~*~Still Burning~*~
Chapter 3
Kalira was surprised to find such comfortable rooms at the Collegium, she had thought that since there were so many Heralds and Heralds-in-training, the rooms would be much smaller. That however was not the only time Kalira was surpirsed that day. Every experience revealed another marvel to the simple girl who had grown up on a farm, who best friends had been the cows and chickens, who had never stepped beyond the land her family had owned.
The Collegia were breathtaking, Kalira felt the gardens around them were small pieces of paradise on earth. Blooms of every color grew, reaching for the sky, showing off their beautiful plumage. When the entranced girl managed to tear her eyes away from them she found her gaze rested on the Companions Field, a sea of lush green grass speckled with blinding white. Companions of every size lounged, fed, and gathered in the Field. Many gave her curious looks, turning their deep, soothing blue eyes toward her, making her feel they could see to the depths of her soul. How on earth did one distinguish one Companion from another? She asked herself until she noticed small adornments on some of the Companions.
Rhoswen trotted forward to greet her new partner and both spent the remainder of the afternoon together. Kalira spoke of her meeting with Dean Teren and the various other heralds in training she had met while being shown around the Collegium. They sat together to observe the stars that began to glitter in the sky as the sun descended. Finally Kalira left her Companion to return to the Collegium for her dinner.
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Lan closed his final text book with a sigh. At last he had finished memorizing all his lessons and could go home. His siblings had left hours ago, promising to let their father know where he was, aware that he would assume the worst if they did not. Although Lan was not looking forward to returning home and facing his father's disapproval, he knew it was sheer folly to stay on the streets after dark. Generally, Haven was a safe place even after sunset but lately there had been a series of robberies in the neighborhood and although the authorities were searching for the perpetrators they had not had any luck yet.
As the last rays of the sun started fading away Lan gathered his belongings and left the school at a brisk pace. There was no way he would be able to get home before it became dark but hopefully he would not have to be out longer than necessary. With his mind full of imagined threats Lan began running through the streets, until he realized he must have made a wrong turn somewhere. The homes on this road looked nothing like the ones he was accustomed to. They were shabbier, smaller, their occupants obviously less affluent.
Rubbing on the small flame red ruby in his pocket he turned to retrace his steps. The stone was the only thing that remained to remind Lan of the mother he had lost. She had made sure Banji would give it to Lan, a symbol of her love she claimed. It had become a nervous habit of the youth's to rub it, it seemed to give him a small measure of comfort, making him feel that his mother was still watching over him.
When Lan rounded the corner he had just come from he was stopped in his tracks by a group of men. They were shabbily dressed, dirty, unkempt, and much larger the Lan. Their eyes were hard, their mouths sneering, their fists clenched, and some even held knives. As one sauntered forward Lan instinctively stepped back, sure that this was the gang of villains the Guards were searching for.
Noting the fear in Lan's eyes the man who seemed to be their leader spoke. "Well Boy, since ya seems ta be knowin' wha' we're wantin' I suggest ya hand over all your money an' valuables."
"I-I don't have any money or valuables" the young man managed to choke out.
The criminal's eyes narrowed at this response and with a jerk of his hand he ordered his associates to seize the boy and search him. "A rich boy like ya's gotta be havin' somethin'."
Lan was too paralyzed by fear to move, to protest. He knew even a word out of him could result in his death. However, when he felt one of the criminals' hands dive into his pocket and retrieve his mother's stone all thoughts of his own well being fled his mind.
"Well lookie here Boy. 'Pears ya were lyin' ta us. Ya know wha' we do ta liars?" asked the boss, running a finger over the blade of his knife carelessly while his eyes took in the multifaceted perfection of the flaming red ruby.
The threat fell on Lan deaf ears as he tried to stop their theft of his mother's gift. "Please don't take that! My mother gave it to me, it's all I have left of her. Take anything else you want just not that stone!"
The gang just laughed at these words, the leader saying, "Maybe if ya hadn' ta lied ta us an' had somethin' else ta take we'd consider it but ya did lie and ya don' got nothin' else so this's it" as he tossed the ruby in the air and began to walk off.
"No! Wait! Please!" Lan cried out, not noticing the fist coming to connect with his stomach, to stop his screams. As he crumpled up on the ground, his arms cradling his stomach he felt that anger building up in him again. Anger towards his mother-who had left him before he could know her, anger towards his father-who ignored and criticized Lan constantly, anger towards his professors for making him stay so late which led to this robbery, anger towards the group of thieves-who were taking his only reminder of his mother, and an anger he could not find the source of, one that had been with him all his life, the anger that had forever fueled his nightmares.
"Give it back!" he shouted down the street to the escaping burglars shortly before flames emerged from the ground before them, cutting off their retreat. When they turned around they found another wall of flames behind Lan and two more on either side of them. Thoroughly frightened now the leader returned to Lan's side and lay the gem at the boy feet, hoping it would make him stop the fire. Unfortunately, for the bandits although the fire ended and Lan blacked out someone had reported the fire and the Guards fell upon the fleeing villains not long after they had left the unconscious boy.
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Zeroun was gazing at the stars brightly glittering in the sky, almost dozing when he felt it. That twinge of magic, the magic of his Chosen. That was all it took to get the silvery Companion awake and off to the roads of Haven, not even bothering to go to the stables and get his tack and adornments on.
He galloped through the streets, hooves making an unearthly jingle, eyes scanning the roads, alleys, parks. He finally slowed down when he came upon a group of miscreants being led away by the Guard. Sure that his Chosen could not be far from that scene Zeroun continued down the street and rounded the corner. There, slumped down in the middle of the road, hands clutching a small stone, completely unconscious lay his Chosen.
:Well I guess we are not going to make that majestic entrance I always imagined, but at least I found you.: Zeroun told the boy as he used his mind to lift the youth onto his back. :In fact I believe we may be making the least impressive entrance in the history of Valdemar.: remarked the silver Companion as he turned to go back to the Collegium, this time at a less frantic pace.
:I cannot wait to hear what they say about you, another Firestarter, which surely foreshadows bad events in the future.: sighed the Companion, knowing the boy couldn't hear his words because he was unconscious. :Collegium, here we come.:
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A/N: Yea I know you guys probably hate me so much right now, that is if you are even reading this. Well I can't say much to defend myself except I got really busy and was trying to do too much at once...if you haven't noticed I've just started updating more like very recently. So r&r even if it is to tell me how much you hate me for this ok?...THANX 4 reading!!
~*~IndianBabeIII~*~
~*~"I'm not weird, I'm just unique."~*~
oh and since I'm told I need a disclaimer...I own nothing except for the plot.