Calm Before The Hurricane

To be not honest? When I read over what I've written so far for this chapter, it looks incredible. Each word is picture perfect, and the plot is amazing. To be completely honest, though? It reeks.

Sharp branches poked her face and scraped her hair, and dead twigs broke under the impact of her boots as she moved into the clearing. Sophia held her bow and arrow the way other people held bows and arrows as she walked in the undergrowth, down by her side, the arrow resting against her grip on the string of the bow.
In every possible direction around her, silence.
And nature, of course.
She walked with stealth, the way she'd been taught, so she was quiet and so the prey didn't run away.
Further away, she heard footsteps.
So light, so soft, yet she could hear them coming closer, gaining on her, challenging her. She ignored it, and inched forward.
The trees blocked the early morning sunlight in, so there wasn't much to see. But she could make out the deer, right there in front of her, and that was all she needed to see.
Sophia raised the bow up to her face, taking careful aim. She had one shot at this. Just one shot. Or it'd run away, and she'd have to start all over again. She breathed through her nose, stretching the string as taut as it could go, and then she-
"We've just got a call."
She shot, startled from her concentration, and the arrow whistled through the air, missed the deer, and hit the tree next to it.
Unsurprisingly, the deer ran away.
Sophia threw her bow on the ground, and turned to him.
"What the hell," She said. "Was that for? I nearly had it. I nearly had it, and you ruined it for me. I had one shot at it, and you ruined it."
He appeared amused. "I think you're supposed to shoot the deer, Sophia, instead of the tree. It'd make a lot more sense."
She glowered at him. "Well, I would've shot the deer if you hadn't ruined my shot."
"Well, if its any consolation, your aim was slightly off anyway."
"No, Cameron, it is not any consolation whatsoever."
"Oh, sorry."
"You startled me. You're not supposed to do that. You're not supposed to startle someone when they're trying to shoot something, because that can make someone very annoyed at you."
"Of course," Cameron said. "My apologies. Are you done?"
She sighed. "Guess so. So what is it?"
"The call just came in," He said. "Apparently, there's some sort of emergency at the Sanctuary, so we're needed there immediately. If you're done shooting the trees?"
Sophia scowled. "I'll get back at you for this later."
"Excellent. Come along now,"
She picked up her bow, strapped it to her back along with her sheath of arrows, and Cameron led the way out of the forest to the black BMW parked at the side of the road.
Sophia got in the passenger seat, throwing the bow and arrows in the back, and put on her seatbelt. Sweat clung to her in places she didn't want to mention, and the adrenaline was slowly wearing off. Cameron turned the ignition, and they drove away.
"So what's the drill?"
He hesitated. "Don't know for sure. But there was something about a Necromancer raid, as far as I could tell. There was a lot of screaming and crying over the line, more crying than screaming, in fact, so I didn't catch a whole lot."
"A Necromancer raid?" She asked. "They're raiding the Sanctuary? Why would they do that? Can they do that?"
"My guess? Because they don't like us, and given proper leadership, they could very well overthrow us."
She sat back. "So let me get this straight. People like to kill other people because they don't like each other?"
"Naturally."
"Wow, that's awful. That's just so awful. Mortal people are way less brutal than this, you know? If you don't like someone, you just give them the evil eye, gossip about them, or I don't know, maybe some well-deserved hair pulling if you're feeling particularly annoyed, but not this. Never this. You don't just kill someone you don't like. That's not nice. That's mean."
"Very unfortunate," He said. "From what they were saying, there seems to be a weird occurence that resulted in the Necromancers' heightened powers, which brings us to the fact why they decided to go around raiding Sanctuaries before lunch."
"Weird occurence?"
"Not sure what the weird occurence is, but yes. Boosted the Necromancer's death magic by tenfold, so we've got a whole army of super strong sorcerers to stop today. Up for it?"
"Better today than tomorrow," She said.
"That's the spirit."
Cameron parked the car in the Central Mall parking lot, and they got out. Sophia took her arrows from the backseat, and stuffed them into the bag on her back, keeping the bow close. They walked the rest of the way to the Sanctuary, and sure enough, super annoyed and powercharged Necromancers crowded around the Protector Shield that surrounded the Sanctuary, trying to tear through the forcefield.
Lots of them, sorcerers in death black, shadows and darkness snapping and lashing around them, trying to get past the Sanctuary's top defenses.
None of them saw her.
None of them cared to.
Cameron's hand closed around her waist, and he pulled her back down under cover.
"The Upsurge," He murmured.
"The what?"
"Upsurge." He repeated. "That's what they call the big fat thing they have in the Necromancer Temples. Looks exactly like a big fat thing. When enough dark magic is distributed to the thing, it can be activated to life."
"Is that a good thing?"
"The opposite. Legends say, when the thing is awakened after centuries' sleep, the flow of power it produces can heighten the magic of Necromancers around the city, if not the world. Too much of that magic can drive them particularly demented, so a good Necromancer can end up murdering people in a country, provided they're aren't stopped by people like us."
"I don't understand," She whispered. "If that magic can drive them crazy, why would they activate the fat thing in the first place?"
Cameron didn't respond.
"They didn't care, did they?" Sophia asked quietly. "They wanted the power, and that was all that mattered. They thought they could control it even if it did get out of hand, given the time. But they can't, can they?"
"From what I know of this myth, the activation lasts for twenty-four hours before it shuts down again, awaiting its next awakening. That's probably a good thing."
She frowned. "Wait, did you say every Necromancer?"
He looked at her, his head tilted. "I did. Something wrong?"
"Does it count people studying necromancy?"
Cameron nodded. "Every single one. Anyone even capable of the slightest death magic is unfortunately a target." He went quiet. "Daniel, isn't it?"
Her eyes were wide. "He's one of them. If it's true, then we have to find him. We have to get to him. If it's as unstable as you think it is, then he could be in trouble."
"A possibility. He's probably in the Sanctuary with the rest. We'd better get in there."
"So what's the plan?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the Necromancer horde. "You do have one, right?"
"Never doubt my superior intelligence," He said. "Of course I do."
Cameron paused, then hesitated. "Okay, might've spoke too soon. I don't. But that's hardly relevant, come on."
"Where are we going?"
"Shortcut." He said.
He said nothing more.
Leading the way to the street, he walked straight in the middle of the road, and didn't walk anymore. Sophia followed him, a frown on her face. "Remind me what a shortcut is again," She said. "Because this doesn't look like one."
"It will in just a minute," He crouched down on his haunches, and popped a manhole cover off the ground.
"Now does it look like one?"
"No, Cameron, it does not look like a shortcut. It looks like an ugly manhole leading down to an ugly sewer." She stepped back. "Well, that's putting it nicely."
"Shortcuts are shortcuts, regardless of how ugly they are," He said, and placed the manhole cover on the ground next to him.
"Let's go."
Sophia frowned. "Excuse me?"
"You're excused."
"No, I meant, Cameron, I'm not going in there. Do you even know what that is?"
"A sewer, Sophia. It," He said. "Is a sewer."
"Yes, and that's exactly what it is. A sewer. I don't do sewers. I guess we'll have to try the back door."
"The Necromancers have that covered, I'm afraid. Come on, you'll be perfectly fine."
"How do you know this is even a shortcut to the Sanctuary?"
"Let's just say, the last Grand Mage was a wise man. And because he was so wise, he ordered a secret shortcut built here in the sewer, for emergency purposes such as this one. Apparently, it has now proven that purpose."
"If its so secret, how do you know about it then?"y
"I have my ways," Cameron said. "It'll take just a few minutes, then we'll emerge into the underground tunnels that leads up to the Sanctuary's basement. We can go on from there."
"Do I have to go in?" She pleaded.
"Looks you don't have a choice. They're closing in, Sophia."
She put a scowl on her face.
"I will never," She said. "Ever forgive you."
Cameron shrugged, and lowered himself into the manhole, then started retreating down the stairs set into the side. She looked down at the top of his head until she couldn't see the top of his head anymore, and waited. He summoned fire in his free hand, and the inside of the sewer came to light.
Sophia slowly counted to three, murmured a bunch of expletives a girl her age shouldn't be murmuring, before she reluctantly lowered herself in, her boots making contact with the first ladder rung. She scowled one last time, stuffed the bow as best as she could into her bag and closed the manhole cover after her.

Author's Note

Again, if you don't like what you're reading, then don't read what you don't like reading. But any sort of review is so seriously appreciated okay :)

Reviews

[worldcitygirl]

I loved this so much, thank you for sharing, your writing is captivating! Look forward to reading more of this story.

[PhiZephyra]

Thank you so much for reviewing. Theres a second chapter if youre interested :)

[PhoenixDown]

Damn. I don't want to reveal or say too much - and that is a compliment - but ....I dig. Like damn... really good job and "technique & delivery," I'll say. This is what I want more of, and this is evidence that there are other writer's who put "themselves" - their all - into their work. Much respect.

PH

[PhiZephyra]

Thanks :) Glad you liked it