Memoirs of Adventure Creative Writing Contest (NA) - Official Entry Thread

[Alfendi]

Try as we did, but here we were.

Here again at the very beginning. Seven breaths, forty-six yalms and fifty Lalafell-sized steps from Leviathan’s leering heads. Twenty-three if I sprinted. I know because I’ve counted, one too many times.

I groaned.

“What, Alfie?” Some sass-filled voice next to me. Serah Gellar, no doubt. Your local female Mi’qote and self-proclaimed the “most tragic of Ninjas.” “Fight hasn’t even started and you’re already complaining?”

You see, that was the thing. I was the only one who remembered. Each strike, each wound, and each death…fresh upon the mind at first, to fade into a distant memory mere minutes later. But they were real. Felt real. And I never knew which one would be…well, the one.

Blasted Echo. Never worked when you wanted it to and half the time it did, I ended up no better than a dried-up Namazu on a beach full of hungry direwolves. I mean, bless Hydaelyn and all, but even the Warrior of Light needed a break every now and then.

Had I known my memories would conjure up something as crazy as this two-headed thing, I would have thought twice before agreeing to help Ryne and Thancred’s little adventure.

Too late now.

But let’s be real, Alfendi Ariandel. You would have agreed anyways. Nodding like you always do.

Yeah, yeah…

Though, my eagerness then had not been limited to my desire to help my Scion friends. In fact, I had long been excited to give my adventurer friends a taste of the real fight. Some new, some old, but a worthy experience all the same.

“Don’t you know?” Another voice from behind me. Big Noober, we called this female Hyur, an ironic nickname for someone who’d never take failure sitting down. And they thought the Warrior of Light was an overachiever... “Alfie’s always complaining. It’s what all Lalafells do best.” She smirked, waving the arrow in her hand at me, not unlike an adult offering a lollipop to a child.

“Hey!” Before I could personally refute the insult, the only other Lalafell in the party piped up. “You take that back right now!” Dellatus Halgio, summoner. Sometimes he dropped his book and other times Bahamut appeared just as confused as its owner. But most of the time, he was reliable. Almost as reliable as Kugane’s local Namazu.

“Friends, I think Leviathan is waiting.” And our favourite grey-coated Hrothgar, Kupo Daddy. If Dellatus was reliable, then Kupo was indispensable. If it weren’t for him I’d probably have born witness to many unpleasant deaths. It was no joke, you really had to live on the edge as a tank.

“You’re right.” With a grunt, I lifted the claymore off my back and into my dominant hand. Seven breaths, forty-five yalms, fifty steps… “Here we go!”

Noober’s angry shout accompanied my sprint to start, echoing all the way across the platform. “You little shite!” she screamed. “I wasn’t ready!”

A grin broke across my face. “Too bad!”

Leviathan, Leviathan…

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(Noble Barding.)

I accidentally read 3000 words instead of 3000 characters...