The End of the Quest

Nothing clicked.

The stones were smooth and gray, lifeless in her ink-stained hands. She shifted, the pebbles grating under her shoes. In vain, Izori tried once again to press the two objects together, hoping for something to change. The cool, indifferent faces of the stones stared blankly back up at her. Nothing.

Sighing, Izori flung them away onto the enormous pile, watching them tumble and clank against their brethren before she stared up into the black sky. A bitter breeze shifted her unkempt hair.

All ink-bloods had faced this quest. So many had declared victory against the stones, mastering them at last. She was different.

How long, she thought, have I been doing this?

Years, the stones answered her. You've been here for years, trying to break our secrets.

"But you're not telling," Izori said aloud into the night. The pile of stones did not move, but lay in the night like a monument erected to remind her of her hopeless quest. Slowly, she reached down to touch the cold surface of another stone.

With a startled exclamation, she brought the new stone up to her face. Somehow, it was different. It's gray sides dipped in to form a tiny bowl, like the mouth of a volcano, and Izori knew that she had seen a match.

Frantically, she leaped up and charged the indifferent, mocking mountain of rocks. Where was it? She desperately dipped her hands into the smooth stones and they tumbled down the mountain face to get out of her way. In her mind's eye, she saw the rock. She had tossed it away, like all the other unwanted stones that made the mountain.

With an exclamation of satisfaction, she held up a small pebble. Then she raced back to where she had left the dished stone, bounding over the dark ground. Kneeling, for a moment she stared at the two objects.

Hardly daring to breathe, Izori gently set the pebble inside the dish. For a moment, nothing happened and her heart sank like the ominous tones of a minor chord.

A faint glow sprang up from the two stones. The dawn of the day. The end of the quest. Izori noticed her hands were shaking so much that she could hardly scoop up her prize--those two humble stones that fit together like pieces in a puzzle. Black with the ink stains of a years work, her hands were illuminated in the triumphant light.

"I found it!" she shouted aloud.

___ ___ ___ ___

Yes, indeed, it's been well over a year since I wrote my first book about the land of Caeleryn. In some ways, the quest is ongoing--I'm still revising my books. But in a very important way, my quest is over. Finished at last!

For the life of me, I could not think up a title for my book. So many thoughts ran through my head, but nothing connected.

That was written in the past tense, happily.

*takes a deep breath* I THOUGHT UP A TITLE!!! OH, YEAH! LET'S PARTY!!!!

Ahem. I thought up a title. Finally. Now that's over, I can take a deep sigh of relief. That was a weight off my shoulders!

The title I think will work is Myths Rising. Isn't it wonderful? *sighs in rapture*. I really like it.

On a scale of 1-5, how do you like that title? Would you want to know what the book was about if you saw a title like that? What image does it give you?

Yours oh-so-thankfully,

Izori