Finally, after all this time (over 10 years since I 1st started this story idea in my head) I have a beginning for the Sarianna Cycles. ^_^ Here it is:
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Three months ago the world had looked very different to Sarianna Montair. The heat of summer that had blazed across the land was tempered by the cooler breezes of the approaching autumn. Long lush mountain grasses bowed at the wind’s passing and felt cool and comforting sticking up between bare toes. White trunk trees with their light green leaves fluttered in the airy wake, their undersides turning golden yellow in preparation for their not so far off winter slumber. Bright blue skies filled with large puffy clouds filled the imaginative mind with all sorts of images and shapes as they drifted lazily overhead, the perfect way to end a busy afternoon chasing rambunctious younger siblings.
Three months ago had also been a time of celebration for those in Rohilla Village and in the small settlements arranged around it in the mountain passes above and foothills below. The harvest moon had waned and the Harvest Gatherings ended with joyful abundance. It was a time of giving thanks to the One God and a time of preparation as families set about storing the food and getting their homes ready before the first snow storms hit and locked them in. For some it was also time to prepare their first-born for the annual journey down to the Temple that set nestled at the foot of their white peaked mountain. The children, between the ages of 12 to 16, would live and learn until spring among the Priests and Priestesses that resided there. Receiving instructions on local agriculture, basic and advanced written language, number working, skills for the many different trade occupations, as well as the magical history that had once been the structure of their world.
Three months ago Sarianna was also one of those children, even though she was not a first-born. She reluctantly traveled with her father, soaking in all the familiar mountain sights and smells along the way to hold her over until she could be released from the Temple’s cold stonewalls. It was her second trip and that day had seemed no different than the one prior, other than the lack of butterflies in her stomach and the fact she was the only one from her village traveling this year. The previous spring the High Priest had Passed the boy they had traveled with, along with the other children his age. The young woman missed home with the first footfall placed on the path that led them down the mountain. Even as more children and their parents joined them from the other villages, their excitement and laughter did not dispel her gloom. First Termers listened ardently as the older children talked about Temple life and talked animatedly with their parents. Those returning looked forward to seeing friends they had made from other towns and villages in the Temple’s surrounding area. However, Sarianna felt her place instead was at her parents’ side. Her father talked along the way about the plans the Mayor had for a new building they were rushing to complete before the winter storms and her heart ached to be apart of it. Her father talked too of her siblings and recalling their funny antics, an effort to get some type of smile from her but instead it brought to her mind that she would miss Annalia’s first tooth that she had been showing everyone was “so wiggly”. Baby Joniel, her mother had mused, would possibly be taking his first steps in the next few weeks and seven-year-old Karina would be the “Lead Jar Maker” in their family for this winter. A job Sarianna had held since she was seven. Not to mention her older brother would finally be coming home after being away for more than a year.
Three months ago Sarianna had looked at her trip as something to endure until she could join her family once more. She saw it as a cruel twist of fate that brought her, a second born, to the Temple’s stone steps. For the only reason she was going was because her older brother had chosen not to go and to travel with an uncle instead. This substituting of one sibling for another was allowed by the Temple laws, “if the first-born refuses or is unable to attend, their place can be taken by a younger sibling from the same family.” Despite everything it still seemed odd to her because Joanathan, out of the five of them, had always wanted to go to the Temple and learn things so that he could journey to places other than their mountain home. He was the smartest out of the two of them with dreams and ambition far beyond her wildest imagination. Yet ironically that twist of fate is what ended up saving her life. For in three months when the wind turned icy and bright blue skies became gray and filled with snow heavy clouds that threatened to blanket the world below, Sarianna Montair would become not only the sole surviving member of her family but of her entire village as well.
Three months ago the world had looked very different to her indeed…
~akb.
