#Writing #BloodofSilenceSeries #BloodofSilence #BoS
The sun was scorching on my swarthy skin, sweat lining my brow and dripping off of various parts of my body. I paid no mind to it, however, as I lunged backwards, loosing a final arrow to fell the beast. It bellowed in pain as it collapsed to the ground.
Gossip had become background noise at this point, for the most part. I could hear the whispers and giggles of those who'd came to watch, but I'd stopped bothering to listen to what they say. I did know, however, that not a single one of them were here to watch me fell some ugly-looking beast.
They were here to watch me,and honestly, you become numb to it after a certain point.
I wasn't immune to it, of course. Occasionally I would play the part or use it to my advantage. The rest of the time I'd ignore it, or shrug off the advances of those who just did not understand the concept of 'look, don't touch.'
With a groan, I collapsed lazily into a nearby bench, resting one leg up upon it as I pulled a canteen out from my bag. The crowd had quickly dispersed by the time I felt a pat on my back.
"You did good today, kid."
I eyed him out of the corner of my vision, but did not respond outside an affirmative hum.
"Ah, that reminds me. A missive came in for you."
Interest peaked, I lowered the canteen from my lips, tilting my head in question.
"Says it's from…ah, what was it now?" he pulled a letter out of his pocket, peering down at it. "'Your most esteemed and benevolent Warrior of Light'."
That was an irritatingly fancy way of saying 'pain in the ass'.
"Got a girlfriend, have you?" he asked teasingly.
A huff passed my lips. "I wish. Despite what you may hear, I'm about as single as you can be. She is just a resident pain in the ass."
He laughed at that. "What'd she ever do to earn your ire? Not many that can get your tail in a knot."
It had been around two years since we'd seen each other. As soon as she was able to leave at 17, she was off with the wind.
She had promised to come back for my 17th, but she never did, and so I set out alone.
I did manage to track her down at one point, but she was surrounded and laughing with strangers. It wasn't my place to intrude when she had clearly left me behind. If she wanted to see me, she would have seen me by now, I decided.
I shrugged, and after a few more minutes of conversation, the man--my employer--left.
I smiled to myself just a little. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy at the prospect of seeing her again.
I suppose you could say she was underwhelming for her kind.
She was much shorter than average, but still around 15 cm taller than I was. Leporine ears smaller than usual, and skin on the lighter scale, though still unmistakably brown.
Long brown hair with soft freckles painting her cheeks, and a small birthmark beneath her left eye. On her nose, the mark of her family: the 'crystal flower', as per tradition in our village.
Theirs was a mark symbolising her bloodline's unusually consistent affinity with Hydaelyn. Everyone in that family had been born with the ability to see the past. Though with the ever-decreasing amount of people with the ability, many wondered if she would be the first of her family not to inherit it.
Those suspicions were quelled, however, when she awoke from a nightmare at the age of five, claiming to have spoken with a giant crystal that called itself 'Hydaelyn'.
No one believed her at first, for it was so rare for anyone to be permitted to commune with Hydaelyn, let alone a child, but it was true. She was the first in over 300 years.
Firyna was a free spirit, questioning anything and everything, and allowing herself to be tied down by nothing. I'd always found her captivating.
Hydaelyn would try time and again to tame her, but trying to control her was a fool's endeavour.
She was smart, and she knew Hydaelyn lied about a lot of things. She saw straight through them.
"You left the village over a year ago and nary a word to me," she sulked. "If I hadn't caught wind of the aesthetically pleasing young catboy prancing around and warming the beds of his employers, I never would have known!"
"Okay, that did not happen."
She huffed indignantly, "All that time we spent together… I leave for a couple of years, and you've already forgotten about me!"
"I did not! If anything, it was you who forgot. I spent all that time waiting, and you never came."
"That's--"
"I saw you, laughing and smiling with people I didn't know. It was only a few days after my birthday, and I just…"
"You…came to see me? But I didn't--"
"I left."
"Oh Zez…" she moved to wrap her arms around me, resting her head in my hair as she ruffled it playfully. "You silly cat; don't tell me you're jealous."
"No…" I murmured.
"I had planned to come see you, but I got caught up in research. I'm sorry, I just-- it was hard, y'know?"
"Were you worried about what they'd say?"
"What they'd do, more likely. You know they don't…approve of what I do."
"Yeah, I know."
"For all we know, they may have decided to swoop me up in a cage and keep me there until they saw some sort of sign or something. Hydaelyn certainly wouldn't have protested," she gestured wildly as she spoke with a lighthearted laugh.
"But that's not what I came here for. We managed to find something and I wanted you to see it."
I hummed in question as she rummaged through an unusually large bag. "It's stupidly big, you're gonna have to help me lift it out."
Inside the bag--taking up almost the entire thing might I add, and peaking out the top a little--was a strange looking crystal encased in some sort of gold-like metal.
"Apparently," she strained as she helped me lift it, "it's some kind of ancient device." Placing it down with a breathy exhale, she continued, "We found a few of them in a lake deep underground. This one though…'caught my eye', I suppose you could say."
"What in the…" I murmured.
"Pretty cool, right? We think it's from the city of dreams."
"Apparently the material it's made may be conductive of aether or something. That's what the old guy said, at least."
"So I was thinking: crystals usually have the best concentration of aether, right? I can think of no more powerful crystal than…" she held her hand out, summoning a crystal purer than anything I'd ever seen with a mischievous smile, "this."
"And what is that exactly? It looks priceless! Using it for this sort of thing sounds like a terrible idea."
"And you would be correct, my good sir! I absolutely should not be using this here crystal of light for my experiments, buuut…" she hushed her voice, a little too giddy with excitement, "it's totally gonna piss Hydaelyn off so much if I use this, so it's worth it."
"That is not a good reason."
"Oh, it absolutely is."
"And what if you accidentally summon a giant beast or something?"
"Then I'll just have to throw you at its jaws as a distraction, so I can stab it from behind," she said cheerfully.
"That all I'm good for, huh?"
"Yep! Now stand back."
Kneeling down, she held a hand out over the relic. The crystal began to glow as she closed her eyes, and the relic responded in kind, glowing alongside it as they resonated with each other.
Her brows knit together, teeth clenched as she winced.
"Fi, are you okay?"
She mumbled something unintelligible before letting out a pained cry, reflexively gripping her head as the crystal clattered to the ground.
"Firyna!"