Sample: The Legend of Charezahn

It’s been a week since I first started sneezing, but I’m still far from recovery. I have no idea what sort of vindictive bug this one is, but one thing for sure, it’s nasty.

Try as I may, I could not get myself into the mood to start on the Longbow post, which I had planned to have up here instead of this one. Stuff happens, though, and you have to make the best of it.

Lucky for me, I had already begun chapter one of Charezahn earlier, so I thought I’d put up a sample of it here this time. It needs plenty of work, and I’m very aware that it’s not fit for print; but I’m just too darn tired to put up anything else right now.

Following is an excerpt from chapter one of The Legend of Charezahn. If you think I should continue, please let me know. Thanks.

Aunt Dora always told me the tales of how Charezahn used to be, back in the old days. She would never start without first describing the streets, how the stone walls would be all decked in colors, how the farmers in the Square would be screaming out their wares, the produce fresh and healthy.

She would describe the knights in all vivid detail, and when I closed my eyes, I would see them, tall and strong, all shining in their mail. Their shields, blazing with the flowing colors of the King’s Seal, and the horses they rode, beautiful and noble.

She would talk about how people would mill in the streets every market day, and how much fun both children and grown-ups alike would have on the Festival, every year. And some nights, she would talk about the Festival, and then I would see the banners flying free atop the towers, the blacksmiths setting up stalls with the new toys they had made, the bakers handing out free buns to every child that ran by.

I jerked out of my thoughts as I heard the heavy footsteps of thick leather on flagstone, and I shrank back into the shadows as the two men marched by. I wasn’t too worried that they would notice me; my rags were filthy enough to blend into the grimy wall behind me, and I had been careful to rub ash all over my cheeks as I had left.

Chances were that they might have ignored me completely; what was one more street rat in a street full of rats? If they were bored, they might have dragged me out and given me a good beating just to pass the time.

I closed my eyes, and then moved on after they had passed. It was still early morning, and the sun hadn’t yet come up properly. The streets were empty, but then again, they were never full, not even in the late morning. These days, no one really went out unless it was completely necessary. As for me, if I didn’t leave the room every few days I would probably die of suffocation in there.

I snuck past the market, and as I did, I noticed that one more crude wooden stall had been abandoned. The three that were still occupied were manned by men with identical expressions; downcast, glum, and afraid.

I might have spoken to them a long time ago, but Aunt Dora had drummed it into me that no one could be trusted. It had been a few months since I started my roaming, and so far, she had no idea that I had left the room at all. If she ever found out… well, I wasn’t too keen on her finding out.

I left the market behind and decided to go to the edge of the Central Region again.

Charezahn had been built into the side of a mountain, the mountain. The Keep towered over the Citadel at the very top. Beneath it, the rest of Charezahn settled into three layers; the Upper Levels; the Central Region where I had spent my entire life, and the Lower Sections, extending from the base of the mountain to the Outer Wall.

At the outer edge of the Central Region, the stone buildings were clustered somewhat less closer together. There, I could see clear over the rooftops of the Lower Region to where the Wall stood, sturdy and thick, extending unbroken all around Charezahn. The Wall had never been breached; the Gates had been opened from the inside the day the Citadel fell.

I found my way through the streets that I was just beginning to get familiar with. The sky had just become light, and the morning air was cool and crisp as I got as close to the parapet as I dared. This had become my most favorite haunt outside the room; this was the only spot where I could catch a glimpse of the world on the other side of the Wall.

The peaks of the mountain range loomed just beyond the Wall, serene and beautiful, taller even than the Keep. Those peaks were the other wall that enclosed us, a barrier that kept us away from the outside world, and kept the outside world away from us.

Or there had been a time they used to.

Aunt Dora said that in the old days, people used to believe that there had been just the one Citadel; Charezahn. It was self-sufficient, she said; within the great walls that enclosed the three levels, there was everything that any kingdom would need. The mines beneath the Keep were filled with gold, she told me, and outside the great walls, there were enough and more farms to feed the entire Citadel.

Now, even though the farms were overworked, there was always hardly enough food for the people. Sentinels stood guard over the farmers as they worked, and every man, woman and child would be ushered back inside the Citadel like cattle when the sun set. The farmers were the only ones allowed outside the walls; and their lives were the hardest.

I waited for as long as I dared, but too soon the voices of the patrolling guards warned me that my time was up. I crept backward and moved back to my familiar haunts. I had till midday before Aunt Dora got back home with the day’s rations. Then she would go back again, and I would be free to leave the house and roam around till sundown.

I didn’t know how long it would be till I tired of roaming around endlessly, but for now, it was something I enjoyed. I have to admit, only half of the reason I liked it was because of the freedom it gave me. The other half was because I was proving Aunt Dora wrong. She was always afraid to let me out of the room; she was afraid that if the soldiers saw me, they would take me to the mines; and that would kill her.

I was not a fragile child anymore. I could look after myself. And as much as I loved her, it always annoyed me that Aunt Dora would never understand that.

The sun was high and the flies would not leave me alone when I made my way back to the room.  I eased myself inside, and then waited for Aunt Dora to return.

I was a son of Charezahn, and this was how we lived.

For now

Like I said, needs more work, and it’s roughly half of the chapter. If you think its good enough, I’ll make an effort to have a chapter done every week. I won’t be posting it here, but I’ll leave a link for you to follow if you would be interested. Wishful thinking, I know, but spare me.

Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery