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Story Hour
Knightfall's World of Kulan: Tales of the Companions Story Hour (Final Update: Sep 20, 2014)
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<blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 312105" data-attributes="member: 2012"><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"><strong>TRAVELERS' MET (cont.)</strong></span></p><p></p><p><em><strong>From the Journal of Bactra Redwind, son of Minonus</strong></em></p><p></p><p><em><strong>Towards the East Coast:</strong></em></p><p><em>Two nights have past since Rikin staggered up the hill. In those two nights we rested in relative peace. Nothing came out of the night to stalk us. We all agreed that Thessa's god was with us those nights and we named the small mound of earth and grass Baervan's Hill in honor of the God of Wanderers. Thessa was touched by our gesture and marked the hill as holy to her God.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>We left the hill and traveled non-stop towards the eastern coast of the continent. Thessa told us that while the desert does stretch nearly to the coast the conditions wouldn't be as hostile in that direction...</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>...We reached the shore just before twilight making camp near the water but far enough away not to be caught between the land and the sea, just in case.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The sea air has done wonders for Mesik's recovery. He limped for a while but steadily got better. Rikin, however, hasn’t been doing as well but hasn’t complained. He's definitely different then Dvalin. More reserved. More calm.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Thessa called the waters off the coast the Karmine Sea. My tutor in Woodknot always referred to the great sea beyond the Sunus and Thunder Mountains as the Sea of Deep Waters. Thessa hadn’t ever heard the Karmine Sea being referred to with a different name. Something else that I'll have to discuss with the Elders once we're home again.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>We watched as the sun set over the water. It was an amazing mixture of colors over the water...</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>...The next morning brought the dawn over the Great Expanse. We continued north along the coast with Dabuk in the lead. He is becoming more distant as we traveled farther north. I was expecting it. Thessa hadn’t understood why. I explained it to her later that night as the others slept during my watch…</em></p><p></p><p>"Dabuk's mother was killed by ogres when he was very young. He watched it happen. He was never the same after that. The news of ogres being on the move is obviously upsetting him."</p><p></p><p>"Poor dear, I wish I could do something to ease his pain." Thessa sighed.</p><p></p><p>"Thessa," Bactra put a hand up shaking his head. "Don't even mention it to him."</p><p></p><p>"But surely you realize such hate is going to be the death of him." Thessa mused.</p><p></p><p>"Yes, I know." Bactra pulled his cloak around himself more tightly. Dabuk had insisted that they not light a fire, to hide their position.</p><p></p><p>"Well then don't you and his family owe it to him to try and help him."</p><p></p><p>Bactra sighed shaking his head. He'd heard the argument time and time again. Bactra watched his cousin as he slept. Dabuk’s breathing was steady but his twitching body gave away his pain to those that knew what to look for.</p><p></p><p>"He is dreaming about it right now." Bactra grimaced.</p><p></p><p>Thessa stared at Dabuk with heart-felt concern in her eyes. "It's that bad."</p><p></p><p>"Yes," Bactra leaned back staring at the stars. "He shared his dream with me once. He's been having it almost every night since that day."</p><p></p><p>"Tell me."</p><p></p><p>I looked at her unable to hold back the tears. "It will get into your soul. You'll never be able to get it out."</p><p></p><p>"Tell me."</p><p></p><p>"All right," Bactra studied his cousin carefully making sure he was still dreaming. He beckoned the gnome priestess closer to him. She sat next to him and the elven wizard took her hand.</p><p></p><p>"What you are about to experience isn't for the weak of heart. I am not a storyteller. I am a wizard. How I know these events is through Dabuk's eyes. Through what he saw that day and his dream, his nightmare."</p><p></p><p>"You mean you're going to actually share his dream with me. How is that even possible?" Thessa seemed shocked by such a notion.</p><p></p><p>"It is an elven ritual that allowed me to feel what he felt, see what he saw."</p><p></p><p>She seemed frightened by that and with good reason. Bactra had begged Dabuk to share his pain with him to understand his cousin better. Dabuk had tried in vain to warn Bactra against it but the elven wizard had persisted.</p><p></p><p>Bactra and Dabuk had agreed that if anyone else wanted to know the truth they would have to learn it from Bactra through the power of magic. Every person who had asked to know this pain had backed down when they learned what it truly meant to “feel his pain”.</p><p></p><p>"If you don't want to do it I understand. Sometimes I wish I had never asked him." Bactra sighed.</p><p></p><p>"No, I want to do this. It is the way of my God to know those who you travel with. Know them like you know yourself. I must do this."</p><p></p><p>Bactra was shocked. Thessa squeezed his hands nodding for him to continue.</p><p></p><p>"I-I really hadn't believed you'd go through with this. Now might not be the best time. It is my watch. The ritual puts me deeper than even the Reverie. I won't be able to break it once we've started."</p><p></p><p>"Well, then wake up Dvalin. He's suppose to be on watch next."</p><p></p><p>"That really isn't fair to him." Bactra grimaced at the thought of disturbing his friend.</p><p></p><p>"You're afraid." Thessa smiled.</p><p></p><p>"Damn right I'm afraid." Even though the air was cool Bactra was starting to sweat.</p><p></p><p>"I thought you said I could if I wanted to." Thessa pressed the point.</p><p></p><p>Great, now she was making a liar out of me. "Fine. I'll wake Dvalin."</p><p></p><p>Bactra found his legs with difficulty. His knees were trembling. He couldn't believe it. He stepped around the others to where Dvalin was snoring softly, poking him in the ribs.</p><p></p><p>"Huh...<snort>... what, who?" Dvalin grabbed the elven wizard by the arm. "Is it 3 o'clock already?"</p><p></p><p>"No," Bactra knew he was going to be pissed. He whispered to the dwarf what Thessa was determined to do.</p><p></p><p>His eyes bugged out. "Did you explain it to her?"</p><p></p><p>"Yes."</p><p></p><p>"She's either very brave or completely nuts." Dvalin shivered and not from the cold. "How anyone could want to experience another person's nightmares is beyond me."</p><p></p><p>"I agree. But she is insistent. I need you to watch the camp."</p><p></p><p>"Oh beard," Dvalin rubbed the drool out of his beard. "I knew you were going to say that! Go on lad. Just take the ritual away from the camp. Down by the sea, I make sure I watch out for both of you as well as the camp."</p><p></p><p>"All right." Bactra looked back at Thessa.</p><p></p><p></p><p>* * *</p><p></p><p></p><p><em><strong>From the Journal of Bactra Redwind, son of Minonus</strong></em></p><p></p><p><em><strong>Sharing the Memories:</strong></em></p><p><em>...Thessa and I had walked down to the shore together. I tried several times to talk her out of it. She wouldn't give, not an inch. I had to admire her courage.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>The ritual could be dangerous to the weak-minded. Not that I thought her mind couldn't take the strain. But it was still dangerous. She was a gnome not an elf. I had been pretty sure that it wouldn't work with someone without elven blood. I was wrong.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>We sat in front of each other her hands in mind. I guided her into the deepest parts of my mind. Soon there wasn't any difference between Dabuk's thoughts and our own. What is written below is as how he remembers that day…</em></p><p></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">..."Momma," Dabuk pulled on his mother's skirt. "When is pappa coming home?"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Soon dear," He and your uncle have work to do."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk wished his pappa wouldn't go away so much. He missed him. But his work always seemed to come first.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Bad nasties?"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Yes Dabuk," Dabuk's mother looked towards the north with a frown. "Bad orcs and ogres."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk knew that meant his pappa wouldn't be home soon. He sat on the ground next to his house. Well, it wasn't his house really. His pappa built it. He just lived there. His auntie was there too. She always stayed with him and his momma when pappa and uncle went to fight bad nasties.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">His mother looked at him shaking her head. "If you're going to mope around. Can you please do it inside? You're going to depress the forest."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Aw momma," Dabuk rolled his eyes. His momma was one of the elven folk. She had a thing about trees that he really didn't understand. "Trees don't get depressed."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"You wouldn't say that if you knew them."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk gave up and went inside. The house was a small log cabin near the southern edge of the Great Forest. Dabuk's father, Garth, chose the spot because it was away from the constant skirmishes that continued to flare up after the Second Ogre War ended.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">It was clean, neat and spartan. Real boring for a boy barely old enough to tie his own boots.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Dabuk," The boy's aunt was sitting next to the hearth. "Pestering you're mother again are you?"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Aw auntie," Dabuk sat down on the floor in a grumpy lump. "It ain't fair. Pappa's never home."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Isn't, dear, it isn't fair."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk couldn't help but roll his eyes again. "Fine. It isn't fair."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk laid down his arms and legs flailed out. He hated it when his Auntie Lisa corrected his words. Like it mattered out in the wilderness. He wished he was in Fruen visiting grandpa. At least there was always something to do there.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Lisa-Anne!" Dabuk's mother cried out from outside.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Momma?" Dabuk knew that tone. She used it when he wandered off once. His momma had been really worried.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Eiithinia, what is it?" Dabuk's aunt turned towards the door just as his mother came rushing inside.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk sat up looking out the door. He didn't see anything out there to be so worried about.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"We have company." Eiithinia scooped up her son closing the door of the cabin.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Who?"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Not who, what!"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">A guttural cry came from outside to the west.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"May the North Gods protect us." Dabuk saw fear in both their eyes.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Ogres."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"B-baddies?"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Yes my son. Baddies."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk was scared.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"We have to flee into the forest." Dabuk's aunt was becoming hysterical.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"That won't do any good. I know the forest but you don't sister. Besides, I can't leave. This is my home.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Dabuk, I need you to go down into the cellar, all right?"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"No! Momma, I want to stay with you!" Dabuk tried not to cry. His pappa told him it wasn't good to cry.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Dabuk! I can't protect you and your aunt. You'll be safe in the cellar. The baddies aren't smart enough to look for you there if you are completely quiet. I need you to be brave."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk was blubbering. He wanted to be brave for his momma. But he didn't want to be away from her either.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"But momma... baddies!"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"I know son," She hugged him then handed him to his aunt. "Lisa Anne, I'm counting on you."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"I-I understand."</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Momma!"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Eiithinia grabbed her sword, bow and quiver heading back outside. She slammed the door shut, while her sister locked it from the inside.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">A guttural roar shook the cabin.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Momma! Momma! Momma!"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Dabuk! You have to be quiet!"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk's aunt shook him until he stopped yelling. She threw open the cellar door forcing Dabuk down into the darkness. She slammed the trap door shut pulling the cabin's small table directly over it.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk watched through the cracks in the floorboards, not making a sound. He couldn't have even if he had wanted to.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">He heard another guttural roar and then his auntie screamed. He couldn't tell what was real anymore. The thing roared again and again. Then another roar joined the unholy chorus. He heard the wooden logs crack, watching as his auntie screamed again trying to climb out the back window.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">She shrieked as a huge hand grabbed her through the window pulling her outside. Then Dabuk heard something he'd never forget the rest of his days. His mother screamed. Then he heard a loud cracking, tearing sound, as the ogres howled in triumph.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">He felt the cabin shudder as they ripped away the logs. Then he saw them. They stood higher then the cabin was tall, much higher. They were ugly, inhuman beasts. They ripped the top half of the cabin completely off. They threw out all the furnishings scouring the small dwelling for anything of value.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Dabuk felt Hades beside him that day. He was sure they'd find him. They howled again in unison and Dabuk clamped his mouth shut while covering his ears. Fear ran through his spine into his heart.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">He sat there for hours not moving. Night was coming but the ogres hadn't left yet. He couldn't hear them but he could smell the burning flesh. He forced himself not to cry. He had promised his pappa he'd not cry. He had promised his momma to be brave.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">The beasts grunted at each other for hours making sounds like horrible laughter. He gritted his teeth balling his hands into fists. He shook with rage, tears streaming from his eyes. His hands began to bleed where his nails cut into his own flesh.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Then the beasts were gone. He knew it because he couldn't smell them any more. Yet, he didn't move. He sat there in the darkness all night hating...</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">...Morning came. The dawn pierced through the cracks of the cabin floor unhindered by the shattered roof. Dabuk felt the heat of the sun but felt no comfort or relief. He pushed open the trapdoor with all his strength.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">What he found no boy should ever have to see. The burnt logs, the blacked earth, the bones - flesh eaten away. He fell to his knees crying not knowing which was his mother and which was his aunt. He threw up, the stench burning his lungs and eyes.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">He was cold, shaking and alone for the first time in the world.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"Momma..." He whimpered. Then he felt it again. The rage burned in him and he screamed at the sky.</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">"I will kill them all! I will wipe them from the land wherever I go until none are left anywhere! I pledge my life and my soul to this! I will carry my hate as a banner and my rage as my sword! This I swear to my dying day!"</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Then all is black...</span></p><p></p><p>Thessa cried out in pain. She was shaking in fear. Bactra grabbed a hold of her, shaking her. She fought him trying to pull away screaming, “Momma, Momma, no!”</p><p></p><p>“Thessa! Thessa! It's over. The ritual is over. You're safe. Please...”</p><p></p><p>She blinked. “B-Bactra?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, it's over.”</p><p></p><p>“No,” Thessa shook her head sobbing uncontrollably. “It will never be over.”</p><p></p><p>“He warned you,” Bactra knew his voice even with the waves crashing against the shore. “But you just couldn't let it be.”</p><p></p><p>“Dabuk,” Thessa was panting for air. “I'm so sorry-“</p><p></p><p>“Save it!” Dabuk rose his voice his rage coming to the surface. “I don't want your pity or your sympathy! What I want is for you to kill as many of them as you can when the times comes!”</p><p></p><p>“I-I don't know if I can.” Thessa sobbed.</p><p></p><p>“Oh you will. There's no avoiding it now. It's like my cousin said. It's in you now. You'll never get it out.”</p><p></p><p>“I'm not you!” Thessa screamed.</p><p></p><p>Dabuk laughed, his voice echoing with wrought madness across the water.</p><p></p><p>* * *</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Knightfall, post: 312105, member: 2012"] [COLOR=DarkOrange][B]TRAVELERS' MET (cont.)[/B][/COLOR] [I][B]From the Journal of Bactra Redwind, son of Minonus[/B][/I] [I][B]Towards the East Coast:[/B] Two nights have past since Rikin staggered up the hill. In those two nights we rested in relative peace. Nothing came out of the night to stalk us. We all agreed that Thessa's god was with us those nights and we named the small mound of earth and grass Baervan's Hill in honor of the God of Wanderers. Thessa was touched by our gesture and marked the hill as holy to her God. We left the hill and traveled non-stop towards the eastern coast of the continent. Thessa told us that while the desert does stretch nearly to the coast the conditions wouldn't be as hostile in that direction... ...We reached the shore just before twilight making camp near the water but far enough away not to be caught between the land and the sea, just in case. The sea air has done wonders for Mesik's recovery. He limped for a while but steadily got better. Rikin, however, hasn’t been doing as well but hasn’t complained. He's definitely different then Dvalin. More reserved. More calm. Thessa called the waters off the coast the Karmine Sea. My tutor in Woodknot always referred to the great sea beyond the Sunus and Thunder Mountains as the Sea of Deep Waters. Thessa hadn’t ever heard the Karmine Sea being referred to with a different name. Something else that I'll have to discuss with the Elders once we're home again. We watched as the sun set over the water. It was an amazing mixture of colors over the water... ...The next morning brought the dawn over the Great Expanse. We continued north along the coast with Dabuk in the lead. He is becoming more distant as we traveled farther north. I was expecting it. Thessa hadn’t understood why. I explained it to her later that night as the others slept during my watch…[/I] "Dabuk's mother was killed by ogres when he was very young. He watched it happen. He was never the same after that. The news of ogres being on the move is obviously upsetting him." "Poor dear, I wish I could do something to ease his pain." Thessa sighed. "Thessa," Bactra put a hand up shaking his head. "Don't even mention it to him." "But surely you realize such hate is going to be the death of him." Thessa mused. "Yes, I know." Bactra pulled his cloak around himself more tightly. Dabuk had insisted that they not light a fire, to hide their position. "Well then don't you and his family owe it to him to try and help him." Bactra sighed shaking his head. He'd heard the argument time and time again. Bactra watched his cousin as he slept. Dabuk’s breathing was steady but his twitching body gave away his pain to those that knew what to look for. "He is dreaming about it right now." Bactra grimaced. Thessa stared at Dabuk with heart-felt concern in her eyes. "It's that bad." "Yes," Bactra leaned back staring at the stars. "He shared his dream with me once. He's been having it almost every night since that day." "Tell me." I looked at her unable to hold back the tears. "It will get into your soul. You'll never be able to get it out." "Tell me." "All right," Bactra studied his cousin carefully making sure he was still dreaming. He beckoned the gnome priestess closer to him. She sat next to him and the elven wizard took her hand. "What you are about to experience isn't for the weak of heart. I am not a storyteller. I am a wizard. How I know these events is through Dabuk's eyes. Through what he saw that day and his dream, his nightmare." "You mean you're going to actually share his dream with me. How is that even possible?" Thessa seemed shocked by such a notion. "It is an elven ritual that allowed me to feel what he felt, see what he saw." She seemed frightened by that and with good reason. Bactra had begged Dabuk to share his pain with him to understand his cousin better. Dabuk had tried in vain to warn Bactra against it but the elven wizard had persisted. Bactra and Dabuk had agreed that if anyone else wanted to know the truth they would have to learn it from Bactra through the power of magic. Every person who had asked to know this pain had backed down when they learned what it truly meant to “feel his pain”. "If you don't want to do it I understand. Sometimes I wish I had never asked him." Bactra sighed. "No, I want to do this. It is the way of my God to know those who you travel with. Know them like you know yourself. I must do this." Bactra was shocked. Thessa squeezed his hands nodding for him to continue. "I-I really hadn't believed you'd go through with this. Now might not be the best time. It is my watch. The ritual puts me deeper than even the Reverie. I won't be able to break it once we've started." "Well, then wake up Dvalin. He's suppose to be on watch next." "That really isn't fair to him." Bactra grimaced at the thought of disturbing his friend. "You're afraid." Thessa smiled. "Damn right I'm afraid." Even though the air was cool Bactra was starting to sweat. "I thought you said I could if I wanted to." Thessa pressed the point. Great, now she was making a liar out of me. "Fine. I'll wake Dvalin." Bactra found his legs with difficulty. His knees were trembling. He couldn't believe it. He stepped around the others to where Dvalin was snoring softly, poking him in the ribs. "Huh...<snort>... what, who?" Dvalin grabbed the elven wizard by the arm. "Is it 3 o'clock already?" "No," Bactra knew he was going to be pissed. He whispered to the dwarf what Thessa was determined to do. His eyes bugged out. "Did you explain it to her?" "Yes." "She's either very brave or completely nuts." Dvalin shivered and not from the cold. "How anyone could want to experience another person's nightmares is beyond me." "I agree. But she is insistent. I need you to watch the camp." "Oh beard," Dvalin rubbed the drool out of his beard. "I knew you were going to say that! Go on lad. Just take the ritual away from the camp. Down by the sea, I make sure I watch out for both of you as well as the camp." "All right." Bactra looked back at Thessa. * * * [I][B]From the Journal of Bactra Redwind, son of Minonus[/B][/I] [I][B]Sharing the Memories:[/B] ...Thessa and I had walked down to the shore together. I tried several times to talk her out of it. She wouldn't give, not an inch. I had to admire her courage. The ritual could be dangerous to the weak-minded. Not that I thought her mind couldn't take the strain. But it was still dangerous. She was a gnome not an elf. I had been pretty sure that it wouldn't work with someone without elven blood. I was wrong. We sat in front of each other her hands in mind. I guided her into the deepest parts of my mind. Soon there wasn't any difference between Dabuk's thoughts and our own. What is written below is as how he remembers that day…[/I] [COLOR=DarkOrange]..."Momma," Dabuk pulled on his mother's skirt. "When is pappa coming home?" "Soon dear," He and your uncle have work to do." Dabuk wished his pappa wouldn't go away so much. He missed him. But his work always seemed to come first. "Bad nasties?" "Yes Dabuk," Dabuk's mother looked towards the north with a frown. "Bad orcs and ogres." Dabuk knew that meant his pappa wouldn't be home soon. He sat on the ground next to his house. Well, it wasn't his house really. His pappa built it. He just lived there. His auntie was there too. She always stayed with him and his momma when pappa and uncle went to fight bad nasties. His mother looked at him shaking her head. "If you're going to mope around. Can you please do it inside? You're going to depress the forest." "Aw momma," Dabuk rolled his eyes. His momma was one of the elven folk. She had a thing about trees that he really didn't understand. "Trees don't get depressed." "You wouldn't say that if you knew them." Dabuk gave up and went inside. The house was a small log cabin near the southern edge of the Great Forest. Dabuk's father, Garth, chose the spot because it was away from the constant skirmishes that continued to flare up after the Second Ogre War ended. It was clean, neat and spartan. Real boring for a boy barely old enough to tie his own boots. "Dabuk," The boy's aunt was sitting next to the hearth. "Pestering you're mother again are you?" "Aw auntie," Dabuk sat down on the floor in a grumpy lump. "It ain't fair. Pappa's never home." "Isn't, dear, it isn't fair." Dabuk couldn't help but roll his eyes again. "Fine. It isn't fair." Dabuk laid down his arms and legs flailed out. He hated it when his Auntie Lisa corrected his words. Like it mattered out in the wilderness. He wished he was in Fruen visiting grandpa. At least there was always something to do there. "Lisa-Anne!" Dabuk's mother cried out from outside. "Momma?" Dabuk knew that tone. She used it when he wandered off once. His momma had been really worried. "Eiithinia, what is it?" Dabuk's aunt turned towards the door just as his mother came rushing inside. Dabuk sat up looking out the door. He didn't see anything out there to be so worried about. "We have company." Eiithinia scooped up her son closing the door of the cabin. "Who?" "Not who, what!" A guttural cry came from outside to the west. "May the North Gods protect us." Dabuk saw fear in both their eyes. "Ogres." "B-baddies?" "Yes my son. Baddies." Dabuk was scared. "We have to flee into the forest." Dabuk's aunt was becoming hysterical. "That won't do any good. I know the forest but you don't sister. Besides, I can't leave. This is my home. "Dabuk, I need you to go down into the cellar, all right?" "No! Momma, I want to stay with you!" Dabuk tried not to cry. His pappa told him it wasn't good to cry. "Dabuk! I can't protect you and your aunt. You'll be safe in the cellar. The baddies aren't smart enough to look for you there if you are completely quiet. I need you to be brave." Dabuk was blubbering. He wanted to be brave for his momma. But he didn't want to be away from her either. "But momma... baddies!" "I know son," She hugged him then handed him to his aunt. "Lisa Anne, I'm counting on you." "I-I understand." "Momma!" Eiithinia grabbed her sword, bow and quiver heading back outside. She slammed the door shut, while her sister locked it from the inside. A guttural roar shook the cabin. "Momma! Momma! Momma!" "Dabuk! You have to be quiet!" Dabuk's aunt shook him until he stopped yelling. She threw open the cellar door forcing Dabuk down into the darkness. She slammed the trap door shut pulling the cabin's small table directly over it. Dabuk watched through the cracks in the floorboards, not making a sound. He couldn't have even if he had wanted to. He heard another guttural roar and then his auntie screamed. He couldn't tell what was real anymore. The thing roared again and again. Then another roar joined the unholy chorus. He heard the wooden logs crack, watching as his auntie screamed again trying to climb out the back window. She shrieked as a huge hand grabbed her through the window pulling her outside. Then Dabuk heard something he'd never forget the rest of his days. His mother screamed. Then he heard a loud cracking, tearing sound, as the ogres howled in triumph. He felt the cabin shudder as they ripped away the logs. Then he saw them. They stood higher then the cabin was tall, much higher. They were ugly, inhuman beasts. They ripped the top half of the cabin completely off. They threw out all the furnishings scouring the small dwelling for anything of value. Dabuk felt Hades beside him that day. He was sure they'd find him. They howled again in unison and Dabuk clamped his mouth shut while covering his ears. Fear ran through his spine into his heart. He sat there for hours not moving. Night was coming but the ogres hadn't left yet. He couldn't hear them but he could smell the burning flesh. He forced himself not to cry. He had promised his pappa he'd not cry. He had promised his momma to be brave. The beasts grunted at each other for hours making sounds like horrible laughter. He gritted his teeth balling his hands into fists. He shook with rage, tears streaming from his eyes. His hands began to bleed where his nails cut into his own flesh. Then the beasts were gone. He knew it because he couldn't smell them any more. Yet, he didn't move. He sat there in the darkness all night hating... ...Morning came. The dawn pierced through the cracks of the cabin floor unhindered by the shattered roof. Dabuk felt the heat of the sun but felt no comfort or relief. He pushed open the trapdoor with all his strength. What he found no boy should ever have to see. The burnt logs, the blacked earth, the bones - flesh eaten away. He fell to his knees crying not knowing which was his mother and which was his aunt. He threw up, the stench burning his lungs and eyes. He was cold, shaking and alone for the first time in the world. "Momma..." He whimpered. Then he felt it again. The rage burned in him and he screamed at the sky. "I will kill them all! I will wipe them from the land wherever I go until none are left anywhere! I pledge my life and my soul to this! I will carry my hate as a banner and my rage as my sword! This I swear to my dying day!" Then all is black...[/COLOR] Thessa cried out in pain. She was shaking in fear. Bactra grabbed a hold of her, shaking her. She fought him trying to pull away screaming, “Momma, Momma, no!” “Thessa! Thessa! It's over. The ritual is over. You're safe. Please...” She blinked. “B-Bactra?” “Yes, it's over.” “No,” Thessa shook her head sobbing uncontrollably. “It will never be over.” “He warned you,” Bactra knew his voice even with the waves crashing against the shore. “But you just couldn't let it be.” “Dabuk,” Thessa was panting for air. “I'm so sorry-“ “Save it!” Dabuk rose his voice his rage coming to the surface. “I don't want your pity or your sympathy! What I want is for you to kill as many of them as you can when the times comes!” “I-I don't know if I can.” Thessa sobbed. “Oh you will. There's no avoiding it now. It's like my cousin said. It's in you now. You'll never get it out.” “I'm not you!” Thessa screamed. Dabuk laughed, his voice echoing with wrought madness across the water. * * * [/QUOTE]
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