Unintentional Beginning
Chapter One: The Attack
Maerad shivered as she plunged into the cold river. She ducked her head under the water, and come right back up.
"Ca-cad-d-van," she said, her teeth chattering with the cold. "W-why do I h-have to learn to s-swim r-right now?"
"Because, it is better to learn now than it is to learn later," he said.
"But the wa-water is co-cold," she stuttered.
"It's not as cold as you think it is," Cadvan replied as he waded into the water. He didn't seem to be cold, but Maerad knew better. Once he came where Maerad was, he began to teach her the different swim strokes. Maerad picked it up quickly, and soon forgot how cold she was. Cadvan watched her swimming up and down the stream, smiling to himself. Some of his childhood memories came back to him. One of when his older sister taught him how to swim. He remembered how his siblings tried to get him away from the water, and how he cried when they did. Then he remembered the day the frog spoke to him and how terrified he was. Cadvan then thought of how his brothers and sisters had died long ago, and how lonely he was. He had no family he could go back to, or a home. Cadvan when he told Maerad "Music is my home." It seemed like years ago when spoke those to her. He sighed inwardly and his smile faded. He did not notice the tear that slid down his face, or when Maerad came towards him.
"What's wrong Cadvan?" she asked gently.
"Nothing Maerad. Nothing is wrong," he said, wiping another way another tear. Maerad remembered when Nelac had told her about Cadvan and how "if he seeks to keep something hidden, it is near impossible to find it out."
"Please don't lie to me Cadvan. Just tell me what's troubling you," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. He looked at her with a strange expression in his eyes. The expression made Maerad feel nervous, and...... excited?
He opened his mouth to tell her, when a dark bolt narrowly missed his head. Both of them sent back their own bolt of white fire and ran towards onto shore. Cadvan reached for his sword, Arnost, and drew it out of its sheath.
"Maerad get behind me," he said.
"But," she began.
"Now Maerad!" Cadvan snapped. She did so, and made a shield around them.
"You think that shield will protect you?" asked the attacker. Her voice sounded like nails on chalkboards. It seemed to come from all around them.
"You humans are all the same, thinking that you have the right to trespass in other people's houses," the mysterious stranger said.
"We were not aware anyone lived here among the trees," Cadvan said, ready to attack if someone came.
"Me, live among the trees!? The nerve of some humans! No, I live in the water," she exclaimed getting annoyed.
The surface of the water started to shimmer. A figure rose out of the depths of the river. It was a woman. She had long dark blue hair that ran down her back in waves. Her ears were pointed and her skin was a very pale blue color.
Maerad gasped. This creature looked very familiar. She couldn't quite grasp where she had seen her before.
"You're a water nymph," Cadvan said in amazement.
The water nymph smiled, showing a row of sharp, pointy teeth. Suddenly, Maerad remembered where she had seen this woman before. She had seen her the day those women in Gilman's Cot tried to drown her. Maerad had seen the water nymph smiling at her when was about to die.
"Very good human. You can actually tell apart your ancient creatures," the water nymph said. Maerad stood beside Cadvan and said, "We did not mean to disturb you. We will go, if you wish. We do not want to cause trouble." Cadvan turned his head towards Maerad, surprised by her answer.
The water nymph laughed and floated towards them. Cadvan took a step back, but Maerad stayed put. "Well aren't you a brave one? You look familiar, have we met before?" she asked. She reached out her hand and touched Maerad's face. Maerad flinched as the water nymph's slimy hand stayed on her cheek.
"Ah, now I remember you. You were drowning in that miserable little puddle they called a pond over in....what's the name of it.....oh yes, Gilman's Cot," the water nymph said her hand still on Maerad's face.
"Let go of her," Cadvan snarled pointing Arnost at her chest. The water nymph looked at him with amusement.
"Do you really believe you can harm me with that...needle, Cadvan? I mean you wouldn't harm a poor, defenseless girl, would you? Especially if said girl was Ceredin." As she said this, the water nymph changed form. Maerad stared in amazement. There standing before her was Ceredin. She could tell who it was just by the way she looked. Maerad knew she would have known even if the water nymph had not said anything.
Cadvan didn't move. His heart was hammering in his chest. Could it be Ceredin? He asked himself. Don't be stupid Cadvan. The water nymph is tricking you! Snapped another voice. Without thinking, Cadvan stabbed the fake Ceredin through the chest. Only it wasn't the nymph he had stabbed, it was Maerad. She let out a horrible screech and fell tot he ground. The shield flickered out, and Cadvan fell to his knees.
"What have I done?" he asked uselessly.
"Well, it seems that you just stabbed your friend, there, through the chest," the water nymph said. She had reverted to her true self and laughed wickedly. She turned back towards the water.
All of Cadvan's anger and hatred boiled up to the surface, and he released a brilliant bolt of white fire at the nymph. She turned around and sent a bolt back, before she was engulfed in the flame. She fell into the water, screaming.
Cadvan did not see the black bolt hurtling towards him. He was only aware of it as it hit him. It struck him square in the chest and knocked him unconscious. His head slammed against a rock and it started to bleed.
Maerad and Cadvan laid there, bleeding to death. They were far from any civilization and no one else saw what happened, or was in the woods for that matter. No one except a snow white wolf, with gleaming yellow eyes.