- This topic has 6 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 1 week ago by
.
-
Posts
-
(I’d like to put a disclaimer, that I wrote this awhile ago. My style has changed, my writer voice has improved as well as lots of other things. This project is still in the works, but has been shelfed for the time being while I work on a thriller. So, if you want to critque that’s fine, but I’m not focussing on it rn :D)
Welcome to Draft Two of my novel.
To think this started out as a short story……
I love going deep into the bible,
specially Genesis 6, the Book of Enoch(not a book of the bible) and salvation. So, that led me to write this.
I had been working on it since…. October of last year?
Authors Note:
This book is based on the Bible and salvation. The Bible does not give us much detail on the angels and demons. So have stuck as close to how the Bible portrays the spiritual world and events as I can. But, to make this a story, I have to use my imagination to fill in the gaps. So don’t take anything I say or portray as how it 100% is cuz I could be wrong.I also believe in salvation with faith alone, no works. So, the journey the MC takes is not her needing works to reach the kingdom. Instead it is her being saved, then braving the journey and race that all us Christians run in this present world.
Synopsis:
By the time Reveire Nash was old enough to understand the world around her, all had forgotten the color of light, and the feeling of the sun. Her mother being murdered, Reveire was left alone in the cruel village called Nis at a young age. The villagers immediately took advantage of her and forced the burdens of an entire village.
But one day, a man in glowing white rescues her from the ill-intentioned village warlock, and Reveire discovers something she never thought she would: Hope.
With the muddy path before her, she sets out on the long journey to the kingdom. But Prince Darkness and his creatures will do anything to stop her from reaching it. Every step she takes enrages the prince, and is one step closer to the hope that is his doom.
CW:
I read the guidelines, and don’t think anything in my project violates them. But, if they do, please let me know so I can remove the section that does so! 🙂
The world is very heavy and helpless, the land seems to hate her. There will be blood, and mentions of her losing the will to live(very very brief). As well as non graphic violence, blood and non descriptive rituals preformed by the village warlock.(in a way that does not condone, but instead puts it in a bad light)
I will post the chapters below this in posts! If anyone wants a PDF of this book, let me know 🙂
"If God led you to it, he will lead you through it and carry you out of it."
Chapter 1
First Darkness came. Then came creatures.
Nestled into the valley sat a village. Old and dreary.
There was no blue sky.
No birds chirping.
And all green was gone as if something had removed it all.
The village of Nis was covered in a dark mist. The darkness that had come long ago. Creatures ran free. Deceiving and harming the faint of heart. Possessing the men who begged them. The mountains kept them in. No man could leave. Atop one of the mountains sat a castle. Carved into the black stained rock.
There was no light in Nis.
Save a lone lantern that hung outside one of the houses. It cut through the darkness like a blade. Its glow could be seen from far away. The houses that had once been by it were empty and decaying for none wanted to live near the light.
Nis was filled with sin. And all that lived there were very wicked. Yet, there was a young girl. Her name was Reveire.
She was not fair, but a sweet young woman. She managed innocence despite the sin that surrounded her. And she was greatly hated.
She sat in her home. A small wooden shack that was in great need of repair. Grey weeds clung to the house and sprouted on the roof.
She wiped a grimy hand across her forehead. Her back and legs ached. She only succeeded in smearing the dirt on her forehead. She sat down onto her cot. It had no blanket. She was grateful for she had found it cast in the tall grasses. She dragged it back to her house and was able to rest easier. For her body was off the frozen ground.
Reverie rubbed her legs with her hands, to try and ease the pain. She bit her lip. Field work was hard work for a young girl her age. Hauling the buckets off water to feed the cattle. Swiping the sieve to cut and bundle the limp crop of Wheat. Being a messenger when any man called upon her. Doing this, doing that.
She limped over to a makeshift table. A burnt out stump that had hollowed. It was lopsided and could not hold anything. But she had managed to store a shard of a mirror on top. She knelt in front of the stamp and picked up the shard. She looked into it.
The creatures that ran in and out of the houses were assigned to a man. The creature that shadowed her was not visible to man. His name was Deception.
He covered her eyes so that her reflection was warped. Yes, she saw her reflection in the shard, but Deception whispered lies into her ear.
So she saw a lie. Her brown hair was unkept from work. But from her hard work. Her face was smudged, but it was from the bucket she had carried to help water the cattle. But she noticed none of that. All she saw was against what her flesh desired. Eyes too far apart. A nose too crooked. A mouth too wide. And dull grey eyes.
Deception was filled with joy when a tear trailed down her cheek. Washing away the grime and leaving behind a trail that revealed the pale skin of her face.
It dripped off her chin and onto her lap.
Worrying about her apearnce was strange, but she couldn’t help it.
She set down the shard gently onto the stump and rose from the ground. She limped back to her cot and lay down. Her aching back hurt so bad she gasped but soon it calmed. Yet tension was in her shoulders. Tears flowed freely now. Washing the grime off her cheeks.
She was forgettable, she was small. She would never be more than her callaused hands.
Her eyes grew heavy and closed. She had cried herself to sleep.
Deception stayed by her cot and warped her dream.
She was in the village. She called out to people but they didn’t respond. She reached out to touch one of the people, but their body turned to ash.
“You will always be pitied. Never loved.” Someone said, She whipped around but no one was there. The lantern burned bright in the night and she ran towards it. The flame turned black and burnt her hands. She screamed.
“See. Even the light rejects you.”
═══✢═══
The ground crunched beneath her feet as she trudged through the frozen mud that coated the road. It sucked at her feet with a sickening noise. She could not walk beside the road for it had broken glass and thorny bushes sprawled lazily.
She hugged herself in an attempt to warm herself from the cold air. But it seeped through her threadbare shawl and chilled her to the bones. She quickened her pace. The air was thick and stuffy and she had to breath in short quick breathes to get the air she needed.
She found herself passing the house with the lone lantern. She paused and gazed at it. Immediately a warmth filled her and the tension in her shoulders relaxed. Deception slowed but not near her. For he could not look upon the lantern. If he stepped into the ring of light that emitted from it he might be burnt.
“Danger lurks!”He cried. “You must not continue lest harm befall you!”
She tore her gaze from the lantern, looking around fearfully. Creatures leered back at her from the shadow. She clutched her shawl tighter and began to walk again, quickening her pace. Deception walked around the ring of light and drifted after her.
He cast a glance towards the house furious at the light. But several men who the girl had not seen stood by the door. Clothed in white, fiery swords in their hands. The creature growled at them then continued his pursuit of the girl until he caught up with her.
“His Majesty says it is her.” One of the figures in white spoke to the other.
“Yes. See the creature that follows her?” The other responded.
At last she got to a stone path, it was covered in a thin layer of ice. The dark castle towered over her up where it perched atop the mountain. Like a lion over its prey.
She ascended the winding stairs that were roughly hewn into the rock. Deception followed her through all this in his mist form. It was a dark mist that revolved around itself. In and out almost forming the outline of a figure.
But Reverie was born of man and could not see him.
In the clefts of the rocks, there were shadows. Creatures who covered themselves in darkness. They danced about her, casting frightful shadows on the rocks.
She let out a small cry and climbed the stairs as quickly as she dared. The stairs leveled out into a path that led up to the great doors of the castle. Vines as black as ink grew on the path. They had thorns and they tore at her legs as she walked through them. She bit her lip till she tasted blood. She broke through them, jerking her skirt from their grasps. The vines sucked hungrily at the blood they drew from her. She watched them horrified but tore her stare away from them. She approached the great doors and raised her fist and knocked. It echoed loudly then faded as the sound repeated itself.
Minutes passed by slowly as she stood before the doors. Teeth chattering and shivering.
At last, they opened. The bottoms of the door grinded on the stone floor and the wood groaned. It was reinforced with silver and gold.
No one was there, but it opened as if on its own accord. The doorway swallowed her up as she walked inside. It was inky black. She let her fingers rest on the cold stone wall. Then let it guide her until she bumped into a table. She squinted in the darkness, barely able to make out a basket.
She grabbed the woven handle and lifted the heavy basket. She couldn’t see inside but she felt fabric wrapped around a book.
And in that castle waited Prince Darkness — and he knew her name.
"If God led you to it, he will lead you through it and carry you out of it."
Chapter 2
Prince Darkness was a beautiful creature. He was adorned with precious jewels that glittered in the blue light that emitted from him. He sat atop his throne. It was carved wood with gold and silver embedded into it. The wood had been burned to stain it black. It sat on top a raised portion of the room. A rug was rolled from the throne to the giant doors that separated him from the rest of the castle. They were stone and they had no hinges, yet they swung.
The doors opened and a creature entered. Kneeling reverently before Prince Darkness.
“Master. She has retrieved the basket containing the book. She is returning to Nis.”
“Very well.” Darkness said from his throne.
The armored creatures stood beside his throne, their black armor glinting wickedly with the light of Prince Darkness. They watched the creature before them.
Prince Darkness rose from his throne. The creatures who stood in the room parted like a sea as he passed through them. They had come to report on their deeds, to ask more power of him.
The creature rose as Prince Darkness approached him.
“Does not Deception shadow her?” He said.
The creature bowed his head in reverence.
“Yes Master.”
“Good.” He said brushing past the creature and down the hall. As he walked he slowly turned into a black mist that drifted down the hall and towards the girl who had come.
═══✢═══
Dread seemed to grow to Reverie as she grouped her to the door to return to Nis. And she could feel her fear lace the air.
A blue light faded into a figure before her. Her knuckles went white as she gripped the basket in her trembling fingers.
“Greetings.” The figure spoke.
“G-greatings.” She stammered back.
“Fear not. I am your friend.” His voice was sweet like honey.
But she did fear. Her cut legs were forgotten as she stood before this stunning, yet frightening creature.
“The vines.” His gaze drifted to her legs. “They cut you.”
She looked down at her legs then up at him quickly. Suddenly he reached his hand out to her.
She flinched and stepped back instinctively.
But his hand reached her.
She wanted to jerk free but found she was rooted to the spot.
A strange feeling overcame her and the cuts on her legs disappeared.
“I have healed you.” He said.
But he had not. For Deception had aided him, though he stood by quietly through the whole affair.Deception covered her eyes. Prince Darkness needed no aiding in deception as he was the king of deception.
Reveire’s legs still ached, she could feel blood dripping down her legs. Cold and slippery. But it was not there; it looked like Darkness had healed her.
She looked back up at him. She felt pain yet her eyes deceived her and she must be healed.
“Thank-you.” She stampered again.
The creatures marveled at Prince Darkness’s deception.
Prince Darkness watched her face, silently. Plotting.
“Are you hungry?” He said.
She wanted to shake her head. Wanted to turn and flee from him. But it was as if something bound her to the stone.
“Y-yes Master.” She managed a nod.
In his hand materialized a fruit. It shone in the light that was emitting from Darkness. It was perfect. Not a bruise nor a cut on the skin.
Her eyes widened and her mouth watered.
She reached out towards it and Darkness set it in her hand. She pulled it back quickly. And hungrily bit into it. A sweetness unlike anything she had ever tasted filled her mouth. It was nearly overwhelming. She kept eating, yet she was terrified of her greediness.
Prince Darkness deceived the world every day from morn to night. Yet, it pleased him greatly when he saw his works.
She was foolishly ignorant. Her eyes were the eyes of a man, she could not see what was there. She saw not the creatures around her, saw not the spiritual realm. And she also saw not the truth of the fruit. It was not as she thought it was. No. It was bruised. Scratched, wormy. Like it had been sitting beneath the tree on her fallen leaves.
Brown juice dribbled down her chin and onto her threadbare clothes. Her mouth was full of the disgusting flesh of the fruit.
She finished the last of the fruit greedily. Deception placed a sudden hand on her. Instantly an image flashed before her eyes. Her reflection.
Small. Forgettable. Worthless.
She shrank back from it like it might bring her harm.
“Come.” Prince Darkness said, holding out a hand.
She saw her own hand reach for his. The moment her hand made contact with his everything flashed before her.
The world. Scenes.
A man counting over his riches. Another man surrounded by the fleshly desires of a man. A woman laying in her bed while the day was old, hands folded. Her mouth opened in sleep. Then riches. Gold, silver, precious stones. Glittering in the light. She walked up to one and grabbed it, but another more beautiful glittered before her. She retrieved it also. And another glittered. She reached for it and grasped it. Holding it to her chest. There were more. And more. She couldn’t grab them as fast as her heart cried for her to.
Then it was gone.
She stumbled back from Prince Darkness.
She was back in the castle. He was standing before her.
“Come with me.” He said. “Drink of the cup.”
She shook her head wildly, grabbing the basket and stepping back.
The Cup was a goblet that many of the people in the village drank of when things grew hard. It was a cup of poison. You went quickly then it was over.
“I-must go. I- need to deliver this.”
Deception pushed down hard on her. She felt like she would yield. But a sudden memory sliced through all of her thoughts.
The lantern. Bright. Warm. The circle of light that made her feel safe.
Deception jerked back as if it had burned him.
“Come. The cup will erase all your pain.”
“I must go!” She cried and fled from his presence.
The Prince frowned ,cursing the name of the High King.
“Flee. Hide. But you will be pursued my dear. And found.”
Deception materialized into a mist and followed the girl.
The Prince of Darkness turned and returned to his throne. His wings trailed behind him.
═══✢═══
Reveire fled down the dirt path, her heart pounding in her ears. Her hair trailed behind her. Her skirt swished against her legs as she fled.
She couldn’t drink it.
Abruptly she slowed in front of the house.
Its wood looked charred yet it held, the weeds that clung to it seemed to aid the nails.
She knocked upon the rough wood, glancing behind her. Darkness had not pursued her and for that she was glad.
Deception had though, yet she knew it not.
A creak made her return her eyes to the door. It opened and a pair of eyes peered through at her.
“Who comes at Lakar’s door?” The voice hissed.
Reverie held up the basket.”I have brought your delivery.”
It was dark in the house yet she could see a man crouched on the ground. His eyes were dull and wild. His hair limp and lifeless on his shoulders.
A creature possessed him. Reverie handed Lakar the basket and stepped back. She had been once attacked by a man who was possessed. He had gripped her arm and tried to drag her away. But he had thrown himself back suddenly and she had escaped. Where she sat trembling and crying in her home.
“Be gone.”Lakar said hoarsely. His eyes darted to Deception, he nodded reverently then the door slamming in her face.
Another creature who darkened Lakar’s doorway eyed Reverie. The girl who Prince Darkness had such an interest in.
Deception motioned for him to follow.
And the creature did.
Reveure walked away from the house.
“I am safe.” She whispered to herself. To her trembling hands, her beating heart. “Master will keep me safe.” And the lie almost comforted her.
She neither knew that another creature followed her.
"If God led you to it, he will lead you through it and carry you out of it."
Chapter 3
Fear and Deception followed Reveire ,true to their name, like a shadow. She crossed the muddy road and forced her way through the thorny plants that lined the road. They clung to her skin and pricked her, her hair got caught many times but she yanked it free while jerking her skirt as she walked. At last she broke through and found herself in a field. It had once, she imagined, grown crops. But the ground was cracked and hard and even the weeds that tried to grow were choked and limp.
A twisted dead tree sat in the middle of the field. Its leafless branches hardly cast any shade, but she did not want shade. Just a shelter from the cold wind that chafed her cheeks and made her lips crack and bleed.
She knelt down at its trunk and leaned against it. Her back’s aching was familiar and comforting in a strange way.
She let her head rest against the rough bark of the tree and closed her eyes. Letting herself breathe.
It had been awhile since she had come here. Sat in the quiet. If she squeezed her eyes shut hard enough, stopped her ears with her fingers she could block out the world. Pretend instead of a desolate field choked from the sun by the mist. Sun warmed her face, instead of the chafing wind. Soft grass instead of the hard cold ground.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
Her mom sitting at her side, a flower in hand. Her merry eyes dancing
Deception and Fear shadowed behind her. Fear filled her with thoughts.
Until her mind was full of so much darkness she was nearly numb. Deception turned into his soul form and tried to force his way into her.
Her eyes snapped open. Her eyes darted around and she tried to breathe.
Her lips formed the words she tried to cry, but Fear now had a grip about her throat.Reveire felt things slipping.
“Girl!” A voice said behind her.
Reverie managed to look up. Zonah stood before her. She was clad in her usual apparel. Which was not much.
“Why do you sit on my land?” She demanded.
Her eyes flickered to Deception and Fear. Lust was inside her, and he aided her in her temptation.
“I- was-“ Reveire stampered. She was finally able to speak as Fear released his hold on her throat.
But Reverie and the creatures were not alone in the field. No, for in this very field was a man. A Man In White. He was adorned in white, and with the power that was given to him, he hid himself from the creatures.
He was more powerful than the creatures. He did not warp Reverie’s thoughts, nor force in a thought. Instead, he simply placed an image at the door of her consciousness. Her consciousness took it, before the creatures could remove it.
A light filled her mind. Deception was nearly inside her soul when light struck him.
He threw himself out of her with a cry.
The lantern.
Reverie clung to the thought with all her might, and Fear nor Deception nor Lust could remove it. Even with their powers combined. For a higher power aided the man in white to tighten his hold on the thought and keep it unmoveable.
The light was steady, warm. Comforting to Reverie. Her heart calmed.
She fixed her eyes on Zonah as she drew herself up.
“I will leave.” Reverie said softly.
“No!” Lust cried through Zonah.
But Reverie did not hear the voice that was not Zonah’s that spewed from her lips.
The man in white guided Reverie away from Zonah.
Deception and Fear pursued Reverie. The vines seemed to recoil as they touched her as if her blood was poison.
Reverie knew not why she walked, but found herself in by the well that sat in the center of Nis.
The Man in White removed his light, but the image lingered in her mind. Preventing Deception from entering her.
Three women stood before the well, plunging the bucket into the depths and pouring the water into their vessels.
Reverie paused and gave them a timid wave, she could aid them in their collection.
They turned their backs on the girl. She let her hand fall to her side and she flushed and hurried away.
A group of boys who played with creatures leered at her. The only pure girl in the village.
“Don’t stare too long!” One of them sneered. “You’ll catch her uglieness!” The other boys laughed cruelly. But each one of them had a mind full of dark filthy thoughts. For Vice was among them, another creature.
Reverie lowered her head, letting her hair shield her eyes and burning face. She passed by them trying to ignore their looks and remarks.
She saw the plow that sat in the field, her back trembled at the thought of her work. She needed to harness the oxen.
She approached the stable where they waited. The oxen were ill of temper and jostled against each other. Irritable in the cold.
Reverie pushed the yoke under the fence and ducked in between the slats.
The oxen eyed. her and the yoke. She caught one of them by the kneck and lifted the yolk onto her shoulder. She secured it on the oxen, having to dodge his hoofs as they threatened to step on her feet. At last she drove in the peg that held the yolk onto him. She then made him move by the other. She looped his own yolk around his neck and was about to secure it. When he bumped her. She fell back and landed in the mud. She bit her lip as it soaked her clothes and chilled her to the bone. She forced herself to rise and caught up the yolk, sticking the peg in. Then she hooked the reins and opened the gate. Tears of frustration welled in her eyes as they tried to trample her, and fought against the yolk.
At last, she managed to lead them to the field, and hook them up to the plow. They stomped in place impatiently, blowing out hard to try and clear their frozen nostrils. Their breath makes puffs in the air. It had gotten colder, and Reverie’s hands were red. She slapped the reins and the oxen moved forward. Fighting against the yolk stubbornly. She lifted up the whip and struck it near them. They obeyed and she managed to make decent lines. She plowed for several hours. Her throat hurt and would not clear. Her nose dripped and it felt as if her eyes were raw. She narrowed her eyes against the wind that swooshed around her. Just a few more hours.
So she trudged on. No one that saw her felt pity, no man offered his aid in her hard chore. Her lips were purple and she tucked her hand under her arm. Switching hands.
It was pitch dark when she finished her task. She was so weary she wanted to lay down and fall asleep. But she forced herself to drive the oxen to their pen. She unhooked their yolk, they bumped her and knocked her down. But she rose and hung up the yolk. Then she grabbed a hand full off limp Wheat and rubbed their necks where the yolk had sat wiping the sweat. One of them stepped on her foot, and the mud saved it from being too fatal. But she didn’t dare cry out lest she wake any one in Nis. She limped out of the pen and collapsed wearily onto her cot. She fell asleep seconds later.
No one was there to help her. For no one cared.
"If God led you to it, he will lead you through it and carry you out of it."
Chapter 4
Reverie bit back tears as she unsteadily lifted the vessel. The water inside jostled against the side as she lifted it from the well. She staggered back to her house. She wasn’t sure what was colder. The morning chill or the dipping temperatures at night.
Deception and Fear trailed behind her, Deception placed a rock in her path. She stumbled and the vessel shattered when it hit the hard ground. She was soaked. She didn’t get up right away. She let herself cry, her tears mixing with the mud. She didn’t get up. Why must she? She could just lie here, Let the cold claim her. It would take her painlessly. She would fall into sleep then-
But no. She could not. She- she had a reason to live.
She rose to her feet.
“What reason?” Fear whispered. “Why should you live?”
She bit her lip. Why?
Deception placed Prince Darkness’s words in her mind.
“Drink of the cup. It will relieve you of all your pain.” Those words echoed in her head. But she shook her head stubbornly and gathered the broken vessel in her apron.
Deception exchanged glances with Fear.
A door on one of the houses opened.It was Lakar’s house.
Reverie turned towards it, the broken vessel clinked softly in her apron.
“Come child.” He called hoarsely to her.
She shook her head.
“I must put this-“
Deception and Fear shoved her so that she stumbled. Her grip on the corner of her apron slipped, and the vessel pieces crashed to the ground.
They gripped her arms and forced her to walk towards the house.
Reverie felt herself walking forward, why she knew not.
There were trinkets scattered on the ground. Two goblets of dark red liquid sat in the middle of a rug.
Lakar slammed the door, but it did not close.
But it was if something was keeping it from closing. A stick was wedged in the door.
Lakar flung open the door, ready to face who dared interrupt his ceremony.
A bright light burst through the doorway. He screamed and threw himself back, crashing into the goblets and trinkets. They splashed all over him. The smell of iron filled the air.
Reveire’s face went white when she realized what was in the goblets.
Deception and Fear were thrown back and the creatures that prowled the room fell to the ground, clawing at their eyes.
Reverie saw only Lakar fall to the ground for she was the daughter of a man.
The light did not blind her as it seemed to Lakar.
She saw a man, holding a lantern from which the light came. A cloak rested on his shoulders. His nearly white blond hair reflected the light. He had on a cloak of the purest white. His blue eyes searched for her, like he could see her soul.
“Reveire.” His eyes were kind.
She started, taking a step back.
“Who are you?”
He merely shook his head and held out a hand.
She did not know this man, could he be with Lakar? She knew not of his intentions.
Yet, something about him did not seem like he was ill intentioned.
After some hesitance, she placed an uncertain trembling hand in his.
He led her out onto the street, she glanced back at Lakar. He was whimpering.
The door closed behind them, and the sound of the board falling in place could be heard. His hand was warm and comforting, it closed over her small one. She knew he could feel how callaused her hands were, and her head lowered.
Deception and Fear followed along with her.
But, something radiated off the man. Not a smell, nor a light… but a feeling and sensation. It instantly put her at peace.
“Lakar is a worshiper of Prince Darkness.” The man said, looking down at her.
“I know.” She said, “ For I am also.”
The man shook his head.
“No, child. You know not of the evil that he commits.”
She looked ahead.
But, everyone did evil. It was part of life, so why should Darkness be excluded?
“Master is no more evil than any of us.” She said,
“Do not call him Master. Nor any name of reverence. Call him by his true name. Prince Darkness.”
She looked up at him curiously. But something was familiar, she looked in front of her.
She was at her house. But she remembered not walking past the well, nor trudging through the muddy road, nor the time it took to get to her house.
The man smiled down at her. She looked up at him cursorily.
“Pursue the Truth.” He spoke.
Deception and Fear jerked back. The man rested his gaze on them, and his gaze lost its kindness.
He returned his gaze to her and it was kind again.
“Cry out in times of trouble. You will be aided. You need only to cry out.”
Who would aid her? The man? No one in the village would help her, she knew.
She gave him a slight nod.
He released his hand.
But his name. She had never gotten it.
“What is your name?” She said, timidly.
He simply smiled.
“I am but a humble servant.” He said softly and turned.
The creatures that lurked in the shadows scattered as his light cut through them.
She watched after him.
Deception reached out and touched her, but burnt himself. He cried out.
Fear tried to enter her thoughts, but they were full of images of the light. He cursed and exchanged a glance with Deception.
Reverie opened her door and stepped in. Deception and Fear followed her.
It was then she realized something was pressed in her hand.
A match.
She frowned at the match that sat in her hand in the dark. She saw an unfamiliar silhouette atop of her makeshift stump table.
A.. Candle ?
She approached it uncertainly. Then stuck the match against the wood. It lit and her eyes widened at the light.
It was warm.
Deception and Fear tried to blow it out, but no wind would kill the flame.
Reverie touched the match to the wick of the candle.
It lit, and the room was filled with light.
She didn’t realize she was crying until sobs overtook her.
The last time she had lit a candle, her moms hand had guided her small fingers holding a match to the wick.
═══✢═══
“Pursue the Truth.” The man’s words echoed through her mind. She lay awake on her cot, studying her ceiling. What had he meant? She must pursue the truth. But what was the truth?
The sun had since risen, though she had not glimpsed the bursts of colors. The black mist blocked them. Cold crept through every crack in her house, making her shiver.
The candle burned in the dark of her house. Its flame is comforting.
She puzzled over this issue as she rose for the day. Later then she preferred.
Stacked against the stable were sacks of seed. Reverie bit back a groan at the work ahead that awaited her. She tied the corners of her apron to the band. The sacks were sewed closed tight. She tried to rip it open with her fingers, but nothing happened. She grabbed a stack and tried stabbing it. The stick was wet and just snapped, the bark crumbling in her hands. Tears of frustration pricked at her eyes. Reverie checked her pockets, and to her relief found that a shard of the broken vessel had gotten stuck in her pocket.
“Thank you.” She whispered to no one.
She stabbed the shard into the sack. It ripped and she tore it unevenly with her fingers. She scooped out a handful of the shrivel pale seeds and dropped it into her apron. She scooped more into her apron until it was full. Her apron worked as a sort of basket. She used to have a bag, but a man stole it from her.
Deception and Fear followed her. The light in her mind had since faded and they filled her mind with their darkness. Depression weighed heavy on her small shoulders like a physical burden. Reverie pushed her way through the thorns to the field she had plowed. Un even rows covered the acre. She could make out footsteps and saw a bottle. She knew it had once been filled with strong drink. Someone had used the field for their drunkenness.
This was not her field. It was the only good land in Nis. And no one plowed it yet. No one planted yet her. No one harvested it but her. Everyone ate from her labor but her.
She took a handful of her seeds and scattered them in between the rows. The rows had a layer of hard ground atop, the softer beneath the crust. She stomped through it as she scattered the seed. To give the seeds softer ground to grow in.
The work was hard. Like everything that she did in Nis. She bent over to make sure the seeds fell right. Her back ached after a few rows.
Deception and Fear followed. Kicking rows so that the seed would be buried too deep and suffocate.
Reverie’s eyes were raw and she closed her eyes. Letting her body fall into the rhythm.
“Worthless.” Deception said in her ear.
She bit her lip.
“No one cares. Look at you. Out here like the slave you are.”
She kept spreading seeds. Not crying as she knew the tears would freeze on her cheeks. Her nose got ice cold and her ears stung. Her throat was sore and painful to swallow. Her throat was thick and she had trouble clearing it. The air stung her nose. It smelled of dirt. Not freshly turned. But like dirt with no life.
The mist in the morning was thick like smoke.
There was so much silence that she heard ringing in her ears. No sound was heard save her skirt rustling around her legs. The mud on it was cracked and flaking off.
“Worthless.” She repeated with a half sob.
Her feet shuffled through the dirt. It struck something sharp and she cried out. Jumping back and clutching her foot. Blood spurted from a cut on the bottom of her food. Her blurry eyes focused on the ground where a broken bottle sat half buried in the dirt.Her apron broke free of its knots and a quarter of a sack’s worth of seeds slapped into the ground. She sat down hard. Eyes glittered. The blood still flowed and dripped onto the soil.
“Worthless.” She whispered. “Worthless.”
Deception’s joy grew, Fear rejoiced.
She was worthless.
"If God led you to it, he will lead you through it and carry you out of it."
Chapter 5
The room was bright.
It smelled sweet and had a strong sense of peace. Men of white stood about.
The room had rows of chairs and a small stage-like structure at the front of the room. On the stage-like structure was a Man of White. His almost gold blond hair gleamed in the light that radiated from every Man In White and his own.
He wore shining gold armor, and had a flaming sword in a sheath at his side. His feet were clad with shoes of gold also.
The Men in White watched him attentively.
“Greetings.” The man in white on the stage spoke.
The other men responded with a greeting.
“And greetings from the High King.” He said.
The men reverently bowed their heads at the name.
“Erel and Oren have been set over the valley of Nis since its creation.”
The men nodded.
“In Nis is a young woman. She has not broken nor fallen to the temptation of Darkness and the Cup. Yet, she has neither called for help, nor called upon the High King. I have convened with Gabreil. He has given me these words. Hear the words of the High King. Prince of Peace. Giver of Life. I command that you watch over my child Reverie. She is constantly plagued with creatures that try to tempt her and make her fall to Prince Darkness. More than meets your eyes is at stake. The time will come when she will gather herself up and pursue the Truth. She will become a warrior and shall defeat her hinders with My name. Aid her in her journey. I call for Oren and Erel to be set to her and to guard her. She may be tempted and harmed. Let her hinderers and decivers tempt and hinder her. They may do it all, save touch her life.”
Two men in white who were clad in armor of silver came forward to the Man in White on the stage. Who’s name was Taviel.
“We are Oren and Erel.” Oren said.
“Make haste to the young woman and follow the commandments of the High King.”
Oren and Erel nodded and turned and ran out of the building; they passed through the walls of the building like an arrow through water.
They traveled at the speed no man could comprehend nor create.
They came to the field that Reverie had plowed and seeded. A man in a cloak had a bag of seeds and he scattered them over what she had seeded.
Oren narrowed his eyes and picked up one of the seeds the figure was spreading. It was a slender black seed.
He looked to Erel.
“Tare seeds.”
“Poor child.”
Oren let the seed fall from his hand and drop onto the ground again.
They appeared in Reverie’s house. Deception and Fear eyed them. But Oren and Erel held up their empty hands. They did not advance on the creatures nor threaten them.
So Deception and Fear plagued Reverie all night.
═══✢═══
Reverie did not check the field for several weeks. Just went about her day. Aiding any man who called on her. Each night it was the same. She cried herself to sleep, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her legs.
It was the same as normal. Painful. Silent. And hopeless.
The plants were knee high. Their yellow stems stretched and twisted from looking for the sun that was not there. But that was not the problem. Reverie knelt down in the dirt, careful not to crush seedlings.
Standing by the wheat, mixed in was a plant that looked almost the same. Except for its head of seed. Instead of the yellow kernels, these were black. She tried to untangle it but instead, harmed the wheat. She tried to pull out the weed, but its roots were tangled with the wheat.
She bit her lip, but the horror in her eyes grew as she looked from one plant to the next. Each one had the weed. Scattered and weaved around the plants.
Reverie blinked back the tears that pricked her eyes. All her hard work.
She could not remove them now, for they would harm the wheat.
Deception and Fear laughed at her horror. Greatly proud of their master for his deed.
Oren and Erel did not move from their spaces. They were still as stone.
Reverie forced herself to draw in a ragged breath.
A hand on her shoulder startled her, and she flinched and turned to look at who it was.
It was the man who had told her to pursue the Truth.
“Reveire.” He smiled, his eyes kind.
She sniffed, wiping her nose with her sleeve.
“They are all ruined.” She managed. She felt odd crying over something like this. It was so—small compared to her other problems.
“Let the tares grow with the wheat.” He said, looking over the field. “When it comes time to harvest, separate the tares from the wheat. And burn them.”
Reverie nodded sniffing.
“Just as with Nis.” He said softly.
She looked up at him, confused.
“How is it like Nis?” She said,
“You shall see.” Was all he said.
She looked out towards the field.
“I only have to wait for a bit more.” She sighed.
When she turned, he was gone.
═══✢═══
Oren and Erel each stood at her side, they did not draw their swords. Nor chase away Deception and Fear. But their presence was enough to protect her from the creatures that crawled in and out of Zonah’s house.
There was Lust. The creature who possessed Zonah.
Temptation waited at Zonah’s door. He whispered at the men that passed.
Vanity stood in the street, catching on to the passer byes.
And standing beside Zonah as she watched through the translucent curtains that covered her window, was Indulgence.
Oren and Erel stepped closer to Reverie.
The creatures eyed them.
Deception and Fear stayed close to Reverie.
Reverie quickened her pace, feeling that odd sensation that prickled on her skin whenever she passed Zonah’s house.
Reverie walked up the path of her shack, shaking slightly from the walk passed Zonah’s.
She shut her door and sat down on her bed. The candle strangely, still burned. She rose and crossed to it. Her eyes widened and her pulse quickened. It had burned all day, yet the wax was not melted. And the wick had not shriveled.
"If God led you to it, he will lead you through it and carry you out of it."
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.