This is something I have been writing recently and I'm looking to continue. I'm going to try and keep it up to date and I'll post each new chapter as soon as I've typed it up. I hope you like it and all feedback is welcome, I'm looking to constantly improve it. Chapter 1 A cold wind blew across the barren landscape, picking up sand and dirt as it went, carrying them miles at a time. Very little life could survive here and the little that could remain well hidden beneath the ground with no trace they even exist. However, a figure in a large black cloak was walking straight through it, battling against the elements, face hidden away from the bitter wind. One difficult step at a time the figure moved steadily across a place where few would dare to go even with help, never mind alone on foot. Unbeknown to him, he was being watched by more than one set of eyes, all with different agendas. The most innocent of these were a girl, stood on the outskirts of her sheltered village looking out onto the plains. Her fiery red hair, tied up in a high ponytail identified the girl as a Pyra, a race of people whose power over fire was legendary. She watched the figure with confusion and wonder. She was intrigued whom this mysterious person was and what motives they must have to even attempt this feat. She glanced up at the sky on the horizon to see what looked like a wall of sand, a sand storm. It was, perhaps, half an hour away if it was like most sand storms. Her gaze returned to the figure; he would be caught by it. She judged the distance away he was, if she left now on horseback she could probably get to him and return to the village before the storm reached him. She nodded, her mind made up. She thought he must of come through that for a reason, it would be bad to fail now and she wanted to know what that reason was, he’d pricked her curiosity. As she turned around a large man who had been watching her laughed, “Dreaming about what it’s like outside the plains again, Xyam? Take some advice from an old friend, live in the moment because you never know what will happen next and you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone” Xyam smiled affectionately at him but shook her head, “Thanks for the advice but not this time. There’s a man out there on foot” She gestured to the plains, “And I’m going to save him” The man raised his eyebrows, “A rescue mission, eh? Well, he’ll need it if he’s on foot; surely he knows the plains are a dangerous place to be even on horseback. Good luck with it then, take care of yourself” “Thanks and you take care of yourself as well” She replied as she made her way to the stables quickly; she needed to get to the man as soon as possible. “Oh don’t you worry about me, this old man isn’t going down without a fight,” He answered, winking at her. The Pyra girl laughed as she took her black stallion, Blaze out of the stables. He was already saddled up and fitted with anything you could ever need. She knew she probably wouldn’t need them but it would to long to remove them and anything could happen on the plains. She quickly put her cloak on to protect her from the harsh winds, got up into the stirrups and led Blaze out of the village’s protection onto the bare plains. Once out, they galloped through the winds towards the figure but as she glanced up at the wall of sand, she frowned. It was closer than she’d expected and as she watched it, she realised it was moving much faster than she’d originally anticipated. She urged Blaze on; there was no point in turning back now. As she got closer, the sand around them was picked up by the strong wind and whipped at them. The figure in front of them staggered and fell, if she didn’t reach him soon the storm would just swallow him up. With one more spurt of speed she reached the man. He was unconscious, by this point sand was swirling round them, she didn’t have time to return to the village before it reached them. With a new determination, she heaved the man onto Blaze with much difficulty, as he was bigger than her. She grabbed Blaze’s reins and led him across the plains, looking for signs of shelter only Pyra’s know. Sure enough, she had soon found a dip in the plains and a small amount of shelter. She removed the man from Blaze and laid him on the ground. She looked curiously at his unconscious body, his hood had dropped back revealing his face. His face was covered in scars, most long healed that left faint lines across his features but one just below his eye was clearly recent. He wasn’t old, in his twenties perhaps but his scars aged him and gave him a sense of danger or authority. His clothes, beneath his black cloak, showed how far he must have already travelled as they were unlike anything in this kingdom. A large broadsword hung by his side, dried blood on the hilt. Who was this strange man? She glanced at the storm raging outside; it looked like they would be there a while. The man’s eyes slowly flickered open; he frowned as he looked up and saw what looked like a roof of earth. He propped himself up to look around, only to cringe as he found he had a throbbing headache. He moaned quietly, as he blinked a few times to focus his eyes on the other person he just noticed was sat near him, facing away. On hearing his moans, the girl turned round smiling, “Oh, you had me worried for a minute here” He looked in confusion at her, her hair was red, a Pyra. Remembering his reason for coming, he suddenly tried to get up, only to instantly regret it, all his muscles ached. “Hey, hey, sit down, what’s the rush?” the girl was saying. He paused and looked at her “What’s going on? Where are we? Who are you?” He was breathing fast, “How long have I been out?” He just hoped he wasn’t already too late. She frowned as she looked at him “Calm down, we can’t go anywhere, this storm has trapped us for now”, she gestured the storm raging outside. “I’m Xyam. I saw you from my village and that you would get caught by the sand storm. I thought I could get to you and bring you back before it hit. I would have been able to but this storm is moving twice the normal speed. You collapsed before I reached you, I couldn’t return to the village before it reached us, so I just got us to shelter. You’ve been here about an hour now." He looked down as he registered what she’d told him, “A whole hour? Trapped?” He muttered to himself, he might already be to late “Wait, you said your village. What village is it?” Xyam frowned slightly, “Promenta, why? What’s so urgent?” Her curiosity had grown further; the man had looked down as in deep in thought. He looked up and stared at her face for a moment before sighing regretfully. “Okay, I probably owe you an explanation. My name is Rune, I have travelled far from the lands to the west” Xyam frowned, the west? The lands there were unchartered and unreachable. No one as far as she knew had ever come from the west of the plains before. She leaned in curious, as he continued “I’m sorry if I appear ungrateful but I came on a matter of great urgency. I believe your village to be at danger, but more than that, the whole of Allyasia” Xyam’s eyes widened and her frown deepened. “Why? When? What could even threaten all of Allyasia?” What Rune had told her, deeply troubled her. She didn’t know if she could believe him but it was big thing to joke about and she couldn’t take the risk of not believing him if he was right. Although, she doubted such a power could exist that could threaten the entire kingdom. “The Soulless, a horrid race of creatures, with no moral code, that take pleasure in death and destruction. They are a type of demon with yellow skin and piecing red eyes. No offence.” He added, Pyra’s eyes turned red when they controlled fire, “Anyway, they are dangerous but not clever, however they are lead by the cunning Reapers, the true threat. They came from a wilderness, worse than the plains deep to the west of here. There’s been a barrier of old magic that prevents them from entering these lands, keeping them trapped. But the barrier is weakening and they are escaping. If nothing is done it will soon be gone completely and they will destroy the whole of Allyasia” Xyam stared at him in disbelief, “But the old magic is all but gone, the Pyra power over fire is one of the few remnants of it. If you are right, it sounds like it will take a lot more magic than that to repair the barrier, I’m not sure that much power even exists any more. Also, I need to warn my village, we’re going as soon as it’s safe to” Rune nodded solemnly, “I believe it exists but it will not be easy to find, such a secret is guarded fiercely, you can understand you don’t want it getting into the wrong hands. It exists in the form of a crystal, the Moon Crystal, I understand from my research but lately something is wrong with it and the barrier is failing. This cannot be allowed to happen, I need to find it and save it before it fails completely” Rune said with a strong sense of determination about him. Xyam had listened intently and nodded, she still could not bring herself to believe what she was being told but Rune appeared convinced and if he spoke the truth, he would need all the help he could get. “My village will supply you with anything you may need but understand we need to prepare ourselves against the threat. The storm is weakening now, we’ll be able to go soon,” She said looking at the storm. Rune looked too, but to him the storm looked the same. She stood up and walked over to Blaze, stroking his mane. “Fine horse you’ve got there, is he yours?” Rune commented to break the serious mood but looked at the creature apprehensively. Xyam smiled and tuned to him. “Yeah had him since he was a foal. We have to learn how to ride early as it’s too dangerous to cross the plains on foot” She ran her fingers through his mane, “He’s called Blaze and he’s very loyal. We should be able to go now, get on behind me” She easily jumped onto her horses back. Rune took his time more, unsure how to go about getting on its back but eventually managed to get on. Once he was on Xyam grinned, “Alright, let’s go!” Rune just clung to her back in terror.
alright, that was very good, and very interesting. i DEFINATELY want to read more. A couple of little errors here and there. like... and but it's still a good start. I like it :lolface:
Chapter 2 As they rode out, sand was still whipped up beside them, causing visibility to be awful, although the storm was calming down. Xyam frowned as the sand thinned allowing her to see through it, “Smoke?” There was thick black smoke rising up into the sky, Rune was too preoccupied with not falling off to reply. “Something’s wrong”, she muttered and rode faster towards the village. The sand storm quickly eased further, letting them see the village and orange flames licking up from it. Xyam’s forehead creased as she saw this, “No, there’s too much fire. There wouldn’t be this much fire unless…They’re attacking! Come on Blaze, faster!” Blaze sped up and quickly entered the village walls of Promeanta. Xyam leapt off Blaze and ran into the village. Rune called a warning to her that they may still be here but when she ignored him, he managed to get off and ran after her. He found her crouched down over a man’s body, tears streaming down her face. “We were too late! Maybe, if we’d been a little faster we could have saved them. He taught me how to ride and I was joking with him only hours ago…” She slowly got up still looking down at the body, “If we’d been a little faster we could, we could o-” She broke down into tears again. Rune awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder, “We could of done nothing, the same would of happened except we’d be among the casualties.” Xyam nodded slowly as she walked between bodies, “They’re not all dead either, there’s not enough bodies. My best guess is that they took the majority as slaves. That means there must have been a Reaper among them, which isn’t good. However, your village put up a good fight by the look of things, come look at this” He stood over a body. Xyam walked over, quite detached and followed his gaze to see two soulless bodies burnt to a crisp, she grimaced “You weren’t kidding when you described them, they’re not going to win any beauty contests any time soon. I guess at least my people didn’t go down without a fight” She turned and walked through her destroyed village, her grief clear to see “There are more of those, those monsters over here. I can’t find my family; if you are right then there is still hope for them. I can still save them!” Suddenly she ran over to Blaze, with a new sense of determination, “I’m going to save them!” Rune spun round and moved in front of Blaze, blocking them. “What are you doing? You can’t go after them, you’ll get yourself killed and that’s not helping anyone. You stand no chance against an army, you don’t stand much chance against one at the moment” Xyam considered this, “Well, what should I do? I can’t just sit and do nothing. My village has just been destroyed or did that escape your notice? Everything I have ever known has just been destroyed!” Tears were running down her face again. “I don’t know what to do but I’ve got to do something!” “I understand that but it won’t help anyone if you go and get killed. You’re not thinking straight,” Rune said calmly. Xyam thought for a second before letting out a sigh, “I suppose you’re right. Then maybe, I could come with you? I could help you send those things back where they came from and save my people” Rune turned away and suppressed a smile, “I don’t know, it will be dangerous, definitely not a place for a girl like you. We would have to fight the demons and there is a strong possibility we may get killed” Xyam moved in front of him and stared defiantly up at him, the idea lodged in her mind, “I can fight! I’m not just some useless girl you know, I can help. I can even control fire, sort of” She added under her breath, before continuing her argument, “That’s got to mean something! Please, at least this way I’ll be helping not just going off alone, don’t you understand I can’t stay here, not now. I want to make those monsters pay and anyway, you need all the help you can get” Xyam’s eyes bore into him, almost daring him to defy him. Rune paused, “I still don’t know, you don’t even have a weapon. Though, I guess you can’t stay here… Fine. You can come with me but I still maintain it is too dangerous for a girl and I will drop you off at the first town we come to” Rune silently hoped he was making the right choice. Xyam smiled slightly, “That’s a yes and about a weapon? Wait here.” She span on her heels and raced down the destroyed street, she paused outside a partially destroyed building. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and took a deep breath before entering the building. Rune watched her with a concerned look on his face and ran over as she went inside. He paused outside; he knew she had a better chance of getting through there than him. If he entered it would endanger them more and put more stress on the delicate building, maybe causing it to collapse. So Rune stood outside and began the antagonising wait. The seconds passed by and she did not re-emerge. He was battling with himself if he should go in, knowing she could be in trouble but him entering could cause the building to collapse on them. He finally made up his mind to go in, but before he could set foot in the building Xyam reappeared and burst out of the door. Internally he sighed in relief but kept a harsh face. Xyam smiled though the sight of the house of the house she had grown in being destroyed saddened her greatly. He frowned at her, “That was a silly stunt to pull.” She blinked a few times before refocusing. “Oh. Yeah, I suppose but now I have a weapon” She unsheathed an ornate katana which was hanging at her side. Rune raised his eyebrows in pleasant surprise as he inspected it. Xyam went on to explain,” It’s been in the family for generations. Oh, and I got supplies.” She added, indicating the bag on her back. However, Rune did not look up from the sword, he carefully traced his finger over the strange writing that was engraved on the blade. “Any idea what it says?” he asked, Xyam shook her head regretfully. “Shame, may I?” With Xyam’s permission he picked up the katana, surprised by how light it was. Rune made a few swipes before returning it, “a good sword, well balanced but a little light for my tastes.” Xyam carefully sheathed her katana. “So, where are we headed? Where’s this moon crystal hidden?” she asked as she wandered over to what remained of the stables. Rune watched her, “You mean where am I headed since I’m dropping you off first chance I get” Xyam rolled her eyes at that, “But the answer is Yurion in the north, I believe I may find some answers there. We will pass through Terrelutia on the way; I may drop you off there. They need to be prepared to fight should I fail and perhaps they will offer to help. Hopefully, they’ve gained a bit more sense since my last visit.” Xyam smiled slightly at him, “Nice. It looks like they took all the horses or the horses might have even escaped, anyhow they’re not here now. You’re gonna have to ride with me.” Rune nodded quickly and looked uneasily at Blaze, nervous about the prospect of riding again. “Err, Rune?” Xyam’s voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and frowned. She had disappeared round a corner, “Rune? We’ve got company,” she said, her voice shaking. Rune swore and sprinted towards her voice, getting out his large broadsword. He rounded the corner to find Xyam, katana out, surrounded by four soulless bearing down on her. He wasted no time in running straight to the nearest demon. He decapitated it with his first swipe, attracting the attention of the others, which immediately leapt on him. He fought them off, expertly moving his sword in a blur of movements. His sword went straight through another soulless’ body as the other gashed his arm, causing him to whip round and kill that one too. Rune sighed in relief but a shout from Xyam brought his attention back to her. She was backed against a wall, fighting with all her might against a soulless, however each attack she made the creature easily blocked and she was barely managing to keep it away from her. Rune’s eyes widened and he sprinted towards them but the fighting had left a big distance between them. The creature brought up its claws in a final swipe, Rune’s heart skipped a beat, but a change came over Xyam. Her eyes turned red, her mouth formed a single word and suddenly her katana burst into flames. A wall of fire burst from it effulging the soulless completely. The soulless’ horrid scream rang out, making Rune wince and put his hands to his ears, before it too was lost beneath the roar of the flames. Rune could only watch in amazement as fire continued to stream out of her blade and round the space where the soulless was. Abruptly, as fast as the flames had appeared, they vanished revealing the scarcely recognisable charred corpse of the soulless. Xyam staggered wearily and dropped her katana, the writing glowing read on it returned to normal as it left her fingers. Rune dashed over and caught her just as she fainted. He glanced down at the soulless’ remains as he carefully set her down on the ground and put his cloak over her. She was more powerful than he had realised but she had no control over it. He would have to teach her how to use it properly, or she would end up killing herself using it.
Nice, It's really good, I also noticed a mistake(s) But other than that, It was really good, can't wait for more
