Post by Lady Hammer on May 14, 2007 18:13:48 GMT -5
X: The End of the Beginning
The twilight moon shone on the surface of the Vaskio-Theshol River, ripples flowing with each turn of the ferryman’s oar. Aeslyn watched, zoning out, staring at her own reflection and hating herself for her incompetence. In the background, the chatter of Kedo, Maravandril, Anna, and even a little from Bootmann went on, and to her demise, they weren’t the least bit shy of discussing the events that had just played out.
“Why did all of you sign it?” Kedo asked, referring to Phio’s contract, after a yawn, resting her chin on her hands. Aeslyn had previously made a note of removing herself from any future event. The party was highly displeased.
“I had to,” Maravandril said, holding back a sigh. “This is my trial, whether I like it or not. My sister sent me here, knowing what a mess it was, and somehow… thought me fit to handle it. I can’t let her down, now.”
“Then you must have a lot of faith in your sister’s judgment,” Anna piped in, picking the dirt out of her nails with her dagger.
“Of course I do!” Maravandril said somewhat indignantly. “She’s my sister, and lined up to be the High Priestess Queen of all of Azukas! She’s kept the land so tranquil. I have no reason not to trust her. After all, she trusts me enough to send me here.” There was a moment of silence as everyone collected their thoughts, thinking about all of Kardis’s signs. Kedo was having a hard time fathoming her history, much less that of Centa and Phio.
“What about you, Anna?” she asked, looking up. Indeed, everyone else was curious as to Anna’s motivation for doing something lawful. That, and she had seemed so willing to fight against Malynn. No one could say that they weren’t surprised.
“I don’t really know,” the thief answered, setting her dagger down beside her. “I don’t. Something inside of me just said that… it was right. I thought that voice had died a long time ago.”
“Either that, or you’re just stupid.” The thief glared at Aeslyn and narrowed her eyes.
“What’s made you so rotten?”
“Look at me! Take a damn look at me, why don’t you? And you know what? Everything that’s happened tonight is my fault!” Kedo scowled at her.
“Why would you say that, Aeslyn? It’s as much your fault as it is mine!”
“No! I should’ve, and I could’ve been there before everything started to happen, and I wasn’t!”
“Everything’s already happened.” They all quieted after hearing Bootmann’s voice. Usually, he didn’t comprehend things very well, but now, he and everyone else knew the same thing.
“That’s why I didn’t sign the damn contract,” the fire breather finally said. “I’m not being responsible for anymore damn problems.”
“We could use your help though,” Maravandril said hopefully.
“No! I said no! I’ve done enough harm already, and I want no part in it!”
And that was that. There was no getting around her sister’s word once it was said, so Kedo said nothing. The ferry ride to Theshol was deathly quiet, and twilight started to glint in the sky. As the sleeping town of witches came into view, the ferryman collected one last fee, and watched as the party climbed out once the boat hit the silty shoreline, leaving their tracks. Bootmann hoisted Aeslyn into his arms and Kedo led them to a small Inn she knew of - The Sacred Grove.
Morning came all too soon. Aeslyn had expected at least another hour before the sun came up, when Kedo would promptly enter her room and announce the departure her and the others would take. Though she had planned a speech for the occasion, Aeslyn found herself in no mood to quietly voice her refusal to “join in on the fun”. The fire breather lied, sprawled out across her inn bed, her hair down and gleaming in the dawn light peeking through the blinds. At least it was going to be nice outside. But, regardless, her leg was still in no shape to carry her around, and she detested having Bootmann haul her everywhere. Then, suddenly, there was the noise she had been dreading all morning.
A knock.
“Aeslyn? Sister, are you awake?” Sighing, the fire breather decided to answer.
“Yes. Come in. I know everyone is with you.”
So, Kedo cautiously opened the door and proceeded in, Maravandril, Anna, and Bootmann filtering in behind her. In the watchwoman’s hand was a map.
“The man in the lobby said we could use this when I asked where I could get a map. There are a lot of side-bits scribbled in on here, so that’s gonna help us, I think,” she said, bearing a faint smile. Aeslyn huffed a tiny sigh. Kedo thought she’d be joining them.
“I’m not going with you,” she said. Kedo’s grin disappeared.
“I told you!” Anna whispered, rolling her eyes.
“But, Aes-”
“I told you I wasn’t doing anymore harm. Besides, my leg still can’t carry my weight. This is on all of you, now,” she continued, folding her arms.
“But we’ll need your help!” Kedo cried, clenching tightly the map in her hands.
“You have an elf. She’s sharper than me. Probably.”
Before Kedo could say anything else, Anna piped in.
“Hey, what was that riddle that Heywood gave us? Didn’t he say it was important?”
“A tower hidden hides nothing but a tale,” Maravandril quickly answered. When Anna gave her a strange look, the elf blushed. “I’ve been thinking about it all night.” Kedo unrolled the map and perused the areas in Theshol. Towers among towers were dispersed unevenly about the town - Snake Tower, Dragon Tower, Rat Tower… the list went on.
“Well, hey… I found something not of the norm!” the watchwoman said happily, hoping her skill would drive Aeslyn’s competitive streak and get her to accompany them. “It’s a Lich Tower!”
“Get out,” Aeslyn’s voice suddenly boomed. Everyone gave her an offensive, gaping look. “Please, just go. I don’t want any part of this!” Kedo’s jaw hung wide open, though she knew Aeslyn had already said the same thing once before. She looked in her sister’s green eyes, and nodded sullenly.
“Come on, you guys…”
“What?” Maravandril said, jumping a little. “You’re just going to take that and leave? She came with us! She has no choice--”
“Mar, let’s go,” Anna growled. The hotheaded elf left as laconically as she could, saying not another word to the fire breather. When they had all left her room, Aeslyn sighed and went back to sleep.
--------------------------
In Theshol, there was a nice clearing not far from The Sacred Grove Inn, where Maravandril could let out all of her Aeslyn-hating steam. The woman was rampant, but Anna felt sorrier for Kedo.
“Well, Bootmann… what do you make of it?” she asked the large man.
“Of what?”
“Of everything.” The man had nothing to say for quite awhile, but then his rusty voice came with an answer.
“Big forest.” Perplexed, the thief eyed him, tilting her head, and after tapping on her chin, she snatched up Kedo’s map.
“Hey!”
“Hey is right!” Anna yelled, unrolling the parchment with a smile. “Well, well… would you look at that? Bootmann’s done it!”
“Done what?” Maravandril asked, looking over her shoulder with folded arms.
“He’s solved the riddle! A tower hidden hides nothing but a tale! The Lich Tower,” her finger pointed to the construct on the map, “is covered up by the ‘Road Block Forest’! So this must be the tower in Heywood’s riddle!” Kedo took a gander as well, squinting at the notes that the innkeeper had scribbled on the side.
“That looks like a pretty good warning…” Kedo muttered, looking back in the direction of The Sacred Grove. “I don’t know if we should go, though.”
“Come on! This is it!” Anna said, putting her arm around the watchwoman’s shoulder. “Even Bootmann knows it!” But, Kedo was still jittery. Finally, Maravandril grabbed her hand in a surprisingly gentle manner, and turned her in the right direction.
“If we could take a Black Ranger and his buddies, we can take a dusty, grimy old Lich. Nothing to it. It’s probably just a myth, anyway, to scare people away from what Heywood wants us to find!”
The reassurance helped a little, and Kedo took a deep breath and led the way.
Luckily, the morning was nice, and the weather was much better than the day before in Vaskio. Theshol was a fairly small sized town, nowhere near as large as her bustling city, and Theshol had a very appealing peacefulness. Around every large tree there was some seer or medicine woman, and most of them were giving advice and herb bundles to needy and wonderous townspeople. Kedo spotted a mother with a hungry looking child consulting one of the men by a tree. He was tall and tan, reminding her remarkably of Centa. The sunlight shone through his dark brown hair, and reflected off of his golden robe.
“He just won’t eat,” the mother said. “He says that everything tastes so awful!” The little boy hid behind her legs. Kneeling down to him, the robed man held out his hands and beckoned.
“Henry, can I see your tongue?” It took the boy a few moments to respond, but at last he did, and the man scratched his chin immediately once seeing the boy stick out his tongue. “That’s what I thought. Mrs. Kirkson, Henry must’ve eaten some berries by the river the other day. His tongue is swollen, and a bit purplish, and the juice from the berries makes other things seem bad-tasting.” The mother looked overwhelmed as she looked down at her child.
“Oh my! Henry, is this true? Did you eat the berries by the river?” The boy nodded shamefully, but the man merely smiled and pulled a satchel for him from his pocket.
“It’s okay. Make some tea with this assortment and he should be ready to eat dinner tonight!” Kedo smiled the first real smile since yesterday. What a good place Theshol was. Her, Maravandril, Anna, and Bootmann made their way past numerous places, one being a small cottage where a sad-faced girl watched them through a window while shuffling a deck of tarot cards. Anna made eye contact for only a second before Bootmann’s exclamation.
“Whoa! It’s tall!”
The man’s thick fingers pointed to a gaunt tower in the distance peering above the thick “Road Block Forest”. Scratching her head in wonder, Anna glanced at Kedo’s map.
“That’s the place, isn’t it?” she asked.
“So the map says…”
-------------------
The forest, though thought of as a huge blockade, truly was a poor excuse for a “road block”. Kedo and the others had expected something dense and woodsy, but instead there was a scattering of sickly looking trees. Anna folded her arms to hide a shiver as a chill wind suddenly picked up.
“There’s the ominous wind,” she muttered. “Maybe we should wait till we can convince Aeslyn to come with us.”
“No! She’s already made it quite clear that she’s not changing her mind, Anna,” Maravandril quickly replied. “Besides, we don’t need her. We’re just retrieving information!” Kedo peered into her shoulder pack at the duelist pistols Phio had given her, wondering if maybe he predicted she’d need them. But, she decided against worrying the others, and left them laying amongst the pack’s other contents.
Straight ahead were the wrought iron gates surrounding the Lich Tower, which was a tall, gray brick column entangled in black weeds. A malady of large spiders and worms crawled its surface, and Kedo was immediately bothered.
“I don’t want to go in!” she said, stopping abruptly. “I’ll stand guard outside.” Maravandril rolled her eyes.
“If you get bit by something, suck out the venom until we get back, okay?”
“Nevermind, I’m coming.”
The lock on the gate was thoroughly rusted, and no key was in sight. Of course, Kedo thought, Phio had thought ahead. Without warning, she took out one of the pistols and fired at the lock.
“You’re a terrible aim,” Anna commented. Blushing at her miss, Kedo then fired again, and the lock fell to the ground in pieces. Bootmann pushed the gates open, and they continued until they came to the doors of the tower itself. Anna eyed the brute first, then Kedo and Maravandril, and then back to Bootmann. Suddenly, the two slammed their bodies into the doors, and watched in satisfaction as their entrance was made.
“Welcome to the Lich Tower!” Anna said.
At first glance, Kedo was horrified. There was a terrible sense that befell her as she rested her eyes on shadows guarding every corner, chains and ropes swinging from the ceiling from the breeze, and what had been numerous in the ARC building: bloodstains. The watchwoman wiped the sweat from her face.
“I don’t like it in here… maybe we should get some light or something?” she asked. “I don’t like it… it’s so… sad in here.”
“Kedo, quit whining.”
“Anna, I’m serious! You can feel it, can’t you Mar? You’re en elf, your magic sense is sharp! I know you can feel it!” The elf wandered inside for a few moments and nodded.
“Yes, I do feel it.” She was startled when she looked over to see Bootmann weeping and sniffling like an infant, and gasped when her attention came to a hot, moaning wind rolling down the staircase hugging the wall.
“We need to go, we need to go!” Kedo said, taking out her pistols. “Something’s coming!” Then, the broken door suddenly rushed back into its place in the doorway and sealed shut with a slam, as did every other possible exit, sounding off with loud bangs all around from windows from other floors. Something tall and lanky started down the stairs, dragging chains and a stench of rotten meat. Immediately, Kedo began firing, but her bullets stopped in midair in front of the Lich’s body, and hit the floor with a plink.
“Shit…”
Maravandril took her chance and pulled a blue tipped arrow from her quiver, but before she could even fit it into her bow, it blew up into a cloud of splinters, and the Lich roared, black veins on the walls pulsating with Chaos. In a wild fit, Anna began banging on the door with Bootmann, but it was no use.
-------------------
Newspaper pages flipped, mingling with the sounds of children playing outside, coming through Aeslyn’s inn room window. Theshol’s news was painfully boring. It was already sunset, and there had been no word back from Kedo or the others since they had left in the morning. The town was small, so the little sister couldn’t have been caught in traveling time. Aeslyn had actually expected her to come back a few times and ask for help again.
But she had heard nothing.
Taking a sip of The Sacred Grove’s chamomile tea, she looked out of her window and watched the sun set and the moon rise, and the witches gather around their trees setting up bonfires. Men, women, and children danced around them in celebration of the moon, which hung directly over the Lich Tower. The fire breather limped over to get a better look. Two hand-shaped clouds embraced the glow in the sky, and slowly obscured her sight of the tower.
*note: If you haven't voted on the poll yet, now would be a good time to. :3
The twilight moon shone on the surface of the Vaskio-Theshol River, ripples flowing with each turn of the ferryman’s oar. Aeslyn watched, zoning out, staring at her own reflection and hating herself for her incompetence. In the background, the chatter of Kedo, Maravandril, Anna, and even a little from Bootmann went on, and to her demise, they weren’t the least bit shy of discussing the events that had just played out.
“Why did all of you sign it?” Kedo asked, referring to Phio’s contract, after a yawn, resting her chin on her hands. Aeslyn had previously made a note of removing herself from any future event. The party was highly displeased.
“I had to,” Maravandril said, holding back a sigh. “This is my trial, whether I like it or not. My sister sent me here, knowing what a mess it was, and somehow… thought me fit to handle it. I can’t let her down, now.”
“Then you must have a lot of faith in your sister’s judgment,” Anna piped in, picking the dirt out of her nails with her dagger.
“Of course I do!” Maravandril said somewhat indignantly. “She’s my sister, and lined up to be the High Priestess Queen of all of Azukas! She’s kept the land so tranquil. I have no reason not to trust her. After all, she trusts me enough to send me here.” There was a moment of silence as everyone collected their thoughts, thinking about all of Kardis’s signs. Kedo was having a hard time fathoming her history, much less that of Centa and Phio.
“What about you, Anna?” she asked, looking up. Indeed, everyone else was curious as to Anna’s motivation for doing something lawful. That, and she had seemed so willing to fight against Malynn. No one could say that they weren’t surprised.
“I don’t really know,” the thief answered, setting her dagger down beside her. “I don’t. Something inside of me just said that… it was right. I thought that voice had died a long time ago.”
“Either that, or you’re just stupid.” The thief glared at Aeslyn and narrowed her eyes.
“What’s made you so rotten?”
“Look at me! Take a damn look at me, why don’t you? And you know what? Everything that’s happened tonight is my fault!” Kedo scowled at her.
“Why would you say that, Aeslyn? It’s as much your fault as it is mine!”
“No! I should’ve, and I could’ve been there before everything started to happen, and I wasn’t!”
“Everything’s already happened.” They all quieted after hearing Bootmann’s voice. Usually, he didn’t comprehend things very well, but now, he and everyone else knew the same thing.
“That’s why I didn’t sign the damn contract,” the fire breather finally said. “I’m not being responsible for anymore damn problems.”
“We could use your help though,” Maravandril said hopefully.
“No! I said no! I’ve done enough harm already, and I want no part in it!”
And that was that. There was no getting around her sister’s word once it was said, so Kedo said nothing. The ferry ride to Theshol was deathly quiet, and twilight started to glint in the sky. As the sleeping town of witches came into view, the ferryman collected one last fee, and watched as the party climbed out once the boat hit the silty shoreline, leaving their tracks. Bootmann hoisted Aeslyn into his arms and Kedo led them to a small Inn she knew of - The Sacred Grove.
Morning came all too soon. Aeslyn had expected at least another hour before the sun came up, when Kedo would promptly enter her room and announce the departure her and the others would take. Though she had planned a speech for the occasion, Aeslyn found herself in no mood to quietly voice her refusal to “join in on the fun”. The fire breather lied, sprawled out across her inn bed, her hair down and gleaming in the dawn light peeking through the blinds. At least it was going to be nice outside. But, regardless, her leg was still in no shape to carry her around, and she detested having Bootmann haul her everywhere. Then, suddenly, there was the noise she had been dreading all morning.
A knock.
“Aeslyn? Sister, are you awake?” Sighing, the fire breather decided to answer.
“Yes. Come in. I know everyone is with you.”
So, Kedo cautiously opened the door and proceeded in, Maravandril, Anna, and Bootmann filtering in behind her. In the watchwoman’s hand was a map.
“The man in the lobby said we could use this when I asked where I could get a map. There are a lot of side-bits scribbled in on here, so that’s gonna help us, I think,” she said, bearing a faint smile. Aeslyn huffed a tiny sigh. Kedo thought she’d be joining them.
“I’m not going with you,” she said. Kedo’s grin disappeared.
“I told you!” Anna whispered, rolling her eyes.
“But, Aes-”
“I told you I wasn’t doing anymore harm. Besides, my leg still can’t carry my weight. This is on all of you, now,” she continued, folding her arms.
“But we’ll need your help!” Kedo cried, clenching tightly the map in her hands.
“You have an elf. She’s sharper than me. Probably.”
Before Kedo could say anything else, Anna piped in.
“Hey, what was that riddle that Heywood gave us? Didn’t he say it was important?”
“A tower hidden hides nothing but a tale,” Maravandril quickly answered. When Anna gave her a strange look, the elf blushed. “I’ve been thinking about it all night.” Kedo unrolled the map and perused the areas in Theshol. Towers among towers were dispersed unevenly about the town - Snake Tower, Dragon Tower, Rat Tower… the list went on.
“Well, hey… I found something not of the norm!” the watchwoman said happily, hoping her skill would drive Aeslyn’s competitive streak and get her to accompany them. “It’s a Lich Tower!”
“Get out,” Aeslyn’s voice suddenly boomed. Everyone gave her an offensive, gaping look. “Please, just go. I don’t want any part of this!” Kedo’s jaw hung wide open, though she knew Aeslyn had already said the same thing once before. She looked in her sister’s green eyes, and nodded sullenly.
“Come on, you guys…”
“What?” Maravandril said, jumping a little. “You’re just going to take that and leave? She came with us! She has no choice--”
“Mar, let’s go,” Anna growled. The hotheaded elf left as laconically as she could, saying not another word to the fire breather. When they had all left her room, Aeslyn sighed and went back to sleep.
--------------------------
In Theshol, there was a nice clearing not far from The Sacred Grove Inn, where Maravandril could let out all of her Aeslyn-hating steam. The woman was rampant, but Anna felt sorrier for Kedo.
“Well, Bootmann… what do you make of it?” she asked the large man.
“Of what?”
“Of everything.” The man had nothing to say for quite awhile, but then his rusty voice came with an answer.
“Big forest.” Perplexed, the thief eyed him, tilting her head, and after tapping on her chin, she snatched up Kedo’s map.
“Hey!”
“Hey is right!” Anna yelled, unrolling the parchment with a smile. “Well, well… would you look at that? Bootmann’s done it!”
“Done what?” Maravandril asked, looking over her shoulder with folded arms.
“He’s solved the riddle! A tower hidden hides nothing but a tale! The Lich Tower,” her finger pointed to the construct on the map, “is covered up by the ‘Road Block Forest’! So this must be the tower in Heywood’s riddle!” Kedo took a gander as well, squinting at the notes that the innkeeper had scribbled on the side.
‘Forest. Approx. 1.5 miles long. In front of Lich Tower. Tall iron gate blocking entrance to tower. Not that I would go in, anyway…’
“That looks like a pretty good warning…” Kedo muttered, looking back in the direction of The Sacred Grove. “I don’t know if we should go, though.”
“Come on! This is it!” Anna said, putting her arm around the watchwoman’s shoulder. “Even Bootmann knows it!” But, Kedo was still jittery. Finally, Maravandril grabbed her hand in a surprisingly gentle manner, and turned her in the right direction.
“If we could take a Black Ranger and his buddies, we can take a dusty, grimy old Lich. Nothing to it. It’s probably just a myth, anyway, to scare people away from what Heywood wants us to find!”
The reassurance helped a little, and Kedo took a deep breath and led the way.
Luckily, the morning was nice, and the weather was much better than the day before in Vaskio. Theshol was a fairly small sized town, nowhere near as large as her bustling city, and Theshol had a very appealing peacefulness. Around every large tree there was some seer or medicine woman, and most of them were giving advice and herb bundles to needy and wonderous townspeople. Kedo spotted a mother with a hungry looking child consulting one of the men by a tree. He was tall and tan, reminding her remarkably of Centa. The sunlight shone through his dark brown hair, and reflected off of his golden robe.
“He just won’t eat,” the mother said. “He says that everything tastes so awful!” The little boy hid behind her legs. Kneeling down to him, the robed man held out his hands and beckoned.
“Henry, can I see your tongue?” It took the boy a few moments to respond, but at last he did, and the man scratched his chin immediately once seeing the boy stick out his tongue. “That’s what I thought. Mrs. Kirkson, Henry must’ve eaten some berries by the river the other day. His tongue is swollen, and a bit purplish, and the juice from the berries makes other things seem bad-tasting.” The mother looked overwhelmed as she looked down at her child.
“Oh my! Henry, is this true? Did you eat the berries by the river?” The boy nodded shamefully, but the man merely smiled and pulled a satchel for him from his pocket.
“It’s okay. Make some tea with this assortment and he should be ready to eat dinner tonight!” Kedo smiled the first real smile since yesterday. What a good place Theshol was. Her, Maravandril, Anna, and Bootmann made their way past numerous places, one being a small cottage where a sad-faced girl watched them through a window while shuffling a deck of tarot cards. Anna made eye contact for only a second before Bootmann’s exclamation.
“Whoa! It’s tall!”
The man’s thick fingers pointed to a gaunt tower in the distance peering above the thick “Road Block Forest”. Scratching her head in wonder, Anna glanced at Kedo’s map.
“That’s the place, isn’t it?” she asked.
“So the map says…”
-------------------
The forest, though thought of as a huge blockade, truly was a poor excuse for a “road block”. Kedo and the others had expected something dense and woodsy, but instead there was a scattering of sickly looking trees. Anna folded her arms to hide a shiver as a chill wind suddenly picked up.
“There’s the ominous wind,” she muttered. “Maybe we should wait till we can convince Aeslyn to come with us.”
“No! She’s already made it quite clear that she’s not changing her mind, Anna,” Maravandril quickly replied. “Besides, we don’t need her. We’re just retrieving information!” Kedo peered into her shoulder pack at the duelist pistols Phio had given her, wondering if maybe he predicted she’d need them. But, she decided against worrying the others, and left them laying amongst the pack’s other contents.
Straight ahead were the wrought iron gates surrounding the Lich Tower, which was a tall, gray brick column entangled in black weeds. A malady of large spiders and worms crawled its surface, and Kedo was immediately bothered.
“I don’t want to go in!” she said, stopping abruptly. “I’ll stand guard outside.” Maravandril rolled her eyes.
“If you get bit by something, suck out the venom until we get back, okay?”
“Nevermind, I’m coming.”
The lock on the gate was thoroughly rusted, and no key was in sight. Of course, Kedo thought, Phio had thought ahead. Without warning, she took out one of the pistols and fired at the lock.
“You’re a terrible aim,” Anna commented. Blushing at her miss, Kedo then fired again, and the lock fell to the ground in pieces. Bootmann pushed the gates open, and they continued until they came to the doors of the tower itself. Anna eyed the brute first, then Kedo and Maravandril, and then back to Bootmann. Suddenly, the two slammed their bodies into the doors, and watched in satisfaction as their entrance was made.
“Welcome to the Lich Tower!” Anna said.
At first glance, Kedo was horrified. There was a terrible sense that befell her as she rested her eyes on shadows guarding every corner, chains and ropes swinging from the ceiling from the breeze, and what had been numerous in the ARC building: bloodstains. The watchwoman wiped the sweat from her face.
“I don’t like it in here… maybe we should get some light or something?” she asked. “I don’t like it… it’s so… sad in here.”
“Kedo, quit whining.”
“Anna, I’m serious! You can feel it, can’t you Mar? You’re en elf, your magic sense is sharp! I know you can feel it!” The elf wandered inside for a few moments and nodded.
“Yes, I do feel it.” She was startled when she looked over to see Bootmann weeping and sniffling like an infant, and gasped when her attention came to a hot, moaning wind rolling down the staircase hugging the wall.
“We need to go, we need to go!” Kedo said, taking out her pistols. “Something’s coming!” Then, the broken door suddenly rushed back into its place in the doorway and sealed shut with a slam, as did every other possible exit, sounding off with loud bangs all around from windows from other floors. Something tall and lanky started down the stairs, dragging chains and a stench of rotten meat. Immediately, Kedo began firing, but her bullets stopped in midair in front of the Lich’s body, and hit the floor with a plink.
“Shit…”
Maravandril took her chance and pulled a blue tipped arrow from her quiver, but before she could even fit it into her bow, it blew up into a cloud of splinters, and the Lich roared, black veins on the walls pulsating with Chaos. In a wild fit, Anna began banging on the door with Bootmann, but it was no use.
-------------------
Newspaper pages flipped, mingling with the sounds of children playing outside, coming through Aeslyn’s inn room window. Theshol’s news was painfully boring. It was already sunset, and there had been no word back from Kedo or the others since they had left in the morning. The town was small, so the little sister couldn’t have been caught in traveling time. Aeslyn had actually expected her to come back a few times and ask for help again.
But she had heard nothing.
Taking a sip of The Sacred Grove’s chamomile tea, she looked out of her window and watched the sun set and the moon rise, and the witches gather around their trees setting up bonfires. Men, women, and children danced around them in celebration of the moon, which hung directly over the Lich Tower. The fire breather limped over to get a better look. Two hand-shaped clouds embraced the glow in the sky, and slowly obscured her sight of the tower.
*note: If you haven't voted on the poll yet, now would be a good time to. :3
