Writer's Games Entries

Task 1: "The Warrior"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"We couldn't find the boy, Ser Loire." One of the knights told him. Ser Loire, the leading knight of the three, sighed deeply to himself in disappointment. "Well, he can't have just disappeared. He's just a boy." He answered before he looked over at his three soon-to-be-victims. "Well, ladies, seems like it's just going to be the three of you, with the three of us. Not to worry, we'll be sending you to be with your loved ones, Rhodas and Percival very soon." Ser Loire said with a sadistic tone in his voice. "Now, where is little Aerio?"

The woman shook her head. "I don't know." She lied. She knew exactly where he was. She had seen him underneath the stacks of flour just by the door. Neither she nor the twins mentioned him however. She knew that they were going to die whether they told the knights what they wanted to know or not. If she couldn't protect her two girls, she was at least going to try and keep Aerio alive. "You're lying to us. You do know where he is. You just don't want to tell me." Ser Loire answered with his back turned to them as he grabbed one of his sharper knives before turning around towards them.

"That's okay. We're going to burn down this house anyway." Ser Loire said with a darker tone in his voice before he grabbed one of the girls. "Before we do that however, we're just going to have a little bit of fun with you three. Lads, I'm sure you have needs to satisfy. Enjoy the woman..." He said with a wicked grin on his face as the girl in front of him screamed, while the two knights grabbed the mother. "Not to worry, it'll only take me a short moment on a good day. You'll probably die before I get to the juicy parts." He said.

He put the knife right next to the girl's cheek. "I'm sure your brother is watching us right now from wherever he's hiding. Why don't you help me put on a good show?" He whispered into the girl's ear before he thrust the knife into her skin and she screamed louder and louder as the knife went on. With screams of his sisters, and the moaning of his mother echoing through the house, Aerio remained hidden behind those stacks of flour, with an arrow in his hand...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In his dreams, he had only heard the screams. He hadn't actually seen what caused them until now. The scream and then the sudden silence that followed, replayed itself inside Aerio's head as he looked at the knight in front of him. Ser Loire. Aerio had no recollection of who this man was, but Aerio managed to draw the conclusion that Ser Loire had something to do with the screams that Aerio had been hearing in his sleep for years. Aerio knew he wouldn't just dream of the screams, he would see the images too. Who the girls and that woman were to him, was still a mystery to him. He didn't catch what the Ser Loire whispered into the girl's ear before she started screaming.

He didn't have time to dwell long on it before Ser Loire swung his sword at Aerio. Aerio managed to block just in time. "I'll slice you in more than just a couple of pieces the next time you don't pay attention." Ser Loire commented. Aerio tricked with sword in his hand, swinging it from left to right in front of himself before he went for a straight attack on the knight. Ser Loire responded with an easy blockage before he went for a low sword-attack. Aerio easily flipped above the blade and Ser Loire. Ser Loire had to turn all the way, which immediately gave him a disadvantage when Aerio immediately attacked him.

Ser Loire managed to block Aerio's attempt. Blocking Aerio's attacks only got easier. Aerio's problem was that Ser Loire was just as good of a swordsman as he appeared to be a torturer. Aerio was an assassin, not a soldier or a knight. Aerio had always done his best work from the shadows, sneaking up on his victims and doing the job as quickly as possible. Either that or from the distance with an arrow. That sort of attack was impossible to do in broad daylight against a swordsman more skilled at fighting by sword than Aerio.

As the fight moved on, Aerio's attacks became more and more predictable. Ser Loire was gaining momentum with his attacks on Aerio. Aerio was forced backwards, risking stumbling on the blood-soaked bodies of knights that had fallen over the last couple of minutes. What had once been the majestic green meadow truly resembled a battlefield that had taken many great warriors' lives. Aerio's short moment of reflection of that was all it took for Ser Loire to gain the advantage by making a cut on Aerio's hand.

Aerio immediately held to his hand, which immediately gave him a hard time holding on to the sword. He had to come up with something that would end this fight. His sword-hand was not going to be any good for much longer and he refused to accept defeat in the first realm. Aerio knew he could master this realm. He knew that he could prove himself to be worthy in front of The Warrior. He had just had to figure out how.

Aerio looked at his left sleeve and saw the handle of his knife. In that moment, he figured out how to make his wounded hand an advantage instead of his doom. Aerio went on the attack, not expecting to gain much momentum in terms of moving forward. Ser Loire blocked a few times before he managed to knock the sword out of Aerio's hands. As that happened, Aerio rotated himself alongside Ser Loire's blade in order to be too close for Ser Loire to be able to harm Aerio with it. As Aerio did that, he grabbed the knife out of his sleeve, and plunged it into Ser Loire's back several times.

Ser Loire dropped his sword. His entire body was swaying from one side to the other as he turned around to face Aerio. It was almost if he, in that moment, recognized the pattern of those stabs. He somehow recognized that movement and kept his eyes on Aerio for a moment, realizing that the man in front of him was the boy he never found when he went to kill the rest of House Peregrinus. "Well, what do you know? Aerio Per-..." Ser Loire barely managed to let out before he collapsed, dead.