I'm starting to type this right after I finished my first chapter, but who knows if I'll actually post it that soon. Oh well.

Anyway, Driskoll's point of view. Enjoy.

CHAPTER TWO

Driskoll followed Kellach and Moyra to a nearby restaurant that was offering a discount all month in celebration. It wasn't that fancy, but Driskoll knew that Moyra didn't like eating fancy, so it was all right. He also knew from experience that at the end of the meal, Moyra would start to pay for her portion of the bill, but Kellach would cut her off, insisting he pay for her, and Moyra would refuse, saying he didn't have to, and Kellach would insist, and then they would argue for five minutes about who was paying until Driskoll would finally throw his hands up and pay for all of them.

And today was no different.

After the customary argument after the bill was finally taken care of (paid for by Driskoll, of course,) they sat back and talked for a while. Suddenly, Moyra reached into her pocket. "What has been poking me in the side this whole time?" she growled. She brought out a tiny box. "Oh yeah, I totally forgot about this thing," she muttered.

"What is it?" Driskoll asked her. Moyra opened the box and showed him. Inside was the most boring and unimpressive ring he had ever seen. Its only value seemed to be the fact that is was gold.

"Oh," Driskoll sat back, a little disappointed, "How exciting."

Moyra glared at him. "I'm sorry if my ring isn't thrilling enough for you," she snapped, "My mother gave it to me. She said it was my grandmother's."

"What does that writing say?" Kellach asked, leaning over to get a better look at it.

Moyra shrugged. "I don't know," she replied, taking the ring out of the box and handing it to him, "You're welcome to try to read it."

Kellach took the ring and inspected it closely. "It's kind of hard to read," he said after a moment, "But I think it says 'I will forever love you.'"

Driskoll scoffed and took the ring from him. "That's silly," he said, putting the ring on his own finger for no particular reason, "Why would it say something like that?"

"Probably because my mom said I was supposed to give it only to the man that I would spend the rest of my life with," Moyra replied, shrugging. Panicking, Driskoll pulled the ring off his finger and tossed it at her. She and Kellach suppressed a chuckle.

"She called it a promise band," she explained, "It's supposed to be magical in that if I give it to someone I love it won't come off their finger unless I fall out of love with them." She picked up the ring and scoffed at it. "I don't really believe her, though. She probably made it up to make it appear more special so I wouldn't sell it." She turned in her seat to Kellach. "Let's see what happens when you put on," she offered.

"Moyra, I don't-" But Kellach didn't get to finish his sentence as Moyra grabbed his wrist and slid the band onto his ring finger. To Driskoll, it seemed to shine a little brighter. How odd. He let out a little chuckle.

"It looks good on you, bro," he laughed. Kellach scowled at him.

"Very funny," Kellach said, pulling at the ring, "But you should probably keep it Moyra." Suddenly, Kellach looked down, and he started turning pale. "Um, it won't come off," he murmured.

Moyra blinked at him, then laughed. "Funny, very funny, Kell," she giggled, "But seriously, give it back, my mom will wonder what happened to it."

"I am being serious!" Kellach exclaimed, "It won't come off!"

Now Moyra went pale. "R-really?" she asked quietly.

Driskoll thought for moment. "Didn't you say that the ring won't come off unless you're not in love with that person?" he asked.

"Yeah, but-"

"Moyra, are you in love with Kellach?"

No one said anything. Driskoll stared seriously at Moyra and Kellach. Moyra continued growing pale, while Kellach's eyes darted quickly to the floor. It was several seconds before anyone said anything.

"No," Moyra finally replied. Driskoll thought he saw her take a very deep breath. "I'm not in love with Kellach. I'm sure it's just stuck or has something to do with him being a wizard." She forced a sly grin. "Maybe my mom got Zendric to enchant it to get back at us for something."

Kellach muttered his agreement, but Driskoll wasn't so sure. Why would Zendric or Royma want to get back at them? They hadn't done anything wrong. Recently.

"Anyway, can we please get back to the real issue?" Moyra said, hastily switching topics, "Why was that guy the most ridiculous looking person I've ever seen in my life? I mean, did you see his hat?"

"Did you see his clothes?" Driskoll asked, grinning.

Soon, they were all laughing, the ring on Kellach's finger all but forgotten.

…

"Did you hear that they're starting to conjure up a large palace outside of Curston for the festival?" Driskoll asked his brother as they walked home after parting ways with Moyra.

"Yes," Kellach replied, "They do that every year. They hold a big party in the main room that could fit the whole of Curston in it with a lot of unnecessary rooms to make it look bigger. I don't know why that's so noteworthy."

"Well I heard that they added more rooms so young lovers can-"

"I don't know why everyone acts like the Festival of Emotions is just about love," Kellach cut him off quickly, "People generally have more emotions than just love. Joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust…"

"Embarrassment," Driskoll added, slyly. Kellach looked at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Come on, Kell," Driskoll said, chuckling, "You totally tensed up when you thought Moyra might be in love with you. You were paler than a ghost."

Kellach shook his head. "Moyra's not in love with me," he assured him, "But I do wish I could get this stupid ring off my finger. Why did Moyra have to put it on me anyway?" He pulled at the ring again, but it wouldn't budge.

Driskoll shrugged. "I thought it was kind of funny," he told him. Kellach glared at him.

"You were the one who brought it up," he growled, "If you hadn't it wouldn't have gotten so awkward."

As they approached their house, Kellach suddenly stopped, with an arm up to stop Driskoll. Puzzled, Driskoll looked past his brother to see what had caused him to stop.

And that's when he saw it. A strange, dark shadow slowly slithered on the ground out the front door. It didn't take any shape Driskoll recognized, and it didn't belong to a physical being. The shadow inched along the ground, then turned and suddenly rushed towards the brothers. Driskoll braced himself as the shadow raced underneath him. A powerful wind suddenly blasted them, nearly knocking them off their feet. Then it stopped as quickly as it had come. Driskoll gasped for breath.

"What was that?" he asked, tugging on his brother's arm.

Kellach was just getting his breath back. "Some sort of shadow," he replied, "But what was it doing in our house?"

"I don't know," Driskoll answered, a little shakily, "Why did it rush us like that? And where did that wind come from? Kellach?"

His brother shook his head. "I'm not sure," he muttered, "Maybe we should go see Zendric? He usually has the answers to things like this." With that, and without waiting for his brother's reply, Kellach turned on his heels and started striding down the street, towards Zendric's tower.

Driskoll sighed. "Can't we get through one week without something trying attack us?" he muttered. Then he hurried after his brother.

Ooh! Things are getting good! What's going to happen next? How should I know?

P.S. See if you can't spot the Pixar reference. ;p