The Journey of Acceptance: Hope- Chapter 1

This was originally the prologue but I changed it to the first chapter after someone pointed out that it wasn't actually a prologue.

Chapter 1

Zajanah

The snow was falling around me, melting into my winter clothing. It wasn’t as cold as the month before but that wasn’t saying much in Sonare. Spring and summer in Sonare, the winter land of Malarean, didn’t happen very often as the grey of the clouds eternally shadows the sun with its frozen hands. So, therefore, snow sometimes never left the icy, barren lands leaving it an unwelcoming place for those of weak will. Though not to me, I loved my homeland with its snow-capped mountains that pierced the now fluffy white clouds. The river Nana, which was frozen over almost all the time, sat proudly in the Valley of Souls. Brightly coloured fish decorated in the lake’s frozen depth, they were the unfortunates from the last thaw.

There were trees surrounding me like a mob of twisted humans, their arms stripped bare of leaves showing their crooked fingers. They didn’t scare me anymore but they used to when I first came here, afraid and alone. There had been a storm that day. A storm so strong, that I had been separated from my brother and father, ending up here.

I was unable to see the tent town that was my home as the snow got into my green eyes and the mist of the storm clouded all things from my vision. On a normal day, the tent town stood out like a tall tanned man in a crowd of small pale people, piecing the view with its structures of tough leathers and wooden poles. My predecessor’s statues stood proudly in amongst the tents. All of the chiefs that had come before my father had been carved into stone as would my father when the time came.

This ledge I stood upon was my favourite place to be, it looked out across the country I loved. It was bright and clear today, the recently fallen snow amplifying the light. It was so bright that I could see far in the west to the neighbouring clan and to the east where the frost wolves lived, their grey bodies little specks in the distance. I circled around trying to see other things that took my breath away then I notice it.

A flower.

A very magnificent violet rose. Even in the other countries of Malarean they were rare but here where the cold seized life for its satisfaction, you’d be lucky to see one in a whole millennium. Okay, so that’s a bit extreme, more like every other century. I ran towards it, momentarily forgetting what I happened to be running on. Ice! My body fell forward, my feet slipping desperately on the ice to try and regain the balance I had lost. I paid the price for my stupidity; I went slamming into the merciless surface, my body made contact with a loud thump.

“Ouch,” I whispered to myself, clutching at my bruised ribs, a searing pain in my ribs that I hoped wasn’t too horrifying. I looked up and was met by the most exquisite flower. It was even prettier up close. Its colour so radiant, its petals had such a beautiful, flawless, perfect shape. It was truly the most enchanting flower I had ever seen, even if I hadn’t seen many flowers.

“It’s a Zajanah, a mountain flower that blooms despite the cold.”

My attention turned quickly away from the flower, no longer in my mind.

Footsteps.

Big footsteps.

Big, large footsteps stomping the fine fresh snow with heavy feet. It was meant to be quiet but well… it wasn’t. Someone was being dumb, very dumb. Was it a beast? Yes, it explained the heavy footstep so unlike the men of this country. I concentrated on keeping my breath study and my body calm as it moved with slow sluggish movements. The footsteps became louder and louder until the thing was behind me… slashing out at me. Moving a split second later, the claws missed me by a mere inch. I landed in the snow, the cold penetrating my gloves cosy warmth.

The adrenalin pumped through my body giving me the feeling of exhilaration. Everything around me went into slow motion, the thrill of the fight causing a silent peace in my mind. I moved and dodged each attack with the grace of a hawk in a winter storm. However, the beast was so fast that I just barely missed each surprisingly skillful attack; the effort involved was draining my strength, my dodges becoming slower, more predictable.

Eventually, an attack hit its mark. My arm flared up in pain. Crimson liquid welled between my fingers spilling over my white pale skin.

My blood!

I needed to get away from this beast before I became unstable from blood loss, not far in the distance I noticed a close cluster of trees that would do as a temporary resting place. I need to distract the beast, make him look the other way while I ran. My hands moved across the ground, searching for something, anything that I could use. Fingers sliding across the smooth surface of a rock; I picked it up when the beast prepared to strike again, throwing the rock in the opposite direction hoping to distract the stupid beast. Running as soon as the beast turned its head I made it to the tree before it even realised it.

My jacket made a tearing sound as I ripped off a section of the material and applied it to my wound in order to stop the blood flowing. Finally, I was able to catch my breath, returning to the battle. The stupid thing was still looking around for me. Now was my chance! While its back was turned I slammed my foot into its back. The snow made a crushing sound, sinking beneath the beast’s weight as I pinned it to the floor and looked down at its face.

But it wasn’t a beast.