It took Markliam a few minutes to realize where he was. He had just spent his first full night in Kaelin's hut on a bed made of hay. The hay stack was uncomfortable for him, so much so that Markliam often awoke during the night because of an itch invasion. His blue roommate appeared to be used to it. Gorian was always asleep in his own straw when Markliam awoke. This morning it was Gorian who appeared to be more rested.
Markliam heard the blue furre crawl out of his hay and walk out of the house. He was alone in this strange room. He laid there, gazing up at the clay ceiling, and thought about all the differences between this hut and his home in Yrdnal. This hut was basically clay and straw. He wasn't sure how it stayed up during the storms, but it must have some sort of resistance to the weather. He considered his wooden house vastly superior to this little shack.
The furre looked at the new green clothes Kaelin had given him to wear. Markliam was reluctant to change. The clothes he had on were ragged and torn, basically nothing more than a rag. However, they were his. Other than his father's crossbow, they were all that was left of who he was.
Markliam opened his mouth to yawn, but whimpered instead. The cut on his forehead was still relatively fresh. Kaelin said it may take a while for it all to heal. She even gave him some herbs for some of the pain. Apparently he had fell off a cliff and cut his head open. She did not tell him how he survived the fall, nor why he was on a cliff in the first place. He did not remember any of that. He did recall running from a group of furres, most likely the ones who killed his family. But he was not stupid enough to run off a cliff.
He stood up and stretched his arms. Every muscle was screaming for the end of misery. Perhaps he did fall off a cliff. It would certainly explain why he was aching. He sighed as he contemplated what he was to do today. Kaelin had mentioned that he was in a town called Meovanni. Perhaps he should explore it.
Markliam stepped outside the clay hut and was greeted by the blast of sunlight. It took some time for his eyes to get used to the glaring rays. His forest home normally shielded the sun when it was low on the horizon. Now he was able to see the light source. It was orange. Even the sun in this town was different from Yrdnal.
He decided to avoid the sun by exploring the town in the opposite direction. He approached Kaelin's backyard, listening to what appeared to be her grunting. He peered over the corner of the hut to see what she was doing. Instead he felt a glare of light striking his eyes. As his eyes adjusted he wondered if there were two suns in this place.
Markliam squinted and pieced together a shape to the light source. It was a sword. The orange sun must have been reflecting off of it. There was also a shape attached to the sword. It was Kaelin. She was standing in the middle of a large field.
"Alright," she announced, "I'm ready."
Markliam watched as Kaelin poised the sword and herself to the direction of the house. Her knees bent a little, allowing her dark pant legs to tickle over her bare grey feet. She pressed her mouth sternly, shrinking the area of white fur between her nose and chin. Her black striped forehead lowered, possibly in reaction to the orange sun bearing down on her. Markliam noticed a tiny reflection just above her left ear. It was from an earring. He had not noticed that before.
Markliam blinked as a hay stack flew toward her. Before he had even thought of asking where the flying hay was coming from, Kaelin swung her wrist effortlessly, with sword in hand, and cut the stack into two. The momentum of her sword stopped the hay in its tracks and the two parts fell to the ground. Markliam was close enough to see the sharp edges, the calling card of her sharp sword. She had barely made a sound in that move. That would explain how she managed to surprise attack him when he took down Gorian yesterday.
Kaelin relaxed her pose long enough to notice Markliam. She beamed a wide smile to him and waved casually. He could not help but grin. She was able to make him smile without a word. It was if all of his troubles were shoved aside by her. As if he knew that she would protect him. It was an odd feeling for him.
"Markliam!" Gorian called.
He looked over at the side of the hut to find his blue roommate and a girl. The girl was pale with strong red hair and stencilled in black clothing. They both stood beside a small pile of hay stacks with Gorian holding one of them. The source of the flying hay stacks, Markliam mused as he approached them.
"Moonlit Star, this is Markliam," Gorian began. This furre had etiquette, Markliam growled to himself. He had often found those furres annoying before. He even had a fight with one. The brawl had ended with the bleeding nose of the polite furre, who in turn offered his hand and said, 'Good fight'. That had ticked him off even more.
"Markliam, this is Moonlit Star," Gorian continued, "We're helping Kaelin in her training. Want to join?"
Markliam shrugged.
"I'm ready, Gorian," Kaelin said, "Give it a good throw."
Gorian tossed his stack at the woman. He grunted as the hay left his arms. His strangely bright teal hair bounced on his head as his swing finished abruptly. His blue eyes smiled as he watched Kaelin swing her entire body to take down her enemy. Her low ponytail whipped across her face as the stack connected to the sword, slicing itself on the diagonal. Her sharp mark was once again left in pieces on the ground.
Another haystack flew by Gorian, startling him. He watched it roll through the air toward his caretaker. He panicked when he realized that Kaelin did not see it coming until it was too late. The stack hit her in the chin. She fell backward into the grass with a cry.
Gorian heard Markliam laugh. He realized it was his new roommate who had thrown it. He heard Moonlit Star mutter the word 'bully' and Gorian silently agreed. The anger inside the blue furre started to build. Markliam looked at both of the furres his age and frowned.
"Don't look at me like that," Markliam said sternly, "She has to be ready for anything that comes."
"I hope you are," Gorian muttered as he advanced onto him. Markliam smiled at his roommate. Etiquette Furre wanted to pick a fight with him it seemed. A good brawl would teach him that strength alone is the key to survival. It was a lesson Markliam would be glad to give anyone.
"Markliam's right, Gorian," Kaelin said. She stood up and started to brush off her sleeveless shirt, "I have to be ready for anything. Anyway, this was a good practice for now. Why don't you two take Markliam and show him the town?"
She just wanted to get rid of me, Markliam thought, or else give me something to do other than beat up the locals.
"Actually Kaelin, my parents are expecting me back," Moonlit Star said. It was the first time Markliam heard her say something. He could of sworn he heard one of his friends from back home. She had the same pitch as Faroeja. It sounded rather haunting to him. She was dead too though. They all were.
"Alright. Tell your parents I wish them well," Kaelin responded to Moonlit Star. The three furres from the clay shack stood in silence as the girl jogged for her home. Kaelin sheathed her sword on her back. The weapon was huge compared to the grey furre, Markliam thought. It was probably why she kept it on her back instead of her front like everyone else he knew. Markliam paused at that thought. He had only known two sword bearers. Perhaps they were different.
Gorian motioned Markliam to follow him. The new
orphan walked with him down paths of black bricks and saw the new sights of
Meovanni. As much as he did not want it to happen, this was his home
now. Gorian and Moonlit Star were his new friends. Silently Markliam
wondered just how long that would last.
* * * * *
Markliam knelt down beside his blue friend. They grinned at each other before looking back at the wooden door in front of them. They laid low in the bushes, in case a passer-by saw them and alerted someone. They waited. The door finally opened as a furre walked out of the building. It was time.
Markliam aimed his crossbow and fired. The arrow struck the frame of the doorway at an angle, preventing it from closing. It was an excellent shot, Markliam thought. It should have been anyway considering the two of them were planning this for almost a month. The door swung back to the frame as far as it could, stopping as it hit the shaft of the arrow.
Gorian and Markliam glanced about them, looking for any potential witnesses. At their satisfaction, they sprung from their hiding place and ran for the door. Gorian opened it and allowed Markliam through with his crossbow. The two entered and immediately found a hiding spot behind a large clay vase at the right of the doorway. They sat and listened for the bartender. They could not hear anyone. Gorian reached into the vase and splashed his paw in the liquid inside. He shot back behind it and licked his soaked fur.
"This is unbelievable," Gorian laughed, "We came all this way to do this and instead of whiskey we find ginger ale."
"Ginger ale?" Markliam asked, "Isn't that good enough?"
"There's no alcohol in it."
"What does it taste like?" Markliam asked as he reached in the liquid. He took his paw out and licked it. He tasted bubbles with a pleasurable amount of sweetness to the drink. He licked his lips to get more taste and smiled.
"This is good," he said, "I can live off this stuff."
Gorian smiled, "Well I hate to come all this way for nothing."
Markliam laughed. He reached his paw back into the vase. He was immediately startled by the clamp of another furre's hand around his. He gave out a cry and pulled sharply on his arm. The vase started to tip dangerously on its bottom.
"Watch out!" Gorian cried as the vase tipped over them. They only managed to back crawl part of the way from under the large container before the bubbling gold liquid poured out over their head. Markliam felt the vase land on his bent knees, but that small pain was unnoticeable compared to the ginger ale that was literally pouring on his body. He swallowed some by accident. There were much worse ways to die, Markliam thought.
"Get up!" the voice over them said. Markliam opened his drenched eyes to see the canine bartender standing over them. Gorian rolled the vase off of them. It landed on his side with a cracking noise. Gorian swore and Markliam knew they were in more trouble now.
"Get up!" the bartender said as she gripped Markliam's arm and pulled the twelve year old up. Gorian followed on his own. He coughed out a bit of the ginger ale he swallowed. He looked at the bartender and tried to grin without looking like an idiot. He did not succeed.
"Hello Tuanni," he said.
"Shut your mouth Gorian," she responded fiercely, "What possessed you to come in here and steal my drinks? Now look at what you did!"
She pointed at the vase. Markliam noticed the large crack in the clay. She would have to get a new one, he thought. It was no real wonder that she was ticked off at them. Deep inside however, he was only sorry that they got caught. Markliam looked back at Tuanni, who was glaring into his eyes.
"I know this was your idea, Markliam," she barked, "Before you came here I didn't have to lock that damned door."
Here it comes, Markliam thought as he closed his eyes. The same sort of reasoning he always heard since he arrived in Meovanni a few months ago. Everyone hated him. They all did. The merchants hated him, the parents hated him, even a priest of Ayem hated him.
"I wish the vamps finished you off when they destroyed your town," Tuanni's voice continued, "You amount to nothing, you wood mongrel - "
Markliam had expected more, but she had ended abruptly. He was afraid of opening his eyes. He knew that she was there, waiting to see his fear. She would even spit into his eyes if she had thought of it. He just kept them closed and waited.
"Tuanni," said a cold whisper.
Markliam shivered at the sound of this new voice. It was very chilling, but he knew the voice well. He opened his eyes and saw Kaelin's solid grip on Tuanni's bent arm. Where did she come from? Markliam did not hear her come in. He looked at Tuanni's arm and realized why Kaelin had it secured. The bartender was about to strike him.
"Do not try to hit my boys again," Kaelin whispered.
Markliam shivered again, not because of her voice, which was chilling enough, but because of her eyes. They stood there, blue and frozen. Markliam remembered when she gave him a similar look after he attacked Gorian when they first met. The only difference being the eyes she's using now had much more intensity. Markliam swore that Kaelin was about to snap Tuanni in half.
"Markliam," Kaelin said without taking her eyes off the bartender, "Leave your crossbow here. You two go outside and find something to do, far away from here."
The two furres did not even hesitate. Markliam dropped his crossbow and the two ran out the door. They did not even stop running after they got outside. They continued until they had reached Moonlit Star's house. Once there, Gorian let out a low whistle.
"Let's not do that again," Gorian said as he sat under the Stars' roscby tree.
"Agreed," Markliam replied. He stood in front of the tree and thought about what just happened. There was something about Kaelin that did not quite make sense. She knew Tuanni was going to hit him before he did. Yet, she was not around when he and Gorian made their entry into the bar. She was quick, obviously, but something did not add up.
They stayed by the tree for about an hour. They knew Moonlit Star was not home, but lately their options of where to go were limited to only the furres who were friendly to them, or more accurately, the ones that were friendly to Markliam. That certainly narrowed down their choices. Markliam stood for the hour thinking about Kaelin.
Markliam made his way home alone. Gorian went off with their friends, but the 'wood mongrel' decided to rest for the night. He spied his clay hut and located Kaelin in the field. She was practising her thrusts with the sword. As he approached she noticed him and stopped.
"I'm taking your crossbow until you're old enough to use it properly," she said.
Markliam nodded. After what he saw in her today, he knew he would have to be crazy to argue against her now. She looked at him, though, as if anticipating that argument. Perhaps he had been arguing with her too much, he decided. For what purpose, he did not really know.
"Every morning you and Gorian will arrive at the bar for daily cleaning," Kaelin continued, "Tuanni will be expecting you. And don't worry, she will not harm you."
Markliam nodded, "For how long?"
"Indefinitely."
Markliam nodded again. He did not have a clue what 'indefinitely' meant. But he would soon find out. He just did not want to argue with Kaelin at the moment. He realized he did not fear her, though. Perhaps he felt her disappointment.
Kaelin continued her sword thrusts as Markliam watched from the side of the house. She had elegance, Markliam thought. The entire town obviously respected her. Or, he thought, maybe they feared her. One of Moonlit Star's friends told him Kaelin was immortal. He did not understand why furres would fear that sort of thing, if that rumour was even true. She was definitely mysterious though. He shook the thought away. After all, rumour had it he was a bad furre.
"Since when did you start practising in the evening?" he asked.
"I always did," Kaelin responded, "You and Gorian are usually with your friends in the evening."
"Can I help you?" Markliam asked. He tried not to sound desperate. He wanted her respect again. He realized that he didn't have much in this town. She had always been nice to him too. Gorian and Moonlit Star took some time before they started to like him. It was not their fault though, Markliam thought. He remembered how viscous he was to them.
"You can toss me some stacks of hay if you like," Kaelin said.
He bent to pick up a stack. Markliam was viscous to Kaelin too at first. He remembered throwing a hay stack at her when she was not prepared for it ...
Markliam stopped, frozen with hay stack in hand. That did not make any sense. How could she not have been prepared for that hay stack? It was not that fast of a throw, certainly not for Kaelin's standards. She was able to stop Tuanni from striking him before he had realized what was happening. Markliam dropped the hay stack and looked at his guardian.
"Do you remember me hitting you with a hay stack?"
Kaelin nodded. She was not even looking at him. She had her eyes on her sword. She watched the sunset reflect off the sharp point. It was as if she were in another world. She did have a long life, Markliam thought, it would be easy to be caught up in other memories.
"Did you let yourself get hit?" he asked.
Kaelin looked at him. He had expected an icy stare that Tuanni received today, but saw instead a smile. Amazing, he thought. She let him hit her. Why she had let him do that, he did not know. He had a feeling that she was never going to tell him.
"It's hard to lose everything, Markliam," Kaelin said finally, "Gorian lost everything too. Even I lost everything."
Markliam nodded, "Are you ready?"
"I'm ready," she answered.
He tossed his stack of hay. She immediately positioned herself with the sword above her head, in a place where the hay was going. The straw was hit by the sword twice before falling to the ground. Markliam looked at the three pieces in the grass and shuttered. She had unbelievable accuracy and strength.
"Years from now, you will lose everything again," she added.
Markliam stared at her. The look in her eyes told him she was very serious. Is something bad going to happen to him, he thought. Was she suggesting something? Or was this just a warning?
"I'm ready," she said sternly.
"I'm sorry I hit you with the hay," he said, almost pleadingly, "And I'm sorry about today."
"You're forgiven," she answered.
"Just like that?"
"Yes."
Markliam was not so sure. He was a monster to her, Gorian, Moonlit Star, and others, including Tuanni. The first three had done everything to help him out during his difficulties. He just took advantage of them for his enjoyment. He shuddered at his 'Etiquette Furre' nickname for Gorian. If anything, he and Gorian were more alike than not.
"There is too much hate in this world," Kaelin said.
"I agree."
"Do you still blame the Vamps for your family's deaths?"
Markliam hesitated. What was she getting at, he wondered. She knew what happened to him. Why the sudden question about it?
"What makes you think they were Vamps?" she asked.
Markliam stood dumbfounded. Everyone knew the Vamps destroyed Yrdnal. He was there too. He saw them. Markliam winced at the memories of the army of shadows that had approached him months ago.
"Did you recognize them as Vamps when you saw them?"
They were alive. And they were approaching him. The words were hideous. Markliam could not listen to the rest of them. He was more focused on the approaching shadows. They had no faces ...
Earth remains.
"Please stop," Markliam begged. Tears flooded into his eyelids. The sight of charred bodies were all he could see now. He knew one of those bodies just from their shape alone. He knew him well.
"Dad," Markliam cried.
He felt something surround him. His eyes cleared a little and he realized Kaelin had him in her arms. She was whispering an apology, but he could scarcely hear her. He whimpered for a few seconds. Another memory then came to him and he started to bawl.
He remembered running off the cliff.