hi there! I would love to know about your wip The Banished?! 💜
This WIP is the only random subject one on my list. I will post what I have of it here! Please remember this is an unedited 1st draft.
Long ago in the city of Thelnassa a council decided to banish 3 elves for their crimes against elven kind. They were charged with committing unspeakable acts of war and terror.. Said to be extremely powerful and unruly. Years of hunting and failing to capture them left the city bankrupt and struggling to provide for their population the means of maintaining infrastructure and many other essentials. Sections of the city fell into disrepair and were eventually abandoned.. Especially those where encounters with the banished took place. Large areas were damaged and families uprooted due to the epic battles. The displaced sought shelter, healthcare, and food from neighboring sections and would be turned away, many believing their luck brought the banished upon them. Wishing to not end up in the same situation they avoided helping them. The city of Thelnassa became harder and stronger after their efforts to control the banished, more and more fighters were trained, and stronger and war hardened leaders gained power.
Years passed after the capture and banishment of the 3, as they became known, many also just call them the banished. Details concerning their capture and exile were forgotten and there was relief, for some. For many, their lives and that of their progeny had been drastically altered with little to no recourse. Many families, like that of Thalen, had no choice but to leave the city. Thalen and his parents and younger sister Corda would leave Thelnassa, for the first time in 3 generations, to fend for themselves in the city limits, where the wilderness begins. They wouldn't be alone necessarily, as many families had been displaced before them, and many would be displaced after. Trailblazers they would not be, but just because a trail had been walked already, did not mean it would be easy… nobody can walk your shoes the way you do, Thalen’s father would say. They’d be wearing the same shoes, but stepping into new ground.
Thalen was young, but tall for his age, he had long blonde hair that he’d push around his face, never quite deciding which side was better, often blowing strands away from his eyes. Looking messy at times but always kept clean. His slender frame was almost lanky but he was agile and well coordinated. He loved the city, it was the only place he’d ever known, but it had everything he needed and then some. His favorite place though, was a fountain, between school and home, that he’d stop by every school day on his way home. He’d often walk with his sister and bring her to the fountain, sometimes staying for an hour. He’d tell her how it worked and why the fountain was probably built there and how it was good for everyone. How it helped water the surrounding garden and keep the birds happy. He’d slump over the edge and put his hands into the cool water and swish them back and forth asking Corda to try it once she got old enough to where falling in was less of a risk. That fountain was the only thing that made Thalen think about what lies beyond the edges of Thelnassa.
Thelnassa is protected by the rough terrain that surrounds it. Crags of black slate descend into thick jungle. Few paths are passable by the average elf, and these are the ones that have been used by the displaced. Slowly they ooze out of Thelnassa, bleeding into the jungle and looking for resource rich areas to settle down. The jungle is not a place anyone easily survives on their own. The displaced rely on each other to survive. Strength and safety rely on numbers.
Thalen’s father worried about what was in store for their future. He was not skilled in outdoor survival, but he was resourceful, and understood that it would take some give and take in the beginning. Thalen’s parents had heard of the trails used by many before them and although they weren’t in a position to hold off and plan their route, they did. They tried their best to gather supplies and give themselves the best chance they could for their children.
“Corda! Come here child, we are leaving soon…” said mother, “we are going on an adventure, to a new beautiful place… its green and lush…”
“Like the garden?” Corda replied
“What garden?.. Oh you mean the fountain? Yes, dear, like the fountain.” She paused, “speaking of the fountain, where is your brother?”
Thalen was throwing pebbles into the fountain, something he’d been yelled at for doing in the past… but he didn’t care today. He went to the edge of the pool and looked down at his reflection. When will I ever see this again, he thought. He didn't want to leave. He had one more pebble in his hands. Last one… and then I’ll go. He held it up to the sunlight and it glistened and reflected light, almost sparkling. I wish we didn’t have to go… I wish things could go back to the way they were…
Thalen stood up on the edge of the fountain. He squeezed the rock one more time. Tears started to well up in his eyes. Just as the first one was about to make its descent down his cheek he violently swung his arm out and over in a throwing motion. He released the rock down towards the water. In an instant it made a low thunk as it hit the water. Strangely there was minimal splash. He’d have found it super interesting if he wasn’t so upset. The rock lay on the bottom of the fountain still surrounded by the bubbles of air it brought down with it from Thalen’s forceful throw. Thalen wiped his face and turned his back to the pool. His head hung low and his eyes were closed. Behind him some faint sounds of bubbling arose from the area where the rock landed. It seemed as if the rock he had tossed in started to boil as more bubbles rose from it. Thalen couldn’t really be bothered by the faint sounds of bubbles. He stepped down from the edge of the pool and waited dejectedly before taking his first step. Just before he took it he heard a strange sound that wasn't bubbles anymore it was a deep suction sound. He looked around the flowerful garden only to end up gazing back down at the pool. It looked as if a drain had opened where he threw the rock and it was drinking the water down. Thalen’s eyes widened with fear, what have I done? he asked himself frantically. He climbed back up on the edge only to find a dry pool. No sign of water or moisture at all. It looked as if it had never contained water before.
His look of bewilderment soon changed to curiosity. The rock lay there motionless despite the commotion. Staring back at Thalen, capturing all of his attention. Without blinking or letting his eyes break contact with the rock, he climbed into the fountain and slowly began walking toward the rock.
A metal pot falls from the window of the nearby brick apartment. One of the many that had windows facing the fountain. Thalen always wished he could live here. The old man who’d shouted at Thalen before for throwing rocks into the pool was cooking and looked out the window at Thalen entering the fountain, only he still saw water in it and Thalen was waist deep in it.
“Hey, get out of there boy! What are you doing?!”
Thalen heard nothing, he was focused and getting closer to the rock. The old man walked quickly to his stairs and started towards the door. Thalen reached down. His fingers touch the rock and it slowly begins to glow and feels warm to the touch. He recoils a little, and then without thinking he puts his hand on the rock and squeezes in order to pick it up and before he can pull it up he hears a loud wooshing sound.
The old mad finds his way out to the fountain and looks toward the center of the pool where Thalen had been standing. Nothing.
“Boy!... Boy!?” he shouted beginning to look around now.
(he would walk in and someone would notice that it looked liked he walked into the water, then it would suck him into another dimension)
