abcghimno
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Wow, I wrote a new chapter. In Microsoft Word, the previous one is three pages long, and this is seven. There's a lot of dialogue here.
Part I: Strangers
Saivel never did get back her crystal, but it was far out of her mind by the time she had finished her dinner. In fact, she practically never did remember it until the time she turned sixteen. Her mother and father had gathered the triplets around and told them that they would be able to leave their house and go somewhere.
Surprisingly, Saivel… did not want to go. Something made her stay there, binding her there for two months while Silvia and Caraxa left. She stayed until a foreigner made his way into the small town they lived in.
Saivel was in town, buying some ingredients for her father in the evening. It was then that the stranger, with his messy dark brown hair and green eyes, arrived. He was clearly lost; not only that, he was clearly confused. Looking around frantically, he ended up bumping into the small stall her father sold potions at.
“Is there something you need?” Saivel’s father asked, remaining polite. The stranger blinked at him a few times, needing a moment to take in his gigantic wings.
“Um, I’m sorry, I’m rather lost, I was on my way to Arcangrove and…”
“Ah. What’s your name?”
“Why do you ask?” Automatically the stranger’s hand shifted towards his sheathed weapon. Saivel, wanting to keep a fight from happening, jammed her purchase into her knapsack and ran straight over to her father’s stall, wings stretched out protectively.
“No, no, it’s alright, Saivel.” She sighed and brought her wings down, stepping aside. The stranger gave her an odd look, but his hands moved away from his sword.
“I’m sorry… it’s just that I’ve been so used to people meaning it badly.” The stranger smiled and stuck out his hand, presumably to shake. “My name is Kaime Nebi.”
“My name is Threndal Athen. Yours is a strange name, isn’t it? Where do you come from?” Threndal accepted the hand shake. Saivel was annoyed with how friendly her father was and still watched Kaime with suspicion.
“To be specific, I come from Swordhaven.”
“Ah, nice place, isn’t it? In fact, I considered sending my daughter there!” Threndal reached out and patted Saivel’s back in a friendly manner.
“Dad!” She recoiled automatically at his touch and walked away.
“Oh, so you’re his daughter?” Kaime looked at her and then at her father. “Well, the hair and face is definitely alike.” He paused and took a second glance at her eyes. “Huh, it’s pretty rare to see purple eyes, isn’t it?”
Saivel thought this over. Yes, it was very rare. She wasn’t even sure how she had purple eyes. Her mother and father both had brown eyes, and as far as she knew her ancestors had brown eyes.
“Yes, I suppose it is very rare.” While she had been thinking, her father had continued the conversation. “Anyway, even though this conversation has been delightful, you did say that you were on your way to Arcangrove, didn’t you?”
“Ah, yes. I…” Kaime’s reply was cut short by some background noise, sounding similar to a wolf howling, but with a more catlike voice. Threndal frowned, and Saivel shuddered. The noise was familiar.
“Used to be, those Redhines would leave us alone as long as we left them alone. Now, I guess times are changing for the worse.”
Kaime reached for his sword and managed to firmly grasp the sleek black hilt before Threndal stopped him. “No, I’d recommend not to go up against those Redhines. It’s hard enough to take out one on its own, but if you want to go against the lot of them, you’ve got a death wish. The moment you hurt one of them, the whole group is on you.”
The same howl broke through the background. “We don’t have an inn here, but you can stay at my house.” Saivel considered protesting at the idea, but realized that if Kaime stayed outside, the Redhines would surely find and kill him. Threndal quickly cleared all of his merchandise off of the stall counter.
“Thank you, Mr. Athen.” Kaime bowed politely while Saivel glowered at him. There was just something she didn’t like about him.
Suddenly, it was dark and quiet. The moon was covered by a cloud, and there were no lights on when the Redhines decided to stir up trouble. Saivel easily formed a fireball in her hand. Quickly, Kaime realized that it was there, and, in fact, quite purple.
Saivel looked at him oddly, noticing how he tensed up. “Is there something wrong?” she asked as they walked home.
“No, nothing…” He kept a close eye on the flame as they walked. Are none of these people aware of what Chaos is doing in these times? he briefly asked himself, gritting his teeth to keep himself from instinctively declaring she was an agent of the foul element. Even odder was that when she extinguished the flame, a crystal dropped into her hand, which she gripped tightly and protectively.
Threndal looked at him for a moment, seeming protective of his daughter, but thought nothing of it. He showed Kaime to the room Caraxa had once lived in and told him they would be having dinner soon, but if he didn’t want to come, it was perfectly fine.
Kaime thought for a while in the room. He took out an old notebook he’d kept to document what oddities he encountered, and this was definitely noteworthy. First off, why would the girl have purple eyes? That raised his suspicion regarding Chaos, with purple being its symbolic color, and purple not being a color that she should have naturally acquired. Not only that, but her fire was purple, and a crystal dropped into her hand when it was extinguished. She seemed protective of the crystal.
He was taken out of these thoughts when the same girl he had been thinking about knocked on his door. “I’m just here to tell you that dinner is ready downstairs.” She politely nodded her head and walked downstairs herself. Kaime looked at her for a few seconds, but followed quickly after her. Why was this girl so strange?
The girl’s mother did not seem to be bothered by his presence, introducing herself as Eilora. He barely cared about the food entering his mouth, but was concentrated on the oddity of the girl. Yes, she looked like both her mother and father, with one exception—the eyes, of course. During the meal, he could’ve sworn he saw the girl hide the crystal in a secret pocket of sorts.
Afterwards, he decided to talk to Eilora and Threndal. Threndal had already left to his study to mix more potions, but Eilora seemed dying for some conversation.
“I’d uh, like to ask you about your daughter…” Kaime was afraid it might come off as strange or creepy. His doubts were unnecessary, as Eilora was very open.
“Oh yes, Saivel? She’s the middle of triplets. Her sisters Caraxa and Silvia left a month or two ago. I don’t know where on Lore they’ve disappeared to! Hopefully they’re safe, though.” Eilora smiled and continued babbling while she neatly scrubbed the dishes and put them away.
“Well, I’m just wondering… why does she have purple eyes?”
Eilora froze, but after a few moments continued with her work. “I… Thendral and I don’t know why. We suppose it means she’s gifted.”
“Like her purple fire?”
Another pause. “Well… that’s exactly the same, isn’t it?” She spoke with a strained voice.
“And what about the crystal?”
Finally, the question. He knew it would have a significant impact, and it did. There was a pause while Eilora swallowed.
“Oh. So someone else found out.”
“Yes. It wasn’t too hard, you know.”
“Well then, it’s none of your business.”
Kaime felt horrible for doing this to the family, but he stopped Eilora as she tried to walk off. “Mrs. Athen, what do you know about the crystal?”
Eilora pursed her lips. “I don’t know anything.”
“Mrs. Athen, I’m doing this for the good of your daughter.”
“You don’t even know her name!”
It was true. Frighteningly so. Wasn't it... Sai... But Kaime swallowed this fact and continued. “I’m afraid, Mrs. Athen, of what power your daughter has.”
“Our baby would never do anything bad!”
“Mrs. Athen…”
Eilora easily wrenched free of his grasp and ran upstairs. Kaime sighed and followed after her. Just as he made it to the first floor, he found Threndal Athen waiting for him.
“Look… so you want to know about the crystals our daughter ends up forming?”
Kaime nodded. “I’m sorry for…”
“I’m sorry for my wife’s behavior. I have to admit, I’m afraid for my daughter too.” Threndal patted him on the back and led him into his study. “Adventurers… I know you’re an upright man. But promise me you won’t hurt my daughter.”
Kaime sat down on the nearest available chair. “Mr. Athen, I’m afraid I can’t promise that.”
“Oh, really? Why is that?” Threndal seemed both threatening and interested at the same time.
The strange cat howl rang through the night again. “You hear that noise? The Redhines? Do you know what’s made them so active?”
“Haven’t got a clue.”
“Chaos has!” Kaime stopped. This was hardly the limit of Chaos’ power. “And I’m afraid, Mr. Athen, that your daughter may have the power of Chaos.”
Threndal took this easily. “I admit… when we took a close look at the two crystals we found, there was some strange sort of energy in them.” He sighed and got up, searching through drawers for the crystals.
“Mr. Athen, you’re stomaching this… very impressively.”
“I know my daughter’s not going to hurt anyone or anything. All she needs is someone to help her on the right path.”
“Mr. Athen, she won’t have a choice with—”
“My daughter won’t let Chaos take her over.” Threndal slammed his fist into his desk. “I know my daughter, and she may be very stubborn sometimes. It’s for her own good with this Chaos business.” He sighed and relaxed, handing Kaime the two crystals. “Well, what do you think of them?”
Kaime gripped them tightly. “There’s… power in them. I’m fairly certain it’s Chaos…” He watched Threndal’s expression, which didn’t change. However, he noticed a vein throbbing in his forehead. “How old are they?”
“Ten years or so, I’d say.”
Ten years? Kaime looked at the crystals. It was clear that there was a lot of power in them. And over ten years… He gulped. “Then, I’m afraid…” He stood up. “Mr. Athen, your girl… is very, very dangerous.”
Threndal was quiet. He sat down, thinking about this for a moment. “She’s a good girl,” he muttered.
Kaime, uncertain of what to do, patted his shoulder. “I’m sure she is, Mr. Athen, but we have to be careful with this. If you’ll allow me, I’ll take your daughter to a safe place.”
“I… I don’t have any choice, do I?” Kaime shook his head. Threndal sighed. “But… now I hope you can promise.”
Kaime was taken aback. “Promise what, Mr. Athen?”
“Promise you won’t hurt my daughter. Promise you’ll protect Saivel from anyone who tries to lay a finger on her.” Threndal was determined, his eyes burning with regret and ferocity.
I can’t promise that. I can't promise I won't hurt your daughter, Saivel... As he looked at Threndal, desperate to believe in his daughter, he decided to agree. His throat felt like something was clogged in it as he shook hands. He knew he was lying. For some reason, as he shook hands, he felt a sort of shock, like one from static electricity.
“Look, I’ll leave in the morning. We’ll…” Kaime stopped.
Threndal was crying. His shoulders heaved with every sob. Kaime, feeling guilty and ashamed, closed the door to Threndal’s study and ran straight back to his room. He heard muted conversations in the room next to his, presumably Saivel’s. She was being informed of what had gone on.
He felt horrible. Look at you, Kaime. He laughed at himself. You’ve just taken away this couple’s last daughter at home. Truly, a brave hero.
< Message edited by abcghimno -- 3/29/2013 12:58:19 >
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