Sep. 22, 2008
Terrence Karapetyan
As I promised earlier. Here is the character study, or prologue, of Beast of Blood:
"Brother, over here!"
Terrence stopped reluctantly and looked towards his older brother Leon. Leon was surrounded by his usual group of friends and on his arm was his new bride, Lady Aldreanna. Leon was a tall man, he had dark brown hair and a thick beard. On his face was his usual smile that never seemed to leave no matter what was happening. The smile only made Terrence frown when he saw it. Terrence had been hoping that no one would notice him as he sneaked off to the gardens.
"Come here, Terrence," Leon said impatiently. Terrence sighed and forced a smile on his face, pretending to be happy to see Leon and his friends.
"What is it that you need, Brother?" Terrence asked as he walked to Leon. He looked behind Leon and saw that his brother's friends seemed less than happy to see him. Leon couldn't see his friend's expressions and patted Terrence's shoulder a little too roughly.
"I wanted to make sure that you were going to come with us this afternoon to go hunting," Leon said as he watched Terrence rub his shoulder. A soft groan was heard from the group behind Leon. Terrence clenched his teeth as Leon bended forward to whisper in his ear. "I don't want to be embarrassed in front of my friends, so I'm going to need your help."
Terrence's upper lip twitched as he bowed and said, "Of course, Leon. I wouldn't miss it." Leon nodded then turned back to his friends, clearly dismissing Terrence. Without hesitating, Terrence slipped away.
He was soon outside in the gardens, but now he wasn't sure if he wanted to be there anymore. He frowned again and began pacing near the pond. A loud splash interrupted his thoughts. The ripples were too large to be one of the goldfish swimming in the pond. Terrence moved forward and looked into the pond. As the ripples slowed down he saw the face of a demon in place of where his reflection should have been. The red face that was curled up into a fearsome look was watching him. It moved when Terrence moved. As Terrence reached his hand to the surface of the water, the demon reached forth with its claws. The water rippled again from Terrence's touch and the demons face disappeared replaced with his reflection. He stared at the water, waiting to see if the demon would reappear. It never did.
There was a laugh from behind Terrence. He shot up onto his feet and turned around to see where the laugh had come from. Hidden in the shadows of the trees was an old witch. Her scarred face was hideously twisted. Her hands were thin and curled, the skin dry and cracked. The only thing covering her hunched body was a tattered black robe.
“How did you get in here?” Terrence demanded.
The witch only laughed again and said, “I know what exactly what you want.”
"W-what do you mean?" he stammered as he moved forward towards the witch. She held up her hand and Terrence's body froze.
"I'm here to tell you that I'll be able to give it to you for a small price. My home is north of here, find me and I will help you."
She laughed once more then vanished.
Terrence's body unfroze and he stared at the spot where the witch had been standing. His eyes narrowed as he thought, She has no idea of what I want. No one knows.
He saw a servant approaching from the corner of his eye, and turned to face him. The servant cleared his throat and began speaking when he saw that Terrence had noticed him.
"My lord, your brother wishes you to meet him for the hunt now."
"Tell him I'll be there shortly," Terrence told the servant. The servant nodded and left to deliver the message. Terrence watched him for a moment before walking back to the castle to change into his hunting clothes.
In his room after he had dressed, he picked up a silver necklace from his dresser that had a clear blue stone hanging from it. He hung the necklace around his neck. He pulled his dagger from a small chest and wrapped the leather strings from its sheath onto his belt. When he finished, he went to the castle gates and met his brother there. Leon's group of friends was smaller now that the women and those who didn't want to hunt had left. They were all waiting for him and were irritated with him being slow. They talked amongst themselves as they watched Terrence take his bow and quiver from a servant and strap it to his back.
"Are we ready now?" Leon asked when he finished and everyone in the group nodded. "Terrence?"
"Yes, I'm ready now."
The group walked through the gates of the castle and the streets of the city. Once they reached the outer edge of the city, the forest began. It was well into the afternoon as they reached deep into the forest where the deer were. While Leon followed the trail of a deer, Terrence slipped away from the group. He stopped when he when he wasn't able to hear the small group walking through the forest anymore. He pulled out the crystal from beneath his shirt and held it in his hands. He closed his eyes and wove his energy through the forest searching for life signs. His mind touched the mind of a deer. He released the connection and walked in the direction of the deer.
Terrence found the deer grazing in a clearing as the sun was setting. He watched it from inside the forest, his hand gripping his bow tightly the other still holding the blue crystal. His ears caught the movement of the party approaching as silently as they could. He knew that it was time for him to do what Leon had wanted him to do. He sat down and placed his bow next to him. Taking the crystal in both hands, he closed his eyes and this time he focused all of his energy towards the deer in the clearing. In his mind filled the thoughts of the deer. It’s constant worry of a predator, ready to bolt at any sign of danger. Terrence was able to dull that urge to flee. As the party emerged from the forest and into the clearing, the deer only looked up and went back to eating.
Terrence watched as his brother shot the deer with an arrow. It hit directly into the deer’s shoulder, followed by another arrow. Inside Terrence’s mind filled the pain of the deer. He bit back the urge to cry out in pain and waited until the deer fell to its side before releasing his connection. Cringing from the pain, Terrence picked up his bow and stood up. He saw Leon's friends patting Leon on the back and praising him for the kill. Instead of joining them, Terrence turned around and headed back to the castle.
It was dark as he was walking through the forest and the stars were covered by the canopy of leaves. Terrence wasn't paying attention to where he was going as the pain of the deer lingered in his mind. It wasn't until he was deep into the forest that he realized that he was lost. He was becomming tired and he knew that it was useless to wander around in the dark. He took off the quiver and dumped it on the ground with his bow. He lied down under a tree, not particularly caring whether it was good shelter or not. The last thoughts he had as he fell asleep was of what that cazy witch had said to him.
Terrence was awoken earlier than he would’ve liked to have been. The birds were chirping but the sun had yet to rise. It took a moment for Terrence to remember where he was. His back was stiff from sleeping on the ground. He rubbed his eyes and took a look at his surroundings. Everything was calm and peaceful. The deer's pain in his mind had disappeared and he didn’t feel so angry anymore.
I probably ought to start heading--
Movement from in front of Terrence startled him out of his thoughts. He pushed himself up to his feet and pulled out his knife.
“Who’s there?” he demanded.
“It’s just me again,” said the familiar voice of the witch. She moved in closer and Terrence lowered his knife. “I see you’ve to come and visit me after all.”
Terrence didn’t reply and the witch continued, “I suppose you want me to give it to you right now.”
He scowled at the witch and opened his mouth to say something, but the witch continued.
“You want to be king, right? But your brother got that position. I’m here to give you what you want.”
She reached inside her robes and pulled out a vile.
“The king’s wife, Lady Aldreanna, is with child. Put this in her drink and she will have no children.” She handed the vile to him and Terrence looked at the red liquid that sloshed inside of it. "Getting rid of your brother is something you'll have to figure out on your own."
“Why are you doing this?” he asked the witch. “Why are you helping me?”
“You've heard about the guardians that everyone has, haven't you? Well, you unfortunately had to have a witch as your guardian, and an ugly witch too.” She laughed then said, “Now, go back before they miss you back at the castle. And take a bath when you get there too. You look retched.”
The witch turned around and left Terrence alone. Terrence pocketed the vile and stared after the witch until she disappeared from view. He looked at the vial in his hand again and thought about what it meant. If he were to go through with poisoning Lady Aldreanna, he would be next in line. He didn't think his brother was good at being the king. He couldn't even hunt a deer without relying on Terrence and causing Terrence pain. He did think that he was more qualified at being the king, with his hidden talent in chanelling magic. It would be a benifit to the kingdom.
Terrence put the vial in a pocket on his shirt. He picked up his quiver and bow before walking in the direction of where he thought the city would be, now that he could tell his direction from the rising sun. He had made up his mind and was going to become the king. He was the only chance that Lunithor had to become great.
Comments
Sep. 22, 2008 - hey!
Posted by Rachsters
Yah it is a lot of fun!!
I've played it at home with socks instead of flags. lol
So how are you?
~Eowyn
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