I just thought I would show you all an excerpt of something that I have been working on. This is an excerpt from “The Created Ones”

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It wasn’t a nightmare. He frantically jolted upward. Steam covered the window. Plumes of dark smoke seeped under the door. Rider started coughing as he stood up. The room was full of smoke now, which was making him wonder what chances of survival he had left.  The window was an option. He rushed to it, to find it tarred shut. The house was abnormally quiet. He wiped his sweat covered brow as he crouched out of the smoke to the ground. He could breathe now. Now was all that mattered, because it could change in mere seconds. CLANK, CLANK, CLANK. Echoes resound off the wooden floor, it almost sounds like a heavy set man walking. A shadow crossed through his peripheral vision, or at least he thought it was a shadow. But, when he looked in that direction he saw nothing. goosebumps shivered down his spine. An eerie bitter coldness consumed him to the core. Was he not alone in his room? Was he going to die in his smoke filled room? His mind filled with open ended questions that stole his hope of any escape. A noise he’d never forget interrupted his thoughts from looking any further for the shadow- bursting glass.
He covered his head with his arms while turning the opposite way as shards of glass from the window flew all over the room. Flames had now entered his room. The burning roared loudly in his ears. His bedroom door was smoldering black.  The cool, fresh air beckoned him. He reached for the opening and hoisted himself up and through. All around him- the night sky is blazing with orange fire on the horizon.
In any other situation it would have been an astonishing view. Only, now it made him angry. People rushing all around him, screaming for loved ones, crying children, while some had buckets of splashing water to try put out the burning houses. His family hadn’t known about the fire, it had crept upon them like a thief. But then to his surprise he heard a woman’s shriek from behind him. The left side of her face was completely burnt with red blisters.
“They came! We all need to run before they come and kill us all.” Rider watched the lady run in front of his house and across to the next property. Hmm… wonder what she was talking about? Or rather who… The plumes of fire swarming in the windows of his house caught his attention. He rushed up to the front door and reached for the door handle. His reflexes worked faster than his brain as he grabbed the handle. “Ouch!” he grabbed his hand and cradled it with his other. Aghh… I knew I shouldn’t have done that! But how am I going to get in there? My family is still in there and they could be alive!
In the distance he could see a group of about ten huge men carrying torches of fire and chanting with deep voices. Rider ducked around to the other side of the house where his sister’s room was located.The village of Rille was his home, and now it was engulfed in fire. He couldn’t see any of his family members outside. It was only him. Rider hastily ran toward his sister’s window, peering inside. He couldn’t see his sister. No one was in the room.
“Ebony!” hot tears dripped down his face as he imagined his little sister alone in her room with giant flames all around her. He pounded violently, on the side of the house, but no one could hear him. The next window looked into his mom and dad’s room. It was also consumed by flames, nothing could be seen. The smoke sediment on his face mixed with the tears rolling down his face- they burned. A conversation from the night before with his parents came up in his mind.
“What do you want to do now that you are done studying?” His Father asked.
“I’d like to help Grandfather with the trading and so I can see the world.”
“I am sure Dad would love your help,” his Mother smiled.
“Just remember to be careful wherever you go and not to trust everyone right away.” His Dad spoke
“Yes, I know Dad.”
At that moment he was annoyed, because everything his parents ever told him was always along the lines of “Just be careful!” or “Make sure you do this,” Or “Don’t do this!” Now, Rider knew his dad and mom loved him and that is why they told him those things, but at that moment he hadn’t wanted to hear it. The memory of his father smiling and nudging his shoulder disintegrated as he took his hand off the side of the house. Tears continued rushing down his cheeks, when the thought came that they were gone. He was alone in this giant world without anyone who loved him.
Rider slowly stumbled away from his house and collapsed on the ground. He dug his face into the dirt. Smoke and sweat covered his body and soaked his clothes. He was all alone, and everything seemed empty. He shook his face in the dirt, while screaming. No words came to him. All he could see in his mind were pictures of what he no longer had. It was almost like his brain was playing the taunting game, “Oh look at what you don’t have anymore! You are all alone! No one loves you!” At that moment his frozen heart shattered into small icy pieces. Each piece would take time and care to place back together. He looked up, not remembering how long his face was in the ground. A simmering coal timber house somberly greeted him. He couldn’t make out it was the house he loved so dearly, the one his parents raised him in. His family now sleeps in the scorched framework of a house for eternity. Slowly pulling himself up, dread filled his throat as he walked to the remains of the house. Inside the front door, once existed the cozy family room, which was full of life. It had been a bright room filled with light streaming through the windows. The once white washed walls were now singed black, as a slight breeze cooled the wall fragments, they peeled away in ashy crinkles to uncover the bare structure of the walls.
He would never forget this moment. No person ever forgets the moment they lose someone they love. Why did this happen? His mother’s sweet smile and wonderful personality danced in his mind. He felt his father’s love, and remembered his sister’s cute little eyes that sparkled like the stars and her golden locks of hair. Why did I survive and why do I have to live on?
Teary eyed with just the clothes on his back, he tip toed to the northern side of the village. The fire had consumed his whole neighborhood. He couldn’t see the big men who had been chanting and carrying blazing torches any longer so he started walking through a field that angled across to the road that would lead to the sea-port, Ville, where his grandfather lived. His grandmother died when he was young and a few years later Grandfather, Whick met Isabella, the pub owner, who used to be a gypsy, he was in love and could never leave Ville. If he wasn’t at the pub, he would be trading in and near the mountain villages. His Grandfather, knew the land well, like the back of his hand. He had taken Rider to the Flattimore Pub while he was a boy, that place was sketched in his memory forever as a happy place.
It was a rugged yet lovely atmosphere; lightly lit with warmth from the fireplace. Many people congregate at the Flattimore Pub, some are rough sailors, mountain men, and wandering gypsies. The beginning of Rider’s dreams of becoming an adventurer all took root in the Flattimore Pub, engrained itself into Rider’s dreams of being an adventurer, but he never imagined being thrown into an epic adventure in this sort of way. Everything he ever loved had just been wrenched from his life. There would be a few different words that he would use to describe himself: orphan, homeless, scared, and alone. Finally after walking for  awhile he saw the twinkling of kerosene lamps in the windows, it was not on fire. Rider kept walking toward Ville not knowing what to expect.

Devin Berglund©2012