Quiet Moments of Silence, a mythology fanfic

chapter 1

Quiet moments of silence are all I have left of me, that and my fast disappearing memories that crawl away from my head with my sanity. Trembling I place my hands on my chest feeling last nights bruises from ''the treatment''.

My mind wanders painfully back to my vision…. I lie in darkness; figures and creatures thump and howl around me, dragging me to their masters. I am thrown on my stomach and my back is ripped open, as my spine is laid bare. I feel ice; cold hands grip me and place me on a hook, hung by my spine, a gruesome memento of their victory.

Shuddering I pull myself out of the memory, the intercom crackles with the sounds of the straw kings latest message. ''All abominations to report to the treatment room for experiment 2664, sighing I pull myself out of my narrow bed and move toward the sealed door. The stony faced guards let me pass to the treatment room. The cruel scientists place the cords to my head and turn up the power. My body shakes with the power surge. My head spins as they try to remove my oddity.

The operation fails as I thought it would. But I am left with a blood nose and a pain in my lungs from screaming. I am carried to my room, Farci, the only guard who I have ever spoken to and received civil conversation from, stares and gulps when he sees my face. He is the only guard who is close to my age, being only two years older than me. . The others taunt him and say that to feel sorry for an abomination is almost a crime. He quickly hardened his face and looked away.

Such is a life like mine. Once I am alone I wash my face in the tiny basin and look at my face in the cracked mirror. My face looks nothing like the golden haired, blue-eyed people of the Straw King. I shall take a moment to describe the cruel sadistic ruler of my land: the Straw King. So named because of his flaxen hair and bright blue yes. My hair and eyes alone are enough to show that I am different. With my chestnut hair and one blue and one brown eye I am distinctly different from my fellow countrymen.

My oddity of mind reading and other powers that are yet to be discovered mean that I am the most powerful of all the abominations and also the Straw Kings greatest fear. We Strange ones are not allowed to communicate or see each other because the thought of all of us uniting and crushing him with our abilities is the Straw Kings greatest paranoia. But for all this I know how many there are of us, exactly thirty-five people with mutations that mark us are odd. But I am the strongest of all.

I am the daughter of a scientist Riel Black Hand, I was born with powers over technology and my father used me for many experiments. In fact that was the only reason he didn't give me up to the Straw Kings scientists who called themselves the Grey Oblivion. An apt title for most mutants in their clutches never was the same again and quite often lost their minds.

One dark December, three days before my tenth birthday. My father began a new experiment. He purchased werewolf saliva, vampire venom and dragon blood, these he injected into my veins, along with a sample of a strange new chemical he had invented. As these various things were injected into my body a chemical change took place resulting in an explosion. It blew half the wall to smithereens.

Luckily no one was killed. As the smoke cleared and I stood up facing the other way, my father gasped as he saw me. I had changed into a monster; I had fangs, long werewolf claws and a great pair of black-scaled wings that burst from my back. I straightened up and turned around. My eyes were a glowing yellow with black slit pupils like a cats. I growled like a wolf and slowly one by one I forced my claws to retract into my fingers, leaving behind a drop of blood as they did so.

I stared at the mirror that my father held up. I shook myself and retracted the fangs and as I stared at the mirror my yellow eyes faded to their usual blue and brown

No one spoke as I glared at them all, the staff, the attendants, my mother and finally my father, the man who turned me into a monster. I turned to him and uttered on word, ''why?'' He licked his lips and spoke, ''I wanted to create the ultimate weapon Lanais and I have, I created you for one purpose: to overturn the Straw king and put me in his place,''

I growled and grabbed two cables. My father gasped as I smiled, I had hacked his system and I could make the laboratory to explode. He reached out and stroked my wings. ''It survived better than I expected, thought I never thought it would have this reaction''. I drew my wings back into my back and walked away from him burning with anger, so I was it now, no longer human.

One of the assistants noticed a spark come out of my fingers into one of the cables. He shouted and rushed forward, but he was too late, the laboratory exploded.

Millions of glass shards flew into the air. I stood there as they sliced my skin. I was engulfed in a fireball. I shut my eyes and waited for death. Better dead than a monster.

As I opened them I saw a pillar falling toward me, without thinking I jumped into the air moving faster than I ever had in my life. So now I had superhuman strength and speed. I had the attributes of a werewolf and vampire. As the flame burnt down and the smoke cleared I stood up, walking away from the wreckage. My burnt skin healed itself in seconds; my cuts were gone in moments.

I strode over to the sole survivor of the explosion, my mother who was cowering behind a pillar with the remains of my father. I looked down at her, a broken woman crying over the dead body of her husband. She looked up, ''Lanais help me bury your father,'' I quietly took her hand, ''mother, Lanais is dead, Riel killed her in that experiment,'' I whispered as she sobbed.

''I begged him so hard not to do this, you have no idea, he threatened to kill me,'' she choked out. I buried him under the willow tree with my mother looking on. I saw a distant light coming along the road. My mother turned to me, terror clearly etched on her face. '' That will be the Grey oblivion; they are the only ones who would be interested in an explosion.''

I raced away into the night not pausing to farewell my mother. I lived in a cave for 2 days before they found me. I took care not to let them see my wings nor my other changes. They believed me to be a minor mutant with minimal mind powers. The guards they set me were either young or past their time except for the captain, Jatains. He was the only one who didn't seem like easy meat for me.

I have been in the Laboratory for 7 years now. They took me when I was ten, now I am approaching seventeen. I now bring myself out of the past and back into the present. I gripped the sides of my bed and raised myself like a corpse climbing out of a grave. The past hours I had been waiting for the lunar eclipse.

Now it had begun. I tiptoed to the door and called out to the guard for water, Jatains brought the tankard to my door and opened it, it was then I struck. I pulled the door open with a quick heave of my werewolf strength and charged out. Jatains jumped back as I left my cell. I unfurled my wings and my claws slowly slid out of my fingertips.

They gasped and drew back. ''What are you?'' one of them whispered. Farsi drew his sword and turned to me. ''Lanais fly away, leave this place of torment. I will hold off the others'', with that he charged at Jatains. They met in a deafening clang of swordplay. I spread my wings and rose into the air, but as I looked back I watched Farsi being stabbed through the stomach, I swooped down and grabbed him from the ground. I flapped away barely flying with his extra weight.

I flew off into the night as he lost consciousness. Tears rolled down my face as I realized that I was free of the straw king. I stopped when I realized my problem, I was 40 feet in the air and carrying a heavy guard who I wasn't sure if he was a spy or not. Should I just drop him or let him live?

I decided to wait until he awoke to decide his fate. I flew until I saw landmarks that were familiar, what better irony than I spend the night at the place it all started; the burned out scientific lab where I became a monster. I landed on the charred wall of the east wing.

I dropped Farsi in the corner and grabbed a tattered lab coat to cover him and keep out the cold. I pulled out one for myself. I curled up under a bench and slept. In the morning I awake to the sound of Farsi groaning. I scramble upright, kicking the lab coat across the room and stride over to him.

He opens his eyes as I kneel over him. Lifting the lab coat I check his wound. He moans again and I touch his face. I slip off my over shirt, I grip it and tear it into strips. I remove his amour and wrap the homemade bandages around his chest to stanch the bleeding.

I glared at him, ''I still don't know if I can trust you, but nobody deserves to die. I don't know if you're a spy or just severely STUPID! Why would you risk your life for me? I am a monster! Why would a guard like you want to set free the thing that you are supposed to keep locked up'', I growled.

He struggled to get up and put a hand on my shoulder. '' I, I, I am a Strange one too; my father decided the safest place for me was in the guard as they never suspect their own. I can hear the thoughts and communicate with animals. As you have wolf blood in you I could hear your thoughts and feel your dreams.

I couldn't believe what you were when I heard your thoughts, I thought I was crazy. You were so meek and broken. But when I started seeing the flashes of the looks you gave us when you thought we weren't looking. Jatains was always wary of you. He didn't believe you were just a class 2 Strange.

They were getting suspicious about me so I had to escape. I thought that the lunar eclipse would be the best time to leave. I saw you attempting to leave so I decided to escape with you. It was a spur of the moment decision .I took a chance.'' He whispered.

Suddenly coughs rack his body. I gasp as bright beads of blood fly out of his mouth and onto the floor. I struggle to hold him upright as he hacks like an old man with lung disease. I look down at the bandage and watch as blood wells through it. I pull it off and spy the problem, a shard of metal in lodged in his stomach causing pain.

I lie him back down. I unsheathe my thumb and fore finger claws, Farsi's eyes widen and he tries to move backwards. I quieten him and he lies back down. I gently begin to pull on the shard and his back curves with the pain. His mouth opens wide as he screams his agony,

I finally work it free and he lurches up suddenly and pins me to the ground. His eyes dazedly look into mine, ''um can you get off of me?'' I squeak. His green eyes focus and he jumps off very quickly. Blushing he helps me to my feet.

I force him to sit down as I bind the wound with the strips from my over shirt. He grows even pinker when he realizes what his bandages are. I pull out my secret pouch of herbs and give him a tea to drink to help replace the lost blood and heal his wound.

I become conscious of the fact that my claws were still unsheathed and covered in Farsi's blood. I washed them in an unbroken sink and sheathed them. ''Does it hurt to pull those out of your fingers and back?'' he asked

''yes at first it hurt me to release them from my body, the only thing that didn't hurt to reveal is my fangs'' I replied. ''FANGS!'' he yelped, '' you have FANGS'', I smile and as I do I see a dazed look come into his eyes. I stop and he looks away. He fingers his bandages and smiles to me, ''you did a good job on this wound,'' he said, '' where are you from''? My face clouded over with memory as I remember where I am.

I walk over to the burned out operating table that held me. I finger the leather straps, remembering how they cut into me as I struggled atop the table to hold onto my humanity. ''What is this place'', I hear from behind me.

''This is my fathers mansion,'' I say with tears running down my face, ''my father was Riel Black Hand, the scientist. He used me for experiments because of my mind powers. He injected things into my skin, he reconstructed my body, but do you know the worst part? He was my own FATHER and he did this to me.''

He touches my shoulder and a sob escapes my throat. I stare into the distance trying to take control of my emotions. I pulled his hand away. ''Lanais, my family is trapped in the Mourir mountains, they lead a resistance for strange ones and now are held in the Straw kings fortress. If you can carry me I promise I will do anything in exchange.'' He promised.

''I still don't know if I can trust you'', I replied. ''I don't know if I can trust you, but I'm willing to risk it,'' he shot back. I conceded with a smile. We sit looking at each other in silence. I quietly pull out my pouch to check how many qiten leaves I have left to hide my eyes, which as I know very well showcase my emotions and I was not about to show him what I was thinking.

I considered that he probably could read my mind right now. I turned to him, ''Farsi, one thing I have to ask of you is that you stop reading my mind and I want to know exactly what you know about me, EVERYTHING!''

He blushed and spoke, ''I know your real name- Lanais. You have tried to read my thoughts. I know that you hate your father but I never found out why until now. Because you are mostly human I can't hear all of your thoughts. I can only hear the strongest ones, the ones you think of the most. I can teach you to mind shield if you wish. I also know that you think your mother is not at all like you, you fear that you will become like your father. You hate yourself and you blame yourself for what happened.'' He stuttered.

I glance at him, just in time to see his red face. My heart beats fast when I think how close it had been if he had heard more. I tell him not to read my thoughts anymore without permission. He consents and we begin our journey. We walk out of the laboratory; I grab a few things from the burnt mansion.

I was thankful that the fire protection in my room was so strong. I throw down travelling cloaks and gather up a few prized possessions as I go. A thick layer of dust covers everything. I come down to see Farsi staring at a portrait of my parents.

After a few moments he speaks, ''you don't look anything like your mother. You do look a little like your father around the hands and nose.'' This means he had looked at me, REALLY looked. I didn't know what to say for one or two minutes. So we stared at the painting for a while.

I shake myself and stride over to the door or what's left of it. We walk out in silence, hiking over the charred ground. Three hours later we stop at the beginning of a forest. Sitting down on a rock, I open my pack and pull out a pack of ancient bread. I pass some over to Farsi and his face grimaces' as he takes it.

'' I've had worse in your prison, so don't turn your nose up at it, pretty boy.'' I remonstrate him. He smiles and takes a bite. Coughing and spluttering he spits it out with a gurgle. ''It tastes like a overripe bleechplant that a rotfangs been at!'' I suppress my giggles as he rinses out his mouth with my old water bottle.

Suddenly a thought crosses my mind, I look closely at the bread. My stomach squirms as I realize that a rotfang had indeed been at the bread and that all of the food was probably contaminated. We buried the food under a Danzar tree and I washed out the water bottles I had taken from the mansion in the water, refilling them with pure, clean water.

I apologize to Farsi, he just grins at me and we continue walking in silence. The light grows ever darker as we walk. I trip over and as I crouch down I hear guitar music in the distance. A strumming and exotic tune, a man and woman's voice weave around the music.

Making a spell to bring us closer, we walk toward the music. As we enter the campsite a man stands up and walks in quick strides over to us, grabbing Farsi. The music continues around us. I recognize their garments as gypsies and from experience with my father I know that they are allies of the Strange Ones.

The music dies away as I step forward, I take a deep breath and speak, ''my name be Lanais and this be Farsi. We be Strangelings, we run from king of Straw. Will you help?'' my heart skips a beat when the man who grabbed Farsi, frowns and bends down to look at my face.

''Little Lanais? That be you? But you got snitched 'em by Grey Coats. You gone long time, we think you dead.'' Suddenly I gasp as I realize that the campsite and song were familiar for a reason: this was the campsite that used to live near the mansion, sometimes father used them for errands.

It was with them that I learnt to control my mind powers. ''Golan?'' I whisper. Golan smiles. ''this be I, we left nasty castle after big fire burn 'em up your house. We hold big, big funeral for little Lanling but no find body only footprints. We foller 'em and find meet with grey coat tracks. Mama Tunna have big wail up over little Lanling, say she now have fate worse than death. Mama Tunna not good now, Kartine mama now.''

I smile to my self, Kartine was the best person for the job. She was a strong character and was prepared to listen to others. The tribe would do well with her. Gypsies were ruled by Mamas' who looked after the welfare of the tribe.

The rattle of Garoc, the god that they worshiped, chose you by spinning in your direction in the ceremony. Golan let go of Farsi and took my to mama Tunna, she was in a bad state. She was coughing up buckets of blood and her skin was a ashen grey. Although she was very ill she still looked like the formidable woman I remembered.

Farsi stayed outside with the other men, he looked uncomfortable to be intruding on my past. But I didn't see it that way, I saw it as he was there for some divine reason. Like what the gypsies believed in. they believe in fate and destiny, that all things happen for a reason. When they saw the results of the experiment, mama Tunna just held me and wept for my ruined life.

They decided that perhaps the gods had given me this cursed gift to help free the strange ones from the Straw King. Golan and his soul partner filled my pack with food and gave Farsi one too.

We were given long knives by Ropoke, the son of mama Tunna he had made them himself from the best iron ore he could procure. The weather magicana Braes warned me that she had seen a large group of Grey Oblivion guards travelling with two of the Greys' themselves.

She said that they had questioned the camp very closely about me and described me as someone that didn't sound at all like me. The camp hadn't seen anybody and although they hadn't known the person described (who turned out to me) they protected them and sent the Greys' to the north, toward the Sparger River.

Farsi and I smiled in relief; the Sparger River was nowhere near the Mourir Mountains. We were safe for the time being. Kartine hugged me as she left mama Tunna's tent, she told Golan to give Farsi and I the leather clothes of the gypsies.

I walked down to the river with her and we washed to grit from our bodies. Kartine got really upset when she saw the scars of my many operations and experiments. I showed her the appendages I had gained thanks to my fathers' foolishness.

She blessed me and told me that it was a gift, a cursed one but a gift all the same. We rediscovered our friendship after seven long years. We are now young women.

As we dry ourselves off Kartine hands me the long leather dress coat of the gypsies. I am also given leather pants and the spiked boots that they prize very highly. I stand looking at my reflection.

A tall foreboding woman looks at me, her red shirt and black coat and pants fit her perfectly. I looked dangerous, like I could kill. I looked capable of anything. I finally looked like the inner demon that I now was.

When we returned to camp Farsi did a double take when he saw me. He was so shocked by the change in my appearance that he dropped the pot he was carrying for Golan, the camp erupted into chuckles as he blushingly tried to collect the pot and its contents.

He explained that he had never seen me in any other clothes except for the drab grey robes that all strange ones had to wear at the laboratory. He hadn't seen me clearly for a long time. He hadn't ever seen me smile or show any emotion except for hate. After Kartine and I returned, Farsi and Ropoke headed off to the river to clean up and to change Farsi's clothes.

During the evening after he returned, he kept looking at me when he thought I wouldn't notice. His clothes fit very well and he looked like a natural born gypsy apart from his blonde hair. His green eyes were very striking against the black of his clothes. His white shirt gleamed in the half-light. Kartine smiled at me, ''I think that one has fallen rather hard for you black Lanena.'' She said, using my old nickname.

We spent the night with the gypsies, Farsi slept in Ropoke's caravan and I slept in Kartine's. As I curled up in my blankets I close my eyes and sleep…

Farsi looks at me, he is strangely excited, and he practically drags me to the cell where his parents are. Jatains was waiting for us. He grabs me and bundles me into a cage. Farsi laughs with exhilaration smiling at my fear. I realise the trap I'm in.

''You are such a fool, Jatains is my father. You blindly followed me to your death. You lead us to other strange ones with your weirdness. I am not a strange one, I'm a spy to bring about the death of you and your kind. We are faithful followers of the Straw King''.

He laughs as I am dragged to a machine with long cords. They plug cables to my body and strap me down to a bench. I scream with pain as they pump electricity through my system. My body shakes.

I awake covered in sweat, Kartine shaking me with a look of concern on her face. She hugs me and lights a candle for the goddess of dreams – Merianthe.