The Book of Winter (Full Version)

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Eukara Vox -> The Book of Winter (12/9/2009 17:01:06)

Prologue

A fire crackled beneath a mantle decorated in the colors of winter. Crimson berries, dark green holly leaves... the illusion of snow falling in the background tempts one to think the figures behind the decorations were actually moving. I stood there for a long time, swearing to the deities of time that the spun glass ballerina was throwing snowballs at the porcelain boy. Surely, though, such static works of art cannot move...

"I see that you are here, Eukara Vox. Shall we proceed?" An ancient voice broke the silence.

I turned slowly, for I hadn't seen my master in so long. Had it really been ten years since I left his tutelage, to strike out on my own? He didn't look any older, but then, when one has lived 500 years, what is ten more? I smiled as I stepped towards him.

"Master Archanias, I came as soon as I received your note."

He reached out and drew me into his embrace, an embrace that had dried more tears than one lifetime should produce. I could feel his vitality, his strength, yet the message sent to me spoke of the end of his journey. For the life of me, I could not imagine why he would think the end of his own life was near.

"I apologise, my dear, that the note wasn't something more inviting, but I have put this off for far too long. I was waiting for you." The twinkle in his eye, perfectly timed, made me feel as if something larger than I was prepared for was about to begin.

My own thoughts, as wild and harried as they could be, came tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them. "But Master Archanias! You can't be serious about all this. An end to your journey? But you always seem as though you have just begun. You seem well, you look as if you are ready to run to Memorium and back, only to grab your hurley and knock the sliotar wildly about on the fields. The world cannot lose you."

My teacher laughed heartily and put his hand on my head. "My dear, the body is willing, but the soul is tired. I have waited all these years, despite that, until I found one who could take my place. Not just anyone can take care of the Library."

I felt my jaw drop. The Library... he was waiting for his replacement. I looked around at the vast corridors of books; memories of a childhood spent among them, filled with exploring worlds that peaked my imagination. I had adventured through every row, every section... I knew this place by heart. Yet, never in my wildest imagination did I ever picture this place without Master Archanias. And now, to imagine me as the one to take his place.

I shook my head. "Why me?"

"Why you?" Master Archanias asked. He scratched his chin. "Well, I have taught for a long time. A very long time. And over that time, I have had many promising students. But there was always something that kept me from honing their skills completely. Mostly, it was that they had no room in their lives and imaginations for every subject covered in this library. You on the other hand, you hungered to read everything, no matter what it was about. It was a miracle that this library kept up with you." He laughed deeply, the wonderful sound echoing throughout the building.

I blushed, though because of the compliment or his last statement, I do not rightly know. "And you believe I still have this hunger?"

"I don't only believe it, I know it. I have watched your journeys, your need to know everything. My girl, you have absorbed more knowledge than I thought possible in the last ten years. You are the only person who can do my job." He crossed his arms and looked at me expectantly.

"How can I say no? My life was most wonderful here among the Universe's writings. But to not have you alongside would be hard to deal with." I could feel the tears welling up and I fought their release.

"My journey's end is your journey's beginning. And that is precisely why I had to wait. You see, your true journey will never start until mine ends. That was the last thing that separated you from all my other students. I saw our journeys intertwined."

He moved to his desk, which sat in the middle of the library. Picking up the quill on his desk, he ran it through his fingers one last time and then turned to me. "With this quill, you will do wondrous things. This quill has the power to enable anything written - in our universe and the hidden ones - to be seen by those who desire to read. Use it wisely and be discerning as to what you allow others to see."

I took the quill with reverence. I had seen this elegant pen light up the pages of the books in which Master Archanias wrote. Now, it will be me at the desk, collecting the stories offered up to the Library. It will be me deciding what stories others should read. "How will I know, Master Archanias?"

"You just will. Now, be ready. I suspect that this winter will have some extra-ordinary stories coming your way. Stories about fantastical adventures in snow, chasing Yetis and elementals, realistic fiction portraying life and holidays, quests of game characters roaming the snow covered fields of their worlds..."

"Game characters, Master Archanias?" This was something new to me.

He chuckled. "You will get used to those. They are an interesting sort."

I watched as he faded before me. There were no goodbyes, no tear-filled pleas to stay. Who was I to argue with the forces that push and pull our lives? Master Archanias trusted me to do this job. I sat in his seat, which promptly changed into something more personality appropriate. Gone was the grand mountain scenery. In its place, a forest pond with dragonflies flitting about.

And yes, they were actually flitting about.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (12/15/2009 3:14:47)

A Reaper Snowball Fight
by Ultrapowerpie

(Set a few years after the conclusion of the Chronicles of Tipa)


“Come on, Necro, you’ll never be able to hit me with a weak throw like that,” Jenna teased, pegging him in the face with a well-aimed snowball.

Necro sighed, wiping the snow from his face. “Bah, you know full well that physical combat has never been my forte, and it’s not helping that you’re restricting this fight to our human forms.”

“You know full well that things would get ridiculous if we allowed transforming, even if only into our half-tiger forms,” she explained, pelting him with more snowballs as he ran for cover, which there was little of in the rather flat valley they were having their war in.

Necro retaliated with a small barrage of his own, which actually managed to hit Jenna square in the face. “Finally got you!” he taunted, sticking his tongue at her.

Jenna decided to respond to Necro’s taunt by turning the snow at her feet into a rather large wave of snow that quickly engulfed Necro. “No one pegs me in the face with a snowball!” she exclaimed in mock anger.

“Hey, you just did that to me! And magic in a snowball fight isn’t fair since you can manipulate the snow into whatever you… AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Necro screamed as a second snow wave engulfed him. Jenna giggled mischievously.

“You really should keep your guard up, Necro, or you’ll never win… EEEK!” Jenna screeched as something grabbed her leg and began pulling her into the snow. Quickly looking down, she realized that it was just a skeleton’s hand, meaning Necro was using his oldest trick to distract her. “You still haven’t changed your combat style all this time, have you?” she asked loudly.

“Nope!!” Necro called out while the snow where he was buried exploded as an Undead Giant rose from the ground with Necro on its left shoulder. “Remember this guy? He’s still here!”

Jenna had used a small icicle barrage from her hands to destroy the undead hand as she covered her face from the fresh onslaught of exploding snow. “Yes, I remember that day quite well. I don’t think we’ll ever forget it… especially Grim,” she grinned.

Necro returned the smile as the undead giant formed a giant snowball and hurled it, completely squishing her underneath its weight. Necro waited a few moments to see if he had managed to knock her out, or if she was going to come up with a counterattack.

The latter proved to be the case as a rather large icicle came out of the snow and pierced the Undead Giant through the torso, shattering the rib cage and toppling the giant down to the ground, resulting in another explosion of snow which seemed to be refilling itself magically every time it was used, though it wasn’t snowing at all.

“Using icicles is cheating! That’s not snow!” Necro called out a few second later after digging himself out of the snow.

“As long as I don’t use it against you it’s fine,” she shrugged.

Necro brushed the snow off of his Reaper Robes and summoned his scythe vertically. “I think it’s time we settled this snowball fight once and for all.”

Jenna mimicked Necro’s move and nodded. “Agreed!”

Necro did a smart about-face and started walking at a quick march towards one end of the valley while Jenna did the same to the opposite side. After moving far enough away that he felt safe from any surprise attacks, Necro slammed his scythe into the ground after throwing in a few dramatic twirls beforehand, more for show than for necessity. The snow near him began to melt as a black magic circle weaved its way from the scythe’s base to form an extremely intricate and complex design much too complicated to describe in mere words and best left to the imagination of the reader.

When the circle was finished, Necro slammed his scythe down again, but this time with the blade into the center of the circle, triggering the magic held within. After a few seconds of waiting, a black swirling vortex appeared at the center of the circle and moved out until it engulfed the entire thing, causing Necro to step back from the portal he created. Slowly, ranks upon ranks of Stalfan began coming up from the Undead Portal summoned by Necro. He soon had an entire Division of Undead under his command, all lined up in a rather large parade formation.

“Gentlemen, I am glad that you have gathered here today to come to the aid of your Grand Master Scythelord, your Reaper of Death, your Grand General, your Brilliant Leader, your…” Necro paused, running out of titles he could remember off the top of his head. “Your local necromancer for today,” he finished, knowing that the Stalfan didn’t have any brains whatsoever to actually comprehend what he was saying.

“Today we march against a foe so crafty, so ingenious, so manipulative… so clever that the only thing that could possibly match her brains is her looks. She is relentless when she sets her mind to it, she has a fiery temper that belies her dominion over Water. I know all these things because she happens to be my wife, which really reinforces all of my previous comments about her. REGARDLESS!” Necro yelled, making a few undead jump in “surprise” at his sudden outburst.

“Regardless, we must have constant vigilance! As we speak, she is summoning a pack of miniature ice golems to launch a brutal assault against your beloved leader! We cannot allow this to happen! So, I want each and everyone of you to arm yourselves with two snowballs!!” he ordered, making sure the order was followed. “Good! You have done just that! Hark! I hear the Witch of Water approach! All men, CHARGE… in an orderly manner, rank by rank, column by column, please. I want to go for a sort of Napoleonic Combat today, which means I will be at the rear of the line while the rest of you valiantly go off to defend me and my honor!”

And so Necro’s Stalfan marched to war, while Jenna’s Mini-ice Golems, as she affectionately called them, marched to defend Jenna’s honor. The two armies had gotten within range of each other and were about to open fire, when green fire erupted from the center of the valley, causing both generals to halt their armies as they gulped nervously.

The green fire suddenly exploded in a giant pyrotechnic bonanza that is way too awesome for words, but needless to say it left both generals completely stunned as the fireworks died down and Grim appeared with his scythe at the ready. “What in the name of the Giant Pie of Doom is going on here??!” he demanded.

“We’re having a snowball fight…” Jenna said sheepishly.

“She was the one who threw the first snowball at me…” Necro added.

“I don’t believe this! You two have been married for several years, and been Reapers for nearly that long as well, and you’re acting like a couple of bloody children who just got their powers! What the heck are you thinking??!!!” he scolded.

“It’s our day off…” they both said simultaneously.

“What? I didn’t schedule any days off… Never mind, that’s still no excuse to have a snowball war with minions… bloody heck you guys must be bored,” he added, counting the number of minions both parties had.

“I thought you said you didn’t care what happened on our days off…” Necro began.

“As long as you DON’T get caught! But having a snowball war in Calico Valley isn’t the best way to stay hidden from me, is it?” he asked, arms crossed.

“We couldn’t have it anywhere else though, otherwise we could get spotted by others, and you said that we had to uphold a high standard at all times,” Jenna nodded.

“But I… you… BAH! You’re still behaving like children! I’m going back to the Cave,” Grim sighed.

“FIRE!” Jenna and Necro yelled in unison, beginning a giant snowball war of epic proportions that once again is far too awesome to describe in words. Grim sighed as he found himself caught in the middle of the onslaught and pelted with too many snowballs to concentrate on teleporting, so he just stood there until he became buried under the snow.

An hour later, Grim emerged from the snow mountain to discover a rather large ice arena had formed, with him curiously at the center of it. He also noticed that all six of the Reapers were out on the ice, holding their scythes like hockey sticks. He quickly realized what was about to happen. “Grim-key?” he asked. The rest of the Reapers nodded, and rushed at him to be the first to get his head to use as the puck.

It was going to be a loooooonnnnnnnnngggggggg winter for Grim.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (12/17/2009 9:09:22)

The Little Town by the Bridge
by horusmaster9


It was winter. Blankets of snow had already covered the streets in this little town by the bridge. Some of the buildings were completely buried beneath the snow, and the bridge seemed more like a sidewalk above a lawn of snow than an overpass high above a flowing river.

However, this little town by the bridge was in shambles. The people lived in poor shacks that were falling apart. Wintertime here was not happy, even with the holidays approaching. Those who didn't have sufficient clothing would die from the cold, and those who did have jackets or coats mourned for the dead almost daily. Even then, those who would venture past the bridge would never return. It was a known fact that dragons lived in the land beyond and would eat those who did not have a sword and armor, which the people would obviously not have, as they were unable to make even mittens and gloves.

Thankfully, not all was terrible in this little town by the bridge. Everyone was friendly with each other, and no one denied another fellow a warm shelter. At times, many people would cram into a single shack just for warmth. Friends, be they children or octogenarians, would visit each other daily to discuss the news of the day or play games near the bridge. It was a sight to see, this strange mixture of sorrow and happiness.

This little town by the bridge did not stay like this forever.

One particularly sunny day, when the sun's blissful warmth feebly fought with the dominant cold, three friends played by the bridge. Despite their chilly surroundings, the three friends did not mind the cold; they were too caught up in a game of their own invention. While they were playing, they happened to turn to discussion about various things. Eventually, they began to discuss what they wanted the most.

"I want to give everyone in our little town by the bridge thick winter coats!" the first friend said.

"I want to give everyone in our little town by the bridge a good house to live in!" the second friend said.

When the third friend was about to speak, an elderly mage hobbled to the bridge. The mage was rather unsightly. She had a short stature, her face was wrinkled from the ravages of old age, and her fingers were gnarled around her staff. Strangely enough, though, she seemed to give an indescribable air of goodness. There was just something about her, perhaps an aura that her staff emitted, that made her a good person.

"I heard your wishes, young ones," she said, picking up snow. The mage used her powers to turn the snow into ice, and then into a cookie. The friends were in awe of her magical prowess.

"I have a magical cookie for you! It will grant the wish of anyone who takes a bite from it," she said, handing the cookie to the friends. The three friends gazed upon the cookie for a few moments before thinking to thank the mage. When they actually did look up, the mage was gone.

Immediately, the first two friends became greedy and fought over the magical cookie. They punched and kicked with little avail; both were determined to eat it and fulfill their own dream instead of the wishes they had said so sincerely earlier.

They fought for a few minutes before the third friend snatched the cookie. This third friend found two blocks of ice and placed the cookie on top of one. The other two friends were still stunned from the magical cookie having been stolen from them when the third friend took the other block of ice and smashed it.

There was dead silence.

"Look at what you have done!" the first friend shouted.

"What kind of friend are you?" the second friend screamed.

The third friend put a finger to the lips of the friends to silence them and dull their anger. The third friend lifted up the slab of ice and picked up a cookie crumb, saying, "I wish that we would learn to share," before swallowing a crumb. There was a huge burst of golden light as the friend's wish came true. However, it only affected the people in the little town by the bridge. The other two friends ran back to the little town by the bridge to share the great news with the others in the town. The wishes of the people in the little town by the bridge were granted as the third friend passed out magical cookie crumbs to everyone. The town prospered, and the people were finally fully happy.

After that, the third friend continued to hand out magical cookie crumbs to those with a good, sincere wish. Some foreigners overcame oceans, battled beasts, and even defeated demons to see if they were worthy of a magical cookie crumb. But the years passed and the third friend grew older and older. Soon the third friend was close to death, and the magical cookie crumbs were almost completely gone.

Then, one winter night, the elderly mage returned. She had seen what had been done and said to the third friend, "You have done so much good in this world! No one I have met before you has done what you have. No, they would take the relic and keep it for themselves. They wished for power, and I was forced to take it from them. So, I now bestow upon you the source of my power: my Staff of Gifts."

She tenderly handed the third friend her staff. Suddenly, she began to die. "Worry not!" she said in response to the third friend's frightened look. "You will no doubt have better judgment and bring more good than I have."

With that, the mage was reduced to snow. Her remains swirled around the Staff of Gifts before becoming one with the third friend's essence. Now, the third friend did not have to worry about aging anymore, nor did the third friend need the cookie crumbs to give. The Staff of Gifts was all that was required.

The third friend remains forevermore, sharing gifts to all who come to visit during the holidays.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (12/20/2009 21:03:32)

The Face of an Angel
by shreder10

A fire crackles in the glowing hearth
As I sit here--alone, in peace
My mind passing over days gone by
I think of previous friends

My life has been a long one
I've had my my share of grief and mirth
And as Christmas draws near once more
The thoughts of joy are brought to mind

But then my peace is torn apart
By the thundering of little feet
They patter in and gather round

“Tell us a story, Grandpa”

I sigh, stare into the fire
And begin

It was many and many a year ago
Before your parents were even born
For I was but a boy myself
Caught up in a winter storm

Oh, it was a terrible storm
Fierce winds howled, laden with snow
I could not see, lost and cold
I stumbled this way and that
Trying to find my way home, in vain

Then at last I saw a light
A glow in the shrieking storm
I stumbled toward it, exhausted
And fell against the wooden door, knocking

Moments later it was opened
And I beheld the face of an angel
Blond hair had she, and eyes of blue
A deep, deep blue, as if the restless ocean
Were contained within those starry orbs

I had but that one glimpse, then collapsed
I awoke in bed, my own bed
My family huddled around me
Their concern radiating in their eyes


“Whe-Where is the girl?”

“What girl?”
“Are you okay?”

“I, I think so, but where is she?”

“Who?”

“That beautiful girl,”
“With blond hair and eyes of blue.”

“You must have been dreaming,”

I let it drop, never mention it again
Later I learn there was no such girl for miles around

“Was she real, Grandpa?”

“If I knew, would I tell you?”

Giggling, and a plaintive protest

“Grandpa…”

I laugh

“Now run along and play”

And they do, as children will
Ah, to be young again
I smile, curl up in my chair
And by the warmth of the fire, fall asleep.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (12/21/2009 22:35:55)

Frostval: Of Moglins and Men
by Kiyodai

As I sit here in my armor, and gaze out on the snow,
There’s an answer to a question that I really have to know.

I swing about my Frostval parcel, knocking out monsters’ teeth,
It’s driving me utterly crazy: What IS it that lies beneath?
Is it a sword, a staff or a ray gun?
I wonder as I meander,
If only there was some way that I could take a gander.

My armor too drives me insane, as I cavort about in this pretty box,
Monsters never cease to pelt me with all manner of fire and rocks.
My shield as well, another parcel, I hold above my head,
And as that dragon begins to spew, I quickly fill with dread.

But through some Frostval wonder, the gift is still intact;
Those irritating moglins sure do know how to wrap.
Then my pet, boxy too, begins to tumble towards those trolls:
And I wonder, How does it breathe, with no air holes?

And then the final stroke, I raise my arms up to the sky:
A fearsome creature made of boxes towards the monsters does fly.

How does one WRAP a SPELL? I cannot help but query,
All this Frostval puzzlement is starting to make me weary.
What’s even worse than this, although, makes me very cross:
Namely, how much these irritating parcels COST.

What manner of gift is this, I say, that we must buy it for ourselves?
It’s enough to make me want to bludgeon all those merry little elves.

As I begin to farm all these monsters for their glorious gold,
I cannot help but wish I could leave Nimrod in the cold.
But even so, as it grows near, adventurers band together,
To deliver Frostval gifts in spite of the stormy weather.

So as I end this cheery poem, there is something I must say:
Have a very happy Frostval, and never fall into dismay!




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (12/22/2009 23:59:02)

A Very Merry…And Unusual Christmas
by Goldstein

The paladin burst through the door, his sword drawn, a rather unpleasant snarl on his face. I smiled and turned to him, my eyebrows raised.

“Yes? Please, my dear paladin, what could you POSSIBLY want from me?” I asked playfully.

The paladin raised his longsword—it was covered in something that looked suspiciously like bone dust—and pointed it menacingly at me. “I have come to end your reign of terror, you vile Necromancer! Prepare to be exorcised and cast into the fiery depths of hell where you shall be punished endlessly for the horrifying acts you have committed!”

I set down the tray of toxins I was carrying and turned to the paladin. I smiled and clapped, slowly and mockingly. “Wonderful speech, my dear fellow. Now, before we do all that—no worries, you CAN do all that—I just have a few questions for you. Eh?”

The paladin’s sword fell slightly, and he scoffed. “…Very well, you fool.”

I smiled and smoothed the creases of my black robes. “Alright, first question. How am I a fool?”

The paladin grinned, his lip curled. “You left your tower almost totally unguarded. You have raised no alerts. You have not tried to defend yourself at all. All you want to do is talk to me! What kind of Necromancer are you?”

I smiled, interlaced my fingers, and fell back into a tall plush chair. “I’m a Necromancer who DOESN’T…hate Christmas.”

The paladin at first tried to stifle his laughter, but he seemed to be too weak for even that. His sword clattered to the floor as he doubled over in laughter. “A-all Necro-omancers h-h-hate Christmas!”

I tilted my head and smiled. I always smile a lot during the holidays. “Not me. I have no horrible childhood memories. No bad experiences of me not getting any presents. Christmas always was, and still is, a bright spot in my life.”

The paladin’s laughter faded away and he looked up, a dubious look on his face. “...Is that right?” he asked, his tone heavily laden with doubt.

“Yes, but silly me. Of course a PALADIN would be stereotypical.”

The paladin snorted and tenderly picked up his sword. “Yes, I suppose I am…anyway, are we done? I would like to get back to my family.”

I stood up and walked to my window. “Who’s stopping you? I certainly am not,” I said, my tone a little too harsh for my liking.

There was a moment of silence. I could still hear the paladin’s armor jingling, so I assumed he was till here. I pressed on. “Snow is beautiful, huh?”

“I…suppose,” came the paladin’s voice behind me.

“I like snow mostly because…when I see it, and I like to think it gives us a new start. Every night, all impurities are washed away by the beautiful, clean frozen water. Nice thing to think about, eh?”

“This…this is rubbish! You are insane!” cried the paladin indignantly.

I turned around, smiling. “Really? I’m the insane one?”

“Yes!” yelled the paladin. I noticed he was gripping his sword quite hard. “You summon undead to serve you!”

“Yes!” I retorted, startled by my own fierceness. “I summon undead to serve me in serving the people of my village!”

“How?” cried the paladin. “How could undead serve the village?”

I raised my eyebrows. “You no doubt have slain the few undead patrolling my tower, no?”

“Yes. With pride,” growled the paladin. He was slowly circling me, a sneer on his face, his sword poised before him again.

I chuckled softly and sadly shook my head. “Did you notice anything…odd about my undead? Something that looked different?”

The paladin’s face twitched unpleasantly as he thought back. “Well…actually…yes. Yes I did.”

“A Santa hat, correct? A red hat with white fur lining and a bell attached to the end of it?” I asked politely, in a questioning tone.

The sword’s point fell to the ground, and the paladin’s face was a twisted in confusion. “Why…why WERE they wearing those things?”

I grinned, clapping my hands together. “To spread Christmas cheer! Please, even the undead celebrate Christmas!”

The paladin’s face was flustered to such a degree, it was comical. “So…why was your tower so insufficiently guarded tonight?”

I smiled and returned to my window. It was a large, wide window with a low lip. It had a scenic view of a pine forest, each tree capped with a snowy hat. The sky was still pale blue, and the air almost seemed tangible. I loved this season. “What is tonight?” I asked after a moment of silence.

“Christmas…Christmas Eve,” answered the paladin, his tone laden with more confusion this time. “W-why?”

“Do you always pause halfway through a sentence?” I asked playfully. Silence was my answer. I breathed in deeply and watched, slightly amused, as my breath drifted away into the air.

“As an adult, you must know there is no Santa Claus—a truth I desperately try to keep hidden from children. For some children, a benevolent, jolly old fellow who kindly brings them toys while they sleep sustains them in an otherwise bitter world. Yes, there is of course God, but Santa Claus is much more personal. God does not interact so directly as Santa does. So every Christmas Eve, I send my little fleet of undead to deliver presents I have handmade to the children of the village. An idealistic, maybe even a foolish gesture…but one that warms and comforts me regardless.”

The paladin stared at me in disbelief. His sword hung almost harmlessly by his side. His eyebrows raised, he pointed at me, then slowly lowered his arm. I smiled kindly at him and returned to my chair. I unscrewed a syringe from my tray and poured it into a cup of hot water. I sipped it and let out a satisfied sigh. “Aaaah…hot chocolate. Delicious. Would…would you care for some?” I asked, gesturing at the paladin. He waved my offer away and slowly sheathed his blade.

“I…I do believe I’ll return to my family now. My children…will want me to be with them…when they open Santa’s gifts.”

I smiled and raised my mug high into the air. “Merry Christmas, friend.”

The paladin smiled, a slightly dazed look in his eyes. “Merry Christmas to you as well.” And with that, he walked down the staircase and was gone.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (12/28/2009 10:46:47)

Frozen Cavern of Life
by Frenetic Raptor


In this world so cold, I am alone. It is here that I rest separated from everyone I have ever met and those I will never see. But am I really alone? No, I couldn't be. This is all just an illusion, for I do have friends and those I can call family. They may not be with me at this very moment, but I can always turn to them when the time arrives. But even though I feel this way, why doesn't it seem like things will turn out okay? Maybe this decision of mine wasn't for the best after all.

Lifting her head, Jenny released her thoughts and focused on the flickering firelight that danced about with a mind of its own. She could feel the intensity of its warmth prancing upon her skin rhythmically as it followed the beats of the crackling flames. Even so, she received no comfort, knowing that he was still out there somewhere. Would she ever find him? What would happen if she finally did? Would he have completely forgotten? How could he? He is my brother.

She immediately glared towards the cavern entrance in an attempt to distract her troubled mind. Her only wish was for such unfortunate thoughts to cease, as this was it—her final push to move on with or without him. If her reunion was never meant to be, then it would never be. I've gone on without him, haven't I? Yes I have, and I've done a pretty good job so far. Although, what exactly had her motivation been all this time? Simple, her brother. No matter what, it always brought her back to him. Why was it so? That was something she would never know.

Frustrated, she picked herself up from the ground and walked off into the darkness of the cavern, away from the fire. She took a few steps forward and hesitated before she decided to turn around. She faced the entrance and walked towards the outside world that spanned beyond the limited expanses of her temporary residence. She could see the beauty in white. The snow, how she loved it so very much. There was something special about the snow that kept her begging for more and crying out for joy at the sight of it. It would never matter how much of it there was, all that mattered was that it continued to fall. Keeping her alluring eyes of blue fixed on the scene before her, memories of her mother began to surface.

She reached the cavern walls and stopped, seeking out something within the blizzard just outside. Nothing, that's what she saw. Nothing but a wonderland of snow. Wait, what is that? Are there others here besides me? She could see them playing. Right over there. About five yards from that tree she could see a little girl, and a young woman chasing after her. The girl was giggling, taunting her mother to catch her.

Jenny continued to watch, noticing that the falling snow was no longer crashing to the ground in sheets but cascading downward upon a white padded blanket. With the conditions easing, the clarity of the scene before her felt so real, hitting an emotional crevice within her broken soul. A teardrop formed out of the corner of her eye. There they were, lying upon the ground and making snow angels. That was all it took for that single tear to escape from her eye and trace its way down her cheek. She let loose a heavy sigh at the thought of angels. Why, oh why did she have to depart from this world?

All her reality seemed to be that of hell. There was no real paradise, only that created by man. The Isle of Enstar was authentic enough, of course, but it just seemed so insignificant in a world enduring pain and suffering. All around me there is death and destruction, whether I know about it or not. It will never end, and there will always be problems. Not always with solutions either. She felt a dripping sensation along her arm. What is this? Where is it coming from? She had no idea until she finally realized that the icicles above her were melting. How foolish of me to be so startled over such a little thing.

What did she expect? She just wasn't emotionally stable, letting the drops of water fall upon her pale skin. Moments later, she heard a whisper from behind. Jenny slowly turned around and caught sight of something amazing. From out of the fire, there appeared a woman. Everything about her was beautiful, from her flowing blond hair to her gorgeous bluish-green gown. Even her broadsword radiated an aura of magnificence. Complete awe overwhelmed her and she couldn't find words to speak.

"It is nice to see you, Jenny. How are you doing? The woman eyed her after a pause, urging her on to speak. "Is anything wrong?" She continued her efforts in persuasion.

Jenny looked towards the ground and crossed her arms. Where in the world did this woman come from, and why is she here speaking to me? Why does she look just like my mother? No matter what, it was no use ignoring her. She wouldn't get anywhere being rude. She went along and spoke up, out of a curious impulse. "Well, there is something on my mind, but I don't see why it is important. It only causes me grief just thinking about it." She wondered why she was telling a complete stranger about her problems instead of avoiding her. Maybe this motherly figure had placed her under an enchantment while she was unaware. The chance of such an occurrence wasn't out of the realm of possibility; witches did exist.

The woman stepped away from the fire and approached her, hoping that she would speak her mind. She received not a word, though she at least got her to look into her eyes. The Sister of Life put her arm around Jenny to comfort her, shielding her from the cold. She could feel Jenny's warmth battling against the frigid air as her body shivered. "That is understandable. At least come back to the fire with me and we can warm ourselves up. Especially for your sake. I wouldn't want you catching a cold."

Jenny was still at odds with what to believe and her trust in this woman was split perfectly down the middle. Wouldn't take all but a flip of a coin for a decision to surface. Whether she was capable of making a rational choice or not, her body decided to openly embrace the young woman's initial warmth. The contrasting frosty air sent jitters down her numbing spine. Hopefully that was the cause, or maybe something was truly awry about this woman. Should she trust her body or her intuition?

The Sister of Life took a glance at Jenny and pointed at something beside the fire. "You may also want to wear that fur coat you have lying next to the fire over there. That short-sleeved shirt of yours does you no good. You should know that." The woman gave her a gentle nudge for encouragement.

Although she was fully aware of how much this woman rambled on and attempted to comfort her like her mother, Jenny couldn't help but play along. "Yes, mother." Sure, it was a sarcastic comment and she did get a smirk out of herself, but she didn't mean any disrespect. Whether or not the Sister of Life got the joke had yet to be seen. Hopefully she didn't appear obnoxious. That would definitely not be good. Retaliation always hurt more on the receiving end. For reassurance, Jenny smiled at her. She hoped that it would erase any doubts the Sister of Life had about her last remark.

They both went off towards the fire. "I guess that did come off as a bit much, but I couldn't really resist. I did get you to smile, didn't I? Come on, you know I did. Don't deny it."

"Yeah, I guess you got me there." Trying to reveal as little enthusiasm as possible, Jenny simply agreed with the woman, attempting to hide her true feelings. She couldn't believe she was actually following along and she wasn't sure how much more she could handle. There was still no evidence to support her wishes and desires. Was this woman actually her mother or was there a possibility of her being a long lost relative she never knew about? With doubt swirling in her mind, she followed the Sister of Life back to the fire, accompanied by the sounds of the crackling flames. They both sat down at the fire and took refuge in the radiating heat before them.

Jenny looked at her coat and quickly turned away, choosing to leave it on the rocky ground beside her. Call her stubborn, but she wasn't going to wear it. Not at all.

What she didn't know was that the Sister of Life had one request for her, one that she hoped she would consider. "Before I get to the reason why I am here, is there anything you really want in life? Let me know now before I go ahead with what I must say." She gave Jenny a persuading glance.

She didn't wish to go into details, but she could not keep her silence, regardless of how much she desired it. "Well, there are a few things... I really want to see my brother Velox. I also want to visit mother one last time.” Jenny had never gotten the chance to say her goodbyes before her mother passed from her world. “Then there is this other problem that has been nagging me. Why do I have this strange ability to transform into this weird human-ice bat hybrid?" Why did I even mention my ability? It isn't like I am proud of it or anything. Maybe I am just concerned about these abnormal transformations of mine. Caught up in an awkward pause, she tried to think of something else in an attempt to switch the topic of the conversation.

There was still this peculiar enhancement that Aquaria had done to my weapons. What exactly was it that she did to them? I have to know. On second thought, I don't really want to know. For all she knew, the crafty sorcerer, Morkeleb, could have gone and pulled a prank on her and enchanted her stilettos with something totally absurd. What would happen if I tried to use them and each blade turned into a fish? How useless that would be... unless they were transformed into swordfish. That might work out alright, I think. But wait, what would happen if I was turned into a fish... permanently? How awful, I would imagine.

She shook her head out of displeasure. As much as I would love to swim in the sea, I really don't think that is how I would want to spend my life. Having had her fill of the relentless tide of scenarios, she had no further desire to swim about within her distracted mind. She wasn't going back to that topic, no matter what. No way. Completely off limits. All previous thoughts were frozen, hopefully under an imaginary unbreakable layer of ice. "Yeah, I guess that's it." She wasn't completely satisfied, but she kept quiet for the woman to speak.

"I can't guarantee all of them can be done, but I will see what I can do to help and guide you to what you wish. Don't worry, I shall not let you down." She paused and let Jenny absorb this information before moving on. "Are you ready for what I am about to tell you? I want you to reach for that piece of paper in your pocket.” She immediately pointed to Jenny's right pants pocket.

“What piece of paper? I don't have anything in my pocket.” Completely oblivious, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. How did that get there? I don't remember ever stashing away or receiving this. Did she slip this in my pocket when I wasn't paying attention? “Is this some kind of joke?” She held the neglected piece of parchment paper between her fingers.

“No, this is not a joke at all. Believe it or not, you wrote everything on there.” The Sister of Life attempted to reassure her. “Please do read what it says, I am sure you won't be disappointed. You need to remember that you are not alone and you do have loyal friends for life. Never forget what Akora gave you that night and be sure to always keep this ray of light in your pocket. The meaning behind this is far more valuable than anything you could ever wish for.”

Anxiety and curiosity urging her to read the contents of her own written words, she unraveled the creased parchment and began reading. It was a questionnaire she had once taken. While she scanned the page, the answers brought along joyous memories of three familiar figures, smiling and waving at her in the snow. There was the middle-aged pirate; the one with the hook, the wooden leg, and the eye patch to compliment his wardrobe. There was the jester, wearing his amusing outfit, with all the bells and whistles included. And even the bard, guitar in hand, ready to play a tune of some sort.

She could remember getting a response from the wryly pirate, while the bard threw a snowball at him when he wasn't paying attention. Jenny giggled at the thought. She could even recall the jester and his juggling snowball act, right before the pirate's failed attempt at launching one at the dodging bard, which clobbered the jester's routine. It all went down in a friendly scuffle and no one appeared to get injured during the developing proceedings. After wearing themselves out, the three of them rested upon the snowy ground, recovering their breath. Then there was the appearance of an arctic wolf, lying in the center of it all, seeking comfort. Must have been a loyal companion, if I remember correctly. She smiled, finally realizing what all of this meant.

Each of these were memories; her own inner light shining through in visual form, uncovered through her imagination. So powerful these words were, the meaning behind them forever cherished. This woman was right. Jenny finally came around, compassion on her mind. Even though ice may course through my veins, I am never cold at heart. Nothing will ever change that. I shall take this with me wherever I go. Jenny was never going to be anything less, but there was always room for improvement, experience playing a vital role. This winter was not going to be the end of her journey, but a prelude to a far brighter destination. She would embrace winter's hidden beauty under its frigid disguise and welcome spring's blossoming opportunities.

She was about to thank the woman for what she had done, but a glance in front of her offered nothing but the sight of flickering firelight. Go figure. She could only smile, wondering if she had imagined the entire encounter.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (12/30/2009 16:57:31)

One December Morning
by Shuzke

It was a cold December morning. Snow had begun to coat the ground in the town of Battleon. I could feel it in the air, the arrival of Frostval! The humming of carols, the sudden appearance of Frostval-themed monsters, and moglins dressed up and ready for the celebrations. As the Poem goes:

'Twas the night before Frostval, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The (left) stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that Artix soon would be there;

The users were battling all those evil undeads,
While visions of color-custom clothes danced in their heads;
And Merca in her kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
We sprang from our beds to see what was the matter.
Away to the windows we flew like a flash,
All Lore opened their shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be Art…ick?
More rapid than frogzards his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:

Now Artix! Now Cysero! Now Scakk and Eukara!

On J6! On Beleen! On Reens and Gothmog!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away og?*



Excitement spread! It was finally here! The season to spread our great Frostval cheer! The season of joy, gifts, and a weird desire to make every sentence rhyme.
However, there is always a good and a bad side to everything. This holiday is no different! (That’s right! "Rhyme" and "different"……must……fight the urge to rhyme!)

But it would seem in writing this,
As time often does,
Something has gone amiss.
But no worries because—

(Oooohh Noo!! Epic Fail! I have succumbed to the desire to rhyme! Hmph. I guess I’m a poet and didn’t know it... Doh! There it is again!)

Well, as I sit here at the Inn, keeping company with Yulgar, I am reminded of why this is such a great time of year. It brings out the best in people. It is a time to make amends**. A time to show the people you care about, that you care… about…them, regardless of how cyclical the idea may be, because ‘tis the season to be jolly!

Happy Frostval to all! And to all, a good night!

*Contrary to popular opinion, it is hard to make the moderators' names rhyme.

**Otherwise there won’t be any presents for you!




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/4/2010 15:54:01)

Icy Hearts
by Xirminator

There was a tiny, little man standing by the edge of the woods. He looked as if he had been standing there for quite a while, because his feet were knee-deep in the snow and his shoulders were white with it. His wide-brimmed pointy hat had drooped to a haphazard angle because of the snow that weighted it on one side. He did not bother to brush it off. In fact, he appeared to be focusing intently on something in the distance, half-shrouded by the falling snow. Several minutes passed, during which the man only shifted slightly, causing snow on one of his shoulders to cascade downwards. Then, he puffed out one of his cheeks with his tongue and scowled. He extricated his feet from the snow and set off toward the thing in the distance. His size and tiny feet made it difficult for him to walk properly in the snow; his feet kept sinking with every step, and he ended up practically burrowing his way through.

As he drew near to the item in the distance, it became apparent even through the snow that it was a large, homely cottage, with a warm, orange glow coming from its round glass windows. There was the sound of merriment coming from it: cheery music, jolly laughter and the crackling of huge fire in hearth. The man stopped before the door, scowling deeply, and then banged on it, making it tremble. “I won’t do it! I won’t do it!” he shouted.

A silence fell in the cottage as the music came to a stop. He heard someone asking something in a low voice, and then a deep voice replying. Footsteps approached the door and it opened with a click.

A small face appeared peeping through the gap. “Oh, hello Jack,” it said.

“Don’t ‘oh hello’ me, you nasty little rat!” Jack growled. “Get out of the way.” He threw his small frame against the door, but it didn’t budge.

“Look, Jack,” the face said. “Everyone else is here; don’t make a scene, please. It’s Christmas Eve.”

“I know what day it is! Now move before I chill your bones.”

The face sighed and withdrew. Jack pushed the door open and strode into the cottage. They were all looking at him, some surprised, some shocked, some guilty. They sat around the fire, holding drinks in one hand and cakes in the other. A couple of them had musical instruments. There was a pile of wrapped presents in the corner. Half of the onlookers turned to their drinks, pretending not to notice him, while the others continued to stare, shifting uncomfortably in their seats. The elf that had greeted him edged away, looking mortified.

“Well?” Jack said. “Where are my drinks? Where are my cakes? Or didn’t you think of saving any for the poor little man who hates Christmas?” The silence was almost tangible, and their discomfort even more so. Jack reveled in it. Let them know, let them feel it, he thought, let them squirm with guilt.

“But—uh—we didn’t know you were coming, Jack,” fat old Nicholas said. Some thought the man jolly and generous, the bringer of gifts and happiness, but Jack knew what he really was: a fat, old, greedy bastard who couldn‘t even look him in the eye.

“Oh… you didn’t know I was coming, did you? You didn’t invite me in the first place! No one—not one of you—thought to invite poor old Jack! Why would you? Who needs Jack Frost?”

“But you hate Christmas, Jack,” Nicholas said quietly. “Why would you want to come?”

“Good question!” Jack shouted. “Why would I want to come when you can’t even bother to invite me to dinner? I wonder!” He spun round and stormed out of the cottage, slamming the door behind him.

He waited for a few moments, half-hoping that someone would come out and follow him, but he only saw the thin silhouette of Death passing by the window and that was it. Jack turned away from the cottage and started his long, awkward trek back to the woods.

Now that he was alone and cold, his anger was seeping away, and he could only think about how that little scene had only made him look worse; there was no way they would ever invite him again after this. But it didn’t matter, he kept telling himself, they hadn’t invited him in the first place. At least he had shown them that they were the ones shunning him because he hated Christmas.

It was unfair. He had the right to hate Christmas. It had never done anything for him. Other people received gifts and presents and were wished happiness and joy in their lives. Jack had spent a lifetime icing windows and making sure snowmen didn’t lose their flair. And no one ever gave him anything in return. They just said he hated Christmas, he wouldn’t expect anything on that day. Why didn’t it occur to them that that was the very reason why he hated it?

Even Death got new robes once a year, but not Jack. Jack didn’t get anything.

A very small voice inside him suggested that he ought to talk to them about this problem, but he dismissed it. It would look like he was wanting for gifts, and anyway, they should realize that themselves. It wasn’t his responsibility to tell them what they were doing to him; they didn’t do it to each other, they ought to have noticed.

He didn’t want to spend this night alone, going about freezing stupid glass windows. What kind of job was that? It was obvious they would just try to give him something, just for the sake of appearances. How pathetic.

He trudged on through the snow until, suddenly, someone called out after him. He turned, astonished and disbelieving, and saw Death walking up to him. Jack didn’t like Death; he didn’t see how a robed skeleton added to the festivities, but Nicholas and all the others felt guilty about leaving Death out. They didn’t feel guilty about not inviting him, though. No, no surprises there.

“What?” Jack said as ungraciously as he could manage.

“I just want to take a walk with you,” Death said in a voice like iron fingernails dragging on a gravestone. “I find myself a little tired of the caroling.”

“Hmph,” Jack said, and started to walk again.

Death didn’t seem to mind. He followed Jack at a leisurely pace, pausing only when Jack stopped to dig his way out of the snow. “I’m not really a festive sort of person, you know,” Death continued thoughtfully. “I prefer skulls and bones all over the place. Candy canes and fires are just… too flashy, if you know what I mean.”

“Look, bugger off,” Jack said. His foot had become entangled with some root hidden by the snow, and his mood had become much, much worse. It was entirely coincidental that the root was there, but Jack took it as pretext to think that the whole world hated him, even nature itself.

Death didn’t seem to hear him. “I feel out of sorts in that particular crowd. I’m a more… un-festive person—I mean, personage. An eternity of escorting souls into the next world really alters your perception, you know. I wish I could have been properly alive and less acquainted with… well, myself. I always end up ruminating with the Ghost of Christmas Future. Really depressing sort of fellow. The others are all pretty swell, but I‘m Death after all. They can‘t talk to me all the time.”

“The others aren’t swell at all,” Jack said. He hadn’t loosened his foot yet, and was currently bent over, shoveling snow away with his hands to try and expose the offending root. “They’re all mean, selfish and greedy.”

“Certainly not?” Death asked. “I imagine they will be quite pleased with themselves after I’ve seen them… for the last time.”

“Well, I hope they will!” Jack said bitterly. “Let them all forget about how they ignored Jack Frost. Let him chill windows all night long! Who cares about him?”

“If you’re disappointed with your role—”

“I’m not!” Jack shouted. “I just can’t see why I don’t get to have any fun when they can all do what they want? They’re out all night… distributing gifts, bringing happiness to families, enlightening miserly old men. They change lives. I just change windows and snowmen.”

“Hey,” Death said, sounding a little hurt. “I don’t get to change lives either. I get to… end them.”

Jack ignored him. “I can’t believe how things ended up like this. I should have told them I didn’t want to do this. Maybe they’d have given me something else to do and I wouldn’t have been angry all the time. They wouldn’t think I hate them. They wouldn’t think I hate Christmas.”

“You don’t hate Christmas?” Death said. He sounded quite surprised.

“No,” Jack said. “But it’s too late. It looks like I do. And I’m not going to go and tell them… I just can’t.”

“Ah, pride,” Death said. “How so many have wasted their lives over it. In fact, I have an appointment with someone tonight—all because he’s too proud to take back his words. A little grovelling, a little honesty, a little apology would save his life. Sad, sad.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, nothing. Just business.”

“Who’s this fellow? It’s Christmas! You can’t just go kill him.”

“I’m not,” Death said. “He’s going to freeze to death.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jack Frost,” Death said, and for an instant a strange, twinkling light appeared in his eye sockets, like a galaxy winking out after an eternity of shining brilliance.

“Me? What?”

“You’re stuck, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but it’s just a root, I’ll be free in no time!”

“I’m sure you will,” Death said. He looked away from Jack and started humming softly to himself. Jack stared uncertainly at him, and then bent down again to try and free his leg. It wouldn’t come free. A simple root had snaked around his leg and somehow was holding him, and he couldn’t get free. Was Death actually serious about the whole thing?

“Look, you’ve got to help me,” he said.

“I can’t interfere in matters of life and death.”

“Come on, it’s Christmas. Please.”

“I can’t do that. Think of how that would reflect on my reputation. Completely preposterous.”

“What do I care for your reputation! Help me!”

“No,” Death said. “I’ve never done such a thing, and I will never will.”

“So you’re just going to stand here till I die?” Jack said, horrified. He was feeling dizzy all of a sudden.

“Sort of. We could talk about something though. I rarely have any company, except for those little parties like the one back in the cottage.”

“Talk about something, huh?” Jack’s voice was becoming hysterical now. “Get me out of here! Help me! Help! Help!” He screamed at the top of his lungs, trying to make someone hear him. Death simply stared at him.

“They won’t hear you.”

“You’ve got to help me. Please. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Death hesitated. “You could say that, I suppose. But business is business. It’s pride in the job.”

“It’s Christmas. You’re supposed to do good things for other people,” Jack said.

“I will, just not to you. Sorry.”

“Come on,” Jack wheedled. “Just once, forget about the job, try… try and help a fellow out.”

“I’m going to follow the example you have set forth during the course of your life, Jack Frost,” Death said, “and I’m afraid that unrelenting pride is that example. I will not set my pride aside and risk tampering with the universe when you failed to utter a mere apology, at the cost of a slightly bruised, yet quickly healed, ego.”

“So this is what it’s all about, is it?” Jack said bitterly.

“It’s the way you lived your life. It’s the way you shall die.”

“But… that’s so unfair. I‘ve been unhappy all my life. You can‘t just take it away from me, without giving me a chance!”

“You had plenty of chances. Every day, in fact, was a chance. Tonight was a chance. Yet you blamed all the others, never wanting to clarify the matter, because you thought it would make you less than you are, somehow smaller than you are. Let me tell you one thing, Jack Frost, you have always been small.”

“Shut up!” Jack shouted. “Shut up! Shut up!”

“Guilt is such a cankerous feeling,” Death said. “I hoped you would learn, perhaps die a changed man.”

“It’s so unfair!” Jack wailed. “I don’t deserve this!”

“Oh?”

Jack bit his tongue. “Maybe I do, but it’s still unfair. I made a few mistakes, it’s true, but I don’t deserve to die for them.”

“All your mistakes are insignificant next to the one where you want to dismiss them if they were nothing. Amend your mistakes, make up for them.”

“What can I do?” Jack whispered.

“Apologize for your behaviour, explain why you did what you did, and above all, learn to respect them so you will never do such a thing again.”

“Will you give me another chance? Please?”

Death considered. “Very well. I shall.”

The grip on his Jack’s foot vanished suddenly, and he climbed out of the snow in a daze. He felt as if a whole world had suddenly appeared before him. All it would take to enter it was a few words. He walked away, towards the cottage, humbled, feeling infinitely small, yet somehow greater than he had ever been.

Death stared after him, before finally clicking his teeth. “All these people need is a little perspective… and they’ll be naming their children after me.” He thought about what he said. “Does Death want a hug from daddy?” he muttered in a singsong voice. “Oh lord, utterly unthinkable.”

And a small distance away, Jack Frost was sitting at a table, surrounded by warm company, joyful tears running down his face and his heart a muddle of emotion.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/7/2010 16:31:08)

From the hand of Alex Shiveran, Wandering Mage and Scribe of Imla,

Greetings to you, Universal Librarian Eukara Vox,

I suppose that I should begin by introducing myself. My name is Alex, and I am something of an itinerant scholar. I have never had the privilege of visiting the Library, and I suppose that it is my own fault for not seeking out those halls, repositories of so much knowledge. I should hope that, at some point in the future I shall have such an opportunity. I can only speculate at what great benefit to my research I should find there. Still, I know that it may well be that I never have the chance to wander among the rows of books which I have long imagined, for time, as you are no doubt aware, is a fickle master, to whom we are all subject.

It is with great regret that I heard of the passing of the previous Universal Librarian, Archanias. Still, it is often said that with each end comes the chance for a new beginning, and I sincerely hope that this shall prove to be the case for you, in your assumption of the duties of a position of such value to the world at large. It is a heavy charge that has been entrusted to you, and in that endeavor you have my best wishes.

I reiterate my congratulations, my condolences, and my hopes that I might one day be witness to the sight of so worthy an institution as the Library. I have included with this missive a tale that I hope you shall find in some way fitting to this season. The tale was given me by a friend with whom I engage in periodic correspondence. That, however, is a tale of its own, and one for another occasion. I will not occupy your time with such diversions, as I understand that you are a very busy woman.

May knowledge and understanding ever be the companions of all your journeys,
Alexander Situro Shiveran
Wandering Mage and Scribe

My dearest Alex,

Your words are well received and profuse thanks goes to you for your consideration. It has been a most interesting transition. Even now as I receive your story, I am overwhelmed by the influx of lore from all over the universe. Some stories are so foreign to me, though I am lucky that Master Archanias warned me of the intrigues of the various peoples that inhabit this life. I have to say that all of my training may have given me the best world I could possibly ask for.

I am surrounded by literature and poetry, writings that are so different, yet the same. I love to sit and read to my heart's content. Who would have thought that I would spend my life doing the one thing I love the most? Perhaps I will pen my own additions here and there. But for now, I am content to rest in the colored light filtering through the stained glass windows high above me and read what other wonderful imaginations offer up.

You will indeed have to visit my abode, my forest of the written word. But make sure that you set aside an ample amount of time to spend here. You will lose yourself here. Just don't be surprised if you have no interest in going home.

Sincerely,

Eukara Vox



Lone Wolves

The mercenary had heard it said once that a lone wolf was either a survivor, or a brute. He could hear the wolves howling in the distance. Long, mournful cries, one wolf to the next, forming a lonely chorus that cut through the swirling of the wind and snow that surrounded him.

He stumbled tiredly onwards, exhaustion dogging his numbed steps. He couldn’t stop; the howls of the wolves were drawing closer. Even through the haze of pain and exhaustion surrounding him, he could tell that the howls were closer; he could feel the strands of the wolves’ invisible net drawing tighter about him. The pack was encircling him, waiting for him to weaken, for the cold to numb him further, to slow his reactions, to dull his reflexes.

With every step the arrowhead buried in his side sent searing pain screaming up his spinal cord to his brain, where it exploded into bright flashes of color that played along the edges of his vision. The barbed point was buried deep, and only a trained surgeon would have been able to remove it. Given the limited resources available, his companions had been unable to do anything for him but hack the shaft off, and bind the wound as best as possible. At some point after that he had lost the mercenary company. Most likely he had blacked out at some point from the pain and blood loss, because he had awoken alone, half-frozen in the stone as gale force winds bore down upon him, carrying clouds heavy with the threat of snow. For the first frantic minutes after that, he had staggered forward, able to follow the trail of some group of marchers that passed near his position, until the wind and the onset of a heavy snow had obscured the trail. The snow drifted in, blown by the wind, to cover the tracks and hide the trail. And that was when he first heard the howling of the wolves.

They had bled each other. Perhaps five minutes passed, or had it been ten minutes, or longer? It was hard to say, for time had lost its meaning for the mercenary, each minute frozen in time forever, and yet, huddling into the next hurriedly, as though seeking warmth there. Blood oozed from his arm, a long jagged tear where one of the wolves had latched onto him, nearly wrenching him to the ground. It would have been a fatal fall, but somehow he had managed to remain upright, struggling violently against the weight of the creature, tearing open the wound in his side. Blood stained the pure white snow behind him, forming a trail that led back to the corpses of two dead wolves, cooling bodies slowly being drifted over by the snow. Five of the creatures remained, two of which the mercenary was fairly certain he had wounded. It was hard to say, though; he was cold, so cold, and he couldn’t be certain he was remembering correctly.

He had lost his shield at some point; the heavy metallic disc had slipped from his cold-numbed grasp, dropping into the snow. It was buried now, somewhere in the swirling snow behind him, along with his helm. The mercenary could not remember losing either item, and yet, the frigid wind and snow in his hair, and the absence of the reassuring weight on his arm were evidence of the fact.

The chorus of howls sounded again, closer this time. He stumbled, dropping to one knee in the snow before regaining his feet unsteadily. His sword was heavy, dragging point down in the snow behind him, remaining in his hand only because the appendage was now nothing more than a sluggishly responding claw wrapped around the hilt of the weapon. The mournful sound of the howls cut through the wind and snow, and the mercenary knew it would be soon now. He was certain of that much, that he would fall, too cold, too tired, too battered to continue onward. The wolves would come for him, and he would then discover what he was, be it survivor, or brute.

He wondered, in a warmer, more detached part of himself, if death would hurt. It was funny, in a way. The life he had chosen resulted in him sending many to Death before him, and yet, really, what did he know of death, of that dark abyss which followed inexorably after life? As a mercenary, he had thought of this moment before, often really, for after all, death was an inseparable part of what he did. He had always thought that this moment, when it came, would be one of fear.

And yet, now, in this moment, so close to the realization of his own mortality, the mercenary felt nothing of fear. Rather, he felt, curiously enough, only a simple acceptance of what was coming. It was a surprising discovery.

He stumbled again, dropping down to one knee in the snow. The howls surrounded him now, the net of fangs and fur had drawn tight, and there was no more room to run. This would be the end.

The wolves’ mournful song danced on the snowy wind as they closed in on the lone, wounded wolf.

The survivor lifted his lone fang, and prepared to defend himself one last time.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/7/2010 16:35:14)

A DragonFable'd Frostval
(By Master Samak)

A young man clothed in thick woolen robes leaned against his staff under Falconreach's Frostval Tree and watched his breath catch and curl away in the glowing lights. Now and then he would stir to check his winter-touched surroundings, peering for anything out of place amid the falling snow. But always the mage would sigh with content to be on his guard alone. Alone with his thoughts and a quiet evening. But they are bound to show up soon….

Traven knew where everyone was. All his fellow adventurers in town had packed themselves by the warm fireside at Serenity’s Inn and were celebrating the Eve of Frostval in full swing. And they weren’t being festive alone, of course, for the whole townsfolk of Falconreach had left their shops and homes and had Inn in these mere hours before Frostval would be upon them. Quite a few Guardians had even come from their Tower to join in the merriment, and no one could blame them. Steaming pints of cocoaberry juice, wholehearted laughter, jokes and stories, robust caroling galore—Serenity’s was the place to be on this night.

Still, the town wasn’t going to keep an eye on itself. Shifts had to be taken to patrol the streets of Falconreach for unwanted visitors. Frostval Eve was no exception, but the mage didn’t really mind the quiet stroll to the town center. In fact, he welcomed the chance to appreciate on his own the adornments which made this time of year so wonderful. To Traven, the world seemed almost hidden of its faults while the immaculate coverlets of white lay here. It was, in his eyes, heaven’s touch upon the earth… if but a brief one.

All was silent for the longest time. Nothing could be heard through the stillness save perhaps the muted impacts of thick snowflakes adding to the scenery. Then faint laughter reached Traven’s ear. From behind a shop building came two individuals, one just about dragging the other towards the Tree. Traven smiled and crossed his arms at their arrival.

Leading the pair was an eye-catching female dressed in the lithe, body-hugging leather that distinguished her for the rogue she was. Apart from the addition of blackened fleece lining to help insulate against the chill, Krisel looked as she always did: attentive, purposeful, and remarkably stunning. One of her hands was clamped around the other’s wrist; she would occasionally tug her arm forward to keep the both of them moving.

Clearly along for the ride, a flushed-faced Bryon beamed up past Traven at the shiny clinquant lights in the Frostval Tree. He was clad in the standard metal plates of a warrior—a tad bulkier than most, but nevertheless useful in keeping him protected and warm. A dark woolen cape hung from his shoulders. After having finally realized the mage’s presence, Bryon pulled himself free and leaped ahead, trapping Traven into a bone-crushing embrace and shouting, “Happy Frostval, my good friend!” into his ear.

Through much effort Traven found a way to free himself, greeting them both with the same well-wishes. A smile lingered on his face when he said, “You both took your time, didn’t you? I arrived precisely when I meant to, but had to wait even longer than I thought before you two showed. What was the hold up?”

Krisel nodded her head at Bryon. “He was the hold up. I knew I’d have to pull him away from the moglinberry amrita and the… less discerning females.”

“Hey now,” Bryon spoke out with a grin, “you might not be that way after you see what I packed along.” He pulled his cape back to reveal three steaming flasks hanging from the side of his belt. “This moglinberry stuff can really warm you up on a night like this. I was going to share with you guys… but now I’m not too sure.” He let his cape fall and cover the flasks again while he crossed his arms in the same motion, attempting a face of grave seriousness.

“What, you mean share these?” Krisel asked, revealing in her hand two flasks that were a moment ago fastened to Bryon’s belt. The warrior’s eyes widened. As he whipped back his cape again, Krisel tossed one of her flagons to Traven, who caught and stashed it within his robes. The two were about to exchange furtive winks in the midst of Bryon’s sputtering when a woman’s shriek split the air.

Halfway down the road stood the banker of Falconreach, Lira. She lingered just outside the door of her trade and stared at nothing in particular. Sprawled at her feet were beautifully wrapped packages, different from her own present she had received from the moglins, which also lay in the snow. She must have gone back for them, realizing the rapid arrival of Frostval, so that she could personally give her gifts to their recipients. But now, Lira merely trembled where she stood, clearly shocked by the incident.

As Krisel and Bryon began picking up the presents Traven approached the banker. “Are you alright, Lira? What happened?”

Her eyes focused on him and lit up. “I… I almost saw him! Really, I almost saw him!” she cried hysterically, waving a finger in the direction away from them.

Under her breath Krisel muttered, “Tracks…” and Traven followed the rogue’s gaze to a set of footprints leading further down the path into the night.

What?! Another person did this! the mage thought. Who would have the nerve so close to Frostval?

With a yell, “Don’t let him get away!” Bryon charged off. Traven quickly instructed Lira to go straight to Serenity’s Inn, before he joined Krisel in pursuit of their friend. Ahead, they saw the flapping of Bryon’s cape as he clunked around a shop corner. Moments later they heard a louder cluck and watched as Bryon flew back into view, landing on his back into the snow. Traven immediately went to help him up while Krisel placed herself between them and whatever had bested Bryon. She stopped doing so in the same breath.

A giant wall of snow loomed over them, as tall as the two shop buildings it stood jam-packed between. The imprint of a warrior was just visible in its center. Traven approached and carefully ran a hand across its surface while Bryon spoke. “He was right there. I only caught a glimpse of him before everything filled with snow….”

The snowy obstruction appeared to have been crafted by real enough snow, but Traven couldn’t understand where it might have naturally come from. The snow level on the ground around them didn’t seem lessened or moved; the roofs of the shops still were in a generously snowclad state. It was as if it had simply appeared. “There’s magic involved here,” the mage construed. “We must be careful when we catch up to—”

Traven’s shoulder took the weight of another person for the briefest moment, but enough to cut him short. Lurching back, he saw the twirling figure of Krisel land noiselessly atop the wall and disappear. Bryon, now on his feet, called out, “See anything?”

She popped back into view. “No, nothing but the snow. Don’t try to melt it, Traven. This goes all the way down the wall of these shops. Go find a way to the other side and meet me there. I’ll find his tracks again.” Krisel then stepped away from the edge and moved deftly for the other side. Her footfalls made scarce a mark on the surface of the wall, no different on the ground too when she quietly descended the embankment.

To Krisel’s surprise, Traven and Bryon were already there, hunched over a trail of footprints. Bryon caught her eye and said so she could hear, “These go very deep into the snow. That explains why the snowfall hasn’t covered up his tracks yet. Whoever we’re after might be wearing or carrying something pretty heavy, heavier than my armor—”

“Or he is considerably overweight,” Traven finished. “That seems more likely, since he can also perform magic of some kind. Warriors don’t do well with magic, and we would’ve caught whoever it was by now if he was weighted down by extra items. Anyway, we know which direction he went.” He straightened and strode out next to the tracks. “Let’s hurry.”

“Hold on,” Krisel interposed. “How did you get here before me?”

Bryon turned to the mage. “Yeah, how did we get here so fast?”

Traven looked back with a grin. “Magic….

“I see…” Krisel said to herself, “Yes, that would explain it….” She hurried to catch up. The heavily-imprinted footprints rounded a shop corner, therefore so did the mage, warrior, and rogue. It led to a sight none of them expected to see.

They had entered one of spacious parts of Falconreach, though now far from spacious. Spanning an immeasurable distance were snowmen… hundreds of snowmen. Each was dressed in different articles of clothing—various styles and colors of hats, scarves, and gloves—all garbed decorously round each snowman. The air hung with a silvery fog, which obscured from the adventurers anything further than the first handful of snowmen and made unseeable anything beyond that. There was not a sound to be heard.

As they walked amongst the unblinking snowmen, all three began experiencing difficulty in maneuvering around them. Each snowman was positioned so close by another that their branch-arms angled in every odd way to make it impossible to steer oneself the right way. Krisel, after squeezing through a particularly clustered bunch of snowmen, said, “It’d be a lot easier if we just cut our way through these guys… but that doesn’t feel right to do, of course. But at the rate of things, we don’t have a snowball’s chance in—”

“Traven?!” Bryon called out suddenly. Krisel turned towards the warrior and could just make out his outline, which turned every which way in search for the mage.

Traven’s voice rang out in front of them. “I’m back here! How did you get ahead of me?”

“Ahead of you?” said Bryon. “We’re behind you!” The warrior glanced around. I think…. He himself didn’t entirely know which direction they were going.

“Are you really?” Traven rejoined. “But I thought… oh nevermind; this is ridiculous. Just stay where you are. And hold on!”

Before either the rogue or the warrior could react, a massive surge of ice and air blasted through the mist at them. Caught headlong by the torrential wave, Bryon tumbled into the snow and threw an arm over his stinging eyes. The outburst raged onward for several seconds more before dying away, and before Bryon could raise his head again.

The air hung with slender flakes of ice floating in the lights, countless twinkling diamonds of frost. There was no indication that the place had just been packed full with snowmen, for the ground now simply laid covered in snow again. Ahead of him, Bryon saw Traven supporting himself with his staff. He looked exhausted by the magical effort of creating his own wintry wonderland.

Heaving himself up, the warrior slowly approached the mage. “Traven… You didn’t just… Did you kill all those snowmen?”

Krisel saved him from answering. “There he is! By the house!” Simultaneously, Traven and Bryon spun around to Krisel, then to where her outstretched arm pointed.

They saw the back of an extremely burly figure hurtling for a pair of shop buildings on the other side of the courtyard. He was of considerable size, though not in the tallness sense of the word. On him he wore a darkened suit of red with white wooly trim along its edges, made bigger than usual for… predictable accommodation. All three could make out the largest pair of black boots they’d ever seen, with the ends of the man’s red trousers tucked securely into them. When this man turned slightly to bustle into the lane between the buildings, they noticed a very large white beard upon his face, snugly matched by a thick form of stocking cap of the same red color and white embellishment.

A flurry of motion caught Traven’s eye, and he glanced over in time to see Krisel fling with all her might both her daggers after the man. Bryon followed the whirling trail for a moment before catching on with a gasp. “What are you doing, Krisel?! Don’t kill the guy on Frostval Eve!” But the rogue wasn’t listening. Together, she and Traven watched as her blades spun over the man and began slicing through the icicles which hung from one of the shops. Moments later they heard a crack and watched as the entire encasement of ice and snow slid down from the roof into the alleyway, exposing the darkened roofing underneath but effectively burying their runaway man.

The feat had launched an immense burst of frosty cloud into the air, so the mage, rogue, and warrior hurried forth to apprehend the man before he could struggle himself free. It didn’t take them long to reach the buildings, but enough for the haze of frost to lessen, and enough for them to realize something wasn’t right. As they passed fully through the haze their fears were affirmed. The man was gone. Within the lane snow glistened, but it came only from the normal snowfall. Tilting his head, Traven surveyed the roofs and discovered that their mountain of snow had been placed back where it originally had been. “How unfair…” the mage muttered before hastening down the lane.

He and his companions just exited the narrow passage before seeing the man whip around the corner of a building farther down, this time in the direction of the town’s square and the Frostval Tree. When the trio reached that building, they caught a glimpse of him taking another corner, now unquestionably for the center of Falconreach. They themselves rounded the sharp corner into the town square no more than seconds later, half-slipping, and stopped short. The man, for a second time, was nowhere in sight. His tracks too had vanished in mid-step, as Krisel soon discovered. In an exasperated breath, Bryon panted, “You know, for a big guy he sure moves fast.” This brought a breathless laugh from the other two as they began searching the area for his footprints.

Traven, out of impulse, glanced at the roof of one of the nearer buildings and did a double take at what he saw. “I think he might have gone up on a housetop—”

“—Reindeer paws.” Krisel called out at the same time. Bryon and Traven both stared at her. “What? Oh, sorry, I meant hooves. There appears to be reindeer hoof marks starting up not far from our guy’s bootprints. But that doesn’t make sense. A reindeer of all creatures wouldn’t be in town, not unless it was harnessed up to a sleigh or…”

She broke of as the sound of tiny bells and the rapid crunching of snow came to them from behind the Frostval Tree. “The other side!” She, Traven, and Bryon as one sprinted for and around the glowing Tree to the space where they couldn’t have seen a moment before. The large man, yet again, was not there, nor was the source of the sound. Instead, the three of them could see the grooves and many hoofprints of a reindeer-led sleigh, which left no further mark upon the snow after travelling a short distance.

“Guys….” Bryon said. He hadn’t followed the tracks as far as Krisel and Traven did, so the two turned around. The warrior was crouched with his back turned, inspecting three beautifully wrapped presents lying in the snow. “These have our names on them.”

Traven took a step forward. “They what?” Baffled, Bryon turned and handed each a present before returning to his own. Traven stared at his wrapped box. In elegant trace, boldly enfaced on the tag, was the mage’s name. That can’t be right. As Traven continued staring at his present, strange familiarity began to set in, as if he had just been here and had seen this type of paper and wrapping before. He wracked his mind but found no answer to this spark of recollection. All the same, Traven still couldn’t shake the feeling that he had just seen a present like this.

A noise gently caught his ear. From above the drifting snowflakes Traven could hear the sound of laughter, but it wasn’t actual laughter. No, more like hearty guffaws or a trine succession of ‘ha’s. But then again, they weren’t really ‘ha’s… more like a deeper ‘ho ho ho’....

Then it struck him. Traven had seen gifts of similar packaging lying in the snow at Lira’s doorstep… he had thought the plump man dressed in red and white was trying to take the presents, when in reality... the mage now recognized that a person of that size who could wield the magic of ice so well, along with the unexplainable ability to get from one place to another so fast, while making use of a sleigh pulled by reindeer, no less, surely could only have been—

…Oh my. Oops.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/7/2010 17:11:58)

A Winterly Amusement
by Dewdrop Fairy

(Swordhaven, ~ 30 years before DragonFable)


"This is madness." The captain stared incredulously at the huge, magically stabilized cages that had been placed around the banks of a lake in the Royal Park—a truly strange sight within these beautifully groomed gardens. Each and every cage had been enforced by strong fire magics, yet still shook as if from a minor earthquake whenever the ice dragons inside them made another attempt at breaking free. Exhausted wizards were sitting on the ground, between flowerbeds and blooming trees, looking like they were about to pass out. Others still stood, clinging to their ornamented staves and chanting quietly as they desperately tried to keep the dragons under control.

That the mages and knights of the Northlands had managed to capture so many dragons alive and bring them as far south as Swordhaven was a miracle all by itself. Maybe they had hoped the climate and the strong southern sun would diminish the ice dragons' power. If so, it was hardly noticeable.

"No," said the captain. "You cannot be serious about this. You cannot seriously expect me..."

"I expect you to do your duty," the master of ceremony interrupted curtly. "I believe the orders I delivered to you from His Highness are quite clear."

"And yet I cannot believe I am supposed to put the lives of my men on the line for... this! For the mere whim of a bored juvenile!"

"You may want to rethink your wording when speaking to a member of the court, Captain." The master of ceremony eyed him coldly. "Unless you wish to be degraded, of course. If you choose to disregard an order given by the Crown Prince himself I am entirely within my rights to have you arrested for insubordination right away. I suggest you do not waste anymore time until you muster your men. The task is supposed to be done by the time His Highness will have finished breakfast."

He turned on his heels to swagger back to the royal castle, and the captain clenched his fists as he watched him go. His waiting troops were then called. He saw the men and women grow pale at the sight of the cages.

"Is anybody among you wed? Or has children?"

This question, its meaning too obvious to be misunderstood, made the faces blanch even more. Two men and a woman raised a hand.

"Step aside, then. We will only turn to you if need be. Men and Women of the Royal Guard. I won't lie to you. Today's battles will not be easy. Yet I am confident you have the skills to succeed to the Crown Prince's satisfaction. Within every one of these cages there is an ice dragon from the Northern Wastes, chained to the back wall, its head facing towards the lake. You will place yourself between the lake and the cages. As soon as the cage's front door is opened, you will attack the dragon. Provoke him into directing his icy breath at you, then take cover."

"Uhm, take cover... where, Sir?" a woman dared to ask, looking questioningly at her shield. The captain ignored her. He had no answer for her anyway.

"Do not kill or seriously wound the beasts, and remember to only attack from the front, to make sure the dragon's breath goes out on the surface of the lake. That is all. Split up into groups of ten and get into position. Good luck."

The captain turned around so he did not have to see the look on the knights' faces as they headed towards their designated cage. Instead he could see healers hurry towards the lake, accompanied by several dozens of servants carrying biers. For those too severely injured to be saved, he assumed.

"Watch out now, here they come. Open the cages!"

The cages' iron gates grated as they turned in their hinges, and the dragons roared. Shortly after, the screaming began, all while the dragons' breath was already turning the lake's waters to ice.



The crown prince was commonly known to be a late-riser. Today, however, anticipation had driven him out of bed early. He had hastily devoured his breakfast and grabbed a cup of coffee from the table while already moving out onto one of the balconies that overlooked the castle's vast gardens and parks. What he saw disappointed him.

"Why is it not done yet?" he demanded to know from the master of ceremony who had been ordered to accompany his young master.

"I'm indeed afraid they were falling behind schedule, if only for a couple of minutes," the man replied cautiously. The prince was well-known for having quite a temper. "Several of the knights suffered grave wounds..."

"They're hardly worth to be mourned if they were not even capable of facing a dragon." The prince waved at one of the servants to move a chair closer to the balcony's railing and seated himself. "Well, let's make the best of it. At least this is some spectacle. Any casualties yet?"

"Two members of the Royal Guard, I have been told."

"A good way to rid the guard of deficiencies. You can leave now. Make sure the usual letters are sent out to the families. Heroic death, our deepest sentiments and all that."

For a while the prince sat in silence and gleefully watched the battle that took place all around the lake. He was almost sorry to see the task finally accomplished and the fight end. In one last desperate effort the remaining knights of the guard drove the dragons back into their cages, and the gates swung shut. Even more mages were necessary to ensure the dragons were safely transported out of sight and kept in check until they would eventually be needed again.

"Now, look who's out of bed already!" suddenly a jovial voice exclaimed from somewhere behind the prince. "What's happened, boy, huh? The bed bugs wouldn't let you sleep?"

There was only one person in this palace who would dare to address the prince in such an unceremonious way, and it was, of course, the king himself. Sure enough, his well-rounded figure stepped out onto the balcony. The prince rose from his chair and bowed low at the waist as his father approached him.

"I've slept quite well, Father, thank you." While he took care to never let his feelings openly show it was no secret that the crown prince disdained his father. King Sek-Chasar Slugwrath, named in honour of his mother (who had come from the SandSea's Sek-Duat dynasty), and nicknamed "Skirtchaser Slugwrath" by Swordhaven's people due to his well-known partiality for the weaker sex, was an obese, balding man, round-faced, slow-thinking and happy to live and let live. He knew very little of the country's politics and cared for them even less, glad to leave these confusing and annoying matters to viziers and secretaries. As long as his meals were ample and pricey and served on time, and as long as there was no lack of young ladies the king could lose his heart to, the sovereign of Swordhaven would be the happiest man on Lore.

It was a disgusting existence, thought the prince. No man as foolish and weak as Sek-Chasar should have been allowed to sit on a throne. And yet the people seemed to love this fat old blighter who did nothing but ruin the state's finances and seduce the country's daughters. Proof enough that the peasants could not be trusted with any kind of important decision.

"So, what is it that you are going to show us today?" the king, unaware of his son's ponderings, asked happily. "The master of ceremonies informed me that you have planned some kind of special entertainment for us, in order to celebrate mid-winter? I'd be looking forward to some distraction myself. It has been awfully warm over the last few days. I could hardly put two thoughts together."

Like you ever could, thought the prince. But he kept his mouth shut and a polite little smile firmly in place. There was no need to hurry these matters. His own living habits would get the king into his grave soon enough. And until then, the crown prince was very happy to test various ways in which to apply the vast resources of a kingdom that was soon to be his.

In order to let people know in time that there was at least one member of the royal family who knew the meaning of the word 'power'.

The prince pointed out into the gardens. The lake surface was now frozen over, with no knight or dragon in sight anymore. Instead, frost elementals were ushered over the ice to solidify it even more, and dozens of wizards surrounded the lake to make sure the ice would last for this day even under the merciless southern sun.

"Today, Father, we shall enjoy a peculiar amusement that I have recently heard about," said the prince. "Let the court know that we will go ice-skating today."




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/11/2010 17:30:08)

A Dragonlord’s Christmas
By. Torn

The Dragonlord knew he was caught. He fell to his knees, the snow swallowing his legs. He looked up at the form above him. Dark eyes glared back as it reached toward the wrapped package in his hand. He grabbed a fistful of snow and threw it into the dark figure’s face. He jumped up and ran toward the inn a few yards away. “Get back here!” the figure yelled. The Dragonlord smiled as he entered the inn and took a seat at an empty table near the fireplace. He listened to his friends chat as he removed his cloak. A passing patron gave him a complimentary cup of hot tea. The door of the inn burst open, and the talking stopped as the dark figure stormed in and pointed a crooked finger at the Dragonlord.

“You no good, rotten, sleezeball!” he bellowed, while the Dragonlord took a sip of his tea. The dark figure stepped into the light to reveal that he was a young necromancer, dressed in ragged black robes. The necromancer pointed to the small package on the table, “I bought that gift for myself!” Most of the partiers broke into laughter before resuming their conversation. The Dragonlord grinned as he left his seat and welcomed his friend.

“Orvis, I could have sworn that I told you that it’s one gift for a friend, to get in.” The Dragonlord chuckled as he sat down, the fire behind warming his chilled back. Orvis glared at the Dragonlord in mock anger as he took his seat opposite of him.

“And I thought I told you, Torn, that I am my own friend.” The passing patron handed Orvis a cup of hot cocoa. He took a sip, allowing the heat of the drink to seep into his frozen toes.

“You can’t be your own friend, bonehead,” Torn replied.

“Of course I can!”

“No, you can’t.” Torn crossed his arms as Orvis’ eyebrow twitched.

“Yes, I can!” Orvis’ immature behavior made Torn chuckle.

“Are you sure that you’re a necromancer? A normal one would have terrifying demons dragging me to hell by now.” Orvis smiled darkly at this.

“What?” Torn knew this look, and it always meant trouble.

“You want something terrifying, do you?” Orvis stood and grabbed his scythe-like staff. The necromancer twirled the staff in the air and slammed it into the ground. A sickly green circular symbol appeared where the staff hit. Torn stared at the symbol, terrified by what would appear. All talking in the inn had stopped as the partiers stared at the glowing circle. A harsh wind ripped through the door and snuffed out all the fires in the room. Dark, swirling clouds of ice and snow appeared above the circle. Torn stared in horror and tried to grab the hilt of his sword before realizing that he had left his weapon at home. Orvis’s red eyes flashed as he laughed.

“Prepare yourself, Torn, for the most terrifying nightmare of all time!” A shadowy, circular creature appeared above the symbol and all members of the inn gasped. The creature was none other than… Santa Claus. The glowing symbol disappeared and the man in red landed on the floor. Torn attempted to stifle his laughter, but couldn’t contain it. He fell from his chair and grasped his chest. The other members in the party began to laugh, too, as Santa looked around the inn. Orvis arched an eyebrow in confusion; why was everybody laughing?

“You summoned Santa?!” Torn managed to ask through the laughter.

“What? Santa is terrifying! An old man breaking into your home and eating all of your cookies and milk doesn’t scare any of you?” Orvis crossed his arms in anger. Santa Claus stood up and scratched his head. He looked at Orvis and began his hearty laugh.

“Ho, ho, ho! It seems that someone has been naughty. Kidnapping me again won’t get you any presents this year, Orvis.” Orvis’ pale face turned as red as his eyes.

“Again? You’ve summoned Santa before?” Torn questioned. Orvis shuffled his feet in embarrassment and looked down.

“I didn’t get a copy of 'How to make your Undead Army invincible' when I was a kid, so I wanted to… uh, “ask” Santa why I didn’t get it,” Orvis admitted.

“You had a Shadow Elemental pin me to the wall as you prepared to turn me into an undead servant if I didn’t give you that book,” Santa said. Everyone in the inn stared at Orvis in shock. “Well, I was planning on doing this tonight, but since I’m already here, I may as well do it now.”

Santa snapped his fingers and a bag full of presents, a large book, and a pair of glasses appeared in front of him. Santa put the glasses on and began thumbing through the book. “Hhhhm. Ah! Kasmito Nâv, come here.” A young woman, probably no older than seventeen stepped forward. Santa rummaged around the sack and pulled out a book titled; Alchemy 101. Kasmito’s eyes widened as she looked up at Santa’s face and thanked him. “You’re very welcome. Let’s see who next…”

Santa read off the list until everyone but Torn, Orvis, and the innkeeper, Larion, had received a present. “Here’s a present for you, Larion.” Santa grabbed a doll from the near empty sack and handed it to Larion.

“You asked Santa for a doll?” Torn asked.

“For my daughter. It’s all she wanted,” Larion replied as he went to find a box to put the gift in. Santa looked inside the sack and withdrew a gold locket.

Torn’s eyes widened in amazement.

“Here you go, Torn, I know that you’ve been wanting this for a long time.”

Torn gingerly took the locket from Santa’s hand and opened it to find an oil painting of his older sister, Elano. She shared his sky blue eyes and bronze-colored hair. Torn’s eyes watered as he closed the locket and looked down. “Thank you.” Santa placed his gloved hand on Torn’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

“I know you will find her.” Torn smiled as he placed the locket over his head.

“HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME?!” Orvis bellowed, his red eyes flashing in anger. Santa chuckled and snapped his fingers, disappearing as he gave Orvis his response.

“You’re still on my naughty list!”

Orvis growled and looked at all of the other partiers in envy. Torn stared at his friend, sad that he hadn’t received a gift.

“Oh!” Torn exclaimed. He reached inside his pocket and withdrew the small package he had stolen from Orvis. “Orvis, catch.”

Orvis looked up at his friend and caught the gift. “T-t-thank you, Torn, no one has ever willingly given me a gift.”

Torn gave his friend a tired smile. “You’re welcome.”

Orvis smiled as he unwrapped the gift and withdrew a blood-red stone.

“Is that what I think it is?” Torn asked.

“Yep. Blood Crystals may cost a pretty penny, but the energy that they give off is perfect for summoning the undead.”

Torn grinned and playfully punched his friend in the arm. “You can’t ever let me have a day off, can you? Heh, merry Christmas, bonehead.”

“Merry Christmas to you, and we all can’t wait to see Elano again.” Orvis pocketed the stone and went to the buffet.

Torn opened the lock up again and studied his sister’s face. “I will find you. Merry Christmas, big sis.”




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/13/2010 16:49:05)

A Winter Melody
by Cow Face

He stretched, rolling his shoulders as the train doors slid open. A cloud of misty vapor trailed from his nostrils, rather like the smoke coming from the train’s engine. Rubbing his numb fingers together and breathing on them, the ragged figure nodded his goodbyes to the conductor as he stepped out onto the crisp, frozen grass. He had been the last to leave the train, having been in little hurry to escape from its warmth. “Have a good night, now,” he grinned to the conductor, who nodded a similar response, then turned his attention to making sure that the poor man had given him as much as he claimed.

While the train slowly began working its way out of the station, the man slowly began working his way into the town. It was a small one, but unfamiliar to him. Nonetheless, he had been willing to spend what little money he had to arrive there. Food, shelter, and warmth—particularly the last—would have to come as they might; he could not plan on them. Not yet, anyhow.

The streets, usually crowded, were at this time almost empty. Those who were still out scurried to their destinations, trying to escape the cold. Most were wrapped in coats and scarves, only their eyes visible to the passer-by. Not so, however, was the stranger. As he meandered down the streets, he kept his face tilted upwards, to examine the small delights in the shop-windows. Beautiful garments, some costing as much as fifty dollars, tantalized him. For while this was not much of a sum to the majority of those who examined the clothes, it was a fortune to the face who pressed its nose to the pane, eyes longingly examining the coats and gloves. But more than just a portal into the realm of financial security, the glass also served as a partial mirror, to display the poor quality of his own clothes.

His coat, to begin with, was wretched. It was coated with dirt and use, wrinkled almost beyond recognition. Various holes had been patched with various fabrics. One lapel was so dilapidated that it nearly detached from the rest of the garment. His gloves and pants were little better; both were patched and stitched to a great extent. Finally, though, the reality of the bitter cold brought him back to himself, and he reluctantly took his eyes from the window, to walk on.

As he progressed through the town, he found that many seemed almost wary to glance at him. When they did, they quickly averted their eyes, as if not wishing to admit to themselves that there was still want in this world. His eyes, however, trailed them as they passed—not pleading, not bitter, nor even truly envious. Questioning, perhaps. Yes, they were questioning eyes, as if asking what was so different about him, that they could not even bear to acknowledge his presence. Did they not realize that he was just the same as them? Did they not realize that all dominoes are differentiated only by the dots which they wear? Or… did they realize that entirely too well? Regardless, he forced his cracked lips into a crooked smile every time he made eye contact, though it was rarely returned.

Once, though, he found a face which was willing to look. A family of three was passing by, and he once more opened himself to them. The parents drew their child closer to their legs, wary of panhandlers. The child, a girl of no more than six, though, looked at his face rather than his clothes. She saw a sincere smile, rather than an entreaty for mercy. It was reciprocated. The stranger paused as the family hurried by, for once not bothering to follow the group with his eyes as they moved beyond him. Sticking his stiff fingers into his pockets, he turned his smile to the sky, and softly began humming a tune which he knew not. It, like he, meandered about with no distinct purpose. Yet it made one person—perhaps just one, perhaps more—happy. That was all it needed to grow.

And as the stranger walked on, his tune grew and blossomed into a beautiful melody, which was silently taken up by the very being of every person on the street. For truly, he was only a stranger to those who saw merely his clothes.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/18/2010 0:43:48)

A Tale of Prince Charming
by iChar

  Every few hundred years, there comes a Prince who is given the title of Charming. But with the modern times, nobility is no longer part of social status, unless man knows what families are nobility and knows their lineage directly.
  This story is that of a bastard prince of the Gregor clan from Scotland. Living in our time, born in our time, living every day as you would yours.

*~*~*


  It was a cold, snowy night as the Prince sat quietly in a contemplative state next to his fireplace, thinking of winters passed, the women that he'd been with, and the friends that he'd had.
  More than once he had been told that he was a “charming” person. But for some reason every one of the girls he had been with had left him. Even after saying all the things that they had said to him. Every word made him wish to be with them for as long as he could. And yet, they still left. This Prince Charming was without a Princess.
  It wasn't even for not saving them; he had done that several times with the girls he had been with. Saving them from themselves or from their family. Still they left him. He had gone with the thought that his only job in a relationship was to show these girls the type of guy they should be dating, since he just wasn't the one for them.
  But even so, he longed for that one Princess to be with him, the one that would complete his life. The one that would make him the happiest that he had ever been.
  For years now, he had kept searching for these girls that really liked him for who he was, not just for his looks. And they always found a reason to leave him, though he was just trying to make everything work out instead of trying to make everything best for himself. What was he doing wrong?

  A tear slowly rolled down his cheek and fell on the pillow he was gently holding in his arms as if it were his Princess. Slowly, he whispered all of his thoughts to it, without even thinking of what he was doing.
  A few of his favourite possessions were sitting next to him. A picture of his mother, and several pictures of the “Princesses” that he had been with in the past. A necklace that he had always worn, but never wanted to after a certain “Princess” had ruined the thought of it for him. A journal with his favourite writing pen. Along with his laptop, open to the folder that contained all of his artwork.

  He slowly stood up, placing the picture of his mother inside his shirt. Carefully, he took the other pictures, along with his other treasures, into his arms. He left the pillow behind, no longer needing to speak out loud to understand everything he had been saying. It was all practically to himself, anyway.
  Opening the front door, he found himself slapped with the winter chill that rushed through the doorway to find more areas to turn cold with its touch. He quickly closed his eyes and stood there, wearing a very thin coat and no shoes.
  When he opened his eyes again, he did not see the snow, he saw the area around his house as if it were the middle of the spring or summer. So much green, and birds chirping as he looked about. All the items in his arms were now gone, and realizing that he was holding nothing, he spun around. But his house had disappeared along with everything else. He reached into his shirt, and found the picture of his mother there.
  “Do you really assume that everything you think is the truth of the world is exactly as what you believe?” A voice came from nowhere, and yet everywhere.
  “What else is there to do? We are given nothing and have to work our way up to knowing as much as we possibly can. Those of you that are no longer with us, or part of a hierarchy that is controlled by a higher power, never give us any hints that are understandable,” the Prince quickly responded.
  “But sometimes, you just have to live life, not understand it... Go back home, enjoy what you have, enjoy the holidays, and enjoy your friends and family. Those are the ones who are always there for you,” the voice replied.
  The Prince tried to get a retort in edgewise during this, but everything was slowly growing dark, and he felt no pain, and yet all the pain of his existence. Watching his life flash before his eyes, he saw more light moments than dark. Slowly he began to smile, and that quickly evolved into a laugh. He now knew what he had been meant to do, and he did just that. Without even knowing that it was his destiny.

  “Excuse me, Son,” a bearded man looked at the Prince confused, “are you ready to come with me?”
  “I believe I am,” said the Prince. He got up, and looked around, the snow was back. But, he knew this much, it was here to stay, as he was no longer home. He had moved on to where he was needed, and knew that it was just what he was always meant to do.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/21/2010 15:48:36)

'Tis the season to be jolly
by reaper0001

Tempest hummed a festive tune as he strolled down the snow-covered path. His real name was Thomas Goldsmith, but having always loved the wind and the fact that he was constantly mistaken for an elf had helped him earn his nickname. His skin was darker than most elves', though: a deep tan as opposed to the paleness of the forest people.

But he pushed those thoughts out of his head. It was winter, nearly Christmas Eve. His curly silver locks were covered by a pointed green cap with red fringes. He laughed at the irony of this. A human that doesn’t want to be an elf wearing an elf hat.

Beside him was a wolf, a dull brown with white at its paws. It wore a Santa cap that Tempest had had a tailor make for dogs. The hat fit the wolf fine, though.

As Tempest began to sing “Deck the Halls”, he heard the distant sound of men fighting. Amid the screams of villagers was the snarl of wolves and the tearing of flesh only claws could produce. This only meant one thing.

Werewolves.

He rushed down the path, taking his shortbow out. It wasn’t exactly a shortbow, being longer than an actual shortbow but not as long as a longbow. He called it a short longbow. But this wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Tempest knocked an arrow to the bowstring and ran down the path.

* * * *


The village was in ruins. Broken stone and wood littered the ground: the remains of the houses. Six corpses lay on the ground. The surviving villagers were in panic, desperately trying to get to shelter. But Tempest only saw women and children, no men in sight.

“What happened?” Tempest asked a nearby maiden.

“The werewolves,” she stammered, her eyes wide with fear. “They attacked the village. Not many were killed, thank God, but all the men took up arms and went to the plains to fight them.”

“Where are the plains?” he asked.

She pointed west.

Tempest nodded and sprinted to the battle, the wolf close behind. He could hear a few screams as people yelled about a “werewolf” in the village.

Note to self: Don’t bring a wolf to a village attacked by Lycans.

* * * *


What Tempest saw could only be described as a carnage.

Humans, wearing little more than scraps of armor, desperately fought a larger force of werewolves. He watched as a particularly daring man broke the ranks of the werewolves and charged in, sword held high. Tempest looked away as he heard the soldier’s screams.

“Not exactly the Christmas spirit,” Tempest muttered.

The wolf barked, as if urging him to do something instead of making witty remarks.

“Fine, fine.”

He took an arrow from his quiver and muttered something unintelligible. The wind moaned as he knocked the arrow and aimed high.

With a thwack, the arrow flew from his hand. A second later, a torrent of wind hit the center of the fighting soldiers. They all flew backwards ten feet, the werewolves to the left, and the humans to the right.

All eyes were on the bowman as he stepped forward from the bushes.

“What is your business here, elf?” a human warrior demanded.

“Who are you calling an elf?” retorted Tempest mockingly. He ripped his hat off and pointed to his round ears. “Human, see? Anyways, I’m here to find out why you’re fighting on Christmas.”

“These monsters attacked our homes. We are simply defending ourselves.”

“Lies!” a werewolf screamed, moving to the front of the ranks. “For years, you have hunted our kind and burned the forests we live in. We are putting a stop to this.”

“And you accuse us of lies!” the human yelled back. The other warriors joined the argument, and soon they were on the verge of charging the wolves again. Another gust of wind, not as strong as the last, whipped them into submission.

“HEY!” Tempest yelled, lowering his bow. “Pay attention to the guy with the magic bow, okay? It doesn’t matter who did what. It’s Christmas; you know, ‘tis the season to be jolly. Stop trying to kill each other and celebrate it. Christmas only comes once a year.”

“There is no such thing as a Savior,” the werewolf sneered. “Just an insane man too deep in his faith to know he had no powers and died in vain. Why should we celebrate a peasant’s birth?”

“Heretic!" the human warrior yelled out. "Christ was the son of God! How dare you call him nothing but a simple man!”

The two forces argued again. Tempest sighed. This was going to take a while.

* * * *


“Well, we’ve agreed on a truce?” Tempest asked the two commanders. They nodded, both with several bumps on their heads.

“Then Merry Christmas to all! Let’s celebrate!”

The werewolves and humans stayed on opposite sides of the plains. The humans started cookfires to roast meat for the feast. But, as it turned out, the butcher’s shop had been torn apart, and much of the meat had fallen of the ground and was trampled by werewolves and humans alike. What meat was left wasn’t enough for the soldiers.

The werewolves, on the other hand, hunted for their food. In one hour, they had bucks aplenty to feast on. But deer doesn’t taste right when eaten raw.

The smells from the cookfires broke the will of some werewolves, and a few joined the humans. One by one, the werewolves crossed over to the other side. By nightfall, both Lycans and men sat by the fires, laughing and stuffing their faces.

The women and children from the village joined them, toddlers played in the snow and maidens sang Christmas carols. It was hard to believe they had ever been fighting. Tempest watched this from a hill overlooking the plains.

“Well, my job’s done,” he said. “But now, I must be on my merry way.”

The wolf by his side whimpered.

“I’m sorry, my friend, but I don’t like staying in one place too long. This is goodbye.”

The wolf licked his hand and trotted off towards the smell of food. Tempest smiled and turned away, singing “Deck the Halls” again.

“ ‘Tis the season to be jolly,” he said, with a twinkle in his eyes. It was his favorite part of the song.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/22/2010 23:35:25)

A Winter's Tail
by Dragonnightwolf

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas.

The song faded from memory as snowflakes fell from the skies like all of the clouds had opened up to blow around this cold, damp, and light stuff on purpose. Hot breath poured up into the air as my lungs worked their own magic, while my limbs, strong and solid, flowed in motion like a train on its tracks. Fur bristled and moved with the wind; my tail was up, high and proud. My eyes caught every possible movement. The scents drifted into nostrils of blackest color as if lost in an abyss. In the forest, cedar and pine trees with branches all covered in thick layers of snow spread around us, and here and there a slippery patch of invisible ice nearly caused many of those behind me to precariously stumble, scramble, or all together pitch face-first into the snow. Hollowed logs rose up as if to challenge the very beast inside me.

Gracefully, I leapt, flying over the log in my way as a gazelle over tufts of grass. The smell of fear, of the hunt, invaded my senses and gave shivers of anticipation. I heard sounds sharp and crystal clear. They invaded ears that pointed straight up and tilted with every measure of noise to discern exactly what made it and where. It was late in December, it was cold, it was wet; there was snow coming up to my waist, yet the prey was getting away. “Faster, Faster!” I heard one of the pack howl.

Just like the ones I used to know.

Another verse of that song I had heard in the town popped into my memory for a brief moment. Suddenly, we encountered a small field in the middle of the forest and ran through it. Here, we caught the sight of the young male deer again; it leapt, but it was tiring. This was survival of the healthy and the fit, but the beast inside of me needed that taste, that thrill, that texture. I was nearly wild with the hunt now; the deer let out a soft, pleading cry as it stumbled over some obstruction blocking its way and fell forward.

The surge, the final surge of strength I had, sent me in a leap at the deer. The end had come, the hunt was over, and we were victorious in our endeavor. We offered a silent prayer of thanks to the deer for providing itself to us, and another to the earth-mother for providing the opportunity to enjoy this meal. The last thing the deer saw when accepting its fate was the quick flash of my teeth coming for it. Then it knew of nothing more.

Each portion was divided fairly; I made sure of that myself. Naturally, I went first. My mate would have gone first as well, had she stayed with us, but shortly after our pups were born she chose to leave without so much as a goodbye lick. The devastation I had felt in my heart knew no bounds. Many of the young whelps thought that my sorrow would make me a weak Alpha. Challenge after challenge, I had beaten them with real authority. I was Alpha; I had led this clan for fifteen long years, and I was not about to give up my place without a fight. The more fights I won, the more likely it was I’d encounter some young upstart that would injure or cripple me. But up to this day, they had left nary more than a scratch on my flesh.

Once we were finished with our meal, most of the pack laid around, and I approached the betas, Max and Neela. Neela, who was lying with her face across Max’s belly, stared at me without moving. “Greetings Eldharst, what brings you to join us?”

Max was a mixture of leftover green combined with shades of gray and tufts of white sticking along the topside of his ears. Neela, as I gazed upon her, was a tan-gold color with one battle scar along the top leftmost part of her face. My own soft-blue eyes and white fur reflected from their eyes like an image on water. Pure white, no other trace of color had come to me at all.

“I came to ask if either of you would like to sing with me? You know, the 'mountains rumble' song?” I said, looking at both calmly. Max had his body upside down, which made his stare hard to read.

“I’m rather sleepy, my Lord Alpha,” Max yawned, exposing his teeth for a moment. ”Perhaps my Love here will oblige you, though?” he inquired, gazing up at her.

“Why not? I do feel like letting out something,” Neela replied, stretching out over her mate before following me to the crest of the forest’s edge.

I began. “Awoo, ahem, oh the mountains rage and growl as better we do run. The answers that we seek are hidden in the deep. The mountains rumble with promise, begging us to stay, so we walk our own ways.”

Neela took up the next verse. “Oh, we are proud and we are held strong against the currents of the winds; fly us high, fly us free as we believe in any reason to chase the squirrels and live another beautiful day. Oh, give to us the mountains' rumble when we are so brave.”

Then, we both sang the next verse together and a row of ears rose up as we sang. “Oh, the movements of our lifetimes do not promise to be full, but we of all the clans must live to breathe life into you. So, Mother Earth, respect us, give us your entire blessings, so we may proceed to live our ways. And bless us, oh Father Sky, as surely owls who hoot for all of our families live, thanks to you.”

The song ended abruptly with noise coming from nearby. Max, who had been resting, rolled sideways and stuck his face up from the snow. The entire clan was alert now. A steady row of ears stood erect as we all listened closely. From the forest came a black mass of bodies with rabid, wild-frenzied abandon on their faces. “Flee, flee! There are too many!” I snarled, gazing at the number of ravenous, crazed creatures pouring out of the forest.

“Flee, flee!” one of them called out, running for all she was worth.

I gazed up, looking past the crest of the forest at the mountains above, and realized why all manner of wolves were running as if demons were upon us all. An avalanche had occurred. “The pups!” I snarled out in realization. “Max, run the pack south, away from the flow. I’ll return to the den and snatch the pups.”

“Eldharst, it is too late!” Max replied with a whimper, starting to run.

“No, I must!” I yowled back, running for the den on the other side of the clearing.

I got there with just enough time to grasp the pups up in my mouth, toss two of them on my back, clamp one on my tail—even though that hurt—and grab the last three in my mouth. “Hold still up there,” I barked, muffled.

The pups were all whimpering with fright, but I had no time to console any of them now. I had to get them out of there. As I fled the den, the rumbling, roaring, and deafening sound got closer. I took a quick look behind me to see where the avalanche was, and nearly tripped over a rock myself. From that point I looked ahead of me. My nose was telling me the moisture was getting closer, my senses were screaming of danger and urging me to get away.

A human had been sledding nearby and, fortunately, he had left behind his sled. I grasped the contraption that connected to the sled and gave it a tug. It broke free from the ice. I tossed the pups on it before going spinning backwards down the deep trench of the hill. A short, startled yelp warned me that one of the pups had fallen off the gliding sled and was now running after it. “Stay here,” I snarled at the other pups diving off the sled, and reached for the little pup just in time before the snow was upon us.

The sled slammed into a rock and I saw with dread bodies flying everywhere. I tossed every last pup on my back. A second later, I yelped out as both the pups and I were swept in the avalanche. Snow, rocks, twigs, and the world spun crazily around. After a moment, all was still; I managed to thrust my face up, out of the cold snow. Gasping in lungfuls of air, I dove back down and began digging frantically. “Charlene, Skip, Scuff, Terest-shield, Sorturary!” I yelped and yipped, calling out their names.

“Mama, Mama!” I heard the sound of Skip's yap somewhere off to my left.

“Dad?” That was Terest-shield's voice somewhere to the immediate right of me.

I dove to my right, digging frantically and found Terest-shield a moment later.

Then, I placed her down beside me and began digging to my left, until I found Skip safe inside a log along with Scuff. “Dad?” Terest-shield looked at me. “I saw Charlene over that way before the snow covered me.” She pointed to the right and further away from us.

I licked her on the nose and quickly dug in that direction. Snow flew by the pups as I drove my paws through it again and again. But when I finally got to the body, Charlene lay there unmoving. “Charlene, wake up sweetie,” I said, nudging her with my nose.

But it was too late. “Oh no,” I stuttered, realizing her little heart was no longer beating. “No, c’mon, baby, wake up, wake up.”

No-o-o!” I howled out in mourning, the pups taking up the cry with me, tears in their eyes.

Other howls far off took up the same echo of pain my voice had carried out. My clan, or at least some of them, were alive. I heard a few barks farther behind me, and realized that those were the sounds of my pack. We were missing three members, though.

“What of Julie, Thorn and Spiral?” I asked, gazing at the clan members about me and pulling the pups up out of the deep snow.

“We haven’t seen them; we can only assume that they are safe somewhere else,” Max replied, heaving a deep sigh at seeing Scuff alive.

There had been twelve, and now we were down by three for a total of nine.

Suddenly, I heard a howl off to my right: a summons. Surely, no one really wanted to fight me at this time of great disaster? I went off in search of the summons, leaving the pups with Max and Neela.

It didn’t take long to find out who had called me, but I stared at what he had in his mouth. My enemy held Sortuary. “Release the pup at once and I won’t—” The gesture he made stopped me cold.

He wanted me to follow. His name was Red River, though why he was called that, I didn’t know. Having no other choice, I followed him. We went further south past our territory lines to a large outcropping overlooking a spot of churned mud. I looked down at the foul-smelling pit, realizing it wasn’t mud, but some other substance I couldn’t quite identify. I stared at my enemy, waiting to hear what he had to say. He rested the pup under one paw and glared at me with his crazy-deep gray eyes. “How do you like it, Eldharst?” he asked, smiling, his fur all crimson.

“Want to know where this pup’s headed? No, not in that pit there,” Red River pointed with his other paw.

I turned to look where he was pointing. Down below, I saw a hole so deep that it could safely be around twenty feet down. I also happened to notice that his entire clan was waiting down there, too, standing around the edges of the hole, tails wagging. So, they were going to bury the pup alive, I thought.

I took a step forward, a growl rumbling deep in my chest. Red River picked Sortuary up in his mouth and held him over the hole. I stared intently as Red River opened his mouth with a smile on his face. Sortuary let out a cry of alarm, echoing as he fell down until he landed in the hole. The pack waited for his orders.

I let out a deep snarl and lunged forward. Teeth and jaws and bodies and claws and paws slammed into each other headfirst. I grasped my enemy at just the right angle and as we stood on hind paws I started pushing him towards the edge of the pit.

Sortuary was still alive, I could see that, though it appeared the pup had suffered an injury of some sort. I strained with all my might, and we both fell off the edge, he landing on his back in the mud and I landing in the hole next to the pup. I groaned out in pain, turning over and leaping on a rocky protrusion sticking out far too high for the pup to leap, but not high enough for me. The pup grabbed my tail in his mouth and I lifted us out of the hole, placing Sortuary off to the side. I growled at the pack, which moved out of my way. Then, I walked over to where Red River was laying on his back. I stood over him, my tail high. I gazed down on my enemy. But he gazed back.

“If I can’t win, neither can you, Eldharst. Go, hide the pup!” the wolf howled in anger.

I tried to go to Sortuary’s rescue, but Red River grabbed my front paw in his mouth. I snarled and spun on him, dropping my hind legs on top of his stomach and pressing down. His body sunk easily beneath me and my free front paw shoved down on his chest, pushing his whole body under. The smell was overwhelming and I was almost ready to collapse when bubbles poured out of the strange mud and freed my paw.

I turned around, but the pack and my pup were gone. They had separated in so many directions that there was no way of finding him.

Resignedly, I returned to my pack to find out that Max and the others were waiting. When I drew nearer, I saw one of Red River’s clan members lying dead before my pack and Sortuary was safe!

“Oh, joy of joys!” I howled out, happily rushing over to lick my son all over.

Where the tree tops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow.

The last verse echoed in my thoughts briefly that night as I lay there with the pups all nestled together in a row. Somewhere far off in the skies, as I was laying my head down for my winter rest, I heard sleigh bells from the town below and a choir singing of a little drummer boy. The snow continued to fall around us as I hoped for the spring to come; it would be good to welcome the sun.

I awoke the next morning and sang this song for my missing mate.

“Come home, baby, come home; I’m here and I’m all alone.
These days are long and I need you by my side, so come home, baby, come home.
The words won’t wait forever, but we could stay here together.
Lead me not to stray, but come home today, please, baby, come home.

I remember all the things we used to do.
I remember all the hunts I’ve been on with you, ooh.
Reach me through the stars and some day, no matter how far,
I will find you again.

So come home, baby, come home.
I’m waiting by the den all alone.
So reach into the night, speak my name and I’ll give flight.
Come running to your side, my love.

So come home, baby, come home.”

And then I smiled at the sky.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/23/2010 0:19:42)

Moses' Hanukkah
by Alexmacf

The year was 1943. Ariel Michéle Lefebvre was walking down the streets of Paris, her disgusting yellow star on her chest. Ariel knew what her name meant; “Lion of God,” “Who is God,” “Iron,” in that order. Her mother had taken care to select the first two names for her, nearly ten years ago. She knew the importance of continuing the Jewish people, and the importance of making sure her children knew who they were. Ariel had only one sibling, a brother named Moses Emmanuel. He had grown up and had gone into the French army at the start of the war. Her family had not heard from him in years; they feared he was dead.

Ariel was nearly home when a Nazi soldier stopped her. In German, he asked her a question. Her understanding of this invading language, German, was very limited, but she knew what she had been asked: “Are you a Jew, girl?”

She meekly nodded her head. “May I please go home?” she asked of the man in a broken and heavily accented version of his language. “My mama is waiting for me.”

“It's nearly curfew,” he told her in German, though he knew by the look on her face that she had no idea what he had said. With his own limited French vocabulary, he told her, “Go home to your mother, quickly.” Ariel, delighted that she had been understood by someone really from Germany, nodded enthusiastically. She smiled at the soldier, and walked away. Unbeknownst to either of them, a Frenchman fluent in both languages had been watching the exchange.

This man had short black hair, cropped close to his head, so as not to give him away. His eyes were the same muddy brown colour as the Colorado River, though he would have no way of knowing that. His features were otherwise nearly unrecognizable for someone of Middle Eastern descent. However, you could sense that somehow, somewhere, this man had seen great suffering. Many assumed he was an American or British soldier, here to visit relatives while on a leave in Europe. He wore no star, and utterly despised those who made it mandatory. He did not, however, hate the Germans. He had been to Germany; the folk were kind as a whole, unless you were Jewish. They had been convinced by their government that the Jews were the cause of all their troubles and woes, and did their best to rid themselves of said troublemakers. One could not blame them for such human behaviour. They did not know about the camps.

This man followed the girl to the little apartment she shared with her mother. The girl, he knew, had never known her father. He himself had lost his father at a very young age. It was very nearly Hanukkah, and the girl had to get matches to light the menorah, which would be a secret. The Nazis would be more diligent than ever on patrol, searching for candlelight when and where there shouldn't be such. His hopes that the girl would lead him to her home were fulfilled. He waited half an hour, then knocked on the door.

A frightened woman in her mid-forties answered the door. “Who is there?” she asked in French, her voice trembling.

“My name is Moses. I am looking for the Lefebvre family.”

“That would be my daughter and I. What do you want?”

“To come home for Hanukkah, Maman.”

“Moses Emmanuel? Is that really you? Come in, come in! But keep quiet. Curfew is long past.”

Into the house he went. His sister was abed, his mother told him, but he would see her in the morning. He told her of his service in the war, his desertion when the Nazis took control of France and the French army, his hiding in Britain, wanting so badly to fetch his family. She told him of what was happening on the home front – the stars that singled them out, the curfews, the discrimination, the resistance movement, how easy it was to pick up the BBC. She apologized for the lack of food, especially the lack of unleavened bread; they had to do without, as the Nazis only supplied breads made with yeast. She was making arrangements with the resistance to get out and escape to Britain in return to what she had done for them. This was to be the last Hanukkah in France for them and the Levins next door.

They stayed up until midnight, exchanging news. When there was nothing left to say, they sat in silence. Then Moses said, “Mother, it will be all right. I'm home, and we're all together.”




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/24/2010 21:12:10)

Siberian March
by Argeus the Paladin


December, AD 16

“Report, Centurion Gnaeus Antonius Secundus.”

The speaker’s voice sounded uncannily like the howl of a hungry wolf. Or perhaps it was the wind of Siberia that had turned the echoes of his usually calm and commanding voice into such a distortion.

The man’s red robe was stained by the endless snow. His lorica segmentata, the proud armor of a Roman soldier, was acting against its owner for the first time. Underneath it, the soldier felt no warmth, no protection, no comfort. Nothing, except an ever-increasing chill, seemingly numbing his entire torso. Fluttering behind him in the arctic wind, the thick general’s cloak did not warm him up much. His lips had lost their rosy color; a pale shade had painted them just as well as it had done the rest of his visage. His eyes were fatigued, his pupils showing clear traces of exhaustion. His corporeal body would want nothing more than to return to the temperate warmth of Rome he had set out from years before.

But he would not do that. His jaws clenched tightly in an effort to both control his ignoble shivering and his appearance of control. His soldiers needed a strong leader to bank on at that moment more than any other time.

His name was Flavius Julius Caesar Teutoburgius, the Roman hero responsible for flushing out the treacherous Germanic warbands under Arminius the Betrayer. A brilliant general and a worthy emperor-to-be, in the eyes of both the patricians and plebeians. If he had not come up with the decision to set off in search of the lands of Nihonnia ‘as the great gods decreed,’ that is.

Facing him was a middle-aged man in the same suit of armor, with a horse-hair helmet to decorate his sunken, fatigued expression. His face was even paler than his leader, such that the snowflakes passing it could hardly be distinguished from its texture. He was bending low before Flavius Teutoburgius, his mouth twisted in both coldness and anxiety.

“Imperator, the situation is grim,” he said to him. “The Third and Fourth Cohort are in very bad shape. The 12th Century has lost more than half her men within just a few days. The men of the 14th are openly expressing their... displeasure. To make matters worse, supplies from our homeland are getting more and more erratic. I have a gut feeling that Rome has abandoned us.”

Imperator. Such was the title bestowed upon him as he left Rome for this land of Nihonnia. Together with the golden Aquila he was granted, effectively he was the sole representative of Roman rule and authority in the desolated land they had arrived to. And with it lay the load of responsibility, one he had been all too happy to take on. A load that grew heavier the further East the expedition marched from Rome.

“It’s only natural.” Flavius Teutoburgius shook his head. “Father has just died, and Tiberius, as far as I know, is not the kind of person who would pay much attention to an expedition to a land far, far away with no immediate prospect for gains.”

“What do you reckon we do, Imperator?” the Centurion asked nervously. “This winter is unlike anything we have ever seen. Just standing in it is enough to incapacitate the soldiers, let alone actually march on.”

Taking a brief pause, the Imperator looked around the place. There were occasional shades of red amid the complete whiteness of the surrounding. Never before did the mighty Roman Legio XVII seem so small, so puny, so vulnerable: broken by no mortal foes, but by the weather itself. Here and there, the soldiers gathered in groups around fickle flames threatening to extinguish any minute under the fierce wind and incessant snowfall. Their weapons and armors were strewn all over the place, around the tents, on the icy field, around the flames.

Here and there Flavius had seen a pilum or two having been broken and thrown into the fires in desperate attempts to keep them alive. The mighty legionaries were mighty no longer, their hands tugging at whatever they could find, shivering. And above them all, the wind was still blowing, snow still falling, covering everything in the white color of death and desolation. A very unbecoming sight of the Roman army, indeed. But Flavius could hardly blame his men. No one born of flesh and blood could take that cold and still stand, let alone continue.

“We need a plan, Imperator.” Reckoning that the Imperator hadn’t heard what he had just said, Centurion Gnaeus said again, louder. “I suggest we retreat, find a better spot to camp, stabilize our supplies and wait until spring before moving on!”

In spite of his best attempt to shout, his voice was readily drowned beneath the howling wind, sounding no more significant than the breath of a dying man.

“There is no more zone for retreat now,” said Flavius decisively, shaking his robe up.

He then pointed to the vast field of pure ice ahead. Over a plane completely devoid of vegetation, the terrain was abnormally flat, especially compared to the hilly highland they had just passed over the course of the past few months.

“That, Centurion Gnaeus, is a lake. A lake frozen over several time because of Sol Invictus’ scorn. This frozen lake is the only way east from here on. If we wait until spring, there will be no way we can proceed any further.”

“But the men can barely stand, Imperator!” shouted the Centurion. “Some of them are openly questioning the point of this expedition in its entirety! If this goes on, I fear for your safety, Noble Imperator!”

“We are the children of Romulus, the proud Romans,” Flavius stuck to his guns. “If Legio XVII would like to desert its honor, murder its leader and go back to Rome, so be it. History will always remember Flavius Julius Caesar Teutoburgis as a hero. That much is enough for me.”

“That is insane, Imperator!” protested the Centurion aloud. “I myself have serious doubts about the Oracles’ prediction. If there had been indeed a land of Nihonnia so wondrous and free for the taking, someone would have taken it already!”

“Then it is the job of true Romans to kick them out and claim the land for ourselves,” declared Flavius as he ordered his faithful retainer. “Centurion, gather your men. I would like to have a small chat with Legio XVII in its entirety!”

******



Soon the armies were gathered, the men standing in straight lines, shivering in the frost. The latest shipment of warm clothing from Rome was too little and too late, being able to cater to barely half of the ranks. Up until now, their food hadn’t been a problem, but such luxury was about to be discontinued any day now. The result of such attrition was obvious. The lines of soldiers spreading before the Imperator were far thinner than the day he had set out from the city of the seven hills. The Third and Fourth Cohort had merely two centuries each with full number. The Second Cohort was down to the last century. The Equites Romana column had half of its soldiers horseless. The only thing to look remotely regal in the assortment was the standard bearer with the golden eagle. Amidst the endless snow, it would not be too much to assume that it was the eagle’s gleam that was stopping the entire column from routing.

Standing before the row of exhausted soldiers was the Imperator himself. Steeling himself for the firmest expression he could muster, his jaws clenched tightly, his limbs stressed solid so as to not let a weak shiver out for his soldier to behold. His soldiers’ resolve wasn’t so firm, the entire column shaking in unison as snow and wind wiped their face clear of any trace of rosiness. Flavius had a gut feeling that among those present, some were openly cursing him through their clattering teeth. Again, he could blame them as much as he could Rome.

“Friends, Romans, countrymen,” he began to speak in the same way Marcus Antonius had addressed at the funeral of his granduncle half a century ago. “Today we gather here, in this endless field of snow and wind. I reckon you are displeased, which I would not blame you for.”

As he spoke he raised his head towards the sky.

“You have every reason to despair, to lose your heart, or even to distrust the the man who has brought you to this land,” he turned back to the rank of soldiers and continued after a large number of snowflakes had fallen against his cheeks, chilling the touch out of his skin. “The gods have abandoned us, I can see. The indefatigable Sol Invictus has subsided before the cold. The great Mercury has ceased giving us waypoints. And the mighty Mars has found no further need to shelter his bands of trusted warriors simply because there are no battles to be fought. Through their actions the gods have decreed that we either abandon our journey and return to our motherland of the seven hills, or freeze to death in this alien world. The choice is ours to make.”

As he spoke, Flavius noticed a dramatic change in the expression of those before him. Both those who previously looked at him with due suspicion and with admiration now lifted their eyebrows in unison with astonishment. All at once Flavius could feel thousands of eyes peering at him, as if questioning his sanity. And that was all what he needed.

“My name is Flavius Julius Caesar Teutoburgius, son of Octavius Julius Caesar Augustus, brother-in-law of the reigning emperor,” he went on as he raised his bloodied fist to the sky. “My blood is noble and carries power with it. Power to give and take life. Power to grant wealth and deprive of it. And power to save as well as to damn. For those of you who just can’t stand the cold, I can bring you back to the Mediterannean soil that gave birth to you. For those of you who have families and friends in Rome, those whose wife and children are still eagerly awaiting your return, I can return you to them just as I have taken you from them. And for those of you who see not a future in the land we are going to, I can as well take you home where you deem a better future.”

Taking a short pause as his eyes scanned the whole rank, Flavius then said with a totally different tone.

“But, friends, would that make you men? Would cowering your way back to Rome be any becoming of the proud legionaries of Legio XVII? Would such an act of cowardice make you as Roman as the heroes of the ages past who struggled to build this Rome you call your home?”

And then came silence, a dreadful silence interrupted only by the hollering gusts. There was a sharp sound of a metal blade being drawn from its scabbard, as piercing as the arctic wind itself. The Imperator brandished his short sword, raising it to his face.

If anyone in the line was still drowsy and exhausted, the next moment’s development woke them up completely. With a swift movement of his left palm along the edge of the gladius, the Imperator’s hand was cut open. His blood dripped to the ground, scattered away by the wind, so that as he closed his wounded palm, the area around him seemed to have been sprayed thinly with the color red. As the blood touched the white ground, it melted through the snow, leaving a slight trace for all to see.

“Here is my blood, red and burning, cut open before your eyes for all to behold,” he said, his voice now having turned into a thunderous roar, overwhelming even the horrible wind. “The feeble snow cannot withstand my blood, instead crumbling and melting before the blood of a true Roman! And neither can it withstand yours, true Romans to a man! The gods have deserted us, but so what? With just this noble blood that flows within the veins of each and everyone of us, the blood that has seen Rome built from clay and gravel into what it is today, our ancestors have gone through far worse than this. Whether or not the later generations can say the same about us of Legio XVII solely depends on our conduct in this very challenge!”

With a sharp turn of his body and flick of his uninjured hand, the Imperator pointed towards the East and raised his pitch even further.

“Let me remind you all, that beyond all this danger, all this suffering and torments, beyond all that urges you to return home to the warm fire of Vestia, lies the land of Nihonnia. The promised land, the new Rome, the place where your name shall forever be etched into stone as the founder of! The honor is not only mine, but yours as well! Everything we could ever ask for will be ours when we overcome this challenge. And only then will we stand under the Sun as men deserving of it all!”

At this point Flavius’ entire body was shaking not because of cold, but passion. He then proceeded to push his gladius into the frozen ground.

“I, Flavius Julius Caesar Teutoburgius, swear that I will live to see and make this new land of Nihonnia Roman!” he shouted, as he knelt on the ground, pressing on the hilt of the blade. “Men of Legio XVII, are you man enough for this task at hand?”

Then passed several seconds in complete silence, as if the words of the Roman general had drowned out even the mighty blizzard itself. Its effect on the crowd, however, didn’t seem all that positive. For a second, it appeared as though the general’s passion never reached his freezing troops.

And then from the ranks, a pilum was raised into the sky, followed by another, then another, and another, until the entire row of legionaries had their throwing spears raised to the sky.

“Most Noble Imperator!” one soldier from below took the responsibility to break the silence into his hands and spoke up eventually. “We, men of Legion XVII, will stand with you until the very end! Nihonnia or death!”

In response, the whole rank quickly echoed with “Nihonnia or death” cries coming from each and every man’s lips. No longer were the howling winds overwhelmed, they were silenced. No longer did the snowflakes freeze men’s soul, they melted. The heat from the moment’s uproar was more than enough to replace the warm hearth of Vestia for the entire army. Flavius Teutoburgius took this development with the broadest smile of pride he could afford.

“With you at my side, friends, Romans, countrymen, I fear nothing!” he exclaimed as he pointed to the horizon beyond. “Now, men, let us set ourselves for the task at hand! Today we cross this frozen lake, tomorrow that plain over there, and Nihonnia shall be in our hands! We are the invicta!”

To conclude his speech, the Roman general drew his weapon from the ground, mounted his horse, and turned towards the frozen lake. As he rode off, behind him he could still hear his Centurion’s voice shouting to the now-rallied soldiers.

“Legionaries, forward! Follow the Imperator! In the name of Rome, march!”
*******




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/25/2010 0:24:07)

Seeing is Believing
by: Feoras ToxArch

"But Father," I once pleaded with the burly man beside me, nearly ten winters ago. "You’re not going to shoot it?!?"

His answer wasn't immediate, as those robust, steel-blue eyes of his were glued upon the stag below, yet the mere thought of what he had just said shook me to the bone.

I could vividly remember him hoisting me up on his leg by the embers of a dying fire and lauded about our descent from a long line of reputable Hunters. Generations before us had come face to face with the mightiest beasts Lore had to offer, but we were the adept few to come out victorious. Of course, he quickly added that we were not mindless killers, as we would only hunt on occasion. But this moment was one of those special occasions. The tradition of having fresh meat on the table for the Frostval feast was one that he praised the most out of them all. The mere act of taking down a stag of this size would make his status legendary among his family, yet his broad hands never strayed for bow or quiver.

From the tales he wove to my brothers and I as we grew up, I knew the Black-tailed SnowTreader rarely grew to this size. In fact, their range was never supposed to put them this far south into Greenguard Forest. Yet there it was: a magnificent stag, to say so modestly. Simply judging by its broad set of antlers alone, this beast could have equaled my father in age. From this, it was reasonable to assume it had slipped Death’s grasp more than just once. But from our shallow plateau above the ravine, the wind could not give us away as the surrounding tree line ripped it apart. Even the ravine’s slope was angled just enough to allow for a straight shot down and the lack of wind made conditions ideal. No, it was not ideal; it was the perfect scenario that provided a perfect shot. To me, it seemed like Fate alone was giving Father the opportunity to bring the beast down.

But his lack of movement implored me to ask a second time.

"Dad... you’re not going to shoot it?"

“No…” he lightly replied in a tone which seemed like he was convincing himself as well as me. “No, son, I’m not.”

“But why?” I whispered back, fearing that I might ruin his chance if he reconsidered.

“Heh… take a closer look, Feo, then tell me what you see,” he muttered, without drawing his profound stare from the scene below.

But try as I might, the only thing I could discern clearly was the stag’s outline against the snowy backdrop. Besides that, the snow and ghastly gray tree trunks around us blended together seamlessly. This clever trick of my mind’s eye further clouded my vision, making me grow impatient. Shaking my head rigorously, I tried for a second time, but the effort was in vain. I know now that whatever he saw that day affected him greatly, as this was the only time he passed up an opportunity of this magnitude. His reasons had to be of importance, yet I could not fathom them.

“I’m sorry, Father… but I don’t see anything.” I shrugged tersely, from which my growing embarrassment forced me to fumble with my glasses. “Maybe my eyes will never be as good as yours are.”

“Don’t worry, son,” he chortled while turning to address me, with his right hand holding his own pair of glasses. “Your sight will one day far surpass mine; you just need to give it time to adjust. After all, you got your pair only a couple of weeks ago.”

“But why won’t you take the shot, then? Is there something out there that I can’t see?”

My father chuckled and brought his right thumb and forefinger to his mouth. Taking one last look at the stag, he blew fiercely into his fingers so it created an ear-piercing whistle that immediately startled the beast. Bringing its massive head around to realize the source, it quickly snorted behind itself a few times before dashing down the ravine. As a cloud of kicked-up snow billowed in its wake, I thought I saw some movement in a snow pile off to its right. No matter how hard my eyes peered, the snow cloud was too thick to discern anything clearly. However, if I had to put my month’s allowance on the line, I’d easily bet that there was something hidden inside the crystal mist that day.

“Dad, what was that following the stag?” I leaned dangerously over the edge of the plateau, trying to get a better look.

“When the time comes, my son…” my father laughed while preventing me from falling headfirst into the ravine. “When that time comes, you’ll see everything just fine.”

“…But can’t you just tell me what that was?” I pleaded to him with little avail.

“Oh no. Doing so would ruin the surprise.” He ruffled my golden brown hair with his free hand as he slung the bow back across his shoulder.

“…But.”

“No buts, Feoras,” he said while patting me on the shoulder. “Now come along, son. We’ve still have to find something for tomorrow’s meal. We can’t keep your mother and brothers waiting for much longer.”

As we descended the plateau and headed towards home that day, the thought of what my father saw quickly slipped out of my thoughts. Fearing what my mom would do to the both of us if we came home empty-handed took priority over all else, and the events of that day drifted into the dark banks of my subconscious.

~


“Hey, Feo!” Ellie shouted after me, trying desperately to match my pace. “Hey! ...Slow down, will ya?”

I kept trudging through the snow, not even taking the time to answer.

“Tch…” she shrugged and scooped up a handful of snow. After a few loud crunches, she took the snowball and whipped it as hard as she could towards me.

Jarring my head forward, the packed orb of snow burst immediately upon impact. However, she got the reaction she was aiming for, as I stopped marching forward and turned to meet her glare.

“You know, if you didn’t want to come, you should have stayed back in Battleon,” I smirked, wiping what snow I could out of my hair before the residue froze it solid. “It would have saved us both the trouble.”

“Knowing you, you would stay out in this winter wasteland until Jack Frost turns you into an icicle,” Ellie sniped back with both hands firmly rested upon her hips. The universal sign which all men come to recognize: she wasn’t budging an inch unless we had a talk.

“I won’t freeze to death out here.” Stating the obvious, however, gave her little comfort. “C’mon, you know that I basically grew up outdoors, I…”

“Exactly.” Her quick wit cut my answer short, but she kept eye contact with me through all of this. “You think that by growing up in the cold, you’re completely invulnerable to it. You’re not a deer or bear; they are built for this weather. People aren’t.”

“I haven’t been out here that long…” The moment that phrase escaped my lips, I wished I could have taken it back. But it was too late; I had fallen right into her carefully planned trap.

“The twenty-fourth you got back from No’bell. Instead of coming to visit any of us, you ran into these woods as fast as you could and stayed there ‘till dusk. But then there’s yesterday, even when Cysero himself gave every Defender their Frostval off, you spent another full day outside his cottage, keeping watch.”

“A Defender’s duties…” I quickly tried to interject but it failed to stop her. Then again, when she was on a spirit-stomping roll like this, I doubted that anyone could force her to finish before she planned to.

“Don’t try and pull that excuse again, Feoras, it won’t work.” Ellie’s glare sent a prickling cold sensation flowing down my spine, which I tried to brush off as nothing. “And then there’s today, where you left so early that you didn’t hear what happened to…”

“Bah, I’m not one for the day’s gossip, if that’s what you’re here for,” I muttered, turning away from her. Trekking onward, I expected her assault to continue either physically or verbally, yet Ellie made no sound except for the snow condensing beneath her boots. “C’mon, we’re just about there.”

“You said that an hour ago…” She sighed, lowering her head and placing her hands back inside her heavy fleece jacket. “How can you be so sure this time?”

Sticking my arm out, I stopped her before she carelessly stepped off the plateau’s edge. “Because we’re already here.”

In front of us lay the same ravine which my father and I had graced almost a decade ago. From the mental picture I took of it, this part of Lore seemed not to have aged a single day, let alone account for any of the years which passed. As of late, my mind had kept wandering back to this place, almost pleading with me at times to return. Yet as I reacquainted myself with the haunting scenery, movement among the cascading snow banks drew my attention.

“What’s wrong?” Ellie whispered over my shoulder, trying to see what I was focused on. But with my hand upon her shoulder, she quickly silenced herself and the two of us sunk to a crouching position just above the plateau’s edge.

After a few minutes of trepid waiting, her answer materialized before the both of us. Emerging from the dead brush to our right was a large stag, although much smaller than the one I had seen years ago. As it crept along carefully, Ellie looked back from it to me, and then back again at least a couple more times.

“Is that what you came here for?” she whispered to me again.

She didn’t receive an answer. From her point of view, my bright green eyes were glued upon the beast, observing its every move. Try as she might, Ellie couldn’t seem to break whatever staring-spell I was entranced in. As she glanced back to the stag, she counted off the antlers as we watched it pass through the ravine.

“…It has nineteen points, I’ve never seen a SnowTreader with that many before. Isn’t it beautiful, Feo?” Her face seemed to brighten as she stared on in awe. But when she glanced back and saw me readying my bow, the glow instantly vanished.

“…No, Feoras… don’t!” She instantly got to her feet and clutched my bow arm. She desperately tried forcing me to look at her… but my eyes continued to scan that area relentlessly. “I’m not going to let you shoot that deer.” Looking back towards my apparent target, she saw the stag had begun to kick up snow with its front legs and turned towards to the opposite side of the ravine. The odd behavior caught her slightly off guard, but she tried to convince me otherwise.

“Who said I was going to shoot that stag?” My tart response only furthered her confusion. Luckily, it was just enough so her grasp on my bow arm weakened, allowing me to ready an arrow. Noticing that my head wasn’t tilted in an angle to be physically looking towards the deer, Ellie looked over my shoulder to see what both I and the stag had taken notice of.

Looking in that general direction, the silhouette of a large white wolf creeping down the adjacent hill caught Ellie by surprise. No sooner than she recognized it, the creature bolted in a straight line towards his apparent target, the younger stag that had already raised its antlers in a spikey defense. Mesmerized by the horror of what she was about to witness, Ellie saw the wolf close upon its prey until it was only a few feet away and lunged for the stag’s throat with fangs bared.

An instant later, a loud yelp echoed throughout the small ravine. The wolf plummeted from the air and fell to the snow. There it lay upon its side with a shaft protruding from its ribcage, killed instantly. The stag, who shared the same disbelief as Ellie, turned around, found us, and met my stare. Although it only lasted a moment and we were a ravine apart, I could have bet my paycheck on the feeling that we had met somewhere before. In a similar manner to its predecessor, this stag snorted and dashed off, kicking up snow and dirt to mask its escape. However, as the wheels began to turn within my mind, I could clearly see what moved inside the crystal mist this time around. But just as quick as it had appeared, the stag bounded off and left Ellie and myself alone once again.

We stood there in silence for what seemed like minutes on end, until Ellie decided to speak.

“Feoras…what just happened?”

“I’m still trying to figure that out myself, Ellie,” I replied while slinging the bow back across my back. With a shrug of the shoulders, I turned slightly away from the ravine. Sharing my perplexity, she nodded in unison and the two of us began to walk back towards Battleon.

Unlike before, the return trek back was plagued with silence. I was strangely content with what happened, but Ellie seemed to give me an odd glance every couple of minutes or so, which after twenty or so minutes caught my attention.

“Something wrong?” I asked, glancing over towards her.

“…Yeah, but I don’t know how to phrase it,” she replied hesitantly.

“Well, say the first thing that comes to your mind and I’ll take it from there.”

“Alright then…” She took a deep breath. “How were you able to see that wolf back there?”

“…How was I able to ‘see’ it?” I repeated the question for my own clarification.

“I know,” Ellie shrugged. “But I couldn’t seem to phrase it any better than that.”

“To be honest, I don’t know. I really don’t.” I shrugged while shaking what snow remained from her previous snowball out of my faded silver hair. “In my head, there never really was a how phase, I just knew. I knew that I saw the stag approach, I knew that I could see the wolf stalking him above, and I knew that I saw a doe and fawn running off in that snow cloud as it ran off.”

“Wait… you saw a doe and fawn as well?” Ellie asked, perplexed once again.

“Yeah… I think both of us did,” I thought out loud, reminiscing of that day long ago.

Shaking her head with a sigh, Ellie let the conversation die out as we began to see the lights of Battleon glow against the darkening horizon. The sight of home must have stirred her memory in some way, because her demeanor automatically changed for the better as we approached the town.

“Oh, because of all of this, I forgot to tell you what happened today.” Ellie smiled and stared at me intently for some reason. Another one of her odd habits, which I couldn’t account for the life of me.

Looking back, I could see that her glow from before had returned, which only meant one thing.

“So they finally had the kid, didn’t they?” I chuckled. “That’s why you were so giddy earlier.”

“Yup. They had a boy.” She started to giggle, apparently thinking about how cute the infant was.

“So, what did they choose for his name, then?” I asked, throwing my hands behind my head.

“I don’t know… but the first one to Cy’s house will, though,” Ellie laughed, sprinting down the dirt path towards Battleon. Before I could get a word in, she was long gone.

Being alone once again, I began thinking about everything that happened that day and today. The answer to my father’s question seemed a lot clearer now. Although I could see what he meant that day, I knew that I still had a long way to go before making his vision of me a reality.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/26/2010 2:09:09)

The Kowl
by ont

The soft, almost inaudible sound of the powdery white snow crunching beneath his thick leather boots steadily grew softer until not a sound of his presence could be heard. Saris came to a silent stop behind an old, gnarly tree, his breathing silent, his body tense, ready for any hint of movement. Around him was splayed a small grove, carpeted from top to bottom by the recently fallen snow. A crisp wind whistled melodically through the bows of the trees, blowing gently across his face. Still rising in the east, the sun shined brilliantly, its light reflecting off the surrounding white of winter.

Saris was a well-built man, of medium height and with lean, corded muscles honed by years of hunting in the north. He was entirely garbed in hardened hides, from his hood to his boots, so much that he resembled something of a naked animal. He did not twitch nor shiver from the cold, remaining as calm as a pristine lake and as silent as an owl. Held tightly in his hands was a finely crafted crossbow, silvery white under the sun's gaze, its bone-smooth surface cold to his bare hands. Upon both of his thighs were strapped three metal bolts, slim and elegant, designed to cut through flesh and meat as easily as through air.

Saris was an experienced hunter from a large settlement nearby. Every year around this time, when the snow was crisp and new, he would come up to this region, high up in Kowlodge Mountain, accompanied by a band of many other hunters. For several nights they would camp up in the cold mountainous environment, hunting the bountiful game that populated its groves and forests. This would not just supply the town with food, but also with leather for clothing and money so that they could last through the rest of the winter.

This year, however, was different for the hunter. He had been chosen by his people to be the Huntmaster, the person on which fell the responsibility of leading the hunt and assuring its success, and also something more. As the leader of the hunt, it was his duty to track down and kill one of the most dangerous, and most prized, creatures of the mountains. The Kowl, they called it; and what a creature it was. Many before him had attempted the nearly impossible task, but few ever returned to tell the tale. Those who did often came back brutally wounded, with an arm or a leg missing, and the stories they told would scare even the bravest man. Saris was determined, however, that he would succeed and prove his prowess to the others back home. The hunter who could perform such a feat would be indescribably hailed and honoured for their bravery and skill.

Saris had been tracking the Kowl since the previous dawn. So far, his efforts had led him to where he was now: at a small grove situated midway up Kowlodge mountain. He had previously spotted the Kowl resting nearby, but dared not go further, lest he draw its attention. No, instead he would wait here patiently, hidden among the trees, and surprise the beast when it wandered close enough. His posture never faltered, remaining tense, ready to move at any moment's notice. He gripped his crossbow tightly, finger ready at the trigger, a bolt already loaded and ready to fire. He kept his breathing to a minimum and stayed still as a statue, so as not to give any sign of his presence. His eyes kept scanning the horizon, searching for any sign that would alert him to the Kowl's approach.

Shifting his position slightly, the hunter sighted some movement along the horizon. His heart started to beat quicker as a small prick of creamy white began to move towards him. He breathed slowly and focused on the approaching figure, trying to calm himself down. If he made any mistake, his guise would be discovered and his life would be put on the line. As the creature drew nearer, he nearly gaped in awe. The Kowl stood almost eight feet in height, with legs as thick as trees and shoulders as wide as a table. Atop its head sat two wicked horns, each more than two feet long, slightly curved and gleaming with malice. The monster was twice the size of a tundra bear and even more ferocious. Its muscles rippled under its creamy fur, displaying their immense strength.

The Kowl paused when it drew close to where Saris was hiding. The creature's shoulders and back flexed with unnatural strength. Its intimidating figure painted a long shadow against the snow. Saris began to feel slightly afraid; the tales that had been sung, the stories that had been told, but they did not compare to the real experience of meeting such a terrible beast. The Kowl slowly shook its massive head from left to right, sniffing the air. Saris' breath caught. Had the Kowl smelled him? Surely not! The Kowl stopped sniffing and was about to continue on when a sudden shift of air caused the wind to blow towards it, carrying the hunter's scent. Saris felt the rush of wind and prepared himself. He knew what was coming. His grip tightened even more on his crossbow. This was the moment.

The Kowl instantly let loose a mighty bellow that shook the earth and trees, causing the snow to float up in misty clouds around it. It lowered its head, its ivory horns reflecting the sun's light, ready to kill. The ground shook again as the Kowl charged, each strike of its plate-sized paws sending snow whirling around it. Saris braced himself and leapt aside at the last moment. The animal's charge came within an inch of him. One of its long horns ripped through his leather jacket and underlying clothes, tearing at his flesh before it passed. The wound, although minor, stung profusely. Saris did not waste his time, however, and quickly pivoted around, his finger squeezing his crossbow's trigger. There was a loud crack that echoed through the grove, then a blur of metal as the bolt embedded in the Kowl's side with a thump.

The subsequent roar shook the entire grove like an earthquake, sending waves of snow crashing down from the treetops. Saris took the time to cock and reload his crossbow as the wounded beast made to turn around. Its charging momentum carried the Kowl for several yards, and now it was not close enough to retaliate. The hunter knew, however, that he had only wounded it slightly. The creature began its charge again, leaving a trail of flying snow behind it. This time, Saris had enough warning, and he let his second bolt loose just as the Kowl came in firing range. His aim was true, the projectile whistling through the air smoothly, sliding in between the creature's ribs. A spurt of steaming blood escaped the wound, melting through the frost below. Saris quickly dashed out of the way before the enraged animal could strike him back.

By now there was a trail of scarlet behind the Kowl as its two wounds dripped with steaming blood. The hot fluid melted through the thick ice quickly, forming small puddles of crimson. Saris could tell that his last shot had dealt some major damage, as the beast was now whimpering slightly, small tremors racking its bloodstained body. Nevertheless, it slowly turned around for a third charge. Saris crouched low, his crossbow aimed at its neck for a killing strike. He waited for the Kowl to get close to him before he fired. A crack resounded through the surrounding area, as if pronouncing the shot's finality. This time his proximity to the beast allowed the bolt to hit the Kowl with greater force, so that it ripped through the beast's skin. A stream of blood began bubbling out of the Kowl's thick neck like a mountain river. It howled in anguish, slumping to the ground with a loud thud. The force of its fall sent tremors up the entire mountainside.

Saris yelled in pain and surprise as one of the fallen animal's flailing paws hit him square in the chest. The force of the blow sent him flying backwards through the air, the cold wind stinging at his face. He lost his breath when he felt the solid trunk of a tree collide with him. The impact sent shivers up his spine and jarred his teeth. He remained glued to the tree for several seconds, before he fell to the snow-laden ground, crumpled in a heap. Waves of pain and fatigue flowed through his body, setting it ablaze. He groaned, then painstakingly got up to see the results of his effort. The Kowl lay still some yards away, a puddle of red swirling around it as its neck wound continued to bleed. Saris leaned against the tree he had just slammed into. The task of bringing down the animal that was sprawled out in front of him had tired and stressed him greatly. But he had done it. He had done what many others before him had tried and failed to do. He had won.

A faint smile alighted on his face.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/27/2010 15:25:44)

Winter's Storm
By green_girl02


Dear Eukara Vox,
It was sad to hear that your master, Archanias, moved on. It was good to hear that he chose you to take his place. I have often sent different documents in from my travels through time and space to his library and I hope that you will allow me to continue to do such. This particular document is found in the records of a highly magical tribe of humans who have an odd connection to winter. The tribe was kind enough to allow me to copy it to send to you.

Oh! I'm so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Gianna, a time-traveling fairy. I like to explore different worlds and cultures. A long time ago, I stumbled on the Library's location and since then sent many documents to Master Archanias. I do hope you enjoy this document and wish for more. I'd love to come visit you sometime as well. Just name the time and place, but especially the time!
Sincerely,
Gianna Glow

Dear Gianna,

Thank you for your note. I, too, love to read and explore cultures different from my own. That is what led me to Master Archanias' tutelage. He also was one who enjoyed such endeavors and I thought that if I studied under him, I would be sent to worlds away from my own to learn about those cultures of which no one knows. Assembling the current book has been such a joyous experience. So many people to read about, creative minds thinking... Simply fabulous!

I have come across a paper or two of yours, and I am thankful that you will continue to send such wonderful writings my way. The library is that much richer because of it. A visit would be most wonderful. Perhaps in a month or two, as I have a feeling your presence here would be most beneficial.


Sincerely,
Eukara Vox



The Accounts of a Storm Maiden

It was white for as far as I could see, which wasn't saying much. The wind was twirling and whistling around my light cloak, beating at my exposed skin on my upper arms, stomach, and face. My skin was numb and raw from the chilling winds and snow that plowed its way across my body, forcing my cloak away from my side. Blood seeped between my fingers as I desperately tried to keep my life's energy within me as I staggered on, hoping on a fool's hope to reach my goal. A fool I had been though, to have thought I could be the first female of my tribe to reach the epicenter of the full winter's storm and return. I leaned heavily on my one weapon, a staff that was as tall as I. The sentient storm was fighting my every step, pushing, shoving at me. She was keeping me from joining her by beating me back with her worst blows, hating the smallest intrusion on her beautiful and cold realm. Yet on I struggled. Looking back, I still have no clue why. Maybe it was just because I was stubborn. Maybe it was because I knew more. Maybe it was because I knew nothing.

The reason I had started on this fool's journey in the first place began when I first showed signs of more talent than any of the other youths my age in the area of a warrior, including the males. I was headstrong, loyal, fast, and clever. This was my deadly combination that made up for the of lack of brute strength my fellow males used. I kept rising quickly through the ranks, even when the other females dropped out one by one to take on more domestic tasks such as healers and wives, with their easier initiation rites into womanhood. This continued until I was the last female left. I trained for years, growing stronger. All the other females of my age were already women. However, I knew what I wanted and I knew how to get there. The males surrounding me often worked off of pure anger, as most males do. I did not see the point of losing my edge by marring it with anger. I instead became an ice cold edge, thinking my way through every situation that confronted me.

Finally, the Night of Initiation came and with that came Naederatera, the winter storm that lasted exactly as many nights as there were initiates that year. She had gained sentience and disliked intrusion, but legend said that she was a woman scorned who had perished in the thickest of blizzards yet never actually died. Instead, she became one with the storm and brought the storm to life. She was as angry as a man without food and as cold as death itself. It was on this night my fellow initiates and I were called together. We were excited, knowing that our night would arrive soon. Each of us would be given one weapon, a pair of warm boots, warrior clothes, a light cloak, and a warning. We were told by the elders and other warriors that as we forced our way to the center, Naederatera would be speaking to us and telling us things. We were warned to hold to ourselves and know that she only means harm. After that, we would put on the clothing and weapons we had been given and sent out, one youth a night to battle his way to the center and force Naederatera to give them a proof they had made it there. Those who returned with their proof that they reached the center were brought into the warrior ranks. Those who didn’t return were forever lost. Sometimes their frozen and maimed bodies were found by other initiates fighting their way through the storm.

I was slated to be the last initiate to go out into the storm. Many had died this year. As I saw the males before me go out one by one, I grew more and more anxious to get my turn at it. Finally, it was my night. As I stood up in front of all my peers, the brand new men and warriors in the tribe, the elders turned to me and refused to give me my rights on the grounds that I was unfit because I was a female. Needless to say, I was enraged. How dare they forbid me what only the storm herself would judge me of! Unfit? For the first time since I began my training, I was angry. This led to my first brash mistake. I challenged the elders to set forth their best warrior with their choice of weapon and let me fight him with the weapon of their choosing. They quickly chose and sent for a seasoned man with a sword called The Splitter. His proof was already glowing red, the heat making the air around him shimmer. They then handed me a supple, but strong wooden staff. The elders informed me that if I beat him, I would be allowed to go.

I carefully circled the cocky warrior as he grinned. Suddenly, he just attacked, laying into me with a vengeance I had never seen. It took all I had to dodge his lethal strike, yet I knew I would never forget his words to me as he did so. "You will never be a warrior and I'm gonna make sure of that." Pain blossomed through me as the pommel of his sword clashed against my temple, dizzying me for a couple of precious seconds. I quickly fell back a couple of steps from his onslaught to reorganize and cool my head. I then laid into him, forcing him back as I ducked and weaved around his sword, making sure to keep my staff intact. I knew one strike from that sword would send my staff to pieces and then I would be in pieces too, literally. I struck at his feet, his hands, his head, his torso as I weaved away nimbly from his ever-swinging blade. Finally, I saw my shot. He had just struck out a full blow and I had managed to duck under it, bringing me around to his back. I swung my staff as hard as I could, hitting the back of his head and knocking him out cold. As the adrenaline from the fight left me, I realized I was bleeding from my side quite profusely. What I thought I had managed to avoid had actually hit me! I had won, but at a dire price.

The elders sent me on my way, smirking. They did not believe me to last the night, much less get the proof I needed. I intended otherwise. I set out, fighting against the already large storm. A large storm showed that it was already late at night. The storm always starts out small in the early evening, grows to its worst at midnight, holding that ferocity for hours, before starting to decrease two hours before the sun's rising. I knew I had lost much time and needed to make up for it. I stopped for a swift second to take off my thin cloak, wrapped it tightly around my bleeding midsection, and then made my way out of the village, heading towards where I met the most resistance. The center of the storm changed every night so no one could predict where to go. Each initiate had to trust his senses and just follow the beating of the storm, keeping the worst of it at his front side. This is how many males had done it before: brute strength vs. Naederatera. I did not have that advantage. I was wounded and female. I was known for my cunning and flexibility, not my strength. I was known for my skill, not my anger. It was at this point that I knew I had two options: do things my way or die. I didn’t like the idea of dying, so I had to change the rules of this if I were to even survive the night, much less become a warrior. Even now, I heard the storm's teasing whispers in my head. "Give in to the storm, embrace the world around you. Go away and leave it all." I screamed back at her, railing against the idea. This brought me back to the beginning. Me the fool, me the soon-to-be-dead fool, unless something changed.

That’s when it struck me. Give in and embrace the world. Now, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t mean give up and die. I realized I had to go with the flow and use my knowledge of the surrounding land to my advantage. I recalled a clump of trees near my current location. That would provide some cover from the storm while I moved closer to the edge, but I couldn’t go straight in. I had to go with the flow of the storm, while slowly moving in closer. I quickly followed my instinctual idea and put it into action. Allowing the wind to buffet me in the direction of the forest, I was quickly chilled to the bone. I finally made it to the forest and began to move toward the center of the storm. Naederatera's smooth words continued echoing through my mind. "I am not who you think I am. Just listen to me. You are a woman, just like me. I haven’t talked to any like me in forever." I screamed out against her, accusing her of not being a woman either. I couldn’t understand how she considered herself a woman like me when she is a storm. "Just come to me, you will understand all. Just listen and follow the winds. Don’t fight me." I slowly nodded and gave myself to the winds. Gave myself to the storm... and disappeared.

I found myself again, in front of this woman with pure white skin, her hair the color of the blizzard, her eyes the color of ice. "I am Naederatera. I was once a woman like you. I was from your tribe, but I have been like this for thousands of years. I have heard your legends about me and they are wrong, which explains your men's fear of me. I am not a woman scorned. I had been pursued by a known abuser. My parents had forced me to promise myself as a bride to this man, this piece of dirt. I couldn't do this, so I secretly planned to leave. The night I was to leave, this man came to me and attacked me. I was forced to flee into the night, in the middle of a growing storm with none of the supplies I had so laboriously prepared.

"As I wandered further out and out, I discovered I was lost. The blizzard worsened until I saw nothing. I felt its magic seeping into me as I was dying. Ice and magic was replacing my life's blood slowly until I was one with the storm. I was the storm and the storm was me. I could choose to be a strong blizzard or I could choose to be a woman. I had passed through death's portal and entered a place beyond time. I chose to watch over my people. Those who are worthy of being a warrior will return. I do not allow heartless and cruel killers to return from their initiation night. They may change after they return, but I do not allow those who are already like that."

She paused after that, gauging my response. I was quiet, thinking over everything she had revealed. I realized the elders were not actually in charge of the warrior caste. She was, and the elders hated her for it. That is why they tried to kill me.

I suddenly gasped as her cold hand suddenly touched my side. "You're injured, by a blade." I quickly related to her the story of what had happened. I also told her what would happen if I did not show back up at the tribe. "I know how to solve that. You need proof from me? Very well. I give you what is within you." A powerful magic flowed through me, tracing white and almost white swirls on my skin. I blacked out next, but when I woke up I felt alive. I stood up and traced some of the swirls on my hand.

"Welcome to the warrior caste, Storm Maiden. Return to your tribe with the truth, new powers, and a new look on life. You have passed through death's door as well into a whole new realm. Take your new name and take on the responsibilities of it with my blessing. If you ever need me, you can call on me with the storm within you. You are the storm and the storm is you. You are one of the few. Now go and may winter bless you as well."

I am now an older woman, but a wiser one. I found that to become wise, one had to be foolish at some point in your life. Those who are not wise are those who choose to not learn from the foolish moments. I found that to become the best you can be, you have to understand the worst that you can be. I found that to truly live, you must die. It is hard to explain this to children who train. They can only experience this by going out on their initiation night and meeting Naederatera. Only then do they truly begin to grow up. Winter and its many storms are harsh and cruel, but they create beauty and instigate a need for life in those who live there. Naederatera taught me all this and more, and then charged me to share my knowledge. I am old now, and I do not wish my story to be lost. I am becoming more storm-like and less human, so my time must be short before I join my ancestors. I leave you with the only blessing I can, the Blessing of Winter's Storm.




Eukara Vox -> RE: The Book of Winter (1/27/2010 15:31:02)

Snow Angels
by Eukara Vox

The newly fallen snow was so tempting. Samuel bounced in his seat at the table, watching as the large fluffy flakes slowly fell outside the window. He looked back at his father, then at the window, then back at his father impatiently.

"Daddy! I am going to miss the softest layers if you don't hurry!"

His father chuckled. "And why are the softest layers so important? All you are going to do is make more snow angels. I could understand if you were building something..."

"Because, Daddy, the snow angels are best in the softest snow!" Samuel nodded his head matter-of-factly. "They appear easier!"

His father walked to the table, bearing plates of scrambled eggs and toast. Setting Samuel's down, he sat in a chair next to his son and smiled. "What do you mean they appear easier?"

"Well... If I make them just right, and then get up, they look like they are supposed to, you know, like in the pictures in Sunday school." Samuel dug into his food and began to wolf it down. He knew the faster he ate, the faster he would be out the door.

Looking at his son oddly, the father too began to eat his food, though at a much slower rate. He watched the snow fall absentmindedly until a small bell rung softly behind them. Both father and son looked at each other and nodded. "Mommy must be awake. How about you go up and say good morning before creating your legions of angels?"

Samuel giggled as he hopped up from the table. He kissed his father on the cheek. "The eggs were very good. Thank you, Daddy." He ran up the stairs, his footsteps echoing through the now-empty first floor.

The father continued to chew his food, lost in thought. This declaration about the angels should have troubled him, yet he couldn't bring himself to argue with Samuel. Sighing heavily, he rose from his seat and cleared the table. As he began to prepare his wife's breakfast, he could hear Samuel telling her about his angels. Shaking his head, he fixed her hot cereal.

* * * *


"...And I think that I am going to make twenty angels today!"

"Twenty angels? Are you sure we have enough room in the yard for that many? You are getting so big..." Her voice cracked as she spoke. Mustering a smile, she hid her thoughts.

Samuel continued, as if he didn't catch his mother's momentary hiccup. "Twenty angels might be enough. I may have to make more. Today is a special day."

"A special day? How so?" she asked, confused.

"You will have to wait and see, Mommy. But I promise you, they will be the most beautiful angels yet!" Samuel's eyes shone brightly, his excitement hardly kept in.

"Well if this is a day to remember, then hop to it! I want to watch you make those angels and see how beautiful they are." She squeezed his hand and then pulled him closer for a hug. A tear fell from her eye, running down her cheek until it soaked into Samuel's jacket.

Samuel pulled away slowly and smiled at his mom. "Can you still see the yard from here? Or do the mirrors need to be moved?"

"I can see the yard wonderfully from here, Sammy. Now, go and make your angels so I can see them." His mother watched as he bounded out the door. She listened to his progress down the stairs and released the first tears of her day.

* * * *


Samuel busied himself making angels in the snow, careful to create each one perfectly. His mother watched his meticulous attention to details. Some angels were given bigger wings after he made the initial form, while others received longer gowns. It made her smile, watching him create for her. Once in a while, he looked up and waved at her, pointing to this angel or that, proudly.

She had felt weaker this day, but didn't dare let on for Samuel's sake. She ate her cereal, allowed her husband to help her get ready—all without complaint. She wanted more than anything to be outside with Samuel, playing in the snow and lying down to make snow angels.

The mirrors only showed so much. Sure, she saw the smiles and playful eyes, but she could not hear his voice and laughter. They had tried a monitor, but in the end, the traffic and neighbors seemed louder than his voice.

She glanced outside and counted each angel in the snow. Seventeen child-sized snow angels laid across their yard. She shook her head in disbelief. "He said at least twenty, and the yard still has plenty of space to go."

"Hmmm?" her husband asked as he entered their room.

"Oh, Samuel told me that today was special and that it called for at least twenty angels. He's made seventeen and has more to go. I wonder what he does out there all day..." she wondered.

"He makes the angels." He shrugged his shoulders, smiling, and set down the lunch tray. "Every snowfall, every dusting, he recreates them. It's as if he has to."

"He makes them for me. What will he do when..." Fresh tears fell and the man wrapped her in his arms.

"Let's not focus on what will be, but what is. Samuel is doing what Samuel needs to. As long as you find joy in his creations, he will love doing this." He rocked her gently, careful not to cause her pain. "That is all you must think about."

The mother nodded and looked outside again. Samuel had made another one and was working on the nineteenth. They both waited until the twentieth angel was done before ringing the bell on the outside of the house.

* * * *


Samuel heard the bell and smiled. "It's lunch time! I will be back later. We still need to make more of you. So don't go anywhere, like you promised."

Turning his back on his creations, the boy ran inside. He pulled off each item of clothes as he made his way to the stairs, leaving a trail of half-soaked laundry in his wake. He ran up the stairs, his bare feet slapping against the hard wood.

He ran into his parents' room, jumping up and down, giddy with excitement. "Have you seen them?! Have you seen all of them? I made twenty and there is room for more. After lunch, I think I need to make more. You can't have too many angels!"

The husband and wife smiled at their son and waved him up on the bed. The trio hugged close, basking in each other's touch and warmth. As they slowly pulled away from each other, the husband announced it was time to eat.

"Can I say blessing, Daddy?" Samuel asked.

His father was caught off guard. "Of course you can. But you have never asked to do this before."

"Like I have been telling you. Today is a special day! Special days are for special things."

His mother reached out to him and smiled. "I would love to hear you pray, darling."

Beaming, Samuel carefully folded his hands and bowed his head. "Dear God, thank You for the snow. Thank You for the fun I get to give Mommy every time You send snow. Thank You for the angels, big and small. Thank You for the special day that You have given us today. Thank You for eating together and being a family. Thank You for all that You do. Amen."

His father and mother glanced at each other, tears threatening their eyes. Samuel's father served each of them their tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. The meal was punctuated by the silly stories Samuel told about his angels. Stories about their names and their jobs, stories about their adventures around the world... Little did the boy know that the computer recorded everything.

Lunch was over too soon and the father took all the dishes down to the kitchen. Samuel remained, watching outside and looking at his angels. "Sweetheart, what makes today, of all the days, special?" his mother spoke, breaking the silence.

"Well, I guess I can give you a hint. They all say that today is the day they have a big job to do."

His mother looked at him, searching for a silly face or a giggle, but there was nothing but seriousness. "They do?"

"Oh yes, they do. That is why I need to make as many as I can. The more I make, the better." Samuel looked at his mother innocently.

Smiling, she reached out and ruffled his hair. "Do you mind staying with me a bit longer?"

Samuel hesitated and looked out the window. As if being spoken to, he nodded and turned to her. "I have lots of time, Mommy. Can we just lay here and cuddle?"

His mother nestled down under the blanket and pulled Samuel close. They laid there for a while, Samuel eventually falling asleep. His mother spent his entire nap stroking his hair and singing to him. She held him close and cried silently so as to not wake him up.

Eventually, Samuel woke up and stretched. He hugged his mother tightly, declaring that he needed to continue his work outside. Reluctantly, she let him go and watched him run out of her room. She watched the mirrors, eventually seeing Samuel outside attending to the angels.

The more he worked, the more it seemed that he spoke to the angels he had made. Each hour he added three new angels, each as different as the last. He paid close attention to certain details, details she didn't understand. But each angel was beautiful in its own way.

Then suddenly, he stopped. He looked at the last angel for a long time, spoke and then looked up at the mirror. He ran inside, stripping once more, trailing wet clothes behind him and bounded into his parents' room.

"Are you done?" his mother asked.

He nodded quietly. "I am done. I have twenty-six angels, and that is a lot of angels!"

His mother breathed deeply and smiled. "They are all so beautiful. I don't think any of them look exactly alike."

"Oh no, Mommy, angels never look alike. God made them special, with different looks and different jobs." Samuel climbed into bed with his mother and held her tightly. "They all have one job to do today."

Samuel laid next to his mother as she gazed at each angel in turn, recording their details so that she would remember them always. Snow began to fall sparingly, lightly dusting the ground and everything outside.

"Oh look, Samuel, more snow!"

"I know, Mommy, but this snow is different." Samuel spoke without lifting his head off of her shoulder.

"How so?"

"This is special snow. God sent it to help the angels do their job." His voice had lost a little of its excitement, causing his mother to be concerned.

Samuel's father walked into the room and looked at the bed, his wife's eyes worried, his son's sad. "What is going on here?"

His wife lightly shrugged her shoulders and looked down at Samuel. The little boy took a deep breath. "It's almost time for the angels to do their jobs."

"It is?" his father asked, sitting on the bed, and laid one hand on his son and the other on his wife.

Samuel merely nodded as the wind picked up. His mother watched as the new fallen snow over the angels became caught up in the air. It lifted above the yard, leaving the angel imprints in tact. The white powder rose as a cloud and seemed to hover near the window. She watched in awe as Samuel nodded his head at an unheard statement.

"Mommy, I love you. You are the best Mommy. I am glad that God made you my mommy."

"Baby, I love you too. You have always been my angel, my happiness." She kissed his head and hugged him tightly.

Samuel's father watched his wife's eyes close, though she fought it. Her breathing slowed, shallow, until it ceased. It was then that he knew what the angels were for; what they had always been for. And in a swirl of snow, he would remember this day forever, not because the computer recorded it all, but because of the twenty-six angels God sent him and his son.




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