Fan Fiction ❯ Jiikron: Legend of the Two ❯ Enemies ( Chapter 9 )

“Now, now, my good man, this is no time for making enemies.” - Voltaire

 

-Chapter Nine-

-Enemies-

 

The halls of the Akatrialan Castle were filled with uneasy silence, the kind of quiet that isn't really quiet at all, but made up of hundreds of little noises mashed together to create one long, eerie whisper. Spindly-legged spiders crept up into the high corners where the walls met the ceilings of the structure and curled up there. Rodents - mice and rats of all colors and sizes - scuttled into their hide-away holes. Dust bunnies fled into the darkest reaches of the rooms. She was on the prowl again.

 

No creature dared to show itself when she paced the halls, for she only did so when she was in an enormous rage, or exceedingly excited. Either way, her moods never boded well for the little occupants of the place, so their self-preservation instincts bid them to conceal themselves, and so they did.

 

In this particular instance, she was excited. Everything was going her way. Andsaca had been successful in all his endeavors thus far, not counting the few pesky survivors from Hyran, but Kisra, who was supposed to be a very reliable servant, was taking care of that problem anyway. If his plans kept working, her job would be that much easier.

 

Her burgundy cloak billowed behind her as she made her swift way down the hall that led to the library. Her black boots were obnoxiously loud on the stone floor. The library doors, two huge polished oak shapes, made from the finest trees in the Mul Forest and curved to fit the arched doorway, swung open with a flick of her wrist, groaning in protest as their old iron hinges were put to use. A smile and an appreciative flash in her brown eyes were evidence of the fact that what the doors concealed never failed to please her. Dozens of rows, hundreds of shelves, thousands of books. From biographies to scriptures to spell books to cookbooks, the room was a scholar's fantasy. Bookcases that were ten shelves tall and fifty feet wide stood like large rectangular soldiers, perfectly aligned in a row, waiting to greet their general. Many of the writings in the library hadn't been touched or looked at for centuries, and in rare cases, millennia. Some of them belonged to Andsaca, who hardly ever set foot in the place anymore. Most of them, however, were the beloved property of the woman whose presence brought fear to the innocent creatures of the hallways: Averna. The sorceress had always had an affinity for literature, and now that she was the second most powerful being on the planet, she used her influence to collect books of all kinds, rare and common, dangerous and docile, trivial and of the utmost importance. She even possessed a set of illustrated children's books, the kinds that mothers used to teach their toddlers to read.

 

Needless to say, the Queen of the Night knew her way around the library with her eyes closed. She had set foot in the room with a purpose tonight, and so without delay she strode to the seventh row, walked halfway down it and scanned her eyes over the books on the fourth shelf. Beams of moonlight that filtered through the tall windows allowed her clear sight of the names that she perused. Finally, after a minute or so, her gaze lit on a small, seemingly insignificant, red volume. It bore no author's name or initials, and the only thing close to a title inscribed on it were the letters “T” and “M.” She plucked the item from its place and left, sparing the library one last affectionate glance before the doors closed magically behind her.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

They were moving again. Voide had decided that their original plan was a good one, and would work if they could all keep calm and not do something rash, like panic and fall into the river.

 

While the idea of surrounding herself in kimera filled waters didn't really appeal to Vitani all that much, she agreed to climb back on their raft and try again. How else would they make it across the river to Lasah?

 

Mikona helped her onto the craft, then instructed her to sit in the middle of it, so her chances of being unseated were less. Kona and Voide clambered on after them, and they were off across the Ynla.

 

This time Vitani squeezed her eyes closed and gripped some of the vines that were holding the raft together, while Voide did his best to soothe her with calming words and a gentle hand on her back. Once or twice, Kona spotted more of the bloodthirsty fish-birds beneath the surface of the current. He kept quiet though, not wanting to scare his sister and repeat the other day's fiasco. Everything was going smoothly until a small wave rocked the raft and jostled its passengers. At that point Vitani let loose a high-pitched cry of panic and latched onto her brother's arm with all her might.

 

“Don't let it get me!” she sobbed into the sleeve of his stained, once sky blue robe. After ten minutes in which Voide had to pry the hysteric girl away from Kona using vigorous coaxing and a little force, they were able to keep moving. Several moments later another disturbance in the water caused Vitani to repeat the whole process over again.

 

Kona shut his amber eyes and prayed to the gods for patience. This was going to be a long ride.

 

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

Vitani heaved a sigh of the utmost relief as she finally set foot on the opposite bank of the Ynla. It would be at least another week before they made it to Lasah, but all the same, she was happy to have overcome one obstacle. As Mikona and Voide dragged their craft onto the shore, the younger man turned to regard the Maercles siblings, who were already shouldering their packs and preparing to trek through the valley before them.

 

“See?” Voide ventured. “That wasn't so bad now, was it?”

 

Kona bestowed him with a scathing glare. Crossing two hundred feet of water with a petrified teenage girl who kept shrieking in a shrill voice and clutching his arm in a death grip was not the male twin's idea of “not so bad.” Nevertheless, he conceded, it could have been worse. Vitani could have fallen in again. Or the raft could have tipped over. Or the world could have imploded. Or whatever. In any case, Kona supposed he was lucky to escape the escapade with nothing more than several finger shaped bruises on his bicep.

 

Vitani, who thought her terrified wailing was perfectly justified and completely necessary, nodded in response to her tutor's question. If she happened to catch the sour look on her brother's face, she just brushed it off, because Kona was almost always in a bad mood as far as she was concerned.

 

“We're running low on food,” Mikona commented, hefting the rations bag up in the air and taking note of its light weight.

 

“That's fine,” Voide replied. “This side of the river has some thin woods where we'll be able to catch some game. If we keep moving we can make it to tree cover by night fall.”

 

Vitani turned to the east, shielded her eyes from the sun with her hand and squinted. Sure enough, there was a dark green haze on the horizon. A tiny forest. A place to rest.

 

“Let's go, then!” she exclaimed. Three male heads turned to gape at her. Mikona and Voide shook off their surprise and smiled. Kona just snorted and began walking in the direction his sister had stared off in to. The others set off after him, settling into a steady pace and a comfortable silence.

 

Hours later, after stopping here and there for lunch and to go to the bathroom behind little bushes, the tired group found itself faced with a somewhat dense patch of tall green pine trees. The miniature wood stretched for several hundred feet on either side of them, but didn't appear to be very thick, width-wise. If it had still been daytime, for the sun had already set, they would have been able to see through the area, but as it was all they could make out were the shadowy outlines of the tree trunks.

 

“We'll stop in here for the night,” Voide announced. “By tomorrow we should be able to see Lasah.”

 

Several spirits lifted at the sound of these words. Finally, the twins and their father thought, finally they would have somewhere safe and welcoming to lie down at night. There they could start over and put the whole horrible ordeal they'd been through behind them.

 

The companions laid out their blankets and went to sleep, dreaming of warm beds and new lives.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

Erfin, it turned out, was rather nocturnal. Preferring the dark cloak of night to the revealing nakedness of day, he coerced Raizo into traveling when the moon had risen. The old man had been on his way west when he stumbled across his new acquaintance, so when the two began moving together, that was the direction they headed in.

 

Presently they were navigating through a large thicket of trees, with Erfin in the lead. Every so often the old man would stop here or there and etch a mark into the bark of a trunk. “So we doesn't get lost,” he told Raizo with a grin.

 

They weren't making very much progress, however, due to Raizo's condition. The last lingering threads of the poison he'd inhaled were still filtering through his veins, rendering him unable to walk quickly or for long amounts of time. Eating was another hindrance; managing his stomach had been easier when all he had to do was lie down all day. But now that he wasn't inactive, he found that his food was less likely to stay in his body. That was a lesson he learned rather messily on their first day of travel. Erfin surmised that, had they been moving at a normal pace, they would have been at the Ynla River already. Instead, they were at least a half week's time away from it.

 

The old man did breathe one small sigh of relief, though. They would be out of the forest before dawn. Erfin, it seemed, didn't like closely placed trees. Sometimes Raizo caught him glancing around wildly, blue eyes wide and aware, as if he expected the foliage to attack them. When asked about his behavior, he replied, “Them trees gots ears, boy. Ears an' eyes. They be listenin'… Listenin' and a-watchin'.”

 

Raizo decided not to ask the man any more questions after that.

 

The edge of the woods came into view sometime around midnight. It was then that they heard faint voices floating through the leaves. Erfin let loose a subdued yelp. “The trees gots mouths, too!”

 

“Hush,” Raizo commanded. He held a finger to his lips to emphasize his order, then turned to look in the direction the sounds had come from. He crept slowly towards the very outskirts of the trees and narrowed his eyes at what he saw.

 

Three men and a young lady were standing there. They looked ragged and worn out. Their clothes were torn and stained, their hair mussed, their skin blotchy with dirt. He couldn't make out their conversation from his hiding place, but they all had intense looks on their faces, so he guessed that what they discussed wasn't good.

 

“Eh? What's this?” Erfin had snuck stealthily up until he was by Raizo's side. “A group o' bandits and their whore, mebbe?”

 

“Perhaps. But she isn't bound.”

 

“What would they bind `er fer? Ain't nowheres to run `round here. She's better off wit' them.”

 

“I suppose.”

 

“Looks like they're settlin' in fer the night,” Erfin commented. Indeed, the four strange people were unfolding blankets and lying down.

 

“Maybe we should keep an eye on them, just in case. If they are bandits they could try something dodgy.”

 

“Aw'right. We'll be stoppin' here, then. You get ter settin' up camp. I'ma go take care o' business.” The old codger winked and was gone. Raizo made a face at the unpleasant joke as he started unpacking their sleeping mats.

 

He was done with his task long before his companion returned. What took him so long to “take care of business,” Raizo didn't care to guess. As long as the man came back at all, there was no problem.

 

Raizo was exhausted, but instead of lying back and drifting off to sleep, he opted to wait up. For some reason, if Rai was asleep and Erfin wasn't, the older man assumed that his new friend was dead, and would promptly start hollering and generally making a fuss big enough to shake the ground.

 

The rustle of leaves caught Raizo's attention, and he swiveled around to face the noise, expecting to see Erfin step out of the shadows, but instead he caught sight of deep brown hair and a lean frame. A young male with his back turned. The man was quietly retreating backwards. If he moved much further he'd step on Erfin's blanket. His attention, however, was focused on something else. The bag of food the old man had tied to a tree branch to keep it safe from animals.

 

Raizo realized with shock that the male was one of the people he'd watched through the trees. He recognized the ruined black clothes he wore. Another revelation was made, this time in anger. The intruder was going to steal their supplies!

 

Raizo drew his weapon - the sword that was constantly attached to his hip, and the only thing he'd escaped Lasah with besides the cloth on his body. And with a skill borne from years of diligent practice, he moved till he was a mere couple feet from the would-be thief.

 

“Do not move another inch!”

 

Voide Kisun could do nothing but stiffen as he felt the very cold and very sharp tip of a sword pressed into the back of his neck.

 

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

 

This chapter is for Devildice708. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~ You look like… Erm… A gazelle~ 8D Aaaaand. You dance like one too~~

 

Yep. Don't ask. X3 (No offense meant by that, by the way. >_>)

 

Anyway, Dice, remember how I said I was putting this story on hold? Well. I lied. I was actually writing this chapter while I told you that. I'm sorry! D: Please don't hurt me! I had to keep it a surprise, you know. Anywho, I hope you like this, and the other things I gave to you. I'm sorry it couldn't be more. Have a perfect, magical, WONDERFUL birthday, Dice. You deserve it.

 

Love,

Neko

 

Disclaimer: This story is a product of my imagination. Any and all similarities between real people/places and those in the fiction are purely coincidental.