THE REALMS OF OPAL.

[Fifoo]

I would like to thank everyone who helped me in this project and without whom this story would not have happened, my little brother who was my first drive, his partner who made the effort to help in the translation of this text, my friends who supported me through, they are part of my family, around me, or the community of Nexus. A warm thank you to all enthusiasts who share their stories in the Druid's Garden...

 

A special thought for two wonderful people who inspired me to try my hand at writing, dezdimona and Herculine, and as well as some Little Fairy without whom this story would never have emerged... I miss you terribly.

 

Much love... Fifoo.

 

Ps. I've attached a piece of music in the spoiler to improve the atmosphere of each chapters. You can then listen and enjoy it at your leisure, before, during, or after reading the story. :happy:

Edited July 4, 2010 by Fifoo

[Fifoo]

At a Little Fairy, who knows all the magic she will ever need.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE REALMS OF OPAL.

 

 

 

Anaël of Istandiir, Knight of Achenlor.

 

 

 

 

--- Prologue ---

 

 

 

"Anaël... Anaël..." The voice seemed to come from afar, as if trying painfully to clear a path out of the thick fog that enveloped her. It was a barely audible voice, female, unreal, and its echo rang in my ears like a song out of nowhere, like an insistent melody, almost annoying. "ANAËL!" I managed to barely open my eyes ... My eyelids were heavy and refused to obey my will, as if I had emerged from a too-long sleep. My mind still numb had trouble recover from this state of semi-consciousness, as in a dream, a sweet lethargy that we wouldn't want to leave for anything in the world. I felt that my whole being floated in a mist, impalpable, surrounding me with its ethereal cloak. "ANAËL!" If only that voice could be silent and leave me in peace... finally.

 

That voice... That voice as sweet and pure as a pearl of dew, as a crystalline melody... For all the Saints Opal! My mind, in a burst of survival, now acknowledged it: "EYLEEN! Eyleen, My Sweet!" The awakening was brutal...

 

The blizzard raged around me, screaming, whistling, like an angry beast, it hit me the face of its onslaught. My whole body ached, and refused to yield to my desire to move, not even a little finger. And I was there, lying in the snow, powerless, face bruised, my body pressed against the ground, on the flank of the inhospitable mountain. Thin streams of blood flowed from my nose, my ears, and drew furrows of red on the snowpack. The arms outstretched, like a disjointed puppet, I was unable to get up, the cold and snow burned my hands and face. I was exhausted, wearied by so many efforts to finally get there... What a glorious end, Knight of Achenlor! After so many struggles and victories, and after reading through so many kingdoms and strange lands... Now hunger and thirst gnawing my guts and darkened my mind. Damn! I'm so close... I should not give up, not now!

 

The icy wind, unruffled, continued his work of undermining, blowing in gusts strongly. He rushed into the lower parts of my body bruised, her painful bites inflicted upon me deep in my flesh. Spinning, swaying, insinuating itself through the smallest channels offered by my clothes torn, worn out and laminated by mistreatment by time and weather. He ruthlessly curled around my body, tightening the stranglehold of its deadly embrace, like a snake hungry and thirsty for blood. Insidiously seeking to extinguish the little heat that remained in me, that little spark of life, as if to stifle its prey, waiting to complete its work. I felt his icy bites, insistent, like fire needles planted here and there, in every inch of my flesh in agony. And soon I was going to die by so many tortures, if I could not find the strength to fight again and again!

 

Eyleen, sweet Eyleen, my little fairy... I am so far from you, and so close now, because I hear your voice. May she guide me to you, my Love... Gathering the last strength I had left, I managed to crawl painfully to the summit of this mountain, the price of a superhuman effort, knowing that my goal was on the other side of the slope there, in plain verdant Garden of the Druids. I lifted the head, tears of pain streaming from my eyes and my vision blurred, and I could not help shouting her name all of my remaining strength: "EYLEEN!" The trembling arm, turned towards my destiny, I remembered every episodes of my life, such as image scrolling at top speed to someone about to cross the threshold, in the limbo of the afterlife, to the Promised Land...

 

 

 

 

.../...

 

A une Petite Fée, qui connaît toute la magie dont elle aura jamais besoin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LES ROYAUMES D'OPALE.

 

 

 

Anaël d'Istandiir, Chevalier d'Achenlor.

 

 

 

 

 

--- Prologue ---

 

 

 

"Anaël... Anaël..." La voix semblait venir de très loin, comme si elle cherchait péniblement à se frayer un chemin pour sortir de l'épais brouillard qui l'enveloppait. C'était une voix à peine audible, féminine, irréelle, et son écho sonnait à mes oreilles tel un chant venant de nulle part, comme une mélopée insistante, presque agaçante. "ANAËL!" J'arrivais à peine à entrouvrir les yeux... Mes paupières étaient lourdes et refusaient d'obéir à ma volonté, comme si j'émergeais d'un trop long sommeil. Mon esprit encore engourdi avait du mal à se remettre de cet état de semi-inconscience, comme dans un rêve, une douce léthargie que l'on ne voudrait quitter pour rien au monde. J'avais l'impression que tout mon être flottai dans une brume légère, impalpable, m'enveloppant de son manteau éthéré. "ANAËL!" Si seulement cette voix pouvait se taire, et me laisser enfin en paix...

 

Cette voix... Cette voix aussi douce et pure qu'une perle de rosée, comme une mélodie cristalline... Par tous les Saints d'Opale! Mon esprit, dans un sursaut de survie, la reconnaissait maintenant: "EYLEEN! Ma Douce Eyleen!" Le réveil fut brutal...

 

La tempête de neige faisait rage autour de moi, hurlante, sifflante, telle une bête en furie, elle me frappait le visage de ses coups de boutoirs. Tout mon corps me faisait mal, et refusait de céder à ma volonté de bouger, ne serait-ce qu'un petit doigt. Et j'étais là, allongé dans la neige, impuissant, le visage meurtri, mon corps collé contre le sol, à même le flanc de cette montagne inhospitalière. De minces filets de sang coulaient de mon nez, de mes oreilles, et dessinaient des sillons rouges sur le manteau neigeux. Les bras écartés, tel un pantin désarticulé, j'étais incapable de me relever, le froid et la neige me brûlaient les mains et le visage. J'étais à bout de forces, fatigué par tant d'efforts déployés, pour finalement en arriver là... Quelle glorieuse fin, chevalier d'Achenlor! Après tant de combats et de victoires, après avoir parcouru et traversé tant de royaumes et de contrées insolites... Maintenant la faim et la soif rongeaient mes entrailles, et obscurcissaient mon esprit. Bon sang! Je suis si près du but... Je ne doit pas abandonner, pas maintenant!

 

Le vent glacé, imperturbable, continuait son travail de sape, soufflant énergiquement en rafales. Il s'engouffrait dans les moindres parties de mon corps meurtri, m'infligeant ses douloureuses morsures au plus profond de ma chair. Tournoyant, ondulant, s'insinuant par les moindres voies qu'offraient mes vêtements déchirés, usés et laminés par les mauvais traitements infligés par le temps et les intempéries. Il se lovait impitoyablement autour de mon corps, resserrant l'étau de son étreinte mortelle, tel un serpent avide et assoiffé de sang. Cherchant insidieusement à éteindre le peu de chaleur qui restait encore en moi, cette petite étincelle de vie, comme pour mieux étouffer sa proie, attendant de pouvoir achever son oeuvre. Je sentais ses morsures glacées, insistantes, telles des aiguilles de feu plantées çà et là, dans la moindre parcelle de ma chair à l'agonie. Et bientôt j'allais succomber devant tant de supplices, si je ne trouvais pas la force de le combattre, encore, et encore!

 

Eyleen, ma douce Eyleen, ma petite fée... Je suis si loin de toi, et tellement proche maintenant, car j'entends ta voix. Puisse-t-elle me guider jusqu'à toi, mon Amour... Rassemblant les dernières forces qui me restaient, je parvins à ramper péniblement jusqu'au sommet de cette montagne, au prix d'un effort surhumain, sachant que mon but se trouvait de l'autre côté du versant, là-bas, dans la plaine verdoyante du Jardin des Druides. Je levais la tête, des larmes de souffrances coulaient de mes yeux et brouillaient ma vision, et je ne pus m'empêcher de crier son nom de toutes mes dernières forces: "EYLEEN!" Le bras tremblant, tendu vers ma destinée, je me rappelais chaque épisode de ma vie, telles des images qui défilent à toute allure devant quelqu'un qui s'apprête à franchir le seuil, dans les limbes de l'au-delà, vers la Terre Promise...

 

 

 

.../...

http://www.davidorr.net/devcenter/acoustic/atmospheric/Betrayed.mp3 David Orr - Betrayed

 

 

Edited July 4, 2010 by Fifoo

[Maharg67]

:thumbsup: :yes: Beautifully written, Fifoo. :yes: :thumbsup:

[Fifoo]

Thank you, Maharg67, your words warm my heart, especially coming from someone used to write, do not hesitate to give your opinion as and as the story unfolds, it is still in a state of whole project, but I hope to go as best I can, and uh ... this is the first time I try to write a story as vast ... perhaps a dozen chapters ahead in the bag. :sweat:

[Herculine]

Beautiful seems like such a pale word to describe it! Enrapturing, to say the least!

[Maharg67]

I look forward to reading more and supporting you further, Fifoo

 

Hello Herculine, welcome back!

[Fifoo]

Beautiful seems like such a pale word to describe it! Enrapturing, to say the least!

I look forward to reading more and supporting you further, Fifoo

 

Hello Herculine, welcome back!

Welcome back, Little Fairy! :teehee:

 

I warmly thank you both for your very nice messages of encouragement. And I am truly honored by your presence. The first chapter will be released soon, a few touches to give on the translation. I just revamped the prologue because it does not satisfy me fully. I've attached a piece of music in the spoiler to improve the atmosphere. You can then listen and enjoy it at your leisure, before, during, or after reading the story. :happy:

[Keanumoreira]

Very well written. I sense the natural writer incarnate from what I've read here, I told you that you could write Fifoo, and the proof has unrapped itself for all to behold. I will admit you've mastered things here I have yet to learn; most excellent. Welcome to Druids garden my friend, the world where writers and artists afar are welcomed to their calling, may your spirit and your will to write never die, to never leave our beloved garden. I look forward to where this story is headed. :thumbsup:

[Fifoo]

Keanumoreira, thank you, your comments go straight to the heart, and it is good to receive such ones. I will try to ensure not to disappoint you, for the respect I owe you, all of you, because the Druid's Garden is a beautiful and welcoming place which really deserves attention. Another two small verses to complete in translation and... the verdict will be. :sleep:

[Keanumoreira]

Keanumoreira, thank you, your comments go straight to the heart, and it is good to receive such ones. I will try to ensure not to disappoint you, for the respect I owe you, all of you, because the Druid's Garden is a beautiful and welcoming place which really deserves attention. Another two small verses to complete in translation and... the verdict will be. :sleep:

 

Thanks Fifoo, but you could never disappoint, theres just so much alive in you to let that happen. We need more writers in the Garden to be honest because no one seems to be contributing lately. I'm at my Brothers house right now so I can't work on the Race For Eden for awhile, and its a long chapter and I'm trying to release it all in one piece so I have a good excuse. M dropped one of his stories but I'm not really seeing any material from him, at least not what it used to be, and Species, the best writer here, has left. Its good to know that your here, that at least some of our mushrooms, and some of our flowers haven't subcummed to the hard times plaguing us.