AVftS-17
 Part of a series of archived posts in AVftS | |
| AVftS-17 | |
|---|---|
| Author: | Emily |
| Date Posted: | September 5, 2019 |
| Forum Post: | Linked! |
| Word Count: | 1,331 |
| Characters: | Rizali Corvus, Cathal, Kaegan |
- - - Navigation - - - Post Index · PPP2 Home | |
As the room cleared, Rizali looked down at the book in his hands. There were many things he'd consider strange about the situation, but foremost among them was that the book had been purposefully stripped of any identifying features. He didn't know the title, the author, the publishing date or location. This book could have been printed five years ago or five hundred years ago, perhaps longer still if the Empire was as technologically advanced as he suspected. Even that it came from the empire was an assumption; just because the first page had the word printed on it didn't mean all that much. He tried to still his excitement, to slow the increasing rate of his heartbeat. But at the same time, he found himself feeling incredibly anxious about sitting and reading it. That girl, Síne, had been significantly affected by this. Now that the moment was past and he could think on it more clearly, the mage found his opinion on the girl changing. She had been incredibly nervous, sure, and probably was a jittery person by nature. But she had also been scared.
He knew that fear, better than most. He had a permanent and deep understanding of the downsides to knowledge, how there were some secrets better left unknown. As his mind dwelled on it, Rizali could have sworn he saw a ripple along the back wall of the building. Starlight began shining from the ceiling as the room started to slowly swirl around him, and a distant choir only heard by him began singing. Under his breath, Rizali muttered a choice few words, a cantrip of his own design, so well-used as to not register a thought anymore. As the last word left his mouth, he felt the threads of reality start weaving around him, strands of gold and brown interweaving until he was cocooned, and then fading to the back of his mind. The ripples faded, the starlight dimmed. And as they did-
"Ri' lads, s'the craic?" came the call from across the room. The farmers were nearly out the door, but it didn't stop the teenager from meandering his way into the hall. He approached Rizali and leapt into his plea. He didn't seem particularly torn up about being cast from his home, nor forced to approach a particularly dangerous mission as his only remaining hope in the world. His accent placed Cathal on the western edge of Ustendelle, but it was so removed from the residents of Ceadaichte Mòir that he had to place it farther north. Ustendelle's western border was quite large, as none of the neighbouring kingdoms wanted much to do with Kingfisher Forest given its general spookiness. But Cathal seemed entirely unphased by it, suggesting he hadn't actually grown up nearby, or that people in Thomond were more resiliant -or stupid- than they let on.
"Hmm, alright. Let's have a look at you. You're awfully young, you said you were exiled from... Tomland?" he sized the boy up. Not much to look at, more of a stick than a person, but they wouldn't need him to be much. An extra set of hands here and there, an extra set of eyes looking out for forest tomfoolery could easily be enough to pay his way.
"Thomond," the boy was quick to reply. That was good, Rizali didn't want someone in the party who would just let themselves get walked all over. It was more than likely that what they found on the other side of the forest would be just as, if not more, dangerous than anything in it. "It's bleeding ages away, right at the other end of the aul Shannon. Yeah, I stabbed someone cause he pulled his own knife in a knock."
"And your parents?" An unfair question, to be sure.
"The leaders of our clan. Live up in feckin' bunratty castle"
"I'm sorry, your parents made the decision to exile you?" Less unfair question.
"Yeah. But I was really the disappointment of the family. They wanted me to 'live amongst our people' which is fair. But then they can't expect me not to act like every Ennis lad! It was all very political" Rizali was well-versed in the maps of Ustendelle, but now he was wondering if Thomond wasn't even in the country. He'd never heard of Ennis, or the aul Shannon. And the boy's accent was very strange. Could all of this be a feverdream? He'd have to consult with Cathal later to get more information on this place.
"I don't know what any of that means, but it's no matter where we're going. How do you fight then? Is it with that butter knife?"
"Butter knife? This thing was a terror in war pal. Against the damn Ciarraí men too."
"If you say so," Rizali pushed off from the wall he'd been leaning against and began to lead Cathal back toward the door. "Alright Calvin, you're on heavy lifting duty, let's go meet the team. Lyndh, Lyndh you layabout, do I have to do everything myself? This is Cable, he's here to carry you around."
Lyndh grunted, looking up from where he was sharpening his sword. He eyed Cathal up and down, same as Rizali did, and seemed to come to much the same conclusion. He seemed unimpressed, at least until Cathal spoke up with a "Howye? Would this knobhead ever shup?"
Lyndh was a silent giant, only communicating in grunts. This was the first time Rizali ever heard him laugh. A deep, gutteral bark, but still only one. Amazing, if there had been no other miracles that day, someone getting a different noise out of his hired man was surely something he would write down. "Take a lap, Lyndh, your composure is breaking. Alright, out we go Kevlar."
The pair exited through the doors and into the strangely alien world of Ceadaichte Mòir. The abrupt change between solid tree line and no trees for as far as vision allowed hadn't stopped making Rizali uneasy even after the day or two of being here. But they were in luck, he didn't have to look around much to notice the other young charge, Kaegan, walking up to the same building he was leaving.
"Good day, Kaegan. How are things?"
The boy, who had been looking down and considering his naval, was suddenly shocked from his contemplation. He looked up at Rizali without even the normal showing of exasperation. "Hobos in the woods?" He shrugged.
"Oh you found one as well, splendid!" Rizali pushed Cathal in front of him, within easy sight range of Kaegan and any local wild game. "Here's mine, his name is Cathal, he'll be joining us on our adventure. He's good with a sword, or... at least this very tiny knife on his belt. So at least you and Lyndh won't be the only ones doing the heavy lifting."
"Wait, I have to do lifting?"
"You signed the contract, but don't worry too much about that. Lyndh loves lifting things. And Cathal does as well." Rizali gave his best winning smile.
"Ar-a shup there!" came the cry of protest. Rizali pulled him back again and patted him on the head.
"Ignore him, he's a joker he is. Hell of an accent on him, makes it impossible to understand a word. Alright, you two play nice now. I've got some homework to do before we leave. Lyndh's inside, make sure he has his bedding changed and gets some water in him."
With that, Rizali began walking back to the mayor's home, just a couple buildings away from the town hall. He had a lot of reading to do and not much time to finish it. It was best to keep himself from appearing threatening or as a target, which necessitated the oafish showman act he'd adopted when meeting with the caravan for the first time. His curiosity threatened to consume him, but he couldn't let too much of himself be known to anyone here.