Laying down in the dirt, Alayne looks up, face swollen, to see her father standing above her. "You are the furthest thing from a daughter, where did we go wrong with you?"
He turns, his associates following behind him, he does not look back. Alayne spits the blood out of her mouth, a rage boiling inside of her, but she does not cry, not does she retaliate, this was normal, after all. She stands, vision a bit wobbly, this was the reality of being the lone child of the strongest in the tribe, the leader. light cascades from the long hut in sinews, creating an intricate woven web of shadow, Alayne brushed the dirt off of her cloths, and sighed. "Welp, time to get back to work."
***
The heat shoved through in waves, seeking to subdue all in its path, but for the Fell-Marked, this was comforting, forearm down becoming a deep blood red as the heat courses into their very soul, the cold season was the worst, but thankfully the tribe lived in the desert, huts lining the wavy desert in ribbons, they lived next to an oasis, where the tribe leader, Titan, keeps his long hut. Alayne walks from his hut, cleaned up, bandage on her cheek, and breaks into a sprint, thanks to her fathers 'lesson' she was late for work, and the coal mines manager was sure to be on her case about it.
"Late again, Alayne?"
"Always am, boss, good thing i work twice as hard to make up for it!"
"Now do you really th-"
Alayne picks up her speed to the very end of the mine, to her usual spot, picked up her sledgehammer, and begins blasting away, muscular arms bringing the hammer down at astounding speed, her arms coloring red, as a wicked smile adorns her face.
"Great, shes out of it. Olette, Hansel, please make sure shes actually out of here at a reasonable time so we dont get reprimanded by Titan again." The manager shows up a few seconds later, sighing and shrugging her shoulders.
"You know even if we are her friends, its not so easy to control her, Mom." Olette says, sure that Bernie understands the deal by now.
"I'll challenge her to an arm wrestle this time! We know Alayne can't turn down a challenge!" Hansel pumps his fist, dropping his pickaxe onto his own foot, he commences screaming.
***
The day winds down, the last few minutes of sun falling into the horizon line. The arrowhawks begin circling the desert, bells ringing in unision, signaling the end of the work day for the tribe. Alayne is still smashing away, her arms glowing a deep crimson, veins forming intricate patterns throughout and down to her hands, on her head, two antler-like horns have formed on her temples, this is a rare quality only those with exceptionally strong soulforce have developed. when she breaks apart the heat rocks with her hammer, the energy seeps into her, bouncing back and forth between her soul and the air around her, others have more control over their soul, keeping it at bay. For Alayne, it hungrily devoured all that came near her, thankfully the amount she produces during her shift, and her friends hurriedly picking up and moving the rocks, shes still able to perform her job without too much scolding from her father.
Alayne enters her own world when she hammers away, desperately trying to control the soul force within her, to be like her father, a prodigy, a leader. but her soul force sways and rages like a tornado, bringing her cold sweats that immediately turn into steam, tears of frustration becoming nothing but mist in the air as well. she wonders to herself day in and day out, Why? shes 21 seasons old now, she still cant perform the most basic of tasks with her soul, her colleagues, while not possessing as deep of a soul ocean, are able to not only maintain their soul power, but materialize the stored power into anything they want, typically a weapon used in combat, but household items, partically those tied in with culinary arts, are said to produce finer quality meals, fish reeled in with soul rods taste better, and oh how she longed for a bite of her mothers rock dusted clinkertrout. If her father's soul was the steady and strong ground that held the tribe up, her mother's soul was the trees that gave them all life, the butterflies, bees, every living being found comfort in her mother, her gravestone is always covered in small lifebugs, beings that crave human compassion, and flock towards it.
As these thoughts overcome her, she fails to notice, once again, that the day has ended, usually her friends are crumpled in a heap beside her, after various attempts to get her out of her daze, but they were nowhere to be found. It was quiet, too quiet to be considered normal especially if Hansel was anywhere near, and that's when Alayne noticed it. She wasn't in the mine anymore.
The story begins as we learn of our characters, thank you to anyone who reads, i will upload even if nobody reads, but whoever sticks with me, thank you, i seek to make this a story that i can be proud of making, and art will be coming in the future.
What happens when Alayne, a practitioner of soul arts from the mystical Fell-Marked clan, encounters a legendary being that almost ends her life and awakens a power within her that she never knew existed? As she struggles to control this volatile force and confront the fear and mistrust of her clan, Alayne sets out on a journey to master her abilities and protect those she loves. With the help of a wise mentor and her own inner strength, she must decide whether to embrace her power and risk everything, or run and leave her clan to face an uncertain fate. Can she rise to the challenge and become the hero her clan needs? Find out in the epic tale of the Fell-Marked.
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