The Yggdrasil Compass

Scary Beginnings

Out of breath and out of options, Giselle stumbled from the thick brush onto a pristine lawn, her long dress tangled under knees as she stumbled to rise. Before her, on a small green island all its own, sat the large castle of those she considered to be her own personal enemies. With few options and no time to consider any others, she rushed across the bridge, the sole way on or off the lake surrounded piece of land. For a brief moment, she wondered if there was time to slowly lower herself into the water. Maybe it was possible to hold her breath long enough for her pursuers to give up and look for her elsewhere. But even if she had that kind of time, surely the creature that inhabited the lake would tear her apart.

There were few guards at the gate. The arrogant masters of this castle felt there was no need. No one would dare attack the castle, not when the inhabitants controlled the vast majority of the country. Besides, stories of the creature usually ran off anyone with a notion to try. The castle itself was built to withstand a siege and considered to be a great sanctuary for it contained large stone doors that could keep out all intruders when closed, even a giant, but what about three?

She ran through the gates just as the three giants following her emerged from the forest behind her. She made a quick dodge to the right hiding behind the walls hoping they wouldn't see her. It was getting harder for her to run as her lungs gasped for air but she pressed on. Better to pass out later than die now. She made her way to a nearby cart stacked with loose hay and jumped in, burrowing herself down as fast and as far as she could. She prayed the scent would mask her own as giants have notoriously powerful senses of smell.

Their thunderous footsteps stopped suddenly, and she was curious as to why. Not curious enough to emerge from her hiding, but curious none the less.

Maybe their giant feet were too big to make it across the bridge, she thought.

The water surrounding the island was said to have the power to eat anything put into it except for the creature that lived there, not that she believed in such nonsense. But they were giants. Surely they could take an extra long stride or jump across the water to the island for her. She took the opportunity to catch her breath, pondering why they stopped.

All around her was deathly quiet. She could feel a change in the temperature and light as the sun set over the mountains. She had been hidden for so long that she felt rested, but her legs had gone so numb there would be no way for her to run again. She made a small hole with her finger in the hay and peeked out. The area looked completely abandoned, like people had left in a hurry. It wasn't surprising. There were giants outside the gates. She made the hole a little bigger for a closer look. Everywhere was void of any living creature.

They could never have left for fear of the giants. Perhaps they were all hiding.

She thought back trying to remember if anyone was there when she ran in. When she was forced to answer no, her heart once again began to race. The castle had been abandoned before her arrival.

She carefully revealed her head so she could look at the sky for the giants. There were weapons scattered around in various places of the dirt covered yard. She completely emerged from her hiding and glanced around. The sky had become dark as midnight yet there was light coming from an unknown source. She thought it should be far earlier in the day with the sun just touching the twilight hours, the prettiest time of the day. Surely she hadn't been hiding for that long.

The great stone fountain, the largest fountain in the country, stood proudly in the center of the yard yet it didn't flow. The once lush greenery she remembered from her summers here had been transformed into a dried up husk of what it once was. The bustling city of yesteryear had turned decayed and withered. Carts and tools lay sprawled out on the ground, weeds binding them to their place. 

Forgetting about the danger, Giselle hobbled as fast as her sleepy legs could carry her farther back toward the castle doors crashing into them in her haste. She pushed the large, heavy door and flung herself through finding other evidence of people leaving in a hurry. She scanned the foyer. 

In her mind's eye, she could picture a crowd of people running and screaming, some trampling over each other, some desperately trying to help, some needing to  be helped. Utter chaos. Someone tripped over the edge of the carpet and injured themselves, a small child... a girl? 

She bent down and inspected the blood droplets. They looked very old.

In her mind again she saw an adult reach down to help the child. She recognized the child, her youngest sister, Elizabeth. 

Giselle gasped and the image was gone. She glanced around and the image returned. 

Her sister reached for her favorite doll that had been thrown next to the wall when she fell and had gotten her hand kicked. Her caretaker grabbed her before anything worse could happen to her. 

Giselle turned from the droplets and found the doll. She went over to pick it up before continuing. The images playing in her mind were sporadic and hard to control. She tried her best to keep her emotions from extremes, but it was hard to see her family and friends in terror. 

She reached the kitchen area and her visions changed. Before the confusion ensued, there was going to be a party. Her middle siblings, Adeline and Aidan, were turning thirteen. A cake, the biggest she had seen since her oldest sister's wedding to the ruler of this castle, was being prepared. There were extravagant decorations being created and the cake appeared to be a mix of  rare, decadent chocolate and  the vanilla beans from her brother by law's private stores for showing off. She could almost smell it through her mind. 

She blinked and went back to the danger, the screaming, the pounding on the gates, the shaking of the walls, Giselle could see Aidan trying his best to usher as many people as he could to safety. Adeline, her middle sister wasn't very fond of Giselle, but Aidan loved all of his sisters very much. Even in the midst of the mayhem, he was trying to protect his twin from the rocks that had been shaken loose from the ceiling. He pushed Adeline out of the way and ended up getting cut on his arm. Mother tried to take them both, but Aidan was adamant that, as the male, he was in charge. 

The image broke and Giselle found herself crying. Where were her oldest sister, Rowan and her husband, the master of this castle who took Rowan away from home? Where were her father and oldest brother? Gripped with fear she ran down the castle halls desperate to get a vision of them among the faces of strangers but they were nowhere to be found.

Perhaps they were supposed to arrive later, she thought. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and collapsed in the wreckage that used to house a throne.

Giselle shot straight up from her bed. Was it all a dream or some sort of foreshadowing of things to come? Had her powers of sight become stronger? Instead of seeing and feeling things from the past, could she now predict the future? The idea that something so horrible could happen was beyond reasoning making it difficult for her to go back to sleep.

Her stomach turned as she walked around her room wondering what to do. Her powers were stretching farther through time, but what else could she do? She had to warn them of things to come. The twin's thirteenth birthday was a mere month away. They were to spend most of that time travelling East to see her sister, but what dangers could she possibly have gotten into on the road? There hadn't been any giant sightings in years. 

She debated on talking with Mother about her concerns, but the person she really wanted to speak with was Rowan. She had a way of knowing exactly what Giselle was talking about and a way of saying just what she needed to hear. Giselle often wondered if Rowan had a similar gift, one to calm and understand. If Rowan did have a gift, she knew how to hide it well. She twisted at her fingers thinking about her options, but with every choice she could think of, they all seemed to lead to the same conclusion... Father was going to find out and he wasn't going to like it.