Despite seeing nearly five hundred years on its dusty dais, the meticulously crafted copy of Allgerion’s Catechism—the prophecy within foretelling that the first and only child of the seventh son of Avangarde and the third daughter of Mah’reel would usher forth the salvation of their world—was in a remarkable state of preservation.
Since the day he was shoved from his mother’s womb and into this cruel world, Vicitrix of Avangarde, seventh son of a long line of men determined to sire as many sons as possible just to be disappointed at their inevitable shortcomings, wore the weight of the words before him like the yoke in the square outside the palace.
His wedding day drew near, two days past the death of the moon that illuminated his sleepless nights, and from there it would be his duty to save their world alongside that daughter who had not yet seen ten winters, who had never been beyond her own borders, who cried at the very sight of him.
As if a magi extracted the memory to be relived in within her crystal ball, Vicitrix saw within his mind the greatest of his sins as though it was happening again—her fiery red hair set against her emerald eyes focused on him as her body turned beneath his–but she was some tavern maiden whose name he never learned and whose child, for he had seen her swollen belly, he would never meet.
Yes, Allgerion’s Catechism was in a remarkable state of preservation, until the wine, stained green by poison, flooded the vellum that would later crumble when they discovered the body on what was to be his wedding day.
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A/N:
Normally in my writing exercises I focus on word count, but I found that translating to a more staccato cadence to my prose. Today’s self imposed challenge was to write as much as I could in only five sentences. I almost certainly screwed up some pesky grammar… guidelines somewhere. Enjoy anyway.
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About the Creator
Matthew J. Fromm
Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of arcane knowledge.
Here there be dragons, knights, castles, and quests (plus the occasional dose of absurdity).
I can be reached at [email protected]
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insight
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters


Comments (15)
I didnt even notice it was only five sentences! Well done!
I want more of this!! I know he died and the story ended but the style was just so gripping!! Belated congrats on Top Story Matthew!!
Wow! That flowed with ease. Never even noticed that it was only 5 sentences. Congrats, Mat!!!
oh, that was a cold end - very intense read. Poor child yet unborn.
Matthew, you've crafted a haunting little gem here with "Fate."
Good writing style!
Matthew I loved the ' aside ' approach to this, always a slight digression of thought to give a back story. A great excercise I may wish to attempt one day. Congratulations
Great
Dunno how I missed this! Nevertheless, this is a strong piece of writing and I love your descriptions and tome. Ruth hates long sentences and it's something we argue about lol, so I feel this justifies the practice. I feel like too I've noticed that your already brilliant writing has improved immensely in the last few years. Congrats on Top Story, pal, good to share the weekend accolade with you!
Excellent
I can't believe this is only five sentences! very well done!
Interesting. Feels it deserves more elaboration.
Five very powerful sentences. Great work, Matthew!
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Wow, that definitely got dark. The things that people will do when they think a “prophecy” is on the line…very well written, especially for such a short piece!
Well-wrought! I especially enjoyed the last paragraph as poetic prose!