gm_wil
08-12-2007, 04:04 AM
Liv and Let Live
The fox kept low, slithering through undergrowth as it approached the road. It stopped short and hunkered in the grass, its chest rising and falling. The fox nipped at a biting fly that landed on its paw before suddenly lifting its head, ears up and alert. The animal rose so it could see over the grass. The treetops had grown together so the natural tunnel was darker than it should have been.
A horse was galloping up the road, its tiny rider sitting low on its back, riding with ease even without a saddle.
The fox dropped and its ears pressed back while the animal slid into the tangles of a fallen pine. It lay perfectly still as the horse ran by, clods of earth being thrown from its hooves.
Kahley guided the steed with a touch while she turned her head, winking at the fox as she rode by.
The fox realized it had been seen so it scuttled backward before slipping into the forest with a flash of its tail.
Kahley spied the Black Dawg Inn and guided her horse over the bridge with an elven whisper. The animal thundered over the wooden arch and slowed before skidding to a halt.
The elven woman let the momentum throw her to the ground, somersaulting to her feet before making an agile leap to the first limb of a nearby tree. She was weaving through the branches before the dust of the horse’s arrival had a chance to settle. With two more quick jumps she was at the open window on the second floor. Kahley blew a wisp of blonde hair from her face before stepping inside.
Downstairs, a woman beaming with an aura of good will, stepped through the kitchen doors carrying a tray of freshly made cookies. Her smiled warmed the room, as did the scent of her baked goods. “Anyone care for a snack?” she asked, directing her question to the corner.
Sitting on the table was a stuffed animal, bobbing its head back and forth to the delight and giggle of a little girl. The girl’s father, Masher, chuckled and nodded when his daughter gave him an inquisitive look.
“Thank Satori for the puppet show,” Masher said with a grin. “Then you can have a cookie.”
Across from him the man made the stuffed animal sit on his shoulder, still bobbing its head. “Oh, it was my pleasure,” said Satori. “I think I need a cookie too.”
A mouse scampered down the banister from the upstairs before hopping the rail to a rafter. Its tiny feet gripped the oak beam as it weaved its way towards the kitchen, crisscrossing through wooden supports until it shimmied down the crude chandelier. The rodent dropped onto Diva’s shoulder.
The little girl yelped and hopped back, seeing the mouse appear from nowhere.
Diva smiled and lent her ear to the mouse when the rodent lifted its nose. “Everything’s fine dear,” she whispered.
Upstairs, Kahley let go of the mouse hair she was holding to return her senses to her own body. She stood and quickly descended the steps before hopping the rail and swinging to the floor. She smiled at Masher and Satori before ruffling the little girl’s hair.
Kahley quickly nodded towards two men in the opposite corner playing chess. One man was too deep in concentration to notice, but the other replied to her greeting by holding his hand in the air and making a piece symbol with his fingers. “How are you Kowgod?”
The peace symbol turned into a thumb’s up.
“Have you finally beat Samureye?”
The thumb’s up turned into a thumb’s down.
Diva grinned when Kahley approached, her eyes twinkling. “How are you sweetheart?”
Kahley’s head dipped slightly, suddenly bashful in the presence of Diva’s kindness. She grinned, revealing her elven smile, one rumored to have weakened he knees of Atlas. “Famished actually, but I don’t have time to eat. Are they in the back?”
Diva handed her a cookie and nodded. “Alex is working on the plan as we speak. Did you find Olivia? Was she in Berg like you thought?”
Kahley’s smile faded with her nod. “They have her in Berg’s dungeon, but not for long. The execution is slated for the morn.”
*****
Alex sat hunched over a large desk, dabbing his quill in ink before scribbling his plan onto the parchment. He sighed, his impatience coming through. He pulled at his hair in frustration and apparently had been for quite some time because his disheveled hair remained upright.
There was a knock.
Alex pointed at the larger man sitting by the door. “See who it is.”
Jeff nodded and slid a panel aside. “It’s Kahley.”
“Let her in,” said a third man.
Alex glanced at Dan sitting in his favorite folding chair with his name painted across the back of it. Above him was a painting of a boy riding a white dragon that bore the head of a dog. “Yeah, let her in. I’m almost done.”
“I hope so,” said Dan. “The first two revisions were not very well thought out.”
“Yeah,” added Jeff. “Revision one and two were a little weak.”
“Trust me,” said Alex. “Revision three will work.”
Kahley entered and immediately the trio was affected by her elven features. “I’ve been in Berg and they have Olivia.”
“Is she well?” asked Jeff, his face suddenly drawn into a look of brotherly concern.
Kahley nodded. “I have also brought gifts from Steven and Pregger.”
Jeff smiled at the thought of the two stealthy wizards. “How do you find them when they are always invisible? They remind me of those twins down the road at the shop where Diva gets her clay bowls.”
“The potter down the road?” asked Alex.
Jeff nodded. “Yeah, those weaselly little potter twins.”
Kahley grinned. “They can be detected when they allow themselves to be seen. It helps being an elven woman.”
Dan laughed, whispering to himself. “That’s epic.”
Alex dropped his quill into the inkwell and sat back. “The plan is ready. How about those gifts?”
Kahley nodded and pulled a pouch from her belt. She blew her hair from her face as she leaned forward, pulling its drawstring until a stream of fine sand spread onto the floor. She kneeled and reached into the sand and somehow her arm was able to sink in up to her elbow. She pulled out a leather tube and let the sand fall away from it before handing it to Dan. “This is yours.”
Dan timidly accepted the gift, looking at his companions like he was expecting something to jump out and bite him. He opened the container and pulled a brass tube from it, extending the spyglass with a snap.
Kahley reached into the sand portal once again. “Danny, you will be able to direct the actions of others while looking through its lenses.”
Dan’s cheeks blushed when Kahley referred to him as Danny.
Kahley smiled, that being her intention. The elven beauty withdrew a bundle of cloth and shook sand from its folds before handing it to Alex. “This is to be yours, for your experiences have earned it.”
Alex let the cloth unfold and saw it was a Guild Tabard. “WoW!”
“Yeah,” said the other two in unison. “WoW is right!”
Alex looked at the silver threads that were woven together to form a sphere of fire in the cloth and his mouth opened when he realized the threads were in constant motion, weaving in and out of the fabric to create a churning ball of flame. “This is the Brekt symbol!” He leaned closer and not only were the silver threads in constant motion, but they were formed by all the names of the guild members. “Alan, Xavier…” he began as he read through them.
Alex suddenly tossed it aside. “Wha? What happened? Why’d I do that?”
Dan lowered the spyglass with a sheepish grin. “Sorry dude, just checking to see if this works.”
Alex retrieved the Guild Tabard and dropped it over his head. His spiked hair suddenly began moving like the flames of a fire.
Jeff stood. “Awesome.” He looked at Kahley with an apprehensive glance, trying his best to be polite and not let his eagerness for the next gift show.
Kahley smiled. “Alex, that Tabard will give you the ability to manipulate flames.”
Alex frowned. “I know. Somehow, as I’m wearing it, I’m learning what I can do.” He quickly grabbed a bottled beer and sat back, tossing back the brew while he let his thoughts instruct him on the uses of his new Guild Tabard.
Jeff began pacing until Kahley reached into the portal of sand for a third time. His eyes widened when she used two hands to pull his gift from the sandy depths.
Kahley stood and held up a golden shield.
Alex sat forward, spilling his beer. He snapped his fingers and the flame from one candle bounced around the room and with each ricochet, another candle was lit.
Dan looked at the shield as Jeff took it. “Woah!”
Jeff slid his arm through the leather straps of the shield and held it in front of him. On its surface was the impression of a bald warrior, his face frozen as he shouted a battle cry.
“Dude,” muttered Dan. “Who is that?” he asked, pointing to the guardian on the front.
Jeff was beaming. “It’s Chiklis, the Sergeant of my deity, the God of Protection.”
Alex drained another bear and pointed to the gold shield with the empty bottle. “Very nice.”
“I have sent gifts to the two you have called upon for aid,” added Kahley. She kneeled and lightly blew across the sand and watched the granules scatter before dissolving into the floor, severing the portal’s connection to the other plane.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Jeff, turning the shield around to look at his disfigured reflection laying over the face of Chiklis.”
“Recovering Olivia is all the thanks you need to give,” added Kahley.
Alex was juggling with three balls of fire until he suddenly tossed them onto the floor. He frowned and looked over at Dan.
Dan, sitting in his folding chair, lowered the spyglass and collapsed it with a snap. Dan tossed his head back with a short burst of laughter and clapped just once.
Jeff set the shield against the wall and stepped back. “The shield,” he said, “It will deflect the greatest blow ever!”
The fox kept low, slithering through undergrowth as it approached the road. It stopped short and hunkered in the grass, its chest rising and falling. The fox nipped at a biting fly that landed on its paw before suddenly lifting its head, ears up and alert. The animal rose so it could see over the grass. The treetops had grown together so the natural tunnel was darker than it should have been.
A horse was galloping up the road, its tiny rider sitting low on its back, riding with ease even without a saddle.
The fox dropped and its ears pressed back while the animal slid into the tangles of a fallen pine. It lay perfectly still as the horse ran by, clods of earth being thrown from its hooves.
Kahley guided the steed with a touch while she turned her head, winking at the fox as she rode by.
The fox realized it had been seen so it scuttled backward before slipping into the forest with a flash of its tail.
Kahley spied the Black Dawg Inn and guided her horse over the bridge with an elven whisper. The animal thundered over the wooden arch and slowed before skidding to a halt.
The elven woman let the momentum throw her to the ground, somersaulting to her feet before making an agile leap to the first limb of a nearby tree. She was weaving through the branches before the dust of the horse’s arrival had a chance to settle. With two more quick jumps she was at the open window on the second floor. Kahley blew a wisp of blonde hair from her face before stepping inside.
Downstairs, a woman beaming with an aura of good will, stepped through the kitchen doors carrying a tray of freshly made cookies. Her smiled warmed the room, as did the scent of her baked goods. “Anyone care for a snack?” she asked, directing her question to the corner.
Sitting on the table was a stuffed animal, bobbing its head back and forth to the delight and giggle of a little girl. The girl’s father, Masher, chuckled and nodded when his daughter gave him an inquisitive look.
“Thank Satori for the puppet show,” Masher said with a grin. “Then you can have a cookie.”
Across from him the man made the stuffed animal sit on his shoulder, still bobbing its head. “Oh, it was my pleasure,” said Satori. “I think I need a cookie too.”
A mouse scampered down the banister from the upstairs before hopping the rail to a rafter. Its tiny feet gripped the oak beam as it weaved its way towards the kitchen, crisscrossing through wooden supports until it shimmied down the crude chandelier. The rodent dropped onto Diva’s shoulder.
The little girl yelped and hopped back, seeing the mouse appear from nowhere.
Diva smiled and lent her ear to the mouse when the rodent lifted its nose. “Everything’s fine dear,” she whispered.
Upstairs, Kahley let go of the mouse hair she was holding to return her senses to her own body. She stood and quickly descended the steps before hopping the rail and swinging to the floor. She smiled at Masher and Satori before ruffling the little girl’s hair.
Kahley quickly nodded towards two men in the opposite corner playing chess. One man was too deep in concentration to notice, but the other replied to her greeting by holding his hand in the air and making a piece symbol with his fingers. “How are you Kowgod?”
The peace symbol turned into a thumb’s up.
“Have you finally beat Samureye?”
The thumb’s up turned into a thumb’s down.
Diva grinned when Kahley approached, her eyes twinkling. “How are you sweetheart?”
Kahley’s head dipped slightly, suddenly bashful in the presence of Diva’s kindness. She grinned, revealing her elven smile, one rumored to have weakened he knees of Atlas. “Famished actually, but I don’t have time to eat. Are they in the back?”
Diva handed her a cookie and nodded. “Alex is working on the plan as we speak. Did you find Olivia? Was she in Berg like you thought?”
Kahley’s smile faded with her nod. “They have her in Berg’s dungeon, but not for long. The execution is slated for the morn.”
*****
Alex sat hunched over a large desk, dabbing his quill in ink before scribbling his plan onto the parchment. He sighed, his impatience coming through. He pulled at his hair in frustration and apparently had been for quite some time because his disheveled hair remained upright.
There was a knock.
Alex pointed at the larger man sitting by the door. “See who it is.”
Jeff nodded and slid a panel aside. “It’s Kahley.”
“Let her in,” said a third man.
Alex glanced at Dan sitting in his favorite folding chair with his name painted across the back of it. Above him was a painting of a boy riding a white dragon that bore the head of a dog. “Yeah, let her in. I’m almost done.”
“I hope so,” said Dan. “The first two revisions were not very well thought out.”
“Yeah,” added Jeff. “Revision one and two were a little weak.”
“Trust me,” said Alex. “Revision three will work.”
Kahley entered and immediately the trio was affected by her elven features. “I’ve been in Berg and they have Olivia.”
“Is she well?” asked Jeff, his face suddenly drawn into a look of brotherly concern.
Kahley nodded. “I have also brought gifts from Steven and Pregger.”
Jeff smiled at the thought of the two stealthy wizards. “How do you find them when they are always invisible? They remind me of those twins down the road at the shop where Diva gets her clay bowls.”
“The potter down the road?” asked Alex.
Jeff nodded. “Yeah, those weaselly little potter twins.”
Kahley grinned. “They can be detected when they allow themselves to be seen. It helps being an elven woman.”
Dan laughed, whispering to himself. “That’s epic.”
Alex dropped his quill into the inkwell and sat back. “The plan is ready. How about those gifts?”
Kahley nodded and pulled a pouch from her belt. She blew her hair from her face as she leaned forward, pulling its drawstring until a stream of fine sand spread onto the floor. She kneeled and reached into the sand and somehow her arm was able to sink in up to her elbow. She pulled out a leather tube and let the sand fall away from it before handing it to Dan. “This is yours.”
Dan timidly accepted the gift, looking at his companions like he was expecting something to jump out and bite him. He opened the container and pulled a brass tube from it, extending the spyglass with a snap.
Kahley reached into the sand portal once again. “Danny, you will be able to direct the actions of others while looking through its lenses.”
Dan’s cheeks blushed when Kahley referred to him as Danny.
Kahley smiled, that being her intention. The elven beauty withdrew a bundle of cloth and shook sand from its folds before handing it to Alex. “This is to be yours, for your experiences have earned it.”
Alex let the cloth unfold and saw it was a Guild Tabard. “WoW!”
“Yeah,” said the other two in unison. “WoW is right!”
Alex looked at the silver threads that were woven together to form a sphere of fire in the cloth and his mouth opened when he realized the threads were in constant motion, weaving in and out of the fabric to create a churning ball of flame. “This is the Brekt symbol!” He leaned closer and not only were the silver threads in constant motion, but they were formed by all the names of the guild members. “Alan, Xavier…” he began as he read through them.
Alex suddenly tossed it aside. “Wha? What happened? Why’d I do that?”
Dan lowered the spyglass with a sheepish grin. “Sorry dude, just checking to see if this works.”
Alex retrieved the Guild Tabard and dropped it over his head. His spiked hair suddenly began moving like the flames of a fire.
Jeff stood. “Awesome.” He looked at Kahley with an apprehensive glance, trying his best to be polite and not let his eagerness for the next gift show.
Kahley smiled. “Alex, that Tabard will give you the ability to manipulate flames.”
Alex frowned. “I know. Somehow, as I’m wearing it, I’m learning what I can do.” He quickly grabbed a bottled beer and sat back, tossing back the brew while he let his thoughts instruct him on the uses of his new Guild Tabard.
Jeff began pacing until Kahley reached into the portal of sand for a third time. His eyes widened when she used two hands to pull his gift from the sandy depths.
Kahley stood and held up a golden shield.
Alex sat forward, spilling his beer. He snapped his fingers and the flame from one candle bounced around the room and with each ricochet, another candle was lit.
Dan looked at the shield as Jeff took it. “Woah!”
Jeff slid his arm through the leather straps of the shield and held it in front of him. On its surface was the impression of a bald warrior, his face frozen as he shouted a battle cry.
“Dude,” muttered Dan. “Who is that?” he asked, pointing to the guardian on the front.
Jeff was beaming. “It’s Chiklis, the Sergeant of my deity, the God of Protection.”
Alex drained another bear and pointed to the gold shield with the empty bottle. “Very nice.”
“I have sent gifts to the two you have called upon for aid,” added Kahley. She kneeled and lightly blew across the sand and watched the granules scatter before dissolving into the floor, severing the portal’s connection to the other plane.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Jeff, turning the shield around to look at his disfigured reflection laying over the face of Chiklis.”
“Recovering Olivia is all the thanks you need to give,” added Kahley.
Alex was juggling with three balls of fire until he suddenly tossed them onto the floor. He frowned and looked over at Dan.
Dan, sitting in his folding chair, lowered the spyglass and collapsed it with a snap. Dan tossed his head back with a short burst of laughter and clapped just once.
Jeff set the shield against the wall and stepped back. “The shield,” he said, “It will deflect the greatest blow ever!”