In wintertime everything seems to stand still, all frozen and hidden beneath the snow and ice; unseen by the eye. Everything and everyone hidden away, asleep in burrows and caves, between roots and in holes dreaming about summers past and summers yet to come; waiting patiently for the sun to bring back its warmth. Only a few know that that’s not completely true. Some things just don’t rest, don’t linger or stand still. They’re always moving; even in winter. A bitter sharp wind rushed along Sula’s bare face. For a moment she closed her eyes against the pain, concentrating on her Mindskill. Tears falling, slowly turning to frost on her eyelashes, hindered her view. Losing contact with the goose, Sula’s cheeks and chin hurt all of a sudden and her skin was getting numb from the cold. She wore a hood over her head while the rest of her body was well wrapped within a few layers of cloth underneath her dark green woollen cloak, just in case. Clothes as warm as feathers, next to wool, were the best insulating material. She was the snow goose now, not physically, but in her mind and she was flying high up in the thick winter sky. She controlled the bird’s ability to fly so fully that she tricked her body to think it to be a goose. Luckily she didn’t actually have to use her arms like wings to fly by flapping. Instead she held her arms spread out wide to balance it; the way her mother had taught her, years ago. By late afternoon, she had been flying the entire day since sunrise, and was beginning to feel worn-out; slowly losing contact with the goose’s abilities and that side of her mind; her Mindskill tricking her body. The high level of concentration and her aching limbs began to exhaust her and take its toll. Her body commanded her to take rest and recharge. And she had to obey her body’s natural instinct in order to survive, goose or not. She couldn’t keep demanding more from her body than it was able to give, otherwise it would simply stop serving her. The frozen landscape, almost completely white, apart from some specks of dark green or grey; the hint of treetops, beneath her became almost monotonous. Pine woods lay buried underneath mounds of snow. The snow, almost creamlike, covered the rolling hills, numerous ice lakes, and a single frozen river covered in snow that she had been following since dawn. So much of the scenery was white and her panoramic view so dreary that it became more and more of a blur beneath her. She blinked a couple of times to try and regain some focus. At least she was in Northland now and it wouldn’t be far to her final destination. Sula tried to get to the uninhabited lime caves of the Balla mountain range; a mystical old volcanic landscape, showing itself already as a blue-grey white peaked wall in the distance. She felt free and content in spite of her physical weariness and the elements. She just loved flying and it had almost become as easy and natural as walking. She loved to have a clear view over everything and that feeling of being weightless. As close to freedom as a humanoid would ever feel. Defying gravity; free of the heavy weight of one’s body and the world pulling it down. Sula imagined only death could be any closer to that feeling; being just spirit. Snowflakes began to whirl from the dense clouds just above her and they were more rapid and painful than she had expected. Snow this high up combined with wind meant ice. Snow swirled into her face, stinging her eyes like small knives, which she couldn’t do anything about, for even geese had eyes and they weren’t immune to pain. Sula had to fly lower. The snow had found its way up her nose; blocking her breathing, nearly choking her. She was human enough to be affected by the elements and that side of her was too weary now not to feel it, above the goose’s abilities. Moreover she flew too low by now and she was paying the price for her misjudgement. The thick grey clouds blurred her sight altogether and the icy flakes remained on her eyelashes, almost freezing her eyes shut and melting in the slits of her eyes which were hard to keep open. It was time to go down. She was late this year. Last year she had already settled in the cave by the time the snowstorms began. With mixed feelings she thought about the group of travelling gypsies she had followed earlier during the autumn in the East; the reason why she was late. People, whom she had believed, had some useful information. It had been a mistake and now she had put herself in danger. “Your duty is to survive,” she heard her mother’s voice say in her head. All of a sudden she saw smoke rising above the treetops; she sharpened her weary eyes. On flying closer it revealed itself to be several plumes of smoke coming from…rooftops. Panic overcame her. A human village! Instantly she lost contact with the goose inside her and began to fall to the ground with incredible speed. With a lot of effort she managed to regain control of her mind and reached the goose that was controlling her body, in order to stop herself from falling further. She flew lower; almost level with the trees. Branches and needles nearly hitting her in the face, and with the snowflakes still hindering her sight, making her virtually blind. She held her hands out to protect herself whilst gasping for air… It went all terribly wrong. Excerpt from Call Off The Search: Get the whole book here smarturl.it/calloffthesearch?IQid=qr
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 15:26:41 +0000
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