Rough Draft Part 6
Part of Something
Welcome to my little corner of the internet! I’m so glad you’re here. Below you’ll find part six of my fantasy short story Rough Draft. It starts like you might expect: our Hero is on a mission to rescue the Princess. I’m excited to show you where it goes from there.
Want to start at the beginning? Here you go:
Anaxl slogged his way toward the base of the mountain, the same place the companions had departed from weeks before. He seemed older somehow, lines of worry beginning to crease the corners of his eyes, but was encouraged by the item he now carried in his pack.
It represented hope.
He sat down on a flat rock, letting out his breath and lying the pack next to him. The princess stepped up beside him, a confused look on her face.
Anaxl laid on his back, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth of the sun. “I must be honest, your grace,” he said. “I did not believe we would live to see this day.”
The princess was silent, looking down at her dress. It was considerably more tattered than when she’d first been rescued. Various aches and pains assaulted her senses, injuries that she had no memory of receiving. There was also something else, a… feeling, deep inside, when she looked at Anaxl. A fondness that bordered on devotion. A willingness to follow him anywhere; indeed, the belief that she already had.
“What is going on here?” she asked.
Anaxl opened one eye, then sat up and took her hand between his. “Your grace, what is wrong?”
The princess shied back, although his touch felt familiar, intimate. “I don’t… how did we… what did we…?”
Anaxl stood up. “Talk to me. Let me help.”
“I’m so confused! We were just standing here, deciding which way to go. There were boulders, and rain, and then…and then…poof. We are in the same place, but everything is different.”
“Your grace,” Anaxl said, moving closer. “That was weeks ago.” She saw the concern in his eyes, and longed to have him embrace her, to make everything better. But, no, why would she want that?
“Weeks?” she asked. “How is that possible? There are flashes,” she looked into his eyes, “feelings. But no memories. What happened?”
He stood up. “Our quest,” he said. “We were successful in retrieving the weapon. And, I must say, you were magnificent!” He picked her up by the waist and twirled her around in the air. “That lava pit would surely have become my grave had it not been for you.”
“But I don’t remember any of it!” she said, trying to squirm out of his grasp. “Why?”
Anaxl froze, then placed her back on the ground and took a step back. He cleared his throat and looked to the side.
“Well,” he said, “it may be due to the fact that that particular part of our quest… has yet to be… written…” He smiled, but his eyes were worried.
“Come again?”
“You see, the Narrator has yet to formally write that section. So it’s understandable that you would have trouble remembering it…”
“Trouble remembering,” she said.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Something that hasn’t happened yet.”
“Correct,” he said. “But we should not let that stop us from acting as though it were already so! It’s all outlined, your grace. Just needs to be filled in, a bit.”
“I cannot believe we’re having this conversation,” she said, then looked up to the sky. “Is this part of your grand plan?” she yelled. “You lazy, manipulative pretender!”
“Your grace, I do not…”
“And you,” she said, turning to Anaxl and narrowing her eyes, “how can you just go along with him? We were supposed to be in this together!”
“We are together, your grace. That was the whole point of our adventure. It will also significantly improve the story’s word-count, but that is beside the point. Do you truly not remember any of it?”
“I can’t remember something that hasn’t happened yet!” she yelled, then crossed her arms and took a few steps away from him.
“Not even the lake?” he said. “That quiet, perfect night, with moonlight reflecting off the surface of the water like a million stars dancing before us, when you invited me to bathe with you.”
The princess spun around, face red with a combination of anger and embarrassment. “And this was in his outline, yes? He planned to write that?”
Anaxl dropped his eyes to the ground. “Well…no.” he said weakly. “But he might have…”
“You are both impossible,” she said, then took several deep breaths. “But seeing as how I am currently stuck with you, tell me what we are to do next.” She nudged his pack with her foot. “What is this weapon we recovered? How do we use it to defeat the witch?”
Anaxl winced before answering. “Um, well, about that…. You see, it has not been revealed to me how…”
“He doesn’t know, does he?”
“Not a clue, your grace.”
“Perfect,” she said, then began the long walk back up the mountain.
Suggested music for Part 6: The Emptiness Machine by Linkin Park
Thank you for waiting. Part 7 is now available for your consumption:
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