Magi Writing Contest! With Doni Prizes! WINNERS DECIDED!

[Snowflake]

It's quite good, no competition from me

Don't say that, everyone should participate I'm looking forward to see all your works!

Truth be told, I don't really consider myself good of a writer

[Sourikus]

It's quite good, no competition from me

Don't say that, everyone should participate I'm looking forward to see all your works!

Truth be told, I don't really consider myself good of a writer

I haven't graduated

[Blazen749]

I will keep on procrastinating....

[Snowflake]

Don't say that, everyone should participate I'm looking forward to see all your works!

Truth be told, I don't really consider myself good of a writer

I haven't graduated

Me neither

[Sourikus]

Don't say that, everyone should participate I'm looking forward to see all your works!

Truth be told, I don't really consider myself good of a writer

I haven't graduated

Me neither

*scratches head* Lol, PLOT TWIST!

[Sourikus]

Here goes nothing...

Prompt 3

Spoiler

Stepping into the darkness of the Silva Forest, I lost sight of the trail. In fact, it was hard to see pretty much anything. Hearing running water, I looked down at my empty flask. Giving it a shake, I proceeded to peer closely between the leaves hoping to find a river, but the dense foliage would reveal none of its secrets. Suddenly, I heard the pattering of footsteps and the rustling of leaves. Gripping my wand tightly, I pushed through the mass of tangled branches and leaves.

Before long, I was completely, absolutely, utterly, hopelessly lost. Picking my way over the buttress roots on the ground, I hoped to retrace my path, but this just led me deeper into the forest. Suddenly, I stumbled into a clearing. This would have been welcome, except-there was another mage there. He was like no other I had seen, wearing a dark robe with the cowl pulled back. I could just make out his sharp features and crooked nose. Even more frightening was the grey-coloured amphista coiled around his neck and shoulders, its twin heads staring straight at me. The man raised an eyebrow, purring, “Well, well, who do we have here? GET HIM!” The amphista lunged forward with surprising agility, causing me to jump back. When I looked back up, the mage was making complicated swishing motions with his wand, and the amphista was stirring on the floor, attempting to raise both heads. Without a second glance, I turned around and ran.

Suddenly, I heard a loud hiss, and to my horror realised the amphista was flying through the air towards me, its blue underbelly towards the floor! I stumbled and fell, the last thing I noticed being a sharp bite on my leg before everything went dark.

I woke up some time later in an unfamiliar room. Looking outside a window, I realised with a pang that it was the Keep. But this was definitely not my room. The wallpapers were dark grey and the floor, which was tiled, was black-and-white chequered with a hellhound stretched across it. There was a mirror hanging beside the window. Getting up and peeking at it, I found that I was no longer the mage, but rather, some kind of dragon. Not just any dragon, but it seemed I was the same amphista with the dark mage. It’d have been cool, except I had no desire to be a house pet. Not yet, anyway.

The door creaked open, and the mage walked in. “Come on, Fluffy. We’ve a job to do. Are you feeling much better? That annoying noobie mage sure didn’t stand much of a chance.” He then lowered a hand beside me. I had the temptation to bite him, but I was pretty sure he had some form of protection. Anyway, I needed him for my (daring?) escape plan. I attempted crawling up, but even you the reader can tell how hard it is to move with two legs. On top of that, the other head was snoozing contentedly where it was, quite unwilling to budge.

The mage saw this, and picked it up by the neck, gingerly. He then swung it across his neck, much like someone wearing a scarf (albeit a rather strange-looking one). It was then, that I saw that head had been drooling all the while, its venom carving out deep grooves in the table. Some of it had leaked onto the floor, forming a puddle, which revealed the concrete below the clear liquid.

“...Fluffy?” Reluctantly, I crawled onto his extended arm. Evidently the amphista was named Fluffy.

The hellhound bounded up, jumping at the mage, but the other head (my other head!) sneezed quite suddenly causing it to whimper and dash out of the door.

The mage pushed the door open, and walked outside. He soon reached the Stream, where the trees bent low over the river creating the shade. The mage proceeded to reach across the water towards a koi egg. As he did so I slipped from his back, and crawled slowly away. Behind me I could hear his indistinct cursing. Yeah. That was a koi egg.

Up and down the Stream, there was quite a big commotion as me, an amphista, was on the loose. I hopped off towards the Keep. If there was one person who could help me, it was High Archmage Thane. He had not once, but twice, given me an important task, and I was sure he would help me out. But how was I to find him?

Navigating my way into the Great Library, I crawled under a shelf. Moments later, I heard approaching footsteps, and then two pairs of feet appeared in front of me. I also heard Thane speaking. “A mage has gone missing, which worries me dreadfully. Anything could have happened to him. Anything!” Seeing him was even more welcome than Remy’s spiked cocoa on a winter’s night. At this point, the other person stepped backwards, and then left. Only after the sound of his retreating footsteps had faded did I slither out.

Thane was still staring anxiously straight ahead, so I hissed at him. He noticed me, and seemed quite startled. Before I could react (thanks to the amazing speed of an amphista) he had me floating feet off the ground. Peering closely at me, he murmured, “Why do you look familiar?” Still shaking his head, he walked me to his study.

He seated himself at the desk in the room, and pulled out a dusty tome. Flipping back and forth through the pages, the dust that had settled blew off, causing my other head to sneeze rather violently. Before my eyes, the droplets started burning tiny potholes in the wood.

Thane, however, didn’t look up. Eyes not leaving the page he was on, he yelled for Alchemist Castorz. Soon, the man rushed in. Thane wordlessly got up, and whispered something to him. Castorz nodded, and left.

Thane then edged closer to me, until our faces (well, his and my head) were mere inches apart. Then he asked, “…Are you even a real amphista?” I shook my head to the best of my ability (which resulted in a funny bobbing motion). Thane got up, and walked outside. Soon, he returned with a glass of clear liquid. “Drink this.”

I took a few sips, and blacked out immediately.

After coming to hours (or days) later, I woke up, with a terrible headache, and Fluffy was curled up, sleeping at the foot of my bed. I was back in my room, thankfully. On my table, Thane had left a note. It read:

I hope that wasn’t too traumatizing. It is rare that a mage would find himself possessing a creature unintentionally. Thankfully, Alchemist Castorz was able to help you out. Get well soon, and I look forwards to seeing you back.
High Archmage Thane

Getting up, I walked about, and the headache did not seem as bad.

Later on, I took Fluffy up to the Alasre mountains, and released her there. Whoever that mage was, he’d come looking, and he’d be looking for a very long time.

My first attempt!

[Lisbels]

Here goes nothing...

Prompt 2

Spoiler

‘I’m not human?’ The words mauled over in my mind; I sat there in complete silence staring at the Archmage Thane. He spoke with me calmly; I could hear him pause as he fumbled with his words; trying his best to put it as delicately as he possibly could.

“Samantha, I am sure that you have a lot of questions, but one thing I want to assure you is that you could always come and talk to me.” He was watching me awaiting a response; I haven’t said a single word since he started to explain my situation to me.

“Dragon,” The words formed slowly on my lips; as if I was spelling out every letter; trying to understand what it really meant.

“Yes Samantha, you are half dragon; it’s a rare but quite possible occurrence, when a were-dragon and mage share a strong unbreakable bond.”

The Archmage reached into his drawer and removed an old brown envelope. He handed it to me with care and smiled, “This will tell you all you need to know. Your parents left it for me the day you arrived; hoping that I could help you live a normal life.”

I glared at the brown envelope in my hand; the paper torn where the Archmage had opened it. I stroked the tiny ripped edges, and turned my gaze back to him. He was watching me as if waiting in anticipation. I looked at the envelope once more and instead of removing its contents I stood up and asked if I could leave. The Archmage only nodded his head in understanding; as I took my bag and left the room.

I stood there in front of the dark wooden doors of the Archmage’s office; staring down at the envelope in my hands. ‘Why tell me now? Why did he wait so long to tell me that I didn’t even belong there?’ My grip tightened on the envelope as anger slowly rose in me, “Well, I don’t want anything to do with you now; seeing that you didn’t want me in the first place!” I yelled at the envelope and tossed it out the window.

Storming off towards the dormitories; I didn’t even stop to greet my friends. I pushed away everyone that stood in my way and hurried onwards. I could feel the tears burning in the corners of my eyes, but being a proud person I stormed on; hoping to reach the sanctuary of my room before the tears reached the edges of my cheeks. I pulled the large wooden door open and plunged heavily down on my bed; just in time too; for I couldn’t hold my tears back any longer and started sobbing loudly into my pillow. My heart felt like a rock that had sunk to the bottom of a deep pool and the only way to regain it was to empty the sadness away.

My sobbing grew and grew, and I started mumbling to myself; which I always did when I was upset. I was blaming my real parents, blaming my adopted parents and blaming everyone around me. The more I blamed the more I cried; the tears painfully running down my cheeks.

“Samantha,” a soft almost whispering voice sounded beside me. What I hadn’t realized when I stormed into the room was that my roommate had been sitting on her bed this whole time. The pale figure came into view as I blinked through my tears; trying to see where the uncertain sound had come from. She was sitting with her back against the wall as if to balance her frail figure against it; her white hair carefully draped over her shoulders. “Are you alright?” she asked in her familiar soft voice; she was probably the daintiest person that I knew; she was never angry, or mean, or really any other emotion, but she always had something nice to say. We had been roommates since the beginning of the year, and got along splendidly.

I sat upright and opened my mouth to reassure her that it was nothing, and that I was perfectly fine, but I was once more overwhelmed by my tears, and laid my head in my hands as I sobbed. “I’m not…human!” I cried; the words slightly louder than what I wanted them to be, but my stomach was curled in knots, and I didn’t care anymore if everyone heard me or not.

My roommate tilted her head ever so slightly as she stared at me, “Then what are you? You look human.”
I wiped the tears from my cheeks, and sat with my back to the opposite wall. “Apparently I’m some kind of dragon half breed,” the words left my lips tasting fowl; for my anger towards my real parents haven’t died down yet.

“Oh, that sounds amazing,” the whispering voice of my friend sounded across from me.

“What’s amazing about it? It just means that I’m some kind of pity case that the school took in. I’m a freak, and above all they decided to wait fifteen years before they told me...fifteen years!” My hands grabbed my pillow and I held it to my chest; my tears had dried up, and a slow rage was working its way to physical actions.

“I don’t think that it makes you a freak, after all you look human.”

“Well, I’m not. Apparently I’ll be sprouting wings or breathing fire. Archmage Thane couldn’t exactly tell me what, but he said some of my dragon DNA would probably start showing sooner or later.” I threw my pillow towards the door; just trying to release my rage in some way. It was hard to get angry with Emily in the room; she always had this calm aura surrounding her as if nothing could break her bubble.

“I’m sure anything would be really amazing. Imagine you breathing fire,” her voice was turning to a whimper; which it did when she was getting excited.

“Well, I guess it would be kind of cool,” I agreed with a hint of distaste, but the longer I thought about it; the thought became clear that having dragon magic would be pretty amazing.

“I wonder what colour your wings would be?” she said with a tiny sparkle in her big blue eyes.

“That is if I even get wings; what if instead my neck grows longer or I end up with three horrid horns on my head. It’s already a struggle to wash these brown curls; imagine doing it with horns.”

“We’ll that would be funny,” Emily laughed, her laugh just as soft as her voice.

I smiled at Emily, because making her laugh was an amazing feat of its own.

The evening passed quickly enough; with me and Emily conspiring about what I would look like as a four legged longneck monstrosity, or how I would set the library on fire if I sneezed. Though with all this said and done; that night when the lights went off; I laid in my bed looking up at the ceiling and wondering to myself how amazing it would be to be able to fly.

Ever since I was small flying was one of my keen interests. I was the first in my class to master levitating spells, and my first magical creature was a phoenix that my adoptive parents gave me for my fifth birthday. Sometimes I even dared climbing to the highest tower of the keep and staring across the countryside; watching the magical creatures fly by.

I was lying there thinking about all these amazing things, when my thoughts lead me to this afternoon and one small detail ripped me from my bed. “The ENVELOPE!”

“What?” I could hear Emily sleepily ask; as she rubbed her eyes and turned in her bed to look at me, “Samantha, it’s late. What’s wrong?” she whispered.

“I threw the envelope containing a letter from my real parents out of the window as I left the Archmage’s office,” I rambled off; as I quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed my slippers.

Emily drearily sat up in her bed; appearing ghostly as the moonlight shone through the window onto her. “Where are you going?” she asked followed by a tiny yawn.

“I need to go find the envelope; I hope it’s not too late.”

“But it’s two in the morning… why don’t you find it tomorrow?” she asked making herself comfortable to go to sleep again.

“I can’t; I need to find it now,” I raced out of the room; hoping to myself that the envelope was still somewhere outside the window, and that it hadn’t blown away, or been thrown away by someone.
I raced through the moonlit hallways; keeping an eye out for any of the teachers on duty, but only the shadows of the trees outside acknowledged my presence. I could hear the faint hooting of an owl outside, and the wind whistling softly through the hollow hallways. As mysterious as this all seemed; I ventured onwards making my way down the two flights of stairs that lead to the main hallway.

Downstairs it was even quieter; the only sound that I could hear was the swish-swash of my slippers against the marble floors. I wiped a strand of brown hair from my eyes as I looked up at the heavy wooden doors that separated the inside of the Keep from the outside. I could see the wooden carving of a gryphon on the doors; its crystal eyes gleaming at me as though it was alive. My shoulders welted as I stared hopelessly at the large lock on the door. No one was really allowed outside at night, but I had to know what was written in that envelope.

I hopelessly turned away from the door and ended up face to face with a white haired ghost. A scream emanated from both me and her; until I could collect my wits and stared angrily at Emily. “What are you doing here?” I whispered; scanning the room for any sign of a teacher that might have heard the screaming. I pulled Emily into one of the corridors before she could answer me; when I saw the soft glow of a torch light approaching.

Emily blinked at me, “you where away too long so I followed you.”

Shrugging I peeked around the corner to see if the cost was clear, “you know you can get into trouble.”
“Well, you can too,” Emily turned and started walking down the corridor.

Baffled I turned to look at her walking away from me, “where are you going?”

Emily gave a weak smile and nodded her head in the direction she was heading, “I know of another way out of the Keep through the back garden.”

I grinned, “Well, then lead away.”



I have never been in the back garden before and shielded my eyes as we emerged from the dark corridor into a beautiful luscious moonlit garden. There where rosebushes everywhere and somniant hives on every corner. I squinted as I looked around, “Wow! The moon is bright tonight,” I commented as I paused to sniff a white rose before following Emily once more; who had already crossed to the opposite wall of the garden.

“The moon isn’t out,” Emily said quizzically as she looked over her shoulder at me.

“What do you mean? The hallways and even this garden are lit up as if it was day time.”

Emily frowned at me and shook her head, “It is dark moon, even if the moon was out it would still be pitch black outside; just like it is now.” Emily paused for a slight moment; a smile arranging itself on her lips, “maybe this is one of your dragon powers. We all know dragons can see in the dark, well…”

I stared at her, “Ok, so I can see in the dark now. I guess that’s a useful power to have.” Placing my hands on my hips I stared at Emily who had started examining me, but I quickly stopped her, “I’m not sprouting wings yet! So where is that secret exit that you told me about?”

“Oh yes, I almost forgot,” Emily carefully pulled back a rosebush; a tiny “ouch” escaped her when a thorn pricked her finger. I smiled with glee as a small door was revealed.

“How did you find this door?” I asked as I pulled it open and crawled through; Emily started explaining how she spent most of her time during natural magic class smelling the roses and playing with the rose imps, but she stopped when she also stood outside; her story trailing off to nothing.

“Wow!” she said as she stared up at the sky, “Now that the moon isn’t out the stars look brilliant.”

“Yes they do, but first things first. We need to find that envelope.” The looming walls outside looked much different than the great hallways inside. I couldn’t pinpoint where the window closest to the Archmage’s office could be. Though Emily continued to surprise me; when after half an hour of walking almost completely around the keep; she pointed up at the correct window.

We spent two more hours searching the grounds for any sign of the envelope, my disappointment increased when the night sky started to obtain a golden glow; signalling the coming of the morning.

We were exhausted when we finally reached the room again, and I myself was close to tears once again. “I can’t believe we didn’t find it,” I said as I sat on my bed staring at my empty hands; it was as if the knot that had formed the previous day in my stomach; had decided to reform in my throat. I looked at Emily; who hadn’t heard a word I said; for she lay passed out on her bed.

After the rather disappointing and tiresome night; I also fell victim to sleep as soon as I placed my head on my soft pillow.



Morning came harshly for both me and Emily; she was the first to wake, but wake more of a figurative term, because she moved around the room like a zombie. I on the other hand refused to get out of bed; my mind told me to get up, but my body was screaming “No!”

There was only fifteen minutes left till class; when Emily came to wake me. “Whaaaat!” I wailed as I turned to face her, but as I looked up at her; I could see her eyes widen.

“Samantha…your teeth!” a soft whimpering sound emanated from Emily. This was definitely a wakeup call; I rushed to the mirror and stared at my Fangs!?

“I have fangs!” I said loudly; running my tongue over them. I had to see Archmage Thane; this was increasingly becoming a scary experience for me, and without the envelope I was hopelessly lost.

Rushing through the halls I kept my mouth as closed as possible; trying to hide my fangs from my fellow students. Once more I avoided my friends who were grouping together before they entered the classroom. I couldn’t let them see me like this, ‘what would they think? What would they say?’

In no time I reached the dark wooden doors of the Archmage’s office, and paused to take a breath. I bit my lip; as I knocked softly, but quickly realized that it might not have been the best idea, ‘what would the Archmage think of me when he finds out I so carelessly threw away the envelope.’

I was about to turn and leave when the heavy doors slowly creaked open and Archmage Thane was standing there. “Oh Samantha, just the student I wanted to see.”

My blood froze, ‘did he know about their escapade this morning outside of the keep?’ I swallowed loudly; and followed his guiding hand into the office. The heavy doors closed behind us. Standing there in his office I could feel my fangs tearing into my lower lip, and I remembered that they were still hidden in my mouth.

“So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” the Archmage asked as he sat at his large desk; his Stelera Eagle eyeing me from the corner of his office. I only stared at him questioningly. “Well, of course you came here for a reason?” he asked and watched as I stood there with a mouth full of teeth; literally.

I couldn’t hide my fangs anymore and let them slip over my lower lip; like they were meant to be. “I came to talk to you about these?”

Archmage Thane stood up from his desk and walked up to me, “Amazing, I’m glad to see your fangs came out very splendidly.”

I only stared at the Archmage with surprise, “You’re glad?” I paused for a moment fumbling with my words, “I have fangs!..” I thought for another moment then added, “..sir.”

“Well yes, didn’t you read the letter?” he asked as he walked back to his desk and sat down again.
I stood there, fiddling with the edge of my shirt; where a loose end had been bothering me for days now, “About that…” I said uncertainly.

“You do still have the letter, right?” the Archmage asked as he sat forward resting his elbows on the desk and lifting an eyebrow suspiciously.

“I might have thrown it out of the window when I left your office yesterday, sir.” I lowered my head to stare at the floor instead; I couldn’t handle his disapproving eyes.

There was a short pause; then I heard the cheerful words, “Well, that alright. Luckily Chalantro here was hit by your envelope the moment he flew by to come and visit me yesterday. He brought it to me; so here it is.” The Archmage rummaged in between some of the papers on his desk and placed the envelope in front of me.

I walked closer and stared somewhat in amazement at the same old brown envelope that we had spent most of the night searching for. I picked it up; and as if already a habit; let my finger slide across the ripped edges. This time though; I was pleased to see the envelope, and eager to find out what was written on the letter inside.

“So, are you going to read it this time?” the Archmage asked sitting back in his chair; his arms folded over his chest.

I nodded to the Archmage with a smile, “Yes sir, this time I’ll read it.” I turned to leave, but the Archmage stopped me before I reached the door.

“Oh, wait Samantha. I almost forgot.” He took a tiny package from his drawer and handed it to me with the words, “open this afterwards.”

I left the office; holding the brown envelope in one hand and the tiny box shaped package in the other. Heading to my room; I passed the empty halls; for everyone was already in the classrooms starting with their first lesson of the day. Though I had more important matters to attend to, and walked by without even noticing one of the students staring at me from one of the open classroom doors.

Emily wasn’t in the room; she must have gone to class as well; “punctuality makes perfect” was her motto.

I carefully place the box on the bed and stared at the envelope; carefully removing its contents. The piece of parchment that the letter was written on was rough under my fingers; as I unfolded it; trying to make out the tiny handwriting on it.

Dear Archmage Thane

I know you are a busy man, but this is a letter of dire urgency. Please take care of our daughter; Semantha, for she means the world to us. But we cannot continue raising her; for we desire a better; normal life for her.

We know with you she will be safe; she will be taken care of. Please find her a loving family that will also cherish her like we do. She is a special girl, and will undergo many trails and difficulties as she grows. Give her this letter on her fifteenth year to help explain to her what and who she is.

I turned the page over and saw that the letter continued on the other side, but this time is was addressed to me.

Dear Samantha

We are sorry to not have been there for you these many years, but you have to understand. Your father and I have been ridiculed by many who do not understand our love; for human and were-dragons are enemies during these times.

You might be scared during this time of your life; as you have the blood of a champion flowing through your veins. Your father and I met; when he was used as a gladiator in a city far from where you are now; I was a scullery maid working to feed the gladiators. We fell in love as soon as we met, but wasn’t allowed to remain together, and was forced to flee the city.

Luckily I had a good friend across the mountains; which you have probably learnt to know over the years as the Archmage Thane. We reached the keep in a poor state; you had been born as we were crossing the mountains, and was too frail to come with us. So we left you with the Archmage; knowing that he will protect and guide you through the years.

By now you would probably have started experiencing some changes; do not fear these changes. They will make you strong, and help you to reach unknown levels of magic as a magi. Even when you were just a tiny baby; your father and I knew that you were meant for greatness. There is a freedom in your eyes that no one could ever keep locked away.

Do not waver from your chosen path; for you will not be a monster, but an angle.

Love

Emily and Josephion Burns

I wiped the tears from my eyes as I stared at the letter; reading their names one more time, and feeling the odd sensation that there might be a connection of some sort that I was missing. My eyes lifted to the bed across from mine; it was neat and tidy, almost as if no one had slept on it this entire year.

I looked down at the tiny box beside me and took it in my hands; examining the best way to remove the paper without ripping it too much. I carefully ripped one end and slipped out a tiny wooden box. On top of it was the carved image of a heart; I opened it carefully; almost holding my breath; as I lifted the top off. There was a note inside, and beneath the note a necklace with two tiny silver dragon wings hanging from it. I read the note and smiled; for on it was written:

Your wings will come.

Hope you like it.

[MageLorelei]

I'm running this thing, but I want to enter... I WANT TO ENTER MY OWN CONTEST. *sits in corner*
But I won't.
All of the stories entered are fantastic

So far...

Prompt 1: No entries

Prompt 2: 3 Entries

Prompt 3: 2 Entries

[Sourikus]

I'm running this thing, but I want to enter... I WANT TO ENTER MY OWN CONTEST. *sits in corner*
But I won't.
All of the stories entered are fantastic

So far...

Prompt 1: No entries

Prompt 2: 3 Entries

Prompt 3: 2 Entries

Hahah! Prompt 1 has no entries because it's hard... :/ maybe I should go and enter it ... but don't really care for peacocks. (Please criticize my story it'd make me feel better about not entering 1)

[MageLorelei]

Prompt 1 is actually my favorite, but you're right, it is hard. And I will not be giving out constructive criticism before the end of the contest. and I'll probably do it in a PM.