MoonlightSoldier
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Celosia, chapter 1
🕑 Added 2021-09-09 02:13:56 +0000 UTCThis is simply the first chapter of the novel. Bare in mind it's still in rough draft, so yes, there is grammar and other errors and tweaks I need to work out. I'm posting this just to try and help get a feel for what I'm trying to make.
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The sun peeked between the clouds rolling across the sky as it was setting down on another day, the citizens of Celosia either finishing their day’s work, or beginning their night time business. The lumber town of Floraine would see merchants and lumberjacks returning from deeper in the woods where the twin city Huntersden was established. The two towns flourished together as one provided industry, and the other food and clothing. Floraine would even use the fertile soil that they cleared to grow crops and herbs for medicinal purposes to ensure that any hunters that got injured could be taken care of. A young merchant girl with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail jumped off of a wagon that she was hitching a ride on, returning home after selling the medicinal herbs to Huntersden. Dressed in a simple cream set of pantaloons and a red and blue shirt with knee high brown leather and cloth boots, she was a recognized, yet average girl in the village selling her mother’s medicine. With a light yet cheary sigh, she puts away the large woven basket she was wearing on her back, and the specially designed pole which allowed her to hang several baskets off of them filled with blooming flowers and herbs to help draw in more customers.
“Mom, I’m home!” The young woman calls out as she fiddles with her shirt and pants a little bit, making it fit more comfortably after wearing the woven basket on her back for so long.
“I’m in the kitchen sweety! I’m stocking the fire to keep the stew nice and warm for you, it was ready some time ago.” Came the tender reply, a voice that made the young woman smile as she followed the voice. “What took you so long to get home today Lethia, I know sometimes sales are a bit rough, but this is getting to be a little bit too common.”
“How can sales ever be rough with YOUR plants of any of the herbalists here mom? You were trained by a Huldra druid!” Lethia exclaims, chuckling a little at her words to try and hide a slight nervous twitch in her tone. Her mother gave her a look and a slight smile.
“Don’t be dodging the question Lethia, these late excursions are getting to be a little too common. I know that the road between our two towns is short, but I do still worry about you. People of lower respite have been caught along the road before.”
“Yeah, they’ve been caught, mom. With so many hunters and militia from the blood blades patrolling the road, what could possibly happen to me?” Lethia replies with a bit of sass.
“Your father happened.” Came a tart reply which caused Lethia to immediately blush and look down a bit. She let the silence hang for a moment before attempting to say something. “Don’t apologize sweety, I know you didn’t mean harm, and you were too young to really remember your father anyway. Now why don’t you just tell me why you’ve been getting home late and we can start with that.”
With a resigned sigh, Lethia took a bowl and helped herself to her supper. “Some of the hunting boys were flirting with me again, saying that they had managed to catch a record breaking boar, one that apparently had smashed through a few wagons along the roads beyond Huntersden. They wanted to take me to the local tavern and celebrate with drinks.”
“Mmm… drinks paid by whom?” Her mother asked, making lethia flinch slightly.
“They paid mom, I promise… though… I did want to buy myself some more, I just… didn’t have any money aside from the profits from your flowers.” She admitted with a bit of a white lie. Her mother turned and offered out her hand, palm up and Lethia responded by putting the profit’s purse into her hand. Opening it up, she made a quick calculation of the coins inside of the purse and its weight. Satisfied that it was as accurate as it should be, she put the purse down on a nearby table. “They did invite me to be at the tavern tomorrow as they are going to be serving the boar in a kind of celebratory feast. They even asked me to invite you as well.” Her mother made a light, modest sigh as she took a small log and fed it to the embers below the cooking pot.
“That’s sweet of them, really… but I’m not able to go. You know that I have to stay here and tend to my plants, as well of course towards people who need the medicine or something more direct. Make sure that you tell them I am flattered by the offer of course.” She says before standing back up “Now, why don’t you eat your dinner then go up and get yourself washed up. It’s late and you need an early start for tomorrow. I'll have all your things ready for the trip in the morning. Guthor wrote me he needs to leave just after dawn tomorrow as he has a meeting to get towards, being the woodcrafting master here.” With a simple nod, Lethia quickly makes her way to the second floor of the wooden cottage they lived in. The upper floor consists of a single tub with a secondary fireplace ment for heating water for baths, and the bedroom where the two slept in separate beds. She set the embers ablaze to warm the bath water while she finished her meal, then stripped down for her bath. With a relaxed sigh, she undid her ponytail and laid there in the water for a little while.
She did feel bad about the white lie she left her mother with. She was given extra money from a customer, and she did feel like she deserved at least a little bit of a reward. She was the one who made the long trek to the neighboring village every day to sell the medicine her mother grew. Rain, snow, sun and fog she would make the journey, if she was lucky by tagging a ride with a wagon, but when the roads were too muddy for reliable wagon transport she had to make the trek by foot. Why couldn’t she reward herself for that kind of hard work? They lived comfortably enough, everyone treated them nicely. “Yeah… everyone treats us nicely because my uncle is the leader of the silver shields.” She chuckled at herself as she grabbed the bar of soap and began to wash herself. “Besides… some of the hunters are kind of cute… maybe I wanna decide to… stay the night.” She spoke to herself with a chuckle “Yeah that would go over well with mom. ‘Where did you sleep, Lethia?’ Oh just with some boy.”
“I better hope that boy is both cute and a proper gentleman than.” Her mother responds as she turns to go into the bedroom, leaving Lethia curled up in the bathtub, her face warm enough to heat the water.
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As the first light cracked the night sky in half, Lethia could feel the first early rays strike her face. With a yawn, she sat up, looking out the window as the blankets slid off her frame as the sun greeted her. She sat there for a moment to enjoy the feeling of the morning sun along her olive skin, stretching a little bit to help get the tiredness out of her body. Her mother soon walked in, flattening out the wrinkles on her long cream and pink dress. “Morning sweety, glad to see you awake on time, you need to get going.” She says softly, all the while Lethia got up and started to get dressed. “I made some porridge for you before you go, and… sweety.” She says, walking up to Lethia who turned curiously. Amelia then hugged her daughter tightly, which the slightly bewildered Lethia returned with a light chuckle. “Just remember Lethia that I love you dearly, and always will. Make sure you come home safe for me today, okay?”
“I know you do mom, I'll make sure that I’m home safe and sound as always.” She replies as she slowly pulls away from the warm embrace. “Though if I’m going to catch Guthor I do need to get dressed and get going mom.” With a nod her mother heads back downstairs to get ready to tend to her fields while Lethia finishes getting dressed. It was moments like these that reminded her why she needed to make sure to be home, she was the only thing her mother had left after all. Once she had everything together, she raced down stairs and powered through her breakfast, much to the amusement of her mother. They then shared one more hug, before Lethia bid farewell and ran off to find her ride.
Clouds had moved in, turning the bright morning into something a little more dreary. That didn’t sour Lethia’s mood however as she ran towards the carpenter’s workshop to meet up with Guthor. Spotting Lethia, the burly older gentleman gives a nod and slaps the very edge of the back of the wagon. Lethia read this as ‘sit here’ as she hoists herself up and onto the wagon. The two journeymen look at one another for a brief moment. “You get what he means? We were just sent here from our original masters from the capital to learn from him. Why is he so silent?”
Lethia blinks at the two of them for a moment. “You were never told? Guthor’s a mute. Some grey mercenaries attacked a long time ago and his throat got slashed open, or so I heard. My mother was able to keep him alive till a priest healed him, but he wasn’t able to heal him completely. Since then he’s been unable to speak. Us locals learned to interpret what he means though, apparently he’s just a bit too stubborn to learn sign language.”
“Stubborn is right, but we wouldn’t be sent here if he wasn’t good at his craft. You guys out here in the wilds certainly have an air of stubbornness about you all, and it’s pretty well needed. You don’t get as many luxuries here as back in Gwithal.”
“Or as many different people, I don’t see a lot of other races here other than humans. I guess this place is still considered a frontier by most.” The other Carpenter replied as he finished hoisting up the last of the finished material onto the wagon. “Never thought I would miss the presence of Duram or Huldra. Heck maybe even the odd Draconian and they would make sense to live out here!”
Lethia laughed at the last response before shaking her head. “They would if they weren't so used to high society life. Draconians typically hail from the empire where they all live like barons, finding a draconian in a frontier town would be something different indeed.” The two carpenters paused, confused how she would know this before looking back towards her. “My Uncle is the leader of the Silver Shields and he’s told me a fair amount about life outside of the twin towns. I’m a little more aware of the world than most.” A whip from a harness indicated that the wagon was moving, making Lethia jolt slightly.
“Well you certainly seem like a good travel companion then. Have a safe trip with the master!” The two exclaim as Lethia rides off. She was expecting the trip to be relatively uneventful through the woods, it normally was anyway. Not long after they left town however, someone else hopped onto the back of the wagon. He was a curious gentleman in a flamboyant set of clothes with an array of different colors, blues, purples and some yellow accents. He sported pantaloons and some slightly curved shoes more designed for appearance than travel. He also carried a flute on his side, and a pack filled with papers, scrolls and other writing odds and ends. He looked over towards Lethia and gave a curt nod as a greeting.
“Hello there young lady, heading towards Huntersden as well?” He asked, his voice light and playful, whimsy at it’s purest. “If so then maybe I can help pass the time with a song, a ballad or a story of the recent times while I’ve been about. My name is Howard the Minstrel, wandering around to find stories so I can let others know about the tides of the towns.” He introduces himself, his hand gesturing in dramatic flair. A show men indeed it seemed and a quick talker as he didn’t give much space for Lethia to respond at first.
“Lethia Azalea, pleasure to meet you.” She replied with a nod towards the rambunctious individual. Upon hearing the name his eyes lit up like candles.
“Do my ears trick me? Azalea? As in related to the legendary leader of the silver shields Talisan Azalea? Pardon my excitement, but I feel like I just ran into a celebrity by sheer chance! Yet I have to wonder. Why does a relative of such a prestigious man live so far out of the way? Surely he would treat even his extended family with part of the royal fame that he has earned would he not?”
“That was mostly due to my father, I was told that he was a town guard and that he wanted to live a more simple life out in the frontier, where he met my mother. He disappeared a long time ago when I was too young to know him, but my mother tells me stories about him.”
“Oh ho, so the request of the dearly passed I see, forgive me for being so tart, if I had known… Well, such a statement is crude when one cannot know. We cannot read minds and I’m certainly no magic user who could. Would you like to hear more news of your uncle than my sweet Leth?” He offers as he pulls out his flute, giving a quick test on it to make sure that it sounded appropriate. Lethia noticed that the flute had a rather ornate wolf design to it, which made her look at the instrument to study it’s interesting designs. The head of the wolf was at the end to give the sense of a wolf howling. When Howard played the instrument it even sounded a little bit like a wolf trying to sing a strange song.
“As you may know the famous Guild Competitions are starting and the silver shields are poised to once again take the top spot. They have a new recruit as well, a Lamia who is the first one to have ever joined a guild in all of Celosia, or more appropriately the northern commonwealth. Everyone knows that the military in the land of the three kings employ’s Lamia’s as well, but in the commonwealth where the plight of their struggle is strong, it’s a significant stride towards fixing it. They say that she is an absolute power house that can use the stumps of trees as clubs, and can even pin down two Draconian all on her own. Certainly a significant advantage to have in any military or even a sports event. Their rivals of course have been working on their own secret weapon, or so I hear. As to what Hicoth the fire wyrm has been planning I do not know, he’s been quite secretive about it.” The news made Lethia chuckle softly as that sounded like the determined Red Draconian. She’s heard a few stories of him from her uncle when he’s come to visit.
“Well it certainly sounds interesting, one year i'll have to try and make the journey to the capital so I could watch the games instead of hearing about them. Who do you route for yourself?” She asked curiously, of which the Minstrel made a slight smirk.
“To be honest, not the silver shields. Sure they are famous and for good reason, but I’m a little bit of a gambler at heart. No, I like to vote on the Northern pride, the survivalists of our wildlands. I’m always surprised to see them do so poorly in the games, they don’t focus on combat as much as the other guilds so you would think that they would have a more robust skill set.”
“My uncle says it’s because their guild leader isn’t very competitive. She’s more sympathetic, and while she does allow her guild to compete, she’s far more interested in saving lives than having fame and fortune. Most of her guild feels the same way, which feels weird considering the name of their guild.”
“Aaah, but the current leader did Inherit the guild, so perhaps the original goal of the guild is lost from the passing of generations.” The minstrel supplied which made Lethia pause to consider that fact. At that point Howard began to play his instrument to pass the time, satisfied enough with the conversation as the wagon continued onward. The journey itself lasted a few hours and the wagon arrived at Huntersden by noon. Hopping off the wagon, Lethia bid farewell to her travel companions while heading towards the local tavern to trade a few herbs for a meal, a practice that her mother agreed to just so she could have a fresh meal, and a good way to announce her arrival to town.
The rest of her day went by pretty normally aside from one individual. A regular customer that she delivered a specific kind of herb too, a gentleman that suffered from a really bad allergy since growing up in Huntersden. He was in charge of skinning and preparing the hydes that the hunters would bring back, so he would get a lot of news from the hunters, including the news about Lethia’s actions in town after yesterday's delivery. As Lethia approached his home, the door opened and the sickly looking man gave her a rather nasty glare, made worse by the natural sunken features he wore. Lethia felt herself shrinking a little under his gaze as she fiddled in her pack to get the herbs he required. “So I heard that you spent some time at the local tavern yesterday.” He started as Lethia’s motions slowed down and her face went slightly pale. “Had a little bit of fun with some of the money I gave you?”
Realizing that she was found out, she pulled out the herbs and sighed out a little in defeat. “I… I did yes…” she admitted, holding the small flower in her hand. “It was supposed to be for my mom, not for me and… I… wanted to treat myself since I do all the running around for her.”
“You do all the running around sure, but your mother is the one that puts her very life into these plants. It’s these same plants that allow people like me just to survive in these environments Lethia! You shouldn’t be taking advantage of that and of the good faith of her customers. Of YOUR customers I should add.” His words lashed at Lethia like a bullwhip, making her wince at them and feeling the burning sensation of shame inside of her chest. The sickly man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Look… I won’t tell anyone what you did, THIS time, but only because I know some of the younger hunters are a bit rowdy, not that you're much better it seems. It’s also supposed to be a celebration today and I don’t want to spoil the mood much either, even though it’s already being spoiled.”
“Wait, it’s already being spoiled? What do you mean by that?” Lethia asked, having snapped out of her shame briefly as she handed over the Druidic flower her mother grew.
“Bandits struck at dawn, nothing serious thankfully, but a lot of the town guard chased after them to try and root out their camp in the woods, so a lot of people are not in town and we’re left with a token patrol. We still have the hunters in town and they make decent militia, but our grand celebration is going to be short a handful of people.” After that he took out a small pouch filled with coins and put it in Lethia’s hands. “This is for today, no extra this time and if I do hear about you spending your mother’s earnings again, I will spread the word. You're a good woman Lethia, don’t make me think otherwise.” He warns her, giving her hand a light slap before taking his medicine and going inside. Left at the front door with that feeling of shame in her chest, she sighs out a bit and puts the money away.
“I just wanted to live a little bit… what’s so wrong with that?” She argues a little with herself as the voice in her head responds. ‘I still took advantage of someone’s trust and good intention, and for what? A few pints of alcohol and some flirting with a few boys? Is that really worth ruining your own reputation?’ No it wasn’t, yet it felt nice to be able to do so and that thought didn’t exactly help her hurt sense of morals. Thankfully the rest of her normal customers hadn’t heard word as was promised and her day went by smoothly enough. Once she finished selling the herbs, it was finally time to head to the tavern for that promised celebration.
The celebration itself was a grand time, while not everyone was able to make it, those that did were able to make it lively and memorable. Lethia, being a neighbor, didn’t get to take part in any of the main activities, but was happy enough to be able to watch it all happen, especially as she got to be served some of the roast boar for free. The Tavern keeper was a pudgy man with an apron as white as snow, but his shirt and breeches were covered in grease and stains. His cooking for the day though was fit for nobles as he cooked up a feast. The boar itself had been speared and roasted over a fire, slowly turned so that the cuts of meat were tender and full of juice. Alongside it was a bowl of a hearty mushroom stew filled with potatoes, carrots and other root vegetables, a salad that even had some of her mother’s herbs mixed in and freshly baked meat pies. There was so much food that Lethia couldn’t finish it all, and even then the tavern had so much left over, that it had to be divided and given to people to take home. Lethia was given a good sized pack of food to bring home to her mother, something that was a rare treat indeed and would help keep some spare money for the two of them. As she was getting ready to go, a few of the younger hunters approached her in an effort to try and convince her to stay the night, after all a celebration would be better with a companion at night.
As curious as the young woman was, Lethia remembered the light shame from earlier and said that she should really get home, especially with so much food. All the wagon’s had already left so she had to go by foot to make it back. The sun was also beginning to set so she knew that she needed to get moving as the journey would still be a few hours regardless, so before the young hunters could get another word in she ran off. She was in such a hurry to get going that when she passed by the checkpoint, the lone guard wasn’t able to catch her as she ran past.
It didn’t take very long for Lethia to start regretting her choice to leave town the way she did. It had already been over an hour into her journey, and the sun had set a little faster than she remembered. “Must be approaching the cold seasons already… just my luck.” She sighed, hefting her backpack on her shoulders. She began to wistfully think about the one hunter that had asked her to spend the night with him. He certainly seemed like a cute boy, maybe a little older than her by a few years, but there wasn’t anything wrong with that right? He was a hunter so he had a fit body, strong arms, a short but well accenting beard in his face that made him look rugged yet refined in a way.
She was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice the curious sound of a howl on the wind, it didn’t sound like a wolf which is why it didn’t catch her notice, but of a flute. It took a while before she finally took notice of the sound as it seemed to get a little closer. A smile spread on her face as she turned towards the music floating on the breeze to see the same bard from earlier. “Thank goodness, a travel companion.” She spoke out and chuckled “Here I thought you would have stayed in Huntersden. Enjoy traveling at night as well?” She asked as she watched him approach her. Suddenly she felt a strange fear grip her heart as she saw he wasn’t playing his flute, yet could still hear a whistling howl in the distance. In spite of the fear in her heart, she let Howard approach her who gave the lone woman a smile. A smile that made her skin crawl.
“Such a bold young woman, traveling between the towns all on her own with the guard occupied. Did the guard not warn you that there was a werewolf spotted in the woods?” He says, his voice still as upbeat and musical as in the morning.
Run.
“No? Oh that’s right, he was too busy with my friend to notice you leaving when he was meant to stop anyone from travelling tonight, and you were in such a hurry as well. Trying to get home to your mother? Don’t want the kind woman to worry about her daughter. Here, why don’t I walk with you.”
RUN.
“What’s the matter Lethia? You look like you're seeing a monster.” Howard said with a malicious tone to his musical nature. Raising the flute to his lips, he played a few notes which carried on the breeze. “Or is it that you’re guessing who I am… oh don’t fret about me, I’m no beast… but my companions are, and in return for my safety, I agreed that I would be a scout for them. After all, I need to stay alive, how else can I travel the roads in these dangerous times? All I need to do is find foolish people who travel on their own.”
Having heard enough, Lethia turns on her heel and starts to walk quickly down the road, deciding it was too dangerous to stick around. That speed walk was soon turning into a sprint, and she looked behind herself. She barely saw a rock flying at her in time for her to dive off to the side, the projectile soaring by her head. As she turned back, Howard had a sling in his hand, and from behind him a werewolf was galloping her way. He just tried to knock her out for the beast that was quickly gaining on her! She pushed herself back onto her feet and sprinted into the nearby woods. Open road she stood no chance at out running the were beast that was now chasing after her, so she had to rely on the knowledge she had of the nearby woods to try and out maneuver the charging beast behind her.
It was at this time that Lethia was very thankful that she was wearing pants instead of a dress, it would certainly be bad if she got tripped up by her clothes being caught by branches, or worse the gaining wolf behind her. The werewolf was out of sight, but Lethia didn’t feel safe yet as she kept running. Hopping over a root, she was reminded about the food in her backpack, the meat that was inside of it. No wonder the sense of danger she felt wasn’t fading, the werewolf had a scent that could be tracked easily. Thinking quickly, she slipped the backpack off her back, gripped the handle and tried to fling it in the opposite direction she was running. She heard branches behind her and sprinted in a random direction away from the scent of food that she left behind. The distraction seemed to have worked as the sounds of branches snapping faded in the distance and came to a brief stop, while she herself ran for some distance. She didn’t know what direction she was going in anymore, all she knew was to just keep going, werewolves were deadly and efficient hunters. The distraction may have bought her time, but not much.
A blind turn around a large tree sent her hurtling off the edge of a small hill, landing on a branch that broke from the impact. The sound of the breaking tree limb, and of the breath leaving her body felt too loud to her ears. Didn’t help that her head was spinning a little from the impact, disorientating her even more. Grabbing the tree limb, she used it to hoist herself up and onto her feet as she picked up the sounds of heavy breathing. It found her trail! In a panic she started to get running again, desperate to find something to hide in. Her head spun back and forth before spotting a clearing with what looked to be a cabin in the distance. Sliding on the soil and fallen leaves below her, she turned sharply towards what looked like sanctuary just as the werewolf plowed through the woods right behind her. Feeling the beast just behind her shoulder, she hefted the branch and swung as hard as she could. The mangled, heavy end of the branch collided into the werewolf’s face, gnarled and twisted wood digging painful into their face and the weight knocking him briefly disorientated. The branch itself snapped from the impact under its own weight and the sturdiness that was a werebeast, though it bought Lethia precious seconds to clear the field and into the hut beyond.
Open and shut, the door groaned in protest at the very sudden and very rough handling that Lethia gave it. The house itself seemed to creak and groan in response, as if annoyed that someone had used it with such carelessness and force. Lethia herself didn’t care however, as she looked around the entrance way and spotted a bookshelf with moldy papers and collapsing tomes. Thinking fast, she ran to the other side and pushed the heavy bookshelf towards the door, barely getting it over the entrance way before a heavy slam caused her to cry out in panic. Splinters flew from the hinges of the door, and while the extra weight stopped the initial charge, it was very clear that it couldn’t hold for long enough. Running short of ideas, she ran deeper into the house where she came to a large room. She scrambled around, trying to find something, anything that she could use as a weapon, an iron rod or an axe. This was a loggers cabin was it not?
A loud crash signaled that she was quickly running out of time, and that she needed to find something. Spotting another door way across the room, she made a dash towards it, ignoring what she was running over. As the dust was disturbed below her, the etchings of a demonic ritual was more evident beneath her feet. The werewolf wasted no time, it was angry that this girl had been such trouble to capture. It bound through the entryway, around the corner and spotted Lethia. Ignoring everything else, it ran right for her and intercepted Lethia in the center of the room.
Pain fired through Lethia’s torso. Fur, blood and the thunderous shock of fangs in her abdomen roared in her vision and in her head as the full weight of a werewolf was tackling her to the ground. The splatter of blood hit the ground first, sent as projectiles from the sheer force of the beasts bite onto the woman’s side. The only thing that either immediately saw was a sudden bright flash, and excruciating heat radiate around them. As if falling into a volcano or into the maw of a dragon about to breath it’s flame. A scream of pain echoed through the woods before a deathly silence followed, the cry cut off and silenced. Moments later the bard walked into the cabin with a few other werewolves, expecting to find the girl and the hunter who followed them, only to find nothing at all, except a few drops of blood on the floor, and a demonic sigil burned into the ground itself.
