AN- I don't have anything else to say…oh yeah I do. Punkin's dream is in here because I wanted let you see a bit of her past…I know normal people don't dream about the past but Punkin isn't normal.
Firilya- sorry about the blue eyes thing…it wasn't on purpose. But Amberlee is going be here for Sharwyn and Nasher wedding, okay. Not a moment sooner (chapter five...the real one). And Amberlee wouldn't say the things that Kae does, so it's good for me that it wasn't her.
WitchWolf- I'm sure you'll beat me to it…unless I do it in the musical -writes something down quickly.- I did mean to emphasis the running and than fighting thing… good eye. Punkin would have killed that shadow at full strength though.And other than breaking my wrist I've never been in a lot pain…I just writes good. :-)
Guan- Yeah, I'm surprised that I didn't have Sharwyn say something but she's got a lot to worry about. Anyway, that gag was pretty good…but it was better in my head. Anyway, I'm feeling better every than yesterday…I think I'll be fine, I'm tough. (where's my teddy bear?)
Tasharene- Yep my first review…all though I read them altogether, I did read yours first. I'm sorry to here about the story I don't even know if I was up to date on it…I'm so far behind on my story list. (three days behind, man.) Sorry it's so short but I didn't like it being 5,000 words a chapter. (Punkin talks too much…like most bards.)
Here it is the long await…
Chapter Three (second half)
I sat there thinking about the last two days…I had joined an academy run by a bard that couldn't figure out if she should use auburn or cerise on her hair and not to mention she thinks she ten years younger than she claims to be. My instructors had no formal training or informal ones actually, in any type of trade. And of course there was the fact that I've got a 'giant scratch' across my chest as this young cleric claimed. Worse of all, I was becoming weaker…because of this guy that appeared out of nowhere.
"Do I really need all these layers of wrap…I mean I look like a friggin' mummy," I complained.
"I doubt that. You only wrapped up around your torso and yes you do need all of it, we wouldn't want you to get hurt any further than you already have…" Other than the girl's aversion to the human anatomy, she was a great healer; careful with a pair of very nimble hands.
"What made you decide to become a cleric?" I asked her as she started to gather the old wraps.
"Wow, that like asking why the owl hoots…it's pretty much in my blood, my mom and dad are clerics so I wanted to be a cleric." She thought for a second, "I really like to help people, to make people happier, it's kind of like as I help people get better I get better myself."
At that moment I remembered the essay…I had a stroke of genius and asked her, "Could I quote you on that?" This could be gold.
"Of course you can… quote every word I say," the awestruck girl said.
"Okay, I said and thought about what would create an interesting comment as I reached for my pack to get some writing materials, "Do you believe in good and evil?"
"Of course I do," Kaelynn said without a half a thought.
"Why?"
She thought for a second, "Because there are choices…positive ones. Ones that help the world become better and negative ones…ones that destroy the world." That's just a typical cleric comment, I want more than that.
"Explain positive choices, please."
"Well, I remember my mother saying that good is being completely selfless…denying you're body of all things that will damage your spirit. I don't know what that means exactly but I think that if you help people than you're denying your own self."
"So do you think magic should be used for good things only…to help people?" I asked with a half-smile.
She looked at her shoes and thought for a few moments, "I think magic is evil to begin with." This is what I was looking for. "Magic comes from within you…it comes from your spirit…it's a part of you and I think that people that use it are giving away a part of their spirit."
"So what you are saying is the magic is evil."
"Yep."
"Even if it's used to help people…"
"In the end…yes. Magic users become dependent on it…almost like an addiction and they loss themselves slowly…even if what they do is right in the end they aren't making themselves better…so they aren't making the world better."
"So you think that magic shouldn't be used for anything?"
"Nothing at all… everything you need is around you…magic just a way to take things in your own hands." This girl has a pretty good head on her shoulders…she never even mention anything about god or gods to me…perhaps she knows my stance on that subject.
"Thanks, this is going to help me out a lot for my class." I said and tried to stand up and felt the wind leave me. Damn all that running.
"Maybe you should lay down for a little while before you leave," she said as she tried to lead me back down on the bed. That would be a good idea if I weren't as stubborn as a bull.
"No, I'm fine," I said and wobbled over to some clean clothes of mine with a note from Akyrra that thank me for my courage.
"I guess the stuff about your ego are right, huh," she said as she was leaving with a huge smile on her face.
XOXOXOThe rest of the day was uneventful, I went to my room and started my essay…I wondered if Master Takrath would like the ideas I expressed in it…especially the ones that weren't really my own. I did think hard about the subject of what magic should be used for as I thought about my whole ordeal, if people never used magic than shadow planes would never be opened so we wouldn't have shadow creatures. But with that logic we wouldn't have demons and that would mean we wouldn't have Meris…how could a creature like him be so beautiful and perilous at the same time. I wondered what Meris thought about the use of magic and if he meant all that stuff he said to me while I was faking a coma. What would have happened if Kaelynn never showed up? Soon after I got a page done I started to fall asleep and felt that I would dream wonder filled dreams…maybe it was the medicine that Kae gave me that caused this affect on me.
XOXOXO"Now, Punkin, if you are ever to get this right you have to practice," my father said to me. "There is no point in learning anything if you don't develop it to best of your ability."
"I know, Dad, but I'm just so excited that you're finally teaching me." I had not stopped smiling since when my father had agreed to start teaching her how to use a sword.
He was moved that his only child would want to be a city guard like him. I was never the kind of girl that played with dolls or make up or any of that stuff…I wanted to fight…I wanted to be the prince doing the rescuing, and never even thought twice about being the weak princess needing someone to come to her aid.
I watched, eyes intent on her father, as he showed me another basic defensive move, a simple parry with a riposte. He came behind me and gently guided my tiny arms before stepping back to watch me do it on my own.
"Punkin, hold the sword higher or your head will be chopped off." He said with his always cool manner.
I laughed, "It might help in my defense if I weren't fighting with a wooden sword."
"You can use a real sword when you're older." He said.
"But, I won't kill anyone and it's just stupid to practice with a branch," I pouted.
"Darling, I would love nothing more than to train you with a real sword so that you will get the most benefit from this, but your mother would kill me and it wouldn't be the best idea to let an eight year old have a weapon…remember what happened when Caleb made you mad," he smiled. "Now, you keep practicing, I'm going inside to talk to your mother."
After her father left, I just sat down and looked at her practice sword. It was nothing grand, just some wood fashioned in the shape of a sword, but it meant more to me than almost anything in the world.
I stood there with a practice dummy twice my size and clenched my sword…my first sword and fought with all my strength. That was the day I decide that I wanted to be a heroine, and that I would make my father proud.
I still remember the shouts my father got from my mom about my new found recreation, as a physician she had seen too many 'youngsters' hurt from swordplay. It was her wish for me to become what she never could…a famous singer. I had the voice but I never like the music that I had to sing, I wanted to sing about adventure, about adventures, about ancient dragons and the lore of old. That's what I wanted to be and my father knew nothing would stand in my way of getting there either.
"Punkin," my mother sweet voice beckoned me into the oldest house in the Blakelake district, "I don't like this one bite."
"But mom."
"Hear me out…I've made a deal of sorts." She said.
My dad smiled slightly with victory on his face.
"You can practice with your wooden sword for one our a day as long as you keep up in your courses and you practice your singing half an hour a day, okay."
I jumped with joy and said, "I'll sing for the whole city if I get to learn to fight…to really fight." She must have been bribed with more from my father though. She was never this lenient. That was the way I remember my family.
XOXOXOI heard whispers around me and opened one of my eyes. A shadow. I rolled of my bed and grabbed my rapier from underneath it in one motion and jabbed it forward.
The shadow jumped into the air and attempted a somersault but tumbled into a pile. Suddenly the torch-lamp fired on.
Akyrra stood over the limp body of Sharwyn, who was wheezing and said, "If I wanted to dodge and duck my way to keep my life I would have continued to adventure."
"Sorry," I said a bit embarrassed, "I thought you were a shadow creature."
"Well, I'm glad to see you're your old self still," she laughed remembering the multitude of times I tried harm her, "I wanted to know if you knew where Meris was."
"No I haven't seen him since I got hurt…why?" I asked.
"He's missing," Sharwyn said carefully, "I just thought that since you two were getting close that you'd know where he was."
"Did you check his room?" Akyrra asked.
"No, of course, that's it…his room. I would be tracking across the entire campus at midnight trying to find a purple giant and I never check his room," Sharwyn mocked.
"I'm just trying to help." Akyrra said.
"I know, that's what makes it more hilarious." Sharwyn half-laughed but I could see her intensity, she felt something strange was happening. "His roommate is missing too. That's why I'm worried, and I just thought that you might be able to help us but I guess you not…"
"I'm fine," I lied. My side throbbed from my little maneuver and I was still tired but I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't know that Meris was okay.
"You are not…"
"I said I'm fine. I beat he's out where he was last night when I saw him in the morning…" I said.
Akyrra jumped in, "The Neverwinter Forest, I beat he wants to know what else that tree has in it."
"Has in it?" Sharwyn asked.
"Nevermind." Akyrra looked around quickly.
"What was in it the first time, Akyrra, " I asked her as I slowly walked over to her.
"I think…it might be a portal…but I'm not sure…" she said.
"A…" I said.
"Portal." Sharwyn finished, "This is serious, I need to get some people to scout the area." But I had other plans of my own.