Ch. 1- The Battle for Life

Here's my latest story idea. Enjoy!

It was dark that night, aside from the explosions that is. A bomb knocked him off his feet as He ran through the creek that covers the side of the village. He had all he needed, a sword, a bow, a quiver of arrows, and fire. Although he did not quite know it, he could use fire better than anyone. His name is Michael. As Michael ran through the woods he heard voices.

"Do you hear that?" said a man of about thirty (judging by his voice).

"No. It's just your imagination," said another man, "The raid has all the men spooked."

I can't begin to describe how much Michael wanted to teach those men a lesson, but that's beside the point. The point is that rogue soldiers had been raiding villages for weeks. Michael's village was one of many in his area. He had prepared for the raid the day before and planned to leave that night. Tonight was the night he fought back.

Michael could be very quiet when he wanted to. The soldier camp was empty. They were all at the raid.

"This is to easy." thought Michael.

He was too right. As soon as he entered the camp, the lights went out. Michael was surrounded by Roheris, Light-Eaters in the tongue of man. The Roheris are the fastest, most deadly creatures ever to emerge from the black depths of Mount Ravensnest. These foul beasts drain the light from anything. If they attack a human, the unfortunate soul will go blind and become like a ghost. The only way to stop them is to force them to become so full of light that they are washed away by the light like a shadow at dawn. Michael summoned all the fire he could and compressed it into a ball of light. Naturally, the Roheris were drawn to it like a moth to the flame. Their black shapeless forms surrounded the glowing orb. It then grew darker than the blackest night. Then, out of the Roheris, came a ray of light. The ray grew wider and wider until it engulfed the Roheris completely. Out of nowhere, Michael felt a sharp pain on the back of his head, then things went dark and he fell to the ground.

Michael awoke the next morning on a feather bed. He quickly reached for the dagger hidden in the sole of his shoe (I did not list the dagger in the things he packed because it was natural to have one, but no hidden in the sole of your shoe.) As swift as a wolf, he leaped out of bed and ran down the hall. He then saw a window and opened it. He discovered that he was in a great house; he knew that because he was on the third floor. The house was filled with light and it was very elegant. While running down the halls and stairs he ran into a girl his own age, give or take a few months.

"Who are you and where am I?" said Michael, with his dagger aimed at his possible kidnapper.

"I am Ashley, this is my brother's house and here is a question for you. Are you going to kill me after I saved your skin last night?"

Michael's face was as red as the shirt he was wearing. He noticed that the clothes he was wearing were not his own.

"Do these belong to your bother?" said Michael, pointing to the odd clothes.

"Yes," replied Ashley, "He left them for you and you must have put them on in your sleep."

"Well," said Michael, "I would very much like to meet this Good Samaritan, but first, what did you mean? Saved my skin? I was taking pretty good care of myself!"

Later that day at lunch, Michael met Ashley's brother, Damian. Damian worked for a ship building company and made a lot of money doing so. Then Ashley explained how she was also trying to stop the raid when she saw Michael kill the Roheris. In the flash of light she saw an archer take aim at Michael, so she threw a rock at Michael to make him drop to the ground. Then she hit the archer with her dagger, (she was an excellent knife thrower) and discovered that she threw the rock too hard and put Michael out cold! Damian asked to see a demonstration of Michael's peculiar ability to summon fire. Michael got up from the table and held out his hand. Then, a flame appeared in the center of his palm. He allowed the flame to grow into a small fire, then into a pillar of flame, then the flame went out and he fell to the floor. A minute later, he regained consciousness.

"Sometimes that happens." said Michael. "I have a ring from my father that helps me to stay awake."

Ashley and Damian saw the ring on the chain around Michael's neck.

"The ruby in the center was polished in an inferno and cut by the flames of a dragon." said Michael, "My father was skilled in the art of fire and he taught me before he left to go across the sea."

"I'm so sorry." said Ashley, "Our father went south and never returned. We hope he is still alive, but we aren't sure."

Then the room grew silent for several minutes.

"Where will you go from here Michael?" said Damian.

"I hope to go east in search of adventure. I grow weary of the troubles of the Westlands." said Michael.

"As do I." said Ashley, "Might I journey with you?"

"It would be my honor." said Michael.

That evening, Damian gave Ashley her mother's gold gagger, and her father's sword. He also gave them food and supplies for their long journey. Then they set out to the east and found many adventures which I will tell you about in the time to come.

That is the story of how Ashley and Michael met and began their adventures together.

The End of the Begining

In the time when the great evil came to the land, there were eight who could stop it. Only these few possessed the power, knowledge and ability to wield the great Dragon Blades. They posed a great threat to the Dark Lord Prain and his empire. In order to defeat the dark foe they would have to travel through time and space to reach his fortress in the forbidden lands. They used Leviticus’ most powerful teleportation spell. It took all of their powers to travel that far, but…it worked.

When they arrived in the forbidden Lands, they were suddenly amazed at how bleak and dark it was. The grass was dry and dead so it cut your feet when you walked. The trees were bleached and falling. The sky was forever dark, in an eternal night. The air was thick with a foul reek. The Ground was dust, the rain was like ink, and the sun did not touch this evil place.
As they walked along they all spoke through thought. Something about this place kept you from speaking for fear of the evil that ruled over the land.

“The castle of Lord Prain is on the far side of that mountain” said Will, “We will need to climb to preserve the dragons’ strength.”

“The castle is not guarded, because everyone in this land is dead” said Leviticus.

“Prain lives in the main hall. He is the most powerful sorcerer in the universe. Only the Brotherhood of the Dragon was able to defeat him last time” said Render.

“Then we will need all of our strength” replied Marina.

They reached the top at dusk. You never truly realize how dark it can be until all light leaves you and night rushes in. They decided to walk without the aid of light. They reached the front gate of the fortress. On it was engraved,

Out of all who enter,
None shall return.
Out of all who fight,
None shall survive.
Out of all who are just,
None shall remain.

“Sounds like as warm of a welcome as any” said Flint.

He pulled out his sword and smote the gate so hard that it shattered into thousands of pieces. They walked through the long hall to the throne of Prain.

“Welcome to my castle,” said Prain the False, “You are welcome to beg for your life, but I will not spare you. I see you brought the tools of mine imprisonment? Well, they will not help you! For I have grown in my power! I will smite you down this day! You and your people will be mine slaves!”

“No,” said a strange voice, “No! We will smite you this day! Your reign of evil is over! You end now!”

Then Marina, Leviticus, Render, Bonnie, Charity, Flint, and William felt strong and powerful. They struck at Prain with all of their being and there was a great light. Then there was a flash that illuminated the room.

Then the light dimmed Prain was gone, but there was another man standing there. It was one of the original riders who imprisoned Prain.

“Thank you,” said the rider.” “You defeated the most evil ruler in history. Something I and my companions could not do. For that you three riders are now masters and you five who are not riders may yet find a dragon. In fact…”

Then he disappeared and in his place were five eggs. In the months after the friends returned home. Render and Leviticus to their brothers home, Bonnie, Charity, Flint and Will to their world, and Marina to her home. One by one, the eggs hatched. And a new story begun.

~The Scribe

A VERY Strange Morning

One morning, when Will woke up, he found that his hands were burned. He took them to Levi and he said
"It look like you were using magic in your sleep. Try not to sleeep so heavily."

After that Render Woke up and was covered in jelly. He went to Levi and Levi said,
"Ancalagon did it because Will dared him too."

Shortly after Flint woke up and found that his room was T.P-ed. Levi said that he did it because there was a lot of toilet paper laying around.

When Marina woke up there were seven loaded crossbows pointed at her being held by Render clones. I guess you know who did that. Yes! It was Will!

Then Charity woke up and found that he chocolate was missing. So sho went to Bonnie to get her chocolate back by force, but when she went into Bonnie's room she screamed.

Because Bonnie had grown a beard in her sleep! Levi said that all pirates have a beard so it must be the result of being a stinky ship for weeks on end.

Will Bonnie shave it off or keep it?

Well there you go Reece, Bonnie does have a beard.

Lonely Benches

Have you ever walked alone? Perhaps you were walking for some exercise. Maybe you were walking from Grand Lake to the Administration Building. You may feel sad. You may relieved that nobody is talking to you. You may feel awestruck by the beauty of nature around you.

I had to walk a mile or so from the dining hall to Radio class a few days ago. It was nice. It was about two-fifteen (I think) when I left. I passed a few silent people on the way there, but I was also quiet. As I was walking I was able to get a first hand look at the beauty of God's Creation in Camp Strake. I had already walked the path with some other people, but this time I was alone.

Every time I go to Admen. (as the Administration Building is called by Winter Camp veterans) I glance at the George Strake memorial. This log pavilion has a massive vertical log in the center of the pavilion. On this log there is a plaque for George Strake. He dedicated most of that land so boys could learn the skills of a Boy Scout, but it also said that he gave it so the boys could enjoy God's Creation of nature. It's the people like Gearge Strake that are true Boy Scouts who put the last point of the scout law first. REVERENT.

The Boy Scout Law

A Scout is:

Trustworthy

Loyal

Helpful

Friendly

Courteous

Kind

Obedient

Cheerful

Thrifty

Brave

Clean

and

Reverent

~The Scribe

Winter Camps

XX, XXI, XXII, and XXIII

veteran

The Evil

In the time before the evil of King Duren and the time of Pirates in far off worlds there was a great sorcerer named Prain, who tried to wide out the dragons. He would have succeeded if Galendrain the wisest of the dragons had not found the solution.

He discovered that by storing some of a dragon's magical energy in a shard of dragon egg, the egg fragment will magnify the power. If the person wielding the sword is a Dragon Rider the mower is magnified even more. The six Riders chosen by the dragons imprisoned Prain, but one thousand years later he escaped and tried to regain his power. The swords were kept in the keep to be protected until the time came for the weapons to be used again.

This is what was said by Render and Leviticus's older brother. They had been at his house for a day and would be leaving the next day.

"You will need to learn how to control your magic if you are to defeat Prain."

"How do we do that?" said Render to his older brother.

"You must learn new spells."

They spent the rest of the day learning spells, making spells, and training with the spells. They then had a large dinner. The next day the left for Render's home.

The Doctor's

I went to the doctor's office today. I needed a tetanus shot. I hadn't had a shot in seven years or so. I was thinking of that needle goring my skin and injecting a sample of tetanus into my body. I thought of the fact that I was being stabbed by a pointy needle. I thought of the pain that would result.

Then, when the time came, it was over. The nurse said that I would have a sore arm for two days or so. Pain passes quickly, but leaves a mark. The same is true of emotion. Hurtful words sting and then leave a bruise for a long time. Friendships broken are hardly stitched together, but they don't happen often. Friends are the strongest earthly bonds.

When you lay the pages of two phonebooks together the bond is almost indestructible. Aside from burning the two books , the only way I know how to separate the books is with two tanks, pulling them of coarse. Friendships should be like the phonebooks.

Essay for Worldview

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis have a unique worldview. It has a god, a systematic universe controlled and created by that god, and evil that entered the universe by the way of man. The worldview of Narnia is similar to the Bible, but also different.
Narnia is a world much like the real world. Therefore it must have a god. In C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books the “god” of Narnia is Aslan, a great talking lion. Aslan is the son of the Emperor Over the Sea, this is similar to Jesus being the son of God. Aslan created Narnia from nothing. “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend[a] it.” (John 1:1-5 NKJV) Aslan is also a god of love and justice. He sacrificed himself to save Edmund, but still kept to the law. “8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” (Romans 5:8, 9 NKJV)
Because Aslan is god and creator of Narnia and aslant is perfect, so was his creation. God created the world good and without blemish. “31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31 NKJV) Narnia is the only universe created by Aslan, the other worlds that you can find paths to were not created by him. Our Heavenly Father created all things and all worlds. “1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was[a] on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:1, 2 NKJV) Evil was not created by Aslan, but brought by man. Although Aslan did not create man, God did and the evil came from man who was tempted by Satan. “12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-” (Romans 5:12 NKJV) The presence of evil tainted the world and left a permanent scar. “17 Then to Adam He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:

‘Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.”
(Genesis 3:17 NKJV)
Unfortunately, evil and suffering are large parts of Narnia. Evil is addressed as something that is the enemy of Aslan, who is good. In the book The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis, Aslan takes his council of beasts to discus what to do with the evil that entered the world. Jadis, the source of evil uses temptation to reach her goals. “1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?’” (Gen 3:1 NKJV) Aslan banished Jadis for many years as punishment. “9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where[b] the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:9-10 NKJV)
In the world of Narnia, the god is the just and kind creator of the world. Unfortunately evil entered the world and corrupted it, but Aslan banished the evil. The Narnian world glorifies Aslan and is ruled by earthly rulers appointed by him.