[fugitive]

Finally the castle came into view, a giant foreboding structure, framed by dark clouds and warnings of a thunderstorm. And yet, Caela was hankering for a fight. With grim determination, she marched forward, planning on taking whatever awaited her head on. She didn't think of the evil or she would probably fall to it's hands if she pushed forward without a plan, that was Angelo's job and he wasn't here.

And so she marched in the directest route, that is, till she felt a hand grab her shoulder. Turning quickly, she lifted a fist to punch whatever cretin touched her! The other hushed her, a kindly bard with a lute on his shoulder.

"You must be quiet, the castle is rather close."

He whispered, kindly smiling as he let go of her shoulder. She stepped away, an indignant scowl to his smile.

"I know! That is where I'm heading."

Seems the potion's effect had worn off, for her words were no longer strung together. The other hushed her again, looking to the castle and back to the girl before him.

"You plan on walking into the front door?"

"OF course!"

She shouted it now, not caring who or what heard. The other started to hush her again, but it turned to a sigh. He didn't think she would be turned from her goal..

"Ah, I'm heading there myself, perhaps we should go together? I'm Omari."

Caela didn't trust him before her, she had never seen him before nor knew what business he had at the castle, but she felt it would be better to have someone else in case a distraction was needed.

".. Fine. I'm Caela, apprentice of Angelo."

"Oh! I'm a bard by the way."

"I know."

And on they started, one wary of both her party and the castle before her, and one seemingly careless.

[Sandstorm814]

From the perspective of Camille

I gazed at the magnificent castle before me. I know I should be scared, after all, I'm sure Dominque and Finn are behind me, trembling with fear. Yet, I was strangely captivated by the structure. I saw shadows bound past, shaped in the ways of weasels. I saw hiding in the trees, eyes peering out at us. Wolves, but at they same time they weren't, fixated on me. The monsters were here, to watch what they think will be our befall before the king.
Dominque and Finn were speechless, slowly backing away involuntarily.

"What are you doing! We've come all this way - Do you really think we will stop now?" I spoke into the dead silence, tunred around and staring down my friends. They would, follow me, I knew. I hoped.
I swiftly turned right back around and strode with pride to the foreboding entrance.

I didn't bother to turn around and see if Dominque and Finn were following me.

[jianwai]

Aᴛ ᴛʜᴇ Gᴀᴛᴇs ᴏꜰ Eᴠɪʟ!
All members

The gates of evil are an understatement, or perhaps an overstatement depending on who stands before such imposing, rusted iron bars. They reach skyward and never seem to end, tilting heads back as far as they can they barely catch the glimpse of a point of the gates head-- terrifying, too tall to fall on, at least. Still, imposing or not, they need to go through it; beyond, to the castle, to the halls, to the supposed demon of a king ( or was it a demon king? they couldn't quite remember, couldn't quite care what supposed creature deemed itself a king or a demon-- it was going to die, or be expelled, or be cured, or whatever the crystals where supposed to do in regards to the thing inside, demon king or demon of a king. )

The castle seemed impressive, it must have been back in the days where darkness did not filter out of every window and crack, where blackened vines did not climb ever skyward in the search of light-- only to find none, darkness was their light, a wonderful oxymoron that Araxie was quick to point out. Dark can't be light, and Hyacinthus had countered with the lovely fact that creatures deep in the sea could use the darkness as light, just like the infesting vines.

How beautiful everything must have been; gardens and fountains, dances and feasts, birds and geese.

[Medd]

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" You're at your final destination, the Evil Castle. What does an evil castle even look like?
How does your hero feel about starting the last stage of their journey? "

Artemis

Prompt 17
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Thunderclouds loomed over the final stand. The great abyss that they had crossed to reach the castle made it appear less intimidating, yet there it stood. It slept like a great monster under the cover of darkness. A crack and spit from above sent a chill along the feeble kalon's spine. A blistering yellow light sliced through the overcast sky, spitting and booming more ferociously this time around. Perhaps this was a warning? Artemis had only just managed to find Ronan when he awoke, the poor Kalon was extremely weak when they found him. Artemis had retrieved the final crystal himself with enormous struggle. Another clap of thunder and strike of lightning returned him to his half-conscious self. Everything was bleak. Perhaps this was an omen to turn back? To flee? Artemis just assumed that it was simply pathetic fallacy at its finest. Who knew what was in that towering castle, which mocked and glared at the weary party. The drops of dense rain slid down the breadth of the steely brick walls, cruising to the floor at a rapid pace under the increasingly stormy and poor weather conditions. Artemis shuddered. After all they'd seen and been through: the monsters, the atrocities, the endurance they sustained and the wounds that healed, this was their final destination. The shadow plague was obviously strongest in this area, as it dominated mother nature's power to restore health and life to the scenery. Artemis inhaled and exhaled gradually, finding thin strands of confidence to cling onto. He looked toward the arching door and knocked. A noise emerged from inside the castle.

[Flowerlily]

PROMPT 17
Aᴛ ᴛʜᴇ Gᴀᴛᴇs ᴏꜰ Eᴠɪʟ!

Eda Cassidy tells herself to be brave as she sees the castle.

[cocoa]

Prompt 17

When they come upon it, after days of travel from the Crystal Coves that leaves them worn and tired, they had not come there knowing what to expect. When together, the four crystals had become a powerful wayfinder spell of sorts, leading them back through the fringes of the Lavalands, the Crystal Coves, the Forest and finally the foothills around the village to appear at the base of the castle. Ulyana had helped them follow the magic - despite not being a fighter, part of her training in information gathering included interpreting magic, which could lead to the unveiling of many secrets.

The entire party had seen the castle before, despite it being out of view from the village center. They all had their reasons: Ragiel, attempting to rob some nobles leaving the castle; Ulyana, meeting some people from the castle, and Sen, who had wandered there out of pure curiosity. Most people were like Sen, in that regard; any non-hermit resident of the village had seen the castle at some point of their lives.

And the castle was grand, shining silver splendor, armed with many watch towers and a large flag in honor of the Kalokari nation. It always seemed to glow with light magic, blessed by the four crystals of the country. But now, it was seemingly opposite: the flag, ripped and torn, and the castle itself, turned a dark black with heavy purple mist - evil magic. In the past year, it had gained the name of the Evil Castle.

Ragiel thought the name fitting, for its terrible appearance and the lurking demons on the premises. They were powerful - more powerful than what they had seen before on their journeys. (Yet, so were they. Ragiel did not get wounded as often anymore, and Sen's potions were as powerful as ever, and Ulyana was sharp as the sharpest sword in her mind, her paws quick to mend.) Ragiel stared in trepidation, knowing he would not escape unscathed, and determined and eager to fight. Sen stared in awe up at the castle, straight of a fairy tale. It's the opposite of what it once was, but it is still breathtaking, he thinks.

Ulyana? Well, Ulyana, in her following of the crystal's light, felt like this would be how it ended: fighting some Demon King in an Evil Castle. All the signs pointed to that conclusion.

It didn't make her any less exasperated at the pure sterotypical situtation they had landed themselves in, though. Honestly, she thought, scoffing, I can't believe this, yet here I am - we are - heroes.

All they had to do now was slaughter the Demon King (and god, those metaphorical capital letters before their name would make Ulyana sweatdrop, if she could), purify the castle and parade back happy-ever-after. Ulyana wanted a happy-ever-after, of course, but...

God, they were going to end up in one of Sen's fantasy books, weren't they?

[Alantica]

Kalon used: Nozomu

[beautea]

prompt seventeen
kalon used: althea, peregrine, & james

"Oh, lord," James gulped, with good reason. The castle looked more indimitating in person than Althea cared to admit, but she knew that the party's morale would fall if she looked nervous too. She kept her composure steady, and kept her arms simply to her side. She seemed as if the castle meant little to her, like a leaf that landed on her shoulder. She would just brush off the leaf, then continue forward. It would not stop her. She hoped these thoughts may keep her afloat when edging closer to the castle, but, she wasn't all that sure.

"It will be fine. We must keep our heads held high and be strong," Althea instructed to the two Kalons, still staring at the castle. A purple, glaring glow surrounded the castle, and she felt as if she were being watched. It was an uncomfortable feeling, as if she were losing control of what she did. She felt a compelling urge to retreat, to go back home, to just have someone else do the job, but she shook her head. The thoughts left. Exhaling rather loudly, she forced herself to keep going. She didn't have a weapon, she didn't have any armor, she didn't even have a plan.

"But, what are we going to do? We, we need to think of something," Peregrine finally said something, trying to go in front of Althea. His intentions were good, but it wouldn't matter in the end. She was already moving forward with set determination in her eyes. They were almost done. Kalokairi would finally be freed of this plague of demons. She wasn't just freeing herself, she was freeing her friends, good people, all those frightened families at home. The three would finish the job, and take back the castle.

Even if they had to do it brick by brick.

[ωolfie]

p r o m p tx s e v e n t e e n
☆☆☆
Aᴛ ᴛʜᴇ Gᴀᴛᴇs ᴏF Eᴠɪʟ!
☆☆☆

"castle hassle"

the three kalons sat atop a hill, looking down at the castle. they wanted to share their last moments together, as a group, before they head inside the castle once and for all. who knows if they'll make it back alive?

cain took a deep breath. "well, it doesn't look that bad. and, hey look, it isn't even that large," he said, trying his hardest to bring positivity to break the dark and scary aura surrounding the area. "of course it looks small from here. we're far away and on a hill, idiot. i bet it'll just get large and more intimidating once we get closer," shelbie mumbled, propping her elbows on her knees.

they still couldn't believe that they were almost at the end of their journey. all the days went by like a breeze, and there was hardly any time to process what was going on half of the time. but here they were now. they couldn't believe that they had gone from the beautiful, serene crystal coves, to the horrifying, and intimidating palace, the place that held the reason for their quest in the first place. the crystal coves had been a walk in the park... but this? maybe it knew that they needed a calming place like the crystal coves, so they could relax and get ready for when they face the biggest and hardest moment of their lives.

the scavenger part of the trip was finished- they had collected all four crystals. but then came the hard part, actually defeating the demons and restore the royal family. they heard the crystals would make them a powerful weapon and all, but how were they going to defeat the monsters? was there a core to all of this chaos? did they have to find and defeat the king of the demons? what did they need to do? the kalons still didn't know yet.

shelbie sighed, wiping sweat from her brow. it was still a bit amusing to think that she used to believe she would be able to go on this quest by herself. well, maybe she could, but it definitely would be a hundred times more difficult. but now, she made it. with the help of her friends, of course. she was determined as ever- she could imagine now what it would be like back in the village when she would save the entirety of kalokairi from the demons. excitement ran through her veins at the mere thought. but of course, there was always a little something else she would her her best to ignore. fear, regret, doubt, and hesitation was swirling inside her stomach, bubbling with intensity so much it almost made her heart physically hurt. she wanted to go alone- to keep her friends from being hurt, or worse, killed. but kyrou and cain would never let her go alone by herself. but the thought of her friends getting injured, pained her greatly. but shelbie needed to disregard her feelings. she had to. she needed to keep her eyes on the prize.

kyrou, however, was mumbling prayers to himself. he was naturally a pessimistic person, so of course his mind was running with all sorts of doubts and scary ideas. cain seemed to think that they'll do just fine with three people, except, kyrou couldn't fight. he didn't know how to. he was just an average healing mage. so really, it was two kalons against... who knows what number of demons there would be? his heart began to speed faster and faster the more he thought about it. what if they failed? what if they couldn't save kalokairi? then they would've gone through the village, the forest, the lavalands, and the crystal coves all for nothing. no, he couldn't let that happen. for once in his life, he decided to have hope.

cain, oddly enough, was extremely positive during this time of the quest. it seemed like he was always grumpy when others were happy, and he was happy when others were grumpy. but he had an energetic ray of electricy flow through him, and somehow, he knew that they were going to make it through all this. he knew that they weren't the toughest or wittiest of all the kalons, but their friendship and teamwork made up foe that completely. shelbie called his babbling 'mindless nonsense', but he truly did feel like they were going to suceed. cain remembered all those other times when he was incredibly pessimistic, thinking he was going to fail, and he had also brought his friends down to his low standards and expectations as well. and now, he thought, his friend needed positivity now more than ever. and he was the one who was going to make that happen.

shelbie stared at the castle ahead of them. it was made out of obsidian and other black bricks that had a slight shade of purple to them. suddenly, as if on cue, lightning struck the castle, but it showed no sign of being harmed or damaged by the ray of electricity. the sky had gotten darker significantly, dark grey clouds hogging the sky. the castle had a spooky, ghostly aura surrounding it, looking scarily from a horror novel. there were also, what looked to be like, vultures, flying in circles above the castle top. there were also translucent, ghost-like figures lurking around the castle. overall, it didn't seem like an easy place to get inside or get out of. but the three kalons had faith. they could do it.

920 words

[lovage]

Party /// Cinna, Artemis, and Feliks
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They went through the tall grass, trying not to make a sound.
Feliks flicked his tail, that sent Artemis forward to a nearby hill.
Cinna followed behind Feliks, her ears flicking in different
directions. She ran down into large hole, leaving Feliks along. The
hole was a place Artemis discovered when she was scouting for
an entrance. The hole was an exit route if the castle ever raided.
Feliks did a chirp the hole alerting Cinna to make them sound the
alarm. The alarm sounded, Cinna rushed out of it with swarms
of the creatures at her tail. They swung their blades taking
down as many as possible while heading to the hill. Artemis shot
arrows down from the hill while Cinna and Feliks stayed on the
ground below. The numbers grew smaller and smaller after
sometime. Artemis rushed down the hill, joining the main battle.
She fought her way to the center where she found Feliks and Cinna.
They fought, backs facing each, til dusk when the creatures vanished.
They were exhausted after the battle. They made their way back to
camp to rest up.