Ah, tis good to reminisce... Memory is the only true
immortality. It's both a blessing and a curse to have good memory.
Anyway...
I stepped outside, past guards that didn't seem to notice me. The wind smelled so good, so wonderful, like a mother smells to her child; the rain a gentle caress. I tipped my head back, and breathed it in; relishing the smell that put to shame the city of my birth.
Then, the guards still not paying me any heed, I started to walk in a direction I somehow knew lead to a path. Even though I had long been warned of the dangers of Nektulos, nothing at all seemed to notice me. For the first time since leaving the city, I honestly felt safe.
Nearing a huge rotting log near the path, a brown bear stopped and smelled the earth at my feet. For a moment I was scared, but the bear seemed to only smelled the grapes in my belt pouch. As soon as I dropped them on the ground, the bear ceased to notice me too. Let me tell you, it ate them with relish, sticky grape juice dripping from it's muzzle; I was just happy it wasn't me.
I continued on, ignored by everything from people of my own kind to even the Iron and Stone Guardians that for some odd reason did frighten me as they lumbered down the path in a rolling gait.
I had just reached a bridge, when something flew past me with the speed of a bird. I watched in awe as a bard shot past, a percussional beat that was really a song in itself echoing in the darkness as Teir'Dal guards gave a slow-footed chase. In his right hand he held a drum with a blue bird made of ocean waves painted on it, while his left held a double-ended stick that he rocked and stroked and spun across the membrane. The magic in his song created sparks of incandescence that shimmered across his sapphire blue armor.
I watched until he faded into the distance, my mouth agape and wishing he was not being pursued just to listen to that drum some more.
Shouts behind broke me from my reverie, as a glowing wolf of silver and grayish-blue darted past me in a headlong flight. It stopped just ahead of me, stared at me and howled. Awestruck once more, I stared right back.
Without warning, the fires of magic surrounded the wolf and the wind began to scream, as if telling me to run as fast as I was able.
To this day, I'll never forget the look of hatred in the wolf's eyes. It's eyes burned, and it curled its lips back from lethal looking fangs. Even though my own guards could not see me even as one almost ran right into me, it could.
One guard gasped and started to run as something evilly black started to creep up his legs, letting forth the blood; but roots soon entangled his limbs.
Scared and finally following the wind's orders, I backed up to run. But I too, was soon held fast.
It grinned cruelly at me and began to cast once more. The rain changed to hail, and the hollow sounds as it hit the ground and the bridge overpowered the winds screaming. Stars and blood exploded before my eyes as a hail-stone the size of my small fist struck my unprotected head. I knew I was as good as dead.
Out of nowhere, I was tackled to the ground, my slender ankles breaking as the roots holding me broke. My arm, caught under me as I fell under the heavy weight of an adult, snapped also. Ignoring my screams, the adult laid over me; shielding my frail body with his own, his knees forcing my legs up under him. His heavy gauntlet pushing my head under him.
Today, I know it was this that saved me; but then, I thought I was going to die. Oh the sound the hail made as it struck and dented his armor; the restrained grunts of pain the man made as he curled up around me. It was something I wouldn't wish on any child of any race.
The hail storm hadn't even ended yet, when I felt the man jerk his arm at the wolf. There was the sound of a close explosion, accompanied by the wolf's yelp of pure, unadulterated agony. Another explosion followed, and another, and yet another... As darkness closed on my vision, I heard the wolf's dying scream.
*Dragoon N'Blm pauses to take another drought from his glass, but it soused enough that he spills a generous amount down his front*
I... hmmm... I'm sorry to break the story now, but I really need to find myself a chamber pot or a privy. The cook for my company insists that if you add ginger to a pot of beans, it'll cut gas. All it gives me is ginger snaps.
Anyway...
I stepped outside, past guards that didn't seem to notice me. The wind smelled so good, so wonderful, like a mother smells to her child; the rain a gentle caress. I tipped my head back, and breathed it in; relishing the smell that put to shame the city of my birth.
Then, the guards still not paying me any heed, I started to walk in a direction I somehow knew lead to a path. Even though I had long been warned of the dangers of Nektulos, nothing at all seemed to notice me. For the first time since leaving the city, I honestly felt safe.
Nearing a huge rotting log near the path, a brown bear stopped and smelled the earth at my feet. For a moment I was scared, but the bear seemed to only smelled the grapes in my belt pouch. As soon as I dropped them on the ground, the bear ceased to notice me too. Let me tell you, it ate them with relish, sticky grape juice dripping from it's muzzle; I was just happy it wasn't me.
I continued on, ignored by everything from people of my own kind to even the Iron and Stone Guardians that for some odd reason did frighten me as they lumbered down the path in a rolling gait.
I had just reached a bridge, when something flew past me with the speed of a bird. I watched in awe as a bard shot past, a percussional beat that was really a song in itself echoing in the darkness as Teir'Dal guards gave a slow-footed chase. In his right hand he held a drum with a blue bird made of ocean waves painted on it, while his left held a double-ended stick that he rocked and stroked and spun across the membrane. The magic in his song created sparks of incandescence that shimmered across his sapphire blue armor.
I watched until he faded into the distance, my mouth agape and wishing he was not being pursued just to listen to that drum some more.
Shouts behind broke me from my reverie, as a glowing wolf of silver and grayish-blue darted past me in a headlong flight. It stopped just ahead of me, stared at me and howled. Awestruck once more, I stared right back.
Without warning, the fires of magic surrounded the wolf and the wind began to scream, as if telling me to run as fast as I was able.
To this day, I'll never forget the look of hatred in the wolf's eyes. It's eyes burned, and it curled its lips back from lethal looking fangs. Even though my own guards could not see me even as one almost ran right into me, it could.
One guard gasped and started to run as something evilly black started to creep up his legs, letting forth the blood; but roots soon entangled his limbs.
Scared and finally following the wind's orders, I backed up to run. But I too, was soon held fast.
It grinned cruelly at me and began to cast once more. The rain changed to hail, and the hollow sounds as it hit the ground and the bridge overpowered the winds screaming. Stars and blood exploded before my eyes as a hail-stone the size of my small fist struck my unprotected head. I knew I was as good as dead.
Out of nowhere, I was tackled to the ground, my slender ankles breaking as the roots holding me broke. My arm, caught under me as I fell under the heavy weight of an adult, snapped also. Ignoring my screams, the adult laid over me; shielding my frail body with his own, his knees forcing my legs up under him. His heavy gauntlet pushing my head under him.
Today, I know it was this that saved me; but then, I thought I was going to die. Oh the sound the hail made as it struck and dented his armor; the restrained grunts of pain the man made as he curled up around me. It was something I wouldn't wish on any child of any race.
The hail storm hadn't even ended yet, when I felt the man jerk his arm at the wolf. There was the sound of a close explosion, accompanied by the wolf's yelp of pure, unadulterated agony. Another explosion followed, and another, and yet another... As darkness closed on my vision, I heard the wolf's dying scream.
*Dragoon N'Blm pauses to take another drought from his glass, but it soused enough that he spills a generous amount down his front*
I... hmmm... I'm sorry to break the story now, but I really need to find myself a chamber pot or a privy. The cook for my company insists that if you add ginger to a pot of beans, it'll cut gas. All it gives me is ginger snaps.