Book 1: The Doomsday Castle Chapter 3: The Elven Ceremony “Elves! You are gathered here today as I announce the five people I have considered.” The king of elves said. The crowd cheered wildly as they waited for him to say the five heroes. “Claw! Nail! Fierce! Mud! Wielder! You are the five I have chosen!” the king said. Four elves excitedly rushed forward to the throne, while the others looked sadly as they knew that they would never be in the greatest battle of the modern world. “Where’s Fierce?” Mud called out to the others. None had an answer. “Fierce fell ill two days ago.” Claw responded. The elves gasped. Without a fifth contestant, they could never know if Fierce would have surpassed the other four. What would happen? “Stop! I have a plan! Fang! You will be the fifth and final warrior in the running.” the king yelled. A young elf in the crowd leaped up from his seat on the ground and darted up to the others. “You five will compete in five challenges, and in each one, the loser of the challenge will be eliminated from the running.” the elf ruler said proudly. “First challenge! There is a rope net above the lake. The first to fall off loses the challenge. If only one contestant has not made it to the end, they lose the challenge.” The five elves hurried up the ladders and to the netting, far above the lake swirling below. The horn blew loudly, and the elves stepped onto the loosely knotted, interlocking, ropes. Wielder seemed to look like she knew what to do, Fang thought to himself. He never thought he would get this far, but it seemed this part might be the end of his short attempt toward a battle against the others. Fang gasped as he felt his foot fall into one of the holes in the net. In a blink of a second, he felt himself slipping into the hole. Luckily, Fang had an idea mid-fall. He grabbed the ropes. He could climb down across the underneath! He felt the ropes scratch his hands as he swung from rope to rope, praying his hands didn’t give out and let go. Only Nail was ahead of him. Fang held onto the edge of the finish line cliff, and pulled himself up to the top. Nail and Fang exchanged a high five. Claw finally got to the other side, leaving only Mud, who was still at the start, and Wielder, who was not doing as well as Fang thought. Her feet were slipping on the wet ropes, and one wrong move, and she would fall down into the churning water. Fang knew the game Mud was playing. The rules said the first person who falls is out. He didn’t have to cross the ropes to win, he just had to outlast Wielder. Fang was sure Mud knew that if Wielder got to the other side, Mud would lose. Luck was on Mud’s side. Wielder gasped as the ropes slipped open, and she fell down into the water too fast to save herself. The crowd cheered and roared wildly! “Wielder has lost the challenge! Mud, Claw, Fang, and Nail will continue the game!” the elf king announced. “The next challenge is… swimming! The last person to reach the finish line loses.” The crowd cheered again! Fang had never felt more energetic that somebody was cheering for him. Nail looked really scared for this challenge, unlike his face when he had won the last challenge. “Fang… I can’t swim.” Nail admitted. “How are you gonna make it to the end?” Fang asked. “I’m not.” Nail said just as the horn blew, signaling the next challenge’s start. The four elves leaped into the water, swimming as fast as they could across the lake that Wielder had lost to. Wielder was staring angrily at them, probably disappointed from her loss. Mud swam crazily, getting to the edge of the water the fastest. Fang was neck to neck with Claw, who was slightly faster than Fang. Fang couldn’t give up now! He battled to stay afloat, but could not keep up with Claw’s speed. I’m not going to make it, Fang thought. Maybe they should have chosen somebody else. Fang rushed further, his head slamming into the grassy terrain ahead. He opened his eyes and struggled his way up to the ground. He looked out across the lake at Nail, who hadn’t even made it halfway. Fang felt bad for him as he stepped out of the lake back onto the solid ground of the starting line. The crowd cheered again.
story by me (and there IS a reason why the elf names are so weird) The rest of the chapter is below ↓ “The loser is Nail! Mud, Claw, and Fang will continue!” the king announced. “The third challenge will be an archery contest! The farthest from the center loses!” The three soaked elves lined up at the target. Fang was first. He drew his bow, and slid an arrow into position. He lined it up at the center, and fired the arrow! Fang closed his eyes in fear, just to open them again shortly there after. Cheering. He had hit right inside the middle circle! Mud went next. He was shaking heavily and poorly aimed at the center. He nervously shot at the center, but hit right outside of the center, right next to Fang’s. Mud looked astonished as the crowd cheered again. Finally, Claw stood in place. She seemed less nervous than Mud, and fired fast. The arrow soared through the air and hit right where Mud’s had but on the other side. The entire crowd gasped. “A tie!” The king yelled. A wave of guards ran to the target, and examined it before grimacing. One of the guards motioned something to the king. “Claw has been eliminated! Mud and Fang will continue!” the king said. The crowd cheered again, excited to see who would be the final hero. “The final challenge… will be… a riddle!” announced the elf upon his throne. The crowd roared wildly, excited to finally find out who the elf that goes to war would be. “You weren’t even supposed to be here.” Mud said to Fang, glaring. “Maybe it was fate.” Fang argued back. The king signaled the two elves to be quiet as he read the riddle. “Small but sturdy, we make up many things, wide but not tall, we can be many colors, green like the sky, and blue like the trees, tall if you stack us, we do what you please.” the king said happily. “Wait but trees are green and the sky is-” Mud hollered, but nobody cared. Mud thought hardly. Mud yelled out, “Wood!” The king looked horrified. “How can wood be… be… stacked? It is nailed together!” the king screamed. “It’s bricks!” Fang yelped. “Correct! You, Fang, will be sent off to the sacred forest, and fight against those filthy hoarders!” the king cheered. The crowd went wild, and poured out of the forest to see him. What Fang really knew though, was that he needed to get going and save the world.
