Children of the Forsworn
Hello! I'm so pleased! Thanks everyone who took the time to review, I know the system was being screwy and not alerting those who want to be alerted…it doesn't tell me about reviews either, so I've been visiting my stats page a lot more recently…LOL. Ah well. Its sorted now.
It was really difficult to write this chapter, making it believable and all. That's why it took ages. Sorry.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, and a few OCs.
This chapter is dedicated to all my loverly girlies who come on this site just for me XD. You rock. Also to obsessed wiv everything. Who likes this story. This update is for you…
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"No way…" Renn stared at the book in her hands. "No. Way." She let it drop and sat down.
She'd done it.
It had been staring her in the face the whole time. She'd been looking in dusty old books and old scrolls for days…and the answer had been on her bedside table the whole time. She gazed at her favourite fairytale, mentally kicking herself, lifting the little leather-bound book off the table.
She read it slowly, letting a small smile grace her features as she admired the beautiful hand drawn artwork within. She stopped when she got to a certain picture, one with a small boy smiling at a confused princess. Renn grinned.
Time.
That was the answer. Her book was called The Time King, and her mother had read it to her when she was small. Her devious mind worked through all the possibilities at lightning speed. What was 'time' in the ancient language? What about 'stop'? How would 'freeze' work? She didn't think she'd ever heard of someone freezing time before…would it be possible to manipulate the ancient language in that way. She threw the book into the air.
"Frisa!" Ice crystals formed on the book, but it continued to fall until it hit the ground, shattering the frozen water. Renn frowned. Okay, not the answer. She gently picked up the book and placed it back on the bedside table. Turning in a circle, still frowning, she let her eyes wander over each of the objects in her room, her mind flipping over all possible combinations of words to make her idea work.
Picking up a trinket box, she repeated her earlier action and threw it upwards. As intended, the little knick knacks inside burst out and began to fall.
"Frisa Ihret!" Each of the little things in the air froze in place. She gasped. They were still moving, ever so slightly, just enough to look like they were made of paper, gently twisting in the wind. They were surrounded by an ethereal mist. She touched one, gently, and cried out at the intense cold she felt on her finger. The little ring fell from its place and clattered to the floor. Renn stared at it, then at her finger, which was red and chapped. Wow. That was cold. Curling her fingers, she tried to coax warmth back into her hand and arm, both of which had gone numb from the tiny touch.
She'd have to watch out for that. It was then that she noticed the utter silence. Her breath hitched in her throat as her ears strained to hear the ticking she associated with her little gold clock on her mantelpiece.
Nothing.
She turned slowly, biting her lip. The clock was frozen in place, each of the hands shivering slightly, but definitely not making a noise. She ran to it, feeling the first stirrings of unease. She grabbed it with both hands, turning it to face her.
Then she screamed in agony and dropped it to the floor, where it shattered into a thousand pieces. Intense cold crept up her arms, and the places the clock had touched were blistered, the skin peeling. She whimpered, her eyes watering with pain. She spun around and pulled at her door handle, crying out again as the cold feeling returned. Everything was cold. Freezing. Being careful not to touch anything else, and cradling the hand that had touched the door, she stumbled into the hallway. Fear curled around her heart…what had she done? Flames were frozen in their torches, and there was a deathly quiet.
The first person she found was her little sister. Renn felt tears spring into her eyes. Lillian looked as though she had been carved out of marble. Her eyes were open and lifelike, but frozen. The older girl stumbled back, feeling real panic. She wanted to touch Lily, to bring her out of this trance, but she couldn't bear the cold, and she feared her fingers might freeze completely. Never in her life had her entire being felt so cold, not even when Aaran and Torket had locked her in the freezer when they were five.
Her feet were beginning to feel cold as well; the floor was obviously not exempt from her spell. Panic overwhelmed her. She had frozen everything. Everything. She ran to the nearest window, careful not to touch the sill. People walking outside were frozen in place. She'd stopped time. Just two worlds and she was the only being in existence. Her breath misted in front of her face. Even the air itself was beginning to freeze. The tears on her face were crystallising…this had to stop!
Stumbling backwards, she shook her head, which in her panic was devoid of thought. She screamed the first thing that came into her head.
"Brakka du vanyali!"
Suddenly everything moved again, a burst of noise almost deafened her, she clutched her head in pain at the onslaught and cried out. Falling against the wall, which felt blissfully warm on her freezing frame, she shivered in misery, letting tears of shock and relief fall down her cheeks.
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Lillian hadn't noticed her big sister before. How had she not seen her? Renn looked a mess, she was shivering, and tears fell from red rimmed eyes. Her face was blotchy, and her eyes were shining with panic.
"Renn!" The little girl's heart burst with concern as she fell to her knees next to her sister. Touching her arm, she recoiled. Renn was cold to the touch. Lillian felt fear clutch her. "Renn, what happened?"
"Lily…I…I…It's alright…I'll be alright…I just panicked, that's all. I did something, something happened, and I wasn't sure if I could make it un-happen…"
"Renn?"
Was it just her, or had the temperature dropped?
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Confusion was etched all over her younger sister's face. Renn shook herself, finally feeling warmth creeping back into her system. Her brain began to function again, already analysing, figuring out just what went wrong. She let Lillian pull her to her feet.
She smiled at the girl, who was biting her lip, looking extremely concerned. "I'm okay, Lily…better than okay, I promise. I think I need a rest..."
"Alright, but…be careful…don't kill yourself…"
She was genuinely afraid, Renn thought, mentally slapping herself for worrying her sister. She felt Lillian's eyes on her as she retreated to her room.
Her floor was littered with the trinkets and the broken pieces of her clock. With a wave of her hand and a whispered word, the mess vanished. She sat on the end of her bed. She hadn't felt so drained in years.
Later, she knew her brother would flip. He'd shout at her for being so stupid, and somehow Renn felt she probably deserved it. What if she hadn't been able to undo her mistake? Time would still be frozen – literally…and she'd probably have died of cold. Smart plan. Already her mind was trying to figure out a way around the issue, because she estimated that she wouldn't be able to hold time suspended for very long if the whole world would freeze within minutes.
Minutes. That was crazy. Maybe 'freeze' was the wrong word. The ancient language was, of course, very literal. She 'froze' time. What if she stopped it? Or held it back somehow? Was there any other way to do it? She thought for a moment about the word 'brakka', thinking of how she used it to stop the flow of magic. Then she shook her head. Who knew what the words 'break time' could do. She could order time to halt, she supposed…
Maybe tomorrow. Her head was fuzzy and her thoughts were becoming sluggish. If she attempted magic now, she'd probably be knocked unconscious, especially the spell she was thinking of.
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Eight hours of sleep did wonders for one's head, the King's eldest daughter mused as she changed her clothes. In her fatigue the night before, she had failed to change into nightclothes, choosing instead simply to collapse on her bed.
Never mind. She wore black, as usual, just like her siblings, and for that matter, the other three young people living in the palace. Even Morzan's youngest had taken after his brother and worn black. It definitely looked better on him than the earth colours he used to wear; at least, Lillian thought so. Her little sister's infatuation with Eragon was escalating, and of course the boy was clueless. Well, maybe not clueless…just slightly unsure as to how to react. He was only sixteen, after all.
She sighed and turned to face the door, when there was an angry cry from somewhere below her. Creasing her forehead in confusion, she left, following the sound.
Surprise surprise. Her father's training room. She put her ear to the door, wondering who was in there.
Someone touched her shoulder. She freaked out, thinking it was someone about to ask her why she was sneaking around. Leaping back, she caught her chest as she realised it was only her siblings. "Jeez. Way to scare me…what's going on?"
Lillian shrugged, but looked scared. Aaran murmured, "He's got both of them in there…I sent Torket to see Saphira and Thorn, see if they can tell us what's going on." Renn grimaced.
"I can only assume he's forcing Eragon to swear allegiance?" Aaran nodded grimly at Renn's statement. At that point there was an angry, scared-sounding shout from behind the door. It tipped the already frustrated and stressed Princess over the edge. "Okay, I've had enough. Screw the research, screw my damn Father, screw magic."
She slammed open the door, hissing "Frisa Ihret!" at the same time. Knowing she had little to no time before it started to get cold, she sprinted to Murtagh, who was lying on the floor, eyes closed. She shook his shoulder, drawing her hand away, hissing from the sting. When he still didn't move, she realised he was unconscious and rolled her eyes. Perfect. A spanner in the works already. Her time was limited and she had to wake up a concussed teenager. "Wake up! Come on, this is no time to pass out!" she cried, frustrated. She shook him violently, taking her anger out on him. She'd apologise later. At least he was no longer freezing to touch. Her hand was blistered from the one touch already, and she still had to 'wake up' the others.
A low moan, accompanied by a slight stirring of his shoulders informed the dark haired girl that Murtagh was awake. Leaving him to get himself off the floor, she moved to where Eragon and the King stood, frozen mid-argument. Casting a resentful look at her father and resisting the urge to do something childish while he was frozen, she touched Eragon's shoulder. This time, she almost cried out at the pain. "Oh my poor hand…" she murmured as Eragon turned to face her, confusion etched all over his face. "What?" he hissed, staring at her. Of, course, it would have seemed to him like she had appeared out of thin air. Oh well. She'd explain later. She could already feel the temperature dropping.
"Move!" she growled, shoving Eragon towards the door, pausing do grasp Murtagh's wrist. The jerk made him fall against the wall, where he cried out in surprise. "The wall's freezing!" He grumbled as he followed them out.
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Eragon had never been more confused in his entire life. Aaran and Lillian stood in front of him, staring through sightless eyes. "Touch Lily's shoulder. Careful, it'll hurt. My hand hurts enough already." Renn snapped, grasping her twin brother's hand, withdrawing it quick as lightning.
He reached out and poked the younger girl. Then he yelped. "Ahaha…that's cold…" the numbing feeling was spreading up his arm. He shook it warily as Lillian broke out of the spell. "What's going on…?" She mumbled, looking as mystified as he felt. He shrugged, suddenly feeling cold all over. His breath was steaming in front of him. Renn was shaking, visibly affected, and the other three were starting to shiver. Aaran cocked his head. "Care to explain?" he muttered to his sister. She shook her head. "No time. We have to move. Fast. I want to find Torket before I break the spell, we have to be a long way away."
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Lillian felt very stupid as she ran behind the others, trying desperately to work out what had happened. They'd been talking…and now they were running. Somehow, there just didn't seem to be anything in between the two events. This confused her even more. How did that even work? She tried to ignore the freezing cold air…and that was another thing. It was sunny…why was it so cold? It felt like winter…a very cold winter.
The biting chill was making her eyes water, and the tears were practically freezing on her face. Brushing her hand against her cheeks she sniffled.
Torket was right where Aaran said he'd be. Her older brother's jaw dropped. "Please, Renn…tell me you didn't do this…"
"Of course I did." She snapped, getting more and more agitated. Lillian noticed raw patches on her arms and hands, raw patches that were creeping across more of her exposed skin. The younger girl winced. Everyone was shivering, and Renn looked three times as cold as they did. Her big sister shakily reached out to Torket, but stopped herself. She moaned, before screaming, "Brakka du vanyali!" Instantly the temperature began to rise again, and Renn fell against the wall, shaking badly. Both dragons were roaring in surprise, and then it hit Lillian. Time. Her sister had frozen time. Frozen being the appropriate word.
"Renn…" She murmured. "Are you crazy?"
"Come…come here, all of you…" She gasped, beckoning. "Make sure you're all touching me." There were protests, but she screamed, "DO it!" No-one missed the urgency in her voice, and rushed to obey her, no matter how confused they were. Even the two dragons, after exchanging glances, leant bown, extending claws to touch Renn's trembling form.
"Fri…" she stopped, breathing hard. Lillian was suddenly scared. She wasn't about to do magic again? In this state? Renn shook herself, and cried, "Frisa Ihret!"
A flash of cold. Shruiken, who had been watching them interestedly but had not deigned to join the activities, was frozen in place. Lillian shook herself as Renn collapsed. Caught by Torket, she shivered and began to speak, in a very faint whisper. "Fly…from here. The wards. They're…frozen. I stopped…time. They'll…shatter…I think. They won't…work…because of the time…the time…"
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"Renn?" Aaran cried, scared. His sister was barely breathing. She caught his arm. "When it gets too cold…Aaran…too cold…" she shook herself again. "The spell is broken when you…cancel the magic…break the…magic." With that, she fainted. He panicked, knowing instantly she'd done too much, too powerful magic. Clutching his face he shook his head, staggering against the wall, trying to process the information he'd just received. Except the wall was freezing. He felt his back go numb. Aaran glanced at the others, who were shaking. Then he took control, instantly knowing what his sister wanted. "Murtagh, Torket, take Renn. Thorn, can you manage three?"
The ruby dragon huffed in derision as if to say, of course. Eragon, you me and Lillian will go on Saphira. Renn wants us to leave. She's been planning this for a long time…she says the wards will break, and I believe her. She might be…" his voice cracked. "She might have killed herself to get us all out. The least we can do is try."
No-one hesitated. The boy took one more look at Renn, in Torket's arms, before moving to help Lillian onto Saphira. Eragon and Murtagh were already up in a riding position, both of them glancing upwards, towards the hole in the ceiling both of them knew was protected by powerful wards. Did Renn know they would break? Both Riders looked nervous. After all, it would be their dragons, and by extension, themselves who would come off worst if she was wrong…
Feeling the temperature drop by the second, Aaran checked that everyone was safe and shrugged, before murmuring, "Here goes…I hope you're right Renn…"
And I hope you're safe.
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Ooer. Look at the length! 7 pages! XD Yay. I thought this would be up days ago, but I edited the end what, four? Five times?
I still hate it, but y'know, it'll never go up if I don't post now. Tell me what you think.
Oh, and another cliffhanger. I was going to continue, but I'll leave it there. You'll find out if Renn's rather 'spur of the moment' idea will work next week? Two weeks? I know I know. I'm a sporadic updater. Sorry!
Oh, and we're counting down the chapters, now! I'm over halfway through! Yay! (Surprisingly, this is actually a PLANNED story…it may not seem like it…but…hey.)