Again, that gods awful BAM! As the door was kicked open and my head jerked up. Except this time I wasn’t the one jerking my head, someone had a handful of white hair and something cold and very sharp was on my throat. I think I heard three pairs of foots steps on the wooden stairs, but I wasn’t sure. Sandy walked around my chair and into my vision. Must be the quiet one behind me. Sandy crossed his arms, imposing, just like a villain in a story, he stood quietly as the dagger or knife blade was getting snug with my neck. He also had a sword strapped to his belt. It didn’t look right or sit right there on his hip and if the leather was any indication it had been at the bottom of a chest for years with no care given. Swords and knives… not good. I worked my mind as best I could, training in T’Narev we’ve done such things to wear out the mind and body and still make them function. Calming breaths, deep and long, focus on a single object and thought. Sandy was my object, escape was the thought. “Times come.†Sandy said and nodded to the man behind him to do the deed. However, the quiet one hesitated. “Coward.†That burning hatred returned to those eyes with the intensity of a bellows flame. “What was that!?†Talking wasn’t easy, my tongue kept sticking to my cheek, or the roof of my mouth, but, “I said… Coward.†The eyes flashed again as I croaked, “Can’t kill me yourself, you don’t have the balls for it. You … can’t even avenge your friends on your own. I take it back, I don’t pity you. I just think you’re pathetic†That just about did it. There was a rasp of steel on very dry leather as that sword came out and he lunged, not thinking and blind with hatred. One chance. The sword thrust at my heart and with that movement, I lowered myself as far down into the chair as my binding allowed. Pain exploded in my shoulder as the steel sank into flesh, passing through my collar bone and directly into the stomach of the man behind me. There was a gurgled cry of shock and the dagger at my throat fell into my lap as the one behind me clutched at his wound and stumbled back. Warm blood from my shoulder trickled down my arm to my bindings, mingling with the pumping flow from the man behind me before he stepped back. Sandy let go of the sword as he stared, mouth open at having just stabbed his companion. This by the way hurt and broke my collar bone. The weight of the sword hilt not being held up jerked the rest of the blade up, breaking the bone before sliding out of the wound. I tried to stifle a cry of pain, but it only did so much. A guttural cry deep in my dry throat escaped, but it made no difference, they weren’t even paying attention to me now… not yet. The warm blood on the bindings did the trick. Lubrication and expansion as the leather soaked some of the moisture in; my hands were freed, even though my left arm was useless now. The dagger that had fallen to my lap was in my right hand as soon as my stiff shoulder allowed it. I flick at me feet and I was free. That’s when I heard the woman scream, “HE’S FREE!†I rolled forward out of the chair, dagger in hand, up and over my head and twisting to come to my feet facing them. Sandy was starting to stand from holding his fallen friend who was himself now lying on the ground, panting. The woman was over him as well, looking at the wound not knowing fully what to do. Sandy began to move. “Hold it.†The dagger pointed in his direction and the fact that he was sword less stopped him. He was in shock I could see. The act of stabbing, maybe killing his friend, had stolen the hatred right out of his eyes. “I’m going to go now, you just, take care of your friend.†I circled around the chair which had been home for the last several days and then around the three. My left arm hung limp and bleeding as my back went to the stairs and one foot after another lifted me up and out of this basement. “Yur not going to kill us?†The woman asked in her quiet voice. I paused in my climb to freedom. “I can’t kill what’s already dead inside.†Hatred. It’s a very cruel mistress. It’s like fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Even to us Tier’Dal, who are bred upon hatred, given it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it destroys more of us than it strengthens. Hate is rash and rarely thinks as to the consequences of itself. Can I say Hate is always destructive? No. It has given some strength to live on where they normally would not. Hate is emotion though, and as with all emotions, when it is not controlled by the mind and the heart, it is but a fire, waiting for a single moment of weakness to burn you to the ground.
Broken Jewel, Part 1 It would would go down in history as one of the worst summer droughts since the Rending shattered the world. The kind of heat the would crack the skin and dry the through just for breathing. Many dusty trails where created during this time as the brush was easily broken and straighter paths made which was all for the better as the less time someone traveled during the day the better their fortune. Xannis Sul'Egna, a wandering monk, was traveling on just such a dust choked trail. Hood pulled over to keep his long Tier'Dal ears from burning and the sun out of his sensitive eyes he watched his feet mile after mile the little clouds of dust that they created the only other moving he saw for hours and the shuffling of his feet the only sound. That is until a soft whimper from just off the trail in a ditch caught his ear. Feet halting he stopped to listen. It would not be entirely impossible he had started to just hear things. No, there it was again. A stifled crying. Making his way towards the sound, he saw a girl. She was young maybe ten or so, he never was good with human children's ages, they all looked the same really. Something about her though was not right. Xannis looked up and down the trail and so nothing save for what looked like hours old tracks. Looking back he finally caught was was unnatural about her. Whimpering as she was, she didn't move. She just sat there with her legs splayed out and under her with her head bend down staring at a fixed point of nothing. Her arms hung limply at her sides, not in her lap or over her dusty and tear streaked face. In one hand she clutched a little brown rag doll with atuft of floppy hair at the top and big black button eyes by the dolls arm. He stepped closer. Nothing. And closer still. Still, nothing. Crouching in front of her, she didn't even seem to register his existence. "Are you okay?" He asked carefully. Nothing. Down close to her though she was dry. Lips cracked and bleeding. There was no telling how long she'd been out here. His fingers went to pull back some hair from her face to see more of it. That was more than she could take apparently as the next moment she was screaming at the top of her lungs and flailing. Backing away, she stopped and went limp once more. "Hmm..." Uncorking a water skin and dabbing it onto a rag he put it to her lips. Nothing at first and then... she began to take the water in. Re-wetting the rag again and again until finally she reached on her own for the water skin and began to drink. Her dirty black hair set back from her face to reveal a rather nasty bruise over her right eye. As she drank she met his eyes and glittered like to almond gem stones in the hot sun, he smiled at her. She smiled back. It was ten miles down the road that they caught up to the travelers who's card and feet had left the tracks. They had set up camp for the night, big hangings to block what remained of the sun. The pair of them walked into the camp Xannis holding one of the girls hands. It had been the only way to get her to walk with him. He'd tried just having her follow but she'd only stand there. Taking her hand and starting her to walk and letting go also did not work, it had to be his hand in hers or nothing at all. In her other hand was the floppy brown rag doll dangling next to her leg. The travelers looked up when a rather plump and hooked nosed woman with beedy eyes came from the cooking pot brandishing a large wooden spoon. "Wot's all this now!?" She stopped before the monk and the lost girl, three burly looking men flanking her. They looked to be all related, no amount of ugly gathering in one place was that coincidental. From under his hood Xannis asked, "Pardon me, but I found this child on the road, did you happen to see anyone that might have lost her?" The little girl was staring at her blank spot of nothing before her feet as the hooked nosed woman replied in a hawty tone, "Jewel!? Why'd you bring 'er back here eh?! It took us an hour to get her to stop following us and 'ere you are, bringin' 'er back! Go, on, get.. get!" She waved the large spoon at them with her pudgy hand. "You left her out there, in this drought?" His voice was calm but a glowing ember began to burn in the monks chest. "Course we did! She's worthless, touched in the head. Can't do nothin' for herself. Just takes up space and eats our food and drink our water! Regret the day we took her in I does!" "That was as good as a death sentence, "ma'am"." "Wot do I care, eh?! Took care of 'er for a year now and ain't no one else want her. Better off dead she is, never knows where she is half the time. Just stares off inta space, always havin' ta hold someones hand to get 'er to walk." The spoon brandished before him like a cudgle. "Now, shove off, and take 'er wif ya if you care so much!" The long spoon swung suddenly at the little girls head. Xannis taken off guard by the randomness of the attack was to late to stop the spoon from connecting with the girls other eye. Only, it didn't connect. Jewel, still staring at her spot of nothing, had grabbed the spoon and pulled it free. The womans fat hand only wized by girls face empty handed. Everyone blinked surprised, even Xannis. Then the others blinked again, Xannis hood had slipped when he made to go for the spoon. Light purple skin and long Tier'Dal ears framed by long white hair, all centered around to vibrantly violet eyes, looked back at them. The woman screamed, two of large sons scrambled back with her. One tried to come forward, arm raised in a meaty fisted punch. He landed hard on his back after a single kick to the face toppled him. The three others were running and now appeared far off in the distance. Xannis looked down at his new ward and sighed. She was looking back at him, or more specifically, his leg with her bright almond colored eyes. "Alright then... Lets get what water of theirs we can carry and go."
YEA!!!!! *does an uncharisticly ranger type dance around in a circle* I've returned from a far off island to the east (business trip) and I've come back to have a new Xannis post! And since I always loved it when people would respond to my stories I'm going to yeah! *big thumbs up* KK I'll stop gushing and get to reading but STILL! YEA!!!! *Has decided that he has been watching too much anime and tip-toes away*
