The Gambler
22nd April 2004, 15:03
Now I wrote this about 5 years ago for some school project and have always wanted to write a novel... Should I use this as my bases or does it suck balls? Comments welcome.
Frozen Fire
Prologue
The planet spun through the blackness of space. It was orbiting a huge Red giant star that looked like the eye of God watching over the planets. The planet we are interested in is far from the star At a first glimpse of this icy world you would be mistaken to think that no life could survive on such a frozen wasteland. That is where you would be wrong, if you were to look closely you could see the snow covered tops of the thatched roofs while some of the bigger houses had slate roofs, that looked broken and not well looked after. There was a place of worship, a huge marble building with beautifully crafted statues that looked like they were guarding this place, the largest of all the statues was one of a dragon and around this statue many people had gathered. There is a castle built into the side of a great mountain. The castle has marble pillars and is covered top to bottom in gold, there are jewels encrusted into every wall, door and window on the castle.
You could see the beaten tracks all seeming to head towards the city and you could see many people leaving the great city, they are heading out into the frozen wasteland which many had never been into, but few had returned from. There are birds flying through the sky and settling on the icy tundra with load squawks of content, there are wolfs just visible off in the distant mountain range watching the shepherd tend to his flock.
If we move in closer on to the icy tundra not to far from this great city you could make out what looked a moving cloud of snow, This snow cloud is upsetting all the birds that are in its wake. The birds would fly away squawking at the oncoming snow cloud, after it passed they would settle again only to be disturbed once again. The storm was being followed by black dots, thousands of these dots could bee seen, here and there there is a glint of the star reflecting of something shiny. If you moved in closer, into the cloud, you would see that it was being made by charging horses, these were no ordinary horses, no, these were the finest in the land and ridding them were the knights of Tidan. These were the sacred guardians of the king of Tidan, the king is a powerful man with an army to rival any army that had once been. The king is leading the charge sitting upon the finest stallion in all the world. The horse was the darkest black darker than night its self and its huge muscles rippled like the waves crashing against the shore every time it took a galloping step. Its mane flew back in the wind and its breath froze in the cold morning air.
The king on top of the horse was wearing full armour, a gleaming golden crown sat above his helmet, on his chest there was the coat of arms of his family, this was encrusted with diamonds and other jewels that sparkled in the light of the star. The king underneath the armour was not a young man he was old but few dared to call him that, he had been strong in his youth but now he was begging to weaken, he once had carried a giant sword but now just carried a smaller one.
He had deep blue eyes and fair brown hair that reaches his waste, it would have billowed out in the strong wind of the tundra had it not been tucked within his helmet. He was a man who loved war but was beginning to get tired of it as he had spent the best part of his life in one battle after another. In his heart though he longed for the day when the wars would end and he could settle down and get started on the great project so that no one would forget his name. He was a man who did not know mercy, he believed that if you rule with an iron fist that you will gain respect. He had had many people killed and not once had he felt pity or remorse, he was a king made of the purest evil, he worshiped the God of Pain a God who was as unforgiving as the king and twice as nasty.
If we were move out a bit we would see that what we thought were dots from a great distance were actually men in chain mail. These soldiers of the king were fearless as the God of Pain had put evil into their hearts and all they wanted to do was to kill, all had been in many bloody battles. The men were chanting the chants their fathers before them had sung when going into battle, the chants were meant to bring them luck and protect them in the heat of battle. They had their swords drawn, many still had the blood of previous battles on them, and some of the men had bows swung over one shoulder with a quiver full of poisonous arrows on the other. They were all heading for an area of the tundra that was occupied by another army of the last rival king.
If we were now to focus on this area for a moment we would see an army of men and knights ready and waiting for the oncoming army of the Tidan. They had their swords drawn and their bows with an arrow were taught ready for the signal to let fly a barrage of arrows that would block out the star and rain death down on the enemy troops. This is the army of the king of Kushan a man made of all that us good and he worshiped the God of peace. All the kings mean were pure good and they knew this and they knew that good would triumph over the evil one day, whether it be today or in 100 years. The king was at the head of his troops watching the oncoming army knowing that many would fall and that to the winner the glory of ruling this entire icy planet. One would clear the ice and turn this planet into a lush peaceful planet while the other would turn this planet into pure evil with pain and suffering.
The king is a young man who had only just taken over from his father, who had met his end in a similar battle one of the many that happened in the last 25 years. The king is a tall man with broad shoulders he has short cut blonde hair and eyes as green as a dew-covered meadow, he was also considered one of the greatest thinkers of all time. He was unlike any other king there had been, in battle he never wore a crown or covered his armour with jewels. For he knew that if he did he would be a prime target. He had the mind of a taction but the heart of a man willing to die for others. He had no dreams of power and glory, he just wanted to protect all that he loved.
He had been born during wartime and had spent his whole life watching one battle after another and he was feed up of the blood shed, millions had lost their lives just because some greedy kings wanted what they should no have.
Few remembered a time with out war. There had once been many kings ruling over there own area of the land but some wanted more so wars had broken out and many of the kings were dead. Now there was only two left alive today and they were about to face each other. What they did not know was that they were just the beginning of an even bigger battle that was yet to come.
Chapter 1
Clash of the Titans
The Kushan army advanced slowly, all in step to the beating drums from the distance; their armour and chain mail clinked as they took each step nearer to the enemy. The star was reflected off every piece of shiny armour soon to be covered in the blood of the enemy and in a lot of cases the blood of the wearer, but still they marched on. Some thought of what they had left behind others thought of what they had to gain, if they were victorious. The knights rushed by not caring if they knocked one or two of their own men over, so was their need to conquer and defeat the oncoming Tidan army. The hoofs of the horses left perfectly shaped prints in the snow they were soon spoiled by the trampling feet of thousands of men. Before the foot soldiers reached their target the knights reached theirs. The two groups of knights meet with the clashing of steel that echoed for miles a round, this sound sent the hearts of all the young men and even some of the battle hardened veteran’s hearts racing. The Kushan forces had stopped to group up before the initial attack, they could here the chanting and banging of shields that came from the direction of the now stationary Tidan force, which was also regrouping.
The battle between the knights still raged on in the middle of the tundra, though the Kushan knights were outnumbered they were more experienced than some of the inexperienced Tidan knights. They were slowly beating them back, behind them lay the decapitated bodies of Tidan and Kushan knights. Now free of their riders some of the horses were running away, some still had the limp bodies of their master on them. One horse raised up on its back legs and brought its hoofs crashing down on a screaming Tidan knight who had been dislodged from his horse.
Frozen Fire
Prologue
The planet spun through the blackness of space. It was orbiting a huge Red giant star that looked like the eye of God watching over the planets. The planet we are interested in is far from the star At a first glimpse of this icy world you would be mistaken to think that no life could survive on such a frozen wasteland. That is where you would be wrong, if you were to look closely you could see the snow covered tops of the thatched roofs while some of the bigger houses had slate roofs, that looked broken and not well looked after. There was a place of worship, a huge marble building with beautifully crafted statues that looked like they were guarding this place, the largest of all the statues was one of a dragon and around this statue many people had gathered. There is a castle built into the side of a great mountain. The castle has marble pillars and is covered top to bottom in gold, there are jewels encrusted into every wall, door and window on the castle.
You could see the beaten tracks all seeming to head towards the city and you could see many people leaving the great city, they are heading out into the frozen wasteland which many had never been into, but few had returned from. There are birds flying through the sky and settling on the icy tundra with load squawks of content, there are wolfs just visible off in the distant mountain range watching the shepherd tend to his flock.
If we move in closer on to the icy tundra not to far from this great city you could make out what looked a moving cloud of snow, This snow cloud is upsetting all the birds that are in its wake. The birds would fly away squawking at the oncoming snow cloud, after it passed they would settle again only to be disturbed once again. The storm was being followed by black dots, thousands of these dots could bee seen, here and there there is a glint of the star reflecting of something shiny. If you moved in closer, into the cloud, you would see that it was being made by charging horses, these were no ordinary horses, no, these were the finest in the land and ridding them were the knights of Tidan. These were the sacred guardians of the king of Tidan, the king is a powerful man with an army to rival any army that had once been. The king is leading the charge sitting upon the finest stallion in all the world. The horse was the darkest black darker than night its self and its huge muscles rippled like the waves crashing against the shore every time it took a galloping step. Its mane flew back in the wind and its breath froze in the cold morning air.
The king on top of the horse was wearing full armour, a gleaming golden crown sat above his helmet, on his chest there was the coat of arms of his family, this was encrusted with diamonds and other jewels that sparkled in the light of the star. The king underneath the armour was not a young man he was old but few dared to call him that, he had been strong in his youth but now he was begging to weaken, he once had carried a giant sword but now just carried a smaller one.
He had deep blue eyes and fair brown hair that reaches his waste, it would have billowed out in the strong wind of the tundra had it not been tucked within his helmet. He was a man who loved war but was beginning to get tired of it as he had spent the best part of his life in one battle after another. In his heart though he longed for the day when the wars would end and he could settle down and get started on the great project so that no one would forget his name. He was a man who did not know mercy, he believed that if you rule with an iron fist that you will gain respect. He had had many people killed and not once had he felt pity or remorse, he was a king made of the purest evil, he worshiped the God of Pain a God who was as unforgiving as the king and twice as nasty.
If we were move out a bit we would see that what we thought were dots from a great distance were actually men in chain mail. These soldiers of the king were fearless as the God of Pain had put evil into their hearts and all they wanted to do was to kill, all had been in many bloody battles. The men were chanting the chants their fathers before them had sung when going into battle, the chants were meant to bring them luck and protect them in the heat of battle. They had their swords drawn, many still had the blood of previous battles on them, and some of the men had bows swung over one shoulder with a quiver full of poisonous arrows on the other. They were all heading for an area of the tundra that was occupied by another army of the last rival king.
If we were now to focus on this area for a moment we would see an army of men and knights ready and waiting for the oncoming army of the Tidan. They had their swords drawn and their bows with an arrow were taught ready for the signal to let fly a barrage of arrows that would block out the star and rain death down on the enemy troops. This is the army of the king of Kushan a man made of all that us good and he worshiped the God of peace. All the kings mean were pure good and they knew this and they knew that good would triumph over the evil one day, whether it be today or in 100 years. The king was at the head of his troops watching the oncoming army knowing that many would fall and that to the winner the glory of ruling this entire icy planet. One would clear the ice and turn this planet into a lush peaceful planet while the other would turn this planet into pure evil with pain and suffering.
The king is a young man who had only just taken over from his father, who had met his end in a similar battle one of the many that happened in the last 25 years. The king is a tall man with broad shoulders he has short cut blonde hair and eyes as green as a dew-covered meadow, he was also considered one of the greatest thinkers of all time. He was unlike any other king there had been, in battle he never wore a crown or covered his armour with jewels. For he knew that if he did he would be a prime target. He had the mind of a taction but the heart of a man willing to die for others. He had no dreams of power and glory, he just wanted to protect all that he loved.
He had been born during wartime and had spent his whole life watching one battle after another and he was feed up of the blood shed, millions had lost their lives just because some greedy kings wanted what they should no have.
Few remembered a time with out war. There had once been many kings ruling over there own area of the land but some wanted more so wars had broken out and many of the kings were dead. Now there was only two left alive today and they were about to face each other. What they did not know was that they were just the beginning of an even bigger battle that was yet to come.
Chapter 1
Clash of the Titans
The Kushan army advanced slowly, all in step to the beating drums from the distance; their armour and chain mail clinked as they took each step nearer to the enemy. The star was reflected off every piece of shiny armour soon to be covered in the blood of the enemy and in a lot of cases the blood of the wearer, but still they marched on. Some thought of what they had left behind others thought of what they had to gain, if they were victorious. The knights rushed by not caring if they knocked one or two of their own men over, so was their need to conquer and defeat the oncoming Tidan army. The hoofs of the horses left perfectly shaped prints in the snow they were soon spoiled by the trampling feet of thousands of men. Before the foot soldiers reached their target the knights reached theirs. The two groups of knights meet with the clashing of steel that echoed for miles a round, this sound sent the hearts of all the young men and even some of the battle hardened veteran’s hearts racing. The Kushan forces had stopped to group up before the initial attack, they could here the chanting and banging of shields that came from the direction of the now stationary Tidan force, which was also regrouping.
The battle between the knights still raged on in the middle of the tundra, though the Kushan knights were outnumbered they were more experienced than some of the inexperienced Tidan knights. They were slowly beating them back, behind them lay the decapitated bodies of Tidan and Kushan knights. Now free of their riders some of the horses were running away, some still had the limp bodies of their master on them. One horse raised up on its back legs and brought its hoofs crashing down on a screaming Tidan knight who had been dislodged from his horse.