Holy crap, I haven't been updating for almost two months! And it's already 2017!
Sorry again for the wait, again. I was stuck between some dialogue and didn't know how to continue it or what to add in as they were unrealistic and weird, so I had to delay it a little longer. Writer's block. Also, I wanted to have fun as long as I could during my holidays, so there's that too. Sorry.
Solovet showed me the back of her hand, ordering me to wait. I was about to lash out but luckily stopped myself. Even though I had the reputation of the Warrior, I was still a soldier; I had to listen to the general. So, I shut my mouth in irritation and tried to figure out who the 'sister' was as she spoke.
Her eyebrows shot up. "She is a scent seer?"
"Yes, her sense of smell is so unnaturally heightened she can even detect color. She is one in a million. An anomaly. A fluke. A pariah because her own species finds her gift so disquieting. But very, very useful, I think, to you, my dear Solovet," said Ripred.
"She is not a bad fighter, either. If she has survived alone in the Dead Land." For the first time, Solovet smiled. "Can you stay to dine, Ripred?"
"I can be persuaded," said Ripred. "Have them make the thing with shrimp, won't you? And no skimping on the cream."
"No skimping on the cream," agreed Solovet.
"And give Twitchtip plenty of food, but make it bland. Handle it as little as possible. Your scent is repulsive to her," said Ripred.
Solovet gave orders for Twitchtip to be taken to a remote cave outside Regalia, where the city's smells wouldn't be so torturous to her. But before she left, our eyes met for a split second.
She finally turned to me. "What did you want to ask, Ryan?"
"That rat mentioned 'the girl's sister'. It's Lizzie's sister, isn't it?"
"Yes. What of it?"
"Why are they even here? I thought they were done."
She cocked her head in confusion. "Did Vikus not tell you?"
I sighed. "No, he didn't." I put the pieces together. "There's another prophecy, isn't there? Why wasn't I informed about this?"
"Did you not want to only fight my soldiers?"
I peeled my eyes off of her in embarrassment. It was true. I did say that.
Luckily, she didn't push it and changed the topic. "I hear you made quite a stir at the arena today."
I merely nodded.
"He hit the total," Solovet said to Ripred.
"Did he?" Ripred said, surveying me with interest. Suddenly, his tail came up out of nowhere and sliced at me. There was a buzz, then my hand shot up and swiftly grabbed his tail, clenching it.
"Well, you can't teach that," Ripred said, slipping his tail out of my grasp as I silently cursed myself for not controlling my rager once again.
"You reek of blood," he said as he passed me.
Did he know?
I was told by Solovet to get Lizzie and Boots to the diner. Ripred then went off to the palace with her through some secret passage to avoid causing a panic in the city, while Ares flew me back into the armory. Even after staying in the Underland for who knows how long, I still didn't know much about the city. It was always eat, fight, sleep, repeat. Occasionally, though, when there weren't that many soldiers to fight, I would stroll around.
After removing my armor, we went to the High Hall, where the guards greeted me. Only me.
I could fix that.
I gave them a cold, hard stare and pointed to my bond. There was a moment of discomfort, then they greeted Ares as well. I smiled triumphantly, satisfied.
Once out of range of the guards, Ares blurted out. "You did not have to do that."
"I had to. I've seen the faces of others when your back is turned. They hate you, Ares."
"I have always been hated," he said, almost sarcastically.
"I know." I laid down and stroked his fur. "But we can change that, can't we? I can make them respect you. You will never be hated anymore."
That wasn't the complete truth. There would always be underlying anger whenever you try to take away the hatred of others. It had been proven time and time again in human history. But still, I had to try. Forcefully, if I have to.
He became quiet for a while. "Thank you, Ryan. But ... I do not want to trouble you with my problems. I will solve them by my own."
I nodded, understanding but a little saddened that he had rejected my offer. "But if you ever needed help, feel free to ask me."
"I will."
I quietly exhaled a sigh of relief. Good. That means that it wasn't completely rejected yet. There is still that possibility.
He had saved my life. I will repay that debt with my own. That was the rule I made for myself.
Once in the bath, I scrubbed and scrubbed at the fake blood, but it still left a stain on my skin. I finally gave up, hoping it would wear off before I went for another journey for the new prophecy. I didn't want to show any weaknesses.
When I was done and got out of the bathroom, the first thing I noticed was the lack of people. There was no sight of the usual guards, only a lone Underlander leaning against the wall; her eyes closed.
I instinctively went to grab my daggers. But before I did, I heard a chuckle. Faint, but noticeable. Using echolocation, I 'saw' group of female Underlanders hiding behind a pillar, whispering away.
So that's what's going on. I sighed in relief and relaxed. I seriously thought that it was an assassination attempt.
I stared at the sleeping Underlander. I recognized her. She was the servant who brought me food in my room. What was her name again?
She was breathing mildly, proving that she wasn't faking her sleep. She looked so vulnerable, so innocent, so ... attractive?
I immediately stopped that train of thought. No, no, no. Control your damn hormones. You are the Warrior, not a playboy. You do not do romance.
It wasn't the first time I saw a helpless person, yet why did I feel that way? Was it the frustration?
I forced myself to think of other things about her. Was she another admirer, or did her friends force her to approach me? I really hoped that it was the latter. I had way too many of them (some were, admittedly, beautiful but I managed to control my urges) coming up to me and asking me out. They were all wasting my time. I didn't say that to them, obviously.
I sighed again. I didn't want to expose the group, as that would waste time, and I needed to know answers to my questions. Might as well play their game.
"Hey," I said, making sure I was tapping her shoulder and not her neck.
She instantly awoke and quickly tidied her hair and clothes.
"O-Oh! Greetings, Warrior!" She stood up and bowed deeply. "I am she called Ella. How may I be of service?" While she was speaking, she was fidgeting and blushing, probably embarrassed and nervous.
I spared her the trouble by not asking her what she was doing here and went straight to the point. "Do you know where Lizzie and Boots are?"
It took her a while to tell me. "Lizzie is in the prophecy room, and Boots is in the nursery."
I should've known. "Where's the prophecy room, then?"
She gave me the directions while I nodded, memorizing the way. According to her, the prophecy room was nearer, so I had to get Lizzie then Boots, which was originally my intention. When she was done, she clearly had something else to say but was hesitant. I patiently waited for her to speak.
"Warrior?"
"Yes?"
She shifted her feet. "Will... will you accept my gift?" She slowly took out something from her pocket and presented it to me. It was a thick iron bracelet, with a loose design of my usual daggers and her name carved into it. I kindly accepted it and put it on. It fitted me quite nicely and would be a great asset for defensive purposes. The Queen had it, so why couldn't I?
"Thank you, but I have to go now. The prophecy room is this way, right?" I purposely asked, pointing to the direction she gave me.
"Yes!" she said with a beaming smile.
I turned around and left her, and her friends soon after, who were firing her with questions excitedly.
When I was reaching the room, the door was left ajar with light emitting from it, indicating that someone was in there. I went in, and there Lizzie was, reading scrolls in fascination and eagerness. Typical of her.
She hadn't noticed that I was here. Using that advantage, I sneaked behind her and swiftly snatched the scroll she was focusing on.
"Hey!"
I read it aloud. "On soft feet, by none detected. Dealing death, by most rejected. Killed by claw, since resurrected. Marked by X, two lines connected. Finally, they intersected. Two lines met, one unexpected." I looked at her. "Sounds like someone completely opposite to this 'peacemaker'."
She smirked. "Sounds like you."
I tossed the scroll back to her. "Nah, I won't die by a rat. Besides, I'm not peacekeeper material." She was still smiling, looking almost sorry for me. "What are you so happy about?"
"Oh, nothing. You just remind me of someone." She went back to her scrolls. We both knew who she meant.
I folded my arms. "I'm supposed to get you to the dining room, but I'll disobey orders for a while." I paused. "So, what's the situation up there?"
Her smile vanished. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I said, using reverse psychology. I actually was curious about it.
She shook her head. "It's okay. You'd want to know anyway." Taking a deep breath, she spilled her story.
Apparently, after her ... losses, her neighbor, started to be the motherly figure for both Lizzie and Boots, frequently staying with them. The neighbor was named Mrs. Cormaci. She was a widow without children but was pretty good at taking care of them. I guessed that she had babysat before. The next day after Lizzie and Boots went to the Underland and came back with their dad, she was surprisingly serene and calmly asked them what had happened. Boots was sleeping, and her father was too sick to speak at that time, so Lizzie had to tell her everything. Mrs. Cormaci was in disbelief for a while before Lizzie gave her a tour of the laundry room gateway. Since then, she had been very interested in it and wanted to visit, but couldn't as she had to take care of both her dad and grandma.
"So why are you here then? Give me the full thing." I asked.
She drank a few gulps of water from a bottle before continuing. "The roaches tried to take Boots away. They said they had to protect the princess or something. When I called Mrs. Cormaci to tell her about it, they had already left. She told me to follow them quickly. Dad insisted on going, but Mrs. Cormaci convinced him that I would be fine."
"A roach was waiting for me inside. We rode to the palace while I asked it questions. To summarize, there was a prophecy about Boots' life in danger, called the Prophecy of Bane."
Bane... So that's what they were talking about.
Lizzie slotted the torch she had been using into a particular holder, and the light illuminated carved writing. Beside it was the Prophecy of Gray. So this must be it: the Prophecy of Bane.
If Under fell, if Over leaped,
If life was death, if death life reaped.
Something rises from the gloom
To make the Underland a tomb.
Hear it scratching down below,
Rat of long-forgotten snow,
Evil cloaked in coat of white
Will the warrior drain your light?
What could turn the warrior weak?
What do burning gnawers seek?
Just a barely speaking pup
Who holds the land of Under up.
Die the baby, die his heart,
Die his most essential part.
Die the peace that rules the hour.
Gnawers have their key to power.
"So it's this white rat I have to kill, and this 'pup' is supposed to kill me. That's it!?"
"Well, essentially, yes. But the pup can't be Boots. Look at this: 'Just a barely speaking pup, who holds the land of Under up.' Boots can't speak much, but she's not someone who would 'hold the land of Under up'. I tried telling Vikus, but he dismissed it, saying that 'the land of Under' can mean the roaches' land since they are the species with the most amount of land."
"Did Vikus tell you anything else about the white rat?" I asked, only caring about this supposed threat that I had to 'drain it's light' from.
"He said that it was pretty big, almost twice as big as Ripred, and that it was cunning and powerful."
I imagined it with Lizzie's details along with the ones I made up. A gigantic creature with massive claws, smiling menacingly and looking down at me. I smiled too, shivering in excitement. It would be one hell of an opponent.
"Listen, Lizzie. Let's just tell him that we believe him, and that Boots is this so called pup."
"Why would you lie to him?"
"It's not a lie. It's a satisfying answer, to him, at least. I can go on this journey and see the rat for myself. Who knows, I might even bring its corpse back."
She put her hands on her hips. "Is everything all about you?"
"Yes, actually. Everything is all about me. I'm the Warrior here. Didn't you know that?"
"Then I'm coming with you."
"Why? You're not even mentioned in the prophecy."
She smirked. "Not yet."
I eyed at her suspiciously. "What do you know?"
Her smirk grew wider, turning it to a full grown cocky grin. "I know a lot of things that you don't here. And if you want to know, I have to come with you."
I had a staring competition with her for a while before breaking it off with a sigh. "Fine. Whatever. Just don't get in my way. Let's just go already." I said, waving her over.
She giggled, almost as if she had planned it, and walked towards the nursery with me.
While doing so, I asked her a question that had been bugging me for quite some time. "How long have you been staying in the Underland?"
She shrugged. "One or two days."
No wonder she could collect that much information.
Once in the nursery, the first person we saw in it was Dulcet, the one who took care of Boots.
"How's she been doing?" asked Lizzie.
"Oh, Boots has had a very good day. I think it has been somewhat trying for Temp, though," said Dulcet, nodding toward a corner.
A crawler was being decked out in dress-up clothes by a group of little kids. Each of its insect legs wore a different kind of shoe. Its head poked out of a long purple gown that bunched up around his neck. Pink ribbons festooned its drooping antennas. Boots plunked a fuzzy hat on its head, and the kids jumped up and down, squealing in delight.
"Temp have hat! Temp have hat!" she beamed at Lizzie as she came up to get her.
"Ohhh," Temp said mournfully. "Ohhh."
"He sure does," Lizzie said, trying to stifle her laughter. "But now it's time for dinner, Boots." She began to untangle the poor insect from the clothes. It had probably going on for hours.
Unlike in the nursery, dinner had a grim aura surrounding it. It was a reunion for those who had gone to the Prophecy of Gray. Or, at least, those who had survived the journey and came back. Those who had died were the spinners Gox and Treflex; the crawler Tick; the Underlander Henry, and Gorger and his rats. Of the eight that lived, only Lizzie's father was missing. We were all here, with Vikus and Solovet presiding over the table.
Everyone ate in silence. Well, except Boots. She ran around the room, playing catch with Temp. Lizzie tried to stop her, but ultimately gave up.
Ripred started the conversation. "Really, Vikus, did you think we were going to swap war stories?"
"I thought it might be healing," said Vikus. "That it might help some accept their losses."
At that, the Queen sprang up, kicking her chair back onto the floor behind her. She and Aurora were gone in seconds.
Ares pleaded me with his eyes. I nodded to him. He flew out of the room, trying to chase the duo.
"And it's working beautifully," said Ripred. "Ah, well, more for me." He hooked his paw around a huge serving dish of shrimp in cream sauce and pulled it in front of him. He stuck his entire face in the dish and sucked it down. This distracted Boots, who was so fascinated by his eating methods that she dipped her own face in her plate to imitate him.
"Mm," Ripred said dreamily as he pulled his dripping muzzle from the dish.
"Mm," Boots echoed. She giggled, dropped her face back in her dish, and slurped.
Ripred's long tongue swept around his jaws, cleaning off the cream. "Nothing like that in the Dead Land. Nothing much of anything these days, of course. Since the humans have cut the gnawers from their main fishing grounds."
"Perhaps a little hunger will help them reflect on their poor lack of judgment in attacking us," Solovet said, helping herself to a large serving of mushrooms.
I noticed Lizzie frowning at Solovet's response.
"Surely the gnawers are not really starving?" asked Vikus.
"Aren't they?" said Ripred. "You have driven them back to the border of the ants. The rivers left open to them are dangerous to fish and are downstream from the crawlers, so the catch is small. What, in your mind, are they feeding on?"
The silence came back, bringing back that vibe. I, however, was interested in the ants. I decided to ask about them later, as now wasn't a good time.
"It's not helping the grand plan. I have enough to overcome as it is. And you reap what you sow, Solovet," said Ripred.
"Is this what you came to tell me, Ripred?" Solovet said, unmoved.
"No. You know what you're doing. Or at least you flatter yourself you do. I came to deliver Twitchtip and to teach Ryan another trick he can't learn from you."
My back straightened at the mention of my name. What was he going to teach?
Ripred stuck an entire loaf of bread in his mouth and pushed back from the table. "Ready, boy?"
"For what?" I asked, trying to contain my anticipation. Ripred teaching me? Whatever he's going to give me would be incredibly useful. I just know it.
"Your first lesson," Ripred said with a gulp. "It starts now."
Boom. Cliffhanger. Yes, I love cliffhangers. It gives the readers the excitement and anticipation (and maybe disappointment) of what would come next.
I might be doing a prequel on Killer. I have a few ideas for it, but they aren't complete, yet. Hope I still can remember how it goes in the future. Fingers crossed.
While writing Lizzie's story, I was inspired (by myself, lol) to write a short about how Lizzie coped without her family members, both before and after Ryan killed her mom and brother. Of course, it would be right before she and Boots fell. I would most likely write that after I've finished the Killer series (probably excluding the prequel) and Just a Photograph.
Do you have an active imagination? (Please read it slowly for maximum effect.) If so, then imagine your lip (zoom in on it). Imagine a long piece of metal is on your lip (top or bottom doesn't matter). Imagine that cold, hard steel touching your lip. Now, zoom out a little, and you can see another tiny bit of metal pointing diagonally upwards. Suddenly, the two metals join together in between your lip, snipping it away. You can feel your lip missing. You can feel it bleeding freely, dripping on your feet. You try to lick it, but you can only feel that intense pain and stinging heat. So, how does your lip feel? Please tell me. I really wanna know.
Question: Do you guys plan first before you write, or write as you plan along? Neither or both? For me, it's both, but more on the plan and write part. It's a bad writing move, I know, but I have a hard time memorizing stuff in my head and I'm lazy to write them all down.