Tuesday, September 13, 2005

   Chapter 6: The University Caravan (part 1)
The day following Pen’s encounter with the griffin, he could be found in Archives library, sitting alone against a shelf, paging through a thick, leather-bound book about swords.
The night before, having heard Tory’s scream in the forest, she had been greeted by a crowd of wisepeople. The elf-woman, who had left her behind, held her in her arms as they cried together—one from fear and the other from guilt. Pen had come out of the forest then, still dripping with blood and with his sword in his hand.
For a moment, they were all speechless. Then, the old wiseman spoke.
“What has happened?” he asked him, his voice filled with power that Pen had never heard before.
“Tory was left behind,” he told them, forcing them all to meet his lifeless eyes. “It was getting dark, so I returned to the city to bring her back as quickly as possible.”
“But… what happened to you?” gasped a blue-haired wisewoman from the back.
“We encountered a night griffin.”
There was a ripple of quiet talk that overcame the group of adults. Pen waited patiently.
“Let us get this clear,” a young male demanded. “You fought a night griffin?”
“That’s outrageous!” exclaimed another, even before Pen had a chance to nod. “Do you really expect that a little kid like him could encounter a griffin and survive? He’s lying! He’s gotta be!”
This comment was answered by loud argument. Pen couldn’t believe it; they were even louder than the kids! His temper began to grow short.
“Shut up!” he yelled. The crowd grew quiet. “I killed the stupid thing! I killed it! Now let me go home!”
A deep, awkward silence had set in. The only thing that broke it was Tory’s soft, sobbed words.
“It’s the truth,” she cried into the wisewoman’s shirt. “He saved me. Leave him alone.”
At those words, a wiseman led Pen to the back of the dorms and helped him wash the sticky blood off his clothes and body. Lucaya was the first the cleaned, however; Pen made sure that not a spot was left on her.
She was officially his own now. The sword-wiseman had taken the school sword back without questions when Pen had gone to give it to him. He knew that the boy had connections to Danesan and he respected the swordsmith’s judgment.
So far, Pen was having no luck finding anything about two-name swords. He had spent the entire day paging through books. The only thing he found was meanings of the names of swords, but Lucaya wasn’t even in that. Nevertheless, he set it aside, feeling that it was a small step in the right direction.
As he was looking through the index of yet another volume, he heard footsteps coming his way. He pretended to ignore them as they drew closer and closer.
It was Tory. She was dressed in a plain lavender gown, with a matching bow that tied her hair back. She stared at Pen for a moment with her pink eyes. He continued to search the index, ignoring that she even existed. When she got no response, she walked down the row and sat down against the shelf beside him.
Tory sat there in silence for a long, long time.
“What do you want?” Pen said finally, sticking the useless book back and taking out another from the shelf across from them. When she did not say anything, he growled, “What, you can’t talk?”
“I just wanted to thank you,” she said. “For yesterday.”
Pen did not know what to say, so he said nothing. He had never been thanked for doing anything.
“You should have seen yourself,” she continued. “You were awesome! You saved my life!”
He still did not respond. Tory watched him out of the corner of her eyes.
“Can… can I help you?” she asked him, watching as he returned yet another book to the shelf.
“I don’t need your help,” he retorted, pulling out another.
“We leave for University in six days,” she said. “You might not find what you’re looking for in that time. If you tell me what you want, I’ll help you look.”
“I said I don’t need your help!” he said. Disgusted and not understanding why, he put down the book he had just taken out, picked up the one he wanted to keep, and strode out of the library. Tory was left alone in the isle.
She picked up the abandoned book, surprised by how heavy it was. It fell open in her lap to a page where someone had stuck in a piece of paper and forgot to take it out. Knowing that it was bad for the binding, especially for such an old book, she took it out. On her way out of the library, she stuck it behind one of the shelves against the wall, where it was hidden and well taken care of. Maybe someone would find it there later and be able to do something with it.
Feeling lonely, Tory wandered slowly back across the stretch of grass to the dorms. She wondered if Pen always felt this way; was it the reason for the way he was?
She decided that she wouldn’t let herself forget him ever again.
Comments (0) | Permalink

Monday, September 12, 2005

   Heyyyyy
This is my favorite part of the story so far. I hope you like reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!!! ^_^
Comments (2) | Permalink

   Chapter 5: The Eyes of a Hero (part 2)
Pen pinched himself. Neither of them were trained enough to use airlift. They would have to go all the way to the south side of the city in order to use the stairs that led up the cliffs. They didn’t have time for that!
He closed his eyes. If only they could call Keion the way Panda had, if only he answered to someone other than his master…
Wing beats sounded overhead. Pen tore his eyes open and wouldn’t believe what he saw: Keion. The griffon circled down to them, his orange eyes shining in the light of the moon.
Tory gasped and grabbed Pen’s hand. “What is that?” she gasped.
“Shh.”
The griffon landed in the sand before them. Pen carefully approached him. “Will you give us a ride to the top of the cliff?”
He snorted and sank to his knees, allowing the boy to get on his back. After a moment of hesitation, Tory also came to Keion’s side and allowed herself to be helped up. She wrapped her hands around Pen’s middle tightly.
Keion slowly got to his feet, giving them time to find their balance, before he jumped to the winds. Up the cliffs he flew. Pen heard Tory gasp as they spiraled higher and higher, until the griffon settled down on the trail that would take them home.
“Thank you,” Pen told him gratefully as he slid off his back. The griffon bowed his head, and then took to the skies again.
Tory did not say anything as they hurried along the dark path. Sounds of the nightlife of the forest met their ears; Tory inched closer and closer to Pen’s back in fear, until she was almost touching him.
After several minutes, Pen got the feeling that they were being watched. Acting on instinct, he stopped, putting out a hand to make sure that Tory stopped, too.
Two eyes shone at them out of the darkness in the path front of them. A moment later, Pen could make out its whole body.
It was a female griffin—a wild griffon. Being a night griffin, she was bigger than Keion, and more powerful. Tory’s breath became fast and tense behind Pen. For a moment, the griffin and the kids stared at one another. Then, she charged.
Quick as lightning, Pen shoved Tory off of the path, where she fell roughly against a tree. Having her out of the way, he drew Lucaya and struck at the griffin, cutting her diagonally across her feather-covered head. She howled in agony, blood dripping from the gaping wound.
Thoroughly angered, she turned to face Pen again, growling. The next time she attacked, she pounced. Her heavy paws wrestled him to the ground and her beaked snapped wildly. Pen was drowned between the path and her fur. He slashed madly with his sword, cutting everything in front of him.
It was a split second where the wild creature snarled with rage when Pen found her neck. Gathering all of his strength, he freed himself from the paw holding him down.
“Die!” he cried as he drove Lucaya into the griffin’s neck above him. It went all the way through, to the hilt; as she thrashed against it, a flood of warm blood poured down on him, covering every last inch of his body.
The griffin’s howl was cut short. Her body twitched one last time before it became limp above Pen. He kicked the creature's lifeless head away while he pulled his sword out. Her entire body fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Pen stood by the carcass of the slain creature, surveying his work, before he turned back to Tory.
She had been watching his courageous fight from behind a tree. She had been admiring him… but what she saw now was the most horrible thing.
When he turned to look at her, blood dripping from every part of his body, sword in hand, silhouetted against the ghostly light of the moon… When he turned to look at her, his triumphant gaze meeting her’s, those black eyes were like hell itself.
Tory screamed and ran the rest of the way home.
Comments (0) | Permalink

Saturday, September 10, 2005

   Chapter 5: The Eyes of a Hero (part 1)
Sing Lucaya.
Pen turned the two words around in his head as Panda led him back out the stronghold. Lucaya was the name of the sword, there was no question about that, but why the “sing?” Since Danesan hadn’t told him about it, Pen assumed that either he didn’t know about it, or he didn’t know what it meant either. He was sure that the swordsmith would have told him if he did. Pen decided that he would have to check the Archives’ library to see if there was anything about swords marked with two words.
“Do you want a lift somewhere?” Panda asked him, perhaps wanting to break the silence. Brought back to the real world, Pen took a look at his watch. He had five minutes to make it up the cliffs to meet Tory’s group. If he went by foot, there was no way he would get there on time.
“Well,” Pen hesitated. He never liked asking for favors, but, in this case, he had little choice.
“Okay,” Panda didn’t even wait for him to say more. “Keion hasn’t gotten a chance to do anything in a long time. He’s been slacking off a little.” He pulled a little green stone on a chain out of a hidden pocket inside his belt and held it up to sky, so that the light of both suns, starting to set in opposite parts of the horizon, hit it and made it glow.
Only a minute later, there was a great gust of air from above and huge, feathered wings blocked the suns out. A gray-and-brown griffon dropped down beside Panda, the green stones on his collars answering the call of his. His proud orange eyes gazed sharply upon Pen.
“Jump on!” Panda told him. Keion crouched so that the boy could climb on his back. When he was sitting comfortable in front of the wings, his owner gave him a friendly scratch behind an ear and told him to drop Pen off at the top of the city cliffs. The griffon snorted in understanding before jumping up into the air.
“See you later!” Panda yelled as the creature disappeared over the castle’s golden wall.
Pen had never been off the ground; he held on to Keion’s collar in wonder as the city dropped away beneath him. He could see all the alleys and the houses perfectly laid out in small, everything looking like in slow motion from the height. The griffon’s giant patterned wings worked gently, lifting him up over everything, gathering the air and letting it push them to the top of the glittering crystal cliffs.
The boy could see, in the distance, as the wiseman airlifted Tory’s group up with magic. He pointed to them, showing Keion where he should land. The griffon flew gracefully toward the forest, landing carefully on a small plot of grass just inside the tree line, where the group couldn’t see them.
Pen slid off Keion and thanked him. The griffon snorted in response, folded up his wings, and trotted away into the wilderness. Once he had made sure that everything was still in place, Pen followed the edge of the cliff to where Tory’s group was waiting.
The wisewoman looked like she was in a better mood than before. She was talking cheerfully with the wiseman when she saw Pen approaching.
“Okay, we can start going now!” she announced. The wet-haired children, worn out from swimming, did not run ahead as before, and their talking was much less noisy and irritating. Pen was too lost in thought to care about how much he hated them.
His fingers found the letters on his sword. Sing Lucaya. While he walked, he started to feel like there was something out of place… something missing…

They could see the lights of the library ahead in the growing darkness when it hit him. The group of kids ran and the wisepeople ran the rest of the way to the building, leaving Pen standing in the shadows.
Tory wasn’t among them.
In the haste of returning home before dark, she must have been left behind. A strange feeling struck Pen as the truth sank in.
The forest was a dangerous place at night. Not even the city was always safe. There was no time.
As quickly as he could, he threw off his slippery shoes and his belt. He took his school sword off and put it by his shoes; it was too much to take. While he put Lucaya back on, he started to run.
The darkness began to close in on him. He enjoyed it. In the dark, he felt whole. He let it wash over him, sharing his energy as it shared its.
Faster, he thought. Faster.
The shadows swallowed him.
For a moment, he felt disoriented. Pen struggled to find his feet again, and when he did, he could already see the lights of city in front of him. He sprang off the beach side of the cliff, sliding down on his back until it threw him out on the sand.
The blue light of the moon shimmered on the water. Pen ran along the beach, looking for that golden hair that he used to know so well…
In the quiet, as he ran, he thought he heard a strange sound. He stopped, straining his ears against the water of the lake and murmur of voices from the city. It was coming from the little wooden house that served as changing rooms. With a hand on his sword, he approached it.
Just inside the dark, door-less building sat Tory, her back against the wall, weeping.
“Tory!” Pen said quietly. Started, she squeaked and scuttled into the corner, her pink eyes big in the darkness as she tried to make out the shape in the doorway.
“Who… who’s there?”
“It’s me, Tory!”
Her weeping ceased. “P-Pen?” she stuttered. “You… you came for me?”
“Yes,” he said impatiently. “Now, let’s get home before it gets even darker.”
Tory stumbled to her feet, feeling her way to the shadows. As soon as she had made it out, her breath seemed to come easier. Her eyes wandered out to the glittering lake. “Beautiful,” she breathed.
Comments (2) | Permalink

Friday, September 9, 2005

   Where's the feedback?
Yes, I know I'm evil... I haven't posted the chapter. That's because I haven't gotten enough feedback for yesterday's post and I don't know what to do yet! Please lend me your wisedom, and I will make sure that Pen doesn't kill you!!!
*evil thoughts crossing the mind*
Comments (2) | Permalink

Thursday, September 8, 2005

   You guys still reading?
(I'll start posting the next chapter tomorrow)
Character update:
Lucifer, Gerrit, Raine, Tari, Yatii, Jalena, Marcus, Edward, and Deon. I'm still willing to take characters at this point, but time is starting to run out!!
Questions: Are my posts too long or too short? Would it help if I declared certain weekdays for when I update the story?
Comments (2) | Permalink

Tuesday, September 6, 2005

   Chapter 4: The Sword Song (part 3)
Following the tradition, Pen faced Panda, placed the flat part of his sword against his left shoulder, and bowed. Panda did the same. There was a moment of mutual silence.
Panda struck out first. Pen had been expecting it; although it was usual in practice sparring to rise before making a move, many, more advanced students were known to make use the starting position to try to catch their opponent off guard. He flipped his sword up and blocked Panda’s.
A sweet sound filled the air as the blades collided. Pen could feel as the handle absorbed the shock of the blow. Since he was used to his school sword, he had been expecting a much harder hit. He wasn’t even sure if he would have been able to hold against the blow if he had been using it.
Panda’s green eyes almost seemed to glow with a hidden smile. The sword sang as Pen slid it rapidly around his and took a swipe at his legs, forcing the angel to take a step back. When he did not strike in response, Pen got up and took a few steps back, also.
“I have to admit,” Panda said. “You’re good. Let’s go faster.”
This time, when he attacked, it was rapid. He struck at Pen, forcing him to block, then spun around and struck from the other side. The boy had to duck to evade his attack. Panda then stabbed down on him. Pen just barely managed to roll to the side before the sword grazed the grass beside him.
He had hoped that the angel would have gotten his sword stuck in the ground, but that would have been the foolish mistake of a beginner. Panda continued to take swipes at him while he struggled to stand up; Pen blocked him, taking a step back with every blow. His sword rang almost constantly, filling the air with it’s own music. He could feel it vibrating in his hand, as if shivering like a living thing, sharing its energy…
“You shouldn’t always back down,” Panda said, still attacking as he spoke. “Take advantage of my weakness when I strike!”
Pen knew what his weakness was: his sword couldn’t be in two places at once. At the next strike, he ducked and took another swipe at the angel’s legs. This time, it was Panda who had to step back. His green eyes were smiling.
“You need to be fluid!” Panda told him. “Bend around the attack!” He spun around; Pen wasn’t able to tell where he would be coming from, so he took a step back, waiting for the right time. When he saw the flash of the sword on the right, he met it. For the split second that they were caught in a lock, he slid right up to Panda, stuck his left foot behind Panda’s left, and pushed the angel back with his free elbow. Caught by surprise and off balance, Panda tripped and fell backwards.
Pen was on him immediately, and the angel barely managed to raise his sword to block his attack. With a flick of his wrist, the boy broke the song, sending Panda’s sword spinning away to the side. It stuck in the ground, quivering.
Panda hit the ground with his hand to admit defeat. Pen straightened up.
“You’re a great fighter,” Panda told him, sitting up. He sighed. “Havoc can teach you many things, but nothing beats good old talent.”
“You were going easy on me,” Pen said. It wasn’t a question.
“I didn’t want to beat you. It wasn’t the point.”
“What do you mean?”
“I wanted to see what you would do.” He got to his feet. “It wasn’t all about the fight. It was just about getting to know you. My Havoc teacher once told me that crossing swords with someone was one of the best ways to connect to another person’s head. I’ve learned a lot about you.”
“Like what?” Pen didn’t like what he was hearing. He stuck his sword in the ground and took off the training armor.
Panda’s eyes met his. “Havoc will not be what you expect. That’s all I can tell you.”
Pen didn’t answer. He put the armor back on the shelf, slipped on his shoes, and gathered his belt again. When he turned back to the angel, he saw that he was holding his new sword.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, handing it back.
“It was given to me.”
“She’s as lovely as her name. And she sure knows how to sing.”
For the first time, Pen noticed that the sword had something written along the top of the handle. There were two words: Sing Lucaya.
Comments (1) | Permalink

Monday, September 5, 2005

   Chapter 4: The Sword Song (part 2)
Another guard greeted them there, letting them pass through the open doors without any more than a bow. Inside was a bright, golden hall that connected the entrance to the rest of the castle with huge, marble stairs. Although it was definitely breathtaking, Pen was slightly disappointed. He had expected the inside of the castle to be a little more fancy. Instead, everything looked very practical and not overdone at all.
“Miss—“
“Sasheeta,” the dragon put in.
“Yes. Come with me for a moment.” Sasheeta flew off Pen’s shoulder and landed skillfully on Panda’s. Even after she had left, Pen thought he could still feel those little pointy claws against his skin.
Panda ran half-way up their nearest stairway to the left. “Contra” he yelled. “I’ve got a dragon for ya!”
“The missing one?” another voice yelled from above.
“Yeah, that’s the one.” Pen heard the footsteps of someone running down, but he didn’t see whom it was.
“Throw her up!!”
Sasheeta squeaked as Panda rolled her up neatly into a ball with his hand. “Catch!” he yelled, tossing her gently up the remaining steps to whoever was there to catch her. Pen heard her squeal in delight a story above.
“Well, got that taken care of!” Panda rubbed his hands together. “Let’s go!”
Panda led Pen down a smaller flight of stairs and out a well-worn wooden door. It opened to a stretch of green, like a courtyard, with a small covered area where there was a shelf filled with all kinds of training equipment. Pen waited as the angel dug through a pile of unorganized armor, all of it made unique by assortments of dents and scratches.
“We don’t usually have people as little as you come here to train,” Panda said as he searched. “But we might just… ah.” From the back of one of the bottom shelves, he pulled out a dusty, forgotten-looking pair of child chest plates. The leather straps keeping it together were stiff and dry from age. “I guess that this will have to do.”
Pen took the armor and slipped it over his head. It was surprisingly light, and it fit well. Before he pulled the sides tight, he took off his belt and balanced his two swords against the wall.
“By the way, I want an even fight,” Panda added, watching him. “So choose a sword and stick with it.”
The boy nodded. He hadn’t planned on using both his swords; he didn’t have much practice with using two at once. Besides, he wanted to test out his new one first. He hopped in place a couple times to test that his armor was secure, then turned to his swords and drew out the longer. Simultaneously, he kicked off his leather shoes. They were too slippery against the grass.
Panda had backed away, so that he was standing away from the walls. As Pen approached him, he drew his sword.
Comments (3) | Permalink

Saturday, September 3, 2005

   Chapter 4: The Sword Song (part 1)
There was only one way to get into the golden castle: the front gate. It was not quite as busy as the rest of the city, the crowds breaking up just in front of the guarded arc. The plain wooden doors were always propped slightly open during the day, so that whoever had permission could come and go as necessary.
Pen tried not to look too awkward stepping up to the armed guard-elf at the gate. “Sir,” he started, meeting the man’s light-blue eyes, “I found this pseudodragon.”
The guard looked more interested in Pen’s black eyes than Sasheeta. “I can’t let you bring her up without an escort,” he said.
“Will you take her up for me?”
“I can’t leave my post—“
“Sir, I’ll take him up.”
Both Pen and the guard were surprised. Pen was so caught off guard that there was someone behind him that he spun around, his hand automatically finding the hilt of his sword.
The speaker was a tall, well-built angel who looked to be in his early twenties. He had short, light-brown hair and gray, brown-freckled wings. His eyes were kind and brilliant green in color. The most surprising feature, however, was the reddish metal armor that he wore on top of his plain, gray outfit. The bottom part of it was like a wide belt, held in place by chain mail of the same strange red material. A sword hung from his side.
Pen didn’t know much about metals or armor, but he did know one thing: there was only one place where you got red armor. Havoc.
“As you wish, Panda,” the guard said, moving to the side to let them in. The angel passed Pen and entered the castle.
“Come on!” he urged, turning around to wave Pen in. Overcoming his shock, the boy followed. Panda led the way up the slope around the edge of the wall, up to the stronghold.
“We’ve been looking for a pseudodragon for quite some time,” Panda said as they walked up the gravel path. “There was a Havoc group that left here a while ago with mine.”
“You had a pseudodragon?” Sasheeta asked him, walking across Pen’s shoulders so that she could get a better view of Panda.
“Oh, yeah!” the angel smiled at her kindly. “He was a very nice fella. I was quite fond of him, myself.”
“Why did you give him up?”
“The Havoc team was penned up here for a week before they gave up on trying to find their dragon,” he explained. “Since I was assigned to stay in the city, at least for a while, I had no real need for mine, so I decided that he would be put to better use with Havoc.”
“Does that mean that I will be your dragon, now?” Sasheeta looked excited.
Panda laughed. “I’m not so sure about that. The king is pretty careful in how he uses you guys. I don’t think I’ll be assigned another dragon until I leave the city.”
“Sir, you’re a graduate of Havoc, right?” Pen spoke, not having the courage to look at the person he was talking to. Panda looked surprised.
“Why… yeah. Why do you ask?”
“I want to join Havoc, too.”
“I see.” There was a moment of silence. “What’s your name?”
Pen gritted his teeth. He hated that question. “Pen,” he answered.
“Penumbra of the Archives, huh?” He finally looked up and met Panda’s green eyes. The angel was smiling. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Where—“
“You’re the kid that they’re letting into University a year early,” he continued. “That’s quite an achievement. You really thought I wouldn’t know about that?”
“No—“
“Good,” Panda was still smiling. “You’ll never get into Havoc without ever having crossed swords with someone worth your time.” He locked eyes with Pen again. “So, what about it? Would you like to spar with me?”
“You—“ Pen was speechless. “You—you’re serious?”
“Of course I am!” Panda chuckled. “Let’s just drop off the dragon, and then I’ll show you where we can have a little match!”
Pen didn’t know what to say. He dropped his eyes to the ground and was silent the whole way to the castle’s huge wooden front doors.
Comments (1) | Permalink

Friday, September 2, 2005

   Chapter 3: The Dragon (part 2)
Pen slowed down, convinced that he wasn’t being followed. “How did you get stuck in there?” he asked the smart little creature.
“I was going to the castle,” she explained. “I had volunteered to be a king’s dragon, so they put me in that box to ship me down from Sersaalla to here, but along the way, my box got mistaken for a book box.”
“You came from Sersaalla?” Pen was impressed. The capital of the dragons was almost as far north as University was far south. It was a long trip. It also meant that he had a pretty valuable dragon on his back. “How long have you been in that box?”
“Actually, about three weeks.” She yawned. “I slept most of the time, though.”
“What do you want me to do?” Pen questioned. All thoughts about going home had left him.
“Bring me to the castle.”
“What?!” After splitting a box and running through half of the alleys of Quont-Ein, Pen had thought that there was nothing worse still left for him to do for the creature. Yet, as he thought about it, it was the only thing he could do. She was very important to the king. “Okay, fine!” he grumbled. “But I’d better be getting something out of this!” He turned back to the golden walls.
“What’s your name, anyway?” the dragon asked him. Pen could see her brown beady eyes watching him from the corner of his eyes. He could also feel the eyes of many angels and elves as he passed them. It was definitely something you didn’t see everyday: a black-haired, black-eyed, nine-year-old elf with two swords and a pseudodragon on his shoulder. Well, there’s a first for everything, he thought carelessly.
“It’s common courtesy to state your own name first,” he retorted. He was starting to loose his patience with this little critter.
“My name is Sasheeta,” she said.
“I’m Pen.”
“Just Pen?”
“Just Pen.”
“You’re lying. I can tell.”
“My name is Penumbra!” he hissed, flinching as he said it. He didn’t know why, but he hated saying his full name, as if it told him about something about himself or his past that he didn’t want to recall.
The dragon said nothing for a long time.
Comments (2) | Permalink