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Stories / Stories / Alicia ´Pixie Jynx´ Freeman / Text 1 of 2 / Fayne´s Story Chapter 1

"Fayne´s Story Chapter 1" by Alicia ´Pixie Jynx´ Freeman

SF&F Picture 1 out of 2 by Alicia ´Pixie Jynx´ Freeman

The intro into Fayne's little universe. The idea for this story was her online adventures in several Taverns. Let me know if I should continue it.

She sleeps quietly in the large library. The bookshelves on either sides tower above her like giant guardians. The lanterns on the cold stone walls of this tomb are long since dead, their wicks burned into nothing. A stray breeze whispers through the corridors between the shelves like ghosts returning to thier favorite home. Through the window from which the errant breeze came, it is obvious that dawn is quickly approaching. The sky is painted a hesitant grey - blue, almost as if it is unwilling to let go of the blackness of the night sky, but is quickly losing ground. It is an eerie sort of quiet, where even the morning birds seem to be holding their breath until the first golden rays of the sun crack the morning sky.

She sleeps at one of the many heavy wooden tables, her head resting on her arms, which are in turn resting upon a large gold leafed book. Her hair shimmers an incandescant gold, but it is clear it is really a milky white. Her heritage is to blame for her haircolor, for her mother happened to be a gem nymph. Her hair is the moonstone color it seems to be.

She wears a rumpled robe, pale green, ornamented with a strange black thorned - ivy trim. It does not appear to be a nightgown, but robes of a holyman. If it weren't for the pale green and ivy trim, we could almost be led to believe she was a cleric - in - training. But this is no normal girl, nor is she a cleric. She is the third daughter of Ka'asha, in the Sacred order of Ka'asidla. And it is very apparent she has been up late studing hard.

With a start, she awakens, jumping almost out of her skin. Vibrant violet eyes pop open as she looks around, disoriented. She looks out of the window and lets out a shriek. "Dawn! No! I'm late!" as she jumps up. Her pale robes settling around her. She bolts from the table, remembering to grab her silver spectacles, and charges out the door.

Running down a stone corridor, she grabs the end of her long, knee - length hair, and begins braiding the end to keep it in place. She ties this with a small cord of gold string. Gods, I'm going to be late to my own ceremony, she thinks to herself. Off in the distance she hears a bell chime, signifying dawn, and her pace quickens even more.

She winds down corridor after corridor, and any other person would get lost if they hadn't been there as long as she. She races up staircases, and runs her hands down her robes to try to straighten them, but to no avail. Further and further she races, until she skids to a stop in front of grand white doors. She is still for several seconds, catching her breath, before opening the doors.

Beyond the entryway, several young women are gathered. They are of several races and ages. Some are elven, some drac, and even ogre. They all wear the same style of robes, in different pale shades. Some are a light brown, some a pale yellow, and some even a light purple. Those of the same color seem to gather together. A hand reaches out of nowhere, and grabs her shoulder.

"Fayne, where have you been? Forget something?" Fayne turned to look at a tall red head, with bright sparkling green eyes. She wore the same robes of pale green, and on top of her bouncing curls, rested a coronet of delicate silver formed into several ivy vines. In her hand was a similar coronet, which Fayne snatched.

"Thank the Gods, Mira. I don't know what i'd do without you," she said as she hugged her friend. Mira looked up to the opening in the ceiling, to see the three moons almost touching. She grabbed Fayne's hand, and dragged her away to their area.

"I don't know. You shouldn't study so late, especially the night before the ceremony. You know better than that," she said over her shoulder as she shoved aside two ninths in pale blue robes. "Besides, you have an uncanny ability with magic anyway, what posesses you to mull over books like that?"

"Maybe the brainless nymph in her takes over from time to time," a snide voice said, startling Mira and Fayne. They turned to face a dark grey black skinned drow elf , with long white hair in the same pale green robes.

"Duvina, if it wasn't ceremony, I'd -"

"You'd what? Use your brute human strength and small human brain to overpower a third daughter, probably one of the most powerful, drow? I think not," Duvina said hautily, tossing some of her white hair over her shoulder. Fayne chewed on her bottom lip self conciously. She hated these encounters with Duvina, who Fayne thought was definately the most stuck up and nasty of all in her level. While the both of them continued arguing, Fayne slipped her coronet on top of her head, and pushed her spectacles up her nose. She looked up at the moons again, just in time to notice the doors at the front of the room opening. Eight women with long white hair and bright blood - red robes entered. They're eyes were blank as they walked towards the center, in front of a huge golden statue.

The statue was of a tall golden god with large feathered wings. Vines came up from his feet and entwined around his arms, almost seeming to bind him. Fayne shuddered as she stared at it, for the figure seemed to always call out to her, which scared her. When the eight women stood around it, the room hushed. Mira and Duvina stopped arguing, and Mira dragged her to her spot in the green, thirds area.

The room was quiet for several more moments, before the eight women spoke in a haunting voice, almost in unison, "It is as it allways has been and allways will be...," they command. In complete unison, everyone in the room repeats the phrase after the Eight.

"It is as it allways has been and allways will be...," Fayne murmurs along with the others.

"....we owe our alleigance and our power to the one god..."

"We owe our alleigance and our power to the one god."

"....we serve and obey the captive god...,"

"We serve and obey the captive god."

".....and in return he grants us wisdom, wealth, and wonder..."

"In return he grants us wisdom, wealth, and wonder."

"....hail Ka'asha...."

"HAIL KA'ASHA!!" the rest of the room shouted in return. The room was again silent after this group prayer, as all looked to the opening in the large domed room. Fayne chewed her lip in anticipation as she waited.

Finally the three moons were as one, and a brilliant light beamed down onto the golden statue. The vines that held him captive began to move and writhe, as if they were alive. Finally they shot out multicolored light in the direction of the congregation, each beam fixing upon a crown. Several of the beams dissappeared on contact, but others held. The beam took on whatever color the girl happened to be wearing, then changed color. As soon as the beam changed color, their robes did as well. The lucky girls who changed squealed in delight, while the others looked on in disappointment.

Fayne stood absolutely still as a beam found her crown. Once again, as she felt every year, a creepy feeling of someone else in her body took over. Her skin crawled. The feeling subsided almost as abrubtly as it came and she felt the familiar heat on her arms as her robe changed from a pale green to a pale purple. She smiled faintly then pulled up the sleeves to look at her arms to see how far her marks went now.

The marks were as old as the order. They appeared as tattoos, but only red. They began by circling her wrists in the red ivy, and crept around her arm. Before they had stopped at her elbow, now they were halfway up her upper arm. Beside her Mira laughed giddily. Fayne turned to see her in the same pale purple robes. They hugged, happy for each other, then looked back up front.

The statue was back to normal, as the three moons had seperated. Seven of the eight women were taking away a tall, blonde, elven girl in bright red robes. One stayed behind. It was Sheerisha, the oldest first daughter in the order. She was, Fayne heard once, the most beautiful Felinis in her land at one time, with silky black fur, but now her fur was white, as all the other firsts had white hair. The room hushed once more to listen to her speech.

"It is my great honor to announce Tay Delariory as a first daughter, she is our first one in three years. The other firsts are preparing her now for tonights enlightenment, so she will not be joining us for our evenings meal," Sheerisha said tonelessly, then continued after the applause. "Those of you not chosed to advance keep hope and try harder in this next year. Those of you who have been chosen, congratulations. Will all newly chosen and old second daughters please follow me, and the rest of you are excused until tonights feast. Hail Ka'asha," she spoke.

HAIL KA'ASHA!" the room cheered, then the room began to break up once more into the small groups of friends. Mira hugged her once more before they both followed Sheerisha through a door opposite to the one Tay was led through. Once inside, she saw twelve other girls. Four, including herself, were from her thrid group, the rest had been seconds for one, two, or even three years. Surprisingly, Sheerisha wasn't in the room. Unfortunately, Duvina was.

"I bet after only one year as a second, I'll be chosen to be a first," she bragged. A tabby felinis, named Dela, shook her mane of long brown hair.

"Listen, girly, I've been a second for two years. I bet you don't even come back. I'm the only one from my group that has," she said to the nasty Drow.

"I didn't think I saw Trinda, I wonder what happened to her," another old second spoke. Dela shrugged.

"Either she denounced Ka'asha, or worse..." she trailed off. Fayne shuddered, for she couldn't even consider denouncing the only god she'd ever known.

Becoming a second was the final step in ascending to the honorary first, and the accompaning enlightenment. But it was the most unpredictable step. It entailed leaving the order and using the teachings to help to make the land better. But sometimes it was known that some never returned. Fayne was thrilled, but deeply terrified. She hadn't stepped foot outside the order for ten years.

"Only a complete moron would denounce Ka'asha," Duvina said haughtily. Dela rolled her eyes.

"Are you as young blooded as you sound? Some people don't denounce him, some people die. You haven't been out of here for a long time. The world is very different out there. Some humans won't even talk to you if you aren't human," she said, tweaking one of her own large cat - like ears. Duvina crossed her arms and lifted her chin in the air.

"As if a mere human could even compare to the power and nobility of a drow elf," she said and turned to talk to one of her friends also new to Second Daughter. One of the old Second's, a beautiful amber drac named Pyrsha, lowered her dragon head towards Mira and Fayne.

"What your drow friend dosn't know," she whispered, "is that humans seem to be the larger race nowadays. You have no clue how often I've seen other races turned away from taverns, when there was more than enough room. I hope your friend dosn't make the mistake of talking to anyone who hates drows. I made a similar one," she said and pulled her sleeve up enough to show raw marks around her wrist, where several scales had been forcably removed. Fayne shuddered.

"Duvina is not our friend," Mira stated angrily, but was also apparently appalled at what her race had done to this lovely drac. Pyrsha shrugged, pulled down her sleeve.

Everyone in the room was suddenly silent, so Fayne looked up. Sheerisha had returned, and motioned for everyone to sit. Within moments, all was still.

"Congratulations to all new Second Daughters. Welcome back to all returning Second Daughters. Most of you know what is ahead of you in this coming year, so bear with me. The next year of your lives will be very different from the life you have lived within our sacred walls. It is the year in which you must prove yourself worthy of the enlightenment. You will all spend the next year traveling the world and helping those not blessed with Ka'asha in their lives. Do not worry about competing with your fellow sisters. You will all be placed far enough away from each other to never encounter another daughter. The next year is the most important one, filled with danger and mystery. As long as you remember the rules of this order, you will be able to return. In the morning you will recieve your travelling clothes, and have time for goodbye's before leaving. You are all dissmissed until tonight's feast. Hail Ka'asha," she finished.

Fayne murmured a "Hail Ka'asha," and shuffled out the doors with Mira and Pyrsha. Slowly they walked down the hall. Pyrsha looked at them sheepishly.

"Would it be alright if I roomed with you? My friend Llelowyn never came back, and I don't have any other friends in the order," she said in a small voice, so as not to be heard by anyone else.

"That would be great," Fayne smiled. Mira nodded. "I'm Fayne, and this is my friend, Mira."

"Pyrsha," she said and smiled. Together they headed towards the mealroom and sat down for breakfast. "Tell me about yourself, Fayne. You have the oddest haircolor. I could have sworn it was white, but when the light hits it..."

"It's moonstone," Fayne murmured and blushed as she picked at a breakfast roll. Pyrsha's blue eyes widened.

"Moonstone? How beautifull! If I could have hair, I'd want it to be that color," she darkened, looking sheepishly at Mira. "Not that your haircolor is -"

"Don't worry about it," Mira said, waving a hand at Pyrsha, as she took a bite of her porridge. "Fayne has the most wonderfull hair, she's just a bit embarassed about it," she said after she swallowed. Fayne blushed again, stuffing some of the bread in her mouth. She could feel her ears heating, a sure sign that the rest of her face was extremely red.

"Embarassed? Why ever would you be embarrassed?" Pyrsha asked incredously. Mira shrugged, glanced at Fayne with a grin, then looked back to Pyrsha again.

"Her mother's a nymph," she said.

"A GEM NAIAD," Fayne interjected.

"Whatever," Mira shrugged off, waving her hand in the air. "Anyway, people tease her because her mother's just a ... well.... you know.... a free spirit," she finished a little sheepishly. Pyrsha looked at Mira for a moment in shock, then looked at Fayne closely. Fayne hadn't though she could get any darker, but was apparently working at it.

"B....but, I .... if your mother is.... how...?" Pyrsha asked, apparently at a loss. Fayne sighed, then swallowed her roll.

"My mother is a gem naiad. Yes, that means she's a bit...simple. But if a nymph is a specialized naiad, like my mother is, then they are a bit different. My mother's soul inhabits a rare gem, and if anyone has control of it, they have control of my mother. I don't know much about my father, since my mother dosn't really have much of a memory, but he was a gifted wizard with poor eyesight who had my mother's gem," she said and then picked at her roll once more. "You can guess what he wanted control of my mother for."

Pyrsha stared at Fayne for a moment more, then slowly nodded. "Oh.....so what happened to your father?"she asked innocently. Fayne reached for her mug, took a long drink, then put it back and looked up. After looking at Pyrsha for a few agonizing minutes, she shrugged.

"Good question," she said quietly. All three young women were quiet throughout the rest of their meals. Fayne had wondered the same thing her whole life. What had happened to the young wizard who had sired her? Her mother had been too innocent to raise her properly, as it had been a miracle she had survived long enough to care for herself. As far as she knew, her mother had control once more over her gem, now. But Fayne had no clue as to anything about her father.

..........come with me...........

.........you must know...........

........not what you think......

..........evil......EVIL..............

Startled, Fayne sat up in her bed. Her heart raced, and sweat beaded on her forehead. She gulped in shallow breathes of air, while trying to remember what had frightened her so. Nothing came to her. It was if something was smothering the memories of what she had just witnessed. What is wrong with me?she wondered.

Slowly, her heart calmed down, and her breathing became even. Nothing, however, clued her in on what she had dreamed. Fayne sat up, straightening her nightgown, and looked around her and Mira's small room. Pyrsha had brought a cot in and was asleep between them.

Looking at the amber drac brought back memories of the poor thing's torture. Why would anyone treat a living creature in this manner? Why would any race think they were better than another? Or for that matter, hate another race? All creatures were created by Ka'asha, and deserved respect for his grand design. She then thought of Duvina, and her haughty attitude to Fayne's own liniage. Maybe it was silly to be embarrassed of her mother. So her mother was created for man's enjoyment. Her mother was happy with her lot in life, so why should Fayne be embarrassed for something that was destined by the hands of the great Ka'asha himself?

Lifting her chin up a little with these thoughts, Fayne whispered a small prayer for forgiveness in doubting anything Ka'asha had made. Feeling a little better, she tip - toed out of her room, to head to the library. It would be the last night she would see it, before leaving in the morning, and it was the one room she would miss with all her heart.

←- Marina - The Ocean Princess | Marina - The Ocean Princess -→

Date	Name	Comment
22 Sep 2003	Elizabeth Bronwyn Wells	Loading... is there more? This is a nifty story. good job! Alicia 'Pixie Jynx' Freeman replies: "Wow.....someone likes my story??? pulls out the blank pad of paper I have a reason to write more now!!!"
23 Nov 2003	Miisuna	Loading... I'm surprised there aren't more comments on this one, I love it. But.... there's no more! ;_; Would you mind e-mailing me if you get another chapter up? I'd love to keep reading this ^_^
28 Nov 2003	Paul J. Townsend	Loading... This is very a very complex story. That's pretty hard to do. I write childrens stuff with a bit of older humor. Your's seems to be a t.v series in the making.