Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Enk&amp;D'Shai" data-source="post: 1513690" data-attributes="member: 7569">Hi all!D'Shai and I have agreed that the previous post was perhaps the hardest section we have written yet, but not for any reasons that we could figure out. Maybe it was writers block, or memory lapses as to just what happened and at what point, or maybe it was because Roadhouse was on TNT 3 nights in a row. Anyway, we did this little interlude to get our minds back on track and give us a break from the fight. Hope you enjoy.  InterludeThe floorboards creaked under the weight of the pacing half-orc, groaning in protest with each plodding step. Worm barley noticed the noise, instead losing himself in thoughts about Pack and those that traveled with his little brother.  The hulking warrior turned and took a step back the way he had come, after once again coming to the by now familiar fire pit of his family’s kitchen, when the rustling of feathers gave the giant pause. He slowed, stopping to ruffle the large white owl that rested over the hearth. The bird had shown up a few nights after Pack and the others had left Icemist, swooping in through the front doors and perching high in the rafters. Lizon had identified the bird at once as Aurora’s pet, Athena. No, not pet, ‘familiar’, Worm corrected himself, still unable to fathom the difference between the two titles. The owl had at first unsettled the half-orc, nearly sending him off on a rampage to find his brother, but Lizon had stopped him, pointing out that the owl was probably sent by Aurora as a sign that they were all just fine. But every night since Athena’s arrival, Worm had found himself pacing the floor, worried and unable to sleep, just as he was now.“As long as you’re just fine, they’re just fine.” Worm said, still patting the bird on the head.  Yet the statement rang false in Worm’s ears, and made him furious. Finally, he let the anger flow.“No!” Worm roared, turning to smash his beefy fists into the closest table. The hardwood oval top splintered and cracked with the force of the blow, and the flower vase atop it shattered as it jumped and fell to the flagstone floor. “As long as you’re just fine, Aurora is just fine! Hells! Pack, you’re not a hero!”“Worm!” Lizon barked, her voice startling the warrior who had thought himself alone. “I will not have you talking nonsense in our home!”“It’s those damn books and that damn minstrel!” Worm countered a little more harshly than he intended. “He believes those stupid stories about knights and dragons, honor and bravery.”“And just what is wrong with those things?” The look on his mother’s face told him that he had spoken too quickly. Again. The look in her eye wasn’t too far different from when he had pushed over the switching tree two years ago, and it made him feel every bit the 15 year old boy that she knew him to be.“Well nothing for a story,” he said defensively. Yet he rallied, “But this is real life and Pack is no knight. He can barely handle that old knife I gave him.”“You obviously didn’t pay attention to Thadius’ stories like your brother did.” The tiny woman pushed a broom into the Worm’s hands as she spoke, motioning for him to sweep up the mess he had just made. “Just because Pack isn’t able to parry, riposte, and thrust like you doesn’t mean he doesn’t posses what it takes to be a hero. Durnan taught you both how to fight if I remember correctly, and although he didn’t take to it quite like you did, I think he still learned the most important lesson. Right?”“’Winning a fight is secondary to living through it.’ I know.”“Besides, he isn’t alone. Theo, Aurora, and Ander went with him, not to mention Ander’s friend who seemed very impressive during the raid. They all did.” “Theo’s old, Aurora’s fresh from the city, nobody knows much about Ander and they know even less about his friend. I mean he looks like a leper and...”“and they need your strength? The great and mighty Wyrm of the Northlands to protect them? What have you done that they haven’t Worm? They fought next to you, even Pack, when the kobolds attacked. They risked their life same as you and they won, just like you did. I know you want to be with them…” Lizon paused and reached up top lay a hand on her son’s shoulder from behind. “But that’s not the way it is.”Worm felt his mother’s thin arms try to encircle his chest as she tried her best to hug him. “Your brother is already a hero, and so are you.” She gave him one last squeeze and headed back up the staircase toward her bedchambers. “Now clean up and get to bed. The winter chill is almost here and we still have festival plans to attend to.”Worm grumbled one last grumble as her legs disappeared. “There shouldn’t be a festival without Pack…or the others.”  Lizon’s voice lilted down from above, “You think Pack would miss Festival? The fastest way to get them home would be to get everything ready. I guarantee you, your little brother would move the heavens and the earth rather than miss the mid-week tale telling contest. Now hurry up.”Worm made a half-hearted attempt at sweeping up the shards of broken pottery, finally giving up and moving to the window to look out at the nearly full moon in a clear sky. He looked for a while, and sighed, “Hells, Pack, you’re not a hero…” End of Interlude</blockquote>

Verification