58, 100 words! Oh wait, I don't need to update you any more, huh? Here's a little bit of my 2003 NaNo novel, not completely proof read so as usual ignore grammatical mistakes.
Ugh, she thought to herself as she stepped in the dark closet, why did I let Caiden talk me into this? Her mind refused to go over the act that happened right after the request. She bumped into a pile of fighting sticks, stirring up a cloud of dust. She sneezed and rubbed her free hand over her nose. The other hand held a candleholder with a lit candle. She had a notepad and pencil nub tucked into her breeches. Her plan was to list and count all the items in the closet and then send some men back to collect them later if Lord Gitter wanted the weapons moved. She had no idea that there would be so many weapons in the castle, it had taken her three days to go through the barracks alone. Caiden promised to help her in the armory later so for now she was wandering through the castle looking for misplaced swords.
She sent the holder down on a small wooden shelf, careful to make sure it wouldn't easily be knocked over. The closet was so dry, the whole quarter would go up in smoke quickly if she accidentally caught it on fire. She sniffed, the dusty stale air was irritating her nose.
Her eyes quickly adjusted to the dim light and mentally began tallying in the items in the closet. Half a dozen fighting sticks, some musty linens that had been forgotten, and more dust than she cared to think about. She absently ran her finger through the dirt, it was so covered she didn't even reach the wood of the shelf. She'd have to mention this closet to the cleaning maids.
A dark shadow caught her eye to the right of the shelves. She had assumed that the closet ended at the shelves that seemed to line the back of the closet. Without going back for the candle she stepped into the shadow. The shelves had only been a divider, she saw that the closet went on for another few feet. Blinking she waited for excellent wood elf vision to kick in so she could see what lie behind the shelves. Frowning when she could only see blackness after a few minutes, she took another step forward.
Kierana gasped as a chill suddenly settled into her bones. Her throat felt constricted, she put her hand to her neck as if she could pull away whatever seemed to be squeezing it closed. Her eyes flew open in panic as she couldn't bring in a full breath of air. She tried to step back away from the darkness but her muscles seemed frozen in place. The little hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she felt a rush of cold air next to her. The movement unnerved her more than the lack of air, what was in the closet with her?
"Leave now and never return," came a low guttural command from the center of the blackness. Her throat was released and her muscles went slack. Without questioning what the voice meant by its cryptic message about leaving and not returning, she turned and fled out of the closet. And right into Jalask's broad chest.
"Oomph," he said, putting his large hands on her shoulders.
"There's, there's something in there!" Too frighten by what she had just experienced, she didn't even notice that Jalask hadn't pushed her away. Instead he let her lean against him.
"Oh Ernie," Jalask said with a chuckle. "Go away, Ernie!" he called into the open closet. Still huddling close to Jalask for comfort, Kierana turned slightly to look into the room. She watched the candle be blown out by an invisible force. With what seemed to be a grunt of reply, the door slammed shut. Kierana jumped at the sudden noise, falling against Jalask again.
All Content at katiefleck.com is Copyright 2003-2008 by Katie Fleck, All Rights Reserved.
