I love using and reading cliffhangers^^
This chapter was pretty good. Seems as though the action is about to begin. I wonder what all this commotion is about...
You'll see, you'll see.
well the darkness from the legend is probably guilty in this occasion. good chapter, Keyari!
Thanks, I will spoil nothing till you've read it yourself!
nice chapter. honestly, it's hard for me NOT to leave a cliffhanger when i write. I think the end of the prolouge to The Rise of Elizibeth wasn't very cliff-hangery, but then again, i've been letting my writing gather dust. I've run out of paper and ideas.
Thanks, ammy. I will help you come up with some ideas later.
As much as I hate having to point out mistakes, here is one Keyari, up to you if you correct that.
During the night there was many noises. (were) And I don't know if it's really a mistake, you tell me, lolz.
Anyway, good update, it was shorter but good nonetheless. Could this be similar to what happened in the past? Is the darkness returning?
Thanks Ats, I edited that. Just wait and see!
Okay, sorry for the wait, AGAIN! This chapter is longer with lots of information in return.
Chapter 4
I awoke early in the morning to find a vast grey sky. No sunlight passed through my windows. Unlike the commotion of the night, not a single noise could be heard in the village, not even the sound of an animal. The grey sky brought cold, and I immediately got dressed in my normal attire. This time I made sure to attach my daggers in their sheaths at my side, hanging from my belt.
I walked cautiously down the staircase. Downstairs, I found Father and Uncle Harry sitting in their chairs beside the fireplace. Neither of them were speaking, they only seemed lost in thought. I came out of the stairwell and sat down next to them, hoping to break the silence. All at once, they both stirred and looked down at me.
“Morning already? Is that so? I’ll begin to prepare us a breakfast.” Uncle Harry said.
Father sighed with relief and went to help Uncle Harry in our small kitchen. I looked outside at the streets. I found that the roads were wet and dirty. Any gardens that had been planted nearby our house had been devastated. Chicken coups were burned and no animals wandered the streets. I felt terrible.
What could have done this? Who? Why would anyone want to hurt our village?
* * *
After breakfast, Uncle Harry decided to come with us to the Library for a while. No one was out on the streets yet; no one dared to leave the safety of their homes. When people saw us on the dirty streets, doors opened, and people finally came outside to check out the damage. Not a single house had been touched, but everything else had been destroyed. Even Lake Gale was polluted with debris. I nearly came to tears from that fact. I hurried my way into the Library, and sat down to read. I would try to escape into the pages of a good book once again. I couldn’t allow myself to fix my thoughts on what had happen last night.
A half hour passed by, and even with my efforts to keep my thoughts away from the night before, my thoughts were still fixed on the previous night. I put the book down onto my table. I heard a door open and Father came out of his study. He walked over to my table and tried to manage a smile.
“Tekara… Why don’t you have the day off? You should go find Aya and Eli. I’m sure you guys will want to talk. I don’t think we’ll get much business today anyway.” He told me.
I nodded and stood, but I left my things there.
“Thanks Father.” I said with a quiet voice.
I found Eli and Aya by our tree, only this time; they were sitting down below it. Or what was left of it.
“I don’t know who did this, but they’re going to pay for it!” Eli exclaimed.
Aya had tears coming to her eyes and tears began forming in mine. The tree was burned, but a most of the trunk remained. It was scorched. The remnants of the branches, however, were scattered carelessly across the ground. Most of the tree was a tall stump standing in the ground with a pile of burned branches thrown around beside it. It stood tall but sad, as if it had gone through a long war and knew its death was near.
“Why? Why would anyone do this? We’ve done nothing!” Aya cried out of the silence.
“I… I don’t know. We have nothing to recover from this. We may never know who, or what, did this. They might strike again.” I said.
With that said, we started picking up some of the branches and piling them. Why we were doing so we weren’t sure. It felt right in a way, the tree could be considered an old friend, and deserved respect.
I found three small branches, about a hand’s length in size each, that had been untouched by the wicked flames. I called Aya and Eli over and gave them both one. I slipped mine beneath my belt. The tree had been a very sturdy one, so even the smallest branches were thick and strong.
When we had finished piling the burnt branches, we left. The sky remained grey, and the cold never left. We walked back to the Library. The wet roads made our boots muddy, so we took off our boots once when had gotten inside, and started looking around. I, of course, knew where nearly everything was in the building, but some items in this place that were unseen by even my eyes.
I walked upstairs, motioning for Aya and Eli to follow. Upstairs, there were a lot of books, maps, and a few scrolls. Up here on the second floor was where my father had placed most of the older books, some maps he no longer needed, and some scrolls he had recovered for people to take a look at. I walked over to the maps.
“Maps? What would we do with those?” Eli asked as he saw me reaching for one.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never really taken the time to look at any of them. Maybe we can find something out. We could find where the intruders came from!” I replied.
Aya looked at me, her eyes were calling out. She knew something we didn’t.
“Aya? What is it? You’re staring at me!” Eli and I said at the same time.
“I… I’ve looked at these maps before. I don’t know who lives in what land, but I think I know which one could help us…” she whispered.
Eli and I looked at each other and then moved out of the way so that she could get past. She dug through all of them until she found the one she was looking for.
“Here it is… I think. It shows the entire land and every individual country that thrives on it. It even shows the ocean bordering it. We’re here, somewhere in the middle.” Aya said, pointing.
“Hmm. But the enemies could have come from anywhere. We don’t even know what direction they came from. Even then…” Eli pointed out.
“I know. I just… I thought it might help…” Aya said, her voiced lined with guilt.
I sat next them, listening to the argument. I cracked after an idea came to me.
“Aya! Eli! Listen. We’re not going to get anywhere arguing about things. The only way we can figure this out is if we find out who they are. They could try to strike again tonight! This entire land has had enemies before and we have no idea if these are enemies of old or new. Why they attacked us is not to our knowledge. I think we should stay on guard tonight. I can try and get Uncle Harry to help us. But Aya, I think you should keep the map for now. It may come to use later. Eli… Well, you guys stay here. I’ll be right back.” I told them, my mind still processing all the ideas I had just come up with. I had a plan…
* * *
They nodded at me as I ran towards the stairs. I raced down them and went to the door to Father’s study. I had nearly turned the handle when I heard voices.
“I never thought he would return… Never! He was supposed to be slain! Now he’s back… And he’s sent
shadows to our village! What are we to do Henry?” a gruff voice said. It was Uncle Harry’s.
“He was supposed to be slain, that is correct. He was. I have made sure of that. The Legend has proof. But the sword… Tirion, it broke into three, remember? When it broke a couple hundred years ago, he began rising again. But… He was never supposed to have this amount of power.” another voice said. It was Father’s voice, kind but serious.
Tirion… The sword from the Legend! Why had my father never told me more about the tale, even when I had asked? I opened the door. Uncle Harry and Father turned quickly and faced me, terror on their faces.
“Tekara?” Father said. His face was still filled with horror.
“What else about the Legend have you not told me? Our village gets ransacked and you choose not to tell me? I… I…” I shouted.
“Tekara… I was waiting for the right time. I didn’t need you to worry! Please forgive me… I will tell you all I know if you let me.” My father sighed. He relized he had made a mistake. Uncle Harry pulled over a chair for me, then sat down in his.
“I will tell you what you need to know. Here goes…”
* * *
“The original story I told you was of truth, but many parts I left out. You and your friends were so young when I first told the story; I knew you needn’t know of such darkness. The man of the tale was named Aeroth. After he slew the darkness, he returned here, to our village, where all his descendants remain. We are the last descendants of Aeroth, and you are his Heir.
Aeroth was a traveler, originally from our village. He wandered very far and lived int peace in this wild. He learned much from his travels and from this learned of the regaining strength of the darkness. For the darkness that the elves had weakened was growing once more. He shared the news with the elf maidens, for he had traveled to the land many a time before, and he found neutrality and peace there. The sword was lent to him as you know and he went off to defeat the darkness.
The being behind the darkness, was a man of power, who wielded black magic. He had quickly gained control over his realm, but his hunger for power brought him down from the far North, and into the Southern countries. The land that was not far below of him was the Elvish land and it was attacked at once. Many fair trees were burned and minions of shadow invaded. Light from the center of the land burst out and all had either evaded the light and left at once, or had been immediately killed by the burst.
No single form stepped in the land for many years, until Aeroth appeared with the sword. Again, as you know, the darkness was slain, but to defeat the darkness, Aeroth’s sword, Tirion, shattered into three parts, on the final blow. He returned the sword to the elves, still broken, and they thanked him dearly. As a reward for his actions, the Elf Lady bearing the name Dae, took off her necklace of silver and stone off then placed it upon his neck. It contained a single green stone with a chain of pure silver. She told him that part of her power resided within it, and he treasured it till the last of his days.
It was passed down through the generations, with the story. Our village soon became the only realm that remembered the Tale.”
* * *
“
Our village. You bear upon your neck the necklace that was given to Aeroth the day he slew the darkness. You have part of the remaining elvish power.” Father finished.
I thought about all of this for a moment, trying to take all of it into account.
“But Father, what about the darkness? What was it? Who was behind it?” I asked suddenly.
He nodded and replied after a minute of thought.
“The man behind the darkness was named Eorre. He controlled his realm, which is far north above us. When he regained his strength before, and Aeroth was placed to defeat him, he grew larger and taller than any normal man. The magic that supported him caused his body to become a shadow being. He took control of the rest of the shadows and they became his minions. He was said to wear large cloaks of a black color, with a hood that covered most of his face, so that only his bright red eyes could be seen. They could pierce the soul of any weak man and his realm was easily befallen. He was later then called by the name Ergoneth, which meant
Night, in Elvish.”
“So were the beings that attacked our village shadows? Were they after… Me?” I asked curiously. Fear rang in my voice.
Father got the look on his face that said he really didn’t want to tell me.
“I… I’m not sure. They know our village is the homeland of Aeroth. Most likely, they didn’t even know of your presence…” Father began, until he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Haha, another cliffhanger!!
I caught a few typos, if you want to know which ones, just let me know before I leave. More than typos you just forgot to add a few words, really. Anyway, very nice and well detailed and described, I loved it.