I think everyone should open a word file and write something, its actually quite a lot of fun
Hamysh the Thief
Chapter one
Hamysh awoke to the warm glow of the early morning sun. The legs of the bed beneath him were broken, the mattress and frame now sitting on the stone floor. For a moment he simply lay there as his mind tried to comprehend his situation, and where he was. It was not an unfamiliar place, yet he could not for the life of him recall exactly where he was or how he got there. He sat up and nursed his head in his hands, his long brown wavy hair falling limp towards the ground. He had a pounding headache that was not unlike the result of drinking an entire barrel of ale the night before, and the early morning singing of the birds did nothing to ease the pain.
He stood up, unsteady at first but soon finding his footing, and inspected his surroundings. The house he was standing in was all but completely destroyed, in some places entire sections of wall were missing and grass had began to grow from between the stone tiles which lined the floor. It was not the natural decay of time that had torn this room apart, but more likely the ravishes of war. Hamysh rubbed his eyes with clenched fists until his blurry vision returned to normal. He then noticed a chest sitting next to his bed. He walked over to the wood and iron container and pulled the lid open, surprised by the absence of any lock. Inside the chest lay a small iron dagger and a sealed envelope. Hamysh picked up the dagger and secured it between the elastic of his trousers and his hip. “Not the best place to have a dagger” he thought to himself. He returned his attention to the chest and the envelope inside it.
He picked up the paper envelope and tore it open. Inside was a note. Hamysh dropped the envelope on the floor and held the parchment up to his face. It was a letter instructing him to make his way to a village called Aridell to find a man named Maddok. It had no signature, just an ‘E’ printed at the bottom. Hamysh tried to think of anyone he knew whose name started with an ‘E’, or if he had ever met a man with the name ‘Maddok’’. Nobody came to mind. As he pondered a little longer he began to realize that he had no recollection of anything at all. Not of his childhood, his family or his hometown. He could not even remember exactly how old he was. His memory like a book filled with bank pages.
The note also told of some supplies that were hidden near a well behind the house. Hamysh folded the note and carefully placed it in the pocket of his shabby trousers before making his way out of the derelict dwelling. He walked over to the well and pulled the rope until the wooden bucket came into sight. In place of water was a foul smelling mould. He dropped the bucket back into the darkness of the brick lined hole. He looked up from the well and noticed a single tree stump. The stump stood out for some reason, possibly because it was the only one. All the other trees in sight had grown to maturity. Hamysh walked over to the stump and nudged it with his bare foot only to find that is was not a stump at all, but a large piece of firewood sitting on the ground. With both hands Hamysh pushed the piece of wood over to reveal a small sack lying in a hole that the wood was apparently hiding. Hamysh picked up and opened the small cloth container. Inside were a couple of healing options, one red and one blue, Three lock picks and a pair of sandals. Hamysh slipped his feet into the sandals. ‘How odd, they fit perfectly’ he thought to himself before pocketing the remainder of the loot.
Hamysh made his way back through the house and stepped out of the doorless exit. No sooner had he taken a few steps down the overgrown pathway that he spotted an odd coloured lizard laying still in grass. It was not a small lizard that a child might capture and keep as a pet, it more closely resembled a tiny, wingless dragon.
Hamysh froze in place for a second; staring intently at the miniature beast, not wanting to draw attention to himself for fear of a hostile reaction. Hamyshs body, as if it had a mind of its own, stiffened slightly. He carefully advanced another step, his feet sitting silently on the ground. As he started slowly towards the lizard, Hamysh noticed that his limbs made no sound at all. He continued to creep forward until he was almost upon the reptile. Hamysh slowly drew his newly found dagger from his trousers and with speed and precision that surprised even him, swung his arm underneath the monsters neck, plunged his dagger into its soft, leather like skin and pulled the blade back towards himself, tearing the lizards throat open before it had a chance to react. The tiny beast, gargled slightly and slumped lifelessly to the ground, the blood flowing from its wound now forming a small puddle.
Hamysh wiped the blade of is weapon on the grass next to the slain lizard and returned it to its place in the elastic of his pants. Not wanting to draw any attention to himself from any other monsters that may be in the area, he started back on what he could only guess was the main street of now decaying village. As he walked the crumbled path he looked around him. The buildings to the left and right were just as decrepit as the house he had woken up in. He suddenly began to wonder if he had somehow travelled forward in time, to an era in which the race of man was but a memory.
Hamysh made his way down the path to a statue of a horse, standing majestically on its hind legs, a wooden sign to the front of it read ‘Dedicated to the riders of Thaermore, valiant defenders of the commonwealth’. ‘Thaermore’ Hamysh muttered to himself, the name had a familiar feel to it as it passed his lips. Disregarding the statue, Hamysh noticed a chest in front of one of the battered buildings, smashed and in pieces. He walked over and inspected the wooden remains before stepping into the brick house. As he entered the now empty residence he noticed a map hanging from the wall. It wasn’t overly detailed, but that didn’t matter as Hamysh realized that he had no frame of reference anyway, rendering the map useless. He looked behind him and noticed a closed wooden door. He approached the door and pulled it open, revealing a wooden chest. Hamysh opened the chest and discovered a small amount of gold, which he hastily deposited in his trouser pocket.
Hamysh exited the building through a missing section of the wall, only to spot another wooden sign in the foreground. He took a few steps forward and read the sign from a few yards away. ‘Elderhallow’, it read, the inscribed lettering slightly worn but still legible. Hamysh looked to the north and saw a path leading out of town. He started down the well travelled road and solemnly wondered what the future had in store for him.
