Posted in Posted by Cornelia Funke
Well here is my first chapter!!!! it's not all that good, but if it is the slightest bit enjoyable then do be a dear and leave me leave a comment!
The Coming Of The War: Prologue
It was a dark and turbulent night, and what little moonlight there was sifted through the gaps in the stable wall like water in a brook and fell across Bronwyn’s pensive face. She could not sleep, there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind that wouldn’t leave. She felt as though something inside of her was telling her to escape her life as a slave and follow her calling . But how? She had tried time and time again but her master would send men after her to bring her back and then she was locked up for days without food, or worse, she could not escape, at least…. not without help. Outside the wind howled like a wolf howling up at the moon. And far away Bronwyn heard the cry of an eagle as it soared through the sky, free as the wind that blew in it, she sighed and hung her head, what she wouldn’t give for freedom like that. A thousand leagues away an eighteen year old boy, and his companion, an elf, rode their gryphons by moonlight occasionally dodging arrows shot by the soldiers following them below and unfortunately gaining on them, but mere arrows would not deter them from their quest nor any amount of soldiers. “Callista we must separate, it is not what I wish to do but we will never find Bronwyn in time if we do not, I will find Bronwyn while you distract the soldiers and lure them away from her so I can do what is needed, besides it will at least be safer for you in the air.” Said the boy. “Is that absolutely necessary Leyam?” Asked his companion, “for the council told us not to separate, and if we do we will face their wrath when we return to Illandria.” “It is.” “Very well then, I will lure the soldiers out to the plains, but there is a possibility that they will discern what our plans are and follow you instead.” “If that is so then I do not wish you to come to my aid. I will not have you killed, it is better that I die than a lady I failed to protect. I must leave now Callista, and If I do not return then you may presume that I have died and you are free to tell the council so. Fare well.” Said Leyam, then with renewed speed his gryphon veered off slightly to the left, just as Callista turned and flew back whence they came with an airy wave of her hand in farewell in Leyam’s direction. Leyam nodded, all the while whispering prayers for safety and deliverance under his breath, as he soared on into the night on a quest with effects that would soon change his life forever.
Chapter One:
Bronwyn awoke to the sound of clashing swords, and the cries of her mistress and her children. She quickly arose and dressed but as she did this she remembered that she could not leave the stable for she had been locked in the night before, so she ran to the wall to look through one of the crevices to see what was happening outside. There were massive, hulking men in black, hooded cloaks, hefting her master and his hysterical family onto a crude wooden cart pulled by a black horse that looked as though it had not been fed in weeks, after a few moments had passed, the clashing of swords had ceased, and the ground was now stained with blood, and servants lay dead upon the ground.
Bronwyn took in her breath, they were slave traders raiding the countryside once more, only this time she wasn’t the one being captured it was her master and his family. Bronwyn brushed a few tears from her cheeks. She felt a mix of horror at the brutality before her eyes, and a sadness at seeing others suffering what she had suffered six years ago when she was taken from her home in the wooded northern region of Elinaria in an elven town called Amethystia, but she was almost seventeen now and her memories of it were slowly fading, she could not even remember her mother’s name. But Bronwyn had not the time to think more for as soon as the slave traders had put her struggling master and his family into the cart two of them broke from the group and with torches, set the house and barn aflame. Bronwyn moved away from the wall and frantically began searching for some means of escape from the burning stable. She spotted the skylight. She ran to the end of the stable where there was a ladder leaning against the horses empty stall, she snatched it up and ran back to the wall and leaned it up against it, she then climbed up only to find that the skylight was locked and there was no key, Bronwyn was becoming anxious, if she could not find a way out she would die, the barn was already filled with thick smoke and Bronwyn could hardly see any of her surroundings. She stumbled over to what she supposed to be the door and began pounding on it, and when she wasn’t coughing, she screamed at the top of her lungs hoping that someone would hear, as a last attempt of survival, but this only lasted for a few moments for when Bronwyn was out of breath and incapable of screaming any longer, she sank to the floor exhausted and lightheaded from the smoke. The last thing that Bronwyn heard was the sound of approaching footsteps, before all went black. *************
“My lady,” came a slightly deep voice “are you hurt?” In a daze Bronwyn pushed herself up onto her elbow, she had obviously been lying on the ground, she could still feel the gravel and dirt on her face, she looked up to see where the voice was coming from, “who are you and what do you want?” she asked nervously , for the man was hooded in black, but before he could answer Bronwyn screamed, quickly arose and backed herself up against a nearby oak tree, for what she saw standing not ten feet away from her was a golden gryphon pawing at the ground with its enormous razor sharp talons, and switching it’s tale impatiently, but then the most astonishing thing happened. The gryphon spoke. “Leyam, we must hurry the soldiers are still following us, there will be time for conversation later,” it said, “ I can carry both of you, come, you must hurry they are drawing nearer every second.” “My lady I am afraid you must come with me I will explain later,” said the boy who Bronwyn guessed to be Leyam, as there was no other human being in sight. The boy reached out his hand to her. Bronwyn hesitated, “Why should I come with you?” she asked. “Uhh, well I really cannot explain, but you have my word that I will do so later, if you come with me. But please my lady we must leave now, there are soldiers coming for you, and I can assure you, that you will be in better hands if you come with me, now.” Said Leyam earnestly. Bronwyn after a few more minutes of hesitation took his hand. He then helped her onto the gryphon’s back before hoisting himself up too. Bronwyn nervously shifted her weight and tried to get comfortable, it was rather frightening being on a gryphon, and Bronwyn already had a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Hold on to me and be careful not to let go,” said Leyam , then speaking to his gryphon he said, “Zephyr don’t go too fast I do not think that she would be able to handle it.” Just seconds after he had said this, Bronwyn quickly wrapped her arms around his waist, and not a moment too soon, for then there was an enormous jolt and ‘Zephyr’ as the gryphon was called, lunged up towards the sky, his massive golden wings making powerful currents in the air around them, while Bronwyn focused on trying not to look down at the land far below that was disappearing under the clouds as they rose higher into the air. “Callista!” Bronwyn heard Leyam shout, over the noise of the wind as it whistled by, “I have her.” followed by a high pitched shriek as another gryphon appeared through the mist with a being riding atop it, it was not human it was too tall for that , but it had a humans form only much slimmer and longer, Bronwyn was at a complete loss as to what the being was until she saw it’s large pointed ears. It was an elf. Bronwyn was stunned, she had thought that they no longer existed, she wondered if they were still an extremely advanced race as everyone had said they were. The elf turned toward the gryphon that Bronwyn rode upon. Her hair was the color of a raven’s feather and it was wavy like the sea, her startling cold blue grey eyes flashed as she looked at Bronwyn as if she were surveying her for flaws or defects like one would at an animal being shown to a possible buyer. The elf had a certain air about her, which made Bronwyn feel uncomfortable, she felt like she was before a queen or an empress. The elf quickly turned her head, as if she had suddenly lost interest in Bronwyn, and staring intently at Leyam, and with a rich accent that was near musical, obviously an elven voice, for it sounded like no other Bronwyn had heard, said to him “I am here Leyam, it is good to see you alive, and untouched by the soldiers that were following you, they ended up not following me but you, you are lucky to be alive but I still do not think that it was wise to separate and go different ways. Next time we must stay with one another for that is what the elven council had ordered us to do in the first place.” Said the elf , that Bronwyn presumed to be Callista. “Ahh,I see you have found Bronwyn, our quest is now complete, we must return to the Illandria as soon as possible the council will be pleased that we have not failed.” “Did you expect us to fail Callista?” asked Leyam, in a surprised tone. Callista did not answer, and so, for the next few hours the trio flew on in an uneasy silence, with Bronwyn wondering how the elf had known her name. When the sun had fallen low in the sky and the moon was rising slowly in the east Leyam and Callista halted their gryphons and landed in a small lightly wooded area to camp for the night. Leyam left the two women to go hunting while Bronwyn and Callista started a fire and set a pot full with water from a nearby brook on to boil. when they had completed the task, Bronwyn left quietly to go and wash her face and hands in the brook nearby. The water was cool and clear and it felt good on her skin, as the dirt washed away, Bronwyn couldn’t remember the last time she had washed but that did not matter now. After she finished she sat down upon a rock and watched the stars appear one by one until she grew weary of it and arose and walked back to the camp to find Callista holding out a dress and some lightly colored leather knee-high boots towards her. “These are for you,” said Callista, “ I thought you might have needed some new clothes before I left Illandria so I had this dress made to fit you, it is of elven make so it will not easily tear or fade.” Bronwyn took the dress carefully from Callista, “Thank you my lady, you are very kind.” Was all she could manage to say. She could hardly take her eyes off the dress, she had never before in her life possessed something so beautiful. Callista nodded, “ you may dress over there behind that tree if you wish.” She said, then she returned to the fire seemingly absorbed in thought. So Bronwyn left to dress behind the tree, it was breathtaking, it was of a soft green color with golden hem and girdle, dark green lacing over the bodice, and a flowing skirt that nearly reached the ground. It fit perfectly as did the boots. When she returned to their campsite Leyam had just recently arrived with a brace of hares and some wild turnips he had found along the way and was skinning the hares upon a rock as Callista endeavored to cut the turnips with her dagger which was not coming along so well,(for she was certainly not a very accomplished cook), but Bronwyn came to her aid and showed her how to properly slice them and soon the rabbit stew was finished and the three all ate heartily with little conversation before retiring to bed soon afterwards. The next morning after they had risen, cleaned up after themselves, and put out the fire. Callista approached Bronwyn with a bow and quiver full of arrows, and a dagger sheathed in a red sheath gilded with silver, and also a dark green cloak identical to her own. “Do you know how to use a bow?” she asked, Bronwyn nodded, “good then this is yours and also this dagger and cloak for your camoflouage and protection.” Bronwyn thanked her then took them from Callista and strapped the bow and quiver onto her back, attached the dagger to her girdle, and slipped on her new cloak before mounting the gryphon behind Leyam and taking flight once again, only This time while they flew they were much happier and they conversed almost the entire way. “What is Illandria?” Bronwyn asked Leyam, a few hours after they had taken flight. “You mean… you don’t know?”he said in a surprised tone, “Illandria is the largest of all elf cities and also where the elven council dwells , you truly did not know this?” “I have never heard of it in my life,” Replied Bronwyn, “why do you act as though it should be a well known fact?” “It is a well known fact!”cried Leyam, laughingly, “everyone who has been to a single academy or school knows of this.” “I have never been to an academy or school.” Said Bronwyn, softly. “Oh…. I apologize I did not mean to hurt you I keep forgetting that you have been a slave for the past few years,” said Leyam, apologetically, “forgive me my lady.” “No, it is alright, you made a simple mistake you need no forgiveness.” Said Bronwyn, then she remained silent for a moment, until she again broke the silence, “Can I ask you something?” she said, changing the subject. “Anything you wish.” He replied. “why do you and Callista address me as ‘lady’?” “you probably do not know your family heritage either, do you?” asked Leyam. “No, I don’t but what has that to do with what I asked you?” “Well…. Your father is….. Einar…. King of the elven race and lord of the elven council, we call you lady…. Because you are his daughter.” Said Leyam slowly, as if hesitant to tell her the seemingly forbidden secret Bronwyn sat in stunned silence for the next few minutes, how could she, a poor and forgotten (now former) slave, be the daughter of a king? And not just king, an elf, and council lord. Then Bronwyn’s thoughts turned to anger, if her father was the king of the elves, and he knew that she was a slave why would he not make the slightest effort to help her or improve her status? How could he sit upon his throne in comfort and prosperity knowing that she was poor and destitute? Whoever this man might be, Bronwyn knew that she would never respect him as a father no matter how good his reasons for all of this were. But Bronwyn softened a little, calm yourself Bronwyn , do not judge a person when you have yet to meet him, she reminded herself. She took a deep breath, “if Einar… the king… is my father then who is my mother?” she asked. “No one knows her true name for your father had always called her Iris after her favorite flower, we do know that she was human though, she died shortly after you turned eleven.” replied Leyam, “I am sorry.” “That explains it then.” Mumbled Bronwyn. “What?” “I could not remember my mother’s true name,” said Bronwyn “because I was never told what it was.” “Oh.” Said Leyam, matter of factly. Then the two traveled on, both deep in thought, for the next few moments. “Leyam!” shouted Callista, suddenly, “brace yourself, the soldiers are below us with bowstrings taught.” Leyam looked down toward where Callista had pointed. There were around fifteen to twenty soldiers on horseback following them, with their arrows now let fly towards them. Bronwyn moved her head just as an arrow flew by, she could hear the air whistle as it rustled the fletching on its end, she breathed a sigh of relief, the arrow had just missed her face. “Leyam watch-.” Bronwyn started to say, but she gasped as an arrow pierced her side. The pain was almost unbearable. She could not manage to make any noise, and moments later she began to feel faint, when she came to the realization that the arrow was poisoned. The wound burned as though it were on fire, her vision blurred and she heard Leyam’s far off voice calling out to her, but she could not make out his words for she then passed into unconsciousness. When Bronwyn awoke after many hours had passed, she found that her condition had worsened. She felt feverish and she shook although it was not cold, and her body ached . She was only partially conscious but she could hear voices whispering nearby. It was Leyam and another man whose voice Bronwyn did not recognize. “She was pierced by an arrow poisoned with the venom of some unknown creature,” she heard Leyam whisper, “I do not think she will survive.” “The chosen ones are unable to die (unless in battle) until their prophesies are fulfilled, Leyam, you should know that for you are a chosen one yourself.” Came the voice of the stranger “Or have you forgotten that your mother was Araidel of the isle across the western ocean?” “No my lord I just was suspecting that since the origin of the poison is unknown it might have some other effects than that of theknown ones.” Leyam replied. “Well you may forget those thoughts, for we have identified the origin of the venom.” “You have my lord?” asked Leyam. “Yes, it is the venom of a dragon.” Said the man. “Those that dwell in the Norgul lithe?” “The very same.” Leyam sighed, “this is disturbing information,” he said, “The dragons only appear when there is war in the making , for some odd reason, this is very bad news.” “ It is, and unfortunately we have by confidential means gained intelligence that the dragons are being captured and trained for ill will by our enemies “the men of Runedell” “look Bronwyn has awakened.” Said Leyam, breaking from his thoughtful posture. “So she is. Imelda, She will need tending I leave her in your care for now.” Said Leyam’s companion to a woman standing nearby. “Leyam follow me, you, along with Callista are called to the council meeting immediately.” Leyam obeyed with a swift glance in Bronwyn’s direction before exiting the room along with his companion. Leaving Bronwyn to ponder what was said for the next few moments until, exhausted, she fell into a fitful and troubled sleep.
Well that's it! I'm thinking of re-doing it though......I think it might need a little more conversation......and not to mention some descritptions of the scenery. Oh well Tell me what you think!
Cornelia Funke
