《A Farmer's Strength》Chapter 11 - The Woman in Black
Advertisement
Chapter 11
I awoke. The surrounding light trickled through my blinking eyelids and I could hear the sound of birds chirping. I grabbed my mother’s locket and sat up to assess the situation.
I was in a forest. A cool breeze spread the scent of various vegetation and I felt the same breeze press against my bare skin, it was refreshing.
From what I could tell, I was not in the forest that surrounded the valleys and hills that protected my village. The last thing I remembered, was opening my mother's locket, everything else was strangely hazy.
In spite of this new alien environment, I felt surprisingly at home, it was like being on my father's farm. This nostalgic sense of belonging, made it possible for me to collect myself and avoid justifiable panic.
I could see a whiff of smoke in the distance. I was conscious of the possibility that the people that resided there, may more than likely be unkind to outsiders. However, I needed to know where I was and more importantly, how far I was from the village.
Just before I began to make my way towards the smoke, I spotted something emerging from the trees, it was slowly but surely approaching me. I prepared myself for whatever was to come but was taken aback when I got a better look at the figure, it was a woman.
She was wearing a long black dress and had olive skin. Her hair was raven coloured, but when light kissed her long obsidian locks, they reflected a bluish hue. Although her overall vibe was mysterious and dark, she was bewitchingly beautiful and her presence somehow made me feel reassured.
I spotted a small cat like creature follow closely behind her, the creature’s eyes were transfixed on my throat and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. A few moments passed and she finally arrived within speaking distance. I could hear the judgemental “purrrrrrr” of the creature, as it prowled a few feet away from us.
Advertisement
The woman raised her arms toward me expectantly and smiled.
“Calcifer, my Calcifer.”
I was shocked. I hadn’t been called by that name for a long time. Even my father begrudgingly decided to use the nickname that I opted to utilise. In fact, there were probably only a handful of people that even knew that “Cal” was short for “Calcifer”.
I gazed curiously at the lady that appeared before me. Now that she was a lot closer than before, I noticed how elegant and charming she truly was. Her features themselves were not uncommon to the Verdant Continent. In fact, her olive skin and dual toned hair were very prevalent in certain parts of the VC. Yet, it felt as if she was cut from a different cloth than normal Verdantians.
I was aware that it was not uncommon for such people to exist, but I felt as if she hailed from a different land altogether. She continued to stare expectantly at me, as if waiting for me to say or do something.
I collected my thoughts and decided to get to the bottom of this encounter and figure out how and why she seems to come across as if we’ve met previously.
“How do you know my name? Who are you? Where am I?”
She showed a pained expression at my apparent lack of recognition and bit her lower lip. The creature behind her roared momentarily but returned to prowling when she regained her composure. She took a deep brief, studied me from head to toe and spoke.
“Why wouldn’t I know your name? I was the one that gave it to you after all.”
“E-Eh!?”
As if not being able to contain herself any longer, the woman lunged at me. My time with Astoria had taught me how to prepare for a frontal assault, however, for whatever reason, all I could do was stand in place and clench my eyes shut.
Advertisement
I felt the woman pull me into an embrace. I had been hugged before, but this felt strangely similar to the hug that Gladus gave me when we found out that my father had fallen in battle. it was warm and layered with motherly affection.
I pulled away hastily and managed to lose my footing and fall backwards. My mother’s locket fell from my hand and bounced a few feet away. Before I was able to reach for it and get to my feet. The creature pounced and took the locket in its mouth. It then scurried away and proceeded to rub itself against the lady’s leg. She bent down and took the locket from the creature.
She placed the locket around her neck and the leafless tree shone the same purple colour as before. She pointed at herself and looked from the locket to me repeatedly, growing increasingly impatient with every repeat of this peculiar sequence.
It took the 7th sequence for me to finally realise what she was getting at. I felt a shiver travel down my spine and got to my feet. She looked taken aback for a second but showed a bemused expression when I finally regained some composure.
“M-mother?”
She nodded and signalled for me to follow her.
Advertisement
Beyond Average Prequel [A DiceRPG]
Updates Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Check out Discord! Join Patreon for advanced drafts and the chance to affect the story! “I suppose I’ve died then?” Adam had been a fairly average British guy who had lived a fairly average British life. Now he is dead and speaking to a god. Join Adam as he navigates a new world with his powers, a world filled with magic, beasts, intrigue, adventure and so much more in this brand new and totally never seen before LitRPG. (TW: There will be quite a bit of British slang, so if you don't recognise a word that's probably why, like nibbitybit.)
8 81A Good Bargain [HIATUS]
Warren, A 34 - year old stock market trader, lived a life of riches until he's coerced into doing actions that would look good even in a 'Wolf of Wall Street' movie. As the market crashes on a faithful day in 2008, his action comes to light. His superiors make him take the fall using their financial powers. He finds himself with little to no money, disgraced and hated by the populace. He dies saving a young woman from being hit by a freight truck, pushing her out of the way whilst leaping thinking at least he'd saved a single life after everything that has befallen him.Yaksa is a god of a different world and is in dire need of souls to balance the yin and yang on his planet. His search for souls with extreme yang brings him to ask other gods for cooperation. This is how he finds our MC. He takes pity on the poor man and gives him a single cheat! In the world, he has reincarnated people develop 'gifts' that come from their desires and experiences. The cheat he gains is a 'gift' that will develop from his first life on earth! As a former stockbroker that learned how much money means in life, he gets the gift of Appraisal! Follow Warren as he starts his life in search of wealth and status in this world of power and magic! Here starts the story of the King of Wealth! "A good bargain!" - Warren
8 203I Am King: Book One (fourth draft)
In the distant land of Hattan, 10-year-old Prince Beaumont remains in hiding awaiting the day he becomes a man to reclaim the crown stolen from his family. His father King Bohemond and his mother Queen Renata were killed by the usurper Rancine, who is the current ruler of his home in the Middle Islands. Beaumont left the Middle Islands as a baby and everything he knows of his home is from stories and books. All that changes when a stranger from the Middle Islands, a woman named Nasila, arrives to inform him that Rancince has learned of his location and he is no longer safe. In order to protect the home he has grown to love, Beau must travel out of Hattan and journey to the Middle Islands to seek safety among people loyal to his father that he has never met. He must put his trust in Nasila and a hired warrior named Gavin with questionable motivations. He is afraid and unprepared to take the crown, but at least his cousin Julius is with on this harrowing journey fraught with assassins, wild mythical beast, black magic, and demons. His cousin is the only person he can truly trust, but he must take a chance and put his life in the hands of others if he plans to survive. ***This is the first long-length writing I have ever undertaken, and I wish to get some critical feedback. I am not professionally trained as a writer but I have tried my best to teach myself and make the chapters as clean as possible. I believe I have reached a point where my limited skills cannot improve the work or make any more corrections. It is very difficult to show this work, but if I do not, I fear I will never improve and learn. So here it is. To anyone who lends the time to read all of this and any of my chapters. Thank you.
8 195The Interconnectedness of Knowledge
please don't expect this to be a coherent story because this is only a form of mental dump for me to destress the mind and heart for my healthy well being. If your interested in reading my ideas as a form of reference to your work, please put a shout out to my page,
8 126Star Ocean
A space cadet crash lands onto a world unknown to him. Join his struggles as he tries to find a way home------------------------------------------------------------------------------Authors note: I decided to continue this concept. I'm not really good at writing. I just have some few ideas that I want to bring to life. Also, patience is not my virtue so I tend to overpower my characters too quickly. Please feel free to leave comments of your thoughts so that i may avoid this.
8 211The Broken Doll (Brahms x Reader)
[last updated: November 15, 2022] A Brahms Heelshire fanfic, written in 2018 by HeelshireBoi.TW: violence, blood, verbal abuse, alcohol usage, animal violence, profanity, mature content[18+ Readers ONLY]A/N: This is my favorite Brahms fanfic that I've written out of the three. If you've read my earlier work, you'll notice there is a drastic difference in my writing. Aside from there being a lot more smut, my writing skills have definitely improved over the years. Although this may be the last Brahms fanfic I write, I will still be posting Brahms related content on other platforms. Check out my Tiktok, Twitter, and/or YouTube for more! Links are in my bio.
8 112