[Story scene post]
"The portal they used to leave? It closed," I say.
"It can be opened when Xeata-Lidoffad is between Ospinevarn and I, and in a straight line, blocking me from the light. You are a Brown; you could destroy the arch. That would prevent the portal from forming."
"I can do that. Will it hurt you? Does it hurt when we Browns chip away at you?" I never thought of my world as alive before.
"You are in tune with me. Think of it like your hair. You have had your hair cut, yes?"
"Of course."
"It did not hurt. But if the hair is ripped from you, that does hurt, right?"
I nod. Can Darterra see me nod? I stand up. "Of course."
"You are in tune with me. It allows you to feel the difference, much like cutting hair rather than ripping it out. A little is acceptable, good even, but too much is bad. You can sense the difference, where the line is. That is the design of the Browns."
"Am I the last of my people? What will happen to you when I become a level five?"
The whole of Darterra shakes. I fall down, hard.
"I never wanted the jewels to live so separated from each other. With the redesignation, I hoped to right a wrong. The Golds and Silvers took offense. I cannot make Silvers. Some were in me, waiting to move through the Birth Place. There are no more. I made Golds to travel and discover. They fulfilled their purpose."
"That's why there were none this time?"
"Yes. And the Golds were keeping the jewels apart. They brought hate and pain to me. I broke off to avoid such feelings. That is why I broke open the cavern. The Silvers needed to find it so they could leave, and take the Golds with them."
"But everyone died!"
Darterra shakes again. It quakes my entire body. I grip the ground.
"I never wanted that! It should not have happened. But, you are still here."
"I am just a Brown."
"You will be the Valianter, the one who will raise the next generation."
Key dramatic question that will take whole story to answer:
Could Belp have prevented all this death, how, and if so-- why didn't he?
And what led Jaildarn to become the cause of such annihilation?
QUESTION -- What do you think of, or feel about, the world's decision?
My A to Z 2025 theme is a fantasy story. (And some of the process of writing it as well.) 🕮
- J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZchallenge
https://bsky.app/profile/jlennidorner.bsky.social My current favorite social media site.
https://amzn.to/41QBB4P Author page on Amazon — please consider following and supporting this indie author!
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/j-lenni-dorner BookBub author profile— I'd be grateful if you'd follow me.
#AtoZChallenge a-to-zchallenge.com Kindly check out the blog hop's website.
Howdy J. I'm not a big fantasy reader, hence have not visited. Today I was drawn here from a FB link and I had to read your post three times. The part about the cutting of the hair and hair being ripped out captivated me. I'm a "big hair" person from the 80's and more recently in 2021 shaved my head just because tequila will do weird things to people. Hair grows back. I just had to comment because it was intriguing and almost like the hair was alive. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteTequila is ta kill ya! ;) But yes, hair grows back. Usually. I've been tempted, but I'm not brave enough to find out what I'd look like bald!
DeleteI can't remember if I've ever read a fantasy book. There is one series of books that I've read that were more futuristic (I guess) than fantasy. It was a short series.
ReplyDeleteI like to think of everything as sentient with conscious awareness and endless opportunities to grow and evolve. But it feels like there are so many chances for things to skew wildly in a non-preferred direction, when we're not all equally resourced and share the same vision of co-creating together.
ReplyDeleteSo there's hope...?
ReplyDelete