The Magic Stone Final draft PDF

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Summary

The final draft of the final assignment story, compare this one to the first draft to see the various differences made after re reading it, and after the class gave their suggestions of how to improve it. ...

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Lakota Riddlesperger

About 3, 600 words

5200 Lewis Road, Apt 116 Sandston, VA 23150 (434)-710-7732 [email protected]

The Magic Stone By Lakota Cloud

Two weeks after leaving the castle at Glenmoot Hill, my squad and I finally saw the mouth of a cave. We had been sent by the king to investigate and acquire a magical item said to give anyone who touched it immense power. The king heard rumors and tales about the item and sent us to find out if this item was real, and if so, to get the item and bring it back to the castle to keep it safe. If an item like that were real, it could be a danger to the safety of the kingdom if it fell into the wrong hands. There were eleven of us in all. All of us were hand-picked by the king, and four including myself were king’s guard. The rest were knights and one lieutenant. Many of us had worked together before, so we weren’t strangers to each other, and a few of the men had been under my command on nearly every mission I had led.

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“Alright men,” I started. “we don’t know what we’ll find in here, but keep your guard up, stick together, and keep your eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. If any of you see anything suspicious, let the others know. I know it’s been a long ride. Let’s get in there, get this thing, and get out!” “Sir!” They acknowledged in harmonious symphony. With that said, we got off our horses and tied them down, then began to close the remaining distance between us and the cave. There was a rumor that the “magic stone” as the locals had gone to calling it, was cursed. They claimed that the item did grant powers, but that it also changed the person who touches it somehow. I wasn’t sure what to believe, and did not really feel like thinking too hard on it. Magic items were beyond my knowledge, and I intended to keep it that way. I had no real use of magical powers anyway. My sword skills, and leadership abilities are unmatched, which is how I became the knight leader of the king’s guard. I just hoped that the men in my squad were of the same integrity. The last thing we needed was us turning on each other. I don’t believe any of my men would turn on us, and neither did the king. The king would not have chosen them for such a delicate mission if he did not trust them fully. But power does change a man. When the option for power presents itself, that’s when you see a true man’s character. We arrived at the cave, peering in, we couldn’t see anything. It was much too dark. “Lieutenant Masiv, get some torches ready.” I said. Lieutenant Masiv was second in command to myself, and one of my most trusted squad mates. He had been on every other mission under my command, and proved himself loyal and trustworthy over the years. Masiv had dark black hair, brown eyes, and a tan complexion. He

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was a bit shorter than the rest of us, around 5’7 I’d wager, but anyone who was fooled by his height would soon find out that he more than made up for it with his skills in combat. “Yes sir.” As Masiv was getting the torches ready, Siliks spoke up. “Captain Adello sir, what do you think we will find in there?” Captain Adello he said, I hadn’t been called by my full title in quite some time. Normally I just prefer “Sir”, or “Captain” but since Siliks and I have never worked together, he wouldn’t have known. I turned to Siliks, and decided to reply using Siliks full title. “Not sure Cameron Siliks, Knight of Ettin, but I’m guessing there won’t be anything good.” Siliks was one of the knights accompanying our squad. While I had heard many good things about him, I had never worked with him before. He had the least experience of all of us, but I was hoping that did not mean that he would be any less helpful to the mission. He had long blonde hair, green eyes, a pale complexion, and was a bit slimmer than most of us. He had an average height for our squad, around 5’11, and he seemed to be a little nervous. After Masiv got the torches lit and ready, we entered the cave. Right away we realized we wouldn’t be needing those torches. One step back and the cave looked to be in complete darkness, but the next step you took had the cave illuminated in a brilliant white blue light, seeming to come from nowhere. The air felt still and warm, and there was an energy emanating from it. “I don’t like this, something’s off.” Roberts said, as he extinguished his torch. Roberts was one of the four kings guard in our squad. I had served with all of them in the daily duties of guarding the king, but I had only been on one or two missions outside of the castle

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with any of them. Roberts was a brute of a man, standing tall at nearly 6’4, and with muscles to match. He had light brown hair, brown eyes, and a caramel complexion. He was clearly the strongest of our group. He could probably withstand more attacks before going down too. “That’s why the captain said to stay vigilant” Siliks mocked, as he gave Roberts a push. As the rest of the squad came into the cave, they began to see what everyone else had already seen, and in sequence, extinguished their torches as well. “Stay close.” I commanded as I started forward. The others fell in close behind. Everyone was on their toes either resting their palms on sheathed swords, or equipping their sword in their hands. Everyone seemed ready for anything. We made our way down a path that looked a little more promising than the others, this path was a little smoother, indicating that it had been travelled on more than the other paths in the cave. We made our way slowly, and quietly. The cave was undoubtedly rigged with some traps for unwanted travelers. Everyone remained quiet until a large gust of wind came from behind, knocking a few of the knights into each other. Shouts and accusations rang out. “Hey watch it!” “What are you doing” “Get off of me” As the squad bickered and replied with accusations of their own, or justifications and excuses as to why that happened, I tried to get their attention for what was coming next. I could see a pressure plate that we would need to step over to avoid a trap. “Soldiers!” But my voice went unnoticed as they continued to bicker. “Soldiers!” I tried louder, but again nothing. “Watch out for...”

4

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But it was too late, some of the squad noticed and got out of the way, but two of the knights in the back stepped on the trigger. A slow grinding noise could be heard, and the plate began to sink from the weight of the knight. Then all at once it stopped as it touched the ground, and there was a loud bang as the plate came to the floor. Then out of nowhere a burst of wind spread out from both sides of the plate, one going to our rear, the other going to our front and beyond. Silence followed as everyone held their breath. A few moments passed and all was still quiet, until somebody spoke up. “Really great job you two, this is why the king should have only sent us” Said Betrin of the king’s guard. Betrin and I had worked together on many occasions, mostly at the castle, but he had also accompanied me a few times out on the field. Betrin was an average height, and not too muscular, but not too skinny either. He had light brown hair like Roberts, brown eyes, and a dark complexion. He was always on guard, looking out for anything suspicious. “Hey, that wouldn’t have happened if you all would have realized that gust of wind is what pushed us into you in the first place.” One of the knights replied. “Oh really? Because I felt that wind too, but I didn’t move an inch. You knights need to learn how to keep your stance.” Handson of the king’s guard replied. Handson had also worked with me at the castle, this would be our first time out on the field together though. Handson was a tall, and skinny man. He had dark brown hair, a rather pale complexion, green eyes. He may have not been the strongest, but he made up for it with his keen sense of awareness. He spotted things that others didn’t see until they paid more attention, or got closer to whatever it was. That got him out of danger more than a few times I had heard, and was also the reason he was our scout in the tower back home.

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“Well of course you would, all you king’s guard ever do is stand in one place while us knights go out and do the real work.” One of the knights said back. At that moment, I heard a noise in the distance and knew something was not right. “Shh.” But they continued to argue of course. “Alright you soldiers, SHUT THE HELL UP” I screamed. With that they finally stopped their stupid bickering as the noise grew louder. Some kind of high screech was all that could be heard, and as seconds passed, the screech grew louder. The noise became unbearable as many of us had to close our ears. Some of the men’s ears began to bleed as the noise grew louder still. When we all felt as though we couldn’t take anymore, the source of the screech was finally revealed. A swarm of creatures that looked like bats, came out of the tunnel in front of us. All screeching at the top of their lungs. Their screech was so loud that we could not even get our weapons ready without going deaf from the unendurable noise. As we stood there, clasping our hands to our ears as tightly as we were able, all we could do is wait to see what the creatures would do next. Some of the creatures flew down in swarms toward a few of the men, I couldn’t figure out what was going on. All I saw was each of them, holding their ears, twisting back and forth trying to swat the creatures with their elbows as the things flew in circles around them. For some reason after a few moments the creatures flew back up into the rest of the swarm, and just as they had come, they left, flying overhead and leaving out behind us. As the sound of screeching softened, we uncovered our ears. I looked around, and to my relief none of the men looked injured. “What was that all about?” One of the knights asked.

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“It was to scare off any trespassers that made it this far, some might hear the scream and run as they think it might be something dangerous. Other’s would likely run while those things flew at them.” With that, I added in dry humor, “Most people aren’t as foolish as us to stay when they hear screams like that.” As I turned to my men I added, “Now listen up all of you! That was only a scare tactic sure, but that could have been the real thing. However, none of you were prepared because of your arguing. You are all acting completely unprofessional and I want no more of this, do you understand?” “Yes sir!” They all replied. After a moment, Roberts spoke up, “Sorry sir, I am usually much more professional than this, there is something about this cave that is making feel…different…I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel like part of the change is because the atmosphere. It won’t happen again sir!” As I nodded approval, I thought about how Roberts was right, there was something strange in the atmosphere. We would just need to be more cautious as we got closer to the stone. We continued on into the tunnel where those bat-like creatures came from. This was surely the way to the artifact as the air continued to emanate more energy. We walked uneventfully for several minutes when we reached a turn in the tunnel. Cautiously we rounded the corner to find an open room. Like the others, this room was illuminated by a bright white blue light. But this room was different, the air was much warmer than the rest of the cave, power emanated immensely throughout the air, and there was a soft humming sound that could be heard in the air as well. We made our way further into the room. “Look!” Handson exclaimed.

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We looked to where he was pointing. Even though the air felt warm there was snow in the room. One of the knights picked some up in their hand. “It’s warm” they said as the snow melted away. As the drops of water fell from their hand, they burst in mid-air like little blasts of cannon fire. As the water droplets burst, they transformed back into snowflakes! They sparkled with a glimmering light as they fell back to the floor to become lost in the pile of snow again. The rest of the room was pretty plain, aside from some tiny crystals hanging from the ceiling. They glistened with the reflection of white blue light, looking like tiny stars in the sky. It was almost too beautiful as I sat there in the tranquility of the room. My peace was disturbed by an outburst by Lieutenant Masiv. “Captain over there!” he called. As I looked to the point he motioned towards, I saw what he was speaking of. The Magic Stone, although it looked much more like a white crystal with blue outlines, sat on a pillar at the end of the room. A large circular light glowed around the stone. As we approached it, the humming grew louder, and the air seemed to shake. I turned to my men. “Be careful everyone, we do not know what is going to happen once we remove this stone from the pillar. I am going to grab it, and put it in the special bag we designed. Four of you, Roberts, Siliks, Creighton, and Hemsworth, guard our rear. The rest of you, on me. If anything comes from the pillar or from behind, I want everyone to guard the stone at all costs. Is that clear?” “Yes Sir!” They all shouted.

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As everyone got into position, I closed in on the stone, I could feel the air tremble around me, the stone seemed to call to me. It was as if it wanted me to grab it. I unwrapped the bag that was designed for magical items and got it ready. “Everyone ready?” “Ready!” Came the unanimous response. At once I put the bag over the stone, and tried to lift the stone off the pillar. But as I touched the stone, even through the bag, I could feel the powers, and knowledge seep into my body. In an instant, I knew how magic worked, I knew that I could control powers I never thought possible, I knew that I would be able to command magic, and that I would never forget. It was glorious! Amazing! I never knew I would care so deeply about something like this. The powers were there all along, I just needed to unlock them, and somehow by touching this stone I unleashed the knowledge my mind had locked away. Like a key to locked door, the stone had opened my mind to knowledge of magic. As I sat there in awe of all my newfound knowledge, I felt a strike from behind my head. It pierced my skull as I began to fall forward. My men struck me with an arrow! Those betraying bastards! Everything began to go dark, the sounds of life began to fade, and the feeling of the stone began to disappear. I had to do something! This couldn’t be the end. With my new powers, I began to heal myself. I could feel my head heal, and as I focused, I could feel the arrow begin to back out of my skull. Just as everything was becoming fully black, I felt the arrow pull out of my head, and my wound heal itself. I shot up gasping, as life came back into my lungs. In a moment, the total blackness that was about to overtake me, became the familiar scene of the cave with my men standing around me. They all had concerned looks on their faces.

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“Are you okay?” Lieutenant Masiv asked as he reached his hand to mine, and began to pull me up. “Get off of me you traitors!” I shouted as I shoved his hand away from me and backed up. I instinctively put myself in a defensive stance. Looking rapidly from each of their traitorous faces. They could feel the call of the stone too, there was no doubt. That was why they attempted to murder me to seize the stone for themselves. “Sir what are you talking about? Are you alright? You fell after touching the stone.” “Do you think I’m an idiot? I felt the arrow in my skull you bastards!” They all looked at each other quizzically. So, they were all in on it then? Well, then that makes them all traitors. They wouldn’t be able to trick me. Roberts came near me with his hand out towards me in a “hold” gesture. “Get back!” I screamed as I unsheathed my sword and pointed it towards Roberts. With years of training, Roberts almost instinctively unsheathed his own sword, and with one quick motion, swatted mine to the side. Taking me off guard, I felt my sword slip out of my grasp as it flew to the left. I had been training for years too, however, and in my peripheral vision I saw the rest of the squad unsheathe their weapons as well. They were going to attack me again! Well this time I was ready. With my new powers, I raised my hands to the squad, palms pointed out towards them, and unleashed a blinding green light. In an instant, the light struck my men, and as it wrapped around their bodies, I could see the pain in their eyes. Each struggled to hold onto their weapons, eventually letting them go as the pain engulfed them. Then in another instant they were all on the ground, lifeless. It was a shame that it had to come to this, but I couldn’t let the power of this stone fall into these traitor’s hands.

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I turned around, grabbed the stone, and lifted. This time it was raised with ease. If I hurried back to the king, I could have the item secured safely in a few weeks. As I held the item in my hands I could sense that there was more knowledge left to uncover, more secrets buried in the stone. Maybe bringing it back to the kind right away wasn’t the best idea. Just look at what had happened to my squad as they tried to steal the stone, and none of them had even touched it. If that could happen just from being around the stone, then imagine what could happen if the king were to touch it, or someone in his court. No, bringing it back wasn’t a good idea, not until I studied it a bit more. Once I learned a little bit more about it, then I could bring it back and ensure that it was properly handled. It would be no more than a few months and I would have it back to the king. I sat there, thinking about it awhile longer. Perhaps the stone had something very powerful and secret hidden deep inside its vaults? What would I be able to do then, if someone were to unlock that secret and use it against the kingdom? Perhaps the best way to ensure the safety of the kingdom would be to learn all of its secrets, and once all of its secrets were learned, then I could return it to the king and protect the kingdom from anything that may happen as a cause of this stone. Yes, that is what I will do, I will learn all of the secrets of this stone and then return it to the kingdom. There is no telling how long it will take to uncover all of these things, but I won’t let my kingdom be put in harm’s way because I was too careless with an item of this immense power. It will be difficult to resist the call of the stone for that long of a time, but I think I will be able to manage. I can’t fall prey to it like those of my squad, I must keep the king and kingdom safe. That is my vow as a king’s guard.

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MAGIC STONE ORIGINAL PIECE By Lakota Cloud

Two weeks after leaving the castle at Glenmoot Hill, my squad and I finally saw the mouth of a cave. We had been sent by the king to investigate and acquire a magical item said to give anyone who touched it immense power. The king heard rumors and tales about the item and sent us to find out if this item was real, and if so, to get the item and bring it back to the castle to keep it safe. If an item like that were real, it could be a danger to the safety of the kingdom if it fell into the wrong hands. There were 11 of us in all. All hand-picked by the king himself. 4 including myself were king’s guard, the rest were knights and a lieutenant. Many of us had worked together before, so we weren’t strangers to each other, and a few of the men had been under my comm...