The Writer's Games 2014: Mission #7 Entries

Onward

By: Badwolf98

Onward
We were always taught that Caria was a horrible place. The Elders told us stories telling about the trickery, lies, and sorcery. About how they had shadows there, from where the Cierda left their footprints, and how greed filled their hearts, and pride filled their bodies, and how evil was the blood coursing through them. Then, they finished the stories with tales of Erist's heros: The Ballad of Slava and Adriaen, The Tradegy of Cyra, and many more. They told us how the people of Erist came to behold elemental powers, and how they split the role between a hundred nymphs, who passed it on to their children. Now, each of her children have started tribes, and we live in the Realm called Alyphyns. I am an Alyhs nymph; A nymph of thought, mind, and memory. We have a reputation for being the smartest, unlike the Aloja. The Aloja are the water nymphs, and well, lets just say their brains are filled with water, too. "Caydran!" My sister yelled angrily, pointing to the sun. "It's nearly in the center of the sky! The Elders' have an announcement!" She quickly laced up her boots, while I closed my history scroll. I laid it carefully on my desk, the long velvet string dangling slightly off of the edge. "What about?" "Some kid is getting her powers early. It sounds like it might have to do with the Fortelling!" She grabbed for her sachel, then ran out the door. I followed her quickly, bounding through the forest to the city center. The large cobblestone floor was painted cheerily, with images of our past. Our country is very tight-knit, built on the firm foundations of our history, where as the other countries in Alyphyns have forgotten. Us Alyhs Nymphs have the job of protecting those memories, writing and reading old scrolls, and we are required to keep journals. The city center was crowded, and we stood there, watching the large clocktower strike 12, and the cuckoo bird come out. As the bells rang, a fit man glided up to the stage,but his voice was muffled by the melodic ringing. "-and history. I present to you, Adriaenna. Named after our hero Slava's beloved, Adriaenna will too bring greatness upon our time. She has been chosen to bear the Alikaean!" He proclaimed loudly, helping a nymph on the stage. She smiled nervously at us all, and smoothed her green dirndl. "And now, she has been chosen to be the princess of the new nation! For as it was written in the scroll of Cyra, the bearer of the Alikaean will lead a company of ten across the lands into the enemy territory, to push Cierda into the human realm once and for all!" Everyone cheered loudly and pushed forward, making it impossible to hear. The elder gestured for silence, and then resumed. "I present, the Alikaean!" He took Adriaenna's hand and led her to the very front of the balcony, and placed a delicate diadem on her brow. She blushed at all the attention, then stepped back. "You are now dismissed!" And just like that, everyone went back into the shoppes and cottages. I stayed there, as my sister ran off to talk with her friends. Adriaenna also stayed put, looking deep in thought. I had to admit, I was curious about the adventure, and a little star-struck. Before I lost my nerve, I ran up the polished oaken steps to her. "Hello." I said awkwardly, and she jumped a little, then smiled at me. "Oh, Hi." She said, waving a little. "I'm Caydran, but call me Aydren" I introduced myself, waving back. "Adriaenna, but call me Enna." She laughed, taking the delicate diadem off her brow and running her fingers along it. "It's beautiful." I commented. "I wouldn't think a guy would call my crown beautiful." She smirked, fingering a silver maple leaf. I laughed in response. "So, how does it feel to be royalty?" "Nerve wrecking. I feel the same. I imagined after the crown touched me i'd become regal and wise, and fit for ruling. I guess it doesn't work that way." I didn't know what to say to that, so I just smiled reassuringly. "It's also horrible picking ten people to go with me. It never said all ten would survive." She finished, grimacing. "How long do you have to pick?" "10 days." She replied, twisting her wavy honey-brown hair around her finger nervously. "Oh." Was all I said. "I have 9 picked out, though." "Really?" I furrowed my brows, surprised. "Yeah, I just need the last one." "Caydran!" My sister yelled, running up the steps. She stopped and her eyes widened as she saw Enna. "Oh.." She said. At first I thought it was because I was friends with the princess, but her expression seemed nervous. "What?" I turned to my sister, confused. Then, I remembered Enna. "Enna, this is Kaidrey, my sister." "I know. We've meet before." Enna pursed her lips awkwardly and stared at the floor. Kaidrey did the same. "What is going on? Tell me, Kai." I commanded, using her nickname. "I know her because I'm one of the ten." I stared at her, in shock. "When were you planning on telling me?" I said, sounding hurt. I was hurt. "Were you just going to leave Caydence, Mom, dad, and me in the middle of the night, when you weren't even sure you'd make it back alive?" I now wondered why I even bothered to talk to the princess. If i hadn't known, Kai would've just left, and I would never know. Maybe I would even let it go. But having the knowledge of why she ran away burning a whole in my chest for years wasn't cutting it for me. "I-" She faltered, and I saw a couple tears in her eyes. "No. Just leave, now." I put my hands in my pockets, and walked off, not bothering to look back. She didn't come after me. I went staright to our cottage, and into my room. Caydence came crawling through the doorstep on her chubbly 1 year old legs. "Hey Caydence!" I said, bending over to pick her up. She laughed and smiled widely, revealing her almost toothless grin. "How are you doing?" I asked with an excited voice. She laughed again, and started waving her hands up and down. My mom walked in, smiling at us. "I missed the ceremony!" She sighed, but she still smiled. "How was it?" "Good." I replied glumly, busying myself by pinching Caydence's nose gently. "Who was it?" She asked, trying to get more out of me. "Oop," She exclaimed as there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it." She said. She leaned over me and kissed Caydence's dimpled cheek before running off to the wooden door. I heard a soft exclamation, but I couldn't tell what it was about. I was about to put Caydence on the floor when my mom ran back, along with two girls. Kai and Enna. I ignored them and continued playing with Caydence. My mom must have sensed something was wrong, because she picked Caydence off of my lap and walked out, shutting the door.
"Why are you here?" I asked Enna.
"It's about the quest- I'm sorry we didn't tell you. I needed an Alyhs nymph, and I over heard Kaidrey talking about wishing for adventure, so I brought it up. She said yes."
"You just said yes? You didn't think of the consequences?" I stared at Kia in disbelief.
"Caydran, stop. I'm an adult next year. I need to do something with my life! Imagine the adventure!" She explained, and the sad thing was, I could tell she wasn't lying.
"Okay. Fine." I said, and Enna and Kai stared at eachother before Enna took a deep breath.
"I'd like you to come with us, and be the tenth person."
I didn't know how to react.
"What?" I exclaimed loudly. She couldn't expect me to go! I only met her half an hour ago! Part of me wanted to go- it was the adventure of a lifetime. But it was more than adventure-it was also danger.
"Please?" Kai begged, her green eyes pleading. I almost said yes. O adjusted how I sat on my wooden chair, and ran my hand through my sandy blonde hair. It had always announced me, my hair color. I wanted it either completely blonde, or completely brown. Not some dirty blond shade with light blonde and dark brown flecks.
"Caydran, you really should." My mother peeled her head in, making it apparent that she had been eavesdropping. She shot the two girls an apologetic look, and me a caring one.
"I'm sorry for listening in, but Caydran, this is a once in a lifetile opportunity. You can be a hero. You can save Erist" She looked at me long and hard.
"Fine. I accept."
~~~~Five days later~~~~
I walked into the room for our meeting. It was a battle strategy room, with a large world map, and a long conference table. There were 10 seats taken, not including mine. I sat down on Enna's left side, and she waved at me nervously. I smiled reasurringly, and she stood up to race the ten of us.
"Thank you, Eristans. You have been chosen to come to the quest, so I think it best if we introduced ourselves. I'm Adriaenna. Call me Enna." She motioned to the girl on he right side.
"I'm Ember." She smiled. Ember had pale skin, and curly midnight hair that contrasted with her electric blue eyes.
"I'm Aelisia. Call me Lisa." A girl said. She had chocolate colored skin, warm brown eyes, and wavy dark drown hair in a single braid over her shoulder.
"Erik." A guy nodded. He had light brown hair, and hazel eyes, just like the girl next to him. They seemed related.
"Aria." The girl said. She looked mostly the same as him, but her light brown hair was long and plaited.
"Adrian."
"Destrian."
"Laurel."
"Peter."
"Caydran." I nodded.
"Kaidrey." My sister smiled at me.
"Good. Now, you all understand our mission, correct?" Enna asked, and there were 'Yes'es and nods all around.
"It's my job to lead you. I chose you, and I hope that we can work together to complete this task, and save Erist. Today we depart." The nervousness was apparent on her face as she spoke.
"Let's go." She smiled, then we all stood up and grabbed our bags. We had been advised to pack lightly, as we could buy extra necessities as we traveled. All I brought were two extra outfits, some dried fruit, and my journal. I hoped to write a novel of our adventure. My mother cried as we left, and my dad looked extremely sad, although he didn't cry. Caydence, being 1, didn't understand the weight of the event, and the fact that we might not return. She had laughed and smiled as we left, and even waved.

As we all filed out the door ,it dawned on me.
"Enna, how are we going to get there on foot?" I asked, rather loudly, as to be heard over the hustle and bustle. She laughed, then pointed ahead-towards the stables. An 'Oh' escaped my lips. Horses. I couldn't mask my excitement. Or was it anxiousness? I always got those two mixed up. It hadn't felt real that we were leaving- until today. I wa then excited to leave for our departure meeting, but once w got there, I dreaded leaving for the mission. I wanted to go on an adventure, but the looming threat of danger that hung above darkened things. As we neared the white barn, I started to smell the barn scent. Hay, animals, and manure. A couple nymphs held their noses. The stable hand came out. He was an older man, with dark sun tanned skin, and decked out in lederhosen.
"Sir, I'm ready for the horses now." Enna said politely. He paused a bit, scanning us. He seemed like a cranky old man.
"Ah! All right! 11 fine horses, fit for the princess." Smile lines appears on his face, and all preconceived notions vanished. He led us into the stables, and first grabbed the reins of a white steed, and handed them to Enna.
"There, my finest horse, Slava. Fit for the girl named after Adriaen. Take good care of him." She nodded, then mounted the horse. The man turned to me, then handed me the reins of a brown spotted horse.
"Here's a good horse. Be careful, Danaec has been known to be a difficult one. But he's a determined horse, also."
"Thank you." I smiled, then took the reins, and mounted the horse. The saddle was a nice reddish brown, with eidelwiess burned into the edges of the leather. I trotted over to where Enna was sitting on Slava, watching over everyone else, deep in thought.
"Hey, Enna." She turned her head towards me quickly.
"Oh, hello." She smiled back, but she still seemed partly absorbed in thought.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Enna answered a little too quickly. I tilted my head to try to observe her. Her honey brown hair was slightly disheveled, so she probably hadn't sleep an well the night before. Her left hand finger nails were bitten, meaning she was nervous.
"Enna." I said, raising my eyebrows. She lowered her eyes to the floor.
"Enna, what's bothering you."
"Nothing. Nothings bothering me. " I heard a wrong of anger in her voice.
"Enna, you're nervous about this. Stop trying to pretend you're not."
"I didn't want to be the princess. A week ago I was just the regular Enna, until all of this happened. I used to fantasize about being someone important, who was an advocate, or important. But now I don't want it anymore." She confessed, a tear dripping down her cheek.
"I don't claim to know what that feels like, but we're here for you. Us 10 are right here. We're all in this together."(HSM moment) Enna smiled in thanks at me, then using her free hand she wiped her tear. We joined the others, who now all had horses. We rode by the stable man, and we all smiled in thanks.
"Thank you." Enna nodded, then we all rode off, all ten of us, into the unknown.
~~~~~~The End~~~~~~~~
I know that there are some blanks-what are the other questees like? What happens on the quest? But I decided to leave that to the imagination. Technically though, he has never met the others, so he would only become their friend through spending more time. Oh gosh, I'm rambling. Anyways, sorry it took so long, I had writers block for this challenge. I have exactly 5 started stories for this one challenge, but this one stuck the most.