 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Author |
Message |
Kirranna
Resident
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
Location: California
Items
Legends
Fables
Strata-gems
|
 Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:40 pm Post subject: The Last Moon Stones Chp 7: Sattleton |
 |
|
Okay so a mild disclaimer- my MC for my SG was slightly based on the MC of this story, which I've been working on for the past year or so. I've made it an ILS because there are parts I'm getting frustrated with and will need help on. Also I'm sorry this is so long, but theres just not a good place to break it apart into two installments so, enjoy!
CHAPTER 1: Meeting the Gang
“Shit!” Jami cursed the gods fiercely as she plopped down on the road to pull the sharp rock out of her foot. She already had plenty against the gods, and this was just one more complaint added on to the currently very long list, so their long expected wrath didn’t worry the young woman.
Tears squeezed through her eyelids as she began maneuvering the rock out of the flesh of her foot. Her thin, travel worn sandals had been little protection from the pointed piece of stone that had been sticking straight up as her foot finished a step.
She groaned and hissed through her teeth, “This is the last thing I need right now!” She was on the road to Sattleton which was still a twelve day walk for her with the only place to rest before that, six days away.
Jami had been on the road her whole life. As far back as she could remember she had been walking. So she kept at it, knowing no other way of living. Moving from place to place kept life interesting for such a person with no family and no hope for the future. She just kept on walking and never looked back.
She cursed again as a pulsing stream of blood followed the dirty hunk of earth when she was finally able to pull it out. Jami had nothing extra to wrap her foot with and was loathe to rip up a piece of her clothing. It would become useless once it was soaked through with blood, but she knew there was nothing else she could do.
“That is quite an injury you have there Miss.” A soft but obviously masculine voice said as she made ready to rip off the hem of her worn tunic.
Jami’s head whipped up to find and explanation for why she hadn’t heard anyone approaching. He was an elf, their natural grace and ability to become as silent as the forest around them made them perfect for scouting and other such needs for reconnaissance. She looked past him and saw a party of travelers making their way towards her. The elf in front of her was their scout, she reasoned.
The elf came forward slowly, so as not to alarm her but with seemingly sincere interest in her injured foot. “I’m Talthus,” he offered, “if you’d let me look at your foot I might be able to help.”
Jami eyed this elf Talthus warily. Elves didn’t often associate with low-life humans like her; they rarely chose to interact with humans as it was, but he was obviously traveling with some so he didn’t seem to mind. She finally nodded when she realized he could probably take better care of her injury than she could.
He smiled approvingly and jogged back to his fellow travelers, speaking to a round man while pointing off the road before continuing through the group to a horse.
The elf looked to be in his prime, probably a few hundred years old, was Jami’s guess, but he didn’t look a day past thirty. He had long straight black hair that was tied back at his neck off set by his, almost violet, blue eyes. His features were pointy, as was expected, but his jaw was as squared as an elf’s could get. He had the lithe and graceful frame of his race but there was a little added muscle here and there. She guessed he had some human heritage, but far removed.
He shouldered a bag from the horse and made his way back to her. When he reached her he wasn’t even out of breath. Jami wondered contemptuously why the Gods had seen fit to bless only some of the races with such convenient physical abilities.
“My friends will make camp in the clearing over there as soon as they reach it, but I thought it best we got started on your wound right away.” He seated himself across from her and began shuffling through what she guessed to be their medicine bag. She tried to move her matted up curls out of her face with her pinky finger, it being the only one not covered in her own blood, so she could watch him bandage her up but her red hair was so thickly tangled that she only managed to get her rough fingernail caught in it.
Jami closed her eyes and sighed heavily trying not to let her nail pull on her hair too much as she wondered why she even tried. She jumped in surprise as she found the elf’s hands untangling her finger from her hair. His face was close to hers as he tried to see what he was doing through the red vine-like locks and she noticed that he had a faint scar through his left eyebrow that ended on his cheek.
“Looks to me like you need a brush for this beautiful hair of yours, your fingers won’t do. I’ll get Maggie to help you brush your hair out after we get your foot cleaned up.”
Jami was stunned by his open kindness and furrowed her brows as she readied herself for an argument but the command in his voice left little room for disagreement. “Thank you.” She finally replied as he got her finger uncaught and went back to wiping blood away from the cut in her foot. He looked up only for a moment to smile back in reply to her thanks. It was the first time she had spoken and he realized she was older than her thin, dirty figure suggested.
The first few of the small group of travelers had reached the clearing off the side of the road and were beginning to make camp. The empty space in the trees had a pile of ashes in the center where previous travelers had lit fires in the convenient campsite. The rustle of the leaves as the faint wind blew through them and the sounds of crickets heralding the oncoming dusk blended harmoniously with the voices of the travelers as they spoke to each other while moving about the clearing, a laugh or two breaking the soothing sound of another day ending.
Jami’s gaze moved over each of the people, observing as she always did in a way others might not because no one ever bothered to look at her so she was able to look at them all she wanted. But then she almost jumped when she realized the small dark person, who was unloading his horse, was not a child but a dark skinned dwarf. His skin was so brown it was almost black, and she knew he couldn’t be a child because of the expert way he handled the large double edged axe as he removed it and the leather carrying device that secured it from his back.
When she looked harder Jami realized she hadn’t seen his horse’s kind since she was much younger. She had been working in a tavern scrubbing the floors to pay for her night’s dinner when she heard a traveling merchant talking of one of his most recent bargains. It had been a steal he said, “Two bushels of fruit for this little horse! Two bushels!”
The young Jami had followed the merchant’s curious drinking friends and had been fascinated with the small creature she had seen. It had been from the mountains of Cartine the merchant had said, a rare bread of sturdy little horses that climbed the rocky terrain. “They were specially bread for them dwarves up in those areas. He’s a stubborn little brute, but his size reminds me of my son’s little pony that he’s grow’n out of. Thought this might be a bit more sturdy for the lad.”
Jami mused that the dwarf and pony before her now were exactly alike, short stocky creatures with stubborn heads and dark colors, for the pony was just as black-brown as his master under the layer of dust from the road.
A tall woman with a dark traveler’s cloak clutched a stick that was as tall as herself, as she made her way to the clearing. Jami guessed she was a magic user but wasn’t sure. She also noticed that the woman had incredibly blonde hair and surprisingly fair skin for being out on the road.
“That’s Sakima Ko’parin, maybe you’ve heard of her?” Talthus commented. He had seen her staring at the mage. Jami shook her head. “Well that’s probably for the better. She can get pretty high and mighty when she has someone to show off for.” The young woman nodded to say she understood the warning, even though she made it a habit to stay away from magic users anyway.
Jami was distracted by Talthus’ ministrations so she missed the rest of the party’s arrival. She bit back a few yelps of pain and curses as the elf tried to clean out the dirty wound. When he was finally satisfied that there wasn’t a speck of dirt left in her foot he slapped on an infection fighting salve, wrapped it in a clean piece of cloth and announced he was done.
“Now that wasn’t so bad now was it?” he asked sarcastically. He had been as gentle as possible but understood that if she lost her foot, she would loose her only way of transportation.
She just gave him a wincing smile as he helped her up from the ground. Talthus put an arm under hers to help but ended up mostly carrying her, Jami realized with a little annoyance, to the small fire in the clearing.
“Now how’s that lass of yours Talthus?” a cheerful woman asked. She was a round woman with her grey streaked brown hair pulled back in what she seemed to have hoped was a tight bun but a few loose strands had proved her efforts in vane. She scurried over to the pair of them and handed them both a bowl of beans and a chunk of bread.
Talthus grinned and nodded his head in thanks for the food, “She’s do’in just fine Maggie. I thought you might let her borrow that hair brush of yours. With such beautiful hair she should have it combed.” Maggie seemed delighted with this idea and ran off murmuring about how she had an extra comb in her bag and thought that it would be just the thing for a young lady to have, and that it was a shame that the girl didn’t have one.
The elf grinned at Jami and shrugged as if to say “what can you do with a woman like her but encourage her ‘mother hen’ ways?”
Jami looked at the bowl in her hand. She hadn’t had much to eat in the last few days that was as heavy as a bowl of beans. She mostly foraged for food as she traveled, eating what people gave her which wasn’t very often, or would just go without. She reached for the spoon and discovered that the rock that had been in her foot was still clutched in her hand.
She held the rough piece of stone up to look at more closely with one hand while the other shoveled food from the bowl in her lap to her mouth. It was about the length of her pointer finger from tip to tip and there seemed to be a shape suggested under the hard dirt and rock.
Her hand paused on its way to filling her mouth with beans as light from the fire reflected off of the rock and caught her eye. She set the spoon back in the bowl and looked at the rock more closely.
“You should keep it as a souvenir.” Jami looked up in surprise to find Talthus’ eyes and mouth grinning playfully, “to remind you to watch where you’re stepping.” The firelight played across the rosy tint of her cheeks as she opened up her small leather bag to find a place to put her rock. This was also in an effort to keep her gaze from being drawn to the elf’s beguiling eyes.
He watched her put the rock away, her movements smooth and quiet, the sign of someone who preferred not to be noticed. He imagined that normally she would be easily forgotten but with clean clothes and a bath she wouldn’t be such a horrible sight to see. “You know, I never asked your name.”
Jami looked up at him and nodded, “Neither did I give it.”
The elf raised a brow at the unexpectedly brazen tone from the young woman, “I guess we were both too worried about your foot.”
She shook her head, “No, I’m just not in the practice of giving my name to strangers.”
“I think that after having your blood all over my hands I’m not much of a stranger.”
“No, you are.” She paused and looked at him a small smile on her lips, “My name is Jami Lansyn.”
Talthus grinned, “See that wasn’t hard at all.”
The smile on her lips faded quickly and her eyes withdrew from him. The elf was confused by the reaction but wasn’t able to ask anything before she spoke, “I do owe you for your help Talthus.” She spoke coldly, almost stumbling over his name as if she was uncomfortable being familiar with him.
The elf shook his head and waved his hands at her words, “There’s no need to worry about that. I would expect you to do the same for me if I was in that situation.”
The look in her eyes told the elf that such an occurrence would have been very unlikely, that she already was having a hard time understanding why he had helped her in the first place.
Talthus sighed and shrugged his shoulders as if to answer her thoughts but spoke as well, “I’m no expert but, it does seem like that foot of yours is going to need a while to heal, especially if you plan on not getting it infected, so you probably won’t want to be walking on it too much.” He paused to let her grasp where he was going with his words. “And it just so happens that we have a horse with us that is a bit stubborn but loves giving rides to pretty girls. It seems you’re going to owe me a lot more before too long.”
Jami’s back stiffened as she considered all he said and found that he was right, she couldn’t afford to lose her foot, she would have to rely on him until she could walk again, “What do you want me to do for you in return, for your help?”
The elf had been joking with the girl but when he saw the hard distrustful look in her eyes and the way she sat so stiffly next to him he couldn’t keep up the act. He set his empty bowl aside and put his arms around his knees as he looked at her quizzically. “I was just pulling your leg lass. I don’t expect you to return the favor. Of course I understand if you feel like you need to, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to.” He wondered at what kind of a life she had lived that she would feel so strongly about paying people back, and yet obviously not enjoying the prospect of doing so.
She stared numbly at him trying to understand what he was saying. He didn’t want her to repay him? There was a silence between them as he waited for her to say something while she tried to find a way to say what she wanted to.
When she finally spoke it was quietly, everyone else was gone from the fire tending to other things. They were almost alone there as she gazed into the flames, “No one has ever offered to do something for me with out expecting something in return.”
Talthus wondered what memories were running through her mind as she watched the fire. He didn’t understand what it was about this woman but she made him want to reach out and comfort her. But he decided against it, someone who had obviously grown up on their own wouldn’t take kindly to so much comfort from a stranger.
His thoughts were interrupted however by Maggie. The kindly woman came and sat in between Jami and Talthus with a comb clutched in her round hands, “It took me a bit but I found my extra comb, it was at the bottom of the bag. The bottom! Its horrible when you’re trying to find one thing and suddenly it’s the farthest away from where you think it will be!” she smoothed back her hair for it to only fall away from her head again.
She smiled at Jami and gently felt the red tangled tresses encircling the young woman’s face. She clucked in disapproval not even noticing Jami’s obvious discomfort at having someone touch her hair, but Talthus noticed and he grinned at her when her eyes pleaded for help. “This will have to be brushed right away, can’t let this get any worse, no, no, no!”
Talthus’ smile deepened as Maggie stood up looking like she was on a life or death mission, “Now get up dear.” Maggie commanded as she pulled on Jami’s sleeve. The girl looked to him for help once more but he just smiled warmly and shrugged as if to say there wasn’t anything he could do. “I saw a creek a little ways off, I’ve got some soap with me here too. We’ll get you washed up and brush your hair out.”
Jami got up as she realized there was no way out of the woman’s grasp, “Yes and I think I have some clothes of my daughter’s you can borrow, I’m on my way to visit her you see. She forgot some things when she got married last winter.” She pinched Jami’s dirty travel worn clothes with distaste that she covered with a sweet smile, “We’ll just wash these and hang them by the fire to dry. Oh, I almost forgot to ask your name dear.”
“Jami,” the young woman replied.
“Oh, what a pretty name! I used to know a girl with that name,” Talthus listened with a smile as Maggie talked until he could no longer hear her as she dragged the silently protesting and heavily limping Jami to the creek. The elf shook his head and threw another piece of wood on the fire before he grabbed his short sword from his horse and checked the blade’s edge methodically.
----
By the time Jami returned to the camp Talthus was lounging in the firelight with the dwarf and the portly man, passing a long pipe between each other silently as they listened to the sounds of the forest. Sakima was sitting on the other side of the flames flipping through an old, worn leather-bound book with strange symbols and diagrams written on the pages glaring at the men when they broke the silence with casual small talk.
Maggie was the first to approach the fire. She sat down rather daintily next to the middle-aged man and gave him a peck on the cheek and asked about the condition of the horses and other such homely matters, but they were lost on Talthus as Jami moved in to the light.
Her long red hair shined brightly in the firelight, it was still slightly damp and hung close to her face but the dark hue gave the curls a more passionate presence. The freckles that peppered her nose and cheeks lightly, which he had failed to notice before, gave her an air of innocence but her dark grey-blue eyes hidden under thick lashes as well as her well formed lips argued against that notion.
The clothes Maggie had let her borrow were simple traveling clothes, items a newly wed would easily forget, but Jami wore them as though they were the nicest things she had ever owned. Her old clothes had been loose, meant to discourage interest. But the fact that she was a woman was quite obvious in the leather pants and woven shirt she now wore. She was rather skinny for someone her height, but after a few weeks of good food and rest she would fill out the clothes nicely.
Jami draped her wet clothes over a portable drying rack used for meat that Maggie had had Talthus set up next to the fire. She smoothed them out with the care of some one who has little then silently seated herself close to Talthus.
The elf hadn’t realized that the night was getting colder until he saw Jami shiver at a small gust of wind. He pulled a blanket from his roll that he had set up nearby and draped it over her shoulders. She gave him a small smile as he pulled it around her. She seemed more comfortable with the idea of him helping her and so he smiled back to encourage such feelings.
The dwarf watched the silent exchange with a reserved look on his face as he puffed at the pipe. When Maggie’s husband retrieved the pipe for a pull at it the dark skinned dwarf finally spoke up. His voice was low and rumbled from deep in his chest.
“Your head looks to be on fire lass. Where’d you come from to get such hair?” he spoke the common language used between all races with the usual dwarfish accent but there seemed to be an underlying difference in the way he spoke compared to other dwarves Jami had heard.
She looked at him for a moment as if she was gauging his personality then finally replied, her face showing no emotion, “And you dwarf seemed to have already been charred by flames. Has another young woman like me already gotten to you?”
The dwarf’s loud bassy laugh boomed in the clearing. Maggie and her husband looked quizzically at the dwarf as he wiped his eyes clear of joyful tears. Sakima glared across the fire at the dwarf looking as if she would like to practice one of the spells from her book on him. Talthus grinned at hearing his friend’s uncommonly shown good humor. He glanced at Jami and found the biggest grin on her face he had seen yet and decided he liked it when she smiled.
“She’s a feisty one Talthus,” the dwarf commented as he calmed down between chuckles, “I like her.” He patted the elf roughly on the shoulder then turned his attention back on Jami. “So what’s your name lassie, or am I going to have to fend off another sassy remark?”
The girl grinned and reached across Talthus with her hand in a fist, “I’m Jami Lansyn.”
The dwarf fisted his hand and pushed it against hers and held it there, a look of approval on his face, “Well met Jami Lansyn. I’m Urum Obsidian of Grondwil. May the earth be steady under your feet.”
She nodded her head in response, “And may your tunnel be straight and true,” and with that they both pulled their fists back and pumped them against the center of their chests. The dwarf nodded in approval again and looked at Talthus giving him the sign that told the elf that the dwarf accepted her.
The elf sighed in relief glad that his friend approved of the young woman. He had been worried because the dwarf would have been the hardest for Jami to win over out of the rest of his traveling companions. He didn’t know why but he hoped Jami would decide to travel with them, even after her foot healed. He told himself it was because a woman shouldn’t travel alone. They all sat quietly enjoying the warmth of the fire when Sakima finally spoke up.
“Seamus, do we have any more of those apples left from the orchard we passed a few days ago?” Maggie’s husband looked surprised that the mage was addressing him but he quickly considered her question.
“I think we still have some in our food bag,” he looked at his wife to confirm the thought, “Isn’t that right Maggie dear?”
Maggie patted her husbands arm and nodded, “Yes dear I do believe we have a few left. Do you want one Sakima?”
The blonde magic user rolled her eyes dramatically and nodded, “Yes, why else would I be asking?”
Maggie smiled indulgently at Sakima then fetched an apple from one of the bags near by. Sakima gave a grudging thanks before eyeing the apple closely as if looking for any imperfections. Apparently satisfied she set down the apple on her book then pulled off her long cloak. Jami gasped.
The woman’s dress was pink, a variety, a multitude of different shades and patterns of pink. It looked like her seamstress hadn’t had any pieces of fabric larger than a few inches by a few inches and just sewed them all together. After a few moments Jami realized that there was some sanity to the madness. It would begin in a checkered like pattern that would turn into multi-colored swirls with some of the symbols in her book embroidered, in pink, in the center of the maelstroms of fabric. It fit snuggly to her body with long pieces of fabric hanging off the sleeves and skirt at seemingly random places.
“I’ve never seen so many shades of pink in my entire life.” Jami said awestruck and everyone stared. Jami noticed Talthus inch away from the fire and looked at him in question, he just nodded towards the standing mage. Jami looked back at the magic user and scooted back as well.
Her eyes were red and all the loose strands of fabric now looked like tendrils of flames coming off of her. Then she spoke in an echoing other-worldly voice, “Its not pink its lightish red!” with these words the small campfire shot up in a blazing column of searing heat and flame. Everyone jumped back. Talthus grabbed Jami and pulled her into his arms, as she had just sat there stunned by the show of power, before she could burn to death.
Then as quickly as it had begun the fire went out and the night was black. Jami opened her eyes to the darkness, letting them adjust from the bright light. She listened to herself taking quick breathes as her body naturally fought to calm down. Then there was the feeling of Talthus’ arms around her, protecting her. And then it was broken by him cursing Sakima.
“What in the Gods’ names do you think you were doing?” he growled as he pulled himself up with Jami still in his arms. She thought of pushing away from him but as long as no one else could see what was the harm? “She didn’t know any better Sakima! You scared her to death! Not everyone understands the little intricacies of your crazy profession! Gods!”
Jami heard someone stumble around and then the clanking of wood. Someone mumbled a few words and then a stream of fire shot from Sakima’s finger into the logs that had been tossed into the fire pit. She was huddled up away from the light holding her knees to herself as she seethed.
Talthus drew away from Jami to get a better look at her. He pushed her hair behind her ears so he could see her face, “Are you okay? Oh,” he stopped fussing as he realized there were wet streams down her face from tears. He sighed and wiped them away, “Don’t worry she wasn’t really mad at you she’s just sensitive about the color of her clothes, it’s a magic thing.” She nodded to reassure him that she was alright, but what he didn’t know and she didn’t plan on telling him was that it wasn’t Sakima that had provoked the tears, but him.
“What did you want the apple for anyway mage?” Jami heard Urum mutter.
“I wanted to roast it.”
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is a CLEAN thread! If you wish to comment, and I would love for you to do so, follow this link
_________________
Myths: The Ancients' Soap-Operas ;D
  
.
Last edited by Kirranna on Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:48 pm; edited 7 times in total
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| Author |
Message |
Kirranna
Resident
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
Location: California
Items
Legends
Fables
Strata-gems
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject: |
|
|
CHAPTER 2: Talthus' Past
Jami woke up warm and comfortable under a thick blanket, she woke up confused.
She opened her eyes and didn’t see trees above her head but the early morning sky. She cleared the corners of her eyes of sleep before looking around to find herself in a clearing with other people sleeping around her. Then it came to her. The evening’s events rushed back at her as she got up to find a place to relieve her self and almost fell over from the pain in her foot.
She ended up wandering gingerly down to the creek with the intention of waking herself up better with a bit of cool water to her face. But someone had already beaten her to the little pool she had used that night to bathe in. It was Talthus.
She watched from behind a tree and a few bushes as he kneeled down next to the water. It looked like he was almost finished with cleaning himself up because he had his pants on but had yet to dawn his shirt or boots. Then she saw the reflection of light off a blade and realized he was shaving. This puzzled her for a moment but then she remembered that she had thought he had some human heritage. So she decided to find out for sure.
“So how much are you human and how much are you elf?” she questioned aloud as she moved away from the tree. Talthus looked up at her and grinned brightly as she came towards him.
“How much do you think I am?” he asked in return as he made the last few strokes along his jaw with his blade to finish his morning grooming. He washed it off in the water before deftly folding it into its handle and throwing it next to his boots.
She looked him over as he did so. She had been right the day before, his musculature was too full to be an elf’s but he had pointed ears and almond shaped eyes. He stood up and rubbed his hands together and grinned at the way she was looking at him, “Having a hard time figuring it out?”
Her eyes flicked to his as if to say, ‘don’t distract me,’ then she began walking around him looking him over from head to toe, back to front. When she was facing him again he was grinning from ear to ear obviously enjoying the game. Then she did something he didn’t expect, she touched his face.
His grin disappeared and he watched her eyes absorb visually what her fingers were feeling. He felt them move lightly over his lips then over the shape of his cheekbone, the strong curve of his jaw, then his ear. Then he felt her hand falter as it moved to his chest, he was surprised at the way his own pulse was pounding in his ear, but her fingers went quickly to his arm, feeling the muscle there, then down to his hands admiring how long and graceful but obviously strong they were.
She shifted her weight as she studied his hand and suddenly let out a hiss of pain through her teeth. Talthus reacted and caught her as she lost her balance from trying to take her weight back off the foot too quickly. She was in his arms again but this time she was crying from physical pain.
He lowered her down against the trunk of a near by tree as she bit back tears and curses. Inside he was yelling at himself for letting her stand up for so long anyway. He propped her foot up with a rock and saw that her wound was bleeding afresh through the bandage. She guessed his thoughts incorrectly and spoke up, “I propped it up on that rock over there while Maggie helped me wash so I wouldn’t get the bandage wet.”
He looked at her and nodded as he tried to think of what to do. Then he turned around and began putting on his boots. She watched him silently, and when he was finished he came back and scooped her up and cradled her between his arms. She sighed quietly in defeat knowing it wasn’t worth the effort to make him put her down. So he carried her back to the camp shirtless.
They were about half way to the camp when she spoke again, “Three quarters.” He glanced down at her with a confused look on his face. “You’re three quarters elf and a quarter human. One of your grandparents must have fallen in love with a human and had one of your parents, then they fell in love with a full elf then they had you.” she clarified.
He looked down at her with sad eyes and a sad smile, “Close, but not exactly.” He paused as if he was deciding whether he should tell her his story, but he seemed to finally decide to do so. “My grandmother lived during the First War of the Races. My great grandfather was the king at the time so that made her a princess.” He sighed, “one day the capital was invaded by the human army. They captured the royal family and made the king watch as his wife and four daughters were raped by the general and his advisors. My grandmother was the oldest of the four daughters and the most beautiful so the general made her his personal slave and killed all the others. When the human army was driven out of the capital by our forces that had gathered in the surrounding forests my grandmother was saved from her servitude, found locked in a dark room eight months pregnant. She died giving birth to my father.”
They finally had arrived back at the camp and everyone was still asleep so he set her down quietly next to the fire and retrieved the medicine bag. When he returned his expression was dark and gloomy. But he tended to her foot as he continued on with his story.
“My father was the heir to the throne but no one wanted a half breed as a king so they found the closest living relative of the royal family and named him king and had the baby sentenced to a discrete death. But when my father’s wet-nurse heard that the child was to be killed she ran away with my father and her own daughter who had been born a few months before him.
“They hid, year after year moving and running then my father and the girl he had grown up with as a sister fell in love, which they considered fine because they had found out that they weren’t really related. And when her mother caught them in each other’s arms she damned the Gods upon them because they were as close as siblings.” Talthus paused his hands were shaking, his eyes looked tired, “In his anger my father killed the woman he had known as a mother. When he realized what he had done he left my mother, too disgusted with his actions to trust himself with those that he loved.”
Talthus sighed and began putting the finishing touches to her bandaging, “He didn’t know it but when he left my mother, she had been carrying me. At a loss for what to do my mother returned to the homeland she had never known and was taken in by a caring elderly couple who helped her through her time of difficulty and giving birth to me.” He patted her foot gently to say he was done then leaned back and looked at the sky.
“She had a hard time bringing me into this world, and she never seemed to get better. It was like her will to live had disappeared once she knew I was healthy and had a place to grow and be loved. She died when I was five years old. Her heart had gone when my father left, she had nothing else to live for.”
Jami didn’t know what to say so she said nothing she just leaned over and put her hand on his. He looked at her and smiled in reassurance and grasped her hand in return. But he pulled away when they heard that the dwarf was awake.
“Why don’t I smell any breakfast be’n made? Two people already up and nothing being made to eat?” the dwarf stumbled to the remnants of the fire and glared at the two of them. “I know elves are no good when it comes to making a good hearty meal but I sure could’a expected something out you Miss Jami!”
Talthus grinned at Jami and shook his head in disbelief, “He’s just spouting off. He’d do anything for my cooked venison.”
The dwarf looked stunned and outraged, “Now that would be the day, a dwarf like’n elf cooking! Bah!” he gestured wildly and when Talthus finally got up to fix something because they had woken the rest of the camp any way, the dwarf gave Jami a grin and a wink before the elf came back to get the fire started again.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is a CLEAN thread! If you wish to comment, and I would love for you to do so, follow this link
_________________
Myths: The Ancients' Soap-Operas ;D
.
Last edited by Kirranna on Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:17 am; edited 1 time in total
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Author |
Message |
Kirranna
Resident
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
Location: California
Items
Legends
Fables
Strata-gems
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 12:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
CHAPTER 3: Why Sattleton?
“Maggie and Semus are going to Sattleton to deliver things to their daughter.” Jami said as Talthus drew back from his scouting position to get some more water for his water skin from the skins hanging off the saddle of Jami’s horse. “Sakima mentioned that it has a few good stores for herbs and magical types of things, Urum told me he’s just along for the ride, which means he’s coming to make sure you don’t get into too much trouble with out him.” She looked down at him from her horse and watched him wipe his lips of excess water after he took a sip from his water skin, “So why are you going to Sattleton?”
The elf grinned at her curiosity but hid it with another sip of water. When he finished the swig he answered, “When there aren’t thieves to kill or young maidens to save,” He noticed Jami roll her eyes, “I compete in Tournaments and Sattleton is hosting one such an event in a few days time.”
“Really, I wouldn’t figure you a man to take part in the heartfelt insanity of smashing about someone who has given you no offence.” Jami had seen her fair share of Tournaments as she passed from place to place but had never found the events all that exciting. She instead thought them quite idiotic, just a way for men to have an excuse to wave their swords around during peacetime.
The elf grunted at her remark as if he wasn’t surprised, “If you understood the skill it takes to wield a sword, hit the middle of a target every time with ten arrows from hundreds of yards away, then maybe you’d enjoy tournaments more.”
“It takes skill to hold a stick and ride like maniacs on horses for each other?” Jami wasn’t convinced.
Talthus openly grinned, “Well that may not take much skill but it does take a tremendous amount of control and guts to do the lance.”
“Do you do the lance?”
Talthus shook his head, “No, I’m not quite as tough or stupid as that.” He shook his head again, “No I do the short sword and archery.”
“And he’s bloom’n good too!” bellowed Urum as his horse trotted up to the other two.
“Really?” Jami grinned at the way Talthus flushed slightly under his friend’s praise.
“Well, I’m not all that bad, in fact I was thinking about maybe showing you a few moves with a dagger or some-aught. You shouldn’t be on your own without learning some ways to defend yourself.”
Jami raised her eyebrows at his words, “And what makes you think I don’t know how to defend myself.”
Talthus looked up at her, his eyes gazing into hers. They said, I see the way you’re haunted by the men who have mistreated you, how you shy away from just being near men, but his mouth said nothing.
“Alright,” she finally replied and broke the gaze she had held with him, “It couldn’t hurt to have more ways to keep people away from me, but only once my foot is better.”
Talthus smiled at the way she tried to brush off the fact that he was right, and made his way back to the front of the little group of travelers.
------------------------------------------------
This is a CLEAN thread! If you wish to comment, and I would love for you to do so, follow this link
_________________
Myths: The Ancients' Soap-Operas ;D
.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Author |
Message |
Kirranna
Resident
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
Location: California
Items
Legends
Fables
Strata-gems
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 11:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
WARNING! CONTAINS FOUL LANGUAGE AND ADULT CONTENT (bad words and a description of a woman being treated inappropriately)
CHAPTER 4: The Three Quarters Inn
Sakima sighed, “Finally a place where I can study in relative comfort and quiet.”
Talthus rolled his eyes dramatically as the small group of travelers came to the Three Quarters Inn. It was a large building built like most similar establishments, with the large front room used as a tavern and dining area. The twenty sleeping quarters the inn boasted were built to the sides of this main room along two straight hallways that were reached through a door to each side of the dining area.
Jami noticed it was a good sturdy building and seemed to be rather busy as Talthus helped her get off her horse. She had decided to accompany him inside to arrange for everyone’s accommodations, including and most importantly the horses’.
It was warm and loud as Jami followed Talthus through the doorway into the inn. A few people glanced up, idly taking a look at the two newcomers’ and when most were satisfied with looking they went back to their food or drinks. Talthus noticed a rather burly man’s eyes linger on Jami, his cheeks flushing from what looked like anger but Talthus guessed he misunderstood because the muscular observer went back to his drink and the elf was approached by the Innkeeper.
“What can I do for you travelers?” the sturdy middle aged man asked. Talthus recognized him from previous trips along this road and smiled warmly at the man.
“It’s always a pleasure to see you Howan,” he shook the Innkeepers hand, “we and our friends are looking for rooms and stables for our horses, maybe some dinner and ale too if the mood strikes us.”
Howan nodded with a smile, “And how many be there to feed and house?”
“There’s six of us and four horses.” Talthus replied readily.
“Well I think I can put you two to a room, if that’s suitable and your horses will be tended to.” The Innkeeper gestured to a lounging stableman to go to work.
Talthus nodded, “That’s just fine, thank you very much.”
“No problem,” Howan waved off the kind thanks, “Now about the cost…” But the Innkeeper was cut short as a loud scrapping of chairs and tables was made when the burly man Talthus had noticed before lunged towards them.
“Come here you little hoar!” the man bellowed, his face red with anger. Talthus looked where Jami had been just moments before and instead found her on his opposite side, away from the raging man, with fear in her eyes.
Both Howan and Talthus were speechless as they watched the drunken man gain his balance after the sudden surge forward made him stumble. He locked unsteady eyes on Jami and sauntered forward, “Come on you little piece of shit, come get what’s owed to yah.”
Just as he was about to reach them Talthus came out of his momentary shock and stepped in front of the surly man, “Is there something I can help you with sir?” The elf’s voice was hard and angry but controlled.
“Yeah you can get out of m’ way.” the man spat, “That girl there owes me a good time an’ a little extra for th’ little trick she played on me.”
Talthus had had his hand resting on his sword but at the man’s words he clenched his fingers around the hilt viciously. “I’m afraid you must be mistaken sir, this is my friend’s niece and I’m sure she’s never been in such a place as to become acquainted, in any way, with you.” His words were meant to confuse the man because Jami truly looked different and the man’s eyes showed doubt, but another glance at the fearful Jami hid those doubts away.
“Nope, she’s th’ little bitch whose gave me this here scar.” and the man pointed unsteadily to his face where a long slashed and poorly healed cut had left a nasty scar across his forehead and through an eyebrow ending below his left temple.
The Innkeeper moved into the confrontation, putting his hands on the drunk man’s shoulder, “Malen, listen to the elf, she’s not who you’re thinking of.” Malen just shrugged off Howan’s hand and glared at Jami, the Innkeeper persisted, “Malen if you don’t stop this I’m gonna have to make yah leave,” he lowered his voice, “And from what I understand the Elf’s damn good with that sword a his.”
Malen shrugged this off as well, “I can take him, any man will’n to fight to protec’ a hoar deserves ta die.” Jami looked at Talthus with a worried look, she didn’t want him to get hurt for her, but Talthus didn’t see her pleading glance, his eyes were fixed on Malen.
“Talthus didn’t I tell yah no fight’n until the Tournie?” rumbled a familiar voice. Jami looked at the door to see Urum and Sakima walking in with Maggie and Seamus close behind.
Talthus grinned, but never took his eyes off the angry man, “Yah might have mentioned it once or twice.”
Sakima rolled her eyes as she and Urum approached Talthus taking their places on either side of him, “Honestly Talthus, you’re going to get yourself hurt before you get a chance to be paid to do the same thing.” The mage took off her cloak and handed it to the relieved but still frightened Jami, and Marlen’s eyes widened in recognition.
“Is there still a problem here lad?” Urum’s deep voice challenged the outmatched drunkard.
“Uh,” Marlen fumed at his lost quarry but knew he was beat, “no, not any more.” But his eyes promised a future collection of what he thought were Jami’s dues. Howan nodded thanks to the dwarf and mage then herded Marlen back to his table.
Talthus watched Marlen until the offensive man was seated and distracted before turning to Jami, this being just in time to notice her bite her lip to control the tears he could see trying to break through. The elf grabbed Sakima’s cloak out of Jami’s hands and gave it back to the mage and glancing at Howan nodded towards the hall door.
The Innkeeper nodded and led Jami with Talthus’ arm around her shoulder to a small room with two clean cots, two wooden chairs and a small table with a washbasin on top.
Talthus nodded his thanks as the Innkeeper excused himself while he led Jami to one of the cots. By now a few tears had fallen down her cheeks but she wasn’t sobbing or wailing, instead she had a very blank, far off look about her.
Talthus wondered whether he should just leave her, but when he tried to pull his hand away from where it had fallen into hers she held it tight, so he moved from crouching in front of her to sitting next to her and waited.
After a few long moments she sniffled and let go of his hand, “It was about seven months ago. I had stayed the night and most of the day at a tavern in Worstenlund and decided that I would make my way to the other side of town to another tavern for the approaching night.” She looked down at her hands, “He had been drinking at the first tavern and I had noticed him watching me, but most men didn’t bother with a girl who was dirty and ragged so I ignored him and soon I left the tavern having completely forgotten him.
“But he had followed me across most of the town and when there was no one around he attacked me, pushing me into a dark alley between two buildings.” she paused and more tears fell down her pallid face, “He tried to rape me. I screamed for help but he kept one of his hands on my mouth, and when he reached down to unfasten his pants I realized I was clutching a piece of wood in my hand, I must have grabbed it off the ground. I hit him across the face with it and felt blood drip onto me, he howled in pain and rolled off me. I got up and ran the rest of the way to the tavern.” She sighed as she reached up and wiped away the last of her tears.
“The Innkeeper took pity on me and let me stay there for a few days, expecting only simple work from me. I guess he thinks I still owe him a good screw and, what did he say, ‘and then some’ for the pain of the cut, I’m assuming.”
Talthus shook his head, anger filling his body with a need he had only felt once, just moments before, the total and complete need to protect.
Jami took his movement to mean he didn’t believe her, “I’m telling you the truth,” she raised her voice defensively, “and of all people you don’t believe me?”
Talthus shook his head and raised a hand in his own defense, “No, no I believe you, I do.” His furious eyes looked into hers and she realized he meant it.
“Oh, okay then,” and she looked away from the passion in his eyes, not wanting to admit to herself what she felt they meant.
“Jami,” Talthus reached for her hand which she stiffly allowed him to take, “As long as I’m around, no one will touch you unless you want them to.”
Jami nodded and smiled weakly, “Thanks,” she replied meekly. Talthus put his arm around her shoulders trying to comfort her with out imposing himself too much and was relieved to see her accept his efforts when she slowly, awkwardly leaned her head on his shoulder.
They sat there a few moments longer in silence until Jami spoke softly, “You know, I… I don’t think I’ve ever had a friend before.” Talthus understood this to mean she had never known someone she could trust, because Maggie and Urum were her friends, but not necessarily people she could turn to at any time.
“I’d be honored to be the first.” He replied playfully but sincerely. He felt her smile and lean against him more as she relaxed.
“Thank you.”
“Of course.” And at that moment Talthus realized he was becoming far more attached to the strong willed but incredibly fragile young woman next to him than he knew he should be.
------------------------------------------------
This is a CLEAN thread! If you wish to comment, and I would love for you to do so, follow this link
_________________
Myths: The Ancients' Soap-Operas ;D
.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Author |
Message |
Kirranna
Resident
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
Location: California
Items
Legends
Fables
Strata-gems
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
CHAPTER 5: Daggers
Talthus nodded, “It looks good enough to me. We just won’t do anything too fancy.” He wrapped a thin strip of clean cloth around her foot and then eased a loose fitting slipper over it.
Jami was skeptical but she didn’t say anything to question him. She knew he had been fretting over her inability to defend herself for the past few days, so she went along with it understanding his concerns would be eased once he felt she was capable of handling herself with knives in each hand.
The elf handed her two pieces of wood fashioned into the shapes of long daggers, “These are roughly what people use to practice their skills with the dirk, or long dagger. These are made with a light but strong wood, so they can handle rough treatment, but they are also not sharp so if you hit me too hard, instead of cutting me, you will bruise me.” He took one of her hands and showed her how to position her fingers on the wooden hilt.
“Daggers are not the best for battles with multiple opponents, it is hard to defend one’s self from attacks from different angles with such a small blade. Instead when a person enters a battle with daggers they are going to try and end the fight as soon as possible. With a few well placed strokes of a blade a man of any size can be brought down. Using small bladed weapons relies less on brute strength and size and more on speed, grace, and stamina.
"Daggers are used to disable your opponent, or at least make him drop his weapon. You can disable by slashing vital parts of the body to insure death, or to lose their ability to use that arm or hand, for example. This will also make them drop their weapon. But daggers can have even more benefits. They are good for poisoning your opponent by the small groves that are etched into most blades. And they're easier to conceal than a normal blade like mine.
"When you get really good you'll learn how to throw them. But for now we're gonn stick with the basics. Remember: speed, agility, and endurance. You need these skills to be a good knife fighter, but you also need know how to use them." He stepped back into a fighting stance but stood back up, "I'm also going to show you some excersizes to build your upper-body strength, which will also help you with your stamina and agility."
Jami watched him show her some of the basic defensive movements and excersizes under the lingering rays of the setting sun. She couldn’t take her eyes off him; lithe, surefooted, and definitely graceful.
“Your turn,” he said after he had repeated the moves a few times each. Jami complied and performed stiff but accurate movements that mirrored his examples. She was a little tentative when she had to lean on her bad foot to extend her body forward but she found she could bare the pain. It was only slight and she could tell the skin had re-knit well enough that she didn’t need to worry about it breaking open as long as she was careful.
He watched her carefully, looking for signs of pain, discomfort from her foot. He had almost made her stop when she slowed down on that foot but he saw that she found she could put her weight on it and so he let her continue. Her red curls swirled slowly around her freckled face as she turned slowly, just as he had done, with a backward slash of the wooden blade.
“Very good,” he commented when she was done. She was sweating slightly at the effort but she smiled warmly in thanks. “Now do it again.”
This went on for another hour, Jami going through the movements while Talthus interrupted a few times to correct her hand positioning or stance, before he called it off when he noticed her actually wince as she stepped with her bad foot. “That was very good Jami, I’m impressed.” She felt like she was just getting into the rhythm of it at that point but she knew he wouldn’t allow her to hurt herself by trying to practice too much.
He shook his head when she made to hand him the pair of wooden daggers, “No, keep them, you’ll need to practice that series of movements and excersizes at least three times in a row two times a day. In a few days we’ll see how you’re doing and I’ll show you how those moves will help you in a real fight.”
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is a CLEAN thread! If you wish to comment, and I would love for you to do so, follow this link
_________________
Myths: The Ancients' Soap-Operas ;D
.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Author |
Message |
Kirranna
Resident
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
Location: California
Items
Legends
Fables
Strata-gems
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 12:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
CHAPTER 6: Lunar Quatradomine
Jami woke up to a strange humming, like a vibration in the air that she heard as a musical note in her ear. The moon was high in the sky but the trees they had camped under filtered the moonshine into various spots and beams of light around their large trunks.
She sat up and looked around; no one else had woken from the strange sound. It kept going as she looked about the camp for the source. It was nearby, she could tell. She got up gingerly, careful of her foot, and took a few steps towards the fire but the sound lessened the closer she got to the remaining embers of the happy flames that had burned earlier.
Jami turned back and moved towards the horses. Sunny neighed in greeting but his ears were flat on his head and he danced uneasily. She petted his neck and whispered to calm him down. He must be able to hear it too, she thought. When he had finely quieted she went to her bag and noticed the humming grow in intensity.
She became excited about the prospect of finally finding the source of the strange sound, but suddenly apprehensive as well. She dug into her bag and felt it. The rock. The one she had stepped on. Jami pulled it out and Sunny moved away nervously, the air was ringing with the bizarre resonance of the note that had awoken her.
She stood up and started scrapping away at the dirt that had become loose around what she had seen catch the firelight the night she had stepped on it, some sort of crystal. She stepped under a break in the branches to get a better look and let go in surprise, because when the moonlight hit the crystal it began to glow, pulsating with a white inner light. Jami was further shocked to watch it float where her hand had let it go, at about chest level.
“Why is it doing that?” she whispered quietly to herself as she moved slowly around the suspended crystal. She watched as it brightened and darkened, like a beacon for help. When she arrived back to the place she had stood as she had dropped it she decided to do what her gut told her not to, she touched it.
As her fingers made contact, the crystal glowed more fiercely, the throbbing of the light became more intense, it flashed brightly and then all she could feel was her feet come out from under her.
-----------------------------------
“She’s too young. We should have waited for someone older, more experienced.”
“She’s old enough Emie, we were lucky we knew her blood or the fusion would have been more difficult.”
“I know, I just, I always feel uncomfortable joining with young ones.”
“I agree with Emerald, she is a bit young. But Ruby is right as well, this was a much easier fusion than any in the past.”
“Any way, I can sense some promise in this one. She has a strong intuition for one of her age. It shouldn’t be too hard developing her psychic and kinetic abilities with that foundation.”
“I’ve found she has some understanding of the earth, she knows herbs and has lived out in nature long enough to understand its ways. I just don’t know whether it’s enough, she’s not as grounded as I’d hoped.”
“Oh hush Emie, we understand that you’re angry, but there’s not much we can do now that we’re fused is there? Besides, I like her; she’s got passion in her heart.”
“She’s already very perceptive, that will make it easier to show her how to find water so that she may use it. I just hope she doesn’t plan on going to the dessert any time soon, drawing from humans is never pleasant.”
“When do you think she’ll be ready for the Union?”
“Let’s not worry about the Union just yet. First she needs to wake up.”
---------------------------------------------------
“Jami, Jami, can you hear me?”
Of course she could hear him he was speaking loud enough. She opened her eyes to say as much but quickly closed them when everything began to spin.
“Jami, oh you’re awake!” That was Maggie, but why did she sound so worried?
“What’s wrong? Did I sleep in?” she blinked cautiously as she tried to look around. “Why does it hurt to open my eyes?”
She felt Talthus’ hands on her shoulders as she tried to sit up, “Don’t get up just yet Jami.” His voice sounded sad and concerned.
“What’s wrong? Why does everyone sound so worried?” she asked through squinted eyes. The sun seemed incredibly bright so she moved her hand to shade her eyes and let out a yelp as she felt a sharp pain run from her chest to her arm as she tried to lift it. Talthus held her shoulders to the ground as she tried to roll up into a ball and she cried even more as his pushing pulled further on her chest. “Ow, you’re hurting me!” she sobbed as she tried to push his arms away.
As soon as he realized she was right he let go and her hands swooped to the source of her pain and she felt something that wasn’t supposed to be there. She looked down at her hands to see if it was something on them that she had felt but all that was there was some blood and dirt. She looked down slowly and reached with shaking fingers to find the crystal embedded in her sternum, slightly above and between her breasts.
The rock seemed to have fused with the hard bone in the center of her chest because it didn’t feel broken and she could breathe without pain but the skin and flesh surrounding the rock was red and swollen, blood trickled from where the skin had pulled away from the crystal as Talthus had held her down.
“What, what, what is this? Why is this…? How did this…?” She struggled to finish her thoughts as her mind raced to find the answers.
Sakima came and knelt beside Jami with a bowl in her hand, “We were hoping you could tell us.” She pushed Jami’s hands away from the stone and pressed a clean rag on the blood until it stopped. The girl winced at the awkward way the crystal felt as Sakima applied pressure to it.
“I’m not sure,” she looked around and realized she wasn’t in her bed, and then she remembered everything. “I woke up to this strange sound, a humming, I got up to try and find where it was coming from. Sunny heard it too, he was nervous. The sound got louder as I got closer to my bag so I reached in and found that it was my rock,” she looked at Talthus for confirmation, “the one I stepped on,” he nodded in understanding so she continued. “I scraped away the dirt around it and found the crystal underneath. I went into the moonlight to look at it better when it started glowing, pulsing with white light. I let go of it in surprise but it just floated in the air.” She touched the rock gently, “then I touched it again and the light started blinking faster and faster then it got really bright then I remember feeling like I was falling.”
“Well you fell alright,” Sakima commented, she gestured at the ground at Jami’s feet and then further away, “and slid a good ten feet.” Jami looked and realized that she was right; she could feel the scrapes on her arms and back to prove it.
Jami took a deep breath as she laid her head back down but winced at the pain moving her chest caused. She watched as Sakima scooped a brown paste, with her fingers, out of the small bowl she had been carrying and began applying it where Jami’s skin touched the crystal. “What’s that?” the young woman wondered aloud.
“It’s a salve specifically made to heal magically induced wounds.”
“This was magic, the crystal is magic?” Jami questioned in disbelief.
Sakima looked at her with an all knowing gaze, “Of course it was, how else do you explain what happened to you. It just happens to be that when a crystal takes you that it’s painful and rough on your body. If the host doesn’t make it through a bit of painful discomfort it’s not strong enough for the crystal’s needs anyway. It’s testing you.”
Jami stared at Sakima stunned then exploded forth with loud questions, “Wait you know what’s happened to me? You mean it’s happened to other people too? What do you mean test?” she would have asked more but Talthus put a hand on her to warn her to calm down. She glared at him, but when she saw the worried way he looked at her she took some calming breaths and pushed herself into a sitting position as the sorceress finished putting a loose bandage over the crystal.
“Sakima, you know what this is?” Jami gestured to her chest indicating the crystal.
The mage nodded, “I’ve read about them in books, but have never encountered one myself.” She looked at the bandage as if she could see through it, “It’s strange, I should have felt its aura…I feel it now that it has taken a host but I didn’t before, it’s odd.”
Jami watched her expectantly but when Sakima didn’t continue Jami decided to ask her some questions, “So what is it? Is it alive?”
Sakima shook her head, “Not like you and I are alive. It’s a rock so it exists as long as it isn’t destroyed so it could last forever. I recall that they are referred to as Lunar Quatradomine.” She got up and gestured for Talthus to help Jami up so that she could follow. The mage led them back to the camp where something foul smelling was brewing in a pot over the fire.
Jami had allowed Talthus to carry her when she realized her eyes didn’t want to focus when she stood up, but by the time he set her down she was feeling thoroughly ill and ready to throw up any way. Sakima brought her a mug filled with what ever was in the pot on the fire and told her to drink, “It will help with the nausea.” Jami wasn’t sure the horrible smell would help any but she drank it to appease the worried elf.
Sakima seated herself across from Jami as she watched the younger woman drink then continued explaining the crystal. “It possesses power over the four elements, air, water, earth, and fire. All of which can be called upon for defensive or offensive magic.
“It has a sense of self preservation, which for most magic related beings means the need to gain power, to have an influence in the things going on around it. But the crystal can’t do anything without a host.” She paused, “Lunar Quatradomines are restricted to fusing with a person on nights of a full moon. They must also have already been touched by the person before that night.
“If the host isn’t strong enough to withstand the pain that the crystal puts them through, the host will die. But at the same time the crystal wants the host to live so that it may be able to manipulate its own circumstances. So it will try not to kill its host, and will in fact save it if it has to. Ultimately it’s a matter of coexistence from what I understand.”
Jami shook her head as if the information didn’t suffice, “But if it’s going to try and kill me why don’t I just pull it out?”
Sakima raised a brow as if she thought Jami was smarter than her question revealed her to be, “Wasn’t it painful enough when your skin barely pulled away from the crystal?” Jami’s hopes withered, “I’m rather certain that if you tried to pull it out it would either kill you or be so painful you’d black out.”
“So I’m stuck with this?” Jami screamed, “I didn’t ask for this! Why would it choose me?”
The mage sat quietly as Jami expelled her anger to the sky. When she went quiet Sakima looked at her patiently, “Done yet?” Jami nodded, “Good, then I can finish telling you what I know of your crystal.” The sorceress gestured to Talthus, “He can probably help too.” Jami looked at him confused but Sakima had started talking again so she drew her attention back to the mage.
“From what I’ve read, the crystals were created to concentrate power so that the host would have better chances of surviving the terrors of the second racial war. It was one of the many creations that each race tried to use as a way to gain ground using magic, or match one of the other side’s more devastating creations.
“The Moon stones, as they came to be called, were one of the most effective magical aids the humans created, but many had to die to create just one stone. Magic is broken up into the four elements. Each mage or sorceress has their own specific element that they use. Mine for example is fire. I’m most effective against water mages, they against fire. Air and earth magic oppose each other.
“The Lunar Quatradomines’ creators wanted a source of magic that could take on any magic thrown at it but this required the abilities of magic users that had already mastered their element.” Sakima rubbed her neck showing her discomfort, “You see, they sacrificed four magic users for every Moon stone, a mage for each element.”
Jami looked at Sakima with anger and confusion, “Why would they do that? How would they get that many people to become crystals?”
The mage shrugged, “The marrying of the elements in such a way had never been considered possible in the history of magic.”
“Why?”
“When a magic user decides to specify in elemental magic they can only focus on one of the four elements, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to master it. They would just be considered amateur. The promise of existing past the lives of everyone else, being celebrated as one of the few who helped shift the war to the Humans’ favor, it could have been many things.”
Jami frowned, “But the Human’s didn’t win.”
Sakima nodded, “That is correct, but I think that Talthus could explain that better to you.”
The redhead turned to the elf, eager to hear how he was involved in the story.
He had been rather quiet the whole time Sakima had talked and now that the attention was on him he seemed even more uncomfortable but he cleared his throat and began to speak because he understood he had to tell Jami what he knew.
“I was still very young, maybe seventy years old, when the second war of the races ended. I was a squire of sorts to a true elfin warrior who had compassion for my place in life. We were stationed with the fifteenth regiment in the Kangshien Pass.
“I remember how all through out the camp there was a sense of unease when the Crystal Bearers arrived.” When he spoke of the new arrivals he glanced at Jami’s chest and she understood that Crystal Bearers was the name used for people who shared their lives with the Moon stones.
“They were hooded and under heavy guard, though that was just for show.” He fiddled with a stick from the ground beside him, “There were three of them, enough to do a large amount of damage to our human foes who were trying to fight their way through the pass.” He paused, his hand moved gracefully as the stick drew lines in the loose earth beside him, “You see, all elves are born with a natural ability to command magic and they have a lot more time to practice their skills as well. So when an elf takes on a Moon Stone the magic is even more powerful than if a human is a Crystal Bearer.”
Sakima interrupted, “After the Moon stones were created the Humans discovered that they joined with anyone, regardless of race. This of course almost entirely defeated the purpose of the crystals, so many were subsequently destroyed to keep them out of the hands of the more magically inclined races.”
Talthus continued marking the earth not bothered by the mage’s comment. He waved the stick to emphasize his next point as continued on with his story, “Our Crystal Bearers had determined that there as about six or seven human Bearers in the enemy encampment, and they could sense that two of them were rather new to their responsibilities, so the warriors were quite confident of our success in the attack we planned for the next day.
“It was gruesome.” He seemed to pale as he remembered, “As it turned out both sides were evenly matched. Foot soldiers had been used at first but when the carnage the Bearers created was experienced on both sides, forces were withdrawn and the Moon Stones fought by themselves.
“It lasted long into the night and when the magic stopped being hurled across the battle field it was because they had killed each other. Messengers were sent across enemy lines and a treaty was formed between the humans and elves. No one wanted to see any more death.” He sighed at the conclusion of his story.
“The rest you know.” Sakima commented, assuming that the girl had traveled enough to hear the stories of how after the Humans and Elves signed their treaty the Dwarves realized the folly of going against such a large force and agreed to withdraw their arms as well, which in turn, led the gnomes to step down and allow peace to reign in the lands again.
Jami nodded, she knew the rest. As she sighed and put her head in her hands she heard Talthus get up and walk away. She glanced at his retreating back and then her eyes fell on the image he had drawn. A figure with a light emanating from their chest was engulfed in fire. She shivered as Sakima erased it with a brush of her hand.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is a CLEAN thread! If you wish to comment, and I would love for you to do so, follow this link
_________________
Myths: The Ancients' Soap-Operas ;D
.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Author |
Message |
Kirranna
Resident
Joined: 01 Jan 2008
Topics: 2
Posts: 81
Location: California
Items
Legends
Fables
Strata-gems
|
| Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 6:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
(Yes its short, and yes its a tad dull but the upcoming chappy will satisfy your need for conflict I promise!)
CHAPTER 7: Sattleton
It was a bright afternoon when the mixed group of travelers spotted the walls and main gate of Sattleton. The thick wall ran the perimeter of the large town with a few scantily built houses outside of its walls along the roadway. Jami guessed they were for the farmers who tended the fields she was currently passing.
Many other travelers had joined them on the road the past day or two as well. And now as Jami looked around she could see all different sorts of people making their way to the Tournament. Merchants, warriors, political figures, peasants in varying degrees of poverty, and many others were sharing the road as they approached Sattleton.
“Oh, I’m so excited to see my May, you’ll like her Jami.” Maggie hadn’t been able to stop talking about her daughter ever sense that morning when Talthus mentioned they’d be arriving latter that day. “She’s a lovely girl, and her husband is a nice young man, takes good care of our May, from what I understand.”
“I’m sure your daughter is just as excited to see you Maggie.” Talthus commented to appease the woman’s anxiety.
“Oh, no Talthus dear, don’t be silly. She’s a married woman now, has better things to think about. Though I’m sure she has missed the apple tart I always made for her. She does love my apple tart.”
“Well I’m glad I’ll have the chance to meet your daughter.” Jami blurted before Maggie started relating a story of how clever her daughter was when she was a little girl.
“Oh, of course dear and she’ll love to have another woman her age around the house. Her husband’s in the construction business, always men coming in and out of her house, almost never a pretty face for her to see unless she visits the market.” She looked over at Jami from atop her horse, “You will be staying with us won’t you?”
“Well I don’t know, your daughter might not,” Jami stuttered, not wanting to offend Maggie, but she had a feeling May might not want more company than she had to have.
“Oh nonsense, she’ll be fine. A friendly and loving girl my May is.”
-------------------------------------------------
When they had finally reached the gate Jami was hot, sweaty and rather sore from sitting on her horse for so long, not to mention the skin around the crystal itched fretfully. The groups of people in front of them were finishing up repacking their wares when one of the guards ushered Jami and her friends forward.
“Names and reasons for attending the Tournament?” he commanded in a tired tone.
“I’m Talthus Argonus, I’ll be participating in the short sword and archery events.” He gestured to the Dwarf, “This is Urum Obsidian of Grondwil he will be competing in the axe throwing event.” He moved his hand to the mage, “This is Sakima Ko’parin,” This name raised the eyebrows of the guard, “I’m sure you’ve heard of her. And these fine people,” He gestured to the middle aged coupled and Jami, “are Seamus and Maggie Newmin with their niece Jami.” Everyone had agreed, much to the discomfort of Jami that it would be easier to keep her safe if people thought she was apart of a family.
The guard looked at each person as Talthus pointed them out, put his finger to the brim of his helm when the ladies were introduced, but Talthus stiffened when he saw the man’s eyes linger on Jami. “They’re delivering some items their daughter left at home when she got married this past winter.”
The guard’s eyes moved to Talthus’ when the subject changed and he remembered that there were a whole lot of other people waiting to be let in. “Yes well, rules are rules have to check large bags.”
Talthus nodded and helped Seamus remove the larger bundles off the pack horses and open them up for the guard to inspect. When the man was satisfied he gave them the okay and waved them by.
When they were a good distance away from the front gate Talthus walked near the dwarf who was at eye level with the elf when he rode his horse, “That’s the fourth town we’ve been to that they’ve checked our stuff.”
Urum grunted in agreement, “And did you notice there are almost three times more town guards here than there were last year?”
“And they’re bigger than most guards I’ve ever seen.” Jami commented, her stiff back was from more than the pain of being sore, she had noticed the guard’s eyes too.
“Well let’s hope it is just concern for the general safety of the people and not anything more.” Talthus said hinting that they shouldn’t talk about it anymore.
-------------------------------------------
After going through a few busy streets, the group of travelers stopped in front of a handsome, rather newly built, house. “This is it.” Maggie said happily as she got off her horse and began dusting off her traveling clothes.
Jami smiled at the older woman’s excitement but her attention was drawn to the door of the house when she saw it open. “May!” Jami heard Maggie exclaim. Framed by the darker room behind her May looked to be the center of a strange but wonderful portrait. The young woman had long wavy dark brown hair that she had tied to the side in a long ponytail. Her face was round, like her mothers but had the firmness of youth. She was a little bit taller than Jami who was only the smallest bit taller than Maggie. She was dressed in the basic attire of a house wife but she carried herself as though she was as important as a queen.
“May, this is Jami. We picked her up on the way. I invited her to stay with us.” Maggie informed her daughter as she gestured to the redhead.
“I don’t want to intrude,” Jami attempted to say but May shook her head and cut her off.
“Nonsense, the inn Talthus and Urum usually stay in isn’t fit for women. You’ll stay here, Max won’t mind at all.” Jami was awed by the further examples of this family’s sense of kindness, but even more so by the beauty and confidence of the woman before her who couldn’t be but a year her senior.
Talthus and Urum helped Seamus unpack the horses and bring them inside while May showed her mother and Jami her house, Sakima opted to stay on her horse. When they had passed through all the rooms of the modest but well constructed home Jami realized that Talthus, Urum and Sakima had already left.
“They’ll be back for dinner.” May informed her when she noticed Jami’s consternation as the girl looked out the window of the main room. Jami nodded and smiled shyly at the older woman.
----------------------------------------------------------------
This is a CLEAN thread! If you wish to comment, and I would love for you to do so, follow this link
_________________
Myths: The Ancients' Soap-Operas ;D
.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
