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Monday, September 21, 2009

Akkad waits

Akkad sat in the sun on the south side of the stables and watched the horses graze. He had nothing to do til they left on the Water Rite expedition, so he welcomed the few hours off he had to do nothing.

The sun seemed to cover him and energize him. The heat seemed to charge him like a power cell. and it felt good. He puffed little fireballs in his hand absentmindedly, he began sculpting the flames with his fingers and his mind he morphed the flame into a tiny sapling, then a minitaure tree ablaze with flaming leaves. He had gotten quite good at these miniature scultures of flame. It helped hone and control his powers like Darka Wells, his blacksmith master, forced him to do.

He got lost in the heat of the sun and the staring mindlessly into his flaming hand as he slipped slowly into a daydream.

Happy memories, Alicia McKarrin holding him, telling him about his mother, teaching him, trying to make him feel like a part of her family. But the happy memories turned hard, struggling with his anger, not knowing why or where it would come from, erupting like a volcano with no control. Hurting others because they hurt him. Then finally, the day he became what he is today. Cruel boys and girls, picking on Akkad. Losing his control, Losing consciousness. He emotions erupting into physical flames, and the school burning to the ground with the mean ones in it. But also his beloved Alicia.

He recalled nothing of the incident, other than being shocked awake as he was dowsed with water. Untouched, unburnt, unharmed, but scarred for the rest of his life.

Akkad awoke with a start at the feeling of water being thrown on him. Alva Stepp, stablemaster stood over him with an empty bucket of water in her hand. "Ya damn fool," she yelled "You trying to burn down the stable and the pasture at the same time."

Akkad glanced around. A ring of charred field extended from him for about 20 feet, and the side of the barn he was leaning on was beginnning to char and blacken where he touched it.

" you were breathin' awful hard son," Alva said. "An flames were a risin'. Had to put em out. time for yo to get up and get goin. You can help me with provision til the others get here."

Akkad got up, dripping, thought about Alicia and the look of anger, disgust, and betrayal on Lars McKarrin's face when he learned what had happened to his wife and the other children. and felt the heavy weight of despair fall squarely back onto his chest.

He spun in place and followed the stablemaster around the corner. "Maybe," he thought "I will never have to see this place again."

Glix follows

Glix knew something like this might happen. He didn't remember the last Water Rite ceremony, only that he got some extra to eat the last time it had happened. It seemed a happy thing. an adventurous thing thing then. But he knew that the See of Grass was no happy place, and that there would be many challenges ahead of them. Razor Grass, Ripgut vine, the mad Hoppers, the damnable Badder Dens, and the Prog colonies that would just appear out of nowhere. There was worse out there, he had heard about it.

Glix trotted off to take a hot bath, get a good meal and take a nap at his upstairs loft above Rion Ford's warehouse(he was a watchman for the warehouse when he wasn't on scouting patrols). It was really nothing more than a some floor and walls stuck in the rafters of the corner of the warehouse, with a set of stairs and a balcony. Rion had put a bed, a small table a chairs, a locker, and a rug in the room.

Glix awoke from his nap, packed his equipment for a normal scouting trip, and headed to the stables.

Akkad goes to the Stables

"Haven't I earned my keep?" Akkad thought. " Don't I toil away at the forge day in, day out? I suffer their glares, their whispered insults. Now I have to pass their archaic rites? Well, maybe a few weeks away will show them how much they need me."
Akkad stood and stared back at MacKarrin for a few moments, and without a word turned his back and headed for the stables....

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Meeting

A crowd had gathered in the Courtyard by midday. Akkad teleported in fury and a crack that sent the children scattering across the courtyard. His meancing look enhanced by his slightly smoking hands. Nago had been there a while and was conversing with the other tradesmen. He was well liked and always found he had much to talk about. Glix strode in to the courtyard, saw it was getting full, and stayed in the back and leaned against the town hall building in the shade.

A bell was struck hard, with a deep note that seemed to last forever. The crowd grew silent. Magister Lars McKarin stepped out of the Town Hall in simple workers clothes, onto its raised brick porch. He spoke in a loud, confident and booming voice, “ It has come time for the Water Rite. A time of passage, a time of commitment, and for some, a time of atonement.” His gaze fell squarely on Akkad. “Those who have been summoned please come forward.”

Akkad didn’t move but simply glared up at the Magister as Nago hustled to his side as the townsfolk had cleared a circle around them. Glix walked over to the clearing and stood under the shade of the trees. And Lukad, groomer and stableboy, rushed to be in the clearing as well.

“You have all reached a threshold. It is time to pay back to your community, what it has given to you. It is the requirement of every man and woman when they turn 18 summers to seek the Well of Unending Pure Water and bring back some of its pure water to recharge the towns well.”

Cheers erupted from the onlookers. The Town well had gone dry as it did sometimes in dry summers. But the town had not had it happen in several years. This was the first water rite in 5 years. It was a dangerous proposition, especially since no one had been to the Cave in almost that long. Much could change out in the See of Grass in 5 years.
The Magister held up his hands to silence the crowd. “You leave tonite. Good Luck. You will receive your provisions from Stable Master Stepp.You should proceed there now. We will expect you in 8 days, and will ready the celebration for your return.”

Friday, September 4, 2009

Getting Ready


The sun rose hard and crisp in the crimson and purple sky. Akkad worked the morning then agitated, teleported with a crack and sizzle, to Tower Courtyard.

Nago rose early, ate heartily, then dropped his tools off at the workshop, and headed to the courtyard. He was two hours early.

Glix, rolled the summons over and over in his head. His affairs were already packed on the horse he was lent by the town to do his scouting around The Acres. He didn’t have much else. Although he grew up in The Acres, he always felt detached. Distant. That was why he felt so comfortable as a scout, he could be mostly alone. Away from the village. He loved The Acres, its inhabitants, its ideals, and he would defend it to his death, if necessary. But he never felt like one of them.

Glix trotted up to the west gate, waved the signal, and the gates began to roll back.

He walked the horse to the stables, unloaded his gear and walked off to Tower Courtyard to hear why he had been summoned.