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My Light and Hope
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Jack Frost, Jaquelyn, Jackie: {The empress of winter; The lonely white wolf }, MOD assistant *loves winter!
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message 3:
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Jack Frost, Jaquelyn, Jackie: {The empress of winter; The lonely white wolf }, MOD assistant *loves winter!
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It was a large room, filled with shelves. Perched on the shelves, thousands of small glass boxes held a shining object.
I was confused, because I thought a display would be reserved for Aduro, but as I looked around at the shining boxes, I realized what this was about.
“They're all crystals!” I exclaimed loudly. “It's meant to disguise which one is the real crystal!”
“Oh no,” Lia whimpered.
“Well, let's get searching.” Callon again took charge. He walked through the aisles of crystals, carefully scanning each box. The rest of us quickly came to our senses and started searching in different parts of the room.
I hoped that if I found Aduro, I would feel it. For several minutes I searched the cases as fast as I could. As I neared the back of the room, I spotted a box that glowed slightly brighter than all the others. Curiously, I went over to see the box. Suddenly I was overwhelmed by a feeling pulling me to the box. Mesmerized, I picked up the shining object.
“I found it!” I shouted to the others. “Come quick, I have Aduro!”
I heard running footsteps, then Lia rounded a corner and came toward me. We stared at the crystal. Callon, Ross, and Aldon seemed mesmerized by it too. After a minute I shook my head, and whispered, “We have it. We have to get out of here quick before we're found out.”
At my words a loud clanking noise sounded by the door. I looked down the aisles of crystals and saw soldiers flooding into the room.
“Quick! Stick together, we have to find a way out of here!” Callon yelled.
The soldiers headed straight for us. We followed Callon as he wound around the shelves. I became worried that the soldiers would surround us. Running flat out, we raced down an aisle, rounded a corner, and I crashed right into Callon, Ross, and Lia, who had all stopped because the aisle had turned out to be a dead end. Instead of us ramming into the shelf, it swung back into a passage inside the wall. After recovering, we stared at the passage in shock.
“What are we waiting for? Let's go!” Aldon shouted.
We dashed inside the tunnel. It was dark, but Aduro created enough light to see. Having lost the soldiers for now, I hoped we could get away. The tunnel sloped upward, sometimes turning into stairs. A final, steep staircase led to a trap door. Climbing through, we found ourselves on the east side of the city. The trap door blended perfectly into the ground.
“Now it's light, and we have soldiers on our tail. It will be harder to get away, but we can do this. If we run, we can make it back to our horses,” Aldon said encouragingly.
So we ran. It took a while, but we didn't tire. We went around the back gate of the city and back up to the wood where we had camped. We mounted our horses and galloped out and away from the city. I had packed Aduro in my pack, rolled up in my clothes and carefully squeezed between my sleeping roll and Lia's. I glanced back at the city. Soldiers were pouring out of the front gates, but it didn't look like they had that many. Maybe a few hundred at most. And they weren't on horses either. We would make it back with enough time to restore Aduro and warn the King of the soldiers' approach. Stopping only for a few hours in the night, we rode the whole way back to the edge of the forest, and by then we were not far from the King's city, so we slowed and took a little time to rest.
It was mid-morning when we arrived. Tthe King, our families, friends, and many others greeted us back with praise and a feast. The King restored Aduro back into its place, and the effect was immediate. I felt a vibrating tingle start in my toes and fill me up until I felt I would burst. Lia looked at me in amazement, so I knew she felt it too. After that everyone started dancing and singing, and it was a while before we could call a private counsel with the King to tell him the news of the soldiers. When we finally spoke with him, he laughed and said, “Aduro generates a field of protection around the whole Forest of Dorian. There is no need to fear an attack. The only reason Aduro was stolen was because we were moving its place of power, and the field of protection was momentarily turned off. That man was lucky to have slipped in and out so easily.”
We stopped worrying after that and enjoyed the festivities. I felt so filled up inside with tingling, that I even sang a song for Lia and my family. A ways off I saw Callon watching me, and I blushed a little. When I finished singing, he asked me if I would dance with him. It turned out that Lia was dancing with Aldon. Only Ross, who was telling a group of elves of his cleverness in figuring out the traps on the stairway, wasn't dancing.
Later, I went to my house and sat in my room, staring out the window at the stars. I picked up my journal and started writing about the journey. When I finished, I titled it, 'My Light and Hope'.”
And that is the end of my story in My Light and Hope.

message 7:
by
Jack Frost, Jaquelyn, Jackie: {The empress of winter; The lonely white wolf }, MOD assistant *loves winter!
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((it ok and if you want to keep this story in this group you might want to put it in the finish/unfinished books topics k? Cause when this competition is done this thread will be deleted.))
Katrina
Fantasy
My Light and Hope
The night before we entered the City of Men to bring back the stone, I sat by the campfire, thinking back over the events leading up to this night.
Sixteen years previously, the elves of the Dorian Forest were living peacefully, not wary of the men fighting not far from their borders. But, one night a man crept through the forest. It was Festival Night, and the elves were not keeping watch for trouble. The man stole into the King's City and took the source of magic and life for the elves: a crystal called Aduro, meaning light. He got away and used it to unfairly win the war of his people. He then built up a great city and kept Aduro a guarded secret. The morning after the theft, the elves were astonished to find that Aduro had been taken. They quickly discovered it had been taken by a human to his city, but through the night that man had used the magic to win the war and was now ready to defend against the elves' attack. With no power left, the elves had no choice but to abandon Aduro. They knew their kingdom would not last for much longer. But, that very morning, a baby girl was born to the King's second cousin's once removed brother and his wife. She was the first baby of that year, and having relation, though distant, to the King, she was said to be a sign. The mother and father named the baby Estelle, meaning hope.
I am that baby. The King, knowing the elves cannot last for much longer, has chosen five young heroes to retrieve Aduro and restore the kingdom. Me, my best friend Lia, a leader-type elf named Callon, Ross who is a clever young elf, and Aldon, known for his strength and bravery are the chosen elves. The only problem is, in retrieving Aduro we have to get past the defense of its own power. We might not survive.
Hearing a slight rustle over to my left by the temts of my companions, I whipped out by bow and fitted an arrow to it, fast as lightning, pointing it in the direction of the noise. Lia stepped out of her tent and froze to see me pointing an arrow at her.
“Oops, sorry, Lia. I guess I'm a bit paranoid,” I stated apologetically, lowering my bow.
“Yeah, you are, Estelle,” she smirked a little. “It's my turn for watch now so you can sleep.” She sat beside me.
“Okay, thanks,” I yawned. I then turned to her and said seriously, “We have to get it back.”
“I know. When we do, we'll be heroes. Don't you worry,” Lia answered sincerely.
“Alright then. Goodnight.” I went to my tent and lay down, instantly falling asleep.
* * *
“Wake up, Estelle. We have to go before it turns light,” Lia whispered, shaking me awake.
I speedily packed up my few provisions. The boys, Aldon, Ross, and Callon were all up packing the tents and supplies. A quick breakfast followed, then mounting our horses, we quietly clip-clopped out of the small wood where we had camped.
Looming not far ahead in the dark light, we could see the west side of a majestic city with high towers. Because we had to sneak in, we were going to leave our horses outside the wall and only take our needed weapons inside with us. In order to escape the guards' gaze, the plan was to go up the side of the wall while it was dark. Then we would take out the guards in that area to avoid being discovered.
With a silent signal, Callon told us to spread out a bit and climb up the wall. As practiced, I stood up on the back of my horse a couple yards from the wall and flung my grappling hook as hard as I could. Is sailed up and up, and then fell down onto the rim of the wall, grabbing hold securely. I climbed up swiftly and leap onto the wall. I grabbed an arrow from my quiver and shot the unsuspecting guard. He dropped without a noise, and I ran off to meet the rest of the group. We went down a stairway and Lia swiftly took out the guard at the bottom with her bow. The King had given us a map showing where the crystal was hidden, so following its directions, Callon led us toward the center of the city. It wasn't very busy at this time in the morning, but we still covered our pointed ears and weapons with long cloaks in colors like brown, red, green, or blue so we wouldn't seem too suspicious. Without trouble we came to the city's center square. Ahead of us, down the main street, stood the palace. It was not as elaborate as some, or even as large, but it was well guarded.
“Callon, how are we getting in?” I asked in quiet tones.
“There's a servants' door over there.” He pointed to a small alley. “We'll be able to sneak in there.”
Acting casual, we walked down the alley, and Ross peeked through the unlocked door at the end. Reported that the hall was clear, Ross led us inside.
Callon studied the map. “I think that we need to make our way down,” he mused.
He led us through many corridors and down many staircases. The walls were made of stone, and it was starting to get colder.
After a few minutes I began t odoubt. What if we were just getting lost? How did Callon know he was reading the map right? What if the King was wrong, and Aduro was actually in some other city? What if the crystal held here was a fake? As these thoughts crowed my mind, I noticed that they didn't seem normal. They didn't seem like something I would think.
Then Aldon said suspiciously, “Callon, are you sure this is the right way?”
“Yeah, is it? How do you know Aduro is even in this palace?” Lia added.
Callon stopped walking and stared at the map intently. Ross too was peering around doubtfully. It was then that I knew something wasn't right.
“Wait! I think maybe something is influencing us. Are these really our thoughts?” I asked them fiercely.
Lia's brow creased in thought. “I don't know.”
“Maybe,” Callon muttered.
“I think you're right, Estelle. Maybe...oh no!” Ross looked stricken.
“What?” Lia exclaimed.
“What if this is the power of Aduro working against us?”
“Hey, that would make sense,” I agreed.
“Then we have to fight it,” Aldon told us.
“Yes, we will fight it and finish our quest!” Callon's voice was strong and influential.
We started jogging through the winding routes that Callon led us through. I was surprised we hadn't run into anyone, but I guessed that no one came down this way much anymore. Callon stopped very suddenly, and I bumped into him, almost knocked him and Aldon down the stairway in front of us.
“Oops! Sorry,” I muttered.
Lia rolled her eyes.
“This stairway leads to Aduro. This will be the final defense,” Callon warned.
“Don't worry. I know we'll get down there,” Ross said confidently. “Estelle, can I borrow one of your arrows?”
“Sure.” I handed him one.
We lit a torch so Ross could see down the stairs. He took the arrow and started tapping the first few stairs in different places. Nothing happened, so he told us to descend behind him. He continued tapping until the end of the staircase when one stair crumbled to dust, revealing a dark hole.
Ross smiled. “That is why we tap.”
A short narrow hall led to a door, that I assumed opened to reveal Aduro. When we reached the door, Ross tapped it hesitantly, then eased it open to reveal what we had all been waiting for.