Thursday, December 24, 2009

Embyr's Light - Scene #2

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I wish you all the best over the next few days and I hope that there is plenty of joy that accompanies you and your loved ones. May God continually bless you in all that you do! I'll be gone over the next few days, but I'll be back early next week before New Years! There's plenty of people to visit this holiday season! Best of wishes!

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All right! So here's scene #2 of the first story I ever wrote. [I apologize for the length].

The challenge spanned 12 weeks in length and each week, a different picture was posted each week and from that picture, the story had to derive. Some of the pictures are really... different, as you'll soon see, but others were pretty cool.

Anywho, enjoy this week's scene!

~Rachel
God's Little Princess


A knock sounded on Anita’s door announcing Sally, who carried a tray of hot chocolate in one hand. “You thirsty?”

Smiling slightly, Anita took a mug, her mind making frantic calculations. “I’d love some, thank you.”

Leaving the door ajar, Sally pulled a chair to the bed and sat in front of Anita. “So, tell me what happened.”

“My services have been requested. I'm to find the Embyr Stone. Only a poem as my clue and a threat as my pay,” Anita sighed and sipped from the hot chocolate before going on. “She has Runil, Sally,” she breathed through gritted teeth.

Sally paled and rested her hand on Anita’s shoulder. “I see you’ve made your decision and I’ve made mine. I think I can help you.”

“What can you do, Sally? Besides your usual provisions I mean?”

“My friend Theo lives just north of town and she is a fairly accomplished psychic. I’m sure that she’d be willing to help you if you went and asked a favor. She can maybe give you an idea of where you can start the search.”

Anita’s spirits rose and she cupped the mug tighter in her fingers. “Would she help for free or would I have to pay?”

“Let me worry about her fee, alright?” Sally paused and looked out the window at the dead of night before going on. “Now you have a horse so travel won’t be a problem. You are a fair archer but a swordswoman you are not. You need a companion to help you on your travels.”

“That’d be nice and all, but I don’t have time to hunt out an employee. I’m leaving first thing tomorrow.”

“I know, but I already have someone. Come in!” she called towards the door. Anita gave her a funny look before turning to look at the tall man who walked through the door. Skinny but muscular, blond hair and blue eyes, the man smiled at the women. Letting a gasp escape her lips, Anita jumped up to hug the stranger. “Ethan! What are you doing here?”

“I stopped for the night and heard you were in trouble.” His eyes held hers. “Is Runil really in trouble?” She looked away and nodded. “Then I will help you on the quest for this Embyr Stone.”

Anita squeezed him tighter. “Thank you.”

Taking seats, the friends talked late into the night before finally bidding sweet dreams and heading to their beds. Anita, though worried, soon woke to the pale rays of dawn resting on her eyelids. Grabbing her sack and adjusting her cloak she headed downstairs to find Sally busy in the kitchen and Ethan at the bar. “Good morning all.”

“Good morning Nita!” Sally beamed as she laid the breakfast plate before her friend. “The horses are saddled and ready, food has been packed and the payment for Theo is wrapped in the white paper in the left saddle bag.”

Anita munched her toast, tears glistening in her bright eyes. “Thank you my friend, this means so much to me.”

Sally went pink and came round to pull Anita into a hug. “You scalawag! Now don't you dare think about killing yourself. I won't hear of it!” Anita sniffed and smiled.

“Don't worry mum, I'll keep her safe.”

Sally pulled a ladle from her apron, and one arm around Anita, tapped Ethan playfully. “Don't sass me boy.” They both laughed trading jokes as Anita hurriedly finished her meal. Saying goodbyes one last time and with Ethan at her side, they mounted the horses and headed north for Theo's.


At a gallop, the ride took fifteen minutes and soon Anita spotted a column of smoke arising about the tree line. Wind urged them onward, leading them into a clearing. Before them was a small cottage merged into the rock cliff behind it. Picketing their horses, Ethan and Anita unpacked the bribe and strode to the door which opened to reveal a lady dressed in white from head to toe with white hair, gray eyes and pale skin. Theo was in many ways, intimidating.

“Hi, I'm—”

“Anita and he's Ethan,” Theo finished for her. “You seek the answers to some questions and you have brought me a present.” She smiled. “Please come in, I don't often meet friends of Sally.”

Stepping through the door, they found themselves in a wide room with burgundy walls. Paintings of faraway landscapes hung beside book shelves overflowing with books and in the center of the room was a table, set for three. They each took a seat and Anita placed the parcel before Theo as the hostess poured them tea.

“You're good, Ma'am,” Ethan said as he reached for a cookie.

“Theo will do. Now tell me, one lump or two?”

“Theo, if you don't mind, I'd prefer to be on the quest as soon as possible and Sally said you could—”

“I understand dear. We'll save the tea for later then.” Standing now, Theo walked over to a door set into the cliff. “Come along then and watch your step.”

Dark and never ending, the passageway cut into the earth weaving downwards. Moss sprouted on the walls and ceiling emitting an eerie green glow. In the distance, a light shone, getting brighter with every step.

The cavern, for that is what it was, stretched into the distance, disappearing into the shadows. Stalagmites and stalactites adorned the space, some joining and forming large columns. A few feet from the stairs was the pool. Circular and two meters wide, the pool was the source of white light.

Theo approached the water's edge and motioned for Anita and Ethan to come closer. “What is it you wish to know?” she asked in a far off voice, gray eyes focused on the center of the pool.

Anita was silent as she removed the poem from her cloak. She studied the phrases over and over again, looking for the biggest clue. Finally, in a polite voice she asked, “What is made of ice and fire?”

Theo stared into the depths at the white light for a moment while Anita and Ethan hung back, not wanting to see the images she saw. “Ice and Fire. Fire and Ice, used to form the black of night.” The words rang loudly in the cavern as Anita stared at Theo, as if seeing her for the first time. Theo turned from the pool and said one more word, “Obsidian.” And then she fell.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

My Writing! -> Embyr's Light - Scene 1

Happy Wednesday! Last one before the Holidays start! I'm so excited! I'm working on an Essay at the moment so I don't have time for a long post, but I was thinking about old things that I had written and found a story I wrote in a challenge on Cleanplace.net in the winter of 2008. It's the first story I ever completed and I felt like sharing it. It's twelve scenes in total so you'll have to keep coming back to see the whole thing. Hehe...

As we go on, I'll tell you more about the actual challenge. It's not the best I've ever written (because it is my FIRST FULL LENGTH STORY! YAY!), but I had lots of fun writing it, so enjoy!

~Rachel
Made to be HIS child

Night was fast approaching as Anita hurried to the Drango Tavern. After visiting her Elvin grandparents, she was eager to return home and see her best friend Runil. A strong gust of wind blew through the streets, urging her onward as if it knew something approached from the glooming clouds blanketing the sky. The door opened under her touch releasing the many sounds and smells as men and women enjoyed their warm meals on the cold August night.

Cloaked from head to toe, Anita headed to the bar and sat on a tall stool. Lowering her hood she smiled as she said, “Good evening, Sally.” The bartender turned and raised her head. As she saw Anita she grinned.

“Anita!” she said in a booming voice that would have been heard down the street on a quieter night. “How have you been?”

“Well, thank you,” Anita replied while accepting the warm mug Sally handed to her. “And yourself?”

“Never better! Business is going splendidly thanks to all our new Elvin brothers from the east. But whatcha doing back so soon? Weren’t you with your mum’s folk?”

“Yea, but I was missing Runil, we’ve barely been apart since the catastrophe and all so it just wasn’t the same.”

Sally’s face fell. “I’m afraid I gots some bad news, Nita.”

Anita heard the sorrow in her friend’s voice and asked anxiously, “What? What happened?”

"He's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean gone?"

The sound of the door being forced open stopped the reply. A stranger stood in the door frame. All talking ceased as the tavern took in the sight. A woman with long curly blonde hair gazed around the room, her grey eyes searched and stopped when she found Anita’s face. She was tall with red lips and a curved figure. She wore a tight black blouse with light brown breeches and around her shoulder draped a magenta cloak.

All talking had ceased as the tavern took in the stranger. Opening her perfect red lips she asked, “Anita Iatna?”

“That's me,” Anita said, slipping off her stool. The woman was a head taller than her and definitely beautiful. Anita had pale skin and wild brown hair in comparison. Her nose was sharp and her cheeks hollow. Her chest was still flat even though she was 17 and she was skinny. Only her bright green eyes showed promise of hidden beauty. “Can I help you?”

The woman smiled, a cold, cruel smile. “Yes you can. I'd like to talk to you privately.”

“Please would be nice,” Anita muttered under her breath, but she could tell this woman meant trouble, so smiling at Sally she walked down a hall on the left side of the bar, towards the conference rooms.

The tunnel went deep into the bar and many doors branched off leading to different storage rooms. At last they arrived at the end of the hall where a windowless room waited for their chat. Once in the room, the woman shut the door. “I need your services Anita,” she said, her voice urgent and harsh at the same time.

“I'm afraid I can't help a nameless client.”

She scowled. “My name's Cynthia and that's all you need to know,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Why should I help you?”

“Because you have nothing better to do and Runil would want you to help me.”

Anita paled slightly. “What do you know about Runil?”

Cynthial sneered. “Enough. Now do I have your attention?”

Anita nodded, her brain working furiously, trying to find the reason this woman had targeted her. Was she somehow the key to something? I know I'm a relic hunter and all, but if this is about some old artifact, an artifact that will hurt Runil... her thoughts trailed off as Cynthia began speaking again.

“I need you to find the Embyr Stone.”

“And you can't find it yourself?” Anita asked.

“I am too tall to get in the location,” Cynthia replied, eyes cold behind rapidly blinking lids.

Anita couldn't put her finger on it, but the situation made her uneasy. Something's wrong here, but what? she thought and then asked, “This stone is important because?”

“Lets just say without the stone, there will be one less human on this earth.”

Anita's face paled as Cynthia grinned, but even though she was scared for Runil, she couldn't help but feel curious. Who would kill for a stone?

“I thought you'd understand. Now, I need it within a week so you only have 7 days.”

“That won't be enough time! I don't even know where to begin looking or what this stone can do, where it was last seen and so on.”

Cynthia searched her cloak until she withdrew a small slip of paper from its folds. “Here,” she said placing it on the table. “Good luck and don't try to weasel out. I will know.” And with that she turned and left the room.

Anita sat still, stunned in the silence and slowly reached for the paper. On it read a short poem:
Found in a place of Ice & Fire
My core is bound in light wire
Strength is given to you who seek
To aid and help all who are weak
The rest of the paper was empty, as if the rest had been forgotten. The Embyr Stone, she thought. Oh boy, it looks like I'm on another quest and I'm not prepared in the least. Standing, she place the paper in the folds of her jacket and headed to the door.

Back in the crowded bar, talking had resumed and Sally was busy serving new customers. Spotting Anita, her eyes grew serious, contradicting her merry features and asking silent questions. Anita reached for her regular room key and mouthed, “Tonight,” before slipping silently up the stairs. She had some thinking to do.

Things I've learned about France (or at least Normandy)

Well there we go, my second European country. In some ways, very similar to England (a lot of meat and potatoes, fancy churches, pay toilets...