Fan Fiction ❯ The Prophecy of Kael'run ❯ Two ( Chapter 2 )

Two

 

 

“Alex! Alexander!! Lords, where is that boy?”

 

Mrs. Roberts, a portly woman who was known by all in the small village of Nekenth as a kind-hearted, yet very protective, mother of five children—three of which had grown up, and moved, away many years earlier. Worry was etched on her plump features as she continued to call out for her youngest son, a small, mischievous six-year-old who was constantly getting into trouble.

 

Next door to her humble abode lived a young woman and her sickly grandfather. Most of the townsfolk labeled them as “trouble” from past experiences with their family, and avoided the “eerie” home. But Mrs. Obella Roberts was a kind-hearted soul, and knew Naeris was one of the kindest young women that she had ever met.

 

Obella approached her neighbor's home as quickly as her stout body would allow, and knocked on the old wooden slab that served as their door.

 

“Nae!” she called out, looking worriedly over her shoulder as if waiting for her missing boy to jump out and startle her.

 

The door opened, and a soot-covered young woman appeared in the doorway.

 

“Oh! Mrs. Roberts! What's the matter?” she asked as she fruitlessly began to try and wipe some of the ashes off of her face with a dirty handkerchief.

 

“Nae hun, have ye seen Alexander? He seems to have gone missing again...”

 

Naeris sighed, and rolled her hazel eyes as she thought of the troublesome youth. She motioned for her worried neighbor to wait a moment as she shuffled back inside, and quickly washed off her face in a small watering basin—her short shock of red hair still streaked with soot—and joining Obella on her front porch moments later.

 

“Alright...did Alexander tell you where he was going?” Naeris asked automatically, though she already knew the answer.

 

“No,” she replied, distraught, “He just left...”

 

Naeris patted Obella's back comfortingly. “Do you know where he might be, then?” The elderly woman shook her head somberly. Her face lit up suddenly, though, as an idea stuck her. “But I bet ye Collins does! COLLINS!”

 

The young woman clamped her hands over her ears as the large woman's loud cry rumbled throughout the yard. In moments, a young, sandy-haired boy, no older than thirteen, stood panting before them.

 

“Y-yes...mama?” he asked in between breaths.

 

“Collins hun, did Alexander tell ye where he was goin' t'day?”

 

The little boy shook his head, which made his mother grow distraught once more. “But I did see some of Alex's friends running down to the lake!” Mrs. Roberts smiled, and patted her son on the head, “Thank ye, my boy!”

 

“Here, Mrs. Roberts, I'll go check the lake, while you wait here and see if he comes back. Ok?” Naeris offered with a reassuring grin.

 

Obella smiled widely, and gathered the young woman up into a big bear hug—blasting the air out of Naeris's lungs. “Thank ye, dear girl! Thank ye!”

 

She gave her a half smiled, and quickly sped off before the portly woman decided to crush her ribs again. She jogged down through the Roberts' cornfield, and waved to Mr. Roberts as she passed by. Jack Roberts was a gruff man who didn't much like company, but something about Naeris always gave him the manners to wave back, and crack a toothless half-smile.

 

Halfway to the lake, Naeris found herself slowing down to a stop. She couldn't understand why, but some...inner sense told her that something was definitely not right. For half of her life (about 8 years) Naeris had been trained by her grandfather how to survive in the wilderness, wield a sword, and how to “sneak.” That sense inside of her was telling her that now might be a good time to put that last skill into use.

 

Crouching low into the underbrush, Naeris moved slowly through the rows of corn—making her way to the end of the field where a wide forest was spread out. A few hundred yards from that sat her destination.

 

She was at the edge of the field, now, where the land began to suddenly turn more rugged—many tall trees loomed above her, giving the forest floor a cool, serene feeling. But the peace was lost on the young woman as her hand brushed against something crusty, and definitely not natural.

 

Naeris brought her hand to her nose, and sniffed it. She nearly reeled back in revulsion as the scent rang clearly in her thoughts: blood.

 

Every fiber in her being was screaming out for her to turn around and return to Nekenth to tell her grandfather of her finding, but one voice spoke clearly through the masses of frantic shrieking: she had made a promise to Mrs. Roberts that she would find her son. And so, steeling herself against the sickness she felt creeping in her gut, Naeris continued to sneak on towards the lake.

 

>.>.>.>

 

A hacking cough shook his frail body just as a strange, ancient feeling of horror began to fill his mind. Goroan Nomin, son of Rasha Nomin, a notorious adventurer, had seen and heard many things in his long life. But only once had he felt the same type of fear that was creeping around him, gripping his throat in its grasp.

 

“Naeris!” he rasped, and began to break up into another coughing fit. “Curse this old body...” he muttered angrily to himself as he struggled out of his chair. A gnarled hand reached out almost mechanically to grab his knotted cane, and he was hobbling out of the door just as Mrs. Roberts was making her way over to his home.

 

“Oh! Mr. Nomin, are ye sure ye should be walkin'?” she asked as she hurried over to him, a worried edge in her voice.

 

“Bah...I'll be...f-fine...” his voice broke up as more violent coughs coursed through his weak form. Obella Roberts was there, supporting the old man as he slumped backwards into her steadying grip.

 

“W-where...is...Naeris?” he asked, his throat cracking.

 

“Nae? Oh, she went on down to the lake to see if my little Alexander were there...why? Is somethin' the matter?”

 

“I'm not sure...b-but it may be in your best interest to take refuge ins-“ once again, Goroan was taken over by a fit of hacking coughs.

 

“Oh, dear, dear, sweet man, I think ye need to be inside. Ye just don't be havin' the strength to go out!” Obella helped him make his way back inside, her touch gentle and motherly. Once he was seated once more back into his chair, he reached up to grasp weakly at Obella's thick arm.

 

“Please...if Naeris comes back...tell her...to...come straight....home...”

 

Mrs. Roberts nodded, and patted his wrinkled hand reassuringly. “Don't ye worry now, Nae is a sturdy young lass! I'm sure she's all right. But if I be seein' `er, I'll be sure to send `er straight home!”

 

Goroan nodded, and gave her a meek smile as she left his small home, closing the door with a soft click. But no matter what words the sweet woman could tell him, that haunting, cold feeling was still gripping tightly about his neck like a noose... Something was coming...something that the people of Telmaharr had not seen in a very, long time...

 

>.>.>.>

 

The lake in sight now, Naeris stopped and went absolutely quiet—listening for anything out of the ordinary. She waited for what seemed like hours, until the young woman finally told herself that she was alone. Peeking over the bush she had been crouching behind, Naeris studied the water's smooth surface and almost fancied taking a swim... She quickly shook those thoughts from her mind, focusing on her mission.

 

“All right, Alex...where are you?” she whispered to herself, scanning the area around the lake. A shift in the shadows instantly set her instincts on alert as she lay flat out on the ground, being careful not to breathe too loud.

 

“N'yackto vac shiin to?”

 

“Bashana ko! Maki Kaerlic shokuli nief...”

 

The strange words piqued Naeris's curiosity as she peeked above the bushes once more—biting her tongue to keep from gasping. Two heads turned in her direction as she ruffled the leaves on the bush before her ever so slightly.

 

“Nikan...toko'ana...”

 

“Sha, nana-ko viki Maki Kaerlic nivien!”

 

Low, mocking laughter filled the air then as one of the two pulled a large, rust-colored sack from his shoulder, and poured its contents into the lake.

 

“Shona, kokari nak'two.”

 

“Nyako, nyako...Ananok Zak'fraen shali!”

 

A low whooshing sound reached her, which was quickly followed by silence. But still she did not move. Time inched on slowly, until about twenty minutes had passed away, and Naeris found the courage to move. She shook her head, not believing what she had witnessed. Men with...wings? Scaled wings, like that of a bat, or...or...

 

“A dragon...” she whispered, her eyes wide as she remembered all the stories her grandfather had ever told about the extinction of the mighty dragons. But, then, what were these human-looking creatures? Hybrids? A thousand questions raced through her mind, and soon Naeris found herself wielding a splitting headache.

 

Deciding to save her questions for her grandfather, Naeris carefully crept from behind her hiding spot, and made her way towards where the pair had dumped that sack into the lake. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked upon the ghastly scene, and this time she could not hold back her revulsion. She fell to her knees and vomited in the grass. When she looked back at the lake's surface, it was with trembling hands did she reach in to pull the mangled body of young Alexander Roberts from the watery depths.

 

His major wound was a large cut in his skull, nearly cleaving the poor child's head in two. Bile rose in her throat once more, but she forced it back down as she ripped a long strip of cloth from her shirt, and carefully wrapped the halves of his head together, so that they would not fall apart on her way back to Mrs. Roberts...

 

Mrs. Roberts...that poor, poor woman... Naeris was unsure of how she was to break this terrible news to her sweet neighbor who had always been like a mother to the shunned young woman. Naeris looked down at the little boy—his body already so cold—and sighed sadly. She deserved to know the fate of her youngest child...no matter how much it tore apart her big heart...Naeris would not, could not, lie to the woman.

 

With a heavy heart, the young woman slowly made her way back towards her home.