M1 (Start of a Novel)
Dearest reader,
I thank you for picking up this one book out of the hundreds of fables available. It's true, Romeo and Juliet may be more poetic, and the adventures of Sherlock Holmes are certainly enticing to divulge.
However, those are just stories. Everything you're about to read within these pages did indeed happen in my life.
My name is Maria Myrlin, or, it was at least.
Now, my name is shared with this book. I don't suspect you'll understand those words, but give it time.
Humans believe in their gods and follow their morals; you live and die by your own laws. Unfortunately, the way of my people is quite different. Stories dictate our lives these days. Vampires must hate both humans and their fellow sub-races. Ghouls must dwell in shadows and scare little children by nightfall. Then there are demons; who must have no heart, no emotions at all. They, we, are the spectres of your worst nightmares. That is the role placed upon us.
Apologies, I've buried the lead here, haven't I?
Every fairy tale you ever read, every fable, or folklore. They are all true, at least, to an extent. With time, each villain of your past has evolved, to now blend as human amongst you.
Maybe you'll believe my words, or perhaps centuries of hiding our existence will cause you to declare this little more than fantasy. It is after all, only human. I know this because not so long ago I was one of you. A human. Such a simple life, yet complicated in its own beautiful, fragile way. From our first words, we are taught so much. How to act what to say, manners and rules of social conformity. We call this a society, people held together by laws based on primal rules.
These rules live on in my world, however, they tend to be more guidelines. My kind has different instincts from yours. You descend from apes, from omnivores at most. My people evolved from demons, carnivores. We hunt because it is our nature.
Yes, I am a demon, but only after reading this may you judge if that makes me a monster.
The rise to fame is hard, but to climb back up after the fall is even harder.
Come, watch me rise...
M2 (Fantasy novel chapter, description focus)
The gilded forest
A summers breeze ruffled through the golden leaves of the sun-armoured trees. Their leaves glinted like jewels in the late afternoon rays. The amber beams reflected across the canopy, a few reaching down to the undergrowth.
A lone Pulli bird sang amongst the golden leaves and then took flight into the pinkish sunset sky. A crunch resounded in the fallen leaves like that of a boot on ice. The dull thrump sounded again and again at a steady pace. The steps then slowed to a patter, halting in the evening light of an opening by one of the sapphire lakes.
In the clearing, the stranger was revealed to the sun and the sun alone. She had reddish brown hair that blended well with the gilded forest, her skin fair and covered with cute little freckles. In the gaze of the sun, she removed her bow from her back and tossed it down to the foot of a tree before slumping there herself. Her back pressed to the flaking bark she stared up at the darkening sky, the colours causing her amber-gold eyes to sparkle. She truly did fit in with this forest. Everything from the tan of her leather amour to the warmth of her features blended seamlessly with the gilded forest. Feathers of the Schina Hawk were tied with leather cords into the curls of her wild hair, the beads at their stems jangling as she lay her head back further.
