The Warlords

Alright, so I started writing this a couple years back and was posting it on the AoL forum. I still haven't finished it, so I thought it would be good to post it on here, to see who's interested. I'll roll it out one chapter at a time, and I hope you guys will like it. pardon some of the writing, I wasn't that great a couple years ago. Lol

Prologue:

I stand here, looking upon what was once my beautiful, peaceful home. It is now in ruins. I still remember that night of pain… The night I first saw a dead body… The night I thought all hope was lost… The pain of seeing my parents’ charred bodies was too much to bear. I snapped back to the present, to find Ed waving his hand in front of my face.

“Hello? Earth to Yvette please. We have to get going right now. The Charr aren’t going to wait for us to have a tea party!” I picked up my bow, glanced around for approaching Charr, and said to Ed:

“Race you to the nearest Charr. Last one there has to pay for the other’s kits for a week!” Ed, loving his money, had a tight look on his face. “What’s wrong?” I said, “Afraid of a little race?”

He just stared at me. For a moment I thought he had gone blind. Then he turned to me and said, “I think we have better things to worry about than races, Yvette.” I turned around, uncomprehending, when I saw a massive wave of Charr charging to meet us.

“Oh no you don’t,” I said, stringing an arrow to my bow. “I won’t let you get away with this one.”

Chapter 1:

The Charr were still advancing on us. Being the only two in our party, with no one in sight, I knew we were outnumbered. But I wouldn’t go down without a fight. I knelt down and recited a prayer to Melandru, hoping that the prayer would somehow make my arrows go faster. Suddenly a spirit rose from the ashy ground and nodded at me once, and I immediately felt strengthened. Ed felt it too; he turned to me with a look in his eyes – and that could only mean one thing… I had seen that look in his eyes before… during the Searing, when our home was reduced to nothing more than a pile of ashes… I still remember what it was like before, but barely…

I was born Yvette Sanchez in the small village of Ashford near Ascalon. I was an only child, so I grew up knowing the meaning of spoiled. Through all the spoiling though, my parents made sure I didn’t grow to be conceited. I had early talents as a Ranger, earning my first bow at 10 when my father, an experienced Ranger, noticed me trying to tame a wild warthog in the village.

“Just what do you think you’re doing Yvette?” my father said in disbelief.

“Oh, I’m sorry Daddy. I just want to be like you and have my very own bow!” My father laughed and held me close.

“I tell you what, Yvette. You prove to me that you can tame that hog, and I’ll get you your very own bow. How about that?” My father didn’t believe I could do it. He just wanted to keep me out of trouble. I spent day and night trying to figure out how to tame that stupid warthog; I was determined to become a Ranger. Finally, a Ranger named Master Nente taught me the skill needed to tame even the most terrible of beasts; though I didn’t care at the time, all I wanted was to prove to my father I was worthy.

So I did it. He was astonished that I was capable of it at such a young age. He enrolled me in the Ascalon Academy when I turned thirteen, but I had some difficulties. While my classmates and I were sent on minor errands around Ascalon, I would daydream while running; that would most often than not result in to me charging headlong into the nearest tree, therefore, I had perpetual bruises on my head. It also earned me something else: My classmates started calling me “Lady Loony” and “Lala” because I would space out.

That night, I had just turned sixteen a week before. We were sitting around the table, eating dinner when we heard a tremendous boom. We looked up from our food, wondering what it could be – then we heard the screams.

“Ascalon! Ascalon is burning! The Charr are taking over the city. Flee!” We heard people shouting outside. My father yelled at us to stay inside while he went to see what was going on. The next thing I heard was a petrifying shriek.

No, that can’t be him, can it? I thought, and then I rushed out of the house and into my worst nightmare. There were dead bodies everywhere I looked; nothing was recognizable. I looked around in fear, trying not to think about my father being dead. And then I saw; he was lying under a giant crystal – it had impaled him straight through. I collapsed at his feet, the pain too much for me to handle. I cried into the empty air, no one to hear my plea. However, I still had duties. Tears streaming down my face, I turned back to my mother, standing in the doorway of our home. Somehow, the devastating crystals missed our little cottage. She too, was crying uncontrollably. We held each other, lamenting our loss, when time started going in slow motion. I turned my head to the now dirty sky, and saw it: It was the most beautiful and terrifying sight I had ever seen. A crystal, shaped like a star, was falling out of the sky straight onto us. I tried to push my mother out of the way, hoping that I could at least save her from my father’s terrible fate. The sound of impact almost tore my ears off of my skull. I covered my head to protect it from the falling debris, but shards of wood and iron still punctured my body. I screamed out in pain; they don’t prepare you for this in the Academy. Then it was over as soon as it had begun. I looked up, praying that I had moved my mother out of harm’s way. I hadn’t. I had moved her in the direct path of the crystal; I was trying to save her from my father’s fate, but I had just pushed her more towards it. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing – now I was without my parents, my home, almost without my life. For the first time since it all started, I looked down at my body. I looked like some form of spiky plant.

Various debris was stuck different places in my body; I was just starting to feel the pain. I stumbled towards the remains of Ashford Abbey hoping that a few monks had survived. I arrived to find the same thing happened there as it did the village. At least there were a few survivors there where the monks saved them. There was nothing left of my village. I saw Brother Mhenlo and Ed, one of my classmates talking to each other. I tried to yell out to them, but I was so weak, it was barely a whisper. I then attempted to walk to them, but the ground was rushing to meet me. I started fading from consciousness, and the last thing I heard was the screams of the dying obliterating all noises… I’m sorry Mother…Father… I promise to avenge your deaths…I promise…