Write the next paragraph of this fantasy story

[tylerishungry]

Saw one of these and decided to start my own! Contribute whatever strikes your fancy. Get creative!

Lilith wakes in the middle of the night by the burning hearth of the sheriff. She sits up, stretching her legs on the giant bear fur, leaning her weight on one hand. She wipes the sleep out of her eyes before reaching for her cloak and edging silently towards the door. “I shouldn’t have fallen asleep,” she thinks. “I have to meet Rishi at dawn.” She pulls a pin from her cloak’s pocket and clips it to the breast pocket of her shirt. “Today we’re deputies of the valley. And when the diamond shipment comes through, we’ll have plenty of questions for them to answer.”

 

[Fogged_Creation]

(Hello there! I saw your post and I decided to be the first comment to participate! )

Lilith prepared her necessary equipment before exiting out the door and leaving at a hurried pace.
"At least I saved myself some precious time-" she thought to herself, having already slept through the cozy night in her work attire.
"I can still make it if I moved now, not a slack!" She said aloud before following with a sigh of relief to her own assessment.
Vigorously she would shake her head around, giving herself the cheapest alternative for what caffeine might offer.
After all, she knew how desperately important this all was. And that she mustn't disappoint Rishi, especially on her first day. Her specific line of work proves to offer the worst negatives in anyone's reputation if they were known to not take things seriously... One of these examples include, but are not limited to: "Literally sleeping on the sheriff's bear and also being late for important business meetings." This made two things, and after all, this felt like life or death for her in a sense, and it was with this that rightfully merited her foul abandon for not taking the shower that day and even deserting the time where she brushes her teeth, she would childishly console to herself "Il manage all of that good stuff when I get back home anyway."
Oh, how wrong she was... ever after these troubling thoughts nibbled into her mind, her legs were instinctively scampering by. And to her dreaded fears, she was too late after all.
"What in the-? I must be terribly exhausted!" revealing her dumbfounded expression of surprise, she was late in a way that she would have never have suspected of ever happening before her own mortal eyes.-

 

[Provincial]

The oil lamp she was carrying gave a little light, but not enough to see the path before her clearly; Lilith was forced to rely on body memory to get her out of the village and up to the muddy, rutted track which was the main road to the pass and out of the valley. The night air was cold and damp, but for once it wasn’t raining so she threw the hood of her cloak back to enjoy what here was of a gentle breeze. The stars were gleaming like beautiful prisms of cut glass, and Lilith started counting them for luck, as her father had taught her to, so long ago. She had got as far as seven, and was straining to spot the other two that she knew should be visible, when the treacherous thought she had been burying for so long was suddenly there, in the front of her mind: surely there should be thousands more...

 

[sule]

The sky behind her was beginning to pale when Lilith reached the crest of the hill. A few yards away a moving shadow stood at the edge the road; Rishi was already here and waiting for her. She felt the knot in her stomach tighten and she ran, unwilling to be even one more second late. In the weak light she couldn't see the track carved in the packed dirt by a hundred wagons passing through and her left foot slid quickly into it; she felt a surge of pain as her ankle twisted beneath her weight. Lilith gritted her teeth and limped to where Rishi stood.
"You've looked better," said Rishi. The bordermage wore his standard grey coat buttoned to the chin, his temporary deputy's badge pinned underneath the collar. The three fingers of his right hand danced quickly across the handle of a revolver holstered on his hip.
"Better than you," said Lilith. "Where are the horses?"

 

[Don Coyote]

Rishi caught her scent and sniffed. His face went flat and unreadable. "A better question is, where's the Sheriff?"

Lilith blushed brightly. "He... Something came up. Last night. He's... I... I mean..." She looked away.

"We're now a man short and," he leaned close. "You're late." She flinched. Rishi's voice became a low growl. "This is a rough crew we're dealing with and well know the penalty for smuggling Ytherian diamonds. Take your position and don't cock this one up."

 

[Timebender]

(Fun! I got a bit carried away though, bit more than a paragraph here.)

Lilith nodded and limped over to the first in a line of trees that wove down in the hill and into the forest alongside the track. Despite never doing this before, she well knew where she was supposed to be, from the meeting two days ago detailing the plan to ambush the smugglers. She had stared at the map of their assigned positions as hard as she could, until it had practically been burned into her eyeballs.
She got behind the tree and readied her crossbow, not holding it in a firing position, but preparing to do so at a moment's notice. She glanced around to where the other deputies were hidden, only a few of them visible as shadows in the dawn-light.

A minute passed. Two minutes. Nothing happened. All was silence and waiting.
And then, just as the throbbing burn in Lilith's ankle was beginning to die down, heard sound of running footsteps. They were coming from around the bend of the road, whoever or whatever was making them was obscured by the trees, but they were approaching fast.
Lilith took a grip and tightened her grip on her crossbow. Suddenly, a figure staggered into sight, his footsteps stumbling and his breath coming in loud, ragged gasps that were audible even from her distance.

She glanced around. It wasn't supposed to be happening this way. There should be a wagon full of diamonds and a gang of smugglers, not a lone runner who appeared to be injured.

"Halt in the name of the Husk Valley Border League!" cried out Rishi's loud, dominating voice. This was the signal for a few of the other deputies to go ahead and show themselves. Lilith, along with another recruit (whose name she believed to be Sharnon, or Shano, or something like that) stepped out from behind their trees and held their crossbows at the ready.
Rishi's cloaked form marched down the hill and towards the newcomer. "What is your business in Husk Valley? Why are you entering before sanctioned hours?"
"You don't... you don't understand..." cried the man, his voice sounding hoarse and haunted. Something about it made Lilith shiver.
"What exactly is it that I don't understand?" asked Rishi, annoyance clear in his voice. He was probably as surprised as and no happier about the unexpected visitor than Lilith.
"The diamonds... the diamonds aren't... you don't... they're not... trick... it's a trick!"

 

[therapist]

The DotV pin began glowing a scarlet red; imbuing Lilith with a heightened sensitivity to her surroundings. The still black night came alive. Croaking from the swamp she passed before interrupted the silence, not necessarily louder, but clearer—each individual frog having its own distinct pitch. The stars above shone brighter; the previous wall of black softened to multiple shades of grey, outlining the thick copse of trees on either side of the dirt road she was walking up, and up ahead, she could even make out the mountain pass where the shipment was to come from. A trace of smoke in the air betrayed the position of two separate camps—only one could be Rishi's.

 

[Wayne Mack]

Rishi asked, "Tell me about the diamonds, old man."

"I am the only one left."

"Where are the diamonds?"

"Don't make me go back there. Don't make me go back."

"Lead us to the diamonds and it will look good at your trial."

"They are back there. Don't make me go back."

Rishi put handcuffs on the man and turned towards Lilith. "Watch him. We'll be back shortly."

Rishi and Sharnon hurried off down the trail. It was the last time Lilith would ever see them.

 

[Provincial]

Lilith followed the sounds of their departure with her heightened senses, picking up the scuffing of feet, pebbles being kicked down the path, startled creatures scuttling out of their way, and the sound of breathing... Distant, but clear, she could hear the long, laboured breath of a wounded beast toiling up the trail towards them, an injured animal of immense proportions dragging itself along - and behind it the jingle of bridles, the scrape and ting of horseshoes on rock, and the crack of whips as the riders drove the beast before them.

 

[thatollie]

The stranger was on his knees now, sobbing into his bound hands. "Oh gods, oh gods, forgive me," he cried.

Lilith instinctively reached out to comfort him but then stopped. She stood silently like a fool for a brief moment and then made her decision. "Tell me what happened."

Looking up from his prayers, the old man stared at her. He opened his mouth to say something, cocked his head, returned to staring at her, and his mouth continued to hang open slack and useless.

"You can tell me," she said, "you have to tell me. Something happened here, on the border of Husk Valley, and the Border League need to know." She had tried to sound as comforting as possible, but those wide brown eyes unnerved her. He had seen something, and whatever it was hadn't been good.

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

Skrang.
The noise was sharp. The muffled groans of pain that rose before fell silent. It was now close.
Lilith grabbed the frightened stranger and pulled him into the undergrowth.
'Speak now, what is it I am facing?'
The man's voice croaked.
'I, uh, I cannot say for sure'
Lilith strained her eyes and tried to see movement on the trail below, but there was none. She gripped her weapon. Whatever was coming up the valley ushered fear before it; the stranger had tasted it, and now she could too.
'Speak'
The old man gave a cough, clearing his throat.
'Well, I've never seen the name written down, but, uh, I suppose if you were to spell it then it'd be something like TAINGEOUGHAN'
'Not the name fool, describe it'
'It's big, that's for sure ...did you ever see the travelling show about the dragon Blardan?'
'What?, no'
'Pity, because it looks exactly like that dragon, only bigger ...sixteen times bigger'
Lilith poked the riser of her crossbow at the fading dark of the valley.
'Sorry, wait, I tell a lie, fourteen times bigger'd be more like it ...and with much roundier claws, it killed Morkel with them'.
'Shush', shushed Lilith.
'Morkel was the best fighter in our crew ...poor lad, smart lad too though -at least when he was alive, what's this he used to say to me?'
'Whisht'
'Always run away from a fight ...no, wait, sorry, I've that wrong, never run away from a fight'
'Will you shutup'
'D'ya know, it's probably for the best I got that mixed up'
'Enough, put a sock in it now'
'Still, poor Morkel, himself and the wife had a holiday booked for the end of the month'
'Silence'
'...woulda been the first time they'd been away in six years, what with everything that's been going on'
Lilith silently released the latch on her weapon and moved it sideways.
Thunck.
She glanced instinctively over her shoulder to see if anyone had noticed, and retrieved the arrow. Something told her she would need a full quiver for what was coming. She moved a comfortable distance between herself and the motionless stranger, and resumed her vigil.

 

[WSDuffy]

One minute passed, and then another. The sounds Lilith heard did not repeat. No great beast breathing, no pebbles falling, no sharp sounds revealing battle begun or ended. Just the quiet, and the knowledge that she had helped create that quiet, sacrificing a stranger's life for her safety. She adjusted her quiver and started to move forward, when the wind changed, and she swore she could hear a voice in it.

"I was frightened. Did you comfort me?"

"I begged. Did you support me?"

"I was in danger. Did you protect me?"

Lilith shook her head chastising herself for letting isolation and fear cloud her thoughts. Then she turned back to the stranger. Who was gone

 

[BAYLOR]

Lilith signed , This deed will follow me for the rest of my days

She turned not towards the road and people , but towards the deep woods and solitude , needing to get away and be alone . She entered the dark woods with hardly a sound. Gone.

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

'Good man Sheriff, now ya decide to turn up'
Rishi and deputy Shano walked slowly along the road. They had seen the Sheriff some way back. Their attention, however, was on the clearing above the forest. Rishi had spoken first.
'You're like a blister Sheriff, ya turn up after all the work is done'
He gestured back down towards the valley.
'If you'd have bothered getting out of bed ya coulda helped us back there, we didn't just have thievery to stop -we had a Taingeoughan to slay too.'
Shano turned her attention away from the clearing. She gave the Sheriff a stare. Of the 18,467 stares he received in his life, it was the 16th worst.
'I dunno if you've ever seen the travelling show about the dragon Blardan, have ya chief?'
She took a step forwards and cranked her stare up to a glare.
'Well, a Taingoughan is fourteen times bigger.'
Shano paused to scan the Sheriff for a reaction. She saw none. If anything, he looked distracted.
'Fourteen times chief, I dunno if you knew that, but fourteen times is what it is ...and it's claws are roundier.'
The Sheriff looked through her and nodded towards the trail leading into the valley.'
'Cut your whining deputy, go work in the flungal pit if this job is too much hassle ...where's Lilith?'
Shano looked over to Rishi and shrugged. Rishi shrugged back, and cleared his throat.
'We left her her to mind a prisoner. She looked like she hadn't slept. I figured it'd be better if she wasn't releasing arrows into the fray.'
The Sheriff glanced between the pair and spat onto the ground.
'Oh, ya figured did ya Rishi? ...in future let me do the figuring, who was this prisoner?'
Rishi bowed his head and muttered the word '******.'
He cleared his throat for a second time.
'I dunno chief, scardey sorta fella, aged fifty to nienty or so, with a shock of green hair.'
'I bet that's Sozman Borkstapple, where are they now.'
Shano gestured around her
'We dunno chief, there's no sign of them ...uh, possibly they got affected by magic.'
Rishi cleared his throat for a third time.
'Tsk, it's easy knowing you're new to the job Shano, this is a clear case of elopation.'
Shano took a step back from Rishi.
'Wow, how did you work that one out?'
'I spent some time on the sffchronicles forum, the people there have a high level of figuration, and will teach you everything there is to know about elopation -once you learn that, you will see the signs every bit as clearly as me.'
Shano looked around to see if there was evidence she had missed.
'Brilliant ...what is elopation?'
Rishi smiled, he knew he had impressed the rookie.
'elopation, my dear Shano, is the mutual enchantment of a couple by use of each others romantic appendages ...followed by a light footed escape to parts unknown,'
'Dammit', roared the Sheriff, 'Sozman Borkstaple ...the scrawny coward, no woman can resist his charms.'
He turned towards the woods and ripped his clothes off untill only his boots and trousers remained.
'Rishi, why has the chief suddenly stripped himself to the tits?'
'Wait and see Shano, wait and see.'
The Sheriff raised his arms above his head and bellowed.
'Come out Lilith Smith ya slut, and bring that fuppin tea bag with ya, so help me Blardan I'm gonna fuppin murder the pair of ye.'
Rishi shoved his crossbow at Shano.
'Here, hold that for me.'
He ran towards the Sheriff and launched a flying kick at his back. It made contact, and the pair fell to the ground. Rishi seized the intiative and released flurry of punches before the Sheriff could get to his feet.
The Sheriff wobbled on his knees, and collapsed backwards. Rishi pounced and grasped the Sheriff's left ear. He used the grip to repeatedly smash the Sheriff's head against the ground.
'Never'
Smash
'Ever'
Smash
'Ever'
Rishi paused to move his knee onto the Sheriff's temple. His arm was getting tired.
'Use the word fup in the presence of a deputy.'
He moved his knee and dropped an elbow onto the Sheriff's face. Bone and cartilage relented. The Sheriff made no response.
Shano rushed over and grabbed Rishi's elbow before it could strike again.
'Take it easy Rishi, you're gonna kill him.'
'Yeah, well maybee if he dies he'll think twice about using that word again.'
Rishi cleared his throat for a fourth time.
'You're a smart man Sheriff, I'll not teach ya anymore ...in future hold that tongue of yours, and if ya can't manage that, use another word, like, uh, erm, uh ...fiddlesticks.'
Rishi climbed to his feet and slapped Shano on the shoulder.
'C'mon, lets get some food.'
Shano stood staring at the Sheriffs now lifeless body for several seconds before she moved.
'Uh, Rishi? Is he dead?'
'I don't know Shano, I might be brilliant, but I just can't keep up with advanced medical knowledge ...what I do know is that if he is not breathing, he may indeed be dead.'
The pair turned and continued their way along the road. They had not gone far before they were disturbed by a brilliant flash. It came from where the Sheriff had been lying. They turned to see him floating the right way up and facing into the forest. Green smoke was billowing from his ears. And he was bellowing again:

'Right so Lilith, if that is your real name -know that by the powers granted me by the wizard Zargoflex I will seek to destroy you ...and as for you Sozman Borkstopple, you scrawny architect of elopation, I'm gonna find ya and knock the fiddlesticks faeces outta ya.'

Shano glanced towards Rishi.
'Should we do something?'
'I dunno, Shano. Probably. Let me have a think about it. We can decide over breakfast. It's been a busy morning and I'm hungry.'

 

[BAYLOR]

And from behind them a cultured baritone voice intoned " Perhaps I can be of service here " They turned , and stranding there was man dressed in back stage magician costume compete with cape, top hat and plain wooden magic wand . He was a tall man, broad of shoulders powerful of build , of dark complexion with long black hair , short bead and neat mustache. He possessed a strong patrician nose and facial features . His eyes , sea green, cold and unfriendly . He smiled a smile which failed to touch those cold eyes.

Shano was the first to speak " Who are you and what's your business here "? " The stranger replied " I am Ernesto Vassarian , and I happen to be looking for Ms Lilith , too"
" Why do do think we need your help Mr Vassarian ? "
Vassarian's icy smile fell just slightest bit at Shano's retort " Because without me, you and your friend , stand no chance against Lilith. You really don't know what you're dealing with here , I do."
Rishi chimed in , " We can handle her without you "
Vassrains icy smile got a bit icier " I think not ."
Shano stood back, whoever this guy is, he's not going to take no and he looks very dangerous . He reached for his weapon and discovered he couldn't move and Rishi appeared to be similar condition of total paralysis . And, there was the chill of fear of being in this predicament , helpless and hopeless, at Vassarian's mercy.

Vassarian walked up to the immobile Shano and Richi ," As you and you're partner can see , there's bit more to me than meets the eye and yes, you' are both going to work with me, willingly or unwilling . I would of course , advise the former . And don't make the mistake of thinking you'll ever catch me off guard or lose me, because you can do neither. Now , what do you say"?

Shano could move he staggered a bit and Rishi fell to the ground in faint. Shano asked " if you've got that kind of power , what do you need us for?"

Vassarian looked Shano hard in the eyes, too hard Shano's liking " I have my reasons for needing your help and, ill share them with you when the time comes. Now , our quarry has gone east in those woods she's gotten a good head stat , but we'll catch her soon enough ". And with Vassarian leading the way, they headed into woods in pursuit."

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

Lilith walked until she heard the sound of water. She had reached the edge of a gully. It dropped more than thirty feet to its base, and water was cascading down from a stream next to her.

Now.

The place she found is known as ‘pollineasp’. Roughly translated, the name means hole in the snake. Most experts agree that the name comes from a local legend. Some people will have it that a giant serpent slithered it’s way out from hell. Supposedly it was so massive that this act created the gully. Fortunately God was on hand to kill the serpent with a spear. The serpent vanished, and the waterfall next to Lilith marks the spot where the spear struck.
A less well known theory states that ‘pollineasp’ means hole in the Bishop, as the word Easpog/ Bishop can be shortened to ‘easp’. This would mean that Lilith was now staring at the Bishop’s hole.
Of course, Bishops don’t exist in her world. Nor do serpents.
But magic does.

‘Lilith’, came the voice.
The water was speaking to her.
‘What the fiddlesticks do you want?’, she asked.
‘That’s not polite Lilith. You’re very uppity for someone who is about to do themselves in.’
‘Sorry, it’s just I’ve a lot on my mind.’
The water gurgled before replying.
‘You mean the soul of Sozman Borkstapple’
‘Who?’, Lilith asked.
‘The old duffer ya put an arrow through back at the top of the valley. Surely you remember. I thought it was the guilt that had ya here.’
‘Oh yeah ...yes, it is.’
‘Well’, replied the water, ‘far be it from me to tell you what to do with your life, but ...your actions created a Sozman Borkstapple sized space in the world, and if you really want to atone for your sin…’
The water paused to release a large gush into the gully, and continued.
‘...then you’ll fill it by thieving, alcoholism and the general talking of bollox -just like Sozman would have done had you not appeared into his morning.’
Lilith took her time replying.
She looked into the gully.
She looked up at the top of the trees.
Then she looked into the gully again.
‘You’re right, thank you magic waterfall.’
‘Don’t thank me yet’, said the water, ‘the mage Rishi and his deputy Shano are headed your way, but are being controlled by a magician named Ernie Vasserian. And he has it in his head to enslave you.’
The water gurgled to a brief silence, spat a stone over the ledge, then continued flowing and talking.
‘Now, Rishi and Shano's minds are free, but their bodies have been placed under a spell and must do his bidding ...don't worry though, Ernie’s a twat with a huge ego. If you tell him he can’t do something he will insist on doing it to prove you wrong. Even if that means gouging his eyes out with a fork.’
Lilith turned to scan the forestry behind her. She was once more on alert to the movement of a foe. The water gurgled.
‘Right Lilith, I’m off downstream. Oh, I almost forgot. Your boyfriend the Sheriff is on a mission to destroy you. He’s got some magic he ponced off the wizard Zargoflex, and will be here any minute.’
Lilith nodded at the stream, and climbed up a tree.
It was going to be a long day.

 

[AnRoinnUltra]

'Get down from that tree me auld flower', came the voice.

It belonged to the sheriff.
His head was slowly rotating through 360 degrees and green smoke was pouring from his ears.
It made him look angry.
Lilith knew she had to think quickly, and she did.

'I'm not in the tree.'

Her ploy didn't work.

'Are you for fiddlesticks real Lilith?', roared the sheriff, 'I can see you.'

Lilith thought quickly for a second time.

'Are you sure about that?'

Her ploy failed a second time.

'Of course I'm fiddlesticks sure.'

The Sherriff's third roar echoed through the woods.
And got the attention of the magician Vasserian, the mage Rishi, and the deputy Shano.

'You're gonna die now Sherriff -too bad for you you don't shout quietly', roared the magician.

In a flash, or an instance, or a small but measurable amount of time, the Sheriff, Lilith and the tree were joined by the magician Vaserrian (and his entranced companions, Rishi and Shano).

'Sheriff, you're a full on dipstick ...what made ya think ya could rob off Zargoflex and get away with it. He offered fifty nook to anyone who put an end to your days. And nights', said the magician, who then placed his two hands on his hips and smiled.
'Ye know what?', he announced, 'the joke's on Zargoflex, I'd have done it for twenty.'

Lilith thought quickly again, and this time her quick thinking paid off.

'Ahem, Mr. Vaserrian -if you're so deadly at magic can you conjure up a rock so big ya can't lift it above your head.'

A puff of smoke revealed a large rock. It was followed by the words, 'look at this.'
They came from the magician Vaserrian.
Who then tried, and failed, to lift the rock.

'How'd ya like that?', he asked.

'Good', replied Lilith, 'but surely a man of your power can lift anything.'

The magician laughed, and lifted the rock.

'Too right you are', he said.

He smiled, and then frowned.
'Wait', he said, 'hold on.'

Another rock appeared. It was twice as big as the first one.
Lilith jumped from the tree.

'Come on everyone, let's leave him to it', she suggested.

She got no response.
The mage Rishi, the deputy Shano, and the Sheriff were eagerly waiting to see if the great Vaserrian would succeed in his second attempt.

So Lilith left them at it; and walked yourself, myself, herself and the rest of the story further into the woods.