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Post by tammy on Mar 14, 2007 21:22:07 GMT -5
I have a problem sticking to one tense so please bear with me
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Post by tammy on Mar 14, 2007 21:22:58 GMT -5
Chapter 1
The key was old fashioned and worn, made of brass it had an elaborate handle that resembled a Celtic knot. I wiped some more dust off the handle to see the markings clearer; it looked to have some kind of flowing script etched along the elegant curvatures. It was really the prettiest key I had found up here in my grandmother’s attic. The other keys were rusted and cold, while this one was only dark with age and quiet warm to the touch. Though, the warmth was probably due to the chest I found it in being in a shaft of sunlight coming through the small dingy window that looked out on the forest. Standing, I went to the window and using my rag I wiped several years of dust off of the panes to further brighten the afternoon sun that had broken through the cloud cover which was common this time of late winter. Looking out the window I saw my mother pulling weeds out in grandma’s overgrown garden, it would look quiet nice when it was fixed up; there were herbs, fruits, vegetables, and the occasional ornamental flower or bush. Grandma was a very earthy person, and she loved to cook. I had already run across several very old cook books, that grandma seems to have written herself. Mom is going to be overjoyed when she sees them, she also loves to cook; according to mom I come from a long line of successful homemakers, but unfortunately it didn’t pass on to me. I’m not all that fond of cooking unless its cookies, and that has been an unending disappointment to my mother for as long as I can remember. Not wanting to dwell on it, I turn back to the chest that had the beautiful key. The key had been wrapped in a cream colored handkerchief, with silver embroidery of flowers and vines. It was very nice and seemed to match the key quiet well. Wrapping it back up, I put the key and kerchief in my back pocket with another much smaller and planer old key that I had found earlier. Maybe one of these keys opens that one trunk in my grandmother’s closet. I’d love to know what was in it, it was awfully heavy and looked to have been hand carved, kind of like the one I was looking in now, but it had much more detail and my grandmother must have used it quiet often seeing how there was barley dust on it. The trunk I was rummaging through right now had several books and small boxes with strange plants. I would have to show these to mom, maybe she would know what they were, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen any like them before. Yet there was something familiar about them, that I just couldn’t put my finger on. They smelled familiar, especially this leaf that was in the strangely shaped box. The box reminded me of those spiraled sea shells I sometimes find on the beach, but for some reason the reddish leaf reminded me of smoke and burnt coals. These herbs were probably just rare or something, because my mother taught me all of the herbs in her garden, and her garden was bigger that our house, it was even bigger than the garden at our church, and that was a good sized garden. Plus grandma taught me about her garden, too, and also about many foreign herbs that are often used in cooking, but not able to grow in the mountains were she lives. Where we are going to live now. Now that grandma’s gone. Blinking back tears I try not to think about the night we got the call. The call that said grandma had had a heart attack and that there was nothing that could have been done. The call that said mom and I were the only ones left of our family, that everyone else had died and it was just us now. We were even more alone than we were before. Taking a deep calming breath, I softly stroked the silver unicorn pendant that grandmother had given me for my birthday the month before. It was very old and grandma said it had been passed down in our family for generations from grandmother to granddaughter. My mother has a silver raven pendant that was given to her by her grandmother, my great-grandmother died just after giving it to her when she was sixteen. There was a crash downstairs and I jumped. What was that? I stood up and looked out the window again. Mom was still down in the garden cutting back the blackberries. So what fell down stairs? Only one way to find out. Closing the lid to the trunk I had been looking in, I clicked off the bulb hanging from the ceiling, and headed down the old folding attic ladder. The hall was cooler and I’d left my sweater in the attic, so I grabbed my old flannel shirt from my room next to the stairs. There was another crash from what sounded like the kitchen. I inched down the stairs, remembering to avoid the squeaky step close to the bottom. The entry hall was cramped, and had doors leading to the living room and study, then the hall led further into the house, opening to the kitchen and the laundry room. I tip-toed down the hall and peaked into the kitchen. There was a woman rummaging around in my fridge. She was very slim and had short black hair falling just below her shoulders in tight ringlets, and from the disgruntled muttering and occasional thump of something falling out and hitting the floor; I could tell she wasn’t finding what she was looking for. “Sassy,” I say in a scolding voice. She freezes and slowly turns around with a look of complete innocence in her dark almond shaped eyes. “Missa Tawny. What are you doing here?” Her eyes dart around the room as if looking for a way out, “I mean aren’t you supposed to be in school?” I arched an eyebrow, “Aren’t you supposed to be in Los Angeles?” “I…uh…about that.” She scuffed a shoe along the floor, “um, promise you won’t be mad at me.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the door jam, waiting. She winced, “Tawny, now, it wasn’t my fault,” she burst out, “see there was this guy and he was really cute—I met him at a bar—and we kinda hit it off, so when he invited me to go to this game, I thought ‘Sassy, that’s just what your friend Tawny would want you to do before your interview: to have fun, and relax,’ so I went and I had a really great time, really, it was a blast, and before I knew it, it was five and the interview had been at two; but I had a really great time, and made some new friends, and…yeah.” She finished lamely, her eyes still on the floor, her shoulders humped and dejected. I couldn’t help it; I did the only thing I could: I laughed. I laughed so hard tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. I had to, she just stood there looking so much like a kid who was caught and knew the lecture and punishment were on the way; so, I did the one thing I hadn’t yet tried, I laughed at her. I had been trying to get my best friend to get a steady job now for three years and had yet to succeed, so failing to think of anything else I laughed. Looking up I saw that I had definitely gotten her attention, she looked all at once offended, shocked, and worried. “Are you okay, T.?” She asked, making to put her hand to my forehead and check for fever. All I could do was nod; I was still chuckling and holding my ribs. “You sure? ‘Cause if you having a breakdown, I got chocolate in my car.” That just made me laugh harder as I staggered over to a chair, and tried to gather some of my wits together, but every time I had almost calmed down to a semblance of myself, Sassy cracked another joke and made me bust up laughing again. By the time mom came in, we were both half-laying on the table, trying desperately not to fall out of our chairs from laughing so hard. We were both practically drunk with laughter and didn’t notice mom until she asked if we were having a good time, startled we both jumped, our laughter cutting off, but when we realized it was my mom we laughed even harder and she joined us. After a few minutes we calmed down enough to fill in mom on why my BF was here instead of at her new job. She just shook her head and tsked like she always did when Sassy came back without a job. She had once told me that in her youth she’d been the same way, wanting to be free and without roots to tie her down, she understands what Sassy’s going through, but says that she has to deal with it on her own. I know what she means; we all have our little problems that we have to work out ourselves. Mom decided it was time for dinner, so Sassy and I volunteered to help. “Now I need some herbs from down in the cellar, and don’t forget to turn off the light on your way back again.” She admonished, with a stern wave of her finger. Sassy and I nodded our heads and assured her we wouldn’t forget, and then headed across the hall to the cellar door. Opening it we found ourselves looking into a black maw, shaking her head Sassy motioned me to go in first. I rolled my eyes and wrinkled my nose at the musty smell, I remember so well from my youth. The cellar scared me to death when I was little. The old wooden steps creaked ominously as I carefully made my way down to the bottom. I fumbled around the beam at the base of the stairs for the light switch, and found it after brushing several spider webs. I flicked the old fashioned switch, but nothing happened. I flicked it again, wondering why it wasn’t working, still nothing. “The light switch isn’t working!” I yell up at Sassy who is still standing at the top of the stairs. “What’s wrong with it?” Sassy yells back. I shoot her an annoyed look and yell, “how would I know?!” I pause for a second and think, “the bulb’s probably blown.” I reach down and feel around the base of the wall where the spare flashlight should be. Just when I’m about to give up and get the one from the kitchen, my hand bumps into it. With flash light in hand I search the shelf next to the stairs for the spare light bulbs and find one in the back corner. I make a mental note to tell mom we’re almost out of spare bulbs. This whole time Sassy is shifting nervously around the top of the stairs. “You done yet?” She yells, an anxious expression on her face, Sassy was always afraid of the dark and I knew there was no way I’d get her down here with out more light. And finding the things mom needed would go twice as fast with her help. It took me a couple minutes but I got the bulb changed and with a flick of the switch the dusty cellar was illuminated with a steady yellow glow. Grandma’s cellar was pretty big. There are rows and rows of wooden shelves stuffed with jars and different odds and ends. In the back there are sacks and barrels and boxes of who-knew-what. Now that it was light, Sassy made her way down the stairs. I asked her to look through the shelves closet to the stairs, while I explored the sacks and barrels in the back. It suited us both because she liked being where there was more light and I didn’t trust her to pick out the rice. Sassy’s lived with us for enough years to know basic herbs, but anything else having to do with cooking she didn’t quite have a handle on yet, and I wanted to make sure it was rice that we carried up and not barley. So I left Sassy clanking jars while I explored the dimly lit back of the cellar. After a couple minutes shifting bags and swatting spiders I found the rice bag I needed and dragged it to the bottom of the stairs. Sassy had just finding the last ingredient so I helped her carry the jars to the kitchen then we came back down the stairs and lugged the bag of rice back up with us. Of course I’d forgotten to turn off the light so I went back down the stairs again. Just as I was about to flip the switch, I thought I saw something move in the back and something shiny glinted at me from the floor. Slowly I make my way to the back of the cellar. There was my old fashioned key lying next to a sack that had fallen over. I lean over to pick up the key and something catches my eye. A bit of silver peaked out from under the fallen sack. I push the sack aside and crouch down to inspect what ever it was. It was a small silver leaf that had been inlaid into the wood of the floor in some kind of design. How odd. Another sack was obscuring the rest of the design so I pull it to the side. It was some kind of vine and scroll design, quite pretty and very detailed. It continued under some more sacks and bags and it took several minutes but I uncovered the whole design. It was magnificent. The vine and scroll work made a border in the shape of a square, and in the middle of this square there was a great flowering tree, and at the base of the tree fantastic animals were lounging and interacting with one another. The artwork was so realistic that as I stared at it the animals seemed to move, the leaves to rustle, the branches to sway. I am so mesmerized by the engravings that I don’t hear Sassy until she’s right behind me. “There you are! What are you doing down…” Her words cut off as she caught sight of the silver image. “Wow.” She breathes out softly. She kneels beside me and brushes her hand over one of the silver animals. “What is it?” She whispers. I touch the thick silver ring I just noticed inset close to the bottom edge of the picture. “It looks like a trap door.” I was confused, why would grandma have a trap door in her cellar, let alone one as magnificent as this. Something clanked on to the top of the door. The silver key in my hand had slipped out of the handkerchief and fell next to the tree trunk. I realized that the designs on the key matched the designs around the edge. I picked up the key once more and the trunk of the tree caught my eye, there was a hole at the base of tree where the roots began, it was shaped like an old fashioned keyhole. No, it couldn’t be. With an unsteady hand I slipped the key into the hole and turned. Something clicked. I guess the key didn’t fit my grandmother’s chest after all. Not really thinking about it I slipped the key back into my pants pocket. Then I wrapped my hand around the thick ring, braced myself, and pulled up. Slowly the door lifted. It was heavy, but Sassy helped to push it up and we leaned it on the boxes and sacks piled up behind it. An old wooden latter was revealed and it led down into a dark hole. “I am so not going in there.” Sassy mutters, slowly backing away from the darkness. I quickly go to the base of the stairs grab the flashlight and peer down into the hole. The light illuminates the walls and floor of the hole. I gasp. I don’t know what I expected but this wasn’t it. The walls were earthen at the top but the further down they got the smoother and more rock-like the walls became, and the floor shimmered like it was sprinkled with fairy dust. More than a little intrigued I found myself leaning over to climb down the latter. “Tawny!” Sassy hissed as she grabbed my elbow to keep me from lowering myself into the hole. “Let go, Sassy!” I pause and look her square in the eye, “this is my grandmother’s cellar. Do you really think she’d have anything to be afraid of in here?” She still looked unconvinced, but at least she didn’t look panicky anymore. “Now, I’m going to see what’s down here, you can either come or not that’s your choice—but I’m going.” I slowly start back down the latter and she lets go of my arm. The way down is slow going because I still have the flashlight in my hand. The walls, I notice, become a light creamy stone towards the bottom. I brush at some of the dirt on the wall and it flakes off to reveal the stone beneath. Though why the dirt would coat the top before the bottom of the wall I have no idea. The floor was stone too and no dirt marred its sparkling surface. How odd. It was almost as if the dirt was being pushed up somehow instead of settling to the bottom. There was a nitch in the wall by the latter, a box of matches were there along with an old oil lamp. I guess grandma didn’t bring a flashlight down. “What do you see?” Sassy called down. I turned around and looked closer at the room I was in. The walls were bare as was the floor, and there were no items laying around. No wait, I brought my flashlight beam back to the corner, there was something there. I moved closer to get a better look. “T.?” Sassy sounded panicked now. I was halfway across the room when my flashlight suddenly died. I froze where I stood. It was pitch black with a faint light coming from where the trap door was. “Tawny!?” Sassy screamed, plainly terrified. My throat was tight from swallowing the scream that wanted to bubble up in my throat. Sassy had scared me to death with that scream. “I’m ok, Sassy. Calm down! The flashlight just died. I’m coming back up.” I slowly walk back toward the stairs and just before I reach them my flashlight blinks back to life. “Huh, that’s weird.” I muse out loud. “What’s weird?” Sassy asks. “Oh, my flashlight just came back on.” I pause, “hey, I’m going to check out the corner. I thought I saw something.” “T., no!” Sassy whines. I roll my eyes, “it’ll just take a second.” I walk back to the corner, but once again half way there my light goes out. “Tawny?” I let out a frustrated breath. “I’m fine. The batteries must be going bad.” I walk to the latter and just as I reach it the flashlight comes back on. “Dumb flashlight.” I mutter as I start up the latter. Just then I remember the oil lamp and box of matches in that cubby in the wall. I hop off the latter and check the lamp to see if it has oil in it. It’s almost full, and the wick looks practically brand new. I light the lamp and turn up the flame to bright. The burning oil smelled awful but the light was bright and cheery. I told Sassy what I’d found and went to check out the corner once more. There was a large square chest sitting next to the opening to another hallway. The chest was stone the same color as the walls, that must be why I couldn’t tell what it was before. The chest was plain and unadorned except for the clasp that held the lid shut. It was a stylized unicorn holding a rose in its teeth. Gently I unhooked the clasp and lifted the lid. It was lighter than I imagined though it was quite heavy. Inside the chest lay a pile of clothes. Carefully I lifted out a dress that was on top. It was a dark green, the material was thin and light and the color seemed to shift slightly in the candlelight. There were several more dresses in the chest most were different shades of green though there were some blues and yellows, and they all seemed to be slightly different in style. The first one I pulled out was my favorite, but I liked them all. And they all seemed to be made out of the same material. I walked back to the latter and looked up at Sassy. “Guess what,” I told her, my voice pitched higher because I was excited. Instantly she was interested, she knew what that tone of voice meant. “What?” She asks. “Clothes! Some of the prettiest dresses I’ve ever seen!” Sassy’s eyes got real big and her mouth dropped open in shock. Without a word she turned around and started scrambling down the latter like a mad woman. If there was one thing this girl liked more than hot guys, it was clothes. I have to admit I’m a sucker for a cute top, too, but Sassy takes it to an obsession. She dropped the last few steps and rushed over to where I stood by the chest. “Oh. My. God.” Were the only words she spoke as she gazed in awe at the most beautiful summer dresses she has ever seen. I stand to the side holding my favorite up to me and say, “you like?” Sassy snaps her jaw shut, takes an assessing look at the dark green piece, and in perfect valley girl imitation snaps her fingers and waggles her head saying, “You go girl!” We laugh and she practically dives into the piles of clothes. I decide to delve deeper into my side of the chest and what I find makes me giddy…I’d stumbled upon shoes! They weren’t the normal strappy high-heeled contraptions of present day. But more like old time leather Indian moccasins. There were several pairs, some were different colors, some were extravagantly beaded others were plain leather, some were tall boots reaching almost to your knee, and others were short with cuffs that went just over your ankles. There were a dozen pairs in all and Sassy went bananas over them too. In a couple of them we found leather belts that had been wound up and stuffed inside. Those belts, like the shoes, were different colors and some were beaded while others weren’t. We decided that some of the outfits were just to awesome to not try on, so we turned our backs to each other, and just like we were shopping at the store, changed into our favorite outfits and shoes. What was odd though, was that everything looked good as new, like it had never been worn. We both noticed this at the same time and though we thought it odd, didn’t pay attention to it. She’d chosen a yellow and light green dress with an artfully leafy looking hem that made her look like a pixie. She also picked the only pair of shoes that had straps; they were butter yellow leather slippers with straps that she twisted up her calves to tie behind her knee. Add that with her naturally tan skin and she looked like a knockout. Of course I didn’t look half bad myself with the dark green dress accentuating the red highlights in my auburn hair. It was cut to be long and form fitting from the waist up but made to swirl around my legs whenever I turned. The belt and shoes were a couple shades lighter than the dress and both had light green leaf and vine embroidery. “We have got to show these things to your mom!” Sassy said. “Yeah!” I agreed. We both raced to the latter. Sassy made it there first and started to climb up when, suddenly the ground started to shake. Dirt crumbled from the ceiling and Sassy lost her grip on the latter. I stood right behind her so she fell into me knocking us both to the floor. Suddenly the trap door slammed shut above us with a thunderous crash; dimly I could hear other things falling up in the cellar, boxes toppling over and glass crashing to the floor. Sassy and I huddled together on the floor by the latter praying the shaking would stop. Finally it did, it seemed like years, but finally the ground shaking ceased. Sassy and I however continued to tremble. I’d never been though an earthquake that bad and I could safely say I never wanted to again. I tried to asses the damage, the lamp had fallen over but by some miracle it didn’t break and the oil didn’t spill, nor did it light any of the dresses on fire. Though it was close. I gently shook the latter to see if it was still stable, it seemed sturdy enough but there was no way to know for sure until I tried it. Sassy was unusually quiet, though she was clutching the oil lamp as if her life depended on it. For a moment I feared she was strong enough to shatter it, but then I figured that if the earthquake couldn’t harm it then neither could she. Even so I ask her to not squeeze it quite so hard. I cautiously start up the latter. I try every rung with steadily heaver amounts of weight before I trust it to my full weight. It wasn’t very far to fall, but I still didn’t want to do it. Finally I reach the top and push up against the door. It doesn’t budge. I bang and hit it until I can feel the stuff that had fallen on top rattle and shift. I start to panic, would mom know about the hidden door? Was it completely covered with old boxes and sacks again? Surely mom would come down to check on us after that quake; especially if we don’t show up for a while. Right?
Chapter 2
An hour passes and I give up on any hope that mom discovered the door. Sassy had bouts of quiet sobs occasionally, and I have to admit I shed a few tears as well. The chances of the other hallway we’d found coming to an opening above ground was remote. But it is the best chance we have right now. I tell Sassy what I think and she nods her head mutely. I try reassuring her, but I’m afraid I sound like I’m trying to convince myself. Her silence worries me. She’s not a quiet girl normally and the fact she is now is a testament to how scared she is.
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Post by tammy on Mar 14, 2007 21:24:08 GMT -5
Wow...that was a big post...and it's just all I have so far...
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Post by josh on Apr 7, 2007 15:08:20 GMT -5
lol that shur is a big post and a good one to
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Post by tammy on Apr 7, 2007 16:07:58 GMT -5
thanks! They're going to enter another world, but I have to decide if they enter into an abandoned castle or an active castle...I'm leaning toward abandoned so she can learn clues to where they are and what's happened to them without actually meeting another character yet cause I'm not sure if I'm going to have other races (like elves) either...lol...I need some inspiration!
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Post by tammy on Sept 7, 2007 2:34:54 GMT -5
Well, here's the next chapter, but it isn't very long...
“We should look for a way out.” I stand up and offer Sassy my hand. She takes it and I help her stand. She doesn’t let go of my hand and I give her a reassuring squeeze. We set off down the hall hand in hand. Sassy has always reminded me of a child, she never lost that child-like innocence. I’ve always taken care of her like she was my little sister. But now I felt like the child, scared and lost, but thankfully not lonely. What ever we find at the end of that tunnel, I know that I can count on her to be there with me. We walked for what seemed like hours; occasionally taking breaks to rest our sore feet. Then I noticed a light breeze coming down the hall from the direction we were walking. I didn’t pay any attention to it at first but then it started to get stronger the farther we walked. And I realized that the air must be coming from somewhere, and that meant a way out! “That breeze! We’re almost out Sass!” “Out? Where?!” “Come on!” We grinned at each other and ran down the tunnel, but soon found out Sassy couldn’t run without risk of spilling the oil from the lantern. So we settled for a really quick walk that was almost a trot we were so excited. The breeze gained in strength, until it was no longer a breeze but a fearsome gale. We saw a light at the end of the tunnel. By now the wind was so strong it seemed almost like it was trying to keep us back, force us from the exit. I stepped in front of Sassy to take the brunt of the force away from her. We were closer to the light now, could make out it’s shape. It was an arched door that had shrunken in it’s frame so much that light and that horrible wind could leak from around it’s sides. I would have been amazed at how the door was holding up under this onslaught, but I was busy just trying to put one foot in front of the other without getting blown away. Finally I’m close enough to reach out and grab the handle of the door. There was no knob to turn and I couldn’t pull it open. Sassy who had her hands around my waist and her face buried into my back to protect against the wind, peaked over my shoulder wondering why we’d stopped. “It’s locked!” I had to shout to be heard over the howl of the wind. “Well unlock it!” She yelled into my ear. I scowled over my shoulder at her, but she couldn’t see it because she’d buried her face into my back again. I kept a death grip on the door and thought franticly. My hands started to cramp on the old iron handle and I knew I couldn’t hold on for much longer. Then I noticed a small shaft of light above the handle in the shape of a keyhole. I looked closer at the hole, and noticed a tarnished silver tree set into the wood of the door. The keyhole was in its trunk just like the design on the trap door in the cellar. Well, it’s worth a try, I thought. I carefully pry one of my hands off of the handle and reach down to the bag at my waist. I fumble with the knot for a moment, trying to loosen it and keep a hold on the bag at the same time so I wouldn’t loose it to the wind. Then I feel Sassy shift her grip on my waist to hold onto the pouch for me. I was able to untie the knot then and the pouch came free into her hand. She held it while I loosened the top and dipped my hand into it, grabbing the key. I fought the wind to bring my hand closer to the keyhole. I almost had it, just a little further. My fingers started slipping on the door’s handle. With a last push of strength I shoved the key toward the lock. Just as my fingers slipped away from my iron anchor, the key slid into the lock and turned. The wind stopped suddenly. Sassy and I had been pushing against the wind and found that with nothing to push against we were propelled into the door with jarring force now. The door flew open and we flew through it and landed in a pile on the other side. The door creaked ominously and suddenly swung on it’s hinges with bone breaking force. Sassy grabbed me and rolled us to the side just in time. The force of the swing sending a burst of wind in our direction causing us to roll into the stone wall another five feet away. The door slammed shut with a deafening crash. I hit the wall with my back and banged my head against the stone. Sassy smashed into me, hitting me in the gut with an elbow, and what little air I had in my lungs after hitting the wall left me in a whoosh. “Ow! Sorry, Tammy.” Sassy said as she rolled to a sitting position. I just wheezed and held my stomach for a second before sitting up myself. I looked around to see where we were. There were torches in the wall give a dim orange glow to the plane stone gray room. The smoke tickled my nose and I tried not to sneeze. I wondered where the wind had gone. Sassy leaned over and picked something off the floor not far from us. It was my grandmother’s bronze key. Somehow she had kept a hold of the bag from my belt, and now she dropped the key in it, pulled the drawstrings and handed it to me. I took it with numb fingers and tied it to my belt without a thought. I was too, busy examining the room we’d ended in. And it was an end too, a dead end. The room was almost an exact replica of the room we’d started in, except for the torches. I didn’t see a ladder or another hallway, either. Maybe they were hidden? “Did we go in a circle?” Sassy asks, as she carefully brushes the dust off of her dress. That’s Sassy alright, she’d care more for her clothes than food if she was starving. I dusted myself off, too, but I wasn’t nearly as careful as Sassy was being. I started walking around the perimeter of this new room, looking for a clue as to what to do next. Sassy was still meticulously grooming herself and humming as usual. I was surprised at how easily she was taking this, but then I thought that maybe this was her way of dealing. She was pretending that everything was normal, so she wouldn’t think about all of the strange things that have happened. I wondered what I was doing to deal. Nah, I don’t want to think about it. If I don’t think too closely on it, it’ll keep working. Sassy would break down if I lost my head, so I stayed calm and concentrated on the problem, not how we got here. I walked around the walls, noting that there were no niches with lanterns, or chests with clothes, or ladders leading to cellars, or doors for that matter. Only the one we came through. There weren’t even any hallways. We had well and truly hit a dead end. But that only left the question of where the mysterious wind had come from. There had to be another way out, the laws of physics wouldn’t have it any other way. After another ten minutes I was reduced to pushing at each and every stone in those damn walls. By now Sassy had finished grooming herself and was watching me with a studied look of boredom on her heart shaped face. “So what are we going to do now?” She asked with a martyred sigh that was a bit too theatrical. I stopped poking at stones and took a measuring look around the room, covertly studying her from the corner of my eye. The boredom routine was obviously a mask to hide her fear, but what would it take to crack that mask, or to shatter it completely. I took too long and her mask started to crack around the edges a little as she fidgeted waiting for me to answer. “Well, I figure there’s either a door hidden around her somewhere. We just have to find it.” She nodded and stopped fidgeting. She just needed a plan to focus on. “There’s lots of things the hidden catch could be,” I explained to her, “it could be a pressure plate on the floor or a loose brick we have to push in the wall.” I shrugged. “We just have to keep trying until we find it.” I tried to look confident and hopeful, I even managed a smile, though how bright it could have been I have no idea. Apparently I managed bright enough because she smiled and started jumping hotchscop across the flag stones, singing random songs as she went. I smiled genuinely this time and went back to working the walls. A few minutes later I noticed something strange. Sassy’s voiced sounded different, more melodious somehow. She’s always had a spectacular voice, but now her voice had a depth it’s never had before. The notes echoed strangely in this hollow room, but I think it was more than that. The stones I tried to push on the wall almost vibrated in time with her song. It was almost as if the stones were trying to sing with her. I stopped searching to watch her as she played her game and sang with that wonderful voice of hers. I was reminded of how people must see her; as a ten-year-old trapped in twenty-year-olds’ body. I knew the truth, though, Sassy knew she was grown-up, knew that she should show maturity. She simply chose not to. She wasn’t usually this flighty, but when she’s really stressed she plays up the childhood act, reverting to happier times when she was innocent to the ways of adults and the problems that went with them. Then I noticed something, the air around Sassy was rippling. That’s the only way to describe it. Rippling. It was like looking through the heat waves that come off of the ground when it’s really hot, but it wasn’t hot in here, it was actually a little cool. As she continued with her song the rippling in the air grew stronger and little sparkles began to appear around her. I started at her with dawning horror. Something really weird was happening and Sassy was right in the middle of it! “Sassy!” I yelled, waving my arms to get her attention. But she was looking at the floor and didn’t seem to hear me or notice the strange phenomenon around her. The sparkles got brighter and there were more of them. It was getting hard to see Sassy clearly through the haze. I was nearly sobbing with helplessness. She couldn’t see me! She didn’t know what was happening! Steeling myself I screwed up my courage and bolted into the haze, hoping to knock her out of the cloud. As soon as I entered the haze every strand of hair on my body stood on end. It was like someone had rubbed a balloon all over my body there was so much static electricity. There was a slight resistance to the air, as if it had thickened, and I had to push my way toward her. I reached out to touch her, to push her out of the cloud; but when my hand was within inches of her shoulder a strong spark of electricity arched between us. We both jumped nearly a foot and Sassy’s pure ringing note ended in a high screech. Suddenly there was a loud pop and I felt a tremendous shockwave hit me and I was sailing across the room and into the wall. The breath whooshed out of my lungs, and as my head made contact with the stone stars swam in front of my eyes and darkness ate at the edges of my vision. I lay there for a second at the base of the wall, and fought to stay conscious. After a few moments I won the battle, and felt strong enough to take in my surroundings. Thick, bright pink smoke drifted, in a rapidly thinning cloud, in the center of the room where Sassy and I had been standing. The smell of rotten eggs suddenly hit me, and my stomach rebelled. After a few minutes of emptying the remains of my long ago breakfast, I was down to just dry heaving. I couldn’t even smell the product of my heaving over the rotten egg smell, it was that strong. I heard groaning on the other side of the room. Through the faint pink haze that was all that remained of the hot-pink smoke, I saw Sassy crumpled at the bottom of the wall on the other side of the room. She started to stir and a moment later I heard choking sounds, and then I knew that she had tossed her cookies, too. It made me feel a little better that I wasn’t the only one who had puked. When I was fourteen I had the stomach flu and had puked for two weeks strait. This felt like that. Finally the smell started to fade, or my nose got accustomed to it, and my stomach started to settle. I hurt everywhere and was willing to bet the whole back side of my body was one huge bruise. The back of my head was especially tender, and I thought I probably had a concussion with how hard I hit. The fact that it had completely knocked Sassy out for a few minutes worried me. She must have hit her head harder than I did. I wanted to crawl over to her and see how she was but my arms just flopped around like limp noodles and hurt really bad. Sassy had stopped vomiting, and was now whimpering softly. Or was that me? I realized I was making a pathetic sound in the back of my throat and concentrated on just breathing. I could hear that Sassy was breathing raggedly, but I couldn’t tell if she was still conscious. She was laying on the floor, and I could tell that her head wasn’t in the puddle she’d just made, but that’s all I could see from my fellow vantage point on the floor. I lay there for I don’t know how long, trying to get parts of my body to just move correctly but it was no use, it was like I was made of jello. I noticed my eye lids starting to get heavy, and tried to keep them open. I knew it was dangerous to fall asleep with a concussion. Soon I started to not feel the pain that had eaten at me, a strange lethargy swept over me and I couldn’t remember why I didn’t want to fall asleep. Sleep sounds so good right now. I’ll just take a short nap. Just rest my eyes for a few moments. Just…a…moment… As my eyelids drifted close, my sluggish brain picked up the sound of a door creaking open, a deep menacing growl so close that my chest vibrated with the sound of it. Then the darkness swept me away and I was oblivious.
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Post by tammy on Sept 7, 2007 2:35:45 GMT -5
Ok...it was longer than I thought it'd be...
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Post by josh on Sept 21, 2007 18:41:13 GMT -5
yeppers it is long lol
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Post by tammy on Sept 25, 2007 2:19:38 GMT -5
Chapter 3
My world was a dark horror filled landscape. Shadows darted among the rocks and crags of the mountainside I stood upon. Fires spewed toward the darkened sky from glowing pools of lava. The air itself seemed to burn my lungs and a foul coppery taste lingered on my tongue. It was hot here. So hot my skin felt like it was blistering. I squeezed my eyes closed and wished I were anywhere else. Tears of pain ran down my cheeks and I swear I heard them sizzle on my heated skin. I felt a cold touch on my cheek, a gentle caress wiping away my tears. I opened my eyes and though my tears blurred the image a little, I saw a man. He was tall, taller than Sassy even, over six feet. He had a long dark shaggy mane of hair that whipped in a breeze that I couldn’t feel. He leaned down so his face was inches away from mine. There was something odd about his face. It was very angular, with a blunt jaw and a nose that looked a little too large for his face, but his eyes…they were magnificent, a dark green that lightened to gold around his iris. They were the most striking eyes I had ever seen. The edges pointed down dramatically making them look tear-shaped. He narrowed his eyes as he studied me in turn. I tried to speak, to ask him where I was, who he was, why we were here. The sound that came out of my too dry throat was more a wheeze with a short moan tacked on the end. He growled low in his throat. A deep menacing sound that seemed strangely familiar. Then I realized that he was talking to me. His voice was rough like he didn’t use it often, and low like his growl. I tried to understand the words he said, but couldn’t. He seemed to be speaking a language that wasn’t English, but a lot like it. So much so, that I felt like I could understand him if I just listened harder. It was right there. The meaning of his words was right on the tip of my tongue. I listened harder, straining, racking my brain for the meanings. Then it came to me. I understood. “…are too young to be the Keeper, yet obviously you are because you hold the Key. You are needed so badly now. I am sorry again for putting you through this pain.” He paused, “what is wrong? Why do you have that look on your face? The pain will lessen soon, then this nightmare will pass and you will awaken. Your friend, the Gale, is very worried for you. She is alright, but the Elder had to put her to sleep for all of her screaming when she woke up. She almost killed three of my Lua with her magic. She is a very powerful ally. You picked a good companion in her, my Allina.” He paused and a slight smile curved his lips. It was a quick, fleeting smile and I must have imagined his eyes loosing a little of their downward slant. I realized that understanding his words didn’t mean I understood what he was saying, because I was clueless to just about everything he was rambling about. And it did seem like a ramble too, like some people do when their nervous or worried. This guy was a bunch of mysteries rolled into one. I just wish he’d tell me why I hurt so much and where we were. He started to ramble again about things I didn’t understand. I stopped listening. The pain was worsening and I just wanted to know how to get away from this hellish place before I lit up like a human torch. He kept calling me “Allina,” like it was my name or something. Maybe he thought I was someone else. Yes, that must be it. He was talking to the wrong person. As long as he got me out of here I didn’t care who he thought I was. I tried to tell him to get me out of here, but my voice did that wheezing moan thing again. I was getting desperate, the pain was almost unbearable and I wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and die. The strange thing was I couldn’t curl up, I seemed to be pressed against a slab of super heated rock and couldn’t move my limbs. Maybe my skin had melted to the rock and I was stuck to it until I died. I hoped that would be soon. The man was closer to me now. I think I cried some more, because he was stroking my cheek again. Still prattling on about something called a Warren and how much I’ll like it. The heat was hitting me in waves now. Waves of pain that just kept coming. I tried to clutch to his words, to some how use them to anchor me through the pain. The gentle stroke of his hand on my cheek brought me back from each blistering assault. “It’ll all be over soon, my Allina. It’s almost done.” The waves of agony started to get slightly weaker after that. Like getting jabbed with thousands of needles one second and then in the next they were gone. The periods between the needles were a constant burning that wouldn’t be quenched, like having a really bad sunburn cover your entire body. As the pain lessened the fiery hell I was stuck in started to change. The black sky with it’s roiling black clouds started to lighten and the clouds started to dissipate. The sun started to peak through and where the rays of light landed, bright green grass sprung up and flowers started to appear. The columns of flames that were struck by light turned into leafy trees, and the great boulders and rocks strewn about became blooming bushes and clumps of pretty flowers. Soon my pain filled landscape became a wonderful paradise before my eyes. The stone I was pressed against became a giant ivy covered oak tree that spread its branches to stretch over our heads. The man looked around at the quickly blooming paradise and a slow easy smile appeared on his lips. This time there was no mistaking it though, the corners of his eyes that had dipped down so far were now slowly curling upward. Like his eyes were smiling at me as well as mouth. It was the oddest thing, but it transformed his face and made him look incredibly handsome. The angles that had been so sharp and pronounced before became softer and his nose that had seemed too large was just the right size. He grinned at me then, and I noticed that his teeth were unusually pointed. Like that of a predator. My expression must have changed, because he lost some of the smile on his face. “You have a beautiful mind, Allina. I am honored to be shown it…against your will though it may be.” He looked kind of sad then, his eyes tilted down a little more and the smile on his mouth was a little lopsided. “Please…forgive me this intrusion…it was to save your life. I would have waited the proper courting time before sealing our bond, but I was not given a choice. If I had not bonded us you would have died and I would be…Bere again.” The smile left his face all together and he looked in pain from some memory of the past. I reached out and took his hand. His hand was large and heavily callused, but I felt better holding it. Safer somehow. “What do you mean, “Bare”?” I asked. My voice worked now, though it was a bit rough. “Not Bare, Bere. It means to have no Allina…no life-mate…no you.” “Life-mate?” I had a bad feeling I was not going to like his answer. “Yes, Allina…lifemate. You are my Allina and I am your Llin. We are one, for life. Bonded. Did you not know this?” He looked perplexed, as if it had never occurred to him that I had no clue what he was talking about. “I’m confused…and why do you keep calling me Allina? My name is Tammy.” “You really do not know?” He looked dumbfounded and a little horrified. The corners of his eyes weren’t curling now, they were strait and slanted upward. I found myself fascinated by the changing of his expressions with his moods. It was so much different from anything I’d ever seen before, but I’m getting sidetracked. “What were we talking about?” I asked, trying to shake this sudden need memorize his every feature. He stopped moving very suddenly, he had been almost fidgeting with anxiety, but now he watched me closely. Wow, he had a great posture. Jeeze, was he tall. That reminded me of something, someone else who was really tall too. Now who was it? A face seemed to float on the edges of my awareness, but I couldn’t catch it. Oh, he was talking again. I should listen raptly to his every word. “…bond is almost complete, but it seems to be affecting you strongly for some reason. Maybe because you are healing your injuries. Yes, that must be it. I must go now, before you unconsciously trap me within your mind. Rest now, my Allina. We will talk again soon.” He gently pried my hand from his, and then he was gone. I was sad that he left, but soon my attention latched onto a flower not far from where he stood and it was such a pretty flower, pretty like him…
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Post by tammy on Sept 25, 2007 2:22:15 GMT -5
I figured I'd post my story in chapters so it's easier to read. This one's short, sorry. I hope you like it though. I hope the end wasn't cheezy, I was going for funny (pretty flower...) lol
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Post by josh on Dec 6, 2007 18:14:46 GMT -5
i copyed and pasted it so i could read it all at once lol ill read it when i can lol thanx for putting it up
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Post by tammy on Dec 7, 2007 18:20:18 GMT -5
lol thanks for reading it!
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Post by josh on Dec 10, 2007 20:00:44 GMT -5
well.... i read the first paragraph and had to stop cuz i got busy at school cuz i copyed and pasted it at school so i put it on a floppy today so im going to put it on my labtop
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Post by tammy on Mar 20, 2008 3:49:43 GMT -5
Chapter 4
I woke up slowly, nestled in my nice warm blankets, on my soft comfy bed. Except my pillow was kind of hard. I tried moving it and it wouldn’t budge, so I punched it a couple times to soften it. Imagine my surprise when said pillow grunted and rolled away, pulling out from under my head. My eyes popped open and a startled cry popped out of my mouth. The back I was looking at was muscled, but lean and tan. I tried to simultaneously swing the blankets off of me and scramble away from him, but somehow my legs got tangled up in the covers and I ended up sprawled halfway off the bed, with my torso hanging over the edge. It was then that I noticed that the floor was not where it was supposed to be. We seemed to be somewhere high, very high. All my breath left me in a high pitched squeak. I quickly scooted back to the edge of the bed and looked more carefully at my surroundings. The bed was round, and the sides curved up like a bowl, but it was flat inside. It was covered by a thick spongy material that reminded me of moss, but I didn’t seem to damage it with all of my flailing about. I looked around, pillars of rock stuck up here and there, reaching for the sky like fingers. Bed-nests, like the one I was in, were carved into the pillars at different heights. Rope bridges connected all the pillars to cliffs that seemed to lean precariously over us. There were platforms sticking out from the rock and small caves going further into the wall. I looked down. The pillars were like tall islands in the middle of a river that ran sluggishly through the bottom of the valley. I looked up. Directly overhead the moon showed her almost full pale face, but red rimmed her pale beauty and seemed to burn. That thought brought the memories of my dream to me, and I shuddered with remembered pain. An arm snaked around my waist, pulling me from the edge and my back thudded against a hard well toned chest. “Are you still in pain, my Allina?” A familiar rough voice rumbled in my ear. I couldn’t help myself, I relaxed, I felt safe in this strangers embrace no matter how my head argued I should be on guard, my body wouldn’t listen. “Where am I now?” I though that was the safest question to ask, I had so many more that I was afraid to hear the answers to. “You are in the Warren. Do you not remember me telling you of it?” I shook my head, the name sounded familiar but I couldn’t place it. “I do not doubt. You were in a lot of pain when I told you of this place. I told you of many things you likely do not remember. I will tell you again.” He made a sweeping gesture with his free hand. I had to give him credit for not taking advantage of the situation. “This is the Warren. Home of my people the Felix Luanna.” He said the name proudly as if it should mean something to me. “Who?” I asked. “The Felix Luanna.” He repeated, saying it like he thought I might be slow in the head. Okay, different approach then. “What state are we in?” “State? You mean kingdom? There is no kingdom here. We are in the Felix Luanna’s territory. The kingdoms of man are farther to the West. They know not to come near the Felix Luanna. We might just eat them.” He added in a dark voice. I looked over my shoulder at him, horrified. What the hell was he talking about! “Oh, don’t worry, Allina. You won’t have to eat them if you don’t want. We get to choose our meat…most of the time.” “What do you mean ‘kingdom’? Who says kingdom anymore? That’s so medieval!” I turned around and glared at him suspiciously. “Are you some kind of fantasy geek who’s lost touch with reality?” He was taken aback by my sudden ferocity, or maybe by my calling him a liar, and his eyes drooped down and curled on the ends. “I do not know some of the words you use, Allina. What have I said to make you angry?” I glared at him. I had a nasty suspicion I’d been kidnapped by a crazy cult or something, and I was obviously under the influence of drugs, because there’s no way this man or this place could be real. No one had eyes like his…no one human. When I didn’t answer he looked unsure. “I promise I will never make you eat man meat.” He said it almost more like a question than a statement. I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe this. I was stuck a hundred feet in the air with an escapee from an insane asylum. Wasn’t luck grand? “How did I end up here? Where’s Sassy? Sassy! I can’t believe I forgot about her!” I twisted quickly in his grip, spun around, and pushed with all the force I could muster. His eyes shot up at an angle and his mouth opened in an O of surprise at my quick maneuver, then his breath whooshed out of his lungs and his eyes bulged as he hit the nest of pillows with me almost sitting on his chest. “Where’s Sassy!” I demanded just inches from his face. He was no longer surprised, I saw that in his eyes, I had just realized that when suddenly I was the one lying on my back with a full grown man poised above me. Attacking a man three times my size was probably not the smartest thing I’d ever done. He wasn’t putting his full weight against me, or I’d be squashed flatter than a pancake under all that muscle, but he only held off enough to let me breathe…if you could call a wheeze breathing. “Now, my Allina. Do you really want to wrestle with me? Or are there answers you seek beforehand?” His eyes were pointed down, but they curled up instead of being strait or curling down. He looked so smug. Dangerous, but smug. The jerk. I glared at him. I put all my anger, my confusion, and my fear into that one look. He was off of me quicker than I could blink. I let up on the glare a little, but only a little, I wanted him to know that I was not a woman to mess with. He’d already proved that he had macho issues. I wanted to show him that I was not going to just lie down and take it. I would fight to the death, before I’d let myself be dominated by another. He looked wary, and a touch confused, the edges of his eyes were curled down instead of up now. “I would never hurt you on purpose, my Allina. I am your protector, not your tormenter. You are my Allina and I am your Llin.” Sincerity shone in his eyes, and I thought he believed himself. I couldn’t bring myself to trust him yet, though. Trust was something earned before given. And he had not earned mine. I thought about how he’d stroked my cheek in the nightmare. How he’d been a gentle and reassuring presence in my mind. I had to wonder if that was his true nature or if it was just an illusion my fevered mind used to deal with the pain. “Were you really there? In my dream?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer, but I had to ask. He just looked at me for a few moments, as if gauging the impact his answer would have on me. Then he nodded. Didn’t speak, just moved his head sharply down and up in a quick affirmative. I think he was afraid of me. He should be—as on edge as I was I didn’t know what I was going to do. I had to figure out what was happening, what I was going to do. Though realistically, what could I do to this guy to make him scared of me? I couldn’t hurt him—he’s twice my size—so why on Earth would he be afraid of me? I hope I can figure this out before something worse happens. But how much worse can it get? “I will always be there for you, my Allina.” Slowly, as if he thought I’d shy away, he took my hands and cradled them between his. His eyes never left my face. The edges of his eyes curled up slowly, but his face was intensely serious. “I will always protect you, care for you. You will never want again.” Wow, it was one thing to have a crush on someone but this guy was intense. He was really into this whole commitment thing. I’d known him for two minutes and already he was talking about a lifetime together. “Is it just me or are you getting too serious, too fast?” The corners of his eyes seemed to droop, and he looked sad. “I regret not being able to court you like an Allina should be. But I do not regret saving your life through our bonding.” He paused as if he expected me to say something, but when I didn’t he went on. “You may be mad at me, but you will come to accept that I have done the right thing by you.” I pulled my hands from his. “Let me get this strait: you bonded me to you, to save my life. Right?” He nodded. “That makes no sense at all. We are not bonded in any way and I wasn’t dying. Sassy just…well she…there was a gas of some kind in that room and…and it exploded. Yeah, it blew up and we hit our heads. I have a concussion!” I touched the back of my head tenderly, but it didn’t hurt. It was like I had never been in the explosion to begin with. “Was I unconscious for longer than I had thought or am I hallucinating? I must be hallucinating. None of this can be real.” I shook my head and looked around at the amazing landscape laid out around me bathed in moonlight. “None of this can be real. Places like this just don’t exist in my world. I come from the suburbs, rock cities with wooden bridges and beds on top of pillars in the middle of freaking rivers just don’t exist. They just don’t exist.” This last was said in an almost desperate whisper. “You do not understand, Allina, and I am confused by you. I think we are both very much confused.” He shook his head and stood up. “We must speak with our Norn. He will know how to tell you these things and you will understand them.” “What’s a Norn?” “Norn is the name we give those who are born as one with our Lua.” I roll my eyes toward the sky, “why do I even try to understand him?” Llin looks up as well and points towards the almost full moon. “How do you know to ask Lua for understanding if you know nothing of our ways?” “Lua? You mean the moon?” He nods, “Lua is the mother of our people. She made us Felix Luanna. It is said that we were once as you are, a mere human trapped to one body. When one stormy night a young warrior came upon a white beast in peril. A tree had fallen upon this large cat and it was trapped. The stream they were beside swelled with the water that fell from the sky and threatened to cover the great beast’s head. The young warrior could not stand to watch such a magnificent cat die in such a way. So he waded into the water to free the beast. Lua watched as the young warrior freed the white beast and was so touched at the courage and compassion he showed that she spoke to him through the cat and asked if he would accept a boon from her. He was awed by her presence and asked only to serve her as a devoted follower. Lua held no liking for humans, however, and so she gave him another body to serve her with. She granted him the body of her sacred animal, the large cat, so she may guide him on hunts in her honor when her full beauty shone down on the land. The young warrior became the mightiest of warriors, for he was faster and stronger than any other and could see in the dark as if he were in his other body.” Llin pauses and glances at me before continuing, “the great warrior married and had a two sons. One of his sons was like him, with two bodies to choose between. But his other son was not born with two bodies, but with one body that was both. The child did not have a body that was human or a body that was beast, he was both. He was named Norn, for he was the first child of both bodies, and every child since that has been blessed with that form has carried his name. Norns are the chosen of Lua and lead our tribes in following her wisdom. That is why you must talk with him. Lua will tell him how to make you understand.” Llin looked at me expectantly waiting for my reaction. I didn’t know what to do. I was stunned by what he had told me. I told myself it couldn’t be true. That none of it could be true and that I’d wake up, safe and sound in my bed. Yet part of me knew this was real, that I wasn’t dreaming, and I’d have to face the fact that I was way out of my league here. I had no one to turn to and no one to trust. Except him. When Llin was in my dream I knew with every fiber of my being that he would not hurt me. I remember the agonized look on his face when I was in pain. His touch had given my battered mind something to hold onto against the agony. I know that he had kept me from going insane tonight and that everything he told me was the plain unaltered truth. I trust this man I just met. The realization shocked me. I trusted him. Llin apparently read something in my face, because he smiled gently and took my hands in his. “It’s true,” I breathed. In less than a day my life had been turned upside down and shaken to within an inch of falling apart. I looked up and stared at the moon. Llin’s gaze followed mine. For a time neither of us said anything. A cold wind stirred the hair upon my neck and I shivered. Slowly, almost as if he was afraid to spook me—or maybe he feared breaking the moment—Llin leaned back and gently pulled me with him until my head rested upon his arm. I helped him pull the blankets up around us to ward off the chill. We lay there, me snuggled to his body for warmth—and yes, comfort—and watched Lua make her nightly journey across the sky. I had no idea about what my future had in store, but for some reason that didn’t seem important anymore. I fell asleep sometime before dawn feeling safer than I’ve ever been.
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