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*Cracks open door*
Pssst, come in, hurry!
*Looks around before closing door*
Welcome to the Storyguild!
I have invited you here to share our stories that are… Natalian.
Before I start, however, I want to put forward a giant warning.
MY TALE INCLUDES MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE SERIES.
If you have NOT read Ember Falls, I do NOT recommend reading this.
In fact, much of this won’t make sense if you haven’t read Ember Rising.
Just putting that out there. If you go ahead and listen to this tale, before you hear the whole tale of the Mending, I am not guilty.
So, shall we begin?
*Offers you a seat by the fireplace*
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
@elishavet-pidyon *secretly wants to stalk this forum* *peers through crack in the door*
Yeah I know I know I haven’t read the other Ember books but EMBER FANFIC? C’mon, girl you know I can’t resist!
If the author of this post spoils any parts of aforesaid stories she will not hold the Natalian scribe responsible in any way, shape, or form….
XD
🥰#TorrynVelgardProtectionSquad🥰
*Sighs and opens door*
Come in, if you really must, I would be doing the same.
You can read the first but without much danger of a spoiler… I think.
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
A quick background to this story:
The MC, Lillian or also called Lilith, is a character of my own. While she isn’t in the series, her existence isn’t impossible either, everything considered. This story takes place over the last two books, Ember Rising and Ember’s End.
It should mostly explain itself, but if there are any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them.
I’m not exactly known for writing the clearest…
(Also, I only have one chapter written…. 😁🙄 And this is about half of it. 🙂 )
Opening
Listen, my bucks and my does lend your ears…
The guards were changing, it was time to go. I slipped from my hiding place and down a side alley, clinging to the shadows with the skill of experience. A breath of wind caught at my cloak as I turned a corner. I let it brush away my footprints.
Footsteps behind me thrust my heart into my throat. I sank into an ash heap, once more blessing Mina for every night she had labored to weave a fabric indistinguishable from the grey matter that covered Ackalone day and night.
Ash. Death. Sorrow. Slavery. These were synonymous with the city in which I lived, down to the patrols marching by me. Wrongtreaders.
Only one place was free.
After listening for the last step to die away, I resumed my prowling. The moon must have been up by now, although I couldn’t see it through the darkening clouds.
It was just as well: light was dangerous.
The houses began to thin out signaling the end of the district. I stopped to crouch behind a stair and think through what would come next.
First came a sprint to the masonry, then that dank passage through the abandoned mine, and finally Mina’s footpath around the crater edge: my favorite part.
The next moment I was running over the open land as low as I could get to the ground. Heart pounding in my ears. Tasting bitter fear in my mouth.
The shadows drew me into safety, away from curious eyes. I huddled behind a pile of bricks and waited for my breathing to steady. The night was deep here, as if a merciful hand had quenched day’s fading spark.
I stood and made my way to an opening in the rock. It was small, I had to stoop to enter. Inside, there was little room but that ahead and behind. All was pitch blackness.
My feet knew the way, and they carried me beyond what mere sight could.
Soon I found myself outside gazing down at the city below me. Five districts laid out on the valley floor, organized into perfect houses and dusty streets. Inside the five stood the sixth, pristine in its circular wall, like a leering monarch surrounded by the lowly scum of common citizens. Throughout the whole were torches of guards, the eyes of the Sixth District, flickering sinister in the haze. I turned away with a shudder.
Here my path wound along before me, beckoning me to follow it.
On to the Seventh District! My step quickened till I flew along, reaching for handholds and leaping over washed out portions. I would be late, again.
When you’re in any little way out of line, you are seen.
Mina’s voice echoed in my head. But without her here, watching out for me, I slipped up much too often.
Shaking my head, I darted into a rocky alcove and came face to face with a door. I knew it was a door, although another may not. With practiced fingers I turned the hidden lock and slid through, shutting myself into a musty tunnel.
Voices drifted through the passage. They were far off and whispery, but as I crept closer, they lost their echoes and solidified into one. I could tell it wasn’t the voice of the Tunneler, but little else was clear.
The words finally reached me, “…all over Natalia as the Scribe of the Cause, is invaluable to our aims in many ways.”
Surely it was the voice of Whittle, but I could not tell whom he spoke of.
I hurried down the passage, careful not to slip on the damp floor, ears pricked to hear the conversation in the chamber.
A doe was speaking now, her voice rang with defiance, “I’m not certain what you want to hear, but, begging your pardon, nor do I care. If you were a thousand partisans of Morbin’s murderous horde-”
I stumbled and just caught myself before falling headlong. Panting, I paused to regain my balance before stepping through the chamber’s narrow door. What did she mean by calling us that?
Then her next words hit me.
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
- Rank: Chosen One
- Total Posts: 8156
@elishavet-pidyon. I love it!!!! 😍😍😍 Really well done!!!! 👏👏👏 BUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!? 😫😫😫
@elishavet-pidyon *enters room* Thank you!
AAAAHHH!!! You guys ALWAYS LEAVE ME HANGING!! (I love it though XD) 💖💖😊😊 BRAVISSIMO!!
Question: So I know at the end of Ember Falls, there’s this scene where some of the rabbits are enslaved to…was it a raven? Or the wolves (trying to remember…) Anyway, is Lillian one of those (or could she be one of those) slaves?
🥰#TorrynVelgardProtectionSquad🥰
@freedomwriter76
Thank you!!
A lot of stuff… 😉
I’ll try to get the next bit sent in today. If not, then it’ll go in tomorrow.
Of course we leave you hanging. Cliffhangers are an essential part of serial publications. 😉
Thanks!!!
Answer: Yes, in Ember Falls we begin to get glimpses of life for the rabbits under the control of the Prey Lord’s, specifically Morbin Blackhawk the King of the Six. In that book, we get POVs from a doe named Sween, a house slave of the palace and a citizen of Ackalone, Garten Longtreader’s second city of slaves. (The first city is of course, First Warren.) Lillian is one of these… Or isn’t… She lives in Ackalone and works in the potato fields in the outskirts of the districts of Ackalone.
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
- Rank: Chosen One
- Total Posts: 8156
@elishavet-pidyon. You’re So Welcome! 😊
Ooh, can’t wait!!!! 😍
Of course….. XD Don’t worry I’ll stay right here until you return! 😊😂
You’re welcome! 💖
Isn’t Sween related to Heather and Picket?Oh okay! Got it!!🥰#TorrynVelgardProtectionSquad🥰
Nooo!
*Pounds helplessly on desk*
There are SPOILERS in here!!!
Okay, okay, you flatter me. 😉 But if you will read this, bear in mind that I have taken some liberties with the royal family tree. Not everyone that is of the Royal family in this is actually royal in the books. Just so ya know.
And just kinda try to avoid the spoilers, or at least, don’t let them decrease the impact S.D. Smiths stuff. XD
I cannot answer that question but I think you know.Good!@freedomwriter76
Here it is!
I’ll tell you a tale that will quiet your fears…
“I have lived among and loved his heirs with deep and unbreakable devotion. I have risked everything, lost everything, in service to the rightful bearer of the Green Ember.”
She spoke on, but I couldn’t grasp her meaning. Instead, my head swam with questions, hopes even. I sank into a seat at the back of the gallery where the shadows would shield my foolish emotion.
I had to focus, to drive away these clouded thoughts and catch the truth. I sucked in a deep breath and stepped out of the muddled echoes. The Tunneler had asked her to tell about the world outside and all the rabbits sitting up here had moved forward to listen, except me.
Follow the movements of the crowd whenever possible. A jewel disappears among quartz.
Mentally chastising myself, I joined the group at the railing. Down before the first circle stood a doe, her white fur glowing in the firelight, head bowed. One ear was notched, and her hands rested on a healer’s satchel. Suddenly I realized this doe was real. She had suffered, but that had only refined her soul till it was deep and strong. Not hollow. Not a facade. I could have wept.
Then she spoke, and her words were tender with memory. “There was a rabbit named Smalden.”
She withdrew from her satchel a glimmering emerald and held it up to reflect its light into the farthest galleries.
It had to be the Green Ember. My heart thudded at the sight of the ancient stone. The heir’s trust was here, in the Seventh District.
She spoke of a prince, an heir. She told things I knew well, yet never guessed. Things that made that vague name spring into a living form.
“You know all this.” She began to walk around the fire, “You know of Jupiter Smalls. You know of him. But do any of you know him?” I bit my lip to stifle a cry as she watched the eager faces absorbing her tale.
“I knew him.”
She paused for a moment, head down again. When she resumed, her voice was thick with effort. “I loved him…would have given anything to see him crowned as our longed-for king.” I steeled myself for what I knew was coming. “And so he should have been. But he gave his life trying to save lives, trying to save slaves like…like us.”
It took all my control to keep the tears back then. Instinctively I turned away, my face fixed in apathetic stone.
Her words flowed on, and I clung to every syllable. “…Now only the Princess remains. Princess Emma is a worthy heir to these heroes, and she, though never eager for the crown, will fill it with grace and strength. I came here in her place. I am her herald.”
A herald to slaves? A herald to darkness and death? I might have smiled at the thought, but there was no humor in the irony for me. It truly was too close to home.
“We fight. We fly. We will — we must — overcome. If you are faithful to Witson’s heir and Witson’s way, then this is your war, and it is being fought right now. Morbin’s fall draws near, and the Mended Wood waits — on the other side of this fight.”
A surge of surprise circulated through the audience till the chamber itself seemed to gasp in amazement.
“It cannot be.” I heard Dirkan cry down below. “It’s not possible.”
“What can that doe mean?” A younger doe named Kye hissed to my left. “Does she think the work of generations can be done in a day?”
“Her name is Heather Longtreader.” I turned to see Stretch, one of the Messengers. His eyes were lit with the hope of the thought. He obviously believed every word.
I almost asked why he was up here with the ragtag rabbits instead of down in one of the inner circles, but I held my tongue, as always. Anyway, why was I up here myself?
Perhaps he had been late as well.
I moved my attention back to the floor. Heather, it’s a pretty name, had turned to Dirkan. “…and you will believe me. For I have nothing to lose now and no reason to lie.” She faced the rest of the room and held up the gem, “The Green Ember rises. The seed of the new world smolders. Healing is on the horizon, but a fire comes first. Bear the flame.”
I sat mesmerized as she told the story of the cause outside. It was a beautiful tale, brimming with painful hope. Soon she felt like a relation of mine, if far away, for she had been there, working with my uncle’s heir’s. She had suffered their sorrows; she had gloried in their triumphs.
And the more she said, the more they lived for me. I could see them now, Smalden, old in head and strong of heart, and Emma, loyal and lovely. The same depth of life I saw in Heather filled their every breath.
A depth I could never have.
When it ended, I realized I was pressed against the railing, gazing down to catch her every inflection. The others were mostly doing the same.
I longed to talk with her, to ask about my only remaining family, but the longer I stood there the more I remembered. I was a slave, or worse, I wasn’t. The very beating of my heart betrayed me. I shouldn’t exist.
With a sigh I turned back to the benches. Down below, Harmony was bravely bringing forward her plot to save the elders, and even as I seated myself in silence among the shadows, I ached to help her. To do something that would make a difference, a real difference, for someone.
Heather’s tale had roused something terrifying in me.
I wanted to be known. For someone else to know I existed. To care about my existence. I longed to breathe the air about me and know it was not stolen. To call myself by my whole name; to be true for once in my life.
I was Lilian Rolsen, daughter of Roland Goodson, and I wanted to be free.
But what was freedom in Ackalone?
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
- Rank: Chosen One
- Total Posts: 8156
@elishavet-pidyon. OOOH!!!!! I L O V E ITTTT!!!!!! 😍😍😍😍
@elishavet-pidyon Ha ha you can’t get rid of me! XD
Don’t worry though if I think I see a spoiler coming I’ll try to skip it (and like I said, if I read a spoiler it’s on me for coming here in spite of the warning XD)
I simply speak the truth! *bows* (I’m working on being more graceful XD) Oh okay! Will bear that in mind!
*salautes* I will! lol
Confession: The only characters I can connect with names are Heather, Picket, Helmer, Emma, Kyle, and Smalls. Everyone else? Gone. Hey, I read the books forever ago. Internet just confirmed suspicions *gulp* How’d I forget that?*raises hand* I KNEW HIM! *apologizes for interrupting*
AH! THIS IS SO GOOD!! 🥰🥰🥰😊😊😊💖💖💖
Can I add Lily to the #ProtectionSquad lol
🥰#TorrynVelgardProtectionSquad🥰
@freedomwriter76
Thank you!!! I’m really glad you like it.
I completely understand! (Why else would I do a huge warning about the spoilers?) The books are awesome, and yeah, you definitely don’t want to spoil the plot twists.
No, it would seem I can’t.
All right, I’ll just have to leave you to your own devices. 😉
That’s all right. What did you forget?! *Gulps as well*XD Your interruption is forgiven, everything considered. 😉
Thank you!!
By the way, have y’all ever considered how skilled Smalls is? He’s insanely good with the sword, but we really don’t see it because it’s so natural to him, I guess, and we aren’t shown all that he does.
In fact, the first book is the only one that we ever see him use the bow, but he does so shooting with perfect skill. While running, he shoots off six arrows, all perfect shots, in succession, in only a matter of seconds. Plus, three of those arrows were shot at once, on one draw. None of them miss.
Jo doesn’t even do that!
And it’s the only glimpse that we ever get of Small’s archery.
That’s his character right there: if you aren’t looking, you won’t see him for who he is.
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
Oh, and she could probably use it. XD Lily needs help.
You have listened to fears, child. Come, let me breathe on you... Are you brave again? -Aslan
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