A Silent Whisper [Closed] [Archive]

Hysteria

01-07-13, 05:45 AM

Set Prior to the Ixian War

The stone walls of the Ixian Knight's castle hold many secrets and this tale is of one of them. This story is of murder, adventure and shadows. Cast then aside the drudgery of life and suspend disbelief as the story unfolds before you. The Ixian Knights were a new order among the world of Althanas. The leader was a Sei Orlouge, a man who carried with him the weight of a city. That however is a different story, for ours focuses on one of these Knights. A little boy, of sorts, who went by the name Talen Shadowalker. The odd name was matched with an odd history, as the youth had grown up for apparently thirteen years by himself before recently joining the Knights.

The youth looked quite average. He was of normal height for his age, he had black scruffy hair and pale skin. His eyes were blue and alert, something he had developed during his life on the streets. His role in the Knights was information and he excelled at it for two reasons. The first was his many contacts within the underworld, most noticeable the beggars. The second was his unique abilities to manipulate shadows, an ability which was invaluable for sneaking.

It was unusual for Talen to do anything outside his specific area for the Knights, but it had been happening more and more frequently with the recent strain on the group. The youth had accompanied other sects such as the Monster Hunters and Investigations. The first had seen him fight against a giant bug, and the second nearly killed trying to get into the Citadel. Today saw the youth involved in another area, one more cold and deadly than the others.

☼ ☼ ☼

The sun rose on another day in the bustling Ixian Castle. The halls were full of laughter from the mess hall as two captains fought over a baked potato. Talen made his way back to his room slowly with a slight waddle from over eating. To his surprise he found the door to his room slightly ajar and the boy paused as he wondered if he had left it open. The youth stepped through and found the familiar mess of his room undisturbed, save a small note in the middle of his table. Talen quickly walked over and picked up the paper.

Kill Chester Caulderbottom.
Family Optional.
Don't be identified.
Scara Brae, 5 Arrow Lane.

The hand writing was Sei’s and his unmistakable seal at the bottom told the youth that this was indeed a contract to kill. The boy wondered why he had been given the contract and not Cassandra Remy, the Knight Captain in charge of Wetworks. The youth pushed the question to the side, the answer was not important, he knew Sei would have his reasons.

Travelling the long distance to Scara Brae would take a normal person a week at least, but Talen was gifted in that department. The youth had learned that if he transferred his body into shadows and created a corridor along which to travel on the other side of the veil he could move extremely long distances in a very short amount of time. He gathered his various tools he normally took with him on missions and sat cross legged on his bed and started the length meditation. After a few hours the youth's body shimmered and disappeared.

Harbinger

01-07-13, 05:54 AM

Raksha stood straight as a little fat man looked him up and down. The tall ivory warrior glanced at the man’s bald head and then back up before it was noticed. Being stared at like a piece of meat was infuriating for the proud fighter, but apparently it was a necessary step in being hired to be a bodyguard.

“What was your name again?” Asked the man as he moved behind the Seeker and looked at the emerald sword.

“Raksha, but normally Rak for short.” Rak’s blue eyes looked down at the man before adding “Mr. Caulderbottom.”

The pair of men stood in the garden of Caulderbottom’s house accompanied by three other body guards; each looking at Rak as if he was trying to kill their mother. The garden was surprisingly spacious with nearly cut grass edged with bushes and patches of flowers. The garden wall was equally grand, thick stone nearly seven feet high. Standing surrounded by the plants would have been peaceful if not for the beating sun and judgmental eyes beaming down on him. The tall warrior had come to the city in search of truth and meaning to his and all life, but it had taken a back seat to the search for money, food and shelter. He was a Seeker, a sort of subterranean humanoid. He was nearly the same as a human apart from two things, first he was absolutely hairless and second, his skin was pure white. He only wore boots and fur skin pants, with his white chest bare save for the strap for the sword and shield across his back.

“There’ll be a test of course. An aptitude test of sorts. You know, to test how good ya are.”

Rak just nodded, he welcomed the test much more than being stared at. Caulderbottom waddled off and sat in a nearby garden chair. With a wave of his hand one of the three men drew swords and lunged at the Seeker.

Hysteria

01-07-13, 05:56 AM

It was late afternoon when Talen shimmered into existence in an alley off the main market square in Scara Brae. The shift to a later time zone and the amount of time Talen needed to travel the distance left the youth with only a few hours left of daylight. The city of Scara Brae brought back memories for the street kid, he had grown up on its multi-racial streets and stole food from its multi-racial food vendors. His home city though held little warmth for the would-be assassin and he saved reminiscing for later.

To Arrow Lane the youth went, moving quickly through the streets with the practice of an alley cat. The boy reached the street and was hit with memories of being chased out of it many times. The street was partially closed off from the rest of the city, with private guards and high gates separating the well off from the worse off. Number five, the home of Caulderbottom was no different, a high wall, the sounds of guards; it was not an easy place to get into.

Talen walked down the street quickly, with the air of someone doing something urgent. It was enough that anyone watching wouldn’t look twice, while it gave the youth enough time to walk along the front of the house and find a part of the wall away from the main gate with tree branches visible on the other side. The boy moved to it and bent down as if tying his shoe. Instead the boy disappeared as his body was transformed into shadows and reformed on the other side of the wall.

The boy found himself amid the garden as planned and dropped from a crouch to a crawl. He moved behind the trunk of the tree near him and peaked around the edge. There were five people in the garden some way off, three rough looking men decked out in leather and swords, a fat man in a chair and a large man that was surprisingly paler than Talen. The pecking order of the men was apparent quickly, and the youth was sure the fat man was Caulderbottom.

From his hiding spot Talen watched, there were only a hour or two of sunlight remaining before the youth would either decide to try and take out the man tonight, or retire and continue gathering information tomorrow.

Harbinger

01-07-13, 06:01 AM

Rak stepped to the side as the one man’s sword cut through the air beside him. The Seeker’s hand was already moving instinctively and caught man in the jaw. A spray of saliva and the man stumbled across the grass and collapsed in a heap. The massive Seeker reached behind him and unclipped his long emerald sword and brought it around to bear. The rich green blade caught the light of the afternoon sun and shone brightly as the other two men drew their sword.

Predicable I suppose. They don’t want another person getting a cut of the protection money. Or worse of all, someone who might get them killed. The thought fluttered through the Seeker's mind.

His blade rang with a sweet steel symphony as Rak blocked a downward swing. The large Seeker pushed forwards and rammed his shoulder into the attacking man and knocking him backwards. Pressing his advantage, Rak brought the sword around in a powerful downward stroke smashing into his opponent’s sword. The force ripped the sword from the man’s hand and the Seeker stepped forwards, but rather than brining his sword back up to finish the man, he released his left hand from the hilt of the sword and threw his elbow into the man’s head. With a sickening crack the body guard fell to the ground unconscious.

The remaining guard dove into Rak and knocked him to the ground and the emerald sword was flung to the side. The guard straddled the warrior and rained punches down with his free hand. Rak fought to fend off the attacks but could do little as the man refused to relent. The guard’s sword came up and he held it to the Seeker’s neck.

“Appears you lost mate.” Spat the guard with a grin.

The Seeker’s own sword was pressed against the man’s neck and Rak grinned through the blood from a split lip.

“Perhaps a draw?”

The guard looked in confusion at the sword that he could have sworn had been knocked from the Seeker’s hand. In truth it had, but the sword came to its master’s call like a loyal dog and had returned to Rak’s hand during the fight. The guard lowered his sword and stood up. The man paused and then held his hand down to Rak. The Seeker took it and got to his feet.

“He’s good enough.” The guard replied as he walked over to his unconscious and dazed comrades.

“Splendid! Splendid!” Caulderbottom clapped his hands in glee, “A wonderful fight. Yes, you are indeed hired! Go and help those two back into the house, and then Vern here will show you the ropes, as they say on the docks.”

Rak inwardly sighed at his new employer’s apparent sadism. The guard that had nearly bested him, Vern, pulled one of the others up and half carried him back towards the guards quarters.

“Grab John there and follow me.”

The Seeker ran a hand over his face gingerly as he felt it start to swell from the blows. He sucked his bottom lip to try and stop the bleeding as he clipped his sword behind his back and picked up the unconscious man and followed.

Hysteria

01-07-13, 06:04 AM

Talen shifted on the spot as the men left the garden. The youth recognised that the new comer was pretty good, as was the man that had nearly beaten him. Talen had seen the white warrior’s sword move back into his hand, and wondered if there were abilities the new guard was hiding. Regardless of the skill of the men, the new guard would surely mean that there would be more guards on duty that night than normal. Despite wanting a quick end to the contract, Talen knew there would have to be another night at least, and it would give him a chance to rest up.

“I want entertainment!” A shrill cry carried from the gate.

A second later it swung open with a clang and in walked half a dozen people. A woman, the lady of the house most likely, a young girl, two women in waiting and two guards dressed like the ones that had just fought.

“I’ll make sure they go down to the market and find the best entertainment there tomorrow and then at night we can have a good show. Alright?” The mother responded, but the girl’s face said she was less than impressed with having to wait a whole day.

Talen felt a pang of annoyance at the little girl, who clearly got whatever she wanted while many in Scara Brae got nothing. Before joining the Ixian Knights, Talen had earned a living as a street performer, using his abilities to manipulate shadows to create puppet shows. The youth’s skills had increased a lot since then, and the boy saw this as the perfect opportunity to gain entry into the home and find the perfect way to kill Caulderbottom without causing suspicion.

☼ ☼ ☼

The little warrior had not grown up in Scara Brae in complete isolation. The youth had befriended one of the local shop keepers, probably the only one he didn’t steal from. The man’s name was Mel, a soldier who had become too old to fight and settled down and purchased a weapon’s shop, the same one Talen had bought his swords from. The sun slowly set as Talen walked towards the store. Part of him was grateful that he was going to see his old friend, but another was reluctant given why he was in Scara Brae.

The cool night air was setting over the town as Talen turned a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes were open wide as he read the large sign over his friend’s store.

Mel’s Weapon and Flower Emporium

“Wah..?”

The youth walked forwards in a daze to the door of the store. The window, normally filled with weapons was now mixed with flowers. Talen pushed open the store and walked in. He was immediately assaulted with all sorts of fragrances from the plants and flowers strewn through the shop. Even worse he could hear a voice singing and turned to see a familiar face.

“What the hell are you doing here, and what the hell is going on?” he asked loudly.

Harlequin

01-07-13, 06:05 AM

“Talen!”

Twig stopped singing and turned around. She put down the watering can and ran over and hugged the surprised looking boy. The tiny girl was nearly exactly the same as the first time she had met Talen. She had the same brown hair and tanned skin, both tinged with green. The tiny girl was, well, tiny, even compared to Talen. She was less than a metre tall and weighed a tiny twenty five kilograms. As she released Talen from the hug Mel emerged from the back room and his wrinkled face broke into a wide smile.

“Talen!”

Mel walked over and slapped the youth hard on the back.

“What brings you to my fine shop lad?”

“Never mind that! What is she doing here?! And what’s the deal with all the flowers?!”

“Calm down lad!” Mel put his arm around Talen’s shoulders and guided him across the room to a chair and sat him down before sitting opposite, “Twig, lock the door with you? Its closing time anyway.”

Twig went to the door and stood on her tippy toes and turned the open sign to closed and locked the door.

“Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Talen asked as the surprise faded and was replaced by annoyance.

“Well, after that incident you two go into with the stolen buns Twig decided to look me up. You told her about the shop apparently and she tracked me down.” Mel said with a shrug.

“And the store?”

“Twig hung around for a while, and started growing plants. She has a real knack with them you know?”

In truth Twig had much more than a knack for plants. The little girl was the result of too much magic focused on a small area of forest. She was, for lack of a better description, a walking, talking plant. One of her abilities included being able to control plants, helping them grow, or even making them do things they were not supposed to be able to do.

“She had some in the shop and it started attracting attention. Soon the flowers attracted all sorts into the shop, did you know female fighters like flowers just the same as normal women? I’ve been making a killing in the demographic. A niche market I think it’s called. Plus people have been coming from all over, where were those two from today say they were from?”

“Lesbia I tink.” Chimed in Twig.

“Yeah, Lesbians they called themselves. Why are you back in the old Brae anyway?”

“Oh, Ixian business.”

Twig raised an eye brow but lowered it quickly. The little girl often knew more than she let on, and Talen’s cryptic answer spoke volumes.

“So then busy day tomorrow?” Asked Twig.

“Oh yeah, really.” Talen looked around, avoiding her eyes.

“Well then. Dinner and bed for ickle Talen.” Twig smiled and patted Talen’s leg with her tiny hand.

Harbinger

01-07-13, 06:08 AM

“So what does this Caulderbottom guy do anyway? A merchant or something?” Rak’s eyes moved over the massive house as he and Vern walked slowly around it.

“Something completely unlike a merchant actually.” Replied Vern.

“Well, what then?”

“Maybe it’s better if you don’t know ay? He pays me to look after the guards for himself, wife an’ daughter. No merchant needs that many guards. Whatever he is involved in, I don’t wana know.”

Rak was silent as they continued their walk around the house and gardens, till another question rose to his mind.

“The ad in the market, there must have been someone here before me right? What happened to him?”

A slightly sad look past over Vern's face as he remembered the man who Rak had replaced.

“Johnny was his name, found the guy dead one morning next to a robber of sorts; they had both stabbed each other and bleed out right there. Horrible mess to clean up.”

“Robber of sorts?”

“Yeah, the kind that breaks in and takes only you’re life.”

Already the pair had covered most of the house, and were just getting to the grounds. The discussion had turned morbid and both men felt it.

“So how’s the night life around here?” Ventured Rak.

Hysteria

01-07-13, 06:10 AM

Talen slowly opened his eyes as the morning sun streamed in through the nearby window. The youth sat up slowly as his stiff body groaned in protest. He had spent the night on the floor with only his small mat and blanket, and the floor had been unforgiving. It took him just over a minute to pack up the sleeping gear and stow it away in one of the cupboards.

Mel lived in the back of his shop like many of the shop owners in the area and had offered Talen the floor. The youth was grimly aware that there was a spare bed, occupied by the diminutive Twig that he normally used. Talen pushed the negative thought from his mind and concentrated on the day at hand.

Last night the boy had decided that he needed to hide his appearance, lest he drag the Ixian Knights’ name into the mud. Before going to sleep he had executed a spell to increase his size, growing an adult body over night. The spell functioned in a similar way to increasing a balloon’s size, by filling it with more substance, in Talen’s case energy from which his body was composed. He increased the energy, and his body grew. Where he had looked like a normal thirteen year old body yesterday; today saw him like a twenty year old.

Today Talen was not an Ixian Knight, not on a mission to kill a man, but an entertainer. The boy’s years of performing stirred in him and excitement filled his stomach. The boy dressed to garner attention, a black top hat that had been unused for more than a year, a black shirt and pants were all donned by the performer and topped with a thick cloak. His more nefarious tools were hidden on his body and the boy was ready.

Before leaving Talen wrote a small note to Mel, thanking him and letting him know he’d be back soon. The boy gathered up his stuff and left for the market, well before Mel would wake. The key in Talen’s opinion to having a good show was location. Ensure you have enough space for a people to gather round, make sure you are in a spot where people have to walk past and then outshine any other street buskers.

Talen walked through the quiet streets with a quick pace. He held his cloak tight to ward off the morning cold and reached the market. The city square was already busy with men and women setting up stalls, spreading out food and goods and getting in for an early buy. Talen knew that they were mostly farmers and wholesalers, not the sort of people who would pay attention to a street performer. The youth made his way around the stalls, looking at the flow of people and judging where his spot should be. He found it soon, near one of the narrower entries to the main market. Talen sat down with his back to the wall of a permanent shop, a grocer and waited for more people to arrive.

Harlequin

01-07-13, 06:11 AM

“I knew it!”

Twig walked up to Talen and poked him in the stomach hard. The youth grimaced but the girl ignored it and continued. Her face was painted with annoyance and she was clearly out for blood.

“You're here to kill someone one!”

“WHAT!?” Talen's voice was almost shrill.

“Oh please!” Twig kicked him in the shin, “You are as good a liar as I am a horse... DON'T say it!”

Talen closed his mouth. Twig knew that if the boy wasn't saying why he was in the city then it was something he wouldn't have wanted his Mel to know. The only thing that Talen didn't tell his friend were things he thought would disappoint the man, and Mel was an old fashioned soldier. You killed on the battlefield and broke bread away from it.

The diminutive girl looked at the Talen with piercing green eyes as if trying to make him melt under her gaze. As quickly as her wrath had descended it was gone and she smiled sweetly and placed a tiny hand on Talen's leg, a sight much more frightening. Her eyes gleamed with excitement.

“I want to help!”

“Bu...”

“No butts! He's a bad man, I know your group, if he wasn't bad you wouldn't be here. In which case I'd be doing a public service, right?”

“yeah... right.” Talen had surrendered to his fate.

“Good! Now put on that mask you have and let’s put on a show!”

Talen felt his pride shrivel up and catch the next mule out-a-here. Being bossed around by a women wasn't too bad, neither by someone much younger than you, or even smaller. When however you put them all together it was pretty bad.

Twig placed two empty pot plants on the either side of Talen's small area and pushed a small seed into each. The girl had carried the pots with her from Mel's, and it didn't take long before each pot sprouted a small plant. They quickly grew, lifted up and forming a large red flower. Both bloomed and aimed up into the air under the watchful eye of Twig.

“Well shadow-butt, time to get this show rolling.”

Harbinger

01-07-13, 06:12 AM

“Remember, this is the boss's girl and wife. If something happens to either of them you can not only kiss this job good bye, you can then put your head between your legs and kiss your butt too.”

Vern and Rak turned as Mrs. and Miss. Caulderbottom walked down the stairs towards them. Both were dressed in fine midday cloths, with more frills than a swarm of fish.

“The boss's wife asked for you, so be good!” Vern insisted.

“Is that normal?”

“No.”

Rak got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he watched the woman approach him. She nodded to both men without a flicker of emotion passing over her face. Rak and Vern hurriedly bowed and Rak followed after her. They walked to the gate and were met by the two guards especially employed for the boss’s wife and two hand maidens. Rak glanced at them and with a surprise realised the two burly guards were actually women. The Seeker felt very awkward as they walked from the gate.

Four an hour the seven people wandered the shop district of Scara Brae. The proud warrior's face became more and more dejected as the minutes past and the shopping bags he carried grew. Their trip brought them to a small boutique store, filled with over priced jewellery and small pink things.

“In here!”

Miss Caulderbottom pushed the door open and the rest filed in after her. Rak put down the bags and stretched his arms out to try and ward of the aches that were slowly setting into his muscles at carrying things that cost more than his year’s wage. Raksha watched Mrs. Caulderbottom walked over to one of the guards and whispered something into her ear. The guard nodded in response.

“Oh Guard! Come here please.”

Mrs. Caulderbottom signalled Rak to her as she walked to the back of the shop and slipped through into the storage area, throwing the Seeker a cheeky grin over her shoulder as she went. Rak entered slowly, his warrior sense's telling him it was a trap. As his eyes adjusted to the darker room her saw Mrs. Caulderbottom. She grabbed him and pulled him down for a kiss. Rak pulled away and went to speak but she put her hand over his mouth to silence him.

“Shhh... no one will disturb us.”

Hysteria

01-08-13, 03:17 AM

Talen was sitting on the stone ground with his back to the wall while Twig sat next to him. The youth was sitting patiently still as he stared at the cobble ground in front of him. Twig was not quite to relaxed, she twiddled her thumbs and bumped her bare feet together trying to pass away the time. The girl finally stood up and walked in front of Talen with a look of pure disgust at the calm boy.

“Will you hurry up!” She yelled at Talen.

“Done!” He sat back and looked up at the girl without hearing what she had just said, “Twig! Move over! You’re standing right where the show is going to be.”

Twig stomped back to her seat and faced street. Talen nodded when he was ready and faced the street. From the ground rose a perfectly formed black image of a ballerina. A few people nearby paused with surprise as the woman bowed deeply. With a short wave of her hand the miniature woman started to dance. Twirls and leaps, the figure moved with the utmost grace for the crowd and with each movement the crowd grew.

The girl twisted to a stop facing the audience and there was a clear hush as they waited for her next move. The girl rose onto one foot and brought the other around sharply and moved into a spin. Her spin moved faster and faster until she was a blur. Talen took off his hat and handed it to Twig.

“Go around and prepare to collect money.” Whispered Talen.

From next to the ballerina Twig's two flowers unleashed a blast of flame into the air and the crowd gasp in surprise. The Ballerina’s form exploded into hundreds of small black shapes that turned into tiny fairies. The miniature figures zoomed out through the crowd to give each person watch an up close view.

The faeries floated in the air and bowed to the audience before lifting once more into the air and arched around and disappeared into the ground. The audience applauded and Talen stood and bowed to them.

“Once more at noon! Tell everyone you know!”

Twig wandered back with Talen's hat half full of money.

“How do you know the girl will see us anyway?”

“Because word spreads like fire, and we have dozens of people now telling everyone about us.”

Harbinger

01-08-13, 04:48 AM

“What?” Mrs. Caulderbottom's voice was flat and annoyed.

“Well, I'm only ten years old.” Rak shrugged and pulled his pants back up.

“WHAT?”

“I tried to tell you, I haven't reached that stage yet.”

“WHAT?!”

The Seeker finished tying up his belt and looked his client up and down. If he had blood able to rise to the surface of his skin during situations like this, Rak would have blushed.

“I'll let you put your cloths back on.”

Rak turned and walked out of the room. The Seeker paused as soon as he was out of sight and let himself cringe. Never before had he felt so awkward. Time didn't let the Seeker dwell on the incident as Mrs. Caulderbottom stormed past him a moment later and Rak reluctantly had to follow.

The air on the street seemed both hot and cold to the Seeker as he followed behind Mrs. Caulderbottom like a dog on a leash. The Seeker could feel a slight sheen of sweat across his skin as he walked and his stomach lurch from side to side as he envisioned himself being back on the streets without a job tomorrow.

Mrs. Caulderbottom suddenly stopped and Rak caught himself from walking into her. The street was suddenly full with jostling people. Over the heads of many of the crowd Rak could see it had formed near some sort of attraction. One of the burly female guards pushed her way out of the crowd with Miss Caulderbottom in tow and walked over to them.

“We've just seen the most delightful show! We must invite him to the house!” Squealed Miss. Caulderbottom.

“A show huh?” The older Caulderbottom could barely hide her distain for Rak, “Very well, I’ll trust you. Invite them to the house.”

Harlequin

01-08-13, 05:03 AM

“Greetings.” Said a large woman wearing a little bit too much leather.

“Greetings.” Replied Twig before Talen could speak. The woman looked slightly confused at the tiny child; Twig looked like she didn’t realised.

“I have been asked by my boss to invite you to the house tonight to perform.”

“Who is your boss?” asked Twig, against cutting off Talen.

“Mrs. Caulderbottom, wife to Mr. Caulderbottom, a well respected and…” the woman paused slightly as she tried to think what it was Mr. Caulderbottom actually did, “rich guy. What do you say?”

“Money?” said Twig as Talen sat quietly.

“Two hundred, and not a cent more.”

“Deal.”

Twig scribbled down the address as the woman told her before she nodded and left. Both her and Talen sat down with their backs against the wall in silence. A shadow hung over the pair as they knew that tonight Talen was to kill someone. Someone who he had never met. Twig was the first one to break the silence.

“Where do you get the shadows from exactly? You know, the ones that you use.”

Hysteria

01-08-13, 05:05 AM

“It’s a bit complicated.”

Twig shot a look at Talen which suggested he better have not insinuated she couldn't understand it.

“Ahem... Well, inside me there is a gate or sorts, that links to another dimension that over laps with this one. I exist on both parts of that gate and funnel energy through it. That energy maintains my body and I can use it to perform some of my magic. I can also use latent energy that seeps into this dimension through shadows.”

“So you manipulate the energy of your body?”

“Well, normally I bring in that energy through the gate and us it. When I made myself bigger through I brought in energy and let it be absorbed into my body.”

“How come your energy is hard then? Like it’s not the same as like, heat?”

“Well yeah, it has a physical property. Like light, have you seen light magic create physical properties? Like swords and stuff?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, well it happens. It’s the same as that.”

“So you could do something like... make your arm into a sword? Or what about splitting apart and coming back together somewhere else?”

“Well, I can transport like that already, not sure about sword thing...”

“What about moving really quickly, and making heat?”

Talen paused and thought about it. He lifted his hand and looked at it. The youth focused on the energy in his hand. At first he let himself feel the energy flowing through his hand, and then slowly started changing it, pushing and nudging it to move faster. His hand started to grow warm, but Talen couldn't feel anything change. His hand got hotter and hotter and the youth finally stopped and turned to Twig.

“Looks like it didn't w... wah?”

Talen looked down to see the edge of his shirt smouldering. Talen quickly pushed the energy in the opposite direction. The energy slowed quickly and the youth sighed with relief and touched his shirt gingerly. Once more he was shocked as he realised his shirt sleeve was icy cold. Talen gently pulled at the energy in his arm, finally getting it back to normal.

“Ohkay.... Smarty pants, you were right. Any other ideas?”

“Well I was wondering if there was a gate, can only shadow energy come through it, or can other things?”

“Oh no, no creatures can come through.”

“There are creatures there?!”

“Of course, there are spirits, creatures, demons, or whatever you want to call them on every plane of existence.”

“Oh...” Twig calmed herself, “I meant things. Like couldn't you break down an item, place it on the other side to be brought out when you want?”

“Maybe... It’s possible. But that is for another time, we need to do our next show. After which I need to go to a bottle shop.”

“To get a drink?”

“No.”

Harbinger

01-08-13, 05:21 AM

Never before had Rak been as relieved as when he walked through the gate into the Caulderbottom residence. The Seeker's pace quickened as he made his way around the house towards the back entrance and away from Mrs. Caulderbottom. The white warrior had only managed to get a few metres in front of the group before Mrs. Caulderbottom called out.

“Guard!”

Rak froze as Mrs. Caulderbottom walked over to him. She looked straight past Rak, her voice quiet and menacing.

“If you even so much as breathe a word of what happened today. I will not only see you fired, but you'll never work again in this city.”

The woman turned and stormed off into the house and left the Seeker standing with the cool afternoon breeze pressing against the sweat forming on his skin, even though relieved that he had kept his job the Seeker. His pale face to the sky and looked at the clouds moving slowly across the sky. When he had left his family, he had not thought he would end up in a situation like this.

☼ ☼ ☼

Hours past, and night fell across the City of Scara Brea. The stoic Stone Warrior had been given gate duty and the cold night grew more unbearable as the smell of dinner wafted across the yard and stimulated his empty stomach. The blue eyes of the Seeker turned to the other guard and they shared a look of mutual self-pity.

“Yo! I'm here for entertainment.”

Rak and the other guard turned to the pale face of the shadow street performer. The Seeker felt a tingle of caution run up his spine as if the Cheshire smile of Talen foretold danger. The warrior grimaced and nodded as he opened the large gate.

“Where is that little girl you were with?”

Talen feigned surprise.

“In bed of course. Its past her bed time.”

Rak's face remained passive as he wondered if it was a joke or not.

“Go straight ahead, someone at the house will show you where to go.”

“Sure.” Talen started towards the house, but paused and turned back, “So what’s with all the security bud? Two guards on the gate, more in the house? They royalty or something?”

“Or something.” Replied Rak, “Just entertain them and keep your nose out of what it doesn't belong in.”

Hysteria

01-09-13, 06:02 AM

The small path to the house already had a fine coating of dew as the temperature dropped quickly. Talen's boots clicked confidently as he walked up to the front door and was stopped by another guard.

“Alright bud, going to have to check you for weapons before you can enter.”

“Really?” Talen pulled open his cloak and swirled on the spot.

The guard placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. A quick frisk and the guard's hand touched Talen's waist.

“Are those bottles?”

“Yes, for the show.”

The guard nodded, as far as he was concerned, bottles were a far cry from weapons. At least, outside a drunken brawl at a tavern.

“You're good.” The guard opened the door and let Talen inside.

The youth entered and was quickly escorted down the hall and found himself in a room with seven other people, the three Caulderbottoms, two servants and two guards. Talen had to admit, they were cautious.

“Ahh! The entertainment! I am expecting great things after being told of your amazing show today in the market.” Said Mr Caulderbottom.

“Oh it'll be one to remember.” Replied Talen with a grin.

The youth didn’t wait to get started. Shadows leaps from the youth’s very being and arched across the room. The onlookers were surprised, even slightly annoyed that they had not prepared themselves for the show. The shadows moved across the room and to the other exit. They spiralled inwards and came together forming a large solid door.

Talen kept his position in front of the now only exit to the room and pulled back his cloak. Around his belt were half a dozen bottles of black liquid, each with a length of material stuffed into the top. Talen drew one and held it up. From his finger lifted a flame and ignited the material. Talen drew another and held the material against the flaming first and set it alight. The guard was the first to realise what was happening and ran at Talen. The youth threw one of the bottles at his feet sending burning liquid across the man.