OVER THE EDGE

November 21-December 5, 2007

13

_Oracular Discovery, Book 1 of the Sylivestris Heritage
. Chapter 3 “The Chase and what Ensues”

By: Amanda Ramsay

This is a book being written chapter by
chapter for publication in Over the Edge
Newspaper. Chapter 1 was in the previous
edition of Over the Edge.

Ligea

I couldn’t believe how fast it had happened.
‘Just yesterday,’ I marvelled, ‘I was helping
Annie and now I am on a grand adventure.’
Grand or not, the trek seemed easy in com-
parison to the level of fright with witch we
left my house. Once we had left the house I
collected herbs from my garden, garden path
and the hidden garden just before the stream.
I had wanted to see if my house was okay and
my belongings untouched, but Hologoud re-
fused. I didn’t question why.

We had followed the stream behind my
house down to the river. Once we reached
his camp, we stayed put and slept the night.
We slept huddled together and it had been in-
teresting to see how rigid he was when our
bodies lay side by side. We were both wet
from the thighs down and this was the only
way we could stay warm without a fire. We
couldn’t risk lighting a fire and being tracked
down by the Okia.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked Hologoud this
morning.

“We will be walking to the Adamante For-
est. I can’t tell you too much about where
exactly in the forest we’re going, please just
trust me.” ‘

“T trust you!” I was angered that he felt I
still hadn’t proven my trust; running away
from my own home wasn’t easy! My stom-
ach rumbled and slurped, “I’m really hungry!
When will we eat?”

He rolled his eyes at my question and
thought I hadn’t seen. “When we’re out of
sight of the city, then we’ll start a fire and
cook lunch.”

“Okay, but what will we eat?” I knew I

Want your band on vinyl?

computer or tape-recorder in the basement.
“T’m not going to be sad if it’s lo-fi because that’s how people re-
corded indie music to begin with,” she said.

TYLER CLARKE
Starr WRITER

started to sound annoying, but it was an hon-
est question...

Hologoud

‘Oh, my God! Shut up!’ I was get-
ting a headache. Trying to find the path to the
forest without being tracked was becoming
difficult. Putting up with the new Pythia was
harder than I had expected. She reverted to
childish questioning and had shown that she
was trying to flirt. It wasn’t working; her cute
little eyes needed to stay on the trail and fo-
cused on the environment.

going!” It was time to chance it. I walked into
the bog a short distance, but Ligea was not
following. I turned to her.

“Look, it is safe. I know where I am
going!” She uncrossed her arms and raised an
eyebrow. She took a deep breath and looked
out amongst the bog. She pushed away from
the tree she had been leaning on and pointed
out.

“You see those rushes there- the
ones with the funny green sprout on top?”

I saw them and nodded.

“Those only grow in bogs that are
around 25 feet deep or more. So, at least in
that spot, it’s too deep to cross, just like it

“There were of course decoy markers all along the bog in case
someone should try and fol-a rumbling in the leaves made me
stop short and turn in frozen stance to the sound.”

Our second night was more difficult. We were
within the Hyllos Bog range, any minute we
would be getting wet again. Once we were
past the protective bog, we could easily have
lunch and settle.

“Oh no,” she whined in a high
pitched voice. “I don’t want to get wet again!”
She grabbed my shoulder from behind and
tried to turn me around. I didn’t reply as I was
trying not to encourage her whining. “Will
you listen to me!?” That was it!

“T have been listening to you, the
whole way! Whining about everything! You
need to stop and you need to follow quietly. I
wouldn’t be surprised if the Okia could hear
far distances away! We’re going into the bog
for the same reasons that we went into the
stream!”

“TI get it, but you’re going to get us
killed. This bog is unnaturally deep. People
who go in, never come out!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” I was looking
for the marker on where to enter the Bog. A
marker put in place by the Herodians in order
to enter the bog safely. “I know where I am

is over there, there and there.” She finished
pointing, crossed her arms and leaned against
the tree again.

I looked out. She was right, there
rushes were everywhere. Where was the
damn path? As I looked over to the right, the
bog got closer to the tree line, and I remem-
bered that the mark for safe passage was hid-
den in a crevice made by the root of a tree on
the edge of the bog. I walked off to the right.
Ligea made an overly dramatic sigh, followed
with a matching collapsing of her arms to her
sides and followed me.

I had found it! The marker had
a specific symbol on it to denote good pas-
sage. There were of course decoy markers
all along the bog in case someone should try
and fol-a rumbling in the leaves made me stop
short and turn in frozen stance to the sound. I
slowly waved my hand at Ligea to tell her to
get down. She slowly got down and pushed
herself up against a tree trunk. A large root
from the tree hid her legs and she leaned far
enough back that she became invisible to
me-good girl! I pulled out a longsword from

Meow Records is giving local musicians and music fans joy-
gams, thanks to two new opportunities that provide a forum for their
music.

The first of these exciting forums are 7-inch painted vinyl records
of local music Meow Records owner Bryndis Ogmundson hopes to
release on a monthly basis beginning in the new year. These records
are unique because on the actual vinyl is the album’s artwork, as
specified by the musicians on the record.

“I want to bring back the idea of the 7-inch and promote local
music,” Ogmundson said, adding that she’s gotten a lot of positive
feedback from the local music community, and has had several musi-
cians promise their material for the project, though none have submit-
ted anything yet. She said that this is most likely isn’t because they’re
lazy, but because they are perfecting their material before submitting
it to her for the December 15 deadline.

“Everyone’s really excited... I mean, what band wouldn’t want to
have some of their music on vinyl?” she said, adding that she hopes to
have many submissions of various genres to choose from, from folk
to metal. The song on side A can be anything original, so long as it’s
never been released before, and won’t be for at least a year, making
it exclusive to the vinyl. Side B can have anything, except covers. “I
don’t want to be paying royalties,” Ogmundson said. Musicians can
submit as many as three songs from each of their projects for con-
sideration. Another guideline is that the musician must be a current
Prince George citizen, in keeping with the idea of promoting local
music. Prince George musicians who have moved away are barred
from this project for having abandoned us.

She said that this music can be recorded by any means, be it on a

Records will be $8 each, though she’ll be selling subscriptions for
six to 12 months at 10 per cent off the single unit price.

Another exciting prospect for local musicians and local music
lovers is Meow Records’ latest SPCA fundraiser, in which local musi-
cians can submit a song about animals for a CD compilation called
Pet Songs Volume One.

This is the second annual SPCA fundraiser Meow Records has
hosted. Last year they had a t-shirt sale, raising about $1,000 for the
SPCA. Ogmundson said that if they manage to sell all 500 CDs she
plans on printing they will raise around $4,000 for the SPCA this
year.

The deadline for these songs is March 30, with a CD launch show
slated for sometime in April.

The SPCA will most likely set up an information table at the event,
like they did during last year’s event, raising awareness about the
centre.

“T love animals... They need more help because they can’t help
themselves,” Ogmundson said.

Meow Records will celebrate its one-year anniversary in Decem-
ber with the launch of a new store logo. There has been an ongoing
contest with regards to the design of this logo, with local artists de-
signing something that involves a black cat and a turntable, and the
name Meow Records. The deadline for contest entries is November
30, and prizes include a $100 Meow Records gift certificate as well
as $100 cash.

Meow Records is located downtown on Brunswick street, and the
store’s website is http://meowrecords.ca.

Craig Cardiff playing

between my shoulder blades, crouched down
and waited. Further down the direction I was
going a man stumbled out of the bushes and
stopped short of the bog. He looked at it and
swayed slightly on the spot. His eyes were
green and he had black hair and an unshaven
face. He cried out to the bog.

“Where the HELL did this come
fur...ohm?” He nearly fell asleep on the spot.
“God-damned bogs popping up wherever
you don’t need them! Good bye you horrible
abomination-I’m going H-O-M-E!” With that
last holler, he turned around and threw him-
self back in the bushes.

I realised in the silence that I was
holding a sword and my back was getting
sore from maintaining an awkward stance for
so long. I looked towards the tree she was
hidden behind, “You can come out!” I waited.
She didn’t come out. I gripped the sword in
a fighting stance as a slowly walked towards
the tree. As I looked around the tree I knew
she was gone. I panicked, where was she-“Li-
gea!” I cried, “Lige-AH!” A large juicy fruit
had just landed on my head and splattered
everywhere. I heard a giggle and I looked up.

There was Ligea in a dress at the
top of the tree eating fruit. “What is wrong
with you? Get down here! I can see up your
dress!”

She giggled and replied, “Anything
you like?” I gaped at her. When I realised
I was still partially looking up her dress I
looked down and turned around to allow her
some privacy to climb down.

“You must have liked something,
you’re bright red!” She smiled. Her childish
flirtation was gone this time, replaced with a
small smile. It was a very faint curve of her
lips, but her eyes glowed.

I cleared my throat and ignored her,
“T found the marker. Follow me.” I was upset.
I had never been treated this way before, nor
had to put up with so much childishness. I
walked into the bog and hoped to God that
she was following.

-PHOTO COURTESY OF Mike
HABICBER