Halcyon - Book one - Oracles

THE PEOPLE OF NOWHERE

        In a land of long ago, there was one thing people lived by - the idea of 'Halcyon'.  Halcyon was just peace, peace that would spread far and wide and keep everyone at ease at all times.  Such a thing was hard to achieve, but somehow it became in one city and so the word Halcyon became a name, and Halcyon City became the most populous and beloved city of all.

      To live by such a legacy certain precautions had to be kept within the city, if you were a person who did not follow the rules of God or practiced in witchcraft or necromancy you and your bloodline were to be completely banished, over time these families died out but two remained in the heart of nowhere.

      Outside of Halcyon City, in the area penned as Halcyon Fields could be found two homes, one a large home built from the finest black bricks with three stories, the other a small two story home made of white bricks and covered in the most colourful ivy.  The people these walls contained were not necessarily of an evil nature, they just happened to share the blood of those who were.

      Amias and Elijah Lott inhabited the black house, tied to it from the necromancy all through their ancestry, they were two brothers who were bound together despite their indifferences and who were complete opposites in almost every way.

       Where Amias took an interest in caring for animals, Elijah took pleasure in experimenting and

bringing them harm; where Amias would find no greater joy than spending time outdoors, Elijah found no greater happiness than being locked in his downstairs chamber at all hours of the day. The only trait these brothers shared was the jet black colour to their hair, and even their hair was opposites as Amias' was curly and Elijah's was straight.

      The house with the white bricks was the house of the alchemist, Madame Sylvia Maple who lived with her apprentice and granddaughter Xaria Maple.  Although Madame Maple's talents of alchemy were a great help to Halcyon City she was still not allowed through the gates, she was banned due to her mother being a witch.

      Despite the fact they had no choice in the matter, the Maple's both agreed that life out in nowhere was better than a city could ever be, there was no noise or hustle to distract or detract from their work - just silence and pure bliss.

      From Elijah being constantly buried away in his chamber and Madame Maple creating antidotes for the people of the city too complicated for Xaria to learn, Amias and Xaria found themselves bound to one another a lot of the time.  They had been friends from a very young age, and even though they got along just fine, it seemed like they never had a choice but to befriend each other.  It was either that or go mad from loneliness.

      Everyday once her work was finished Xaria would routinely go and meet Amias down by a spot they kept together at the stream that ran further down from their houses but concealed by masses of trees.  This was Amias' and Xaria's safe haven, a place that they could come to feel at ease with one another, share all of their troublesome thoughts and just enjoy one another without interference from the rest of the world.  It is here where our story really begins.

      Amias sat waiting, skimming rocks into the thin running stream, watching them skim over the water's surface to the other side leaving small ripples as it went, as if a few droplets of rain had fallen from the sky.  Even though this was where he was to meet Xaria it also acted as a private place to himself some days, a place he could let out his stresses without having to speak of them to anyone else, and if he ever felt like this was necessary then he just had to arrive an hour or two earlier than usual.

      Surely enough Xaria arrived, Xaria was what Amias considered the epitome of beauty, she had long hair that reached her knees and that fell in small waves as if the wind was constantly running its own fingers through it. She had one braid that began just below her right ear and that was entwined with a shimmering pink ribbon.  Her hair was a bleach blonde colour with hints of gold.

      Her face was also perfectly executed as if it was one of God's most valuable masterpieces that he spent days to perfect. Her head was in perfect proportion to the rest of her tall slender body, and it held a petite sized nose with two big bright blue eyes and small but naturally pouted, rose red lips. There was not a blemish or even a freckle in sight as Xaria modeled a perfect complexion.

      She sat down beside him on the pebbled bank of the stream, organizing her grass, straw and petal skirt as to not tear any of the blades.

      "Why do you even wear such a delicate skirt?" Amias asked. "It seems to be so much of a hassle."

      "My grandmother says that alchemy requires patience, and by wearing clothing that take effort and patience will reward me when it becomes crucial." She replied, and tugged on her top that was just a roll of fabric that had been executed to cover herself decently without looking too tattered.                                                     

      "It's like this, I don't like having to spend a great deal of time covering myself in the morning but now I'm better at it and find it easier. I suppose the more you test your patience, the more chance you have to control it."

      "Whatever, it just seems unreasonable to me." Amias retaliated, skimming another rock. "Anything new with you?"

      "No, not really, I'm getting better with my sword though. I'll have to show you how to use one sometime."

      "If your grandmother finds out you made yourself a sword she will kill you, what happened to the innocent girl that will only use ingredients given by the Earth to not harm another living being?" He mocked her jokingly.

      "It gets boring." She admitted. "But it's not as if I'm hunting, or harming any animals I only practice on trees, and they neither scream in agony or bleed."

      He laughed and stretched back to reach a more relaxing position.

      "What about you?" Xaria asked Amias, "Anything new?"

      "Yes, actually..." He began, "You know how I said I swear I can hear animals and other noises when I'm trying to sleep, well now they're beginning to sound as if they're coming from underneath me."

      "It will just be your imagination, grandmother always says the imagination is most active when the body is not. So, I wouldn't worry about it. Honestly."

      After that they didn't really speak, they didn't need to. They just sat back emptied their thoughts, and enjoyed one another's company. Everything seemed so at peace, so normal but they didn't know that after that next night of sleep nothing would quite feel the safe for them again.