A/N: Thanks for reviewing! Very sorry it took me forever to get up, but
life has been hell-ish lately and I haven't had much time to touch the
computer =( Again, as before (this goes for the rest of the story)
everything like the ideas of Hawkbrothers etc... is Mercedes Lackey's, not
mine! Only certain characters that you don't recognize as hers are mine-
don't sue me! You wouldn't get much anyway! =P
Forgot to mention it last chapter but *these* are thoughts and :these: are mindspeech
Chapter 2
Candle light flickered across the page of the book as Nightsun shifted slightly in her seat, the chair bumping gently into the table. Normally, she would have lamps hanging from the walls, but since she had just moved in she hadn't made it that far quite yet. The candle light worked just as well anyways. Nightsun shifted restlessly again, and then closed the book with a sigh. *What is wrong with me tonight?* She stood up, shoved the book onto a half empty shelf and curled up back in the chair, staring into the fire thoughtfully.
She'd spent the time with some friends after her scouting shift, going back home only because it was getting very late. The first of the two, Fireflight was one of Nightsun's closest friends; as children, they could often be seen darting through the Vale paths, playing 'scout' and getting into more than their share of mischief. Fireflight hadn't changed much since then except for how she looked, and even in that regard she hadn't changed much. She was always up for a practical joke, and her sense of humor made her the center of attention wherever she went. If it wasn't her personality that drew a crowd, her body would have done the job for her. Tall and thin, she sported elaborately dyed waist long hair, large, innocent brown eyes and a full mouth. Her nose was just the right size and slightly hawkish, her complexion clear. But beneath the gorgeous exterior was a woman who could be serious when need be, someone who knew how to get a job done, and how to do it well. Nightsun would have envied her but it was impossible to dislike her because she was simply too nice.
The other, Shadowrain, was Fireflight's older brother by almost a year and a half. Shadowrain was the quieter and more serious of the two, never speaking unless he had to or it was worth saying. While many found his openness, or lack thereof, disturbing, Nightsun adored it. He was always there when you needed a shoulder to cry on, and from the time she had realized that boys weren't an evil race from who-knew-where, Nightsun had always gone to Shadowrain with her problems, concerns, and feelings. All feelings, that was, save one. Like his sister, Shadowrain was good looking, hair dyed a deep brown-black that matched his eyes. His hawk-nose was more pronounced than Fireflight's, and simply the way he walked gave him the air of being dangerous. Nightsun was in love with him and he was blissfully unaware of her feelings.
The candle flickered again, then guttered out, bringing Nightsun out of her thoughts. She had a sense of foreboding, that something was going to happen, and she shoved it off. *I need to stop worrying so much,* She thought as she stood up and stretched. *I don't want to lose sleep about it.* The Vale was quiet, and Nightsun's pessimistic thoughts twisted the calm into something else. *Is it just a calm night, or is this the quiet before the storm?* She stood up and walked over to the window, staring out over the Vale. Her ekele was situated close to the entrance on the side of a hill. She could see over the center of the Vale, the half-power heartstone being the only indication from above that someone lived in this apparently abandoned valley.
A scream suddenly pierced the silence, making Nightsun jump and reach for her knife. *But we're in the Vale! We're supposed to be safe here!* The rational part of her mind shouted as the panicked part began to urge her to defend whoever was being attacked. Shouts drifted up from the ground below and she grabbed her second knife before strapping on a third. Smoke drifted up from below, and she hardly hesitated before flinging open the trap door to get to the ground below.
*This can't be happening! Not unless there are more of them than there are of us!* k'Seren was a small Vale, and it would not be hard to gather enough people to overwhelm the valley. Nightsun darted down the familiar paths towards the entrance and exit to their 'haven' only to find that it was worse than she had expected.
Fireflight was in the center of the path, her crows mobbing whoever was in the entrance. Fireflight had bonded a crow, and then later a whole group of them. Although the crows were great in numbers, men still managed to make it through the storm of beaks and talons to the other side where Fireflight was standing. Another one of the scouts - Sunwind, Nightsun's mind told her - was up in a tree, braced between two branches with a strung bow resting in both hands. Shadowrain came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder, breaking her from her shocked paralysis. Shadowrain's snowy owl, in her element now that it was night, swooped down silently on the unfortunate men who had made it past the crows. With a wordless snarl, Nightsun rushed forward, throwing one her knives before tackling one of the men. Her thrown knife lodged itself in one man's throat while she slammed her fist into her current victim's stomach.
A few seconds of quick work took care of that man, and she rushed forward into the fray, slashing as best she could while avoiding the attacker's swords and daggers. She wasn't careful enough, she realized, when someone scored a hit along her rib, leaving a burning gash behind. The crows backed off as several other Tayledras joined her; they didn't have good enough night vision to assure that they would be hitting the right person. Screams assaulted her ears, adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she used every trick she had been taught. She even used tricks she hadn't learned. But it didn't seem like that it would be enough to save her-it was like there was an army assaulting the Vale! The men and women pouring through the entrance seemed to come from an endless supply, and there weren't enough Tayledras to counter them all. The thought seemed to occur to all the scouts at once; Nightsun caught a glimpse of Fireflight's pale face and nodded grimly. They couldn't lose; to lose meant to die. There was no way out.
All of this occurred to Nightsun within moments, and it was the last thing she recalled as something hard crashed against the back of her skull, sending her into blackness.
A/N: Choppy and not my best, especially the last part, but I need to post it before I forget completely
Forgot to mention it last chapter but *these* are thoughts and :these: are mindspeech
Chapter 2
Candle light flickered across the page of the book as Nightsun shifted slightly in her seat, the chair bumping gently into the table. Normally, she would have lamps hanging from the walls, but since she had just moved in she hadn't made it that far quite yet. The candle light worked just as well anyways. Nightsun shifted restlessly again, and then closed the book with a sigh. *What is wrong with me tonight?* She stood up, shoved the book onto a half empty shelf and curled up back in the chair, staring into the fire thoughtfully.
She'd spent the time with some friends after her scouting shift, going back home only because it was getting very late. The first of the two, Fireflight was one of Nightsun's closest friends; as children, they could often be seen darting through the Vale paths, playing 'scout' and getting into more than their share of mischief. Fireflight hadn't changed much since then except for how she looked, and even in that regard she hadn't changed much. She was always up for a practical joke, and her sense of humor made her the center of attention wherever she went. If it wasn't her personality that drew a crowd, her body would have done the job for her. Tall and thin, she sported elaborately dyed waist long hair, large, innocent brown eyes and a full mouth. Her nose was just the right size and slightly hawkish, her complexion clear. But beneath the gorgeous exterior was a woman who could be serious when need be, someone who knew how to get a job done, and how to do it well. Nightsun would have envied her but it was impossible to dislike her because she was simply too nice.
The other, Shadowrain, was Fireflight's older brother by almost a year and a half. Shadowrain was the quieter and more serious of the two, never speaking unless he had to or it was worth saying. While many found his openness, or lack thereof, disturbing, Nightsun adored it. He was always there when you needed a shoulder to cry on, and from the time she had realized that boys weren't an evil race from who-knew-where, Nightsun had always gone to Shadowrain with her problems, concerns, and feelings. All feelings, that was, save one. Like his sister, Shadowrain was good looking, hair dyed a deep brown-black that matched his eyes. His hawk-nose was more pronounced than Fireflight's, and simply the way he walked gave him the air of being dangerous. Nightsun was in love with him and he was blissfully unaware of her feelings.
The candle flickered again, then guttered out, bringing Nightsun out of her thoughts. She had a sense of foreboding, that something was going to happen, and she shoved it off. *I need to stop worrying so much,* She thought as she stood up and stretched. *I don't want to lose sleep about it.* The Vale was quiet, and Nightsun's pessimistic thoughts twisted the calm into something else. *Is it just a calm night, or is this the quiet before the storm?* She stood up and walked over to the window, staring out over the Vale. Her ekele was situated close to the entrance on the side of a hill. She could see over the center of the Vale, the half-power heartstone being the only indication from above that someone lived in this apparently abandoned valley.
A scream suddenly pierced the silence, making Nightsun jump and reach for her knife. *But we're in the Vale! We're supposed to be safe here!* The rational part of her mind shouted as the panicked part began to urge her to defend whoever was being attacked. Shouts drifted up from the ground below and she grabbed her second knife before strapping on a third. Smoke drifted up from below, and she hardly hesitated before flinging open the trap door to get to the ground below.
*This can't be happening! Not unless there are more of them than there are of us!* k'Seren was a small Vale, and it would not be hard to gather enough people to overwhelm the valley. Nightsun darted down the familiar paths towards the entrance and exit to their 'haven' only to find that it was worse than she had expected.
Fireflight was in the center of the path, her crows mobbing whoever was in the entrance. Fireflight had bonded a crow, and then later a whole group of them. Although the crows were great in numbers, men still managed to make it through the storm of beaks and talons to the other side where Fireflight was standing. Another one of the scouts - Sunwind, Nightsun's mind told her - was up in a tree, braced between two branches with a strung bow resting in both hands. Shadowrain came up behind her and grabbed her shoulder, breaking her from her shocked paralysis. Shadowrain's snowy owl, in her element now that it was night, swooped down silently on the unfortunate men who had made it past the crows. With a wordless snarl, Nightsun rushed forward, throwing one her knives before tackling one of the men. Her thrown knife lodged itself in one man's throat while she slammed her fist into her current victim's stomach.
A few seconds of quick work took care of that man, and she rushed forward into the fray, slashing as best she could while avoiding the attacker's swords and daggers. She wasn't careful enough, she realized, when someone scored a hit along her rib, leaving a burning gash behind. The crows backed off as several other Tayledras joined her; they didn't have good enough night vision to assure that they would be hitting the right person. Screams assaulted her ears, adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she used every trick she had been taught. She even used tricks she hadn't learned. But it didn't seem like that it would be enough to save her-it was like there was an army assaulting the Vale! The men and women pouring through the entrance seemed to come from an endless supply, and there weren't enough Tayledras to counter them all. The thought seemed to occur to all the scouts at once; Nightsun caught a glimpse of Fireflight's pale face and nodded grimly. They couldn't lose; to lose meant to die. There was no way out.
All of this occurred to Nightsun within moments, and it was the last thing she recalled as something hard crashed against the back of her skull, sending her into blackness.
A/N: Choppy and not my best, especially the last part, but I need to post it before I forget completely