The Sunstone City

She sits by the window staring out.  When she turns around her bedroom is full of sand.  Sand from the desert.  She is not surprised and knew and it was coming all along.  She makes her way, slowly, through the sand, to her bed.  It comes to her knees as she wades through it like water.  When she reaches the bed she lays face down, exhausted.  She feels the sand creeping in around her, crawling into her mouth, up her nose and through her eyes.  She fills up with sand as it works its way into her veins and seeps into her skull, weighing down her head.  She lets it take her.

There is a knock at the door.  She wakes from her dream.  Disorientated and sweating, she looks around at her room from her bed.  The sand is gone.  She walks to the window, as the knocker knocks once more.  She can see the desert in the distance; silent and still as it always had been.

-come in.  she doesn’t turn.

-Miss Sofi, your breakfast is ready.

-thankyou May.

Sofi’s nurse places her breakfast tray on the small table on the other side of the room.

-come, you must eat, you have a big day ahead of you.

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A page from Sofi’s diary:

Surrounded, I felt claustrophobic.  The large man who sat next to me, the one with no hair left, tried several times to engage me in conversation.  I glanced off each blow politely but without ease.  Gram sat opposite me and tried to catch my eyes each time so that I could see his smirk, but I don’t give him the satisfaction.  My mother has pointed Gram out to me several times at these parties as a potential suitor.  I don’t care how wealthy he is, I find him vulgar and repulsive.  I assume that she placed him there for my own benefit.  He tried to touch my foot with his a few times until I kicked his shin, covering my movement pretending to laugh at a joke.

I tried to signal to my mother that these men made me uncomfortable but she ignored me.  She sat at the head of the long table, among her own suitors.  The room is full of people and noise.  Each table was elaborately decorated with food and moon stones.  The moon stones were all the same size and perfectly smooth.  I overheard my mother telling some of her guests that it took the miners several months to gather them just for this feast.  I hate that she exploits the miners labour for her own aesthetic purposes.

I struggled to finish what was on my plate.  I just picked at my bread for a while and the man next me made a comment about how I ate like a Brow Bird and if I was any skinnier I would disappear.  To this I took great offence and retorted with a similar insult were I may have called him a whale.  The whole table had gone silent while I spoke and after hearing my ‘joke’ broke out into raucous laughter.

When the eating was over I moved away from the members of my own table and tried to find a safe place where I wouldn’t be bothered.  But the room soon became hot with movement and I felt I just needed to get away.  I made my way to the hall, the curtain had been let down over the doorway, so I pulled it open and crossed the hall.  I started to make my way towards the library through the west corridor.  I could hear the noise from the party fall away.  The corridor was silent.  I hadn’t gone far when I heard something and turned to find Gram standing right behind me. I tried to move around him, to get back to the people, nobody came down that corridor except the occasional slave, but he was not going to let me go.  I asked him what he wanted; he said something along the lines of: ‘when are we going to stop playing these silly games princess?’  I felt the little food I had eaten churn inside me.  I told him to leave me.  He moved his hand towards me, to touch my face, maybe to kiss me.  I turned from him and tried to walk away but he took a firm grip of my wrist and pushed me against the wall, holding me there with his weight.  My heart was beating fast.  I knew that he could have done anything he wanted to with me.  I was honestly scared for my life.  He started to put his hands on me, through my hair, down my waist, he started to kiss me but I turned my head and he was biting my neck, I started to cry out but his hand found its way to my neck and I couldn’t breathe.  I felt tears starting to roll down my cheeks and I closed my eyes.  The next thing I knew there was a loud noise and Grams body fell limp off me.  I opened my eyes and I saw a young slave boy holding a log.  He dropped the log at the sight of the blood starting to come from Gram’s hair.  I ordered him to get a cloth and some water.  I rolled him over on his back and slapped his face to rouse him.  He was breathing.  When the boy returned I told him to clean the wound.  He helped me prop him up against the wall and cover the gash on his head with his hair.  I was in a panic.  The boy left again and I saw myself in the mirror.  I pulled down my dress which Gram had begun to lift, wiped the smudges of black charcoal my tear had spread down my face and smoothed my hair with my hands.  When the boy returned he had with him a bottle of black wine, nearly empty.  He spilt a small amount on Grams clothing, propped the bottle in his mouth and tipped it for a moment before setting it in place in Grams right hand.  He then came towards me and asked if I was alright.  I was scared, I told him to leave me.  I heard someone else coming so I ran back to the hall and now in view of the guests I maintained composure I walked up the stairs to my room.  I closed my door and collapsed to the ground in tears.

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Eden’s Poem

On such a night when all were sleeping sound

A man so fierce, deadly, comes around.

And to the place his King and Queen did slumber

Footsteps guided by a heart of violent thunder

He brings to them the gift of silent death

And takes from them their last and final breath

So next in line the crown their son shall be

But take the crown by force, unfledged, did he

So now our King Minuz, the time has come to choose a wife

But ladies of the court they fear for their simple life

They flaunt around the town a picture of the common ways

And paint their faces ugly like the girls of common pays

They scream, they snort, they stumble in the most disgraceful air

Not one was fit for mother, wife or Queen our King to pair.

He took his wrath remorseless, not one he left undamaged

But none they feared more than that the shackled marriage

To buy, to spend on pleasure, possessions he had many

So limitless his wealth that he could spend on any

And so the rich would say to spend to take away the pain

The King would do just that for happiness would gain

Removing of the crown and royal garments for his relief

Into a small boutique to buy a hat was his belief

But there his eyes did fall upon the most delightful sight

The woman of his dreams adorned in holy light

So to his knees he threw himself and asked her for her hand

She swooned and sighed not knowing the nature of his demand

For she had never been to court to see the King at play

And hadn’t heard a single word of what the people say

So having only one to please she asked her sisters blessing

And never looking on to see the man but only guessing

That he was rich and so to take them both away from toil

Eden let her sister go to him not knowing of the spoil

The women of the court were glad to see him wed at last

But sorry for the girl-bride Lana hoping that she’d last

Eden cried to see her Lana wed to this young beast

And didn’t eat a single thing at their wedding feast

But in the palace did reside and cried herself to sleep

Each time she heard her King abuse to keep

For her sister’s charge did Eden have to care

And now fair Lana’s fate the Kings to bare

Now later in the union there was savage over stress

For Lana to conceive a son to earn her dress

For two long years the couple tried and tried again

On Lana’s pretty face he showed the artwork of his pain

So when the words were spoke of her gestation

Minuz believed it was supplied of fornication

Her innocence was much intact though try she made him see

She had not left his side at all and so it could not be

But when the night grow cold and dark with shadows deep

He took his blade onto her chest and struck her in her sleep

She gave a cry of pain of sorrow of her life’s bitter end

And down the hall to Eden’s door her scream the moonlight send

So with the linen of the bed she slept

Minuz choked her pretty neck as Lana wept

And while the people of the city soundly slept

Eden’s soft and soundless feet towards him crept

On such a night when all were sleeping sound

A woman so fierce, deadly, comes around.

And to the place her King would slumber

Footsteps guided by a heart of violent thunder

She brings to him the gift of sudden death

And takes from him his last and final breath

So next in line the crown she shall be

But end his life for love did she.

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Sofi’s Birthday

Sofilia Aloir of Nosc was a patient girl, but on the day of her 16^th birthday she was all but contained.  For today she was to witness something she could only dream about for years.  It is tradition for every Noscan princess to take her first tour of her kingdom on one such an occasion, and this pleased Sofi more than any materiel possession ever could.

But as much as she longed for this day to come, she also deeply dreaded it, for she knew that also on this day she must begin her strict training to one day become empress of Nosc, a position that currently belonged to her own mother.  Sofi had always known her fate was fixed.  As her teacher would always say to her “you can no more change your future as you can teach the stars to fall.”  But Sofi put that aside for now and relished in the excitement of the moment.  For the first time in her young life she was to lay eyes upon the city she only ever viewed from the windows of her tower, she was to set foot beyond the palace walls, she was to get her first taste of Nosc.

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She sat upon the open window sill and gazed out across her keep, time had stood still here for this before.  She knew the horrible outcome and yet wished for a repeat.  The hot sun had fallen behind the west towers of the palace and the city was bathed in deep red light.  The walls grew cold.

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She got up and smiled at him as if nothing had happened.  He was shocked.  Only minutes earlier the stone wall had cracked and fallen into a hundred thousand pieces on the ground.

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The prophecy:

When the sunset red brings with it

A night so dark and cold

He will come, the one that’s new

To this city of Sunstone gold

With an eye of earth,

And one of sky

He holds the queen

That shall not die

And take with him

A heart that’s won

As heavens stars come undone.

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Creation Myth (as told by Kaiyu’s tribe)

In the beginning there was only Nurunda the darkness and Amaya the time.  Amaya took the form of a slender young woman with long flowing white hair that swayed all around her.  She had large white wings, pale white skin and long white robes.  She emitted her own light among the darkness.  Nurunda wore a dark black hooded cloak which hid her face.  They were sisters but could not be more different. Nurunda’s dark cloak made the whole earth appear dark.  Amaya’s light was all that could be seen on the earth.

So Amaya took some of her own light and threw it high unto the sky to make the stars.  They each took her form and shone down at the earth and saw Amaya.  At first they liked Amaya and did as she bade.  But they grew wise quickly and realised that there was many of them and they overpowered Amaya in numbers.  So the stars made themselves judge and jury of the earth and became the deciders of all matters.  Amaya was outraged but did not have the power to undo this.  So she made a spell so that if a star was to judge unfairly or to their own advantage they would fall from the skies and become part of the earth.

Nurunda saw how beautiful the stars were and was jealous of Amaya’s own beauty so she made a spell to extract all of her own ugliness out of herself and become beautiful like Amaya and her stars.  She put a hole through herself with a stick and let all that was unpleasant in her pour out onto the earth.  But in her haste she let the hole widen and as it got larger she began to spill too much of herself out.  She panicked and tried to stop what she was doing but it was too late.  Amaya came and saw what had happened.  She tried to save her sister, she made a spell to give her sister her own breath, but she could not put her back together.  She asked the stars to pass their judgment.  The stars looked down and saw Nurunda’s jealousy but they also say Amaya’s love.  The stars judged Nurunda as guilty but took pity on her.  They gave Amaya a spell so that Nurunda could live as two beings.

Her ugliness that lay poured on the ground became Mumagi and took the form of a hideous toad.  Her body and mind became Naragi, the moon and for her jealousy she was banished to the Eastern skies between heaven and earth.  Her voice was taken away and she could only sit and watch the darkness from her seat among the stars.

A small group of stars had judged her sentence for selfish reasons; they wanted to be close to Naragi because they liked her so much.  Those stars immediately fell from the sky to the earth.

Mumagi was almost unbearable to lay eyes on.  Dark green leathery skin covered with lumps and growths.  A foul smell came from the toad that radiated through the darkness.  Amaya was repulsed but became so lonely on the cold earth with only Mumagi who could not speak.  So she crafted a small spell to open the toad’s mouth so it would speak.   The mouth of the toad opened wide and nothing came out.  Amaya made another spell to force it to speak, but the toad became aggravated and let out a loud bellowing noise that filled the sky and shook the earth.  The toad opened its mouth wider and wider and then began to emit a black sticky pitch from inside itself.  It began to spread across the earth so fast that it reached Amaya’s feet and glued her to the spot she was standing.  It spread over her body like glue and consumed her.  Naragi looked on from above and grieved for Amaya, but she could not help her.  The black goo spread further and further until it had reached every corner of the earth and then, exhausted, Mumagi fell over dead.

The earth lay silent for a while.

And then Karuck was awakened from a deep sleep in the underworld where he was born of flames and was charged by the stars with the task of taking the spirits of earth beneath to the underworld to be judged.  If the spirit had lived a good and wholesome life on earth they would travel through the rivers of the underworld and ascend to heaven in the Eastern skies to live in peace and happiness for eternity.  If they had lived an evil and destructive life on earth their spirit would be doomed to remain in the underworld to burn for eternity.  He rose into the sky like a shining god, filling the earth with light.  The moment his light appeared the stars where blinded and became afraid of his power, they fled to the underworld one by one.

Amaya’s spirit had escaped her body and was also blinded by this light that so surpassed her own.  She asked Karuck who he was and how he came to be on earth.  He told her the truth and asked her to come to the underworld to be judged by the stars.  As Karuck spoke Amaya saw the pitch rise and fall beneath him, it bubbled in his heat.  Mountains began to rise and valleys formed.  The Pitch began to burn and evaporate.  Amaya saw the soil beneath it was becoming fertile.

Amaya did not want to leave earth now for the dark underworld and so devised a plan.  She took Karuck to the place her body was left.  As his light reached the place, the pitch disappeared and her body lay on the earth, still as beautiful as when she was alive.  Amaya told Karuck it was the body of Naragi.  It was the most beautiful thing Karuck had ever seen and he fell in love with her instantly

Amaya whispered in his ears and told him very gently that her spirit had fled to the Eastern skies between heaven and earth to wait for him to claim her.  Karuck who was lonely and yearned for a lover was overcome with gladness and called her name, but he could not see her in the sky.  He started his journey following the direction Amaya had pointed out to him with her words.  He wandered across the entire earth in search of her until he reached the end and passed over the underworld and back to where he had first risen. He had gone all the way around in his search and every place his light touched the pitch disappeared leaving the earth fertile and rich.  The stars avoided his light and came back to the earth’s sky each time Karuck would pass the underworld.

When he did not see Naragi he became to cry; large tears rolled from his eyes and began to rain down onto the earth.  He kept going around over and over again, searching the earth for spirits to take with him when he passed over the underworld again and searching the sky for Naragi.  But in vein, because he passed her every time he went over the Eastern skies but she would disappear in his light and reappear when he was gone again.

As Karuck wandered across the earth every day his tears fell onto the fertile soil, and things began to grow.  Green shoots came up from the ground and grew higher and higher, rivers sprouted from where there was an abundance of tears and a great forest grew.  Amaya saw that it was beautiful, and was pleased with her actions.  Naragi saw Karuck pass her and each time she fell more and more in love with him.  She tried to call out to him but her voice was taken by the stars.  Her tears rolled from her eyes and made a vast ocean in the East.

The fallen stars found the forest and flew to the tops of the trees to make their home.  These stars watched over the forest and kept it safe.  They became the Tiatwings the guardians of the forest.

Amaya swept across the earth and came to the place where Mumagi had died and saw that nothing had grown there.  For as almost as far as she could see from the ground there was only the bare earth. The black goo had dried up and there was only the retired body of the toad.  Amaya declared that part of land ‘Mumara-Magi’ (the Dead Land).  And damned anyone who entered it to have their spirit taken by Karuck to the underworld, whether they were dead or alive.  So when Karuck passed across again he took Mumagi’s spirit to the underworld and the toad’s body became the earth.