I hope everyone enjoyed reading my competition entry. It was a difficult thing to get a decent story out of only 2 pages.

It would be interesting to know just how many of you caught the more subtle places in which I linked Elrick's tale to the official story and history of Heroes V, for example, the relevance of the moon.

I hope that no one missed the twist at the end, either. It was quite a challenge trying to make that apparent enough so that people didn't miss it, but also discreet enough so that it remained at least a bit of a suprise.

So here's my first draft before trying to edit the story down to the harsh restrictions on the competition. I think its not far off double the length of the final version. Enjoy the read.

Reflections of Sorrow Uncut

Is this my fate? To die alone atop a cold mountain? As I ask myself what I’ve done to deserve this, a hidden memory, buried so deep I wonder if it even happened, begins to worm its way out of my subconscious. The memory of where it all began.

It was in her arms, the arms of the only person that ever loved me, that I found comfort from the cruel, harsh world. Her name was Sarsha, a Dragon Knight, and I called her mother, even though we weren’t related by blood. My real mother was killed when I was a baby – brutally murdered like the rest of the villagers by those accursed demons. Although Sarsha showed me love, I could see sadness in her eyes so great that my heart ached for her. When I grew into adolescence I learned the reason for her sorrow. Her son, Veldor, was a promising Dragon Knight, and together with his steed Licentia, they won many battles. He was madly in love with a beautiful woman from another Stronghold; however, just before they were to be married, a surprise Demon attack took her life. Soon after Veldor lost the will to live and killed himself. Licentia and Sarsha wept together for him, but the anguish grew too strong for Licentia, and she left the Stronghold never to be seen again. To show me the love that she did after so terrible a tragedy gave me hope, but that hope was not to last.

Being a Half Elf, I was never accepted by either or my pure blooded cousins. Not only that, but I was not of noble birth like them, so I could never become a Dragon Knight. I recall now, the pain of their insults cutting into me like a sword of sorrow.

“Hey, Elrick! Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you, half-breed.”

“What do you want? I haven’t done anything to you.”

“Shut up! I bet you’re the reincarnation of Joshua the apostate, aren’t you half-breed?”

“Who’s Joshua the apostate?”

“Hah you don’t even know that? He’s the traitor Dragon Knight that gave the location of our Strongholds to the demons two and a half centuries ago, you stupid pig!”

Then they would beat me and threaten to beat me more if I told the Elders. I tried being nice to them and making friends, but they wouldn’t let me, so I continued to practice my archery with a desperate zeal, for it was the only way I knew to hide from the pain. By the time I was seventeen, I could beat anyone in the entire Stronghold with the bow. This only angered the bullies more, and they thrashed me harder. Eventually I could take it no longer. I was nineteen when it happened. As I received my ritual beating after archery class, a deep and violent rage began to well up inside me until I was a puppet to my own anger. As if possessed, I pulled an arrow from my quill and thrust it into my nearest tormentor’s neck. He died almost instantly.

That boy’s parents, who had always disapproved of me, came to the cell in which I wept that night, with hatred in their eyes.

“Boy, you have killed our only son, so I have no remorse when I tell you that the reason you were orphaned was because of a demon prophecy. Mal-Beleth believed that a half-breed boy would one day grow up to become a Dragon Knight and destroy her. YOU are the reason your family was killed.”

This struck the very core of my heart, and sent waves of absolute agony cascading throughout my entire soul, but I mustered the courage and spoke:

“If that is the prophecy, then why have I not been permitted to become one of you?”

“Do you really think you have what it takes to be a Dragon Knight? You lack the most important virtue – compassion. It is a demon prophecy, and will never come true.”

The following day I was told I would be executed. The boy’s parents must have been influential to get such a callous verdict, but I deserved it. I was responsible for the deaths of my family and townspeople. Sarsha tried to reason with the Elders, telling them I was driven to it, and begging them only to exile me, but their minds were set in stone, justified by their belief that Sar-Badon wouldn’t want the safety of his people jeopardized by a vengeful half-breed who might reveal their location to the demons.

The night before the execution, I heard the muffled sound of stealthy footsteps approaching my cell, then the metallic rattling that can only be a key turning in a lock. It was Sarsha – come to bear me away from death. I don’t know how many leagues we traveled that night, but I would never forget my first and only flight on a Dragon. We sped over the Barrier islands and I could see tiny fires blazing in the Orcish cities far below. As the sun rose to bathe the world in a celestial light, I hoped that my sins would be cleansed with the dawning of a new day - the start of a new life, perhaps. Sarsha set me down in the foothills of a mountain close to the Capital of the Griffin Empire, bid me the warmest of goodbyes, and took off to face her fate. I prayed to this day the Elders showed mercy on her. Burying my guilt, I set out to the Capital where the city folk were in celebration of Emperor Nicolai’s 20th birthday, and whispered rumors of his infatuation for a woman named Isabel filled the streets.

With no other way to make a living, I joined the Haven’s armed forces and was welcomed into the archer’s tower with open arms. Things were good for a time and I soon became renowned for my skill with the longbow. Surrounded by the warmth of the tower, and the light banter of my comrades, I slowly forgot my shame. Then one fateful night, when the moon hung bright in the sky, an angel came to me in my dream, with a message from the highest realm.

"Thou hast lost thy way, young Elrick, but the path thou must take shalt yet be revealed unto thee. Look to the heavens. Be guided by them."

I woke immediately from the dream after the Angel had departed, and gazed out at the velvet black sky, dotted with silvery stars. Then I saw it. I saw it as I had never seen it before. The moon, now emanating an omniscient awareness, seemed almost to beckon me. I knew what I had to do and, after hastily packing a few belongings, I was on my way, striding determinedly toward my lunar lodestar. I strode through woods, over hills, and past towns. I strode until my legs ached with fatigue. Then I strode some more. After weeks on the road it occurred to me that the moon was not thinning to a crescent as it should, and during the day it was still faintly visible. This gave me hope; the heavens had halted to guide me. Soon I came to a great forest that seemed to stretch endlessly, and I had heard rumor that the Elven Kingdom of Irollan lay hidden within. Venturing into its depths with only the kind light of the moon to aid me, I went on with a steely resolve to meet my destiny. I slept in the day and traveled only by night, so that I would not loose my way. After what must have been a fortnight, whilst I was drinking from a steam, an arrow whistled through the air to land at my feet. The archer was an ominous looking Elf with intricate blonde braids, a strong build, and a stern gaze. I hoped he wasn't looking for a fight.

“Greetings cousin. Might I ask what a Half-Elf is doing so deep in my forest?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“You’d be surprised at what I believe, stranger.”

He gave me a look that clearly said he wanted answers, so I began to recount all that had happened. I expected him to ask questions as I went on, but he remained impassively silent, listening with admirable patience from where he stood on the other side of the stream. When I had finished he vaulted across on his bow with catlike agility and looked me gravely in the eyes.

“If what you say is true, then I sense war will be upon us soon. Then I will have to leave my forest and fight.” I remember the look of open sadness in his eyes, but felt I should hold my tongue. “I think that you have an honest heart, but my orders are to let no outsiders pass.”

“I must continue my journey, good Elf. Trust in what your heart tells you, for it does not lie.”

“Hmm, we will let the arrows decide. If it is your fate to continue, then you will surely beat me.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what the Elf meant until he drew his bow and loosed an arrow at a fallen tree only just visible through the dense forest. As the arrow sailed majestically through the air, the Elf said: “Closest to the centre of that log wins. If you best my shot, then you may pass.”

Just as he finished his sentence, the arrow sunk into the middle of the dead tree. He was good. Smiling, he gestured for me to fire. I drew my arrow slowly . . . then loosed. I knew it was a good shot before it hit the target, maybe my best. The two arrows were so close together that we had to move in for a closer look.

“A draw, as far as I can tell.” The Elf said after much consideration. “No one has ever come close to besting me. I think you and I were supposed to meet. Continue, but know the green or gold cliff dwelling dragons you may find belong to the forest – they will not permit you to ride them.”

After giving my thanks and trading names with the Elf, we bid each other farewell and went our separate ways. I journeyed deeper and deeper into the forest, hearing the familiar calls of Dragons overhead in the cliffs that rose tall above the canopy, but the moon guided me past these, always to the north. It may have been the turning of the seasons, or how far north I had gone, but the weather began to grow much colder and soon the trees grew more sparse and the ground more steep. Eventually the moon led me to a mountain so huge, its peak jutted up through the clouds, and I knew I was close to finding the Dragon I was destined to ride. I could feel it. The mountain proved to be a gargantuan obstacle. To describe it as a difficult ascent would have been a gross understatement, but I persevered, clawing my way up with numb fingers until the air began to thin as I passed through the cloud to near the peak. It was there, above the luminescent sea of clouds, where I saw what I had come so far to find. The unmistakable cave of a dragon, its entrance glowing faintly in the light of the moon. No sooner had I pulled myself into the dragon’s den, were my legs swept out from under me by the lightning quick swing of an azure tail. Pinning me down with its talons, the dragon spoke fiercely to me through my mind, as do dragons communicate.

"Come to slay me have you, brave knight?"

Just before it was about to maim me, I noticed the ferocious glint in its eyes soften. It must have somehow known I meant it no harm. As it released its fatal grip on me and sauntered to the back of the cave, I saw from its graceful gait and slender frame that it was a female dragon.

"Well? Why are you here?" It asked, so I told her of my upbringing, the demon prophecy, and my angelic visitation.

"I was meant to find you. We were meant to be united. It is our destiny. Will you join with me, o’ dragon?"

The question hung in the air, like a tidal wave poised to come crashing down, then she answered.

"I can not." Down came the tidal wave."My past is wrought with pain and I have lost all belief in the seventh dragon, in prophecies, and most of all, in myself. Go now, and leave me to my grief."

Comatose with shock, I left the cave and climbed to the summit. Thus I came to stand where I stand now. I look up at the moon – once my faithful companion, now a mocking light in the sky. Has it all been some twisted charade played by the Gods? Do the Gods even exist? Was it all in my head? I peer over the edge of the precipice to the sheer drop below. Rays of moonlight seem to point to the sharp rocks thrusting up though the clouds. Then I realize what I must do, what the moon was leading me to all this time. I must pay for my sins – for the murder of a boy, for the destruction of a town, for the deaths of my family. Yes, it’s so clear now. I’m sorry, Sar-Elam . . . forgive me.

As Elrick falls serenely towards his end, he notices something moving on the very edge of his vision, its moving fast, like a bolt of lightning. Then quite suddenly, it hits him.

"Am I dead?"

"No young one, you are not. You! I thought that-"

"I changed my mind. Dragons tend to do that. What is your name?"

"Elrick, w-what’s yours?"

"Licentia."

That night, an age old demon prophecy had come to life as the fated pair – dragon and rider – embarked upon a journey of friendship and peril. People would one day rejoice at the symbol of hope – a Dragon Knight atop his steed, silhouetted by a full moon.

When will them post the non-winners (basically, who couldn't win...)

VERY nice story Sir... I read the "censored" version first and I must admit I was a little bit dissapointed, things didn't connect well (IMHO)... but the original version is simply great

Sandro, I undestood you also had a non-competition entry? Why don't you post it? I'm sure they wouldn't mind...

Eagerly awaiting more fables... I think i'm addicted to them

If someone remembers the incident of two weeks ago, my computer got toasted. I lost some data, thankfully, my usual fables wasn't one of them, but my entry was. What means, only them have my original entry...

This is really good!

But I actually liked a few parts more in the official entry. Like the part
"When I asked they just spat in my face and said it was a Demon prophecy, and to believe it would be an insult to the Seventh Dragon."
I somehow felt it was a strong cut into the nature of the peoples attitude towards Demons and their own strong faith. It was a short part, yet it told many things. That is talent, I think.

Thanks for the compliments.

If Ubisoft agree to it, I'll be writing another short story that will be published online. I've got the plot already planned out and there's some really good stuff in there, if I do say so myself (particularly for those of you familiar with the Heroes V history).

Just hope Ubisoft agree to publish it or its a no go.

One question Sirano.............. Is the elf, "guardian of wood", actually Ossir

I like letting the reader work some things out for themselves . . . so I'm not telling you.

Basically, a "yes".

Interesting enough, only Ubi has my original entry. Well, when will they post it!? Or is it cursed to the oblivion?

Your entry, Sandro, will be posted along with all the other entries quite soon. You just have to bear with Ubisoft 'cause they're very busy with E3 at the moment.

Apparently the Heroes Fables story book will also be graced by being printed off into an actual book that you can hold in your hands! Wow. I think these will be few in number, however, as they will be used for future competition prizes.

It is finally there! All the stories are quite good, but, only this much got into the competition ?

Anyways, how could I have missed that in the three revisations I did? One single word all wrong, bah! "words" instead of "sword". It wasn't supposed to have tittle, by the way, it is just a small fable with no follow up in my mind, but you all might yet hear of Sir Joshua Leviant one day

Just read the complete collection
Great story Sandro
Some of the others were very nice also... I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read the one about the horsie

Great stories
Can't wait for the next fables from you...

Only 11 people entered! Very, very disappointing. I had hoped for at least 30. Now winning this contest really doesn't mean anything to me.

Things are really busy in my life at the moment. I doubt I'll be carrying on the Fables series for a while unless Ubisoft agree to publish it. Too bad as well, I've got one hell of a story planned. We can only hope.

Well I also hoped for more entries.But probable many decided not to write (persons like me) becasue there was that USA-only award competition .............

I just got in because some people asked me (may I call them my fans?). And no, I don't think there was just this much, maybe there was around 30, but the most of them didn't respected the competition rules (like writting more than two pages and begging to be accepted or they reconfigurated the defaut microsoft word configuration).

And, Sirano_Simons, I think this is even worse news but... looks like all other entrances that didn't win were out-of-USA entries.

quote:

I doubt I'll be carrying on the Fables series for a while unless Ubisoft agree to publish it. Too bad as well, I've got one hell of a story planned. We can only hope.

Oh, come on Sir... You can't leave the story unfinished...
Hope to "hear" from you on the fables thread soon

To Sandro: Regardless of the reasons why many entries did not make the final story book, the fact still stands that the winners were judged out of only eleven fables.

Compare that to the BioWare writing contest which got well over 300 hundred entries, and its easy to see why I'm disappointed.


To Blue: I know its not good practice to leave stories unfinished, in fact its very much unlike me, but I do not exagerate when I say that I have 5 different project deadlines for University, a novel to co-write, a short RPG to script, and for what little time is left over, a social life to live.

I would glady write the story if I wasn't so busy, but as it stands I'm only writing for about five, maybe ten people, so I have to prioritize. If Ubisoft does decide to publish it, then I'll find the time to write.

Well... I still hope you'll find some time to continue the fables... Social life is overrated anyway
And... don't underestimate the number of people reading the fables. 5-10 sounds much to low to me (more like 100+ )

I'm also disappointed. Sirano, I wasn't trying to cheer you up, I was just saying that there is this possibility that more than eleven made entries. If I were trying to cheer you up I wouldn't say that you just won because you are from USA (after all, all the "losers" were out of USA entries).

Anyway, Sirano, don't think it is just a few people that read it. I noticed that each time I write a new chapter the number of "views" in the Fables thread increases in around 200, it is much more than five or ten.

Optimism Blue, how nice.

Social life overrated? Only if you've got a new Heroes or Final Fantasy title to keep you company.

Not really sure what you're trying to suggest there, Sandro. Bit confused.

I do know that all contest entries that met the restrictions were featured in the story book, thus those are the ones (disregarding out of US/Canada/UK entries) that were viable to win the contest. This of course means that the winners were selected from a potential 11 entries, but probably less considering some of them (like yours) were out of US/Canada/UK entries.

Basically it means that winning the contest doesn't really mean much to me, even though I felt the story was well put together.

Oh by the way, I'm from England.