@bookcats_13 Contest Entry 1
Basic info before reading:
Legacy’s- Mortals with superhuman powers, abilities, and different colored blood.
A few of the Legacy Branches -
Gold: Trackers, Finders, Power Sensors.
Black: Death, Poison, Necromancy, Shadow.
Red: Fire, Destruction, Chaos.
Purple: Persuaders, Memory Viewers, Summoners.
White: Seer, Invisibility, Teleportation.
The Legacy’s Curse- A curse placed on all Legacy bloodlines, that they would never make it into Heaven and would instead be forced into limbo on earth, after 8 Angels died at the hands of a group of Legacy’s determined to enter Heaven on a quest.
The Final Legacy Prophecy-
A wise boy blinded by jealousy,
A loyal son betrayed by a friend,
Death of the last gold legacy,
A choice that will lead to the end,
Seven deaths out of eight lives,
A leader led by heart,
Two heroes but only one survives,
A strong love ripped apart,
In the end knowledge sparks the light,
And the villain is returned,
By a strange girl in a light of white,
A heavy lesson learned,
The lovers united,
The Legacy forever dead,
The curse righted,
The Blood again runs red,
The air smells of dust and wood as I back up in the dark warehouse my dagger grasped firmly in my left hand. The metal from the dagger seems to be colder and heavier than before, as if a new weight lies on it. I recognize the feeling of my fear trying to suffocate me, to get me to stop and hide.
But when have I ever listened to it? I have too much to lose. I’m a legacy. Part of a powerful ancient bloodline with superhuman powers, I can't be a coward. Besides, my friends are expecting me and I have to get to them. They have to know I did not abandon them. Right now they should be going up against the dark ones Angel and Darek. I can only hope they will stay alive till I get out of Shadows grasp.
Ford promised me he would take care of them for me till I returned, when he gifted me his lucky purple legacy dagger and a kiss. He promised and that is enough to keep me going. I turn around hearing shuffling behind me.
“Come out you coward!” I yell at him, swallowing the fear. I know he’s here draped in the shadows teasing me. He is a Black Shadow Legacy, capable of manipulating darkness and I’m only a Gold Finder Legacy, I am held in high prestige but on the battlefield with power radiating everywhere I am the least powerful. I see, feel, find, and track magical energies and that doesn't help against a more powerful Legacy adversary.
“What would be the fun in that Piper.” I hear him say from somewhere in the darkness. His voice is quiet, shifting, and cold like the shadows he clings too. I swing my dagger through the dark hoping to nick him. But of course with my luck it slashes through nothing.
“Are you done playing?” He asks, his amusement clear in his voice. I can almost imagine the smirk that is sure to be plastered on his sickly face. The joy from my fear reflected in the depths of his red eyes.
“I will get back to them. You won’t stop me.” I say calmly, as I move towards the open door at the far side of the room.
“You won’t get there fast enough.” He mocks from the shadows knowing my thoughts. “You will die here, and your friends will fail. Your friends are nothing when compared to us. And with you here, weak and broken, there is no one to save them. The royal Legacy's will get no more chances.” I feel a few lone tears roll down my face. I can feel the shadows bending to his will. He crouches in the darkness waiting for me to run. He wants me to. He will enjoy watching me die. I wipe the tears from my face.
“You know. I might consider making you a deal?” Shadow says and I narrow my eyes.
“What deal?” I ask.
“A wise boy blinded by jealousy,
A loyal son betrayed by a friend,
Death of the last gold legacy,
A choice that will lead to the end,
Seven deaths out of eight lives,
A leader led by heart,
Two heroes but only one survives,
A strong love ripped apart,” He says repeating the prophecy. I stumble a little in surprise.
“How do you know that?” I yell into the darkness. “Only three people were told that prophecy including me.” Shadow sighs from somewhere behind me and I spin around.
“I know. Such a pity. But as you can see we only have half of the prophecy.” He says and I sigh in relief. “If you were to tell me what the other half is, I might be willing to tell the other that you happened to slip past me.” He says and I know he is grinning from the sound of his voice.
“No!” I shout. “Not happening Shadow!”
“I’ll give you a few seconds to think about it better.” I stare into the darkness not budging. The last Legacy Prophecy was entrusted to me and my two mentors. One is dead and the other is fighting to hold back the dark ones from gaining access to the tomb of weapons. The last Legacy armory. I was told to never tell another soul the lines of the prophecy and I would never betray them. I look back to the open door. Better to go out swinging then to stay playing hide and seek.
“You're out of time.” Shadow whispers somewhere in the dark.
I slow my breathing and focus all my senses on the room around me. I reach deep down for my gold legacy. It takes but a few seconds for me to hear his breathing and the nearly silent tapping of his footfalls as he moves closer to my position. With a twist I throw my dagger and it glows bright sailing straight along a line of my gold magic and I know it will reach its mark as I run towards the door as fast I can.
I hear him cry out and follow after me. As I near the open door I feel it. A sharp pain explodes through my back. I feel my body falter and I stumble out of the door and into the rain.
Why is it always raining? The droplets fall hard on my skin as the rain begins to drench me. I look down at my chest but see no exit wound for a weapon. I move my arm behind me to feel a small thin dart-like weapon between my shoulder blades and when I touch it the pain hits me so hard I fall to my knees with bone shattering force. I blink wildly and watch as the blood on my fingers infects the clear rainwater below me. I feel my body giving up. Not dying but being tugged into the darkness. I fight back the sleep taking over my limbs and realize that the feeling of the rain on my body is starting to disappear. I try to focus on my breathing which is now shallow and sharp.
I wobble on my knees a bit as the world spins and goes blurry. I can’t help it. I fall backwards and the dart breaks leaving a small bit stuck in my back. I gasp for air as the droplets of rain fall on my face and into my eyes. I can barely smell the sweet clean scent that rain usually brings.
I try to focus on the clouds in the sky through the pouring rain but the shadow of the monster responsible for this crouches over me. He grabs my face forcing me to look at him. He smiles his cruel smile before grabbing me and pulling me upwards towards him. I gasp when he yanks the remainder of the dart out of my back. I try to shrink away as I feel his breath on my ear.
“Ford sends his regards. He would have liked to kill them all in front of you before ending your life. But one can’t be picky when opportunity arises.” His words hit me like a bus and I shake my head.
Not Ford. It's not possible because he would never do this to me. All I can manage to say in my state of shock is,
“No.”
“Weren't you wondering who the spy was? How all your plans and information were getting leaked?” He asks with a grin. “How do you think I was able to find your location?” I stare into his red eyes unwilling to let him see any emotion within them.
“My Ford. He was the spy.” I say my voice barely a whisper.
“Oh don't worry darling you will get to express your shock and anger to him when you wake up.” He says brushing my hair out of my eyes with my dagger now covered in his blood. “He wants to kill you himself.” He lets me go and my body drops to the ground. With that I let sleep take me as I am dragged into the darkness.
__-__
When I wake up everything is horribly blurry but I can make out the gist of what surrounds me. I am in a nicely furnished room. It's very big and the ceiling is high. I tilt my head and have to resist the urge to groan at the aches in my neck and the sharp pain on the back of my head. There are six figures in the room from what I can see. Five of them are standing, three of them are talking, and one of them is laying just out of reach. I can’t make out any features through the haze but I know who the three talking are from their voices. Angel, Shadow, and Ford. I blink and take deep breaths to try and clear the remaining haze from my vision and it's nearly gone by the time Derek realizes that I’m awake. He leans over a sneer on his face. I can see him clearly. His brown hair slicked back and his dark eyes annoyed.
“Well look who decided to rejoin the living. Ford was in a horrible mood thinking you had decided to let yourself die just to spite him one last time.” Derek growls. Then looks over at the body lying on the floor. I look over and this time I see who it is. It's Arlow and he is still knocked out looking peaceful.
“It would seem its time handsome got a wake up call.” Derek says before viciously kicking Arlow in his back. He shoots awake hollering in pain and I see that his curly yellow hair is plastered with blood and his blue eyes are wary and filled with remorse. I try to use my hands to sit up but realize that they are tied behind my back.
“What are you doing Ford! Stop this!” I yell looking over at him. He runs his pale hand through his black hair and stares down at me with green eyes filled with hate and betrayal. A look I’d never seen on him before. My mind races trying to play catch up. To try and make sense of everything that has happened. That my Ford has betrayed us all.
“No, Piper.” He sneers and I flinch.
“This is not you. You're not my Ford.” I say. This seems to have been the wrong thing to say because fire lights in his eyes and he growls.
“Your Ford. All you ever did was look at him.” Ford growls pointing at Arlow. My eyebrows draw together in confusion.
“What are you talking about Ford? Why are you doing this?” I plead looking between Arlow and him.
“This is a joke, right? Right?” I whisper and Angel rolls his eyes.
“You where so stupid. You should’ve known. You would have, if you hadn't been tricking me and screwing him behind my back.” I shake my head even more confused than before.
“What are you talking about! I did no such thing!” I yell. “They’re manipulating you. Separating all of us so they can pick us off. Can’t you see, Ford.” I say staring at him. He just shakes his head and gives me a sad smile.
“Oh you don’t have to worry about that anymore.” He says. My insides twist and I might vomit.
“What do you mean?” I ask looking at Arlow who looks like he is ready to tear Ford to pieces. “What do you mean, Ford?” I ask looking back to him.
“Because I killed them.” He says with a shrug as though it meant nothing to him. As though our family, all our friends meant nothing to him. I pale as my heart breaks and anger lights in the pit of my stomach.
“I thought I could trust you! You promised!” I scream at him, trying to kick him as he moves closer.
“That’s right, I lied.” He admits dodging my kicks. “And just so you know… I don’t regret any of it.” I begin to cry and my kicks fall uselessly on air. When I look over Ford is behind Arlow his dagger to his throat.
“Don…” Before I can even get the word out blood pours from Arlow neck and he makes choking sounds. I stare in horror and when Ford lets him go and he drops to the ground his blood continuing to pool beneath him.
I can’t speak. I can’t move. Totally overcome by shock. Even when Ford grabs my chin and tilts my head to look at him I am numb. Completely overwhelmed. Like my entire body has become fried.
“It’s a shame you wanted him more. I loved you. I would have given you everything.” Ford says and suddenly it all makes sense. The prophecy. Everything.
A wise boy blinded by jealousy,
A loyal son betrayed by a friend,
Death of the last gold legacy,
A choice that will lead to the end,
Seven deaths out of eight lives,
A leader led by heart,
Two heroes but only one survives,
A strong love ripped apart,
In the end knowledge sparks the light,
And the villain is returned,
By a strange girl in a light of white,
A heavy lesson learned,
The lovers united,
The Legacy forever dead,
The curse righted,
The Blood again runs red,
The wise boy is Ford and the loyal son was Arlow. I always knew I was going to die because I am the last gold legacy. Then there are the deaths of my friends and once I die that will be seven out of our group. Only Ford survived. Ford and I were the heroes. The ones picked to lead this quest and once he kills me he will be the only one and he will have ripped us apart.
The end I can only guess at but if Ford is able to see that his mind has been corrupted, that I only loved him, that we all loved him, then his light will come back. He will return to the light and I am going to help him by using my powers to cross out of limbo if only for a minute. He will learn his lesson and set it right.
The lovers united,
The Legacys forever dead,
He will kill the dark ones and he will die doing it becoming reunited with me. The legacy bloodlines will be destroyed.
The curse righted,
The Blood again runs red,
Because the legacy’s will be dead, the curse of the legacy’s will be no more and only mortals will remain. The world will be right again.
“Goodbye Piper.” Ford says holding his dagger to my heart. But I feel calm knowing that this isn't the end. That there is a chance I am not leaving the world to total destruction and that my best friend isn’t taken by the darkness.
“Till I see you again, Ford.” I say as he leans down. And in an even softer voice. “AG 23 The Prophecy. I love you.” He looks confused but shakes it off and I hope I am doing the right thing leaving him the location of the written Prophecy. Not being a completely foolish idiot and misreading the Prophecy.
The Dagger suddenly slices through my heart and the pain is only momentary and my breath stops. Then death rolls in and carries me away with it.
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