Some fantasy story

I had spent my whole life trapped. For as long as I could remember I had been sealed in the top floor of a large stone tower. As bad as it was, it was all I knew. A single room, with a mattress and a bookshelf. I often passed time by reading about the world below or imagining what it could be like. With the help of maps and charts I had an idea of where I was, what was around the tower, the names of places and things, but none of that had ever seemed particularly useful. I sighed and rolled over on the mattress. Maybe someday I would be allowed to leave, but for now there was nothing I could do. I shut my eyes and went to sleep.

I looked around only to find myself in an unfamiliar room. Judging by the architecture and the color of the furnishings I assumed it was some sort of bedroom in a castle. There was a knock at the door and a woman who I had seen before entered. She began to speak, but her words were distorted. There was only a single word which I could understand, "Rose".

A loud noise ended the dream abruptly, but I already knew how it ended. It was the same dream I had always had. The noise came again from the window, followed by something like a distant voice. It almost sounded as if someone was firing arrows at the window. I remained as still as possible.

Suddenly a metal hook shot threw the window and latched on to the sill. There was a cheer from far away, and then the sound of someone walking on stone. Suddenly, a ragged man, or perhaps a boy, pulled himself through the window. My heart stopped and I pretended to be asleep, hoping they would go away. They didn't.

I felt them poke my arm, and then they began lightly shaking me. I opened my eyes

"What is it?"

"Hey." The boy spoke "Have you seen a princess or a mythical gem or something up here?

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not."

The boy looked confused. "I could have sworn this was the right tower. Oh well. What's your name by the way?"

"Rose" I said.

"Rose? Your parents aren't very creative are they?"

"My parents..." I had never met my parents, I couldn't even recall their faces.

"No matter. Since your here it must mean that you are fated to join me on my quest."

"What does that have to do with-"

"For you see, I am a mighty hero, destined to discover treasure and defeat evil."

I sat up. "Evil? Treasure?"

"But of course, and you, you could be my trusty sidekick."

The idea of adventuring with this guy wasn't exactly appealing, but it would be great to see the world.

"Of course, as my sidekick, you would get a (very small) cut of the loot and fame that I earn, but-"

I stopped paying attention when I noticed the sword he was carrying at his side. It was fairly small, and looked to be made of plain iron. "Where exactly would we go on an adventure such as the one you are describing?" I interrupted.

He was bothered for a second, but quickly returned to his normal mood. "The Forest of the Lich, obviously. There we shall find a sacred jewel which shall lead us to-"

I stood and grabbed the sword suddenly. He was startled, but then seemed amused. "What are you doing?"

I raised the sword, pointing it at his chest as I moved towards the window. "I'm leaving."

He was less amused at this point, but I didn't care. I stood in the window sill and looked back before dropping the sword. The boy gasped, indicating that the sword was of some value to him. I grabbed the rope and quickly slid down.When my feet touched the ground I looked up to see the boy staring down at me. I swiftly tugged on the rope and watched the metal hook come loose, before plummeting to the ground nearby. My hands hurt and the sword was stuck in the ground, but after a little rest I was able to pull it free and be on my way. I began heading towards the nearby town, my first stop before heading to the Forest of the Lich.

Rose entered the town, dragging the sword behind her. Not a second later a man with armor and a spear stopped her.

"Excuse me, is that your father's? Children really shouldn't play with such dangerous things."

"I am no child. And this sword belongs to me." Rose replied indignantly.

The man backed off slightly. "Even so..."

"Do you know of a place where I could acquire a sheath for this blade?" Rose asked, not willing to put up with any nonsense.

"I suppose that the local craftsman might have something." The guard showed Rose the way to his shop and Rose nodded and walked away, dragging her sword along the ground.

The craftsman's shop was different than Rose would have thought. All sorts of things were on display and in the center of it was a large man standing behind a counter. Rose approached the counter and set her sword down on it.

"Do you perhaps have a sheath for a blade such as this?"

The craftsman looked at the blade, then went into a back room and returned with a simple looking scabbard.

"Seven silver." The man said in a gruff voice.

"I have no money" Rose said, looking away sadly.

"I'm sure there's some way you could earn the money. The craftsman stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Have you ever made shoes before?"

And so Rose spent the next few days doing odd jobs, making money in order to buy things she would need for a journey, which could very well take weeks or even months. With all her supplies in order she bid farewell to the townsfolk and headed off towards the forest at the edge of town. The forest was widely avoided by all people, for it was said that at the center of the forest, there was a mire, which was supposedly the home to the king of the dead. As Rose entered the forest she noticed how dense the foliage was, how hard it was to tell where you were.

A cold wind blew through the trees, followed by light fog. Looking up, Rose saw the moon through the trees.

"Night already? How can that be?" Rose stopped and decided to set up camp for the night. It wouldn't be possible to get around in this fog, or at least it wouldn't be possible to avoid going in circles. Rose quickly got to gathering logs to build a fire. It was rather chilly despite the season.

Rose set a ring of stones around a decently sized pile of sticks, branches, and logs. She sat down and began digging through her bag for something to light the fire with. As she was searching, a low moan came from not far off that got her attention. Looking up, she noticed that the fog had thickened, but she could barely make out the shape of a person slowly ambling towards her.

"Hello?" She called out. "Are you lost?" The figure kept moving closer, but didn't respond. Rose heard similar moaning from multiple directions and quickly realized that she had been surrounded. The first thing she could make out about the figures was a discoloration of the skin, followed by the wounds and scars that covered them. One of the figures was missing an arm, and one had an arrow shot through their chest. Rose reached for her sword. Clearly there was something wrong with these people.

One of the figures lunged at her, and she backed up, only to feel one of them bite down between her neck and her shoulder. She jammed her elbow into the future's stomach and drew her sword. In an instant she mutilated them all, but that didn't seem to stop them. The creatures continued to advance towards her, despite many missing arms and legs. Rose continued swinging her blade until the last corpse stopped moving. Sunlight shone down through the trees, and Rose was exhausted. It was decently warm now and the fog had cleared. Moving to a cleaner area, Rose set down he equipment and lay down on the ground. Hopefully she would be able to wake up before nightfall and make some progress towards the center of the forest.

Rose woke up to a howling noise from far off. The moon was already up and the fog had rolled in. Rose could hardly see anything, but she could smell the rotting corpses of the things that had attacked her last night. Following the scent she found the fire pit from the previous night. She dug threw her bag again, pulling out a flintstone. Using it, she started the fire and began dragging the rotted corpses over. She couldn't just leave them there.

Looking up, she noticed that the fire had improved her visibility. Using some of her supplies, she created a makeshift torch and light it at the fire. Carrying her supplies on her back, with the torch in one hand and her sword in the other, she made her way towards the center of the forest. It didn't take long for the creatures to find her, but she was ready this time. She only lost a few hours dealing with them and continued her advance until the sun came up.

Setting up a quick camp, Rose prepared for sleep when she noticed a stinging pain near her shoulder. Looking, she noticed the wound where she had been bitten, which was beginning to turn a strange color. She looked through her pack for something to treat it, angry that it had slipped her mind the day before. She managed to bandage the wound, but she wasn't entirely convinced that it wasn't infected.

After days of trekking, Rose found herself at a marshy clearing. The ground looking almost like liquid and there was no way anything could live there. Rose wondered if this was truly the lair of the Lich, king of the undead. There was movement from the swamp as a shambling corpse rose to the surface, only to fall face first into the bog. Many followed the lead of the first, creating what could almost be described as a path. Rose placed her foot atop one and pressed down. It didn't move, and didn't sink into the swamp, so Rose stepped on top of it and made her way across the corpses, only to find that they stopped at the center. The stench of death and decaying flesh was overpowering.

Something began to rise from the center of the swamp, a single bone, followed by another attached beneath it, until a massive throne at in the middle of the bog. A large had reached out and grabbed the side of the throne. The owner of the hand pulled them self up, revealing the half rotted corpse of a giant creature. It had a humanoid body and the head and skull of a deer. It sat atop the throne and looked at Rose.

Examining it closely, Rose saw that in it's left eye socket wasn't an eye, but a sparkling stone. The creature moved towards Rose.

"What business do you have in the Lake of the Lich?" The creature asked, though Rose didn't see it speak.

"I come seeking a sacred jewel, one which will lead me to glory." Rose replied, trying to sound brave.

"There is no glory to be found here. Only death."

"Your eye." Rose said.

"You seek the gemstone in my eye?"

Rose nodded.

"You intrude upon my land, kill legions of my minions, and now you demand my eye?" The monster stood, and Rose took a few steps back.

"Well, you see, I need it to complete my quest..."

"In that case." The monster held a hand out over the marshy ground and a large metal blade rose to greet it. "You shall die."

Rose ran back across the corpses and kept running through the trees until she could run no further. The fog appeared shortly afterwards and there was a low rumbling sound. Trees fell in the direction that she had come from.

"Come out human. You can not escape me."

Rose fell against a nearby tree and slid to the ground. She thought of hiding in the underbrush, but doubted it would help much. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that questing would be so terrifying. That guy in the tower made it sound fun, but there was nothing fun about this.

"There you are." The voice came from the other side of the tree. She saw a skeletal hand wrap around it and the trees roots began to give. Gripping her sword in both hands, Rose stayed low. The tree was torn from the ground and quickly discarded by the massive undead, which brought its face close to Rose. It reached towards her slowly with its hand, but she swung out, nearly losing her grip on her sword. The cut left a gash across the parts of the monster's face that weren't completely decomposed, but it didn't exactly react. Plunging her blade into its palm, Rose took off running again, but she didn't make it very far. It grabbed her with its skeletal hand and raised her into the air. The creature brought her up to its face.

"I don't suppose you have any last words."

Rose was paralyzed by fear. This was the end. She stared into the glimmering stone of it's eye. She had to do something, anything. Reaching out, she wrapped both hands around the stone and pulled. There was something keeping the stone in the monster's eyesocket, but it was at least partially decayed, and in the end it gave. Rose tore the jewel from the beast's face and tossed it. The creature let out a bestial roar and collapsed to the ground.

"Have you any idea what you have done, mortal?"

Rose pulled herself from the beast's grasp and freed her sword. She walked over to retrieve the stone, but someone beat her to it. A pale person, who was in better condition than most of the people around here, gazed into the center of the stone.

The large monster slowly rose to his feet, balancing on the blade he had pulled from the swamp.

"You must not let the Lich reunite with the stone."

"You're not the Lich?" Rose asked, she looked at the pale figure, who was pressing the stone into his forehead.

"With this stone's power, all the undead in this forest are once again under my command!"

Rose watched the giant stand and place its own blade against its neck. A few seconds later she felt steel against her own neck, and, looking down she saw that she was pointing her sword at herself.

"Well, that's unexpected. Tell me, did you perhaps get bitten by one of my zombies?" The pale man asked "Touching the stone seems to have spread the infection." The man laughed. "Have you ever considered becoming a mindless thrall? Not a zombie of course, but possibly a Wight of maybe a revenant. It doesn't matter to me."

"Have you considered that I would rather die?" Rose spat, feeling defiant.

"Of course you'd die. You can't be undead if you're alive, can you?"

Rose felt the blade push against her neck No. Stop that. I'm not undead. I'm still alive and I control myself. She grabbed her wrist with her free hand and pulled the blade away.

"So you resist? No matter."

The giant moved towards Rose and raised it's blade over its head. Rose didn't quite have full control of her body and she knew she couldn't move in time. She closed her eyes and waited for death, but the giant never swung. Opening her eyes she looked at the beast. "Please, drop your sword."

There was a loud thud as the sword hit the ground. The giant took a step forward.

"That's not possible, no one should be able to break free of my control!"

"Do not forget, Lich, I slew you once already."

The Lich concentrated, seemingly focusing it's power on subduing the giant. Rose charged forward and plunged her blade into its chest. The Lich smirked at her, and she turned to see the giant looking over her. She tried to pull her sword free, but it was stuck.

"Looks like you made a fatal mistake" the Lich gloated.

Rise looked at the stone jutting out of its forehead. Letting go over the sword, she swung with both hands, hitting the stone squarely and causing the Lich to stumble backwards. The giant reached down and grabbed the Lich with one hand. It placed it's other hand on the Lich's head and smashed it, retrieving the stone.

"Human, it seems that I may have misjudged you." The giant lowered it's hand, revealing the stone.

"This rock is the source of the blight that has taken this forest. If it is destroyed, all the undead will return to their eternal slumber." The giant seemed to be looking at her, though it had no eyes. "It is also a source of great power for any undead who wields it. I know not why you sought it out, but know that if you hold it you will surely be overcome by your blight and become an undead."

"Could you, destroy it maybe?" Rose asked.

"With ease, but why? Was this not why you have fought so hard to receive?"

"I don't think it is. And besides, I think you deserve a rest. Destroy it so that you and all the creatures of the forest can rest."

The giant closed its hand, and in an instant the fog cleared. The air seemed cleaner and the smell of death began to fade. The giant collapsed.

"Thank you child, for freeing us from the Lich's curse."

After a brief rest, Rose got her sword and ventured off, ending up in a familiar clearing. Instead of a mire, she stood before a gleaming lake with a small green rock glistening at the bottom. Retrieving it, Rose gathered he things and began the trek back to town.