A New Story (by my kid this time...) "The Forgotten Scribe"....

This is a link to my older son's blog page he's been working on. He is the one who helped me write the first (full length) story that I posted here a short while back. I'm glad he's writing again, he is really good at it. (now if I could find the time to get back to writing again).

http://theforgottenscribe.blogspot.com/

and the text of his story (so far...)
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The Beginning

He awoke, some little time just before dawn, he could hear the finches singing outside the window of that old drafty castle he had known as his home for so many years. That simple time, just before consciousness, where the world was a groggy, beautiful place, when there were no worries, only that vague waking up. As he slowly regained his consciousness he would remember, he had dreamed, he could not remember it clearly, only feelings associated with it. When Shakespeare wrote of dreams he had said “I talk of dreams, which are the children of an idle brain. Begot of nothing but vain fantasy” Yet, he was having those same strange dreams, every night, for months now. Were they merely “Vain fantasy” or were they some portent of the future to come. He only felt the fear of them, that strange unimaginable fear, and then after, the mixed feelings, power, nigh unstoppable, and regret. He slowly crawled out of bed, beginning his morning exercise, even at such a young age as twenty-two he had already traveled the world over, studied with countless masters from as far off places as the jungles of Brazil, as of yet, undiscovered by the “modern world” to even closer across Asia to Japan. So he stretched, and meditated, that intricate moving meditation the Chinese called Qi-Gong. He collected his thoughts for the day, his father was going to be holding court today, and he wished to sit near him, watching, as that wise old man dispensed his wisdom and justice. He slowly pulled on his riding pants, and his shirt, he moved slowly through the house to the stable. He heard it before he got there, muffled voices, it was far too early for anyone to be there, he was always the first awake in the castle. He very slowly moved through the courtyard to the stable doors, he slipped himself in through the crack in the door silently. Crouching behind shelves filled with tack and saddles he listened to the voices, coming from near the horse stalls, they were arguing.

“Come on! We gotta get them and get outta here before anyone in the house wakes up” said the first voice in a low hissing whisper.

Then the second voice spoke “Hush your mouth Gabriel, we haven't found the right one yet”

He meandered out from his hiding spot and approached them cautiously, he wasn't wearing a weapon, he rarely did, only for those special ceremonial gatherings that required it of him. He walked up seeing the source of the arguing, a pair of men in leather dyed black as tar, both wore a short bladed gladius, that wasp pointed short sword favored by the famed roman infantry. The two men started when Aries stepped into view, it was as if he had appeared before their eyes he moved so silently, so gracefully. It was then that Aries spoke, that light melodious voice everyone so loved about him, when he spoke, it always seemed as if he were singing some long forgotten tune.

“Just what do you think you are two are doing!”

They didn't speak, they unsheathed their swords, they were strangely dark, as if they had blackened them with soot from a fire. They began to move towards him, fanning out to come at him from both sides their steps practiced, thought out. He stood there, unmoved, watching them with eyes that shone like blue ice. It was said among the people in the surrounding villages, that there was not a warrior or knight in the world, who matched Aries' speed and agility. Then, in unison they struck, one swinging his sword high with intent to bring it crashing down through Aries' collarbone severing the muscles and sinew, but he sidestepped twisting lightly and sending the assailant past him into one of the large stalls that held his families percherons, those large heavy war horses favored by heavy cavalry. The others blade stabbed low into his thigh, he felt the warm flow of blood gushing out down his pant leg and staining the rushes that covered the floor of the stables. He was strong, much stronger than most, but even this cut brought him to his knees, he lay there, doubled over in pain as he heard harsh laughter from the one he had thrown.

“Even the strongest men, succumb to a blade that has been coated with deadly nightshade”

The room began to spin in ellipses, as he passed out, the two men moved towards him and pulled some tack rope from the shelf binding his hands and feet securely before they moved to the horses they had been looking for, pulling saddling two others they looped a lead rope around the thirds neck, tying Aries over the bare back of him, the lead the horses out through the rear entrance into the open field before mounting. Kicking the steeds into a gallop they fled, what had begun as a mere theft, had quickly turned into kidnapping.

When he awoke this time, it was an entirely different feeling, there were no groggy before full consciousness thoughts. It was like being forced awake by having water thrown on you, or being stabbed by thousands of tiny knives all over your body. Total consciousness in mere seconds. He didn't move, he knew he wasn't bound, knew he was half leaned up against some sort of coarse wood, a tree perhaps, or unfinished posts of a fence. There was this disturbing, squelching sound, followed by a ear shattering scream of pain, he could tell, even through the scream he could tell that it was one of the men who had attacked him, poisoned him with those detestable blades. Slowly opening his eyes, only peeking with them half shut he saw it, a hulking creature, covered in fur, soaked in blood from what had most certainly been a battle with the two men. The horses were gone, nowhere to be found, a camp had obviously been made here for the night. The low fire burned warping and twisting the already grotesque creature as it fed. Then as if it had noticed him for the first time, the creature turned, blood streaming from its massive jaws. It moved closer to him, an expression on its face, but how could that be? Creatures had little capacity for human thought, if any, yet this creature it seemed as if it were smirking at him as it bent down and spoke, it came out as a sort of growl formed into words.

“You, you will be the one that I choose” it said nothing else to him as it bent down moving ever closer to him. Aries had seen this before, it was his dream, that same dream that had been haunting him for weeks upon weeks, always the same. That fear, the unrelenting, ominous fear overwhelmed him, he was going to die, he knew he was. Then it struck its massive maw tearing into the flesh on his shoulder, rending the arteries and veins. For the second time in as many days he felt the blood, his own blood, pouring over his body. His life force ebbing out of him, the fear overtook him, he couldn't just sit here as this horrid monster destroyed him. He lashed out with his feet bringing swift kicks repeatedly up towards the creatures chest. The beings only response was to laugh at him, that outrage of this thing mocking him incited him to even greater struggle. He struck with his elbows then whipping them hard at into the beasts mouth, forcing it to free his body from its teeth and move back. It howled, a dark mournful, yet victorious cry. Before it fled into the woods, leaving him there, hurt, broken, bleeding, abandoning him to his death.

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Meri