01 - A Relic Is Found

Cedar finds an artifact from a bygone age that changes everything in his life.

Chapter 1 - A Relic Is Found

            Cedar Autumnleaf sat at the edge of his village in the far corner of the kingdom, and looked out towards the Great Wall. The night stirred from time to time, blowing a cold wind across his face. He stared into the night, thinking. Usually his thoughts would stray, random and jumbled. Then again, usually he would be in his soft cotton bed, drifting slowly off to sleep. Tonight, something had called him here. He had answered the silent summons without question, and so he had ended up here. Staring up at the Great Wall, watching it disappear into the sky, he was reminded of a story he had heard when he was a young child.

            His village lay a small ways away from the Wall, near a small flower grove. The village was made up of twenty or so small acorn huts and a huge chestnut hall. Within each acorn, there usually lay a cotton bed, a few chairs and a table, with a few cabinets for food and utensils. Mostly, however, they ate with their hands, for they ate no meat, only plant food. The chestnut, which lay in the center they called the Town Hall -- a simple name, but these were simple people. The villagers mostly wore simple elm-leaf clothing of green or brown. Most of them were kind, gentle people, with the exception of a few. The village had many farmers, as it was a farming village, but many other people resided in it as well. Spread throughout the huts, there lived a smith, a weaver, a baker, a cook, and a bookmaster by the name of Sagebrush, whom Cedar knew quite well.

            Sagebrush resided in his expansive library. Easily the largest building aside from the Town Hall, a massive collection of books and scrolls was kept within, shelves and shelves of records, legends, tales. Anything you needed to know was in that building… somewhere. So many books, scrolls and papers were kept in there that the old librarian had trouble organizing it all. A large portion of the stories lay in piles or stacks beside the shelves.

            Cedar spent many a day perusing those shelves, searching for a story that might catch his eye. The young boy and the old man had developed a deep bond over the years that had started back when Cedar was a very young boy. In fact, what caught the boy’s interest at first, what can be said to be the beginnings of their unlikely friendship, was the legend that Sagebrush had read to him so many years ago. That story had always stuck with Cedar, intriguing him, giving him a burning desire to learn, to discover. Pine Forrest especially interested him.

            Often Cedar would reread the old tale, searching for some deeper meaning. What man would have the courage to climb over to the Wild? The answer he normally got was, “It’s just a story, Cedar.” But that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. Cedar somehow knew there was more to it.

            This is, perhaps, what drew him to the Great Wall that day, to the edge of the known world. The moon shone down on the ground, slowly travelling across the grassy slope, and reflecting -- reflecting?

            Cedar got to his feet and slowly walked along the grassy grove until the shine from the moon lay at his feet. He examined it closer, crouching down to the ground. It was a grass blade, smaller than him but not by too much. The glint was coming from the bottom end, and he attempted to pick it up by the top. He immediately dropped it. The edge of the blade was sharpened, and had cut his finger. On his hand, a small trickle of blood began to seep down. Wary, he gave the blade another look and found that the bottom end, from where the glint was coming, was not sharp. He grabbed it by that end and lifted it up to the light. Quietly, he gasped with surprise. It was a sword, a grass sword with a hilt and crossguard.  Glancing at the small glint, he looked closer and discovered several minute letters: PINE.

            Almost dropping the sword again, he stared at the letters with disbelief etched into his eyes. Then he ran off to the bookmaster’s hut as fast as his legs could carry him.

            He burst into the hut, letting the door slam against the acorn wall as he dashed through the shelves. All of the shelves radiated out from the center, where a small jumble of chairs rested. A staircase led up to a balcony where a small living space was laid out. In one of the chairs sat an old man in large elm robes. He had slightly green skin -- a healthy look by the village’s standards. The man had graying hair and crinkles around the eyes. By the low light streaming in through the skylight, he read a small leather-bound book. He looked up at the sound of the slamming door and saw Cedar. He smiled. “Cedar! To what do I owe this very late pleasure?”

            “Sagebrush, look at this!” Cedar shoved the grass blade under his nose. He removed his spectacles and took a minute to examine the sword.  Then his eyes fell upon the small inscribed name. He gasped and fell back in his chair. He was silent for a few moments. After he had calmed enough, he demanded in a quiet voice, “Where did you find this?”

            Cedar told him. Sagebrush’s face grew more and more incredulous as the story went on. At the end, he looked at Cedar, face shining with delight, as if he were a young boy who had gotten a new present.

            “This is an amazing discovery, Cedar! Amazing! I -- well I never thought I’d see it again to tell the truth, but --“

            “What do you mean, again? You’ve never seen it before, have you?”

            Sagebrush looked at Cedar again, but this time, it was a guarded look that showed on his face.

            “No, no… of course not. A slip of the tongue. You’d better get to bed, yes?”

            Cedar left with his head spinning. As long as he could remember, Sagebrush had never asked him to leave. And the slip about the sword… Cedar couldn’t place that. There was obviously something he was hiding.

            And I’ll get it out of him, Cedar thought to himself. If it’s the last thing I do.

            He walked into his hut and lay awake in his soft cotton bed for a long time, thinking. It was long into the night when he finally drifted off to sleep.

Reviews

[Faith]

It sounds really good so far. It's very descriptive (in a good way) and the way that you can look at something, describe it at something else, but have it make sense is amazing. Also the cliffs you leaft me hanging on makes it hard to hold onto the story! The excitement was about to kill me! But overall a really good story.

[louwilding]

I love this, i sort of want to live in an acorn now. really enjoy your descriptions of the village and the people, i shall keep reading :)

[Shawn]

Don't we all want to live in an acorn? I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reviewing!

[Justin Robben]

I enjoyed it well enough to want chapter 2:) That may not sound like a resounding success, but there are many I just give up on, if I don't see some promise. So, it's a win. ;)
I think you have laid out a nice little world here. I am interested to learn more about these creatures. And where this discovery takes Cedar.

My only suggestion would be to find some alternate word choices from time to time. I try my hardest not to repeat a word in back to back sentences unless absolutely necessary.

[Shawn]

Thanks for the advice! I do find sometimes that I use words too often, and I do need that pointed out to me from time to time. I'm happy this chapter enticed you, as some of my less successful novels have lost their fun after the start. Thanks for reviewing!

[Dani The Unreviewed]

Well so far, i enjoyed your descriptive style. :) It instantly transports the reader into the world of the story. Overall, its a great start! work more on the characters, check for grammar issues(and finish the story obviously) and you'll have one of the best books on here :) great job. You have gotta keep writin, serious talent in you :)

[Shawn]

Thanks for reviewing! I really put a lot of thought into this book, and was hoping it would get positive review. Sorry about the grammar, I'll do some revisions. The character development does need some work, I'll get to that in later revisions. Thanks for reading!

[Dani The Unreviewed]

You are welcome :)