Awakening

[Caeru]

I hope it´s not a problem that this has been someplace else, too. If yes, I shall remove it. :D Hope not though, because I like to be the first somewhere. Usually this doesn´t happen to me, so...here we go.

.................................................. .............................................

A LITTLE EXPLANATION AND INTRODUCTION TO THE STORY

This is going to be my first sim-story, and because it´s writting in a certain universe (or fandom) most of you will not know, I feel it necessary to post a few words on the start.

The entire thing takes place in a fantasy setting: post - apocalyptic Earth, where humanity is in decline, ravaged by insanity, conflict, disease and infertility. A new race has risen mysteriously from the ghettos and ruins of the northern cities: humanity has evolved into a new species, which is stronger, sharper and more beautiful than any that have come before. They possess psychic powers and the ability, through a process called inception, to transform human males into creatures like themselves. They are the Wraeththu. They are destined to inherit the earth. Humanity has only a few years left before they have lost control completely, but they will not give up without a fight. Wraeththu have begun to spread across the continent and beyond. They have glimpsed their own potential, and now want to understand and wield their unique abilities. They have formed tribes and councils, each ascribing to varying beliefs, but all united in the Wraeththu spirit. Through magic, passion and war, Wraeththu will change the face of theworld forever. They must learn from humanity’s mistakes, or risk extinction themselves. Their challenge is to rise above their origins, to understand who and what they are, before it is too late.

Wraeththu are hermaphroditic beings; a physically mature har, when clothed, closely resembles a young, human male. Whilst obviously masculine, they are uncannily feminine at the same time and posses slightly altered, both male and female reproductive organs. In comparison to mankind, Wraeththu appear ageless, but this is not strictly the case. Har bodies are not subject to cellular deterioration, but on reaching the age of 150 years or thereabouts, they begin to "fade". They have the power to change the sons of men to be like themselves, this happens through "inception", a ritual that begins with sharing of blood. Within three days of being infected with Wraeththu blood, the convert's body had completed the necessary changes.

..........

DISCLAIMER:

This is a purely fictional story about a young boy, Mystére. He finds himself in feverish state, because he has just been incepting and is becoming a wraeththu at the beginning of the story.

For those of you who will find the story confusing - the adult Mystére is a wraeththu and anything that happens to him is the presence, while his teenage and child (human) versions will be used in memories, dreams, fantasies, etc. Whatever is presence will be written in normal font, while the fantasy/memory/dream parts will be written like this. :)

The story will be told half from Mystére´s point of view (thus in first person), half from a general point of view (3rd person) - when needed.

The main characters will be listed here in the first post, so you don´t get lost.

MYSTÉRE (main character) in his teenage form:

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/storyteenmisty.jpg

LEEF Leef Sariel, the captain of Parasiel army

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leef3.jpg

[Caeru]

AWAKENING: PART 1

MYSTÉRE

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story1-1.jpg

Noise...everywhere... A deafening sound of what seems to be over a thousand of little feet in heavy boots... They are stomping in military ranks all over the bedside table, accompanied by mighty buzz. Filling the air, violently shaking me awake, making me want to screem. Go away, ********, just go away! – but my lips are tightly sealed. Somewhere at the bottom of my tormented mind, a memory starts to form itself and I try to push it back, but even that costs me much more powers than I actually have. The piece of the shattered mirror that is my past has already enrooted down there and started to swell, grow, expand...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story3.jpg

Children playing in the woods. A girl and a boy, little angels – five, maybe six years old. The air smells of late summer, the afterstorm heat that still remembers all the little rainbows caught in each teardrop fallen from the sky. „Etienne! Briony!“ A familiar voice coming from between the trees announces its dinnertime and both children run home, clad in a haze of laughter and innocence and flying skirts and unkempt hair. It takes just one uncanny leap and the boy´s foot stays stuck in what looks like a hole in the Earth... yet is a nest of bees. The angry hive swarms out of the earth like messengers from Hell and surround the children. Angsty shrieks disrupted the peaceful atmosphere. Panic. Screaming.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story4.jpg

I woke up wrapped in cold bandage, sore and feverish but alive. The first word I managed to mutter was the name of my playmate, the best friend of my childhood, but my mother just shook her troubled head. Briony had succumbed. I wouldn´t see her anymore.

I feel my mind stir at the bottom of the muddy lake of unconsciousness, fed by the dark rivers of sleep. Subconsciously, I know I want to wipe the insects away, make them stop, squish them with a shoe or an old book, anything, but lifting an arm, or even a finger, still seems to be an unbeatable task. But this wanting is a start, a sign of will or what little is left of it in me. Where there is will, there is life as well. That means I made it alive. I survived again. Only then, my lips part in a heavy moan that, surprisingly, comes out as nothing more than a wheezy stream of breath. Whatever happened to my voice? I ask myself, the three days of inhuman screaming already walled up safely in the mind depository of things too scary to be thought of. The weight of the eylashes almost unbearable on my cheeks. Already searching for tiny changes, I ponder – have they been so thick, so long - before? Reluctant to open my eyes, afraid of more hallucinations, the primitive, the carnal... afraid of them becoming reality. What would happen now? There is something delicete and secure in pain, suffering and agony... but what lays beyond?

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story5.jpg

Unnaturally soft hands caressing my face, making me want to melt and surreder at the very moment. With Kamese I always feel like going down into an abyss, but he never lets me fall completely, never lets me taste the sweetness at the bottom. What is *** but the binding of self to other? Kamese says it´s magic once I am a har, and certain death now. But it won´t take long and this abyss will cease to be forbidden... just a few more days, and I know that no matter how scary the fall, the landing will be soft.

„Deep in thoughts? Look at me, my beautiful one... How I love your eyes. Two cups of hot chocolate, a thick and sweet invitation to drown in.“ Laughter.
„No, not drown, rather...take a sip. Wouldn´t want you to drown.“
„It would be a sweet death...“

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story6.jpg

Hint of a kiss and then... anxious, heavy silence. A faint, fearful voice. „Kamese? Will you... will you come to see me during those three days?“
„I will have my own rituals to attend, but I will be there whenever I can. When you wake up, my face will be the first thing these beautiful eyes of yours will see. I swear that, Étienne...“

The room is empty and silent, so silent that I can almost hear the clicking movements of my eyeballs in their sockets, flickering across the dark room, the sparse furniture, the wooden ceiling where I´d seen unexistent worms so many times during those last three days, attempting to hide under the blanket that threatened to burn my sensitive skin, yet I could still feel them eating me alive. Dried vomit on the floor. The flies that had woken me swarming on the small table, their hairy black and flashing green bodies covering something that seems like a puddle of blood. I attempt not to gag, but there is nothing left in my stomach that could possibly be brought up anyway. HE isn´t around, isn´t with me.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story2.jpg

„K....“ I swallow the lump in my throat, wetting the dry lips with my tongue. „Kamese....?“ That´s better. Still, deadly silence is the only answer I get. Please, come for me, take me from my body and its pains... A creak. Not the door, it was the window. Good, at least some fresh air, the room smells terribly – my doing, of course. I need someone. It ceases to be important if it is Kamese or the two hara two took care of me since it started. „Kamese! Emeni!!! Gaia!!! Do you hear me!!“ Have I disgusted them all? They knew me as a graceful, witty and playful boy, pretty face, sweetness of youth. Perhaps they hadn´t known, how the three days would distort my body and my mind, perhaps they couldn´t take it... In the end, one always has to help oneself. Indoctrinated into this society, I accepted its rules and offered my body willingly, knowing I will rediscover it anew... with Kamese. I had to be changed to be able to survive, and I knew for years already. During the last year, all I did in my nights was counting days – how many times do I have to wake up until I can be fully and eternally his? Because I was to be his, that had been decided a long time ago, and that was what was living for. But he didn´t come.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story8.jpg

When I take it slow, getting up proves to be painful, yet possible. The water in the bathroom is cold, but it makes me feel less dirty and awakens my senses. Shuddering, I wrap myself into the velvet dressing gown – why didn´t they leave any towels or proper clothing for me? And through the turgid voices in my head rang a single hum that made the blood in my veins stop flowing.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story7.jpg

„Will I get a new name?“
„Yes, you will. After inception.“
„Why not now? Are you afraid I will die during althaia? Do you think I won´t need it?“
Laughter. „Mystére... You will be Mystére...“

They left me there, because they THOUGHT ME DEAD! But I will show them. I will prove myself. I haven´t disappointed, not me, I´m not as weak as they had thought. Not a foot downstairs either. I slip into Kamese´s heavy boots, one size too big for me – gods themselves must be laughing at the image of me wearing them with the dressing gown – and drag my body over the doorstep into the darkness outside. It´s night again, and in the faint starlight – has noone lit the lamps today? – I stumble over something and nearly fall down.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story9.jpg

Muttering silent curses, I look down and freeze again, taking a few minutes to realize that the thing in my way is no forgotten bag, but Emeni´s dead body. Looking around, I discover more similar heaps on the street, shattered caressly like pieces of trash, but the could that has just covered the moon and the tears in my eyes make it impossible to guess which body belongs to Kemese... if any, because there is still the faintest hope...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/story10.jpg

An insane little laugh forms itself in my throat. I had been counting with my possible death. Being the only one who survived was something that had never crossed my mind. Like a machine, I walk to the closest corpse and roll it over to see the har´s face.

[LyricLee]

Wow gorgeous. just gorgeous. And you can post if you have before thats absolutely fine. I hope to see much more from you as well.

[Caeru]

thankies! :D I´m very happy you like it. And since there is more already written, and you gave me the green light, let´s go on!

[Caeru]

PART 2: LEEF

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/tree.jpg

Captain Leef Sariel har Parasiel was fed up, which was most unusual. He’d taken far too long to accomplish a simple task. All he’d had to do was to harvest some lignum vitae from an area of the southern forest and return to Galhea. The parsics used the rare hardwood for ceremonial swords. A new sword was needed to present to Lord Swift on the anniversary of his becoming the archon of their tribe, an occasion which was generally celebrated as riotously as possible.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/horse1.jpg

After a number of weeks of trekking, he and two subordinates had taken a further week to find a suitable tree. He’d sent them back to Galhea with the precious cargo yesterday and today he’d paid the forest master for the privilege of extracting the wood by bartering his horse. Usually the parsics managed to get the wood free, but this particular time they’d been forced to infringe upon an area that was settled and farmed. If the lignum didn’t get back to Galhea in time for the carpenter and blacksmith to assemble the sword, then Leef would lose face. It was not something he envisaged as being useful to his career.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/tree2.jpg

He was a day behind his men and trying to catch up. Now he’d wrenched his ankle into the bargain. That required half a day to heal so he was stuck in the forest, next to a stream for refreshment, with the weather looking inclement overhead. Just what he needed. The thought of trudging through mud for the next couple of weeks until he got back to base did not improve his mood.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leefnew.jpg

But, being Leef Sariel, he was never irritated for long. The black clouds passed during the course of the afternoon, and by evening he was back on route, much fitter in body and spirit. Since he had rested for most of the day, he decided to press on through the night. The woods did not disturb him. He’d ridden through Gebbadon before and been hardly affected by the blight of the place. The only thing that had ever affected him had been when Lord Swift decided to prefer Calanthe har Aralis over him during the archon’s feybraiha. But that was the past, and the past, as they say, is a foreign country.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leefff.jpg

By ten o’clock that night, he’d come upon another settlement. He decided to walk straight through it rather than stick to the forest, as it would cut another few hours off his journey. Dirt tracks masqueraded as streets and the area seemed preternaturally quiet, as if all the villagers had left. No lights burned in the houses and no dogs barked to herald the arrival of a stranger.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/deadhara1.jpg

Then, as he rounded a corner, he came upon a massacre. Bodies lay like heaps of discarded rubbish, strangely poignant in the moonlight. A young har dressed in a gown and boots was bending over one of them.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mystere3.jpg

[Caeru]

PART 3: MYSTÉRE

Kemese´s body was maybe the twentieth one I discovered laying in the dust of the main street, although I am not entirely sure... I didn´t count them. I only know that a long time had passed before I finally came to kneel by his side, prolonged even by my lack of strenght... long enough for me to hope that perhaps, somehow, he had been spared. Of course, I should have known better – had he survived that pointless massacre, he would have found a way to let me know, but the child in me refused to believe the obvious less seen with my own eyes. So I kept searching... walking through the darkness, and I forgot about the complete exhaustion I had been feeling just a little while ago. Driven by madness and despair, I never stopped bending over my lifeless friends, my tribe to be, mentally preparing myself for what was to come. And come it did.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/st2.jpg

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song. His body was not left behind in some unnatural position, nor were there any visible wounds or traces of blood on his body. One of his arms folded, he might have been sleeping, except his chest wasn´t moving in the usual calming rise and fall. Softly I laid my hand upon him, a gentle touch he couldn´t feel. I bent my head close and half enveloped him, pressing my body onto his as if I could nurse him to life by my touch. „Please... Kemese, please...“ Finally I found the wound at the back of his head, still wet, blood covering his beautiful hair, which erased the last faint glimpse of hope. And with noone around to see me, I felt entitled to start sobbing.

When I was a little boy, my mother always tought me that death is a natural part of life. I still feared it, more so after the unfortunate death of my little girl friend. For me, death was exact and merciless, an enemy to hate and fight against in that lost battle of life. No one escapes its clutches, and no one long escapes the harsh reality of dealing with the loss of someone dear, but this semblant fairness can´t lessen the pain. Not in the slightest.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/st7.jpg

At the age of seven, I once heard someone calling it the „long sleep“. Since the moment, sleep too became my foe. Night after night, I would lay in my bed, finding countless little tasks to employ my mind with, trying not to fall into slumber, using all my willpower to keep me heavy lids from falling, believing blindly that perhaps if I found a way to overcome sleep, the same willpower would help me to keep myself alive, out of the Death´s reach. Usually, I surrendered eventually, mentally yelling at myself in the mornings, or I managed to stay awake and kept dozing off then during the day. Either way, I learnt that my efforts on that field were and would always be fruitless, but the hathred and reluctancy to go to bed stayed with me... until Kemese changed it.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/st6.jpg

I never talked to him about it, afraid that he might think me crazy, but I was in love... and suddenly I wanted to dream about him. About our future. Sometimes, he would steal into my room, or let me stay in his house overnight, and we would spend the night chatting, lauging like children, cuddling and touching here and there, knowing more isn´t allowed. Then we would fall asleep in each others arms, the sky already whitening on the East, and all at once sleep was welcome and precious, shared with another.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/st4.jpg

That was over now. Beyond redemption, like a dream, and my new life would also end as soon as it started, I knew that much. The ritual wasn´t completed... the most pleasurable part of it, the prize for my suffering was missing, and I knew what that meant. There was noone left to complete my make over, and even if I had the chance, I would never let someone else have me, never let them take what I wanted to give to Kemese. In fact, I wanted to cross the bridge to the other side as soon as possible and meet him there. What point was there to living without the one I lived for? I sat quietly by, remained faithful, my sobs fainter and fainter – I have exhausted myself. The tears though would not stop flowing.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/st3.jpg

Later, I found a better position and placed my head on his chest, like I so often did in sleep, intending to lay like that until my last breath, warming his coldness with my fever. How long would it take? Would it be painful again, delirous, or would I just fade away? Thoughts swirled through my mind like in those sleepless nights, the corpse under my body becoming stiff. His soul, his spiritual body, the eternal one... where was it? And where would my soul go? I could remember my wraeththu teacher speaking about their Gods, about Aghama, just as I recalled my mother praying to the human God, Jesus. If she was dead too, she´d surely gone to Heaven...and Kemese... he would exist in the other plane he believed in, with the dehara. But what about me? I was stuck on the way, neither human nor wraeththu... perhaps my soul was destined to wander in darkness till the end of times, an outcast. The thought made me shiver.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/st1.jpg

I must have fallen asleep or unconscious... either way I didn´t hear the har until he was just a few steps away from me, a combination of beauty and danger in the moonlight. We didn´t get strangers were often, the villige was not an area loved by tourists, and there was nothing of particular importance around. My first and only thought was that this person was responsible for the massacre and returned to enjoy the sight. Very well then, at least he would end my waiting. Come on. Finish me off.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/st5.jpg

My tongue, surprisingly, refused to cooperate with my mind and instead of this silent wish, I voiced a hysterical moan. „Get away!!! Leave us alone!!!“ My hand was searching for Kemese´s dagger. Like if there was an „us“. Like if there was someone or something to fight for.

[Caeru]

PART 4: LEEF

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leefghosts.jpg

"I'm not your enemy," said Leef, and sent it with a clear message of intent. It hit a brick wall and he hoped that the inflection in his voice had been enough. The young har was an unbound book, a half life. He hovered between one part of his existence and the next, and his inception scar was still crusted over. That meant he was new, very new and therefore, very vulnerable. Everyhar else was dead. Some of their astral bodies were outlined in the air, shocked and waiting for a guide.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leefandmisty.jpg

Leef had seen it all before in many skirmishes and, of course, in major battles. Sometimes the dead hung around for days, waiting, waiting... for what? Did they not want to rest? It was Leef's suspicion that they were so angry their lives had ended; they were waiting for somehar to possess. How sweet life seems when it is over, even if half of it were ****. Or maybe they didn't even know they were dead. It was the ultimate self deception. "Come away," said Leef, and he grabbed the har around his torso before his hands could get anywhere near his erstwhile companion's knife. "You are not safe here."

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leedf.jpg

The har repeated his warnings but Leef took no notice. He dragged him, protesting bitterly, into the nearby house and kicked the door shut. Still keeping one arm securely around the struggling har, he drew the curtains and uttered a word of power which sealed the house from psychic invasion. The waiting spirits outside couldn't move over the threshold. It solved the immediate problem. Whether the perpetrators of the massacre were still around was another matter.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/push1.jpg

Leef looked around. They were in a living room, of sorts. The odour in the house mostly resembled a pig sty, though. He could smell rotting excrement, blood and vomit. Yes, definitely the place where the young har must have gone through althaia. There were less and less suitable humans left now to undergo the process and it was unusual to find this sort of scene still. But then, Leef reasoned, they were out in the backwoods where pockets of humanity occasionally held back the inevitable. Maybe one of those renegade gangs had killed the har's companions. If so, he'd better be on his mettle.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/lm.jpg

He uprighted a chair with difficulty since the young har had regained some energy, and he pushed him down on it, kicking his feet from under him. The har sat down with an undignified crash. "Now listen to me," said Leef, "Your village is just a short cut as far as I’m concerned. I'm on my way back up north. I'm a Captain in the Parasiel army. You're the only har left in this Ag forsaken place, so you'll have to come with me, and quickly. Just accept that the whole place has died. In five minutes we are going to leave. Don't make a fuss, just do it. I don’t want to drag you all the way to Galhea, but if I have to, I will.”

(AND THATS ALL I HAVE SIMMERIZED SO FAR)

[Sylla]

Oh wow Caeru!! This story is amazing!! I love it and can't wait for more.

[Caeru]

Thank you so much :D

If it didn´t take so long to take pictures, my game wasn´t so buggy etc, there would have been many more parts, as I have several pages of it written, but alas... :cwm21: I´ll do my best.

[Caeru]

PART 5: MYSTERE

I was close to screaming and kicking my feet like a toddler when the har was dragging me towards the door I had left open, and only the fact that I intended to keep my dignity prevented me from doing so. Okay, that and... crying for what seemed to have been hours didn´t leave me with much potential in my vocal cords.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mistychair2.jpg

Enemy or not, I didn´t care what he was saying. He made me sit down, pretty much pinning me to the chair until I submitted to the strenght of his arm, because straining as I was, I felt like my intestines had a life of their own, working against me. It was extremely unpleasant, if not painful. In my perfect little world, I would have still been in bed, being taken care of by my friends, with Kemese curled up beside me, his gentleness taking away the little pains left after the torture I had to undergo in the past few days. In reality, I was trying to catch breath, thankful of the little time his elated speech gave me.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leefpre1.jpg

The faint light from the table lamp enabled me to inspect the har who appeared to have claimed himself my saviour. Almost immediately I decided I didn´t like him. He certainly was beautiful, I couldn´t deny that, beautiful in the classy way of people unreachable for one so humble like me. I loved his jawbones, moving neatly as he spoke, loved his hair and the well-muscled body, covered with skin that had a tan of one who didn´t have to work in the sun, but exposed oneself to its rays for pleasure. The rest of him I didn´t like, because his facial features, the sligtly pouted lips, the nose and even the eyes, though lovely in color, showed superiority so clearly, that you either felt like a tiny worm, unworthy of his sight, or started to boil with anger. Mine was the second case. His behaviour topped it all. Ag, he was practically violating me, ordering me around, and every word that left those oh-so-soft lips was an offense! I could but shake my head in disbelief.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mistychair1.jpg

„Now YOU listen to ME, Captain", I stated with all the crudeness of my unfinished sixteen years of life, gazing into the face I longed to slap in that moment. „I may be young, but I am neither a baby, nor a member of your army. You have no right to... to come and be rude to me just because you can.“ I had to catch my breath and put my thoughts in order, and I tried to do so as quickly as possible, knowing that I might not come to word again if he started to oppose me. „I do realize that our tiny village is just a dot on the cartograph in your noble world. Very well, but for me it´s all I have. All I know. It´s where I found love – which you´ve apparently never experienced, because otherwise you couldn´t say what you had said. The one I loved is out there on the ground, and I am not going anywhere until I am sure he is burried, so that the animals wouldn´t rip his body apart."

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/fight.jpg

I had to use the table as a support to help me raise from the chair. Standing, my words seemed to have more weight that if I appeared like the wreck I really was. „I am not afraid of you, Captain Parasiel“, I said softly, „neither am I afraid of anyone else that might still be around. Perhaps I don´t want to be saved. Have you thought about that? In fact, when you arrived, the first thing I wanted was to ask you to make it quicker for me. I have nothing to loose but my life, and that has little worth since there´s nothing I want to life for. Besides, I´m not worthy of your effort. My ritual... has not been completed. I have but a few days before I either join my tribe in death or become something you will not want as a travel companion.“

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/getup1.jpg

In the moment when I was finishing, something happened. A sudden sparkle inside of me, nourished by the anger I let out, flickered in my chest, enough to bring a realisation to my senses.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/realised.jpg

Or rather, two of them. The first one was, that although, as the captain had said, there was no HAR left, I hadn´t seen a single human body. There should have been some. My mother was still living in the village, and two other females with children. One of them had a girl of my age, the other had a boy younger than me who had yet to be incepted in two, maybe three years. „Mother...“ I whispered, thinking aloud. The second flash in my mind, though secondary in the moment, was nontheless important in the long run. I realised that I didn´t really want to die. But the first thing I had to do was see my mother´s house, without this stranger stopping me.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mistyrun.jpg

With that thought, I run for the door, pushing into it with all my power. The unexpectedness of my action gave me a few seconds and I made it for the cottage that had been my home for many years. It was only two buildings away from my new home – the village was indeed a very small spot on the face of the world, the har had been right there - so I wasn´t even having trouble breathing.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mistyrun2.jpg

Yet I stopped my run, standing framed in the door, frozen in shock. I expected that mother wouldn´t be there. I thought that perhaps I just haven´t seen her body...or that she and the others were kidnapped...or that they managed to escape while the hara were fighting, and would be hiding somewhere in the woods... But I was fully unprepared for the sight that offered itself to me in the main room, that served as both living room and kitchen.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mistyagin.jpg

The furniture was still there, the round table, the chairs that my father had made before I was born, the oven, the cherry wood wardrobe... but everything else was gone. The door of the wardrobe was open to show the dark emptiness inside, as was the cupboard. There were no pans and pots, no pictures on the walls, no curtains, even the carpets and the tablecloth were gone. This was not a house of someone who had to leave in a hurry. She must have been ready for it. She must have KNOWN.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/crazy1.jpg

It was in that moment that I felt tears on my cheeks again, but this time I didn´t sob. I just felt my knees giving way under me.

[Fresh-Prince]

Wow! This story is really good, the pictures are wonderful! :D Great job :)

[Caeru]

Thank you!!! Im happy to get positive comments :p more, more... and, update:

[Caeru]

PART 6: LEEF

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/newstory1.jpg

“Now the thing is Desperado,” said Leef, entering the house, slamming the door shut and uttering another sealing word of power, “Is that life is a b*tch. We often have to do things we don’t want to. Like staying alive, for instance. If you don’t stop wandering to and fro some dead har is going to possess you and then your troubles will really start.”

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/newstory2.jpg

He crouched down by the troubled har. Inception wasn’t easy. Losing your preferred partner wasn’t easy. And now this. Desperado’s family had done a buck and left the poor git to his fate. It was all rapidly assuming the proportions of a theatrical farce. Leef suppressed the urge to laugh his head off. It was neither the time nor the place. “There’s no law out here,” he continued, putting his arm around the har’s shoulder. “Only the conscience of individuals, that’s the trouble. Some hara have crap principles. But don’t blame your mother, she must have thought you’d be safer as a har. That’s why she’s gone. And if she’s gone south, there’s a human enclave down there at a place called Imbrilim. She’ll be looked after.” For as long as the Gelaming deign to do so, he thought.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/newstory3.jpg

The young har sniffled and shrugged off Leef’s embrace. He felt like one large bruise to the captain. Leef sat back on his heels and scanned the area. There was little activity. The only creatures in the near vicinity with blood letting on their minds were foxes and owls, so he and Desperado could afford some extra burying time. He passed Desperado a handkerchief to wipe his face with and added,

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/newstory4.jpg

“Look, I’ll make you a deal. You stay here while I dig a hole. A very large hole.” He suppressed another laugh. For Ag’s sake, what’s the matter with you, Leef, he thought. Try and control yourself! He cleared his throat and continued. “You’ll be able to pay your respects. I don’t think there’s any imminent danger but if I sense some, we’ll have to go. And here’s something else to think about. You’ll need to take aruna with me pretty soon. That is if you don’t want to go mad. If that happens I’ll just put you down, you’ll only be an animal, after all. Then you can take a rebirth into a better situation, your choice entirely, I’m just giving you the options. Now you don’t have to like me, it’s not necessary, the same as I don’t have to like you, sweetheart. It works whatever, fortunately.” He smiled, gave a slight nod, and left the house.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/aura.jpg

In the street, three disembodied spirits were still hanging about. When they saw Leef coming, they shot off to cower in the shadows. His aura was purple and gold, and not a thing to be contended with. “Yeah, f*ck off you b*stards,” he said, in passing. “Go to hell or take a rebirth.” They were leeches and now he had to bury their bodies. They’d be stuck to this place for ages, attached by memories and unfulfilled desires. Perhaps it was better that the whole place be shut down.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/emerald.jpg

He reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a small box. Thank the Ag for small mercies! It contained an arunic crystal, glowing emerald in the moonlight. Good old Chelone, he thought. Always willing and able! He focused his intent on an area of the street that was relatively clear and moved the substrate. That is to say, the enhanced focus of his energies made a large hole in the earth, after which the crystal glowed much less. He placed it back in its box and began the thankless task of dragging the bodies into the pit.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/hole7.jpg

He didn’t know why he was doing such a disagreeable task. Why did he care about Desperado enough to help him? He could just leave and be back in Galhea in time for the ceremony. Couldn’t he? Damn! He grabbed another corpse by its boots and dragged it down the street towards the pit. When its right arm had the ordacity to detach itself from the blood stained torso, Leef swore and retrieved that, too.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/handeeew.jpg

[Sylla]

This just gets better and better!! :hello1:

[Caeru]

This just gets better and better!! :hello1:

thank you so much... sadly it gets more difficult to take pictures of and im breaking my brain with the next part...

[Brendushka]

Caeru
You're job is amazing, the story is great and the photos are awesome!!
Congratulations you're very talented:notworthy:

[Caeru]

Thank you :) and you have a very sweet baby :)

[Caeru]

MERRY CHRISTMAS WITH LEEF AND MYSTERE!!


PART 7: MYSTÉRE

Never in my life had anyone managed to confuse me so completely. The har was acting pretty contradictory. On one hand he lectured me and called me by offending pet names such as Desperado or sweetheart, on the other hand, he was following me everywhere, like if he actually cared for my safety, and he was actually helping me. Sometimes his words were even making sense, and when I felt the weight of his arm on my shoulders, I suddenly felt the need to lean on him and relax – hathred or not, it was still a warm, living arm. Yet that feeling was deceitful and didn´t last long, interrupted by another of his bellitling speeches. There was no warmth in him, just an enormous ego. Every fiber of my being longed to hate him and the only thing that kept holding me back from expressing my opinion aloud again was the fact that I would never be able to take care of the burial of all my friends without his aid. I only had as much of strenght...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/verynewmystere.jpg

What he said about my mother didn´t really comfort me either. He didn´t hit the bullseye – it wasn´t her safety I was concerned about. She had no real reasons to leave after living in the harrish village for so many years, and even if there was somehing she´d never cared to tell me about, the odds were she would have waited for me to get through althaia to say good-bye at least. What I was afraid of, was that she might have been preparing her flight with the knowledge of the disastrous events to come. If this were the case, she would have left me behind knowing that everyone was going to be slaughtered, and the thought of her not giving a damn scared me to death. Hopefully, these thoughts were nothing more than another product of my sick fantasy.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leeefsake.jpg

I didn´t like the tone in which he uttered the words „very – large – hole“. It gave me the shivers, like if he were actually going to open his mouth and swallow me whole like some monstrous snake with a very-large-hole in its throat. The thought of aruna with such a thing made me nauseous. It wouldn´t work. Maybe for him, but not for me. Of course, the physical functions might allow us to join, but I had no clue how should I force myself to allow this to happen. I didn´t argue when he left me alone, it meant less work for me and more importantly, less time spent with him. Thank the mighty Aghama for every minute I didn´t have to look at him.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mistyoldroom.jpg

I run the stairs up to my old room, hoping to find something comforting. Looking around, I gave a sigh of relief – my sanctuary was exactly in the state I´d left it in. Nothing changed, every little thing had its place and I would have immediately recognized my belongings had been moved. I opened the dresser with the thought that if I was to die, I might as well die with dignity, not clad in an old dressing gown and borrowed shoes, the size of which turned me into the ultimate Puss-in-boots.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mirrrrrror.jpg

A minute later, I was inspecting what looked like a completely different har in the mirror that hung on the wall facing my enormous bed. I picked my best leather shoes, tight pants with a lilac tunic and gazing in the mirror, I completed my image with the only set of jewellery I owned, a set of silver headdress, necklace and two rings – one of them being a present from Kemese for my comming of age, all decorated with amethysts. Not until I leant closer to help my troubled looks with a good hair brushing and a black line around my eyes did I notice that something wasn´t quite allright. For a second I couldn´t make up my mind about what exactly it was... then I caught a glimpse of my lilac eyes with widened pupils. Lilac. It used to be brown, chocolate brown...

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/portrait.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/eyes-1.jpg

What strange magic was that? If the har who came to my help had been someone else, not captain Parasiel, I would have asked him, but this idiot would just laugh at me some more. I wasn´t going to grant him that pleasure. Or any OTHER pleasures he might seek, at that matter. Maybe it was about time to go and assist him. Somehow I didn´t believe he would call me before burrying Kemese, and I wanted one last sight of his body before parting.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/myyyyst.jpg

I found him on the street, as expected, dragging one corpse towards a pit that seemed to have formed itself naturally, without his assistence. My amazement didn´t last long though. I could but stare helplessly, when he grabbed one dead har by the boots and dragged it through the dust like if it was a dirty towel or some dead animal, until finally the body lost an arm. Had it been Kemese, I would have stabbed the har in his heart without hesistating. As it was, my rage wasn´t as blind, but still big enough to do what I had secretely wished for since the moment he first opened his mouth.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/inthewood.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/kcike.jpg

I run across the street and with a swing, I kicked his aristocratic a-ss with a power that sent him flying right into the hole he´d created. „Is there not the slightest glimpse of respect in you?“ I yelled, standing above the hole, watching him get up. „Under no circumstances will I take aruna with you, not now, not tomorrow, not EVER, so please just kill me right now! It will spare us both countless troubles, and I can at least be sure that I won´t be dragged like a dead skunk if you do it here!“

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mistyyy.jpg

[Exnem]

Mindblowing :bom:

You are an amazing director. Its amazing what you have been able to achieve in your story. But not only is the story good but you have great EYE to capture such incredible scenes. I can imagine the patience it requires to catch them at the right time for the right shot, you have quite a talent.

Hats off :salute:

[Caeru]

OMG thank you :D I´m so grateful you noticed it :cheers: I´m working on the next part, but I am not as good in photoshopping and it´s needed, so I got held up...:dog:

[Freelancer]

Wow, incredible Caeru! *bows*

[Sweetgurl]

This story is really amazing! On with the updates!

[Caeru]

Thank you everyone, and sorry for the delay, I will be good, promised LOL

[Caeru]

Sorry for the delay :)

PART 8: LEEF

Leef withdrew his knee from somehar’s rotting bowel. It smelled Disgusting, like the bottom of a cesspit. That was strange, though, for decomposition to have set in so early. He shuffled through the corpses while Desperado said his piece. ‘Aruna’, ‘dead skunk’ and ‘troubles’ registered. Some other har’s left eyeball fell out as Leef moved its face. Lovely. All the bodies were decomposing at an unnatural rate. It smacked of an enchantment upon the whole village. Now why would that be happening out in the wilds? Perhaps he hadn’t come upon this place by chance. Leef was a great believer in Destiny with a capital ‘D’. She was a goddess, was that one. Now he had to do something about Desperado, they had to leave this place as soon as they possibly could.

The young har paced around the circumference of the grave. Steam was practically coming out of his ears. He glared at Leef and so the captain held up a forefinger and waggled it at him. “Naughty, naughty, Desperado. Do you know what we do to naughty harlings?”

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/grrrrr.jpg

He got some purchase on one of the bodies, gained a foothold on its crumbling ribcage and levered himself out of the pit. He really didn’t want Desperado to see what was happening to the bodies, especially the har who had been his chosen lover. It would be too much to bear in his present fractured state.

Leef rubbed his ass, he was sure there’d be a bruise there for a couple of days. The youngster certainly had spirit! He scrubbed up well, too. Perhaps the aruna would all be worth it.

“Kill me right now!” screeched Desperado.

“That’s a terrible blasphemy, sweetheart,” said Leef as sternly as he could manage without falling over in a fit of laughter, “If you wish death upon yourself, you’ll be coming back as an earthworm. The higher forms of life are precious. You’re such a naughty harling.” He made one step towards Desperado and another, and gave a growl. It sounded like a wolf and was one of Leef’s best tricks. The young har sped off down the street in the wrong direction and Leef followed quickly. He caught up with him at the corner property and grappled him to the ground, where he repeated his previous question. “Do you know what we do to naughty harlings?”

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/finally.jpg

Desperado said something indefinable, which had he been fully har would have made a more than adequate curse. Leef bent him over his knee, the clean knee, and spanked him until the har was exhausted. It didn’t take much effort, since the poor creature was in a delicate state. Then to apologize for the indignity he put his fingers between Desperado’s legs and stroked his soume-lam through the black leather pants. With a bit of luck, that might put Desperado’s thoughts to something more pleasant. The young har was uttering some other curse in response, of which Leef took not a blind bit of notice, and then something happened that drew his attention right away from pleasuring Desperado.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/village1copy.jpg

At the other end of the street the houses had started collapsing in on themselves. Within seconds they had been reduced to rubble and then sucked into the ground. There was no other way to explain it. The phenomenon moved down the street closer to them and the same thing happened.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/village2copy.jpg

The houses groaned, splintered and caved in. Their remnants moved across the street as if by magnetism and poured into the grave pit. Leef pulled Desperado up and showed him what was happening. “We have to leave NOW,” said Leef, scrambling to his feet. The ground was trembling where they were standing as the wave of destruction moved ever onwards. The village was imploding.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/village3copy.jpg

Leef spotted the track from the forest where he’d entered the village and ran for it. This time he didn’t have to drag Desperado, the har was holding onto his hand and running faster than he was. They burst into the sanctuary of the forest and kept going. Behind them came a terrific splintering and groaning of timbers that gradually diminished as they put some distance between themselves and the phenomenon. After some ten minutes only the sounds of owls and nightingales remained. Leef and Desperado came to a halt in a quiet glade, gasping for breath. They appeared to have outrun whatever it was. Leef sank to the ground down the nearest tree trunk. “What in Ag’s name was that?” came his incredulous question.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/wood.jpg

[Caeru]

PART 9: MYSTERE

„Magic?!“ I shrugged, stating the obvious and so answering his probably rhetorical question. The moss under my feet seemed to be cushiony, soft enough for me to sit down without further tormenting my buttocks. „Whatever it was, I hope it´s not clever enough to follow us. Though I fear it mi… might.“ The sharp and immediate pain that run through my body when I sat down forced me to gasp for breath and broke the last word in two. I bit my lip in a successfull attempt not to make a sound. For all it was worth, I wouldn´t give him the pleasure to see he had really hurt me. It was not the sore, seemingly swollen skin, uncomfortably hot under my leather pants, what bothered me the most. The sharp bulk of his knee against my stomach had been extremely painful as he spanked me, and the more I´d been trying to get away, the more strenght he needed to push me down. Now all the things inside that were still healing felt like an open wound, aching and oddly unstable. Somehow I expected to start falling apart in any minute. That, or the nausea would soon overcome me and force me to puke out my intestines.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/hehe.jpg

The har was saying something, and with a surprise, I realised I couldn´t really make out what it was. The sound of his voice mingled with the whispers of trees, howling of a lonely wolf somewhere beyond the hills and other sounds of the forest, creating a rich cacophony that seemed to be coming to me from a distant place several miles away. Not noise to take notice of, but background, an aftertaste of something that had been said somewhere else long before, and it reached my ears in form of an echo, carried by the breeze. I hugged my knees, furiously shivering. I knew I shouldn´t be feeling so cold… The night was warm and embraced by the trees, no breeze could get through to me. Maybe fever or shock.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/aww.jpg

„It must have been a powerful magic. Surely there aren´t many beings capable of such… complete destruction…“ I muttered, thinking aloud. Even my voice seemed to me strangely distant and somehow distorted, and I knew that if I hadn´t know what I was saying, I wouldn´t be able to understand my words either. The captain´s tan face was oddly white in the moonlight and for a while I watched it disappearing a cloud of glowing fog. His whole body was moving away from me, slowly but persistently, until he was no more than a white spot, the lune of his face nearly pleasant to look at now that I couldn´t see the stuck up facial expression. „Who would waste such a power on our little village? You said it yourself… you said it was of no importance… yet important enough to be swept off the face of the Earth?“ Try as I might, I simply couldn´t grasp this, and a faint voice kept crying „why“ somewhere at the bottom of my mind. We´d never done any harm to a living being, not to my knowledge.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leefsitting.jpg

“If you wish death upon yourself, you’ll be coming back as an earthworm.“

I lifted my head just a bit, trying to focus my sight. Hadn´t I heard that before? I wasn´t sure. „Not an earthworm“, I uttered slowly, coping with every word, „I´ll come back as a huge mosquito and I´ll be tormenting you every ****ing night.“

“Naughty, naughty, Desperado. Do you know what we do to naughty harlings?”

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leefmeer.jpg

His lips weren´t moving. Yet I kept hearing him say those things. „No!!!“ His surprised face gave me my answer. Perhaps he hadn´t really been talking at all since the moment we collapsed on the ground. It wasn´t him drifting away in fog. It was me. I shouldn´t be going crazy after such a short time, but I was positively sure that soon the insects I kept seeing during the last few days in bed would come back, too, and I could vividly imagine their tiny hairy legs creeping over my new satin skin and the buzz of their wings as they swarmed around my head. Maybe it was just the exhaustion… perhaps after an hour of sleep – or two – I could think clearly again… But sleep was comfort I couldn´t afford right now.

Of course, sitting down had been a very, very bad idea from the start. While running for life, I had gotten beyond the point of exhaustion, and I knew that nothing mattered anymore, I could be authomatically moving like that forever, if only I hadn´t stopped. Once I broke up the flight, I would never find the energy necessary to resume the pace… or to get up, at that matter. All my limbs were heavy, tied down to the ground, and I found it an immense effort to move them just an inch or two. Finally, I got the idea to use the trunk to prop myself up and slowly achieve a more or less upright position. One of the dry branches broke off as I struggled to get up and I bent down to lift it. It was quite straight, long anough to serve me as a stick, and the right fit for my hand.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leefmysattack.jpg

„Right“, I said, surprised that his figure, slowly raising from the grass, managed to float back and was now just several feet away from where I stood, „it seems that we´re in this together, no matter if we want it or not. Let´s just get a few things cleared before we get going again. Firstly, theres a fine line between aruna and pelki. I hope you know better than to cross it. Secondly, don´t call me sweetheart. It´s wishful thinking on your end. Thirdly…“ in a breath, I pulled out a dagger – which I was certain he hadn´t known I was hiding – and pressed it against his groin for half a second, „don´t ever dare to beat me up again, or else I´ll castrate you.“

I made the dagger disappear and tried if I could walk with the stick, quite happy with the outcome. „Fourthly, there´s a large clearing about twenty minutes of slow walk through the wood, and a corral where we keep our spare horses. I suggest that we snatch two before whatever evil ate the village gets them too.“

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mistysnake.jpg

After a few steps, I realized that the stick I was leaning on suddenly felt somehow slimey in my hand, threatening to slide out. I stopped to look at it and froze on the spot, screaming. There was a snake in my hand, a cobra, twisting and turning, trying to reach my wrist with a pair of sharp poisonous fangs. „Did you… see that?“ I cast the thing away, turning back towards the captain. Reading his face, I didn´t even have to wait for the answer. He hadn´t. I searched the bushes for the stick, and it was there, just a dry branch. Nothing more.

[Caeru]

“But Desperado, sweetheart,” said Leef, who was playing his aggravatingly best, “There’s an equally thin line between pain and pleasure, the same as there is between love and hate. Two sides of the coin, see. You’ll need to choose soon.” He let his breath out slowly, as Desperado took the dagger away. Leef decided he’d better be doubly on his guard. There was no telling what the young har might do in his present state, he was already hallucinating, his psyche held together only by threads of sanity and those were stretched to breaking point.

“As to the event, think of it like this. If you wanted to test out your enchantment or abilities or invention, what better place than in the middle of nowhere? And you’re right, whoever the experimenter is, they’ll want no witnesses. We should move from this place with all expediency.”

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/lm1.jpg

Desperado tottered around on his stick. A scene came to Leef out of the past. It was like watching an old human trying to negotiate one of their horrendous shopping malls. Leef bit his lip; it wouldn’t do to upset the youngster by laughing at him again. Really, in spite of the circumstances, he was doing as well as he could to cope with the outlandish situation and Leef was grudgingly impressed. He tested his ankle by putting all his weight on it. No pain, it was healed. Was it really only a day since he’d injured himself? Ag, time was moving quickly. He listened to the background noises. Somewhere near to the village that wasn’t, he heard a flapping noise, like wet sheets blowing in the wind. He didn’t like it one bit. Desperado was regarding his stick with suspicion and Leef put his hand on the youngster’s shoulder. “I think you’re too weak to walk three minutes, let alone twenty. You better take a ride.”

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/lm2.jpg

Desperado looked askance. What was the Parasiel on about now? If it was anything dirty to do with aruna, he’d stab him. But it wasn’t. The har was indicating he would give him a piggy back. Alright, then, the captain was probably correct, damn him. The Parasiel crouched down and Desperado got on his back. The captain arose with as much dignity as he could positively bleed out of the situation, and Desperado pointed a trembling hand over his shoulder in the direction of the corral.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/lm3.jpg

Clouds had all but covered the moon which assumed a milky halo of light. It spilt down onto the forest and dripped through the trees. By the time Leef had arrived at the corral, he was exhausted. It was most unlike him, he was normally a strong har who could do a hard day’s work without complaint. The atmosphere was stifling, that was the problem. It was like trying to breathe in puddle water. Desperado slid off his back and landed in a heap on the ground. He looked awful. “If you’re going to throw up, do it quietly,” warned Leef, wiping his brow. “Stay here, and I’ll go and see if the horses are still stabled, although it sounds too quiet, much too rooning quiet.”

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/lm4.jpg

Desperado coughed a reply, and Leef took off across the scrub until he reached the wooden shack. He opened the door, slowly. At the far end of the stack stood a single chestnut mare. She was whinnying softly to herself and in a state of repressed panic. “Come on, come on here, girl,” called Leef. The horse stared at him with huge eyes. “Yes, come on now,” urged the captain. “I’m not going to hurt you, come on.”

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/lm5.jpg

He sent an intention of calm towards the animal and she responded, edging around the wall of the shack as if she were afraid to tread on the ground. Leef looked down. Pebbles were bouncing off the earth. It was the village all over again. For Ag’s sake! “Here, here, come on girl!” he called. After what seemed like an age, Leef’s hand tangled in the mare’s mane and he led her away quickly.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/lm6.jpg

As they left the shed and crossed the short piece of ground to where Desperado lay, Leef looked back towards the forest. Trees were falling to the ground, one after the other, in a line through the canopy. Wood splintered and there was the whoosh of branches through the air and then a grating sound as they hit the ground. Leef didn’t look again. As he dragged Desperado onto the mare’s back and then leapt on himself, a thumping sound began to accompany the cacophony. He realised it was his heart. He had no idea what direction to take, he was disorientated and about to panic like the horse, but Desperado pointed towards the northwest.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/LM7.jpg

“Agave, you better be right, sweetheart,” said Leef, as he pointed the mare in that direction. He didn’t need to urge her onwards; she pelted across the scrubland and burst through into the cover of the forest. Leef pulled Desperado close to him so they could duck the low hanging branches together as the mare careered onwards.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/lm8.jpg

Back in the corral, the shed was sucked, shrieking and complaining, into the earth which closed over it like quicksand. After a while a figure materialised. It was at least eight foot tall and partially har. Long, scarlet hair coursed down its back in livid waves. The rest of its body from the chest downwards was contained in another dimension and so appeared to be liquid coal. The most remarkable thing about it was its eyes. They were hollow, smoking pits. It looked back along the line of devastation where a village had once stood, and grunted with satisfaction.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/lmyay.jpg

[Caeru]

I apologize that this is so late, and the post so short, but I promise, if anyone is still reading this - which I honestly doubt - an interesting twist is about to come the next time...

PART 11: MYSTERE

Despite of the turmoil behind our backs, I felt strangely comfortable. Of course, I was aware of the danger – the peace was only illusionary, the stillness in the eye of the storm. It was the touch that provided me comfort and a false sense of safety, and the warmth of another body that assured me that I wasn´t the only being left there. Something to hold on, something that told me that it wasn´t just me against the rest of the world anymore. It was the young mare, too - the only survivor of the herd, as I was the only survivor of the entire village - whose legs were carrying me away from where the whole land was dying in cramps. And of course, it was the har whose name I didn´t know – I thought him a stuck up brat, he thought me an unexperienced baby, but it didn´t really matter. He was there where I needed him to be. Maybe he felt something similar, that was the reason why he chose to carry me to the stable instead of leaving me behind and buying time for himself. If we make it out alive, we won´t mean anything to each other. Anything at all. But now, all we had was one another.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/storynew3-1.jpg

I knew the only reason why I was still in the saddle was his arm that kept pulling me so close to his body that I could take in every single muscle of his chest, firm and tough, as I could feel the horse moving under me, muscles stretching and flexing in regular intervals. When I concentrated enough, it seemed as though I was one with the two bodies, moving in their rhythm, a single being. I used the poor leftovers of my life energy to preserve that state, so that my weight wouldn´t be an obstacle for either of them, forcing my mind to stay alert. They say there´s something good about all bad things… Maybe its true, because the deafening noise scared me enough not to fall asleep. I still felt slightly nauseous, but I knew I wouldn´t womit anymore, because I was too weak even for that… and my stomach was as empty as it could be.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/storynew1-1.jpg

He had enough power for us both, but I had the knowledge of my country. Maybe he didn´t trust my judgement when I gave him the directions, but he had no choice… and maybe he did – either way, the „sweetheart“ sounded less offensive when we shot out, heading North. Avoiding the branches that threatened to hit our heads and fallen trees, nearly invisible in darkness, he lead the horse for what seemed to be ages, but might have been an hour in reality, and pulled the reigns when we reached the river. I could feel his suspicious eyes burning through my neck from behind, so I chose not to turn over my shoulder and simply pointed to the right.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/storynew2-1.jpg

„There´s a place where we can cross the river, down the stream.“ As he sped the house towards the shallow, I laid down so that my head was resting against the mare´s mane, holding on it. I knew that it would be better for the horse if we got off its back for the crossing, but I would probably drown at my current state… and I didn´t even dare to imply to the captain to do so, if I myself would stay seated. Thankfully, the mare didn´t give us a chance to consider it and threw herself into the stream with the vitality of a battle ship. Poor thing, she wanted to get away more than we did... if that was even possible.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/storynew4.jpg

„Our shaman used to say, when something from another realm follows you, you might want to put water between yourself and that thing. Not a sea or a lake, but streaming water, a river, possibly a waterfall.“ The words sounded stupid as I said them, and I itched to provide some further explanation that would hopefully correct my previous half-mouthed statement, but speaking had exhausted me so completely that I wasn´t able to. „It might be just a superstition, but we will still be safer on the other side. There are caves in those hills where we can hide until the sun is up.“ I half muttered into the fluff of the mane, half thought, directing the animal towards the rocky path that lead towards the hills and meandered upwards, around the massive rocks. Most of them were hiding deep caves, but some of them actually hosted more shallow ones, used as a shelter by the first people in our region thousands of years back, forgotten, and occasionally rediscovered by a tramp throughout the years.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/newucs-1.jpg

The path itself narrowed down dangerously in the hilly area, and normally I wouldn´t dare to take a horse up there at night, under any circumstances. Now I just wanted to slide off and curl up on the floor somewhere remotely safe. Maybe a few hours later I would be able to think about what to do with the rest of my life. It would be a shame to die a few days later if we actually survived THIS. Provided we got over the …necessity… as quickly as possible, it couldn´t be much worse than what I´ve already been through.

[Caeru]

PART 12: LEEF

As the path narrowed, Leef slid off the mare and walked by her side. Desperado clung to her thick mane by his fingernails; he could barely find the strength to stay on her back. Leef calculated that it must be around two o’clock, maybe three. Dawn would still be a good few hours off. Not that it would give them any more protection, thought the captain pessimistically, unless they were well hidden. At least Desperado had enough sanity left to think of the caves. They now came into view, black holes in the side of the hill. Wolves patrolled the higher plateau; Leef could see their darker shapes against the inanimate matt grey of the rock. He hoped they weren’t that territorial. The mare pressed against the side of the gulley when she spotted them and came to a standstill.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/shaep.jpg

So there they were, out in the open with a wolf pack up ahead and Agave knew what lay behind them back in the forest. The mare started to paw the ground and snort. A large lupine was approaching them. Shadowed in the gulley, it moved with silent footfalls across the rock. Leef felt for his knife. Before his fingers could close around the hilt, the wolf leaped from the ridge and landed in front of them. It eyed them, the fur on its neck rising in hackles in a poise that was meant to intimidate. It gave a warning growl. Recent events in the forest had put all animals on guard, including the higher carnivores.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/wulf.jpg

The mare was trembling, sweat had broken out on her skin, and it was a silky sheen in the moonlight. Desperado had started to gibber. Leef sighed inwardly. It just wasn’t his night, his expedition, his year, even. He thought about using pyralis fire to deal with the wolf but quickly realised that it would only draw attention to whoever was out there decimating the area. Instead he had an inspiration and growled back.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/woflr.jpg

The wolf growled again and Leef growled in return, this time more viciously. It was clear neither of them were going to back down in a hurry.

Above, the night sky crackled and a portal opened into the otherlanes. Something from the forest rose up and disappeared into it. The smell of ozone flooded the place accompanied by the odour of burnt sugar. The wolf relented, and rushed off up the gulley back to the caves. Leef followed swiftly. They were allies in adversity now. The wolf took a route back up to the higher levels and Leef chose a cave nearer to the ground, the entrance to which was partially covered by thick brambles. It appeared to be unoccupied and fairly spacious within.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/mh.jpg

By the time Leef had managed to get them all inside, his clothing was torn from holding back the brambles and he looked less like a Parasiel captain and more like a labourer with every passing minute. The cave was warm and dry; it retained the heat of the day thanks to the porous properties of the rock. A small stream cascaded down the eastern facing wall and disappeared underground, part of the natural irrigation for the area. The mare was already at the stream’s periphery, drinking her fill. Then she settled down at the back of the cave, giving a snort of relief. She felt much safer now.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/maredrink.jpg

Leef assessed the place. There was moonlight coming in through cracks in the hillside wall, so that the cave was dimly lit. In the daytime it would be quite airy and pleasant. There were also signs of occupation, although not recently. Some straw lay to one side, roughly shaped as bedding. Ashes and charred wood were scattered around a natural depression in the cave's floor that must have served as a fire bowl. Above that was another crack in the ceiling which would whisk the smoke away. Could they risk a fire now? It might deter the wolves from investigating and also keep them warmer. Desperado looked to be shivering; his pants were still wet from the river crossing, as were the captain’s. Leef chanced a look outside the cave entrance. The atmosphere seemed to have lifted somewhat, it didn’t feel so oppressive and energy sapping. There was a smoky appearance to the sky where the portal had opened and then closed shut that obscured some of the twinkling constellations. The wolf pack had posted a guard. An imposing shaggy creature, he lay on a grassy ridge opposite the cave entrance just keeping an eye on the place. His nose was pressed against his feet and he was dozing. Leef couldn’t feel any threat from him and thought that he might be useful should anything else come nosing around.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/againhorse.jpg

He went back in and gathered up the charred wood. There was enough for a fire, especially when he’d added to it the remains of dead bramble. He stilled his mind, conjured fire and carefully lit it. He was second level Ulani, thanks to spending some time in Immanion, courtesy of Tiahaar Swift’s alliance with the Gelaming. He’d embraced the blossoming of his psychic abilities as enthusiastically he’d done with the honing of his martial arts skills. In his eyes, it could only be an advantage, never mind what the Varrs used to think. Those days were over with and now they were more civilised, supposedly. He decided to take off his clothes and to wash them in the stream. If they were then arranged properly near to the heat of the fire, they’d dry by the morning. It was a good plan except for when he washed the knee of his trousers. Then he had to stop breathing for a while as the stench of rotting bowels assailed his nostrils for the second time that night.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/leefwashingup.jpg

When he finished he did the same task for Desperado. The poor har made little protest as his garments were summarily removed, washed and placed to dry. Leef rearranged the straw nearer to the fire and laid Desperado down on it. Then, without further hesitation he joined him. The straw was old but still smelled sweet, the dry cave had preserved it and it made a pleasant bed.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/hey2.jpg

Leef lay on his side, his back towards the western wall and Desperado lay on his back. Leef noticed that Desperado’s skin had the same sheen as the chestnut mare’s pelt. It was velvety to the touch and very inviting.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/pellaz_har_aralis/gey1.jpg

“My name is Leef Sariel,” he said, as his fingers played over the young har’s stomach. “I can’t call you Desperado for much longer. It’s undignified for a creature of your obvious breeding.”

[LyricLee]

Youhave the best pictures EVER. I love your story!!!!