Short Snippets - In the Beginning...

Angelika's passage onto Erudus

About this Short Snippet

This short snippet was the original opening for my current novel. I recently changed the opening. I think it’s better.

I still feel that this original piece has validity as an introduction to Erudus, so I decided to post it here. I hope you enjoy it.

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In the Beginning…

I bound my arm to my chest with the filthy blanket that was soaked with my tears. I closed my eyes and as I tried to rub the ache from my shoulder, my body began to spasm. I felt hot, as rustling air circle me. The heat seeped into my body, concentrating on my arms. Suddenly, the energy burst from my fingertips, outwards into the gloom, ripping a hole in the air. Through the rip, a mountain, overlooking a strange landscape, under dark, churning clouds stared through the hole.

I did not hesitate; I stepped through the opening and landed at the base of a mountain. The rock was old, cold, and wind whispered around it. In front of me, scree led down to an angry meandering river. I listened as water fell from the nearby mountain and crashed down onto the ground.

Behind me. I felt the rip close, leaving me alone on the rock, with nothing but the clothes on my back, and horrific memories. I wondered how I would survive, but honestly, I was so tired that I could not focus on the danger I was in. I had escaped and I was relieved.

I took a deep breath, filling my lungs, only to cough and choke. The air here, was filled with energy, but it tasted sour and felt tainted.

I started walking toward the river, skirting the large boulders, and areas of scree, that had fallen from above. Although being near mountains felt familiar and comforting, these mountains were different from those I knew on my home planet of Girt. Here, the rocks had a faint blue tinge, and the peaks reached higher into the sky. At that point, I did not know, that the mountain ecosystem was so tainted, that Zozo goats, Fili birds, and Lipa lizards, avoided the ridges and crannies, as they could no longer survive there.

As I walked, I dodged the few flowers that survived in the darkness of the mountain’s shadow. Outwardly, they looked delicate. Frosty pink petals reached upwards. hiding long, glowing blue stamens. The flowers waved gently in the breeze, luring insects towards them. When the bugs came too close, the stamens popped out, encircled the insect, and dragged it inside to its death.

I watched them for some time, feeling the breeze on my back, until my attention was drawn by an indigo butterfly as it zigzagged past. I held up my hand, hoping it would land. Butterflies had always mesmerized me. I felt that we were alike; we both had undergone metamorphosis and were alone.

The clouds were gently drifting away from the sun above. I put on my dark glasses, hoping that as the rays began to gleam down, my weak lavender eyes could cope.

Sweat, from the ray’s sudden warmth, began to build on my neck and at the roots of my hair. I released my curly auburn tendrils from their band. and shook out the strands, hoping to prevent too many knots from building.

I continued walking until I reached the river, where the water crashed down from the mountain, and churned against the riverbank. The aroma here, of must and decay, was so sharp, that I screwed up my nose and covered it with my hand. I hurried forward down stream.

I turned a bend on the riverbank, just as a soft wind began to blow disguising the scent. I stopped once more and stretched, raising my face upwards. I loved feeling the air’s coolness on my skin. It had been so long since I had been outside, that I forgot that nature always revived my body and soul.

The wind began to grow stronger. Small clouds grew, churned, and became blue and grey. Strong gusty winds began to whip around me. The wind wrenched boulders from their hiding places above and fired them down onto the scree and ground.

The furious clouds steered towards me, moving so quickly that they were gone in a blink. The howl turned into a scream that was so unearthly, it sounded like an uneasy spirit flying through the night. The sound felt dangerous, and unreal.

My body shook, and I shivered in the cold wind, as I tried to push myself close to an overhanging on the mountain. As I was moving, I thought I heard someone speaking.

I peered behind me, but there was no one there. Then I heard a long, terrifying, laugh, almost a cackle, churning with the wind.

Dirt, gravel and twigs rose upwards into the shape of a human body. I jolted to a stop and sank to the ground. I hugged my body, shaking, and closed my arms over my head hoping to keep small. Then, as I felt bile rise in my throat, the wind, in a loud baritone voice demanded, “today you die!”

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