SIGHT OF SAND: Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Age Six; Helmet



You were holding some kind of object that was unfamiliar to me. It was made of wood, a natural resource that was not readily available to us in the desert. Wood only grew in abundance in lands with thick forests and lots of rain. Neither of these things could be found in the vast deserts of Sulvik, the kingdom I called home. The only areas of Sulvik where wood could be grown and harvested were in the grand cities along the banks of the three great rivers; the Trec, Zwein, and Serep. This made wood a luxury that only the upper class and noble could afford. So, being a low middle class, the object amazed me. I gawked at it like a child gawks at sweets.

You started laughing when you saw this expression on my face. In the hollow and windowless room, the sound of your laughter ricocheted off the walls and bounced around excitedly. We had recently moved into this house from across town, and this very room was to be your gallery.

“Go ahead and try to guess what it is.” You smiled and held the object out to me. “Take it. But be careful.” I grabbed it with my small six year-old hands and observed it carefully. It was some kind of helmet, but even to my young eyes it was obvious that it was too small for any grown man’s head. It was designed to look like an animal I had never seen before and therefore did not recognize.

“It’s a helmet, but... it’s too small.” I held the object with one hand and I ran the other against the grain of the fine material. If I dropped it, would it split in half like a melon? Or would it shatter, like glass? I did not wish to find out.

“Yes! It’s a very special kind of helmet.” You grinned with the eagerness of sharing your knowledge with me, someone who could pass it down for generations to come. “It’s a helmet children wear with which to play war.”

“Father, where did you find this? Do the boys play war like the ones here?”

“There is an island south of the grassland kingdom, long forgotten by time and war.” Your voice had changed. Now, there was a little magic in it as you began to narrate a tale of your own. From the bag hanging on your shoulder you retrieved a world map. The very same map I had watched you spend hours meticulously sketching within the confines of your office in our old home. You pointed to a big island to the left of the map, divided vertically in half by a river that opened north to the sea.

“That is where we live. Sulvik.” I exclaimed loudly, excited to share knowledge of my own. Being female, I did not have the opportunity to go to school and get educated. Any education I got was from you. You were always very eager to share your own knowledge with anyone despite gender or class.

“Very good!” You encouraged. You moved your finger to a much bigger land mass on the right of the map. “Do you know what this is?”

“Euphasia. The grass kingdom.” I beamed with the confidence of a child.

“Amazing.” You smiled proudly. You then moved your finger to a very small island just south of Euphasia, one that I had already assumed was a part of the grass kingdom. “But do you know what this is?” I hesitated, then shook my head. “This is a country called Vernul. The people that live there are called Vernulan. But they are very different than humans.”

“Are they like elves?” The elves were the only other race I knew of. I knew there were more, and you had told me many stories about them, but I could never remember their names. You shook your head.

“No, they are something much different. Do you remember my stories about the dragons?”

“Oh, yes!” I exclaimed, my memory jogged. “The big scaled beasts with wings that breathe fire.”

“You have a very good memory. I’m proud of you.” Your excitement pleased me. “The dragons lived during the time of the Ancients, the same time as the High Elves and Merfolk. Together, they were the first three races to roam this world. During their time, long long ago, was when they spoke the ancient language.” You rolled up your map and put it away. I was glued to your words, and you continued. “But the dragons and elves and Merfolk began to die away. So they needed people that would carry on their legacy. As the land and times changed, so did they and each race evolved to better suit their environment. The dragons became the Draconi people of Draconia, the mountain kingdom.” You paused. “Do you remember the Draconi, Mari?”

“No.... I forgot.” I pouted, but you were not upset.

“They are the dragon people that walk on two legs. They evolved to be masters of land as well as the sky.” I beamed, suddenly remembering as you spoke. But, then a question came to mind.

“So who are the Ver... Ver...?” I stuttered, not remembering the name.

“The Vernulan.” You chuckled at my childishness. “Long ago, but not as long ago as the time of the Ancients, the Draconi began making children with the High Elves.” Shock spread across my face, but you continued without question. “When this happened, the dragons rejected these children. They hated them, because they said they tarnished the pure blood line of the dragons. The dragons rejected these children to the small island you now know to be Vernul, and those dragon-elven inbreds are those called the Vernulan.”

“But what happened? How come you said their island is forgotten?” I was trapped in your story, mesmerized by your words. You had told be about the dragons many times before, you had told me about all three ancient beings that spoke the legendary and long-forgotten language. But only now was I beginning to realize that the legend was much deeper and much more complicated than meets the eye.

“The small island is trapped by two greater kingdoms. Euphasia to the north, as you already know, and another kingdom to the south. Over the course of history, Vernul had been raided and conquered many times. War ravaged the island dry. Once a thick, fruitful forest the island is now entirely a rocky plane. The dramatic change in the island’s environment in such a short amount of time caused people to start believing that the Vernulan had died along with the island’s forests. So they, and the island, were eventually forgotten. Forgotten, that is, until your very own father found it again.”



After that day, I told you I wanted to know everything that you knew. You pleaded at first that women, especially young girls like myself, shouldn’t have to worry about the quarrels of ancient men and of the death and destruction of many people and kingdoms. But you gave it some thought, and told me I could be your apprentice. You said when you came home from every expedition you would bring ancient relics and artifacts for us to study, and you said we would learn about the secrets of this world together. Then you promised that when I was old enough, the day I turned 18, I would go with you on your expeditions and we would travel the world.