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Bethaven: light upon the shadows
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The sun was just beginning to kiss the horizon as it set, casting its many hues across the land. In a partially ruined building, a man rushed through its corridors. He was in his late twenties and was somewhat short, however, fit. His hair was also short, about three-inches long and dark brown. His eyes blue, and his face was well shaved. His pants and shirt were made of a finely-crafted material that had been dyed black and looked rather fetching on him.
He hurried into a nearby room and stopped right inside the doorway. A woman stood at the other end of the room with her back turned to him.
A smile came across his face. "I take it you're here because she's dead?"
"Oh, yes, she is dead," she said absentmindedly.
"I knew the Ice Witch would succeed!"
"When I said she was dead, I wasn't referring to the young queen."
"What …"
"The queen is still alive, and your precious little Ice Witch is the one who is dead."
"How could this have happened?"
The woman turned to face him. She looked as though she were thirty or so and bore a height well over six feet. Her straight hair was long and thick and black as coal. It had a dull, coarse look to it. Her face was slender and her cheeks were sunken in. The color of her eyes had long faded into black and the whites of her eyes were somewhat yellowed. Her skin was void of all color. It was as though her very blood no longer flowed through her body, for it was so pale. Her black cloak draped down her, hiding her overly-slender body.
She stepped towards him. A hint of madness reflected in her face. "How, you ask? I'll tell you how. You sent her into Igna's territory. You know good and well that Igna is one of the most powerful guardians in all of the world. Your Ice Witch didn't have a chance. Once the queen and her companions passed beyond the East Gate of the Capital City, I could not follow them any further."
His face became rigid. Turning in anger, he picked up a weathered wooden chair and threw it at the wall, shattering it. "We've lost them. I can't believe we lost them!"
The woman gave way to a slight grin as she turned her back to him once more. "Don't worry."
"Don't worry!" he shouted. "Don't worry!"
The grin disappeared from her face. "That's right. Don't worry. We won't need to track them down. We merely need to be patient. Soon … they will come seeking us."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
She turned back to him. "Did you really bring me here only to question my skills?" she snapped. "They will come, all in due time." She paused. "If you're finished with me, you can leave." She turned away and walked over to the window as the man huffed in aggravation and exited the room.
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Haharim: learning to swim
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The group had rested well over the last few days but now it was time to move along. They had gathered their belongings and had already made it down to the river where Igna had prepared for them two slender boats. Supreany and Ean began loading them up.
"Make sure our stuff is tied in good. I hear these waters can be tricky. We don't want to lose our stuff if we run into trouble," Ean commanded Supreany.
"Okay."
Blaizen reached up and scratched the back of his neck. Run into trouble … hmm. Like getting capsized. He bent down and handed Supreany another bag. "So, eh, how deep does this river get?"
"I don't know; pretty deep in some areas," she answered dismissively.
Blaizen nodded. "And how long are we going to be traveling it?"
"I don't know … what do you think, Ean, a week or so?"
"That sounds about right," Ean answered.
"Uh-huh." Blaizen grabbed another item and handed it to Supreany.
Ean walked up onto the bank. "Blaizen … is something bothering you?"
"Uh, no, I'm fine."
"… You can't swim, can you?"
Everyone paused for a moment.
"Nope." Blaizen paused. "It's just that there's not a lot of water like this on my old planet. It's all in pipes and such. So, I never really needed to learn to swim."
Ean took in a deep breath, thinking. "Okay, well, are you going to be all right if we go ahead and head out, or do we need to figure something else out?"
"I'll be fine … just as long as the boat doesn't tip." Blaizen still looked very nervous about the whole ordeal.
"All right. First things first. You need to remove your coat, because if we do get flipped, you won't have a fighting chance of swimming with it on. Secondly, you'll be riding in the boat with me. I'll be in the back and you'll take the front. Thirdly, after we stop this evening, we're giving you some swimming lessons. All right?"
Blaizen nodded.
"All right. Let's go."
They all piled into the boats and pushed off from the banks. In many ways, using boats would make the trip much faster. However, it was not without its labor. More than once they would have to get out to avoid an impassable waterfall and carry their boats downstream. It was a tiresome effort, but, lucky for them, their boats weren't as heavy as most. They all felt a sigh of relief when Ean called it quits for the day. They had found a nice little spot to settle down. The water was calm and steady.
Cecealye, Supreany, and Orckle began to get the campsite set up and cooked dinner while Ean and Blaizen started on what would be Blaizen's first swimming lesson. Ean stripped down to his pants, revealing his muscular body and his many scars.
"Geez, man. I'm in shape, but I'm nothing like that," Blaizen remarked as he, too, began removing different items of clothing.
Ean smiled. "I'm this fit because I must be," he said as he looked back at Cecealye who smiled and gave him a wink. "Because of my position. I am her personal bodyguard. It is not an option for me to fail in that position because I am not strong enough."
"I get it." Blaizen was down to his pants. He was, as he had said, in shape and strong, but he didn't display anywhere near the same muscular definition as Ean.
Ean gave him a pat on the back. "Really, it's okay if you don't look like me. There's not many who do. This has always come easily to me."
Blaizen smiled. "Whatever you say, man. So, you going to show me how to swim or what?"
They began to walk down into the water, slowly of course, for it was somewhat chilly.
"Ooohhh, this is really cold," Blaizen remarked.
"You said it. Just take it slow. We're in no big hurry."
"Oh, come on," Supreany yelled. "You big wusses. The water isn't that cold." She lowered her voice. "Men are such big babies when it comes to cooler water."
"Hey, we didn't ask to hear from the peanut gallery," Blaizen yelled back.
Ean began to show Blaizen how to swim, explaining to him the do's and the do not's of swimming. They had been out there for a good hour, swimming and horse playing, when they received the call for dinner. It was dusk by then and they came out dripping wet and instantly were cold. Deciding it would be smart to hurry and get dry, they did just that and changed into a new change of clothes.
They all gathered around the fire, enjoying a nicely cooked meal from Supreany, and each of them complimented Blaizen on how well he was doing.
Taking a good long look at him, Supreany couldn't help but smile. He didn't look anywhere near as funny as he used to. They had bought him a couple of pairs of nice brown ankapello pants, some off-white linen shirts, and some shoes. His old bandana had long since met its end and had been replaced with one which he had crafted himself.
The only remnants of his old wardrobe were his belt and coat. She would, however, never forget about his once strange wardrobe. It was true he still hadn't outlived his nickname "Shiny Pants" either. She then decided to pull out the strange scroll and began to look it over.
"Supreany." Cecealye caught her attention. "How is it you are able to read that? Do you know what language it is?"
"It's Crossadonian."
"Crossadonian? I've never even heard of it."
Silence settled over the group as they watched Supreany go deep in thought, wringing it through her head. "The crystal of Crossadon … These twelve stone shards. They belong to Crossadon."
"What is Crossadon?"
"… I can't remember." She sat there a moment longer. "I'm tired. I'm going to go ahead and go to sleep." With that, she went and made herself cozy.