A/N: This is my first novel/story thingamajigger, so please bear with me. Constructive criticism is greatly loved. 3
I'll be in Hawaii for about week without a computer, so the work on Ch.2 will be postponed, and it gives a good amount of time for reviews, I guess.
Action and adventure....well, mostly adventure. The story would mostly be in Dyami's POV, but this chapter is..er.. kinda an exception. Lazy Spork Girl. Tsk tsk. PG-13, just to be safe.
Notice! I would like someone to help me by reviewing a draft of the second chapter when i finish typing it, and/or reviewing this chapter if the public wants it to be so. Thanks :) Email me if you want to do so. It's on my profile, I think.Disclaimer: Tamora Pierce owns the Immortals Quartet books, and their characters (Daine, Numair, Kitten, Jon, Alanna, the hurroks, the Stormwings, and so on, etc...), and I own Dyami and the so-far-very-fuzzy-story-line. So, basically, I think that's it. [goes into a corner and starts arguing herself and wondering if she forgot anything]
.:Chapter One:................................................................................
Dyami sat in a corner of the roughly constructed slaves' quarters. Her golden eyes were dull and unfocused, her mind in a completely different place. There was going to be a banquet tonight; she needed her rest so she wouldn't be so tired if the nobles decided to carry on past midnight. She had learned that from....well, past experiences. Dyami shuddered at those memories.
A low growl from her stomach knocked Dyami out of her thoughts. It rumbled again, as if it were complaining from lack of something to digest. Too bad, she told herself. Their next pitiful excuse for food won't be here until tomorrow morning. As if it were replying, her stomach roared. She sighed.
As she returned to her thoughts once more in her corner of the room, Dyami began to drift off into a world of dreams. Visions of freedom, of lands far to the east of the Emerald Ocean. Dreams of a good life, traveling the lands overseas. Truthfully, Dyami had not much of an idea about the places that were beyond the leagues of water separating the Copper Isles from the mainland. She had heard tales of a place called Carthak, and another one named Tortall.
"EVERYONE TO THE KITCHEN FOR PREPARATIONS!"
Dyami was thrown from her daydreams by a booming, husky voice. "So much for sweet dreams," she muttered darkly, and trudged out the door, being careful not to step on any sharp twigs, so she wouldn't bleed all over the carpet in the banquet hall.
{at the banquet}
Dyami walked slowly to a table that was surrounded by three young noblewomen. Two of them were animatedly talking, but the third was silent and still-faced. The platter that she was serving consisted of a large fish and herbs for flavoring. Dyami tried hard not to make her mouth water, for she had always wanted to taste fish.
One of the young noblewomen laughed out loud. "Alisha, you really think they'll do so?"
"Of course, Sera. Emperor Ozorne will do anything to get at him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already sent spies out to look for him in every country, especially Tyra." The woman named Alisha spoke with confidence. (A/N: Heheh. Guess who?..... )
Dyami reached past the silent noblewoman to serve the dish. The other two people were still chatting and paid no attention to her. When she had placed the food on the table, she heard the quiet noblewoman say something. "Thank you."
Dyami nodded and walked away.
The banquet went on this way for a few hours, until the guests and court retired to their suites. The slaves washed the plates, and finally trudged back to the slave's quarters, drained and tired. Dyami slumped into a corner of the room, and a guard chained her wrist to the wall as precautions if she was to escape.
{in the middle of the night...}
Golden eyes drowsily opened to meet the calm, cool darkness of the night. A bony hand shook itself wearily at first, then madly, hampered by a circular sheet of rusty iron. Because Dyami was so thin, the iron slid off, but not without difficulty. She bit her lip as she gingerly flexed her rust-scratched hand.
Dyami quietly set the iron band down, also holding the chain that connected it to the wall, so it wouldn't make a sound. Then, she tiptoed across the room to the open door, carefully stepping on the bare spots that weren't covered by any of the other slaves. Every once in a while, the slaves would fidget or mumble in their sleep, which made Dyami very uncomfortable. In a few minutes' time, she reached the doorway, and scurried away without hesitation.
A shuffling noise as the guards changed shifts, and Dyami hid in the shadows of a tree. Once the noise stopped, she waited for a few more minutes, just in case. She continued on her way, trying to stay in the shadows as much as possible, and keep silent. Her lungs were screaming now, and sweat was forming on her brow. She'd been scared before, but she felt like she would just pop from anxiousness.
She crept along the walls, hidden by the dark shadows. Once or twice, some guards would turn around and look around them wildly because Dyami kicked a pebble or her stomach grumbled. Whew. That one was pretty close. It took all her self control not to let out a sigh of relief.
A clay wall stood in her way, blocking her from her destination. She scanned it for any good footholds, and glanced around her for any sign of guards. Then, she started climbing. It seemed to take forever - she kept slipping and losing her grip. Finally, trying to prevent herself from panting loudly, she reached the top.
Dyami was looking out towards the Island's animal menagerie. Specifically, the restricted section where the immortals were kept. She watched two griffins in a stuffy cage fidget in their sleep, and some giant lizard-like things drowsily flicked their tongues. Dyami watched three bat-winged immortals that barely resembled horses. She had been told about them, but what where they called? Hur...something.
A metallic glint caught her eye; a lone bird-thing was fitfully sleeping in a corner of a cage. Its head and chest were that of a male human, but its body, wings, and claws were a bird's. The immortal's feathers shone like steel, yet they seemed paper-thin. Dyami couldn't really tell from her position. (A/N: Do Stormwings sleep? Oh well, in this story, they do....)
Dyami carefully heaved herself over the wall and lowered herself to the ground, landing with a soft whump. She winced, not because it bruised her feet, but because it sounded loud to her. It might have woken the creatures, not to mention the bird-man.
It was at that moment Dyami had a bright idea. If I can get the key, I can open the cages and set these immortals free. Unfortunately, she didn't know where the key location was, and some of the slaves told her that they could only be opened by the right spell, and you had to have the Gift to use that spell. Remembering this, Dyami threw away that idea. Hm....There could be a padlock somewhere, though. It'd be worth a try. Or maybe I can go looking around here, just in case there is a key.
Dyami crept around the enclosure, still keeping to the shadows in case there were guards around. She noticed a small hut, with a closed wooden door and a window. She carefully crept to it, and peered inside.
A very fat guard snored loudly, threatening to extinguish the flame on the stub of a candle next to him. Around the candle was a ring, on which hung a single, large iron key. Dyami gulped and gathered all her courage, and reached up for the open window.
Since Dyami was just about all skin and bones, she didn't have too much trouble getting through the window, though she was rewarded with bruises on her arms, elbows, and legs for getting through. She almost slammed to the floor headfirst, but she caught herself just in time, and lowered herself to the ground. She then crept towards the candle, but the old guard's tossing and turning made her freeze. His chubby fingers knocked the candle over, and the flame sputtered. Uh, whoops. Sweat was pouring down her face now. She reached out carefully and took the candle and the key ring. Then, she put the candle back.
I wonder what'll happen to this guy when they find out that he fell asleep on the job. Dyami smirked, and climbed out the way she came. She almost landed on her head again.
The young slave tiptoed over to the horse-immortal cage. One of them was already awake. Dyami walked around the cage, looking for the padlock, and soon found it. She leaned closer, and whispered, "I'm going to try and set you free. Wake the others." I know any creature probably won't understand human speech. Oh well, it was worth a try. To her surprise, the immortal nudged those around it, and they slowly stirred.
Dyami inserted the key into the padlock, and turned it to the right. When that didn't work, she tried turning it to the left. It softly clicked open, and the door swung out slowly, without a sound. One by one, the creatures escaped the cage and fled into the darkness.
She then went to the griffins' cage. They were both asleep, and she decided that she would try to wake them, and risk having them getting angry. She looked over to the lizard-creature's cage. They watched her with cold, beady eyes, and it was then that she decided she didn't want to let them go.
Dyami leaned towards the bars. "Hello? Please wake up," she said softly.
The nearest griffin perked its silver-feathered ears up, and cracked open a gold-rimmed eye. It watched her arrogantly, as if to say, 'There, I'm awake. Now what?'
"Please wake the other griffin up. I'm going to set you free." She found the cage padlock, and opened the gate. The silver griffin had already woken the other, and they crawled out of the cage. Before taking off, the silver immortal turned back to Dyami and looked down at her. The griffin bowed slightly, and the two of them took off into the night sky before Dyami could return the gesture.
Lastly, she tiptoed to the bird-man's cage. He was awake now, and staring in the opposite direction. Dyami became aware of a stench, that made her somewhat sick and reminded her of things that had rotted away and were better left untouched. "E-excuse me?"
"What?" His head turned around to see Dyami. His eyes were a gray color, and his hair was dark and messy. He didn't look too old; had he been human, he might have been around seventeen years of age. Dyami could feel sweat dripping down her brow as she radiated fear.
It took all of her strength to get the key to the padlock, and to turn it. She was rewarded with a small click as the door swung open. The bird-man looked at it, as though he was wondering if this was a trap or not. "I-it's not a t-trap, sir. J-just go and fly a-away." The bird-man looked at her for a moment, then flew out of the cage, hovering in front of her.
"What's your name?" He demanded.
"....Dyami."
"Thank you, Dyami." And then the bird-man flew away.
"You're welcome," she whispered. Soon, the foul stench was gone. The slave girl then closed all the opened cage doors, and dug a small fist-sized pit and buried the keys.
I think I have bruises on top of my bruises. It probably makes me look like a monster. Dyami continued across the palace grounds, getting as far away from the large building as fast as she could.
Then, Dyami hesitated for a moment, staring at the large stone wall that stood before her. It was a lot taller than she was, but there were many good footholds for the slave to hang on. This is going to be the farthest I've ever gone before, she thought nervously. I'll be out of palace grounds after I climb over this. Taking a deep breath, she placed a foot on top of a stone. A bony hand reached out next, then another bare foot, another hand. A few slips and stumbles. Soon, she was on the other side. The cool night breeze made her rough hair gently blow in the wind, giving her a burst of energy.
"Am I free yet?" She asked, to no one in particular. Long, bony fingers traced imaginary patterns in the air as she silently walked the invisible path towards the Copper Isle's eastern shore.
A/N: Woo. :D First chapter! [congratulates herself.]
I hope you liked the story so far. The next chapter, I wholeheartedly assure you, will come in less than three weeks. xX;
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