The Shadow Apprentice---publish sneak-peek

Well you know i haven't been writing any "real" stories on kidpub lately because i was so involved in my to-be-published book called The Shadow Apprentice. I think you all desere a sneak ppek, tell me what you think, about the suspense, whatever.

THE SHADOW
APPRENTICE
1: Blades of the Khan Whin

By: James Nebeker

dedication

To Mrs. Dahlstrom for showing how to get published. Also too Brother Thatcher for teahing me the little bit of Kung Fu that I know to make an exciting world of magic and martial arts.

CHAPTER 1
INFILTRATION

There was a creaky old cottage up on a hill that overlooked a large valley. This cottage belonged to an eighteen year old boy named Norheem. Let us take a look. ..

Norheem sat down to eat a meal with his best friend and comrade, Jhark. “Very nice, chicken” said Jhark. “And you better not tell Master Kru, you now how he feels about eating ‘the creatures of earth’ “ mocked Norheem. When the meal was done Jhark grabbed his scruffy cloak and turned to Norheem and said “Me da’s gonna kill me, I better get ‘ome”. Norheems eyes widened “what, you mean you never told your dad”? Norheem had surprise on his face mingled with mocking joy. “Yay, I better get goin Nor” said Jhark. “Don’t worry Jharky boy, the most your dad can do is give you a few lashings” laughed Norheem. “My stomach suddenly doesn’t feel so good” said Jhark as he was out the door. But Norheems jolly smile never left his face. Norheem made his way up to the upstairs, Norheem got out his bit of pine-wood and started cleaning his teeth. “Jolly fun, brushing” Norheem muttered to himself sarcastically. His face was looking into the mirror. His grin faded, his heart skipped a beat as he saw the drape move. He turned around just in time to see a black cloaked figure rushing at him with a long straight blade with jutted spikes protruding on every side. He instantly robotically did what had been drilled in his mind, trained on for so many years, he kicked the sword out of the black figures hands as it went spinning out of reach, landing on the wall, making one more dent then there already was on it. Norheem then kicked his leg high at the attackers face and he dropped to the floor. Norheem grabbed his tuni ruffly and held him inches above the ground, the Norheem got out a knife and put it to the attackers throat and said “Speak now for if I don’t like what you have to say your throat with suddenly turn inside out by the blade of a Xantheer blade”. “I-I, was sent here, to kill someone by the name of Norheem, I supposed it was you, why is kept secret” said the man in a voice too low then you would suppose, seeing his figure. Norheem ruffly grabbed his arm and ripped the leather on the sleeve, and found a circle with a triangle inside it burned into his skin. It was glowing light blue rays of light. “A Khan Whin” whispered Norheem. “Don’t kill me” said the man. “I cannot give you that pleasure” said Norheem as his blade opened his throat. The man gurgled and said “My brothers will destroy you, we’re all brothers” and died. but Norheem silently said “they should be coming” Norheem went out of the room catiously. He heared creaks on the upper floor. more creaks. “They’ve come” he whispered. He hurredly grabbed his hunting bow from a near by shelf. He followed the creaks. He tensed his bow. Creak. he drew a shaft. Creak…, the creaks were getting closer. Norheem shot his bow. One creak stopped creaking. The shaft hung in the wall and bits of blood smeared the wall. Norheem suddenly noticed that all the creaks had stopped. “Curses” he whispered “I should have thought before I shot:”. He said this too loudly. Suddenly he heared a rip, he looked up, his heart beast quickened, a hand was punching through the floor on the upper level. “I know your down here, you cannot escape now little one” said the voice of the man punching through the wall. Then a body landed. Both people stared. And then the man charged. Norheem did a backflip over the man, when he landed he kicked him from behind. This angered the man, his eyes glowed with malice, his teeth were fangs of greed and hate. He charged again, this time with a knife he pulled from his bootstrap. Norheem did an aereal, sticking out his hand in mid air and snatching the man’s knife and throwing it out the window. “Grr..” growled the man like a lion. He drew a scyth from the sheath upon his back. but Norheem was much too skilled to be daunted by this adantage. He punched, snatching the scyth and twirling it around so that the blade had reached the mans throat. The attacker instantly stopped running. Norheem punched him down and kick him up again, holding him by the tunic. “Who are you and what do you want with me” Norheem hissed. “We were sent here too destroy you, our reasoning we shall never tell” said the man in the same hoarse voice as the man he had killed earlier. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but stop stalking me”! yelled Norheem in the loudest voice that could still be called a whisper. “We shall never stop, I may not get you but another will”! hissed the man. “Huh”? asked Norheem more to himself then the man. The man laughed sychotically “You can never escape the Khan Whin” he said. “Foolish, you’re about to die and you do not tell me why you are doing this”! whispered Norheem in the loudest whissper he could conjure. “Ti’s not us, it is the oath we all took at the beginning” said the man in a faded voice, still laughing sychotically. The man pointed to his right shoulder. Norheem looked. He ruffled up his shirt and looked. There, upon the side of his shoulder was another circle with a triangle in it, but this one was glowing blueish green. “Trickery” said Norheem. But he was theown aside and the scythe was grabbed from his hand and now pointed at his throat. “Not trickery boy, OathMagic, created by the darkest of Nin’s ever to exist, The Khan Whin, this is magic that binds our tongues, all who beg for the Creator to release it die, and whenever we are in a condition to brack the oath, it calls upon its magic, and the sign is when that tattoo, that oath, is glowing blue” said the man “But only those who will die shortly afterwards get to hear that secret”. And suddenly he thrust the scythe aat Norheem’s throat. Norheem saw it in slow motion. He was going to die. He saw the perfectly curved silver blade comign at his neck, and suddenly his arms reached up, and without him controlling his arms, they grabbed the scythe’s blade and put it near the wall beside him.Everything came back to normal, and blood was smeared on Norheem’s hand. The man was shocked and he could not move. Norheem took the scythe and plunged it in his chest.