"You'll never guess where I just came from!" Gil said as he caught up to me, his quick breaths misting up his glasses in the chill morning air. Morning just isn't my time of day, walking to a boring lecture during the middle of a cold Autumn one did not make for a happy me.
"Well I noticed you didn't come back to the apartment last night, and I almost got a full nine hours of sleep thanks to it." He tends to wake me up with his loud comings and goings, whenever he so fancies. "Come on, Des, where do you think I was last night?" That's right, my parents had the good grace to name me Desmond.
"Knowing you, I'd say you were out getting into all sorts of mischief, being chased after by a horde of irate ex-girlfriends." Gil likes to mess around. "Not this time, I stayed over at Lexi Smith's dorm room last night." He winked roguishly at me and smiled, whistled a little tune and hop-skipped along to class ahead of me. "Hey Gil be careful, these morning chills can really catch up to you with an attitude like that." Freshmen and their hormones. When you're twenty-four and still completing your undergraduate degree, you don't really care all that much about who's sleeping with who.
The dreaded eight-thirty A.M. class forcing me out of bed this morning was one of your basic, required, 200 students-in-a-class history lectures. I'm an engineering major, currently. It's changed a few times over the years. Why take a history class as an engineering major? You have to. I tend to put off things I have to do. Gil saved me a seat towards the back of the lecture hall. Good ol' Gil. I took my seat and tuned in to the professor. "Ancient Mesopotamia was a very agricultural..." Blah, blah, blah. Just another day at the grindstone for old Desmond. Sleep incoming in 3... 2... 1...
--
Sunlight filtered through late summer leaves, some just beginning to change color. The fresh air around Desmond was warm. Birds sang in the trees, squirrels bounded through the lower boughs after one another playfully. The sky was a warm orange color, and Desmond felt incredibly content to just sit in the grove and listen to the sounds of nature. It was a stereophonic experience and his ears picked up the sound of running water off to the left. Curiosity got the better of Desmond and walking over to the sound of water he spied a glow ahead of him just out of sight beyond a few oak trees. Futile was Desmond's chase after the glow. Each time he rounded the tree that was seemingly obstructing him from his quarry, the glow would jump ahead farther in the woods. This happened a handful of times until Desmond reached a small brook, having forgotten the sound of the water entirely, he realized this must have been what he was hearing. None of that mattered to Desmond because just on the other side of the brook was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
"You've finally made it." Her voice sounded like chimes, a timbre Desmond found irresistible. He watched her dumbfounded, at a loss for words. Her blue eyes shined at him from a pale face framed by hair such a deep brown that it was almost black.
"I've been trying to get you here for ages now, Desmond. Your mind seems somewhat dulled these days." A slight smirk formed on her deep red lips at this last statement. Desmond noticed for the first time the scepter she carried. It was pure white and silver, seemingly made from crystal and stone. A strange white light radiated from the head of the scepter, which resembled feathered wings in flight. Upon seeing the scepter, Desmond felt a strange familiarity with this scene. It was as if he'd lived it all before, the intoxicatingly beautiful woman seeming now as one he had visited at the grove many times.
"Please Desmond, try to focus. Here, drink from this brook." The woman slowly bent and filled a chalice that Desmond had not noticed before in her other hand. After touching the chalice with her scepter, and whispering something unintelligible over the chalice, the water within began to glow just the same as the scepter. Though the woman's invitation seemed strange to him, Desmond could not resist. He walked through the brook, not even aware of the chill waters surrounding his ankles and took the chalice in his hands. The cold metal on his flesh sparked an awakening in Desmond's mind, but he raised the shining edge to his lips nonetheless, completely enchanted.
As soon as the cold water passed his lips, Desmond noticed a change within himself. He felt a strange tingling sensation in his hands and eyes, and became very dizzy. "What have you done to me? What is going on here?" Dropping the chalice Desmond cried out, reeling from the overwhelming sensations coursing through him.
"Fear not, young Desmond. All will be revealed to you in due time, for now just relax." The strange woman took the fallen chalice and set it on the bank beside her, and with one hand reached out to touch Desmond's forehead. "Stay back, witch! I'll have nothing more to do with..." Desmond's statement cut short by something slamming in to his side, repeatedly hammering him with amazing force.
--
"Des! Hey Des! Wake up man, we gotta get out of here before Professor Stillman realizes you've slept through his entire lecture!" The throbbing at my side was Gil, repeatedly poking me with two fingers in the ribs. Always a thoughtful guy, our Gil. I followed him up out of our chairs and filed along with the other students leaving what had apparently been another engrossing lecture.
I never noticed how short Gil was compared to me. Most of us are too busy trying to tune out the piercing timbre of his voice. "Alright, I'm coming I'm coming. Did you get anything interesting out of the lecture?" Gil is a very diligent student, he takes great notes, and I firmly explain that my friendship with him is not only to make use of his studious nature. It is a nice perk, though. "Stillman went on and on about Ancient Mesopotamia, we were supposed to be finished with that last week! He spends way too much time rambling, though I did get some useful test information out of the class." Well, well, a productive nap today. Wait a minute, the dream! "Uh, Gil, my feet are wet."
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The Way of Kings
Yep, it's 1200 pages long, but entirely worth it. I would highly recommend getting an e-book edition however, the book is storming heavy.
P.S. I hope that cover art is recognizable. :)
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Windows
Their art is just amazing. These guys allow our minds to see the worlds that brilliant authors create, in a way they are just as important and imaginative as the people writing the stories. Art is wonderful, what more is there to say?
Check them out: http://www.raymondswanland.com/Pages/Gallery01.html
http://www.glassonion.com/catalog/illus.php
Advent
Starting this off with a quote, I think it will sum up what this blog is about. Where I go will seem different, unexpected but will become comfortable. Expect lots of amateur fantasy reviews and out-of-control nerd raving.
"Each woman is like an instrument, waiting to be learned, loved, and finely played, to have at last her own true music made.
Some might take offense at this way of seeing things, not understanding how a trouper views his music. They might think I degrade women. They might consider me callous, or boorish, or crude.
But those people do not understand love, or music, or me." -Patrick Rothfuss AWMF
The goal is to open a door into a new realm.
"Each woman is like an instrument, waiting to be learned, loved, and finely played, to have at last her own true music made.
Some might take offense at this way of seeing things, not understanding how a trouper views his music. They might think I degrade women. They might consider me callous, or boorish, or crude.
But those people do not understand love, or music, or me." -Patrick Rothfuss AWMF
The goal is to open a door into a new realm.
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