Akurei's Home

Akurei smiled to himself as he polished his blades - this job would be an easy one. He was a trained assassin and he was quite good at what he did. Silently he slunk along the alleyways of the capitol city, M'mkaia. His all-black garb allowed him to blend in with the shadows. He paused for a moment, looking at a poster for a flitter fair performing in the park the next day. /Might bear looking into,/ he thought, tearing it off the pole and stuffing it in the pocket of his long black trenchcoat. He set off once more to find his current victim...

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Later, on the rooftop he called home, he took the carnival poster out of his pocket, studying it. He wondered idly what it would be like to have a flit, to be completely accepted by something just by being yourself. He'd never really had that; his mother had always been too busy with her boyfriends (which she changed regularly) to pay him much attention. He wasn't sure who his father was, and frankly it would surprise him if she even knew. She certainly couldn't tell him now; one of her boyfriends had decided that if he couldn't have her nobody else could and slit her throat. He hadn't mourned the loss too much; the only reason he felt any sort of regret for her death was that it meant the loss of the cheap apartment as well. You had to be eighteen to sign a lease for one, and as he'd only been seven he'd been shunted off to the city's overcrowded orphanage, full of other children with much the same predicament. He'd heard stories of better life in the country, but he couldn't really imagine a place where you could really see the stars, or even the sun. The pollution in M'mkaia was so thick it often blotted out the day's light. He'd managed to escape from the orphanage within a few weeks; before his mother had died he used to go exploring in the city. She never cared much; it meant he was out of her hair for however long his fancy took him. He'd discovered many abandoned basements, alleyways, and other such places and took refuge in them after he escaped.   He smiled slightly as he remembered how he used to be; he was always hungry, scrounging for food in trashcans and nicking things from the marketplace bazaar. He had always refused to beg, though. Never would he stoop himself to such a level, putting up with the condescension and shame that went along with it. He had always despised most people, given everything they needed but always wanting more. The only real exception he'd found was Michya.   Ah, Michya. She was a wonderful woman, kind and cold all at once. She was very rough in manner, but she was incredible. They'd become fast friends when she'd caught him raiding her trash when he was first starting out on his own and forced him to sit in her little living room and have a cup of tea. She was sympathetic without being pitying, and had given him his first knife. To cut and keep his hair, she'd said. She had been thirty or so back then, but she was incredibly thin and agile, teaching him everything he needed to know about self defense. She had not even presumed to suggest that he could stay with her; he had liked that. He had been a proud child even then, and would probably have run off in a huff and gotten his head sliced off within a week. She did, however, always speak her mind, though she warned him that tact was a very important thing to learn. He used to join her often for tea and maybe a cookie if she'd been baking recently. They used to have such wonderful conversations. Then it happened. He dropped by for tea one afternoon to find a pair of police cars parked in front, along with an ambulance. He slipped in through the window she always left open, to be greeted by the sight of crimson liquid splashed everywhere. It was then he knew he'd lost his first, best, and only friend. Akurei sighed, shaking his head to bring himself back to the present. He turned away from the edge of the building, hoping it wouldn't rain as he settled back against the concrete stairway entrance.

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Carefully blending in with the crowd the next morning, Akurei joined the cheerful throng of people off to watch the flitter show. He'd traded in most of his black clothing for jeans and a blue shirt, keeping his trenchcoat. The day was certainly chill enough to warrant it, autumn being just around the bend. It was about this time that most of the travelling fairs came through, showing wares and entertainment and exotic foods from other worlds. He seated himself on one of the benches, on the very end so he didn't have to come in contact with anyone but still have a decent view. In a few minutes, a girl with brown hair and green eyes came out onto the stage, announcing the start of the Flitter Fair-show. A dozen glinting shapes of all different colours rocketed out from behind the curtain, and he raised an eyebrow in surprise as they settled on various perches. They were just like little dragons! A man next to him chuckled slightly, and he realized with some annoyance that he'd spoken out loud.   "They are rather like them, aren't they?" he said. Akurei studied his face for a minute. A long thin scar ran down the side of his face, jagged but obviously old.   "And you are?" Akurei asked politely; this man might be a fighter. Even if he weren't, his weaponry was out of easy reach and the man outweighed him by quite a lot, being broad in the shoulder and deep in the chest.   "I'm a Searchrider for Ryslen, come to see if there's any likely prospects for Candidates here. Ti'akui is a rather remote world, so not many come here to Search. The flits are so common that they're everywhere, though, so I decided to check it out." He reached out and shook Akurei's hand. It was calloused and worn from hard work. "My name's D'run by the way. Say, how many Turns have you?" he asked. Akurei had to think for a moment; nobody had cared in so long he'd nearly forgotten his age.   "Seventeen," he said at last.   "Well, how would you like to come stand on the Ryslen sands?" D'run asked. Akurei could only stare in wonder. Him? A dragon? How could he possibly be a dragonrider? D'run must have noticed his shell-shocked expression, because he smiled. "I couldn't believe it either when I was first told. Would you like to meet my dragon?" Akurei nodded mutely, and D'run led him to a great blue dragon. For the second time in his life, the first being a few minutes ago, he was completely speechless. The sheer bulk of the beast was both terrifying and magnificent to behold. Carefully Akurei breathed out, unaware that he'd been holding it until that time.   "He's... huge," Akurei mumbled, more to himself than the dragonrider.   <Thank you,> a voice in his head rumbled, sounding pleased and amused at the same time. The dragonrider beside him laughed slightly.   "That's Okserth for ya," he said ruefully, still chuckling. "Always one for flattery. So what do you say? Will you come with us back to Ryslen?" Gracefully he mounted his dragon, offering a hand to Akurei.   "I would be most honored," he replied, taking the hand and hoisting himself up. He settled behind D'run, astonished at how soft and smooth the dragon's hide really was. A part of him was suddenly worried that he'd maybe hurt the great beast, though the other half argued that since it obviously didn't hurt when the dragonrider got on, he who was much less heavy would most definitely not hurt him. He tensed instinctively as the dragon launched himself into the air, springing with such great force it rocked him backwards. In a few powerful downstrokes of the great sapphire coloured wings on either side of him, they were cleared of the stalls and trappings of the carnival.    "Be warned, we're going between," the dragonrider yelled back at him, just in time. He entered a blackness so absolute and so freezing cold it was unbelievable. Just when he feared they had somehow gotten trapped in the cold nothingness of the Harpers' songs, they erupted into the air over the vast bowl-like shape of Ryslen, busy and obviously thriving. Akurei was slightly worried; who was he to think to be a dragonrider when there were most definitely so many others worthier than he?   <Be easy. I have Searched you. Whether you are acceptable here now is to be seen, but do not fear so,> the dragon rumbled as he alighted on the ledge. Carefully Akurei dismounted, sliding off the great shoulder rather awkwardly. He marveled at the pair, taking off effortlessly to search for more likely candidates. Turning towards the cave behind him, he entered the candidate's barracks to wait and see what would happen next.

...Next...

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