I added some parts to what i previously posted; and atm i'm still writing on the middle part of the story, the ending is +- done as well
- my apologies for being so slow.. i underestimated the difficulty of writing lol
(edited the text font, thought this would be easier to read)
.:~*~:.
In the distance the sun faded over the horizon, spreading a warm, rosy glow. As its last rays touched the landscape and turned the Vormus River into a golden mirror, some leaves rustled on the ground, moved by the wind. In the distance a soft, hummed melody floated through the air, and saturated its surroundings with a hint of mystery. The day faded away and the air grew cooler, a small fire was lit there, in that far off place, casting an orange glow against the darkened sky.
Zoran sneaked up to the magic school’s outer door, carefully watching the ground, as it was scattered with bones and skulls of what once could have been orcs… or men... A cold shiver ran down his spine as he thought of what would await him if he got caught. He halted for a moment, and ran his fingers through his long black hair.
“Concentrate, Zoran, concentrate.” he murmured softly. In a moment of hesitation he reached his hand into the pocket of his leather pants, to ensure his tiger summoning stones were still there.
As he reached the school’s wooden door, his fingertips sought for the door handle, which felt ice-cold when he touched it. The door opened with a hesitating creak.
He entered; his heart was beating like a drum as he swiftly walked through the first room, looking for whatever valuables were small and light enough to steal, and would bring him a bit of money to live from. He was quenched a bit for there seemed to be 3 mages waiting for him, but with a closer look he could tell they were statues, each one of them sparkling a different colour from their hands. He walked further in; the floors often consisted of gray-white tiles, in which were carved dark, long patterns that carried on through the hallways.
When he walked deeper into the Magic School, he found in one of the more central rooms a pool with 5 strange blue orbs floating above it, looking as if they were enchanted and made of precious minerals. He stepped forward into the pool, and pulled one of the orbs out of the air, putting it in his bag. Suddenly a deep female voice interrupted him:
“What brings you here, stranger?” someone spoke, and from a shadowy corner a sorceress stepped forward, clearly unexpected, for Zoran was startled. Her gaze was piercing his thoughts when their eyes met, paralyzing him for the moment, for almost everything about her seemed to be in different shades of red; her hair, her eyes, her lips, her dress… all but her skin, that had the colour of creamy milk.
In a haze of slight panic he threw a summoning stone in the water, which bubbled for a moment. The red lady killed the tiger he had summoned as quickly as lightning with powerful harm magic, which awed Zoran with silence.
All the sudden he heard in the distance the sound of footsteps.
He noticed the sorceress was alarmed; it gave a worried expression to her face. She walked around in circles for a moment, murmuring to herself in distress, thinking.
“ Flee! Get out of here!” her voice trembled, and her hands were a bit shaky as she handed him the magical ring she had worn around her finger a moment earlier. Back on his feet and fully aware of the situation, Zoran took the ring from her hand palm, whispering a soft but charming:
“ Thank you, fair lady.”, after which he dissolved into the air with a grin on his face, the dark blue orb still packed in his bag.
Her heart was pounding so loudly at the moment the elder mages opened the door, that she could hardly discern what they said from her own heartbeat, pulsing deafening in her ears.
The lady in red stood there dazed by fear, her senses were weakened, but she clearly felt the hard blow of the Eldest Mage’s words as they sunk into her consciousness.
“Akane, your presence here is no longer wanted. Thievery is a serious crime. Because you are still young, consider yourself lucky to be treated so mildly. We have no wish seeing you here again.” he spoke severely, after which he teleported her out, and left her alone in the cold of night, before the stairs at the entrance of Palon Vertas’ magic school.
A teardrop was rolling down her cheek, in her heart the pain of being rejected and a hint of relief struggled; her body softly shivering from the shock she experienced.
She was free now, but she knew very little of the real life, life outside the magic school…
.:~*~:.
While her thoughts calmed down, her eyes grew weary; the panic had kept her awake all night. She had little will left to fight the sleep that pulled her head down and made it rest on her knees as she wrapped her arms around them. The feeling of consciousness faded away, the cold and dirty stones on which she stranded became temporarily unimportant as well as what she would do to solve her problems.
The waking up at noon turned out to be quite a bitter affair; her muscles were stiffened from sitting in the same position for a long time, her hair was ruffled to the point where she looked like a madman; the red dress she wore was stained with dirt at the bottom of the seams, beyond repair it seemed.
Her frown disappeared slowly as she figured out the shape she saw, sitting a few steps higher than her. The small falcon tripped back and forth as Akane reached for it with her hand and whispered on a soft, friendly tone:
“Shhh.. don’t be afraid little friend, look at me..”.
The bird made a quick eye contact and with that little gaze of its black eye, the falcon fell under her spell, as summons could easily be commanded this way by those that were familiar with the summoning lore. As she took the bird in her hands, she discovered a small leather case tied to its leg, containing a note. Akane reached for the small leather strap and retrieved a small parchment note from the falcon, after which she put the animal on her shoulder, as its sharp claws left little wounds on her hands. Her red lips curled into a smile when she managed to decipher the scrawled name by which it was signed.
‘Zoran’.
Despite all the misery she encountered so far, this ‘stranger’ had a way of making her smile; she had seen him a number of times before, exploring the insides of Palon Vertas’ magic school at night, like a thief. Somehow he managed to stay unnoticed then, but something inside her that night had spurred her to intervene. There was something about the way he moved, the way he looked that made her smile a bit; he was a bandit, but not a bad person. Although she had no certainties, she clearly felt it that night. Somewhat capricious of nature maybe, but in his eyes she saw kindness…
.:~*~:.
The outer wooden door of Palon Vertas’ small tavern was a bit rough to open. When Akane entered and asked for the room Zoran arranged for her, the innkeeper muttered a bit as she walked from behind the bar and showed Akane the way to a tiny dusty room, where she could sleep. In a grumpy manner the lady closed the door behind her and left Akane alone in her new accommodation. With an awkward feeling she lay on one of the beds, re-reading the small note Zoran had left her, looking for any further specifications. After reading it the third time, she sighed and cleaned the dusty little window with her hand, staring outside in an idly way.
She didn’t stay long inside; it was a dark and somewhat mouldy... The tavern itself was very small, only one table stood in the middle of a tiny room.
She walked outside and wondered how long it had been since she actually set foot outside the magic school. She never thought Palon Vertas was such a beautiful place, green and full of flowers. From the magic school’s balcony she had only seen some scorched, withered trees and stone walls from the small cave passage to Palon Vertas’ itself; the magic school was situated near the borders of both Sedicolis and Idaloran. At night the trees gave a ghostly ambience, as if the small forest were possessed of some magical force.
The magic school was a beautiful place, built in the mountains. A thick stone wall surrounding it gave the impression it was a fortress; two watchtowers were present as well. The long stairs leading to the door kept some of the heat off, for two puddles of lava lay aside it, however it seemed they needed a rebuild from time to time…
After finding a nice, soft spot of grass near a flower bed, she sat down and ran her fingers trough her long, fiery red hair, soft but strong, in order to bring it back in a socially acceptable hairdo. Akane found a peaceful little place by the river, where a vast willow’s branches swept along with the current of the water, and where a small bridge made of white stones crossed the water that divided Palon Vertas in two halves. She hung her head over the water and laughed at her appearance:
“ What a mess!” she said to herself.
After washing her hair and face, she closed her eyes and felt the sun warming her face, enjoying the soft wind that carried a hint of salt in it.
‘ A sea breeze…’ she thought lazily.
As she dozed off a bit, she noticed a cloud must have crawled before the sun for she couldn’t feel its warmth anymore. Disappointed she opened her eyes, and as they adjusted to their bright environment she could see a tall figure standing over her. It was hard to see his face… because the sun surrounded him with a bright aura, his features were difficult for Akane to discern, yet she smiled gently for she couldn’t imagine who else it could be but him…
