Chapter One

 

The sun broke through the hold darkness held over the land, one shinning golden ray at a time, as the deep ebony of night gave way, fading slowly a shade at a time to a light baby blue as the sun’s light painted the clouds with subtle pinks and yellows mixed with vibrant reds and oranges. Another day had been born.

            A lone figure stood high on a hill, striking a dark silhouette against the luminously painted backdrop of dawn sky. The figure’s skirt and hair whipped back behind her in the morning breeze as her face and arms lifted toward the sky. Her full bosom heaved slowly as she breathed deeply sharing her air with the wind.

            Starria lifted her head letting her eyes close as the new morning sun gently kissed her face. The growing heat and light dissipating the moist gentle wisps of fog that had danced along the dense overgrowth of the forest floor, turning it into sparkling dew drops on the gently drooping leaves. She let her hands float up, her feet planted firmly on the dewy ground beneath, her bare toes wriggling into the moist soil.

            Starria let her consciousness float free, as she felt her connection to all the elements in this place where water dotted the plants, air moved gently with the breeze, the earth stabilizing it all as the sun radiated the heat and energy of fire over all. This is how she started her day, attuning to the elements that create the all, giving thanks for all she was given and energizing herself. She stood in silence listening to her self, listening to the world, drinking in the harmony of the two.

            As she stood there greeting the dawn, a bell rang out from the village below, its tolling tugged at the edge of her awareness. Starria, acknowledge it momentarily then returned to her meditation. Her lips parted in minuscule movements as her whispered voice intoned her daily prayer to the natural world.

“Earth, moist and rich beneath my feet

I thank you for your abundance

May you continue to provide me plenty to eat

Air, which moves the gentle breeze

I thank you for breezes blown most fair

May you continue to fill my lungs refreshingly

Fire, the heat brought on the sun’s ray

I thank you for the warmth

May you keep warming all my days

Water, the kiss of morning dew

You slake my thirst

May I learn to move like you, flowing and free

God and Goddess

I ask that this is a day you bless

So Mote it be.”

            As Starria finished the bell rang out again in a series of three short rings. She gasped; refugees, new arrivals, the news caused her to hurry her pace as she hiked back down to the center of the small town, with each stone and thatch hut she passed, Starria sensed the excitement that stirred in all the inhabitants. Its zing rippled through the air, tingling along her nerves. Curiosity welled up inside of her, they had not had new comers in months and the risk was too great to send runners out between the other Peacemaker villages.

            The expectation of news quivered in her blood. As a member of the Council of the Wise, it was part of Starria’s job to help refugees adjust, to life in the village, to welcome them and explain the way of world here in Peacemaker lands.

            Starria headed toward the center of town, taking enough time to grab her bag and a piece of jerked beef to satisfy her hunger, continued on to the Council house. There was much to do now with new comers in town, she had too much to do and didn’t know when she would be able to have an actual meal. She shook herself preparing for the barrage of emotions that would flood her over sensitive natural empathic self. There was always backlash from new comers, they carried the negativity of the outside world on their persons like dirt that rubbed off on anyone they came in contact with; which is why for their first few days there, they were segregated from the rest of the village, and contact was limited to the council members. The outside world was of course was rife with all the things the Peacemakers had worked to alleviate from their lands, which new comers brought with them.

            The adjustment process was long and arduous for both the newcomer and their Peacemaker guide; Starria still had memories of her own adjustment though they were fading into dim misty memories as the days went by.

Reviews

[Christopher 'Windstorm'..]

The sun broke through the hold darkness held over the land, one shinning golden ray at a time, as the deep ebony of night gave way, fading slowly a shade at a time to a light baby blue as the sun's light painted the clouds with subtle pinks and yellows mixed with vibrant reds and oranges. Another day had been born.

this is a perfect redition of a sun rise, beautiful and awe striking beautiful from your words...

it has all the makings of an epic story... well done!

bb
windstorm