Thursday, 02 April 2009

• The Legend of Miteal: X-Chapter 14: The Fall of Miteal; part 1

  Below is the next installment of my novel-in-progress. If you missed any previous entries, please check at the top of my main page (not the page of a post where you can leave comments) for links to previous entries. Of course, I've also now added quick-links all entries about Miteal so you can jump to any installment easily, too.

  For those who may not remember or have recently stumbled upon my story, this is a continuation of x-Chapters 11 & 12. Basically, we have King Josoya (king of a currently-unnamed land) and his friend and steed, Ednel, venturing to a mystic land called Miteal. Along the way they are attacked by a scout troupe of shadowlings, demonic-like shadow imps (of sorts) and Ednel is ordered ahead through the mist barrier that separates the two realms, leaving the fate of Josoya unknown.

  Ednel runs long and hard and eventually passes out. He awakes later in the seemingly perpetual night in Miteal and meets some very strange new friends: a pair of Fara trees (talking, walking trees somewhat similar to the ents in the Lord of the Rings...but they're actualy trees that can move around by moving their roots) and the Leeples, contstantly-moving mini-dwarves with child-like mentalities and who cannot remember who they are as a people and barely more as individuals. There is a muddled introduction in the group before they all decide to get some rest for the night.

  But later that night - who knows how long - Ednel wakes up only to discover he is not the only one awake: there is an elf who appears almost out of no where...and he is not happy that Ednel is there.

  And this is where the story continues...

  ---

  All entries for THE LENGEND OF MITEAL
  A Legend in the Making: Ideas and Concepts
  Chapters 11 & 12
  Chapter 13: Tenth-Grade Troubles
  --> Chapter 14: The Fall of Miteal; part 1
  Chapter 14: The Fall of Miteal: part 2
  

  ---

  X-Chapter 14 – The Fall of Miteal; part 1

  (C) March 24 - March 29, 2009

   

       Ednel dared not speak, not because he was alarmed (though he was), but because the elf held a blade’s edge at his neck if he did speak. Ednel remained perfectly still.

       “Who are you? Why do you trespass on my land?” The elf’s words were steady. His tone focused, refined. But there was no mistaking his threatening intent underneath it all.

       “I…um…my name…is Ednel. I was on a journey to this land…with my lord…we…we were separated when…when a scout troupe of shadowlings attacked. I ran to this place at his bidding and command.”

       The only movements made were Ednel’s nervous ears and the elf’s eyes as they narrowed slightly, carefully considering the visitor’s story. At a glance you might have thought the scene to be but a photograph.

       After a moment or two (though to Ednel it seemed more like three or four) the elf spoke, “I am known as Root, overseer of all the woods of this land. I find no lie in you; do not mistake that for trust or you will surely know your lethal error.” Root sheathed his blade behind his back and stepped back to allow Ednel a chance to regain a sense of collected composure, but Ednel had a feeling he would not be able to rest easy just yet.

       “It is well noted,” replied the horse, allowing a bit of disdain to seep through his lips at having his mortal being threatened. “Now I don’t suppose you care must to tell me why you would treat a guest to our land with such hostility? Especially when I have given no cause for—“

       “Hush!” silenced Root, a whispered hiss escaping his own lips. “I will do as I see fit in my land. You will fair…better…if you do not question me.” Ednel reasoned this would be sound advice and did not speak further. The tension had relaxed but still was taught.

       The night was as ever dark, an endless sky of black and sparkling dots and a moon. The Fara trees and Lepples were as fast asleep as before. It was as if nothing could wake them, though Ednel had no intentions of trying, either.

       Root stood facing out to the woods. He seemed to take in everything, listening and watching for the slightest disturbance…as if expecting it. He barely moved. Ednel began to wonder what he could possibly be listening for, but Root’s warning was still lingering in the night air. Then, after another moment had passed, Root turned and faced Ednel.

       “Who is this ‘lord’ you spoke of? What is his name?”

       “He is the king of the land on the other side of the mist. King Josoya.”

       “Josoya?!”

       “You…know of him?”

       “More than you know.”

       Root’s callous and hard features seemed to change to that of a thoughtful gaze, as if remember days long ago. Ednel watched the elf with a patient curiosity. Again, there was a long silence. Though the elf stood faced away from the horse, Ednel thought there might have been a relaxing to Root’s stature, or a softening to his stiff demeanor. But with the fire burning dim it was difficult to see for sure.

       Ednel wondered what it was that the elf could have meant. Understandably, he had only been in Josoya’s kingdom for three years, but the two spent much time together and Ednel liked to think he knew the king as well as anyone. Now, though, he considered that there was much he did not. Judging from Root’s tone it sounded as if this mysterious hinting was not about anything good. That made it all the more confusing because nothing in Ednel’s experience suggested anything negative could be said of the king. What is it that I don’t know? wondered Ednel to himself. The question seemed to echo in his mind in many different ways, as if trying to coax any sort of answer out from hiding. And if there were any answers, they were quite resilient and resistant to the coaxing. A more direct approach would be required, Ednel figured.

       The horse watched the silent elf for a bit longer, hoping to glean anything more about him by means of observation. But Root stood as still as his namesake. Ednel joked to himself that the might learn more from a dead tree in a hurricane…and he kept any laughter securely in his private thoughts.

       “He is known by many names but is never mistaken as anyone but the lord of evil.”

       “King Josoya?!” Ednel nearly woke some of the Lepples who had gathered near him during the night. But they muttered some silly gibberish, stretched or yawned, and went back to sleep as soundly as before.

       At this, Root turned to Ednel enough to glance at him and gave a simple answer, “No,” and then turned away again after letting the word linger.

       But Root continued, “His name is Gafdos. He appears as a man but has the heart of a cruel beast, and has set himself as the self-proclaimed ruler of Miteal. Because of him, the Seven Lords and their lands had been divided from each other and decayed from within.”

       Ednel dared to slowly step close to Root’s side. He looked the elf more closely in the face but the elf did not return the gaze. “You are of the Seven…?”

       “Because of Gafdos,” replied Root, not directly answering the rhetorical question, “old friends because enemies. Blinded by pride, anger, and vengeance we could not see our true foe from our allies. Trust was but a myth. And one by one we fell to our own schemes meant for any who opposed us. We crippled ourselves from within.”

       Root paused for a moment again. As Ednel watched, for the first time he truly thought he saw genuine emotion from the stone-cold elf: a look of guilt and grief. It was faint and Ednel thought he might have heard a change of tone in the elf’s voice, too, but he was certain he saw something of feeling.

       “Because of me, my land has fallen. Once-thriving people like these little ones here are but a memory of who they cannot even remember. Everyone is an enemy…even you. Even Josoya.”

       “Josoya? What could he have done?”

       Root now looked the horse squarely in the eyes. “You truly do not know? Come with me. Allow me to enlighten you.” He began to walk away from the camp; each step seemed as quiet as the night itself. Ednel figured the elf knew the land far better than he let on.

       The pair walked around large trees and small bushes, fallen logs and mossy rocks. And the night air seemed much colder. Not simply because they had left the fire – it had lost its strength to warm the body long ago – but it was as if a deep, eerie chill swept straight through the body’s senses and froze you at the core of your soul. You would have no way of knowing if you felt afraid, lonely, sad or all of it or none of it. All you would know is that you would have felt full of an overwhelming sense of emptiness. It made Ednel shiver from head to hoof.

       “You can feel it. The evil. The decay that permeates the very being of the air and land,” said Root.

       Ednel did not know what to say. He looked at Root, waiting for an explanation. The two stood there for another while longer. Finally, Root spoke, “Listen well, and I will tell you how Miteal fell.”

       Root began his story, telling of people Ednel never heard of and places he never thought could have existed. But somehow, as if in a dream, it all seemed familiar. Root was actually a skillful story teller, Ednel thought, if not a bit dreary. However, the story was far from being a happy one. Either way, his attention was fixed upon the elf’s words. And at times, he almost felt as if he were there, living the story, itself.

       Before I continue with what happened next, I will tell you what happened to Miteal. For I think you might enjoy it a lot more if I told you, myself, instead of listening to Root (he can be rather dreary and all too serious).

  • 12:07 AM
  • 245 Views
  • 8 eProps
  • 12 Comments