RuneScape Forum Archive | RoM Book 1: Chasm

Caydock

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“Wait one second please." Cadoc said, halting Ruben, "What was the object you threw, and what was the tip of your arrow made of?"
"Mirror." Without waiting for Cadoc’s answer, Ruben sprinted off. Cadoc hurried after him, slower as not to injure his ankles anymore then they already were. He ascended one of the small hills that bordered the town, and followed Ruben down the hill.
Ruben plowed down the road, leaving a trail of dust flying out behind his pounding feet as he swerved into Brandon’s home. Cadoc followed, choking on the thick clouds of dust that were kicked up into his face. As he lifted the curtain of Brandon’s house once more, he saw Ruben standing in the middle of the room, the girl still held in his arms, her head flopping over onto his shoulder. Brandon came scurrying into the room and gently took the girl from Ruben and laid her down on the table. He whisked by Cadoc, barking orders the whole time. “Cadoc! Get me a bucket of water from the village well! Ruben, get me my herbs from the shelf! Go now!*
Ignoring his own wounds, Cadoc dashed through the door once more, heading to the center of town, which contained the village’s water source. A middle-aged man, dressed in an expensive red shirt and beautifully embroidered pants with an arrogant look on his stern features, obviously the type who loved to show off their wealth in the face of the poorer villagers, stood by the well, twisting a handle that drew his bucket up from the hole that reached down to the underwater spring.
Cadoc threw himself forward, grasping for the handle as he pushed the man to the side with his elbow. He strained his muscles as he practically ripped the bucket from the well. Ignoring the man’s complaining, drawn out and snobbish, “I beg your pardon!” Cadoc retrieved the now filled bucket, held it close to his chest and ran back to Brandon’s house, sloshing water all the way.

23-Aug-2009 20:50:34 - Last edited on 24-Aug-2009 22:22:03 by Caydock

Caydock

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Bursting into the room, Cadoc thrust the bucket towards Brandon. Brandon took it from him and dunked a cloth into the bucket. He bathed the girl’s brow with the rag, wet it once more and, handing the bucket to Ruben, set to work on her gashed arm.
Ruben handed Brandon a small pile of herbs, but Brandon shoved them back at him. “They need to be made into a poultice first!” Hurrying by Ruben, Brandon turned his back to the onlookers and with set to work. After a few minutes, he reached his hand back and accepted the herbs from Ruben. After a bit more time of frenzied working, Brandon returned to his patient, placing the poultice on the girl’s arm.
Brandon stepped back from the table. “Well,” he said, “that’s all we can do for now. She’ll awake soon and be able to tell us what transpired and we can see if there’s anything else we can do.”
Cadoc nodded, grimacing once more as pain lanced up and down his ankles. Brandon looked curiously towards Cadoc who said, “Oh, the one who did this,” He waved his hand around the room vaguely, *hit me with some kind of weapon. I don’t know how bad it is.”
Brandon gestured for Cadoc to come closer. As he did, Brandon slid a chair out and had Cadoc put one leg up. Removing Cadoc’s boots, Brandon looked at Cadoc’s ankle which was red and inflamed. Brandon’s quick intake of breath was more then enough to worry Cadoc, but his fear quickly disappeared as Brandon hopped up, hurried across the room to a drawer, removed an object and came back. Before Cadoc could question what the item was, Brandon grabbed a knife from the table and gashed Cadoc across his wound.
Cadoc gasped with shock and pain as blood spilled freely from the wound. But the blood was not red. It was as black as a starless night; black as the depths of an eternal abyss.

23-Aug-2009 20:50:39 - Last edited on 24-Aug-2009 22:22:23 by Caydock

Caydock

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Brandon now took up the object he had retrieved from the other side of the room, and held it to Cadoc’s recently sliced ankle. A faint glow emanated from Brandon’s hand and spread across Cadoc’s ankle, soothing the wound and illuminating it with luminescent light. When Brandon moved his hand, the blood continued flow, but was now returned to its original color.
Brandon now reached over to the table and picked up a strip of cloth. He applied the cloth to Cadoc’s wound and bound it tightly. Then he reached for Cadoc’s other ankle.
Cadoc shrank back from Brandon’s grasping hands. *What are you doing?”
Brandon lunged forward and caught a hold of Cadoc, “Foolish boy! Do you wish to die?”
Cadoc relented and Brandon again used the knife and repeated the healing process; once again concealing the object from sight.
Cadoc looked up into Brandon’s eyes, which were radiating compassion, curiosity, and something else… What was it? Before Cadoc could figure out why Brandon was staring at him so intently, Brandon looked away, “Time for you to get home, Cadoc.*
Cadoc opened his mouth to protest, but Brandon halted the words with a wave of his hand. “All will be explained in the morning.”
~~~
Cadoc awoke after a short restless sleep. He had been consumed with thoughts of what the morning would bring and how the events of the previous day would affect him and the whole village.
As soon as the sun peeked over the hills and touched it’s soft, early morning light over the peaceful village, Cadoc leaped out of bed, threw on his clothes and clambered out of his window, landing lightly on the dew filled grass. Cadoc then walked along the path, taking care not to wake anyone, and arrived in front of Brandon’s house. He sighed with frustration as he realized that everyone was still asleep, due to the window’s being closed, and climbed up the nearest tree to look over the village; and to hopefully gain some patience while he was at it.

23-Aug-2009 20:55:17 - Last edited on 24-Aug-2009 22:22:39 by Caydock

Caydock

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As he pulled himself up the highest available limb and looked out over the serene countryside, towards the city of Ajjeea, he was filled with peace. As Cadoc breathed in the early morning air and smelled the scent of fresh rain and wood smoke from houses below him, Brandon’s curtain slowly flipped open and Brandon leaned out.
Staring at the flapping curtain, Cadoc saw Brandon look around, then look slowly up. When Brandon noticed Cadoc perched on the branch, his eyes widened in surprise. “Get down here!” he hissed, now clandestinely looking around for any malicious presences. Beckoning with his hand, Brandon slipped back into his house with one final, “Hurry!”
Cadoc swung himself off the branch, catching hold of another one, and slowly made his way out of the oak. Dropping to the ground, he trotted inside, securing the curtain which was erratically twisting and turning in a sudden gust of wind.
Turning from the entryway towards the murky room, Cadoc met Brandon’s gaze, “Tell me what’s going on here.”
Brandon sighed and muttered underneath his breath, “Boys these days…no patience.” Brandon walked over to an opening in the wall that branched out Easterly. Leaning in, Brandon said in a tone barely above a whisper, “He’s here.”
The room’s entry was filled with Ruben’s large presence as he walked into the main room, his gait slow and heavy. As Brandon followed him, another person tentatively stepped to the ingress, and looked around hesitantly.
Ruben gestured in a ‘come here’ motion and rumbled, “It’s alright, Alaina. Come on out.”
Alaina slowly walked out, keeping a wary eye trained on Cadoc, who was leaning a corner, staring curiously at her. Alaina moved over to Ruben and he put a large arm over her shoulders.

23-Aug-2009 20:55:22 - Last edited on 31-Aug-2009 03:20:42 by Caydock

Caydock

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Brandon strode over to his table and drew a flint from his pocket. After a few uptight moments where none of the visitors said a word, he attempted to light a candle that rested on the table. With a hiss the candle sprang to life, its light spreading to all the corners of the darkened room. Brandon stepped back with evident relief on his weathered features. “Ah. Much better.”
Now that light spread throughout Brandon’s dwelling, everyone visibly relaxed, including Cadoc, who was now studying Alaina, seeing as this was the first time he had seen her awake.
Long flowing hair spilled down her back like a brown, flowing, twisting river, curling slightly at the ends. Her eyes were deeply intense, a stunning green color that shone with intelligence, and yet she had the look of quick brilliant perception; the eyes of those who can read motives as easily as a parchment of runes.
Cadoc broke the awkward silence by nodding amiably at Alaina and turning to Brandon. “Continue… please.”
Brandon pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down, folding his arms behind his head in a comfortable pose, “To begin, I think you need to know that you can no longer wander freely on your own. The danger is far too great now and you are not nearly capable enough to deal with a fully grown monster.”
Cadoc turned red in the dim light, “What are the monsters?”
Alaina spoke for the first time, “Yes, sir, I too would like to know what it was that attacked me.”
Brandon looked over to Ruben, sighed, and closed his eyes, “Unfortunately I can not tell you.”
“Why not?” Asked Cadoc incredulously, “You said all would be explained in the morning!”
“And so it shall. If you’ll follow me,” Brandon rose and walked down a hall, his white hair disappearing as it was enveloped by the shadows.

23-Aug-2009 20:55:41 - Last edited on 24-Aug-2009 22:24:07 by Caydock

Caydock

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Cadoc exhaled noisily as he rose to his feet, sneaking one glance over to Ruben and his daughter. Ruben was reaching into his pocket and pulling out the mirror from the day before. Alaina was looking at him curiously, but at a slight push from Ruben, she started to follow Brandon down the dark hall.
Cadoc swallowed once and begin to walk. He was sure that all the answers he was looking for rested at the end of the long, murky corridor…
----------------
CHAPTER 3
----------------
The thick darkness swirled around Cadoc as he made his way down the hallway. He dimly saw Alaina’s form ahead of him, but she was rapidly shrouded by the profound gloom. As Cadoc continued to force himself to put one foot in front of another, his brain started to scream for a respite from the weight of shadow. Would the hallway never end? How long was this passage? Cadoc started to wave his arms in front of his face, desperately trying to push through the smoke-like darkness as it seemingly forced its way ruthlessly up his nostrils and mouth, choking the life out of him.
Just as he felt he could go on no longer, Cadoc saw a faint glow bobbing in the dusk ahead. Cadoc shoved forward, straining his muscles to not give in, to continue onward, until finally, with one last exigent endeavor to make it, Cadoc pierced through the darkness, the horrible, foreboding darkness, and entered into the halo of light that radiated from a small candle.
Cadoc panted for a long moment, and looked up at Brandon, whose face was illuminated by the candle’s flickering light. Brandon smiled warmly and nodded, “You have passed the test.”
Cadoc recoiled, “That was…a test?*
*Yes and you passed. Come into this room now.*

23-Aug-2009 20:55:46 - Last edited on 25-Aug-2009 20:22:57 by Caydock

Caydock

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Cadoc started to walk forward into the room, when he stopped, and looked back at the haunting passage. He shuddered and froze as he heard the same noise from the day before; the long, drawn out, poignant hiss. Come…Come… Cadoc fixed his eyes on the corridor as it seemed to whisper soothing phrases and eerie appeals to just sample the darkness, just see what it was like. It wasn’t dangerous, it implored, come and see!
His mind started screaming warning signals, but Cadoc was beyond listening as he started stepping back the way he had come, back to the sinister darkness.
Just as the darkness began to swirl around his ankles, a form appeared, cutting its way through the twilight. Ruben emerged, clutching his mirror, and placed his hand on Cadoc’s shoulder, “I believe you want to go this way,” he said, firmly guiding Cadoc to the lit room, where he closed the door.
It was an undersized, yet tall, circular room with four wooden brackets, each built at different angles and heights, embedded in the walls. A diamond-cut mirror dangled from the fifteen-foot ceiling, suspended by a thin golden chain, and a diamond imprint was stamped into the marble floor. Alaina leaned against a wall, looking around the room, from the polished stone base to the pendulous mirror, and then to Brandon, who was reaching into his white robe and removing four more mirrors, precisely the same as the one he had given Ruben.
Brandon strode across the room to Cadoc, his hand outstretched. Cadoc put out his own hand and took one mirror from Brandon. Cadoc stared at the mirror, and looked questioningly at Brandon, but Brandon was already heading over to Alaina, where he gave her a mirror as well.

23-Aug-2009 20:55:51 - Last edited on 25-Aug-2009 20:20:43 by Caydock

Caydock

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Stepping to the center of the room, right under the hanging mirror, Brandon faced Cadoc, and turned slowly to view Ruben and Alaina as well. “Please place your mirror on one of the four brackets on the walls,” he intoned, as he began to head towards one of the brackets, the two remaining mirrors clutched in his palm.
Cadoc turned to the nearest wooden fixture and placed his mirror carefully on top. He pivoted back to face the others and watched as Ruben and Alaina finished situating their mirrors.
“Now step back to the walls,” said Brandon, his voice as a solemn as a minister at a funeral, “And watch carefully.
As the three complied, Brandon held up the final mirror, having placed the other in the fourth bracket.
Cadoc watched, fascinated, as the mirror in Brandon’s hand lit up with brilliant, dazzling light, drowning out the glow of the candle. A small sliver of the light, the width of a hair, shot from the mirror, and touched down on Ruben’s mirror. But not stopping there, the light continued, and ricocheted into Alaina’s. The beam then spread into larger shafts and flew upward towards the diamond mirror. Striking the mirror with enough force to send it swinging upward, the luminosity fanned out into a lustrous diamond shape and dissolved, until all that that remained were small sparkles that winked out as quickly as they appeared.
Silence ruled the room. The only sound that could be heard was the tinkle of the mirror’s chain as it swung like a pendulum and slowly returned to its former position. Finally Cadoc mustered the courage to say, “What was--,”
The diamond mirror abruptly burst into all colors of the rainbow, casting its blinding glow to every part of the room.
Cadoc threw his hands over his eyes and turned away from the florid radiance of the mirror. After a moment of hush, Brandon spoke, “You may look now.*

23-Aug-2009 20:56:38 - Last edited on 25-Aug-2009 20:21:04 by Caydock

Caydock

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Cadoc turned, and marveled at the sight he beheld. The mirror was emanating lights of all different colors and hues. The spinning shafts of shaded light slowly circled the room, and all met at the diamond that was imprinted into the floor. Then, a crack appeared in the diamond impression of the floor, and all the light from the suspended mirror rushed into it, causing the sense that a large blanket had been draped from the floor to the ceiling.
Brandon stepped away from the wall and stood in front of the incandescent curtain, “Retrieve your mirrors.”
Cadoc groped behind his head for the mirror, his eyes never leaving the center of the room.
After everyone had retrieved the mirrors from the wall, Brandon gestured towards Ruben.
Ruben moved as he was bidden. Placing his hands on Alaina’s shoulders, he led her next to Brandon and together stood next to him.
Brandon now looked Cadoc’s way, and held his hand out, and moved it inward in a ‘come’ motion.
Cadoc slowly stepped away from the wall, hypnotized by the bouncing, colorful lights. Ruben and Alaina slowly stepped through the light and disappeared from view, leaving Cadoc and Brandon alone.
Brandon met Cadoc’s gaze squarely and spoke in a soft voice. “Trust the light, Cadoc.*
Cadoc nodded slowly as in a trance, and walked towards the resplendent drape, Brandon close on his heels.
The last thing that Cadoc heard before he entered the light was the darkness, screeching in anger and desperately calling one more time.
Cadoc ignored the tantalizing call and instead focused on the glory of what lay ahead. Closing his eyes, Cadoc stepped through the light.
------------
END OF SECTION 1

23-Aug-2009 20:56:43 - Last edited on 25-Aug-2009 20:22:20 by Caydock

Caydock

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“What’s wrong, mutt? Can’t fight for yourself?”
Dan was walking along the dirt path when the shout came, followed by a thud and a yelp of agony. Turning swiftly, he saw three teenage boys, one with a stick, the others with stones, chasing a brown Labrador puppy down the street. As he watched, one of the boys, the one with the stick, struck the puppy on the back with the gnarled spar. His efforts were rewarded as the dog howled and ran faster, its tail tucked beneath its rear as it whimpered in dread-filled apprehension of the next strike. The two other bullies threw the rocks with all the strength they could muster. Although the missiles failed to hit the Lab, it was enough to panic it into clumsiness. The pup tripped over a rock and sprawled onto the street, its paws churning the air in vain.
The two rock-throwing boys charged the floundering Labrador and grabbed it, holding it to the ground. “Quick, Zef! Give it to him!”
Zef ran up and viewed the struggling dog with a look of arrogance stamped on his ugly features, which consisted of two overly large front teeth, a nose as big as a hawk’s, and gigantic ears. Long, muddy hair fell to his shoulders, and he brushed it out of the way of his vision as he spoke to the dog, “Ha! Look who’s on top now!* Zef brandished the stick menacingly over the dog’s head and drew back to bring a crushing blow to the Lab’s head.
---
"The above work is Copyrighted under
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See Quick find code: 28-29-317-56513948 for a reference"
A Caydock Story.

23-Aug-2009 20:56:47 - Last edited on 02-Nov-2009 16:41:47 by Caydock

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RoM Book 1: Chasm