Against The Will

[Finway]

As I did with "A Great Lament," I will now present links to related stories. Something you should know is that this story takes place in the Second Age, where everyone feared the Empy Lord and gods ruled Gielnor from Gielnor, much like kings. Age of Zaros provides some back history you might be interested in, especially if you liked this and "A Great Lament." Enjoy!

Related Stories: Age of Zaros

 

Against The Will

 

Dice and Jamel raced through the woods.

“Can’t catch me!” Jamel exclaimed to his best friend who was in hot pursuit of him.

“Bet I can!” Dice shouted back. He began pacing faster and faster. Soon enough, he was less than a yard away from his friend.

“No!” Jamel shouted as Dice tackled him to the ground, laughing. Soon enough the both of them were chuckling to themselves. The two stopped when they heard a faint sound in the distance. “Do you hear that?”

“Yeah, it sounds like…running…”

“It’s coming from the village!” Jamel realized, recognizing the direction from where the sound was coming. A high-pitched scream filled the air. “Come on, we have to get back!”

As the two friends sprinted back to their home village of Sanden, they began hearing more and more screams and shouts. Their village was a small farming community in the farthest reach of Armadyl’s kingdom, the nearest large town being the fortress city of Laryrnon.

Suddenly, they burst through a clearing in the woods, revealing a bright orange haired woman with several dozen warriors at her side. There was something peculiar about her warriors that Jamel couldn’t figure out.

“There are two more over there. Seize them!” two of the warriors leapt upon the two friends, grabbing them and hurling them into a mass of people that were the villagers of Sanden.

“Burn the homes and slaughter their livestock.” the woman ordered.

All of the villagers were terrified of the soldiers. Jamel got a closer look at them, and then he realized something-their figures were thin, their bodies scarred and slightly discolored, and their eyes seemed to stare mindlessly off into the distance when they followed their woman leaders’ orders. They were undead.

“What do you want with us?” one of the village elders, a man named Johanhus, demanded. The woman turned to him, revealing her shockingly bright orange eyes. Johanhus’ jaw dropped, his own eyes wide with amazement.

“I am Amascut,” she said, “and you are my vassals.”

Johanhus took a gulp. “You are the Devourer, but you will not take our souls from us! We serve no one but Armadyl, and he protects us!”

“Oh?” the woman cocked an eyebrow. “Where is he now?”

“His magic protects us!”

“Let’s see him protect them from me!” Amascut spat, then ordered something to one of her undead warriors, who immediately approached Jamel. He was terrified. Unable to run, he watched as the resurrected combatant withdrew a knife and stabbed his heart. All went black.

Jamel’s soul entered the void. For a moment, he thought that all was over. Then, he felt something horrid grasp him. His vision returned as he opened his eyes. He was lying on the ground, with his fellow villagers surrounding his animated corpse.

“Rise,” the Devourer commanded, and Jamel, by some unknown magic, was forced to do so. All around him stared at him with looks of shock and horror on their faces. “Now, who, out of all these villagers, is the closest to you?”

The mystic force once again overtaking him, Jamel pointed towards Dice, who looked more terrified than ever. Grinning demonically, the woman threw a dagger at his feet.

“Cut out his tongue.”

The words pierced Jamel’s heart sharper than any blade ever could. Once again, the magical power kicked in, causing him to pick up the dagger and approach Dice. His best friend tried to run, but two other undead servants of the Devourer grasped them and held him in place. Terrified, Dice gulped and began crying. Horrified, Jamel’s hand traveled unwillingly towards his best friend’s face.

“Hurry, or you will wish you had never entered this world!” Amascut roared. His undead hands getting cooler as his animated corpse grasped his best friend. Jamel felt like crying as the Devourer’s magic overpowered his own will and he opened Dice’s jaws, reaching for the tongue. Above his best friend’s screams, Jamel, who himself would rather die than do such a thing to Dice, cut off the piece of flesh. Several villagers fainted, and the rest screamed with horror or were frozen with fear.

“Good,” Amascut said, a devilish grin on her face. “Put him out of his misery now.”

With Dice screaming with such agony, Jamel felt relieved doing such a thing, but he already hated himself for causing so much pain to his best friend. Jamel pushed the dagger into his friend’s chest, then withdrew it. The lifeless corpse hit the ground in a second, and the Devourer’s eyes closed as she concentrated on reviving Dice’s lost soul from the void. Suddenly, his eyes opened. He, too, was a zombie-lifeless yet alive, conscious yet without strength.

“Now,” Amascut said, her orange robes waving in the wind, “kill the rest.”

Dice and Jamel turned towards the villagers, horrified as they were at their actions. The other undead slaves of the Devourer were already hacking away them, and soon, the two of them were, as well. Dice didn’t have a weapon, so his means of slaughtering the townspeople were incredibly brutal. At least Jamel had a dagger.

 

After their slaughter, the peasants were resurrected and the whole group of undead followed the Devourer back to her fortress, where armies of the undead were gathering. Amongst them, a horrified Jamel beheld animated skeletons wielding bright, steel scimitars and wooden shields. A human follower of Amascut was passing out weapons to the undead hordes. Jamel’s dagger was taken, and he was given an axe instead. He saw Dice got a sword that was broken two feet from the hilt. Jamel longed to speak to him, to simply tell him that he was sorry, but he couldn’t. The curse of death prevented him from doing anything against that which the Devourer ordered.

Suddenly, Jamel felt the order to go north. He sensed that all of the other undead around him felt the same thing. Using his sense of direction, Jamel realized that the closest settlement north of them was Sentisten-Zaros’ stronghold, fortress of the Mahjarrat, the most powerful city in the world. Jamel hated Zaros because of all the things he heard about him, but at the same time he did not know whether he hated Amascut more, for what she had done to himself, Dice, and the village, and because of what she forced him to do.

 

As they marched northwards, Jamel overcame a large hill. There was a huge valley below, where thousands of undead warriors made battle with Zaros’ Mahjarrat. Terrified yet unable to flee, Jamel continued on. Overlooking the entire battle on the northern slope of the valley were two huge, dark stone walls: The city of Sentisten. Jamel’s heart dropped as he felt another mysterious order in his home, making him start to sprint north.

 

“RARGH!!!” a tremendous battle cry emerged from the gruesome and horrid fight. Jamel swung his small, cheap iron axe at every servant of Zaros that he saw, but he never struck any of his targets. Wishing he were dead, he soon beheld a mighty Mahjarrat warrior with a spear slicing open zombie after zombie. The undead hordes were amassed around him. The warrior’s spear was dark red, and his robes were a crimson color. He was fiercely slaughtering the undead armies of Amascut. Forced by the magic to do so, Jamel leapt upon the warrior. He swung his axe, but, with precise accuracy, this warrior lunged his spear at the hatchet, the tip of it slicing through the wood by which he held the weapon. Then he used the blunt end of the spear to knock Jamel several yards back, where he fell face down into a puddle of blood.

 

The axe head was lying a few feet to his right. He began crawling to reclaim it, when another zombie mistakenly walked on top of him, pushing his face onto the sharpened head. This cut a large gash in his right eye. He clenched his teeth, expecting a horrible agony to overcome him. However, that pain never came. Shocked and amazed, he put his right hand up to his eye which strangely did not hurt. As he glanced down at his limb, horror overcame him. It was covered with thick, dark blue blood.

 

The magic then forced him to get up immediately. He wanted to die now. The Devourer had made him an undead abomination, forced him to cause incredible pain to his best friend, and now he realized that she had taken away his very ability to feel anything. He hoped that the Mahjarrat warrior would stab his spear through his hear as to end his misery. He ran once more to the powerful foe. This time weaponless, Jamel leapt upon him, and the Mahjarrat’s dark red spear head penetrated his chest. He slid off of it, starring up at the sky which began opening up as if to make way for his soul. Soon, all went black, this time for good.

Edited January 3, 2009 by Finway

[hlow]

Great story! I think I liked A Great Lament better though. >.<

 

You might get me to write a short story now. It will totally ownz yours!!

 

Nah, I'll just try my best. :D

[Finway]

Thank you! I didn't expect this story to live up to "A Great Lament," but I'm still very glad you liked it!

 

Also, the reason I write short stories is because, obviously, their short and you don't feel obligated to post in them, like you do with the longer, ongoing stories.

[hlow]

Thank you! I didn't expect this story to live up to "A Great Lament," but I'm still very glad you liked it!

 

Also, the reason I write short stories is because, obviously, their short and you don't feel obligated to post in them, like you do with the longer, ongoing stories.

 

That is so true. Just the thought of letting down your readers by not posting a chapter kills!

Sometimes, you just gotta escape the long and hard stories.

[Finway]

Yep, and with short stories, you don't need to spend a lot of time on things you don't like to do. For example, I'm not really good with lovey-dovey type things, and if I tried to include it in a longer story, it would fail dramatically. But in short stories, depicting love is so much easier. Plus, since the story is shorter, you don't have to spend a lot of time with dialogue. You can go right to action and the like! >.<

[Buland]

Certainly another masterpiece! But it doesn't live up to A Great Lament.

[Finway]

It looks like everyone's saying that. >.<

 

But I'm glad you liked it!

[Fake]

This story was great. Although how many people have stated, and for me, "A Great Lament." Was better. I spotted a flaw, though.

 

 

The curse of death prevented him from doing anything that the Devourer ordered.

 

I think it was meant to be, "The Curse Of Death prevented him from doing anything that the Devourer didn't order."

 

Eitherway, awsome story, loved every sentance.

 

 

~No, not real, just Fake.

[Finway]

Oh man, it would be a big problem if I left that sentance the way it was! >.<

 

Anyway, what exactly did "A Great Lament" have that "Against the Will" doesn't? Somebody please tell me so I can make better short stories in the future!

[Fake]

Oh man, it would be a big problem if I left that sentance the way it was! >.<

 

Anyway, what exactly did "A Great Lament" have that "Against the Will" doesn't? Somebody please tell me so I can make better short stories in the future!

 

No problem about the sentance, I'm here to help.

 

Hmm in A Great Lament you captured much more emotion than you did in this story. The most important, and best factor you covered was love. Thus giving the story a great plot, great emotions, displaying the characters nicely. In my P.O.V no short story in the storymat can be as great as A Great Lament... atleast for now.

 

 

~No, not real, just Fake.

[Buland]

In my P.O.V

What's a POV? >.<

[Aliath]

A masterpiece from Finway, once again. Please don't give up on A Great Lament!!!! Please just continue it! >.<

Edited January 3, 2009 by -Jake-

[Fake]

In my P.O.V

What's a POV? >.<

 

POV means Point Of View

 

This story was great by my standards, it's just that A Great Lament blew my mind away, so I was hoping for something alot like that.

 

 

 

~No, not real, just Fake.

[Finway]

A masterpiece from Finway, once again. Please don't give up on A Great Lament!!!! Please just continue it! :D

It's a short story...so it's over.

 

Sorry to disappoint. >.<

 

But Fake-so it's the emotions I used? I tried to have love infused with action in "A Great Lament," while in this story I tried to combine self-hate with action.

[Aliath]

A masterpiece from Finway, once again. Please don't give up on A Great Lament!!!! Please just continue it! :D

It's a short story...so it's over.

 

Sorry to disappoint. >.<

 

But Fake-so it's the emotions I used? I tried to have love infused with action in "A Great Lament," while in this story I tried to combine self-hate with action.

 

Just continue it, it was a masterpiece.

[Finway]

But that's impossible! I can't continue a short story! It's just not feasible. I have no idea how to do it. >.<

[Buland]

Just continue it, it was a masterpiece.

Masterpiece? It was! Continue it? I don't think so since this is one of his short stories. Finway, might I suggest you make a topic in which you compile all of your short stories together?

[Fake]

But that's impossible! I can't continue a short story! It's just not feasible. I have no idea how to do it. >.<

 

Lmao, yeahh he's right, he captured that short story perfectly, if he was to continue it it'd probably plumet, so it's good as it is.

 

 

~No, not real, just Fake.

[Finway]

I was considering doing that, but I tried it on another forums and it just didn't work. It soon fell inactive no matter how much I updated it, since people will just see it as a huge mass of stories instead of several individual stories.

[Fake]

Trust me, no matter how inactive the storymat goes, me and other eager viewers will make sure that your great story never falls, it deserves to be stickied (lol)

 

 

 

~No, not real, just Fake.

[Finway]

I know you guys will ( >.< ) but I also want to reach out to young, developing authors who might not have the time, means, or will power to read a whole bunch of stories.

[Aliath]

I also want to reach out to young, developing authors who might not have the time, means, or will power to read a whole bunch of stories.

 

'Ello.

 

 

 

 

this isn't a one word post.

Edited January 3, 2009 by -Jake-

[Finway]

I also want to reach out to young, developing authors who might not have the time, means, or will power to read a whole bunch of stories.

 

'Ello.

You know, compared to most new authors you're pretty good.

[Fake]

I also want to reach out to young, developing authors who might not have the time, means, or will power to read a whole bunch of stories.

 

'Ello.

 

Now that's a one word post, and yes, you are fairly better compared to new authors.

 

 

 

~No, not real, just Fake.

[hlow]

I also want to reach out to young, developing authors who might not have the time, means, or will power to read a whole bunch of stories.

 

'Ello.

You know, compared to most new authors you're pretty good.

 

Would I be considered a new author?