This class is amazing and so are all the others in the Fiction Writing Bootcamp! I learned so much. I really hope there are more coming later.

A short bit of context: This story takes place on a fictional world ruled by incarnations of elements. These beings are called Shandors, there are five (that are known, at least...) and each rules over a different Territory.

Hero:

Raiden Hale is a sixteen year old boy living in a village in Earth Territory, a region of rocky mountains, vast fields, and deep forests. He was raised by his gentle mother, Ianna, and his noble father, Sir Tiras. His parent’s expectations that he become a knight and follow in his father’s footsteps mean the world to him and he would do anything to prove them right. Raiden is very responsible and has a lot of common sense, which makes it difficult to connect with peers because most boys in his village are either reckless idiots or lazy fools. Swords, shields, lances, bows, and basically all weapons come easily to him. A true knight, Raiden is extremely self sacrificing and will ignore his own wounds or needs to make sure everyone else is taken care of.

One day, the main villain showed up in his village. Darkness slaughtered Raiden’s father and the rest of the men in the village, declaring that he was folding this land into his own Territory. Raiden only survived because his father shielded him from Darkness’ attacks. As the last surviving knight in his village, Raiden leaves his mother behind on a desperate quest to find the spirit of stone, Earth, and convince him to drive Darkness away.

Villain:

Inis, or Darkness, is night incarnate. He’s the spirit of all shadows and darkness in Kasir. Darkness is massacring his way across Earth Territory, and Raiden’s village was only the first of his victims. He’s attacking other Shandors and killing countless people and dragons. His servants, the Lawless, kidnap children with elemental powers (Mages) and dragon eggs, enslaving them into his armies. On the outside, Darkness is ruthless, quiet, and cruel, often wearing a twisted, pained smile on his face.

However, Darkness isn’t evil. Tortured by a mind control that has enslaved him for over 2000 years, he hates the things he is forced to do. The world is a haze to him, and the only solid reality in his life are the orders he follows. Snatches of lucidity come to him when he stands in bright sunlight, but they never last longer than an instant and all they do is make him hate himself more. Darkness could’ve given up long ago and simply let his soul fade, but he holds on to the desperate hope that someday, someone will free him. Like all Shandors, Darkness has 4 forms: Dragon, where he appears as a wyvern with black feathers, gigantic black wings, and only two legs, which he balances on like a bird. Human, where he has pale skin, shoulder-length black hair, and spiraling red eyes. His right eye has a scar from where Raiden stabbed him, but the eye regrew and Darkness barely felt anything at all. Wisp, a little floating orb of shadows. And Shandor, where he's a gigantic shadow on the ground or the sky and can take out an army by himself. Darkness is immortal and can only be killed by a weapon made from a specific metal. His orders, which he obeys at all costs, are to weaken the other Shandors and kill them if he can.

Grace Keirn

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