esp_dragon (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
esp_dragon) wrote2011-11-11 09:46 pm
esp_dragon) wrote2011-11-11 09:46 pm
Chosen [Part 11]
Fandom: Original
Summary: Ras has just been chosen by the Gods to protect humans from geists, beings that prey on people's souls. Sent by Them to aid her is Aldran, a psyven; through the bond forged on their first meeting, Aldran can pass his magic to Ras for her to use against the geists. Only those bonded with psyvens can fight the geists, as a psyven's magic is the one magic that is truly effective against them.
But stories are told to children to placate fears and soothe nightmares. Ras has to learn that Aldran and living as a khertan are not what she expected and that the danger is very real.
While she adjusts to her new life, she and Aldran begin to discover all is not as it seems; however, realising and accepting the truth is not easy and ultimately, in the end, is it worth it?
Rating: PG-13
Notes: My commentary on this part can be found here
Genre: Fantasy/Friendship
Word count: 2,100
Total word count: 28,854
Status: Work in progress
Ras felt far too much like an interloper, staring across the field as the bodies of the people who had been fed on were burned. They were all dead, but there were still a few left that were breathing, and the living bodies were being kept at the church.
But... Ras watched as the black smoke lifted up to the clear blue sky, feeling that the gesture was pointless. Their souls were gone - the reason for burning the body was to make sure the soul wasn't still attached to anything, so that the soul could then continue on to be reincarnated. With their souls gone and eaten, they were never coming back.
She couldn't deny that it had to be done though, because that was how they treated all the bodies of the dead and while Ras didn't mean to, she caught glimpses of the villagers' pain and sorrow being put to rest. Not all of it, but at least enough that they could continue living.
Ras leaned heavily on Aldran, not because of her body feeling weak -though she could make that excuse later, depending on who asked- but it was so raw. Her own parents' funeral hadn't felt this real, but maybe that was because she had been in her own haze of pain and sorrow at the time.
Aldran didn't make a comment about it, but he didn't try to move away either.
* * *
Afterwards, once there were nothing but embers, Ras and Aldran decided to visit the horses, to give them extra attention for all the work they'd been made to do.
Speckles lifted his head as they approached and nodded to them in greeting, wuffing at the same time.
Ras smiled as he trotted over, and Aldran fed him some grain, taking care to keep his fingers flat. She turned her head when she heard someone approaching them and saw Ceilha and Dracer.
"The mage should be arriving later today," Ceilha told them, running a hand down Speckles' snout, "so it won't be long until we're home."
Ras blinked at the phrasing of that. Home? Winolock wasn't home for her, but maybe, she considered, it wasn't just home for her yet.
* * *
Ras heard the thundering of hoofbeats before she was aware that there was new people in the village.
She and Aldran had taken to wandering the village, seeing if there was anything they could do to help -which a lot of their offers were initially refused, but some acquiesced due to what was needed to be done- and maybe, Ras felt with a little hope, if the people of Sous could stop seeing them as khertan and psyven first, then maybe other villages and towns could be the same.
The mage was easily recognisable from their robe, and after the mage had pulled back their hood with a flourish, revealing themselves to be female, she swung herself off her horse with an air of confidence that spoke of easy familiarity, and of arrogance.
Ras followed her into the church, seeing Tevio greet the man who had guided the mage there as she passed. Ras nodded in greeting to both of them before continuing on.
The mage had already nearly crossed the whole of the church, her striding walk eating up the distance with ease. Ras shared a look with Aldran, who merely looked curious at the mage.
Huffing and hiding a small chuckle, Ras hurried to catch up - she was curious to see how the teleportation circle was made, and if she dallied for too long, she might miss it!
They made it to the teleportation room and found the mage tutting over the circle, following its edge, peering at everything as she walked.
Ceilha and Dracer stood patiently by the wall, watching the mage with...guarded expressions?
When Ceilha and Dracer saw that they had come in, they waved, their expressions more natural. Confusion growing in her -they had seemed fine with the mages at Winolock, or maybe Ras hadn't been able to read their expressions so well at that point. Or maybe Ceilha and Dracer knew this particular mage?- Ras and Aldran made their way to their side.
"This isn't going to work," the mage declared, frowning deeply at the gouges running through the circle. "I can't fix this - I'll have to make an entirely new circle."
"We thought you might say that," Ceilha said, her voice neutral and her face blank. "We will pay you the extra you need to cover the magic use."
The mage studied Ceilha with intent before nodding resolutely. "Acceptable," she replied loftily. "I hope you have enough coin to cover my fee."
Ras could only stare at the mage, aghast. That had not been what she had expected a mage to act like, especially about the topic about money! Was the range of how people acted towards khertan and psyven going to normally be at the extremes?
"Enough for this and for the teleportation circle in Jonset," Ceilha replied. "I will show you the room that Tevio has suggested could be used and then we will leave you to your work."
And now that Ras knew what the mage was like, she was no longer so interested in seeing how the circle was made. Maybe next time -though, hopefully, there wouldn't be a next time- if the mage doing it had a more pleasant attitude.
Dracer led Ras and Aldran out the church while Ceilha led the mage to another part of the church.
"Are all mages like that?" Aldran asked uncertainly, throwing a look over his shoulder, as if he were afraid the mage might hear him.
"Not all of them," Dracer said, shaking her head. "The mages at Winolock are there mostly because of the extensive library, to learn more about their magic or in general. The mages that wander, they have a tendency to have gone into the trade for money, prestige, or both." Dracer opened her mouth again but then paused, obviously re-thinking what she was about to say.
"What is it?" Ras prodded, curious now.
"It's...rather uncharitable," Dracer admitted, checking to see if there was anyone close by to overhear her. There wasn't, Tevio and the guide gone from the outside of the churt. "But there does seem to be some animosity from some mages towards khertan and psyvens," she continued quietly, "since we were chosen by the Gods and gifted with magic that they can never attain."
Oh. Ras frowned, thinking it over. That...was a very human thing to do, to covet something you couldn't have and then direct their anger towards the person who had it.
"Come," Dracer said, indicating that they follow with a tilt of her head. "Ceilha will be finished soon, and I have a feeling she's going to want to stay away from the mage as best as she can."
Somehow, from what little Ras had seen of the mage, she didn't doubt it.
* * *
Ras stared warily at the newly-made teleportation circle, distinctly remembering the last time she had passed through one. It didn't look that much different from the last teleportation circle - the lines were clearer, certainly, a few of the lines thicker, possibly, but other than that, it looked exactly the same to Ras' eye. She wasn't going to say that out loud, especially with the mage being within hearing range; the made would probably make a snide remark about how Ras couldn't see the obvious differences between the first and second circle, and she'd rather not test that out.
Ceilha held her pendant in the centre of her palm, and held her other hand out to the smaller magic circle on the wall.
There was a hum that Ras could feel skittering across her skin, stronger than the residue of magic that the mage had left after she had finished making the circle and then there was a flicker beside Ceilha, a transparent mage appearing next to her.
"Ah, Ceilha," the new mage said, his voice having a slight echo to it, "we were getting worried when we didn't hear from you."
Ras counted up the days that they'd been away from Winolock. It had been...six days already? They should have been back after the third, but as Aldran had said, it was better that they had found out about the geists in Sous.
The mage's expression became confused. "I see that you've busy - what are you doing in Sous?"
"We'll tell you once we're there," Ceilha said dryly. "If you could bring us back?"
The mage bobbed his head. "Of course." He turned to look behind him, making a gesture that Ras couldn't understand. "You'll be back soon - if you could step onto the circle, it'll start as soon as you're on."
How did the mage know where they were? Ras wondered. It had to be with magic.
Putting that thought to the back of her mind, Ras made her way onto the circle, already feeling the flicker of magic directly under her feet.
As soon as Dracer had stepped into the circle, the hum intensified, and the dizzying confusion of the golden light roared around Ras, yanking at her sharply.
She wavered on her feet, shaking her head as the sensation stopped abruptly and bumped into Aldran.
"Welcome home," the mage that Ceilha had been talking to said warmly.
"It's good to be back," Ceilha replied, a smile in her tone.
Ras suddenly felt a warm wash of magic surround her, exuding protectiveness and safety, and she opened her eyes -she hadn't even realised she'd shut them- to see a man in the intricate healer's robes standing on the edge of the circle, his hand raised towards them.
Ras raised her hand to her throat, and when her fingers brushed the skin there, it wasn't swollen or even bruised. She sighed in relief, feeling freer now that the constant dull throb of pain was gone.
"We'll tell them what happened," Ceilha said kindly, and one part of Ras groaned. She would have to detail what had happened after every call as well? "Do you think you can find your way back to your room from here?"
Ras froze. Oh, dammit. She could barely recognise the room she was in at the moment; and as far as Ras' memory was concerned, she had only walked the route once.
Beside her, Aldran nodded thoughtfully. "I think so, yes."
"You're sure?" Ras asked him in surprise.
Aldran nodded again, faster than before. "Yes."
Well, he had been the one to lead her from their room to Lesten, but from there the directions became hazy, since they hadn't gone directly from their bedroom to the teleportation room.
Still, if Aldran said he could he could, Ras would trust him.
With a wave, Ras and Aldran left the teleportation room.
* * *
Ras was mostly lost after the first few corners, the walls looking the same to her, and there were no pointers for where anything was (how were they supposed to find the library like this?).
Aldran, on the other hand, seemed to be fairly confident about where he was going, though he stopped and cocked his head a few times at the forks, his tail languidly swinging side to side.
There were a lot more khertan and psyven about than the last time Ras and Aldran had been there and Ras peered at them curiously. They all greeted each other with friendly nods or waves of the hand and a few times that either she or Aldran caught someone else's eye, they were treated the same also.
Ras had a feeling that she may have missed these gestures the last time because she hadn't been paying that much attention, more distracted with her thoughts and expectations, as well as the impending call.
Ras wasn't entirely sure the room Aldran eventually led her to was theirs (they hadn't left anything that could mark it as such) but it definitely wasn't occupied by someone else either, so Ras wasn't worried about it too much.
While her wounds had been healed, her body mostly rested, there was still something inside that was unsettled, that wasn't quite fully there –from when the geist had attacked Aldran?- so Ras threw Aldran a sleepy smile that he nodded to, showing he understood her gesture –he had to have, he'd seen it a number of times already- and Ras made her way to the closest bed, curled up and fell asleep.
* * *
Summary: Ras has just been chosen by the Gods to protect humans from geists, beings that prey on people's souls. Sent by Them to aid her is Aldran, a psyven; through the bond forged on their first meeting, Aldran can pass his magic to Ras for her to use against the geists. Only those bonded with psyvens can fight the geists, as a psyven's magic is the one magic that is truly effective against them.
But stories are told to children to placate fears and soothe nightmares. Ras has to learn that Aldran and living as a khertan are not what she expected and that the danger is very real.
While she adjusts to her new life, she and Aldran begin to discover all is not as it seems; however, realising and accepting the truth is not easy and ultimately, in the end, is it worth it?
Rating: PG-13
Notes: My commentary on this part can be found here
Genre: Fantasy/Friendship
Word count: 2,100
Total word count: 28,854
Status: Work in progress
Ras felt far too much like an interloper, staring across the field as the bodies of the people who had been fed on were burned. They were all dead, but there were still a few left that were breathing, and the living bodies were being kept at the church.
But... Ras watched as the black smoke lifted up to the clear blue sky, feeling that the gesture was pointless. Their souls were gone - the reason for burning the body was to make sure the soul wasn't still attached to anything, so that the soul could then continue on to be reincarnated. With their souls gone and eaten, they were never coming back.
She couldn't deny that it had to be done though, because that was how they treated all the bodies of the dead and while Ras didn't mean to, she caught glimpses of the villagers' pain and sorrow being put to rest. Not all of it, but at least enough that they could continue living.
Ras leaned heavily on Aldran, not because of her body feeling weak -though she could make that excuse later, depending on who asked- but it was so raw. Her own parents' funeral hadn't felt this real, but maybe that was because she had been in her own haze of pain and sorrow at the time.
Aldran didn't make a comment about it, but he didn't try to move away either.
Afterwards, once there were nothing but embers, Ras and Aldran decided to visit the horses, to give them extra attention for all the work they'd been made to do.
Speckles lifted his head as they approached and nodded to them in greeting, wuffing at the same time.
Ras smiled as he trotted over, and Aldran fed him some grain, taking care to keep his fingers flat. She turned her head when she heard someone approaching them and saw Ceilha and Dracer.
"The mage should be arriving later today," Ceilha told them, running a hand down Speckles' snout, "so it won't be long until we're home."
Ras blinked at the phrasing of that. Home? Winolock wasn't home for her, but maybe, she considered, it wasn't just home for her yet.
Ras heard the thundering of hoofbeats before she was aware that there was new people in the village.
She and Aldran had taken to wandering the village, seeing if there was anything they could do to help -which a lot of their offers were initially refused, but some acquiesced due to what was needed to be done- and maybe, Ras felt with a little hope, if the people of Sous could stop seeing them as khertan and psyven first, then maybe other villages and towns could be the same.
The mage was easily recognisable from their robe, and after the mage had pulled back their hood with a flourish, revealing themselves to be female, she swung herself off her horse with an air of confidence that spoke of easy familiarity, and of arrogance.
Ras followed her into the church, seeing Tevio greet the man who had guided the mage there as she passed. Ras nodded in greeting to both of them before continuing on.
The mage had already nearly crossed the whole of the church, her striding walk eating up the distance with ease. Ras shared a look with Aldran, who merely looked curious at the mage.
Huffing and hiding a small chuckle, Ras hurried to catch up - she was curious to see how the teleportation circle was made, and if she dallied for too long, she might miss it!
They made it to the teleportation room and found the mage tutting over the circle, following its edge, peering at everything as she walked.
Ceilha and Dracer stood patiently by the wall, watching the mage with...guarded expressions?
When Ceilha and Dracer saw that they had come in, they waved, their expressions more natural. Confusion growing in her -they had seemed fine with the mages at Winolock, or maybe Ras hadn't been able to read their expressions so well at that point. Or maybe Ceilha and Dracer knew this particular mage?- Ras and Aldran made their way to their side.
"This isn't going to work," the mage declared, frowning deeply at the gouges running through the circle. "I can't fix this - I'll have to make an entirely new circle."
"We thought you might say that," Ceilha said, her voice neutral and her face blank. "We will pay you the extra you need to cover the magic use."
The mage studied Ceilha with intent before nodding resolutely. "Acceptable," she replied loftily. "I hope you have enough coin to cover my fee."
Ras could only stare at the mage, aghast. That had not been what she had expected a mage to act like, especially about the topic about money! Was the range of how people acted towards khertan and psyven going to normally be at the extremes?
"Enough for this and for the teleportation circle in Jonset," Ceilha replied. "I will show you the room that Tevio has suggested could be used and then we will leave you to your work."
And now that Ras knew what the mage was like, she was no longer so interested in seeing how the circle was made. Maybe next time -though, hopefully, there wouldn't be a next time- if the mage doing it had a more pleasant attitude.
Dracer led Ras and Aldran out the church while Ceilha led the mage to another part of the church.
"Are all mages like that?" Aldran asked uncertainly, throwing a look over his shoulder, as if he were afraid the mage might hear him.
"Not all of them," Dracer said, shaking her head. "The mages at Winolock are there mostly because of the extensive library, to learn more about their magic or in general. The mages that wander, they have a tendency to have gone into the trade for money, prestige, or both." Dracer opened her mouth again but then paused, obviously re-thinking what she was about to say.
"What is it?" Ras prodded, curious now.
"It's...rather uncharitable," Dracer admitted, checking to see if there was anyone close by to overhear her. There wasn't, Tevio and the guide gone from the outside of the churt. "But there does seem to be some animosity from some mages towards khertan and psyvens," she continued quietly, "since we were chosen by the Gods and gifted with magic that they can never attain."
Oh. Ras frowned, thinking it over. That...was a very human thing to do, to covet something you couldn't have and then direct their anger towards the person who had it.
"Come," Dracer said, indicating that they follow with a tilt of her head. "Ceilha will be finished soon, and I have a feeling she's going to want to stay away from the mage as best as she can."
Somehow, from what little Ras had seen of the mage, she didn't doubt it.
Ras stared warily at the newly-made teleportation circle, distinctly remembering the last time she had passed through one. It didn't look that much different from the last teleportation circle - the lines were clearer, certainly, a few of the lines thicker, possibly, but other than that, it looked exactly the same to Ras' eye. She wasn't going to say that out loud, especially with the mage being within hearing range; the made would probably make a snide remark about how Ras couldn't see the obvious differences between the first and second circle, and she'd rather not test that out.
Ceilha held her pendant in the centre of her palm, and held her other hand out to the smaller magic circle on the wall.
There was a hum that Ras could feel skittering across her skin, stronger than the residue of magic that the mage had left after she had finished making the circle and then there was a flicker beside Ceilha, a transparent mage appearing next to her.
"Ah, Ceilha," the new mage said, his voice having a slight echo to it, "we were getting worried when we didn't hear from you."
Ras counted up the days that they'd been away from Winolock. It had been...six days already? They should have been back after the third, but as Aldran had said, it was better that they had found out about the geists in Sous.
The mage's expression became confused. "I see that you've busy - what are you doing in Sous?"
"We'll tell you once we're there," Ceilha said dryly. "If you could bring us back?"
The mage bobbed his head. "Of course." He turned to look behind him, making a gesture that Ras couldn't understand. "You'll be back soon - if you could step onto the circle, it'll start as soon as you're on."
How did the mage know where they were? Ras wondered. It had to be with magic.
Putting that thought to the back of her mind, Ras made her way onto the circle, already feeling the flicker of magic directly under her feet.
As soon as Dracer had stepped into the circle, the hum intensified, and the dizzying confusion of the golden light roared around Ras, yanking at her sharply.
She wavered on her feet, shaking her head as the sensation stopped abruptly and bumped into Aldran.
"Welcome home," the mage that Ceilha had been talking to said warmly.
"It's good to be back," Ceilha replied, a smile in her tone.
Ras suddenly felt a warm wash of magic surround her, exuding protectiveness and safety, and she opened her eyes -she hadn't even realised she'd shut them- to see a man in the intricate healer's robes standing on the edge of the circle, his hand raised towards them.
Ras raised her hand to her throat, and when her fingers brushed the skin there, it wasn't swollen or even bruised. She sighed in relief, feeling freer now that the constant dull throb of pain was gone.
"We'll tell them what happened," Ceilha said kindly, and one part of Ras groaned. She would have to detail what had happened after every call as well? "Do you think you can find your way back to your room from here?"
Ras froze. Oh, dammit. She could barely recognise the room she was in at the moment; and as far as Ras' memory was concerned, she had only walked the route once.
Beside her, Aldran nodded thoughtfully. "I think so, yes."
"You're sure?" Ras asked him in surprise.
Aldran nodded again, faster than before. "Yes."
Well, he had been the one to lead her from their room to Lesten, but from there the directions became hazy, since they hadn't gone directly from their bedroom to the teleportation room.
Still, if Aldran said he could he could, Ras would trust him.
With a wave, Ras and Aldran left the teleportation room.
Ras was mostly lost after the first few corners, the walls looking the same to her, and there were no pointers for where anything was (how were they supposed to find the library like this?).
Aldran, on the other hand, seemed to be fairly confident about where he was going, though he stopped and cocked his head a few times at the forks, his tail languidly swinging side to side.
There were a lot more khertan and psyven about than the last time Ras and Aldran had been there and Ras peered at them curiously. They all greeted each other with friendly nods or waves of the hand and a few times that either she or Aldran caught someone else's eye, they were treated the same also.
Ras had a feeling that she may have missed these gestures the last time because she hadn't been paying that much attention, more distracted with her thoughts and expectations, as well as the impending call.
Ras wasn't entirely sure the room Aldran eventually led her to was theirs (they hadn't left anything that could mark it as such) but it definitely wasn't occupied by someone else either, so Ras wasn't worried about it too much.
While her wounds had been healed, her body mostly rested, there was still something inside that was unsettled, that wasn't quite fully there –from when the geist had attacked Aldran?- so Ras threw Aldran a sleepy smile that he nodded to, showing he understood her gesture –he had to have, he'd seen it a number of times already- and Ras made her way to the closest bed, curled up and fell asleep.