Hey, kids! Yeah, you with the furry vests. Of course, I mean you! Where do you think you're going?

Oh, I know what you're thinking. You want to go into that spooky cemetery and read those Gloomy Gravestones, eh? Don't you know it ain't safe to go in there?

What? You don't know? Well, don't just stand there like a Lurking Mummy! Sit down and I'll tell you why it ain't a good idea to go galumphing there on your own.

See, once a upon a time, there were two boys named Sem and Lio. Lio's daddy was the greatest Sylesti trapper Esior's ever known while Sem's was a farmer. Every day, when Lio's daddy went out on a hunting trip, Lio would stay with Sem and his dad, and he'd drag Sem all over Esior's Field to hunt and trap Sylestis.

'Course, they weren't so good at it; but Lio wanted so much to be like his dad so they kept trying.

But one day, Lio's daddy didn't come home.

Word came to town that Lio's daddy had met a lady who wanted him to trap the Headless Horseman's qitari. Can you imagine that? Trapping an undead monster's steed! Lio's daddy said no, of course. But this lady, she was no Friendly Witch. They say she cursed him with a Poisoned Apple and... Well, they never saw him again. Some folks have been saying that they saw him with the lady in another town, acting like a lost little ryori. He was bespelled, they said.

Lio could hardly believe it; his daddy gone just because some lady wanted the Horsemans qitari? That wasnt sweet luffox nice! And that was when he swore to catch the Horsemans qitari because maybe if he did, that lady will bring back his daddy.

Sem told him it was a batty idea, a'course. The Headless Horseman'll burn down anyone in his way. But nothing was stopping Lio.

So the next day, the two of them went out as usual and started trapping. They still weren't any good at it and only managed to catch a silly qitari that liked to stick its tongue out at them.

"Maybe he's hungry," Sem suggested. They'd just eaten the last of their bread.

But instead of smiling and agreeing, Lio just stared straight ahead. See, it was getting dark real fast and the two of them should have been going home right then. Lio, though, wouldn't hear of it.

"We spent an entire afternoon trapping sylestis," he ranted, "and all we got to show is that Quirky Qitari!"

The qitari stuck its tongue out at him.

But it really was getting to be too late for them and a Chilling Wind had come up to send shivers down their spines.

"We can try again tomorrow," Sem told Lio, who was busy pretending not to hear him.

Then Sem tripped over something and banged his knee real bad. When he looked down, he saw that it was a thick root that tripped him, and that he'd landed on a large piece of crumbly old rock.

"Wait, that's not a rock," Sem brushed away the tangled vines that covered it - and found half a gravestone with its engraving all faded.

"What's a gravestone doing..." Sem started to ask himself but when he glanced up at Lio, he realized something very, very creepy: the two of them were standing in a field of gravestones.

"They just showed up from nowhere." Lio said and Sem knew they were in trouble. See, rumors went, when a cemetery shows up outta the blue, that's when the Headless Horseman appears.

And then, they both heard loud moaning that came...from everywhere.

Sem grabbed onto Lio, his leg throbbing and screaming in pain pain pain! "Let's go home, Lio. We can practice trapping again tomorrow."

Lio helped him stand and whether he agreed to go back or not, his words got lost when a Terrifying Howl cut through the Ghostly Wails.

"W-what was t-that?" Sem was now clinging to their tamed qitari whose ears flicked here and there, searching for danger.

There was a bobbing ball of light far in the distance, and a faint sound of rolling thunder.

"But there aren't supposed to be any thunderstorms today," Sem muttered while watching the ball of light come closer and closer.

Suddenly, Lio shoved Sem up the qitari's back. "Stay on the qitari."

"What? What are you doing?"

"Just get on the qitari! Don't you know that's not the sound of thunder? That's the sound of hooves."

It was then, that Sem knew what Lio was planning. "Lio, no! Let's just go home! We can forget about today and come back tomorrow!"

"They said the lady wanted the Horseman's qitari," Lio barely waited for Sem to settle on the qitari's back. Then with a loud smack, he slapped the qitari's behind.

The qitari squealed and dove into a frantic gallop. And the last sight Sem ever had of his best friend was his back as he turned to face the growing ball of light.

And so it became, that when the Horseman was about, you could sometimes see a Masked Figure nearby. And though the figure never spoke, you can sometimes hear the Haunting Echoes of a lost boy's voice, "Bring back my dad!"

And that, kids, is why you shouldn't go into that cemetery.

What do you mean it's a fake mythical nephini? I'll have you know-

"There you are, Grandpa! Are you spooking those kids with that old story? You really should get new material from Pa - he knows the best ones out there.

Now come on or we'll be late for supper! Here, I've been brought your crazy qitari to carry you and you know I hate how he keeps sticking his tongue out at me.

Oh, don't give me that look. Your leg ain't what it used to be, Grandpa, doc says so. So get on the qit and let's go."

As we always do, Josie and I took the shortcut through the graveyard to get home quicker. We wanted to get ready early for the halloween party we were going to, so we were running home from the library. It was just about to be dark and the clouds looked like they might drop rain.

I don't know what it is about the big hunk of black stone, but my eyes are always drawn to the gloomy gravestone of a Mrs. Delilah Simon. It's just off the path we take, and I look at it everytime, In the midst of tracing the familiar curves with my eye, a chilling wind suddenly picked up. Josie shivered and was just about to say something when a terrifying howl pierced the air. We both screamed and tried to run but it was like we were stuck in place. We both clapped our hands over our ears as the howl echoed louder and louder and then suddenly was accompanied by ghostly wails. The haunting echoes filled our ears and just when I thought my eardrums would pop from the sound, it went completely silent.

Josie and I looked at each other and I reached out my hand and grabbed hers. I squeezed her hand reassuringly, and she squeezed mine in return. Or so I thought. It started out that way and then it became a death grip. I looked back at her face and she had gone white and was staring over my shoulder. I slowly turned, only to see a masked figure emerging from the shadow of a tree. It strode over to us menacingly, with blood red eyes. When it reached us, it looked around and then screeched as if in frustration. Yelling over its shoulder, it said "Get out here NOW!" I peeked around the figure, and behind the tree was something else. It was a lurking mummy! The mummy shuffled over to its master, handed something over and scurried back behind the tree. The masked figure sighed loudly in exasperation, tucked the item into a pocket and then took off the mask. It was a man, sort of. He was dead, but alive at the same time. Not a zombie, but something like that. His lips curved into a smirk as he turned back to me and Josie.

"For many years I have watched and waited for this opportunity. Stuck between planes, unable to do anything but watch. And this, the year of the supermoon, I am finally able to cross into this world again. Now I shall wreak havoc with a vengeance!" The terrifying wails from before rang out as he said his words, with arms outstretched as if in triumph. "Starting with the two of you" He produced the item from within his pocket, and gestured at it with his other hand. My eyes shifted down towards it, and it was a mesmerizing sight. It was a shiny red apple, a sight that had my mouth watering instantly as if I hadn't eaten in days. Josie had looked at it too, and had started to slowly walk toward the mans outstretched hand. She was so close, had just started to reach for it when all of a sudden a bright blur of color ran in between Josie and the man knocking the apple from his hand to the ground. The moment it hit the ground, it disintegrated into a rotting maggoty mess. From behind me, a voice calmly said, "You are very lucky that my quirky qitari was fast enough to stop you from even touching that apple. That was a poisoned apple and if you had touched it, it would have been impossible to stop you from taking a bite. You would have become his minion." I whipped around, and before me stood a friendly witch.

The man roared in anger, and strode toward the witch. When he reached her, he grabbed her arm and growled, "you will not ruin this for me again, witch!" Light suddenly sprouted from her skin and he recoiled as if burned. The light traveled up his arm and rays of light pierced his body everywhere. He disappeared with a flash. She smiled and said, "There. Till the next supermoon, he won't be bothering anyone. Lucky for us, super moons are very far and few between. Now I'll be on my way, places to be and all that." And then she was gone, as was her pet. Josie and I shared a look and grabbed our school stuff from off the ground. We ran the rest of the way home and while we did talk about what happened after getting there, Josie and I couldn't say exactly what it was we experienced that day. It was just something we never talked about again.

[[last minute participation, woohoo!]]


A terrifying howl echoed throughout the trees, turning into a chorus of ghostly wails trailing off as the sound faded into the darkness. The young quirky qitari shivered, imagining danger around every corner. She knew it had probably just been a lupora looking for its pack, but still...

Why had she let her owner talk her into going out for firewood this late? Even in the relative safety of their handmade camping shelter, surely the chilling wind would overwhelm any spark they might be able to produce. As the haunting echoes of the howl lingered in her mind, she vowed that she would never let her owner talk her into anything again.

She moved a little faster, gathering the loose sticks she could find. Mist swirled around her hooves, and she couldn't help but think that a rotting stump looked a little bit like her own gloomy gravestone...

Turning a corner, she held her breath - in her mind's eye she could see a lurking mummy or a masked figure waiting on the other side of the trees, biding their time until the best moment to strike....oh, why couldn't she just stick to imagining nice monsters? Closing her eyes, she pictured a nice, friendly witch, holding out a treat for her. But she couldn't do it. The treat turned into a spoiled, poisoned apple in her daydream, and once again the qitari shivered, eyes wide open and searching frantically for more firewood.

Just a few more sticks, she repeated over and over. Just a few more....

(we managed to cut it down to 1000 words, then realised that we were counting the list words we had as reference at the top... so we could write more)

The first hint that something strange was happening was the masked figure. It was not, of course, that a masked individual passing through was all that unusual, so much as the chilling wind that seemed only to appear where they walked. One started to notice when wind raged out of nowhere and remained contained in a small area, whistling and howling.
This was followed not more than a day later by what had been assumed at first to merely be a quirky qitari. Again, nothing particularly notable about a qitari in the town; what gave away that this, too, was unusual, was that it suddenly burst into flames in the middle of the market and went cantering off in the same direction that the figure had last been seen heading in.
The days following showed a similar progression, something out of the norm appearing, passing through the town and heading that same direction, to some unknown destination.

At the outskirts of the town, a ryori rapped the back of her fore-claws against the shoulder of the sylvorpa whose back she was lying on. Gills flared, telling her without having to see the expression that he knew exactly what she was thinking. She shifted, and got an irritated grumble in response, the pair knowing each other well enough that their conversation needed no words.
The sylvorpa's wings rippled and heaved as he sighed and started walking, well aware that attempted argument was a lost cause. If he didn't go, she would investigate anyway, alone, driven by an unholy inquisitiveness that couldn't let lie.

The sylvorpa walked; the day rolled past. The fields that surrounded the town faded into forest-edge, and ahead of them the dark tree branches coiled into a wild, knotted snarl. As they passed into the forest proper the fading afternoon light cut off abruptly, the looming canopy creating a wholly enveloping shadow. A snarl of uncertainty rose from the sylvorpa's throat; adventures through grim forests were nothing strange to the pair, having done so many times with their keeper, but there was something unsettling about this particular looming darkness.
In the dark distance, a noise started to rise, like a thousand small, screaming voices rising from an echoing canyon, washing over them like cold fingers were being run down their backs. The pair tensed, the unexpected feeling lingering, shuddering ominously along their spines. The ryori's eyes narrowed, ears flickering wildly, before another unspoken decision was acknowledged, and with a heaving sigh the sylvorpa crept haltingly in the direction the sound had arisen from.

It seemed like hours later when his weary, wary steps led them to a place where the trees broke to form a clearing. It was dark. He was sure that there should have been stars, maybe the sun, even. But instead, where they should have been, was darkness; as if the light had been devoured by some great beast. The area was lit only by faint, flickering glints some small candles at the foot of what seemed to be an absolutely enormous and unbelievably gloomy gravestone.
He tensed as, in a flash, he was down one ryori; heedless of the strangeness, of the seeping crawling cold lying like a miasma upon the ground, she darted forward to inspect the weathered stone. Eyes bright with interest, she squinted at the stone gleefully; he could merely slink after her, twitching and snarling, wide eyes darting warily where she wouldn't think to glance and trying to ignore the gnawing of the cold on his energy and the dark on his mind.

A flash of movement.

He stumbled, his mind short-circuiting as his companion was thrown sideways by something. Something he couldn't make out, hidden in shadows that obscured even his own nocturnal eyesight.

As he rose, shaking off clinging dirt, the scene illuminated as fireballs burst into existence around his companion. Her eyes burned eerily in startled fury, and her head whipped down, sending the flames soaring at the shadows. The fireballs splashed into the ground, revealing, in a sparking flash, the lurking mummy hidden there. There was a terrifying howl, the attacker drawing back before it lurched forwards to attack again as the flames faded. The sylvorpa snarled, hastily judging where its movement might carry it, when a shrieking roar sounded.
A rushing, thundering burst of wind, something huge dropping from the sky, more fireballs illuminating the glinting teeth of the beast that had just landed- talons first- upon the mummy; revealed, the ny'vene hissed, eerie green light blazing to life on markings all over its body. The hiss tapered, then rose into another shriek. Above, from the pitch dark sky, came the haunting echos of another ny'venes call- maybe calculating its own attack.

Toxic green patterns undulated, and in a split second the sylvorpa managed- just- to dodge the snapping jaw. He steadied himself, gathering his own magic to strike, when a bolt of light magic thudded into the ground, throwing the area into sudden brightness.
"Honestly, must you? They will think us monsters and beasts, you fool," a cloaked zolnixi, orbs of light flaring into existence, stalked through the trees, haughty. "You two can calm down, you know, I might be a witch but I'd like to think myself a friendly witch, no poisoned apple here." The sylvorpa squinted suspiciously as the ny'vene grumbled ominously. The zolnixi rolled her eyes. "A gathering of supernaturals, to hunt the undead that some idiot raised, and I get stuck babysitting these two instead." She paused, eyeing them speculatively, then grinned, all teeth, how about you take them with you, keep them out of trouble for me? The sylvorpa didn't like where this was going.


It was later, wind tearing past, great draconic wings thudding on either side of them and ghostly wails falling behind them, the sylvorpa came to a conclusion as he clung on to the glacial spines lining the back.
"I am never doing favours for anyone ever again."
Nestled beside him, the ryori just laughed.

(... why did it eat all my " and ' symbols... I think we managed to put them all back)

Tabitha the friendly witch studied her surroundings trying to figure out where she was. The chilling wind had put out the light from her lantern as soon as she had entered the forest, and now she could barely see anything. As if that wasn't enough, her aunt's quirky qitari had run away spooked by the sudden darkness and now she was all alone and completely lost.

Tabitha knew that travelling through the forest at night was a bad idea, but she had no other options. Earlier that night she had seen her aunt sending a masked figure off into the forest with a poisoned apple, and Tabitha knew just how dangerous those things were. She couldn't let her aunt poison anyone!

At that moment a terrifying howl broke the silence of the night and Tabitha took off running towards it. Somebody needed her help! Unfortunately the sound reverberated all over the forest creating haunting echoes of ghostly wails that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Tabitha kept on running blindly until she tripped and hit her head on something hard and cold. Looking up dazedly she saw the blurry image of a gloomy gravestone. She tried to sit up or turn, but she couldn't seem to move her limbs properly.

A dragging noise to her left made her turn her head and discover the lurking mummy that was slowly approaching. Tabitha panicked and tried to escape but her clumsy movements only managed to trap her between the gravestone and the creature.

When the mummy reached her it knelt beside her and gently pet her head. For a second Tabitha believed that she might be safe, but then the creature grabbed her hair tightly and put a familiar bright green apple to Tabitha's mouth.

"Bite," was the last word the friendly witch ever heard.

Elizabeth was a young noble of Ethernia. Her life was one filled with luxury. However, she was to be married to someone other than who she truly loved. Her true love was a commoner named Philip who would never be accepted by her family. And so they decided to leave Ethernia.

They were riding during the night through an old forest. The sounds of ghostly wails seemed to stir amongst the wind.

"Is this really the right way?", questioned Elizabeth. The chilling wind bit at her skin.

"It's okay", said Philip. This is a haunted forest, but they it's ruled by a friendly witch. Still, most people won't go near the place so we shouldn't be followed People are too superstitious. Just don't go eating a poisoned apple."

They shared a nervous laughter together when suddenly they heard a terrifying howl. A masked figure appeared before them.

"Are you the witch who rules this forest?", asked Elizabeth who tried very hard not to look frightened.

"No," replied the masked figure. "But you must be careful. There's a lurking mummy in the woods tonight."

"A mummy?!" Philip couldn't hide his surprise at all despite the talk of witches just earlier.

"Indeed," said the masked figure. The gloomy gravestone that was his had the marking of a spell on it that must be the work of a necromancer. I'd leave these woods right away."

"We can't turn back now", said Elizabeth. "If we go back, we'll be caught."

The qitari Elizabeth rode upon began to paw nervously at the ground. Always having been a rather quirky qitari, she tried to pay it no mind. But the sound of the hoof rasping against the leaf strewn path couldn't not help allow a fear building up inside of her.

They decided they had to make it through the forest no matter what. And so they took off at once with the hope that the mummy lurking in the darkness wouldn't find them. The masked figure watched as they departed. No more words to be spoken but haunting echoes of strange sounds from the distance seemed to follow them. No matter what though they were sure they'd make their way through this dark and mysterious forest together.

The GHOSTLY WAILS of the CHILLING WIND sent shivers down my spine, both inside and out. I gazed blankly ahead as the HAUNTING ECHOES of his voice reverberated through my head, staring not at the GLOOMY GRAVESTONE before me but the memories playing out in my mind.
So many memories.
They played over and over while his voice played over the images; words he had said, conversations we had had... I just wanted to curl up on his grave and lie there forever. I leaned forward and rested my forehead on the stone and gently slid a hand down its surface.
A TERRIFYING HOWL suddenly bore out across the graveyard and I jumped from the shock! My eyes darted around to try to find the source. Gravestones. Trees. Moon. Shadows... Then one of the shadows moved. I felt my eyes grow wide and my body tighten. I watched anxiously. It moved again. My blood ran cold. The shadow lurched towards me and I jerked back. Should I run? Before I could decide, the shadow came closer again and I watched to see what it would do. As it continued walking towards me, it became clearer and I could see that it was a MASKED FIGURE, adorned with feathers and oddly shaped beads. She approached and stopped still. I watched her unblinkingly. She didn't exactly look like a FRIENDLY WITCH and I didn't want to take my eyes off of her. Her mask was made from some kind of creature's skull and from here I could now tell that the oddly shaped beads were bones.
What did this person want?
She took a step closer and then began to slowly circle me.
"You will be tested," she finally spoke. Her voice was deep and sounded into my soul. I had no choice but to listen.
"It will be a test of your will," she continued, "and your worth."
I turned my head quickly to continue visual contact as she moved behind me to continue her circle.
"If you fail... you will die."
Now I was sure that I probably should have run...
After making a full circle, she turned to face me and stepped closer. Her arm slid out from behind her long dark cloak and she extended her hand, supporting a red round fruit. An apple.
"You will need this."
"I'm not taking that POISONED APPLE!" I thought wildly.
At that moment, I broke. I turned and ran. After getting several meters, I turned to look back to see what was happening. She was still standing there, slowly lowering her hand with the apple in it.
Oof!!
I ran into something... I almost screamed and turned sharply to see what it was. It was my Qitari; the Qitari that had basically grown up with us. I had never been so relieved to see that QUIRKY QITARI in my life! I swung my leg over its back and rode off, expecting a LURKING MUMMY around every corner. Who was that woman? And was she going to make good on that threat?
I hoped I never found out...

Winners

1st Place: Xavion -

The unusual case of Mister Jones.
A report by Doctor Roy Martin.

1000 Diamonds, 1,000,000 Gold, Free Stable, Philter of Trait Disruption, Mystical Essence, Choice of 3 Visible Fall Festival 2016 Themed Pet (If Choice of a Mystic Brew Pet, Only 2 Visible available)



2nd Place: Zelly

Tale of the Lighthouse Ghost


Elimini -

Story of Helen and Paul

750 Diamonds, 750,000 Gold, Philter of Trait Disruption, Enhanced Essence, Choice of 2 Visible Fall Festival 2016 Pet, (If Choice of a Mystic Brew Pet, Only 1 Visible available)



3rd Place GoldGryphon

The Journals of Kyra Silverwind, Sanctuary of Saerielle Scout


500 Diamonds, 500,000 Gold, Philter of Trait Disruption, Regular Essence, Choice of 2 Visible Fall Festival 2016 Pet, (Mystic Brew Pets not available)