Melign was not terribly unhappy, though she would often catch herself daydreaming of far off places, adventures and magical creatures. "Melign, you must not live with your head in the clouds," Liam would often scold her, "A girl with unreal ambitions will never make anything of themselves!" Though Melign knew her whimsical thoughts to be idle, she couldn’t help but dream.
Liam had never been unkind to her, but he had often failed to fulfill the void that only a mother can. Because of this, Melign had grown up with so many questions unanswered. When Melign had asked Liam why blood came upon every new moon, he had told her, "Mother nature gives us many gifts, you must learn to take the prime with the poorest." This answer had done little to appease her mind.
The old shepherd was forever trying to reprimand her, "You mustn’t give up so easily, accomplishment is to be earned, not bestowed," "A girl who believes in little, has little to believe in," "If you set your standards to low, you are prone to failure, but if you set your standards to high, you’ll be prone only to disappointment." Little of his proverbs ever made any sense, but Melign tried to follow then nonetheless.
Life had always been prosperous in the valley, the sheep never failing to produce fine wool and tender meat, but this year the winter season had been unnaturally cold. The grass all but froze up and died and the snow fell from the skies like money from a rich man’s pocket. Many of the sheep had given into the cold and the few that remained were little but skin and bone. Liam had taken ill from the chill a few months back and Melign could barely keep the fire on the mantle going.
One evening Liam called her to his bedside talking of failure and bleak future. "This winter has been the harshest since the days before I could walk. The sheep will not be able to survive such a merciless season, and I fear that I will follow their lead."
"Father, you mustn’t speak such bleak words! The sun shall shine once more and with it bring good tiding to your health," Melign tried to assure him, "All is not lost, believe me Father, I am sure of it."
"Melign, you know as well as I that I am not your true father. I must bring the truth to your ears before it is to late for you for me to tell it." Liam spoke urgently, but when Melign tried to silence him he only continued more anxiously, "Nearly 16 summers ago a young woman came to the valley, bearing only the clothes she wore and a tiny child. She spoke of terrible forces brewing across the Great Divide. It was as if she were fleeing from something evil and inhuman
"She was on the verge of hysteria, like she had been to the very depths of the Nether World and back. The suffering she spoke of was almost to much for anyone’s heart to bear, and though we tried to calm her, there was little could be done.
"She kept ranting about some dark force and the babe as the means to conquer it, whatever was to be known of that. The village magistrate called in physicians from all across the Known Lands to try and find the cause of the woman’s plight, but no answers could be found towards the ailment of the poor woman.
"One night she threw herself into a mad fit from which no one could revive her. She had been in near constant shock for the past month and it must have finally been to much. The wee babe that she had come bearing in her arms seemed to be her only lapse of sanity. But it had all finally taken its toll on the pitiful woman for she passed away early the next morn. They say her body was shaking long after her soul ever left it.
"But the wee babe that had come bearing in her arms had no mother now and no father to be heard of. And so the people of our village gathered together in a town meeting. They could not just leave the poor babe to die, so it was decided who the babe’s caretaker should be. And it was decided that I, Liam, the sheep herder, not quite so old at that time, would take the babe into my home and raise her well until the time came be when she was old enough to venture back into her mother’s homeland and try and seek her past.
"And so, Melign, if it has not become evident enough in the tale I have just told, you are the wee babe that came to the village so many years back now. And I see it only fit now that you take up the mystery of your mother and try to regain whatever past I was unable to provide you with."
All was silent for a minute. Melign’s ears were still ringing with the story that had just been told to her. Could it be true? She had always wondered about her past, but had it really been so tragic?
"Father, surely I cannot leave you in such a desperate time as this. I will not hear of it! You must get some rest now. Do not think of such unpleasant thoughts. Spring will come around soon enough, you will see!" Melign answered with forced optimism.
"No, child," Liam replied, "all is lost for me. You must head east across the Great Divide to the homeland of your poor mother. It is my final duty to you and I beg of you not to deceive it!"
Melign took in a deep breath before giving a saddened response. "I will do as you wish father, though it sorrows me to see you in such concern. I will leave as soon as the snows break. But I will return as soon as I have found word of the fate of my mother. Then we can shear the sheep for the summer heat."
"I take comfort in your optimistic words, Melign, but I know I will not be here when you return. Merely take heed now, the past must be discovered for I know that you are key in more matters than you would ever wish to be involved in."
"Your words only serve to confuse me," Melign answered, "Just rest now and we shall talk more on the matter when the dawn breaks." Before Liam could make another objection she blew out the candle on the bed stand and strode out of the room, shutting the door softly behind her. But as the world would have it, those parting words would be the last he ever heard for Liam never awoke in the morning.
Melign wept for three days straight, only able to console her sorrow in the comfort of sleep. The snow broke about a week later and Melign knew shat she must do. She could not revoke Liam’s dying wishes, and so she prepared to travel across the Great Divide.
Melign spent every waking hour gathering food, clothing and equipment in preparation for her journey. What supplies she could not find in the household she purchased in the town with the few coppers that she still owned. Finally, about four days later, Melign was ready to set off across the Great Divide.
She saddled up Liam’s sturdy old work horse, Cinder, and headed off. As she rode down the road that led away from her house, Melign took one final glance at the small cottage that she had lived in all her life. She had to wonder if it would be her last look at the only home she had ever known. With an attenuated sigh, Melign set off once more.
Iciness still hung in the winter air and Melign found herself shivering and pulled her cloak even tighter around her. As the hours drew on, the cold was daunting her enthusiasm and she even briefly considered turning back. But the thought of Liam’s dying words filled her with an even more lively eagerness pressing her harder on her quest.
Cinder’s hooves made a soft clicking sound on the frozen ground and Melign felt guilty about taking the old mare on such a arduous journey. Eventually the horses gate began to tire and Melign decided that it would be best to set up camp for the night. They were only a few leagues from the Great Divide but she wanted to face the Divide in the full light of dawn. The gray winter sky was beginning to darken with the eve as Melign set up camp. The thin cloth tent she had purchased from the towns huntsman would serve little protection from the outside world but Melign needed it more for comfort than cover.
By the time Melign had pitched the tent, penned in and fed cinder and eaten a humble meal, the sun had already disappeared over the hills. As Melign tucked herself into her thick bedroll, she was suddenly filled with apprehension. The Great Divide was not just a crossing, it was a portal into an entirely different world. Things changed as soon as you set foot through the Great Divide, mystical beasts roamed everywhere, Gods held ultimate power, extraordinary people and places were completely regular, and most importantly, the very air tingled with magic.
Few people from the Known Lands ever ventured past the Great Divide, and even fewer returned. Any knowledge of what lay beyond the Great Divide were thought to be as ludricous as old wives tales, but the people of Carrendale had always believed the stories or mystery and enchantment. Though no magic or divinity existed in the Known Lands, they had seen evidence of its existence. Every so often a traveler would come through the town, bearing strange gifts and reeking of magic. Some of them may even have been fallen Gods or exiled enchantresses, stripped or all sortilege, since no magic could exist beyond the Great Divide.
Melign’s mind was reeling with contemplation. What waited for her beyond the Great Divide? And would she ever return to the Known Lands? But her thoughts soon faded out as Melign fell into a deep yet fitful sleep.
Melign awoke to the sound of a horses shrill whinny of terror. She knew in an instant that it had to be Cinder and rushed out of the flimsy tent to try and calm the frightened animal. The sight that met her eyes was one of the scariest of her life.
Nearly a dozen huge timber wolves were huddled around the old mare, taking vicious bites at her heels and snarling like rabid dogs. Cinder screamed again as a large grey wolf lunged at her neck. Melign couldn’t stand to watch as the wolves mercilessly brought down the horse and converged back into the tent, shaking like a leaf on a windy day. Finally Cinder’s frightened whinnies ceased and Melign knew that her companion must be dead. Tears stung the corner of her eyes and prayed silently for the wolves to be gone.
Eventually, after what seemed like hours, Melign dared to venture out of the tent. The scene before her was not pretty. Her meager belongings were torn and scattered across the ground, paw prints and claw marks lined the ground, and what was left of the old mare was lying massacred on the blood stained ground.
Melign fought back a sob as she approached Cinder’s remains. The patches of once smooth gray hair was pitted and bloody with teeth marks, the stomach had been gutted open to reveal a gory hollow that must have served as a meal, and flies and insects scavenged around the freshly rotting carcass. Melign felt herself go nauseous and had to turn away. The timber wolves must have been on the verge of starvation to attack a horse, and the harsh winter gave little nourishment.
Once she had regained her senses, Melign quickly gathered the only salvageable supplies: the tent and bedroll, a few dented pots and pans, two unharmed dresses and a pack of dried meat. Then without a second glance she left the ravished campsite behind.
Time passes quickly when your mind is numb. Melign barely noticed the world around her, the only thing going through her mind was the terrible scene of Cinder being brought down by the wolves. Before she knew she had come to the edge of the Known Lands and stood on the verge of the great divide.
The Divide stretched out in front of her like a great canyon, deep and so long that she could see either end of the huge chasm. Yet there was something seemingly unnatural about it. The earth of the Great Divide had an almost hallow glow to it, and the land that lay across the divide was all but hidden from view by some invisible curtain that you couldn’t even fathom. Melign knew she stood on the verge of one of the most consequential moments of her life.
The path curved around and down into what look like a descending cave. Melign followed the path through the opening of the cave and immediately felt like she was walking into nothingness. Darkness surrounded like a blanket and seemed to consume all sound. Every nerve of her body was tingling with apprehension and for the first time in her life she felt totally and completely alone.
Melign continued in deeper into the cave until she was on the verge of insanity. The darkness seemed to numb her mind and take away any initiative but to keep on the journey through this strange subterranean passage. Finally, after what could have been either minutes or days, Melign saw a faint light ahead of her.
As she got closer to the light, Melign began to make out shaped on the sides of the passageway. Strange words and pictures were carved with elaborate skill into the jet-black smoothness of the cave wall, seemingly depicting some long forgotten story. Some of the carvings seemed to portray fantastical creatures while others displayed works of grotesque demons and suffering. Melign felt herself shiver as she looked into the depthless eyes of one of the demon carvings. Whoever had done this work had spared no effort in making the figures vivid.
Eventually the light grew brighter and Melign was able to detect its source. A large circular portal stood upright against the far wall of the cavern. It appeared to be curtained with a wavering silver sheen, looking somewhat like the ocean on a windy day. As Melign stepped forward to get a closer view, a loud and foreboding voice bellowed out from the distance.
"Who dares to disturb the Gatekeeper of the Great Divide?" the voice demanded to know.
Melign, who had just recently regained her senses, was startled as well as terrified of the ominous voice. "I…I am Melign of Carrendale, daughter of Liam the shepherd…" Melign stuttered cautiously.
The voice continued, "And what purpose do you have at the Great Divide and the lands that lie beyond?"
"I am seeking out the homeland of my mother who is said to have born beyond the barriers of the Great Divide," Melign peeped.
"And why do you wish to return to your mother’s homeland?" The voice seemed to be growing short tempered and Melign felt her courage draining.
"It was my father’s dying wish," Melign replied, "And…and curiosity, I suppose…"
"CURIOSITY IS NOT A VIRTUE!" boomed the voice, enraged.
Melign scuttled backwards with the wrath of the voice. Melign could barely manage an answer, and when it did come out it was little above a whisper. "I’m sorry if I offended you, Your…Powerfulness!"
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