An Unfound Door, Chapter Fifteen
Apr. 7th, 2024 07:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingNow that Fhiad has taken the form of a demonic boar, Agnes is able to ride him through the woods. They make quick progress through the mountain forest, stopping only for Agnes to rest. During one of their breaks, Fhiad leads Agnes to an overlook from which she can see the overgrown ruins of the empty city in the valley. As they approach Erdbhein Castle’s back entrance, husks emerge from what used to be a village that housed the castle staff. Fhiad is frightened, so Agnes dismounts and comforts him as she leads him across a bridge and into the castle’s rear courtyard. More husks emerge, and Fhiad is paralyzed with fear. Agnes reverts him to his human form, and they escape into the castle keep.
.
Based on the description, you might think that there’s action in this chapter, but the truth is that I hate writing action. It’s boring to me. I always skim through action sequences as a reader, so why subject myself to this sort of thing as a writer?
In my defense, the point is that neither Fhiad nor Agnes is an action hero. Fhiad is useless as a demon, and Agnes wields a sword the way I imagine most people would, which is to swing it around wildly. She’s horrified and disgusted when she actually hits something.
Although there is a bit of action, this chapter is more of an extended meditation on death and decay. I really, really enjoyed writing about the zombies – which I am calling “husks,” after Hollow Knight.
As an aside, I usually don’t write myself into my stories. Even when I use first-person narration, it’s almost completely removed from my own sense of self. But when I wrote about the soulless husks dragging themselves forward on their broken and decayed limbs for an unknown purpose, I was 100% most definitely drawing on my own experiences with going through my workday despite being terminally exhausted. That was me around this time last spring tbh.
Anyway, this chapter is narrated from Agnes’s perspective. She’s not particularly afraid of husks, which she sees as pathetic but harmless. There are a whole lot of husks in this ruined castle, however, and it’s Agnes’s job to shepherd Fhiad inside the castle’s main keep while doing her best to keep both of them safe.
The main narrative push forward that occurs in this chapter is that Agnes is starting to become sensitive to Fhiad’s emotional state in a way that she wasn’t previously. I guess riding a man like a horse will do that.
.
Based on the description, you might think that there’s action in this chapter, but the truth is that I hate writing action. It’s boring to me. I always skim through action sequences as a reader, so why subject myself to this sort of thing as a writer?
In my defense, the point is that neither Fhiad nor Agnes is an action hero. Fhiad is useless as a demon, and Agnes wields a sword the way I imagine most people would, which is to swing it around wildly. She’s horrified and disgusted when she actually hits something.
Although there is a bit of action, this chapter is more of an extended meditation on death and decay. I really, really enjoyed writing about the zombies – which I am calling “husks,” after Hollow Knight.
As an aside, I usually don’t write myself into my stories. Even when I use first-person narration, it’s almost completely removed from my own sense of self. But when I wrote about the soulless husks dragging themselves forward on their broken and decayed limbs for an unknown purpose, I was 100% most definitely drawing on my own experiences with going through my workday despite being terminally exhausted. That was me around this time last spring tbh.
Anyway, this chapter is narrated from Agnes’s perspective. She’s not particularly afraid of husks, which she sees as pathetic but harmless. There are a whole lot of husks in this ruined castle, however, and it’s Agnes’s job to shepherd Fhiad inside the castle’s main keep while doing her best to keep both of them safe.
The main narrative push forward that occurs in this chapter is that Agnes is starting to become sensitive to Fhiad’s emotional state in a way that she wasn’t previously. I guess riding a man like a horse will do that.
