Creative Writing

My friend and fellow writer K.B. posted a challenge on her LiveJournal today to finish the following sentence:

It was a dark and stormy night...

Naturally, I couldn't refuse to participate in such a fun exercise. You won't be surprised to hear that I finished the sentence with several paragraphs instead of just a few words. =)

Here is what I wrote:

It was a dark and stormy night - the wind an incessant howl of endless misery - the rain a lash of cruel destruction. Skeletal trees, blackened by the streaming skies, covered the hillside where I stood watching. Waiting.

Before me, Castle Lochnimoor rose in a sudden jagged bulk, hugging the cliff and raising fearless spires toward the furious heavens. The sparkling white marble walls flashed with blue as lightning ripped through the clouds.

I faced the south and the thick stone wall surrounding the castle. Legend said the stones were taken from the First Wizard in a game of chance, transferring the ancient protective magic running through them to their new owner, forcing the stones to keep safe the abberration that thrived inside Lochnimoor. Legend said the First Wizard, upon realizing the gravity of his mistake, challenged the owner of Lochnimoor to another game of chance, winner take all.

It had cost the First Wizard his life.

Legend also said the penalty for crossing the stone wall uninvited was death.

I approached the wall and placed both hands on it, feeling the gritty stone, the rain water, and beneath it, the throbbing power of caged magic.

The magic rushed to meet me and I pressed my lips against the stone, whispering ancient words taught to me by my father.

I felt the brush of death as the magic encircled my hands and pulled me into the wall. For a moment, darkness, thick and oppressive, pressed against me. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't speak. Couldn't stand the pressure that built until I thought my bones would shatter from the force of it.

And then, I was melting through the stone wall, very much alive. I pulled my wand from my cloak and faced Lochnimoor. The storm slashed at me, howling and pushing - screaming for violence.

Legend said Lochnimoor was impenetrable. Impervious. Indestructible.

Legend hadn't counted on me.