Land of Birds (temporary title) *unfinished* ~Chapter 2 added~

by **rattyjol** 9/27/2009, 8:58 pm

Maturity: I'm not sure yet. So far there isn't anything much, but... who knows?
Fantasy: Magic, alternate dimensions, etc.

So... my friend's mom used to make these scavenger hunts for us, and they were always "made" by a sorcerer named Sageleaf. A couple months ago my friend and I decided to write a story about Sageleaf. We alternate chapters, mostly. We don't see each other all that often (every other week at the most) so the chapters (which, by the way, are extremely short) will be slow. I'll post just one or two at a time to make it last longer. Smile

~~~

Prologue
“Awaken!” The voice boomed, breaking the thousand-year-old silence. The sound rang out in the dark, echoing off the walls of the walls of the ancient lava chamber. Outside of the volcano, the Speaker waited and watched for the Moment.
Suddenly, a violent red light spewed from the top of the Mountain and an unearthly screech split the heavy air. Then the ground started shaking, and the Speaker was thrown to the ground. The earth split open; deep voids lined the cracked dirt. Cracks appeared in the volcano. Finally, when it seemed the earth itself would fall apart, the volcanic queen exploded, and the dim light was all but obscured by giant, leathery, black wings.
It passed over the Speaker, joining its dark brethren outside. Together they moved across the land, silent and dark as shadows.
They slowly made their way towards the multicolored glow coming from the very center of the world. They entered the huge cavern, effortlessly knocking down the humanoid creatures that surrounded the source of the light: A bright, swirling Orb of pure energy. The thirteen shadowy creatures circled it, moving faster and faster, heedless to the Guardian that tried desperately to push them away. Slowly, gradually, the Orb darkened.
Finally, it turned the deepest shade of black, no longer spherical, but a distorted mass of twisted power. The shadowed creatures disappeared as a rumbling began beneath them and above them and around them.
“No!” the Guardian screamed, but the sound was lost in the explosion that followed.

Chapter 1
Lena Fisher set down her pencil. She glanced over at her twin, Sophie, who was sitting next to her, behind the front desk of the bookshop the two of them were working at over the summer. Sophie ignored her and kept reading. Lena was just reaching for her pencil again when the bells tied to the door jingled, signaling a customer.
It was a dark-skinned woman, and though she couldn’t have been over twenty-five, her long hair was pure silver. Her eyes were a startling shade of violet, and in the light of the morning sun streaming through the windows she looked otherworldly.
Lena quickly nudged her sister, who shut her book and stood up.
“Uh, may I help you?” she said, her blue eyes widening.
“Yes,” the woman said, taking in the girls’ identical appearances at a glance. “Could you get Elyca for me? Tell her that an old… ah… friend has come to visit.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sophie said quickly, turning towards the back of the store.
Lena waited, feeling uncomfortable left alone with the strange woman. After a few minutes Elyca stepped out of the back room with Sophie trailing behind. The shop owner’s eyebrows rose as she caught sight of the woman.
“Lena, Sophie, go help the other customers,” she said, gesturing vaguely towards the rest of the store.
The twins exchanged a confused glance. The store was empty. But Lena caught the glare Elyca shot them when they didn’t instantly comply and dragged Sophie off behind a shelf.

Chapter 2
Sophie opened her mouth to complain, but Lena clapped a hand over it. Sophie let out an indignant grunt, which was the best she could manage around her sister’s hand.
“Shh!” Lena hissed. “Listen!” She jerked her head towards the two women talking quietly at the front of the shop.
“-Needs Ignites to help wake the Shyll before Octavian finds all the Lucers,” the woman was saying.
“And you expect me to desert my shop and my life just so I can help him?” Elyca hissed. “What has Sageleaf ever done for me? He explained, told me that I was never to use my magic unless necessary. But he never came back. Why should I help him now?”
The woman was calm as she said, “Because if you don’t, the Lucers will destroy all civilization.”
There was a moment of silence. “Fine,” Elyca snapped finally. “I’ll go.”
The woman smiled calmly, as if she’d expected it all along, and led the way to the back of the shop, right past the shelf where the two girls were hiding. They quickly ducked out of sight.
“I wonder what that was about,” Sophie wondered, mystified.
“Me too,” Lena said, staring after them. “Let’s follow them.”
“Why?”
“Well, they said they were going somewhere, but they went towards the back.”
“Right…” Lena’s usual logic had prevailed again.
“Plus, the woman said the… somebodies… were going to destroy the world-“
“Civilization,” Sophie corrected.
“Whatever. She said the somebodies were going to destroy civilization, and they had to stop them. Maybe we can help!”