The Actual Beginning

I always wanted to write a book – don't ask me why.

My first attempt was at the age of 10, when my family was living in Bangkok for the second time round. I was obsessed with 'Diablo II' at the time, so naturally I wanted to write a book about it. Since I didn't have my own laptop, I would use my mom's.

I remember the opening unashamedly mirroring Alan Garner's 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen', with a farmer riding his horse, except it was a necromancer because that was the class I was playing. I recall being proud of using the word 'illustrious' to describe my protagonist Mephisto, who was named after my older brother's 'Tibia' character.

Anyway, back to the story... a wizard suddenly appears in the middle of the road; in my case, it was a witch, who proceeds to warn Mephisto that his village is being attacked by demons. He rushes back and saves the day, of course. He then finds a pentagram in one of the houses, realizing that one of the villagers must have summoned the demons. But who?

The plot thickens.…

The next chapter starts with Mephisto beseeching Akara's help (yep, I didn't even change her name). He finds her praying in the church, and waits patiently outside for her to finish. When she does, he is about to ask her who she thinks the culprit is, when a Gargantuan Beast attacks the village (they were my favorite mob). This time, a barbarian slays it, who promptly becomes Mephisto's steadfast companion.

And… that's as far as I got.

I actually gave the manuscript to my 4th grade teacher, who was more impressed by the attempt than my writing ability. He promised to read it to the class one day. He never did though. I suspect the extreme gore had something to do with it….