Contest Entries

The Pointless War

"I see Egnar has brought you here safely. Come with me," the man said.

As quickly as he came he vanished back into the tower. Yerishia had to run a little to catch up to him. She followed him down a series of twisting stairs to a room that looked as comfortable as her own.

"You will stay here. You can explore the tower if you like though there isn't much to see. But if you step one foot outside of the tower without my permission, it will be considered as you trying to escape and I'll be forced to lock you in this room. Understood."

Yerishia just nodded her head. As far as kidnapping scenarios went, she was sure this was far better than most. Once the old man left, she did the first thing that came to mind. No, it was not to plot the best method of escape. Nor was it to beg, plead or bribe her kidnapper to release her. She just plopped herself onto the bed and fell fast asleep.

~•~•~

She woke up in the afternoon. There was a plate of food on her bedside table which she eagerly devoured.

She began exploring the room and found a few sets of clothing in the cupboard and a hairbrush in the dresser's drawer. It had been years since she had gotten done by herself but she believed that she did an okay job.

Around an hour later she felt like she would die of boredom. One could only look at the view for so long before becoming bored. She got up and decided to try to look for the old man. Maybe she could find out why he kidnapped her.

She began climbing up the stairs, stopping at each floor to look around. Every room was empty. When she arrived at what she assumed was the second last floor, she found the door locked. She knocked on it and moments later the old man opened it.

"What do you want?" he asked, irritation dripping off every word.

"I'm bored. Do you have any books I could read?"

Yerishia knew she might be pushing her luck but as angry as the old man had seemed, he had yet to do anything that made him a bad person in her mind, minus the fact that he kidnapped her. She was starting to believe that he had a valid reason for all of this.

"All of my books are off limits. Ask Egnar to play with you if you're bored."

Yerishia barely heard his response. Her mind was preoccupied with ways to ask about why she was kidnapped. She thought for a few moments but after seeing the old man get more and more irritated she ended up blurting out "Mister, why did you kidnap me?".

She felt like hitting herself. Of all the ways to ask why had she chosen this one. Still she looked at the old man anticipatingly.

"No reason that concerns you."

Now she was upset. Of course it concerned her if she was the one kidnapped.

"If you tell me, I'll stop bothering you."

"I could just lock this door and you would have no way to bother me."

Fuming, Yerishia said the only thing that came to mind.

"Maybe the dragon is right. You are just a bitter old man."

"No, I am a wizard."

Now that shocked her. Never in her life did she think she would meet a wizard. Humans who wielded magic had long since disappeared and as angry as Yerishia was, her curiosity got the better of her.

Before the magician could stop her she barged past him into the room. She slowly spun around, trying to take everything in. Just knowing that this was a magician's lair made it all the more magical. Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard the magician telling her to go out but she was too busy studying the room. Amongst the piles of paper stood a picture frame with a painting of the magician and a little girl. There were various childish artworks pinned to walls. Each picture had a note stuck to it.

"Avelin, 6 years old, Winter," she read. Before she could read the next one she felt her feet lift from under her and found herself being levitated out of the door.

"You have a daughter. Where is she?" she couldn't help but say.

The magician paused. The glow from the top of his walki- staff, faded as he placed Yerishia down and sighed.

"She was a lot like you. Impulsive and never filtered her words. She would've been around your age too if the war hadn't killed her." His words were solemn and Yerishia began to understand why he always seemed so miserable.

"If kidnapping me was your plan to get my father to stop the war, it won't work. But I might know a way."

"Why would you help me?"

"I don't like this war any more than you do. And my plan involves you teaching me magic so it's a win-win."

Yerishia smiled and the old magician couldn't help but smile a bit too. Even Egnar, sensing his master's happiness, smiled as Yerishia began divulging her plan to finally stop the pointless war.

~•~•~

Word Count: 1498

For YASciFantasy 's YASciFantasy: Contests and Challenges - The Dragon