Chapter two (preview)

2009-02-11T23:16:00.013-06:00

:

Chapter Two

DRAGON

Jenny and her dwarf companion Halfling were standing in forest thick with trees that were as wide as houses and as tall as sky scrapers. It was fairly dark out despite the fact that it was still the middle of the afternoon. Jenny supposed the darkness was caused by the huge treetops towering overhead.

“Where are we?” Jenny asked confused.

“We’re home Jenny! Welcome to Landanasia!” squealed Halfling spilling over with excitement and pride. “Now we have to get you out of the open! Follow me, quickly!” Halfling hurried off to their right, then he stopped in front of a dark brown tree that looked as if were bigger than the rest. He then raised a tiny-balled fist and knocked on a particularly large knot at the base of the tree three times. Instantly a tall ornate door with a brass knob appeared in the side of the tree. Halfling turned the shiny brass knob and shoved the door open.

“ Quickly Jenny! Come in, come in!” Halfling squeaked a he tried to drag Jenny through the open door.

The inside of the tree was the wildest and greatest thing Jenny had ever seen. It looked like the inside of a well lived in cottage that belonged to someone who traveled the world and horded the most bizarre collection of items that didn’t coordinate. Nothing seemed to match; yet somehow everything fit together like perfect puzzle pieces.

In the small corner that was the kitchen, there was an old gas stove, a traditional icebox, and an old wobbly wooden table. There was a wooden counter with a granite stone top, and a few dozen pots and skillets hanging at random from the ceiling. Diagonally across the room from the kitchen was a large stuffy couch, which had six different un-matching cushions, non-of-which matched the chair itself. Sitting next to the couch were an old, hand-carved, wooden rocking chair and a gas lamp jutting out from the wall. To the right of the kitchen there was an old and rickety wooden staircase that led who-knows where, and a wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling bookshelf without a single free spot for any new books.

There were all sorts of odd little gadgets everywhere. Some of them were on tables, some were on the floor, and some were just hanging at arbitrary spots on the walls and ceiling. Halfling shut the door behind Jenny.

"Welcome to my humble abode!" Halfling squeaked.

“You live here? This is the most wonderful place I’ve ever been in!” Jenny said with delight.

“I’m glad you like it, because we will be staying here for a few days.” Halfling sounded truly happy. Suddenly there was a small grey blur that zipped across the room and led to a loud ‘thunk’ and a squeal from Halfling. Jenny turned around to find her Godfather sprawled upside down at the foot of the bookcase with a small black and white owl perched on Halfling’s backside. Halfling shook the owl off, then righted himself, and the bird flew to his shoulder were it balanced itself.

“Jenny, this is my animal friend. She’s a saw-whet owl, which is the smallest species of owl. Her name is Molly.” Halfling said with a smile on his face. “ Are you ready to meet your animal counterpart?”

Jenny took a step forward “Yes I’m ready!” she said without hesitation. Halfling led the way to the rickety wooden staircase where he started to climb to the next floor. Jenny hastily followed after him. The stairs curved up to the right with a suggestion of never ending, but after a few moments a small landing appeared around the corner with a large wooden door painted a deep red, Halfling pushed the door open.

Once they were through the door, they found themselves in a long narrow hallway with several portraits and doors, each painted a different color, all the way down the passage. Halfling led the way to a bright green-painted door at the other end of the long hall.

Chapter one

2009-02-10T20:30:00.009-06:00

:

Chapter One

HALFLING

A dark roll of thunder then a loud crack! A lightning bolt struck out of the sky like white hot vines spreading from the heavens, only alive for a second. A blackened cloud burst into a million tiny pieces, each one of its own shape and size. They were like tiny prisms of light reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. It had started to rain. One particularly large droplet sped towards the earth and landed wetly on the cheek of a young girl.

It was November in Seattle, Washington, and this girl's name was Jennifer Grey. She was a petite, very pale brunette, who was no older than thirteen. Jenny had carelessly left her rain jacket on the old rusty bench at the schoolyard bus stop. Her mother had made her run back to get the jacket before it started to rain.

“Too late!” Jenny thought to herself. She then quickly decided to run the rest of the way. She rushed up the block, around the corner, through the schoolyard playground, and up to the tall black and white sign that read Bus Stop. Jenny then hurried to the already wet bench, picked up her blue zip-up rain jacket, and immediately wrapped it around herself.
“Great!” She thought, “Put the jacket on after you're wet!” Jenny started back home. She jogged her way through the muddy playground and around the corner, but as soon as she started up the block....she stopped. Something very peculiar was happening. Everything was suddenly completely still and silent.

No wind was blowing. There was no sound to be heard. The rain was no longer falling. It was just suspended in mid-air. It actually seemed as if Jenny was the only functioning entity. She looked down the street and saw only foggy buildings surrounded by crystal clear water droplets, hanging from the sky like the diamonds of a chandelier. Jenny touched one of the droplets. The little crystal bounced off of her finger and slowly floated in the other direction. She started to touch more of the diamond-like rain, when she heard "Pssst" from behind her. Startled she turned to face the unknown creature.

"Hello?" she called out.

"Pssst" Jenny heard again. She slowly walked towards the little bush the noise seemed to be coming from. The twinkling raindrops bounced off of her left and right as she moved through the stillness."Hello? She called out once more.

“Why hello there!” said a squeaky little voice. A tiny man of about two feet tall stumbled out of the bush towards her.

“W-What’s going on and who are you?” stammered Jenny.

“Well I’m Halfling. The world has been magically and temporarily frozen in time.” squeaked the little man.

“Oooookaaaay” Jenny said trying to along with this absurd idea.

“Would you mind taking a walk with me Miss Grey?” asked Halfling.

“Who…. What…How do you….” started Jenny, she paused took a deep breath then said, “I guess I could.” Halfling walked to her side and then started up the pavement towards Jenny’s house. Jenny strode behind with things going through her head, like how this man for whom Jenny had never read of, heard of, our thought of, could know her name, as well as how he who was very old, but very muscular, was no taller than her waist. In fact, it seemed that Halfling was about the same height as her younger brother, William.

“You’re wondering how I know your name,” squeaked Halfling quizzically.

“Well yeah,” said Jenny a little more loudly than was necessary.

“I know your name because I am your birthright godfather!” he said proudly.

“B-b-but you’re t-two feet tall, and I n-never even h-heard of you before, “she interjected.

“I know, I was supposed to stay invisible until you turned thirteen years old” He assured her. The fact was Jenny had only been thirteen for about a week. “Haven’t you ever felt like you were being watched over or followed? I’ve been looking after you for your entire life.” Now Jenny was scared, for she had always felt that way, every since she was a little girl, she had been afraid of ghosties and bad men following her every move. “It is time for me to talk to you about your past and future. I will let you ask me anything you like and I will do my best to answer. My one condition is that you hear me out first.” Once Jenny agreed, he continued “First off I am Halfling, your dwarf godfather, your future mentor and teacher, and an old and loyal family friend. Secondly you’re adopted by your current family. They found you in my arms on their doorstep, when you were two weeks old. Lastly, your real name is Crystal Lafey De Landan,” finished Halfling.

“I….was…adopted,” Jenny managed to stammer out.

“Unfortunately so, as there were no other choices at the time. You were either to come here, or risk an untimely demise, so your biological parents decided to send you here so that you could grow up a healthy and normal life …as a human,” he added softly.

“W-What do you mean, “as a human”?” was all Jenny could manage to say.

“Well Jenny, you are primarily a human, but you were born in the world of the occult beings, in that you have a set of special qualities that normal humans do not possess. I’m not sure what your powers are yet. That is why we have had to wait so long to tell you the truth. They do not come in until after you turn thirteen.” Halfling said matter-of-factly.

That was it. That was Jenny’s limit of insanity for one day. First, being adopted and now special powers? “This is too much!” Jenny shouted. There was suddenly a quite awkward silence coming from what seemed to be a very talkative little man.

Jenny took this moment to look into the large front window of the nearest house. Inside there were two boys paused in the action of playing some video game on the LCD Widescreen television, as well as a chocolate Labrador knocking over a pitcher of what seemed to be lemonade.

“Look…” interjected Halfling, “I know it’s a lot to take in, but just listen…you are in short Crystal, and you do belong with the Occult Beings. Your destiny was written billions of years ago, just like every other creature in our world. So, you must heed my words, and trust me!” he pleaded” Jenny, your parents need you!”

Pause…no, not just ‘pause’, but ‘long pause’. There was something about the way Halfling had said ‘your parents’. Jenny just realized that if this ‘dwarf’ was telling the truth then her whole life had been a lie! Her parents weren’t her real parents, and her real parents were complete strangers.

Jenny took that long moment to go over everything that Halfling had thus far said, but when she reached a certain phrase she froze.

“Okay, so…wait. You said, that these ‘Occult Beings’ have some sorts of special qualities that aren’t human. Well…what are they?” Jenny inquired.

“The phrase ‘Occult Beings’ in plain English just means ‘mystical creatures’.” Halfling replied.

“So what, like unicorns and dragons?”

“ Essentially yes…but oh so much more! There are fairies, witches, centaurs, gremlins, harpies, sprites, spirits, elves and…(sigh)… Oh just wait. You’ll see everything all too soon. “ Halfling continued up the narrow pavement leaving Jenny in a shocked state.

“How could there be creatures like harpies and unicorns? These are animals that I grew up knowing to be make believe! None of this can be true! Who does he think he’s messing with! Jenny thought savagely.

When Halfling reached the last corner of the block, he turned to Jenny once more. “Are you coming, or would you like to stay frozen in time for the rest of your life?”

Jenny jumped out of her angry thoughts, and ran up the block to catch up with Halfling. He reached out a miniscule hand to take hers, and reluctantly she took it. Then he took a handful of very shiny white powder from his tiny, front, left pocket, and threw it into the air while muttering the words “Verus Vicis”.

Slowly, the world started to speed up again, until it was as if nothing had happened. The rain was once more falling, it was no longer silent, and the wind was suddenly blowing so hard that Jenny couldn’t help but zip up her jacket. Jenny followed Halfling around the corner and up to the house clearly marked 1532, which she knew to be her own. The lights on the outside of her house dimly flicked on in response to the rain-darkened sky. They walked up the skinny sidewalk to the dark-wood front door. Halfling then raised a tiny-balled fist and knocked the dampened wood twice. They waited for a few seconds in silence. Then very slowly the front door opened to reveal her slim 40-year-old, dark haired mother waiting in surprise.

Mrs. Grey looked at Jenny questioningly and opened her mouth as if to ask how Jenny had gotten home so quickly, and why she looked upset, but then her eyes fell on Halfling and she instantly seemed to understand. She cleared her throat, and stepped back to let Halfling lead the way to their living room sofa. Halfling sat down on the old squashy cushions, which left his feet dangling more than a foot from the soft, blue-carpeted floor. Jenny followed, and plopped down on his right. Mrs. Grey disappeared for a few awkward moments, and then reappeared with three glasses of red fruit-punch, and a tray full of chocolate chip cookies. She carefully set the refreshments on the little, glass coffee table. Her eyes lingered for a moment on Halfling’s minute facial features, and then she gave Jenny a somewhat weak smile and gently sat down in the beige armchair opposite the sofa.

“Hello Mrs. Grey, I expect you know why I’m here?” said Halfling after another moment.

“Yes Halfling, I expect I do,” replied Jenny’s mother in a soft and saddened voice. Jenny’s eyes and mouth both opened in a silent scream of shock.

“You knew about this and you never told me?!?” Jenny shouted as she jumped up off of the couch so quickly, an imprint was left in the soft cushion were she had just been sitting.

“Please! You have to understand sweetie! I promised! I had to take a life-binding oath to keep quite, well, until Halfling showed his face and talked to you first. I would have told you if I could! I swear!!!” Mrs. Grey looked as if she were going to be sick.
“Jenny…” Halfling murmured in a soothing voice, “ It wasn’t your mother’s choice, or fault. When she took that oath, she was magically bound into silence. She couldn’t physically tell you. She could only speak about it after I told you the truth.” Halfling squeaked hastily with Jenny’s look of pressing the matter further.

“Fine!” Jenny said in a hurt voice, “ Since everyone but me seems to know what’s going on, I might as well leave!”

“Please sit down Jenny, we both need to talk to you. Listen to us quickly and carefully. We don’t have a lot of time. There are some things that we need to discuss with you about your immediate departure and some upcoming events.” Mrs. Grey said in a low and even tone.

“Departure? I have to leave? B-but when, a-and where? How long…?” stuttered Jenny.

“Now, now, we are getting a little ahead of ourselves. Let us just explain Jenny.” Squealed Halfling “I am taking you on a journey, and we are going to research and explore across the great lands of our world. We will need to gather information on how the dark times began, and how they ended the last time. If we are lucky, then we should be able to reverse the darkness before it gets out of control, and unstoppable. We will constantly be moving, training, searching and learning so that we may save our people, and restore peace and joy to the lands!” he said proudly,

Jenny looked at Halfling in awe. He seemed to be so very proud of his homelands, and so very sure of Jenny.

“ Jenny, I have something for you,” said Mrs. Grey as she held out a very ornate box made of wrought iron and gold, and lavishly embellished with large emeralds. There was a fair sized emblem etched into the lid, and some words wee written in an unknown language underneath. Jenny took the box from her mother and tried to open it, but the lid would not budge.

“This is a puzzle box from your biological parents. You won’t be able to open it until you solve the puzzle on the outside.” Mrs. Grey said Matter-of-factly. “I was told that on the lid is your family crest and motto, of course, I can’t read it so I don’t know what it says. “ she gave Jenny a little half smile, but said no more. Suddenly, Jenny felt a rush of pride and gratitude for her mother, she knew that al of this must have been very hard to keep quite, with magic or not. Jenny could no longer contain herself as she rushed across the room to give her mother a huge hug around the waist. In that instant they were both balling like babies.

“I love you so much mom! Thank you a billion time over!” Jenny gasped.

“I love you to sweetie! I always have and I always will! No matter what!” Mrs. Grey Gasped back. Halfling cleared his throat very loudly.

“ There isn’t much time! We need to get you packing Jenny.” Jenny let go of her mother, straightened out her rain jacket, and walked back to the couch to pick up the little iron box tat she had left there. Then she turned away from her sobbing mother and led the way to her bedroom. She walked down the long tiled hallway, past several white-painted doors, and then finally stopped in front of one at the very end of the hall. She pushed the door open, and flicked on the ceiling light.

“What should I take? Will we be able to come back and get more stuff later?” Jenny inquired.

“No Jenny, I’m afraid not. This is our last time in this world. You won’t need any clothing, but do you still have that green-crystal necklace that you received on your thirteenth birthday?” asked Halfling.

“Yeah, it’s still in the box…did you send that to me?” Jenny looked at Halfling’s face with a quizzical gaze.

“Yes indeed. It was your father’s necklace, you know? It’s a very special piece of jewel, you should put it on.” Jenny thought back six days to when she received the little silver box with no tag. She didn’t think anything of it, she was to excited about everything else that was going on at the time to notice.

Jenny walked over to he large white dresser and pulled the top drawer open. Inside held the shiny green-crystal necklace safely within. She carefully removed the reflective lid, lifted the crystal out of the drawer, and slid the chain over her head. The crystal started to emit a bright green glow that lit up the entire room. Suddenly, Jenny believed everything that was happening. She knew, in that instant, that everything Halfling had thus far said was the complete and honest truth.

“ So what else do I need?” Jenny asked. Halfling paused and looked into Jenny’s eyes for a moment, and then he cleared his throat.

“Jenny…come and have a seat my dear,” Halfling said as he indicated the bed. Jenny gave him a quick quizzical look, and then crossed the room to sit on her untidy bed. He cleared his throat once more and pulled a very large wooden box out of his tiny left front pocket.

“Here you are, it’s sort of a belated birthday present.” Halfling said as he handed the box to Jenny.

“But you already gave me this necklace!” Jenny stammered.
“ Yes but technically speaking, that was from your father. This one’s from me personally. So, I thought I’d give it to you, well, in person.” Halfling blurted out lamely. Jenny took the wooden box and set it next to her on the bed, then she gently lifted the lid.There were several small objects in the box including; one large leather bound book, with a jewel encrusted cover, and a very tight lock keeping it shut; one small brown leather pouch with a shoulder strap; another small blue velvet pouch that looked as if it were stuffed full; one leather water canteen, with a brass-polished mouth piece; and one large, average bag of dried banana chips.

“ What is all this?” Jenny wondered out loud.

“Well, let me tell you,” started Halfling. “First, I’ll start with this leather pouch. It looks tiny, but it works much like my little front pocket. Inside this pouch is an infinite amount of space, it can hold anything!” he picked up the pouch and slung its strap around Jenny’s neck. “Next is this book. This is your new magic book. Written on its pages is anything and everything you need to know about magic.”
“But there’s no key!” Jenny noticed.

“Ahh yes, this book has to be magically opened.” Halfling picked up the book, and with little effort, slid it into the pouch around Jenny’s neck. “Now for the blue pouch. This contains several years worth of mystic dust. You cannot perform magic without this powder, it must always be kept with you.” He then added the bag of dust to Jenny’s pouch. “Now this,” He said as he held up the canteen, “this, as you can most likely tell, holds water. Once you learn to use your magic, you’ll be able to change this water into any water-based foods, which will come in handy while we are traveling. We’ll need to fill this before we leave.” And with that he set the canteen aside.

“ Okay, so I get the reasons for having all of these items, but why do I need banana chips?” Jenny asked bluntly.

“Well you see, in our world most humans and half-breeds are born with an animal counterpart. This animal is assigned and eternally connected to their according person’s soul, and they usually compliment each other’s powers. Now it just so happens, that I have been taking care of your animal for all of these years, and he is primarily a spider monkey who LOVES banana chips.” Squealed Halfling.

“What do you mean ‘primarily’ a spider monkey?”

“He is in his natural form, a spider monkey, but he is an elemental shape shifter. He can change himself into any natural element such as fire, or water. His state, however, is mostly that of a banana chip-loving monkey.” Halfling picked up the set-aside canteen and walked to the door. “ Alright let’s go and fill the canteen, and then we’ll be on our way.”

Jenny slipped the banana chips into her pouch, as well as the wrought iron box that was still held in her right hand. She then walked to the door, stopping for a moment to grab a picture of her loving family from the top of her white dresser. She added the photograph to her pouch, and the she followed Halfling down the hallway. They made a quick trip to the kitchen sink to fill the canteen with water. There was no sign of Mrs. Grey as they walked back to the front door, were they found a pink sticky note stuck up on the wall. “Love and miss you already! --- Mom” was all it said.

When they were outside, Halfling once again reached his hand into his pocket, and then threw a pinch of mystic dust into the air.

“Eo Ire Itum!” Halfling muttered, and instantly everything was pitch black. Jenny heard him mutter once more “Domos…Landanasia!”

Dark Ages of Landanasia

Chapter two (preview)

Chapter one