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head-in-the-clouds-ahh · 4 months

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It had been 31 days. 31 days since she saved the world. 31 days since she refused to follow the Queen’s orders. 31 days since she had gone into hiding because of it.

Blood. Fire. A bright glow. Her only hope. Scenes of the final battle flashed across her eyes still every time she closed them. And then, nothing left but desolation in her heart.

A robed man appeared in her vision.

"Hand over the Amulet of Zohris," a familiar voice sounded.

She let a dry, humorless laugh past her lips. "Auron. What a surprise."

He shifted uncomfortably. An amusing view to her.

"I don't want to cause any trouble-"

"You already have."

He shifted again, his ill-fitting robes hanging off him awkwardly. He did not seem comfortable in his position as Head Sorcerer, she observed.

She scrutinized him further. Just one month ago, he was a timid boy from a small village; her partner in arms. Odessa was, too; the Princess of Zohra had thrown away everything in her life to overthrow the evil tyrant pressing on their borders.

***

Past

“What made you want to go on this mission?”

Aelynn turned her head towards the voice. “For my sister,” she said simply.

Auron stoked the burning campfire. “What about you, Your Highness?”

There was a dry snort. “For my people,” a regal voice said. “And for the love of Zohris, call me by my name.”

Aelynn turned her head towards the new voice. “That’s really selfless of you.”

The young lad shifted in his seat. “Thanks for saving me back there, you two.”

“Happy to help,” Aelynn offered him a friendly smile. He looked around her age, maybe a little younger, perhaps fifteen, with bright blue eyes and a certain tone to his voice that revealed to her that he hadn’t experienced the harshness of life, that is, until today.

“I only saved you because you have the Spark - you know magic, and that is what we need.” A pause. “It’s nothing to thank me for.”

“Lighten up, Odessa,” Aelynn patted the older girl.

“I will not be able to unless the monster is overthrown and imprisoned in the deepest depths of the Unknown. I will use the Amulet of Zohris to do that. Let his greed come back to bite him,” Odessa said with determination.

“I really want to see the legendary Amulet of Zohris in action,” Auron said in awe.

Aelynn said nothing. She had a feeling that they were bound to go on different paths to achieve their goals, and that might just break them apart.

***

Present

"We have good intentions for the world. Odessa is a good queen-"

She interrupted him with a snort. "Of course she is."

"-and you would do well to show her some respect."

She paused. “I know.”

***

Past

“You never said why you wanted to go on this quest for your sister.” A warm mug of herb tea appeared in Aelynn’s line of vision. She took it gratefully.

“Why the sudden curiosity?” she asked.

“Stop trying to evade the question.” Aelynn could practically feel Odessa’s eye-roll as the princess sat down beside her.

Aelynn pondered her words carefully. She and Odessa had bonded over their shared determination, humor, and battle prowess since they first met. Odessa had saved her life in more than several occasions. She’d trekked for miles just to find a cure when Odessa got poisoned.

She knew that telling the truth would tear them apart. Maybe not immediately, but it would slowly worm its way between their relationship.

That was the downside of two extremely resolved people being friends: both would do anything to achieve their ambitions.

“My sister,” she paused cautiously, “saved my life when I was eight. That evil king was after my parents. They had powerful magic, you see,” she added.

“He finally got to us one day, and my sister was only twelve years old at that time, but she didn’t even hesitate before shoving me out the door to cover my escape.”

Aelynn looked at Odessa with a humorless smile. “You know what’s the ironic part? She’d inherited my parents’ magic, while I was Sparkless.”

Aelynn didn’t want to look at Odessa as she uttered the last words, but she forced herself to meet the princess’s eyes bravely.

“If anything, I should’ve saved her. That’s why I would do anything for her to be alive again.”

And she knew that the Princess of Zohra knew what she meant.

***

Present

“You know, I overheard your conversation that day,” he said.

Her head shot up.

He laughed bitterly. “I know you thought I was practicing magic. I believed you, though, when you hinted that you would use the Amulet to revive your sister. I just never thought it would turn out to be this way.”

“What else would it become?” she said coldly.

“I thought that we’d resolve the issue, come back, glorious, to Zohra, and we’d visit Odessa every once in a while, and you’d keep brewing us tea while Odessa teased me about my terrible magicking.”

She closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears in, because that was exactly what she envisioned before, while sleeping in the camps they set up in the wilderness, next to her best friends.

***

Past

“We did it!” Auron laughed shakily.

Aelynn was too tired to say anything. She’d done it. She should be ecstatic, but looking around at the mourning mothers and wailing children, she felt like a boulder was dragging her down. All she wanted was to lie down and sleep. Everything hurt. The evil king slammed her head on the wall with magic during the final battle, and she had a plethora of slashes marring her body.

“Aelynn. Hand over the Amulet.”

Aelynn’s mind couldn’t register the cold and stern tone. She turned numbly towards the source of the voice.

Odessa was standing in full armor, with the emblem of Zohra, like she did before entering the final battle. It was no longer clean and pristine. Blood stained the breastplate, and sharp scratch marks were visible on the sleeves. Odessa was holding her sword, also with the emblem of Zohra seared onto it. Aelynn had seen it slay more enemies than she can count. Memorized the way the light shines off the harsh edge.

Never had she imagined that the sword would one day be pointed at her.

Auron’s eyes flitted between her and Odessa nervously. “Guys? What’s going on?”

“Aelynn,” Odessa’s voice now held an threatening edge. “Hand over the Amulet of Zohris.”

Aelynn finally found her voice. “No,” she managed to choke out.

“Aelynn. You don’t want to do this.”

“No, I don’t.”

“So don’t. Make it easy for both of us.”

“I won it from the evil king.” Aelynn knew the excuse was weaker than her voice right now, but she couldn’t do anything else.

“Suddenly you care about what that monster did?” Odessa’s voice peaked dangerously.

Aelynn couldn’t face Odessa anymore. She ran.

***

Present

“Do you know why Odessa didn’t chase you when you ran away like a coward?” he demanded. “She didn’t want to fight you. She put your friendship before her own ambitions.”

She couldn’t speak. The past was all rushing back to her.

"I'm the villain in your story," she finally concluded. The hope in his eyes dimmed visibly at that. “Go away.” She turned away, eyes too sore to keep holding the tears in.

He didn’t press her further, to her relief and… disappointment?

“I just want you to know that,” he stopped, weighing his words, “Odessa told me that she misses your company very much. She hopes that you would go back. I miss you too.”

She didn’t, no, wouldn’t turn back. She kept walking with the resolve she always had. He turned back soon after and she let her tears fall.

If only he knew that she sneaked the Amulet into his pocket.

She wanted to go back. But nothing was the same anymore.

You are the adventurer who went on an epic quest and defeated the evil king, all to gain the sacred amulet and use its one wish to revive your sister. Now everyone expects you to accept her death and use the wish to undo the damage instead. You refuse.

#writers on tumblr #writing #writing prompt #fantasy #writeblr #long post #magic

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head-in-the-clouds-ahh · 6 months

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so idk if ppl are ever gonna see this but are the kotlc books worth it? (If you don't want to read the long rant just stop here but if you don't mind you're welcome to give me feedback on my opinions)

I'm on lodestar rn and the writing honestly feels so repetitive and childish - just like sth I would've written when I was 11 (like Fitz tugging on Sophie's ponytail, Keefe's jokes that do not match with his age, etc.)

everything is also so dragged out like so much of the nearly-700-page book is about the characters arguing but I feel like it's just pointless arguing SM put to lengthen the book. also an unreasonable amount is about the love triangle and how Sophie's heart flutters every time she sees Fitz.

I also feel like SM added too many characters and is struggling to give them enough page time. like in the first book Dex literally was the person who went on the adventure with Sophie and now it feels like he's just the technopath whenever they need something and it's such a shame considering Dex is one of my favorite characters. (but also idk if Dex likes Sophie or not because we've already got a love triangle and so much of the book is already fluff and talking about romance that i honestly just want a male character to have a platonic relationship w/Sophie)

not to mention the characters just do not feel fleshed out to me. they say stuff that teenagers don't say, the elven species are literally all gorgeous but there really isn't much elaboration or development on that aspect, and let's just take Sophie and Fitz for example.

personally, I think Sophie is a terrible friend. the thing that stood out most to me was how she left Dex out multiple times and keeps saying stuff like "please don't hate me." combined with other factors it just seems like she's pretty self-centered. not to mention the fact that she literally does not know how to follow orders and I'm not saying the black swan or the councillors come up with good plans I'm just saying the formula of the book is literally just "various plot points get introduced and a problem surfaces -> everyone tells Sophie to stay put -> Sophie disobeys them -> whatever chaos ensues after that." this just makes her unlikable as a character.

Fitz is just... that absolutely gorgeous guy who the main character has a crush on. he barely gets any character development (like most of the other characters.) and yes there was some form of development when Alden was crippled by guilt and fell unconscious but there was literally no development or elaboration on how he handles his guilt from that point on. like even in lodestar Sophie mentions multiple times that anger was Fitz's way of concealing or dealing with problems but that's it.

I do think that kotlc has an incredible and compelling plot, which is why I am so reluctant to give up this series. i used to devour these books in less than a week. and the first books were good. everything felt more authentic (I'm saying that as someone who read the first book when I was fifteen and am now sixteen, and yes, I am aware that this is a middle grade book, but the age difference when I read the books is so little I feel it's unlikely that my opinion of the writing has changed so much)

I'd like to emphasize that this is not a hate post. I still love the series very much, but I'm just questioning whether I should keep on reading. these are just my opinions on this book after reading five books of the series. you're welcome to give me your opinions, and many thanks to anyone who gives a reply!

#kotlc #kotlc fandom #questions #kotlc sophie #kotlc fitz #kotlc dex #fantasy #shannon messenger

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