AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow! A new record for me, two months to finish a chapter!
Anyways, sorry this took so long, but I've been having the worst case of
writer's block for a long time. Hopefully I didn't lose any fans taking so
long to finish. For those of you who for some reason don't remember what's
been happening, I'll sum up what's going on. Orphen good, Zain bad.
And now (FINALLY!!)...
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING CHAPTER 04: THE SANDS OF TIME RUN DOWN
Hartia has made it to the gates of the Tower, unaware of what has happened.
Hartia approached the gates of the Tower, glad that it was still standing, not sure of what he expected to see. He put his hands against the gates and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he noticed something out of the left corner of his eye (toward the cliff where the graveyard is.). Many of the Masters and students were gathered and carrying a casket. Hartia felt his heart sink, his fears had come true.
Making his way over to the site, he saw many of the occupants there, mourning the death of a recently passed. He went over to one of the Masters to ask what had happened. "What's going on?" Hartia asked, "I thought we had already held a ceremony for the Elders?"
The Master looked toward him with a sad look on his face. "He got one of the students while you were gone Headmaster." Hartia felt a strong feeling of anger rose in Hartia. How could have Zain sunk this low?
He regained his composure and asked, "Who was it?" He watched with a serious gaze as the casket was slowly lowered into the grave.
"It was Shane, Headmaster." Hartia's head quickly dropped, Shane had been one of his students, and a good friend. He raised his head back up, his eyes showed a deep sadness.
"How is Kyra taking it?" He too knew of their relationship.
"She has not stopped crying since it the tragedy" the Master said, "and she will not leave her room." Hartia felt bad for Kyra, knowing the pain she must be going through. "Headmaster?", Hartia turned to the man. "He also got to Lai"
Hartia was shocked at this. "What happened!?" he asked frantically, "Is he okay!?" Sweat seemed to pour of his forehead.
The Master gestured with his hands for Hartia to calm down. "Calm down, he is still alive" he said, "His body is fine, but mentally..." Hartia was off before the Master could finish his sentence. If Zain got to Lai, than he must know where Azalie is, and that means that she is in deep trouble, Hartia thought while he ran toward the Tower.
The Master Hartia had been talking too watched as Hartia took off. He shook his head and said, "When will this all end?"
***
Orphen, Cleao, and Majic are now just a few short minutes from the Tower...
They had traveled most of the morning in silence. Now mid-afternoon, Cleao couldn't help but speak. "So Orphen, what do you think Zain wants with Azalie," she started to ask, her right hand holding her chin, "I mean from what you said, you guys were great friends. Why would he want to hurt her?"
Orphen tried to think of an answer, but he had none. All he could tell her was, "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out eventually" and that was it. Cleao looked up into the sky and gave a curious hmm, thinking she might be able to figure it out herself.
Meanwhile Majic, walking between Cleao and Orphen, and carrying the luggage, said, "Maybe he doesn't want to hurt her" he said, trying not to fall down with the extra weight, "Maybe he needs her for something". Majic then had an idea, "It might have something to do with his increased age!"
Majic looked over to Orphen and saw that he wasn't even paying attention; he was busy staring at the Jewel of Gigabrias embedded in the back of his necklace. Majic gave a very pathetic look and said, "Oh, come on Master, the least you can do is humor me!"
Orphen blinked and quickly raised his head, as if snapping back to reality. "Huh? Oh sorry, I was just thinking of something", Orphen replied, jewel still in hand
"What is it?" asked Cleao. "Something about Azalie?" she said feeling a little jealous.
"No really, it's nothing" but he continued to stare at the brilliantly shining treasure. I wonder., his thoughts were cut short by Majic.
"Look we're here!" he said, pointing ahead. And there stood the Tower of Fang in all of its glory. "Yep", Orphen said, tightly grasping the necklace, "Home sweet home."
***
Meanwhile, in the town of Arystal, an ominous cloaked figure is about to darken the doorsteps of the town's occupants...
"So this is Arystal, a little quainter than I imagined it would be" said Zain at the entrance to the small town. "But I suppose if I wanted to go into hiding I'd choose a place like this too." He walked through the town, watching as children played in the sandy streets and the women beat off rugs and washed clothes. He saw a tavern and figured he'd take a break from searching for Azalie. After all, with Lai out of commission for a while, his "pawns" wouldn't be there for a while.
Going inside, he took a seat the bar, no one noticing he had come inside. These people are so peaceful, they'll trust anyone that comes into town, I can't wait to see the look on their faces when my plan is unleashed, he thought to himself. "So what can I get you stranger?" the bartender asked.
Zain looked up at the wrinkled face of the old man, his gray-white hair almost as silver as Zain's was. "Just some water will do, thank you" Zain replied. The bartender fetched the pitcher for his customer, but looked at him as though he should have bought something a little more expensive. Zain looked at the flesh on his hand, still young. Luckily, that boy from the Tower's youth will keep me going for a long while, thought Zain.
"Here's your drink, sir" said the bartender, placing the water in front of Zain. Zain took the water and placed a shilling on the table. The bartender reached for the shilling, but Zain grabbed it in mid-air and asked, "How would you like to make a little more money?" He held ten shillings in his right hand, still holding the bartender's arm in his left. "Sure, what do you need?" replied the man.
Zain released his arm and placed all ten of the shillings on the bar. "Do you know where I can find a woman named Azalie?" he asked. "Yeah, why? Are you some old boyfriend or something?" replied the old man. Zain smiled at this and said, "Yes, I suppose you could say that."
The man shook his head a little and said, "Don't suppose I can blame you, she is a nice young lady, and it's not like she couldn't use the company, with having a baby and all." Zain took a drink of his water, the refreshing liquid cooling him off almost instantly. "Yes, anyways, where can I find her?" he asked.
"Oh, sorry, she lives around a secluded little place in the forest just north of here" said the bartender. An evil grin crossed Zain's face, not noticeable because of his long cloak. He finished off the water and left the tavern, saying, "Thank you, and you might want to go ahead and spend it all in one place, you never know how much time you have!"
***
Orphen and the others have gained permission to enter the Tower of Fang and are waiting at the main entrance, waiting for Hartia to greet them...
"Just like the Tower to leave you waiting" said Orphen, leaning against a wall in the large room. Majic and Cleao were sitting on a wooden bench while waiting. "Just be glad they actually let us in" Cleao replied to the remark, "I swear I didn't think our luggage would make it in they searched it so many times!"
Majic went ahead and put it in his two cents by saying, "Well I guess with Zain hanging around they don't trust any visitors." Cleao and Orphen both thought about and figured that was reasonable.
"Unfortunately, I don't think we have the pleasure of knowing where Zain is anymore" said a very familiar voice. The party looked toward Hartia, who was standing to their left side.
"What exactly are you talking about Hartia?" said Orphen, now standing erect and staring Hartia dead in the eyes. Hartia lowered his head and sighed. He then replied, "Come with me."
Orphen, Hartia and the others made it to the Tower's clinic, where, aside from about a dozen sorcerers who had tried to attack Zain the day he came, they saw Lai sitting in a chair against the wall. His eyes were wide open and staring straight ahead at nothing, and hi face was completely devoid of emotion. A nurse had been changing the sheets on Lai's bed and now tried to lead him with her hand. Lai didn't even acknowledge she was there; he just kept staring straight ahead. The nurse had finally gotten Lai to his bed, where he now stared up at the wall.
Hartia dismissed the nurse and turned his attention back to the group. "He was attacked by Zain while I was gone," said Hartia, "I don't know any of the details, but apparently, Zain used his powers to look into Lai's mind and find out where Azalie is."
Orphen, Cleao, and Majic couldn't take there eyes off of Lai until Hartia had told them that, Orphen quickly turned his attention back to Hartia and said, "So Zain knows exactly where Azalie is and could find her any second and we can't do a thing about it?" Hartia nodded his head in a slow manner, answering Orphen's question.
"I'm afraid so Orphen," said Hartia, "The only other person who could have known is Lai," pointing out the still body of Lai, "and he won't be much help right now." Hartia went over to a stand next to Lai's bed and picked up a book.
"This is the only thing, aside from a broken crystal, that was found next to Lai when he was discovered", said Hartia, handing the book to Orphen. It read, "The Sands of Time", on the front cover. "I went through the book to see if there was anything that might help us to figure something out about Zain" Hartia explained, "But Zain had torn all the pages pertaining to what we need to know before I could read it" Orphen clenched his fist out of hate of Zain, until a small voice whispered, "Arystal". The whole group gasped in surprise at who had just said that.
Majic looked around to see if there was anyone else around who could have said that. Not seeing anyone, he looked at Lai, and noticed his eyes were now half open and looking at them. Majic pointed a shaky finger at Lai and said in a frightened tone, "I th-think it m-might have be-been Lai!" The whole had thought Majic had gone insane, until they saw Lai again mutter the word, "Arystal".
Orphen thought to himself for a moment and then stared at the dumb- struck Hartia. "Wait a minute Hartia," Orphen almost yelled out, "Isn't Arystal a town near here?" Hartia came out of the shock of hearing Lai actually be able to speak after what he had gone through and grinned a little.
"Yes, that's right" replied Hartia, "It's a small town about a two days walk from here!" Orphen smiled and looked back at Lai, who had slipped back into his wide-eyed look.
"Lai must have been trying to tell us that the whole time" said Majic, "But he couldn't get the strength up until now."
"Yeah, but it looks like he's back to his bug-eyed self again", replied Cleao in a impatient tone.
"Thanks Lai", said Orphen, "Now we know where Azalie is and can save her!" Orphen acted as a restless child ready to go on an adventure. Ready, that is, until a Master came in with two familiar trolls.
"I found these two trying to steal the jewels in the treasure room" the Master said, trying to hold the two so they couldn't get away. Orphen slapped his hand against his forehead and gave an aggravated sigh.
"God, can't we ever get rid of you two!" shouted Orphen. Volkan and Dortin crouched down cowardly, just realizing he was there at that moment.
Volkan stood back up and looked at Orphen with an angered look on his face. "Well, if it isn't the hypocritical sorcerer" said Volkan accusingly.
Orphen had a puzzled look on his face. "What the hell are you talking about now?"
Volkan stared at him as if the answer was obvious. "You're actually going to yell at us about stealing some gems when you know you stole the Jewel of Gigabrias from them yourself!" Lai's head leaned to the right, looking at Orphen.
Orphen turned his charm over to reveal the brilliant jewel. Lai smiled. "I thought I told you that I got this to protect it from the wrong hands?!"
"I told him this was a bad idea Orphen" whimpered Dortin, "Please just hurt him and not me!" Volkan hit his little brother in the head and said, "Dortin, how could you betray your caring and responsible big brother like that!"
Orphen was getting just a little more than annoyed by the two's antics. "I'll tell you what" said Orphen, struggling to stay calm, "I'll tell you of a good place where you can get all the treasure you can imagine!" Majic and Cleao looked at Orphen and wondered what he was talking about, until they saw the way Volkan was drooling, then they knew exactly what he was doing.
"A-all the treasure I can i-imagine!" said Volkan. Orphen was starting to enjoy the fact that Volkan was falling for his trick so easily.
"Yep, all you have to do is come with me!" replied Orphen, looping the two trolls under his arms. And Lai continued smiling.
***
Zain sat deep in thought up in a tree, smiling, very close to where Azalie was hiding...
"So that's where they were hiding it" said Zain to himself. "Who would have guessed it, and to think I wouldn't have figured it out if I hadn't turned Lai into my own personal puppet!" Zain jumped down from the tree he was in, staring at a nearby cabin placed in a clearing in the forest.
"Thanks to my mind control, Orphen and the others will soon be here, and the Jewel of Gigabrias will soon be mine!" Zain grinned evilly as a purple- haired woman stepped outside her cabin.
END CHAPTER 04
FOOTNOTE: I promise you won't have to wait so long for my next chapter. I finally have everything finalized for my story so I shouldn't have so many writer's blocks as I did for this one. Anyway, thank you for the great reviews and I hope you all keep reading. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can.
And now (FINALLY!!)...
ORPHEN: THE NEW BEGINNING CHAPTER 04: THE SANDS OF TIME RUN DOWN
Hartia has made it to the gates of the Tower, unaware of what has happened.
Hartia approached the gates of the Tower, glad that it was still standing, not sure of what he expected to see. He put his hands against the gates and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he noticed something out of the left corner of his eye (toward the cliff where the graveyard is.). Many of the Masters and students were gathered and carrying a casket. Hartia felt his heart sink, his fears had come true.
Making his way over to the site, he saw many of the occupants there, mourning the death of a recently passed. He went over to one of the Masters to ask what had happened. "What's going on?" Hartia asked, "I thought we had already held a ceremony for the Elders?"
The Master looked toward him with a sad look on his face. "He got one of the students while you were gone Headmaster." Hartia felt a strong feeling of anger rose in Hartia. How could have Zain sunk this low?
He regained his composure and asked, "Who was it?" He watched with a serious gaze as the casket was slowly lowered into the grave.
"It was Shane, Headmaster." Hartia's head quickly dropped, Shane had been one of his students, and a good friend. He raised his head back up, his eyes showed a deep sadness.
"How is Kyra taking it?" He too knew of their relationship.
"She has not stopped crying since it the tragedy" the Master said, "and she will not leave her room." Hartia felt bad for Kyra, knowing the pain she must be going through. "Headmaster?", Hartia turned to the man. "He also got to Lai"
Hartia was shocked at this. "What happened!?" he asked frantically, "Is he okay!?" Sweat seemed to pour of his forehead.
The Master gestured with his hands for Hartia to calm down. "Calm down, he is still alive" he said, "His body is fine, but mentally..." Hartia was off before the Master could finish his sentence. If Zain got to Lai, than he must know where Azalie is, and that means that she is in deep trouble, Hartia thought while he ran toward the Tower.
The Master Hartia had been talking too watched as Hartia took off. He shook his head and said, "When will this all end?"
***
Orphen, Cleao, and Majic are now just a few short minutes from the Tower...
They had traveled most of the morning in silence. Now mid-afternoon, Cleao couldn't help but speak. "So Orphen, what do you think Zain wants with Azalie," she started to ask, her right hand holding her chin, "I mean from what you said, you guys were great friends. Why would he want to hurt her?"
Orphen tried to think of an answer, but he had none. All he could tell her was, "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out eventually" and that was it. Cleao looked up into the sky and gave a curious hmm, thinking she might be able to figure it out herself.
Meanwhile Majic, walking between Cleao and Orphen, and carrying the luggage, said, "Maybe he doesn't want to hurt her" he said, trying not to fall down with the extra weight, "Maybe he needs her for something". Majic then had an idea, "It might have something to do with his increased age!"
Majic looked over to Orphen and saw that he wasn't even paying attention; he was busy staring at the Jewel of Gigabrias embedded in the back of his necklace. Majic gave a very pathetic look and said, "Oh, come on Master, the least you can do is humor me!"
Orphen blinked and quickly raised his head, as if snapping back to reality. "Huh? Oh sorry, I was just thinking of something", Orphen replied, jewel still in hand
"What is it?" asked Cleao. "Something about Azalie?" she said feeling a little jealous.
"No really, it's nothing" but he continued to stare at the brilliantly shining treasure. I wonder., his thoughts were cut short by Majic.
"Look we're here!" he said, pointing ahead. And there stood the Tower of Fang in all of its glory. "Yep", Orphen said, tightly grasping the necklace, "Home sweet home."
***
Meanwhile, in the town of Arystal, an ominous cloaked figure is about to darken the doorsteps of the town's occupants...
"So this is Arystal, a little quainter than I imagined it would be" said Zain at the entrance to the small town. "But I suppose if I wanted to go into hiding I'd choose a place like this too." He walked through the town, watching as children played in the sandy streets and the women beat off rugs and washed clothes. He saw a tavern and figured he'd take a break from searching for Azalie. After all, with Lai out of commission for a while, his "pawns" wouldn't be there for a while.
Going inside, he took a seat the bar, no one noticing he had come inside. These people are so peaceful, they'll trust anyone that comes into town, I can't wait to see the look on their faces when my plan is unleashed, he thought to himself. "So what can I get you stranger?" the bartender asked.
Zain looked up at the wrinkled face of the old man, his gray-white hair almost as silver as Zain's was. "Just some water will do, thank you" Zain replied. The bartender fetched the pitcher for his customer, but looked at him as though he should have bought something a little more expensive. Zain looked at the flesh on his hand, still young. Luckily, that boy from the Tower's youth will keep me going for a long while, thought Zain.
"Here's your drink, sir" said the bartender, placing the water in front of Zain. Zain took the water and placed a shilling on the table. The bartender reached for the shilling, but Zain grabbed it in mid-air and asked, "How would you like to make a little more money?" He held ten shillings in his right hand, still holding the bartender's arm in his left. "Sure, what do you need?" replied the man.
Zain released his arm and placed all ten of the shillings on the bar. "Do you know where I can find a woman named Azalie?" he asked. "Yeah, why? Are you some old boyfriend or something?" replied the old man. Zain smiled at this and said, "Yes, I suppose you could say that."
The man shook his head a little and said, "Don't suppose I can blame you, she is a nice young lady, and it's not like she couldn't use the company, with having a baby and all." Zain took a drink of his water, the refreshing liquid cooling him off almost instantly. "Yes, anyways, where can I find her?" he asked.
"Oh, sorry, she lives around a secluded little place in the forest just north of here" said the bartender. An evil grin crossed Zain's face, not noticeable because of his long cloak. He finished off the water and left the tavern, saying, "Thank you, and you might want to go ahead and spend it all in one place, you never know how much time you have!"
***
Orphen and the others have gained permission to enter the Tower of Fang and are waiting at the main entrance, waiting for Hartia to greet them...
"Just like the Tower to leave you waiting" said Orphen, leaning against a wall in the large room. Majic and Cleao were sitting on a wooden bench while waiting. "Just be glad they actually let us in" Cleao replied to the remark, "I swear I didn't think our luggage would make it in they searched it so many times!"
Majic went ahead and put it in his two cents by saying, "Well I guess with Zain hanging around they don't trust any visitors." Cleao and Orphen both thought about and figured that was reasonable.
"Unfortunately, I don't think we have the pleasure of knowing where Zain is anymore" said a very familiar voice. The party looked toward Hartia, who was standing to their left side.
"What exactly are you talking about Hartia?" said Orphen, now standing erect and staring Hartia dead in the eyes. Hartia lowered his head and sighed. He then replied, "Come with me."
Orphen, Hartia and the others made it to the Tower's clinic, where, aside from about a dozen sorcerers who had tried to attack Zain the day he came, they saw Lai sitting in a chair against the wall. His eyes were wide open and staring straight ahead at nothing, and hi face was completely devoid of emotion. A nurse had been changing the sheets on Lai's bed and now tried to lead him with her hand. Lai didn't even acknowledge she was there; he just kept staring straight ahead. The nurse had finally gotten Lai to his bed, where he now stared up at the wall.
Hartia dismissed the nurse and turned his attention back to the group. "He was attacked by Zain while I was gone," said Hartia, "I don't know any of the details, but apparently, Zain used his powers to look into Lai's mind and find out where Azalie is."
Orphen, Cleao, and Majic couldn't take there eyes off of Lai until Hartia had told them that, Orphen quickly turned his attention back to Hartia and said, "So Zain knows exactly where Azalie is and could find her any second and we can't do a thing about it?" Hartia nodded his head in a slow manner, answering Orphen's question.
"I'm afraid so Orphen," said Hartia, "The only other person who could have known is Lai," pointing out the still body of Lai, "and he won't be much help right now." Hartia went over to a stand next to Lai's bed and picked up a book.
"This is the only thing, aside from a broken crystal, that was found next to Lai when he was discovered", said Hartia, handing the book to Orphen. It read, "The Sands of Time", on the front cover. "I went through the book to see if there was anything that might help us to figure something out about Zain" Hartia explained, "But Zain had torn all the pages pertaining to what we need to know before I could read it" Orphen clenched his fist out of hate of Zain, until a small voice whispered, "Arystal". The whole group gasped in surprise at who had just said that.
Majic looked around to see if there was anyone else around who could have said that. Not seeing anyone, he looked at Lai, and noticed his eyes were now half open and looking at them. Majic pointed a shaky finger at Lai and said in a frightened tone, "I th-think it m-might have be-been Lai!" The whole had thought Majic had gone insane, until they saw Lai again mutter the word, "Arystal".
Orphen thought to himself for a moment and then stared at the dumb- struck Hartia. "Wait a minute Hartia," Orphen almost yelled out, "Isn't Arystal a town near here?" Hartia came out of the shock of hearing Lai actually be able to speak after what he had gone through and grinned a little.
"Yes, that's right" replied Hartia, "It's a small town about a two days walk from here!" Orphen smiled and looked back at Lai, who had slipped back into his wide-eyed look.
"Lai must have been trying to tell us that the whole time" said Majic, "But he couldn't get the strength up until now."
"Yeah, but it looks like he's back to his bug-eyed self again", replied Cleao in a impatient tone.
"Thanks Lai", said Orphen, "Now we know where Azalie is and can save her!" Orphen acted as a restless child ready to go on an adventure. Ready, that is, until a Master came in with two familiar trolls.
"I found these two trying to steal the jewels in the treasure room" the Master said, trying to hold the two so they couldn't get away. Orphen slapped his hand against his forehead and gave an aggravated sigh.
"God, can't we ever get rid of you two!" shouted Orphen. Volkan and Dortin crouched down cowardly, just realizing he was there at that moment.
Volkan stood back up and looked at Orphen with an angered look on his face. "Well, if it isn't the hypocritical sorcerer" said Volkan accusingly.
Orphen had a puzzled look on his face. "What the hell are you talking about now?"
Volkan stared at him as if the answer was obvious. "You're actually going to yell at us about stealing some gems when you know you stole the Jewel of Gigabrias from them yourself!" Lai's head leaned to the right, looking at Orphen.
Orphen turned his charm over to reveal the brilliant jewel. Lai smiled. "I thought I told you that I got this to protect it from the wrong hands?!"
"I told him this was a bad idea Orphen" whimpered Dortin, "Please just hurt him and not me!" Volkan hit his little brother in the head and said, "Dortin, how could you betray your caring and responsible big brother like that!"
Orphen was getting just a little more than annoyed by the two's antics. "I'll tell you what" said Orphen, struggling to stay calm, "I'll tell you of a good place where you can get all the treasure you can imagine!" Majic and Cleao looked at Orphen and wondered what he was talking about, until they saw the way Volkan was drooling, then they knew exactly what he was doing.
"A-all the treasure I can i-imagine!" said Volkan. Orphen was starting to enjoy the fact that Volkan was falling for his trick so easily.
"Yep, all you have to do is come with me!" replied Orphen, looping the two trolls under his arms. And Lai continued smiling.
***
Zain sat deep in thought up in a tree, smiling, very close to where Azalie was hiding...
"So that's where they were hiding it" said Zain to himself. "Who would have guessed it, and to think I wouldn't have figured it out if I hadn't turned Lai into my own personal puppet!" Zain jumped down from the tree he was in, staring at a nearby cabin placed in a clearing in the forest.
"Thanks to my mind control, Orphen and the others will soon be here, and the Jewel of Gigabrias will soon be mine!" Zain grinned evilly as a purple- haired woman stepped outside her cabin.
END CHAPTER 04
FOOTNOTE: I promise you won't have to wait so long for my next chapter. I finally have everything finalized for my story so I shouldn't have so many writer's blocks as I did for this one. Anyway, thank you for the great reviews and I hope you all keep reading. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can.