f.1 || Darkness and the Ruby

The Day the Sun Died

Edith had decided to take a walk that morning, to get away from the same old things she saw everyday in the castle, the same family portraits, the same flowers in the same vases, and the same people in the same armour protecting the castle. She had decided that for the first time in a while, she would go and take a brisk walk in the town, through the streets lined with houses of cobble bases and tudor tops, with red-brown roofs. The town square was crowded like usual, with red, blue and yellow bunting lining the streets leading to the town center, and then hanging from one side of the square to the other. Market stalls line the square, bustling with crowds of people buying and selling goods to the residents of the town. The sounds of coins clashing and people negotiating and talking about prices fills the air around her as she walks into the town. The tudor houses surrounding the circular market block the morning sun and cast elongated shadows over the square.

The people of the town crowd together in the square, and Edith pushes through the crowd to get to the stalls that might interest her. The crowd are of a variety of wealth levels and clothing fashions, some wearing white smocks and green or blue overdresses, some wearing fine white blouses or shirts with patterned silk vests and leather pants. Edith makes her way through the crowd, squeezing past some people and dashing behind others to get to the stall she came to see. She gets to a point where she can see the stall with books of varying lengths and languages through the crowd, before people block her vision once again. Her face flashes with excitement, a bright spark in her dull, brown eyes. Her pace quickens and she almost runs in the direction of the stall, still trying to push through the crowd to get to the stand. The crowd clears in front of her and the stall with the books stacked up from the ground, and an older female with grey hair that curls down the side of her face, a warm smile painted on her wrinkled skin. She looks at Edith, blinking and leaning forward like she is having trouble seeing.

"Hello dear, have you come to buy some more books have you?" The old woman says, looking at Edith as she walks up to the stall and starts looking at the different books, picking up some of them and looking at them. She tries to find some books about different things that interest her, and some fiction ones to read in her free time, of which she has a lot of. She picks up a book, seeing that it is by her favourite author, Charlie Diefrauken, who wrote books that she has read multiple times, like Sign of the Cold Staircase and Clue of the black Tuba, both thrilling mysteries that she has read into the depths of the night, not wanting to stop reading as the clues just keep coming and she wants to figure out the mystery. The book she picks up this time is a different genre than that of what he usually writes, but she is going to read it anyway.

"Yes I am, Granny Magdalena," Edith says to Magdalena, a smile crossing the older female's face. Edith goes back to looking at different books, now looking at some on alchemy and transmutation, and some on the processes of life, death and undeath. She finds a few books on alchemy, looking aged and worn, all by well-known scientists and wizards. She picks up a few, along with the book by Charlie Diefrauken, and takes them Granny Magdalena, putting fifteen gold pieces on the table before thanking the older woman and walking away with the books. She walks through the market, passing countless other stalls, purchasing a few things like jewelry and quills for scribing, staring at the sky and houses as she walks through the square. She hears a near silent thump from behind her, like someone landing from a jump. She looks behind her, her eyes meeting the pale skinned chin of a male roughly the same age as Edith, and she looks up, meeting the emerald green eyes of her best friend from a young age, Rowan. He smiles at her, a slight chuckle emitting from his mouth as he looks down at her, patting her on the top of her head. Edith narrows her eyes at him, her mouth pouting as she stares into his eyes.

"I know you're taller than me Rowan, you don't have to rub it in," Edith says, still locking eye contact with him, her brown eyes staring into his emerald green ones. He shrugs his shoulders slightly before responding, "I know, but your reactions are funny to watch."

She shakes her head, turns around and continues walking out of the square, with the books, jewelry, a box with quills and some rolled up blank parchment under her arm, as he briskly jogs to catch up with her. Despite her having a shorter and more petite figure than him, she has a habit of walking faster than necessary to get to places quicker. He walks beside her, intertwining his fingers with hers as her face erupts in red and she pouts, looking away from the taller male who chuckles at her. They walk, hand in hand together back in the direction of the castle that looms over the town, the tall spires and walls sitting on the hill on the north side of the town, the sheer cliff falling from the edge of the castle to the ground, a carved switchback path leading up the cliff face and stopping at the large, intricately carved gatehouse with statues of two soldiers  holding pikes that cross over the portcullis gate that is currently closed, large, wooden double doors behind the gate.

"I never really noticed how beautiful the castle looks from down here, all the tall and thin spires. It looks a bit condescending but it also looks protective at the same time," Edith said as she looks up at the castle before turning to Rowan, and looking at him with a curious expression.

"I agree, the castle does look rather beautiful and peaceful at the same time," He says, a smile crossing his face as he looks in the direction of the castle, before looking down at Edith, the wide smile still planted on his pale face.

The sun peers through the tall, spindly stone spires of the castle, with the light bouncing off the walls of the houses of the town. The sun goes behind one of the largest stone spires, with a large domed glass roof on the top, and everything goes black. No light. Middle of the night darkness in the middle of the day.

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Authors Note

Hey readers

Thank you all for reading the first chapter of my new story 'Darkness and the Ruby' a dark fantasy story set in a medieval fantasy world. If you enjoy the story, please vote, comment and share.

If you can't tell from this chapter, there is going to be some heavy descriptions, dark fantasy moments and a little bit of romance. I love writing the long descriptions so just be ready for some chapters that will be long with descriptions.

Avid-writer