A word from the author.
The Everglades is told through the eyes of many different characters who are often experiencing the same events as one another. The narration is not limited to the thoughts and perspective of only one character, often shifting around and giving new and different perspectives of the events taking place.
It should also be noted that the storylines of the Celian Dao Kali Esso and the Deminus Lillianna Vlaiden do not take place in the same topography and timeline as that of character such as Ellen, Haldie, Haara and Hura.
It should be noted that this is an unfinished manuscript that is in need of severe editing and a lot of details haven’t been added yet and the chapters have not been written in chronological order. This is an unfinished tale.
Due to the nature of this manuscript, a lot of story threads are unfinished and a lot of spoilers are shown. I hope that never the less you enjoy it and have a great time reading it and become engrossed in the world.
Thank you and welcome to the Everglades.
Chapter I
With a long smile spread wide across her face, she erupted hurriedly from bed. Ecstatic, excited and all in all in good spirit. Nothing could bring her down and that was something that she knew. Not today, not on the day that she called her own. It was the start of her new life as a Ventilanador or Venador for short. Sleep came to her late the night before, yet she found herself stoked with energy. Prancing off from her bed and dancing around. Feeling like she was the master of her universe. All that stood between her and her goal was a final test, of sorts. Acing the rest had been easy so she paid no mind to it. It was all just a matter of time.
Darkness dawned and the cold felt steep. She warmed her hands together, shaking beneath the cold. It was brisk, colder than one might believe the living quarters on a Trekker class vessel should be. Yet somehow it was. As deep and as far as Ellen could stretch her memory. To her, being confined in a shuttle, venturing out in outer space had always felt crisp. Interstellar travel was heralded as a crowning achievement for the Vlaamens back in Encender. It was, she was one of those who recognized and was proud of it. But for all their years and technological advancements. They could never distance themselves from one simple truth. Space was cold, and with it bore an endless sense of emptiness.
There was only so much that they could’ve done to keep the cold at bay. A sheet of reinforced glass was all that stood between her and the endless vacuum that lied beyond her window. With one flick of her hair she could feel its gentle touch brushing against her cheeks. Like it was calling out to her, tempting and drawing her in. but she never succumbed, and never would. There were moments that it almost felt like a gentle kiss. Something almost poetic. She knew what lied beyond, and it was nothing good.
Her room was wide with a soft large bed stuffed in one corner. Her wardrobes had its own compartment, and her bathroom in its own. She even had place for an armory, albeit a small one. That was all she needed. Where she was going, all that would be necessary was her Signum blade and armor. The thick glass windows of her room painted a steep and dark canvas of the endless vacuum of space that stretched beyond. A sea of nothing but wonders. She thought to herself. Uncharted, unseen and untamed. Spreading out wide beyond her wildest thoughts could ever dream. If only one could be able to capture it all. If only.
