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The constant ringing sound of hammer on anvil calmed her spirit. The Citadel's forge was definitely an unusual place for anyone to visit when seeking solace and peace, but Uma wasn't treading upon an ordinary person's footsteps.
She placed the silver rod into the fire until the metal turned a bright orange glow, reaching to the point that her father always called "a forging heat". She skillfully beat her hammer down, starting to draw out the length of the billet into what appeared to be the shape of a blade.
The first sun rays entered the cabin, lighting the small bedroom. Uma opened her eyes indolently, a yawn slipping her lips as she stretched her legs. She crawled to the edge of the bed and slowly stood up. Behind her, a man was still sleeping on the bed. Not just any man also. He was her partner, and the father of the child she was expecting. Uma looked at Yeran over her shoulder, smiled silently and exited the room.
..................
The flames in the fireplace were burning bright now, warming the biggest room of the cabin. Uma was kneading dough, preparing the day's bread when she felt it. A blissful smile lit her face. The child inside her had just kicked for the first time.
The blade had started to take its primary shape, when Uma placed it back into the burning fires of the forge. When the colouring was right, she picked up the fuller and brought her hammer down on the burning metal once more.
A longwinded groan filled the room. She was finally due to give birth. Uma was holding the head board of the bed tightly, pushing with all her strength. The bed sheets were drenched in blood, yet Yeran was calm while delivering her, guiding her every step of the way. When the cry of the newborn echoed in the small wooden cabin, the door opened wide and a young blonde girl hurried in. Uma smiled tiredly as he handed the baby boy carefully over to her, all wrapped up in sheets and leathers.
"How are we going to call him?" Yeran asked, while the girl rushed up to the bed to take a better look at the baby, who by now was sleeping blissfully in its mother's arms.
"I know Daddy! I know! We'll call him Norick!"
Still cleaning the blood off his hands, Yeran smiled, his gaze shifting momentarily from the girl to the baby, before turning his attention back to Uma.
"What do you think?"
She offered an exhausted grin, nodding silently.
"Norick it is then."
Holding the sword paralleled lengthwise to the anvil, Uma kept tapering it to keep it even and symmetrical. She allowed the silver a few minutes to heat up again, during which she dropped the clamps and took off her fireproof glove. Sweat was crawling its way down her forehead to her brows, making it hard for her to see. With the back of her palm she quickly wiped it off, leaving a black charcoal smudge resting on her face. Putting the glove back on, she gripped the tang and began upsetting the metal, slowly bringing out the point of the sword.
"I will lay life and limb in the service of Rhydor and its rightful king.
I will stand vigilant against any threat.
I will put to the sword all who cause harm to the innocent and the weak.
I will honour the memory of the Sentinels who fell while on duty.
May Ariurd bless me with auja*, wisdom and willpower.
I take this oath and become one of the Grey."
Uma gripped her newly acquired sword with pride while repeating the oaths of the Grey Sentinels. Her father was there, holding little Norick in his arms. The boy looked happy, his petite eyes shifting from his grandfather to his mother and back. He was clutching a wooden stick that resembled a sword, swinging it clumsily in the air, pointing towards the Grey who attended, smiling. She would have smiled as well, but something was awry. Yeran was missing the ceremony. He had promised her to be there, to such an important day for her, along with his daughter. But they were nowhere to be seen.
................
The cabin was deserted. Clothes and personal items, all gone. As if noone had been living there for years. Uma's heart was flooded with emotions. Fear, worry, anger, disappointment. Why would he do this to her? Why leave like this? Without a word, an explanation? She crumbled to her knees and allowed the burning tears to run freely down her cheeks.
The annealing of the sword was finished. Uma grinned contentedly. She picked up the blade and measured it in her hands, making sure of its balance and weight. Only one thing left to do now. She placed the blade on the anvil and picked up her chisel, a grim expression in her eyes.
They were holding the army of Es Dylah back for three days in a row now, but they were getting weaker and fewer by the day. The reinforcements from the Citadel were late, allowing the enemy to advance to Harn's End and attack its northern patrols, reaching all the way to its walls. Uma was sent to guard the southern wall, the flanks, along with four other Sentinels. She wanted to stay and fight, but the orders given to her were clear. She had a young child, one that would end up an orphan if she died, especially now that her father had passed away almost two years ago. A sudden wind blew, an unnaturally chilling one. She turned her head and looked towards the hills across the river. He was standing there, clad in white robes, surrounded by Es Dylah's puppets.
"Yeran" she muttered, her voice trembling.
A young woman was standing next to him, one not older than sixteen winters. Uma's breathing was quickening, trying to catch up with her pounding heart. She could never forget that face, the eyes of that little girl she once had so close to her heart as a mother would a daughter. The woman pointed to the village, signaling the attack. The army behind her and Yeran obeyed and charged.
Uma brushed the silver fillings away from the engraved blade. All was in place now. A whisper slipped her lips, just before she placed the sword back into the fire. As the flames licked its surface, two words seemed to emerge, burning bright. "No more". Uma smiled bitterly.
*auja = good fortune
She placed the silver rod into the fire until the metal turned a bright orange glow, reaching to the point that her father always called "a forging heat". She skillfully beat her hammer down, starting to draw out the length of the billet into what appeared to be the shape of a blade.
The first sun rays entered the cabin, lighting the small bedroom. Uma opened her eyes indolently, a yawn slipping her lips as she stretched her legs. She crawled to the edge of the bed and slowly stood up. Behind her, a man was still sleeping on the bed. Not just any man also. He was her partner, and the father of the child she was expecting. Uma looked at Yeran over her shoulder, smiled silently and exited the room.
..................
The flames in the fireplace were burning bright now, warming the biggest room of the cabin. Uma was kneading dough, preparing the day's bread when she felt it. A blissful smile lit her face. The child inside her had just kicked for the first time.
The blade had started to take its primary shape, when Uma placed it back into the burning fires of the forge. When the colouring was right, she picked up the fuller and brought her hammer down on the burning metal once more.
A longwinded groan filled the room. She was finally due to give birth. Uma was holding the head board of the bed tightly, pushing with all her strength. The bed sheets were drenched in blood, yet Yeran was calm while delivering her, guiding her every step of the way. When the cry of the newborn echoed in the small wooden cabin, the door opened wide and a young blonde girl hurried in. Uma smiled tiredly as he handed the baby boy carefully over to her, all wrapped up in sheets and leathers.
"How are we going to call him?" Yeran asked, while the girl rushed up to the bed to take a better look at the baby, who by now was sleeping blissfully in its mother's arms.
"I know Daddy! I know! We'll call him Norick!"
Still cleaning the blood off his hands, Yeran smiled, his gaze shifting momentarily from the girl to the baby, before turning his attention back to Uma.
"What do you think?"
She offered an exhausted grin, nodding silently.
"Norick it is then."
Holding the sword paralleled lengthwise to the anvil, Uma kept tapering it to keep it even and symmetrical. She allowed the silver a few minutes to heat up again, during which she dropped the clamps and took off her fireproof glove. Sweat was crawling its way down her forehead to her brows, making it hard for her to see. With the back of her palm she quickly wiped it off, leaving a black charcoal smudge resting on her face. Putting the glove back on, she gripped the tang and began upsetting the metal, slowly bringing out the point of the sword.
"I will lay life and limb in the service of Rhydor and its rightful king.
I will stand vigilant against any threat.
I will put to the sword all who cause harm to the innocent and the weak.
I will honour the memory of the Sentinels who fell while on duty.
May Ariurd bless me with auja*, wisdom and willpower.
I take this oath and become one of the Grey."
Uma gripped her newly acquired sword with pride while repeating the oaths of the Grey Sentinels. Her father was there, holding little Norick in his arms. The boy looked happy, his petite eyes shifting from his grandfather to his mother and back. He was clutching a wooden stick that resembled a sword, swinging it clumsily in the air, pointing towards the Grey who attended, smiling. She would have smiled as well, but something was awry. Yeran was missing the ceremony. He had promised her to be there, to such an important day for her, along with his daughter. But they were nowhere to be seen.
................
The cabin was deserted. Clothes and personal items, all gone. As if noone had been living there for years. Uma's heart was flooded with emotions. Fear, worry, anger, disappointment. Why would he do this to her? Why leave like this? Without a word, an explanation? She crumbled to her knees and allowed the burning tears to run freely down her cheeks.
The annealing of the sword was finished. Uma grinned contentedly. She picked up the blade and measured it in her hands, making sure of its balance and weight. Only one thing left to do now. She placed the blade on the anvil and picked up her chisel, a grim expression in her eyes.
They were holding the army of Es Dylah back for three days in a row now, but they were getting weaker and fewer by the day. The reinforcements from the Citadel were late, allowing the enemy to advance to Harn's End and attack its northern patrols, reaching all the way to its walls. Uma was sent to guard the southern wall, the flanks, along with four other Sentinels. She wanted to stay and fight, but the orders given to her were clear. She had a young child, one that would end up an orphan if she died, especially now that her father had passed away almost two years ago. A sudden wind blew, an unnaturally chilling one. She turned her head and looked towards the hills across the river. He was standing there, clad in white robes, surrounded by Es Dylah's puppets.
"Yeran" she muttered, her voice trembling.
A young woman was standing next to him, one not older than sixteen winters. Uma's breathing was quickening, trying to catch up with her pounding heart. She could never forget that face, the eyes of that little girl she once had so close to her heart as a mother would a daughter. The woman pointed to the village, signaling the attack. The army behind her and Yeran obeyed and charged.
Uma brushed the silver fillings away from the engraved blade. All was in place now. A whisper slipped her lips, just before she placed the sword back into the fire. As the flames licked its surface, two words seemed to emerge, burning bright. "No more". Uma smiled bitterly.
*auja = good fortune
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This is part one of a story I wrote about four people who are related to each other. It was initially written to fit the MMORPG Rift setting, but eventually it outgrew it and I transitioned it to my own world, Terra Antiqua.
This is the story of Uma, mother of Norick, former lover of Yeran and deadly enemy of Geira.
You can find more about Uma here:
©All rights reserved.
All the characters in my stories are under copyright. Nothing is to be used in any way without my written or otherwise permission. You cannot publish, edit, reproduce, upload, etc. Click here for detailed permissions and terms.
This is the story of Uma, mother of Norick, former lover of Yeran and deadly enemy of Geira.
You can find more about Uma here:
A Heartbeat Once MoreThe morning was still very young when Uma left Harn's End. Travelling to the Ruined Citadel was no easy task, she knew that well. She also knew she had more chances surviving when most of the cultists were still sleeping or preoccupied preparing the new day's rituals.
But it wasn't only necessity that made her travel during those early hours in the morning. She enjoyed it too. It helped remembering the days she was a member of the Grey, although those days were long gone now. The memories of her past life were still vivid in her mind. She never regretted a thing, especially that day. It was her duty to protect the villages and her pride to b
©All rights reserved.
All the characters in my stories are under copyright. Nothing is to be used in any way without my written or otherwise permission. You cannot publish, edit, reproduce, upload, etc. Click here for detailed permissions and terms.
Comments6
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First, I would like to say that I really admire the way you handled the flashbacks with this one. In all of my offline writings whenever I wrote in a flashback it was either in the form of a dream or someone just looking off in the distance and zoning out. The italicized paragraph approach that you use here is great because it minimizes the loss of momentum that often occurs when the narrator tries to use too many words to describe what is going on in a character’s head. The use of a routine task like hammering a sword is the perfect scaffold for telling a series of dramatic flashbacks. By the way, which authors have you seen using this approach? I’ve read from Frank Herbert, Robert Heinlien, CJ Cherryh, and of course a few fantasy authors and I don’t recall ever seeing this.
Uma’s story is an emotional roller coaster, as I am sure it was intended to be, and it comes across as the kind of text that a composer would love to write music to. Right at the end of the second to last paragraph I could hear in my mind’s ear the last two chords of “The Dark Knight” preview trailer. The second paragraph from the beginning I could hear something similar to the music in “Star Wars: Episode II” when Anakin and Padme were both on Naboo. In the initiation into the Grey scene it seems like a sad song similar to main music from “Pan’s Labrynth” would be fitting. During the childbirth scene I can almost hear something like the flute from the Shire song in LOTR. As Uma is hammering her sword I can hear something similar to the main theme song from Elder Scrolls (before it gets intense).
I also applaud the use of “auja” instead of “good fortune.” Sounds a lot better!
Es Dylah has a pretty malevolent kind of sound to it. Based on the name alone it makes me imagine some kind of Mordor/eye-style demon king like Sauron. For some reason Harn’s end reminds me of Helm’s Deep, but from your description it sounds more like the great wall surrounding Cyrodiil in the Elder Scrolls universe. I’m curious to learn more about Es Dylah’s puppets. I imagine that they would be a mix of humans and maybe Orcs and others, but I think there could also be advantages to having a human/elve-only universe. Anyway, it’s your world and I look forward to reading more.
Uma’s story is an emotional roller coaster, as I am sure it was intended to be, and it comes across as the kind of text that a composer would love to write music to. Right at the end of the second to last paragraph I could hear in my mind’s ear the last two chords of “The Dark Knight” preview trailer. The second paragraph from the beginning I could hear something similar to the music in “Star Wars: Episode II” when Anakin and Padme were both on Naboo. In the initiation into the Grey scene it seems like a sad song similar to main music from “Pan’s Labrynth” would be fitting. During the childbirth scene I can almost hear something like the flute from the Shire song in LOTR. As Uma is hammering her sword I can hear something similar to the main theme song from Elder Scrolls (before it gets intense).
I also applaud the use of “auja” instead of “good fortune.” Sounds a lot better!
Es Dylah has a pretty malevolent kind of sound to it. Based on the name alone it makes me imagine some kind of Mordor/eye-style demon king like Sauron. For some reason Harn’s end reminds me of Helm’s Deep, but from your description it sounds more like the great wall surrounding Cyrodiil in the Elder Scrolls universe. I’m curious to learn more about Es Dylah’s puppets. I imagine that they would be a mix of humans and maybe Orcs and others, but I think there could also be advantages to having a human/elve-only universe. Anyway, it’s your world and I look forward to reading more.