Bin auf jeden Fall noch dran. Wird auch noch lange dauern, einfach, weil ich sehr langsam schreibe und das ganze Ding doch mehr Plotbau erfordert, als ich anfangs gedacht habe.
Ich schreibe aber weiterhin fast täglich, auch wenn es manchmal nur 2 Sätze sind. Dafür fahre ich sogar extra mit dem Bus zur Arbeit, wenn möglich, weil die jeweils eine Stunde hin und zurück quasi meine Zeit sind, in der ungestört bin.
Ich kann als Teaser aber gerne das aktuelle Versatzstück hier lassen. Endlich geht der Plot richtig los:
(Wie immer der Disclaimer. Das ist die erste Rohfassung und noch nicht Korrektur gelesen und gar nichts.)
Now we're getting somewhere (Arbeitstitel)
"It seems you’re simply unable to keep your nose out of other’s affairs. Before you get yourself into another disaster, I’ll summon you to the wizard’s (my) tower. 13.00 sharp. You’ll learn everything you must know.
M. Rasmodius"
Sam was sitting in the combined kitchen and dining room, eating her breakfast and reading the note over and over. She had slept in and was alone with the exception of Joel, who scrambled some fresh eggs for her and was humming a cheerful tune. The old man running the boarding house praised himself for the hospitality and with only a handful of guests in his homey establishment he was able to manage most of the service himself. Sam had come to like the familiar atmosphere.
“You’re in a good mood today.” Sam said, finally tired of rereading the note, folding it away.
“It’s only one week till the Eggfestival. It’s my favorite.” he replied.
“The Eggfestival? What’s that?”
“Right, you’re a townsgirl… We come together in the midst of spring to celebrate all the new life around us. Eggs represent it perfectly. Everything is decorated, there will be a banquet in town square and the kids have an egghunt.”
“Sounds nice. I’d like to participate in a festival while I’m here.”
“Then the follow up should be interesting for you, too. In the last week of spring we have the Flower Dance. You can try for a partner, learn the traditional dance and perform together with the other dancing couples. Everyone who’s not married yet is eligible.”
“Oh, I’ll pass on that one. Maybe as a spectator.” she chuckled a bit, trying to mask a flash of unease.
Joel laughed: “Miss, I’m old enough to know this expression. Don’t fret. I won’t bring it up again. But be aware. This is a rural town. People will watch you. Maybe even ask, what you’re up to. It’s their favorite pastime.
On that note… What are you up to today? Coming back late again?”
Sam had to laugh hard. The old folks here were unbelievable…
Later that day she stood in front of the secluded tower, looming over the treetops. It was sitting on a little cliff. Steps up to the tower were chiseled into its far side, protected by a little protruding ledge of land. On the cliff itself, the wizard had planted some crops and strange fruit. Sam was a bit early and read the note again. What was going to happen today?
She looked up and turned, as she heard someone approaching. She saw Elliott climbing the last steps and walking towards her.
“Don’t say you, too.” she blurted out.
He produced a small note similar to Sam’s and handed it to her.
“Someone pushed it through under my door this morning. Have you any idea what is going to happen?”
“I’m afraid, not more than you.”
“Then we will just wait and see. It is almost time I assume? Shall we knock?”
Sam nodded. As she raised her arm the door swung slowly open with a deep creaking sound accompanying the motion. A waft of a thick, herbal smell hit them like a brick wall.
“Come in.” A low voice instructed them.
The inside of the tower was dimly lit so it took a few moments for Sam’s sight to adjust. They stood in a small stone paved room filled with flower pots and various plants. To their left a gap in the wall led to another, even smaller room. In front of them a small flight of stairs led to the main chamber. The old man with the green hair and the bushy beard stood on top and waited for them.
Sam took the lead.
“Good day, Sir. Mr. Rasmodius I assume?”
The old man nodded and showed them a corner to sit. Sam soaked the room in, as they walked across to the old, comfy couch and armchair sitting by the fireside bricked in the back wall. A low table with three cups, a teapot and some biscuits placed on top, standing between them.
The floor was wooden and creaked with each step. On their left a large cauldron was sitting on his own fireplace, the content bubbling, producing the heavy smell thickening the air in the tower. Windows were darkened to let only a little light through. To their right, they passed a patch of brickwork on the floor with an ornamented circle drawn on top and lots of candles placed around it. Curved shelves with candles, lots of parchment and paper rolled into scrolls or unraveled hugged the round walls. A little alcove on the left side of the room was floored differently. A stand of some sort placed in the middle. In front of them another flight of stairs led into the higher up parts of the tower.
Rasmodius suggested for Sam and Elliott to make themselves comfortable on the couch, he himself walked over to the armchair.
As soon as they sat, the wizard addressed Sam.
“You are nosier than a cat and you listen just as well. May it be as it is, my role in this community is the one of a protector, so I can’t just let you run into your potential demise and…” he looked at Elliott. “take others with you. Furthermore the Junimos have requested your help. So you will do my and their bidding. In return I tell you everything you need to know to maneuver safely through the magical parts of the valley.”
“What do you mean by help?” Sam asked.
Rasmodius silenced her with a gesture.
“Just watch and listen.”
He stood up and walked over to the circle on the floor. He lit a few carefully chosen candles and began to mumble foreign sounding phrases. Suddenly a glistening flash of radiant light blinded the spectators temporarily.
“Argh, you could have warned…” Sam blurted. Elliott nudged her to stay silent.
The wizard was phased out, going through each line of his incantation with great care. The light faded with his last words and the familiar chirps of a small golden creature greeted them. As their eyes worked again, they could see the Junimo waving. With a happy “Mirrrp” it tried to leave the summoning circle, but bumped into an invisible wall. The high pitched chirps that followed didn’t sound nice. The scolding was directed at the wizard and grew louder.
“Watch your tongue, little one, or I won’t let you out.” Rasmodius admonished the creature, but dissolved the barrier anyway.
The Junimo chirped happily, left the circle and began to waddle towards Elliott and Sam.
Rasmodius turned his attention back to them as well.
“This is Sunflower and he’s as stubborn as can be. He’s nagging me ever since you rescued him, to involve you in our ongoing quest. To my understanding he took matters into his own hands, since I took too long in his opinion. To be perfectly clear. I am not willing to let any stranger, who just came to the valley, in on its secrets after a single short meeting. But somehow you convinced the Junimos to be trustworthy.” He shot the now dancing Junimo a stern look, but was ignored. “You still have to convince me.”
“Why us?” Elliott asked.
“He likes you. And in case of your friend, she seems to hold the ability to see magical creatures and communicate to them that she means no harm, even without words.
Both of you must have some dormant potential. I can’t feel it, though. But you were able to walk right through my barrier in the woods without even blinking an eye, so it’s not unlikely.”
Elliott laughed a little nervous, uneasy laugh.
“Magic creatures? Okay, I have seen them and will deal with the knowledge of their existence, but having magical potential myself? Me? Us? I am afraid you have lost me.”
“It’s not that uncommon. For most people their abilities never awaken, though. And if they do, it’s normally something small, insignificant in the grand scheme of things. When you’re destined to be a witch or wizard, your powers manifest at a very young age.” Rasmodius answered him.
“Let us get back to the topic now. You have made yourself known to the Junimos and they have decided that they want your help, so you will help them. And to do so, you must learn to read and speak the language of the woods.
I’ve prepared a potion for both of you. It will give you insight.”
He produced two vials with a cloudy green liquid and placed one in front of each of his human guests.
Sam and Elliott looked first at the potion, then at each other and lastly at the wizard.
“You don’t think, we just drink a random liquid some strange man offers us.” Sam stated.
“Of course, you have all reason to be cautious. But let me say a few things to change your mind.
First, if I wanted to harm you, I could have done so since you stepped foot into my home. I don’t need a potion to do so.
Second, ask Sunflower. He has put his trust in you. Will you trust us in return?
Third, there are things out there much more dangerous than me. You need to be prepared for that.”
He took one of the biscuits and began to eat, as he waited for his guests to answer.
The little Junimo climbed onto the low table and tapped the vials with his little arms and pointed at Sam and Elliott in turn.
“I am not convinced.” Elliott said, eyeing the wizard suspiciously.
“I am.” Sam had made a decision, took the vial and emptied it in one go.
“Wait, no!” Elliott was too slow to stop her.
“Tastes awful, but now you can see what it does and decide then.” she coughed.
“Why have you done that?” Elliott blurted. The wizard smiled. Sam turnt to Elliott and tried to say something, but all of a sudden her tongue went numb, her vision went blurry and she couldn’t hear what Elliott said. All she could feel were his warm hands on her shoulders as she slumped forward.
The world around Sam went green. The air tasted earthy as trees started to grew all around her. She walked a few steps and turned around in a full circle to watch as the trees reached for the sky above her head. The newly grown forest started to sway like the trees were dancing. A humming reached Sam’s ears. She followed the sound and reached a small clearing. Underneath the blue sky, the little forest spirits had gathered and were greeting her now.
“Friend? Friend, come.”
Sam strolled nearer. Beams of warm sunlight falling on her with each step. The spirits resumed the humming. Sam chimed in. It seemed to be the right thing. She started to dance with the little ones. Her feet twirled her around on their own accord. With raised arms and giggling she let herself fall back into the soft, lush grass. Wafts of aromatic spring air washed over her. The spirits danced around her and chirped cheerfully.
“Friend, friend, new friend… what’s your name, friend.”
“Sam, I’m Sam.” she chimed in the singing.
“Sam, welcome new friend Sam.” the spirits chirped in unison.
Suddenly the sky grew dark. The spirits scattered. Their high pitched, now screeching chirps sound frightened and alarming.
“Wait…, wait for me.” Sam screamed while getting up. She stumbled deeper into the forest, following the noises her new friends made. The air got colder. Trees all around her splintered and crumbled to dust.
She began to run. The darkness was creeping up on her. To her left and right little spirits screamed in agony, as it lashed out to snatch everything it could get hold of.
Sam was about to turn and help, when a voice thundered in her head:
“DON’T STOP RUNNING!”
The earth shook. Trees fell. A chasm opened a couple of meters in front of her and grew wider as she neared it. Spirits tried to jump it. Some didn’t make it. The others turned and shouted:
“Friend, come! Friend safe here!”
“JUMP!” the voice in her head screamed, but the tendrils of darkness had already touched Sam.
“No, I can’t. I will fall.” she yelled.
“YOU HAVE TO!” The voice got louder.
“No, I can’t do it, I just CAN’T” she shouted back and came to a full stop. Darkness engulfed her. She sank to her knees as the world around her went dark.
In the distance faint laughter cut through the silence. It drew nearer and nearer. Sam started to make out silhouettes. The laughter got louder as whoever it was came nearer.
“Oh, no!” Sam moaned. “Not them. Please, everyone, but them.”
But they had already seen her.
“Look, it’s the troll! Have you heard what she’d done?”
“From someone looking like that couldn’t come anything good.”
“We should tell everybody.”
“Oh, please no!” Sam cried. She put her hands on her ears and tried to ignore them, but the voices seemed to be in her head.
“Everybody must know! We will spread the word. She is done for.”
The laughter grew ever louder. Sam was in a classroom. Around her classmates, strangers, inhabitants of Pelican Town. Everyone was laughing and pointing fingers at her. She tried to sink into the ground.
“Look, what she’d done to him. Next time she kills someone. Nobody needs friends like this.”
“It’s the troll! She could be so beautiful, but she doesn’t put any effort into it.”
“No wonder she’s alone.”
“We just pretend to like her. It’s more fun this way.”
“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Sam shouted, but the voices didn’t stop. They only grew louder and talked all at the same time.
“YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THIS. IT’S NOT REAL.” The other voice in her head tried to outyell everything else.
“Please, leave me alone! Go away, all of you!” Sam started to cry. She couldn’t handle this. Her hands and knees were shaky.
There was no will to fight in her. The voices were right. She was unlovable, no matter how hard she tried.
She started to sob uncontrollably while she drowned in laughter.
And then she felt it. The warm, reassuring touch of a hand on her shoulder.
“Leave her alone. All of you!” a familiar voice yelled at all of the others, laughing at and belittling her. The crowd went silent. Sam dared looking up. It was Elliott who slowly kneeled beside her.
“You are not alone. Don’t ever forget that.” he whispered in her ear.
The darkness around them seemed to fade.
“How can you be so brazen to order us around?” A man stepped forward, out of the crowd. He looked like an uncanny older version of Elliott himself, with short gray hair and a stern expression burnt into his facial features. He built himself up in front of them, hands stemmed into his hips and glared down on them.
“Someone should put you back into your place. Nothing you’ll ever do will make you good enough. And nothing you’ll do will convince us otherwise. So do us all a favor and go back into the hole you came from!”
Elliott gulped. Sam could feel his hand trembling. The darkness became thick and heavy once more. The voices screaming at her started up again. The cacophony, however, faded out against the single voice of the man in front of them.
“You’re a disgrace. Never doing as you’re told.”
“YOU HAVE TO FIGHT IT! BOTH OF YOU! DON’T STAY THERE! THE VOICES WILL ONLY GET LOUDER!” the disembodied voice called out to both of them this time.
Sam wiped the tears out of her eyes. They were right. She had seen a glimpse of hope. She was not alone and they had to fight the voices together. With his hand on her back she could feel it. Safety…
She got up pulling Elliott along.
“You are not alone either.” She said while interlocking her hand with his and squeezing it gently to reassure him. He was still trembling, but standing his ground.
“Hey, old man Elliott!” She addressed the figure. “I won’t let you put him down. Stand aside and let us through.”
“And who are you to interfere?”
“Who am I? Let’s say I’m the influence he needs to not become you!”
The darkness lifted to a dim light gray. The silhouettes around them went blurry and began to vanish.
“We’re not finished. Mark my words. I’ll come for you.” The older Elliott yelled before fading out of existence.
“Let’s get out of here.” Sam said.
The pale light seeping through the gray showed them a devastated world around them. Trees burnt and still smoking, embers still glowing in the piles of ashes. Wind blew brittle leaves across the plain. The spirits were gone. The rift also.
Somewhere distant a light shined and drew them in. With nowhere to go to, Sam and Elliott went after the light. They walked in much welcomed silence, after the screaming, bickering and belittling. Neither one let go of the hand of the other.
As they neared the source of light, they could see it was a woman, dressed in the colors of the forest, kneeling in the dirt, letting ash run through her fingers. She mourned the loss. Tears ran down her stained face leaving lighter marks on the way down to her chin.
Her most prominent features were her fox-like ears and tail. Suddenly her ears twitched. In one smooth motion, faster than their eyes could comprehend, the woman was up on her feet and jumped back. Something missed her by the fracture of an inch.
The fox-lady wouldn’t have it. She countered the attacker with a swift slash of her claws. Whatever the thing was, she pushed it away quite a distance. That gave her enough time to turn to Sam and Elliott who had watched silently in a safe distance.
She mouthed a silent scream before pointing at their feet. After a circular motion of the woman’s hand Sam could feel a pull downwards. Her feet wouldn’t move, as a circle of light formed around them. The pull grew stronger. The next moment they were falling. She lost her connection with Elliott. He was gone. She was falling and falling.
Sam started to scream. She screamed her heart out…
“Sam,… Sam, please wake up. Are you okay?”
Sam opened her eyes. For a moment she had forgotten where she was. The dimly lit room wasn’t familiar, but she remembered the voice.
“You shouldn’t make a habit of catching people with your injured arm.” Was the first thing that came to her mind.
“What?” Elliott, kneeling beside her and holding her hand was puzzled. “You were out cold and that’s the first thing you remember?”
“Should I remember something?” She asked, puzzled herself. Elliott released her hand. Her palm was sweaty and felt like she’d grabbed onto something really hard for a long time.
“The little Junimo climbed onto Sam’s chest. “Friend Sam okay?” It chirped.
“Yes, friend okay.” She tried to sit up, but her head started to spin instantly. She laid back again. “Only a bit dizzy.”
“Sunflower help?” The Junimo asked.
“Let’s wait a bit, Sunflower. Normally dizziness goes away by itself.” Elliott interjected.
“Okay, friend Elliott.” It answered.
“I thought you didn’t want to drink the potion.” Sam said. How comes, you can speak with the Junimo?”
Elliott looked to the wizard kneeling on Sam’s other side.
Rasmodius nodded and took the word:
“I’m afraid something went wrong. You were not supposed to have nightmares with the potion, but soon after you fell asleep, you started to scream and wail. That was not supposed to happen. We couldn’t wake you. You wouldn’t respond to my voice and free yourself of whatever had gotten hold of you either, so my only option was to send someone into your dreams, to help you. He volunteered without hesitation, when I told him. You really can’t remember anything?”
Sam closed her eyes and thought hard about it.
“You cried, you screamed like the devil was right behind you and you nearly crushed my hand with your grip.” Elliott added. “We hoped you could tell us why.”
“I’m afraid, I can’t.”
“Regrettable, but still our main objective worked.” Rasmodius said.
“Does it mean we can read the scroll now?” Sam asked.
“What scroll?” Rasmodius was curious.
“The scroll inside the community center. We’ve made a copy. I brought it with me.”
She tried to sit up again, slowly this time and took the piece of paper out of her pocket unfolding it. “Here, take a look.” The drawing still showed gibberish. Sam and Elliott were disappointed.
“I’m afraid the language of the forest doesn’t want to be copied by people who don’t understand it. It’s a way the spirits protect themselves from prying eyes.
But this intrigues me. Let me take a look to see for myself what the Junimos are up to.”
The wizard murmured something and vanished in a flash of light.
“Now he’s showing off.” Sam mentioned, looking to the place the wizard just had been. After a few moments she turned to Elliott: “You really drank the potion to help me?”
“Yes.” he replied.
“So you changed your mind without thinking twice?”
“Seems your reckless behavior rubs off on me. You are a bad influence.” he smirked.
“Is that why you made me sign the contract, yesterday?”
Elliott hesitated the fraction of a second.
“Fair.” he said, still smiling.
It was not long after, the wizard came back. “It is indeed a help wanted from the Junimos. I never had guessed their wishes to be that concrete.
He produced a scroll and handed it to them. “I have copied it. Here, it’s readable now.”
Ich hoffe, ihr findet was für euch und eure tierischen Begleiter 
Sehr cool!
Mir hilft es tatsächlich, jemanden zu haben, den ich nicht enttäuschen will und da kommt ihr mir nur recht. Will hier nicht reinschreiben müssen, dass ich es nicht rechtzeitig geschafft hab 
Uff. Wie gesagt. Respekt.
Unsere kratzen zum Glück “nur” den einen Regalpfosten dünn. 
Bisher zumindest. Lol. Genau in diesem Moment hat der Kater angefangen, den Schrank zu kratzen 🥹 Kleiner Kräpel. Ich schätze, wir brauchen wir auch einen neuen Kratzbaum.
drücke dir die Daumen, dass du diese Woche dran weiterarbeiten kannst :3
Ich denke, mit Büchern pressen solltegut gegen die Wölbung helfen. Ich drück auf jeden Fall die Daumen!
