Friday, August 25, 2006

Silver Snow - short story I wrote awhile ago
Not my most recent, but one of the few that isn't chapters. It's mostly a character developpement story but it stands pretty well on its own, I think.
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Fear, I’m afraid, but of what? The fire? The screaming? I can only make out one sound in the din.

“Reigh! Reigh! Where are you?” Reigh... is that my name? Yes, yes it is, that’s me...

“Mother, I’m here!” The acrid smell of burning wood and flesh has somewhat dulled my senses but now I’m slowly becoming aware of my surroundings. I’m in my room, sitting on my bed and listening to my mother crash up the stairs and ram into my door. The old wooden frame shatters under her assault.

“Reigh, come, we must leave. Now.”

“What’s happening? Why are all the people screaming? The others are dying aren’t they? I can smell their blood mixed with the dirt of the road.” A loud crash comes from the neighbour’s house; the flames have now completely destroyed it. Mother lifts me into her arms and, holding me tightly to her chest, runs out the house and into the square.

The realisation comes then, this carnage, it’s a raid... but we’re so far north... ? No time to dwell on the reason, we had the time only to run.

The raiding party appears from behind a thick veil of smoke. At their head is a man; the crest on his breastplate is strange to me but the flames that dance around his palm make it clear that he is a fire sprite and the cause of the blaze. As he stands before the cowering survivors of his flames, I wish the crimson ends of his dark hair would cover more of his blood coloured eyes. Those bloodied orbs that are filled with childish glee at the sight of the carnage and fear laid out before him.

I hear Father swear, Mother looks at him with fear written her on normally impassive features. For a moment my fear is turned to my parents’ expressions. Father’s fury seems to spread through the air like and icy breeze, he says something in a strange tongue and Mother begins to cry.

“Mother? We will be alright, there is no need for tears.” My parents glance at each other before Father speaks.

“Yes Reigh, you will be alright. Take my blade and run. Don’t stop running until you can longer see even the smoke from this blaze.”

“But what about you and Mother?” Yet another sad and silent exchange between them.

“We will stay and help the others. Be sure to head south Reigh. In a few days you’ll have reached the base of the Great Mountain. From there it’s a three day hike to the temple at its summit.” During our conversation, the man had advanced among the villagers. He observed them all as though he was looking for a certain mark or brand of some kind. As he approaches, Mother pulls me closer and whispers.

“Take this bag, in it there is months worth of supplies as well as your father’s knife. Now go my son.” She releases me and gently pushes me away from her.

“Run Reigh. Now!” And I do, I run. I run until the village is nothing more than a small shape in the distance but I go no further. From the village rises a cold yet frantic voice.

“The child is gone! You have sent the silver one away! Such treachery is punishable only by death. Now perish fools.” The sounds that followed will haunt me forever. The screaming of my friends, their parents calling out to them with despair only to be silenced. Then, my Father’s battle cry. Finally, nothing, only a crushing silence remains.

I wait for an hour before I see the murderous band; they ride by me, the blood of the slain villagers clinging to them. As I approach the village the sickening smell intensifies with every step. I fear what I will see...

I walk into the square and see all those who survived the blaze have suffered a darker fate, as they lay dead and broken in the dirt. My friends and their families seem to be spread in a horrid arrangement around the trembling form of my mother, so near departure as she clutches Father in her arms.

I run to her, wishing my tears could wash away all this pain, but knowing that their silver glow was the doom of my home. Her harsh whisper, that of a dying and hurt soul, crushes my heart in a fist of grief.

“Now, now my little one. Reigh, stop your tears. You are safe, that is all the truly matters now. We go to the Gods in peace and we will watch over you. I love you, my little star.” Her now lifeless body lies beside my father’s and they look to the world as though they are simply in a deep sleep, but I know better.

I do the only thing I can now, I head south for the Temple upon the Sacred Mountain. Carrying with me, a piece of my home, a small knife with one simple inscription that seems to hold a mighty power...

§ Reigh, Child of the Silver Lord §
***
Sorry about any references that seem blurry. Like I said it's a character developing story that's part of a series.
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