Luminous

Ek het ’n kolom om te skryf vir môre, en dit is duidelik dat ek hard aan die werk is daaraan. Dit daar gelaat, ek gaan nie vanaand ’n post skryf nie. In plaas daarvan gaan ek ’n stuk uit my huidige storie plaas en hoop dat dit my dalk sal inspireer om oor my writer’s block te kom.

 

Like all stories we will start this one with once upon a time, but this world I will transport you to will be most unlike anything that ever existed. Perhaps it’s wise to spend some time describing it:

Once upon a time there was a world where two continents were known. The Eastern continent is not important for now but it was a land quite different from the western continent even though regular trade did occur between the lands. It is on the Western continent that we will focus.

The western continent was vast and it was divided into nine kingdoms although one of them was not strictly a kingdom anymore. The Southern coast was clustered with islands, which thinned out to the West and East. To the North of the country no one lived and the landscape was wild and dangerous and past that to the far north there was a dessert. Long ago there were people who dwelt there but they had all died out centuries before.

The land where people still lived was covered with dense woods, tall mountains and rich grasslands. High up in the Eastern mountains a great river originated which grew and flew west. At its widest point the river was so great that smallish ships could sail there and that was also the prime form of transport for trade between the East and the West of the Country.

It is in the west of this land that our story is set, in a land called Candalon. It was the largest of the original nine kingdoms and the only kingdom where the line of the first-born still reigned. But I will say more about them later. This land stretched to the West where it was separated from the ocean by a very tall mountain range and the eastern border was also a mountain range, but it was not nearly as tall or as long as the range in the west.

In between the two ranges was the kingdom of Candalon. The eastern mountains bordered and were partly covered by a forest where no one ventured. But the heart of the kingdom was Lake Candal for it was here that the castle of the king was, surrounded by the biggest town in the kingdom. Most people simply referred to this place as the Island for the king’s castle was built on a stone island in the lake close to the southern bank and connected to it by a great and ancient stone bridge. The people prospered in this kingdom and the line of kings was wise, just and good rulers.

The land had rich farm soil and other resources that made it a coveted land to own. But it was the only one of the kingdoms who had never change hands, so to speak.

There were many strange creatures on this land, but the most magnificent were the people that lived there. I will bring you to two of these wonderful people because this is chiefly their tale.

It is thus that I will throw you into our tale. Once upon a time in this land a ship arrived from the eastern continent. It arrived in the Tarindref inlet into the Ostar River. This Inlet came up from the Southern ocean and many ships used it to trade with the kingdoms who did not border the southern ocean like Candalon. The ship was carrying two unusual passengers in the form of a brother and sister from the eastern continent.

Luminous

There was no proper bay to land on the Southern side of the river. It was too close to a range of mountains. The river flew around on the range on the Northern side of the mountains and so the Northern bank seemed safe to land. But the ship’s captain would not make berth on the Northern bank, some superstition or other. He told the man that any berth that’s easy will get you killed. So instead the merchant-ship made an impossible berth on the Southern bank close to the mountains.

The passengers left the ship and found them self on the Southern bank of the Ostar River and on the Western bank of the Tarindref-inlet.

Lyanna slung her pack over her shoulder and walked up to her brother Peter. He was standing, facing the mountains. They found themselves on the Western continent with no real idea where they were although they had heard much from the land on their voyage.

“Where will we go to now?” She asked. He didn’t answer her, simply kept looking at the mountains. They were at least partly covered by a vast and dense forest. “There’s something strange about these woods.” He answered without really answering her question. “Tell me about that forest?” He asked one of the members of the crew who was busy unloading carts.

The man looked up at him, then back at the woods and back at him. “Here it is known as the White Woods…No one who ventures in there ever come out again.” He answered. “Why?” Lyanna asked her curiosity stirring. The man walked closer and lowered his voice. “Legends say that the elves still live there and they detest strangers in their land. But off course no one can actually prove that. Most people know full well that the elves died out centuries ago.” Lyanna wanted to say something but a look from Peter stilled her. “Where would you think would be the best place to start over?” He asked the sailor. “I would track south of the woods and then go straight to Candalon. The kingdom is peaceful and prosperous.” Peter thanked him, but said nothing more.

They started there walk. Peter watched everything around them as they walked and kept his eyes on the curious woods – the white woods. From their distance they could see the reason for the name. The barks of the trees were a strange white colour. It seemed a whole other world in there, separated from the lands where they now walked.

“You’re not seriously thinking of going in there, are you?” Lyanna said and he looked down at his sister for the first time in a while. “No, I don’t believe the superstition, but it’s foolish to walk into a place where people have been known not to return alive from.” She nodded, thankful. She didn’t like the look of the forest.

“What will we do here…on this strange land?” She asked. He sighed. “I don’t know, Lyanna. But we both agreed that we had to leave.” “I know” She answered. If nothing else this was a fresh start for them.

They made camp a good distance away from the White Woods that night and when they slept, they slept fitfully. Peter hardly slept at all. He woke his sister early in the morning when the sun wasn’t up yet and they set off again. By early afternoon they had reached the southern edge of the woods and from there their view into Candalon was unobstructed by the woods and the mountains. They could see grasslands stretching out until very far in the distance they could see it running into another forest which seemed far less menacing. “That looks like a forest I can navigate.” Peter said and in the distance he could see the Ostar River still flowing west far in the North. “They said we had to keep the line of the river.” Lyanna said. He nodded.

Peter’s fascination with the White Woods had grown in the shadow of it. “You walk I’m just going to look at the woods.” He said. “What happened to your words yesterday?” She asked. She had grown a little afraid of the woods through the time. She watched anxiously as her brother walked closer. “I’m not going in, I just want to look.” He stopped and touched the bark, then took out the dagger and stripped a piece of it to keep.

“I do not know who you are, but you have no idea how close to death you are.” A voice called. They both swung around and saw that behind them four riders had approached. They had been so mesmerized by the woods that they hadn’t even heard the hoof beats.