BcRedneck
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2021
- Messages
- 79
Ok, so I typed up the beginning to this story. My idea here is fantasy along side a rapid industrial revolution. I don't know if I will keep going yet.
1.
Aria pushed her bike along the dusty road. She was a about 5 foot 4 with messy blonde hair down to her shoulders and thin, too thin to be considered much of a threat, but the mistake had been made many times. The black two speed motorcycle she pushed was a smaller two stroke model, technology was changing fast and in the five years since it was built it was now obsolete.
She had been pushing it for two days now and the small town, Deserts Edge, loomed before her in the distance. The factory’s siren had blasted twenty minutes ago signalling ten o’clock. Aria had been awake three days now thanks to a relatively new ‘medicine’ she never left home without.
She pushed her bike up the dirt street passed the wood and sheet steel buildings, dust blew through the air as she locked he bike outside her mothers house. Aria pulled a small shard from the paper flap in her pocket before dissolving it under her tongue. Ill advised by her good friend Davy, but as he said it came on quick and lasted long. She slowly walked up the street to Davy’s bar and walked in her exhaustion starting to fade.
Inside the bar was dark and dirty with plain uncovered wood walls, dirt had been ground into the unfinished wood floors and the staff had given up cleaning them many years ago. In the dark back corner was the bars only booth, the red leather seats and fine hardwood table were completely out of place in the otherwise crude establishment, Davy spent most of his days back there handing out jobs and payments. Aria was here for both.
She plopped down on the seat, her overused legs seemingly giving out and looked into Davy’s dark brown eye’s. He smiled and brushed his hand through his long brown hair.
“I’ve been wondering when you would get back, lots of news from out west. What have you been doing?”
Aria waived to the waitress and looked back to Davy.
“There’s no ****ing oil out east, had to push the bike for the last two days.”
Davy nodded and took a drink.
“Ya, we are preparing for the push west, not much has been getting sent east. You get the job done?”
Aria pulled three glass smooth stones from her pocket and placed them on the table, two red and one white with black veins.
The stones were the sacred possessions each mage carried, the very mark of their chosen path. Aria had killed the three mages. One the path of life and the others, path of fire. They had been working together removing life’s energy from people and then burning their remains to feed on what remained.
“Why are they all going the fire route these days? Lazy bastards. More and more fire eaters they all just take the easy path.” Davy asked.
“I don’t care, just pay me and give me the next slip.” She said.
“Fine, fifty fifty as usual?”
She nodded.
Davy reached into his bag, he pulled out a small glass jar half full of glass like shards and a leather pouch of coins.
“Your going west this time, passed the valley.” He told her.
“That’s neutral land we don’t work out there.”
Davy sighed.
“We do now council is sick of the mages wanting to live in the past, crossing the line to try to force us backward. The future is here and we will fight for it now.”
Aria lit a hand rolled cigarette and took a drag.
“So war then?”
“Yes, war.”
Braiden stepped out of his small mud brick house, scratching at his short black hair and looked at the men thatching the roof across the street, each wore a blue armband that represented the paths rejection. For life they would be seen as second class citizens as was Braiden’s mother and father. They had watched as he picked his and was accepted with joy. Braiden had picked the middle path between fire and force, this was not a common route anymore as the elders saw it as the cause of the revolution of the east, Braiden did not share their views on technology as many of those brought up with the paths did. He walked over to his bike and twisted the cylinder head down, with a kick the kerosene, ether engine roared to life and he twisted the head again to lower its compression.
He rode his bike to the center of town and cut the fuel. In the town square many stood around the bonfire that gave off no heat, they fed from it’s energy day and night. Braiden walked up and stood next to his friend Sam.
“Don’t let the elders catch you riding that damned thing around here.” Sam told him.
Braiden sighed.
“It’s fine they even use them outside of town now, you would think they would have relaxed on them in town a bit by now.”
“The metal smashers have crossed the valley north of the lake, the elders speak of war.” Sam said.
That name angered Braiden who’s own father was a sword smith. The elders made every effort to keep down the men and women who created through hard work and skill, only those who followed a path got respect here.
“They always speak of war, ever since the first lathe was built and the metal smashers became metal cutters.” Braiden said.
Sam shook his head.
“It’s serious now they have found new ways to use electricity now, the path of lightning may be in their hands as well.”
“So what? If they feel like making sparks and turning machines let them it is no threat to us.” Braiden said.
Sam turned from the fire and a small blast of heat was felt before another took it away.
“It’s not just that anymore, they found a way to communicate with it, they run copper over miles and use it to speak though paper cones that create sound, I even heard they may have found a way to do it without wire.”
Braiden laughed.
“Your full of it. You cant pass electricity though air without lightning, they would need power they could never control to do that, best not believe in what you have never seen.”
Braiden held his red and brown stone in his pocket and took in some of the fire. He felt the energy build upon the reserves he already had, Braiden did not use his paths for every little thing like the rest of the mages, so he did not need to feed often.
After him and Sam walked over to the bakery to eat sandwiches and. Braiden smiled at the bakers assistant, her name was Helen she had straight blonde hair to her waist, green eye’s and sadly a blue band around her arm. Braiden would never be permitted to be with her, no man of the path could be with a woman rejected, the chance of them bringing another reject into the world was to great, but he could still dream.
1.
Aria pushed her bike along the dusty road. She was a about 5 foot 4 with messy blonde hair down to her shoulders and thin, too thin to be considered much of a threat, but the mistake had been made many times. The black two speed motorcycle she pushed was a smaller two stroke model, technology was changing fast and in the five years since it was built it was now obsolete.
She had been pushing it for two days now and the small town, Deserts Edge, loomed before her in the distance. The factory’s siren had blasted twenty minutes ago signalling ten o’clock. Aria had been awake three days now thanks to a relatively new ‘medicine’ she never left home without.
She pushed her bike up the dirt street passed the wood and sheet steel buildings, dust blew through the air as she locked he bike outside her mothers house. Aria pulled a small shard from the paper flap in her pocket before dissolving it under her tongue. Ill advised by her good friend Davy, but as he said it came on quick and lasted long. She slowly walked up the street to Davy’s bar and walked in her exhaustion starting to fade.
Inside the bar was dark and dirty with plain uncovered wood walls, dirt had been ground into the unfinished wood floors and the staff had given up cleaning them many years ago. In the dark back corner was the bars only booth, the red leather seats and fine hardwood table were completely out of place in the otherwise crude establishment, Davy spent most of his days back there handing out jobs and payments. Aria was here for both.
She plopped down on the seat, her overused legs seemingly giving out and looked into Davy’s dark brown eye’s. He smiled and brushed his hand through his long brown hair.
“I’ve been wondering when you would get back, lots of news from out west. What have you been doing?”
Aria waived to the waitress and looked back to Davy.
“There’s no ****ing oil out east, had to push the bike for the last two days.”
Davy nodded and took a drink.
“Ya, we are preparing for the push west, not much has been getting sent east. You get the job done?”
Aria pulled three glass smooth stones from her pocket and placed them on the table, two red and one white with black veins.
The stones were the sacred possessions each mage carried, the very mark of their chosen path. Aria had killed the three mages. One the path of life and the others, path of fire. They had been working together removing life’s energy from people and then burning their remains to feed on what remained.
“Why are they all going the fire route these days? Lazy bastards. More and more fire eaters they all just take the easy path.” Davy asked.
“I don’t care, just pay me and give me the next slip.” She said.
“Fine, fifty fifty as usual?”
She nodded.
Davy reached into his bag, he pulled out a small glass jar half full of glass like shards and a leather pouch of coins.
“Your going west this time, passed the valley.” He told her.
“That’s neutral land we don’t work out there.”
Davy sighed.
“We do now council is sick of the mages wanting to live in the past, crossing the line to try to force us backward. The future is here and we will fight for it now.”
Aria lit a hand rolled cigarette and took a drag.
“So war then?”
“Yes, war.”
Braiden stepped out of his small mud brick house, scratching at his short black hair and looked at the men thatching the roof across the street, each wore a blue armband that represented the paths rejection. For life they would be seen as second class citizens as was Braiden’s mother and father. They had watched as he picked his and was accepted with joy. Braiden had picked the middle path between fire and force, this was not a common route anymore as the elders saw it as the cause of the revolution of the east, Braiden did not share their views on technology as many of those brought up with the paths did. He walked over to his bike and twisted the cylinder head down, with a kick the kerosene, ether engine roared to life and he twisted the head again to lower its compression.
He rode his bike to the center of town and cut the fuel. In the town square many stood around the bonfire that gave off no heat, they fed from it’s energy day and night. Braiden walked up and stood next to his friend Sam.
“Don’t let the elders catch you riding that damned thing around here.” Sam told him.
Braiden sighed.
“It’s fine they even use them outside of town now, you would think they would have relaxed on them in town a bit by now.”
“The metal smashers have crossed the valley north of the lake, the elders speak of war.” Sam said.
That name angered Braiden who’s own father was a sword smith. The elders made every effort to keep down the men and women who created through hard work and skill, only those who followed a path got respect here.
“They always speak of war, ever since the first lathe was built and the metal smashers became metal cutters.” Braiden said.
Sam shook his head.
“It’s serious now they have found new ways to use electricity now, the path of lightning may be in their hands as well.”
“So what? If they feel like making sparks and turning machines let them it is no threat to us.” Braiden said.
Sam turned from the fire and a small blast of heat was felt before another took it away.
“It’s not just that anymore, they found a way to communicate with it, they run copper over miles and use it to speak though paper cones that create sound, I even heard they may have found a way to do it without wire.”
Braiden laughed.
“Your full of it. You cant pass electricity though air without lightning, they would need power they could never control to do that, best not believe in what you have never seen.”
Braiden held his red and brown stone in his pocket and took in some of the fire. He felt the energy build upon the reserves he already had, Braiden did not use his paths for every little thing like the rest of the mages, so he did not need to feed often.
After him and Sam walked over to the bakery to eat sandwiches and. Braiden smiled at the bakers assistant, her name was Helen she had straight blonde hair to her waist, green eye’s and sadly a blue band around her arm. Braiden would never be permitted to be with her, no man of the path could be with a woman rejected, the chance of them bringing another reject into the world was to great, but he could still dream.
