A New Chance

New characters.

“And just what am I supposed to do with these?” The young man asked as he looked at the posters just handed to him. The guard gave him a withering look before answering, “Look, my job is to give these to you... your job is to hand them to the townspeople. Deal with it.” The young man sighed and leafed through the posters, “A swordsman tournament? In five days?” The guard gritted his teeth, “Congratulations, we’ve established that you can read... now how about discovering if you can do your job?!” The young man placed his right hand at his waist and leaned at an angle, studying the posters. “You know, if I won this, I wouldn’t have to constantly take terrible jobs like this... I would finally be recognised for my abilities! I wonder if I could win it.” The young man started to smile, “Yes, I could win it and be seen as the best warrior in the entire city!”

 

The guard looked to the sky and tried to contain his anger, “Hmm, what if I took my sword and swung it at your head. That could be good practice for you! It would make me feel much better!” The young man grinned, “I can take a hint, you want me to hand these posters out now?”

 

The guard grunted and pointed down the street and watched as the young courier ran away. He soon started handing out the posters to the bystanders. The tournament was scheduled to take place in the Palace courtyard. The prize had yet to be decided upon, but whatever it was, it would be presented by the King. There wouldn’t be many people that would be willing to risk their life in a tournament, only to meet the King... however; there was one man that wanted to gain entry into the palace.

 

“What?! Are you serious? An audience with the King?” Syrth looked at the poster he had just snatched from the young man’s hands. This could finally be his chance to get to see her. It had been years, but he hoped Dalia still remembered him. “Wait... swordfighting?” Syrth swept his right hand through his light brown hair and studied the page before him. Now that he thought about it, this seemed to be more difficult than he had anticipated. Walking absentmindedly, Syrth paced over to the fountain at the main market square. Taking a seat at the edge of the water, he turned the sheet over and back, trying to see if there was some secret to winning the competition. A loophole that would allow him to see his childhood sweetheart. “Something wrong?” a voice sounded from behind him. Standing on the water’s surface was his friend Lysha. Syrth grinned at her, “No, nothing is wrong, exactly the opposite in fact!” Lysha rolled her eyes as she lifted her red robe so it didn’t get wet. “So what has the Mages Guild dropout so excited today?”

 

Syrth splashed her with some water for the joke, “Ha, well this here... what do you think? I could get to see her again!” The young mage smiled at Lysha, hoping to see his excitement mirrored on her face. He was disappointed to see exactly the opposite. A look of concern and sadness flickered across Lysha’s face before she gave an encouraging smile. “Yeah... if you don’t get yourself chopped to pieces in the mean time!”

 

Syrth frowned momentarily, looking around himself he compared his lean figure to that of the guards and the men that walked through the marketplace. He wasn’t very athletic, nor was he particularly skilled with a blade. He knew what would happen if he challenged any of those men... and regardless of how much he wanted to see Dalia, staying alive was higher on his list of priorities. “I really don’t know yet, I’ll think of something to do.” Syrth said as he got to his feet. Lysha looked up at him and smiled weakly, “Shame you can’t use magic, you might have a slightly higher chance of not dying!”

 

The young mage winked at Lysha, “You’re just jealous because I was admitted to the Sanctuary.” Lysha jumped to her feet and grabbed the collar of his shirt before she forcibly pulled him closer to her. He found himself staring into her green eyes. Her voice was icy cold when she spoke, “I dare you to repeat that!”

 

Syrth laughed hesitantly, still a little scared of the black haired Ice Mage holding him in her grasp. He had known Lysha since she moved from the northlands. She had specialised in Water based Magic, which is why she was currently studying at the university about irrigation methodology and weather patterning. “You know I’m only joking, you’ll be admitted to the Sanctuary soon, I’m sure of it!” Syrth said with an honest smile.

 

Lysha let go of him, turning her back in the process. She pretended to resent the fact that he was admitted to the highest level of Mage training at such a young age. Yet teasing him about it never lost its charm. The particularly strange part about him being admitted to the sanctuary wasn’t the fact that he was so young, it was because he hadn’t shown a particular flair for anything... he had no speciality.

 

“I’m sorry Lysha, but I’m going to go and see if I can figure out a way to win this tournament.” Syrth said with an excited grin. Lysha smiled lightly and waved as he started to jog back to the Sanctuary. Deep in her heart she knew that he was going to get himself hurt again. She just hoped that she would be able to be there for him when it happened. Dalia changed... If he was smart, Syrth would have done the same.  

Author's Note

have fun.

Reviews

[C. C. Burl]

Good chapter, I really enjoy both Syrth and Lysha's personalities, I can't wait to read more about them! AND it's very well-written; how do you write so fast? I'm such a little slowpoke . . . :)