Marasenna: Ascension, page 1
Marasenna I: Ascension
By J. S. Knight
Cover by: Madison Seiber
Special Thanks to:
Madison for being a good friend, and being kind enough to do my Cover art.
My Mother, My Father, and My Brother for supporting me through this harrowing endeavor.
The people of CampFire Coffee in Jamestown, TN; for being my place to write, and being one of the most welcoming communities I have ever experienced (Along with having some REALLY good coffee).
My friends, without them, this would have never come to fruition.
And most importantly, thank You, for giving me a chance to do what I love.
If you want to support my work, you can support me at Patreon.com/Marasenna.
Please leave a review and critique, I welcome both with open arms.
If you want, you can find me on twitter @JSKnight97, and Instagram @ j.s._knight
Chapter 1: The Devil is Made of Gold
The dark-furred wolf swung his pick down at the rock. He was lost in his mind, completely blocking out any outside influence. His palms were calloused, scarred, and bleeding from years of abuse in this hole. He thought about the outside, it wasn’t the first time. He wondered what it was like, and how it was different from their stories. Suddenly, a voice came from his left, at the exit of the mine.
“Eldroth!” The voice yelled, he recognized it as Laul.
“They are calling headcount!”
He snapped back to his senses - the dark, damp world around him coming back into perspective. He looked towards his right side and saw no one.
“I guess I missed it again.” He thought.
Eldroth took a deep breath and sighed. This wasn’t the first time his mind had gotten away from him and he missed the guards calling them out of the mine. He placed his pick down where he stood and made his way out of the mineshaft, the cool air of the expansive cavern around him welcoming to his lungs,
This was the life of the Marasenna, the beast-people who were lost to time. When the world was young, Seris, the Goddess of creation, saw what the other gods had found in Man, Dwarf, Elf, and the other bi-pedal races, and came to the thought that she should have a force of her own. As she created the world and the beasts that inhabit it, she would take the favorite parts of her design and model her people after it. A race with the intelligence and agility of man, with the fury, passion, and speed of the beasts she had designed with such care.
However, after the War of the Dragons, man feared them as animals, and along with the other “Undesirable” races, such as the dark elves and the Dreamers, they forced them underground. The Dark Elf kingdom, known as the Umbrasi, took this to their advantage and forced these people into slavery. Time had been lost upon the Marasenna, and they had no knowledge of how many generations of their people had been sold into perdition.
Eldroth took his place in the long line of his tribe members. He could never remember how many of them there were, only a few came to mind. The first was Mur, a large black bear who stood only a few inches above Eldroth, and who was also the Chieftain of their tribe; Mur’s lover Laul, a lithe, short, cream-colored rabbit, who was more than a head smaller than the wolf, but her ears made the up difference; Sanctus, a thin white fox that was notorious for getting himself in trouble with the guards; and most importantly to him, a white wolf named Luna, the love of his life and the Mara-Kur.
“There’s the beast, eighty-six, did you miss the call again?” The guard said condescendingly, checking him off on a piece of paper. This happened often, by now they were used to it.
“Aye,” Eldroth said, not wanting to give the guard more attention.
“You’d think you’d be able to listen better, being a dog.” The guard retaliated.
Eldroth took a drawn-out breath, he hated their captors, but what could they do? All they had were claws and rocks, while the Umbrasi had sharp blades, armor, and magic. He decided to remain silent against the dark elf's insult.
The guard grinned, content with the beast’s complacency.
“That’s what I thought.”
The black wolf felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, he looked over and saw Luna, smiling at him warmly.
“It will be ok.” She said quietly and calmly.
He felt himself coming down from his anxiety and anger. That was one of the things he loved about her, she was able to calm him down unlike any other in the tribe. If it was not love, then he didn’t know what was.
A dark elf, tall in stature, approached from behind the guard.
“How many we got this year?” The man asked.
“Eighty-Six Lieutenant, and sixteen for the culling it looks.” The guard responded.
“That’s eight more than we had last year.” The lieutenant said looking over the papers. “Voss will be quite pleased with our haul this year.”
The man speaking was one the tribe knew well. His name was Kharson, he answered to Captain Voss, the Overseer of this and numerous other tribes. Kharson was a Lieutenant in the Umbrasi army, and Voss’s hand in this village. As thankful as they were that he was fairly lenient with them, it never stopped them from hating him.
“You’ll have to tell your rabbits to get to work if we want to keep up,” The lieutenant said with a sly grin.
The large black bear closed his eyes and exhaled sharply in annoyance. He hated it when they talked to them like this, like they were friends. It made him feel insignificant, as if he didn’t already feel that way already. He took a breath to calm himself down, and he felt Laul at his side rubbing his arm comfortingly. He put his arm around her and pulled her to his side in a sort of hug.
The guard shook his head after looking at them.
“Damn beasts make me sick.”
“Pay them no mind,” Kharson said. “As long as they keep mating, we keep making money. That’s all that matters.”
“But a bear and a rabbit?” The guard replied.
“It keeps them in line, so let them do as they please.” Kharson retaliated. He didn’t care what they did, as long as he got paid and they didn’t cause any problems.
Voss had been fairly hands-off with this tribe in recent years, due mainly to their good behavior. He had only stationed roughly fifteen guards here to keep them in line, not including Kharson. The lieutenant couldn’t complain, it made his job easy. Six worked eight hours, the other six work the next eight, and they send three to guard while the tribe is asleep. Kharson handled the paperwork and the contact with the larger Umbrasi Empire. It was simple, and they wanted to keep it that way.
“That is all!” Kharson commanded loudly. “Go about your day!”
With that announcement, the large gathering broke apart. As Eldroth and Luna stood together, making a bit of small conversation, they were approached by someone they recognized as Laul.
“How many times are you going to be late to headcount, Eldroth?” She said. “It would be good if the tribe’s champion could be on time.”
“Sorry Laul, I got lost in my thoughts, I just didn’t hear them call us out.” Eldroth responded.
“Well, try to do better Eldroth.” The cream-colored rabbit said softly. “You know how they are. Your being late comes down on Mur, and he doesn’t need any more stress. You heard them, the Culling is coming up next month!”
Eldroth took a deep, stressed breath.
“Yes, I heard them.” He said, wanting to push the concept to the back of his mind. The thought of the event pained him deeply, and he knew with everything he experienced that his time was coming.
The Culling was the yearly event of great sorrow for the Marasenna, as that is the time when they are rounded up, divided, and sold into slavery. They did not age like man, which made them of even more worth to the Umbrasi; much like their wild counterparts, they aged quickly, coming to full maturity at the age of ten and being sold at fifteen. Only after they had time to mate and bare young, and so the cycle would continue.
Because of this, they had forgotten their full natural life span. More often than not, they die from their captors before they die of age. This made them cherish what life they had. Festivities such as Aluk-Har, or “Trial of the Heart”, and Nuk-Ral, or “Celebration of Life”, were of great importance to them. Aluk-Har was the most common, and the most celebrated. Those who have come of age are subjected to the trial, where they celebrate coming to maturity and are pitted in hand to hand combat against the champion of their tribe. If they win, they are announced champion, if they lose then they have bravely faced the champion of the tribe in combat and are no longer considered a child.
Eldroth took his role very seriously, he was proud of his strength, not only physically, but mentally. It was of grave importance that he stayed strong-minded so that the tribe would stay unified. The chieftain alone was not enough. They needed someone of the common people to speak for them, and most importantly, with them.
“Hey boy!” He heard a gruff voice yell from his side. “You were late again!”
Eldroth looked over and saw Mur approaching. The black bear stood nearly a foot above everyone in the tribe, besides for himself, and was the most noticeable of their ilk.
“Well maybe if you had said something on your way out, I wouldn’t have been.” Eldroth retorted.
Luna and Laul had become adjusted to them speaking to each other this way, the two had mutual respect shown through their disrespect towards the other. The strength of their friendship could be seen through their banter, even if it was quite harsh.
& nbsp; “It would be more befitting of our people’s champion to be on time,” Mur said, a hint of sarcasm obvious in his voice. He and Eldroth were good friends, and it was obvious in their mannerisms towards the other.
“I just said that!” Laul interjected.
“Oh did ya’?” Mur asked with a grin. “Sorry, but not everyone can hear things happenin’ a mile away.”
Laul rolled her eyes, and Mur pulled her close in a hug to his side with a small grin.
Now that the two were done speaking, Eldroth took his chance to respond:
“I know, I just get lost thinking about things sometimes.”
“Aye, as it has been since ye were young.” Mur replied.
Mur was almost twenty-five, compared to Eldroth’s age of thirteen, he had seen a large portion of the tribe grow and disappear during the Culling. The Umbrasi often kept the Chieftains of the tribe for much longer to maintain a sense of consistent leadership among the Marasenna, it was one of the many tactics employed to keep them complacent.
“Ye’ can’t change who you are boy, and who you are is strong, if only distant minded.” Mur told him. “You bring pride to our people, and strength to the young.”
Eldroth paused at Mur’s statement, letting it sink into his mind. He always took compliments in a strange way, given their situation. He had always felt so insignificant. Hearing compliments, from Mur, Luna, Laul, or other members of the tribe always struck him as hollow, even if he knew they weren’t.
Chapter 2: Love and Hope
Mates and lovers weren’t always equal in the eyes of the Marasenna. Sometimes, people in the tribe fell in love with those they could not bear young with, the most prominent example of which being Mur and Laul. However, they still knew that they needed to reproduce; not for the sake of the Umbrasi, but to keep their people alive and to keep their traditions strong. So for those who fell in love outside of their Mara-Ilk-Aurand, or “Mother’s Soul Decision”, lovers and mates were not the same. They would often mate within their sub-species, however, that didn’t mean they loved their mate. This is the way it had been for centuries, and so it would continue.
Aurand was a generalization of their kind, a word for all of them to fall under; Mur was Mara-Ilk-Urso, while Eldroth was Mara-Ilk-Canis, and they were all Mara-Ilk-Aurand. This was a way to separate them from each other, while keeping them together. It was necessary for their understanding of themselves, and the world's understanding of them, and Seris made it so.
Eldroth sat in his hut with Luna. She leaned against him tiredly. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close, and together they sighed in exhaustion. Some days were worse than others, and they took comfort in each other’s presence.
“So how was today?” Eldroth asked, having a lack of anything better to talk about.
“It was busy, Aleksey was picking on Vale again, and I had to have Laul catch Sori, I swear, one day she’ll outrun even our fastest!” Luna replied.
“Sounds like you had your hands full.” Eldroth chuckled to himself, lowering his guard completely in her presence.
“You don’t know the half of it!” She exclaimed emotionally. Luna loved her role as Mara-Kur as much as she loved the young she was chosen to care for. She hoped that one day, she and Eldroth would have one of their own. Those thoughts were for another time though.
“So how was the mine today?” She said after a moment of silent thought.
“Hell, as always.” He responded with a sigh. He looked down at his palms, calloused, and cracked to the point of pain in his movements.
“But I’ll live.”
“Why were you late to headcount?” Luna asked curiously, it happened frequently and she often asked him why. Whether he chose to answer or not was a decision all his own, Luna could never make out what influenced his thoughts on the matter. To her, they seemed almost random.
“I just didn’t hear them call.” He replied. “Was lost thinking about some things.”
“Like what?” She questioned. She knew he often let his mind roam, and that sometimes he liked to talk about it, other times he didn’t. She hoped this would be one of those times, as she was genuinely curious. She didn’t know why, but she was.
“Just thinking about the outside, ya know?” He said. “Wondering what it would be like, how it’s changed, and things like that.”
“Yea, I understand,” Luna replied.
“It’s stupid to think about I know,” Eldroth interjected.
“No, no, it’s good!” She told him. “I think we all wonder what it’s like.”
He took a deep breath. He felt his lungs expand with the humid air of the cavern, his diaphragm ached with the sting of hours of work with the steel handled pick to which he had grown so accustomed. He dreaded how normal it had become to him, but Luna’s presence gave him comfort. Night fell as they rested together, and sleep brought them a peace they could not find in their day to day life.
Eldroth drifted into a deep sleep in the night, his body worn, and his mind racing. His dreams were restless and cryptic. The champion found himself standing among his people, faces he couldn’t recognize, and individuals he could never hope to know. He looked around, taking notice of how their attention was locked on a specific part of the sky. He looked to the sky and saw nothing but black. When he looked back towards the ones around him, they were all gone. He quickly glanced about, panicked, wondering where they could have disappeared too when suddenly a voice rang out from above him.
“You are the one.” It echoed through the dark sky. The voice was loud enough to make his ears ring and it seemed to surround every ounce of the world. An all-encompassing nightmare of the unknown and the unseen.
“What do you mean?” He yelled towards the sky, with the hopes of a response from whatever spoke to him.
It did not speak. Eldroth stared at the sky, waiting for a response, but none came. The world around him shifted, finding twisting purchase within itself, and opened into a world of blue above his comparatively small form. His eyes burned from the bright light brought before them, but he couldn’t take his view away from the sight shown to him, as much as it hurt. Suddenly, a voice rang from his side, he looked over to his side to see Luna, standing in a distant tunnel.
“Come Eldroth!” She yelled. “Follow us into the dark, so that we may see the light and never come back!”
He tried to move towards her but found his legs stuck in the ground around him. He looked back up at her and saw she had moved further away.
“Luna!” he yelled hoarsely, wanting to join her.
“Wait!”
“You have to free yourself to free us, my love.” Luna returned. She stared at him as if waiting for him to do something, but he could do nothing.
“I can’t!” He said to her, his heart sinking in fear of losing her forever.
“Then you are not ready.” She replied, drifting away from him. His vision went black, as her voice echoed around him.
“You have to free yourself to free us.”
He pulled his influence from the distant creature’s mind. His vision returned to the warping palace around him, twisting and contorting itself into dimensions unknown to any mortal. He leaned back into his seat, contemplating his next move. Fate had denied him access to his chosen, so he had to make do with what he could.
He found a race on the distant side of all creation, starved of freedom and grasping at any hope that a glimpse of the light might bring. Their passion would be his greatest tool and this one had the greatest passion he had seen among these people, even if it was not obvious to those surrounding him.
“This might be advantageous.” He thought to himself. His view into the mind of the beast before him had brought their desire, and willingness, to do what it took to free themselves into his foresight. This gave him all that he needed to push this mortal into his service.
“Hmm, yes…” He said to himself. “I can make use of this.”
This was something beyond the gods this world had come to know. There were those who came before. Those who were incomprehensible, even to him, their unintentional creation. He existed beyond the light and shadow of the worlds before him, something unexpected, but very necessary. The embodiment of strife and disorder, given form.
