February 2024
It's been a slow month here as I continue to flesh out the website. Slow, but not dead. I've got a few blog posts for you, and even an early look at the third book in the Crown Jewels series.
New Posts
This month I've posted about such diverse things as the values of sheep, words, and sleep.
Sometimes Stubbornness Summons Sheep
​
Ask Jason Anything
No new questions this month, but remember; if you have a question for Jason, shoot him an email at questions@mohlermedia.net.
​
Crown Jewels: Memories in Darkness
Jason Mohler
​
She walked through darkness, weaving her way through... things. No. Not things. Trees, a voice whispered in her head. Where she was going, she did not know. Where she’d been, she did not know. All she knew was darkness. And cold.
And pain.
Pain. That was a word she’d known as long as she could remember. Her... feet? Her... head? Her... there were so many parts to her body it was hard to come up with the words. There were so many words - so many names - that there was no way to keep track of them all. She thought she’d known them once in some previous life, but their meanings fled with the darkness.
She walked through darkness, cold buffeting her until a... a brightness grew in the distance, drawing her towards it.
#
Pieter hunched over the fire, warming his hands. It was amazing how cold a warm spring day could turn when the sun set. And, of course, Sugar didn’t seem to notice. She’d never noticed the cold, not even in the depths of winter, a result of a life spent in the southern reaches of Atas. Pieter’d never been there, but he’d heard the stories. Stories of drifts taller than a man. Stories of cold that would freeze spit before it hit the ground. Stories of ice so thick you could drive a wagon across the ocean. He’d never believed them, of course - how could any place be so cold? - at least not until he’d met his cairn - and team - mate, Sugar.
“You-“ Sugar began before breaking off, her eyes suddenly focused on something behind him.
“What?” Pieter stood and turned to see whatever had drawn her attention. A dark figure, their skin turned to rust by the firelight, stood at the edge of the treeline, dark splotches that could only be blood covering their tattered clothes.
“What in Aia’s wrath?”
#
Words.
The something - the person, she realized when it rose - was speaking words. Words like the voice in her head used. Words she didn’t know.
No. There was one word. One word that called to her.
Aia.
That was what the brightness was, Aia.
Fire, her mind’s voice corrected.
Aia.
Fire.
She was Aia.
She was Fire.
#
“Are you all right?” Sugar asked, rushing towards the figure. The... woman? Girl? It was hard to tell. Definitely female, though. She was a young woman, Sugar finally decided. Maybe her own age.
The young woman didn’t say anything. Instead, she cocked her head to one side, like a dog trying to make sense of its master’s words.
“Come on, let’s get you warmed up,” She said, gently taking the woman’s arm. She gave Pieter a quick glance as she led their guest to the fire, and he nodded before dashing beyond the fire’s light.
#
Words.
More words.
Another new word.
You.
She was Aia.
She was Fire.
She was You.
The person pulled her towards the fire and she discovered another word.
Warm.
She was Aia.
She was Fire.
She was You.
She was Warm.
#
“...I don’t know. She just stumbled out of the woods,” Pieter explained as he led Sergeant Ichae to the fire.
The sergeant broke into a trot when he saw the other Jewel sitting next to the unknown woman, her coat draped over the newcomer’s shoulders. “How is she?”
“Cold,” Sugar said needlessly. “I don’t see any major wounds, but there’s plenty of gashes and she’s covered in blood.”
#
Cold she knew.
She.
I.
Two more words the voice in her head said were her.
How many names did she have?
Name?
#
“What’s your name?” Sergeant Ichae asked, studying her eyes for any signs of a concussion.
#
What’s - what.
Your - you.
Name.
What you name.
They wanted to know her name.
What was her name?
#
“Aia,” The woman said in a whisper made harsh from disuse. “Fire. You. Warm. She. I.”
“Yes, it’s warm by the fire,” The sergeant agreed and glanced at Sugar. “We’ll take her to my tent and see if you can get her cleaned up.”
Sergeant Ichae looked at Pieter. “We’re going to need a medical kit.”
“Yes, Seargeant.”
“Let’s get her inside.”
#
Two of the people led her inside a... She would be so glad when all the words returned. This unknowing was frustrating.
The walls of this new place were lit a pale gold by the fire outside and it wasn’t much warmer in this new place than it had been among the trees, but at least the cold that buffeted her was gone.
Words.
Hurt.
Hurt was pain.
She didn’t want any more pain.
She squeezed her hand, gripping...
Nothing.
She looked down.
Her hand was empty, and she learned a new word.
Fear.
​