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A White Wolf

A White Wolf

Posts: 8,377 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Example of a 4,000 Char Short
Full, flowing locks of light hair swirled elegantly, more akin to the caresses of the breeze surrounding them than to her partner's own tortured tresses, cold steel having suddenly severed them only a mere moment before.
"This has to end, Tyrene. You've gone mad with power!" Jey yelled, baring her weapons with savage grace. She poised on the tips of her black-swathed toes, leg wrappings easily keeping off the midnight moon's frosty glow. She swept a strand of silken blonde hair out of her eyes, forehead breaking out in beads of sweat much to the chilly night's chagrin.
Her opponent stood proudly, a malevolent grin stretching across her visage, no worse for the wear apart from a slightly shorter haircut than she'd had upon beginning the quarrel.
"You're such a fool. I'm not mad with power; I'm furious at your weakness." She laughed cruelly as she slowly raked her serrated blades across one another, red arcs scintillating across the surfaces. "Only the strong survive, and you've proven time and time again that you lack the strength to compete against me."
The moon's cold glow glinted across flying steel as Jey cried out. A knife blossomed out of her shoulder, the blade seeming to be made of the night itself.
Jey spun, face contorting into a rictus of pain as she whipped her enchanted yew quarterstaff behind her to parry the blow she knew was coming. The solid thwack of sharp steel meeting hard wood told her that for all her talk, Tyrene's fighting style was still predictable as always.
"Fine!" the green-cloaked warrioress vehemently spat at her one-time friend, "if it's death you crave, then meet it swiftly!"
Words seemingly forged of crystal began to pour out of Jey's mouth, the melodious language of the Elves sweetly singing into the ears of anyone who heard it. The dulcet tone belied the spell's true power, and soon a crackling sphere of green energy coalesced into being at the tip of Jey's quarterstaff.

17-Apr-2010 20:06:46 - Last edited on 17-Apr-2010 20:35:51 by A White Wolf

A White Wolf

A White Wolf

Posts: 8,377 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Tyrene threw back her head and howled with laughter, the cackles of one long since having doffed the burden of precious sanity. With a flourish of her inky cloak, she vanished, leaving Jey in the middle of the clearing, alone once more.
Or seemingly alone. The slanted green eyes of the graceful warrioress could penetrate the Nightshade cloak, only able to shirk the light in the eyes of mortal man, an ability she'd never revealed to her friend.
Still holding the earth's power within her hands, she cried out, loosing the energy held inside in a veritable maelstrom of power, watching the cloaked form melt away into the mass.
Sinking to her knees, Jey's chest heaved, gulping air hungrily from the expulsion of so much effort. Single drops of sweat graced the frosted grass beneath her.
A flash of moonlight; a spray of crimson.
Cruel laughter greeted Jey's ears as she saw, almost from a third-person perspective, herself fall to the ground. Scarlet miasma clouded her vision as she heard more than felt her lifeblood gurgling out of the gaping hole in her throat.
Confusion reigned, dumbstruck at how she had been caught off guard. As her eyes dulled and her sight faded, the only thought left in her mind was, 'How did everything go...so....wrong...'
-
Snap.
CLAP!
Jey bolted upright, looking into the black eyes of her best friend.
"Wow, you were OUT. Welcome back to the world of the living!" Tyrene laughed, throwing her curly black hair back over her shoulder with a toss of her head.
"I had...the most bizarre dream," Jey said with a yawn, getting up from the animal-skin couch she had made her place of slumber for the last hour.
"Well, don't worry about it. It was just a dream. People that put stock in dreams are just superstitious," Tyrene consoled as she walked to the fireplace, poking some logs with an iron.
"You're right. Hehe." Jey smiled and walked a little ways away, looking out of the window.
Tyrene, grinning, withdrew her knife.

17-Apr-2010 20:06:46 - Last edited on 17-Apr-2010 20:39:55 by A White Wolf

A White Wolf

A White Wolf

Posts: 8,377 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
We're lucky enough to be able to post this beautiful piece from an original TIGA-er, who is sadly no longer able to post on these forums.
Enjoy.
For the record, this is the kind of truly incredible writing that authors of this guild can be expected to be capable of. This piece should set the bar for you.
~Yin-Yang~
by: Xen Wolfe
Most would kill me if they knew my job.
No spot but my face remains bare. All else is shrouded in black, robed and hooded to fit my role. Even my hands and feet are sheathed in shadow, boots and gauntlets matching the color of the darkest winter night. And as if that were not enough, my sword, too, is black.
By now, most would have guessed that I am an executioner.
I have taken the lives of many, all in the name of justice, and at the call of the council. Their sentence of death, the ultimate punishment, is what brings me to my feet; the phrase ‘may God have mercy on your soul’ is what loosens my arms and allows my blade to drop.
Both innocent and guilty men and women have fallen, headless, before my blade. I can sense it; those who remain defiantly stubborn, protesting their innocence until the end, are usually the guilty ones. Those who hang their heads in resignation are the innocent. But I cannot change the decisions of the court and council; their authority outranks all in this nation.
And so I keep silent as I do my job, and that is all that they request. I have no problems with my job, no regrets, and take no mercy.
My job is merely to obey,
~~~~
There is a quiet beauty to a well-made sword.
My eyes traveled over the length of smoke-blackened steel, drinking in the details of the weapon which had taken the lives of so many. The blade was black like the rest of my clothing, a smoky kind like that which might rise from a fire at midnight. The hilt and crossguard were obsidian and leather, all bound together by an elegant twist of the same black steel.

17-Apr-2010 20:13:45 - Last edited on 17-Apr-2010 20:40:53 by A White Wolf

A White Wolf

A White Wolf

Posts: 8,377 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
But the true center of the sword was the pommel; a flat surface of black and white diamonds, curved and swirling together to form a shape that was supposed to symbolize the balance of law: a yin-yang. But in truth, the symbol represented the equal amounts of the innocent and guilty that fell before the blade on the other end.
I flipped up the hood which hid my face from the view of the crowd, wondering if there was another reason why the council had wished for me to wear it. Fear, probably. If the crowd feared me and my blade, they would be less likely to commit crimes themselves.
Taking the two sides of my cloak in both hands, I swept one side around my sword and then bound the tops of both together with the yin-yang clasp. It was another diamond pair, a twin of my swords’ pommel, but cut into its two sides so that it would bind my cloak around me.
I walked up the stairs, out of the darkness of the dungeon room where I had prepared.
The crowd’s roar shook my bones to the marrow as I appeared. Normally the masses weren’t quite this big; whoever was to be executed today, they were pure evil.
My blue eyes shone out and gleamed from beneath the hood that I wore, and their calm determination and dedication was enough to hush the first lines of the crowd. I drew my sword from beneath my cloak slowly, just enough so that the ring of the tempered steel would be audible. Then I reversed the angle of the blade and plunged it into the wood at my feet, waiting.
The one on the block today was female, I noted. That was rare. Her face was covered by the same black handkerchief as all the others had been, and the black strands of her hair were wild, tossed about by the wind which caused my cloak to flutter like wings. I ignored her face and focused instead on the crier who was to announce the woman’s crimes.

17-Apr-2010 20:13:45 - Last edited on 17-Apr-2010 20:41:16 by A White Wolf

A White Wolf

A White Wolf

Posts: 8,377 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
He unfurled the scroll that he held and cleared his throat, but never managed to get any words out. A volley of mud, sticks, and stones struck the scroll and shredded it, splattering him in the face and causing him to claw at his eyes. A similar barrage was directed at me, but all I needed to do was spin the flat blade of my scimitar in a short arc, catching the muddy missiles and directing them back into the crowd.
I walked to where the crier had stood before fleeing into the depths of the dungeons and used the scroll to wipe my blade clean, figuring that I should go ahead. Tossing the ripped and useless scroll into the crowd, I stood straight beside the woman who was to be executed and lightly touched the cold blade to her neck.
She arched her head and moaned gently, and I sensed innocence. So be it. Though misgivings wracked me with guilt, I raised my shadowed blade high and brought it down hard.
But at the same moment, a gust of wind happened to blow through the area. It caught the blindfold around the woman’s face like a sail and threw it away carelessly, and it was then that sheer horror caused me to pull the blade back. Muscles strained and snapped as I forced myself to stop, and the blade touched the edge of the woman’* neck lightly once again.
Sakyra.
I couldn’t believe it.
My blade dropped into the wood as I drew back in horror, letting loose a single whispered word:
“No...*
* 12 Years Previously ~
“Where are we going, Vey’ra? You still haven’t even given me a hint!”
I merely smiled as the trees around us gradually thinned, pine needles on the ground growing sparse as I pulled Sakyra along by a single hand.
“You’ll see. Just a little further.”
The sky seemed to grow closer as we walked onwards, and the trees finally dropped away, leaving a perfect view of the valley open for both of us to see. A river cut through the exact center, a silver ribbon unchanged by the eddies of time, and the sheer intensity of the green forest overwhelmed us both.

17-Apr-2010 20:13:46 - Last edited on 17-Apr-2010 20:41:55 by A White Wolf

A White Wolf

A White Wolf

Posts: 8,377 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
tugged her closer to me, composing the words I had memorized for this occasion in my mind.
“’My eyes gazed upon a sea of endless emerald green, untouched by man and unmarred by nature’s anger. A river ran through the valley as though drawn by some massive hand, perfectly straight and gleaming in the noonday sun. The wind was soft against my face, and...’”
I turned to Sakyra and nudged her arm, and she looked up into the sky, closing her eyes.
“’...and the leaves rustled in it as if they were giving a soft sigh of contentment.’”
Her eyes filled with tears as she looked back at me, happiness too much for her to contain as she fell into my arms.
“How did you find this place? It’s amazing!”
I hugged her close and gently ran my fingers through her long hair as I smiled gently, looking down at her.
“It found me. You know how I wander around so much? Well, this is the result.”
I gradually eased down onto the ground, cross-legged, and let her lie against me on my shoulder. Her breathing was quiet, even though I knew she was awake, and we sat there for a while merely as a part of the world.
~~~~
The flash of memory faded a second later, and I was faced once more with the stark reality of the situation before me. That I loved the one on the block should be no impediment to my duty, even if she was innocent.
I was sworn to complete my task no matter what, sworn to take the lives of those who were convicted even if I knew they were innocent. And that was what I had done for years, but now there was a new variable entered in the massive equation of a job.
Love.
Duty and will conflicted like the black and white of my sword’s yin-yang pommel, and it was then I remembered that there were anomalies. I looked down into the circle of the pommel and saw them, two dots in the color which was their opposite.
Sacrifices could be made. But how much would it cost me? And to which side should I lean; towards the dark or the light?

17-Apr-2010 20:13:50 - Last edited on 17-Apr-2010 20:42:19 by A White Wolf

A White Wolf

A White Wolf

Posts: 8,377 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I pulled the sword free as Sakyra looked at me, even though my face was hidden in shadow. I walked forward and picked up the blindfold, a tiny ribbon of black cloth, and shook it free of moisture and mud.
Then I tied it around her face once more, as gently as I could manage.
Her soft sobs ripped apart the fibers of my heart as I completed the knot, tears wetting the fabric as I drew back and tore the sword from the wood. It was no longer mine—it belonged to some person without my problems, without regret for what was about to take place.
I reversed the blade and spun it behind my back, then leaned forwards and pushed back my hood.
There were a few muffled gasps from the crowd, but I was deaf to them as I whispered the last words Sakyra would ever hear.
“I love you.”
Her head jerked around in shock, arching up, and I moved. My blade came up over my head and then plummeted with the force of a boulder pushed off a mountain. But just before it split skin and flesh apart, I was afforded a moment of terrible clarity.
Sakyr*** face was outlined against the multitudes of the crowd, black blindfold slack against her now accepting face. There was no accusation, no hate, just the tiny hint of a smile. But all the while there was the dark blade hanging over her neck, frozen in a moment which only I had the power to see.
The sword hit.
Blood sprayed in a wide arc from Sakyr**s severed neck as pale skin parted easily, the sharpened blade eagerly biting through flesh and nerve alike as I grimly continued with my task. The razor-like edge severed not only the neck put before it, but the thick wooden block below, carving a crescent out before reversing and returning behind my back.
Her head dropped to the ground.

17-Apr-2010 20:14:16 - Last edited on 17-Apr-2010 20:42:41 by A White Wolf

A White Wolf

A White Wolf

Posts: 8,377 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
My sword thunked into the wood as I gave a feral cry of anger, dropping to my knees and kicking the weapon back into the dungeon room from where I had retrieved it. My heart and mind were no longer responding, so shattered were they by the enormity of what I had just done. I had committed half-suicide by killing her, but now I had to finish the job.
My dagger drew smoothly from its short sheath and came up to face my heart with its gleaming silver point, no longer a weapon but a key to the gates of heaven. And so I inserted it into the lock it was meant to open and twisted, even through the near-unendurable agony.
My heart was literally torn apart by the weapon, yet I smiled even as my blood flowed down the darkness of my cloak to mingle with that of Sakyra. My body dropped onto the block and then twisted to lie on the wood of the execution platform, dead.
But my soul flew upward, finding a familiar smile and a laugh to match.

Many thanks, Xen. Your beautiful pieces are still utterly breathtaking.

17-Apr-2010 20:14:17 - Last edited on 17-Apr-2010 20:43:21 by A White Wolf

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