An Island for a Cloud

3.1 How to get the Girl

Thank you very much for reading this chapter. If you spot any spelling mistakes or awkward sentence structures, please be nice and let me know :)

Flizer Forest

"Aleuta, the Cloud City, the cursed city! I wished I had never set my eyes on those grey walls," said the old woman. She was small and scrawny and her hair the colour of dry, brown-greenish leaves. She sat in a heavy wooden armchair almost twice her size. Her little hut, round as the tree trunk it was carved into, was filled with children of all ages. Their hushed excited murmurs accompanied her every word, yet the woman seemed not to notice.

"A city built by King Onan the Vile. A Veilys of terrible power, little ones," she said and took a large sip of tea from the mug that rested in her lap. "He was born with an insatiable hunger for the secrets of the Creators. Day and night he studied the ancient books. The more he learnt the more he craved for more knowledge."

"The Creators blessed him with only one child, a daughter. He loved her dearly and called her the most beautiful and sweetest flower in his garden. The day came for her to attend her first Soul Tying. Eleylin the Soothsayer, the Mother of Spirits, Seeress of the Past matched her to a poor chandler who had nothing but an old cloak to his name. It angered Onan to see the daughter he had dressed in gold and showered with pearls in the arms of a worthless man. Onan vowed to make Eleylin pay for the humiliation and on the very next day he disappeared."

Children's soft gasps filled the small hut. Outside the little hat, the birds began to sing. Yet, too engrossed in the old woman's tale, the children did not hear the birds chirping their farewells to the sun setting behind the clouds.

"It was rumoured that Onan journeyed to the Smoke Gorges of Teiwaz, to search for the Forces of the Creation. A year passed and there was no news from him. And on the day of the next Soul Tying, when Eleylin and the Spirits descended again from the mountain Teiwaz, a sudden storm swept over Leivrat. The likes of it one only sees on the Dark Night. And with the thunder and wind returned Onan. He brought forth a stone alive with light and the size of his eye. Red as blood, it shimmered and one by one the Spirits were drawn inside it. Even Eleylin was powerless against the wicked pull of the stone. And gone was she also."

"Fear grasped the hearts of the members of the Council, who until then ruled Leivrat with wisdom and fairness. Seeds of doubt in the powers of the Creators found fruitful soil in their minds. And when Onan proclaimed himself king, they bowed their heads and said it is so. And thus sorrowful times began."

"For one year the clouds were black and heavy with grief. Rain poured on Ailarin, bringing with it famine and hunger. Outsiders sent their envoys, yet the False King used the power of the accords against them. Accords that bound the Outsiders to never intervene in the dealings of the natives of Ailarin, Veilys and Flizers alike. And there was nothing to be done. No longer feeling safe, the Outsiders drew further into the lands they were given and hid their own Spirits. Resigned, they watched a new city rise on the top of the mountain, once home to Eleylin and the Spirits that served her."

"When the city was completed, Onan called it Aleuta and only those of power and wealth were allowed to join the False Kind. Once a year, on the day of the Soul Tying, he released Eleylin from her captivity in the stone to match the young ones. Yet, hard as she tried, there was no escape. She and the Spirits were forever bound to the stone and had to do Onan's bidding. Until today, rich are matched with rich in Aleuta. Poor are matched with poor in Leivrat. Thus Onan ensured that his bloodline would never again flow in the veins of the lesser men, of those he deemed unworthy."

"Yet, this was still not enough for Onan. He wanted those of his blood to rule the island and to command the Spirits for eternity, never to be challenged. It is said that he used a secret spell to place the wicked stone inside the chest of his granddaughter, whom he stole from her mother. She became the first Bearer of the Stone. The Spirit Stone, as it is called now, has since been passed through his female line, from mother to daughter, aunt to niece for over six hundred years. The line of the Queens of Aleuta thus began..."