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Tikanni Corazon
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 Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 6:17 pm Post subject: SparkleSteps - Chapter Seventeen: Part 1 |
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Well, it didn't take as long as I thought it would.  Hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!
SparkleSteps ~ Chapter 17: Part 1
Tianna's smile grew wider at Mot's words, and she laughed, as she drew him to her, and held him. Tears formed in her eyes, pooling at the lower rim, before cascading down her cheeks in a sparkling trail.
"I haven't been whole in so long..." she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'd forgotten how it felt to be one complete being."
For a moment, she buried her head in his shoulder, and shuddered with sobs, the events of moments before overwhelming her to such a degree that she couldn't do anything but cry. The three entities that had been created from her soul no longer held seperate existances. She was truly whole, for the first time in...longer than she could even remember.
Finally, she raised her head from Mot's shoulder, aware of the damp patch on his clothing where her tears had soaked into the fabric. She wiped the excess moisture from her cheeks, and stood straight and tall. Despite the shock the feeling of being complete had been, she also felt powerful and ready to take on her old enemy.
"You know the plan?" she asked Mot, though the tone of her voice held a note of confirmation, rather than question.
He nodded, and she gave a determined smile, and a nod in return.
"Right," she said, before holding up her hands for silence. Mot obliged, standing silently admiring the beautiful woman before him. Tianna, well aware of his thoughts, smiled for a moment, before closing her eyes, and sending her awareness out through the forest, searching for the the others, and finding each of them still alive, to which she breathed a sigh of relief. She opened her eyes, and turned to Mot once again.
"Chanah struggles with Sorren as we speak," she said, frowning, as she pondered the situation. "This plan will only work if she manages to awaken him from the Veeka's spell. If she fails, we need an alternative, and I can only think of one option. We need the spear, which Jem holds as he makes his way towards the Veeka's lair. We must get to him, and join him before he reaches it."
"What of the boy, Milo?" Mot asked, suddenly concerned for his safety.
"He lives, and currently attempts to distract the Veeka, though I don't know how long he will be able to hold the monster off with such a tactic."
The crease in Tianna's brow grew deeper, as she realised her fear for the boy's life. He of all of them, was currently in the most danger, and they owed it to him to make sure he remained alive. He'd done so much to get them to this point, to the point when victory was close enough to almost taste. They had the greatest of chances to defeat and destroy their enemy now, and it was largely down to Milo and his sister, who'd already become hurt in the process. Still, if they made their way there now, with no way to defend the boy or themselves, they would likely all die, and the suffering they'd all been through up to this point would have been for nothing.
She turned her vibrant blue gaze to her fellow elf.
"We go to Jem," she said firmly. "We get to him, and get the spear. Then hope beyond hope that we don't need to use it."
Looking down at Mot's injured leg, and knowing that it would slow them down, she closed her eyes again, and summonded power to her, as Mot watched astounded. Already Tianna had demonstrated capabilities with magic that were long gone in the current age of elves. This was old magic, and Mot had never seen anything like it. He watched as a faint glow erupted from her palms, and shifted and swirled into the air around her, looking like a long, curling trail of smoke. The light moved towards his injured leg, and wrapped itself around it, like a snake constricting the wound. The light seemed to sink through his clothing, feeling warm against his skin, before entering the wound itself. Though he was shocked by the feeling of the it invading his body, Mot felt an overwhelming calmness keeping him subdued, so the shock existed only in his psyche.
To his surprise, he could feel his flesh and bone knitting together, the breaks and tears sealing themselves. By the time Tianna stopped, and the light disappeared, Mot found that the pain had disappeared entirely, and the leg looked and felt, for all intents and purposes, like nothing had happened. There wasn't so much as a scar to indicate he'd ever been wounded. He turned his eyes to the elven woman before him, a mixture of happiness and wonder alighting from them.
"Thankyou, my lady," he said, bowing to her deeply, before standing, ready and waiting for her orders. Her power also seemed to have filled him with new energy, and he felt ready for anything the Veeka threw at them.
"You're welcome, my friend," Tianna replied, then, without warning, she took off, disappearing into the forest. Mot hesitated only a second before following, catching up with her moments later, and keeping pace as they made their way towards Jem and the spear.
~~~
Getting herself well out of the way, Chanah turned and watched as Sorren charged after her, only to be caught by multiple thick tendrils erupting out of the ground, as he passed close by the birch tree. The roots wrapped themselves tightly around the Elven man's limbs, while others gripped him around his torso, and neck, restraining him fully.
"You're not hurting him, are you?" Chanah asked, looking warily at the tree's thick, rope-like appendage wrapped snuggly around her lover's throat.
"...he'll be fine...just so long as we can awaken his senses from the deep slumber that they're in...please...just stay calm and quiet...I will attempt to reach him..."
The birch tree's whispery, otherworldly voice was soothing, and Chanah believed in it's words unquestioningly. She nodded her ascent, then grimaced suddenly, as the adrenaline rush passed, and her mind allowed her to feel the pain from the wounds inflicted upon her body by the Harlimane. She looked down at her torn stomach, seeing the jagged rifts left by the creature's claws, each one reaching from her ribs and down, till they almost reached her hipbones. Those in her arm and shoulder, she saw, weren't too bad, but those on her abdomen were a different matter. They were deep, and bleeding profusely. She groaned at the pain, taking a sharp intake of breath, as it intensified when she placed a hand over the wounds to staunch the bleeding.
Chanah dropped to her knees, suddenly feeling weak and shaky. A waterfall of blood left her flesh awash with crimson, splashing down onto her thighs, and, in turn, trickling in thin rivulets down her calves. She wondered how much blood she'd lost during the race to get to the tree. Even as she tried to block the wounds, her hands slid over the slippery flesh, making the task more difficult. She tore away a piece of her skirt, and attempted to use that instead, though it was very soon saturated.
A wave of overwhelming dizziness caught hold of her, causing Chanah to lose her sense of balance entirely. She fell to the side, landing heavily on the moss covered earth. She noticed that the pain seemed to be subsiding a little, though her breathing had become difficult, with each breath coming out in a short, sharp gasp. She suddenly coughed violently, and her eyes widened with shock, as she expelled a large amount of blood along with it. She cursed quietly, allowing a few small tears to escape from her eyes.
"...hold on..." the birch's whispery voice filled her senses. "...I have almost reached him...do not give in...stay strong..."
"I do...don't know...if I can," Chanah replied weakly, coughing again, and causing another torrent of crimson liquid to flow from between her lips.
"...you must...they need you...we all need you..."
Chanah felt the same sensation as before, when she'd been luring Sorren to the tree, a surge of energy filling her limbs. But it was too late, she was too far gone. Moments later, the feeling had disipated, and she remained lying numbly upon the ground, knowing undoubtedly that she was close to death. More tears leaked from her eyes, as she turned her head to look at Sorren, who spasmed and twitched in the tree's grasp.
"Please...drag him back from that dark place," she murmured to the birch. "Make him into the man I love once again..."
At those last words, Chanah's eyes closed, and she knew no more.
~~~
As the gaps between the trees disappeared, Milo suddenly realised the magnitude of the situation he now found himself in. He was trapped alongside the monster that they were trying to kill. A monster that, in a prior form, had been one of the most powerful Elven mages of his time. One who had no qualms about taking the life of another if they stood in his way.
Though he hardly dared, Milo turned to look directly at the being that filled so many others with fear. Aside from the rise and fall of it's uneven breaths, and the wet sucking noise that each one made, the Veeka stood stationary and silent, watching him with each of it's many eyes. Milo gulped, trying to expel the dryness filling his mouth, and began to move around the edge of the clearing, staying close to the wall of trees, as he tryed to reach a position where there was as much distance between himself and his enemy as possible.
He froze suddenly, as the creature's voice broke through the near silence of the clearing.
"What is your name, boy?"
The question was calmly asked, but at the same time filled with a venom that made Milo want to curl up into a ball and cry like a baby, with particular emphasis on the final word. But despite that, Milo was able to form a loose plan in his mind. The Veeka clearly wished to speak to his trapped prey, to torture him maybe, before ripping him to pieces. Milo decided that he might be able to use it to his advantage. If he could keep the Veeka talking for long enough, the others might be able to reach the clearing in time to save him. He cleared his throat, and tried unsuccessfully to dispel his nerves from showing through his voice as he answered.
"My name is Milo..." He paused for a moment, and frowned thoughtfully. For some reason, it felt wrong to utter the word 'Mumby', even though it had been his name since birth. He felt that, if he were to say it, he would be hiding behind the name. For all he knew, the Veeka knew exactly who he was, and to give the impression that he was trying to hide from it might make the beast angry. As if filled with a new bravery, he made his decision. Drawing himself up to his full height, he stared back at his enemy as he spoke again.
"My name is Milo Allington."
I hope it was okay, guys. The other two parts of the chapter will be with you as soon as possible. There is of course no dp for this one, as it is the last. But please, feel free to leave feedback, and if anything needs changing, I'll do my best to do so. Thankyou so much again for reading. It always means alot, from both those who've been following pretty much from the start, to those who've taken the time to read through the whole thing in it's entirety at a later date. I hope this new edition doesn't disappoint.
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.... there is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham....
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, 1887
 
 
  
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Andolyn
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| Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2011 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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| it was great as usual, dear!! ...but Chanah BETTER not die...lol! cant WAIT for the next part!!!
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Lilith
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PopeAlessandrosXVIII
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| Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 3:22 am Post subject: I Think |
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Well well well, what have we here!? An ACTUAL death?! I must dissagree with Lyn-chan and Lilith-chan. Not that I don't like her, but such a thing is so few and far between in much of what I read that it has become something I look forward to just for the difference in it. Know what I mean?
But that is nithere here nor there. I really liked this portion of the chapter. It has things flowing interstingly and you remain at the top of your game in descriptive writing! *Applauds* One spot, I'm not real sure on this, but I don't think Thank you is one word. . . .I think it's either spaced or hyphenated. . . . But that's just my mind and may be wrong!
Mush love Tikanni-chan! May the muse be with you!
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To Be A Knight
And my first Finished work Death Day
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Thunderbird
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| Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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I absolutely loved Chanah's death scene. It was just amazingly described in such detail that I could almost imagine that the death was a first hand experience recounted. I also agree with Pope... if she stays dead it may be the best possible footnote for the quality of the tale. Still, I suspect the tree will bring her back somehow.
So yeah, very much enjoyed the chapter but my only complaint is that I'm REALLY looking forward to this conversation between Milo and the Veeka. I think it's a great moment to focus on and perhaps, in that you've only given the first tantalizing hint of it so far, you may know that well.
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 CHAPTER 25: Near-Light Speed (NEW CHAPTER! (12/4/2011))
Zephyrrr! And...  
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Tikanni Corazon
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Location: Running through the plains of my mind, my wolf spirit at my side (but doing so in the UK!).
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| Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 12:34 am Post subject: |
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Oh dear...looks like I have a slight dilemma on my hands. Two of you want her to live, and the other two want her to die (for the sake of the quality of the story-telling, I get that). Hmmm...what to do, what to do...
That point aside, thank you all for your comments, and sorry that it's taking me so long to get to the end. But, after some new inspiration, I may have a second part of the chapter up soon. I'm not making promises, but I'm hopeful just the same,
Thanks again, all! As always, it's much appreciated!
_________________
.... there is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to man and beast, it is all a sham....
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, 1887
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Very action-packed this time around. Not too rushed but we're getting the explainations we have been waiting for so LONG!! Keep it up dear!
