modern-virtuoso

Instalment Twenty – The Cartographer. Caris watched as the coals dwindled before him. He had been camped in the same place for three days now, and the winter chill had started to creep in. The dew on the ground slowly turned to small icicles as the cold air made its way down the mountainside, extending its fingers through the forest's trees. It froze the leaves, froze the roots and froze Caris's will to remain. There had been no activity on the roads North, and he hadn't expected there to be. Sensible people began their individual hibernations by stocking up on food and firewood and avoiding any type of travel while there was winter's f

Instalment Nineteen – The Escape. Toora didn't react straight away but sat there staring dumbly at Demenick standing in the doorway. "Toora, snap out of it. We need to leave right now," he said, tossing the rucksack at her feet and unhooking a hunting bow from his shoulder. As she bent to scoop up the bag he fitted an arrow and stood at the ready. "But I don–" "It doesn't matter Toora, I already have what you need in that rucksack. Now stop being so slow and come already." She followed him at a run out the door and down the hall. Demenick knew the castle better than she and he lead her through passage after passage, only slowin

Instalment Eighteen. – The Reunion In the dead of the night Caris had been given a horse, a canteen of water, a weeks worth of food and was lead to the edge of the city. No one had made any efforts to heal his wounds or offer him a bath; he needed to look authentic, they said. He rode to the edge of the forest but once he was under the cover of the thick brush and the ancient trees, he went no further and stopped for the night. His body ached even with the small distance, and he figured that baby steps were the best way to move north to the border towns in the ice and snow. By how quickly winter was gathering on the capital city, he had

Instalment Seventeen – The Library. Toora had crept down three flights of stairs before she came across a door that appeared to lead outside. It stretched all the way to the ceiling, with worn iron buttresses that appeared like they'd seen better days. Toora could even see the stain of a water line running it's width roughly a yard above the ground. There was no one guarding it and there seemed to be little activity to suggest it was highly used. Toora glanced around before lifting the latch and pushing the door open with all her strength. It moved surprisingly easy for it's size and swung inwards with ease, not betraying the slightest

Installment Sixteen - Loyalty. Natural light was strange and alien to Caris; he had suffered in the dark and bitter cold for what felt like months on end, which hadn't been far from the truth. Despite being led from the catacombs of the palace, the room he was thrown into didn't differ much from what he had grown accustomed to. It was full of shadows with only three candles dotted around the cavernous space to provide just enough light to make out desks and other objects. The fireplace was all but extinguished, a few lone coals glowing red in the draft swirling down the chimney. It didn't take long for Caris to recognise the tall, slender f

Instalment Fifteen – The Palace Time wasn't on Toora's side the next morning as she woke to Demenick leaning over her and shaking her arm. A weak winter sun was trickling through the window and the telltale presence of Yulette was evident in the robust fire and soft, floral scent. Toora knew that something was off about the morning, and felt her stomach sink when she realised that the sun was nearly in the middle of the sky. "Oh, how could I sleep for that long?" she murmured, rubbing sleep from her eyes and slowly padding from the bed. Demenick had removed himself to the far side of the room out of what Toora assumed to be respect for

Instalment Fourteen. – A History "Fifty years before this moment, a promising young soldier was born to the militia leader Kaan Bouchard of the North. This was a point in history that is highly praised by the royal historians as being when Hiruen's empire was at its greatest and most powerful. In that time there was prosperity in trade, the capture of new lands supplied the kingdom with new materials, technology and produce, and approval of the royal family was flourishing. The only hiccup in the expanding empire's plan was resistance in the North lead by their elected chief. They refused to hand over their rich mines and their freedom