Perchance to dream..

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selerial
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Perchance to dream..

Postby selerial » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:58 am

A grey elf wandered in to the Dead Orc Inn, and casually approached the keeper. He wore fine robes and expensive looking jewelry. He used a heavy stone staff as he walked, leaning on it while holding it in his left hand. His hair was red, though streaks coming from each temple were black. His face seemed to be mottled and blanched a bit white, especially around his eyes and at the temples. Something about his eyes seemed odd.. almost like they contained small, shining bits of silver that sparkled.

He briefly discussed the purchase of a night's stay and was given a key. He left the common room without a meal, and with only a glance at the other patrons. Being what one might call the "curious" sort, I quickly finished my bread and cheese, and then took my leave in an unremarkable fashion. I crept around the Inn to the window of the room the elf was staying in, and peeked in to the room.

The grey elf had settled in to bed for the night, pulling up the woolen, well-used sheets almost over his head. A hand snaked out from under the covers for a moment, and with a lazy wave, the fire in the hearth was snuffed with a whoosh and a hiss. The dark room was nearly silent, save the slight wind of his breathing. A slow and steady rhythym came, and within a few more minutes it seemed he was peacefully asleep.

The hearth had quickly gone cold, but the remnant of flame remained in one lonely cinder. Even from a distance, and through a window, it seemed somehow remarkable. Orange, red, and yellow danced through it's visible veins, twirling and whirling like a small tempest under the skin of grey and black. The elf murmured "brother" in his sleep, and the cinder seemed to glow brighter for a moment. Orange clashed with blue, yellow became white, and the red took on the color of blood, flowing fresh from a vein......

----

It was night, a time that Selerial used for reading and enjoyment. While in his heart he felt that he should try to get enough sleep, too often a good book would lure him in and enrapture him until dawn broke the spell. Other nights, he would try to dismantle and reassemble a gnomish trinket that puzzled him. In the morning his father would be angry, as he would certainly be slow to do his chores, unalert in his practice and studies. He was naturally gifted with his hands and his feet, but a tired mind made for clumsy fingers.

Tonight he was actually doing a bit of practice. His brother would be home soon from a long journey, and Selerial wanted to show off some new tricks he had learned with his dagger. He only knew that his brother had gone off to study, but when pressed for details, his parents would not say what he was learning or where. He was attempting a tricky manuver which kept the dagger spinning while moving it between hands in various ways, when a noise from downstairs caused him to start. The dagger was spinning in mid-air at the time. His right hand, which normally would have caught the handle of the weapon, instead found the blade embedded in his palm.

Selerial winced, for a number of reasons. First, it was late, and he wasn't supposed to be up. Second, a healer would have to look at this.... and of course, it was night. Third, it sounded as though someone was in the house, when no one should have been awake. And, well, fourth, because the dagger in his hand was really quite painful. In fact, for that last reason, he let out a small yelp as the blade had gone in, and gave a small grunt as he pulled it out.

Fortunately, he had been wearing a band of silk around his head to keep the hair out of his eyes for practice. He made a bandage out of it, tightly wrapping the cloth around the hole in his hand. The band had been dyed raven black, so while the blood might stain it, it wouldn't show up too badly, and would be easy to clean up. It hurt, but he wanted to see who lurked in his house at this late hour, and the curiousity was greater than the pain.

Step by step, he stealthily descended the stairs, though he jumped the three at the bottom. They had been designed to creak, so that no one could climb up to the rooms where people slept without giving them some alert. However, they presented no barrier for someone going down, and the ground floor was a semi-hardened clay, which allowed the impact of the leap to be nearly completely silent. He had tucked his dagger in his belt, but now he drew it and, keeping low, assessed the situation.

Selerial scanned the living area of his house, but no life was to be found. However, a strange bluish glow seemed to be coming from under the kitchen door. Being an elf, he had the ability to see the glow of heat, but there seemed to be no warmth in the kitchen from which the light could be emanating.

He lived in a small village near a gnomish settlement, and while magic was an intrinsic part of both races, he had been kept away from such arts by his parents. He could only work with his imagination as to what was behind the door. Images of spirits, wisps, and glowing horrors whirled through his head. He expected that at any moment the light would snuff out and the door would burst open, and what followed could only be gruesome and painful. He had to chuckle softly while glancing at his hand as he thought of pain, but the rush of excitement he was feeling had caused him to forget it.

While the noise he made was soft, it evoked a reaction from the entity in the kitchen. The light, indeed, went out. However, it was quickly replaced by an amber glow, and where heat had been missing there now seemed to be an abundance. Selerial felt a mix of apprehension and a manic energy which compelled him closer, until he was at the entrance to the room of mystery, an intricate yew door the cover to his pandora's box. He flung open the door, and had to cover his eyes from the light that filled the kitchen.

In the middle of the room, a being like an elf was watching him. However, most elves that Selerial knew weren't on fire. In fact, as his eyes adjusted, it seemed that he wasn't so much *on* fire as that he was surrounded by it. Selerial made a gesture with his dagger at the figure and said, with a bit of a stutter, "Wh... who .. what.. who are you??"

The flaming figure grinned, although through the chaos of light and motion it was somewhat hard to see. "Ah, Selerial.. you've grown up, I didn't recognize you", said the elf. He uttered something incomprehensible and suddenly was normal. This left the room rather dark, though the red glow of his heat and the afterglow of his fire were still clearly visible. He reached for something and tapped it on the floor, suddenly the room was lit by the blue glow once again. This time Selerial could see that it was a wooden staff... but like none that he had ever seen before!

He glanced at it for a moment, and then once again, he queried the individual, "You know me.. but.. who are you? And what are you doing sneaking around in people's houses this late at night?" The intruder made a showing of a grand shrug and a sigh, and said, "It seems I have been away too long, that my own brother does not recognize me." Selerial took another look, and exclaimed, "Thylwryn! You're early!" Quickly he covered his mouth, for he had possibly been loud enough to wake his parents.

In the moment of silence that followed, he realized that something was wrong on in the village. A strange crackle could be heard in the background, and gutteral grunting.. no, it might have been laughter.. seemed to accompany it. Thylwryn made a motion to be silent and tapped his staff on the ground once again. The blue glow winked out, and in the darkness the brothers made their way to the front door of the house.

Selerial opened the door a crack and peered out in to the night. Shapes of heat shimmered throughout the village, and houses were glowing as well. Thylwryn nudged him out of the way and took an eyefull as well. He cursed, "Damn! Trolls and orcs.. of all nights.." He muttered some other things but Selerial didn't know what he was talking about. What he did know is that an alarm had to be raised. He took a deep breath, but Thylwryn covered his mouth before he could yell. "I think I can solve this little problem", said the just returned scholar. "Here, take this, and when I activate my staff, read it", he said, giving the younger brother a piece of parchment.

Selerial stared at the writing. The runes were elven, but they didn't seem to make any sense. The longer he peered, the more his head swam. The runes almost seemed alive.. as though they were dancing on the page.. or maybe trying to leap off and escape.

Thylwryn had already snuck outside and was muttering something. Just as Selerial glanced up at him, he slammed the staff butt-first on the ground, causing what seemed like a sun's worth of light to appear from his hand. Selerial shielded his eyes with the scroll and started reading.

From somewhere it seemed like he could hear yelling, almost like someone calling his name, but the runes begged to be spoken and released from the prison that was their paper. In an eternity which resided in but a few moments, the runes were released, and the paper crumbled before Selerial's eyes. The dust of the page swirled around him, and seemed to glitter in an unusual way. Suddenly, each speck of dust started to glow brightly. In waves, the particles seemed to explode in light.

Selerial realised that there was a problem. He had been holding the scroll in front of his face, and so quite a bit of the dust was around his eyes when it went off. In fact, both light and heat seemed to be pouring in to his face, and within a second he was unconcious....

----

I blinked for a moment. I could still feel the heat on my face and my eyes didn't want to focus. The elf was still slumbering, but he twitched and groaned, as though in a bad dream.

I wasn't too sure what to make of what I'd just seen, but I decided that.. well, this just was the night for.. being "curious".

---------------------
EDIT: A couple grammar/spacing things.
Sonon
Sojourner
Posts: 162
Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2004 8:33 pm
Location: San Antonio,Texas
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Postby Sonon » Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:30 am

this story was very very very good i can't wait til the next one comes

*clap*
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Alysia group-says 'Lilen immolates a terrified squirrel to a charred crisp with his devastating inferno!'
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Lilen group-says 'where are all da trolls i was promised'
Lilen has left the group.

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