Amazing, I know xD (If no one recognizes me, I was formerly AnimeDragonofFire, so yeah >>)
Anywho, finally deciding to be smart, I remembered I had the first few pages of my novel typed up from when I applied to a school of the arts, so I figured, 'hey, let's get the Literary Club to read it!' So now here it is~ Mwahaha...?
The time of peace had long past from Bedelia.
“Draien! Drae!”
War had torn through the land like wildfire, leaving behind vast areas of smoldering ashes with all life gone completely. And it was so fast no one even knew what hit them.
“Where are you?!”
Families had been torn apart, everyone that was capable of fighting was long gone, long since killed. Towns had been left abandoned, ghosts of what life used to be like, before the terror filled life now.
“This isn’t funny Draien!”
Only a few places remained untouched; those with strong defenses, and those too deep in the wilderness to be found. And that number was slowly dwindling each day as new troops were sent out to obliterate them.
“I’m right here, calm down.”
One of these places was Eara, nestled deep in the mountain range of Labhras. The mountains themselves were difficult to get to, in the farthest eastern edge of Bedelia, though no one particularly wanted to go that far for such a tiny town.
“Where have you been, the sun’s almost completely set!”
The people of Eara hardly acknowledged the war, having never been brought into it they considered it insignificant. They didn’t believe that they were part of the war, so they paid it no heed. And because of that, barely anyone was even slightly prepared for war, and perhaps it was that that caught them off guard.
Rorith and Draien had lived in Eara their whole lives, they’d never even considered living elsewhere, yet Draien talked constantly of exploring the world. It was on a day much like every other day when their lives were destroyed completely. Seventeen-year-old Draien had insisted on going into the forest to practice his swordsmanship, as he did every day in the late summer, and much like always, Rorith had agreed, albeit reluctantly.
“We need to get back Draien, we’re already late. Ero is going to have my head!” The elder simply rolled his eyes, unconcerned by Rorith’s worries.
“Calm down, Ero won’t kill you.”
At that Rorith laughed. “Have you ever met my brother?” he asked sarcastically, staring at his best friend.
“Touche.” Draien raised a single eyebrow and both laughed, finally clearing the forest they’d spent the day in. The two walked in silence until they reached the top of the hill overlooking their hometown, staring out over the land they’d always lived in. But what met their eyes was certainly not the town they left early that morning.
Draien’s eyes widened in shock as he stood there, soaking in the image he’d never thought he would see. The whole town had been burnt to the ground, with a couple building’s only standing as pieces of smoking wood leaned against one another, “This… this can’t…”
But Rorith had left his side, sprinting down the hill as fast as he possibly could, tears welled up in his eyes, “Ero!” he finally came to a halt as he tripped and collapsed in front of what had been his house just that morning. But there was no sign of his brother, “Ero…” Foolishly he dug through the charred remains of wood, regardless of the pieces still on fire. All he could think about was his brother, all he knew was that his brother was in there and he needed to save him.
It took all of Draien’s strength to pull Rorith’s arms away from the small flames encompassing the wood, “Rorith!”
“My brother’s in there!” he sobbed, desperately clawing at Draien’s arms, trying to break free, “Let me go!”
“He’s not in there!” Draien growled, forcing Rorith from the site enough for the younger to stop digging through, “Calm down, you’re not making this any better!”
“What about everyone else?” Rorith asked bitterly, eyes moving across the rest of their home, “They can’t all be safe…” The thought had crossed Draien’s mind the second they saw the town, but he’d forced himself to help Rorith first; Rorith was still alive, Rorith could be saved. But now, he had no way to distract himself, he had nothing else to think about.
Almost subconsciously he stopped in front of what had once been his house. He blinked a few times, not believing his eyes. There was no way anyone was alive in there, and his eyes welled up with tears at the thought, “No… no, they’re not…” Draien squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to wake up as though this was simply a bad dream. But the sight that greeted his eyes was certainly real. And it left a very realistic stab of pain in his heart.
It was the next night by the time all the flames had died out and Draien and Rorith could count those that died and get a rough estimate of the survivors. Sixty-seven were found in the rubble, fourteen assumed alive or missing. Ero was among those assumed alive, Draien’s family, with the exception of one of his elder sisters, were among the dead.
“How could we have been gone when everyone needed us?” Draien’s voice was angry, tears were still filling up in his eyes, despite having been crying all day long.
“There’s nothing we could have done… we would’ve died too…” Rorith had calmed down significantly upon not finding his brother, but that might have added on too Draien’s own pain.
The elder was silent for a few minutes, staring up at the sky, “I’m going after them.” He finally murmured, “I’m going to find whoever did this and make them pay!”
Slowly Rorith’s golden eyes narrowed. It was the exact same thing his father had said years ago when his mother had disappeared overnight. Neither returned, Ero assumed them both dead, while Rorith continued that hope. It had been nine years since then, and he’d long since given up his hope, “They’ll kill you. Draien, you wouldn’t even be a threat to them.”
Draien moved his vision from the twinkling stars to his best friend, “So you’re against me.” He said accusingly, hardly able to believe what the younger was saying.
“Of course I’m not, you’re simply being rash! You need to think this through Drae… you won’t do anyone any good if you’re dead!” he snapped in return, running a hand through his long hair, a nervous tick of his, “You don’t even know who did this, let alone where they went. We’re just kids Draien, what could we do?”
Draien shook his head, anxiously trying not to acknowledge the truth behind the matter, “We need to do something. This idiotic war’s been going on long enough.” At that Rorith let out a humourless laugh, somehow strangely amused by Draien’s thought.
“So now you’re mystically going to stop the war? We can’t do anything Draien, certainly not stop the war.” He rolled his eyes, “How many people do you think have tried to do that? No one’s succeeded, so two kids wouldn’t even make a dent in the matter.”
“I’ll leave tomorrow.” He stated, staring at that night sky.
“Did you even hear a thing I said?” Rorith growled, growing frustrated, “Dammit Draien, they’re already dead, there’s nothing we can do about it now.” He snapped harshly, and Draien’s head whipped around to look at him, a cold glare present in the elder’s eyes.
“There were fourteen survivors.” He replied angrily, “We can save them. If we give up on them now, yeah, they will die but we can stop that.” Draien stood, moving over to where he’d left his pathetic looking sword, the only possession he had left, “Good night.” He spat irately, resting against a slightly charred tree. Sighing sadly Rorith followed suit, closing his eyes as he all but collapsed on the ground.
By the time Rorith opened his eyes again, the sun had risen, shining brightly over the otherwise desolate scene. He rolled over, pushing himself up with his arms, “Draien?” he asked, glancing over to the tree that had been his friend’s temporary bed, “Draien?” slowly his golden eyes shifted over the area, neither Draien, nor his sword were in sight. As this hit Rorith his eyes opened fully, all traces of sleep banished from his mind and he cursed softly. He’d been abandoned… Draien was so convinced that he could find whoever destroyed Eara that he’d left Rorith alone.
Rorith was torn; he wanted, no, needed to follow Draien, but everyone that had died deserved a burial… Of course that would take all day, and he wouldn’t be able to catch up with the elder at that rate. Eventually he found a decent sized piece of wood that wasn’t too badly burned and a piece of charcoal. The least he could do was write their names, leave them with some recognition of who they were. And if he ever made it back, perhaps then he’d have time to bury them.
Draien had left early in the morning, before the sun had come up so as to get a good start for the day. Fraught with worry he wanted to leave something for Rorith, some type of explanation for his actions, but he didn’t have any. Everything that his best friend had said made sense. He couldn’t stop the war; he’d barely do anything even if he did join the army. But all logic and reason aside, he needed revenge. His family was dead, and for that someone needed to pay.
He wasn’t expecting Rorith to follow him; the younger had seemed so upset the previous night, and hardly doubted that he’d rush into something like this so quickly. Rorith had always been the type to plan things out, after all, and Draien’s rushing off was anything but well planned. Thinking about it, Rorith had been right. He didn’t know where he was going; he had nothing to live off of; the elder sighed in defeat. How was it that no matter what Rorith always seemed to be right? A talent that annoyed anyone even remotely stubborn. It always had, Draien suspected it always would. It had long since been buried into his head that he’d most likely never see Rorith again, and even before he’d come to realize that he was regretting his actions.
“Draien!” It was strangely ironic; he could even hear the other’s voice calling to him, “Draien!” He forced out a small laugh, what would Rorith say if he was here? “Draien get your goddamn butt here this instant!” Draien couldn’t help but chuckle. That sounded right. Abruptly he jumped as a cold hand grasped onto his shoulder, and he was whirled around to be face to face with his furious best friend, “What the hell were you thinking?” Rorith snarled, “God, if you were going to run off you might at least have told me!”
Suddenly Draien’s face broke out into a broad grin, latching onto Rorith, “What- Why? Why are you here?” he asked, a smile still stretched out upon his face.
“Well I couldn’t very well let you go up against an entire army by yourself.” He grumbled, still quite upset
Eh, more is coming... eventually... Dx
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