Adventure

The howling wind soared through the caves and out down the side of the mountain, gigantic, steep and icy. I hooked my claw and dug in deep as I started my ascent, I reached a ledge that spiraled around the giant landmark, jagged rocks and tumbling snow lined my passageway and as I ventured on I thought to myself "what manner of titan created such a place?". A few more days is all I would need to reach the summit, I dug in and created a fortress against the harsh winds, stabbing at my face and ruffling my coat. I sat, leaning against chiseled stone; perfected over decades of a natural force.

As I finished my soup I added another drawing to the collection of my journey and named it 'Titans Path', I smiled as I looked back through the collection of parchment, ink sketches telling a tale of the many places I had wandered; the sunlight lake with singing trees, the painted canyon embedded with prints of a thousand animals, the ancient ruins of churches, statues and castle, so many locations, so many stories. Pebbles and rocks slid and fell over my head, rolling down the sound of the giant, I heard a thud and the soft patter of paws, as I looked up my eyes met hers; beautiful, proud and powerful. The wolf howled, then to my surprise it lowered it's head as though to beckon me so I left the warmth of my den and followed the majestic creature, the shards of ice brushing it's shaggy fur before slicing at my cheeks. My ears were met with another howl and glowing eyes emerged from the mist around us, the predators moved in closer and stuck to our tail as we ascended to Moon's Ridge; a beautiful clearing of smooth stone and untouched snow, the wolves went ahead; their paws dotting the clean undisturbed floor and I followed the trail of their claws into a cave where they sat, looking at me, and then inwards as one towards the center of the cave at the remains of a fire, the embers glowing and smoldering, the smoke dancing through the frosty air. A slumber swept over me.

I awoke to a ray of light glimmering around the cave, I followed it to the entrance of the cave where I was greeted by an incredible sight; oceans as tall as cloud-piercing buildings was clutching at the mountain and all it's daunting glory, coloured mysterious blues, and taunting reds, I was grabbed by an owl and we soared, dipped and dived over desert's covered in snow, and mountains draped in ash. I was on an adventure.

Broken Glass.

Glass cracked and stolen, light dancing through the splinters,

A weeping curtain falls quietly, begging of unsung music.

Dust collects and the fireplace yearns for the flames, and laughter,

Cobwebs map the corners, a million strings looking for a traveler.

Broken mirrors and dirty paintings, hung from long halls waiting to be seen,

Overgrown cobbled paths, leading to a house forgotten in the moonlight.

Candle wax dotted across the table, a harsh wind flowing through the glasses windows,

Beckoning for a dance in the lonely night.

Air whistles through the halls and up the staircase, the oak creaking in unspoken languages,

Moths flutter and fall, dive and soar over the frayed sheets towards the lantern.

Broken glass collects it's song, scattered over the floor,

Shattered and screaming, broken glass tells a tale.

On the River Bank

The river sleeps, the roads shout,
Birds sing and soar, dive and glide.
Creating a journey, the people, the places,
Step by step, observing, photographing.

The River Bank merges with the icy water,
Gritty dirt swirls in the torrent as the mud is pushed forward.
The River Bank like a cliff face, study, battered by the swarm of water,
On the River Bank a child plays.

Wind whistles through the reeds,
dancing over the painted lake.
Twisting and turning the leaves fall, red, gold and brown,
Their landing echoed in ripples that bound across the water.

The River Bank, a landscape of colour, even in the winter rain,
On the River Bank a child plays, tumbling through mud and leaves.
Logs placed to be shelter for the mice that peep in on the playground,
Wondering, what it's like on the River Bank.

What's it like on the other-side?

What's it like on the other-side?

Air from a poisoned breath, flowing through a stream,

Falling into memory, carved from the hollow laughs.

A child in the mist, dancing around statues,

Weaving around candles.

A kiss, a dance, the moonlit shores,

A pebble skips across the bay, the ripples run and curve away.

Laying before my dreams catch me from my fall,

A glimpse of the other-side, other worlds of mine.

Gliding over skies and sailing through seas,

A kiss, a dance, the moonlit shores.

What's it like on the other-side?

Sacrifice.

She was there, on a table her body was contorted and her stomach was cut open, several tubes were attached to her arms, thighs and neck. The lights in the lab flickered, casting an ominous glow onto the group and Xavier dropped to the floor in despair his hands on the table in front of him, his fingers wrapped around the leather pads. The warning alarms still were ringing and the red light bounced around the room, the ceiling and walls shook a little and several bottles fell off the shelves around them shattering on the floor and sending pieces of glass across the room. Lucy leaned down and pulled Xavier towards her who fell into her and wrapped his arms around her as he started to cry, she spoke to him with as calm a voice as she could muster,
   "Xavier... I... I'm so sorry. Xavier, we have to go."
   "I'm not... I can't leave her here... Not here... Not like this, not like that." He mumbled to her through the tears.

Lucy and Tom picked him up as he started to shout and hit out at them, Noah joined them and suppressed him,
   "I have no fucking idea what you are going through, nothing, none and I'm not gonna pretend that I do but if we don't get a move on now then all of us, all of us are going to die here, like that!"
  "Okay... Okay..." Xavier mumbled, although he had no personal desire of leaving the bunker. They got to their feet and ran for the door and into the corridor, Noah pointed to a vent which he and Emily had spotted on their exploration the last night, 
   "There! Now!"
The group hurdled into the vent and just as they started to make their way through, to the adjacent corridor a group of men, and a woman, The Mad Queen, walked past armed with axes, bats and knives.
   "Where'd they go? 'ey were just 'ere, I can smell 'em... Delicious." A rather foul looking man named Matheius, almost certainly a cannibal and murderer whose appearance could much more closely be linked to a troll than a man.
   "They must be heading to the Surface Door! Head them off!" Aria shouted over the sirens, the men tore off into another door while Aria walked back into her chambers holding Bethany's caved-in head in her arms.

Tom, Lucy, Emily, Xavier, August and Noah froze for a moment but quickly made their way through the vent and into the next corridor where they were faced with the Surface Door, the group hurdled towards it with extreme pace but they were met with a thumb scanner. 
   "Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Lucy yelled, sinking to her knees while hammering on the door.
   "You're not going to die in here!" Xavier yelled, "stay here!" he shouted as he sprinted towards the kitchens they had passed earlier. Sure enough two cultists walked by on patrol visiting the kitchens to steal from the fridges, Xavier turned off the lights and approached one of them and in the confusion managed to cut off one of their thumbs and slice the other's throat. He ran back towards the group and scanned the thumb just as the group of men seen earlier from the vent ran around the corner behind them, just as the door started to open Matheius shouted out to them,
   "'Ere they are! Get em!" and they started to run down the corridor towards Xavier and the group.
  "Lets go!" Noah shouted, and just as he ran with the others into the tunnel to the surface he shut the door, Xavier tripped Noah as they ran through and swiped the knife from his pocket as the door shut, the hiss of air rattled in Xavier's ears.
   "NO! What are you doing?" Noah slammed his hands on the door window, looking in at Xavier, "No, why! We can all make it together!".
   "Go. I have this sacrifice to make, for Bethany, and my sister, and so that you guys can live!" As the doors sealed and the air vent locked Xavier turned back to face the group of thugs as they drew nearer, their hollow laughs echoed around the now silent corridor. They slowed and walked towards him, their apparel putrid, bloody and discoloured. Xavier could see their scarred, burnt faces and their voices punctured through his ears like swords through a brittle sheet of ice, he felt a bead of sweat drop from his hair and another run down the side of his arm, he clenched his fists and raised the knife up. He ran towards the group of men, dodging an intended blow to the head and slicing away at the thugs at any skin he could see, Matheius however caught the blade in his hand and ripped it from Xavier, he grabbed Xavier and threw him against the wall, as Xavier looked up he saw a boot flying down towards his face.

Xavier awoke in the cold, icy outdoors. He wasn't alone, three masked men were with him and as he awoke and tried to stand they set upon him. He felt his bone splinter and his teeth grind against each other as the knuckles impacted on his jaw, then he felt a rib crack and a searing pain shot up his right side and down his arm. He could taste the copper, and feel the fragments of his own teeth amidst the blood and grains of dirt in his mouth. His eyes flooded with tears that flowed over the cuts and burns in his cheeks and splashed into the snow as he fell to his knees, they kicked the water from his reach and laughed as he spat blood and shards of his teeth onto the icy, frosty floor. The snow under his fingers burned to the touch but Xavier didn't care, he could only think about the body, his sister's body, on that table like an animal. One of the men took off his mask to reveal, Matheius, the thug that the group had seen by the shrine earlier that day and the man that had eaten Bethany's organs in front of them. He grabbed Xavier by the scruff of his shirt and picked him up, it tore but not so fast that the man couldn't land a series of punches with his spiked knucles to Xavier's battered, bloodied face and he felt his nose break as warm blood poured over his lips, over his chin and down his neck. Xavier was thrown into the snow that swallowed his hands and arms whole and Matheius turned around, kneeling in front of a bag while the others looked down at Xavier and sneered. Matheius turned to reveal an axe and a saw, 
   "Take hold of his legs!" he growled to the other two, and as they did so he stamped on Xavier's hand, breaking a finger and he snorted, derranged.
   "You, boy, you are going to tell me where the others went." He flexed the axe in his hand. Xavier looked up through bloody, glazed eyes and then looked down to Matheius' boots, polished and steel capped, with a knife attached to the ankle. Xavier quickly grabbed the knife and pierced it into Matheius' calf who let out a deafening howl of pain but just as fast removed the knife and kicked Xavier back into the snow.
   "That's the way this is, is it? Don't value your fingers much do you? Neither did your little sis. Poor little sis. Crying, begging, as she was violated, set upon by twenty men." He started to sneer and laugh over Xavier's muffled shouts and struggles.
Matheius knelt down next to Xavier and whispered in his ear,
   "You 'ave until the count of three to tell me, and my merry men where your tasty group are headin'... One... Two... Three..."
Matheius slammed the axe down on Xavier's right knuckles.
The pain was excruciating as Xavier looked up to see his hand, he raised it to his eyes and squinted... Only thumb and finger attached, and he screamed. 

The Raiders of the Glass Isles

The sea was harsh and strong this night, icy waves were smashing into the beaches of the small fishing village, Topps Cove. Emerging from the mist above the water were ships, ships with black sales and no flag; pirates! Raiders from the Glass Isles coming to pillage the coastal villages, as they closed in on the village alarm bells started to ring out and the signal fire was lit.

Dallyar Rograr, leader of the clan Silver Talon and his eldest son, Talyar were awakened by the alarm bells of the citadel. As Talyar looked out across the city towards the coast signal fires were lit, Talyar marched into the logistics room of the great hall to be greeted by his father,

            “Talyar, good. Pirate raiders have been spotted off of Topps Cove. We will be taking one hundred riders to meet them, they’ve been getting too cocky recently so we must send them a message. You will take thirty of our best riders and ride to the south and round, cutting their ships off once they have landed whilst I, with your brother take the main force and ride head on. I will signal to you, my son.”

Before Talyar made his way to the stables he made his way over to a decorated oak case where his champion armour was placed, made from Romairer; a rare metal, finely craft and forged in the Tempest Vault. The perfect armour for a perfect warrior, painted silver and scarlet and black. Clan Silver Talon’s battle armour lightly resembled that of a Falcon within the design, the gauntlets and shoulder plates look feathered, the gloves have talons over the fingers with retractable claws and the helmets mirrored a falcon’s head and neck. Talyar equipped the armour with pride and made his way down to the stables where soldiers were equipping armour of their own and applying war paint, he strode through them and the ones he passed closest to touched his shoulders or knelt as he walked, he entered the stable and mounted his horse he then smeared two fingers over red paint and then across his face before placing his helmet on his head. He walked the horse out to join his soldiers who were now mounting up and was handed a spear as he yelled out to his company,

            “Some pirates are coming here to our coast, they must be they’re hungry! They’ve been here before, they’re becoming greedy so let us go give the bastards something!”

The riders cheered as the gates of Grynic slowly opened and they slowly walked out into the harsh wind which rattled their armour and cut at their cheeks, Talyar and the riders started to canter and then to gallop as they rode out towards Topps Cove, as they grew closer to the village they turned to the south and circled the village stopping behind the dunes on the beach. Dallyar’s forces were closing in on the village but the pirates had landed and were hastily making their way towards the village centre, cutting down men, women and children who got in their way. Talyar looked to the sky to see the signal and there it was; a blue-fire arrow, Talyar and his riders started to canter forward towards the ships to be behind the raiders just as Dallyar’s forces entered the village on the northern side. The raiders were caught in-between the two forces and forced to group which made killing them that much easier, Talyar threw his spear as he jumped off his horse which impaled a raider to a building then as he landed he drew his short blades from his back and started cutting down the pirates, none were a match for his superior fighting as he stormed through their lines even taking on more than four at once, his armour was light but tough and his swords were forged from moon-light steel; perfectly balanced, light and deadly. Before long barely twenty raiders of the nearly two hundred that had landed were left and were scarpering for their ships, Talyar’s mounted archers fired upon them and knocked their numbers down to the mere few but just before they loaded again Dallyar spoke out,

            “Let them go, if none return how will they tell of their almighty defeat?”

The one ship pushed off from the shore and sailed back towards the mist, when Dallyar and Talyar returned to the city, Dallyar sent off three falcons with a message, urging that the families of three clans come at once to Grynic so that they discuss a more permanent solution to the pirates.

Survival

The ground beneath them started to shake and fall through, the building started leaning as the foundations collapsed  and everything became distorted; furniture started sliding towards them and various walls slanted, Jacob looked around frantically for somewhere to go and he glanced a stairwell through the debris and shaking room, he shouted out to the group while signalling with his hand outstretched,
  "Come on! Let's go!!"
As they ran forward towards the door the ceiling above them collapsed and blocked their access to the door, the windows shattered as the desks impacted them revealing a nearly fifteen storey drop into the wreckage below. The building was tilting now as it fell apart, leaning at nearly forty-five degrees.
  "We have to go up!! We have to climb and jump across to the next building!"
Alice bellowed over the roar of the concrete crashing down around her.
  "That's five storeys! We'll never make it!"
Oscar yelled back at her and she replied in kind;
  "Well it's that or we die, we die here in this tower! We've survived this far, I'm not dying in a fucking collapsing tower, not after everything we've already been through!"
  "Lets go then!"
Ethan shouted, and he took the lead by jumping up to a ledge of the next storey and reached out his arms to help the others, all six of them made their way up to the eighteenth storey and as they reached this a shadow was cast over them and they looked on with horror as the tower they were in was about to collide with the air control tower next to it, and as it did it took the floor out from beneath them completely but the group managed to jump out of the window panels and start to climb up the side of the leaning building, clambering over girders, pillars of concrete and maneuver around holes, As they neared the twentieth story Oscar slipped and fell into the building once more, taking Alice and Edward with him and as they fell a wall collapsed creating a blockade of unmovable debris between the group; separating them. The tower started to slip and fall again, tensions were running high,
  "Oscar, Edward, Alice! Are you okay?"
Jacob called out, terrified.
  "We're okay, but Oscar; his arm! He's stuck!"
Victoria spoke out, who had been quiet up to this point,
  "We've got to go! We may only have minutes to get across to the air-control tower, the tower is starting to fall!"
Behind the collapsed wall Alice and Edward were trying to lift and remove concrete from around Oscar's arm but Alice turned to Edward,
  "There's no time! You've still got the axe we took from the fire office on the first floor."
Oscar looked up, panic stricken and Edward turned away from him to face Alice,
  "Alice, this is his arm."
  "No, this is his and our lives! Do it!"
Edward took the axe from off his back and keeled down next to his friend, he told Alice to find something for Oscar to bite on and to hold his head. 
 "I'm Sorry!"
And he swung the axe down onto Oscar's wrist, the crunch of the bone was sickening but the hand wasn't off yet so he swung it again, Oscar cried out in pain and passed out. Alice and Edward lifted him over their shoulders just as Jacob kicked down a door behind them and shouted,
  "WE HAVE TO GO! NOW!"
The building started gaining speed as it crashed through the air-control tower, Edward pointed towards the air-control tower outside the window,
  "Come on! We have to jump, there is no time to think!"
The group ran and jumped from the falling building into the control tower, smashing through a window and slamming into a wall on the other side. As they stood up they witnessed the tower they were just in falling onto it's side with a deafening crash! As it collapsed in on it's self in the split seconds it landed it created a shock wave which smashed all the windows in their new tower and caused a dust cloud sending bits of concrete, glass, steel and iron flying in all directions.
  "Go, over there, get a first aid kit! We need to tend to Oscar!"


 

From the Future.

A portal opened blinding everyone in the room and two figures stepped out, as the portal closed one of the men spoke out,
  "There should be more of you, where are the rest? I count only eight."
After a few seconds of silence, Fortress spoke from the back of the room,
  "Sorry to let your expectations down, who are you? I am Charlie Mills but you can call me Fortress."
One of the men stepped forward, the light shone over him revealing shock blue hair, eyes and tattoos all over his face and right shoulder he spoke out to the group facing him that were still in the shadows,
  "My name is Arec Logg, but you all may call me Mask and this is my friend, Cross"
He pointed back towards the other man who had stepped out of the portal,
  "We are from the future sixty years exactly, 2091, where the war is still raging on, and we are still losing. We've come back to change things so hopefully less of you will die. First, who exactly are in here?"
Another man spoke out,
  "I am Silvar, a geneti. Here with me is Frostflare, Volt, Howl, Weaver, Ordnance, Dragon and you've already met Fortress, you're looking at the remaining leaders of geneti in A.S.H's southern hemisphere."
He raise his hands to display the men and women behind him, sitting and standing,
  "And what can you two do? Are you geneti? Meta?"
  "I am a geneti, one of the last and Cross is a hybrid, I don't believe you will have witnessed the first wave of them. The hybrids are geneti who were taken in and brainwashed, given cybernetic implants and new abilities with the intention of hunting us out, we captured Cross and returned him to our side, many others though, many of my friends we did not."
The room shook and the lights flickered, stones fell from the ceiling and then a piercing siren sounded. Silvar turned to the group, speaking out to them,
  "They're here! They must have sensed the portal! Dragon, Fortress you two head down to the tombs, take the people through the mine doors we have to leave!" Volt, Weaver, Frostflare and Ordnance, you're with me, we have to give them time, frankly I'm sick of hiding here, time to show these aliens what happens when you mess with the leaders of A.S.H!"
  "Me and Cross are with you two, Silvar, we can help."
Arec stepped forward with his and out and Silvar shook it.

When Dragon and Fortress had left the room the group proceeded to the battlements, when they got there they lined up looking out over the mountain, Weaver drew her daggers, Volt primed, Ordnance created a psionic suit, Frostflare coated half and half fire and ice, Mask turned invisible and Cross put up a force-field as well as pulling a futuristic cannon off his back. Lightening spread across the skies and thunder roared, rain started to fall and droplets rolled off their hair and skin before splashing into the ground. Cross yelled out,
  "They're coming! ETA thirty seconds."
Still nothing ahead,
  "Look to the skies!"
Pods dropped from the skies and into the ground, out of them poured Alyrix beings, hundreds of them, some nearly 20 foot tall and others like spiders.
  "Now!"
Silvar shouted as he projected a sphere of magnetic energy into the middle of their pods which pulled the walls together and collapsed inside them selves. Volt shot off a bolt of electricity and entered a spark dash, Weaver was close behind him with her daggers, dodging plasma blasts and swords, diving through the jaws of the creatures and climbing up them, Ordnance coated himself completely in his armour and created a gigantic psionic axe and jumped into the midst of the aliens causing a shock wave, slicing and smashing the creatures down, Frostflare froze the creatures at their feet and encased them totally in ice while throwing blasts of fire out towards the enemies, Cross was high on a tower, blasting aliens with his cannon and pushing them back with his force-field and Mask phased through them ripping them apart as he ran. Bolts of brilliant pink electricity were flying across the courtyard and battlements as Volt shot them out into enemy clusters and Weaver stood on the rampart slicing through the smaller creatures while evading every attack, and running up walls. Statues of ice littered the battleground which Ordnance punched shattered with his axe. Whatever metal Silvar could find he would shred and charge and project into the Alyrix like a wall of a thousand splinters, blasts of energy showered the ground from above and parts of Alyrix littered the floor. After a few minutes a deafening roar made the ground shake and the courtyard started to collapse, the group dodged and dived and jumped to avoid the concrete falling beneath them. All was silent for a few seconds and then gigantic and armoured claws reached out of the abyss, a monster emerged, nearly 60 foot tall with a slanted, pointed face with 5 eyes, it's body was coated in salvaged material, bolts and plasma, it stood, over the chasm beneath it all four feet on the ground and it's massive teeth dripping, bearing down on them. Lightening striked around the group and the rain increased, the wind billowing.
  "War-Naught! Take cover!!"
Volt shouted, and the group dived into whatever cover they could find as hundreds of lasers tore through the walls and an energy blast destroyed the outer gate completely.

The Basement Crowd.

My eyes met hers across the basement as the lights started to flicker under the stamping of the merry, dancing crowd. As the music grew louder the stamping and chanting in time with the tempo increased, I picked up a glass of firewater and downed it in one, the liquid burned as it gushed down my throat but the rich kick of the fiery apricot was pleasing. I didn't know her name but my god she was beautiful, my eyes caught her gaze again and I stepped forward towards her but the dancers were too many and too strong so I edged around the dancing partners and into the shadows as I made my way over to her. I held out my hand and she reached for it, her skin was white as snow and as my hand clasped hers I felt the adrenaline surge through my body as my stomach did flips, for that brief moment we were alone and I led her out to the dance floor where we locked together, her fair hair shimmered in the light from the lanterns on the ceiling and her lips were redder than a rose newly into bloom, her dress swayed with a motion of desire and her eyes were like fireworks in a winter night sky. 

She was stunning, she was everything I had ever desired and more. The music reached new heights of volume and the saxophone's song played to us faithful listeners and as the tempo changed, and our feet took a new direction my body pressed against hers and I could feel her heartbeat like a drum. She led me away from the dance-floor and pushed me up against a wall, she kissed me and I kissed her back with my hands on her cheek, brushing her smooth skin as our noses touched and we stared into each other's eyes, I felt a rush as I soared out of the basement and into the sweet Autumn's night. 

You could never have guessed, looking upon the basement's events with lanterns shining on the ceiling and ivy plants crawling up the walls and candles littering the windowsills, shelves and bar that it was our last night, our last night on Earth.

Riders of the Black Thorn

The fires flickered in the shower of rain and the tents that surrounded each were filled with the noise of laughs and shouts and the clinking of cups. Scattered around were hundreds of caskets of wine and most were empty, soldiers lay laughing in the mud and others were wandering towards the treeline, falling every few steps. The celebrations of the battles that day would last long into the night, others were leaning on flag poles and the light from the fires that were dotted around the encampment lit up the clans banners; pieces of a sword through a mountain of clan Nine Blades, the paw print in the snow of clan Frost Fox, and the armoured bear of clan Steel Bear. 

The scout returned to Rark, son of Hidir Locop and leader of the Black Thorn clan to confirm it was indeed a legion of the Trinity Alliance camped down by River Red, Rark mounted his horse and placed his helmet on his head. The rain started to pour as the horses started to canter with Rark slightly ahead, leading the riders forward as he yelled;
  "Riders! Riders of the Black Thorn! We ride now into a sea of Foxes and Blades and Bears!"
Thunder rang out and echoed over the wind and around the trees, the banners billowed in the wind,
  "I have known all of you all my life, I grew up with you and trained with you. These treacherous enemies have taken many lives this war and now they come here, to our land! They burn our villages down and slaughter our sons, our daughters, our sisters and our brothers. It's our time now!
The horses started to gallop, Rark drew his sword and stood high on his horse,
  "And they will know the fear as the skies open and the lightning strikes, we will bear down on them like the ocean in a storm!
Hundreds of other riders drew their swords and picked up their shields from the sides of their mounts, the rumble of the horses grew louder as they approached their targets.
  "We will strangle them like Thorns around a throat! We are the reapers in the night! We are the riders of the Black Thorn!"

A sentry that had been posted at the camp who had not partaken in the evening's festivities was shocked as the line of riders charged into view barely moments from his position, he turned to run but just as he started to shout an axe ripped through his skull and the riders tore through the encampment. Before the Trinity's legionnaires could get out from their beds they were slaughtered, a small few who had also skipped out on the drinking tried to surrender with their arms raised but they too were speared and split to vicious laughter.

As morning dawned upon the camp hundreds of tents were ablaze, and hundreds more soldiers were placed on banner poles of the Black Thorn, some still drawing breath, blood oozing from their mouths, eyes and nose, they were disfigured and many had entire limbs removed.  

Prologue.

The vast and beautiful world of Albarith was once ruled from the mountains that reached the clouds to the beaches that touched the swift seas by just one clan; the clan of The Night's Eye. The leader of this clan took in two unrelated orphans and raised them as his own, they both took different paths in life and eventually when they came of age started their own clans; Clan Storm Claw and Clan Silver Talon. Over time more and more clans surfaced from the sons of leaders among these clans. Albarith was divided up by the elders of The Night's Eye who only now served the land as a council as they were the wisest and oldest.

Legend has it that the Storm Claws became more jealous and greedy, they tried to take more land for themselves and in the process started a war that lasted for nearly eighteen years, and became known as the War of Storms, during this war many thousands of lives were lost and some clans themselves were completely erased from the world, Mhiock, the leader of the Storm Claws had turned mad over the years after dabbling in the practices of dark magic, after his three sons died in battle he burned their sisters alive while chanting "the balance must be met" and he murdered his wife by sealing her in a cast of iron and slowly lowered into a pit of molten rock. During the siege of Tolpnarth, the Storm Claw's final stronghold and capital Mhiock was killed and the rest of the clan surrendered, to set an example of what was to happen, Mhiock's brothers were all executed and hung up around the walls for nearly a year. The wounds of war took time to heal but eventually the elders and other clans forgave and relationships grew strong again and the dark magical artefacts that led Mhiock to insanity were locked away deep underground and the practice or very mention of these artefacts was outlawed.

For nearly one hundred and sixty years the world was peaceful, but it would not stay that way...

One Last Flight

A man sheltered from the sun one summer's evening, sitting on a bench beneath a tower of branches and leaves, the book by his side was a work of fiction and an old dog rested his head by the man's slippers.

A cool breeze sailed through the blades of grass and the birdsong followed.

The man looked to the sky as a bomber flew overhead displaying its colours, and still, long after it had passed.

                        

He imagined it as it dived and danced through the air, the jet engines roaring proudly as it pushed through the clouds and the beautifully painted metal shimmered in the light. The bomber dipped and dived and rolled, it climbed the skies and dodged the currents like a path of light in a hurricane, the air passed over the metal work like the tide of a beach over a stone, lost among itself.

The bomber knew no time, it had no destination and no meaning, it could go anywhere and everywhere, the man knew not where the plane was going except that it was on its own journey for one last flight, the bird of prey in a peaceful flight. The Vulcan sailed like birdsong one last, summer's night.

Tribute for my father, David Canning.

The Sword of the Crow

The icy wind was sharp on Talyar's cheeks, snow billowed around his head and a hand reached down towards his face who was on one knee leaning on his sword and with his other hand on the arrow in his thigh, he reached for the hand and it pulled him to his feet, Black Foot stood looking at him with a look of disbelief,
 "Talon, it's you! I was sure you were dead!"
Grey Claw spoke from behind Talon,
 "Ain't nothing that can kill our Talyar. I once saw him kill a pack of wolves with nothing but a rock. We are glad you were here our thanks to the Silver Talons, brother."
Talon pulled the arrow from his thigh, slid the sword into the sheath on his back and spoke out as he looked around, it was hard to tell the difference between the ice, mud and armour of the countless fallen. Flags littering the battlefield, sticking out of the ground at obscure angles, there were thousands of bodies; horses and men all lying still,
 "Walk with me, Grey Claw, Ny'aa."
They walked across the field, the grass beneath their boots shattered like needles of glass under a hammer. Banners lay in the mud, trails of blood frozen in the ice.
 "How many? How many did they send?"
 "Nearly three thousand, would have slaughtered us if the Silver Talons hadn't shown up. I'm sorry about your men, Talyar"
Talon nodded, while removing another arrow from his chest,
 "They will be remembered. They knew what they were riding in to and who they were riding for."

The winds picked up and the icy shards sailed through the air, rattling the armour and piercing the flags that billowed in the wind,  
 "Grey Claw!"
Black Foot was running towards them from behind,
 "It's coming!
Black Foot was shrouded in mist and they heard the sound of a man's scream as a blade was drawn. Talon and Grey Claw stood together, facing the mist in stance, ready to fight. A long haired man walked out of the snow storm in front of them, his cloak was long and ripped and his head hung down he carried a staff in one hand and a sword in another. Grey Claw shouted into the howling wind,
 "Who are you?!"
The man kept walking forward, dragging his staff across the floor, Grey Claw drew his sword and stepped forward, the blade outstretched. The man stopped walking and raised his staff, but stood motionless. Grey Claw and Wildclaw both charged forwards and then man slammed his staff into the ice, Wildclaw was launched back with a huge burst of force, as he looked up and back towards the sorcerer he noticed Grey Claw frozen in mid air, stems of snow white ice branching off him in all directions holding him up in the air. The sorcerer raised his sword and hundreds of wolves walked forwards out of the snow storm from all sides, Talon knelt, leaning on his sword again, a piece of ice in his waist, he drew his other sword from his hip and slid his helmet visor down, as he stepped forward slowly, gaining speed he spoke muttered under his breath,
 "A talon in the ice, a feather in the snow, a roll of the dice, the sword of the crow."

The Dangerous Man.

X'Iar set down his glass as and he did so he heard the door scrape along the splintered floor behind him, it caught like that every time it was pushed open too far. Another man was silhouetted in the door, his shadow cast long by the blinding sun behind him and with him came the smell of blood, oil, sweat and sand that would hit your senses like the aftermath of an pipe-line explosion.
  "Everybody out. Now!"
His voice echoed around the quiet bar and was soon followed by the scraping of chairs and the hurried scuffling of feet on the creaking wooden floor followed by the clunking sound of boots which stopped and then the unmistakable sound of a bottle top being punctured.

Without turning to even glance at the hunter X'Iar took another sip from his glass, the ice sphere's rattled as the whiskey swirled his throat. The stranger took a long sip of the whiskey and then addressed X'Iar,
  "X'Iar Linock, you are charged with nineteen counts of murder, three counts of theft and one count of prison break."
X'Iar turned to face the man in the doorway, straightening his trench coat and putting on his eye patch while quietly responding,
  "You should probably pay for that."
The stranger pressed on,
  "How do you respond to these charges?"
X'Iar started adjusting the Dakota on his head so that his eyes was shaded from the heat and the stranger's gaze, 
  "That depends how good your draw is, doesn't it?"
He drew the revolver from his hip and landed three shots into the strangers head, before the man had time to collapse X'Iar swiped the bottle from the man's hand and took a sip. He reached down to the man as he was writhing in pain and took several silver coins from with in his breast pocket and placed them in an empty glass next to the returned bottle on the counter. He stepped over the stranger who now lay silent, gathering dust on the saloon floor and he muttered under his breath,
  "Not guilty, not today, I guess."


  

Shadows of the Storm

Looking down into the courtyard, Victyria watched as the remaining elders, women and children fled to the keep. The gates were tall and thick but she could hear the rumble of the horses and the blows of the ram upon it, she turned to her elite and they looked up to her as she marched to a table and climbed upon it,

 "As many as there are out there, do not forget that they do not know this place! They do not know you! They think they are here to kill us, destroy us, burn us... They bring an army to our sacred halls!"

The barrage of the ram on the gate grew louder and louder,

 "You all have fought with me beyond those walls, I saw each of you put twenty of their so called 'soldiers' into the dust, I ask that of you again now!"

The cheers of the warriors were loud to accompany their stamping of feet,

 "For you!"

Victyria carried on, 

 "Each of you are worth an entire army and they bring just one?! Just one army to our gates! You! My friends, my family, we are this city, we are what is left, we were born of shadow and rock and trained in the nine lights, we are the shadows that bring storms to their throats! We are Samurai!"

The gate began to splinter, Victyria's warriors clashed their shields and drew their swords all while shouting,

 "For you!"

Victyria shouted on,

 "Follow me now! Follow me and we will meet this so called terror at our own gates and give them a hell they dare not speak of!"

Victyria placed her helmet onto her head and drew her sword, as she marched down and into the courtyard the blood on her armour glistened in the sunlight, she felt a tear of sweat on her brow and turned to face her elite. Behind her the gates were starting to break, the shine of the armour outside could be seen and their war chants echoed around the courtyard. Victyria spoke out to her warrior elite.

 "When those gates fall and they will fall, give them hell!"

The gate swayed and splintered some more, Victyria turned to face the gate with her companions beside her, swords drawn,

 "Brothers and sisters, Shadows of the Storm, we are the Hell!

The gates crashed open, Victyria pulled her helmet mask down, hundreds of warriors poured in and shouting a war cry. Victyria's samurai raised their swords and started to run forward, unanimously they shouted,

 "We! Are! The Hell!"

Welcome to Novella!

Welcome to Novella!

A few years ago I used to creative write a lot, almost every day and it's slowly faded but I want to return to that level of writing. So, here on my new blog I shall be uploading once every few days a passage of a 'story' with no info before it or after, it will be of that moment, like a scene from a chapter in a book. I will be uploading the first one later tonight.

Hope to capture many views!
Peace.