nanowrimo Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Tales of the Aggronaut

NaNoWriMo 23 – Best Laid Plans

November 24, 2013 by Belghast

NaNoWriMo 23

I did not really end up writing much more yesterday after I crossed the 40,000 word line. However this morning I have been up and writing for awhile now. I just knocked out one chapter so I thought I would post it really quick. My intent is to write another one here in a few minutes. The final action is starting to play out and I think timing wise things are going to line up just fine. Give me enough time for the conflict resolution and a chapter to hint at things to come. The only problem I have is I have not been able to kill off any characters. I like them too much… I know the whole kill your darlings bit, but it seems cruel. The more I think about the more I think I will probably remove the very limited cursing so I can target the young adult market.

Here is the story so far, for anyone wanting to catch up. As always completely raw and unedited.

23 – Best Laid Plans

“What do you mean they have an army?” screamed Baigan and the cowering gobbley advisor. Firg visibly shaking at this point repeated the news. “General the scouts report that there is a force amazing on the other side of the wall at Hagengarde. It appears to be a combined force of Valkore, Sasquatch, and Eflen. The group has coalesced over the last few days starting only with the Valkore and quickly being joined by a large group of Sasquatch and Elfen.” Baigan beyond livid screamed at the quivering Gobbley once more. “How could this have happened and it went unnoticed? This was not supposed to happen. These races have no treaty or pact, they have no reason to fight together.”

“Oh but Baigan you are wrong, they have every reason to band together.” Another voice spoke up from the corner of the room. It was of the gorund advisor that Mogo has left here when he returned to House Bain in Tjorba. As Mogo put it, it was his assurance that everything go smoothly. Baigan thought the intruder was here to undermine him, but up until now he had remained quiet in his opposition. “You have taken too long, and shown your intent. Our forces have been in place for weeks letting everyone in the wildlands know our intent was to attack. Now these people have done what any logical people would, band together against a common enemy.”

“Sir there is more..” the gobbley continued feeling a bit strengthened by the comments of Firg. Baigan stared at the stammering advisor as though he was going to make him explode by the mere act. “Well then? What is this more? What other bad news do you have for me whelp?” Baigan had lowered his scream to somewhat but was no less frustrated. “There is a keep to the west, that contained a Nightlord Assassin of Lord Bain. A strike team has disabled the keep, and as far as I can tell has killed the Nightlord Khaloth. They are heading this way now as well, bringing with them a small army of wildfae.” The gobbley advisor finished waiting for the anger to return.

Baigan mulled this news over for a moment. Why did Bain have a Nightlord waiting nearby and not tell him. They were trying to undermine him, steal his glory for themselves. Everyone was conspiring against him, he had to be careful now, he had to make sure the masters will was done. He wanted to flay the gobbley and gorund with his stormfire, but he could not. He needed the big dumb brutes to fight against this so called army. “This is what you Trogjan are supposed to be good at right? Waging war? Then we will wage war on two fronts.” Baigan said without delving into his suspicions.

“We will array our war machines to the west to face the smaller force, and bring the weight of our Ort Backbreakers down to bear on the larger force from the south.” Baigan pronounced having decided this was the best course of action. “I will ride out to give the machines support with my magics, and you Firg will command your Ortan army.” The gorund admitted surprise, this was in fact the best course of action given the disparity in the sizes of the groups. The machines were better suited for the west as it gives them the high ground to attack down from. Maybe this impudent mage did know a thing or two about making war.

The gorund stepped forward from his chair in the corner. “I agree with your assessment. It is better for us to fight meat with meat and focus the bulk of our numbers to the south.” He stepped around to face baigan, his long flowing royal blue cloak trailing behind him. He was every vision of a general, broad shoulders encased in a rugged body armor. “I will now go prepare the troops for the assault. It could come at any time. Your magic will be most useful supporting our gobbley machines. I look forward to reporting our victory to Lord Bain.” He gave a mock salute and walked out of the main chamber.

Firg shuddered at the thought of the alternative. He knew that if they were defeated, Lord Bain would expect Baigan’s head as tribute for his offenses. The lord had expected him to fail, and in doing so he would finally be rid of the shades from his court. He could use this act of Baigan as a greater sign of the weakness of the shades and purge the Trogjan empire of their spindly filth. There was a time during the Winter war that they were needed, but that time has long passed and they add nothing that cannot be made up with machinery. Firg made a mental note to assign one of his assassins to the western front. In case of defeat he would need to capture Baigan’s head quickly and retreat with it to Tjorba.

The news about Khaloth was the most troubling as he walked out the castle to the southern front. Who had the power to destroy a Nightlord? They were beings of pure shadow, that resisted all known forms of attack. This combined with their almost unique code of loyalty to complete a contract at all costs and never turn upon the contractor made them absolutely terrifying opponents. Khaloth was their contingency plan, a way of getting through the sunwall if Baigan failed. He was to find a weak point in the wall and slip through as the main battle was going on and strike them from behind. He wondered if the Nightlord had in fact already breached the wall, but with the impending strike against Fort Kraken he could not risk sending someone out into the countryside to check. Anyone who could have bested Khaloth and his reavewolf pets is someone to certainly be wary of.

“This is not going as planned, none of this was supposed to happen” Baigan thought to himself as he left the throne room and descended into the bowels of the keep. The farmhouse had gone better than planned, how was he to know that this would not? In all the centuries since the Summerwall was raised, never once had the Elfen lowered themselves to associate with the Sasquatch primates or these Valkore scum. Someone was conspiring against him, that had to be it. Someone wanted him to fail, wanted him to look bad in the eyes of the master. Who could possibly be his rival, who would have the power to oppose him from behind the shadows. The gorund was far too brutish to carry this level of deception out, someone would have to be working behind the scenes bringing together these forces against him.

“I will get my answers” Baigan thought as he strode into the dungeon. He stopped in front of the cell of Benjanatos Waxwood, the Woodsblade protector of the queen. If someone was conspiring against him, it would likely be one of his companions from the council of seasons. As he entered the cell, Benj was slumped against his chains bound by his hands and feet to the wall. “Benj my old friend. You are going to give me some answers.” Baigan said cloyingly as he crossed the room to stand in front of the slumped man. “You… have never… been my friend. I have no answers for you” Benj mustered with as much force as he could put behind his words in this current weakened state.

Baigan thrust his arm out grasping the mans neck and squeezing slightly as he stared into the other man’s eyes. “Why are the Elfen cooperating with Sasquatch, Valkore and Wildfae?” He squeezed a little tighter “Why have they raised an army to defy my will?” the loosened his grip letting the mans head fall back down. “We have no army, but any free man would oppose you if given the chance.” Benj gasped, his voice barely a whisper. “They will retrieve the queen and free her, and destroy you in the process.” Benj summoned his strength and lifted his head to stare at Baigan, and with as much strength as he could muster spat into the others face.

Baigan screamed madly coalescing his rage into his palm coating it with shimmering ice. The pressed his palm into the other man’s bare chest and almost immediately there was a sizzling sound of flesh being burned by the cold. Benj scowled in pain as he writhed against the chains trying to back away from the icy cold, only finding a wall pinning him in place. Baigan sneered as his palm drove into the flesh of the other man, causing Benj to start panting as it applied pressure to his lungs cutting off his air supply. Baigan removed his hand, and the other slumped against the chains once more. On his chest a bright purplish scar began steaming as the flesh warmed to the temperature of the cell.

“No matter how badly I want to kill you. You will live Benjanatos.” Baigan said forcing himself to calm down. “I want you to see how futile this little rebellion is. I want you to watch as I take the heads of your alliance for trophies. I want you to see as the summerwall falls and the wildlands are ours.” Baigan leaned in close to the other who was now writhing in pain “Your suffering has only just begun”. Baigan crossed the room, and strode out of the cell, leaving the other hanging there suffering. He would crush this alliance, and in turn all of the races of the wildlands. He would further the masters plan, and be elevated as his greatest champion. Baigan Derrow would be a name feared everywhere.

NaNoWriMo 22 – Reckoning

November 23, 2013 by Belghast

NaNoWriMo 22

I did not end up writing at all last night. I had a raid so I took the night off. However I did manage to right with a vengeance this morning and just broke 40,000 words. Since I wrote about 4,000 words today I am hoping that I can do the same if not a bit more tomorrow. I would really like to leave the weekend sitting at 45,000 words so I can hopefully finish up by Thursday. If not I guess I can write next weekend as well. Things are starting to come together in my mind and I think the timing is going to work out just fine. We are barreling towards the main conflict being resolved and I have about 10,000 words to go.

Here is the story so far if you want to catch up. Once again… completely raw and unedited.

22 – Reckoning

Merowyn knelt at the cliffside watching the sprites darting in and out of the keep below. She thought to herself, something must be controlling them. They all looked as though they had been drained of their light and where simply going through the motions like puppets. She knew that they would have to rescue them, but she was not entirely certain how. She had used the power of spring to inspire and empower the little pixies before, and she wondered if it would be enough to wake them from their present stupor. The problem was that on this side of the wall there was simply not enough “life” to gain power from. Her magic would be extremely weakened and as such she was hesitant to act without a backup plan.

Kale and Jace, they both had proven themselves to be more than competent fighters during the conflict with the reavewolves. But she did not want to harm the spites, they were in essence her children. They had adopted her as their “Lady” almost as a patron diety. She felt needed and loved and everything she was missing when she ran away from Avalon. She didn’t want harm to come to any of them, and how could she ask Kale and Jace to go into a situation like that with their hands tied. There had to be another way to save the sprites.

She wondered if they rushed the keep, could they possibly take down whatever force had done this to them. Maybe then the effects of this dark magic would reverse itself. That was just speculation because really she had no idea what might have caused them to be in this present state. They looked like they had been drained and turned into dark versions of themselves. Hell for that matter she had no idea if she even could reverse the effects. This indecision infuriated her almost more than the fact that someone had attacked her children. She felt helpless for the first time in a really long time. She was a woman of great power… how could she be paralyzed like this.

She heard someone walking up to her side and looked noticing it was Jace. The boy had an excited look on his face and spoke in hushed words as he got close to her. “I might have an answer… Kale and I scouted around and found a pipe that leads into the keep.” He said with determination “We can probably sneak into the keep through the sewer system. It appears unguarded.” Mero beamed “Great Work! This might just be the answer. Lets ready everyone and get going then.” She stood gathering her things.

At the news Jace closed his eyes and concentrated as his cloak morphed around him into the leafscale armor. Picking up his lyre and staff the morphed them as well into the sword and shield. He slung his pack onto his back and was as ready as he would ever be for the journey ahead. He crossed the cliff to Kale who was doing the same. She already had the great silver hammer slung across her back along with her pack. He took her hand in his and squeezed it tight, and she returned his glance. “We ready for this?” he queried and she nodded with a stoic look on her face. “Lets save the sprites.” Kale replied as she released his hand and began walking towards the path leading into the ravine below that lead to the drainage pipe.

As she walked she was met by Mero, Dobin and the other sprites all of which ready for battle. They were storming the keep, and hopefully no one would notice until it was too late for them. They would take the central chamber, either capture or destroy the enemy and hopefully save the sprites. She was certain that the sewer was not left completely unguarded, but they wouldd deal with whatever came along the way. Dimcy buzzed ahead of her lighting the way as they neared the drainage pipe. Kale grabbed ahold of the iron bars and concentrating and summoning her strength she managed to dislodge a couple so that they could slip inside.

She noticed that it felt as though she was gaining strength on this side of the wall. There as something about it, the desolation and cold seemed to feed her. She found herself more restless, more hungry for battle. When they first arrived at the cliffside and saw the keep below, it was everything she could do to keep from charging ahead and attacking the keep face on. It was only Jace that had calmed her enough to start looking for another way in. She secretly hoped there would be lots of things inside that she could fight. She craved slamming the hammer down on her foes… and this scared her more than a little bit.

Kale hopped up into the pipe and helped both Jace and Merowyn into it as well. The surroundings were much like you would expect of a drainage pipe. Cold dampness made slick with little bits of a purple moss and slick patches of frost. Thankfully the light of Dimcy warmed it up slighty, made her remember what the sun felt like. They walked carefully along the slippery corridor and ahead to a junction where another pipe met it and began a slow ascent upwards. The upwards pipe lead to a great stone cistern, and from there multiple hallways leading up into the keep. The question is which Hallway would lead us to where we needed to go.

Merowyn stared around the cistern looking at each of the paths. She could send a sprite down each to scout it out, or she could just make a decision. The problem is she had no idea where they were going. Mero’s ears perked up at a sudden sound, it seemed to be coming from each of the hallways. As she strained to listen it was a rapid clicking sound, almost like a beast’s claws against a stone floor. “Reavewo..” she started to say as one of the great beasts slammed into her knocking her off her feet. From each of the hallways came a small group of the wolves quickly filling the cistern in snarling madness.

The wolf was pushing down on Merowyn trying to bite her, as she struggled to hold it at bay with one hand pushing up under its jaw. With the other hand she desperately reached into a sheath at her waist. After some effort she managed to retrieve a small silver dagger that had been hanging there hidden underneath her dress. She brought the dagger up sliding it between her fingers and up into the beasts jaw, pushing hard as it slipped into its skull. There was a muffled yelp as the beast began convulsing and then after one violent siezure fell silent. She pushed the mass off of her and got back to her feet.

She looked across the room to see Kale pounding away at the beasts with her great silver hammer. Seeing her like this reminded Mero of Morrow and her own weapon of choice. The girl was amazing as she met the beasts mid flight as they charged at her, knocking them back to the ground with one powerful blow. As a result she had gained a ring of beasts around her all cowering slightly, not certain if they wanted to charge in again only to be struck down. Each battered and bruised from the strikes they had taken before, but still hungry for the meal that her and her companions represented.

Almost too late Merowyn noticed that another beast was charging, as she braced for the attack. Jace rushed in from beside her bringing his shield between her and the beast and knocking it away. He leapt with great precision bringing his sword down on the beasts skull in one quick motion. As the beast shook against the ground he turned to strike another reavewolf down with his shield only to repeat the leaping motion bringing his sword down to bear against it. She stood dazed as the combat played out around her. It felt like she was watching the entire scene in slow motion. She was never the warrior that her sister was, she had always shied away from battle and preferred her magics instead.

She felt like she had to save every drop of her energy however if she hoped to save the sprites. She only had one big spell in her, the entire time they had been on this side of the wall she felt as though she was being drained of her power. The elfen had made the summer wall and created a realm of eternal summer, and as such the Trogjan had done the same creating a desolate world of eternal winter. On this side of the wall it was not her place or season and she was left near powerless. She could not risk casting a spell on these assailants for fear it would drain her completely before she was able to save her children.

Thankfully it seemed that Kale, Jace and Dobin were more than capable of defending her. The little sprite was making up with fervor what he lacked in raw power. She watched as Dobin swooped down on a reavewolf landing on his back. As the huge beast tried in vain to swat the sprite off dobin grabbed hold of its fur with one hand and with the other he began jabbing his pike into the wolf’s neck. The creature yowled in pain as Dobin struck, his pike eventually severing the spinal cord causing the beast to collapse over on its own weight. The little sprite released his furry hold and flittered off looking for the next fray.

Her defenders made short work of the slavering beasts and before long the room was filled with nothing but the heavy breaths of her companions and a myriad of odd gurgling sounds from the dying wolves. During the fight standing back as she did, she noticed that more wolves seemed to be coming from the central hallway, so she surmised that it must lead to the main chambers of the keep. She also surmised that the fact they were just attacked by the reavewolves meant that their entry into the keep did not go unnoticed and that more than likely other forces were on their way. They had to move quickly to take advantage of the pause in action.

Merowyn motioned to the others and the group began moving up the hallway. Jace had taken the point and Dobin and his wing of sprites taking up the back. Kale had decided to stay close to her just in case something lept out of the shadows again. Dimcy buzzed along to the other side of Kale, it seemed as though the little sprite was protecting the her and not Mero. She had noticed in their time travelling that Dimcy seemed to be deeply bonded with Kale, even more so than she was with Jace. The two of them were both extremely quiet by nature, and I think the little fire sprite found in Kale a kindred spirit. It is not like Jace really needed much protecting as he had grown into quite the formidable warrior.

The hallway spilled out into a large circular room which seemed as though it must have been the central chamber of the keep. At the far end of the room there were two curved staircases leading up to an upper chamber. This keep looked to be originally of Elfen make, but it had been repurposed during the Winter war as a Trogjan outpost. However the bones of the building and of the interior were still familiar to her. The upper chamber would be the main audience chamber of the keep lord, and that was likely where they would find their quarry. They would have to cross the staircases to get to that chamber, making them vulnerable.

“We have to go up there” Mero said pointing up at the upper chamber and the two staircases. “I think it is best if we split sending a group each stair. Hopefully we will flank whatever is up there and it will give us the upper hand.” The others nodded in agreement and the group split with Dimcy, Kale and Merowyn going up the left stair and Jace, Dobin and the other sprites going up the right stair. They pooled at the base and when Jace gave the signal they all began ascending together. As they reached the top chamber they were shocked to see it mostly empty. There were no torches lit, and the natural light spilling in from the keep windows case the chamber in shadow. Across the room there was what would have been the throne of the keep lord, but it took was cast in deep shadows.

For a moment Dimcy burned brighter bathing the room in a warm amber light. It was then that Mero noticed that the throne was not in shadows… it had an unnatural shadow resting on it. The shadow began to coalesce and move and raise up off the throne forming the rough aproximation of the shape of a man. A Nightlord…. what in the nine hells is a nightlord doing here. The shadow began to laugh, with a hollow laugh that sounded much like the rustling of dry leaves. “Yoooou haaave noooo pooower heeere” it gasped in a scratchy and unnatural voice. The shadows in the room began to move and pool into the Nightlord causing it to increase in size.

“Why are you here abomination? Why did you harm my children? Answer me!” Screamed Merowyn in indignant fury. She knew she should fear a Nightlord, but she was past the point of reason. It would answer, and it would pay for what it had done. The response came in the same raspy scratching as before. “Chiiiildren feeeeed meeeeeee. Wiiiinter loooord noooot truust Baaaigan traaitor. Khaaaaaaloth breeeach waaaalll iiiinsteeead. Noooow yooooou feeeed Khaaaaaloth aaaaalso.” Khaloth gasped as the shadows began to swirl around the feet of Merowyn.

The shadows began covering Mero’s feet and she was unable to break free of them. She could feel the power leaching from her. Similarly the shadows had enveloped the other members of the party. Kale was furiously fighting them but losing the battle quickly as the shadows surged up her torso and spreading out to her arms. Jace was gasping for breath as the shadows wound over his throat choking him. As the darkness passed over Merowyns face, for a moment she saw a blinding orange light. From the edge of the room the light flared and the room was bathed in a glare so bright it seemed as though they were all staring directly into the sun.

The light flew across the room and into the body of the Nightlord. The abomination made a piercing dizzying scream as the light began breaking through its body in shafts, causing the shadow to dissipate and shrink away from it. The light however was relentless and continued burning brighter. Merowyn closed her eyes tight against the onslaught of light. She felt the shadow retreating from her, letting go of her body… she could move again but under the onslaught collapsed to the floor. Then suddenly the room was dark again, and as her eyes adjusted to the sunspots and after images she saw that the shadowy shape of the nightlord had disappeared.

Kale feared what had happened and as she ran across the room she saw a small body laying there on the cold stone floor. Gone was the bright fiery glow, but she immediately knew that it was Dimcy laying there smoking slightly. “Noooooo!” she screamed dropping to the ground picking up the little firesprite. “Dimcy why did you do that?” the little sprite opened her eyes slightly and tried to speak “Is okay now… Dimcy save Kale and Jace.” Kale felt warm tears spilling out over her cheeks and driping down off her chin “But you burnt yourself out… why… you can’t go.” The little sprite nuzzled into Kales big hands “Is okay… Dimcy save Kale…” Dimcy curled up into a ball and snuggled into the hand and was still.

Jace walked over to Kale kneeling beside her. He reached down with his hand and laid it against the little sprite feeling a weak heartbeat. He turned to look up at Merowyn “Is there nothing we can do?” The spring lady looked down at the badly drained firesprite shaking her head slowly. “She chose to burn all of her energy into the attack against the Nightlord. She saved us all… but she gave up her spark in doing so.” Kale looked up at Mero with sad teary eyes “But why… she can’t go?” The other sprites had formed a ring around Kale staring down at the fallen Dimcy.

“She gave her life to save us Kale, to save you. She loved you that much. Honor her memory by letting her go. She is in pain now, but holding on for you.” Kale shook her head furiously not wanting to hear those words. She could not let Dimcy go, she was her friend… she had lost so much in her life, been the victim of so much pain. Why did she have to let her friend go too. This just was not fair but as the tiny sprite nuzzled into her she noticed Dimcy shaking with the cold. She placed her other hand on her pocketing her, bringing her up to her face and kissing the little sprites cheek.

She knew what she had to do, she knew it was the right thing, but she didn’t want to. She closed her eyes trying desperately to calm the anger growing inside her. She opened her hands slightly and whispered. “Thank you for saving us Dimcy… its okay you can sleep now.” The little sprite opened her eyes slightly looking up at her “Dimcy love Kale” she said in a quiet shaky voice. Kale felt another rush of tears as she furiously tried to blink them away. “Kale love Dimcy too” she said quietly. The firesprite closed her eyes nuzzling against her hand once more and slowly stopped breathing as though she were going to sleep forever.

A faint glow began seeping from the fire sprites body, it started as soft amber and then increased rapidly until it was a piercing light. Kale watched in shock as the little body disappeared turning to a white blaze in the palm of her hand. She had to close her eyes against the brightness and when the glow had fade she opened it to see a tiny spark of flame resting on her hand. As her eyes adjusted she saw within the blaze as a tiny girl. The little girl smiled up at Kale “I said is okay, Dimcy Love Kale” said the child version of Dimcy. Kale gasped with joy as she nuzzled the tiny firesprite child.

Merowyn looked down at the tiny Dimcy with shock and amazement. She had heard legends that fire sprites if they burned themselves out for someone they loved, that the love would rekindle their fire. She had always thought these were just childhood tales, because she had sadly watched more than one sprite fade into nothingness as their light was extinguished. She wondered… if love could rekindle the fire of a sprite… could her love save her sprites? She did love the sprites, they had given her purpose and meaning. They had sheltered her and hidden her from the outside world. The revered her as their mother, and she protected them with all of her might. She would be truly lost without them.

Merowyn closed her eyes as she imagined each and every one of them. She remembered the good times they had, the times they had laughed, the times they had cried. She felt a warmth growing inside of her and as it grew a warm green light filled the room. Kale and Jace turned to look at Mero who was now glowing much like a sprite. The warmth and glow spreading until it filled the entire chamber. Little jets of green began shooting out from Mero and out through the windows of the keep. Happening slowly at first but quickly increasing like hundreds of green lasers firing at once.

As the glowing ceased Mero collapsed to the floor. As quickly as the glow had stopped a stream of green sprite lights began streaming into the room. Hundreds of tiny lights swarming the body of their fallen lady. They lifted her still breathing body up into the air and placed her on the now vacant throne. Merowyn sat there for a moment gathering her strength. When she opened her eyes she saw all of her children swarming around her. She gasped for air and a huge smile permeated her being. She said softly “My children… you are alright.” The tiny chorus of sprite voices responded in unison “The Lady has saved us” which became a chant echoing through the chamber.

NaNoWroMo 21–Homecoming

November 22, 2013 by Belghast

NaNoWriMo 21

Yesterday was a pretty damned good day for me. Firstly I actually went to work, which is a positive as far as the week went. It was a good thing too since I was the only person in my group in the office and we had several crisis to deal with. More important than that I wrote a lot for me at least, over 3500 words. Some of that was in the morning and finishing up the chapter I was working on, but a lot of it was this new chapter. This takes me to 37,364 wordcount. Right now I am hoping I can get to over 45,000 this weekend which will put me on pace to hit 50k at or around Thanksgiving. I am not sure why, but I really want to finish this up before the post holiday craziness sets in.

Here is the story so far, once again super raw and in unedited form. The more I write the more I realize I will re-write.

21 – Homecoming

The lightskimmer glided on top of the sunwall in perfect silence, if not for the rush of wind Torklah would not have believed they were moving. The pair had been riding for a little over a day when off the starboard bow of the ship appeared what he took to be Valkore settlements. The majority were neat arrangements of wooden lodges around a larger central communal building. The skimmer continued on without stop until on the horizon he could see a much larger arrangement of buildings along the coast. The vessel began slowly just as gradually as it started, and once again Torklah would not have known it were not the speed of the trees passing lessening.

Josah had also sensed the slowing of the skimmer and crawled up from the galley with his and Toklah’s packs in hand. “It seems as though we are here” Josah said handing the pack over to the elder sasquatch. Moving to the bow of the boat, Josah slung his own pack and sent the ladder streaming down to the ground. He descended to the ground below where a crowd of valkore was gathering. He held the ladder steady as the shaman descended as well. When they were both safely on the ground Josah gave the ladder a little tug and it zipped back up into the ship.

He watched as the skimmer started up slowly and before long had zipped out of sight silently along the sunwall. Finally turning to face the gathering crowd he noticed an older man stepping forward from the pack. “I am Elder Torgos, welcome to Hagengarde. We are not used to seeing people arrive by sunwall, it has caused quite a commotion.” He motioned for the townsfolk to disperse leaving only Torgos and a few guards. “I assume you are of the Elfen courts?” the old man queried looking both Josah and Torklah over carefully.

“Yes, I’ve heard story of the Trogjan amazing a force here. I believe they mean to destroy the sunwall” Josah said while accepting the old mans handshake. The old man nodded “Yes that is what we have heard as well. I assume you will be joining the other Elfen then in preparations?” Josah looked at Torgos with a shocked expression. “Whato ther Elfen?” Torgos took a moment surprised that he did not know about the others. “Some days ago a man and a wounded woman were found near Hagengarde.”

Josahs expression of confusion turned to one of desperation. “Morrow? She is here? Please take me to her.” Torgos nodded and began walking off away form the sunwell to a small lodge on the outskirts of the village. There resting in a fur bed was a stocky woman dressed in flowing robes. “Morrow my love! You are alive!” Josah exclaimed rushing to her side and kneeling down beside her bed. The woman opened her eyes, her face slowly turning to one of recognition. She spoke a very weak “Josah, I was worried.”

“No my love it was I who was worried. I had no idea if I would ever see you. Who is here with you?” It was around this time that another person appeared at the door of the cabin. The man rushed in picking up Josah and giving him a huge hug lifting him up off the ground. As he being squeezed Josah managed to give a very strained “It is good to see you too Bemel. How long have you both been here?” Letting him down off the ground he replied “I’ve lost track of the days, but several. The weapon sent me here along the coast. I roamed around aimlessly a bit when I found Morrow severely wounded. I managed to flag down a Valkore skyship, and they have helped us since”

“Josah, there is something you have to know. Baigan intends to attach the sunwall and is amassing a force at Fort Kraken.” Josah nodded grimly “I had heard as much” he motioned to to the sasquatch “Torklah here saved me as well, and mentioned that the forces of winter were growing ever active in this area. I realized what they intended to do.” Looking at Elder Torgos “What is the intended plan? Surely you mean to make a strike against them?” The elder nodded “Yes we mean to lead a strike against the fort. I fear the fate of all the wildlands rests in the balance. If the summerwall falls, so will we all.”

“So it is true then?” the old sasquatch spoke up. “Winter means to destroy the wall? If that is so we do all stand to lose. Once one village falls they will all begin to fall. My warriors are needed for the harvest, but if we lose our lands there will be nothing left to harvest.” Torklah said with a stern face. “I will speak to the earth mother and have her summon our warriors. They will heed her call.” Bemel beamed brightly as if he had just received the best news ever. “The elfen, people of the storm, and people of the earth all banding together. We have the makings of a very powerful army. I too have sent word to Avalon and expect to reinforcements to arrive on the sunwall.”

With the secret weapon Pico brought to the table, and the strong forces they were assembling they might just be able to pull through. He knew that winter would be bringing to bear every backbreaker squad they could spare as well as all manner of other machinations of war. Additionally there would be Baigan who had proved himself to be a more than capable wizard. He never expected that the fates would bring all of them together, but still he was concerned about Jace, Benj and Kale. He hoped that each of them was safe somewhere in the wildlands. Bemel thought it best to leave out the part about Pico being the mastermind behind the weapons that had scattered them across the land.

Torklah moved slowly to the side of Morrow, he knelt on the ground near her. “You too are a child of the earth. I sense it in your nature. The earth mother wants to heal you” He got up and lifted her in his large arms, slowly making his way for the door of the hut. At first Josah tried to stop him, but the old shaman simply gave him a stern look. He carried Morrow out into the open air, laying her body down upon the dirt of the ground. he uncovered each foot, and her hands laying them flat upon the ground. Kneeling beside her he placed his own hands on the ground as well.

“Earth mother, your child is hurting. Bless her with your bounty.” The old shaman closed his eyes and dug his fingers into the earth. With this the ground began to rumble much like it had when he summoned the rockling. Instead of summoning a being, it began to coil around Morrow’s exposed limbs. The earth slowly enshrouded her until she was completely encased in churning rock other than her head. With this her eyes shot open and she gasped loudly as a gasy miasma began seeping up through the earth covering her and spilling out onto the ground in thick green pools. Morrow closed her eyes again, and slowly the earthen covering began to retreat down off of her body and along her limbs.

“Thank you earth mother, you have purged your child of its corruption” The old sasquatch reached down with his hand placing it on Morrows forehead. “Awake child, you are free of your burden” and with that she opened her eyes and sat up, stretching. She looked over at the sasquatch not really sure what had just happened. The only thing she was certain of was that she hurt no more. Where once was pain was replaced with only a glowing warmth. She jumped up from the ground and cheered that she was free of the sickness.

“I am not sure who you are, or what you just did, but I thank you.” Morrow said grasping the great shamans hands. “It was not I, it was the Earth Mother. She has heard your call for years, but only now realized it was you who did not know how to answer.” Morrow looked at him with shock. She had always felt close to the earth and felt empowered being out in the wilds, but she did not realize this was not a normal gift. She was not a woodbinder like Benj or even like Jace would be, but she knew things almost as though she absorbed them from her surroundings. She wondered if this was what the sasquatch meant.

She joined Josah and Bemel, now she felt as though she could actually help out in the effort. The forces combined surely would be a match for that of the Trogjan. She would make Baigan pay for all the pain he had caused. She would make sure the wildlands and avalon were free from the influence of winter. They had much planning to do, and an army to assemble. They did not have long until the equinox, and she knew they had to strike before them. Morrow hoped that the powers they were assembling would be enough to win the day.

NaNoWriMo 20–Hagengarde

November 21, 2013 by Belghast

NaNoWriMo 20

I ended up staying home again yesterday but struggled with the will to write. I have to get over this crud because it is making me feel like doing nothing. As a result my progress in NaNoWriMo feels like it has crept to a halt. I am sitting at roughly 35,701 but I feel like I am behind the pace, or at the very least have lost whatever lead I had coming into the game. Right now is the most picky stuff as well, I am trying to join up all the disparate threads into one narrative to set up for the final actions.

Here is the story at hand currently… remember super raw super unedited.

20 – Hagengarde

The skyship had been a far more pleasant place than she would have expected initially. While the captain seemed gruff, she had eased over time the longer that Pico and Berrol were on board. In fact she had taken while a shining to the little Berrol who she was now teaching about the main steering complex. Pico was happy to see him smiling since he spent the first day on board sobbing over his father. Astanax had not made it out with them, and it was uncertain whether or not he actually would. While normally not the motherly type… Pico made adjustments for the little guy and tried her best to watch after him.

She sat down in the underbelly of the skyship and in this rare moment of private sifted through her pack. There in a small grey box sat her escape plan. She had done fresh calculations and was still completely uncertain that it would actually have the desired effect. Normally in test firings the analytic weapons had no effect on human flesh, but she had no idea what it would do to magic flesh. She also did not know if it would push her back into her own world… or if it would create a tear in the ward further complicating the problem. She knew one thing, she could not leave without Berrol and she was certain the grenade would not be safe for him.

As she stepped out onto the deck she noticed a landmass dead ahead that was growing larger as they moved towards it. She could see a near endless coastline and surmised that this had to be the eastern coastline of the United States, or what passed for that here in this world. As they moved closer she could see little settlements dotting the coastline. They appeared to be moving towards the largest of these clusters. She thought to herself that this must be Hagengarde, the place that Karrek urged her to go. The valkore were rumored to be dragon hunters, so she hoped they would be able to get her a piece of the dragon bone she needed for analysis.

As effortlessly as it had moved across the sea Pico was not prepared for the sudden lurch as the ship crossed onto the shoreline. It glided its way along the coast until it reached a pier of sorts jutting out into the air. On deck there was a flurry of activity as men grabbed hold of the deck with some sort of a wench, using it to tow them slowly into a resting position. They deployed the same gangplank they had used before, but it felt far more ominous crossing a gap to this floating pier. She was thankful she was not prone to vertigo, because this certainly would have triggered it. Much to her surprise Berrol seemed completely unphased by it, and bounded down the plank and onto the stone pier waving for her to come on. She crossed very slowly and deliberately but made it fine, taking the little boys hand into hers and heading into town.

Hagengarde was absolutely nothing like she expected. After seeing the harsh majesty of Brittagus, she was expecting all of this world to look something like that. The Valkore on the other hand, while masters of the sky seemed to be significantly primitive in other ways. While the city was every bit the bustling metropolis that Brittagus was, it instead was made up mostly of these lodge like buildings. Each was made out of wood or something that looked similar, with bits of bone and metal to embellish. It all gave her the feeling of a holywood “wild west” town but with significantly nordic influence. The people looked similar to her, but much more stout and sturdy. Even Barret who apparently was slight for a Valkore, looked like a bodybuilder.

As she crossed the town something struck out of the landscape. To the left and up a rise was a longer version of these lodges. In place of a wood exterior was a bleached white surface held together with rivets of black iron. If she was not entirely mistaken the building appeared to be made primarily of dragon bone. She made her way across the streets and up the rise until she was standing next to the building. Reaching out her hand she ran it over the smooth exterior. It looked almost exactly like the ward she had seen. It was joined in the same manner with the same iron craftsmanship. It struck her… did the wards initially come from the Valkore?

As she was examining the exterior the door to the lodge flew open and a man was standing in the threshold preparing to exit. She lept back taking shielding Berrol behind her, she recognized that face entirely too well. It was one of the men at the farm house event, the one who had spoken to Aimes, with blazing red hair. She didn’t know what this meant or why he was here, especially after taking a full strike of the analytical weapons. She didn’t know if she and Berrol were in danger, as she looked him over assessing the threat he certainly did not seem dangerous. The commotion had caught his attention and he was now staring blankly at her, quick Pico think of something to say.

“ugh… Hi, you startled me” fumbled Pico. The man looked her over for a moment before relaxing slightly. “Torgos is out currently with the chief huntsman, if you needed him.” the man returned “I was just going out myself to get something to eat. I am sure if you check back later he will be here.” Pico thought to herself, he seemed friendly enough and he certainly had no idea who she was. “Actually I came over here because this lodge appears to be made of dragon bone. Do you know anything about it?” she said pointing idly at the exterior she had been examining. “Huh, come to think of it yeah, I guess it is bone… I had not really noticed. I am not from around here.” Bemel replied sensing something odd about the woman.

Pico had always favored honesty when possible, she made a horrible liar. Even though every bone in her body told her not to, she found herself replying to the man. “I’m not from around here either, I am not even from this world.” With that the man gave her a curious look and then a sudden wave of realization washed over him. “You are from the mortal realm aren’t you? You have the smell about you. At first all I could sense was the mage colony, but now I see an underlying smell of humanity. What brings you to Hagengarde? Better yet… how exactly did you get here? You don’t seem like a halfkin.” Bemel replied curiously. He opened the door to the lodge and offered Pico entrance, thinking that while they were talking they might as well be comfortable.

Pico thanked him and she and Berrol entered taking up seats in the main room. “It’s a long story… I came here through a stable gateway underneath what you would call Brittagus.” She explained about Berrol and Astanax. She spoke about Karrek and the Inquisition, and why exactly she had to escape. She spoke of the Order of Merlin and how Berrol represented the last of that line. She had no idea why all of it came pouring out, especially to a stranger and a potentially dangerous one at that. She talked about how she had sworn to protect Berrol, and make sure he was safe. All the while Bemel simply sat there listening, not showing much emotion.

When she had finished he simply said “You are with the organization they call the ‘watch’ are you not?” Of all the things she was expecting out of his mouth that had been the furthest from it. How exactly did he know about the ward watch? There was no real reason to deny it since he had obviously made that leap himself. “Yes… I’m Pico, Pico Cosgrove one of the engineers responsible for the analytic weapons.” With that she could sense anger rising in him, maybe she had shared a bit too much there. “So you are the one that built the weapons they attacked us with? Do you currently have those weapons here? Are there more of you?” Pico shook her head slowly “It is just me, and no I don’t really have anything like that… we couldn’t risk using them again.” She let out a deep sigh “The wards are falling, and those weapons damaged them significantly.”

Bemel looked shocked for a moment and then a wave of understanding passed over him. “How long have they been weakening?” She told him about the slow and steady decay over the last hundred years, and how the weapons damaged it significantly more. She had thought the weapons would be their salvation, but instead it only seemed to hasten their demise. “We have not been able to repair the wards, nor have we even come close to creating our own synthetic one.” She rifled in her pack and produced the leather bound tome she had taken from the undercroft. “But with this book I might be able to finally create one, I simply need a sample of dragon bone to analyze when I get back home.” A sinking feeling settled into her stomach as she thought “If I get back home”.

Bemel looked very serious for a moment “You’ve picked a rather inconvenient moment to come here. Were it another time I could have potentially helped you get back to your world. Now however we are preparing for war.” Pico gasped audibly, were they going to invade her world as retaliation for the strike against them at the farm house? She remained silent as the man continued “Centuries ago the forces of winter rebelled against the natural order of the seasons, and claimed the northlands as their own. In an attempt to halt their progress we created a barrier, much like your wards. It too is failing, and the mean to use the power of our captured queen to destroy the barrier.”

“The Valkore were nearly driven to a point of extinction by the Trogjan, the ‘things’ that attacked us at the farm house. We are planning a strike on Fort Kraken on the other side of the wall, hoping that we can disrupt the forces long enough for someone to get inside and rescue the queen. Without her power they will not be able to bring down the wall.” Pico thought for a moment, then summoned her courage. “If I help you, can you get me back home safely?” she asked the man. “I can, but how could you help us?” mused Bemel. Pico rifled through her pack and produced the small grey box holding it out carefully in front of her.

“This is a prototype weapon, I brought it with me… as an escape plan. I am not really certain how it will work in this world. But I think it will destroy anything magical in the area of the blast.” Bemel looked at the box Pico was holding and shrunk back in his seat a bit. He had felt the sting of those weapons and remembered the bomb they had dropped that caused the pack of Orts to simply disappear. “The skyships could get someone close enough to the fort to drop the bomb. It should take out a fair number of enemy troops.” Pico said carefully placing the box back inside her pack. However unlikely this alliance was, Bemel thought that maybe the watch had just given them a fighting chance. They would take Fort Kraken, and free the queen.