Pretty self explanatory lol. I got a story idea and just finished writing the first chapter. I'm considering getting a Wattpad account, but I only have my school google account which for some reason doesn't let me use Wattpad even though I can use it on my phone using the exact same google account (absolutely no idea why) and so I'd have to make a new google account and I don't really want to bother doing that XD But, uh.. yeah! if this doesn't make much sense, then the second chapter will explain everything I think (hopefully) and constructive criticism needed and encouraged! XD

The Stone Quest

introduction thingey:

I’ve heard the stories; I’ve read the books; Every good hero story has a love interest. An attractive, bland, underdeveloped character that’s there merely for the hero’s convenience. A character that gets captured, tortured, and used just to get close to the hero. We never hear their side of the story, though. Only the hero’s. Only the one with all the glory and power gets to be heard. Never the ones that are on the side. Never those who are put through, oftentimes, much worse things than the hero. Never do we think that they have a story of their own, their own lives and interests and grievances.

I suppose I’m the love interest in this story. Whoever seems to be writing this certainly thinks so. And all the villains seem to think so too. Only I have my own thoughts; I’m not pretty or attractive; And I am not underdeveloped.

I’m Elsie Farren, and I am not just a love interest.

*

“Soon, Sire.” Elsie hears a voice from around the corner. SHe pressed flat against the rough cement wall and crept closer, hidden behind a few wine barrels. She slowly turned her head around the corner, and gasped. Zladar is there with one of his henchmen! SHe quickly turns her head out of view and slumps down on the hard ground, behind the wine barrels, hidden from peering eyes.

“We have found the map, Sire. We will now be able to find the stones, and finally get rid of those wretched children.”

Elsie didn’t know what made her blood boil more. That Zladar was one step closer to finding the stones, or being referred to as a child. She waited silently, plotting. One wrong move and it would be a death sentence.

“Well done. Where is it?” Zladar asked, his voice low and sinister.

“In the safe, Sire.”

“Take me there.”

The safe! Perfect! She would have to wait till night time to get it, but luckily she had her lock pick with her. She was just about to start sneaking away when Zladar and his henchman turned around the corner. She sucked in a breath and pressed flat against the wall. Don’t move a muscle, She thought.

They passed her, and walked toward the safe. Elsie watched them, unintentionally holding her breath. She watched them go to the end of the hallway, and the henchman put a key in what seemed to just be a crack in the wall. A large portion of the wall swung open, exposing the safe. Elsie gasped.

The map was rolled up on a shelf, and Zladar reached in and grabbed it. He unrolled it. “Perfect….” A sly smile grew on his face.

Elsie looked at her watch. 7:34 pm. Just a few hours and then it’ll be dark and no one will be in here. She settled behind the wine barrels and got ready to wait.

*

10:47 pm. Elsie smiled. Perfect timing. The hallway was dark and no one had come through the hallway for at least 30 minutes. She stood up and carefully stepped over the wine barrels. She tied up her red hair in a ponytail to keep it out of the way, and pulled her black hoodie over her head. She quietly walked over to the safe, and got her lockpin out of her pocket. She knew there was a high chance that this could go wrong, and that she should have gone immediately back to Lukas and the others so they could form a plan, but that would have wasted too much time. She scanned the hallway again before sticking her lockpick in the crack in the wall. She fiddled around with it until she heard a click.

The safe door opened, and she grabbed the map, shut the door and re-locked it. She put the map and lockpick in the inside pocket of her hoodie. She breathed a sigh of relief.

A light flashed behind her. “HALT!”

Elsie whirled around in surprise, and a guard was pointing his flashlight directly at her. She searched the hallway for the exit, and sprinted directly toward the guard, taking him by surprise. The guard chased after her, and more came running into the hallway. She neared the end of the hallway, and fought to remember which way she came in a few hours ago. Taking a leap of faith she turned right and nearly hit the wall.

An arrow flew past her, just barely missing her. She gasped and looked back, and the guards all had their cross bows out. SHe took off running as more arrows came whizzing by. One grazed her leg and drew blood.

The floor was littered with arrows and Elsie’s heart was in her throat as she tried to dodge the many flying ones.

She tried to ignore the blood oozing down her leg. SHe turned into another corridor and saw a ladder going up into the ventilation tunnels. This better work…. She thought as she neared the ladder. She climbed up it, silently cursing the fact that she had to slow down. Just as she was about to enter the tunnel, a sharp pain entered her leg.

“AH!” She cried as the arrow lodged itself in her right calf. SHe fought the pain and climbed into the small tunnel. The guards were full grown adults and were too big to be able to enter it, whereas Elsie was only 14 years old and a bit small for her age.

She pulled the small trapdoor up and started crawling to the left. If she remembered correctly, that if she kept going left then it should take her to the exit. The guards below her were yelling and cursing in anger. “Get the prisoner,” one of the guards said.”He’ll be able to go after them.”

So they were taking prisoners now? SHe started crawling away again, trying her best to not look at her leg. The sight of the arrow wobbling in it was sickening. After a few minutes, she’d had enough of it.

She took off her black hoodie and tied it around her leg. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her hands, which were shaking. SHe quickly looked away, and before she could second guess it, yanked the arrow out. Her eyes widened and she gasped in pain. She tightened her hoodie around it, trying not to look as blood began to seep into the fabric.

There were grunts and yells coming from below, and Elsie heard the trapdoor opening. “Go in!” Whoever the prisoner was, it seemed they didn’t want to go in. Elsie started crawling away again, even faster. “I said, go in.” The prisoner entered the tunnel.

The person started crawling after her, and Elsie started to panic. “Hey!” The person whisper-shouted. They had caught up to her. Elsie glanced behind her nervously. In the dark, all she could see was that it was a boy around her age. “Keep going, but make it noisy so it sounds like a struggle.” He whispered.

Elsie scrambled away from him and crawled away as fast as she could. The boy was going after her but was occasionally hitting the metal walls with his hand, making a ton of noise.

After a few minutes of this, the boy suddenly grabbed her right angle. Elsie gasped in pain, as her attention was brought back to her wounded leg. “Sorry,” The boy said. “But we’re far enough away so that the guards won’t hear us.”

Elsie tried to yank her leg away, but instead fell on her stomach. “Ah!” She cried. She glared at the boy. “What are you gonna do, take me back there?” She asked, her voice hard.

“No!” He said. He lowered his voice. “I’m going to help you. You won’t get out this way, I’ve tried it before. They shut off the exit at the end of this tunnel.”