Book 1 in the Chronicles of Nornia series

                               Future Echos

Prologue

"Ow!" there was the pain again. The pain, a deep cut on his arm. 
A gurgle and a grunt betrayed the presence of a large, vicious 
grendel moments before the shadow of the great beast fell along
 the floor at his feet. His skin crept at the sight of his 
captor and he slowly relaxed as the grendel clumsily lumbered 
on it's way. He realised he had whimpered when he saw the large 
green eyes of Effis, a female norn, peering at him through 
the bars of her own cage. She was obviously concerned for his 
welfare, which made him feel in some way, loved?

chapter 1

It was a balmy summer evening in Albia. A refreshing breeze
 blew but that did very little to cool the norns playing in 
the sultry heat.The only norn not enjoying the evening was
 Effis, she tried to have fun but just couldn't shake the
 feeling that something bad was going to happen. A norn 
suddenly kissed her, " GET LOST MERLIN!" she screamed in the
norn's face. Merlin's ears drooped and he looked hurt &
bewildered.
She ran to the Shee temple, her favourite place. There was
 something strangely appealing about the statue, something
familiar, yet superior,that attracted her to it like a bee
to honey. She stared into the eyes of the gigantic stone
Shee,and fancied that it knew the dread she was feeling. 
Suddenly she understood...

chapter 2

"Don't you see ?" Effis asked, exasperated,"If we stay here 
the grendels will come and we'll all die"
"If we leave, we die." A adult norn piped up ( whose name
curiously was Piper )
"We stand more chance if we leave. I've seen those grendels
kill, it's not a pretty sight!" Effis snapped back.
 No-norn could doubt the truth of that tale, they had heard 
it all from Annad the oldest norn there had been before she 
had passed away 2 summers earlier. Annad was a prolific breeder
but Effis had never had many children, the first child she had
was the norn she had seen die at the hands of the grendel, way 
back when she, Kasyx and Annad had been the only norns in
Albia, the very first hatched by the hand. She had never 
really got over it and although she had had a few more children
she would often be seen by the grave of her dead daughter,Pixie.
Effis got up and moodily walked to the Shee statue to see if the
 huge stone eyes could give her any more information. No. Nothing.
She had recieved all she was going to get, all the good it did her.
No-norn would listen to her. She would go alone, it would be scary,
but the sense of self  preservation that was strong in her. A sense
 common to all of her species, the sense of sociability, prompted her
to go back and tell the settlement of her plan, and maybe, just maybe
it would be enough to encourage them to follow. Getting up to carry 
out her plan, she was oblivious to a large, green, hunchbacked shape
stir in the shadows, and blink evil red eyes that followed the norn as
she left the temple, and started on her way back to her companions.




Chapter 3

"You're doing what?!" screeched Kasyx, the oldest norn in the settlement 
since Annad had died, and also the father of all the three children Effis
had ever had, including the one that died.
"Didn't you hear me the first time?" Effis retorted, too worked up to talk
with any respect for her long term mate, "I said I was leaving. Any norn 
here is welcome to come with me but I leave tonight and if you're not
 there, I will not wait." She did not wait to recieve any offers of 
companionship on her journey to Hand knows where, but left to pack her bag
and tie up any loose ends she had. 
As darkness fell, Effis became aware that now was the time. If she left it
any longer it would be too dark to travel, then she would have to leave it
until tomorrow morning and that could be fatal. She hefted a large bag onto
her back, and redied herself for the lonely existence that awaited her if
no-norn turned up at the gates that she specified in her great speech. Fear
of the unknown almost made her turn back and settle down in her treehouse
and go to sleep, completely forgetting her drastic plan to ensure her 
survival. Almost. She pressed on trying to convince herself that everything
would be alright and norns would be there. Her hope fell when she got to the 
gate and no norns were there. She hesitated, wondering if it was really worth 
it. To take her mind off the journey she backflashed to the days when all was
sweetness and light, when the Hand would tickle her on the nose. That 
reminded her. The Hand had not been seen by her for a few days. "I wonder
where it is" she thought. An earsplitting scream shattered the quiet 
stillness of her thoughts. Immense fear overtook her tiny body and she stood
rooted to the spot. The cries from her old home clearly indicated a grendel
was there. She was concious for just long enough to see a very large grendel
coming straight towards her. Her brain told her to run but legs did not obey.
She fainted as the great beast stood over her.

Chapter 4

Effis awoke to find she was imprisioned in a crudely made cage. Crude as it 
was, it was still strong enough to hold her and, she counted the other norns
around her, five norns. five norns?! What had happened to the other eight 
that had made her happy community of fourteen norns? No. She'd rather not
know.
"Ow" said a norn in the cage next to her. She recognised the norn to be 
Rufus. her daughter in law's brother. A grendel came to check on him and he
whimpered. She got up onto her knees and looked at him through the bars of 
her cage. He looked like he had been crying. She turned away. " I've got to
do something," she thought helplessly, "but what?" She looked around her cage.
"Aha!" she hissed triumphantly as a worn patch in the bottom corner of her 
cage caught her eye. Her clever mind formulated a plan...
The plan was to scratch a hole big enough to get through, inform the other 
norns to do the same then to lead the grendels off of a cliff... somehow.
The norns ran as fast as they could to the nearest cliff, the grendels 
behind them, angry and vicious. Suddenly Effis realised she was now the 
oldest norn as Kasyx had been killed. Her age was beginning to show as she
lagged behind the rest. "Separate!" she shouted to the norns in front. They
immediately went off in different directions in twos or threes. She reached 
the edge and stopped just before she went over. The grendels reached the edge
but, instead of stopping, their greater size gave them greater momentum and
greater stopping distance. Effis neatly side-stepped them and they fell to 
their deaths below. A scream came from behind her. It was another grendel,
and it had a norn! Effis dived at the grendel which distracted the grendel 
long enough for the young norn to be rescued by his mother. An angry fight 
broke out between Effis and the grendel. It soon became clear that Effis was 
a match for the grendel, it was clear to the grendel too who broke free and
escaped to the forest. They had not seen the last of him. Effis lay panting
as a norn, Tansy her name was, went over to the old norn. The norns gathered 
round as Effis heaved her last breath, shuddered and lay still. The norns 
were overcome with grief and wept at the death of their saviour. All that was 
left of the most courageous of norns, was a tiny curled up body, covered in 
scratches and bruises. They turned away, no-norn looking back to see Effis'
body rise to the heavens, finally free. Way over to the east the sun was
beginning to rise.

Epilogue

The hot summer gave way to a colourful autumn. As life returns to normal, 
there would always be a threat of the grendels but mother norns would tell
their children, that if they fight and stand up for themselves instead of 
running, they would recieve the favour of Effis, a valiant norn who did
what no other norn had ever done before, she relinquished her life for the
sake of another. A brave norn but also a gentle norn, she was remembered as 
a fighter and perhaps, it would not have displeased her.