Okay, I've finished chapter 1, I'm going to try to get chapter 2 done this next week.
I've decided to post my book here also, since everyone might not be subscribed to the Writers group. It's fantasy and a work in progress.
Enjoy my book. I'll be updating it as often as I can, and I might revise parts. If you have any questions, comments, or criticism....even ways I can make things sound better, I will be thrilled to recieve them. Thank you.
The Dark Discovery
By: James K-McGinnis
Preface
I'm not sure who I am anymore...
No, I don't know at all...
I am a phantom of my own being...
In unknown years and pigmented flesh...
Lyrics whisper in my head...
I can not understand them, but I feel like I know them.
I want to speak back, but each moment before I speak,
the chants flicker away from thought... I must meditate...
He glanced to the fading moon, watching it sink through the horizon. Wondering where to begin, he sat centered within the circle of charred grass. White grass fluttered beyond the burnt circle, wind jetting through areas, making it seem like little creatures were roaming through the thick thigh high grass. This place seemed familiar to him, but from awakening this afternoon, in this very place, he's had no recollection of anything from before.
Perhaps this is something that happens everyday.
But what of this circle? Six feet wide, perfectly round.
Something happened last night...
The smell of fire still lingers in the air.
He had already sat patiently since he awoke, perhaps waiting for someone, or something... but he was drawn to leave. Ever since the light cracked his eyes something has called to him. He could feel it now, pulling from what he thought was north. He would wait still. Wait for a brighter moon to rise.
The voices still called... still chanted, wanting to be heard, wanting to be responded to. He closed his eyes and concentrated, listened closely to the faint whispers, tried to decipher voice from voice as they were twisting together. Some seemed like low chants, and others as almost shrill whispers, all in such a strange, familiar lyric. He began to recognize a pattern, like certain ones were looping around, hoping to be more noticed, darting in and out of the others. Following one chant around he began to fumble with his tongue, trying to pick up the beat of the mysterious jargon. Ill..... Ill-ooom....Ill-ooom....INI..... INI-toe.... It stuck, lighting up in his head, filling his brain with an almost euphoric feeling. The lids of his eyes slowly drew back; his arms rose, slightly bent forward; the corner of his now blackened lips crooked into a grimace; and in a low, guttural chant he brought the words to life...
"Ill-ooom...INI-toe!"
Before the last syllable flickered from his lips, a flash flew from his fingertips, enveloping him in a sharp blue light. It died in a hum, the blue fading to a comfortable level, still surrounding him in every direction. He could see easily through the grass again, several feet past the edge of the burnt circle he still stood within. He dropped to his knees and clenched his hands around his head. The chant burned in his brain. It held in his mind no longer... he could no longer piece the syllables together.
What a strange feeling... euphoria and pain,
mixed with confusion and curiosity.
What am I? A sorcerer, a magical being of sorts?
I still don't understand, but I feel stronger.... safer.
I should leave now.... I feel like something is calling me.
Perhaps more answers will lie there.
Chapter 1
A blue hue beamed through the night, wading through the grass, surrounding the darkened figure. Golden runes crept up the hems of the black robes draped over the tall man, each symbol glowing slightly in an irregular pattern. His journey hadn't changed much since the charred circle from whence he began. The blue glow surrounding him seemed to hold off any creatures as he could see so far, but he had only been wandering for a few hours, trying to keep his direction as straight as possible. He could still feel something drawing him in this direction. His skin seemed to crawl for it, his body appeared to feel stronger each step closer towards the hidden desire.
Why do I want this so bad?
What could be calling to me...
All I know are questions.
A void still lingers in my mind.
The surrounding orb of blue began to dim as a violet moon crept over a forest that lie ahead of him, changing the white fields into a sea of purple. The forest still seemed quite a ways from where he was, set just upon the horizon. Clearing some of the grass away, he sat again and began to meditate. The chanting in his head had become stronger too as he grew closer to the beacon calling him. More words and syllables had become clearer, more noticeable. They all held on the tip of his tongue still... He wanted to speak to them again. He did not realize how exhausted he had become in the past few hours. No water or nourishment was starting to wear on his body. Darkness started to flood his mind as he concentrated on the words. They soon filtered away in the darkness, along with his mind...
Dreams were split, segmented and un-graspable. Clicks of images, colors, and explosions, but all a fused blur. Then, intense pain. Much more direct and constant than when he had cast the spell earlier. He awoke hunched over himself, beads of sweat dripping down his face, his body shaking violently; just as he had awoken the afternoon before, but this time with the knowledge of the previous day.
Just as the day before, he looked down to his hands, wondering if the darkness that tinged his skin had always been like that, or if it had part to do with the memory-loss. He could feel his skin stretched tight, and dry, but to his eyes it seemed so dark, almost like night itself. Two glowing orbs, one more red than orange, and the other more orange than red, hung stationed in the sky, larger than the moons that journeyed overhead the night before. Something else was near... he could hear it moving, could hear it breathing.
Remaining knelt, his eyes darted back and forth between the grasses, trying to find the source. The lyrical chanting began to build in his head, overpowering his sight and thought. The chanting wound around itself, sending more odd words through his mind. A snap erupted next to him, and without hesitation, his body rose along with his hands. He flicked his wrists towards the noise and spoke the first incantation that burned in his brain. An incredible feeling surged up through him, from his toes, through his body, and across his wrists. A squeal followed after the small ball of lightning dropped the large rodent flat next to him. He clenched his head again as the chant burned in his mind and began to cough for several minutes. Spots of blood lined his lips as he gasped for air.
Once again he couldn't piece the full incantation in his head. Any time he'd start thinking of that particular spell, a sharp pain would course through his brain, rattling his thoughts. He brushed his robe across is mouth, wiping his stained lips. After each spell he had cast so far, an overwhelming satisfaction and euphoria seemed to course through him, and then intense pain. This time was even more pleasant, and painful, than the last...and he wanted more.
Spasms racked through the rodents dead body, the smell of singed hair rising from it. In almost a habitual manner, he knelt beside the beast, and removed some of its fur, placing it in one of several pockets hidden in his robes. Rummaging through his robe, he found no other contents to help bring light to his mystery. His eyes fixated upon the forest ahead, the direction to where he was being drawn, and once again he rose and set off towards it. Pains of hunger and thirst clenched at his stomach as he approached the tall trees, the two suns now approaching each other. The suns paths lay perpendicular to each other, and it seemed like they would cross each other soon.
The forest-line spanned across the white fields, far out of sight from where the hooded figure stood. There was a small clearing in front of him, made not too long ago from its looks. The suns beat through the trees, easily lighting the way through them. The beckoning became stronger as he approached the fresh trail, his body aching to find it.
What is this that calls for me so badly...
I must find it soon.
The chanting becomes stronger with every step,
Leading me on even further,
I want to know more, I need to know more.
He entered the forest without hesitation, even with the hunger tearing at his stomach, his pace never slowed down. Even as the trees grew darker and more twisted, the branches thickening and clawing at his robes, the darkness beginning to weigh upon the woods, he did not slow down. The feeling was maddening, overwhelming his body as he neared it. Then the soft glow of light caught his eye. Deeper in the forest, where it seemed all light was about to be blanketed by the treetops, a faint blueish glow emanated forth, almost identical to the light that surrounded him the night before. His feet carried him quicker towards it, his heart racing along. The hunger and thirst disappeared from his thoughts and body. Slowly the dark forest began to glow in blue as he neared his prize. Unable to see what the light came from, he drew closer still, his gaze remaining on the light. The forest opened in front of him, bringing him to a small clearing, surrounded by trees, the source of the light perched in the direct center.
The black-brown wood rose from the still dewy grass. It twisted within itself, rising to his chest, where it met a golden clawed hand. He was unaware of what kind of hand it resembled, but it was as dark and twisted as the wood itself, the claws bending over and clasping in the open side of the crystal it held fiercely onto. The glow from the crystal faded slightly and the beckoning died as he entered the clearing and approached the staff, but the chanting in his head pounded, urging him to take it.
Darkness rushed over the forest and his mind as he took it into his hands. The chanting became clear and precise. The words and lyrics in his head flowed over each other in waves, waves of spells and enchantments, all lined up perfectly, ready to be spoken and used. His brain seethed with pleasure and understanding, the musical chanting echoing in his skull. His lips rose in a curdling smile, and his eyes slowly opened. The chanting told him who he was, but still nothing of his past or of what had happened.
All this power in my head...
And this staff now.
It seems that I'm stuck, blindly placing the puzzle together.
I still feel slightly empty,
Like I'm missing something else.
I must find it...
The staff's light began to glow again, revealing another trail opposite from where he entered before, deeper into the forest. The hunger and thirst was now gone from his body, replaced from the power of the staff and his mind, and the want for more.
Karklath Kunduleon began his venture deeper into the forest, deeper into the unknown world ahead of him.
I've decided to post my book here also, since everyone might not be subscribed to the Writers group. It's fantasy and a work in progress.
Enjoy my book. I'll be updating it as often as I can, and I might revise parts. If you have any questions, comments, or criticism....even ways I can make things sound better, I will be thrilled to recieve them. Thank you.
The Dark Discovery
By: James K-McGinnis
Preface
I'm not sure who I am anymore...
No, I don't know at all...
I am a phantom of my own being...
In unknown years and pigmented flesh...
Lyrics whisper in my head...
I can not understand them, but I feel like I know them.
I want to speak back, but each moment before I speak,
the chants flicker away from thought... I must meditate...
He glanced to the fading moon, watching it sink through the horizon. Wondering where to begin, he sat centered within the circle of charred grass. White grass fluttered beyond the burnt circle, wind jetting through areas, making it seem like little creatures were roaming through the thick thigh high grass. This place seemed familiar to him, but from awakening this afternoon, in this very place, he's had no recollection of anything from before.
Perhaps this is something that happens everyday.
But what of this circle? Six feet wide, perfectly round.
Something happened last night...
The smell of fire still lingers in the air.
He had already sat patiently since he awoke, perhaps waiting for someone, or something... but he was drawn to leave. Ever since the light cracked his eyes something has called to him. He could feel it now, pulling from what he thought was north. He would wait still. Wait for a brighter moon to rise.
The voices still called... still chanted, wanting to be heard, wanting to be responded to. He closed his eyes and concentrated, listened closely to the faint whispers, tried to decipher voice from voice as they were twisting together. Some seemed like low chants, and others as almost shrill whispers, all in such a strange, familiar lyric. He began to recognize a pattern, like certain ones were looping around, hoping to be more noticed, darting in and out of the others. Following one chant around he began to fumble with his tongue, trying to pick up the beat of the mysterious jargon. Ill..... Ill-ooom....Ill-ooom....INI..... INI-toe.... It stuck, lighting up in his head, filling his brain with an almost euphoric feeling. The lids of his eyes slowly drew back; his arms rose, slightly bent forward; the corner of his now blackened lips crooked into a grimace; and in a low, guttural chant he brought the words to life...
"Ill-ooom...INI-toe!"
Before the last syllable flickered from his lips, a flash flew from his fingertips, enveloping him in a sharp blue light. It died in a hum, the blue fading to a comfortable level, still surrounding him in every direction. He could see easily through the grass again, several feet past the edge of the burnt circle he still stood within. He dropped to his knees and clenched his hands around his head. The chant burned in his brain. It held in his mind no longer... he could no longer piece the syllables together.
What a strange feeling... euphoria and pain,
mixed with confusion and curiosity.
What am I? A sorcerer, a magical being of sorts?
I still don't understand, but I feel stronger.... safer.
I should leave now.... I feel like something is calling me.
Perhaps more answers will lie there.
Chapter 1
A blue hue beamed through the night, wading through the grass, surrounding the darkened figure. Golden runes crept up the hems of the black robes draped over the tall man, each symbol glowing slightly in an irregular pattern. His journey hadn't changed much since the charred circle from whence he began. The blue glow surrounding him seemed to hold off any creatures as he could see so far, but he had only been wandering for a few hours, trying to keep his direction as straight as possible. He could still feel something drawing him in this direction. His skin seemed to crawl for it, his body appeared to feel stronger each step closer towards the hidden desire.
Why do I want this so bad?
What could be calling to me...
All I know are questions.
A void still lingers in my mind.
The surrounding orb of blue began to dim as a violet moon crept over a forest that lie ahead of him, changing the white fields into a sea of purple. The forest still seemed quite a ways from where he was, set just upon the horizon. Clearing some of the grass away, he sat again and began to meditate. The chanting in his head had become stronger too as he grew closer to the beacon calling him. More words and syllables had become clearer, more noticeable. They all held on the tip of his tongue still... He wanted to speak to them again. He did not realize how exhausted he had become in the past few hours. No water or nourishment was starting to wear on his body. Darkness started to flood his mind as he concentrated on the words. They soon filtered away in the darkness, along with his mind...
Dreams were split, segmented and un-graspable. Clicks of images, colors, and explosions, but all a fused blur. Then, intense pain. Much more direct and constant than when he had cast the spell earlier. He awoke hunched over himself, beads of sweat dripping down his face, his body shaking violently; just as he had awoken the afternoon before, but this time with the knowledge of the previous day.
Just as the day before, he looked down to his hands, wondering if the darkness that tinged his skin had always been like that, or if it had part to do with the memory-loss. He could feel his skin stretched tight, and dry, but to his eyes it seemed so dark, almost like night itself. Two glowing orbs, one more red than orange, and the other more orange than red, hung stationed in the sky, larger than the moons that journeyed overhead the night before. Something else was near... he could hear it moving, could hear it breathing.
Remaining knelt, his eyes darted back and forth between the grasses, trying to find the source. The lyrical chanting began to build in his head, overpowering his sight and thought. The chanting wound around itself, sending more odd words through his mind. A snap erupted next to him, and without hesitation, his body rose along with his hands. He flicked his wrists towards the noise and spoke the first incantation that burned in his brain. An incredible feeling surged up through him, from his toes, through his body, and across his wrists. A squeal followed after the small ball of lightning dropped the large rodent flat next to him. He clenched his head again as the chant burned in his mind and began to cough for several minutes. Spots of blood lined his lips as he gasped for air.
Once again he couldn't piece the full incantation in his head. Any time he'd start thinking of that particular spell, a sharp pain would course through his brain, rattling his thoughts. He brushed his robe across is mouth, wiping his stained lips. After each spell he had cast so far, an overwhelming satisfaction and euphoria seemed to course through him, and then intense pain. This time was even more pleasant, and painful, than the last...and he wanted more.
Spasms racked through the rodents dead body, the smell of singed hair rising from it. In almost a habitual manner, he knelt beside the beast, and removed some of its fur, placing it in one of several pockets hidden in his robes. Rummaging through his robe, he found no other contents to help bring light to his mystery. His eyes fixated upon the forest ahead, the direction to where he was being drawn, and once again he rose and set off towards it. Pains of hunger and thirst clenched at his stomach as he approached the tall trees, the two suns now approaching each other. The suns paths lay perpendicular to each other, and it seemed like they would cross each other soon.
The forest-line spanned across the white fields, far out of sight from where the hooded figure stood. There was a small clearing in front of him, made not too long ago from its looks. The suns beat through the trees, easily lighting the way through them. The beckoning became stronger as he approached the fresh trail, his body aching to find it.
What is this that calls for me so badly...
I must find it soon.
The chanting becomes stronger with every step,
Leading me on even further,
I want to know more, I need to know more.
He entered the forest without hesitation, even with the hunger tearing at his stomach, his pace never slowed down. Even as the trees grew darker and more twisted, the branches thickening and clawing at his robes, the darkness beginning to weigh upon the woods, he did not slow down. The feeling was maddening, overwhelming his body as he neared it. Then the soft glow of light caught his eye. Deeper in the forest, where it seemed all light was about to be blanketed by the treetops, a faint blueish glow emanated forth, almost identical to the light that surrounded him the night before. His feet carried him quicker towards it, his heart racing along. The hunger and thirst disappeared from his thoughts and body. Slowly the dark forest began to glow in blue as he neared his prize. Unable to see what the light came from, he drew closer still, his gaze remaining on the light. The forest opened in front of him, bringing him to a small clearing, surrounded by trees, the source of the light perched in the direct center.
The black-brown wood rose from the still dewy grass. It twisted within itself, rising to his chest, where it met a golden clawed hand. He was unaware of what kind of hand it resembled, but it was as dark and twisted as the wood itself, the claws bending over and clasping in the open side of the crystal it held fiercely onto. The glow from the crystal faded slightly and the beckoning died as he entered the clearing and approached the staff, but the chanting in his head pounded, urging him to take it.
Darkness rushed over the forest and his mind as he took it into his hands. The chanting became clear and precise. The words and lyrics in his head flowed over each other in waves, waves of spells and enchantments, all lined up perfectly, ready to be spoken and used. His brain seethed with pleasure and understanding, the musical chanting echoing in his skull. His lips rose in a curdling smile, and his eyes slowly opened. The chanting told him who he was, but still nothing of his past or of what had happened.
All this power in my head...
And this staff now.
It seems that I'm stuck, blindly placing the puzzle together.
I still feel slightly empty,
Like I'm missing something else.
I must find it...
The staff's light began to glow again, revealing another trail opposite from where he entered before, deeper into the forest. The hunger and thirst was now gone from his body, replaced from the power of the staff and his mind, and the want for more.
Karklath Kunduleon began his venture deeper into the forest, deeper into the unknown world ahead of him.
other than that. . .hi. . .if you ever come down south lemme know!