History by Asteria
History
By Asteria
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the canon characters. That much I am certain of. But this is a Futurefic, and not just any Futurefic, but one that takes place so far in the future that new rules have been established and places have been renamed. I claim as mine the Fari and their culture, but not their language, and some of the technology mentioned and used in the story, as well as the new names for places and things. Thank you.
*****
Beyond the reach of Memory…
The fire burned, a perfect ring. Large enough to fit a dozen people within, and still have a safe distance between their bodies and the dancing flames.
I reach out and I Call to Thee.
The chamber was enormous. The light cast out by the fire circle was swallowed by the shadows, giving no indication of walls or ceiling. The darkness seemed infinite.
Those Ones of old who heard the Call…
The spellcaster, a female, black of hair and wing, clothed in black, raised her arms and tilted her head back. The flames rose to be ten, then twenty feet high. The heat was intense, the light unbearable.
To aid the World, prevent it’s Fall…
The fire roared. Magic, invisible, flooded the chamber. The fire absorbed some, some wound around the spellcaster like yarn onto a spindle, and the rest hung in the air, humming almost audibly.
Appear in this ancestral Hall!
The magic in the air fell like a weight, smothering the fire and forcing the spellcaster to her knees. The figures in the circle were not so lucky. All nine were thrown to the ground, unprepared for the physical force of the magic. They lay in the pitch black of the chamber, gasping for breath.
The spellcaster climbed shakily to her feet. She had been prepared for the crushing blow that finished the larger of her people’s spells, but the strength of the spell determined the force of the blow and not only was this among the most powerful of spells, but she had reached much farther back than the spell had been designed for. Her balance regained, she walked toward the nine figures sprawled on the floor. Where the fire had burned, the gray stone was scorched black and slightly warm, pulsing with residual magic. She stepped over the blackened space, careful not to touch it. She looked over the assembled figures, counting them and comparing their faces to the portraits from the archives at Villeblanche.
“It worked,” she whispered, and her voice echoed in the stillness of the chamber.
The smallest figure stirred.
“Are we dead?” he asked, his small voice full of fear and confusion.
“No.” answered the spellcaster. “Don’t try to move yet,” she continued. “You’re probably still disoriented from the spell. Wait here, I’ll get some torches.”
With that, she stepped again over the boundary of the summoning circle and dashed off, her receding footfalls echoing. Inside of a minute, she was back, bearing a lit torch in each hand.
The light cast her features into relief. Her face was broad, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes. Her nose was long and narrow, almost like the beak of a shorebird, and the lower half of her face was vaguely snoutlike. Her skin was pale, with a golden sheen to it and tiny, silver-white points of canine teeth glinted against her full, pink lips. Her eyes were solid black, with no distinction between iris and pupil, and no white space showing. Reptilian eyes.
Once more, she stepped into the circle. The people she had summoned reacted to the light, raising their hands to shield their eyes. The one female among them struggled to sit up.
“What happened?” she asked. “What is this place? And who are you?”
“I am First Princess Dracona Noire of the Fari,” answered the spellcaster. “This is one of the chambers of The Moonlit Caves, home of the Fari Royal Court, in the Barrier Mountains. As for what happened… that is a complicated story, and would be better explained over a meal.”
*****
*****
Preview of History- Chapter 2:
“I’ve been here before,” said the Dwarf. “I’m certain of it. What did you say was the name of this place?”
“The Moonlit Caves, in the Barrier Mountains,” said Noire. “My people have lived here for well over sixty millennia.”
“I am inclined to agree with Gimli,” said the Elf. “I have not visited as many caves as he has, but I, too, feel that I have passed this way before.”
*****
*****
I’m going to stop there for now. I’m deliberately leaving some things, such as the reason for the summoning, who exactly was summoned, and who the Fari really are, for later chapters. Please review. Thank you.
1 Comment
it’s not tt bad a story. you should continue it! i’m jus reali reali curious… haha. write (pls?)