Part 32

Alone in the night…

Pepe was not there when Alleia returned to their lavish quarters, he had mentioned an evening engagement and she assumed it was with one of his male companions. Not that it bothered Alleia, she felt dreadfully hormonal and her little one was wriggling playfully. So she curled up, wearing Kane’s uniform,  unable to eat, unable to sleep,  restless and forlorn.

Absently she plunged her hands deep into the jacket pockets and found items forgotten therein.  Curious,  she sat up and pulled out the contents upon the sheets before her…

Discovering a tobacco pouch and tinderbox,  a few coins, a handful of scrap parchment and three new arrow heads wrapped in oiled leather…

Unfolding the parchment Alleia discovered basic child-like attempts of writing, scribbled practiced alphabet and short simple words – Cat – Dog – Rock – Man – Kane …  He had been trying to teach himself to write.

However,  turning the parchment over, she uncovered a collection of sketches,  charcoal and chalk. The hand drawn pictures were breathtaking, each one her portrait. They must have been drawn from memory,  yet each one was so finely detailed, a mole on her throat,  freckles, curved smile line,  single nose ring. All tiny features carefully recalled.

An older,  dog eared parchment was jumbled in with the rest,  yet this portrait was not of Alleia… She frowned, a lock of hair tumbled free, a shot of jealousy cut through her core… His pictures clearly indicated an unspoken affection,  yet her own reaction to the mysterious girl caused Alleia to question her own emotions…

It took a while to identify the last sketch and her jealousy subsidised as she realised the image as ‘The Child of Prophecy’… A gasp escaped her lips as she clutched the hair, realising that the blonde Curls must have once belonged to the most magical creature ever to have graced the land…  Deep within her own womb, her unborn fluttered and twitched…

“You cunning bastard Kane…”  Alleia mused to herself,  carefully tucking the hair and sketch away…
Anne Harrison 21.02.17

Character Portfolios

Putting Faces to Names

Just in case you wondered who was who in the attached PDF, I’ve managed to do some wonderful funky editing to pull the images out of the document. I had invited my lovely invisible audience out there to guess which image related to which character in my on-going, not-so short story… The images are fairly  old and have been horded in my note book pages for numerous years, so long ago that I’ve lost the original picture files and I suspect they were from Tumblr once upon a time…

So, if you are curious to know who is who please read on…

Let me start with a confession… I think the phrase ‘in my note book pages for numerous years’ might have given you a clue, these are really old characters, roughly connected to an ancient D&D game, dating back centuries, lost in the mists of time… Well, my teenage years actually…

So without further ado, I shall introduce you to the first couple (above) meet Lord Death and his only daughter Lilly. I realise that the concept of Death has been used in various forms of fiction from The Sandman to Terry Pratchett  the reminder of our fragile mortality has been transformed into a physical character, a Grim Reaper. The idea of Death as a Father, to actually create life, gives Death himself an ounce of mortality… Lilly herself was a silent beauty who held some of her fathers skills, yet she could also stay his hand, therefore she was sometimes known as Mercy.

Brooding Gothic Characters, handsome male models, Vampires, Werewolves and fashion magazines have all forms the basis of inspiration. Picking names from thin air, falling in awe with sexy eyes and establishing a background story for nothing more than a picture on a poster (or Tumblr)…

Allow me to introduce Storm, above, please don’t let those dreamy eyes fool you, he’s a vicious killer, an assassin, the head of the guild Stormground…

This whisky slugging, shadow hugging sex bomb is known as Sandy, a member of Stormground and a little rule breaking ambitious rogue. A thorn in the side for Storm and a law unto himself…

I honestly can’t remember if I used this rather dreamy image for Elsam or his Son Nathainial… Both are Pirates, Pit Fighters, General Thugs and the ultimate unwilling hero… Both would be far happier in the pub with their mates, but usually ended up saving the world, accidentally…

Meet Storm’s Brother Akdov, who also has the dubious honor of being Sandy’s father. He is the silent partner in Stormground. More of a business man than a killer, he lets others get their hands bloody while he takes a cut and sets up contracts… His business ventures have spread widely through the underground, including various bars, gambling dens and whore houses. Life generally would be perfect, if he didn’t have to keep bailing Sandy out of trouble…

Apologies, this image did not transfer well out of the PDF… However, I should like you to meet Lorn Blackthorn and his lover Scarlet. Both are vampires, if the picture is too distorted to tell. They have a distinctive love/hate relationship, both too alike in their thirst for power and blood for truly love one another without hating each other.

Our final character in this Rogues gallery is Feral, he’s a thief, with quite a good reputation for causing mischief and pranks. He’s a soft heated fool with a wicked sense of humor and enjoys a challenge to really push his abilities, without getting caught!

***

I honestly feel a little weird about introducing you all to these characters, they have been with me for so many years, so long ago they were hatched into an evil plot somewhere on a game board, their actions determined upon the roll of a dice. I feel weird giving them life here, so far removed from what I’m currently writing, yet there is also a fraction of tales which remains the same. I don’t know if I will ever give them life again, or if they simply remain in character limbo, trapped in a picture, until I give them a storyline.

I think the last irony I will leave you with, before this post drags on too long. None of the pictures actually ‘look’ like any of the characters!!

… Yeah, that confused me too …

 

Anne Harrison 21.02.17

Falling in Love with the Imaginary…

Friday Lunchtime Ponderings…

…I think I have covered, or at least started to cover, this topic before… But I possibly got distracted and danced off on another train of thought before I could put finger tips to keys and pull the words out my brain…

Disclaimer: I’m not clever, I don’t understand  psychology, nor pretend to, I can not include any intelligent quotes (because I’m not sure what they mean) nor do I have any answers… Sorry my friends, all you get here will be some mad ramblings…

Rambling Commencing: Isn’t it just delicious how we, as normal every day mortal folk, can find ourselves in love with the imaginary. The characters that grace books, screen, cartoons, comics, games, movies and so on… The lovable rogue, the bumbling fool, the anti-hero, the stone cold killer, the gunslinger or the sheriff… No matter what genre of fiction we embrace, we will find these archetypes and we embrace them, we follow them through their ‘lives’ we may visualize them differently from authors descriptions, artists representations or actors, er… acting…

Fandoms are born from people sharing the same passion for certain characters or series of adventures, it expands, morphs into Comic-Cons, beyond that to entire theme parks, events, studio tours… Where we the mundane can step into the world of Fantasy, Fiction or Sci-Fi etc… We dress as our favorite characters, we have lightsaber  battles with Jedi when we’re dressed as Sith… Wand duel with a Slytherin while taking a selfie and sharing it on social media… These things bring total strangers together, we can talk about the ridiculous without actually sounding ridiculous, because the stranger we’re chatting too understands perfectly the made up jargon you’re talking about…

It makes me (personally) feel like I am part of a huge family, I am a cosplayer, I admire the creativity the dedication and perfection of come costumes. I’ve never tried LARPing, but this could prove to be the ultimate step (for me) as a (non)writer, to become your own character, to act as they would act and put yourself in their shoes…

This whole concept is so expansive and so inclusive, I don’t think I’ve really scratched the surface here and could express myself further, include more examples, genres or characters… Good or Bad, Love them or Hate them… None of this ‘world within a world’ would even begin to exist if people hadn’t sat down, picked up a pen and wrote about the imaginary people inside their heads, by doing so, they crafted life, love and a whole realm where nothing is impossible in a world where we are restricted to reality, sometimes the incredible can be tangible.

Yet none of it would be so if there was never a ‘Once Upon a Time’ …

I’m going to get back to my own writings shortly and I’m going to leave you with a passage from Michael Moorcock, introducing one of his most chaotic anti-heroes… This is where I fell in love with the imaginary…

“It is the color of a bleached skull, his flesh; and the long hair which flows below his shoulders is milk-white. From the tapering, beautiful head stare two slanting eyes, crimson and moody, and from the loose sleeves of his yellow gown emerge two slender hands, also the color of bone. “

 

Anne Harrison 17.02.17

Putting Faces to Names

pages-from-brown-book

You’ll need to click the link to see the pictures (ignore the mad scribblings please) but I can not find the images anywhere else currently, though I’m quite sure they’re kicking around somewhere, today they are being illusive…

My sudden burst of writing has left me with a whole host of posts that I need to return to and edit, I’ve been writing quicker than by brain can get all the words from the scene it sees to my fingers on the keys. This has also left me with constant dreams (and daydreams) of following events… Now I can see my characters very clearly in my head, yet I have added no descriptions in my writings – I could – but I always like to imagine what characters look like when I’m reading a book, so it kinda also work the other way around too. Everyone visualizes what they read differently…

… So, why am I sharing a collection of images of models, vampires and goths?

To create a little game… If you were to relate any of my characters to the random images (attached in the above link) … Which character would you connect to which picture?

You don’t need to reply, it’s just for fun… Besides, it gives you all something to read while I’m busy editing silly mistakes and dreadful spelling…

 

Anne Harrison 16.02.17

Part 27

By the Light of the Moons…

 

The twin moons hung heavy over the palace towers, as though silently watching events unfolding therein…

…In the barracks, those guards off duty mostly slumbered in an exhausted sleep, a handful gambled by flame light awaiting news from their comrades regarding the rumpus reported from the ball room. Kane sat alone on his bunk, knees pulled up to his chin, starring absently ahead at a cracked brick in the wall. He couldn’t sleep and even though he felt bitterly cold, he made no move to warm himself. His stone was gone and although initially he thought it had slipped out of his pocket in the maze, a single memory kept replaying in his mind. Somehow he had pushed the crystal into the Princess, it was in his hand, he remembered that clearly, he had it in his hand while they were together. Had it in his hand, warm, red, pulsing, humming… It enhanced the intensity of their experience, Kane recalled placing the crystal over her heart, but could not logically consider a reason why he would do such a thing. He remembered it was hot in his hand… Kane swore under his breath, he could not recall clearly what had happened to his stone… He felt frustrated and horny, for other such recent memories were delicious to savour and yet there was still the lingering dread of having to face General Fendor after being caught in such a compromising position… He sighed, no wonder he couldn’t sleep!

***

General Fendor was able to return Princess Alleia to her quarters and her snoring husband without any issue. The moons must have blessed their passage and any carefully planned excuses were redundant. Staff and guards were carefully distributing sleeping party guests to their assigned quarters, or finding quarters  for those which required them. Some awoke sluggish and confused, but most (including the King) were sleeping soundly. Apart from a few bumps and bruises and ruined garments, everyone had escaped any injury and once all were resting comfortably the army of staff began a swift and efficient clean up operation with perfection. By dawn light no display of any disturbance would be evident and a superb breakfast feast would calm any rattled nerves or sore heads. At least that was the hope.

***

The Queen waited until all the staff had left the ball room and returned alone. The Phoenix called upon seeing her, slipper footed, she glided across the freshly polished dance floor to her feathered companion and lovingly stroked his long slender neck, fingers pausing against an ugly heavy collar the King had employed to chain the creature to his cage.

“I hate it, it’s horrible.” She said softly as the magnificent bird nudged her shoulder with a squawk, bumping her arm, focused upon the clear blue crystal, still perched upon it’s pedestal, still softly glowing with a pale blue light, glittering reflections upon the highly varnished table. The Queen, following the gaze of the magical bird, allowed her eyes to linger upon her husbands most treasured trophy. “I wonder what caused it to flare so?” She pondered, inching over to the stone, hand hesitating over it, she could feel the cool heat and resisted the urge to grasp it tightly and hold it to her chest, even though her instinct near demanded the action. She closed her eyes, an image of a red stone, pressed against pale flesh flashed into her mind. The Queen glanced up at the Phoenix…

“Rebirth?” She mused in a soft whisper…

 

Anne Harrison 08.02.17

 

Part 25

Those Awake

As the chaos dulled into a peaceful silence, the sapphire glow pulsed and hummed with a shimmering radiance than showered upon the feasting guests rendering each one harmlessly into a deep natural sleep where they stood, sat or danced, they fell and snoozed.

Hera stood unaffected by the magical glow, she blinked startled, witnessing each person tumble and doze. Turning in a slow lazy circle she noticed the caged animals sink into slumber. Only the proud noble Phoenix stood awake on his perch. The Prince lightly touched Hera’s arm, causing her to near leap from her skin…

“You’re awake?” He blinked against the fading light.

“So are you…”

Off in the distance they could hear the thunder of boots as the palace guards approached the scene swiftly.

“How curious…” The Queen mused, stepping down from the throne dais, lightly tip-toeing over fallen celebrants towards Hera and her son. The noise of the heavily armed troops edged closer to the hall.

“I believe we should fake a faint…” The Queen suggested, though her expression indicated a questioning that would demand answers once all the chaos had dissipated.

They fell, eyes closed, pretending… waiting…

As a score of fierce soldiers poured into the banqueting hall… Only the Phoenix stood proud screeching against his confinement, causing the troops to flinch as they searched the room for any danger…

Anne Harrison 06.02.17

Part 24

Split Decision

 

General Fendor, his mind troubled, was part way betwixt the maze and the castle when the sudden blue flare erupted from the banqueting hall with alarmed cries and a crack like thunder. He dashed forwards, heart racing… then paused… his instinct screaming at him to turn back, so he spun on his heel and inched back towards the mouth of the maze.

A dull red glow crept across the ground, like a thick mist enveloping all it touched with tendrils of light. Fendor’s anger swelled as he gathered up discarded clothes, turning the twisting path through the tall hedges, appalled by the naked figures wrapped in a red glow, oblivious to his arrival until he threw down the clothes and caught Kane by a fistful of hair, dragging the young soldier to his feet.

Instinctively Kane turned to defend himself, the Princess yelped and reached for concealing clothes, Fendor was swifter and blocked any attack snarling at Kane with pure fury. “Are you a total fucking idiot?!” He shook the lad. “What the fuck were you thinking?!”

The pale blue glow from the tallest towers was slowly starting to dissipate, but alarms were resounding through the Royal Palace, guards launching into action, sprinting to the grand hall at haste.

The Princess stepped up to Kane’s side, attracted to the chaos in the tower… “What is it?” She whispered… The red light surrounding them started to dissolve…

Fendor sighed and let lose his grip on Kane’s hair… “I don’t know and I don’t know what you two think you are playing at. ” He struggled to maintain respectful to the Princess, yet his anger was slipping away… “I know we don’t have time to stand and debate the esoteric and I know I don’t need to stick my neck out for you!” He poked Kane in the chest. “We could both be hung for this now!” Fendor paused thinking swiftly…

“Get dressed and get to the barracks.”

Kane hesitated, he turned to the trembling Princess… “Will I see you again?”

Fendor slapped him across the back of his head… “Could you be anymore stupid?!”

Yet Alleia kissed Kane deeply, a silent promise… He pulled his clothes on then, swiftly before he got another crack on his skull, yet despite all the trouble they were in, both lovers kept grinning… Alleia was still grinning after Kane had fled…

“My gown is ruined.” There was fear behind her smile now, she was shaking.

“Everyone is distracted if come to my quarters, I can furnish you with some of my late wife’s garments. You were at a party right? We can say you were sick and ruined your dress, too much fine wine and exotic food can turn the stomach, besides it would explain your absence.” Fendor slipped off his jacket and placed it around her slender shoulders. “We should make haste.”

 

Anne Harrison 03.02.17

Part 23

Magical Stirrings – The twin stones awake…

 

Pride of place, upon a high centerpiece upon the banquet table, The clear blue crystal, presented to the King by his triumphant Son in a dressed up farce of a ceremony, stood as crowning glory at the celebration, which was showing no sign of slowing down any time before dawn. Lords and Ladies, Viscounts and neighboring Kings congratulated the Prince, admired the captured stone and lusted over it’s mythological magical properties.

The story of recovering the crystal was recounted and exaggerated as the evening became more drunken, the death of the Child of Prophecy and her Guardian were seen as the end of the war – incidentally, the Prince also took credit for the death of The Guardian too – The whole affair was disgusting to Hera, who remained by the Priests side, acting as his loyal consort, the only way she could stay safe and hidden was right among the people she despised.

The Prince appeared forlorn, having ceased drinking hours ago, a resigned embarrassment consumed his dull thoughts. Hera picked up on this when he displayed mercy for the Phoenix, she would watch that young man with interest… Had her magical healing altered his conscience?

Without warning the blue stone started to hum upon its perch, most party goers was unaware of this subtle action. Then it stared to vibrate and finally glow, a bright blinding light erupted from its heart with a ear piercing cry, like nails on a chalkboard.

People dropped glasses to cover their ears as the cry intensified, the glow enveloping the whole hall…

***

The red stone was kept wrapped in cloth in Kane’s left hand pocket, though his clothes were currently discarded along a grassy path in a twisting maze, the magical stone was connected to him. It pulsed, like a steady heartbeat, rolling free from the fabric, glowing and moaning to be with its owner. Finally resting against the lovers bare flesh, Kane felt its call and reached out a hand to grasp his ‘lucky charm’ the power from it wrapped them both in a deep red light, magic flowing through the common soldier, the married Princess. Their lust reached it’s peak Kane held the crystal to Alleia’s breast, over her heart…

As they cried out together, the crystal sank into her flesh…

 

Anne Harrison 01.02.17

 

Part 22

Brief Encounters…

 

“Who are you?” Alleia breathed, her eyes boldly met Kane’s without hesitation.

“Nobody.” He smiled, holding her gaze.

Silence followed, they just paused there in the corner of the courtyard, the remaining troops left the training ground and the silence intensified.

General Fendor leaned against the cool wall out of sight and hesitated, he fought the urge to leave, knowing that he was expected at the celebrations, yet as a Royal Guard, he felt a duty to watch over the Princess.

Alleia stepped by Kane, her gown lightly brushing against his bare skin, she still maintained eye contact and without a word invited him to join her on a walk through the elaborate gardens beyond the courtyard walls. Kane simply followed.

It was forbidden for the common soldiers to step foot in the Royal Grounds, Kane could be lashed for merely walking alongside the Princess as she tiptoed barefoot through the wild grasses, yet the smile still played upon the corner of his lips as he casually slipped an arm around her waist. He was dirty from fighting, grime stained the silken robe with fresh blood and sweat. Neither cared, nor noticed the contamination of perfection.

She leaned against his body pausing mid step to turn into his arms, there was no hesitation, no words and no care. The silk was torn as they tumbled into the concealing high hedges of a long lingering maze.

General Fendor ceased to follow them at that point…

 

Anne Harrison 01.02.17

 

Part 21

The Guard – The Princess – The Royal Lie

Alleia, the youngest Princess, stepped outside the main hall once their dance was over, tugging the painful slippers from her feet as servants preceded by with the collection of exotic animals. The court was distracted by the elegant beautiful captive creatures and the spiced wine had gone straight to her head, so she ventured with bare toes to the main courtyard to catch some air, neglecting her slippers, her husband and the celebration.

Leaning against the cool stone wall she gazed up to the night sky, watching the twin moons circle in their eternal dance, the high towers surrounding the courtyard merely provided a narrow viewpoint of the ink black sky, causing Alleia to feel as much a captive as the zoo collection. Indeed, her circumstances, even as a Royal Princess was hardly ideal. She dug her toes into the sandy earth, watching the Castle Guards training under the watchful eye of their General Fendor.

There was no celebration for these hard working men, no feast, drinking, music or dancing. No time to rest from their route march, just back to rigorous combat training, even so late, the men were stripped to the waist in the cool night air, practicing hand to hand fighting in the dull light to hone their skills in all conditions. Alleia admired the strong men, so toned, so strong… So unlike her vile husband, a neighboring Lord, landowner and ally of her Fathers. The marriage was part of a territory trade, she had been sent away as a virgin bride with deeds and a pretty dress, her father, the King, never even bothered to show up for the wedding.

She swallowed hard against the angry lump in her throat, positively dreading returning to the party above, her Husband would be drunk by now and and and… Her eyes caught the image of a lone soldier, the last man standing in a tumbling brawl, he panted hard, spitting blood, he leaned to assist his opponent to his feet, body scarred, hair tied back. The Princess took a step forwards…

General Fendor dismissed his troops from their training, it was near midnight and even he needed some rest. Kane continued to surprise him, his progress was developing with such speed and agility since the youth had shocked everyone by dispatching of The Guardian in cold blood. There was a legend among soldiers, that a killer could gain their victims strength, that the act of slaughter empowered a warrior … An old wives tale, yet the General chose to keep an eye on young Kane and he was not the only one watching the soldier, Fendor noticed the Princess and as Kane walked by her to leave for his barracks… He paused, She paused…

And Fendor slipped into the shadows to watch what would happen next…

 

Anne Harrison 31.01.17