Sharing Sunday – A Settling of Ash

 

Today’s sharing sunday goes to my beautiful critic partner and best friend, Peta Hawker. I remember drafting this piece with her and urging her to give more. I loved Esther and whole premise of the story. I hope you love just as much.

 

A Settling of Ash

A settling of ash

Esther sat hunched on the shore, the waves crashing at her feet, her head hanging between her knees. At her back rose the elegant tower she could no longer call home. It was only a day ago that she had stood on the balcony of her parent’s room and watched the army move closer to the city, destroying everything in its path. Her family was dead. The Royal Family, the last hope of the nation, were not far from a gruesome end. Tears had slipped from Esther’s eyes as she thought of the pain endured by her people. She had fallen to her knees, gripping the bars of the balcony. And she had received a vision.

 

Looking up, Esther studied the black, shadowy landscape west of the ocean. This was her destination, the only way she could go. She didn’t know what she would find there, but she knew that having some direction, some purpose was the only way to force herself back on her feet, if only to keep the memories at bay.

A growling storm cloud advanced over the horizon, deepening the early afternoon into a prepubescent evening. Esther tasted the tangy scent of rising salt, and knew it was time to move on. She pulled herself off the sand and lifted the heavy bag full of weapons and timeworn books over her shoulder.

From her home, she had sprinted along the track through the ancient forest, only slowing once she mounted the sand dunes. Now, the damp sand she trudged along provided little respite for her weary legs. Despite the constant ache in her body, it did not take her long to reach the dark path that led away from the beach.

The ground was a muted grey, as though it was not earth, but a settling of ash. The trees were stunted, bare, and blackened; nothing like the viridian expanses of forests she had left behind. The whole scene was cloaked in a gloomy haze; the sky on the edge of unleashing a furious rain. Esther could see the outline of mountains through the darkness; harsh and jagged they burst through the ground and tore the sky apart.

With a sigh, Esther placed one foot on the path. A small puff of dust rose, and a noxious odour tried to overwhelm her. She crinkled her nose against the stink of death and decay; against the vivid and painful memories the smell recalled. She knew this was a trial, a test of courage. Esther set her eyes on the mountains and strode down the path, using will power alone to turn her mind from the stench.

The city she had left behind was the only one to sit near the Bad Lands without falling to ruin. A demon reborn into human flesh had been master over the lands for centuries. Esther had heard many rumours of what lived and travelled there, though rumour alone was not enough to stop her from fulfilling her duty.

Finding the Oracle was Esther’s mission; a quest nobody believed in. Few now had confidence in the stories of the old ones, but Esther knew their tales to be true. Amongst the raging war and the demise of her noble bloodline, the vision Esther received had been one of grief and hope. More bloodshed, the failing of the Crown, her people enslaved; she saw then that the only chance for redemption was to find the elusive Oracle.

The vision had shown a mountain range, deep within the Bad Lands. There she would find the Oracle, there she would find hope. The forsaken paths of the Lands had never been safe to traverse; however Esther knew that the demon-spawn was occupied with the bloodlust of the war. Her passage was safe from him, at least.

 

The journey was taking longer than she expected. Her food supply had run out. Esther had spent two days moving among the mountains. The sun did not touch the Bad Lands, but there was a gradual shift in light that Esther understood to be the passing of days. She refused to give up; the vision had revealed that the Oracle was hiding in a cave deep in the mountains. The cave remained hidden, but Esther persisted.

Another day passed and Esther found herself growing weak. Late in the evening she sat down and held her waterskin over her mouth in an attempt to wet her parched lips. Her swollen tongue cried out in desperation, but the skin gave nothing. Esther hung her head, a silent tear sliding down her cheek.

When she looked up again, she noticed a gap between two large boulders not far away. Esther crawled forward on her hands and knees and inspected the gap. She got to her feet; it was wide enough for her to fit through. The gap led into a dark tunnel. Esther’s heart beat faster as she recognised the rock walls in front of her as those from her vision. She began to run.

Esther’s breath tore at her chest. Sweat etched its way down her face and her legs shook, persuading her to stop, to give up. Esther ran until she broke free of the stone tunnel and into a cavernous space. She stopped and her breath heaved inside her body. Swallowing hard, she looked up and saw the lake, exactly as it had appeared in her vision. Tears blurred her eyes as she stared at the expense of blue-green water. Her gaze shifted and she cried out. Where in her vision there had been a serene, older woman sitting by the lake; in reality, there was nothing but cold, unforgiving rock. Esther ran to the lake turning her head to and fro, searching every crevice for a sign of life. There was nothing.

Esther fell to her knees in despair. ‘Where are you?’ she cried out.

Her hands gripped the cold stone and her knees bled. Esther crawled forward and looked into the lake. It was clear, reflecting nothing but the dark ceiling of the cave and her grey, tear-stained face.

‘I need your help,’ she whispered, speaking to her reflection. ‘Where are you?’ Her voice broke, and in that moment, she understood.

 

About the Dreamer

Peta Hawker is a writer, lover and wild spirit roaming distant galaxies. Check out her words on her site.