Friday, October 14, 2005

   Chapter 12: Black Tears (part 3)
The music still sang on and on as Pen staggered along the stone hallway. All the torches died, leaving everything in utter darkness. He felt weak and disconnected, and still a fire burned inside him as the beautiful, horrible music pushed against his ears. Opening the first door he found, he flung himself into the room and fell to his knees on the rug, Lucaya still in his arms.
“Pen!” he heard Lucifer cry in the dark hallway, but he seemed distant and far away. Pen finally dropped his sword, his body shaking with feelings that he never before knew he had.
Lucifer heard the sword fall, and he used it to find his way through the dark to where Pen was crouching. He laid a comforting hand on his friend’s quivering back and subcontiously barked a command to the candle in angel-magic. It burst into flame, immediately filling the room with its encouraging light.
“Pen, talk to me!” Lucifer urged, kneeling down and gently shaking him to get him to return from wherever he had gone. Pen’s face was burried in his hands; his black tears, like blood, streamed through his fingers. “Pen! Are you okay?! Pen!!”
The song ended.
The music released Pen from its merciless grip, but the new feelings did not. They were feelings that he wished he had never discovered.
He dropped his hands to the floor, where the black tears were absorbed into the rug and disappeared. Slowly, the feelings began to ebb away to the back of his mind, and his body stopped shaking. The light of the candle gave him strength; Lucifer’s anxious breathing gave him comfort. After a moment more, the torches in the hallway came back to life.
Pen sat back upright, and, meeting Lucifer’s worried eyes, he smiled sadly. There was a moment of mutual silence.
“I can cry,” the black-eyed boy said, closing his eyes in a weariness that he had never experienced before. His soul drifted off into the darkness.

Lucifer did not once leave Pen’s side again that night. Only minutes after Pen had fallen asleep, Raine, Yatii, and Ed stopped by the room to ask about what had happened.
“I’m not sure,” Lucifer told them honestly, his voice hardly above a whisper so as not to wake up Pen. “The music seemed to have gotten to him somehow.”
“Is he okay?” Raine asked, concerned.
“Yeah, I think he’s just sleeping,” he answered. He did not tell them that he had no way of knowing whether Pen was sleeping or if he was dead.
Reassured, the boys headed off to bed, closing the door behind them. After hesitating for a second, Lucifer covered Pen with a blanket from the bed. He didn’t know what else to do for his black-eyed friend, so he laid down on his bed and waited, until exhaustion pulled him unwillingly down into a dreamless sleep.
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Wednesday, October 12, 2005

   Chapter 12: Black Tears (part 2)
At the end of the following day, when the two suns were across from each other in the sky, the Caravan drifted into Murneske, to be greeted by thunderous applause. The angel’s city covered an entire hill, built entirely of stone. It was simple and practical, with paved streets and wide alleys. Like Quont-Ein, there was a castle on the top of the hill, although this one was entirely made of stone bricks instead of gold.
They tied their boats to the docks, where a crowd of angels awaited them. Within half an hour, they were herded up to the castle and into the huge courtyard, where tables had been set out with food.
“Wow!” Lucifer exclaimed. Sasheeta’s eyes got big when they fell on a huge platter of raw fish from her perch on his shoulder.
“Before we start the party,” Contra yelled over the growing cacophony, quieting the angels and the Caravan, “boy’s dorms are to the left, girl dorms are to the right! Two to a room. That is all!”
With his last words, music jumped out over the crowd and filled the courtyard. Pen was awestruck by it, since none of the music that the wisepeople of the Archives played were as energetic or as wild as what he now heard. Strangely drawn by the sounds, he swam through the crowds around the tables and found the corner where the musicians were.
They were a group of three elves and three angels. An old, gray-haired, kind-looking angel, an elf with wild, curly blonde hair, and a brown-haired elf-girl played violins, fiddling the quick-paced melody from a rickety wooden music stand. Beside them, sitting on book-crates, an elf and an angel were armed with guitars and bells strapped to their ankles that rang as they tapped their feet. The last angel was a handsome young man with black hair and inticrately-pattered wings, playing an instrument that Pen had never seen before. It looked like a wooden box with a long neck that was taller than the musician, carved into the shape of a horse’s head at the top. Its single string was thick—presumably spun from hog guts—and made a deep, vibrating sound when it was plucked.
Pen was so spellbound by the mix of chords and rhythms that he took a seat right on the grass before the musicians and listened. He unsheathed Lucaya and set her across his lap, feeling as her blade vibrated with the music.
After half an hour, Lucifer finally found him. “I was wondering where you had gone,” he said as he sat down beside him. The curly-haired violinist winked at them and smiled while she played.
As the night began to close on them, they struck up a slow tune. The people quieted down to listen to the sad melody, which seemed to echo over the hills for miles.
Pen began to feel something while the song flowed. He didn’t know what was happening, but he began to ache inside; a great fire was there, like nothing he ever felt before. An emptyness filled his entire being. The music sang.
A drop of something black dropped onto Lucaya’s blade, where it slid off and disappeared in the shadows.
“Pen,” Lucifer said quietly, surprising Pen. The black-eyed boy looked up suddenly, meeting his gentle eyes, and saw that they were filled with pain and care. “Pen, you’re crying.”
Pen could no longer stand it. He stumbled to his feet, clutching Lucaya to his chest, and ran up the stairs to the deserted boy’s dorms. Heads turned as Lucifer raced after him.
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Monday, October 10, 2005

   Raine, the half-dragon
Congrats to DarknessofHeart for creating Pen's fifth friend, Raine! He's just plain awesome!!

Thank you so much for all your great ideas, everyone!! How will I ever be able to thank you?
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   Chapter 11: Fifth (part 4) and Chapter 12: Black Tears (part 1)
“Hello,” he said cheerfully, meeting four pairs of eyes. “Is it okay if I join your group?”
He was like no other; his appearance was just as surprising to Pen as the horse’s had been, although in a very different way. It took all of them a moment to look him over, registering his eccentic features. He had platinum silver hair, with bangs that fell over and to the side of his eyes. In contrast to his light hair were his black robes. His wings revealed that he wasn’t an elf, although he wasn’t an angel either.
One of his wings was normal and white, but the other was black, and it was the wing of a dragon.

Chapter 12: Black Tears
“Of course,” Lucifer was the first to answer. “We still have room on our boat.”
“Great!” the boy exclaimed, coming toward them. “I’m Raine. It’s nice to meet you.”
Lucifer was quick to open up to the strange boy, leading him down to where their boat was pulled up on the shore. He introduced them all as they returned to their lunches. Yatii and Ed were a little slower in getting accustumed to Raine, but within a few minutes, they also warmed up to him.
“You must be a half-dragon,” Yatii said, trying to contain his curiousity. “I had heard stories that some dragons got attracted by our people during the war, but I was never really sure about their accuracy.”
“It’s true,” Raine confirmed. “My father is a tiger dragon who fought in the Continental War. My mother was a dragon-healer.” He shrugged. “You can probably guess how they met.”
“A tiger dragon?” Yatii asked, scratching his head. “It sounds familiar…”
Pen didn’t know anything about them, but he wasn’t about to ask. It was Ed who finally did. “I’ve never heard of any tiger dragons before,” he said.
“They’re pretty rare,” Raine explained. “Even more now because so many died in the war.”
“That must mean that they’re metallic dragons,” Yatii put in. “They must have very powerful magic in order for them to take on an angel form.”
“Yeah. The reason that they were so valuable in the war was exactly because they had power-destruction magic in their fire. With just one blast, they could blow apart physical, magical, and demonic flesh alike. Of course, they have to be in their dragon form to do so.”
“Do you know your father?” Ed questioned, almost tentively.
“We live just inside the border of Imdaar, at the edge of my father’s mountain. He watched over us, coming to visit whenever he felt that he had enough power to spare to take on his angel form. He taught me many things about the power-destruction draconic magic in my blood.”
“But, if you’re only half-dragon,” Yatii pointed out, “that means that you must also have your mother’s healing magic in your blood, too.”
The boy’s hand strayed to the covered hilt of his sword, hesitating for a moment before he drew it out. It was slender and slightly curved; it was a good weapon, Pen knew. But it was as unusual as its wielder, because its blade was half white and half black, split down the middle.
“This is Judgement,” Raine said. “My father and my mother made it for me. They said that it would help me to control the two magics inside me, once I better learn how to use it.”
“It’s a good sword,” Pen said, speaking to him for the first time. “You won’t need any other.”
Raine and Pen locked eyes for a second, each unsure whether they faced a friend or foe. Then, Raine smiled. “I like her, too.” He slid the weapon away again. “What about your sword?”
Pen shrugged. “I still have to figure her out,” he stated honestly.
“Okay, it’s time to keep moving!” Sharp’s voice rang over the camp. This time, Yatii and Ed took over the paddles for the stretch of river before nightfall. The five boys spoke of the past and of the future, sharing their similarities and recognizing their differences. Pen listened more than he talked, but even he—with Lucifer at his side—opened his mouth once in a while. The boys respected his silence and did not force him to join the conversation, and Pen finally had to admit that some kids weren’t as stupid as they might appear.
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Sunday, October 9, 2005

   Read Friday's post!!!!
The last post may be incredibly huge... but there's a reason for that... IT'S IMPORTANT!!! Go read it, before you force me to create an army of undead minions to destroy your character... mwahahahaaa...

*sighs* You know I would never do that... but still... go read...
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   Chapter 11: Fifth (part 3)
“Hurry, get on,” Pen told the two newcomers, and they did as he had said. As soon as they were all sitting, he pushed it the rest of the way in and jumped on, taking his place at the paddle.
At first, it was strange having Yatii and Ed aboard, but it became more natural as the day went by. They talked and got to know each other better. Ed was the son of a merchant, who had left him with friends in Perol while he traveled. He had been friends with Yatii for many years, ever since he could call Perol his home. Yatii, on the other hand, had grown up in the same town that his ancestors had lived in.
Lucifer briefly told them about his heritage in the Okora mountains, reciting the same story to them as he had told Pen. Yatii, especially, was fascinated by the topic, and immediately struck up a conversation about Okora, the black-skinned, huge, cat-bear-like creatures that ruthlessly ruled the mountains and could only be hunted by those that lived there and carried the experience of many generations and traditions. He seemed to know an incredible amount about animals.
Pen shared none of his history. He found it utterly uninteresting, and he despised being reminded of it. The Archives felt like a thing of the far past. It pleased him when they did not ask him questions.
At noon, they stopped for lunch at the edge of the river, where the only thing in sight were the rolling green hills of Perol, flecked with the stone houses of angels and only few trees. Pen, who had grown up inside the dense forest, was surprised by the broad, grassy greeness of the angel’s country. And, from snipets of conversations that he overheard, so were the other elves.
Lunch consisted of bread, jerky, and water from the river. It wasn’t very much, but—as Panda pointed out—they would be arriving in Murneske, the angel’s capitol, by nightfall of the next day, promising a hearty meal.
As Pen watched Lucifer, Ed, Yatii, and Sasheeta eat, he suddenly sprang to his feet and ran to the top the hill, getting a better view over the land.
“Pen, what’s up?” Lucifer asked. He got to his feet and joined his friend. A moment later, Yatii and Ed also set aside their lunches to see what was happening. The other groups, concentrating on their conversations and food, did not notice them.
Far in the distance, coming from the north, someone was riding. Nano, who was in the sky on Lyanni and had Koshga on her shoulder, flashed a red light from the stone on her staff, circling higher into the sky so that the signal could be seen from far away.
The moving speck in the distance disappeared in a valley, only to reappear at the top of one of the nearer hills. Whoever it was was heading directly for them.
The pounding of hooves made the earth shake, even when the figure was still no bigger than a thumbnail on the horizon. They all gasped in astonishment at the creature’s speed; none of them had ever known that anything could run so fast. And, as she drew closer, Pen was struck breathless by her beauty.
It wasn’t a beauty like he had ever seen before. On the outside, she was a normal bay, but there was something about her that did not reach the eye. She was built more heavily and she was taller than a war-horse, but she had a lightness about her that did not match her looks. Her black mane streamed, rippling like the angry sea; her fur shimmered like fire with youth against her muscles. Her eyes were fierce and deep and wonderful with an inner power that defied all other around it.
She burned down the last hill with the fury of the wind, the rhythm of her hooves changing as she made her way up to them. As she slowed to a canter, the four of them caught a glimpse of the rider. He wasn’t an elf, since his light green hair was short, but he had no wings. Pen saw that he carried the outfit of a Havoc graduate, and yet he wore no sword.
In a split second, the horse pranced once in place before them; then, she spun around and galloped away, her rider smiling and lifting up a hand in farewell. A boy was standing where he had been dropped off, right before them.
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Friday, October 7, 2005

   Yatii and Edward!!
Many thanks to Duck P. Chimera and EdwardElricThe2nd for creating Yatii and Edward (respectively)!! They are great characters who are a pleasure to work with; look forward to them in many chapters to come!!!
Also, Tory's two new friends have also been created by fellow MyOtaku members (dream wings and Frgt10one). They will be introduced formally later in the story.

OTHER NOTE TO READERS:
If you have been keeping track of the story, you can skip the summary and simply read the new chapter. If you haven't, read the summary first, then scroll down to the chapter. Check out the archives to read past posts of the story.

Happy Reading!!
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   Summary
Penumbra is an orphan, raised by elves in the Archives. His short black hair and entirely black eyes set him apart from everyone else; how he got these strange qualities is a mystery.
At age seven, Pen killed a village boy. He becomes feared by everyone—including Tory, the only person who ever cared about him. Dedicated to fighting and wishing only to follow in the footsteps of Predicus, he manages to get accepted to University—the national school—a year early. Getting accepted to Havoc (a highly selective program to train the king’s most professional warriors) is Pen’s goal.
During a trip to Quont-Ein, the capitol city of Anatol (the land of the elves), Pen is given a sword marked only with the words “Sing Lucaya.” He uses her to free Sasheeta, a pseudodragon from Sersallaa (capitol city of the dragons). When he takes her to the castle where she belongs, he meets a Havoc graduate called Panda and gets a chance to spar with him. He is also introduced to Keion, Panda’s loyal griffon.
Upon returning home, Pen realizes that Tory was left behind in their haste. In the darkening night, he hurries back to the city and finds her. With the help of Keion, they are well on their way home when they encounter a wild griffin. Pen fights and slaughters the huge beast, a task difficult even for a trained soldier.
A few days later, he joins the University Caravan, headed by the Havoc graduates Panda and Contra, with their steeds Keion and Akana, a war-horse. Sasheeta is also with them, as well as Tory and Nomei (a very talkative soldier).
Upon reaching the Acheron River, the Caravan stops at an inn to rest. There, Pen meets Lucifer, a black-winged, 11-year-old angel from the Okora Mountains. Lucifer is his roommate, boat-mate, and becomes his first real friend.
He also translates a strange piece of paper that Pen found in the Archives library. It reads “Awaken power: Senots Tsefinam sih Yawa Gnis” using angel magic symbols.
When they need to stop on account of rain, the Caravan encounters Gerrit the Earthbound, a man who is famous for hunting for the source of wild magic (unnatural magic that deals with the breaking apart of life-energy). Gerrit’s body is made of stone because his soul was torn from his body and anchored in an emerald by wild magic. He determines that Pen is not the way he is because of wild magic; however, Lucaya does have traces of something similar.
Once the rains subside, the Caravan continues on. They just met the Angel Caravan—headed by the Havoc graduates known as Nano and Sharp, and their steeds Lyanni (a pegasus) and Tobas (another war-horse), as well as another pseudodragon, called Koshgankae (“Koshga”). The angels’ and elves’ Caravans are about to merge together for the rest of the way down the Acheron River, to University…
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   Chapter 11: Fifth (part 2)
As the first beams of sunlight flooded over the beach, the kids began to awake. Lucifer was one of the first.
“Good morning,” Pen said as the angel sat up. After stretching and yawning, he poked Sasheeta gently to get her to wake up. She grumbled and bit his finger.
“You sound cheerful today,” Lucifer noted, somewhat absentmindedly, as he tried to get the sleeping dragon to release him. “Sasheeta, that hurts!”
“Here, let me help,” Koshga proposed, flying over to them. She sat down beside her younger colleague and tilted her head to the side. There was a second of complete silence.
“Yeep!” Sasheeta squeaked suddenly, jumping to her paws, suddenly wide awake. In the process, Lucifer got the chance to pull his finger out of her mouth. “Koshga!”
“That worked,” she said with satifaction. “You need to learn how to stay awake if you ever want to be a real king’s dragon. Now would be a good time to start training.”
Sasheeta grumbled something, then busied herself brushing sand off her wings.
“Anyway, as I was saying, you sound happier today,” Lucifer told Pen, watching as Chella cast her morning light across the water of the Acheron.
“I do?” Pen asked, unsure of what to make of this news.
“Yeah.”
A silence set in, but it wasn’t an awkward one. They simply enjoyed each other’s presence for the short while that it took for the remaining kids to wake up.
Once it was certain that everyone had gotten up, Sharp gave instructions to the Angel Caravan to stack together their rafts and paddle-sticks in piles. It only took a few minutes for the kids to do as he told them to. The University Caravan waited anxiously as the angels, in pairs or small groups, finally wandered over to the boats to join them.
The first boats to be filled were the extra ones that the soldiers had brought from Goswen Port. These were occupied quickly, leaving the remaining angels no choice but to find a pair of elves to share with.
Pen watched as Tory and her friend partnered up with a pair of remarkably well-matching angels: they both had brown eyes and light, blondish-brown hair, and they were short for their age. The only way that Pen could tell that they weren’t sisters was their wings and their build—one was very skinny and rather pale for an angel, with white wings that faded into a grayish blue toward the tips, whereas the other was less scrawny and had pink wings.
The two of them tore their attention away from the girls when they noticed that an angel had drifted over to them. An elf—perhaps his friend—was not far behind. They saw that the two boys were watching them, and approached them a little nervously.
“Do you still have room in your boat?” the first asked. He wore a plain gray t-shirt and pants; his only interesting feature was a headband that had the image of a bird on the front, which he wore proudly on his brown hair. His wings were fairly small and frail for an angel.
“Sure,” Lucifer said kindly.
“I’m Yatii,” he responded. “Can my friend also come with us?”
“Of course.”
“My name’s Edward,” the elf said, coming to Yatii’s side. He had one blue eye and one green eye, as well as dark blonde hair. Unlike his angel friend, he wore a red shirt and cream-colored pants. “You can just call me Ed.”
“I’m Lucifer.”
“Pen,” Pen told them to introduce himself.
“My name’s Sasheeta!” the little dragon, flying on to Lucifer’s shoulder. “It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
“Wow, you have a pseudodragon?” Yatii gasped in awe. “Other than the one that came with the Angel Caravan, I’ve only seen wild ones!”
“Well, she’s not ours technically,” the black-winged angel explained. “She’s just hanging out with us for now.”
“I’ve read so much about you,” Yatii told the little dragon. “The smartest of the chromatics, a rare strand of magic and mental energy that forms a bond between those who share the same blood…”
“It’s time to get moving,” Contra’s voice rang over the camp. Pen immediately got busy and began to push the boat back into the water. A second later, Lucifer, Yatii, and Ed also added their strength, pushing the shell quickly through the uneven sand and into the swift current of the Acheron.
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Tuesday, October 4, 2005

   Chapter 11: Fifth (part 1)
Pen opened his eyes at the first light and sat up. Lucifer, with Sasheeta laying on the downy underside of one of his wings, was still sleeping, along with the other Caravan kids. The only voices that floated over to him were those of the four Havoc graduates. Akana, Keion, the pegasus, and a large chestnut war-horse were also gathered around their owners. Their figures were hardly more than shadows against the still-dark sky.
“It was lucky that we got the news just in time,” the blonde-haired, brown-and-golden-winged warrior was saying, his hand absentmindedly stroking his red steed. “Run-away chromatics are common, but we wouldn’t want to have faced him with the Caravan.”
“Yes, that makes sense. Was is wild magic?” Panda asked
“No, thank goodness, it was only a cast-out father. And, well, you know how they get when they’re hungry.”
“So I’m guessing that you didn’t give it any more thought,” Panda commented.
“We sent ZeeDee to take care of him,” the warrior was chuckling.
“Oh, I see!” Contra added, also laughing. “Well, I guess that’s why!”
The four of them all shared the inside joke, before Panda noticed that Pen was awake and listening. “Good morning, Pen!” he told him cheerfully, waving a hand. “Come over!”
The black-eyed boy got to his feet and made his way over to them, careful not to disturb the sleeping kids on the sand. When he had joined them, he was quick to introduce himself, remembering that he was in the presence of four Havoc graduates.
“I’m Pen,” he said respectfully, almost automatically scratching Keion’s head.
“This is Nano and Sharp,” Panda said. The two nodded at him, smiling kindly. “And Lyanni and Tobas,” he added, indicating first the pegasus and then the chestnut.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Nano said. “We’ve heard many things about you.”
“My curiousity wonders…” Sharp broke in. “Is it really true that you killed a griffin on your own?”
“Yes.”
“I do not doubt that you tell the truth,” Contra commented. “Your strength is rare.”
Pen shrugged, not knowing how to respond to the complement. Keion started to purr, and the black-eyed boy felt something inside him stir at the sound. It was something between comfort and a strange, warm feeling that he didn’t know what to think of.
Tobas, almost as if he was drawn to Pen, left the side of his master and gently nudged the boy on the shoulder with his big, soft nose. Surprised by the kindness of the huge creature, he reached up his free hand and petted his forehead, marveling his hidden power. Yet, before he knew it, Lyanni had come forward and planted her head in his belly.
Pen didn’t know what to say as the animals surrounded him with their warmth and presence. He petted and scratched them, not realizing that he was returning the kindness that they had extended to him.
“Well, would you look at that!” Panda exclaimed in surprise. Broad smiles were on all of their faces; they all felt happy, without really knowing why.
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