the Death Spirit.”

“What? That’s just a legend.”

“Ha. Yes. So you would believe.”

Turning his head to the Death Orb, sitting on its pedestal, Coltrane could only manage a “No.”

“There are three people in existence who will ever know how to awaken the Spirits. Me, loyal Vicious, and you. And I don’t think you’ll be spreading the word…”

Stepping off his throne, and kneeling before it, the King reached his hand in, and pulled out a silver knife. Then he got up, and slowly walked over to the Death Orb.

“The Death Spirit, my master, will grant me his strength. I will be... immortal.”

The King stood next to the Orb, and raised his hands above it, while Coltrane struggled and Vicious pressed the knife harder against his neck.

“This is it, dear Vicious. Witness the rise of a power unseen for aeons, since the Spirits created existence itself.”

The King pressed the silver blade against his palm, and pulled it down. Blood gushed in his hand and he pressed it down onto the Orb, and closed his eyes.

The Orb started to pulse and shake, and the mists inside started to swirl.

“Master. We are ready… It is ready… I, your humble servant, am ready… Please, bestow me with your eternal strength and might. I will carry out your plans in your name, and the Deathian race will conquer all… We will kill all before us under your force… We will rule eternally over all worlds… all universes… I offer you my pure and untainted blood, and ask for what we need in return.”

The Orb started to shake more violently. The King’s hand was joined tightly, and his body started to shake with every motion of the Orb.

The whole room started to quake. Then the fortress shook. The windows imploded, objects dropped from the walls and crashed to the floor, and the pedestal on which the Orb was placed, shattered.

The tremors increased, until it felt like the very world itself was being rocked to its core.

But the King did not budge, with the Orb still firmly in his hand.

Vicious released Coltrane, and they both fell to the floor. Coltrane took cover against the wall as things were thrown around the room by magical force.

Suddenly there was an explosion in the middle of the area. The King was blasted across the room and he slammed against the wall, before dropping to the ground. The Orb was still in his hand. Everything fell silent and stopped shaking.

The dust settled, and revealed the King’s limp body. Slowly, the Orb slipped from his fingers and rolled across the floor. It came to rest against a chunk of its pedestal, though the Orb did not look the same as before, when it was full of a purple mist. Now, it looked like an empty globe of glass.

Vicious scrambled up and ran over to assist the King.

“My Lord! What went wrong?”

He placed a hand on the King’s shoulder, but suddenly gasped as a strong hand jolted up and choked him around the neck.

The King rolled over and rose to his feet, lifting a struggling Vicious into the air above his head. The King's eyes were completely black.

“My… my Lord! Ungh. What…”

Then the King opened his mouth and spoke, but not with the same voice as before. now it was layered with multi-tones and it resonated around the room.

“I am not your Lord. Your Lord is no more. His soul was destroyed as I claimed his body as my vessel. You do as I say now. Understood, servant?”

“Y-y-yes… Lord.”

“You refer to me as... Death, now.”

Vicious was released, and he fell to the ground and grasped his throat, coughing.

The powerful being walked to the middle of the room, surveying its new body as it did. It stretched out its hands and arms. Then it stopped at the Orb, and bent to pick it up. It walked over to the Throne, and placed the Orb on the seat.

“After aeons I am free of my cage. Now, it is time to seek my revenge on the one who encased me in there.”

It turned around, and glanced at the other Orbs, still resting on or near their own pedestals. Then its eyes seemed to drift off as it thought, and spoke, “You should get ready, as should your people. Death walks the physical realm again, and I am coming for you.”

Death’s attention was suddenly drawn to Coltrane, who was whimpering and scratching against the door in a futile attempt to escape. As Death walked shockingly swiftly towards him, Coltrane could do nothing else but hold his hands up above his head and cower in fear.

The Spirit lifted him up with its hand and threw Coltrane across the room. He landed amongst the rubble and slid across the floor. He groaned and grabbed at his side. He fumbled around for his sword, until his shaky hands pulled it from its sheath.

Death smirked and seemed to find it amusing as Coltrane pulled himself up to his feet.

“I am impressed by your courage, to stand alone against a Spirit… but courage saves no one.”

Coltrane took a swing at the Spirit, but his blade landed dully against its flesh and didn’t leave a mark.

“It is no match for pure strength.”

Death snatched the sword from his hands, snapped it in two, and threw it to the ground.

“Servant!”

“Y-yes Lo-... I mean, Death.”

“Deal with him please. I have more important matters to tend to.”

“As you wish.”

Vicious walked over to Coltrane, and firmly grabbed him by the shoulders. Vicious was doing his job but Coltrane could sense the fear through his quivering arms.

Vicious pushed him over to the doors and unlocked them, then shoved him along over to the warp point outside the doors, and inside.

They arrived outside the gates to the prison, and Vicious led him inside and down the cold hall, all the while, Coltrane struggled.

“I have it on good authority that you spent a fair amount of time here. Well, now you can have as much time as you want,” snarled the general.

Coltrane was taken to Klax’s cell. His old teammate was sleeping on Coltrane’s dirty cloak.

“He’s the one, isn’t he? The one you visited? I wouldn’t dare put you in a cell with the other prisoners. They would kill you too soon for putting them in here, and we don’t want you to die… yet. Guard, open the door.”

The barred door clanked and screeched open. Klax woke up as Coltrane was hurled inside.

“Coltrane? Is that you? Did you come to visit me again?”

“Ha! Visit?" Vicious laughed. "No, he’s no visitor. He’s your new roommate!”

Coltrane ran up and over to the closed door. “I’ll kill you Vicious! I'll kill all of you!" He started shaking and tugging on it violently.

“Hahaha! Bad Coltrane. You’ll soon learn that threatening your masters won’t get you far in a place like this.”

“You have my word! I’ll see to it that you die!”

“Goodnight Coltrane.”

“Aaaaaaahhrr!”

Vicious disappeared down the end of the hall, and Coltrane fell back and collapsed, panting.

“Coltrane… what happened? Why are you in prison?” Klax asked gently.

“They used me Klax! They were never going to let me live. They just used me to get what they wanted, and now they’ve cast me aside.”

“Oh Col.”

“It was all for nothing! Everyone I killed and everything I suffered. It means nothing. My life has fallen apart. I’m in prison. Marc hates me. Everyone will know I’m the traitor and hate me as well. My friends are going to die, and think I’m responsible.”

“Well, you never know… The good guys might actually win in the end.”

Coltrane gave Klax a blank look from the floor. Then he sat up suddenly and asked, “Did you ever read the tales about the Spirits?”

“Spirits? Uhh yeah… Every kid heard about them. They’re cool stories. I know everything there is to know about them," Klax smiled.

“Well, they’re not just stories, it seems… They’re history.”

“What? Don't be silly."

“I saw it with my own two eyes, Klax. An otherworldly presence is walking this dimension as we speak. It's unkillable… It's the Death Spirit.”

“But… how can that be?”

“It was inside the Orb. The King woke it, and now the Spirit has taken over his body.”

“But why? What does it wanna do?”

“It said it wanted revenge on who put ‘it’ in there… but who knows what that means.”

“Well umm. Perhaps it was referring to the final tale?”

“The final tale?”

“The last story of the legends, where the leader, the Power Spirit, sensed greed and envy amongst the other Spirits, and decided to encase each Spirit within a prison, and send them to separate worlds, never to walk the lands again.”

“The Orbs…”

“If this is true... Ugh. I can’t believe it. Our people don’t stand a chance against the Death Spirit. It can't be harmed by human strength! It could kill everyone in the universes single-handedly.”

“What was it you said about the good guys winning?”

“Scratch that. They’re all as good as dead.”

...

Sorry if there are mistakes with capital letters. I'm not really sure what to do when referring to worlds and kings and orbs and races and 'its'. :/

Excerpt From Universes - Prison Brings Us Together.

Oh hai. *takes 1 aspirin*

This occurs shortly after Coltrane's Final Task. Obviously quite a major event happened between that scene and this one. Coltrane planned on leaving his home world and living with the shadows... but instead ended up in their prison.

If anyone wants, i could post the middle scene too. It is quite good. lol



I really suck at subtlety. Here are 2 attempts at slowly moving a relationship forward.

Stonian (power - telekinesis) Klax was captured quite some time ago by the shadows during the assault on the Thoughts World. He was one of our traitor Coltrane's teammates. Coltrane felt responsible and because he was working with the shadows, got access to the prison and came to visit Klax.

Over time, Coltrane told Klax everything, about how he was working for the shadows, and he really didn't feel like he could stop. He didn't like doing what he did, but he didn't have a choice anymore.

And Klax was the first person to believe him.

Through events transpiring between this event and the post mentioned above, Coltrane became a prisoner of the shadows and has been thrown into the same cell as his old teammate. If he were in any other cell, surely the other captives would kill him.

Coltrane is quite unaware that Klax loves him...

...

It wasn’t long before Klax’s hands started twitching and fumbling around on the cold, stone floor next to him. As his eyes started to open, he rolled onto his back, and saw Coltrane sitting next to him cross-legged. Through the tiny window in the thick wall behind him he saw the pale purple of a Death World dawn.

“You’re awake early again?" Klax mumbled. "Jeez, you should wake me up."

“You look so peaceful when you’re asleep. And you told me that sleep is an escape from this… hell.”

“Sometimes. Still, I want to keep you company.”

“I’m fine Klax.”

“Yeah yeah… sure you are.”

Klax sat up and rested against the wall.

“So, what are we going to do today?” Klax asked, trying to seem upbeat.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, we could have another breath-holding contest, or a staring one… I bet I’ll beat you at the staring one this time! Last time I had this eyelash in my eye and-”

“How can you be so joyful?”

“I just am, Coltrane, because you’re here. And having someone here with me, just to keep me company, is a much better change than the other days i've spent in here.”

“I don't know how i'd make it in here without you," Coltrane said.

“Yeah i'm awesome,” Klax said, jumping up and walking over the to cell door. “So whatcha thinking about?” he asked, turning his head over his shoulder slightly.

“Do you really want to know?”

“It’s why I asked.”

“Well, I can’t stop thinking about our friends… They'd all know. They'd all hate me. I just wish I could have made them understand.”

“Like I do.”

“Yeah, but they never will. That’s what upsets me the most about all of this. It’s that I’ll always be seen as a hateful traitor to my people, and I’m not.”

“Well, none of that will matter when we’re dead, will it?”

“Is that supposed to cheer me up?”

“Of course it is… I can’t wait to die.”

When Klax turned Coltrane was looking back at him with a tilted head and a raised eyebrow.

“You're so weird, and you speak so bluntly.”

“It’s just the way I am.” Klax smiled at him, and turned around again.

“It’s… nice.”

“Hey, you know what the best thing is?”

“What?”

“It’s that we get to die together.”

...

That was supposed to be both creepy and kinda sweet.

A second excerpt soon after.

Just a quick note:
Cartur is another prisoner/character i introduced, and he's in the cell next to C and K.

...

That night, although Cartur fell asleep early, Coltrane and Klax could not, and they sat against the door to their cell and looked out their small window at the dark, misty night sky outside…

For a long time they sat there in silence, occasionally rearranging the old cloak they were sitting on, or moving around to sit in a different position.

Then Klax quietly broke the silence.

“I never really appreciated everything that I had outside of this place before I was captured…”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah… I miss my bed. I miss warm food and clean water. Hell, i miss things like fresh air and sunlight. I miss our friends too, mostly Xeros.”

“I do too.”

“You must miss Marc, huh?”

“Yeah… It’s hard without him. He was the one person who understood me,” Coltrane said.

“Well, you’ve got me now… so don’t feel too bad.”

“That’s true, but nobody could ever replace him. He was my best friend, my leader, my carer and my brother all rolled into one.”

“Well I’m still gonna do my best. Then hopefully you can feel the same way about me one day," Klax said. He meant that more than he wanted to let on.

“Thanks Klax… You really are a good friend. You’re the only one who’s stuck with me through all of this.”

"Well i am in prison. It's not like i could go anywhere, heh."

They both sat there for a while, listening to the breeze outside. For once, there seemed to be no commotion elsewhere within the prison. It was a quiet night.

Klax started again, “You know that thing that you said before, about fate hurrying up so you could get your opportunity?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah."

“Do you really believe in that? Fate, I mean?”

“I don’t know… I guess I never really thought about it.”

“Well I do. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and everything always ends up the way it’s supposed to, eventually.”

“Fate must hate us then.”

“Not necessarily... It brought us together didn't it? It made us friends.”

“I don’t thank fate for that.”

“I do. In fact, Coltrane, I always wanted to be closer to you before this, but you intimidated me so much. You just had this... scary aura about you. I couldn’t do it. but I hoped that one day we would be closer and look what happened. We ended up as best friends.”

“That’s not fate, it’s just chance or something.”

“Well, you believe what you want to believe – I think we were meant to be here together… I think this was all meant to happen. So it will all work out in the end.”

“How could things work out when they’re already this bad?”

“I’m not sure. I just know that they will.”

...

Other stuff happens in the prison obviously. These two posts were just focusing on Klax and Coltrane though.

Excerpt from Universes - The Prephleen Bridge Pt1.

Oh hai.

The following takes place soon before 'Rewrite - Let's Fight.'

What i'm gonna post is actually fairly long so i'll post half today, and the other half soon.

The purpose of this excerpt was to familiarise the reader with Drephor (the Healthian general) who is a new character at this point, and to introduce Hounder (the big bad shadow general) to both the good guys of the story, and the reader.

I cut out some of the dialogue because it was unecessary for this post.

I also know it sounds funny when Drephor says 'yes' at the end of a sentence sometimes, but that's his 'thing'. I try to give most characters a certain word or way of speaking that they use a lot.

KK...

There's a war starting in the Health World. Shadows are approaching the Healthian cities and outposts. The good guys' army has managed to hold onto everything between the capital city of Duphontain, and the huge Prephleen River. Drephor, a few followers and 3 teams of fighters (one of which consists of our main characters) approach a camp in close vicinity to the lone bridge across the river. Drephor's tactics are all about information, and that's why he's here. Not for blood, but info.

Female Heatian Sydney is the leader of our main characters' team. She's very prominent in the story, as are all the characters in this team. Healthian Dorph is Sydney's boyfriend. Male Waterian Neo is another teammate. Marc is the former captain of the team, taking a break from his duties so Sydney's in charge. There are also Lightian Jack and Speedian Xeros.

The leaders of the other 2 teams are Alkan (a Stonian) and Carlon (a Powerian).



This takes place during the night.

Please leave feedback.

...

Drephor and his group could soon see their next destination, a small camp on a short hill before the grand Prephleen River. Tents and small buildings lined the fire in the middle, and guards were patrolling the area to keep watch, with weapons in their hands.

The general addressed his people before they approached, “This is a small but important camp, for the reason that if anyone wants to cross the Prephleen River they have to pass by here, or they have to be damn good swimmers, for near here is the only way across the river. This is the edge of our territory at the moment, because from what i could gather from talking to people who'd fled, outposts past here are empty, or the people in them are dead... The fact that the people here at the camp are still alive is a good sign on its own, for it means that everyone behind us is still yet to encounter the enemy.”

“So, you’re saying that the enemy army, or at least the bulk of it, has to pass through here to get into our territory?” Sydney asked.

“Yes, that's true," Drephor answered.

“...Then what the hell are we doing here?”

“We're here to gather information.”

“Okay. Well, after that? We head back to the capital?”

“Yes. There is a warp point not too far from here... and we take the guards at the camp here back with us too, understood?”

“Understood, General,” everyone replied.

“Okay everyone!" Drephor shouted. "We’re heading up to the camp now. Once there, you should be able to see the Prephleen River and the bridge that we’ll be watching. I will explain things better once we get there...”

* * *

“Oh, yeah! It’s so good to be back in the warm again!” Sydney sighed, and she ran over to the fire.

Dorph was reluctant to leave her side and headed after her.

While the group members came into the encampment and most of them headed for the warmth of the fire, Drephor found the leader of the camp, a Healthian woman by the name of Selpha with a double-ended sword at her back.

“Selpha! It’s nice to see you again," Drephor said, but he was too concerned to show any happiness on his face.

“I would say the same, Dreph, but your arrival can only mean that we are in danger, can’t it?”

“I’m afraid so... You’ll have to be ready to leave, and take your soldiers with you, on my word.”

“As always, that is the case. Are we to head for Duphontain?”

“Yes, but don’t leave yet... just, prepare.”

“Understood, Drephor. Is there anything I can help with?”

"Not yet."

* * *

Drephor gathered his soldiers near the fire and told them of the plan.

“This is the situation and what we're gonna do. We are at the edge of our safe territory, which makes us at the edge of our enemy’s as well. Everyone behind us is safe. Any allies ahead of us are dead... What we know and can use to our advantage is that the enemy army has to pass over that bridge," Drephor said, pointing at the dark bridge outline, "to get into our land. We are here to gather information, see if we can get a read on any generals, and assess the enemy’s servants. If we encounter any trouble, we have the combined strength of all of us along with the soldiers of this camp, led by the formidable Selpha, on our side. When we’ve seen enough, on my word, we run for the nearest warp point. It’s hidden, so you’ll have to follow me... If something happens to me however, follow Selpha’s orders. If by some awful twist of fate, we both die, run for your lives. It’s not too far from here to the capital. I'm sure you get the idea. Now, follow me. We’ll find a spot near the bridge and wait. Selpha and her troops will finish at the camp and prepare to move out, but they’ll wait for us, yes?”

Drephor led his people down to the edge of the river, and they all settled in amongst the shrubs and bushes at the bank.

The river ran hard and fast but made little noise. Still, apart from everyone’s voices and shuffles, it was the only noise they could hear. Every now and then, the water would splash up and hit someone on the river’s edge, but it seemed almost in a playful way.

The groups sat there for a long time near the big stone bridge. Around the area, the ground was dry, dirty and muddy. White grass used to flourish near the river but most of it had disappeared. Skeletons of old trees and plants littered the banks, probably having been swept down by the current.

In the mud were several sets of footprints which Drephor had been examining for quite a while.

“Something else has been here... recently, but it didn’t linger. Someone go and get Selpha for me.”

Xeros sped up to the edge of the camp, and brought back the captain. Drephor met her further up the embankment than the rest of his soldiers.

“Have you had any reports of anything out of the ordinary?” Drephor asked.

Selpha paused. “I can’t say I have. If my soldiers had seen something I would be the first to know.”

“Okay... Have you heard any unusual sounds?”

“Like what?”

“Like roars, growls, snarls?”

“Umm... There may have been something.”

“When?”

“A few hours before you arrived.”

“What was it?”

“It was like a whistling... I thought it might just be the wind, because the weather has been upset since the shadows moved in.”

“But there has been no wind today," Drephor stated. “Tell me what it sounded like.”

“It was like a cross between a hum and a low whistle. It was like the noise you make when you whistle and hum at the same time.”

“Okay. I see. Thanks Selpha. Is there anything else? Have you noticed anything different? Anything at all?”

“Uhh... Junk has been floating down the river. I know that much. Weapons, armour, debris... ooh, and bodies. I should have mentioned that earlier. Bodies of shadows and people.”

“Bodies of anything else?”

“It’s dark. It’s hard to see. Maybe. I wouldn’t know.”

“Okay. Thanks for your help. You can go back to your people now.”

She smiled at Drephor, turned around and headed back to the camp.

Sydney had been listening and came over to Drephor as he pondered what he had seen and heard.

“Anything new?” she asked.

“Oh, Sydney. Again?”

“Information is the key... So do we have any more keys? Heh.”

“I’m not sure about what we’re facing just yet... but I know how to get more information.”

“Oh?”

“Tell the Waterian in your group to check the water. Is it strong?”

“Uhh, Neo!” Sydney shouted.

He bounded up the bank. “Yeah what is it?”

“Can you check out the water for me?”

“Check it out?”

“Is it too strong to swim in?”

“Uhh, I'll go see,' he mumbled.

Back down at the bank, Neo dropped to his hands and knees and dipped his hand into the river.

“It’s fairly strong!"

“Okay... Nevermind then," Drephor said quietly and went to turn away.

“No, it’s strong, but I bet I could swim in it!”

“Don't be a show-off Neo,” Sydney responded as she jumped down beside him.

“No it’s fine," Neo emphasised "Hey, I’d rather be in there than out here. Do you want me to get in?”

“If you don’t mind," Drephor said as he came down to join them.

“I have two Waterians with me as well,” Alkan said. “Would you like their help?”

“If they don’t mind, it could help us out.”

“Okay. Guys, get in," Alkan directed.

A Waterian girl and boy jumped into the river and floated about.

“If you get tired," Drephor said to them, "get out. We don’t want you being swept down the river like the...”

Drephor caught himself before he mentioned the bodies. Perhaps the Waterians might think twice about doing his task if they knew they were swimming with the dead.

“Uhh, like the what?” Neo asked.

“Like the other people who’ve fallen in. More than one has ended up in the Indigo Sea.”

“Ha. You don’t need to worry about us!” assured Neo.

“Well, here is what I want you to do," said the general. "Things have been floating down the river, things that could be important. If you see something coming down, and if you’re not endangering yourself, I want you to bring it over to the shore and show it to me.”

“Okay. We can do that,” Neo said.

“And of course, if we see any sign of the enemy, I want you all to get out straight away.”

* * *

Again, everybody sat at the bank while the Waterians swam in the water, waiting. Sydney could tell that Drephor knew a lot more than he was letting them know, but assumed he would tell them when he was ready.

Other than that, she was cold. The other Heatians were shaking a little, and she could also tell that Xeros was freezing as well, because his clothes weren’t as thick as everyone else’s. She would have lit a fire, but she knew it might give away their presence.

Then it hit her just how tired she was. She’d only had an hour or two of sleep last night and afterwards she and the group had been running around the Health World all day.

She wasn’t feeling well, but she knew that her companions would be feeling the same.

Neo and the other two seemed to enjoy their swim for a while. Occasionally Neo would grab at something floating down the river, only to realise it was a stick or a bunch of reeds.

“Reeds! I’m so sick of reeds!”

He threw them over at Dorph and they whacked him in the back of the head.

“Will you cut that out!” he snapped.

“What?”

“You bloody know what I mean! You keep throwing crap at me!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh! Geez! You know, you were being really nice to me before, but you’re still the same old jerk!”

“Hahaha!”

Something nudged Neo in the side and he grabbed onto it while Dorph was still yapping at him.

“What the...?”

He lifted it out of the water.

“Neo... What is that?” Sydney shouted as she squinted to see in the dark.

“It looks like some sort of... animal. Gross.”

“Bring it over to the shore, into the light.”

Neo dropped it down on the bank of the river and Sydney leant down to look closer. She was slightly disturbed by what she saw.

It was a small blue gangly creature. It had bony limbs and its skin hugged its ribcage. It was hairless, and it had claws, pointed ears and large eyes behind its wrinkly closed eyelids.

Sydney went to pick it up by the arm when suddenly its eyes opened and it snarled loudly.

“Aaah! It’s still alive!”

It jumped up and its eyes darted around. It snarled at Sydney through its pointy, bared teeth and jumped onto her. The thing lunged for her face but she tried her best to stop it. Luckily, within seconds Drephor noticed the commotion and jumped over and slew the little creature, and it fell off Sydney and thumped against the ground.

“What the hell was that!” Sydney gasped, and felt a trickle of blood down her cheek.

Drephor bent down to examine it, and as he got back up his hand was against his forehead.

“Unfortunately it's as I feared. Selpha described the call of this creature. I remember these little beasts were fearsome things half a century ago. Several expeditions to the Beasts World tried to wipe them out, and we thought they had succeeded. I guess they didn't.”

“But what are they?” Sydney asked.

“This is an esmit. The reason they're a problem is that they’re quick little creatures that jump on things and slice them with their teeth and claws. One on its own isn’t much of a match for a human, but in a horde they're dangerous. Also, if these things are back then we don’t know what other things serve the shadows.”

“Sounds like trouble.”

“It sure is, but our expedition has so far been a success. Once again, we've learnt about what we're facing. When we return, I can spread the word about our enemies, yes?”

“Does that mean we’re returning now?” Neo asked.

“No, not yet. There are still a few more blanks I must fill in... Everyone can get back to what they were doing.”

* * *

He’d been in the water for a long time and with the other Waterians he’d retrieved a lot of things. Neo decided to take a break and he sat up on the bank near Marc, Jack and Xeros under the light of a small torch. Further up the river and closer to the bridge than the others, Dorph and Sydney were chatting and giggling to themselves. The other two captains were with their team-mates near the river, while Drephor and his group were standing together quietly away from the others.

It seemed that suddenly, something alerted Drephor and put him on edge. He grabbed his companions and ran down to the river’s edge.

A quick “shhhh!” from Drephor was enough to make everyone fall silent. He knocked a nearby torch into the river and beckoned to his group members to do the same to the other torches. Within a few seconds all the lights had been extinguished.

Approaching Drephor, the three team captains awaited instructions.

“Drephor. What’s-”

Drephor raised a finger and Sydney stopped.

When everyone was silent, they heard the dull march of footsteps from across the other side of the river…

“They’re here,” Drephor whispered.

“Drephor, what do we do?” Sydney asked.

The general didn’t speak. He just stood there listening.

“Drephor? What are we supposed to do?” repeated Sydney.

He looked up and faced the three captains, standing next to each other, waiting anxiously.

“Fight.”

“But, but you said we were only-”

Drephor cut Sydney off, “You promised to do what I said. Now do it. Everyone! Prepare to fight! Don’t let them cross the bridge!”

“But we’re facing an entire army!”

Drephor left to gather his companions.

“Drephor!”

“We have no choice Sydney," Dorph said from behind her. "If Drephor says we fight, we fight.”

“We have no chance though.”

“He’s the smartest person here. He must have a plan.”

“But I... ugh.”

“Come on Sydney. Pull yourself together," Dorph comforted. "Can’t you see your team-mates are waiting for your direction?”

Sure enough, her friends were still waiting by the bank of the river, watching her and waiting, while the other soldiers were heading up to the bridge.

“I don't know if i can do this Dorphy. I... I wish Marc was the captain again.”

“The only thing a captain does is make decisions, and I’m sure he’d make the same one as you, don’t you think?” Dorph assured.

“I guess.”

“And what would it be?”

“...Let's get to the bridge!” she yelled.

...

Next post is the battle scene.

Excerpt from Universes - Part of Marc and Syrene's conversation.

Oh hai.

I'd thought i'd start off with just a few moments from Universes that i like. Universes is the main story i'm working on at the moment and is over 183,000 words long.

I know the monologue here is long, but, well, it's the longest in my whole story, so it's uncommon.



This excerpt is part of a conversation between 2 of my main characters, Marc and Syrene. They're both captains of teams that fight against the evil shadows. Here, Syrene is talking to Marc about her history for the first time, the same day after the two first confessed their love for each other.

Syrene is talking about her last lover Harzy whom she had been with for 4 years, back while she was still a civilian. He was killed by shadows when she followed him while he was on patrol, to give him a gift of a silver bracelet to celebrate their 4-year anniversary of meeting each other.

I picked up halfway through their conversation.



...

"The last thing he did, as he fell to the ground, was tell me to flee… Marc, I still blame myself for his death…"

"No…"

"Yes, Marc… You can say what you will. You can try to comfort me but your words will fall hollow. I know I am responsible. I was a fool to follow him. And I was helpless to save him…"

"I don’t know what to say Syrene…"

"You don’t have to say anything Marc."

He leant in and hugged her.

"It shocked me into a reality I had not known. It introduced me to a life of death, suffering and sorrow that I have lived ever since… Marc, it was what made me decide to become a fighter. I bid farewell to our families, both his and mine, and travelled to the Power World, vowing never to return home until I could look after myself. I enrolled in school and joined the Airian and fighting classes. Later on, I also took strategic and defence classes. I spent years at school, driven by my memories of pain and grief to do my best… I eventually graduated school and joined a team of seven Airians – two males and five females, making a team of eight.

"We had a fantastic leader and I learnt a lot from him firsthand. We were utterly devoted to him and followed him wherever he would lead us. We all adored him, and it came as another tragic shock when he was slain during a minor skirmish in the Sound World… I was devastated, that not even a year after opening myself up to my emotions again and becoming what I saw as human again, the person I cared for most in the world was, again, taken from me… But I was surprised. My team-mates asked that I lead them from then on. They asked me to replace him… I don’t know what they saw in me… I was older, less experienced and more unstable than any of them, but they wanted me… and I said yes… Ever since then, I have led my team, seeking revenge on the shadows for what they’ve done to me and how they’ve made me suffer. But I think no amount of death and vengeance could ever fill the void left inside me caused by the loss of the love of my life…"

Marc was at a loss for words… He sat there silently, holding her hand and he smiled…

He didn’t know why.

Perhaps it was desperate attempt at letting her know he just understood her pain.

"Marc… I want you to know, that I believe you are my second soulmate… Before I met you, although my life was eventful, it felt empty. I was depressed and lonely. My craving to settle the score with my enemies drove me to get out of bed each day, but no matter how many lives I took, I felt no better… The day I saw you, the day we met and talked… the day we fought side-by-side, I discovered a new passion deep inside me… It was the desire for love again…"

Marc tried to speak but his lips moved and no sound came out.

"Marc, I’ve said I loved you before, but maybe now you can truly understand just how much I really mean it."

"I… I do, Syrene… I had no idea I meant that much to you… I’m… honoured to be your soulmate."

"As am I."

Syrene pulled her sleeve up again and slowly took off one of her silver bracelets…

"I was going to give him this one… I want you to have it…"

"Syrene… I couldn’t…"

"No one alive is worthy of wearing this more than you. I want you to have it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, absolutely."

Syrene lifted Marc’s hand up and fastened the bracelet around his wrist…

"Thank you… I’ll think of our love every time I look at it."

"I hope you will… Marc. I will love Harzy forever… You understand that, don’t you?"

"I do."

"I will also love you forever… in a different, but… just as important way."

"I love you too, Syrene."

"Thank you Marc… You remind me of him, in so many ways…"