~DARK WATERS~
by IceAngel
For summary, disclaimer and other things see chapter 1
A/N: Thanks for the two people who bothered to review, the more I get, the faster I write (^.^) please please review, I need some feedback if I'm going to continue this. Enjoy!
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Chapter 3 - A Game of Wits
"A game of wits," Doom said sternly, "I wonder whether the intelligent thing to do would not be to forget this game all together."
"But what of my mother!" Lief exclaimed.
Doom raised his hand and went on, "How are we to know whether this man was telling the truth?" he said. "He told us that the antidote for the poison could not be found in Deltora, but why should we believe him?"
Lief gasped out loud as a sudden thought struck him, "You are right, Doom!" Quickly he fumbled with the catch of the belt of Deltora. It had not left him for so long that he felt strangely empty and vulnerable without it. He hoped desperately that, as it had done once before for Barda, it would be able to cure his mother.
He laid the belt across the light sheet covering Sharn. They all waited with dread anticipation.
Nothing happened.
With a sigh, Lief reached over and retrieved the belt. "I think you have your answer, Doom," Lief said bitterly. "If the antidote were within Deltora's borders this would have cured her." Unable to bear the oppressive silence or the pitying looks of his friends any longer, Lief turned and left the room.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lief had no idea how long he had been in the library, but his eyes were blurred with tears of fatigue and his back and neck were aching. Josef had been with him for many hours, before Lief had had to order him to take his rest. The old librarian had been of much help searching for places the rhyme might have been describing, but Lief still found himself at a loose end.
Jasmine had arrived shortly after the departure of Josef. And with her coming brought a terrible fear to Lief that he might lose everything he held dear. His closest friends had been in the room when the message and the treat to his mother's life had come, and the secret would remain between those four.
~six shall pass, three shall stay~
This particular line was more puzzling to Lief than all the rest. If he and his three friends were to journey far from Deltora's borders, who would be left to guard his mother and his kingdom? If the rhyme spoke truly, six were to leave and three to stay. Who then, were these others?
He felt suddenly lonely and afraid, and he reached beneath the table for Jasmine's hand. She gave him a reassuring squeeze.
"We will find nothing here," he said dismally. "We do not even know what we are looking for."
"Do not give up hope," she replied, raising her other hand to stroke Fili. "Your mother is too strong to give up on life, together we will find the cure."
Lief smiled grimly. 'Together' was the word that worried him. "Jasmine," he began slowly, "it is *my* mother who is dying, there is no need for you to get involved in this."
Jasmine gave his hand another squeeze. "If you have a burden to carry, then it also belongs to me."
Lief sighed in frustration. "You do not understand." He pulled his hand away from hers, "I could not bare to loose you too!"
"I can look after myself," she smiled in the frustrating way he had grown used to.
All of a sudden, there was a thunder of footsteps on the library stairs, and Ranesh burst through the doorway, making Lief and Jasmine jump.
"You must come!" he breathed. "There is visitors from afar, they bring news, and gifts."
Lief's heart leapt for a moment and he rose to follow Ranesh down to the main hall. The young man ran ahead, and Lief struggled to keep up with him.
On the lawn before the palace, where the Place of Punishment used to stand, were four strange creatures. Lief smiled despite himself, this was more than he could have hoped for!
"Ailsa!" Lief smiled, "your timing could not be more perfect."
The Kin smiled, patting the head of the smaller Prin beside her. "Young Prin here could not wait a moment longer. She flew here all the way by herself!"
Prin smiled proudly, grinning at Lief. Although Prin looked much the same as she had when they had played together by the Dreaming Springs, Lief knew the young Kin had learned much restraint and sense from her journey with them to Dread mountain.
On a sudden impulse, Lief turned and spoke to Ranesh, "I need to speak to Barda and Doom, please find them immediately." Ranesh was still out of breath, but he nodded and ran back through the open doors of the Palace.
Lief turned back to the Kin, now it was just the six of them, eight when Doom and Barda arrived. Lief's breath suddenly caught in his throat. He whirled around and caught Jasmine by the arm.
"There are nine of us! Nine!"
Jasmine looked at him as if he were insane, "what do you speak of?"
"Nine!" he repeated. "Doom, Barda, you, the four Kin, myself and . . "
"Sharn," she finished, finally understanding his meaning.
"Six shall pass, three shall stay! The rhyme!"
"But Leif," Jasmine interrupted, her practicality showing. "If Ailsa, Bruna and Merin are to carry us, only three of us will be able to go . . ."
"One of us must stay here with Sharn and Prin." Lief nodded, his brow creasing. "And I we do not even know where we have to go . . ."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A/N: Sorry a short chapter, I'll try and get hold of the books soon. I promise the boring intro part is over now, and next chap our heroes will be on their way into the quest. Please tell me what you think, I don't care if you hated it, I'd just like to know let me know some people are reading this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~replies to reviews~
*Proud Filipino* thanks so much ^.^ you changed your name? Mind games are a great attraction of DQ for me too. Thanks heaps for taking the time to remember the names of the kin and the fountain. As you can see, I needed them desperately. Thanks for reviewing!! :D
*Lilith* - you changed you name too! - That was a too nice thing to say ^.^ It's true Emily Rodda was writing for younger kids, I have a tendency to get too far into the characters heads, I've been trying to tone down that in this fic, but maybe people would prefer a more grown up style? what do you think? Thanks so much for your info on the Kin^.^ I'm happy you liked my rhyme, I just have to work out what it will all mean :D The fighting in your fic is cool too :) I also have some coming up soon. Thanks! :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by IceAngel
For summary, disclaimer and other things see chapter 1
A/N: Thanks for the two people who bothered to review, the more I get, the faster I write (^.^) please please review, I need some feedback if I'm going to continue this. Enjoy!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 3 - A Game of Wits
"A game of wits," Doom said sternly, "I wonder whether the intelligent thing to do would not be to forget this game all together."
"But what of my mother!" Lief exclaimed.
Doom raised his hand and went on, "How are we to know whether this man was telling the truth?" he said. "He told us that the antidote for the poison could not be found in Deltora, but why should we believe him?"
Lief gasped out loud as a sudden thought struck him, "You are right, Doom!" Quickly he fumbled with the catch of the belt of Deltora. It had not left him for so long that he felt strangely empty and vulnerable without it. He hoped desperately that, as it had done once before for Barda, it would be able to cure his mother.
He laid the belt across the light sheet covering Sharn. They all waited with dread anticipation.
Nothing happened.
With a sigh, Lief reached over and retrieved the belt. "I think you have your answer, Doom," Lief said bitterly. "If the antidote were within Deltora's borders this would have cured her." Unable to bear the oppressive silence or the pitying looks of his friends any longer, Lief turned and left the room.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lief had no idea how long he had been in the library, but his eyes were blurred with tears of fatigue and his back and neck were aching. Josef had been with him for many hours, before Lief had had to order him to take his rest. The old librarian had been of much help searching for places the rhyme might have been describing, but Lief still found himself at a loose end.
Jasmine had arrived shortly after the departure of Josef. And with her coming brought a terrible fear to Lief that he might lose everything he held dear. His closest friends had been in the room when the message and the treat to his mother's life had come, and the secret would remain between those four.
~six shall pass, three shall stay~
This particular line was more puzzling to Lief than all the rest. If he and his three friends were to journey far from Deltora's borders, who would be left to guard his mother and his kingdom? If the rhyme spoke truly, six were to leave and three to stay. Who then, were these others?
He felt suddenly lonely and afraid, and he reached beneath the table for Jasmine's hand. She gave him a reassuring squeeze.
"We will find nothing here," he said dismally. "We do not even know what we are looking for."
"Do not give up hope," she replied, raising her other hand to stroke Fili. "Your mother is too strong to give up on life, together we will find the cure."
Lief smiled grimly. 'Together' was the word that worried him. "Jasmine," he began slowly, "it is *my* mother who is dying, there is no need for you to get involved in this."
Jasmine gave his hand another squeeze. "If you have a burden to carry, then it also belongs to me."
Lief sighed in frustration. "You do not understand." He pulled his hand away from hers, "I could not bare to loose you too!"
"I can look after myself," she smiled in the frustrating way he had grown used to.
All of a sudden, there was a thunder of footsteps on the library stairs, and Ranesh burst through the doorway, making Lief and Jasmine jump.
"You must come!" he breathed. "There is visitors from afar, they bring news, and gifts."
Lief's heart leapt for a moment and he rose to follow Ranesh down to the main hall. The young man ran ahead, and Lief struggled to keep up with him.
On the lawn before the palace, where the Place of Punishment used to stand, were four strange creatures. Lief smiled despite himself, this was more than he could have hoped for!
"Ailsa!" Lief smiled, "your timing could not be more perfect."
The Kin smiled, patting the head of the smaller Prin beside her. "Young Prin here could not wait a moment longer. She flew here all the way by herself!"
Prin smiled proudly, grinning at Lief. Although Prin looked much the same as she had when they had played together by the Dreaming Springs, Lief knew the young Kin had learned much restraint and sense from her journey with them to Dread mountain.
On a sudden impulse, Lief turned and spoke to Ranesh, "I need to speak to Barda and Doom, please find them immediately." Ranesh was still out of breath, but he nodded and ran back through the open doors of the Palace.
Lief turned back to the Kin, now it was just the six of them, eight when Doom and Barda arrived. Lief's breath suddenly caught in his throat. He whirled around and caught Jasmine by the arm.
"There are nine of us! Nine!"
Jasmine looked at him as if he were insane, "what do you speak of?"
"Nine!" he repeated. "Doom, Barda, you, the four Kin, myself and . . "
"Sharn," she finished, finally understanding his meaning.
"Six shall pass, three shall stay! The rhyme!"
"But Leif," Jasmine interrupted, her practicality showing. "If Ailsa, Bruna and Merin are to carry us, only three of us will be able to go . . ."
"One of us must stay here with Sharn and Prin." Lief nodded, his brow creasing. "And I we do not even know where we have to go . . ."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A/N: Sorry a short chapter, I'll try and get hold of the books soon. I promise the boring intro part is over now, and next chap our heroes will be on their way into the quest. Please tell me what you think, I don't care if you hated it, I'd just like to know let me know some people are reading this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~replies to reviews~
*Proud Filipino* thanks so much ^.^ you changed your name? Mind games are a great attraction of DQ for me too. Thanks heaps for taking the time to remember the names of the kin and the fountain. As you can see, I needed them desperately. Thanks for reviewing!! :D
*Lilith* - you changed you name too! - That was a too nice thing to say ^.^ It's true Emily Rodda was writing for younger kids, I have a tendency to get too far into the characters heads, I've been trying to tone down that in this fic, but maybe people would prefer a more grown up style? what do you think? Thanks so much for your info on the Kin^.^ I'm happy you liked my rhyme, I just have to work out what it will all mean :D The fighting in your fic is cool too :) I also have some coming up soon. Thanks! :D
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