Blumiere Chapter 1

It was dark in the forest.  The sun had set hours ago, and most people would’ve been in bed.  But someone was awake, his name was Blumiere. He had a mission that the dark and cold of the dense wood was not sufficient to stop.  He was looking for a cairn that had been built by his ancestors from the Tribe of Ancients.

He wrapped his cape tighter around his body, wishing that he had worn a thick coat. He was glad despite the cold – it was an honor to be trusted with such an important mission.  He had found several cairns that night, but they were not the right ones.  The cairn he was looking for was inside a ditch ramparted by trees and bushes.  He felt he had taken a wrong turn, for surely he should have found it by now.  Then he saw it; the thick bushes and trees at the edge of a ditch.  He ran towards it.  Finally, for a moment, he could get out of the cold.  And who knew what might happen if he completed this mission successfully?  Perhaps he would be sent on more soon.  Perhaps– but he had to stop thinking about it as he worked his way through the bushes.  Some were thorny and tore at his shirt until at last he hopped down into the ditch and entered the cairn.  Inside were several chests.  The Ancients had locked these chests and hidden the keys.  Blumiere drew out his wand and with it undid the lock of the biggest chest.  Inside were several books, gears, springs, screws, and cores. Everything was ancient.  Other small oddments were there as well, but what he had come for he did not see.  He closed and locked the chest.  Next he opened the second largest chest.  There inside were more books and a slate.  He took what he had come for and resealed the chest.

His quarry procured, Blumiere exited the cairn. He estimated the quickest way back to the castle and set off. Growing excited as he anticipated the praise he would receive for his success, he hurried faster and faster until he was running at full speed through the unfamiliar forest. He didn’t realize how very near he was to a cliff.  In the dark he didn’t even see the ledge before he was slipping over its side and crashing down the rough stones – unconscious before he reached the bottom. There at the bottom of the cliff, sprawled among the rubble, his limp body lay helpless and wounded.