Chain of Souls, revised.

[Under the moon]

~~~Chain of Souls~~~

Updates-

April 19th, 2012: It has been a long time since I came here. The links to the other stories were broke again, now fixed. Adding an addendum to the passage on those links.

June 26, today....editing...done. Enjoy the tale.

June 14-15 reposting chapters prologue through 12 with edits, new text, and a new art.

March 5th: Chapter one, 'First Light' is now edited and added to. There are not as many edits as I thought there would need to be.

Feb 26th. Story now in edit mode. New prologue done!

I have edited, proofed (but likely missed mistakes still) and otherwise adding much content to this story. If you have read it before, or are doing so now and wish to give me input on what you would like to see changed, drop me a PM telling me what you would change about it, where it needs to be more clear, or how the emotion could be stronger, so I can address those issues in the rewrite. I have worked hard to bring it this far, but wish to make it the best it can be. Thanks.

Also, the story has been continued with two other stories. Here are the links. (links work... again) They are not finished yet, but will be someday.
Chain of Souls II; Soul's Mirror
Chain of Souls III; Path of Fate

**Addendum** I will not be completing the stories on this forum, nor, in fact, in the PS universe at all. I will make a summery of an ending for them, so you know how the PS version ends. I now plan on... de-planeshift-ifying all three stories in an edit, and publishing elsewhere. Actually, not a lot deals with PS in the first place, so that part of the editing will be minimal. I will leave these versions on the PS site, however, unless there is some conflict in rights.

Info on this story- This is a long story. Better to copy/paste it to your own comp so you can enjoy it at your leisure. It may be good to free up at least two hours. It takes that long to read. Sorry.

This tale does not start in Yliakum but it will get there, be patient.

Appendix at end of the story. Names and pronunciation. Also, the 'making' of this story.

This is the NEW lead in. It is nearly completely rewritten, going from 700+ words to 2700+ words. PS player and forum member character\'s names have been added, and everything else expanded upon. Enjoy.   

Prologue
~In the tavern~

Kada’el sighed despondently as she looked out over the empty chairs ordered neatly about the small tavern. Normally, she was not one to go about sighing, as her tavern provided a spot of pride in her life. However, with the storm pounding down and rattling the windows despite their tightly caulked frames, she wasn’t likely to get more business than her most dedicated drun
patrons. Stifling another sigh, she gave her few customers another long look, hoping that they might at least buy one more mug of ale. Her look turned dismal.

Three patrons was all she saw, besides her huge Kran guarding the door, and none of them would likely be ordering anything for some time. The man in the corner -Ganthran, she thought his name to be- was thoroughly absorbed in an old looking gold coin spinning above his open hand. The action had fascinated Kada
 for the first few hours. Then it had become a bit of an annoyance as the only drink he ordered grew warm and stale on the table beside him. His only concern was that damn coin and the book of notes he would jot neatly in on occasion. Not that he was taking up a seat on a busy day, but still. She would have asked if he wanted something more -a drink or pastry from the kitchen- but didn’t know him outside of the few times he came into the tavern before.

On the other hand, she knew the other two men all too well, seeings how they came in nearly every other day. Not that they wouldn’t be in every day, if not for the fact that she would not let them both in the tavern at once. She just couldn’t find the heart to toss one or the other out after they had wandered in drenched from the storm within ten minutes of each other.

The first had been Valbrandr, a somewhat charming Dwarf with a sharp wit and a taste for the harder liquors. He had spoke just barely enough words to order ten flagons as he came through the door and had said nothing since, even though the mugs had been empty for an hour now. Perhaps it was because she heard Dwarves hated being wet, or he was having troubles with his guild
or it could be her last ‘guest’.

Seperot
what to say about Seperot? The red eyed, black enki was known as a cur and scoundrel to most, though the authorities had never been able to link any of the numerous crimes that he was suspected of to him. He was disrespectful, rude, vulgar at times, smelled of the back alleys and sewers all of the time, but
but he was also her best patron, and always paid his tab. Though sometimes the coin he used seemed a little too clean and shiny, as if just washed. She tried not to dwell on that when she could help it. When he had come in just as soaked as Valbrandr, fur plastered tight to his feline features, she was sure she heard his low growl from all of the way across the room. He had even taken one menacing step towards the Dwarf, but stopped with a glance in her direction. Not at her huge Kran standing to his side, but at her. He then ordered just as many flagons as Valbrandr and rested himself by the fire, which just happened to be as far as he could get from the Dwarf. After that, he had made less noise than a hawk’s shadow on a dark night. Thankfully, Valbrandr didn’t seem to notice his coming.

Kada’el harrumphed quietly. Perhaps Seperot did have a little respect left in him, or he just didn’t want to be kicked out of the last tavern that still took his coin. That line of thinking reminded her of Ganthran and his damn spinning coin. Silently, Kada cursed the storm and grudgingly went back to wiping the bar off for what seemed the hundredth time for the night. One more time and she swore she would be able to see herself perfectly in the polished wood.

Endless moments ticked by to the tune of the occasional rumble of thunder. Moments passed. The storm growled. The coin spun. Kada’el moved to a table that was just at clean as the bar and began scrubbing in a more than rough manner.

The coin rotated. The storm howled. Ganthran ticked off a note in his book of notes. Moments passed. Kada scrubbed. The wind whistled. Seperot sneezed. Moments passed. The windows flashed. The coin revolved. The floor squeaked. Moments passed. Kada took a deep breath, either to calm her urge to cross the room and strangle Ganthran, or scream at the top of her lungs
she wasn’t sure. Her thoughts were washed aside, however, by the sudden and silence-shattering crash of a chair being thrown into the wall. She jumped with a gasp. No, she did not squeak. Definitely not. Her eyes instantly found the source of the hurtled chair.

Seperot and Vabrandr faced each other at the stairs, the shorter Dwarf at the top, making them eye to eye with the other. Both of them were in a fury.

“Shay at agan, filth!” Valbrandr shouted drunkenly, his flagon raised threateningly overhead. “No ehke’s goin’ tah shpeak bad uf Darves in my preshensh!”

“I’ll say what I want, knee licker!” Seperot shouted back, with an astonishingly clear voice despite all his empty mugs, his last still gripped in his paw like a dagger. “No boot scraper’s going to tell ME what to do!”

“YA CUR!” the dwarf lunged at the enki, his mug arcing in a downward slash.

Though his voice was clear, Seperot’s movements proved he was more than a little drunk as he slammed into the wall trying to avoid the blow. His rebound sprawled him flat out on the floor square on his face. He rolled -or flopped, as there was none of the usual feline grace to his motions- to the side, stumbling to his feet. Valbrandr followed, missing a step and nearly dashing his own short form against the same floor. Only wind-milling arms and the off chance of his hand finding the rail saved him. By this time, Seperot was back on his feet facing the dwarf, though his head wobbled as if he were trying to focus on more than one of the Dwarf. He had lost his mug somewhere, and snatched another off his table. To Kada’s dismay, she saw that he had not emptied all of them as amber liquid fanned over the lowered area by the fire. Valbrandr gained his footing and stumbled in Seperot’s direction.

“Stop them before they take the walls down!” Kada called to her guard, who was already moving towards the two with a menacing look about its clenched fists. The Kran also took pride in the Tavern, and its job of keeping it quiet. This would not sit well with it.

A loud crack sounded as the two brawlers clashed their mugs together, each trying to reach the other’s face. A thin spray of ale misted across Kada’s face, even from that far away. The entire tavern was going to need another thorough cleaning, the random thought flicked through Kada’s mind. If she had to clean up blood again, also


Luckily, for them and her, the Kran reached the scuffling men. It merely grabbed each of them by the nearest extremity, Seperot’s scruff, and Valbrandr by the ankle, and lifted them effortlessly off the floor. The two still fought at each other, hissing muffled curses despite being held at the Kran’s very long arm span. It merely looked at her with a sputtering man hanging from each hand, their blows impacting it unnoticed. The Kran glanced at the door, it’s eye ridges raising questioningly.

Kada’el’s gaze followed its to the door, a brief considering going through her mind. It would serve them right to spend the night out in the storm. But then, they were her best customers, and paid for whatever they damaged
eventually, when they weren’t trying to kill each other. She shook her head. Maybe she should let those two carry their arms in the tavern again. At least they would stop using her mugs as weapons. She sighed again as her Kran prepared to toss them out into the raging storm, even taking a step towards the door. Kada sighed. This just wasn’t her night.

“Not outside,” She said before the two were dumped unceremoniously out the door. “Lock them in the cellars until they cool off
again. Then you might as well head home.”

The Kran looked doubtful for a moment, looking once more at the door, but then nodded. She was the boss, after all. It headed off to the cellars, the men beginning to quiet somewhat at the prospect of being locked in the cellar
again. Seperot gave the Kran a look of pure hate and growled the entire way. Valbrandr merely crossed his arms clumsily, trying to look as dignified as possible for a Dwarf dangling half a span above the floor by an ankle. The Kran was gone for a time, but re-emerged unharmed, dusting it’s hands off on a job well done. It nodded to her, and headed out into the rain without bothering with a cloak, or even a hat. Kada envied their impunity to the weather sometimes. But then, she liked being a woman. She didn’t even know -what- this Kran considered itself. It was improper to ask. Not that it mattered. He, she, whatever did a good job. Sighing -damn that- she went to find a clean rag behind the bar. Finding one, she stood up and stretched her back tiredly. It was going to be a long night. Suddenly, she froze. The front door stood open, a figure outlined itself in a flash of angry lightning. Kada suddenly wished very much she had not sent her Kran home.

The figure stepped forward, the dark giving way to the light of the flickering flame. A man. He looked like a normal man, though there was something foreign about his features that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. He was dripping wet, just as the other two had been, though he seemed to give no note to the water rolling heavily off his face. His left forearm was bundled thickly, as if it were injured. He had shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, and an average build, of maybe twenty-six to thirty years. She was never good at guessing ages. He did look familiar, though. Maybe he had been in before? But, there was the mess, and her brute had left. And it was never good to let strange men in when she was alone. That was a lesson that only needed to be learned once. Her hand went lazily to the dagger she always kept sheathed upside-down at the small of her back.

“Sorry, I’m closing up,” she said, trying to keep a light but firm tone to her voice.

The man looked around the tavern slowly, then looked out at the torrent of rain. He seemed to nod to himself and walked over to the bar. Kada’el’s hand tightened on the hilt. The man stopped a safe distance away, his face devoid of any emotion besides maybe and old, deep pain. He stood for yet another moment before speaking.

“I’ll make it worth your while,” he said softly. “And I’ll need an empty ledger, if you have one.” He pulled a small leather purse out of his pocket and placed it on the bar.

He had an odd accent. One she had never heard before, or had she? Now that she thought about it, he had come in a couple of times, but always kept to himself in a corner. She took up the purse, very old by the looks of it, and shook it. The coins inside sounded odd. Kada looked at him warily. She had been around coin long enough to know what real ones sounded like.

“Ledgers don’t come cheap,” She said, though it was not quite the truth. She opened the purse with a little difficulty, the catches being rusted together. Very old indeed. Her eyes narrowed at what spilled out on the bar. The pile of small coins was of a design she had never seen before, but seemed to be solid gold.

“Are these real?” She asked, touching one. They were worth very much more than the ledger, if they were indeed made out of gold. She knew a man who could melt them down for her, in that case.

“Yes,” the man answered, his voice had an odd catch to it, as if forcing those words out. “And yours for some quiet and the ledger.”

“Where did you get these?” Kada asked, still not sure about the coin.

“The ledger? Then your answer.”

She pulled an empty ledger from under the bar. She never used them anyways. The man took it solemnly and moved toward a clean table.

“My answer?” she asked again.

The man looked down at the book, then out into the storm. “Soon.” He sat down and pulled an ink bottle and pen from his coat along with some sheets of blotting paper. He then opened the book an began writing. At first, the writing was slow, scribing each word carefully. The hand holding the pen began to shake, and she heard the paper tear, but a second hand on the pen calmed it. The pen continued to move. Scratch, scratch, dip. Scratch, scratch dip. The movements of the nib on the paper never paused. The writing became almost feverish to her eyes. She half heartedly cleaned a few of the tables, but curiosity for her ‘answer’ soon had her sitting at one of her own tables, watching him. For hours he wrote, stopping only to blot the pages, and that for only as long as necessity called for. Page after page was filled. Somewhere near the end of the ledger, he stopped, simply staring at the page. She shifted in her chair, readying to stand, when he pulled a white, wooden flute-like instrument and laid it next to the book. He looked at it for a long time before starting to write again, slower this time. He wrote each word almost painfully, to her eyes. At one point, she thought she saw a tear fall to the paper. Then his pace increased again for a short time, as he filled out the very last page. He gently laid the blotting paper on the last page, before removing it and closing the book. He pocketed the flute, but left the rest on the table. He then headed for the door.

“Sir? My answer?” Kada’el said, an anticipation tingling in her mind and shading her words.

He glanced at the closed book and walked out into the storm without another word. Curiosity overcoming poise, she rushed over to the book. He had written nothing in the label, so she opened the book to its first page and started reading

--------------

- You may wonder who I am. I wonder at who and what I have become. For I was not always as you see me now. I had a love, a life, a home, a name, and a soul. All of which were taken from m...
- Taken, TAKEN


Kada’el stopped reading and frowned. The writing changed here. It was nothing like the other writing, which had been small and neat. This
this was almost a mad scratching, barely readable. In two places, the paper was even tore through from the pressure of the nib. Her frown still in place, she continued reading.


.you sniveling wretch ... witH ALL that you have gained and I... I have LOST... You WHine at such trivialries-

- Silence yourself. This is not your tale... Not yet. Not ever. You remember what I can do to you... If I must.

- Yes........ very well. I shall leave the telling to you... this time. You shall lose control one day, one moment, and I... will... be... waiting 


- He is gone now. Sometimes his soulless laughter is the only thing that fills me. A voiceless taunting from the edge of darkness. But all of this will be explained in time...
- Time...I don’t know exactly how long ago my story started. Time loses all meaning when you live such as I. If it can be called living. But I know how it began... long, long ago...

Kada’el read on


[Under the moon]

~First light~
chapter 1

---It was still early morning when the sunlight crept across the bed and fell upon my eyelids, trying to invade my dreams. Dreams of my new apprenticeship and a young woman with eyes the color of polished jade and hair like an ocean sunset. I would have been content to sleep away the morning, but the sound of my mother singing softly from the kitchen, and the smell of fresh cooked hotcakes and sausage brought me fully awake. I rolled out of bed, shaved quickly in the cool water of my washbasin, then scrambled into my new attire. I didn’t want to let that sumptuous smelling breakfast to get one degree cooler than it had to.
- Settling my feet into the sturdy, well-made, and surprisingly comfortable boots, I took one last look around the room I had known since I was a child. A wave of sadness washed over me as I realized that after this day, the room would no longer be mine. I stood there for a moment in the doorway trying to absorb every detail. Most of my belongings were packed and sent to the caravan, but for a few items that I had planned on leaving. A forked blue candleholder with two shapelessly dripped candles stood next to the washbasin on the small square nightstand. The half-made bed rested snugly under the window across from the long, tall wardrobe. A well-built chair finished off the furniture, all of which had been crafted by my father. The room looked empty now, hollow. As I turned to go, my eyes came to rest on a large gouge cut into the doorframe. Still, after all these years, I could not bring myself to look at it without a small wince. My father would have fixed it, but I had asked him to leave it. To remember. I shook my head as I stepped into the hallway and closed the door.
- ‘Now that is one memory I could do without,’ I thought to myself as I walked slowly down the stairs. The second step from the bottom creaked like it always did. My mother turned from the large iron stove at the other end of the room and a brilliant smile bloomed on her face. I had heard some of the townsmen say that she was one of the most beautiful women they had ever seen, and that her smile would be worth all they had and more. Right at that moment, I believed it. Even with the tiny crows feet at her eyes from a lifetime of smiles, or the trace of gray at her temples from years of worry over an overly adventurous son.
- “My, my,” she said with the tiniest trace of her native accent and an amused twinkle in her blue-gray eyes, “aren’t you looking the handsome young Keeper.”
- “I am not a Keeper yet.” I stated with all the dignity I could sum up from my seventeen years of age, hoping in vain that my face was not turning as red as my tunic.
- She threw her head back and laughed. A musical sound that my father often confessed was why he married her.
- “Do not fret, my son. You have too much of your father in you to be nothing less than a spectacular success.” Her voice and smile told me she meant every word.
- Just as I thought I would burst from embarrassment, the front door swung open to let my father step briskly into the room. A sigh of relief escaped my lips before I could stop it. He raised a questioning eyebrow at first me, then my mother. A small grin quirked at the edges of his mouth.
- “Have you been at him again, Songstress?” my father’s deep voice boomed in feigned sternness. His broad shoulders and high collared red and black enameled plate would have made him a frighteningly imposing figure if not for the wink he directed at my mother.
- “Oh, no, my Sword Captain,” she purred in equally feigned meekness and glided gracefully over to him. “I was merely encouraging the boy.”
- “Boy! Ha!” my father snorted. “By his next nameday he will be larger than I.” His face beamed with pride.
- My mother reached up to twist one of his shoulder-length brown curls, also with their fair share of gray, around her fingers.
- “We were that age when we married, remember?” She said.
- His smile said that he remembered, and relished every moment since.
- For a moment they seemed to have forgotten me. My father’s form blocked my escape through the door, so I sighed again and cleared my throat loudly. My mother gave a little jump and my father turned his smile on me. It widened into a mischievous grin.
- "Speaking of which,” he said slowly with great amusement, “there is a certain young lady waiting at the bridge for you.”
- They were both grinning from ear to ear now, as I’m sure my face turned ten shades of red.
- “I’m going to be late,” I said in a rush and hurried to the stove to snag a few sausages between two of the hotcakes, “I will see you at Leave-taking.” I then retreated, yes that is the word, retreated out the back door to the stables.
- ‘Sometimes...those two...grrr...unbelievable..’ I thought disjointedly to myself as I tramped down the path to the big ironleaf tree I had climbed in as a young boy. I sat down and rested my head against its soft, downy bark with my eyes closed to try to calm myself. ‘A Keeper needed calm, above all else. A steady calm in any situation. The steadfast calm of the ancient ironleaf, which never lost its heavy leaves, no mater the weather or season. The calm of... I’m hungry.’ I bit into my makeshift sandwich without opening my eyes. It was delicious; my mother was an excellent cook. I quickly devoured the rest of it in a few bites.
- “So there you are!” a young woman’s voice exclaimed.
- My eyes popped open as the last bit of crumbs entered my lungs. I bent double, hacking and coughing. I had completely forgotten about what my father had said. A hand started slapping my back and a water skin was thrust into my hands. I took a quick gulp, causing the coughing to subside a bit.
- “Better?”
- I nodded and looked up into the most beautiful face I had ever seen. Dreams didn’t do her justice. The morning light caught her long wavy hair and set it ablaze. Her skin was the tan color of those who relished the sun’s rays. Perfectly formed eyebrows arched over sparkling green eyes that were filled with concern at the moment. Her full lips turned down in worry, but still looked like they were more used to smiling.
- “I’m... cough...fine now, Sabrene.” I said hoarsely, “Thank you.”
- Sabrene sat back on her heels and looked doubtful. She was beautiful even then.
- “You didn’t meet me at the bridge.” she stated simply, worry fading from her face.
- “I forgo...” anger flared in her eyes as she cut me off.
- “You had better not say you forgot you were going to meet me at the bridge to have breakfast at the tavern this morning.”
- I knew I couldn’t change what I had already said, so I improvised quickly.
- “I forgot that Master Ty told me that I needed to meditate more to keep my inner calm. I was so nervous and excited this morning, I thought I should meditate for a moment.” No lies in that, not really. I willed her to believe me.
- “Oh,” was all she said. I couldn’t read her expression, but I felt that I was out of danger, so I added a little jab.
- “By the way,” I said in a voice oozing with sarcasm, “thank you for helping me achieve the ultimate calm.”
- “What are best friends for?” Sabrene grinned as she rose quickly and gracefully to her feet with a slight jingle. ‘Jingle?’ I thought.
- For the first time I saw that she was wearing full scale armor. Dull green, thumbnail sized scales covered her body from the top of her neck to the turned-down tops of her tight, green leather boots, a short skirt of the same scales forming perfectly to her hips. Yellow rimmed shoulder guards and spiked bracers adorned her otherwise bare arms, while triple spiked leg guards of the same design fit snugly below her knees. A wide yellow and green woven belt circled her waist above the skirt, held by a large buckle in the form of a coiled snake. The effect on the whole, was that of a serpent... a curvaceous woman shaped serpent. ‘She was chosen to be a Guardian? Why?’
- Sabrene saw that I was looking at her armor and her grin turned a little bashful.
- “What do you think?” She asked and spun in a quick circle on one foot with her arms outstretched. The scales hugged her body closer than any of her usual garb ever did as the skirt swirled out with that that same jingle. I swallowed a lump that formed in my throat.
- “I’ve seen better.” Flat out, blatant, over the top lie.
- She finished her spin and put her hands on her hips in that ‘you’re in trouble now’ pose, but the form fitting armor turned it into something completely different. I locked my eyes on her face.
- “Thank you very much.” she said in an overly sweet voice.
- “What are best friends for?” I answered and forced a smile on my face. ‘If she only knew’ I thought to myself.
- “Well,” I said and cleared my throat, “Connely and Ulaisha must be wondering if we fell into a hole by now.”
- “No,” she said and turned down the path looking over her shoulder, “They will think you fell down a hole and I am busy filling it in! Now come on. I brought my horse; I’ll give you a ride.” She broke into a run. I started running also and grinned despite myself. Both for the comment and the wonderful view.
- As promised, Sabrene’s big black mare was waiting tied behind the house, grazing on a small tuft of grass. Her saddle was green and yellow now to match the armor. The mare lifted her head when she saw us and nickered softly.
- “You miss me already, Shahna?” Sabrene asked and patted the horse’s neck fondly. Next to her, leaning against the wall, I saw one of the three bladed short spears that all Guardians kept close. Remembering what happened the last time I touched one, I took a careful step back. Sabrene, busy untying her horse, didn’t see my action.
- “Here, hold this while I get up,“ she reached over, grabbed the spear, and tossed to me.
- I tried to leap to the side but stumbled, landing flat on my back and knocking the wind from my lungs. Time seemed to slow down as the spear inched closer to my outstretched hand. I could feel the burning as the haft touched my skin, almost hear the sizzle of it searing. The world pulsed. I jerked my arm back and rolled to the side, cradling my hand. The spear hit the ground.
- “Oh Shades,” Sabrene gasped and ran to me, “I forgot!” She grabbed at my hand, her eyes wide and frightened. “Oh Shades, oh Shades, let me see it!”
- I opened my hand slowly, expecting to see blistered flesh, but instead saw only healthy skin around a few old scars. Sabrene closed her eyes and heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh Shades, that was close.”
- I stared in amazement at my hand. Only the scars from my childhood... from the last time I touched one of the Dentali spears.
- “I...I could have sworn it...it touched me,” I managed in a shaky whisper.
- “I’m so sorry,” Sabrene looked stricken and on the verge of tears, “I should have remembered.” She was unconsciously rubbing her left arm near her shoulder. “I don’t...”.
- “It’s all right, I’m fine.” At first I couldn’t understand why she was nearly falling apart, then I remembered the injury on her arm and where she got it. “You’re safe now.” I put my hand on hers to stop it.
- “You think...” she started then laughed and wiped her eyes. “My mother was right, all men are born cross-eyed.”
- Sabrene quickly scooped up the spear and wrapped it in a green cloak she pulled from her saddlebag. She tied the bundle across the high cantle and vaulted into the saddle in one smooth motion.
- “You going to stand there all day?” she asked and reached out a hand.
-----------

“Mistress Kada’el?”

Kada nearly fell from her chair, so engrossed in the tale she was. Her heart pounded as her hand went instinctively to the knife at her back. Ganthran apparently knew it to be there, and took a quick step back with his hands raised in and easing manner.

“Ganthran! You scared half the life out of me!” Kada said breathlessly, her other hand over her heart.

“I do apologize, Mistress, but I was just leaving for the night, and wished to bid you good dreams.”

Kada blinked. Leaving? But
 Realization came to her in a flash. In the fight, she had completely forgotten about the quiet man in the corner and his spinning coin. ‘Fool woman, a mistake like that with the wrong person will lose you more than a bit of pride and a pounding heart.’ It had been his coin that had gotten her so riled in the first place. Wait! His coin! That was it. Kada practically jumped from her chair to get to the bar. The coins were still where she left them, but finding them missing was not her concern at the moment.

“By the gods
” Ganthran said from her side, having followed without her hearing him.

His exclamation only firmed her conviction that the coins on the counter were indeed the same as the one he had been studying for the last few hours. She turned to ask him what was so fascinating about the coins, but  saw his gaze elsewhere. He was not looking at the gold anymore, but the closed door. Or through it. A small frown hung over his features.

“Is there something amiss?” Kada asked, looking cautiously at the door. It was the sort of night for odd happenings. Perhaps he had heard something.

Ganthran shook his head slowly, letting his eyes drift back to the pile of coins. “No
” His word hung in the air as if there was something he wished to say, but didn’t have the right words.

“Out with it Ganth.” Kada’el said, her irritation from hours of watching him and his spinning coin returning. “I don’t have all night.” Not true, exactly, but the book on the table called to her. And there was still the mess those two had caused. Which only added to her frustration.

Ganthran raised his eyebrow just a hair’s width and gave her a slanted look out the corner of  eye, but he did answer, at least. “The coin I am studying once met with a great power, something far beyond any I have ever seen before. It has the makings of coin of old, yet feels
younger.” He paused, his eyes seemingly drawn back to the door again. “It was the only like it I have ever found. Until now.” He looked to the pile of gold on the table, his hand going out as if to touch one, but stopping just short. It hovered there, unmoving. “These," his hand moved through the air over the pile, almost as if sensing them, "still glow with that power. It fades as we speak. Whatever  it was, it was in close with these coins not so long ago.”

Kada’el watched as the man ran his hand through his hair in what seemed a subconscious gesture. Her own hands itched to be back on that book now. Her answer resided there, and maybe Ganthran’s also. Who was that man? Her answer
 Ganthran turned and walked to the door and opened it to the howling wind. The candles flickered fitfully. He turned to her before stepping out into that tempest, a gleam liken to a child with a new plaything in his eye.

“Hold to those coins, Lady Kada’el. Even without what I have told you, their worth is near priceless to the right collector. They come from before the Loss.” With that, he vanished into the night, the curtain of rain parting around him.

Kada’el blinked in shock, her eyes going wide. Before
the Loss? But nothing survived those times. It couldn’t be. If he was right, more than half a years take rested on the table
maybe more. Her mind could hardly grasp the thought. She had to know now. Quickly, but carefully, she scooped the coins into the drawpurse at her waist and headed back to her table and the book. That is where the answers would be. Bringing the candle closer for more light, she read on

Sabrene's Dentali. Blender, The Gimp. Arted by Under the moon.

[Under the moon]

~Friends and Teachers~
chapter 2

- The ride to the tavern was relatively uneventful and quiet. Shahna’s gait was smooth and having my arms around Sabrene’s waist felt...good, even with the added oddness of the scales. Neither of us said anything until we reached the tavern, a small unremarkable building made of stone. A neat wooden sign hung over the doorway exclaiming ‘Harlen’s Mug’ in bright blue letters.
- “Well, we’re here.” Sabrene said as she swung a practiced leg over the high cantle and slid from the horse’s back, her scale skirt bouncing and jingling slightly with every movement. Her spear  she did not touch, leaving it wrapped and tied safely to the cantle. I was so sure it had touched my hand. That pain had been too real.
- “Have you forgotten how to dismount, or do you need help?” Sabrene asked mockingly, but there was a slight catch in her voice. I looked at her questioningly and saw that she was not looking at her spear in such an obvious way that she might as well be staring at it.
- “Lets get inside,” I said and hopped down, though not with her grace and ease. I was not half the horseman she was. “I could use one of Harlen’s famous ‘Three Kings Falling’”.

Kada’el paused in reading and frowned at the door. “What is a horse?” she asked herself quietly. Some sort of mount animal, she supposed. Though none that she has ever heard of. Perhaps a lesser known beast from one of the lower levels. She would have to ask Jayose. The man seemed to know everything, if you could get him to answer your questions. With a shrug of her shoulders, she picked back up where she left off.

- The inside of the tavern was clean and orderly, filled with warmth and life. I can still smell the scent of cleaning wax and fresh half-cakes, if I try hard enough. This is where I had spent much of my time as a young adult, just enjoying the company and good food. If I close my eyes, I can see every detail of that moment in time. Every table and chair was spotless and in its place. Harlen himself was also spotless and in his place behind the long polished bar. His wide girth shook and strained his white apron as he laughed boisterously at something one of his patrons said. I don’t know if I had ever seen the man’s great, round cheeks adorned without a smile. He noticed us standing in the doorway and waved both his thick hands over his head in welcome.
- “Come in! Come in!” He said jovially, “Always room for the Sword Captain's son and the beautiful Lady Sabrene!”
- His gaze found my new tunic as I stepped forward, making his smile widen, though I am still not sure how he could have overlooked Sabrene’s serpent scales. Perhaps because she seemed to be half hiding behind myself and the thick door, just peeking over my shoulder.
- “Aaaah,” he said, waving grandly to any who were not already looking at us, “we have a young Keeper with us now. Rare, that. Wait until the folks over in Wenth hear of this.”
- “Calm yourself, Harlen,” I laughed, “It is not such a big thing, and you don’t want to break a seam. Kala would have your hide.”
- “Ack, you would have to bring up the wife now wouldn’t you.” he said back with a hearty chuckle, “Now that’s fighting dirty.”
- “Only you would say that being the first Keeper in two hundred years to come out of Daarven is a small thing.” a young man’s deep-baritone voice called from the corner.
- Sabrene turned to the speaker and laughed. “The only small thing to come out of Daarven is your mind, Connely Thay.”
- Connely laughed and mimed pulling a dagger from his heart. He elbowed the long-faced, pretty, young woman next to him.
- “Can you believe that, Ulie?” He asked.
- “Indeed.” Ulaisha responded solemnly, fighting down a grin.
- “Humph...enemies on all sides,” he said, still smiling, and stood up. Small wasn’t the right word for him at all. He had broad shoulders and topped me by nearly a half a head. Ulaisha stood only to his heavily muscled shoulder. “What took you? Brene fall in a hole?”
- Sabrene stepped around me with a small indignant noise, but stopped in mid-step as Connely seemed to take notice of her armor, letting out a long appreciative whistle. His thick, black eyebrows climbed high on his forehead.
- “A Keeper and a very easy on the eyes Guardian,” Connely teased. “Come on, give us a spin.”
- Sabrene turned red and avoided looking at me for a reason I could not fathom at the time.
- “Too bad your new armor only makes you uglier, Con.” Ulaisha said quite quickly and punched him in the arm, giving off a faint clank. He was wearing plate similar to my father’s, only in blue and gray.
- “All right, all right... you know that you are the only woman for me, Ulie,” he said and held out an arm, “Besides, I have the entire trip to Keer to remind you that you are the prettiest, most wonderful new Songstress in all of the realm.”
- Ulaisha took his arm and snuggled under it, or rather was engulfed by it. She was wearing a simple dress of pure white with gold woven knots embroidered across the breast. With her blond hair and pale delicate features, she was indeed pretty, if not stunning.
- “That’s better.” she said. “Unoriginal, but better.”
- Connely grinned and held her tight to his side. I don’t know if I have ever seen two people so much in love, and such a perfect match as those two. Harlen waddled over and thrust a mug into Sabrene’s hands and mine, smiling for all his worth. Wisely, though, he made no comments on Sabrene’s figure. Likely on the off chance his wife would hear of it.
- “On the house.” he declared, tapping the mug in my hand proudly. He had the right, being that his drink was known as the best for three towns in all directions. “By the way, your father came in here a bit ago, looked like a cat in a cream shed.”
- “He has reason to,” Ulaisha said, a tiny frown on her lips, “but he had an odd look in his eyes too. Like he was seeing something far away.”
- Harlen shrugged and went back to the bar, grinning all the way. Sabrene had a small frown on her face also.
- “He looked at me the same way when I asked him where this lunkhead was. Your mother too, she seemed to know something that I don’t.” She took a long drink from the mug.
- “Oh, that is nothing,” I said, slightly put off by the ‘lunkhead’ remark. My mouth moved before my thoughts did, speaking the first jest that came to mind. “They just think that Sabrene and I should get married.”
- Liquid sprayed from Sabrene’s mouth all over Con as he burst out in an uproarious laugh. That makes us even for the crumbs,’ I thought, not able to stop a grin and laugh. I am not still not sure what made me say that.
- “You...and....Brene.....married.....that‘s the funniest....thing I‘ve ever....heard!” Con managed to gasp between bouts of laughter and wiping the spray form his face.
- Sabrene glared at him, then me. She seemed about ready to tear us both apart. I had no doubts she would have, having received the sharper side of her tongue on more than one occasion. Ulaisha, always the peacemaker, quickly stepped over and took her arm.
- “Did you bring my comb that you borrowed with you?”, she asked earnestly. Sabrene looked confused.
- “The black one,” Ulaisha prodded, “with the white snowdrops?” She slanted her eyes quickly and deliberately towards the door.
- “Oh...um...yes,” Sabrene said, finally taking the obvious hint. She let Ulaisha pull her through the open door, but with one last glare at Con.
- “You boys play nice, now.” Ulaisha called over her shoulder and gave Sabrene a shove out the door.
- Con and I exchanged the look all men know by heart. All women are crazy.
- He raked his hand through his black, shoulder-length hair that did need a comb and studied my face. His dark brown eyes seemed to see something and narrowed in concern.
- “Something is wrong,” he stated, “tell me.”
- I took a swallow from my mug followed by a deep breath to stall a moment. He knew me better than I knew myself sometimes. I needed to tell him something. But not about Sabrene, not yet. Thinking back on that time, perhaps I should have.
- “I touched, err, almost touched a Dentali spear this morning.” I said quietly so no one else in the room would hear.
- Con’s face turned pallid and he sat down heavily on his chair. His eyes had the look of a man remembering something he would rather forget. I knew exactly how he felt at that moment. There are many things once done that we would all have back. But the past is not so easily changed.
- “Shades...bone and shades,” he said in whispered curses, completely out of character for him. He was the most proper spoken person I knew, besides Ulie. “The last time nearly killed you...and Sabrene. I should have never taken my father’s spear. It was a goat-brained fool of a thing to do. Trying to play warrior.”
- “We were only ten, you didn’t know.”
- “You could have died. I don’t think Sabrene ever completely forgave me. I see her sometimes, rubbing her shoulder and looking right through me. That’s why she turned down all my advances years ago. Not that Ulie isn‘t my heart, but... ”
- “She turned you down because she knew that Ulie was down the well in love with you, you big lunk. It had nothing to do with a mistake we made as halfwit youths. We’re all alive and happy, that’s all that matters.”
- Con nodded and took hold of himself, though a few of the shadows kept a firm hold in the corners of his eyes. After another few moments, his shoulders firmed, the glint returning to his eye. He was always the strong one in our group of friends, our leader.
- “What is this? I will have none of my students moping around on Choosing Day,” an elderly but dignified voice spoke from behind us.
- Con leapt to his feet as I spun to face the speaker. His appearance matched his voice, though his movements were smooth and sure. His head topped mine slightly, while his long gray hair reached half down his back after being pulled tight to his head and tied in the back with a black leather cord. His eyes were a piercing gray in an angular face that had the look of aged leather. He wore long robes of the same colors as Sabrene’s scale. The robes of a High Guardian.
- “Now,” he asked in a strong yet kindly voice, “what ails two of my most promising students on this joyous day?”
- “Nothing, Master Ty.” Con said quickly, flashing me a confiding look. “We were just talking about some of the trouble we used to get into.”
- “Homesick already?”
- “No, Master Ty.” I said. “Just remembering.”
- “Well then,” he smiled and grasped our shoulders in a surprisingly firm grip, “enjoy the rest of the day. You both have bright futures ahead of you.”

- HAHAHAHA.... A BrigHT future... if HE only knew... HA... old FOOL.


Kada’el almost flinched at the sudden change of handwriting this time. It almost looked as if the quill had been torn form the hand of the previous writer. She shook her head in disbelief at the following lines before reading on. The script changed so quickly to and fro, she would have sworn there were two men at the table with this book
rather than one. She could feel the hate as the pen slashed the ink into ragged words. If she had not seen it with her own eyes


The need to know filling her, she read on


- I told you to be SILENT, CREATURE! He was a greater being than you could ever be!
- I tiRE of THis dribble...you bORe me...teLL them OF ME... that is WHAT thEY have come here for...MEEEEEE!!!
- When the past is all you have, demon, you remember every detail. If you interrupt me again, I will show you the true meaning of pain and darkness.
- Yesssss, Masssssster




.
- Foul beast, I would be rid of you if I could. Now, back to the tale. The tavern mistress looks to be getting impatient. I promised her an answer.

- Sabrene, Ulaisha, Con, and I left the tavern and spent the rest of the day trying to obey Master Ty’s order. Con and I didn’t bring up the spear again and eventually everyone’s mood turned light. We visited our friends that would not be leaving come nightfall, and remembered all the good times we had had. Many stories of “Remember when,” had us all laughing one instant, the girls close in tears the next. Con and I also, but nay for either of us to admit it. It was a bittersweet day, saying goodbye to those we had grown up with, perhaps never to see again. I miss that day beyond mere words can describe.
-Other Teachers also approached us through the day to offer congratulations and encouragement. The birdlike Keeper, Lady Fradaria patted each of on the head as if talking to young children. Old jolly Guardian Master Doeben laughed and told a boisterous story that had us all in stitches. Even the stern-faced Songstress Lady Aikur gave a small smile. All in all, it was a good day.
- Nightfall neared and the moon began to rise over the horizon opposite the setting sun, the lavender Tear of Ree’aan shining prominently on its face. The Age Lace stretched from horizon to horizon between them, though its silver glow became obscured in the reds and oranges of the sunset.

Kada’el once again stopped as some vague thought tickled her memory. This moon object
 what was it
and why did she seem to feel as if she knew of it? Sure, there where the legends of the old lands, and something the old dusty tomes called a moon. But she had never read any of them, just heard a little here and there from arguments between some of the younger scholars too far in drink. And the Azure Sun
it had never been red or orange that she knew. And what was this ‘sunset’? She began to wonder if the man who wrote this was in complete control of his sanity. The storm outside thundered tumultuously as she turned the page.

-The entire town turned out into the small Keer Gate Square where the wagons and teams were hitched and ready to go. The simple buildings were crowned with heavy thatch roofs, rather than the tiles adorning the rest of the town. Time had left that corner of my home behind, remembrance overshadowing progress in a way that welcomed the heart and comforted the soul. I did not know it at that time, but I was truly happy.
- My three friends and I waited in front of an ornate wagon with a speaking platform built on top. As the last rays of the sun left the tops of the trees and the full silver-blue moon rose to twice its own height above the rooftops Master Ty stepped onto the platform. He looked solemnly over the crowd and raised his hands for quiet.
- “Today,” he began to recite, “we give witness to four young men and women. For they are the Chosen few who are born with the ability to fight the darkness which resides deep within the bones of our world. An evil that has been held at bay by generations of warriors before them. We give witness to the efforts and sacrifices they will make to ensure our safety and the safety of our children. Behold now, these sons and daughters that make the Journey to the ancient bastion of Keer. A journey that will transform them from our children, to our protectors.
- Behold and witness our son, Legionary, sword of the light.”
- Connely stepped forward somberly, his customary swagger only lessened somewhat. His long broadsword whispered from its sheath on his back in one smooth movement as he drew it, the steel glinting in the moonlight.
- “I stand ready.” he proclaimed and held his sword vertically before his face.
- “Behold and witness our daughter, Songstress, voice of the light.”
- Conley stepped back as Ulaisha glided forward, her white dress glowing over her thin form in the moonlight.
- “To sooth the Beast,” she intoned and crossed her arms over her heart, the vision of calm and peace.
- “Behold and witness our son, Keeper, watcher over the dark.”
- It was now my turn. My feet felt like rocks as I moved forward. I feared that I would forget my rote at the last moment.
- “The will to hold the dark.” I said perfectly, holding my hands upright before me facing each other, but not touching. The space between my hands represented how I would encage the evil. I never knew how true that would become.
- “Behold and witness, Guardian, protector of the Keepers of the dark.”
- Sabrene took her place in front as I started to move back.
- “My life before his.” she recited and grounded the butt of her spear at her side. I almost stumbled. Did she say that wrong? Wasn’t it supposed to be ‘before theirs’?
- Master Ty didn‘t seem to notice her mistake. Instead, he raised his arms skyward. “All here have born witness to the rebirth of these four. We take our leave now, as we have always done and always will, under the moon.”

~end of chapter two~
Sabrene, the writer, Ulie, and Con at Leavetaking. Pencil, pen, scanned, then The Gimp. Arted by Under the moon.

[Under the moon]

~The Truth in Tears~

chapter 3

- The first day passed slowly as the caravan lumbered through the wilderness on its way to Keer. Most of my time was spent in the company of various Teachers, learning the way of the Aura. Midday found me walking with Mistress Fradaria, the birdlike Keeper who had given me my first Testing a year before. She was kind but stern in her teachings.
- “All things,” she was saying, “good or evil, have an Aura surrounding them. Your task, once you finish your training, will be to capture and confine the Auras of the dark creatures. You alone in your town are blessed with this gift.”
- “If it is a gift, then why can I not touch the Dentali spears? They were created to protect us, were they not?” I asked.
- She walked down the dusty road for a while before answering, seeming to mull something over.
- “Do you remember the legends of Yamuel and his armies of shadow?”
- “Every child knows those bedside tales. Yamuel was a demon god set on enslaving the world. He summoned hoards of twisted creatures made of darkness to wage his war. His armies ravaged the land until a young goddess named Ree’ann felt the suffering of the people and awoke from her long slumber. She saw what Yamuel had done and was horrified, so she created weapons the people could use against the creatures. In doing so, she gave us the means to destroy the hoards and banish Yamuel. But in a last show of defiance, Yamuel lashed out with his power and killed Ree’ann. If that is where the Dentali come from, why do they hurt me, and the rest of the Keepers?”
- “That story, as you know it, is not the complete truth. If the real truth were known, we and our Guardians would be just as feared as the shadow.”
- An uneasy feeling crept over me as she spoke. Oh shades Sabrene, what have we fallen into?
- “What is the truth? I need to know.”
- Fradaria studied me for a long moment. “You care for her, don’t you? The girl, Sabrene.” Her unwavering eyes seemed to see straight to my heart. She knew.
- “Yes,” I said simply, “very much.”
- “That is good,” she said with a new warmth, but with a touch of...pity? “Sabrene is going to need your strength and love in the coming weeks. I won’t lie to you; it is going to be hard for her, very hard.”
- “What...what is the truth? ...Please.” My voice trailed off to a whisper. I don’t think I could have managed any more.
- “Very well. Usually, new Keepers learn of this when they reach Keer, but I think it better you learn now. Most of the history is unimportant until we reach the part where Ree’ann creates her weapons.” She looked at me as if waiting for an answer.
- “The spears?”
- “No, Ree'ann did not make the Dentali.”
- I stumbled on my own feet and nearly fell in shock.
- “Then who...?” Fear gripped me, “Yamuel.”
- “No my child, it was not the Lord of Dark either.”
- “But... I don’t understand. Where did they come from, and what are Ree’ann’s weapons? What is going to happen to Sabrene?”
- “Easy child, she will be fine. The weapons Ree’ann created could not be seen nor taken by the enemy. She was too wise to allow that. Once they were made, her creations spread across the lands to wherever the darkness lay. But they were not made to attack the body of the enemy; they instead assaulted their essence, their Aura, if you will.”
- “Keepers.” I breathed.
- “Yes, Keepers, then known as Lura’fen, the Hands of the Light. We became a force like never seen before. Our very name made the enemy cower in terror. We were unstoppable.” Mistress Fradaria’s eyes became distant, as if she could see this vision herself. “Peace was returning to the land.”
- “But then Yamuel killed Ree’ann,” I said, breaking her reverie.
- Her eyes found me again as she clicked her tongue. “Again, this is not the whole truth. Do you know the meaning of Dentali in Old Speak?”
- I shook my head. The world was being turned on its edge before my eyes.
- “It translates to ‘soul’s mirror’ or ‘mirrored soul’, Old speak can be tricky at best. Dentali describes not the spears themselves, but their creator. Just as a mirror has an opposite reflection, so too did Ree’ann, a twin sister. And just as much as Ree’ann hated Yamuel, Ann’ree loved him. When Ann’ree saw what her sister had created in her Keepers, she saw her beloved Yamuel’s doom. So in desperation, she drew elements from the sacred mountains, and using every last shred of her power, forged them into spears. They were then given to the minions of the shadow to wage war on Ree’ann’s Keepers. Many lives were lost.”
- “That isn’t possible!” I nearly shouted in disbelief. I looked around quickly, but did not seeing anyone notice my outburst. Before speaking again, I took a calming breath. “The Dentali are used against the darkness. They can’t be evil.”
- “They are not evil, you are right,” Fradaria continued in a practiced tone that told me she had spoken this many times before, “they were made for the single purpose of killing those blessed by Ree’ann. But again Ree’ann was too clever. She transformed half of her remaining Keepers so that they could touch and absorb the power of the spears and wield them against their own masters. These people came to be known as Fen’rohdain, ‘the Shield before the Hand’, protectors to the Keepers.”
- “Guardians.”
- “Indeed. Again the tide of war turned in our favor, but Yamuel still schemed deep in his black heart. He sent word that unless Ree’ann gave herself to him, he would destroy her sister. Ree’ann knew the fate of the world, but she couldn’t leave her sister to her doom. So she traveled deep into the bowels of the world and retrieved an artifact so ancient that not even the gods knew its origin. The very object she had studied to create her Lura’fen. Den’feire, the Chain of Souls.”
- I frowned. “Chain of Souls? I have never heard of such a thing.”
- “As well you should not have. For it is said that Den’feire was created using the very essence of all evil. But still, Ree’ann used its power. Imagine what would come to pass if the common people learned that all Ree’ann had created was based on an object so evil that it was buried and forgotten, even by the gods.”
- “But, they wouldn’t...” I started to say, but I knew the truth. A terrible vision came to my mind. The people would rise up against us. We would become the hunted, and we would die.
- “You see it now, don’t you?” she asked softly. All I could do was nod weakly. “Our secret must never be revealed.”
- We walked for a while in silence. I did not want to hear any more, but I needed to, for Sabrene.
- “How did it end? The truth.” I asked finally.
- “Ree’ann gave the Chain of Souls to ten of her finest warriors and went to face Yamuel. She stood before him, and as she was struck down her warriors surprised and ensnared Yamuel and Ann’ree in the power of the artifact. But in doing so, a wave of energy was released and all save one of the warriors perished. The last man crawled to the nearest town and told the Keeper there of what happened before he too, died.”
- As she finished speaking, I saw a flash of fiery red-gold hair disappear a few wagons ahead.
- “Excuse me,” I said, “I need to speak with someone.”
- I started to run but Fradaria held my arm.
- “She will let you know when she is ready. Remember, this time is harder on our Guardians than it is for us. Just be there for her when she needs you. Now go.”
- She released me and I ran ahead, thoughts spinning through my head. I had to see Sabrene. I needed to...I had to tell her...I...I didn’t know what to say.
- I reached the large wagon, but the only person I saw was a brawny old Guardian sitting at the driver’s seat looking rather bored. Jesler, I remembered his name to be.
- “Did you see which way Sabrene went?” I asked. He scratched his head for a moment.
- “The new Fen’rohdain lass? Don’t know for sure, but she ran though here like something fierce was on her trail.” He looked me over in a quick glance that missed nothing. “Or someone. Not uncommon, that. New Guardians oft have the look of a fresh maid serving mugs on the rougher side of town. I would wager your Sabrene is regretting her choice ‘bout now.”
- “Choice?”
- “Aye, most of us are born to only one of the four callings. Your Sabrene, h’ever, is one of those born with two. One is Hadara, the Songstresses, and the other, my very own Fen’rohdain. Brave lass, she is. Turned down the Hadara to their faces, said she wanted to wear the green. Even after she was told the hardships she would endure, bein’ a Guardian. First ever to make that choice, I hear. Not an easy life, wearin’ these scales. If I had her choice, I know how I would choose.” He gave me another once over glance. “She’ll be needin’ you, mark my words, but you have to give her time. She is going to have to figure for herself if she made the right choice for the right reasons. Let her come to you, when she is ready.”
- I found no comfort in his words, and I don’t think he intended any. I said my farewells and continued my search. I had to know what was to become of her.
- That evening I still had seen nothing of Sabrene. Any questions I asked were met with, “Tend to yourself, lad.” or more bluntly, “It is none of your concern”.  I sat disconsolate at a small campfire with Con and Ulaisha. I had told neither of them of Sabrene. Con was contently smoking his pipe and musing about his day of hard training. Ulaisha was only half listening. She had a nervous frown and kept staring out into the darkness. She seemed to be waiting for something, and she was scared. Just as I was about to ask her what was wrong, an unfamiliar Songstress and six looming Guardians stepped into the light. Jesler was one of them. Ulaisha relaxed visibly and let out a long breath. The Songstress looked at her.
- “I’m sorry, Mistress Dyana.” Ulaisha said and lowered her eyes. “I feared you would not arrive in time.”
- “All is well, child, I am here.” Mistress Dyana said in a calming tone before turning to Con, who was just getting to his feet. “You will report to your ranks now, Footman Thay.”
- Con looked at Ulaisha and me with question and worry in his eyes.
- “We will be fine, my heart. Please go.” Ulaisha said with a pleading tremble in her voice. “Trust me...please.”
- Con nodded slowly and backed out into the dark. His eyes never left hers.
- “What is going on?” I asked of Ulaisha. Her eyes were filled with worry, apprehension, and pain. She knew something. A deep clawing fear rose inside me. “Where is Sabrene?”
- The Songstress stepped to the opposite side of the fire as the men surrounded me, two on each side and two behind.
- “Tonight, Sabrene is to be Joined. We are here to ensure the ceremony goes on without interference,” she answered kindly, but her direct look left no doubt as to where she thought that interference would come from. “Jesler, be ready,” she said, her eyes never leaving mine.
- Yes, Mistress,” he responded. Two strong hands grasped my shoulders. I tried to shrug them off but they held like iron.
- “Be steadfast in your heart, son,” Jesler’s voice whispered in my ear, “This night will wound you deep, if you truly love her. But you can not help her, not tonight. You must stay at this fire, no matter what you hear. I went though this very thing with my Kaliana, bless her heart, and her with I. Sabrene will survive, be strong for her.”
- A woman’s serene voice rose in an ethereal song in the distance. The winds blended with the pure wordless melody exuding timeless tranquility and beauty. Another voice joined the first, then another, and another, until the air itself vibrated in harmony with the song. It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard.
- “It has begun, Ulaisha attend.” Dyana said and entwined her voice into the swelling song. Somehow it didn’t seem any louder than the others. Without words, the song spoke of streams and clouds, of blue skies and eternal peace. I felt my mind begin to drift. The song was all. Abruptly, a piercing scream tore through the night and jerked me out of my reverie. It was a scream ripped from the very depths of pain. My heart cried out in a tortured echo, an echo I feel to this very day. It was Sabrene.
- “Hold him!” Jesler shouted, and I realized I was fighting to break free. The scream went on and on until her breath should have been exhausted, but still continued. I saw Ulaisha fall to her knees and began crying. I somehow managed to grab one of the arms holding me and heaved the man attached to it across the fire, but more hands grabbed me. The scream finally receded for the space of a breath, only to be replaced by one even more heart wrenching than the last. Panic seized me and all thought vanished. I fought like a caged animal, lasshing out with fists an feet that caught flesh as often as not. Men were tossed about the camp as they tried to restrain me.
- “Mistress!” one of the men shouted, “We cannot hold him!”
- The screams would not stop. Despair clawed at my mind, would it never end? Ulaisha was holding her hands over her ears and shaking her head. I roared wordlessly as my arms were finally held behind my back. I didn’t even feel the pain.
- After what seemed an eternity, the song and screams fell to an abrupt and deafening silence. The ground rushed up to meet me, but gentle hands kept me from falling. My cheeks felt wet and my vision was blurred. I hadn’t noticed my own tears. Dyana was standing before me and cupped my chin in her hand. There was sweat on her face despite the cool night air, but she was smiling wearily.
- “It is done,” she said, “You have suffered enough. Sleep now, my son.” She began to sing again, though different this time, and darkness filled my sight. Sleep took me then, but the haunting screams followed. I don’t think they will ever leave me. There were no dreams in that sleep, for which I am glad. Only nightmares could have come from that day.

chapter continued in next post.

[Under the moon]

- I awoke the next morning feeling bruised and battered, inside and out. Con sat out of his armor across the smoldering fire with Ulaisha’s head in his lap. He stroked her hair tenderly as he watched me struggle to sit up. One of his eyes was swelled half shut from a large, purple bruise and his left hand was bandaged. He saw my look and gestured with his injured hand.
- “My comrades were not as easy on me as your Guardians were on you,” he said with a half grin, but it seemed a bit forced, “Either that, or you are a much better brawler than I.”
- Ulaisha raised her head to look at me. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but she gave me a wavering smile.
- “He did send two more men to the healers than you did, Con,” she said, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
- “I didn’t hurt them too bad, did I?” I asked. Jesler was a good man, I hoped he was all right.
- “No, no one was hurt bad, besides...” Ulaisha’s mouth snapped shut as she cut her answer short. She sat up quickly and began brushing off her dress, refusing to meet my eye. An awkward silence filled the air as we sat there. I had to know.
- “What...how is...Is she...?” I couldn’t bring myself to finish. My fists clenched at my side.
- Ulaisha and Con exchanged glances.
- “We...don’t know.” Ulaisha answered, her voice bordering on tears again, “No one has seen her since last night, but the Songstresses assured us that she lives. The Guardians won’t say anything besides it being a matter between them and the Hadara, not for ‘newlings’”
- “What happened?” I asked her. “You must know something.”
- “She was Joined,” Ulaisha said, “All I was told is that it had something to do with the Dentali, and that it would cause her great pain. I am so sorry...I was commanded not to tell you anything... Please forgive me.” Tears reformed in her eyes.
- “It isn’t your fault, Ulie,” I said, my heart ached for her. Sabrene was her closest friend. “Con, tell her.”
- “It would have happened with or without you, my heart. It was Brene’s choice, not yours. We cast no blame.” Con put his arms about her as she began sobbing softly. He looked at me and nodded his head towards the wagons, silently asking me to leave. I nodded back and stood to go.
- “She made her choice,” Ulaisha spoke softly with her face buried in Con’s massive shoulder, “But will you be able to accept it?”
- I left them at the fire and wandered aimlessly about the rest of the large encampment. The few inquiries I made were answered much as Ulaisha had said. The Songstresses claimed Sabrene was fine but needed rest. The Guardians gave me the same answer as they had to Uli, that it was none of my concern. The Legionaries told me even less. All the Keepers would say was that she had taken the first step and that it was her choice whether or not to tell me what had happened. The apprentices knew next to nothing. They only knew Sabrene was unique, as most Guardians spent a year in Keer before they were Joined. Only Mistress Fradaria and Jesler looked at me differently, with concern. They alone knew my feelings for Sabrene. Fradaria gave me a small vial of purple liquid, telling me that it would help me sleep. Jesler encouraged me to be strong, the pain would pass, but his eyes were haunted with remembrance. For two days I received the same answers. I saw and heard nothing of Sabrene as the caravan continued its plodding pace. I began to wonder if I would ever see her smile again.
- On the third night of our journey I was again sitting by a fire with my two friends. They both tried to engage me in conversation, Ulie with talk of home and Con with a bad joke about some kings down a well, but I could roust no interest in what they were saying. I felt lost, alone in an endless expanse of suffocating darkness. I never knew how much I needed Sabrene, her face, her voice, her touch, even if they were not mine to have. I swore to myself that the next time I saw her, I would tell her... everything. Suddenly, Con and Ulaisha stood up; shock and joy painted their faces.
- “Sabrene!” they said together.
- I turned slowly, fearing that she may vanish, only a phantom of my mind. But she was there, just at the edge of the flickering light. My eyes drank in the sight of her. She was wearing the same green cloak in which her spear had been swaddled. Other than one hand peaking out to hold it closed, the cloak only revealed her face and a few wisps of red-gold hair. She just stood there...her eyes locked with mine. Time froze for an instant. I drew in a ragged breath.
- “Sabrene...I...” My hands were trembling. The words I promised to say froze in my throat.
- “Walk with me...please?” her voice was weak and unsteady, almost pleading. All I could do was nod. At that moment I would have given her anything, had she asked. I heard a slight noise behind me and reluctantly turned. Ulaisha held Con’s arm and was leading him to where the other campfires were visible. Before they faded into the shadow, she looked over her shoulder and gave me the most brilliant smile. I got to my feet as Sabrene turned and began walking the other way. A few steps brought me to her side.
- “What was that about?” I asked quietly. I couldn’t understand why Ulie had smiled at me that way, not then.
- “Ulie is a good friend... better than I deserve. She kept my secrets for so long...but...” Sabrene took a deep tremulous breath. “But no longer...I need to tell you the truth.”
- “Sabrene...you don’t...”
- “Please...let me finish, before my courage fails.” As my eyes adjusted to the dim moonlight, I though I saw the gleam of wetness on her face. I reached out to put my hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away with a gasp.
- “I’m sorry,” I apologized, startled. I could not understand why she would pull back in such a manner. “I didn’t mean...”
- “No...don’t...it’s not your fault,” she said quickly, holding up her hands. “It’s just...my skin, it hurts.”
- “From your armor?”
- “You could say that, but I don’t want to talk about it.” I could feel the pain in her voice. I wanted nothing more than to hold her close and make it all go away.
- “What then?” I asked. What secrets did she have? She continued to walk for a while with her head down. I had the feeling she was searching for the right words. Finally, she started to speak, slowly at first, but with gaining speed.
- “I never told this to anyone besides Ulie. My family has always prided itself on our standing in society. For generations we have wed with only others of the so-called ‘higher class’. No different was expected of me. But I was different. I could not be happy with the life they planned for me. As a little girl I would watch the ‘common’ children playing outside my father’s town house. They seemed so happy. I often imagined my self playing with them. Then, one day I saw a finely dressed boy kicking a ball with some of the other children. I could stand it no longer, so I snuck out. As I was climbing down the fence, I slipped and fell in a puddle.”
- “I remember that day,” I said, a smile tickling the edges of my mouth. “That was the first time I met you and Con, both in your fanciest clothes. You looked so scared sitting in that puddle.”
- “I was terrified, but you didn’t laugh. You just pulled me up and gave me the ball. I was happy that day; I felt free. What I didn’t know is that my father was watching me from my very window. That night he told me what he seen, and I started crying and asked him why I couldn’t be happy. He didn’t say anything. He just gave me a package wrapped in rough paper, smiled, and left. When I opened it and saw what he had given me, I cried again, but this time with joy. He didn’t give me dolls or fancy dresses, it was the same clothing I had seen on the other children. My father had set me free.
- But as the years passed, I realized that I would never be completely free. Three years ago to this day, young men from the city began paying calls on my father. My mother told me that soon I would have to choose one of them to be my husband. I could not tell them my heart belonged to another. If I was to tell them where it really lie, I would have been sent to the city, and a groom would have been chosen for me. So I kept my secret. A secret that started the day a little boy pulled me out of the mud.”
- Sabrene took a few more steps before she noticed I had stopped. I don’t think I could have moved even had the heavens split and the ground opened beneath my feet. I could hardly breath.
- “I know you don’t love me, but I need to know if all I have gone through is worth it,” tears rolled down her face. Her eyes beseeched me. “I renounced my family to be a Guardian...to be your Guardian. I have to know if you can...learn to love me too.”
- “I...how can I learn...that is...” I couldn’t speak straight. The words that formed perfectly in my mind jumbled together in random phrases. Sabrene slowly sank into a crouch, hugging herself.
- “I...I understand.” Tears and despair filled her voice. I was suddenly kneeling at her feet, though I couldn’t remember moving.
- “No...you don’t,” I said, my own eyes filling with tears. “Do you know why my friends always played in front of your house, even though the grass outside of town was softer than the cobblestones? Do you why one little boy spent more time looking up into your window than kicking the ball? He was waiting to see a glimpse of the sad little girl with red hair who sometimes came to that window. He...I was waiting for you. I can not learn to love you, Sabrene. I can not learn what I have always known. I have loved you...always.”
- In a moment she was in my arms, her body shook with sobs.
- “I’ll hurt you.” I said, remembering her tender skin.
- “I don’t care,” she whispered, “I don’t care.”
- After a time, I can’t tell how long, Sabrene stopped crying and pulled away. I let her go reluctantly, it had felt so good to just hold her. She looked into my eyes and smiled, but puzzlement replaced her joy. An odd blue light glinted in her eye, reflected from mine. She looked over her shoulder.
- “What is that?” she asked.
- I tipped my head to the side to see past her. A strange blue light was streaming between the ancient trees, but I couldn’t see its source. Somehow is felt...wrong. Without warning, a wave of hot wind blasted past us, tearing branches off the nearby trees. The unnatural gust was followed immediately by the sound of shattering stone. Silence. I helped Sabrene off the ground. She looked scared. I suddenly noticed her Dentali was in her hands. Where did she get that?
- Immense laughter filled the air, coming from all directions. A laugh of pure evil. A laugh I now know well.
- “CLEVER GIRL, REE’ANN.”
- The world pulsed...

~end of chapter three~

[Under the moon]

~When Time Forgets~
chapter 4

- I was suddenly sitting across from Con and Ulaisha, firelight playing on their faces. Con’s mouth was open as if something stopped him mid word, and Ulaisha looked at me with alarm.
- “What happened?” I asked as I looked around. The scene felt oddly familiar, just the three of us. Three? “Where is Sabrene?”
- They glanced at each other in confusion and worry.
- “You were just sitting there not listening to me, and then you jumped like you saw the Shadow itself.” Con answered, worry permeating his voice. Ulaisha studied my face intently.
- “We haven’t seen Sabrene in two days,” she said carefully, “Not since before her Joining. You know as much as us.” She continued to search my face and cocked her head a little to the side, like she did when she was working on a puzzle.
- “You look...different, somehow,” she said. Con squinted his eyes and nodded.
- “She’s right,” he agreed, “you look better than you have in days...happier? That old joke about the three kings down the well must have done the trick.”
- I couldn’t understand what they meant. Sabrene was just there. Didn’t they remember? From where did the hot wind come? That laugh still echoed in my head.
- “Sabrene was just...” I started, but Con’s last words struck me. Joke? Three kings? A strange thought entered my mind. I slowly turned to the darkness behind me, and saw...nothing. Was it a dream? I stood up and took a step away from the fire. It had to be real.
- “Sabrene?” I called softly, my eyes strained in the darkness. Please, not a dream.
- “Come back to the fire,” Ulaisha pleaded, “You’re scaring me.”
- They were right, she wasn’t there. Only a dream. Only the dark. The same dark that settled back around my heart. I began to turn back to the fire, but froze as a weak voice drifted out of that same darkness. A voice that held all the light of my world.
- “I am here,” Sabrene said and stepped into the edge of the flickering light. Her green cloak had kept her hidden, but now she stood there just as I remembered. My head whirled with bewilderment. How could this be possible?
- “Sabrene!” Con and Ulie’s shout snapped me back to reality. If she was here, then what of... I quickly scanned the darkness, almost missing the dim blue light silhouetting a few of the huge trees. It was there.
- “Will you walk with me... please?” Sabrene’s voice was weak and unsteady, almost pleading. I turned back to the fire to see Ulie grab Con’s arm and whisper something up to him. She began to lead him towards the other fires in the distance, but looked over her shoulder and gave me the most brilliant smile. Sabrene’s secret, she knew. She always knew. My eyes were drawn the blue glow again. It was getting brighter. How long before the wind? Before that voice? Sabrene’s eyes tugged at my heart. She loves me. The light beckoned; I could feel it pulling me. I had to go to it.
- “Con, wait!” I called. He stopped and turned, Ulie still at his arm. “Go find Master Ty. Tell him I... tell him there is something...evil out there. I can’t explain now. You must hurry, time is short!”
- He must have seen the truth in my face. With a quick nod, he dashed into the dark. Ulie stood motionless, studying me. After a moment she looked at Sabrene.
- “It can wait,” she said to Sabrene tenderly, then met my eyes again. “What is out there?”
- “I don’t know, but it’s...calling me,” I had to see it, I needed too. “You two stay here, I have to... I will...” I turned back to the light to see Sabrene blocking my path. Her face was determined.
- “I will not stay,” she said, “I need...” her voice dropped to a pained whisper. “I have to protect you.”
- “You don’t have your armor, and you’re still weak. I...”
- “I am stronger than you know,” she turned her back to me and shrugged off her cloak. Ulie gasped. I saw that she wore nothing underneath, but before her back was half revealed, a thin layer of heavy green mist formed over her bare skin, completely concealing it. The mist rapidly coalesced into tiny scales. In the time it took the cloak to hit the ground Sabrene stood before me, in her full armor. Her Dentali was in her hand.
- “You see?” she asked, turning, but her voice was strained and she leaned heavily on her spear, though she tried to appear as if she was not. I opened my mouth to tell her again to stay, but I knew I couldn’t leave her. Not ever again. I felt a hand on my arm and saw Ulie at my side.
- “We will both go,” she said, “No Keeper must be allowed in danger without a Songstress and Guardian present, you know the rules.” I looked from one face to the other. There was no winning, even though neither of them were truly what she had said, and the light was waiting.
- “Stay close,” I said and turned to walk into the dark.
- As we walked towards it, the light became brighter. After a while, a thick unnatural fog began to rise from the ground, hiding the rocks and roots that tried to catch our feet. I caught Ulie as she stumbled into me. She was shivering, and I suddenly noticed that it was freezing. In my determination to reach the source of the light, I had never even felt the cold.
- “The light...” she said through chattering teeth, “It’s coming from the fog.” I looked down. It was glowing. The hairs on my arms and back of my neck stood straight up as a chill ran up my back. The feeling of wrongness permeated the air. The night went perfectly still. I could feel something coming. Something dark. The light no longer pulled me. Closer.
- “We should go back,” I said, the edge of fear in my voice, “Now.” The air was ice. It hurt even to breathe. A shadow rippled though the fog. The light screamed for me to run. Closer.
- “I don’t think we can,” Sabrene said, her words forming clouds of mist. She was looking the way we had come. The fog was now a glowing wall behind us. The trees caught in its grasp popped and snapped as a thick, dark frost crawled across their bark. A killing frost. Ulaisha slipped from my hands and fell to the ground, vanishing into the icy mist crawling over the earth.
- In an instant, I dropped down to find her, my hands panging with the cold and quickly losing feeling. I felt something I thought at first was cold, smooth earth, but dismay clutched me as the true knowledge took me. It was Ulie’s icy skin. Her light dress and small body couldn’t hold in any heat against that dread cold. I picked her up in my arms and held her as tight as I could, trying to wrap as much of my jacket as I could around her.
- “It-st-st-st-ts s-sss-ss-sooo c--c-c-cold,” She whispered. Her eyelids fluttered, but remained shut in her pale face. Much more pale than normal. I knew what her bluing lips meant. She would die before long if I couldn’t get her warm. I scanned the fog, desperately searching for a way through, but only the way ahead looked clear. Where the evil waited. I glanced at Sabrene, but the cold didn’t seem to touch her. She had despair in her eyes as she looked at Ulie. She knew. I stumbled forward, away from the fog. Away from Sabrene’s eyes. Away from my own fear and despair. Towards the evil. Closer.
- The fog settled into thin wisps as we entered a clearing surrounded by ancient, petrified trees. Dead for countless ages, their tortured forms stood stark in the moonlight, branches raised in silent pleading. Bare earth crunched beneath my feet.
- “What is that?” Sabrene whispered and pointed to the center of the clearing. There stood a large, weathered statue of kneeling man on a wide, stone slab. As we got closer, I saw it more clearly. Not a man, I realized, as this creature had four arms. Oddly, a smooth black helm enclosed its head twice my height above the ground. Though the stone of the statue was pitted from countless ages, the helm still gleamed darkly in the moonlight, the narrow eye slit burrowing a hole in the night. The creature grasped a chain of untarnished metal in three of its hands in an eternal struggle. The fourth hand stretched downward in an angry, three-fingered claw. The chain wrapped once around the body and anchored to a large ring sunk into the stone on each side of the slab. Evil oozed from it.
- “The fog!” Sabrene shouted, tearing my eyes from the monstrosity. On all sides the fog wall crept slowly into the clearing, sending searching tendrils ahead of it. The first trees were already disappearing into the death shroud to the sound bursting limbs. Then, all sound was gone, as if the world had gone deaf. I could feel something coming. Fast. Right behind me. Now.
- “It’s here.” I only whispered, but my words roared in the silence.
- The fog rose up and rushed forward, shrieking and howling. Ice blasted though me as it was sucked to the statue. The tendrils of icy death passed though my coat, slashing my skin with frozen claws. I crouched over Ulie, trying to shield her with my own body. I knew I wouldn’t last long, but maybe I could save her. Suddenly Sabrene was holding us both. Warmth flowed back into me.  I felt Ulie’s body warm, but still she didn‘t move. Sabrene was not cold at all, even with nothing more than her metal scale between her and the battering wind. It seemed to go around her, and us as well. Then, just as fast as it came, the freezing wind was gone. I gently laid Ulie down and stood painfully after seeing the rose returning to her lips. She would live, my mind thrilled. But the sense of evil cut short that feeling.
-Slowly, I turned back to the stone beast. I had first thought the fog had disappeared into the statue, but then I saw a small pulsing blue-gray ball floating a few paces away from it.
- “What was...” Sabrene started. The hot Wind!
- “Get down!” I shouted and leaped at her. Too late. The ball exploded with a deafening thump. A hot wave of air slammed into my side, tumbling me across the ground. Then, as fast as it came, it was gone. In a panic, I looked for Sabrene. To my surprise, she stood exactly where she had before the blast. My eyes widened. Where the ball had been was now a huge, rippling circle of glowing, blue... something. I didn’t have time to think about it, for the next moment, a bolt of blue energy arced from the circle to the chain and statue. A glowing red crack appeared down the statue’s chest and red light streamed from the helm. Glowing cracks formed all across the statue’s body before abruptly shattering the stone skin, sending sharp fragments everywhere. One caught my shoulder and threw me painfully to the dirt. I rolled to my knees and stared in shock. The statue was moving, the light of the moon no longer touching it. It had the chain in its hand and seemed to be studying it. Suddenly it stood up, threw its head back, and laughed. The sound shook the air as the creature towered above me.
- “CLEVER GIRL, REE’ANN,” it...he spoke in a voice of thunder touched by malevolent amusement. His words were of the Old Tongue, but somehow I could understand them. “SHOW YOURSELF, CHILD.”
- The creature gazed about the clearing...searching, until the glowing eye slit came to rest on the shimering circle. Again, he looked at the chain in his hands, then back to the circle. A low rumbling escaped the horned helm. It took me a moment to realize it was a twisted chuckle.
- “VODÙL...YOU FOOL. ONLY YOU WOULD OPEN A PORTAL THIS NEAR THE DEN’FEIRE. YOUR FOOLISH PRIDE WILL BE THE DEATH OF US ALL, ONE DAY.” He turned his head and finally took note of me. He let out an angry hiss. Glowing crimson steam poured from the helm’s eye slit. “YOU! LURA’FEN, WHERE IS SHE?”
- I was frozen, my knees rooted to the ground. The shear force of evil radiating from the beast numbed my mind with fear.
- “YOU WILL TELL ME!” He lashed out with the chain. Pain overcame fear as it coiled about my body and squeezed as if with a life of its own. I grasped at the smooth links, trying in vain to make them release their hold, but only managed to further entangle my left arm. The huge figure leaned forward ominously and tightened his grip on the chain. “TELL ME, MORTAL...OR I WILL HAVE YOUR SOUL.”
- “Leave him be, creature!” Sabrene’s shout cut through the pain. Something flashed over my head towards the beast but stopped midair before him, caught seemingly by nothing. Sabrene’s spear. The beast reached out an arm and took hold of it. I could hear a voice begin to sing, weak but flawless. Ulaisha still lived. She was trying to match her Song against the power of the beast, or to distract it. Sabrene was suddenly before me, pulling desperately at the chain.
- “YOU DARE ASSAULT ME?” He raised the spear high overhead, but a shadow cloaked figure rushed between us, raising its arms.
- “Yamuel, STOP!” commanded a woman’s voice in Old Speak. Yamuel made a sweeping gesture with his lower arms. The woman screamed as an unseen force collided with her and sent her flying through the air to disappear into the portal.
- “I WILL DEAL WITH YOU LATER, MY DEAR...NOW I HAVE OTHER MATTERS TO ATTEND.”
- “Sabrene...go...please,” I said past clenched teeth, “Leave me!” Tears filled her eyes.
- “I will nev...uuuh,” Sabrene was thrown against me, her body convulsed. She fell away before I could grab her, but I saw what caused the fall. Horror filled me, time slowed. Three sharp, crimson covered blades protruded a hand’s width from her chest, her own spear haft rising from her back. She hit the ground and lay still, eyes staring. Beautiful green eyes.
- “NOOOOO!” Ulaisha screamed and my gaze turned to her involuntarily. She was running towards us, arms reaching.
- “SILENCE!” Yamuel roared and raised his hand to her. Her throat exploded in a spray of blood, tumbling her lifeless body to the earth. I tried to shout...to scream... to make some noise besides the whimpering mew that escaped my lips. Yamuel turned his head to me. I could feel him smiling through the helm. I saw death. “NOW FOR YOU.”
- The world pulsed.

Kada slid the book away from herself, her mouth open slightly in shock. This story could not be the truth. She had never heard of these gods before. And those women
 This had to be a joke. The man was clearly a good storyteller, but that was all. It had to be. But then
.why did she feel as if it were not merely a tale? She had almost been able to feel the deaths of those poor women. It was not right how they died. Love was always supposed to win true in the stories.

Kada’el suddenly felt the need for an ale. This tale was not turning out how she had wished. After tapping a mug for herself at the bar, she slowly brought the book back to herself and began reading where she left off, her eyes going wide at the next words...

[Bjorn]

That\'s alot of unnecessary bumping.

[Under the moon]

Blender, The Gimp. Arted by Under the moon

~Why Gods Cry~
chapter 5

- “Leave him be, creature!” Sabrene shouted. But...she was dead. Her spear flashed over my head towards Yamuel and stopped midair before him. He reached out an arm and took hold of it. A voice began to sing, weak but flawless. Ulaisha! Sabrene was suddenly before me, pulling desperately at the chain. No...not again!
- “YOU DARE ASSAULT ME?” Yamuel raised the spear high overhead, but the shadow cloaked woman rushed between us, raising her arms. Please, no.
- “Yamuel, STOP!” she commanded in Old Speak. Yamuel made a sweeping gesture with his lower arms. The woman screamed as an unseen force collided with her and sent her flying into the portal.
- “I WILL DEAL WITH YOU LATER, MY DEAR...BUT NOW I HAVE OTHER MATTERS TO ATTEND TO.”
- Suddenly I understood. The pulses, somehow they erased what had transpired, made time forget. Con and Ulie by the fire...that morning with the spear... and now. I had a chance to save them. One chance. If Keepers had wielded the chain once, then I also had that power. I put my right hand on Sabrene’s shoulder and tightened my grip on the chain with the left. She looked into my eyes and calm washed over me. Power flowed into me from the chain. She would be safe.
- “I love you, Sabrene.” I whispered. NOW! I threw her to the side with all my strength just as Yamuel hurtled the spear. Energy raged though my body. I could feel every link of the chain. I could feel him holding the other end. The spear struck me as I began to draw at his Aura. Blue lightning forked from the portal and engulfed Yamuel and the chain. Pain beyond imagining coursed along my veins like molten blue steel. The world shook and twisted before my eyes, then narrowed and fell away as blue swirls of light pressed in from the sides. Sabrene’s face appeared under the moon in the small clearing at the center of my fading vision. I was falling backwards; Sabrene and the moon growing smaller and smaller. As darkness took me, I heard Ulie’s song, strong and clear. I saved them. Thought ceased, nothing was all.

- A young boy with unruly brown hair sat impatiently on the edge of his bed, idly toying with a forked blue candleholder. With a harrumph of irritation he hopped to the floor and poked his head out the window for what seemed like the hundredth time.
- “Where are they?” He grumbled. His friends always seemed to make him wait. If they were not there in five fiftycounts
 At that moment the door burst open revealing a larger boy with even more unruly black hair, grinning for all his worth. His fine clothes were covered in dirt, as usual. He carried a long bundle in his arms and walked with more than his customary swagger, which was significant in the first place.
- “What took you so long? And what’s that?” The first boy asked, curiosity overcoming anger as often happens in boys of that age.
- “Get out of the door, Con. You big lunk!” A girl’s commanding voice spoke from the hallway. Con’s grin slipped as he was pushed roughly into the room. Behind him stood a freckle-faced girl of the same age, wearing common clothing much like the brown-haired boy’s own. Her red-gold hair was held back in a simple ponytail.
- “Yes, my Lady Sabrene.” Con said mockingly and gave a deep bow. She inclined her head graciously...then smacked him on the back of his.
- “I am not a Lady out here,” she said as he rubbed his injured head, still grinning. “Now what is the big secret?” She turned her green eyes to the brown haired boy, “He won’t tell me either.” The boy let out the breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding since he heard her voice. Con stopped rubbing his head and took a heroic pose.
- “This, Brene, is my secret.” He stated grandly and triumphantly pulled the cloth from his bundle. There stood one of the Dentali spears, three razor edges gleaming in the light.
- “How did you...” Sabrene started to ask, but her eyes narrowed, “Your father is going to beat you raw if he finds that missing.”
- “Come now, Brene... he doesn’t even know how to use one,” his eyes got a little a little sad, “Besides, it was my mother’s. It’s only his because...” He stopped, the spear swaying in his hand. “Awk, never mind. We have it now. Here, try it out.”
- He tossed the spear to the other boy, who caught it with a grin. Pain suddenly exploded in the boy’s hands, smoke and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. He screamed with the agony that coursed up his arms. Abruptly, he was thrown across the room as the spear jerked out of his hands, pulling ragged bits of skin with it. Sparks danced before his eyes as he slammed into the wall. When his vision cleared, he was laying on the hard floor next to his bed. Across from him, Sabrene was pinned to the doorframe, one of the spear’s three blades piercing her shoulder. Her eyes were closed and she didn’t move. The boy tried to yell, but his voice betrayed him with silence. Blood began to drip from the blade. Silence and darkness. Then a voice... “He is dieing, you must do something!”...Sabrene?...
- “I can not, child. If I were to...” silence and darkness...
- A voice sobbed, “I can’t, I don’t know how. Please help me! I...I can’t lose him.”...Who was Sabrene?
- “It must come from you, use your blade. Hurry! He is fading.” The cloaked figure from the portal? A flash of blue. Portal? What figure? Silence and darkness. Then...a light.

- “He is awake, my child.” Shadow clouded my mind, but I recognized the woman’s voice from before the portal. I heard the soft scrape of boots on stone and a familiar faint metallic jingle approaching.
- "Is he..?" My jumbled thoughts tried to attach a name to the second voice. Red-gold hair and flashing green eyes appeared in my mind. Sabrene
? Yes, Sabrene. But who was she?
- "It is to early to tell," the first voice answered, "The mind is a fragile thing, and his has taken a terrible blow. We can only wait."
- Something soft touched my right hand as I struggled to open my eyes. Two blurs wavered and merged in my vision before becoming the face of a beautiful, green-eyed woman. Memory and thought crashed together in a flash of pain. Sabrene...the spear
the Portal...everything. Fear gripped me as I remembered the hulking helmed statue and its evil laugh. I tried to jump to my feet, but my body proved completely paralyzed. My eyes, the only thing I could move, searched the darkness. He was still near. I could feel it.
- "Yamuel..." I mumbled through unresponsive lips. I felt something stir in the depths of my mind at the sound of the name. Something fighting to be remembered.
- "Don't speak," Sabrene said, holding my hand, "He is gone. You are safe." A bit of uncertainty entered her eyes, "Do you understand me?"
- I nodded rubbery, but the feeling of evil was still close, and stronger. Another woman stood to one side, a ball of pure white light hovered over her shoulder. Her face was hidden in the shadows of a deep, gray cowl fringed in downy, white feathers. She tried to save us at the Portal, the woman Yamuel had called 'my dear'. I felt the stirring in my mind again. A bubble at the bottom of a murky pond. A bubble of
anger?
- "Who..?" I managed to ask clearly after a few tries. My strength seemed to be returning quickly. Sabrene looked over to the woman with the same question in her eyes. The woman took a deep breath before speaking.
- "You must remain calm...please." She slowly undid the toggles at the cloak's neck with long-fingered, red gloves. Her hands rose to the concealing cowl and paused.
- "I," she stated as she pushed back the cloth and let the cloak drop to the floor, "am Ree'ann."
- Before us stood a woman like I had never seen before. She was tall and regal with long, jet-black hair that shimmered blue in the unnatural light. Her skin had the deep gray color of storm clouds and her eyes were as violet lightning. More startling, two small, black horns jutted from her forehead and a thin, pointed tail sprouted from the base of her spine. A revealing dress of nearly transparent scarlet barely concealed her slender, shapely body. The dress itself seemed to be held together by only a two piece black leather belt interwoven with shards of golden amber. Despite, or maybe because of the oddities, she was stunning. More than stunning. A sensuous creature crafted by a master’s hand for the sole purpose of personifying beauty and grace. Even had I been able to speak, I could not have said a word.
- “Goddess,” Sabrene breathed in awe.
- “Goddess?” Ree’ann mused, her black lips turning up in a small smile, “It seems legends and truth have become confused in my absence. We will talk of this later, but now I would like to know the names of my Lura’fen and his Fen’rohdain.”
- For a moment I lay in confusion, until I realized she referred to Sabrene and me. Sabrene still seemed to overcome with shock to speak. Fighting my own shock, I tried to sit up, but my body’s weakness won out.
- “I am sorry, Goddess, I can not rise to address you properly.” My words sounded slurred, but improved.
- “Ree’ann, Not Goddess,” she said gently, “And you should not be trying to move yet. Your name will be more than enough.” There was an odd tone to her voice as she finished.
- Sabrene squeezed my hand and gave me an encouraging look. I took a deep breath.
- “This is Sabrene of House Shalcoen, and I am
” My mind went blank. No, not blank. It was if a hole had been torn in my memories.
- “What is wrong?” Sabrene asked worriedly.
- “I
 can’t remember my name.”
- She started to say something, but her eyes widened. “Shades,” she whispered, “I don’t know it.”
- “It is as I feared,” Ree’ann spoke and began pulling off her gloves. She bent over me and held her hands above my chest. “Your Aura is no longer fully in your body. The Den’feire has taken it.”
- “How is that possible?” I knew from my lessons what happened when a living thing lost its Aura, “I would be dead.”
- Sabrene jerked as if struck. She avoided my eyes while fiddling with a lock of hair that seemed a hand shorter than the rest. Ree’ann considered her for a moment.
- “Show him, child,” She said finally. Sabrene froze for an instant.
- “Yes God
Mistress.” She slowly moved her hand to my left arm, which was covered by my coat. Her eyes met mine with a look of anguish and shame.
- “I was supposed to protect you,” she whispered and pulled back the coat. There, in a jumbled pile under my hand, lay coil after coil of the Den’feire. The Chain of Souls. Its silver hued links glinted in the light, while dark etchings scrawled across its surface absorbed it. A new awareness crept into my mind. I began to feel the chain as if it were a part of me. I frowned. It did not seem as if there where enough coils to make up the length that had entwined Yamuel.
- “Turn over your hand,” Ree’ann said softly.
- Almost on its own, my hand turned. With a clink of metal on metal, the chain followed. I stared for a long moment trying to comprehend what I was seeing. The Den’feire sprouted like a weed from the base of my palm, the last link half buried in the skin. The awareness grew until I could feel, almost see how the chain traveled inside my arm and into my chest, merging with bone and flesh. It coiled about my body, hidden beneath the skin, exactly as Yamuel had entangled me. That is where the rest of the chain resided. Inside my body. Anger swelled inside me again, but it was not my own. It came from the Den’feire. The anger grew until it felt as if it would wash me away. I threw all my will against it, but it washed over me in a relentless wave. In desperation, I reached for the power of the Den’feire, and found nothing. Link after link of cold lifeless metal slipped through my awareness. Then, I felt something different. One link warmed and felt as if it were reaching back to me. New strength flowed into me and the will behind the anger shrieked in pain and fled. Not away from me, but into a dark shadow of my mind. There it waited, like a cornered rabid beast. Watching.
- “Yamuel isn’t
 gone, is he?” I managed to say in a shaky whisper. Ree’ann had taken a few steps back.
- “No,” she answered cautiously, her eyes watched me carefully.
- “You said he was defeated.” Sabrene said fearfully and moved closer, as if to shield me, her eyes flicked into the darkness.
- “Defeated, yes, but not gone,” Ree’ann looked at me with sadness, and strangely, hope. “Far from gone.”
- She knew where Yamuel now resided, and deep in my heart, I knew it too. The shadow in my mind stirred. I raised my arm and a few links freed themselves from the pile. It was one with me. He was one with me.
- “How did this happen?”
- Ree’ann shook her head. “I don’t know. As I passed though the Portal, I felt an enormous surge of power and lost consciousness for a time. When I awoke, you and Sabrene were here and the chain was merged with your body. I did not see how it happened or how you came.”

rev continued in next post...after I find the poster. Not many changes made to the text he posted for me so very long ago, so read on.

[Merdarion]

Here you are,sir. Not much new in this chapter. I guess it was just good enough the way it was. But I fixed the forum errors. Make sure to leave the picture in. Thanks!

~Why Gods Cry~ continued.

- “When Yamuel hit him with my spear, it pushed him into the
Portal,” Sabrene interrupted. Her voice was pained. “I tried to make the spear vanish before
” She stopped to rub the wetness from her eyes. “I was to late. The Portal swallowed you, and I
I was pulled in after. You were dieing, and I couldn’t do anything.”
- “Be at ease, child. It was your strength that saved him in the end,” Ree’ann said. She pointed at my chest, “Her strength holds you to this life now.”
- I looked to where she pointed and saw three tiny, perfect slits in my shirt where the Dentali had struck me. Something glinted under one of the holes. Sabrene let my hand go reluctantly and I awkwardly undid the laces to peer beneath my shirt. Five of the Den’feire’s links lay at a slight angle across my chest, the two ends sunk into my skin, the same as with my hand. The center link rested directly over my heart. Unlike the others, it gleamed a reddish gold in the light, and the scribing was a burnt red. The shadow snarled and tried to pull deeper into my mind.
- “The Dentali were created using the power of the Den’feire. When the two powers collided, the chain proved to be the weaker and cracked. I could not reforge the broken link as it was. It needed to be bound by another Aura.”
- My eyes went to the short lock of Sabrene’s hair. Ree’ann followed my gaze.
- “Yes, I used a lock of Sabrene’s hair to join her Aura to yours and remake the broken link. She is a part of you now.” Ree’ann’s face saddened, “But as I mended the fracture, I felt two other Auras trapped within the chain. One I now know to be yours, the other
”
- “Yamuel" I breathed. Sabrene looked aghast and shook her head slowly in silent denial. Ree’ann lowered her eyes.
- “He was growing stronger by the moment and the chain’s weakened power could not hold him. I did the only thing I could
 I sealed the link and trapped both Auras. In doing so, the link was changed in some way that I have yet to understand. Your Aura is held within the Den’feire, so to is Yamuel’s, and the Den’feire is now one with your body. That is the only reason you still live. I am sorry, there was no other course to take.”
- As I listened, I felt that there was something wrong in her words. A low chuckle emerged from the shadows of my mind.
- ‘PreTTy face AnD pRETtier lies.’ Yamuel’s voice echoed in my head, half whisper and half shout. ‘You CoUld nOT snuff the fLAme before AND so cANNot noW. TeLL them the TRUTH Ree’ann. Tell THeM why GODS CRY.’ He fell silent, but I could still feel his anger. I released a long breath. Yamuel, the creature who would have killed my love and my friend, was locked inside me.
- “I dragged you here, away from the Portal,” Sabrene said. She seemed dazed. “You have been sleeping for nearly three hours. I didn’t know if you would ever wake. I thought I lost you, and now
now I don’t even know your name.”
- I looked at Ree’ann, but she wouldn’t meet my eye.
- “Do you know why I can’t remember?” I asked.
- “Your name was joined to your Aura. When the Den’feire took your Aura, it also consumed your name and all memory of it. I fear it is lost forever.”
- Again her words rang wrong. Yamuel remained silent, but he felt more amused than angry, a little more. I started to ask what she wasn’t saying, but the crunch of loose stone stopped me. Someone was coming. The two women heard it also and turned to the darkness. Three rough-looking men stepped into the light, raising their hands against its brilliance. The one in the center moved to the front and gave what was supposed to be a smile, but a jagged scar running from his ear to chin turned it into a sneer. He gestured to himself and spoke in a foreign tongue. I couldn’t understand, but the words felt wrong. Ree’ann nodded to him.
- “He says he is Gartone,” she said, “a guide and guardian in the Stone Labyrinths. He offers his services.” As she spoke, the man’s companions hungrily eyed her and Sabrene. Gartone saw that I had not yet moved and his smile widened. Noises in the dark behind him showed that they were not alone.
- ‘HE teSTs US. They GaMBle their LIVes. I wiLL heLp this OnCE.’
- “Stall them,” I said through my lips and directed a smile and nod to the men. I sat up as quickly as I could and realized nearly all my strength had returned. Ree’ann started to speak to the man in his tongue. In my mind, Yamuel began to repeat her words exactly, but somehow I understood.
- “Good Sirs, I am Ree’ann. This is my handmaid and bodyguard Sabrene. The lazy one is
” Ree’ann stopped and looked first at me then Sabrene. Her expression was unreadable as she spoke a single word in Old Speak, “Aeden.” ‘Beloved soul’. Yamuel burst into laughter at the word. Ree’ann turned back to the men and continued to speak, but without Yamuel, I understood almost nothing.
- “Help me up,” I whispered to Sabrene, “These men bare us no good will.”
- “I am not blind,” she whispered back tartly, but took my arm and began pulling me to my feet. I held my coat in my left hand to try to conceal the chain, but the man on the right spotted it. He gasped out a word, cutting off Ree’ann.
- ‘SilVER’ Yamuel repeated.
- Greed lit Gartone’s eyes and excited whispers could be heard in the dark.
- ‘NOW comes ThE teST, young Aeden. HaVE youR GirL BE reaDY, lest she DIE again.’ Yamuel receded with an evil laugh. I stood in shock. Somehow, he remembered. Gartone grinned wickedly and raised a hand to give a signal.
- “Defend yourselves!” Ree’ann shouted and ran towards him, her light flashing bright and hovering higher in the air. Gartone’s grin vanished as her fists hit him in the stomach, ribs, and chin in quick succession. She pivoted on one foot and drove the heal of her red leather boot into his exposed throat with a sickening crunch, then stepped gracefully out of the way as he fell choking to the ground. The man to her back pulled a nasty, double-bladed dagger and rushed her. He took one step before Sabrene’s spear plunged into his chest, the blade flying from his dead fingers. In one fluid motion, Ree’ann snagged the dagger from the air and flung it at the last man, who was just freeing a long, curved sword from his back. Only half the blade was bared before the man dropped like a puppet with cut strings, the dagger jutting from his forehead. An arrow flashed from the darkness and struck Sabrene in the side, making her gasp, but it merely bounced off the green scales. Her spear vanished from the dead man’s chest to appear in her hand. She hurled it in the direction the arrow came from and was rewarded with a bellow of pain. Then the spear was again in her hand, at the ready for another throw.
- “WHAT GOES ON HERE?” a great voice roared out of the darkness. Somehow I could comprehend his words, even though they were in the dead men’s tongue. I heard the sound of many heavy boots running away, except for one, which approached with slow deliberateness. A tall, imposing figure came into the light dressed in a thick red tunic. A featureless mask stared out of the depths of a deep cowl.
- “I have spared your lives, newcomers, now bow down to your God,” he commanded, apparently ignoring the twitching dead men and Gartone’s last feeble kicks of life.
- “Laanx?” Ree’ann whispered, obviously shaken by his appearance.
- “You came through the Portal yet you know my name. How did you come by this knowledge, mortal?” he asked, a threat hung in his voice.
- ‘IT is nOT possiBLE,’ Yamuel uttered in pure disbelief, ‘THeRe is no POweR greAT enouGH.’
- “Has it been so long that you have forgotten me, Laanx?” Ree’ann asked, recovering slightly, “We were friends for an eternity. What has changed you so?”
- “Ree’ann,” Laanx stepped back, “But Yamuel
your people
you can’t be
” He took another step and raised his arms over his masked face. “No, do not look upon me. I have no hate for you
only him. Let me be gone from your sight.” As he turned to go, his mask turned towards Sabrene and I. He let out a hiss. “You brought the helm here? That can only mean Yamuel is
 No matter, a fine revenge that was, fine indeed.” His voice took on a disturbing tone, “I know of someone who deserves as much.”
- “What happened to you? Where is your kind heart?”
- Laanx stood motionless at the edge of the light. “It is dead,” he said with no emotion and vanished into the dark.
- For a long time Ree’ann stared after him, an odd hurt look on her face. Finally, I couldn’t take the silence.
- “What did he mean about the helm?” I asked. Sabrene’s brow furrowed.
- “You understood them? They were speaking in Old.”
- “She was once a great friend,” Ree’ann said to herself, apparently not hearing us.
- “She? Whom are you talking about?” Sabrene gave me a confused look, “Was the masked man talking about a woman?”
- “It is none of your concern, Fen’rohdain,” Ree’ann snapped and looked at me angrily, “It seems as if you have gained a few gifts.” She stepped gracefully over to the man with the dagger in his head, deftly avoiding the pooling blood. With a sharp tug she pulled the dagger free and tested its edge with her thumb.
- “This will do.”
- She wiped the blade on the man’s filthy shirt and began searching the other bodies. In short order, she had the dagger’s sheath and a small purse of strange coins laced to her belt. In a pile, she placed two full water skins, a thick hunting knife, and whatever useful items or food the bandits had been carrying, which was very little. She discarded the sword after a quick once over. Sabrene watched the whole affair with a sickly expression. I am sure my face matched.
- “Wrap these in my cloak, if you will, Sabrene,” Ree’ann gestured to the pile, then looked out into the dark. “A pity you didn’t kill that one. He had a pack.”
- Suddenly Sabrene began retching violently.
- “Hold her hair,” Ree’ann commanded. My own stomach churned, but I quickly obeyed, though the chain made it difficult.
- “She has never killed anything before,” I said in Old, “ She isn’t ready for this.”
- Ree’ann looked at the dead men with a touch of sadness. “The day you are ready to kill is the day you deserve to die,” she answered quietly, “Tend to the cloak, I will care for her. Take that also.” She pointed behind me. I turned and gave a start. Yamuel’s empty helm rested on the ground, though it now seemed only half or a third the size it has on the beast. It would now easily fit
 a man. My mind shuddered.
- “Wrap it tightly, no one must touch it.” Ree’ann saw my hesitation. “It cannot harm you, Aeden. You are beyond its power.”
- ‘AedEN
a fiNE name fOR a peT.’
- I ignored Yamuel’s sarcasm and wrapped the Den’feire about my forearm to keep it from dragging. It felt nearly weightless as I gathered everything except the knife into the cloak. That finished, I looked upon the chain. The men thought it to be silver, though I knew it was not. It would cause more problems left seen. I cut strips of cloth from Gartone’s cape, trying to imagine it did not cover a dead man. I wrapped the cloth over the chain, leaving only my fingertips showing. When finished, it looked like nothing more than a heavily wrapped bandage or splint. Not something the bandits would fear, but better than showing the ‘silver’. I turned to find the women watching me.
- “Which way?” I asked, eager to leave the dead men behind.
- “The Portal is closed from this side, I can’t take you home that way.” Ree’ann looked behind me, “I sense a distant power that way. I can use it to send you home.”
- I quickly turned before Sabrene could see my face. I now knew what the wrongness in a voice meant. Ree’ann was lying. There was no way home. Yamuel’s mocking laughter filled me as I walked into the dark.

~end of chapter 5



--> By Under The Moon

[Bjorn]

Sorry, I didn\'t know the meaning of \"reserve\".
PS: That\'s an awesome story! I hope to see this completed very soon (or else)!

[Under the moon]

My thanks to Merdarion for editing my story into his post. Now If I can find him to revise it. Oh, and I hope you are enjoying the tale so far. Lots more ahead of you.

~Under Darkness~
chapter 6

- For the next few hours, we walked in silence with only Ree'ann's light to guide us. Even Yamuel remained quiet, though I could feel him thinking. It was a creepy feeling. My own thoughts and questions spun in my mind. I knew Ree'ann was hiding something, but what? How could I speak Old? Most of all, what was this place? Try as I might, I found no answers, just more questions. Sabrene stumbled into me, her face weary. She had not slept yet and I knew her stubbornness would not let her stop until she collapsed.
- "Ree'ann, stop. I need to rest," I lied. Oddly, I felt no need for sleep. Despite all the walking, my legs felt fresh as the day. I tried to look tired as Ree'ann turned.
- "As you wish, Aeden," she said with a small smile after a glance at Sabrene. She obviously knew my lie and the reason behind it. "We will camp here."
- Off to the side of the small cavern we found a soft patch of moss like blue growth. After a short argument over the first watch, Sabrene fell fast asleep. She must have been truly exhausted or it would have been her covering me with Ree'ann's cloak instead of the other way around. I gently kissed her forehead and turned to find Ree'ann staring at Yamuel's helm. Sadness framed her beautiful face.
- "Are you well?" Not the question I wanted to ask, but it was a start.
- Instead of answering, she just looked at me sadly.
- "Try to sleep, Lura'fen." Her light drifted over to me and became a dim blue, much like moonlight. She turned and walked out of the light. There was nothing to do but let her go. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep, I sat against the mossy wall where I could see Sabrene's face. She was so peaceful. Somehow, I needed to protect her. If harm ever came to her... My hands clenched, pressing the chain into my palm. I opened my hand to look upon the links. I knew then that I had to master the Den'feire. I closed my eyes to begin a calming trance. Above all else, a Keeper needed calm. Minutes or hours passed listening to the sound of my own breathing.
- Suddenly Sabrene shrieked in pain. My eyes jerked open. I tried to leap to my feet, but the Den'feire wrapped around my body, pinning me to the ground. A small campfire burned at my feet. Con and Ulie sat across it, both grinning like death.
- "So the first King said," Con was saying.
- "Help me!" I yelled, but he didn't seem to hear. The chain tightened.
- "If we had a ladder or a branch," he continued.
- "Ulie, please!" She merely looked at Con patiently, rolling her eyes at me when she though he couldn't see.
- "'How are we to get a ladder or branch?' the second king asked."
- "This is not real. Don't fight it," a voice said. Suddenly, I sat alone at the fire, the chain still pulled tighter.
- "You fight only yourself." The voice was oddly familiar, "Remain calm."
- I closed my eyes and tried to breath deeply. The pressure of the chain slowly released.
- "Good, you learn quickly. Now feel the Den'feire. Be it, and it will obey."
- The links fell away...I willed them away. I opened my eyes to see the chain wrapped neatly around my arm again.
- "Impressive," the voice said from across the fire.
- I looked up, and up, straight into the huge, black helm. Yamuel's massive figure stood crouched over the fire. His claw-like three-fingered hands clenched into fists.
- "Concentrate! Clear the shadows; see the truth," Yamuel commanded.
- Truth. I held the word in my mind, trying to fight growing panic. Truth. The hulking figure before me didn't feel right. Truth. Yamuel was a lie! Panic fled. The beast began to shrink and change. The black helm faded into long, snowy hair, and the creature's rough stony skin became a smooth light blue. He still retained his four arms and claw-like hands, but they seemed gentler, somehow. The diminishing ceased once he was half again my height. Spotless, billowing, white trousers appeared as it lowered itself to sit cross legged on the ground. Three large, rounded toes tipped his giant feet, also the same light blue. Even sitting, he could look a grown man in the eye.  Massive muscles rippled in the thing's chest as it parted the hair from its almost human face, the features slightly elongated, angular, while still being smooth. His ears rounded on top, but the bottom lobe ended in a sharp point. His eyes
 were nothing like I had ever seen before, nor since. Midnight black pupils centered in the fluid spheres of dark blue, with no white at all. They slanted down to his nearly normal nose, though it was a little more flat to his face, and sweeped down to his to lip, rather than ending flat.
- "Well done," he said with a smile, raising one of his bushy, white eyebrows.
- "Who..?" more words refused to come.
- "You have many questions, youngling. I will answer as best I can. First, I am Yamuel."
- "You can't be!" I blurted, but Yamuel laughed.
- "This," he said and raised an arm; the black helm appeared above it, "is the Yamuel you know. I was betrayed and imprisoned in my own body by it countless ages ago. Now you give me freedom, of a sort." He closed his hand, causing the helm to crush and vanish. "When you drew my Aura, you freed my thoughts from the other creature that was me. Sadly you could not destroy it. Ree'ann nearly brought it back to the world before she saw her mistake. Luckily, your Sabrene was there, or we both would be trapped here, and the beast would now be in control."
- "Here?" The camp was the same as the one I last saw Con at. It made no sense. Did time shift again?
- "Yes," he raised a hand to the chain, "Inside the Den'feire."
- "Inside?"
- "I know it is confusing, but this place is your memory, your Aura. It is here, in the chain, while you body sits with your girl in the cavern. But you are only partially trapped, as is the beast. That is why you didn't die. There are two half Auras in your body, barely enough to hold it to life. Ree'ann used Sabrene's Aura to strengthen and bind them to your body. I was able to change the broken link to seal the beast's powers, else he would now have equal control."
- "That is why I have no memory of my name?" Yamuel's face darkened at the question.
- "No, she should not have done that. Even had it worked, I could never approve."
- "What did she, Ree'ann, do?"
- "We will speak of it no more," he said in a voice that broached no argument. "This matter is between you and her now. Ask her again, when you are ready. Tell her I am disappointed. She will give you the truth. You have other questions, ask."
- I turned my hand so the chain glinted in the firelight.
- "How did this happen? How can I change what has already passed?"
- "The power of the Den'feire caused both to happen."
- "But time changed before this happened." I raised my arm.
- "Time, in its simplest form, is a thread." He held his arms out over the fire, a thick thread appeared between them. "All happenings affect the future,” he raised his right hand, “as well as the past,” He bobbed his left hand before adding, “to a lesser extent." A spark drifted up to the thread, causing it to smoke slightly before snuffing out. A thin trail of smoke drifted to his right hand. "Most events are to weak to affect more than the here and now, the after effects carrying into the future. Sometimes, something happens with far greater power. " A flame licked the thread, setting it ablaze. Fire raced to both his hands. "Power great enough to change time itself." He let the thread vanish.
- "The power of the portal. Was that the cause."
- "In itself, no. That was only one of eight powers that touched you, and not even the greatest. I have never felt power like that before." Yamuel's eyes became distant.
- "What then?"
- Yamuel chuckled and looked directly at me for the first time. I saw now the black of his eyes was not an empty void as I had thought. It took me a moment to realize exactly what I was seeing. Stars. Endless stars. You of this land can have no reckoning of what this was to behold. The kindness exuding from those eyes was as endless as the stars themselves.
- "Later, my young friend. Right now she waits for you."
- "Ree'ann?"
- The fire faded, swallowing Yamuel in darkness.
- "Someone closer to your heart. Remember this, never trust the beast, he is not me. I will be here when you return."
- Yamuel's presence vanished, but something else replaced it.
- ‘WhERE DId yoU GO?’ The beast Yamuel hissed from the shadows. I ignored him and opened my eyes. Sabrene sat across from me wrapped in Ree'ann's cloak. She still looked tired, but a little more refreshed.
- Thank you," she said.
- "For what?"
- It was hard to tell in the dim light, but she seemed to blush. She looked down, embarrassed.
- "The cloak. Apparently my armor disappears when I sleep." I noticed a bare foot poking out from the cloak. It dawned on me the she wore nothing before she assumed her armor. She thought...
- "I didn't..I mean..it was still..when I," I took a deep breath as Sabrene hid a smile. "I saw nothing. Ask Ree'ann."
- "I believe you," she said, meeting my eyes. After a long pause, she spoke again. "What does 'aeden' mean?" There was an odd tone in her voice.
- I paused before answering. "In Old, it meant 'beloved soul.'"
- "Oh," the tone was more pronounced, and hurt. "That explains a little." I looked at her questioningly. She shook her head, "Never mind. You said something before the portal too. 'Syr ven ae, Sabrene.' What did it mean?"
- My mouth dropped open. I had spoken in old? Twice now, I had told her, yet she didn't know. I got up and sat next to her. She looked at me uncertainly.
- "Syr ven ae, Sabrene," I spoke softly, "I love you, Sabrene. I have always loved you. That..." She put a finger across my lips. Her eyes were wet.
- "That is all I need to hear." She lifted her head to kiss my lips softly. It was all I ever imagined, and more. She rested her head on my leg with a tired sigh. "That is all I ever needed to hear...my Aeden," she murmured and was soon asleep.
- I sat that way for the next few hours, even after my leg went numb. Yamuel grumbled in the background, but I ignored that too. If I had nothing else, I had Sabrene. That is all that held my thoughts until Ree'ann reappeared with two fat, brown-furred...somethings and tossed them on the ground.
- "At least you won't starve. There is plenty of game in these caves, though they don't seem to have an end."
- I gently laid Sabrene's head on the soft moss and stood, slowly working the feeling back into my leg. I tried to think of a good way to ask Ree'ann what I needed to know. Yamuel chuckled with amusement.
- ‘THis wiLL be ENjoyaBLE.’
- "Ree'ann.." I started, but she held up a hand and tipped her head to the side, listening.
- "Wake the girl," she whispered and placed a hand on the dagger laced to the back of her belt. Her light flared back to its normal brilliance.
- Before I could take two steps, a very short, heavily-bearded man stepped from behind a large outcropping. His height was more than made up for by wide shoulders, a barrel chest, and thick muscular arms, which he held over his head showing he was unarmed. Empty sheaths lined his heavy belt along with two empty ax loops. Even without weapons, he looked able and dangerous.
- "That there is an interesting trick, Goodmistress," he said good naturedly, indicating Ree'ann's light. "You'll have to show me the Glyph you use, sometime."
- It took me a moment to realize he spoke in the dead men's tongue, yet I now understood. Yamuel must have given me the knowledge in the trance. Silently, I thanked his kindness.
- "What is your buisiness here?" Ree'ann asked, not releasing her dagger.
- "Burgas be name, bounty hunter be trade," he answered easily, dropping his arms, though he still seemed ready to leap in any direction. "I ran across three of my quarry a ways back, not a half hour cold. Your work, I assume."
- "And if it was?" Ree'ann asked, her grip tightening visibly.
- "Ack, no bother there. Worth as much dead, they are, an' less trouble. You did me a favor, though I would have liked to fall Gartone myself." I felt no lie in his words, but Ree'ann could not.
- "Then way did you follow us?" she asked.
- "That was the work of my tracker. Been following you, an' seems to think you could use some aid. Came back to find me when you stopped."
- Ree'ann scanned the darkness quickly before settling back on Burgas. "He must be very good."
- "That she is, one of the best," Burgas laughed, "Always says I make more noise than a Kran falling down glass stairs." He paused and considered us for a moment. "Ack, there is little enough trust in the world as it is. I give you an oath on my son's life, that we intend you no ill, if you intend us none."
- "We can trust him," I said to Ree'ann in the man's tongue, loud enough for him to hear. She looked at me doubtfully.
- "Trust me," I continued in Old, just for her ears. I decided to take a gamble and hardened my voice, "You owe me that much."
- Her eyes widened and for a long moment she just stared at me. Finally, she took her hand away from the dagger.
- "We will discuss...debts later," she said in Old. I almost thought I heard fear in her voice. Unease crept over me. What had she done that would make her fear me? She bowed her head a little, there was fear in her eyes. a great deal of it. "I follow your lead, Casseran."
- I could hardly believe what I was hearing. 'Cassaren' she had called me. In Old, 'One who is above', almost 'one who owns'. Yamuel bellowed out an evil laugh.
- ‘ShE oWes YOu moRE thaN ThAT. BuT shE Has BeEN puniSHed alREady, SHe WiLL SOon fiND ouT.’
- He receded into the shadows again, chuckling to himself. I tried to shake off the growing unease and turned to Burgas.
- "I am called Aeden, this is Lady Ree'ann, and that is Lady Sabrene. We are new to this world and will accept any aid you are willing to give, though we have little to pay with."
- Burgas waved his hand dismissively. "Half the bounty is yours, Goodmaster Aeden, and aid is free in my book. There will be no talk of payment." He hooked a thumb through an ax loop and scratched his black beard thoughtfully. "Came through the Portal now did you? Ellese said that's where your tracks started. Didn't believe her, seein's how you're not Klyros, but stranger things have happened."
- "Ellese?" I asked. Burgas smacked his forehead.
- "Ack, where are my manners?" He turned to where Ree'ann had come from and raised his voice. "Ellese. Yore. Come greet these good folks." He turned back to us. "My wife says there are two things you can never teach a man. Manners is one, but she'll never say the other."
- "Use your common sense and figure it out, Burgas," a woman said as she walked gracefully into the light.
- I stared in amazement. Except for having coal-black skin and sapphire eyes, she could have been Ree'ann's twin. She wore a tight leather vest over a loose blouse, both black as her skin. A long black-sheathed dagger adorned each of her thighs over almost skin tight pants, also black. A long braid hung over one shoulder. There was not one thing on her that would reflect light. The man who appeared at her side could have been her brother, so alike they were. He dressed in the same black clothing, if a bit looser, with a black longbow and bristling quiver instead of the daggers.
- ‘NOw shE wILL seE the PRice of beTRayal.’ Yamuel laughed gleefully. ‘BeFore LOng, sHE wilL Wish foR the QUicK deATh I gaVe youR SaBRene.’
- "Be silent!" It took a moment to realize I had spoken out loud. Ree'ann's mouth hung open, as if she had been about to speak, her eyes filled with fright. She dropped into a shaky curtsy.
- "As you command, Cassaren," She said in a trembling voice, staying bowed.
- Ellese and Yore looked on with great interest, while Burgas' face filled with disapproval.
- "Ree'ann, please wake Sabrene. We will talk latter," I said quickly. She nearly jumped in her hurry to obey. What had she done?
- "You don't speak Common, yet your words seem somehow familiar, Goodmaster Aeden," Yore said to me, but his eyes followed Ree'ann's every move.
- "I apologize," I said in Common, as he called it, "I spoke without thinking."
- "Why don't you ever speak to me that way?" Ellese asked Burgas in a simpering tone.
- "I like my ears where they are, Dearest," he answered, his voice more than a little scandalized. He leaned towards me. "You'd think I would be wiser to Diaboli ways after being married to one for fifteen years, but Ellese still manages to surprise me every day."
- Ellese threw him a smile and a wink. "That's what wives are for."
- I blinked. These two were married?
- "Cassaren," Ree'ann's voice was scared before, now it was terrified. She was holding Sabrene's hand clutched in hers. "I...I can't wake her."

End of Chapter six.

[swift]

Nice story !

I like it )

Keep on going man !

[TravXl]

love the story it sounds great

[Under the moon]

~Lies and Fear~
chapter seven

- The two wheeled cart jounced as it stopped for the night's camp, shifting Sabrene where she lay still in its bed. For two days now, she had moved no more than the three dead men in the other cart. I slipped her bare foot back under the blanket and tried not to think anymore of death. They had said it was three days, anyways, but it had felt more of an eternity.
-Burgas and Yore walked back from the lead, leaving Ellese with the odd, six-legged pack beasts.
- "No change?" Burgas asked. When I shook my head, he reached up to give me a pat on my shoulder. "Keep up hope, lad. And get some rest. Two days without sleep is good for no man." He walked back to his wife to help with the harnesses. Yore stayed at my side.
- "He's a good man," I said after a while, mostly to fill the silence.
- "That he is, or he wouldn't be married to my sister." Yore gave me a long hard look. "It is you that gives me concern. Burgas is a trusting man; I am not, 'Aeden'" He gave the last word a hard edge. "You gave your story of how you came here, yet you give a false name and hide something under that cloth on you arm. Ree'ann seems to me like a woman of great standing, yet she fears you. I would know why."
- "I have no other name, Yore," I answered, wishing I could trust him enough to give him the truth. I raised my arm. "As for this, I am not yet ready to share that pain." I lowered my arm and looked into the darkness behind us. Yore followed my gaze. I couldn't see passed the flickering light of the cart lanterns, but I knew she was there.
- "What of her?" Yore asked.
- "She owes me a debt." Yamuel was oddly quiet, though I could feel him listening intently.
- "What debt would cause fear like that?"
- "I don't know. She hasn't told me yet."
- Yore gave me another long look and shook his head. "I will never understand Ylians." He paused and glanced back again. "I would ask what your intentions are with her."
- "What do you mean?" I asked, not knowing quite how to answer.
- "My sister loves her husband very much. I've seen the way she looks when they are parted and she is missing him. I see it in your eyes now, when you look upon Sabrene." He looked straight into my eyes. "I see it in Ree'ann also, when she looks at you. She has fear, but also hope."
- ‘FalSE hoPe,’ Yamuel growled.
- "Why do you tell me this?" Shock held me. How could a goddess have feelings for a mere human?
- "I have...interests in your Ree'ann. She fascinates me. There is a strength about her, and never before have I heard of a gray skinned Diabolia. If she belongs to you, then I shall stand aside."
- "Do as you will, Yore. Ree'ann is her own woman." I felt numb. "I wish to be alone."
- He nodded and took up his bow. His gait seemed to have a little more spring as he walked back to the others, even his tail. For a long time, I stood at the back of the cart just staring at Sabrene's sleeping face. I had not been able to reach the true Yamuel since the first time, and I needed his wisdom badly. I didn't even notice Ree'ann standing at my side until she spoke.
- "Cassaren, I need to speak with you," she said in Old. Her voice was fearful but determined, as if she had summoned up all her courage. It was the first time in the two days she had spoken to me. I pulled my eyes from Sabrene. Ree'ann was wearing the black garb she had traded Ellese her red dress and leathers for, to Yore’s great amusement and Burgas’s reddening face. She kept only the amber belt and dagger. Her eyes showed how frightened she was.
- "You don't need to fear me, Ree'ann."
- "Yes, I do," she said quietly, "You have no idea what power you now possess. Even a fraction could destroy me."
- "Why would I do that?" I asked in disbelief.
- "I fear that will be my punishment for what I tried...what I did to you."
- Yamuel's words came back to me, 'She should not have done that.'
- "Yamuel is not pleased with what you tried to do. He asked me to tell you that."
- ‘WHaT do yOU mEAn, pitIFull crEAturE? I asKED NO sucH thINg.’
- Ree'ann's hand covered her mouth. Her eyes grew large.
- "He is still...alive?"
- Yamuel howled in fury. Red haze began forming at the edges of my vision.
- ‘I AM THE ONLY ONE! YOU WILL TELL ME EVERYTHING!’
- "You will tell me everything," my voice growled, but the words were not mine. Ree'ann took a fearful step back, her lips trembling.
- "The Den'feire didn't take your name," her whole body shook with fear, her voice trembling, "I did."
- Every word hit me like a blow. The red haze thickened and closed in.
- "Why?" I still don’t know if the question was Yamuel’s or mine. Perhaps it belonged to both of us.
- "I thought I could bring Yamuel back, the Yamuel I loved," tears flowed down her face. Tears of fear and longing. "You were dieing, and I needed an empty vessel. I tried to push your fading Aura into the Den'feire and bring his out, but something went wrong. The Aura that tried to come forth was not Yamuel, it was the beast." Her voice was pleading now. "I tried to put things right, but it was to late. Only Sabrene's Aura saved you."
- At the sound of Sabrene's name, something snapped. Anger flowed inside me. My anger, Yamuel's anger. She dared to take Sabrene away? -- She dared to replace me? The thoughts came on top of each other. Red blocked my vision. The Den'feire shook violently.
- "You dare! YOU DARE!" Yamuel and I shouted together. I heard a distant shouting.
- "Fight him!" a tiny voice called. A spot of blue flashed in the red. Yamuel? "This is not your will. Fight, or you will lose her forever." Sabrene's face appeared before me and began fading.
- "NO!" I shouted. The haze cleared enough to see Ree'ann dangling a pace above the floor, her feet kicking feebly at the air. Her hands grasped desperately at the chain wrapped around her neck. I was killing her.
- "Fight! The Den'fiere is yours, take it from him."
- I concentrated on the Den'feire, feeling each link. Feeling them coiled about Ree'ann's neck as they crushed the life out of her. I willed them to release their hold. Nothing happened.
- "Attack him!" the voice called, "Use the seal!"
- I suddenly remembered the first time the beast had tried to take control. I reached for the golden link, and felt it reaching back. I knew the warm feeling that flowed into me. It was Sabrene. Ree'ann's arms dropped limply to her sides.
- "STOP!" I pulled at the power of the Aura in the sealed link and threw it at the shadow in my mind. It shrieked in pain but refused to fall back.
- ‘YOU WILL NOT STOP ME!’
- I began to feel the power of the rest of the chain slip from Yamuel's grasp. I pulled at it and slashed at the beast. His control shattered. I continued to throw the power against him as he shrieked and writhed. I would burn him out.
- "You will die if you kill him, as will Sabrene ."
- "Aeden...beloved...please stop." Sabren's urgent voice washed away the last of the haze and I realized Ree'ann still hung in the air. I quickly lowered her to the ground, feeling through the Den'feire that her pulse still beat. She began coughing as I made it uncoil. Ellese rushed to her side. Sabrene sat in the cart bed, the blanket held in one hand to cover herself. The other held her Dentali ready to throw. A movement in the shadows drew my attention to Yore with fletching pulled to ear on his black longbow. They both aimed directly for me. I slowly made the chain wrap back about my forearm. It obeyed my every command. Sabrene lowered her weapon, Yore did not.
- "I am myself again," I told them calmingly, but Yore held steady.
- "What happened?" Sabrene asked.
- "It was Yamuel, he almost took control."
- "You have some explaining to do, lad," Burgas spoke from the other cart. I had not seen him there until he spoke. He leaned a heavy crossbow against the wheel and crossed his arms. "Yore, put it up. Give him a chance to speak." Yore finally relaxed the string, but left the arrow nocked.
- "I can understand him," Sabrene said suddenly in perfect Common. She looked at the three strange folk in confusion. "How can that be? Who are they, Aeden?"
- Burgas gave quick introductions without taking his eyes off me. He had not unloaded his weapon either. "Answer her question," he instructed, "It nags my mind also how newcomers can speak Common without teaching."
- I glanced at Sabrene and decided that they deserved the truth, all of it. "You were right, Yore. Aeden is not my name. But it is the truth that I have no other." I proceeded to tell them the whole story, leaving out only the time shifts
 and the death. I could not bring myself to tell Sabrene of Ulaisha and her deaths. They were all silent as I finished. "Yamuel gave me the knowledge of your tongue, Burgas, and it must have passed to Sabrene when I touched her Aura in the Den'feire."
- "I felt you pulling me," Sabrene said softly, letting her spear vanish. "I was alone, somewhere in the dark, and you came for me."
- "I am sorry...so sorry." All of our eyes were drawn by Ree'ann's plaintive words. Sabrene's face darkened.
- "You dare to speak," she almost growled, her green eyes flashed hate, "After what..."
- "Sabrene," I cut in, her words too closely matching mine
 and Yamuel’s. "The debt is paid. I am alive because of what she did, even if that wasn't her intention. A name is a small price to pay for being at your side. For that, I can forgive almost anything."
- Sabrene considered me for a long time before nodding reluctantly. "As long as I have you, that's all that matters." Her words did not match the dark look she flashed at Ree'ann. There would be trouble, if I didn't watch her.
- "Quite a tale...Aeden?" Burgas looked at me questioningly. I nodded. He then eyed the two women. He also knew trouble brewing when he saw it. "This demon, Yamuel, can it be killed?"
- Ree'ann jerked where she sat. "He is not a demon," she said defiantly.
- Ellese shook her head. "Love may cloud the mind, but this...creature can not hold your heart."
- "That thing had no heart," Sabrene said angrily.
- "He was not always as you saw him before the Portal." Ree'ann's eyes begged us to believe her. "Yamuel was once good and kind. It is my fault he is evil. I didn't know of the other so-called god's plots. They were jealous of him, because he had the love of his people, but never asked for their worship. He even told his people the truth, that that he was not a god -none of them were- and they loved him more for it. Yamuel was too powerful for the others to face in open struggle, so they fashioned a gold circlet as a gift." She stopped to wipe her eyes. Tears pushed into her voice as she continued, open pain on her face. "They knew he would trust no gift from them. They gave it to someone he did trust. Someone he loved." Her voice trembled as tears rolled unchecked down her cheeks. "I didn't know it was a trap...I thought he would be so happy with my gift...but when he put it on..." She began sobbing softly, unable to finish. Ellese stroked her hair as the gray woman cried into her shoulder. "I am sorry, Yamuel...I didn't know."
- Yamuel stirred again, but I felt only hate and loathing from him. 'Say one foul word,' I thought at him, ‘and I will burn you to ashes.'
- "What of this gold circlet, what power does it hold?" Yore asked. He looked torn between watching me and going to Ree'ann.
- "It possessed him," I spoke. Ree'ann had been through enough. I knew the rest. "It turned all his kindness to evil and trapped him in his own mind."
- "It is destroyed, is it not? I saw no such thing with you."
- "No, Burgas, though I wish it to be." I pointed to where the black helm lay wrapped in thick cloth. "It is there."
- "You jest."
- "It's true," Ree'ann said between sobs, "The circlet was only a disguise. A glamour. The helm is the true power."
- Sabrene let the blanket drop and slipped off the cart, in her full armor again. She saw the startled looks Burgas and his companions gave her and raised an eyebrow at me. "Apparently you didn't tell them everything. What else did you leave out?"
- I saw questions forming in our new friends' eyes and sighed to myself. It was going to be a long night.

End of chapter seven.

[Sea-Monkey]

Love your story, its stunning!  Its curiosity driving and adventure seeking. Your intro alone makes you want to read the rest to fill in all the gaps and to answer all the questions going through the readers head.