Post by Eldrin the Black on Jul 9, 2008 3:54:35 GMT -5
Tornin
I
The sun trickled gently through the rough glass of the windows of Tornin’s shop showing sleepy dust floating through the air like gentle rivers of gold. It was almost the time of the year that everyone would celebrate the mid-summer festivals and the days in the shop were almost unbearably long. It was even worse since the war began and Tornin had been called away for the militia service. Though the shop was small and snug between two other shops, who were also snug in there place, it was a lonely place for the wife of a soldier. Truly though, any place is a lonely place for the wife of a soldier.
“Damn his fool pride!” Eylanya had often thought since he had marched off with his sword. She really wasn’t mad at him, in fact she was proud that her husband was braver than most and had signed up for the duty-call militia voluntarily. This was still a sore point in their new marriage and worse still a thorn in her mind. Tornin would often change the subject when she started the conversation about his military duty and how his familial duty should come first. Other times he would remark about how it was the right thing to do, “Our country serves us. I feel no fear for my life or yours here, as a man I should defend our land. It is my responsibility.” Her thoughts were bitter against the king for starting another war though. This was the third war in less then ten years! The day Tornin left she had wept through the entire night.
That was all in the past though, he’d been gone into the northern desert for nearly a year and she hadn’t received a letter in some months. Every day she waited for the post and everyday for the last three months the courier had only shaken his head in a resigned show of sympathy and passed on by the shop. Eylanya rode out the remainder of those days (every day, in fact) with a quiet and strong endurance only a virtuous person can manage. She smiled everyday for her customers and every smile was a lie. An act she played well. When few customers came though she would often daydream of better times with her husband and this evening was no different.
She was shaken from her reverie by the waning of the day and the disappearance of the streams of gold dancing through the air. She thought to get up and lock the shop but before she could put her thoughts into action a stranger had opened the door and entered, closing the door gently behind himself. He took a few steps into the shop and stopped, a look of misgiving crossed his face. This lasted for only the slimmest part of a second before his face returned to a deceivingly blank look again. He was an imposing man; his hair was past his shoulder’s which were wider then most mens’ and he was a just a bit over six myrs( roughly=feet). He wore badly dented and scratched steel armor and wore a bandage around his forehead which was bloody at the side. He had a battered shield on his back and a military issue long sword at his hip. The very same type of sword her husband had carried the day he’d left.
“Get that in the war sir?” Eylanya almost whispered in a more tentative voice than she normally used. She had heard terrible things about the soldiers of the king. Seeing her fear the stranger spoke in voice that all at once soothes and draws your attention. “You’ve no need to fear me lady, I’m not a soldier anymore. And no, I got this on my way back from the abandoned battlefields of Hirirr. A most honorable sailor gave me and my men passage across the Alldyn and back to the country of the King we fought for. What was left of my men and I were attacked by bandits on our march here.
“What news of the war sir?” As she spoke that she had a thousand thousand thoughts spinning through her brain. Was the war over? Was Tornin on his way home to her? Had the army been defeated and all killed? This and a multitude more screamed inside her as she waited for the answer.
The soldier began to speak and then paused for a moment as if some mighty internal struggle was occurring. His composure apparently won the battle for then he spoke in a steady and emotionless tone. “The King ran low on gold and abandoned all militia and drafted personnel near the Caliph’s citadel. He secretly recalled all the royal forces.” Pain crossed his face once more but was quickly dismissed with the discipline that only a soldier can muster. “They took near all the supplies and left us to die. I took charge of the remaining forces and marched them west and away from the Caliph’s armies. We eventually made it to a port village where a rich merchant-sailor had re-supplied his ships. I begged his aide and he brought what few of us were left home.”
Fear started to run amok in Eylanya’s mind but before it overtook she got up and began to light a candle. “It’s dark sir, if you don’t mind.” The soldier waited patiently as she went around the shop and lit enough candles to supply an adequate amount of light in the waxing night. When she looked at him though she could swear he saw through her façade. See deep into her heart. Somehow know she was afraid. He knew she was merely lighting candles to delay him from telling her that her husband had perished in the desert. That he had died because that wretch of a King had abandoned him! Finally she was finished and stood in front of the stores counter nearer the somber soldier.
He began speaking again but his voice was quieter, as if his voice was going to break. “I did my best to save as many as I could but it was not enough.” A tear rolled gently down his cheek and his face began to contort. “I can say no more.” He whispered and just as he finished he reached into a leather pouch at his side and pulled out a beaten and dirty scroll. He held it out but she was hesitant to take it, but then took; and it took all the willpower she possessed. She gently unrolled the parchment and read it with a great foreboding.
My dearest Eylanya,
I have fought long and hard in this desert against vile and savage Hirrites and our armies have been most sorely beaten. The King’s full-time soldiers have been recalled and we have been abandoned with near to nothing to sustain us. My Captain has gotten us far to the west on little and kept our spirits up well enough. We have fought many engagements and held off the pursuing Hirrites with much success. Though, between the Hirrites and the desert there is less than a quarter rank (1,000 soldiers) of us. Enough of this however, I have much to say to you.
I have longed for you my dearest love and have thought of you every day. I’m sorry I haven’t written but the fighting has kept me to busy, I’ve hardly had time to sleep! I was thinking, once I get back to Burra we might move off to the Candlewood. My Captain tells stories of his childhood and the forest folk there. He says that in the morning you can smell the sunshine on account it has to go through all the leaves first! Can you imagine? And at night the fey light thousands of lamps throughout the wood and it looks like the stars are upon the earth. I’ll be glad……
(Blood stains near half the page.)
……I have been wounded though and the priest was killed yesterday. The wound has been getting worse everyday and the Captain says if I don’t get it treated soon I may die. He’s always preaching the darke though! I’ll be fine and home soon.
Lost without you,
Tornin
She looked up into the soldiers eyes and could see the truth in them. He had died in the desert. “Milady, we found him dead in the morning with this in his hand. He was my man and I trained him to fight from the first day I was given a commission. I chose him to fight in my troop because I have known few men with such a noble spirit. He was a good Sergeant but a better friend I’ve never known.” Tears began falling more freely from the strangers face but Eylanya took no notice, her world dropped out from under her. She fell to the floor crying with an abandon she’d never known. Fires burned her soul and her heart was freezing in her chest. Never had she felt such anger! Never had she known sadness until now.
She felt strong arms around her then and tried to pull away but couldn’t. She fought feebly but could fight no longer. Eylanya wept with renewed vigor in the stranger’s arms for what seemed an eternity. His grip never slackened, never left her. She lost consciousness then and fell into the blackest sleep she had ever known.
The gilded rivers once again poured through rough glass windows of the shop and woke Eylanya. She was sore and felt as if her heart had been torn out but she was still alive. She’d thought she’d died. Certainly she had thought the world had ended in the blackness of her sleep. But no, she slowly became aware of her surroundings little by little; slower than usual, as if she’d slept a thousand years. She first felt the warmth from the dawn on her face and then the cold floor beneath her. Then she felt the arms that had held her through the night and then she felt ashamed. She sat up and rubbed her eyes feeling more foolish than she ever had. She tried to think of what she would say but the Soldier spoke first.
“I have nothing to help you and nothing to say. After this war I am deeply scarred and have no strength to lend. I barely have the strength to walk this world but I must. I go now to the temple to dedicate myself to the Clerical order of my god.” She began to feel alone when he said that, though she knew him hardly at all. He would leave her too. Did she mean nothing to anyone?
“I will not leave you hear alone though. Tornin often talked of you and of going to my childhood home to live. I used to live in the Candlewood and have many friends there. They will look after you and maybe you can heal.” His voice was soft and hoarse, as if he had cried through the night while she slept, but was still firm and held strength even in its weakness. “Gather your things, it’s a long way to the Candlewood and we must leave soon.”
“I don’t even know your name.” she could hardly hear herself and was unsure if he had heard her but he answered her. My name is Cameron, once Lieutenant of a Dogs army. Will you leave this place and live a gentler and peaceful life where war or rumor of war will never again reach your ears?”
She couldn’t say no, she hadn’t the strength. She felt so empty she couldn’t even seem to make any decisions at all. Her thoughts were calm and one tracked. She felt drained of substance, as if she were only a wraith. She got up slowly and gathered her things from her home on the second floor. “It was once a home.” She thought bitterly. “But now it means nothing.” They left as soon as she had packed a few meager belongings and she never returned to the city she had known her entire life. Nor did she ever want to.
****************
Eylanya lived in Cameron’s boyhood home for fifty years and was at peace for most of it. She had grieved for nearly a year but Cameron’s friends had befriended her and made her family to them. The Diradani (Fox-People) were her greatest friends and a Diradani named Amirrul (Cameron’s own childhood friend) officially adopted her into her family. When Eylanya died Amirrul summoned Cameron and they buried Eylanya next to Cameron’s grandfather Aaron. Cameron stayed in the grove with Amirrul for the winter and then went off to a land plagued by war to fight one last battle and for the last time give aid to those who had been abandoned by all and were truly alone.
I
The sun trickled gently through the rough glass of the windows of Tornin’s shop showing sleepy dust floating through the air like gentle rivers of gold. It was almost the time of the year that everyone would celebrate the mid-summer festivals and the days in the shop were almost unbearably long. It was even worse since the war began and Tornin had been called away for the militia service. Though the shop was small and snug between two other shops, who were also snug in there place, it was a lonely place for the wife of a soldier. Truly though, any place is a lonely place for the wife of a soldier.
“Damn his fool pride!” Eylanya had often thought since he had marched off with his sword. She really wasn’t mad at him, in fact she was proud that her husband was braver than most and had signed up for the duty-call militia voluntarily. This was still a sore point in their new marriage and worse still a thorn in her mind. Tornin would often change the subject when she started the conversation about his military duty and how his familial duty should come first. Other times he would remark about how it was the right thing to do, “Our country serves us. I feel no fear for my life or yours here, as a man I should defend our land. It is my responsibility.” Her thoughts were bitter against the king for starting another war though. This was the third war in less then ten years! The day Tornin left she had wept through the entire night.
That was all in the past though, he’d been gone into the northern desert for nearly a year and she hadn’t received a letter in some months. Every day she waited for the post and everyday for the last three months the courier had only shaken his head in a resigned show of sympathy and passed on by the shop. Eylanya rode out the remainder of those days (every day, in fact) with a quiet and strong endurance only a virtuous person can manage. She smiled everyday for her customers and every smile was a lie. An act she played well. When few customers came though she would often daydream of better times with her husband and this evening was no different.
She was shaken from her reverie by the waning of the day and the disappearance of the streams of gold dancing through the air. She thought to get up and lock the shop but before she could put her thoughts into action a stranger had opened the door and entered, closing the door gently behind himself. He took a few steps into the shop and stopped, a look of misgiving crossed his face. This lasted for only the slimmest part of a second before his face returned to a deceivingly blank look again. He was an imposing man; his hair was past his shoulder’s which were wider then most mens’ and he was a just a bit over six myrs( roughly=feet). He wore badly dented and scratched steel armor and wore a bandage around his forehead which was bloody at the side. He had a battered shield on his back and a military issue long sword at his hip. The very same type of sword her husband had carried the day he’d left.
“Get that in the war sir?” Eylanya almost whispered in a more tentative voice than she normally used. She had heard terrible things about the soldiers of the king. Seeing her fear the stranger spoke in voice that all at once soothes and draws your attention. “You’ve no need to fear me lady, I’m not a soldier anymore. And no, I got this on my way back from the abandoned battlefields of Hirirr. A most honorable sailor gave me and my men passage across the Alldyn and back to the country of the King we fought for. What was left of my men and I were attacked by bandits on our march here.
“What news of the war sir?” As she spoke that she had a thousand thousand thoughts spinning through her brain. Was the war over? Was Tornin on his way home to her? Had the army been defeated and all killed? This and a multitude more screamed inside her as she waited for the answer.
The soldier began to speak and then paused for a moment as if some mighty internal struggle was occurring. His composure apparently won the battle for then he spoke in a steady and emotionless tone. “The King ran low on gold and abandoned all militia and drafted personnel near the Caliph’s citadel. He secretly recalled all the royal forces.” Pain crossed his face once more but was quickly dismissed with the discipline that only a soldier can muster. “They took near all the supplies and left us to die. I took charge of the remaining forces and marched them west and away from the Caliph’s armies. We eventually made it to a port village where a rich merchant-sailor had re-supplied his ships. I begged his aide and he brought what few of us were left home.”
Fear started to run amok in Eylanya’s mind but before it overtook she got up and began to light a candle. “It’s dark sir, if you don’t mind.” The soldier waited patiently as she went around the shop and lit enough candles to supply an adequate amount of light in the waxing night. When she looked at him though she could swear he saw through her façade. See deep into her heart. Somehow know she was afraid. He knew she was merely lighting candles to delay him from telling her that her husband had perished in the desert. That he had died because that wretch of a King had abandoned him! Finally she was finished and stood in front of the stores counter nearer the somber soldier.
He began speaking again but his voice was quieter, as if his voice was going to break. “I did my best to save as many as I could but it was not enough.” A tear rolled gently down his cheek and his face began to contort. “I can say no more.” He whispered and just as he finished he reached into a leather pouch at his side and pulled out a beaten and dirty scroll. He held it out but she was hesitant to take it, but then took; and it took all the willpower she possessed. She gently unrolled the parchment and read it with a great foreboding.
My dearest Eylanya,
I have fought long and hard in this desert against vile and savage Hirrites and our armies have been most sorely beaten. The King’s full-time soldiers have been recalled and we have been abandoned with near to nothing to sustain us. My Captain has gotten us far to the west on little and kept our spirits up well enough. We have fought many engagements and held off the pursuing Hirrites with much success. Though, between the Hirrites and the desert there is less than a quarter rank (1,000 soldiers) of us. Enough of this however, I have much to say to you.
I have longed for you my dearest love and have thought of you every day. I’m sorry I haven’t written but the fighting has kept me to busy, I’ve hardly had time to sleep! I was thinking, once I get back to Burra we might move off to the Candlewood. My Captain tells stories of his childhood and the forest folk there. He says that in the morning you can smell the sunshine on account it has to go through all the leaves first! Can you imagine? And at night the fey light thousands of lamps throughout the wood and it looks like the stars are upon the earth. I’ll be glad……
(Blood stains near half the page.)
……I have been wounded though and the priest was killed yesterday. The wound has been getting worse everyday and the Captain says if I don’t get it treated soon I may die. He’s always preaching the darke though! I’ll be fine and home soon.
Lost without you,
Tornin
She looked up into the soldiers eyes and could see the truth in them. He had died in the desert. “Milady, we found him dead in the morning with this in his hand. He was my man and I trained him to fight from the first day I was given a commission. I chose him to fight in my troop because I have known few men with such a noble spirit. He was a good Sergeant but a better friend I’ve never known.” Tears began falling more freely from the strangers face but Eylanya took no notice, her world dropped out from under her. She fell to the floor crying with an abandon she’d never known. Fires burned her soul and her heart was freezing in her chest. Never had she felt such anger! Never had she known sadness until now.
She felt strong arms around her then and tried to pull away but couldn’t. She fought feebly but could fight no longer. Eylanya wept with renewed vigor in the stranger’s arms for what seemed an eternity. His grip never slackened, never left her. She lost consciousness then and fell into the blackest sleep she had ever known.
The gilded rivers once again poured through rough glass windows of the shop and woke Eylanya. She was sore and felt as if her heart had been torn out but she was still alive. She’d thought she’d died. Certainly she had thought the world had ended in the blackness of her sleep. But no, she slowly became aware of her surroundings little by little; slower than usual, as if she’d slept a thousand years. She first felt the warmth from the dawn on her face and then the cold floor beneath her. Then she felt the arms that had held her through the night and then she felt ashamed. She sat up and rubbed her eyes feeling more foolish than she ever had. She tried to think of what she would say but the Soldier spoke first.
“I have nothing to help you and nothing to say. After this war I am deeply scarred and have no strength to lend. I barely have the strength to walk this world but I must. I go now to the temple to dedicate myself to the Clerical order of my god.” She began to feel alone when he said that, though she knew him hardly at all. He would leave her too. Did she mean nothing to anyone?
“I will not leave you hear alone though. Tornin often talked of you and of going to my childhood home to live. I used to live in the Candlewood and have many friends there. They will look after you and maybe you can heal.” His voice was soft and hoarse, as if he had cried through the night while she slept, but was still firm and held strength even in its weakness. “Gather your things, it’s a long way to the Candlewood and we must leave soon.”
“I don’t even know your name.” she could hardly hear herself and was unsure if he had heard her but he answered her. My name is Cameron, once Lieutenant of a Dogs army. Will you leave this place and live a gentler and peaceful life where war or rumor of war will never again reach your ears?”
She couldn’t say no, she hadn’t the strength. She felt so empty she couldn’t even seem to make any decisions at all. Her thoughts were calm and one tracked. She felt drained of substance, as if she were only a wraith. She got up slowly and gathered her things from her home on the second floor. “It was once a home.” She thought bitterly. “But now it means nothing.” They left as soon as she had packed a few meager belongings and she never returned to the city she had known her entire life. Nor did she ever want to.
****************
Eylanya lived in Cameron’s boyhood home for fifty years and was at peace for most of it. She had grieved for nearly a year but Cameron’s friends had befriended her and made her family to them. The Diradani (Fox-People) were her greatest friends and a Diradani named Amirrul (Cameron’s own childhood friend) officially adopted her into her family. When Eylanya died Amirrul summoned Cameron and they buried Eylanya next to Cameron’s grandfather Aaron. Cameron stayed in the grove with Amirrul for the winter and then went off to a land plagued by war to fight one last battle and for the last time give aid to those who had been abandoned by all and were truly alone.