Creative Corner

@Lightshadow101

"That's our hero?!"?

Sesame wrinkled her nose in distaste as she watched the strange creature take its first step down the path. The gleaming blue portal behind it rippled and then faded out of existence, leaving only the empty frame with the Goddess staring ahead at the back of their supposed savior.

"You cast the spell correctly, right Hibiscus?"

"Of course I did," Hibiscus whispered sharply. The faerie slowly crept along a branch, the leaves shaking slightly with each movement of her long, slender limbs. Diaphanous wings, tinged in shades of pinks and reds like her namesake bloom, fluttered silently in the night air, holding her balance as she slipped onto a twig as thin as her taloned fingers.

The creature was white and moved with all the grace of a blundering orc. It appeared to carry no weapons, and its face was black. Sniffing at the air, she caught only unknown odors that emanated from the creature's skin. Her wide eyes followed the tunnel that ran from his face to his body. Blinking faerie lights shimmered there against the dark night.

The rest of the forest had gone silent at the intruder. The dapplewings had ceased their endless clatter. The croakstorks didn't shift through the underbrush.

Everything held its breath as the creature turned to find the portal gone.

Hibiscus started to wonder if her conjuring had gone awry as the thing stumbled awkwardly back to the frame. It thrust its hands through the hole time and again, felt along the rim as though searching for a way to reactivate the portal. What had she done by bringing this lumbering thing here?

The creature went as still as the forest around it. Hibiscus saw Sesame slink onto a nearby branch, her silver eyes staring at the creature as she crouched against the wood. The faerie wore nothing, and her amber skin glowed gently in the dappled moonlight that slipped through the leaves above them.

"It's going to take it off," she whispered, pointing a long finger towards the creature.

"What?" Hibiscus started to ask but her voice caught in her throat as she watched the creature grip its head and lift it off. No, it was a helmet, a strange white and black helmet that hid everything from view. The creature had black hair that was pulled into a tight bun from which several strands had pulled free. As it turned, Hibiscus moved a hand to her mouth, her wide eyes moving to Sesame.

Sesame was still staring at the human, her piercing gaze analyzing the being as it scanned its surroundings.

"Hello?" the human called as she stepped forward. "Is anyone here?"

"Sesame?" Hibiscus whispered.

"We go to her," Sesame replied. "We trust the spell worked. The veil is thin here; I heard you speak the ancient words, clear as night." The faerie turned her head to look towards Hibiscus. "We have little choice to do otherwise anyway."

Hibiscus gave her a numb nod and then took a deep breath. "She doesn't look like much. I don't know how she can fight the Oblivion."

"It is not up to us to question, Hibiscus," Seasame replied evenly. "It is up to us to trust in the Goddess and her gifts, to guide and protect. We will do as we must."

The amber faerie lifted of the branch and flew towards the human. Hibiscus hesitated, clinging to her branch a moment longer before she finally fluttered her wings and followed after.

In the distance, a rare wolfivy let out a deep howl, summoning the sounds of the forest back to life.

@Lightshadow101 This is a few minutes late so if you decide it's too late to judge that's fine.

Darkness enveloped the forest except for the white glow that emanated from the mirror’s surface. The mirror rested on a small stone area meant for magic rituals. A safe space for witches and warlocks and worshippers to practice their beliefs without judgement.

“What’s on the other side?” Dan asked, contemplative, more talking to himself than the companion next to him. They sat on wooden steps in front of the portal, waiting for something to happen. After all, they didn’t steal the mirror, align it correctly, and practice a long-winded ritual for nothing.

“Looks like stars,” PJ replied as a choice to humor Dan and his wandering thoughts. He glanced up through the trees to see a small glimpse of the big white orb above, and he thought about going up there somehow, but there was no magic spell that would allow him to travel that far or even allow him to breathe all the way up there. “Maybe it’s the moon?”

Dan shrugged his shoulders and scoffed . “Well, that’s boring.”

“You got a better idea?” PJ raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze back to his friend.

“A different planet. Hell, maybe it’s middle-of-nowhere space.”

Their minds wandered and their mouths bickered as they tried to decide who was right and who was wrong. Both of them resisted the urge to step inside.

Movement flickered behind the surface.

“What is that?” Dan whispered. “Do you see that?”

PJ nodded quickly.

The glow from the mirror grew stronger as a weird shape emerged. A white suit and a black head entered the world. It was a human shape, with two arms and two legs and a torso and head, but it didn’t look like a human.

Dan couldn’t identify what it was supposed to be. PJ stood in silent shock. It came from space!

“Aliens!” PJ shouted, receiving the attention of the beings.

One pulled their head off and the warlocks watched in horror.

“Not aliens,” the person responded calmly. “... Are you?”

Dan shook his head.

“Great, could you explain where we are?” The other being took off its helmet.

“Sure, of course.”


Dan couldn’t stop PJ from giving his trust so easily to these strangers, but he was just as curious about who they were and where they came from.

The worlds easily melded together in the moment.

@Lightshadow101
Your deadline is up :)

@Karika

Sorry! Life has been super busy for the past few days but I'll try to get everything read and set up a post by tonight.

@Lightshadow101 I hope life's not been too hard on you and things are going all right. This is a reminder that you still need to judge this, please.

Sorry for this being really late! I hope I wasn't too harsh or anything.

@Karika

I really liked all of the detail your story provided! It was very immersive, and made me feel like I was there too, but I feel like not a lot actually happened in the story, if that makes sense. it felt a little cut short, like there was a ton of amazing detail, and then it just ended. Sorry if that makes no sense. I really loved the way it started off especially, with the idea of space travel, or at least going to the moon, not being unique anymore.

@Chrisondra

I really enjoyed the way this story was told, through the perspective of those observing or helping a main character I guess. Even though these stories are relatively short, I feel like you provided a lot of characterization and description along with a good story. I really enjoyed this, and I just feel like the entire story was strong, and it ended on an ominous and symbolic note with the wolfivy.

@humanityxpeople

Once again, I really like how this wasn't really told from the perspective of the main character, if that makes any sense? I also feel like this ended rather abruptly as well, and there were some unnecessary parts at the end, or they could have been assimilated into the story a little better. The part about worlds melding made some sense with the story, but I think it could have been explained a bit better. This is a really good though, great job!

Winner: Chrisondra

Runner Up: Karika

@Lightshadow101 I'm glad you liked it! It was enjoyable to write. :D Next prompt! [img]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/57/39/5b/57395b570bef7b4db669078d05631927--fantasy-paintings-art-paintings.jpg[/img] Deadline: Friday, 12/8 at Rollover [size=1]@Chrisondra @TidalMoonrise @Mypilot @PixieKnight3264 @Karika @SamIamLuvDov @Lightshadow101 @humanityxpeople @coyearth @Avanari @demonslayr62 @Auraelia @Endernil @Arithelia @Sillywinter @inthestars @Annalynn @meddlesomedragon @SocialBookWorm @SolusPrime379 @Kattata @Reiyn @Skyeset @lessthan3 @AwkwardAngel @Draxia @Toxical @0Musicheart0 @Aphelium @SecondUNIT @AloneTogether @CelestialNarwhal @Kapara @Slayborn @pharmakraken @Elroth @After @Moonwater @ArrowsFlight[/size]

@Chrisondra

"Monsters." Terrin scoffed. "Yeah, right. The kid probably just saw a bear or something and got spooked. Monsters indeed."

Still, the town had been willing to pay him in gold to go and investigate this so-called monster, and he had no intention of turning down good gold, no matter how silly the task seemed to be. He'd be out of work as a mercenary if he started getting picky about these things. Besides, trecking through a harsh snowy climate for some far-fetched monster was still better than that one time with the mucus... He tried not to think about that time.

Hours later, as the frozen wind whipped into him once more and pulled at his braid, he began to think the mucus might have been better than this. He hated the snow. The cold made his eyes burn and his nose run, and the snow hid all the trecherous ledges and holes in the mountainside. Three times already he had tripped and balanced on the edge of a precipice as the wind threatened to push him over or down. The wind was unforgiving, and he was sick of it. There was still no sign of whatever it was that he had been sent here to find.

Then the ground trembled beneath his feet, and a red glow began to eminate from beneath the snow. He jumped back, thinking of the blow holes that sometimes formed unexpectedly when there were active volcanos underground. The snow would glow red and rumble and then hot steam and sometimes fire would suddenly errupt. Terrin scrambled away as the ground began to heave, sure that he was about to see one of these such explosions. He didn't want to be anywhere near it when it erupted.

What emerged was not a gush of hot air, but what could only be described as a monster. He owed the kid an apology. The thing was nearly three times his height and probably ten times his weight; built like a lizard with each talon longer than his head and twice as sharp as his sword. As if that wasn't enough, the red glow he had seen underneath the snow was coming from inside it, as if it was made of moltern lava encased in fur, leather and scales. It had four glowing eyes to match and, as it turned its gaze to him, he began to wish that he had turned down the gold after all. Gulping, he drew his twin swords, shifting them in his hands until he got a good grip.

"Hello beastie." he said. "Lets you and me have us a game."

The monster roared at him, its gaping maw revealing fangs that could impale him like a piece of meat on a spit. Terrin roared back, and brought his swords up over his head, crossing them over and bringing them back down in a display of challenge. Then, he charged.

---

Dirty, tired and covered in blood, Terrin dragged his feet into the town, a chain draped over his shoulder that dragged behind him the head of the beast - proof for the townspeople so that he could get his pay. All too often had people tried to cheat him out of his reward when he hadn't been able to prove that he had completed his task. As untasteful as it was to him to behead an opponent that had put up a good fight, he wasn't going to risk losing his gold. He needed to eat, after all.

The townspeople came out to meet him as he dragged his prize into the centre of town. To his relief, one of the elders carried a pouch of gold - his promised reward. Terrin dropped his burden, trying not to fall over in his exhaustion. Thanks to the cold, most of his wounds had stopped bleeding, but he still would need to get them looked at soon or he would be in trouble.

"We are grateful for your service." The town elder said, and held out the pouch of gold.
As Terrin reached to take it, a young boy's voice spoke up.
"That's not the monster I saw! The one I saw was green."
The elder pulled the pouch out of Terrin's reach. He groaned.