Chapter 1: The Path Laid Twice by Mark Manalo

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Chapter One: The Path Twice Laid


An intricate grid of cerulean electricity illuminated the

crimson night sky and fell upon the pallid, snow-laden earth.

Ansel, petrified and angst ridden, draped his body with his

translucent cape and rolled into a fetal position, while

desperately chanting a Myriadian prayer in his head. If the dusk

mage could not kill him, the inhospitable freezing temperatures

would. Moments passed and Ansel heard in horror as the coniferous

plantation that surrounded roared into flames. The smell of burnt

terra and ash circled in the wind. The mage, as last resort, held

his ruby staff above his head and silently whispered "patai". The

frozen tundra began to quiver and trees began to sway. The

quivering evolved into rumblings and finally into a massive

quake. The earth beneath Ansel began to separate and tear itself

apart. A crater as large as a natural valley was carved

recklessly out of the solid earth. Two colossal walls stood to

each side of Ansel and crept towards him. Pieces of earth shed

from the wall and slammed into the ground.

Ansel laid nervously between the walls, unaware of the intruding

force that was about to flatten him to death. He peaked through

his opaque cloak and stared into the darkness that was meters

away. He got on his knees and held his head down. As he placed

his pale hands on the icy ground, he cried aloud, "I will not

submit any longer". As the walls came inches away from his body,

a faint cherry light appeared from the sky and immersed him. The

colossal walls became immobilized and crept no closer. A cloud of

black smoke had remained where the dusk mage had previously

stood. Tears streamed down Ansel's face. All that was left was

silence.


Deep within the wispy town of Ausberry, Soliel had been

working hard in her greenhouse, nourishing the silver marigolds

and entertaining the small furry critters that ventured by to

give a warm welcome. She had the most welcoming garden in the

village; it was held her connection to the unexplainable. Even in

the dead of winter, her garden had been a place of life. A marble

statue of a boy stood in the middle of her garden; on the bottom

the words "Until the end" were inscribed. The words, as innately

touching and sentimental as they were for Soliel, were universal

and those who had visited her garden had developed a kind of

subconscious connection with it.


She mothered the snapdragons, the petunias and the chocolate everyears. She came across the cherry blossoms and sighed. For a month, the cherry blossoms had kept its blossoms, which was unusual for the season. For the past seven years, the tree had lost its foliage during this season, and regained it after 3-4 months. Soliel even had it documented in her diary, in which she wrote in religiously every other day for the last seven years. She told her best friend Morise of the phenomenon and they had agreed that it produced a feeling of wonder, yet uneasiness.