Okay... Time's up!
I have four entries, and I shall post them here in no particular order for reading and comments in a moment. Remember, the topic for this round is
"A Rumor".
The Rules:
1) Everybody will have 2 weeks to read and leave comments. What did you think about the piece? What did it make you think about (which is different than the first)? How did it affect you? Were you surprised? Emotional? Did something in the story distract from your enjoyment? Something stick out to you or impress you? Etc...
2) Please be polite, but feel free to be frank -- constructive criticism is okay, as is praise, of course. This is a more valuable writers' forum than almost any other out there, and real writers can learn/earn real skills here, but only if they get credible, heartfelt feedback.
3) Feel free to offer a guess as to who the writer is. This was easier back when there were fewer writers, but if you wish you can try. It's okay to identify a favorite piece, but no ranking of the 4 entries is necessary (or probably desired).
4) On June 23 (or so) I will post who wrote each piece (Surprise!) and list some of their AAR works so you can go check them out.
5) Have fun!
This can be as educational for the readers and commenters as for the writers, so go for it!
___________
Author #1
The old man tapped out the ashes from his pipe and watched the last embers of
his camp fire slowly fade into the darkness of the night. He had tracked a
gazelle for most of a morning, bringing it down with a single arrow through the
neck, and now his stomach was full and he had enough meat left over to see him
safe from worries of hunger for several days to come. He would have considered
himself content but for the girl.
She had been climbing Shale Rock. Nobody climbed that treacherous cliff face.
He'd been at the edge of the forest when he spotted her and had hovered in the
shade of the trees watching, waiting for her inevitable fall. Instead after
perhaps an hour he had seen the reason for her climb, three men dressed in
forest garb had tracked her to the base of the cliff. He knew one of them -
even if she survived the climb he wouldn't bet on her survival. Balen was a
hard, ruthless man, skilled in ways of the wilderness; he would never give up a
chase. No, the girl would not escape even if she reached the transient safety
of the cliff top, and there were other, easier ways to traverse the Shale
cliffs. All of which suggested she wasn't from these parts, and yet was being
hunted all the same by Jarl Olaf's men. Before they could spot him he had
melted back into the security of the trees and set off at a brisk pace for the
only route the hunters could now take that didn't involve climbing that cliff.
Reaching for more firewood he cursed himself a fool. What was she to him? A
stranger hunted by a noble lord that's what. Sensible folk did
not get
involved in the affairs of nobility if they knew what was good for them, so why
then did he now track the girl, trying to out-track the hunters? A loose word in
the tavern of the last village he'd passed through and so the reason he was in
these woods in the first place. Just a rumour, nothing more. The villagers had
said the daughter of the Wolf was gathering fighters and the old Jarl had put a
price on her head and on those of any who joined her. They said that she
intended to take up her fathers mantle and free the common folk from oppression.
An age old story and any man who believed it was born a fool. Such dreams died
outside the walls of Reyvadin. He knew. He'd been there hadn't he? So now
Jarl Olaf hunted this so called daughter of the Wolf, his own grand-daughter if
the girls claim was actually true. Now that really would be something to make
the old tyrant choke.
But there was always someone claiming to be the son or daughter of an old hero,
using a name to rally folk to revolt; invariably their fate was that of the
gallows or in this case more likely a witches fire.
He dozed for a while, lost in better times. The snapping of a twig broke his
reverie and he reached for his sword, too late. "Stay your hand old man, or
become a pincushion where you sit" the voice was soft spoken, a female, so at
least it wasn't Balen and his hunters who had caught him unawares. A moment
later the figure of the girl stepped into the clearing, barely illuminated by
the sliver of the moon. She made a show of the bow she carried, an arrow
notched and pointed his way. "Why do you follow me?" she asked sharply, keeping
the arrow tip pointed at his chest. She appeared to be dressed in fraying
buckskins that had seen better days, but the bow, now that was a piece of beauty
nobody could miss.
"I don't know" he answered somewhat truthfully, "or didn't until now".
"Not a very sensible thing for a grey beard to be doing, wandering the forest
alone. One can so easily get hurt, why just imagine if my hand were to slip?"
The girl spoke calmly, but the man wasn't fooled. She was frighted and a sudden
move on his part could easily see her release that arrow whether she intended it
or not.
"I see your point girl, but I can look after myself" he replied gruffly.
"Clearly" she laughed, "why I'm sure you'd be merrily chatting away right now if
it had been those three hunters who'd crept into your camp just now and not I".
Her barb was a little too close to the truth so he chose to ignored it. "That's
a remarkable bow you carry" he said instead, "can I ask how you came upon it?"
"Careful old man" she stepped slowly round the clearing, kicking the embers of
the fire into life, "I'll be asking the questions. You still haven't told me
why you're here".
"They spoke of you in the village" he said at last, "or of someone who fits your
description. Said you planned to raise an army like the man you claim for a
father and overthrow the Jarl. I didn't believe the rumours, but here you are.
Of course I expect you're still a fraud, and likely soon a dead one, but I guess
I was curious all the same. The names Firentis by the way", he watched as the
girl went still, "perhaps you've heard of me."
The girl finally lowered the bow and asked in a voice no longer quite as calm
"If you're Firentis, then tell me of Alayan."
"Well now, if it's tales of heroes you want, Alayan was the right hand man to
the Wolf, and a good friend to me many years ago. Shall I describe him to you?
Shall I tell how he fought like a panther and stood as a shield over the Wolfs
wife and babe when the three kingdoms closed in? How he took them both to
safety after the fall of Reyvadin and has hidden them from the world ever since?
"Why have you stepped forth now Lauren" Firentis shook his head, "this route
leads only to death."
"Alayan is dead" the girl stated flatly, "mother too. They attacked our farm,
the Jarl's men last spring. I was out hunting but came back in time to see them
ride away. Now I hunt them!"
They were both silent for a while. "I didn't know" Firentis finally broke the
silence. "She was a fine woman, but don't throw your own life away now."
"After everything Olaf has done" she hissed, "doesn't he deserve to die?"
"Perhaps. But he's an old old man and death will take him soon enough. Alayan
wanted to give you and your mother a fresh start, away from the old conflicts."
"Father didn't wanted me to forget" she held up the bow, "he gave me this on my
tenth birthday you know. Just rode into our farm one day, said it was my
birthright. I didn't even know it was him until years later.
"Do you know where he is, what happened to him?" she asked.
"I don't" Firentis replied, "to be honest I never even knew he survived
Reyvadin. Are you sure it was him?"
"Alayan said it was, when he got drunk one night and finally admitted who my
birth father was".
"Don't be harsh on Alayan, he loved your mother dearly."
"I'm not. He was the only father I knew and I loved him too, but now he's gone
and my real father is likely dead as well on some unknown battlefield."
"We could search for him you know" Firentis finally said, "I thought him dead
until this evening yet here it turns out he lived. Perhaps he's still out there
somewhere, there are always rumours told of him, until now I always dismissed
them, but who knows. It's better to seek out the living Lauren than concentrate
on the dead."
"I'll think about it" was all the girl said before laying down her pack and
spreading out a blanket. "You keep watch greybeard, I've been trekking half the
night to find your camp!"