not related to any of the "City of" books out there, this is something i came up with for a short story in my creative writing class during my senior year
In a parallel world there is a city called Lights; it is the capitol of the many nations that surrounds it. It was formed after the war of kings, a brutal and dark portion of history, best not recalled. The world has progressed in the ways of technological, sciences, and medical researches. Weaponry was left as it was, being considered a very honorable form of combat,. Though they were thought of at one time, but dismissed by the ruling body after much consideration. Each school has been built with some form of arena; some are built with soft floors and Mats. Others are built traditionally, a dirt floor with a wooden pen built around it, to keep those participating in the trial in the ring. These rings are used on an annual basis for trials between seasoned warriors, and those who are the best of the best from the outlying schools. The contests include everything from wrestling to hand to hand combat, and even to the multiple forms of sword play there is.
Rayne walked through the streets of his home town in the middle of the night. It was slightly misting, giving everything an eerie feeling to it. He was hoping to run into her again, the girl from earlier that night, the one that entered his life and left it all in the same instant. He remembered her perfectly, bright green eyes, silvery blonde hair, skin bronzed by days spent out in the sun, and a slender body that had the air, and grace of a contented feline. He awoke from his day dream, when his friend Elayna came up and poked him several times and giggled.
“What?” Rayne said in an annoyed tone.
“Nothing,” Elayna said. “Just you had this dreamy look on your face, I thought you were sleep walking again,” as she walked with her hands behind her back and deliberately placing one foot directly in front of the other in measured steps. “Why are you like that Rayne? You only get like that when you have something on your mind… Please tell me…. We are friends aren’t we?” She turned around and pouted, facing him.
“Yeah, I guess we are, aren’t we?” He said in a calm voice, “I just…have a lot on my mind right now, OK?” He walked a bit to catch up to her. “Don’t ever forget that ok?” he said as he hugged her, “I could never forget how much we have been through together, and how close our friendship truly is.”
She looked up at him and hugged back, “Yeah, you’re right, but the same goes for you too OK?” She said in a teasing manner and she hugged tighter. “Now, let’s get home and out of this weather before it rains, ok Rayne?” she let him go and grabbed his hand as they walked home together, as they have always done since they were little, living next door to each other over the years. As night fell, the rain started coming down in sheets, making rivers out of roads and a small lake out of the park in the center of the City of Lights. Listening to the rain from inside of his room, Rayne thought about the events of the prior day, he allowed his mind to drift away and letting the rain lull him into slumber.
Elayna looked out of her window and into the room across from hers, where Rayne slept. She wondered if he would ever have the same feelings that she had for him. Every time she saw him, her heart skipped a beat and her face became bright red. She snuggled down under her heavy comforter and laid her head down on the soft cushiony pillow and went to sleep.
Outside of Rayne’s house, in front of the gate, a mysterious figure appeared, surrounded by a magnetic field that deflected the rain in a dome shape around the figure. As Rayne woke up, feeling like he was being watched, he looked out of the north window and saw the figure but could not tell if it was male or female. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. Nothing was there. He dismissed it as a hallucination of his tired mind and went back to bed. And back to the comforts of his bed, and sleep.
The next day at school Rayne was walking down the hallway at his school when his friend Orion, a mild tempered 17 year-old, ran up to him with a look of terror and fear on his face.
“Rayne I would advise against going to the gym today, there is a new chick there that has been beating the crap out of everyone who tries combatting her with swords…she claims that she can beat the best there is….claims to be able to beat you.”
“Bull,” Rayne said, “No one has beaten me….not even the instructor”
“I know,” Orion said.
“Apparently not,” Rayne replied back smoothly, like liquid.
“Whatever Rayne, your hospital trip, not mine” Orion retorted quickly, like a scared child would.
“Have faith my friend, let’s go”
As they walked down the hallway Orion became more and more jittery, and nervous, as his friend walked down to the gym.
“This is suicide, you know that right?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Then why do this?” Orion grumbled in complaint
“It needs to be done Orion, you know that,” Rayne said with the confidence each step gave him, which was fading just as quickly as it came.
“Look, it’s already too late to back down now we are already in front of the locker room."
“Oh.” Orion said dumbfounded, “Guess so, well, good luck man, ill be waiting inside for you.” He ran off and entered through the side door to sit in the audience around the training center in the school, to watch the fight and assume the job of announcer as he has done for the past trials Rayne has been in, out of loyalty to his friend.
As Rayne started his entrance to the Locker room to change he heard Elyna running up behind him as she yelled, “Wait!”
He turned around and looked at her, standing there hands on her knees panting hard from the run that took her half way across the school, “Rayne, please be careful in there, I don’t know how I would feel if you were seriously injured while doing this, so please be careful for me?” She hugged him tight, not wanting to let him go.
“Elayna,” Rayne said calmly hiding the slight fear that was growing, “Thank you for your concern, but you’ve seen me fight before, you know I won’t lose.” He hugs her back, holding her close, and whispers into her ear, “I know how you feel about me Elayna, I’ve known for a while, its hard to miss. I will tell you something after the fight, whether I win or lose.” He let her go gently and went into the locker room, leaving her standing there confused and worried.
In the locker room Rayne was getting ready to enter the arena, a classic style; for the school believed there was no other way a ring should be built. As he walked to his locker, he started thinking about how he was going to tell Elayna what he felt towards her, with her now knowing he knew the truth about her feelings. Realizing that the thoughts he was having would break his concentration in the arena, he went over to the showers area and took a quick shower in cold water to help him obtain the calm that he always had before a trial in the arena. As he was drying off he let his head stay clear and proceeded to get dressed. First the black pants and shirt to serve as a basic form of chainmail, then grabbed his practice armor made out of simple leathers. Rayne put on the breast-plate first, then attached the full length glaive on his left arm, his shield arm. The leather grieves, were the hardest for him to put on, since they had to be laced all the way up to the middle of his calf. He stood up, checking all the ties and bonds on the armor, making sure they were tight. He kept adjusting them until they were done to his satisfaction, not loose, but not tight enough to cut circulation. Rayne then walked out into the tunnels, which lead to the arena.
Elayna sat up in the stands, watching, hoping that Rayne would not get hurt, she knew he would be fine, but could not help the feeling of dread that ate at her. From her point of view, the arena seemed to be a large rectangle, with wooden posts that held up taught ropes, showing the boundaries of the ring. It was layered with dirt, dried and brown from the recent months of sunshine they have had.
Orion was standing down by the front of the arena, getting the crowds riled up for the fight, hoping this would throw the new girl off guard. When he saw Rayne walking forward from the entrance, he cried “HERE COMES THE REIGNING CHAMPION OF AND FOR OUR SCHOOL RAYNE!”
The crowd that was cheering for him already went hysterical with his entrance, prompting him to wave to the fans in the stands as he felt obligated to do so. His sword made out of steel, but blunted as it is not meant to kill, simply to hurt and hinder. Rayne walked to the arena and donned the remaining piece of his armor: the helmet. It was special crafted just for him, every detail, strap, and even the shape was perfectly executed to fit him in every way possible.
He recognized the girl in the arena already, though he did not show it on his face. She was the girl outside of his window the other night. She was the one who had plagued his thoughts the day before, the girl who was tanned bronze and had a feline like grace to her. As he walked into the arena he asked, “Who are you? And why did you challenge me when you’re this new?”
“Because,” She chirped, “I want to prove to these people here, that you aren't the cut above you think you are, that you’re nothing but a pure rank amateur in sword combat.”
“That’s where you are wrong,” He said with hostility, “Even the sword masters present at our school say that I am fit to join the military’s highest unit as soon as I graduate.”
“Prove it to me then,” She snidely replied, walking to the center of the ring in a battle ready stance, “Prove it to me that you are not just a child playing knight.”
He stepped forward, drawing his hand-and-a-half sword and swinging it in a circling arc, pointing it at her in a ready stance, “Before we start, I think it would be proper to share our names, out of respect to the school and the ways of competition.”
“Very well,” She replied, “My name is Rynallyn, but my friends and adversaries alike call me Ryna. Also I already know you’re name Rayne, people talk about you all the time, especially that girl, Elayna, and she was even nice enough to tell me where you live last night.”
“So I was right, you were the one outside my house last night, let’s end this and see who is better with swords” He stood in his starting a position, a defensive stance that gave him optimum mobility and protection.
Orion came down from the stands and yelled to the crowd, “Now, let the trial between Rynallyn and Rayne begin, and may the better swordsman win!” The crowd fell eerily silent as Orion went and sat back down.
Ryna shot forward with her blade, a strike from the side, causing Rayne to pull his blade up vertical to block the attack. As the two blades struck each other they sang out a song of savage force and beauty. Rayne pushed her sword away from his, and went in for a side strike, but she blocked it, making the two blades sing again. This exchange went back and forth for what seemed to be hours for Rayne, but he knew that only a few minutes had passed. The blade was getting heavier and heavier in his hands. He knew that he needed to finish the fight soon otherwise he would lose. Ryna went in for a vertical strike at his head; he defended it with a diagonal slash, causing the blades to sing even louder in the silent arena. She twisted the blade around his and wrested it from his grip, causing the sword to fling into the ground, feet away.
“Looks like I am the better swordsman,” she said as he pointed her sword at his throat, “Anything to say, Rayne?”
He looked at her calmly, knowing defeat, “Yes,” she said quietly, “I knew you could win, I saw you fight in the last tournament, and I just had to test you to see for myself if what they had said was true.”
“Well, was it?” he asked her solemnly.
“Yes, I think it was true,” she said calmly, “And I am sorry that I said you were only an amateur, we are equals in combative skills.”
The crowd went wild at her victory over him. Elayna ran from the top of the stage down to the arena before anyone else could follow. Rayne shook Ryna’s hand as an equal swordsman, “You know,” he said in a friendly manner, “I wouldn’t have lost if I wasn’t so cocky, next time I will remember to think of everyone as an equal or better.”
“That is good to know Rayne, but I had to test it for myself, to see if you could last as long as I had seen before,” She hugged him, then walked off,
“Guess I will be seeing you at school then Rayne, see you later.”
“Rayne!” Elayna yelled as she came barreling at Rayne. She jumped into his opened arms, and fell into his embrace. “What is it you have to tell me?”
“Could it please wait until after I take this off and clean up some?” He questioned her nicely, “I’d kind of like a chance to relax a little.”
“Oh, yeah” She giggled, “Go clean up then meet me right outside the door alright?”
He waved back in acknowledgement of her, ready to get out of his now heavy armor. When he was finally done changing back into his normal clothes he met with Elayna right outside of the locker room as he had promised her.
“What is it you wish to tell me Rayne?” She murmured as she wrapped her arm around his.
“Well, it’s more about what will happen with us now?” He said quietly.
“Us?” she replied quietly, confused by his statement, “what about us?”
“Well,” He said quietly, “I lost the fight, and I told you win or lose I had something to tell you. This is it, the thing I had to tell you, was about us.”
She thought it over for a minute and smiled greatly as she understood what he meant. She let go of his arm and turned towards him. She reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, and brought her head closer to his, than she thought would ever happen. Rayne replied in kind, wrapping his arms around her pulling her in close to him, he felt her warmth. His heart fluttered lightly as he leaned down and kissed her back. They smiled and walked off together, holding hands and smiling.
