A/N: Hey all! It's been a looooong time since I've uploaded a new chapter. v.v' I know, I know, I fail completely.
But, I'm not going to make any excuses, or anything; just know that I'm EXTREMELY sorry.
Also, I may only be uploading ch.7 right now, but as the actual story goes I'm about half way through typing ch.10.
Do you know what this means?
It means that the next few chapters will be uploaded close together! So look forward to it!^^
Special Note for Long Time Readers: As of yesterday, April 8th 2010, Chapters 5 and 6 were updated.
It was mostly the last couple paragraphs of ch.5 and the first few paragraphs of ch.6 I figured I'd let you guys know so that you won't be lost in the chapters to come! :D
Story:
Chapter 7: Mischief Makers
Sleep came easily for me, like most of always, especially since I had used a lot of energy. But this time, as I fell asleep, it felt like I had slipped into something more then just a sleep state. Everything felt extremely odd, and slightly ominous.
Dylan had explained to me that elves don't truly sleep. It's more of a half sleep; it allows you to rest, but you are still fully aware of your surroundings. For me, it was very similar. I could still sense when things happened around me unless I was to fall into a really deep sleep.
This was one of those times. It felt as though I was never going to wake up. Darkness surrounded me, leaving a pressure hanging over my body. For the first time in a long time I felt truly alone. I couldn't feel the presence of anything but the darkness, which wasn't living so it didn't really count.
Nyte's ever lasting presence wasn't even there. This concerned me greatly, but I couldn't do anything about it. This made me realize how use to Nyte's presence I was, made me realize how much I loved and adored his presence, and made me think that there was no way I'd be able to live without it, regardless of the fact that I went almost sixteen years without it.
Even though I was sleeping, I still had slight coherent thoughts. Sleeping like this frightened me. Being completely and utterly alone was not a happy feeling. This made me want to wake up, and even though I could think the thoughts, I couldn't make my body move at all, not even open my eyes.
Hours drifted by, and finally I was able to break free of the trance. When I opened my eyes I was sitting upright, hands across my sweat drenched face, breathing hard. That was weird. I breathed to myself as I slowly calmed my breathing and heart rate down.
"Kyra?! Are you okay?" Nyte blurted into my head, a frenzied panic in his voice.
"Yeah…I'm fine. Just slept weird. Why do you ask?"
"I couldn't sense you at all. It was like you didn't exist, even in the slightest! I can always sense you're being, even if we are too far away to connect. I don't think 'just slept weird' covers it." Now his voice was full of anger.
"What else am I supposed to say? All I know is that I slept rather weird." The light of morning was peaking through the musky window when I lifted my head out of my hands. Since I didn't want to go back to sleep I slowly stood up and walked around the room.
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine." I tried to stifle a yawn, but it didn't work as well as I wanted.
My simple footsteps and half-stifled yawn were enough to wake Dylan up. "Kyra?" He said with a yawn.
"Did I wake you? Sorry." I smiled lightly; glad to have my thoughts away from the weird night.
"You better be fine." Nyte whispered in my head before Dylan spoke again. "Oh, morning. Uh…" Then out of nowhere he jumped up to a standing position. "Today's the day I get to see Jak again!"
"Ha-ha. You seem rather cheerful considering you didn't want to talk about it just the other day." I smiled and grabbed my backpack. The first day in Dras-Leona while shopping I had gotten myself some extra clothing. I was using a nice pair of shorts and a plain t-shirt as pajamas.
"If you'd excuse me." I grinned as I went to the farthest corner of the room. Dylan knew that this meant that I was changing, and that he was not to look. Rather quickly I changed out of my pajamas and into real cloths. Once done I was wearing dark brown pants, a dark green shirt, fingerless gloves and my old ,tattered, blood stained, green cloak.
As I finished changing into actual cloths I moved back over to my stuff and packed up everything. "Are you ready to go?"
"No." Dylan muttered while trying to stuff something into his bag. I walked around him to see what he was trying to put in there. It was already stuffed to the top and then some.
"What all do you have in there?" I knew he went shopping, but this was a bit extreme.
"Uh…" He laughed somewhat nervously and continued stuffing things in his bag, "I bought some stuff for Jak as well. He's gonna need it."
"Okay," I kind of drew out the word, "But why so much that it won't even fit in your bag?"
Dylan smiled, "I guess I didn't think that it wouldn't fit in my bag when I bought it. How am I going to get all of this in here?"
Pulling my bag off my back I said, "I have plenty of room, sorta. Give me something to carry."
"You sure?" Dylan didn't give me time to answer as he tossed something black at me.
"Huh?" I caught it to find out that it was a rolled up blanket. The same kind as Dylan's and mines, but pure black. "Is this one for Jak?" I asked while moving stuff to make room for the blanket.
Dylan was busy shutting his bag so it took him a second to answer, "Huh? Oh, yeah. I think he will like it."
"You're probably right. So, let's go, kay?" I smiled and walked out the door, slinging my bag onto my back. As Dylan followed he almost forgot about his ears still looking like elves ears.
"Hey Dyl, there's something wrong with your ears." Nyte teased.
"Huh?" Dylan stopped for a second, "Oh yeah!" He ran his hands over the top of his ears and muttered something. When he removed his hands his ears looked like a humans again. "Thanks for reminding me Nyte. But, um, how'd you know?"
"It wasn't for you. If I didn't remind you, you would have blown both yours and Kyra's cover, and then I'd have to eat you, which in turn would upset Kyra as well as my stomach." Nyte was being stubborn, and in turn forgot to answer Dylan's question.
I laughed, "Your silly Nyte. Oh, Dylan, what is the word for fire in the ancient language?" I really wanted to know how Nyte knew that Dylan forgot to change his ears, since he couldn't have possibly seen it, but I was too busy thinking of other things to pursue the matter.I Hurried down the hall and went to the counter. "Sir?" I waited for the Inn keeper's response.
"Oh, if it isn't the yungin's. What ya' want?" The man seemed a bit preoccupied with a stack of papers that were on the counter in front of him.
"Here sir," I handed him the small silver key to our room. He gingerly held out his hand for me to drop it into, "Thank you for letting us stay, we will be on our way now."
"Huh? Ya's leavin' already? Guess ya' yungin's didn't 'cause no trouble. See ya'." He waved his hand, and then went back to concentrating on the stack of paper.
"Bye." I muttered and went to the front door, where Dylan was waiting for me.
"So, where exactly is the entrance that you have been using? And, fire is brisingr, why do you ask?" Dylan asked. We had decided back in the room that we would talk to each other through our minds on our walk so no one would over hear us.
"Just follow me and you will find out. Brisingr, eh? I just wanted to know, for I was thinking about how dangerous fire can be." I smiled and led the way through the streets, which were as crowded as ever today. It was going to be tough to escape later with all these people crowding the streets, but that was okay.
"What are you planning, knowing that fire is brisingr? You better not try any more magic." Dylan growled as we continued through the busy streets. I gave him an 'of course not' and we continued on our way. As we walked I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth; a peculiar habit of mine that was a sign of one of three things; nervousness, or, I was trying to rid the 'nasty taste of lying' out of my mouth, or both. In this case, it was both. Thankfully, neither Nyte nor Dylan knew any of the signs.
When we finally reached the palace John was waiting by the same gate as always. "Good morning John." I smile and waved as we got closer to him. John just nodded his head and smiled lightly. "This is the friend I told you about." I waved my right hand towards Dylan. "He will be keeping you company for a while, so please try to get along."
"Ah, hello." Dylan politely said, while reaching his hand out for a normal human handshake.
"Hello." John blandly said as he accepted Dylan's handshake.
"Seems like you two will be fine. I have to hurry, so, if you will, John?" John nodded and opened up the gate for me. As I walked through the gate both of the men behind me were silent, and if either one noticed that my legs were shaking neither said a word about it.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing? Can you actually pull this off?" Dylan sounded a bit worried, like Nyte had earlier this morning.
"Are you questioning my integrity?" I laughed inside of my head. Dylan was quiet after that. It was only a short few minutes before I was to reach Tamar's room, but every step sent nervous shocks up my legs. Maybe it was the fact that everyone was staring at me, or that I was going to get to really meet Jak, or maybe it was the fact that last night was the weirdest night I had ever had of sleeping. No, my nerves were racking up mostly because of the plans running through my head. One was simple, the other not quiet so, but would still work if the first did not.
"There you are. I was wondering when you were going to get here." Tamar said as I opened the door to his room. He was only a couple paces away, with an almost smug expression on his face. "I am ashamed that I won't be able to spend anymore time with you after this. But, I know that this must be done, and done quickly, for your safety. Now, you haven't really explained my role in today's adventure. What is it that I'm supposed to do?"
"Well sir," I stopped and tried to think of a way to word it without giving away too much of the plan. "Really, you get to open the cell, and after that, you just got to go with the flow. I promise, whatever I do end up doing, I have no intentions of actually hurting anyone. Maybe cause a little chaos, but no hurting. What I do is all well planned, so try not to panic too much when I do something."
"Hmm, so you really aren't going to give up any secrets, are you?" Tamar laughed then moved to pick up his ring of keys off his desk. "Then shall we go?"
"Let us be on our way." I smiled brightly, turned, and walked out the door I had only just entered moments ago. I held the door for Tamar, and he led the way down the hallway, through a left turn, and to the very end of the main hallway. The huge door on the right swung open when Tamar pulled on it, and after arming myself with a torch, we were on our way down the long flight of stairs.
Brisingr. The word whirled around in my head as I glanced at the light flame of the torch I was carrying. Fire is powerful, so one would have to use a lot of energy to make or manipulate fire with magic. One had to be strong, and I would be strong if need be.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the dungeon I took a deep breath to ready myself. I had to be prepared, fully aware and ready for things to go well. Tamar and I walked side by side up to the last cell, which had more of a door then any of the other cells. Swiftly, Tamar unlocked the cell door, but before opening it he leaned closer to me.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" His voice was in a very low whisper, "Is this the right thing to do? Are you willing to fully risk your life for this man? Have you thought everything through?"
"Yes." I breathed. Yes, this is what I wanted to do. This was important to me, I just knew it, even if I had no full knowledge as to why it was so important to me. But, I had to do this either way. I would not fail Dylan, not now.
Solemnly nodding, Tamar swung the door open and moved out of the way so that I could walk in. Jak was pressed against the far wall, taking up only a small amount of space on his cot. "I already told you people that I'm not gonna eat the shit you guys keep trying to feed to me!" Jak's voice was cold and hard, but his words made me almost want to laugh. Almost.
"Shhh." I whispered while slowly walking up to the bed. "Don't worry; I won't try to force you to eat anything." As my voice echoed against the hard wall's I realized that it almost did have an elfish ring to it; soft and sweet.
"So you did come back!" Jak half whispered. He pushed himself up to a full sitting position, seemingly struggling to do just that much. "Have you come to rescue me, or just to taunt me?"
"Rescue fair sir."
"That sounds more like a taunt." Jak mumbled, and faced towards the wall.
"I'm sorry. But, I am here to rescue you, just like I promised. And time is of the essence, so we must hurry." I passed the lit torch back to Tamar and moved so that I was sitting on the edge of the bed. As I grabbed the cuff and pulled it, along with his arm, closer to me, he gave me a stern look.
"What will you do to the cuff? You have no key. And even if you do somehow break it, how will we get out of here? I haven't eaten in ages, and have no energy of my own to be able to walk around with."
"I have a plan, don't worry." One deep breath and I wrapped my hands firmly around the cuff. "Jierda!" At the sound of my voice, and the firm thoughts in my head, the cuff around Jak's wrist broke into twelve small pieces and crumbled onto the bed.
"You! Who are you?!" Jak almost shouted; anger, irritation and surprise warped into his voice. "I can tell that this is one of your first time's actually using magic, yet you did so well." His shout aroused the attention of the other prisoners. They were starting to move about in their cells and look to see what was going on.
"There will be time to explain everything later. Now, tell me, what is 'give' in the ancient language? And don't play dumb with me, because I know you know what it is." I eyed Tamar nervously for a moment. Jak plus the breaking of the cuff equals a lot of noise, and I had a feeling that there was more to come, especially with the prisoners paying more attention. It wouldn't be long before people came down to see what was going on.
"Give? That is….taka…why? What are you doing? If you don't start explaining I won't cooperate with you." Jak yanked away from me slightly and started to rub his now free left wrist.
Sighing, I leaned closer and grabbed both of Jak's hands. He tried to pull away from me, but my grip was stronger then his was for he had been weakened by his prolonged stay in the dungeon. Closing my eyes I started channeling my energy to my hands, and started thinking the phrase 'give energy' over and over again. Dylan himself had said that you can say one word and make something different happen if you found the connection. I wasn't necessarily going to make something totally different happen, just add onto the one word.
Praying and hoping that it would work, I said the word aloud, "Taka!" Jak jumped back and yelled with surprise as my hands glowed and a small amount of my energy started flowing into him. I wasn't able to channel much, but it was enough to get Jak up and moving. When I let go of his hands and looked at his face, I half laughed at his wide eyed expression.
A few prisoners started banging on their bars as Jak and I stood up and made our way to the cell door. When some of the prisoners started to realize that we were rescuing Jak they began to yell out. "Save us!" "Take us with you!" "You can't take just him!" "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE" There were more and more cries for help called out as the seconds ticked by.
But just then, we heard running. The door at the tops of the stairs slammed open and people started shouting. "Tamar! Yell for help! And sit on the floor, quick!" Jak leaned against the open cell door as I let go of him and moved over to Tamar, who had quickly sat on the floor. As another person at the top of stairs shouted 'what's going on?' Tamar yelled, "HELP ME! HELP! A PRISONER IS ESCAPING!!!"
Pressing my hand to the top of his forehead I whispered, "Slytha" and quickly Tamar drifted off to sleep, dropping the torch on the ground and making it seem as though he was knocked out. Footsteps came thundering down the stairs as I moved back over to Jak who was struggling to stay standing.
Grabbing his hand, I was able to pull him the rest of the way out of the cell, balancing most of his weight on me. "Nyte, I may need some of your strength. Please help me." Just then four guards thundered into the small dungeon, torches in one hand and swords in the other. It sounded as though more guards were rushing down to help as well.
"My strength is yours, my little flower." Nyte replied, and with each word I could feel his strength and energy flowing into my body, filling my very bones with power. "Jierda!!" My shout filled the room, surprising everyone and making them all recoil away from me, even Jak. My left hand was extended outward, but the only things that broke were all the cell doors in the room.
That was fine by me, for that was what I was intending to do. Panic filled the guards' eyes as they realized that I had just used magic. The prisoners were shocked by this as well, but they got over it more quickly as they realized what I had done with the magic. Soon they were able to fumble their way out of their cells, and now there were multiple people between the guards and Jak and I.
"Great. Now what? This just made it harder for us to get out of here. There's just too many people in the way." Jak half whispered half panted into my ears. His breathing was heavy, but it seemed that the longer he stayed standing the more energy he got.
"No," My voice broke slightly, the drain of energy catching up to me. "This is perfect." Now, there was one more bit of magic I would have to use to get us out of the dungeon. It would probably take a lot of energy to move or create fire, but what if I was to just put the fire out? That couldn't take up that much energy, could it? "Brisingr."
This time my voice wasn't loud enough for everyone to hear, just enough for Jak and I, but the magic worked nonetheless. All the fire in the room, the torches, flickered then died out. "What the-?" One of the guards could be heard over the bustling of the escapees and other guards. "Damnit! We can't fight in this condition!" The spokesmen turned and fled up the stairs the best he could. Moments later more people rushed up the stairs and out of the dungeon.
My adjusted eyes saw that after a few short minutes even the prisoners were making their way up the stairs. When all that was left was Jak, the sleeping Tamar and I, we started to slowly make our way up the stairs, leaving Tamar behind. He would be asleep for a while, but he would be fine.
At the top of the stairs there were now six guards and thirteen escaped prisoners, not including Jak and myself. Now that we were out of the cramped space of the dungeon the guards were able to successfully defend themselves, or so it seemed to them. My footsteps were light and movements quick so I was able to take one of them by surprise. I let go of Jak's hand to grab one of the men, wrapping my arm around his neck and choking him. He was so surprised that he dropped his sword, making it so that Jak was able to grab it and stand his ground.
I slipped my dagger out of my pocket with my left hand and held it up to the man's neck. This kind of violent acting made me sick to the stomach, but I wasn't going to actually hurt the man, he was only a hostage to make the others listen.
"Drop your swords, or he will die." Jak's voice was stronger now, and more commanding. The other guards stopped their frantic movements to stop and see what Jak was talking about. He had the sword pointed at the guard I was holding, with a horribly ominous expression on his face.
"Let him go!" One of the guards called back, taking a step closer to us and grabbing onto his sword with both hands.
"We don't want to cause any harm. If you just do as we say no one will get hurt. If not, we will have no other choice." I spoke out, almost worried of what Jak would say. One wrong word from him and it could ruin my plan. "So drop your swords now and back away."
The guards glared for a moment then reluctantly set their swords on the floor. The escapees watched silently for a split second, then started to wander off down the hallway, seizing the opportunity to get away. "HEY!" One of the guards shouted, grabbed their sword and wheeled around to chase after the escaped prisoners.
Prisoners running now, the other guards gingerly picked up their swords and started chasing after them. "What a pity, that they value capturing those criminals more than they value your life." I sighed into the guard's ear. "Fine, this works just as well. Now, slytha." The guard wobbled, then fell onto the floor with a large crash as I let go of him.
Just then Jak wobbled and dropped to his knees, panting heavily again. It was obvious that the burst of energy was short lived. Slipping the dagger back into my pocket I dropped down and helped him up, keeping my right arm around his waist and taking the sword from him and wielding it in my left hand. Reluctantly he draped his left arm across my shoulders to help him stand, even though he was a few inches taller then me. He also let his "human" appearance drop and his elfin ears show.
As the steps of the guards faded into the distance more shouts and running could be heard coming towards us. Obviously there were reinforcements heading our way, probably alerted by the sounds of the previous guard's shouts. Stumbling around one corner we found ourselves facing the array of guards that were coming our way. "Brisingr!" I shouted, and the walls around us caught on fire, small at first then spreading rapidly of its own free will. As the guards panicked over the fire, we were able to quickly slip by and run for the door that I liked to use as an entrance/exit.
As we burst through the door we were followed by a frenzy of guards and a blaze of fire. Not paying attention to the shouts behind us, I stumbled as quickly as I could over to the gate where Dylan and John were waiting for us. I could see both of their bodies stiffen as they saw the scene before them: a young girl wielding a sword in one hand, an elf boy limply holding onto her, and behind them were guards running in crazed circles with a wall of fire beyond that.
"Dylan! As to not make John seem suspicious put him to sleep, steal his keys, and open the gate for us!" Even through my thoughts my words were slightly broken. I could sense that Dylan was worried about me, but he didn't say anything and turned to John.
"What the-?" I was able to hear John start to ask just as Dylan started to put him to sleep. Swiftly he pulled the keys out of John's pocket and unlocked the gate. When we reached him, without a single word being spoken, he moved to the other side of Jak and placed Jak's right arm across his shoulders and wrapped his own left arm around Jaks waist, just above where my arm was. Jak's eyes closed and all his weight was placed on us.
The other guards that were placed around the perimeter of the palace came running to stop us. I had never wielded a real sword before but that did not stop me from clashing swords with the first guard to cross our path. "Böetq brisingr!" Dylan shouted and we were abruptly engulfed in flames.
Or, that is what it looked like. We were completely surrounded by vast flames, but none of them touched us. "Hurry!" Dylan shouted, moving a step forward. Even though my mind hesitated my body moved forward in unison with Dylan's. As we moved forward so did the fire, keeping basically a force field around us so that no one could get close to us.
As we got closer to the crowds of people the fire was able to reach some of the buildings, catching them and other random things on fire. At first the guards tried to follow us, but soon they found that pointless because of the fire. Realizing that their homes were burning down, the guards and the people in the crowds tried their best to ignore us and went to put out the fires.
By the time we reached the nearest exit the gates were completely abandoned, there weren't even people traveling into the city. As we ran out of the city Dylan let go of the fire, leaving it just inside of the city walls. Under his breath Dylan whispered something in the ancient language and the gate behind us slammed shut. It didn't seem as though anyone was going to follow us though, seeing as the city was in a panic.
Smoke billowed out of the city while we ran across the fields and over the top of a hill. As soon as we reached the bottom of the hill and were out of sight of the city we tumbled and landed in a small patch of grass. "Are you guys okay?" I managed to ask after a few minutes passed by. When no answer came I pushed my self upright to see Dylan sitting there, leaning against a tree, and Jak still passed out on the ground.
"The question is, are you okay, Kyra? I'm surprised you can move after using all that magic." Dylan panted slightly.
"I'll be fine. What about Jak?" I looked down at Jak, really looking at him for the first time. His ears were as pointed as Dylan's, now that he didn't have then disguised. when he didn't have them disguised. And, actually, he looked a lot like Dylan. His hair was the same bright red as Dylans, but it was spikier. Even their facial features were similar. Was this just because they were both elves of similar age?
"I'm not sure. Can you try waking him up?" Dylan's voice was still heavy with exhaustion.
Nodding, I leaned down and placed my hand on Jak's shoulder. "Jak? Jak, wake up." When Jak didn't move I pulled him up into a sitting position. Still nothing but his steady breathing came.
"Hey, Nyte. Mind coming this away? I can tell that you're close by. And I can tell you're angry at me, for what I did in the palace, so you don't have to respond if you don't want to. At least come by here, okay? I miss you so much."
"Jak?" I was starting to worry about Jak, and knowing that Nyte was angry with me saddened me. As a last resort thing to get Jak to wake up, I pulled him and myself up until we were both standing; the effort left me breathless though.
Jak's eyes then flickered open to reveal bright green, glassy eyes. "Get the hell away from me!" Jak growled, and used all his force to shove me away from him. Losing my balance I fell to the ground with a hard 'thump'. "I cooperated with you just so I could get out. Now that I'm free, I want nothing to do with you, so keep your hands off of me, dirty mortal."
"JAK!" Dylan growled and leaped off the ground and kneeled next to me, but I was too stunned to say or do anything. My head whirled with confusion, and my body ached from the day's adventure. Jak's behavior was so wild, and his mood seemed to change almost instantly, from one moment to the next, like it was nothing. "She save's your life and this is how you repay her?"
"Dylan…" Jak sighed, wobbling slightly. His face had softened when he saw Dylan, but as soon as he looked down at me he grew angry again. "She may have saved me from imprisonment, but that is no reason for me to trust her. She is a filthy mortal whom disgraces our kind by using improper magic. Someone like her is liable to turn on us and kill us at any moment. It is best we get rid of her now. Now move away from her, I am unwilling to trust her, or anyone else! Besides, you are a fool for attempting to rescue me. I know full well that the Varden wasn't going to send anyone to save me. On your own free will you came to save me, against the Vardens direct orders."
Swiftly Jak bent down and grabbed the sword that I had dropped when we first tumbled to a stop here. Ignoring that Dylan hadn't moved a muscle, he pointed the tip of the sword at my neck, holding it just an inch away from me. "What else could I do, Jak? I had to save you. You are the most important thing to me."
I stared quietly into Jak's green eyes. They were also crystalline, much like my own and Dylan's, they were just a light, bright green instead of blue. The eyes were bright, but they were weary. I could see the pain in his eyes, the pain that ran all the way to the core of his being. He has been badly hurt, and betrayed, I could tell that much. The expression that was on his face caused the ghostly image of Jason to pop into my head again. I grimaced at the image, and tried to shake it away.
"And you are the most important thing to me as well. I couldn't bare the thought of you coming to rescue me just so you'd end up getting captured yourself, or worse. That is why I told the Varden if I were ever caught for them to never let you try to rescue me. You are a fool. Now move away from the girl, she is the enemy!"
My head was swimming with confusion now that I got the image out of my head, and I tried to focus on the conversation at hand. Dylan had disobeyed direct orders from the Varden to save Jak? Dylan had said that it was his mission to save Jak. Still confused, I looked up at Jak again, avoiding his eyes this time, who was still holding the sword to my throat. "I mean no harm." Was all that I could think to say; my thoughts were too muddled for anything else, muddled from the conversation and the odd pain the was now seeping into my body.
"Jak! She is not the enemy! Being in that dungeon messed with your mind, it was a horrible place, but you are disoriented and you need to stand down!" Just then an ear splitting roar resounded through the air, causing both Dylan and Jak to tremble. Jak turned his head to see Nyte soar over the top of the hill and land a few feet away from us. Nyte's wings folded in around his body, and lips curled back over his teeth as he leaned forward, arched his back, and growled fiercely at Jak.
"Dylan, the egg hatched? Amazing." Jak whispered to Dylan. Another growl emitted from Nyte as Jak continued to point the sword at me. "Dragon," Jak's voice was louder now, so that Nyte could here, "I mean you no harm."
"Do not say such a thing to me foolish elf, while you point your sword at my rider!" Nyte's voice filled my head, and by the expression on Dylan and Jak's faces, it filled theirs as well.
"Your rider?" Jak slowly turned his head away from Nyte to look to where his sword was pointing at, as though he had no idea where it was pointing to. He gasped slightly as he realized that Nyte was talking about me. "Her? She is your rider?"
"Of course." Nyte growled again, "Touch her again and I will not hesitate to tear you limb from limb. Put your sword down, now!"
"Jak, I'd listen to him. He's dead serious right now." Dylan warned Jak.
Jak's face filled with anger yet again, but he did as Nyte said and placed the sword on the ground. He also backed a few feet away from Dylan and me once he was done. "No wonder why you could use magic."
With Nyte's permission, Dylan helped me to stand up, which was a lot harder then is should have been, and I moved to lean against Nyte. "Jak…even if I were no drag-on rider, I would…still be ab-le to use magic. I'm no mere…hu-man." The more I spoke the more my head pounded with pain, and the more my words and sentences broke apart and became mangled. I had used so much energy that my body couldn't handle me standing for much longer. The pain in my body, that I now realized originated from my arm, seemed to increase at least ten fold.
"How could you not be a mere human? You are no elf." Jak growled, and in turn Nyte growled again. That just made Jak turn his body away from us.
"Jak, you haven't given me a chance to explain who she is." Dylan walked over to Jak, but kept a few paces between them. "She is Kyra, daughter of Aiedail."
"What?" Jak quickly whirled around, looking as though his eyes were going to pop out of his head. "Aiedail's daughter?! No wonder why she's a dragon rider. Part elf and daughter of a dragon rider, it makes sense now! Though, this does not mean she is completely off the hook. I will not fully trust someone born outside of our ancient home until they prove themselves."
"Th-en prove my-self I shall…" When I spoke, my voice sounded far away, instead of close like it was. My vision started to blur, and my head pounded worse. I looked down at my right arm to see that it was now covered in blood, indicating that the wound was bleeding profusely now. I looked back at Dylan and Jak, slightly mesmerized by the look on Jak's face. The pain still showed so clearly in his eyes, even though my vision was slipping.
"Kyra, are you okay? You feel very weak…and the pain in your arm is getting worse by the minute." Nyte's voice also felt distant, even though it was right inside my head. I tried to respond to Nyte's words, but for some reason I could no longer form coherent thoughts inside of my head.
Slowly I started sliding to the ground, and my vision failed me. There was a soft thump as I hit the ground for the third time today. The last thing I remember before everything completely faded away was Dylan calling out my name. Or was it Jak?
- - - - -
The darkness pressed on me yet again. My body felt heavy, but other then that I could feel nothing. Nothing at all. I was utterly alone, yet fully aware, and still asleep all the same. There was no dream to accompany my sleep, but neither was there the normal rest and unconsciousness of sleep.
It was the same unsightly dream state that I was in the night before. The utter loneliness of it made me feel as though I wasn't even alive anymore. Well, maybe I wasn't? I couldn't hear a single thing, my breathing nor my heart beat, and I couldn't even actually feel my body. All that was there was the unending darkness and the weird pressure that hung over me.
It seemed like an eternity had passed by, and still there was nothing. Even my thoughts started to die down as my hope of ever waking weakened. What other choice did I have? What could I do when there was nothing to do but think? Try to reach out to someone…I tried that already. My thoughts wouldn't go beyond the walls of my own mind.
Still more time passed in the emptiness of the unreal sleep state. Just as I was about to give up on thinking all together something changed. Slowly but surely I was able to hear my heart start beating again, as though it had actually stopped in the first place. Next I could feel air flowing in and out of my lunges, and my chest moving up and down in a slow steady rhythm. Then a rush or warm air whipped across my face and made my hair flow with it. Lastly, I was able to twitch my eyelids until they fully opened, reveling a bright blue sky overhead.
It was a relief to see something other then the empty darkness, and even more of a relief knowing that I was still alive. Done with savoring the beauty of the blue sky, I rolled my head to the right, where I could feel a source of heat coming from that general direction. My eyes widened to see a fire just a few feet away and two hooded figures sitting side by side in front of it.
"Dyl-lan?" My voice cracked as I called out to my friend. "Nyte?" As I tried to contact Nyte, my head began to pound again.
"Kyra!" Dylan, the closest person to me, spun around and came to my side. "You're awake! How do you feel?" Jak also came to my side, but he wasn't as energetic as Dylan, nor did he come as close as Dylan. Instead he looked concerned, and almost ashamed.
"I am here, my little flower. I am so glad you have awakened. I was so worried about you." Nyte made a low hurring sound, which showed that he was on my other side.
"I feel as though I've been drifting in a vat of nothingness for a few weeks. My head is pounding, my bones ach, and my arm feels as though it is on fire. How long was I asleep?" "Nyte, it is so good to hear from you." A faint smile touched my lips when I spoke to Nyte. He had no idea how badly I wanted to hear his voice while I was stuck asleep.
"Well, it's been about a week and a half since you fainted. We were so worried about you." Dylan moved to help me to sit up, and let me lean against him.
"A week and a half?!" I took the time to look around, and noticed that we weren't in the same area as where I fainted. In fact, nothing looked familiar. All I could see was lots of sand and dirt, mostly flat, but some mounds and holes in the vast plain. "Where are we?"
Jak spoke this time, his voice quiet and seemingly torn, "In the Hadarac desert, just a short ways past the Ramr River. We couldn't afford to stay close to Dras-Leona, and we have to get to Du Weldenvarden as quickly as we can. It's a good thing that you're not very heavy; Dylan and I took turns carrying you. We made good progress nonetheless, and now that you're awake we can probably make it to Ellesméra within a week."
"Whoa." My head spun with slight confusion as I tried to comprehend all that Jak had said, "I guess you filled him in on some things while I was asleep, huh?" A slight ting of embarrassment flashed through me at the thought of both Dylan and Jak carrying me whilst I was unconscious.
Dylan's laughter shook my body slightly, "Yeah. Jak carried you most of the time; he felt pretty bad about everything, you know." There was a slight pause as I caught Jak swiftly elbowing Dylan in the stomach.
There was a slight cough on Dylans part before he continued, "I pretty much told him everything. You're probably a little confused now, so let me explain. Jak and I decided that it is for the best to get you and ourselves back to Du Weldenvarden as quickly as possible. We will be safe there, and it will give you the chance to actually train as a dragon rider. We will also probably be able to find someone that can cure the wound on your arm."
"Speaking of which," Jak cut into Dylan's speech, "We think we know why it was bleeding so bad just before you passed out. It's because you used magic. Murtagh must have cast a powerful spell on it somehow, that causes it to become more of a problem when someone uses magic on it, or if the wearer of the wound uses magic. From now on until we remove whatever spell is cast on the wound you are not to use magic."
"Not use magic? I only just learned how to use magic! It's not fair to tell me that I can't use magic." I pouted slightly.
"Kyra," Dylan sighed, "This is for your own good. Do you want to pass out like this again?"
"Right…" I mimicked Dylan's sigh, and looked over towards Nyte, who had one of his eyes looking straight at me. Pushing off of Dylan I moved over to lean against Nyte, completely ignoring the two elf boys in front of me. "I missed you so much. Even though I was here physically, I was not mentally. What was it like without me?"
"It was very lonely, little flower. I missed you too. And, I must agree with Dylan and Jak. No more magic until this problem is fixed. I wish for you to not disappear like that again. I love you too much."
"Awe, I love you too, friend of my heart. For you, I will listen and obey, and not use magic."
"Friend of my heart? I like that." I could feel the happiness radiating off of Nyte. He started humming softly. I snuggled closer to him, happy to feel his presence. "Jak and Dylan created a saddle for me, so, in a short while, you shall ride me for the first time. You will be a real dragon rider."
"Ride you? That sounds fun. We will truly be dragon and rider. Two yet one. Tell me, what is it like, soaring high in the sky, being so free?"
"It is like nothing you can imagine little flower. It is too much for words, so you will have to wait and see. As soon as I get a little more rest and Dylan and Jak pack up everything, we will be on our way."
"Then let me rest with you, for rest I still need. Sleep well, Nyte."
"Sleep well, my little flower."
End of Chapter 7! ((Up next: Chapter 8: Running with the elves.))