"The Lost Prince" -- Excerpt from "The Ascent of Avedis"

The moment the stars appeared before him Kelson knew the dream was not a normal one. The flickering lights in the sky were too bright, alive as if they were jumping about in some crazed ritual. He recognized constellations; Aihnk with his great jaws open, clawing at the heaven’s in triumph of his return home, and cloudy Sael’s Path, southwest of the moons who were half full, just as they were when he’d gone to sleep. 

No one familiar was near. Not Marinus, Inahra, Caridan, nor Gho or Vohrie or the other thirty people that had joined them over the past week. When he stood, he felt unsteady, as if the ground was tipping underneath his feet. 

There was one presence, though. The night was so dark he couldn’t see anyone among the hard shadows of the trees at first, but he could sense them, in the back of his mind, in the hairs of his neck standing on end. 

“You look afraid. You should be.”

Kelson whipped around at the voice to find his own face staring back at him. No, not his own; the same in shape, feature, and color, yet a different person. Avedis. His hair was longer by a forearm’s length, braided away from his face. His clothes were ones Kelson could not possibly have imagined himself in,  rich and finely made, with intricate details his eyes could hardly follow. “Why should I be? This is a dream.”

“It’s not just dream,” Avedis shook his head, stepping closer.

“What do you want?”

“Hear me out, that’s all I ask. It might save your life.”

Kelson didn’t want to hear much of anything Avedis had to say. What kind of person would so readily invade someone else’s mind, hinting at threats and anger? He took a step backwards, feeling for his sword, though the weight on his hip was missing. Avedis only followed, uncrossing his arms.

“Turn around, and go back to Charisia, or wherever it is you came from. It’s where you belong. There is nothing for you in Ilaquoi except pain and death, I will make sure of that.” 

“I’m just trying to find the truth,” Kelson said, his heart pulsing hard in his chest, “I want to know who my family is, if what Monelly told me is true.”

“The two of us speaking here is proof enough that it is. There is nothing for you in the city. Our father is an evil man, you will get no love from him; our mother is a broken woman, sickly and resigned.” He paused, one of his fists unclenching at his side, tensing as if he were waiting for something to happen. “And I already hate you. I have waited to become king for nine years, and if you think I'm going to step aside and let you have it…"

"I don't want to be your enemy.”

"You already are." 

Kelson’s mind reached for words that wouldn't form. Before he could utter a sound, the trees around them and the stars shivered, and disappeared, and so did Avedis, all of it falling into blackness at once.

He woke with a start, feeling feverish and shaky. His mouth watered as if he were about to be sick. A dull ache rose in his head as he propped himself up on one arm, and looked about the dark camp with panic, trying to separate the visions from reality. 

Through the treetops he could just see the moons beginning their descent, drowning in the predawn glare. There were mounds scattered all around him, his traveling companions still in the throes of peaceful sleep. Dark brown trunks rose up, narrow and high, topped by rounded, ovular caps of fluffy green leaves. A few days before, they had picked up mounts in Shillian. One of the hyuruks grunted loudly when it saw Kelson move and the sound startled him. He pushed away his sleeping roll and approached the hobbled animals. Their earless heads were raised, their eyes sharp, tails flicking away the insects that were rising with the sun.

“Shh, its all right,” he cooed, rubbing the sleek, muscled hide, combing through the thick mane hanging from the animal’s neck. He glanced nervously around the camp, but everything seemed in order.

Even as the dream began to fade from his mind, Kelson felt a darkness pressing in on him, a sense of dread and foreboding more powerful than when he had left Charisia. Was the nightmare just a product of his fears? Had pictures of Avedis’ face created such a potent image of his in his mind for him to see something like that? He pressed his lips to sleek, comforting fur, and felt as though he never wanted to sleep again.

"The Wolfena" Novella Excerpt

“Jimian. Jimian. Jim, wake up.”

“Hmm? Janessa?”

“N-no. Who’s Janessa? Jimian, it’s me Lariette. I hear something. Wake up.”

She snapped into consciousness immediately, forgetting the images still circling through her minds eye, and the strange feeling surrounding her throat. She found one of her necklaces had fallen back over her shoulder, and was pressing into her neck. They were both silent as she listened, and sure enough, a strange sound was hissing from the dark space that had been a dead end last time they’d checked. 

Silently, the two of them stood, and Jimian drew both her sword and knife. The strange hissing sound was rhythmic and raspy. As it grew closer, it was accompanied by soft plodding footsteps—not animal; human, though the breathing sounded anything but human.

One of Carriero’s men stepped into the glow of the mushrooms. Jimian felt dainty fingers grip onto her arm, squeezing tight enough to cause a hint of pain in her muscle. 

“Jimian. Jimian what is wrong with him.”

Jimian didn’t know. The man stopped walking. His arms hung limp at his sides. He had no spear, no gun, no bow, no knife. At first, she thought he was all spattered in blood, until she realized that his eyes were black as an overcast night sky, like the way Vilk’s had flashed when Dusti possessed him, only permanent. She concluded that the liquid smeared all about his nose and mouth was not blood, but that residue created by powerful magic. His breathing sounded wrong, hollow, yet full of fluid. And he only stood there, watching.

“I don’t know. I honestly, do not know.”

“We should run.”

“No. Just hold on.” Jimian took a step forward. Was there the slightest chance someone had put together a possession spell in order to find them? “Hey. That you, Nax? Or Baltio? Aesdana?”

No response, just more hissing breath. And then he took a step forward. And another. Jimian felt as if cool water were dripping down her back, and she met Lariette’s eyes for half a heartbeat. “Now we run.”

They took off in the opposite direction, the puddles exploding and fungi squashing underneath their feet. Lariette’s breathing came in terrified gasps, and the man let out a horrible cry, something between the screech of a dying animal and a predator snarling to defend its kill. They ran harder, but when Jimian turned to see how close he was, his footsteps grew impossibly fast, and he toppled upon her with another awful scream. Her sword went flying from her hand when her wrist collided with a sharp rock, and the wind was knocked from her upon impact. 

“Jimian!” 

She lashed upwards with her knife while trying to fight off the onslaught of fingernails which had turned to claws. A hand wrangled itself in her hair, and all it took was one hit against the rocks to make the adrenaline in her veins surge, and pure survival instinct kick in. Jimian roared almost as terribly as the sick man, and warm blood rained down upon her as his knife caught the skin of his neck and tore him open. Though her wrist was throbbing, she snatched up a loose rock and wailed him so hard in the ear that she heard the crunch of skull. 

He fell, rolling to the side, but still snarling and flailing. Jimian drove her blade into his chest once, twice, and then sliced off one of his hands. Her shoulder ached anew, and she ignored it as she cut his neck once again, and still, he kept fighting. He caught sight of Lariette with his dead eyes, seeming to notice her for the first time, and he lunged.

It was just the opportunity Jimian needed. She retrieved her sword in a motion so fast it was hardly human, and a sickening, wet thud filled the cave when the man’s head was severed and dropped to the floor. In an instant, his body collapsed, blood running from the stump like a spring river. 

____________

All writing found at Ajdodgecreations is © AJ Dodge/Ariel Durkee 2016

Fantasy Indulgence

Writing has always been a form of escapism for me, as it is for so many others. For the three and a half years before I began writing my first novel, the only writing I did was for school. It was a long creative block where I forgot how much I enjoyed storytelling.

When I first ventured into "The Ascent of Avedis," I found a world where I belong. This story and the stories which all center around it have evolved greatly in the nearly 4 years since its inception. I graduated from college, came out as a lesbian, and decided to make writing one of the topmost priorities in my life. Learning that I was gay changed my perspective deeply when it came to storytelling. I began to realize that myself and people like me were abhorrently absent from mainstream media. I searched the depths of Netflix and the internet for every alternative story I could find, and I learned that there is something very particular that people in the LGBT+ community, along with other marginalized groups, are searching for.

We want stories who happen to have gay characters, not necessarily stories about 'coming out.' Those who are already out of the closet live a life just like anyone else. Being gay plays into the day to day of things, but just as often it can be perfectly irrelevant. There's a difference between a 'gay person' and a 'person who is gay.'

The characters in my stories are not 'gay characters'; they are characters who just happen to be gay. Some of them have romance, some don't. I want the people reading my work to feel as if they have a place, like they belong, like they're not alone. As we face both social progression and regression in the USA and throughout the world, sharing stories about alternative communities is more important than ever, and that is my goal.

It is true that I was a different person when I wrote the first manuscript of TAOA, and that piece of writing still reflects that person, but with characters and themes added along the way during my evolution.

I encourage/invite anyone who happens across this little blog post to share their thoughts on this matter. This is an open, reaching out to writers and readers of the LBGT+ community, and a safe space to share.

Welcome to Ismenara.
Read an excerpt from "The Ascent of Avedis."

Welcome To Ismenara

Welcome to Ismenara.

This is a place for people who don't fit in, and for those who need a little escapism to survive the day to day.

Here in this world, you will find a complex magical system, a diversity of humans, and a plethora of exotic creatures to pull you from the mundane and into the fantastical. This series of writing and art is meant to appeal and connect to the LGBT community who is searching for stories in which they can find themselves, and people like them.