June Novel Essential Information

Novel Title: Entering In

Time Setting: 2009

Genre: Life

Minimum Word Goal: 120,000

Timespan: May–October

Locations: Paris, Louisville, & Lexington, Kentucky; Prince Rupert & Victoria, British Columbia; Vicksburg, Mississippi; Tallulah, Louisiana; Baltimore, Maryland; Elmont, New York

Main Characters: H. Levi Cavanaugh, Hadia Shannon, Traeton Stasiak

Background Information:

Levi is the only child his parents were able to have, and also the only grandson on his father's side, and as a result of the latter, has lived a life with little obscurity.

His grandfather started a horse racing stable in 1953, as well as a breeding farm in 1958 — when he couldn't bear to sell the horse he'd raced which was then at retirement age — and a riding school in 1966 — when his oldest son wanted to take riding lessons.

The racing stables produces many quality racehorses for his grandfather, or for others via their breeding stables, and some famous equestrian athletes have trained and/or taught at the riding school, which has led to experts estimating the value of the three businesses alone at more than $6 billion.

The three businesses — known collectively as the Spectaculaire Equestrian Corporation (SEC) — are headed up by Levi's grandfather, with Levi's father and two uncles working as presidents over one area each, although the control is still in his grandfather's hands.

Because Levi is the only grandson of his grandfather many are speculating that Levi will either receive the greatest portion of the SEC, or possibly even the whole thing. Regardless, Levi's handsomeness and the fact that he's, at least unofficially, considered Kentucky's most eligible bachelor have made him famous in spite of his association with the prestigious SEC.

Not, though, that Levi lacks talent in and of himself. He's been well known to be an adept horseman, but that's going to be truly put to the test beginning in May.

Levi's father chose to preside over the breeding farm, and allowed Levi to be involved in the operation from a young age. Three years ago, at the age of seventeen, Levi was allowed to pick an entire pairing whose resultant foal's profits would be divided so Levi got half, and his father and grandfather each getting a quarter. Levi picked a mare and stallion who were considered horses with good confirmation and mediocre bloodlines who'd barely had average careers on the track, which has surprised everyone.

The resultant filly, everyone agrees, is beautiful, but considering her bloodlines, no one really thinks she'll do all that well on the track. Levi, on the other hand, is certain that there is something great about this filly, and he can only hope that he's right.

Hadia is the oldest daughter and third child of six living in a generally normal Canadian household. Her father is an RCMP officer, and her mother stays at home, homeschooling all of the children.

She was born in Alberta, but promotions throughout the ranks of the RCMP caused her family to move to BC when she was nine, and they've lived there since then.

In part because her father is an RCMP officer — and because he went on the Musical Ride tour just a couple years before the family moved to BC — Hadia has always had an avid interest in horses, and so has been taking riding lessons since the family moved to BC.

She's not entirely sure what she wants to do with the riding lessons, or if she wants to get into some sort of other horse-related job, but she is certain that her life would be nothing short of pointless if there were no horses in it.

Traeton is the only child his mother had, by his father, and he was born significantly sooner than all of his siblings, having been born when his mother had just graduated from high school. She'd moved to Los Angeles from her native Baker, California in the hopes of going to college, but an encounter with a handsome man on the beach led to his conception and her returning home to her family.

When he was three years old his mother met a trucker from Alabama whose accent won her heart and he took her and Traeton to Alabama to live with him. The trucker and his mother had a daughter together before their relationship fell apart when Traeton was six.

A year or so later, still living in Alabama, his mom fell in love with another man, whom she married, despite the fact that he and Traeton didn't get along.

The man turned out to be a gambler and a drunk, as well as being highly abusive — although he fathered five children with Traeton's mother — and Traeton's life with him was difficult, especially as the disagreements between him and his stepfather grew.

Finally, at the age of fourteen, five years ago, Traeton ran away from home, and since has wandered around the South in a mostly homeless and vagrant way, looking for a place to live, but yet paranoid still that his stepfather will hunt him down and beat him into oblivion for running away, which prevents him from sticking around in any one place for too long.

Pronunciations:

Cavanaugh: kahvahnaw

Traeton: traytin

Stasiak: stahseeack

Spectaculaire: specktackyoul'air

The novel begins June 1.

Trustful: Day 15

Word Total: 90,004

Year to Date: 510,047

Summary of Events:

Rosemarie received one of the dresses Wolfgang had found and sent her own back with the eagle. Wolfgang cut up the dress and sent it back to Rosemarie before packing and helping her get out; Hulda noticed them, however, and managed to destroy the part of the fortress that led to the trigger to open the door down the stairs, but Wolfgang made use of another secret passageway to wake up the ghosts so that they'd distract Hulda, however, one of them ended up wounding him . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"A low groan brought her attention back to Herr Edler, whose eyes opened and appeared to be shining  a bright white. Rosemarie shrieked in fright and turned to flee, but the eagle's squawk stopped her.

She looked into the eagle's eyes. His stare was intense, but nothing short of relieving and reassuring. She suddenly felt that she ought to get out one of the oils and apply it to Herr Edler's wounds.

Although her hands still trembled, Rosemarie did as she felt she ought. Herr Edler's body relaxed; his eyes, wide open, glowed a white-blue, almost the colour of moonlight, Rosemarie felt, for a time before the light faded and his eyes returned to their natural blue colour.

After a few moments his chest seemingly convulsed back into action and he blinked before trying to sit up and look at her.

"Josef," Rosemarie whispered, relief flowing through her.

The eagle took off and Rosemarie pulled Herr Edler to his feet. He looked shaky, but normal.

"Are you alright?" Rosemarie asked.

"All things considered," Herr Edler replied.

"I've got the serving platters, come," Rosemarie said.

She took up the platters in one hand and grabbed his hand with the other. He staggered after her initially, but seemed to regain strength as he went with her.

Rosemarie led him up the stairs, but then stopped. "Now where do we go?"

"It's a gamble," Herr Edler replied. "But I feel there might be another trigger for the door."

Rosemarie nodded while Herr Edler took a platter from her hand and led her out along the causeway to the north, across from the crumbled ruins where her bedroom — among other things — had been.

Seeing a large window and an opulent bed now made visible by the rubble, Rosemarie stopped.

"What?" Herr Edler asked.

"That's the room," Rosemarie said.

"I know," Herr Edler replied. "That's where I found the dresses, come on, the ghosts look to be losing, we can't waste any time."

Rosemarie hurried after Herr Edler, slowing when he slowed and walked more at a normal stride. She heard a grinding of stone before the door opened.

"What made you think there would be another trigger?" Rosemarie asked.

"I don't know," Herr Edler replied. "I just hoped that there was another one. Not that it's to worry about now, come on."

He led her into the corridor, down the stairs to the landing that went to the exit door. Setting his serving platter down, he sat on it.

"We're going to slide down the stairs on serving platters?" Rosemarie asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Herr Edler replied. "The children at court did it all the time. Carpet makes it quieter, but it makes a trip down the stairs much faster regardless."

He carefully slid his platter forward until it tipped down the stairs and rattled off.

Nervously, Rosemarie set her platter down, sat the same way as Herr Edler had, and followed his lead."

Next post will be on May 31.

Trustful: Day 14

Word Count: 84,017

Summary of Events:

Wolfgang tried to think of anywhere he'd been where there was a long stretch of wall that could be hiding a secret door, and then realised that Rosemarie's tower fit the clue he'd been given by the Elven-Lord. Rosemarie and Wolfgang had a long conversation that was somewhat an argument as Rosemarie was frustrated that Wolfgang wouldn't just cut up either her cloak or her blanket to finish off the ladder. Wolfgang decided to examine the stone that opened the secret door to the stairs, and by doing so ended up being spied by Hulda, who pursued him; he got into Rosemarie's room and, while hiding behind the door, discovered several bricks were loose, so he went to see what was on the other side of them . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Sliding out from behind the wooden object, Wolfgang couldn't believe his eyes. He was, indeed, standing in the very same room Rosemarie had described. He had to be.

There was a long wall to his left which appeared — and only appeared, Wolfgang was sure — to have no doors, and an equally long wall to his right which had a truly immense window in it, right at the head of the bed, which was comfortably dressed.

Beside him — having just been pushed out of the way by him to get into the room — was a wardrobe, above him were horribly cobwebbed rafters, and ahead of him was an incredibly grand fireplace, although the hearth was cold from long going unused.

Quickly Wolfgang turned to the wardrobe and opened it.

He almost wanted to shout for joy and relief. Fabric! He'd found fabric! There were three dresses in the closet fit for the cutting and using in the ladder.

Wolfgang pulled them out of the closet and nearly embraced them with elation. He drew out his dagger, but then paused and looked at them.

These dresses were not made out of plain, undyed linen, but were made out of coloured cotton, and in the closet he also spied a leather corset of the type that peasant women wore on the outsides of their dresses — that way they could make their dresses the size to accommodate them with child, but yet have them appear normally sized when they weren't carrying a child.

So the which room had the Elven-Lord been referring to? Because, with these dresses, Wolfgang could cut up Rosemarie's dress and give her these cleaner, nicer, more comfortable — he was sure, as he'd only touched linen and found it to be quite itchy — dresses to wear, which would make her not look quite so out of place.

Unless the Elven-Lord's riddling rhyme had been referring to both rooms. He could see that, being as both rooms fit the description.

Taking up the corset, Wolfgang felt it. It was tough, hard to manipulate, and rough to the touch. Hulda had oil they could use to soften it up again, they'd just have to do it as they went.

Wolfgang then shifted his jaw. Hulda was still waiting for him somewhere, he was sure. How was he supposed to get out of here with the dresses to get them to Rosemarie, much less get the two of them out of the fortress in all due haste? After all, it would probably be best for them to get out of the fortress as quickly as they could.

But, then again, it might be an idea to wait one more night and then make their escape in the morning; that way Hulda would, hopefully, give up on waiting for him to move, or whatever she was doing, and have let her guard back down a bit so they could make their escape."

Trustful: Day 13

Word Count: 78,003

Summary of Events:

Rosemarie was getting rather bored and frustrated with the fact that Herr Edler wasn't finding any fabric, and even feeling somewhat hopeless that he ever would. Wolfgang was searching for fabric when he came on another secret portal and ended up having to fight some ghosts on his own. Rosemarie was trying to sleep just so that she didn't have to sit around being bored when Hulda came over and started asking her if there was someone else in the fortress, forcing Rosemarie to lie, along with pretending that she was starving . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Rosemarie felt her body suddenly lifting, but she forced herself not to move, although she felt ill at the fact that she seemed to be moving through the air.

She thought she felt stone move around her in a cold, but smooth sort of way, unlike she'd ever felt stone move around her before.

The floating then ended in softness. Rosemarie laid still and waited. She heard nothing around her, so she opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a room she'd never seen before.

There was a window lighting the room, but other than that she could see no way in or out. She furrowed her brow. She was laying on an immensely comfortable bed, and there was a wardrobe on the one side wall, and small side tables flanking the bed, but other than that there was nothing.

Hearing a sound, Rosemarie quickly closed her eyes. She then heard footsteps on the floor and felt the touch of Hulda's weathered, calloused hands.

Her mouth was opened and a rather flavourful liquid was administered. Rosemarie fluttered her eyelashes, but kept her eyes closed. She swallowed and took more of the liquid, which actually tasted quite good.

After awhile she opened her eyes to see Hulda looking down on her with a rather tense expression.

"You don't seem that feeble of countenance," Hulda said.

"I feel feeble," Rosemarie whispered.

"Surely I've not left you in wont of food for that long," Hulda said.

Rosemarie took another spoonful of the delicious liquid and closed her eyes as she savoured the flavour. She wasn't sure what made it so delicious, but she'd never had it before, and she was sorely disappointed that she hadn't.

Opening her eyes, Rosemarie looked down her body and saw the largest spider she'd ever seen standing on her bust.

Instantly Rosemarie shot up, screaming. The spider landed on the bedclothes and scurried away.

Rosemarie stood beside the bed clutching at her chest and staring wide-eyed at the bed into which the spider had disappeared.

"You also seem to suddenly possess a vitality you didn't before," Hulda said.

"Your medicines are always rather powerful and effective, are they not?" Rosemarie asked. "Have I ever lingered in illness when you've medicated me?"

"I don't know that it's been that quickly, usually," Hulda said.

"Your skill has increased then," Rosemarie said.

Hulda looked at her, seeming rather sceptical.

"Know that you will receive nothing further until you tell me who is the person in this fortress," Hulda said. "You know who it is, and I will have the truth from you."

"I know no one," Rosemarie replied.

Hulda gathered her lips and set her jaw, but said nothing.

Suddenly there was a flash and Rosemarie found herself back inside the tower, much like she'd been flashed into the dining room when Hulda had insisted that she sweep the floor when she'd only just done so."

Trustful: Day 12

Word Count: 72,004

Summary of Events:

When tossing down her braid so Hulda could tie her breakfast to it, Rosemarie accidentally hit Hulda on the head, causing Hulda to refuse her food. Wolfgang was still searching for fabric to no avail when he had to hide from Hulda; he decided to follow her and found a second secret doorway that led to a room where he found another dress, on a corpse, whose ghost nearly attacked him, but the eagle successfully battled and defeated. Rosemarie and Wolfgang tested the ladder's length again and determined that they needed at least one more dress' worth of fabric for it to be safe to use. Wolfgang, guided by a note from the Elven-Lord, found Hulda's account of the demise of the woman whose corpse he'd found . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"After many practises on mine rats to be certain that the extraction would, indeed, be successful, I undertook in finality to secure for mine self the first transferral of the soul of one living being unto the being of another.

It was, therefore, that I took from her body her youthful and vital soul, and sought for it to make entrance unto mine self, that I might have such life as to afford transferring mine soul into her youthful body.

I was not, in all graveness, able to extract mine own soul from mine self, and thus it was that the beautiful young Woman, in all her fair beauty passed, and I am now a woman bearing two souls, which I am wont to hope shall give me a greater and increased life so as to determine for mine self a way in which I shall be able to transfer mine own soul into the body of another, that I might possess the ability to be the Undying Woman.

For such a time as this, I proceed my experimentations upon the rats, and wait for mine self to come upon another opportunity to find for mine self a Woman of youth and beauty so as to transfer mine own soul into her body, and thereby mine self become the Undying Woman.

Closing the book, Wolfgang felt sick. That young woman had been one of his subjects — or, more likely, that of his father, grandfather, or great grandfather; or possibly even from further back generations.

If Hulda had truly managed to do the transfer of souls like she said, then the soul of the woman she'd killed was within her, and it could indeed be possible that she was even older than most Elves ever got as a result.

A sudden thought of extreme sickness and revulsion filled Wolfgang. He flipped open the book to reread the last couple of paragraphs, but found that the text had reverted to its horribly illegible state.

Hulda had written, however, that she wanted to become an Undying Woman by transferring her soul into another young woman — either that, or transferring the young woman's soul into herself — and she had Rosemarie as her captive.

Not to mention, Hulda was nothing short of determined to keep Rosemarie captive, as evidenced by the fact that Rosemarie was shut away in a tower.

All of this led to some pretty solidly conclusive proof that Hulda wanted to transfer her soul into Rosemarie's body, or vice-versa, so that Hulda would be able to use Rosemarie's young body to continue living until she needed a new body and so on for goodness knows how long.

In fact, Hulda might well be trying to live forever and never die, and Rosemarie was slated to be her next victim in that effort."

Trustful: Day 11

Word Count: 66,005

Summary of Events:

Rosemarie had run out of fabric from the first dresses, but shortly received some more fabric from Wolfgang, who'd found her other dresses. Wolfgang cut up the dresses, but found that he wasn't able to get as much fabric from them as he'd expected. Rosemarie and Wolfgang tested the ladder's length once they ran out of fabric and found it was too high for Rosemarie to be safe jumping off of. Wolfgang was down at the subterranean lake looking for supplies when Hulda appeared, but he managed to find a crevice to hide in. Rosemarie was trying to come up with a list of the herbs and products thereof that would be useful in their trip, but couldn't decide how to go about doing it.

Excerpt of the Day:

"Startling violently, Wolfgang looked around. He'd heard something, but he hadn't the faintest idea what it was or why it'd woken him.

He jumped again at what sounded like a great cracking. He was shaking too much in and of himself to ascertain if the mountain was collapsing, and the darkness of the night around him didn't help him to see if anything around him was shaking.

The cracking continued, not to mention there was a great roaring almost like a horrible tempest wind was blowing, the sort that would knock down almost an entire forest.

Getting to his feet, Wolfgang went over to the window. There wasn't hardly a breeze in the air. For all the cacophony, Wolfgang was rather unsettled that the forest was as still as it was.

He looked around for the eagle, but saw no sign. Leaning out the window, Wolfgang looked around again.

"Where are you?" Wolfgang called, as loud as he dared.

The eagle appeared on the windowsill.

"What is going on?" Wolfgang asked. "What is all that noise?"

Turning, the eagle took off. Wolfgang watched as the eagle soared away, a sliver of moonlight reflecting off of its feathers, showing an elegant sort of a silhouette which wasn't entirely a silhouette either.

Once the eagle disappeared from sight, Wolfgang moved away from the window and tried to calm himself. There had to be some sort of a rational reason for what all that noise was.

The cracking still sounded, but it seemed to have died down somewhat, or was being drowned out by the roaring. He couldn't imagine what the roaring was.

Pacing about the room, Wolfgang finally decided to leave and see if he couldn't sight the river himself and find out if it wasn't the source of the noise, or if there was some sort of a warmth-induced avalanche somewhere nearby.

As he strode outside, Wolfgang suddenly felt an ill, horrified feeling. Where were his horses? If it was an avalanche, were they safe? If the noise was causing them to panic, they weren't getting hurt, were they?

Wolfgang hurried from room to room, trying to find some view of the river, or his horses, or snow sliding down the mountainside and leaving a bare, treeless slope in its wake.

Finding nothing and coming on a dead end, Wolfgang headed back hurriedly to see if he could get around the other side of the fortress.

A squawk startled him and he turned to see the eagle holding a writhing fish in its talons.

"The ice has let?" Wolfgang asked.

The eagle nodded.

"All we need is the fabric and then we can get out of here," Wolfgang said, a surge of elation rushing through him.

But as quickly as the elation had come, it faded. He still hadn't found any fabric, and he had no idea where to look."

Trustful: Day 10

Word Count: 60,017

Summary of Events:

Rosemarie got up and was visited by Hulda, who magically lengthened her hair so that she could haul up her food; she was also visited by the eagle who brought a message from Wolfgang she replied to. Wolfgang packed up his camp, moved his horses to a different location, and then swam across the subterranean lake before making his way up the stairs to the courtyard. Rosemarie was elated by Wolfgang's appearance and they discussed plans, including Wolfgang's suggestion that she build a fabric ladder. Wolfgang found Rosemarie's room and cut up the dresses in there to begin the ladder before going the next day back down the stairwell to find the room with Rosemarie's dresses in it . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"He'd found a flint and steel in Rosemarie's room — as well as a candle, eventually — so he was going to light the candle once he was inside the stairwell. Then he could start looking for the room.

Her note was securely in his dagger's sheath so that he could check inside each room to determine which one was the room that her dresses were being stored in based on the description.

As he approached the door he walked carefully, watching for something to happen that would cause the hidden door to open for him and show him where the stairway was.

It took a long time before he heard a stone scraping, then there was a bit of a sound almost like a rock being pried loose. Wolfgang then saw a jagged line of darkness appearing as the door swung inward.

He moved forward quickly and struck the flint and steel over the candle until finally a flame took hold. Then he started off, carefully shielding the candle against any wind that might extinguish it.

The door started grinding closed as he made his way down the stairs and closed with a rather solid and, admittedly, chilling thud.

After a few moments, however, Wolfgang's eyes were adjusted to the dark and he arrived at the landing that led to the door out, but he continued past that because he knew where it went.

Walking down the stairs, he felt a trepidation that seemed greater than the trepidation he'd had coming up in the pitch darkness before; which seemed odd, after all, he had a light this time around, one would've thought that he would be a little bit more comfortable this way than he'd been before.

Not, though, that he was going to get particular about it at all, he was going to keep going to the first landing, which he could already see, and check to see if the room ahead of him was the one with Rosemarie's dresses in it.

Going down the stairs was far easier than going up, although Wolfgang dreaded the fact that he was going to have to come back up the stairs later yet. His legs felt sore doing movement in general, to do walking up stairs — which had caused them to hurt in the first place — would probably end up making them hurt worse than they even had yesterday.

At the first landing, Wolfgang opened the door and found that the room was filled with dust, as well as all kinds of broken debris that looked quite eerie under the thick coating of dust.

Wolfgang drew out the note carefully and looked at it. She said that the room had a dresser, in which the dresses were stored. There was obviously no dresser in this room. Once he found a room with a dresser inside of it he could probably worry about checking the note again."

Trustful: Day 9

Word Count: 54,019

Summary of Events:

Rosemarie received a note from Wolfgang via the eagle and sent a reply to Wolfgang. Wolfgang read her reply and felt rather disheartened that she was stuck dusting, but thought about what could be done to get her out. When Rosemarie went to dust the following morning she found all of the rooms cleaner than she could've ever got them and so joyously went to meet Wolfgang. Wolfgang was pleased to see her and they talked for quite a long time. Rosemarie felt a certain amount of uncertainty, and she found that Hulda was waiting for her . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Hulda dropped her to the ground and Rosemarie found she lacked the strength to hardly lift a finger. She felt cold stone underneath herself.

"I had hoped I wouldn't have to do this," Hulda said. "But I should consider myself grateful that I was intelligent enough to come up with this backup plan that will keep you forever where you belong."

The ground shook, moved, and even felt like it was spinning underneath Rosemarie as she felt like she was somehow lifting up into the air. She startled and lifted up slightly to see that she was, indeed, raising up into the air.

She was on a stone platform, and stone wall rose up around her, leaving her only one window opening. In the middle of the room was a little raised ring with a deeper hole that appeared to be a place for a fire to go.

Above her there was no roof, but the walls were too smooth and also angled slightly inward so as to prevent her from climbing up to the edge.

Looking out the window, Rosemarie found that she was considerably high up off the ground, and that the sides were just as smooth as the inside walls, not to mention they were perfectly straight.

If she tried to jump out the window she would be severely injured, if not ending up dead. There was no escape.

She screamed when she saw two giant spruce trees floating in the air and watched as Hulda brought them into the courtyard and magically strip the branches off before turning the trees into rafters for the roof, as well as a wooden ceiling and other things Rosemarie couldn't tell.

All she could see was that a hole was left in the middle of the roof so that the smoke of the fire would be able to escape and leave her able to breathe fresh and clean air.

Some of the leftover wood ended up in the pit in the middle of the room before being lit.

Magically her bed appeared in the room too, as well as a small table and chair. Other than that, however, she was left with nothing. She looked down at the ground again, where she saw that there was now a great pile of spruce branches in the one corner.

Hulda approached the foot of the tower and looked up at her.

"I hope that you enjoy your isolated existence," Hulda sad. "You cannot, and will not escape from me, no matter what you think you can do. I will not be deprived out you, my means, for my end has not yet come."

Rosemarie stroked tears from her eyes. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She felt angry, heartbroken, frightened, and confused. How was she going to be able to escape now? And how was she going to get a message to Herr Edler? His magic eagle probably wouldn't show up anytime soon."

Trustful: Day 8

Word Count: 48,027

Summary of Events:

Rosemarie was in the kitchen looking for a frying pan for Wolfgang when Hulda confronted her about the loaf of bread she'd taken and tried to attack Rosemarie with a tornado of pots and pans that Rosemarie escaped. Wolfgang and Rosemarie talked more, particularly about the dresses that Rosemarie had found, and how they suggested that she was a daughter of nobility. Rosemarie was nearly caught by Hulda when she was heading back into the fortress, but managed to escape Hulda's notice. Wolfgang was trying to find some more deer to hunt, but having no such good fortune, and the stories he'd heard as a child about the forests of the Black Mountains were dissuading him from going to look around . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"He suddenly saw something that attracted his eye. It was a golden eagle, which was considered the official bird of the house of Adler, being prominently featured in their coat of arms. It was considered a symbol of good fortune and victory.

The bird was staring at him, with almost too knowledgable a stare for any eagle. It moved one wing around in front of itself.

In response — not that he was sure why — Wolfgang brought his left arm around in front of himself as if he were holding it out for his falcon back home.

Immediately the eagle took to the air and glided across the space between him and the tree it'd been perched on to alight gently on Wolfgang's forearm.

Wolfgang then noticed that there was a small roll of paper affixed to the eagle's leg, which the eagle bent down and took hold of before holding it out to Wolfgang.

Taking it, Wolfgang waited for the eagle to take off again, but it didn't. He carefully unrolled the paper to look at the words written inside.

Lord Erbherzog von Hochhohl,

I, Elven-Lord Karl-Steffen von Friedhelwald, guardian of the Souls of the Black Mountains, have heard word of your plight, and I offer what help I can for your safe navigation of this treacherous place, wherefore I have sent this eagle to you, a favourable omen of your lineage, to give you the authority of my word in this place. It shall guide you to such places as are safe or favourable upon your command, and will remain with you until you have passed beyond this realm.

Your gracious servant,

Elven-Lord Karl-Steffen von Friedhelwald

Wolfgang was astonished. He'd just been given a magic eagle by an Elven-Lord. He'd met some Elves before, but never an Elven-Lord. The Elven-Lords rarely made appearances, and were therefore considered somewhat mystical, but one had heard of his plight?

He saw numbers on the roll and read them: 02.19.1620. It appeared to be a date. Was it the date the Elven-Lord had sent this to him? Wolfgang looked at the eagle, which stared at him almost unblinkingly.

Putting the roll away, Wolfgang decided he would test the eagle. "Where might I find deer for hunting?"

The eagle raised its wings and Wolfgang thrust his arm upward as he did with his falcon when it was to take off. The eagle did two great flaps before taking to the sky just over the treetops.

Wolfgang followed it through the trees until he spied a bit of a clearing in which a buck and several does were grazing. He saw the eagle then perch on a tree and gaze at him somewhat knowingly."

Pronunciations:

Erbherzog: ehrb'hairzohg

Friedhelwald: fry'dhehlvahld

Trustful: Day 7

Word Count: 42,007

Summary of Events:

Wolfgang went to check the ice thickness and ended up falling several times. Rosemarie treated his bruises and the two then proceeded to talk extensively about all manner of topics. Wolfgang went about his daily routine of working his mare so as to help keep her shoulder in good shape as it healed . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"With a rhythmic swinging, Feuer's head rose and lowered while moving from side to side as Wolfgang led her around the clearing. She was hardly limping now, which Wolfgang had to admit he was impressed by.

Considering how she'd been limping before, Wolfgang hadn't though that she would recover as quickly, but it might be that she would be in good health before the ice let go, which could allow them to actually possibly make their escape sooner, although he had to admit that he felt taking the river would be wise until they left the Black Mountains.

Wolfgang brought her to a stop and rubbed her shoulder gently. It felt like normal, so he wasn't sure that it was even still hurt, except that she did still seem to favour her leg.

Getting his saddle, he put it on her gently and then led her around again. The saddle didn't bother her at all. Wolfgang shifted his jaw as he led her around and wondered if he shouldn't consider trying to get on her.

He brought her to a stop again at the tree where his bedroll was. Taking hold of the pommel and cantle, Wolfgang hefted himself into the saddle. He saw Feuer's ears pin back at once and she shifted uncomfortably.

Quickly Wolfgang swung out of the saddle again and his mare relaxed. Obviously there was still pain there, but he might have to keep up getting in the saddle and just sitting there for however long Feuer would tolerate his presence there.

Arching her neck, Feuer touched her chin to her chest, then stretched out her neck and shook herself before snorting.

Wolfgang removed the saddle and let her go to graze her with Sturm, whose active pawing work was leaving places for his mother to graze, as her injured shoulder didn't really allow her to paw all that much for her own food.

Walking toward the trees that blocked his view of the river, Wolfgang saw motion out the corner of his eye and turned to see Rosemarie approaching again. She had a bundle with her that almost looked like a child.

"I thought you might like some of this," Rosemarie said, handing him the bundle. It was warm.

Wolfgang opened it and found that it was a rather freshly-baked herbed bread whose aroma left him fairly salivating. He had to enjoy some right away."

Pronunciations:

Feuer: f'oyer

Sturm: stirm

Trustful: Day 6

Word Count: 36,017

Summary of Events:

Rosemarie was having supper with Hulda, but was rather full from having just had supper with Wolfgang, which she tried to hide, but Hulda got impatient with her slow eating and ended up making her sick. Wolfgang and Rosemarie had another lengthy talk, but then Wolfgang got somewhat careless with what he said to Rosemarie and got quite angry at himself, which led to him lashing out at Rosemarie, prompting her to flee. Rosemarie was sitting in her room, somewhat afraid to go visit Wolfgang again when Hulda came in claiming that Rosemarie hadn't done all of her chores . . .

Excerpt of the Day: 

""I also told you to sweep the floor," Hulda said.

"No you didn't," Rosemarie replied. "I swept the floor two days ago, and I'm only to sweep the floor every seventh day, you said so yourself."

"You did not sweep the floor two days ago," Hulda said.

"I did!" Rosemarie insisted.

"You did not and you will sweep it now!" Hulda bellowed.

"No!" Rosemarie shouted. "I will not do it!"

A flash of bright light suddenly filled the room and Rosemarie found herself in the dining hall with the broom in her hands.

She went to drop the broom and flee to one of the open doors, but her hands wouldn't both release the broom, no matter how hard she tried.

Forced to keep the broom in her hands, Rosemarie ran toward one set of doors, which suddenly closed and barred. When she turned around to head for the other set she found that it, too, was already closed and barred.

"No!" Rosemarie screamed. "You cannot do this to me! I am not lying to you! I swept the floor two days ago!"

She then shrieked in fright when she saw that her hands were suddenly turning wooden like the broom.

Swinging the broom wildly, Rosemarie broke it against the table and felt relief come over her when her hands returned to their fleshly appearance. She then seized a chair and ran for the doors.

It took considerable effort to raise the chair into the air and break it across the doors, but she was able to break the bar and get out of the room. She then fled up to her room, only to find Hulda was still there and seemed to be fairly vibrating with fury at Rosemarie's appearance.

Suddenly Rosemarie's arms were pulled against her body so that she couldn't move them away. Rosemarie screamed and threw herself at Hulda, who fell to the floor and hit her head hard.

Rosemarie felt her arms become free again and fled, fearful that she might just have gone and killed Hulda. She went down all the stairs, took the boat across the water to her mooring tree, and fled to Herr Edler's camp.

She found Herr Edler wasn't there, which left her on one hand frightened, and on the other relieved. His horses were there, both eating at what grass they could find underneath the snow, completely calm and nonchalant.

Going over to the tree under which Herr Edler made his bed, Rosemarie sat down, her legs gathered against herself, and set her chin on her knees. Her heart was still pounding and her arms felt like they weren't that terribly reliable.

The fact that she'd been completely powerless to let go of the broom, and then her hands becoming wooden, and her arms then becoming fixed to her sides; it all left her feeling rather ill and frightened. Hulda indeed had powers she lacked, and Hulda seemed willing to use them for hurt if necessary."

Pronunciation:

Herr: hehr'

Trustful: Day 5

Word Count: 30,019

Summary of Events:

Rosemarie fetched some of Hulda's medicines for Wolfgang's horse, running into Hulda in the process — although she managed to convince Hulda she was using the medicines for an injured bird in her room — before going and treating the horse. Wolfgang successfully killed a deer and was gutting it when Rosemarie came to visit and they talked, mainly about Wolfgang's suspicions that Hulda was a sorceress . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""Why?" Rosemarie asked.

"Because she isolates herself," Wolfgang replied. "Besides, really, why else would she have you?"

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Sorcerers demand payment for their service, and it's been known that some sorcerers will demand the firstborn child of the person they're serving in payment for the services they rendered," Wolfgang replied. "Therefore Hulda could've offered your parents a service and demanded you in payment."

Wolfgang looked up to see her staring in horror at him. She dropped to her knees and began to sob.

Turing his gaze back down to the buck, Wolfgang carefully started to cut out the internal organs and separate them according to their kind and whether he'd use them or not.

Her sobbing eventually got the better of him, though, so he sheathed his knife and went over to her, wrapping her into a gentle embrace, although making sure not to touch her with his bloody hands.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm a little bitter currently. I probably shouldn't have said that."

She pulled out of his arms and looked at him with desperation. "Then is it true or not?"

"I don't know," Wolfgang replied. "It seems more than likely. You said this Hulda is very old, and, regardless of whether she's a sorceress or a normal woman, she'd thus be beyond childbearing age, thus she must've taken you from someone else, which lends to her being a sorceress because they demand payments of things such as even peoples' firstborns."

"What is childbearing age?" she asked.

"Women have only a limited amount to time that they can bear children," Wolfgang replied. "It's approximately thirty years, but normal women can live for ninety years, meaning that she spends more of her life unable to bear children than to bear children. Elven women can live up to three hundred years, but can only bear children for about one hundred years. If Hulda is very old then she can no longer bear children, and I guarantee you she didn't lose that ability in the last twenty years or so."

"So then a different woman bore me?" she asked.

"Yes," Wolfgang replied. "That would be your mother, after she and your father . . . came together."

"You mean they mated?" she asked.

"Yes," Wolfgang replied.

"And Hulda took me?" Rosemarie asked.

"That's my guess," Wolfgang replied.

Rosemarie's face crumpled again and she clutched at Wolfgang's shoulders, burying her face into his chest. Wolfgang gently closed his arms around her and put his head down onto hers.

He held her for a long time as she sobbed before she finally pulled away from him and dried her eyes.

"I have to find them," Rosemarie said. "I have to get away from Hulda."

"Well you're not going anywhere alone," Wolfgang replied, getting up and moving back to the buck to keep working. "You haven't travelled anywhere before if you've lived cooped up in a fortress all your life, and you're not going to start by travelling alone through the Black Mountains of all places.""

Trustful: Day 4

Word Count: 24,033

Summary of Events: 

Rosemarie went to go for a boat ride, but snow from the storm prevented her from even getting out of the subterranean lake. Wolfgang had gotten through a row of the mountains before an avalanche spooked his horses and caused his mare to stumble and injure her shoulder. Rosemarie was able to get out of the subterranean lake the next time she tried and saw a strange creature she'd never seen before, which she followed into the trees. Wolfgang was woken up by Rosemarie approaching him, having followed his colt to his camping place and they had a lengthy conversation in which Wolfgang explained that he was a male human being in relation to her being a female human being before explaining to her why the mountains she lived in were called the Black Mountains . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

""What are sorcerers?" she asked.

"Well, there are sorcerers and elves, and elves are people who look like us, but have superior ability in that they can work magic, such as instant healing, transporting people across great distances in an instant, or even destroy buildings without having to swing a hammer," Wolfgang replied. "Sorcerers have this same ability, as all sorcerers were once elves, but elves will use their powers without asking for people to give them something in return. Sorcerers will demand things in return, especially things of great value."

"Ah," she said.

"Now the sorcerers were against Erhard because of the fact that he wanted to unite all the peoples under his rule, and he was an ally of the elves," Wolfgang continued. "They wanted to unite the peoples under themselves, and to even take over other peoples and establish themselves as rulers over all the known world."

Her eyes widened like any young child hearing the tale who couldn't comprehend the massive size of the world.

"So there was war, with Erhard and his allies on one side against the greatest sorcerer of the day, known as Erdmann, and his allies on the other," Wolfgang went on. "Erdmann had a great fortress built here in these mountains and–"

"Do you think Hulda's fortress might be that one?" she asked.

"Possibly," Wolfgang replied. "I don't know."

She nodded.

"Thanks to the help of the elves, and the fact that all of the people united willingly under Erhard, they managed to score a great many victories and force Erdmann and his men into the Black Mountains," Wolfgang continued. "They then rallied and attacked Erdmann and his forces in one of the greatest battles this land has ever known. It raged for months before Erdmann was killed. Having lost their leader, Erdmann's forces were undone and fled in terror, solidifying the unification of the people."

Her face looked almost in rapturous awe as she gazed at him, eagerly listening.

"The battle was not won without cost, however," Wolfgang went on. "The dead littered the land, with many lost on both sides, and so ravens, which eat dead flesh, flocked to the mountains and there was such a great flock eating the flesh of the dead that the mountains were blackened with them, thus the mountains became called the Black Mountains to this day. And even still it is known that there are more ravens that live in the Black Mountains than anywhere else."

"Oh," she said.

"Following the battle Erhard and the rest managed to conquer more land south and east, but some of it — especially to the south — has been lost in the ages since," Wolfgang continued. "Once they'd conquered all of the land on which clans speaking our language had dwelt Erhard was chosen as ruler over all the land, the position that today is know as the Kaiser. He is known as Erhard the Great or Erhard the Bond-Maker, as he untied a divided people.""

Pronunciations:

Erhard: airhard

Erdmann: airedman

Trustful: Day 3

Word Count: 18,001

Summary of Events:

Wolfgang managed to get out of the valley before the soldiers returned in the morning and hurried to put as much distance between himself and the soldiers as possible. Rosemarie voiced her opinion to Hulda, who didn't appreciate the action, leading Rosemarie to flee in fright and contemplate escape. Wolfgang approached the Black Mountains, which formed a border between his Herzogtum and the next, which he hoped would keep the soldiers from pursuing him due to the difficult navigation. Rosemarie was exploring the many rooms along the staircase down to the subterranean lake and found a room that had a dresser filled with her old dresses . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Rosemarie looked at some of the other dresses and found that a few of them seemed to be made of a finer material, and that all such dresses were the smallest ones among the dresses.

Some of the finer dresses had smooth, shiny material, others were somewhat soft, like the white dress, and there were all sorts of beautiful adornments to them such as her current dress lacked.

What had happened to the finery? Had Hulda not possessed enough material to make her more dresses in that way?

Rosemarie folded the dresses and put them back. She was puzzled and not even sure what to think. Why had she had so many fine dresses when she was small, but now wore the plain, simple dresses she did now that she was older?

She had a feeling she'd want to revisit the room again; maybe when she escaped she'd take the fine dresses with her and find out what sort of materials they were made from and if she could get the material to make herself another nicer, finer dress than the ones she currently possessed.

The sound of footsteps startled her. She hurried behind the door and blew out the candle.

Pressing her back against the wall, she listened as the footsteps drew nearer and nearer to her position. She pressed against the wall as if she could even embed herself into it and be completely hidden.

The footsteps fell silent at the closest. Rosemarie closed her eyes and breathed as quietly as she possibly could so that Hulda, hopefully, wouldn't be able to hear her, or know that she was in the room.

She heard the door open. Through her eyelids she could see the glow of the light from Hulda's candle. She didn't dare open her eyes.

"Hm," Hulda murmured before closing the door heavily.

Rosemarie exhaled with relief, sagging against the wall. Hulda hadn't found her. She felt like that was a particularly close encounter, but she wasn't entirely sure how safe it would be to make her escape back up to the fortress, which would be the safer of the two alternatives that she had.

What she'd seen in the drawers, though, left her puzzled, wondering what exactly Hulda's reason was for keeping her old clothes, and why some of them were fine and the rest of them were simple, and even rough, especially in comparison.

Rosemarie wondered if Hulda wasn't keeping more secrets from her than the door to the outside world, or the truth about how incredible and wonderful of a place the outside world was."

Trustful: Day 2

Word Count: 12,008

Summary of Events:

Wolfgang, riding through the forest, ended up inadvertently coming upon a logger who recognised who he was due to the colour of his cape lining, prompting him to flee out of fright. Rosemarie found the secret door, opened onto a lengthy stairway before finally getting down to a subterranean lake where she tried her hand at rowing the boat moored there and finally got to explore the outside world. Wolfgang was getting set to sleep when his horses heard another horse, who had a rider with it, and prompted him to flee again; some of his uncle's soldiers pursued him . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Wolfgang looked back under his arm again and saw the shadowy figures still giving chase to him, barely illuminated by the reflection of the ambient starlight down onto the snow and back off of it again.

He leaned back in his saddle as his mare and colt suddenly slowed to a stop. The land still stretched out ahead of them, but Wolfgang could tell it was a whole lot further down than the level they'd been riding on.

Untying his colt from his saddle, he tossed the rope across the colt's back so as to let him figure his way down the slope himself. His colt started forward, feeling his way around rather confidently.

Wolfgang looked over his shoulder as his mare started to follow. The soldiers were still gaining on them. He could only hope that this slope might detract the soldiers from following; much less that it wasn't narrow enough that they could easily find themselves another way down the slope.

Pressing one hand against the pommel of his saddle, Wolfgang leaned back against the cantle so that, if he would've been on flat ground, he would've been almost laying on his mare's back.

His colt stumbled ahead of them and Wolfgang's heart went into his throat as he waited for the rest of the fall, but his colt recovered his footing and continued on with no fracture to his confidence, it seemed.

Uncertainly, Wolfgang waited for his mare to stumble at the same spot, but she kept her footing quite well, actually, and made her way down the slope confidently, until the last bit, where she slipped and ended up sliding her way down to level ground the last distance — about their combined height standing on the level ground.

At the bottom, he secured his colt's rope around the horn on the pommel of his saddle again and started his horses forward slowly.

The sound of further shouts turned his gaze back up to the top of the slope, where the soldiers were all gathered, but appeared to be making no move to come down after him.

"We know where you are!" one called. "And we'll be back! We will not lose our lives in failure!"

With that, they all turned and disappeared from the edge. Wolfgang sighed with a measure of relief. For now he no longer had to run, but in the morning he was going to have to find a way out of this broad valley, which seemed to serve no purpose, being as the nearest river that could possibly fill it was further to the west.

Navigation in daylight, likely, though, would be a lot easier than navigation in the dark, or, at least, if nothing else, rather less harrowing than it currently seemed."

Trustful: Day 1

Word Count: 6,011

Summary of Events:

Wolfgang was woken in the night by his former nursemaid, who told him that his aunt had given birth to a son and he needed to flee; which he proceeded to do. Rosemarie got up and had breakfast with Hulda before setting about to do her chores. Wolfgang stopped to let his horses drink before continuing on with no end destination in mind. Rosemarie saw Hulda appear out of seemingly nowhere, which led her to suspect Hulda had hidden the door out of the fortress in the wall . . .

Excerpt of the Day:

"Rosemarie felt desperately, even using her feet to press against the lower bricks to see if it was made to be opened by foot so as to be usable when Hulda's hands were laden down with various materials.

She reached up high even, but paused in thought. Hulda was shorter than she was, the trigger to get out wasn't likely up high because Hulda wouldn't be able to reach it then, and her cane would likely be ineffective unless she pressed it up against the roof overhead . . .

Rosemarie looked up. She couldn't reach up there, but it was a distinct possibility that the trigger was up there somewhere.

How was she going to reach it, though? Rosemarie looked around for a stick, but there was none close at hand — and unsurprisingly, too, considering the fact that there were no trees in the courtyard.

Rosemarie scurried over to the room where Hulda kept all the tools she used for working the gardens. There were plenty of long-handled tools in there that would assuredly work to try opening the door with.

She selected the first one she found, a hoe, and hurried back over to the spot where Hulda's footprints disappeared. She pressed randomly at the stones overhead, but none of them would move.

Looking up at the overhead stones, Rosemarie was ready to despair. She had no idea where the trigger was. Hulda had obviously done a good job in hiding it. Rosemarie didn't know that she was ever going to find the way out.

With a sigh, Rosemarie looked toward Hulda's footprints before she realised that the footprints only left the place where Hulda had emerged from. They didn't go in.

It hadn't snowed or blown over the course of the day, therefore Hulda's footprints going into the place on the other side ought to still have been visible, but Rosemarie didn't see them anywhere.

She looked all around the snow by the place where Hulda had emerged from, but found that there was only the footprints leading away. Wherever the way in was, it appeared to not be here.

Rosemarie quickly started searching along the wall, but to no more avail than she'd had searching around the door.

In fact, the only footprints in the courtyard that belonged to Hulda were the set that left the door and headed into the door that Rosemarie herself had fled to. The only other logical place a door into the place could be was inside.

But where inside? Rosemarie had a feeling she was going to have some exploring to do, not that she was sure how she was going to find the way in. She might have to bring the hoe with her and hope that Hulda wouldn't notice. Good thing it wasn't spring anytime soon."