A Lonely Road

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Brenna took a deep breath. It seemed now as if she had two choices - to sit down on the doorstep and have a good cry, or to risk the wrath of the strange adhiel further by entering his hut once more. And there was still the matter of her weird experience earlier to consider. Steeling herself, she took the only sensible option. Opening the door a crack, she peered through for a second, before stepping inside.

'I'm sorry to continue bothering you,' she began. 'But I'm cold, and wet and hungry. And I truly did not mean to upset you earlier.' She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear with her good arm, feeling awkward. 'I guess I'm just not good with people,' she said quietly, looking at the ground. She still felt so tired that she thought she might cry, and she didn't want to annoy this elf any more.

She forced herself to look back up. 'Please.... would you let me have a little food?' She blinked, trying to stop the tears welling up in her eyes. What am I doing? she asked herself. Why did I ever think I could survive on my own?
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Post by Finodborn »

The eyes of the adhiel narrowed, until his face could no longer be described with any other word than 'furious'. Then he saw the girl shiver, and he casted an irritated look on the little pool that was forming on his doorstep. Finally, he turned his eyes skyward in an act of pure hopelessness.

"Come in. Take some meat. Here's a blanket. Sit by the fire. Shut up." Later on, he gave her a mug with something that smelled like mead or something, then he continued to his wood-carving. He didn't make a spoon or a bowl. He made detailed faces with the point of his knife. All of them were females.

It was completely dark outside by now. The elf took of most of his clothes, though he kept something on to hide his body from Brenna. By the look of it, he wasn't used to wearing things when sleeping. "I'd like to sleep now." It sounded like he expected brenna to leave.

"There's wolves outside, so I suppose you can stay." He cleared the table, an implied that she could sleep on it. He himself took another blanket, and lay down in front of the stove. He didn't try to hide his dislike for the current situation. Within burns, he was fast asleep, however, snoring like a boar.
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Brenna stayed silent, staring into the fire. Only once did she look at the elf. She quickly looked away when she saw what he carved. Faces of girls... and he had seen hers. A hot flush rose across her cheeks as she imagined what a wood carving of her own visage would look like. She could only hope that he didn't take his faces true from life.

The food filled her empty belly and the warmth of the fire made her feel relaxed, nonetheless. The snores were strangely calming. The girl had forgotten what it felt like to be in the company of another, a human companion, and the comfort of the presence of another human being made her feel perversely lonely, perhaps for all those times she had been alone.

The fire crackled and spat. For some strange reason, Brenna remembered the knife she had stolen from her mother, hidden away. I could kill this elf her tired brain suggested. I could kill him and steal his cottage and stay here and draw and noone would disturb me. But the thought was wiped away by her own shocked reaction. And anyway, she thought, when she had got over the surprise at her own callousness, I would never know where to stick it.

Her thoughts drifted away into sleepy disconnectedness. Finally, she climbed onto the tabletop, pulled her cloak around her, and drifted off into sleep.
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Post by Finodborn »

It wasn't long before the dreams came.

"My dear Queen, what a party we have had. I honestly think this was the best fête the nobles of this generation have seen. Come, let me help me out of your clothes, your Highness."

Brenna was seated on a huge, outrageous, ridiculous bed. The fabric was nice to the touch, but it caused a headache if you looked at it for longer than a few flickers.

The servant unscrupulously undid her of her clothing. "A fine body you have, Queen. Will you be needing any boys or girls tonight? But let us first get you rid of this mask." The man started scratching her cheek bone.
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Oh no..., Brenna thought. She had been trying to dismiss her earlier.. hallucination, or whatever it was, as brought on by hunger and walking too far in the cold, but now? She swiped at the servant's hand on her cheek desperately. 'Leave me alone!' she cried, attempting to sound regal. 'I can undress myself... just leave now.'

She didn't look down at the bed. The situation as bad enough, but the bedclothes simply made her feel nauseous. The scarred girl didn't know what was going on, but if she got out of this this time, there was no way she could stay at the cottage any longer.
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"Nonsense! Nonsense! " the servent cried aloud laughing at her little hand slapping game. "My Queen you are so funny. This will make you laugh." And with that the servent stopped fussing with her face and grabbed her bedclothes from behind and ripped them from her body leaving her exposed atop the tower of matresses.

From what seemed far below the scores of faces laughed and hooted and hollared at her naked form. "Oh my queen, we should have another party right away. And it shall begin with your final unveiling," he reached once again for her mask. The exaggerated mirth in his voice at all times was disturbing to the ears and mind.
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In her desperation, anger overtook Brenna's panic. Shoving her attacker roughly away, she stood up sharply, wobbling a little on the soft mattress. 'I said, leave me alone! I may be your queen, but I'm tired! I do not find this funny!' She practically screamed her words at the mirthful servant, so scared was she for her face.

This invasion of her privacy had left her shaking, and she stayed standing, glaring down at the man. Primeval, animal instincts welled up from somewhere inside her. How dare he try to do this! Out of everything that had happened during the day to her, this was the worst. She wanted to kick him and bite him.

I thought my mother was bad enough, she thought wryly. How on earth was she going to get out of this? Her only hope was to wake up, an soon.
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Post by Torigm Khace »

"Out!" the word came like the loud boom of thunder through Brenna's surreal setting. "Get Out!" The voice cried again and her servent and all the laughing cried looked panicked.

Brenna finds herself standing on the table with her cloak caught in a jagged crack in the table. The door to this building is open and the tall elf stood in the doorway holding a small glowing figure between his fingers. He slapped the top of his boot against a small mushroom shaped being hurredly shuffiling from the room out the front door and the elf sent the thing sailing and tumbling outwards into the darkness.

"Consider this your second warning. You bother to enter my dwelling again for any reason and it will be open season upon your kin." He flicked the glowing winged being out the door and slammed it shut. The elf turned and studied Brenna for a second, seemingly judging wether he should do the same to her, then he turned and grabbed a piece of charcoal sitting by the door and made a symbol upon it.

"You can return to sleep if you wish, the remainder of your rest this night will be peaceful," the elf checked the other ways into his home and made a couple more marks in other places.
Last edited by Torigm Khace on Fri Oct 29, 2004 4:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Brenna collapsed back onto the table, drawing the blanket back around her. She was surprised to find herself shaking slightly. Gazing spellbound at the creature - whatever it was - in the elf's hand, her mouth fell open slightly.

'Thank you,' she murmured, still shocked by the dreams. Had that been what had caused them? Or was it a dream? She was so confused that she dared to ask the hostile elf another question. 'Wh.. what was that?'

The scarred and scared girl wondered what symbols he had made on the door, but she felt too shaken to get up and look. Trying halfheartedly to remove her cloak from the crack, she squinted at the charcoal signs. She had never heard of drawings being used as.. as what? Magic? Or protection of some sort? Perhaps that was another way she could use her art, until she found someone who was actually interested in turning her work into a book.

Hugging herself inside the blankets, she drifted into thought, the flickering flames lulling her worried mind. She didn't want to sleep again, in case the dreams had been nothing to do with the strange being. Instead she tried to concentrate on the happy day when her nature drawings and writings would be published, in a proper library somewhere... Brenna sighed.
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Post by Torigm Khace »

"Fae, a group of them inhabit these woods. These sigils will bar them from entering or casting their wary thoughts in our direction. My warning should have been enough however. It has been in the past. They must be following you." The last sentence, though spoken calmly, seemed to be accusational in tone.

The adhiel stared out a window and Brenna could see movement in the darkness of the hours before morning. The faint sounds of childrens' laughter and music flitted upon the moist air from the open window. The warm glowing embers of the wood stove could barely combat the temperature of the outside this time of year. Somewhere surely, near, it was raining.

"And they are waiting," he said as he yawned picking up a half carved face in a block of wood and ran his thumb along the lower hollow of the one eye as if slowly wiping away a tear.
Last edited by Torigm Khace on Fri Oct 29, 2004 4:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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'Following me?'

Unconciously, Brenna's hand placed itself over her scarred face. Her own touch reminded herself of her problem. 'Following me,' she repeated, resignedly. Can nobody ever leave me alone? she thought, feeling irritable now as she recovered from her shock. Or maybe this is some new trick of Katharr's...

The memory of the 'Guardian', as he had called himself, made her wonder. She turned timidly to the elf. 'Do you know of a...' She paused, searching for the right word. '... A being, called Katharr?' Perhaps the adhiel could explain who he was and clear up one of the girl's many confusions.

His last sentence made her glance up at his face, and she saw him wipe his eye. What did these 'fae' mean to him? Come to that, what did he mean?

'Waiting for me?' she asked shyly, feeling a little afraid of the creatures.
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"I know of no one named Katharr." the elf still troked the carved wood in front of him. "Nor have I seen anyone in a long time. The fae aren't waiting for me on the edge of the clearing, so they must be waiting for you." A sudden change seemed to come over him as he leaped up slamming the carved face on the table beside him. You could see a crack in the wood develop that marked the line of your own disfigurement beneath his hand.

"Why have you brought them to my door?" he screamed pointing a finger at her. "I've warned you all before to leave me alone. I know the rules!" he turned to look at the carving he slammed on the table and saw the crack up the carved face. He fell to his knees holding the face down on the table. The cracked wooden visage staring blankly at the ceiling. "Oh, Miriam, what have I done," he sobbed, crying uncontrollably while his body heaved to gasp at breath between tears.
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An uncomfortable shiver ran up Brenna's spine. What did the fae want with her? She had never even heard of them before. She glanced at the door, nervously, feeling her heartbeat speed up. Why could she not just have the peaceful life she longed for? All I want to do is draw... she began to think, but broke of her own thought as she realised that she was beginning to sound repetitive even to herself.

The crack brought her back to the current situation. The thin line of the disfigurement on the carving brought her own hand up to her face, a perfect mirror. She gazed at it dumbly for a second, shocked.

The elf's words hit her like a bullet. Before she could react he crouched sobbing on the floor in front of her. The girl didn't know what to do. Kneeling down before him, she stretched out her good hand awkwardly.

'I'm sorry... I don't know anything about them..'

She stumbled over the words, wondering who Miriam was. Her mind was working overtime. She couldn't get up and leave. Whoever these strange beings were, it seemed they were out to get her. But she couldn't stay here with the elf like this.

Against her better judgement, she reached out further and hugged him, albeit inexpertly.
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His strength was undeniable. As she hugged him he screamed, it seemed, in anguish and pushed her backwards into the table. Brenna was able to steady herself still standing. The elf screamed again and looked at the wooden face and looked at you. Grabbing the split wood he flung it wildly across the room.

The action of the spinning face seemed slowed in time as it soared gracefully towards the open window. Jerking everything to a grinding halt however, the horrible sound of the cracked wood splitting along that fault line caused the elf to pause.

Half of the face landed back in the building while the other careened out into the clearing. Small mimicked sounds of the adhiel's anguish echoed mirthfully near where the other half of the face would have landed. The elf rushed to the window in time to watch the small beings outside rapidly toting away the carving deep into the woods. He grabbed a sword and turned and stepped to within a few inches of Brenna's face.

The stale salty smell of his breath was hot on her face and the anguished look of despair and hatred curled his face into a terrifying mask. He rushed with heavy breath out the front door and into the thicker foliage leaving the girl alone and in silence.
Last edited by Torigm Khace on Fri Nov 05, 2004 7:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The scarred girl stood for a long time, shivering against the table, her breath coming in short gasps. Ripples of fear still shivered down her spine at the memory of the elf's reaction and she reminded herself of all the reasons she had left behind any contact more than the bare minimum. All the reasons why she had run away.

Not run away, she told herself strictly. Move on. I did not leave out of fear. I just wanted something better.

Brenna knew she had to leave the elf's home now, too. She had no right to disturb his peace like this. But fear kept her clutching the edge of the wooden tabletop. She wasn't just scared still from his violent retaliation, but also at the thought of the fae.. whatever they were. They wanted to get at her somehow, she knew that already. But it seemed they also had part of the statue - the statue that had cracked where she had scars. Katharr had made it all too clear that she couldn't protect herself. What was she going to do?

Shaking, the dark haired young woman stepped away from the table, one hand clasped over her scar, the other pulling her hood firmly over her head in a familiar, reflexive gesture. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of the open doorway.
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Post by Torigm Khace »

Silence dominated the setting. No bird, nor cricket, nor any other beast common or fantastical made a sound. The pre-dawn air was crisp on Branna's skin. The path that the elf took was obvious as the foliage was trampled and cut. His path, clear into the woods, disappeared in darkness rapidly. The soft warm glow of the wood stove within dared not illuminate outside the hut.

Into the clearing a small glowing light bobbed expectantly, "He went that way." The whispers began repeating themselves over and over again like a melody overlapping itself. "Go on, follow him." The tinkling whispers overlapped the previous statement until silence overtook the tiny words again.

The bobbing light flowed downwards and into the path the elf had taken.
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The voices bounced around in her head, only adding to her confusion. Brenna simply no longer knew who to trust. You've never had anyone to trust, a little voice in her head reminded her. She pushed a strand of unruly dark hair, come loose beneath her hood, behind one ear.

Go on, follow him, the little voice in her head urged, joining in those outside. Brenna gave in.

She stepped cautiously towards the light, her head full of a myriad of theories as to who the elf with the carvings was, who Miriam was, who Katharr was, who the fae were... It seemed that, in trying to avoid people, she had met more strange ones than she had ever known in her life.

The scarred girl followed the light along the trampled path, her eyes deer-like behind the shade of her cloak. 'Are you there,....' She broke off from her calling once she remembered she didn't even know his name. 'This is hopeless,' she muttered to herself. 'I'm not going to find him unless he wants to be found. And why would he want to be found by me?'

Still, she kept following the path.
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Post by Torigm Khace »

The way was easy to follow with the aid of the floating point of light. It bobbed up and down and back and forth illuminating the destructive path the mad adhiel took. The silence from before was filled only lightly and almost imperceptibly by a jingling little tune hummed by a tiny choir far far away.

The winding path ended abruptly at a small clearing before a small lake. At the waters edge a large stone cropped from the earth and like a table extended into the lake forming a platform. It was a large platform and reclining upon it was the humanoid figure. His hands were behind his head for a pillow and one leg crossed over the other bobbing up an down to some rhythm only he could here. He hummed the faint tune Brenna could only faintly hear while following the path to this point.

The floating point of light floated right overtop the figure and faded out over the water.
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Things were just becoming stranger and stranger, Brenna mused. Her eyes widened at the sight of the familiar lounging by the mass of water. In other circumstances this was something she would have loved to draw, but right now she was too consumed in trying to work out exactly what was going on. She had a growing feeling that she was never going to know.

'Katharr!' she called above his humming, a frown on her brow below the shadow of her hood. 'You said the elves were gone.' Her tone was angry. The girl felt, quite frankly, totally annoyed with the fact that she was so confused, and she could trace the root of her confusion back to this man - or whatever he was.

Speaking of the elf - where was he? She could see the ball of light as it faded out over the lake. Surely he hadn't jumped in there, with the Guardian just sat by. 'Where is the adhiel who just came through here?' she demanded, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. Brenna knew one thing for certain; she didn't feel at all inclined to be polite to the strange relaxing man in front of her.


ooc: I'm so tempted to quote from Alice in Wonderland... 'curiouser and curiouser'! :)
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Post by Torigm Khace »

"Kath-who?" The figure sat up and held his hands up in the air. The voice, the posture, the clothes that hung off the man, seemed to indicate that not only was this not Katharr, but a young man instead. It was dark and only silhouettes could be seen. He stood slowly, "Miss, I'm not sure what you are talking about but if you are looking for someone, perhaps I can be of assistance. I know the woods well. No one has come through here though but fireflies and guppies.

"And I don't have anything on me either. So if you've come to rob a lone wanderer then I can only give you the clothes on my back." By the dark blue sky filled with stars, the figure began to remove his shirt. Behind Brenna, the path they she had taken to arrive, had disappeared and only thick foliage remained.
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Another one? Brenna groaned inwardly. She sighed. 'I'm not going to rob you. I'm searching for an elf who ran this way. There was a light, on the water, I followed it...' She broke off. She didn't think she was making much sense. Glancing at the man, she hoped he understood what she was trying to tell him, although it sounded like he hadn't seen any of what she had.

Was she going mad?

The man removing his shirt alarmed her, although she wasn't afraid of being attacked. The moment anyone wanting something she wasn't willing to give saw her face, she knew they would be off like a shot. It was perhaps the only advantage of her appearance, she mused.

She looked down at the floor. 'Are you sure you saw no one?'
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He dropped the shirt beside him and looked around, "I'm afraid I've been here alone for quite some time. I'm composing a song to a love I may never know while watching the stars and listening to the fish jump at small night insects. Any thing other than this I would have surely noted.

"Who is this elf that you seek? And this Kath? If you are lost, you can sit a bit and talk to me, maybe they are out looking for you and will come by this way just as you have."

While the night sky did not do much to illuminate the scene, the faint shadows being cast indicated the man wore at least a smile if not a shirt anymore. He motioned with his hand the large flat rock that he had been reclined upon earlier as a place to wait and he moved to sit back down himself.
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Brenna's dark eyes widened under the shadow of her cloak, and she stared at the man, fascinated. She had never heard someone give such a poetic description as that of what they were doing.

She laughed at herself inwardly. Of course, she had heard very few descriptions of anything in her life, except those of her mother detailing exactly how worthless her daughter was. Those had been quite descriptive, if a little repetitive, Brenna remembered.

She smiled slightly at the stranger. 'I'm not lost, for I have no destination. But it's strange that you haven't seen anyone pass.' Another question popped into her head. 'Do you know anything of a people called the fae,' she asked curiously. 'The elf I was following mentioned them, but I don't know anything about them.'

She made no move to join the man. Why would he want to sit next to her? Once she got close, he would see how she really looked, and if he was one for romantic notions and poetic thought, he wouldn't want to be forced to look at her own scarred features.
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Post by Torigm Khace »

The man reclined back against the rock and folded his arms behind his head and crossed his legs out in front of him. The ploop of a fish as it launched from and reentered the water, echoed across the surface of the lake.

"The fae, yes, curious beings who delight in merriment and small but harmless jokes. They come in many forms and sizes even up to a prince of the fae who is like a man and seeks a bride to become the king. If there be a current queen and king of fae, I know not.

"I've seen them before, the fae, that is." He paused looked back over his shoulder at Brenna and smiled in the darkness. "Are you sure you won't have a seat, If I keep you too long I can lead you back to the where you wish to be."
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Brenna laughed, surprising herself. It was not a sound she heard often coming from her own lips, although in the forests where she had spent her youth she remembered hearing the giggles and merriment of children filtering through the trees.

Her own laughter was harsh to her ears. 'You would not want me to sit, anymore than I want to be seated.'

Realising how blunt she sounded, she wrung her hands. 'But thank you for the offer,' the dark haired girl added awkwardly. 'What you have told me is interesting. Maybe I can include these fae in my book, if I ever see one to draw one.'

She stepped backwards. 'If you are sure you haven't seen the elf or the glowing ball or Katharr or... well, anything... then I will have to continue on my way. I've spent too long here...'

Wondering briefly how she could have spent too long anywhere when she didn't know where she was going or when she should get there, she turned to leave. She wished she could stay and join the strange man, but she knew it wasn't worth it. She had been rejected and confused enough in her life, especially the past couple of days.
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