Uninvited Guest.

[Mari]

"Amari?" He whispered through the crack, "I need to talk to you about something. Now. I'm coming in..."


" He tossed the journal onto Amari's blankets. "He's going to turn you into a slave of some sort, and if that doesn't work, he plans to send you away... Amari, you should come with me, right now. I can make a portal back to Corone. You'll be safe and happy there, with lots of friends, and you won't have any trouble finding work at an inn..." Jake gestured helplessly with his free hand. "Just say you will. I can't bear the thought of you left alone here with your brother."

A flicker of fire, along with the hushed whispers of Jake stirred Amari from her light sleep. "What he...did to me?" Amari repeated his words, a confused look on her features. She tried to recall what her brother had done, that could warrant such alarm from Jake, but nothing came to mind. Amari leaned over her bed and turned the nozzle on the gas lamp that rested on her bedside table. It illuminated the room in a soft, amber glow, and the scent of oil.

"Jake..." She breathed, hoping to calm the youth down. Amari didn't understand his desperation. "Please, sit." She gestured to the foot of her bed, patting its plush creme duvet. Instead, a book was thrown her way. Jake had mentioned he read a diary. Amari wasn't entirely sure of the concept, to her - it wasn't something so private, rather it was a way to log information.

"My brother has always been good to me." Amari said, as she picked up the book, fingers running over the words on the front. "He taught me everything I know." Amari softly smiled as she opened the book to a random page. She couldn't read the contents, but the looped handwriting was undeniably her brothers. "He has such an elegance with his words...don't you think? The way his handwriting is, intricate loops and swirls. He's teaching me to read and write, slowly that is."

"Amari...." Jake pleaded. He couldn't believe what she was saying. She couldn't see for herself, she couldn't read. She'd have to trust the words of a stranger over that of her very own brother, and Jake feared that his claws were already deeply ingrained into her being.

Amari stood, book in her hand. "I'm not a slave Jake. Granted...I do much work, and am more inclined to believe that I do the duties of the help, rather than that of a Noble Woman - but I am ok with that. It's my choice to do that. I'm not a slave. It's a simple life, and I enjoy it." Amari placed the journal back in Jakes spare hand, and gave him a reassuring squeeze. "Why on earth would brother do anything to harm me?"

***

Meanwhile, that very brother had just walked through the front door downstairs. Arriving home early from his trip. Tired, and in need of Amari's....services. He slowly trudged up the stairs, light footfalls barely making a sound.

[Jake Narmolanya]

"Why?" Jake repeated the word, dumbfounded. "Because he's a bad person. I hunt demons Amari... I know one when I see one, or in this case, when I see his journal. They don't all have fangs or horns or scaly skin." Jake could see the denial in her eyes, so he sat on the side of her bed and reached for her hand. He jerked his arm back before their fingers could meet as he remembered what a male touch would do to her. "Listen," he said quietly, trying to keep emotion from flooding his voice. "I'll read this to you," he opened the journal to the first page. "Word for word, I promise. Will you at least listen to what it says?"

Amari's emerald eyes still blinked at him in disbelief, but she nodded her head slowly.

"I'll listen, Jake," she said, as if she was the one reassuring him.

The half elf cleared his throat and showed her the images of the sigils on the first few pages, and then flipped forward. But before he could begin to read his pointed ears perked up.

The door between Lamont's bedroom and the hall had slammed shut.

"Someone's here," Jake whispered, and rose to his feet, drawing the eagle feather from his inner pocket. He clutched the quill like a sword and stood between the adjoining door and Amari's bed.

"It must be brother, he's home early!" The Salvic girl whispered back. There was happiness in her voice, and yet trepidation... what would Lamont say if he discovered a boy in her room? "You must hide under the bed," she said suddenly, drawing back the low-hanging covers.

"No," Jake answered, "this is what I must do." His pulse pounded in his ears, his cheeks flared hot with anger. One room away stood the young man who had tormented Amari most of her life, and brainwashed her to believe it was normal, even kind of him.

"Mari?" Lamont's voice came through the adjoining door, drawing nearer. "Are you awake?" He wondered. The brass knob turned.

Jake took two slick steps forward and kicked the metal-bound door open as hard as he could. A cry of shock and pain emanated from the far side, and as the heavy door flew open Jake got his first look at Lamont L'Olfsden.

He was busy stumbling backwards, blood streaming down his face from a broken nose. He was bigger than Jake and broader of shoulder, with blond hair and blue eyes. He dropped a small black box on the floor as his soft-looking hands seized his wounded face.

"Who in Haide are you?" Lamont sputtered, pinching his nose to stem the flow of blood while his free hand clawed for the longsword on his hip. "Get out of my house, wretch!" He gave up attempting to stop the bleeding - the front of his fine wool sweater was already badly stained - and used his left hand to secure the scabbard while his right drew the longsword with a menacing metallic whisper.

"I'm the hunter who has come to stop you hurting Amari," Jake said levelly, and raised his quill in both hands. The eagle feather transformed suddenly into the iron hilt of a longsword, and then a blade of still flame grew from the end. Jake wielded the fiery sword confidently and pointed its slightly curved blade at Lamont's throat. "Take another step," he invited, "and I'll spill more blood than you can spare."

Rather than advance Lamont crouched suddenly and seized the black box with his left hand. He fumbled the lid open and withdrew a syringe with a short, sharp needle attached to the end. He wielded it like a dagger and took a tentative step forward.

Jake wanted to kill the older boy. He felt as though he was in a dark cavern facing off against a true demon, and his knuckles grew white around the hilt of his fiery longsword.

"No!" Came Amari's voice from behind him. "Please don't hurt each other."

The words hit Jake like a punch to the liver. As much as he considered Lamont a demon, Amari probably never would, and she would never forgive him if he killed her brother before her eyes. Not lowering his sword, Jake backed off a few steps, allowing Lamont to advance to the threshold between the two rooms.

"Look at what's in his hand," Jake said, pointing with the fiery tip of his sword, "I'll wager that needle was meant for you, Amari. If I'd only had time to read you his journal-"

"WHAT?" Lamont screamed, "you read my journal?" His icy eyes swept from Jake to Amari, and then lit on the diary sitting on her bed.

"Yes I did," Jake said, and lifted one hand from his sword hilt to summon a doorway. The door winked into existence beside Amari, made of simple oak planks with a brass knob. Although it appeared mundane, it covered a portal that led back to Underwood, the city where Jake resided in Concordia. "Step through that door, Amari," Jake urged, "and you'll never have to minister to his needs again."

[Mari]

Curiosity turned to fear as she heard her brothers voice, and how Jake refused to hide upon her request. Her brother was quick to anger, and Amari did not want harm to come to Jake, she was quite fond of him. "Please..." She urged. Jake shook his head, and the situation only escalated further from there. There was a scuffle, and weapons were drawn.

I have to do something... Amari grit her teeth and stormed forward. Placing herself firmly between the two. Away from the door. If she had stepped through, she was worried that her actions would cause Lamont to injure Jake, not only that...but how could she leave her home? Her family?

"Stop this!" she ordered. Amari turned to face her brother, blood smeared across his face and dripping off his chin. "Brother! This man is a guest in our home. Please, treat him with the correct courtesy."

Lamont opened his mouth as if to say something, but Amari quickly interjected. "I don't want to hear it Lamont!"

Amari turned her back on her brother, now facing Jake. "And Jake!" She snapped, before taking a deep breath and using a softer, pained tone. "Please...I do not know what was in brothers journal - but I do know my brother. He'd never har-" Her words stilled and turned into inaudible mumbles. Lamont had thrust the needle into the back of her neck. Quickly injecting her with the serum. "h-harm...me..." Her eyes watered. Her legs buckled, before she could fall Lamont caught her in his arms. "Hush sweet Amari, it'll be over soon."

"B-brother....?" Amari could feel herself slipping. She tried to move but her body did not respond she felt as though she was drowning, and slipping away into unconsciousness. It was a horrifying feeling. She wanted to scream and to cry, to beg him why - but all she could do was stare up at him silently, till her eyes glazed over, and her consciousness was nothing more than a dull buzz. Her once brilliant gaze became lidded and lifeless.

Lamont gripped Amari's crimson tresses in his hands. Watching Jake with a wicked grin. He pulled her virtually lifeless form up so he could deeply inhale her scent. "Don't you just love how she smells of the forest?" He mused as he let go of her hair. Amari fell to the floor with a soft thud.

"Jake, was it?" His blue eyes shifted to Jake's pointed ears. "Half-Elf. Your accent suggests you're from..." He tilted his head to the side, feigning thought. "Corone?" He asked. Lamont didn't need Jake to answer, unlike Amari he was extremely well read, and intelligent. He was able to pick up on the most subtle of nuances and analyse them.

"And you can summon portals," He stepped over Amari. "Not unheard of. I've looked into it myself. I lack the ability to do so. Course..." His voice was no longer filled with rage, it was smooth. Calculating. "I can pay people to do that for me."

Jake pulled out the quill again, but he was met with a cluck of Lamont's tongue.

"Amari, would you be so kind as to unbutton the upper half of your nightgown, and stand in front of me?"

Jake watched in horror as the limp figure of Amari sat up, and with dull eyes she wordlessly unbuttoned her gown until the full curvature of her milky breasts spilled out. She then stood. Placing herself between Lamont and Jake. "Good Doll." Lamont purred into her ear. "If any weapon appears in his hand, I want you to impale yourself upon it." A single nod was her reply.

"Excellent. Now." Lamont raised his eyes. "How about you flee, like the coward you are - or you loose both your life..." Lamont gestured toward Amari, "and in the process- take hers. Consider my kind offer Jake. I am not a patient man."

Lamont paused, gripping Amari's shoulders with his hands. "Or perhaps you wanted some fun first? You are a lad of good taste, no?"

[Jake Narmolanya]

Jake's green eyes widened in horror as he allowed his sword to dissipate and turn back into a quill. It seemed Lamont had succeeded at turning Amari into a living doll with whatever he'd injected into her. She followed his commands like a like a marionette with an invisible puppeteer pulling the strings. If only I'd brought my bow! Jake berated himself. He could have slipped an arrow past Amari's pale face and into her brother's eye, even with his hands shaking in rage. And his whole bloody body was shaking, his pulse racing as he glared past Amari's crimson hair into Lamont's icy eyes.

"Don't hurt her," Jake forced himself to say, emotion making his words thick. He stowed his quill inside his jacket and raised his palms to show he held no weapon. "I'll leave."

"Of course you will. Coward." Lamont spat back.

The insult poured fuel over the fire of Jake's anger, and his fists clenched at his sides. He could see no way out of the situation except to flee. He'd read enough of Lamont's journal to know the bastard wouldn't hesitate to kill Amari... she was a disposable doll to him, something to throw away if it did not serve its purpose. And yet... just from the way Lamont's soft, rich hands gripped his sword, Jake knew he could best the older boy in combat. But what would be the point, if Amari died first?

"Hurry up now," Lamont chided. He placed the edge of his longsword against Amari's throat and leaned down to inhale her scent at the nape of her neck. "Or it will be sweet Mari who loses more blood than she can spare."

Jake could not stop hot tears from springing to the corners of his eyes, but perhaps he could still save Amari's life. He turned and fled through the doorway, allowing the portal to dissipate behind him as he stepped through. His boots landed heavily on the wooden floor of the inn where he spent his nights.

Early morning birdsong emanated from outside, for the time was different in Corone. A rosy-cheeked serving girl was wiping down tables for the morning meal but she stopped, smile fading as she noticed the half elf's red rimmed eyes and dire expression.

"Jake?" She called, crossing to him and enveloping him in a swift hug, "where have you been? And what's the matter?"

The youth choked on his words at first, as tears spilled down his cheeks and soaked into the shoulder of her dress. Finally he found his voice.

"Everything," Jake whispered into the soft cotton, holding the serving girl tight and wishing she were someone else. "Everything in the world."

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

Congratulations!

Mari receives 1320 EXP and 145 GP (10% bonus due to her ability)

Jake Narmolanya receives 1145 EXP and 135 GP!

[Shinsou Vaan Osiris]

All rewards added!