Back after a long hiatus! (Completely my fault; don't blame Ms. Rasha!)

Dhavi begins to adapt to the presence of his new companion, and help her to adapt to the world. Which turns out to be more demanding than expected....

"All the pictures and ancient illuminations I had seen depicted the yazata as serene creatures, beings of inscrutable quiet grace and a kind of tranquility. I learned by the end of the first day that these impressions, at least as far as this particular yazata was concerned, were grossly inaccurate. Every day she woke me well before dawn and hustled me through my basic morning routines of eating and prayer so we could go outside and watch the sun rising over the hills. As soon as the sun had lit the day, a new whirlwind of discovery began."

Within Iysärav all is how it should be.  The Wheel continues to turn and the Rituals continue.  But beneath the Holy City, a labyrinth of secrets spreads its dark tunnels, housing more than just ancient winds and darkness.  It is here, beneath the earth and away from the light, that AdurArshaam, most Blessed of the Crimson, houses his most precious of pets.

"I knew where it lay, my Creature, bound to this spot deep within the earth, chained by my word.  It was the core of the devouring dark, but its hunger could not harm me, I was its captor, I was he who had tethered it to this prison!  The chains hissed before my eyes, their light a part of my very being and they too could not be devoured though the abomination tried endlessly to do so.  Pathetic malformed creature that it was!  It gave me greater pleasure than Zamaan to see it curled up in such a weak manner, burdened by the heaviness of the restrains I had bound it with.  It gazed at me through the seething corruption of its body, its eyes pouring out the deepest of sorrows and pain.  It gave me great satisfaction to see it thus, held within my grasp like a moth."

Find out more in "Chapter 10 - Labyrinth."

Conflicts begin to show themselves as the Ankorties discover the true nature of the girl from the sky - and Dhavi finds himself caught in the middle. With the world shifting around the strange girl, is he prepared to face the coming storm?

“We’ve been up all night going over the texts, the Elders and I,” Touraj answered, motioning toward the piles on his desk. He sounded exhausted. “We’ve been through every record, not just descriptions, but accounts of the appearances themselves, when and how… From the description you gave us of what you saw, and the reports of Brethren who went back into the hills and examined the site, it seems certain.”

“Then she is…”

“Blessed,” Touraj supplied quietly.

Find out more in "Chapter 9 - Shifting."

Within the Shining City, Iysärav runs smoothly like a wheel turning, and this is exactly how AdurArshaam likes it.  For the Blessed High Elder, Order and Vigilance against the Soulless Ones is all the keeps the lowly masses pure and Enlightened within the fold of the Circle and the Blessing of Nuryana.  Now however, an ember of doubt has broken from the fire, and it's name is Dustande...

"I watched him leave with interest, not moving from the position I had adopted, a hand outstretched to the doorway where I could see his Fardasi waiting.  How many of them had I seen?  How many of them had I named and called forth from the Limbo in which their atash resided?
Countless dozens: the Reborn.
    None had caused such a sting of interest as this one, and yet I could not place what interested me so.  What care had I? AdurArshaam, the Keeper of the Sacred Fire!  What care had I of a lowly Ardazem, if care was even what such a fleeting response could be called.
Dustande."

 

To see what happens, read on to "Chapter 2 - The Turning."

 The next installment is up - it's the continuing adventures of Dhavi! It might seem like life at the Ankorite monastery would be quiet and serene, a life of peaceful reflection. It is, and that's the problem. The young acolyte Dhavalos can't seem to sit still or focus on his holy duties. His mind is always wandering, dreaming up adventures and wishing for something exciting to happen. However, something is about to happen, with Dhavi caught right in the middle. Soon enough, Dhavi may regret his wish...

"I got to my feet, my spine prickling and my chest closing back up despite the Ephedra. This wasn’t right; something was deeply out of place here. Wrens were never silent; they chattered away non-stop like a group of little old grandmothers talking about their in-laws. I looked around in earnest now, worried that there might be a bear or some other danger, but they didn’t seem spooked. Just quiet. Even when I took a few steps toward them, they didn’t move or so much a twitter. As if they were doing it on purpose. As if they were waiting for something."

 

To see what happens, read on to "Gift of the Light".                 And as always, keep checking in for new additions to the story! New sections will be posted more-or-less weekly.

Happy reading!

The next instalment in the life of Dustande

    "My heart was filled with trepidation, my mind awash with uncertainty. From the day of my rebirth I had not looked back at the past, never once letting my mind retrace its winding path from one event to that which had led it there.  All that was, and all that had ever been, were fragments of someone else’s existence, some other soul which had died long ago.
    

    Now, as I walked the long linear corridor banded by shadow and light, my footsteps softened and bare against the warm sandstone —moving steadily towards the doorway to my true Being— my mind retraced its path to the events that had brought me here."

 

Dustande, one of the newest Reborn to enter Iysärav takes his first steps into the new world he finds himself in.  A life od discipline and strict regime awaits him within the Daeums of the Holy City within Särav and within those cool shadows, the Blessed Circle are the only ones who may Call him into Being to take his place amongst the Ardazem.

To read the full section, go to the Chapter 1 - The Calling page. Meanwhile, keep checking in for updates and more of the book, and happy reading!

A new post and my first here, the introduction of the young Dhavalos:

"I glanced out the window. In the yard, a ground-tied donkey chewed peacefully on the early autumn grass. Beside it, I could just see the corner of a cart covered in an oilcloth tarp. Earlier that afternoon a man had come up to the farm in a small two-wheeled cart. He wore the undyed hooded robe and knotted rope belt of an Ankorite, one of the strange monks who lived at the Parzin Monastery to the north. The Monastery was at least two days travel by horseback and longer by foot, so the Ankorites were an uncommon sight. I had seen them twice before in the village, going about with wide hoods throwing their faces into pools of shadow, but until today none had ever visited our farm... In truth, I knew nothing of these Ankorites, except that my father reviled them. My father was a man of few words and fewer expressions, so I knew they must be something dangerous for him to hate them so, something vile and dark. And now, without warning, one was here."

Dhavalos is young but not unwise, and though he is weak in body, he is strong in will. Which is a good thing - soon enough, his will is to be tested to the utmost.

To read the full section, go to the Chapter 1 - Little Goose page. Meanwhile, keep checking in for updates and more of the book, and happy reading!