Loksfjoer

Microfiction & poetry contest #12 - the meeting

Hopefully we'll get to read something next time!

I have 3 entries and the voting and feedback thread will be up shortly.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

I'm going on a vacation for a week so I will probably miss one deadline. I'll be back to posting Thursday 5th.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

The fifth day of the siege started as the other days. Fenna laid out some bolts on her bed and infused them with fire or ice, alternating the two so MacKensie would have a decent supply by the end of the waiting time. It was something she could do once a day, but by the time of the siege she should have 48 fire bolts and 48 ice bolts ready for her friend.

She had been sore the first day after her adventure in the cave under the spa, every single muscle had ached. Throughout the day the pain had slowly subsided and she had made sure no one would notice. Although she had feared some kind of official reprimand for going somewhere she wasn't supposed to, that hadn't happened yet. What she had failed to notice that evening had become apparent to her the next day: her spear had a faint glow to it. While she didn't know what it was, it wasn't hard to deduce it had something to do with that ball of energy she had seen. There had barely been any time to talk to any of her companions about it, everyone had been busy with the tasks they had received.

After Fenna was done infusing 12 bolts with fire wrapped them up to give to MacKensie later, she went downstairs to have breakfast. Today there would be more training with her soldiers, but what she really needed to do was catch James. They needed to talk.

Paranormal Activities [SporkoBug and Calle]

"Teleport us." The decision was made without hesitation, teleportation would be the fastest way to the base. "I'll let Ethan know when we're back, it will be faster that way, especially if you teleport us."
It was only after Mike had made the decision that the first doubt crept up. What would teleporting feel like? He had never done it before. Surely it would be safe, but it would also be a very new experience.
If their teams members kept disappearing like this, would he be the next to be captured, or would he be left by himself? He wasn't sure what he would hate more. There was a certain danger to being captured, but he hated being alone. Maybe being captured wasn't the worst of the two options. He turned to Harriet and nodded to let her know he was ready.

Nobody Will Believe It [SporkoBug and Calle]

Benjamin chatted with Marc to ensure he wouldn't start asking questions on the way to his room and once he got there he went in first. When Marc stepped inside his eyes settled on Dia and he frowned at her. He turned to Benjamin when the door was closed behind him.
"There are no side-effects, are there?"
"Sorry. We need your help. Ray will die if we don't find her, like Simon. He did not go home."
"Neither did Carol..." Marc muttered. While he hadn't figured out what had happened to her, he knew that her going home was impossible. That would have been communicated with a condition like hers, and prepared. "Alright, I will listen. What do you know?" He turned to Dia. "And what is your role in this? Are you an undercover investigator or something?"

Microfiction & poetry contest #12 - the meeting

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Microfiction and poetry contest #12 – the meeting

For this round of writing competition, I invite you to write about a meeting. It doesn't matter who or what or when or how, as long as by the end of the entry at least two persons/things/living organisms have met.

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Core rules:

• At all times follow the Fundamental Rules of the Guild and the Moderation Policy for Forum Contests.
• After reading the above this should be obvious: No plagiarism and respect copyright laws.
• Your submission must be written by you and specifically for this contest, without the use of AI.
• This is a place for original fiction, no fanfiction allowed.
• Don't exceed PEGI 16 with your writing; no 18+ themes and fade to black if applicable.
• Don’t forget to subscribe to this thread. You will receive updates on the contest and on the number of entries, and reminders about the deadline here. I will not PM them.
• The winner of this contest will be honoured in our Hall of Fame.

Contest rules:

• The prompt for this contest is the meeting.
• There will be a minimum word count of 5 and a maximum of 500
• Every literary or poetry style is permitted.
• Please PM @Loksfjoer the entries and give it as title MFP#12 - (Your Title).
• Your entry can be anonymous or carry your name. Let me know what you want in the PM. If you don't specify, your entry will be posted anonymously, but you may always claim your story during or at the end of the voting round.
• The deadline is 31 August 2024, 9:00 CET, which is 7:00 server time (both times are in a.m.)

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Number of entries so far:

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

When the training for the day was over, Fenna first went to collect her new boots and handed the leatherworker the money after some small talk. They talked about the upcoming siege and Fenna explainer the role that was appointed to her. The jovial Nimuer expressed his complete faith in her abilities. Fenna tried her new boots on and the fit was perfect. She thanked Nimuer and praised his skills before leaving his shop to walk back to the Mended Drum. Sil circled in the air above her, sometimes flying ahead and then sitting on a roof to wait for her to catch up.

On the way, Fenna noticed a group of hooded figures, their clothes were the same as those she had seen come up some stairs in the underground spa. She slowed down a bit.
"People are talking about a disappearance and that the last time he was seen he was in the area of the spa." One of them said.
"We should increase security, no one may go down there," another added.
She couldn't hear the rest of the conversation as they had passed each other, but the words lingered in her mind. Disappearance? She and her friends had appeared in stone coffins from another world, could a disappearance mean a similar thing but to another world? Were they talking about a portal? A potential way home? Down there, that had to be those stairs in the spa. The Witch Queen had talked about a way of sending them home, there had to be more than just one. Wasn't that something Zell had said as well? She decided to check it out and if there was a portal she'd tell her friends about it.

Fenna took a right turn and went straight to the spa. The people at the entrance remembered her well, big spenders were always fondly remembered and when they asked how she was doing she told them about her new role in the defence of the city. It painted her in an even better picture, so she continued with a sob story about a precious heirloom that she had lost and she asked if she could go look for it. They allowed her access and one of the staff went with her to look at the spots in the dressing room that weren't cleaned on a daily basis, in case it was there. Perfect. She made sure to stay behind the employee and when they reached the junction leading into a "staff only" corridor, she went over the chains and quietly walked towards the stairs where the hooded people had come from. By the time she went down, the employee backtracked to see where she had gone.

The stone stairs led into a cave, her footsteps echoed as she went further in. There were lightsources at the wall, similar to other lights she had seen in the city, which meant people did walk here more often. There was a faint humming or buzzing sounds ahead, and a cold flickering light. At the end she rounded a corner and entered a room and she stopped. In the center of the room was something she could only describe as a tiny sun. It was mostly bright white light, but all colours appeared and disappeared on the surface and danced across it in irregular patterns. It was beautiful. Fenna approached it to have a good look. Was this a portal? She didn't want to touch it, but it was mesmerizing. The air felt heavier with every step she got closer. Was it even possible to get to it? She leaned on her spear and reached out a hand just to feel how different it was at arms lenght.

She didn't hear the footsteps echoing behind her. Hooded people were rushing towards the room.

The energy fluctuated and like a solar flare some of the energy arched out, making contact with her hand. It travelled through her arm, her body and out of her other arm, through her spear into the ground. It felt scorching hot and ice cold at the same time. It was over in a moment.

"H-hey, y-you can't be here," someone said and Fenna turned around. The hooded figures.
"Oh, sorry, I'll leave," Fenna said and she walked towards them, trying to play it cool. She did not expect the group to step aside and let her pass. She now had a good look at their faces; she recognised the tatoos she had seen the first time, all strange symbols she didn't know the meaning of. And for some reason they stared at her, jaws dropped, disbelief in their eyes. Like she was some kind of fish walking on land. She ignored it, her head hurt and she just wanted to get some fresh air now.

Inside her mind she felt Sil's fear. "Calm down darling, I'm on my way back," she whispered. What had gotten her falcon so agitated? She walked up the stairs, past the front desk and stepped outside. Sil immediately came down, took hold of her shoulder and upper arm and used her beak to touch Fenna's hair and cheek. "It's okay, I'm fine," she assured the falcon. Sil refused to let her go and Fenna walked back with her spear in one hand and the falcon on her shoulder.

All she wanted was to go to bed, she had a massive headache and her body was sore as if she had the flu. She didn't even notice her spear emitted a faint silvery light in the darkness of the night. When she reached the Mended Drum she went inside, she didn't stop to see if any of her party was in the common room and she didn't realize Sil was still holding on to her. She went straight to her room and flopped down on the bed as soon as it was in sight, still in armour, dropping her spear on the ground. Sil flew up and settled on the nearby chair.

At first she was just glad she could let her sore body rest, but sleep soon came over her.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

None of the television shows and movies had prepared Fenna actually to train recruits and she looked to the left and the right to get an idea of how the others handled it, and then she turned to her second in command. After a short conversation she took the Falcons with her and jogged to where they were supposed to go when they were called for battle.
"Know this place," she told them. "This is where we will be fighting. Archers, you will take positions there and there. Once the close combat starts, join in with swords." She walked forward. "If the enemy reaches this point, we switch to melee. You will practice with a shield and spears for mid-range and swords or long knives for close combat." She recalled a documentary that explained how spears were used quite often in combat and having thought with one herself she understood why. Keeping the enemy at some distance was preferable, especially with the backup archers could provide. "We will practice with our weapons several times today and the coming days, increasing the duration each time. I can't predict how long the battle will last, so we need endurance."
There would be some practice at aiming, but dummies were limited and they needed to wait their turn at the range. While they waited, they could work on strengthening their muscles to keep up the shields and poke at the enemies. Overall, she was happy with how the first training went.

Paranormal Activities [SporkoBug and Calle]

Mike watched Harriet do her magic and didn't speak to allow her to concentrate. He stepped forward when the illusion was brought up, watching Benjamin and the shadowy figure, and how Benjamin was suddenly taken by it.
"Maybe..." he began and paused. "Our magic isn't really strong, but I did read about some kind of tracking ritual that will allow you to find the whereabouts of a human you know. There should be a table back at the agency with the runes already carved into it, we just need a map and a pendulum kind of thing." Mike turned to Harriet. "Unless you have anything that could work now?"

Nobody Will Believe It [SporkoBug and Calle]

"Possible," Benjamin said in responce to Dia's first comment. "Maybe the lower employees are let in and out when their shift starts or ends. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case." If all else failed, maybe they could get a key by force, but then they'd need to have an exit strategy ready. He listened to what Dia said about requesting Marc as they walked to where the staff usually entered and left, he frowned at the white door. It made sense. "Okay, I will request Marc," he said. "I will go to the common room, maybe you can go ahead to my room. I'll talk him into going there."

Benjamin went to the common room and approached one of the nurses.
"Excuse me, Marc is working now, right?"
"Yes, why?"
"I may be experiencing side effects and I want to discuss them with him first."
"You can talk about that to me."
"Ah, well, you see..." Benjamin glanced down to his crotch, "I kinda would prefer another man to discuss it with."
After an exasprated sigh, the nurse called Marc to the common room.

Marc, who had been busy going through files, answered the call and made his way to the common room, where he heard about Benjamin's request. He nodded and walked with Benjamin to his room.