The International Writers Magazine: First Chapters on fiction in progress

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The Celestial Awakening • Alex Clifton I used to have a dream. I would be running toward a strange man shrouded in a strange light, but no matter how fast I ran, I could never reach him and I could never finish the dream, for as always at this time a hideous sight waked me. The face of my mentor, Theana Motum. “Celestra! Wake up. The young of this world.” Smack. “Oww! Okay. By the blade Theana, what is it?” “You’re late again. Get up and get dressed now. Queen Lutisha will be in court any minute now.” Theana howled. “WHAT! Not again?” I groaned.

I didn’t know why I was surprised everyday that I had overslept, but today was an important day. The great Queen Lutisha was to be in court today to sign the death warrants of three would-be murderers. This was common enough if it was an ordinary day but recently there had been talk of an assassin in the town who had come to ‘pay his dues’ to the Queen. According to the intelligence that had been gathered by my spies had revealed that the rebel forces had sought help from a mercenary who was known in the west, and it was my job to see that their plot would fail, no matter how many throats had to be cut. Nothing was to harm the Queen. The death warrants were to lure the assassin out into the open but the fate of the family chosen was real. They would die. The mother and the two children.
If this was a month or three ago I would have personally killed any traitor that had disobeyed the Queen’s laws; but recently the Queen had changed. Instead of punishing the wicked, she had begun to want the blood of the innocent spilt, including children and her own four year old daughter, Cerenti. It was my unfortunate job to lead the armies of the Black Dragon Knights, Queen Lutisha’s own personal guard) to rid the lands of all the people who stood in her way. I hated it. It made me sick to my stomach, but I had no choice. She was my adoptive mother, she saved me from the raiders that destroyed my village so long ago, she raised me and cared for me like I was her own and I owed her my life, but I despised the woman the she had become. If I betrayed her, then I was as good as dead and I didn’t want to die. But I must protect Her Royal Highness. I must protect my mother.

The castle had once been full of life, but the out break of a small rebellious faction had thrown the palace’s tranquillity off balance and it had now become full of suspicion. Only high-ranking officers, including the Black Dragon Knights and myself were the ones the Queen permitted near her.
Court was full when I reached it, but luckily the Queen had not yet arrived. People only came to the court for they believed that if they failed to attend, then they would be dubbed a traitor. Every time there was a need for the Queen to appear in court, more and more people would turned up. There were no guards in the court itself for they were busy dealing with the crowd. Soon the guards had to turn most away and it became a hectic time for the citizens of Aanacia and those of our allied countries who wished still to be in favour of Her Majesty. I passed silently down the middle of the aisle and I could feel their eyes and hear the whispers of the ones that hated my kind. I was used to their comments, but to their tone. Turning around, I glared at them, and flexed my fingers. That silenced them for now. As luck would have it, I wasn’t looking where I was going and when I looked back; I walked straight into something which stunned me for a few moments. Whatever it was it was hard and made me double back and nearly fall over. Some of the spectators that had seen what happened laughed under their breath. Confused, I focused my eyes to see the thing that had made me feel like such a fool. It wasn’t a thing, it was a man. A handsome man with blonde hair. A handsome man with blonde hair in Silver armour. He was staring at me with brilliant blue eyes.

“Watch where you’re going.” I said before I could think. “What’s he staring at? What IS his problem?” He said nothing, but for some reason as I looked into his eyes, I forgave him. He looked so sad. Then he looked away from me and beckoned to two men clad in leather tunics and crossed to the side of the hall where he stood gazing out of the windows in to the perfect blue sky. I had no time to ponder over this stranger; you got a lot of new faces here. Then the horns of Oria sounded, signalling the arrival of the Queen. I went to my usual waiting area; the pillar up from the steps on the left-hand side of the throne. There I could easily make it to protect Queen Lutisha if needed be, plus it gave the illusion that I was much further away than I looked. Queen Lutisha entered and immediately and everybody stood up in eerie silence. She wore a cold expression to match her cold heart. I had noticed these changes in her. I was young woman, but not incompetent to notice how people could change. Elegantly striding up the aisle like a bride dressed for a funeral. Toying with people was her manner of entertainment; prolonging the inevitable and making people suffer. This would be the opportune time for the assassin to strike. No guards, as was part of the plan to catch the assassin. Nothing to stop him. I tensed my body ready to pounce at the assassin to stop him succeeding. But nothing happened. Queen Lutisha made it to her seat before giving me a threatening glare. I shivered. This was the woman who killed her own daughter to stop her growing up and replacing her as Queen. This was the woman that butchered, plundered and burnt an entire town because she didn’t like the way it looked.

The warrants were presented and the ceremony was drawn out to make the family suffer. I kept vigilant for the entire trial. Never leaving a face for long. The fate of these poor wretches who had been chosen for this cruel trap had now been sealed. Queen Lutisha had called it ‘martyrdom’, when in reality, all they were was bait. I was beginning to think that there was no assassin at this point. It was the end of the trial, the victims had been sentenced and everyone was getting up to leave. Nothing. Not a thing had happened. It was then at that moment, when I relaxed my body a little, that the assassins struck. Luckily I saw it through the corner of my eyes; a whirl of black came from each side of the room. Their target was within reach. I raced to the aid of the Queen and stood between her and the assailants position myself between her and the attackers. I raised my fists and they immediately began to glow with a sinister aura. One assailant was a slower than the other, so I had time to prepare for my next move. I pushed the first attacker away and struck the second with my dagger which slashed his throat and completely removed his head. Blood shot straight from his neck and he stood for a few moments before slumping to the ground. It startled the first for he hesitated holding his daggers by his side, before regaining his senses and charged screaming. I caught both his hands with my own; our bodies were entwined as we tried to kill one another. While I was resisting his strength, I noticed who he was; he was one of the men that had been signalled by the man in the…
“But that must mean…!”

I never got a chance to complete my thought, for from amidst the chaos of people scrambling to get out, the man in silver armour came soaring from above their heads with a giant sword raised above his own, ready to strike me down. I had seconds to react. Summoning with all my might, I released the awesome power of darkness within me. The floor around me turned black and the darkness ascend up to protect me like a shield, separating me from the assassins. The man in silver came crashing down on the wall of darkness. He couldn’t penetrate it so the force sent him tumbling backwards. The first assassin was caught in the darkness and it was consuming him alive.

“What the- my Lord! Help me!” The darkness had crushed the life out of him and it finished accepting its sacrifice then, vanished. The man in silver was looking at me with fear and malcontent as he gingerly got up from the ground. The people had fled, the guards were pouring in, and Queen Lutisha had not even flinched. It was then that the man in silver turned and fled. “Stop him!” I shouted chasing after him.

He was trapped. This apparently did not impede him, for he took his sword and cut them down in a bloody mess, and continued running. I ran passed the bodies of the guards and their warm blood covered my legs. Running right then left, right. Straight into the castle wall. “Surrender now and I will spare you the fate that befell your friends.” I said triumphantly.
“So I can be sentenced by that traitor of a Queen?” the man retorted.
“Maybe. But you’ve proved yourself useless against my power. So why don’t you sheath your sword and come here like a good little human, hmm?” I cooed mockingly, though I could understand what he was saying. “If you want me that bad, you’ll just have to get me.” He said. And with that he flung himself over the side of the wall into a hundred and fifty feet drop.

© Alex Clifton Feb 2005
mackv001@wsgfl.org.uk

This is the first chapter of an intended novel. If you like what you read, let the author know.

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