Fan Fiction ❯ Earth's Reflection, My World ❯ Friends ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter Eight:

Friends

They were twin souls.

A vortex of stars whirled around Keurai, and Neouri. The two were in the center of a dancing twister that lifted her hair, and swirled Keurai's cape.

Smiles broke their faces, and soon, more questions came to both of their minds.

But, none of it mattered any more.

They were twin souls. One soul that had split into two, reunited.

They were closer than siblings, they shared thoughts with each other.

As if some long held secret had been discovered, the stars that had shimmered around them disappeared.

"I never knew."

Eede, impatient, and wanting attention from his friend, growled from his seat. Xel looked over at his brother whose face was darkened over with irritation, and smirked. Keurai and Neouri shared the same expression as well, both smiled.

Eede stood up, the giant, bear like animal whined when it dropped from his lap, then yapped when it saw Neouri.

Eede was smiling like a fool when he reached Neouri's side. "I was worried too!"

She smiled and hugged Eede. Eede whacked her on her head. "Did I forget to mention I was worried sick for you while these three fools just laughed at me?"

"Three?" She was touching Eede when she looked to where he pointed, and saw the elf she had challenged last.

"You!" She fairly yowled at Vairon.

Xel thought she sounded like a cat, Eede snickered.

"You!" Her eyes were changing colors, they were darkening to a deep purplish black color. "Are a son of a bitch! I ought to kick your ass right now mutha fucka!"

Vairon flinched. "Well, after what I tried to do for Lady Reyana, you should." He gave her a heated look when he said, "But you won't!"

She expelled a patient breath. "No. I won't."

Eede grabbed her shoulder. "He's a friend of ours. The last of out little trio."

"Trio?" Neouri asked.

"Xel, Vairon, and I are mercenaries, or fighters for hire." Eede explained. "Keurai, and some of his other brothers are our good friends, so we usually drop everything to work for, or with them."

Neouri looked interested, and smiled. "Explain to me."

****

When Neouri was comfortable placed on a bed, lying on her stomach with her head in her hands, and her legs crossed, Eede, from his place sitting straight on a chair, and Xel and Vairon standing in a darkened corner of their rooms. Keurai was sitting like Eede, only hunched forward in thought.

Eede smiled at Neouri as her face took on a wide eyed curious look. "Xel and I are brothers, as you should know." When Neouri nodded, he continued. "We chanced meeting Vairon in his home area as he was being chased by a pack of bloodhunters." He smiled at the memory. "In return for saving a child of the sky elves, they took us in, when in usual circumstances, they would have killed us. But, since we went against our own pack, and drove them off, they cared for us as if we were their own sons.

"Later, when I was about sixteen or seventeen, we took to a tournament in the king's court. Xel, Vairon, Keurai and myself were the four final contestants. Unfortunately, I was pitted against my brother, and lost." Keurai chuckled as he too was pulled into the quicker, edited, and revised memory. Vairon and Xel had fought smiles, thinking Eede's need to block the rather. . .painful memory and make it rather lighter amusing. "Keurai defeated Vairon, and then it was my brother and the prince. Defeating the prince, he was rewarded afterwards, or rather immediately after the tournament, a spot as a chief guard. But, by then we had made ourselves our own community, so, Xel made a deal. The three of us, or Keurai would have a rather weak force."

After a moment of silence, Neouri nodded. "So, from that quick, and extremely edited story, your bonds were tightened?"

They all glanced at each other warily. "There is more to it, but it's quite gory, and dangerous, and would take a long time to tell. Besides," Eede leaned in to her. "What more is there to tell, save the fact that we're friends now, and a force to be reckoned with."

Neouri cast a veiled look at the men around her.

Oh yes, they were strong. But not strong enough to tame the animal that raged within her.

The moon shone high above the skies. It was waning to a half moon now, a speck of silver in a sky of deep indigo and lavender, a stream of silver stars that shined brightly in the darkness of the mansion that glowed with soft firelight. Over the inland horizon, just beyond that last rise, a faint red glow could be seen. That was miles off, but still looked like the lights of a city.

That's what she wouldn't miss, Neouri decided. The artificial streetlights that irritated her eyes, and hid the stars, unlike firelight, which warmed her soul and revealed much about the night without hiding it.

Her trip had been delayed, for their path was the center of a battlefield. Her brother, Xel, Eede, Vairon, and their troops went along to help one of Keurai's brothers that had leapt into this fight, and called up his brothers for assistance. They had left shortly after Eede's tale on how they met. That was the fifth night.

It was the seventh night there. She had been there for a week. Vaguely, this seemed like a dream. But, all she had to do was cast a look down her balcony, into the far distance to see that red glow.

Her brother had told her more often than naught, one could see the red glow of a bloodfires. Fires that drank the blood of the living, fires that could not be extinguished by water nor dust, nay, it sprang to life. It stopped only when the blood of the dead and living was swallowed up, and tossed into the night skies.

A flash of pain clenched her chest.

She had a jewel of such power within her? Was that what they believed?

She was lost in her thoughts as she leaned against her balcony with her hair blowing to and fro in the wind, strands of darkness against the light of her white sleeping gown. Her bare feet had tapped to a silent rhythm as she leaned over her balcony, lost in thought.

Reyana was nowhere to be seen in the castle of late, but rumors of a ball that Keurai had demanded on the night he left, had flown swiftly through the mansion, and a nearby village. It was said that since Keurai figured Neouri to be his twin soul, why not celebrate it? The celebration would no doubt bring his father to them, as well as his other brothers who ruled the land.

Two birds with one stone. . . She mused.

On the ninth day, four days since Keurai and company left, news of their return reached Neouri's ears.

The messenger was a young boy, with short lime green hair, a golden horn in the center of his forehead, and cool blue eyes that glowed in his dark colored face.

Neouri was more surprised at the strange messenger, and his tarnished clothes instead of the news given to her.

She just stared at him.

The boy looked at her as if she were nuts. "Oi, miss, if you ain't got nothin to tell the prince man, I suggest you allow me on my way!" He said this in tones of annoyance, even as his face blushed under such curiosity.

His face reddened further when the lady bent down and inspected his horn rather thoroughly, cupping his face and tilting it this way and that. "Hey, missy! Ain't you never seen a galdilore afore?" Neouri ignored his words, and the weak batting his arms did for him, and grasped onto the foreign word.

"Galdilore?" She released him and shook her head. "What's a galdilore?

The boy looked at her incredulously, his eyes widened. "You don't know what I am?" He shook his head and sat down.

In any other place, this would have been alright, but at the time, they were in the middle of the nearby village. A quaint little place where there were huts on the outer rims, and the inner town was all shops and cafés. Neouri had been walking in the middle of the street when the messenger boy happened upon her, and had asked if she was Lady Neouri, Prince Keurai's sister, Sir Eede's friends, Lord Xel's charge, and Lord Vairon's unfinished battle.

Neouri, annoyed that even in battle they could joke, had suddenly been distracted by this creature, who was a messenger.

At first, she thought it was some sort of freaky circlet. But, upon closer inspection, she discovered it was a part of him! Little cold horn stood out, right from his forehead. And his feet were hooves! His lime green wild hair, dark skin, and glowing eyes only added to her interest.

Neouri was compelled to sit in front of him, right there in the center of the street. But, her brother's steward, or whatever he was called, had given her one of his daughters pretty gowns. Liking the light blue color, and the deep blue embroidered birds on it, she declined sitting, and invited him to stand and walk beside her.

They were walking through the street, browsing at stores. Some offered her things she could not afford, for she had none of whatever these people bartered with. Walking through the village was something to keep her busy. Besides, the things she saw were making her smile.

"A galdilore is me." She looked at him, and cocked a brow. He smiled weakly. "Okay, not such a good explanation." He paused and thought of something else. "Okay, we are creatures that look human. But we have horns on our heads." He pointed to his horn, and moved his hair out of the way so she could see it better. "The horns can heal wounds. The older you are, the more wounds you can heal, or the bigger the wounds you can heal." He shrugged. She nodded. "It also purifies toxins from anything. Another healing factor, or protection factor. Some of the older galdilore's can actually get their horns to glow." He pointed to his feet after her eyes brightened with understanding and recognition. "We can run pretty fast as well, and don't really get tired." He gave her a cocky look. "Some of us can even outrun bloodhunters." He tilted his head. "Then, there's our blood-poison. Pure poison. If you take a sip of it, or get some of it in your system, the only way to cure it is if the same galdilore heals you. No other."

Neouri nodded. "Like unicorns."
"Unicorns?" Now it was the messenger who looked interested. "What are those?"

Neouri smiled. "Perhaps if you give my message to the prince, and his friends, I will tell you all about unicorns and such. But, you must hurry back!"

The galdilore nodded. "Lady Neouri, I'd like to give you my name." He looked nervous, and somewhat pale.

"Sure. Why not?" The galdilore looked very nervous. She ruffled his hair, and leaned close. "Just don't call me Lady Neouri. Call me Neouri."

The galdilore nodded when she grinned.

"Neouri, my name is Cerin."

The next day, the day her brother, Eede, Xel, and Vairon would return, Neouri and Cerin had chattered endlessly about the other creatures found in the world named Oderia, and the legendary ones on Earth.

Neouri smiled when Cerin scoffed at being compared to the unicorn. "They sound like a starved threa."

"Well, I hate to tell you C," She had taken to calling him his nickname in public, but his full name in private, since he seemed to by ashamed if his name. "But the elves are the only ones hat compare fully to the legends in our world."

Cerin tilted his green eyebrow. "Oh? What about you 'fairies' and our labari?"

A look of disgust captured her face. "Labari is an entirely female race that mate with. . .with. . ." She shook her head. "Then they eat them, give birth to young, inside of a cocoon and die?" She shook her head. "I think not. Fairies were creatures who were gentle, and cared for the plants on earth."

Cerin frowned. "You say they look like labari, yet they act like tamri."

Extensive in her knowledge of fanciful creatures, and ever eager to learn more about the ones that had truly existed, she asked about the tamri.

They were so absorbed in their talk, they were unaware of her blood covered brother, and his men as they tromped through the mansion. Each covered with filth and rain.

Cerin wore a plain dull yellow shirt, with matching brown pants. He looked up and locked eyes with a very surprised Vairon, who had grabbed Keurai's cloak. Unaware the irritated prince whirled on him with anger, only for it to melt at the sight of the relaxed galdilore, and his friend.

Knowing the deeper side to galdilores, Keurai knew his sister was in good hands.

Especially this galdilore who had not offered his name.

Only his service.