New Fantasy writing/modelling comp

Sleep did not come easily the night we spent in the Kilmir cottage. The persistent hum of the mystical energy surrounding the village kept me from closing my eyes. The others stirred at first light.

Ellawyn turned her head to me and frowned.“Have ye not slept at all, Safiya?” She asked.

“I cannot, Ellawyn. Tis’ this magic energy pounding inside my head,” I replied. "Pray tell where did Master Markus go?"

“Master Markus wakened me early this morn to give me the pendant to examine. Then vanished through the door muttering about exploring the woodland for those figures he spied in the forest yesterday.” Ellawyn sat on what looked like a glory box.

“Aye,” Seth chimed in, “Let me see the pendant again. You see these runes on the casing they match a prophecy scribed here in these books.” He gave them both a tome and pointed out to Ellawyn and I, the reference to the pendant. “You see it refers to the pendant as a symbol of the ‘Cults of the Dragon Worshippers’. Every century when three moons in the night sky can be seen from this realm at the same time, there is a harvest where innocents are taken down a cave to a subterranean shrine and forced to undergo an horrific transformation, becoming slaves to Belashyra, the Lord of the Providence Eye. The only thing I cannot seem to discover is when this will come to pass.”

“So…the darkness must mean the abyss or shrine where it takes place in the underworld of Mhybor,” Ellawyn added. “I read something about that in that tome you gave me, Master Wizard.”

Seth and Ellawyn’s voices faded as I began chanting an incantation using the ‘Comprehend Language’ spell to see if the dialect presented itself to me. I touched the book and coloured lights danced within its pages.

My concentration was disrupted when shouting and yelling could be heard outside the cottage door. “By the Sea and Stars! What be that blather outside?”

I walked outside and witnessed Teagan holding an old orc by the scruff of his neck, legs thrashing about in the air like a fish out of water. “Teagan, by my Troth! I bid ye explain, what are ye doing?”

“This orc be threatening, Lady Katia! I will slit his throat if he place one hand on any of ye.” With that Teagan shoved the old orc down the path and once he found his feet, the old orc ran like a hunted deer.

“Nay, Mistress Safiya," Katia said. "The Orc be warning us of the perils ahead. I tried to tell Master Teagan, but tis’ hard to reason when his rage controls him so.”

“Much wind pours from your mouth, Master Barbarian, but ye heart is that of a lion and you are a mighty warrior. I be proud to call you friend. ”

Teagan gave a half-smile and turned to move to a large stone to sit in silent thought.

"...and Master Barbarian,” I continued. “The fire balls you spied in the darkness, be someone, mayhap another magic user that be keeping the magical energy around the village from failing. They be re-conjuring the spell that keeps the magic active. I shall find a way to undo this. Do not fear for I shall break through this barrier."

Teagan gave a nod and continued to the stone.

“So pray tell, what did the old orc say, Mistress Katia?”

“His words be something like this…’Tis’ the Harvest, sowing the new crop. The night when three moons in the sky and darkness below…’ then he advised we leave and in haste.”

“So it begins. That be what Master Seth and Mistress Ellawyn be discussing,” I said. “I must return to my incantation, to try and discover when this be happening.”

“Do not waste your time, my lady.” I turned to see Darius returning with Markus from the woodlands beyond the village.

“My friends from the forest say the cave up to now appeared to be abandoned, but has seen much activity of late. Seems the “Harvest will take place in three sun days and two moons in this dreaded place. I have sent word to Beargrim through my feathered friends, they shall reach him soon,” Darius said.

“Be warned my friends, there be two large orc wardens or farmers wielding axes and two “eye-blades” with bows, guarding the entrance to the cave,” Marcus said. “They all wear the same pendant as I found in Murbil Kilmir’s cottage.”

“So…these ‘eye-blades’ who or what are they?” I asked.

Seth and Ellawyn came outside and were listening into the conversation. “These human eyeblades, Mistress Safiya, they are a different matter,” Seth interjected. “Are these the figures you spied hiding among the trees, Master Rogue?”

“Aye, Master Mage, They are dressed in loose black clothing and their daggers are chipped from the same coloured glass that be on the holy symbols. Each eyeblade has a leather cord wrapped around its wrist, and a number of mummified eyes are threaded through—trophies claimed from previous victims to be sure.”

“I do not wish to alarm you, my friends,” Mistress Katia interrupted, “but I wandered through the outskirts of the village and found a hidden path leading into the forest. But there be blood trails in its wake. This section of forest, tis’ dense and unwelcoming, but it seems tis' the path we must take.”

“Well that is it, then, we pack and best be on our way. We have much ground to cover. I checked the arcane energy yet again and found it leads on the same path to the cave. Best we make haste while the light leads us. I do not wish to be in this place when the sun sleeps.”

We packed as many goods as we could carry, dressed in our armour, and armed ourselves with weapons of our choice. “Master Barbarian.” I called to Teagan. “We would wish that you lead us being the great and brave warrior you be.”

Teagan smiled and with a spring in his step, as much as a Barbarian could ‘spring’, he took the lead.

“May the bones of our foes gleam under the sun? Shall we depart?” I said.