The beginning
"Come on... hurry up," I whispered to myself as we waited for the teacher to finish drawing his wonderful map of East Merrow.
"Be patient, he wants to do it perfectly," we laughed quietly.
"He wants to do everything perfectly. He's a Steward, shouldn't he be working in the capital helping the king?
"He should but there's nothing to help with. Janshai surended after we took Brightkeep and everything is ready for the winter so to keep him entertained they sent him here to look after this 'bunch of little beasts', as lord Feyman calls us'
"Is your dad coming home then, if theres nothing to do?"
"Yep. He's coming on the next full moon"
"Why so late?"
"He has to get some business done"
"What business?"
"Have you seen the white crows gathering near the Panrimi Forest?" he asked lowering his voice even more, so you could hardly hear him.
"Yeah. I've been seeing more and more of them latley. Why?"
"Some people think its a sign. That the witch is back and the entrance to Florensia has been opened. They started panicing, saying the demons of the past will come and destroy us. King Harlaus is furius with them so he ordered my father and his men to find those who believe in this and bring them to Highcastle."
"What will happen to them then?"
"I don't know but the King will do anything he needs to, to shut them up. The last thing he wants is his people panicing for something that might not even exist"
"Don't you believe it?"
"I believe in what i see and in my life i havent seen anything that proves Florensia exists"
"But..."
"ALAN VERNON, WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT YOU COULDN'T WAIT WITH IT TILL THE END OF THE LESSON?!! CAN'T YOU SEE YOUR FRIEND IS TRYING TO WORK AND YOU'RE DESTRUCTING HIM?!!!"
"It won't happen again Master Olivier" I said massaging my ears. I think my eardrums popped. OUCH!
"I hope so". Like always, Payton got out of trouble but i wasn't mad, thats how it's always been. If you didn't mean anything then you were treated like an outcast. Paytons gradfather belonged to the kings guard, his father is one of the chief knights and his brother is a blacksmith in Highcastle. His family served the royalty for years, thats why everyone respects them and they wouldn't dare say a bad word about them. My family... well, I have no family. My parents were both orphans and when I was five my father died. I was left alone with my mum, I had no other family.
***
"Finally," I thought when the school bell rung and the classroom door swung open. A tall and skinny figure stepped in. It was Mrs Daye, the deputy head. She was very nice for a teacher. She always wore the finest dress you could get here in East Merrow and wore her long, silky hair down even though it nearly reached the floor. As soon as she stept out of the way we rushed outside as fast as we could.
As I stepped out of the school grounds I noticed that dark clouds were gathering in the evening sky and the wind was howling in my ears. There was a storm coming.
I raced through the village not to be hit by rain but on the way I saw a shop that wasn’t there before, or at least I never saw it. ANTIQUES AND ARTIFACTS it said which was weird because as I looked through the window I could only see rows of shelfs, filled from top to bottom with old and dusty books. Slowly, I entered. It was spooky and weird but something wanted me to wait there and so I did.
Bloodthirsty lightning struck. The thunder roared and rumbled above me. Trees fell to their knees as if they wanted to bow. I watched as the rain scurried down and puddles became rivers floating down the crowded streets. It was a disaster. I was glad I stayed inside.
I sat down, looked out of the window and watched as a group of black crows flew over the tree tops of the Panrimi Forest.
Legends said a witch lived in a small cottage deep in the ancient forest. She had dark brown skin and long, silky, black hair and her pale, blue eyes looked as if they were hidden behind a layer of mist. She created an evil monster that guarded a portal which people used to enter another dimension called Florensia. The people who entered the beasts lair were cursed forever and never came back to the village. Scary but true.
My father used to tell me stories about Florensia. My favourite was about Saul The Great, a giant white minotaur, the king of the Fatamid mountains. He wore armour made of Irax, the hardest metal, and carried around two deadly battle axes, probally as big as me. It was like a dream listening to his stories. I always snuggled up in my warm bed and listened closely to what he said trying to memorize every single word.
The day he died was the worst day of my life. Nobody knew how he died. The only thing we know was that one day he went into the forest to gather some firewood, but when he came back he looked different. He looked tired and ill. Some people say he was cursed by the witch and some say that it was just an ilness. I didnt know what was true and I wasnt even sure I wanted to know. A couple of days later it got worse. He had a temperature and stomach aces. He was getting weaker, he had to hold himself up on a stick like an old man. A week later he was nearly dead, he couldn't see or smell. His face was wrinkled and skinny. His voice was hoarse and quiet so you could hardly hear him but we could make out a couple of words 'Take me... Mt.Ibis... death... Gods... please...'. He knew his death was coming near so he wanted to die somewhere were his body would be safe from hungry animals and birds and were his soul could find a safe way to the Afterworlds. He wanted to die on Mt.Ibis, the holy mountain, under the eye of the Gods. So we took him there, it took two weeks. By the time we got to the peak, he lost all his senses. He couldn't see, smell, hear, move and talk, but his heart was still beating. When we finally reached our destination we built an altar out of rocks and branches. Then we put his body on top of it and set it on fire. I watched as my fathers body turned to ash. Tears were running down my cheeks. I couldn't move. I was only a child it was too much for me. I managed to turn around and what I saw gave me the strength to live on. My mum was standing there next to Peytons family with tears in her eyes but she was smiling at me, all of them were. They were suffering too but they wanted to show me that I needed to be strong and that I wasn't alone. I had them, we weren't all related but we would always be a true family...
Looking out of the window, I guessed that it will take a while until the storm calms down so I turned around and crept deeper into the shop.
As I walked on I felt weird as if I was no longer in my own world. I heard whispers coming from every single book each one telling a different story. Some of them I thought were about Saul and the witch of the forest of Panrimi.
Those books looked as if they were taken out of a fairytale. The fancy letters were written in gold ink, the sides were covered in precious gems and the covers were illustrated with drawings of creatures I've never seen before. Some of them seemed to be moving around, waving at me. I couldn’t help smiling at the tiny elves playing around on one of the books.
Suddenly, I found myself back in the front of the shop. I was kind of freaked out so I looked out to see if it was still raining. Unfortunetly, the weather was getting worse so i sat down took one of the books and read.
As I read on and on I realised that the book told the secrets of Florensia, the gods and much, much more... the story started at the point were the whole world was created....
' At the very beginning of time itself the world was just nothingness that stretched on and on with no end. There was yet no day or night, no sun or rain, no planets or stars, no life. And then... out of no where... appeared a living being. He looked something like a human except for the pair of long black wings that were sticking out of his back. He had deep, fiery, red eyes and short, flaming, red hair hidden under a dark Barbuta Helmet. The armor he wore was the darkest shade of black but was so polished that you could easily see your reflection in it. In his right hand he was holding a long, razor sharp, flame-bladed sword. And in the left, a Targe. A strong, round shield covered with a tough cowhide, which was decorated with embossed Celtic style patterns.
Seconds after he appeared, another creature came to be. This time it was a very tall women with pointed ears and long, white, silky hair. Her skin was pale and soft. Her lips were bloody red and eyes dark grey. The light blue dress she wore reached her ankles and was embroidered with shimmering gems. The sleeves came down to the palms of her hands. On her neck was a jewelled neclace, on her hand a pair of golden Roman snake bracelets and a garnet ring and in her ears beautiful diamond earings. Her weapons were a short ivory bow and a Sabre, a backsword with a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard. She was sitting on the back of a great white stallion. His mane was dark grey and plaited into a long braid. His coat was very thick and velvety like a pillow. He was intelligent and obedient but also very alert. With his big black eyes he analysed every move the winged man made.
Then, one more creature appeared. It was a young girl, about the age of eighteen. She had scruffy, dark brown hair that reached her shoulders and dark eyes which showed no emotions at all. She wore a light green, long-sleeved undershirt, with a brown tunic and brown woolen trousers, stuffed into the tops of her fur-lined boots. She looked nothing like the women before her. Her skin was light brown and scratched from training for battle. By her side stood a fierce looking beast which looked like a wolf, but much bigger. His amber colored fur was rough and shaggy. He stared at the other beings with a gaze that could pierce your soul. Blood was dripping from his fangs and claws....'
Finally, the storm calmed down so I put the book in my school bag and walked out of the shop. Then I run home to see if my mum was alright. Those storms can do a lot of damage especially to houses like ours which look more like wooden shacks.
We live by the river, away from East Merrow. It’s scary walking around this area, especially when the sun sets and the beasts of the night come out to hunt but this house belonged to my father and my mum will never move out of it.
Slowly, I opened the door and called her but no one answered... only then did I realise that the house was completly destroyed. There was broken furniture everywhere, ripped curtains lied on the wooden floor... Where was my mum?! I was alone now! What was I supposed to do? I had no idea what happened but I knew one... something was going on. Something that I felt would change everything...
