#4kjam

This is the story I cobbled together for this month's 4K Jam challenge.

Time: A little over 2 hours.

Word Count: ~1.5k

"You think you know something, but then the universe just has to prove you wrong." Heb'beth thought as she headed to the Grand Archive's refreshment area for a well deserved break.

She and the rest of the staff had spent the entire morning trying to find a lost tome. The records showed that they had the book in question, and where it was supposed to be located. But the records were, *gasp*, wrong.

Heb'beth had been the one to finally find the book. After hours of searching, it turned out to be down in a sub-basement, setting on a box of cleaning supplies. One of the other librarians suggested a patron took it down there to look at the 'racey pictures.'

Ew.

She shook her head and put her hands in the sleeves of her robes.

Oh well, it's nice to have a bit of excitement around here every once and a while. With everybody scurrying around, almost frantic in a hushed-librarian kind of way, it keeps things from getting too boring.

It was midday, so the port was busy with merchants and buyers, tourists, and natives all bustling about.

Cragial briskly stepped off the gangplank of his ship, The Interloper. Wasting no time, he reached into the inner pocket of his dark, full-length dress robes. He pulled out the DragonEye Amulet of Time. That's what he called it, anyway. It was actually a pocket watch he had stolen from his mentor, the sorcerer Xerxes. Like all sorcerers before him, he could only assume the title of "sorcerer" by killing his mentor. When he finally had, he kept the timepiece as a reminder. In the cover he embedded a magic talisman, a blue dragon eye.

He held up the Eye to his mouth and murmured an incantation.

A bright light flashed behind him and a tall, vaguely humanoid shaped blaze-golem appeared. An entity of pure light, a blaze-golem was not to be taken... Well, lightly.

"Tell me again, slave, where is this library?" Cragial said.

"On the top of that hill, master." The golem answered. "Are you sure we're prepared for this? Perhaps we should learn more before--"

"Be quiet! We've discussed it enough!" Cragial snapped. He started toward the Archives. "If I knew what a chatty lightbulb you were going to be, I would have never conjured you!" He muttered.

He looked a back at the golem, "I am a sorcerer, there is nothing to stop me. Now shut up, walk behind me, and look scary."

"Yes... Master."

Heb'beth was sipping her tea when the doors to the Grand Archive burst open. A man in dark robes and full skirt stormed in. She knew what he was. Only a sorcerer would wear a full skirt. A creature of pure light followed him.

The sorcerer yelled something Heb'beth didn't understand, something in bizarre tongue. As soon as he finished all the doors and windows in the building snapped shut. The only light left was the flickering of the small crystal sconces and the bright being of light -- A blaze-golem, she realized with a start. They were in trouble.

"I demand the presence of the Granmaestro!" The sorcerer's voice carried across the large open area.

"One moment, master." The blaze said. It raised its arms and seemed to collapse into itself, becoming a small sun in the middle of the foyer. Two smaller suns broke off, all three re-formed into humanoid shapes. The two little ones ran off and out of sight, giggling as they went.

The sorcerer exhaled through his teeth. "Way to keep up the gravitas, golem."

"Sorry." The blaze murmured.

An ancient man was sitting behind an ancient desk, poring over the tome that had been lost earlier that day.

"Hmmm... These are nice pictures." He mumbled.

The door to his office exploded into light, splinters flying everywhere. "What the devil?!" He yelled, jumping in his seat.

"Close!" A little guy made of light said as he entered the office.

"Heheh, but not that close." The other one said, following after.

Heb'beth was hiding herself behind a pillar. She was making herself as small as possible, so as not to be seen. She was thinking little thoughts, very quietly, in little circles.

"What should I do?"

"What can I do?"

"I'm no match for him, even without the golem!"

"I should have gone to the bathroom earlier."

The two spark-golems threw the granmaestro down at the feet of Cragial.

"Here he is, oh Craggly-one." One said.

"Heheh. Nice." The other chuckled.

Cragial frowned at them, and they promptly shut up.

"You. Maestro. Tell me where you've hidden the Knowledge of Bemsgoth!" Cragial boomed.

The maestro cringed back, "The Knowledge of...? But that's a myth, there's no such rune!"

The Knowledge of Bemsgoth was said to be runic talisman that was infused with all the knowledge of the universe, or at least all the knowledge of the great sorcerer Bemsgoth. Either way, it was surely something that would look good dangling on a chain around Cragial's neck.

"Yes. I thought you might try to play this game. Well, I'm not the gaming type. Golem, kill him." A collective gasp was heard from all the cowering librarians around the chamber, and from the golem too.

"That's not necessary, master, we could--"

"Are you questioning me? Slave?!" Cragial was livid, spittle flying from his lips.

The golem, lowered his head. "No... no."

The two sparklings let go of the granmaestro and took a step back, dissipating into the air. "Not my scene man..." One of them muttered as they dissolved.

The golem turned his head and raised his arm: The granmaestro instantly burst into flames. The fire was so hot that it was merely seconds before the only thing remaining of the maestro were his ashes.

The brief scream of the granmaestro snapped Heb'beth's thoughts back to the present.

"Oh god, the poor old maestro..." She thought.

"I will burn this archive and all in it if I'm not presented with the stone immediately!" Cragial's voice echoed. "It is, after all, a stone. So fire should not hurt it at all, eh, slave?" The golem didn't answer.

"Very well. Golem, you may begin."

The golem slowly raised its arm.

Heb'beths mind was racing. "Ohmygod. Ohmygod. I'm not ready to die. I've gotta do something."

She took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the pillar. "Stop! I-- I'll show you where it is."

"Oh, look. A brave librarian. How refreshing." Cragial smirked.

The door had a large sign on it, with large red symbols that Cragial didn't recognize. But a powerful light was shining out behind door, so he knew something of great power was behind it.

"Scribe! What does this inscription say?"

"Um, it's ancient symbology. Roughly translated it means: Bemsgoth's Stone of Answers." Heb'beth said.

"Excellent..." Cragial said, eyes full of dark dreams. "Go! Enter and fetch it for me."

"Buh, I can't! Only the most brilliant may survive the entwining process. Perhaps the Granmaestro could have... But even then, since it's soul-bound, the knowledge isn't transferrable. I'm, I'm sorry..." Heb'beth said, nervously.

"Hmm... Yes." Cragial eyed her. "What do you think, slave?"

The golem considered it for a moment. "It makes sense, lord. Magic that powerful would need a security mechanism of some sort."

"Yes, precisely my thoughts!"

Cragial turned towards the door. "My dreams are mere footfalls away." He said, perhaps to himself. He confidently pulled the door open.

The object in center of the room was so bright Cragial couldn't look directly at it. So much power, he could feel it.

He stepped closer to the light, the heat it gave off was tremendous. It's the knowledge of the universe, it only makes sense it'd be hot. Right?

Another step forward. As his eyes adjusted, he could see something covering the light. A grill of some kind? Extra protection perhaps? Yes. That was it. No matter, it would not foil him, not now. Now that he was so close.

Step. He noticed the back of his hands were dry, cracked.

His eyes widened for just a moment, as he realized his mistake, then he burst into a puff of steam and meat chunks.

"Man, I really hated that guy." The golem chuckled as he closed the door. "He thought he was so smart." Then he let out a big laugh. "Classic."

The golem looked at Heb'beth. "That was good thinking, girl." He seemed to smile, it was hard to tell from what little you could make out of his face.

Heb'beth was wide-eyed, still staring at the place where the sorcerer splattered. "Uh, thanks."

"So, what does this sign actually say?" He said, gesturing towards the door.

Time for another 4k Jam!

Time for a new 4k Jam!

I know how lucky I am to live in a beautiful city like FantasmaCity. After the Panlynic Wars our whole civilization could have been lost if the Fathers hadn’t formed our city.  I have never even been outside the city myself although I have heard lots of stories about Outside. My friends know of my fascination with it so they set me up for a blind date with their friend, Grover. He was from Outside until he made his way into FC. He passed the test for habitation with flying colors. I can’t wait to meet him.

  I make my way up the Garden Steps to the Greghish Bar at the top. It is famous for the red tile roof that looks over the city. I have only been here twice for birthing day celebrations. I am glad it is the green season in the city. It makes all the crowded levels look welcoming.

  There are so many people at Greghish. I never realized that is was so noisy in here. Of course, when I was here before, I was on the restaurant side instead of the bar side. I am looking around for my date, Grover. He told me over the communicationer that he would be easy to recognize. He will be wearing a red cape. I agreed it is not every day you see someone wearing a red cape.

  There is someone waving to me from the patio area. Wow. If that is Grover, he forgot to mention he was blue and furry. But he is smiling and bidding me to come to him.

  As I greet him in the traditional way, he reaches out to hug me which kind of freaks me out. We are not a hugging people. “I am so glad to finally meet you,” he says. This surprises me as I only heard about him three days ago. Maybe Outsiders are less literal?

  “I am pleased to meet you, also, Grover. I have heard many impressive things about you.” I answered. “I would love to hear more of Outside.”

  “Oh, I can do more than talk about it, “he smiled, “I can show you my portion of the Outside if you want to see it.”

  “From here?” I squeaked, rather terrified.

  “Well, I could show you the direction from here, but if you actually want to see it, we will have to go there.”

  “I am not sure that would be allowed. The Gates are carefully monitored.”

  “We would not be walking, Ananda.” He took out a necklace made of a golden crescent moon with a lightening bolt and he blew into the end of it. Before I could even ask him what he was doing, the most magnificent horse I have ever seen was landing on the patio.

  Only he wasn’t a horse.

  He was shimmery white with a silver tail and a braided silver mane and a glistening golden horn coming out of his head. A unicorn???? I thought they were mythical.

  I was too stunned to speak for a moment then I looked around to see if anyone else was as surprised as I was.

  “Oh, they can’t see him,” said Grover. “Only you and I can. That is one of the reasons I was so anxious to meet you when I realized that there was someone here in FantasmaCity who was also a Seeing One.”

  I am sure my eyes were huge by this time. “A Seeing One? What is that?”

  Grover smiled at me kindly as he explained, “A Seeing One is just that. Someone who can See more than ordinary folk. It is like a mystical inner vision. Have you never felt it before?”

  So many things fell into place for me at that moment. The way my vision sometimes seemed doubled by what I was seeing and what I could have seen. It is very difficult to explain but as I had always been this way, it seemed normal to me. After the first few times it happened to me and I would ask my parents questions, they would glance around and tell me we could only discuss my Seeings at home. But when we got home, they would distract with fun and food that I rarely got.

  Grover was waiting expectantly. “Are you ready to go?” he asked. I was.

  He helped me up onto the unicorn’s back and then he patted him and whispered something in his ear. We immediately soared up towards the clouds but I was confused as I thought Grover would be on the unicorn with me. “Where is Grover?” I said to myself aloud.

  “Oh, he is flying beside us,” the unicorn answered. I can’t say what shocked me more, the unicorn talking or looking up to see Grover’s red cape flapping in the wind as he caught up with us.

  I couldn’t decide whether to engage the unicorn in conversation as he flew or just to enjoy the lovely scenery below. Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore so I asked the unicorn, “Do you have a name?”

  “Yes,” he replied, “I am called Lellix. I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Ananda.”

  “And I yours,” I responded. “Are we far from our destination?” Just as I said that, we started to descend to a clearing in the forest. Grover landed alongside us.

  “Is this Outside?”

  “Yes,” Grover said. “It is what people from FC call Outside. It is really just a forest on the outskirts of your city. But for some reason, your Fathers do not want you all to travel outside your city.”

  “Do you know why that would be?” I asked him hesitantly.

  “I can only guess. They seem afraid that if you all go forth exploring, the city would eventually die away. They need many people to fill your building and do the work to keep the city in repair.”

  I felt myself wondering if that was a good thing or a bad thing. FantasmaCity is a beautiful place but freedom to explore has a great appeal. I looked at Grover and knew that he had come into my life to help me decide the best course for me and for my people.

Here's my entry for the 4k Jam. You can see the graphic elements at the 4k Jam blog.

It came in at 1,249 words, unedited.

The word count isn't the hard part. The time limit is the hard part.

Enjoy!

Monster Hero

"Then I crushed the creature's skull within the palm of my hand!" The giant man cheered, his fellow drunken has-beens approved.

The Drunken Sailor was a popular pub, down by the sea in Stair City. The city was bright and cheery, named after all the many stairs needed to accommodate the hills it was founded on. While the city was bright, this pub was dingy. It attracted the worst sort, and those who used to be the worst sort.

"Well said, Korg. Well said. Truly your courage and strength know no bounds. However that tale pales in comparison my adventures on the Quar--" The drunk was interrupted by the door slamming open. A bizarre creature walked through, it was large and horse-like. Pale white fur, with a single straight horn protruding from it's forehead.

The creature spoke. "Help! My name is Equestra, and I am in need of a hero!" She said.

The bar folk immediately lost interest.

"You sire, you were boasting of your ability to crush skulls with your fists, were you not? My people are in dire need of such a skilled person!"

"I, uh… Well, I have dentist appointment." Korg muttered, and sunk low in his chair.

"Oh please! My tribe is under attack by a horrible fiend. We need someone as scary as he to defend us. What about your comrade in arms? Are his teeth ailing as well?" Equestra asked.

"No!" The drunk replied, insulted. "See?!" He spread his lips, and pointed at his four teeth.

"Oh yes, quite excellent." She replied. "So you are available to help? We can pay!"

"Oh. Help, huh? Well, uh. I have to wash my hair…" He said, dropping his nose back into his drink.

Equestra walked to the bar, the distress clear in her voice. "Please barkeep, who may I find up to the task? We are desperate for a warrior!"

The bartender looked at her sadly. "My dear, this is a bar full of hot air. They tell stories of dubious truth to impress. If that doesn't work, then they just try to expel bodily gasses louder than anyone else. Other than him," He gestured to a dark booth in the corner, "the only thing scary in here is their tab size."

Equestra tried to see who was in the booth. It was difficult to see, it was so dark. She only got the impression of fur. Dark, maybe blue?

"Oh, he does seem scary." She said.

"Don't bother. He's scary alright, but washed up." The bartender said, turning back to his dirty dishes.

As she cantered to the booth, she could see his mottled blue fur. The air surrounding him acrid. He was gazing into his drink. She couldn't tell what it was, but it was sour.

"What are you drinking, sire? May I order you another?" She asked.

He didn't look up. "Bitter Defeat."

"What?!" She said, startled. Was he talking about her task? Did he think her tribe was doomed?

"That's the name of the drink. Bitter Defeat. I drink it every day to remind myself." He growled.

"Oh." She said. "A hard liquor, I presume?"

"No. It's lemonade. No sugar."

"What's your name, warrior?"

"Warrior? I'm no warrior…" He said.

"Grover." He said a moment later, like he had forgotten her question.

"Good sir Grover, my whole tribe is under attack by a horrible fiend. Being unicorns, our defenses are weak. We need a defender, one who will stop this googly-eyed monster that attacks us."

"Keep looking. I ain't him."

She looked at him. She didn't have time for this. Grover, self pity aside, looked like the right candidate.

"Enough of this! I am going to take you to my tribe, and you are going to help us fight! One blue monster to fight another!" She said. Then reached down and swallowed Grover's drink in one gulp. Her face only changing two or three shades.

Grover was surprised. He looked at her for moment.

Then smiled.

When they arrived at her camp, it was in shambles.

"What's going on?" Grover asked, unicorns running around like crazy.

"We're in danger, I can sense it!" Equestra said.

"No kidding, I'm worried about my tootsies!" Grover said, pulling one leg up, grasping his foot.

"Equestra!" A grey unicorn with a long white mane and a white goatee came up to them. "Were you successful?" He glanced at Grover with a slight frown.

"Hoofhearted!" Equestra said.

"It wasn't me!" Grover said.

The grey unicorn scowled at him. "That's my name. Who is this furball?" Hoofhearted asked.

"This is the monster that will save us!" Equestra said.

"Really?" Hoofhearted wasn't convinced. "The blue demon's forces have us surrounded! Apparently colt-napping us one at a time wasn't enough, he's trying to capture us all."

The confusion around them intensified to chaos. Unicorns were dashing around, yelling commands to each other, some of them had blood dripping down their horns. Colts and foals running in circles around each other.

A horn sounded in the distance. Everyone stopped.

"Give up horsies!" A voice sounded out. "Me no want to hurt you! But me will!"

The silence weighed on them.

"CHARGE!!!!" The voice screamed.

Then everything erupted around around Grover. Spears with nets attached rained down, along with arrows, rocks and various detritus.

"Grover!" Equestra neighed. "Now is the time of our greatest need! Please help us!"

Grover sighed. He promised himself he would never use it again. He loses control when he wears it. Too much power.

Then a net dropped around Equestra and dragged her of into the fog of war.

"No! Equestra!" Grover yelled.

He reached behind his back and pulled out his former source of power. The Überhelme.

"This ends now!" Grover said, slamming the helmet on his head.

The air shimmered. Everyone around him stopped, jaws dropped in surprise.

Where Grover once stood, the grass was burned. In the smoke that rose hovered a bright, clean, blue monster in a red cape.

"I am Super Grover!" He yelled.

Super Grover made quick work of the invaders. He flew in circles, confusing them. Yelling bizarre things like "Have no fear, Super Grover is here!" and "I'll save the day!" Most of them ran off when they saw him coming.

With his forces gone, the attacking blue monster gave up and fled.

Super Grover found and untied Equestra.

"Oh, Grover! You were wonderful!" She said.

"I am not Grover. I am Super Grover!" He said.

"Oh, uh. Of course."

"Since Grover used my power for good, I shall return his body to him." With a flourish he removed his helmet and Grover dropped to the ground, the helmet rolling away.

"Oh my aching head." Grover said.

"You did it!" Equestra gushed.

"No, he did it." Grover said. He looked off to the horizon, smoke wafting from the trees. "I'm surprised he gave me back my body. Last time he used it for months before I was able to get it back."

"He said it was because you used his power for good." Equestra said.

Grover looked at her. A glint in his eye.

"Oh. Is that the secret? Hmm… Super hero for hire does have a nice ring to it."

In the dark corner of The Drunken Sailor a blue furry monster broods. The shadows can't veil the anger in his googly-eyes. He slowly dunks his desert into a cup of milk.

"Me will have me revenge. Soon!"

The first 4k jam starts now!

Here are your four images. Now craft a short story that incorporates all of them! Your story should be around 1000 words or so.

You have one hour from... NOW! (By now, of course, I mean whenever you first read this post)

What is the 4K Jam?

The short version:

Take 4 pictures, give them to (at least) 4 writers with an hour time limit to reach a 1000 words each and see what happens!

The short-short version:

It's a fun writing challenge.

Can anyone play along?

Yes! We'll post the rules a little later -- after we're finished writing 'em up!

In the meantime, when we post our source images just give yourself an hour to write a short story that is inspired by, and incorporates, those images. Feel free to post 'em using the tag #4kjam (I'd include a link back to the source image post, or post your story in a reblog -- whatever).