"The Castle of Salzt" | Teen Ink

"The Castle of Salzt"

August 19, 2013
By ChristineK GOLD, SLC, Utah
ChristineK GOLD, SLC, Utah
17 articles 3 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
“So the future seemed
To mingle with the past. For a short space
I saw revealed to the doubt the threads that bind
This little speck of time we call “To-day”
To the great cycle of unending life
That has been and that shall be evermore.”
-Tours


A sharp ray of sunlight pierced through a sea caves narrow efface. Small-colorful fish gracefully sliced through the emerald-blue pool. Their fins cut through the salt water’s calm body. Youthful sprouts of slimy-green sea plants reached for the channeling sunlight, hungry for the sun’s nutrients. Shells of all shapes and sizes stuck out from the gentle sand. The trickling of a quaint waterfall echoed through the sea cave’s damp walls and out into the looming landscape.

Far above the sea cave, sat a castle, its glistening copper roof shinning for the absent world to see. Tall sea grasses surrounded it, hiding underneath the warm shadows of poplar trees. A thin copper wall ringed around the palaces blooming grounds. The gentle sound of waves stroked the castle’s ancient smooth-stone walls.

Flat, grass-topped hills loomed into the distance, leading to the inside of the northeastern land’s jagged mountains. Mountains that fearlessly pierced the sky with their rugged peaks, unafraid of taking the lives of those who wished to pass it. Clouds swirled around them, hiding any glimpse, any view, of land past their outside walls. The castle stood far from the mountains, but the clouds monstrous thunder and lightning still scarred its gentle sides. The miles of untouched land enveloped the castle with a sense of long-felt loneliness, trapping the castle’s single dweller with the dread of the oncoming day.

Deep in the south, thousands of miles from the castle’s lonely cliff, the hum of life buzzed as time settled within the land’s rich soil. The wavering aroma of lavender began to spread, its bees jumping busily from sprig to sprig. Workers plucked the plants with their strong, weather-beaten fingers, singing the songs of summer. Somewhere in the gentle farm’s midst, a girl could be seen melodically singing with her people, her expressive face shinning with blossoming youth.

Between these two faraway lands, a destructed palace sat, its people dashing from its scarred sides and bowing low to its fatal power. Darkness had fallen years ago, warping it into an ashy blanket of desolate memory. Even the sky, once so blue and open, had condensed itself into an ominous grey cloud, unable to release the tearful drops that wanted to spring from its vapor.


The author's comments:
Prelude to my novel's, "The Kings Promise", sequel.

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