Tag: iridia

Welcome to the second edition of my monthly short story. This one also happens to be bonus Iridia content, as I decided to write a short story based on how this month’s fairy tale, “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” exists in the world of Unrooted. Not all of my short stories will be First Friday Fairy Tales related, but because this is my favorite fairy tale and forms a very important part of the Iridia mythos, I wanted to share it with you today. 

The full story is available on my Patreon. I currently have a goal set for $100/month in pledges, and as an incentive, I will unlock all of my existing original writing for public viewing when I reach that goal! Spread the word! 

For now, enjoy this excerpt of The White Bear and the Warrior.

The White Bear and the Warrior by Sarah Viehmann (Excerpt)

On the back of the wind she followed him

To the North as cold and white as bone

To find eternity in the ice and fire in the stone

To find eternity in the ice and fire in the stone

 

I want to tell you the story of a hero, but that is not
so simple a task as it might seem.

I’m simply a traveling storyteller, you see, and I don’t
know you. I don’t know your town, your people. So I can only take the spine of
the story and embellish it with details that will mean something to you, even
if those details might not quite be the truth. I hope you will grant me this
lenience and understand that the story I tell has as much truth to it as it
needs.

I won’t delay further. Let us begin.

Once there was a girl, the youngest of her father’s
children. Her name was Sâsala, and her father was a poor farmer.

(In fact, her name was Kuo, and she helped herd her
father’s reindeer. She was of the Xéči. But this won’t mean much to people such
as yourself, who live settled in towns and may not have ever seen a reindeer.)

The family was stricken by poverty, and they feared what
would become of them. One evening, a great white bear came to their home and
said that he would grant them wealth and prosperity if only they would give him
their youngest daughter.

(This is a far more pleasant version. The more exciting
version involves Kuo deciding to hunt the bear to provide for her family,
failing, and striking a deal for her life and the health of her family. But
forgive my aside.)

The bear took Sâsala far away, though not as far as some
might think if they believe her one of their own. They crossed the Silver
Channel and came to the isle known variably as Aeolus, Pe Căno, or Jói,
depending on who you are (she knew it as the latter). Within the great mountain
in the center of the isle was a magnificent castle of gold and silver wrought
from the hollowed-out inside of the castle itself. It is said even today, and
with significant agreement, that it was designed and made by the Nova. However,
it became clear that the castle itself was not the only thing so made—the bear
himself was touched by malignant Novae magic, and at night he returned to his
natural form as a man to join Sâsala in her bed. He always did so in the dark,
however, and she never saw his face. Thankfully this did not inhibit them from
developing something of a close friendship. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that
the bear is none other than Rormu, the other hero of legend.

The longer Sâsala stayed with him, the more the truth of
the bear’s curse came to light, if you’ll forgive my turn of phrase. He
possessed uncommon magic that made him useful to the dread tyrant Ulyssus, and
thus he had been cursed and restricted to the island to preserve him for the
time when Ulyssus needed him. It is very difficult to break a curse such as
that, you see, and Rormu knew little about it. He knew that someone else needed
to work the magic, and that this person needed to make a sacrifice, giving up
one of their senses for a time. It was for this reason that he and Sâsala lived
in darkness, for if she were to see his face, any chance of breaking the spell
would be ruined.

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Read the Rest of the Story on Patreon!