Posted 05 August 2012 - 09:08 AM
"And did he sit upon that throne of ice, did he take his place beside the Queen of Ice and Pain". The old man smiled and then turned his eyes down and inward, weariness wrapped into his words, "No, no children. He did not. May you never have to make the choice, may you never be in that place, but all thrones in the place of Ice and Pain are just another trap, another punishment, another mistake of the moment regretted for eternity. I don't know what would have happened if he took that throne, but be grateful he did not."
He smile, as if remembering a long cherished secret. "No, as the little daemons of sharp tooth and long curved claws screamed and wailed, as the others looked upon waiting for what they knew not what, as the whole of this eternity of darkness stopped, he knelled. He knelled beside her, beside the little fire of unpleasant smoke that provide the only warmed to the damned, he knelled before her with eyes down, with heart open, knowing he was a clever man that had done something that never had been done, but knowing that was not enough. "My Lady, I am unworthy, I have nothing, I can give you nothing, except my promise to try to be worthy of you. In this places of tears and ice, I have nothing to give, nothing to offer, no name, no clan, no honour. I have nothing, yet say to you that I am as you would have me be, I will serve if you say serve, I will scream your name as I rush the Master of all ice, if you wish it of me". He bowed ever lower, not looking upon the queen damned to care for the fools, the cowards, the ones that had not been worthy. She reached down, and tilted his head towards hers, his eyes of the colour of the deepest forest soil, looked into her eyes of green and brown that matched exactly the colour of sunlight dancing through the forest on a summers day. In that moment, in that sliver of time, her heart sang. In that song, as eyes danced their dance, in that song for that moment, in the that sliver of time, even the ice and pain of that place could not hold them. A scream arouse, a great and terrible and glorious screamed arouse from all of the little darkling demons, for when those eyes danced, when those hearts sang, it was no longer Hell. In that sliver, in that moment the song was right. The ice was gone, the smoke was gone, the fools and cowards that had not been worthy, but whom had risked their nothingless for Clever Man in his chance to woe the Queen of Ice and Pain, in that moment they were free to find their way to where they'd go next. Thus, Clever Man and She whom had been the Queen of Ice of Pain were free, to find their way to where they must go next.
The old man smiled, took a sip of his warm corn beer and continued,
In that moment, in that sliver of time, in that eternity when eyes locked and love flowed, the place of ice and pain became a place of fast moving water, cold and harsh. The water, swept away the little darking demons first. The clean water turned their sharp little claws and bitting teeth into nothing. Then the souls of the fools and cowards, whom had been brave enough to help the Clever Man in his impossible tast, they too were scattered. They had been fools and cowards no more, willing to risk there nothing, for a plan that would never succeed, merely because it was the right and true thing to do. Thus, they were free. Some found their way, to the place of green and rain, to sweet green forest where friends rejoiced at their great fortune and family welcomed long lost children into the next world. Some, found their way back to this world, for they still had too much burden upon their spirits to go to the next.
Some might be lost still in the darkness and dust, or just be waiting to return to this world when the time needs their skills.
He took one last gulp of his warm corn beer, and listen for a sound that none of the young ones could hear. At the moment, his eldest daughter walked into the room, a cook spoon fresh from stiring the great pans of parched corn,late field beans, squash pudding and fried apples. She narrowed her eyes at her father, "Oh, you had to tell them the story, didn't you. No wonder no one heard the call to dinner. Well, the fires of hell aint going to keep your food warm, so if you want to eat you better get your butts in there before its all gone. Uncle Yrtie already in line, so I do believe you might not get any of the corn pickles if the umpteen years of these dinners is any predictor of events. So wash your hands, I'm sure they can use it, and git, git going".
The clan sort of moved faster at the news, cause Uncle Yrtie had been known to make a pretty big dent in the available amount of food at a buffet. The oldest boys were the fastest, and rushed to pretend that a splash of water on their hands was enough to make them clean. Soon, only the old man and one of his younger grandchildren remained. She was a clever girl, eyes like her grandmother and at age 10 should could already almost match her grandfather with a long winded story. She was troubled, her eyes narrowed staring at her grandpap, thinking of the question to ask, or thinking if she should ask the question.
"Yes, my little clever girl, you had a question important into to let your food grow cold". She looked at her grandpap, and finally decided the answer, one way or another, needed to heard.
"Grandfather, when hell melted, why didn't you and grandmom go to heaven". She wrinkled her brown, in the same way has her grandmother still does to this way, the weight of her thoughts hurting her head.
The old man, look at this clever, clever grandchild, and his brown eyes looked into those she'd inherited from her grandmother. His eyes of the colour of the deepest forest soil, looked into her eyes of green and brown that matched exactly the colour of sunlight dancing through the forest on a summers day. "Oh, my clever little girl", he smiled the kind of smile that only grows upon a proud grandparents face, "Oh my clever little girl, you seem to understand everything except that one thing, don't you now. Why do you think, that this isn't heaven for us? Now, come on little angel, they'll be hell to pay if we don't we don't gorge ourselves on that good food, and praise the cooks with our bellys.' With that, Grandfather Clever Man and Clever Granddaughter got down to the serious business of eating good food and sipping sweet tea.
The backend isn't as good as the middle, the front needs lot of work. The middle is nice images of the darkling little demons, thrusting long sharp claws into the flesh of those that attempt to escape the ice. Writing of hells torments one of the easiest things to do. Describing heaven, boring.