Here is another chapter for you all! Written by Admin MegSnow from my fan page! She writes very well! Please enjoy and review to let us know!
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Lairion
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Shirtless and pale, Lairion stood before the large fire burning outside of his small hut. "You should go inside." Eli said, as he held his own furs close to himself. "I'm fine." the pale being said, looking up at the night sky, "do you think that they are up there?"
Eli said nothing, he went back into his own tent, and sat on the edge of his fur covered bed. Eli was a man of fifty-five, though some thought that he looked younger than the leader of their clan. His hair was a rich, dark brown color, that matched his eyes. When he stood before others, he as taller than most and held himself with a sort of regality not often seen. Eli sighed, and laid back on his bed thinking of the daughter and grandson he had lost. 'They are the stars that guide us.' Eli often told Lairion. As the image of the young child's frozen body crept into his mind, he closed his eyes tightly, hoping that sleep would rid him of such a truly horrifying sight.
He did not sleep easily that night, and woke the next morning sore, cold, and eager for the day's hunt. As he exited his tent the frigid air caused his chest to ache and his eyes to feel as though they were freezing in their sockets. But there his leader stood as he had left him the previous night. Pale, shirtless, staring up at the sky. Placing a hand on his shoulder, "
"Ser..." he whispered, "let's go and find something hot to eat."
Lairion nodded once, and went into his tent, and dressed himself for the day. Though the cold had no affect on him, he knew that he must set a decent example for the young of his clan. Fastening his cloak to his shoulders, he left the tent and followed Eli to the large cooking fire. Lairion sat on the frozen ground beside his first, and held a bowl of stew in his gloved hands. "We're leaving today." he said, sipping at the broth. "I can't be here any longer." Eli nodded, and rose ready to give the orders to the rest of the clan.
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The next morning, Sansa exited the cave hungry, afraid-not knowing in which direction she should run. She walked slowly at first, her eyes fixed on the sky for any signs of a village. As the hours passed, she at last saw the familiar smoke that often rose from a village. She began to run towards it, mindless of the damage the rocks were doing to her bare feet. Once the pain became too much to bear, she let herself fall to the ground. Cursing the gods, she smiled and thought of her family. 'If only they could see me now.'
She rose, and after another hour of walking through her pain and the rain, she sought shelter beneath a large tree. Leaning against the trunk of the tree her thoughts drifted to her family. She missed them now more than ever; even Jon. She knew that if he were here with her now, she would not be cold, hungry, or in any danger. 'I should have treated him better.'
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of some sort of fruit falling from the tree. She walked towards the sound and picked up the mud covered fruit and wiped it off on her already soiled gown. As she bit into it, she could not help but crave the sweet taste of lemon cakes. 'Silly little bird, you'll not be having those ever again.'
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Atop his white stallion, Lairion pointed, "South." he called out. The gray mount of Eli was beside him, "Do you have a plan?" Eli asked.
Lairion's blue eyes glowed with amusement, "My friend, I never have a plan." he laughed. His tone suddenly became serious, "the people of our clan cannot bear this cold. They are all old, young, and many of them weak in the mind." Lairion was not lying, to test his son, Mance took the old, feeble minded, and young and made a clan of them for his son. "if they live more than a year, you'll be ready for something more boy." his father told him, before he rode off. That was now three years ago, and he had only lost two members of his clan. The woman who bore his son, and the child itself.
The clan of three hundred beings followed their leader. They traveled on for five hours before Lairion tired of their slow pace-he nudged his horse, and together they sped off into the wild. Eli chuckled quietly to himself as he watched the young man speed off. They traveled until the sun began to set. "We rest here." Lairion commanded, as he swung off of his horse with unusual grace. Wishing to make sure that everything went as planned, Lairion walked among his people offering them his help as they set up their camp for the evening.
He came upon the eldest of the clan, a woman of ninety-five struggling to unravel her roll of blankets and furs. "Let me, Hanna." he said taking the roll from her ancient fingers. The woman shook her head, "Please ser, I can manage." she said. Lairion ignored her, and went about unpacking her things for her. "You have no tent here." he observed.
"I normally sleep by the cooking fire." she said, placing a fur around her head. Lairion frowned, and took the old woman's hand in his and led her to where his tent was being erected. "I don't sleep. You're to sleep in here." Many thought their leader to be cold, a being who felt little to nothing for his people. But as the aged eyes of Hanna looked up to his flawless face and into his clear blue eyes she knew that all were wrong. This was a being full of enough warmth and love to melt all the ice of the world away. That night, as she breathed her last, it was his hand she held, and his face was the last thing she saw on this Earth.