Elaina J. Davidson's Blog, page 370
December 30, 2015
December 29, 2015
The King's Challenge #148 and #149
TKC 148 and 149
In the morning, it is a new day for all of us, not only for Lyra and I. In a manner I had not fathomed the night before, my impulsive actions have clearly led to a spirit of togetherness. Even Horin is more approachable.
I see him now, moving among the horses and chatting to Siri, and he is smiling. Siri bursts out laughing and it gladdens my heart. My sister deserves every moment of joy.
She sees me and comes running, still laughing. “Hey, married brother!” I enfold her into my arms and kiss the top of her head. Still smiling, she looks up. “Horin says the three ghosts made themselves scarce last night as well.”
Blinking, I realise I had not even considered their presence while Lyra and I were engaged in consummating our vows. Laughing, I set Siri aside. “At least they have good sense.”
“I would have thumped their ethereal arses had they stuck around,” Kay laughs, coming at us from the other side. He has a rabbit slung over his shoulder. “Breakfast,” he adds, jiggling it. “Joseph got one also.”
The Messenger is in fact behind him, grinning from ear to ear.
Lyra comes out then, and Hanna instantly releases an ear-piercing whistle. “Girl, you are positively glowing!”
Blushing, Lyra kisses my cheek and goes out to join her. Siri winks, and follows. The women are soon is laughing conversation.
“Suddenly Arc does not seem so bad,” I say.
“It will not last, this calm,” Horin warns. “This is how they lull the sense for danger we all possess.” He smiles then. “This is a haven, though, and it is all right to enjoy these moments.”
Horin seems to have attained a plateau in his growth spurt. He is now my height, although broader of shoulder, and his features are those of a man close to thirty years of age. He is unchanged from yesterday, and wears his sword as if very familiar with it.
“How old were you when you died?” I ask him.
He loses his smile. “Old, Damin. Ilfin age slowly.”
“How old?” Kay insists, his tone revealing his interest.
Horin swirls his tongue behind closed lips, a ploy to give him space to consider his answer. Finally he heaves a sigh, perhaps understanding we will pest him until he does answer. “Three hundred and forty-one.”
We simply stare at him.
He shrugs on a laugh. “Young for an Ilfin, old for a Massinian.”
Joseph grins as he hauls his rabbit from his shoulder. “Could use some of those years, I tell you. Right, let’s get the pot going.” He vanishes into the cottage and, after a moment, Kay follows.
Horin and I lock gazes. “How old can I expect to become if circumstances were normal?” I ask him.
“Have you never wondered why some people live beyond a hundred and fifty, while others pass on at eighty? Age, of course, cannot be a way to determine Ilfin from home-grown, and yet the gene must be present …”
“Answer the question, Horin.”
“At least a century and a half,” Horin states. “Maybe more now that you are aware of yourself. You will age slowly and appear pretty youthful yet after a century has passed for you.”
“And Lyra?”
“Same.”
Well, my wife will match me if those years do find me. This fills me with relief. “And Siri?”
“Probably longer, for she is a healer true.”
“Is this why the Glonu seek to enslave us? Longevity?”
Horin nods. “We possess the kind of life force which gifts them time. They were short-lived eons ago, and then discovered how to extend their years, and it depends wholly on possessing souls.”
In the morning, it is a new day for all of us, not only for Lyra and I. In a manner I had not fathomed the night before, my impulsive actions have clearly led to a spirit of togetherness. Even Horin is more approachable.
I see him now, moving among the horses and chatting to Siri, and he is smiling. Siri bursts out laughing and it gladdens my heart. My sister deserves every moment of joy.
She sees me and comes running, still laughing. “Hey, married brother!” I enfold her into my arms and kiss the top of her head. Still smiling, she looks up. “Horin says the three ghosts made themselves scarce last night as well.”
Blinking, I realise I had not even considered their presence while Lyra and I were engaged in consummating our vows. Laughing, I set Siri aside. “At least they have good sense.”
“I would have thumped their ethereal arses had they stuck around,” Kay laughs, coming at us from the other side. He has a rabbit slung over his shoulder. “Breakfast,” he adds, jiggling it. “Joseph got one also.”
The Messenger is in fact behind him, grinning from ear to ear.
Lyra comes out then, and Hanna instantly releases an ear-piercing whistle. “Girl, you are positively glowing!”
Blushing, Lyra kisses my cheek and goes out to join her. Siri winks, and follows. The women are soon is laughing conversation.
“Suddenly Arc does not seem so bad,” I say.
“It will not last, this calm,” Horin warns. “This is how they lull the sense for danger we all possess.” He smiles then. “This is a haven, though, and it is all right to enjoy these moments.”
Horin seems to have attained a plateau in his growth spurt. He is now my height, although broader of shoulder, and his features are those of a man close to thirty years of age. He is unchanged from yesterday, and wears his sword as if very familiar with it.
“How old were you when you died?” I ask him.
He loses his smile. “Old, Damin. Ilfin age slowly.”
“How old?” Kay insists, his tone revealing his interest.
Horin swirls his tongue behind closed lips, a ploy to give him space to consider his answer. Finally he heaves a sigh, perhaps understanding we will pest him until he does answer. “Three hundred and forty-one.”
We simply stare at him.
He shrugs on a laugh. “Young for an Ilfin, old for a Massinian.”
Joseph grins as he hauls his rabbit from his shoulder. “Could use some of those years, I tell you. Right, let’s get the pot going.” He vanishes into the cottage and, after a moment, Kay follows.
Horin and I lock gazes. “How old can I expect to become if circumstances were normal?” I ask him.
“Have you never wondered why some people live beyond a hundred and fifty, while others pass on at eighty? Age, of course, cannot be a way to determine Ilfin from home-grown, and yet the gene must be present …”
“Answer the question, Horin.”
“At least a century and a half,” Horin states. “Maybe more now that you are aware of yourself. You will age slowly and appear pretty youthful yet after a century has passed for you.”
“And Lyra?”
“Same.”
Well, my wife will match me if those years do find me. This fills me with relief. “And Siri?”
“Probably longer, for she is a healer true.”
“Is this why the Glonu seek to enslave us? Longevity?”
Horin nods. “We possess the kind of life force which gifts them time. They were short-lived eons ago, and then discovered how to extend their years, and it depends wholly on possessing souls.”
December 28, 2015
Elaina's Writing World 2015
With the year behind us, this is what happened for this writer in 2015 :)
Republished ebooks after Thorstruck Press closed, now with Tirgearr Publishing (3)
The Tinsal DeckLatticeworksA Tear in the Clouds
Republished ebooks and paperbacks (2)
The Kallanon ScalesThe Nemisin Star
Paperbacks published for the first time (4)
The Infinity MantleThe Kinfire TreeThe Drowned ThroneThe Dragon Circle
New books (ebooks and paperback) (4)
The Sleeper SwordThe Dreamer StonesThe Nemesis BladeThe Echolone Mine
New ebooks (8)
FingerNale TalesAncient IlluminatiomSecret RemediesRealm WalkerLore of Arcana OmnibusLore of Reaume OmnibusTown ThomasJustine’s Journal
Updated (1)
Our Friend Thomas Henson
Foreseen for 2016 (10)
Travelling ThomasThomas Henson's MansionThe Nowhere SphereThe Master MechanismA Scar in the EarthMark of the KalionCircles of CivilisationSacred SpaceLore of Sanctum OmnibusThe King’s Challenge (working title)
Republished ebooks after Thorstruck Press closed, now with Tirgearr Publishing (3)
The Tinsal DeckLatticeworksA Tear in the Clouds
Republished ebooks and paperbacks (2)
The Kallanon ScalesThe Nemisin Star
Paperbacks published for the first time (4)
The Infinity MantleThe Kinfire TreeThe Drowned ThroneThe Dragon Circle
New books (ebooks and paperback) (4)
The Sleeper SwordThe Dreamer StonesThe Nemesis BladeThe Echolone Mine
New ebooks (8)
FingerNale TalesAncient IlluminatiomSecret RemediesRealm WalkerLore of Arcana OmnibusLore of Reaume OmnibusTown ThomasJustine’s Journal
Updated (1)
Our Friend Thomas Henson
Foreseen for 2016 (10)
Travelling ThomasThomas Henson's MansionThe Nowhere SphereThe Master MechanismA Scar in the EarthMark of the KalionCircles of CivilisationSacred SpaceLore of Sanctum OmnibusThe King’s Challenge (working title)
December 27, 2015
The King's Challenge #146 and #147
TKC 146 and 147
Into the silence after Lyra’s confirmation, the three forms materialise. There is a way through the curved shield, the central one says, although we do not hear his words with our ears.
Horin mutters, “I seem to recall we could not shatter it before.”
That is true, but time has revealed certain flaws.
“Surely we shouldn’t trust these entities?” Kay rasps. “Are they not Glonu slaves?”
We are indeed, young sir, but we did not start out as Glonu. Although the slaving manipulation bends minds and engenders greater atrocities among the slaves become light beings, some of us have maintained our original beliefs and loyalties.
“And we must take your word for it?” Siri blurts.
Until now my sister has been markedly silent, but she is correct. I nod. “How do we know you are not duping us?”
Ask Lord Makar to check his orb.
All eyes swivel to Horin. He offers a sheepish smile. “I was content with ‘Horin’.”
By the stars, this just gets weirder by the moment. I shove up from the table and stalk out into the night air. At this point I have had enough of revelations and such. It is the simple things that create a life, not these mighty tales of a past no one now remembers. I wish with all my heart I had never left Grenmassin. I wish I had wed Lyra when the time came for our nuptials, and if it meant we all died when the bloody rock in the sky hit our world, that too would be fine. I would have died a happy man, with my beloved at my side.
Her hand on my shoulder tells me she has followed me out. “At times like these we wish for what was,” Lyra murmurs in my ear.
I swing around and grab her hands, enfolding them into mine. “Marry me, Lyra. Here, now.”
The blue of one eye is bright in the moonlight, while the green seems to vanish for a while. “Yes.”
My heart thumps hard. “Yes? Really?”
She laughs, a tinkling sound. “Under these stars with these witnesses, yes!”
I haul her in and hold her. Never have I been this happy. I have no ring to give here, but my heart is hers and my lips will seal the sacrament. Lifting her face to mine, I kiss her as if it is the first time, with all tenderness and awe.
She sighs against me after, resting her cheek upon my chest.
We have our witnesses as the other leave the confines of the cottage. I kneel and say, “Lyra, with all my heart, soul and body I love you. You are my wife from this day forward before these witnesses.”
Hanna gasps and then grips Joseph’s hand. “Fantastic,” she breathes.
Lyra kneels also. “I love you with all of me, Damin. You are my husband from this moment on, even if only the moon and stars know it.”
Siri sighs. “How romantic.”
Horin kneels then to face both of us. “We witness your nuptials. You are now husband and wife.”
Laughter and applause then fills the night air and suddenly everyone embraces and speaks words of love and fellowship. My focus is for Lyra alone, though, and to that end I step into our first kiss as a formal and decreed couple with all the fervour a long wait has endowed me with. She does not disappoint in her response, and both of us are quite breathless when we reluctant break our communion.
“Right!” Kay hollers. “We are sleeping outside tonight! The love birds need their privacy!”
Laughing, I lift Lyra into my arms and head for the cottage. The Lord Makar steps into my path.
We stare at him and eventually he bows and moves away. He may no longer claim the blood of a true brother, after all.
Into the silence after Lyra’s confirmation, the three forms materialise. There is a way through the curved shield, the central one says, although we do not hear his words with our ears.
Horin mutters, “I seem to recall we could not shatter it before.”
That is true, but time has revealed certain flaws.
“Surely we shouldn’t trust these entities?” Kay rasps. “Are they not Glonu slaves?”
We are indeed, young sir, but we did not start out as Glonu. Although the slaving manipulation bends minds and engenders greater atrocities among the slaves become light beings, some of us have maintained our original beliefs and loyalties.
“And we must take your word for it?” Siri blurts.
Until now my sister has been markedly silent, but she is correct. I nod. “How do we know you are not duping us?”
Ask Lord Makar to check his orb.
All eyes swivel to Horin. He offers a sheepish smile. “I was content with ‘Horin’.”
By the stars, this just gets weirder by the moment. I shove up from the table and stalk out into the night air. At this point I have had enough of revelations and such. It is the simple things that create a life, not these mighty tales of a past no one now remembers. I wish with all my heart I had never left Grenmassin. I wish I had wed Lyra when the time came for our nuptials, and if it meant we all died when the bloody rock in the sky hit our world, that too would be fine. I would have died a happy man, with my beloved at my side.
Her hand on my shoulder tells me she has followed me out. “At times like these we wish for what was,” Lyra murmurs in my ear.
I swing around and grab her hands, enfolding them into mine. “Marry me, Lyra. Here, now.”
The blue of one eye is bright in the moonlight, while the green seems to vanish for a while. “Yes.”
My heart thumps hard. “Yes? Really?”
She laughs, a tinkling sound. “Under these stars with these witnesses, yes!”
I haul her in and hold her. Never have I been this happy. I have no ring to give here, but my heart is hers and my lips will seal the sacrament. Lifting her face to mine, I kiss her as if it is the first time, with all tenderness and awe.
She sighs against me after, resting her cheek upon my chest.
We have our witnesses as the other leave the confines of the cottage. I kneel and say, “Lyra, with all my heart, soul and body I love you. You are my wife from this day forward before these witnesses.”
Hanna gasps and then grips Joseph’s hand. “Fantastic,” she breathes.
Lyra kneels also. “I love you with all of me, Damin. You are my husband from this moment on, even if only the moon and stars know it.”
Siri sighs. “How romantic.”
Horin kneels then to face both of us. “We witness your nuptials. You are now husband and wife.”
Laughter and applause then fills the night air and suddenly everyone embraces and speaks words of love and fellowship. My focus is for Lyra alone, though, and to that end I step into our first kiss as a formal and decreed couple with all the fervour a long wait has endowed me with. She does not disappoint in her response, and both of us are quite breathless when we reluctant break our communion.
“Right!” Kay hollers. “We are sleeping outside tonight! The love birds need their privacy!”
Laughing, I lift Lyra into my arms and head for the cottage. The Lord Makar steps into my path.
We stare at him and eventually he bows and moves away. He may no longer claim the blood of a true brother, after all.
December 26, 2015
The King's Challenge #144 and #145
TKC 144 and 145
Night has fallen, and we sit around the table in the cottage, a tight fit. Stomachs are full and everyone is relaxed.
During the remaining hours of daylight many conversations took place, some in whispers, others casual, most in the open to feel each other out, to determine who stood where. I think all of us now begin to regard each other with some suspicion. Who among us is a Glonu? Who is Ilfin? Who is true born to this world and is therefore a Massinian? If we claim those differences, are we enemies?
Surely our common cause - fleeing the potential of annihilation from space - united us and race or creed no longer features?
This may be a fool’s hope.
Lyra has explained the magnetic slide she created - although she claims she did not create it, she simply launched something already in place - and that it bounced the asteroid into further space. Massin, as world, is safe from that threat.
We are not safe from this new suspicion. I am afraid it may lead us to war.
To that end, Lyra murmurs, “However we regard our genesis, given what Horin has revealed, there is still the issue of leaving Arc. We cannot stay here. Whether I am Ilfin or Glonu does not matter, for staying means I am a slave to this resident power. I refuse to accept that.”
“Likewise,” Kay stated. He levers to his feet. “I know some of you think I must be Glonu because I am from the west, but I say it doesn’t matter. I will not be enslaved within a ring of mountains.”
Horin stares at him. “You are not Glonu.”
Kay glares at him. “And how can you tell?”
“You have the heart of a revolutionary, friend, and no Glonu has ever risen against their own kind.”
“Maybe that’s true,” I say, “but time has moved on and many have now lived and learned on a world that has allowed freedoms perhaps unknown elsewhere. Kay could be a traveller from somewhere else entirely, as we all may be, for we have integrated. You said yourself it is now hard to tell us apart, Horin.”
Horin inclines his head. “Agreed, but there is another factor.”
Lyra sighs. “You can see our genesis?” I can tell, by her tone, she hopes it will not be that.
“No, I do not see where we come from, but I am able to feel the presence of light.” Horin opens his hand upon the table to reveal the green orb. “This light pulls at other glows. If a Glonu is nearby, it vibrates as it attempts to remove that one’s mask.”
I lean in. “Horin, the glow could be someone carrying a torch.”
He smiles at me. “Not that kind of light, Damin. It’s not of the tangible kind.”
“Light is never tangible,” I growl.
“And there you prove yourself an Ilfin beyond all doubt,” Horin whispers.
This is a morass of dangers. Discuss this too much, and we will be at each other’s throats, all of us. I change the subject. “According to you and Hanna,” and I focus on Lyra, “it will be easier to escape if we are on or near the rim.”
Lyra nods immediately, and I sense her profound relief. She shoots me a look filled with gratitude. “True, yes, therefore, come morning, we need to hasten back to the others.”
Kay slaps at his thighs. “Excellent. I want out of here as soon as possible.”
Horin glances at Lyra, who says, “It will be a bit harder than simply walking out. The reason for the place being known as Arc is now in place again.”
“Meaning the shield from ancient times is enabled?” Joseph asks quietly.
“Exactly,” Lyra murmurs.
Night has fallen, and we sit around the table in the cottage, a tight fit. Stomachs are full and everyone is relaxed.
During the remaining hours of daylight many conversations took place, some in whispers, others casual, most in the open to feel each other out, to determine who stood where. I think all of us now begin to regard each other with some suspicion. Who among us is a Glonu? Who is Ilfin? Who is true born to this world and is therefore a Massinian? If we claim those differences, are we enemies?
Surely our common cause - fleeing the potential of annihilation from space - united us and race or creed no longer features?
This may be a fool’s hope.
Lyra has explained the magnetic slide she created - although she claims she did not create it, she simply launched something already in place - and that it bounced the asteroid into further space. Massin, as world, is safe from that threat.
We are not safe from this new suspicion. I am afraid it may lead us to war.
To that end, Lyra murmurs, “However we regard our genesis, given what Horin has revealed, there is still the issue of leaving Arc. We cannot stay here. Whether I am Ilfin or Glonu does not matter, for staying means I am a slave to this resident power. I refuse to accept that.”
“Likewise,” Kay stated. He levers to his feet. “I know some of you think I must be Glonu because I am from the west, but I say it doesn’t matter. I will not be enslaved within a ring of mountains.”
Horin stares at him. “You are not Glonu.”
Kay glares at him. “And how can you tell?”
“You have the heart of a revolutionary, friend, and no Glonu has ever risen against their own kind.”
“Maybe that’s true,” I say, “but time has moved on and many have now lived and learned on a world that has allowed freedoms perhaps unknown elsewhere. Kay could be a traveller from somewhere else entirely, as we all may be, for we have integrated. You said yourself it is now hard to tell us apart, Horin.”
Horin inclines his head. “Agreed, but there is another factor.”
Lyra sighs. “You can see our genesis?” I can tell, by her tone, she hopes it will not be that.
“No, I do not see where we come from, but I am able to feel the presence of light.” Horin opens his hand upon the table to reveal the green orb. “This light pulls at other glows. If a Glonu is nearby, it vibrates as it attempts to remove that one’s mask.”
I lean in. “Horin, the glow could be someone carrying a torch.”
He smiles at me. “Not that kind of light, Damin. It’s not of the tangible kind.”
“Light is never tangible,” I growl.
“And there you prove yourself an Ilfin beyond all doubt,” Horin whispers.
This is a morass of dangers. Discuss this too much, and we will be at each other’s throats, all of us. I change the subject. “According to you and Hanna,” and I focus on Lyra, “it will be easier to escape if we are on or near the rim.”
Lyra nods immediately, and I sense her profound relief. She shoots me a look filled with gratitude. “True, yes, therefore, come morning, we need to hasten back to the others.”
Kay slaps at his thighs. “Excellent. I want out of here as soon as possible.”
Horin glances at Lyra, who says, “It will be a bit harder than simply walking out. The reason for the place being known as Arc is now in place again.”
“Meaning the shield from ancient times is enabled?” Joseph asks quietly.
“Exactly,” Lyra murmurs.
December 23, 2015
The King's Challenge #143
TKC 143
My first denial comes then. Staring at Horin, I tell him, “Sorry, Horin, but I found a kid in Porlese, one terrified of being tested. Yet now you claim you knew what was happening.”
After glancing at Lyra, and marking her silence, he responds, “Most of the time I was that kid, Damin. It is easier to live in the body chosen when the resident mind acts its age and functions as expected.”
“But you claim you knew from birth.” My second denial.
“I did, but they were flashes of an older self. Generally Horin, the boy born in Grenmassin, was the boy everyone expected to have around. After Porlese, when the soldiers came at us, that was when it changed … a permanent change.”
“What about Horin the boy?” Lyra whispers, and my heart goes out to her. Never have I heard her sound this sad. “Have you usurped him? Thrown him away?”
Horin closes his eyes and then moves around the table to Lyra. “Everyone has a soul, my sister. Usually we grow up with it, learn from it, and teach it new emotions and ways of thinking. I am no different there. My soul was simply more aware from the start. Horin still is. Lyra, I am Horin.”
She lays her hand on his cheek. “How do you explain this phenomenal growth, then? I have to look up to you now.”
“Ilfin talent. In times of great stress certain factors are accelerated. Had the asteroid not appeared, I would have grown into this body at a normal pace.”
Lyra nods after some thought. “Sensible.” She suddenly swallows as if she is about to choke. “Go away, all of you,” she says. “I need to think. Go, Horin; just give me a little time.”
As everyone leaves the cottage, Horin included, I hang back. “Lyra?”
“Damin,” she whispers … and hurtles into my arms.
My first denial comes then. Staring at Horin, I tell him, “Sorry, Horin, but I found a kid in Porlese, one terrified of being tested. Yet now you claim you knew what was happening.”
After glancing at Lyra, and marking her silence, he responds, “Most of the time I was that kid, Damin. It is easier to live in the body chosen when the resident mind acts its age and functions as expected.”
“But you claim you knew from birth.” My second denial.
“I did, but they were flashes of an older self. Generally Horin, the boy born in Grenmassin, was the boy everyone expected to have around. After Porlese, when the soldiers came at us, that was when it changed … a permanent change.”
“What about Horin the boy?” Lyra whispers, and my heart goes out to her. Never have I heard her sound this sad. “Have you usurped him? Thrown him away?”
Horin closes his eyes and then moves around the table to Lyra. “Everyone has a soul, my sister. Usually we grow up with it, learn from it, and teach it new emotions and ways of thinking. I am no different there. My soul was simply more aware from the start. Horin still is. Lyra, I am Horin.”
She lays her hand on his cheek. “How do you explain this phenomenal growth, then? I have to look up to you now.”
“Ilfin talent. In times of great stress certain factors are accelerated. Had the asteroid not appeared, I would have grown into this body at a normal pace.”
Lyra nods after some thought. “Sensible.” She suddenly swallows as if she is about to choke. “Go away, all of you,” she says. “I need to think. Go, Horin; just give me a little time.”
As everyone leaves the cottage, Horin included, I hang back. “Lyra?”
“Damin,” she whispers … and hurtles into my arms.
