Things to know before reading:
--This was originally about thirteen pages long in Microsoft Word (where I type stories), but I decided that to read it all in one sitting would be shoving the plot WAY too quickly, and I hate quick plots…not to brag or anything, but I'm a speed-reader, and quick plots just go in and out to me as quickly as math lessons. Yep.
Kismet of a Changechild
Chapter XIV
By Aura Kage
"You – what?"
"The Healer!" Snowsong screamed, so frantic he didn't even hear Dawnshadow (which was probably a good thing, considering how much he loved his bondbird). "Hurry!"
~
[The next morning]
It was a true Healer that attended to Kestri, as she was in critical condition when she was brought to the Collegium, more than half-way on her flight to death with only Snowsong, Dawnshadow, and Derik to urge her to live when all she wanted was to die, and rid herself of this pain.
But she lived, and Snowsong was overjoyed, and felt like dancing even though he couldn't; through the night he had been sleepless, playing with one of Kestri's molted feathers with a bloodshot look that Derik recalled all too easily, waiting for the Kestri to come out of the room wondering how the ex-scout would react if Kestri did die.
Darkwind had heard just this morning, and decided to cancel Snowsong's lessons because he understood their bond…and Vree had tried to explain something else to him about Kestri, but had been vague about it, as he didn't know all the right words.
When Ranaena found Kiriath the next morning to talk about what had happened (she didn't know, and Derik hadn't really contemplated Dawnshadow's last words in the rush), she found the Companion lying on the ground, limp. When she neared at that impossibly quick gallop, though, she found to her relief that the Companion was breathing shallowly – still alive.
But when Kiriath came to, she didn't remember anything.
Kyrrith had come as well to discuss, as Dawnshadow had recently been locking him out of her mind, and the Companion decided to leave her be and not spy, which was what he was itching to do ever since the first few days without the Changechild to talk to. So the three of them – Ranaena, Kyrrith, and Kiriath – talked for a few candlemarks about who could have done this to the kestrel and caused Snowsong so much pain, and the strangest thing was that Kiriath hadn't noticed Snowsong's fear at all in…whatever had happened to cause her to lose her memory.
A Companion should never forget about these things. Especially if it was about life-and-death to one of a Chosen's loved ones.
In the Unaffiliated-Collegium, Havlah, Lana, Bree, Mria, and Vyra heard about this assault on the kestrel from an absentminded comment by Wyll ("Oh, so the Heralds care more about a bird than they do for the kingdom, do they? No one ever notices the contributions made by the Unaffiliated! Who in Haven become the working, educated merchants and other in this society, hmm? The Unaffiliated, of course! But no…it's Heralds this, Heralds that, and how Heralds can always be trusted because a stupid white horse that can supposedly 'talk' can also supposedly 'chose' them, too! All this ungratefulness makes me angrier every day…"). Needless to say, they were starting to get nervous, and when they were talking about it one night in their room, Zohariel couldn't help but overhear.
Khira, who was holding a conversation with him at the moment about Kestri's injury, couldn't help but 'overhear' either – and was thrilled at the open opportunity to get Havlah back for stealing her sugar cubes.
Zoh crawled nearer to the vent and listened closely to the girls' conversation, making not one sound and hoping that the rest of the boys wouldn't come in while they were talking. Still, he would hardly decipher any of what they were saying.
"We'll have to…"
"No…! …we can't!"
"But-"
"…"
"How could…there's no…"
"Tomorrow afternoon, we'll take her to the marketplace," Havlah said, her voice loud enough to carry as she talked to all of them. "And give her back to that musty old man in black. He said he would be somewhere there, and it's not so hard to spot someone like that wandering around…"
Give her back?
:What do they mean, give her back?: Khira snorted, echoing Zohariel's thoughts. :Do they mean Kestri?:
I don't know…couldn't you spy on their minds?
It was a tentative question, but Khira took offense from it.
:No!: Khira shouted in Zoh's mind so loud that he winced and grabbed his ear, though she wasn't speaking to it. :No! I'm not even supposed to speak to you – Companions are never suppose to Bespeak unless they have no other choice! And to spy on that rat's mind…even if I was allowed to, I wouldn't! To look into a mind so filthy…:
Since she was so angry-sounding, Zohariel didn't pursue the matter further on precisely why Khira chose (Chose?) to Bespeak to Zohariel and not to anyone else, even though he wasn't her Chosen.
Of course, Havlah was talking about Dawnshadow – she would know what had really happened to Kestri, and since it didn't really concerned her own well-being, she was free to tell anyone about what had happened. So now would be a good time to somehow take the demon and force her into the marketplace for…disposal.
But while Snowsong was mourning, Derik was musing, the Companions were conversing, Wyll was fuming, Zohariel and Khira were eavesdropping, and Havlah and her gaggle were plotting, there was someone listening into every conversation, as silent and fleet as a shadow in many places at once, with ears swiveled to every conversation until he lost interest and walked away.
And it wasn't the bloodpath mage, Dawnshadow's creator…though he had kept close tab on everything happening as a human or gryphon. It was someone else – someone who wasn't even half the size of a human, whose first priority was always to look to his own survival.
He was half mute, which really didn't help much, and honestly couldn't care less about the affairs of these stupid people. Still…he thought maybe Dawnshadow would like to know, because she was an object in many conversations today, and she might give him something good to eat if he told her.
It was then that Silver the cat threaded away from the Unaffiliated and back to the Heralds' Collegium, where his 'owner' met him with extended knuckles, which he rubbed against affectionately before padding off to find the half-breed.
Little did he know, she was far, far away from here – running with unnatural speed identical to how Companions ran faster than horses, and already past the marketplace, her front dribbled with kestrel's blood and her arms still bleeding freely, and with them her strength. The cat was making her – things were getting too dangerous, so the most logical solution was to get away. And quickly.
And so Dawnshadow, her human mind be-spelled so many times that half the things she did weren't even of her own will, was again forced by her own nature to do something.
Tears running from her eyes and leaving a moist glimmering trail on her cheeks where they fell, Dawnshadow made her way to…wherever the cat wished to go.
~
[That afternoon]
Kestri, her wing bound, was sitting in Snowsong's lap while he mended and cleaned her feathers with utmost delicacy, oblivious to everyone and everything except the earthen feathers of his kestrel.
Derik opened the door and looked up at him, waiting to be acknowledged. When he wasn't, the Herald sighed and closed the door, leaning against it, still thinking, Dawnshadow's words circling his mind:
"It…was me. I did this."
No, Dawnie…you couldn't have, Derik thought to himself, staring determinedly at the ceiling. You can't! Not just because you wouldn't, but…something happened. You had bruises…I don't know where those came from, but it wasn't from Kestri. And Kestri's injuries weren't made the only way you could have made them…by punching, or by scratching. She had a broken bone that was snapped all the way through – unless you just grabbed her wing and snapped it like a twig, there's no way…and you were all clawed up, so it actually looked as if you and Kestri had gotten into a fight…
:A coin for your thoughts, sweet?: Ranaena quirked at the back of his mind. Derik sighed.
:You can have them for free, Rae. I was just thinking…before we brought the bondbird to the Healers' Collegium, Dawnie was stuttering something about how she did that to Kestri.:
:Wha – what?!:
:Yeah, I know…and now that I'm thinking about that, it seems impossible.: Derik sighed and shook his head, then stood up straight and walked down the hallway to his own room. :I mean, just look at the facts…: He related them all to her, pointing out several things, and she agreed warily with them all.
:I'll ask Kyrrith to go talk to Dawnshadow about this,: Ranaena said, her voice troubled. :He said that she's been pretty…withdrawn for the past week, and he doesn't know why – he hasn't asked, because he felt she needed her privacy.:
:Why aren't you more like Kyrrith?: Derik said wistfully, opening his door. :Why can't you ever give me privacy?:
Rae didn't answer, and at the moment she was nudging Kyrrith softly while she told him all that Derik had told her, and he nodded while Kiriath watched, still trying to regain her memory.
Then-
:DERIK!: Ranaena shouted suddenly, making him jumped. :Derik!:
:Oh my gods – what?!: Derik shouted back, pulse racing. His Companion would never shout like that, unless something was very, very wrong.
:When was the last time you saw Dawnshadow?:
:Let's see…when she gave Kestri to the Healer, and then I just kinda forgot about her because I was too worried about that damn bird, and…oh. My. Gods. She didn't-?:
:Kyrrith just tried to talk to her, and her Mindvoice is weakened because of the distance, and he said that she's somewhat in a state of…of shock, or something like that!: Ranaena cried, bounding over the Companion's Field gates with Kyrrith, not even able to find the right words for the situation. :Oh, sweet – she's missing, and she's terribly mind-hurt!:
:How can I-: Derik began, but Ranaena was already occupied with someone else's talking. The Herald was confused for a moment, and then realized – Rae wasn't talking to him. His Companion was talking to Kyrrith.
Ranaena calling Kyrrith sweet, Dawnshadow missing, Snowsong taking care of that stupid bird as if she was his lifebonded? Oh, gods, this is getting absolutely insane…
Derik slid off the bed, and as he did his hand swept across the bedside table, knocking his mostly blank-paged book to the floor. He reached down and picked it up, but jumped back when a wind shoved back the pages, to the very place where he had recorded his notes from his dream. They were there as they were, but there was something different about them:
Black: moving slow, subtle, graceful, magic, flight. No fixed form. Feathers?
Gray: subtle, green & gold, shifting forms big and small. Definitely Dawnshadow.
Red: slow water and swiftly moving. Blood could be the first, unknown second.
Blue: swiftly moving, halfway graceful, mingled with black. Possibly Unaffiliated.
White: fast, flashing…unknown.
Gold: very, very thin and did not move at all. Hint at deceit, treachery, and a white lie.
(A/N: Just in case the slash-outs don't work for some reason, then here's another copy…the slashed-out words are in italics:
Black: moving slow, subtle, graceful, magic, flight. No fixed form. Feathers?
Gray: subtle, green & gold, shifting forms, big and small. Definitely Dawnshadow.
Red: slow water and swiftly moving. Blood could be the first, unknown second.
Blue: swiftly moving, halfway graceful, mingled with black. Possibly Unaffiliated.
White: fast, flashing…unknown.
Gold: very, very thin and did not move at all. Hint at deceit, treachery, and a white lie.
Alright…and if it still doesn't make any sense, then nevermind.)
Derik stared at the notebook, slowly pulling into a sitting position. His first thought was used to wonder whether anyone had been in his room – and his answer to that was Unaffiliated, but he realized that no Unaffiliated could sneak into a Heralds' Collegium without being noticed at least once or twice and being stopped. His second question was to wonder why anyone would look into his private things and cross out stuff in his thought-book that they didn't even know anything about – and his third question, the most obvious: what did it say now?
There were no added words…just…modifications. Derik flipped the pages to check on his poems, and found that they were intact and sighed with relief. He looked back to his notes. There were some words that had been crossed out, some that were underlined, and…letters that had been reinforced by more ink. He read them to himself over and over, and finally read them aloud to see if they would make more sense.
"Black," he began, quietly, thinking how odd it would be if someone barged into his room right at that moment and saw a self-respecting Herald talking to himself. "That's underlined…and then, moving with slow slashed out, and then subtle, and then graceful crossed out…oh, that's not going to work. I'll just read without the crossouts…then it would say: black, moving, subtle, magic, feathers. Great…that tells me a lot…well, there's an underline in black, so maybe that would mean it was significant? Okay, so then: black, moving, magic, feathers. Something black that's moving subtly, is magic, and has feathers. On to the next color."
Derik looked at the word subtle, noting that it had a bold start – would it mean that subtle was an important word too? But then wouldn't it be underlined…? And same with magic – it's 'i' was in bold as well.
"Okay, nevermind. Gray…shifting forms, small, Dawnshadow," Derik murmured. "Dawnshadow…is shifting forms? Turning smaller, maybe? I don't get it…and the 'l' in small is bold.
"Alright, now red. Swiftly moving, blood, second. What? Blood is the second what? Wait a minute…before, it said that I didn't know what the second meaning meant for red, but now it says 'blood second' – so that would maybe mean…blood was also the second meaning, and it's…swiftly moving, so…oh, no…that might mean someone's about to die, but who? Better read on…
"Blue. Swiftly moving, mingled with black, Unaffiliated underlined, and the 'e' in bold. So the Unaffiliated is moving fast, and they're mingled with black…they're working with the magical feather-thing? Probably…
"White's completely crossed out. Maybe it already happened…but how? Where?
"And finally, gold, with underlined words: deceit, treachery, and white lie, and the 'r' in bold. That one's a little scary…"
Derik frowned, forehead wrinkling as he stared at the paper, one part of him hoping that it would suddenly make sense. At least he knew that someone was trying to tell him something…but, he thought to himself, this wasn't the best way to go about doing it.
And those bold letters. What did they mean? It was absolutely killing his curiosity…
"The letters that are bold are: s, i, l, v, e, and r," Derik said aloud, then sat for a moment thinking about that before slapping his forehead. "Oh, obviously. S-i-l-v-e-r – silver! Silver? What in the world does silver mean? Nevermind…what was I doing before this again? Oh, yeah – Dawnshadow! Where'd she go?"
Derik stood up and dropped the thought-book back on the dresser, then ran out of the room to go tell…someone. Someone important – Talia! For some reason, his head wasn't working right…
In his hurry, he didn't notice that the window was closed and locked securely, the way he had left it the night before.
~
The mage followed Dawnshadow's both invisible and distinct trail in gryphon form, her scent like a beacon to guide him towards her. He crawled towards her, silent, enjoying his own stealth.
So, my little creation, you have run away from me before those silly girls could bring you to be yourself…no matter, I'll still catch you…
Dawnshadow possessed no powers of hiding, and at the moment all the cat cared about was getting away, where supposedly it was safe, and battling off the eyes that kept peeking into its mind, spying…the more Kyrrith tried to see what was wrong with Dawnshadow, the more that cat felt worried it was getting exposed and the more it pushed Dawnshadow on in the search for safety.
Finally the mage found the Changechild, in a forest, trying to make her way past some blackberry bushes without getting herself pricked by the thorns. Even from here, furlongs away, the gryphonic ears caught the noise of the Changechild's strangled sobs as she pulled away from the bush, her arms drenched with a rich crimson that made the mage's mouth water.
Food…I haven't had much food in quite a while now…I'll take the information, eat her, and leave. Better to do it nice and quick, before anyone comes searching…
The mage came nearer, and was only a yard away after a few moments, concealed in the shade of the trees, watching the Changechild intently. She had gotten a stick and was whacking at the blackberry bushes with increasing strength and anger, until finally she collapsed on the ground, weak from blood loss and not having enough nourishment for the past week.
Though, I must admit…those Unaffiliated girls did do a very good job for me…
She was absolutely mad, and both the cat and mage knew it.
Time to harvest!
The gryphon came closer, and the grass rustled as his lithe form passed by. Dawnshadow turned, eyes dilating at the noise, but it was too late – she had been informed of the mage's presence just before he pounced, shining ebony beak opening in a shrill cackle of triumph as his talons sank into the soft flesh of the Changechild and he felt her fear.
"No! W-who-?" Dawnshadow began, stammering in fear at the grinning, deadly face before her. She was pinned to the ground, and the wicked eagle's claws pinching at her skin were hardly noticed among the hurts that Kestri had given her.
"You know me," the mage said, voice raspy and forcing back a flinch that came whenever he spoke. At least now, it wasn't the shrill 'shade' and 'bloodlust' that were the only words he used to be able to say, back when he was a novice at transforming and using his acquired bodies. "Don't you…rrrememberrr me?"
"I…I do-don't…"
"Becaussse, my sssweet little kitten, you havvve been alterrred ssso many times by both yourrr frrrriendsss and foesss that you rrrememberrr nothing of yourrr trrrue passst!" the mage snickered, unable to help himself. Dawnshadow blinked, bewildered. "You do not know me? Then it isss the fault of yourrr ssso-called frrrriendsss."
"Wha-what…" Dawnshadow sniffed, still not over her tears, "…are you talking about? You…you're a gryphon, but no gryphon I've ever seen before-"
"Onccce upon a time I crrreated a ssselfisssh little Changechild whom I cassst into the wilderrrnesss to be ussseful," the gryphon said, carefully undoing the alterations on Dawnshadow's memory, watching her eyes widen as she was enlightened.
"No…I didn't-"
"You havvve!" the mage cried victoriously. "Now give me yourrr thoughtsss, my precsssioussss, tell me the secrrrretss of the grrrreat Herrralds' Collegium in Havvven, ssso I can sssteal that powerrr frrrom the Hearrrtsssstone therrre-"
"I don't know anything about a heart stone!" Dawnshadow cried, so afraid that her creator would kill her that her sobs were dry. "I didn't even know there was something like that in Haven – I don't even know what a heart stone is! Leave me alone, let me go, please – just let me go back-"
The mage-gryphon was shocked stiff. She didn't know anything about the Heartstone? But – but that was impossible, her job was to spy; gods, she existed to spy! How could she not know a thing about the Heartstone…?
And now she was all caught up in crying again, the pitiful little thing – tears were running from her eyes, but she didn't move for fear of hurting herself further, because now she felt the pain that she had ignored earlier, and the weight and the claws of the mage-gryphon against her frail frame, almost crushing the air from her lungs.
Now what am I going to do? The mage thought to himself. If I don't kill her, then she'll run back to that infernal Haven and tell on me, and I'm as good as killed already – if I do kill her, then those Heralds will still be after me for killing a Trainee, and I'll never get another spy…
It was that moment's of hesitation that left the gryphon exposed to any attacks.
The Companions Kyrrith and Ranaena had been galloping at top-speed towards the place where Kyrrith felt his Chosen, and Ranaena's link with Derik was fading as it was stretched over the distance, like an elastic robe being pulled until Ranaena was afraid that it would snap; but it was just a fear, as that could never happen.
Kyrrith was at his full speed even while weaving through the forest, threading around the roots and stones with somewhat of a ForeSight so that his hooves would not get injured. He spotted the gryphon up ahead, and his speed increased (if that was even possible) and he stomped on the gryphon's hindquarters, not trusting himself to attack the mage's torso as he might accidentally injure Dawnshadow.
The gryphon shrieked in agony and Dawnshadow backed away as quickly as she could, straight into the blackberry bushes whose thorns she couldn't feel. She watched Ranaena emerge from the dark greenness, the Companion's pelts like beams of moonlight striding against the shadows, and Ranaena neared the Changechild to see how she was, but didn't Bespeak. She nuzzled the Changechild's hair in an attempt to be comforting, and Dawnshadow leaned forward and embraced the Companion's neck, not thinking once about the state of Rae's pristine coat after her squalid arms had been on it.
Ranaena accepted this with a mild disgruntlement, seeing how much Dawnshadow had needed to be consoled and how she had never satisfied that need. It reminded her of the human children she had seen riding circuit with Derik – how, when she and him had neared, they ran to their mother's side and went behind her skirts, like little chicks fleeing something they saw as a threat and hiding beneath protective wings.
Meanwhile, Kyrrith was trying to trample the mage-gryphon into the ground, but the gryphon was trying to get to his feet, talons and claws and wings flailing to both defend and offend the Companion. Kyrrith, at least, had not gone insane – he backed away periodically to catch his breath and re-asses the situation before dashing forward again, and soon the silver color of his hooves were turning red.
The gryphon was giving high-pitched shrieks as the hooves connected with his dark flesh, and Kyrrith's ears were flattened against his head, much resembling a viper as he continued to strike.
Before the two knew it, the gryphon tumbled into something of a ravine that neither being had known was even there. A quick look behind told Kyrrith he had been shoving the gryphon back as he fought, away from Ranaena and Dawnshadow, and the gryphon was trying to claw his way up the muddy walls of the ravine, dark feathers coated with mud.
Wet? Mud?
Kyrrith noticed with a start that there was a stream at the bottom of that 'ravine' – about a horse-length wide, and trickling quietly. The gryphon was trying to claw his way away from the water, but when he found he couldn't he let himself slid to the bottom so he stood over the river, and flapped his wings to try and escape via flight, pellets of wet earth flying everywhere as his wings moved.
Before he could even lift himself up, Kyrrith had leaped down into the ravine and stomped on him, and the gryphon fell with his head to the smooth river stones with a startled squawk and a loud crack of his beak chipping.
The Companion whinnied in rage and stomped down hard on one of the gryphon's wings, breaking it. The gryphon screeched furiously but the Companion had the advantage, and was already pressing the mage's night-plumed head into the water, keeping it there and stomping on anything that struggled until finally…
The mage-gryphon ceased to move, and bubbles that were his breath came to the surface of the water and were not followed. The back of the stream began to be tinted by the redness of the gryphon's blood.
Kyrrith was breathed hard and turned to look at the top of the ravine, where Ranaena had peered over the side fearfully to see what had happened. Her neck was stained; it looked as if she were wearing a scarlet necklace.
:Is…?:
:Yes,: Kyrrith said exhausted. He stepped forward, shaking his hooves to free them from water. :Dawnshadow?:
:Fine. Hurt, but…overall fine. She's shocked…I'm guessing that that mage gave her back some memories that were held from her.:
:Lots of memories have been held from her,: Kyrrith said, feeling disgusted with himself. He had killed…no matter that the mage-gryphon had been evil, would have killed them had it had the chance, Kyrrith had killed. It gave him a nasty, vile feeling to think that…
:Let's go home…: Ranaena said comfortingly, calming Kyrrith down a bit as he shoved those thoughts away for later. :Before the cavalry arrives, and we have to tell them that they missed the action.:
:The cavalry?:
:Well, certainly Derik will have called Queen's Own-slash-Herald Talia for help, wouldn't he? And that would drag in Griff and of course Kuri, who would follow Derik into a room of flames…:
:I see…yes, let's get back. Except…: Kyrrith frowned mentally, and that made Rae frown as well, wondering what was wrong.
:Except what?:
:Except…I can't figure out how to get out of here,: Kyrrith admitted, placing a hoof on the wet walls of the ravine and watching it slide against his will.
~
Dawnshadow was in a daze, looking as if she were alive but sleeping. She had managed to mount Kyrrith and ride him, and he and Rae made a slow trot for Haven, where they met the 'cavalry' more than halfway on the trip and told them what had happened.
And now, two days later, the Changechild was being treated by a Mind-Healer to try and clear her head of the many things that had been placed in it…including the spells.
Except, since the spells were really to make Dawnshadow forget about any harm that had been done to her (by the Blues, by the mage), there was no proof to point at the Unaffiliated to even say that they had been mixed up in all of this.
Kestri was now fine, Snowsong was fine, Talia was a little annoyed but fine, Derik was fine (but inside, still confused on the things placed in his thoughtbook), the Companions were fine (excluding Kiriath, who was still wondering what had happened to her), the Unaffiliated were fine (much to the relief of Miss Lebetter and also much to the annoyance of Khira), and everyone else was fine (not including Dawnshadow, who hadn't spoken a single word ever since she had come back).
~
Derik stared at his thoughtbook as if it were going to come to life, narrowing his eyes at it.
"Black. Does that maybe be the gryphon that attacked Dawnshadow?" he asked, as if the inanimate object would answer him. "That would explain moving and feathers, and if the gryphon was a mage then that would explain the magic bit.
"And what about Gray? You said it was shifting forms, small, Dawnshadow. Something's happened to Dawnshadow alright, but it isn't that she's shifted forms…
"And red for blood swiftly moving. That could mean Dawnshadow, but I think…I think that this 'swiftly moving blood' hasn't stopped yet. I think…that it's far from over."
Curse ForeSight. I hate it…
"Blue…swiftly moving, mingled with black, Unaffiliated. Were the Unaffiliated working with the mage? I bet they were…and they were both moving. When you mean moving, do you mean actually moving around, or just active, like plotting?"
No answer. The notebook was silent.
"I'm definitely going insane. I'm talking to my notebook," Derik told himself. "Oh, well. What d'you mean by Gold and deceit and treachery and a white lie? And what does Silver mean?"
Still no answer.
"Dammit, answer me!" the Herald shouted at the book, taking it and throwing at the opposite wall in frustration.
"Derik?" said a voice from behind him.
"Huh?" Derik turned. It was Kuriana, looking as if she were both concerned and about to burst into laughter at the same time, but wasn't sure which was appropriate for the present events.
"Why'd you throw your book against the wall?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow. Derik sighed and propped his arms on his knees, his head on his arms, hands rubbing his temples as if that would help him.
"It's…hard to explain."
"Try me." Kuri sat next to him on the bed, and waited while Derik gathered his thoughts.
"Alright. You know my ForeSight? No, don't answer, I know you do. Well, one night I had a dream – you know how they are, all colors that are all significant and mean different things that I can tell somehow."
"Yeah, I know. Go on."
"Well, I wrote down what I could remember in my book-thing so I could go back to bed without worrying about whether I'd forgotten some detail, and a few days ago when I dropped the book it opened up onto the page with the notes – except they were all crossed out and underlined and bolded. You didn't do that, did you?"
"Nope…" Kuri said slowly, no trace of a smile on her face as she shook her head. "I've been too busy trying to wrap up all my training so I can finally wear some Whites."
She worked that subject into every conversation she had with Derik.
"Well, someone did…and the weird thing is, somehow the words left made both a lot of sense, and no sense at all."
"What?"
"Well, see, let me show you." Derik walked over and picked up the book from the floor, then brought it back and opened it up to the page with the notes on it to show Kuri. "See, here: look at the line about the color black. When I was looking at it earlier, it reminded me of what Kyrrith said that gryphon looked like…and then here, it says moving, subtle, magic, and feathers to describe it."
"Interesting…let me see." Kuri took the book from Derik and scanned through it. "Why're those letters in bold?"
"I don't know, but they spell out the word 'silver'," Derik said, sighing and clapping the book closed. "It's so frustrating! Red says that blood is spilling – well, it means that, anyway – and I haven't thought of a thing for gold at all."
"Don't worry too much about it," Kuri advised, patting his back. "Remember, ForeSight is only what might happen."
"Yeah, but still – so far this has been right, and the fact that I can't make out any of it until it's too late…"
"Derik, don't worry so much," Kuri said again. "Really. Dawnshadow's fine – if temporarily mute – and Kyrrith said himself that he had killed the gryphon. Besides, that deceit thing for gold could be the same thing as the white lie, and white lies aren't really something to worry about."
"Kuri…"
"Derik. Really – listen. Rae wouldn't want you to worry either. I'm going to bed…"
"Good night."
"Night."
Kuri closed the door behind her, and Derik sighed again and dressed in sleeping clothes, all the while keeping one eye trained on the book. When he was done he picked it up and flipped through the pages, mostly blank. Sighing again, he picked up the writing utensil from the bedside table and began to write out on the next free page in the book:
Hello. I'm Herald Syrkaderik, and at the moment I'm very confused about what you just did to mutilate the last entry in my book. I mean, it wasn't a poem (and I really hope you didn't read any of those) and so it wasn't that important, but for some reason…I don't know. This is just really bothering me. Look at me now, I mean, I'm writing in my notebook as if it'll speak back to me…but at least now I've got this off my chest. And at least this isn't as bad as talking aloud to a book…is it? I don't know…I'm so confused.
He sighed, closing the book, and put it and the utensil on the table before turning over and burying himself in his covers and blowing the lamp out.