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        New Message Board Archives >> 2006 General Board Posts >> Tunvald--Chapter 2
        
(Message started by: georgej on Sep 26^th, 2006, 2:12pm)

Title: Tunvald--Chapter 2
Post by georgej on Sep 26^th, 2006, 2:12pm

Good morning,

Some of you may remember my daughter El's story "The Price", about a society in which magic exists, but the power to use it comes with a price--cluster headache.

I've gotten several requests in PM to post more of it, so here's a section of chapter 2 that she's edited:

Again, I hope that no one is offended by this. El's way to understand and comprehend things is to tell a story about them. She knows all too clearly that CH is a very real and painful condition.

Best always,

George

---------------------------------------------------

C H A P T E R 2
Foresight

Tunvald awoke from his dream with a start.

Thunder rumbled overhead and lightning flashed across the sky. Tunvald stood quickly, feeling the power in the storm. He picked his way through the camp and located the Captain as quickly as he could.

Pointing to the cloud, he looked apprehensively at the shorter man.

"That is a mage-made storm."

The Captain glanced upward, frowning. Gesturing silently to a co-officer, he rallied the soldiers and ordered a group of them to discover the source.

Tunvald watched the Beast stride away out of the corner of his vision--the opposing mage was nearing the end of his (or her) power.

At that moment, a terrific explosion deafened their ears--and the
edges of the camp were ablaze. The screams of frightened
horses rose from the picket line as they reared and rolled their eyes. Soldiers untied them, got them tacked, and leaped into the saddles.

Tunvald followed, anticipating an order from the Captain.

"Mage! Stay in the back of the platoon for the moment--we'll need you later," he called as he rode by.

The mage nodded and moved his horse to the rear of the
ranks. He hated fighting.

The attackers charged directly at the camp, throwing sod from the hooves of their horses. The infantry followed. War cries filled the darkness. The night air was pierced by the sound of steel hitting steel, and the death cries of men. Tunvald's horse shifted its weight nervously. He patted its neck in reassurance, forcing it back, away from the fighting. A great quantity of blood was spilled before the Captain and his soldiers retreated to where the mage waited.

"Finish 'em off for us," the Captain ordered.

Tunvald sighed and watched the soldiers gallop away. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, and scrawled a short string of runes in the air. They danced around one another and wove together, forming a ring.

Tunvald then wrote a single, silver rune in the space behind the ring. Upon touching the rune with the tip of his finger, a sphere of condensed air blasted through the ring, caught fire, and exploded near the enemy.

Tunvald repeated his gestures until a curtain of flame roared up in front of him. He turned his horse and managed to get a short distance before he fell from the saddle, screaming in pain. The horse ran, panicked.

Tunvald clawed at his face--mad with agony. The shadowy form of the Beast rubbed itself against his legs, ears pricked forward.
Its face bore an infernal grin. It seemed to laugh at his suffering. Tunvald groped his way through the red haze in his eyes, searching for the darkness in which he could bear his pain
in peace.

Stumbling into the shadows of a wood, he embraced a tree trunk, resting his head against the cool bark. He could "see" the Beast with his left eye, which was closed in pain, and he knew the Beast for what it was. It haunted his sleep, and followed his footsteps in the daylight hours. It pursued all mages.

It was their indiscriminate curse.

His hands gripped the bark of the tree so tightly his knuckles began to turn white. He suddenly cried out and smashed his head against the trunk, irrationally attempting to banish the pain, willing it to go away.

After a time, he grinned coldly. The impact of his skull on the tree
was distracting him from the pain in his head. When the tears stopped flowing down the left side of his face and the blood clotted, he looked at the sky. His pain had vanished as soon as it had come and he could see the Beast in the distance, growling to itself. It would return. Tunvald hadn't satisfied its thirst for
misery.

-------------------

Title: Re: Tunvald--Chapter 2
Post by alchemy on Sep 26^th, 2006, 2:18pm

George your daughter has such a talent for writing. Her writing is very moving

Title: Re: Tunvald--Chapter 2
Post by davyp on Sep 26^th, 2006, 3:02pm

Hi George,

you cant imagine how excited i was to see this thread and after reading it i am even more addicted now.
I read a lot of books and this type on genre has to be 1 of my favourites, so please please please ask El to write quicker as i dont know if i can wait for the next installment of "The Price".

IMHO: El puts a lot of accredited writers to shame.

:) Dape :)

Title: Re: Tunvald--Chapter 2
Post by jon019 on Sep 26^th, 2006, 10:49pm

THANK YOU El and George!

Jon

Title: Re: Tunvald--Chapter 2
Post by TxBasslady on Sep 26^th, 2006, 11:25pm

;;D Thanks Ellen...and George :-*

Jean