Off the N.C.

I'm leaving in an hour to go visit my grandparents in Southerns Shores for the week! Whohooo! So I guess that means I won't be posting.

See you,

Izori

Break from Elandai

You know, I think I'll take a small break now that I've finished "The Return to Elandai". I really enjoy writing them, but I'd like to spend more time on Sarea, seeing as that's the book I'm hoping to publish the most. Don't worry, I'm really wanting to write another book with Ben and Kaela, but that might be in a few weeks to a month.

Izori

Book Review: Clovermead: In the Shadow of the Bear

I copied from the back of the book. Very convenient :)

Clovermead: In the Shadow of the Bear
by David Randall

Twelve-year-old Clovermead Wickward's head is filled with stories of adventure. She dreams about the thrill of a sword fight and the excitement of heroic quests. The last thing Clovermead expects is for those dreams to come true. BUt it seems her father, Waxmelt, is not who she has believed him to be. As she becomes aware of strange new powers within her, Clovermead realizes that her father is harboring secrets that threaten to tear their small family apart.

At the same time, the good nuns of Lady Moon are waging war against the evil bear-priests of Lord Ursus. Suddenly Clovermead and Waxmelt find themselves thrust into the middle of an epic battle.

Clovermead comes to understand that the clash between good and evil is raging not only on the battlefield but alos within herself. Will she succumb to the temptation of evil, in the shadow of the bear, or will she fight for the salvation of good?

The book was good. Very engaging and exciting, and I think it's supposed to be an allegory. However, I wouldn't suggest it for younger readers. I consider myself a very mature 13 year old and I could have waited a year or two to read it. It's not like the romance was over the top; it was more like thematic elements. Clovermead finds this bear tooth that, when it gets dipped in fresh blood, it can summon bears. And then the tooth starts controlling her. And I didn't really like the 'surprising turn of events' at the end.

Overall, because it was so dark, I would suggest waiting to read it until you're maybe 14 or 15. But I'm still glad I read it. You can buy it from Amazon from a link on my sidebar.

Izori

Elandai

As y'all may have noticed, I've changed the blog name to Elandai. And I also changed the layout (yes, I'm Irish. Not much, like an eighth or a quarter or something, but it still counts:)

Izori

Chapter 20 (Going Home)

Wow, Chapter 20! If every chapter was a year, this book would be seven years older than me! And this is the last chapter too! *sniff* Nooooooooo!

Chapter 20

Ben nibbled on a piece of bread as he vacantly looked out the window at the people down below. Hans was whittling something besides him, and Tristan was taking a small cat-nap on the floor.

"Here," Hans said, handing Ben a piece of wood and a knife. "Why don't you carve something?"

Ben briefly nodded and accepted them. He took one last look out the window. And then turned away. Wait, did I saw who I thought I saw? He looked back again and leaped up in surprise.

Making their way through the traffic were Kaela, Lindsey, Erithnae--and Yeshua!

He rushed down the stairs, narrowly avoiding stepping on Tristan. Hans looked after him. "Hey, Ben? Where...what on earth?"

Figuring that the cause for Ben's excitement was somewhere outside, Hans glanced out the window. And nearly screamed in delight.

"Tristan! Tristan!" he bellowed, shaking the sleeping boy. "Wake up! It's Yeshua!"

The other followers heard Hans yelling, and then the whole house was alive with joy. Ben had never come so close to crying as he did then, but not because he was sad. Yeshua's alive! he kept on repeating to himself. Yeshua's alive!

After the hubbub had died down a bit, Yeshua smiled. "I'm sure everyone knows what comes next!" he exclaimed. "A feast!"

Josh was about to ask where the food was, when Yeshua waved his hand at the table. Instantly it nearly disappeared under food of every kind! Bread, meat, fruit, vegetables, salads, souffles, puddings, pies...every food imaginable was there.

He was wondering where he should start, when Yeshua came up to him, holding something behind his back. "Care for a suggestion, Joshua?"

Josh sniffed. "Something smells familiar...yeah, sure. What's that behind your back?"

Yeshua pulled his hands out behind him and waved a livercream pie in front of Josh's face. "Care for some livercream pie?"
--- --- ---
The feast lasted for several hours. Everything, as Lindsey noticed, tasted so much more real then other food. The fruit was more juicy, the meat more tender; she wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that Yeshua made it.

When everything was finished, Yeshua gathered everyone around. "Ben, Kaela, Lindsey, Josh--you're time in Elandai is over."

Lindsey sighed. "Man, that was awesome! Thank you so much, Yeshua!"

Josh looked a little worried. "Will we ever come back?"

Yeshua smiled in a reassuring way. "All of you will come back someday. But even when you aren't in Elandai, I will still be with you, though you won't see me. And soon after you four go, I also will go up to my father, Adonai. So say your goodbyes now,"

Ben turned to Tristan and slapped him on the back. "Well, see you, Tristan."

Tristan patted him in return. "Have fun in your world, Ben."

They all said their goodbyes to the followers, and then stood in front of Yeshua. He smiled at each one, and then suddenly--

--Ben, Kaela, Josh, and Lindsey were standing beside their creek, back in their own world.

Lindsey blinked. "Wow," was all she could say.

Josh couldn't manage much more. "Were we...dreaming?"

Kaela grinned happily. "No, we weren't. And that's the best thing about Elandai; it's all one hundred percent real!" She turned to Lindsey. "So, are you happy you guys came to the creek with Ben and me?"

Lindsey smiled sheepishly. "Definately. And I'm really sorry about the way I acted. I would understand perfectly if you hated me for life."

Kaela smiled back. "Oh, that's okay. You certainly aren't like that anymore!"

Ben waved toward the creek. "Well, I guess we'd better be getting back to the house now, guys. C'mon, this way."

He led his sister and his cousins back across the creek and onto the other bank. When they had finished, Lindsey took one last look back.

"Do you know if anyone else has discovered Elandai?" she asked. "It would be so easy to find; all you have to do is walk across the creek and you're there!"

Ben shook his head. "We do know that Mom and Dad had at least one adventure in Elandai, but other than them, we don't know."

Josh suddenly started. "Hold on. We were gone for weeks! We'd better get home now!"

"Oh, don't worry," Kaela assured him. "Elandaian time is different from ours. In Elandai, weeks for them would only be a second in our time. See?"

She held her watch under Josh's nose. "The time's exactly the same as when we crossed over. It's 9:24 AM."

Josh could only shake his head.

"When do you think we can go back?" Lindsey asked her cousins.

Ben shrugged. "It really depends. It was nearly a month after our first adventure that Kaela and I were summoned into Elandai again. But for you two it could be different--maybe a few days, or maybe a year. But we might want to go back now, this is a good season for snakes."

Kaela shuddered. "Righto. Come on, guys, let's hurry. You really don't want to run into snakes around here!"

The cousins turned and walked away. But as Ben left the creek, he knew that it wouldn't be very long before they would have another adventure in Elandai.

The End

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Whew. That was a complicated book. Some people may think it's easy to write an allegory, but it's not really. Because you want it to be theologically correct, but you don't want it to just be an exact copy of the Bible. But they're so fun to write!

Thanks for reading this everyone. Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm never too busy for comments!

Izori

Chapter 19 (The Surprise at the Tomb)

Okay, I'm going to try and wrap this up in the next couple of chapters.

Chapter 19

The next days passed in a blur. Josh got up every day, hoping that there had been some mistake, and then Yeshua really wasn't dead. But soon it became obvious: Yeshua was seriously, honestly, unmistakably, dead.

It had been three days since that day when Kaela tapped Lindsey on the shoulder. "Hey, Lindsey?"

"Yeah?" Lindsey looked up from where she was drawing on the dusty floor.

"I'm going down to see the tomb. Wanna come with me?"

Kaela's cousin shrugged, but stood up. "Why not. We just have to watch out for Ogres, though. They haven't been particularly friendly toward us followers."

Kaela pursed her lips and nodded. Ben had just recently had a close encounter with an Ogre guard, and now the followers stayed at home almost all the time. Not like it's particularly pleasant outside; nine tenths of Mahal are celebrating, and one tenths are trying to keep a low profile.

Kaela walked over to the wall of her room and put her head-covering on. She had begun wearing it so that none of the Ogres would see her face. It seemed that the Ogres knew whether or not you were a follower by looking into someone's eyes. At least, that's what Ben had observed. Kaela had also taken to wearing traditional Elandaian garb; a long tunic with a cloak over that, and the women wore head-coverings.

Lindsey also covered her head, and Kaela grabbed her sword, concealing it under her cloak. Then they set out for the tomb.

Taking the back-streets and alleys, the girls avoided the main traffic. They arrived at Erithnae's house fifteen minutes after they had started out. Erithnae met them at the door when they knocked.

"Erithnae, just telling you, we're going to visit--" that was all Kaela said before Erithnae put his finger to his lips.

"Shhh. Some officials came by yesterday and posted guards around the tomb!"

"What?" Lindsey asked, in a low tone. "You're joking, right?"

"I wish I was, but I'm really not. They said something about making sure none of the followers removed the body, or something crazy like that."

"Do you think we can still visit it?" Kaela questioned.

Erithnae shook his head. "They won't even let me get near it, and I'm the owner of the property. I doubt they'll let you girls get close. I guess you could try...but I wouldn't if I were you."

Kaela couldn't have cared less, even if Erithnae had just said that the tomb was guarded by a two headed, fifty foot long, poisonous snake (and snakes were one of her big fears). "Well, I'm going to try to."

Lindsey stared at her cousin, shocked. "Really? Kaela, are you...um..."

She grinned wryly. "Don't worry, I'm perfectly sane. I'll be right back."

Kaela gathered up her tunic and strode determinedly, yet quietly, down the path leading to the tomb. For some unknown reason, her heart was racing much faster than it ever had.

She reached the bend in the path that if she rounded, she would have been in sight of the tomb. Cautiously, she peeked around the edge--and froze.

There were no guards, although there were swords with the official seal of Daran lying on the ground. And that wasn't what frightened Kaela.

The tomb was open.

Kaela distinctly recalled how the followers had closed the tomb; it had taken all of them, straining and grunting, to move a huge boulder into the mouth of the tomb. And that boulder was now rolled several feet away from the opening. From where Kaela stood, she could see one more very important detail.

The tomb was also empty.

She came closer, all her senses on the alert. Then she jumped back.

A man was standing by the tomb, his back toward her. He looks so familiar, Kaela thought. She hesitantly addressed him. "Uh...sir, there was someone I knew in that tomb. Do you know know if someone took their body away?"

The man turned, and instantly Kaela saw who it was.

"Yeshua!"

Yeshua laughed as Kaela ran to embrace him. Then she said, "We all thought you were dead!"

"And so I was. But now, as you can see, I am not."

"So, is it like Erithnae said? When you died, death was reversed?"

Yeshua nodded. "Yes, daughter. Now that someone who has done no wrong has died in the place of a fallen world, death no longer has it's hold. And Daran now has a mortal wound."

Kaela's eyes shone. "That's so...cool! But c'mon, we need to go tell the others that you're back again!"

The two set down the path, and then Yeshua said, "This is too slow-paced. Come on, let's run!"

Kaela had never felt so energetic as she bounded alongside her Master, both racing down the path to Erithnae's house. They arrived in record time.

Erithnae and Lindsey were standing by the house, talking in low tones. For a moment, they both stared at Yeshua.

"Well...?" Yeshua eyed them joyously. "What are you standing there for?"

Erithnae moved first. "Master!" he yelled, and then ran to him. "How in the world...? You're alive!"

Lindsey moved more slowly towards Yeshua. Looking into his eyes, she all of a sudden felt imperfect compared with him.

To her utter surprise, Yeshua opened his arms. "Come here, daughter."

Lindsey came. "I'm awfully sorry for being so..." Before she could go any further, her words were muffled by Yeshua's gigantic hug.

After the first greetings were over, Yeshua, Kaela, Lindsey, and Erithnae began the walk over to the followers house.

Kaela couldn't wait to tell Ben the good news.
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There. Optomistic writing is more my style.

My arm is so sore! We moved boxes from our storage unit back to the house yesterday, and then I played this earlier version of a Wii at a friends house. You have this sword thing, and then you have to chop up Ringwraiths and other Lord of the Rings stuff on the TV. It takes a surprising amount of effort.

Chapter 18 (No Happy Ending?)

I'll try writing good, but I'm really bad at sad books.

Chapter 18

The wagon-driver halted the horses when they were still a good distance away from the temple. "Better get off here," he said. "It will attract less attention. By the way, my name's Erithnae. We've been in such a rush I haven't heard your names."

Tristan told Erithnae all their names, and then the six crept toward the temple.

Erithnae lead them towards an inconspicuous side door with such certainty that Ben wondered if he didn't know the temple inside out. They slipped inside and rapidly made their way towards the platform-altar at the other end of the large hall.

The other followers, with the exception of Garian, had already gathered around the altar. They looked up when the others approached.

"There you are," greeted Hans. He had circles under his eyes, and looked decades older. "Who is he?" he asked, pointing to Erithnae.

"I am Erithnae, a follower of Yeshua," Erithnae introduced himself. "I have kept silent about my faith for some time, but now I will not. I have a tomb in the garden behind my house we can lay Yeshua in. We might as well, because Daran will not spare such honors on him."

"Yes, we had better," Hans agreed.

Hans, Ben, and two other followers climbed onto the altar and reverently picked Yeshua up. Lindsey silently looked on. He sure looks dead.

The group quietly slid Yeshua's body onto the wagon, and then they set off for Erithnae's house. The followers walked on the side of the wagon, and Erithnae drove. Lindsey sat next to him.

"Erithnae, do you know much about Adonai and Yeshua?" she asked at last, breaking the silence. "Because I have a question."

"Ask away. I will try to answer, but I know little more then you, probably."

"Alright." Lindsey was silent for a second, and then burst out, "I thought...well, Yeshua was powerful, wasn't he?"

"Yes."

"And more importantly, Yeshua was Adonai, wasn't he?"

Erithnae nodded. "He was."

"So...why did he die? Couldn't he have stopped Daran? From what Ben and Kaela said, Yeshua could just squish him."

He took a deep breath. "Well, remember on the way to the temple, when I said that by letting Daran kill him, Yeshua was really killing Daran?"

"Yeah, but I guess I don't get it. Daran may die later, but Yeshua is dead."

"Is he?"

Lindsey looked very confused. "Um...I think." She looked back at Yeshua's body in the back of the wagon. "He--he looks dead."

"So maybe you don't remember what I said. Death itself would be reversed, you know. If you would just read the Book of Prophesies..."
--- --- ---

The followers put Yeshua in Erithnae's tomb, and then wearily went home to the place where they had stayed yesterday.

Un-energetically, Kaela climbed into the bed she shared with Lindsey. How in the world is this going to work out? she wondered before she drifted off into a restless sleep. I thought stories had happy endings. But maybe this one's different.
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Izori