I had no idea that the Valdemar Universe was called Velgarth. Thanks for telling me that Dragonborn! - Well I don't own Velgarth, Misty does, but anything you don't recognize is probably mine!
Alright, my computer FINALLY has a program with spell check! Are you excited? I am! This means less spelling and grammar mistakes, which I know you all have been frustrated about. On that elusive day that is known as 'someday', I will fix the five previous chapters, but until then…well, I'm afraid they're just going to sit there.
Ruin ● Resurrection
By LGR
Chapter Six: Sangi-sangi—The Difference between Seeing and Understanding
--☼--
Adept Firesong K'Treva sat down on the most comfortable cushion in the ekele shared by him and Silverfox. But despite the extra-pushiness that the cushion provided, he was not at all relaxed.
He was tense. He was irritable. He was down-right not having a good time, and though he loved Silverfox dearly, he wasn't going to make this easy for him.
"Oh pretty bird, that look is not at all becoming on you." Silverfox said brightly, flashing his most charming smile. Firesong's bond-bird, Aya, was shamelessly begging Silverfox for treats. Silverfox was shamelessly giving them to him.
Firesong had meant to keep it to himself, had meant to withhold the information from Silverfox, but this time, as with nearly every other time, Silverfox somehow managed to turn his will to water with no more than a smile. It just wasn't fair.
"Are you ready to tell me now, Ashke?" Silverfox asked him kindly.
Firesong sighed, and rubbed his eye. "It's this business about 'necromancers.' I know they're there. I can tell. The Land tells me they're there, it rejects them. I've been going after them for the last couple of days, and I should have caught them by now; or the scouts should have caught them by now; or the towns-people or Ghost-cat clan should have caught them by now. These Mages should be in Haven getting a sentence from the Queen or at K'Vala undergoing punishment, not out free! But somehow they get away at the last minute. They jump through realms; physically! I…" he hesitated, "I didn't know it was possible to do so, unless one didn't have a corporeal body, like the avatars and some of the Goddess-sworn Kal'enedral. And I don't see how we're going to catch them if they keep doing this. I can't follow them, I've tried." He rubbed his forehead as Silverfox put his arm around him in comfort.
"I don't know what they're planning, Silverfox. I'm really worried about this. We'll manage, I'm sure, and I don't know what's going to happen next, but whatever it is, I don't know what I'll be able to do to stop it."
"None of us know, Dear-heart," Silverfox said soothingly, "you can't be expected to know everything; No mortal does, and perhaps even She cannot be expected to know what will happen. Do not bring yourself down, and you are not alone: Darian, Keisha, Shandi, Herald Anda and your father and the rest of us. We're in it together, we will think of something, but why worry too much about the future, it only hampers your ability to see the present."
Firesong sighed, "I suppose, but I hope a solution comes soon, or I'll have to send a message to Haven saying we aren't doing too well, and they've got enough problems as it is."
"Don't worry, Ashke, everything turns out eventually."
--☼--
Solaris took the spy-glass that the Sunsguard General handed her and held it to her eye. She, Hansa, and a mass Sun-priests and Sunsguard officers, were crowded on an elevated platform built on a hill over looking the town of Dawnshill. She had just finished the Sunset prayers to the Sunlord, but due to the clouded sky, the Sun's light had faded into dusk prematurely. It was dark, but she could just make out black shadows, moving throughout the town. Solaris dropped the spyglass from her eye and turned to face the Officers.
"Does anyone know what they're doing?" She asked them, watching smoke rise from the chimney of a building as she looked into the dark expanse; she didn't need to specify who 'they' were.
"There were very few of them at first," The Sunsguard General reported, "And they were all corpses of the dead—"
"Corpses?" she interrupted, "Where did the corpses come from? We burn and inurn our dead."
"They came from the woods, Holiness, or so the few remaining villagers tell us. Five days ago ten people disappeared in the night. The next night the ten people came back, dead and savagely attacking anyone they came across. But it wasn't only the corpses of people; there were the carcasses of animals: dear, wild cats, badgers, raptors, and bears. But the bodies were mutated, like the change-creatures from the times of the mage-storms, except dead; there were hundreds of them.
"However, there were not only dead, but great things in great swathes and shrouds of white fabric with green designs, covering head-dresses and hiding their faces. The townsfolk refer to them as Vale-Ghosts. They are what have been keeping us from decimating the lot of them." He finished in disgust.
At this point, the General stopped speaking and Sun-Priest Laimen began where he left off, "The corpses, though bad enough, can be…well, re-killed…once some of your own hack them up enough so that they can't move, but the Vale-Ghosts, you see, they are always physically protected by the ghouls, but they have their own magic that absorbs our magic. We can't magically do anything to them, either! In fact, it harms our mages! The dead corpses are vulnerable during the day—they char and burn in direct sunlight for some reason—and we think theses vale-ghosts have been manipulating the weather to keep it cloudy—"
"Have you tried attacking during the day?" She asked, and hoped that she wasn't the first to suggest this to them. Embarrassing would be an understatement if they'd over-looked this obvious-seeming solution.
Everyone blanched and became eerily silent "Yes, holiness." Sun-Priest Laimen finally answered, "During the day, there is a perimeter about a mile around the town, any thing that crosses the perimeter instantly goes insane."
The silence continued until Solaris whispered, "insane?"
"Yes, irreparably so," Laimen answered, "We have some of the survivors if you would like to see them…" he offered but she shook her head.
"And this barrier isn't up during the night?"
"No, Holiness."
Solaris paused, "I believe you; perhaps I will go to see the survivors later." He bowed his head in acceptance and, perhaps, as a thank-you for her trust. "But," she continued, "You still have yet to answer my first question."
"Well," The Sunsguard General began, ", they swiftly took over the town. The Villagers report that the dead searched every building, and they've begun a fire in what the villagers say is the potter's kiln. They've been working there for the past few days, mostly during the day, but mostly they're in the buildings. But we can't figure out what they're making or doing in there, unless of course they're making pottery." The general finished in a dry voice, and making it clear to everyone that he thought the idea was preposterous.
"Who knows what devilry they're cooking up in that town?" someone whispered. It wasn't a question necessarily meant to gain an answer but Solaris gave one anyways.
"They do, and perhaps Vkandis, but naught else. Gentlemen, we must carry on in the face of this hardship. We have done the best we can and we must continue till The Sun Lord grants us the means to victory." She stated.
:Well said, Sun of the Sun.: Hansa told her.
:Thank you.: She answered.
--☼--
:Why am I here again:
:Just shut-up Aileen.:
She mind-snuffed at Greier, :FINE.:
She been told, and by the Heraldic Council no-less, that she was being put into the keeping of one Nekimiyah Jigan-Rhion, that she was to be a good Herald and learn what he had to teach, because everyone was counting on them to save everyone.
She knew it was un-Herald-like say, but her mind kept screaming, and what about me? What about what I want? She felt ashamed whenever the thought crossed her mind. And it really was true, what Nekimiyah had said after they'd met: She did complain; she almost annoyed herself sometimes with it. And she couldn't bear being taunted; her temper always got the better of her in such situations.
But even so, it was annoying her that he was supposed to be teaching her when mostly what she was doing was teaching him Valdemaran. You know he can't help that he doesn't know Valdemaran, her conscience (which sounded suspiciously like Greier) said. And besides, it continued, you're only correcting what he says, and he's still trying to teach you. If you'd listen, maybe you'd learn something.
I am listening, Aileen argued, but you can't argue with your conscience, because it's always right and lets you know it.
"—you understand?" The Herald asked turning his head to look at her with his right eye, and looking so much like a bird in deep examination of an object, she was slightly unnerved.
"Uhhh, no." It was annoying to her that he insisted speaking only in Valdemaran and not any in Rethwellian. He said it would help him learn, but he sometimes mumbled in something else she didn't know that must be his regular language.
"You listen?" He asked sounding slightly peeved.
"Will I listen? Or did I listen?"
"Did you listen?"
"Well, I was listening but it went right over my head." She said, realizing too late her idiom might not be understood. Apparently, however, he understood it quite well. He really was learning the language amazingly quickly; granted Aerore was probably feeding him some info, but still.
"If you listen, you understand gift of—your gift." He corrected himself mid-sentence. "Say you understand. Sangi-sangi!"
"Uh, sangi," She repeated the word hesitantly and feeling stupid. But he shook his head.
"Say once, mean you see. Say twice, mean you understand. Information, understanding; different as what and why." He gave a sharp nodded, "Say you understand. Sangi, if you see but not—do not— understand. Sangi-sangi, if you understand."
She thought she knew what he meant. It was like the difference between knowing that a companion wasn't an ordinary horse, and having one start mind-speaking you.
"Sangi-sangi." She said, wondering who it was that was supposed to be learning a new language. "What language is this anyways?" she asked curiously.
"Sanctuzahn." He answered. "Where speak, far; Very far."
"I figured as much." He rolled his eyes at her and mumbled something.
"I speak, you listen, Sangi-sangi?"
"Sangi-sangi!"
"Enyam." She guessed that meant 'good'.
They were sitting—well Nekimiyah was sitting; Aileen was lying down—in the grass outside in Companion's Field in the sun. She was lying next to the sun-basking Greier and Aerore was standing not too far off, chewing at the grass.
"Rethwellians call Other-sight; Valdemarans call it Mage-sight. We call it Illuayka—or only 'sight'. Other-sight is decent approximation. Mage-sight is misleading term. No see only magic. See others also."
Aileen almost groaned; she was hoping it would be something she could show-off. Somehow Nekimiyah knew what she was thinking—he always seemed to know—and said sternly, "No complain, some get no gift. Be happy," as if because he had told her to do so, she should automatically comply.
"Do you always know what I'm thinking?" she demanded to know, "are you in my mind?" realizing that that could be a possibility she strengthened her shields as strong as she could.
"No in your mind. I know your mind because you like someone I know." He said shaking his head sympathetically. "It scare me almost." His eye brows slide together slightly as if he was just now realizing the repercussions of what he said, and then he laughed.
Aileen was reasonably sure that Aerore hadn't said anything to him. Though she sometimes had trouble telling when a companion was mind-speaking to anyone, she always new when a Herald was, even when there were no outward signs like when their eyes glazed over.
She razed her eye-brow, "What's so funny? Who is it?"
He looked as if he was thinking then said "Not telling."
She groaned. "What are you, twelve?"
"Twelve? You have eyes check recently?" She nearly screamed in frustration, she hated it when people made fun of her and especially hated it when they did so to draw attention away from themselves.
:Aileen. Calm down, he's only going to be like this until you learn not to let your temper get the better of you, so you might as well just deal with it.: Greier advised. She figured he was right but only the fact that she was supposed to be a Herald, and above acting the way her temper wanted her to, kept her from beating him to a bloody pulp or cursing the living daylights out of him.
Havens, but being a Herald is hard work.
:You'd think you'd have realized this after—What, two years as a Herald and four as a trainee: Greier asked. She didn't bother to dignify that question with an answer.
"What he say?" she almost jumped. She kept forgetting that, supposedly, he could see when anyone was using any magic or mind-magic.
"Not Telling." He rolled his eyes. She couldn't believe that he was supposed to be over three hundred years old, especially when he did something childish like—well, like the whole conversation they'd just had.
"I awaken your gift. No, no get up, stay on ground." He told her when she started to sit up; she complied. Before she could even think about what this would entail, she felt something firmly grab her mind. It was like someone shoved their hand through a thick sun veil, in her mind, that she didn't even know existed because she'd lived with it all her life, and pulled it clean off.
Firstly, she was blinded, she couldn't tell if she blacked out or not but when she could think again, she felt slightly oppressed, and she realized the shield was back up, but she wasn't the one who was holding it there.
"Oh, my—"she swiftly sat up and felt her head start pounding and her vision go fuzzy, but she didn't let herself sink back to the grass, after a moment her vision cleared, but the oppressive feeling remained, and so did the head-ache.
"You know how to shield, yes?" she heard a voice say. She was going to nod affirmation but stopped after the slightest movement toward doing so made her head throb.
"Yes," she answered.
"Enyam. Do so within the shield I made for you. Once it is up, I will put mine down."
She did as the voice said, and put up a shield. After a moment, the oppressive feeling disappeared and she felt like herself again.
Well, almost like myself, she thought as an exceptionally painful throb was made known in her head.
"You could have maybe been a little less rough." She said rubbing her temples.
"It because I am used to bludgeoning the minds of Necromancers that I become so heavy-handed, I am sorry, if it make you feel better." Nekimiyah said softly, and to Aileen he sounded sincere.
"I guess it makes me feel emotionally better, but I don't think anything could do the same for this throbbing—oh, thanks." She said as he handed her a flask of something. Drinking it she realized that it was the headache medicine the healers gave out, "When did you have time to get this?" He just shrugged, but at this point her head hurt too much for her to even think of arguing over it.
"It all looks the same." She said, "I thought it was supposed to look different somehow?"
:You still have your shields up, Aileen.: Greier informed her.
"Oh, ehehehe…" she laughed self-consciously and withdrew the shields that had become second-nature to her. "OH MY GOD! LOOK AT THAT! AND THAT!—AND THAT THING! AND—GREIER YOU'RE BLINDING, AND WHAT IS THIS GREEN STUFF IN EVERYTHING! AND RED! WHAT IS THAT! AND HOW COME YOU HAVE BLUE ALL IN YOU!" She spouted in an endless flow of exclamations and pointing at things with hectic gestures.
But before she could even begin to demand that Nekimiyah tell her what everything meant, she heard a giggle from behind her and whipped around. She almost staggered back, and as soon as she reclaimed her balance, she began to wonder when it was that she had stood up from the grass in the first place.
She swiftly covered her eyes but it did not good. Idiot, it doesn't have to do with actually seeing with your eyes! Shield you blanker! She thought to herself, and threw her shields back up again, but lessening the strength so that she could still See but not be blinded.
"The heart stone; that must be the heart stone. No wonder all those mages are always ogling it." She heard some restrained laughter again, and turned her attention to the fence. It was Herald Karen and a bunch of trainees, out in the field for equitation lessons.
"This is all your fault, you know?" she said to Nekimiyah.
"Sangi-Sangi, and I take complete responsibility." He said, but, as he very well knew, the fact that he knew he was responsible didn't help the fact that she was now beat-red in front of the trainees. Even thought he may have understood her embarrassment, nothing could save her from this situation. I guess this is my just desserts for all the un-Herald-like things I've done lately, she thought.
She swore she could hear Nekimiyah snickering, even though she was looking straight at him and his face remained infuriatingly blank, which in fact, compounded her embarrassment.
"Hey, Aileen, what red stuff?" Herald Karen asked slyly.
She could already tell that this was going to be bad.
--☼--
It's your favorite time… Review time!
I got another one from Dragonborn: I guess all I can say here is thanks for the review, and yes, the spelling was bad. I know. I'd never even heard about it being called Velgarth, and at this point I'm kind of angry that I didn't. But also, concerning the review you had before that I couldn't answer because I didn't know, Yes, I know there isn't any necromancy in Velgarth, but I decided that in my fan fiction, there was going to be. And it's not exactly the sort of, magic stuff that everyone usually refers to as Necromancy, it's more like demon summoning and stuff.
Oh yes, and Dragonborn, I read some of your fan fiction, I'll put up a review eventually I just haven't had much time. .
And also I figure I might as well say that no, they aren't actual dead souls of people inhabiting the dead bodies, or the people who's bodies they were brought back to life. I figured that I'd say so, before someone said that it wasn't possible, because everyone gets judged by Vkandis/ Kal'enel or whatever and etc.
If that confused you and you hadn't had a problem before, then don't worry about it.
And everyone, remember to review-review-review! And I will love you forever in a friendly-non-sexual-way!
