Here's a short section of the first part of the prologue for a novel I want to write
which shall never be published coz my lazy butt can't be bothered writing the very first chapter Ahhh this is kinda embarrassing since it's the first draft, so I might scrap it in the end if I ever do find the motivation to start writing again ahaha
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Metal clashed upon metal as grunts emanated from the throats of the two fighters. One was a boy in his late teens, with scrawny limbs, who was barely able to lift his sword, let alone hold off the other who was a grown man twice in size in both height and muscle.
The boy's leather boots skidded across the dirt floor as he dodged another strike from the warrior. Red painted the other man's cheeks, accentuating his wrinkles and stress lines, at yet another fruitless attack.
"Stay still, ya slippery bastard!"
"Not as long as I'm alive."
In one fell swoop, the young boy crouched low and rolled under the man's spread legs. Before he could react, the boy lunged forward and aimed for the perpetrator's back…
…only for the sword to clash cacophonously with another metal, which he noticed to be a silver shield thrown from the side.
Taking a step back, he looked towards the direction of the source and laid his eyes on a familiar girl. Her right arm was outstretched in front of her, trembling as if the thin limb held a heavy object for an extended period of time. Sweat matted her reddish brown hair to her pale face as she panted profusely, dirt and blood staining her form.
The boy clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. "What the hell was that for? I almost got rid of him!"
His expression would have been unrecognisable to the girl had they not been on a potentially five-month-long suicide mission.
"There's no reason to kill anyone out here, Al. It's not worth it, for now at least."
Alistair sighed. "If you weren't paying attention, Valerie, he was the one who- Watch out!"
A man was staggering behind Valerie with a tainted dagger in his shaking hand and, with a lopsided grin, advanced the weapon towards the back of her neck. A moment before it made contact with her delicate skin, Alistair had pushed Valerie out of the way, receiving a cut on his right cheek. After gaining his balance, the boy rapidly turned to the crook and, with all brute force he could conjure, kicked him in the abdomen. The man flew back a few metres and landed roughly on the desert plain with cries of agony.
Immediately after the shriek, Valerie gripped Alistair's arm as they ran away from the barren expanse of land and splattered blood.
"Val, where are we going?" Alistair's voice seemed small behind the sprinting girl.
"No clue."
They kept running, with the sandy winds rushing against their ears in a harsh caress. It became harder to see due to the amalgamation of airborne sand particles swirling in front of them.
A hazy impression of a cave reached their eyes, followed by Valerie quickening her pace and Alistair dragging his feet. The image became clearer, with the jagged edges of the outer black surface and tapered vertex becoming more apparent against the ochre sky.
Valerie let go of Alistair's hand and looked up to examine the immense cave. Either side of the cave's exterior was blocked off by a wall of rough obsidian rock and, looking up, it seemed to reach to the heavens. So climbing over wasn't an option.
"How about we go inside?" The girl turned to him, expecting an indication of his approval.
Alistair snorted. "How about we stay out here and enjoy the beautiful sandstorm with front row seats?"
"…"
"…Sorry, I was trying to be funny. Of course we go inside. Ladies first."
Valerie rolled her eyes and entered the cave with the boy following suit. They studied the cave's interior as they looked around, enchanted by the glow worms on the ceiling that emitted neon shades of light and intrigued by the crooked stalagmites and stalactites. The clacking of their heels ricocheted off the walls in soft echoes.
With every step, their surroundings grew darker and darker until they could barely see one another.
They stopped.
After a few moments, Valerie heard a brusque scratching sound. A small flame soon licked her vision, illuminating the boy's hand and the area close around them. Alistair held the lighter underneath his chin and twisted his face, crossing his eyes and stretching his jaw wide open, only to fall upon ignorance. His shoulders slightly slumped.
They reached the end of the dark cave and, shortly after, noticed bright streaks that outlined large boulders of rock that composed the wall.
"Hey, you think we can break through this thing?" Valerie clenched her fist.
Alistair locked his fingers behind his head and glanced at her, eyes half-lidded and lips curved in a smirk. "Didn’t know you had a bulldozer in your pocket."
Val pushed some of the tinier rocks, which easily fell outside and bursts of light entered the cave. "We'll start from the smaller rocks, which will destabilise the larger rocks. We'll work our way up, dealing with rocks of increasing size."
The boy's stomach grumbled and he looked down at his abdomen, glaring through his shirt. "It'd be highly appreciated if you could shut up and not whine for the next few exhausting hours." Or it could be days, he mused, as they both started work.
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Streams of blinding light emerged one ray after another, increasingly larger, through the shaking serpentine crevices until the cobbled wall burst from its rigid state, tumbling down in stocky pieces.
A voice, between pants and groans, echoed in the depths of the cave. "See? We don't…need a Bulldozer: Pocket EditionTM… for a task that just needs…effort, skill and pure determination."
Under the illuminating sunlight, which orchestrated dancing dust particles, came stumbling forth a young girl and boy, alike in attire yet different in temperament. They both wore cream ragged shirts under a brown cardigan, with dark brown trousers and leather boots. Belts were tightened around their slim waists, where on the side were the holders for their sword and daggers. The girl had a mess of wavy coffee brown hair that touched her shoulders, which accompanied her large russet eyes. The boy had ash brown hair, similarly messy, and gentle honey orbs.
Alistair shook his head as he huffed and puffed. "That's the thing, Val…I tried to tell you that…at the last minute I found that…there was an opening near…where we were standing…but you wouldn't listen."
The girl halted. Slowly, she turned to the boy. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
As though the words smashed themselves into her bruised skin and heavily weakened muscles with sadistic pleasure, she collapsed and drowned in the long spiny grassland brushing against her porcelain cheeks.
Walking to her side and sitting down, the boy chuckled with mirth and gently placed a hand on her head. He ran his fingers through the cascading chestnut waterfall. “Wake up, Val. There’s not much time left.”