Ioflar Chapter 1
Preface: This story takes place in Ioflar, a fantastical land ruled by an evil, undying king. Our story begins after the Draconic Purge, where all dragons were either chased from the land or killed, upsetting the balance of magic.
Four individuals, all from different parts of the world, saw something unexplainable: a beacon of calm, blue light shooting into the heavens. No one else could see the light but them, even if they were looking right at it.
The beacon would not disappear. Rather, it seemed to call those who could see it towards itself.
Immediately, the four dropped what they were doing to follow it. The girl abandoned her spot of safety in the eastern forests, venturing back into the sight of the queen she had rebuked. The man paused his tracking of a roving troop of bandits, even though he was unsure as to whether he could find their trail again. The priest dropped his ever-vigilant gaze from the skies, pausing his search for something other than clouds and blue sky. The angel, in turn, mustered the courage to turn her gaze back to the clouds, something she had avoided for several years.
None of them could explain why, but they each knew they needed to discover why this beacon appeared to them.
Following its light brought them to a small town in the Grimscar Mountains on the western edge of the country. In a forest clearing, nestled in a charred crater and bathed in blue light, laid a smooth, polished stone.
It was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.
Nora
She wasn’t the first one to arrive.
A tawny haired man crouched in a clearing near the beacon, his back to her. The beacon’s light, the source of whatever was drawing Nora here, was dying his hair a faint blue. His tunic was a dirty yellow fading into a rusty orange, mostly obscured by a torn red cape that spilled out behind him. Not as gaudy as some of the Court outfits, but still. Means he’s not one of their representatives, though, Nora mused.
The thought did nothing to alleviate her anxiety. Who was he, and why was he here? Even though he wasn’t from the Courts themselves, who could say if he wasn’t an assassin for hire? He certainly looked capable to play the part. He could’ve been hired by Nora’s Queen to track her down the moment she stepped back onto their radar.
The light was must have been one of their lures, one of their traps. It had to be! How could she have been so stupid? They probably already knew where she was and had sent countless hunters here to surround her.
But she had been so careful, checking behind herself constantly to ensure she wasn’t followed.
That didn’t matter, though. Her Queen had disguises and tricks aplenty. One wave of their hand could shroud the entire land in darkness.
The pine forest around Nora, formerly so unassuming and clear, seemed to curl around her like talons in the quickening dusk. Needles and tree trunks turned into knives and blades, every edge the bars of a silver cage.
She had no orders, no guidance on what to do next. Inside, she screamed to do something, anything! But she was stuck, frozen by her fear of them capturing her again. She refused to return as a pawn in their games.
Nora sank down, her head in her hands. Breathing ragged, she forced herself to count backwards. She plucked pine needles from the ground, rubbing them between her fingers. Twisting them to their points, she began poking her palms, the back of her hands, her arms, her legs. Anything to distract her, to stop this maddening spiral.
After a few moments, her breathing had calmed enough to afford a glance up. The man had not moved other than to stand, looking down. Nothing was on the ground before him, so he seemed to be looking at something in his hands, but his cloak and Nora’s angle blocked whatever it was he was holding.
If he really was hired by the Courts, Nora snarled, this could be my chance to send the Queen a message. A message that she was no longer a pawn, no longer a piece in their games, no longer under their control.
The only thing she wanted more than to hide was to take revenge for all the years and memories her Queen had stolen from her.
Treading lightly, Nora inched her way around the clearing. She didn’t have a chance if she just rushed the man, even from behind. She knew this. She was formidably strong, but not well versed in combat. She would need the element of surprise.
As much as she resented them for it, the Courts had given her some useful skills to take advantage of her small size and stature. Picking the closest tree to the man she dared, Nora shimmied up.
As she climbed, the object in the man’s hands became more visible. It was still mostly obscured by needles and brush, but Nora could make out the edges of what appeared to be a large, oblong stone. She stopped climbing, leaning forward. The stone was noticeably darker than the beacon, which was still shooting upwards. It seemed to absorb the beacon’s light rather than be illuminated by it.
The stone was coarse and angular, as if an amateur craftsman cut it out of the mountain. It carried the bumps and gnarls of a rock which had not been subject to the barrage of the wind or rain. The beacon caught the edges of the stone and made it shimmer, refracting light outwards across the clearing. Nora squinted, then continued upwards.
Her climbing path led her right through the light of the beacon. Normally, she would be concerned with giving away her position, but Nora didn’t pay any heed to obscuring the light this time. No one else could see the beacon. Even when skirting some of the smaller towns, not a single person seemed perturbed at a significant jet of light shooting up into the sky.
But as she passed through the beacon, the man’s head tilted to the side. Slowly, he looked upwards. Not at Nora, yet, but in her direction. Wait, could he see the light too? Nora froze. She thought she was the only one.
Just as she situated herself on the branch, Nora’s foot slipped. Hissing out a breath, she managed to steady herself against the trunk. But a loose chunk of bark fell, pinballing back and forth off the lower branches before landing with a faint thump in the underbrush below.
The man’s head turned towards the sound as he glanced about the clearing. His gaze stopped at Nora’s tree. He set down his stone and stepped towards her, squinting up into the needles.
Maybe if I stay completely still, he won’t see me.
“I can see you.”
Dangit.
The man’s hand slid down to his side, brushing back the edge of his cloak. He rested his hand on a hefty broadsword sheathed beside him.
He was more prepared than Nora expected! Meeting that blade’s business end would not end well for her. Good thing she favored her glaive, which would keep her away from close combat, although that was now the least of her worries.
I need to get the drop on him, literally, Nora thought. If she thought about it too much, she would psyche herself out, so she quickly pushed off from her tree. She plummeted through the air, diving for the man. His eyes widened as he took a slight step backwards, barely having the time to throw up his arms before they both collapsed in a heap on the forest floor.
