private The Fall of Andalasia ~Book 1~

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass.

 

Adrass jolted awake with a startled exclamation - his voice making words in his defence without his mind even telling it to. Eyes wide but glazed over and with a slight patch of moisture gathered at the corner of his mouth, he burst into a meaningless bluster immediately. "Wha... No! I wasn't... Uh..."

 

He blinked. Where was he? At... home? Of course he was - where else would he be? But then, why did that word seem so... so unfamiliar? He raised a hand to his head briefly, rubbing his eyes and forehead. On the subject of words, it would have been nice if father could use less of them: Adrass was quite exhausted from whatever he had been up to the night before (he couldn't quite place what he had been up to right there and then, but certainly he hasn't slept enough) and a little quiet would have been a blessing right then.

 

The boy shook his head - he had been daydreaming and wasting precious time that could have been put towards training. He needed to get back to his studies. Studies: that was a familiar word.

 

"Sorry sir! I was uh... I was... I..." He faltered. "No Sir! I don't... I am in control! I'm ready for... for... whatever I'm ready for!"

Edited March 5, 2015 by Cinder

[Torrent505 370]

@@RunsWithSquirlz

The girls voice giggled at her, "Stop? No, I'm not going to stop. I'm going to make the world better, and I my world they'll all love me and everything will be perfect. Mmmmhmmm". Whisper could feel the hand rub up and down her side lovingly but not see the owner. "So much life in you, so much power. With your magic fueling mine we can change the entire country; we can save them all Whisper. Help me save them all, this entire hateful country." The sinking and draining feeling entered Whisper's dream, if felt like being slowly pulled down a long dark hole.

 

@@Shadow Dancer

Indicus came to a fork in the hedge maze, in one direction he could hear rustling of something and in the other he smelled fresh baking cookies wafting through the air.

[Sekel 685]

@@Torrent505

Helena breathed heavily as she stared at the library basement, which now looked like it was clear of monsters. "Who-whatever that was ... that was not father .... Helena whispered and looked down at Clarke. "That definitely looked like Clarke ... only older. It seemed familiar to me." Helena whispered to herself. She simply sat there, shaking like a leaf while staring into the distance. Her mind tried to piece together what had just happened while she catefully stroked Clarke's hair. "This isn't normal ... this isn't normal." Helena kept repeating to herself. After a time, she came back to her sense and screamed for help when she realised that she couldn't move Clarke on her own.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Dji

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Torrent505, @@Alex Kennedy, @@RunsWithSquirlz,

Dresden laughed at Tulla's embersment and put his arm around Robert's shoulder. "Well, hey you already got two nobles right here! I say we play noble; I'm not really big on hide-and-seek or tag." Dresden looked over at Robert, "what do you say brother? Hide-and-seek? Tag? Playing Noble?" 

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@RunsWithSquirlz,@@Torrent505, @@Flying Ace, 

 

The tavern. And... being called brother. Of course he'd be called brother and yet... For some reason he couldn't quite place, that struck a chord with Robert. "I'd... like to go to the tavern, actually. I mean, if you guys are up for walking into town, that is."

 

((Robert's...other (real) family owned a tavern back home. His brothers basically bummed around there drinking and picking up girls. It should be noted that Robert considers his brothers drunken perverts and womanizers even by his standards.))

[Shadow Dancer 111]

I liked the idea of fresh cookies but I was curious about the sound, I decided to follow the noise, I reached at my side to feel nothing there. I looked at my hand and questioned why I tried to grasp something clearly not there. I just shook my head, "Okay it's probably just because I hit my head hard" I shook my head once more and walked towards the noise.

[Torrent505 370]

@

Father sighed shaking his head before resting a heavy hand on Adrass' shoulder and kneel down so he was face to face with the boy. "Son you know Mother and I only push you so hard because we want the most for you. Both of us were Venerators and their is no more noble a calling for a Mage. You have to prove to the hunters you are pure and controlled, incorruptible. A focus of defense punctuated by cold precise assaults. They have high expectations and will only train you if you meet them."

 

He squeezed Adrass' shoulder reassuringly, as he stood then gathered his magic and with a gesture suddenly five of him were in the room. All their lips moved but the voice came from the one in the middle. "As a master light Venerator I can manipulate what you see, an excellent defense for the middle of a battle... With Mother's mastery of Sound and my illusions in battle our enemies never even knew what was reality."

 

He allowed the others to fade away, "You on the other hand have to use your ice for a more direct defense. Try and focus, water is in the air use it, something simple like an ice wrist guard." Through all the coaching by Father something tugged at Adrass, some foggy memory of the Venerators.

 

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@@Shadow Dancer

Wandering toward the noise in the maze Indicus moved deeper and became more lost; rounding a corner he came upon a dead end. Dead end being more literal than possible for the hedge maze as a grave sat before him. The name on the tombstone was a man's with Indicus' last name, it stirred memories of someone raising him other than Father and Mother.

 

The rustling was coming from here, the grave's soil turning and rolling as if something was struggling underneath.

 

@@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace

Abigail glared a little at Dresden, "don't ever imply that I'm not a noble, I don't 'play' noble, Tulla does. I PLAY that SHE is noble." She humphed before turning and batting her eyelashes at Robert, "so the tavern it is!"

 

She lead them into the maze, she seemed absolutely confident that she knew where she was going. It was almost as if the hedges moved for her.

 

@@Dji

The librarian rushed to Helena's side and insisted on resting Clarke on the nearest table, which unfortunately was inside the basement. Clarke seemed to regain consciousness as they moved him and began to glare at the Librarian.

 

The old woman seemed unnerved, "Oh umm are you alright lord Clarke? You seem perturbed..." Clarke said nothing merely continuing to glare at the woman. She squirmed a little nervously, looking to Helena, "umm well I'll go get the apothecary, keep an eye on him please my lady I'll be right back..." She backed out of the room looking anxious to escape Clarke's stare.

 

@@Sanctified Absence

 

@@RunsWithSquirlz

[Shadow Dancer 111]

As I looked at the grave and it read Johnathan Vencule and under that it also read A good solider, a great husband and an excellent father. Seeing the grave made my head hurt so I turned away, but an image of a man in some forest with a large bow and a quiver of arrows on his back and a boy about my age next to him with a wooden bow and some arrows in a smaller quiver.

 

The man and the boy crept around the forest and eventually got up on a hill, there they spotted an animal I believe it was a deer according to my teachers lesson. The man pointed at the deer and spoke, the boy listened to the man paying close attention. The boy then pulled out his bow and put an arrow on it, he then aimed at the deer and let go, the arrow flew before hitting the deer's neck. The man walked up and patted the boy on the back. Then the image ended.

 

I shook my head something telling me that it was familiar when I looked back at the grave I noticed the rustling was coming from the grave I backed away thinking of the stories about necromancers raising the dead to do their bidding, the idea frightened me but i could not make myself move.

[Sekel 685]

@@Torrent505

Helena looked fearfully around herself as she helped the librarian carry Clarke into the basement. She panted when she helped lift him onto the table. After noticing the stare that Clarke gave the librarian, Helena steeled herself and tried to smooth her features. It didn't work as her lip still wobbled a bit. "Clarke? You know that wasn't normal, right? I'm not the only one thinking that?" Helena asked, forgetting for the moment how he fell unconscious in her lap. Her hands automatically went to her back and found it weird that her hands couldn't find anything to grasp on to. 

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

Adrass.

 

Mother. Father. Venerator.

 

Adrass nodded his head solemnly after a slightly longer than necessary pause. More words that made him feel... uneasy, why was that? What was wrong with him, was he sick? His mind raced for a moment, but ultimately, his instincts won out - to follow the will of his superiors, to not question what he saw and have faith in himself.

 

After all, who was more superior than his father, what was more clear than what he saw before him and who had more faith in his magic than himself?

 

Still narrow-eyed, the boy reached out a hand in a grasping motion, trying to feel for the tiny traces of water in the air - to urge them to obey him, to bend to his will. Mentally, he commanded them into position around his arm, to lock in place and to chill themselves to a frozen state. A patch of frost appeared against his skin - stretching and turning clear as simple but clear lines began to form and the patch of ice extended up along his forearm and down slightly past his wrist.

 

It was quite beautiful in a way. For some reason however, he felt filthy. Repulsed and disgusted.

 

There was something surreal about the whole thing - he had memories that told him what to do, but it felt so new and awkward to him. As the Ice crept upwards, he realised that he might not be quite as in control as he had hoped. It stretched around his elbow and locked his arm in place before finally stopping its development - less of a 'wrist guard' and more of a 'haphazard sleeve'.

 

"Uh..." He grinned weakly. "I did it?"

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Torrent505, @@Alex Kennedy, @@RunsWithSquirlz,

 

Dresden shivered a little he got slightly scared on how quick Abigail could change her moods. "She seems like a keeper Robert." Dresden whispered to his brother elbowing him playfully. Then he turned to Tulla and gave her a slight bow, "shall we take a stroll though the maze?" Dresden asked extending his elbow out to her.

 

(Okay, Dresden did that motion where usually at a ball the man would extend their elbows to whoever woman they were going with and the woman would hook their their arm around it. I just wanted to explain just in case you got confused.)

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

"Hateful..." Whisper repeated slowly. Those words made sense. The little girl had lulled her into a false sense of security, preying on her weakest traits. It made sense to her...a world with no fighting, no anger, no pain. It sounded beautiful. Maybe she could help...maybe she should.

 

"I want to save them all."

 

-------

 

Tulla grimaced at Abigails outburst. She was mostly used to her friend acting out, playing her role. Yet...she imagined someone else. Someone smaller, throwing toys in the playroom...blazing red hair. Who...?

 

@@Flying Ace, @@Torrent505, @@Alex Kennedy,

 

She glared at Dresdens arm and then back at him "I have two legs. I can walk myself. Tugg, c'mon let's go already."

Edited March 18, 2015 by RunsWithSquirlz

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@RunsWithSquirlz,@@Flying Ace, @@Torrent505,

 

Robert just stuck his tongue out at Dresden again while Abigail wasn't looking and mouthed the word "jealous". If there was anything unusual or upsetting about Abigail's behavior, Robert was totally blind to it. As far as he was concerned, she was pretty much the sweetest, most beautiful girl in the world. And she was his. He liked that.

 

Smiling, he followed along just behind Abigail as she lead the way through the maze.

[Torrent505 370]

@

Father gave one of his hearty laughs and was beaming from ear to ear under his thick but well trimmed mustache. The ruffled Adrass's hair, "a fine beginning son, crude but effective!" He rapped the ice sleeve with a knuckle, to test the strength. "Never forget that simple tends to save more lives than flashy in a pinch."

 

Father held his own hand forward with his palm up and gentle waves his fingers a globe of white light formed to brighten the room. "So now I, like you, have a base to work from. For elements like ours gathering it is the hardest part, a heavy drain on our magik; but that means this next part can be easier. You decide what you wish to do with it, see it in your minds eye and will the element to follow. You already have all the magik concentrated there in your ice, you need only the will to shape it. Believe that."

 

The globe of light about father's hand turned to a glowing silver and stretched out to form a floating dagger as an example of this lesson.

 

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@@Shadow Dancer

The gravestone rumbled and quivered as the name on it shifted to Indicus Vencule; a grown man pulled himself from the dirt with a self-fulfilled grin, he was rotting with his belly spilled open and some intestines hanging loose, his left arm half torn away with shattered bone exposed.

 

A haggard husky voice spoke, "Did you think we were done, assassin? Think you can just keep burying me?" Thick black ichor bubble from his mouth with each word. "Now look at you, you don't even remember who you are and you're in a place were the past can kill you... Just a helpless little boy, this time you die and I'll live for sure." The living corpse reached out its one good arm for him meaning to drag him down into the grave too.

 

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@@Dji

"Of course you aren't the only one thinking that Helena..." Clarke turned his glare to stare at the table now that the librarian had gone, as if it might give him answers. "... That, that was really fucked up okay." His voice cracking at the end as he tried to wrap his mind around what had happened.

 

"The adults in town are lying to us Helena. When I was out in the fog I met people that thought they knew me and... And I felt like I knew them too. Then that t-thing... I recognized it... Helena, I don't think Father is our dad cause that thing I saw, it, it made me remember my dad's face." He was clutching his temple like he was having an intense headache. "I don't know what's going on, what else is lies?"

 

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@@RunsWithSquirlz

The girl in Whisper's dream grinned widely, "Thank you. I'm glad you agree." The girl was upon her now, a hug that was too tight, it was crushing and draining at the same time. She whispered into the princesses ear, "We can save everyone, but it takes sacrifice and I've sacrificed so much already. Now you have to sacrifice and I am taking everything. Thank you for understanding."

 

The girls grasp got tighter and tighter, Whisper couldn't breath, her vision was fading and full of sparkles; all she could think of was the image of a snake coiled around a mouse and squeezing it before swallowing it whole.

 

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@@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace

Abigail started to hum happily as she led them to the exit of the maze, the smell of cookies was in the air. "Oh! Mother must have made ginger snaps! They're my favorite. We'll have to get some when they're done, but first the tavern... Oh too bad we didn't see your sister Whisper, maybe she's lost in the maze? I'm sure she'll find away out sooner or later though." She gave her bell like laughter.

 

@@RunsWithSquirlz

Whisper woke in the maze, she was groggy and felt weak... had she fainted? Memories came back to her lowly, sluggish and muddled as if they didn't want to. She was in Ashcreek for a visit, the oldest of three siblings... But she wasn't special... She was shy, quiet and hated creating a fuss... She wasn't very interesting and she knew this... But she was happy being a normal boring little girl.

 

A hiccup stirred Whisper from these strange overwhelmingly bland thoughts, a little red winged lizard laid in the grass close by. Well maybe little wasn't the right word for it, the thing was the length of her forearm but it's head as too big for its body and wobbled as it tried to look about. It stood only to lean unsteadily back and forth before siting back down, it hiccuped again and let out a little puff of smoke.

 

The strange sight awakened the rest of Whisper's senses, she could smell fresh baked cookies in the air and she swore she could hear her brothers just around the hedges. The little lizard thing let out a little meep like cry.

 

@@Sanctified Absence

[Shadow Dancer 111]

The change of the name on the tomb scared me, showing my name but did not change the last name. Then when the scary man raised up from the grave I stepped back further. Then he spoke calling me an assassin and not remembering who I was and the past being able to kill me, then of if I died that he would live. My head hurt once more and the world slowed down as I backed up images of the man before me but with out all the icky stuff flashed in front of me one time a sword placed at another man's neck. another the same man was running with guards behind him and blood on his armor. 

 

The images faded and i found myself in the streets of some city running, but knew that I needed to exit the city before the guard behind me caught me. I felt odd everything looked shorter then usual as if I grown, I could feel and hear the rustling of leather and some steel, and the chase felt as if I had done the same thing before. But I ran anyway something shouting to me to flee. 

 

(This is just a mix of a forgotten memory of Indicus's and "reality" in "reality" he is still a boy and is running from the disfigured man.) (Just thought I could be a little proactive without ruining your plans, as always I can change it to work better with your plan if you want.)

[Sekel 685]

@@Torrent505

Helena held her head as she tried to make sense of all this. "You went out in the fog. You saw people you recognised and they recognised you as well. That thing may have had your dad's face but to me, it looked a more familiar, older version of you." Helena said quietly, slowly lowering her hands from her head. She moved over to Clarke and managed to sit on the table top with her legs swinging.

 

"I didn't tell you this earlier because of how freaked out I was but when I saw that giant purse thing, it made, me see memories. I think they were memories because I feel like I'm supposed to remember doing those things. Stealing those things. I think that those different set of memories are trying to tell me that ourwhole lives here are a lie."

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Torrent505, @@Alex Kennedy, @@RunsWithSquirlz,

(damn Tulla shot down Dresden pretty fast.     )

Dresden shrugged, he was used to those kinds of response he got from people maybe it was because...because of what? From being a lord's son? Yes, that's the reason. Dresden was deep in thought as thy walked though the maze; there was something...important he should remember...something he shouldn't have forgot...

 

"Ah, Dresdens got a girlfriend!"

 

And then there was that voice! where did that come from? No one teased him for having a girlfriend, he usually would tease Robert about his relationship with Abigail. The smell of cookies that knocked Dresden out of his thoughts. "That sounds like Whisper, maybe one of us should go and look for her? I don't think our father will be happy if we lost her."

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@RunsWithSquirlz,@@Flying Ace, @@Torrent505,  

 

Robert shrugged. "I'm sure Whisper is going to be fine. We can meet up with her later when we go back to get cookies. But right now... I really want to see the tavern for some reason." Happy as Robert was just being with Abigail, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong here. The idea of the tavern felt strangely comforting somehow. Like it was where he belonged. But why would that be? He was a noble's son. He wasn't supposed to hang around in filthy taverns or anything. Well as long as Abigail didn't mind, there was no harm in checking it out, anyway.

[Torrent505 370]

@@Shadow Dancer @@RunsWithSquirlz

Indicus took off sprinting, he ran from the dead end and the dead creature taking turns at random in the hedge maze. He didn't even see it as the leaf maze but instead a blend of back alleys from past towns and jobs. This lasted until he came upon a new dead end with a young girl and a red lizard sitting in it; Ashford and the hedge maze reasserted itself to his vision and mind, he couldn't hear the creature behind him anymore.

 

Instead they heard a yell, "Whisper if you want to catch up with us we're going to go hear stories at the tavern!"

 

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@@Dji

Clarke nodded at Helena's thought, though he said, "but how is that possible? I don't understand... How could our entire lives be lies? I remember growing up with you, Abigail, Adrass and Indicus; I remember how much work Father and Mother spent raising us...."

 

He stared at Helena's face focusing and looking hard at her, "... You said that thing looked like me, I recognized it as being my real dad... Helena, none of us look like Mother or Father, we're supposed to look like our parents right? They are really powerful mages, do you think they did this too us?"

 

He slouched into his seat and stared at the books around them, "I wish there was some clues about Ashcreek and the fog but I've check so many books."

 

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@@RunsWithSquirlz @@Alex Kennedy @@Flying Ace @

Abigail nodded at her little lordly sweetheart, "yeah I'm sure Whisper will be fine, but if you're so worried..." She turned back to the maze and cupped her hands to her mouth, shouting "Whisper if you want to catch up with us we're going to go hear stories at the tavern!" She smiled at Dresden, "there."

 

She took ahold of Robert's elbow and practically dragged him through the mansion. They only stopped for a moment for her to curtsy to her Father who was at a desk teaching her eldest brother Adrass. "Father," she said respectfully, before trying to hurry past, truthfully she didn't like her eldest brother much.

 

@@Sanctified Absence

[Shadow Dancer 111]

As I snapped back to the hedge maze I noticed I was at a dead end, that what was chasing me was gone, and that there was a girl and a red lizard sitting down at the back of the dead end. When I saw the girl I just sat down on the right side of the maze trying to calm down from the chase, and weird visions that felt familiar.

[RunsWithSquirlz 274]

Tulla immediately became awkward around Abigails older brother. Looking down at her boots and trying her best to ignore the fact that Adrass was there. It wasn't that she disliked him, he just gave her a weird feeling.

 

Whisper picked up the lizard and petted it lightly "Shhh baby lizard..."

 

She heard her name and ran off the way she came.

[Sekel 685]

@@Torrent505

Helena thought for a moment and remembered the book she took from the basement before all this nonsense started. "What about this book? I found it down here with a shaft of sunlight beaming down on it. I figured it would be worth a read before all this started." Helena said and carefully held the red book out for Clarke to look at. "I think that our 'parents' are making us think that they're our parents with magic."

[Alex Kennedy 1,228]

@@Torrent505,@@Flying Ace, @@RunsWithSquirlz,  

 

Robert gave a respectful nod to Abigail's father before he was dragged away again. It was, after all, part of his job as Abigail's future husband to make a good impression on her family. To be honest, though, her brother seemed too serious for them to really get along very well, and it was perhaps for the best that Abigail rushed along before they had a chance to talk. As they were leaving, he did his best to look dignified and respectful while simultaneously being dragged off.

[Flying Ace 142]

@@Alex Kennedy,@@RunsWithSquirlz, @@Torrent505, @,

 

Dresden nodded and bowed respectfully before Abigail's father and brother as he followed the group though the mansion but there was something...Off about Abigail's brother. Dresden couldn't quite out his finger on it but he got a strange feeling when he saw him like something inside Dresden wanted him to be cautious towards him.

[Shadow Dancer 111]

@@Torrent505, 

 

I sat there thinking on what transpired within the past hour or so, thinking about the vision that I got when I was close to the grave and the familiarity of it. Then there was when the name changed to my own and that deformed man came out calling me "Assassin" and something about burying him forever and finally when he said, "Now look at you, you don't even remember who you are and you're in a place were the past can kill you." I could not make much sense of it all because every time I thought too long on it my head hurt and I felt something blocking me a mental block I believe is what my teacher called it. I just had a overall feeling that there was something wrong and the last thing that creature said reinforced the feeling. 

 

I sat there for a few minutes longer before going out to find Adrass