Sovereign Night
Chapter One: Words For Binding
Chapter Two: In Shadow
Chapter Three: A Bloody End
Chapter Four: The Warmth of the Sun
Chapter Five: Alleyway Discovery (INCOMPLETE)
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Chapter Five
Unfinished, but here you be. This chapter is narrated by Gwen, and follows chapter 2. Chapter five originally took place in the forest, but I felt like further showing Gwen escape was a bit pointless, so I jumped ahead a bit.
Chapter Five: Alleyway Discovery
-Gwen
“Come closer little fly.” I crooned as I leaned against a slanted brick wall thick with moss, a scorching June sun burning down from the sky above. The young man, a scrawny teen with scraggly facial hair, crept down the alley in what he doubtless considered stealth. The low skyline of Vespera, capital of Tarn, rose high above our heads, all red sandstone and shale.
My father’s man, come to bring me back home. I watched from around the corner with grim excitement as he took another step closer to my trap, like a bug unwittingly snaring itself in a web. I couldn’t keep the smirk off my face. My third little fly. A thin green moss ran up most of the buildings in this quarter of town, but in the alleyway my friend occupied the moss gave way abruptly for a few buildings to make way for a lattice of thick vines, vines that should have arisen suspicion, but clearly weren’t.
I resisted the urge to clap my hands. Just a bit further my dear, I thought, brushing a lock of dark hair from my face, waiting. Just two steps. Then one. I finally let myself laugh aloud as he stepped into the range of my vines. In an instant they sprang to life, stretching across both sides of the alley, in a thick mat, lifting him bodily into the air and leaving him hanging.
At last, all the lessons and lectures were paying off. If nothing else, I could sing to the walls and make these little webs to keep myself safe whenever someone started poking their nose into my business.
For three days, I’d wandered the streets of Tarn, looking for just the right people.
I wanted two, two men to accompany me into the mountains, and yet, it could not be just anyone. I didn’t know why. I’d engaged in over a dozen discreet interviews, trying to find just the right souls to bring along on my quest, but none of them had satisfied me. Every seedy tavern I’d explored held only the same manner of useless fools that hunted me. I wanted someone clever and passionate, someone unmotivated by money and greed, for I could pay not a cent.
I had known my father would send people to fetch me. As leader of the Mages and the only wizard alive, he had a myriad of poor louts at his disposal to bring me back. He always had, seven times I’d run away, and every time I’d been hauled back before too long. But this time would be different, I knew a few secrets I’d not known then, the means to escape.
And I was different.
If they only knew what I knew, what I had planned. I would change the world. Soon even my father would fear me. The mere thought made me tremble. I looked about me, at the walls surrounding me, the windows like glass eyes that glinted with sunlight. I was lost again. I simply adored wandering through the city, getting lost. The world here was a delight of rooftop gardens and strange shops, and incredible people. A labyrinth filled with beggars and thieves and merchants and street performers. By night lamps lit the sky, like stars lost themselves, waiting to be hurled back into the sky with the break of dawn.
I loved the city, a place I’d never been even as a child, trapped eternally in that stuffy old castle. I felt free now, and at home, even alone. I curled bare toes against the stone road, and then set off, feeling wild. I belonged here, and wished I could stay forever, but my new mission called, like a song carried aloft by the breeze.
It took me a fair bit of wandering and guesswork, but eventually I made it back to the district where I’d chosen to settle in, just as dusk began to seep through the sky, leeching out the blue. For the last few days I’d been living in a massive apartment complex, with perhaps hundreds of men and women. The building was riddled with tiny rooms. Some may have scoffed, but I loved my tiny, cozy room, with its lumpy old mattress and battered stove.
However, as I cheerily strode for the home, I caught something in the corner of my eye, down a nearby alley, one I’d yet to explore, and no wonder, it was filled with trash, piles and piles of refuse that spilled out into the lane proper. A boy lay in a bare patch between two mountains of garbage, looking somewhat battered. Curious, I took a step closer, and realized it was not a boy, but a man, perhaps a bit older than my own sixteen years.
I took another step closer, then several more. His chest was bare, I noted quickly, a latticework of scars striped his body, all moving as he breathed evenly in sleep. And his pants looked ratty, perhaps he was just a beggar, passed out from some whiskey too strong for a young lad.
And yet, he looked a bit stocky, well fed. I was watching him now from across the bustle that filled the road, clattering carts and stomping horses and yelling filled the air. No one seemed to take even the slightest notice of him, all too busy at their own work to care for another drunkard. His boots, they were what bothered me. Their black leather was too shiny and supple, their make too expensive. I was surprised they hadn’t been stolen yet.
Waiting for the right moment, I strode across the pavement, letting my curiosity pull me. As I always did.
As I neared, I noticed at once the man was a knight. The tattoo on his shoulder confirmed as much, marred though it was with some sort of wound. Not sure why I was doing what I was doing, I stalked into the alley without a hint of indecision, leaned forward, and attempted to rouse the young man with a vigorous shake of his good shoulder.
This, as it turned out, was a terribly bad idea.
In seconds I found myself pressed roughly against the wall of the building behind us, the man's forearm pressed to my throat. With one hand he restrained me, putting his weight into holding me back, and with the other he drew a sword. He pointed the blade at my throat, seeming to pull it out of the air itself.
"Tell me your name," he ordered with a hoarse rasp. "And what time is it?" The man's eyes darted to the right, then the left. They looked wild and bloodshot. Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe he was just a common drunk.
No.
I knew that wasn't true. Despite their slate gray color, his eyes had a certain quality to them I struggled to define. Depth, maybe. Innocence.
He's no killer. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I was certain of it. I let myself relax, no longer feeling endangered. He'd probably never killed a man in battle, much less a helpless female like myself.
Plus, despite the noxhttp://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5919914976161055379&postID=218841507576353979ious odors of garbage and sweat laying siege to my nasal passages, I did not detect even a hint of alcohol. He seemed to be analyzing me even as I studied him. The poor boy did look fairly dazed.
I was the first to speak. "Little too much to drink, eh?" I asked, despite knowing the truth. "You warrior type boys and your whiskey."
"No...I haven't been drinking. I was drugged." His voice was surprisingly steady, given the look in his eyes.
Chapter Five: Alleyway Discovery
-Gwen
“Come closer little fly.” I crooned as I leaned against a slanted brick wall thick with moss, a scorching June sun burning down from the sky above. The young man, a scrawny teen with scraggly facial hair, crept down the alley in what he doubtless considered stealth. The low skyline of Vespera, capital of Tarn, rose high above our heads, all red sandstone and shale.
My father’s man, come to bring me back home. I watched from around the corner with grim excitement as he took another step closer to my trap, like a bug unwittingly snaring itself in a web. I couldn’t keep the smirk off my face. My third little fly. A thin green moss ran up most of the buildings in this quarter of town, but in the alleyway my friend occupied the moss gave way abruptly for a few buildings to make way for a lattice of thick vines, vines that should have arisen suspicion, but clearly weren’t.
I resisted the urge to clap my hands. Just a bit further my dear, I thought, brushing a lock of dark hair from my face, waiting. Just two steps. Then one. I finally let myself laugh aloud as he stepped into the range of my vines. In an instant they sprang to life, stretching across both sides of the alley, in a thick mat, lifting him bodily into the air and leaving him hanging.
At last, all the lessons and lectures were paying off. If nothing else, I could sing to the walls and make these little webs to keep myself safe whenever someone started poking their nose into my business.
For three days, I’d wandered the streets of Tarn, looking for just the right people.
I wanted two, two men to accompany me into the mountains, and yet, it could not be just anyone. I didn’t know why. I’d engaged in over a dozen discreet interviews, trying to find just the right souls to bring along on my quest, but none of them had satisfied me. Every seedy tavern I’d explored held only the same manner of useless fools that hunted me. I wanted someone clever and passionate, someone unmotivated by money and greed, for I could pay not a cent.
I had known my father would send people to fetch me. As leader of the Mages and the only wizard alive, he had a myriad of poor louts at his disposal to bring me back. He always had, seven times I’d run away, and every time I’d been hauled back before too long. But this time would be different, I knew a few secrets I’d not known then, the means to escape.
And I was different.
If they only knew what I knew, what I had planned. I would change the world. Soon even my father would fear me. The mere thought made me tremble. I looked about me, at the walls surrounding me, the windows like glass eyes that glinted with sunlight. I was lost again. I simply adored wandering through the city, getting lost. The world here was a delight of rooftop gardens and strange shops, and incredible people. A labyrinth filled with beggars and thieves and merchants and street performers. By night lamps lit the sky, like stars lost themselves, waiting to be hurled back into the sky with the break of dawn.
I loved the city, a place I’d never been even as a child, trapped eternally in that stuffy old castle. I felt free now, and at home, even alone. I curled bare toes against the stone road, and then set off, feeling wild. I belonged here, and wished I could stay forever, but my new mission called, like a song carried aloft by the breeze.
It took me a fair bit of wandering and guesswork, but eventually I made it back to the district where I’d chosen to settle in, just as dusk began to seep through the sky, leeching out the blue. For the last few days I’d been living in a massive apartment complex, with perhaps hundreds of men and women. The building was riddled with tiny rooms. Some may have scoffed, but I loved my tiny, cozy room, with its lumpy old mattress and battered stove.
However, as I cheerily strode for the home, I caught something in the corner of my eye, down a nearby alley, one I’d yet to explore, and no wonder, it was filled with trash, piles and piles of refuse that spilled out into the lane proper. A boy lay in a bare patch between two mountains of garbage, looking somewhat battered. Curious, I took a step closer, and realized it was not a boy, but a man, perhaps a bit older than my own sixteen years.
I took another step closer, then several more. His chest was bare, I noted quickly, a latticework of scars striped his body, all moving as he breathed evenly in sleep. And his pants looked ratty, perhaps he was just a beggar, passed out from some whiskey too strong for a young lad.
And yet, he looked a bit stocky, well fed. I was watching him now from across the bustle that filled the road, clattering carts and stomping horses and yelling filled the air. No one seemed to take even the slightest notice of him, all too busy at their own work to care for another drunkard. His boots, they were what bothered me. Their black leather was too shiny and supple, their make too expensive. I was surprised they hadn’t been stolen yet.
Waiting for the right moment, I strode across the pavement, letting my curiosity pull me. As I always did.
As I neared, I noticed at once the man was a knight. The tattoo on his shoulder confirmed as much, marred though it was with some sort of wound. Not sure why I was doing what I was doing, I stalked into the alley without a hint of indecision, leaned forward, and attempted to rouse the young man with a vigorous shake of his good shoulder.
This, as it turned out, was a terribly bad idea.
In seconds I found myself pressed roughly against the wall of the building behind us, the man's forearm pressed to my throat. With one hand he restrained me, putting his weight into holding me back, and with the other he drew a sword. He pointed the blade at my throat, seeming to pull it out of the air itself.
"Tell me your name," he ordered with a hoarse rasp. "And what time is it?" The man's eyes darted to the right, then the left. They looked wild and bloodshot. Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe he was just a common drunk.
No.
I knew that wasn't true. Despite their slate gray color, his eyes had a certain quality to them I struggled to define. Depth, maybe. Innocence.
He's no killer. As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I was certain of it. I let myself relax, no longer feeling endangered. He'd probably never killed a man in battle, much less a helpless female like myself.
Plus, despite the noxhttp://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=5919914976161055379&postID=218841507576353979ious odors of garbage and sweat laying siege to my nasal passages, I did not detect even a hint of alcohol. He seemed to be analyzing me even as I studied him. The poor boy did look fairly dazed.
I was the first to speak. "Little too much to drink, eh?" I asked, despite knowing the truth. "You warrior type boys and your whiskey."
"No...I haven't been drinking. I was drugged." His voice was surprisingly steady, given the look in his eyes.
Chapter Four
It turns out I had finished Chapter four. I was happy enough with the way it turned out, so I present it now with only a few minor changes. Any and all comments appreciated.
Chapter Four: The Warmth of the Sun
-Luke
Erased.
Just like that, gone.
A little girl’s life snuffed out like a sandcastle on the shore, washed away as if it were nothing, meaningless. I ran through the night in torment, gasping for breath. The arrow wound in my shoulder seemed to cry like a living thing, sending shivers down my spine that were chased by long rivulets of blood. Poison, I realized quickly, my soldier’s mind neatly tucking the fact away even as everything in me wanted to drop to my knees in heartache and wait for death.
I’d failed.
An oath had been broken tonight even as an oath of vengeance had been born. I’d sworn to protect my brother and sister with my life, and I’d failed them. Injured, increasingly dizzy, and out of breath, I knew I had to think of something fast, or I was going to die. Men would be after me, were already after me. With dogs, and horses. I could outrun neither.
Maps flitted through my mind one by one as I deliberated briefly over what to do. There was a creek that flowed not far from here. If I could throw off the dogs and disguise my trail, it would buy me a little bit of time. I cut south, and increased my speed as much as I could manage.
The stream would save me. It was a slender offshoot of the Tarnle, a mighty river that ran south all the way to the Void. I all but crashed into the water when I finally made it, exhausted and sick. Every bone in my body trembled, every muscle ached. The heavy sedative at work in my system waged war with the shockingly icy water. It was all I could do it crawl through the smooth pebbles to the other side and collapse.
The need to sleep grew even stronger, making my limbs heavy. I staggered to a kneeling position and began to rip off my shirt with heavy, clumsy fingers. I slapped at my newly numbed arrow wound awkwardly, feeling for the tip still embedded in my flesh. As soon as my fingers were able to find purchase, I pulled. It did not come out easily. I bit my lip till it bled to keep from screaming. And finally, after ripping open the skin anew I was able to remove the cursed devil.
And then I collapsed again, and would surely have died, had the arrow not wound up beneath my tangled limbs, where it was able to dig slightly into my chest. I came to again, wrapping the tattered remains of my shirt around my shoulder in the best bandage I could muster. The forest spread before me. I wanted to get up and walk, where I could hide in its shelter, but I could only crawl. I made it no more than a few trees in before the sedative at last had its way with me, and I collapsed into a deep sleep. My last thought before I fell unconscious was that I had gone nowhere near far enough to escape.
---
Every time I slept for the last three years I had been afflicted with painful nightmares of death, my own. I always dreamed when I slept, and that horrible morning in the forest was no exception to that. But like my last nightmare, it was different.
I did not see myself dying, I instead saw myself standing before the Void, a massive wall of nothingness that traverses the curve of the entire planet, separating the world into two halves that do not meet. All was silent, I could see grass waving in a breeze, but I felt nothing. All was reduced to pallid gray monochrome, as if all color had been drained from the world. I felt as I stood there a sense of waiting, as if someone important were about to speak.
And then after a moment, everything changed, another gray image filling my head. A tall man with a face like an owl stood covered in blood, with an oddly shaped left arm that bent in an odd way, held to far from the body. And then another change. This time a strikingly beautiful sorceress lay in a deep bed of flowers, the gray color preventing me from seeing what sort of mage she was. Then another shift, another new picture. This time I was flying on the back of a long, skinny dragon. We seemed to be performing in some sort of circus.
Suddenly the images began to swing by faster and faster, more and more disorienting. I saw a war-torn field wet with blood, scattered bodies everywhere. A breathtaking tower the height of a mountain. A mighty three masted ship being hauled over mountains of ice, the Castle of Tarn in ruins, and finally a pit in the midst of a desert, a massive pit yawning wide to swallow me whole…
I woke up in a cold sweat yet again.
Bound.
An enchantment seemed to lay heavily on the forest, making it seem as if I dreamed still. The air all about me had a shimmering quality to it, and my eyelids felt as heavy as anvils as I forced them open. The sedative seemed to be gone, but my body moved sluggishly, as if trapped in molasses. Scattered sunlight peeked through the trees, indicating I had slept far too long.
Long enough to be captured, long enough to be killed.
I could tell that somehow I was being kept safe, through unnatural means.
Through magic.
I lay alone slumped near the roots of an ancient Beech tree. As I began to rise, the world around me moved in a blur, shapes and colors flying by too fast to be seen. I could hear voices calling out, I heard my name, and even saw people walk right past me, with dogs. Yet I was not spotted. No one hauled me to my feet for a quick and brutal execution. I was left alone.
Impossible.
After a time, the world around me seemed to slow, and the blur faded, leaving me laying in the forest alone and free. I could move again, no longer slow and out of synchronization with the world.
Could it really have been magic? I thought as I stood. I didn’t know how, or what had just happened, but I knew some sort of being had just saved me. I stood, alert. All traces of the sedative were indeed gone. My shoulder was sore but otherwise ok, the bleeding seeming to be under control. I couldn’t believe it, there was no way anybody had that kind of luck.
And who would help a murderer escape anyways? The thought troubled me. Who or what had helped me escape from notice?
I sighed, wondering what I should do next. I had to look at the facts. I was a hunted man, wanted for murder. The Knights of Tarn have long had a traditional means of hunting down known killers. A group of six men called an execution force would be deployed immediately. They would hunt me wherever necessary by any means necessary until they killed me. And obviously, I could not count on some manner of strange magic to save me every time they came near.
I decided I would head to the capital for now, try to learn what I could. Perhaps this killer had a pattern, a record, anything that would be the talk of a big city.
For it was not evading capture that concerned me, that was secondary. My own life was secondary, for I had given myself up for dead.
First and foremost, I had one goal, one desire.
I would find my sister’s killer, and I would destroy him.
---
Setting out from the forest wound up being far easier said than done for two reasons.
The first was that I could not forgive myself. Grief continued to plague me as I wearily wandered through the woods. Tears streamed down my cheeks even as I forced myself to carry on. I had been trained all my life not to show emotion. I had learned as a child how to bury my feelings, or snuff them out completely. It was what I had done all day, but the same thoughts continued to haunt me, over and over again. Lorelei’s face as the life left her filled my vision, again and again my failure came back to me.
The second? I was lost.
My normally flawless internal sense of direction failed me, leaving me unable to find any kind of path or way out. The trees grew close together here, weaving together with the undergrowth to create a disorienting green maze that would not yield an exit to me. Worse, it appeared to be growing darker in a matter of mere minutes, meaning that soon I would be stranded by the sun and left to stumble around helplessly.
Finally as twilight fell, bathing the world in orange and pink, I fell to my knees in despair. As I knelt sobbing in the grass of a small clearing, a rustling in the nearby bushes set my senses on alert. I quickly hopped to my feet and drew my sword, taking a ready fighting stance.
An eerie sense of dread settled on me as I waited for something to emerge. A deep, terrifying sense that I was in the presence of something truly malevolent was overwhelming me. My knees wanted to buckle and my head to swim with fear but I forced it all down and stood resolute, ignoring the frosty chill that filled the air, able to focus again at last.
Lorelei’s killer is here, I realized quickly. This was the murderer I sought to kill. Without knowing how I knew, I knew. Not giving it a second thought, I crashed through the bushes into another clearing. A shadow in the shape of a man stood at the far edge. With a wordless scream, I swung my sword up to thrust and lunged forward, but I flew right through the shadow and somehow impossibly emerged where I’d been before, the first meadow.
Turning I dashed back, and there the shadow was again, waiting. The shadow man beckoned me with one hand, mockingly.
He’s toying with me. Whoever this being was, I wasn’t strong enough to defeat him, that much was certain. I couldn’t understand why he was letting me live, even helping me, but I would destroy him all the same, somehow I would become powerful enough.
Knowing it was futile, but unable to suffer the disgrace, I lifted my sword and charged again, giving vent to my frustration and impotence… and emerged outside the forest, stumbling over my boots into direct sunlight.
He was gone again. In my weakness I had failed, but I refused to despair. My head was clear, my emotions controlled. And yet somehow, despite the warmth of the sun, a chill rolled down my spine, and the air outside the forest was still cold.
Chapter Four: The Warmth of the Sun
-Luke
Erased.
Just like that, gone.
A little girl’s life snuffed out like a sandcastle on the shore, washed away as if it were nothing, meaningless. I ran through the night in torment, gasping for breath. The arrow wound in my shoulder seemed to cry like a living thing, sending shivers down my spine that were chased by long rivulets of blood. Poison, I realized quickly, my soldier’s mind neatly tucking the fact away even as everything in me wanted to drop to my knees in heartache and wait for death.
I’d failed.
An oath had been broken tonight even as an oath of vengeance had been born. I’d sworn to protect my brother and sister with my life, and I’d failed them. Injured, increasingly dizzy, and out of breath, I knew I had to think of something fast, or I was going to die. Men would be after me, were already after me. With dogs, and horses. I could outrun neither.
Maps flitted through my mind one by one as I deliberated briefly over what to do. There was a creek that flowed not far from here. If I could throw off the dogs and disguise my trail, it would buy me a little bit of time. I cut south, and increased my speed as much as I could manage.
The stream would save me. It was a slender offshoot of the Tarnle, a mighty river that ran south all the way to the Void. I all but crashed into the water when I finally made it, exhausted and sick. Every bone in my body trembled, every muscle ached. The heavy sedative at work in my system waged war with the shockingly icy water. It was all I could do it crawl through the smooth pebbles to the other side and collapse.
The need to sleep grew even stronger, making my limbs heavy. I staggered to a kneeling position and began to rip off my shirt with heavy, clumsy fingers. I slapped at my newly numbed arrow wound awkwardly, feeling for the tip still embedded in my flesh. As soon as my fingers were able to find purchase, I pulled. It did not come out easily. I bit my lip till it bled to keep from screaming. And finally, after ripping open the skin anew I was able to remove the cursed devil.
And then I collapsed again, and would surely have died, had the arrow not wound up beneath my tangled limbs, where it was able to dig slightly into my chest. I came to again, wrapping the tattered remains of my shirt around my shoulder in the best bandage I could muster. The forest spread before me. I wanted to get up and walk, where I could hide in its shelter, but I could only crawl. I made it no more than a few trees in before the sedative at last had its way with me, and I collapsed into a deep sleep. My last thought before I fell unconscious was that I had gone nowhere near far enough to escape.
---
Every time I slept for the last three years I had been afflicted with painful nightmares of death, my own. I always dreamed when I slept, and that horrible morning in the forest was no exception to that. But like my last nightmare, it was different.
I did not see myself dying, I instead saw myself standing before the Void, a massive wall of nothingness that traverses the curve of the entire planet, separating the world into two halves that do not meet. All was silent, I could see grass waving in a breeze, but I felt nothing. All was reduced to pallid gray monochrome, as if all color had been drained from the world. I felt as I stood there a sense of waiting, as if someone important were about to speak.
And then after a moment, everything changed, another gray image filling my head. A tall man with a face like an owl stood covered in blood, with an oddly shaped left arm that bent in an odd way, held to far from the body. And then another change. This time a strikingly beautiful sorceress lay in a deep bed of flowers, the gray color preventing me from seeing what sort of mage she was. Then another shift, another new picture. This time I was flying on the back of a long, skinny dragon. We seemed to be performing in some sort of circus.
Suddenly the images began to swing by faster and faster, more and more disorienting. I saw a war-torn field wet with blood, scattered bodies everywhere. A breathtaking tower the height of a mountain. A mighty three masted ship being hauled over mountains of ice, the Castle of Tarn in ruins, and finally a pit in the midst of a desert, a massive pit yawning wide to swallow me whole…
I woke up in a cold sweat yet again.
Bound.
An enchantment seemed to lay heavily on the forest, making it seem as if I dreamed still. The air all about me had a shimmering quality to it, and my eyelids felt as heavy as anvils as I forced them open. The sedative seemed to be gone, but my body moved sluggishly, as if trapped in molasses. Scattered sunlight peeked through the trees, indicating I had slept far too long.
Long enough to be captured, long enough to be killed.
I could tell that somehow I was being kept safe, through unnatural means.
Through magic.
I lay alone slumped near the roots of an ancient Beech tree. As I began to rise, the world around me moved in a blur, shapes and colors flying by too fast to be seen. I could hear voices calling out, I heard my name, and even saw people walk right past me, with dogs. Yet I was not spotted. No one hauled me to my feet for a quick and brutal execution. I was left alone.
Impossible.
After a time, the world around me seemed to slow, and the blur faded, leaving me laying in the forest alone and free. I could move again, no longer slow and out of synchronization with the world.
Could it really have been magic? I thought as I stood. I didn’t know how, or what had just happened, but I knew some sort of being had just saved me. I stood, alert. All traces of the sedative were indeed gone. My shoulder was sore but otherwise ok, the bleeding seeming to be under control. I couldn’t believe it, there was no way anybody had that kind of luck.
And who would help a murderer escape anyways? The thought troubled me. Who or what had helped me escape from notice?
I sighed, wondering what I should do next. I had to look at the facts. I was a hunted man, wanted for murder. The Knights of Tarn have long had a traditional means of hunting down known killers. A group of six men called an execution force would be deployed immediately. They would hunt me wherever necessary by any means necessary until they killed me. And obviously, I could not count on some manner of strange magic to save me every time they came near.
I decided I would head to the capital for now, try to learn what I could. Perhaps this killer had a pattern, a record, anything that would be the talk of a big city.
For it was not evading capture that concerned me, that was secondary. My own life was secondary, for I had given myself up for dead.
First and foremost, I had one goal, one desire.
I would find my sister’s killer, and I would destroy him.
---
Setting out from the forest wound up being far easier said than done for two reasons.
The first was that I could not forgive myself. Grief continued to plague me as I wearily wandered through the woods. Tears streamed down my cheeks even as I forced myself to carry on. I had been trained all my life not to show emotion. I had learned as a child how to bury my feelings, or snuff them out completely. It was what I had done all day, but the same thoughts continued to haunt me, over and over again. Lorelei’s face as the life left her filled my vision, again and again my failure came back to me.
The second? I was lost.
My normally flawless internal sense of direction failed me, leaving me unable to find any kind of path or way out. The trees grew close together here, weaving together with the undergrowth to create a disorienting green maze that would not yield an exit to me. Worse, it appeared to be growing darker in a matter of mere minutes, meaning that soon I would be stranded by the sun and left to stumble around helplessly.
Finally as twilight fell, bathing the world in orange and pink, I fell to my knees in despair. As I knelt sobbing in the grass of a small clearing, a rustling in the nearby bushes set my senses on alert. I quickly hopped to my feet and drew my sword, taking a ready fighting stance.
An eerie sense of dread settled on me as I waited for something to emerge. A deep, terrifying sense that I was in the presence of something truly malevolent was overwhelming me. My knees wanted to buckle and my head to swim with fear but I forced it all down and stood resolute, ignoring the frosty chill that filled the air, able to focus again at last.
Lorelei’s killer is here, I realized quickly. This was the murderer I sought to kill. Without knowing how I knew, I knew. Not giving it a second thought, I crashed through the bushes into another clearing. A shadow in the shape of a man stood at the far edge. With a wordless scream, I swung my sword up to thrust and lunged forward, but I flew right through the shadow and somehow impossibly emerged where I’d been before, the first meadow.
Turning I dashed back, and there the shadow was again, waiting. The shadow man beckoned me with one hand, mockingly.
He’s toying with me. Whoever this being was, I wasn’t strong enough to defeat him, that much was certain. I couldn’t understand why he was letting me live, even helping me, but I would destroy him all the same, somehow I would become powerful enough.
Knowing it was futile, but unable to suffer the disgrace, I lifted my sword and charged again, giving vent to my frustration and impotence… and emerged outside the forest, stumbling over my boots into direct sunlight.
He was gone again. In my weakness I had failed, but I refused to despair. My head was clear, my emotions controlled. And yet somehow, despite the warmth of the sun, a chill rolled down my spine, and the air outside the forest was still cold.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
In which I finally spit it out
So...I know people read this blog...even though comments tend to be few and far between. I had hoped the poll would be appealing because it is completely anonymous, but no takers so far.
Just to be clear...here's a brief description of each story.
Sovereign Night: A knight is framed for the murder of his younger sister, forcing him on the run. Despite being clueless as to the identity, he binds himself to an oath to kill the murderer. Eventually he falls in love with a mysterious sorceress on the run herself, who gets him to join her in a quest for four magical amulets. Together the two then convince a dragon to join them...a slightly alcoholic dragon who's also had some trouble, and also is convinced she can see ghosts. Good setup for an exciting read right??
The Unstoppable: Adam Blackpool, a computer programmer about to get married, is taking his fiance to meet his mother. Along the way, they get into a horrible car accident. He wakes up two years later to a seemingly different life...different name on his driver's license, different age, different city. Even stranger, he soon realizes he's developed a variety of superpowers...and he's not the only one...
Eden: A collection of short stories. Originally it was all focused on Adam, Eve, and Cain, but I've been considering expanding that more recently...widening the focus to cover more of the Bible, in order to get into more of a historical basis and less of a me making stuff up basis.
Also...I've mentioned these two before but they're further down the road:
The Sea of Forgetfulness: Escaping a country on the brink of devestating invasion and a king hideously transformed, a prince and a servant girl run away only to wind up tricked into getting themselves lured into another world...the world where all forgotten things go.
The Space Trilogy: It's 2777 AD. The whole human race has been wiped out save one man. The whole universe has been devastated save one small city on one small planet. A little place called Earth. Two robots are dispatched with a mission to save mankind by sending this one man back in time to change everything. There's only one catch...ok, there's like six. They're both broken, they sent him back to the wrong time, he keeps jumping through time randomly, and the past doesn't want to be changed. And time travel tends to ravage one's insides. And he's responsible for it all anyways. Yikes.
Just to be clear...here's a brief description of each story.
Sovereign Night: A knight is framed for the murder of his younger sister, forcing him on the run. Despite being clueless as to the identity, he binds himself to an oath to kill the murderer. Eventually he falls in love with a mysterious sorceress on the run herself, who gets him to join her in a quest for four magical amulets. Together the two then convince a dragon to join them...a slightly alcoholic dragon who's also had some trouble, and also is convinced she can see ghosts. Good setup for an exciting read right??
The Unstoppable: Adam Blackpool, a computer programmer about to get married, is taking his fiance to meet his mother. Along the way, they get into a horrible car accident. He wakes up two years later to a seemingly different life...different name on his driver's license, different age, different city. Even stranger, he soon realizes he's developed a variety of superpowers...and he's not the only one...
Eden: A collection of short stories. Originally it was all focused on Adam, Eve, and Cain, but I've been considering expanding that more recently...widening the focus to cover more of the Bible, in order to get into more of a historical basis and less of a me making stuff up basis.
Also...I've mentioned these two before but they're further down the road:
The Sea of Forgetfulness: Escaping a country on the brink of devestating invasion and a king hideously transformed, a prince and a servant girl run away only to wind up tricked into getting themselves lured into another world...the world where all forgotten things go.
The Space Trilogy: It's 2777 AD. The whole human race has been wiped out save one man. The whole universe has been devastated save one small city on one small planet. A little place called Earth. Two robots are dispatched with a mission to save mankind by sending this one man back in time to change everything. There's only one catch...ok, there's like six. They're both broken, they sent him back to the wrong time, he keeps jumping through time randomly, and the past doesn't want to be changed. And time travel tends to ravage one's insides. And he's responsible for it all anyways. Yikes.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
So I've exhausted all that I already had written for Sovereign Night, meaning we'll now be flying into new territory now...I believe I've got some rough ideas jotted for chapter four someplace. Hopefully soon I will find them and whip them into shape, and create something wonderful.
In other news, I'm watching Julie and Julia. It's a pretty good movie so far. Also, I like Amy Adams. One of my favorite actresses. Do women really go out and eat power lunches in large groups?? I see it a lot in movies, I've noticed.
The last few days at work have been crazy...early mornings, late nights. I'm glad it's over. I have tomorrow off!! And with it I will do so much...I am getting excited about Christmas! It's just a few days away. I can't believe what a whirlwind the last few weeks have been...
In other news, I'm watching Julie and Julia. It's a pretty good movie so far. Also, I like Amy Adams. One of my favorite actresses. Do women really go out and eat power lunches in large groups?? I see it a lot in movies, I've noticed.
The last few days at work have been crazy...early mornings, late nights. I'm glad it's over. I have tomorrow off!! And with it I will do so much...I am getting excited about Christmas! It's just a few days away. I can't believe what a whirlwind the last few weeks have been...
Monday, December 21, 2009
The new John Reuben album came out today. I am downloading it now. I found a physical copy for $7 bucks (which came with his last CD free) and a digital for 5.99 (with bonus tracks)...so I bought them both.
And.
I have to learn new JPRs.
JPR=Job Position Requirement
Basically what i get tested on for my fire academy practical, which is on January 16...!!!
I have three weeks to get myself ready for my second chance...better not blow it this time.
And.
I have to learn new JPRs.
JPR=Job Position Requirement
Basically what i get tested on for my fire academy practical, which is on January 16...!!!
I have three weeks to get myself ready for my second chance...better not blow it this time.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Shush
So.
It seems like there's been a lot going on in life lately...so I'm going to post a brief update.
First, I got braces.
Not enjoyable. My teeth have been sore since Thursday night. Yes, that long. It's difficult, also, because the back four braces chafe against the linings of my jaw. Also not enjoyable.
And.
I went to a new church today. This is not necessarily news, since I've been to three new churches recently, but this one felt like a better fit. I guess because they seem very driven by the Great Commission. This was refreshing to me, because in my experience everyone acts like Jesus's last words to believers were to party it up. Strong words?? Maybe...maybe not. [looks knowingly into the camera]
Also, we put our Christmas tree up today. It smells very pine up in here. Very pine. No pun intended. Seriously, because it's a little too strong. And something's making me itch like crazy.
Right now, my family is all watching the Office and both my parents are slumped over dead asleep. Very funny.
Shush is a funny word. It's like slush, only it's shush. Shush me. Don't shush me. Buy me a slushy.
Also, I decided Elf is the best Christmas movie ever.
Blog complete, over and out. Roger that.
Scratch that. Copy. We don't say roger in the fire service. I've been corrected for that before.
It seems like there's been a lot going on in life lately...so I'm going to post a brief update.
First, I got braces.
Not enjoyable. My teeth have been sore since Thursday night. Yes, that long. It's difficult, also, because the back four braces chafe against the linings of my jaw. Also not enjoyable.
And.
I went to a new church today. This is not necessarily news, since I've been to three new churches recently, but this one felt like a better fit. I guess because they seem very driven by the Great Commission. This was refreshing to me, because in my experience everyone acts like Jesus's last words to believers were to party it up. Strong words?? Maybe...maybe not. [looks knowingly into the camera]
Also, we put our Christmas tree up today. It smells very pine up in here. Very pine. No pun intended. Seriously, because it's a little too strong. And something's making me itch like crazy.
Right now, my family is all watching the Office and both my parents are slumped over dead asleep. Very funny.
Shush is a funny word. It's like slush, only it's shush. Shush me. Don't shush me. Buy me a slushy.
Also, I decided Elf is the best Christmas movie ever.
Blog complete, over and out. Roger that.
Scratch that. Copy. We don't say roger in the fire service. I've been corrected for that before.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Chapter three!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, this chapter is still in rough draft phase...let me know what you think!
Chapter 3: A Bloody End
-As narrated by Charnil Esgilioth Perenefor Iskiil.
It was a deranged kind of night. Wild and breathless like a plunge into icy water. A contest was under way, like nothing any of us had ever seen.
Seven dragons.
Seven men.
In a roughly circular canyon that was all jagged heaps of rock scorched white by the minimal moonlight, we sat. Seven dragons. All waiting on our haunches for the word. I shivered with excitement, a ripple running down my body from snout to tail, every scale seeming to vibrate.
It was a near-primal contest that had stood the test of time for ages, despite being outlawed recently in the last thirty years. Seven men. Each of us flew with our Rider upon our back, linked by mental connection to weak men wrapped in frail pink flesh, little better than flowers exposed to winter’s frost. And yet, men had something strange inside, something they called heart, and cunning. Apart we were dull and unscrupulous, and they soft and vulnerable.
Together we were as gods.
The rules were simple. All we had to do was use our tail to knock the men off each others’ backs. On the surface, this meant nothing more than disgrace, but this was a deadlier game than appearances revealed. Accidents were common and usually fatal. A rider who came dislodged from his dragon had to be caught before he hit the rocks below, or both and he and his rider would die. Mistakes of judgment by mere millimeters could be fatal here.
My rider’s name was Matthias. From birth we had been closer than eggs in a nest, or twins in a womb. He was wiry and wild, a youth of incredible passion and energy. I could feel his body tense against my back, his knees tighten against my waist. I could feel the grim smile light up his narrow features. Sturdy callused palms pressed against my shoulders.
Are you ready? I whispered mentally.
His only reply was a wordless burst of eager, jubilant thought.
And then the word, just one. Almost too simple and monosyllabic to represent what felt like the most epic moment of our entire lives.
“Go.”
With the easy grace of a prizefighter I leapt into the air and spun lazily above the cliff for a moment. And then after a second of appraisal we were off like a shot, a burst of light, surely too fast to be seen. The fourteen of us wheeled and rolled in midair, searching for a weak point, a place to strike. Long muscular tails flashed in the moonlight, most strikes failing to land a blow, or else they harmlessly struck the dragon rather than the rider, accomplishing nothing. One great black dragon named Bellias struck at Matthias but I flew backwards in an arc, so that his strike hit my belly, barely stinging. My claws seemed to clutch at velvety, starstudded darkness for a moment as I flew upside down, the sky suddenly beneath me for one disorienting moment.
I flew downwards in a tight corkscrew, out of the mass of scaled bodies. I heard a cry pierce the night above me and watched as a rider plummeted for the bottom of the canyon. One down, six to go. As the fight spread further throughout the echoing walls of the canyon, I selected my first target, a slender silver colored beast whose name I couldn’t recall. For a beat I kept my body tilted towards her, as if we were locked in a game of chicken. I challenged her with my eyes as strongly as I could, urging her to see this as a test of bravery, till at the last possible second, I tilted left flew and flew right into the cliff wall behind her. I tilted my body and pressed my claws into the rock, springing back at her and knocking her rider off with a light, almost gentle smack.
A grin lit up Matthias’ face. Two pair down. Not taking more than a second to exalt, I prepared to soar back into what was left of the battle proper when a vicious strike nailed Matthias in the back, hurling him into my neck and nearly cracking his skull. Both of us began to fade in and out of consciousness as he struggled against the darkness threatening to pull him in. I flew downward erratically, all but falling. I didn’t need to look to know our attackers. Saul and Miran. Once the closest of friends, now the bitterest of rivals.
My eyelids seemed to grow heavier by the second, the tilt of my flight more pronounced, I tried to will Matthias awake, urge him to grab on and hold tight, but I was losing him. And worse, I was losing myself. My thoughts were transforming into a mixed perception jumble, to where I could barely tell what was me feebly attempting to regain control of our erratic descent, and what was Matthias, feebly attempting to hang on.
I knew two things. Miran was still there, in chase. Ready to strike again the second we showed any sign of regaining control.
And I knew the rocks were about to kill us.
Slowly, as if peeling a layer of lead off of my scales, I pushed back the dark of unconsciousness. And yet, I did not stop our fall just yet. It was going to take all our combined wits to beat these two.
I began to listen closely, and time seemed to slow. I heard Matthias pulling in deeper breaths as my clever rider subtly took a tighter grip on my neck. I heard the wind whistling quietly past Miran’s icy blue wings. I heard the sounds of battle far above as the contest ran on. I had just barely registered the eerie fact that I couldn’t hear Saul breathing when the time came to act.
In a matter of seconds I twisted my body around twice, once to strike at Saul with my tail and send him flying, and again to land on the rocks of a slender outcropping, safe and triumphant. In the seconds that followed those quick darting movements I soon realized that this was about more than the contest. As Miran swooped back to catch her rider before he fell father into the canyon, I caught a strange look she threw my way, filled with hatred.
It was not the first time I had seen her look at me that way, but it had a feeling of finality to it, like it would be the last.This was no friendly contest to them. It would be a duel. It saddened me that our friendship had fallen this far, but I was determined to stand and do whatever necessary.
When they returned, the battle above was over. There was no sign of the other dragons or riders, as if they’d sensed the violent storm threatening to break beneath their feet. Matthias and I stood tall on the cliff together, he perched high on my neck.
No more pretense.
“Where is it to be?” I called defiantly, already half suspecting I knew the answer.
A beat. Silence reigned.
“The Hollows,” Saul replied with his strange, raspy voice, no longer the timbre I remembered from our youth, nor what it seemed it should have grown into through adolesence.
But then, as if they simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to fight then and there, they struck. A quick darting attack centered on my rider. Matthias ducked low behind my neck and we swooped for the sky, into the air and over their heads. Despite their refusal to honor the standard code of conduct, I refused to give in so easily. Instead of turning and engaging, I kept flying, straight out of the canyon like a firework on New Year’s.
We must make for the Hollows, Matthias thought, putting a picture in my mind of the great mountain everyone simply called the Hollows, honeycombed as it was with hundreds of tunnels. I nodded without speaking, thinking only of flying faster than our would be attackers. The treacherous mountain terrain beneath us flew by in a blur. The mountains of Tarn had been our home for all our lives. I didn’t need to think about how to get there, I just flew.
The first gentle halo of pink shone on the horizon when we passed the dragon rider compound without slowing. An immense walled fortress, it was set into the face of a small mountain at the foot of a slender, treacherous pass that eventually led down into the endless plains of Tarn proper. Taller mountains, the tail end of a range of massive crags called the Taori Spine rose high above the fortress.
Draconian legend held that the spires were the remains of dragons who had grown too large to fly and fallen into a deep slumber, eventually transforming into mountains. It was well known that any dragon never paired with a rider would continue growing their entire lives, but it had been hundreds, if not thousands of years since such a dragon had existed. Although some believed there were massive dragons out there hidden in the mountains still.
Matthias sighed wistfully as we passed the castle far below, thoughts of hot cocoa and warm, clean blankets filling his mind. It was only June, but in the mountains the nights are always cold.
In due time, the Hollows were before us, growing larger with each passing second. This particular mountain was the last of the Spire, a sacred place to dragons and men alike, for it was where we went to die, and where we commemorated major events.
We flew close and landed in one of the tunnels. Miran and Saul were only a few beats behind, and soon the battle would begin, and our longstanding feud would come to its tragic, bloody end.
Chapter 3: A Bloody End
-As narrated by Charnil Esgilioth Perenefor Iskiil.
It was a deranged kind of night. Wild and breathless like a plunge into icy water. A contest was under way, like nothing any of us had ever seen.
Seven dragons.
Seven men.
In a roughly circular canyon that was all jagged heaps of rock scorched white by the minimal moonlight, we sat. Seven dragons. All waiting on our haunches for the word. I shivered with excitement, a ripple running down my body from snout to tail, every scale seeming to vibrate.
It was a near-primal contest that had stood the test of time for ages, despite being outlawed recently in the last thirty years. Seven men. Each of us flew with our Rider upon our back, linked by mental connection to weak men wrapped in frail pink flesh, little better than flowers exposed to winter’s frost. And yet, men had something strange inside, something they called heart, and cunning. Apart we were dull and unscrupulous, and they soft and vulnerable.
Together we were as gods.
The rules were simple. All we had to do was use our tail to knock the men off each others’ backs. On the surface, this meant nothing more than disgrace, but this was a deadlier game than appearances revealed. Accidents were common and usually fatal. A rider who came dislodged from his dragon had to be caught before he hit the rocks below, or both and he and his rider would die. Mistakes of judgment by mere millimeters could be fatal here.
My rider’s name was Matthias. From birth we had been closer than eggs in a nest, or twins in a womb. He was wiry and wild, a youth of incredible passion and energy. I could feel his body tense against my back, his knees tighten against my waist. I could feel the grim smile light up his narrow features. Sturdy callused palms pressed against my shoulders.
Are you ready? I whispered mentally.
His only reply was a wordless burst of eager, jubilant thought.
And then the word, just one. Almost too simple and monosyllabic to represent what felt like the most epic moment of our entire lives.
“Go.”
With the easy grace of a prizefighter I leapt into the air and spun lazily above the cliff for a moment. And then after a second of appraisal we were off like a shot, a burst of light, surely too fast to be seen. The fourteen of us wheeled and rolled in midair, searching for a weak point, a place to strike. Long muscular tails flashed in the moonlight, most strikes failing to land a blow, or else they harmlessly struck the dragon rather than the rider, accomplishing nothing. One great black dragon named Bellias struck at Matthias but I flew backwards in an arc, so that his strike hit my belly, barely stinging. My claws seemed to clutch at velvety, starstudded darkness for a moment as I flew upside down, the sky suddenly beneath me for one disorienting moment.
I flew downwards in a tight corkscrew, out of the mass of scaled bodies. I heard a cry pierce the night above me and watched as a rider plummeted for the bottom of the canyon. One down, six to go. As the fight spread further throughout the echoing walls of the canyon, I selected my first target, a slender silver colored beast whose name I couldn’t recall. For a beat I kept my body tilted towards her, as if we were locked in a game of chicken. I challenged her with my eyes as strongly as I could, urging her to see this as a test of bravery, till at the last possible second, I tilted left flew and flew right into the cliff wall behind her. I tilted my body and pressed my claws into the rock, springing back at her and knocking her rider off with a light, almost gentle smack.
A grin lit up Matthias’ face. Two pair down. Not taking more than a second to exalt, I prepared to soar back into what was left of the battle proper when a vicious strike nailed Matthias in the back, hurling him into my neck and nearly cracking his skull. Both of us began to fade in and out of consciousness as he struggled against the darkness threatening to pull him in. I flew downward erratically, all but falling. I didn’t need to look to know our attackers. Saul and Miran. Once the closest of friends, now the bitterest of rivals.
My eyelids seemed to grow heavier by the second, the tilt of my flight more pronounced, I tried to will Matthias awake, urge him to grab on and hold tight, but I was losing him. And worse, I was losing myself. My thoughts were transforming into a mixed perception jumble, to where I could barely tell what was me feebly attempting to regain control of our erratic descent, and what was Matthias, feebly attempting to hang on.
I knew two things. Miran was still there, in chase. Ready to strike again the second we showed any sign of regaining control.
And I knew the rocks were about to kill us.
Slowly, as if peeling a layer of lead off of my scales, I pushed back the dark of unconsciousness. And yet, I did not stop our fall just yet. It was going to take all our combined wits to beat these two.
I began to listen closely, and time seemed to slow. I heard Matthias pulling in deeper breaths as my clever rider subtly took a tighter grip on my neck. I heard the wind whistling quietly past Miran’s icy blue wings. I heard the sounds of battle far above as the contest ran on. I had just barely registered the eerie fact that I couldn’t hear Saul breathing when the time came to act.
In a matter of seconds I twisted my body around twice, once to strike at Saul with my tail and send him flying, and again to land on the rocks of a slender outcropping, safe and triumphant. In the seconds that followed those quick darting movements I soon realized that this was about more than the contest. As Miran swooped back to catch her rider before he fell father into the canyon, I caught a strange look she threw my way, filled with hatred.
It was not the first time I had seen her look at me that way, but it had a feeling of finality to it, like it would be the last.This was no friendly contest to them. It would be a duel. It saddened me that our friendship had fallen this far, but I was determined to stand and do whatever necessary.
When they returned, the battle above was over. There was no sign of the other dragons or riders, as if they’d sensed the violent storm threatening to break beneath their feet. Matthias and I stood tall on the cliff together, he perched high on my neck.
No more pretense.
“Where is it to be?” I called defiantly, already half suspecting I knew the answer.
A beat. Silence reigned.
“The Hollows,” Saul replied with his strange, raspy voice, no longer the timbre I remembered from our youth, nor what it seemed it should have grown into through adolesence.
But then, as if they simply couldn’t resist the opportunity to fight then and there, they struck. A quick darting attack centered on my rider. Matthias ducked low behind my neck and we swooped for the sky, into the air and over their heads. Despite their refusal to honor the standard code of conduct, I refused to give in so easily. Instead of turning and engaging, I kept flying, straight out of the canyon like a firework on New Year’s.
We must make for the Hollows, Matthias thought, putting a picture in my mind of the great mountain everyone simply called the Hollows, honeycombed as it was with hundreds of tunnels. I nodded without speaking, thinking only of flying faster than our would be attackers. The treacherous mountain terrain beneath us flew by in a blur. The mountains of Tarn had been our home for all our lives. I didn’t need to think about how to get there, I just flew.
The first gentle halo of pink shone on the horizon when we passed the dragon rider compound without slowing. An immense walled fortress, it was set into the face of a small mountain at the foot of a slender, treacherous pass that eventually led down into the endless plains of Tarn proper. Taller mountains, the tail end of a range of massive crags called the Taori Spine rose high above the fortress.
Draconian legend held that the spires were the remains of dragons who had grown too large to fly and fallen into a deep slumber, eventually transforming into mountains. It was well known that any dragon never paired with a rider would continue growing their entire lives, but it had been hundreds, if not thousands of years since such a dragon had existed. Although some believed there were massive dragons out there hidden in the mountains still.
Matthias sighed wistfully as we passed the castle far below, thoughts of hot cocoa and warm, clean blankets filling his mind. It was only June, but in the mountains the nights are always cold.
In due time, the Hollows were before us, growing larger with each passing second. This particular mountain was the last of the Spire, a sacred place to dragons and men alike, for it was where we went to die, and where we commemorated major events.
We flew close and landed in one of the tunnels. Miran and Saul were only a few beats behind, and soon the battle would begin, and our longstanding feud would come to its tragic, bloody end.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Dilemma: When I post a new chapter of my book, it will go over top of the first chapter. This is counterintuitive to the way a book works.
Solution: I will alter the date of said new post, making it appear below the original post.
Therefore: Chapter 2 is going up soon, but it will be below chapter 1.
Also: In the future, I will post links to each new chapter after it arrives.
Lastly: Please read chapter one and review. If you want to make me happy.
AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE NEW LOOK!!!
Solution: I will alter the date of said new post, making it appear below the original post.
Therefore: Chapter 2 is going up soon, but it will be below chapter 1.
Also: In the future, I will post links to each new chapter after it arrives.
Lastly: Please read chapter one and review. If you want to make me happy.
AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE NEW LOOK!!!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Sovereign Night, Chapter One
Chapter One: Words For Binding
(As narrated by Luke Orimar, a Knight of the King)
A chill bit through my body as I lay tossing and turning in restless, nightmare laden sleep. It would be the darkest night of my entire life, despite what awful moments my future held, and the unearthly cold that erased the last vestiges of summer heat was perhaps a warning of what time would reveal.
In my dream I sat a table. A simple wooden affair riddled with stains. My brother Logen and my sister Lorelai were there with me. They were both garbed in black, as was I, I noticed as I looked about. The walls were an incomprehensible blur. I noticed my siblings' faces only. I heard but could not see a door open, and a man with silver hair sat at the table with us.
His face was a blur.
He reached from nowhere and pulled out four tall, slender cups, and sat one before each of us. Their dingy glass was stained, the liquid within a noxious violet color. Blindly I reached with numb fingers and made to take a sip, but Lorelai beat me to it. Instantly her face became blurry, and then she dropped to the table, dead.
A moment later, Logen moved to take a drink, but I preempted him and drained my own glass, hoping somehow to stave off my brother’s death. The blackness at the bottom of my cup quickly swallowed me and I felt myself falling into a massive void that grew and grew.
With a start I awoke, my blankets tangled around my body in disarray.
That was different, I thought to myself, shifting on my mattress and glancing around the tiny dark room I called home. This dream was different. But why? Ever since the death of my parents six years ago, I had been haunted by nightmares of my death nightly. It had made sleep a difficult and frightening prospect, but this was worse in ways I could scarcely fathom. The thought of my baby sister Lorelai dying was much more difficult to accept. She was just six years old and had recently begun her training as a mage.
I rolled over again and mindlessly tried to straighten out my bedclothes, knowing I would never get back to sleep. Especially given what today was. The day of my shield ceremony. Every knight on their seventeenth birthday was given a shield, marking them as an adult, a man. The day would be especially painful with no parents to present me my shield. The captain of the guard would have to do it in their stead.
I sat up and reached for a match from my bedside table, flicking it against one of my boots that lay strewn on the floor. I lit a candle inside a lantern next to my bed, waiting as my eyes adjusted. I felt an uncharacteristic need to warm my hands against the softly flickering light. The hardwood floor, too, was strangely cold against my bare feet. I stood and slowly, mechanically got dressed, daydreaming about a hot cup of coffee and fresh milk swirling within.
And then I noticed with a mixture of horror and curiosity that my sword, most beloved and personal possession of all I owned, was missing. Kept within easy reach on the bureau near my bed, I had put it in the same place every night for ten years. A strange feeling of dread came over me as I stared at the place where it should have been, its lack puzzling. At once I raced for the door, heart pounding terrifically as I fumbled with my doorknob. It was this dread, and the chill that seemed to seep everywhere that led me to panic. June in Tarn was never cold.
At once as I hastily burst from my room I was sent sprawling, tangled with a very young boy. Some new recruit whose name I could not recall. The barracks of the knights are arranged around a courtyard, with my room being on the third and highest floor. I pushed the boy away without a thought and planted my palms on the guardrail, eyes searching for the thief.
It didn’t take long.
Illuminated in harsh white moonlight a cloaked shadow stood just twenty feet below. Pinned by some mysterious force, my sister Lorelai knelt before him. I made to scream but the words died in my throat. As I watched helplessly, my blade flashed through the air and pierced her abdomen. Once again I tried to yell, but my throat was sealed, to where I could barely breathe.
Finally finding my legs, I raced down the nearest stairs five at a time and leapt the last ten feet, nearly breaking my ankles. The shadow being was at the gate. Escaping. I had two options, I could go to Lorelai, or I could pursue him.
Yet there were no real options. Nothing in me could run while my sister lay bleeding to death at my feet. A haze of panic still flooded my mind. I knew I should be calling for help before he got away, but still I seemed incapable of words. My feet crunching in the dry grass seemed to be the only sound. My sword lay a few feet off, abandoned now that the deed had been done. I dropped to the ground and took Lorelai in my arms. The spell seemed to vanish. Only a moan escaped my lips.
She was still breathing, I could feel her ribcage as I hugged her to me. Her hands guarded a wound that was gushing blood all over both of us. I gasped. It felt like I could only gawk while I lost the precious being I’d sworn to protect above all else.
“Luke…” She murmured. I feebly attempted to occlude the massive wounds in her belly and back, but she moved in equally flimsy measures to stop me. Her voice nearly imperceptible, she began to whisper what sounded like nonsense.
“Between Saltwater and Cumulus Cloud…
The ocean is rolled back into the sky…”
“Shhhh,” I whispered, trying to lay her down so I could better dress her lacerations. “You don’t know what you’re saying. Relax…” She fought me, clutching weakly to my wrists.
“The Void Above the Horizon swallows all light,
Death crossed the Void to Strike…”
And then, just like that, as I stared into her eyes, they went flat. All the life within her vanished, like smoke escaping an open bottle.
I attempted to solemnly close her eyelids, but as I reached to pull them down, a sudden rage overtook me. Who could do such a thing? To kill an innocent child? And worse, I knew I’d been framed. She had died by my blade. There was no motive, not when I loved her the way I did, but there would be no evidence to suggest anything else. The Knight’s Barracks were supposed to be impenetrable. Dizzy with anger, the night seemed to press in on me, glaring through my skin. It suddenly became hot again. I rocked back on my heels and roared with such ferocity that my throat was instantly raw.
“I swear I’ll kill you!” The words echoed off the walls around me, sure to bring knights running. I had mere seconds now to make my escape. As soon as I said the oath, I knew it was binding. I would kill this murderer no matter what it cost me, even if I myself died, that beast would know vengeance, and he would know it on the sword he’d killed with.
I swept up my blade and raced for the gate hoping to escape by whatever eerie fortune had allowed the killer to come and go. I didn’t even have time to clean myself of Lorelai’s blood, my sword still stained with it. I raced over the gate, climbing the crossbars, and once again nearly shattering my foot bones as I came down for a rough landing. In the guard tower I could hear a man fumbling with a bow, seeming to have just come out of some sort of stupor.
Bathed in milky moonlight, the world spilled out before me, like a river running into the sea. No trace of the fell murderer lurked in the shadows. I realized as I took off running that I would be hunting blind for someone I’d never seen.
I was twenty feet away when an arrow found me, hitting squarely in my left shoulder. I broke off the tail and kept going, adrenaline fueling my flight as knights assembled outside, ready to track me down. Murder was not a tried crime in the ranks of the Knights. There was no margin for error allowed in such areas. I would get beheaded immediately.
A shiver rolled down my spine as I contemplated my own head rolling across the dirt. I sped up, till I was going faster than I ever had in my life. I tried to force myself to think of escape plans, and remember every detail I could about the killer, but all I could see everytime I closed my eyes was the light vanishing from Lorelai’s big brown eyes.
(As narrated by Luke Orimar, a Knight of the King)
A chill bit through my body as I lay tossing and turning in restless, nightmare laden sleep. It would be the darkest night of my entire life, despite what awful moments my future held, and the unearthly cold that erased the last vestiges of summer heat was perhaps a warning of what time would reveal.
In my dream I sat a table. A simple wooden affair riddled with stains. My brother Logen and my sister Lorelai were there with me. They were both garbed in black, as was I, I noticed as I looked about. The walls were an incomprehensible blur. I noticed my siblings' faces only. I heard but could not see a door open, and a man with silver hair sat at the table with us.
His face was a blur.
He reached from nowhere and pulled out four tall, slender cups, and sat one before each of us. Their dingy glass was stained, the liquid within a noxious violet color. Blindly I reached with numb fingers and made to take a sip, but Lorelai beat me to it. Instantly her face became blurry, and then she dropped to the table, dead.
A moment later, Logen moved to take a drink, but I preempted him and drained my own glass, hoping somehow to stave off my brother’s death. The blackness at the bottom of my cup quickly swallowed me and I felt myself falling into a massive void that grew and grew.
With a start I awoke, my blankets tangled around my body in disarray.
That was different, I thought to myself, shifting on my mattress and glancing around the tiny dark room I called home. This dream was different. But why? Ever since the death of my parents six years ago, I had been haunted by nightmares of my death nightly. It had made sleep a difficult and frightening prospect, but this was worse in ways I could scarcely fathom. The thought of my baby sister Lorelai dying was much more difficult to accept. She was just six years old and had recently begun her training as a mage.
I rolled over again and mindlessly tried to straighten out my bedclothes, knowing I would never get back to sleep. Especially given what today was. The day of my shield ceremony. Every knight on their seventeenth birthday was given a shield, marking them as an adult, a man. The day would be especially painful with no parents to present me my shield. The captain of the guard would have to do it in their stead.
I sat up and reached for a match from my bedside table, flicking it against one of my boots that lay strewn on the floor. I lit a candle inside a lantern next to my bed, waiting as my eyes adjusted. I felt an uncharacteristic need to warm my hands against the softly flickering light. The hardwood floor, too, was strangely cold against my bare feet. I stood and slowly, mechanically got dressed, daydreaming about a hot cup of coffee and fresh milk swirling within.
And then I noticed with a mixture of horror and curiosity that my sword, most beloved and personal possession of all I owned, was missing. Kept within easy reach on the bureau near my bed, I had put it in the same place every night for ten years. A strange feeling of dread came over me as I stared at the place where it should have been, its lack puzzling. At once I raced for the door, heart pounding terrifically as I fumbled with my doorknob. It was this dread, and the chill that seemed to seep everywhere that led me to panic. June in Tarn was never cold.
At once as I hastily burst from my room I was sent sprawling, tangled with a very young boy. Some new recruit whose name I could not recall. The barracks of the knights are arranged around a courtyard, with my room being on the third and highest floor. I pushed the boy away without a thought and planted my palms on the guardrail, eyes searching for the thief.
It didn’t take long.
Illuminated in harsh white moonlight a cloaked shadow stood just twenty feet below. Pinned by some mysterious force, my sister Lorelai knelt before him. I made to scream but the words died in my throat. As I watched helplessly, my blade flashed through the air and pierced her abdomen. Once again I tried to yell, but my throat was sealed, to where I could barely breathe.
Finally finding my legs, I raced down the nearest stairs five at a time and leapt the last ten feet, nearly breaking my ankles. The shadow being was at the gate. Escaping. I had two options, I could go to Lorelai, or I could pursue him.
Yet there were no real options. Nothing in me could run while my sister lay bleeding to death at my feet. A haze of panic still flooded my mind. I knew I should be calling for help before he got away, but still I seemed incapable of words. My feet crunching in the dry grass seemed to be the only sound. My sword lay a few feet off, abandoned now that the deed had been done. I dropped to the ground and took Lorelai in my arms. The spell seemed to vanish. Only a moan escaped my lips.
She was still breathing, I could feel her ribcage as I hugged her to me. Her hands guarded a wound that was gushing blood all over both of us. I gasped. It felt like I could only gawk while I lost the precious being I’d sworn to protect above all else.
“Luke…” She murmured. I feebly attempted to occlude the massive wounds in her belly and back, but she moved in equally flimsy measures to stop me. Her voice nearly imperceptible, she began to whisper what sounded like nonsense.
“Between Saltwater and Cumulus Cloud…
The ocean is rolled back into the sky…”
“Shhhh,” I whispered, trying to lay her down so I could better dress her lacerations. “You don’t know what you’re saying. Relax…” She fought me, clutching weakly to my wrists.
“The Void Above the Horizon swallows all light,
Death crossed the Void to Strike…”
And then, just like that, as I stared into her eyes, they went flat. All the life within her vanished, like smoke escaping an open bottle.
I attempted to solemnly close her eyelids, but as I reached to pull them down, a sudden rage overtook me. Who could do such a thing? To kill an innocent child? And worse, I knew I’d been framed. She had died by my blade. There was no motive, not when I loved her the way I did, but there would be no evidence to suggest anything else. The Knight’s Barracks were supposed to be impenetrable. Dizzy with anger, the night seemed to press in on me, glaring through my skin. It suddenly became hot again. I rocked back on my heels and roared with such ferocity that my throat was instantly raw.
“I swear I’ll kill you!” The words echoed off the walls around me, sure to bring knights running. I had mere seconds now to make my escape. As soon as I said the oath, I knew it was binding. I would kill this murderer no matter what it cost me, even if I myself died, that beast would know vengeance, and he would know it on the sword he’d killed with.
I swept up my blade and raced for the gate hoping to escape by whatever eerie fortune had allowed the killer to come and go. I didn’t even have time to clean myself of Lorelai’s blood, my sword still stained with it. I raced over the gate, climbing the crossbars, and once again nearly shattering my foot bones as I came down for a rough landing. In the guard tower I could hear a man fumbling with a bow, seeming to have just come out of some sort of stupor.
Bathed in milky moonlight, the world spilled out before me, like a river running into the sea. No trace of the fell murderer lurked in the shadows. I realized as I took off running that I would be hunting blind for someone I’d never seen.
I was twenty feet away when an arrow found me, hitting squarely in my left shoulder. I broke off the tail and kept going, adrenaline fueling my flight as knights assembled outside, ready to track me down. Murder was not a tried crime in the ranks of the Knights. There was no margin for error allowed in such areas. I would get beheaded immediately.
A shiver rolled down my spine as I contemplated my own head rolling across the dirt. I sped up, till I was going faster than I ever had in my life. I tried to force myself to think of escape plans, and remember every detail I could about the killer, but all I could see everytime I closed my eyes was the light vanishing from Lorelai’s big brown eyes.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Chapter Two: In Shadow
Chapter 2: In Shadow
(As narrated by Gwendolyn Aurreus, a greenery mage)
Like a thief I flitted through the halls of great castle Arxlin, scholarly home of Magery in Tarn. I slipped from shadow to shadow as quietly as bare feet will allow, the only sound in the darkness the subtle rustling that issued from my dress. The long, ancient rug that bore me to my destination in faded reds and golds brought to mind flying carpets from ancient legend, somehow making me feel even more like a criminal.
Like a thief I stopped before the immense double doors that led into the library. The library was a massive complex at the heart of the castle, filled with volume upon volume of dust laden tomes heavy with years, yellowed paper, and long forgotten wisdom. There were also hundreds of scrolls, some with ink practically still drying, and these were filled with younger ideas, fresh thoughts, and recent discoveries.
I wriggled my toes with anticipation and excitement, afraid to so much as breathe too loudly. And yet, I felt effortlessly at home here among the books, the place that had seen so much of my childhood spent. Part of my mind even now idly considered what books I was longing to read even as I strode with purpose on a mission that would change my life forever.
A greenery mage, I had trained under the eaves of this castle for as long as I could remember. My love of books was matched only by my taste for gardening, when there was only sun and soil and the simple joy of watching my efforts take literal root and grow.
Yet grander plans would bring my simple life to an end today. Once I stole the map I was here for, there would be no going back. Like shoving a giant boulder rolling downhill, once I set things in motion there would be no return to normalcy waiting at the end of it all.
Were it not for the moonlight cascading through the skylights, the features of the library would have been totally lost to sight. I nervously fingered the key I’d stolen as I silently strode past the front desk and into the room. Despite how well things were working in my favor I could not seem to help myself from feeling nervous. I’d been uncharacteristically flighty all day.
I’d almost blown it when I stole the key from the librarian, but I had gotten away despite my clumsy fingers. I’d chosen today after months of waiting for a reason.
Today was the king’s birthday.
Every year without fail all the mages able to bear travel and over age sixteen were called to the castle for some mysterious trouble. This was the first year I was old to go but I’d gotten out by faking an illness gained thanks to a special concoction I’d lovingly nurtured in my garden. I’d been left genuinely sick, but only for about half an hour.
And now the moment was upon me.
With breathless anticipation I stole through the shelves, illuminated starkly by the moonlight, everything harshely colored in blacks and whites and greys. At the far wall of the immense room I found a number of mysterious doors, of all different shaps, sizes and colors. After a moment’s thought I setled upon a small blueish door that was perfectly round with a knob set in the center rather than off to one side. I slid my ill-gotten key into the lock and was gratified by the audible click that followed as I turned it.
I pushed the door open quietly to find the most amazingly disordered room I had ever laid eyes on. Papers of all sorts were strewn everywhere. Books lay in stacks, rising imperiously above the piles of rubble like great towers. It seemed the head librarian was not as disciplined with his personal quarters as he was with the rest of the library. On any normal day the thought of the strict, onerously tidy little man wading through this office everyday would have had me doubled over laughing, but today was not a normal day.
Head librarian of the castle Arxlin meant head librarian of all Tarn, a prestigious position with a title, Dominus Clavis, or Keylord. In his possession were keys that enabled one to access just about anything, from ancient history to forbidden magics. Throughout the last several hundred years Tarnian history was filled with famous thefts, in which someone or other had stolen a key and used it for great mischief. But I was not here to steal a secret, but a promise of secrets.
A map.
Without delay I brushed off my shock over the appaling state of the room and began to search. I knew the Dominus had hidden them in here somewhere, I only needed to discover where. Despite the fact that I knew I had all night, my heart pounded in my chest as if all the king’s knights were mere moments away.
Just two days previous seven maps had been discovered in a secret safe that had been uncovered during renovations. I had only been able to weasel my way into five minutes of uninterrupted access, but it had been enough. Six of them were meaningless, even inaccurate, but for the seventh, I had chosen to put health, reputation, and position on the line to steal.
I didn’t bother searching through the sea of parchment at my feet. I strode straight for the desk and began to rifle through everything on it. I found the map in appalling straights. A tea mug had left its mark right dead center in the middle, and there was an assortment of small stains and crumbs all over it, even wax drippings from a candle. I sighed in disgust as I ducked out of the room, barely remembering to lock it behind me.
All but free, I thought to myself. I dashed across the library, faster than before, the walls a blur. The dark hall beyond somehow seemed even more foreboding now. I let my anxiety take hold as I ran for the passageway that exited into my garden. A cool June breeze greeted me as I stumbled out of the castle, nearly tripping over my own boots. I’d left them here along with a small satchel of belongings, in preparation for my flight from home. Both northern moons were out, the Hunter and the Dryad, making the night exceedingly bright. I saw it as a good omen, for my path of travel would be well-lit.
With a last sad look at my lovely little garden, I snatched up my boots in hand and slung my satchel over my shoulder and hopped the short wooden fence that enclosed the area. As the grass touched my feet, still warm from the heat of day, I felt my nerves calm. My uncharacteristic mood lifted, and I laughed aloud as I escaped into the night feeling as if the weight of the world had lifted from my shoulders.
(As narrated by Gwendolyn Aurreus, a greenery mage)
Like a thief I flitted through the halls of great castle Arxlin, scholarly home of Magery in Tarn. I slipped from shadow to shadow as quietly as bare feet will allow, the only sound in the darkness the subtle rustling that issued from my dress. The long, ancient rug that bore me to my destination in faded reds and golds brought to mind flying carpets from ancient legend, somehow making me feel even more like a criminal.
Like a thief I stopped before the immense double doors that led into the library. The library was a massive complex at the heart of the castle, filled with volume upon volume of dust laden tomes heavy with years, yellowed paper, and long forgotten wisdom. There were also hundreds of scrolls, some with ink practically still drying, and these were filled with younger ideas, fresh thoughts, and recent discoveries.
I wriggled my toes with anticipation and excitement, afraid to so much as breathe too loudly. And yet, I felt effortlessly at home here among the books, the place that had seen so much of my childhood spent. Part of my mind even now idly considered what books I was longing to read even as I strode with purpose on a mission that would change my life forever.
A greenery mage, I had trained under the eaves of this castle for as long as I could remember. My love of books was matched only by my taste for gardening, when there was only sun and soil and the simple joy of watching my efforts take literal root and grow.
Yet grander plans would bring my simple life to an end today. Once I stole the map I was here for, there would be no going back. Like shoving a giant boulder rolling downhill, once I set things in motion there would be no return to normalcy waiting at the end of it all.
Were it not for the moonlight cascading through the skylights, the features of the library would have been totally lost to sight. I nervously fingered the key I’d stolen as I silently strode past the front desk and into the room. Despite how well things were working in my favor I could not seem to help myself from feeling nervous. I’d been uncharacteristically flighty all day.
I’d almost blown it when I stole the key from the librarian, but I had gotten away despite my clumsy fingers. I’d chosen today after months of waiting for a reason.
Today was the king’s birthday.
Every year without fail all the mages able to bear travel and over age sixteen were called to the castle for some mysterious trouble. This was the first year I was old to go but I’d gotten out by faking an illness gained thanks to a special concoction I’d lovingly nurtured in my garden. I’d been left genuinely sick, but only for about half an hour.
And now the moment was upon me.
With breathless anticipation I stole through the shelves, illuminated starkly by the moonlight, everything harshely colored in blacks and whites and greys. At the far wall of the immense room I found a number of mysterious doors, of all different shaps, sizes and colors. After a moment’s thought I setled upon a small blueish door that was perfectly round with a knob set in the center rather than off to one side. I slid my ill-gotten key into the lock and was gratified by the audible click that followed as I turned it.
I pushed the door open quietly to find the most amazingly disordered room I had ever laid eyes on. Papers of all sorts were strewn everywhere. Books lay in stacks, rising imperiously above the piles of rubble like great towers. It seemed the head librarian was not as disciplined with his personal quarters as he was with the rest of the library. On any normal day the thought of the strict, onerously tidy little man wading through this office everyday would have had me doubled over laughing, but today was not a normal day.
Head librarian of the castle Arxlin meant head librarian of all Tarn, a prestigious position with a title, Dominus Clavis, or Keylord. In his possession were keys that enabled one to access just about anything, from ancient history to forbidden magics. Throughout the last several hundred years Tarnian history was filled with famous thefts, in which someone or other had stolen a key and used it for great mischief. But I was not here to steal a secret, but a promise of secrets.
A map.
Without delay I brushed off my shock over the appaling state of the room and began to search. I knew the Dominus had hidden them in here somewhere, I only needed to discover where. Despite the fact that I knew I had all night, my heart pounded in my chest as if all the king’s knights were mere moments away.
Just two days previous seven maps had been discovered in a secret safe that had been uncovered during renovations. I had only been able to weasel my way into five minutes of uninterrupted access, but it had been enough. Six of them were meaningless, even inaccurate, but for the seventh, I had chosen to put health, reputation, and position on the line to steal.
I didn’t bother searching through the sea of parchment at my feet. I strode straight for the desk and began to rifle through everything on it. I found the map in appalling straights. A tea mug had left its mark right dead center in the middle, and there was an assortment of small stains and crumbs all over it, even wax drippings from a candle. I sighed in disgust as I ducked out of the room, barely remembering to lock it behind me.
All but free, I thought to myself. I dashed across the library, faster than before, the walls a blur. The dark hall beyond somehow seemed even more foreboding now. I let my anxiety take hold as I ran for the passageway that exited into my garden. A cool June breeze greeted me as I stumbled out of the castle, nearly tripping over my own boots. I’d left them here along with a small satchel of belongings, in preparation for my flight from home. Both northern moons were out, the Hunter and the Dryad, making the night exceedingly bright. I saw it as a good omen, for my path of travel would be well-lit.
With a last sad look at my lovely little garden, I snatched up my boots in hand and slung my satchel over my shoulder and hopped the short wooden fence that enclosed the area. As the grass touched my feet, still warm from the heat of day, I felt my nerves calm. My uncharacteristic mood lifted, and I laughed aloud as I escaped into the night feeling as if the weight of the world had lifted from my shoulders.
I have no school.
It's weird.
So far, I've accomplished very little.
I am close to beating Dead Space though. So close. I've been...taking it a little easy for the first time in a long time, I will admit.
So. I still have to study, since I'm not finished. I haven't yet, but it's out there on the horizon somewhere. I also want to get some writing done, should the inspiration strike. But I need to reorganize myself on that front as its been awhile. Never did get around to writing much over the course of the semester.
Anyways, this is sort of a nonsense update...but I will hopefully post something of substance soon.
Good:
-Zelda: Spirit Tracks
-A Christmas Carol
-Subway breakfast
-Lemon tea
-Bear footstools
-Sleep
-Night at the Museum 2
Bad:
-Ladders (bad luck for me apparently)
-Insomnia
-Necromorphs
-Taylor Lautner (I have my reasons)
-Looking for a new job
Interesting:
-Putting away TVs
-Avatar (hopefully good)
-Flu shots
-Christmas shopping (Still got a little ways to go...)
It's weird.
So far, I've accomplished very little.
I am close to beating Dead Space though. So close. I've been...taking it a little easy for the first time in a long time, I will admit.
So. I still have to study, since I'm not finished. I haven't yet, but it's out there on the horizon somewhere. I also want to get some writing done, should the inspiration strike. But I need to reorganize myself on that front as its been awhile. Never did get around to writing much over the course of the semester.
Anyways, this is sort of a nonsense update...but I will hopefully post something of substance soon.
Good:
-Zelda: Spirit Tracks
-A Christmas Carol
-Subway breakfast
-Lemon tea
-Bear footstools
-Sleep
-Night at the Museum 2
Bad:
-Ladders (bad luck for me apparently)
-Insomnia
-Necromorphs
-Taylor Lautner (I have my reasons)
-Looking for a new job
Interesting:
-Putting away TVs
-Avatar (hopefully good)
-Flu shots
-Christmas shopping (Still got a little ways to go...)
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Finding promise in failure.
Today changed me.
I'm not sure how many days in my life I can say that about. Not many, certainly. You see, I failed today. It feels like one of the biggest failures of my life, even though I've tried to downplay it throughout the day...I really can't get around it.
You see, I failed my fire academy practical today, putting an end to a month and a half of nearly torturous studying. I only failed two stations, and I get to retest in a month, but I still can't get over it. It's hard to put into words exactly how it made me feel...but to work so hard, to put so much in to something I truly believed I could do, only to fall short, is incredibly painful to me.
It broke me. I held it together and kept my head up high as I walked away from the drillgrounds, but it really broke me. It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I sobbed the entire way home. I can't remember the last time I've ever cried that hard. And I'm usually pretty good at reigning in my emotions and keeping them in check.
I feel different, now that I'm a failure. It's an odd feeling to describe. I feel a bit odd trying to describe it, because I think it's a feeling only fellow failures can understand. I haven't told a soul how it all made me feel, because there's no way anyone will get it. Not my family or friends. Not my friend who went through the same academy, since he passed. Just the people who wound up like me, the ones who didn't measure up when it really mattered.
The failures.
It left me a little shellshocked. I haven't been able to decide what to do next. I feel like I'm at a little bit of a crossroads. Not to say I'm giving up, no. I intend to retest and give it all I've got it again. But now I've got this failure here. This game-changing failure that's always going to be a part of me. What do I do with it but learn?? Learn how to live better.
It may sound odd, but I feel more alive now than I have in a long time. I've barely been sleeping out of stress, barely noticing what I ate, what I did. Because I've been so singularly focused on this goal of mine to become a firefighter, to the point it almost made me sick. But then I'd freak out about getting sick and not being able to test, and I'd take vitamins and drink green tea and make sure I did what it took not to get sick.
Sorry, I know I'm starting to ramble. Short story long, I feel kind of liberated now. I don't know what I would have done if I'd passed. Celebrated, I suppose, but I would have stayed the same person. Because that's what I expected, to pass. But now I'm different.
I watched the new Night at the Museum movies tonight, and it was of course totally ridiculous, but something really struck me, something Amy Adams as Amelia Erhart said. "Have fun." What's the point of life if not to enjoy it, good or bad? I've been so stressed about this, and so busy carrying the world around on my shoulders, I haven't stopped to smell the roses in what feels like a long, long time.
And now in failure, I'm free.
Not to say there's no place in the world for responsibility, and doing good. But life is for enjoying. And I want to enjoy it. So that's all I wanted to share...there's been some brokenness and sadness today, but I think God turned it around into something beautiful, something I hope I never forget for all my life, whether I succeed or fail, whatever comes next.
I'm not sure how many days in my life I can say that about. Not many, certainly. You see, I failed today. It feels like one of the biggest failures of my life, even though I've tried to downplay it throughout the day...I really can't get around it.
You see, I failed my fire academy practical today, putting an end to a month and a half of nearly torturous studying. I only failed two stations, and I get to retest in a month, but I still can't get over it. It's hard to put into words exactly how it made me feel...but to work so hard, to put so much in to something I truly believed I could do, only to fall short, is incredibly painful to me.
It broke me. I held it together and kept my head up high as I walked away from the drillgrounds, but it really broke me. It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I sobbed the entire way home. I can't remember the last time I've ever cried that hard. And I'm usually pretty good at reigning in my emotions and keeping them in check.
I feel different, now that I'm a failure. It's an odd feeling to describe. I feel a bit odd trying to describe it, because I think it's a feeling only fellow failures can understand. I haven't told a soul how it all made me feel, because there's no way anyone will get it. Not my family or friends. Not my friend who went through the same academy, since he passed. Just the people who wound up like me, the ones who didn't measure up when it really mattered.
The failures.
It left me a little shellshocked. I haven't been able to decide what to do next. I feel like I'm at a little bit of a crossroads. Not to say I'm giving up, no. I intend to retest and give it all I've got it again. But now I've got this failure here. This game-changing failure that's always going to be a part of me. What do I do with it but learn?? Learn how to live better.
It may sound odd, but I feel more alive now than I have in a long time. I've barely been sleeping out of stress, barely noticing what I ate, what I did. Because I've been so singularly focused on this goal of mine to become a firefighter, to the point it almost made me sick. But then I'd freak out about getting sick and not being able to test, and I'd take vitamins and drink green tea and make sure I did what it took not to get sick.
Sorry, I know I'm starting to ramble. Short story long, I feel kind of liberated now. I don't know what I would have done if I'd passed. Celebrated, I suppose, but I would have stayed the same person. Because that's what I expected, to pass. But now I'm different.
I watched the new Night at the Museum movies tonight, and it was of course totally ridiculous, but something really struck me, something Amy Adams as Amelia Erhart said. "Have fun." What's the point of life if not to enjoy it, good or bad? I've been so stressed about this, and so busy carrying the world around on my shoulders, I haven't stopped to smell the roses in what feels like a long, long time.
And now in failure, I'm free.
Not to say there's no place in the world for responsibility, and doing good. But life is for enjoying. And I want to enjoy it. So that's all I wanted to share...there's been some brokenness and sadness today, but I think God turned it around into something beautiful, something I hope I never forget for all my life, whether I succeed or fail, whatever comes next.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
So, I never finished the guide. I got through one book and the descriptor was so long I got demoralized a little bit.
In other news, it's been an odd week. I've tried to study a lot, with what feels like very little success. I got some done, but not as much as I've wanted.
So. Last Saturday, I passed my fire attack practical.
Sunday. Went to church. I...don't really remember what happened after that.
Monday. Work.
Tuesday. Work in the morning, then I got sent home early due to labor cuts. Barbarian meeting in the evening. Got me pretty excited about God!
Wednesday. Day off. Slept longer than intended. It threw me off.
Thursday. Thanksgiving. I played the turkey bowl, and my team one! I scored the winning touchdown too...not that I want to brag.
Friday. Black Friday. A long, very interesting 11.5 hours it was.
Today. Day off. Not a whole lot accomplished. Kind of annoying.
Now. Studying...I am a week away from the beginning of finals. Starting to panic a little about all the studying I have to do.
In other news, it's been an odd week. I've tried to study a lot, with what feels like very little success. I got some done, but not as much as I've wanted.
So. Last Saturday, I passed my fire attack practical.
Sunday. Went to church. I...don't really remember what happened after that.
Monday. Work.
Tuesday. Work in the morning, then I got sent home early due to labor cuts. Barbarian meeting in the evening. Got me pretty excited about God!
Wednesday. Day off. Slept longer than intended. It threw me off.
Thursday. Thanksgiving. I played the turkey bowl, and my team one! I scored the winning touchdown too...not that I want to brag.
Friday. Black Friday. A long, very interesting 11.5 hours it was.
Today. Day off. Not a whole lot accomplished. Kind of annoying.
Now. Studying...I am a week away from the beginning of finals. Starting to panic a little about all the studying I have to do.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Updates, fire academy and writing!
Terribly sorry for the lack of updates lately. I'm on break now from fire academy for the rest of this week, so I will hopefully have a little time to write. To hold you over till I can get something finished, I'm working on a little bit of a guide. I'm going to create a little compendium of all the various books I'm writing, with a description of some sort. I tend to move back and forth at times, so I think having a point of reference for people will be handy. Also, I'm going to try to start tagging my fiction under the title of that particular story rather than just the general "fiction" label, although I'll still use that as well.
I was going to post the first one, but it wound a little long...the plot of the fantasy novel I'm working on "Sovereign Night" is a little complex, and trying to write a "brief" description proved difficult.
Anyways...writing has been on hold but I hope to return to it briefly this week, and then more thoroughly next week once school is out.
In other news, I passed my fire attack practical on Saturday!! It is official. I can put out a fire. Now I just have to get all the other skills down. What is fire attack, you ask?! I basically had to advance a hose-line to the door of our burn building, and lead a team in to safely extinguish the fire. This I did. The steps:
-Pull hose to point of entry
-Call for water
-Check door for heat with back of hand
-Bleed the line, keeping control of the nozzle.
-RIGHT TO FIGHT!!
-Mask up and go on air!
-Try before you pry!
-Open the door slowly
-Look for signs of:
---flashover
---flameover
---Backdraft conditions
---Victims
---Obstructions
-SOUND THE FLOOR!
-Advance to fire room
-Tell your people to BUMP UP.
-Right to fight!
-Put out the fire, darn it.
---Ventilation? Use a combination attack
---No ventilation? Use a direct attack.
-Overhaul, while protecting signs of cause, origin and arson.
-Booya. Fire's out. Get the heck out of there.
Also keep in mind, ventilation is an important consideration for below grade fires. Standpipes and secondary means of egress are handy for above grade. That is all.
I was going to post the first one, but it wound a little long...the plot of the fantasy novel I'm working on "Sovereign Night" is a little complex, and trying to write a "brief" description proved difficult.
Anyways...writing has been on hold but I hope to return to it briefly this week, and then more thoroughly next week once school is out.
In other news, I passed my fire attack practical on Saturday!! It is official. I can put out a fire. Now I just have to get all the other skills down. What is fire attack, you ask?! I basically had to advance a hose-line to the door of our burn building, and lead a team in to safely extinguish the fire. This I did. The steps:
-Pull hose to point of entry
-Call for water
-Check door for heat with back of hand
-Bleed the line, keeping control of the nozzle.
-RIGHT TO FIGHT!!
-Mask up and go on air!
-Try before you pry!
-Open the door slowly
-Look for signs of:
---flashover
---flameover
---Backdraft conditions
---Victims
---Obstructions
-SOUND THE FLOOR!
-Advance to fire room
-Tell your people to BUMP UP.
-Right to fight!
-Put out the fire, darn it.
---Ventilation? Use a combination attack
---No ventilation? Use a direct attack.
-Overhaul, while protecting signs of cause, origin and arson.
-Booya. Fire's out. Get the heck out of there.
Also keep in mind, ventilation is an important consideration for below grade fires. Standpipes and secondary means of egress are handy for above grade. That is all.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Leavings of War
Here's the rough draft for the prologue to one of my bigger stories. I still plan to play around a bit and change some stuff, but let me know what you think. Too confusing? Awkward? Boring? Let me know. The intro is already set for the chopping block. I need to do things a little different...
The first few chapters are finished, so I will post chapter one soon.
Sovereign Night:
"The Leavings of War"
A whisper has carried itself throughout countless years that the fall of Tarn did not begin with the story of Luke Orimar as inked into the history books, but rather rumors speak quietly of another. There was a boy who lived seven hundred years earlier who chose not love or brotherhood but selfish gain and might untold, a power that would ultimately devour him from within, leaving a soulless shell at the bidding of an evil wizard.
This is the story of how the tainted boy died, and how one world became two. This is the true tale of how night fell upon the Kingdom of Tarn. When all the land was devoured by jackals, and vultures fell upon the people it was because of this child’s one choice. For one to understand the tragic story of Luke Orimar’s desperate thirst for power over life and death, one must understand he who came before him.
Long, long before the dark ages of Tarn began, many centuries before she fell to foreign invaders, there lived a boy steeped in an evil that worked in him like a merciless virus devouring its prey, leaving naught but a feverish husk.
He lived in the misty farm country of the East, a land of rolling hills, wide rivers and fertile soil. A beautiful country. And yet the tainted boy cared nothing for it. Indeed, he was wholly unaffected by any blessings in his life, least of all his home. And so it was one day that he drained the glass of lemonade his mother had given him and left the farmhouse he had grown up in never to return. It would be the last nourishment his body ever took in.
He did not say goodbye, he did not glance back and he did not pack a thing. A wicked enchantment was at work in his body, eroding him from the inside out. His compassion and innocence were gone, and his face, once flushed with youthfulness, had grown gaunt and shadowed, narrow as a sharpened hatchet.
He slipped out a side door as his mother tended the wash, hanging several white linen sheets out to dry on the opposite side of the house. She never saw him leave. His father had built the house ten years prior, shortly before his death. Legend would claim he had killed his father, a dark child even at three years old, but legends are often lies, and in this case they were falsehood.
One month later he would be dead.
Only his confused, bereaved mother would mourn him, left completely alone in the world. It had been on the tainted boy’s tenth birthday, three years prior when evil began to overtake him. It had been on a rare trip to the market of a nearby city when a wizard had pulled him inside, and offered him all he’d ever dreamed to have, and the poor farm boy, disliking his lot in life, had taken the bait and offered himself over heart, soul and flesh.
As the wickedness moved his mind, he began to walk. The darkness within shifted like shadows on the far side of the moon, darkness within darkness. The boy walked. He walked without rest, without food, without shelter, through rain and heat alike.
He left the farm country and its people behind and journeyed North to the great walled capital of Tarn, variously known as Kingdom City or Vespera, the evening jewel, a city of lights that could be seen from miles away.
In those days the capital was protected b an immense magic gate that opened only for those with pure intentions for the city. Vespera was a city all but free of crime, with neither beggars nor thieves walking its streets.
The tainted one was denied access.
Ignoring the shock and consternation of travelers on their way into the city, the boy gently placed one palm on the metal of the gate. It forcibly and loudly opened with a mighty clang. From that day on, only those with wicked designs in their heart could enter through the city gate. From that day on the kingdom was never the same, for no longer could its capital, its heart, effortlessly dispel criminals.
Largely unnoticed despite his thunderous entrance, the boy strode through crowds inside the city with singular purpose, neither turning his head side to side nor veering right or left. People simply moved out of his way without a second glance. He did not soak up the awe inspiring sight of the houses and businesses built into the walls of the city. He didn’t haggle or grow hungry when we walked through the market. Even when passersby bumped into him, he took no notice whatsoever. It wasn’t that there was nothing to see, it was that the boy simply did not care.
And likewise, no one ever seemed to notice him. Even those that jostled him took little notice despite his haggard, filthy appearance and kept on walking.
In this way he soon arrived at the immense castle of green stone that sits at the heart of the city. The private dwelling place of the king. A reclusive man, one did not obtain an audience with the king, one was summoned or never saw the man at all. Most citizens only saw the king at placement ceremonies. These were held at random once a year for any recently born children to be sorted into a class, a centuries old practice overseen by the king.
The tainted boy knew none of this, and wouldn’t have cared if you told him. Without a thought in his head, he walked right up to the gatehouse that guarded the drawbridge and shallow moat denying access to the king’s personal sanctum. The drawbridge being withdrawn as was custom, the boy was forced to speak. He stared into the little shanty’s one window and peeled his dry lips apart painfully. The boy’s voice was little more than a dry, raspy whisper.
“Let me in.”
The guard, a tired old man, did not even look up from the book he was reading until he took the time to mark his place, and when he did finally look at the boy, it was with a disapproving frown.
“Away with you, urchin,” he said simply, returning to his reading.
The next sentence he read would be the last thing his eyes ever saw. The boy would not be stopped so easily. With a blank face and expressionless eyes he cranked down the drawbridge himself and slowly, placidly walked across the ancient wooden planks, footsteps echoing down to the moat below.
Four men with dragons guard the king. Cupbearers by name, chosen at birth as royal guardians, they were trained not simply as knight, mage, or dragon rider, but all three. As such they are immensely skilled in fighting and magic.
Yet that day the king was in his private bedchambers alone, with two cupbearers off duty. The two that remained stood outside his door without their dragons. The boy strode through the halls mindlessly finding his way, mind and body a decayed mess. Little of what had once been remained. His youthful features had grown worn, lined with age and deeply weathered. His gait was crooked and slow, and his head held no human thoughts, only echoes of the murder, hatred and jealousy that had been implanted into it.
Eventually the boy found his way past every guard and into the king’s private sanctum, but he did not kill him. He made no noise and barely disturbed even the dust mites of the castle. For he wasn’t here to kill, but to steal a secret power. Four amulets, mere discs of glass that were reputed to hold a magic of untold power.
Ignoring room after room filled with intricate tapestries and rich furnishings, the boy stole into a storeroom, heavy with dust born of disuse. Taking no notice of the piles of abandoned chests and tools, the boy walked staight to a shelf on the far side of the room. He reached past and tapped a stone on the wall behind it, which opened a slender door on the adjacent wall, leading deep into the castle.
A secret room.
Here, he reached his destination at last. At the bottom of the stairs, a tiny, round room awaited. Nine glass cases stood in a circle. One held a sword, another a shield. Another three were empty. The last four held the amulets. One blue, one green, one red, and one yellow. Each wrapped around the neck of a faceless manequin, held in place by simple metal chains. It was these little discs the boy wanted, these were what he’d come for.
The boy walked forward and placed a palm upon the glass of one of the cases. After a moment, steam began to rise. When he pulled it away, a hand-shaped hole had formed in the glass. He reached through and removed his prize. Once he’d done this with all four, he slipped away. Out of the king’s chambers, out of his castle. And out of Vespera, as if he’d never been there. The king would later think he’d been robbed by a ghost, so unheard of was such a theft in the history of the city.
And now the boy strode South, for in the southern regions of Tarn a war was brewing. The boy walked for days, even further than he had the first time, still subsisting on enchantment alone, his body ravaged by lack of nourishment.
In this way, he eventually came to a battlefield. Two great armies lay ranged against each other. The mighty army of the king gathered to the northern edge, greater in numbers, in organization, and in skill.
An army of rebels gathered to the south. The distant crown seated in Vespera was seen as a joke. Too distant and far removed to care for people this far from the capital. Thus they fought for freedom.
Greater in passion.
But the king was unwilling to lose a veritable third of his kingdom to mere distance, and so a war had began. Many battles had already been waged, with success and failure for both sides, but now, it was all about to come grinding to a halt.
The tainted boy, now little more than a shuffling corpse, walked into the middle of the battlefield with the four magical amulets in his hand. Both armies looked on in shock. The King's knights had not even seen the boy slip past. Gathering all four of the glass discs in one hand, holding them by their chains, he raised them to the sky. He spoke four words, words which have been lost in history. Words never heard before or since.
In an instant, his body became a skeleton, and then even that fell to dust. His ashes scattered in the wind. The four amulets were sent flying, in each of the cardinal directions. They too became the object of fables and legends, but their history is another whole volume altogether.
All that was left after the boy raised his fist was a tiny black dot. The black dot did not stay tiny for long, however. It grew and grew, faster and faster, growing into a great band a mile across. The blackness spread across the entire planet, stretching into the sky and the dirt. In short, it halved the planet. And there it remained.
Thus the Void was born.
The people to the North of the Void never again saw the people to the South. Anyone with family on the wrong side of the Void never saw them again. Anyone with business there never accomplished it. In this way, the Void obtained a kind of immortality, because while three of the amulets remained in the Northern Realm, one flew to the South.
The people of both lands eventually learned to live with the black barrier. In time the area surrounding it became a place to be avoided at all costs. A land soaked in stories of dire curses, for it is true none who ever ventured too close came back. Until the day Luke Orimar and his dragon came along, that is...
The first few chapters are finished, so I will post chapter one soon.
Sovereign Night:
"The Leavings of War"
A whisper has carried itself throughout countless years that the fall of Tarn did not begin with the story of Luke Orimar as inked into the history books, but rather rumors speak quietly of another. There was a boy who lived seven hundred years earlier who chose not love or brotherhood but selfish gain and might untold, a power that would ultimately devour him from within, leaving a soulless shell at the bidding of an evil wizard.
This is the story of how the tainted boy died, and how one world became two. This is the true tale of how night fell upon the Kingdom of Tarn. When all the land was devoured by jackals, and vultures fell upon the people it was because of this child’s one choice. For one to understand the tragic story of Luke Orimar’s desperate thirst for power over life and death, one must understand he who came before him.
Long, long before the dark ages of Tarn began, many centuries before she fell to foreign invaders, there lived a boy steeped in an evil that worked in him like a merciless virus devouring its prey, leaving naught but a feverish husk.
He lived in the misty farm country of the East, a land of rolling hills, wide rivers and fertile soil. A beautiful country. And yet the tainted boy cared nothing for it. Indeed, he was wholly unaffected by any blessings in his life, least of all his home. And so it was one day that he drained the glass of lemonade his mother had given him and left the farmhouse he had grown up in never to return. It would be the last nourishment his body ever took in.
He did not say goodbye, he did not glance back and he did not pack a thing. A wicked enchantment was at work in his body, eroding him from the inside out. His compassion and innocence were gone, and his face, once flushed with youthfulness, had grown gaunt and shadowed, narrow as a sharpened hatchet.
He slipped out a side door as his mother tended the wash, hanging several white linen sheets out to dry on the opposite side of the house. She never saw him leave. His father had built the house ten years prior, shortly before his death. Legend would claim he had killed his father, a dark child even at three years old, but legends are often lies, and in this case they were falsehood.
One month later he would be dead.
Only his confused, bereaved mother would mourn him, left completely alone in the world. It had been on the tainted boy’s tenth birthday, three years prior when evil began to overtake him. It had been on a rare trip to the market of a nearby city when a wizard had pulled him inside, and offered him all he’d ever dreamed to have, and the poor farm boy, disliking his lot in life, had taken the bait and offered himself over heart, soul and flesh.
As the wickedness moved his mind, he began to walk. The darkness within shifted like shadows on the far side of the moon, darkness within darkness. The boy walked. He walked without rest, without food, without shelter, through rain and heat alike.
He left the farm country and its people behind and journeyed North to the great walled capital of Tarn, variously known as Kingdom City or Vespera, the evening jewel, a city of lights that could be seen from miles away.
In those days the capital was protected b an immense magic gate that opened only for those with pure intentions for the city. Vespera was a city all but free of crime, with neither beggars nor thieves walking its streets.
The tainted one was denied access.
Ignoring the shock and consternation of travelers on their way into the city, the boy gently placed one palm on the metal of the gate. It forcibly and loudly opened with a mighty clang. From that day on, only those with wicked designs in their heart could enter through the city gate. From that day on the kingdom was never the same, for no longer could its capital, its heart, effortlessly dispel criminals.
Largely unnoticed despite his thunderous entrance, the boy strode through crowds inside the city with singular purpose, neither turning his head side to side nor veering right or left. People simply moved out of his way without a second glance. He did not soak up the awe inspiring sight of the houses and businesses built into the walls of the city. He didn’t haggle or grow hungry when we walked through the market. Even when passersby bumped into him, he took no notice whatsoever. It wasn’t that there was nothing to see, it was that the boy simply did not care.
And likewise, no one ever seemed to notice him. Even those that jostled him took little notice despite his haggard, filthy appearance and kept on walking.
In this way he soon arrived at the immense castle of green stone that sits at the heart of the city. The private dwelling place of the king. A reclusive man, one did not obtain an audience with the king, one was summoned or never saw the man at all. Most citizens only saw the king at placement ceremonies. These were held at random once a year for any recently born children to be sorted into a class, a centuries old practice overseen by the king.
The tainted boy knew none of this, and wouldn’t have cared if you told him. Without a thought in his head, he walked right up to the gatehouse that guarded the drawbridge and shallow moat denying access to the king’s personal sanctum. The drawbridge being withdrawn as was custom, the boy was forced to speak. He stared into the little shanty’s one window and peeled his dry lips apart painfully. The boy’s voice was little more than a dry, raspy whisper.
“Let me in.”
The guard, a tired old man, did not even look up from the book he was reading until he took the time to mark his place, and when he did finally look at the boy, it was with a disapproving frown.
“Away with you, urchin,” he said simply, returning to his reading.
The next sentence he read would be the last thing his eyes ever saw. The boy would not be stopped so easily. With a blank face and expressionless eyes he cranked down the drawbridge himself and slowly, placidly walked across the ancient wooden planks, footsteps echoing down to the moat below.
Four men with dragons guard the king. Cupbearers by name, chosen at birth as royal guardians, they were trained not simply as knight, mage, or dragon rider, but all three. As such they are immensely skilled in fighting and magic.
Yet that day the king was in his private bedchambers alone, with two cupbearers off duty. The two that remained stood outside his door without their dragons. The boy strode through the halls mindlessly finding his way, mind and body a decayed mess. Little of what had once been remained. His youthful features had grown worn, lined with age and deeply weathered. His gait was crooked and slow, and his head held no human thoughts, only echoes of the murder, hatred and jealousy that had been implanted into it.
Eventually the boy found his way past every guard and into the king’s private sanctum, but he did not kill him. He made no noise and barely disturbed even the dust mites of the castle. For he wasn’t here to kill, but to steal a secret power. Four amulets, mere discs of glass that were reputed to hold a magic of untold power.
Ignoring room after room filled with intricate tapestries and rich furnishings, the boy stole into a storeroom, heavy with dust born of disuse. Taking no notice of the piles of abandoned chests and tools, the boy walked staight to a shelf on the far side of the room. He reached past and tapped a stone on the wall behind it, which opened a slender door on the adjacent wall, leading deep into the castle.
A secret room.
Here, he reached his destination at last. At the bottom of the stairs, a tiny, round room awaited. Nine glass cases stood in a circle. One held a sword, another a shield. Another three were empty. The last four held the amulets. One blue, one green, one red, and one yellow. Each wrapped around the neck of a faceless manequin, held in place by simple metal chains. It was these little discs the boy wanted, these were what he’d come for.
The boy walked forward and placed a palm upon the glass of one of the cases. After a moment, steam began to rise. When he pulled it away, a hand-shaped hole had formed in the glass. He reached through and removed his prize. Once he’d done this with all four, he slipped away. Out of the king’s chambers, out of his castle. And out of Vespera, as if he’d never been there. The king would later think he’d been robbed by a ghost, so unheard of was such a theft in the history of the city.
And now the boy strode South, for in the southern regions of Tarn a war was brewing. The boy walked for days, even further than he had the first time, still subsisting on enchantment alone, his body ravaged by lack of nourishment.
In this way, he eventually came to a battlefield. Two great armies lay ranged against each other. The mighty army of the king gathered to the northern edge, greater in numbers, in organization, and in skill.
An army of rebels gathered to the south. The distant crown seated in Vespera was seen as a joke. Too distant and far removed to care for people this far from the capital. Thus they fought for freedom.
Greater in passion.
But the king was unwilling to lose a veritable third of his kingdom to mere distance, and so a war had began. Many battles had already been waged, with success and failure for both sides, but now, it was all about to come grinding to a halt.
The tainted boy, now little more than a shuffling corpse, walked into the middle of the battlefield with the four magical amulets in his hand. Both armies looked on in shock. The King's knights had not even seen the boy slip past. Gathering all four of the glass discs in one hand, holding them by their chains, he raised them to the sky. He spoke four words, words which have been lost in history. Words never heard before or since.
In an instant, his body became a skeleton, and then even that fell to dust. His ashes scattered in the wind. The four amulets were sent flying, in each of the cardinal directions. They too became the object of fables and legends, but their history is another whole volume altogether.
All that was left after the boy raised his fist was a tiny black dot. The black dot did not stay tiny for long, however. It grew and grew, faster and faster, growing into a great band a mile across. The blackness spread across the entire planet, stretching into the sky and the dirt. In short, it halved the planet. And there it remained.
Thus the Void was born.
The people to the North of the Void never again saw the people to the South. Anyone with family on the wrong side of the Void never saw them again. Anyone with business there never accomplished it. In this way, the Void obtained a kind of immortality, because while three of the amulets remained in the Northern Realm, one flew to the South.
The people of both lands eventually learned to live with the black barrier. In time the area surrounding it became a place to be avoided at all costs. A land soaked in stories of dire curses, for it is true none who ever ventured too close came back. Until the day Luke Orimar and his dragon came along, that is...
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Nanowrimo
It's almost that time of year again...
National novel writing month.
As per tradition, I hope to fly into a writing frenzy. Last year I made it...I think six chapters, a couple thousand wordsish. The goal, of course, is 10,000 words. I plan to build off a preexisting book, this time. I've posted excerpts of all three in the past, so you may be familiar with these stories. If not, I will post links soon...I am leaning towards SN. That is probably what I will work on. I intend to post chapter one soon.
Feel free to cast a vote:
-Sovereign Night, Book 1
-The Unstoppable
-Eden
National novel writing month.
As per tradition, I hope to fly into a writing frenzy. Last year I made it...I think six chapters, a couple thousand wordsish. The goal, of course, is 10,000 words. I plan to build off a preexisting book, this time. I've posted excerpts of all three in the past, so you may be familiar with these stories. If not, I will post links soon...I am leaning towards SN. That is probably what I will work on. I intend to post chapter one soon.
Feel free to cast a vote:
-Sovereign Night, Book 1
-The Unstoppable
-Eden
Friday, October 23, 2009
Jonah
Here's a little something new I cooked up a few weeks ago.
I was teaching a few weeks ago and I found the story of Jonah very intriguing. I have my own take on what might have transpired during Jonah's three days in the belly of the beast, and I want to turn that idea into a short story. This is the introductory bit. Tell me what you think and mayhaps I will write more...
"Jonah"
Infinite black swelled before my eyes, an eager darkness. I barely felt the air as it whirled past, so heavy was the fall of rain and the mighty heaving of the ocean's waves. Thunder crashed and roared as if the sky itself would split in two at any moment.
I tried to take a deep breath, but it was hopeless. The moment the wildly churning sea caught me in its endless grasp, I was utterly powerless. I barely managed to keep my mouth free of saltwater, let alone fill my lungs. I soon found myself ten feet under the surface, no sign of the ship I'd been tossed from.
No sign of any hope at all.
Silence reigned. All the great noise and flash of the storm above grew muffled. I could still hear it, but now as if from a distance. After a few seconds beneath, the world lit up, only to highlight the emptiness surrounding me.
Even so, moments after I hit the water, the storm abated, and the waves began to calm. I saw the lightning cease, and no longer heard the banging. I was so deep I barely saw the sunlight when it peered around a raincloud, but peer it did, reaching into the waters with weak fingers of light.
I knew what it meant. It wasn't the storm that had softened, it was God's wrath. Now that I'd been sacrificed, he had no call for anger upon the poor sailors above.
Out of air. How long had I been under already? I wasn't sure. Seconds? Minutes? It all seemed to be happening to fast. I kicked desperately for the surface, spots dancing before my eyes. My robes clung to my skin, weighing be down.
No matter how I struggled, the surface never seemed to get even a little bit closer. My limbs quickly turned to lead, starved from lack of breath.
Suddenly a great rumbling filled the water, coming not from above but beneath. I looked downward, certain my dizzy mind was playing tricks on me. An immense fish, the like of which I'd never seen and could scarcely describe was swimming towards me at a steady pace. It looked as big as a house. As big as the ship I'd been hurled from. I tried to paddle away, but it was useless.
I was dying.
Only seconds remained, if that, before I gulped in and flooded my lungs with saltwater. I was beginning to forget why I kept my mouth so tightly shut. Shouldn't I open it? I needed to breath! I needed to scream!
Mouth gaping wide, the fish came upon me like a monstrous angel of death. I soon found myself sliding past its great jaws. I fell into the deepest blackness imaginable.
I was teaching a few weeks ago and I found the story of Jonah very intriguing. I have my own take on what might have transpired during Jonah's three days in the belly of the beast, and I want to turn that idea into a short story. This is the introductory bit. Tell me what you think and mayhaps I will write more...
"Jonah"
Infinite black swelled before my eyes, an eager darkness. I barely felt the air as it whirled past, so heavy was the fall of rain and the mighty heaving of the ocean's waves. Thunder crashed and roared as if the sky itself would split in two at any moment.
I tried to take a deep breath, but it was hopeless. The moment the wildly churning sea caught me in its endless grasp, I was utterly powerless. I barely managed to keep my mouth free of saltwater, let alone fill my lungs. I soon found myself ten feet under the surface, no sign of the ship I'd been tossed from.
No sign of any hope at all.
Silence reigned. All the great noise and flash of the storm above grew muffled. I could still hear it, but now as if from a distance. After a few seconds beneath, the world lit up, only to highlight the emptiness surrounding me.
Even so, moments after I hit the water, the storm abated, and the waves began to calm. I saw the lightning cease, and no longer heard the banging. I was so deep I barely saw the sunlight when it peered around a raincloud, but peer it did, reaching into the waters with weak fingers of light.
I knew what it meant. It wasn't the storm that had softened, it was God's wrath. Now that I'd been sacrificed, he had no call for anger upon the poor sailors above.
Out of air. How long had I been under already? I wasn't sure. Seconds? Minutes? It all seemed to be happening to fast. I kicked desperately for the surface, spots dancing before my eyes. My robes clung to my skin, weighing be down.
No matter how I struggled, the surface never seemed to get even a little bit closer. My limbs quickly turned to lead, starved from lack of breath.
Suddenly a great rumbling filled the water, coming not from above but beneath. I looked downward, certain my dizzy mind was playing tricks on me. An immense fish, the like of which I'd never seen and could scarcely describe was swimming towards me at a steady pace. It looked as big as a house. As big as the ship I'd been hurled from. I tried to paddle away, but it was useless.
I was dying.
Only seconds remained, if that, before I gulped in and flooded my lungs with saltwater. I was beginning to forget why I kept my mouth so tightly shut. Shouldn't I open it? I needed to breath! I needed to scream!
Mouth gaping wide, the fish came upon me like a monstrous angel of death. I soon found myself sliding past its great jaws. I fell into the deepest blackness imaginable.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Doo doo doo doo doo doo
So.
Still plugging away in fire academy. It's week... 8 now I guess?? We just had our midterm, so we're about halfway through. The class has dropped in size from 37 to about 24, 23. And by the end that number will certainly drop further. Possibly to as low as a dozen or less. But I'm determined to stick it out to the end.
We also had our evaluation on fire attack and our ability to walk through the steps of fighting a fire while properly wearing our SCBA(self contained breathing apparatus, SCUBA minus the underwater). AND EVERYONE PASSED. Do you know what this means, llamas?! WE BURN NEXT WEEK. That's right. We're going to actually FIGHT FIRE. I'm getting really excited!
In other news, not much going on, I guess. Lots of potential life changes are on the horizon for me, but not much to speak of yet. Except for one. I am on the market for a new job as of now. My hours got cut at Best Buy and I'm sick to death of working there anyhow, so I'm hoping to find something new. I also want to use my new found freedom to get a lot of writing done, so this post is me officially promising to post something new very soon.
I don't want to go on and on, so, later llamas.
Good:
-Where the Wild Things Are
-Green by Ted Dekker
-Paranormal Activity
-Relient K's new CD
-David Crowder Band's new CD.
-The soundtrack to Where the Wild Things Are
-Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
-Losing my voice (it sounds sweet and raspy now)
-Super Smash Bros.
-Most of my instructors
Bad:
-FlashForward
-Not having all my JPRs memorized
-Getting sick and staying sick.
-Having to go to the bathroom AFTER putting on your bunker gear.
-Foreclosure scams
-A few of my instructors
Still plugging away in fire academy. It's week... 8 now I guess?? We just had our midterm, so we're about halfway through. The class has dropped in size from 37 to about 24, 23. And by the end that number will certainly drop further. Possibly to as low as a dozen or less. But I'm determined to stick it out to the end.
We also had our evaluation on fire attack and our ability to walk through the steps of fighting a fire while properly wearing our SCBA(self contained breathing apparatus, SCUBA minus the underwater). AND EVERYONE PASSED. Do you know what this means, llamas?! WE BURN NEXT WEEK. That's right. We're going to actually FIGHT FIRE. I'm getting really excited!
In other news, not much going on, I guess. Lots of potential life changes are on the horizon for me, but not much to speak of yet. Except for one. I am on the market for a new job as of now. My hours got cut at Best Buy and I'm sick to death of working there anyhow, so I'm hoping to find something new. I also want to use my new found freedom to get a lot of writing done, so this post is me officially promising to post something new very soon.
I don't want to go on and on, so, later llamas.
Good:
-Where the Wild Things Are
-Green by Ted Dekker
-Paranormal Activity
-Relient K's new CD
-David Crowder Band's new CD.
-The soundtrack to Where the Wild Things Are
-Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
-Losing my voice (it sounds sweet and raspy now)
-Super Smash Bros.
-Most of my instructors
Bad:
-FlashForward
-Not having all my JPRs memorized
-Getting sick and staying sick.
-Having to go to the bathroom AFTER putting on your bunker gear.
-Foreclosure scams
-A few of my instructors
Thursday, October 1, 2009
I suppose now is as good a time as any to give a brief update on my exploits in the world of fire service. I have been super busy lately, trying to get enough studying in, and working, plus normal stuff like church and sleep.
Basically, so far I have learned about...
-Bunker gear, all the equipment we have to wear on a call. I have to be able to put it on in less than a minute.
-SCBA. Self contained breathing apparatus. Basically a bottle of oxygen with a backpack a regulator. Also requires me to be ready to rock and roll in less than a minute.
-How to properly raise and place a ladder
-How to ventilate a building without killing myself
-How to deal with being blindfolded and out of air without panicking.
-How to tie knots and hoist tools
-Proper steps of fire attack, including setting up a hoseline, getting water from a hydrant, and advancing into a building to get to a fire
-Breaking down doors, getting past locks, knocking down walls, smashing in windows and various other means of forcible entry
-And lots more.
I've got a wee bit of new writing. Not going to promise anything, but sometime this month I'd like to post a little bit...chapter six hopefully in completed form, and a tidbit of a short story.
Laterz Llamaz.
Basically, so far I have learned about...
-Bunker gear, all the equipment we have to wear on a call. I have to be able to put it on in less than a minute.
-SCBA. Self contained breathing apparatus. Basically a bottle of oxygen with a backpack a regulator. Also requires me to be ready to rock and roll in less than a minute.
-How to properly raise and place a ladder
-How to ventilate a building without killing myself
-How to deal with being blindfolded and out of air without panicking.
-How to tie knots and hoist tools
-Proper steps of fire attack, including setting up a hoseline, getting water from a hydrant, and advancing into a building to get to a fire
-Breaking down doors, getting past locks, knocking down walls, smashing in windows and various other means of forcible entry
-And lots more.
I've got a wee bit of new writing. Not going to promise anything, but sometime this month I'd like to post a little bit...chapter six hopefully in completed form, and a tidbit of a short story.
Laterz Llamaz.
Friday, August 28, 2009
So.
I got into Fire Academy at the last minute a day before started. This would be the reason I haven't been updating lately. I am super busy now...
It was so crazy, I kid you not, I got signed up within hours of the first class. The fire chief in charge called me up and told me I was in, and excitement ensued.
But now I have very little time for writing. I have a week off coming, however, so I'm hoping to at least get chapter six overhauled and finished soon. Consider the second half of what I posted a deleted scene, because I'm probably going to scrap it. Way too talky. I might scrap the first half too, haven't decided yet. Feel free to weigh in, especially if you liked it, because I kind of don't.
Music:
-"Again" --Flyleaf
-"In Exile" --Thrice
-"Jamboree" --John Reuben
-"Glorious and Mighty" --Sovereign Grace
-"Burden" --MuteMath
-"Odds" --MuteMath
I got into Fire Academy at the last minute a day before started. This would be the reason I haven't been updating lately. I am super busy now...
It was so crazy, I kid you not, I got signed up within hours of the first class. The fire chief in charge called me up and told me I was in, and excitement ensued.
But now I have very little time for writing. I have a week off coming, however, so I'm hoping to at least get chapter six overhauled and finished soon. Consider the second half of what I posted a deleted scene, because I'm probably going to scrap it. Way too talky. I might scrap the first half too, haven't decided yet. Feel free to weigh in, especially if you liked it, because I kind of don't.
Music:
-"Again" --Flyleaf
-"In Exile" --Thrice
-"Jamboree" --John Reuben
-"Glorious and Mighty" --Sovereign Grace
-"Burden" --MuteMath
-"Odds" --MuteMath
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Three things.
1. I posted a wee bit of chapter six for your perusal. It feels a bit awkward to me so I would appreciate some input! It is below.
2. I've also posted three poems. These are further below.
3. I added some copyright text to the bottom of the page. Not really important, just wanted to make it clear, everything on this page(and all my blogs) belongs to me.
1. I posted a wee bit of chapter six for your perusal. It feels a bit awkward to me so I would appreciate some input! It is below.
2. I've also posted three poems. These are further below.
3. I added some copyright text to the bottom of the page. Not really important, just wanted to make it clear, everything on this page(and all my blogs) belongs to me.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
A bit of Sea
To hold you over till I finish something substantial enough to post from Chapter 6, here's a bit of a new story. It's going to be called the The Sea of Forgetfulness. Probably.
It may be a bit confusing at first...but bear with it. The story as a whole involved a maid and a prince who try to run away and get tricked by a sort of evil librarian into getting thrown into another world. Short hand. It's really a lot more complicated than that...anyways this particular chapter is about said crossing...
"A bit of Sea"
The world became words.
In ink.
There was no oxygen or nitrogen, nor was there air at all. There were no muscles, nor lungs or viscera. The world was words and nothing else. I breathed them, I ate them, I slept trapped within the print like an insect in a glass case. I knew not life, not the way a living, breathing entity knows it.
Because I lived and breathed no more.
Time didn't move. It spun in place like a top. Like a dozen tops spinning one in front of the other, into infinity. There was no transience to emotion, it was as permanent as stone. I felt all things all the time, because they were all recorded within the words. And the words were eternal, endless sentences that stretched like threads across the fabric of forever.
Within lack of limit, there was no individual. I lost myself in the sheer vastness of what surrounded me, trapped within the pages of the Librarian's book. I lost myself, I lost who I was, and what I loved, and what drove me. I lost, and I gained back a humanity as titanic as the ocean. Everyone, at every time, everywhere.
But even though it felt like it was limitless moment upon moment, eon stacked upon eon, it was truly but a second. A single second that seemed like it would never end.
And then, after I felt like I'd aged a million years, living in the skin of a million forgotten souls, the impossible happened, and it all changed.
The world became water.
My body returned to me, and what was left of my mind. I was still intact, still sane, and even though physically I was the same, I felt...bigger. As if my mind had been stretched out, leaving a great echoing space where once my thoughts had been very small.
Water, above and below. I breathed it, I drank it in. The water filled my lungs and then expelled itself as I exhaled. Like a fish I took it in, treading water. There was light, but it was dim, and I couldn't tell if it came from above or below. Indeed, I couldn't tell up from down. I could have been hanging upside down with the sky beneath me and been none the wiser.
Beyond the edge of my vision, a shadow drifted throw the water, making it tremble ever so slightly. Still I remained in place, floating alone. I felt certain I was being stalked. Whatever the shadow creature was that shared this place with me, it wanted to devour me.
The water grew more and more agitated. It was coming closer. I could see it now, a massive shape, larger than any great whale or kracken of legend. In a blind panic, my heart beating like a drum, I threw my hands over my face.
And then...
Nothing.
I felt a cool breeze waft over my face, and then suddenly I was on my knees, coughing up water.
The world became sand.
I was hacking and wheezing for all I was worth into the sands of an endless desert. The grit of it coated my wet body, weighing me down. My dress clung tightly, I could feel it wrapped around my ankles. Sand filled my hands as I knelt in a prayer position, coughing for breath. It filled one hand. I was shocked to realize that I was somehow still holding the Younger Prince's hand, as if the eternity in print and the time in the water had been nothing. He still had the ridiculous cello strapped to his back, too. It was dripping water into the ground.
I tried to look around, but my hair stuck to my face, leaving me only glimpses of the world around us. The sunlight blazed into our skin as if hovering just a few feet before us. I couldn't breath, that was all I could really focus on. There were mountains in the distance, sun scorched and weathered looking. They formed a ring around the desert, I later realized. And the heat, the unbearable heat, like being cooked alive.
It grew hotter and hotter. I was soon dry, but I still wasn't breathing. Nor was the Prince. How long could this last? How long does it take someone to asphyxiate?
It didn't take long for me to realize we were sinking, but I could not help welcoming the burial. I had not once breathed that hot, hot air. Somehow I just kept floundering, drowning miles from anything approaching water. And as the sand covered us, we at last found respite from the furnace that was the sky above...
And then, as we sank into the earth completely, and the sun lost its grip on me, everything went dark.
The world became green.
I did not know this at first, because I kept my eyes closed. I reveled in the wind whipping through my hair, and the feel of air moving in and out of my lungs over and over again, and then I opened my eyes, to peer at the world around me.
And it was indeed emerald green, all but a jungle. I lay on my back in thick, lush grass. My hair hovered in tangles over my face, played with by the gusts passing through. Trees towered above us, heavy with fruit and vegetation. All was quiet, not an animal noise to be heard. Nor did there seem to be any people, but I could see the great towers of some sort of castle or city rising on a far away hilltop, half obscured by a jutting cliff.
The Younger Prince lay next to me, on his stomach. His precious cello looked undamaged. It wasn't even wet. The bow was even safe, lying on the grass clasped in one outstretched arm.
I didn't know where we were, but we'd done it.
The transfer between worlds.
It may be a bit confusing at first...but bear with it. The story as a whole involved a maid and a prince who try to run away and get tricked by a sort of evil librarian into getting thrown into another world. Short hand. It's really a lot more complicated than that...anyways this particular chapter is about said crossing...
"A bit of Sea"
The world became words.
In ink.
There was no oxygen or nitrogen, nor was there air at all. There were no muscles, nor lungs or viscera. The world was words and nothing else. I breathed them, I ate them, I slept trapped within the print like an insect in a glass case. I knew not life, not the way a living, breathing entity knows it.
Because I lived and breathed no more.
Time didn't move. It spun in place like a top. Like a dozen tops spinning one in front of the other, into infinity. There was no transience to emotion, it was as permanent as stone. I felt all things all the time, because they were all recorded within the words. And the words were eternal, endless sentences that stretched like threads across the fabric of forever.
Within lack of limit, there was no individual. I lost myself in the sheer vastness of what surrounded me, trapped within the pages of the Librarian's book. I lost myself, I lost who I was, and what I loved, and what drove me. I lost, and I gained back a humanity as titanic as the ocean. Everyone, at every time, everywhere.
But even though it felt like it was limitless moment upon moment, eon stacked upon eon, it was truly but a second. A single second that seemed like it would never end.
And then, after I felt like I'd aged a million years, living in the skin of a million forgotten souls, the impossible happened, and it all changed.
The world became water.
My body returned to me, and what was left of my mind. I was still intact, still sane, and even though physically I was the same, I felt...bigger. As if my mind had been stretched out, leaving a great echoing space where once my thoughts had been very small.
Water, above and below. I breathed it, I drank it in. The water filled my lungs and then expelled itself as I exhaled. Like a fish I took it in, treading water. There was light, but it was dim, and I couldn't tell if it came from above or below. Indeed, I couldn't tell up from down. I could have been hanging upside down with the sky beneath me and been none the wiser.
Beyond the edge of my vision, a shadow drifted throw the water, making it tremble ever so slightly. Still I remained in place, floating alone. I felt certain I was being stalked. Whatever the shadow creature was that shared this place with me, it wanted to devour me.
The water grew more and more agitated. It was coming closer. I could see it now, a massive shape, larger than any great whale or kracken of legend. In a blind panic, my heart beating like a drum, I threw my hands over my face.
And then...
Nothing.
I felt a cool breeze waft over my face, and then suddenly I was on my knees, coughing up water.
The world became sand.
I was hacking and wheezing for all I was worth into the sands of an endless desert. The grit of it coated my wet body, weighing me down. My dress clung tightly, I could feel it wrapped around my ankles. Sand filled my hands as I knelt in a prayer position, coughing for breath. It filled one hand. I was shocked to realize that I was somehow still holding the Younger Prince's hand, as if the eternity in print and the time in the water had been nothing. He still had the ridiculous cello strapped to his back, too. It was dripping water into the ground.
I tried to look around, but my hair stuck to my face, leaving me only glimpses of the world around us. The sunlight blazed into our skin as if hovering just a few feet before us. I couldn't breath, that was all I could really focus on. There were mountains in the distance, sun scorched and weathered looking. They formed a ring around the desert, I later realized. And the heat, the unbearable heat, like being cooked alive.
It grew hotter and hotter. I was soon dry, but I still wasn't breathing. Nor was the Prince. How long could this last? How long does it take someone to asphyxiate?
It didn't take long for me to realize we were sinking, but I could not help welcoming the burial. I had not once breathed that hot, hot air. Somehow I just kept floundering, drowning miles from anything approaching water. And as the sand covered us, we at last found respite from the furnace that was the sky above...
And then, as we sank into the earth completely, and the sun lost its grip on me, everything went dark.
The world became green.
I did not know this at first, because I kept my eyes closed. I reveled in the wind whipping through my hair, and the feel of air moving in and out of my lungs over and over again, and then I opened my eyes, to peer at the world around me.
And it was indeed emerald green, all but a jungle. I lay on my back in thick, lush grass. My hair hovered in tangles over my face, played with by the gusts passing through. Trees towered above us, heavy with fruit and vegetation. All was quiet, not an animal noise to be heard. Nor did there seem to be any people, but I could see the great towers of some sort of castle or city rising on a far away hilltop, half obscured by a jutting cliff.
The Younger Prince lay next to me, on his stomach. His precious cello looked undamaged. It wasn't even wet. The bow was even safe, lying on the grass clasped in one outstretched arm.
I didn't know where we were, but we'd done it.
The transfer between worlds.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Red-hot Revolution/The Reign of Snow
Ok. Parts II and III. The second one was so long, I decided I should just split it in two. It amounts to about the same thing, but I didn't want one to be so much longer than all the others...I was thinking four parts, but I might do five now. Read and review! You know you want to...
II.
"Red-Hot Revolution"
Seven plus seven,
I would be fourteen years of age,
ere I commanded the Earth again,
and made her rotation and tilt,
to obey my whims.
In fear I said nothing,
did nothing.
Changed nothing.
Until a day came,
when frustration lulled me,
like a siren lies in wait,
upon the rocks.
I caved not for wealth,
nor prestige,
for even as a child they meant nothing to me.
In the end I crumbled for love.
You.
I crumbled for you.
New school, new town.
I didn't know a soul,
nor did anyone know me.
Nor did anyone know,
the secret I kept locked inside.
Wintry reason held sway,
Snowflakes were far more numerous than children,
and their wishes for warm summer days.
But nobody fights the cold,
what a hopeless war to wage.
We bundled up, with laughter and red cheeks,
And let snowmen stand guard like soldiers,
yet rebellion grew in my heart,
A fiery, red-hot revolution.
III.
"The Reign of Snow"
Down to the skating rink we went,
arm in arm.
Your red scarf fluttering,
In a stiff breeze.
I hardly minded the frost,
as we sat side by side,
but then I found myself,
when I looked you in eye,
at the edge of reason,
acting like a child,
thinking myself a man.
I took off my coat,
my hat,
my gloves,
my shoes.
You called me
Crazy.
I asked you,
for trust.
Barefoot in the snow,
I called Summer,
like an obedient falcon,
landing on the arm of its master,
Summer came.
As the world reached for the sun,
The rind of ice dissolved away,
bringing the lake to life in pale blue
The reign of snow, dissipated into the sky,
Steam and warmth overtook the air.
Grass, trees, flowers all,
In confusion began to find a way to bloom.
This began an ending,
That hot winter morning.
but I promise you,
just one thing,
for you
and you alone.
I'd do it all again.
II.
"Red-Hot Revolution"
Seven plus seven,
I would be fourteen years of age,
ere I commanded the Earth again,
and made her rotation and tilt,
to obey my whims.
In fear I said nothing,
did nothing.
Changed nothing.
Until a day came,
when frustration lulled me,
like a siren lies in wait,
upon the rocks.
I caved not for wealth,
nor prestige,
for even as a child they meant nothing to me.
In the end I crumbled for love.
You.
I crumbled for you.
New school, new town.
I didn't know a soul,
nor did anyone know me.
Nor did anyone know,
the secret I kept locked inside.
Wintry reason held sway,
Snowflakes were far more numerous than children,
and their wishes for warm summer days.
But nobody fights the cold,
what a hopeless war to wage.
We bundled up, with laughter and red cheeks,
And let snowmen stand guard like soldiers,
yet rebellion grew in my heart,
A fiery, red-hot revolution.
III.
"The Reign of Snow"
Down to the skating rink we went,
arm in arm.
Your red scarf fluttering,
In a stiff breeze.
I hardly minded the frost,
as we sat side by side,
but then I found myself,
when I looked you in eye,
at the edge of reason,
acting like a child,
thinking myself a man.
I took off my coat,
my hat,
my gloves,
my shoes.
You called me
Crazy.
I asked you,
for trust.
Barefoot in the snow,
I called Summer,
like an obedient falcon,
landing on the arm of its master,
Summer came.
As the world reached for the sun,
The rind of ice dissolved away,
bringing the lake to life in pale blue
The reign of snow, dissipated into the sky,
Steam and warmth overtook the air.
Grass, trees, flowers all,
In confusion began to find a way to bloom.
This began an ending,
That hot winter morning.
but I promise you,
just one thing,
for you
and you alone.
I'd do it all again.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Lyrics of Reversal
I started another semi-epic poem. This one is called "The Slowspin Days" Part one is below. It's a bit fancier in language that I had planned...but I just kind of ran with it. I might scrap it and start over, or I might keep it and keep going. Haven't decided yet.
This one was inspired by a Thrice song called "Beggars" which has a line that goes "Does the earth seek your council on how fast to spin?" And I thought...what if it did?? All sorts of imagery came to mind, and at first I was going to write a short story, but I decided to try a poem instead, since I'm already involved in writing a different story.
I.
"Lyrics of Reversal"
It happened at the rope swing,
near the old picnic tables,
under the eaves of a patient oak.
I discovered I could stop the world,
and make it move like fingers on a globe,
at my beck and call,
and oh it seemed so sweet at first,
but how terrible it is,
that power to lure,
whispering lovely things,
to the Earth's molten core,
singing out to her magnetic poles,
lyrics of reversal.
It happened at the rope swing,
I jumped, I flew, I fell.
And the Sun fell too,
fleeing into the horizon,
As if a blazing arrow.
Straight from the quiver of Death itself,
she jumped.
She flew.
She fell.
With a twisted ankle and a bewitched heart,
I stood confused,
Under a night sky that glimmered
Endlessly crowded with stars,
like a brush with infinite heaven.
No choir of city lights,
to block out the music,
of galaxies in motion.
Just ten minutes after noon,
the pavement still scorched,
Still longing to shimmer,
With the heat of the sunlight's embrace.
One might have thought,
how proud, how vain,
for the thought that I thought,
As I stared at the cresent moon,
but it crept like a worm,
over all the rest of the scattered thoughts,
in my childish heart.
I knew I'd done it,
somehow I'd summoned an evening,
like a magician
with a rabbit,
or a flock of white birds.
I just didn't know how.
This one was inspired by a Thrice song called "Beggars" which has a line that goes "Does the earth seek your council on how fast to spin?" And I thought...what if it did?? All sorts of imagery came to mind, and at first I was going to write a short story, but I decided to try a poem instead, since I'm already involved in writing a different story.
I.
"Lyrics of Reversal"
It happened at the rope swing,
near the old picnic tables,
under the eaves of a patient oak.
I discovered I could stop the world,
and make it move like fingers on a globe,
at my beck and call,
and oh it seemed so sweet at first,
but how terrible it is,
that power to lure,
whispering lovely things,
to the Earth's molten core,
singing out to her magnetic poles,
lyrics of reversal.
It happened at the rope swing,
I jumped, I flew, I fell.
And the Sun fell too,
fleeing into the horizon,
As if a blazing arrow.
Straight from the quiver of Death itself,
she jumped.
She flew.
She fell.
With a twisted ankle and a bewitched heart,
I stood confused,
Under a night sky that glimmered
Endlessly crowded with stars,
like a brush with infinite heaven.
No choir of city lights,
to block out the music,
of galaxies in motion.
Just ten minutes after noon,
the pavement still scorched,
Still longing to shimmer,
With the heat of the sunlight's embrace.
One might have thought,
how proud, how vain,
for the thought that I thought,
As I stared at the cresent moon,
but it crept like a worm,
over all the rest of the scattered thoughts,
in my childish heart.
I knew I'd done it,
somehow I'd summoned an evening,
like a magician
with a rabbit,
or a flock of white birds.
I just didn't know how.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Quick update.
Chapter 6 is partially drafted. Still mapping out my direction for the next several chapters. Uber-excited to get further in though. I'm also excited about introducing some new characters and setting the groundwork for the story as a whole.
Um.
In other news, I didn't get into fire academy. My plans for the rest of the year have been totally turned on their head, and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do yet. Not to say I'm without options, I just have to navigate them all and figure out what's best.
Um.
Went to Heavenfest yesterday. It was a blast. Skillet, Kutless, Esterlyn and Disciple were all great, especially Disciple. I am now a fan of Disciple. I must say though, it wasn't as social as I had hoped it would be. I didn't see too many people I knew (although I did get to hang out with a friend i hadn't seen in forever). It was also HOT and I wound up really thirsty. I had to pay three bucks for lemonade! It was wonderful lemonade though. I have been sunburned and sleepy all day. Not sure if the two go together but it feels kind of that way!
Um.
I just downloaded a game called Lostwinds. It seems to be a lot of fun. You get to control wind! I'm looking forward to playing it. No time now, though. I'm off to watch Orphan! Bye!
Chapter 6 is partially drafted. Still mapping out my direction for the next several chapters. Uber-excited to get further in though. I'm also excited about introducing some new characters and setting the groundwork for the story as a whole.
Um.
In other news, I didn't get into fire academy. My plans for the rest of the year have been totally turned on their head, and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do yet. Not to say I'm without options, I just have to navigate them all and figure out what's best.
Um.
Went to Heavenfest yesterday. It was a blast. Skillet, Kutless, Esterlyn and Disciple were all great, especially Disciple. I am now a fan of Disciple. I must say though, it wasn't as social as I had hoped it would be. I didn't see too many people I knew (although I did get to hang out with a friend i hadn't seen in forever). It was also HOT and I wound up really thirsty. I had to pay three bucks for lemonade! It was wonderful lemonade though. I have been sunburned and sleepy all day. Not sure if the two go together but it feels kind of that way!
Um.
I just downloaded a game called Lostwinds. It seems to be a lot of fun. You get to control wind! I'm looking forward to playing it. No time now, though. I'm off to watch Orphan! Bye!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Story So Far
So here's an early chapter list for my book, with links. Please read and review. None of the chapter titles are final, but they're the best I've come up with so far.
The Unstoppable
Chapter One:
The Inescapable
Chapter Two:
Two Years From Yesterday
Chapter Three:
The Circus Come to Town
Chapter Four:
"Poor Andre"
Chapter Five:
Bits and Pieces
Chapter Six:
Seasick Kind of Life
Chapter Seven:
The In-between Times
Chapter Eight:
The Unavoidable
The Unstoppable
Chapter One:
The Inescapable
Chapter Two:
Two Years From Yesterday
Chapter Three:
The Circus Come to Town
Chapter Four:
"Poor Andre"
Chapter Five:
Bits and Pieces
Chapter Six:
Seasick Kind of Life
Chapter Seven:
The In-between Times
Chapter Eight:
The Unavoidable
Monday, August 3, 2009
Speaking of getting attacked by little kids, I taught sunday school (or children's ministry as we call it) yesterday and I loved it! I've been teaching for a few months, but this is the first time it felt like things went really well, at least until the end. I lost control a little when I ran out of stuff to do. The pastor went over again!! By like ten minutes.
I did puppets during the Bible story today, and I think this went really well, because the kids loved it. I did different voices for each puppet. I gave Elijah a slackerly surfer kind of voice, and King Ahab was like "Graaaah I'm King Ahaaaab and I'm ANGRYYYY."
And playground time. I figured out how to get all the kids to play together. They always scatter when we do playground time, but I like the idea of everyone doing something at the same time.
Pirates.
They love playing pirates. I'm trying to figure out how to turn it into a game. I also need to figure out how to get the girls to build me a castle. I was begging all the little girls in the class to build me a castle out of pine cones, but they wouldn't do it.
I did puppets during the Bible story today, and I think this went really well, because the kids loved it. I did different voices for each puppet. I gave Elijah a slackerly surfer kind of voice, and King Ahab was like "Graaaah I'm King Ahaaaab and I'm ANGRYYYY."
And playground time. I figured out how to get all the kids to play together. They always scatter when we do playground time, but I like the idea of everyone doing something at the same time.
Pirates.
They love playing pirates. I'm trying to figure out how to turn it into a game. I also need to figure out how to get the girls to build me a castle. I was begging all the little girls in the class to build me a castle out of pine cones, but they wouldn't do it.
We're running out of time, the world ends tonight, unless we dance or die, d-d-dance or die
Hello. I recently found a ringtone creation site. I made the following songs into ringtones:
"Errand Rum" --As Cities Burn
"God Over All" --Na Band
"All I Have is Christ" --Na Band
"Code Name: Raven" --House of Heroes
"Baby's a Red" --House of Heroes
"Slow Motion" --Blindside
"In My Arms" --Jon Foreman
"The Weight" --Thrice
And I'm tempted to make more. These are some of my favorite songs. I'm reasonably sure exactly none of them are available as ringtones you can buy, so this makes me happy. Especially since it was all free!!
I went dancing last night.
It was rather wonderful. My first time ever dancing with a complete stranger. Not only that, but I ASKED a complete stranger to dance! Lindsey. It was totally awkward, but it helped me get a little more comfortable dancing. I also got kind of snagged by this Asian woman named Nicole. She taught me a new dance move, which was fun, even though I'm pretty positive she was mixing the cuddle and the kick from swing together. She also gave me pretty good advice, to try and dance with a lot of people. My tendency is to want to dance with the same few people (people I already know I like dancing with, haha) but it's good to take risks.
I like living dangerously, I've decided recently. Life is just more exciting that way, whether it's dive-tackling thieves, working up the nerve to ask a girl to dance, or paddleboating under a bridge and getting attacked by little kids.
These things may not sound too risque, but you gotta start somewhere. Soon I assure you I'll be blogging about running with the bulls in Pamplona, cliff diving in Brazil, and doing Parcour across the streets of Chicago.
Today has been odd. I worked out, then took a cold shower, then drank a hot cup of coffee. Tomorrow I have my ORIENTATION for fire academy. I am kind of excited. I'm looking forward to seeing my new campus!
I think I love my book. I hope other people feel the same. I'm still deciding how best to continue the rest of chapter five and the rest of the current story arc. See, there's three major parts to the store. Well, four. But the second one isn't long at all. The first is the one I'm fuzziest on. I want to keep it brief to keep the story moving, but I don't want to sell it short either.
Ok, this is turning into the longest, most directionless blog ever, so I will stop now. Adios, llamas.
"Errand Rum" --As Cities Burn
"God Over All" --Na Band
"All I Have is Christ" --Na Band
"Code Name: Raven" --House of Heroes
"Baby's a Red" --House of Heroes
"Slow Motion" --Blindside
"In My Arms" --Jon Foreman
"The Weight" --Thrice
And I'm tempted to make more. These are some of my favorite songs. I'm reasonably sure exactly none of them are available as ringtones you can buy, so this makes me happy. Especially since it was all free!!
I went dancing last night.
It was rather wonderful. My first time ever dancing with a complete stranger. Not only that, but I ASKED a complete stranger to dance! Lindsey. It was totally awkward, but it helped me get a little more comfortable dancing. I also got kind of snagged by this Asian woman named Nicole. She taught me a new dance move, which was fun, even though I'm pretty positive she was mixing the cuddle and the kick from swing together. She also gave me pretty good advice, to try and dance with a lot of people. My tendency is to want to dance with the same few people (people I already know I like dancing with, haha) but it's good to take risks.
I like living dangerously, I've decided recently. Life is just more exciting that way, whether it's dive-tackling thieves, working up the nerve to ask a girl to dance, or paddleboating under a bridge and getting attacked by little kids.
These things may not sound too risque, but you gotta start somewhere. Soon I assure you I'll be blogging about running with the bulls in Pamplona, cliff diving in Brazil, and doing Parcour across the streets of Chicago.
Today has been odd. I worked out, then took a cold shower, then drank a hot cup of coffee. Tomorrow I have my ORIENTATION for fire academy. I am kind of excited. I'm looking forward to seeing my new campus!
I think I love my book. I hope other people feel the same. I'm still deciding how best to continue the rest of chapter five and the rest of the current story arc. See, there's three major parts to the store. Well, four. But the second one isn't long at all. The first is the one I'm fuzziest on. I want to keep it brief to keep the story moving, but I don't want to sell it short either.
Ok, this is turning into the longest, most directionless blog ever, so I will stop now. Adios, llamas.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Hey hey.
Crazy coupla days. Last night my friends and I held a Rock Band party. Everyone dressed up like rock stars one way or another, and we all played Rock Band and Guitar Hero. It was a blast. In case you are wondering, I sprayed my hair a sweet metallic blue and applied some tattoos. I'm a little sad to see it all go. I like having blue hair, I think. It meshes better with my skin and hair tones than green and yellow, and it shows better than pink.
In other news...
My store got robbed today! That's right, Best Buy 186 became a crime scene earlier this afternoon. Some punk tried to steal a pay as you go phone. A stupid punk. He bashed through the wrong doors to get out. Our entry doors won't open for someone leaving, so he just forced his way through. And he might have got away clean, but! Our LP guy at the time tackled him! Bam! He went down like a sack of potatoes (Or so I'm told. Missed the whole thing personally). And then another guy who was nearby, rushed out to help hold him down. Our manager also came out. She tried to talk the guy down, but he pulled out a KNIFE. Both guys got away clean, but she got cut on the hand.
And he got away!
Sad day. I hope they catch him. We had like, CSI type people come in and do fingerprints and stuff. The police even roped off our entrance doors with caution tape. EMTs had to come and do some patching up too. Our LP dude and my manager were both bleeding.
Stealing is very uncool. I don't get why anybody would do something so stupid. It's not like we can afford to just watch you run away with our stuff. I wish I'd been there. I've always wanted to tackle someone.
So.
I am currently working on my lesson for Children's Ministry tomorrow. Teaching is still not very easy for me. I enjoy it though! Planning lessons and doing stuff with the kids is a lot of fun. We're going to do a rain dance tomorrow! I can't wait! Actually, that'll only work if it's not raining... obviously. The point is to show that we can't make it rain...(and neither could Baal...)
So I'm off to check the weather and do some working out...Sorry chapter five has been much delayed. I've written it in bits and pieces all over the place, and i need to start sewing them together. My schedule is crazy next week, lots of closing shifts, so I'll probably get it done relatively soon...
Crazy coupla days. Last night my friends and I held a Rock Band party. Everyone dressed up like rock stars one way or another, and we all played Rock Band and Guitar Hero. It was a blast. In case you are wondering, I sprayed my hair a sweet metallic blue and applied some tattoos. I'm a little sad to see it all go. I like having blue hair, I think. It meshes better with my skin and hair tones than green and yellow, and it shows better than pink.
In other news...
My store got robbed today! That's right, Best Buy 186 became a crime scene earlier this afternoon. Some punk tried to steal a pay as you go phone. A stupid punk. He bashed through the wrong doors to get out. Our entry doors won't open for someone leaving, so he just forced his way through. And he might have got away clean, but! Our LP guy at the time tackled him! Bam! He went down like a sack of potatoes (Or so I'm told. Missed the whole thing personally). And then another guy who was nearby, rushed out to help hold him down. Our manager also came out. She tried to talk the guy down, but he pulled out a KNIFE. Both guys got away clean, but she got cut on the hand.
And he got away!
Sad day. I hope they catch him. We had like, CSI type people come in and do fingerprints and stuff. The police even roped off our entrance doors with caution tape. EMTs had to come and do some patching up too. Our LP dude and my manager were both bleeding.
Stealing is very uncool. I don't get why anybody would do something so stupid. It's not like we can afford to just watch you run away with our stuff. I wish I'd been there. I've always wanted to tackle someone.
So.
I am currently working on my lesson for Children's Ministry tomorrow. Teaching is still not very easy for me. I enjoy it though! Planning lessons and doing stuff with the kids is a lot of fun. We're going to do a rain dance tomorrow! I can't wait! Actually, that'll only work if it's not raining... obviously. The point is to show that we can't make it rain...(and neither could Baal...)
So I'm off to check the weather and do some working out...Sorry chapter five has been much delayed. I've written it in bits and pieces all over the place, and i need to start sewing them together. My schedule is crazy next week, lots of closing shifts, so I'll probably get it done relatively soon...
Monday, July 27, 2009
Yeeee-aaaah I can't leeeeaaaaave you now...
Ugh, all my blogs lately have been kind of lame. I will try to post something interesting soon. Chapter 5 should be finished...Wednesday morning, if I were to make a guess. Other than that, I don't know. It's going to be a long four days till next Friday but I will try to enjoy them as much as I can...I'd like to write about something other than writing if I get the time.
But yeah, offer still stands until Wednesday, comment on this post to get your name in my book. I can't guarantee what sort of character will wind up getting it though...
I need to watch 28 episodes of Psych by August 7th in order to be ready for the new season. Is it even possible to watch that much TV in two weeks??
But yeah, offer still stands until Wednesday, comment on this post to get your name in my book. I can't guarantee what sort of character will wind up getting it though...
I need to watch 28 episodes of Psych by August 7th in order to be ready for the new season. Is it even possible to watch that much TV in two weeks??
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Holy cow, I am beat.
I played Ultimate, Football, Kickball, and Soccer at a church picnic today. This year made me feel old. I ran out of energy a little sooner than usual. But I think I just need to get in better shape. My feet are definitely feeling it. Four back to back games barefoot will do that...
Overall, this whole weekend has been pretty sweet. Friday I went skateboarding for the first time, and spent the whole of the evening with friends. I started to write a blog the other day just for Friday, but it was too long. I have the whole day off so I usually get around to doing A LOT. Suffice it to say it twere a good day. Slipping under bridges, dodging fish, fountains, miniature golf with tiny clubs, and saran wrapping of a truck were involved.
I was so tired by the end of the day, I was like zoning out. I walked past a box of tissues with a fancy cover at King Soopers and I just stopped to touch it for no reason. And then I went and played video games at a friends house and spent the night, staying up EVEN LATER.
Saturday!! I got locked out of a house for the first time ever. I went outside once to get my computer and my bible out of my car right?? But I forgot the power cord, so I had to go back out. I left the door ajar the first time, but I forgot to the second time, so I wound up chilling on my friends' front porch in my pjs for like twenty minutes till someone came and let me in. I guess embarrassment would be the normal response?? I was planning on running to Starbucks for coffee(hoping they wouldn't notice my bare feet I guess) when I was let back in.
And I found out I have a stye, which is the reason my eye has been itchy.
The end.
Sorry if this blog is kind of boring. I am fairly pooped.
I played Ultimate, Football, Kickball, and Soccer at a church picnic today. This year made me feel old. I ran out of energy a little sooner than usual. But I think I just need to get in better shape. My feet are definitely feeling it. Four back to back games barefoot will do that...
Overall, this whole weekend has been pretty sweet. Friday I went skateboarding for the first time, and spent the whole of the evening with friends. I started to write a blog the other day just for Friday, but it was too long. I have the whole day off so I usually get around to doing A LOT. Suffice it to say it twere a good day. Slipping under bridges, dodging fish, fountains, miniature golf with tiny clubs, and saran wrapping of a truck were involved.
I was so tired by the end of the day, I was like zoning out. I walked past a box of tissues with a fancy cover at King Soopers and I just stopped to touch it for no reason. And then I went and played video games at a friends house and spent the night, staying up EVEN LATER.
Saturday!! I got locked out of a house for the first time ever. I went outside once to get my computer and my bible out of my car right?? But I forgot the power cord, so I had to go back out. I left the door ajar the first time, but I forgot to the second time, so I wound up chilling on my friends' front porch in my pjs for like twenty minutes till someone came and let me in. I guess embarrassment would be the normal response?? I was planning on running to Starbucks for coffee(hoping they wouldn't notice my bare feet I guess) when I was let back in.
And I found out I have a stye, which is the reason my eye has been itchy.
The end.
Sorry if this blog is kind of boring. I am fairly pooped.
Friday, July 24, 2009
A ring don't mean nothing if you can't haul the weight...
I'm listening to some new Thrice music as we speak. Unfortunately, their new album leaked onto the internet recently. I dug it up and downloaded, but I'm only listening to two tracks, All the World is Mad and the Weight. They've already been playing them live, so I figure that's only fair.
So now the CD is coming out in digital form August 11th. This is good news because August 11th is a lot closer than October 13th, and they are one of my favorite bands. This is bad news because I will certainly want a physical copy, so I may be forced to buy it twice. Few bands are worth this, but Thrice is one of them.
And of course, both new tracks are awesome. I especially love The Weight. I like it so much, I'm posting the lyrics.
THE WEIGHT
There’s many who’ll tell you they’ll give you their love,
But when they say “give” they mean “take.”
They’ll hang ‘round just like vultures till push comes to shove.
They’ll take flight when the earth starts to shake.
Someone may say that they’ll always be true,
Then slip out the door ‘fore the dawn.
But I won’t leave you hanging on.
Another may stay till they find someone new,
Then before you know they’ll be gone.
But I won’t leave you hanging on;
No, I won’t be that someone.
And come what may, I won’t abandon you or leave you behind
Because love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment.
And come what may, I will be standing right here by your side;
I won’t run away, though the storm’s getting worse and there’s no end in sight.
Some talk of destiny, others of fate,
But soon they’ll be saying goodbye.
But I won’t leave you high and dry.
Because a ring don’t mean nothing
If you can’t haul the weight,
And some of them won’t even try,
But I won’t leave you high and dry;
I won’t leave you wondering why.
And storms will surely come,
But true love is a choice you must make
And you’re the one that I have set my heart to choose.
As long as I live, I swear I’ll see this through.
So now the CD is coming out in digital form August 11th. This is good news because August 11th is a lot closer than October 13th, and they are one of my favorite bands. This is bad news because I will certainly want a physical copy, so I may be forced to buy it twice. Few bands are worth this, but Thrice is one of them.
And of course, both new tracks are awesome. I especially love The Weight. I like it so much, I'm posting the lyrics.
THE WEIGHT
There’s many who’ll tell you they’ll give you their love,
But when they say “give” they mean “take.”
They’ll hang ‘round just like vultures till push comes to shove.
They’ll take flight when the earth starts to shake.
Someone may say that they’ll always be true,
Then slip out the door ‘fore the dawn.
But I won’t leave you hanging on.
Another may stay till they find someone new,
Then before you know they’ll be gone.
But I won’t leave you hanging on;
No, I won’t be that someone.
And come what may, I won’t abandon you or leave you behind
Because love is a loyalty sworn, not a burning for a moment.
And come what may, I will be standing right here by your side;
I won’t run away, though the storm’s getting worse and there’s no end in sight.
Some talk of destiny, others of fate,
But soon they’ll be saying goodbye.
But I won’t leave you high and dry.
Because a ring don’t mean nothing
If you can’t haul the weight,
And some of them won’t even try,
But I won’t leave you high and dry;
I won’t leave you wondering why.
And storms will surely come,
But true love is a choice you must make
And you’re the one that I have set my heart to choose.
As long as I live, I swear I’ll see this through.
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