Unfortunately the final 3 weeks of my Creative Writing Course didn't take place and the course has now finished until September. Wishing our mentor and inspiration Rachel a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her again in Autumn. We have therefore not been working on any new genres or tasks, however I do still have work that I have not shared with you. Mainly because they are works in progress. They don't start out as this but as the story develops I feel I can take it further. One genre is fantasy fiction and another crime thriller. This is the first chapter, seventh day, of a yet untitled potential fantasy fiction novel.
Chapter 1: Seventh Day
Sienna was confused, tired and cold. She was huddled close to her mother in the fetal position. Her nose was filled with dirt and her lungs hurt from inhaling the destruction of her village, Manno. Sienna was with her family, hiding in what she thought was the bowels of the earth. Blood curdling screams came from above and explosions drowned out the terror of the massacre that was happening above them.
Sienna listened to her father’s whispered assurances and being the good girl she was, she didn’t make a sound. Warm tears spilled silently and she prayed to the gods that her father insisted did not exist. Her brother Herme sat with his eyes closed, Sienna was unsure whether he was sleeping. They had been holed up for such a long time she was unsure how much time had actually elapsed.
Sienna looked at her mother Gynna, she was deep in thought and her eyes were glazed. Her long red hair was tied up as always, but wisps of it fell on her beautiful face. Sienna loved her mother’s face,she was a beautiful woman and so different to the other mothers in the village. Sienna saw the way the men looked at her with longing and the women with envy. Gynna was not just beautiful on the outside she was beautiful on the inside too.
Gynna looked at her husband Markil and Sienna saw the silent conversation between them, she wanted to see hope, but she saw fear, desperation and realisation. Sienna was an extraordinary child with an extraordinary mind. Whilst she was too young to understand she had a gift, she often would interpret thoughts through looks and gestures. She also predicted impending doom long before the Sharalaime invaded the village.
Sienna did not know who the Sharalaime were. Her father had gathered them and executed their escape just before the Sharalaime arrived. Sienna had heard talk of the Sharalaime and her friends had told her stories of creatures who lived in a land called Exodus. She had heard a variety of descriptions of the Sharalaime and had forged all these images in her mind to form her own unique image of a Sharalaime.
Her father once said that they had nothing to fear from the Sharalaime. They lived far away on the other side of the world and had no cause nor reason to come to Santassia, let alone Manno. Sienna believed her father as he had never lied to her and was always truthful, even when the truth was damaging.
Sienna had so many questions she wanted to ask her father. How long would they have to stay down here? What would they do when they got out? What did the Sharalaime want? Were they going to die? Sienna knew the war was ongoing, as deep as they were in their sanctuary, the screams, shouts and explosions reverberated the chamber they were in.
Sienna thought of Annah and her silent tears once again fell freely. Annah was her best friend and despite Sienna’s protestations her father would not let Sienna tell Annah where she was going. She couldn’t bear to think of Annah looking for her, scared and alone. Sienna must have tensed as her mother pulled her close and stroked her lovingly.
Sienna felt her eyelids become heavy and her mother started to rock her gently and amid the chaos Sienna fell into a fitful sleep.
Sienna awoke to complete darkness. The gaslight had gone out and no natural light would penetrate the deep earth where they were holed up. She was still wrapped in her mother’s arms and could feel the rise and fall of her breast. She could also hear her father and brother lightly snoring as they always did, in sync, and despite the cold darkness this gave her a sense of reassurance.
Sienna realised in the darkness that the noises from above had stopped. She listened hard and all she could hear was the breathing of her family and her own hurried breath. She moved her head slightly so both of her ears were exposed and listened again. Sienna heard somebody call her name, or had she imagined it? She strained her ears and held her breath and again she heard her name being called. Sienna had no idea if it was coming from above or below, it was faint and she wondered whether she was still asleep and dreaming. Sienna often had lucid dreams.
Her breathing became even more hurried from holding her breath for too long. This roused her mother from her sleep and in turn her father and brother. They spoke to each other in whispers and held each other in the darkness until her father relit the gaslight. They all sat in silence straining their ears to hear what was happening on other side of the dirty earth where they were buried. They heard nothing.
Gynna whispered to her husband “do you think they have gone, is it safe to leave?” Markil shook his head “not yet Gynna, we must be patient, they have not found what they are looking for”. Sienna wanted to ask her father exactly what they were looking for, but the conversation between her father and mother did not seem to include Herme or herself. Herme was still half asleep, he was pale and the freckles scattered across his nose were exaggerated in the dim gaslight. “Herme” she whispered “are you okay?”. Herme looked at her and gave her one of his lopsided grins, something he always did when he did not know what to say. The familiarity of how he delivered it, again reassured his sister.
The Barton family remained in their sanctuary for a further three days. On the seventh day, their supplies were low. They were tired, dirty and cold. Herme had developed a cough that was both persistent and loud, none of them were getting any sleep and Sienna thought she was going mad. She was finding it difficult to distinguish between dreams and reality, as her sleep was filled with the image of the hole they were in. The voices she heard calling her became more frequent but Sienna was convinced that lack of food, sleep and sunlight were causing her to hallucinate.
It was on that day, the seventh day, they were discovered.
Hayley Mars
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