Scenario:The three men stood in place. They were all annoyed. Avery was shaking his head in disbelief. "Twelve hours? This is bullshit." He said. "What the hell are we supposed to do in the meantime?"
"I'm not sure." Barnes responded, shrugging. "I guess we just have to wait around, and hope the rest of the team doesn't find anything out there." He said, pointing out away from the castle.
"Like a demonic horse?" Avery suggested.
"Yeah...something like that." Barnes grumpily said.
Create my version of this story
The three men stood in place. They were all annoyed. Avery was shaking his head in disbelief. "Twelve hours? This is bullshit." He said. "What the hell are we supposed to do in the meantime?"
"I'm not sure." Barnes responded, shrugging. "I guess we just have to wait around, and hope the rest of the team doesn't find anything out there." He said, pointing out away from the castle.
"Like a demonic horse?" Avery suggested.
"Yeah...something like that." Barnes grumpily said.
Avery Blackwood
first_person_protagonist, male. He is a skilled warrior in a medieval kingdom. He is frustrated, skeptical, and determined. Avery is part of a team tasked with investigating strange occurrences in the kingdom. He is annoyed by the delay in their mission and the lack of information provided by their leader, Barnes. Avery is skeptical of Barnes' leadership and feels undervalued. Despite this, he remains committed to his duties and hopes to uncover the truth behind the mysterious events plaguing the kingdom.
Barnes
side_character, male. He is the leader of a group of warriors investigating strange occurrences in a medieval kingdom. He is authoritative, secretive, and pragmatic. Barnes leads Avery and another warrior on a mission to investigate rumors of demonic horses. He provides little information about their mission, causing tension with Avery. Despite this, Barnes remains focused on completing their task and ensuring their safety. His leadership style is questioned by Avery but he remains steadfast in his decisions.
Thomas
side_character, male. He is a skilled warrior accompanying Avery on their mission. He is quiet, observant, and loyal. Thomas rarely speaks but maintains a strong presence during their journey. His silence often leaves Avery wondering about his thoughts on their situation. Thomas follows orders diligently and supports Avery during tense moments with Barnes. His calm demeanor provides balance to the group's dynamics as they navigate through challenging circumstances.
"Twelve hours?"
I asked.
"Are you kidding me?"
I looked over at Thomas, who was also looking at Barnes in disbelief.
He didn’t say anything, though.
He rarely did.
Barnes just shrugged.
"I don’t know anything else. We were told to delay the mission by twelve hours. That’s all."
He said, shaking his head.
"Why?"I asked.
"Why the hell would they delay our mission for no reason?"
"I don’t know, Avery." He said, looking at me.
"They didn’t tell me and I didn’t feel it was my place to ask."
He looked away from me, towards the castle.
"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"
I asked.
Just sit here and wait?"
I guess."
That was frustrating.
Sitting around waiting to investigate whatever was going on in the kingdom seemed pointless.
Especially since I had a feeling that it was all nothing and we weren’t going to find out anything even if we did investigation at this point in time.
I leaned back against the cold stone wall, studying the architecture.
The castle was a mix of medieval and Gothic styles, with tall spires that reached towards the grey sky.
It was a huge structure, and it was hard to believe that one man lived here alone.
I looked up at the spires, and saw that there were gargoyles perched on them, watching us.
The wind howled through the mountain passes, and it sounded like they were screeching.
Barnes paced near the entrance, while Thomas stood off to the side, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
He didn’t move, but he seemed to be watching everything around us carefully.
I followed his gaze, and noticed something out of the corner of my eye.
It was in one of the high windows of the castle.
It was just a shadowy shape, but it moved quickly across the window.
"Hey."
I said to Barnes.
"Did you see that?"
He turned to look at me. "See what?"
"There. In that window. It looked like a shadowy figure."
I pointed towards the window where I had seen it.
Barnes looked, but he shook his head.
"I don’t see anything."
He said dismissively.
I looked at Thomas, though, and I could see him nodding subtly.
He saw it too.
I pushed off the wall, my eyes still on that high window.
Barnes started pacing again, deliberately ignoring what I had said.
I caught Thomas’s eye, and gave him a slight head tilt towards the castle’s heavy wooden doors.
He understood immediately, and shifted his weight from his post.
I started walking towards the entrance, moving casually as if I were just stretching my legs.
Thomas followed, keeping enough distance from me that we wouldn’t draw suspicion.
When Barnes turned his back to us on his twentieth lap of pacing, I reached out and grasped the iron door handle.
It was cold against my palm.
I eased the door inward, wincing as the ancient hinges creaked.
Thomas positioned himself to block Barnes’s view of me, and I made just enough space in the opening for me to squeeze through.
The air inside was stale, smelling of aged stone and dampness.
The corridor ahead of me was dimly lit, with only scattered wall sconces providing light.
The flames cast dancing shadows on the worn tapestries that lined the walls.
I stood at the threshold for a moment, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.
Behind me, Thomas coughed deliberately - our agreed signal that Barnes was still distracted.
I slipped inside, and Thomas followed close behind, closing the door quietly.
"Why are we doing this?" he whispered, his voice barely audible over the echoing silence.
"Because," I replied, "if they’re delaying us, it means there’s something here they don’t want us to find."
Thomas nodded, and we moved deeper into the corridor.
I pressed my palm against the cold stone walls, feeling for any irregularities.
Thomas walked backwards, keeping an eye on our backs.
The flickering torchlight made it difficult to see anything clearly, but I could make out worn grooves in the floor where people had passed frequently.
I traced my fingers along a seam where two tapestries met, and felt slight movement of the air.
Thomas tapped my shoulder and pointed down.
There were scuff marks on the floor below the fabric, and they looked recent.
We exchanged a look - someone had been here not long ago.
I gripped the edge of the heavy fabric, preparing to pull it back and reveal what was behind it, when I heard footsteps echoing from around the corner.
We froze, and the footsteps stopped just out of sight.
