Darkholme Majesty

A Story by Faith

The first part of a story taken place in a world unknown. Magic... Lore... two friends... one chance...

A twig snaps somewhere in the shadow of the giant oaks. I turn my head, but I see nothing. Walking quickly trying to get out of this forest, hoping I can reach Darkholme by noon. It must be only a little after midnight. My appointment with The Keeper lasted longer than expected.

These forests are filled with ancient mysteries. Lore of The Keepers have leaked out into the common world through mouths of those unwillingly taken to this mysterious world. I myself was brought here when I was only a child. How long have I been here? Nobody can answer that. I don’t even know if the world the way I remember it still exists. My mother was a friend of the Keepers; stories told that she brought me here for treatment of an otherworldly disease whose cure wasn’t known in my home dimension. The Keepers took me in and nurtured me back to health. My mother, being in their debt, left me for them to raise as their own. I will be allowed to visit my home world when I have completed my training.

As I walked the trees parted around me letting the moon shine down on the path infront of me. I stepped quietly as I envisioned the trail I would need to follow to get to Darkholme. Looking up at the moon I guessed that the sun wouldn’t rise for another eight hours giving me plenty of time to travel unnoticed. During these Summer months we only had five hours of sun a day. Giving us plenty of time to enjoy the cool of the darkness.

A few hours later, around six a.m., I came to the end of my path. I would have to follow the river from now. Two hours of daylight were left. If the weather was in my favor I would be able to see town quite a few miles before I got to it.

My best friend, Surnta the Trunos, a man who is half man half lion, was waiting in Darkholme. He was probably worried sick about me. I thought about the story of Surnta as I stepped along the riverbank. The Trunos tribe used to consist of the head Keepers until the war. Nobody talks much about the war. I just know of it from an old shopkeeper in my town.

It was almost sunrise now. I have been walking for many miles, yet I am no where close to my town, Darkholme. . I was supposed to be home last night. I got caught up in official business. I watched as the sun peaked a ray over the horizon, turning the sky to a dark shade of blue. These forests are beautiful yet dangerous, home to many creatures of the darkness, home to many creatures of the light. I was only a human, trespassing in my own home. The forests I had romped in as a child, where I meditated as the sun set. These creatures could take me down in a second, but they let me go through. If I wasn’t the Keepers student, I would have never survived to see this day.

I continued walking, starting a rhythm with my steps. Only a few more miles until I reached Darkholme.

It must’ve almost been lunch time. I was starving. I could see Darkholme on the top of the hill with soldiers parading around the walls. It only looked like a small village but it had so much to hide. More than half of the population lived and worked underground. All of the shops had tunnels that connected them to the main hub. I loved being under the shops. That’s where Surnta lived. He helped a few of the shops transport goods when he wasn’t busy coming up with some new magical idea.

I had finally gotten to the top of the hill. Knocking twice on the side gate I waited for a soldier to let me in. The door opened slowly as to see who it was. After giving me a one over he opened the door fully, bowing as I stepped in.

This city always amazed me with its glory. I miss it every minute I’m gone.

I walked along the road until I got to a tower. A tower I’ve seen only too much. Stepping quickly I stood at the base, taking in a breath I knocked on the maple door. Closing my eyes I listened closely to hear the sound of gears turning. I wasn’t disappointed. Soon I heard the familiar sound of clicking and clanking under my feet. The ground shifted as I was slowly lowered into a basement.

“Hello m’lady” whispered a voice from the side of the rotunda, “Well? How are you Lizzy?”

“Surnta, I do wish you would stop calling me m’lday.” I looked around at the intricate designs on all his equipment.

“Alright, whatever the keeps the lady happy.”

Surnta stepped out of the shadows, thin body softly trotting across the floor. “C’mere, I have something to show you.”

I follow him across the room, standing behind his tall body. He stops and gestures for me to look. At first I don’t see anything in the dim light, but the closer I look the more I see what he’s talking about. “What is this?” I question.

“Oh you know only the most powerful weapon of our time.”

“Explain please?”

He moves a few things around the table clearing out the space around the weapon. I look closely and see what it really is. A long stick it looks like. Too short to be a sword and too long to be a wand. It looks as if it’s only made out of wood. If I didn’t know better I would say I could snap it across my knee. He picks it up caressing it gently.

“Lizzy, we’ve trained in many different types of sorcery. You lived with witches for a period of time. I studied with a retired Keeper, yet we still haven’t figured out the foundation of our magic. I think that this might do it. With this, if all my plans go well we can focus our spells to such and intensity that they will be able to do thousands of times better than before.”

I was still uncertain. Sure it sounded amazing if we were able to do that, but that was a mighty big if. I couldn’t see how a stick could do that. “Alright so you say that we can do this but how could it possible work? The thing looks like a dead branch out of an apple tree.”

“A dead branch out of an apple tree? If it was that then why did I spend months searching for this? I heard of this ancient wood when I studied with the Keeper. I never really paid attention to it until now when I found a page about it in my old notebook.”

“Alright so it isn’t a dead branch. I was just afraid you got your glasses a little smudged before you looked at that page.”

Subconsciously he pulled up his glasses. “That page was almost used to start a fire with, Lizzy. Be thankful that they weren’t smudged.”

I smirked slightly. This was the normal Surnta. Always going on some sort of an adventure, no matter where it took him or how much trouble he ended finding.

“Lizzy? You listening?”

I came out of my own world and decided to take part in this one, “Yeah, yeah, I’m here,” pausing for a second with a question on the tip of my tongue I asked,”Why is this wood so important? What does it do? It looks just like all the other trees out there.”

“I’m glad you ask deary,” Surnta said in his high pitched witch voiced, “You really think that this is all I need to make our weapon? A two and a half stick? Well unfortunately I need much more unfortunately.” He ran his hand over the wood as a slight glow appeared under his fingertips. When he lifted his hand the wood started trembling as if an earthquake was deep inside it. Surnta mumbles some words I could hardly hear more or less understand. Abruptly the wood jumped into the air and stood straight. Spinning quickly it landed back on the table. A whole new material. A whole new product.

“What is this?” I question.

Surnta picked up the material, “This, Lizzy, is where we need to start. The tree from witch I got this is one of the ancients as I have said. Right now this is Carmanian leather. We need to gather the material it displays on this stick. If we go into the market today I may be able to buy some leather, but I doubt it will be enough. I will have to go hunting for the rest. The leather is easy to get however making it into Carmanian status will be hard. We will need to gather leaves of a Senta tree, a feather of a gull, and the hardest of all, the keepers bark.”

“Surnta, my dear friend, are you crazy! The Keepers bark? Seriously? You have to be kidding me. That’s the second most powerful thing in this world. Right next to the first thing. We don’t even know what the first thing is! Not even the Keepers touch the bark. So go ahead and tell me. How do we get the bark? Go ahead, tell me.”

Surnta stood up and gave me a quizzical expression, “Uh Liz, well I was about to tell you before your little rant session, but I already have the bark.” He pulled a piece of brown bark out of an envelope, “See?”

“Surnta, you b*****d. You little b*****d,” I sat down on one of his log chairs hands on my head. All that worrying gave me a headache. Too bad I couldn’t just rest here. I have to go see a couple shopkeepers. Oh well, so tired, must sleep. Goodnight.