Hey all! It has taken us awhile to reach this, but we are finally at 40,000 words! Here is an excerpt from what we've been working on. Once again, we'd love feedback. Thanks!
“Now, enough of that talk. Before I teach you any spells I want to test you. The test is fairly simple. However, I cannot give it to you.” said Gerard. “Find Sir Henry. Go now, and you will find him at the castle.”
“OK. What exactly should I do? “said Miram,
“Just go, and Sir Henry will explain to you.” said Gerard.
Miram walked away. Miram thought this was very strange Miram just met this guy and now he’s sending him on some weird test. But he liked him. Something about him seemed strangely comforting.
“The test is timed,” Gerard shouted.
Miram started running. He rushed passed the marketplace and passed Carter Lake, where about 200 yards from the beach he saw the castle. He stopped in front of Sir Henry out of breath.
“Hello.” said Sir Henry.
“Hey. Gerard told me-” said Miram. He was interrupted.
Suddenly, out of no where, Sir Henry vanished. Miram had no idea what had happened. He looked and shouted for Sir Henry.
Then, he noticed his feet weren't visible. He was stunned. What was happening? It started spreading up his body faster and faster until he could no longer see his legs. His heart was beating rapidly. He panicked and tried to move but he felt unable to. It spread to his neck. He felt cold. He was stunned, nothing like this had ever happened to him before. Maybe it was part of the test. He became lost in thought when he noticed how far the invisibility had gone. It reached his eyes. Everything became very dark.
The darkness seemed to last a lifetime. Miram tried to speak. He tried to cry out for help. But his voice stopped in his throat and he was unable to speak.
Finally, he saw a faint light shimmering. Miram looked down and saw that his feet were visible. The visibility returned almost as fast as it had gone. He walked toward the light. It became stronger and stronger. It looked like it was outlining a door. Miram walked to the door, it was locked, but not very strong. He tried ramming it with his shoulders. It took all his strength but it fell over, barely. He walked through the opening. He saw a firelight in the distance and he heard talking. Who was it? The room that he had broken out of looked like an old, rickety, shack. He now found himself in a field. There were some trees scattered around. Miram walked slowly toward the voices. Then he saw what was making the noise. They were tough looking creatures that stood over seven feet, and walked upright. They had grey, leathery skin and were quite hairy. Miram cringed as their horrible smell came over him. It was worse than rotten garbage.
He hid behind a tree. All of a sudden the beasts stopped talking. One of them looked back at Miram and scanned the field with squinted eyes. Then, the beast turned around and they started talking again. Miram breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he wasn't seen.
Miram looked at his surroundings. He saw the glimmer of what looked like a sword lying in the open field. He dashed across the field. Miram heard grunting from the beasts as they noticed him.
“Get him!” One of the beasts screamed in a raspy voice that sounded like an evil whisper.
Miram glanced back and saw them chasing him. Hurriedly, he snatched the sword and ran as fast as he could, far away from the beasts. He came across what looked like a gigantic maze.
“I’ll lose them in there.” He thought. “This all must be part of the test.”
He went deeper and deeper until he was completely lost he rounded a corner and saw a huge spiders nest bigger than his shack he stayed in. There were dozens of ugly creatures living in it that Miram did not recognize. They were furry, gigantic spider like beasts with wings. They had several eyes and two large fangs that were dripping with poison. The smell was horrible. It smelt like burning flesh mixed with rotten eggs.
Miram tried to dash the other way to escape the beasts when one of them flew in front of him. They could fly? Miram acted quickly and cut off a fang and held it in front of him, threatening the creature. Thick, dark poison was leaking out from the fang. It burned Miram’s hand.
He flicked the fang and poison sprayed the flying spider. It scorched the hair on its head and distracted the spider long enough for Miram to cut off its other fang. He could hear the spider’s shrill screams as he ran past it.
Miram smacked right into a web. It was thick and wet. Miram struggled and tried to squirm out of the web but he couldn't escape. One of the flying spiders was approaching. Could spiders smile? Because this one seemed to wear a devilish grin. The spider reached Miram and then started wrapping him up into the web. Miram could smell the disgusting creature’s rotten breath. The strange creature bit Miram’s arm. It stung for a moment, then the pain subsided.
“That’s going to leave a mark.” He thought.
Miram dropped his sword.
He squirted the poison on the webs, hoping to escape the spider’s grasp. It trickled down the entangled string and melted it, creating a small hole that Miram managed to squeeze through. The blazing hot web started a fire in the nest, but the web itself didn't burn. The fire caught Miram’s sleeve, he tore it off and threw it on the ground. Then he squirted venom at it, it burned down. But the web still didn't burn. Miram realized that unless the venom was applied straight to the webs they didn't even melt. He gathered them up and wrapped himself like a mummy in the web.
He picked up his sword and ran straight through the fire. It was hot, but Miram didn't light on fire because of his web cocoon. Miram found that the fire had dried out the webs. They were not sticky anymore and he could easily unwrap himself. Miram grabbed the webs and ran out of the spider cave.
He came to a canyon. It was a beautiful sight. Miram listened to the wonderful bird songs. The whistles seemed peaceful and welcoming. Shadows were cast down from the stone walls and the shade offered a nice cooling area. Miram wandered further, eventually finding himself at a dead end.
Tall trees jutted out of the steep incline. Miram threw some of the web he had collected around a tree at the top and it stuck itself into the branches. Miram tied himself into his makeshift harness and began climbing up the steep incline.
Finally he reached the top. He saw a lake, it seemed familiar. Miram studied the lake and he realized that it was Carter Lake. The same lake next to King Roger’s castle. He started running. He ran past the lake and through the marketplace. Miram found himself at Gerard’s cottage. He knocked. Sir Henry answered.
“Great job Miram!” He exclaimed,
“Really?” Miram asked, surprised.
“Yes!” Gerard shouted from across the room. “Even better than me, after my training was completed!”
“... Oh and you were so resourceful.” Sir Henry added.
“So you were watching me?” Miram questioned.
“Yep.” Sir Henry said.
“How?” Miram asked.
“My vision spell.” Gerard said. “Not very complex, but still very useful.”
“So...I passed?”
“Certainly.” Gerard said."So." Miram said. "What's next?"
