Posted by Kirdina_the_elf on 08-27-2009 - 05:35 PM
Chapter Four: When the Music Plays the Musician
The orange and red hues of a slowly setting sun began to cast it’s colors upon the small town of Kinar, only causing more excitement and celebrations. Colored lanterns were lit and dances began to form. Some of the village folk wore brightly painted masks of flowers or trees or plants, while others dawned upon even more elaborate costumes of the spring, parading themselves about with children dancing behind them. There was an energy about the place that Kirdina couldn’t quite understand. She walked past groups of people laughing, drinking, eating and dancing, side stepping and dodging many small hobbit children who ran wildy through out the crowds of people chasing one another in a game. Kirdina laughed at the sight. Everyone seemed so happy.
The young elf made her way to the center of Kinar, to her now favorite spot in the village- the well. She took a seat on one of the beautiful white stone benches, peering at the amazing creation. With some torches now lit around the well the white stone used as the main material now danced with the rest of the village. The water, deep below, seemed to sing it’s own tune, making music with Kinar’s festivities. Her green eyes followed the well upwards to the tall wooden covering above it. There were four posts supporting a flat wooden roof twice as long as Kirdina in width and length. Where each post met the roof were intricate wooden carvings, and along the entire edge of the roof were two rows of a wavy wooden design. Bouquets of flowers hung from each corner upside down with long flowing ribbons tying them together. Kirdina closed her eyes and took in a deep breath smelling the air, the fire from the torches, the water, the flowers, it all mixing together and creating a magnificent scent.
With a thoughtful smile Kirdina picked up Maki and stood up from the bench. She walked over to the edge of the well and stepped up onto it, taking a look around. Despite all the festivities , a lot of people seemed to be heading into the inns, perhaps performances were about to begin. Kirdina thought for a moment more and decided she should play a song that was inspired to her from all around, a song of the Festival of Kinar. She held up Maki, closing her eyes, getting a delightful tune in her mind, she placed her fingers in position of her first note, took a deep breath and began to blow across the wooden mouthpiece- but the note that came out was not what she intended, her fingers had moved to a different note, creating an altogether different sound. Startled the young elf stopped her music, or tried to, but for some reason, her body continued to move, her fingers continuing a tune that was altogether horrible. The music coming out of Maki was slow and dark, a depressing and melancholy music that was frightening. Kirdina tried her best to resist whatever was now controlling her entire body, it was as if she were stone, unable to move. Her body felt strange, almost in pain, she tried to scream but instead she continued the horrible song. “Stop!” she pleaded inside her mind. “Why can’t I stop myself- what is this music, I’ve never even played these notes before, this song is not of my mind- I hate this music, it’s horrible! Stop!”.
After what seemed like an eternity Kirdina’s body collapsed off the edge of the well where she had been standing, all her muscles filling with a horrible burning sensation. She let out a cry as she hit the dirt. Her head collided with the ground and her left arm shot a sharp sting up into the shoulder. Everything was silent, everything was still. There echoed an eery mimic of the song she had just played.
“What-did-you-do.” Maki demanded.
"You did it too," she all but breathed in defense.
Kirdina didn’t move, she blinked, her head spinning. Was this a dream? It had to be.
Crickle-crack. Snap. Clatter-rattle-crack. Crickle-crack.
Kirdina’s ears listened to the strange sound in the distance. What was that? She rolled over onto her side, wincing as her head disagreed with the idea. Her eyes fluttered open. She blinked. The sky had turned dark, very dark. Grey and black clouds swirled around each other in an eery dance with a terribly calm wind. Kirdina’s right eye began to sting as blood from her wound dripped into it. She gave out a growl and forced herself up onto one knee. She felt sick and dizzy. There were footsteps coming towards her. Her eyes flashed forward. A strange man was running towards her.
He appeared human, but with thick long hair the color of a night’s sky. His eyes were almond shaped, much like an elf’s, with a shade of a tree trunk. His weapon was drawn, a slim curved sword gleaming with an eager shimmer against the torches.
Kirdina tried to stand but stumbled and knelt back to the solid dirt beneath her. She looked up through clumps of brown hair as the man stopped a foot away. His eyes were kind and his face seemed concerned for her. He spoke one word in a gentle voice. “Alright?”
The elf was surprised. A million questions filled her at once but all she did was nod her head. “Yes, th-thank you.”
The man seemed to understand. He gave a slight bow, than ran towards the noise, sword drawn and ready for a fight.
“Kirdina! Get up.” Maki yelled. The elf sat still trying to regain her strength. Everything was spinning, Maki’s voice seemed distant. She looked around slowly from her crouched position. Most of the townsfolk had gone inside houses now, but a few farmers and the like had ventured back out, armed with chairs, pitchforks and old swords. Something was coming. Something very very bad.
Crickle, snap, clack, chatter, clack.
In the distance of the town there walked and staggered and dragged people? The young elf’s eyes grew wide, her mouth fell open. No-not people. Undead. Had she just summoned undead?
"Kira, get up! Now!" Maki yelled.
She was terrified, her hands trembled. "I need to get out of here," she whispered, frantically searching the area for a means of quick escape. "I, I need to leave-"
"Kira!" Maki's voice suddenly hit her with full force. Her darting eyes flashed to him, his solemn face glaring coldly. He seemed funny laying out in the open on the dirt like that. Immediately she grabbed him up, using her right arm. "You cannot run from this. Stop running."
"It's not my fault!' she continued to proclaim defensively. "I didn't, I don't know what-"
Screams cut her off. She instinctively jumped to her feet, tossing Maki in his pouch, and grabbing her bow from off her back while simultaneously snatching up an arrow from her quiver. She spun around once very quickly getting her bearings.
Death. She could smell it. Uneven steps of shuffling corpses made their way towards her, cracking and clanging, bones against rusted metal armor. Her eye stung but she refused to lift her mask, the risk of the townsfolk seeing her symbol was still too great. She’d rather die than let them see it. The first attack. It was a corpse from behind her. She had sensed it drawing near and in a flash she dove forward, avoiding rather easily a blade in her spine. She could hear the muffled protests of Maki from her pouch. It brought a strange sense of comfort to the elf, knowing he was there. Her heart raced. A fight. Despite her desire to bring peace to the worlds she couldn’t deny the deep pleasure of cutting down her enemies. Kirdina spun once, bringing out her short sword and swiping it across the corpse’s neck. Rotted flesh went flying as well as it’s mostly white skull. She heard the brittle cracks of bone shattering as two more corpses attacked her back. She jumped forward and rolled, a near miss of swords swiping past the red trails of her hair. Kirdina landed on all fours, sprawled out and angry. Her left hand gripped the sword tighter as her right arm swung freely. The two animated bodies stalked towards her, dragging feet. They were once human, a woman and a man, but no more. She rushed forward with the sword, letting out a cry. Her metal clashed against the bones and ripped through the woman’s rib cage. She stumbled backwards and fell, her bones shattering upon the impact. Kirdina lifted her sword in time to block the assumed attack from the other skeleton. She deflected the blow and with the momentum of the movement slid her sword into his chest up to it’s hilt forcing the young elf to stare face to face into hollow empty sockets. The creature moaned. Kirdina’s eyes narrowed. “I hate you.” she whispered and twisted her sword suddenly. The skeleton contorted oddly. A strange sense of glee filled her as the body twitched in pain. She heard Maki yelling something from his pouch. The skeleton roared and flailed but Kirdina had him. “Die!” she yelled and ripped her sword up, through his chest and into his skull. Old pieces of shredded cloth glided past her.
Her green eyes blinked as smoke from somewhere filled them. She rubbed at the blood finally, letting her tears wash most of it out and ran towards the well. She jumped, spun and landed on the well covering, ten feet above the chaos with the grace of an acrobat. Somewhere deep inside her mind she registered miserably that no one was able to appreciate her unlucky move. Her boots gripped tightly against the wooden roof and she lightly spun around once more to get her bearings. In the northeastern most part of the outskirts of Kinar Kirdina could make out a hooded figure cloaked in black. Her mouth tightened in a straight line grimly. “That’s gotta be the guy doing this,”she mumbled under her breath. Without hesitation she snatched up an arrow, placed it in her bow, pulled back and aimed towards the swirling clouds above, judging the distance. She took in a deep breath and as she exhaled released the arrow. The comforting zip whizzed past her right ear into the air. Kirdina watched the arrow soar, having to strain her eyes as she followed it’s course. Her aim was true. As her eyes squinted she watched the arrow plunge into the figure, and then right through the figure. The cloaked being turned it’s attention directly at Kirdina. Her eyes narrowed. “Impossible.” the elf muttered. The figure lifted it’s head to stare into the young bard’s eyes.
“You missed!”Maki screamed from the pouch. “How in all the nine hells did you miss!”
“I didn’t miss,” she growled through clenched teeth. She pulled out another arrow and shot. The arrow soared and as it approached the target, the cloaked figure stepped towards it, welcoming the arrow with gestured arms. Again the arrow passed through the being, and the cloaked figure took another step forward, apparently unscathed. Her heart sped up. The battle below her was growing worse, the rotting skeletons were pressing in from every angle. Relentless. The young elf felt her lower lip quivering as the helplessness of her situation became more and more real. She stared at the figure and stubbornly pulled another arrow from her quiver. At that motion, the being pulled down it’s cowl, letting deep red waves of silken hair tumble down over her pointed ears to her waist. A face, despite the great distance between them, was vivid and perfect in Kirdina’s mind. The smile, a flawless, beautiful smile grew across the elven lady’s light blue face. Her puckered purple lips curved and opened, exposing shiny white teeth, a familiar gleam to them. Kirdina’s eyes widend. She shook her head as her throat grew dry, her hands trembling. People were screaming but it was all quiet now. “That smile,” she whispered hoarsely, her legs gave out and she crumples to her knees. “No...”
“Kira- get a hold on thyself!” Maki demanded in vain.
A voice, stern and scornful echoed through the clouds hauntingly. “Kirdina, you are in a lot of trouble young lady.”
The bard’s voice came out small, a barely audible whisper to herself. “This isn’t happening, this can’t, she’s, she’s not able to be...”
“Kirdina!” The commanding voice growled. It sent a terribly familiar shiver down her spine. The voice shifted to a mocking snarl. “You can’t say anything? I’m hurt.”
She was trembling, visibly shaking. The world spun as Kira stared at her boots. Her breathing was heavy and she struggled to keep it even. Everything was heavy and dizzy. ‘Listen to me Kira, you need to focus, you must endure this, your mind is strong!’ Maki’s voice guided her through her suddenly jumbled thoughts. After a brief hesitation the bard clenched her fists. She inhaled deeply and as she exhaled, rose to her feet to stare the woman in the eyes. Despite the fear gripping her every muscle, Kirdina managed a cocky half smile and gave a mocking bow towards the figure.
“Greetings, mother. You look well, especially taking into account the last time I saw you I was slitting your throat. Praytell, how is father?”
The orange and red hues of a slowly setting sun began to cast it’s colors upon the small town of Kinar, only causing more excitement and celebrations. Colored lanterns were lit and dances began to form. Some of the village folk wore brightly painted masks of flowers or trees or plants, while others dawned upon even more elaborate costumes of the spring, parading themselves about with children dancing behind them. There was an energy about the place that Kirdina couldn’t quite understand. She walked past groups of people laughing, drinking, eating and dancing, side stepping and dodging many small hobbit children who ran wildy through out the crowds of people chasing one another in a game. Kirdina laughed at the sight. Everyone seemed so happy.
The young elf made her way to the center of Kinar, to her now favorite spot in the village- the well. She took a seat on one of the beautiful white stone benches, peering at the amazing creation. With some torches now lit around the well the white stone used as the main material now danced with the rest of the village. The water, deep below, seemed to sing it’s own tune, making music with Kinar’s festivities. Her green eyes followed the well upwards to the tall wooden covering above it. There were four posts supporting a flat wooden roof twice as long as Kirdina in width and length. Where each post met the roof were intricate wooden carvings, and along the entire edge of the roof were two rows of a wavy wooden design. Bouquets of flowers hung from each corner upside down with long flowing ribbons tying them together. Kirdina closed her eyes and took in a deep breath smelling the air, the fire from the torches, the water, the flowers, it all mixing together and creating a magnificent scent.
With a thoughtful smile Kirdina picked up Maki and stood up from the bench. She walked over to the edge of the well and stepped up onto it, taking a look around. Despite all the festivities , a lot of people seemed to be heading into the inns, perhaps performances were about to begin. Kirdina thought for a moment more and decided she should play a song that was inspired to her from all around, a song of the Festival of Kinar. She held up Maki, closing her eyes, getting a delightful tune in her mind, she placed her fingers in position of her first note, took a deep breath and began to blow across the wooden mouthpiece- but the note that came out was not what she intended, her fingers had moved to a different note, creating an altogether different sound. Startled the young elf stopped her music, or tried to, but for some reason, her body continued to move, her fingers continuing a tune that was altogether horrible. The music coming out of Maki was slow and dark, a depressing and melancholy music that was frightening. Kirdina tried her best to resist whatever was now controlling her entire body, it was as if she were stone, unable to move. Her body felt strange, almost in pain, she tried to scream but instead she continued the horrible song. “Stop!” she pleaded inside her mind. “Why can’t I stop myself- what is this music, I’ve never even played these notes before, this song is not of my mind- I hate this music, it’s horrible! Stop!”.
After what seemed like an eternity Kirdina’s body collapsed off the edge of the well where she had been standing, all her muscles filling with a horrible burning sensation. She let out a cry as she hit the dirt. Her head collided with the ground and her left arm shot a sharp sting up into the shoulder. Everything was silent, everything was still. There echoed an eery mimic of the song she had just played.
“What-did-you-do.” Maki demanded.
"You did it too," she all but breathed in defense.
Kirdina didn’t move, she blinked, her head spinning. Was this a dream? It had to be.
Crickle-crack. Snap. Clatter-rattle-crack. Crickle-crack.
Kirdina’s ears listened to the strange sound in the distance. What was that? She rolled over onto her side, wincing as her head disagreed with the idea. Her eyes fluttered open. She blinked. The sky had turned dark, very dark. Grey and black clouds swirled around each other in an eery dance with a terribly calm wind. Kirdina’s right eye began to sting as blood from her wound dripped into it. She gave out a growl and forced herself up onto one knee. She felt sick and dizzy. There were footsteps coming towards her. Her eyes flashed forward. A strange man was running towards her.
He appeared human, but with thick long hair the color of a night’s sky. His eyes were almond shaped, much like an elf’s, with a shade of a tree trunk. His weapon was drawn, a slim curved sword gleaming with an eager shimmer against the torches.
Kirdina tried to stand but stumbled and knelt back to the solid dirt beneath her. She looked up through clumps of brown hair as the man stopped a foot away. His eyes were kind and his face seemed concerned for her. He spoke one word in a gentle voice. “Alright?”
The elf was surprised. A million questions filled her at once but all she did was nod her head. “Yes, th-thank you.”
The man seemed to understand. He gave a slight bow, than ran towards the noise, sword drawn and ready for a fight.
“Kirdina! Get up.” Maki yelled. The elf sat still trying to regain her strength. Everything was spinning, Maki’s voice seemed distant. She looked around slowly from her crouched position. Most of the townsfolk had gone inside houses now, but a few farmers and the like had ventured back out, armed with chairs, pitchforks and old swords. Something was coming. Something very very bad.
Crickle, snap, clack, chatter, clack.
In the distance of the town there walked and staggered and dragged people? The young elf’s eyes grew wide, her mouth fell open. No-not people. Undead. Had she just summoned undead?
"Kira, get up! Now!" Maki yelled.
She was terrified, her hands trembled. "I need to get out of here," she whispered, frantically searching the area for a means of quick escape. "I, I need to leave-"
"Kira!" Maki's voice suddenly hit her with full force. Her darting eyes flashed to him, his solemn face glaring coldly. He seemed funny laying out in the open on the dirt like that. Immediately she grabbed him up, using her right arm. "You cannot run from this. Stop running."
"It's not my fault!' she continued to proclaim defensively. "I didn't, I don't know what-"
Screams cut her off. She instinctively jumped to her feet, tossing Maki in his pouch, and grabbing her bow from off her back while simultaneously snatching up an arrow from her quiver. She spun around once very quickly getting her bearings.
Death. She could smell it. Uneven steps of shuffling corpses made their way towards her, cracking and clanging, bones against rusted metal armor. Her eye stung but she refused to lift her mask, the risk of the townsfolk seeing her symbol was still too great. She’d rather die than let them see it. The first attack. It was a corpse from behind her. She had sensed it drawing near and in a flash she dove forward, avoiding rather easily a blade in her spine. She could hear the muffled protests of Maki from her pouch. It brought a strange sense of comfort to the elf, knowing he was there. Her heart raced. A fight. Despite her desire to bring peace to the worlds she couldn’t deny the deep pleasure of cutting down her enemies. Kirdina spun once, bringing out her short sword and swiping it across the corpse’s neck. Rotted flesh went flying as well as it’s mostly white skull. She heard the brittle cracks of bone shattering as two more corpses attacked her back. She jumped forward and rolled, a near miss of swords swiping past the red trails of her hair. Kirdina landed on all fours, sprawled out and angry. Her left hand gripped the sword tighter as her right arm swung freely. The two animated bodies stalked towards her, dragging feet. They were once human, a woman and a man, but no more. She rushed forward with the sword, letting out a cry. Her metal clashed against the bones and ripped through the woman’s rib cage. She stumbled backwards and fell, her bones shattering upon the impact. Kirdina lifted her sword in time to block the assumed attack from the other skeleton. She deflected the blow and with the momentum of the movement slid her sword into his chest up to it’s hilt forcing the young elf to stare face to face into hollow empty sockets. The creature moaned. Kirdina’s eyes narrowed. “I hate you.” she whispered and twisted her sword suddenly. The skeleton contorted oddly. A strange sense of glee filled her as the body twitched in pain. She heard Maki yelling something from his pouch. The skeleton roared and flailed but Kirdina had him. “Die!” she yelled and ripped her sword up, through his chest and into his skull. Old pieces of shredded cloth glided past her.
Her green eyes blinked as smoke from somewhere filled them. She rubbed at the blood finally, letting her tears wash most of it out and ran towards the well. She jumped, spun and landed on the well covering, ten feet above the chaos with the grace of an acrobat. Somewhere deep inside her mind she registered miserably that no one was able to appreciate her unlucky move. Her boots gripped tightly against the wooden roof and she lightly spun around once more to get her bearings. In the northeastern most part of the outskirts of Kinar Kirdina could make out a hooded figure cloaked in black. Her mouth tightened in a straight line grimly. “That’s gotta be the guy doing this,”she mumbled under her breath. Without hesitation she snatched up an arrow, placed it in her bow, pulled back and aimed towards the swirling clouds above, judging the distance. She took in a deep breath and as she exhaled released the arrow. The comforting zip whizzed past her right ear into the air. Kirdina watched the arrow soar, having to strain her eyes as she followed it’s course. Her aim was true. As her eyes squinted she watched the arrow plunge into the figure, and then right through the figure. The cloaked being turned it’s attention directly at Kirdina. Her eyes narrowed. “Impossible.” the elf muttered. The figure lifted it’s head to stare into the young bard’s eyes.
“You missed!”Maki screamed from the pouch. “How in all the nine hells did you miss!”
“I didn’t miss,” she growled through clenched teeth. She pulled out another arrow and shot. The arrow soared and as it approached the target, the cloaked figure stepped towards it, welcoming the arrow with gestured arms. Again the arrow passed through the being, and the cloaked figure took another step forward, apparently unscathed. Her heart sped up. The battle below her was growing worse, the rotting skeletons were pressing in from every angle. Relentless. The young elf felt her lower lip quivering as the helplessness of her situation became more and more real. She stared at the figure and stubbornly pulled another arrow from her quiver. At that motion, the being pulled down it’s cowl, letting deep red waves of silken hair tumble down over her pointed ears to her waist. A face, despite the great distance between them, was vivid and perfect in Kirdina’s mind. The smile, a flawless, beautiful smile grew across the elven lady’s light blue face. Her puckered purple lips curved and opened, exposing shiny white teeth, a familiar gleam to them. Kirdina’s eyes widend. She shook her head as her throat grew dry, her hands trembling. People were screaming but it was all quiet now. “That smile,” she whispered hoarsely, her legs gave out and she crumples to her knees. “No...”
“Kira- get a hold on thyself!” Maki demanded in vain.
A voice, stern and scornful echoed through the clouds hauntingly. “Kirdina, you are in a lot of trouble young lady.”
The bard’s voice came out small, a barely audible whisper to herself. “This isn’t happening, this can’t, she’s, she’s not able to be...”
“Kirdina!” The commanding voice growled. It sent a terribly familiar shiver down her spine. The voice shifted to a mocking snarl. “You can’t say anything? I’m hurt.”
She was trembling, visibly shaking. The world spun as Kira stared at her boots. Her breathing was heavy and she struggled to keep it even. Everything was heavy and dizzy. ‘Listen to me Kira, you need to focus, you must endure this, your mind is strong!’ Maki’s voice guided her through her suddenly jumbled thoughts. After a brief hesitation the bard clenched her fists. She inhaled deeply and as she exhaled, rose to her feet to stare the woman in the eyes. Despite the fear gripping her every muscle, Kirdina managed a cocky half smile and gave a mocking bow towards the figure.
“Greetings, mother. You look well, especially taking into account the last time I saw you I was slitting your throat. Praytell, how is father?”
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