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Frozen Flame
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Andolyn



Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Posts: 852
Location: sitting barefoot in a tree in the beautiful land of Ardara, writing my tales...

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 4:57 pm    Post subject: Frozen Flame  

**Guess what, GUESS WHAT!! Your Mayoress and Vice Mayoress have teamed up for a joint SG!!! and GUESS WHAT ELSE!! YOU'RE READING IT!!! We'd love to hear your thoughts as we go along, and so, without further adieu, Frozen Flame!!**

*****

...The plates of Adesar...upon each and all we once thrived...feared and worshiped for our power and might, across every level of our world from the Plains of Rian and the Ice fields of Shard all the way up to the lush green forestlands of Ursha and the firey mountains of Keshedal...Now we are reduced to merely the last...In the depths of the great caverns beneath the heat-filled mountains on the first plate, Keshedal, we reside...

...Hate...so much hate do we feel for the races of Adesar...they drove us from the other plates, showing little more respect for us than they would mud beneath their boots...forcing us up to the very heights of Adesar, and here we have been ever since, our hate growing and becoming all the more potent as the years pass by...And yet...the hate we feel for them is little more than dust on the wind in comparison to that which we feel for ourselves...for allowing our existence to be reduced to such a state of being...dwelling here beneath dirt, stone and roiling lava, not daring to show ourselves to the world of light...

...As I touch the walls of this stone tomb we call our home, the rock crumbles slightly beneath my palm, eroding even as I speak...The spirits of some of my people mirror the effects...slowly reducing...all of their emotions, be it hate, lust, passion...dying as we're imprisoned in our harsh land...But not I...My spirit glows as brightly as the rivers of lava that flow around and through our mountain home...I wait, and I have waited...Anticipating the moment, the chance, to strike and take back what is ours...

...I feed the fire...

~~~

...Light and Ice...one illuminates the other despite our endless night. Adesar's sun never reaches us here...but then...neither does anything else. We are utterly alone now. The only race to dwell on the surface of one of Adesar's outer plates, and the only race at all to dwell on the southernmost plate of Shard.

...Contentment is sometimes the most harmful state of existence one can reach. My people reached it long before my birth, and have had no desire to change...to grow. The stars have become our companions, the perpetually swirling lights against the black abyss of space, our friends. In the minds of my people, we have lived long enough without interference with the nine plates below our feet, and shall continue to do so until the end of time.

...Ignorance. Ignorance and complacency are the plagues of my people. Too long have we been alone. So long that only the oldest of the old even remember races besides our own. Of course, our bloodlines are not pure. Centuries of intermarriage have turned the majority of us into what you on your world would call human, but there are still those of us in existence who bear the pure characteristics of the first of our kind: protected bloodlines, royalty as it were....the Saen.

...The snow for which I was named crunches beneath my feet as I stare up, conversing silently with the living colors that light what I know to be day. "With age comes contentment", I am told...but contentment is not what I want. A time full of meaningful experience is my desire. I will not settle for existence...I want life!

...I tread on through the ice...

*****

And there's the prologue!! Chapter one will follow soon. =)
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Lilith



Joined: 10 Feb 2007
Posts: 1597
Location: Happily curled up in a Daemon's lap

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:05 pm    Post subject:  

ZOMGSH! How freaking AWESOME! It's really... almost like movie-style jumpy but I understand we're within the minds of beings who don't think quite like humans. So it's fine. Now, where's that first chapter? Who do I need to be tickling it out of?
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sagittaeri



Joined: 05 May 2012
Posts: 367

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 6:49 pm    Post subject:  

Great opening, giving us a preview of the minds of the characters. First chapter! Quick! :D
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Vishal Muralidharan



Joined: 24 Aug 2010
Posts: 867
Location: City Of IF!

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:24 pm    Post subject:  

I have to agree with the other two. xD

First chapter, ASAP ;)
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Tikanni Corazon



Joined: 25 Oct 2009
Posts: 1286
Location: Running through the plains of my mind, my wolf spirit at my side (but doing so in the UK!).

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:11 pm    Post subject:  

Thanks for reading, guys! :) Glad you're all liking this so far! If all goes to plan, we should have chapter one up at some point today. :D
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misterbiz



Joined: 10 Jan 2010
Posts: 461
Location: a chair in a cold dark living room

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:34 pm    Post subject:  

Awesome beginning. Very Mystical, I'm getting a very clear view of the world in which this is set. Can't wait for more.
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Andolyn



Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Posts: 852
Location: sitting barefoot in a tree in the beautiful land of Ardara, writing my tales...

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 4:28 pm    Post subject: Chapter 1  

Chapter One

Thunk!

Rue felt the arrow pass by, mere inches from her cheek, and saw it land in the trunk of an ancient oak just ahead of her. She gasped at the near miss, but kept running, turning her path a little to the left and then to the right again, moving in a weaving motion to make it harder for her pursuers to target her. To her left and slightly ahead of her she spotted one of her men, Valed, doing much the same. She hoped that the others were proving as fortunate.

Her left arm hurt like crazy, where one of the bastards had managed to land a blow with a long sabre, but Rue pushed the pain to the back of her mind, using it instead to fuel her in getting away without being further scathed. The sleeve of her shirt was damp with scarlet moisture, stark against the off-white colour of the fabric, and becoming closer to saturated all the time. But it would still need to be dealt with later.

She reached a large clearing seconds after Valed, and noted that several of the others were either already there or entering in the same manner as herself. A collection of huge rocks protruded significantly from the ground, and she motioned to the others to get behind them.

“Take cover and ready your weapons!” she bellowed, ducking down behind one, and grabbing a long hand-pistol from her belt, along with a bag of gunpowder and another full of shots. She sat down, her back to the boulder, and half-cocked the weapon, uncorking the gunpowder bag using her mouth as she did so, before pouring a sufficient amount into her gun-barrel. Some of her men did likewise, while others readied bows and arrows. Their enemy was quickly closing in, making little effort to hide their movements as they blundered heedlessly through the undergrowth. Taking a small metal shot from the other bag, Rue removed the gun's ramrod and pushed the shot down into the barrel, before switching it to full-cock, and turning and chancing a glance over the top of her rock.

Shapes moved in the shadows of the trees, clearly getting closer and closer. The men at Rue's sides shifted their stances, though whether with nerves or eagerness she couldn't tell. She clenched and set her jaw, narrowing her eyes at the oncoming enemy.

“Get ready...”she said, speaking in a low tone to prevent her voice from carrying to their pursuers. “Try and get the bowmen if you can...NOW!”

In one fluid motion, she got to her feet, aimed her weapon at an oncoming man, a bow already loaded with arrow in his hand, and pulled the trigger. The action was met with a snap and a dull roar as the shot flew from the barrel and buried itself in the man's chest. He fell to the ground, his limbs twitching slightly as he died. To either side of him the carnage continued, Rue's men taking down eight of the enemy within a few seconds.

Rue ripped a sword from a scabbard at her side, and flew forward to meet the remainder of the company. She let out a scream of fury, as she sidestepped another man before slicing her sword across his abdomen and moving on to the next. She held her injured arm out of the way, protecting it from further damage, ducking a second frontal attack and sweeping her leg under and around, knocking the man off his feet, and thrusting her sword through his heart.

It was all over within a few minutes, though it seemed longer. The clearing, was littered with the bodies of the enemy, and Rue was relieved to see that all of her men were all reasonably unscathed besides the odd injury much like her own. She let out a weary sigh, the pain in her arm suddenly becoming more apparent.

“Search them,” she ordered, indicating the fallen men. “Take anything that might prove useful.”

She wandered back over to the rocks at the centre of the clearing, seating herself upon the lowest, and pulling up her blood-soaked sleeve, so that she could check out her injury for the first time since it had occurred. She winced as the wet fabric stuck to her skin, then came away. The gash beneath was around a hand-span in length, and curved diagonally across her arm. It was still bleeding, but the blood was beginning to congeal slightly. She hissed in a breath as she prodded it lightly, watching as a fresh spurt of scarlet erupted from the wound.

She heard someone coming up beside her, knowing that it was Valed even before he spoke.

“Let me take a look,” he said gently, taking her arm in his strong hands before she'd given her consent. She let him, and watched his face as he looked over the wound. He frowned, his expression a mixture of concentration and disapproval. “You're so careless sometimes,” he went on, glancing up from his examination, his dark eyes looking into her own. “I know and you know that you can prevent these things from happening if you try.” He gently laid the arm in her lap. “Luckily, this time, cleaning it and sewing it up should suffice.”

“Better find some water then, hadn't we?” Rue replied, with a smile, getting to her feet, holding the arm close to her side. He shook his head and sighed.

“It's not a joking matter, Rue,” he said. “You're our leader. The men need you.” He leaned in close, planting a kiss on her temple. “I need you...” he added in a whisper, urging her back until she was once again seated on the rock.

He took a water-skin and a clean rag from his pack. Uncorking the water, he tipped a small amount onto the rag, and passed the wet fabric over her skin, wiping away the excess blood. She winced and gasped at the first touch, but made little reaction otherwise. Soon the arm was clean, besides the odd dribble of crimson that trickled from the wound.

Following that, he took out a small kit containing curved lengths of thin metal with an eye at the one end, and a reel of very thin sinew. He threaded the latter through the eye of the needle, then called over one of the other men, a giant of a man by the name of Hergo, who always kept a skin of wine upon his person. Soaking both needle and sinew in the alcohol, he proceeded to sew up the gaping wound in Rue's arm.

“Gods!” she cursed, as the thin slip of metal penetrated her skin, the dual pain from that and the wound itself making it almost impossible to not flinch. Despite that, she remained seated and still until he was done, at which point he poured another measure of the wine over the now sealed wound. She let out a short cry as the sudden spray of the liquid made her arm sting, and she smacked the palm of her other hand down hard on the rock beneath her. Valed gave a short chuckle.

“Baby,” he teased, rising to his feet and leaning in to kiss her nose, smoothing one hand through her long, dark hair. “Now, do you think you can just sit and be good while I attend to the others?”

"I think I can manage that," she replied with a grin. He shot her an affectionate smile as he wandered off, leaving Rue to ponder their next move.

~~~

Weeks had passed since Eira had packed her things and left her icy home. A chill unlike any she’d felt before had passed up her spine as the guards had re-fused the ice barrier in the tunnels behind her. A sheet of ice three ipsos thick now stood between her and her homeland, and she’d never felt more alone in all her life.

For the last three weeks, she’d been just that: alone.

Eira didn’t mind. It gave her time to think. Much of her childhood had been spent alone either playing in the falling snow or studying the stars. Deighians weren’t a very social people by nature, so the long, dark trek through the Istaaran tunnels didn’t dampen the girl’s excitement in the slightest.

As she drew closer to the surface of Ursha, Eira could make out the silhouettes of the guards that stood there against the brightest light Eira had ever seen. Truthfully, it hurt her pale eyes so that she had to look at the floor as she took the final steps down the incline and out to the world below just north of Shard.
The tunnels that led up through the mountain tunnels from Ursha to Shard had no barrier on the Urshian side. They still had guards, but no one really knew why. Nothing had ventured out of Shard in at least a century…until today.

Unlike the Deighians who stood at attention next to the Ice barrier that led out of her plate, Eira found that the guards on the Urshian side sat idly by their post, counting down until the time when their relief would come and they could get on to more worthwhile matters…like drinking at the local tavern in the next village over.
Eira shielded her eyes as she stepped out into the green forestland.

It’s so bright! And HOT! The heat has been rising since I left home, but this is insane! How do they stand it? She thought as she blinked, her eyes watering as they struggled to adjust.

Around her, the guards, dressed in forest green suits designed to keep out the autumn chill, suddenly became aware of her presence and stood, scrambling to gather their weapons.

“Halt!” one of them yelled, “State your name and your business here!”

“What would a Deighian want from us here?” another demanded.

“Are you planning an invasion force??” said another.

Eira had studied the common language in books, but they were all speaking at once and so quickly that it was difficult for her to understand. She certainly hadn’t planned to be attacked as soon as she’d left her home…maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all…

When she didn’t answer other than spurting shocked words here and there, the men advanced. Frightened, Eira threw up her hands, she could feel the water in the air around her…and in the men coming at her…water that was just begging to become ice. She answered that call, and soon, everything in the immediate area was frozen. Grass, trees, guards, and all.

When the girl opened her eyes again, she found that a weapon was now directly in her face. Carefully, she side-stepped and walked around the angry men, venturing further into the forest land.

This place was incredible! It was unlike anything she’d seen before. The colors, brown, green, and yellow, surrounded her where on her own plate she could only watch them as they darted across the sky. The textures, rough, coarse, and fuzzy, that were nowhere to be found in her own home of cold, smooth, and sharp. Every book she’d read in the library on Shard did nothing to describe the beauty in which she now found herself wandering.

In childlike wonder, Eira made her way through the massive trees. Her wonder changed to timid curiosity, however, when she began hearing strange sounds up ahead. People were yelling, and there was the sound of metal clanging together as though someone were ringing one of the bells in the high Shardian towers, but not quite, as this was a dull, clashing sound instead of the clear ring.

Carefully, Eira made her way closer to a clearing with massive stones in the middle. There were people laying everywhere, and a small number of them standing and sitting in various places around the open space. An odd, red liquid was splashed on much of the landscape…perhaps these people were messy with their cooking.

Two of the people in particular caught Eira’s attention. One was a young woman with dark brown hair, and the other was a male. It looked as though he were sewing up a cut in her arm much like one would sew clothing. The action intrigued the girl to such an extent that she hadn’t noticed her own body moving out of the tree line and into the open.

She kept her icy blue eyes trained on the couple as she approached them. The man stood after kissing the woman’s nose and started to walk in the other direction. That’s when the dark haired woman became aware of Eira’s presence.

“Stop right there!” She yelled, standing defensively, “Don’t come any closer!”

The other people standing and sitting around reacted to their leader’s call by grabbing their weapons and shouting as well. Confused and remembering her encounter with the border guards, Eira looked to each of them, trying desperately to understand their words, but forgetting everything she’d learned about the base language in her fear. Without thinking she held up her hands, once again freezing everything in the area.

Slowly, hands still in the air, Eira peeked one eye open and then relaxed. The people around her were still, standing just as they had before she’d closed her eyes. Cautiously, the girl made her way through the band of bodies, inspecting each one carefully. Eventually, she found the woman who had first addressed her.
Eira noticed that something was different about this woman from the others. The Deighian girl couldn’t put her finger on what, exactly, but there was definitely something about her. The woman’s facial features were soft, but pronounced, and her pale skin set off the bright red of the lip tinting on her full lips. The woman’s hair was a dark brown color with tints of red throughout, and her piercing blue-green eyes still stared out despite their frozen state. Eira found her to be entrancingly beautiful.

The young woman wore tight fitting clothes that accentuated her well-placed curves. Eira looked down at her own travelling clothes. They were grey and blue, as were most clothes in her homeland, and Eira’s slight form didn’t offer much curve to be shown off. She frowned slightly, turning her attention back to the woman before her.

It was then that she noticed the woman was glowing a faint orange color, and the ice around her was beginning to melt. Eira’s heart jumped up into her throat as she watched in stunned silence. She began bouncing nervously as she looked at her surroundings and then back to the glowing woman before her.

She had a fleeting thought that she should run, but to where would she possibly go? She had no idea where she was or what other people might be awaiting her. Then again, there was a possibility this woman wouldn’t harm her, and Eira could always just freeze her again if she tried…the curiosity was steadily overtaking her despite her nervousness.

What do I do now??

*****

And there is you DP!! What does Eira do? Run off? Or stay and see what happens?[/b]
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Lilith



Joined: 10 Feb 2007
Posts: 1597
Location: Happily curled up in a Daemon's lap

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 5:35 pm    Post subject:  

Chock full of info! Fantastic first chapter! You two throw us RIGHT into the world with a battle and then you slow it down in the icy section of the world with fantastic description. And I think that Eira is in such shock at Rue's strange nature that she backs away and watches Rue thaw out. And maybe since it's just those two, Eira might be able to communicate that she's not looking to be a threat or at war with anyone.
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Tikanni Corazon



Joined: 25 Oct 2009
Posts: 1286
Location: Running through the plains of my mind, my wolf spirit at my side (but doing so in the UK!).

Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 1:53 pm    Post subject:  

Thanks Lil for the comments and the suggestion, and for reading! :)

And here's a bump for everyone else. The Mayoress and I have been working hard figuring out the world that this SG is set in and we're rather pumped when it comes to writing the chappies atm. So come along ladies and gents! ;)
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sagittaeri



Joined: 05 May 2012
Posts: 367

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:28 am    Post subject:  

Awesome first chapter! Both the lead characters are very likeable, kudos to both of you on that. The description of this fantasy world is vivid, but not so much that it feels out of place...you both struck a pretty good balance between the two. :D

Like Lilith, I believe Eira will keep a safe-distance while Rue thaws. Her curiosity of the strange world is keeping her from fleeing, however. After all, she could always turn her into ice again, should she feel threatened.
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Vishal Muralidharan



Joined: 24 Aug 2010
Posts: 867
Location: City Of IF!

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 3:58 am    Post subject:  

Brilliant!

I loved the chapter. It has vivid descriptions and maintains a very realistic feel throughout. Like sagi said, both the characters are already very likeable, and I can't wait to get to know them better. There's also something about the descriptions that add a somewhat mystical feeling (atleast to me), so yeah, really well written.

There's no saying what Rue might do once she thaws out, but considering we've frozen her, I'm pretty much certain that it is going to be less than friendly. Also, we don't know her language, so that's going to be a problem too. However, If we run now, she's probably going to chase us anyway, so I'm going to go with the others on the DP. Stay back, watch her thaw out, and SOMEHOW have a shot at peace. :)
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Vikas Muralidharan



Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Posts: 600

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:41 am    Post subject:  

Wow. Just wow.

I love the way you two describe the scenes here. It does give a kind of a mysterious feeling to it and keeps me curious. It's really interesting. I was under the impression we were going to play with Rue's POV at first, but this is just cool.

Just to be different, I'm gonna say Eira runs out of fear. Can't wait to see where this story goes.
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Andolyn



Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Posts: 852
Location: sitting barefoot in a tree in the beautiful land of Ardara, writing my tales...

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:08 am    Post subject:  

Curse you, Vikas! XD we were so close to being able to put out another chapter tonight! lol! ah well...we'll poll instead. ;)

Thanks everyone for the comments and support!!
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Lilith



Joined: 10 Feb 2007
Posts: 1597
Location: Happily curled up in a Daemon's lap

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:11 am    Post subject:  

Poll voted on and slapped with a heavy stick!
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misterbiz



Joined: 10 Jan 2010
Posts: 461
Location: a chair in a cold dark living room

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 9:33 pm    Post subject:  

Voted...and loved this. Both the battle and Eira's first impressions upon the new world were both brilliantly written. Loving it so much already!!
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Andolyn



Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Posts: 852
Location: sitting barefoot in a tree in the beautiful land of Ardara, writing my tales...

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 5:08 pm    Post subject: Chapter 2  

One moment commotion had broken out around her, and then next there was nothing but cold. Freezing, unexplainable cold, matched with the inability to move. Rue began to panic, though it was short-lived. Her mind worked quickly and hit upon the culprit almost immediately. The girl...Even in her ice prison, Rue's anger flared, and her magic with it.

Due to the disdain that most of the races felt for the people that made up part of her heritage, the Pyroceans of the northern-most plate of Adesar, Rue refrained from using her magic for the most part, reserving it only for when she really needed it...or when she got very angry. The latter often proved the most dangerous, as she found her control over it was shaky and the power itself fuelled entirely on emotion. The sudden surge of power always reduced her to a weakened state afterwards, but usually that didn't matter, because there was nothing to prove dangerous to her in the vicinity. The last time Rue had performed magic through her emotional state alone, she'd killed seventeen men, and injured several more. And now it was about to happen again.

Rue could feel the flame building inside her, warming her skin. It took mere moments for the melting process to begin, she could feel the water dripping down to the floor, then turning to steam as she became hotter and hotter.

The ice around her eyes grew thinner and she could see out, as if she were looking through glass. She glanced around the immediate area, and her eyes fell upon the girl, who was approaching cautiously, a look of curiosity upon her visage. Rue's temper flared further, and she could feel her magic reaching full potency, knowing that soon her physical appearance would start to change to that of the Pyrocean side of her bloodline. Her eyes would grow dark, her fingernails would blacken, her skin would change to a golden hue, and eventually her form would be wreathed in flames.

The girl clearly realized that something was happening, as she began to back away from Rue and bobbed around, looking panicked. A wave of satisfaction flowed through Rue, even as she felt her eyes changing from the colour of the ocean to darkest night.

Suddenly, she glanced to the side and spotted another figure, completely coated in ice. She recognized the height and build immediately and her heart skipped a beat, then sank to the pit of her stomach.

“Valed...” she whispered inside her ice prison. “VALED!”

The surge of panic was enough. Fire flared around her, and the remaining ice shattered into a thousand pieces.

~~~

Oh Shit, Oh Shit, Oh Shit!! Eira thought frantically as she bounced around, still trying to decide what she should do. Fear caused her to want to run straight back to the Ishtaaran tunnels and back up to Shard, but her curiosity kept her rooted right where she was.

Just then, she sensed a pooling of magic that brought her attention back to the previously frozen woman before her.

Oh Shit was all Eira had time to think before a burst of flame came directly at the girl’s head. Desperate and caught off guard, Eira threw her hands up and blasted ice back in the direction of the other. The result was incredible. Fire and Ice met in the center and came to a complete impasse. The flame melted the ice, but the ice quenched the flame. Halting their attacks, the two women stared at one another.

From the ground, where the initial attack had pushed her, Eira watched the dark haired woman in wonder. She had changed completely from the person Eira had observed in the ice. Instead of the pale skin that had adorned her body previously, the woman was now a golden hue, her skin shimmering as though a flame had been lit in her blood. Her eyes were as black as the night brought by the obsidian dome that hovered over Shard for half of the day, and like a halo around her body, flames covered her.

Eira’s fear was quelled now by innocent curiosity once again. Delighted, she stood again, and smiled giddily at the clearly angry woman.

“You,” she started in her broken version of the base language, “You are a Pyrocean descendant!! I have read much about your people in books!”

Eira’s excitement seemed to confuse the flame covered woman before her, but the anger didn’t fade much.

“Are they alright??” she demanded in a voice that was unnaturally deep.

“What?” Eira frowned at her.

“My Men!!” the woman bellowed, causing Eira to step back, her fear returning, “Did you kill them??”

“What??” Eira gasped, “No!! The air around them is just frozen. They’ll be alright when the ice is removed!”

“Well??” the flaming woman pointed to the one nearest her. He was a handsome man with strong features and dark hair with eyes to match. He was the same man who had been sewing the wound in the dark woman’s arm.

Her lover, most likely. Eira thought as she approached, keeping careful awareness of the woman behind her. She took a deep breath before touching the ice that encased the man. Instantly, it turned to water, and she walked on to the next while behind her, the dark woman ran forward, now in her human form, to embrace the man. Eira weaved through all of the remaining men, returning them to animation before coming back to where she’d stood before nervously. The men were confused now, but they wouldn’t be for long, and Eira was now outnumbered.

Oh Shit…

~~~

Her anger having been slowly taken over by worry for her lover, the instant Valed was unthawed, Rue threw herself at him. The moment the ice turned to water, Valed fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the shock and prior cold.

"Valed!" Rue said his name, desperately needing to know that he was okay. He was shivering all over, and he was soaked to the skin from the previously frozen water. In an uncharacteristically enthusiastic display of affection, Rue took his face in her hands and kissed him hard once, then again. "Valed, my love, are you alright?" Shaken though he was, Valed nodded in response, causing Rue to remove her hands from either side of his visage in order to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him again deeply. "I was so scared. I mean, I knew I could handle being frozen, but you..."

Still shivering, Valed nodded that he understood what she was saying.

"Now you know how I feel every time you do something rash," he joked in spite of his current situation, resulting in a short, sharp shove from the woman before him, sending him lightly sprawling to the ground, with her pinning his arms down, the smile on her face showing her relief, but also the strain of the to'ing and fro'ing of emotions. A tear appeared at the corner of one green-blue eye, and she swiped it away, taking a deep breath. His one arm freed, Valed pulled her down against him and kissed her again. "I'm fine, love," he said, the shaking wearing off a little. Rue nodded in acknowledgement, touching her lips against his.

It suddenly occurred to both of them that not only were they surrounded by other individuals, but also that there was a situation that needed to be dealt with. At remembering the presence of the ice-girl, Rue's eyes started to blacken again, and she turned to fix the newcomer with her gaze. She barely heard the uttering of 'Rue, calm down' from Valed as she got to her feet and faced the other female.

"You!" she hissed, advancing on the girl. "Who the hell are you, and why'd you attack my men and I? We have our own battles, and none of them are with Shard!" She could feel her body heating up more as her fury increased, knowing that her skin would be shifting colour in a rhythm much like the waves of the ocean. She saw the slightly shocked look upon the Deighian's face when she mentioned Shard, and felt a little smug. "Yes, I know what you are too," she went on.

Much like her show of affection towards Valed, Rue very rarely performed the magics of her ancestors in front of anyone, including her men. She usually had a fairly tight hold on her emotions, but when they did manage to push past her barriers, they came out with a bang. And this time was no different.

Ignoring the faces of the men around her, Rue was entirely focused on the other female, her rage building. Without waiting for her to reply, Rue felt the Pyrocean blood pumping in her veins, the magic alongside it, and released a wave of fire.

~~~

Eira watched the woman changing before her. This time though, her mind raced, remembering the first attack and adapting her technique to meet the oncoming challenge. Eira was no mere Deighian. She was a direct descendent of the firstborn…the pure race. Eira was a Saen. Though the woman had caught her off guard in their first encounter, Eira was unfathomably powerful…so much so that even the girl herself didn’t fully understand her capabilities, as she never had used them outside of daily chores.

When the wave of fire came at her, Eira saw from the corner of her eyes, the shock on the faces that surrounded her, awaiting her death, but Eira was determined to end this battle now. As if in slowed time, she observed the world around her.

She allowed her hands to come out to the sides ever so slightly, feeling the air around her…feeling the water. Tiny atoms of hydrogen and oxygen melded together to create tiny molecules of the material that fueled her power. She closed her eyes.

When Eira opened them again, her eyes had begun to swim in opalescent blues. A hint of a smirk flashed across her pale blue lips as time seemed to speed back up to reality and she sprang into action.

Pulling the oxygen molecules on which the fire fed closer to her, Eira forced what used to be a massive wave of flame into a streaming vortex between her hands in the center of her chest. More and more fire came, feeding the ball that was growing before the girl. The men around her watched in wonder as tendrils of ice began forming around the swirling fire. By the time the dark woman’s wave had all been collected, it was nothing more than a ball of frozen flame.

Eira stood tall, breathing hard, but looking resolved and utterly unscathed.

“I did not attack,” she spoke in her thick accent, “I defended. Do not try to fight me further. You cannot stand against my power.”

With that, Eira threw the ball of ice to the ground, shattering it on top of a large log. To the amazement of those watching, a tiny flame caught on the log and continued to burn.

“I have precise control of my magic. Your men live…because I did not wish to kill them.”

~~~

Rue blazed with anger, the flames reaching such a heat that the shirt on her back turned to cinders, which were caught on the wind and blown away, leaving her clad in her corset, breeches and boots, all of which had been enchanted by a Sylonian witch on the fifth plate the last time she'd passed through, so that they didn't burn.

"My men you might be able to kill," she went on in her supernaturally deep voice. "But I am a different story, as you well know, girl."

She emphasized the last word, making it known how little she regarded the beautiful Deighian's speech about power. Even in her state of fury, Rue couldn't help but notice how the other female's skin was so pale that it had almost a blue hue, and how her eyes sparkled like chips of ice in her flawless visage, framed in the lightest of golden locks.

"My skills go beyond mere magical abilities," she roared on, the grass beneath her feet blackening and turning to dust. "I've lived my life on land and ocean, by sword and pistol. I have gained experience in the ways of battle. I would be willing to bet you cannot say the same, tucked away on your little plate of ice."

At that moment, one of Rue's men, distracted a moment from the face-off between the two women, let out a cry.

"I hear men approaching!"

The information broke through Rue's rage, and the flames around her began to lessen. Valed immediately took off into the trees, emerging again a minute or two later and approached his leader, who's flames had entirely dissipated. Rue's skin was also turning back to it's normal colour, though her eyes remained like two lumps of obsidian set into her face.

"Report," she said, her voice nearly back to it's original tone.

"Hurgzar's men," Valed stated, stopping in front of her. "Heading this way. Around two dozen of them."

"Hurgzar's own men?" Rue said, her black eyes hard. She looked down at the ground, trying to quench the last of her Pyrocean power as she struggled to think of a plan of action. Valed cleared his throat, glancing at the Deighian girl.

"What about her?" he asked his leader quietly. Rue looked to the other woman, her eyes finally changing back to blue.

'Indeed,' she thought to herself. 'What should we do about her?'

~~~

“E-excuse me,” Eira questioned, ignoring the other girl’s display of anger. It was true that Eira had little experience in the martial arts, but the raw power she possessed was enough to keep Rue from besting her. The two were at an impasse, so Eira thought it best to just move forward. “What is…a Hurgzar…? And can I help?”

Both the other woman and her lover looked at her, and Eira found that she felt oddly calm and with little fear tainting her. Instead, she was openly curious about the impending situation, and merely stood waiting patiently for them to come to a decision.

*****

And there's your DP! Does Rue swallow her pride and let Eira help? Do they stay and fight? Do they run and regroup? It's up to you!!
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Lilith



Joined: 10 Feb 2007
Posts: 1597
Location: Happily curled up in a Daemon's lap

Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2012 2:12 pm    Post subject:  

Sorry it took me a couple days to get situation so I can read this without interruption.

Well done the both of you, and as flawlessly seamed as the story is between you both, I can tell who wrote what, knowing both of your writing styles as well as I do. *smirk*

Now, Rue's already pissed so she probably wants Eira to go away... or just crawl in a hole and die, what have you, but I think Valed will scent the danger of letting Eira 'help' by using her ice-powers. So he should convince Rue that they should more than likely guard Eira from being taken by Hurgzar's men. So have her as an honorary squad member, and someone should probably tell her to keep her mouth shut while they either fend off Hurgzar's men or explain whatever it is that needs explaining to them.
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Vishal Muralidharan



Joined: 24 Aug 2010
Posts: 867
Location: City Of IF!

Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2012 7:28 am    Post subject:  

NO.WAY.

I do NOT see that happening as of now. There's this huge friction between them because of Rue's pride and what Eira just managed to do to it. I don't see them joining forces immediately after that. In my opinion, Rue doesn't even respond to her and jumps straight into this confrontation.

Another brilliant chapter. Keep 'em coming guys :)
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Vikas Muralidharan



Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Posts: 600

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 3:58 am    Post subject:  

I don't think it's likely that they will team up now, especially after what happened. This is just too soon. It'll take time before Rue and Eira can work together.

Brilliant writing anyways! Loved the chapter xD
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Lilith



Joined: 10 Feb 2007
Posts: 1597
Location: Happily curled up in a Daemon's lap

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 4:39 am    Post subject:  

I think you two are misreading my post. I'm not saying that Eira & Rue work together; hardly, I wouldn't expect that from my worst enemy myself. I was saying that Valed, seeming to be the more reasonable of the two between himself & Rue, would reason with Rue for the need of DISCRETION at this time. Someone else's men coming into the area sounds like a damn big emergency to me.
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Vishal Muralidharan



Joined: 24 Aug 2010
Posts: 867
Location: City Of IF!

Posted: Tue Oct 02, 2012 6:14 am    Post subject:  

Lilith wrote: I think you two are misreading my post. I'm not saying that Eira & Rue work together; hardly, I wouldn't expect that from my worst enemy myself. I was saying that Valed, seeming to be the more reasonable of the two between himself & Rue, would reason with Rue for the need of DISCRETION at this time. Someone else's men coming into the area sounds like a damn big emergency to me.

Lol no, we didn't misread. We knew what exactly you were saying, and we completely agree with you. Just adding our own reasoning, that's all. xD
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misterbiz



Joined: 10 Jan 2010
Posts: 461
Location: a chair in a cold dark living room

Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2012 2:12 pm    Post subject:  

Rue should swallow her pride and let the ice girl help out.

Brilliant chapter, you guys...very good.
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sagittaeri



Joined: 05 May 2012
Posts: 367

Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2012 1:09 am    Post subject:  

Great chapter, Tika and Andi! So exciting and action-packed too!

Like the others, I believe Rue will ignore Eira and do her thing in times of war. But, Eira being awkward, will try to interfere with the battle, believing she's helping. :)
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kkdestiny



Joined: 05 Oct 2010
Posts: 674
Location: The Library of Interfable History

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2012 8:26 am    Post subject:  

After all that, I don't see Rue swallowing her pride so easily. I think something like that would only occur only after Eira follows around (like a lost puppy XD) and she finally concedes that another strong magic user could POSSIBLY be a good idea.
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Tikanni Corazon



Joined: 25 Oct 2009
Posts: 1286
Location: Running through the plains of my mind, my wolf spirit at my side (but doing so in the UK!).

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:42 am    Post subject:  

Okie dokie, the poll for Frozen Flame ~ Chapter 2 is up! Thanks to all of you for reading and for your comments and suggestions! It means lot to both Andi and myself! :)
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sagittaeri



Joined: 05 May 2012
Posts: 367

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 3:55 pm    Post subject:  

Voted!
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Vikas Muralidharan



Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Posts: 600

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 1:15 am    Post subject:  

Voted :cool:
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Tikanni Corazon



Joined: 25 Oct 2009
Posts: 1286
Location: Running through the plains of my mind, my wolf spirit at my side (but doing so in the UK!).

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 6:57 am    Post subject:  

Thank you, Vikas! :D Andi and I have been dying to get another installment of Frozen Flame posted up, and will hopefully do at some point later today! Thanks to all who voted! :)
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Andolyn



Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Posts: 852
Location: sitting barefoot in a tree in the beautiful land of Ardara, writing my tales...

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:26 pm    Post subject:  

***If you can't already tell...this chapter is really...REALLY long. haha! Hopefully it will be worth it though. Don't forget to comment!!***

Rue regarded the Deighian girl before her with irritation, but kept her mind focused on the task at hand. The men that were heading straight for them weren't just the average band of soldier that the rebels came across. They were the men assigned to Hurgzar.

“Hurgzar is a person, not a thing,” she heard Valed explaining calmly to the other's question, though his voice and manner remained detached and expressionless as he spoke to the stranger, whether through caution or loyalty to Rue herself she didn't know. “General Hurgzar. He's the right hand man of Governor Zantian, and leader of the army fighting against the rebellion, and for good reason. In short, the guy that we really don't want to be dealing with right now.”

“Well, we are going to have to deal with him, so we'd better get our thinking caps on, hadn't we?” interjected Rue brusquely, closing her eyes and massaging her temples. A slight vein of pain was beginning to pulsate lightly and rhythmically through her head, slowly turning into a deep, dull ache, and her limbs had started to feel heavy.

“Shit...” she mumbled vaguely, placing a hand upon Valed's arm to steady herself. She felt her lover's arm slip around her waist and hold her firmly, and felt glad of it. Her prior attacks on the Deighian were beginning to take effect on her body. The sheer volume of power that she'd used had drained her. Had she been a pure-blood Pyrocean, such an act would have been nothing more to her than a click of her fingers. But only a sixth of her blood matched that of her exotic ancestor, and the usage of the magic always took its toll.

“Rue?” Valed's voice sounded concerned. She wanted to reply that she was fine, but it would have been a blatant lie.

“Gods, this isn't the time for this,” she told herself through gritted teeth. She glared at the Deighian girl. “This is all your fault,” she said slightly petulantly, knowing that it wasn't entirely true, but needing something to take her frustration out on. She turned to Valed, still leaning on him heavily. “I don't think I can fight, love.”

~~~

Eira had been watching the entire exchange after listening closely to the one called Valed speak of an army and a rebellion. Upon receiving the news that “this was all her fault,” Eira’s icy heart broke. She stared at the ground, twiddling her thumbs and waiting for the bickering people before her to make a decision.

One named Hergo stepped forward offering to stay behind with some of the men and fight while Rue and the others got away. According to him, Rue was too valuable to the rebellion to lose while he was just a soldier. Eira studied him quietly with her pale eyes. He was a monster of a man, and his courage was unmatched, but Eira could tell by the way he spoke to the woman before him that his heart was pure and gentle.

“No,” she spoke firmly, stepping forward. Everyone in the group turned to stare her down, causing her timidity to surface again. She fumbled through her broken linguistic skills as she spoke again. “This is…my fault.” She looked at Rue with genuine apology in her eyes before fixing the mountain of a man on her other side with a steady stare. “I…will stay…you go…no one will die…because…of me.”

~~~

Rue saw the disheartened look on the Deighian's face when she told her she was to blame, and felt a slight twinge of guilt. But her headache was quickly worsening, and she was having trouble focusing.

“Gods!” she hissed, slamming her palm against her forehead, resulting in Valed grabbing her hand and holding it with his free one.

“Hurting yourself more isn't going to solve anything, love,” he said, firmly but gently. He looked at Hergo when the giant of a man made his offer to stay behind with some of the others, his expression thoughtful, but reluctant. “There's more than twenty men heading this way, Hergo. Even all of us together wouldn't really be enough, unless Rue used her powers against them, and that's just not happening.” He looked down concernedly at the exhausted woman at his side and kissed her forehead. Rue managed a weak smile, but frowned at the discomfort her thumping headache was causing her.

When the Deighian spoke, all members of the company looked to her in astonishment, including Rue, who fixed the girl with a strained, frowning stare. When the Deighian admitted why she was making the gesture, Hergo looked to Valed who rolled his eyes.

“It's not really your fault,” he stated to the girl, his voice a little more gentle than before due to the obvious distress caused to her at thinking she was the cause of everything that was about to go down. Clearly the girl was rather more naïve than one would first imagine. “Rue's just...she doesn't know what she's saying.”

“Yes, she does,” Rue interjected abruptly, grimacing as she did so. “If she'd not shown up, I wouldn't be...like this.”

“If you learned to keep your temper, you wouldn't be like this either,” Valed stated gently to his lover, lifting her hand to his lips and kissing the palm. Rue sighed and said nothing more, too tired to argue. Valed smiled down at her, then looked back at the Deighian girl.

“Putting all of that aside, you have some serious powers,” he said thoughtfully. “You might actually be the only chance that we have.”

Hergo stepped forward to argue.

“Valed, we can't leave her here to face them alone. What if some of them made it through? She's only a little scrap of a thing.”

~~~

Eira listened to Valed intently…why would someone say something they did not mean? It really made no sense. She had always been taught that words are a reflection of the inner heart. Letting them escape haphazardly could end in disaster.

It was then that Hergo stepped up. His idea of Eira being a “little scrap of a thing” made the girl giggle. She liked this hulky man. Something about him made her feel safe…but now it was her turn to keep him safe.

She turned her head so that her keen, pointed ears could pick up the sounds coming through the trees.

“No time now!” she said in a hushed tone, jumping forward and placing her slender hands on the small of Hergo’s back…which was chest high for her.

Though she pushed with all her might to move him toward the cover of the trees, to her befuddlement, the man didn’t budge. He only released a throaty laugh at her efforts. With a huff, the girl focused her energy on her hands, freezing them solid against his bulky form. With a cry, Hergo leaped forward.

“NO TIME!” The Deighian girl repeated, while she attempted to usher the others toward the tree line before turning to face the oncoming enemy.

She nodded to a sentiment of safety from the large one before taking a deep breath, allowing her magic to begin flowing through the immediate area. By the time the soldiers came through the opposite tree line, Eira’s white-blonde hair had turned silver, and her eyes had begun to swim in their opalescent blue. To the goblin men breaking through the trees, she appeared as a goddess of ice and fury with ancient symbols covering her slim body in white, icy lines. The part of her appearance that struck fear in their hearts, however, was the effortless smirk that remained on her angelic face.

That’s when the storm began.

~~~

As the Deighian girl told them all to leave, Rue felt herself being scooped up into Valed's arms and the steady rhythm as he started to move quickly away from the area. She leaned her head against his shoulder, her eyes flickering closed as she became unable to keep them open a moment longer. She could faintly hear Valed calling to the others to follow him, and the sound of them all crashing through the undergrowth. Realising that even awake she was unable to do anything to help, Rue allowed herself to sink into deep, dark unconsciousness.

Valed looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms as he moved quickly through the forestland, listening for any signs of battle behind him, but he found that he could hear nothing. Hergo came up beside him.

“Regardless of what that girl said, Valed, I cannot bring myself to just leave her there,” the big man stated. “I'm going back. I feel like a coward, running away and leaving a little girl to fight for me.”

“She's not a little girl, Hergo,” Valed replied, looking up at the other man. “She's a very powerful being. You saw what she did to Rue's power. She'll be fine, and in a little while we'll go back anyway.”

Hergo shook his head.

“I can't do it, Valed. I'm sorry, but I'm going back. And I pray we meet again, my friend.” And with that he turned and took off in the direction they'd come.

“I pray for the same thing,” Valed said quietly to himself as he watched the other man disappear.

It didn't take long for Hergo to reach the vicinity around the clearing. He listened and found all to be quiet and still. The silence unnerved him a little, but he kept going, moving quietly through the undergrowth. As he neared the clearing, his eyes widened in shock. Everything was white. The ground, the plants...ferns and bushes were layered with a delicate spray of frost. Hergo started when he saw figures frozen, mid-attack and scattered around the clearing. And sat in the centre of it all was the Deighian girl. Hergo smiled when he saw her, and gave a shake of his head.

“Looks like Valed was right, you can take care of yourself,” he chuckled, approaching her. She was seated upon a tree stump, and her expression was one of innocent pride, her smile wide and contagious, and her whole aura was one of likeability. He stopped before her and, after a quick pause, seated himself on the ground next to her, ignoring the cold beneath his breeches.

“What's your name?” he asked, quietly.

The girl smiled at him, her head only slightly higher up than his.

“Eira,” she replied. “My name is Eira.”

~~~

Eira watched her favorite enter the clearing, eyeing the frozen warriors around her carefully. He then smiled at her, to which the girl grinned like a child who’s just done a summersault for the first time would grin at a proud father. Hergo came closer to where Eira sat cross-legged on her stump. She frowned when he sat, wishing she could do something about the cold beneath his bottom…but “warm” wasn’t exactly her forte.

“My name’s Hergo, Eira,” the man offered her his hand, and she took it, finding that her hand and wrist were now completely hidden in the warmth of it. Again, she frowned at the discomfort her cold limb must be causing him. “You haven’t been out of Shard for long, have you?”

“I left…the tunnel Ishtaar…this morning,” Hergo smiled as the girl struggled through her halting speech. She fixed him in her icy gaze, a warm smile contrasting with the picture of the cold Deighian people he’d been told stories of from childhood.

“You’re a Saen, aren’t you? You’d have to be to not be exhausted after a display like this,” he motioned a big hand at the snowy scene in which they sat. The girl nodded. Knowing that to be the case, Hergo couldn’t begin to guess the girl’s age…likely, she’d seen many centuries pass on the icy plains of Shard. As he watched her observe her surroundings and interact with others, though, Hergo couldn’t help but feel a sense of protectiveness for her.

“You remind me of someone,” Hergo smiled softly, his tanned face wrinkling slightly with the expression. “My daughter.”

“Really?” Eira cocked her white-blonde head to the side, “I was…not aware that you were…of Deighian blood.” To this, the massive man laughed from the bottom of his belly.

“That isn’t what I mean,” he wiped the tears that had leaked from his eyes in his laughter. “I mean…the way you look at the world. You’re so happy. Everything you see leaves you in complete wonder. She was like that too. Always looked at the world with such expectation of the future.”

“Where is she?” Eira rested her chin on her knees, her legs still crossed at the ankles. A shadow crossed the middle-aged man’s visage.

“She was killed,” Hergo stared off distantly as he spoke. Eira’s frown deepened, and she chewed her bottom lip, staring intently at the man before her.

“Why?” her tone was quiet…hesitant.

“I don’t know,” Hergo breathed. “Men like these came and raided our village at the beginning of the war…men who were of working age were taken prisoner to serve Governor Zantian…the women and children weren’t needed…so they were killed.”

Eira didn’t like this news. It shook her thoughts to the core, sending her reeling into an abyss of endless confusion.

“I—I do not understand,” she stammered slowly, “we believe…all life is…important.”

“Yes, but these men and the one they follow do not believe that way, princess,” Hergo said gently. “They are not good men.”

“Have you taken life, Hergo?” the man felt as though his very soul was laid out before the piercing gaze that now lay upon him.

“I have,” he answered truthfully. “I did today, as a matter of fact…I am not proud of it, but these are bad men who will go on killing innocent people if they are not stopped.” The bulky man almost held his breath as the powerful, childlike being before him sat and mulled over what he’d just said in her mind. If angered, Hergo knew that Eira could end his life with barely a thought, but in the face of all logic, what worried him most at this particular moment, was that he would be hated by the beautiful girl before him. Her reaction was not what he had expected.

After a few moments of thoughtful silence, Eira locked gazes with Hergo once again. She stared at him deeply for a time before a small, almost loving smile pulled at the corners of her blue lips. Hergo couldn’t help but be entranced by the Deighian before him as she spoke. The lids above her pale blue eyes were naturally shaded different hues of blue, and the setting sun sparkled brilliantly against the crystals that surrounded her eyes and the tops of her cheeks.

“You are…good, Hergo,” She said earnestly, emphasizing each word as she tried to convey her message to him. “Life is important…no matter the past…if it can be spared, it should be…but if it cannot…be sure it is taken with respect for the…the miracle…that it is…and then you will not be like them…you will stay…good.”

When she finished, the Deighian girl laid a slender hand against the rough, unshaven cheek of Hergo’s face. Despite her ignorance of the workings of the world, Hergo heard the wisdom in her words, and for the first time, saw in her eyes that same wisdom that only years of life can bring. Some would call her naïve…but Hergo had other thoughts on Eira’s personhood.

~~~

Rue came to, finding herself sat upon the ground, still clad in just her breeches, boots and corset, and nestled in a pair of warm arms. She squinted slightly at the sudden burst of daylight to her priorly closed eyes, then looked up, smiling when she saw that she was leaning against a sleeping Valed's chest. She snuggled against it slightly as she looked around, then immediately sat up in surprise. Everything in front of her was white, as if covered in a layer of thick frost. She noticed her men wandering around the clearing, inspecting sedentary figures scattered around the area.

Rue frowned slightly as she thought back, and found the memory of the Deighian girl. This must be her work. The short-lived battle between the two of them came back to her, and then...soldiers! There had been soldiers coming. Men of Hurgzar's army no less. Seeing as her own men were clearly fine, Rue could only assume that the frozen beings before her were of the enemy.

Gingerly she got to her feet, trying not to wake her lover, though she didn't succeed. Even as she stood, her weight braced against a tree, he got to his feet to hold her steady.

“How're you feeling, love,” he asked, planting his lips against her temple. She nodded at him with a smile.

“Better,” she admitted. She gestured around. “The girl did this?”

“Eira,” Valed replied with a nod, stating the Deighian's name to Rue for the first time. “Yeah, she stayed behind and let us get away.”

Rue nodded in return before stepping into the clearing, finding that her balance was fine. She spotted Eira and made directly for her, seeing the other girl alert to her presence. Attempting to put her more at ease, Rue nodded a greeting.

“I hear you helped us before?” she said.

“Yes,” replied Eira with a small smile.

“I suppose thanks are in order then,” Rue said, holding out a hand to the other woman, who took it, her smile widening a little. “Thank you, for helping my men and I to escape what would very likely have been our demise.” She looked around at the twenty or so frozen beings before turning back to Eira. “They're dead?” The question was met with a shake of the Deighian's head. Rue gave a slow nod. “Right...best finish the job then, don't you think?”

~~~

“Finish…the job?” Eira questioned, not understanding the other’s request.

“You know, kill them,” Rue stated in annoyance, “get it over with!”

What can only be described as horror filled the Deighian’s mind as she looked around at the frozen figures surrounding her. At least twenty men still held their weapons in the way they had when they first charged her. She remembered what Hergo said about them…how they had murdered his family…but something inside her hesitated still. Eira had never before taken a life…much less the life of a person.

She knew in her heart that each of these men had a home…a family of their own.
She knew that despite the evil nature of most of them, some of them were not fighting by choice, but had likely been offered some sort of trade…perhaps service for the safety of those families at home. Some of them were evil, to be certain, but Eira had no way to judge which of the men were evil and which were just trapped.

“I—I can’t do that!” She cried, her hands flying up to touch her face as she backed away slightly.

~~~

Rue was speechless. She pointed around at the already half frozen beings scattered about the clearing.

“We're not living on your perfect little ice plate here, you know,” she stated roughly, fixing Eira with her oceanic gaze. “We're in the middle of a war here. These men -” She gestured again to the statuesque figures surrounding them. “- they are scum, and they wouldn't think twice about butchering their own kin if it benefited them in some way, so what do you think they'd do to you if they had the chance? They have joined Governor Zantain of their own free-wills, abandoned their families, ransacked their own villages, and turned against the innocent people of our world! Zantain seeks to enslave all the peoples on every plate of Adesar, and he doesn't give a shit how much force, brutality and death must occur to meet such an end!”

Rue paused, panting with the force of her speech, her prominent chest heaving slightly with each breath. She strode up to the Eira, standing directly face to face with her.

“Do you think that Zantain will stop with the other eight plates and leave your precious homeland alone?” she said carefully, taking in the girl's shocked visage, knowing that she was making an impact. “You honestly imagine for a second that he's going to risk beings as powerful as you being allowed to roam free? And your power may be great, Saen of Shard, but your people were driven from the lands once before, and if Zantain has the other plates behind him by that point, your people would be as good as dead the moment his armies set foot on Shard.” She clenched her jaw, her mouth set into a firm line. “You might think me hard or heartless...I assure you I'm not. I choose to bestow my care upon those that deserve it, and they-” She swept around, long, dark hair flowing behind her as she walked over to one of the frozen men. “-they aren't worthy of it!”

She roared the last few words, her eyes turning to black for a moment due to the sheer passion behind her speech, as slapped the palm of her hand brutally against the torso of the man in question, keeping her jet gaze upon Eira. She remained there for a moment, then wandered briskly off to one side.

“Welcome to the real world,” she stated, not looking at Eira, as she grabbed her pack, pulling a fresh shirt of soft teal from inside and slipping it over her head. She flicked her beautiful long hair free of the garment, straightening it out, then slipping a thick, brown-leather belt around her waist. The effect showed off her curves to the full, making her look distinctly womanly. She gave a weary sigh, and looked once again at the Deighian. “Now...finish the job,” she said quietly.

~~~

Eira allowed the woman’s words to sink deeply into her mind. She knew what Rue had said to be true. Hergo wouldn’t follow the woman if she spoke lies, but she also knew her previous thoughts to be true as well. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew killing them outright was wrong. It went against everything she believed…everything she was.

Torn, she looked around for Hergo, but he, like all the others was simply staring at her, waiting for her to react. The only difference in his expression and theirs was that his held a note of sadness. He knew what she believed, and he could see from her face the turmoil into which the very idea had plunged her.

Eira looked at one of the frozen men. This one had been one of the last, his weapon lowered and his expression one of fear.

What do I do now?
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kkdestiny



Joined: 05 Oct 2010
Posts: 674
Location: The Library of Interfable History

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 8:24 pm    Post subject:  

Don't kill them right now.

Eira is not under Rue's command so she doesn't have to do what she says when she says it.

Surely what she says can be true, but isn't nessessarily..and of course she has GOT to be biased against the enemy, its what happens during war, you want to hate the enemy as much as possible (I think, it certainly would make sense as a defense mechanism)

But if not all of them, then I at least feel bad for that last one. I would like to undo the ice around his head somehow and give him a chance to explain why he's in the army.

Certainly, Eira can sense if someone is actually good or not. I do not believe she's that naive.
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sagittaeri



Joined: 05 May 2012
Posts: 367

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:17 am    Post subject:  

It's never too long. ;)

I don't believe Eira will kill anyone, not in that situation. The only time she'll kill someone is when someone she cares about is threatened. In this situation, however, she'll refuse Rue's request. Instead, I think furious-at-the-idealist Rue will "finish the job" for Eira.
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Lilith



Joined: 10 Feb 2007
Posts: 1597
Location: Happily curled up in a Daemon's lap

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:28 am    Post subject:  

Despite Rue's obviously emotionally turbulent speech, I don't think Eira will just toss aside a lifetime of pacificism. She could try to convince Rue that they could all get away and just let the men thaw out all on their own, by which time, the rest of them could be long gone and re-grouping.
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kkdestiny



Joined: 05 Oct 2010
Posts: 674
Location: The Library of Interfable History

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:49 am    Post subject:  

Even if Eira won't be able to kill the men, I don't think Rue would be able to be pusueded about it. To her they are enemies, and nothing but enemies.

I think she'd rather not take the chance of having to fight them again. If they die, there's less men to fight later.
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Seraphi



Joined: 25 Oct 2012
Posts: 503
Location: Penna, having a hot cup of tea

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:39 am    Post subject:  

Love your story! (Sorry, I'm new so I had to get that out there!)

At this point I think Eira needs to stand her ground. Rue is quite strong-willed, so if Eira were to give in to the demand to kill them I think she would lose any respect Rue might be building for her (even if Rue doesn't want to admit that she's giving Eira any).

I agree with Lilith that Eira might be able to convince them to run and let the men thaw on their own. Maybe she won't be able to convince Rue outright, but if she tries her hand at persuading Valed, it could probably work out in her favor.

(I did this right....right? :? )
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Andolyn



Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Posts: 852
Location: sitting barefoot in a tree in the beautiful land of Ardara, writing my tales...

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:53 am    Post subject:  

YES!! And we're thrilled to have you along for the ride! Welcome to If!!
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Seraphi



Joined: 25 Oct 2012
Posts: 503
Location: Penna, having a hot cup of tea

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:57 am    Post subject:  

Phew! I was nervouse for a second there that I had bungled something.

Thanks for the welcome, it's awesome to be here!
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Andolyn



Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Posts: 852
Location: sitting barefoot in a tree in the beautiful land of Ardara, writing my tales...

Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:33 am    Post subject:  

any more suggestions before we poll tonight?? =)
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Emperor



Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 471
Location: San Diego, CA

Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:00 pm    Post subject: Re: Frozen Flame  

Andolyn wrote: **Guess what, GUESS WHAT!! Your Mayoress and Vice Mayoress have teamed up for a joint SG!!! so I have to say that I have a soft spot for a team SG. the best work I ever did was with Resio on Thorns and Steel.

sorry I'm late, but late is better than never.

Andolyn wrote: ...Now we are reduced to merely the last...In the depths of the great caverns beneath the heat-filled mountains on the first plate, Keshedal, we reside... loved this line, very intriguing and compelling.

Andolyn wrote: showing little more respect for us than they would mud beneath their boots nice way to show the contempt.

Andolyn wrote: the hate we feel for them is little more than dust on the wind in comparison to that which we feel for ourselves great, great, great. very nice!

Great prologue, very engaging and left me with wanting more. just a few notes. all the "..." were driving me a little crazy. I know, I know, its a style thing and I'm sure 8 out of 10 people would disagree, but for me they just bug me a little. Really that all I have for you without reading chapter one right away. Great work and well done.
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Andolyn



Joined: 18 Apr 2011
Posts: 852
Location: sitting barefoot in a tree in the beautiful land of Ardara, writing my tales...

Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:16 pm    Post subject:  

Thank you, Emperor!! Glad to have you with us!

AAAAAND we're polling!! =)
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Tikanni Corazon



Joined: 25 Oct 2009
Posts: 1286
Location: Running through the plains of my mind, my wolf spirit at my side (but doing so in the UK!).

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:38 am    Post subject:  

Emperor wrote: so I have to say that I have a soft spot for a team SG. the best work I ever did was with Resio on Thorns and Steel.

I have to say I really agree with you on that, Emperor. Andi and I have these big brainstorming/writing sessions, and are just constantly bouncing ideas off of one another, and yeah, it's some of the best writing that I've ever done. Not only does one have a source for ideas alternative to oneself, but also I think the quality of writing improves with the knowledge that the story is going to reflect upon the other writer as well. And the mayoress and myself are good friends so that helps too. ;)

Thanks for the comments, Emperor, and thanks also to everyone else who's done so. It's always much appreciated. :)
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