After The Battle
Book One - The Lady of the Frozen Lands
(#2-Prince & Princess of Legend)
An unfinished beginning
An old storyteller sunk into the worn chair in the corner of the room. Most adults in the area thought he was crazy or that he was just a man with the mind of a child forever locked into that of an old man. There was no such thing as magic in the plain and normal lives of the people of this small town, but one boy believed. Here on the edge of the sandy wasteland, he needed a little bit of that magic. The tales of magic and princes and long forgotten realms enchanted and entranced the boy like nothing else in his life. He wanted nothing more in life than to live an adventure. This small boy waited with anticipation for each new story or legend he had not heard. So, he sat with the other children waiting to listen to this special old man with the gift to tell a story and make it come alive.
The old man began to speak....
"Beyond the stars of the northern sky a deep secret waits for discovery.
Hidden far away in the cold barren lands of the land of eternal night.
A treasure that is priceless and can only be found by one of pure heart.
Glittering like a thousand diamonds in the snow of the frozen dark wastes.
A legend that has been all but forgotten and only waits for the day of its rebirth.
A cold princess trapped in crystal in an enchanted sleep...
... Longing to return to the land of living."
The old man stopped to take a deep breath, as a deep and ripping pain clutched his heart. His breath stopped and his eyes went flat. A small girl started to whimper and cry. The boy was numb, but the little girl's crying shocked into motion. He called for the headman and the medicine man. The old man just could not be dead because he had started a story and left it unfinished. The only thing that the boy could understand was that the storyteller was dead and he had an unfinished story that left him without conclusion for the first time in his life. That day the boy promised he would find the answer to his story.
A young man, which looked to be about eighteen, stopped and looked up from his work in the new irrigation fields. The seasons had been kind and the small town on the edge of the desert wasteland had prospered from trade with nomads and new techniques in farming. This young man by the name of Endyn had grown with the changes, but there was something different and more powerful about him. Quiet and strong he lived alone and had shown no interest in marrying. All the girls of the town wanted to know what it was that kept him going, because he had no family or anyone that he loved. He simply lived alone and the whole town looked after him like an adopted son. An old pair, who lived on the outskirts of the town near him, made his food. His clothing was made by any young single girl hoping to catch his eye. He was dark and handsome boy had grown into a fine man, who had his mind caught in a constant dream that never went away. The town mourned for the fact the he had lost his parents young and could find no peace, happiness, or love to fill in his long and lonely days. Nothing gave him joy except watching the children of the village. He saw them play together and grow. All the children would come to him with any problems before going their parents, and he would look after them as a guardian and protector. He would sing to them or tell them a story that would make them forget their troubles. He gave them hope and a bit of magic into their lives. In return they granted him some of the joy of life he seemed to forget.
He was the fiercest warrior in town and the best at any trade or skill he put his hand to, but there was always something missing from his life, a spirit he had been missing since he was a child.
" Heyla, Endyn, You have to come to town quick. There's a big meeting in the square and a message from someone in Antaer," Cried out Eseta, one of the children that was a favorite of Endyn's. She was panting from running in the heat and had to stop and catch her breath before she could continue on with her message. " I gotta go tell Ma'am and Mister Silverman then go home. Bye-bye, Endyn." With that, Eseta turned and ran from the fields and took off toward to the southern edge of town. Endyn just stood straight and put down his tools. He walked back to the small hut that he called his, washed his face and made his way into town.
The rider was trying to answer a dozen questions at once as everyone wanted to know the big news before the others. Almost everyone in town had a relative in the city of Antaer, and they wanted to know if there were any messages besides the main one. As Endyn approached the crowd began to quite down and even the headman of the village stopped boasting about the towns prosperity. Endyn was the one with the best memory in town and he would remember the message word for word once it had been read. Any one who could not make it into town could go and ask Endyn when they got the chance. The messenger was just relieved that someone with responsibility had shown up. Even he gave Endyn a quiet respect and took a long drink from the water ladle passed up to him by Manki, another of Endyn' s favorite children.
"Let the man speak his piece and then you may announce one question each after he is finished," said Endyn. The crowd quieted to a whisper as the young messenger began rattling of greeting in the name of various high officials of Antaer, including the High Prince, Reven.
" ... Let it be know on this, the Ninth Day of the Third Season of the Third Year of the Reign for the Guardian of Mars, an expedition is to set out under the guidance of the Prince Divar in search for a suitable trophy to gain the title of Successor to his brother High Prince Reven. Any man who wishes to join the expedition must present himself to the Prince by the evening a se'ennight from this proclamation, at the palace in Antaer. No man judged unfit is to appear and must be ready to leave two days after your formal introduction as a member of the expedition, which will be on the same night that you arrive.
The expedition is to go to the Frozen Lands of Night, and find the missing Silver Jewel of Stars or The Lady, who sleeps in The Breath of the Queen of Shadows.
This expedition is expected to last until the Second Year of Jupiter or no longer than the First Year of Saturn. If the High Prince is not presented with one of those two object by the afore mentioned dates, Prince Divar and his company will be presumed shamed from failure and honorably dead by their own hands, or dead from the Trials of the expedition and granted all rights and due ceremony on the First Day of the First Season of the First Year of Reign of the Guardian of Saturn. The Grace of the Guardians is upon you all. High Prince Reven's Chief Scribe, Achen." The messenger took another long drink as the crowd stirred from the news. While Endyn was there they dared not burst into the commotion that otherwise would have occurred.
Endyn was standing white lipped and silent by the time the messenger was finished. After all these years he was finally going to have the chance to hear the end of his story. It was more than that though, for here he had the possibility of saving the princess, the Lady of the Ice, whom he had dreamed of for years. All of these thoughts occurred to him in a matter of moment and before anyone else could react he spoke up.
" I will go if the prince will have me. I know the first part of the story and I have dreamed the rest since I was a child. There are no others from this village of suitable age without attachment. I know we are your last stop and I will return to the capital with you come morning."
There was only a stunned silence. The adults of the village rarely heard Endyn speak in full sentences and never made a proclamation, this was the most he had spoken in one setting. None of them remembered the storyteller who was buried in the sands, and only Endyn could recall the story of the Ice Lady of the Frozen Lands. They could not understand why he would have such a powerful need to go on a perilous journey like this.
As the crowd began to make complaints a quiet voice rose from the back. "Let the boy go," said Mama Krista," He must go for it is his Destiny." As the oldest woman of the village, she was the only one who ever knew Endyn's parents and the only one who ever seemed to understand what it was that his life was missing.
Endyn went to the small cottage he called his own and packed his few treasured things, which he wanted to have on the long journey ahead. When he had packed all of his clothes, his father's hunting knife, his mothers comb and shawl, and a small box of ivory with a carved ruby and gold rose inside, Endyn found that everything he ver thought was important did not even fill a single pack. Nothing in this small village would ever mean anything more to him than just being a placed where he had lived. He put out the hearth fire and packed all the rest of the food and supplies he could think to take with him. Endyn grabbed his packs and closed the door to his small house. Tonight he would spend the night at the one inn that the village could boast, and leave with the messenger at first light. From this point on, nothing else but the story of the princess mattered, and the path that destiny had already set.
Book One - The Lady of the Frozen Lands
(#2-Prince & Princess of Legend)
An unfinished beginning
An old storyteller sunk into the worn chair in the corner of the room. Most adults in the area thought he was crazy or that he was just a man with the mind of a child forever locked into that of an old man. There was no such thing as magic in the plain and normal lives of the people of this small town, but one boy believed. Here on the edge of the sandy wasteland, he needed a little bit of that magic. The tales of magic and princes and long forgotten realms enchanted and entranced the boy like nothing else in his life. He wanted nothing more in life than to live an adventure. This small boy waited with anticipation for each new story or legend he had not heard. So, he sat with the other children waiting to listen to this special old man with the gift to tell a story and make it come alive.
The old man began to speak....
"Beyond the stars of the northern sky a deep secret waits for discovery.
Hidden far away in the cold barren lands of the land of eternal night.
A treasure that is priceless and can only be found by one of pure heart.
Glittering like a thousand diamonds in the snow of the frozen dark wastes.
A legend that has been all but forgotten and only waits for the day of its rebirth.
A cold princess trapped in crystal in an enchanted sleep...
... Longing to return to the land of living."
The old man stopped to take a deep breath, as a deep and ripping pain clutched his heart. His breath stopped and his eyes went flat. A small girl started to whimper and cry. The boy was numb, but the little girl's crying shocked into motion. He called for the headman and the medicine man. The old man just could not be dead because he had started a story and left it unfinished. The only thing that the boy could understand was that the storyteller was dead and he had an unfinished story that left him without conclusion for the first time in his life. That day the boy promised he would find the answer to his story.
A young man, which looked to be about eighteen, stopped and looked up from his work in the new irrigation fields. The seasons had been kind and the small town on the edge of the desert wasteland had prospered from trade with nomads and new techniques in farming. This young man by the name of Endyn had grown with the changes, but there was something different and more powerful about him. Quiet and strong he lived alone and had shown no interest in marrying. All the girls of the town wanted to know what it was that kept him going, because he had no family or anyone that he loved. He simply lived alone and the whole town looked after him like an adopted son. An old pair, who lived on the outskirts of the town near him, made his food. His clothing was made by any young single girl hoping to catch his eye. He was dark and handsome boy had grown into a fine man, who had his mind caught in a constant dream that never went away. The town mourned for the fact the he had lost his parents young and could find no peace, happiness, or love to fill in his long and lonely days. Nothing gave him joy except watching the children of the village. He saw them play together and grow. All the children would come to him with any problems before going their parents, and he would look after them as a guardian and protector. He would sing to them or tell them a story that would make them forget their troubles. He gave them hope and a bit of magic into their lives. In return they granted him some of the joy of life he seemed to forget.
He was the fiercest warrior in town and the best at any trade or skill he put his hand to, but there was always something missing from his life, a spirit he had been missing since he was a child.
" Heyla, Endyn, You have to come to town quick. There's a big meeting in the square and a message from someone in Antaer," Cried out Eseta, one of the children that was a favorite of Endyn's. She was panting from running in the heat and had to stop and catch her breath before she could continue on with her message. " I gotta go tell Ma'am and Mister Silverman then go home. Bye-bye, Endyn." With that, Eseta turned and ran from the fields and took off toward to the southern edge of town. Endyn just stood straight and put down his tools. He walked back to the small hut that he called his, washed his face and made his way into town.
The rider was trying to answer a dozen questions at once as everyone wanted to know the big news before the others. Almost everyone in town had a relative in the city of Antaer, and they wanted to know if there were any messages besides the main one. As Endyn approached the crowd began to quite down and even the headman of the village stopped boasting about the towns prosperity. Endyn was the one with the best memory in town and he would remember the message word for word once it had been read. Any one who could not make it into town could go and ask Endyn when they got the chance. The messenger was just relieved that someone with responsibility had shown up. Even he gave Endyn a quiet respect and took a long drink from the water ladle passed up to him by Manki, another of Endyn' s favorite children.
"Let the man speak his piece and then you may announce one question each after he is finished," said Endyn. The crowd quieted to a whisper as the young messenger began rattling of greeting in the name of various high officials of Antaer, including the High Prince, Reven.
" ... Let it be know on this, the Ninth Day of the Third Season of the Third Year of the Reign for the Guardian of Mars, an expedition is to set out under the guidance of the Prince Divar in search for a suitable trophy to gain the title of Successor to his brother High Prince Reven. Any man who wishes to join the expedition must present himself to the Prince by the evening a se'ennight from this proclamation, at the palace in Antaer. No man judged unfit is to appear and must be ready to leave two days after your formal introduction as a member of the expedition, which will be on the same night that you arrive.
The expedition is to go to the Frozen Lands of Night, and find the missing Silver Jewel of Stars or The Lady, who sleeps in The Breath of the Queen of Shadows.
This expedition is expected to last until the Second Year of Jupiter or no longer than the First Year of Saturn. If the High Prince is not presented with one of those two object by the afore mentioned dates, Prince Divar and his company will be presumed shamed from failure and honorably dead by their own hands, or dead from the Trials of the expedition and granted all rights and due ceremony on the First Day of the First Season of the First Year of Reign of the Guardian of Saturn. The Grace of the Guardians is upon you all. High Prince Reven's Chief Scribe, Achen." The messenger took another long drink as the crowd stirred from the news. While Endyn was there they dared not burst into the commotion that otherwise would have occurred.
Endyn was standing white lipped and silent by the time the messenger was finished. After all these years he was finally going to have the chance to hear the end of his story. It was more than that though, for here he had the possibility of saving the princess, the Lady of the Ice, whom he had dreamed of for years. All of these thoughts occurred to him in a matter of moment and before anyone else could react he spoke up.
" I will go if the prince will have me. I know the first part of the story and I have dreamed the rest since I was a child. There are no others from this village of suitable age without attachment. I know we are your last stop and I will return to the capital with you come morning."
There was only a stunned silence. The adults of the village rarely heard Endyn speak in full sentences and never made a proclamation, this was the most he had spoken in one setting. None of them remembered the storyteller who was buried in the sands, and only Endyn could recall the story of the Ice Lady of the Frozen Lands. They could not understand why he would have such a powerful need to go on a perilous journey like this.
As the crowd began to make complaints a quiet voice rose from the back. "Let the boy go," said Mama Krista," He must go for it is his Destiny." As the oldest woman of the village, she was the only one who ever knew Endyn's parents and the only one who ever seemed to understand what it was that his life was missing.
Endyn went to the small cottage he called his own and packed his few treasured things, which he wanted to have on the long journey ahead. When he had packed all of his clothes, his father's hunting knife, his mothers comb and shawl, and a small box of ivory with a carved ruby and gold rose inside, Endyn found that everything he ver thought was important did not even fill a single pack. Nothing in this small village would ever mean anything more to him than just being a placed where he had lived. He put out the hearth fire and packed all the rest of the food and supplies he could think to take with him. Endyn grabbed his packs and closed the door to his small house. Tonight he would spend the night at the one inn that the village could boast, and leave with the messenger at first light. From this point on, nothing else but the story of the princess mattered, and the path that destiny had already set.