The Rule of Three Blogfest: Third Renaissance Story

Read the first story HERE and the second HERE.

I shrieked again as another arrow hit my leg.

   “To my father’s house!” Corey shouted.

   I twisted around and looked at him. He hated his father.

   “Trust me, Nabil.”

   Fine, then.

   The humans lurched against my neck as I tore through the clouds, the freezing air enveloping the lot of us.

   “Is this creature insane?” the female screamed, and I could sense her fear.

   “Nabil always travels through the clouds!” Corey shouted back. “I don’t know why!”

   It was a short trip to Renaissance. I landed in the central square, and the people nearby screamed and ran.

   I sighed. Gone were the days when humans trusted us.

   Corey jumped off and ran toward his father’s building.

   I helped the female down my back by leaning to one side as she dismounted, earning a yelp.

   She glared at me as she marched away.

   I gave her a grin made of incisors.

   “Father!” Corey exclaimed, as his father marched out of a nearby building.

   I walked closer to my human, sending a cool breeze into the approaching man’s face.

   “Who is this girl?” he demanded.

   “Alejandra Digiovanni. Who am I addressing?”

   “Sir Anderson Pendergraft,” the man said. Then he turned to his son. “Corey, I want to know exactly what you think you were doing by running away!”

   “Having fun.”

   He glared.

   I snorted in disapproval.

   “Oh, be still, you cumbersome animal.”

   A strangely human idea, but I got the impulse to throw something at his head.

   “An army is headed this way,” the girl declared.

   “Is there?” the man asked.

   “Two thousand soldiers, at least. Your son said 333 people live here, so I would advise immediate evacuation.”

   “Miss Digiovanni, our affairs—“

   I rolled over onto my side, convulsing. A few people who’d gathered in the square hopped away, scattering like leaves.

   “Is something wrong with that animal?”

   “Um . . . are you all right, Nabil?” Corey asked.

   I grinned again. I couldn’t believe they didn’t know, when it was such common knowledge to any imbrangilae.

   “Er . . .”

   “Speak up! I will not have you mumbling like alley rubbish,” the man snapped.

   “Nabil seems to be . . . laughing.”

   “Laughing,” the female said. “Of all the things to do, that creature—“

   “Is there a reason, Father?”

   “You trust that animal more than me?”

   “Yes.”

   The man sighed.

   “Yes, there is a reason. No one can attack Renaissance,” he said.

   I got to my feet again. Now things were beginning to make sense.

   “What?” Corey demanded.

   “The imbrangilae protect it. They and the humans here made an agreement several hundred years ago that they would shelter us. No one has attacked this town in decades, hence it was never obvious to the current citizens of Renaissance.”

   “And what do the imbrangilae get in return?” my human asked.

   Silence.

   I glared at the man.

   “The humans aren’t holding up their part of the deal,” the girl offered.

   “That’s disgraceful!” Corey cried.

   “—But regardless, doesn’t anyone care about the army?” she continued.

   Corey’s father replied, “If I know the imbrangilae, they’ll have run them off by now.”

   I grunted in affirmation.

   “What’s that sound?” someone in the crowd called out.

   “It sounds like a number of imbrangilae flying toward us,” Corey said.

   The humans in the square were flustered enough, but the prospect of so many of us sent them panicking.

   “Why are they coming?” Corey shouted to his father, over the screams and yells.

   “To settle the agreement! They’ve decided it’s time we paid for not keeping our side of the bargain.”

(596 words)

This week's prompts:

1. The impending misfortune foreshadowed in the 1st prompt comes to pass, but one or more characters laugh at it. (check)
2. Betrayal is in the air.  (check)
3. Relationships unravel or strengthen.
4. A long-kept secret is revealed. (check)

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About the REN3 Blogfest:

Hosts:

Stuart Nager at Tale Spinning, Damyanti Biswas at Daily (W)rite, Lisa Vooght at Flash Fiction, JC Martin at Fighter Writer.

A. What is the Rule of Three?

The “rule of three” is a principle in writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader/audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of threes. A series of three is often used to create a progression in which the tension is created, then built up, built up even more, and finally released. –Wikipedia 

B. How does the Rule of Three work in this blogfest?
The Rule of Three is a month-long fiction blogfest, where we’ve created a ‘world’, the town of Renaissance, and challenged you to create a story within it. The story will feature 3 characters of your creation, who will be showcased on your blog on 3 different Wednesdays or Thursdays, following the Rule of Three. The 4th Wednesday/Thursday posting you’ll have the culminating scene.


C. What is the Shared World of Rule of Three? Welcome to Renaissance.
Renaissance is an outpost town in the middle of nowhere, but many routes pass through or beside it. The desert is encroaching on one side (to the West), a once-lush forest lies to the East and South. A large river runs through the forest, but it is not close to the town. Mountains are to the North, far, far away, and when you look towards them you don’t know if they are an illusion or real. Closer by are the smaller hill chains that fed the mining, creating caverns and passages underground.
   The town has had a number of identities throughout its history: A trading post; a mining town; a ghost town until it was rediscovered; a thriving community; the scene of a number of great battles; the scene of one great tragedy (that led to its Ghost Town standing); a town of great joys and celebrations, and so much more. At this point in time, there is a general population of 333. A mixture of a community. It boasts families that have lived there for generations upon generations, but they are in the minority, and are not in positions of power. There are traders who have come back here, at the end of their many travails, to settle in. The new families and power-players have taken this as a last refuge for themselves, hoping to rebuild lives torn apart on the way here. Everyone has a secret. Welcome to Renaissance. Enjoy your stay.

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What do you think of my story?

-----The Golden Eagle