I’ve decided that we’ll leave the first part of our story on a cliffhanger. We’ll resume with Part Two sometime after Christmas. Well done Lauraducky for your chosen entry (and for giving us a great mystery to solve)!
If this is your first time taking part or reading, you can find out more about this regular feature here.
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~Last week’s chosen entry is highlighted in blue.~
Read the entire story so far at this link!
Fiction Friday: The Story
In Last Week’s Episode:
‘You have come a long way, boy,’ the knight said. ‘Beset by enemies at every turn and hunted by those who desire your power.’
Aleks could feel Naia’s fear. He kept his blade between him and this stranger. ‘And you?’ he said. ‘Do you also desire it?’
The knight laughed and it sounded like a swarm of locusts cutting through a desert. ‘What I desire is none of your concern. What the Knights desire, however, will soon become apparent.’
Naia put a protective arm in front of Aleks, shooting the knight a dangerous look. ‘Tell us what to do,’ she said. ‘Tell me what you need.’
The Knight chuckled malevolently. His deep voice didn’t quite fit with the surroundings, as if he didn’t exist. Maybe he didn’t, Aleks thought desperately. Maybe this was all a hallucination. Then he looked at Naia’s frightened face and decided otherwise. He could never dream that up.
He looked back at the Knight. The Knight opened his mouth as if to shout, though Aleks could hear nothing. Naia, however, doubled over as in pain. Her hearing was far beyond that of a normal human. Aleks realised that the Knight was calling the other Knights, and a shiver of fear ran up his spine. Escape was impossible now.
An instant later, the full troop of knights stood before them in gleaming armour. They looked so similar that Aleks could no longer distinguish the first one from the rest of them. There were twelve of them in all, standing motionless before them.
Naia sucked in a deep breath. “Knights of the Last World,” she said. “Give us your demands so that we may give our answer.”
End of Part One
You’ve all seen those ridiculous fantasy names before and you’ve heard all sorts of advice as to whether you should invent surnames or titles for your characters. I say, it depends on the character you’re writing. Conan is the best example of a character with only one name: Conan. It just works so well and it’s all you need.
I couldn’t resist including a quote from the Arnie movies. Some loved them, others hated them. I, personally, loved them. The quote above kind of sums up those early movies. They were doing their own thing with the character of Conan. Maybe they didn’t do it the full justice it deserved, but they certainly have to be saluted for trying. The same goes for writing a novel. Many novels are written with a certain arrogance, daring or outrageousness. People may end up hating them, but if they succeed and people buy them… well, we salute them.
Fantasy In Motion 