By Faith Not Fear || Crest Chronicles || Book One

Chapter One

             The worst thing about laundry day was the dreaded fourteen flight climb to the tower. Her legs burned greatly by the time she reached the top and she knew that the woven basket in her arms could not feel any heavier in that moment. Few people were in the tower today; it was Saturday, after all. Her peers were always excited for Saturday, and she knew that she should be too, but Ophelia Amory never really was interested in non-lesson days.

                Heaving the basket onto a pedestal, she grabbed her soiled uniform and walked to a bucket filled with soapy water. The sloshing of the water did little to drown out her thoughts. She cringed at her frostbitten fingers as she wrung out her black slacks. She looked over the ledge and out into the village below. Teenagers rushed out of the castle, eager to find their friends. Ophelia moved her gaze to the outskirts of the village. Even with the colorless look to it, Aeodine was thriving. The citizens were wealthy as ever and Brightenor Kringle was at his healthiest. She couldn’t imagine a better time to be living, but her views were not shared by everyone. From the edge of the town, she saw an ant sized figure running. They weren’t running for enjoyment, she deduced, but for their life. At least, that’s what appeared to be the reason. Even from the distance, Ophelia could not mistake the bright colors of the person’s wardrobe to be one of her fellow Exceptionals.

                By the time the figure entered the woods more people had noticed what the runaway was doing. Suddenly, a loud crack reverberated throughout the air. A horrific bear-like creature broke through the trees and snatched the person in mid-stride. This snatching was not hard and completely unexpected to everyone, taking the runaway in one swipe of its oversized paw. People began crying out for this person, but no move was made as the creature stalked around the trees for a moment before disappearing into them. Ophelia’s eyes glossed over and she began to blink away the tears of pity she felt for this anonymous person. She’d have to wait until tomorrow to see who was missing from her lessons.

                She continued to scrub her uniform – the high-collard, silk top was not cooperative in the least – and listened in on the humming coming from the lone child  behind her. After wringing out her top, she clipped the uniform to the tweed wire above her head.

                “Ophelia!” a voice called. Ophelia’s head looked around for the source and saw Juliette’s brown curls bobbing around her face as she ran towards Ophelia. Besides the obvious panting in her voice, Juliette was very happy as usual. Ophelia pointed to the woods.

                “Did you see that thing?” She shrieked before composing herself. Juliette raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

                “What happened?”

                “Someone, one of us, was attacked by a creature! Some huge monster came out of the woods and killed them!”

                “Monster?” She questioned, peering over the ledge. Ophelia nodded.

                “Yes, monster! Shouldn’t you be down in the village or something? You should’ve seen it.” she asked. Juliette shook her head and replied,

                “Pat and I were about to head to the concert hall. I was coming to ask if you’d like to join us.”

“Oh… I guess I will. It’s probably healthier than obsessing over previous events.”

                “Yeah, so meet us there all right?” Juliette requested before running off. She stopped to size up the stairs before sprinting down them at full speed. Ophelia chuckled but made no move to head down the stairs herself. Even with being extremely productive and “classy” as some of her peers called her, she absolutely dreaded dressing up on Saturdays. Finally, she made her way down the flights and into Juliette and her room. She hesitated a moment, enjoying the warmth of her peignoir. She looked at her crest as it sat upon their vanity. The silver outside twinkled in the light from the window. Every Exceptional had a crest; it was given to them once they completed the creation simulation at the ripe age of eight. Each crest was unique and said to represent the greatest virtues of their holder. Ophelia ran her fingers over the wolf that howled at an imaginary moon on hers. Below it sat her name in a beautiful cursive and below her name sat the phrase that she was to live by, even if she didn’t know what it meant.