Famers Storywriting Debate Tournament Round #1

Allister stood under the cover, the earth shaking about him. The whole town was scrambling about in a panic. Flaming boulders launched from catapults were bombardinf the city, making it seem as if an earthquake were occuring. The city of elkvale was quickly going up in flames. "Allister! boy, are you with me, or against me?" Tjorbï¿½rn shouted at Allister over the deafening sounds of boulders colliding with the ground. Allisters mind was swimming in a sea of confusion, what should he do? If he didnt go with Tjorbï¿½rn, it was likely he would die anyways in the mass slaughter that was sure to occure when the attacking army broke thru the gates. If he did, it meant he was condoning this unnecessary bloodshed. Then he thought of Mirva, despite their conversation after their meeting at the pub, he still felt a strong connection to her. He couldnt just leave her with Tjorbï¿½rn... "I'll go with you," he finally decided. "Excellent lad!" Tjorbï¿½rn patted Allister on the back, "I knew you would come to your senses!" With that both men set off, with Mirva in tow. They quickly traveled through the city, making their way to a small exit that Tjorbï¿½rn had discovered one day. They walked through and into the underground tunnel the door led into. Neither knew how old the tunnel was, but both had come to the conclusion long ago that it was an old smuggling route that the long disbanded thieves guild once used. The thieves guild itself was notorious in Elkvale, and the Kingdom of Elsar itself. Once the most powerful guild in the kingdom, it had the ear of the King himself, and remained that way for nearly two centuries. Until three decades ago when Melvar became King and decided the guild itself was a blight upon his Kingdom. He had shown no mercy, and every member of it had been slaughtered. It was rumoured that the thieves guild was still around, but thats perhaps a story for another time... The men made their way through the tunnel. They walked for what seemed like hours. The tunnel itself was miles long, and extremely dark. Luckily they had torches set at the entrance and had grabbed them before they set out into the tunnel itself. About halfway through the tunnel Mirva awoke, she struggled immediately and tried to free herself from Allisters hold as he was carrying her. Allister easily stifled her and whispered into her ear, "shut up and act like you are still unconscious, we're almost there." Mirva looked up at him and nodded, understanding the meaning of his words. Allister knew what he would have to do. He knew what was planned all along. Soon the time would come and all of the planning would come together. The three of them finally reached the end of the tunnel, the cave entrance in sight. "Stay here," Tjorbï¿½rn commanded, "I'll be back in a minute once I make sure the entrance is safe. Put out the fires. So you aren't seen." With that Tjorbï¿½rn walked out of the cave. Allister quickly set Mirva down. "You need to hide, I cant let you put yourself in danger anymore." "Nonsense!" Mirva retorted, "I can protect myself just fine!" "No," Allister responded, "you can't. Not unless you think you can defend yourself against an entire rebellion!" Mirva had a cross expression on her face. Allister could tell she wasnt going to go hide and stay behind. No, even in the short time he had known her he knew she wasnt the kind to run and hide in these situations. Just then Tjorbï¿½rn came back. "I see the damsel has awoken!" He joked, "what does she have to say about the situation she finds herself in?" He asked Allister. "You know, let me go scoundrels, you can't do this, do you know who I am, the normal stuff," Allister replied nonchalantly. Tjorbï¿½rn laughed and walked back out of the cave, calling out to Allister to follow. Mirva and Allister followed and came out of the cave, and were greeted by the sight of a group of soldiers on horseback. Tjorbï¿½rn was already on a horse, a white stallion that was draped in a burgundy covering. A true war steed, "Get you and your 'prize' onto the horse boy, we dont have time to waste." Allister helped Mirva onto the only available horse and hopped on himself. With that the group was off. They rode for at least an hour, possibly two, and finally arrived at a small cabin. Tjorbï¿½rn dismounted from his horse and spoke quietly with one of the horsemen in the group. As Allister and Mirva were dismounting the group of rebel horsemen rode off. "Into the cabin," Tjorbï¿½rn commanded, "we must wait for another to arrive." He walked into the cabin. Mirva looked at Allister, both exchanging puzzled looks. "Why are we here?" Mirva asked, "who is your master waiting for?" "I have no idea," Allister admitted, "This wasnt part of the plan Tjorbï¿½rn explained to me!" Neither of them could think of any reason why they were in the middle of the wilderness, at a cabin. Yet, both still walked inside. When they entered a knife immediately hit the wall next to the entrance. Allister looked over to see Tjorbï¿½rn standing in the middle of the cabin, inside a makeshift large circle. "Come boy," he taunted, "you think I dont know what you have been planning all along? You really think I didnt hear your conversation with your precious little Mirva did you? We stopped because I intend to face you like a man. We will settle this here and now, if you kill me, you can go free. My mission has already been accomplished, Elsar will soon be in a state of utter chaos, there is no reason for me to even do this. Save that after I spent years training you, caring for you as a father, you betray me! For what? This tramp? So be it Allister, know that for your treachery you will die!" Allister pulled the knife out of the wall and circled around the ring Tjorbï¿½rn stood in. The staredown between the two men lasted forever. Finally Allister spoke, "If I fail," he said, "Mirva still goes free, unharmed and untouched." Tjorbï¿½rn laughed, extremely amused by Allisters words. "Very well boy," Tjorbï¿½rn accepted, "your delicate little flower will be allowed to go once I am done slicing your treacherous neck, vermin." Allister stepped into the circle and both men began circling each other. Suddenly Tjorbï¿½rn lunged at Allister, who quickly dodged his attack. Allister attempted to use Tjorbï¿½rns momentum to send him to the ground. It failed, as somehow Tjorbï¿½rn managed to shift his weight in the opposite direction and flip Allister onto the ground. Allister quickly rolled over in expectation of the knife the plunged into the ground where he had just been, then quickly jumped to his feet again. "Haha Allister, I've trained you well." Tjorbï¿½rn jeered, "but you still do not stand a chance." With that the two men returned to their fight. Both men were equals, neither truly gaining the upper hand. It was clear this was to be a fight of endurance. Five minutes it went on, then ten, fifteen. Fifteen minutes had passed. Both men were fatigued, bleeding, physically exhausted. Suddenly Tjorbï¿½rn was on the ground! Allister had somehow managed to knock Tjorbï¿½rns blade away and knock him out cold. Allister stood over Tjorbï¿½rn for a second then walked away. Tjorbï¿½rn stirred, he lay there stunned. Nose bleeding, physically broken, staring at the ceiling. "How had this happened?" he wondered, "how had he of all people, managed to find himself in this situation." Just then, Allister stood over him staring down at him with a cold gaze, "Allister!" the man croaked, "why are you here?" Allister smirked and let out a laugh, "Let me give you some advice old man, advice I recieved long ago from you, never trust anyone." The man watched as Allister raised his axe in the air... ___________________ Thank you so much TUF for making this awesome story with me! The ending is up to you, I'm sure it will be excellent. Thank you to famer also for creating this tournament, what an awesome idea. Finally, thank you to voters who read this entire story, I hope you enjoy.