NerdyMatt

“The Queen Reincarnate” By Matthew R. Clark Chapter 1 Autumn was ending as not one leaf was on the twisted trees of the forest. The clouds covered the night sky with only one of the two moons the smaller one, whose purple-reflected light barely illuminated the pitch-black forest. Walking through the dead woods were two figures who were wearing black cloaks with hoods up. The one in front was a tall thin person about six foot, two inches in length carrying a lit-up torch with an orange flame. The one behind was a smaller, slimmer person about five foot, seven inches tall, wearing a red silk dress, and was holding a six-foot staff made of smooth finely polished mahogany wood. At the top of the staff was a beautiful emerald jewel that the tip of the staff wrapped itself around half of it like branches grown around a rock. The two walked silently in the night not speaking a whisper, until they came to an old wide thick gnarled tree that stood out from the others around it,

I decided to make a list of rules that I go by so that it can keep me focused, and to not stray from my style of writing. But that does not mean that I can make exceptions from time to time. Here is the list. (Sorry about the confusion on the numbering it did that automatically when I put in the bulleted list.) Keep true to the gene or sub gene of the story, in this case sword and sorcery. Warrior dealing with some form of sorcery. Must engage in exciting and violent adventures. Focuses mainly on personal battles. Keep the stories short to about 15 to 20 pages on average. Every word, character, and event must contribute to the main plot, story, and it’s purpose. The story needs to focus on the main character, his powers and abilities, personality and traits, goals. All other characters are secondary. Must have a good balance of dialog and narration. No warfare with little to no politics.

Chapter 1 The four adventurers, each with unique goals, walked towards the dark fortress of the long-forgotten sorcerer. The area would have been pitch black if not for the wizard’s lighting spell illuminating the place. With this, Torin could see the castle in all its wickedness, the stone blocks that made up the thirty-foot wall were cracked, overgrown with vines around it, and the blocks themselves were dark gray in color, so dark in they were almost black. The lake that usually surrounded the castle had long dried out. They walked around the stone armor of the fortress until the group came across the drawbridge that was already lowered the two-door opened wide and the metal gates were raised to allow entry. The chains and hinges were rusted, and the wood was well worn out, it was so overgrown with vegetation that it might as well have been a grassy field. “Are you sure this is safe to walk across,” Amriel said with concern. “It is

Chapter 1 Clouds blanketed the sky, covering the atmosphere in colors of white and grey and giving the day a very grim sight. The gloomy period reflected what was happening in a small town that was below the white curtain. It was a crud town with houses and buildings of uneven dark grey stone bricks and black roofs to cover their tops. Most of the townsfolk were gathering in one area to witness an event that always excited them. The crowd consisted of people who wore ragged brown clothes with dirt-caked unwashed faces. They numbered by the thousands talking amongst each other in simple words. The mass then started to cheer and yell with delight as a rickety old cart made of rotting wood pulled by two donkeys moved through the large pack. Four guards carrying spears were posted around the cart wearing chainmail armor with metal helmets, long black cloth tabards, and a red image of a diagonal ax on the chests. In this cart, kneeling was Torin a bulky

“The Ogre Raid” By Matthew R Clark Chapter 1 Screams and yells were being carried throughout the night sky as people started to run away from the terrible monstrosities that invaded their town. The thirty-foot towering stone wall that was the armor of the village was now broken down and threw it came a threat worst than any bandit gang. The townspeople ran in great fear of what would happen to them as the monsters would do unthinkable horrors to them that would give a torturer nightmares. “Dammit” yelled a lone soldier pushing his way past the crowds with a bow in his arrow at the ready. “Ogres are attacking the village, I never thought we ever are dealing with something like this.” He broke out of the fleeing group and saw the horrors in front of him. The ogres were between six and a half to seven-foot-tall, with bulk husky-like bodies of pure muscle. Their heads were that of wild bores with tusks sticking out of their mandibles and had white

Chapter 1 The sound of creaking was heard as several carts containing numerous items were moving along the wide dirt road. A pair of horses pulled each cart making soft thumping sounds, as they trotted on the path. There were three human guards at each cart, sometimes four, as they were needed to protect the riders from bandits that would steal their goods, or monsters from doing even worst. Every guard had a sword, shield, and spear, but some had bows and arrows for ranged attacks that could end a threat before it reached them. Among them, standing at the very back of the group, was a red-scaled bipedal lizard, also known as a lepidian. He stood up to about six foot four inches tall and wore a scale mail armor attached to a leather coat that fell to his ankles, with sleeves made of chainmail down to his elbows. He had black leather gauntlets, with no gloves and since he had digitigrade feet with pads, he did not require boots. A black hooded cloak covered

Torin The Warrior “The Bandits Head” By Matthew R Clark Chapter 1 The sun shined brightly over the sky with clouds dipping it in and out, and the wind whipped quietly through the forest, but even the rays of the sun’s light could not penetrate past the thick green pine trees as below them cast shadows on the ground. A light brown dirt trail separated the forest trees, a trail that was wide enough to allow a carriage through but would also have difficulties turning it around. This road was once used as an alternative route during the great war many years ago, a war that involved a conflict between the continents of Distrias and the neighboring continent of Cerbria. The main road was often attacked by the enemy forces which prevented valuable supplies from reaching nearby towns and armies, therefore the route was made so that caravans could avoid it for a much safer way to transport the goods. When the war ended, however, travelers were now able to use the main road again which is

Torin opened the door to the barracks office and the sound of a ding was heard as the top of the door hit the bell. The office had a hickory wood floor with stone walls, and the captain was sitting at his desk with another person standing in front of it. The captain was a balding man in his early fifties and wearing standard chainmail armor with a light blue tabard over it, bearing a swan symbol. The one standing up was of average height with short raven black hair, he was equipped with studded brown leather armor, a yew wooden bow and arrows on his back, a hand and a half black handled sword attached to his side, and long studded leather boots that matched the armor. “Look you got to have some kind of job for me, I’m desperate for the money,” said the man in rawhide armor with a tone of desperation in his voice. “If I don’t have enough coin soon, I’m a dead man.” “Well, that’s what you get when you make deals with people like that,” said the

Torin woke up to the sound of creaking as the door started to open. He opened his eyes slowly and saw a black figure that showed even with the darkness surrounding it. The only light came from the two moons, that were shining a beam of blue illumination into the room. The light reflected off a small metal blade which Torin saw as a dagger that the dark figure was holding. Knowing what the person intended to do with the knife, Torin grabbed his long sword and unsheathed it halfway to block the knife preventing the blade from cutting his neck. Using his foot, he kicked the dark man pushing him back to the door. Because the door was only a quarter of the way open, it slammed shut when the person hit it. Torin got up and pulled the rest of his sword out and then got into a plow guard stance. The dark figure got up at the same time and with the other hand brought out a second weapon. He was now holding two daggers with both blades being about eight inches long. The person wore a black

The sun was now half-hidden behind the mountains painting the atmosphere with red and orange as Torin reached the town of Willsden on the east side gate. The town was surrounded by a thirty-foot stone wall to protect it from any threats in the open world. Torin walked over to the draw bridge when one of the guards spotted him. They were dressed in chain mail armor-wearing conical helmets on their heads, metal armored boots, and a sword sheathed on their sides while holding a spear. A long green cloth tabard covered their armor representing the colors of the town, with a pine tree symbol on the chest. “Who goes there,” one of them said looking down at Torin with his eyes locked on the lepidain. “Oh, it’s that red lizard again, I guess you were able to kill those bandits and survived, seeing you standing there.” “Sorry to disappoint you,” Torin said mockingly with a bored look on his face. “But I’m not looking to die anytime soon, now could you open the gates, I’d like to see the captain