Hey, I had an idea..... if we are adding illustrations, we should hold a contest on the forums for the illustrator. I mean there are some pretty good artists here!

Okay but we are going to have to have high standards hehehe

hehe... maybe the person with the best illustration for the prolouge? If that's what you wanna call your first post. LOL Oh, I might not finish chapter 1 today.. I have finals next week....

Well I think I might start this today.

Guest wrote:Well I think I might start this today.

Hi, if you wanna suggest a character, just type up a recomendation form like in the first post :D

Do ya like it so far?

maybe the guest is King....

Is that you king?!?!?!

Why does it say guest??? And I would love for you to work on it tonight LOL

Tripple post! LOL
Anywho.. finished my revision of CHAPTER 1, tell me if I need to fix anything. I'm getting feedback from my friends at school.....



Chapter 1



The night stirred silently as the crisp leaf fell gently through the dry, fall breeze. Landing next to its neighbor, the leaf become one in a mound on the forest floor. The sound of a mouse could be heard warning its friends of the owl silently approaching. Its intent was to steal the small apple the mice had worked for hours to pull off of the tree high above. The owl snatched up the mouse before he could finish his warning and became very pleased with himself. After catching his meal, this owl took to a nearby oak and settled himself on a cozy branch. The bark colored owl then proceeded to watch the happenings this night that would go down in history.
In the distance, the small glow of a torch began floating closer to the owl in it’s hiding place at an alarming speed. As the flame grew closer, the owl flew a little higher into the tree as to not be seen. At the sight of this, the mice quickly rolled their dinner into a small hole they had burrowed into the great oak.
" Gru-lop... gru-lop... gru-lop.. gru-lop.. gru-lop, gru-lop"

The pile of leaves, so carefully laid by the trees, scattered into the air as the large white stallion galloped across the weed ridden path. Both the rider and the horse got an eerie feeling as they entered the enchanted grove that they had made their campground. Everything seemed normal. The purple flowers all round gave off a wonderful aroma as the breeze lifted it and carried it right to their noses. It was almost lulling them to sleep as they drifted further inward. There was a fox warming himself just close enough to the fire to get warm yet not seem obtrusive.

The knight’s measly little bedroll look as if it had been moved, but only slightly. The knight accredited this to fatigue and the possibility of woodland creatures. many creatures lived in these woods, including the vicious ones like werewolves and unicorns. Surprisingly, at least in the kingdom of Fou, unicorns had turned to violence. As a result, their horns nad curved into a dark spiral on an even more disfigured face. Like many things in Fou, the unicorns now had an evilness about them. For some strange reason, that would certainly become clear in the coming hours, Fou had been digressing into a state of panic and terror along with the feeling of wickedness all around.

The knight was now almost to the camp. He started to notice some strange signs. First, the fire was still burning brightly after a day of neglect. Second, the grass seemed to have been trampled and then carefully put back into its place. Lastly, the fox’s eyes were wide with terror.

The rider leaped off of the horse, landing with a thud followed by thunderous, metal clanking foot steps. As he crept in suspicion towards the campfire, he heard his trusty steed whine. He turned around just in time to see a cloaked figure knock out his horse and turn towards him.

The cloaked figure was none other than Mauvais, the Overlord’s degoutant. A degoutant was the Overlord’s right hand man, his trusty henchman, and his evilness. The duty of the degoutant is to do anything the Overlord pleases. If that be kill a man, the degoutant would gladly do it. The ultimate price however was your past. A degoutant must banish his own family to fully take on the evil necessary to perform some tasks he is required to do. This degoutant was the Overlord’s favorite and most evil.



It had been 12 whole hours since his arrival at the campground and he was wondering if his enemy would ever arrive. Just then, the glow of a torch in the distance appeared. With it, Mauvais guessed, was his enemy, the Knight. This was no ordinary knight. He was of the knight species; tall, dark, and handsome. However, he was also clad in shining silver. It was not steel, nor bronze, but silver. It was a gift to him by the ruler of Dardinpale, before the Varodels took the throne. Along with him was the most desired prize, and Mauvais’ second objective. His steed, Liberte, was the most prized horse in all the lands. He was a white stallion that, along with whoever was his rider, never grew old. He was both the fastest and the best at combat in all the lands.

As Mauvais watched his future ride towards him, he began to remember about his past.

He had been a handsome young man intent on what all young men are. He wanted love. His first taste of this desire happened when he met Amant, the most beautiful woman in his old village. Many men tried to gain favor with Amant’s father, but most failed. her father was a strict man of thirty who wanted only the best for his daughter. He remembered the first time he went to go see Amant’s father about marrying her.

Just then, he flashed back to reality and saw his target entering the grove. He hoped that the knight didn’t notice the little nap he took in his bedroll. He snuck around the circle of trees so that he was behind the steed. When the knight was far enough away, Mauvais made his move. Being silent as the night, he swooped down upon the horse. the horse was out cold before the knight could do anything. Then the battle started.

The grizzly voice, beneath the black cloth voile, muffled , "Ah, I have been expecting you for quite a while now...you took longer than I expected."

The rider stared at the figure again, just to be sure it is Mauvais, and then drew a silver bladed sword from his belt which had been a gift from one of the many kings he had met. It was embedded with all kinds of gems. Too bad he would have to bloddy it on this scum. The rider raised the sword with both hands in preparation for the battle. Mauvais had raised his shield in preparation for an attack, but it was no match for the rider’s mighty sword. With one mighty thrust, the sword broke the light wooden shield as if it were butter.

In an attempt to demoralize the knight, Mauvais whispered harshly, "My master is too powerful for you! You are a fool to fight us! Surrender now and I might have him spare your life."

The rider once again made a mighty thrust towards Mauvais, this time breaking the small blade he wielded. The knight made a few more controlled stabs toward Mauvais with no effect. At this point Mauvais began getting angry and yelled, “You fool! You dare challenge my power?” As a demonstration of this power, Mauvais thrust a single hand towards the silver moon.

Suddenly, Mauvais began a strange transformation. At first, the knight thought he was just being arrogant and was about to finish him off. Then, however, he noticed dark brown hair growing rapidly on Mauvais’ face. Hair was growing on his arms, legs, back, neck, and just about everywhere else. Mauvais’ muscles were growing uncontrollably and he was getting taller extremely fast. His robe burst off exposing his pants underneath. His face made a horrible crunching noise as his nose and mouth became the long snout of a dog. By the end of his horrific transformation, Mauvais looked like something out of a horror movie. He was now ten feet tall and looked along the lines of a fury tank. He whipped around a tail the size of a large snake which barely missed the knight. The only thing still remotely human was his eyes, still red with anger and evil.

The horrid creature lunged towards the rider, swiping furiously with the claws that had grown out of his hands. As he pushed slashed at the knight, he slowly pushed him towards the line of trees surrounding the campsite. These trees had been affected by some magic making them form a barrier. The knight realized this and tried to move around Mauvais, but the giant tail was blocking his way. He tried to slash with his jeweled sword, but Mauvais’ fur just cushioned the blows.

When all hope seemed lost, the knight made a final attempt to slash at Mauvais’ face. He felt his sword strike bone as he slid it down his face. There was now a deep gash running from Mauvais’ left eyebrow to his neck. This gave the knight the chance he needed to run and let Mauvais’ magic wear off. Even with this gushing injury, Mauvais continued to fight with even more anger than before. The hideous creature let a gut rolling roar out and raced towards the knight. He slashed the knight’s neck, knowing it was a fatal wound.

He decided to watch his enemy finally die before his eyes and let down his guard. He started the transformation back into the scum he was previously when he saw the knight stir. The knight raised his sword high in the air with all of his strength and muttered a few inaudible words.

The half-transformed Mauvais crept over to the body and snickered, "I waited this long to find you and now all you can do in your final moment is raise your sword? Pity... I hoping a more dramatic ending to a legacy". Just after Mauvais said this, the ground exploded into the air! A flaming meteor had hit directly where Mauvais was standing and sent the surrounding ground into a frenzy. It had also set much of the surrounding land on fire creating a bright blaze. As particles of the ground were sent off in every direction, the knight slashed at his horse in hopes that Mauvais could not save it and use it for his own purposes.

The owl had watched all of the night’s happenings high in his perch in the great oak. One thing I must note is that this was no ordinary owl. He flew down to the campground where Mauvais, the night, and Liberte were hidden by the fire. He suddenly transformed into a man who instantly ran to his village.

When he arrived the next morning the towns people were just awakening. When he arrived, William Rotwood was yelling for his wife. The villagers heard the yelling of William Rotwood and all emerged from their houses. All of the villagers were shocked at what they heard William explained how his wife was missing, and of the strange owl-man’s story of the battle. Some of the spectators were shocked while others seemed almost happy.
Later that day everyone had gathered in the center of the small town to discuss what had happened earlier. Much of the story had already been changed. it was said that a glowing knight faced a raven-man that had changed into a wolf. Then there was talk of a meteor storm raining from the heavens to help the brave knight and how there was nothing left.

This was when William made the biggest stand he ever had in his life. He stood on a crate and screamed at the top of his lungs. "I am sick of the unfair Kings that rule these lands! If you, my friends and neighbors, want a free land ,a land of hope and prosperity, follow me!"



END OF CHAPTER 1

Since king isn't coming back.. :( I think I'll continue his story! Anyone can still help, just fill out the form King suggested in the first post... I look forward to working with anyone that wants to on this project! :D