Post by Pip on Jul 17, 2004 16:56:06 GMT -6
“Vile creature,” Exxon began in a low voice, sounding much older than he really was, being only fourteen and all. “If you plan to come in, do so! If not go back to the dark hole you crawled out of!”<br> Intrigued by the boldness of the puny human the creature complied, but not with out a plan to crush the life out of Exxon. It was a dark gray cloaked figure, from under the hood two eyes like burning coals peered at him. He knew the creature all too well, it was reaper. You probably don’t see many now because the Red Counsel drove them from the seven lands long ago after the war of the Mages during the Fifth Age, but that story must wait for another time, and another place.
Exxon had several past experiences with this kind of creature, and none of them had been too pleasant. They were the guard dogs of the Black Mages, and trained to frighten trespassers so much that they would be rooted to the spot with horror and then kill them and get rid of the remains. A kindly White Mage taught Exxon how to deal with them. A little magic, a good weapon, and the correct state of mind were all you had to have to defeat it, naturally magic didn’t come easy to Exxon, but then again nether did life.
The reaper glided toward him, neither looking left nor right just wanting to dispose of the human and move on with his job, what ever that may be. Meanwhile the human was of a different mind. His free hand was curled as though he was clutching a ball. Very faintly his lips formed the words of a spell, and beads of sweat sprung out on his forehead.
“Organthaila unuporuis negathen eveador presenditer onthoro mangala reporan hugon!,” Exxon whispered and extended his curled hand. For a moment nothing happened and then as Exxon blinked a burst of fire leapt from his hand.
***
Anuf crept forward in a low protective crouch. Some thing was wrong; she could feel it. There was something about the silence of the spring night that just didn’t seem right.
Off to her left she heard three whistles then a pause and then two shorter ones; it was her family’s sign for danger. She changed her direction almost immediately and did a somersault into the bushes.
There was a coughing sound next to her, and the lean, pale face of her brother appeared moments later. He had dark deep-set eyes, slightly pointed ears, and eyebrows that went at a diagonal up into his corn colored hair.
“They,” he put extreme emphasis on ‘They’, “came for us.”<br> Anuf raised her eyebrows in surprise. They hadn’t found them for a long while.
“Mum and Da…” he stopped unable to continue.
She knew what he was talking about at once, and she sat there in dumb surprise.
“H-how?” she managed to say after a long silence that seemed to lie over the rest of the world, not just in the under growth they were in.
“While you were gone making rounds, they just popped out of no where and surrounded the house. By the time we knew they were there it was too late, we were trapped.” He had a way of widening his eyes whenever talking about something that made him feel, which wasn’t often. He gulped and continued. “They killed Mum when she tried to save Da, and then they killed him...”<br> Anuf shook her head sadly. If Mum hadn’t tried to save Da they, meaning Mum and her brother, would all be packing off to the mines or the jails that night. But now, they were probably wanted criminals, or worse, one of the Hunted. The only way they could be safe was…<br> He interrupted her thoughts.
“We have to go join the Resistance.”<br> “Are you mad? If we do, they’ll just have another reason for hunting us!”<br> “Look, the Resistance is a strong force, though I must say not nearly as strong as Them… But where else would we go? Crawl down the deepest hole in the city and hide there?”<br> “It would be better, Atool,” Anuf fumed, “then going out and getting ourselves killed!”<br> There was a long silence that neither seemed to want to break. Finally Atool whispered, almost to himself, “Better to die fighting, then to live knowing you never fought at all.”<br> Anuf knew he was right. She knew now if she didn’t do anything to avenge her parents’ deaths she would regret it to the day she died.
“Where can we find them, then?” she sighed.
“I heard Mum and Da talking about a few nights ago, but for now we have lingered here to long…” with that he tossed Anuf her pack and melted in to the trees, leaving Anuf wondering. After a moment she followed.
***
Exxon opened his eyes; the fire was working, for now. No one in the room, save Exxon himself, could have expected such a show of magic from such a scruffy, no good, young boy. But there he was. His dirty face streaked with sweat, his dark hair sticking up, and his fingers still sparking. Pinching his fingers together to put them out Exxon surveyed the reaper. To the inexperienced mage or thief the reaper looked beaten, but Exxon knew better. It just wanted him to lower his guard, raise his fist in the air in triumph, and it would have him. He stood there for a long moment knife poised, hand still raised. The only sound was the reaper crackling and burning, every eye was upon it. The reaper flayed its long clawed hands, looking almost fragile as it attempted to put out its cloak.
With out warning someone crashed into Exxon sending him head over heals into someone’s chicken dinner.
Sputtering potatoes Exxon leaped to his feet, ready for trickery. “What the…?” he muttered and stopped short. The person who had knocked him over was a white mage. The mage was standing where Exxon had been moments before. In his right hand the mage held a sword and in his left a ruby.
“I’ll take it from here, boy,” said the mage in an almost arrogant tone, not even glancing at Exxon.
“But-“ Exxon began, but the mage cut him off. “Now, now, I’m sure you couldn’t have even handled a baby reaper, let alone this fellow, so just run along and leave this fellow to me. Go on run along now.”<br> Exxon stood rooted to the spot, knife and hands now at his sides. How dare that mage treat him like that! Why hadn’t the mage stood up before if he was so high and mighty?
Then suddenly a feeling of dread sprang over Exxon as he realized the reaper was still staring at him, having abandoned trying to put out its cloak.
“Oh no…” murmured Exxon. Then it sprung.
***
Erica stepped into the dimly lit home of the old woman Kyra. You would never know that this house belonged to an ex-thief and was underground. The only thing that was missing was the flowers out front and the blue sky behind it. The house was crammed with pots and pans, furniture, and all a manner of things you could think up. There was even a candle stick that looked like it belonged in the King’s house, which it probably did.
The house was uncommonly quiet. Usually it was full of voices and screaming children, but now all you could hear was the gurgling of a baby and two women talking in whispers.
“Erica, you’ve come!” whispered Kyra, standing there with her shawl slightly slipping, and a bowl of water in her hands.
“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Erica replied softly.
“Follow me then, Kena and the child are in the back room,” said the old woman beckoning Erica deeper into the house. The air in the house seemed to get warmer the farther back they went, the air in the underground was never cold, so fires were rarely lit, but it appeared that a fire was lit in the back room of Kyra’s house. When they reached the room after squeezing through cramped halls and around tight corners, there was, in fact, a fire in the hearth. Kena was lying on the large bed with a little bundle of blankets in her arms.
“Erica, how nice to see you again,” said Kena softy. “We must talk quietly for the baby is sleeping.”<br>Erica looked closer and realized the bundle of blankets was indeed a small baby boy, barely 2 days old.
“He is beautiful,” murmured Erica touching the black tuft of hair on the baby’s head gently. “What have you called him?”<br>“We, my husband and I, have decided to call him Aaron.”<br>“Aaron, that was father’s name,” said Erica looking up.
“I know, your father was a great man, one of the best of your linage, he got it his from his mother, I will tell you that,” said Kyra, smiling. “His greatness shines brightly from your brother and you, though you may not yet know it. Your days will come and you will do things that he could never have even imagined. But for now, you both do your duties and stick by them, and for that we all are grateful.”<br>There was silence after this speech. Erica knew better than to argue with the old woman. Besides Kyra understood what was going to be, more than most people, and if she said it would happen, then with out a doubt it would happen. Kyra was not a fortuneteller or other such nonsense. She was old, and understood how things worked better than any other person Erica knew.
The baby, Aaron, stirred in his blankets. He too would probably be destined for great things, so much like the Aaron of the times before him.
A drum began to beat in the distance. Aaron awoke and began to cry. The signal, for the meeting had sounded, it was time now to see what was so important. Why Erica and Prit had been summoned.
Erica bid farewell to the women, they would not be attending, and strode out back on to the streets of the Thief Kingdom, towards what, she did not know.
<to be continued>
Exxon had several past experiences with this kind of creature, and none of them had been too pleasant. They were the guard dogs of the Black Mages, and trained to frighten trespassers so much that they would be rooted to the spot with horror and then kill them and get rid of the remains. A kindly White Mage taught Exxon how to deal with them. A little magic, a good weapon, and the correct state of mind were all you had to have to defeat it, naturally magic didn’t come easy to Exxon, but then again nether did life.
The reaper glided toward him, neither looking left nor right just wanting to dispose of the human and move on with his job, what ever that may be. Meanwhile the human was of a different mind. His free hand was curled as though he was clutching a ball. Very faintly his lips formed the words of a spell, and beads of sweat sprung out on his forehead.
“Organthaila unuporuis negathen eveador presenditer onthoro mangala reporan hugon!,” Exxon whispered and extended his curled hand. For a moment nothing happened and then as Exxon blinked a burst of fire leapt from his hand.
***
Anuf crept forward in a low protective crouch. Some thing was wrong; she could feel it. There was something about the silence of the spring night that just didn’t seem right.
Off to her left she heard three whistles then a pause and then two shorter ones; it was her family’s sign for danger. She changed her direction almost immediately and did a somersault into the bushes.
There was a coughing sound next to her, and the lean, pale face of her brother appeared moments later. He had dark deep-set eyes, slightly pointed ears, and eyebrows that went at a diagonal up into his corn colored hair.
“They,” he put extreme emphasis on ‘They’, “came for us.”<br> Anuf raised her eyebrows in surprise. They hadn’t found them for a long while.
“Mum and Da…” he stopped unable to continue.
She knew what he was talking about at once, and she sat there in dumb surprise.
“H-how?” she managed to say after a long silence that seemed to lie over the rest of the world, not just in the under growth they were in.
“While you were gone making rounds, they just popped out of no where and surrounded the house. By the time we knew they were there it was too late, we were trapped.” He had a way of widening his eyes whenever talking about something that made him feel, which wasn’t often. He gulped and continued. “They killed Mum when she tried to save Da, and then they killed him...”<br> Anuf shook her head sadly. If Mum hadn’t tried to save Da they, meaning Mum and her brother, would all be packing off to the mines or the jails that night. But now, they were probably wanted criminals, or worse, one of the Hunted. The only way they could be safe was…<br> He interrupted her thoughts.
“We have to go join the Resistance.”<br> “Are you mad? If we do, they’ll just have another reason for hunting us!”<br> “Look, the Resistance is a strong force, though I must say not nearly as strong as Them… But where else would we go? Crawl down the deepest hole in the city and hide there?”<br> “It would be better, Atool,” Anuf fumed, “then going out and getting ourselves killed!”<br> There was a long silence that neither seemed to want to break. Finally Atool whispered, almost to himself, “Better to die fighting, then to live knowing you never fought at all.”<br> Anuf knew he was right. She knew now if she didn’t do anything to avenge her parents’ deaths she would regret it to the day she died.
“Where can we find them, then?” she sighed.
“I heard Mum and Da talking about a few nights ago, but for now we have lingered here to long…” with that he tossed Anuf her pack and melted in to the trees, leaving Anuf wondering. After a moment she followed.
***
Exxon opened his eyes; the fire was working, for now. No one in the room, save Exxon himself, could have expected such a show of magic from such a scruffy, no good, young boy. But there he was. His dirty face streaked with sweat, his dark hair sticking up, and his fingers still sparking. Pinching his fingers together to put them out Exxon surveyed the reaper. To the inexperienced mage or thief the reaper looked beaten, but Exxon knew better. It just wanted him to lower his guard, raise his fist in the air in triumph, and it would have him. He stood there for a long moment knife poised, hand still raised. The only sound was the reaper crackling and burning, every eye was upon it. The reaper flayed its long clawed hands, looking almost fragile as it attempted to put out its cloak.
With out warning someone crashed into Exxon sending him head over heals into someone’s chicken dinner.
Sputtering potatoes Exxon leaped to his feet, ready for trickery. “What the…?” he muttered and stopped short. The person who had knocked him over was a white mage. The mage was standing where Exxon had been moments before. In his right hand the mage held a sword and in his left a ruby.
“I’ll take it from here, boy,” said the mage in an almost arrogant tone, not even glancing at Exxon.
“But-“ Exxon began, but the mage cut him off. “Now, now, I’m sure you couldn’t have even handled a baby reaper, let alone this fellow, so just run along and leave this fellow to me. Go on run along now.”<br> Exxon stood rooted to the spot, knife and hands now at his sides. How dare that mage treat him like that! Why hadn’t the mage stood up before if he was so high and mighty?
Then suddenly a feeling of dread sprang over Exxon as he realized the reaper was still staring at him, having abandoned trying to put out its cloak.
“Oh no…” murmured Exxon. Then it sprung.
***
Erica stepped into the dimly lit home of the old woman Kyra. You would never know that this house belonged to an ex-thief and was underground. The only thing that was missing was the flowers out front and the blue sky behind it. The house was crammed with pots and pans, furniture, and all a manner of things you could think up. There was even a candle stick that looked like it belonged in the King’s house, which it probably did.
The house was uncommonly quiet. Usually it was full of voices and screaming children, but now all you could hear was the gurgling of a baby and two women talking in whispers.
“Erica, you’ve come!” whispered Kyra, standing there with her shawl slightly slipping, and a bowl of water in her hands.
“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Erica replied softly.
“Follow me then, Kena and the child are in the back room,” said the old woman beckoning Erica deeper into the house. The air in the house seemed to get warmer the farther back they went, the air in the underground was never cold, so fires were rarely lit, but it appeared that a fire was lit in the back room of Kyra’s house. When they reached the room after squeezing through cramped halls and around tight corners, there was, in fact, a fire in the hearth. Kena was lying on the large bed with a little bundle of blankets in her arms.
“Erica, how nice to see you again,” said Kena softy. “We must talk quietly for the baby is sleeping.”<br>Erica looked closer and realized the bundle of blankets was indeed a small baby boy, barely 2 days old.
“He is beautiful,” murmured Erica touching the black tuft of hair on the baby’s head gently. “What have you called him?”<br>“We, my husband and I, have decided to call him Aaron.”<br>“Aaron, that was father’s name,” said Erica looking up.
“I know, your father was a great man, one of the best of your linage, he got it his from his mother, I will tell you that,” said Kyra, smiling. “His greatness shines brightly from your brother and you, though you may not yet know it. Your days will come and you will do things that he could never have even imagined. But for now, you both do your duties and stick by them, and for that we all are grateful.”<br>There was silence after this speech. Erica knew better than to argue with the old woman. Besides Kyra understood what was going to be, more than most people, and if she said it would happen, then with out a doubt it would happen. Kyra was not a fortuneteller or other such nonsense. She was old, and understood how things worked better than any other person Erica knew.
The baby, Aaron, stirred in his blankets. He too would probably be destined for great things, so much like the Aaron of the times before him.
A drum began to beat in the distance. Aaron awoke and began to cry. The signal, for the meeting had sounded, it was time now to see what was so important. Why Erica and Prit had been summoned.
Erica bid farewell to the women, they would not be attending, and strode out back on to the streets of the Thief Kingdom, towards what, she did not know.
<to be continued>
