The Banished One
By: Jay Whitefox
Chapter Two
A few days later the Storyteller and the girl are walking towards Faldor's farm. The old man smiles down at his young companion who at his best guess was only 5 or 6 years old. She moved with boundless energy and held the staff resting on her shoulder. During the trip she had used some of the cloth rags he had found on her to tie her hair back into a ponytail that tumbled down her back. She moved with a grace he had only seen in older warriors in his travels a since she had joined him he had gained even more questions. On the first morning after he had found her he woke to see the girl gone from where she was sleeping. He then heard the sounds of movement and looked to find her moving around the clearing in what he first thought was a dance but then he noticed the kicks and punches mixed into it a saw it was a style of unarmed combat. He had spent the morning watching the girl train before he then set about making a meal for them both. After they were fed they had started off. Now they were nearing the farm and the storyteller was quite glad as he would soon have some help in figuring out his young friend. Next to him the girls just smiles as she walks along her blue grey eyes looking around with interest at everything.
Up ahead he see the gates of the farm an he smiles as they walk inside an he hears the excited talk of some of the farm hands as they see him. He nods and waves to them as he makes his way over to the main house as from it walks Faldor who smiles and says. "It's good you see you again master storyteller it's been a while since your last visit. And who is this with you, one of your grandchildren perhaps?" He grins as the storyteller chuckles and says with a shake of his head. "No friend Faldor she is a young waif I found along the road on my way here. She doesn't seem to speak and I thought it best she comes with me." Faldor looks at the young girl who was looking towards the smithy and then to the storyteller as he asks. "Doesn't she have any family?" "Not that I know of friend Faldor but I thought you might have room for her here." He answers as the door of the kitchen opens and standing in it is a striking woman with long black hair save for a single lock of pure white she was dressed in a simple country dress an her eyes looked on the old man as she scowls slightly. Looking out from behind her was a sandy haired boy of nine dressed in a plain tunic and pants, a serious look on his young face then that turns to a grin at seeing the old man. The storyteller grins as he bows towards her with a flourish of his cloak as he says. "A pleasure to see you again Mistress Pol. As always you are a bright light to an otherwise dull life of travel."
She sniffs disdainfully as she walks back into her kitchen one hand pulling the boy in with her. The old man chuckles as he then looks at the girl who was watching as Durnik the smith worked at his forge. The storyteller smiles as he taps her on her head an then points towards the house an the girl smiles and nods and follows him and Faldor inside where they take a seat at a long table as Mistress Pol brings out some plates setting them near the three. Faldor and Pol blink as they see the girl dig into her meal quickly eating what was before her and then looking up pleading at Mistress Pol once the plate was empty. Mistress Pol looks at the storyteller as she asks. "Old Wolf haven't you been feeding this girl? I know how your mind wanders sometimes and you forget simple things like that."
The storyteller chuckles as he says. "Yes I have been feeding her but she eats quite a bit. I've had to dip deep into my purse the last few days when we stopped for food." As Mistress Pol raises an eyebrow as she then takes the plate into the kitchen and then returns with it full once more and sets it before the girl who smiles at her an then starts to eat once again. Then the boy walks out and the storyteller grins as he says. "Garion my boy look at you you've grown since I last saw you." The boy nods as he sits down next to the old man and looks at the red haired girl eating.
He smiles at her as he says. "Hi I'm Garion what's your name?" she blinks looking at the sandy haired boy and Garion frowns and looks at the storyteller who says. "She can't understand you Garion she doesn't seem to speak the common tongue." The young boy blinks and nods looking back at the girl as he then grins and taps his chest and says. "Garion I'm Garion." He then points at her and she blinks and then smiles and points to herself and says. "Ranko" The old man blinks an then chuckles as he hadn't even thought of trying that as Mistress Pol looks at the girl an then Garion an then says. "Where did you find this girl Old Wolf? I mean at her age she should already be able to talk and understand others."
The old man grins as he looks at her and says. "I found her along the road to here. She was alone and didn't have a thing on." His fingers move some at his chest and Mistress Pol's eyes widen slightly as she then nods. She then picks up the girl who blinks in surprise as she says. 'Well I think someone needs a bath my helpers can see to it that dinner is taken care of." She walks towards the farm's baths as Ranko looks back over her shoulder at the old man who smiles and nods that it was alright.
Later on after dinner the Storyteller stands before them all and smiles after being asked by Faldor to tell them of the beginnings and of the Gods. After getting a tankard of foamy beer from Mistress Pol he drank deeply and then set the tankard aside. He then lowered his head in thought for a moment, then looked directly, or so it seemed, at Garion. And then he did a strange thing which he had never done when telling stories in Faldor's dining hall. He drew his cloak about him and rose to his full height.
"Behold," he said, his voice rich and sonorous, "at the beginning of days made the gods the world and the seas and the dry land also. And cast they the stars across the night sky and did set the sun and his wife, the moon, in the heavens to give light unto the world.
"And the Gods caused the earth to bring forth the beasts, and the waters to bud with fish, and the skies to flower with birds.
"And they made men also, and divided men into Peoples.
"Now the Gods were seven in number and were all equal, and their names were Belar, and Chaldan, and Nedra, and Issa, and Mara, and Aldur, and Torak."
The people listened intently as the storyteller described how each God selected a people-for Belar the Alons, for Issa the Nyissans, for Chaldan the Arends, for Nedra the Tolnedrans, for Mara the Marags, which are no more, and for Torak the Angaraks. And he told how the God Aldur dwelt apart and considered the stars in his solitude, and how some very few men he accepted as pupils and disciples.
The story teller went on to tell of Aldur and the jewel he caused to be made that men called the Orb of Aldur. And then of how Torak stole the Orb and the other Gods made war on him. Torak used the Orb to sunder the earth and let in the sea to drown the land, until the Orb struck back against misuse by melting the left side of his face and destroying his left hand and eye.
The Old man paused and drained his tankard. Mistress Pol, with her mantle close about her, brought him another, her movements somehow stately and her eyes burning.
The story continued, recounting how Belgarath the Sorcerer led Cherek and his three sons to regain the Orb two thousand years later, and how the western lands were settled and guarded against the hosts of Torak. The Gods removed from the world, leaving Riva to safeguard the Orb in his fortress on the Isle of the Winds. There he forged a great sword and set the Orb in its hilt. While the Orb remained there and the line of Riva sat on the Throne, Torak could not prevail.
Then Belgarath sent his favorite daughter to Riva to be a mother to kings, while his other daughter remained with him and learned his art, for the mark of the sorcerers was upon her.
The old storyteller's voice was now very soft as his ancient tale drew to its close. "And between them," he said, "did Belgarath and his daughter, the Sorceress Polgara, set enchantments to keep watch against the coming of Torak. And some men say they shall abide against his coming even though it be until the very end of days, for it is prophesied that one day shall maimed Torak come against the kingdoms of the west to reclaim the Orb which he so dearly purchased, and battle shall be joined between Torak and the fruit of the line of Riva, and in that battle shall be decided the fate of the world."
And then the old man fell silent and let his mantle drop from about his shoulders, signifying that his story was at an end.
There was a long silence in the hall, broken only by a few faint sputters from the dying fire and the endless song of frogs and crickets in the summer night outside.
On another place and time on a beach sits a teenaged girl her long red hair falls down her back. She was nude save for some strips of cloth wrapped around her feet. Near her a fire burned merrily as she looks out at the water. She then smiles and looks up as a few small winged lizards fly down to her. Two land on a shoulder each as the last lands in her lap and she giggles as she strokes their heads lightly with her fingers. She had thanks to luck found their nest just as they were being born and she had a returned from fishing. She had fed the hungry beasts and since then three of them were always with her. The two on her shoulders were both bronze in color and male she could tell from the feel of their ki while the one in her lap was golden and female.
She looks out at the slowly setting sun and not for the first or the last wonders who she was and how she came to be here. The place she found herself was warm even hot during the days and something told her that her small friends didn't come from where she did. She thinks about the things she did know, how to fight an to train when she wasn't fishing or looking for fruits, how to live with nothing but herself, and then how to use her ki they ways she could. She picks up a fruit and bites into it, its juices flowing down her chin as she watches some dolphins leap from the waves out from the beach. She smiles as she thinks her life wasn't really so bad even if she didn't know who she was or where she was.
AN: Well here is another Chapter out. Wow this story is coming along great and I'm hoping to finish another chapter soon. I'm in need of a proofreader to catch the typos and grammar mistakes I miss. R&R so this story keeps going.