Short Story| Destiny of a Gamer: I Saw Her
Hey Guys!
Here is my first flash fiction short story. Keep in mind if it includes Destiny of a Gamer in the title, the short story takes place in Estaysia which is my book's main world. These short stories feature outside characters and sources that introduce main characters, story elements, and even settings. This is the first installment of a series of other short stories I intend to write. Those of you who play Zelda games, specifically Ocarina of Time, think of Gossip Stones or Sheikah Stones. These short stories will provide hints, gossip, and truths that take place in Estaysia that will prepare you for the story to come.
Let me know what you think in the comments below or on my social media. Enjoy!
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“I saw her.”
“Who?”
“The princess.”
“The Estaysian princess?”
“Yes.”
“How can that be, Ballard? She’s dead. Everyone knows she’s dead. Please tell me you didn’t sneak some of the eylion berries again.”
“I’m telling you. I saw her. Right before sunset, the day before last just past the field. She was watching me. It wasn’t the berries this time. I’m telling you, Riff. ”
“Watching you?” Riff shook his head and began his work anew. Clearly, he didn’t believe me. I can’t say I blame him with all the times I got into the eylion berries and started spouting outlandish stories, the kind that got the rest of the dirt-grubbing farmers talking. They talked too much.
“She died a long time ago. Didn’t your elder tell you of the legends surrounding the royal family? If not, we all learned about that in our early studies as children. There’s no way you didn’t hear about it.”
“I know the legends. I’m not gone in the head. I’m telling you, I saw her.”
Riff peered up at me from the churning soil and glared hard before he spoke. “Say for Ryujin’s sake, you saw something. How could you possibly know it was her?”
“She appeared before me in the flash of a lightning strike, closer than a stone’s throw from where I stood. She must have teleported…something. It nearly scared the ever-living dew out of me. She was dressed in battle armor with a lion’s head coming from out of her chest plate. I swear, she could have killed me if she wanted to. The crown resting on her head wasn’t even the first thing I noticed that gave it away.”
“Oh yeah, Bal? What was that?”
The tried look on Riff’s face almost made me lose my train of thought. Riff was one of my favorite tillers in the bunch. We were definitely an unmatchable duo compared to the rest. I mean, we were the best tillers in the farms of the west meadowlands, but then there were times when he got on my last nerve. He was too cynical for a simple farmer. That and he thought he knew everything. He even wanted to one day leave the guild and become some kind of conjurer for Ryujin’s sake. Although, it is true, he is brighter than most. I’ll give him that.
“I was scared down to my Mana; her eyes were burning into me. They were the color of the first caleeia flowers in spring, an unmistakable violet just like the king’s, or so I’ve heard. I’ve never seen the king myself, of course, but everyone knows all the members of the royal family all have violet eyes. It is rumored that not a single soul in Estaysia has the same shade eyes as the royals. I say it’s their blood. I bet you their blood is nothing like ours.”
“You’re getting off track there, Bal.” Riff said with a cocked head and rolled his eyes returning yet again to the rupturing soil.
“Sorry. I know a lot. I can’t help it. Well, here it goes—I could see right through her. It looked as if she was a spirit roaming the land like she was lost or something. There was this—I don’t know what it was—this bluish vapor surrounding her like a small storm of her own. She was beautiful, looked about our number of life years. She couldn’t have been more than…”
“What?” Riff looked up suddenly. “She wasn’t a small child?”
“No. Not at all. She was a mid like us. Grown, but not quite all the way.”
“…Princess Ilysia died as a small child. She died no more than a few years old. If you really did see the princess’s spirit, how can that be? Dead souls don’t grow.”