Roy's World-building Corner

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

so a long while ago(january) i created a writing thread. it kind of failed. since then i have started creating a worldbuilding project in which I intend to have things like a complete world history, geography and magic system all completely fleshed out. so far all I have is a basic outline for my mythology. 

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The days before days

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In the beginning, there was nothing but darkness and the infinite void. A great storm raged through the darkness. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the void shook. Demons of untold power and terror roamed the void. The world was a place of fear and destruction. Aru and Azra were born almost by accident into the void, and their very existence caused the storm to rage and the void to shake for they were far more powerful than any of the other demons that lived in the void. Azra created Anar, a place of light and stability within the void. Aru sung existence into Anar. Together they filled their new world with the Anari, a collection of gods and angels whose power rivalled that of the void. The daemons fled in fear from Anar and the Anari. 

They created 15 karni and gave each 30 naran to serve them. 7 of the karni and all of their naran were bonded with Aru and had the power over the forces of nature. 7 of the karni and all of their naran were bonded with Azra and had the power over more abstract forces. The last of the karni was different. He held both powers his name was Azu’Thel. He was followed by 15 Az’Nar and 15 Aru’Nar, Azu’Thel was the lord of Time. a force that is both abstract and a part of nature.

With the Anari, Aru and Azra created Alkad, a world forged in their own image. A world of mortals and monsters. Of heroes and Gods. They created Alkad first inside the Anar but eventually they moved it outside it during the start of the first age.

Long before the mortals were created the world was filled only by the Anari. The divided themselves into several groups. The first group were the Aru'Kar the next were the Az'Kar, thirdly it was the Aru'Nar and finally it was the Az'Nar.

The 4 groups created many grand cities filled with the most beautiful buildings and statues. They learned how to forge tools and weapons out of a rare metal that was bathed in the light of the Anar. this metal was known as celestite.

The angels were created during this time. The angles were a race of immortal beings that lived within the cities of the anari. Most if not all of them were later raised to the status of Naran during the destruction of Anar. the few who were not raised to the status of Naran became karni. 

Thel believed that the Anar was not as beautiful as the others made it out to be. He believed that true beauty was not in the light of the Anar but in the darkness of the void. Thel created a great weapon that he called the Naranit. The weapon was made out of raw celestite. Using Naranit, Thel could corrupt the angles to fight for him. He also was able to offer his power to the naran. All 30 of thel’s naran desired to share his power over both Azra and Aru. With his Azu’Nar, Thel weighed war upon the other Anari and they did not know what to do to stop him. They eventually created weapons to give to the angles that were not corrupted by him which they used to fight in their name against Thel. eventually after many battles and almost 100 years thel was defeated and Naranit was destroyed. Since the anari could not kill Thel, he was cast out into the void and forbidden entry back into Anar. 

After thel was cast out of anar the Anari created a new continent west of the Anari’s original continent. They filled this continent with the humans, the gilded, the jaded and the elementals. The anari also brought several of their own children to this continent. They named this continent Krynn. They then created 4 more continents around krynn. The northern continent was called Denduron the land of winter. The eastern continent was called Nacacia and was called the land of spring. The southern continent was called Taladas and was called the land of summer. The western continent was called Nalos and was called the land of autumn. Aru and Azra moved Alkad outside of Anar and into the void. They did this to allow the mortals to be free of the Anari and open to things like selfsishness, desire, love and death. 

The first age

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During the start of the first age the anari created 4 cities. The northernmost one became known as the jade city as everything was built out of a kind of jade like substance. In the very center a tree made out of jade was planted by one of the Karni. This Karni lived in this city and acted as its ruler. Several Naran also lived here

The eastenmost city became known as the golden city as everything was built out of gold. In the very ceenter a tree made out of gold was planted by a different Karni than the jade city. This Karni lived in this city and acted as its ruler. Several Naran also lived here

The southernmost city became known as the silver city as everything was built out of silver. In the very center a tree made out of silver was planted by a different Karni than the other cities. This Karni lived in this city and acted as its ruler. Several Naran also lived here

The westmost city became known as the glass city as everything was build out of a kind of crystal that you could not see through but still let lots of refracted light pass trough washing the streets with multihued light. In the very center a tree made out of the same crystal was planted by a different Karni than the other cities. This Karni lived in this city and acted as its ruler. Several Naran also lived here

Near the end of the first age, the demons from the void began to get stronger and more numerous. They moved closer to Anar and Alkad. They were rallied by Thel who managed to gather the fragments of Naranit and reforge his weapon imbuing it with the powers of the void in the process. Thel began to attack Anar directly and with the help of the demons he managed to destroy the world of Anar. Aru and Azra stepped in personally after this to put a stop to Thel and his demons. They split Thel into 4 pieces and chained them each up on the 4 continents around Krynn. They also destroyed all the remaining demons and also imprisoned them deep, deep below the ground near the center of the world. They created the fire deep below the world to place the demons in an endless hell.

After anar was destroyed during the first invasion of the void, the remains of anar was scavenged and rebuilt by the Anari under the careful guidance of Aru and Azra. they placed Anar in the far west of Krynn and moved Anardanti even further east until both anar and Anardanti were situated at the edge of the void along the end of the world. It was at this point the all the remaining angles were raised amongst the ranks of the Anari to replenish the gaps in the ranks of the Anari that were made during the invasion. the only exception to this was the warrier angel, the archangel of war, who was raised by Aru himself to the rank of Deus. his name was given to him by Aru himself and his name was known as Azeel.

Naranit was split into 4 pieces and forged into the 4 crowns for the karni kings and queens of the mortal cities. Each crown was forged by a different smith and was made out of a different material to prevent any one person from reforging the sword.For the rest of this age the world was mostly peaceful.

The second age

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At the very center of krynn the Karni smith Az’Kwan created a forge where he and several other Karni forged the 5 prisms. Each prism was designed to refract the light of anar and Anardanti into several pools of liquid Awa which is also known as power of the gods. They were set up across the world in several key places where mortals rarely walked. In these places several forges were set up to use the springs to forge all sorts of tools and weapons. He forged many powerfull artifacts from these springs. 4 main types of artifacts were created and each type was given to the peoples of the 4 kingdoms. The jade markings were given to the jade kingdom, the gold markings were given to the gold kingdom, the silver markings were given to the silver kingdoms, the crystal markings were given to the crystal kingdom.

One of thel’s followers created a weapon and armor in secret from one of the springs. With his new weapon which he named the Eka’Naranit, Eka’Sidon fought and managed to destroy 3 of the guardians of Thel’s 4 prisons. With Thel’s power flowing through Sidon, he was able to reforge the world and purge it of the anari. Sidon was able to release Azu’Thel from his prison and together they were able to cast Anar and Anardanti back into the void. This was known as the second invasion of the void.

 

any and all feedback would be appreciated. questions are encouraged.

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

my magic system so far...

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There are 3 fundamentals to the magic system. The first is Awa. the power of the gods is known as Awa. awa means to take power and use it to shape the world. It also means the power its self. It also means the memories that someone has about something. Lastly it means the stories that are told about something.

 

awa is naturally drawn to objects that have lots of stories about. for example the throne of a monarch could give the person who sits upon it the power to appere superior and have anyone who hears them speak from the throne imidiatly bow down to them.

 

awa's affects are limitless. the only limit is ones imagination. there are 3 main schools of thought on how to use awa though. the first is by using power words. these are simple one or two word things that once said will produce the exact result that you said. for example if you said powerword fireball all that would happen is a ball made of solid fire would appear somewhere but just hover unless you also said to it to move in a cirten way. 

 

the second school of thought is tarot divination and power. how this works is that the mages have a tarot deck with numerous cards. each card can be used to either divine the future or to produce a specific effect. most mages in this school of thought have several decks as the cards will only work if they are randomly drawn and shuffled. the more random the pull the more powerful or acuret.

 

the 3 school of though is transferring awa. how this works is that awa naturally heals the body and if it is drained to quickly could be used to harm the person. what happens is that these people are able to rapidly drain awa into themselves and gift it to someone else or hord it for themselves. most in this school of though also are part of another school though they don't have to be

 

The second fundamental is the anari. All anari(humans who were given a splinter of anar) are able to teleport around to any place that they can see. The only exception to this is if they try teleporting away from someone who is draining anar or awa from them. Anari also select a marking when they turn 16. Once their marking is chosen they begin to do several things. First they begin to take a generate amount of awa every day. Secondly they begin to grow significantly taller than an average person. Thirdly their muscles grow in mass, strength and hardness. They are blessed with the ability to never loose the size of any muscle mass that they gain over their life. Fourthly they also have a much better metabolism and immune system preventing them from ever getting fat or sick. The result of this is a taller insanely muscular person who is much stronger and faster than most mortals and never gets sick. 

 

The third fundamental are the songs. The songs come in 3 parts. The songs of war, the songblades and the songweavers. The songs of war are powerfull things made from pure awa that had been condensed into their shape. Songeblades are powerfull weapons that have the power to destroy the monsters that inhabit the world. The songweavers are a group who are able to use the awa in their songs to activate their true potential. 

 

If an anari gets a song then they are also able to unlock the true potential of the song without any of the safety measures that are in place to prevent the songweavers from becoming too powerful.

 

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

look i know its been a while but... i wrote a prolouge.

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Sashesh was a monster! At least that’s what everyone told her. She didn't mind. It was the truth after all. Every night at the darkest moment she would slither into the city and kill a sleeping human. She had never been caught in almost 200 years. The beauty of it? She knew never to kill in the same part of the city in the same month, and after every attack, she would wait a few days or a few weeks for everyone to forget about the attack before going back. She never killed anyone in power. She never killed anyone popular. She never killed anyone who lots of people knew. She only killed people without any family. People who no one would miss. Those who were forgotten. Sashesh smiled. Or at least she did what she believed to be a smile. People always ran in fear of her no matter what face she wore. Sometimes they ran faster when she was “smiling”. She smiled not because she wanted people to run from her but because she had set her eyes on the perfect target. They were passed out in a back ally. They reeked of isolation and loneliness. They were perfect. She slithered over to him and got ready to attack. Right before she struck she felt a stab of pain in her side. That should not be possible. She thought to herself. Only a song could harm her. She was a monster after all. Looking down she saw that the young man she was about to attack held a SongBlade in his hand. It was beautiful and deadly. It was the weapon that only a rare few ever set their eyes on let alone touch it. There were only about 49 known ones in existence. Only kings and noble families had them. They said that in the olden days, there were 7 kings who each had a SongPlate and were followed by 7 SongBlades. 

 

But if only kings and nobility had songs then that would mean that the person who had stabbed her was a noble for only a SongBlade could harm her. She immediately turned around and ran away from the young man but it was far too late. The man held up the sword and began to step closer to her. She was slithering away at her fastest but the man ran faster. He caught up and when he was within striking distance he struck the SongBlade down towards her. the sword was so fast that it was a blur. Then all went black.

 

The next thing she knew she was waking up in a strange place. It was a cave. The walls were all black and there were many strange symbols on the walls. Some looked like scratch marks and others looked like pictures. It was as if she had woken up in the middle of a temple. That was when it dawned on her. She was in a temple. She was being held there until a singer came and ended her. The temple was used for a ritual where a singer would slay her, take her heart and replace it with some strange thing imbued with Awa to control her. The ritual was supposed to only be used on the most powerful of monsters. Not ones of her level. She was going to be sacrificed and the gods would have no choice but to lock her away deep below Anardanti in what could only be described as a prison made out of fire, light and pain. She would not be sacrificed! No! she would escape! She was one of the last of her kind and she would not die like this! 

 

She lay down on the ground and pretended to think just as several of the guards walked into the temple. At the front was a short elderly bald man wearing only a white loincloth. His skin was covered in tattoos that were some form of religious text. Around his neck was a necklace made out of several hundred small bones with 5 feathers hanging down from it. He was a form of priest. He walked over to her and looked at her with a cold and calculating gaze. He gestured out to the side and a young boy came forward. He was dressed similarly to the elderly man but he had no tattoos and only a single feather hanging from his neck. He was a young priest. The young priest passed a set of 10 rings covered in strange runes over to the elderly man and he placed them on each of his fingers. The runes glowed slightly and a glowing red energy began to flow from them. They hit Sashesh and she writhed in pain. She took a deep breath and the pain stopped. The elderly man handed her a bowl of some sort of liquid. She began to drink not caring what it was. It tasted like the blood of her enemies. Oh it tasted amazing! She drank it all and then handed the bowl back to the elderly man. He drew a knife from his belt and cut off a small bit of her horns and placed them in the bowl before leaving with all of the guards and other priests except for the young one. sashesh was now alone with the young priest. She looked at him and he looked back at her. She smiled and the boy immediately ran away. She sighed. Would no one want to spend time around her other than to prep her for some ritual or another?

 

[Edema Rue she/her]

12 hours ago, RoyalBeeMage said:

look i know its been a while but... i wrote a prolouge.

 

Oo, that was really good! I’m intrigued

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

ehh new world. new lore. new story. prologue. already written a few chapters so have a fair amount to post already. don't know how active I will be on the shard beyond this one tread for a while but we will see. 

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Every night I went to the cliff to escape the city. Under the stars, there were none of the flashing lights, sirens or scents that constantly threatened to drown me. The cliff was my refuge. The one place I could hide from the world that wished I stayed hidden. The one place I could hide from Them. That was until he came along.

 

“Wow, pretty good perch here, huh?” he asked landing and giving me a fright. He was tall with blond hair and blue eyes. His wingspan was wider than I had ever seen and his wings were bronzy gold at the bottom and a light brown at the top. His middle band of secondaries died a stunning red. Not a usual colour at least not down in my part of the city. He wore a loose-fitting white shirt over what was clearly a muscular build. As he landed the bottom of his shirt flared out showing that he had heavily defined abbs. “I dont think i’ve ever been this high on land before. It's amazing!” he exclaimed looking out across the desert wasteland from the top of the cliff. He looked down at me and saw my expression. “Oh sorry is this your spot? I’ll leave,” he said as he took a step backwards looking as if he was about to take off.

“Do what you want, it's a free country. For you at least.”

“Oh you’re a -” 

“A crow? Yeah real sharp eyes you got there.”

“I didn't mean it like- it's getting late… I should probably get going.”

 

I figured that would be the last i saw of him. The next night he proved me wrong. He was there waiting for me when i arrived. 

 

When i climbed up the last few rocks and came into sight of the cliff i saw him leaning against a large bolder to the side of the cliff. “Phew, it was boiling today, huh? This summer’s really kicking my backside.” he said with a laugh. I moved past him to sit at the edge of the cliff, dangling my legs over the side. “Its always this hot out here.” i said simply not wanting to look at him.

“Ah, i guess its just a lot cooler down by the coast. Although, if you get up high enough there’s a good breeze.”

“Ha! This your first time to the city?”

“Is it that obvious? I moved here yesterday, it was too loud so i went looking for someplace quiet. Ended up here.” he answered. I looked forward with a blank expression. 

“I’d pick the coast over the city any day.” i said eventually.

“Ah, i have some things to do here. Speaking of - i’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked standing up and spreading out his wings.

 

Before i knew it… “i’ll… be here…” and faster than i would’ve liked to admit… him dropping in on me became a routine.

 

“Im starting at the Eyrie academy at the end of the summer. Full scholarship and everything. Dad was super proud i even got in, of course. He was a port officer, grandfather was a war vet. I never thought the military would be for me. I assumed id end up as a farmer or something. But here we are, i guess…. Sorry, uh… you’re probably not interested in this stuff, huh?” he asked.

“I’d say a military career probably isn’t an option for me… i am a crow after all.” i replied with a smile.

“... it realy is hot down here. Do you… want to go for a fly?

“I’d love to, but… i cant.” i replied holding out my wings and showing them to him.

“C-clipped?! W-what! Was that for… initiation?”

“What, you think because I'm a crow I'm in a murder?” i asked smiling. I knew he saw the scrapes and cuts across my arms and face. 

“I didn’t say… how do you get up here every night?”

“I climb.

“How far is the city from here?”

“About 10 miles as the crow flies.”

“I meant walking.”

I closed my eyes and smiled knowing that was all i could do. “Longer.”

“... do you want to fly, anyway?” he asked after a while.

“Did you not see-” i started to shout until i was stoped. He had wrapped both his arms around me and jumped of the cliff. “Wha- Put me down!”

“Wow, you weigh like, nothing! You want to fly right? My wings will hold us. Dont worry, they’re strong.” he said opening his wings and bringing us higher. “Do you trust me?”

“Hell no!” i shouted back.

“How ‘bout taking a risk, then?”

“Why are you doing this?!” i asked.

“Becasue everyone should be free to fly under the stars. Now please hold on back to me. You’re actually not that easy to hold on to,” he said with a laugh. “Open your eyes!” he said after a few moments while he dived. So i did. All i could think was woah. I though back to what he said about how everyone should be free to fly under the stars. That was easy to say… when you’ve never taken your eyes off them. 

 

“Over there’s the city. And i’ve found if you look reeeally hard in the opposite direction… you can almost see the ocean!”

“The ocean? Never been?”

“Realy? Its only like a 2 day flight from here.”

“I’ve never been allowed to go.” i said. He looked at me before looking away.

“Stretch your wings out.”

“What?”

“Stretch em out!” he said more firmly. I did. I felt the wind blow past me under my wings and it felt wonderful. It was as if the wind was blowing through my feathers. It felt like forever since i last felt this way. Even though it was only a few weeks. I saw the sky start to lighten as the sun turned the sky a pale blue and tinted the normally white grey clouds a pinky yellow. 

 

“The sun’s rising! Land!”

“I can drop you off at the city? Save you the walk?”
“Drop me at the cliff! Now!” i said more harshly then i ment. I couldnt have anyone see me like this. We made the journey back to the cliff where we landed. 

“Phew, made it.”

“Um, you can let go now…” i said and he immediately let go and pulled his arms well away. 

“Sorry, my arms were cramped up.” he said smiling and stretching them. I looked at him disbelievingly.

I turned around and started walking away. “Well, bye.” i said. 

“Wait! I’ll, uh, see you tomorrow?” he asked nervisly. 

“Yeah… maybe.” i said not believing it myself. Right before i went around a pile of rocks and out of sight of him i stopped. “Thanks for that.” i said.

“You’re welcome,” he said looking longingly at me. 

 

Neither of us knew it at the time…but… i would never return to that cliff again.

 

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

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Chapter 1 - hello, new roommate! 

“Beep! Beep! Beep!” Jace’s eyes suddenly opened when he heard his alarm going off. He reached over to pick up his phone before promptly silencing it and throwing it to the end of his bed. He groaned as he rolled over onto his front before slowly climbing out of bed. He looked over at the photo on the table next to him. In it was him with his sister riding on his shoulders. She had the same wing colour and shape as Jace other than the bands of dyed red feathers that Jace had. “Good morning to you too, Izz. did you sleep well?” he said walking past her photo to where he threw his phone to. “Yeah, me neither,” he said looking at the reminder on his phone. Reminder: move into Eyrie! 

 

Today is the day huh? He thought as he rubbed his bare chest. One step closer. He closed his eyes and smiled before getting all of his things together. A few minutes later he found himself zipping up the last of his bags containing everything he would need at the Eyrie. He put the bag on his back and moved towards the door of the flat. He opened the door and saw a small common room. “Ah, corporal! Tell the wing commander thanks for putting me up this past month.” Jace said handing over the keys to the flat. 

“No problem. You off then, osprey?”

“Yup, today’s move-in day.”

“Well good luck, the best years of my life were spent at the Eyrie. I’ll lock up for you.”

“Ha, thanks! It was nice meeting y’all!” Jace said before walking off down the corridor. 

“That the osprey kid leaving? You reckon he’ll make it?” one of the other officers in the common room asked. The corporal looked over at him before speaking. “Nah… he won't even last the semester. His kind don't do well this far from the sea.

 

Jace walked towards the nearest balcony to his room. Stepping onto it he took a deep breath while spreading his wings. He immediately burst out coughing. Too many fumes. He thought to himself as he straightened himself and got ready to fly. Well, this is it. The next chapter of my life… begins now! 

 

After several hours of flying several massive glass domes right at the edge of a massive cliff high up in the mountains came into sight for Jace. It reminded him of the smaller cliff where he first met the crow. Though the other cliff was smaller it was much higher than this. “Oh man… it took me way longer to get here than I thought it would. It's cool, just relax and try not to embarrass yourself.” Jace quickly landed and the immense size of the glass dome finally caught up with him. Jeez! I'm way out of my depth here… Jace thought before taking a deep breath and walking forward. Where the hell am I meant to go? Jace wandered before seeing a temporary information desk to the side. He started to walk over to it where he saw someone roughly his age in a military uniform giving directions to someone slightly younger. “It's right here.” the person in uniform said to the other person. “Thanks!” she replied before walking away. After she had left Jace approached the woman behind the counter. “Um… hi? I… have no idea where I’m meant to go…” Jace said embarrassed. 

“Well, you made it to the info booth, that's always a good start. First year?”

“Yeah, I’m a transfer.”

“Name?”

“Jace osprey.”

“Here’s your room assignment, there’s a map on the back. I'm Lyra, I’ll be your flock leader since you’re transferring into the second year. Breakfast’s at oh-six hundred. Uniforms in your room. Next week is club sign-ups.” lyra finished.

“Sweet, thanks! See you in class lyra!” Jace said before thinking that went well! 

Behind Jace lyra’s eyes followed him and narrowed when he was a few steps away. 

 

From several floors down from the topmost floor Preston and 2 other hawks watched as the new students slowly walked in. “hey, hey. Is that an osprey down there?” Preston asked.

“They’re letting anyone in nowadays, huh?” a short blond and winged girl who wore a close-fitting military uniform. Her golden eyes peered down to the edge of the cliff face where Jace was walking into the Eyrie. She brushed her long hair back and looked back at Preston. 

“You're telling me,” he said simply knocking his long golden blond wings against the table.

“What’d you say about having a little fun with him?”

“Ha way ahead of you. victoria” Preston said with a smile. Victoria raised her eyebrow and hooked her finger under a gold rope running around the back of his neck.

“What, even with this noose holding you back?”

“Oh please, we both know the director only gave me this because it would shame her if I didn't have it. Yes, will have to maintain face, but we’ll still have time for the other things. Well just have to be more careful than usual. Speaking of- our osprey friend isn't the only new addition to the student body this year. Marcus, have you managed to catch a glimpse of him yet?”

“Not yet.” the dark-skinned golden-eyed hawk in the corner of the room replied simply.

“No matter, I'm sure he’s around here somewhere. Let’s go-” Preston shrugged.

“Victoria! We have a meeting with Professor Evelyn.” Marcus added softly 

“Oh shoot, I forgot! Sorry, Preston, we’ll catch you later.”

“Yeah yeah, have fun at your history nerd meeting. I'm sure I’ll find some way of staying entertained.”

 

Jace walked down a dimly lit corridor looking for his room. 406… 407… 

“Ah… im actually kinda nervous…”

408…

409…

“Perfect 410!” Jace said pushing the door open. “Helloooooo-” he called out. “New roommate…” Jace stopped in surprise. The person before him was none other than the crow from the cliff. The one who stood him up 2 weeks before. “Y- you!!!” Jace exclaimed to a confused-looking crow. He was of medium height with black hair and wings and eyes though he had pale skin. “It's you! From the cliff!” Jace repeated.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have somewhere to be.” the crow said before walking out of the room and closing the door behind Jace. 

 

It was him. I’d recognize him anywhere… even if his wing wasn’t clipped. The guy I’d met who had stood me up 2 weeks ago was my new roommate. Seriously?!

please let me know if you want the second chapter or not

Edited August 11, 2024 by RoyalBeeMage

[RoyalBeeMage he/him]

so... i am taking part in a writing comp and i need to submit it within the next 24 hours. i'm about to head to sleep and work on it all of tomorow but i wanted to see if i could get any additional feedback/suggestions about how to improve it...

 

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“Felix! Lookout!” Xander shrieks as he sees a deer materialise out of nowhere. 

 

As if frozen in time, the statuesque deer stands on a pile of blood-red flowers that seem to drip from a thousand cuts across its body. 

 

Stunned, Felix immediately swerves to the side to avoid the deer. In the short moments before the car leaves the road, pierces the woods, and strikes a tree, Xander recognises the deer from a nightmare he had a few days before. 

 

Distressed at the coincidence, Xander cries out in shock and confusion before his head slams into the dashboard.

 

The car, now as unmoving as the deer, is a shattered body of glass and metal.  Later, when Felix and Xander grapple and stumble out of the car, they can not understand how they could have emerged intact from that bloody wreckage.  

 

 

---

 

Frightened, dazed, and disoriented, Felix pulled on Xander’s hand after they lost sight of the car. “Come on already. Don't slow down,” 

“Are you scared, maybe?” Xander asked.

“Look who’s talking,” Felix shivered in the cold forest before looking around at the mist-filled forest. Most of the trees were leafless, and there wasn't a drop of colour around them apart from white, brown or black. 

 

“It’s so weird. The car broke down, and our phones won’t work suddenly.” Xander took his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen. It flickered on for a second before the screen went a bit wild, with the lights flashing in all sorts of colours randomly in a seemingly hypnotic pattern they both recognised but couldn't quite put their finger on. “We could go back and wait…” he suggested, looking down at his feet as he sifted through the cold, muddy ground, looking for any roots he might trip on. 

 

“Hm? And then what? Magic will fix the car?” Felix thought he saw the lights of a car driving towards them, so he ran forward to investigate. When he got to the place, he saw that it was just the moon reflecting off a pool of water. 

“No, but you don’t think it’s strange?! It’s as if something wants us to be here.”

“All right, scaredy cat.” Felix tried to smile to lighten the mood, but his forehead was scrunched, and he trembled slightly. His heart beat at a million miles per hour. Each beat louder than the last. “That’s probably just a coincidence. There should be a town nearby. Don't worry.” Felix added before ruffling Xander’s hair. 

“Okay, okay. You’re right. I’m probably just imagining things." Xander admitted, looking down and shivering. 

“Let’s hurry though. It's freezing.” Felix coughed, pulling up his hood to keep his head warm. Xander nodded and did the same, rubbing his arms as he did so and seeing his breath condense as he breathed out.

 

Behind them, ice was growing upwards on the trees before growing into spikes. They couldn’t have returned the way they had come, even if they wanted to. The mist was also getting thicker as they passed. It was getting harder to breathe. The fog was suffocating, and it became harder to walk through it. 

 

It was a silent forest, silent in a way that made you uncomfortable to be there for long.

 

The trees' branches seemed to grow towards each other, interlocking and weaving into white, grey wood knots so tight that they formed the cage bars. The ice spikes grew upwards and around the branches deep in the mist as large spiky brambles hid them from sight. Small shrubbery sprouted taller towards the pair of boys like the hands of some creature that tried to grab and hold them tight. 

 

Almost as if the forest wanted to prevent them from escaping. 

 

Anxious, Felix stood still after a while, looking around before sighing. Xander looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. “Felix?” Xander walked up to him and rested his hand on his shoulder.

“We might be slightly lost, sorry. I can’t see the way anymore.” he knelt, looked at the ground, and saw where the old hunting trail they had been following suddenly ended. 

 

“But, why not follow these lights then?” Xander asked, looking up and seeing hundreds of paper lanterns of all shapes, sizes and colours hanging from the branches of trees leading a path in one direction. 

 

They bathed the forest around them with a warm orange light that Xander found oddly relaxing. They reminded him of the stars, only much more prominent. Each of them had a picture of a tiny half-open eye, each from a different animal in the forest, which gave Xander the feeling that they were watching him and guiding him to some unknown place deeper in the forest.

 

“Lights?” Felix looked up, unable to see what Xander was talking about.

“There are lights in the trees!” Xander broke off into a run to follow the lights. Felix spotted several skeletons of large animals, such as deer, boars and rams, oddly dotting Xander's path. 

“Wait! There aren’t any lights?!” Felix started running after Xander. He grabbed Xander’s arm to try to stop him, but he only broke free of his grasp and walked face-first through a wall of solid mist. 

 

Then it happened. 

Xander walked through the mist. 

A bright, blinking light blinded Felix.

Distortion. 

Dislocation.

Disorientation.

 

Xander’s clothes started to melt into a long, flowing cloak covered in moss, bark, and strange red flowers resembling teardrops. When he was entirely past the mist wall, Felix saw the silhouette of someone with long and short deer antlers on their head, dripping with condensation. The cloak waved in some unseen breeze. 

“Xan!” Felix shouted before running after him. 

 

Frantic, desperate, and confused, Felix ran towards the mist wall, landed headfirst through it after tripping, and entered a large clearing in the trees. He saw a figure resembling Xander standing in a field of small red tear-drop flowers he didn't recognise. 

 

A few lanterns were hanging from the trees around the clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a grand figure. He was tall and graceful, with an overgrown, organic cloak made from bark, moss and leaves. The bottom of the cloak faded out into trails of mist that spiralled around him, covering and half concealing him. The figure had two short antlers with vines and some of the red flowers adorning it. The figure's skin was like that of a human, with the texture of bark as if someone had painted it onto the skin. 

 

The figure looked at Felix and walked towards him, the mist trailing behind as if the cloak was dragging it along. The figure's eyes were glowing green and outlined in red. Felix noticed that the top of the cloak was covered in several long grey feathers, which would keep anyone warm in the middle of winter. 

 

“Xander?” Felix stepped forward and blinked, trying to comprehend what he was seeing. 

“You’ll understand.” the figure replied before placing his hands on either side of Felix’s head, pressing their foreheads together tenderly before recoiling and clutching his hand as if it had been burned by acid. 

 

The figure stepped back as Felix’s clothes started to melt into oblivion. They morphed into black, more refined versions of the figure's clothes, made out of darkness, mist, smoke, and shadows. Two long, straight ram horns pointed backwards from his head with several lanterns swinging from them. The same kind that Xander saw on the way into the clearing. 

 

Felix understood everything now. Part of his soul revealed itself to the rest. The awakened Xander sat down on a fallen log and patted next to himself. Felix nodded and sat down next to him. 

“It feels like time has stopped,” Felix said, taking a deep breath of the cold, damp air. His voice was distorted and echoing. 

“Yes. because this place doesn’t exist anymore. We just got lost in old memories again.” Xander held up his hand, and several red flowers blossomed in it. “When I wake up… you’re always right beside me.” 

 

 

---

 

Xander opens his eyes and realises that he is in the familiarity of Felix’s house.  He looks in his hand, but this time it’s empty.

 

Xander lies next to Felix as he sleeps, watching his chest rise and fall in rhythm with his breathing. He took a deep breath and sighed, letting it all out. That was one weird dream. Xander shakes his head. It wasn’t the first time he had that same nightmare about the two figures and that clearing. 

 

“Lost in old memories again.” The words echo in Xander’s mind as he shakes his head. 

 

Relieved to be free of his reverberating nightmare, Xander sits up with a smile, waking Felix. Turning, Xander notices a small sprig of red flowers under the window. He picks it up and shows it to Felix, who has also propped himself up. “Good morning,” Xander said, holding up the strange flowers and looking quizzical. 

 

Felix smiles, takes the flowers from Xander, and squeezes them in the small glass vase on his bedside table. The vase is home to a collection of other flowers in various states of decay.   Some look as if they have been abandoned for a month, maybe longer.  Taking in the flowers, Xander wonders at the overlapping and contradicting scents.  Death is intertwined with life.  Memories are like echoes.

 

Edited October 28, 2024 by RoyalBeeMage