The Land of Kings- Volume 1
Semion awoke to a steady beating at the window. He could hear the wind wailing around the large, snow tipped house. He slowly opened his eyes to reveal a shimmering bluish-black raven standing in the steady snowfall. He silently walked to his window to peer out into the dimly lit sky. He saw a slight reflection of his brown eyes and blonde hair. The coldness began to creep into his body as he breathed making an eerie fog on the window. He looked to the raven still standing motionless on the windowpane. It's green eyes gazing throughout his large room. It must be waiting, for someone, or something. It looked to him with a sullen kindness. For some reason this raven was not normal. It looked quite common but it's eyes, They stood out. For what seemed like hours they stared at each other. Suddenly, It spread it's wings and flew into the deep gray sky. He looked to his small, digital clock standing on top of his three-drawer dresser; it read 5:05 A.M. He slowly crept his way back into his bed awaiting the silent sunrise of a new day. It would be there even if he couldn't see it.
He woke up to the same dullness as it had been. It was 10:13 A.M yet the sun could not be seen from the thick gray clouds. He slowly moved himself from his soft bed to his large wardrobe opening the wooden doors. He picked out a few everyday clothes. He grabbed his suitcase and slammed some in there. He took out one pair, quickly dressing himself for the family's long trip to the mountains. He ran out the door and down the long squeaking stairway making a left turn into the Breakfast Room. He greeted his mom and dad with a simple good morning as he settled into his chair. The smell coming from the table was mouth watering. He saw favorite, Biscuits N' Gravy™. He thought about his trip as he began to eat. "All packed"? Said his mom enthusiastically as they finished up their delicious breakfast. Yeah, I packed this morning; I remembered my laptop too. "Alright, let's get going," said the Dad quickly as the edged away from the table.
They Fastened their heavy coats around them walking slowly out into the chilling air. The Family then got into the old white van. Semion quickly plugged his laptop into the van's A/C outlet. While his dad turned the key to start the old 350 V8. The engine made an attempt to start, then stuttered and died. Dad waited a second then again turned the key pumping the foot speed. The engine shuttered then began to run. Semion saw power come to his laptop as his dad shifted the 1976 Chevy van out of the driveway. Dad put his foot into the petal moving the icy van down the long winding road leading into the Rocky Mountains. The van made a sullen shaking noise; it shuttered then the engine died. Dad quickly hit the starter again, making the engine whine feverishly, but it made no attempt to start. He walked over and started the small gas generator so the van had power to run it's heater. I typed an entry to my Journal on my laptop.
I am stranded in this feverish desert in the midst of a growing snowstorm, a perfect day for skiing, a bad day to be stranded in the midst of time. I really do hope that my father will get the engine fixed. Elsewise we have 8 hours till out generator runs out of gas. Then, I am afraid, we will die. There are no towing service within 2,000 miles, And we have little money to pay the wrecker, when will this ever end?
He looked up to see his dad walking around to the front of the van; He then raised the hood up revealing a pummeling plume of smoke. He slammed the hood, making the old van shake vigouresely, dropping a layer of snow off the roof. Semion shifted slightly to dusk the sweat forming on his seat. He sighed and continued typing:
I have just come to see that our van is beyond repair, I know I should always keep hope, but that is now the impossible. If anyone ever receives this please pass my journal's to Tommy Hunnycut, He will know what to do with them.
(End of Journal)
He grabbed his coat and told his mom he was going for a short walk around the Van. He opened the door sending a freezing draft into the van; He quickly jumped out slamming the door behind him. A squirrel scampered across the cold snow looking left and right into the un-known. A raven swooped down from the sky looking at me with it's beady green eyes. The
raven slowly came closer flapping it's wings gentler with each swoop. Semion closed his eyes feeling a light weight hit his shoulder. The raven's eyes looked up at him from his shoulder; He looked over at it setting silently on his shoulder. "Semion," said a suddle male voice. Semion looked around but no one was there. "Semion," said the strange scratchy male voice again. Semion looked to the Raven setting on his shoulder, are you? "Yes," interrupted the raven. "My name is Albin," Said the voice again. "How can I hear you?" Said Semion in his usual shy voice. "All will be answered in time," Whispered Albin. "Follow me," commanded Albin as he leaped off his shoulder. He looked to the Raven now taking flight. He decided he ought to follow him, Better then staying among an old broken down van. He began a steady pace tword the general direction of Albin. His eyes bloated at how swift the Raven could fly. The plane of snow looked like a desert, Never ending. He quickly increased his pace as the Raven flew miles ahead of him. The walk was verly uneventful, He saw a few unusual animals, some looking like rabbits, Some like Elephants but none were usual animals like you'd see in a zoo or anyplace for that matter. One looked like a lion with a horse's head, Another like a squirrel with a skunk head, etc… We finally arrived at a tall golden gate with a single key lock joining the two sides together. The
Raven was setting on the top of one of highest points of the long stone spikes residing on top of the gate. There were still light flakes of snow falling gently upon the ground. "Your Key?" said the Raven in a slightly more screechy voice. "What Key?" Asked Semion still gaping in awe. "The one in your right pocket," answered Albin in a matter-of-fact voice. Semion reached into his pocket to find a shimmering gold key with a few simple notches cut into it. "Please Enter," Said Albin in a slightly imperative voice. Semion took his key out of his pocket and inserted it into the lock. He turned the key and pushed the gate open. Inside was his greatest imagination, A huge castle coated in pure gold, A huge beautiful lawn overlooking a great ravine and tall beautiful mountains following it. Semion took tried taking the key out of the lock, but it wouldn't budge. Albin flew down and grabbed the key easily out of the lock flew over and handed it to Semion whispering, " You will need that".
Semion walked through the gates followed by Albin. After they walked in, The gates slowly closed snapping back into place. Semion looked to Albin in a way that told him to explain. Albin began speaking; " You are… Unique…There are 6 kings, each with a special ability, Each are of equal power. I don't know how to tell you this, but, You are a king, That is how you hear me speaking. This is your newly acclaimed kingdom; I am the king's loyal servant. I am an animanialian; I can take the shape of many different animals for a short time. My true form is a Raven, There are many like me. Those were animanialian you saw on our way here". Semion gaped in awe, It was too much information for his brain to process at once. "Let's get you inside," Said Albin. Meanwhile in the van Semion's father looked into the far distance around the van, Searching for his son. He breathed heavily in the icy cold. A car came slowly chugging down the road. He waved his hand feverishly at the car. It came to a stop by the van. The windows on the car rolled down. "Need some help?" Said the old guy in the car. The guy looked about 70 years old, He had gentle flowing white hair and gentle brown eyes. "Yeah" Said Semion's Father. " May I ask your name?" The guy said in a scratchy voice. I can't find my son, He left about 3 hours ago. The guy smiled, and said, " Hop In". (end of chapter)