|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:11 pm
Character: Halen Wyrm: Ealir'faryn Quote: Deep
"When the sun sets and the night creeps over the trees, I can't help but pull my cloak closer around me. There's voices in the night. Trees, animals, nightwalkers... a thousand tongues speaking at once. What is it they say? Perhaps man was never meant to know."
Several members of your guild set out into the woods, and though they were due back that night, they did not return. The search party sent out to find them was found strewn at the mouth of the wood, unconscious apparently, and they have not awakened since they were found.
What has happened? What is the guild to do? More importantly, what will you do?
Value: 50 points
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:20 pm
"Still not awake?" The voices whispered throughout the guild, all on the same subject. Lying in the barracks were five still bodies, save for steady breathing and the occasional moan of what they assumed was pain. The room itself was crowded, people sitting on beds, looking upon these bodies with such lack of hope that it was almost frightening. Sitting on one of the beds closest, a young woman looked upon a face she had not seen since the night a fire wyrm ended her parents' lives. Hazel eyes reflected a face much like her own, delicate, hardened. When they had tried to move her away from him, she had thrown a short sword still embedded in the wall to her left, demanding that they wake him immediately. Hours later, and still no signs of life. The whispers remained ongoing, the soft hum almost like music, a slow and dreary tune, a weaving of stories and sentences to form a whole tapestry, painting the lives of the five before her.
"Where are we, Daelen?" Voices from behind, always complaining, saying things like 'we're lost' and 'what are we doing in this part of the forest?' Gods above, didn't they know by now to trust him? He turned to face his group, frowning as he sat on the large root of a nearby tree.
"We're where we're supposed to be. Come on, when have I ever been wrong?" His partners exchanged annoyed looks and he crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow, silently daring them to think of even one time that his sense of direction had been off. When they listed about ten time, the man shrugged. "Flukes. Just, trust me one more time." Flashing his brightest smile, he leapt off the roots.
"Daelan," distinctly, his best friend Revtin, "where do you think the mushrooms are?"
"Probably where he thinks everything else is, the house of some young maiden who happens to be unguarded for this one night." Small laughs at Craxet's joke, the youngest member of the crew probably beaming with pride at his discovery. Daelen chuckled too, though his bright blue eyes flashed angrily. Getting made fun of was not one of his favorite hobbies.
Halen stood, her muscles protesting the move after so long of waiting. "Contact me immediately, should he wake." With that statement hanging in the air, she left the song of sorrow behind, stepping outside. Her face was emotionless, looking out from the top of this hill out onto the woods below, where her dearest brother had fallen prey to something. The dew covered grass slipped beneath her feet as she sat, looking up at the stars in the chilly night.
"Halen?" She heard the wyrm's footsteps long before she heard the curious and worried voice. "That's your brother in there, isn't it?" Ealir'faryn's voice was soft, and the human woman soon felt the black muzzle buried in her dark brown hair.
"One of many," though she wanted to dismiss Daelen, it was something not easily done. They both remembered him on that night, his eyes flashing in anger at the sight of the corpses, his sword glittering when he announced that Halen must have let the murderess in, knowing the intentions of the, at that time, stranger.
Suddenly more footsteps, Ealir tensed as Halen glancing to see a man older than most people in the guild. The guildmaster, the thought passed from both sides of their bond as the old man cleared his throat. "Miss Halen Saerti, correct?" Halen nodded, though her last name had been almost forgotten to her, it had been so long. "We need to talk about your brother."
The group rested, Daelen thinking rapidly of what to do to keep his friends from turning on him. Revtin rested in the limbs of a nearby tree, resting against the trunk with his head turned to the side to avoid crushing his long, pointed ears. Craxet sat in the dirt with the single female of their group, a pretty little thing named Lina. He gazed upon Lina warily. Females, untrustworthy, backstabbing, and, had Lina not looked so good and flirted with him when he wanted her too, she would be on the top of his 'most hated' list. It was so hard to even like anyone, especially women, who had those hazel eyes. Craxet inched closer to Lina and Daelen looked away, searching for the last member of their group.
He stood slowly up, signaling with his left hand for Revtin to come down near him. Without alarming the giggling two, both men stood still, walking casually away, their voices quiet so as to not alarm the world about them. "Rev, he shouldn't have run off like that."
"It puts my mind far from rest knowing that he's out there. Remember what happened last time?" Daelen nodded, and, in doing so, noticed a gap in the giant roots of a large tree, where a steady glow lit the shadows that should be.
"Hey, Crax, Lina, I think we found our mushrooms."
"What is it?" A 'sir' tried to fight its way past her lips, but Halen had never been one for respect until she had seen it clearly earned. Standing and leaning against Ealir to keep her from slipping, Halen watched the old man with cautious eyes, her gaze picking out the way the moonlight seemed to make him older the brighter outside that it got.
"Whatever hurt Daelen and the others cast a spell that I have never seen the likes of before. If they don't wake up very soon, I fear for their lives. I wanted to see if you would take a more experienced member out into the woods to try and find the thing that did this. Your wyrm could find it easily." At her mention, Ealir turned her wandering eyes back to him, the amulet around her neck pulsing brightly, changing the old man's weary and worn face to something that could have been described as a creature from a nightmare.
"You're a demon," Ealir speculated, causing her bonded to reach for a dagger lying at her side.
"I am a demon who doesn't make deals with the devil, unlike some, miss Ealir'faryn." With that, he transformed back into the old man, seeming to glow for a moment as the Devil's Amulet lost its light. "Will you help Daelen?"
"Help? I'll save the brat my own damn self."
"I wouldn't recommend it. You know how good-" Before he got any further, Halen held up a hand, a dark smile on her lips.
"My brother is a good fighter. My brother had good fighters with him. Somewhere in that, the equation went sour. I know what I'm doing, old man demon, and, if you want that last bit to stay a secret, you'll shut your trap, walk back inside, and sit down with the rest of those useless bastards you call guild-members, and hope my brother wakes the hell up before I get back else someone is getting set on fire. Am I clear?" The old man was about to protest, but Halen had already turned towards the forest, her grim face lit by the moon. She began walking, Ealir behind her and unusually silent. She paused at the forest's edge, listening to a different tune in the night, looking up at the sky before facing the shadows before her and passing into darkness.
"Where's Storn?" The small man and taller woman asked as they neared the gap in the trees. Lina's bow was mysteriously absent, assumingly left a short walk away. In favor of this was Craxet's hand, a smile hidden in his eyes though he looked suspicious of their missing member.
"The hell if we know. He wandered off when the rest of us sat down for a minute." Daelen peered about for the missing man one last time before finally stepping inside the gap. There they were, clinging to the inside of the tree, blue mushrooms that emitted an eerie glow. His comrades stepped in, each receiving a small sack from Craxet. They dealt with the mushrooms carefully, and with gloved hands. No one knew what they did except the contractor, and gods forbid he actually tell them what they were doing.
It was during this procedure that all outside light suddenly vanished, a large man who appeared to be half man and half ugly stepped in the doorway. Storn gave one the impression that one was smart, simply from the dull eyes, dazed smile, and the way his body seemed to sag though it had been confirmed to actually having a skeleton via the breaking of several bones last time he had vanished last and come back screaming 'bear'. "Storn, get your bag and hurry up, it's almost sundown." Daelen's voice was slow, always assuming that Storn was highly incapable of higher thought.
Storn nodded and half skipped to Craxet who gave him his bag with a clear look of disgust on his face. Storn started picking at the mushrooms, pale glowing dust soon coating his fingers. Before Daelen could say anything, Storn licked his hands to get it off. Hope he dies of poisoning, Daelen thought without sympathy. They had told him a thousand times 'Storn, powder BAD, no eat, no touch', but apparently' touch' was too long of a word.
Daelen stepped outside soon as his bag was full, pushing it inside of another bag just to be safe. The sun had already begun to sink below the horizon. Being late wasn't that big of a deal, it happened a lot for them, but still, keeping to deadlines once in a while was a rewarding experience. It wasn't soon after that Lina and Revtin stood beside him, watching the fiery display in the heavens. Craxet's yells could be heard, trying to keep Storn from possibly killing himself further. "Going to be his girl?" Daelen asked casually, casting a glance over at Lina.
"Is that going to be a problem?" She was stiff, angry, glaring ahead. Idly, she reached for an arrow and felt the tip against her finger, pushing until it drew blood.
"Of course not. I won't even tell him about that one night, beneath the moonlight. I'm that good of a friend."
"How decent of you, pig." Revtin didn't flinch or move. Daelen was sure he'd learned his lesson about taking sides in arguments. Well, when Daelen was your best friend, you had to learn early and quick.
"Thank gods, finally!" Craxet emerged from the tree, half dragging Storn along behind him. "What were you up to anyways, Storn?" Craxet's eyes turned towards the horizon, quietly muttering a prayer for the sun to return on the morrow.
"Talkin' to the sparkly person abou' bein' slow when pickin' 'shrooms." Daelen's eyes widened, watching as suddenly his hope slid away with the sun, the world plunging into night.
"Did you have to threaten the demon like that?" Only Ealir's golden fire lit the forest, occasionally waking the sleepy woodland inhabitants. She knew where her brother and the others had been found, and could navigate it in the dark, had she not had her Ealir. "I really don’t think he means anyone any harm." Her voice was soft and quiet, trying to keep the world from waking.
"I don't either. I'm not going to take orders from some man who thinks I don't know how to handle a weapon as good as Daelen. Constantly rattling off things we must be. He is blood, and that's all the matters, else I would have sooner killed him then than look at him back there." Pushing her way through, she felt thorns grab hold of her skin, pulling across to make annoying cuts. Without even wincing, she fought through the brush, finally arriving at the clearing where her brother had been found along with his friends.
She noticed a distinct blue glow from one of the trees, though didn't dare enter there. Kneeling, she noticed blood on the ground. Ealir gave a quick sniff and informed her that it belonged to Revtin, the only elf in the group. A quick snap in the forest, and Halen's head jerked up, eyes widening as she saw a glowing figure emerge from the darkness.
"Who dares stand on my land with an intent to harm?"
Daelen first noticed that the 'sparkly person' was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Moss green hair fell to her midback, same covered clothes barely covering her beautiful body. Golden eyes peered out, and, had they not looked so angry and he in peril, he might have fallen for just them. "We mean the forest no harm." Revtin spoke up, while Daelen whispered something like 'Lina, shoot her.' Though it made his heart ache to spill the blood of something so beautiful.
"You hurt several rangers last night. The guild has sent me to kick your a**. I dare to step on this land with an intent to kill you. Does that count at all?" Halen drew a dagger from its sheath, the finely crafted silver blade flashing in the conflicting lights.
"You will not leave this place alive."
Even as she said it, Daelen felt at peace. Revtin shoved him aside as the goddess used the thick roots of the trees to land hits on the rest of them. Daelen, unharmed but stunned, lay there, watching with wide eyes at Revtin's red blood stained the ground. Suddenly angry, he leapt to his feet, unsheathing his sword quickly and charging ahead, fully intent upon slaying this creature. He soon collapsed at her feet, his world swimming in darkness. Storn stood with a bloody club in his hand, smiling that dumb smile at the goddess.
The sparkling woman called forth all manner of creatures, sending them diving at the two. Halen ducked as Ealir flamed the bats and birds that swarmed, warding the rest away by keeping her flames high. A vine wrapped around the woman's foot, pulling her towards the sparkling woman who held a knife in her hand, the black blade nearly invisible in the night. "You're a dryad." Halen said in an awed voice. When the dryad sought to respond, the human leapt forth, aiming her knife at the throat. The vine that had caught her assisted gravity in keeping her down. As the black knife rested against her throat, Halen glared upwards.
You have so little faith, my bond, Ealir chuckled as she headbutted the dryad off. As Halen cut herself loose, Ealir rested a clawed forefoot on the scantily clad chest, making sure the creature of the forest knew that a single swipe was all it would take. Walking over to them, Halen crossed her arms, and raised her eyebrow.
"Did you really expect to win? A dryad against a fire wyrm?
Perhaps you really aren't that smart.
I mean, miss goddess, look at us! We can keep the rest of the guild away from your forest. Just let us live, and I swear by the gods you'll never hear from us again." Daelen was sitting up next to his friends and Storn, who had been knocked out sometime in the process by the creature of grace and elegance. He felt the back of his head, a serious wound there lay, beneath his short brown hair. "Please, my lady goddess, I'll do anything!"
"Give me a way to wake up the five you put to sleep yesterday, and maybe, by the grace of the gods, you'll live one more day." The feeling of power over a lesser being never ceased to amuse her, though she really didn't think of the dryad as 'lesser', only 'weaker' and 'more primitive'.
"They were put to sleep by a powder made from the blue mushrooms they stole from my forest. If you grind three into a fine powder and add some leaves from that tree over there," she indicated with a quick point, her hateful gold eyes never leaving Halen's face, "it should negate the effects."
Halen turned and plucked several leaves from the indicated tree, gesturing for Ealir to leave the dryad to her defeat. "It's only by my good graces that you're going to live." Turning back the way they came, she headed back towards the guild, Ealir the only one who looked back to see the dryad scurrying back to her hiding place where an dimwitted Storn had awoken her a little over a day ago.
By the time she reached the guild, it had already been generally accepted that none of the five rangers were going to live. Halen kicked open the barracks door, giving quick orders to nearby people who ran to do her bidding, the leaves leaving her hand with a quick glare. Even the guildmaster went to overlook the dull process, quite surprising to any who watched.
Resuming her place near her brother, Halen looked down onto his face. When the departed rejoined the newly awakened congregation, none were all that surprised to see Halen take charge. Grabbing the powder, she announced, "I'll only wake my brother. The rest are your own problem."
Sprinkling the dust over him as he inhaled was easy enough, a few deep coughs erupting from him as he slowly awoke. Now sitting up, he finally opened his eyes, Daelen finding himself staring at the face of one whom he hated. "Good morning, big brother," her voice had never sounded as sweetly cheery, her fist suddenly hooking into view and knocking Daelen back out.
"What the hell" was the unanimous cry from those around. She stood and shrugged. "You're going to tell me that he didn't deserve it?" Mutters amongst the crowd. She walked over to the bed she usually slept on, smiling inwardly that no one had dared to sit on it. "Clear out or get to bed, I'm tired." She growled. People seemed to wait a few minutes until those ice cold eyes glared out. "I said NOW." Putting all her things away and getting changed with a mere sheet between her and prying eyes ceased to bother her anymore. Stretching out on the bed, she let her eyes close, her lips twisted into a smirk at the scuffling boots and quiet exclamations. Music to her ears.
END
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:53 am
The Grade
Creativity: 6
Syntax: 2
Style: 1
Overall: 9 out of 10
Points: 45 exp
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[Llew]'s avatar](https://a1cdn.gaiaonline.com/dress-up/avatar/ava/73/a3/3089cc43fa373_flip.png?t=1261599538_6.00_11)