If I were the moon...

Alternate Universe

2009-04-30T14:31:00.002-06:00

She lives in
an alternate universe
Not so far away
Actually across the street
My daddy is a millionaire
Byes me anything I want
Her Father is a writer
And loves her with all he’s got

The whole school knows me
And follows every where I go
A few at school love her
And take her any where they went

My clothes from Nordstrom and 5^th Ave
Hers from Good Will and hand me down rags
High school: cheerleaders and jocks
Hell school: broken bones and rocks
My name is Mandi
Hers Di-man

College a disaster
My world doesn’t come
On a golden platter
College a blast
A place where she
isn’t just last

Life where I just don’t fit it
Life where she finally belongs

To high maintenance
For men to look at
Men come easy
Toys to play at

Spoiled brat now I see that
But for her life is free

He brought me home-picked flowers
for my birthday
Diamonds, jewels, and fancy dresses
Were her forte

My heart is an artist
And loves me with all he’s got
Her money is a lawyer
And byes her any thing she wants

Our first apartment
one bedroom with mold
Their first house
six bedrooms with gold

My kids clothes Good will and hand me down rags
Her children’s from Nordstrom and 5^th Ave
Work is play and he’s home by 5
Work is life and home is at work

Stay at home mom
and I don’t mind
Banquets and luncheons
She left the children behind

Our kids off to college
Visit every once in a while
Her children to college
Text when moneys to low

My artist and I stay quite at home
Her lawyer is off to do who knows

She lives in
an alternate universe
Not so far away
My kids are all grown
but I am not alone
Her children all gone
but she never would have known

My life forward
And her life backward

Born with money and not care in the world
Born with care and not a thing of money
Died with love and not a cent to my name
Died with cash and not a love to proclaim

Snails

2009-04-28T16:52:00.001-06:00

I would like to dedicate this to my sister Laura who inspired this tale by her tender loving car for her dear garden.

Unnoticed, ten year old Benji walked up to Mrs. Caterfield’s porch. She was relaxing on a small rickety swing, letting her wrinkles soak up the sun and looking out at the peaceful afternoon. He cleared his throat and said loudly, “Mrs. Caterfield, I am here for piano lessons.”

Distracted, she suddenly looked up at him asking, “Huh?” then after a moment recognition said, “Oh yes! Benji you are right on time.” With some difficulty from her tired worn out body she got up to walk him into the house, when she stopped half way down the steps. “Hold on.” she whispered. With a step to quick for a lady her age, she stammered back to her seat. As she lifted a heavy shot gun from the swing, Benji’s eyes grew wide, “Mrs. Caterfield I think-”.

But she wasn’t paying any attention to him. She planted her feet firmly on the porch and pointed the gun toward the front lawn, just right of Benji, “Now hold steady boy.” Benji turned to see what she was aiming for. All he could see was her little garden nestled against the house and the quiet street. With a jump, Benji quickly covered his ears as a loud BAG shot through the neighborhood. Mrs. Caterfield’s raspy voice shouted loudly, “Damn! Missed him.” But Benji still couldn’t see any thing worth shooting at.

She pulled another shell from the pocket of her flowery pink dress and reloaded her gun. Benji was still covering his ears, looking for her target. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mrs. Taylor across the street handling a bag of groceries and trying to hurry her kids into the house, looking worriedly at Benji, Mrs. Caterfield and the shot gun. He wavered gingerly and turned just in time to see a large snail splatter across the lettuce leaves and white picket fence in the garden. “Got him! Should teach those snails to eat lettuce out of my garden.”

Wide eyed and shocked Benji stood staring at the lettuce leaf now blown to shreds. Holding the shot gun like a walking cane, she smiled and asked, “Well dear, would you like a cookie before practice, their freshly baked?”

Lime Green Peanut Butter

2009-04-28T00:45:00.001-06:00

A Pantoum

Lime green peanut butter
Aloof in my bed
Cheerful happy clutter
Stuck in my head

I, Aloof in my bed
Building a wall of blue
Stuck in my head
Around indestructible you

Building a wall of blue
High and fine and big
Around indestructible you
Real as a winged pig

High and fine and big
Started where you lost
Real as a winged pig
Thought you were the boss

Started where you lost
How mulled the world can be
Thought you were the boss
Now I am free to see

How mulled the world can be
With cheerful happy clutter
Now I am free to see
Lime green peanut butter

Chances

2009-04-27T23:09:00.000-06:00

Chances

Paul didn’t like the sound of this, he didn’t like the sound of this at all. It sounded so cheap and reckless, event haphazard almost. But for those very reasons, he couldn’t get the idea out of this head. The chaos of it held its own appeal. No one would expect him to do something so rash, not even his closet enemies could predict this move, no matter how closely they had watched him, because this move was not in character. It wasn’t in accordance with any thing he had done before. Hesitantly he said, “Here’s five hundred dollars,” the whole table gasped as he handed the banker the last of his money, “to upgrade my Boardwalk to a hotel.”

2009-04-27T23:03:00.001-06:00

The Straightener

‘What is she doing?’ he wondered quietly as a girl sat on the overstuffed chair catty corner to his. His eyes scanned the other empty seats around the room and looked back at her, who seemed to have taken no notice to him. He liked studying in this area of the math building because rarely anyone else ever did nor ever tried to bother him there, but she chose to sit right next to him.

She pulled out a thick book with the title, Fredrick Jackson Turner and the Frontier Theory and a black object that looked like over sized tongs with buttons and a power cord. Nonchalantly she plugged in the mechanism and it started beeping. She pushed a few buttons, put it on the desk beside her and opened her text.

He looked at the large tongs, sitting menacingly on the desk wondering what it was for. Suddenly it started beeping again. She looked at it and with a sigh she pulled another menacing object from her back pack. This one looked like a set of teeth in the shape of fork prongs that she could open and close with two levers in the back. She placed it on her lap on top of her book and started brushing her wet red hair. She swept up a top layer of her hair and left the rest lying flat on her neck. With one hand she held a loose bun on top of her head and with the other picked up the set of teeth. She opened it up and clasped it onto the loose bun. She adjusted it a little and the jaws magically stayed in place on top of her head. Once she had half her hair up, she opened the book again laying it flat across her legs and grabbed the tongs by the end.

His homework lay forgotten in front on him as he watched her grab a chuck of her exposed hair and clap it into the tongs close to her skull. The air crackled with a sound like mourning breakfast on the stove and a huge puff of smoke rose from the black tongs around her head. He watched the smoke in distress, but she paid it no heed and slowly pulled the tongs through her wet hair making more crackling noises and spewing more smoke into the air. Without realizing what he has doing he muttered loudly, “What are you doing?”

She finished pulling her hair through the tongs, looked up a little confused and saw him looking at her. “Excuse me?”

He stuttered, “Oh nothing, just thinking out loud.”

She saw his eyes fixated on the tongs she held aloof and said, “Oh does this bother you. Sorry I ran out of time this mourning to do it so I had a brilliant idea to do it here. I would like to finish if you wouldn’t mind.”

He shook his head a little dazed, “No, no not at all, go ahead.”

She smiled and went back to her book, clasping another piece of hair into the tongs and another puff of smoke filled the air. Before he could stop himself he asked, “What is that?”

She looked up at him still pulling hair through and asked, “What was that?”

He shook his, “Never mind.” Frustrated, he thought to himself, ‘Stupid just stop talking and do your homework.’

But it was to late, “Have you never seen one of these before?” she said as she indicated to the black machine.

Hesitantly he responded, “No.”

She smiled widely again, “It is a straightener.”

He ruffled his eyes brows, “A what?”

Smiling even wider at a joke he obviously didn’t get, she said again, “A straightener, like a curling iron, but for straightening instead of curling.”

She held the straightener in midair and tapped it opened and closed very quickly sounding like a crap pinching for his diner. The crap hissed and sizzled as she pinched onto another piece of her hair in the tongs.

“Why does it make that sound?”

Relaxed she replied, “Well my hair is still wet and the straighter it hot, so it is like putting water on a hot pan.”

“And the smoke?”

She tilted her head slightly, “Smoke?”

He dramatically waved his hands from his head and exasperated, “That spews off every time?”

Laughing, she jerked her head a little, “That’s not smoke.”

He looked at her suspiciously, smelling the air and thought, ‘Then how do you explain that smell of burning hair?’

She went on, “That’s steam,” she watched him a little while; when he still looked confused she explained farther, “since my hair is still wet.”

Cautiously, he nodded his head, “I see.”

Her laughter hung in the air as she said, “What did you think? I was putting my hair on fire?”

Defensively he responded, “Well how was I supposed to know!”

She looked at him side ways and asked, “You don’t have any sisters do you?”

He shrugged his shoulder, “I have one, but I don’t think she even owns a blow dryer no less that thing.”

Bluntly she corrected him, “A straightener.”

A little embarrassed he said, “Any way, sorry to have interrupted you.”

In a little sing song voice she replied, “No problem.” and went on straightening her hair.

Trying to refocus on his homework, his eyes glazed through his text book, reading the same lines twice, trying to let them penetrate his brain, but the words simply wouldn’t stick. He couldn’t help shifting his eyes back at her, still pulling the black thing through her hair and concentrated on reading her book. He shook his head thinking, ‘Multitaskers, I will never get them.’ He pressed his fingers against his eyes and around his temple willing his mind to wake up. Another snarl growled from the angry straighter, puffing smoke like a mid-afternoon cigarette brake. His eyes stared at the blurry words in front of him and after a moments determination they finally started to become clear. He concentrated on the ins and outs of molecular formation of atoms imaging each form explained in great detail in his book, when he noticed more movement form the seat next to him. He didn’t look up at her. But he saw her putting away her book and shoving the smoking dragon tongs back into its den in her back pack. Her previously wet hair had been transformed to flowing soft dry hair, lying delicately around her face.

He kept ignoring the fact the she was making progress to leave and took his own advice, stopped talking and did his homework. He tried to keep to the effort, even as she obviously cleared her throat. But once she started talking again he knew he could no longer ignore her, “Sorry if I disrupted your studying.”

Without looking up, he shook his head, “Not at all.”

“And you got to learn something new.”

He looked up a little confused, “What’s that?”

She titled her head, “About the straightener.”

He nodded his head, “Oh right, thanks.”

She started to walk away a little and smiled, “Who knows maybe next time we bump into each other, you could show me how to shave or how you do that lovely hair due of yours?” and then distinctively walked off, leaving him rubbing pensively at his scruffy face and running his fingers through his floppy mess of hair.

Looking back down at his book his thoughts rebuked him, ‘I told you! I told you just to stop talking and do you homework.’

2009-04-27T22:54:00.001-06:00

Why do all the best ideas come at two o’clock in the morning…

Or on the Toilet

We all think in why’s and what’s

But what if we thought in ifs and would bes

Like what if….

If….

stars were our personal guide

Where would mine lead yours

If…

love were a pocket full of sun shine

Would yours fit in it to mine

If…

dreams were as easy as Pairs Hilton

How special would they be

If,

Not

When

Where

But if…

If…

thoughts really only cost a penny

I’d cash in all mine just to hear all yours

If…

one liners could win a girls heart

That’s all I’d ever talk in

If…

hearts beat like the radio

Would the world listen to them play

The announcer would say:

Now, from the heart of Susan Mical, ‘My toast is burnt and I’m late

for work’

But would we stay

And listen to mundane

Would we flip from heart to heart till we find the sound we like

Only hearing what we want

Not what needs to be heard

Or what if…

If…

my loves heart beat where my sun shine

Would I keep it in my pocket…

If…

Kermit the Frog were here

Would Miss Piggy still come running

If…

karma stole candy from the candy store

Would it hit itself in the back of the head and yell

“Bad Karma!”

If…

if love were a pickle

Would you eat it

If…

tears could move mountains

Would the natives be angry

As the Himalayas move from Asia to America,

the Andes to Europe

And the Rockies to lost Atlantis.

Would the world stop crying to keep the earth still

If…

ideas came exactly when you needed them

…if only…

If…

words made a difference

Where would this poem end up

If...

we all thought in ifs and would be’s

Would the world fill up on empty how’s and could be’s

Or would we all see the wows and yippees

If…

Chapter 7: the hidden city

2009-04-27T15:12:00.000-06:00

Thinking hard, Leopold made his way down the stairs. After talking with Delilah he was determined to see what Titus was keeping in that dungeon. He walked out of their building into the dark night. The stars were already shinning brightly and he knew the turn was late, but he walked down the street in the opposite direction from his apartment. His heart was beating hard and he felt a little jumping. The streets were dark expect for the glow illuminating from a few cottages still awake. It was a warm summering night and the crickets sung loudly in the quite night air. A gate slammed loudly and Leopold turned sharply, but he didn’t see any thing. Leopold tried to take a deep breath. He wasn’t really doing any thing he wasn’t supposed to. Still he felt like he was creeping along like a thief. A quite whoot from a night owl sent shivers down Leopold’s spine and a eerie breeze picked up and swirled around his soft blond hair. The tall metal buildings loomed around him menacingly. Taking a deep breath Leopold shook off the spooking feeling and kept walking. He felt foolish letting the night get to him and told himself to think rationally. The city was not any different at night then it was during the day.

Still Leopold couldn’t help but turn sharply around as he heard another small noise behind him. He scanned the streets searching in every corner, but seeing nothing, he hesitantly turned back around. After no more then two steps, Leopold heard footsteps running hard toward him. He turned around just in time to see the man named Apollo running straight at him.

Apollo grabbed Leopold’s chest and barreled him into to the ground. While holding him down Apollo started punching Leopold in the face. Leopold grunted in pain. In his confusion Leopold didn’t react at first, but as Apollo held his hand back getting ready for another punch, Leopold got to him first, hitting his fist against Apollo’s check. Unprepared for this Apollo fell back wards, but before he hit the ground Leopold diving out from under his leg and Apollo hit the dirt road.

Surprise Apollo shook his head and looked up to see Leopold ready to fight. Quickly he stood up, taking his stance and faced Leopold. Each had his fist up ready to attack at any time. They drew closer in and Apollo made the first move, lunging his fist forward, but Leopold divide side ways and Apollo stumbled past him. Standing up straight again Apollo faced Leopold.

This time Apollo lunged with his opposite fist, but Leopold dodged it again avoiding the punch. Turning to face Leopold, Apollo grunted angrily and came at him straight on. Leopold however extended his leg and kicked Apollo in the chest knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to the ground.

Leopold waited patiently for him to stand back up and get ready to fight. Once he had, Leopold swung his leg in the air and kicked him hard in the head and Apollo fell over once more. A little more slowly this time he stood back up and faced his competitor. Leopold gave him once last punch and Apollo swirled on his feet and black out on to the hard road.

Leopold heart was racing and his breath came in short shallow gasps. He stood up, watching Apollo’s lifeless body on the dirt road. Leopold looked around at the tiny houses looking for faces in the window or any one peeking around corners. He didn’t see any one, but he knew that meant little. After getting back his breath, Leopold grabbed one of Apollo’s arm slinging it around his shoulder and dragged him toward one of the little fences and threw him to the ground.

Leopold bent down and slipped one of Apollo’s hands into the fence. Calming himself, Leopold started twisting his hands around the metal fence while quietly muttering under his breath. Slowly the metal started to shift its shape and meld its way around Apollo’s wrist. The metal shrunk and tightened, gravitating around Leopold’s hand. Leopold kept coaxing the metal around Apollo, working the metal like clay. Once Leopold was satisfied that Apollo couldn’t move, he stood up straight wiping off his hands. He sighed and turned back to the road toward the building and dungeons that held something worth fighting for. Leopold’s brain beat loudly with the sound of his own pulse as he walked quickly up the street. He no longer felt the eeriness of the night, but only a burning to know what was going on. He slowed down as he came to tall government building and walked under the terrace and up to the tall doors closed shut. He stood a moment at the doors catching his staggering breath and the feeling that he was doing something wrong crept back into his belly.

He took a deep breath and opened the smaller doors carved into the bottom of the larger ones. He knew he wasn’t doing any thing wrong, but he couldn’t help but be nerves. The small door creaked loudly and echoed down the metal hallways. He frowned, but walked in and closed it loudly behind him. He hadn’t been in the halls that late at night for a while, the dark halls and the moon light shining eerily off the metal walls made him a little tense. His own shadow was cast against the pale blue walls, and the decorative dark green sculptures hung hauntingly above, casting their own strange shadows.

Trying to calm his racing heart Leopold stood up straight and confident and took a right. His shadow followed him along the walls and rose in and out of door ways. With a jump of his pulse he heard steps walking toward him. A lower ranking soldier on guard came into view and looked very alert when he spotted Leopold.

The soldier’s booming voice sounded loudly in the halls, “Who are you?”

Leopold breathed easy when he saw who it was, “Fredrick, it is just me Leopold.”

Fredrick didn’t back down or relax, “Do you have some sort of ID, sir.”

Leopold nodded his approval of the night guard’s wariness and replied, “I do indeed.” Leopold pulled out a thick metal medallion with his name sealed across the front and a number burned onto the back.

Fredrick took the extended medallion and looked it over. After examining it fully, he returned it and causally said, “Every thing seems to check out. What brings you here so late at night? I thought that you had dinner with Titus?”

Leopold nodded his head, “I did, but I had some unfinished business here I needed to finish up before tomorrow.”

Fredrick eyed him suspiciously, “Sorry, sir but I find that highly unlikely and irregular. I know Leopold well enough that he never leaves work unfinished at the office, and if he does have unfinished work he never forgets to bring it home.”

Leopold laughed a little, “I am very predictable, but there is some work here that I can not bring home other wise I would have and I know you are aware I wouldn’t leave work undone that was needed tomorrow.”

Fredrick nodded his head, “I see, well sir if you wouldn’t mind finding a guard before you leave and letting us know you are headed out we would surly appreciate it.”

Leopold started walking past Fredrick and replied, “Of course. Keep up the good work.”

Fredrick walked the other direction to finish up his rounds, “Thanks.”

Leopold caught his shaky breath again as he walked away from Fredrick. He didn’t dare look back in case Fredrick was watching him. He kept his head straight and tall. But once Leopold was in sight of the dungeon, he cautiously looked behind him. His sharp eyes scanned the hall way looking for any spies. He scanned the other side of the hall looking at every nook and cranny especially the spot he hid as he watched Titus come up from the dungeon. From what he could see no one was there, he swept across the hall and made his way down the stairs of the dark dungeon. The magic sphere lights hanging on the walls similar to those in Titus’s house and his own, flickered dimly. He walked carefully constantly checking his back side. Leopold tiptoed toward the first open hall way and peeked his head inside. Nothing was there but rock and darkness.

Leopold cocked his brow and tilted his head. He heard sounds coming from another dungeon. After registering the soft sound as whispering, he furrowed his brow and thought, “Since when has any one been kept down here?” He backed out of the room and headed toward the whispering, he stopped directly outside of the hallway making sure his shadow didn’t cast into the room. He heard a women’s voice calming saying, “How do they ever expect any one to sleep in a place like this.”

A rough and tired sounding male voice responded, “It is a prison cell, Ellaway, what do they care.”

A little agitated the female voice retorted, “It is inhumane and that’s all there is to it.”

The male sighed, “You already have my stomach as your personal pillow what else do you want me to do.”

The women simply answered, “Nothing, I was just mentioning how wrong it is.”

The man answered, “Well, all your complaining wouldn’t change the fact.”

Sounding a little agitated herself the women said, “I wasn’t trying to change anything.”

Leopold felt for this poor fellow trapped in a cell with this woman for company, as he said, “Right just filling the void with the noise of your voice.”

The women’s soft laughter echo quietly in the room and lapsed over Leopold, filling his heart with joy and quickening its pace, his pity for the man turned to jealousy. That happy laughter could only belong to something beautiful.

Taking a deep breath Leopold rounded the corner. He casted a long shadow on the floor across a man and women curled up on the floor. The man laid sprawled out on his back with the women indeed, curled up on her side, using his stomach as a head rest.

The women sat up as the man lifted his head to see who entered. Curiously and very abruptly the man asked, “Who are you?”

Leopold cocked his eye brow, he may not have put these people here, but none the less he didn’t like the way this man question his captor, “I believe I am the one to be asking questions here, so I must ask who you are?”

The man still laying on the floor propping up his head with arms and said, “Well since you are the one keeping me here, shouldn’t you know that already.”

Leopold didn’t like this man at all, his tongue and cheek answers irritated him, “Seeing that I am the one with your life in my hands, I don’t think that much matters. Now tell me who you are.”

The man finally sat up and looked at Leopold with confusion, “I am Ripple son of Asin home of Gartha.”

The women started to say, “and I am El-”

But she was cut off by Leopold’s surprised gasp, “Ripple? Ripple the one who had come here so many years ago.”

Ripple smiled cockily, “Yep that’s me.”

Leopold shook his head, “No you couldn’t be, you died!”

Ripple lean forward, “Died!”

Leopold nodded, “Yes some tragic accident happened that killed you and Titus’s Ali.”

Ripple sat up even farther, “Ali died!”

Leopold replied, “Yes I am afraid so.”

Ripple started to stand up, “Who are you?”

Leopold stood up a little taller, but standing in front of his childhood hero he still felt only two feet tall, “Leroy’s Leopold.”

Ripple eyes grew wide and he shouted, “Little Leroy’s Leopold! No, you were no more than past my hip last time I saw you! Now look at you all tall and warrior like.”

Leopold shyly added, “Actually a captain.”

Ripple smiled, “A captain! Congratulations!”

Leopold cocked his head and brushed it off.

Ripple laughed and said, “Hey do you still remember how to huk a loogi?”

Leopold laughed loudly, “Are you kidding me!? If my mom had caught me doing that again I think she would have burned me at the stake!”

Ripple shrugged his shoulders, “Ah well, I guess I will just have to teach you again. So what’s all this about me and Ali dying?”

Leopold sighed, “Well from what I remember you and Ali had gone to the lake and a little latter Apollo, the man courting Ali at the time, had found both of you drowned. Titus and Delilah both had a private burial and you were never spoken of again. Obviously that it is not true.”

Ripple shook his head, “That’s the story that Titus dished up to you guys huh? That we died! The nerve of him to twist our story into some lie and trap people here like stupid animals that he had to protect!”

Leopold interrupted, “Then what really happened?”

Ripple looked at Leopold with his eyes all a light, “You know the legend of Cameron’s great escape?”

Leopold back away from him, “Ripple you know that is a forbidden legend.”

But Ripple ignored him, “I found the tear, Leopold, the rip in the spell!”

Leopold backed away from him even farther, “Ripple there is no tear.”

Ripple’s eyes grew wide and he smiled ear to ear, “No Leopold, I left! Ali too I traveled with her for a while and last I saw her she was married and had a kid.”

Leopold eyes brow furrowed so low they almost reached his eye lashes, “Then how did you get here?”

Ripple took a step forward and explained, “I was traveling with this women,” Ripple point to her and introduced her, “this is Ellaway of the house of Sanchez and I guess we got to close to the borders and Titus knew it was me so kidnapped me and brought me back here. Ellaway followed to rescue me and got in the same way I did before.”

Leopold stepped toward Ripple, “Ripple there is no tear and you can not convince me that this is Ellaway Sanchez.”

Ripple graded his elbow and squeezed it gently but firmly, “It is true Leopold, Titus has trapped me down here because he is angry I lead Ali out, I don’t know why he is keeping Ellaway here.”

Leopold tried again, “Ripple this is not Ellaway, and Ali is dead-”

Ripple leaned away from him, “How can you say that? Even as a child you needed evidence for everything. I could never tick you because you were to smart. You haven’t even seen a dead body and one of the people you proclaim to be dead is standing in front of you.”

Leopold spoke very firmly, “No, but I have the evidence of Titus’s word and that is good enough for me.”

Ripple looked at him seriously then burst out laughing, “Titus’s word! Titus’s job is to lie to you, to lie to everyone; his work is only to deceive. Don’t you know that by now.”

Leopold took another step back, “Ripple I think you are very sick. I am not sure, but you will be ok.” Leopold turned to the women and said, “Miss are you ok? Who are you really?”

The women smirked a little and said, “I am who he says.”

Leopold walked out a little farther, “You will both be alright. I am sure we are doing all we can to help.”

Leopold finally got to the door way and he left hurriedly out of the dungeon. He clamored up the stairs and back into the moonlight hall ways. A little out of breath he stopped at the top to the stairs.

Leopold’s thoughts started chasing themselves around and around in his mind. Ripples alive! How can this be? What is going on? Did he go insane and Titus lied about it? But why would he do that? Maybe Ripple is right, maybe all Titus does is lie, but he has been such a good friend could that really be true? He had so many unanswered questions, and he didn’t know what to believe. His entire world was being flipped upside down. He wished he could go talk to Delilah right then, but he knew it was best to go without Titus there. He still wanted to believe that Titus was in the right, that although he had lied to him, it was for a good purpose, but in case he wasn’t in the right Leopold needed to talk to her alone. For now he would have to have a sleepless night, tossing and turning, thinking about why Ripple and some girl are sitting in a prison cell in their city. It just didn’t make any sense! Why would Titus not go to the authorities and take care of it properly instead of imprisoning him himself?

Leopold found a guard, Fredrick again and told them he was going home. As Fredrick thanked him for finding him before leaving Leopold looked up and said, “Could one of your guards do a little job for me?”

Fredrick looked at him curiously, “Sir?”

Leopold sighed, “I ran into some trouble on my way here. A man started following me and attacked me.”

Fredrick became very alert, “Should I report it immediately?”

Leopold thought a moment, “No I think he was just in a little rage, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I may look into it more tomorrow, but I left him bound to the fence. I need help escorting him home.”

Fredrick replied, “Of course sir, we have too many guards on duty any way. I will have two of my men pick him up, that way you can go straight home sir.”

Leopold nodded, “I will still have to come unlock the bound, but that would be very appreciated.”

Fredrick stood up straight and said, “Wait one moment sir,” and ran off to find two guards.

Leopold sat alone with his thoughts again, but tried to silence them, knowing he could never figure out what was happening, till he talked to Delilah. Fredrick came back with two guards in tow. Leopold thanked Fredrick again and lead the two silence guards to Apollo’s body still out cold from Leopold’s punch.

Leopold undid the ring moving the metal back into the fence till no one would have ever known he was there. He left the guards to find his home from the directories and started on his way home. His thoughts were still cramped tight into his brain. He had room for nothing else. Automatically he walked back to his little apartment and got ready for bed. His body was so tired and his head hurt from thinking to much, but still his mind went a hundred miles a minute shuffling through the things he had seen.

The night ticked on leaving Leopold wide awake on his bed. What if Ripple is right? What if he really left and came back? What would that do to the city? What would that mean about Titus?

Chapter 1: of the mourning song

2008-06-18T23:18:00.000-06:00

As Ripple and Ellaway traveled through the forest, they were both dead quiet. An eerie sing sung whaling filled the air with a thick insufferable sadness, threatening to suffocate both of them. Ripple glanced at Ellaway, gloomy faced. Something in his look told her that he knew the meaning of the morbid sound, but Ellaway dared not ask him what it was. They merely walked through the cool pleasant weather, in drudgery. The sun danced playful light in the trees, and the leaves and branches swung in the same artful dance, but it was hard to find joy in the beautiful day with sadness drowning it out. Ellaway tried to shake off the depressing feeling, but even the blue birds sung of dreariness and sorrow.

The song started to drain on the very soul and it dragged Ellaway down. She couldn’t explain it but some how, the sound wore her down physically too and it only became worse as they moved on. However she did not wish to be a nuisance so said nothing of the growing pain swelling within her chest.

Soon Ellaway’s breath only came in unsteady raged breathing. A lump rested in her throat, and her eyes started to fill with tears. She could take it no longer and slumped to the ground like a sack of flour. The gruesome feeling completely consumed her. It bulged in her chest and spilled out into the rest of her body, making her hands shake from grief and fear. A steadying unstoppable run of tears streamed down her face. She gasped, “Ripple, I-” shamefully she bent her head and sobbed.

With her stammered mutter, Ripple turned towards her with a tear of his own in his eyes. He wiped them out and gasped, “Ellaway! No… no, no you must get up. We have to go on, just a little ways farther.” Ripple gently grasped her elbow, cradling her lolled head on his shoulder and lifted her up. Pointing off to the distance, he said “See that hill,” Ellaway shoulders shook feebly, and Ripple shoved her head off his shoulder so she had to look up and repeated, “Listen to me, see that hill?” Ellaway sniffled and nodded her head. Ahead she saw a sallow slop and a rocky jagged hill, “A friend lives on top of it, so all we have to do is get to the top.”

Ripple put his arms around Ellaway’s waist and pulled her closer, “You’ll be all right. Come on one step at a time.”

Ellaway just wanted to collapse in his arms, but leaned on him instead and tried to keep moving. They seemed to be moving toward the agonizing voice, but Ellaway couldn’t tell. The voice seemed to be coming from every where like a pack of wolfs gnashing at her every side.

The rocks on the hill became larger and larger as climbed and soon barely any grass or undergrowth could be seen, instead the terrain was covered in boulders. The rocks laid close together creating small crevasses, but they were easy enough to navigate over but slowed their work tremendously.

As they drug them selves up the side of the hill, the music suddenly stopped. Ellaway gave a snuffled sigh of relief as the feelings of sorrow slowly left her body. Ripple snapped his head up, looking towards the house. He cursed under his breath, “What has she done.” He stopped and helped Ellaway up beside him, who was catching her breath. Ripple muttered, “Are you alright?” Ellaway nodded.

A blood chilling scream echoed from up the hill. With out hesitation, Ripple automatically started running to the top, leaving Ellaway to rest.

As he ran a house started to come into view, he recognized the big dark wooden doors. He slammed the doors open and stammered in. “Ashin! Ashin where are you?” He heard a weak moan upstairs and darted up a dark stair case. He turned a corner and ran into a bedroom. In the middle of the floor, on a dark red carpet, a women laid unconscious. Ripple crawled to her side and softly lifted her head, and whispered, “Ashin?” but her head merely lolled in his hand. He heard Ellaway follow him into the open house. He hollered to her, “Ellaway! Come help me! Please, do something. She’ll die!”

Ellaway frantically ran up the stairs, and took in the view as she walked into the room. The woman Ripple was holding looked pale and sickly, but she had no marks or obvious wounds. She walked closer and knelt down beside her, remaining calm, “What’s wrong with her?”

Ripple looked at Ellaway tears starting to gather in his eyes, “I am not sure, but you’ll help her wont you.”

Ellaway looked at him confused, “I don’t even know what’s wrong with her, how could I help her.”

Ripple stammered, “You mean you won’t help her.”

Ellaway looked at him helplessly.

Ripple looked at her in frustration, “Well, do something!” he yelled.

She looked bewildered at him, why is he doing this; he knows I can’t really do any thing? “Ripple, what do you want me to do? I don’t know what you want me to do!”

Ripple responded in anger, “Fix her!”

Ellaway calmly said, “Okay, think, what can I do?”

He sat there a moment, trying to clear his thoughts, slowly he said, “I want you to blink yourself to a friends and bring her up here to help her.”

Ripple gently put Ashin back down and walked with Ellaway downstairs and outside. He pointed down the hill and a little ways off, “See that little wood cabin.”

Ellaway could barely see a dark cabin, through a gap in the trees, but nodded. Ripple continued, “I need you to blink yourself right in front of that house and ask for Penial. Tell her that Ashin needs help. If she refuses, tell me.”

Hesitantly Ellaway looked at him, “Ripple…”

“Just Go!”

Ellaway took a deep breath and tried to clear her thoughts, concentrating on the spot he had pointed to. She stared intently at the cabin, letting the image over come her. Grasping on to every speck she could see, she imaged the cabin up close, almost feeling it’s tender bark and smelling the smoke from the chimney. With the sharp picture in mind she willed her body toward it, making her hole being depend on that spot. Her eyes blurred and in a moment, she fell roughly to the ground in a little flower garden in front of the cabin. Hastily, Ellaway got up and ran to the door hardly taking in her surroundings. Fists clenched she banged on the dark wood and hollered, “Penial! Come quick!”

Foot steps sounded in the house and the door swung open. A women with slightly pointed ears and stark green eyes stood in front of a man with the same ears and dark purple eyes. Ellaway gasped, “Please, I am with Ripple, he says that Ashin needs your help.”

Ellaway never knew purple eyes could give such a cold piercing glare, “Why should she help her?”

Ellaway was lost for words, but she faced his sharp eyes and breathlessly replied, “She is in danger. I am not sure what kind. We found her collapsed, unconscious. Surly if you can help her-”

But Penail cut her off, “This is her own undoing. I can not make up for her mistakes.”

Ellaway felt panic rise to her head, flushing her cheeks, “Ripple is cradled over her limb body in a panic! You must help her!” Her voice rose in a shrill scream, “I have never seen him like this! If you can do something to save her, you must!”

Penail green eyes wore a soft compassionate glow, they darted around her trying to make up her mind. Turning to the stern man behind her, she whispered, “I must go. She is right. She does not deserve to die for love. Not like this.”

His cold stare never softened and he muttered, “Go if you must, I will have nothing to do with this.”

Penail jerked her head forward in shock, “I can not do this on my own. You might be male but I still need your help.”

He looked down and did not respond.

As cold as his stare, she snipped, “Fine.”

She turned and lead Ellaway out towards the hill. Penail examined the area around her and started to cautiously climb up the hill.

With out turning, Penail whispered, “You must understand, if I am caught coming up this hill, I will surely be put to death as a traitor. We must not be seen.”

Ellaway nodded and they climbed the hill in tense silence. Every passing moment felt like an hour. The knot in Ellaway’s stomach twisted at the thought of Ripple huddled over the women draped lifelessly of the floor. Finally the roof of the house started to peek into view. They ran the last stretch over large flat stone.

Pointedly, Penial asked, “Where is she?”

“Upstairs.” Ellaway lead them into the house and up the stairs to the bedroom where Ashin laid on the floor. Nothing much had change expect for the figure of Ripple sitting on the floor with his knees curled up to his chest, rocking back and forth.

Ellaway automatically went to his side, but did nothing to comfort him, she had never seen him cry and it terrified her.

Penial went to work as soon as she came in and Ellaway for the first time got a good look at her. Penial was dressed in a dark, red skill dress that laid smoothing against her attractive figure. Her face had sharp features but, like her eyes, were tender and soft. Ashin wore a similar dress, but of pale blue, making the carpet even redder. Her features were more rounded, but stern.

Penail went about checking Ashin she press two figures against her throat feeling her heart rate. But most of the other things she did Ellaway did not understand. She would gently slid her finger down the bridge of Ashin’s nose then intently watch her closed eye. Or she would put both her hands on the side of her head and softly rotate them one way, then the other. Finally she seemed content that she knew the problem and walked to Ripple and kneeled down beside him. She placed a hand on his knee and he looked up.

With the most genuine concern Ellaway had ever seen emulating in a person’s eyes, Penial said, “You should not be here for this, I am surprised you have survived so far. I have seen stronger men die from a mourning song.”

Ripple’s tear stained face smirked and he sniffled, “I have Ellaway with me, I will be fine do what you must.”

Penail’s eye brows raised in shock, “A wizard? Even still you are not but ten feet a way. I do not want to see you hurt.”

Ripple glanced at Ellaway, “She is no ordinary wizard I will be fine.”

Penial cocked her head suspiciously, “Well if you insist, but even so you should be wise to hold on to her.”

Ellaway was taken aback when Ripple nodded and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her waist. In her ear he mutter, “Sorry.”

Ellaway responded, “What is she going to do?”

Ripple’s voice cracked from crying. “I will explain later not now.”

Chapter 1: of the hidden city

2008-06-18T22:02:00.000-06:00

Authors note: so this isn't really chapter 1 of the story of Ellaway, but this is chapter 1 of the part of the story about the hidden city.

That afternoon Ripple and Ellaway walked silently, through the forest, eating juicy berries they had picked earlier. Ellaway broke the quite through a mouthful of berries, “Jerrt said that there is a creature that lives here called Bolbart. He said that he runs about sucking people’s blood.”

Ripple laughed, “I wouldn’t worry too much about Bolbart, I have never seen any thing of the like. I would worry more about the Kin, you heard of the bounty on your head and they would do any thing for money.”

Ellaway gave Ripple a sarcastic look of alarm, “Dear, every ones out for me.”

Ripple smirked, but in spite of themselves, both jumped at a noise behind them. They turned and peered in to the dense trees. Ellaway whispered in a mocking voice, “Bolbart’s come to suck your blood.”

“Sh. I hear something.” Ripple unsheathed his sword and Ellaway did the same. From what they saw, everything was still. All Ripple could hear was the leaves rustling in the trees, but felt no breeze. He looked up and there staring back at him was hundreds of Kin faces. They were all crouched on branches like jag wires ready to bounce.

Ellaway let out a gasp of surprise. Their cat like eyes turned on her and with a sly grin, they started to crawl towards her. Ellaway heard a hiss and the Kin jumped simultaneously to the ground, landing soundlessly on all fours. Then they rose to stand to their full height. Each Kin soared a foot above Ellaway and Ripple. All of them wore a strap around their huge muscular chest and pants of soft leather. Their angled eyes with cat shaped pupils warily watched the pair. Every flatten nose, quietly sniffed the air and snarling mouths revealed fang like teeth. One of the men growled, “Catch them both, but leave them alive, especially the female.”

Ripple made ready and growled, “See? I knew Bolbart was the last of our worries.”

The Kin waited for the signal of their leader, another Kin grimaced, “This is going to be too easy.”

Ellaway turned to who had said this, she broadened her stance and glared at the Kin, “You’re mine, come kitty cat, come meet your doom. Come on! Let’s see how easy it is!” The Kin growled and charged at her without command, the others stayed in position. With one swish of Ellaway’s sword the Kin was flung to one side and laid up against a tree in a heap. Ellaway turned to face the rest. The leader hissed again and they moved in on Ellaway and Ripple.

Ellaway lost sight of Ripple, as his fight drew him farther and farther away from her. She fought nonchalantly with warrior after warrior, but the army seemed to continuously grow. Ellaway’s glass blade sung as she waved left and right. She was nothing but a streak of light, dancing gracefully under the trees leaving a trail of fallen Kin. Suddenly a massive man taller than the rest stood bravely in front of her with no weapon, as though challenging her to a fight him. As she moved toward him he made no move in defense until she was a foot away. Then he clenched his hands together like a club and smashed her in the chest, throwing her off her feet.

She lay a while catching her breath, but merely grimaced and stood up. The man had a stupefied look as she stood up ready to fight back, he clench his hands again. This time Ellaway was ready. When he came down on her she moved to the right and he stumbled into a tree. When he turned, Ellaway swiped at his chest, but the giant shielded himself with his arms, leaving a gash across his forearm. The kin stammered backward holding his wounded arm, unready to sword fight.

Sternly, he griped the sword of the man next to him and ripped it out of his unwilling hands. With new determination he swung the blade at Ellaway’s chest. Awkwardly, Ellaway tried to block his attack, raising her blade above her head thrusting downward on his sword. As Ellaway forced him downward, his sword grazed against her leg, leaving a wound. She hollered in pain and doubled over.

Her attacker made ready to strike a blow at her in her weakened state. With out a second to loose Ellaway blinked herself behind him and stabbed him in the back with her whole swords length. Pushing him forward, Ellaway pulled out her sword, letting him fall to the ground.

Ellaway gritted her teeth in pain as she turned to face another charging Kin, but as he charged, he fell to an arrow from behind. Ellaway searched for the source of the arrow and saw a steed caring a large rider. Behind him, more riders in sliver armor joined in the fight. In awe she watched the strange warriors come in from every direction. She looked around and saw Ripple fighting. With her head pulsating from the pain in her leg, Ellaway walked towards him in a daze, but lost sight of him and stood, unsure of what to do.

Ripple fought hard against the never ending wave of soldiers; throwing his weight skillfully so each blow of his blade had full power. He leaned his back up on a tree using it to help give him better balance while waving his sword left and right in defense. Meanwhile he scanned the scene for any sign of Ellaway. Suddenly he felt a powerful force[E1] to the back of his head. Ripple lost his footing and fell to the roots of the tree.

Slowly, he shook off the pain in his head and started to stand up, but in a flash he saw a Kin bearing down on him with his sword. Ripple rolled away from the tree as his attacker hit the ground with his weapon. Quickly Ripple scrambled to his feet. Without hesitation the the gaint kin lifted his sword and swung it at him with all his muscle only to wedge it in a tree. The giant went to pull the sword out of the tree, to find his blade stuck. Ripple made a rapid strike at the beast’s back and the man slanted backward and fell with a thud.

Ripple smiled cockily down at the corpse with admiration at his work, but a raging cry from behind him awoke him from his delight. He turned and lifted his sword ready to strike. The aggressor thrust his sword towards Ripple’s chest, but Ripple blocked the blow.

Both Ripple and his attacker stopped as the leader of the Kin jumped up into the trees and yelled “Gazanyn, Gazanyn! Gazanyn!”

With the command, the Kin started to take to the trees in a mad dash. In one bound the Kin in front of Ripple jumped onto the branches above and started scurrying from tree to tree. With grace and style the Kin flew threw the air looking more and more like jaguars. Their nibble feet always landed on the next branch which they leapt from to the next. Ripple looked around in search for the cause of retreat and saw sliver figures skillfully fighting on horse. The silver warriors! Why had they come to fight? He looked for Ellaway to make a run for it in the chaos. He rasped out Ellaway’s name, but no reply came. He ran in the crowd of fleeing Kin and hoofs and caught sight of her looking confused, but a sudden rush of Kin threw themselves on Ripple. In disarray the invaders grabbed for Ripple’s flinging limbs. Ripple scuffled as he tried to set himself free screaming Ellaway’s name all along.

Ellaway found herself unable to stand, she sank to her knees, as the commotion of the battle whorled around her. She heard her name being hysterically called from some where but it seemed from a far distance. Her eyes were covered in a mist and everything seemed to be a smear of color.

In a moment of panic she realized that it was Ripple’s voice calling her, but he was getting farther and farther. She turned this way and that, searching desperately for the location of his voice. But there was so much noise about her it seemed that Ripple was every where screaming for her, all she saw was a blur of silver armor. She tried to stand, but a surge of pain ran through her leg. She fell face down in the blood soaked mud. She raised her head in one last effort to find Ripple and saw him far from her, being dragged away. Her voice was able to whisper his name, but not loud enough for even her to hear. A last flow of pain ran up her wounded leg, her eyes rolled in the back of her head. Everything became dark and Ellaway felt blackness pulling around her, she tried hard to find her way out, but let go and an inky black covered her eyes.

Ripple kicked at any Kin that he could reach. Then in front of him he saw Ellaway face down in the mud, “NOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO! ELLAWAY, GET UP! DON’T BE DEAD! WAKE UP!” Ripple fought harder against his captors[E2] trying to get to Ellaway. Her body lied lifeless on the forest floor, and despite Ripple’s determined yelling, she never moved. She seemed to be miles away from him and getting farther away. He lashed out as hard as he could, but he was overcome with Kin, and finally he gave up and relaxed murmuring, “Don’t be dead, please, just don’t be dead.”

In the rush of Kin scrambling away from the sliver riders, Ripple found tears cleansing his filthy face. He closed his eyes in distress, stammering along with the pull of his enemies. Time seemed to quicken its pace as he got farther away from Ellaway. The Kin ran in a panic as the silver riders pursued them, hustling Ripple along with them. One of the Kin threw Ripple to his back [E3] and jumped into a tree along with the rest of the Kin darting over the forest floor.

Kin flew among the tree tops scattering away from the riders and even though the kin were fast they were no match for the riders aim with a bow and arrow. Ripple watched as Kin fell to the ground from the shots of the riders. Suddenly he noticed how exposed he must be to any arrows, but Ripple did not care. He had given up. He only wanted sleep. Ripple closed his eyes and muttered silent prayers to every god he had heard of, hoping against all hope that some how Ellaway was alright,free [E4] and safe.

As Ripple jostled along, an arrow whizzed by his ear, and caught in the Kin’s back that was caring him. The Kin stumbled as he climbed from branch to branch, but he did not falter. But as they flew threw the air another arrow priced the Kin in his gut. He grasped for the next branch, but it slipped threw his nimble hands. Ripple tumbled to the ground and laid in a heap. Helplessly, he stood.

But just as he did so, a hand grabbed the rough of his shirt, and slung him over a horse. Ripple went limb once more wishing it was over, he closed his eyes and knew no more…

Every thing hurt from head to toe, especially her throbbing leg, as Ellaway dazed out of sleep she laid on the rough forest floor. Her whole body ached and a ruthless something was continuously poking at Ellaway’s side. She feebly groaned and brushed away the nuisance when a quite raspy voice spoke to no one in particular, “Oh, the thing lives! We will not eat it then, no no she will do us no good alive.” The raspy voice growled in reply, “No, but we could kill it. We are so hungry and need food, she is so fresh,” A longing desire creped in to the voice, “we have not had fresh meat for so long… so long. I say we kill it, and eat now!”

The raspy voice brought Ellaway to consciousness, but she kept quiet. Her breathing was slow and unsteady. She squeezed her eyes shut too scared to see what thing she was to encounter next in her never ending nightmare.

“Bolbart, Bolbart, now, we do not kill no no. We are too old for that sort of thing, and we do not kill, not even in our younger years. We feed off the victims of others,” but Bolbart was cut off by none other but himself, “No! That’s not true why lie to our selves?,” His voice changed in and out from a murderous mood to a poor weary old man, “[E5] We know of the others we have mercilessly killed for our pleasure, why lie now? Why change now when we have already been so bad?”

He slowly scuttled toward Ellaway, seeming to have made up his mind that he was to make her his lunch. Ellaway was ready. As he nervously stretched out his hand toward her, Ellaway slit open her eyes to see what resembled a black hand more like a claw creeping to her neck. Slowly, she took out her dagger from her belt. Ellaway calmed her breathing as best she could, pretending to still be asleep. When the claw brushed against her cheek, she snatched it and held out her dagger to ward off farther attacks.

Ellaway repulsed back at the sight before her. The figure scarcely resembled any human body, it was no taller then past Ellaway’s knees, and had a mangled black body with a shell on its back, that was blacker still. His arms were long, thin and frail ending with sharp lobster-like claws. It looked like a turtle on its hind legs. Its thick neck arched out from its shell, which abruptly ended with a snake like head. The only features on its face were two pale blue, glowing eyes.

Its skeleton thin arm writhed in Ellaway’s grip as he tried to free himself her grasp. Ellaway, completely unready for such a sight, could only stare in surprise holding out her weapon.

A completely overpowered Bolbart, lowered his head and whimpered, sobbing like a lost child. The only sign of a mouth was a thick bright red tongue slithering as he spoke, “Please, we- we meant- we meant no harm to you. No harm, no, no harm. Only- we only try to wake you up.” He collapsed totally. Bolbart bent his short thick legs and thumped down on the ground. He rested his free elbow on his knee and covered his eyes to have a good long wail.

Ellaway was shocked and a little more than unsettled. She thought to herself ‘This could be a trick, a way for me to feel sorry for him and let go.’ But his stammering breath seemed quite sincere to Ellaway. However she did not let go, but said in a soothing yet stern voice, “I’m sorry to have startled you, but you did say you planed to eat me.”

Bolbart suddenly stopped crying and glared at Ellaway with now fire red eyes, “She eas drops on us, that is no good, no good at all. We no like eas droppers, but she is to strong to kill any how, to strong.” He stopped speaking and merely sat there.

Ellaway’s leg surged in pain, but she could not attend to the hurt now. “Listen,” Ellaway inquired, “I was walking through here with a friend when we were attacked. Did you happen to see any sign of where he might be? He is uh… tall…um brown hair with sharp green eyes, and very human looking.”

Bolbart seemed back to normal , “Ah, we saw battle here with kin yes and silver warrior, mmm I have not tasted their blood in many years, but no dead do they leave behind for poor hungry Bolbart.” His eyes glimmered a sad blue.

“Yes, well,” Ellaway stammered slightly uncomfortable, “did you see Rip- this man I mean?”

“The man yes, yes the kin got him. Took him to the trees and ran.”

Ellaway grew nervous, “The Kin have him?”

“No, no the Kin that carried him fell. We thought the man would be left for poor Bolbart to eat, but no, a silver warrior picked him up yes, yes, took him fast away, to city.”

Ellaway looked at him anxiously, the thought that Ripple was almost left as prey for this writhing creature made her stomach churn, she tried not to think of it, “What city was he taken to?”

Bolbart’s eyes turned a darker blue as he accounted the city Ripple had been flung to, “It is a hidden city, yes, yes, in the heart of the forest, the silver warriors live there, poor Bolbart haven’t tasted them in so long.”

Ellaway grew more excited with hope of finding Ripple, “How do I find this hidden city?”

Bolbart stood up on his stubby legs, “Oh Bolbart’s been there. Been there many times, used to steel babies in their sleep we eat good!” Bolbart’s eyes turned blood red, “Used to rip them up for our supper, the sweet raw fresh bloody meet.” Bolbart’s tongue curved around his lips in delight.

Ellaway let go of Bolbart’s hand and held her own to her mouth trying to keep her stomach settled, she made sure her knife was extended before her, when she felt able to open her mouth without puking, she continued to question Bolbart, “Can you take me to this city?”

Bolbart seemed to grow angry, “They put spell on Bolbart. If he come near city he dies, we hurts so much no more babies for breakfast he hurt to much.”

Ellaway suddenly started squirmy slightly on the ground as a sharp ache pulsed through her leg, “Take me to the city.”

Bolbart looked at her wide eyed, “Bolbart can’t go to city. It hurt to go to city, can’t do it.”

Ellaway rocked back and forth and started to breathe deeply, tears swelled in her eyes. Bolbart walked closer to her, “Is she hurt?”

Ellaway looked at his cold blue eyes, “My leg is wounded, but I will be fine. I need to heal it. I am going to put this dagger down to try and heal my leg but if you come near me you will regret it. Do you understand?”

Bolbart shook his head.

Ellaway moved back her ripped pant leg to reveal a bloody wound, it was pretty deep, but she thought she could heal in so at least it wasn’t in as much pain. Ellaway concentrate on her task, ignoring the staring Bolbart and the pain in her leg. She curved her hands around her leg inches away from the skin, but not touching it. Once she summoned enough energy, a blue glow illuminated from her hands toward her leg.

Slowly the cut started to heal together as she ran her bright hands up and down the lesion, until it was only a shallow cut. The blue glow dissipated from her hands and she leaned back closing her eyes, regaining her strength. As Ellaway took deep breathes she felt something brush the back of her neck.

With lighting reflexes, Ellaway turned and thrust her hand against Bolbart’s meshed stomach and a beam of red light burst from her hand flinging Bolbart back till he hit hard on a tree. He crumbled to the ground and laid there whimpering.

Ellaway calmly turned to her satchel that laid near her and rummaged through it till she found some bandaging cloth. She rapped her nearly healed leg and started to stand, testing its sturdiness. It was suitable enough, till she found a better fix. She picked up her bag and dagger, found and sheathed it back in her belt, and limbed over to Bolbart.

He lay rocking on the ground, weeping pathetically. He was not hurt but very frightened. As Ellaway stood tall above him, he looked up at her determined face, and if his skin could pale with fear he would have surely done so now, but his eyes certainly turned the palest blue with fright. She demanded, “Take me to the city.”

Bolbart dared not argue.

Ellaway had seemed to be following Bolbart through the woods for a life time. As he lead, Bolbart’s manner changed, he grew bitter, continually muttering atrocities under his breathe assuming his follower could not hear him.

Many times Ellaway couldn’t tell if he remembered she was even there and often called out asking, “Are we getting any closer?”

Bolbart would reply fearfully, “Yes, yes almost there, I feel it.” Then he went on cursing her for forcing him to take her to the city.

Ellaway started to get frustrated, feeling like Bolbart was taking her in circles trying to get her thoroughly lost. The sun started to drip closer to the horizon getting dangerously dark, but Ellaway didn’t want to stop to camp with this deranged creature, no less sleep with him near. She ached for Ripple to be near her again, he would have known what to do. Finally Bolbarts stopped a little ways in front of her.

He bent down leaning against something she could not see because of the darkness. As she got closer though she realized he was leaning on air. She studied him closer and indeed there was nothing there for him to rest on. Bolbart pointed to the air he was supposedly leaning on and said, “You go in there.”

Ellaway looked at him puzzled, “I don’t see anything.”

Then Bolbarts did something that irked her more than any thing he had yet done. He smiled. Sharp red teeth lined his mouth and lead to a dark hollow, his tongue lolled slightly out of his mouth and he chortled, “Bolbart so clever. Bolbart found way to hidden city and the fool can not even see it.” He looked at her with his dazzling blue eyes, “Bend down here,”

Ellaway bent down and cocked her head to look where he had pointed. Amazingly enough there was a tunnel made of woven branches tangled into an arch that rose two or three feet above the ground. It was wide enough for both Bolbart and Ellaway to kneel side by side in. She stood back up to look for the out side of the tunnel, but couldn’t see anything except for the ground and rotting leaves. She squatted back down, looking clearly impressed.

Bolbarts looked at her happily, “See, this is way to hidden city.”

Ellaway looked at it cautiously thinking this tiny hole could be a trap, she didn’t want to act to hastily, she nodded her head toward Bolbart, “You go first.”

Bolbart quivered with fear and he frantically shook his head, “No! No! Silver riders promise we die if go through tunnel. Can’t go Bolbart can’t go.” He slumped down and started wailing again, “Don’t make Bolbart go. We die.”

Ellaway would hate to get caught in the small crawl space with Bolbart following her to kill , but it might be a risk she had to take. Crawling anxiously toward the magical tunnel, she kept a wary eye on Bolbart. On all fours, she stuck her head in the cave, dirt and undergrowth stuck to her hands and knees as she inched forward. With only her head extended in, she already felt claustrophobic in the tight dark area, it was stuffy and smelled strongly of rot. She popped back out from the hole and asked, “How far do I have to go till the city?”

Bolbart shrugged his shoulders moving his hole shell and hissed, “Bolbart there in no time, but we very fast in short tunnel, yes very fast.”

Ellaway took a deep breathe, taking in the clean fresh air before plunging in the tunnel again. But as she slowly crawled on hands and knees into the tunnel, Bolbarts dived in after her, jumping on her back and started clawing madly at her, looking frenetically for her neck. His claws ripped at Ellaway’s back making it burn. She panicked and started racing down the tunnel hoping the spell Bolbart feared so much was real. She finally turned on her back and tried to fight off his attack, holding back his flimsy, but surprisingly strong arms.

Ellaway kept crawling crab walk on her back, when Bolbart started to cough, sounding like a cat hurling a hairball. He backed away from Ellaway and held his hands up to his throat as though he was choking. His coughing and sputtering grew worse and he started scarping at his neck to fend off some unseen hand squeezing on his wind pipes. Bolbart finally paced backward out of the tunnel, back into the open.

All Ellaway could see of him was his dark shadow and glaring red blood eye. She shivered openly from the irksome sight, and hastily turned around. Looking down the straight tunnel that curved with the forest floor, she sighed.

Taking a deep breathe that smelled of wet ground and earth, she started her way down the dim, wearisome path.

Chapter 2: of the hidden city

2008-06-18T22:01:00.000-06:00

With heavy labors breaths, Ellaway curled up on the ground, frighten and alone. She had crawl on all fours up and down her path for what seemed like days, but it couldn’t have been more than an hour, since dim twilight still streamed into the gloomy tunnel. Her legs and arms were scratched raw from endlessly dragging them on the ground. Dead leaves and twigs were tangled in her hair, along with a few spiders.

The last peak of the sun started to dip down below the horizon. Old, stuffy, humid air suffocated Ellaway. It felt as though she had layers and layers of clothing wrapped around her that she couldn’t get off. The smell of rotten leaves and musty air made her nose twitched with irritation. Beads of sweat clung to her clammy skin. The tall trees around her swayed in a luxurious breeze, but she felt none of it through the thick tangled branches.

Ellaway sat back up. She was too exhausted to crawl any farther that night. So she dug through her pack and brought out the little rations she had left, strips of jerky and dried fruit. She tore off some chews of jerky and had a few dried apples and deiced that that would have to be good enough for the night.

Curling back on to the ground, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep. Her thoughts wondered aimlessly, wondering where Ripple was now…

Light shone gently on Ellaway’s eyes as dawn awoke the world. The rustling of a squirrel squirming in the under brush, brought her softly to life. Ellaway sat up and looked around, with a sigh she slumped back to the ground. She gave a little irritated grunt and moaned, “You better appreciate this Ripple. Crawling on all fours all through the forest, ridiculous.” After a good stretch and a wide yawn, she sat back up.

Groaning, Ellaway searched through her pack for water and bandaging cloth. She drank deeply from her skins, but was careful since this was her last supply. Putting the skins down she looked at her bleeding hands and knees, covered with dirt. Hesitantly, she poured a little water on her hands. It burned as water seeped into her cuts. Gently she wiped off as much mud and muck as she could and started to tend to her sensitive knee. Once she cleansed her wounds as best she could, she wrapped them a few times, in hopes that they wouldn’t get worse.

Begrudgingly she climbed onto all fours and started to crawl. Her limbs felt a little better, but were still sore. She lolled her head downward and dragged her body across the floor. As she did, she felt that something was wrong. Everything around her looked slightly familiar. She stopped and looked around more carefully.

‘Surely this is the way I just came from.’ she thought. With her forehead furrowed in confusion she turned around and looked down that way of the tunnel, but it looked no different. Ellaway dejectedly sat on the ground searching for something different between the two sides, glancing at one, then turning to the other, examining the edges and ground, hunting for her own trail. But nothing seemed to signify which direction she should head. Finally she turned around and walked the opposite way.

She crawled on and on, over the coarse surface and unfortunately she felt more and more uneasy that she was going the wrong way. Every once in a while she would stop and look behind her. After crawling for at least a half an hour with no avail over the growing terror that she was lost, she fixedly turned the other direction and tramped off that way. Nothing seemed right, she couldn’t be going the right way.

Aggravated, Ellaway threw her self up against the tunnel wall, breathing deeply. She rested her elbows on her knees and started to rub her head, wondering how she got into this mess. With a sign she pulled her back pack on to her lap and grabbed some of the few dried barriers and started munching while she tried to choose the right path.

As she studied the tunnel, a small singular bird stood atop the invisible cage right above her. It jumped on the roof and twittered as it went. Ellaway wondered how it saw its perch as it scurried from branch to branch. Fascinated, she watched the bird, finding a glimmer of joy watching its blue chest and dark eyes. It suddenly perked up and stopped its singing to listen, and as quickly as it came, it flew off. Ellaway looked down at her pruned berries and picked out a fat one. Inquisitively, she stared down the path and took notice of the placement of the sun, trying to figure out where north was.

The forest seemed oddly quietly after the solitary bird flew off; she listened intently and noticed that not a single bird could be heard.

Out of the silence came a soft unearthly moan looming down the tunnel. From the still air, a rush of wind caught Ellaways breath. A stench of death clung to the air making Ellaway’s eyes water.

Hesitantly, she started toward the moan. Her whole body was tense and wary, but she moved forward. With every step the moaning grew louder and sent shivers down her spine. Ahead she saw a lump laying on the ground. As she moved forward the smell of rot grew stronger. The sound of the moan reverberated off the tunnel walls. Ellaway finally crept close enough to see the lump was an unsightly scene of a weathered human carcass laying huddled against the tunnel wall. Ellaway gasped and with wide eyes and repulsed back.

Flesh was still rotting off the bone of the corpse. Ants and insects crawled over the decaying muscles. His back was to the tunnel, exposing his sunken face and empty eye sockets. Ellaway shivered as another whiff of decay lapsed over her.

The moaning seemed to come from the tunnel, as though it was warning trespassers to turn around before they met the same fate. But since she had defiantly not passed a dead body the night before, she knew she was going the right way.

Shakily, she got back on hands and knees and with all of her will, she moved forward. Her face skewed up in disgust. She slowly passed his head, telling herself it was just dead, like a chicken.

But the hand of the corpse shot out and grabbed her wrist! Ellaway shrieked and tried to pull off the decayed hand. The moaning grew louder, pulsing in her ears and head. The grip on her hand tightened. In the moan she distinctly heard a whisper, “Turn back, turn back, turn back…” It faded out, but the moaning continued and the wind picked up, swirling her hair around madly. Ellaway felt her panic rise as the dead rose it’s head and two glaring red lights shone back into hers. Barely breathing with panic, she kicked him hard in the head. Slowly he let go, Ellaway crawled away side ways, watching the carcasses huddle back onto the floor. He made no sign to follow her.

Hurriedly, she crawl down the tunnel till the moaning died out. Catching her breath she rested her head between her knees. Her whole body was trembling. She tried to take deep breaths, but they kept coming in short gasps and a lump jumped to her throat. Squeezing her eyes, Ellaway cried in loud rasping breaths.

Ellaway sighed and whipped at her tear stained cheeks. With stuttering breaths she tried to calm herself, “Oh now, that wasn’t so bad, just got to get a grip on myself.” With a few more sniffles, she started back down her path muttering, “Just got to keep going.”

Noon fell upon Ellaway as she shakily shook a water snake from her hand. Like her it was stuck in this trap, never to escape the woes of this tiny space. It was a harmless snake ensnared in this confinement. She stood still watching it till it slithered around a branch and curled up in the sun to nap.

She marched by watching it carefully to make sure it wouldn’t snap at her at the last minute and crawled on. Once she had past, she let her head loll downward again, staring at brown earth and dirt as she trudged on. Her bandages tied around her hands and knees were now speckled with blood and smeared in dirt. Aggravated, the wound on her leg stung painfully. But she crawled on.

With no warning, Ellaway plunged forward a half foot deep in boggy water.

Shocked, Ellaway leaped back, away from the waters edge and looked up. There in the middle of her path, a lake rippled out from where she had fallen in.

The tunnel’s branches twisted down the depths of the lake till it was swallowed in the darkness of the murky, thick water. It appeared that, for some reason, the tunnel was built straight through the lake, all the way down to its sandy floor. Like everything else in the heartless tunnel, the water with in the branches couldn’t escape, it couldn’t even splash between the spaced branches. Instead, the water waved against the tunnels walls like the ocean upon towering cliffs, trying to join the rest of the lake that extended far past the tunnel.

Fishes and snakes swam in the tunnel, trapped like the water they were bathed in. Startled, Ellaway sat looking at the lake in awe as the strange water lapsed on the walls that kept it.

Dauntingly, Ellaway realized the massiveness of this obstacle. It was not a small lake. She could still see the other side through the dark tunnel, but stretched far enough to be quite a swim. Ellaway examined the surrounding area for any way around the dirty waters; she would hate to have to continue her crawl, not only hungry and tired, but wet and cold as well. Plus the trip across would be one to worry about, diving her wounded leg in dirt fill water didn’t necessarily seem a wise thing to do. Then there was the issue of keeping her pack dry.

However the more she looked it over, the more convinced she was that there was no other chose but to swim. She removed her shoes, placing them in her satchel and carefully threw her knotted hair in a rough pony tail. With one more overview of the looming tunnel, she dove head first into the lagoon. Cold water chilled her whole body, making her tingle with goose bumbles. However the next patch of water seemed relatively warm.

Her wounded leg stung from the exposure of the dirty water, but there was nothing for her to do about it but swim on. Her side hit against the woven branches. She redirected her swim to the middle of the passageway, taking it slow so not to waste her energy. She splashed lightly as she swam on the surface of the lake. In her trouble-free swim, she saw a strange dark shadow starting to emerge out of the dark gloomy waters below.

Ellaway couldn’t tell exactly what it was, but unconcerned, she paddled on. But as it drew closer to her, Ellaway started to be more wary of its presents.

Gradually it started to get larger and take on more shape. It was longer than Ellaway and darker than the mucky water surrounding it. It was shaped like an over sized shark, with a fat, thick tail, and huge fins.

Ellaway’s mind started to race, a thing that size needed something comparable to feed it, and she had a feeling that she was that something. Panicked, Ellaway picked up her pace as the beast kept floating higher.

Her legs started kicking harder, the monster below took notice and weaved his body faster in the water. Oddly it wasn’t just trying to follow her it was attempting to get ahead of Ellaway. Soon her swim turned into a fatal race with the fish.

Ellaway glanced at the beast swimming below. With a shock, she glared at it once more, the fish was swimming backwards! Ellaway watch it more closely and indeed its head was at her feet. His tail lashed madly in reverse while his fins were flopped toward his head instead of toward his tail. It’s body must have been to long to turn around in the narrow passageway.

It was a very strange sight to see a fish swimming backward but Ellaway didn’t have the time to watch the funny movement. Slowly the creature made his way in front of her. He was rising to the surface of the water. Ellaway’s heart was beating hard against her chest and each breath was more laborious then the last. Her ribs felt like they were collapsing in on them selves. She stopped mid swim and frantically darted back toward shore.

The monster followed her and started to open his wide mouth ready to gulp her in a single bite. Ellaway looked around for an escape, the shore was too far to reach. She was trapped inside the lane of the tunnel. Hopelessly, she looked up. With one last effort, and the fish drawing near, Ellaway jumped up as swift and as high as she could and latched onto the hovering branches. She caught it and as she rapped her legs around a free branch, the fish dashed by, biting down on nothing but water and dirt. Ellaway let out a sigh of relief and panted heavily hoping the fish couldn’t jump. The fish disappointedly swam beneath her, but never made an attempt to reach her.

Ellaway sighed heavily. She held on to the wet branches like a leech to it’s prey. The dark figure of the beast paced below her. She watched it as in swam back and forth beneath her, waiting for her to fall.

She glanced back the way she had come and towards her destination; she had only swam a third of the length between both shores. The only thing left for her to do was climb. Her head, fortunately was already facing the opposite shore. Steadily, Ellaway moved toward the distant land. She carefully searched for a strong hold for one hand than the other, then moved her legs in pace. It was slow and tedious work like climbing a horizontal cliff. Her wet hair and pack back swung underneath her as she moved from branch to branch.

She had thought crawling was strenuous, but now she would have taken creeping on all four limbs compared to this, any day. Her cracked and bleeding hands stung profusely as she held onto the branches, especially as salty drops of sweat burned her wounds. The only relief she had was her cold wet clothes clinging to her body, cooling her in the sweltering tunnel.

All she could see was the bars of her entrapment and the leafy tree tops above with a few specks of the blue sky far beyond her reach. The wish to be out of the dark tunnel and woods swelled with in her chest ready to spill out in rage and fury. However taking deep heavy breaths, she calmed herself and climbed on.

Noon past by as Ellaway made her climb, her arms and legs trembled and shook with pain as she held on, threatening to give way and drop her into the depths below, into the belly of the hungry beast. Her hands bled profusely through her cloth. She was a few lengths a way from the nearing shore and the waters edge started to be more in focus, but it was far enough that it made Ellaway weary to look at the distance. To motivate herself she kept telling her tired body that they only had to make to a small ways more.

The beast glided beneath her, patiently waiting for her expected fall. Ellaway’s shirt and pants had dried from her earlier dip in the waters, making the tunnel even more hot and stuffy. Beads of sweet rolled down her fore head and dripped into her hair.

She kept moving her body, but had to stop to rest. He arms trembled from climbing. The soreness that enveloped her hole body was almost unbearable. She had to keep moving. She had to get to the other side. But she had nothing left in her, her eyes slowly closed and tears squeezed through her eye lids. Not an once of her could move on.

Darkness over came her and with a start she fell towards the water below…

Chapter 3: of the hidden city

2008-06-18T22:00:00.000-06:00

Delilah sat on top of her bed in a soft pink silk night gown, waiting for her husband to come in to bed. She was so worried about him lately, he had let such little things stress him. Even the petty work from day to day caused him such strife. And now the day’s new developments had put him on edge. He snipped and snapped at everybody, even the passerby couldn’t get away from him without a trite remark.

The transparent drapes blew gently in the breeze . Their luxurious room, shaped like a large wedge of a pie, was brightly lit by spheres of magic light hanging from the walls. Despite the darkening outside, the room was bathed in brilliance with the bright blues and light beige that decorated the walls. The room was simply designed, with only a few pieces of smooth metal furniture, including their wide bed, a dresser and two night stands. On the wall hung traditional hand made delicacies from their people.

Her husband’s first fan from childhood hung on the wall next to his brightly colored octha that his oldest son hand made for him. Each was made with the smooth dull metals that her people used with mastery and skill. Hung on the opposite wall, Delilah’s own fans were tactfully displayed on a simply metal shelf. The lights reflected off the metal drowning the room in more radiance.

She looked longingly out the window, past the trees and shining city that surrounded their house, up into the sky where a night owl roamed over head. The stocky short build of the owl was silhouetted against the bright full moon that dreamily floated by in the frosty dark blue sky.

Free. That was the only word she could think of to describe the moon and the owl, free. All she could think of was the free wind, the free leafy tree tops, the free mouse scurrying through the woods, all free.

But that was something she could not think of, if not for her sanity then for her husband’s. He had enough on his plate, no less to let her thoughts of escape weigh on him. She sighed heavily and watched the door, conscious of the freedom wafting from the open window, but she kept her eyes away from the tempting shooting stars and the sensuous black night. Finally he walked through the door.

She softly smiled at him and he gently returned the favor, obviously distracted. He walked up to the dresser in the far corner and started taking off his fine jewelry draped on his neck and hands. He unwrapped his elaborate designed silk shirt and leaned his hands on the short dresser, looking at himself in the mirror above. His built body, was withered slightly with age. His hair grew more and more gray with each passing day. Small wrinkles creased under his glossed-over eyes. Glossed-over from exhaustion he assumed. He mutter to himself, “Titus you are getting to old.” His wife’s hands appeared softly around his tight belly and her head rested tenderly on his shoulder.

She frowned, creasing her many wrinkles as well, “Um… to old? I think not, you are at the peek of your youth.”

Titus chuckled and put his hand gently around hers on his belly, “You think so.”

Delilah smiled widely, “Oh, of course.” But as she gazed at him in the mirror she saw the lines of time spread across his face. He was so tired. She wished she could make all the petty fears disappear for him, to make themselves disappear. Teasingly, the wind blew at her back with the whisper of escape. She shivered, “Mmm… it’s nipped. I think I will close the window.”

As she pulled away, Titus grabbed her hand “I like it open. Can we?”

Helplessly she nodded. She couldn’t say no to those weary eyes.

He rested on the dresser, looking deep into the mirror. Delilah leaned her back against the dresser next to him, turning her head to face his. Looking at this sagging profile, she sighed, “You look so tired.”

He took a deep breath, “That’s cause I am.”

“Daringly?”, she questioned him, “Why don’t you let him go?” As soon as she said this, he stood up straight and paced a little away from her, but she went on, “Or at least stopping hiding that he is here and hand him over to the government, it was years ago that he was here and he had no intention of coming here again.”

As soon as she said this, she could almost feel the anger build in him, he tried to keep his voice calm, but his bitter words did nothing to conceal his anger, “So you think I should just let him go, happy and free.”

Free, she hated that word more and more. Hushed, she answered, “Well, you could at least give him to the right authorities, and why not?”

Facing her, Titus spat, “To make him pay, that’s why not.”

Delilah shook her head, “How is that our place?”

Titus took a step closer, “It was my daughter-”

Angrily, Delilah interrupted, “He was doing what he thought was best and maybe that was what was best!”

Titus flared, he yelled out, “You were always on his side! You wished your fate with Ripple and our daughter, more than you ever did here!”

She folded her arms around herself, “We are not talking about what was, we are talking about now and revenge is not the way!”

Titus threw his hands up in frustration, “How can we not talk about what was. It was my daughter! Our daughter!”

Delilah had lost control on her tongue, “Don’t let stupid pride blind your view just because you are not man enough to let it go!”

Delilah knew she had gone too far, but Titus put his arms back down and took a few deep breaths and softly said, “Oh Delilah, I know my pride is too big. I am just not as good as you to let something die. But I can’t let it die, when my ache still lives.”

His dark eyes stared longingly at her, imploring for something, but she didn’t know what he expected.

Quietly she hugged him, rapping her arms around his waist and back, encompassing as much of him as she could, “Oh my love, think of it no more tonight.”

Ripple groaned as he dozed out of sleep. He lay on his side, with his cheek pressed against hard rock. Thick, wide metal cuffs dung into his hands. His head pounded in pain and his wrists ached. Slowly Ripple opened his eyes. Darkness closed in around him, except for some dim light that shone from a corner of the room. The floor and walls were made of flat jagged rock and the ceiling rose high above his head. The room was long and thin, shaped more like a rectangle then a square, but the most peculiar thing about the room was that there were no doors.

The dim light came from a passageway that quickly turned left, so he could not see into the dark hallway.

Exhausted, Ripple was content to lay there a while till he could get up the energy to stand. As he laid, his mind slowly recalled how he got there, and with a jolt of memory he saw Ellaway unflinching, face down in the mud. He squeezed his eyes shut and sat up. Where was she now? Surly the Kin had her lifeless body, ready to hand it over to an exuberate Greenda. He had to get out of here.

Ripple gazed at the corridor with no door. He looked around the room making sure no guards sat watching him. The room was empty. The lack of safe confinement irked Ripple. They hadn’t even tied his legs! What made them so sure he couldn’t just walk out?

He listened for noise and could hear people, talking quietly as they passed. Ripple stayed still until their voices faded away. When silence returned, he push against the floor and stood. Wobbling a little, he regained his balance, widening his stance. Gently he tiptoed to the doorway.

Cautiously, he examined the doorway, checking if there were any means to keep in their prisoner, but nothing seemed to be there. He wondered why a people would put him in a room tied up him, with no guards or locked door. Did they think the simple cuffs around his hands could keep him?

There was only one way to find out.

Hesitantly, Ripple took a step into the exit. Proudly, he looked the around, but he found himself facing the opposite wall of the room he just left! Disoriented and a little confused he shook his head and turned sharply toward the passageway. A befuddled look scrunched his eye brows.

Once again he headed toward the narrow way and not even a step in, he found himself back in the middle of the room. He couldn’t explain how it happened; it was like walking around in a circle without realizing it. He didn’t feel himself being pulled back in the room or being transported in any way, but some how he was there. With new determination he went at the door in a run, but almost ran straight into the opposite wall. He tried every thing he could think of, he walked out back wards, he ran out backwards, he jumped out and crawled out, he slid out against the wall, then the other wall, but nothing worked. Every time he took step into the hallway he ended up in some other location inside the room.

Frustrated, he turned and glared at the passageway, but instead of staring at rock he glared into a face he knew all to well. The dark figure and Ripple stood facing each other in a fierce stare down. With dark glowering eyes the man at the door spoke first, “Why have you dared to come back to our woods?”

Ripple cocked his head in shock, “Your woods? I was not near your woods nor had any intention of entering them.”

The man calming explained, “You were on the outer rim of our city, close enough for us to feel you, and reach you. That is pretty close for not coming here. Why are you here?”

Ripple let loose his civil tongue, “I am here because you brought me here! I had no chose and I would have definitely not chosen this fate if it were up to me!”

The figure folded his arms in front of him and simply said, “You know the destiny that lies with you here.”

Ripple looked at him cold, “So death is my sentence.”

The dark form took a bold step towards his prisoner, “Oh no Ripple I have a sentence much worse then death for you here. You, the free bird that flies from nest to nest with a trail of destruction behind you, will be trapped here till your far distant death. You will eat here, sleep here, live here,” he paused and delightfully added, “die here. With the door always open, beckoning you to escape, you will go insane here.”

Ripple felt a flicker of fear burn inside of him, he had already felt the suffocating truth of being trapped in one place, but he didn’t let it show, and chuckled, “Is that the worse you can do?”

His enemies’ eyes flickered with hunger and lust, but a smile played across his lips, “You are brave to show no fear, but I know better than that, you will feel the pain.”

Angrily Ripple spat out, “Oh yes! You should know the pain! She felt it every day here, didn’t she?! You know of the pain because you caused that upon your own flesh and blood! You punish me, but you should thank me!” The bold, firm, figure started to waver, “What!? Can’t handle hearing about her anguish?”

The man recomposed himself and smiled devilishly at Ripple, “Goodbye Ripple.” He turned and simply walked out of the room with no trouble. Quickly Ripple tried to follow, but found himself in another corner. The figure laughed loud and clear as Ripple looked around confused. As the man march off, his laugh echoed and rang in Ripple’s ears.

With unstoppable despair he sunk to the floor. A life time in this cell caved in on him, and the walls closed in around him. But he had been threatened to many times with death and entrapment to give up now. Somehow, he would get out.

Ripple sat…

and sat…

and sat...

With no company but his never ending thoughts, he sat. He didn’t even have a friendly fat rat to keep him entertained. There were no windows to watch the lonely world pass him by. He didn’t know if it was night or day and slept on and off, depending on his mood. He was unsure if a life time had passed or a minute since his last visitor.

Every once in a while a quiet man dressed in simple elegant silk shirt and a shimmering wrapped skirt, brought in wooden bowls’ of thick, dark brown mush, and of dirty, slimy water. He chuckled when he first saw the two bowls, and no spoon or cup.

They were trying to insult him. But he changed his mind, not “they”, but “him”.

Ripple remembered telling him about pet dogs, about keeping bowls of water and food for them to eat out of. He thought it was so ridiculous! Keeping a filthy, dumb, stinking animal locked up in your house! They didn’t think that highly of animals. Now his captor was keeping his own filthy, dumb, stinking animal locked up and feeding him out of bowls. But it didn’t bother Ripple, let him poke and insult, if it truly made him feel better, which he doubted.

His thoughts to often turned to the unmoving figure of Ellaway, but he tried not to think of it. Not thinking where she might be, or who might have her now. It was all his fault! If had kept closer to her, he knew she was the one they want, if he knew she was hurt…

When he couldn’t handle his thought, he attempted the haunting door way, trying to at least figure out its magic, but that only made him more frustrated. So he made an effort to climb the flat but jagged walls, but there was no part uneven enough for a good foot hold. But he couldn’t just sit! The tension in his legs from doing nothing was more then he could bear. To use spare energy he ran little laps around the room, then did a hundred awkward push up, crunches, sit up and any other exercise he could think of. Dejected and out of breath, he would crawl back to his position and… sit.

And as he sat, he was going crazy.

The whole ordeal was so frustrating! He didn’t understand at all about his daughter! He sees nothing! Nothing! And he didn’t even try! Didn’t even hear him out! It was maddening to be locked up for letting an innocent girl go free! If he could see her now, how happy she is! Then he would understand, surly then…

Chapter 4: of the hidden city

2008-06-18T21:59:00.000-06:00

Ellaway woke up on the shore, sputtering and coughing up lake water. Rejuvenating her lungs, she gulped down big gasps of air. She laid on her stomach on wet earth with her legs still dangling in water. She pulled them out and sat up, still sucking down oxygen. Looking back across the lake, the huge fish that swam so dangerously beneath her, now stuck his nose up close to the shore. Ellaway crawled cautiously forward, slowly she put her hand forward, but the big fish made no movement to attack. With tenderness Ellaway rubbed the dark blue skin between his eyes. The fish closed his eyes and hummed quietly in obvious pleasure.

Softly Ellaway smiled, “You saved my life. Thank you.” She stayed awhile rubbing him gently. He basked in the soft caress, humming louder. Soon the fish started backing into the water. With grace and grandeur, he did a flip under water and jumped up tipping his nose against the tunnel ceiling.

Ellaway watch him in awe. Then he sunk back into the dark murkiness, and Ellaway knew that it was time for her to go. She knew that an animal that intelligent surly lead her to the right shore. She flopped back down onto hands and knees. Still tired and drained she smiled, finally something good had happened to her. It reminded her that there were good people every where, be it man or beast.

The happiness from earlier had worn off and Ellaway laid on her side trying to calm her staggered breathing. Her shoulders and arms shook from the strain of pulling her body. Her wounded leg ached from being continuously rubbed against the rough floor. She closed her eyes, but fluttered back open as sleep threatened to overcome her.

Ellaway turned back on to her tender hands and knees and slowly made her way down the path. She slid down the angled ground and in a daze, continued her droning crawl. Ellaway felt very little and small as the trees towered above her on both sides, she felt like ant among human legs and feet, threatening to be crushed by her very size. Never before had she felt so vulnerable in the woods that surrounded her and for the first time on her journey away from her enslavement, she missed what she used to have. She laughed out loud to herself. To miss that old ugly inn! She must be going mad! But she could not rid herself of longing for the wide open spaces and large blue sky that used to encompass her, compared to the twigs and branches of tall trees and the tunnel that trapped her now.

After a while, the sun sank behind the horizon. Darkness overcame the light that played between the branches of the enchanted tunnel. As shadows dominated the light, sudden fear clenched at Ellaway’s heart. The twisted branches reminded her of the corpse’s hand. Pictures of his head rising and staring her in the face blared in her mind. As night ensnared around her, every sound around seemed to be intensified in Ellaway’s ears. She turned frantically this way and that to find the source of every tit and tat. Fear overwhelmed her every cell and her whole body tensed.

Listening to the night, she was unable to move and, loudly, her heart raced. She crouched there in fear.

Ellaway couldn’t take it any longer. Like a mad man, she pulled out her sword and started to hack at the tunnel, wanting out of her prison. Gritty her teeth she chopped at everything around her, trying to make an escape, but the branches over her head stayed sturdy. Items flew out of her pack in her rage. With determination she kept on smacking the cave, and finally broke off a single branch, but as soon as it broke off, a new branch quickly grew to cover the small hole she had made.

Screaming hysterically into the quiet night, Ellaway kept whacking at her surroundings, but to no avail and started sobbing in frustration. Dropping her sword, Ellaway curled her knees up to her chest and fell to the ground, wailing.

Eventually, sleep besieged her…

Ellaway woke to a surge of pain ripping through the back of her neck. It felt like two knifes were splitting into the sides of her throat! Tearing herself from the grasp Ellaway turned to find two glowing red eyes staring back at her. Ellaway screamed, “YOU!”

Ellaway might have been infuriated, but so was Bolbart, he snickered, “Yes, my Breakfast! ME!” With impressive speed, he scrambled atop the tunnel and reached through the holes, searching for Ellaway’s throat to choke. Ellaway dived down, but Bolbart caught the lobe of her ear.

Bolbart’s sharp claws pierced through her skin. He held on tight. With a strain, Bolbart started to pull her head towards him and reached his other claw through for her throat.

Ellaway screeched out as her neck stretched up ward toward Bolbart. Her ear stung as it was use to haul her closer to his pinching claws. Blood dripped from her pinched ear onto to her arms and shoulder. Ellaway reached down to her pack, looking for her dagger. With Bolbart inches away from her throat, she felt out for the handle of her knife. Skimming the ground, Ellaway finally felt its smooth finish under her fingers. She couldn’t get a grip of it! Struggling, she reached out her arm till she thought it might pull out of socket while her ear dripped more blood.

Bolbart’s claw started to skim against her jugular. crawling to puncher her vain. With one last stretch Ellaway finally grabbed her knife and flung it above her head, cutting off Bolbart’s extended arm. The severed limb fell to the ground next to her as Bolbart let out a shrieking scream.

He pulled back out of the tunnel, to nurse his lopped off arm, cradling it against his thick stomach, he clambered off the tunnel. Dark red blood oozed from his stubbed extremity.

Enraged, Ellaway seized his elbow before he could scamper away. She pulled the knife through the tunnel and pressed it on Bolbart’s throat. She leaned her face against the branches looking like a fugitive hungrily squeezed against cell bars.

Ellaway warned, “If I ever see you again, I swear on Una’s name, I will kill you on the spot! Understand!”

Bolbart shook feebly.

Ellaway screamed, “Do you understand!? Say it Bolbart, I need to hear you say it!”

Bolbart sobbed, “We- we never see you again.”

She thrust him backward and he ran off into the shadow of the trees. Ellaway pulled her hands back in the tunnel and pulled them to her chest. Quivering, Ellaway sat trying to calm herself. Taking beep breaths she slowed her heart rate. Her stomached rumpled loudly, she hadn’t eaten the night before. With shaking hands she gathered up her pack and the things that flew out of it in her rage last night. Still taking beep cleansing breaths, Ellaway took out a small breakfast and nibbled gratefully.

Slightly rejuvenated, Ellaway put back her supply of food. Catching her breath, she slowly turned back to her position and crawled through the forest on hands and knees.

Her heart started to pace back to normal and her breath steadied. Her scattered mind began to calm.

Her thoughts slid back to Bolbart’s third attack on her, how did Bolbart see her? Was she not invisible like her cage? Did it appear that some random girl was merely crawling through the woods for no apparent reason? She laughed at herself, imagining what it would look like to see her scuttling on all fours through dead leaves and dirt. She played with that thought as she made her way down the tunnel.

Ripple yawned luxuriously. He just woke up from a refreshing nap on the hard stone floor. He had had a marvelous dream about a woman he had known in Treshiv. He smirked, she was quite a woman. Grunting he sat up, blinking sleep out of his eyes. With another yawn, he stretched as best he could with his hands still linked in metal claps. He rubbed at his hairy face. That was the only way he could tell how much time had passed, by how long his beard had grown. He was grieved to feel it still so short. Only a couple days could have passed, but it felt like a life time.

The food man, as Ripple liked to call him, came in with the same mush. Ripple had been trying to devise some plan to get out. He concluded that the food man was the only way. If he could just get buddy buddy with this chump, maybe he would help him out. However, every attempt at conversation so far had failed. This time Ripple had a new tactic. The man gently placed two bowls at Ripple’s feet and turned to leave.

Ripple muttered, “You know I have seen her since she left.”

Startled the man stopped. This was a good sign. He never had stopped to listen before. Ripple went on, “I know where she lives and she is happy, with a husband and two kids. It might even be three or four now. They were talking about having another one, when I last saw them.”

The man turned around and watched him, but remained silent, so Ripple went on, “They love kids you know, Ali and her husband. Nothing could make them happier then to have a wild two year-”

Quietly the man cut him off, “I wouldn’t talk of such things if I were you.” With out another word he stalked out. Ripple shrugged his shoulders, it was worth the effort. So many had loved Ali, surly they would like to hear about her whereabouts.

After another good run around the room and more jingling with his cuff links, Ripple had the privileged of an extra visit. Titus stood at the door way, his face scowled in anger.

A good humored Ripple greeted him graciously, “Oh, my good friend, welcome to my-”

But before Ripple could greet his guest, Titus plunged him in the stomach with his fist. Ripple gasped and keeled over. Winded, he muttered, “No niceties then, uh?”

While Ripple was doubled over, Titus kneed him in the gut. In a trembling voice, Titus yelled, “Don’t you ever, EVER talk about my daughter again!”

Ripple groaned, “Is that all?”

Enraged by his taunting, Titus forced Ripple to face him and spat him in his eye. With adrenalin pumping in his veins, Titus punched him repetitively in the face, splatter blood across the floor. With a thud, Ripple fell hard to the ground. Shaking, Titus kicked him in the face then a few more times in the gut, staining the dark stone floor a crimson red. Each blow forced a sharp grunt out of Ripple as he became more and more disfigured.

Whipping sweat from his brow, Titus spat at Ripples crumbled form and snared in disgust. Recomposing himself, he stately walked out of the room. As he passed the guard, he grunted, “Clean him up.” Titus walked into the hallway of the gloomy dark dungeon. It was so dismal compared to the rest of the glimmering city. His people thought that here, they would never need use of a dungeon. But they were wrong. Even in a hidden city, scoundrels still found a way in.

He strode up the steps and into the brightly light hallway above. Stained blue steel walls reflected sunlight, brightly illuminating the rounded hall. Titus’s hands were still shaking slightly form adrenal and anger. He stretched out them out and bowled them into fists trying to stop them from trembling. Nausea played at his stomach as he thought of what he just did, so he tried not to think of it. Any way, Ripple deserved it. Titus breathed deeply calming himself back down. Distracted, he barley noticed the fairly busy hall. Doors nosily slammed shut and in corners people quietly whispered in groups. He nonchalantly passed under the row of duplicated fixtures that hung like chandeliers from the ceiling. Each fixture was a wide deep green spiraled cone that came to a sharp tip made to compliment the pale blue walls.

He acknowledged passer bys, nodding his head in a small greet. Upon seeing him, many replied in indignant, shocked stares. Perplexed, he kept walking, tracing the familiar steps to the exit. The hall opened into a large lobby where arched doors stretched the height of the tall walls and lead to the out side. As he walked passed the shadow of the terraced entrance, tall, cylinder shaped buildings rose high above his head. Pale reds and brilliant greens covered the amazing, tall buildings. Each giant tower was topped with a different colored doom. The building he just walked out of soared above him and the drowning sun cast long shadows to his back. But he didn’t look at the glorious city; he had had a long day and was ready to see only his wife and a hot meal. More people in the street stared at him as he went.

He figured it was because of his high standing, but this was different. Jaws gapped open at the sight of him and neighbors whispered behind hands. What was the matter with all these people!? Now, he was more then ready to get home. He hurried his pace.

A tall silver building loomed in front of him, with a bright yellow dome top. He walked in and ran up a tight spiral stair case, till he reached his floor. Anticipating Delilah to be in the front room cooking, he threw the door open and smiled widely at his wife, who, as expected, was working over the open fire pit. She looked up at him smiling, but it faded away and was replaced with wide eyes and a shocked stare. Frustrated, Titus blurted out, “What is wrong with everyone today!? They couldn’t stop staring at me in the street!”

Mesmerized by the sight, Delilah muttered, “Is that blood?”

Horrified, Titus looked down at his silk shirt and indeed blood was splattered across his chest and skirt. He looked down at his hands and blood was smeared across his knuckles where they made contact with the side of Ripple’s face. Titus stammered that he must have cut himself with out realizing. He stumbled to the wash water and scrubbed at his hands.

Delilah set aside her cooking and stood behind Titus with her arms folded, “What happened?”

Abruptly he answered, “I told you, must have cut myself.”

Irritated by his lie she replied, “A cut that splattered across your face, chest, and legs and you didn’t notice!”

At this he started to scrub his face, but didn’t answer her. Then he grunted, “Got to change for dinner.” He headed toward their room.

Delilah blurted coldly, “How is Ripple?”

Titus stopped dead in his tracks and turned, “I told you I wouldn’t visit him, but for that once!”

Anger boiled in Delilah, “Titus I have seen you at your worst, but this! I won’t have it Titus! I won’t have it! And if you don’t stop, I wont stay!”

Titus hollered, “He was talking about Ali! Talking about where she was!”

Delilah roared back, “Good! I would like to know where my daughter is. Maybe I will go and have a chat with him! That way, I can join her!”

Titus leapt toward her and grabbed both her shoulders, squeezing her skin, “Don’t you dare Delilah! Don’t you dare!”

She looked down at his hands still stained a bright red, “Are you going to beat me too?”

Appalled, he let go of her, stammering, “I would never. You know I would never even-”

Bitterly, she cut him short, “Do I know Titus? I am not so sure any more. How do I know your anger won’t turn on me?”

Titus desperately pleaded with her, “Delilah you are my every thing! I love you! I could never dream of hurting you.”

Tears swelled in Delilah’s eyes. She drew back away from him and muttered words that stung, “You already have Titus, you already have.”

Chapter 5: of the hidden city

2008-06-18T21:58:00.000-06:00

Ellaway’s eye lids dipped down and she jerkily popped them back open. The wounds on the back of her neck stung and ached as she cricked her head upwards. The hot after noon sun beat down on the tunnel. Ellaway’s tired battered body could barely keep crawling. Sweat soaked her clothes. Salt dripped into her mouth from her perspiration. She tried to whip her sweaty face, but merely smeared blood and dirt across her forehead. Images of herself crushed in the corner with an eerie moan surrounding her dead and rotting body flashed through her mind.

She had gone so far, but this seemed like the end. There was no finish to this tunnel; Bolbart had lead her down here to die. Her rashens would be exhausted in a couple of days and she would starve to death, a slow painful death.

But she kept moving forward. What else was there for her to do? She would never make it out if she turned around. With mechanic impulse she moved forward, barely taking notice of any thing. But with a leap of her heart, she saw a dark opening in front of her.

A narrow opening to a cave was just ten feet in front of her! Excitement and hope filled back in to her body, propelling her forward. When she reached the cave and stuck her head inside, and with deep gratitude she saw that it was tall enough to stand up in. She ducked her head inside and crawled through. Stiffly, she stood up.

It felt wonderful. Ellaway never thought she would appreciate standing as much as she did then. She stretched out her muscles arching her back and legs. She was able to look forward with out cricking her neck upwards. The hole sensation had new meaning to her.

Once she basked in the luxury of legs, Ellaway looked around. It was very dark but for the dim light from the tunnel. From what she could see, the cave looked man made. It’s square shape and flat walls rose high above Ellaway’s head. As she walked around, her soft steps echoed dully in the cave. It was much bigger than she first expected. As she got farther in, the less she could see. With well chosen words, a small ball of light sparked in her hand. She rose it over her head. The room was huge! The entire red river could fit in this cave. The walls were a dark stone color that were straight with a rough, prickly texture.

Examining the place she just entered, Ellaway could see no exit out of the room but the entrance she used. Looking back at the hole to the tunnel, but gave a perplexed look. The hole was gone! She bent down, but still it was not there. Frantically she looked around, making sure this was the right wall. But the hole was gone. There was no way out of this room. This was impossible!

She smacked the wall next to her and regretted it with a howl of pain. As she looked up cursing, a black hole started to appear in the dark ceiling and a silver rope fell down out of the black hole and dangled wildly next to her.

Ellaway looked curiously back to the spot on the wall she had hit and up at the rope. With a smirk and a shrug of her shoulders, she grabbed onto the rope. It was smooth and silky with almost a metallic feel to it. Roughly, she pulled it. It seemed sturdy enough. Still she started flinging the rope in wide circles, just to make sure. However, it stayed strong.

Ellaway looked at her only source of light, the small ball in her hands. She transferred it into her necklace freeing her hands to climb. Steadily, Ellaway grabbed onto the rope and after one hefty pull she regretted it. She gave a loud yelp as her tired worn out arms gave way. With a thud, she fell hard on the stone floor. Groaning she slowly got up, rubbing her sore back side. She looked up and sighed.

Determined, she took a deep breath and grabbed onto the rope once more. Fixedly, she heaved and although her arms trembled slightly, she moved upward. Hand over hand, she progressively made her way up the rope. As she did, she grunted under her breath about the stupid tunnel that had worn her out so much she could barely climb a stupid rope. The whole thing was stupid and Ripple was at the head of all this stupidness! First thing she did when she saw him was give him a swift kick in the pants.

Her arms shook but Ellaway had been through to much to give into her tired arms. The rope’s surface was silky and smooth, but still easy enough to keep hold of, but squeezing onto the rope ached her sore raw hands.

Finally Ellaway reached the ceiling and the hole in it. The hole extended farther up into the ceiling, enough that Ellaway could not see the other side, like another tunnel. Ellaway screamed in aggravation, “You have got to be kidding me! Another tunnel!!! No way!!” After a moment of looking back down and deciding that was not an option she climbed into the hole. As the round stone walls closed in around her, the feeling of claustrophobia started settling back into the pit of her stomach. She looked down, but as her stomach lurched with queasiness she quickly looked up and to her surprise the rope ended in mid-air. It dangled there about a foot above her head, hanging on nothing. Not sure what else to do she kept climbing, expecting to shortly reach the very end of the rope, but to her shock she didn’t. The rope seemed to grow longer the closer she got to it.

Ellaway started to wonder what kind of people lived in this hidden city to have so much magic. After a bit more of her climb she did reach the end of her rope and the tunnel curved to her right to a horizontal plane. Carefully, Ellaway gently swung so she could reach the flat tunnel to crawl once more. But instead the entire rope moved and flung her into the opening. A little taken aback she looked at the rope, but it was gone.

Her sore hands and knees ached as she turned back onto them. She moaned every time she pressed against the hard rough stone floor. She trended as softly as she could, but even with her old bandages wrapped around her tender ligaments her wounds started opened again leaving behind a trail of blood. Ellaway snarled at every movement.

Suddenly her head hit against a rock wall. Ellaway yelled in pain and sat back a little rubbing her head. Then she realized this was the end of the tunnel, there were no other openings.

Remaining calm Ellaway looked around. The tunnel ended in a small round tip, she tried banging on the walls and looking for a leaver or something to open an extra hole, but she found nothing. She pressed on the walls and tried to push but nothing was bugging. Panic started to press in on her, with no control Ellaway pushed her back to the small corner, scrunching into the tip like a frighten child. Something compelled her to squash her self against the wall. Then some unseen force started pressing her into the wall! Ellaway’s breath started to get more shallow and her eyes were wide in terror. She was actually being pressed up into the ceiling! She felt the cave’s stone wall moving around her back to her sides and crawling around her stomach. The very insides of her gut felt like they were being sucked out into the wall. Ellaway waved her arms and hands frantically trying to pull her self out, but her hands merely groped along the walls with nothing to grab. She tried to scream, but the sound was muffled as the stone covered her face. Her body was being thrust upward and as quickly as the stone sucked her up she rolled out onto another stone floor with a heavy grunt. She lay on the ground looking up at another dark stone ceiling.

This was it. Ellaway was done, she had had enough. She laid there, content to stare blankly at the ceiling and never move again. Out of the silence a feeble moaning rose from her left. The sound eerily reminded her of the moan surrounding the corpse and she thought, “See there is that morbid moaning coming to surround my soon to be dead body.” She laughed quietly at her own tragic death, to have come so far and die now seemed so wrong. The moan started to mutter her name she thought, “See there it is calling my name trying to claim me.”

Slowly the moaning turned into coughing and sputtering, then quietly, “Ellaway, what are you doing?”

Ellaway muttered back, “I am not sure, dieing, I think.”

The moaning perked up, “You’re not dieing.”

Ellaway thought that was an odd thing for this moaning to say and sat up. She looked across the room to her left and there curled up on the floor was Ripple.

Ellaway pointed her finger at him and scowled, “You! Do you know what I have been through for you!” She started shifting toward him. “I’ve been attacked by Bolbart, a corpse, and almost a shark. I’ve crawled on hands and knees for almost three days straight and been sucked through a stone wall. I should have just been grateful that I was still alive and left you.”

Ripple looked at her through his swollen eye and smiled with his bruised lower lip and with a husky voice muttered, “You’re alive! I thought that you were dead.”

Ripple’s mangled face came into view and Ellaway took a little more pity on him, she smirked as his happiness and sighed, “Well no I am not dead, good thing cause it looks like you might have been if I left you hear. What did they do to you?”

Ripple chuckled, “Oh got beat up a little.”

Ellaway started getting her pack from off her back, “That looks like more than a little.” She got out a small cloth and dappled a little water onto it. Gently, Ellaway dabbed his bleeding forehead.

Ripple clenched his teeth and started dodging her cloth. He waved her hands away like they were an irritating fly and groaned, “That hurts, ow, Ellaway! Oh no! Stop coddling, come on.”

Ellaway grunted in frustration, “Ripple you have to clean those off!”

Ripple moaned, “They did clean it off and that hurts!”

Ellaway rolled her eyes, “Oh you big baby. You could face an entire army of Kin, but you can’t take a little cloth and water! Now just sit still!”

She pressed softly on his lower lip and Ripple’s hand went to sew her away. He gently grabbed her wrist, but instead left it there and tried to keep quiet while she worked.

Ellaway smiled as he relented into letting her clean him up. “So what did you do to be here?”

Ripple moaned, “Long story.”

Ellaway went on wiping. She washed as much blood off his face as could with out hurting him to much, “Who ever cleaned you up before didn’t do a very good job.”

Ripple cocked his brow, “Yeah, guess they didn’t.”

Ellaway sighed and looked down at his shirt, blood had soaked through and stained his front a dark red. Determined to do the job right she scooted toward his torso. Before she even moved, Ripple started complaining, “Ellaway! It’s just a graze. I’m fine. Leave me alone now wouldn’t ya!”

Ellaway lifted his shirt, “Well this may be just a graze, but it needs to be cleaned up just as much.” She poured a little more water onto her cloth and wiped away at the blood. Under the blood she uncovered a bruise that stretched farther up his chest, she moved up his shirt to see the extent of the damage. He was covered in black and blue. Ellaway curled her lip, “Do you think you have any cracked ribs?”

She moved to feel across his chest to check, but he grabbed her hand before she could, “You’ve done enough for one day, don’t you think?”

Ellaway shook her head, “Fine. Any way if you got any thing broke, I’d be sure to know about it.”

Ripple looked at her confused, “What do you mean?”

She laughed, “Well you do enough belly aching, I’d be sure to know.”

Ripple grimaced as he shifted to sit up, Ellaway went to coax him back down, but stopped herself. She stood up and looked around the room. A dim light shown through the open door way and she looked at it confused. Similar to Ripple, she looked around for something to stop her walking through, but saw nothing. She looked down at Ripple and cocked her head. He responded by holding out his hand toward the door in a welcoming gesture and said, “Be my guest. My prison cell is your prison cell.”

Cautiously, Ellaway walked to the door, there didn’t appear to be anything there. She put her hand through and sure enough nothing was there to block it. She moved a little closer and went to take a step, but just as she moved her foot through the door way, she found her self facing the opposite wall. Ellaway turned around and Ripple laughed quietly at her, “It is pretty funny to watch.”

Ellaway looked at him disgruntled, “What happened?”

Ripple chuckled, “Well even watching you I can’t tell. It’s not like you disappear then reappear it is more of a fluid movement, but I have this moment of confusion and can’t even tell what happens.”

Ellaway looked back at the door, “How does your captors get through?”

Ripple remarked, “They walk.”

Ellaway bobbed her head annoyed, “Oh yeah that’s a lot of help.” Ellaway went back to the door, examining the walls surrounding it. Then she muttered distractedly, “There has to be a way they put this spell on us and what about me no one has even seen me.”

Ripple pursed his lips together, “I don’t know. You got your hand through though that’s better then any thing I have done.”

Ellaway scrunched her eye brows, “How do you mean?”

Ripple grunted as he started to stand up, “Well watch.” He walked over to the door way next to Ellaway and slid his clasped hands through the door and ended up on the other side of the room. Ellaway looked around at him confused not sure of how he had gotten there.

She looked back at the door stuck her had through and muttered, “How strange.” Bewildered she looked down at her right foot that she had stuck through the door first. Ellaway cocked her head and looked at it more curiously. There dangling on her ankle was a round metal clasp like those around Ripple’s hands. She waved Ripple towards her she said, “Ripple take a look at this. I didn’t notice it before, I don’t even know when or how it got there.”

Ripple looked at her extended leg, raised an eyebrow and smiled cockily, “Oh, don’t worry, I have notice those legs of yours for quite awhile.”

Ellaway rolled her eyes and tilled his heads to look down at her ankle, “The metal bracelet! It is just like yours!”

Ripple furrowed his eye brows, “Mmmm, must be something in them keeping us here.”

Ellaway had an idea. She stepped through the hole with her left foot then lead her hole body through the door way excluding her right foot with the metal ring. She stood in the middle of the hallway looking toward the light but as soon as the metal ring went to exit she ended back in the room. Some spell must have been put on the rings to keep them in the room, and they figured that if connected to a person it would keep them in the room too. It was really very ingenious. Ellaway sat down and was marveling at the clever little rings while Ripple muttered, “So they tied my hands together for no reason huh? Just would rather make the rest of my life a little more awkward.”

Ellaway looked up at him from examining her anklet, “What do you mean the rest of your life? Do you mean they had no plans to kill you?” Still not sure who they was, she emphasized the word.

Ripple followed suit as he said, “No they don’t have plans of killing me, just keeping me alive here till I die.”

Ellaway sighed, “Truly Ripple what are we doing here?”

Ripple grunted as he sat back down, “I told you it’s a long story.”

Ellaway smiled at him sarcastically, “Well Ripple I came a long way to rescue you and get myself in a lot of trouble so I would like to know what I did it for, and it seems like we have plenty of time to kill, so…”

Ripple looked at her with a smug grin, “So.”

She made a gesture to kick at him and yelled, “So get talking before I add to some of those bruises!”

Ripple shifted around a little but still said nothing. Ellaway was back to looking at the rings, but muttered, “Well?”

Ripple gave a heavy sigh, “Alright! It is really nothing to be ashamed of really!” He got a little more comfortable as much as possible at least and started, “Well about fifteen years ago, I came around these parts, that’s when I met Jerrt and his family. They were very nice and hospitable. Kirk, his oldest about ten at the time, told me this old folk lore about a hidden city deep with in the depths of the woods. I, of course, was a little curious, so I thought that I would try to find this hidden city.”

Ellaway laughed, “You and your curiosity. Where was the profit?”

Rippled threw out his hands in a decisive gesture, “Do you always have to assume the worst of me!?”

Ellaway merely raised her eye brows and curled her lips. Ripple smiled, “They said the city shines and glimmer like a far wondrous star.”

Ellaway cocked her head, “Gold and silver.”

With his eyes a blazed and his hole face lit, he shook his head, “No, even better, diamonds! Thousand and thousand of sparkling diamonds, if I got my hands on just one I would have been rich forever!”

Ellaway was still tinkering with her metal ring, “Impressive.”

Ripple cocked his head to look at Ellaway’s concentrated face, “Are you even listening to me?”

Ellaway nodded, “Yes, yes, Kirk told you of a hidden city made of diamonds just one you’d be rich, go on.”

Ripple continued, “Any way they told me that if you walk through the forest straight on from their house you’d reach a part of the wood you just walk in circles around, with out even meaning to! But Kirk said he had heard Bolbart talking about a way to get into the city. Bolbart said that only he could see it cause the others were to tall.”

Ellaway smiled, “So let me guess you crawled on all fours to look for the entrance.”

Ripple looked up at her, “Are you crazy? I would never do that! I took one of Jerrt’s levitaters! If you just glide it right on the forest ground you can see the tunnel just fine! Then I just levitated right in. Only took me about an hour till I reached the stone caves.”

Ellaway glared at him, “You mean to tell me, that while I crawled for almost three days in that stupid cave you glided through it in an hour!”

Ripple smiled, “Yeah I guess so.”

Ellaway scowled, “You make me sick!”

Ripple went on, “Any way, I finally made it here I suppose, I didn’t realize before this was the same place.”

Ellaway looked at him confused, “How is it that you didn’t recognize this room?”

Ripple took a deep breath, “Well they never knew of the entrance before I came so they hadn’t made the spell to put those claps on yet. So I barely even looked around here before I left to go find diamonds.”

Ellaway pursed her lips together, “Hum, interesting. Sorry go on.”

Ripple thought for a moment then he said, “Well right above us is the governmental offices, so came waltzing up into the hall dazzled by the light.”

Ellaway leaned forward a little and whispered, “It really is made of diamonds?”

Ripple smirked, “I thought that you weren’t interested in gold and riches and all that superficial stuff?”

Ellaway backed away and spoke in a normal tone, “I’m not, but a city of diamonds would be a sight to see.”

Ripple laughed, “Well it shone alright, but it wasn’t diamonds.”

Ellaway looked at him quizzically and he responded, “The people here are craftsman of metal and steel. The entire city is made of steel.”

Ellaway eyes grew wide, “An entire city made of steel?”

Ripple nodded, “Yep, huge tall buildings all of metal.”

Ellaway crinkled her nose, “That would take centuries!”

Ripple sighed, “Actually these people have a way with metal, they almost work it like clay. They can even make it change colors, they call it staining, or make it stay in one room, and make it bend in to what ever shape they want.”

Ellaway shook her head in shock, “Amazing.”

Ripple went on, “I know. Any way, I stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the shininess with me all grungy and dirty. First thing I knew when I came up was people screaming “Intruder!” and they took me into this conference room. A little while later a man name Titus came into question me. He asked me all about how I got there and what I was here for and how I had heard about this place. I am not particularly fond of questions-”

Ellaway cut him off sarcastically adding, “Could have fooled me.”

Ripple glowered at her, “Any way, Titus decided I wasn’t so bad, a little greedy, but not altogether horrible.”

Ellaway cut in again, “So what changed his mind?”

Ripple looked at her impatiently, “Do you want me to tell you this story or not?”

Ellaway acted surprised, “Of course I do!”

With a little shift on the floor Ripple remarked, “Well I am getting there! Any way so he decided I was free to live in the city and of course I told him that that was very kind but I would prefer to leave. He told me though that that was out of the question, once a person comes into this city they can never leave.”

“As you expect, I wasn’t to happy to hear this. I argued, at first, but there was nothing they could do about it. There was no way out of the city. He told me that long ago his people decided they had had enough of the evil in the world, so they moved into this city were the world could never taint them. It was Titus’s duty to uphold this way of life, but he felt pity on me and took me in to live with his family and he had this daughter.”

Ellaway chuckled under her breath, “Uh-oh, that can never be good.”

Ripple laughed a little himself, “No, girls always seem to lead me into trouble.”

Ellaway cocked her eye brow and was about to retort, but she stopped herself as she looked at Ripple’s wide grin, “Oh go on.”

“Any way her name was Ali. She wasn’t very old, well only a child to me, but she was coming into womanhood among her people. We both spent our days at home helping her mother, Delilah, with chores.” Ellaway looked at him doubtfully, “Alright I talked to her while she did most of the chores. She really was very intriguing. Her people loved metal and have a tradition of making special hand crafted metal fans. They are amazing, I watched her make some. Any way, so like me she was stuck in this city and always wondered what was in the world beyond, the small city was all she had ever known. So I told her about the things I had seen and the life I had led in trade for legends from her people. They call themselves the Silver Warriors. They are talented swords men and make the most precise weaponry in the world. One day she told me a story of a man named Cameron that escaped the city, he had found a tear in the spell that surrounded the city and had squeezed his way through. I never realized how much she hated living there till that day, as she told me the story tears poured down her face and she shook and trembled till finally she cracked and started yelling in frustration.”

Ellaway could see the pain on his face of watching the poor girl’s break down he truly felt for her ache and it touched Ellaway.

“This was the first news I had heard of any one leaving, and I have learned that most legends stand on a grain of truth. So I started looking for the legendary tear. I traced the story as best I could to where it was believe to all happened. I went as far into the invisible wall as I could sliding me hands up against it and follow the wall till finally my hands slipped off the wall into a hole. First thing I did was ran to tell Ali my discovering. I guess that was my mistake, she was so tormented about what to do, I offered her freedom, but here she had family and friends and a life she could never come back to. I persuaded her though. It wasn’t too hard. We decided to leave that night. We packed up and left after her parents had gone to sleep. She had felt so traitorous, this kind of thing was exactly what her father had worked so hard to prevent. He worked so hard keeping everyone safe inside city and she was doing the exact opposite.

We got so close when someone heard us and sent to tell Titus that I was up to something. I guess he made it sound like I had kidnapped Ali. Soon guards were close on our trail and surrounding us. Fortunately Ali made it through the tear before the guards closed in, unfortunately I didn’t. As you can image Titus was not very happy. Delilah oddly enough seemed pleased. Titus wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do with me. He kept me locked in the building he worked in with two guards always standing by. He seemed determined that I had forced Ali to leave, I tried to tell him otherwise but he would never hear of it. One thing to he had to be sure of was that this incident never got to the public. It was his duty to keep the people safe.” Ripple scoffed and huffed under his breath, “Ridiculous. His daughter suffered because of his duty and he didn’t even blink an eye. Delilah though felt very differently, she would come to visit me and bring me hot food. I asked her if she thought as evil of me as her husband and she told me no, that she thanked me for setting her daughter free. How she, so loving and caring, ended up with that stiff man will always puzzle me.

In the end she took pity on me. She came late that night and rescued me. She had a lot of authority being the wife of Titus and being the women of strength that she is that we walked out of there in the dark of night like nothing was out of the ordinary. She brought me to the tear and told me to leave, that she didn’t blame me for any thing, but she gave me charge to watch out after Ali, to make sure she didn’t get into too much trouble. I tried to convince her to leave with us and I could tell she was tempted, but she merely smiled gently and said I love Titus and as much as you will never understand that, is the depth of my love. Poor Ali sat by the wall unsure of what to do with herself. By the time I got to her she was almost resigned to die right where she was. I stayed with Ali for a while till she felt comfortable enough on her own, last I saw her, she had seen enough of the world and settled down not far from here with a husband and had a kid or two. After the Silver Warriors over came me, I knew no more till I woke up here.”

Ellaway sighed, “Where did you get all the bruises from?”

Ripple pointed at his face, “Oh these, well I guess I started talking about where Ali was to the guy that brings me food, and Titus wasn’t to happy to hear that, so he made sure I knew it and that I wouldn’t do it again.”

Ellaway shook her head and looked confused, “I don’t get it though, if he is so made at you why doesn’t he just kill you?”

Ripple smiled, “I told him about my life trapped in my home town that and that it was my one major fear, guess that backfired on me. He knows that this life is my worst nightmare.”

Ellaway suddenly looked up at the door, quite steps sounded from the other side. Soon A dark figure with a small dish in his hand appeared in the door way. The dark figure saw Ellaway and with a shocked face dropped the small dish in his hands and ran out silently. The dish splattered loudly on the floor. Ellaway looked cautiously at Ripple and he simply stated, “You girls always lead me into all kinds of trouble.”

Chapter 6: of the hidden city

2008-06-18T20:34:00.003-06:00

“Titus! There is something going on and I want to know what!” the captains face was flushed a bright red with anger and frustration.

Titus remained calm, “That is none of your concern Leopold. I have everything under control.”

Leopold’s brilliant blue eyes watched him carefully, he squinted at him trying to decided the best way to address the issue. Distracted Leopold rubbed the back of his sore neck and agitatedly pulled at his short blond hair. His other hand played at the hem of his pale red wrapped shirt designed with darker reds and pale blues. “Titus,” he started calmly, “I have been friends with you for a while now and in many ways you have been like a father to me. Hopefully, I know you are a smart man and wouldn’t get yourself into any trouble,” he said this with great force and more as a warning then a compliment, Titus fully caught it’s meaning, “but the rumors I have been hearing suggest otherwise and-”

Titus smiled soothingly, “And as I said those rumors are none of your concern, I appreciate your care for my well fare, but I assure you-”

Leopold’s anger filled in his chest and finally burst out, “No sir! No more assurances! I want to know why, sir! Why were you found leaving this building with blood splattered across your body!? I want no more tiptoeing around it!”

Titus rubbed his aching forehead and muttered, “Leopold you are too young to understand such a problem and you don’t need t be worrying about me, the rumor will pass as all do and nothing will come of it.”

Leopold looked him in the eyes, took a deep breath and said, “Are the rumors true?”

Titus smiled wide and put his hand on Leopold’s shoulder, “What do you think?”

Starting to relax a little, Leopold smiled and replied, “Of course it isn’t true, you would never, no.”

Giving Leopold a little shake of the shoulder, Titus said, “That a boy, Leopold.”

A quite knock sounded at the door, Titus turned towards it and answered, “Yes.”

Panting a little, a man with dark hair and darker eyes stood at the door way, Titus greeted him in, “Apollo, yes come in, what is it that you need?”

Apollo walked up to him and beckoned Titus to lean down to his height and whispered in his ear quietly. Leopold watched Titus’s face as it suddenly became stern with surprise and worry; he looked at Apollo and asked, “Are you sure?” Apollo nodded and looked cautiously at Leopold. Titus regained his composure, “Well then I’ll be down to look at it in a bit, let me just finish up with my friend here.”

Suspiciously, Leopold watched Apollo leave then turned to Titus and asked, “What was that about?”

Titus waved his hand nonchalantly, “Oh having a problem with some things he wants me to help him with, he’s a good friend of mine.”

Leopold’s tension returned as he watched Titus lie and Leopold knew he was lying. They had been too close of friends for him not to be able to tell, and Titus did it so blatantly! But for the moment, Leopold decided it was best not to say any thing since that had gotten him nowhere.

Titus grabbed Leopold’s opposite shoulder and led him out of the room, “Well I am glad we had a chance to talk, but I do have some business I must attend to. You should come over to dinner sometime; Delilah would love to see you again.”

Leopold nodded his head, “Yeah, of course, she is the best cook in town who could miss out on that, just tell me date.”

Titus opened the door and started down the hall, “Great! I’ll see when Delilah is available.”

Thinking wildly, Leopold answered distractedly, “Yeah.” His mind was racing; he was going to have to keep a closer eye on Titus. Something was wrong and he was determined to find out what.

Titus met up with Apollo in the hall way, close to the dungeon. Without any greeting Titus stared at him hard and asked, “Are you absolute sure?”

Apollo looked up at him, “I saw it with my own eyes, a girl sitting right next to him!”

Titus looked around, “Sh! Keep it down. What did you do when you saw her?”

Apollo shook his head vigorously, “Nothing. As soon as I saw her I came running to tell you.”

Fear was etched on Titus’s face, but he answered, “Good, good. Ok. Well I guess I’ll go see about this. But don’t you worry about it. You look a little shaken up, how about you go on home early today.”

Still a little struck Apollo nodded, “Good idea sir.”

Titus patted his back and replied in a normal voice, “Good, see you tomorrow then.”

Apollo answered in the same tone, “Thanks sir.”

Titus watched him walk off and looked around the corridor, once it was cleared out of people he walked back down to the dungeon. It was so dark and dreary, he really hated having to go down there, but he had to. He walked up to the door way of Ripple’s cell and looked in. Sure enough there sitting on the floor next to Ripple was a girl, not really a girl though, a women. Truly her appearance was striking, even in the dim light the beautiful soft curve of her face was very predominate and her light brown eyes sparkled brightly. Her lushes brown hair was thrown into a bun on top of her head and although it was very messing it still had a very attractive appeal. Both prisoners looked up at him as he came in and he stared back down at them, “So you dragged a rat in with you.” Titus looked down at the spilled mush on the floor and curled his lip at it, disgusted, he walked over it in to the room.

Ellaway spoke first, “I don’t know what you mean, I have never seen this man in my life.”

Titus smiled, “A likely story.”

Her voice, a little too steady for Titus’s taste, replied, “Bolbart, that nasty old creature, tricked me! He led me down this tunnel, when he tried to kill me.”

Titus pursed his lips, “Bolbart can’t crawl down the tunnel, it would suffocate him.”

Ellaway nodded, “Yes I learned that. I kept crawling down the tunnel as he chased me till he had to turn back. I had no place else to go. So I kept crawling.”

Titus raised his brow, “Quite a big coincidence that you should come here just shortly after Ripple. Where do you come from?”

Ellaway shifted a little, “I live in the forest with some friends of mine, you might have heard of them, Jerrt and Colien. I went to fetch some fire wood, when I met up with Bolbart.”

Titus looked at her quizzically, “You don’t know where you are, do you?”

Ellaway shook her head with an innocent face and wide eyes, “No, I am not sure at all.”

Titus heart wrenched as he thought of her poor friends searching frantically for her, “What’s your name?”

Ellaway trembled a little, “Ezeklea, I am an orphan.”

Titus’s heart twisted even more in his chest, but said, “Well Ripple can tell you all about it here. Good day.”

He quickly walked out of the room and a little ways down the hall. Aguish knotted in his stomach. He leaned his back against the wall and started kneading at his sore head. He covered his face with his hands and tried to remain calm, but his fingered trembled uncontrollably against his eyes and cheeks. What was he doing? What had he started? He couldn’t afford compassion on this women, there was no way. His stomach ached even more. He had already tired being compassionate and look what it lost him, his daughter! At his thought Titus’s hand quivered from anger instead of ache. He couldn’t take the chance, it was to risky, better to not mention this to any one. He was smart enough to make good decisions and this girl could be no good. No one needed to know about her being there, along with Ripple. She would just have to share his same fate, innocent or not. As Titus convinced himself that he had no other choice but to leave Ezeklea where she was, he gained enough composer to stand up. Better not to tell any one, not even Delilah needed to hear about this. I have got it all under control. With a deep breath, he stood up straight and tall, extending his full powerful height and walked up the stairs. Titus looked around as he came in the hallway, and Leopold dashed into the corner just in time. Leopold held his breath, as he tilted his head around the corner and watched Titus march back to his office. Leopold burrowed his eye brows as he thought. What would have brought him down there?

He started from his hiding place to here a voice behind him, “Leopold! You’re needed in the staffing room,” Leopold turned around and stood for a minute stuttering when the man barked, “Immediately!”

Dejected, Leopold nodded his head, “Right, of course.” and made his way to the conference room.

(Maybe next chapter)

After checking his hair for the fifth time over and straighten his blue vest, brilliant enough to match his stunning eyes, Leopold finally was ready to leave his apartment. He was a bit early, well more then a bit, more like a half turns worth, but he was hoping to speak to Delilah before Titus came home. Leopold looked around his bright little flat, making sure there was nothing he left. He picked up the white rose he had bought for Delilah earlier, as a compliment for dinner, and with a deep breath he turned and walked out in to the hallway of his building. He shut the door precisely and tight behind him and with care he walked down the stair case and into the refreshingly bright day.

Very contentious of his moments, Leopold walked down the street toward Titus’s house. He straightened his stance and nodded graciously to people on the street. His wrapped skirt of plane silver reflected the setting sun making his glowing stamina even more noticeable. His tall, yet never cocky or overbearing presences drew the attention of shy giggles, blushing cheeks, and bating eye lashes. Courteously, he smiled in return and continued on his way.

He watched the buildings as he passed, taking notice of their number till he got to right one, he had been there plenty of times before, but he looked at the address checking that he was at the correct place. Satisfied, he opened the door and walked up the stairs counting the floors as he passed them and after double checking the room number, Leopold knocked. Behind the door he could hear the quiet clanging of pots and pan then a sudden loud crash that made him jump significantly and a yell, “Oh fingle stick.” Then he heard the pitter pat of feet coming toward the door. The knob jingled and Delilah opened the door.

She smiled widely, “Leopold! It is so good to see you! It has been to long.” She pulled him into a short warm embrace, “You are here a little early, Titus shouldn’t be here for another half a turn, but come in! I was just working on dinner.” Delilah closed the door behind him. The house looked the same as always, an open sitting room led into a small dinning area that was cut off from the kitchen by a low counter. By the counter, was a small fire pit. Delilah’s golden brown hair bounced cheerfully mid-way down her back and she stepped lightly on her bare feet. She walked into the kitchen and started picking up the pans that had clattered earlier. The counter, that divided the kitchen from the dinning room, had drawers and cupboard on one side, while the other side had bar stools and opened up into the dinning room. Once she picked up her face was flushed red giving a bright color to her perky round cheeks. With a sigh she turned to face Leopold, who had followed in behind her.

Leopold extended forward his flower and muttered, “I brought you a rose for your kindness in having me over. Is there any thing I can help you with?”

Delilah thought for a moment and said, “Oh thank you! White rose my favorite!” She turned to put it in a vase, “but since you ask, yes, I have some thero root that needs cutting up, if you wouldn’t mind.”

Leopold nodded his head, “Of course.”

Delilah’s child like face, with the addition of wrinkles, creased into a smile, “Oh good!” She moved farther into the kitchen and pulled out a green rough looking root and pointed across the counter, “There is a stool on the other side of the counter, if you would sit on that so I have more room in the kitchen.” Delilah pushed the root, knife and cutting board across the counter for him to work on. Leopold sat down and started to dice the root, Delilah stopped him. “Oh, no I need it cut wide and thin like slices of meet, not cubed.”

Leopold nodded his head and started again, focusing very hard on cutting it right. Delilah smiled at his concentrated face and went to start the fire pit. The fire wasn’t too hard to start, with felt and her starter rock. Once the flames caught and started to burn she got her own knife and began cutting up meet and throwing it into a pot, “So Leopold how have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while! Is there any new girl lately?”

Leopold looked up at her at this last comment and she gave him a sly wink. Leopold couldn’t help but smile widely, “No, no there isn’t any new girls. Just work really, nothing much has changed.”

Delilah sighed, “Just boring old life huh?”

Still smiling he answer, “Yeah, there is this girl in farming department that I would like to get to know.”

Delilah perked up at this, “Oh yeah? What’s her name?”

Leopold glared at her suspiciously, “No way am I giving that out again. I learned form the last time I did that.”

Delilah smirked, “What?! All I did was tell her the nights you were free?”

Slicing the root, he replied, “Well, it was sure enough to cause havoc in the office the entire week.”

Throwing more meat into the pot she teased, “You know I never give up that easy right?”

He laughed, “Oh yes, I defiantly know that!”

After their laughter subsided, Leopold started to feel nerves. He wasn’t sure he was ready to talk to Delilah about his suspicions, but she was the only one he could think of to go to. He thought hard for a moment, trying to decide the best way to bring it up, “So have you noticed any thing different going on with Titus recently?”

Delilah frowned slightly, “Different? How do you mean?”

He bit his lip and answered slowly, “Well, just with the way he’s acting, his mood, or the amount of time he spends at work, I don’t know any thing that’s off.”

Delilah seemed calm, “No. Why do you ask?”

A little uncomfortable Leopold shifted in his seat, “He’s just been acting a little strange.”

Delilah had started cutting carrots and rutabaga, “In what way has he acted different?”

Leopold had stopped cutting and watched Delilah’s reaction, she intently focused more on her cutting, more then she usually would, but he went on, “He has seemed up tight and secretive.”

Avoiding his eyes, she shoved the carrots and rutabaga into the near by pot and shrugged her shoulders, “I haven’t noticed.”

Leopold squinted at her and said, “I know something is wrong Delilah, and both you and Titus are trying to hide it. I want to know what’s wrong.”

Delilah had her back turned toward him while she got out more things to put into the pot, “I am not sure what you are talking about.”

Leopold stared at her with a shocked face, “You to! Titus lied straight to my face and now you as well!” His voice started to rise in intensity, “Delilah I demand to know what’s happening.”

Delilah had turned around again and was cutting up more vegetables all, but she merely shook her head and continued working.

Leopold got off his chair and came around the counter, he pulled her hands away from her food and whispered, “Delilah, I saw Titus coming out from the dungeon today and I have heard rumor that he walked home splattered in blood, now what is going on?”

As Leopold talked Delilah’s eyes started to water and tears spilled over onto her face, through gulps of her sputtered breathing she answered, “Leopold, I wish I could tell you, I wish so much that I could, but I love my husband and he made me promise not to tell a soul.”

Leopold’s heart tendered as he watched Delilah cry, he said softly, “If you want me to drop this and pretend I noticed nothing, I will do it at your command.”

Delilah started to gain control on her emotions and smiled, “I never said you weren’t allowed to look into it. Nor did he tell me other people weren’t to see about it.” With a little wink and sparkle in her eye she smiled, “You go along and do what you must.”

Leopold gave her a hug, trying to help her calm down. She received his hug gladly, like a mother to her son and slowly pulled away, “You are such a joy Leopold, such a joy!” She whipped away at the few remaining tears and her mind started to calm. Finally she could breath easy, Leopold was on it. She had no need to fear. Taking a deep slightly staggered breath she said, “Alright, well we had better get this finished before Titus comes home so we can eat!”

Leopold smiled at her cheerful domineer; leave it to Delilah to be happy no matter the situation, “Right! I cut up the theo root, now what?”

Delilah got out more things to cut up and poured water in the pot and started it boiling. They both cut up food while Delilah tried to coax more information about this girl he interested and when Leopold could get her to stray from that subject, he asked about the house and any changes or her family or the little garden plot she had rented. The pot finally started boiling and a small salad had been made, both Delilah and Leopold sat in the sitting room next to the kitchen, chatting when Titus opened the door, “Delilah? I’m home.”

Sitting up in her chair she said, “We’re over here Titus.” Leopold instantly picked up the tension in her voice, but Titus didn’t seem to notice, “Leopold has been here for a while now. You know him would rather be a half turn early then a second late!”

Titus smiled as he came into the sitting room, if he held any suspicious about Leopold coming over early, he didn’t show it, but Leopold couldn’t help but think Titus would be wary, “Good old reliable Leopold.”

Titus bent over and kissed Delilah and sat on the chair next to her, Delilah looked at Titus, “We were just talking about the Delane brothers who are claiming to have found the place of the legendary Cameron’s last battle. They think they’ve found the star medallion that he left behind.”

Titus furrowed his brows, “Why would you want to talk about old gossip and women’s folk tale!”

Delilah looked at him and smiled, “Some would say that it isn’t just gossip and tales and that it actually did happen.”

Titus seemed to squirm under her stare, “Delilah you know it’s my job to snuff out those kinds of stories, why would you go around spreading them?”

She smiled wider as if she had won something, “Just want to make sure you are doing your moneys worth.” Delilah got up and left to check the soup cooking on the pit.

Leopold sat up a bit, “There are rumors of others leaving that way rather then just the famous Cameron, I heard after Daton disappeared that he left that way, also about a character named Ripple leaving, I was just little though when that happened.”

Titus sat calmly in his seat, but Delilah fumbled her spoon and it clattered to the ground. She muttered, “Oh, clumsy me. Splattering everything today.”

Leopold jumped out of his seat, “Do you need help?” but before Delilah could respond he was over in the kitchen wiping spilled soup.

Delilah sighed, “Oh thank you Leopold.”

After cleaning up the floor, Leopold held small metal bowls while Delilah poured soup into each. They brought over the bowls and place them on the metal dining table, stained a dark brown. Delilah brought out napkins and silverware while Leopold stood by looking awkward and asking what else he could do.

Titus grunted, “Boy you have a lot to learn, once you get to this point you are nothing but in the way.”

Leopold answer indignantly, “I helped prepare it.”

Delilah smiled while Titus said, “Yes but beyond that point, there is no room for two people. Believe me I tried for many years to help, till finally Delilah gave me that same piece of advice. Then every time I asked what I can do to help I was told to pick out a favorite wine, just so she could get me out of her hair.”

Laughing openly, Delilah said, “That’s right! But Titus was never much help in the kitchen unlike you Leopold.”

Leopold smiled, “Well thank you Delilah.”

Delilah smirked, “In that case, can you bring over these plates of salad I am dishing up.”

Leopold looked at Titus with a grin, “Of course I will.”

Titus looked at her, “Well, then what can I do to help?”

Delilah smiled, “Well, if you want to go pick out-”

But Titus finished her sentence for her, “-your favorite wine. I know, I know, I’m on it.”

They made there way through dinner while Titus avidly avoided the subject of old wives tales and gossip, and Leopold evaded the subject of girls as much as he could. They laughed and enjoyed each other company. After dinner Delilah brought out a silk coa pudding.

Titus leaned back luxuriously in his chair, “Oh Delilah you have truly out done yourself. That meal was amazing.” He smiled contently at her.

Delilah smiled back, “See Leopold, this is were Titus helps out, eating and complimenting.”

Titus laughed heartily, “I do what I can.”

Politely Leopold remarked, “It was a very good dinner.”

Delilah smiled even wider and answered, “Thank you Leopold.” Then she turned her head back to Titus, “There is something else Titus is good at.”

Titus gave her a shocked look, “Delilah don’t talk about that at the dinner table and not in front Leopold.”

Leopold bent his head slightly embarrassed, but smiled as Titus grunted from Delilah’s kick under the table, “Not that! Your cleaning up abilities.”

Titus smirked, “Oh that, yes the dishes! I am very good at doing that. I have had years of experience and practice at that.”

Titus scooted back his chair and stood up. He started picking dishes and balancing all as many as he could in his hands. Leopold shot up and started helping bring over dirty dishes, but Titus stopped him, “Leopold, what are you doing? You already helped cook and set the table. I have this.”

Leopold raised his eye brows, “Are you sure?”

Titus struggled as he kept the pile of dishes in his hands steady, “Absolutely. This won’t take me long.”

Nodding Leopold sat back down in his seat as Delilah started to get up, “I thought we could sit in the living room while he finished up.”

Leopold shot back up and made his way to the sitting area. They chatted about this and that, till Titus was finally done.

With a broad smile Titus asked, “Alright who is ready for a round of Penzy!”

Hesitantly Leopold said, “Truly I have a little bit of work I needed to attend to before tomorrow and it is already getting late.”

Titus shook his head, “You’re here to have fun, work can wait till tomorrow.”

Leopold was still worried though, “But I was supposed to get to it tonight.”

With a cocked eye brow Delilah chide, “Won’t it still be there tomorrow?”

Leopold laughed, “That is the point, if I don’t get to it tonight, it will still be there tomorrow.”

Delilah pouted her full lips, “Please Leopold, one round.”

Thinking a moment Leopold finally answer, “Alright one short round, then I must be off.”

Titus set out the game and it commenced with lots of hooting and hollering. Delilah appeared to shortly be the winner, till Leopold suddenly swooped in and took the game. It ended with a very surprised Titus and Delilah and Leopold calmly picking up the cards getting ready to leave.

While Leopold picked up the cards Delilah gawked at him, “You must have cheated.”

Leopold looked up at her, “I am just good at Penzy.”

Titus agreed with Delilah, “No you cheated.”

Looking slight exasperated Leopold sighed, “You know I don’t cheat.”

Delilah smiled, “Yes, but it makes me feel better to think you did, instead of beating me that badly.”

Leopold laughed. After piling the cards, he stood up saying, “Thank you so much for having me over.”

Delilah laughed, “Any time Leopold. You are more then welcome into our home. It had been to long from your last visit.”

He nodded his head, “Yes well things got busy at work.”

Titus answered, “Still no excuses, a man has got to eat and you’re free to eat here any time.”

Leopold crossed his hand in front of him, “Well I better be off.”

Delilah walked towards the Leopold who started toward the door, “Of course.”

Titus followed after them both, “I’ll see you at work then.”

Leopold opened the door and turned to face them, “Yes at work.”

Delilah smiled, “And I am not sure when I’ll be seeing you next.” She spread open her arms for a hug and Leopold obliged.

Delilah and Titus got in there last goodbyes as he walked toward the stair case, “Don’t be a stranger Leopold. You are welcome any time.”

Delilah closed the door and turned toward Titus, she had a wide content smile on her lips. Titus smirked at her wide smile, “What are you so happy about?”

She sighed and said, “I really like Leopold it always nice to have him over.”

Titus nodded his head in agreement, “Yes he is a good kid, headed the right direction.”

Delilah started walking into the sitting room mid way to the chair Titus asked, “So what did you and Leopold talk about before I got here?”

Very calmly Delilah shrugged her shoulders and sat down, “A little bit of this a little bit of that, nothing really. He told me about that girl that he wants to get to know and he asked about the garden we rented. Chit chat mainly.”

Titus frowned, “How did you get on the topic of Cameron’s legend?”

Delilah pursed her lips in thought, “Mmmm, we were just talking about news around the town and he happened to remember that he had heard about the Delane brothers and thought that I would be interested.”

Seeming to be satisfied Titus nodded his head, “Oh I see.”

Trying to ignore the fact that she was being interrogated Delilah attempted to cox him away from the topic, she looked out the window and said, “The stars look so bright tonight, come sit a enjoy them with me.”

Happy to oblige Titus sat down next to her and put his arm around her. He cradled her onto his chest and kissed her softly on the fore head. For a moment Delilah felt at peace.

Chapter 1:Truthes and his wings

2008-06-18T20:33:00.000-06:00

Authors note: All peaces are subject to change frequently and to never be spelled right, you have been pre-warned.

Truthes laid face down on fern and grass, soaked in his own blood and tears. His half grown wings lay next to him in a tangle mesh of feathers and red stains. His back ached in pain, but he didn’t care, he was rid of his burden. Finally he wouldn’t be mocked and teased; he was free. Tears flooded his view, but he was free. Truthes tried to stand, but fell forward and black out momentarily. Fear leaped to his throat as he heard a panic stricken voice calling his name, “Truthes!”

Truthes stammered back up and tried to run, but stumbled and hit his head again against the forest ground making him black out for a moment more. The voice drew nearer, “Truthes! Oh Truthes what have you done!?”

Mara stood in silence, unable to take her eyes off the bloody, stubbed bone exposed on Truthes’s back where his wings were once attached. Her own wings twitched in pain looking at his mangled back. She looked back and forth between the knife in his hands and his stunted wings. Coming out of her daze, Mara knelt by his side. Slowly, she took the knife out of his hands and placed it in her belt. A little roughly, Mara grasped Truthes left arm and leg and swung him onto her back above her wings and stood up. She carried him to the house, ready to remedy his mangled back.

Truthes woke with a sharp pain in his back, he gritted his teeth and moaned. Mara quickly came to his side. “You are awake.”

Truthes nodded.

“Why did you cut your wings?”

Truthes ignored her as a tear rolled towards his pillow.

“Turthes this is a great dishonor to yourself and our people, I must know.”

Truthes cried harder, “I don’t want them. They are no honor! They have only caused me pain.”

“Why do you say this?”

“I am never free from them. I am always teased for them. They are no blessing I am glad to be rid of them.”

Mara nodded, “You are never free of them Truthes. It is a gift that we have been give and can not give back, your wings will re-grow, and will be there just as they were before.”

Truthes hugged his knees close to his chest, rocking on the bed, and cried him self to sleep.

Truthes rose in and out of sleep for the next few days, as his wings worked to grow back to there original size. Many had come to see him, some to spit in his face for his disgrace and others to console him as much as they could. After a week he fully awoke from a long and fitful nightmare of pain and hopelessness. He sat up in bed and felt his silk feathers rub up against his back. A wave of emotions crashed into him as he feared what was to come.

Mara rushed in and had him turn around, “Your wings have completely re-grown. When you are able to rise out of bed, you are to be judged of your actions,” and simply stated, “I do not envy you.”

Truthes whispered, “Nor do I.”

Over the next day Truthes worked to rise out of bed and walk around his room, the work was terribly exhausting and after making a single circle, he crashed to the floor. When Mara heard the thud from Truthes’s room she scrambled from her pot of stew and ran to his side. Sternly, she helped him to his bed, and remarked, “You got farther this time, soon you will be ready to be seen by your people.” And staunched off quickly so he wouldn’t see the tear trickled down her check.

As Mara left his room she cradled her churning stomach, aching with emotion. There were so many words she wanted to tell him; so many times she wanted to hold him gently in her arms, as she did when he was younger as he cried from a scraped knee just to tell him that things would turn out alright. Mara had raised him as though he was her own son, even though she was barren.

But now things had changed, he didn’t show Mara the love he used to. He never touched her fondly the way he did, no more did his eyes twinkle with a smile as they did when he was little. As he was coming out of childhood and entering manhood he had grown tough and cold, gruff and closed and so confused. He had so much emotion that he was meant to control and hide, but she never showed him how like she was meant to and for that he resented her, she could tell.

She took out the carrots she had pulled earlier that day meant for her stew, and started to chop madly away at them, trembling in anger. Oh how she had worked to ensure that he wouldn’t be like her, so emotional, how she worked to let him love his people and the non-winged ones, how she worked to make him like his father, long since dead. But nothing worked as she had planned. He had learned somehow to hate what he is, and he disgraced himself and her! It was enough to make her scream! How dare he dishonor her like that! How could she comfort his pain when he had caused her so much! She didn’t know whether to nurse him to health or lash out at him in her bitterness! He had only thoughts for himself, his hurt, his pain, his dismay! Mara muttered under her breath, “Well what that of mine.” She trembled, dropping the knife on the table and reared back to sit in her chair. Holding her head in her hands she cried quietly and gasped, “What that of my pain…”

Chapter 2 Truthes and his wings

2008-06-18T20:32:00.000-06:00

Grapping both his arms Mara pulled the healed Truthes with all her might, “A council has been prepared and you are going to go!”

Truthes, although he regained most of his strength, slid a little ways forward as he yelled, “I do not want to go! They can’t judge me of this deed it was my own decision! I did nothing wrong!”

Mara’s face reddened in anger and exasperation, “You will go boy if it be the last thing I do!”

As Truthes and her played tug of war with his hands, Mara started to gain the upper hand, but she suddenly jumped in surprise, letting go of his hands and he flew backwards.

Mara looked hard at him with eyes that could ignite his very body as flames danced in her stare, “What did you do!?”

Truthes shook his head, “What do you mean?”

Mara sunk her fingers into his arms and flung him around, her voice dripping with horror, “Where did your wings go?!”

Truthes turned his head and moved his wings into his own view, he could feel them there, and he knew they were there, but when he turned to look, they were gone. Turthes turned in circles looking madly for his missing wings.

Mara hissed at him, “Stop turning like a lunatic, I don’t like games Truthes. Where are your wings?”

Truthes looked at her, “I don’t know, I can feel them there. I didn’t do any thing with them.”

Mara squeezed his arm a little, “No games Truthes, how did this happen!”

Truthes squirmed under her grip, “Mara you’re hurting me. Here feel, they are there. Feel.”

Mara hesitated, the touching of another’s wings was a sign of deep intimacy, but it wouldn’t hurt to merely check if they were really attached to his back, “Fine.” She reached out toward air, feeling slightly silly for grasping at nothing, but unbelievably enough she felt the soft silkiness of feathers under her hand. She stepped back shocked, “What is this magic?”

Truthes shrugged, “I know not.”

Mara believed him; no boy could make wings disappear. “We will discuss it with the council then.”

Truthes retorted, “I don’t see why I must discuss any thing with a council. It was my actions alone. Why should I be judged of them?”

Mara sighed, he had become so much like her, “Truthes, your wings, no matter the trouble they give you, are a blessing. To dishonor and disclaim them as you did is a dishonor and disclaim to all your people. I do not remember something like this happening in any of the history of the winged ones. I don’t know what they will do.”

Truthes put his head down dejected and this time he silently walked out the door toward his doom. As he walked out the door his wings reappeared.

~~~

“Truthes son of Garabo, do you know what you are to be judged for.”

Standing very still, Truthes’s eyes remind on the green grass around this feet, “For the cutting of my wings.”

The chief councilor, a tall skinny man, sitting in the middle of the five council members, spoke clearly and deliberately, pronouncing each syllable carefully, “Do you understand the magnitude of this dishonor, son of Garabo?”

Truthes’s voice trembled, but he defiantly answered, “Yes.”

Preparing to start the trail, the soft rustle of feathers could be heard as the five council members fidgeted slightly on their simple wooden chairs. In the clearing, the bright blue sky could be seen glimmering above and a quite breeze shook the leaves. Truthes stood in the center of the clearing facing the five council members making ready to judge him of his actions. Only the five council members, Truthes, and Mara graced the beautiful clearing.

The tall looming figure started the questioning, “Why did you cut your wings?”

Truthes shuffled his feet, and glanced at the emotionless Mara sitting to the side. He muttered, “I did not want them.”

The first councilor, a kindly looking women sitting directly to the right of the chief, questioned him further, “Why would you not want such a gift?”

Mara held her breath, tucking her wings closer to her back, hoping he would keep his temper, but she was disappointed.

Truthes snapped his head up, flaring his wings slightly and snipped at her, “They are no gift. They are a curse. I am always teased by the non-winged ones for my wings.”

Mara felt a dagger thrust her in the heart, but she did not let her face show it.

The second councilor, a short, stocky built man, placed on the other side of the kindly women, waved his hands and wings as though to shoo away a pesky fly as he asked, “Why should it matter what the non-winged ones should think? They are a trite people, with whom we should not be concerned.”

Truthes put his head back down and murmured something incomprehensible.

The second councilor blurted out, “Speak up, boy.”

Still examining his feet, Truthes spoke a little louder, “I don’t think that they are trite. I think they are interesting.”

Calmly, the chief responded, “You find them an interesting people?”

Truthes merely nodded his head.

Mara’s heart was wrenching in her chest and her head beat wildly with her own pulse. How could this be happening? But she had mastered her expression.

The third councilor, a man three times the size of the others, on the left of the chief spoke with a deep barley voice, “What about them do you find interesting?”

Truthes almost seemed excited to answer, “They have so much more emotion. They are so happy! They don’t have anything to hide. I feel-” Truthes cut himself short as he saw Mara’s eyes grow wide with terror, fortunately none of the trail seemed to notice.

The kind women spoke again, “You have strong views on the non-winged ones and their open show of emotion.”

Truthes started uprooting the grass with his feet.

The stockier second member asked, “But is that any reason to cut off your wings?”

The councilor larger in stature asked, “Truthes do you participate in your age council.”

Truthes nodded.

He continued, “Who do you attend to there?”

Truthes muttered, “I attend to no one.”

The chief councilor chimed in, “Then who attends to you?”

Truthes looked even more solemn, “No one.”

Softly the women concluded, “Then you are an outcast of your own council.”

Concerned, the third councilor said, “You are alienated among your own kind.”

Mara looked around at the council and noticed the silent fourth councilor staring intently at her instead of Truthes as every one else. His bright green eyes pierced her to the core. He seemed to be trying to read her very thoughts. Although she had obviously noticed his incriminating stare, his eyes did not waver. He appeared locked in his gaze till, finally, his tore his eyes away and scanned across to Truthes, but that stare somehow still lingered with Mara.

The second councilor’s distraught voice brought Mara back to the present, “How often do you see the non-winged children?”

Truthes answered hastily, “Only when they come close enough to my house.”

A little sternly the women said, “These encounters must stop. We can’t have the non-winged ones influencing you so much.”

Truthes dropped his shoulders, almost drooping his wings to the ground.

Intensely, the last councilor on the farthest left chair spoke. His voice immediately brought all attention to himself, every eye turned on him and somehow he seemed to return each stare simultaneously, “You do not belong with them.”

Truthes flared, his wings spread wide extending from his shoulders as he yelled, “Then with whom do I belong! Not among my own people, as you have mentioned, nor with the non-winged ones. What am I to do!?”

Truthes turned to each emotionless face. He could have screamed because of the detached, impassive stare they all gave him. But instead he lowered his wings, dejected, knowing he had made a mistake.

Breaking the deathly silence, the largest councilor spoke. He almost seemed to be whispering after Truthes’s yelling, “How have you done this with your wings?”

Truthes looked back at his wings and again they had disappeared. Shyly he answered, “I don’t know.”

With out hesitation, the fourth councilor with the piercing stare said, “One that has his wings cut will always have that ability, it is something that he will have to learn to control.”

The stout man whispered, “This is most unusual.”

Taking control of his shock the chief councilor spoke, “None the less, if this is something that can be control then it should be, however at this age, most have learned to grasp and control their own emotions. I am afraid there may be no hope for this one.”

With a tilt of worry, the women stated, “We can not abandon him at such a young age, not till at least he has reached full man hood.”

The voice that attracted so much attention spoke again, “I don’t think that he should be punished for the crime of his guardian.”

All eyes turned to the silent Mara. Although she worked to master and control her face, a passing glimpse of shock and fear played across her features.

The chief councilor spoke sternly, “Mara is not the one on trail here.”

He did not falter though, “Yes, but it is her views and way of life that have put Truthes in this position.”

The council sat in silence thinking of what was just said. The shorter councilor asked, “What are you suggesting we do?”

Carefully, fourth councilor slid forward in his seat to look at the council, “I suggest that Truthes be found a proper home and Mara be dealt with for her influence.”

Each council member sat deep in thought weighing the proposition.

Unexplainable fear and panic filled Truthes’s chest. He knew that every word this council member had said was true and he often grumbled himself about Mara and her strange ways that had influenced him so much, but the thought to live with someone else was inconceivable. She had raised him all the way through into manhood. A flint of frustration surged through his body; he couldn’t believe that he was standing there waiting for his life to be decided for him. He glanced at Mara whose expression showed more than she intended, that or he just knew how to read her. The slight furrow of her brow and the down ward pull on the edge of her lips could only mean she didn’t like this either.

Truthfully, the fact that losing him would not be pleasant for her brought a twang of pleasure to Truthes. He often thought that Mara’s life would be better if he just left, but it gave him a certain peace to know that she still wanted him.

Finally, the tall chief spoke, “This course of action does seem a bit harsh, but I think that this plan would be the most beneficial. However, Mara is not on trail and no decision should be made about her here.”

The kindly women nodded her head in agreement, along with the short stout councilor who nodded vigorously. The third councilor sat quietly then asked, “Truthes how would you like this change?”

Truthes plainly said, “I would hate it.”

The councilors stirred in their seats except for the fourth councilor. He sat up so far that he was almost out of his seat and spoke firmly, “All the more reason to move him away from her.”

Staring into the fourth councilor’s deep green eyes Mara slowly stood up and spoke, “I would like to say something.”

The councilor squirmed under her gaze, but she turned her attention to the chief councilor and waited. He nodded his head and said, “Proceed.”

Mara’s whole body was tense with anticipation and worry. They could not take him away from her, she could not let this happen. Mara took a deep breath, “I know I have not done very well to teach Truthes about our culture, I will be the first to admit that. But the fact still remains that he was put in my charge. His parents were aware of my strange ways, but still entrusted him to me. I know his father, Garabo, would not want this and his wishes should be attended to.”

She remained standing watching each contemplating face. Her breathing was shallow and anxious. She could barely move a muscle waiting for someone to say something.

The councilor large in stature spoke first, “She does make a legitimate statement.”

The women quietly said, “But is she still to be trusted to care for him?”

The chief councilor responded, “If Truthes’s father trusted Mara I think that we have an obligation to trust his judgment and wishes and therefore must trust Mara.”

The second councilor argued, “The fact still remains that Truthes cut off his wings and he is not getting the proper training at home.”

The third councilor spoke thoughtfully, “Instead of taking Truthes away from his home, he could receive daily training outside of his home from someone in the society we could trust.”

All eyes turned to the fourth councilor as he spoke, “Would that truly be enough to change this behavior?”

The tall chief answered straightly, “Yes, and I believe we know the perfect man to direct his training.”

Inquisitively the fourth councilor asked, “Who?”

With a smile in his eyes the chief answered, “You, councilor Kelep.”

The council all nodded their heads in unanimous approval.

Kelep raised his brows in shock, but lowered them and nodded his head, “Very well, I will take on this challenge.”

The chief concluded the trail, “Then it is settled, Truthes is to remain with Mara, who will work with him to teach him our ways of life, and Truthes will meet daily with Kelep for farther training, unless otherwise disagreed with.” He waited in silence for an opposition. When none came he ended the trial, “Then we will reconvene in five months time to see Truthes’s progress.”

Chapter 3: Truthes and his wings

2008-06-18T19:51:00.002-06:00

Truthes kicked leaves and brush as he walked to his new counselor’s house. Kelep had talked to him immediately after the trail, giving him directions to his house and telling to meet him there tomorrow right after mid day. All morning Truthes anxiously complained to Mara about having to go see the dullest man he had ever met. Grumping, Truthes talked about how quite the man was all yesterday and how he will probably make him sit and meditate. Mara would interrupt every once in awhile commenting that some good meditation wouldn’t do him any harm.

However, Truthes wasn’t to be happy about any of it. He grumbled quietly as Mara gave him last minute instruction to be well mannered and try to not embarrass her to much. He stalked off into the woods, going over the directions in his head.

The whole thing was ridiculous, he was happy living alone with Mara and he didn’t want to go see some stiff man every day. What help would it do to talk to him any how? Mara had instilled in him her ways ever since he was born, he was already doomed to always be like this. Wanting to be like his people, he often tried to control his emotion, but it was so difficult. Oh if Mara had just taught him to control himself, then he wouldn’t have this problem. He went on, gripping about the situation till he came upon a little house with the trees growing right against the sides. The house was so well blended with the trees that if it hadn’t been for the light reflecting off the windows, he would have almost ran into it. Instead of a clearing being made, it looked like the house had just been wedged in between the trunks surrounding it. It was a very curious looking house. Truthes sighed and started toward the door. He tired to hide his disgruntlement, knowing it was something unacceptable. He knocked on the door. For a moment there was silence till finally a stern low voice answered from inside, “Come in.”

Still looking sulky, Truthes slowly opened the door and poked in his head in. Kelep was standing next to a high table bending over a large book with little print. He was quietly muttering to himself as his eyes scanned over the page. The room was lit by sun light shining in through a few small windows. It looked like a kitchen that had been over taken by the study. Books, papers, quills and ink bottles lay scattered over the tables and counters. A neat pile of clean plates and cups sat on a shelf above the counter. On the opposite wall an empty deep set sink laid in the middle of the counter beneath the largest window. The kitchen was connected with a comfortable sitting room devoid of the mess, however not devoid of books; two large bookcases, filled to the brim, flanked either side of a gigantic fire place. A few simple cushioned chairs faced towards the fireplace.

Kelep paid Truthes no attention, so Truthes stood at the door waiting for him to finish. When he continued to ignore him Truthes started tapping his foot on the floor and playing with his hands. He looked impatiently around the room, glancing at the weathered books sprawled on the table. With mild interest he studied the odd symbols on the covers. Finally, Truthes cleared his throat and said, “I am here sir, just as you said.”

Kelep’s piercing green eyes stared at him over small reading glasses. His pointed, oval face was tilted towards Truthes so he could better see him over his glasses. His spectacles rested lightly on the sharp tip of his nose and although he was young he had a far receding hair line leaving most of his head bald. Truthes squirmed under his hard stare, but said nothing. When Kelep could tell that Truthes was almost to the point of explosion he said, “Please have a seat in the sitting room and wait for me, I have some work I must attend to first.”

A little irritated, Truthes sat down and slouch a little in the seat. He rested his hands on his slightly protruding gut and started twiddling his thumbs. His thumbs worked hard chasing each other in circles, till he no longer found it interesting. With a heavy sigh, Truthes sat up resting his elbows on his knees. His eyes scanned around the room searching for everything to entertain him. A small piece of twin near his feet caught his eye, he picked it up and twisted it around his hands. Then he untangled it and saw how many other ways he could twirl the piece of string. When his fingers started to turn a little red from twining the string around them to much, he started tying little knots in the string, pretending that it was wrapped around Kelep’s feet and hands so he could escape this drudgery. Fidgety, Truthes threw down the completely knotted string and turned to look out the window behind him above the sink. He bent down trying to see the sun, but couldn’t, it probably wasn’t even a quarter after mid-day! This old man was taking forever! Truthes slumped back around in his seat, but Kelep paid him no heed. Finally Truthes grunted and turned back around toward Kelep, “How much longer are you going to be?”

With no expression or glance at Truthes, Kelep muttered, “However long it takes.”

Slowly the turns roved by. Truthes thumped his leg and changed position, and moved again the play with stray threads of his clothes. Then he laid his head back counting logs on the roof then moved on to counting logs on wall, then the next wall, then the next. He moved onto the books on the shelves, a harder task given the small sizes of some of the books. He pointed at each book as he counted them and whispered the number under his breath. Three hundred ninety four books on the shelves, one hundred fifty eight bricks in the fire place, two hundred and sixteen boards on the floor, and four hundred and five boards in the kitchen counters.

He sat back in the chair and looked around again, he picked back up the knotted piece of string and bounced it on his hands counting how many times he keep it going. Truthes looked back out the window bending again to see the sun, he could barely see it if he bent low enough, he figured it was 5^th turn and a half. He had been there for two turns and half! Dejected he turned back to his ball of twin. After another game of bouncing it, he turned back to the window only another quarter had passed. Truthes sighed loudly again and tapped his feet on the ground. Finally Truthes could not take it any longer he stood up, “Are we going to do something or what?!”

Kelep looked up from his book, “No not today, you are free to go home. I expect you here at the same time tomorrow.”

Truthes gapped open his mouth in frustration and disbelief, but silently stalked out of the house. Truthes grumbled his whole way home about how stupid the past three turns had been. Truthes loudly rumbled into the house, “Mara you would guess what he did!”

Mara was kneeling on the floor in the main room with a half done, brightly colored, quilt spread across her lap, “What was that?”

Truthes threw his hands up exasperated, “Nothing! I came into his house and he was reading a book. He had me sit down for three turns while he read, then he told me to go home.”

Mara smiled, “Yes that sounds like something he would do.”

Truthes continued on not really hearing what she had said, “What was the point? I thought he was supposed to teach me something, not just have me sit there?!”

Mara sighed, “Patience Truthes, have some patience. He will teach you when he thinks you are ready to be taught.”

Truthes scrunched up his nose confused, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Mara looked up at him from her work, “Don’t worry about it. How about you go hunt a rabbit or something for dinner?”

Truthes slumped his shoulders and tilted his head, “Mara you know how bad I am at hunting, I hate it.”

Mara went back to her work, “Well, practice makes perfect.”

Before she could finish, Truthes started shuffling to his room to get his bow muttering, “yeah, yeah,” as he went.

Mara smirked as he left the room he had been more talkative and friendly to her today then he had in a long while. She supposed he felt guilty for the fiasco of the past couple days and was trying to make it up to her. Or was just bitter and really wanted to vent no matter who it was to, either way it was nice.

This talkative mood toward Mara lasted over the next few days, but his contempt for Kelep grew ten fold. The next day that he went to Kelep’s, he sat there for threes turns and half and did nothing but try to entertain himself. The day after was four turns when Truthes finally asked what they were doing and was told to leave. Truthes begged Mara let him not go the next day, but she would not call for it. Kelep was doing what he thought was best and he had to keep going. This time though, Truthes knocked on the door, staunched in and sat down without a word to Kelep. Not even a third later Truthes stood up and hotly said, “Are we doing any thing today or can I just go home?”

Slowly Kelep took off his glasses. He placed them on his book and stared looked up at Truthes. He stared hard and long almost piercing into Truthes’s very soul. He breathed deeply and closed his eyes. With another deep breath Kelep looked back at Truthes and murmured, “You are free to leave,” Truthes started toward the door when with impressive speed Kelep cut him off, thrusting his arm between him and the door. His face was uncomfortably close to Truthes’s, “but you will come here at fourth turn tomorrow and bring your bow and arrow.”

Truthes stood a little awkwardly, “Alright. Am I… free to leave now.”

Kelep gave him another penetrating stare and Truthes muttered, “I will be here at fourth turn tomorrow with my bow and arrow.”

Without another word and never shifting his gaze Kelep slowly let down his arm and Truthes hesitantly walked to the door while trying to keep his eyes on the staring Kelep, causing him to stumble on his way out. Truthes felt like he was a tiny mouse staring at a gigantic lion, watching for his next move, or when he would pounce. It was all very unnerving. Truthes finally made a few paces a way from the house, but Kelep remained standing at the door looking at him. He started walking hastily trying to get out of his sight but even when he was far enough away to no longer see Kelep’s looming figure blocking the door way Truthes could still feel his incriminating stare surrounding him. He tried to shake off the ire feeling. At least next time they were going to be doing something different then just sitting.

When he came through the door so soon after leaving, Truthes tried to explain it away with that he was told to go home as soon as he got there. Mara gave him a disapproving look, “Well since you are home so early you can help with the chores I have left. There is a basket of laundry outside the door ready to washed, take it down to the river and I will be down to help in a bit.”

Truthes jerked his head and wined, “Mara, this is girly work, can’t I cut fire wood or something?”

Mara stood up, “No, I have done that already and this is what I need help with. I will be there in a moment, you go ahead and get started.”

Muttering under his breath, Truthes ambled out the door and picked up the basket a little rough disturbing the clothes inside and knocking Mara’s socks to the ground. He groaned and picked them up throwing them in with the rest of the clothes and stamped toward the river.

The next day a little before fourth turn Truthes ate a lunch of cold stew from the night before and some bread then packed up his bow and arrow and started for Kelep’s house. Mara was out front tending to the garden, “Where are you going?”

Truthes shifted his bow and said, “Kelep told me to come earlier today and to bring my bow.”

Mara pursed her lips slightly and said stiffly, “Well it is a good thing you hate hunting so much otherwise I would think that you would sneaky off from your counseling. You’re finally going to do something today?”

Truthes shrugged his shoulders, “I am not sure.” and went on his way. He didn’t know weather bringing his bow was an improvement or a digression. In hunting he not only had to sit still, but if he didn’t then he lost his game and had to start all over. And he didn’t think that Kelep would be very forgiving if he kept startling their prey.

He dragged his feet along the forest floor, dreading the rest of his day. Before he even realized it, Truthes was standing before Kelep’s door. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Kelep’s droning voice answered, “Come in.”

Truthes expected Kelep to be at the door with his bow ready to leave, but just as the first day that Truthes was there Kelep was sitting at his kitchen table bent over another large book. Truthes stood at the door for a moment not sure what to do. After another moment of being ignored he dejectedly shuffled over to his chair. After a moment more he took off his bow and slumped into his seat. “It was a trick,” thought Truthes, “he just wanted me to think that we were doing something.”

He went back to his same activity of counting; today he started with Kelep’s feathers

yeah I stopped in the middle of the sentence I know it's wrong and devilish but what can i say?