WARNING!! -- this is very old and shall never be updated, enjoy if you want anyways ^-^
- Created By itsumademo
Tewoeklon: Chapter Six
The bits of bread I gnawed on where like warm chunks of sawdust in my mouth. An appetite was far from anything I had or wanted right now.
I tossed the contents of the dinner tray out my open window like I did every night, hearing the familiar ringing shatter of the clay bowl on the ground never ceased to aggravate my sensitive ears. Yet I’d been doing it every evening for the last week.
Considering my state of mind I would have thought my rented room to be a disheveled sty, but instead I almost felt my skin itch at the compulsion to wreak havoc and yet maintain perfection. No wonder half breeds were so rare…just trying to live normally during this “maturity” was a torturous agony of body and mind.
I drug my nails down my upper arm, feeling again the cool brown blood rain down my skin. I could already sense the tissue begin to weave back together, slowly but surely. Even the old ones I still felt, stitch stitch stitch… like a rhythm that droned on in my skull.
I grabbed some rolled bandages on a dresser against the wall.
The sun was just about down completely so I slipped off my shoes and tied on the fabric strip covering my eyes. I had to hunt once more tonight.
The second day after my arrival a murder occurred in one of the larger neighboring towns. I hadn’t thought it would be a big deal in this place but every whispered piece of gossip I caught was about not only the latest murder but several dozen more that had been going on for the last 10 years. My spine tingled with curiosity at the idea of actually doing something other than waiting for a possible and likely minute notice of my friends. I decided to take it upon myself to figure out what was going on. Probably just another human with blood lust…
I slipped out of the window and crawled up the brick siding until I came to the roof’s lip and flipped myself over it, to land my bare feet quietly on the flat surface. The air was far less stale up high; off the dirty, human infested ground.
There was a sudden, disturbingly fresh scent dancing around the town. It tickled at my nose.
I leapt from my perch and continued to jump from the rooftops, following the scent. I all of a sudden inhaled sharply and had to stop my speed before I fell. My hands reached out to catch my fall but the aroma’s shock and the fast, almost straight down, descent had ruined any balance I had and my arms gave way beneath me. I skidded across the rough top and just barely managed to stop myself before the edge came up to try and drop me.
A heavy sigh escaped my lungs as I took a brief glance at my hands; the skin was ripped to pieces and painted red. I could sense the same lovely image all along my side. As I brushed the clotting blood out-of-the-way as best as I could I already noticed the skin weaving together ever so delicately. I crawled up using my elbows and began leaping yet again until the abrupt scent turned into a wall.
I slowed my pace and lightly dropped onto a window ledge as quiet as possible. The night had already settled in and through the sickly sweet fragrance I could taste the tang of blood on my tongue. I was a little too late.
“Damn”, I muttered under my breath.
I pulled off my blindfold and tucked it into the bosom of my clothes; as fast as I could I grasped onto the window siding, pushed off from the ledge and swung into the glass, shattering a hole just large enough for myself to glide through. Although the whole panel cracked at the force, causing high pitched shearing fractures that rung deeply in my ears.
I caught myself in a small tumble and stood up. The room was just as black as the outside world, with only the fragmented moon to highlight the masses and cast their shadows. My illuminated eyes added a disturbing green depth to everything I looked upon, it was a bizarre thing to be the color that you were seeing…almost like have tinted film over my eyes, but not.
I was just about to smack myself to shut up my brain when a soft female voice broke the silence of the room.
“Why hello.” A small, grinning giggle followed her greeting.
I sensed her steps head toward me and the scent ran me over like an ocean’s wave. It seemed as though I could lose my balance to an unseen force.
I breathed deeply, trying to keep as calm and cool as possible and then nonchalantly turned in place, setting my hand on my hip. I kept my eyes nearly shut in order to remain in the dark for the moment, with my face downcast as best as I was able to without looking like a moron.
“I must say, I wasn’t expecting to find a young woman.” I grinned at her in return, attempting to match her cynical humor.
She shrugged at my comment. “You should have expected the unexpected then.”
I was a bit taken a back at her comment. She was rather composed for someone who just committed murder. My brow furrowed.
“Might I inquire something?”
She seemed shocked by my own copy cat of herself, but nodded with a white smile glittering in the shadows. As she did so I saw the slight glint of a bloody weapon glide through a dirty cloth in her hands.
“Are you the one who’s been responsible for the murders over the last decade?”
The fabric against her blade stopped short, then continued through after which she placed the object back into its hidden sheath.
“Clever. Most wouldn’t have noticed the pattern as belonging to one person.” Her voice had become a bit more serious; however I could still hear her patronizing grin.
I continued to study her demeanor. She was just too average and shielded in her actions.
I opened my mouth to reply but instead voiced my sudden thought, making sure to mirror her condescending attitude. “A feat, I suppose, would not be too difficult…for a seasoned and professional assassin.”
Her eyes widened but then slipped back to normal.
“Pity.”
“And why’s that?”
“I was really getting to like you, but now…I’m afraid I’ll have to kill you as well.”
She ran at me with the stained dagger brandished in her left hand. I easily stopped her thrust.
“You’re pretty fast…and strong…” I added as I held back her still forceful arm; it was then I chose to fully open my eyes bathing her surprised face in green light. “…for a human.”
I pushed her away from me, expecting her to slam into the wall but she flipped over and landed in a crouch. A small gasp slipped past my lips. But I barely had the time to wonder at how she did that because again she lunged at me.
Left, right, up, down, spinning in circles. I had a hard time keeping myself at her pace; she wasn’t necessarily super fast but merely incredibly agile. Every time I knocked her away, whether it be a punch or kick or block she came rushing back at me, full speed.
Her face was severely distraught. It was like she had never come across anyone who could best her before. Despite my difficulty at matching her ever changing positions I was still very much the stronger opponent and being so I chose to end the fight right there.
I was already beginning to sense her own exhaustion as well as the several cuts and bruises that riddled her body…the two types of blood mixed with her overwhelming scent were beginning to give me a headache.
I took hold of her weapon wielding arm, squeezing so tightly I thought for a moment I crushed her bone. I pulled her up to my face so that we could each get a good look of the other. She was a fairly pretty woman, with short, blood red hair and two bits that went down past her shoulders in the front, a strange heart-shaped looking mole on her upper left cheek, and a straight old scar that scratched both lips on the left side. The scar was strange for one so young and skilled, but what disturbed me the most was her eyes.
I felt that her life was written on every bit of pigment; she was screaming inside them. We both stared at each other my green eyes pushing into her silver-brown ones. I don’t think I had ever come across such a unique looking human before.
She seemed completely enthralled by my appearance. Not surprising, although I wasn’t very used to being stared at. All the humans I lived with were more comfortable with my looks.
“What are you?” She whispered.
I lowered my eyes in guilt. “I’m sorry.” All my strength coiled and then released. I threw her from my hold; she flew from me so quickly and burst through two walls before stopping.
Past the first hole I could see the nearly cold body of her most recent victim, lying on an old rug in a pool of his own sticky, thick blood. I ran my eyes from him to the young assassin slouched against the farthest wall. I sighed and walked over to her.
She looked so helpless and tortured; like a broken child.
The sympathetic tug at my heart got the better of me. I picked her up and left the destroyed home, leaping from rooftops until I returned back to my own rented dwelling.
I slowly put her down onto my bed and proceeded to sit on the floorboards breathing heavily. I had never had to carry a full grown person while also running and jumping at my normal speed…it was much harder than I first thought.
“I really…need to train more.”
Once my heart had slowed again I turned my face back to the sleeping woman. She looked pained even in unconsciousness.
Exhausted muscles moved me to the opened window where I happily stopped to rest and watched the small town sleep. I had barely been there more than an hour before I dropped my head and drifted away as well.
When I finally came too, I reluctantly opened my eyes to find two silver- brown ones starring straight at me. I jerked back and smacked into the wood of the window I had been once peacefully latent on.
“Ow….” I held my head and mumbled with slight irritation.
“Why am I still alive?”
The woman seemed to be in utter disbelief.
My eyes blinked in shock of my own, I didn’t really know how to respond to her. “I-I honestly can’t answer that.”
She cocked her brow at me then sat back, with one leg dangling out the window.
I blew air out my closed lips, wafting my bangs up as I sighed. For a moment I starred at my hands then moved off the window to stand further in the as of yet unlighted room.
I could feel her eyes on me, like a hawk eyeing its rival rather than prey. The feeling was…unnerving.
Her feet touched the flooring, lighter than most humans could step.
“Seriously though. Who are you? What are you? Why am I here?”
Her questions felt so difficult to understand for some reason. I found I couldn’t quite function properly. My hands cupped my face as I breathed as calmly as possible.
A fluttering touch reached my shoulder. “UGH!” I screamed grabbing the hand and whirling around to face her. “I don’t know alright! I just don’t know!” She looked far more placid that I would have expected but in her eyes I saw fear.
I released her bruised hand and walked to sit on the bed; it was soft. I grinned to myself.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry. I uhh…I-I think you should leave.”
She was holding her injured hand close to her chest, the fear wavering back and forth from her face.
“No.”
“What!?” I jerked up to look at her. She had dropped her already purple right hand and her eyes were stern.
“I’m not leaving. You owe me explanations and I want them. Now.”
I blinked at her in shock, my mouth agape.
She sat down beside me and looked straight into my eyes. “Alright, spill.”
My surprise changed to confusion and I tilted my head slightly to the side at her phrasing. “Spill?”
“You know, tell me everything. All I want to know.”
“Oh uhh…al-alright.”
She was strangely persuasive.
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. No words passed across my mind’s eye.
I saw her eyes glance at me while I kept my own glued to the wood floorboards. “Here, I’ll start then.” She stated beside me.
I nodded instinctually.
“Okay, what are you?”
I shook at the cobwebs in my head and proceeded to answer.
“I’m a…I’m a hybrid.”
The girl on the bed jerked at the word. “Hybrid? What kind of hybrid? What do you mean?”
I sighed. “I am an elf-human hybrid. However…” I paused. “…both my parents have passed on.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Though she apologized with intended sympathy her voice seemed tense and slightly indignant to the idea. I tried to ignore it.
“Um, I am currently the only one in existence and I’m also…rather lost.” I giggled at the idea that something supposedly as powerful as I could be lost, but power wasn’t in me…not really.
“Lost? How could you be lost?”
I laughed again.
“It’s uhh...a very long story. But essentially I ended up here with no one I know and no idea how to get to the ones I do.” I stretched up and looked out the window at the morning. “Pretty pathetic, huh?”
The girl was quiet for a change. I looked over to her; she was just staring at nothing.
“I’m sorry if I upset you?”
“Huh!? Oh no no, I was just thinking about something.”
She was methodically tapping her fingers against her lips.
“Alright!” She pounded her fist onto her thigh and then jumped up off the bed.
I slanted away from her as she leaped; the girl was being so enormously bizarre. Her firm silver-brown eyes looked down at me as she grinned almost manically.
“I am going to help you find the people you lost!”
My face was terribly dumbfounded. My mouth was wide open, my entire brow furrowed, and my eyes couldn’t move from her obnoxiously excited stance.
“WH-WHAT!?”
“In thanks for sparing my life and taking me from the scene to your own apartment.” She briefly glanced around “well, room.”
She smiled happily at me, although, my face had yet to change at all other than in minor twitches.
She glanced out the window then fell from her proud stand. “Oh SHIT! I have to go; another job later on.” She grinned at the latter.
Before she went from the open window she lightly placed a full kiss on my cheek. “You shouldn’t smile like that, you’ll get wrinkles.” She winked at me.
She ran to the window and placed her foot on the old ledge. “Bye bye for now!”
My face had softened since the impromptu kiss and quick farewell. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would hopefully never see her again until suddenly her face popped back into view.
“Oh, I completely forgot to ask you your name!”
I sighed in annoyance…it seemed I had a stray following me home now. “Noir. My name is noir.”
“Noir. That’s a pretty name.” She gave me a sincere smile for once. “I’m Kisneyla.”
“Pleased to meet you…Ney.”
She gasped in surprise then returned to her previous visage.
“Is it alright if I call you Ney?”
“Yes…I-I would prefer it actually.” Her head turned away to leave, but just as she did I thought I caught the scent of salty tears in the wind.
Tewoeklon: Chapter Five
My father’s eyes were shut, his mouth closed, his body unmoving; the shallow and slight wheeze of his breathe was my only indication that he was still alive. I could barely hear his heart pump and his skin was cold and sweat covered.
“Kayne…what’s wrong with my father?” I kept my hand tightly nestled in his, I hoped that being there would help…but honestly I doubt he knew I was beside him at all. Kayne sat on the edge of the bed and sighed with reluctance marring his breath.
“He’s been ill, Noir. He’s been ill for a very long time.”
“What!?” I looked down at his sleeping face. “That’s not possible! He’s been fine, normal …HEALTHY! He’s not sick! He’s not dying! He is going to get better!” I held his hand tighter and pulled it to my chest for comfort.
He couldn’t be this way, he promised me. He promised to stay alive forever. I felt a cascading tear slip from my cheek and onto my father’s cold hand.
“Noir.” Kayne placed his hands on my shoulders.
“No!” In a slow moving instant I saw myself slap him away and in my saddened state I watched Kayne fly from my touch and into the wall of the ship’s cabin.
My eyes gaped at his bruised form; tears were already flowing like rain from my eyes.
“I….” My voice was raspy and weak. “I-I can’t be around you now…”
I released my father’s hand and went running from the room.
The sting and pressure of my cries burned against my face, I couldn’t even see where I was going. I simply ran.
I pushed out every shout I heard, I ignored every hand against my body…I shoved them aside. I took no care to whether they were friend or foe; they just had to be moved away from me.
I remember closing my eyes once and not opening them the longer I went on and the faster I became. Eventually I detected no sound, no people, simply nothing at all…just the cool air flowing through my lungs.
When I finally opened my eyes I saw a brightening horizon along a quite ocean surface. I looked down to my feet and noticed I had been moving so fast, with such carelessness; I had been gliding across the water’s top.
I turned back and the endlessness continued on in every direction I looked. For a moment I nearly stopped before realizing if I did, I would sink…and be stuck having to swim for who knows how long until I reached shore.
I lowered my eyes and sighed. How could I have gone so far so fast?
Unfortunately my sense of direction was quite abhorrent, basically leaving me in the middle of nowhere, on the ocean, running like a nut.
I cupped my head and scratched furiously. Last night was really such a blur, like a faded memory or dream forgotten over the years. I only remembered my tears…and then nothingness.
“Syren…where are you…?”I suddenly gasped …Syren! My mind leapt to the day we left home. The memory of standing upon the mast and looking out to see the town we were meant to raid.
“Concentrate. Put all your strength into what you see.” I mumbled under my breath.
“I really wish I had gotten a chance to practice.” I inhaled a deep and long breath, inflating my lungs as best as I could. I glared out over the horizon, taking in every angle I could manage and tried my hardest to focus my thoughts onto looking for something, anything that may indicate land.
To my right a small mass formed in the distance, but nearly a second later I lost control and faltered my pace. I barely caught myself and then turned to make a way towards the land I saw; hopefully it was where we were meant to raid. If not, I sighed and dropped my head…if not, then I was very much screwed.
After almost two hours of ceaseless running, a town became coming into view. However the closer I came the more I realized that this was most definitely not the place we came to raid. This was a poor harbor town, where several small boats floated by old wooden docks.
As I watched the people working and walking and talking at the market, I stopped. I tried to balance on the water’s surface. It had been a very long time since Syren and Menya taught me how to stand on water and the memories were fuzzy at best.
I spread my weight through my body, but my feet still slipped up and down in the waters. The voices that hovered from the shore were difficult to hear and make out, but as I moved to step closer they changed into loud and shouted ones.
“What is that!? Is it a demon!? Look it’s a girl!? She’s standing on the water!? Hurry look, look! Children get inside!”
“Oops…” my concentration slipped entirely and I fell beneath the waves.
The drop was sudden and flutters jumped up my throat as I fell deeper and deeper before slowing to a suspended stop.
Shoot, shoot, shoot…I began having a slight fit in the water, before noticing a few more feet down that a large cave with a clear circular opening in the top caught my attention. A cave! I grinned and accidently released a few bubbles of air.
I regained a bit of my senses and started swimming for the opening; it was wider and smoother than the one I had been in only the other night.
Once I breached the surface, I was thankfully pleased to see that no one was occupying it. I pulled myself out of the pool-like entrance, I reached up to released my hair from the ribbon I always wore but found that I didn’t have it…in fact I was still wearing the nicer clothing of mine from the evening I was meant to have dinner with my father.
I dropped onto the stone flooring. My father. Tears began flowing again as I remembered in my moments of anger and sorrow that I had left before I said goodbye….I wouldn’t even get to be there when he died.
I crawled over and up onto the bed. It was rather large and soft against my fingers; while I laid down I couldn’t help but feel slightly comforted by the scent rolling off the sheets. I held one of the pillows to my chest and draped my hair over myself.
I was lost, alone, and soon to be an orphan. Something told me my life was not done kicking my ass yet.
A few hours passed by and I had gone in and out of consciousness.
In a moment of fleeting awareness I noticed a slight splash and mumble behind me, though I was too worn and tired to bother moving. Just before I slipped off again, I thought I may have noticed a man’s face looking down at me but I fell back asleep.
I gasped and threw myself up on the bed. “Who’s there!?” I searched the area
but no one was anywhere around and actually through the clear opening in the ceiling I found that the day had come and gone. The moon glittered down from the surface.
I sighed, “Must have been a dream.”
I jumped off the bed and stepped back into the water. I figured that I should go and try to hunt down some food in the town I saw, though considering its poor appearance it may be one of the few that still believe in the old myths.
When I reached the shore line, I did my best to climb up near a darkened alley so that I wouldn’t be noticed coming out of the water where a mysterious woman was seen standing. In places like these people were inclined to believe elves and other such creatures were dangerous and not to be trusted. They believed us to be responsible for the few serial murders that have happened throughout the centuries. After speaking with Syren I was beginning to wonder if it had been the Tewoeklons.
“No that’s cruel…some of it had to be someone else.” I shook my hair a bit to make sure I was as dry as I could be. My clothes were still a little damp but hopefully it wasn’t entirely noticeable.
I looked around the corners but there were just too many people, thankfully it was rather dark and so I leapt up to the smaller building next to me and moved over a few rooftops until I found a less populated area to drop down in. I slipped between what looked like a bakery and an antique shop and then walked out into the streets. When I looked down to my feet I noticed a small glow of green.
“Crap!” I covered my mouth and lowered my eyes as best as I could while still being able to see where I was going.
I really needed something to cover my eyes; Syren never taught me a way to control my night vision…if there was a way!
I began muttering slurs of curses and other various irritants while walking and very intently watching my feet through my fingers.
Suddenly another pair of shoes came into view and my head rammed up against a firm chest.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” A gentle voice whispered.
He sounded young, not young like a child but not an old man either. He actually sounded rather attractive, I fought with myself since I really wanted to look and see.
“No, my fault,” I spat out quickly before sidestepping the man and moving even faster, just so that I could get away from the embarrassment that flushed my cheeks. As I passed I had a slight notion of familiarity with the man, but no…not possible.
Silly, you don’t even know him! You didn’t even see him! I kept forcefully thinking to myself as I headed on up the path. I started to slow my pace once people started to become scarce; I took a cursory chance to look up and noticed a fabric store. There was a chance I could find some fabric that was see-through enough for me to cover my eyes with.
A little wooden chime sounded as I stepped in, the noise was a bit unpleasant but I tried to ignore it.
“Hello miss, is there something in particular you’re looking for?” A chipper young woman greeted me.
I thought that perhaps if I intended to put fabric over my eyes, I could start my pretend loss of sight now. I closed my eyes and looked up to where I heard her breath and bizarrely strong heart beat.
“Yes, I need a new piece of fabric to cover my eyes.”
She gasped sharply and jumped to take my hand. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Of course, we have many smooth and soft fabrics here!”
Thinking that I was unable to move myself at all she nearly dragged me over to a table she described as being covered in the best fabrics ever made.
I took a deep breath, trying to remember that I was going to be a calm and gentle person…who was a little mysterious…my mind started to wander as the woman continued to babble on and on about how each type of textile was made.
“Here, feel this one.” She flippantly set a silky fabric against my palm.
I brushed the cloth piece by my ear and rubbed it together. The feeling was a bit too thick.
“It’s a bit thick, do you have any lighter materials? Preferably something in black, if you can.” I flashed a placid smile her way to show my gratitude for her help.
“Yes, yes. This piece has always been made with high thread counts.” She made a rather loud ‘thinking’ noise as she irritatingly tapped her foot against the wood flooring.
“Ah! I know!”
She rushed past me and I calmly followed, a part of me had been a bit afraid she was going to again drag me across the room.
“This just came in the other day, very rare threading.”
I reached out and took hold of the fabric; she made a small gasp at my forward gesture. It was smooth and almost fluid like in feeling. I ran it against the strands of hair that hid my ear. Yes, very gentle; not to thick or thin at all.
“This one is quite nice. …How much is it exactly?”
Money hadn’t really crossed my mind until this moment, did I even have any with me. A bit of anxiety began to curl itself around my stomach.
“Ah, well, we have this priced at 250 nolles.”
I made sure to keep my face level despite the fact my emotions were flaring inside. Money, do I have money? I very casually slipped my hand into the lone pocket at my side; cold metal touched the tips of my fingers. I released a long internal sigh and pulled out everything I had.
“Excuse me, ma’am. I’m not sure how much money I have with me. Could you help?”
“Oh, of course!” She grabbed my hand. “…Oh my!” She exclaimed even louder than before.
“What is it?”
“This is…so much money!”
“Really?” I cocked my head. “I had no idea; I simply dropped a few coins into my pocket.” I giggled lightly at the thought.
“Uh, my, well you have about…hmm, 22500 here.”
I resisted the urge to outwardly gasp myself. Where had such money come from?
“Then, I suppose I would like to buy this fabric from you.”
“Sure, sure!” She seemed to dance away from me before dashing back with a few coins clinking in her hands.
She lifted one coin from my own hand and then replaced it with the others she carried.
“Oh!” She bubbled. “And because I like you so, here’s a free coin purse for you.” I may have still had my eyes closed but I was sure she had a grin stretching from ear to ear.
“Thank you very much.” I dropped the coins in and attached the nice bag to the small belt slouched around my waist.
“You’re quite welcome! It’s rare I get a chance to meet such a kind and beautiful person here.” I smiled truthfully at her and she placed the now folded cloth in my hands.
I began tying the fabric across my eyes, slipped it beneath my hair and over the points of my ears, and then back out to tie in a small knot. Once I had it nicely secured I took a peek and saw that I could see through adequately and the young woman made no mention if she noticed any green.
She was a plain girl with light blond hair curling around her face, though she had very pretty blue eyes. I wouldn’t say she was any older than 21. She yet again flashed me a smile, as she did surprisingly white teeth gleaned back at me.
I turned to leave but just before I opened the door she called back to me.
“Oh wait! I didn’t get your name.” She ran over to stand not quite a foot away from me. “I’m Penelope Crawford, my father owns this shop.”
I looked out to the street were a few flickering torches were all that light up the darkness.
“I’m Noir. Just Noir.” And with that I left the young woman and began to walk casually along the road.
Tewoeklon: Chapter Four
We rammed into the stone pillar-like walls on the opposite side of the cave. I had propelled toward the man with so much force that we completely cleared the water which opened itself up in between the two sides of the underwater cavern.
Beneath my own growls and screams of anger I heard him below sounding just the same as he continuously made attempts to throw me off him.
“What is your problem, Bitch!?”
He pushed against my arms with great strength, but my fingers were dug deeply into his shoulders and the inertia of the moment merely thrust us from a place against the wall to another only a few feet away. My body smashed into the stone and then his crushed up against mine, my face was crammed up beside his neck. I felt his hands press in against the wall in order to force himself away but I kept my hands firm.
“Let go of me!” He screamed into my ear.
“Fine.” My voice had a nasty rumble to it.
I released my grip and the man toppled backward before making a quick flip and landing nicely on his feet. I coiled back on my calves and lunged toward him again, this time he blocked my kick. Instead I punched him in the face, forcing him back again into the pillar we had first hit.
“Holy Shit!” He stood from the broken indent in the stone and wiped the blood leaking from his mouth.
I gave a cynical smile at his angered expression and leapt lithely back over to Syren, who had still not moved since my attack.
“Sy, are you alright? …Syren?” I had taken her hand in my own while I watched her blank face. Her eyes moved to look behind me and in the reflection of her large pupil I saw the red haired man standing back on our side of the water.
I glanced at him once, his lip was already nearly healed and his face now held an understanding when I glared at him. I moved back to speak with Syren but before I got a word out she placed a finger against my lips. Her eyes appeared to be the normal golden color and she smiled slightly at my confused face.
“Thank you for trying to protect me Noir. But I can see I was mistaken.”
“Mistaken…?”
Syren moved away from me and over to the man I had just tried to…practically kill.
She placed her own hand in his, speaking to him in hushed tones, so quiet I couldn’t make out any of it. I furrowed my brow in utter confusion.
“Sy, who is this man? You were so afraid a second ago.”
The man frowned at me, but Syren faced me with a grin, different from any I had seen her wear before.
“Noir, this is Joryn. He has been my very close friend since childhood.”
I shook my head in refusal, “But that doesn’t explain why you were petrified at his appearance?”
“The last time I saw Joryn he was dead…or I was sure he was dead.”
“Then shouldn’t you be pleased to see him?”
“Generally, I would…but….” Syren and Joryn looked to each other. “…well, lately, back home, there have been unusual things happening on the battlefields. About four decades ago, Joryn and I were fighting as part of the palace guard to protect one of the smaller villages from an attack by some mountain dwelling dwarves. Things were going very well and once we had pushed the rebels back to the border we returned to our fallen comrades. It was there I found Joryn…and a few others.
“Suddenly two of my soldiers, dead according to the physician presiding there, got up! They retrieved their weapons and licked the blood off the blades, watching us like we were no one and as more returned I began to hear their murmurs of bewilderment. However, since I was a high ranking member of the guard, during a meeting of our senior staff I had been informed that something odd had been occurring among our dead, and that we were to destroy all deceased comrades immediately upon death or battles end.
“As I recalled this information nearly all members of the dead were again moving towards us, all except Joryn and his second in command, Tan. I ordered the squads to eradicate everyone that had arisen, some were uncertain but many obeyed. By the time we had burned all the bodies, as well as Tan’s, Joryn had not been accounted for.”
“So, you thought that this, he, was one of these…things?”
“Exactly, but that was only my first encounter with them, afterwards, we began receiving more intelligence about these creatures. Ones left alive after seemingly coming back to life during battles were found to be similar to who they once were, with the same memories and mannerisms, though they were more aggressive and prone to murder if angered. Some were immediately found to be strange, while others took time to notice the change. Apparently after some time their eyes or skin would change color to a pale white or yellow, although a few stronger ones were known to stay the same. Eventually they would leave the places they were brought to, several after leaving trails of dead family and friends.”
I sat down; I couldn’t believe what I was being told. That…after all this time, elves could be some blood thirsty creatures? Syren also settled before me, and in my lowered view I spotted Joryn sit as well.
“Noir, I understand how difficult this is to take in. But it’s now been 25 years since any of these creatures have been spotted or reported anywhere.”
“Did they ever figure out what caused all this?” I leaned a bit towards Syren in my curiosity.
“No, they didn’t, but the few who were kept frozen for study after the initial attacks were found to be somewhat altered…but no one outside the medical team, security chiefs, and the royals knew anything of it. …But in my experience, I found that elves who had been transformed did not bleed. Not a drop of blood at all. That was how I knew Joryn was not a creature.”
“I too, have come across some after I managed to escape the battle.” Joryn spoke with a strong but low voice. “I have only met two since they were said to be diminished. Both were strong, but I did find that none of them bleed. I removed the arms of the last one I encountered, it was…strange. The bone and muscle were there, but were anatomically wrong, the bones were blue and had black tinted nicks all along them and the muscle tissue was larger but completely brown in color.
“I examined the creature before I burnt it and there are no lungs or heart in the body, and the ribs were fewer and warped into one another. They were virtually no organs left in the body, just bone and an excess of muscle, a few veins were still there but when I touched them, immediately they fell to dust. Which I found in numerous places inside the body.”
“Did he have a brain at all?” I had been intensely watching him speak about these beings; I was curious what they were.
He looked over at me, as though he had forgotten I existed, which irritated me and I glared at him.
“I had no chance to look, I had spent too much time probing his body, and he would have come back again had I not set him on fire.”
“Hmm….” I leaned onto my hand. “Syren, did they ever name these beings? They don’t sound like elves too me, nor humans, or even hybrids. They aren’t like any of the creatures I have come across or red about.”
“As far as I know, they had been called Tewoeklons.”
“That’s an odd name…is it elvish?”
“I do not believe so; I think it was a combination reached by some of the elder scholars…a mixture of several languages. The closest meaning I know of was Hollow Murders.”
“I know I don’t know these creatures, but isn’t that rather prejudiced? Have you found that all these mutated beings are killers?”
“Of course they are!” Joryn shouted at me, his orange eyes flared like fire.
“I simply mean that…” I stopped speaking and looked to the stone walls. “Syren, the ship is taking up anchor, they’re about to leave.”
“Yes, I know.”
Syren placed her hands on Joryn’s. “I am very glad I was able to see you again, after all this time.” They stood together.
I followed, though somewhat less graceful.
“I assume you need this cavern, I will stay up on the ship tonight.” She released her hands from Joryn.
“Sy, are you sure? You said the smell is hard on you.”
“Yes, I’ll stay up with Menya.” She flashed me a small smile.
“Ship?” Joryn looked confused. I simply narrowed my eyes at his voice, I know I had no place to judge, but this man bugged me.
“Yes, Menya and I have been working with Noir’s village for the last few years. We assist in raids and hunts.”
“Menya? You mean Men, from the archery squad? The giddy pink eyed girl?”
“Yes, she’s been working with me for almost 20 years now; around the time when we came to the human’s village.”
“Ah yes, the hybrid.” They both turned to look at me, though he clearly did not hold any kind feelings towards me.
“Well, pardon me for not being perfect.” My anger flared up again.
“So why are you with this hybrid anyway?”
I moved to stand next to Syren and crossed my arms in defiance at his clear dislike of me and my ancestry. As well as his endlessly irritating propensity to speak as though I weren’t even here. Syren then placed an arm across my shoulders.
“Joryn, this is Noir. Daughter of Captain Jonathin Schar and Sena of Toryl.”
“Sena? This is the only child of Sena of Toryl?”
Syren nodded.
“Toryl? What is that?” I looked to Syren but she did not turn to face me, she seemed to be ignoring my question.
“Noir, I hear Kayne looking for you. You should go and eat with your father and friend.”
“But, what about you?”
“I’ll be fine; I would like some time to catch up with my friend before I return to the ship.” She set both hands on my shoulders. “Inform Men that I’ll be a little late.”
I looked over at Joryn briefly, “Alright. I’ll see you later.”
I walked backwards to the water and jumped in, all the while I watched Joryn. He continued to annoy me, even without saying anything.
The waters were much colder than before and certainly darker as well. Thankfully, at least the swim to the surface was much quicker than to the trove.
I wonder what those Tewoeklon are really like. My thoughts seemed to unwittingly wander back to the images I crafted when Syren talked of the creatures once plaguing the elves. I pushed the idea away though as I came closer to the darkened shadow casted by the Snyaria.
Once I breeched the water’s exterior and I quickly climbed up through our cabin’s window. I hated being in wet clothes, my hair and skin would take a little longer to dry outside the cave as well. Menya wasn’t in the room and the door was still locked.
I quickly pulled myself out of my damp clothes and unwrapped the bandages I still wore. My wounds were looking quite well, though I had never been much of a physician. I put on my other set of clothing, a looser and slightly more formal outfit but my only other set.
I decided to let my hair down, especially as it was nearly dry, and anyway my father had always liked my hair down. I ran a brush through my hair before stepping out of the cabin, too the laughing voices of the men preparing for dinner below deck.
“Hello.” Kayne spoke suddenly at my side.
“Kayne.” I nodded with a smile. “How have things been today?”
He chuckled at my nonchalance. “Things have been fine, noisy though. We should be at the city tomorrow at dawn. Everyone has been getting somewhat anxious.”
“So then…tomorrow we go in.”
“Yes. Will you be alright?”
“Of course, I’ll be fine.” I grinned up at him, but when I lowered my head I felt the nervous flutters of the realization that I would be back where my mother never left.
“Noir.” Kayne placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from continuing along my path. “Are you sure you’re ready? You don’t have to go; I can speak with your father.”
“No, no.” I shook my head and lightly placed my hands against his chest. “I’ll be fine; I want to help provide for our home. It’s my duty to help.” I continued to stare down at our feet; the memories of the other night when I broke down and Kayne and I shared a long embrace came to mind as my fingers twitched against his chest. A hot blush came to my face.
I swallowed deeply and tried to ignore the feeling.
“Kayne…you’ll stay with me right?” I looked up at him and his face was shocked; a slight pinkish tint glowed on his cheeks.
“Uh…wwhat do you mean?”
“When we reach the town, you’ll not leave me, you’ll stay by my side?”
He sighed. “Yes, I’ll stay with you.”
“Thank you Kayne!” I wrapped my arms around his torso, my face pushed against his warm chest.
I quickly regained my senses, released my grip, and hurriedly walked away from Kayne with a silly, half embarrassed look on my face.
Once I reached my father’s cabin, I took a moment to breathe as I leaned against the doors; I tried my best to push away the strange emotions dancing around inside me.
I took hold of the large wooden handle and pulled it open.
My father was sitting quietly on his bed.
“Father?”
“Ah, Noir. Are you ready to eat?” He stood up slowly and walked over to the threshold, where I was waiting.
“Yes…I am.” I looked at my father’s face; he seemed pale and his eyes distant. “Are you alright?” I reached my hand out to his cheek, he felt cold.
“I’m just fine, darling. No need to worry.” He placed a hand on my head.
“…Father…?” As he stepped past the door his hand began to slip from my head and his body toppled forwards.
I caught him as best as I could. “Father? Father..?? Come on, wake up!” I shook him slightly but he remained unresponsive. “KAYNE!”
Tewoeklon: Chapter Three
It’s been two weeks since we fought the Zorre and I got the pommel and entire handle of my own dagger through my abdomen. It was only today that Syren and Menya finally let me out of our cabin.
I decided to simply wear my bandages. With Syren’s bizarre paranoia, she now had me covered from my hips to my right shoulder. From some reason she thought if I exposed my former abrasion I might get irritated and try to rip at the skin again.
I rolled my eyes thinking of her overprotective insanity.
The early morning sun had just barely breached the horizon and the air was crisp as it blew through my loose hair. I had been stuck in the cabin for so long; the cold wind was nice against my skin.
My ear suddenly twitched to the sound of fibers rubbing against wood. I tried to ignore the sound, but since my hearing had enhanced during my forced absence I still had yet to control it. The noise made me want too tear my ears off.
I growled angrily toward the sound, though I kept my face in the direction of the coming warmth of the sun.
Wherever it was coming from and whoever created it stopped the motion generating the ear sore, I think after hearing my quiet feral roar. I smiled in satisfaction.
Then it began again.
My nails dug deep into the old, beaten wood along the starboard side as I glared fiercely at the calm sea water slopping up and hitting the ship.
“Who the hell is making that annoying sound!?” I screamed.
A sudden sharp thud followed by a gasp caught my attention and caused me to turn around. On the ground a bucket of a strange looking and smelling liquid was spilt on the deck and a few ropes and high up about twelve or fifteen feet was Kayne hanging onto a slick rope with one hand.
I gasped, throwing my hands over my mouth. I had forgotten how high and clear my screams were now. I ran over to him and looked up; his face was red with exertion and shock.
“Kayne, oh my gosh, I’m so so sorry! I forgot!”
He grunted a laugh then groaned in pain.
I moved to stand directly beneath him. “Kayne let go of the rope, I’ll catch you. Not well or comfortably, but you shouldn’t be hurt.”
“Are you crazy?!” He shouted with effort.
“No. I’m trying to help you.”
“You can’t catch me, I’m too heavy.”
“I’m even stronger than I used to be, just let go.”
He said nothing.
“Kayne let go! Would you rather break your leg or your neck!?”
He still said nothing but I thought I may have heard a grunted response.
“Alright. Are you ready?”
“Yes. Let go.”
He released his grip and began plummeting toward me. My initial instinct was to move out of the way and not be crushed by a full grown and muscular man falling at me from over a dozen feet in the air, but I swallowed my fear and closed my eyes, waiting for the impact.
His weight hit me. I barely had time to hold my stance steady without breaking my own legs in the process. Once he was entirely in my grasp I tightened my hold and fell backward. He was heavy.
“Holy shit, you really caught me!” He blinked.
“I told you I would.” I tried to keep my voice even, although my limbs were a little shaky.
He quickly pulled himself him up; while his back was still turned I took a moment to express my bodies shock with a strange pained contortion of my face. I’m sure I would have looked very silly. Kayne cracked his back then turned to me and lowered his hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up.
“I’m sorry about your …uhh…” I looked toward the strange substance spilled on the deck “…your work.”
He chuckled.
“Don’t worry about it. I can do it another time; it’s not super important right now.”
He reached for an already slightly dirty rag and started trying to clean up the mess I had caused. I heard a noisy rustle come from below deck. The day shift must be on their way. Unfortunately the crew that worked while the sun was up had a tendency to smell…weird. I wrinkled my nose at the memory.
“Well, I’m sorry for the problem I caused you and I think I will be going away from here now.” I began walking away with my hands held behind my back.
“Wait. Where are you going? You just got here.”
“Um, let’s just say ‘the foulest’ are descending.” I nodded while keeping my eyes and nose alert.
Kayne nodded knowingly. “See ya then.”
I leapt at our cabin door and quickly thrust it open and closed myself inside. Only a second later the men poured onto the deck, shouting and laughing loudly. The sounds and smells danced in my mind with a furry that made me nauseous.
I slid my back along the wall with my hands held tightly over my ears. UH! Stupid senses!
“Noir?”
Syren was standing by an open window with her head cocked in confusion.
“Noir, what’s wrong?”
I groaned. “Everything is loud and smells; I can’t shut it out! How do you and Menya do it!? How!?”
She smiled and gestured for me to come to her. So I did.
“It’s not hard to control, but it takes time. For now come with me.” She gently reached for my hand and held it between hers.
We both stepped up onto the window’s ledge, looking out at the water as it conjoined after being swathed by the ship.
“Take a deep breath.” She whispered.
I did as she said and we leapt.
We slipped into the water like arrows, hardly disturbing the surface and barely a splash followed our plunge. I had always found jumping into the water a little disorienting even when I had the help of Syren to guide me. My eyes reactively blinked several times to the foreign sensation of salt water rubbing against them. Once I could see clearly I felt Syren tug on my arm and we started swimming closer to the reef.
The water was warm and comfortable, like being wrapped in a blanket. It was also quite serene beneath the waves and not so painful to my senses either; I wouldn’t mind living in the water, although after a while I would most likely become a giant shriveled prune or something.
I laughed at the image in my head, suddenly releasing all the air I had gathered in my mouth, which startled Syren.
We stared at each other for a long while and the longer I held my eyes on her the wider Syren’s seemed to get. I was about to gesture to her but she abruptly thrust her hand over my mouth and gripped my body tightly. We were moving very rapidly through the waters; everything just happened so fast and I was completely shocked and confused as to what the hell was going on.
The reef beneath us was shrouded in the foaming bubbles left behind by Syren’s incessant pumping to get to the surface. However the more I watched the waters swirl and fizzle out of existence, I began to notice that my chest felt very warm and my head throbbed as well. The pulsing beat of my head seemed to flow as though I were dancing with the bubbles I watched so closely.
My body then reacted to the feelings. I immediately tried to inhale instead finding that I only pulled against the firm clasp of Syren’s hand. Her speed then increased and I in turn began to help reach the surface.
The instant my nose broke free I took a deep breath, inflating my burning lungs and calming my heart and brain’s cries for oxygen. Before I even opened my eyes I felt the sting of a wet hand collide with my already wet face which forced me backward slightly.
“Noir! How irresponsibly stupid are you lately!!! You almost allow yourself to get killed by a simple Tore, you get seriously injured twice while taking down a small Zorre, and now you just release all your oxygen while being over 75 feet below the surface of the ocean!!! What is going on?!?!”
I blinked, my mouth was hanging open and I held my hand to the throbbing welt that now covered the right side of my face. Her eyes glared intensely at me, the golden color melted with a furry I had never seen before on such a kind, placid visage.
“…I…” Grumbling noises vibrated in my mouth, which sounded like ‘I’ but honestly I have no idea what I was saying. The crease between her narrowing eyebrows darkened at my response.
“I don’t know.” I whispered.
It seemed Syren didn’t mind my answer as she sighed heavily and looked toward the sun, still high in the clearness of the day.
“Never mind, it’s not important now.” She spoke with a definite yet also gentle tone before turning to face me.
She reached her hand toward my wounded face and nodded sagely. “You’ll be fine; I apologize for striking you.”
“No, it’s alright… it was my fault.”
She nodded yet again in response and took hold of my hand. “Take a deep breath and hold it until I say otherwise.” A golden eye looked firmly at me.
I inhaled as much as I could and we dove down in sync, heading straight for the reef. I tried to keep my mind clear as I went in hopes of not furthering Syren’s apparent temper toward my actions.
My eyes seemed to inadvertently glance at her as we swam, although her face was blank and emotionless as usual. She noticed my staring and quirked her brow in confusion; I swayed my hands side to side and shook my head as best as I could. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, but then continued on as though nothing happened.
We finally reached the reef. Hundreds of creatures fluttered around the many plants decorating the rock. The brilliant colors distracted me; they were even more beautiful now that my eyes were stronger. However I had barely any time to admire them, once I began drifting away Syren grabbed my arms and pulled me away, directing us toward a small cave opening. It looked almost nothing like the one we had entered to find the Zorre. Instead this cavern was bright and wide and further back a gentle pattern of sun glinted water was dancing along the floor of the cave.
Once we entered the opening, Syren and I began swimming straight up heading for what appeared to be large air filled room hidden within the reef. I felt the break of the water’s surface and took a deep breath; the air had a salty taste but was otherwise fresh enough.
The trove was more like a room then a cave, the rock walls were relatively smoothed down and on the ceiling there was an opening covered with some sort of clear substance; couldn’t be glass, could it?
Syren was already out of the water and onto the stone flooring, her hair now perfectly dry in appearance as though the water simply slid off. I frowned slightly, my hair never did that. I swam for a moment and then walked through the shallower water until I stepped up to the floor behind Syren, who had started walking toward a small type of waterfall pouring down quietly from a hole in the wall. I turned my head in confusion while watching the gentle flow; I wondered, half dazed, where on earth that water could be coming from.
“Sy, what is this place?” I ran my fingers against the rock, tracing patterns as I went.
“Elvish cave, they are located in every water source in the world.”
I walked to where Syren knelt by the basin like pool formed by the waterfall and sat beside her. It wasn’t until then that I noticed that on the other side of the room past the water was even more cave, however it looked like part of a basic styled home had been built there.
“Uh…what is this place used for?” I pulled my attention away from studying the large comfortable looking bed to focus on Syren, who was staring blankly at the rippling water.
“We elves use them. Those who choose to live outside the three Elvish cities surrounding our capital use these to stay in rather than inns. We live differently. Also whenever an elf travels they will use these. There are also several within large trees in a few of the forests as water is not always near and convenient.”
“Oh. Interesting. Is this where you always go? I never see you sleeping on the ship.”
“Yes. The stench gets to me.”
Her face was still blank as she slowly touched one finger into the water of the basin. The ripples immediately froze in place and the water fall stopped as though someone pressed pause on time. I blinked several times, I opened my mouth to question her but she suddenly opened her own mouth and began formed words quickly. The only sound was a high pitched muttering type of noise.
The echoes confused my ears; I wasn’t sure whether the sound was painful or soothing and as I went to block out the blare, the still water flashed and a green and gold wall appeared in the water.
“Tephyr? Tephyr, are you there?”
“Syren?” A warm female voice called out from the water and suddenly a lovely though slightly aged face came into view.
My eyes widened as I watched Syren begin speaking with another person whose face’s reflection was essentially in a large bowl of water. I found myself focusing mostly on her large amber eyes, which reminded me a bit of my mother’s.
“Syren, where are you now? Perhaps I can send an escort for you?”
“No, that would take far too long. Once we are closer to the gate, I’ll be sure to call again to either you or Sai. Until then Menya and I shall be fine. Regardless I should hope that her skills will have been enhanced enough that no more than one or two should be required to pass.”
“Alright dear. If that’s what you wish.” The woman’s eyes turned to me. “Hello, Noir. I hope you’re well.”
I had still been gawking at the water, so that I hardly noticed when the woman’s gentle voice was addressing me.
“You seem in good health, young still but maturity will come. Give your father greetings for me dear. Syren, do take care.”
“Yes Tephyr, farewell.” Syren touched two fingers to her forehead and the woman in the water reciprocated.
I still gaped.
“Noir, close your mouth.”
I quickly did as she said. Syren stood up gracefully and then abruptly the water started falling again, startling me from my awkward position which caused me to tip over.
“Uh, sorry. I was just a bit baffled.” I pushed myself up to follow after Syren.
As we headed toward the clear water which lead out of the cave and back into the ocean, I spotted the darkened, almost opaque mass of a person heading up to the surface from our exit.
“Sy…” I pointed to the stranger and wrapped my hand tightly around her wrist.
“I see him, Noir.”
“Him? Him? Who is he?”
“I cannot tell yet. Most likely an elf in need of a place to stay; we should leave if that be the case.”
A bright red head of hair broke the surface without one once of grace, splashing every which way and finally settling as a young man came out of the water. Once he was up on the stone flooring his steps stopped cold and I felt Syren’s body go rigid.
“Syren?” His voice echoed with a masculine, yet excited tone.
He shook his head once and all the water drops fell right off his hair, which was held in a high pony tail similar to how I held mine only his hair was much thinner. His Elvish ears protruded delicately from his head, which drew me to see his very handsome, smooth face. Syren was still unmoving by my side and so I stepped out a head of her.
“Hi, um, do you happen know my friend here?”
“Obviously I do. I called her by name, didn’t I?”
I sighed. “Fine. What is your name then? I obviously don’t know who you are.”
He scoffed at me irritably and crossed his arms. My protective anger was starting to flare uncontrollably as Syren was still not moving in my grasp. I know I should have worked on calming myself, however yet again it seemed my hypersensitivity to my own emotions was getting the better of me.
“My name is not important; especially to you…you’re not even a full elf, are you? Hybrid.” His strong, narrow orange eyes glared at me with sarcasm and annoyance.
In the back of my mind I was shouting that there was no need to be so aggressive toward him, he was messing around, that’s all. But something about Syren’s unresponsive, almost statuesque nature made my hair stand on end. Nothing ever perturbed her. Ever.
“Syren, please, I never expected to find you here. But now that I have I would like to speak with you.” The man stepped towards me and Syren, and shockingly I felt Syren take a step back tugging on my arm ever so slightly as she went. That set me off. My own grip on her wrist tightened greatly and I crouched a bit in reaction.
He stepped closer again, his hand held out to us. His head tipped down a bit, flaring the color of his eyes. “Syren, come on.”
I growled at his voice, even to my ears I sounded more like an animal than a person. And in one swift motion he took a whole foot toward us and Syren’s wrist slipped from my grasp. My emotions flared violently again and I lunged at him.
Tewoeklon: Chapter Two
The slightly more rapid beat of my heart rang deeply in my ears the farther down I swam in the clear, temped ocean water. The various reefs that decorated myriad levels of the sporadic ocean floors gleamed with gentle numerous colors from the sun’s rays piercing the surface of the water.
Fish swam fearlessly around me while I gracefully pumped myself deeper.
Elves are often referred to as ‘Those of the Earth’ meaning they seem to have an unseen connection with all life, however they are also one of the most dangerous creatures to exist. Although I’m part human, animals and plants have still seemed to like me as much as Syren and Menya; well… with the exception of birch trees and ants, I really have no idea why they don’t like me.
Regardless, it’s nice and calming but the fish keep getting in my face.
I suddenly felt a gentle hand take hold of my shoulder and stop my pace; Syren looked into my eyes, and then gestured slowly, due to the weightless feel of the water toward a dark cave-like structure hidden within a barren rock.
I nodded and followed the two into the murky cavern. All our unique colored eyes glowed in the blackness; it was something I enjoyed about being part elf. I would often freak out Kcara and Kayne when we used to play in the dark.
The bottom floor of the cave was littered with fish bones and several forms of algae and seaweed. Despite my lack of smell, the water seemed to have a heavy rotten feel to it.
I felt my body cringe.
Menya’s bubbly personality was now gone as she continued surveying the floor and walls ahead of me. I rarely had her so serious and level minded, it concerned me more than interested me.
Suddenly strong vibrations pulsed through the waters. We all stopped abruptly.
Menya’s bright pink colored eyes turned toward Syren and I; she gestured something I didn’t understand. I looked at Syren with a questioning look on my face, she took hold of my shoulder and pulled me away; Menya was right behind us.
Syren stopped us then turned me toward her. She started forming things with her hand, it looked like sign language. Damn I don’t really know that much, I should have learned more before I left the island.
She made slow, easy motions while looking directly at me. I furrowed my brow as I watched her.
…uh…D-a-n-…I don’t know that one…e-umm, I don’t know that one either. Dan_e_???
I shook my head once and then looked directly at her. Our gold and green eyes reflected on the walls.
The water reverberated again, Syren quickly pointed down into the cave where we had been, then formed the word again with her hands. D-a-n_e_! Her movements were becoming more adamant. She pointed again. D-A-N_E_!!!!! She tried mouthing the word.
Menya grabbed both our arms and pulled us against the wall. I was so confused, I had no idea what was going on. I tried asking Syren but she put her hand over my mouth exceptionally fast despite the water.
Another vibration shook us; a few shards of rock slowly fell from the walls. From the corner of my eye I saw both Menya and Syren slide two small hidden daggers from their sides; they both looked at me. I removed my own and looked to the abyss as another more forceful pounding came.
Two sharply clawed hands appeared from the darkness and took hold of the rock shaking the cave and waters. The fish-like face of a Zorre came next; its rotten teeth were grinding together and the large scared flaps of its gills opened and closed as it breathed the vile, salted waters of the cavern.
Menya gesticulated strangely at Syren again and then started counting down from five on her hand. Syren looked to me and quickly thrust her daggers upward along her body then pointed at the Zorre as it began to move again.
This I understood and I nodded. The Zorre slowly pushed its clawed hands forward, causing it to land directly above us. Immediately as the nails dug into the rock Menya’s fingers reached one and we all in sync thrust our daggers up into the arm of the Zorre faster than the eye could see. Though I think I may have been a little slower than Menya and Syren were; I’m still woefully untrained in underwater combat.
The Zorre screamed, however we only felt its pain as the entire cave shook and rock from the claws fell. A green-brown like blood spread through the water. All three of us swiftly moved from our previous position and again went to stab the Zorre’s other arm with hopes of disabling it faster. However when we reached the spot the arm and its clawed hand were gone.
Abruptly I sensed the claws coming down on us and I strongly grasped Syren and Menya’s arms, pulling them away as the ground of the cave broke into bits of rock and dust. They both nodded in gratitude and we again leapt up and swam forward with our daggers before us.
We managed to pierce one of its eyes when it lunged its rotten, blood stained razor-like teeth for us.
I felt a sharp tooth puncture a line across the right side of my collar bone to my right shoulder. I didn’t notice the initial pain of the wound until the putrid salt water reached the gash. Thick red blood tinted with brown began seeping into the water around me.
Four arms pulled me back from the Zorre so fast I lost sense of where I was. Syren and Menya stared down at me in panic, their bright eyes illuminated the cut as blood continued to flow out of me. I felt my heart slow to that of a normal human, too slow for an elf, and continue to slow its beat. The water started to feel heavier, I knew the wound wasn’t critical but I have already been deprived of oxygen for nearly an hour now.
From what I remember elves can heal themselves much quicker with oxygen flowing through their system, I had barely learned how to do it and I know there are other ways but I couldn’t…I couldn’t seem to remember them.
There looked to be a red-brown fog before my eyes and a faint pulse shaking the floor I had been set on. Syren and Menya communicated through those strange gestures I didn’t understand, both were moving so rapidly I didn’t see how even they could understand.
They both looked to the Zorre which was thrashing about angrily at the loss of its eye and left arm. Syren looked to Menya than pointed to the Zorre and handed her one of her daggers. Menya nodded and left, my left side was now somewhat…colder. I think.
Syren didn’t even watch her go; she immediately grabbed something beside me and started waving her other hand around in the water above me. Then she wove her two hands together holding something in each and then she started rubbing it into my wound.
I wanted to scream so much but I couldn’t risk releasing the little oxygen and carbon dioxide I had kept within me to stay breathing and alive.
Whatever she did it burned. The pain from the wound and the horrible stinging that came from the stuff she was using kept me from recognizing the substance and what is was made of. Usually being hypersensitive is a very useful part of having elfin blood, but when you get wounded it only intensifies everything. And why, people wonder, do we work so hard to avoid becoming injured, it’s the reason we learn to be as skilled in combat as we are. It’s what makes us so deadly. Well, them.
Everything in me started shutting down and trying to ignore the pain. At least that’s what it felt like.
Syren’s hands were still working the substance into the gash, harder and faster. Her eyes looked concentrated when I saw them.
My body started convulsing; I thrashed my arms around and tried ripping my fingernails into the wound. I have never felt such a thing before, a combination of pain and itch, as though something were eating me alive. I felt like I was on fire.
Syren’s hands pushed me down and kept my arms away as best as she could while continuing to rub into the abrasion. The cavern erupted again and large rocks fell from the ceiling directly above us. Syren ignored them and continued to work on me.
Adrenaline started flowing into my veins and the sensation driving me mad was finally ceasing.
Just before Syren was finished, I saw Menya fly back from where the Zorre was and spin gracefully, her feet landing on the wall behind me and pushing off right back to the battle. I wanted to do that. To go back.
I laid my hand on Syren’s and looked into her eyes, smiling. She nodded with relief and handed me my daggers.
We stood together and rushed toward the Zorre just as Menya managed to remove two clawed fingers with ease. I placed my hands on Menya’s shoulders and forced myself through the water and onto the head of the Zorre. Water resistant mucus covered its scaly skin and caused me to lose traction and fall along its back until I jammed one of my daggers through its second spine. I pushed it in more until I severed the vertebrae and clawed myself up to stand on the dagger protruding halfway through the Zorre.
I grabbed my other one and began hacking away at the skin layered thickly over the soft skull. Syren and Menya were trying to incapacitate the Zorre’s other arm and incidentally sliced through its remaining eye. Its green blood tainted all the water in the cavern and mixed slightly with my leftover red-brown blood, creating a sort of mist.
The water became harder to move through, even with our advanced abilities and strength. Plus every cut I made on the creature released mucus into my field of vision and slowed my movements. It was so thick I felt I could taste the horrid waters we were fighting in.
Syren got a solid slice into its arm and the force of the vibrations the Zorre caused nearly knocked me off its back, instead I rammed my dagger into the scrapped patch of skin I made on its head. The skull cracked like an egg beneath my strength and force, but the pain made it to the Zorre before I could remove myself from its back and it began shaking and screaming. The pulse knocked me backward and I drifted quickly onto the stone covered floor.
Syren and Menya must have still been fighting and didn’t realize I had lost my footing and fallen because the Zorre began tipping backward.
I tried to move but due to the pulsations I couldn’t seem to get balanced. I was helpless as the Zorre came crashing down onto me. The many rocks that had been knocked from the walls kept it from totally crushing me, but I felt two ribs crack and a foreign, uncomfortable pain coming quickly from my abdomen.
I saw Syren stare at me in disbelief, then pull at Menya to help drag the dead thing off of me. I helped some by lifting what little I could while they yanked at the body; adrenaline still rushing threw me lessened the pain of my new injuries.
After we managed to remove the deceased Zorre, I saw what had been bothering me. The blow had been so strong that when the Zorre fell backward the pommel of the dagger I had in the back of the creature had gone straight through me, directly above my naval.
It was a strange sight, having the pointed side of a weapon jutted out of the body rather than the handle. I wanted to laugh as blood began flooding up my throat and pooling in my mouth.
Syren and Menya didn’t seem to think it was so funny, especially when I stood up and took hold of my end of the Zorre as though the blade lodged within me was nothing at all. They seemed to understand though and grabbed onto the body as well; we pulled it out of the cave and headed for the surface.
I swam faster than either of them; my need for air was more pressing due to the injuries I sustained. Once my head breached the surface I gasped so hard I forgot about the mass amount of blood that dwelled in my throat and mouth. Rather than gasping oxygen I inhaled blood and salt water, but instead of coughing I took another breath filling my lungs with a potent mixture. With oxygen, I stopped my breaths as though I were still underwater and helped pull up the gigantic Zorre.
Once we had gotten the dead creature on board Syren and Menya helped pull me out of the water. Everyone stopped working and stared. I had several small cuts and punctures covering my entire body, the healing abrasion on my chest, and worst yet the pommel and entire handle within my gut with only the green blood covered steel showing.
Kayne and my father stepped toward me, and I’m not sure but I think I had a smile on my face. Kayne reached his hand out to me though Menya and Syren kept him away. They seemed strangely protective of me from my own family and friends. Kayne said something; his face appeared incredibly shocked and concerned. I opened my mouth to answer but instead of words I hacked up the blood and salt mixture that had festered in my lungs. Syren caught me before I hit the deck and pulled me into her arms, holding me close to her body like a feral mother lion protecting her cubs. Kayne had gone to catch me after I coughed blood all over him and my father, but Menya stopped him. I saw him fighting back, yelling at her but she didn’t move at all.
Then I closed my eyes.
“Noir? Are you with me?” I blinked several times as my name echoed in my ears.
I mumbled something incoherent and shielded my eyes from the light surrounding me.
“Noir? Noir, you’re awake open your eyes.” The woman speaking to me moved my arm away from my face.
I slowly pulled open my eyes and squinted from the sun’s rays to look at the person speaking to me. Syren’s golden eyes stared down at me gently.
“Syren.” I whispered. She smiled, relieved.
“Oh Noir, you should have told me you hadn’t trained or hunted for so long. I would not have taken you.” She lightly pressed her soft lips to my forehead and stroked my loose hair.
I swallowed slowly and pulled myself up. My stomach felt warm and secure, I ran my hand along soft gauze wrapped around my abdomen. I pressed my fingers down where my stab wound had been and closed my eyes. The fabric was elfin, strong and protective the puncture that once existed was nearly gone though there would be a small scar.
“Noir, you’ve been asleep for about a week.”
I opened my eyes. “Wow. Did we at least make sure everyone got fed?”
“Don’t worry about them, we got them food and saved what we needed. That’s all.”
“They are my family, of course I worry.” My voice rose.
“Calm down. I know you care for them, but you need to worry about yourself right now. You must focus all your energy into healing or I’ll have to put you asleep again.”
“Again? I was awake before now?” My brows pulled together in confusion. I didn’t really remember much about returning or anything afterward.
“Four days ago you woke up screaming, roused every sleeping person on board and scared the hell out of the ones keeping watch. Elvish screams are like singing a high note, beautiful but very dangerous to human ears. You continued and began thrashing around in pain, nearly tearing the skin I had finally gotten to take hold on your stomach, so I had to put you to sleep.”
I didn’t remember that at all. I don’t even remember the last time I had made any sounds that could be considered beautiful. The closest would have to be my singing but even that’s not that great. Not even close to what elves can do.
“It’s no big deal, expected even.” Syren shook her head at me.
“I know…I was just thinking.”
“About what?” Syren cocked her head slightly.
“Nothing, I just can’t believe I made any sounds that would be considered beautiful.”
“It’s not that surprising. Between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one an elves body stops aging. In your case you will also most likely acquire some elvish traits or at least any you already have will be increased. It’s something you should be aware of now that you are eighteen.”
I had nothing to say. Everything was already so warped and different I couldn’t seem to grasp that I would be changing even more. I stared down at my bandages.
“Noir, don’t worry about it right now. Rest.”
I nodded though I didn’t really catch what she said. She pulled the light covers over my body and I slide down beneath them, staring up at my ice blue lace hanging from the ceiling.
Although I didn’t really want to, I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. My whole body was starting to itch as it struggled to heal itself.
A creak in the floor caused my ear to twitch and arouse me from the small nap I had taken after my initial waking. I opened my eyes to find Kayne hovering over me.
“You’re being very creepy.” I mumbled.
Kayne pulled back some. “Your voice sounds a little different, not much though.”
I blinked in surprise. I had no idea my voice was any different, Syren never mentioned it. Well of course she never mentioned it. I rolled my eyes.
“So why have you snuck in here? How did Syren or Menya not catch you?”
“They’re out in the ocean checking for any unknown ships in the area that may alert the city we’re heading toward.”
“Ah.” I nodded, a small smile curling my lips.
“You’ve healed well; you don’t even look like you were injured at all.”
I laughed.
“Well, I will have a small scar from where that dagger was embedded.” I made a small airy laugh at the memory.
“What?” He grinned.
“Oh nothing, I just…it was the funniest thing. When we got that Zorre off me and I saw what it was that had been bothering me, I wanted to laugh.” I giggled again. “Oh, seeing the blade of that dagger sticking out of my body, it was so bizarre I nearly released my remaining oxygen to laugh at it.”
Kayne didn’t seem to see the humor in it, just like Syren and Menya when they had seen my smiling face down in the cave.
“Noir…you almost died. It wasn’t funny at all.” His face was stern and angry at my reaction.
“Kayne, it’s fine. I knew I would be fine.” I kneeled toward him on my bed.
“No you didn’t Noir, you couldn’t have known that! When you came on board you smiled, like you were so happy and then you cough blood everywhere. Syren and Menya wouldn’t let anyone near you for days, not even your father. We thought you were dead Noir! Dead! It wasn’t funny.” Kayne wasn’t facing me. He body was shaking from the adrenaline.
I slowly stood from the bed and walked over to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist, laying my face against his back. I felt his body freeze at the sudden contact, but then he put his hands over mine.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, I’m sorry.” I embraced him tighter, trying to hold on too not only a friend but myself, and who I was no longer going to be able to be anymore.
Then I started to cry.
