So NaNoWriMo is well under way and I'm already 10000 words in :D
Here is the first chapter. I would love to know what you think. Unless you think negative thoughts about it, then I wouldn't love to know those thoughts, though constructive critisism would be appreciated if that is the case.
Chapter 1
David stifled a yawn as best as he could. He really didn’t want to get in trouble for sleeping in class again, especially with his Prophecy professor, whom he was already on bad terms with. Trying hard not to fall asleep and at the same time not pay attention to the lesson, David started looking around the classroom for some form of entertainment. As they usually did, David’s eyes rested on Rachel, who somehow looked completely enthralled by the lesson. That was most likely because her parents were Prophecy priests of the highest order and their love for the Prophecy had probably rubbed off on her.
David couldn’t understand how anyone could be entertained or ever learn anything new in a class that they had been required to take since they first started school nine years ago that was all about one small and very vague paragraph. Of course, if David ever expressed these thoughts out loud he would be called a blasphemer and sent to prison for a minimum of ten years. David hoped to avoid this, though sometimes keeping his mouth shut was hard work.
Somehow Rachel was so interested that she was keeping notes on what the professor was saying. As fun as she was to look at, sometimes her blind faith in a paragraph got depressing, so David turned his eyes to look at others. Ian was the next person that David’s eyes stopped. At least Ian looked appropriately bored, though not as bored as David felt. David turned a little and his eyes fell on Nicolas who had his hand on his chin looking like he was pondering something; probably what was being said as his parents were also important in the Church of the Prophecy, though not as important as Rachel’s parents.
“Now class, if we will all rise so that we may recite the Prophecy,” the professor said.
David had an intense desire to groan out load, but, again, he’d prefer not to go to prison, so he stood with the rest of the class and dutifully recited with the rest of them.
“When the skies burn as if on fire, the battle to determine the fate of the world will scream across the earth. Three noble warriors who will be known and loved by all will come forth to fight the battle, yet should they choose not to fight, the world will be torn asunder and all will be lost.”
They all sat out of respect for the Prophecy and then stood again to leave the class. The only good thing about the Prophecy class was that it eventually ended, and after it ended, David’s favorite class began; weapons training. Even if the description of the class bothered him,” to train all young students in the art of weapons in case one of them will have a part in the battle to determine the fate of the world,” he felt that it had a lot of practical value and that it was needed. Recently bandits had been raiding nearby villages, and the more people who could defend themselves, the better.
David’s weapon was the sword. Last year he had advanced far enough in his training to own a sword of his own and permission to carry it at all times. This was a big deal. There were only sixteen other people in the village that could do that and he was the youngest. His instructor had told him that he was an excellent swordsman, but that there would always be someone better. This was his way of telling him to work harder.
There was a bigger group in the sword room than usual today. That usually meant that they would be sparring with another group. David noticed that Rachel was in the room, which meant that the swords would be sparring with the spears today.
David tried to push himself over to Rachel. He heard the instructors order to find a partner and he intended to partner with Rachel, yet before he got to her Nicolas was there and speaking to her. David didn’t know why he even tried anymore. It was so obvious that Rachel was out of his league. She was the highest born person in their village, the second being Nicolas, and he was just an orphan that nobody wanted.
David turned to find another sparring partner when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Rachel looking at him expectantly. She smiled and said, “I told Nicolas that I had promised you that I would be your partner today.”
And yet times like this when she would go out of her way to talk to him gave him hope that somehow she would choose him over Nicolas. It was a dangerous hope, and one that would likely end crushed, yet he couldn’t help himself.
David was privileged to own a sword, but that didn’t mean that Rachel would be an easy opponent. She had her own spear just like David had his own sword. “So, a minor swordmaster verses a minor spearmaster,” Rachel said. “One would consider it an even match yes?”
“An untrained eye would, but they would fail to consider that the spear has a much longer range than the sword,” David said.
“Is that what you’ll tell them when you lose?” Rachel asked.
“No, I just want you to know that I beat you at a disadvantage,” David said.
Both of them launched their attacks at the same time and metal clashed in the practice room. Both of them being minor masters also gave them the privilege of sparring with their actual weapons instead of using the wooden practice versions. They would have broken them anyway. With her range advantage, Rachel was on the offensive, yet David was able to block all her blows and counter appropriately.
One by one all through the room, matches were being decided yet David and Rachel continued to fight, neither giving in. Soon a crowd formed around them as people watched their battle. Blow for blow they dueled, as this couldn’t be called a simple spar anymore, neither letting up, neither gaining any ground. Rachel smiled as their blades brought them close together. “Getting tired yet David?”
“I could go on all day,” David said as he continued to assault.
“That is quite enough of that, the class will end within five minutes, please cease your duel,” one of the instructors said.
Though David had said that he could continue, he was glad to stop, he wasn’t actually sure how much longer he could go on. He was pretty sure that Rachel had been about to win, but he wasn’t going to let her know that.
“Since we didn’t have the opportunity to teach you much today, I hope that you all at least observed the duel between the two minors and tried to learn from their superb technique. Class is dismissed, you may now return to your homes, until tomorrow,” the instructor said.
David sheathed his sword and Rachel put her spear across her back. “Was it me, or was I gaining the advantage there at the end?” Rachel said.
“Funny, I was about to say the same thing,” David said.
“I’m sure you were,” Rachel said as she walked away.
David walked home in high spirits. Ian, who always walked part of the way home with him noticed. “What’s got you so happy?”
“I dueled with Rachel today,” David said.
“And you won?” Ian asked.
“It was a draw,” David said.
“Oh, so what you’re really happy about is that you managed to talk to her,” Ian said.
“Well yeah,” David said.
Ian laughed out loud at that. “Well you certainly are easy to please!”
They went their separate ways there, Ian to his house that was almost a mansion and David to his shack. There was a time when David would sigh every time he saw his shack, but now he was happy to see it. He didn’t really think he could manage living in such a large home as most of the others did, he wouldn’t know what to do with all that space. His shack was the perfect size. Sure, it leaked when it rained and was very cold when it got cold, but that was what pots and blankets were for.
It was one room, but needing a room for every task seemed wasteful. He didn’t really have a bed, just an old mattress really, but at least it was comfortable. To others in the village, David’s shack was a horrible little place, but to David, it was home, it was the only home he ever knew.
That night David fell asleep thinking back to when he was found. It was the first thing he could remember. He had been about five years old and he was crying in a street corner of one of the larger cities. A girl about his age tapped him on the shoulder and asked him why he had been crying. His response had been that he couldn’t remember, all that he knew was that he was sad. The girl told him to wait there, that she would be right back. She brought her parents and showed them “the poor crying boy.” They asked him if he had any parents. He said that he didn’t, that they had been killed. The girl’s parents talked amongst themselves for a few moments before deciding to take David back with them to their village where he would have a better life. That was probably why David cared so much for Rachel; she had saved him from a life on the streets and had given him a home.
All the necessary orphan paperwork was filed, but David knew that by now nobody was going to come and adopt him. He doubted that anyone had ever seen them after they left the village. Orphan paperwork was given an urgency rating of zero, meaning his papers would forever stay at the bottom of the paperwork pile. David didn’t mind anymore, being adopted would mean that he would have to be taken away from here, and Rachel was here. As usual, David’s thoughts upon falling asleep were centered on Rachel.
So yeah, not much happened really in the first chapter, but all the key characters were introduced save maybe one. Many things happen in the next chapter, but you will have to wait until I finish.
