This story continues a series of short fiction exploring some of the Faerie Shepherds and Shepherdesses within my fantasy world. Read below the story for further explanation and head over to the Tales of the Faerie Shepherds if you’d like to read more!

No one knows who I am or what I do. No one knows where I go each night.

Even I have forgotten my name and who I once was.

That is … if I were someone before I palmed the Red Quill.

Before its power infused my fingertips and its whisper reached my soul. Before my heart beat in time to its words’ cadence.

Who am I?

I am the Shepherd of the Scrolls.

Aeons of memories, prophecies, oaths, callings and actions of the Faerie Shepherds and Shepherdesses live within my mind and reside on the scrolls I guard with my gifted might and magic.

No more a part of the world, I am the world. I contain its past, its present and—though I cannot see its future—I hold it in the proper balance each time I touch quill to parchment.

This is my calling; this is my life.

While the Scrolls hold only the history of the Faerie Shepherds and Shepherdesses; by default, they include the histories of all Peoples, Clans, Ages, Realms and Creatures.

Each line I’ve recorded gives another miniscule piece of the broader universal telling. As such, I suppose I’m something of a miscellanarian, gathering various and sundry details and scripting them from the Quill’s tip.

I have captured the essence of a Flower Faerie’s scent, the ferocity of a Minotaur, the terrors of the Age of the Damned and the medicinal qualities of the lowly thistle … all on one length of a scroll.

Now, I will record the integral role our prophesied Faerie Shepherdess must play to keep the Scrolls from unraveling. To keep past, present and future from soaring out into all the Realms. From becoming tangled, distorted and warped. Worse, from vanishing altogether … along with all the reality they contained.

This Undetermined Age will dictate whether any of us continue to exist … or, I suppose, whether any of us existed in the first place.

Secrets of the Scroll” Copyright © 2023 by Joy E. Rancatore. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

 

What do you think about this world of mine that I’m building? If you enjoyed this story, please head over to my site to read the entire Tales of the Faerie Shepherds series.

This month’s story flowed from the inspiration of a delightful monthly online writing prompt, #BlogBattle. As you will read on their site, “Blog Battle is a monthly writing prompt meant to inspire writers and entertain readers.” To read several outstanding stories inspired by March’s prompt, “Miscellanarian,” head on over to the BlogBattlers site!

You may just find a new favorite author to follow!

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