Chapter VI – The Insatiable Will August 22, 2009
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“What we require and what we desire are two separate things, yet closely intertwined: without the former, we cannot live; without the latter, we cannot be alive.”
-Klaudius the Drunk, philosopher extraordinaire and master of stating the obvious.
—
Exa stood still, studying the hallway which was barely lit by light from some outside source that shone through small cross-shaped arrow slits that pierced at regular intervals the wall she guessed to be the outer one. She could tell that there was dust in the air, both the flecks illuminated by shafts emerging from the holes and the ones that lightly teased her nose, but the floor seemed to be mostly swept clean by feet that left prints only at the less traversed edges. Although it was dark, she could see well enough, her pupils dilated to almost their full extent. The architecture itself looked old but sturdy and well-maintained, leading her to suspect that she was actually inside a fort or city wall, though it did not seem sensible to hollow it out.
Now that she had reoriented herself to this new place by establishing an awareness of her surroundings, her mind felt clearer and she felt nuances between the two pulls that she had sensed as soon as she had stepped into this passageway. To the left lay the one that seemed to tell her that she ought to go that way and it would be good if she went there, while to the right the sensation was one of need and foreboding as if bad things would happen were she not to follow that direction. Should and must, good or not-bad, she thought to herself, not very cheerfully but slightly amused nevertheless. Perhaps Takhris’ constantly playful nature was contagious.
Chapter V – Of Empty Vessels August 20, 2009
Posted by L. Solange in Exa's Saga.Tags: fantasy, fiction, no animals were harmed in the making of this chapter, suspense
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“If you cannot avoid misfortune, make best of it: learn where there is a lesson; grow where there is fertile soil; bend where there is pressure. Never underestimate the capacity of the mind to persevere.”
-Old Lanean teaching, originating from the Opal Isles in the third century before the War of the Living Flame. Specific author unknown, widely suspected to be one of the theocrat Jumoras.
—
When Exa finally woke up, immediately fighting back tears, Takhris was there to hold her and to calm her down. Whispering age-old words of comfort and solace, the girl’s crying soon subsided to sobbing and then to gentle breathing as she fell asleep to more restful dreams. A little over an hour later she opened her eyes again, now without seeming distraught like she had been.
“I had a nightmare,” she said quietly as she stared at the ceiling of the bed. “I was all alone and nothing seemed to be like it should have been and things just didn’t work.” She turned to look at Takhris who was still sitting next to her, not having moved as he guarded her slumber. “You were there, though, but I couldn’t find you. I’d never felt so lost. I hope I never will.” Stretching on the bed, she smiled. “Luckily it was nothing more than a dream.”
Smiling back and commenting nothing so as not having to lie to this precious candidate, Takhris instead decided to divert the topic. “I’m glad to see that you’re alright, you weren’t sleeping very well. Would you like some breakfast?” Without waiting for the positive response, he stood up and walked to the control panel with its plastic buttons. Pushing in a combination that would prepare a healthy and refreshing meal, he listened as Exa rolled off the bed onto her feet and, after a brief visit to her bag, approached him. “How did the last trial go?” he asked once she reached his side and was curiously looking over his shoulder.
“Oh, it was a breeze,” she replied and he noticed that she was brushing her long hair which had up until now been braided down her back. “Pretty much all I had to do was gardening and helping some small critters. It took me a while to understand what was going on but once I got it, there was no problem.”
“That’s good. If this goes on, maybe it won’t take as long as I feared to get you through these tests.” Nothing in his jovial expression gave away his shock nor the fact that he instantly connected himself to Errata receiving answers he did not like to questions he had feared he would have to ask. With a consoling mental pat from the deity, he returned his focus to the elevator where scantly a thousandth of a second had passed.
Chapter IV – While The Innocent Rest August 18, 2009
Posted by L. Solange in Exa's Saga, Interlude.Tags: character acting in different tense, fantasy, fiction, fifth post AND ahead of schedule
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“While the innocent rest cradled safely in bed, the wicked work for those we dread.”
-Ancient proverb, supposedly popularised before the rise of the Four Kingdoms.
—
Takhris gently lay down the unconscious girl on the eight-sided bed as the door to the now-dark floor closed by itself. He had suspected that something like this could happen, though he had also hoped it would not. Manipulating the air around Exa to release the straps and catches that held the scorched remains of her armour around the girl, he carefully removed the mangled pieces one by one and cast them aside. Once he was sure that she had not hurt herself too badly, he used the control panel to dim the lights in the room and set off a soft symphony that would help Exa rest easier. Then, knowing there was nothing for him left to do at the moment, he stepped through the spheres into a bedroom belonging to the most beautiful child of the world.
The child sits on the warmly-coloured carpet, knees tucked underneath and nimble hands stacking blocks in patterns that would have seemed to have no logic behind them to one not knowing how to look at them. In measured movements the figures that lay on the carpet receive new shapes and meanings, each supplying unique threads to the stories woven which held secrets that even Takhris could only guess at. Occasionally, when lithe fingers capture one of the pieces, it changes or disappears altogether, the number and appearance of the shapes in constant flux.
Noting the soft glow in the horizon beyond the open balcony, Takhris greeted the child with a simple, “Good morning, Errata. Having fun?”
The child’s head turns up to face him with a glowing smile, speaking a courteous reply in a flawlessly melodic voice, confirming that they are, in fact, having fun. Errata continues by asking if Takhris agrees that the shape their hands are currently dancing to create is beautiful, being a direct representation of the social interactions of a community of true salamanders in a volcano near the area popularly known as the Looloq Gap.
Approaching to study the morphing display spread on the fluffy floor, Takhris looked closer and saw how a recent bubble in the magma flow had brought the tribe a new source of food and that now the creatures were celebrating. Time after time, he found himself fascinated by Errata’s abilities, though they had first met a long time ago, not much after Errata had acquired the seeds of the gift and curse that was now mostly under the control of the child. Unable to resist the temptation like always – he was almost certain that it was the strongest reason Errata had chosen the form that would have put a cherub to shame – he stroked the child’s immaculate hair, receiving in turn another heart-moving smile.
Chapter II – The Great Library August 14, 2009
Posted by L. Solange in Exa's Saga.Tags: fantasy, fiction, librarian, racism
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“Learning is the salt of life. Lest we forget this, we must build temples for knowledge, not for worship, but to keep the flames of wisdom ablaze.”
-Quote attributed to Maidoch Lesin, a Gefeni scholar active in the second century (years 141-166, to be exact) after the founding of the Zeran Empire.
—
The two held their breaths as the door rose to reveal first a grey and white mottled marble floor, followed by a much darker table that was as wide as the room they were in. Behind it and to the sides stretched tall shelves stacked tight with what appeared to be books. Where they could see, they were long enough to vanish into the horizon. Above, they carried on as far as Exa could see.
Takhris let out the air in his lungs in a sigh of relief and moved past Exa towards the broad counter in front of them. “Come on, now.” He said, gesturing her to follow. “Amazingly, I’ve been here before and can vouch for the safety of this place. This trial isn’t a challenge, but a puzzle.”
Exa was still inspecting the colossal bookcases that seemed to defy the laws of physics – how could they stay up like that? – and had to take quick steps to catch up with her guide. With half a mind still staring in amazement, she asked him, “What kind of puzzle?”
“The kind where you have to figure out what it is and what the solution is. In other words, you have to understand what the fundamental nature of this place is and what it can teach you.”
“I’m not sure I follow,” Exa replied, now more focused on the conversation, the awe of the sheer volume of books fading from her mind.
Chapter I – The Elevator August 12, 2009
Posted by L. Solange in Exa's Saga, Interlude.Tags: fantasy, fiction, retrotech, steampunk
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“‘Lo and behold,’ spoke the jester and revealed a thousand glories to his king. ‘These all are naught in front of the triumphs you will have in the name of the Almighty.’ As the king sat, bedazzled by that which only he could see, the trickster stole the shine from his daughters’ eyes and the smiles from their mouths, leaving no more than ache and yearning in their hearts.”
-Ending of the play “The King of Nosht,” penned by Malcom Drefey after the collapse of the Onlon dynasty.
—
The room was brightly lit now that the door had shut itself behind the young woman and her guide. The light seemed to emanate from the floor and the ceiling, though they were easy on the eyes unlike a bright flame or the sun. Most of the space along the pale grey walls was occupied by shelves climbing their whole height, the only exceptions being small statuettes in the middle of the walls and the doorway itself. In the centre the floor raised slightly in an octagonal shape, forming an empty dais save for a carving of yet another eight-angled symmetric shape. Off to the sides were groups of comfortable looking chairs, eight in total, carefully arranged to balance one another. After taking in all these details in, Exa noticed that behind the low platform there was a slightly taller one that seemed to be covered by a score of buttons.
The reason this pedestal caught her attention did not occur to Exa immediately: although the contents of the room were otherwise harmoniously arranged in patterns of eight, this block was rectangular, its breadth was more than its length and that in turn greater than its height. As she approached it across the room and over the dais, her curiosity overriding the attention she had been giving to Takhris amidst her observation. He noticed this and fell quiet with a smile in the middle of a sentence explaining the nature and properties of this room. Crouching to study it with Takhris by her side, she ran her hand over the prismatic surface, feeling it to be a material she had never encountered before. Exa realised that despite being well-educated and having travelled quite a bit in her family’s duchy and to some of the major cities outside of it, she nevertheless did not know many things, especially in a place such as this where stories did not escape. The old wisdom of the wilderness no doubt applied here as well: ignorance brought nothing but grief.
“It’s made of a substance your people have no name for,” Takhris spoke from behind her shoulder. “You could say it’s a mix between glass and metal, being partially transparent yet durable.” He crouched next to her and pointed at a cyan oval slightly to the left of the middle of the field. “Press that.” Exa glanced at him and, hesitating only the tiniest fraction, obeyed, her first two fingers easily sinking the button a good inch. As nothing appeared to happen, she turned to look at her guide who was now staring at the middle of the room. Turning fully around to see what was attracting his attention, Exa was amazed to see the eight-cornered low-rise raising itself silently toward the ceiling. Naturally their palace had many hydraulic systems, but none of them were nearly as quiet and somehow she knew that this was not being powered with normal steam turbines or even elemental-enhanced ones.
Prologue – In the Citadel of the Waking God August 10, 2009
Posted by L. Solange in Exa's Saga.Tags: fantasy, fiction, prologue, steampunk
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The quiet clicking of Exa’s pocket watch was all but swallowed by the torrential wind that rushed by the ramparts of the Citadel. It almost seemed as if the storm was similarly trying to vanquish time itself. She could believe that here, at the centrepoint of all the realms and in this colossal fort that seemed to wrap every other land around it like a cloak against… what? She did not believe for a moment that there had ever been an invasion aimed at the domain of the Waking God, only small parties seeking His favours. Legends told that once He had walked amongst mortals, protecting them from the beasts of the wild and teaching the ways of survival and prosperity, but had since removed Himself to this castle of many names where He, supposedly, waited for a time when he would be needed again. In the meantime, daring adventurers and young nobles both ventured deep into the dungeons and caves beneath the fortress in order to prove their worth and their valour. It was even said that if one were to reach the bottom, he would meet the Waking God Himself. Even if they could not make the whole journey, most people put much weight on how deep one had ventured as it was necessary to use all the abilities one could muster to survive under the world.
It was now an eighth to noon and Exa checked once more that she had all she might need. True, the great instruction tapestries in the main great hall said that there were sources of food and water inside, but she had still acquired for herself from her court magicians various supplies. Instant rations and ritual scrolls would keep her fed and healthy for two weeks, double the time it should take her to pass her set goal. Indeed, her star-forged armour was the heaviest piece of equipment she carried as her bags were almost solely packed with water-tight containers for the parchment. She had had to have prepared for everything as those who had ventured in to the dungeon were bound by two geasa: first, to never again enter the realm of the Waking God; and second, to never speak of what they encountered while under the stronghold. Though she did not and could not know what she might face – possibly everything she could imagine and maybe more – she knew with the rational part of her mind that it would be worth it to continue receiving the good graces of her mother and father. Her emotions disagreed; she thought this was naught but a waste of time and a foolish ritual with no connection to the needs and desires of the modern age. However, she had to, lest she lose her position and inheritance and that was that.
