There are now two stories posted here, one in this post and one at the end. Please feel free to review either one. :)

*

Taking cue from Valedia, I thought I'd post this here and see if anyone wants to make comment on it. ^^ Constructive is prefered!

*

The Legend of the Valentine Belt

There was, once upon a time, a belt of great magics. It sat alone for many a millennium - a relic to forgotten passion - with great sadness echoing from its being. It remembered the old loves it had nurtured those many years ago in the ancient worlds, the fires it had tended with its careful spirit, adding kindling to the flames for the young and the old alike. It had changed hands of many in its time, generation to generation until, stolen by a scoundrel whose heart was empty of all feeling, it had been left here with cold gold and silver and nothing more.

The legend of The Valentine Belt was that of the love it had never once felt. The story was remembered by humans as that of a woman, one of the members of the first civilization to take root, who broke the hearts of men everywhere she went, until she broke the heart of a God. Angered, filled with vengeance, a punishment was cast upon Valentine. She would be transformed into an item full of ability and desire; to want and help people fall in love.

So through the ages The Valentine Belt worked its charm. But the emergence of the Man with the Empty Heart caused it such great pain and sorrow for he was like it had once been, cold and selfish, and the belt could not help him to fall in love. The man, eventually frustrated, placed the belt, hidden, amongst his greatest treasures and never returned to that place. The belt waited and waited for someone to discover it but the years passed by it knew that no one would come and at last the power it held began to fade, and then the belt itself began to decay until it no more than dust. And it lay for another hundred years before the cave it called home began to collapse. The belt believed its time was done, but at that moment a breeze swept through the cave and lifted it off the ground and into the air. It was carried many miles on the wind until it was so high it reflected the light of the sun into a cascade of colour. Below, on the earth, a couple stood hand-in-hand and watched the rainbow lights. And they smiled.

I guess I'm a trend setter like that. xD
First I post my story in parts in the thread, then everyone else starts doing that. ;D
Now I post my story in here, and volia! xDD

Good luck with the contest!

xD Same to you!

Wow, Tagia! That's really cool! I love the whole idea behind the legend - especially how she broke the heart of a god. It's this type of story that I would love to see drawn out because the premise is so intriguing!

I wish I had time to finish my belt story, but there's just no way. I'm still going to write it, though. This has been the thing that has given me the nudge to write a story I've been brainstorming for years!

Good luck to you! But yeah - consider writing the tale as a long story sometime! lol :)

^^ Thank you! When I thought up the idea, I wanted to write it like as if it was a legend being told from one person to another rather than a narrative with dialouge and such - but I'd love to write it out someday as well! ^^

That's kind of where I was going with my own story, which I swear I'm going to continue writing regardless of deadline. A woman telling a story of something that happened when she was young. And then in between her narration, there will be the actual story written out. I kind of pictured it like the Joy Luck Club movie, in which you have the women telling their stories, but then you actually get to see it being acted out as they're narrating. Hee hee...don't know if I'm the only one who writes while picturing their story as a movie!

xD Naw, I do sometimes! ^^

You should try and get a short version done for the contest!

Okay, I wanted to try another entry, and I wanted this one to be different. ^^ What I wanted to do here was express what I believe to be the perfect idea of romance and love as opposed to the more traditional ones. :) I hope that that makes some kind of sense. xD

Like some others I will post it in parts, but I havn't decided if it will be two or three yet. ^^

*

Part One:

The City of Aldean was nestled snugly between the twin peaks of the Alea Valley like a head between two pillows. It was a place like a sanctuary for its people.

Its leader, elected for a lifelong servitude to the town, was a brave but fierce woman who so loved her people dearly that those closest to her found there was such little room left in her heart for them to take residence. Even her husband was left neglected from her, though he loved her dearly. In his saddness he would often walk on the Aldean hills amongst the tiny greens of the new grass that covered the ground like a carefully laid blanket, to relieve his saddness at the nessecity of his wife's duties.

It was a particular spring day, on one of these walks, that he first saw the person who would forever change his life. He caught a glimpse of her golden hair through the tangled heathers. It danced on the breeze like a song danced through the mind and it seemed to be laughing, so sweetly, as it chased her across the day. He felt his jaw come loose as he watched her, shepherd's crook in her hand, rounding her sheep to their pen with gentle persuasion; a leader to her flock, her bonnet was her peasant's crown. Eyes heavy-lidded as if sunlight peeked directly through them, and as blue as a deep, sparkling sea. A vision of natural beauty, and so calm and temperate, her admirer could not help but be enchanted. It was like love at first sight.

He watched her in silence for some time until, out of her cloud-eyes, she saw him and froze in place like a stray lamb who discovers the wolf has stalked him all the way. Then she smiled and it was like the warmth of a fire after a cold day in the rain.

She waved her hand, just lightly, and with that he walked down the gentle slope towards her.

"Hello," she said and her voice was a song you could never quite hear, as delicate as the creatures she cared for. "I know you, Sire."
"My name is Coveri," he replied. "Please call me that."
"I would be honoured. My name is Alethia."
"Your name...is so beautiful," Coveri felt the breath catch in his throat. She turned her head away to lookat her flock and after a moment he could see the slight flush to her cheek.

"I must tend my sheep," she said at last and walked away.
"Wait!" said Coveri. "I...I would like to help."
"Then come," Alethia answered. "And I will show you my world."

End of Part One.

Part Two:

It was for many days that Coveri returned to his Shepherd Princess in her field. Her attention to him was astounding after so many years with his wife and he lapped it up like the ocean laps the sand. A week passed and his infatuation remained. At this point a gift was required, something beautiful and ornate, so much more than she would ever all ready own - a valentine's pendant, a gift that could not be misinterpreted. He carried it in his pocket all day long while he walked until he could walk no more - and his Princess was not to be found. Her sheep roamed freely about without their mistress to guide them.

Coveri began his return journey to the town when a noise from a bush disturbed him; through the gnarled branches he saw his Princess, trembling, on the ground. Her eyes where white and wide as a pool of cream.

"Alethia!" Coveri cried. "What is wrong? What are you doing there?" He reached out his hand and helped her to her feet.
"Oh!" she moaned. "Oh, Coveri, I saw a great beast! Its eyes where on fire a-and it looked straight at me! So I ran until I escaped it here!" She clung with tear-drenched fingers to his shirt.
"A beast?" Coveri considered her words. "So close to the town! But, Alethia, your sheep.."
"I had to get away," she said meekly, upturning her blues to his face. He held her shoulders.
"Come, I will take you to safety, then I must warn the citizens not to stray!"

End of Part Two.

Last part!

Part Three:

The valentine pendant seemed to burn a hole in Coveri's pocket as the day progressed. Alethia sat by the tavern fire, one of the safe holds where the people had gathered, smiling her most hideous smile into the flames and running long fingers through straw hair. She was safe now, but her flock where still in danger - the beast had not been captured. But her melancholy daydreaming showed no concern.

Coveri pulled up the window's veil and looked out into the fallen twilight. Of the hunting party there was no sign, not even a footprint left, and he found his anxiety would not settle as his mind played through the scenarios. But it was the first major event in the time since his wife had been placed as leader and so was not to be surprised - even in fantasy he would not have imagined she would overrule the council and lead the party herself.

It was late into the night, and the fading fire throwing evil shadows across the walls, when a cheer rang through the streets that stirred the sleepy tavern. Outside, the party returned, with the head of the snarled beast as a trophy. Their raging laughter was a victory song and the beast's blood war paint across their bodies.

Coveri spied his wife though it was not hard to miss her - she carried the trophy in her hand. She grinned as she had not for many years but it tempered as she looked around at the people who followed her. She dropped the head to the ground and wiped blood from her face. Coveri came up behind her.

"You caught it?" he asked simply.
"Caught it," she replied. "And killed. Now everyone here will be safe."

Coveri reached into his pocket and took out the pendant.

"This is yours," he said. "For you." She took it and opened the tiny box, then pressed a shy kiss to his cheek.
"Not a day will pass," she told him. "When I shall not wear this."

The End.