Author: SilverInk
Writing: Story Excerpt
Word Count: 1263
"Hush," he murmured quietly. "It is wrong to acknowledge those who have been deemed nonexistent."
"Deemed?"
"It is a complicated matter," he said, again shushing her with his hand. "I will explain later."
Julian obeyed and shut her mouth before she said anything. The dwarves around her continued to stare through the person who had just been banished. The outcast screamed and hollered and once punched at the leader of the gathering. As if swatting a bug, the leader flicked the hand aside.
Finally, the pariah left, storming through the jeweled marble hall. A messenger had already gone to announce the decision. Slowly, as if coming out of trances, the dwarfish chiefs resumed their conversation as if nothing had happened. Jonathan leaned towards Julian again and translated:
“’The situation at hand is much worse than we have imagined, brothers. The humans have grouped with the angel-hunters and are murdering the peaceful houses as we speak.’
“’What of the elves, chieftain?’
“’Surely their Council is gathered in discourse similar to ours, Latvok.’
“’Who are they who sit yonder and watch this discussion?’”
Julian, who had been watching the dwarf chiefs as they talked, identified the speaker and stood immediately. She bowed politely to the table, her left palm over her right fist and her head inclined, and waited for the chieftain to tell her to rise. Beside her, she felt Jonathan do the same.
The chieftain nodded at them and said something terse that Julian recognized as the short version of the formal, “Your greeting has been acknowledged, my child; now take your stance as my equal and converse your message.” Essentially, he meant “Rise,” and that Julian did.
Next, the chieftain turned to the table and said something in dwarfish which Jonathan promptly translated as “’He is Jonathan of Winski, translator and companion for her, Julian of Winchester.’”
The chiefs’ reactions were immediate; so confusing was the next couple minutes that Jonathan could only translate a few of the exclamations: “’Winchester, can it be so?’
‘I thought the family had been murdered a decade ago!’
‘Another Winski?’
‘Do mine ears deceive me? A Winchester?
‘The angelic family?’
‘A Winchester? Alive and well?’”
The chiefs peered at Julian amazedly and some even inclined their heads in respect.
What’s happening? She thought, confused and embarrassed as she bowed briefly to each chief that looked her way. Of the 12 dwarfs, only one—the chieftain himself—did not glance her way.
The chieftain said something to Jonathan and the boy bowed before telling Julian in soft tones as the chiefs busied with their writing tables, occasionally consulting each other: “The chieftain has seen your confusion and asked me to explain to you the situation while the chiefs debate other matters.
“During the Firestorm Wars, eight of the dwarf clans had already been forced into hiding. Of the remaining four, one was secretly sheltering and helping the refugees that had escaped this way. The other three were in grave danger of being attacked by the zombies and the flying beasts of the war—the Vurgians. The dwarf clans had been cut off without warning and although they could battle, they knew they could not win. In a desperate move, they teleported child diplomats to the cities of the angelic, elvish, and draconic conferences.
“The angels at the conference were the closest people at the time, although the negotiations between angelics and dwarfs were bitter at the time. Of the nine heads of houses, only one—your grandfather—was willing to send aid of any kind.
“Eliam Winchester was a little-known general at the time and at the conference, it was decided that if he were to aid the dwarfs, he would have to do so with his own resources; nevertheless, he sent swift word that he would do his best to assist.
“The dwarfs were devastated. They were cornered and trapped, and no one but a single man was willing to help them; the elves had not received the message and the dragons were unable to assist. Already all the other clans were striving to help the three clans the best they could and armies were marching for the city of Turingskien, but it was of little use.
“Of Eliam’s 5,000 warriors, 50 agreed to go. Since Eliam himself could not come, his wife volunteered to go in his stead.
“After travelling at an unbelievable traveling speed for nearly a week, the 51 angels arrived in the midst of battle and helped to scare the zombie hordes away. If you want, I’ll detail the tricks they used later. Just know that 51 angels and 12,000 dwarfs drove an army of nearly 40,000 zombies and Vurgians away from Turingskien in a series of clashes that lasted probably over a month.
“For basically saving a fourth of their kind from ruthless and annihilation, Eliam Winchester and his wife Idwien was extolled among the dwarfs. Their opinion of him increased heightened even more so when after the war, Eliam himself came to join his wife and remaining warriors and oversee the reconstruction of the areas that had been razed. From his personal coffers he donated well over a half of the money towards the reconstruction.
“Thirty-five years after the war, when your grandfather had been stripped of his title for disobeying the Council and made little more than a peasant, the dwarfs stuck a vast mine deep in the mountains. From Eliam Mines they garnered more wealth than ever before seen in history. With their intervention, Eliam and the Winchester House was returned to their noble rank and former wealth. The following century was met with great friendship between the dwarves and the House of Winchester.” Jonathan closed his eyes briefly as he concluded his lengthy anecdote and took a long drink of water as Julian pondered this.
The dwarves disbanded for midday and Julian wandered outside, acquired her meal and strolled about the richly decorated dwarven capital. Jonathan followed silently for a while before leading Julian to a cavern.
“The Hall of Heroes,” he read and greeted the guards. They let them pass and Julian strolled quietly down the dim cave, fascinated by the various glittering shields and plaques and inscriptions.
“Here,” Jonathan called softly and Julian went to where he was standing, staring at a wall.
On the wall was a large chunk of obsidian rock, embellished with precious gems along the edge. Dwarfish runes spelled out in large print over the top and below them were 50 names inscribed in the stone, each with a small pink topaz before and after. Over the top, in diamond was the name, “Eliam Klaus Winchester”. Another plaque made of gold, diamond and ruby honored the general only.
Julian stared transfixed at the names for a long while, reading the 50 names that were spelled in angelic common there. Layana Nion, Nicodemos Palazar… Jeriline Suza, Ritcher Than… Roselyn Thyt, Rafi Winski, Francisca Zailier…I know some of these names!...Famous people my master on Earth taught me about…
She finished the list of names and walked another step, to where Jonathan was standing before a large tapestry, woven of silk with a single sapphire embedded between the reason of the award and name. Words had been embroidered on in the dwarfish language, with angelic, elvish and draconic translations in tiny font underneath. Julian squinted and depicted the angelic translation:
For leadership, wit and knowledge of medicine at desperate times,
For alone saving more than 2,000 lives during a month of combat,
For fighting valiantly while with child for no gain,
Idwien Nautium Sirica-Winchester
---
Artist's Note: So much to say/explain about this. I was toying with ideas for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and decided to try some stuff out. Obviously, since it's not November, this will not be an actual part of the story. I was just tossing ideas around. In case I feel tempted to post more excerpts, I labeled this one as "01"
This particular part started with a random status message I had. It's really unorganized as an excerpt, and maybe confusing at parts. Especially the way it ends. But whatever -.-
Julian Winchester is definitely going to be the protagonist, though I haven't determined what the boy's name will be; I put Jonathan because that was the first boy name that began with a "J" I came up with. Suggestions would be appreciated >.< (Requisites: Begins with a "J" and somehow related to an element. (His cousins are Kassium (K; Potassium), Argent (Ar; Argon, although Argent actually means Silver) and Lithica (Li, Lithium) )
Anyways, please comment! :D
~SilverInk
No comments:
Post a Comment