The Written Word - Keeper

Kira Hellweg is a recent graduate with a passion for music, Jesus Christ, and (oh, yeah) writing. She is the unpublished author of The Legend of Harthore, which is currently in the editorial stage. Her blog, Legend or Legacy, is currently focused on the above's imminent trilogy, but is sure to be invaded by her other WIPs and general writing tidbits.


Welcome to The Written Word (TWW for short) on YAWA. This series (managed by yours truly) on our blog will be focused on the most important thing to the majority of our readers - the actual writing. Every Thursday, we will share an excerpt from someone's writing, published or not. To start, the five admins will feature sections of our own WIPs. We hope you enjoy our writing, and feel free to email us at yawriters.alumni@gmail.com if you'd like to see your own writing featured!

TWW's first entry will be a teaser from one of my own current WIPs, which currently holds the working title Keeper. This novel is Christian fantasy, and is designed to be allegorical. Keep in mind, this is a teaser. It's written to be the introduction, or perhaps even the blurb, for this novel. Nonetheless, I hope it is intriguing and enjoyable for you all.

   We all start as learners, and the old ones are our trainers. The learning lasts for years after we awaken – sometimes only a few, sometimes hundreds. Then there's the change, and we know what our class is. Not class in the sense of high or low - it's more a state of being.

   It's hard to explain, the change. It's not a test. There's no board that decides, or even tells you, what comes next. You just know. Sometimes the change is subtle, like with the Pathfinders. You wouldn't know they'd changed unless they noticed of their own accord – or, I suppose, if you had a need to talk to them about maps. Other changes are terrifying and blatant, like the Seers who suddenly go completely blind.

   No two changes are the same, but my change was utterly different. It happened in the twentieth year after I awoke. I didn't even realize it was happening. I just started to know things that I shouldn't. It was odd, everyone recognized that. But at first, I just assumed that I'd unconsciously overheard those things. Soon, though, the things I knew were things I couldn't possibly have overheard.

   That was when the old ones started to take notice, only they didn't know what was happening to me either. “Gareth is only in the twentieth,” I remember one of them saying in a hushed whisper. “He doesn't need to be changing yet.” But there was no other reasonable explanation, so they took me to see the Elder. That was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced. At first, I didn't think the Elder would know either. But he did. And the knowing was almost worse.

   You see, I'm not supposed to be awake. My class died out eons ago. The old ones were terrified, but the Elder only smiled. “Welcome back. We have long awaited you,” I heard him say. Only his lips didn't move. I heard his words in my mind. “Long is an understatement,” I whispered in reply, forcing myself to acknowledge the truth that he had told me.

   I am the first Keeper in seven thousand years.

Excerpt from Keeper

by Kira Hellweg
(c) 2013