The Child of Namyrur - Chapter 2
Title: The Child of Namyrur
Author: white_coral
Rating: PG
Summary: The history have written dark times and speak of the feud between the Nairn Kingdom and the Namyrur Kingdom. There are stories told upon children that either were to blame for the war that ensued. However, only few are left with the real truth. Time has passed and now, one of the fallen Namyrurians will see to the vows they made come true and retells a new history.
Chapter: 1
~o~
There were a lot of blood spill. There were a lot of deaths and everywhere, gloom littered. Terrifying shrieks and loud, deafening cries boomed the entire scene. There were chaos and chaos everywhere. It was a battlefield where war took place.
Far away from it, stood a wide and closed chamber; The Holy.
An aged priest cried out a spell loudly, his hands bound on the ancient book of sorcery shook with fear and sadness. There was a man on the side, his eyes closed and focused with a sword in his grip pointed to the sky that shined so bright.
"How fool they are and how they play dirty! Forgiveness is something they will never win and neither will the curse be lifted from them!!"
Who stood in the middle of the chamber, was a man, clearly of royalty who had a crown heavily put on his head and held up a sleeping baby that was not aware of the dark times, as if to sacrifice him, yet, as if to bestow him blessings. The spell grew louder by the second and the two men soon joined in.
"These are true words, spoken by the frightened, the tortured, the abused and those who exercise patience and seek safe! Hear! Two of Namyrur will see to it that Nairn pays heavily for the scare! Hear! This, sworn by us, a curse only for the Nairns!!!"
Then they synchronised with the loudest voice and the old language echoed, "The child will see it done!!"
*
Taemin's black eyes snap open along with a sharp intake of breath as beads of sweat roll down his forehead. His breathing draws out short and he sits up with a heart that beats severely against his chest. The boy grows wary and once he realized it was a nightmare again, he begins to calm himself down.
"Oh dear..." He whispers to himself. Taemin can never get used to the scene eventho it is always the same thing replaying while he's asleep. At times, it didn't bother him much but some days, he grows weary of it. Dwindling on it would not help so he shuffles off his bed and loosely braid his long hair tied up with a short sash to begin early preparation for the day.
It is today the day he has been looking forward to. He folds his old blanket and changes his cloth to something thicker for his journey. Taemin packs some supplies he needs and grabs a dull blue greatcoat, heavily hooded to keep him warm throughout his ride. Taemin watered his horse, Alastor, grooms him and fixes the saddle on his back.
The dew drops begin to dry and the sky brightens. Taemin eats an apple for breakfast, picked from a tree along the course leading out the forest of Trystle while he pulled the reins of Alastor, his coat trailing behind. The trail leads them to the edge of a cliff where a large scope of view of the land spread before Taemin's fascinated eyes.
"Look Al, tis the Kingdom of Nairn." He breathes out with a wide smile.
~o~
There has always been something wrong with Taemin. He manages well by himself but when he's not, he cannot help but turns awkward. So the moment he walked into the great, big gate of Nairn Kingdom, bustling with commoners go about their daily lives and merchants pouring in and out, he felt immensely pressured. To most, he bumps, and sometimes, knocks flat into something and everything just tumbles down and rolls on the ground. Curses flies to him and Alastor, a big black horse, is not doing any help to him.
"Sorry!" He tells one man next to him. " O Sorry!" He says again to the woman he accidently elbowed her breasts. Of course, his small voice can't entirely win against the shout-out of sellers and the high-pitched aunts gossiping here and there. If not flustered, he is greatly annoyed.
It seemed like forever for Taemin to pass the common streets and reach the castle gate that was open wide to welcome the palace workers. But now he looks up and admires the great stonework that reaches high and stands so mighty and tall. Lucky for him that there are not so many people in this section of the Kingdom. Tho people constantly walk about, Taemin decides that they are all too busy to mind other's bussiness. They all got their masters bussiness' to mend for.
Taemin let out a small sigh and makes his way to the stables by himself. As he passes the sturdy wooden bridge that decrepit vines have curl around it, making it look old and used to cross the small river that runs to the rest of the outlying villages, a boy half his age with his face smudged with dirt, bearing a bucket of water, rushes past him.
"How strong." Taemin mutters to himself as he pulls Alastor's reins. Taemin heads to the closest stable and sees that only three palace horses are occupying inside, leaving many stalls open for his mount.
Alastor is wise enough to stay in one of them and waits for his treat as his master begins to unbuckle the saddle on his back. Taemin is not particularly fond of grooming horses but he was taught to take care of his mount before himself when his journey concludes.
Taemin steps down and walks to the left end where water can be drawn from a small well, brimming with water. The sun filtered through the small openings between the woody cell windows casts long shadows on the water surface and make it appear dark and bleak. When his bucket is fuelled with enough water, Taemin grunts loudly as he attempt to lift it up. And this is exactly why he doesn't like the whole grooming process. Try as he might, the daylight is not going to last forever. He stops, hands on his hips and sighs.
Maybe it calls for another strength he has that he is much more confident in. He raises his left hand towards the bucket and gazes intently at it, focusing his inner viguor.
"Owaten Mich." He enchants. Effortlessly, the bucket is lifted in the air. Taemin smiles to himself. Sometimes it paid to be a warlock. He is aware tho, that in these days, his kind are rarely appreciated and their powers are usually referred as miracles. That is why Taemin has been raised not to always depend on his gift. Not a single day has passed without him thinking what a waste he has turned into. Taemin sighs.
He turns around and head towards Alastor's stall, the bucket trailing behind him. Before he could take more than two steps, he was startled by a man dressed in grey common cloth that walks in with a low hum from the stable door before him. Taemin gasps, his focus inside breaks, the bucket drops with a loud thud and water splashes on the stable ground. They exchange surprised glances.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." The taller man said. Taemin's mouth quivers.
"No, I um.." He tries to reply, but finds out that he is currently short of words. Maybe because he has kept the fact that he has magic in himself hidden for so long that now, it makes him nervous to learn the consenquences if someone catches him. Sensing the awkwardness surfacing and afraid of the man would dwell on any weird things that he sees, Taemin decides to get another bucket of water. This second time again, he just cannot summon enough strength to lift it up. The man stares at Taemin who grunts rather amusingly to him.
"Do you need help?" He offers. Taemin glances to him and to his appraisal, it is obvious that the man has at least twice the muscles he developed.
"Uh.. sure. Thank you." He quickly agrees. The man smiles fondly at him as he strides towards the bucket and lifts it up. "To the black horse, please." Taemin guides further.
Alastor must has been awfully thirsty, for he drinks quite greedily. Taemin grabs an old brusher nearby and begins on his mount's shiny coat. He has a significant hope that the man would leave but he decides that's a bit mean considering that the man had helped him.
"You're a traveller?" The man asks, patting on the horse's head gently.
"Yes, from Ebycir." Taemin answers. It is a small country where he was bred and raised.
"Why, that's quite a long trip you made. Isn't it beyond the forest of Trystle? I've heard of many people speak of its element of danger."
Taemin is sensible. People have always told him that the place was dangerous but when he arrived there, he realized he never felt any calmer than he has been in any deep forests. Also, the small crystals that comes out from the ground are pretty. He liked them a lot. Many didn't dare enter the forest to dig them out in fear of losing their lives. Taemin figures, in order to not bring unnecessary attention to himself, it is probably best to stay quiet about his bravery, if you could call it that. Or ignorance, which is more likely believable.
"I went around the mountain." Taemin lies in stead, smiling awkwardly. The man nods at him, impressed to see this boy who probably had travelled for more than a week and yet not seeking a comfy bed the first thing since he arrived.
"Forgive me, I am Kai." The man introduces, bowing lightly.
"Taemin." The other replies. Kai goes around Alastor as Taemin busily brushes its coat.
"This is a good horse. You ride him often, I see." Kai says, eyeing the trained muscles of the four-feet animal. Taemin beams a light smile, patting Alastor fondly.
"He's the only ride I got." He says. Kai acknowledges with a nod.
"So what brings you to Nairn?" The man enquires. Honestly, Taemin wants to tell the truth. What a good laugh Kai would have if Taemin tells him that he had lots of nightmares that foretells the downfall of the Kingdom and thus he journeyed here. The prospect is too big to be taken seriously. Especially if told it is to be done by someone so insignificant as him.
"I came in search for work." Taemin confides, followed by a light smile at Kai whose fleetingly charmed by the white-pearly teeth.
"In the palace? What do you have in mind?" He enquires further.
"Um I... have no idea yet. I'm supposed to meet someone here." Taemin answered. It's not a lie. Well it is not, if his dreams do not betray him and indeed, do come true. He briefly considers all of this ridiculous, however, like any other times, Taemin realizes this is all he has lived with every day. If dreams come true are only miracles, and he has the ability of making miracles, then perhaps he still has hope. "Not a stableman, least to say." Taemin quirkily adds, to Kai's amusement. He laughs a little.
"Well, have you met that someone?" Kai asks to Taemin's dismay.
"No, not yet." He replies, maybe too quickly. He adds then, "He sent word that he might be delayed a day or two. I suppose I could wait." Good grief, Taemin thought. He's getting good at lying.
Kai nods, his gaze averted from Taemin's eyes to somewhere distant as if considering about something. "O well, do you need any other help?" He asks again. Seeing that Taemin is nearly done with his mount, Kai figures there isn't any. But he still waits for an answer.
"Apart from making my dream come true, no. Thank you." Taemin replies politely. Kai laughs again, mostly because he didn't expects a joke. He is not aware that it wasn't.
"Are you going to tell me what is it you dreamt then?" Kai said, hoping he could stay longer with the good company.
"Nope. You probably don't like unicorns. Tis my little secret." Taemin smiles at him, earning another pleasant laughter from him. Kai smiles back thereafter.
"It was a pleasure meeting you." Kai bows a little. Taemin pats Alastor as his eyes follow the man stepping away to leave the stable.
"It's all mine." Taemin announced with a glad smile on his face and Kai turns his heels to walk off. When Kai is out of sight, he let out a loud sigh while patting heavily on his Alastor. "Now what?" He groaned, knowing full well that his horse is not going to answer him. Alastor neighed at him instead, as if jeering for some fodder he is not given. "Yeah yeah, you big, fat glutton.." Taemin sneers.
After he feed his horse, Taemin made his way from where he came and as soon as he passes the bridge, he stops his track when a small group of riders came into the castle gate and is welcomed by, what he guesses, are the King and his Son be fore the broad front door. It's obvious to anyone, they're wearing silver armour that no other knight around can rival and each have crowns above their heads, carved with the crest of Nairn Kingdom's royal family.
Taemin watches as the leader of the riders step down his horse with a wide smile and hugs the King like two men that have known each other for an extensive time and had shared both pain and laughter. Taemin purses his lips as he tries to appraise the man and concludes that he is a King of another Kingdom or a reigning Lord of Nairn villages. There can be no other explanation. Taemin realizes that a few people have stop their daily doings and look at their superior with interest. He walks to the nearest townspeople to ask on some information.
"Who are they?" He said. The woman he asked to smiles greatly, the dirt on her left cheek creasing to fall off.
"Why, they are the representatives of the outlying villages. That is Lord Junsu. He is a close friend of our King Changmin."
"I see." Taemin mutters, mostly to himself. Thinking that he got a long way ahead and afraid that he has nowhere to lodge for the night before nightfall, Taemin decides to shrug them off and heads out the castle gate. He'll have his time to deal with the destruction plan later. Before he is even close to leaving, two guards claims his attention.
"Sir, we need you to come with us." One of them said gruffly, the metal plate on his chest hanging looser than the other guard. It's too big on him. Taemin tries hard not to stare.
"What for? I have no bussiness with the palace people." Yet, Taemin wants to add but holds his tongue. The guards exchange brief glances.
"We mean no harm, Sir. But we need you to come with us." The taller guard said. Taemin sighs. He was about to reply but his eyes caught the royal party nearby, where he can watch behind the two guards. The King and the Lord are still talking fondly to one another, a small laughter between one moment and another. King Changmin appears as tho introducing his son to Lord Junsu. And Taemin can make little out their conversation.
"This is my son, Minho." The Nairn King said, patting the man's shoulder proudly. And the Prince, with a smug smile on his face, steps forward to greet Lord Junsu. His armor, unfortunately, that was bathing in glory around his tough body, untacks and one end of it falls ungracefully on the stone floor, thudding away from the group, their heads following its movement until it stops.
A few silent seconds wash over them and Taemin accidently broke it with a small but evident snicker, knowing that the proud Prince must be overly embarassed by now. Mostly tho, was because their heads was going up and down when the metal falls and thud away. They looked like dogs focusing on a toy they want to fetch. Taemin catches the Prince's wrathful eyes and for a second, Taemin fears that the man finds out that he snickered at him. Soon, the man begins to throw a fit at a servantman behind him, saying things like "This thing won't happen if you did your job better and know how to dress armoury like any other servant should!" The servantman cowers in defeat.
"Sir?" The guard before Taemin calls. Snapped out of his stare at the royal party, Taemin is reminded again at the odd bussiness at hand. He chases away his amusement.
"But I won't, without a reason." Taemin argues quickly.
"It's all in good nature, Sir." The guard concludes before both of them pulls Taemin's wrists with enough force but not roughly to somewhere opposite the direction he headed before. Taemin still argues but while he walks along the open corridor, with the guards pulling him, Taemin's eyes once again catches the royal party but mostly directed on a man standing close behind Lord Junsu, holding the reins of his Lord's horse.
He knows his eyes won't deceive him and as he stares more focusedly and longer, Taemin can really vouch that the man is the man that appears in his dream. His mouth opens to call to him but knowing clearly that he won't hear him. Even so, Taemin, with his eyes widen, still half in disbelieve, gazes hopingly at him.
"Onew." He pleas. Before Taemin runs out of the sight, the man Onew turns his head slightly and he coincidently glances directly at Taemin. And that is the first person Taemin recognizes in his dream that has looked upon him.
~o~
A/N: Hi~ I suppose you guys have already figure it out, but in case some hasn't I'll have to tell you that the words in grey colour are magic enchants that are supposed to be in some ancient language. But since I don't know any source I can depend on to translate it and it might also confuses some reader, I decided to just make it this way. I hope you still enjoy it.
I love my subscribers~ I'm sorry for not making 2min scenes yet, bear with me.
