Chapter I
As he stumbled down the rocky mountain pass towards the rising tower of smoke the cloaked wanderer finally felt some sense of hope. The smoke had been visible for hours, but the forest had seemed endless, the stark crags had been a welcome change of scenery. As the wanderer descended the rough track, a noise came from behind him. He turned to see someone detach themselves from the rock face and take a step toward him. From the black, stone-like body wreathed in flames it was obvious that the figure was a flamekin, one of an honourable and spiritual race.
"Who goes there?" The flamekin called.
"My name is Rihar Vaitor; I was travelling with a group of kithkin until... until last night..." replied the cloaked wanderer.
"What do you mean 'until last night'? What happened to them?"
"We were ambushed, by a group of eye-blight elves..."
"And what exactly happened to the elves?"
"I killed them" muttered Rihar, and as he did the flamekin saw his eyes flicker red, just for a moment, then they returned to a pale brown.
"I see... in that case I will escort you down to our village, where you will speak to our elder, and she will decide what is to be done with you"
"I thank you for your generosity" Rihar said, bowing to the flamekin. The burning figure led the way down the steep path, which descended towards the now visible cluster of houses below. As they passed through the village Rihar saw the flamekin going about their daily lives, seemingly oblivious to his presence. What he did not notice however, was that after he had passed they all turned and watched his progress through their home.
Eventually Rihar and his guide came to a large open building, made of a sand-coloured stone; it stood around 15 feet high, with an open wooden door, and simple wooden windows. The flamekin led the way inside, through a small entrance hall into a larger room. A plain stone table sat in the centre of the room, and behind it sat another flamekin, she looked slightly older then the guide, but guessing age is far more difficult with flamekin then kithkin. The flamekin who had met Rihar at the edge of the town stepped forward and bent to whisper something to the seated flamekin, who was presumably the elder he had mentioned earlier.
"Good day traveller, I am Ashling, elder of this village" said the flamekin calmly, "my son tells me you were ambushed by a group of elves, and you have lost your family..."
"Yes, that is correct elder, they were all slain..." replied Rihar, hardly betraying the sharp pain he felt in his heart.
"You have my condolences, and I promise you, our village will do whatever we can to help, but first I must ask one thing of you, lay your hands upon mine"
Rihar looked up, surprised, what kind of request was that, was it some kind of test?
"Do not worry, I will not burn you" Ashling said in the same calm voice.
Deciding it was best not to argue with a being made of flames Rihar stepped forward and laid his hands upon the flamekin's. As soon as he made contact he felt a warmth flow through his body, and with it a sense of... something... within him stirring. What felt like both an eternity and mere moments later Ashling pulled her hands from beneath his and looked at him with the same level gaze.
"It is as I suspected, your soul burns like that of a flamekin, yet I sense something else, a different kind of warmth, which reminds me more of the kithkin then my kind. Tell me Rihar, what exactly are you?" she asked.
"Elder, I am afraid I cannot answer your question, not because of any oath, or because of any ill-meaning, but simply because I do not know. Among the kithkin I was simply called a lonekin, as I am the only one of my kind any of them had ever seen or even heard of. That is a question I would dearly love to answer, and it is one of the reason's I left the village with my family to travel Lorwyn." Rihar replied.
"In that case Rihar Vaitor the lonekin, I offer you a place in our village for as long as you need it" Ashling said, smiling. Rihar took a step back out of surprise.
"That is indeed a generous offer Elder, we have only just met, but I must decline. I could not intrude on a family whom I've never met, nor could I take food and drink from your village."
"Do not worry, one of our residents recently left on her spirit journey, and we do not expect a warrior such as yourself to take for nothing, you will go out with our hunters to collect food, and as such earn yourself a place here. You do not realise it, but whilst you may not look like us, inside you are almost the same; so we will care for you as our own, until you too must leave on your spirit journey." Ashling explained.
"In that case I would foolhardy and rude to turn down such a kind offer, I thank you for this gift Ashling" Rihar said, bowing. His guide, Ashling's son, led him out of the hall and though the village to what was to be his new home.
I've got a vague idea where to head with this, hopefully I'll actually write the next chapter fairly quickly, instead of taking 2 months like this one . any suggestions are welcome and appreciated.