Honeire

Can You See That Ripple In The Night

No secret will stay buried. One way or another, someone finds out. Lies and tricks and games can only do so much to disguise a mistake. Those who take your secret to their graves cannot be expected to keep it.

-The first Honeire

Tamil was quite small for a city although it maintained an impressive population of over five thousand citizens.  Impressive when the wild life is taken into consideration. It was set in the center of the Three Grace mountains just past Landon river on the northwestern side of the Gondola continent. Although the directions won't mean anything now that we've abandoned the old lands.

The city was rich and prosperous as a mining town. They relied mostly on hunters and export for supplies. Growing their own food proved too dangerous. The winters had a tendency to freeze any crops and the cattle had a bad habit of being eaten by the predators of the mountain. Houses were carved into caves along the sides of the mountains with a great steel door as the only entrance or exit to any home. Because of the difficulty in procuring food, the Lord put two laws into effect. The first being that all citizens were to convert their basement into a mine to provide stone and precious metals to be sold on the market. The second was that none of the homes were to be opened after the last hours of the day. The people of the mountains had been hunted and devoured by the animals of the mountain. And without people there would be no work and furthermore, no profit.

-{~}-

The beautiful orange light peaked over the book in Senua's lap and into her eyes. She yawned and took in her surroundings. She propped herself up against a large boulder surrounded by firs on every side. It was so peaceful up here. She brushed her raven black hair away and stood up her book held loosely in her hand at her side. Urgency flooded her mind and she broke into a sprint down the mountainside, desperate to make it home in time.

Senua could see the door in the distance. She shouted to her mother through the door, beads of sweat slid down her forehead. The round door had been built into the side of the mountain. It was solidly built, several inches of reinforced steel with a dead lock and an iron bar to brace it on the other side. She hammered her fists into the door yelling as loud as she could. Her shouts turned to screams as the sun fell behind the trees and her hopes with it. The pain rippled through her hands until she couldn't bare it anymore and she collapsed holding her bruised and bleeding arms. She pressed her ear against the door and listened. Inside the house she could hear her mother weeping quietly, the sound breaking Senua's heart. Her father could be heard trying to comfort her mother suggesting that even though they couldn't open the door she might find somewhere to hide. They were such empty words she thought. Hopelessly, she turned to face the forest.

There was no light, not even a faint torch in the distance as she trudged. Terror gripped her mind with an iron hand as distance howls and shrieks could be heard. Some grew distant, others slowly drew nearer to her. She shivered from the cold, biting wind and slipped her hands under her armpits to keep them warm. The beasts continued toward her, but they were still too far to see. Her wandering brought her into a dark clearing where in the center sat a small ring of stones randomly gathered together for no apparent reason.

Senua sat herself down beside the stones, hugged her knees to her chest, and wiped away the tears on her cheeks. The forest itself seemed to move as the predators drew closer. She no longer cared whether she lived or died, all she wanted was stop feeling so afraid. Then the trees came to a stop, as did the howls, the shrieks and even the wind.

Senua glanced up and saw a tall figure at the edge of the clearing in front of her. He was barely visible in the dark and it wasn't until he drew near on silent steps that she realized something was wrong with him. He was unnaturally tall with arms hanging down almost to his knees. His clothes complemented his strange towering figure. A top hat upon his head and a long-tattered jacket that came down to his hips. He came to a stop just before her and looked down on her. He gripped a cane with fingers that were ashen white and topped with old nails that could have been razors. His voice was a hoarse whisper yet Senua could hear him clear as day.

"What are you doing out here little one?" She didn't know what to say, why was this man wandering the forests alone?

"I.... I was out too late and i was locked out." He nodded. "Who are you? Why are you here?" She stuttered "What are you?" The giant towered over her and considered her quietly for a moment.

"I am no one. As for what i am? I do not know. As for why am i here? I heard the grace mountains were beautiful." He glanced around. "If only the whole world were like this." Senua couldn't understand how oblivious he could be.

"But you can't be here, the animals- "

"Danger is for those whom it seeks, I am sought by none. You however, you should be at home little one. You should be at home sleeping in comfort with your belly full and your heart warm." Senua's shoulders sagged and she was quiet for a while. She remembered the old round door, blocking her off from safety.

"I am lost," Her voice a quiet whisper. "Can you take me home?" He was, again, quiet for a moment.

"I have somewhere to be. But i can still be of assistance." He removed a ring from his smallest finger and held it in his palm. The ring changed before her eyes, bending into a more rectangular shape. As it did, sand drifted upward into the ring, bending and twisting. Finally, it stopped, and the ring had been replaced by a lantern, small enough for her to hold. He held his hand out for her to take it from him. As she did, a white flame flickered to life driving back to darkness of the night. Indescribable shrieks and howls filled the air and forced Senua's hands to her ears. When they stopped, the man held the top ring of the lantern between his long index and thumb. Wordlessly she took the lantern from him.

"The dark is not our enemy, it is those who dwell within it." He whispered to her. She looked up at him and to the white light. What he did was impossible, it was magic! but no one had magic, only the immortals.

"Are you my enemy?" She asked fearfully. He smiled under that top hat, his eyes still shaded from its light.

"It seems you are already on the path you need to be." She looked down at the lantern and wondered what he meant.

"But what does that-?" but when Senua looked up again, he had already gone. The forest began to move again. The wind crept back over the mountain into the clearing and the cries of the animals could be heard. A wave of exhaustion swept over her and she collapsed to the cold hard ground.