One
A Light in the Darkness
Two girls passed through a thickly wooded forest. The one who came first was named Ariana, but known as Ari to almost everyone she knew. She had thick, long blonde hair that fell to her waist and hazel colored eyes, changing from green to brown with her different dresses. She was humming a beautiful, haunting tune. The melody rang out in the stillness of the woods.
The second girl was of stockier build, with a round, merry face. Her sleek, dark brown hair fell around her shoulders. She had dimples on either side of her mouth, and large, baby doll blue eyes.
Both girls had a basket hung over their arms, for the purpose of collecting the bountiful amount of berries that the wood was producing. After some time, Ari called, "Clio! Here are some!" In front of her was an old looking birch tree, and climbing up it was a vine. Hanging off the vine were huge clusters of crimson berries. Clio exclaimed as she found another on a neighboring tree, this one with richly colored berries of a purple hue.
They went merrily along, gathering berry after berry. Ari's basket filled quickly. She stood up and looked at her friend. Instead of an overflowing basket though, she saw it was only half filled. Then she noticed Clio's mouth, stained a reddish-purple. She smiled, then picked some berries of the vine and tossed them at her friend. "Hurry, tortoise hands! We don't have all year, you know." she teased. Clio looked up. On her face was a devilish grin, and she reached into her basket. "Clio, no!" Ari laughed as a small shower of berries rained down upon her.
She took off running. Clio laughed behind her, reaching in continually for more berries. Then (Ari was not quite sure how it had happened) the berries abated and Ari suddenly found herself alone. "Clio? Clio, this isn't funny." she called out nervously. But Clio did not appear. The trees became suddenly much more intimidating, like the branches were just waiting for her to move, so they could reach down to grasp a hold of her hair and never let go.
She began to walk the way she'd come, or at least the way she thought she'd come, when she tripped on a protruding root. Blood oozed from a scratch from a dead branch. She looked frantically around for something, anything she recognized, but saw nothing. But then a curious stump caught her eye. It almost looked hairy. Then it shifted position. Wait, Ari thought, stumps don't just shift positions… And then she saw what it really was. A huge wolf reared it's ugly head. Saliva dripped off of it's yellow fangs, shaggy brownish-gray fur covered it's body. It's piercing gaze didn't move from her at all, and held her paralyzed in fear.
Then it was as if a voice went off in her head that screamed, Run! She took off as fast as she could, and the wolf took bounding leaps after her. She heard it snarling behind her, and a few times snapping it's monstrous jaws in anticipation.
Ari ran harder then she'd ever run before, her hat flew off of her head. She was desperately clutching the basket that was now void of all berries. Her hair flew behind her as she streaked in between the trees. She didn't even know she could run this fast. It was like she was in between running and flying.
The trees began to thin though, and the wolf began to gain speed now that the obstacles between it and it's prey was growing less with each powerful leap. Ari became more and more panicked as she heard it gain. She saw a steep mountain looming in front of her. The rock wall came ever closer, she'd be trapped. But just as she thought she was going to die, she spotted a small crack in the rocks. She dove in, barely squeezing through. But she was safe. There was no way that hideous beast could get even a paw into her.
The dumb creature didn't seem to know this though, for it growled and clawed and tried to get in. Ari stood waiting for it to leave. Finally, after ten minutes, it stopped. Air was about to go back, when her father's words came back to her from when she was young. Never underestimate a wolf. They make you think that they're stupid beasts, but in reality are one of the most intelligent. He had been telling her of a previous experience that he'd had when he hadn't even met her mother yet.
So instead of bursting out of the cave, Ari tossed out the basket. And she was suddenly glad she had, for the wolf jumped out and began the snarling, growling, clawing routine all over again. Ari decided to wait it out again. While she waited, she began thinking. I must've run across the whole forest! she thought, looking around the cave, This must be one of the Impassable Mountains.
The Impassable Mountains were a ring of mountains that no one had ever crossed. Some thought that in the center was a huge lake, others thought it might be the home of the gods. The girl saw that the cave went back quite far, so she decided to explore a bit. As she went further and further, she found that it didn't grow dark. In fact, there was a light glowing, coming from herself. She looked down and saw that the necklace she wore was glowing. She thought back to when she'd received it...
Her Grandmother was dying. She knew it, and the old woman had requested her presence. With some of her last breaths, she told the girl an all too familiar tale. "Ari, you remember your ancestor, the Great Queen Flora?" When she said she did, the woman continued, "She came from a far away land with nothing, and made our rough little village into a civilized nation. She came with nothing but this necklace." She pulled out a lovely piece of jewelry. It was a thin silver chain, and hanging on the chain was a little milky orb, with blue colored streaks swirling inside of it. "My time is coming, my dear, it is now your turn to hold this heirloom. Pass it down to your daughter, tell her the story. And let it be a light to you in the darkness" Tears streamed down the girl's face as she gingerly took the necklace and put it on. "it looks lovely on you." Her grandmother told her before falling asleep. Two hours later she was gone.
"Let it be a light to you in the darkness." Her grandmother's words rang through her head like a resounding gong. Looking back towards the entrance she saw the wolf still growling. She took off the necklace and held it up, then plunged into the cave.
Ari walked along the passage for some time. She was descending rather rapidly, the rock walls becoming narrower and shorter. Finally she found an opening to her left. It was large, spacious, and the ground smooth. She took one step in that direction, and suddenly darkness surrounded her. It was like a lamp snuffed out suddenly. She backed up, scared to death, wondering what she'd do now. There was no need to worry though, because as soon as she was out of that passage, the necklace lit up again. She took a deep breath and continued on. She passed passage after passage, each one looked nice and inviting, but each time the necklace would go out. Finally, she came to another opening, much like the one she was already traveling in. She tentatively held the necklace out so it would be in the cave, ready to draw it back as soon as the light was gone, but it shone steadily. Looking around, she decided to take the passage.
She traveled onward for what seemed like years to her. How many times she'd stumbled on unseen rocks or had been plunged into sudden darkness she could not count. She stopped only once, when her stomach began to growl, pulling out the small bit of bread and a small sweet cake that her mother had packed for her lunch. When she'd packed it, she'd been thinking that if Ari wanted more, she could eat the plentiful berries. After the break she went on again.
The tunnel became suffocating, the walls pushing in all around her. She felt like she couldn't breathe in the stuffy air. It was a very welcome relief when she came out into a slightly larger room. Defeat rushed in though when she found that there were no more openings out of this room. It was a dead end. Frantically turning around and around, she saw no way out but the way she'd come in. Stunned, she sunk to the ground. Then the tears rushed on. It was hopeless. She'd been a fool to follow the light of a necklace. She sobbed for a long time, and when the tears subsided, she stood up. Her adventurous spirit wouldn't let her give up. She gave the room one final sweep with her eyes, hoping to find she'd missed something. To her surprise, she had. It was not a passage, but writing engraved into the rock wall. Inspecting it closely, she wondered who would have written something this far under ground. The words were a bit archaic, so she translated it out loud to words she could easily understand. She read:
"Thou hast come far indeed. With the Guiding Star, or just by luck, thou hast found my everlasting walls. Thou shalt not move any further, unless the Star is resting in thine hands. Now,-" The girl bent closer, scrutinizing the last word, then realized what it was, "enter." Suddenly, a loud crack resounded through the caves. The necklace's light flared so brightly that it caused Ari to stumble backwards, her hands flying up to cover her eyes. Then the light was gone, and so were the words. All that was there was a gaping doorway. Ari stood gazing at it in awe, when she felt a gentle breath of wind on her cheek. It took some time for her to process that there had to be an exit if she could feel the wind, but when she did, she took off quickly.
The ground angled upward and the air smelled fresher, cooler also. The rough ground changed into stairs, and the tunnel became lighter. The necklace began to fade, but it no longer mattered, because high up slits in the wall were windows, letting in silver moon beams. She came to the top of the stair case and found herself in a huge cavern. There were four large ornate pillars going to the ceiling and a wooden door standing at the opposite end of the room. Who put that there? She thought as she studied it. There were carvings of men and beasts covering it. It was almost like they were depicting stories, but she didn't know what they would be.
A sound made her start suddenly. It came from the left of her, and when she turned her head, she saw two men. They had on light armor and short swords at their sides. The helmets were small with tufts sticking out the top. She'd heard a small trickling of liquid and saw that the one man had a bottle to his lips, drinking some sort of brown fluid. Most of it was trickling over his short beard and down his armor. The other one wall snoring in a drunken slumber. Ari cringed at the sight. Drunk men were not very friendly, especially when someone was trespassing, which she might very well be doing. Looking warily, she went to the door. Pushing it slowly, she squeezed her eyes shut waiting for the loud creak sure to come from such a gigantic door. But it didn't come, it was in fact silent, and she breathed relief. The sight that she saw next took her breath away.
She was standing in a lush green area on the inside of the Impassable Mountains. There was no sea, or desert, or even the home of the gods. It was a huge clearing with a brown ribbon of road winding from the place she stood to a distant shining white light. The sky was clear above her, the moon and stars bathing the valley in a silver light. They seemed to shine brighter here than at her home.
After taking it in, she closed the door, it was as noiseless as when she'd opened it, and began walking along the road to find out what that distant glimmer was…
A Light in the Darkness
Two girls passed through a thickly wooded forest. The one who came first was named Ariana, but known as Ari to almost everyone she knew. She had thick, long blonde hair that fell to her waist and hazel colored eyes, changing from green to brown with her different dresses. She was humming a beautiful, haunting tune. The melody rang out in the stillness of the woods.
The second girl was of stockier build, with a round, merry face. Her sleek, dark brown hair fell around her shoulders. She had dimples on either side of her mouth, and large, baby doll blue eyes.
Both girls had a basket hung over their arms, for the purpose of collecting the bountiful amount of berries that the wood was producing. After some time, Ari called, "Clio! Here are some!" In front of her was an old looking birch tree, and climbing up it was a vine. Hanging off the vine were huge clusters of crimson berries. Clio exclaimed as she found another on a neighboring tree, this one with richly colored berries of a purple hue.
They went merrily along, gathering berry after berry. Ari's basket filled quickly. She stood up and looked at her friend. Instead of an overflowing basket though, she saw it was only half filled. Then she noticed Clio's mouth, stained a reddish-purple. She smiled, then picked some berries of the vine and tossed them at her friend. "Hurry, tortoise hands! We don't have all year, you know." she teased. Clio looked up. On her face was a devilish grin, and she reached into her basket. "Clio, no!" Ari laughed as a small shower of berries rained down upon her.
She took off running. Clio laughed behind her, reaching in continually for more berries. Then (Ari was not quite sure how it had happened) the berries abated and Ari suddenly found herself alone. "Clio? Clio, this isn't funny." she called out nervously. But Clio did not appear. The trees became suddenly much more intimidating, like the branches were just waiting for her to move, so they could reach down to grasp a hold of her hair and never let go.
She began to walk the way she'd come, or at least the way she thought she'd come, when she tripped on a protruding root. Blood oozed from a scratch from a dead branch. She looked frantically around for something, anything she recognized, but saw nothing. But then a curious stump caught her eye. It almost looked hairy. Then it shifted position. Wait, Ari thought, stumps don't just shift positions… And then she saw what it really was. A huge wolf reared it's ugly head. Saliva dripped off of it's yellow fangs, shaggy brownish-gray fur covered it's body. It's piercing gaze didn't move from her at all, and held her paralyzed in fear.
Then it was as if a voice went off in her head that screamed, Run! She took off as fast as she could, and the wolf took bounding leaps after her. She heard it snarling behind her, and a few times snapping it's monstrous jaws in anticipation.
Ari ran harder then she'd ever run before, her hat flew off of her head. She was desperately clutching the basket that was now void of all berries. Her hair flew behind her as she streaked in between the trees. She didn't even know she could run this fast. It was like she was in between running and flying.
The trees began to thin though, and the wolf began to gain speed now that the obstacles between it and it's prey was growing less with each powerful leap. Ari became more and more panicked as she heard it gain. She saw a steep mountain looming in front of her. The rock wall came ever closer, she'd be trapped. But just as she thought she was going to die, she spotted a small crack in the rocks. She dove in, barely squeezing through. But she was safe. There was no way that hideous beast could get even a paw into her.
The dumb creature didn't seem to know this though, for it growled and clawed and tried to get in. Ari stood waiting for it to leave. Finally, after ten minutes, it stopped. Air was about to go back, when her father's words came back to her from when she was young. Never underestimate a wolf. They make you think that they're stupid beasts, but in reality are one of the most intelligent. He had been telling her of a previous experience that he'd had when he hadn't even met her mother yet.
So instead of bursting out of the cave, Ari tossed out the basket. And she was suddenly glad she had, for the wolf jumped out and began the snarling, growling, clawing routine all over again. Ari decided to wait it out again. While she waited, she began thinking. I must've run across the whole forest! she thought, looking around the cave, This must be one of the Impassable Mountains.
The Impassable Mountains were a ring of mountains that no one had ever crossed. Some thought that in the center was a huge lake, others thought it might be the home of the gods. The girl saw that the cave went back quite far, so she decided to explore a bit. As she went further and further, she found that it didn't grow dark. In fact, there was a light glowing, coming from herself. She looked down and saw that the necklace she wore was glowing. She thought back to when she'd received it...
Her Grandmother was dying. She knew it, and the old woman had requested her presence. With some of her last breaths, she told the girl an all too familiar tale. "Ari, you remember your ancestor, the Great Queen Flora?" When she said she did, the woman continued, "She came from a far away land with nothing, and made our rough little village into a civilized nation. She came with nothing but this necklace." She pulled out a lovely piece of jewelry. It was a thin silver chain, and hanging on the chain was a little milky orb, with blue colored streaks swirling inside of it. "My time is coming, my dear, it is now your turn to hold this heirloom. Pass it down to your daughter, tell her the story. And let it be a light to you in the darkness" Tears streamed down the girl's face as she gingerly took the necklace and put it on. "it looks lovely on you." Her grandmother told her before falling asleep. Two hours later she was gone.
"Let it be a light to you in the darkness." Her grandmother's words rang through her head like a resounding gong. Looking back towards the entrance she saw the wolf still growling. She took off the necklace and held it up, then plunged into the cave.
Ari walked along the passage for some time. She was descending rather rapidly, the rock walls becoming narrower and shorter. Finally she found an opening to her left. It was large, spacious, and the ground smooth. She took one step in that direction, and suddenly darkness surrounded her. It was like a lamp snuffed out suddenly. She backed up, scared to death, wondering what she'd do now. There was no need to worry though, because as soon as she was out of that passage, the necklace lit up again. She took a deep breath and continued on. She passed passage after passage, each one looked nice and inviting, but each time the necklace would go out. Finally, she came to another opening, much like the one she was already traveling in. She tentatively held the necklace out so it would be in the cave, ready to draw it back as soon as the light was gone, but it shone steadily. Looking around, she decided to take the passage.
She traveled onward for what seemed like years to her. How many times she'd stumbled on unseen rocks or had been plunged into sudden darkness she could not count. She stopped only once, when her stomach began to growl, pulling out the small bit of bread and a small sweet cake that her mother had packed for her lunch. When she'd packed it, she'd been thinking that if Ari wanted more, she could eat the plentiful berries. After the break she went on again.
The tunnel became suffocating, the walls pushing in all around her. She felt like she couldn't breathe in the stuffy air. It was a very welcome relief when she came out into a slightly larger room. Defeat rushed in though when she found that there were no more openings out of this room. It was a dead end. Frantically turning around and around, she saw no way out but the way she'd come in. Stunned, she sunk to the ground. Then the tears rushed on. It was hopeless. She'd been a fool to follow the light of a necklace. She sobbed for a long time, and when the tears subsided, she stood up. Her adventurous spirit wouldn't let her give up. She gave the room one final sweep with her eyes, hoping to find she'd missed something. To her surprise, she had. It was not a passage, but writing engraved into the rock wall. Inspecting it closely, she wondered who would have written something this far under ground. The words were a bit archaic, so she translated it out loud to words she could easily understand. She read:
"Thou hast come far indeed. With the Guiding Star, or just by luck, thou hast found my everlasting walls. Thou shalt not move any further, unless the Star is resting in thine hands. Now,-" The girl bent closer, scrutinizing the last word, then realized what it was, "enter." Suddenly, a loud crack resounded through the caves. The necklace's light flared so brightly that it caused Ari to stumble backwards, her hands flying up to cover her eyes. Then the light was gone, and so were the words. All that was there was a gaping doorway. Ari stood gazing at it in awe, when she felt a gentle breath of wind on her cheek. It took some time for her to process that there had to be an exit if she could feel the wind, but when she did, she took off quickly.
The ground angled upward and the air smelled fresher, cooler also. The rough ground changed into stairs, and the tunnel became lighter. The necklace began to fade, but it no longer mattered, because high up slits in the wall were windows, letting in silver moon beams. She came to the top of the stair case and found herself in a huge cavern. There were four large ornate pillars going to the ceiling and a wooden door standing at the opposite end of the room. Who put that there? She thought as she studied it. There were carvings of men and beasts covering it. It was almost like they were depicting stories, but she didn't know what they would be.
A sound made her start suddenly. It came from the left of her, and when she turned her head, she saw two men. They had on light armor and short swords at their sides. The helmets were small with tufts sticking out the top. She'd heard a small trickling of liquid and saw that the one man had a bottle to his lips, drinking some sort of brown fluid. Most of it was trickling over his short beard and down his armor. The other one wall snoring in a drunken slumber. Ari cringed at the sight. Drunk men were not very friendly, especially when someone was trespassing, which she might very well be doing. Looking warily, she went to the door. Pushing it slowly, she squeezed her eyes shut waiting for the loud creak sure to come from such a gigantic door. But it didn't come, it was in fact silent, and she breathed relief. The sight that she saw next took her breath away.
She was standing in a lush green area on the inside of the Impassable Mountains. There was no sea, or desert, or even the home of the gods. It was a huge clearing with a brown ribbon of road winding from the place she stood to a distant shining white light. The sky was clear above her, the moon and stars bathing the valley in a silver light. They seemed to shine brighter here than at her home.
After taking it in, she closed the door, it was as noiseless as when she'd opened it, and began walking along the road to find out what that distant glimmer was…