I have finished chapter 1 (it's really bad and is in a serious need of a rewrite -_-)
idcrack Notes LotusChapter word count: 2,022
Total word count: 3,080
Tao awoke from her unconscious state to see Max hovering over her; he looked extremely worried. She fully opened her eyes, and sat up. An excruciating pain in her side forced her to scream.
Khris rushed to her side, muttering several derogatory comments toward the Shianwa tribe.
Groaning, Tao managed to squeal, “Khris…I think my rib is broken!” Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and moistening the earth beneath her.
The healer muttered the incantation required for mending broken bones. A stream of icy blue energy ran off of Khris’s fingers and staff, and was directed toward Tao’s left side. The magic juxtaposed against the creamy-white canvas tarp that yielded a very crude tent. Five figures were silhouetted against the tarp – four humanoid ones and one bird-like one.
Soothing feelings began to undermine the agony Tao felt.
“What are these things and why do they want to get rid of the Shining
Force?” Max inquired of Zylo and Luke. Glaring at the two, he looked
like he expected an answer, but none came. After a brief pause, Max
continued. “Well? Don’t you have any information at all?” His comrades
shook their heads.
He sighed.
“Oh well. Once Tao is well enough, let’s go find the five that were kidnapped.”
The two women emerged from the makeshift tent, almost ready to continue their
quest to find their lost companions. Tao yawned slightly; she made it
apparent that she needed a rest.
Max said, facetiously, “You were just asleep for fourteen hours!” He grinned, but agreed to take another break from their not-yet-started journey. He allowed Tao back into the canvas tarp. “Just don’t be too long!” he called.
He removed his headband and cape, and laid down on his back, on the
dirty ground. They were out of the forest now, and under a bright,
sunny sky. The tower looming in the distance reminded Max of why he
was fighting the evil threatening his land. A foreboding darkness
hovered over the massive skyscraper. Darksol’s lair.
Zylo ensconced himself a few feet from Max, against a tree trunk. He
sighed as he leaned back, looking up at the myriad of limbs and
boughs, with small green leaves adorning each of them.
“Why can’t evil be like the leaves, Max?” Zylo inquired, sighing again.
“Hm?” Max lifted himself off of the ground, and turned toward Zylo.
”What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that, leaves never harm anyone, yet everyone seems to
hold some sort of grudge against them – they burn down forests, they
cut down trees, they pick leaves off of trees…Why can’t people be more
considerate, and not do anything to hurt anyone else?”
Max was surprised that Zylo, who had single-handedly fought off many
of their previous threats, was saying this. He hesitated a moment,
then spoke.
“Zylo,” he began, “evil is a strange thing. It works much differently than you’d think. When one is like Darksol, there is a shroud of irrationality that blinds them into thinking that destruction is the right thing to do.”
“But…what causes them to be ev- like that?” the wolfman pressed on.
The leader of the Shining Force shook his head, signaling that he had no idea. “Sometimes...they are born like that. Sometimes, they are influenced by other people or things…but, to be totally honest, I don’t know.”
Zylo nodded, and laid himself down on the ground. “You think Darksol can be defeated? I mean, he has so much protection and so many warriors advocating him that one’s knees would be knocking together just thinking about it.”
Max glared at his companion. “Zylo,” he said, pausing. “As a ‘hero’ to Guardiana, I make it a point not hold any doubts whatsoever when thinking about fighting Darksol.” He stood, holding his hair in an annoyed fashion. “Now, will you please stop asking me petty questions that I have to think about? I’m really tired and would like a rest.”
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