"Elryn: Chapter 7" by Brian D. Saul

Giggling filled the air as two small forms ran past me.  I watched with a grin as the one girl practically tackled the other one, quite a vicious game of tag I must say.  The two rolled around for a moment before getting to their feet and continuing the chase.  They both sped off towards, and ran little circles around, a man sitting on the grass overlooking the island.  I recognized the one girl immediately, even from behind a mother knows her own daughter when she sees her.  The man I could only guess was the other little girls father.  New arrivals and I had missed them until now, I had been more out of it than I had thought.

Both girls wore pretty little dresses, which despite everything managed to remain clean.  The new girl looked to be roughly around five or so, I had always been terrible at figuring age by looks.  She was dressed in light purple and had long black hair worn loosely down her back.  I curiously noted that Violet on the other hand looked a fair bit older, and was obviously developing into a beautiful young woman, albeit she clearly inherited my height.  Even for her age the other girl wasn't much shorter than her.  Her hair was cut shoulder length, and I couldn't help but notice her dress matched perfectly the one the other girl wore.

The father, I had to admit, from behind looked an awful lot like Eryk, a few years older of course but same style of dress and all.  That did not exactly say a lot since a lot of people from behind looked like Eryk, his style of dress was hardly unique.  I also couldn't help but notice the odd marker a few feet off to his left.  Now where did that come from?  Moreover, what was it?

“Would you give it all little M'len?”  Rang a voice through the air.  I ignored it and instead called out to Violet and the other two, trying to get their attention.  There was no response, or even sign they had heard me, I must have been too far away.  I paid the world little mind as I stepped forward, the whole scene shimmered and I found myself standing a few feet behind the three of them as my foot hit the ground.  Father and daughter were both here, and for some odd reason I couldn't help but wonder where the mother was.  Not but a second after the youngest of the two ran up to her father and pulled on his shirt to get his attention.  She clearly didn't realize he had been paying close attention to them both this whole time.

“Daddy!” She sobbed.  “Violet's picking on me!”

I sighed and shook my head slightly, I would have thought she had more sense than to go picking on new arrivals so soon.  “Violet, leave her alone right this instant!”  I knew there was no way she could not here me from this close.

Yet, both her, and the other two, completely ignored my shout and continued on as they were.  Violet ran over to his side to defend herself, looking shocked, appalled, and faking every bit of it.  “I was not!  Kathrine started it.”

A sudden chill ran through me as she spoke her name.  I had always told myself that Kathrine would be the name of the first child I created, in honor of my mother.  In fact I had felt a little guilty not doing so with Violet but at the time it just didn't seem appropriate, and my mind wasn't exactly fully with me either.  An odd coincidence I had to admit, but that was all it was.

The man chuckled lightly and took the little girl in his arms, I caught only for a moment his profile, but it was more than enough to smash all that I thought this scene was.  It may have been but a moment. but I'd recognize Eryk anywhere.  That little girl, she had just called him...  “Eryk?”  I said softly as I walked closer, again the three of them made no movement to show they had heard me.  Kneeling down near him I reached my hand out to touch his shoulder.  A gasp escaped my lips at what I saw, for just a moment the girl looked up at him and I could see her eyes.  The same, iridescent purple as my own.  That alone meant only one thing, and here she had just called him daddy. The whole scene again shimmered and I found myself once again several feet behind them a moment before my hand would have touched him.

“I miss her.”  Violet said in response to something I hadn't heard.  She leaned against his side and spoke so softly it was a wonder I had heard her.

“Daddy?”  He looked down as the youngest spoke.  “What was mommy like?”  I smiled and felt something wet roll down my cheek.  A daughter, and Eryk her father.  It took a few moments for what she really said to occur to me, was.  Why had she chosen that particular word?

“Knowing how it would effect those you cared for most...”  The voice called out again.  I couldn't hear what was being said by the small family that sat before me, but I could clearly see Violet in tears.  I should have been happy, here I was looking at Eryk, Violet, and our daughter.  Our daughter.  Yet no Elryn, why was I not present in this otherwise perfect scene?

“Give what?”  I asked the voice for some reason, not for a moment diverting my eyes from them.  There was so much more I wanted to say but those words were all I found would come.

“Everything you were, are, and would have been.  For the existence of one you do not even know.”  The family, my family, exchanged a few last words then Eryk handed the youngest girl, Kathrine, a small flower.  Quietly she walked across the grass as though that tiny flower were the most fragile thing in the world. Slowly the scene began to dissolve before me, eventually leaving myself and the girl alone on the hill as she slowly continued her walk to that odd little marker I had noticed earlier.

“Watch over her little M'len”  The voice whispered one last time as the little girl knelt to the ground and gently placed the flower on top of the stone marker.

Her voice was quiet as she spoke, and there was an unbearable pain to her words.  “I miss you mommy.”  Those few words tore into me as the full import of just what it all meant dawned on me.

I awoke to a blurry world, tears streaming down my face despite my best efforts to stop or wipe them away.

“Stupid dreams.” I all but whispered as I sat up.  My voice shook so much one would have hardly understood what I said even had I spoken loud enough.  I took notice of the dark sky outside a few minutes later, after having calmed myself to a slightly less hysterical state.  It was too early for all of this, but the thought of what dreams might come should I return to sleep was a perfect deterant to the idea.  Everyone else in the world had nightmares about being chased down dark alleys by things only possible in a nightmare.  Me?  I get one with the most perfect scene I could imagine.  No monsters.  No demons.  No horrors beyond imagination.  Just no me, and the implication of why there had been no me present.

“Stupid dreams.” I reiterated as I dragged myself slowly from the bed.  Naturally my stomach was as upset as I was so a quick detour to the kitchen was in order before heading back into the bathroom.  As I stared at the mess all this crying had made of me in the mirror, I looked rather like something out of a nightmare myself.  Tossing my robe in the corner to wash later I started running some water for a bath, splashing some of it on my face in a failed attempt to rid myself of my tear induced ugliness.  As timing would have it, just as I was removing my left leg from my suit I heard the front door open, it figured he would come in just as I was nearly undressed.  What was he doing here so early any way?

“Just wait out there Eryk!”  I called into the hallway.  It could have been any number of other people of course, but both Violet and Adel were probably still asleep at this hour and as no one else really had reason to be here so early, he was the only logical choice left.  A short silence followed, broken suddenly by the clatter of books falling.

Hurriedly I put my suit back on to see who had stumbled over what, and how big a mess they had made.  A small shriek escaped my lips as I turned into the hallway only to bump into someone and wind up promptly lifted into the air by a crushing embrace.  I was let down a few second later by my attacker.  It was actually a hug, but as I gasped for air I could have sworn it was an attack.

“By Aeya you're alive!”  Sounded the old, cheery, voice of the old sage which now stood in front of me.  Merick himself was a relatively tall man with white unkept hair and a long white beard.  All things said and done he resembled the kind of aged sages one frequently read about, quite frankly I believed he read far too many of those very same books himself.  His robes were a curious shade of gray with runes trimming their edges.  The runes were by no means as magical as he made them look, in fact there was not a single ounce of magic in them.  In reality they were quotes from his favorite books.

“Another one of those hugs and I won't be.”  I muttered as I turned my head away from him slightly.  For his part he just ignored what I said and continued on.

“I've been worried sick about you-”

“You shouldn't vanish for months at a time then.”  A spell clearly had to have been used for him to have gotten the news, a messenger would be far too unreliable to send after someone wandering the world, now why was I not taught this spell.  Without giving it much thought I returned his hug best I could, with as much strength as I could.  Old fool, I almost wish he knew how much it bothered me when he would just disappear like that without so much as a letter home for so long.  Almost, it was unlike me to get too sentimental with him.

“What am I to think when Jura contacts me-”  Jura, now I know why he had not taught me the spell.  “And tells me you weren't expected to live through the night?”

I leaned my head into him and clenched my hand against his arm as my stomach flipped a few times on me.  With everyones reactions towards me, and even having seen the site of my own near demise, the news shouldn't have hit me as roughly as it did.  Yet Jura was never one to give up, there was something about hearing she said those words that hit me hard.  It was of course then Merick really took notice of me.

“I'm sorry, I'm just glad you're all right.”  He reached a hand down and gently lifted my head.  “You're looking a little ill Elryn.”  I pulled my head from his hand and looked away.  “And you've been crying.  What's wrong?”

“Just a bad dream.”  I not so much lied as left out several important details.

“You don't get nightmares.” He pointedly stated, quite correctly too.  Although I don't know if I could really call this a nightmare.

“I've been doing a lot of things lately that aren't like me.”  I replied quietly, quickly ducking back into the bathroom to turn off the water before I flooded the place.

“Elryn.” How I hated it when he would say my name in that tone.  He sounded almost exactly like my father did when he wanted to drag information from me...it usually worked for him too.  “I've only ever seen you cry twice, and both of them were fairly life altering occurrences.”  He trailed off and I could feel his eyes on me, I knew he expected me to say something.

I rearranged myself on the floor so I was facing him, I'd have preferred to do this on my feet but no matter what I did he'd know something was wrong.  So to save myself the trouble, and him the trouble of worrying about it, I simply remained seated.  “It really was only a dream.  Just a bit too real.”  

He looked at me expectantly, no point trying to worm my way out of it now.  I had to tell someone or these damned dreams were going to start making me paranoid.  Maybe that was the reason I was so emotional lately, they had probably already started to.  Not that my reasons to be emotional have been completely without warrant, especially now with Violets creation, but even if only outwardly I still usually took things so much better than that.

The silence was broken by an impatient.  “So...?”  I have got to stop letting my mind wander like that when I'm talking to people.  “Are you going to tell me or not?”  His tone clearly turned that into a command, not a question.

“Not this one, I refuse to cry in front of someone over something so silly.  But there have been others.”  I quietly went into details about the other dreams I have been having, the sheer realism of them, the odd voice, or voices, at times it sounded like more than one, and even how it had recently started referring to me as Little M'len.  “You think I'm nuts, don't you.”

“Elryn dear.”  He smiled and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.  “It's okay.”  People seemed to be saying that to me a lot lately.  “I for one know indisputably that you're nuts.”  He quickly found himself with the need for a towel, it wasn't a good idea to poke fun at a girl sitting next to a full bathtub.

“Okay, okay, it was a bad time for a joke, I'm sorry.  Maybe you should talk to Valen, he knows-”

“No.” I abruptly cut in.

He raised an eyebrow curiously.  “What do you mean, no?”

“I know him too well, he'll make me relive them.  I-I can't do that, not so soon.”  I grumbled slightly but only really to hide the slight quiver in my voice.  Until today these dreams bothered me but they were more of a curiosity, todays really shook me hard for some reason and I honestly did not think I could handle it again so soon.  His slightly worried frown degraded into a terribly worried looking frown, I continued before he had a chance to use it against me.  “I've been a complete emotional wreck the past few days.”  I slowly got to my feet, were it possible his frown would have deepened.  “I just need a little time alone and I'll be fine, trust me.  Now shoo, I have a bath to finish and a busy day ahead of me.”  I all but pushed him out the door, it was obvious he wanted to know more but I think he got the point.

The words, Knowing how it would effect those around you, would you give it all?, rang in my head.  I had tried not to think about it but seeing Merick after he had believed I was gone brought it all back.  Easing myself into the water I shivered as I tried to push the thought from my mind.  Even the warmth of the bath water was unable to take off the sudden chill I felt.  It was likely the shortest bath I had ever taken, only just long enough to get myself clean but not too comfortable.  It was very likely I would have fallen asleep had I gotten too comfortable, and that right now was not something I could afford to do.  Before I headed out to help Merick I gave my clothing a quick wash and dry as well, they were still a bit damp when I rushed out to him, but it would have to do for now.

I saw exactly what I expected to when I left the house, a cart stacked full of books.  “How much did this batch cost you?”

His reply came with hardly a thought.  “An arm and a leg.”  Then he looked at me blankly when he realized what it was he said.  “Um...I mean..”

“No, no, you were right.  You'd sell your own son or daughter if you could get a rare enough book for them.”

“Elryn, that's a horrible thing to say!”  He plucked another book from the cart and added it to the stack in his arms.  “Besides, every time I describe you to them they immediately call off the deal.”  He added without skipping a beat.

“Thank the Gods I'm not your daughter.”  Came my rather poor retort, I really was out of sorts today, wasn't I.

There was a strange smile on his face and an odd smattering of emotion in his reply.  “You're as close as I'm ever going to get.”

“Cheater.”  Was about the best I could reply with at the time.  I figured it best I just help him unload some of these before I said something that made him even more sentimental.  I doubted I could survive another hug.

The cart was still pretty full by time the sun first started to peek over the horizon an hour later, even after all we had already taken in.  He not only was a master at book collecting, but at cramming as many of them into as small a space as possible.

We both stopped for a while for a much needed rest about then, I definitely needed it, only been awake an hour or so and already I was exhausted.  It was also about then I decided to inquire about something which had been nagging at me since I realized it was him that nearly crushed me in a hug.  “Merick?”  I inquired.  “If you were so terribly worried about me all this time, why are you getting home just now?”

“You know as well as I do Elryn, the world isn't a safe place nowadays.  I was also a very long ways away, I got back as fast as I could manage.”  Something about that sounded off to me, Merick never tended to travel all that far from town, but I chose not to press the matter.  “You might like to know that on my way back I did make a short stop in Alato.”

A slight sigh escaped my lips as he mentioned the name of my home town.  “It's been years since I've heard that name.  I'm not really concerned with what goes on there any more.”

“But your parents are practically heroes there now.  They even have a small shrine built in their, and your own, memory.”

“I know-”  He looked quite surprised at that declaration.  “They were heroes while I was still there.”  I chuckled a humorless little sound.  “I'm surprised they actually built that thing, they're cowards, all of them.”

“But then...?”  He didn't need to finish that question for me to know what he was going to ask.  Why would the daughter of the local heroes be alone and starving on the streets for Gods know how long?  It was about three years actually, but I never told Merick that.

I had not told him much of anything when he found me, just that my parents were gone and I had been alone for a while, I left it up to him to fill in the details.  He had left town with me the very day he found me, never even talked to the townsfolk about me before he departed that night.  It had always struck me as a little odd, but then Merick himself is a little odd, and too kind for his own good at times.  He probably felt it was in the best not to make a hassle out of it for my sake, if I was out alone for so long it was for a reason, he likely figured it best not to question too much at the risk of bringing up bad memories.  I had to admit I didn't make it seem like I even vaguely wanted to stay there.  All this was just assumed...I never did ask him why, I honestly never really cared why.  He had been more kind to me that one day than anyone in town had been in years, his motives for asking me to come along with him that night really never mattered.

“People are cowards, that's all there is to it.  Everyone was happy, the mage which had plagued our little town for years was finally dead.”  It had been years now and I had not even told Tyra all of this...why was I spilling it all to Merick now?  “Heh...no one really knew what happened.  All they knew or cared about was that he was dead, and because it cost my parents their lives, they obviously had to have been the ones to valiantly slay this threat.”  Perhaps after all this time, I just needed to get it off my chest.

“Elryn-”  Merick knew I didn't like talking about it and probably didn't want me dragging out old painful memories in doing so again.  I stopped him and just continued what I was saying.

“Truth be told they didn't even try.  They were just protecting themselves, and me.  They died in the attack, and he died from his wounds shortly after.  All people cared about was that they were now safe, but no one would help me.  They didn't know if he had family, apprentices, the usual.  And so, no one would dare help the one who, in their eyes, helped kill him.  Everyone only thought of their own safety, and the terrible wrath which would befall anyone who helped the only daughter of the ones who slew him.”  I looked up and smiled slightly.  “You were there.  There were no ruins, no terrible wrath, everyone was still alive and happy.  Weren't they?”

He just looked at me helplessly.  How does one respond when the girl you've known for years suddenly tells you all those little details you would likely have rather  not known in the first place?  “I-I'm sorry Elryn, I didn't mean to...”

I grinned a little.  “You've been curious and you know it.”  I stood up and walked over to him, leaning slightly on his shoulder.  “You have Tyra to blame for this actually, it was something she said to me the other day.”  I leaned down a bit and put my arm around him in a semi hug type manner.  And to think I was worried about him being the sentimental one.  “....You tell anyone about this though.”  I tightened my grip around his neck.  “And I'll kill you.”  I added with a slight snicker before letting go and walking towards the door again.  “Besides, I have Violet to worry about now, I can't spend all my time thinking about things which happened years ago.”  Honestly none of this bothered me much.  It came to mind now and again when asked about my parents or home town, but I had never dwelt on the subject.

I turned around and looked at him, still sitting there staring at me rather shocked, and as intended, a look of sheer confusion mixed in.  “Violet?”

He got to his feet quickly and followed me outside where I was already gathering up a few more books in my robe.  We continued for another hour or two, I never did actually tell him about Violet, instead we wound up getting into discussions about some of the mainland affairs.  Mainly him just telling me how his trip went from here, who seemed to be at war with whom, and what towns were ruled by which ruthless wizard.  Admittedly all quite interesting, but rather depressing at the same time.  For all the trouble people went through to record what the ancients did wrong to make sure it didn't happen again, not many people seemed to be listening.  I took my leave shortly after finishing, there were still a few things I needed to do to prepare for the duel later on.

First and foremost, a cup of tea was in order.  With all the conversation I had nearly forgotten about it.  Amazing how much my stomach behaved itself when I wasn't paying any attention to it or getting myself completely hysterical.  My bedroom quickly came next, where I immediately set to work rummaging through my stuff for a few things.  Most importantly, my little wand.  It was old, beaten up, and could hardly even hold a charge any more, but it was more a good luck charm than anything anymore.  It was one of the first things I ever successfully made, of course it held a certain value to it.

“I've never understood why you don't just dispose of those.”  Merick commented as he saw me putting a few small dust cubes into a robe pocket.  Normally a cleaning spell simply gathered the dust together in a lump to be disposed of, generally out a window or somewhere it would be washed away by a rain.  Mine, however, were permanent, it was really only a small modification to the spell.  Just a fun little trick actually, good for pranks since I could release them at will into a large puff of dust.

“You'll see...”  I assured him with a wicked little grin.  I gathered up a few other minor little trinkets before heading out.  “See you later Merick, I assume you'll be there to watch me?”

“Watch you what...?”  His expression changed drastically as it dawned on him why I was gathering up trinkets I only used for training or these little duels.  I never asked him to watch me train, that left only one thing.  “Wait, you...but you're sick, how the hells do you...!?”  He yelled to me as I ran out the door, I was expecting that and did what I could to get as much distance between us before be could nag me more and change my mind.  I didn't really want to do this in the first place, and with how my moods been around him this morning it was very possible he could have talked me out of it.

 
“Daddy?”  I heard the little voice ring in my mind as I was abruptly awakened by a dark figure, sword in hand, looming over me on the bed.  I let out a startled gasp as I quickly rolled off the bed, knocking the figure prone onto it, and the sword on the floor where I was quick to snatch it up and direct it at the person.  The figure remained on the bed, overcome by a gale of laughter.

“You are an evil girl.”  This only made my would be violet eyed assassin laugh even harder.  It was a good minute or so before she moved from my bed, her laughter tapering off into the occasional snicker.  “Are you nuts?  You almost stabbed me!”

With only a snicker as her comment she plucked the sword from my hand and with a wince drove the tip into the top of her foot.  I simply gaped at her in disbelief.  “You really are nuts!”  Quickly I jerked the sword from her grasp and let it clatter to the ground, then knelt down to attend to her foot.

She only giggled more at my moment of panic, the wound on her foot having healed completely as I withdrew the sword.  “Wake up Eryk.”  She knocked on the top of my head.

“Quite a thoroughly evil girl.”

“You bet.  And I can tell you from experience that being stabbed hurts a lot worse than that sword.”  She giggled just a little bit more at the look that must have been on my face.  Okay so she used the one sword I had that couldn't have actually killed me, but that was rather beside the point.  That is definitely not the way someone wants to be woken up!

“Well you certainly seem to be doing a lot better today.”

“Not really, not too much worse but no better.”  She admitted, a bit strange of her to just come right out and tell me like that knowing I'd only worry about her.  “But it's been a good day so far so that makes up for it.  You see a bit jumpier than usual.”

“You were standing over me with a sword, what do you expect!”  I sighed and shook my head, fighting off the urge to laugh myself.  “It was nothing really, just an odd dream, I hardly even remember it anymore.”

Elryn stood wordlessly a moment, her eyes shifted around the room in thought before she closed them and shook her head ever so slightly as though she were trying to convince herself of something.  Finally she lifted her head and stared directly into my eyes.  “She had your nose.”  She finally stated quietly, almost a whisper.

“And your eyes.”  I found myself replying with hardly a thought.  The memories of the dream were fading so fast I could scarcely remember anything else, but I could clearly remember the eyes.  She could have been no one other than Elryn's daughter.  And me...she had called me...

Elryn went noticeably pale, although there was a small smile on her lips.  “In the same dream together.”  I couldn't help but recall this was actually the second time, the first being when Cai used his spell on me.  Someone had told me something in that dream, and right now I felt it was somehow important, but what was it?

“But mine just ended when you woke me, you had to have been awake longer than me.  It can't be the same one.”

“You should have taken Valen's class.  If it's one thing I've learned from him is that a dream doesn't care about what is and isn't possible.”

“Okay so if we were in each others dreams, where were you at?”

Her body shook shook visibly and she was quick to immediately change the subject.  “Y-you,” her voice faltered for a moment as she spoke, she paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “You were having so much fun I didn't want to interrupt.  But enough of this, it was just a dream, not like it meant anything.”  Her eyes betrayed her, something had her worried, more so than I've seen her in a long time now.  However I couldn't bring myself to press the matter, no matter how much it nagged at me.  It was clearly something that she didn't want to talk about and I'd rather not upset her if I could help it.  She quickly walked over to the cabinet I kept my swords in and plucked one off the rack.  “What I really came here for was this.”

“And to terrorize me of course.”

“Right.”

“No.”  I replied shortly.

“No?!”

“Right, no.”  The statement came in the calmest voice I could muster.  “You are, and you admitted this yourself, evil, and I will not be the one responsible for unleashing you upon this island with a weapon.  You don't even know how to use it.”  The rest was just for fun, that was the real reason I didn't want her running around with it.

“I may be evil, but it's going to a good cause.  And I can use it very well,” she lifted the sword into the air and gave it a small practice swing, being careful not to hit anything else in the room.


“You there!”  A few people looked at the small woman in passing, but it was only the one her words were intended for that replied.

He grumbled and turned around.  “What?”  There were more important things he could be doing than standing around wasting time talking.  His head snapped to the side suddenly.

“You'll not take that tone with me!”  Jura's arm lowered as she approached Vin, who was now rubbing a nasty red welt on the side of his face.  Jura had disliked Vin almost immediately.  Like most of those Gren brought with him he was arrogant, egotistical, and just outright rude to most of the people here.  Were it up to her alone he would have been sent away the instant he arrived.  This whole ordeal with Elryn, however, only helped turn her dislike into a seething hatred.  “I'll keep this simple so you can grasp it's meaning.”

As angry as he was at being stuck, spell or otherwise, even Vin had the common sense not to mouth off to one of the Elders.  What was more, he found himself quite taken aback by her attitude all of a sudden.  He knew her dislike of him, she never so much as tried to hide it, but this outburst was completely unexpected.

“If any harm at all comes to Elryn today-”

“It's a duel, how can I win if I-” A raised hand cut off the rest of his words.

“You'll also not interrupt me when I'm speaking.”  She stated in a low angered tone.  “Such arrogance, I fail to even understand what you think to gain from fighting someone as weakened as she is now.”  She gave him a level look, catching his wandering gaze in her own.

“She's a M'len, she's probably stronger than you realize.”  Vin stated rather matter of factly.

“Really now,” Jura mused.  “So I presume you'll be telling me what interest it is you have in her.”  He had not in fact planned on telling anything.  His reasons were his alone and there was little reason to go telling people of them.  She did, however, make it quite clear that that was not a question..

“It's not often you get to duel something you had thought only a rumor.”  Vin explained.  Jura's look clearly demanded a better answer than that.  “Look hard enough and they're in any competent history book.  Never a name, just a small passage here and there about a 'violet eyed maiden' or something stupid like that.”

Jura eyed him curiously as he spoke, not because of his story, she knew all this already, but more for the noticeable change in attitude.  He sounded an awful lot like Merick did when talking about a book he was particularly fond of.

He took Jura's silence as a cue to continue, and once again assumed correctly.  He had yet to tell her anything new, but it was curious to find someone else who knew, even vaguely, about Elryn's family line.  “It wasn't until I heard about the incident in Alato that I learned the name 'M'len'.”

Now that was something new.  All Jura knew what that she didn't like the place, any town that would just abandon a girl after her parents were murdered didn't deserve her respect.  “And what incident might that be?”  She hid her curiosity well, making it sound more like an interrogation than anything else, because in reality that was really what she was doing now.

“You have her here, and you don't even know?”  As nosey as Jura was there were some things even she would not pry into.

She waved him on, speaking in a nice calm voice still.  “You are doing a good job of being truthfulr, I'm curious how long you can keep it up.”

His eyes narrowed and the smirk melted from his lips.  Jura had to point out now and then that she didn't like him, she didn't want him getting too smug with her.  She decided to let it slide this time after he mouthed something silently to himself, at least until she was finished with him.  After that last comment he began to question why he even bothered telling her any of this at all.  There was just something about staring into those green eyes, which for as cold as she was, managed to maintain a warm feel to them that seemed to make him want to keep talking.  He didn't even notice he had not broken eye contact, even to so much as blink, since the conversation started.

"The three of them, herself and her parents, managed to kill the ruling mage lord of the city.  It was a pity her parents died in the fight, the whole town believes her to be dead by now too."

All this was quite a surprise to Jura.  She knew Elryn's parents had been murdered, but this, if this was true that would mean their attacker died during the assault.  She could not help but chuckle at the irony.

"Imagine my delight," he continued, his smirk returning, "When I found her here."

"You have a twisted way of showing it."  Jura said with disgust.

Vin just shrugged halfheartedly. "She probably wouldn't have agreed otherwise, a little coaxing never hurt anyone."

"Most people would have been content just meeting her, but you, you insist on some stupid duel."

A smug grin crossed his face as he answered.  "It's not often you get to test yourself against a hero, much less one clearly as talented as her."  It was the first thing out of his mouth that sounded like a genuine compliment.

"Which brings me back to my original point- Ultimatum really.  Which is really quite simple.  Hurt her in any way and you're immediately going back to where Gren found you."  There was a certain hint of satisfaction as she told him this.  The truth of the matter was that the Elders already decided he had already been too much trouble.  His anti social attitude alone made him questionable, but various other little incidents eventually added up.

"Quite protective of her aren't you."  Vin observed, then shrugged again.  "I'll still have the satisfaction, win or lose.  There are more schools out there that would accept someone as skilled as myself.  There is only one," he caught his mistake quickly.  "Two M'len girls.  And I can't very well fight the little one, now can I."  Jura had to give him some credit for this, he certainly has done some impressive research.

"M'len is such an obscure name, few will ever see either of them as anything other than violet eyed woman."  She was growing increasingly annoyed at his stubbornness but did her best to remain calm.

"Yes, perhaps, but to those that know the name-"

"So concerned about recognition."  She stated calmly, just the slightest hint of disgust to her voice.  "It's a shame you'll never remember it."  A wicked smirk creased her lips and for just an instant Vin looked confused and more than a little worried.  She pulled her gaze from his, as he had been staring intently into her eyes since he first met her gaze, and turned to walk away.  He blinked a few times and looked around for the one that had called for him, then turned back to what he was doing convinced it was meant for someone else, rubbing his cheek which for some reason suddenly hurt.

"I see you just couldn't resist,"  scolded a voice from a few feet in front of Jura. Light footsteps were ever so faintly visible approaching her, they stopped a few inches before her and Mara popped into existence.  "You just had to speak to him, didn't you"  The tall, well dressed woman commented.  "And I see you cheated to do it too," She added as her gaze crossed Jura's. "I presume this means we should halt preparations?"

Jura growled and kicked the ground.

Mara frowned at the gesture.  "Really Jura, you should try to be a little more lady like."

"We can't all be perfectly elegant all the time Mara," she stated and quickly added before she could comment.  "Not a word, you're not normal."  She kicked at the ground again, lifting a small cloud of dust around her.  "No, preparations are still needed," A shocked expression crossed Mara's face.  It wasn't often Jura didn't get her way when she really wanted, and even less so when she cheated to do it.  "That little worm would sell his own mothers soul for some kind of recognition as a mage."  People by now were taking precautions not to wander too close to Jura as they want by.  As caring as she was most of the time she had a terrible temper.  As if to emphasize her last point she swung her arm in a downward arc and a plume of dust filled the air as a small rift, roughly a foot wide, deep, and several yards long was tore into the flagstone.

Mara sighed heavily and grabbed Jura by the shoulders.  "Jura!  Calm yourself before you hurt someone."

Jura shook herself free and stormed off, Mara in pursuit.

"You know I'm right, even if you none of you want to admit it."  Jura commented as she went, leaving a street full of worried people as she went.  It took a lot to get Jura to this degree of rage and the thought of what that could be worried them.

"It would be nice if it were true Jura,"  Mara admitted.  "Even if it is there isn't anything he can do to physically harm her, you know that."

Jura's pace slowed a little and she signed as she went, her tower of rage crumbled into a profound worry which was the underlying reason behind all of this.  It was not Elryn's health that concerned her, that girl was build sturdier than most seasoned warriors she had met, and she hoped that sturdiness would protect that which she was worried about.  Mara eyed her curiously at the sudden drastic change of emotion on the small womans face.

Mara felt she should say something, but the words eluded her.  As they walked towards the beach her dress blowing in the wind was the only sound that passed between them.  Upon arrival Jura set to work on her part of the preparations, her silence and the worried look on her face said more than any amount of screaming ever would.

Mara had a few words with the others concerning Jura and the present situation at hand.  It was a bit too late to go back now, but it was easy for them to take a few extra precautions when creating the barrier the two would duel under.  No one really trusted Vin, and as Jura in her rage had made the mistake of telling him of his planned exile, there was little reason not to expect the worst of him.

Deep down, more or less so in each, there was a part of each of them that did believe Jura's theory.  Not enough so that they could bring themselves to intervene on it's behalf, but just enough to nag at the back of their mind.  What had one point in history been the most natural thing in the world now seemed so alien to them that they were all having trouble grasping the possibility.  All of them had seen the aftermath of her spell, they had seen where she had been buried, and they had seen her broken little body.  Uneasily each had concluded that there was no way she could have survived.  Yet despite it all, she did.  It was one of the first things after their investigation of the ruins to spur on Jura's fanatical belief in such a wild notion.  Firmly she believed that such a complete and drastic change as would be necessary could have repaired that degree of damage.

Yet they continued the preparations, knowing full on what would happen should any harm befall Elryn.  It was not Jura that had to be feared, they knew their own guilt would be with them till the end of their days.

Late into the afternoon the barrier was completed and the exhausted Elders took time for a much needed rest.  Even for ones as skilled as they, a barrier of that power took a lot out of them.

The sun was low on the horizon by time people started to arrive, once classes and general work around the town was finished for the day.  Vin was among the first to arrive, and spent the better part of an hour pacing around inside the barrier, growing increasingly agitated at being forced to sit and wait.

Violet, Adel, and Merick all arrived at roughly the same time.  Tyra, however, remained at home.  She never was fond of this kind of thing and even less so considering who was presently in it.

“Hi Uncle Merick!”  Called the tiny voice of whoever was now hugging him.  The startled old sage looked up from the book his nose had been buried in and down at the little figure.  Clearly this adorable little girl had him confused for someone else.  Hearing the mental cue she looked up at him and giggled, she simply loved doing that to people that didn't know Elryn had herself a daughter now.  Elryn of course had not mentioned a thing about Violet to him so this whole thing was quite a shock to him.  Poor Merick's eyes went wide as he stared down into the bright violet of hers and he dropped the book he was reading.  It took Adel a fair amount of time to explain the whole situation to him, which in the end would only have confused him more.  It was perhaps good that he was too busy playing with his new granddaughter to actually pay it all too much mind.

As time passed everyone took notice to the fact that not only was Elryn rather late, but Eryk as well was nowhere in sight.  This of course incited much giggling and whispers among some of the more gossipy of folk.  Vin on the other hand was still pacing around inside the barrier, cursing now and again at her lateness.  Inwardly Jura hoped that Eryk had succeeded in somehow talking her out of it.

The Gods know he tried, but each time she stubbornly refused.  It was scarcely even about Vin anymore, she needed to prove to herself more than anything that she could.  She knew, could feel it deep down, that this weakened state she was in was going to be more lasting than a simple cold.  Eryk just didn't realize what it was like, he was an absolute dear, he tried, but he just didn't know what it felt like to lose everything one had worked for.

The two of them sat in their usual spot on top of the little mountain and watched the activity around town.  They were, to your casual observer, sitting against on another in a sort of embrace.  Or they would have been were Elryn not sitting on the wrong side.  His arm was around her, but her hand instead idly traced the patterns on the runed blade which sat next to her.  

It was worth the effort it took to wheedle it from Eryk's possession, despite his insistence on a quick lesson on how to use it.  Elryn had watched him more than enough times to not look like a complete amature, or stab herself in the foot, but still he insisted, and she wanted it too badly to argue.  She had not even intended to fight with it, she just wanted it for the runes on it's blade.  The sword looked more decorative than something to be used in a fight.  It was roughly two feet long with intricate runes inscribed along the flat of it's blade, and an ornate hilt with three small white jewels inset into it.

He watched her finger trace along the blade for a few moments before speaking.  “You still haven't told me how you plan on using that thing.”  He said softly, she picked her head off his shoulder and gave him a hard look.  “It's just that it's hard enough to do with two hands, and, well-”  Casting was one thing, but doing so with anything in hand was another since the object in question had to take part in the motions of the spell.  As it was there was some compensation needed to make up for the loss of full motion.  And a sword was hardly the kind of thing that took to quick intricate details easily.  And the quick little flickers of motion Elryn's hand make while casting made a normal mages look almost clumsy in comparison.

“I told you I had it all figured out, have you really so little faith in me today?”  Her tone carried a certain edge of disappointment to it.

“Well no-”  His choice of words to start that sentence were terrible.

Elryn was crushed, and seeing the hurt look in her eyes he found himself unable to continue.  Which was an even worse decision on his part than the words he already said, since what was to follow them was much more encouraging.

She silently pulled herself from his grasp, picked the sword off the grass, and stormed off down the hill.  Her expression was a mixture of both hurt and anger, and had she stopped but a moment to think she would have realized that she was overreacting over what really was nothing.

Elryn had made it halfway to town before Eryk finally decided to catch up to her.  He had spent a lot of the time in between just deciding if he even should after hurting her like that, lucky for the both of them he came to his senses.  One of them had to eventually.  Luckier still, with a little explaining, he made her think that one moment she needed.  Her anger faded quickly and she laughed at the silliness of the whole thing.  She even went so far as to apologize to him, and seal it with a hug.

The townsfolk, perhaps for the best, chose not to make any outward remarks about what they all knew, but these two just now seemed to be figuring out as the couple approached the barrier arm in arm.

Despite Merick's best attempts to interrogate her about the various important details she left out of her earlier report of the events in his absence, there was very little small talk before Elryn took her position inside the barrier.  Elryn also made it a point to avoid Jura, who seeing her target out of reach, went after the one who had been with her all day instead.     

“Don't even say it Jura.”  She had an odd smirk on her face as she approached Eryk.

Her eyes turned slightly to look at where Merick and his new granddaughter were playing some sort of game in the sand.  “I'd never dream of it dear.”  She patted him lightly on the cheek.  “Elryn's looking well, what were you two doing all this time?”

“Arguing,” he said shortly.  “We just sat and talked, the arguing only came when I'd try and talk her out of this.”  Eryk motioned at the glowing barrier, in which her and Vin were exchanging a few words.  “I don't think anything in the world could change her mind.”  He quickly added when he noticed the worried look on her face.  “Elryn seems to feel she's more than just sick, and if she doesn't do something she's going to lose all she's tried for.  As she is now she can hardly cast anything without the help of Tyra.  And you know how she is about having to rely on people.”

“She's going to lose something a lot more precious than her casting ability if she isn't careful.”  The worry hung heavily on her cryptic words, and Eryk would have questioned her had the noise from within the barrier not suddenly picked up considerably.  The barrier muffled sound pretty effectively so it was impossible to hear what they were saying but one didn't need to hear the words to see the two of them were having a heated argument.  It ended with Elryn drawing her sword on him with a few choice words shouted, and the two of them stormed off in opposite directions.  Vin back to his position, and Elryn over to where the Elders stood.  Jura included, she had decided not to stick around and let her last comment be questioned by Eryk.

“Y-you would best ask your mother that.”  Came Merick's voice following a startled gasp.  Up until that point him and his new granddaughter had been playing a game quite contentedly.  That was, up until she started asking him about some of the more colorful words Elryn had used in her argument with Vin.  “She's a cute little thing,” the old sage commented as he rejoined Eryk.  “surprisingly smart for her age, but her hearing is too sharp for her own good.”

Violet had by now resorted to tugging on Adel's dress to get her attention.  The mental noise of the crowd gathered around her drowning out the mental questionings of her daughter.  It hadn't occurred to the little girl that much like Tyra, she could have shielded her mother too.  Adel turned her attention to her and her eyes went wide as the little girl asked again, verbally this time.

Eryk of course knew it wasn't her ears she had heard Elryn with, but he held his tongue since Merick was clearly unaware.  It would not have been a good idea to talk about such a thing in the crowd of people any way.  He chose to change the subject a bit suddenly, to something that's been bothering him for some time now.

“Merick,” He started, the old sage suppressed a laugh at the surprised mother and daughter and turned to face him.  “What took you so long to get back here?  Others knew what had happened when they arrived, so I know the Elders have some way of contacting all of you.”

The old sage frowned deeply, his eyes wandering to Elryn who was in the process of taking her proper position within the barrier.  “I thought she was dead.” He replied shortly, his voice catching on that last word.  “Jura did tell me, but since I've been like a father to her, she told me the truth she hid from everyone else.  She didn't expect Elryn to survive the night.  I learned long ago that things truly are bleak when Jura loses hope in them.”  The stunned Eryk stood speechless a few moments, quite unsure how to respond to that.  He knew Elryn was in bad shape, such a rapid recovery without so much as a scar to show for it surprised him to no end.  Now it appeared as though Jura and Tyra had kept their real assessment from him and everyone else here.

He shook his head slightly in disbelief.  “And no one contacted you when they found out she was improving?”

Merick grinned a bit sheepishly.  “It was selfish of me, wasn't it.  I cut off contact after the news, that was bad enough, I couldn't bear the thought of receiving the message saying she-”  His words trailed off a moment before he continued.  “And various problems in the world kept me from re-establishing it.  It's easy to remain open, but hard to get open again once severed.”  His eyes had a certain distant look as he watched Elryn make a few last minute preparations.  “Thank you Eryk.”  The old sages voice had a peculiar tone to it.

“What for?”

“For saving her.”

Eryk blinked.  “Everyone in town helped me find her.  And I know my first aid wasn't of much use, Jura redid it properly sometime after I dozed off.”

Merick's response was a warm grin, as though he knew something he wasn't telling.  Eryk surmised it was simply because he had been there for her through it all.  The old sage changed the subject quickly before Eryk had a chance to question his theory.

The two of them were so engrossed in their conversation of the events these past few months that they completely missed Soreck's declaration that things were finally under way.  He got the little formalities out of the way then proceeded on with the rules.  It was decided this was to be a test of skill more than power.  They were both limited to what they could use, any amount of little offensive spells were permitted, but the larger area effects were limited to a certain amount.  In general, the object was just to hit a certain number of points, one scored for each hit.  It was pretty simple all in all, Vin expected something a bit more grand, but gave up arguing in the end, grumbling about small backwater towns.

The two men were snapped back to reality at hand when a small ball of energy bounced off the barrier in front of where they stood.

“Pay attention!”  Came Elryn's muffled voice, which was quickly seconded by Violet's own tiny voice.  Before either of them could get in a word she darted back from the barrier to avoid a small projectile aimed at her.  Not only had they missed the opening announcement, but the initial volley of attacks as well.

Whereas Elryn was being cautious, trying to conserve what strength she had, her opponent was doing nothing of the sort.  He was quite liberal with his spells, to the point of being downright wasteful of his energies.  His first move when things started was a few quick points right off the bat, using up his quota of larger spells.  

People were so concerned with the fight that they scarcely noticed Jura cringe with each strike Elryn took, and Mara was the only one to take notice that of the people leaning on the barrier, Violet was the only one to fall through it.  She knew they had forgotten something when creating it.  The little girl was quick to duck back outside so she clearly understood she should not have been in there.  For that reason alone Mara let the matter slide.

“Giving up already?” Vin taunted as he approached the small outcropping of rocks Elryn was catching her breath behind.  “For a M'len, this is turning out disappointing.”

Elryn was not entirely sure what he meant by that last remark, but she had most certainly not given up.  Ignoring his nonsense she turned her attention back to the slight reflection in the barriers surface.  Intently she watched her cocky opponent approach, a calculating smirk slowly appearing across her lips.  Elryn may not have been the strongest mage on the island, but her aim was impeccable.

Vin never expected what came next.

His eyes caught only briefly, and much too late, the sight of a small globe bouncing off the barrier in front of her and directly at his head.  It was not in any way strong enough to break through his own barrier but he reeled out of surprise all the same.  Her next few moves came too quickly and unexpectedly for him to properly defend himself against.  She darted around from behind the rock and grabbed one of his ankles, he still had not recovered his balance from the attack and thus pulling him from his feet was a simple task.  She had assumed correctly about his shield after all, it protected fantastically against magic but did nothing to stop anything physical.  Skittering quickly next to her prone opponent she leaned over him and withdrew her wand from within her robes.  With an absolutely huge grin of satisfaction she tapped his forehead with it.  No one in the crowd heard what she said but they all saw her very quickly get to her feet and run off.  Neither Jura nor Eryk could help but notice her stagger a bit as she did so.

Vin's eyes went wide then quickly snapped shut as his little attacker tapped his head, stated a very clear “boom,” and darted away.  It was a short and to the point command word that left none of it's intended effects to the imagination.  A cry filled the air as the space between Vin and his personal barrier was filled with a fiery orange energy, tinged ever so slightly now and again by flecks of violet.  What his barrier kept out so well it also kept in, and it could do nothing to protect him from a spell cast inside of it.  Vin was forced to take down his own shield in order to let the energy escape, to which it gladly did.  Each combatant was permitted one barrier, and once brought down for any reason, could not be reestablished.

Vin, heavily singed, picked himself off the ground.  It was probably for the best that it was impossible to make out what he shouted at his grinning opponent before letting loose an enraged barrage.  Elryn noticed with some detachment that in his rage his aim had grown even worse.  Calmly she pelted him in the chest with a small violet colored dart before dodging out of the way of one of his better aimed shots.

“that sneaky little-” Merick shouted above the crowd.

Both Violet and Eryk looked his way and questioned him.  Adel probably would have as well but the emoting of the crowd overwhelmed her and her attention was now solely on the fight.

“That barrier she's using, that's mine!  I've told that girl time and time again to stay out of my spellbooks.”  Violet, having already heard his reasons, watched her mother dodge a few more shots while delivering some of her own in return.  The young girl found the whole thing to be quite interesting and was cheering Elryn on until she noticed something she felt she should not have.  Violet turned back towards Adel and tried to get her attention.  All the while Eryk questioned the old sage further as to what he meant, he had not seen any signs of any kind of barrier around her.

“Look closely, it's not very strong,, but is very subtle, just how I wanted it.  And since there's nothing to hit, it's next to impossible to break with force.”  Eryk watched her closely for a moment, and now that he expected something out of the ordinary, he saw it.  She was clearly getting tired, her movement was slower than it should have been, but he noticed that what should not have been fast enough to dodge several blows instead was.  As Vin's tiny projectiles get within a few feet of her their movement suddenly slowed considerably until they passed, then resumed their normal movement.  That little extra time was plenty for her, even in her weakened state, to get out of the way.

“Clever.”  Eryk stated with a hint of amusement.

“Why thank you.  There are a lot of things it won't help against, but he seems to angry too notice.”

The two duelists kept up for some time afterwards, Vin remained for the most part overly careless, while Elryn was being an outright showoff.  More than once she made Vin dodge out of the way of one spell only to stumble directly into the path of one she had only a second before bounced off the barrier behind him.  It only angered him more and made his actions that much more careless.

This did not, however, mean Elryn was going to win.  She had hit him enough that she was close, but while he had not landed as many, they had considerably more force to them.  Where as Elryn's were small, relatively weak hits that didn't do much on impact, his nearly knocked her off her feat the first few times.  In fact the last several had, she was finding it harder to get up from them each time, she would lose by default if she were unable to get to her feet again and continue.  It was an obscure rule that was hardly ever used but it was there to prevent injury from a combatant trying to overexert themselves.

“We should end it now,”  Jura said amidst nervous pacing.  “She can hardly stand.”

“Just another minute Jura.” Came Cai's answer.  “She's so close, and he's getting too desperate to pose much threat to her.”

“You better hope you're right Cai.”

Meanwhile Violet was trying urgently to get her mothers attention.  “Mommy?  Should mommy be doing that?  She promised not to.”

Amidst the flood of emotion from the crowd the little girls mental and verbal urgings were drowned out.  The excitement felt by so many people at once overrode her own feelings and thoughts almost completely.  A part of her heard her daughter, but that was not the part in control.

“Mommy!”  Violet shouted, with such force this time her little mental yell threw everything else clear from Adel's mind.

Her senses snapped back to her in an instant and she looked at her daughter bleary eyed as though she had just woken up.

Eryk heard the young girls shout and noticed the sudden drastic change in Adel's mood.  “What's wrong?”  

“Momm-”

“She's experimenting.”  Adel answered almost absentmindedly, still shaking some of the haze from her head.  Worry and a hint of annoyance clung lightly to her words.  “She promised us she wouldn't.”

“What?  Oh, you mean what she did yesterday?  You have to understand, Elryn usually adds loopholes to her promises if you're not paying attention.  She specifically said she wouldn't until she knew what it was, it appears she's trying to understand.”  His chuckle was cut short by the withering look Adel gave him.  “I didn't even notice anything different, how did you know?  Look it's almost over, don't worry.  We can scold her for it afterwards.”

The last blow Elryn took knocked her back hard, it was clear the fight was taking it's toll on her.  Vin himself had reached his limit some time ago, the strikes came hard but not as frequently any more and his movements were becoming noticeably sluggish.

It progressed for a few mere moments after that point before Elryn decided to use the final trick she had up her sleeve.  She needed one big, showoffy finish to this whole silly ordeal.  Just something big, flashy, and humiliating to poor Vin.  She shouted one really strange word across the Arena.

Vin's movements faltered as he felt a strange sort of stirring in his robe..  He had never noticed that while he lay prone his little opponent had deftly slipped something into one of his robes pockets.  Vin stared dumbly at the half dozen small cubes he fished out, he knew what they were, what he didn't know was why she had put them there.  His curiosity was fulfilled as they burst into a billowing plume of blinding dust.  Elryn laughed as she withdrew the sword from under her robes and planted it's blade into the ground.  Using it as a brace she pulled herself to her feet, hurriedly reciting the runes on the blade as she did so, each of them in turn flaring into life on it's ornate blade.

Even over his own obscenities he could hear the spell Elryn was now chanting and knew with all this debris there was no way he'd find a safe spot to hide from it.  She still had one use of a larger spell left, a nice finishing touch to the fight.  Desperation kicked in, no matter what he was not going to lose!

Adel stared wide eyed at whatever it was she saw.  “No,”  She repeated several times.  “Not with that much...”

Elryn stood chanting the spell, just as yesterday she tapped into the reason her spells have felt a bit off.  For some reason more energy was being gathered than should have been.  Using everything she had left, that bit of extra, and the sword, she was going to make one hell of a finale!

The whole thing took but a second.  Vin, however, was not going to give her the time needed to finish.  Adel let out a cry as a large ball burst forth from the cloud Vin was engulfed in.  It was a roughly two foot sphere, and wouldn't have even been noticeable were it not for the distortion it caused in the air around it.  It looked harmless enough but whatever Adel saw terrified her, and that was more than enough reason to frighten Jura.

“Stop it!”  Jura screamed but Soreck had already taken steps the instant he saw it.  Vin was unable to use any larger spells, it was impossible, and it was too big to have been allowed otherwise.  Whatever it was, it was something their barrier was not made to prevent, so an extra step was needed.  With a wave of his hand a glowing partition snapped shut between Elryn and Vin several feet in front of her.  It moved amazingly fast, having covered most of the ground between her and Vin in the short time it took Soreck to make that little needed motion.

Elryn, who had been occupied with her spell a moment earlier stared up just in time to see the ball slam into the barrier.  What should have stopped it, cracked much akin to shattering glass.

The barrier, the combined work of the five strongest mages in town, rippled under the impact.

The little crackling orb which would have in a second been a completed spell fizzled out of existence as the larger sphere enveloped it and Elryn.  Eryk saw for but a moment a look on her face not unlike that of a kicked puppy.

A scream pierced the air as the vast amount of energy Elryn had gathered went wild.

“Mommy!”  Cried violet as she pulled free from Adel and ran forward through the barrier, towards her stricken mother.

Adel screamed for her to return but her words were cut short.  As her daughter plunged forward the mental blockade the young girl unknowingly erected fell apart.  The sudden rush of emotion, fear, horror, sorrow, felt by so many and so strongly was like a crushing wave in her mind.  She collapsed against the barrier, sliding limply to the ground.

Merick ran to her side and quickly attended to her, trying his best not to look at what was happening.  He had just gotten home, just found out she was okay, he couldn't bare to watch what now transpired.

Eryk on the other hand found himself unable to look away.  He could do nothing but watch helpless as the one person he truly cared for suffered what he could only imagine was unbearable pain.  As quickly as it started everything went silent, save for the little girls footfalls across the sand as she ran to her mothers side.  Elryn hung arched backwards in the air, silent, and motionless as the air crackled and distorted wildly around her.

There were a few moments of silence, a mere second or two that seemed to drag on forever before the eerie silence was shattered by another terrible sound.  What echoed through the air was much like that of tearing fabric as the air around her was pulled apart.  Jura screamed orders at the other Elders and in an instant the barrier began to shrink quickly, yet not fast enough to seal Violet outside of it.  Elryn's body was no longer visible, a great tear now occupied the space she had moments ago.  The air around it hummed and the energies within swirled visibly, but it was oddly silent as it hung there compared to the chaos before.  Then it too began to waver suddenly.  With a desperate outcry Violet flung herself into it, as she passed through the opening the wavering grew more violent, it snapped shut, and collapsed in on itself, leaving what could only be described as a swirling hole in it's place that howled as the air was drawn into it.  Amidst all the commotion that ensued only Jura noticed a small object fall to the ground as Violet passed through the collapsing rift.

No one needed to hear the shouts to stay back by the Elders as they ran to reinforce the barrier which now enclosed the unnatural void.  Mixed into the howling winds Jura could make out something that was horrifically out of place- laughter.  Her attention turned immediately to the cloud of quickly dissipating dust, at it's center stood Vin, laughing to his hearts content.  At seeing Jura looking his way she could make out among all the laughter a short, triumphant, “I won!”.  Her eyes narrowed and she muttered a short few words, waving a hand almost dismissively at him.  His laughter was violently cut short as an invisible force slammed into him.  A splash followed a second or so later as his limp body hit the water several yards out.

“Someone fish him out before he drowns.”  She was dreadfully quiet as she spoke yet even among among the wind her command seemed to carry loud and clear to all those nearby.  “He has questions to answer.”  A few people exchanged nervous glances before running off towards the water.  They knew that by time Jura had finished with him, he'll have wished they let him drown.


I felt numb as I approached Tyra's house a few feet behind Merick, who carried with him the unconscious form of Adel.  We hadn't spoken a word this whole time, what was there to say?

Tyra frowned as Merick walked into the house with Adel and set her gently on the couch.  “I told her not to go out without me, she knows what crowds like that do to her.”  She rested a hand on her forehead and a puzzled expression fell across her face, she looked up at Merick, then over at myself.  “Eryk, what's wrong?”  Her voice sounded almost panicked.  “Where's Violet and Elryn?”

I just lowered my head and looked away, her gaze turned to Merick then as she silently tried to work information from him.

“They're dead Tyra.”  I finally said quietly, my voice was strangely calm despite what had happened.  “His spell, it tore her apart.  Violet tried to help her, b-”  Her face had gone completely ashen as she listened, she raised a hand to stop me from continuing my statement.  I couldn't blame her, it was a horrific thing to imagine, but to hear it spoken of and know it to be true.

Despite the heart wrenching reality of it all no tears would come.  Merick and Tyra had no such problem.  I couldn't even begin to imagine what Merick must have been going through, to believe for so long that she had perished, only to return home just in time to lose not only her, but his granddaughter too.

Time passed, I'm not really quite sure how much, my mind just kind of glazed over it at that point, stopping only occasionally to look over at the troubled sleep Adel was in.  Then something changed, the wind picked up noticeably, howling as it whipped through the trees around her house.  With a shiver Tyra stood up and closed a window, peering outside a moment.  “Not a cloud in the sky, where'd all this come from so suddenly?”

Merick and myself had not spoken much since we arrived here.  My declaration aside, Tyra was still unaware of all the details behind what happened.

“Vin's final spell, it did something-”  I started to say, my voice pained, before Merick cut in.

“It's a tear in space.”  He began, then as though nothing happened he went off on a long explanation of his theory about what happened in great detail.  He kept up like that for a while, neither myself nor Tyra understood half of what he said but we let him continue.  His ramblings seemed to keep his mind from dwelling on matters too much, and right now we all needed a little distraction.  He did the same thing some years back when Elryn lost her arm, for as terribly worried as he was, he found time to just ramble about stuff.  I think he found some sort of comfort in it's understanding somehow.

Somewhere amidst his lecture of energy and how it reacted with things came the sound of Tyra's front door opening.  Both Jura and Cai stepped into the room, they looked exhausted, both physically and mentally.  Jura wearily raised a hand to keep the expected barrage of questions at bay.  “Before anything gets said,” She stated clearly, her voice tired but seemed to carry a vague sense of hope to it.  “Violet is alive, and if she survived, there is a good chance Elryn did too.”  The feeling of relief washed over the three of us like a wave.  She was alive, oh thank the Gods she was alive.

I blurted out my next few words, hardly thinking about them.  “Where is she?  How-”

“Now don't get ahead of us, one thing at a time.” Cai calmly stated, the look in his eyes betrayed the calm sound of his voice.  He was as worried as we were.

Merick had sat quietly since Jura's announcement and seemed to be contemplating something.  “Wait.”  He started, sounding rather befuddled.  “How is it you found Violet, but not Elryn?  From how Adel spoke you hadn't yet seen her.  And I know you didn't have the time earlier to attune your magic to her, you were too busy with other things.”

Jura suddenly looked a fair bit uncomfortable.  “Elryn's changed too much for my magic to find her.”

Cai gave her a sharp look.

“I know Cai, but he should know, even if there's the small chance I'm wrong.”  She had, as I'm sure she intended to, diverted my attention back to Elryn.  My mind reeled at the implications that could be put to that, most of them bad.  “Cai, you explain matters to these two, I'd like to speak to Eryk in private.”

Cai gave her a disapproving frown and the two of them quietly exchanged words for a few minutes before he finally gave in.  He waited to start his explanation until Jura had escorted me outside.  The wind whipped through the trees and even from this distance I could make out the baleful howl of the rift.  That sound alone sent chills through me, my nerves were so shot from all this I could have sworn it still carried with it Elryn's tortured scream.

“Eryk, are you paying attention?  This is important.”

My mind returned to reality and I now realized Jura had been trying to explain matters.  “I'm sorry Jura.”

“I know dear, you're worried, we all are.  As best we can tell the barrier still protected her, otherwise the energy Vin drove wild would have-”

“Please Jura, I'd rather not talk about that.  It's all burned into my mind, I don't think I'll ever get it out.”  I quickly tried to change the subject to something that might give me a few more answers to things.  “How was it you found Violet?”

Again she seemed to fidget uncomfortably.  “Just a small location spell.”  My look asked the next few obvious questions, and only seemed to make her more uncomfortable.  “...I can't tell you how it worked Eryk, if you knew, Adel would know, and I fear what it would do to her at this point to find out.”

I let the matter drop right there, I didn't know what was wrong, but something inside told me I was better off not knowing.  “Where is she?”

“I don't know exactly, northeast Palthae somewhere, the sign I got was weak and was fading quickly.  It seems Violet is undergoing the same change Elryn is, although why I don't understand.  It probably has something to do with her being created while the spell is still working on modifying her mother.”  She paused slightly and started walking forward a bit, I followed of course.  “That brings me back to what I need to talk to you about Eryk.  There's no subtle way to put this that won't make you think I've completely lost me mind.”

“Jura, please get to the point.”  I pleaded, I needed to know what was happening to Elryn.  It was not enough to know she was alive, or even a vague idea where she was...there was something wrong with her, I just knew it given how Jura's been dancing around the subject.  “It's something to do with how sick she's been, isn't it?”

Jura gave me an odd sort of smile.  “In a way.  We never gave her anything to cure her, we can't cure her condition, we simply gave her something to settle her stomach.”  She paused a moment as though waiting for a reaction, but one never came, I wasn't really sure what she expected.  A moment later she continued, my expression probably said it all better than words ever could have.  “It would seem as though your little one armed love is with child.”

I gave her a puzzled look, she was there, why did she think this would come as a shock to me?  “I know Jura, she went after her.  But what does Violet have to do with any of this?”

Jura stared blankly at me, then despite all of this, a large smile fell across her lips and she laughed.

“It's not funny Jura, this is serious.”  I think the annoyance present in my voice was the first real emotion I had felt since the incident.

She shook her head lightly.  “I'm sorry dear, I forget you're not as well versed in ancient history as Elryn  Violet doesn't have anything to do with it, but I believe it has a lot to do with her.”  The trees swayed as we walked further into the forest behind Tyra's house, among them the howl of the wind seemed calmer, more serene, it betrayed what was truly the winds source.

“You're not making much sense Jura.”

“No, I suppose not.”  She admitted.  “As I told you, I believe Elryn is pregnant, she carries your child within her Eryk.  It's the reason Violet could be created, Elryn may not have consciously wanted a child, but her body has been preparing itself for it, somehow that feeling mixed with Adel's own unique ability allowed it to happen.  It's all terribly confusing and we haven't quite been able to figure out all the details.”

The words seemed to slip off my mind as I listened to them, their full import gradually coming to me as the few small lessons on the subject in class slowly dawned on me.  The dream this morning seemed to suddenly hold a much deeper meaning to it.  “No...no that's not possible Jura, for more reasons than the obvious, we've never even-”

Again she laughed a light silvery sort of laugh.  “Had you told an ancient back in their prime that in a few thousand years all life would be created from tiny balls of light they'd tell you it's impossible too.”

I faltered at her declaration, she seemed so completely sure of herself, even when trying to tell me she might be wrong I knew she didn't mean it.  The dreams too nagged at me, I had never paid them much heed, but I couldn't ignore the strange coincidence of this latest one.  “...How?”  Was he best I could manage to say.

“Her spell did some very unique things to her, I honestly don't think even Elryn was aware of what all she put into it.  It changed her initially, just enough to conceive a child.  Over time, because as you know long permanent changes take, her body is being changed to accommodate it.  It's the reason she survived her accident Eryk, the spell had to remake her from the inside out, it had no choice but to repair all the damage.  It was your touch that saved her Eryk.”  She smiled and placed her hand gently on my cheek as I tried to make sense of it all.  “You two love each other dearly Eryk, it's the reason it worked out how it did.”  A strange warmth seemed to come from her hand as her eyes locked with mine.  “This is a lot to take in at once, I know, and I am sorry it had to come to you like this.”  Her green eyes seemed to stare deep into me, there was a look of incredibly loss and sympathy present in them.  “Now come on dear, you've held it in since she vanished.  Such numbness isn't healthy.”  A great surge seemed to emanate from her palm ans spread throughout me.  The locked away emotions, the loss, the anguish, all of it had been there but my mind had numbed those areas.  At her touch it all came rushing back to me.

Despite my most resolute effort not to, no matter how much they refused to earlier, I couldn't begin to stop the tears now.  ...I honestly don't think I wanted too by that point.


Jura sat by Eryk's side long into the night, offering what little comfort she could to him until he was just too mentally exhausted to remain awake.  She gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead and stood up, wiping at her own eyes slightly.  She may have scolded Eryk for holding his emotions in, but truth be told she was just as guilty of it.

“That was a horrible thing you did to him Jura.”  A voice called from among the trees, it had to it a steely tone that made the otherwise beautiful female tone seem somehow ominous.

“He deserved to know if the next time they meet she may be holding his daughter in her arm.”

Mara stepped out into the small clearing, her dress blowing casually in the wind.  “And what if the trauma of today causes her to lose their child, or some event in the future endangers them both?”

Jura stared back at the elegantly dressed woman helplessly, she couldn't avoid the fact that in her zeal to tell him, that the thought had not occurred to her.

“He's just lost the most important person there is to him, and now you go and tell him he's lost his child too.”  Renewed tears brimmed the motherly Elders eyes.  Mara's own eyes were dead of any emotion as she continued.  The elegant womans mind was as worried for all involved as anyone, but she was good at hiding it...almost too good at times.  She had agreed to go along with the duel despite Jura's warnings, and that thought alone would nag her until Elryn and both her children were safely home again.  “You also neglected to tell him the one thing that should not have been left out.”

Jura's reply came more out of defense than anything, and even she knew it was a weak one.  “He'd only worry more, he's in bad enough shape as it is.”

“Maybe, but he needs to know that she may not even remember him should they find one another.”

“She has Violet with her, you know the protection won't effect her.  Elryn's not one to give up easily, and with her help she may be able to overcome it.”

“If she remains unconscious too long it'll be too late Jura, even you know that.”

The motherly woman tore her eyes from Mara's dead stare.  “I need to check on Tyra and Merick, see how they're holding up to all this.”  She looked back at Eryk who was fidgeting nervously in his sleep.  “Let him sleep, his home is too near the rift, and he may not admit it but he finds that sound unbearable.”

Mara watched as Jura turned and walked off, she let out an audible sigh after Jura had disappeared into the forest.  It was positively the worst thing she has had to do in years, but it had to be done for Jura's sake.  She was like a mother to the whole town, it was half the reason most people listened so adamantly to what she had to say.  But at the same time it effected her in ways it wouldn't others, she'd mourn the loss of someone as though they were her own child, and even felt a loss beyond that of most when someone would leave the island.  At times like this when she grew too worried about someone it began to effect her judgment about certain things.  The poor woman by this point was beyond worried.

She walked over to where Eryk slept and knelt next to him, gently running a soft hand down his cheek, a profound sympathy clung to her words as she spoke.  “I'm sorry Eryk, we should have listened to her.  I hope you can forgive us.”


Somewhere near the northern top of Palthae, on a quaint little farm, a man and his wife were sitting down to dinner.  The inside of their little stone house was far from lavish, but as far as farmers homes went, they appeared to live pretty comfortably.  Shortly into dinner, which consisted of a small ham and a few random vegetables, the wind outside picked up viciously, banging the shutters on the windows noisily.  A moment later a bright flash broke the darkness outside, followed by a shock wave that shook the house.  Had the night not been perfectly clear they'd have sworn it was thunder.  The two exchanged glances and before a word was spoken the husband was already out the door, his wife shouting to be careful from behind him.

Torch in hand, and a nasty looking crossbow in the other, he sought out the location the noise had come from.  It didn't take him long to find it, at the crest of a small hill overlooking his fields.  A strange smell hung in the air which still crackled with static.  “A mage.”  He growled, raising the crossbow to ready.

Sprawled out on the grass before him was a short raven haired woman dressed in a long dark purple robe, she clearly had to have been the one to cause it.  Laying on top of her was what could only have been the victim of some sick experiment, most likely whatever caused them both to wind up here.  The little brown haired girl that lay across her captors chest was dressed in what should have been a pretty little blue dress.  Instead it's colors were marred by deep red splotches of blood, still fresh from whatever wounds the girl must have been given.

His blood boiled at the horrific sight, again he leveled the crossbow and aimed for the womans head.  He would see to it she rot where she lay, the girl he'd make sure received a proper burial.  A familiar chink sounded from the weapon as he pulled the trigger, his bolt, however, flew wide at the last moment, burying itself into the ground a few feet beyond his intended target.  His shot faltered not because of nerves, no he'd have taken pleasure in finishing this thing off.  It faltered at the sight of movement, not that of the mage, but the girl, she was still alive!

Her face had been buried in her captors robes so he couldn't make out her sobbing over the sound of his torches flame in the wind.  It seemed however while he had not noticed life in her immediately, the little girl noticed him quickly.  He started and took a step backwards as the little girl looked up at him, a desperate plea showing in those unnatural bright violet eyes.  What came next rocked every prejudice he had built around this unknown mage and her assumed captive.

The girl cried openly but her voice was clear enough he could make out the words.  “She won't wake up.”  The young girl told him in an anguished tone, turning to the still form of the mage and shaking her gently.  “Why won't mommy wake up?”