Violet Eyes

Consequences are often overlooked, actions unplanned and sometimes... they lead to a cruel fate. But what if you can prevent that very fate...?

Violet Eyes

 

  “Evalyn!” screeched a voice through a forgotten forest. Pain ricocheted off of the trees to cause a cacophony in the ears of bystanders.

  At the feet of a very dark and sinister being, an angel laid slain by evil’s blade. Her light hair fell in soft, silky waves over leaves brown and dead, stained with blood. Her face, once a perfect tone enveloping deep blue eyes, was pale and sorrowful. The magic born into her was gone, and for the taking. The sinister being merely laughed and sheathed his sword as he turned to walk away. The wind’s breath from his cloak disturbed leaves and strands of shimmering blonde hair.

  From the top of a rocky hill, sobbing persisted. Black hair bundled tightly into a long braid fell over green and silver armor, taking the glint away. Leaves gathered in her hair, adding awkward oranges and brows where they shouldn’t have been. Abruptly, the sobbing ceases as a fell wind blew across the forest’s floor. A face lifted out of the earth and over armguards, and shot angry glances at anything that moved. Dark brown eyes filled with pain now hungered for revenge against the sinister figure. This strange, awful, but addicting power pilled her to her feet.

  Behind her, an encampment of their army stood, as if on stilts, frightened and disheartened. They saw their leader walk towards the place of battle, and began frenzied thoughts.

  “Has Lady Merewyn gone mad?”

  “This is suicide! For all of us!”

  “I just can’t watch…”

  It was as if two hundred soldiers held their breath as clanking armor crushed dead leaves on the hill.

  At first, they saw a swish of golden hair, and then the onyx braid. Soon, Lady Merewyn was visible, carrying her sister. Lady Evelyn’s white, blue and gold armor glinted in the fading sunlight as if it was made of shattered glass. The same two hundred soldiers held their breath once again, and kneeled for a moment of silence, paying their respects to a soul that had cared.

  After that silence, Lady Merewyn’s deeper alto voice was heard as if music was walking from where she stood to greet them.

  “Good men and women of the noble Forest Kingdom’s Army…” Lady Merewyn addressed formally, “I…deeply and sorrowfully regret to inform you of the loss we are facing, when it was not so long ago witnessed…

  “You see... Lady Evalyn was to be our Queen when the right prince surfaced. She…was a beautiful being, in every way, despite her elven kingdom blood. She was a friend, a leader and a strength we all leaned upon.” She paused and looked skyward as if battling diabolical, treacherous tears.

  “More importantly, she was my sister…” her voice faded to a whisper. She turned, and stepped up the hill to a great maple tree, as old as it was wise. Gingerly, she placed the body devoid of promise at its roots. These leaves held traces of golds and reds as they fell from the canopy.

  Lady Merewyn kneeled and unclipped from Evalyn’s dull hair, a pin that was shaped like the sun, to hold close to her heart.

  She stood slowly as two Clerics dressed in white and red cloaks rushed forward.

 “Eve, I vow to avenge this tragic fate brought upon you unfairly.” Lady Merewyn whispered through stinging tears. The Clerics chanted their prayers and Merewyn wound a rosary into Evalyn’s frozen hands. Her heart was rebelling, refusing closure, even as the blue lights of magic enclosed on Evalyn’s body. Rage began to burn again, and at first it felt like heartache.

  This rage consumed that heart and left a bruised aura, dark and powerful.

  “Rest Well, Dear Company.” Lady Merewyn voiced abruptly. She paused and placed the sun-shaped hairpin in a bag at her side. Looking around, faces stood aghast, bewildered and frightened.

  “A wise king spoke to me, and I quote him: ‘Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.’” She paused, sensing no change in the expressions around her.

  “Tomorrow, we will depart to our grand city.”

  There were mumbles throughout the army, yet they did not protest. Merewyn knew that their feet ached for the familiar streets of home, for the hearth and clean sheets with mattresses beneath their aching spines. It had been many months since they had feasted, and several times they had been left without any food at all.

  “…and without hope.” Merewyn thought bitterly.

  The evening was falling on them, and even Merewyn feared what lurked in the dark of the woods, hidden and hungry.

  “Mages, if you would light the watch fires for the evening… I’d be much obliged.” She called, before total darkness set in. She flexed her armored at her new power; control of the army.

  She watched their long, intricate capes, dresses and mantles fly about as the mages worked, tall hats shielding their face with shadows. These beings were special, direct descendants of wizards or partly elven, like Evalyn had been.

  At one point in time, Merewyn would have ached for the power to control magic with her. That longing was gone now, tossed aside like the remains of a finished meal. To Merewyn, all was naught. The one she looked up to was a whisper in the wind now…

  Lost in thought, Merewyn hadn’t noticed her army gathering to roast the small rations they had with them. At first, they chatted sharing fond memories of Evalyn, and some of the women weeping as they were often reduced to.

    It was the weeping Clerics that began the solemn requiem that floated above the trees and blanketed the world around them. Like a ghost, Merewyn drifted to her lodging, where the blacksmiths untied her heavy armor and took it away for polishing.

  She sat gracefully on the floor of her tent, and removed the greaves herself before handing them over. At last, the dress made purely of chainmail was removed, and she was left in a black dress that had been enchanted to keep her skin safe from bruises in that heavy armor.

  Though the day had been long and painful, with many very blurred details, Merewyn did not sleep at first. At present, she was busy pouring over a map, marked with X’s for battles and red ink for the path home.

  Far to the west, even westward of her home kingdom, a red circle marked the Dark Lord’s kingdom. It was he, The Dark Lord, that had sent the sinister being to slay Lady Evalyn. Now, it would be The Dark Lord who would pay for that mistake.

  When the map had been stowed away and the watchmen were silent and patient, Merewyn slept. She dreamt of strange things that could hardly be recognized, of dark things floating eerily behind her closed eyelids.

  First, she dreamt of revenge, of slaying all who opposed her kingdom, in any way, until one day she could kill the Dark Lord himself. That deed would have to be done by the might of her blade, only.

  Those dreams faded swiftly, though the rage still burned. She found herself stepping into a dark place, devoid of all lights, save a little dim one.

  The light poured from a crystal ball, and from behind in the shadows, two boney hands stretched forth. Rings of all sorts, with colored bangles decorated these hands hovering above the light. Purple eyes behind these hands burned with a message.

  Merewyn looked into the ball, to find an image of herself slain on the battlefield, at the feet of the same sinister being that had taken Evalyn.

  She saw the green and red colors of revenge seep out of the image in the ball, and she blinked, realizing what the violet eyes had been trying to say all along.

  But, did she dare believe them?

Author's Note

Hey, I just want you to know I have worked diligently and forever on this story :3
I hope it turned out okay~ <3
Is the imagery okay? Is it too boring? Too Confusing? Go on and tear it apart, I want to get better at this.
Please comment on the story and it's structure-- if you spot typos, please please message me seperatly with them~
I would be much obliged :D

Reviews

[Carissa]

I cant tell that you've been working really hard, because it shows in your writing. It's much easier to understand, and the description isn't overwhelming. I would, however, like to hear more in the last scene, as she looks into the crystal ball. For some reason, that was a bit unclear to me, but I'll read it again later and let you know I still need more clarification there. Other than that, the imagery was good and I love the character names. Great job, Katie!

[Justin Tobey]

This is beautiful, Katie! Not rushed, as the work of young writers often is, and the description is fluid and powerful.

My one critique is this: You have so many details (The Dark Lord, the fallen heir, an entire fantasy universe), it's hard to contain in this one short story. I feel like you could write an entire book based on this one scene, and I encourage you to try to expand it.

Vivid and complex. Well-written. :)

[Wildfleour]

I cannot do this properly reading online. Print it and I'll be happy to go over it, okay?