THE FINAL CHAMPION

By Stamford High School, Year 7

and Wilf Morgan

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Chapter_001

Auryn creeps slowly and silently through the dark forest. Fearsome-looking trees, dark and jagged, stretch out all around her. They seem to be glaring down on her as she stalks between them, staring at her, angrily wanting to know what she is doing there, trespassing on their land. Well, Auryn is here for a very specific reason.

She is hunting the Nemesis.

/ / /

Chapter_A

“The Nemesis?” Auryn’s father spluttered his tea.

“Why not?” Auryn said, giving her wooden sword another swing around the living room. “Someone needs to kill the thing.”

“Yes, people who know what they’re doing,” said her father. “Not you.”

“I do know what I’m doing,” Auryn said. “I’ve been-”

“What, playing with that toy sword?” Auryn’s mother’s voice was full of derision as she brought the food to the table.

“It’s not a toy sword,” Auryn corrected through gritted teeth. “It’s a practice sword. For practising. I’ve already been accepted into the temple - I’m basically a warrior already. If I work hard enough, there’s no reason why I won’t be chosen to be one of the Champions when-”

“When one of them is killed and they need a replacement,” said her father, sternly.

“You’d… well, you’d make a rubbish warrior!” Auryn’s mother said, crossly. “That thing steals the skills and abilities of anyone it kills, you do know that don’t you?”

“Yes, mother...” Auryn forced herself to stay calm, “...amazingly I have learned a few things at the temple.”

“They want proper fighters,” her father chimed in, his voice beginning to betray another level of irritation, “not silly girls with unrealistic dreams.”

“You’ve never believed in me!” Auryn finally stopped her practice and turned to face her parents. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I’ve wanted this for so long and all I’ve ever heard from you is that I’m not good enough. Bill’s the only one in this family who ever had any faith in me!”

“And where is your brother, hm?” Auryn’s father folded his newspaper, crossly. “William’s off wandering Arilon in some run down, creaky boat, even though we told him not to go. We live on Segriis! We’re the isolation island, we don’t travel. We keep ourselves to ourselves. Your brother-”

“My brother got tired of you telling him what to do and he left,” Auryn was trying and failing to keep her temper. “You’re lucky my duty keeps me here otherwise I might be tempted to do the same thing.”

Auryn turned to leave the room but her father was swiftly in front of her, yelling at the top of his voice.

“You will become a Champion over my dead body!”

Auryn didn’t say another word. She simply walked around her father and left the room. She didn’t see the look that was exchanged between her parents.

/ / /

Chapter_002

Auryn scans the desolate landscape for signs of the beast’s lair. The Champions had managed to track the Nemesis back to a cave somewhere in this forest. They didn’t know which one exactly, so it’s up to her to finish the job. Everything the Champions began is down to her, now.

The Champions of Ro were - are, Auryn reminds herself - a proud group with a long, storied tradition. Ro is a small town on the island of Segriis. Segriis is the isolation isle - all her residents keep to themselves and don’t go out into the rest of Arilon. Ro is slightly different in one way - they make a special silk that is purchased by many tailors across Arilon for use in their clothes. It’s said to be the most beautiful fabric ever made and the secret of its creation is known only to its makers, the people of Ro. It’s a secret they guard very closely.

The Midnight Rose.

The most beautiful, pure silver flower ever seen, it grows in just a single place in all of Arilon - a meadow in southern Segriis. A hundred years ago, it was here that the original settlers discovered the deposit of beautiful flowers. Realising what a treasure they were, they created the town of Ro around them, capturing the valuable plants for themselves. The tree’s light was so bright, the townspeople kept the tree covered by a huge tarpaulin at all times for fear of its discovery by others. Ro has made its fortune from the Midnight Rose silk ever since.

But then Ro’s history took a turn for the worse.

Fifty years ago, the creature came from nowhere and began attacking the village. Nobody knew why it had come or what it was called - they took to calling it the Nemesis. One thing was clear, though - it wouldn’t stop until the entire village was destroyed,down to the last stone. So the council created the Champions of Ro. Three valiant heroes taken from the warrior temple, they would protect Ro from the creature’s attacks. Whenever one Champion fell in battle, a new one was taken from the temple to replace him. It’s this proud tradition that Auryn has always dreamed of joining one day.

She didn’t realise it would be quite like this, though.

Gripping her sword, Auryn scans the tree-filled landscape again. Caves of different shapes and sizes are sprinkled in amongst the trees but Auryn realises with mounting hopelessness that she is no nearer being able to determine which cave is the right one. She has come out here with bravery and courage but no plan. A Champion doesn’t just use their muscles, but their brain too, Auryn reminded herself. Perhaps her parents had been right. Maybe she is no warrior, much less a Champion.

“Well, we did tell you, darling.”

Auryn’s head jerks at the sound of her mother’s voice.

“You are useless. You should never have come out here,” her father’s voice taunts her from the darkness.

Clouds of mist swirl around Auryn and she grips her sword tighter to her as if it were a comfort blanket. Her parents aren’t here, she knows. That would be impossible. Her brain knows it’s not them talking. But her heart can’t help but feel the sting of the words.

“Show yourself!” Auryn cries at the top of her voice, hoping the fearful wobble in her voice isn’t noticeable.

The mist in front of her clears and then reforms into a giant silhouette, nearly twice as tall as Auryn herself. Long, dark hair obscures the face. Powerful arms, tree-trunk legs and broad shoulders that stretch out into huge, dark wings and spread out wide as if inviting an embrace.

The creature doesn’t just steal the skills and abilities of its victims, Auryn knows, but their memories and voices too. So she was right - it isn’t her parents speaking to her now.

Just the only thing that’s left of them.

/ / /

Chapter_B

“Defend!” Kelvan shouted. Auryn swept her sword out wide and launched another attack at Simian.

“I said defend!” Kelvan shouted again. Auryn had heard but she had decided not to take the Champion’s advice. The Champions had seen her train many times with the other warriors but today was the first time she had actually sparred with one of them and she was going to show them what she could do.

Despite the advice to defend, Auryn pressed her attack on Simian. The big man was forced to take several steps backwards as his sword span back and forth, blocking Auryn’s whirling blade. She had him on the ropes, she thought excitedly. He was-

Simian’s blade suddenly moved impossibly fast and dislodged Auryn’s from her hand. The sword went spinning off into the midday sun and skittered across the stony ground, coming to a stop several metres away. Simian’s sword was suddenly at Auryn’s throat and the big man smiled a friendly, amiable smile through gold teeth.

“And now you’re dead,” he grinned.

“So I am,” said Auryn. “That sucks.”

“Where did you go wrong?” Kelvan asked, stepping slowly forward, hands clasped behind his back.

“I know exactly where I went wrong,” Auryn said. “I didn’t attack fast enough.”

“No, you didn’t defend,” said Simian. “When an enemy is pushed back, that’s when they’re most dangerous. Defend and draw them out. Let them think they have regained the initiative. Then hit them. Push and pull, give and take. Like waves eroding the shore.”

“A Champion uses their mind just as much as their muscles - if not more,” said Kelvan.

Auryn shook her head in despair. “My parents are right, aren’t they?”

“Your parents? Never met them,” said Simian, “but if they say that chocolate pie is better than fruit pit then yes, they are right.”

“They said I’d never become a warrior,” Auryn said. “Or a champion.”

“Well you are a warrior,” said Kelvan. “So they’re already wrong about one thing.”

“I’ll never become a Champion, though.”

“Well seeing as there are no warriors left, all you need to do is wait for the Nemesis to kill one of us and you’ll be in happy land,” Simian joked.

“Don’t say that!” said Auryn. “You two and Lief are heroes. We need all three of you.”

Kelvan stared calmly at the young warrior. “How many swords do you think have been brought up against the creature, Auryn?”

Auryn shrugged. “I don’t know. Fifty? A hundred?”

“And yet the creature is still here,” he replied. “Maybe what Ro needs is someone who can bring a different weapon to bear.”

Auryn looked up at the Champion. A different weapon? But what else could-

“The beast!”

All three warriors looked up at the old man as he came running into the courtyard. It was Yeager, one of the keepers of the temple.

“The beast,” he cried again. “It’s attacking the mill!”

“In the middle of the day?!” Simian was shocked. “But it usually only attacks at night..!”

“It’s getting desperate,” Kelvan said.

Auryn nodded. “Or bold.”

“Wait here,” Kelvan said to Auryn, drawing his sword - but the young warrior was having none of it. She had already grabbed her weapon from where it landed in the dirt.

“No way,” she said. “My parents work in the silk building - that’s right next to the mill.”

The old man stared at Auryn. “I’m sorry, Auryn, I’m so sorry… but the silk building was completely destroyed. Nobody inside survived. Not one person.”

Auryn suddenly felt weak in the legs. No… surely not… Her parents…

“Lief tried to save them but the Nemesis overpowered him…” the old man said.

“Lief… is gone?” Simian whispered.

Auryn looked up. The other Champion too? But that meant…

Auryn gripped her sword. There was no time to mourn her parents now. There would be more than enough time for that later. For now, she had a duty.

Kelvan turned to Auryn.

“You had better come with us…” he said, sombrely, “...Champion.”

/ / /

Chapter_003

Auryn raises her sword to blocking position but the creature’s clawed hand swipes down and knocks the blade to one side. Only a swift dodge keeps Auryn in one piece as the other hand swipes through the air, talons narrowly missing her head.

The Nemesis is all darkness and terror but Auryn stands her ground. For all the people the monster has killed over the years, there has to be justice. She brings her blade round again and the monster swipes again, its wings swinging and revolving around the pair like the sails of some dark, satanic windmill.

It is an epic moment - the young, inexperienced Champion stands up to the creature - and unbelievably forces it to take a step back. She only has a split-second to decide what to do next. Press the attack? Or defend?

The image of her parents’ memorial candles suddenly comes to mind.

She attacks.

However, one clawed hand makes an unbelievably fast motion and dislodges the sword from her grip, sending it scuttling along the dirt, finally skidding to a stop several metres away. One of Simian’s moves.

The massive winged shadow stalks toward the disarmed young woman, claws curled, ready for the final assault. A cloud descends over Auryn as she finally begins to grasp the enormity of the task before her. The task she so foolishly attempted to undertake after Simian and Kelvan fell to the creature’s claws while defending the mill.

Just as a taloned hand reaches toward her, the ground underneath the young warrior’s foot suddenly gives way and Auryn falls down into the earth.

The fall is short but the stop is sharp and sudden. The wind is knocked out of her lungs as her back slams painfully into the ground. Grimacing in agony, Auryn looks up. The creature stands above her, at the edge of the hole she has fallen down. It stares down at her, its face hidden as always. All she can see is darkness but somehow, in her mind’s eye, she can see its hateful eyes, its angry teeth.

But then something else catches her notice. A glint of light. Not an imaginary glint, an actual, real glint of light coming from the creature’s neck. How has she not noticed it before? It looks familiar, somehow. The colour, the sheen…

And suddenly, with a rustle of its nightmarish wings, the Nemesis is gone. Flown off in the direction of the village. Auryn slumps down in defeat. It sees her as so inconsequential, it didn’t even bother to finish her off. It just left her here. Pointless. Defeated.

The Champions of Ro are no more. There is nothing left to stand in its way.

/ / /

Chapter_C

Auryn lit the memorial candle in the front room of her parents’ house. Was it still her parents’ house, she wondered, now they weren’t here? Was it hers now? Or was it-

“I’ve topped up the wood for the fire. We’ll keep warm tonight.”

Bill.

Auryn gave her brother a hug. It had been so good to see him, despite what had happened. As soon as word had reached him about their parents, he had rushed back to Segriis. Back to Ro. Back to Auryn. She was so glad not to be alone.

“Thanks,” said Auryn. “Dad always liked the fire kept nice and hot at night.”

The pair settled down in a big, soft armchair in front of the fireplace. Above the fire, on the mantel were the memorial candles - one for each parent. The service had lasted most of the day as the townspeople remembered each and every person lost in the creature’s attack. William had been beside Auryn the entire day, keeping her strong.

“Listen, William, I’m glad you came...”

“Uh, oh,” said her brother. “You used my full name so you’re obviously mad at me about something.”

“No, no, I’m not...” Auryn started, until she realised that wasn’t quite true. “Actually, yes. Yes, I am. Mother and father were always telling me I wouldn’t be able to become a warrior. That I’d be rubbish at it. And even after I was accepted, they said I’d never become a Champion. They were relentless and I could really have used your help. But instead of being here with me, you were off travelling around Arilon!”

Auryn hadn’t intended to shout and had started speaking quite calmly. But by the time she got to the end of the sentence, she found she had quite lost her temper.

“You’re right, Aur, I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you. But you have to understand two things. Number one, I wasn’t travelling.”

“Wha… so where were you, then?”

“I was at the Abbey.”

Auryn’s mouth dropped open. In Arilon, a few people were born with abilities that made them more in tune with the world around them. They could see things other people couldn’t see. Do things other people couldn’t do. They were Sensitives and Seers and Weavers. If they were lucky, they were invited to the Abbey (it was impossible to find or to enter unless you were invited). There, they would study and hone their abilities, until they were able to properly utilise them for the betterment of Arilon.

“You..? You were at the Abbey?! Like… the Abbey Abbey?”

“They offered me a place. I just told mum and dad I was travelling to stop their endless questions.”

“So all those times when we were young and you did those strange things, making my dolls dance, guessing the numbers in my head - they weren’t just tricks? That was real..?”

“I’ve been learning to tap the power that runs through the veins of Arilon. But training is extremely intense and the Abbey is… well, it’s hard to get a letter in or out, let’s put it that way. So I had no idea they were giving you such a hard time. I’m sorry.”

Auryn slumped back in her chair, her brief flash of anger now exhausted, just like her.

“So what was the second thing?” she asked. “You said there were two things I had to understand. What was the second one?”

“Well, for that, I have something to show you.”

/ / /

Chapter_004

Auryn stumbles through the semi-darkness of the tunnels. The hole had been too high to climb back out of. At any rate, she doesn’t feel like any kind of ascent. She is a failure. A loser. The last Champion and the worst ever. She couldn’t protect Ro from the Nemesis. She deserves to stay down here.

Auryn peers into the dark. These tunnels run for miles, she knows, under the forest and outwards in a massive spider’s web. That’s why there are so many cave entrances up above. She realises she could probably stay down here forever, wallowing in her failure. That way, no-one from Ro will ever find her to tell her how she failed them. That is, if anyone even survi-

What’s this?

A picture on the wall. Not just one picture but several. Scratched into the stone by something sharp, like a knife or a rock.

Or claws.

Did the creature draw these pictures, Auryn wonders, astounded. Has she stumbled across its lair after all? The terror of realising she is now in the Nemesis’ home is muted by the confusion of her next thought. The Nemesis is just a mindless beast. How in Arilon’s Name could it have drawn pictures?

But, somehow, Auryn can tell that’s exactly what these are. Pictures drawn by the creature.

As she looks from image to image, Auryn is amazed to find there is a sequence to them - they tell a story.

A man and a woman, together. In love. On an island far away from this one. They are working on something together. Some kind of machine. Then, in the next picture, something goes wrong. There is a blast, an explosion. The man and woman are thrust into the skies. They fall, fall so far from their island, across the black NothingSpace in-between the islands. And as they fall, they change. He becomes a beast. A winged beast.

And she...

...she becomes something else..

/ / /

Chapter_D

“What’s that?” Auryn asked as William unrolled a piece of beige cloth from his rucksack. He spread it out on the table and Auryn could see that on the surface of the cloth was a picture, sewn in multi-colour threads.

“What have they been teaching you at the Abbey,” Auryn asked with a mischievous grin, “how to be a tailor?”

“There were some sewing classes, yes,” William smiled. “It took a while for me to get this good.”

The image was of a warrior - she stood alone before a great swathe of darkness, mist swirling all around her. Her only weapon in the face of the darkness was a bow. And such a beautiful bow it was - carved with such artistry and inscribed with words and images too small to even read.

“It is amazing,” Auryn admitted. “The detail on the bow, the carvings… it’s more than amazing, it’s beautiful!”

“It’s yours,” her brother said.

“Wow, thanks,” Auryn smiled, “it’ll look really nice up on my wall.”

“No, I mean the bow is yours to use. As a weapon.”

Auryn stared at her brother. “Oh, I see what they’ve been teaching you now. How to be a comedian.”

“No,” William smiled, “this is what they’ve been teaching me.”

He removed a needle from the inside of his sleeve, although it had no thread. He waved it over the cloth and immediately it began to emanate a soft, orange glow. Auryn watched in amazement as the glow spread out and became a shining, ghostly thread. It weaved its way in and out of the material, surrounding the warrior’s bow, encircling it, cutting it out, lifting it from the picture, floating it into the air, pulling it to make it grow and spread, then finally lowering it to the table top. And there it sat, innocently, as Auryn stared at it, her mouth agape.

The bow from the picture made real.

“How… how did you…?”

“In tune with the fabric of Arilon, remember?” he smiled, replacing the needle in his sleeve. “It’s kind of complicated to explain. The point I wanted to make for you, though, is that everything we think we see has another story beneath it. If we want to make sense of it, we have to look past the surface and see what’s really going on.”

Auryn found her gaze going back to the image on the cloth. The warrior standing in front of the darkness, all alone. Except… she wasn’t all alone. There, in the shape of the mist swirls, Auryn saw something she had missed before. The shapes of two people standing right behind the warrior. They’d always been there, trying to protect her but she hadn’t noticed.

“Remember...” said her brother, handing her the exquisite bow, “...see the story behind the story.”

/ / /

Chapter_005

Auryn runs as fast as she can. It had taken her some time to find an exit from the tunnels but now she’s above ground, she moves quickly. The forest has long since receded into the horizon behind her and the walls of her home town are emerging from the night-time mist. And from behind the walls of Ro, Auryn can quite clearly hear the cries of terror.

And then she sees the thing causing them.

The Nemesis, huge, monstrous wings flapping, rises up above the walls and dives back down, striking at some helpless prey, hidden from Auryn’s view.

Auryn speeds up.

Very soon, the young warrior is through the gates, running past terrified townspeople coming in the opposite direction. They run away from the danger but she runs towards it. Because she is their Champion. She knows it now. And she knows what she has to do.

When she finally sees the creature, it seems even bigger than before. It’s in full flight, its terrible, dark shape expanded out like a great hand, reaching out to grab the people of Ro and pull them into its oblivion.

For the first time, though, Auryn can see what it’s really doing.

“Hey, over here!” she shouts. “Guess who’s back!”

The Nemesis turns its red, pinprick eyes toward Auryn and the suggestion of angry teeth flash at the young warrior. Immediately, it launches itself at her. But Auryn recognises the move - one of Lief’s flying strikes - and she remembers how to defend against it.

Auryn’s sword comes up in a flash, deflecting the strike to one side while she steps to the other. The creature doesn’t stop, though, and rains a flurry of strikes down on the young warrior. But Auryn’s blade is always there, deflecting blow after blow.

She steps backwards, slowly, with each attack. Her backing away, the creature advancing. But this time, Auryn is in control. She doesn’t lunge aimlessly at the creature. She remembers the words of Kelvan and Simian. Her most important weapon is the one between her ears.

“I used to think my parents didn’t want me to succeed,” Auryn finds herself saying to the creature as she continues to parry its blows, her steps taking them slowly down the town’s main street. “That they found me useless. Pointless. Powerless. I was wrong.”

The Nemesis leaps high into the air and strikes down toward Auryn but her mind is calm and has already seen the move coming - it was one of Simian’s favourites. She nimbly rolls to one side, avoiding the slamming form of the creature. In one smooth move, she is up again, sword at the ready. The creature stalks slowly toward her, teeth bared, wings spread.

“They were afraid for me,” Auryn says as she and the creature circle each other. “They knew I had the skill and determination to be a great warrior and they didn’t want that because it would put me in danger. They wanted to keep me safe from harm. They probably went the wrong way about it, but really, they were just trying to protect me. So… I’ve told you the story behind my story.”

Auryn calmly stands up straight and drops her sword to the ground.

“Now, let’s talk about the story behind yours.”

For a moment, the Nemesis stares at her, quizzically. This tactic doesn’t match up with anything it knows of her. For the first time, it doesn’t know the best move to use.

So it goes for the direct approach. It leaps at her.

Auryn runs toward the creature a couple of steps then drops to the ground, rolling. She slides under the creature as it passes over her. In the blink of an eye, she slips the bow from around her shoulders, plucks an arrow from the quiver, nocks it on the string, aims it and lets it fly.

The arrow flies straight up, unwavering, and finds its target - the joining of the creature’s wing to its back.

The Nemesis crashes to the ground, a howl of pain rising into the night air. Auryn stands up, another arrow nocked, aimed and ready to loose.

“That’s it, Auryn!” comes a voice from the crowd that has gathered around the battle. “Finish it off! Save us! Kill it!”

“Is your story so simple?” Auryn says to the creature as she comes close to it, arrow aimed at its heart. “A mindless creature, destroying without purpose or aim? Did my parents die for such a pointless being?” Rage suddenly floods her veins and Auryn has to force herself to keep it under control, force herself to ignore the image of her parents’ memorial candles.

The creature’s rasping breath is the only reply to her question.

“Or perhaps...” Auryn raises her bow to a new target, her voice finally calming, “...perhaps there’s another story waiting to be uncovered.”

While the pair had been fighting, Auryn had led them to the very place they needed to come to end this.

The site of the Midnight Rose tree.

The arrow flies from Auryn’s bow, arcing through the air with perfect accuracy and slices straight through one of the ropes holding the great, tarpaulin cover over the Midnight Rose tree. The sheet falls away and the tree is unveiled - its silver flowers illuminating the night and filling the air with its unearthly beauty. Everyone’s eye and heart is drawn to it... but none more so than the creature itself. Its gaze is locked on the tree, its wings are down, its claws are nowhere to be seen. It is enraptured.

Auryn notices the locket around the creature’s neck shining like never before. Shining with the exact same colour as the tree.

“Go on,” she says to the Nemesis as it looks back at her, momentarily. “She’s waiting.”

The Nemesis turns back to the tree, walking slowly, perhaps not quite believing this moment has come. As it draws close, the glow from the tree intensifies - Auryn and the rest of the townspeople have to shield their eyes from the heavenly glare.

As her eyes adapt slightly to the brightness, Auryn looks back into the light. She isn’t sure but she thinks she can see two figures. A man and a woman, holding hands.

And then suddenly the light disappears. And so has the tree and the Nemesis.

“What… what happened…?” someone in the crowd says.

“Two people who were trapped apart for a long, long time were finally able to find each other again,” says Auryn. “The story behind the story.”

“You… you saved us,” someone else says, not quite able to believe it’s over. “You can re-start the warrior school. Rebuild the Champions!”

“No,” Auryn says, “we don’t need the Champions anymore. I think it’s time to start thinking with our brains instead of our swords. I’ll always be here of course, just in case. But with any luck, you’re looking at Auryn - the Final Champion.”

THE END