Hi guys new to the Librarium

[ImperialTemplari]

Hi guys

 

This is the first time I have written fluff, infact the first time as an adult I have written any sort of story, please let me know what you think

 

The Tithing

 

There it was again, the sound of a thousand pieces of parchment tearing, Conner’s eyes flew open, he stared out the window at the still blackness, it had been 22 years since he had heard that sound but it was unmistakable, he felt his intestines knot with fear.

 

His farther had been a strong man, tall and lean with the broad shoulders that only 30 years of plowing the earth can give, leathery skin and cold steel blue piercing eyes, he had only seen these eyes well with tears twice in his life, once with sorrow and the other with frustration, anger and pain, on a warm summers night much like this one.

The first time he had seen his farther cry he was overwhelmed with confusion, he was 12 years old and filled with joy and pride, because he was Conrad’s little brother, Conrad was 14, unlike himself who had inherited his mothers looks, short stocky and blond, Conrad took after their farther, and he was the toast of the village, all the boys in the school house were talking about it, Conrad was a hero, he had capture the flag at the yearly battling. It now hung with hundreds of other blue, yellow, red, brown, black, purple and white flags in the hall of honor in the capital, the counts “Greens” had had a run of bad luck over the previous decade, not capturing a flag in 10 years. But his big brother had broken the streak and captured a flag. He had not done as well at his own battling not because he wasn’t brave or strong, but because he listened to his father’s warning, he knew he couldn’t show too much bravery, he was now his father’s only son. “when your given an order Conner, I want you to count to 10 before you obey it, be brave but not too brave, pick the strongest boy in your regiment and watch his back on the field, help him capture the flag” Conner dared not ignore his father, the desperation in his voice was too obvious.

The day his brother had come home a hero, the regiments, led by a band had marched through his village to cheers and applause, his was a remote village so their numbers had lessened as the youths would go home when the arrived at their towns, but it was still impressive, his heart had nearly burst with joy when he saw his brother carrying the flag at the head of the parade, he had turned to his father, but the laughter caught in his throat like saw dust, his father’s strong blue eye were filled with tears, at first he thought he was crying with joy, but there was something else in his eyes, it was the same look he had had when nanny Telma had passed, sorrow.

There wasn’t much crime in his village or for that matter in the whole country, the counts men would come through the land yearly to collect the taxes and the tithing, “never break the laws” his father would say “or you will be invited to the counts table for your last supper”, his county was responsible for paying 3 females and 2 males to the tithing, these were always picked from those who had committed crimes over the previous years, nobody wanted to be part of the tithing, so much so that there was hardly any crime, people would go out of their way to be seen as the most honest in the land, when there weren’t enough criminals to fill the tithe those who showed cowardice at the battling would fill the ranks. Nobody knew exactly what happened to the tithed, there were rumors and legends, as a young boy he had heard all the legends, it was said that the count lived in a castle on a mountain many miles from the village, some said he would eat the tithed others said he would drink the blood straight from the veins of the tithed, nobody really knew but it was enough to keep people honest and brave at the battling.

The second time he had seen his father cry was also the first time he had heard that noise, it was also the only time he had seen the count, it had been a moon since that triumphant battling, he had woken to the noise, however there was no fear this first time, only curiosity, he had looked out his window and had gasped with awe, there was the biggest carriage he had ever seen, but there were no horses or oxen to pull it along and somehow with great magic it actually flew like a bird, it was hard to see the colour clearly in the dark night but he could tell it was black and deep red, the cart had landed softly in the wheat field at the front of the house, a ramp at the back hissed open like a snake, 10 of the biggest men he had ever seen marched down the ramp and formed two ranks to the rear of the giant flying bird. These men, or he thought they were men because they all wore helmets and their limbs were made from iron, looking almost like the iron hay crane that gave him huge calluses on his hands, they were impossible tall, his drill instructor whilst he was undergoing the mandatory 12 month battle training in preparation for the battling was the biggest man he had ever met, he was a butcher by trade, over 6 foot tall and his diet of meat and hauling carcasses around meant he was very well muscled, but he would look like a child next to one of these, they were clad in the strangest armor he had seen. He had often seen the counts men on their yearly pilgrimages, but they were ordinary men, the armor they wore was old and dented, it would clang and creak when they walked and they often looked cumbersome in it, these men in his fathers wheat field looked anything but cumbersome, they moved impossibly fast and agile like the acrobats that would perform in the spring fair, their armor was the same black and red as the carriage they traveled in, and made an almost inaudible whirring sound as they moved, their eyes glowed an eerie green light like candles behind green church glass.

The count dismounted the carriage last, he surprisingly didn’t wear green as Conner had imagined he would, but had the same black and red armor as his men, only more ornate, covered in strange icons, he had a long cape and what looked like a blood drop with white wings on his shoulder amour, Conner gasped with fear, the count was not wearing a helmet like the others and the face he saw would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life, the count seemed to have a head made from iron, with wires running down the back, the face was like a loose fitting fleshy mask and did not look like it belonged on the counts head, but should be detached like the mask Conner wore at the summer ball, the skin was pale, almost blue, scarred terribly like he had seen a thousand battles, the eyes were piercing but wise with countless years of experience, there were wisps of grey hair at the beginning of the forehead, showing that if the skin had covered the whole head he would have had a full head of grey almost white hair.

He was some mesmerized by the sight that he had not notice is father approach the strange group, he only became aware of him because of his screaming, “not my son, you can not have my son” at this point one of the counts men shot forward and gentle struck his father, sending him flying several meters through the air, “you will kneel before your lord, or you will loose your head” his father grabbed the hoe that leaned against the front porch and charged at the count screaming a wild battle cry, seemingly in slow motion the boy watched as the as the giant armored bodyguard drew his sword, “wait” the word from the count froze the soldier mid swing, his father reached the top of the ramp and with his full strength broke the hoe across the giants face, the count did not flinch “I admire your courage, it is obvious your son gets his courage from you, I will forgive this attack on your lord as an acknowledgment of your bravery, do not however see this as a sign of weakness, if you continue to resist I will take you son and destroy the rest of your family” with these words the counts soldier grabbed his father with a huge mailed hand and forced him to kneel, two soldiers were now dragging his brother from the house kicking and screaming in chains, his brother was thrown to the ground in front of the lord, Conner could see his brothers face in the lights of the carriage, there was only a moment of fear on Conrad’s face before he gathered his courage and stared up at the horribly mask defiantly, “yes, he will do nicely” the lord laughed, for the first time Conner noticed the counts teeth, they were long and sharp, designed to tare flesh like an animals, not human at all, more K9, dread filled Conner’s heart as he saw his brother dragged up the ramp and into the back of the carriage in irons, he looked at his father and saw him weeping with rage and frustration, the tears leaving long streaks in the dust on his cheeks.

After that night he had talked to the other villagers to find out what would become of his brother, there were many different stories, Conner found out that it was uncommon for the count to tithe personally but that it had happened rarely before, but only to the very bravest and skilled youths, some said that the blood of the brave was sweeter than the blood of criminals and cowards, others said that he would become a guard at the counts castle, no one who was taken ever came back and no villager had seen the counts castle, so no one really new, he hoped that his brother was still alive somewhere but when he remembered those teeth he doubted it.

Conner jumped out of bed, he had convinced himself that his son would be spared, after all the green count had won the battling 5 years in a row and only the usual tithing was asked, he had thought of sending the boy away after he had captured the flag at his own battling but he knew it would be useless to run or hide, he only had 1 son, he could not loose him, he ran to the mantelpiece where his fathers sword hung, he felt cold, with no emotion he walked to the door, he had inherited his fathers farm when he had passed and the flying carriage stood in the same field as it did all those years ago, the count stood at the top of the ramp and his men formed two ranks at the bottom “no you will not take my son” Conner yelled, “not my son” already the tears of frustration and anger had started to stream, he now knew exactly how his father had felt that night 22 years ago, he charged at the count waving his sword in the air, if I can just get close enough to thrust it into his throat, he thought, he was at the foot of the ramp when the mailed hand slapped him in the chest, the air rushed from his lungs and he fell to the ground, the counts massive soldier stood over him, he slowly removed his helmet, and look down at him, two steel blue eyes looking out from a nightmare face “kneel before your lord little brother or I will part your head from your shoulders”

[Midas]

Nice

[BlueWaterDragon]

Umm, needs spacing, and you need to edit your longer sentences, as they have a tendancy to run on. Hit enter to space your paragraphs, as it makes it easier to read. If you want any other help please ask. ^_^

 

Aside from that, awesome.