Even though I just did one with her, I'm putting this chapter in Moyra's POV. Got a problem with it? Too bad.
Anyway, here's your chapter.
CHAPTER 7
When Moyra woke the next morning, she found herself still pressed up against Kellach, who was still fast asleep and breathing peacefully. Moyra was glad that he seemed to be undisturbed by nightmares now, and she snuggled a little closer to him. The early morning light shown through the window, casting a soft light on Kellach's face. Moyra took a sharp breath and pressed her face into his robes. She silently reflected on last night, thinking about how close she had come to telling him. Telling him everything. But then the shadow had appeared and Kellach went into shock. Then Moyra thought. Had that been just chance? Or was something else working their powers?
Something compelled Moyra to look up from where she lay on the floor next to Kellach, and was surprised to see Driskoll staring down at her. She blinked at him as neither of them said anything.
"What are you doing lying next to my brother?" Driskoll wondered in a quiet voice as to not to wake Kellach.
Moyra felt herself blush, realizing how this must look to Driskoll. She tried to think of something to say, but then she decided to just tell the truth.
"Kellach was twitching in his sleep," she was whispered to him, "So I woke him up to comfort him. But then we saw the beast of shadows, and he… he seemed to have a panic attack or something. He went into total shock. So, I was just lying with him to calm him down. That's all." She looked away slightly. "Nothing happened."
Driskoll stared at her, concern showing in his eyes. "He went into shock?" he asked, "Like, trembling and rapid heartbeat and everything? But Kellach never has panic attacks! I mean, he's been paralyzed by fear before, but not like that!"
Moyra shook her head in confusion and clutched the front of Kellach's robes. He had never been paralyzed by fear before. That was odd enough. But she had been able to calm him down, just by staring into his eyes. Did that mean anything?
A few hours later the sun was higher in the sky and all three of them got out of bed. They had decided to visit Zendric today and see if he had learned anything new. So after finishing their breakfast, they hurried over to Zendric's tower.
"Ah! You three have excellent timing," Zendric told them when they arrived, "I was just about to call on you."
"Have you learned anything new about the beast of shadows?" Driskoll asked eagerly.
"Indeed I have," Zendric replied, letting them in, "I have not yet learned its weakness. But I have found some very important information that you three need to hear."
He waited until the three had settled themselves comfortably before speaking. "While doing my research, I learned a few things about what attracts the beast," he said, "It seems to be attracted to people with stronger emotions than others. Those who feel strongly for someone are more likely to make themselves a target to its evil schemes."
Moyra had to stop herself from gasping as Zendric continued. "I also learned that some people are immune to its influence," he told them, "The beast can never control them or their emotions. But, at the same time, those individuals are strongly affected by its evil and become paralyzed with fear in its presence. They start having a horrible panic attack; shaking with fear, breathing wildly, and trying to fight off anyone near them." Out of the corner of her eye, Moyra saw Kellach stiffen, and she herself felt her heart speed up. That's what happened to Kellach last night! "The only people who can calm such fear are ones who are very close to that person's heart. Only they can cut through the evil and restore peace to that person's mind."
No one said anything. Moyra could feel her heart race and she saw Kellach stare at the ground. It was Driskoll who spoke.
"Is there anything else?" he asked the old wizard. Zendric looked at him.
"There is," he replied, "I have also learned something very disturbing. The beast can change its form and disguise itself."
"Change its form?" Moyra repeated, "You mean like make itself look like someone else?"
"Indeed. But unlike other shape-shifters, the beast of shadows has one flaw that enables people to see through its disguise," Zendric explained, "While it is disguised, the beast will not have a shadow."
"So, if we see anyone without a shadow that means they're the beast?" Driskoll asked hopefully.
"It will not be as simple as that," the old wizard told them, "The beast of shadows is a very clever creature. It will know to avoid standing anywhere where a shadow would be noticeably missing. And during a time like this, with so many people bustling around Curston, no one's going to be paying attention to someone's shadow."
"Well, we can still try," Kellach muttered, speaking for the first time.
Zendric gave them a hard stare. "Now listen to me," he said, "All three of you. I know I said it before, but it bears repeating. Do not go looking for the shadow beast. It is very dangerous and will use your own emotions against you. You are not to search for it, understand?" All three of them nodded. "Good. Now leave me. I have more research to do."
The three of them left the tower feeling more confused and helpless than before. They started walking towards home, discussing what they should do.
"Maybe we're just not thinking about this in the right way," Kellach pondered, "I think we should-" But before he could finish his sentence, he let out a gasp, tripping over something, and falling to the ground. Moyra cried out and was instantly at his side, while Driskoll stared in surprise.
"Serilynne? What are you doing here?" Driskoll asked.
The little girl from before stood before them, smiling up at Driskoll. She stepped over Kellach, completely ignoring him and Moyra to stand in front of her crush. "Hi, Driskoll!" she greeted in her annoying high pitched voice, "I saw you going into the wizard's house and I decided to wait outside for you!"
While the girl screeched, Moyra took a moment to glance down at her feet. She was very disappointed when she saw that Serilynne had a shadow, which meant she wasn't the beast of shadows, which also meant she couldn't stick her with her dagger. She looked down at Kellach who was struggling to get up from the ground. Moyra crouched down next to him.
"Are you ok?" she asked him.
"I'm fine," Kellach muttered, clutching her for support.
"Why do you keep following me?" Driskoll said to the girl, struggling to keep his voice calm, "Don't you have anything better to do?"
Serilynne giggled in an annoying way that Moyra hated.
"So anyway," she said, ignoring Driskoll's questions, "I heard you talking to the wizard about a shadow beastie and I thought I could help you!"
Driskoll rolled his eyes and sighed, while Moyra helped Kellach to his feet. "That's really nice of you, Serilynne," he said, "But I don't think you could really help us at all. After all, the beast of shadows is very dangerous."
"But I know where it is!" Serilynne exclaimed, "I know where it lives! I've seen it! Every time it leaves your house, I follow it, and it keeps going to the castle outside of town! Even at night when no one is there! Creepy, huh?"
"You've seen it leave our house?" Driskoll asked, a little shocked, "You've been stalking me that long?"
But Kellach seemed unbothered by this information. "So the beast lives in the castle," he muttered to himself, "Interesting. I did think it was a little odd that the shadow suddenly appeared when the castle did."
"Do you think we should go find it?" Moyra asked him, "Maybe we should try searching the castle at night? That seems to be where the beast hangs out when it's done terrorizing people."
Kellach looked at her. "That's what I thinking," he said, rubbing his chin, "If we go investigate, we could catch it off guard."
"We're not actually thinking of doing this, are we?" Driskoll asked, surprised, "Can we really trust what this little girl says?" He paused to shake off Serilynne who had latched herself onto his leg.
"I don't see why she would have any reason to lie to us," Kellach reasoned, "Perhaps we should take it to a Silver Dragon vote? All in favor of searching the castle tonight?" Kellach, Moyra, and even Serilynne all raised their hands. Driskoll glared at them.
"Fine," he hissed, "We'll go into the ugly pink castle tonight."
As they started walking back home, saying a quick good bye to Serilynne, Moyra suddenly remembered something.
"I'll meet you boys back at the house," she told them, "I just remembered I promised my mom I would check on my dad today while she's at the market."
She bid farewell to her friends and quickly ran towards the healing ward. When Moyra got in to see Breddo, she was quite pleased to see him sitting up and looking around, and appeared to be quite well.
"Moyra!" Breddo exclaimed, "So good to see you, my girl! I was hoping you would come by!"
"Hi daddy," Moyra greeted, giving him an affectionate hug, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing well," he replied, "The clerics said I could go home tomorrow." He paused and looked at her. "So, Torin is really letting us stay with him?"
"Torin isn't all bad just because he's a watcher, dad," Moyra insisted, feeling a need to defend her friends' father, "He's willing to help out those less fortunate. Besides, I'm friends with his boys, there's no way he could reject us."
Breddo chuckled. "That's my girl," he laughed, "How are those boys, anyway?"
"They're fine," Moyra sighed, "They went out and bought mom more supplies for her knitting yesterday so she could sell her wares today."
"Oh! That was awfully nice of them," Breddo said, surprised. Moyra guessed that he had never had anyone show his family such overwhelming kindness before. He cleared his throat.
"So, your mother said she gave you your grandmother's promise ring," he said, "Do you have it with you? I would like to see it."
Moyra felt herself growing warmer and she looked away. "Um, no, I don't have it with me," she mumbled.
"What? Did you sell it or something?" Breddo wondered.
Moyra grew hotter. "No, I didn't sell it," she replied, refusing to look her father in the eye, "Er, Kellach has it now."
"Is he holding it for you?" Breddo asked, not getting it. Moyra shook her head. Suddenly, he got it. "Ah! You gave it to him! Ha! Well, I didn't expect you to choose your life partner so soon! You could have thought about it a little bit!"
"Kellach is my friend, dad!" Moyra grumbled, "He's not 'my life partner!' I put the ring on him as a joke, and, because he's my friend, it won't come off! That's all!" She felt herself blush. "There's nothing going on between us."
Breddo put up his hands, chuckling. "Now, now, my girl, calm down," he said, "I'm only teasing. I know those two boys are your friends. Don't worry, I won't tease ya while your around him."
"Thanks, dad," Moyra grunted.
…
When Moyra got back to Torin's house, she was careful not to make any noise, as she could hear Alexandra practicing in the kitchen with Kellach, and Driskoll was on the couch sharpening his sword. She decided to take the opportunity to freshen up, as she hadn't really gotten the chance since her house burned down. After a quick wash, she walked into the boys' room and was surprised to see a neat pile of clothes lying at the edge of Kellach's bed. There was a note attached to the pile. Curious, Moyra picked it up and read it.
Moyra, I know you probably don't have a lot of spare clothes since your house burned down, so while Driskoll and I were at the market, I bought you some new ones. There's also a dress in there if you ever want to actually dress fancy. Feel free to wear them or not. I won't be terribly offended if you don't want to. Enjoy. –Kellach
Moyra looked down at the pile, her heart swelling with joy. Kellach went out and bought all of these nice clothes just for her? She carefully removed her old clothes and tried on all the new ones, one after another. Moyra had no idea how Kellach knew her size, but they all fit her perfectly. And each outfit seemed to fit her personality perfectly. Then she picked up the dress. It was made of a soft warm material and was a brilliant violet color with wool embroidering the ends of the sleeves and bottom of the dress. Tiny diamonds were stitched into the sleeves in intricate patterns. It was the loveliest dress Moyra had ever seen. She put it on and admired herself. For the first time in a long while, she felt beautiful.
Suddenly the door opened and Moyra turned to see Kellach stepping into the room. When he saw her, he opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Moyra running over and throwing her arms around him. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, pulling him close in a warm hug.
"So I see you got my note," Kellach joked in a slightly choked voice.
"I love them, Kellach," Moyra told him, fighting back tears, "You're always so good to me."
"I just want you to be happy," Kellach said, quietly, "You deserve to have something nice to wear and have a bit happiness in your life."
Moyra had an overwhelming urge to kiss him right there, but she resisted it. She felt him fidget a little, but she didn't care. Why did he have to be so nice to her and make things more complicated?
"Moyra," she heard him say in a very quiet voice, "You look very beautiful."
Taking a sharp breath, Moyra nearly squeezed the life out of her friend. She only stopped when she heard him start to choke.
"Sorry," Moyra said shyly, blushing slightly.
"It's all right," Kellach said, regaining his breath, "I've got to stop doing nice things for you. You're going to crush me in half one of these days."
…
That night, when Torin and Royma had fallen asleep, Kellach, Driskoll, and Moyra snuck out of the house to go to the castle. Kellach hadn't taken more than two steps when he tripped and fell to the ground.
"Why does this always happen to me?" he cried out angrily as Serilynne freed herself from under his legs. Driskoll let out a sigh of annoyance.
"Serilynne, what are you doing here?" he asked, "You're not going to the castle with us."
"Yes, I am!" Serilynne replied happily, "You said I could!"
"I said no such thing!" Driskoll claimed.
"So you're the one who put these ridiculous ideas in my sister's head," said a familiar voice. Moyra inhaled sharply when Alexandra stepped out of the shadows. "I should've known."
"What are you doing here?" Moyra asked her, trying not to sound hostile. While she asked, she quickly helped Kellach to his feet.
"Serilynne is my little sister," Alexandra explained, "She told me she going out on a 'secret mission' or something, so I had to follow her and make sure she didn't do anything stupid." She glared over at Driskoll. "Figures it was you who convinced her to do it."
"I never told her to come with us!" Driskoll snapped at her.
"It's true, Alexandra," Kellach told her, "Serilynne has an infatuation for my brother, and I think she just wants to make sure he's ok."
"She didn't need to know that," Driskoll grumbled.
Alexandra turned to Kellach and her eyes softened. "All right, Kellach, if you say so." She turned to her little sister. "Come on, we should be getting home."
"No!" Serilynne refused stubbornly. She folded her arms in emphasis. Alexandra sighed and looked at Kellach.
"Would you mind terribly if we came with you?" she asked, "This one won't budge unless she gets her way."
"Actually," Driskoll started, a rejection already on his lips.
"No, we wouldn't mind," Kellach replied, talking over his brother, "It will be helpful to have extra eyes to find what we're looking for." He looked at Driskoll and Moyra, warning them to be silent.
Moyra clenched her teeth. "Yeah, we would love to have you with us," she hissed, trying to sound friendly.
The five of them quietly snuck through the town and out to the castle. Moyra was unsurprised that the giant doors were unlocked and unsecured in anyway. It was only a large castle filled with valuable décor and furniture, why should anyone feel a need to guard it?
The front room was almost completely dark, save for a few torches burning on the walls. Without any people or lighting, the room was quite unsettling to Moyra, but she refused to show any fear. They took a few steps forward and the doors suddenly closed behind them. Moyra heard Serilynne gasp.
"That was creepy!" she exclaimed, rather happily, "Do you think this castle is haunted?"
"I highly doubt that," Alexandra muttered, "The wind probably blew them shut."
They looked around the room for a moment and Moyra noticed something she hadn't noticed when there were a bunch of people there. A grand staircase in the back of the room led up to a new level that Moyra hadn't known existed. Curious, she walked over to the stairs and heard the others following her.
"I didn't realize these stairs were here before," she said, "I wonder where they lead?"
"Maybe we should split up," Driskoll suggested, "Two or three of us could go explore upstairs and the others look around on this floor."
"I think that's a sensible idea," Kellach replied, nodding, "Alexandra, would you-"
"I call Driskoll!" Serilynne exclaimed before Kellach could finish. She grabbed Driskoll's arm and started dragging him away.
"Oh no," Driskoll muttered as he was led away, "Please. Guys, help me."
"Bye, Driskoll," Moyra said simply as Driskoll groaned.
Once they were gone, Moyra, Kellach, and Alexandra turned and climbed the stairs. At the top there was a long dark hallway that led to many different rooms. They started walking down it and into the rooms. The first one was what appeared to be a dining room, and a very large one at that. A long table, long enough to seat at least fifty or more people stood in the middle surrounded by many unused chairs. What drew the eye, however, was not the table, but a large painting stretching the length of the room. It depicted some sort of horrible war going on, with people and orcs and other creatures slaying each other in a gruesome blood bath. Moyra felt like gagging looking at it.
"What a repulsive painting!" she commented hatefully, "Who would want to dine while that scene is hanging over them?"
"It does look like it would be more at home in a torture chamber than a dining room," Kellach agreed.
"We should move on," Alexandra suggested, "This room is unnerving."
Most of the rooms they explored looked to be private party rooms that people could rent out during the festival. They were all relatively the same, save for a few color or decoration differences. But then they came across a room that took Moyra by surprise.
It was an enormous bedroom, one that could easily fit a giant. The bed in the corner was large enough to comfortably fit an entire family and still leave room for each of them. Chairs and a couch were spread out in a semi circle around a low table that was stacked with papers of some kind. A long dresser stood against one wall and stretched the length of the room. A giant mirror and another painting (this one of two people embracing in way too much love) hung above it. Also, from where Moyra stood, she could see another door leading into some sort of indoor bath house. She couldn't see much from where she was, but she guessed that it was as large and impressive as this bedroom was. She took a step into the room.
"Why is this bedroom so huge?" she wondered, "You could fit a family of half-orcs in here! What is the point of this room?"
Looking at Kellach, he made a face that said he knew the answer to her question, but didn't want to say it out loud. Alexandra, however, looked smug.
"I know why this room is so big," she sneered, "I learned about it last year from this strangely dressed man."
"Please don't say it out loud," Kellach muttered.
They entered the room and started looking about, trying to find anything useful. As Moyra wandered over to the dresser, she looked up at the painting again. The couple in the painting was completely naked, and it made Moyra uncomfortable. She was about to turn away and not look at it anymore, but then she noticed something odd. A strange black shadow was rising up behind the man as he was embraced with his lover. Moyra cocked her head to one side. Was the shadow… moving? She gasped as it suddenly started to take form. She backed away slowly, unable to speak as the shadow pulled itself away from the painting. Moyra knew in an instant exactly what it was.
The beast of shadows.
It started to form into a hideous creature with a featureless head with only a wide grinning mouth, and beady red eyes. It had long sharp claws, and a long tail that reminded Moyra of a whip. It grinned evilly at Moyra, slowly slinking forward.
Finally, Moyra found her voice. "Kellach!" she screamed.
Kellach whipped around and saw the creature. Instead of panicking, he raised his arms in the air and muttered under his breath. A flash of light burst from his hands and struck the shadow square in the chest. Hissing, it stumbled backwards, and leaned against the dresser. It glared at Moyra and Kellach, and ignored Alexandra who stood frozen with fear.
"Cocky boy!" the beast hissed angrily, "You're dead!" It crouched down, preparing to leap, but before it could, a spear of light shot by Kellach went straight through it. Again, the beast flew backwards into the wall.
"Fine! I see I underestimated you! But that will not happen again!" The beast of shadows, still hissing, slowly sunk back into the wall. "Next time I see you, Kellach, I'll rip your heart out! And that goes for your friend and your brother! You're all doomed!" Then the shadow raced along the wall and flew out the door into the hallway before anyone could anything.
Moyra stood, breathing hard. She looked over at Kellach, who looked shocked that he had managed to fight the beast off. She went over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder while Alexandra quickly went to check the hallway.
"Are you all right?" she asked him.
Kellach slowly nodded. "I'm not sure how I was able to do that," he said slowly, "I mean, I was terrified, and I had a deep desire to run away or something. But when I saw you in danger, I knew I had to do something. I couldn't just freeze up or it would hurt you."
When he saw her in danger, he was able to act. Something stirred in Moyra, but she couldn't decide what it was. Could this encounter possibly hold the secret to defeating the beast? Zendric had said that a person paralyzed with fear could only be calmed by someone close to them. Perhaps those same people could prevent the fear in the first place?
Moyra shook her head, trying to think. She only hoped that Driskoll had discovered something important. Maybe something to confirm her theory.
And that's where I'll end it for now. Next chapter will be with Driskoll again. Until then, stay tuned. Peace!