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Monday, August 31, 2015
The King's Challenge #32
TKC 32
When dawn eventually finds us, we are able to see where we
are. The plateau rises above us, but it has less presence, for we are on ground
higher than where the lower city was raised. Here there is more rock, less
marsh.
We are also a fair way south of Normur, but this south is
not near far enough away from the threat in the heavens. We cannot stay here.
Damin has a map he retrieved from the shack on his outcrop. He
removes it from an oilskin of protection inside his runic. “Many have died
possessing this,” he murmurs to me.
I see why. Our maps tend to reveal only the uplands, and
only that which is east of the plateau and north of Normur. According to our
maps, the rest of this world does not exist. Damin’s shows the south and the
west.
Mirlin hunkers nearby. He is staring at me. “What do you
know of times before?”
“Mirlin is a historian,” Damin explains.
I blink at the older man. “I know there was a war a long
time ago and it is the reason we live on high ground today. The plateau serves
as a wall against incursion.”
Mirlin nods. “This is true, but are you aware when the war
happened?”
I shake my head. I assume a long time ago, beyond living
memory.
“More than two thousand years ago,” Mirlin states. “There
were two empires, the Ilfin and the Glonu, and they fought for territory. Few
lived north of the plateau due to the cold, but eventually the Ilfin were
pushed into the uplands. Loss of life was catastrophic on both sides, thus here
at the wall ceasefire was called. The immediate lowlands became neutral territory.”
“How do you know this?” I ask, staring at the map.
Friday, August 28, 2015
The King's Challenge #31
TKC 31
The torrential rain drums out sound, but I am yet amazed by
the silence behind me. I hear nothing, not even a child crying out in fear or wonder.
Not daring to look around, in the event the action loses me the forward path, I
begin to question whether anyone follows.
Damin, are they with
me, I think. My answer comes when an image of a blue flower appears in my
mind’s eye. Well. That is a different talent to seeing and hearing, but now is
not the time to question Damin.
I go on.
The path is ankle deep water amid curving walls of swaying
liquid. It is the strangest sight. It is also beyond frightening, for those shifting
barriers are almost at head height. If I falter but once, we are doomed.
I cannot tell how many hours pass, but eventually I realise I
am climbing. By slow degrees my shoulders emerge into the open night air, then
my waist, thighs, and soon I am splashing in genuine ankle swirls. I am on high
ground.
Something warns me to stand there without glancing back to
see how the others fare. I must maintain the path until the last has crossed
also. For what feels like eternity I simply stand, looking ahead.
People swirl around me as they pass, and no one says a word.
I think Damin warned them to be silent until all are safe. Finally I feel him
at my back and his hands settle onto my shoulders.
“Lyra, it is done,” he whispers.
I focus.
Before me is a host of survivors, every one with a hand over
a heart. It is homage, and it stirs me as little else has. My tears emerge
then, of gratefulness and utter exhaustion.
I turn into Damin’s arms. I weep as they enclose me.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
The King's Challenge #30
TKC 30
By nightfall it has started raining again. Great torrents
pummel us and the land. Within an hour of its renewal, the water level has
risen. Walking out, as Damin suggests, will not be easy. In fact, it is now
more difficult to achieve.
Everyone congregates as the lowest point of the outcrop. Men,
women and children all now depend on me. I see Mirlin and his two henchmen in
the crowd, all three eyeing me doubtfully. Well, they are not alone in that. I have
no idea what to do next.
Damin shifts through the crowd to stand beside me. “I see
blue flowers amid the red suns,” he whispers. “Many here trust in you and are
now calm.”
“Many still fear,” I mutter back.
He nods. “Concentrate on serenity, Lyra. Forget the
doubters.”
“Which direction?” I ask.
“South, always south.”
South, yes, to escape not only these waters, but also the
fireball in the heavens. Damin is right. One does not see the stars here. Few have
realised what is on approach.
It occurs to me that I desire to live. I want also to lead
the community of Grenmassin to safety. It means surviving this night. It means,
I understand, walking out.
As I comprehend what is needed, the way is opened for me. I feel
my feet grow warm, then hot. I have boots on, but I see slivers of light
escaping the seams in the leather. My feet are glowing.
Winking then at Damin, I step into the swirling water. Behind
me I hear a collective breath of expectation. The water parts. With rain
sluicing over my face, I wade further in. The water parts.
“Come,” I say without turning around. I know without doubt
my task now is to look only ahead.
The survivors of lower Normur follow me into the flood.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
The King's Challenge #29
TKC 29
“What is a Delver?” I ask first.
“Someone able to see into minds,” Damin replies. “That is
the simple answer.” He keeps his voice low, for this admission will see him
hung, but he does not look away.
“How are you a Delver?” I ask next.
“We are born with the gift, as you are.” He smiles then. “I
heard you singing once, while I wandered the forest back home. When I tracked
the sound to you, I found you sitting on the flat rock overlooking the river. Your
mouth wasn’t moving, Lyra, and yet you were singing. I thought I was mad or
something and only later understood what had happened.”
I swallow. “You never told me.”
Damin shrugs. “How do you tell someone this?”
“Do you see into all minds?”
“Most, but they are generally images to signify emotions. A red
sun, for instance, means fear … saw many red suns this night.” He pauses to
thread a hand through his fair hair. “When a Delver hears, though, the one he
hears is fated to be his partner. This can be a man or woman. Lucky for me, you
are a woman.” Damin offers a wicked smile.
“Is this why you left?” I whisper.
He nods after a moment. “I heard you all the time. I needed
to find a way to control it. Listening is an invasion of privacy.”
“Can you control it?”
“Yes, but last night I discovered that frenetic action is
able to sunder my holds.” Damin touches my face. “I do not listen, Lyra, to
your innermost thoughts, not anymore, and I will find the means to control this
breach also.”
I stare at him. I do not know this Damin. “Fate?” I say. “Where
is love in fate?”
He takes my hands into his. “Lyra, love enables our gifts.”
TKC Collage 2
After another two weeks of posting episodes for the King's Challenge, here's a collage of the images used :)
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
The King's Challenge #28
TKC 28
Women touch my cloak as I pass, eyes filled with hope. Men bow
their heads, eyes containing both relief … and doubt. Children scamper asking
question after question, not one of which I have an opportunity to answer
before another is aired.
This is expectation, and it frightens me.
I will lead them to safety? How dare Damin tell them that?
I cannot even think about the how, when all I have in my
mind is Damin’s kisses. Idiot man. If he needs me thinking straight, he should be
more constrained. Never mind the fact that I now believe he is able to read my
mind. By the stars, how did life become this complicated?
Damin shoos the kids away, sits me on a wet tree stump and
hunkers before me. “You can do this, Lyra. I have researched the two eyes …”
I shake my head.
“Just listen,” he says. “There are four types. Rainmakers,
Sages, Elementals and Healers. All have the essence of each talent, but one is
ever dominant. The Healers have the blue and green eye combination, as you do.
What you did with the water may appear as elemental magic, but you were saving
people … as a healer would.”
“None of what you say tells me how to save them,” I whisper. “Do you expect me to forge a path
through the floodwater?”
“Yes,” he answers simply.
I throw my hands in the air. “How?”
“You believe it. You trust yourself.”
I lift an eyebrow at him. Now that is not an answer, not for
me. I need specifics.
“Specifics will cloud your mind,” he murmurs.
That does it. I fall to my knees before him. “Damin, you are
hearing my thoughts. How?”
He grins. “Only a Delver partners a Healer. Did you not
know?”
Arcana Omnibus!
All four Arcana tales will soon be available in one book, with extras!
The Infinity Mantle
The Kinfire Tree
The Drowned Throne
The Dragon Circle
and
Secret Remedies
Monday, August 24, 2015
The King's Challenge #27
TKC 27
In the ensuing silence Damin takes my face into his hands
and kisses me. It is a long, searching kiss that has every nerve in my body
jumping.
Never has he given me more than a peck. Back in Grenmassin
such familiarity is frowned upon, and then he left before we could speak our marriage
vows.
This is new for me. Damin is new to me. I am guessing I may
also be new now.
The kiss ends as a roar of sound rises. We break the intense
connection to look around us. They are cheering. The survivors of the lower
city are on their feet and cheering us.
I glance at Damin. Did he kiss me to reveal to them he is
with me? They know him, after all, and he has now bestowed upon me his
blessing.
“Lyra,” he murmurs, “you think too much.”
Now I stare at him. Did he just read my mind? Perhaps he
simply sought to draw my attention away from the strange act moments ago. I turned
the waters of death. Am I a witch?
“You are a healer,” he says softly.
By the stars, the man is reading my mind!
Smiling, he takes my hand and hooks me in to draw me to his
side. “This is Lyra!” he calls out. “And she is with us!”
Again there is cheering. I feel the need to hide. Maybe I do
think too much, but I need to examine what just happened. I need to know myself
again.
“Take the boats and look for survivors,” Damin continues. “Bring
everyone here.” He pauses, glances at me, and says, “Tonight we leave Normur.
Lyra will lead us to safety.”
Sunday, August 23, 2015
The King's Challenge #26
TKC 26
The screaming begins.
Even the youngest child understands there is no running from
this. We will all die in the next few minutes. The wall of water is massive and
it is filled with strength and intent. It will sweep us to eternity.
The screaming stops. Everyone simply stares in mute fascination.
No one runs. There is no running to do that will change this fate.
I feel then heat in my gut, as if someone has branded my
internal organs with a hot poker. My hands start to shake uncontrollably. I stare
down, wondering what is happening. The heat inside me causes more fear than the
wall of water does. Only for an instant does the irony of that flit into my
mind.
My hands are glowing. I see the bones, veins and muscles
inside, as if there is a light source within. I have no control over this. My skin
is afire. My gut feels as if it will explode outward, to throw my entrails at
the wall of water.
Water.
I lift my head. By the stars, here it comes.
Some force lifts my glowing hands into the air. That same
force issues an eruption of sound from my mouth. I scream at the tidal wave and
I gesture at it. The wave and I become one and I command it to go elsewhere.
For a moment all time seems to freeze … and then the wall of
water parts. One half veers towards the plateau; the other half swerves south. Swiftly
the churning heights lose integrity, and small waves lap away into the
distance.
A beam of light pierces the silence then. The sun is rising.
I stare at my hands, and then I look around me to find men,
women and children staring at me. As one, they kneel.
Justine's Journal: An Interview
Justine and I got together this week to discuss the book we
are planning to release soon, but more on that when the time comes. The point
of this post is to give you my thoughts on what the last year of entries has
meant.
To that end, instead of me rambling here on and on about
what I thought we achieved and how I regard the changes I noticed in Justine, I
decided to do an interview. On seeing Justine, I ran it by her and she was at
first reluctant, citing that an interview was too personal. When I pointed out
that every entry she wrote and I posted for her was also personal and yet she gave
of herself week after week, her choice, she agreed.
We then agreed to keep it short, ten questions only. I have
to tell you that choosing even one question was hard, choosing ten became quite
a mission. Once I started writing potential questions down, I discovered
there was a host of them I would like to ask!
***
1 Why did you choose
a pseudonym?
Well, you know yourself I don’t have much of an online
presence, so it wasn’t the digital world’s response that had me worried. I do
have a large circle of real world friends, though, and many of them would have
been too judgemental. That is what I thought at the time anyway. Now I realise
real friends don’t judge in the way I thought they might. Today I would
consider using my real name … well, maybe. I sort of prefer the anonymity, I must
admit. It freed me to say things I wouldn’t normally say.
2 What exactly
prompted you into starting the Journal?
I felt alone, really isolated, pretty scared, and saw no
future. I didn’t have a life, I thought. Then, one evening, I sat and watched a
cactus I had on my windowsill at the time, begin to bloom. It’s one of those
that bloom once every so many years or something, and only for one night. It hadn’t
bloomed before and for weeks a bud sat there waiting. I saw pink pushing
through and I was quite excited. Okay, now imagine sitting and watching a
flower – nothing happens when you watch it! Hours later, though, there were
furled petals and by morning (I was up early) the full flower was there. It was
like magic! By evening of the second day it had begun to shrivel.
I saw myself in that bloom. Waiting. Suddenly something
clicked inside and it started to change, after so long waiting. For a brief
time something beautiful emerged. And then it returned to waiting, but I knew
it had the ability to emerge one day again, when everything was ready for it to
bloom once more.
The next day I cried (lots) and decided it was time to
emerge, if only to be for a brief moment something beautiful.
3 In three words
describe your state of mind when we began this journey.
Lost
Alone
Depressed
4 In three words
describe your state of mind when we ended this journey.
Awake
Aware
Happy
5 Which one thing
made you sit up and think?
The déjà vu thing with the dog running across the road as I turned
a corner! Until then, the premonitions I had experienced were somewhat distant,
although they were real. That dog was right there in real time. All the hairs
on my arms, legs and neck stood up. I really started thinking then.
6 What scared you the
most?
When my partner lost his phone while visiting family up the
coast, I assumed the worst. It is frightening how easily we think the worst
first.
7 What disappointed
you the most?
I can’t say anything disappointed me. Everything was part of
the journey and remains part of the learning process. If I had to choose, then I
would say I was disappointed that I couldn’t always find the right words to
explain what I was feeling.
8 What made you laugh
the most?
People! Not people as a concept, but the people I met at
charity functions. Because I put myself out there, I discovered laughter. I
realised we like to laugh together. This is a great feeling.
9 What made you the
happiest?
Definitely reconnecting with my brother!
10 And finally, where
to now?
Nowhere far in geography, but I will definitely build on
what I have learned. I intend to continue my journal entries, for the blank
page is now my therapy. Also, I am looking forward to strengthening my relationships,
with my partner, with my brother, with you and with old and new friends. I am
no longer alone. This too is a good feeling.
Also, I have an idea for a new book. It’s as if all this has
opened doors in my creativity as well. Maybe I’ll publish soon, maybe I’ll wait
until I’m ready, but I will be writing no matter what. A really good feeling!
***
I admit, I cried when Justine spoke of the bloom on her
windowsill. She never told me that before. I also understand her disappointment
with words – sometimes they simply don’t do justice to what is inside. As for
Justine’s writing? I have read some of her work (she’s still a bit reluctant to
share, fearing judgement) and it’s good. I hope she does publish. That will be
the real ‘Justine’. Watch out world, the girl has stories to tell!
A final note from me. I want to thank Justine for doing
this. She has not merely helped herself stand up again; she has helped me stand
up again. Thank you, Justine.
Keep smiling!
Saturday, August 22, 2015
The King's Challenge #25
TKC 25
The second boat joins us. The two men also successfully
negotiated the currents. Together, we retrieve as many flood victims as we are
able to without overloading our vessels. We then ferry them to the outcrop where
I first met Damin. It is relative high out of the water still.
On the second delivery I leave the boat also. This way there
is space for another and I am able to create some order in the chaos on land. It
is chaos indeed. Everyone is wet and cold. The children cry and mothers are
wide-eyed silent. Men rush about. Many shout across the dark waters, each
hoping for an answering call.
Many have drowned this night.
How dare Normur’s city fathers call themselves civilised?
When Damin returns with another load of survivors, he leaves
the boat as well, and another man takes his place. Together we survey the
desperation all around us.
“This is wrong,” I murmur. “I understand now why you stayed.”
Damin sighs then and his arms enfold me, holding me close. I
allow it, for I need the comfort and the warmth and I suspect he does too. I make
smoothing motions on his back, marvelling at the lean muscle my fingers
encounter. We draw apart and I know Damin will kiss me. I want him to.
It is not to be.
A scream tears through the night, this one far more intense
than any of the wails we have heard thus far.
We move apart and run towards the sound.
A woman gesticulates wildly near the edge of the outcrop and
already many surround her. Looking ahead, we see the grey light of dawn to the
east … and a churning wall of black water on swift approach.
“The dam upriver has burst,” Damin breathes.
Friday, August 21, 2015
The King's Challenge #24
TKC 24
Both men hold the boat Damin, Mirlin and I clamber into. The
raging water threatens to sweep it away and us along with it. We bounce as if
we are to overturn. When they release it, we are swept into the darkness.
How those two will manage alone with the second boat, I have
no idea. All sight of them is lost within moments.
We hold on. There is some light from above and in its
shadows I realise Damin dares not even touch the oars. The water is insane
under us. The rushing noise is overwhelming. I begin to wonder if the lower
city exists at all now. How many bodies will we discover churning in this
morass?
There are points of light, however, ahead in the darkness.
Lanterns lit for night. Those on high ground summon the less fortunate to
haven.
Our boat grinds over something below and our swift progress
finally slows.
“Walkway!” Damin bellows. He reaches for the oars and starts
digging into the water.
Soon he is the one determining direction, not the current.
The fear closing my throat subsides somewhat and I am able to breathe.
Mirlin lights his lantern again. I swallow convulsively when
I realise we are rowing through a sea of bodies.
“You highborn can’t stomach reality,” Mirlin growls at me.
Instantly I desire to throw him overboard, to join the dead.
How dare he?
“Quiet, Mirlin,” Damin snarls. He is about to say more, when
a desperate shout arrests him. It has all our attention, in fact. Damin swings
the boat.
Clinging to a tree we discover a woman and two children. Damin
bumps against the tree and snags a lower branch. Hazardous as it, swiftly we
have them with us. The little girl cries uncontrollably. Her mother draws her
close.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
The King's Challenge #23
TKC 23
The stairway is carved by nature and therefore twists where
one least expects it to. Willing hands have made adjustments to ease the way,
but it remains dangerous. Especially when this wet and particularly in the dead
of night.
My cloak does not help either. After it has snagged three
times on exposed roots as we go down, I finally tuck the flapping ends into my
belt. My feet are my eyes. Never has my heart thudded this fast. With every
step I expect to plunge into the abyss.
Then we hear it. I am not the only one who comes to a halt
on the twisting decline.
Water. Rushing, churning, gurgling. Insane water.
Ahead, Mirlin reignites the lantern. The resultant glow
reveals three men poised in various stages of descent before me, my own precarious
position, and Damin looking down into the darkness behind me. It also touches
on a swirling mass of black water.
My gut hollows. That is a torrent. It may kill all of us.
Mirlin looks back … at Damin. In his eyes there is doubt.
Perhaps even fear.
“We have no choice,” Damin mutters, and I feel his warmth as
he steps carefully onto the level I occupy in this moment. Raising his voice,
he says, “Go on.”
Nodding, Mirlin continues. Soon he vanishes as a curve in
the way hides him. When we reach the same place, I see two boats on a shelf of
rock. In the dry the shelf would be high off the marsh; now the floodwaters have
risen to mere inches from the filthy hulls.
The two others are already tossing camouflage aside. The dead
branches are swallowed so swiftly into the current, my breath shortens. Many have
already died in that insane current. We may soon join them.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
The King's Challenge #22
TKC 22
The jailhouse is a squat stone building surrounded by high
walls. Damin leads us through a gap and whistles softly.
“Here,” a voice responds.
Mirlin is old, but one look into his dark eyes and I know
never to underestimate him. This one is a survivor and possibly a killer.
“Why bring the woman?” he demands.
In answer, Damin flips my hood briefly back.
Mirlin nods. “Indeed. Come then. We can’t afford to waste
this night.” Glancing around a last time, he heads for the same gap. “Two
others wait for us at the stairway,” he throws over his shoulder.
Soon we are running. Mirlin sets the pace and his urgency
communicates. I suspect this has more to do with the foul weather suddenly
ending and thus leaving us without our veils of protection, than with a feeling
of being watched. I know Attis watches, but his is the good kind.
Near Normur’s northern limit, Mirlin turns abruptly west for
the edge of the plateau. Between ancient and crumbling buildings, which seem to
teeter and sway as if about to plunge into the abyss below, we come to a mess
of wire and stakes. This is to discourage climbers from the marsh … and it
hides a hidden set of stairs.
Not that I see them, for darkness is now absolute. Damin
told me what to expect.
Mirlin finds a lantern in the rubble nearby and lights it. In
the wavering pool of yellow, I see two others and they shift the barrier aside.
Everyone moves fast. The rain is lessening. Sound alone will now give us away.
“Go, Lyra; I’m right behind you,” Damin whispers, and I set
feet to this dangerous path and endeavour. There is no turning back. Three men
are ready to kill me if I even think it.
Thomas hits the City!
My second Thomas H short story went live yesterday. I love writing about Thomas, for it's all tongue-in-cheek fun!
Blurb
After a disastrous beginning in the country, Thomas Henson
begins his new life and career in the city. He must now step up or fail in this
issue of being an adult. There is no trust fund and the silver spoon has long
been melted.
Thomas will negotiate the ways of city living, of city
working and of city romancing. We do hope dear Thomas finds himself now,
although we know so well how everything, simply everything, is an issue for our
Thomas. Fingers crossed!
First Review!
Thank you Poppet!
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
The King's Challenge #20 and #21
TKC 20 and 21
After Attis has delivered both food and dry clothes and
after eating to the last crumb, we sleep. This entails stiff postures from both
of us, as we attempt to lie on the same bed without actually touching, but
sleep we do need. Tonight we will go for the boats; we need to be alert and
strong.
Soon the sounds of a city awakening to a new day no longer
bother me and Damin’s soft snores tell me he is asleep. I relax and oblivion
takes me.
Hours later I suddenly snap into awareness when a particularly
loud noise penetrates the fog of sleep. I realise someone is at the door. The
knocking there is loud and repeated. I also realise Damin’s arm is across me.
For a moment I consider not moving, to lie there forever with that warmth on
me, but the knocking becomes insistent.
In a flurry of movement meant to jar Damin into wakefulness,
I leave the bed. By the wan light in the room, I can tell evening draws near.
It is still raining.
“Lyra, wait. We don’t know who it is,” Damin whispers as he
rolls from the bedding to stand. From the sodden bundle of discarded clothes in
the corner he withdraws a dagger and then stealthily approaches the door.
I have a similar dagger in my pack and I swiftly have it to
hand. All the young of Grenmassin are taught how to fight and for that I am now
thankful. In silence I step into the darkest shadows.
Damin nods at me and then says, “Who is there?” in a normal
tone.
The knocking ceases immediately. “Attis.”
Rolling his eyes, Damin unlocks and hauls the lad inside, quickly
locking again. “Boy, you just told the entire inn where we are.”
“Mirlin told me to wake you no matter what,” Attis gripes.
“I tried to be quiet, but you weren’t listening.”
“Mirlin is here?” Damin snaps out. “How do you know Mirlin?”
The tousle-haired boy stands arms akimbo before Damin and I
hide a grin. “Mirlin is my uncle. I am his eyes in the city.”
Damin glares. “Well, you could have told me that in the
lower city. I almost had you killed, by the stars.”
Attis turns away, looking for me. “Lyra would not let
anything happen to me, I knew it. Lyra?”
I step from the shadows. “You are safe where I am, yes. Now
tell us your news.” This time I smile widely when the boy perches on the
rumpled bed as if he is part of our family.
“Mirlin came as the sun lowered, said to wake you, saw you
come here, he was watching for you. Says the lawmen concentrate on the edge,
pushing folk back into the water, so it’s safe to go east as planned.” Attis
squints up. “What is in the east?”
“Never mind,” Damin mutters. “Did he say he will meet us?”
A nod. “At the jailhouse.”
“When?”
“He’s already there,” Attis shrugs.
“Then we must make haste,” Damin says, but I shake my head
and add, “We eat first. Attis?”
The boy nods vigorously and scoots off the bed to go to the
door. “Supper is ready downstairs. I’ll bring yours up.” Unlocking, he
vanishes.
Damin stares at me. “It will be dangerous, Lyra.”
“And people are dying. Whatever this night brings, we get as
many to safety as we can. We use the rain to hide us from sound and sight.”
Sighing, Damin starts donning boots and gear. “That was the
plan. This rain is the best defence, even as it is the cause.”
Two TKC posts today!
Hi, all! Due to personal commitments yesterday, I was unable to post (or even write) the next TKC episode and therefore there will be two today :)
Watch this space!
Sunday, August 16, 2015
The King's Challenge #19
TKC 19
Mother told me the tale of the two eyes. Any colour, she
said, but two different. Many fear the arrival of the two eyes, claiming
witchery. Others celebrate such a birth, believing the two eyes are great
healers. Both are true, Lyra, she
said, but that is not the whole of the
story.
This is what Damin refers to when he says I will keep
survivors alive. It is about healing, but on a massive scale, using methods no
one will name as traditional.
A long time ago, mother said, there was another with two
eyes and she came when death was a spectre no one could ignore. Drought and
famine would soon take the last. She stood on a rock in the desert and summoned
rain. More than that, she summoned flakes of sustenance to feed everyone until
the new harvest, and thus was civilisation saved.
How, I asked. I cannot
say, Lyra, but you will know. It is inside you.
I do not yet know. All I have are legends, and they give no
details. Damin became my betrothed, the only man in Grenmassin who would have
me. We are childhood friends, we know each other well, and yet most were
surprised when Damin approached my mother. My father died a year before, and I
believe he would have said no to Damin. My mother said yes.
Now I understand why the elders of Grenmassin sent me to
find Damin. He lends my words credence. He allays their fears simply by
choosing to bond himself with me. The Mur name carries weight inland. They also
sent me, I now realise, to test my latent gift somewhere else first.
If I fail in either gift or returning Damin to the fold,
they will remain in Grenmassin. They will all die.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Justine's Journal #52
And here we are, this is Justine's final journal entry! Next week we'll do a final post for insights :)
Week 52
And here we are at the end of our 52 week challenge! I feel
strange writing this final entry, knowing it will be the last. Now I look
forward to the book, for I am intrigued by how it will feel to have it in my
hands at some future time, to then look back at a year in my life. We learn
from our mistakes and admitting them often leads to reward, a soul’s reward.
This has been intensely satisfying. The act of forcing
myself to be honest and to think has opened doors in my mind, heart and spirit,
and I intend to continue doing so in my private journal. Thank you for reading.
I hope you too have reached a state of acceptance of self.
We make mistakes. Often we don’t think first. Sometimes
emotions cloud our perceptions. All of these are factors I have come to
realise. Understanding ourselves, I believe, smooths the path we walk. It isn’t
without bumps and mountains, but we are better able to deal with obstacles.
Know this, though. We also have a tendency to ignore lessons learned, for our
egos end up interfering. If we keep that in mind, most of the time we can pause
first and then take the necessary action. If not, if we lash out without
thinking, we need to understand we are human and not beat ourselves up in the
aftermath. If you falter, breathe, think, and then fix.
As humans we have much to teach each other, on every level.
If only the world will hear this. Let us talk to each other, listen to each
other, offer a smile and project acceptance and love to all ages and creeds. If
we do this, peace will be ours. Personal peace and world peace. The majority
wants this – why then is peace elusive? To answer that will entail an essay of
note, and I am not the one to offer it. I have not the words to explain every
factor. I do have the hope we will get there one day, if only a moment at a
time, a smile at a time. The road to peace begins in each of us, so concentrate
on your journey.
On a more personal note, I faltered this week. My neighbour
was nosey about my writing, and made those snide comments writers dread. Are
you published? It takes long to write a book, doesn’t it? Seems it doesn’t pay,
maybe you should get a real job … and so forth. She was speaking from her point
of view, of course, having no understanding of the process. I should have
explained with a smile, but I rudely told her to mind her own business. Very
rudely, in fact. After, I understood her point of view and I went over to
apologise. It turns out, she is writing children’s stories, and she needed
someone to know that, to tell her it’s okay if it doesn’t all come magically
together. Neither of us has published, but now we can laugh about it and
support each other.
See? Ego. If we falter, breathe, think and then fix. Now
there is peace between neighbours!
Final note, before I leave you to your future. Love yourself
first. The rest comes to you when you accept yourself. And smile!
Thank you for coming on this journey with me!
The King's Challenge #18
TKC 18
“Dying is not an option,” Damin mutters. “We start the
so-called revolution by saving the folk of the lower city from the floodwater.”
“How do you propose to do that?” I ask.
He gives me a smile. “We have been busy. We built boats and
hid them. If we can get to them, we row folk to a place where the plateau is
more accessible.”
It sounds like a plan, yes. It also sounds dangerous. Rowing
laden boats in a flood? Attempting to get to those boats from here, with the
lawmen on the look-out? Dangerous. I say so and earn a look of censure.
“What happened to the Lyra who swam the torrent back home to
save a puppy?” Damin demands.
“She grew up,” I snap back. “I did not say I will not do it;
I am saying it is dangerous. This too can get us killed.”
He blinks at me. “Maybe you should stay here.”
“No, I am not sitting in a cocoon while you risk your life.
I need you alive and I need you to come home with me to convince the stubborn
old folks to pack up and head south. So I am going with you. Argue all you
want, it will help none.”
Those blue eyes stare into my soul. “I missed you,” Damin
murmurs.
His words anger me. Until I showed up in his enclave, he
gave me no thought and now he missed
me? “Not enough to send word.” I glare at him.
“I tried, Lyra, but all post is confiscated.” He comes to
sit beside me and takes my hand. “Learn a trade I said, and I did. I learned
how to lead people. We need leadership desperately. We also need your talents.
Lyra, I will lead them to safety, but you will keep them alive.”
Friday, August 14, 2015
The King's Challenge #17
TKC 17
The silver buys us three days at the inn. Attis brings the
book up and I sign us in as Lyra and Horin Parse, brother and sister. Horin is
my brother, but he is only seven and is back in Grenmassin.
I hand Attis another copper for food and ask if he can find
dry clothes for us. The boy absconds with a grin, taking book and coins with
him.
Damin is undressing when I turn and I avert my gaze.
“Lyra, now is not the time for prudishness. Remove your wet
clothes or you will be ill by nightfall,” Damin says. He throws the bed’s
coverlet at me.
Prudish? Ha. I do, however, do as bid, keeping my back to
him.
“Underclothes also, Lyra,” he says in amusement.
Muttering dire threats, I remove everything and wrap myself
into the coverlet’s warmth before turning. He is similarly wrapped. I must
admit I already feel much better. I give him a look and sit on the bed.
Damin hunkers before me. “I stayed because I saw we have
need of an army. We cannot turn this tide alone, Lyra. Unfortunately, all I
achieved was the fury of the authorities, for they see it as revolution. It is,
but we are nor revolting against them. We seek to save everyone.”
I swallow. “Your vision is larger. I sought to save only
those we love back home.”
“One rarely sees the stars here,” Damin says. “How big is it
now?”
“The size of a silver,” I whisper. “Bigger daily. It is very
bright.”
He slaps his thighs as he rises. “We have to get everyone
south, to the heat! Can they not see we will freeze if we stay here?”
“They do not care. Those with coin have already left. We
will be left to die.”
Thursday, August 13, 2015
The King's Challenge #16
TKC 16
The rain intensifies. The switchback path is already a river
of mud. Slipping frequently, we run as fast as the wet slope allows.
With the end in sight, Damin veers off, seemingly entering
the cliff itself. As he still has my hand, I am dragged with him.
“They will be waiting up there. If not for us, certainly for
anyone from the lower city. We have a secret entrance we use to fool them.”
Who is this Damin? I ask myself, but time is of the essence.
Those questions can wait. I ask instead, “They keep folk down there even
knowing many will drown? That is barbaric.”
“The reality of Normur,” Damin murmurs, and finds his hidden
door. “Come.”
Water seeps in rivulets into the tunnel. Given Damin’s
haste, I assume it will soon be impassable. An age later, he heaves his
shoulder against a trapdoor. Rainwater pours in through the seams. Grunting, he
gets it open. A deluge soaks me.
Soon we are running the cobbled streets of Normur. I have
recognised the tower of the inn I noticed when I first arrived and we head
towards it, threading through alleys to keep it in sight. It has now rained for
almost an hour. The wet season has arrived.
Bedraggled and cold, we finally knock on the backdoor of the
inn. Dawn approaches; someone should be awake. As the stars will have it, Attis
opens to us. His eyes round and then he gestures, rolling his eyes in every
direction. With a finger to his lips, he leads us up a flight of stairs and
into an empty suite.
“Can you pay?” he whispers. “I can say you came in the night
and I signed you in.”
Nodding, I hand him a silver. “How long with that?”
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The King's Challenge #15
TKC 15
A solid item in a heavy fist starts banging on my coffin. The
din is incredible, and my entire body shakes. Almost I shove the covering upwards,
seeking to end it.
I hear shouting over it and then I hear something else. It is the silence of absence, but the lack of sound does not
last long, for I hear something more.
Rain.
To the stars with this. I heave the lid up employing hands
and feet to remove it, to get it away.
Gasping, I straighten. Never will I voluntarily clamber into a coffin again. It
is the most terrifying experience, and also humiliating. Not caring about
safety, I abscond the confining box for the dead.
The deadhouse interior is emptied of everything but coffins.
The old man has vanished also. Rain hurtles down to drum upon the tin roof. That
din I am able to live with, though.
“Damin!”
Two shaped shadows away, a lid crashes open. Damin sits up.
He appears disorientated. “What is that noise?”
“Rain,” I mutter.
He stares at me. “It is raining?” Suddenly his confusion is
gone and an insane kind of glee replaces it. “It is raining! That is why they went.”
Then he sobers and swiftly leaves his coffin. “We must go too. If it rains more
than twenty minutes, it means the wet season has arrived. It will flood within
an hour and we will not reach the path to the plateau.”
This is the longest, most intense night of my life, but it
is not yet over. I drag my cloak free and swing it on. “Then let us go.”
Flashing his grin, Damin takes my hand and heads for the
door. No one is in the vicinity.
“Lyra, now we run until we are above this.”
We run.
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