Anniya 27

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" We are going this way. The way that gentleman told us," Robert told Esperanza through clenched teeth. He had never hit a girl before, but if there was one that would drive him to it, this girl would be it. Robert doubted Char could of resist.

" Oh yes. And we should most definitely listen to a man who sells whiskey for a living. It smelled like he had been digging deep into his supplies, but what do we care? He appears to be a nice gentleman" Esperanza said, sarcasm ringing in her voice.

Robert sighed. A thousand retorts flew through his mind, but he held his tongue and turned the horse to the path that the man had told him. he could see how Anniya had befriended this girl. When it came to cutting remarks, Esperanza and Anniya could of passed for identical twins.

" I regret to inform you that you really don't have all that much choice in the matter," Robert told her, urging the horse on. He himself was regretting he had ever brought her along.

" Well then, may I at least advise we stop in a village for the night. We'll be bordering the Fens later into the night, and that's the last place we'll want to be," she replied. Robert had more of a suspicion that it wasn't the fear of Ogres( she had probably never seen one in her life), and it was more of a way of convincing him to go down the opposite road.

He gave a side glance to the dark, looming forests that covered an entire mountain to the east. The Fens. Perhaps the single most dangerous place this side of the world. Though the forest was technically on the land of Kyrria, Ayothora, Bast, and Kellia, none of the countries had attempted to settle it. The area was home to several of the most powerful Ogre clans, and beneath the land were extensive networks of Goblin caverns. It would be sheer suicide to ride into it, and was risky as it was just riding along the border. Once he was crowned King, Robert planned to send parties into the forest to try and eliminate some of their number. No one knew for certain exactly how many Ogre clans were up there or how large they were. It had become a bit of a project for Robert to find out an estimate of how many could be up there, since no one had ever taken any particular interest in it, as long as the ogres stayed up there. But according to Robert's calculations, if he was correct, there were possibly over a thousand ogres up there, all divided into separate clans. Or perhaps it was only two large clans, or so. Robert didn't know for sure, but what he did know was that they had enough power to seize a capital city, and possibly take over a kingdom.

"So? Are we stopping," the gypsy girl asked, interrupting Robert's thoughts.

Robert sighed, but reluctantly gave in. Besides, storm clouds loomed overhead.

" Yes, we are. If I remember correctly, there's a little town called Banlieu that this road should lead us to."

Esperanza shut up for the miracle time of one minute before she opened her mouth again.

" I have a question for you. And please answer me honestly. When we had met previously, I remember that you said you were some sort of nobility. What rank ," she asked. Though her voice made it sound like a perfectly ordinary question, Robert detected a slight bit of nervousness.

The question annoyed him, as it always had. Being 'the prince' changed everything. It changed everyone's opinion of him. To some the words were like a magic spell, and everyone who heard them either immediately began sucking up, or immediately detesting him. Rarely, their opinions changed, but there had only been one person to look him straight in the eye and detest him because he had tried to shoot a unicorn, not because he was heir to a kingdom.

Anniya.

He sighed, and replied to Esperanza's question.

" Prince." There was no point in lying to her. She'd find out, sooner or later.

There was a slight moment of silence, but then, to Robert's uttermost surprise, he heard the gypsy laugh behind him.

" I didn't think you were that high, but it makes sense. I don't think a lordling would call a drunk a gentleman."

And that was the end of it, to Robert's surprise. She didn't fawn over his status, but merely asked him several questions, then went on to talk about the terrain. Perhaps she wasn't as bad as Robert had thought she would be.

Eventually Esperanza became quiet, and they rode in silence. Soon, the thunder clouds that had threatened to rain all day let loose. Within moments both of them were soaked to the bone. The rain was raging and angry, and so hard that Robert could barely see in front of him. It wasn't until an hour later that Robert saw something in the trees out of the corner of his eye. At first he thought it might be the rain playing tricks on him. But then he saw it move again. Damn. He urged the horse on. He was sure that they were near Banlieu. Any moment the village could appear. Lightning struck.

Esperanza suddenly screamed, and the stallion reared and bucked several times. Esperanza slammed to the ground, but Robert managed to stay on, only because of careful training.

" Shhhh....Shhhh....what's the matter boy? What do you s--." Robert stopped abruptly as claws swooped down and gripped his upper arms. He had hardly time to blink before he was soared into the pouring night. A soft, chirping noise greeted him happily. The thing swooped back down to the ground, dropping him. Robert slammed against the muddy ground, and rolled to the side. A blinding green shape settled itself down next to him. Robert moaned and rubbed his head, but event through the blinding rain he grinned at Anniya's emerald green dragon.

Gleex had certainly grown since Robert had seen him last. The tremendous creature had obviously strengthened too, if he had been able to lift Robert in the air without so much a sweat. He knew that the tiny( by dragon standards) dragon had only recognized him and had been happy to see him, not trying to hurt Robert. But Esperanza didn't know that.

" Hang on! I'll save you," she shrieked, and before Robert could blink twice, a sharp stone was hurled through the air and hit Gleex directly in his rib cage.

The playfulness in the dragon's eyes suddenly froze, as if it were remembering something from the past. It snapped it's head back to study Esperanza. She picked up another stone and flung it, piercing Gleex's chest. A hint of blood showed, as the dragon's chest is one of it's most vulnerable parts. The dragon screeched in fury, and lunged at her as she picked up another rock.

"No! Don't throw the rock!," Robert screamed at her, but over the roar of the rain she didn't seem to hear him.

He scrambled to get up, but had a sinking feeling he wouldn't be able to stop the creature. The gypsy girl drew back her arm, obviously ready to throw another rock at her. At that moment, Gleex let forth something Robert hadn't known the dragon could do yet; flame.

The ground that surrounded Esperanza roared up in hungry flames. Gleex drew back air, ready to release more fire. Robert started running hard toward them both. He opened his mouth to scream.....

" Stop," screamed a voice the same time as Robert.

Stop? It hadn't been Esperanza. Robert stopped and squinted into the rain to see who was screaming.

Through the blurred rain, he saw a small shape running towards the dragon. As the shape came closer, Robert suddenly realized it was Anniya. The dragon exhaled, and flames showered down on Esperanza. But right before they hit, Anniya threw herself in front of Esperanza. And the flames showered down.

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Anniya scarcely knew what she was doing, other then the fact that it was undeniably insane. She had known that she needed to come back to Banlieu for some reason; perhaps this was it.

Although Anniya was having second thoughts when she saw torrents of fire coming down at her. It had been some sort of instinct. Probably the same one that mad " Stop," Anniya screamed once more, putting her hand in front of her face.

The flames stopped.

Anniya didn't really think anything for a moment. The strange things that been happening to her lately she had adjusted to. Well, not really, but they hadn't been anything like this. Apart from her theory that she had freed Gleex, and her 'visions', nothing truly terrifying like this had happened. For the first time, Anniya recognized that there was nothing ' little' about this power. What she could do now was not just an ordinary gift. She suddenly recalled what that old Elf woman had told her, when she had asked where such powerful draconian magic had gone. The voice echoed in her head.

" You. The magic's gone into you."

At that moment, Anniya realized what she was capable of.

Gleex, bewildered that he had nearly killed his beloved mistress, leaned down and nuzzled her. She stroked his scales and sat up, rubbing her head. A surge of black, wavy hair appeared in Anniya's face.

" Anniya! Don't worry, I think I've scared it away. Don't worry," the gypsy girl bubbled, leaping to her feet.

" No....don't. It won't hurt us," Anniya told her, a bit sleepily. Esperanza, satisfied that the dragon was keeping it's distance, peered at her in worry. Anniya had been lucky that she and West had decided to go back to Banlieu. She squinted in the rain to look for him, and to her relief saw a tall man striding quickly toward.

" Anniya! My god, are you insane? Are you alright," a voice different from West's asked her, crouching down next to her. It was Robert.

" Robert? What are you doing here," she asked him, rubbing her eyes again. He looked angry, worried, and glad all at the same time.

" I was about to ask you the same thing! Anniya my god, you almost killed yourself! You could of died!"

" Look out," Esperanza screamed as Gleex leaned down to nuzzle Anniya. Studying them, Esperanza suddenly realized where she had gone wrong.

" Oh, now you tell me. Thank you for allowing me to nearly unnecessarily kill myself," she told Robert, nudging him. He ignored Esperanza and helped Anniya up.

" We need to get her to an inn. It's most likely just shock," West said, suddenly appearing. Robert nodded. " Alright. I'll follow you back. Come with me, Anniya."

Anniya found it amazing how the two cousins could meet up after a year like they had just seen each other yesterday. West scooped her up on her feet.

" I'm not in a coma, West! You can put me down now, and please wipe that smirk off your face before I wipe it off for you," Anniya snapped, but she was light hearted. She placed her hand on Gleex.

" It's alright. You didn't mean any harm, I know. I need you to stay out here a little longer," she told him. The dragon made a noise, but seemed to understand what she wanted.

Within moments, they were back on their way to Banlieu.

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They went to the rundown inn that time, to avoid the Count. Where ever he was, thought Anniya. They hadn't heard anything of him, and right now finding some place to sleep was first priority. They stepped into the always crowded inn, filled the smell of alcohol.

" We're certainly staying in style Robert," Anniya teased. In all honesty, she had been in so many seedy inns, scarcely none of them phased her anymore. Robert grinned, and stepped up to the inn manager.

" We have one room left," the man said before Robert could speak.

" We'll take it," West said quickly, and Robert dropped several coins in the man's hand. The two men headed toward the stairs. Esperanza exchanged a mischievous glance with Anniya.

" Do you remember that legend I told you," she asked Anniya. Anniya winced. Unfortunately, she did, all too well.

Esperanza laughed at her friend's grimace. But then her pretty turquoise eyes became serious.

" Anniya, I'm not going to ask you what happened back there with the fire, or ask you to do it again, but you should know this: Be careful. Whatever you have, it's not natural and I know you wouldn't abuse it. But there are other people who might."

Anniya nodded, smiling at the only female friend she had ever had.

" So how did you run into Robert?"

Esperanza's face turned into a smile, and she gestured at the tables.

" Sit down. We have a long time to talk, because you better bet that I want to know why you never showed up to go dancing."

The two friends talked for a long, long time. They laughed, they cried occasionally, but for the most part, they were happy. Anniya had lost track of the hours when Robert tapped her on her shoulder.

" Anniya? I need to talk to you about something," he said softly. Anniya searched his face for a brief moment, then nodded.

" Esperanza, you're being dismissed," she told her gypsy friend. The girl stood up in mock anger, stalking off toward the stairs. But once Robert wasn't looking, she turned around and winked at Anniya. Which reminded Anniya of the time Robert had kissed her.

Which reminded her she hadn't told him about West, and vice versa.

Robert gestured toward the door, and she followed him out it. They walked silently for several moments before Anniya spoke up, sighing.

" I suppose you'd like an explanation."

Robert folded his muscular arms. " That would help, a bit."

" I don't know what's happening. After I left Ayothora, one day I came across some elves. Some of my kind. I spent a day with them, and they told me a tale. It was long, but I'll summarize it. There was once a great elfin queen, during the time of the Ogre wars. She made a pact with a dragon king for power to defeat the ogres. When she died, she poured all of her magic into a necklace. The necklace would one day choose someone to pass on the power too. I'm suppose to be that person."

It was odd talking about herself like this. She felt like she was in a story.

" I don't know what's happening to me now. I see things. I can do things," Anniya laughed, a little bitterly. " In fact, I can do anything I don't want to do."

Robert was quiet for a moment, but then he spoke.

" If all what you think you can do can really happen, I think you've been touched by magic Anniya. Think of everything, everyone you could help with this! Think of what evil you could stop," Robert marveled. He didn't pursue it. After several more moments of walking and silence, Robert halted under a tree.

"Anniya? I think we both know that I didn't just bring you out here to talk about what happened this afternoon," Robert said softly. Anniya didn't meet his eyes. It hit her all too fast that West didn't know what had happened with Robert.....that time Robert had kissed her.

" Anniya, please look at me. You haven't met my eyes once since we've met up."

She raised her eyes, and met his cloudy blue ones. Please don't try to kiss me, she thought desperately. Mainly because she knew she wouldn't risk if he did.

" I missed you," he told her simply. He wanted to kiss her as badly as she wanted to kiss him. But Anniya wasn't going to do that, especially when he didn't know about West.

" Robert, you--," Anniya began at the same time Robert leaned down and put his mouth softly on hers.

A swirl of mixed emotions swept down on her, mostly relief that he was here and everything would be alright. She wanted to laugh, almost, she was so happy to be kissing Robert. West touched her mind for a moment, but he quickly left him. She would savor this moment for as long as she could. Anniya realized she didn't want Robert to go, and closed her eyes and kissed him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck. As his fingers ran through her wet, tangle hair, Anniya felt an emotion she hadn't felt in a long time. Love.

As much as she wanted to keep holding onto him, Anniya gently pulled away from Robert.

" I hate to interrupt, but I've ordered us all drinks," a cool, deep voice said lightly, so light it was dangerous. Anniya snapped her head around to see who it was, although a sinking feeling in her chest told her already who it was. Her eyes met the freezing, green one's of West.

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*** Author's Note****



* Whew! That was a pretty heavy chapter. Yes, i know i promised an upbeat one, i lied. I'll spend a little more time on the next one. I know I wrote yet another dang cliff hanger, so please don't kill me ( heh heh. I just don't feel completely unless I end a chapter that way). I'm going to try and make these things longer. Thank you everyone for the monstrous reviews!!!! You've inspired me to write all 5 pages in one day!



Please review!!!!!!!!!! Or I might...heh, heh......STOP WRITING!!!!!





















Arien Westkander Di Calixte the fifth