Anniya

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Anniya came upon Banlieu's gates tired, sweaty, and caked in dirt. After sleeping on the side of the road for several days, she wanted to go find an inn and sleep for the next week or so. Yes, that would be wonderful.......if I had the money, Anniya thought, sighing. And she didn't know of any inns that would allow her to take in a small fire breathing dragon anyway. Just the same, she needed to get into the town to find out what was happening with the outside world. Such as if the Count had been arrested yet. She stopped half a mile away from the small Ayorthorian town, at sunset.

Anniya glanced at Gleex. The dragon had contented himself so far on the day trip to Banlieu by setting various things aflame. Anniya was surprised the creature hadn't started a forest fire by now. It was also throughly enjoying spraying fire near Diobla, making the horse terribly nervous. Gleex's incessant flame wasn't the only thing different about him, besides his size. He was now truly carnivorous, screeching and attacking deer instead of mice as he formally had. Anniya had also noticed several long, jagged scars that snaked around on his belly. They troubled Anniya, but there was little she could do about it other then wonder where he had received them.

" Look, I can't take you into the town without being thrown in chains. I need you to stay here for a day or so, without flaming or slaughtering livestock," Anniya told the emerald dragon, feeling foolish. It's eyes glowed gleefully, then solemnly. It was funny in a way, she thought. It was almost as if the creature understood. She had no choice but to leave him and pray he would be able to find her again. As much as she hated leaving him again, Anniya forced herself to kick Diobla and ride in to the town.

The first odd thing Anniya noticed was that the city was walled in. It was Elven custom to wall in the cities, but theirs were scattered throughout their forest and they were right next to the Fens. And this was a human village. Nevertheless, she approached the heavy, wooden wall.

" Sir," Anniya called out to the guard, posted at the top of the wall. The guard either ignored her or was didn't hear her. After waiting several seconds, she spoke again.

" Sir!" Anniya said again, louder this time. The guard glanced down from his vantage at the gate, a look of annoyance on his face. He leaned down his lantern to get a good look at her.

" What business do you have in Banlieu," the man said in Ayorthorian, sounding suspicious.

" I need to stay the night at one of your inns, and this is the closest town. I'm on my way to visit my grandfather in Arisals," Anniya told him, figuring that was safe enough.

She hoped he could understand it. She stumbled over words, and her accent was so heavy she could barely understand herself.

The guard looked at her from head to toe, eyeing her stained tunic and dirt smudged face. Giving her a patronizing look, he cooly said, "Our inns tend to have prices that are a bit higher then you might be used to. Perhaps you should try another village."

Anniya glared at him, and wiped the dirt smudge off her face. She dug in her pocket and extracted her mother's necklace.

" I'm sorry, milord," she began sarcastically, emphasizing the milord. " Do you think this might be enough for admittance? Or should I go whoring for more money, if that's your next charming suggestions. It's so wonderful that your interested in my personal life; we really should have a tea sometime next week. In the mean time, let me in," Anniya snapped.

The guard stood gaping for a minute, blushed, then opened the gate. Anniya hid a smile and urged Diobla in.

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Anniya wished she had money the moment she smelled the crisp apple tarts in the inn. Despite what she had told the guard, she wasn't about to give away the only thing she had of her mother just so she could sleep in a flea infested bed in a room the size of a broom closet.

The Silver Stallion was one of the only two inns in Banlieu, and the dirtier one at yet. Anniya decided that if anyone would have word of what was happening with the Count, criminals would be the first to know of it. Hopefully she would find one whose tongue was loose. Or better yet, drunk.

The smell of apple tarts were quickly covered by ale and smoke from the roaring fire. Anniya rubbed her eyes but pushed her way toward an empty table. She collapsed on the chair, wanting to fall asleep but knew she couldn't.

Anniya listened to the chatter near her for awhile, but eventually tired of it. It was all of local matters, of how one widow's cow had gone dry and how one farmer was selling tomatoes for an absolutely wicked price. The hours went by. The later it got, the more the merchants left and the guards and stableboys and the other riffraff of society came in. Anniya had little to do other then begin to wonder if she was the only woman in the inn who wasn't a whore. The woman she had asked about the inn hadn't been joking when she had told Anniya, " Respectable woman don't go in there, and respectable men not after 9 o'clock." Anniya didn't really care whether they were respectable or not; she just needed to find someone that could be connected to the Count, and apparently she had picked the wrong town to go rat hunting. She sighed for the tenth time that evening and leaned her elbow on the table. For some involuntary reason, she found herself thinking about Robert. She missed him. You can't think of him now, Anniya told herself. She closed her eyes for a minute, missing the tall, cloaked figure that strode into the inn.

It was nearly midnight when Anniya heard the word dragon. Her eyes jerked open, and she was suddenly wide awake. The voice had come from behind her. She remembered the men now; they had come in an hour earlier to play cards and have a few drinks. Too many drinks apparently, as they were nearly screaming. Anniya was surprised she hadn't heard them earlier. You could probably hear them in Frell.

" Don't say anything to anyone, but when the Count received word, he hung every single Captain on duty that night in front of all of his guards," the drunk man said loudly, obviously not realizing he was announcing his secret.

" Ha! You lie, Giles. Were you there," one of his companions asked.

" I was there! I saw the Count an' everything. Looked damn pleased when they were hanged, and then stood up and told us all that he knew we wouldn't make the same mistakes they did. Then he presented the new captains," the third man shouted.

Anniya didn't breathe. Receive word about what?

" It's going to be a living hell for whoever is under Erickosn's hand. Did you see his face when the Count made him one of the new Captains? You can jus' see that he thinks he's better then the rest of us," the second man added, envy creeping into his voice.

" Have you seen that man's daughter, Elise?," Giles said, whistling. Anniya snorted, disgusted. Men. How pleasant it must be to have a one track mind with so few outside distractions.

The conversation eventually turned from the man's daughter to the woman that were in the room at the present moment. Anniya clenched her teeth in frustration. Why would the Count hang all the captains?

" Speaking of women, I hear that the Count's offering a reward for one. A thousand KJ's alive, 500 dead."

" What she look like," the third man immediately asked. Money and women seemed to be the only thing that mattered in these men's lives. What better then a combination of both?

" She's a mix, half greenie, half human. Short, blonde, green eyes. Count apparently wants some necklace she has."

Anniya had heard how people's heart's could stop beating when they were in terrible fright. She didn't know it could happen to her. She was paralyzed with fear. How did he know about her necklace?

" A thousand KJ's!," Giles whistled. " What you could buy with that! And just to find some girl!" He exclaimed. Anniya bit her lip, restraining the urge to turn around and tell him off. Though she was completely confident she could fight these men and come out the winner, the last thing she needed was to cause a riot and bring attention to herself.

" That's what I said. And there's an even higher price for....." the second man paused for a moment, glancing around. Anniya wanted to go strangle him. " the dragon." She smiled. Anniya knew she had heard the word dragon.

" No one knows 'xactly what happened, but there's rumor strong magic happened. The bars were of said to disappear, and the next thing they knew, the dragon was spewing fire and the place was going up in flames."

His two companions once again whistled, amazed with their friend's knowledge. Anniya listened intently, and suddenly had a horrible feeling. When the necklace had released the light---- or magic, as it was supposed to be, Anniya remembered gripping onto something while thinking of Gleex---- and then the feeling in her palm had vanished. Could it have been her that made that made the bars disappear?

" The Count's must be furious. All his plans are messing up, can't say I blame him. Say, who's that cloaked fellow," Giles asked. Anniya's eyes darted around the room and settled on a tall, dark, cloaked figure. It was impossible to see his face in the lighting, but from what she could deduce, he looked like the typical cutthroat who was plotting his next victim. He seemed intensely familiar, which was strange since she couldn't even see his face. He seemed intent on something beyond the men, so Anniya saw no particular reason to continue to study him.

The second man suddenly cracked a joke that did not strike Anniya as funny at all, but as the men were drunk, it was witty and hilarious. The third man knocked over his pouch of coins, causing them to spill right beneath.

The man swore and his friends laughed. Anniya rose to get up, sensing the question that was about to come. As she did, the last thing she wanted to happen happened. The necklace chain had snagged on the cloth of her cloak. As Anniya stood up, the chain broke, and the emerald tumbled to the ground.

That did not happen, Anniya wished silently. That did not happen.

" Pardon me lass, you mind handing me some of those," the man asked her in a drunken drawl, gesturing vaguely to the coins. But as drunk as the man was, he wasn't drunk enough to not realize an emerald when he saw one. His eyes locked on it.

Anniya snatched it up and hid it from his view as quickly as she could. She shouldn't of listened so long. She had heard too much for her own good. She got up to go, but the man's wrist suddenly snatched out and held onto her's tightly.

" Let me go!," she snapped, yanking on her wrist. She kept her voice low, not wanting to attract too much attention until it was absolutely necessary. His grip remained. Her hope sank. If this was going to be a battle of physical strength, there would be no contest. She had nothing to fight with, other then her tongue, which was as sharp as a sword but wouldn't necessarily work the same way.

" Wills, what did you say that lass looked like again," the man asked, his eyes beginning to sparkle with greed. Giles and Wills were studying her now as well.

" As I was told to look for, a half and half greenie/ human with blonde hair, green eyes, short in height, and in possession of an emerald necklace."

The man smirked, and pried open Anniya's other palm. She struggled, but it was only a matter of seconds before the emerald of the necklace lay glittering on her palm.

" Let me go," Anniya cried again, not bothering with being quiet anymore. With an angry noise of frustration, she kicked the man in his shins as hard as she could. His grip only tightened.

Anniya had been in more dangerous situations then this throughout the year; she wasn't frightened, more angry. She concentrated angrily on the man's wrist. Suddenly, it was as if someone had released an arrow. Anniya felt power surging out of her, and the man suddenly screamed as if he were in agony. Anniya jerked back, horrified as the man writhed on the ground.

What had she done? He abruptly stopped, but didn't move. Anniya stared at him for a minute, not reacting. Giles stared at her.

" She killed him! Bloody witch killed him," he roared. The crowd in the inn looked up at them in interest. Anniya was getting into everything she had tried to avoid. And the man couldn't be dead. She hadn't wanted to kill him. Killing him would of been crude, even if he would of done the same to her.

Giles lunged at her, but then suddenly fell. The one called Wills fell quickly after. Anniya didn't get a chance to see exactly what mysterious force had killed them( it wasn't her)The cloaked figure grabbed Anniya's hand and yanked her toward the exit. Oh this is charming, I've been rescued from being kidnaped by a kidnapper, Anniya thought as she kicked the man.

" Do you mind being quiet for a moment? Kicking me isn't going to get you anywhere, and it's only going to slow me down," a mocking, charming voice said that sounded oddly familiar. Anniya studied the tall figure suspiciously as he let out a piercing whistle outside the inn.

Diobla neighed and rode up.

Anniya was speechless. Betrayed by her own horse. What good was this horse for, anyway? The first day she had taken him he had thrown her off a cliff. That should of told her something about it's true character.

" Well milord, as charming as this little adventure has been, I think you can let me go now!," Anniya said angrily. To her disgust, the figure laughed. A charming laugh. And suddenly, Anniya recognized it.

West pulled the cloak down and smiled at her.

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*** Author's Note***



Ahh!!!!!!!!! Yes, I have written another cliff hanger, I admit it. I feel so much satisfied when I write one. I finally got my act together and tried to write a semi-long chapter instead of all these dinky short things I've been doing. I've been looking at my reviews and seeing that everybody has a pretty mixed opinion, I think Robert might of been a bit higher but I'm not sure. For the most they were even. Let's see, what else to I have to ramble about. Oh yes, I see everyone's starting to do these half/half things ( I STARTED A TREND!!!!!!) Hehe. I'll try and control my enthuasim. I've read most of them, and their pretty good( As much as I hate to admit, better then mine), though I've been to lazy to review them. Anyway, just pointing that out, not pointing an angry finger.

I saw lord of the rings the other day( wonderful movie, although it was a bit too long for me) All the humans in that movie were gross and dirty and looked like they had never washed their hair in their life, so that was a bit of a turn off. Alright, as this is not the lord of the rings section, I'll get to my point. The elves in that movie are exactly how I imagine Anniya looking. Blonde with slightly pointed ears. In that movie, everyone is dirty and grimy and caked in dirt, but the elves always look fabulous and maintain this dignity. Alrighty. I'll go now and actually type in my story instead of writing insanely long author's notes that no one reads.