-last edited on Apr 25, 2019 18:30:00 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Apr 25, 2019 18:29:20 GMT
Chapter 103
When Skirj returned to his room, there was someone sitting on his bed. “Terra! What are you doing here?”
The Mermian turned around to face him. “Looking for you. You really took your time, by the way. I was beginning to wonder if I had the wrong room.”
Skirj flushed slightly with embarrassment. “I’ve been, uh, busy, in Septimus Merlinsson’s old laboratory. I just came down here to grab a few things.”
“When was the last time you ate?”
“This morning . . . I think.” Skirj tried to think back. “Or maybe last night?”
“Right. Well, in that case, we’re going to get some food, and then we’re going to talk.”
Twenty minutes later, they were seated in a dining hall on one of the lower floors of the central tower. Between bites, Terra asked, “Now, isn’t that better?”
Skirj had to admit it was, but he decided it was time he ask some questions of his own. “Why are you really here?”
“You want the truth? Everyone’s worried about you. They said you’ve been holed up for the last month, experimenting with spells. So, they wanted someone to talk to you, someone who feels the same way.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. Look, I know it’s hard, but he’s gone, and he’s not coming back.”
“I did. Marrzak used the Crown to bring me back after Skrag smashed me. I held that power, and then I let them destroy it. If I hadn’t . . .”
Terra put a hand on Skirj’s shoulder. “From what I heard, that power was dangerous. If you had kept it, I’m not sure you’d care enough about him to bring him back.”
Something snapped in Skirj. “Of course I would care! He was my brother!” Terra flinched back, pulling her hand back, and Skirj instantly felt pangs of regret. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Terra gave him a half-hearted smile. “Don’t worry about it. Listen. Next time you feel like lashing out or trying something dangerous or stupid, just ask yourself ‘What would Skrag do?’.”
Skirj stared up at her. “I . . . I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. Skrag would do the best he could to make things better for everyone else, no matter what it cost him.”
Skirj smiled sadly. “Unless that cost was the people he loved.”
Terra nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. That price, he would never accept. Think about it, Skirj, and good bye.”
-last edited on Apr 28, 2019 17:54:19 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Apr 28, 2019 17:54:02 GMT
Chapter 104
What would Skrag do? The words echoed through Skirj’s mind. Desperately, he tried to stall. “How will you get the Keeper to talk to you? You told me it wasn’t exactly thrilled to speak with you the first time.”
Septimus chuckled. “Yes, I doubt the Keeper will be pleased to see me. But I can summon it in ways it can’t evade, especially if I do so from the room where it last touched this realm. For such a powerful entity, it really does have some odd restrictions.”
“Won’t, um, the Dragon Knights, be upset if they find you in their castle?” Skirj took a few steps back, racking his brain for where he’d left his short sword.
Again, Septimus laughed. “Oh, they’ll have bigger things to worry about, what with my soldiers almost on their doorstep and most of their army gone off to fight that silly war with the Riders.”
Skirj remembered. It was under the bed. He needed more time to get to it. “War with the Riders? What happened?”
“Me, of course. It took a lot of careful dream manipulation, but I managed to get them to come to blows. In a few days, they will have destroyed each other.”
A cold realization settled on Skirj’s shoulders. “Dream manipulation . . . you’ve been planning this, all along. You were in my head, sending me the dreams of Skrag, of you, in danger. You’ve been playing all of us.”
Septimus smiled knowingly. Skirj inched back a little more. He was almost there.
“He’s stalling,” Skorj said to Septimus.
“Of course, he is. I thought I’d indulge him. But, you are right. That is enough. What will it be, Skirj?”
What would Skrag do? Skirj dove for the sword, but just as his hand brushed it he felt himself pulled into the air by an unseen force. He couldn’t move a muscle, not even his eyes.
He heard Septimus say, “Well, that’s disappointing. Not unexpected, though. Smash him.”
Pain blossomed in Skirj’s stomach as his father struck with his sword. He tried to scream, but his mouth stayed shut. After an interminable time, the force holding him vanished and he fell. Skirj could feel the life draining from his body. He tried to cast a healing spell, but he couldn’t concentrate. Mind numb, he fell back on instinct. A portal opened in front of him, and with the last of his strength he crawled through.
Progress Update: I just have one Epilogue chapter left to write, as I have for multiple weeks now, but I will get it done eventually. I'll probably add a little bit to a few of the chapters I haven't posted yet, now that I don't have a character limit. Anyway, expect the the whole story to be done and posted around the end of May or the beginning of June, depending on how consistent I am about posting chapters.
-last edited on Apr 29, 2019 17:43:15 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Apr 29, 2019 17:42:58 GMT
Chapter 105
Absorbed in thought, Hayteleck didn’t even notice the tavern server bring out his and Errica’s meals, nor did he hear Errica calling his name the first two times, but at the third her voice finally reached his ears. “Hayteleck!”
He sat bolt upright, almost jumping out of his chair. “Um . . . what?”
Errica pointed at the table. “Food’s here.”
“Oh.” Hayteleck grabbed his fork and began to pick at his meal, taking only the occasional bite. “Do you think they’ve found him?”
With a grimace, Errica took a pause in her own, considerably more enthusiastic, chewing. She didn’t have to ask who he was talking about. “I don’t know, Hayteleck. And I’m not sure how we could find out, if they did. All we can do is keep an eye out and hope he can take care of himself.”
“Well, maybe that’s not good enough!” Hayteleck slammed his fist on the table, rattling both their plates and earning a dirty look from the tavern keeper. Errica waved at him apologetically and put a hand on Hayteleck’s shoulder. She could hear her elven friend muttering under his breath, almost inaudibly. “They’re going to find him. And when they do they’re going to smash him.”
Errica wished she could have said something encouraging, to tell him that he was wrong, that they’d find Skirj and they’d protect him, and everything would be okay. But there were no words, because it wasn’t true.
Seeming to sense her intentions, and her failure to make them reality, Hayteleck pulled away. As he did, Errica’s hand caught on a lather cord around his neck and the small, glass-lidded box tied to it pulled free. Inside it was a small fiber, and that fiber was pressing against the edge of the glass pointing south. “Hayteleck . . .” Errica whispered.
“What?” Seeing her gaze, Hayteleck looked down, and instantly leapt to his feet. “The wards are down! Let’s go!” His meal already forgotten, Hayteleck sprinted out of the tavern. Errica tossed a handful of coins on to the table and chased after him. It was time to save Skirj.
-last edited on Apr 30, 2019 18:46:15 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on Apr 30, 2019 18:45:57 GMT
Chapter 106
The first thing Skirj saw when he awoke was sunlight, sharp and bright, searing through his eyelids and into his head, where a steady ache was beginning to form. He snapped his eyes shut, but after a few seconds reluctantly began to crack them open again. When the light was no longer so blinding, he could make out a vague impression of his surroundings: white walls, wide open windows, and a dark-timbered roof above. Skirj knew this place. He was in one of the little houses in Paladeen. Trying to remember how he had gotten here, he sat up and instantly regretted it, as a burst of pain shot through his abdomen. At this, he could not suppress a groan, and an elven woman in a green dress, sitting at the desk on the other side of the room, gave a little involuntary jump. After taking a few seconds to recover, she turned her attention to Skirj. “Oh, good. You’re awake. How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been stabbed in the stomach,” Skirj replied, wincing as he shifted to a more comfortable position.
“Yes, well, that’s to be expected,” said the woman. She walked over to the door to tell someone that Skirj had awoken; as she did, Skirj saw a shimmering white afterimage move with her, almost invisible but present to one who knew what to look for.
Mind still blurred and not yet thinking clearly, Skirj blurted out, “You’re Other.”
The woman spun around, a look of shock on her face, “How do you – Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. A trick you learned when you had the Crown?” Skirj nodded. “Interesting. My name is Elowyn. As you have probably already guessed, I am a member of the Council, and I already know quite well who you are, Skirj Twice-Born.”
At mention of the Council, Skirj felt his heart grow cold. He had tried to repress his memory of that day in the Towers, but now it all came flooding back. Throat dry, he forced out the words. “Wisdom . . . Is he . . .?”
Elowyn frowned. “He’s alive, no thanks to you.”
Before she could say anything more, the door burst open and Queen Legolie strode in, the last person Skirj had expected to see. “There’s not much time. Let me explain what’s going on.”
-last edited on May 1, 2019 18:45:19 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on May 1, 2019 18:44:59 GMT
Chapter 107
And explain she did. Legolie briefly summarized her own adventures, fighting against some group of bandits, and then jumped into the more urgent news of the war between the Riders and the Dragon Knights.
This, of course, Skirj already knew, but he let her finish before launching into an explanation of his own. Largely for Elowyn’s benefit, he decided to start from the beginning, when he had left the Towers. He told them where he had gone, how he had come to return to the Towers, and what he had done while in the company of Septimus Merlinsson. Last of all, he explained how Septimus had revealed his scheme and how Skirj had come to receive his injury.
When he was done, there was a shocked silence, both members of his audience struggling to process this new influx of information. Legolie was the first to speak. “So, it sounds like we have two problems: How to stop the Riders and Dragon Knights from smashing each other and how to beat Septimus before he becomes unstoppable. Any ideas?”
Another long silence followed, and in it Elowyn moved back over to the desk to retrieve a yellowed scroll, tied with a yellow ribbon. “We found this next to you. We assumed it had fallen out of your pocket.”
Skirj nodded, and accepted it gratefully, realizing that he had never actually opened the scroll. He did so now, while the others were thinking, and when he finished reading it he laughed out loud.
“What is it?” asked Legolie.
Skirj grinned. “I know how to beat Septimus.”
Before long, the small elven army was arrayed in two long lines on a grassy field. “Here’s the plan,” said Skirj. “Your army will go convince the Riders and the Dragon Knights not to smash each other. I’m going to go smash Septimus.”
“Sounds easy enough,” said Legolie, “Begin when you’re ready.”
Skirj took a deep breath and opened a portal in front of the army. They began to file through, two-by-two. Legolie was the last, per Skirj’s request, and he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Find Terra. Ask her . . . ask her ‘What would Skrag do?’ She’ll know what it means.”
Legolie nodded. “Will do. Good luck saving the world.” She stepped through the portal and was gone.
This is true. It's remarkable how the act of writing down (or, in this case, typing) a given set of words grants it a degree of permanence.
You are so deep you're a well, sir.
I spent a few minutes trying to think of a witty reply to this, but then I gave up, so thanks, I guess. The uncertainty in my wording is not meant to imply that I doubt that I should be thanking you, by the way, because that was clearly a compliment, just that I was reluctantly settling on that lackluster response as opposed to something more interesting.
-last edited on May 2, 2019 19:36:33 GMT by RuleJJ
Post by RuleJJ on May 2, 2019 19:36:06 GMT
Chapter 108
Seen through heavy, gray storm clouds, the setting sun appeared as a glowing orange ball, faint enough to be looked upon with the naked eye. Its light reflected oddly off the lightning bolts that intermittently split the sky, lending them some of its golden tint, while others retained their usual pale silver. Rain poured down from above, fat drops that instantly soaked through whatever they touched and left broad, deep puddles in the grass. The wind whistled through the trees on the other side of the castle, lending a haunting song to the already spine-tingling atmosphere.
Just as he had three days earlier, Hithrol found Tinunclus surveying their forces from atop a rise. “Olifin, Storm, and Haru can’t fly in this. The lightning’s too dangerous and visibility’s too low.”
Tinunclus nodded, for once showing no ferocity. “My people cannot fly either.”
“What should we do?” Perhaps the storm would let up soon, but certainly not before it was too dark to fight. And were they willing to risk being attacked at night, from so vulnerable a position?
The Falkrions’ leader seemed to be having the same thoughts as Hithrol. “We fight. Tell Zariana, Hyplaeuse, and Briagorn to marshal their forces.”
Hithrol jogged down the hill to relay the orders, heart thumping in his chest. After so long preparing and planning, after so many betrayals and losses, all of it was about to come to an end, finally. He couldn’t have said how that made him feel.
The first time Terra went to war, against the armies of Kelrin Dragonsblood so long ago, she had been afraid. It had seemed an impossible battle; hopelessness had conquered her, broken her. This time, the odds were not so much better, but Terra was no longer afraid, or at least that fear no longer controlled her. Mostly, she was angry, at what they had done to Rimil, at what Terra had seen they would do if they won. If they lost this battle, they lost everything. But Terra was not afraid. They would not fail, because she would not let them. This time, she would fight until her last breath. Lightning lit the sky. Rain poured down heavy, just as it had before that first battle. Then, Terra had rejoiced in it. Today, she thought only of war.
I spent a few minutes trying to think of a witty reply to this, but then I gave up, so thanks, I guess. The uncertainty in my wording is not meant to imply that I doubt that I should be thanking you, by the way, because that was clearly a compliment, just that I was reluctantly settling on that lackluster response as opposed to something more interesting.
We can't always have the perfect response at our fingertips. This was a quality post nonetheless.
That ends today. 
The uncertainty in my wording is not meant to imply that I doubt that I should be thanking you, by the way, because that was clearly a compliment, just that I was reluctantly settling on that lackluster response as opposed to something more interesting.