Welcome to Gaia! ::

The story is in here as it is really only the first chapter.

I know it might sound stupid but the idea i have is to have a story about stories.

So every new chapter the Real main characters moves a bit forward in their story but someone, they or someone else, tells a story that somehow has something to do with the real story or characters.

I know it might be a bad idea but i just want to give it a try.




The idea for the ebony tower came from the little poem at the beginning of my story. It is something i made up while being bored on a train, when i came whome i sat down infront of the computer for a few hours and wrote this.


Well enjoy and please if you have any ideas of how i might improve please tell me. I am still very new to writing and i want all the help i can get.







The Ebony Tower


Prisoner in a broken body,
damaged beyond repair.
She sits atop the Ebony Tower,
looking down at the people below.
As the blood slowly drips into her eyes,
she smiles.
For she knows,
what they have forgotten.






I finished reading and looked up from the paper, yellow of age, that i had read from to look at my friend who was sitting comfortably in a chair next to my own.
The fireplace gave the room a welcome warm glow as the night outside seemed as dark as the inside of a tomb.
He gave me a rather strange look.
"Who wrote that? I dont think i recognice it."
He stroked the small black beard, that he kept carefully trimmed, with slow movements of his hand.
Only to be looking away from me to stare at the fireplace.
The room seemed very quiet, even more so than it should have been.


I gazed out past the frosted glass window, to something far away.
Something i could not see anymore but still knew were there.
"It is a part of a old story told in my homeland." I paused and folded my hands over my knees.
"I could tell it to you if you would like me too?" It was a night made for stories, the boat that was to carry us to the west was still days from being ready and the exitement was so great that neither of us really was calm enough to sleep just yet.
"I would very much like to hear it, if you please." He gave me a sideways smile, the kind of smile that i could not resist, it had been the reason i joined him on this journey. That crooked smile that held so much.
I gave a small nod and leaned backwards in the armchair. Lifting my cup to my lips to moisten my throath with the sweet tea.



"A very long time ago there was a little village deep in the mountains. It was so long ago now that no one can even remember its name anymore.
And in the little village in the mountains lived, of course, people. They were a hard working people, but kind, and life was not always easy.


There was not many good places to grow crops and there was never quite enough for the animals to grace but somehow they managed anyway.


It was their home and they had no intention of leaving it just because things were a little tough at times.
They just worked hard and always did their best to keep themselves from forgetting the hunger they knew all to well, as they rarely had enough food to eat.


One day a stranger came to the town, he was pale and dirty, his clothes ragged and stale of filth.
He was barely able to walk,, his arms and legs nearly as thin as twigs and deep hollows in his face gave him the look of a dead man, he was barely more than a skeleton with a thing layer of skin over it.
He knelt down in the middle of the street, writhing his hands in pain and begged them pleadingly to help him.
Tears streamed down his face as he looked at them, begging them for food.


The villagers did not even have enough to feed themselves but took pity on the poor old man. And all the families in the town helped out.
None could bring more than a tiny scrap of food. But put toghether there was more than enough to feed the old beggar.
He thanked them from the bottom of his heart, tears of joy plowing paths in the dirt on his face.
He noticed that they looked rather hungry themselves and asked them.
`You dont seem to have enough food for yourselves. How is it that you can have enough to feed an old beggar that you have never met before?`
A young man smiled hartily at the old mans question and answered him,
`If we would have refused to share what little we have with somebody asking for our aid we would not have deserved to have any food ourselves.`


As the young man finished the old man began to laugh uncontrollably. He bent over, his arms resting on his legs, and the hood of his traveling coat falling over his face.
The people was a little suprised at the way the man had reacted. And many of them felt a little bit annoyed, nobody likes the though of being laughed at.
But before anyone had the chance to say anything something strange happend to the old man.


There was smoke coming out from under the hood, and they could see his clothes changing shape and filling out, as if the man was becoming fatter under there.
Though they wanted to run not a single one of them could move, as if their muscles had frosen to ice.
They could only look, horrified, as the old man streached out his back,growing in size til he was twice the height of a normal man.
The ragged old clothes fell of revealing beutiful jewel encrusted clothes and the old man was no longer old.
Before them stood a beutiful young man dressed as a king with his long hair flowing in an nonexisting wind.
They stood as still as if they were rats, trapped in a snakes hypnotic stare, as he began to speak in a voice roaring as thunder over the mountains.


´I thank you for your kindness. My name is Meralune and i am nothing less than a Spirit God, but i was weak with hunger and had not the strenght to turn back into my true form.
Had you not given me of your food i would surely have died.
As a token of gratitude i would like to offer you a gift.`


The people stood still as before, still terrified at his precense but their mind staring to fill with other thoughts thaan the fear of his being.
He was offering them a gift, right?
They had heard stories like this, of helping some ugly old creature that returns the favor many times over.


The young man, the same as had spoke before, made bold to speak.


´O great one,we are truly humbled that you might give us back for what little we had to give, but may i ask, what is it that you feel to give? `


He almost immidietly regretted saying anything as the being turned his icy blue stare to him.



´The gift i give is nothing less than your own greatest wish.
As the entire town pitched in to help then it should be nothing less than something that would give joy to you all.
Think it over and discuss amongst yourselves, I will grant one wish for you and only one, you would do best to make it a good one.`


The people turned towards one another, half wondering if this was real or not.
They stared at each other, no one could think to speak.


Then almost as one they started talking, all of them thinking to what would give him the most joy.


`I would like a new hat!` said one woman.


`I would like a new cauldron for my home,` said another woman.


`I would like the rof of my house to never leak again, `exclaimed an middle aged
man.


`I would like a great feast, big enough for all of us!` a very old woman pronounced.


The wishes got more and more wild and it seemed there was nothing that could satisfy all of them.
If one came up with an idea there was always someone that argued against it.


One wanted treasure but someone else remarked that it would just bring dissagreament and attract thieves.


Someone thought it might be a good ide to ask for the crops to always be bountiful, and someone claimed that it was stupid to have to work so hard for it.


No matter what they suggested there was always something about it that made it seem like there could be a much better wish.


The Spirit God just stood there silently and watched as they argued, not moving a muscle, with a face that expressed nothing as to what he might have thought about it all.


The argument was almost about to turn into a true fight as some of the men clenched their fists in anger, when one of the oldest men in town gave out a croaking sound.


The man was known for being wise and the towns people almost held their breath as they waited for the old mans words.


`I cant help to think`he said in a voice cracking with old age `that there is one obius way to resolve this.`


The people silently waited for him to continue as he suddenly bursted into a great coughing sound.


As the cough ended he continued `All of you think about what would make you the most happy, money, clothes, food, and so on. But why not make it more simple?` He gleered at them.



`Why not simply ask for happiness?`



The people stared at him in amezement. It was such a simple solution. The old man smiled as the villagers nodded in agreement of his proposal.


The young man who had dared to speak to the Spirit before turned towards Meralune again.


`Thus it seems to be decided,` he said.`The thing we wish for the most is simply too be happy.` He paused for a second before continuing, `Is that acceptable?`


The God looked at the man with an slightly amused look on his face.
`It is acceptable, is there no objections then? No one that wishes diffrent?` he asked as he looked out over the crowd.


The villagers nodded in agreement. There was no one who objected.



The Spirit God smiled a strange crooked smile.
`So be it then. Your wish will be fullfilled.`



The second after his last words slipped out of his mouth there was a loud thundering sound, and the ground began to shook as if there was an earthquake.


The people of the village became frightend of course, they thought that the spirit had tricked them and was going to destroy their village.


But then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.
The frightened villagers then saw how a huge tower, black as the night and glistening in the sunlight, stood at the edge of the village.
They turned back towards the Såirit God only to find out that he was nowhere to be found.


His lud thundering voice came down over the hills.
`Pain as well as pleasure is eternal, it can not simply be made to dissapear. So for you to never feel unhappy again there will be a person to take your pain for you. Gifted with eternal life, to remain in the tower, hidden from wiew.` his voice faded away as he spoke.
`Your will has been done, enjoy, your everlasting happiness.`
With those words his voice faded away compleatly.


The villagers, feeling horrified at the moment, stared around them.
What did he mean? Was one of them to carry the pain of all the others?
Wich one?
Did this mean that they had to choose one amongst them to trap in the tower?


Before they even had the chance to speak there was a scream.


It was a terrifying scream, a sceam of pain and sorrow.
And it came from a young girl at the back of the crowd.
They backed away from her, her screams tore through the air undisturbed as not a sound could be heard above her cries.
The young girl was an orphan, with no family nor home the people in the town had taken care of her, but she had nothing of her own.
When the old beggar had shown up she was the only one that had not given him anything, for she had nothing to give.


The sound of her, crying in pain, was to much for them to hear. Their bodies moved as if by some unknown force as they picked her up and carried her towards the tower.


She struggled, fought as hard as she could, but she was no match for the men
that held her. And as they neared the tower they could see that there was a big black door on it.
With doors that seemed to be made of blackened wood, ornamented with strange symbols.


They tore the doors open, quickly pushing her inside, and slammed them shut behind her.


For a few seconds they could hear her pounding at the door, screaming heartbreakingly.


And then the door faded away, its wooden surface turning to stone, they sound of the girls screams faded away with it.


At last there was not a single sound that could be heard from inside, where the door had been was now blank stone wall, indistinguishable from the rest.


But what also faded away, was the worries of the villagers. They had not felt it right to throw her in there, but now it was clear that they had done the right thing.
Had she not always been a burden on them?
Eaten their food, wearing their old clothes.
And was it not no more than right that she now paid them back for their kindness?



They felt good as they left the tower and went, all to their own, home.



The next day the villagers woke up feeling strangely happy about their lives.
They went to work, feeling happy.
They went home, feeling happy.
They ate their food, wich had never tasted better, in an almost euforic state.
And when they went to bed at night they had never felt more happy in all their lives.


It took them a few days before they realised that they could not get hurt anymore.


One of the men slipped as he was chopping wood, he could feel the axe going into his leg, but when removed there was no wound to be seen.


This puzzled evryone, and the talked about it for many hours, until finally someone thought of something that they all felt to be the truth.


The reason they did not get hurt was simple, who could be happy when hurt?
The Spirit God had sworn to make them forever happy, so naturally he had made it so that they would not have to suffer under the pain of injuries.


This revelation gave for a wave of games, all more elaborated than the last, in witch the point was to hurt oneself in as intresting manners as possible.
Since they did not get hurt and could not feel pain it became very popular for a while, so much in fact that there was times when thy forgot to eat for many hours, lost in their games.


Not that they ever felt hungry but they quite enjoyed eating, now more than evere before as the food tasted delishous every time.


They had much more work done in the fields as well, as the hard labour was quite enjoyable now as well.


The people had never had it better, They were constanlty happy, their stomauchs were full and there was nothing in the world that could break their good mood.



One day an young man went out to work, he choose not to take any food with him as he had his hands full with the tools he needed for his job.


He figured it would be fine as long as he remembered to get back home later on and eat something.


But the sun was hot and the work took far longer that he had thought so he had not the time to go back too eat, not that he was really hungry anyway.



The time went on and the happy people carried their lives on as they had been.


Year after year went by, and the villagers were still as happy as they had been that first thay that they woke up.


But something was diffrent.


The people seemed strange, their clothes not as well kept as before, and the
gardens and fields, not as filled with crops.


There was hardly any people working on the fields anymore, and the people looked thinner that they had been.


Many people wondered about it, but no one worried about it.


Time flowed on, and the people in the town were looking thinner and thinner, until they were almost as thin as the old beggar that had once come there.


Then one day one of the elders of the town died, an woman who in her youth was know for her great beuty, and people stared.


The old woman had fallen down in the middle of the street, but no one helped her.


She died , with a smile on her face, surrounded by people.


They buried her at the burial ground at the outskirts of the village, it took a great deal of time as they felt strangely weak.


Nobody cried at her funeral.


There was a few words said in her honor, and then they all went their own way with smiling faces.



But she was just the first of many, the corpses stacked up in the street, ignored by the ones that remained.


When one fell they simply stepped over the corpse and, with a smile on their face, kept on walking.


Eventually the town was nothing but a tomb, filled with the corpses of the laughing people who never had understood why they had died.



But high up in the tower, sitting in a window silt, was the girl.
Her body destroyed beyond comprehension by the games played by the villagers, with blood running down her face like tears, she laughed
to herself.


She knew what made their bodies to weak to move, she knew exactley what had killed them, she knew what they had forgotten.


Their hunger tearing at her stomauch, their pain seething through her body, their sorrow tearing through her mind, she laughed."






As i finished my tale i took another sip of the tea and looked at my friend, trying to figure out what he thought of it.
He was staring at the fire as if he thought there to be something hidden behind the flames.
He slowly turned towards me and looked at me for the longest time.
I looked back at him, quite comfotrable in the silence.


I almost jumped as he finally spoke.
"What happend to her afterwards?"
He leaned his hands against each other in a curius way.


"I do not know," i said. "The story dont actually tell."


I paused for a moment before adding.


"But i have heard telling that if you go to the village from the story and stand by the tower, really quietly, you can hear a woman laughing through the cracs in the wall." I smiled at the though. " But i have never been ther myself so i can not say whether it is just a hearsay or not."


He stroked his beard thoughtfully as his crooked smile crept back into his face.


"Then we will have to see for ourselves wont we?" he chucled softly with
delight. "I do so hope that we will hear her. I am curius as to how that woman will laugh."


I said nothing, i knew there was no need to.
The look in his face told me all i needed to know, he was already planning the trip there.


I sighed a little as i stared into the fire again, i would not be able to resist him this time either. But it could be nice to visit the country of my ancestors again.
I dozed of, feeling warm and comfortable, looking at him as i fell asleep, a smile creeping up on my lips, i was happy.