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Disclaimer: Don't sue me. Please? I'm too tired to write a disclaimer. Just don't sue me.
Notes: Hey people! I know, I've been very bad and haven't
written a single story since God-knows-when. But, here I am!
Back and full of inspiration, (heh, yeah right.) I'm also back with
a new Briar/Sandry thing, although this one is more focused on action than
on anything else. I might throw in another romance just for the hell
of it, too. (And because I thought that they would be cute together.)
You're going to have to guess who that couple is however (Yeah, I'm evil.
Sue me. But don't really.) Well, I'm just here to say, be nice.
I actually worked somewhat hard on this story (Yes, gasp!)
I even drew a whole map for this country I made and wrote a history about
it. So, don't say it sucks. Please? If it does suck, just don't
tell me, okay?
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Life
is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.
~Thomas Carlyle
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Prologue: Hating Life, Drippy Wagons, and Horses.
"Ow! Get off my arm!"
"Don't mind if I do. . . as soon as you get your stupid foot off my cat!"
"What the. . .?! I'm not on your stupid cat."
"That's right. Now your on my arm!"
Briar sighed in exasperation, huffing into a dark, dripping void. He was slowly starting to realize that his argument was going nowhere fast. And, it felt like the wagon that he was inside of was also. It was just his stupid luck that he got stuck with a band of smiling goon traders who were just to nice to say no to, but now, the candle that had been situated in the back of the wagon had gone out. Not only that, but he was stuck with a stubborn girl who insisted that her idiotic cats be everywhere she went.
Briar decided right then that he hated his life.
"I can't see a damn thing in here," he announced, annoyance dripping off his words. He tried to turn to face his companion, only to step on another of her multitude of cats. The thing screeched madly.
"You stepped on Apricot. . . again," said a flat, cold voice that came from his back. It didn't sound in the least bit amused.
"Yeah, well," Briar stuttered madly, "the damn thing got in my way. . . again." He spat the last word at his companion, before letting curse words drip form his mouth, and his tone was about as amused as his companion. He was ticked. No, he was beyond ticked. He was furiously frustrated. And, when he was mad, he liked to curse. Alot.
Cursing again, he yelled to his companion, "Evvy, can you make yourself useful? Can't you magic up a rock in here to get some kind of light in this Mila-forsaken place?" A drip of water landed on his head and landed square on his nose. He cursed again.
"You quit that language and I will," his companion, Evvy, bit in, her voice calm and even toned. She heard Briar say something along the lines of, "Yes, your most highness-ness," but she ignored him. Closing her eyes, she searched her surroundings for some kind of rock that would be suitable for lighting up an area. First, she found her own personal rock collection, and found them trembling with impatient excitement. Evvy shook her head patiently, a small smile on her lips. She told them that she would not waste them on getting light so that Pahan Briar would ease his terrible temper.
Still searching, she encountered all kinds of different magic, but when she finally found a suitable rock, she felt the ground beneath her come to a jarring halt. Her concentration snapped like a twig. She lost her footing and went flying backwards, landing ungracefully on her rump.
"What the?!" Briar shouted again, annoyance starting to filter to very muscles of his face. His left cheek twitched irritably.
Right after he said this, the end of the wagon's curtain opened. Dull light filtered through the opening of the curtain, making both Briar and Evvy squint. It was the first time either had seen light for four hours, ever since their light went out. Squinting, Briar put his hands around his eyes to shade them from the light so that he could see a head in-between the two folds of the curtain. It was a dark skinned head, which had a kerchief tied around his round bald head. The head smiled at the two mages. His bright white teeth contrasted against his dark black beard, and his large dark eyes sparkled brightly.
"I come. Give big help? Right?" The man stuttered in broken Imperial.
Briar who was about to fume, suddenly felt the anger leave from his body as if air had been punched out of his lungs. He smiled crookedly at the dark, happy man before rattling off some highly accented Trader talk, "Thanks for the lift. It really was a big help, Balaj." Briar felt himself lie through his teeth. He was quite sure the journey would have been a whole lot easier if he hadn't been cooped up in a dark, drippy wagon for the majority of it all.
The man laughed jolly before offering a hand to Evvy, who was staring blankly at them both. The only thing she knew to say in trader talk was, "Hello," and "How much does this cost?" She supposed Briar had used a few Trader curse words on the trip up to wherever they were going -she had yet to get to many details about their destination from Pahan Briar yet. She was quite sure though that the curse words wouldn't do much good in ordinary conversation. She accepted the older man's hand, watching in astonishment as it engulfed her much smaller hand.
Gently, the larger man let Evvy down to the ground before turning to Briar and chattering away, "You sure do have a nice accent for the language, plant mage." At this, Balaj slapped him on the back affectionately and laughed.
Briar smiled at the older man's teasing before raising an eyebrow. "Can't say much for your Imperial either," He teased back, smiling crookedly at Balaj. He let himself down from the wagon that had held Evvy and himself captive for nearly the entire day. Briar hadn't been entirely thrilled with the prospect of being in a wagon for more than six hours. No, that was saying it lightly. The prospect of it didn't just not entirely thrill him, it made his stomach roll. But, when Balaj offered him his services, Briar hated to turn the large Trader man away. Every time he saw Balaj, he saw Daja through the man's sharp dark eyes. Plus, it looked like Balaj was down on his luck. He and his family was heading to the Western coast, but they needed to coppers to get there. Balaj was hoping to be a hired man on his cousin's boat once he reached the coast of the Western Deep. Plus, and most importantly of all, Balaj's daughter, Fillahg, wasn't too bad looking. . .
As soon as he took a step out of the wagon, Briar knew something was wrong. Obviously, Evvy did too. She mouthed a "Where are we?" but Briar frowned doubtfully at her. Turning to his left, Briar saw a large cliff wall, in which had large, granite stone that glimmered in the now setting sun. It rose up nearly twenty feet, and on it's rigid cracks, small struggling trees grew. Up the side of the stony wall was a small dirt path that extended to the top. Only one wagon could go up it at a time, and it would have to be small wagon. Briar was starting to see why they had stopped. He was going to voice his hypothesis, but Evvy managed to interrupt.
"It's freezing," she managed to stutter, her teeth chattering inside her skull. Her creamy, pale arms were wrapped around her body. Her entire body shivered, and she was so goosebumped, Briar could count the goosebumps on her skin.
Actually, truth be told, Briar hadn't even noticed the cold only for the simple fact that he was busy inspecting the area to find out why they had suddenly stopped. But, now that Evvy most convientantly brought up this fact, he started to feel the cold. But, he didn't want Evvy to see his sudden awareness of the cold, so he simply shrugged. "It ain't that bad," he said stiffly, trying his best not to shiver. Turning to Balaj, he nodded towards the hill. "Let me guess, we're on our own from now on." A down-draft of wind blew and ruffled his hair, but Briar refused to let himself shiver. Balaj felt the air too, for he cursed before pulling his large leather cape, that draped his shoulders, closer to his body. Balaj pointed up the hill, before speaking, "Our wagons won't go up that steep of a hill. I'm sorry, but. . ."
". . . But we've got our horses and our donkey. We'll be fine, Balaj," Briar interrupted, smiling warmly at the older Trader.
Balaj smiled back at Briar, showing his snowy white teeth. He slapped Briar on the back affectionately, before signaling to a younger boy that was standing near Briar's horses. The boy came near Balaj and mumbled something to him. Balaj responded and motioned the boy away, who of which immediately went to the back of the wagon and started to pull out carts and luggage that belonged to both Briar and Evvy. He then transported the heavy chests to the sides of Briar and Evvy's horses.
Watching the boy's muscles strain under the heavy pressure of the luggage, Briar was about to help, but Balaj interrupted, "Quite a bit of luggage you have there, my boy," He commented with a large smile.
Briar smiled back at Balaj, "Yeah, there sure is. Most of it is the girl's- Evvy's her name. You know how girls can be." Briar was glad Evvy didn't know Trader talk, or else she would have interjected by now. The older man laughed at Briar before shaking his head.
"I know what you mean. The wife insisted on nearly packing the house when we started to head out west." Balaj paused before looking hesitantly at Briar and then raising his large, bushy black eyebrows questionably, "And if I may, where is a young lad, like yourself, taking all this luggage?"
Briar was about to answer Balaj, before he caught sight of Evvy. She had herself curled up, her arms encircled around her bare, exposed skin to protect from the chilly wind that was pouring down from atop the cliff. Frowning, Briar went up to Evvy and took his own cloak off his shoulders and offered it to her. She accepted it quickly and then, with chattering teeth, muttered a, "Thank you."
Shaking his head in exasperation, Briar turned to Balaj and asked, "What did you ask again, Balaj?"
"I asked, my boy, where is it that you are heading?" Balaj started to walk away from Briar to hitch the chests to the donkeys. "All I know, young lad, is that you asked me to follow a certain path, and this is where we must stop, for our wagons won't and cannot go any farther."
Briar watched Balaj before he walked over to help him. Chewing the inside of his cheek, he thought about the map that he had given Balaj earlier to help him bring him to his destination. If he remembered right, the only place that he thought that Balaj might have difficulty with was the Punaskawiee Canyon. And, from the looks of it, that's were the trouble was.
Briar sighed, before calculating how far he still had to go. It was quite a distance before he would arrive at his destination. Briar was about to curse, but he decided to skip it, for fear that the older trader might think it was directed at him. "Well, for right now, I wanna get over that canyon, and from there I have about ten miles to my final destination in Madab. From there, I'm supposed to head to Sarai Island with the girls." Briar was sure that Balaj knew who the girls were. It seemed like the whole, stupid world knew. Everywhere he went it was, "Are the legends really true about you and the magical girls?" It was if no one else in the world had anything better to do than stick their nebs in his life.
All of sudden, one of Evvy's heavy trunks wasn't strapping as nicely as he had hoped. With a giant shove, he managed to snap the last straps to the horse, but not without nearly giving out his back. He was about to ask Evvy if she had decided to pack a few more cats and about every rock she ever owned with her in her luggage, but was caught short when he saw Balaj.
Balaj was pale as death, and his eyes were wide and fearsome. And when Balaj was afraid about something, it was a bad thing. No, it was a very bad thing.
Briar's alarm senses went on automatically, and he was about to call the strings that held up his wrist blades to untie themselves, until Balaj snapped out of his fearsome aura and stuttered, "Did. . . did you say Madab," he paused to spit on the ground, "my boy?"
Looking at Balaj as if he asked him if he had three heads, Briar said slowly, "Last time I checked, I think I said Madab." Balaj spat again. "Why? Just another tourist trap?" Briar teased, trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work. In fact, it crashed and burned. Hard.
"It's an evil land, my boy," Balaj said, his voice shaky and frightened. "I didn't even know that I was this close to it. I wouldn't have come this far if I knew that we were this close." The wind picked up, but Balaj did not shiver, even if Briar did. Briar wasn't quite sure what made him shiver. The fact that Balaj was beyond spooked at the mere mention of a place he was about to head into, or that it was freezing.
"Evil, eh?" Briar asked, trying not to sound spooked. He hoped Evvy didn't hear (or understand) anything he was saying, or he was sure she would insist that they turn around and go home immediately.
So, when was he ever going to escape stubborn females again?
Probably never. Life hated him like that.
But now he had bigger problems than stubborn females. He had a frightened Trader who was scared beyond his wits, and a student who was about to freeze out of her skin. Plus, a stupid horse that was mad as hell at the load that Briar had burdened on it.
The horse neighed indignantly, huffing directly at Briar. Briar just glared at it before Balaj spoke, "I wouldn't go there if I was you, my boy. Evil things. Nothing works there." Balaj pointed above and beyond the cliff, signaling towards the chilly expanse of Madab. "But it's because of an evil queen that lives there. She has evil magic, she does. Nothing works right there. Nature don't. Nothing is normal. Trees grow sideways and some places, there's lush green grass, other there is deadness. It's because of the magic that the evil queen has. She gets what she wants, nothing else. But I wouldn't go there to find out for myself. Wouldn't take that risk if I were you, my boy. No, not in million years, my boy."
Briar swallowed thickly before shaking his head. He wasn't quite sure if believed Balaj or not. After all, trader's did have the reputation to be a bit on the superstitious side. Yet, there were ever practical. Daja was a living and breathing example of this. But, Briar knew what he had to do. And although life hated him, and Balaj was probably right and the evil queen would probably be like Lady Zenadia doa Attaneh and be the end of him, but hell, Briar figured that would happen some day or another.
He knew that a female would eventually be the end of him. That was how life worked with him.
So, with almost complete withered enthusiasm, Briar mounted himself on his horse and looked down at Balaj, "Thanks for the information, Balaj. I'll keep it in mind." He looked at the older man, seeing concern etched on his face, "And. . . I'll be careful. You have my word." He smiled crookedly at the older trader, before Balaj smiled back, if not a little sadly.
"All right, your most freezing highness," Briar shouted over at Evvy, who was still shivering like a leaf in the breeze, "it's time to mount your royal steed and move on towards the dangerous road!"
Evvy glared at him weakly, for she was still shivering. She rolled her eyes at his corny monologue before moving to her horse and mounting it. She looked down at Balaj and said, "Thank you," in Imperial, hoping he understood. She was about to ride before she caught of sight of the trader's concerned face. Pausing, she looked up at Briar in question. Her Pahan simply shrugged before riding onward. Frowning, Evvy was about to ride onward before she caught sight of the cliff. She looked it over, a defeated look in her eyes. Shaking her head, she trotted to keep up with Briar's horse, which wasn't hard to do since Briar was a horrible ride, and horses seemed to hate him.
Briar, who heard Evvy ride next to him, nudged his horse forward, but the stupid thing just danced a little, making him bounce in the saddle. Frowning heavily, he commented, "Have I ever mentioned that I hate. . ."
". . .That you hate horses," Evvy interrupted, shaking her head amusedly, "Yes, I believe that's been said quite a few times. But, I believe they hate you more than you hate them." With that, she grinned evilly at him.
Briar simply glared at her.
How exactly did he stuck with the most incorrigible girls in the world again?
Oh, that's right! Life hated him. Life hated him, horses hated him. Briar couldn't think of anything better.
He was about to say something to Evvy before a young girl came in front of him, smiling slyly. Briar immediately recognized her. It was Balaj's daughter, Fillahg. Her feet her bare, even though the ground was freezing and around her ankles were large, fake golden anklets. Her red lips curled up at him before she spoke, "Hello, Mage Briar." Her words were in accented Imperial, but it was considerably better than her father's. She batted her eyelashes at him. "Must you leave so soon? I was starting to very much enjoy your company."
He found himself smiling dumbly at her, forgetting that Evvy was even near him. "Yeah, well your company wasn't too bad either." Briar winked at her, "Of coarse, I don't mind the company of any beautiful girl." With that, Fillagh giggled girlishly while blushing terribly. "I will miss you too, your highness." Then, taking her hand, Briar laid a light kiss on it flirtatiously.
Fillagh blushed harder and smiled brightly at him, before staring intently into his eyes. "I will miss you. Please be careful. Gods be with you, and," she paused, before she bit her lip slyly, "Good luck."
Briar gave her a crooked smile, feeling somewhat light-headed. He smiled once more at her before moving his horse onward. He rode for a few seconds, a stupid smile on his face before he realized that Evvy was next to him. He turned to her, a dumb smile still on his face. She had a raised eyebrow directed at him.
"What?" He asked innocently, feeling a little surprised that she had been there all along.
She smiled at him seductively before saying in a husky voice, "Good luck. . . my love." Then, rolling her shoulders, she made kiss-like motions with her lips. She hardly finished her monologue before she burst out laughing.
Rolling his eyes, Briar snapped at her, "Cut it out. Remember
who's the older one here." A blush filled his cheeks before he forced
it back. He wasn't going to let his student embarrass him.
"We got to go ten more miles to go before we reach our destination.
Remember?"
Evvy quit laughing before glancing up at him, "No, I don't remember.
You haven't told us anything about our destination. Remember?"
She looked at him questionably, a curious look in her eyes.
He stared at her for a few seconds before thinking quietly. He didn't really want to scare her about where they were going, but he figured he had better give her the truth or he'd never hear the end of it. That's how Evvy was. So, feeling inside his pant pocket, he pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, and glanced up at Evvy, "I'm going to read this letter here. It's the best way I can explain everything. Listen up, I'm only gonna read it once. Got it?" He was about to read it before he stopped, "Oh, and no stupid questions about the letter after I read it, 'kay?" Evvy nodded at him and then he went onward.
The letter read:
Dear Briar,
I will be frank with you, this letter contains a great deal of information that could not be said in a single small letter. That's because you must read between the lines. But, knowing you, you will be able to do that.
There has come a time when your magic is desperately needed. All that I can tell you in this letter is that is has to do with matters in the far off northern country of Madab. The Queen of Madab requests the visit of the four mages that she has heard so much of in the past years. This would involve all five of us traveling to the royal city of Sarai Island. This has to do with matters in her country, and without you, I'm afraid, cannot be fulfilled. The matters that need to be discussed cannot be said in this letter. They must be discussed in private. That is why I must insist that you meet myself and Sandry, Daja, and Tris at Madab face-to-face.
There will be numerous stops on our trip to get to Sarai Island. And, I will be honest, there could be many dangers. I will not hide that this could be a dangerous encounter. But, then, perhaps it will not. Nothing is guaranteed.
You will need to meet myself and Sandry, Daja, and Tris at the Snowy Tavern on the south of Madab. It is located just north of The Syth on a landmark called Tavern Hill. I have enclosed a map of the path that you should follow to get there.
Your help in greatly needed at this time. I cannot explain much, but the future of Madab rests in you and the Winding circle hands. But, perhaps you have read that in my words already.
Respectfully,
Niklaren Goldeye
Briar looked up at Evvy when he finished, only to see her face contorted in a deep concern grimace. He smiled at her before saying, "Don't look so concerned," he winked mischievously at her, "I already said your stupid cats could come along."
Her shoulders slumped automatically and she frowned at him, "That's not why I'm concerned." She looked around and then up at the cliff. "Are we really in danger, Pahan Briar?" She asked, worry laced through her words.
Great, she was starting to get all girly and Oh-I'm-getting-scared-hold-me-because-you're-a-brave-man kind of attitude. Briar sighed before winking at her, "Don't worry, I'm with you. You'll be safe."
She tore her eyes from the cliff and glared at him before shaking her head, "Why doesn't that make me feel better?" She asked, a dry tone in her voice.
Briar chuckled before forcing his stubborn horse onward. He was starting to think how long it was going to take to get to Snowy Tavern with a stubborn horse and a stubborn girl, before Evvy interrupted.
"Can I ask you something?"
Briar glanced at Evvy before shrugging. "Shoot," he said as he started heading up the canyon road.
She looked back at the Balaj's caravan before asking, "What were you and Balaj talking about?"
He almost stopped riding, but Briar forced himself to swallow thickly and ride onward. "Oh, just some old Trader legends. Folk tales, fiction. Nothing really."
But, as he rode onward, he knew the words sounded like a dry and dead lie to even his own ears.
And so the story begins. . .
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Hey people! Like it, hate it? What did you think? Sandry, Tris, and Daja are gonna be in there next chapter, promise. And lots of more romance. It's just I kinda had to set up the story. That's why it's called a prologue. . . AHHA! Anyways, should I continue? I dunno, I'm not quite sure how it's all gonna unravel, but it will, (always does.) So, tell me what ya think. Oh yeah, Pahan means Mage or teacher. Just for those who haven't read Street Magic. (Which I HIGHLY suggest you read. It's the best. Really and truly.)