My Attempt at a Fantasy Novel - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Hydra1978 · 12-03-2007, 12:54 PM

I've been working on this for many years between classes and this is just one of the chapters. Each chapter revolves around an individual and how they perceive the story around them.

This will be the first time this chapter has gone public. I have been writing it for myself more than anything else. If you like it, let me know. If you don't, I won't cry because it's only a hobby for me. Please feel free to critic, likes and dislikes are both accepted.

Also, be warned. I'm not a fantastic writer, I excel at science and math, not literature.

If you want more, let me know. I have a total of 9 chapters, totaling about 50 pages on word (Single spaced). I have thought of it as an enjoyable storyline.

**NOTE: This can be graphic**

Quote:

Odin’s Smile

At the break of dawn, Odin awoke from his quite slumber. While he lay on his sheet, he could feel where each rock was jabbing into his lower back. As he stared at the sky with its blue hue, he pondered why today felt different than any other. He thought it was the frost that had clung to his long thick brown beard, but as the hairs of his arm began to rise on end, he knew it was the smell of death and carnage of a nearby fight.
While packing his bedding into his sack he realized how sad and lonely his life was. His only friends were his personal belongings. He even imagined at times that they would help him. A sheet of wool, old crusted leather armor, and the pouch that held onto his back were the friends that kept him warm and sturdy, but none of them compared to her.
Ironwraith was the best friend anyone could ask for. She was not a merciful friend to have, but extremely loyal. The long spiral handle took up most of its length and was custom made to fit only his hands. The head of this axe was a massive beast to be seen. It had double seriated blades that were the width of one and a half size of his chest. In the middle of these incredible killing blades, stood a spike, that was six inches above its top. So many memories of blood shed were shared with her, so many more to come.
The screaming had snapped him out of his thoughts and into a sprint. The burning urges in his arms were building to the excitement of the upcoming fight. His legs hated every bound he took and he could feel aches in them from the run. He wished so many nights that he could have had legs of a human or an elf, but the hammer gods cursed his race with these legs. Dwarves were not made for running, but for killing and slaying. With the thought of slaughter, his legs became alive with new energy and they took him faster. He was clutching Ironwraith so hard that the knuckles on his hands had turned from pink to white. Just a few more steps and blood would be falling to the ground from the gashes in his enemies.
As he broke through some undergrowth, he came into a small clearing in the middle of this woodland. The first thing he saw was the dead bodies of people, including human men, women, and even children. At least six bodies lay down on the ground and fed the land with their soul blood. Hunched over one of the males was a creature as foul and vicious as they come. It looked like a pathetic and starved excuse for a human, with his misshapen face, oily hair, and body full of boils. Its slimy green skin glimmered from the sunlight protruding between the leaves overhead. He knew this was a troll. Always picking on defenseless travelers, they were feared among the common folk. This was a fairly small one, most likely a young male out exploring, only standing five and a half feet tall. Odin at this time knew this fight would end in a fast victory, even though he stood a half foot shorter than this creature.
As he clutched his axe with both hands he started to charge at the troll. Before the vile creature knew he was there, the blade was coming down in an over hand arc that caught the creature between the neck and shoulder blade. As the troll screamed in pain, the axe stopped in the middle of his chest. Crimson blood sprayed everywhere as if it was raining. When he yanked the axe out of the body, it made a low squishing sound like it would if you pulled a stick out of mud. The mangled body fell to the ground motionless except for the bodily fluids pouring out of its hideous wound. With his victory at hand, he started to clean his belongings and noticed a sound behind him. He spun around with anticipation of another fight. What he found was a small girl no older than five. She seemed to have been knocked out and was beginning to stir on the ground. A warrior would not bother with such trivial things as this, but then again, he was no warrior. Some would probably call him a mercenary or maybe just a cold-blooded killer. He preferred mercenary, and this little girl might be able to fetch some free ale or a night’s sleep in a soft bed and also some silver.
Carrying a full-length battle axe in one hand and a child slung over the opposite shoulder wasn’t nearly as easy as he thought it would be. The child kept moving as if it was having a nightmare while she slept. All this and trying to follow the tracks of the dead villagers through the forest was making this trip a lot less fun and almost not worth the hassle. After two hours of trudging along, he found himself at a small village at the edge of the forest. The grassland plains, where the village sat, stretched out as far as he could see. He could not see a mountain or even a large hill that could bring him any type of comfort. There was a nice river running by the village and what seemed to be a well traveled road that went from east to west. This must have been the farthest north he had ever been and the deepest into human territory as well.
As he strolled into town, a peasant with a crude iron sword stopped him. This sad excuse of a human stood about six foot one, weighed about 180 pounds, and didn’t have an inch of muscle. He had long salt and pepper hair but looked very distinguished despite his age. “Why does a dwarf carry a child and show his face into human territory” yelled the man. As Odin stood there, he thought about how he could cut this guy’s legs off so that he might be able to stare him in the face. “I wanted an answer NOW dwarf”.
While Odin cleared his throat, he was thinking of what he could say that would calm this arrogant human down and maybe make him be a bit nicer. “I would watch your tone weak one before I open your neck so that you have two smiles”. That may not have been the most diplomatic answer, but it was effective.
“I…..I was just…..I apologize good sir. I meant no disrespect. I just thought…no, I mean I saw the girl and……please don’t hurt me!” he said while stuttering and trying not to trip over his own feet as he stepped backwards.
Odin’s voice had a low growling tone to it and it was extremely useful in most situations. “Fetch me your town leader, or shaman, or what ever excuse of toad you have here.”
“That would be me sir. What can…I do for you” The man seemed to be a little more responsive now and may actually be of some sort of help.
“I found six of your villagers about two hours back that way. None could be saved, except for this girl. She may be very hurt.” He said as he was handing the child over to this so-called man. “Now let me tell you how this works. I helped, I get paid. I don’t care how you do it, just do it so that I don’t have to bother you, and you don’t have to annoy me.”
“What beast did this to them? Was it another one of those blasted forest trolls? DAMN! Those bastards killed and drove out all but 10 of the villagers here. There used to be 73 of us. Now all we have is empty house after empty house.”
“Humph! Those puny things are no match for me. They cut as easy as butter. Why would you be so scared of them?” he asked as he cleaned some of the blood off his beard. It had dried on there and needed to be washed. “How ‘bout this, you give me utilities to clean myself and feed me and we’ll call it even.”
“Done good sir.” He puffed up his chest and he seemed to be plotting something. “Now let’s talk about what I can give you if you rid us of this easy troll problem.”
“I don’t care about your problems here. I just want to get away from this flat, boring, chaotic underworld you call home and go on with my life.” Insulting always had the same effect. It cut away all the bull crap and got straight to the point.
“NO! I mean…wait. We can pay you for your troubles. We don’t have much but I’m sure you have less. We can give you thir…twenty five silver for your troubles.” He seemed far to confidant that he wouldn’t need to pay for this task.
“Forty and I’ll scrounge up some time out of my busy life to do it. Rest assured that if you do not pay me, I WILL be satisfied with making you into a human hide belt. I hear they don’t wear out if you take your time cutting it off a living person.” And with that, he agreed with a fearful face. Odin just opened his mouth with his perfectly shaped teeth that attached to his evil grin.
The man led him into one of the small houses in the village that had only one room. “There is a razor and a brush on the table over there. That should help clean your beard. Just take them down to the river and wash up. I’ll get you some food so that you don’t leave on an empty stomach.”
Odin picked up the supplies and put them into his bag. He left the building without saying another word. He did not want to waste his breath on that so-called leader. With a leader as cowardly and ignorant as him, it’s a wonder that the town was still standing. That child that I brought back might have been better off in the woods with the trolls, he thought. It was a good thing this town had some silver left in it or he would be heading back towards the frosted peaks of Tru’ka. It will be nice to have a hot meal that I don’t have to hunt for first.
Odin headed behind the house and down to the river. At the river’s edge, he started to wash his beard with the cool water. Most of the blood was coming out, but it was more difficult than he thought. A lot of it had gotten into the war beads that were fastened to his beard. He carefully scrubbed each one and made sure they were not harmed. The beads were the only thing left of his days as a soldier, but those days were long in the past.
After he had cleaned himself, he stood and looked south across the river. There was an endless field of tall grass that blew in the wind. This town was in more peril than he originally thought. Fields like this were a breeding ground for numerous creatures and monsters. Lately, he had heard rumors of many towns coming under attack in the night. The groups of unknown raiders were slowly claming lands to the south. There was no doubt in his mind that this town was going to be another victim if the trolls didn’t kill them first.
He headed back to the house where his food should be waiting. He noticed that there was no one else walking around town. He did manage to catch a glimpse of someone inside of a window but then they moved away. They must be shy toward such a friendly and humble dwarf. This brought a little more cheer to what otherwise would be a dreary day. As he entered the house he smelled an aroma of spices. There was a steaming bowl of stew with some bread and cheese on a table. Next to the table was the leader of the town, who was just setting down a cup of water. He realized that he never did get his name, this brought a certain curiosity to him. “Say, young man, I never did catch your name.” He raised one eyebrow in a show of interest.
“Dwight is my name. Why do you ask? I thought you cared nothing for this town.” He crossed his arms and leaned back with a smirk on his face. He showed that he got some kind of satisfaction with that question.
Throwing his head back, Odin let out a roaring and short laugh. “Dwight you say?” He let himself laugh out loud again, “I suppose my belt could be named Dwight”. As he took up a spoon and started eating the stew, he could see out of the corner of his eye that any type of satisfaction the young Dwight had was gone and it was replaced with fear again.
Dwight wanted to speak but was very intimidated. He finally brought up enough courage to say, “You called me a young man? I’ve been around for 47 years. I’m hardly a young man by any means. You can’t be much older than I. How old are you anyway?” He stopped talking because he saw the anger flair up in the dwarf’s deep yellow eyes. At this time his courage washed away.
While slamming his fist into the table Odin yelled, “YOU SHOULD NOT ASK QUESTIONS THAT ARE NO CONCERN TO YOU.” He settled down a bit and continued, “There are some things you just do not ask a dwarf, and age is one of them, not to me especially.” He continued to eat but very uncomfortably because the man was staring right at him with his back to the wall while his hands tried to grab onto some unseen handles that would bring him some type of protection. He would not be able to continue his meal if it stayed like this. “Young man is not always referred to how long someone has been around. I’ve known at least a hundred men that were older but still didn’t have enough common sense to put their boots on while it rained let alone take his villagers out of a town where they keep being killed. You just happen to be lucky number hundred and one on my list. You say you’re the leader of this town, but yet you let your villagers stay here as they keep dying? Why do you think those people I found in the forest were there in the first place? They wanted to leave this village. Do you not see that? For your god’s sake, lead them. It’s not a hard task, you go and they go, easy.” His words must have struck a nerve because Dwight left the house so quickly Odin couldn’t blink. “I fear you will not listen to me, and it will be the end of you and your town,” He mumbled to himself as he finished the last of his meal.
When he finished his stew, he took his leave of the house. He was happy to know that his belly was full and warm. Now it was time to find some ale he could quench his thirst with. Where do I find a place to get some ale around here? He took a glance around the town and noticed there wasn’t a pub to be seen. What type of town doesn’t have pub to get some ale in it? Worthless. Completely worthless. Maybe the general store will have some I could buy. Only if this forsaken town even has one of those.
Odin came across a house that was the general store, blacksmith and stable all in one. Ok, now this is very depressing. Mixing clothes and food with weapons and armor. Odin sighed and headed to the shop. He opened the door and saw a naked man and a red headed woman on the floor. The way this town was run, it wouldn’t surprise me if this were a brothel as well.
The man and woman started shouting incoherent phrases at him while they searched for their clothing. The man started to gather his thoughts and spoke clearer. “What are you doing just coming in here like that, we’re closed. Get out!”
“I didn’t know you were closed. My apologies, but that is no reason to be rude!” Odin looked over at the red headed woman. “Don’t mind me, I’m just here looking for some ale and I’ll be out of your way as soon as possible.”
The man on the floor started to get upset and raised his voice, “I said get out or I will remove you from my store.” He rose off the floor and brought out a dagger from the shirt he had on the ground.
Odin cocked his head and raised one eyebrow, “Is everyone in this town so aggressive. Can’t there be just one nice and peaceful person I didn’t have to demean. Look at yourself. You’re naked, with your pieces exposed, and you want to try and fight me.” He looked down at the man’s pelvic area. “and besides, you couldn’t be pleasuring her that much with that tiny thing.”
The man took a swipe at Odin’s face just like he knew he would. Odin slapped the back of the man’s hand so hard it dislodged the dagger he was holding. As the man pulled back his hand and waved it back and forth, Odin picked up the dagger off the ground and put it in his bag. “Do you mind if I help myself since you’re not being very customer oriented?”
“Of course not, help your self to what ever you want, consider it a gift from our town.” The man said curtly while he slid down next to the woman and clutched his wounded hand.
“You’re too generous. Ah! This was just what I was looking for.” He reached behind the counter and got two bottles of ale. “One for now, one for later. You know, you are very accommodating, I’ll remember you.” Odin gave him an evil look. “I always remember.” He turned his scowl into a smile. “Now you go back to making her unfulfilled and I’ll leave you be.” Odin took his leave of the store and sat by the stable and drank until the night came.
The night’s air was cool and crisp to his skin. As he started venturing out in the middle of the town, he could see the remaining villagers starting to blow out their torches and were packing a wagon lead by a single horse. Everything he saw had a nice blue glow to it even with no moon in the sky. Night vision was one of the great advantages of being a dwarf. No one could ever sneak up on him in the black of night. It was like seeing everything in the dark with a bright blue light illuminating his surroundings. Since there was no moon, he wouldn’t have to worry about the trolls attacking the village tonight. They don’t seem to attack when there is no moon, since they have poor vision in the dark. Trolls are one of the few evil creatures that prefer killing and attacking during the daytime.
“We found their lair about half a mile northeast of here. It’s just a hole in the base of a tree.” He didn’t even hear Dwight come up behind him. “It looks like they dug a hole straight into the ground. Dwight seemed saddened and very docile when he was speaking. “I’ve only been the leader of this town for about seven months. My father was the former leader, but he was killed in the first raid. I’ve been trying to lead this town, but I suppose you were right. I’m not worthy of being a leader. The villagers and I will be leaving shortly. We are going to head to the city Nagreth to the east of here.” As he started to walk away, Odin stared at him with amazement. He couldn’t believe that he actually helped with words instead of violence.
“Odin!” Dwight yelled out. As Odin looked at him, he saw him throw something at his feet. It looked like a tiny bag of some sort. “Thank you” Dwight turned around and started heading to the wagon again. As he picked up the bag off the ground he could hear the clanging of metal. It was a coin purse filled with what sounded like silver. He put the purse into his backpack and found himself smiling. He was so happy with the whole situation that he couldn’t stop. His good mood was filling him with pride. When he started heading northeast, he thought he should celebrate this glorious moment. What better way to celebrate than to kill and maim a defenseless creature?
After searching around for about thirty minutes he found a dead and gnarled tree with a huge hole at its base. Leaning up against the entrance to this under ground path was a full-grown troll. It was munching on a femur from some poor unknown person. Trolls were known for their quickness and agility in an open area. The older they were, the harder it was to catch them off guard. So Odin carefully approached the troll and awaited his first move.
He got about twelve paces away from it before the creature saw his presence. It must have never suspected that someone would come to its den. The troll screamed with fright and threw the bone at Odin. The bone bounced harmlessly off his chest and landed on the ground a few feet away. The creature growled and scratched at the air in front of him to try and warn away the oncoming attacker. Odin took that as a challenge, not a warning. He took a few more steps toward the hole. Before Odin knew what had happened, he was falling onto the ground. The creature struck him so fast, it knocked Odin right off his feet. His backpack cushioned the fall but he heard something snap underneath him. The impact of hitting the ground knocked Ironwraith out of his hand.
He desperately moved his hands around him trying to feel for the axe since he could not see it while lying on his back. The vile creature was on him again in a heartbeat. The troll’s face was close enough to his own that he could feel and smell the foul breath coming out of its disfigured mouth. While the drool came out of the creature’s mouth and onto his forehead he could feel something poking into his forearm. He grabbed it with his right hand and found it was the bone the creature had flung at him. He must have broken it when he fell. It had one sharp edge, “Perfect! You really are one ugly beast. But this will make you even uglier.” He felt very little resistance as he plunged the bone through the troll’s neck. The sharp end came out the other side just enough to grab a hold of it with his other hand. He could feel the tearing of skin as the beast tried to flop around so that he could attempt to get away. Odin put one foot on the creature’s chest and pushed as hard as he could. Bone and flesh came flying apart as he kicked the creature off. The troll was rolling around on the ground trying to cover the huge gapping hole that was now in place of his neck. Odin stood up, and looked down onto the creature as he lay there slowly dying. He took the bone and tossed it down to his body, “I just washed myself you stupid bastard. Go bleed somewhere else.”
Trying to catch his breath, he put his hands on his knees. After he finally got his breath back he stood up straight, unfortunately another troll was there to greet him. The troll looked down at his dead partner and gave a low whimper. Odin saw his axe out of the corner of his eye and knew there would be no way to get to it before this creature was on him. It worked for the troll, why not for me, he thought to himself. He ran at full speed and slammed himself into the troll’s legs, knocking it over and onto the ground. When he turned, he jumped headfirst at the axe trying to grab it off the ground. As he landed, he got his axe in a sturdy grip and a mouthful of dirt. He swung the axe while he spun around on the ground. As he thought it might, the creature was already about to attack again and loomed above him. Ironwraith went through the troll’s right leg just above the knee and bit into its left thigh. The creature howled in pain and collapsed on the ground while holding its stump of a leg. Odin got up and put it out of its misery with one giant blow to its neck.
After finding out that those two were the last in the area, he headed back to town. Satisfied with his victory over the trolls, he wanted nothing more than to lie down and take a nap. He figured he could get some quiet sleep in the town since it would now be abandoned. While he walked, he thought that it was about time to get some new armor and treat himself to something nice.
The town finally emerged out of the forest and it was the best place he had seen in a very long time. The strength in him was finally wearing out and he could feel his eyes starting to get extremely heavy. The area was very quite and he saw no one had stayed behind.
One house had caught his eye with its large wooden door engraved with two huge pictures of shields. Some how that made him feel at ease. He opened the door and entered the house just as the sun started to rise on the horizon. The house had two rooms, but he enjoyed the back room better than the front one. He laid his sheet across the floor in one of the corners of the back room. The room was small but had no windows, and that gave him enough comfort to drift off to sleep because no one would ever think to look for him there.