Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

The Fourth Nation: Chapter 1 (pt. 3)

The next morning Rayon was waiting for Shiba to awaken. He had awoken early due to a dream that he couldn’t entirely remember. Shiba slowly rose and packed up the blankets. They slowly left for the mountain and arrive there shortly after lunch.
“This is the place,” Rayon said, staring in awe at the gigantic mountain. It was times like this when he wondered where it came from. How all creatures and lands and nations and forests and mountains came into existence, his mom had told him The Legend of Vacic a thousand times. He could recite by heart by now…

“Do not forget this story, Son
For this our family has always sung
Of the earth, before it was even there.
Soon land was formed, yet it was bare
Then grass and trees and rivers grew
Next, the birds of the air; they flew!
Soon all the land and water teemed with life
And there was neither pain, nor sorrow, nor strife
And Bazam and Matve walked alone
And Vacic soon flew and made a home
Into which, if we choose
We may go in, our darkness lose
For, my son, of evil are we born
And our flesh can be broken, our bodies torn
Yet in the dust, we shall not hide
For Vacic has given us, a reason for pride
Stand tall, my son, and listen well
For the reason of which, the first man fell...”

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden wailing noise. He quickly looked up to the top of the mountain and saw the cloaked figure from which the eerie noise was emanating. It was hard to determine if it was human. Rayon had heard legends of dark magical creatures living in Sokersebi (that is the forest in which the mountain resided). Suddenly, the eerie wailing ceased and dark clouds began to cover the once clear sky.
“Dark magic!!” Cried Shiba. “I’ve heard only legends of it, I didn’t think it was actually possible!” She remarked astounded at such frightening power.
“Yes,” Rayon said thoughtfully. “Only swordsmen are supposed to be able to use magic.” He carefully examined the darkening mountain and noticed a small opening just east of their location. “Shiba!” He exclaimed, pointing, “Look over there! Let’s go in.”
Then, without giving her a chance to respond, he darted over to the cave-like entrance, drew his sword, and entered. The cave was dark, and far wet, much more than he had expected. He squinted around looking for the slightest possible light or means of passage. He saw a very faint outline of an exit from the room and dashed off once again.
Shiba followed, barely keeping up. When they arrived in the next room a small torch sat on the far wall away from the room’s entrance. Rayon removed the torch from the wall and suddenly a grinding noise emitted from above. They both looked up to see a small hole through which light could protrude. A small stairway began to emerge from the mountainous walls, leading up to the newly opened hole.
Rayon barreled up the staircase and emerged in a dark, mist filled area a short distance up the mountain. Tall rocks surrounded the area.
To prevent things from getting in, or out? Rayon wondered, fearfully. Shiba joined him momentarily. She must have been thinking the same thing because she was trembling. The looked around and saw that the only way up was along a path that led almost straight up the mountain.
Sighing, Rayon took a deep breath and marched valiantly forward up the path and faded out of view in the midst of the mist. Shiba cautiously looked around and then bolted after him full force, terrified of what might come if he wasn’t there to be brave for her. That was thing Shiba wasn’t: brave. She had always let Rayon be brave for her, but only when it came to things she couldn’t fight, solitude and creepy things in black cloaks happened to fall under that category.
Suddenly, a skeletal hand burst forth from the ground and grabbed Shiba’s foot. She let out an ear-piercing shriek. Rayon quickly turned in time to see a skull protrude from the ground. Slowly, the whole skeleton emerged from the ground; Rayon could have sworn it was still rotting as he could still see bits of flesh attached to its ribs.
Rayon clutched his sword tightly and brought it down quite aggressively on the skeleton’s head. It flinched, and then collapsed in a heap of bones. Then, three more skeletons burrowed their way out of the ground. Rayon suddenly froze, he found himself unable to move. He stiffened up and one of the skeletons approached Shiba and drew a bone-shaped club. Rayon felt himself screaming inside and before he realized what had happened he was in the middle of a massive pile of bones that could have been from about 20 skeletons.

More writing by this author

Blogs on This Site