Sailstorm

[Toxis]

Some people were asking about my book I was writing. It's about a young girl of sixteen, Michelle Sailstorm, who's trying to figure out who her father was and why he was a traitor. Because he was a traitor, Michelle has been branded a traitor and is currently running from the Knights of Pradisia. Hope you like it.

Michelle crossed the border. The chill drove straight to her backbone, slowing her down for just a moment. She felt the message cross into her mind. Turn back, it seemed to say, or perish. She ignored it as she rushed forward. Her only hope now was the woods she so feared as a child. They seemed insignificant to the horror behind her. She ran, crashing into trees and through bushes, pushing herself on even though she felt like dropping from exhaustion.

The knights on horseback dove through the borderline, feeling the cold chill. At first their horses reeled back unwilling to go any further, but soon were forced to submission by their riders. They continued on after a brief glance at one another. They entered the woods in chase, several knights on foot following behind.

One of Pradisia's knights was running a little behind his companions, and along with him a small mob of guards from Haultin. The guards suddenly stopped in their tracks as they came to the edge of Shiroka's forest. The knight, hearing the men stop behind him, skidded to a stop and turned to them.

"What are you doing?" he shouted at them.

One pointed beyond him, "That's Shiroka's woods. None that enter have ever returned."

"Bah!" he scoffed. "That's only legend. The witch doesn't exist."

The man merely shook his head and folded his arms. The knight grumbled and turned to follow his regiment. He felt the cold chill and the intense feeling to turn around but ignored it just as his companions had. The man wondered what was worse: the legend or going back and having to face Vhelarius and the wizard. He ran faster.

Up ahead, Michelle pounded her feet against the ground. Her bare feet, raw from being exposed to the harsh woods, drove a brand new pain through her. The sound of a horse came close and she felt something hard slam into her back. She flew through the air and into the ground, sliding a few feet from the momentum. She spit out dirt as she tried to raise her head. They had surrounded her.

They sat on their horses in a circle staring down at her. The footmen behind coming up quickly rang in her ears. ‘The cymbal players,’ she thought again and laughed grimly to herself. Soon everything was silent except for the impatient pawing of the horse hooves and heavy breathing of those that had run. Michelle tried to raise her head to look at her enemy. Things were a bit fuzzy, but she could see them quite clearly in the bright torchlight.

One of the knights held a ball and chain in one hand. ‘That must have been what hit me,’ she thought as she crawled to stand on her knees. He put the weapon away and raised his visor.

"You are a traitor and a witch. I am placing you under arrest under the orders of Vhelarius, Lord of Pradisia," he stated.

After dropping back down to one hand, she spoke through heavy panting, "I am not a traitor. And I am not a witch."

The knight dismounted and started walking towards her. Clang clang, went his steady footfalls. While he made his way, something under the leaves on the ground moved as if wanting to jut through. She first thought it was a snake. A scream came from behind her, taking her thoughts away from the movement. The clanging from the knight in front of her stopped. She didn't feel like she had the strength to turn around so only looked ahead to see the expression of horror on the man standing before her. What she saw next chilled her to the bone.

From under the knight, the ground burst open like a beetle digging its way from under a pile of sand. A figure stood in its place, back turned to Michelle. What appeared in simple armor, worn away by centuries of time, was once a man but now nothing but bones. The skeleton gripped a long rusted sword with its right hand and a makeshift wooden shield in the other. The knight stumbled and fell onto his back, screaming with the utmost terror-filled screech she had ever heard.

Cries joined in from the others as skeleton after skeleton rose from the dirt, each holding a short sword in its right hand ready to slash away. The death grins from them stared at their opponents with dull red eyes glowing from their skulls. Swords were drawn. They clashed together in battle.

She heard the fight going on all around her and the screams of the knights as they died on the tips of the swords. They fought valiantly but were quite outnumbered. Michelle saw one knight take three of the undead down before he was overtaken by four more. The knight on the ground in front of her fought for quite some time against his foe but alas lost in the end being in a vulnerable position. The cries sounded but her attention was drawn to the movement that had shifted in front of her before the undead army had shown themselves. The spot of leaves moved once again.

Rising slowly from the ground was another of the warriors but this one was different. It had well-dressed armor, a bit ancient but well-cared for. His sword was sheathed and donned no shield. A long red cape flowed in the chilly wind. It looked down at her with blazing red eyes, reminding her of the torches the knights had held. The skeletal knight reached down with his claws. She was frozen in her place as the hands gripped around her arms. Cold, cold claws, Michelle had thought.

She opened her mouth to scream but found she could not. After everything that had happened, she found she could take no more. Michelle blacked out into sweet darkness with the cries of the knights dying in her ears.

[banedon]

Looks pretty damn good so far Brad. I'll definately want to get ahold of the finished book.