-L'Slvre-
I awoke to the sounds of burning - yet that had always been the last sound I would hear before I was claimed by sleep, and the first sound that would greet me in the morn.
We lived perilously close to the barrier, yet this was a strategic move placed by my ancestors. Our family would always be the bravest, the strongest, the most powerful bloodline in all of O' Rflew. The land that I had awoken on was our ancestral claim in this world, the most dangerous part of an already dangerous existence. My father had proudly carried on that tradition, leading our tribe with as much conviction and strength as my grandfather had done before him, and the generation before that.
It was distilled into me from the moment I could remember: I was part of the greatest. The best. The strongest. I was an Alpha living in a Beta land, and we could have anything we so desired.
But what I desire lies beyond the barrier our gods placed around us.
Knowing that father would grow impatient should I rest much longer, I removed myself from the linen covering me, fetching what clothing I could and marching outside my tent to the plains that greeted me. Outside, my tribe stood as a proud sight - acres of similar dwellings, painted in each families' colors, stretching themselves as far as the eye could see. I could see pillars of smoke rush into the air as the first meal of the day was being prepared. Smiling at the thought of a beautiful day, I marched past a collection of families, waving hello as the children played their games, their mouths opened in awe as I strode past. I had always found it disturbing that people would treat me like I was higher than them, simply because of my bloodline. It proved flattering to an extent, but I had grown accustomed to having few friends, most of them intimidated by my social ranking. Father was the chieftain of our land, the latest in a long line of powerful men and women who unified all tribes under a respective banner. Our family saga featured defeats and victories - the most engraving being my great-grandfather's victorious ascension to power and removing the tyrant I'Klow's influence. The gods had watched over our family with a smile since then, guiding them to rule for three generations with peace and kindness. Each tribe wielded power to rule over their territorial claims, but they all answered to my family line.
And someday, every tribe will answer...to me.
For now, however, I retrieved a stick which had been thrown by a careless youth, handing it back to him as his cheeks flushed in excitement and joy, watching the rest of his friends surround him as I left their presence.
"Prosperity to you this morn, dear L' Slvre!" An elderly woman proclaimed as I past, catching her radiant smile behind well-worn lines of age and survival. I stopped for a few moments to wish her the same, gladdened when her smile seemed to grow when she returned to her duties.
Now, free from the immediate threat of greeting my fellow people, I allowed myself to frown, to concentrate, and to gaze at the eternal inferno which poured from the heavens above, catching the ground below in a fiery wall of flame. Then, far off into the distance, I could see the waterfall which extended further than my eyes could ever see. It was a regular sight for me and my fellow people - the walls our gods created to protect our perfect land from the disease and the monsters which roamed outside it. It proved no use to try and discern the source above our heads, father had simply stated that there was no beginning, and that both elements of fire and water flowed freely since the dawn of our land. My family lived but a few leagues from the fire-barrier, providing a constant source of light for both me and my family. I knew of a girl who lived at the opposite end of our plains, who enjoyed watching the foam of the water crash into the abyss below her family encampment. It was such a beautiful sight, and I watched alongside her many a time, appreciating the water pouring down a great chasm, admiring the bands of color which always seemed to reflect against the droplets whenever the sun was prevalent in the sky.
But you cannot rule with beauty. You rule with danger. Fire is danger.
Such silly words my father used to tell me, but his word was law.
I moved quickly without breaking out into a run, and I eventually made it into the forests which our boys would call their training ground: The perfect place to hone their skills and hunt. It was such a shame that my father had forced me into such nonsense, but mother had not yet borne a son, and she had no intention of providing me with a sibling. Of course father obeyed her wish to control the family - which was every woman's right - and he loved her so much that if she commanded him to tear apart the fiery barrier between us he would gladly die trying to do so. Oh how I smiled when she brushed my hair as a child, listening to him spout commands to his servants, yet having whispers in my ear telling me who the real leader in our family was.
I wished I had my mother's bravery. I had not the nerve to tell him that I did not wish to be treated as a boy and made to play their silly games, even if he did want a son more than anything else in the world.
I found him, though he was not particularly difficult to miss - his enormous arms holding a wooden sword so effortlessly. I had real fears that the wood would simply snap under his grip, and the boy who was facing him cowered as his own weapon shook inside his hand.
"Strike me, and I will call you leader for a day." Father mocked, watching the volunteer suddenly snap alert at such a lucrative prize, charging with his weapon drawn. He swiped - far too sluggishly to be taken seriously, and father parried the blow with plenty of time to spare. The challenger's friends - all around the same age as I, were simply engrossed in the bout, catching every move and parry their friend unleashed, only for it to be blocked and dodged by the warrior that was facing him. The boy tried and tried again, and there was no doubt of his determination and sheer will, but I knew father's ruse. He was holding back, allowing his opponent to tire himself out before lunging for what would have been a kill under different circumstances. Sensing that his opponent had lost most of the fight left in him, he simply swiped his own weapon, sending the boy's sword crashing to the ground. Instantaneously, he then lightly tapped the sword against both of his opponent's knees, shoulders and head.
"A clean kill." He simply stated, the same wrinkled smile I had seen many a time making itself known by the time the boy raised his hands in surrender, suffering the jeers and chants of his companions in the background. I took this as the perfect opportunity to march right up to father as the rest of the boys simply looked at me with a mixture of emotions I knew all too well. Mother had taught me much about boys and their needs.
"Enjoy the bout?" He asked simply as I kissed his cheek, reaching for where the wooden swords were situated, and wresting my example from its resting place.
"You were at an advantage." I responded sweetly, inspecting the tool in my hands in the same loving care that a mother cradled her child. "And you have yet to tell your unfortunate foe of the lesson you were trying to teach."
"I was distracted by the arrival of my powerful and beautiful daughter."
"Don't you mean son?"
I enjoyed teasing him, and he winked in my direction before turning his attention towards the group he was teaching.
"My daughter has told me that I had not yet instructed you of today's lesson, and she is right. The reason why I have brought you here today, is to prove to you that women can be just as deadly as men on the battlefield, and L' Slvre will prove this right now!"
I sighed, realizing my weapon would perhaps be shattered this morn. It was such a shame - I had grown to tolerate it at some level.
Another boy took his place before me without ever being summoned by father - his brown hair threatening to cover his eyes, his jawline small and innocent, yet removed of all the fat that marked you as a child. He seemed tall for his age, towering over me by a full head, yet his impish smile gave the lack of maturity away. I had seen him regularly, and I had to admit there was a certain...charm in the way he spoke.
"If I can make a bargain in this fight?" He asked, catching my father nod in approval of his request. "If I win, I receive one kiss from my opponent as a reward."
It was a bold claim to make, and I admitted shock and surprise at such a maneuver. I could tell that even Father was taken slightly aback from it, the primal need to protect his daughter evident across his face. Despite this, he composed himself.
"It is up to my daughter to accept or to deny that request. L' Slvre?"
"I accept." I retaliated, refusing to allow such a boisterous claim bring down my nerve. "But only if I can make a wager of my own?"
"Of course."
"If I win - you will kiss K' Vloer instead!"
Father laughed, a great bellow which seemed to shake the entire forest line, and the group of boys which surrounded me laughed and pointed at the boy I had selected for this rather humorous wager, shaking his head in fear of suffering the most humiliating of fates to him. My challenger seemed shaken by my latest stipulation - and I could now understand the very real fear of this outcome which played through his head, but to his credit his feet remained precisely where they were, refusing to back down.
"I...I accept, but this does not leave the forest!"
"I promise." I responded with a laugh, and had almost missed his immediate advance, intending to win early so he can remove the possibility of such a humiliating fate.
Unfortunate, he simply overreacted.
I allowed him to charge towards me, side-stepping just as he intended to carry out his winning strike, and allowed him to sail past me. His momentum had doomed him, and I instantly dug my wooden blade deep into his side, sending him crashing to the ground in agony. His own sword had run free from his hand, trailing behind a tree as its owner grabbed his ribs in pain. Father nodded his head in approval, but I could almost hear his words echoing from his thoughts to mine.
You should not have struck him so wildly, dear L' Slvre. He is but a beginner in the craft of swordsmanship.
I know. I'm sorry Father.
"We have a victor!" Father exclaimed in his real voice, resting his arm on my right shoulder and squeezing it lightly in a moment of pride. I smiled, before walking towards my fallen opponent and extending my hand in a display of generosity. He accepted it, and I helped him onto his feet. I began to feel a sense of guilt for injuring him so, something which could be seen in the way I stoked his hand with my thumb in an effort to reassure him, and the need to meet his worried stare with my own.
"Do not worry, I will not make you meet your end of the bargain." I offered as respite for the injury I had inflicted. "But you must learn not to make such bold wagers if you are not willing to accept a wager of equal stature."
He nodded, too winded to formulate a response out of words, and a part of me reached out to him in an effort to console him. However, I held myself back, forcing myself to my father's side as his companions helped him stand upright. I had humiliated him enough in his defeat, I would have only added insult by helping him. This was the code of a fine warrior - but I could not help but feel that it was simply pride that had restrained me. No matter, as he grinned mischievously towards the boy he would have had to kiss, overjoyed by my mercy.
Hours more had passed, and father had taught his pupils more on the art of defense, to bide your time and exploit an individual's weakness. We learned more about the animals which roamed our plains, which ones to hunt and which ones which would hunt us. We began practice with bow and arrows, although all of us failed considerably to strike our targets down. Patience was never my strong suit, and my impatience reached a fever pitch when my fifth arrow failed to slice through the straw of a simple rag doll - positioned many meters away. At the end of our lesson - and when the sun basked the sky in bursts of red and orange - my energy was spent, as where the group I had practiced alongside. My earlier opponent seemed to recover from his injury rather handsomely, and more than once I had managed to catch his glare towards me before he could look away and pretend that it never happened.
I found his naivety quite...attractive, although I resisted my feelings whenever they surfaced. Better to bide your time and see if your feelings changed - love and lust were almost one and the same. It was how Mother was sure that she had found her perfect match, after all.
*
Night brought along with it an air of festivity, and our little corner of O' Rflew celebrated in an avalanche of color - men, women and children dressed in vivid creations while the fire barrier provided the light to glow our festival. The gods had blessed our warriors with a bountiful feast, and lanterns peppered the air itself as we celebrated the anniversary of the creation of our walls. Our elders recited the age-old proclamation, captivating both child and adult alike, father and son and mother and daughter. An enormous campfire was set ablaze with the very flame from the barrier itself, carried by our strongest men in the form of one hundred torches. An enormous honor, to be sure.
"H'ghikl ​provided us with his protection, and on the eve of this monumental decision, we celebrate his wise and noble power with a feast in his honor!" P'asylie announced to the masses, resulting in rounds of applause and cheers, The elder - my grandfather - began the tale of how our land came into being. Our land had been larger still, encompassing many different creatures and tribes much like ours, yet throughout millennia our kind would declare war time and time again, until the gods above made the wise decision to separate us by elemental barriers. P'asylie continued the fable with an intensity no other individual could match, and the young of this tribe shuffled ever closer both to him, and the blaze of the fire behind him, transported back in time with his powerful words. It was a rare treat to see his stories come to life as they had in my youth - he was failing in health, a sickness that even our finest healers could not remove. To see him fighting, to make it to such an important occasion, made my chest swell with pride.
A firm yet delicate hand on my shoulder broke through my concentration.
"Your father has told of your impressive swordsmanship." Mother announced into my ear, leaning in to kiss the side of my head as we continued to stare into the campfire.
"Had he not told you of my prowess with a bow?"
"Proficiency takes time, dear. To master the sword at all is a skill very few daughters can claim here."
"I assure you, Mother, they are not missing much."
No matter what I was going through in my own life - good or bad - mother's laugh suddenly made things seem a whole lot better, and she embraced me as grandfather concluded his fable, and the crowd dispersed to various different stalls, enjoying the food each selected family had prepared and partaking in silly games. The children would sleep very late into the morning indeed.
"Do you believe all of this?" I asked absentmindedly, knowing mother would listen. "That there are other lands beyond our own? I find it...difficult to wrap my head around.."
"Dear daughter, you never found it easy to believe what you could not see. Sometimes that is all you can do: Believe."
The woman was built around the concept of faith, but she held a powerful influence within our tribe - preaching the compassion and love that only our creator could provide for us. It was not for us to understand why the towers of lava and water were constructed around us, we were to believe that they were created for our protection.
I was never one to believe in fairytales.
Father soon emerged, and cradled mother away like children in the first flurry of love. It was a blissful sight, but in the midst of their disappearance I found myself...alone.
And that was when I found my two feet moving towards where I hoped he would be.
He stood with his friends, too old to partake in childish things, but too young to mingle with the adults. I found myself in the same transition of life, and I found it strange that after all this time, I never discovered his name.
But that can all change tonight. All you need to do is walk to him, and say hello.
My nerves, however, stifled my ambitions, and for an uncomfortable period of time I found myself simply...watching. Watching his laugh as he talked among friends. Watching his auburn hair glisten in the fiery backdrop the festival provided. Watching him when he watched me right back.
Was I in love? Am I mature enough to handle such a powerful emotion? Is he the one?
"H...Hello." I sounded eventually, finding my earlier courage from our previous bout melt away in my hands like grains of sand. I was no longer the confident warrior I knew I could be - here I was the daughter of a chieftain who had endured fifteen oscillations of the seasons in her lifetime.
"Hello." He replied, and I noticed his voice crack around the word. His cheeks flushed red - visible even in the diminished light.
"Sorry!"
"Do not worry, puberty affects us all in different ways. You should not feel embarrassed."
He remained embarrassed anyway, and I moved closer with a teasing smile.
"Believe me, you have not suffered a great deal. I have heard tales of my father when he was but a boy. His skin was afflicted with all sorts of imperfections, and his eyebrows grew thick and unified - he ensures to shave them regularly now. What I'm trying to say is, mighty men can grow from where you are now."
It was not like me at all, to provide such wisdom when I could barely comprehend the words I was speaking. I prayed that this boy would not have the idiocy to repeat my message to father. Word travels fast among the different clans here.
"Is what you say...true?" He finally replied, his mouth open in awe. I should have anticipated this, outside of teaching the young the way of the sword, he was a heroic warrior himself, surrounded by fables and tales.
"I can assure you."
"Thank you again for...earlier."
"I apologize for hurting you! I should not have swung so mightily!" I exclaimed, watching as the boy lifted up his clothing, revealing a bruise where wood struck skin. I was horrified at the speed in which his skin had already changed color.
"I consider it a badge of honor - the way every warrior should." He replied, before staring at the ground as if he had just muttered something childish.
"My father distilled that in you, I see. I disagree with him. Boys should not go searching for injuries."
"It's how we prove ourselves as warriors." He countered.
"It's how you prove yourselves as foolish."
"Not as foolish as a girl wielding a blade!"
It just took one sentence, and all of my infatuation disappeared. So quickly.
"I should have forced you to uphold your end of the bargain." I spat, and turned towards the lava barrier as I stormed towards my tent.
"Wait, I'm sorry, what I said was childish!" I could hear in the background behind me, but I was now delighted that I had not discovered the boy's name. It was better not to find a word that could humanize my anger. He was just a boy who liked to play warrior when he would never claim to be one in real life. It took but moments for me to find the sheets wrapped around me, safe in the still air of an empty tent, and listening to the sound of burning before I was claimed by sleep, ready to hear it come the morn.
-Ira-
-L'Slvre-
-Ira-
-L'Slvre-
Terror.
That was the emotion which crawled through my veins as I watched the hostile fangs bare down on me. It paralyzed me from the top of my head to my toes, and I instinctively felt the urge to close my eyes and curl in defense. Instead, I found my hands reach for the very boy I was trying to save, and moved him out of harm's way just as the elemental dragon swooped on where we stood not moments before. I had not considered myself to be so powerful, and many others would proclaim that the gods were looking down on me at this time. Even with my faith on shaky ground, I myself admitted that something unnatural had been in place in order to help me save his life.
The men who stood behind us, however, were not so fortunate.
The creature snapped at one of them, wrapping its jaws around him before he had even mustered a response. Its body swooping past my ears hid any screams. The second avoided such a fate, but was struck by its molten body, disappearing inside it as the dragon swooped into the sky again, momentarily blocking out the sun. His charred remains were left behind, collapsing onto the ground below him. A pair of hands suddenly gripped me, and I then realized that it was the boy who was guiding me towards the nearest forest cover. It was far from substantial, but I understood his motive and its purpose. In the wake of my fear, I knew that he did not believe in the pride of a warrior. Not as much as he claimed he had. We hid behind a tree just as the abnormal creature arced gracefully into the sky, rushing towards the very barrier that it came from. It melted effortlessly inside its wall, and any trace of its existence had disappeared alongside it...save for the the scorched marks on the plains where it had struck.
Several men rushed to the scene - breaking through the forest in what must have been a hunting expedition before they had seen the monster for themselves, leaning towards the blackened body of one of their own and scanning the barrier before them should the dragon emerge again. I could feel the boy's quickened breathing, his arm still wrapped tightly around mine as if he were still leading me away from the danger. He was frightened still, but weren't we all?
In the midst of all of this, I suddenly formed a plan.
"Come with me." I whispered, and though he uttered no response to this, his feet followed mine back out into the plain, our eyes still focused on the lava wall that was now to our backs.
"L'Slrve!" One of the hunters cried, my uncle J'Klow closing the distance between us and shielding us with his body, his spear raised towards the barrier. He was soon joined by many of his brothers as they formed a barrier around us. "Are you hurt?"
"No." I admitted truthfully, still hyperventilating from the event but forcing myself to keep my nerve. "We ran for shelter as soon as we saw it!"
They turned their attention towards the boy - an individual who did not look like a warrior capable of defending anybody from a dragon. Father rushed to the scene, sweating heavily from exertion, his blade still drawn even when no threat presented itself to him. He fell to his knees in relief as I rushed to his chest, embracing his arms as they wrapped themselves around me.
"My precious daughter!" He gasped, overjoyed. "H'ghikl must be smiling down on me, I am so glad that you are safe!"
"I am safe because of the boy who saved me." I responded, and the chieftain of tribes faced my companion immediately, tears beading down his usual stern expression.
"My family are indebted to you, dear warrior." was all he could muster before the emotion became too much for him. By now more than a dozen hunters have descended on the scene, and all of them mourned the loss of the burned man before us, while none of them knew of the disappearance of his accomplice. I assured father that we were safe, and that me and my friend would return to camp immediately, leaving my parent and his command to survey the scene. We moved briskly, and I once again felt his arm wrapped around mine in the same primal terror that he had displayed beforehand. He eventually summoned enough initiative to let go...though I could not say that I resented his hold to begin with.
"Why did you lie?" He whispered eventually, keeping close as we witnessed the scene of panic unfold around us. Children were ushered inside tents, women were gathering them and fighting to keep themselves under control, while the few men who were not actively hunting for our tribe gazed at the fire barrier with a naive determination that they could somehow defend their keep should the terrifying creature emerge.
"Because you deserve that image. Your father will be pleased of your heroic act."
"How dare you, I do not need your sympathy."
I was beginning to understand that the boy was ruled by pride - it was not his fault, it was teachings that were instilled in all males by their fathers - and I had learned not to take his immediate responses at face value. He seemed to have caught on to what he had said, bowing his head slightly.
"I'm sorry, it's just - "
"Please. Don't be."
He smiled, but I knew it was not because he was happy - the event which had occurred was far too troubling for that - but it reassured the both of us. I smiled right back at him, not entirely as scared of what had happened as I had been moments before, and that was when we saw her, the grieving wife consoled by many mothers as word began to spread of her husband's demise...
*
It would take days for messengers to branch out to all corners of O' Rflew, summoning leaders of each respective tribe to converge for an unprecedented council, but it proved a furious sight when they finally arrived. Our sparring lessons with father were postponed as the chieftain found himself engrossed in his duties, yet the boys who were taught alongside me under his instruction missed the daily routine of sparing and learning. They organized sessions of their own, though they were little more than sporadic fights and tournaments, and the techniques they deployed were amateur at best. I had taken it upon myself to fill father's shoes in his absence, but I had learned as much as they, and thus found myself repeating several of his lessons in an effort to drill them inside their minds. The boy who saved me proved the most attentive of them all, parrying and blocking and stabbing and slicing and attacking with various degrees of success. He would often spar alongside me as demonstration, and although I had defeated him every time, I had now found myself using a considerable amount of effort and energy before I could finally find a hole in his defenses. He would look at me after every bout with a smile, realizing his own improvement. I had heard that his father praised his only son when word spread that he had saved the chieftain's daughter, and the physical scar that covered his forehead had disappeared over time.
I lied for the sake of his pride. I know he would have wanted his father to praise him for his own efforts, but sometimes you must learn to appease some people in this world.
Mother gave sermons every night, unifying the crowds as they collectively prayed to H'ghikl to protect them and comfort them in this uncertain era. Funerals had been held for the men who had been slain on the dragon's behalf - although one was initiated purely for show, as there was no body to bury - and people soon grew afraid of the barriers which partitioned us from...whatever was out there.
The twin moons had just finished their descent from the cold sky, surrendering their domain to the sunlight of a new day, when the first chieftains of the southern land arrived. They had channeled upstream, docking their impressive vessels as far as the meanders would allow them, and concluded the rest of their journey on foot. They wore blue and black - the symbolic colors of the water element, and the sea which provided for them, while their hair and beards were a ghostly-white. They looked out of place here, sailors and captains washed aboard mainland, and they certainly expressed their discomfort with moans and groans as they longed for the sound of the sea once more. I understood their resentment - I had on more than one occasion expressed deep displeasure when my family and I traveled to their domain at the last season of the fall. One normally resented being away from home. The next chieftains arrived from the east, where the main concentration of forest growth resided. I had not yet traveled to their corner of our land, but I had heard vivid tales from mother of their creativeness. They had constructed their own tents above ground, nesting in the trees that were also home to various other creatures, ranging from the most colorful of birds to the most timid of monkeys. They had further to travel than our sea-faring brethren, but showed no signs of discomfort at their arrival and their destination. Their leader stood impressively tall, towering over even my father by a full head and wrapped in an elaborate tunic, but he was quick to kneel when presenting himself to his superior. Father welcomed him like an old friend, fitting considering how they grew up together. I had scarcely believed what mother had told me when I was but a girl, but the evidence was definitely visible from the way they made small-talk seem like the most riveting conversation of their lives, and the way their smiles seemed etched onto their faces. It reminded me of my relationship with L'evo, and I waited with hastened breath for her and her respective leader to arrive.
My heart sank immeasurably when I discovered that when the very man had arrived from the west, my friend was nowhere to be seen.
More and more had gathered - leaders of others as well as their personal guard and representatives, and a feast was prepared to fill empty stomachs. Every family in our tribe offered their homes - and their food - to accommodate their new guests, and they replied with sincere gratitude and gifts from their homelands. I had witnessed one sea-faring man hand a container full of sand to a surprised yet delighted youth, staring at his present with the wonder of one who had not yet seen the crash of little waves and the grains of sand which tickled your bare feet once stepped on. The boy stood by my side for this occasion, gathering the wooden weapons from our earlier practice, wrapping them in a piece of cloth and tying the package in string.
"I have not yet learned your name." I reminded him, watching him snicker at the game he invented. I did not know why he found it so humorous to hide that little detail of himself to me - and to tell everyone I would ask to keep up said game for his benefit. It reminded me of the childishness that still resided in him...though I was jealous mostly because I had not thought of such a sinister game myself...
"If you will allow me to defeat you, maybe I will." He responded, and I sighed with a laugh at his latest bet.
"Did I not warn you not to make such wagers?"
"But this is not a wager - more like a statement."
"Your pride is that potent?"
"I am a warrior, pride is all I am!" He replied in deliberate sarcasm, and I could not resist the progress he had made from believing those very words, to joking about what they once meant to him.
"A shame you stowed away your weapons!"
"That is of no burden, dear L'Slrve!"
He reached into the very parchment he had finished wrapping, extracting one wooden sword immediately. I shook my head in amusement, spreading my arms as wide as I could.
"Go right ahead, slay me."
He did just that, swinging the weapon so quickly that for a brief moment I genuinely believed he intended to strike me down the way a real hunter would, only for his weapon to stop inches from my cheek, the sword tapped very lightly off of my neck. It tickled slightly - something I had not known of myself until now.
"A clean kill."
"A very well done, dear warrior. Just wait until father avenges my unfortunate death!"
We giggled at my latest threat, and we watched the group of foreigners converge around an enormous tent - constructed in less than a day specifically for the occasion at hand.
"Your name?"
"It is K'Poer. Was it what you expected?"
"It sounds...nice. It feels like I am meeting you for the first time!"
"Well in that case, it is a pleasure to meet you for the first time, L'Slrve!"
​"Shut up!"
More laughter, but the sound of a horn informed us that the time for amusement was over. He glanced at me for a moment more before we exchanged our goodbyes, and I admitted to myself that I missed him when he turned his back to me in order to return to his family. I was still saddened over L'evo's absence, but I was also glad that she had not seen the very boy I had whined to her about, and ask about my sudden change of heart towards him.
Warriors converged just outside the council tent, and I took my seat alongside my family as our visitors formed themselves into their own factions, standing tall and proud as the proud men they were. I noticed with some disdain that - my mother and I excepted - there were no other women present inside this council. No warrioresses leading their clan, no woman who I could draw on for inspiration.
A shame.
Father cleared his throat, his voice morphing from the kind instructive tone he would use to teach to the authoritative tone of a man whose authority demanded to be recognized. He succeeded in doing just that, silencing all mutters and talk instantly.
"Dear friends. Fellow leaders and chieftains. I have called you all here in the center of O' Rflew, to discuss a dire warning from the gods themselves, and the danger that we now find ourselves in."
Murmured whispers filled the space, until he raised his hand in silence, satisfied when he had done just that.
"Friends, we find ourselves in disturbing times. We had seen the creature for ourselves, and it was not a unintimidating sight. Its body snaked far higher than even the peaks of M'uton F'gthi, made of the same element which the barrier consists of. No doubt you have all witnessed the scorched plains upon your arrival. Take heed in what I say next: We have angered H'ghikl himself!"
Civil until now, some tribes cried in uproar, obviously wary of saying such heretical things directly. Our god had blessed us with prosperity for generations. He had erected the barriers himself to protect us from harm. To insinuate that he had now lost patience with us proved to be information which was very hard to swallow for some. The eastern tribe suffered the most - the most religiously devout of all the tribes - and their chieftain found himself with little choice but to yell for silence on his tribe's behalf. His guard fell silent, though he still had words to say towards his childhood friend.
"Dear D'Nyna - I had known you since we were but boys ourselves, dreaming of the day we would become the most powerful men in all of O' Rflew. I know you speak the truth regarding the monster - and it worries my tribe and those who surround us this harrowing day - but to insinuate that H'ghikl is responsible -"
"But he was!" Mother retaliated, standing upright at glaring at the leader of the eastern tribe with a gaze that could cut down a warrior as cleanly as a freshly-sharpened sword. "It is an undeniable fact that H'ghikl had erected the very walls that surround us! Why would it be deemed heresy to believe that it was also H'ghikl who summoned the dragon to unleash his wrath on whatever we had done to deserve it? This is a warning, and the reason you were called here was to discern if all who follow our command remain loyal to the gods!"
Uproar, from every direction, proved to be the response. Every leader and every individual under their command shouted obscenities towards mother - who simply stared at the scene unfolding around her with a face of stone. Lacking in her bravery, I felt very afraid of the scene around me, not used to such political and religious stupor. Even father's voice could not quell the outrage which ignited, and he shook his head towards mother with an obvious display of disapproval.
I disagreed completely with such a betrayal of trust - a husband should always defend his wife!
"You have the tenacity to call us unloyal?" One man spoke, lost among the crowd. "The dragon was summoned in your tribeland! If you wish to discover that who is disloyal, perhaps you should point fingers towards your own kin first!"
Chants of approval erupted, and mother took one swift look at me and my refusal to believe everything I was told. It proved to last no more than a fleeting moment, but it was enough to deliver the message without ever speaking a word.
Maybe he is right, L'Slrve.
And maybe he is wrong! I answered just as loudly inside my thoughts.
"We must leave no stone unturned as we investigate this divine sign." Father continued, his voice returning to its commanding power. "You may be right, and maybe it is I who has failed to oversee our gods' morals instilled in our young. I must warn you brothers, that while this may be the case, we cannot leave anything to chance! Any one of us could have forced H'ghikl's wrath, and the walls surrounding us proves to be our only clue!"
The brothers he responded so affectionately towards were far from pacified, various chieftains trading insults towards each other as each of them took various sides in this heated argument. I did not wish to add my mind to this bout - only wishing inside that the eruption of words would cease. I was not a master of religion, but what I did know was that an enchanted creature lurked around what was supposed to protect us...which meant that they were guarding them for a reason.
And perhaps we were so close to the fiery wall at hand...perhaps it thought we were planning to escape...
Perhaps there was something out there after all - why would a dragon guard nothing at all?
I was about to add my voice - and my epiphany - when the tribes suddenly fell into silence...and it was not because of father.
A chieftain stood at the very edge of the tent, more exposed to the elements than any of us. His skin was pale, and his graying hair surrounded many scars and bruises. His eyes were deadly - set in grey and holding all the cold emotion that color provided. I could not remember his like before, but as his own clan advanced towards the tent, it suddenly dawned on me just who they could be - the tales of nightmares spoken by mother.
I'ghtskn - exiles.
"You are not welcome here." Father responded, dripping in anger. The recipient of his emotion smirked, adding his frame to the group of chieftains already present - who parted as he advanced towards me and my family.
"You gather all who wield power, D'Nyna. You are not the only ruler in this land, no matter what your father had proclaimed!"
My grandfather was too ill to be present at this council - despite his protests - and the casual mockery of his name and his former influence raced my blood into boiling point. I instantly viewed this enormous man as a threat, someone who should not have traveled to stand before us.
"Father was right to exile you." He responded calmly, moving towards his foe. "H'ghikl does not look down favorably on those who murder their young because of a deformation!"
"My child would never grow into the man our tribe deserved!"
"You no longer have a tribe. Remember that."
The same smirk returned, and his clan gathered around him...blades drawn.
"Such a naive leader. I had formed a clan of the very people your family had expelled from your land, D'Nyna, and the destruction of your land at the hands of such a creature only serves to remind us of one thing: Your reign as chieftain has passed."
More outcry, but I noticed that the chieftains surrounding us sounded more...mute than they had been before, a seed of fear planted in each of their hearts at the sight of such an imposing individual.
"You will leave these lands at once." Father threatened, moving closer to his prey. "And you will never foul these plains with your presence ever again."
"Such dangerous words you make, chieftain, but I have come here to enact our divine birthright."
His statement stalled father's advance, and every other man gasped in shocked breath. Mother immediately placed herself between them and I, reaching for her husband.
"Leave." Father commanded, but the smirk etched onto his adversary's face simply widened in retaliation.
"I will leave when I am defeated in combat. But you cannot stop me from enacting my clause to challenge you for the right to rule all tribes under the collective banner of the I'ghtskn​. I challenge you, D'Nyna, to a Y'Ko L'el L'Slrve!"
​My name was called - the ancient word for power. It was bestowed on me from birth on the day grandfather successfully defeated a foolish man who challenged our family right to rule over our land. I had heard the title once from mother's lips when she described his victory - the bout of power. It was a divine right bestowed by H'ghikl himself for those who wished to remove those who were seen as unworthy to unify our people. Father could not deny his request...his pride forbade that.
"As you wish." He stated, allowing himself one glance towards his family - and into my eyes - before he faced his opponent once more. "But I will assure you that once I defeat you, you will be slaughtered under the weight of your heresy, as will all those in your company."
None of them responded to the grave threat D'Nyna had given, not so much as a subtle shuffling of feet to those who considered running. They stood their ground, and the conflict was set. Mother rushed towards her love, begging him to stop this foolish endeavor, but she was a woman of great faith and spirituality - and she understood more than any other individual just how unbreaking the Y'Ko L'el L'Slrve was.
We left our tent, and I immediately sought out K'Poer. He stood at his home, basking in his father's praise, and he immediately turned from joyful to fearful when I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the bout. His family followed, and we spoke not a word until we arrived at the circle of people surrounding father and his challenger. D'Nyna wielded our family blade - L'Sondu - while the nightmarish opponent received a weapon of his own from one of his devout followers. The circle grew wider, allowing more room for both combatants to participate, and more and more of our kin added to it until every man woman and child had accumulated here. For a brief moment, all we could hear was the burning of the laval wall behind us, burning with the same intensity that it always had. I gazed towards its aqua equivalent in the distance. I immediately thought of L'evo, and what she would have thought about what had happened.
Father roared a might yell, and charged towards his adversary, blade drawn.
They immediately clashed together - metal against metal. They delivered fine slices in the air, with their counterpart parrying and avoiding each blow seamlessly. The outcast lunged for the kill early, but he should have known that father was a masterful tactician, and had anticipated such drastic measures. He side-stepped, avoiding the tip of the blade, and proceeded to jab his knee right into his enemy's ribs. The castaway fell to one knee, but quickly regained his posture as he struggled to avoid father's final blow. He was lucky, but such luck would not hold out forever, as father began to take advantage and unleashed all his years of training and hunting. Each strike honed from years of practice, each defensive block a testament to his strength and skill, and each countermeasure designed to hurt the very man who dared challenge our family line and their right to rule. Swords sung as they collided against each other, glistening in the sun as they momentarily blinded me, and I felt myself clutching at K'Poer in outright fear of the potential outcome. He allowed me to use him in such a way, the two of us joining dozens more pair of eyes as the fight wore on.
Both father and his opponent continued to wear each other down - D'Nyna succeeded in slicing his leg, drawing a faint amount of blood from the wound, while the exile found his own weapon in contact with fathers chest, slicing and leaving an ugly scar in its place. Both men continued to stand, however, and proceeded to punish each other with strike after strike after strike. Sweat began to bead down my forehead as I waited in hushed breath for father to deliver the final blow, to find a hole in his enemy's defenses so he could capitalize. Every time he seemed capable of doing so, however, the outcast leader would find a way to evade or to counter, and more scars grew on both men's bodies. D'Nyna raised L'Sondu, no longer blessed with the patience to allow his contender to remain alive for much longer, when I heard the same familiar growl emanating from the very place I feared it would come from. Everybody turned their attention from the bout, and concentrated at the source of the noise, and the barrier that it had originated from.
No - this cannot be happening again!
The rumble reverberated throughout the very ground beneath our feet, and I had instantly deduced - with horror - that the dragon we had witnessed could very well have been right below us.
And that was when I witnessed something far more real...and horrifying in every way.
The exile took advantage of the distraction, while my father had turned his back to his opponent, the desire to ensure our family keep remained safe would ultimately be the last action he would ever take. I witnessed the sword emerge from his chest, dripped in the blood it had past through. From that moment, my life had become unbearable - as if a great wave of emotion crashed right into my unprepared self. I cried in anguish, and tears filled my vision when I saw the weapon leave his body, returning to its owner as our chieftain - and my father - tumbled to the ground and laid still.
"L'Slrve no!" K'Poer cried, ensuring that his hold was so tight I could not escape, but I wanted more than anything else to rush to my father's side and protect him from the creature before him, standing over his fallen foe with the same confident smirk and the same victorious weapon. He placed one foot on his prey's back - an absolute insult which tinted my vision in the red of rage - and that was when I saw mother tumble in destitution. It had hurt me painfully to witness what I had seen, I could scarcely imagine what this had done to his wife.
"As decreed by the gods themselves, and as victor of the Y'Ko L'el L'Slrve, I pronounce myself Chieftain of Chieftains!" The barbaric insult of a man proclaimed in his rough haggard voice, covered in the scars of battle. His men cheered and joined his side, as all who gathered found themselves looking on in horror at what had happened. Women wept, men covered their children's eyes, but there was no disguising the death which had occurred. K'Poer's grip was far too strong to let me go - and I pondered just how powerful he could be when he wanted to be - so I found myself dragging him alongside me as I reached for my father, landing before his knees and sobbing openly at my loss.
Before a bloodied sword was pointed towards the both of us.
"You've earned your victory, but H'ghikl will strike you down in fury if you touch my child!" Mother claimed, but only found members of the pale clan rush to her and held her wrists, effectively trapping her. I tried to run towards her and help, but something painful and hard struck me on the side of my head, and I fell hard on the grass below. My vision swam with the stars, and I tasted the unmistakable tang of blood on my lips. I could make out noises, but not the voices they were attached to, but one word signaled itself out from the others in its clarity.
Exile.
Comments must contain at least 3 words
Chapter: 2
I was slightly confused when first reading this. Is this taking place in the same land where L'Slvre lives, just in far off lands? Or are they on opposite sides of the walls?
The beginning was a bit slow paced for my liking with the whole mass bit, if possible I would suggest finding a way to 'spice' it up a bit. Just my opinion, of course, but I hope it's taken into account as it might help engage the readers more.
The religion you have going seems like a much darker version of Christianity&Catholisism. Is the Vicario de Dios supposed to be a representation of the Pope? If so, you did a great job portraying it.
There weren't many errors I spotted but here are a few I took note of:
[Flame's]
[It was too large on me, it was clear that I was still in need of growing some] This seems like a repetitive sentence to me. The usage of 'it' at the start of the sentence and after the break really disrupted the flow as I read it.
The description of the crown Ira wears seems better placed when he sees his reflection.
[I decided that the night we had decided our friendship was no longer worth saving.] This is another repetitive sentence.
There's also a part concerning the rumor of the dragon that resides within the wall. My suggestion would be to move that close to the part where Ira first stands near the wall. It just seems as though it gives away the ending, and you know what is coming after that.
The description and emotion in this chapter was pretty well written. I would just keep an eye out for your sentence placement, and over use of one word per sentence to avoid that repetition.
Well done.
April 1, 2015 | Chris C. Gladsom
Thank you for continuing to comment!
L'Slvre and Ira do live on opposing sides of the wall, yes. Sorry if that was unclear to you. We'll have to brainstorm on how to make that more clear. I suppose the descriptions of the land they live on wasn't indication enough? :D
Apologies for the slow-going nature in the beginning, but that was slightly my intention. Catholic mass isn't usually full festivities, and is really 'to the book' when it comes to ceremonies from what I remember. I'm not sure how to spice it up, but I'll take a look see anyhow.
I'm glad you've put two and two together, and saw the connection to their religion and Catholicism. It's what I was going for :) And yes, the Vicario is supposed to be my version of the Pope.
I'll go back and edit, thanks for letting me know about the errors! I usually miss seeing them, so it's a big help. I'll also take into account your suggestion about where to place the rumour. You're right, it does slightly give away the ending.
Thanks again!
April 2, 2015 | Mighty (Emi) Pen (Valladarez)