A week, two weeks, three weeks... What's the difference?
Anyway, as you may have guessed; It's Katy again! And with her, she has brought another chapter of her novel Cerandith Asaile!
You know, the one that failed Nanowrimo?
Anyway, it's the sequel to chapter one! Guess what I call it?
Drumroll, please!
Budududududud... Chapter two!
*Applause*
Thank you! Thank you! You're too kind! And you'd never suppose that I thought it up myself, would you? I know it's a surprise, but I did. If you didn't catch the first chapter, you can find it here:
Cerandith Asaile: Chapter One.
Anyhoo, here you go:
Lillian found this news to be disturbing in the least. She saw the prince walk away into the palace, and couldn’t help but wonder what had happened, or what was going on.
Brill watched as the fairae she had run into unravel her wings and fly over the crowds, mixing in with the other fairaes. A bit suspicious, Brill followed her. The fairae was flying around the palace, looking for something, it appeared. She stopped at a window, already far away from the multitudes. Brill crouched down out of sight to watch the fairae.
Lillian stood on the corner of the windowsill, listening in to the prince speaking with the commanders and his advisers. His voice was only recognizable by the obvious air of authority and a slight bit of smugness. But now they all sounded worried.
“Mi’lord, this concerns me quite a lot. It would make sense for the shades to go after your parents. With no light, they could attack in full strength. There have already reports of a group of shades by the northern border.” Said one of the elves.
“But at least we’ll have Resden to perform the ceremony if it comes to that.” Said another, possibly higher in rank since he didn’t bother using the prince’s title.
“You know right well that I can’t do any such thing, Barkel!” The prince said angrily. “That was a clever lie to stop mass panic. Now, I need to go find them.”
“Not a chance. You’re the only ruler they have. If you want to stop a panic, then you need to stay here, Mi’lord.”
“Alright,” said the prince. They began to leave, and their speech became incoherent to Lillian. She flew back down to the ground, thinking about what she had just heard. When behind her, Brill drew her sabre and pointed it at the fairae.
“Is that a common practice in the fairaeland?” Asked Brill.
Lillian whirled around to see the elf that had run into earlier. “What?”
“I saw you spying on the prince!” She said.
“What? No! I wasn’t spying! I was just… listening in. Totally different thing.” Lillian said, backing up.
“It’s also against the law. I need to turn you in.”
“What?! That’s crazy! I was just curious about what was going on! I’m not going to tell anybody!”
“Tell anyone what?” Brill asked.
“About the north bo-” Lillian paused, not sure if this was a test or not. “I couldn’t say.” She said at last.
Brill looked at her cynically. “I suppose I could let you off for now.” Strictly speaking, it wasn’t her job or privilege to arrest someone. But she could report suspicious, questionable or illicit activity. Brill wanted to join the royal guard, and for that reason she had memorized laws, rules, history, protocol, and trained with her weapons several times a day.
When she had tried to join the first time they had refused her because she was a girl, but that was thirty or so years ago and many girls were now in positions of significant status.
Lillian took her chance and left while she still could. She flew across the streets straight to her room. She knew what she was going to do.
That night, Lillian collected up some items, and set off by ground towards the north border.
Brill and Hjargen reached their house a little past nightfall, but even with next to no moonlight, they could still see the white dragon out front, curled up and snoring little puffs of smoke. She reached out and tapped one of Ethear’s horns, and he snorted in his sleep, but then he slowly lifted his head and saw Brill. He immediately laughed.
“Hjargen, I’m going to go on a ride around the Yorax with him, I’ll be in in a while.” Brill told her brother as she went into the house.
“Alright, but make sure to lock up after yourself.”
“Yeah, will do. Come one Ethear.” Brill said. “Let’s get your saddle on.” She and Ethear walked around the house to the back, where a long poll perched upon four crossed stick. On top of the poll rested three handmade leather saddles. It was Hjargen who had made them for Brill. Each one was better than the last, otherwise Hjargen would scrap it and try again. Brill had rather worn out her first two, but had kept them for sentimental value, which her brother secretly liked. Brill picked up her most recent saddle, which she noticed the inside was wearing down. Dragon scales were incredibly rough and more accurately like teardrop shaped armor plates with a hundred-million tiny spikes. That’s why Brill went through her saddles so quickly.
Ethear bent his head down so his curved horns wouldn’t get in the way as she fastened his saddle and then climbed onto his back. He spread his wings slowly, looking back at Brill who nodded. And then suddenly, he took off at an immeasurable speed, soaring towards the clouds. Brill braced herself as she felt she could fly off at any second. But then Ethear stopped, and straightened out, gliding just underneath the clouds.
Brill sighed, enjoying the wind across her face. After a while she patted Ethear’s neck. “Come on, let’s get-” She paused as something caught her eye. A light at the bottom of the forest that was reflecting of something silver. “Over there, let’s see what that is.”
Ethear banked, and then descended down to the tips of the tree tops. “Slow down.” Brill whispered, and swung a leg over to the other side of the saddle, getting ready to jump off. Ethear made a noise of distress.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” She said. The leapt off the back of her dragon and onto a tree branch that automatically snapped under the sudden weight, and she landed in a crouch on the larger branch beneath her. Then she felt a stinging pain on her cheek, she put a finger on it and felt something warm and wet. She summoned a small light to hover in front of her and saw blood on her hand.
“I’ll have to take care of that later.” She whispered to herself, extinguishing the light. She climbed down the tree, having to jump six feet or so when she got to the bottom. She went through towards the light she had seen.
And lo and behold, it was none other than the curious fairae she had met earlier.
Lillian turned around and held up her lantern when she thought she had heard some rustling over in that area, but no one was there.
She unfurled her wings and flew over to the spot that Brill was hiding in.
Brill made herself as small as possible as the fairae drifted by, brandishing her light.
"Hmm." Lillian said. The continued on. Brill let out a deep breath she hadn't known she'd been holding.
In the morning, Brill and Hjargen left to Cerandith Asaile once again. But Brill couldn't help but wondering what that fairae was doing.
Brill went to the circus performed by many people, who, she noticed, didn't mind humiliating themselves. It went on in a very large theater-like place. The strangest thing happened there, as Brill thought she saw a seran and a human talking to each other. And for a while, she forgot about the fairae.
But then the fairaes, seran, and humans were sent home, a curfew was set, and the prince was proclaimed missing.
Everything fell apart. Mass confusion and panic surrounded everything. She had next to no clue what was going on. But her gut told me that the fairae she saw yesterday was responsible. Brill tried to make her way out of the citadel, but everything was to crowded, and trying to get out of the crowd was just as difficult. Until someone grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the chaos.
"Are you alright?" Hjargen asked, looking Brill over.
"Well, I'm not physically damaged, if that's what you wanted to know." She said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
"Call Ethear." He told her. "We'll fly out."
"Actually I wanted to-" She tried to tell him about the fairae she's seen.
"Stay here?" Hjargen inturrupted.
"No, but-"
"Then call your dragon!"
"Fine!" Bril put two fingers in her mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle. "Come on. Let's get to the clearest spot we can."
Ethear brought them back home, but as Hjargen dismounted, He took off again by Brill's order.
"What in the world are you doing?!" He shouted over Ethear's wing strokes.
"There is something I need to do. Someone I need to find. Don't wait up for me!" She added before Ethear took to the sky.
"Brill!" He called, but she was long gone. He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. "Not again."
Lillian held out her compass, checking if she was going to right way for the fifth time. She looked up at the sky, it was noon already.
She decided to rest, pulling out her pack and grabbing a bit to eat.
Again she heard movement in the bushes. This time she saw someone.
“You again?!” Lillian stood up to confront the elf girl that she had seen the day before that had tried to get her thrown into prison. “Have you been following me?!”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t know, have you been killing royals?”
Lillian scoffed. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have it out for me. What, did I kill your family in a past life? Do elves have such low opinion of the fairae?”
“No. I just suspect you. And according to our law, we should turn in anyone who is doing anything illegal.”
“Illegal? We’ll then leave me be. I’m not doing anything wrong.”
A smug grin appeared on the elf’s face. “Indeed you are, actually. You are trespassing in the Yorax.”
“I was invited here!” Lillian said angrily, clenching her fists.
“Except after the prince went missing, all fairae were sent back to the fairaeland.” Brill said, putting a hand on her hip.
“The prince…?” Lillian frowned, looking down, but then she looked back at Brill. “Well how was I supposed to know that? I wasn’t there.”
“Mmm, and I’m just supposed to take your word for that? Not a chance. You’re coming with me.”
Lillian had had about enough of this elf. She drew her sword. “Make me.”
Brill’s smile faltered, but then she corrected her bearing, confident she was more skilled than this fairae, spy or not. She pulled out both her sabres and charged Lillian.
Lillian brought up her sword to block the blow. To Brill’s surprise and slight horror, as their weapons touched and sparks flew, the fairae’s hair had streaks of silver suddenly appearing..
The fairae took the moment and pulled out a dagger from the sheath at her side and thrust it forward.
Brill barely dodged it, knocking it out of the way with a second sabre.
The two jumped back from each other, weapons ready.
“I don’t know why you’re fighting! There’s obviously no way to win. I know what you’ve done!” Brill said, and then in a flash, before Lillian could respond, she jumped back and whipped out her bow, firing at the tree right next to her. And then another a so close to Lillian’s head, she could hear it as it went past.
“Next one goes through your skull.” Brill said, nocking another arrow. Lillian looked around for a way out. She sheathed her sword and dagger and held up her hands in a surrender.
“Fine. You win.” She said. And Brill nodded, lowering her bow. The second she did, Lillian unfurled her wings and shot into the sky.
“Or at least you would’ve won if you could fly.” She remarked. Brill let out a shout of anger and fired an arrow at Lillian, which she easily dodged. Then she flew off to the north.
“I can fly.” Brill muttered through gritted teeth. Then she whistled loud and shrill. A minute later, Ethear swooped in and landed at Brill’s side.
“Come on, she’s probably almost reached the border now.” She said grumpily, mounting her dragon.
He turned her head so one of his crystal white eyes was looking at her, and made an inquisitive growl.
“The fairae. I’m certain she’s killed or captured the royal family. I need to find her.” Brill told him, to which he snorted at. Brill wasn’t sure whether it was sarcasm or agreement.
Lillian flew along the forest floor, not trusting that the crazy elf girl wouldn’t come after her again if she went walking. Then after a while, she drifted to the tree tops.
But a thought crossed her mind. What if this was just too much trouble? What if none of this was worth it? The only real reason she had actually come was that it was exciting. Not for her people. She didn’t hold much respect for elves, and even less after this. But she had come because she saw hope for an adventure. That’s something Lillian had always wanted. And she had just fought with an elf. Blade to blade. If the people of the Yorax knew of that, there could be several things they could do as punishment. Although she could simply fly home and forget all about it. Maybe skip the next Cerandith Asaile.
But then she remembered what she was doing. Looking for the king and queen. Without them, they couldn’t light up the forest. The shades would attack, and there would be no more Cerandith Asaile.
Lillian felt as if lives depended on her for a moment, but then told herself to stop dreaming, and that it wasn’t quite that serious. The elves under the command of the prince would find them, and nothing would be wrong.
Except they didn’t have the prince.
What had the elf said? After the prince went missing all the fairaes were sent home? And now what did that mean for her? With full knowledge of fairaes being banned from the Yorax, she still stayed.
Lillian stopped, hovering in the air. She looked back over the forest, where she could see the peak of the citadel rises up out of it, and beyond that, the mountains that surrounded the fairaeland. And behind her, the border was in sight, where the trees suddenly cut off and the barren land of Romlik lay. To Lillian, it looked grey, dead, and desolate. How could the shades stand living there? It looked horrid.
This time, Brill had brought Ethear with her through the forest. She found the fairae again, and she had a plan to ground her.
That's it for now. Always, comments are appreciated as long as there is a civil tongue accompanied! Katy out!
~Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.~ Matthew 16: 24
