(no subject)
Pineapple #9. You wouldn't believe me if I told you
and FotD 10/7/10 - Mana
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1276 (directly follows Hot Air and Talking in Your Sleep
Word Count : 945
Word of the Day : Mana - A generalized, supernatural force or power, which may be concentrated in objects or persons.
I couldn't pass up this fotd. I don't know if I'd call it spoilery, because no plot points are spilled, but Kairn pretty much lays out just how everything works. Note, this is a good 13 years or so after my last 2 pieces - Sham's 16 now.
The boy was clutching Kairn’s hand now as he had Lyssa’s just a few minutes before. Lyssa stood beside him, shuffling her feet, her hand drifting to and from the sword sheathed at her hip as she battled the urge to slip it into Kairn’s free hand. Guilt gnawed at her stomach every time she edged closer. He was here and he was alive, but…he wasn’t the one she’d come looking for.
Sham gave another groan and his hand spasmed against Kairn’s. “We have to get you out of here,” said Kairn, and he sounded as tired as he looked.
“It was all I could do to get him to the bed,” Lyssa said. “He was shaking so badly that I thought he-”
“Not him.” Kairn turned his weary gaze on her. “We need to get you out of here.”
“Me?” said Lyssa, drawing herself up and her arms across her chest. “Look, I haven’t seen you in a couple of years. I’m not about to have you chase me off without an explanation.”
Kairn sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and gave Sham’s hand another squeeze as he twitched and moaned again. “It…it’s the temple,” he said. “This is what he’s for. He can’t be here with you, or…things happen.”
“Better be more to your explanation than that.”
“You’re a chosen, and Sham’s the key, and the temple-” His look slowly drifted from expectant to baffled as she made no response. “The temple’s the gateway, Lyssa. Does that mean nothing to you?”
She hoped the continued blank look was sufficient answer and tried to concentrate more on listening and less on the urge to reach out and grab him.
With a last squeeze and an exasperated sigh, Kairn put down the boy’s hand. He fished about in a pocket for a moment before producing a stump of chalk and sank to his knees. “’round the chamber, through the arch; past the gate and bring them home. Not ringing any bells?” He cast her another disbelieving look as he set the chalk to the floor.
“Where voices flow,” Lyssa muttered, frowning at the boy still twitching in the sheets. She wrinkled her nose at Kairn as she slid her hand over Shamino‘s. “Children’s songs? Really?”
Kairn just sighed again. He had drawn two circles on the floor, and he pointed at one. “See, the gods are over here,” he said. “It’s like another di-…a dimen-” He frowned. “A place for the gods. And we’re here.” He tapped the other circle. “In the world.
“The two are next to each other, and they don’t touch. Unless we make them.” He added a third ring, smaller than the first two, but overlapping them both and quickly hashed out the lines of a form within it. “Sigils are like little gates between the world and… and the gods.” He tucked the chalk up against his palm and spread his fingers around the third ring. A wispy flame popped up in its center.
“With a sigil, we call a little piece of a god to us. You-” he peered up at her “-are like a walking, breathing sigil.”
“Right. Got that.” She glanced at the floor and the feeble flame swelled to the size of a small campfire before just as quickly dwindling to its former state.
Kairn shook his head. “This temple is the ultimate sigil,” he went on. “It doesn’t just summon a bit of their powers, it lets a whole god step through.” He pulled his hands from the mark and the tiny flame winked out.
“She wants out,” Lyssa muttered, eyeing Sham again. His head lolled on the pillow as he hovered somewhere between sleep and delerium. She slid her hand up along his thin arm and he groaned. “So he‘s talking to Ephrian herself?”
Kairn nodded.
“So why Sham? If this thing’s a gate, why don’t they just come walking through it?”
“Sigils need to be activated. Sham’s a walking piece of magic, just like you. It takes the both of you to complete the magic of the temple and open the gate.”
“We already came through the temple once,” said Lyssa. “If a god was going to come out wouldn’t they have done it already?”
“Do you really want to go back out there and find out?”
“S’pose not.”
“You’re going to have to trust me and just go without him.”
“And if the temple drops me off in one place and you in another?”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
“Pardon?” Her hand curled around Sham’s arm, and the boy murmured something about the heat again. Kairn bowed his head and refused to meet her gaze. “He’s my kid now too, you know. If you think I’m just going to drop him…And you. You know I thought you might be dead?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“You can’t just both leave me.”
“Lyssa, his father’s looking for him.”
Shamino groaned and batted at the sheets with shaking hands, and Lyssa wondered if he was hearing them in his stupor of if he was still dealing with the gods.
“And worse,” said Kairn. “Rune’s looking for him.”
“Worse?” she said, the surge of hope even the mention of him brought quickly giving way to anger. “What’s worse about Rune?”
“Lyss, you haven’t seen the company he keeps now.”
A lump rose in her throat. “But Rune wouldn’t…”
“I…I hate to say it but I think you need to go find him.” Kairn ran a chalk dusted hand through his hair. “And I think when you do, it’s probably best if you don’t even know where Sham and I are.”
and FotD 10/7/10 - Mana
Story : knights & necromancers
Rating : PG
Timeframe : 1276 (directly follows Hot Air and Talking in Your Sleep
Word Count : 945
Word of the Day : Mana - A generalized, supernatural force or power, which may be concentrated in objects or persons.
I couldn't pass up this fotd. I don't know if I'd call it spoilery, because no plot points are spilled, but Kairn pretty much lays out just how everything works. Note, this is a good 13 years or so after my last 2 pieces - Sham's 16 now.
The boy was clutching Kairn’s hand now as he had Lyssa’s just a few minutes before. Lyssa stood beside him, shuffling her feet, her hand drifting to and from the sword sheathed at her hip as she battled the urge to slip it into Kairn’s free hand. Guilt gnawed at her stomach every time she edged closer. He was here and he was alive, but…he wasn’t the one she’d come looking for.
Sham gave another groan and his hand spasmed against Kairn’s. “We have to get you out of here,” said Kairn, and he sounded as tired as he looked.
“It was all I could do to get him to the bed,” Lyssa said. “He was shaking so badly that I thought he-”
“Not him.” Kairn turned his weary gaze on her. “We need to get you out of here.”
“Me?” said Lyssa, drawing herself up and her arms across her chest. “Look, I haven’t seen you in a couple of years. I’m not about to have you chase me off without an explanation.”
Kairn sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and gave Sham’s hand another squeeze as he twitched and moaned again. “It…it’s the temple,” he said. “This is what he’s for. He can’t be here with you, or…things happen.”
“Better be more to your explanation than that.”
“You’re a chosen, and Sham’s the key, and the temple-” His look slowly drifted from expectant to baffled as she made no response. “The temple’s the gateway, Lyssa. Does that mean nothing to you?”
She hoped the continued blank look was sufficient answer and tried to concentrate more on listening and less on the urge to reach out and grab him.
With a last squeeze and an exasperated sigh, Kairn put down the boy’s hand. He fished about in a pocket for a moment before producing a stump of chalk and sank to his knees. “’round the chamber, through the arch; past the gate and bring them home. Not ringing any bells?” He cast her another disbelieving look as he set the chalk to the floor.
“Where voices flow,” Lyssa muttered, frowning at the boy still twitching in the sheets. She wrinkled her nose at Kairn as she slid her hand over Shamino‘s. “Children’s songs? Really?”
Kairn just sighed again. He had drawn two circles on the floor, and he pointed at one. “See, the gods are over here,” he said. “It’s like another di-…a dimen-” He frowned. “A place for the gods. And we’re here.” He tapped the other circle. “In the world.
“The two are next to each other, and they don’t touch. Unless we make them.” He added a third ring, smaller than the first two, but overlapping them both and quickly hashed out the lines of a form within it. “Sigils are like little gates between the world and… and the gods.” He tucked the chalk up against his palm and spread his fingers around the third ring. A wispy flame popped up in its center.
“With a sigil, we call a little piece of a god to us. You-” he peered up at her “-are like a walking, breathing sigil.”
“Right. Got that.” She glanced at the floor and the feeble flame swelled to the size of a small campfire before just as quickly dwindling to its former state.
Kairn shook his head. “This temple is the ultimate sigil,” he went on. “It doesn’t just summon a bit of their powers, it lets a whole god step through.” He pulled his hands from the mark and the tiny flame winked out.
“She wants out,” Lyssa muttered, eyeing Sham again. His head lolled on the pillow as he hovered somewhere between sleep and delerium. She slid her hand up along his thin arm and he groaned. “So he‘s talking to Ephrian herself?”
Kairn nodded.
“So why Sham? If this thing’s a gate, why don’t they just come walking through it?”
“Sigils need to be activated. Sham’s a walking piece of magic, just like you. It takes the both of you to complete the magic of the temple and open the gate.”
“We already came through the temple once,” said Lyssa. “If a god was going to come out wouldn’t they have done it already?”
“Do you really want to go back out there and find out?”
“S’pose not.”
“You’re going to have to trust me and just go without him.”
“And if the temple drops me off in one place and you in another?”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
“Pardon?” Her hand curled around Sham’s arm, and the boy murmured something about the heat again. Kairn bowed his head and refused to meet her gaze. “He’s my kid now too, you know. If you think I’m just going to drop him…And you. You know I thought you might be dead?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“You can’t just both leave me.”
“Lyssa, his father’s looking for him.”
Shamino groaned and batted at the sheets with shaking hands, and Lyssa wondered if he was hearing them in his stupor of if he was still dealing with the gods.
“And worse,” said Kairn. “Rune’s looking for him.”
“Worse?” she said, the surge of hope even the mention of him brought quickly giving way to anger. “What’s worse about Rune?”
“Lyss, you haven’t seen the company he keeps now.”
A lump rose in her throat. “But Rune wouldn’t…”
“I…I hate to say it but I think you need to go find him.” Kairn ran a chalk dusted hand through his hair. “And I think when you do, it’s probably best if you don’t even know where Sham and I are.”