xinoehp512

The Silver Knight felt the nightmare coming before it arrived. It started as it always did- a burst of sudden dizziness. His vision narrowed, the world seeming to spin around him. He tried to stand up, but the ground was rocking beneath his feet like a ship in a storm. Someone grabbed his arm, steadying him - thank you, Black - but his vision was already starting to darken. The world around him dimmed as though covered in thick black fog. As his consciousness drifted away, he could hear the shouts of the Black Knight. "Remember!" he roared. "Prepare yourself!" With that, the light fled. The Silver Knight opened his eyes to a blue sky. He pushed himself to his feet, careful not to strain any of injuries- then abruptly realized that there weren't any injuries. Stunned, he raised a hand to his shoulder and felt only soft fabric. Glancing down, he realized that instead of armor, he was wearing a silver T-shirt and black shorts. His hands, too, were different- the callouses and scars gone. He turned them over a few times, marveling, then looked up and around at his surroundings. A few feet in front of him, a creek poured over a small cliff in a burbling waterfall. The river wound away and out of sight behind one of the many trees that surrounded him on all sides. He stood on a path of smooth white stone that wound parallel to the stream in both directions. Slowly, haltingly, still not entirely believing what his eyes were telling him, the Silver Knight took a few steps forward and knelt down by the side of the stream. He reached out, letting his fingers trail through the pouring stream of the waterfall. "You're awake!" a voice suddenly spoke out behind him. The Silver Knight jumped, spinning around to face a young woman with red hair who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. She raised her hand to her mouth. "Oh! I'm sorry, did I startle you?" The Silver Knight exhaled, relaxing. "Only a little bit. Was I... asleep?" "Of course!" the young woman replied. "You've been dozing here for almost a whole day!" She suddenly looked at the knight with concern. "You do feel well rested, don't you?" "Uh..." the Silver Knight blinked, suddenly realizing that he felt extraordinarily awake. "Yeah," he answered, surprise evident in his voice. "Yeah, I do!" The young woman smiled. "Great! The others thought we should move you somewhere else, but I didn't want to risk waking you up when you were sleeping so peacefully... I'm glad it worked out!" All of a sudden, she grabbed his hand and started dragging him down the path. "But anyway! Something happened while you were asleep! You need to see this." The Silver Knight stumbled forwards as he was dragged along behind his new- or maybe old? - red-haired friend. "Something new?" he gasped once his breath caught up to him. "What is it?" "The ______!" she shouted back over her shoulder. "Or at least, that's what we call it!" The Silver Knight stumbled all of a sudden, tripping over a branch and nearly yanking his companion to the ground. She paused, helping him get back to his feet, looking at him with puzzled eyes. "Are you alright?" "Yeah," Silver replied, his eyes fixed on branch he'd tripped over. At the end of it was a brown leaf, shriveled and dead. He looked up, but the trees looked as green as ever. He pulled his eyes away. Something about what she'd said... was it just his imagination? "Yeah. I just tripped." The young woman's hand flew to her mouth again. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have dragged you. Here, we can walk the rest of the way. It's not far." She started off in a quick, bouncing stride, and Silver hastily followed her. "The ______ is going to blow. Your. Mind. I just know it!" Goosebumps rose up on Silver's arms. He pulled them close to himself, shivering. Had he imagined that chilling breeze when she said... that strange word? He rubbed his arms and tried to put it out of his mind as they reached an archway blocked by a closed door. The red-haired woman stopped. "Here it is," she whispered, excitedly. "Are you ready?" Silver nodded, trying to keep the knot of tension slowly building in his stomach from manifesting in his expression. "Yeah! I'm excited. You've been hyping this up pretty hard." His companion gave him a sly smile. "When you see it you'll understand." She reached out and grabbed hold of the door handle, pulling it open dramatically. "I present... the ______!"

Clang. Clang. Clang. It was dusk. The two men had been fighting for hours, ringing their weapons against each other under the slowly setting sun. Or at least, it had felt like hours; time was strange here, in this land of dreams and shadows. As far as they knew, it had always been dusk. To anyone watching, it was clear that the taller of the two was winning. Clad in all black, and wielding a spear to match, he swung as though he had only just begun to fight. Each movement was precise, controlled, and powerful, and he pressed the offense relentlessly. His opponent, by contrast, showed every second of their battle upon his face. The clattering of his tarnished silver armor mingled with his heavy breaths as he struggled to block each of the Black Knight's terrifying swings with his own weapon- a broken sword, the blade snapped off a few inches above the hilt. Despite all this, he somehow seemed to be managing to hold off his opponent's unyielding attack. But then his foot caught on a patch of uneven ground, throwing off his stance. It was only for a fraction of a second, but that was enough. The Black Knight's spear crashed into the Silver Knight's shoulder, knocking him off his feet and sending him sprawling to the ground in a clatter of metal on stone. "Yield," the Silver Knight forced out immediately, but his opponent - the clear victor - had already halted. "That was well fought," declared the Black Knight. The Silver Knight looked up balefully. "Don't lie to me." A snort. "You of all people should know I would never give you a false compliment. Besides, you didn't let me finish. I was going to say, that was well fought for someone who insists on fighting with a broken sword." The Silver Knight glanced at his sword. The jagged edge of the break was dull, worn down by time. His eyes closed. "You know why I use this weapon. Why I have to." "It won't last you forever," warned the Black Knight in a low voice. "You know that." "Yes," replied the Silver Knight tonelessly. "I know." He flexed his legs, preparing to sit up - then let out a grunt of pain and grabbed his shoulder. Leaking out from under his collar were a few drops of blood. The Black Knight immediately knelt down to take a closer look at the injury. "What? I didn't hit you that hard... did I?" "No," the Silver Knight panted, his eyes closed. "Old- old wounds." The Black Knight sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh." They sat for several minutes in silence, remembering.

Silver shook his head.

Obsidian pushed his tendrils of black liquid further into the purple essence of the goo monster. @Channelknight Fadran

Obsidian started extruding black goop into the purple goop of the monster.

Obsidian reached the goop and stuck his hand in it.

I- that's not important, the voice replied, flustered. It- it wouldn't mean anything to you.

Obsidian scowled and pushed forwards anyways. "I think I do."

I don't know. But she's had fifty years and hasn't done anything about it, so... it doesn't seem like that's an immediate threat.

Obsidian reached out to touch the goop.

Her power is indeed localized, answered the voice, broadcasting to all of them now. Namers cannot exercise their power outside of the island, which is rather unusual. The reason for that is what you saw in the cavern; the aether crystal that powers Naming is broken. If things had gone as they normally do, it would have vanished as soon as Naming was created. But it did not.

Well, have you wondered yet why the Queen has not taken over the world?

Yes. It is the source of Naming. @Channelknight Fadran

Anikel nodded. "Come. We will discuss this with others of my people."

Well, I wasn't born with this ability, the voice remarked drily. But yes. Mariel inducted you all as Namers.

And yet not everyone is able, the voice replied. Not with the aether crystal right there. The voice hesitated for a moment before responding. A prisoner. Like yourselves. I was congratulating Miyako on resisting and- you know, this would be a lot easier if you could talk to each other like this. "So you understand," replied Anikel, fire in his eyes.

Resist, replied the voice.

"Our home was taken away from us," Anikel said softly. "Before I was born. They say it was some sort of demon, but... no one really knows." His eyes grew distant. "My father was a child when my people fled their home. I never knew it. But... I can feel the loss, even still. We know, deep down, that we don't really belong here. We're lost." He brandished the fist-sized reddish clump once again. "This changes that. It changes everything. It means... this place might really be home."

"Ah," replied Obsidian, sudden realization crossing his face. "That means... I have to do laundry?" He pondered this for a moment, then his face suddenly brightened. "Socks! Laundry is socks!"

Thought you'd never finish, the voice replied. Well done, by the way. "Look," pleaded Anikel. "This isn't just about the money." He pulled the fragment of ore from his pocket. "This is the first piece of Echo we've found anywhere on Orteo. Do you understand what that means?" @The Wandering Wizard

Obsidian frowned, thinking. "I didn't exterminate any, but I consumed... about twenty."

Is this a bad time? the voice spoke drily.

I find myself agreeing with the advice mentioned earlier regarding the tone of the story. I must say, both the self-referential lighthearted tone of the prologue and first chapter and the more serious tone of the second chapter are perfectly valid; either would work excellently extended throughout the length of a novel. I do think, however, that you should choose a specific tone and stick to it. Switching back and forth constantly is likely to confuse the reader.

"I wasn't talking about those!" replied Obsidian dismissively. "Five hundred and thirty six socks!" He waved his again for emphasis. "Every single one of them different! Some of them had stripes, some of them had dots, some of them had all of them at once..."