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Another Story Written from Yours Truely!
In the town of Hester, their lived the Moss people. They were a peaceful people, neutral in all the wars of Last World. All were kind and generous, and all were prepared to aid any that had fallen under hard times. They were the pillar of good deeds, though the humility was great. When one was faced with unprecedented troubles, one went to Hester.
Hester was hidden in a vast forest, surrounded by high, majestic mountains. A lake resided at the center of the valley, with the town living on it’s east bank. It was always full of fish, and the woods were always full of game. There was plenty to be had, but none took more than what was needed. Everything was in balance.
The Moss people were the last of a dying religion. They believed in strength of the body, mind and spirit. They believed in magic and sorcery. However, only the gifted could manipulate the latter, but all were disciplined in body and mind. They worshiped the land, water, and air. They especially prayed to the moon, for it was the moon that granted their Magi their powers.
All was well and beautiful. There was not a single thing that a person could wish for in matters of necessity. It was a golden age and time. Or at least until Hester was caught in the middle of a war.
The war was between Gold and Howl, the two counties on either side of Hester. The town was on the edge of the countries, being a border of the two. However, it turned into a battle field over night and the basin that was Hester filled with the blood of the innocent.
Hester was attacked by the Armies of Gold for aiding the Howl citizens, of which were wounded. It was a massacre of the Hester citizens, and it was one that no country in the world could forgive. In a fortnight, the whole of Last World was at war, and there was no end in sight until one nation surmounted the rest.
That nation was Goliath. It was a nation of mercenaries and trained murderers. They were the last to enter the war, wearing down the other countries resources in their delay. Once they had entered, the other armies could not hold their own against the brute nation. Of course, the other armies had a nice amount of Goliath warriors among their ranks.
The rulers of the united Last World was the Fang family. The family had sat as rulers on the Goliath throne for four hundred years, and they now held the throne of the known world. It was an age of darkness and despair, of shadow and death, of oppression and hopelessness. The world was no longer beautiful.
Legend has it that there were some survivors of the Moss people who managed to flee the forest, the lake and the mountains before the attack. These people wandered the country outside of the basin, through desert, forest, swamp, and town. Little by little, the small band of people divided themselves, some living in one town, others in another. One by one, or two by two, the Moss people were separated among the cruel, harsh world.
The only ones that had stayed in a little town in the mountains, a town named Haiku, was a newly wed couple. This couple had no choice but to stay in the cold, snowy town since the wife was six months pregnant. Her husband had quickly built a small, one room home for them on the outskirts of town and found himself a job working at a lumber mill. Before the child had come, the couple was set up to welcome the new arrival, and ready to provide for it.
Nathanial was born late on the night of the witch’s moon - a night that only happened once in a hundred years. His father beamed with pride, but his mother remained silent in contemplation. Moss legend said that a child born on a witch’s moon is cursed or blessed, but not both. The child would be powerful, but fate may kill him early, or keep him happy.
Two years later, Nathanial’s brother, James, was born. He was born on the winter’s solstice, on a night that marked him for dangerous things in Moss legend. A year after, Mathew was born on the summer solstice. This day, in Moss legend, singled him out as a great warrior. A year later, Cody was born on the fourth of the fourth month of the year. This meant, since the number four was the cursed number, that his life would be uncertain.
Still the couple continued to have children, since their economy was not strained and all of their children lives thus far were uncertain. It was only a year later that Keith was born. He was born on the day of the town’s massacre - an ill omen. His brother, Daniel, was born two years later on his mother’s birthday, which indicated that he would have no family of his own. Adrian was born a year later, on the Equinox. This meant that he was close to the spirits and the spirits could influence him.
Finally, when Nathanial was of ten, James eight, Mathew seven, Cody six, Keith five, Daniel three, and Adrian was two, the couple had luck. On the first day of the year, a very good omen for the child, their one and only daughter was born. Her name was Axelle, meaning peace. She, they decided, would be their sons’ lucky charm.
By the end of eight children, the mother had taken ill. She had forced herself to have as many children as she did to try and keep her people’s blood alive. The birthing process, being so close together, had taken much of her life away. Her husband wept for her, but they knew what they had done. It wasn’t until Axelle was three did their mother pass away quietly at night.
The event of their mother’s death had left the children distraught, or at least the boys. Axelle was not phased by the death. It was not because she was heartless, but it was because she hardly knew her mother like the rest of her siblings did. It was her small laughter, and kind eyes that eventually pulled her family out of their depression. It was at that moment that she was inseparable from her brothers.
The eight went nearly everywhere together, and Axelle began to grow up more like a boy than a girl since she only had men to look up to. It was only when they were alone did their curses act upon them. It was only when the brothers were without their sister that evil things befell them.
Nathanial turned out to be cursed, and everything from being assumed to be a thief to falsely being accused of rape happened to him. James always found himself in predicaments which threatened his life, like confronting a band of highwaymen. Mathew was always getting into brawls and Cody was always burning himself; from what, no one really knew. Keith who can not swim, was always falling into water, or getting stuck on a tree or in the middle of a lightning storm. Daniel had the most horrible luck with girls. At last, Adrian was always blacking out and doing things out of his character.
However, all these misfortunes happened when Axelle was not with them. When the boys realized this, it was when Axelle was coming into her age. They realized that things would befall them when Axelle married and left them. However, this was only spoken once and the boys never mentioned a solution to each other, for fear of thinking about it.
After the mother’s death, the eight spent their time, when they were not helping their father, battling each other on the hills. It was Nathanial who started the training, since he had been selected by the local sword-master to learn. Each day, Nathanial brought home his knowledge to his brothers and sister, training them. It was not long afterwards than the master accepted all of the brothers to train. However, he excluded Axelle from fighting.
That did not stop the boys from teaching their sister. Practicing themselves, they taught Axelle how to fight just as well as they did. And each day, hey trained and fought with each other, all trying to be brave and heroic. They all became fierce fighters.
* * * * * * *
It was the day that Axelle turned seventeen. Nathanial was twenty-seven, James was twenty-five, Mathew was twenty-four, Cody was twenty-three, Keith was twenty-two, Daniel was twenty, and Adrian was nineteen. The boys had thrown Axelle a great party, each bestowing her with a gift. Their father was absent, since he had to leave the town on business.
Out of the six gifts, she had received a dress, a quiver of arrows, a bow, some ribbon, a necklace, and a promise to get tattooed. She was most excited about getting painted, since it was a sign that she would be joining her brother’s in their battles. The sigma that would be placed on her upper left arm was a black cross encircled in a red circle with the words “Jut Annox Wevidt”. The ancient words were their father’s touch, even though none of the children knew what the words meant.
“Thank you so much!” she cried in excitement, throwing her arms around each other her brothers. “The gifts are wonderful, even though I do not know what you would like me to do with the dress and ribbons.” She giggled, looking at Adrian and Daniel who gave her the girly gifts. They glared at her with a friendly gesture.
“We just think it’s time for you to act like you are a girl, Ax.” James spoke casually, a smile spreading across his face.
 Cammiebar · Fri Nov 30, 2007 @ 06:51pm · 1 Comments |
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