Thursday 24 May 2007

Shift, Chapter 1.

… And thus it came to pass.
In the next age will come an Age of Light and it shall be an Age of Revelation. It shall be ushered in by the golden words of the winged messenger, illuminating the true path…
… These are the words of the prophetess and they are true.


Luithes Dahabe Tygeriqes XVI

* * *

The dawn broke cold over the clammy marshes, in a grey, reluctant light. The disappointed songs of the birds and the rustling of creatures amongst the grasses, seemed at first to be the only sounds against the stillness of the quiet waters. The scuffling of hurried footsteps and the occasional splash of the disturbed mere raised the spirits of the marsh birds, who flew up suddenly out of the grasses, shrieking their warnings. A woman staggered through their midst, her breath short and sobbing, pushing her way through the undergrowth, regardless of the protesting cries. The cacophony of disturbed creatures crescendoed in her wake, the disturbance so loud that at first they did not register the moving absence that was approaching them.

There was a sudden and absolute silence.

* * *

4th Auldary 4356

Woke late today. Light very low still. Grey and overcast, but no rain. Me and Bennet went to check on the Far field today and saw human tracks running along the border. Possible trespassers. Will up the security on the fenced border on North Wall.

The Journal of Danth Reeves: Entry 4; Month 2; Year 33.


* * *

As soon as she walked into the kitchen, Deleha knew that something was wrong. She looked around the room; nothing seemed out of place and everything was still and quiet.

Too quiet.

She wondered if she could risk Shifting. She had heard such horror stories about Shifter accidents in late stage pregnancy. She needed to find Willan, but at this time of day he would be out on early morning field checks. She picked up some boots and sat down to put them on, when she heard footsteps approaching the door. Tensing up in fright, it took a great effort of will not to Shift, but she just managed to hold on to her calm. The door opened and Willan stepped over the threshold.

“Thank heavens its you!” Deleha exclaimed, struggling to pull herself to her feet.

“No, don’t get up!” Willan replied in concern, his face drawn in worry. “I’ve been telling you to take it easy, now that your so nearly due.”

Deleha relaxed back into the chair and let out the breath she’d been holding. Willan hurried over and crouched down by her side, gently putting his hand on her arm. He looked over her in concern.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked, “Is it the baby?”

“No, nothing like that.” she replied hastily, “There’s something else. Can you feel it? There’s something else out there.”

His brows contracted in concern and he stood back up, turning to look out of the window, across the fields. She looked up at him, trying to work out what he was thinking.

“It’s possible you can sense it, even from here.” He turned back around and put a hand on her shoulder. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to worry you about this, but there‘s been a problem with the stallion.”

“Solael? Why? What’s wrong with him?” she half rose from her chair, gasped in discomfort and sat back down.

“I’m sorry, Del, but he’s been getting thinner and weaker as the weeks have gone by. I couldn‘t find anything physically wrong with him, he just didn‘t seem to be able to eat.” He broke off and looked away from her accusing eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” she asked in a tight, restricted voice. “We should have been putting money aside. We’ll never get by without the income he brings.”

“We’ll think of something. I just kept on hoping that it would work out, but its too late for that now," he paused and then said as gently as he could, "I'm sorry, but he died in the night.”

Deleha drew her hands over her face, feeling both sick and overwhelmed. Willan reached out to hug her, but she pushed him away.

“No.”

“I’m so sorry…”

“No,” she cut him off. “No, its not that. It’s something else. There’s something else out there.”

* * *

This is to certify that: (name) Srynia Ruanthi

Was born on the 21st day of the month of Auldary in the year 4356 to the father Willan Ruanthi and the mother Deleha Ruanthi, in the province of Brithia under the government of the Kingdom of Calania.

See also Riarna Ruanthi.

* * *

Willan edged out of the door cautiously and quickly shut and locked it behind him. He scanned the yard carefully once, before beginning to Shift. Concentrating firmly on the feeling of the shape, his form began to blur and dissolve, melting into the outline of a wolf. Shaking off the residual tingling feeling, he scanned the yard again and then set off south the way he had come that morning. His own scent was strong on the ground, but there was also something else coming up on the breeze. He broke into a lope, flowing along the ground with ease, eating up the distance between him and the foreign scent. Suddenly, a new and fresh smell washed over him and he broke into a flat out gallop. From his wolf’s nose there was no disguising the scent of blood.

Willan came to a stop when he came across the first piece of the body of Solael. The stallion was where he had found him that morning, but his hindquarters had been pulled off and dragged apart from his torso, his belly and innards drawn out and partly devoured. Part of Willan was disgusted by the sight, but the wolfish part of him began to salivate. He quickly realised how vulnerable his position here was. His sense of smell was overwhelmed by the pungent clouds of odour rising from the corpse and there was no cover in the open field. Turning his head from side to side, he listened for any other sounds, but could hear nothing. In fact, there seemed instead to be an absence of sound, as all the usual background noises of the birds and rodents had fallen silent. Distinctly uncomfortable, he turned and started trotting back to the farmhouse, breaking into a lope as he hurried beyond the veil of scent. Coming back into the yard he could smell nothing new and so quickly Shifted back into a man. Unlocking the door, he slipped back into the kitchen.

“What is it? Did you see anything?” Delehan asked hastily from where she sat bolt upright in her chair. Willan gave her a concerned look.

“There is some kind of carnivore out there, but I couldn’t scent it near the house.”

They were interrupted by a loud knock. There was someone at the door.

* * *

This is to certify that: (name) Riarna Ruanthi

Was born on the 21st day of the month of Auldary in the year 4356 to the father Willan Ruanthi and the mother Deleha Ruanthi, in the province of Brithia under the government of the Kingdom of Calania.

See also Srynia Ruanthi.

* * *

“Who’s there?” Willan demanded, a threatening growl entering his tone.

“I’m a traveller,” an exhausted voice called through the wood, tinged with something akin to hysteria. “I’ve been travelling for days without rest or food and I was hoping you might offer me a place to stop for a while.” There was no denying the desperation in the voice, but Willan narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t help you. You’ll have to find somewhere else,” he called back sternly.

“Please! Please, you have to help us. I have a newborn baby with me. Look, come and see, I promise… ” the voice trailed off in emotion and there was no mistaking the sound of sobbing. Delehan touched Willan’s arm and looked up into his face.

“Do you think she’s telling the truth?”

“Maybe. But if she’s not and we let her in, then we’re all at risk,” he replied firmly.

“But if we’re wrong, then we’re denying a guest our hospitality. And what’s more, a newborn child, the most sacred of the guests protected by Lontea.” Willan frowned and scratched his chin in contemplation. She was right and the sound of weeping filtering through the door was beginning to weaken his resolve.

“Alright,” he said quietly to Delehan. He walked over to the door and opened it. Sitting on the step was a bedraggled woman, who had clearly been travelling rough for more than just a couple of days. She was a young woman, probably about Delehan’s age, with dark tangled hair that covered most of her face. Her clothes were well-made and probably very respectable once, but they were torn and stained almost beyond any recognition of this. In her lap she held a bundle of clothes swathed around the tiny form of a pale pink face, just protruding from the blankets. He smiled warmly at the beautiful little child, who looked up at him with wide, bright blue eyes.

“You can come in and take some rest and food,” Willan told the woman in a more gentle tone.

She looked up at him and Willan was taken aback. She would have once been a most striking woman, although her expression was marred by a pale, pinched expression. However, it was not this that shocked him, but rather her pale, silvery blue eyes, that fixed him to the spot and seemed to see right through him. He tried to tear his face away from this burning hold, but he felt as if every muscle was frozen in place.

“Take the child and look after her,” the woman’s voice was now much clearer and firmer. “You’re wife will have her child in fifteen days from now. Raise this child with the other as its twin and never let her learn that she is not your own. Do this for me,” she finished in a tone of firm command.

“Yes, yes I will,” Willan stammered, pleased to give any answer that might give him the chance to break this disturbing stare.

“You must promise to protect her like your own. Do you swear?” the voice now seemed disembodied from the woman, rising up from around and beyond her.

“Yes I swear,” he replied, his voice a barely audible whisper. The woman seemed to collapse from within, her energy spent. She got unsteadily to her feet and handed the child to the man.

“Do take good care of her,” she said in a voice now subdued and tinged with a deep sadness, which was somehow more unsettling than before. She leant over the child and whispered something in its ear, before turning and reaching for something beneath her ragged clothing.

“Take this,” she said, proffering a heavy leather pouch that jingled slightly as she held it up. “I will have no more use for it and I think it should help you to recover from your recent loss.” Placing it on the step beside the man, she turned and began to walk away.

As if waking from a daze, Willan suddenly called out to her, “Wait a moment! What’s her name?” but the woman had begun to Shift and in the form of a deer, she leapt away without a further glance behind her. Willan picked up the pouch and went back in to the kitchen.

“Is she coming in as well?” Delehan asked, noting the baby Willan held in his arms. Willan walked over and placing the child in her arms, putting the pouch on the table and sat down in front of it.

“No. She ran off. But she has left this child in our care,” he said this almost casually, as he pulled open the leather pouch in front of him.

“What?” Delehan exclaimed angrily, “How can we support two children, when we are barely able to support ourselves?”

Willan looked up at her, his face holding a barely suppressed calm. “I think we are supposed to use this, “ he said, indicating the leather pouch on the table. “At a rough estimate, I would say there must be at least five hundred Gold Mura in here.” He broke into a grin that he could no longer contain.

“Five hundred Gold Mura!” Delehan cried, with one hand still cradled around the infant, and the other raised to her mouth in utter shock. She was overwhelmed and once again, felt rather sick, although with excitement this time, rather than grief. Willan laughed and jumped to his feet.

“Five Hundred!” He shouted, flinging his arms out in a wildly expansive gesture. He picked the pouch up and held it in his palm. “In my hand I now hold the entire value of my farm ten times over.” He put it back on the table almost reverentially. Delehan looked from him and down to the little bundle in her lap. The little girl looked up, blinking at all this commotion, but remained quiet and still. Delehan hugged her to her side and feeling the toll of all these emotional upheavals welling up inside of her, she suddenly burst into tears. Willan rushed over to comfort her, putting his arms round her shoulders.

“Its alright,” she said. “I think now everything is going to be alright.”

* * *

Outside, in the midst of the deadly quiet, the presence silently stalked to threshold of the door. Picking up the trail again, it turned and followed the path that the woman had taken.

2 comments:

Jom said...

Damn that was good! I loved the hint that the baby was a twin before it happened - awesome stuff. The beats of the story work really well. Can't wait for more. Write more now. There should be more etc.

Steffan said...

Hadn't gotten round to reading this yet - I'm often intimidated by ongoing series on ScribblePit if I've missed a couple in a row - but wow, I wish I'd read this sooner. It's brilliant! And there's plenty more to go! Hurrah.

So, yes, I'm very fond of the couple - I always like stories about nice married couples, tackling troubles together.