A Short Story

Eva – Year 8 Student

Editor’s Note: This short piece of excellent fictional writing was completed by Eva Y11 as part of her studies in English. CPD

The darkness, streaked with moonlight, creeps up on us. The calamity is as foreboding as King Marold’s empty eyes. I shiver, but not because of the midnight chill. No, the memory of the twisted king’s eyes is enough to make the strongest, bravest soldier scared. I turn to Raven, trying not to remember the torture. Trying not to remember the king.

“Well?” I ask her. Both she and Ash turn to look at me. Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined being on the run from the King and Court with the kingdom of Daege’s most notorious assassin and ex-convict. Ex-convict as we broke him out a few days ago. I still can’t believe Raven and I survived. I clench my fists at the memory and bite down on my lip. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. I try to banish the memory of Elora, my sister, to the back of my mind, but it overwhelms me. The musty smell of magic mingled with trees is replaced by the smell of steel and blood. I close my eyes, and the memory replays.

I spin around. Have we won? The Guards are fallen on the ground around me. All but one. Of course. Guard Sikt rises his sniper to his shoulder. Times slows. My eyes widen. Elora runs in front of me, grinning.

“We did it! We won!” she cries, the happiest I’ve seen her in months. I try to warn her, but it’s too late. The bullet rips through her throat. Her eyes don’t even have time to widen in shock as she slumps in my arms, the smile fixed permanently on her face.

I snap back to reality when Raven speaks.

“Well, now we go in. There’s no point in waiting for Marold’s army to come and stop us, is there?” I shake my head. This is it. We’re breaching the barrier. We’re leaving Daege behind. For now. We’re going to have to come back. To fight. To kill the king.

I take a step forward, closer to the forest. I turn to look at the others. They step closer, right behind me. With me, but always keeping their distance. As soon as I step into the forest, I feel the magic rushing through me. The branches on the trees rustle and the birds, the few of them left, take flight. I kneel on the ground and put my hands to the earth, letting my magic flow through it. I close my eyes, and all I can see is light. My magic. I turn around, back to Ash and Raven. They’ve turned away, squinting.

“Oh, sorry,” I mumble. There are lots of different types of magic, but mine is Light Magic. I can control and bend light. It can be used as a gift or a weapon. I flick my wrist, bending the light so I don’t have what people would call a halo around me. It feels so good to have my magic back. I feel complete. Now that I’m out of Daege, my magic comes flooding back, not to mention the fact that I’m in the Healing Forest. Most people of Daege are scared of it, because of Marold’s twisted lies. I don’t leave the forest, but beckon the others in. “It’s okay. Don’t be scared.” They come into the forest, albeit hesitantly. We venture further into the forest. I bend and twist the light, so that it doesn’t look so frightening. Then I stop. Raven walks into me, surprised.

“What’s going on?” she asks, her surprise turning into annoyance.

“Shh,” I tell her. For once, she falls silent. For once, we’re in my territory, not hers. There’s a soft padding. Then silence. All of a sudden, a huge beast comes leaping at us. I shove the others behind me and go to grab my dagger, but I’m too slow. The beast pushes me to the ground, its’ claws leaving deep gouges in my arm. The pain flashes up my arm and I lie in the dirt, too weak to do anything other than watch as Raven tries to kill the beast. Ash stays hidden in the shadows, watching. He’s still weak from five years stuck in Yeos Prison.

As the beast takes a swing at Raven, catching her elbow, I recognise it. It’s an Eminar. I frown, trying to remember what mum taught me about them. They’re vicious and attack when they feel threatened. They speak Goesa. They speak Goesa! I speak with a shaky voice in Goesa, the Old-Tongue, that mum and dad taught me.

“Please don’t hurt us. We’re not working for Marold. We want him gone just as much as you do, more. Please, help us. We need to get out of Daege. He’s chasing us,” I tell the Eminar. It stops.

“You speak Goesa?” he asks me, his voice low. In response, I muster up all of my strength and bend some light, making my hands light up. He stares at me, then bows, as if in worship.

Eva