The beginning of the end | Teen Ink

The beginning of the end

December 12, 2013
By Thelemon BRONZE, Hemet, California
Thelemon BRONZE, Hemet, California
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Sometimes I wonder how I ended up with who I am, Nowhere, the tiefling, who almost dies every day, either by dragon or being hanged for “mischievous acts against the king”, but then I remember I’m not alone. With my allies, Ragnork, Gorde, Frell, Hacleph, and me, we will overcome any obstacle, become heroes, and escape from the dark pasts we came from. I still can remember when we first met…

“I still can’t believe I got caught! How can I, Gorde, the greatest hafling rogue in Farlum, get caught stealing?”
Gorde has always been cocky, stealing, or lying to get his way out of trouble. He’s here because he tried to steal the crown off the kings’ head
The guard, annoyed warned Gorde, “Why can’t you just shut up for once? If you don’t else you won’t have to worry only about the goblins here,”
“I’m not scared of any dragonborn, including you! You blustering behemoth!”
“Even though it will be against my way, I’ll spill your blood!” The dragonborn threatened,” or else my kinname isn’t Ragnork!”
Ragnork, the only non-convict in the area, is the most stubborn, arrogant, and religious paladin I have ever seen in my entire life (and probably will be until the day I die). He is our escort to our punishment, which we sort of chose. In court it was either a “certain, quick, death or the extremely slim chance of surviving a dangerous task for the king” sort of deal.
“You haven’t said a word, or did they tie you up so tight, you can’t speak?”
Frell, the scariest one out of all of us, was in the corner, bound by steel shackles and a restraining stick used for bears. He started a bar fight, but he sort of… transformed into some kind of monster and devoured the waitress. The only reason he’s still alive is because of the goblin problem. The guards are too scared so they give us the choice of death by goblins or death by hanging.
Hacleph only hunted down and shot the kings’ royal lion, and sold it into the black market in front of the royal courtyard. Me? I’m in this for murder, even though he attacked me. But that’s how it is as a tiefling being discriminated ever since (I’ll tell you about that, but that’s a different story).
We came to the shallow river near the entrance, with a sign that warned “GOBLINS! KEEP OUT!” in sloppy written letters made out of either dung or dried up blood due to the recent heat. We park the cart next to the rocks and walked to the door with our shackles with rope for chains; except for Frell (the area wasn’t that wealthy either). We hear shuffling, growling, and 2 snickers behind us. We spun around simultaneously and we spotted them. One wolf and 2 goblins. One of the goblins slid out an old dented knife and darted at Gorde, but he glided his shackles in the way and the knife scraped off and cut the rope. Ragnork grabbed the goblin and threw him in the river.
Meanwhile, Gorde speedily picked our locks and we went to our equipment in the cart. Gorde grabbed his throwing knives, Hacleph snatched his bow and twin- double edged swords, and Frell picked up the great sword and shield and went to cover Ragnork. I went to grab my spell book (every wizard needs one), and the wolf dashed at me with the speed of a basilisk. I was force to use my other magic, the ones in the shameful depths of my ancestors. I quickly shot my hand out, a black bolt of lightning struck the wolf, sending it flying and hitting a rock, killing it.
Everyone froze, including the goblins, and stared. I picked up my spell book, opened it, and casted another spell. I stretched out my hand once again, a small spark of electricity formed. Then it exploded into a ball of deadly colors and shot out to the goblin on land. It hit square in the chest, knocking it back. Then it headed to the one in the river. The goblin barely missed it, but then the ball dived in the river. There was a crackling-buzz sound mixed with a scream of agony. Then the smell of burning whipped into our noses. When I turned around to look for the first goblin I hit, he was running into the forest, possibly crying. I look at the other, and they looked at me as if I was a demon, which I basically look like one.
“What are we waiting for?” I announced, “Let’s head inside”
We opened the doors to find a sudden chilling breeze hit us as we enter. The light bled through, revealing a ruined stone floor with ancient moss. As we entered, the doors slammed shut behind us. And in that moment, we knew that this would be a challenge.



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