My friend Andrew wrote a novel. Heres chapter one.(i havent read it yet)
Before I knew it, life had been turned into a monotonous cycle, day in day out. A cycle in which, my soul, my embodiment screamed out for something new, change. Nothing brought satisfaction to the incarnate, nothing could fill the hole that bore deep within me. Even the temple and prayer proved to no avail. I had no war to fight. No cause to live for, no cause to die for. No family to protect, well, there was my brother, but even then I yearned for the both of us to fill the void and take away the veil. I cried out for a modification of this blink of a life, I had no idea what lay before me, what he had in mind. This is what he had in mind.
The autumn of 1916 is when it all began. One of the Emperor's ships, namely the SS Hader, had broken down in a battle against some religious resistance in the Eui island chain. On the eastern edge of Emeva in the Dark district, I was repairing the Hader. Only a few more turns. I laid on the hard iron deck underneath the large boiler. Sweat dripped from my forehead�repairing a boiler never took this long. You'd think Ferdka would be able to get rid of all the resistance, so I wouldn't have to do this anymore. I dropped the wrench and slid out from under the boiler. I sat up and looked around the dimly lit engine room. I glanced over at Rush who laid down, spread out on the cold iron trying to stay as cool as possible. His ears perked and he started growling. A voice reverberated throughout the iron. I leaned over towards the set of pipes that shot out of the wall just a few feet away from the boiler. I shouted into the communication pipes saying that I would be out soon. A stern voice in broken Hebrew returned my call, "Yessah, have an impertant delivery fer ya." Maybe I'd finally get that part I'd been waiting for. I could use a break anyway.
As I strolled out of the ship out onto the docks, the heat washed over me. Rush ran over to investigate who it was. I stared off the edge of the docks and out into the distance, noticing that low sun had shone bright into the red haze below. It seemed that I had lost track of time. Shadows were cast from the rest of the ships in the yard. A commonly colored Tish stood there a few feet away with his wings folded and his yellow talons tapping on the wooded dock. "'ere, ya arre sah." He said while taking a small neat envelope out of his bag. He handed me the envelope. I questioned him,
"Yer no postman, who sent you?"
"Juss some blind man at the port, he no Tish." I dismissed his superfluous comment and nodded. He flew away as I walked back on board through the iron door. A little cooler once again. As I traversed through the ship, stepping through each door, I tore open the side of the envelope and pulled out a small yellow piece of parchment that had two neat sentences on it. "The time has come. Arise." What on earth is this supposed to mean? Is that dumb Tish trying to trick me? Ah�whatever, I've got to finish this boiler off so I can get Serg some food.
A few hours later, I walked back home to our apartment. A few minutes from the docks where I worked, Serg and I shared an ground level apartment below a small family. Crime sat on our doorstep, but I wasn't complaining. It sat on the corner of two roads, one heading east towards the sea. I opened the front door and in ran Rush, almost knocking me over. I looked over into our crowded kitchen to see Serg among many pots and pans with an apron on and his hair slicked back. The smell of bread wafted through the air. He never cooks.
Serg was my brother, he started living with me since our parents died. He wasn't that young when it happened, but their deaths had been hard on both of us. I was always on the lookout for him, I couldn't send him away. We only had each other left.
We sat down at our small kitchen table for dinner, Serg had prepared an old Eui isle recipe. Spaghetti, he called it. As we ate we went over the things that had gone on during the day as we usually do at night. This was one of the few times that we were able to spend together. Serg had a look of disdain on his face when I asked him about school, "Those stupid jocks always gotta pick on the kids who look different, it's not like I chose to have blonde hair!" When is he going to learn?
"It's your fault you got an attitude about it though." We both sat back and laughed. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, some Tish brought me a letter today. Odd really, no address and it was just two sentences."
"A Tish eh? I haven't seen one of those in awhile, some kid just brought me mine."
"You got one too? I thought this was just some prank, what did yours say?"
"Something like A time has come? I can't remember all that well." But I remembered it, oh I remembered it well. The peculiarity of it all made it stick out in my mind like a bright yellow steamboat on a busy day in the harbor.
After a bit more banter, Serge got up from his chair and brought our dishes into the kitchen. I stood up, "I'll see you later, bud. I'm going out. Don't leave, and do your homework already." Serge responded with a groan as I stepped out.
I walked out into the cobblestone streets and headed south towards Phil's. It was a clear night as usual, and everybody and their companion was out and about upon the sidewalks that were lit by gas lanterns. Horns blared and steam cars bobbled across the rugged cobblestones.
When I got to Phil's it was filled up as usual on a night like this. I stepped in through the entrance and glanced around. Groups sat in round booths on the left side and the bar which seated a few men on the right. Phil's wasn't an elaborate joint, but it was good enough for this section of town. Pipe smoke had permeated the air, which encouraged me to light up my own. I sat down at the bar and nodded over to the bartender. He walked over with a brown rag that looked like it never had been washed inside a mug that looked the same, "How ya doin' tonite, sir?"
"I'm doin' just fine, Miko." He threw up a little salute as a reminder. Mikodemus was a young fellow, he had been my subordinate in the navy for awhile before I was incapacitated. I never got to see the end of that battle, it's not like all of them stopped anyway.
I got myself a nice warm whiskey, and started listening in. If you wanted to know the latest news and various other gossip, the pub was usually the place to be. I figured maybe this blind fellow might have come up somewhere else.
"Did you hear? His Excellency is instituting--"
"...that dumb train broke down on its way back home today."
"Yessah, you'd be amazed by this ship, it was so quiet." I wheeled around in my chair to try and listen more intently. A burly mechanic I knew sat on the other end of the bar chatting with a mustached man. "I saw it for myself, when I was shipping some farm equipment out to Velshia." The mustached man then went on to explain in an extremely grandiose way how smoothly it sailed. Miko usually caught wind of most of the rumours, being a bartender. I called him over and inquired about the non-steam powered ship.
"Yes, sir. I haven't heard too much about that ship. It's probably just hearsay."
Something crept upon me as I sat there. I know not of what it was or if it was anything at all, but then a grotesque thought of unnerving quality pervaded my mind. Usually, I would have entertained such an image, but something was different. A dense cloud of guilt overhung my head as I squirmed in my seat at it's foulness that I will not repeat here. Where was this coming from? Miko had questioned if I was alright, he commented that I now looked ghastly. I had felt as if a thousand pairs of eyes were upon me. Shaking as I arose, this thought would not fade. My leg somehow carried me into the lavatory.
With my hands flat on the cool sink, I stared into the fingerprint smudged mirror. My disfigured face stared back, warped by the messages written upon the mirror, as if laughing. "I will not fall victim to whatever you are." What was this that had come over me? Like a fleeting fever, it was gone. I heard a shuffle of papers and quickly turned around to see where the noise came from.
Someone was listening in. I splashed some water on my face and rushed out of the restroom. As I did I heard the man in the stall flush. The quiet, ominous click of a chambered bullet was the last thing I heard before I left.
The pub was still as busy as ever. My hopes of an easy escape had vanished. Miko still sat behind the bar, attending to customers, but this time he wore a worried look. A large man with a black suit and a top hat in the far corner looked towards me with his hand inside of his jacket. He had a sneer that stretched upon his face�I looked down at the carpet trying to ignore him. Even as I looked down at the white tassels protruding from the carpet, my mind screamed, "Run!" I had to stay calm, had to. The man in the restroom was beginning to come out. I jogged to the bar, dropped a five on it and went to get my coat, when I felt the cold steel of a circular proportion upon my back. I did not dare to look behind me, for I knew who it already was. With his other hand he pointed over to the coat rack which sat near the entrance, and quietly told me to retrieve it. The coat rack hung more clothing than when I arrived. We walked slowly towards the entrance careful not to cause a scene. I reached out towards the coat rack and folded my coat over my arm, just then my animal instincts kicked in. I threw my coat upon the barrel of the revolver and dove out of the way of any incoming bullet. A large blast followed by many wails filled the room as I blasted through the front door, hinges squealing.
The wind rapidly rushed upon my face and briskly shook me, as I started running towards the apartment. My leg clanked on the hard cobblestones. I could only hope that they had been dismayed by the chaos within the tavern for my running speed was about the best I could get with one leg. Lights raced past my vision. What about Serg? These men had probably already been to our house. My only hope was that Serg had went out.
After running for a few minutes, I reached the dank alley next to our house and quietly crept up to the western window. As I peered in I observed five men in black suits destroying everything. Dishes, pots, books, and everything else you could think of had been thrown into the middle of the main room. What were they looking for? Where were Serg and Rush? I had always kept a small boat on the docks because I loved to go sea faring, so that was the only place I could think of going. I ran from the alley, and didn't notice a trash bag standing in my way. I tumbled over it.
Argh! Stupid me.
The men in black suits had noticed my presence and sent one to investigate. He saw me as I retreated from the alley and called for his superiors. I ran and ran, panting through back alleys and dashing between fences. I finally reached the end of the street and arrived at the dock. A large boat sat just off the edge of the dock, and that kid was upon it. I yelled over to try to get his attention "Serg!" Serg finally noticed me and spoke to someone else on the ship. It hesitated a bit. I ran down the dock, foot clunking along and dove onto the ship and BAM a pulse coursed through my head... then it all went black.
The autumn of 1916 is when it all began. One of the Emperor's ships, namely the SS Hader, had broken down in a battle against some religious resistance in the Eui island chain. On the eastern edge of Emeva in the Dark district, I was repairing the Hader. Only a few more turns. I laid on the hard iron deck underneath the large boiler. Sweat dripped from my forehead�repairing a boiler never took this long. You'd think Ferdka would be able to get rid of all the resistance, so I wouldn't have to do this anymore. I dropped the wrench and slid out from under the boiler. I sat up and looked around the dimly lit engine room. I glanced over at Rush who laid down, spread out on the cold iron trying to stay as cool as possible. His ears perked and he started growling. A voice reverberated throughout the iron. I leaned over towards the set of pipes that shot out of the wall just a few feet away from the boiler. I shouted into the communication pipes saying that I would be out soon. A stern voice in broken Hebrew returned my call, "Yessah, have an impertant delivery fer ya." Maybe I'd finally get that part I'd been waiting for. I could use a break anyway.
As I strolled out of the ship out onto the docks, the heat washed over me. Rush ran over to investigate who it was. I stared off the edge of the docks and out into the distance, noticing that low sun had shone bright into the red haze below. It seemed that I had lost track of time. Shadows were cast from the rest of the ships in the yard. A commonly colored Tish stood there a few feet away with his wings folded and his yellow talons tapping on the wooded dock. "'ere, ya arre sah." He said while taking a small neat envelope out of his bag. He handed me the envelope. I questioned him,
"Yer no postman, who sent you?"
"Juss some blind man at the port, he no Tish." I dismissed his superfluous comment and nodded. He flew away as I walked back on board through the iron door. A little cooler once again. As I traversed through the ship, stepping through each door, I tore open the side of the envelope and pulled out a small yellow piece of parchment that had two neat sentences on it. "The time has come. Arise." What on earth is this supposed to mean? Is that dumb Tish trying to trick me? Ah�whatever, I've got to finish this boiler off so I can get Serg some food.
A few hours later, I walked back home to our apartment. A few minutes from the docks where I worked, Serg and I shared an ground level apartment below a small family. Crime sat on our doorstep, but I wasn't complaining. It sat on the corner of two roads, one heading east towards the sea. I opened the front door and in ran Rush, almost knocking me over. I looked over into our crowded kitchen to see Serg among many pots and pans with an apron on and his hair slicked back. The smell of bread wafted through the air. He never cooks.
Serg was my brother, he started living with me since our parents died. He wasn't that young when it happened, but their deaths had been hard on both of us. I was always on the lookout for him, I couldn't send him away. We only had each other left.
We sat down at our small kitchen table for dinner, Serg had prepared an old Eui isle recipe. Spaghetti, he called it. As we ate we went over the things that had gone on during the day as we usually do at night. This was one of the few times that we were able to spend together. Serg had a look of disdain on his face when I asked him about school, "Those stupid jocks always gotta pick on the kids who look different, it's not like I chose to have blonde hair!" When is he going to learn?
"It's your fault you got an attitude about it though." We both sat back and laughed. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, some Tish brought me a letter today. Odd really, no address and it was just two sentences."
"A Tish eh? I haven't seen one of those in awhile, some kid just brought me mine."
"You got one too? I thought this was just some prank, what did yours say?"
"Something like A time has come? I can't remember all that well." But I remembered it, oh I remembered it well. The peculiarity of it all made it stick out in my mind like a bright yellow steamboat on a busy day in the harbor.
After a bit more banter, Serge got up from his chair and brought our dishes into the kitchen. I stood up, "I'll see you later, bud. I'm going out. Don't leave, and do your homework already." Serge responded with a groan as I stepped out.
I walked out into the cobblestone streets and headed south towards Phil's. It was a clear night as usual, and everybody and their companion was out and about upon the sidewalks that were lit by gas lanterns. Horns blared and steam cars bobbled across the rugged cobblestones.
When I got to Phil's it was filled up as usual on a night like this. I stepped in through the entrance and glanced around. Groups sat in round booths on the left side and the bar which seated a few men on the right. Phil's wasn't an elaborate joint, but it was good enough for this section of town. Pipe smoke had permeated the air, which encouraged me to light up my own. I sat down at the bar and nodded over to the bartender. He walked over with a brown rag that looked like it never had been washed inside a mug that looked the same, "How ya doin' tonite, sir?"
"I'm doin' just fine, Miko." He threw up a little salute as a reminder. Mikodemus was a young fellow, he had been my subordinate in the navy for awhile before I was incapacitated. I never got to see the end of that battle, it's not like all of them stopped anyway.
I got myself a nice warm whiskey, and started listening in. If you wanted to know the latest news and various other gossip, the pub was usually the place to be. I figured maybe this blind fellow might have come up somewhere else.
"Did you hear? His Excellency is instituting--"
"...that dumb train broke down on its way back home today."
"Yessah, you'd be amazed by this ship, it was so quiet." I wheeled around in my chair to try and listen more intently. A burly mechanic I knew sat on the other end of the bar chatting with a mustached man. "I saw it for myself, when I was shipping some farm equipment out to Velshia." The mustached man then went on to explain in an extremely grandiose way how smoothly it sailed. Miko usually caught wind of most of the rumours, being a bartender. I called him over and inquired about the non-steam powered ship.
"Yes, sir. I haven't heard too much about that ship. It's probably just hearsay."
Something crept upon me as I sat there. I know not of what it was or if it was anything at all, but then a grotesque thought of unnerving quality pervaded my mind. Usually, I would have entertained such an image, but something was different. A dense cloud of guilt overhung my head as I squirmed in my seat at it's foulness that I will not repeat here. Where was this coming from? Miko had questioned if I was alright, he commented that I now looked ghastly. I had felt as if a thousand pairs of eyes were upon me. Shaking as I arose, this thought would not fade. My leg somehow carried me into the lavatory.
With my hands flat on the cool sink, I stared into the fingerprint smudged mirror. My disfigured face stared back, warped by the messages written upon the mirror, as if laughing. "I will not fall victim to whatever you are." What was this that had come over me? Like a fleeting fever, it was gone. I heard a shuffle of papers and quickly turned around to see where the noise came from.
Someone was listening in. I splashed some water on my face and rushed out of the restroom. As I did I heard the man in the stall flush. The quiet, ominous click of a chambered bullet was the last thing I heard before I left.
The pub was still as busy as ever. My hopes of an easy escape had vanished. Miko still sat behind the bar, attending to customers, but this time he wore a worried look. A large man with a black suit and a top hat in the far corner looked towards me with his hand inside of his jacket. He had a sneer that stretched upon his face�I looked down at the carpet trying to ignore him. Even as I looked down at the white tassels protruding from the carpet, my mind screamed, "Run!" I had to stay calm, had to. The man in the restroom was beginning to come out. I jogged to the bar, dropped a five on it and went to get my coat, when I felt the cold steel of a circular proportion upon my back. I did not dare to look behind me, for I knew who it already was. With his other hand he pointed over to the coat rack which sat near the entrance, and quietly told me to retrieve it. The coat rack hung more clothing than when I arrived. We walked slowly towards the entrance careful not to cause a scene. I reached out towards the coat rack and folded my coat over my arm, just then my animal instincts kicked in. I threw my coat upon the barrel of the revolver and dove out of the way of any incoming bullet. A large blast followed by many wails filled the room as I blasted through the front door, hinges squealing.
The wind rapidly rushed upon my face and briskly shook me, as I started running towards the apartment. My leg clanked on the hard cobblestones. I could only hope that they had been dismayed by the chaos within the tavern for my running speed was about the best I could get with one leg. Lights raced past my vision. What about Serg? These men had probably already been to our house. My only hope was that Serg had went out.
After running for a few minutes, I reached the dank alley next to our house and quietly crept up to the western window. As I peered in I observed five men in black suits destroying everything. Dishes, pots, books, and everything else you could think of had been thrown into the middle of the main room. What were they looking for? Where were Serg and Rush? I had always kept a small boat on the docks because I loved to go sea faring, so that was the only place I could think of going. I ran from the alley, and didn't notice a trash bag standing in my way. I tumbled over it.
Argh! Stupid me.
The men in black suits had noticed my presence and sent one to investigate. He saw me as I retreated from the alley and called for his superiors. I ran and ran, panting through back alleys and dashing between fences. I finally reached the end of the street and arrived at the dock. A large boat sat just off the edge of the dock, and that kid was upon it. I yelled over to try to get his attention "Serg!" Serg finally noticed me and spoke to someone else on the ship. It hesitated a bit. I ran down the dock, foot clunking along and dove onto the ship and BAM a pulse coursed through my head... then it all went black.