LegoLad659
Fairy Queen
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<em>(This is a continuation of my last prose, The Fall of Scarfala. If you want to read it first, that handy 'Previous' button will take you straight there ( 
))</em> So, that's how it all started. Yeah, I know. My family is killed, my village is destroyed, and everything I ever knew and loved is gone? I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I had to find a way to move on, though. Nothing I could do would bring them back. Sitting around there for too long would only be waiting to die. Which actually wouldn't have sounded so bad at the time if I had thought of it, not knowing what I do now. It was probably a bad idea, but I left through the Elrua Forest. I'd heard of another village on its eastern border, a trading depot and common adventurer's stop called Ikari. If they had avoided the fate we suffered, maybe they could help me. Or give me a place to stay for a little while as I recuperated. At the very least I could warn them about the attack and move on from there. I didn't have an exact game plan, I just needed to leave Scarfala and have <em>some</em> kind of destination. That was my first plan, and I was sticking to it. Mainly because I didn't have the willpower to come up with another. I could've just walked around the forest, but I hadn't thought to bring any food with me. Just my mom's busted staff. The food stores probably weren't left untouched anyway, but I could've at least found <em>something</em> that was still edible, I'm sure. But I didn't. So I was left walking through the forest, barely armed and lacking food of any kind except for what I managed to find myself. Not the best of ideas. Luckily it didn't matter, though. <em>How</em> it didn't matter wasn't so lucky... Depending on how you think about it. The forest was eerily quiet as I walked through it. There was not an animal in sight, though I just assumed they were hiding from me. The more aggressive predators had mostly been killed off by the local Slimes and Spiders, defending their homes. Of course, I still had them to worry about... A ways in, I felt like I was being watched. By what, I didn't know, but I constantly found myself looking over my shoulder for something I thought was there. I'm just being paranoid, I kept telling myself. Once in a while I'd catch a couple of beady eyes staring at me though the pitch darkness surrounding me. It was only brief, brief enough to trick me into thinking it could just be my imagination. But it wasn't. The danger was just as real as the flames in my village, and I was just as hopeful it was only in my head. I could feel something behind me, to the left, to the right, even in front of me... Eventually I just kept my head down as I tried to block out the paranoia, but it only grew closer. It was only when I forced myself to look back one more time when I realized that it was real. I jumped forward and spun around as I saw a giant, even Human-sized black spider behind me. It leered at me with hungry eyes, at least I'm pretty sure it did. With so many it was kind of hard to tell. Either way, it was kind of obvious what it was going to do. I backpedaled, and it approached me at the same pace. Not looking where I was going, I tripped over a tree root and fell backwards into the tree behind me. It was at this point that I saw two more spiders approaching from my right. Knowing I had to get out of there as fast as I could, I started running, as my adrenaline finally kicked into high gear. ...I didn't make it very far. I should've known it was a trap - They were clearly herding me in a specific direction, as soon as the other two showed themselves on only my right side. I ended up running straight into a large, nearly invisible web. I tried to struggle, but it held fast. I could do nothing as the spiders walked forward, and I braced myself for what felt like entirely too long before I felt a bite in my lower leg. I screamed aloud for a moment before my voice went soft. My body started tingling and going numb all over, and my struggles quickly turned into mild twitches, and after that, absolutely nothing. Once I stopped moving, they started to cut me down from the net. At least I wasn't hurting at all. I just couldn't feel anything, nor could I move anything either. If I hadn't just spent several hours huddling in silence with Elise while our village was being destroyed by monsters - Possibly even these very same monsters, now that I think about it - I would've said without a doubt that this was the scariest part of my life. I mean, I was about to be eaten by these giant spiders, and worst of all it looked like I was going to be awake for the whole thing. Who <em>wouldn't</em> be scared? The spiders wrapped me up tightly in silk and carried me through the forest. I couldn't tell where we were going, since my eyes were covered as well by the spider silk, and even if they weren't I probably would've had them closed shut anyway. And by this point I had more or less resigned myself to my fate. That is, until I felt a disturbance in the very regular and smooth movements of the spider that was holding me. We stopped, and I faintly heard voices in the distance. Were those people? Were they going to save me? I started feeling hopeful for a moment. And that hope only grew brighter as I heard them coming closer. The spiders wasted no time in their movements. The one holding me pulled me up, tying me to a tree branch before scurrying off. I could only wait and try to call out to whoever was nearby, hoping they would hear my faint whimpers. I could hear shouting now - Whoever these people were, they were fighting, and fiercely. Despite my numbness, I could feel my heart beating with anticipation as I awaited the result of what I hoped was a rescue mission. Soon, the fighting died down, and I could hear only silence. If they were still alive, they were talking to each other quietly, no doubt to keep from attracting more spiders to them. The silence lasted for way too long. I was nearly dying of anticipation. Eventually I heard footsteps close by. I gasped slightly. Those weren't spider footsteps, that much was for sure. Sure enough, a voice called out "'Ey, look! Up there, I bet tha's what they were guardin'!" the man said, beckoning his friends closer "It's prob'ly where that scream from earl "They caught someone?" Another man asked, sounding much more sophisticated than the first "Do you think they're still alive?" "Only one way to find out." A woman replied just before something flew by above my head, cutting the thread attaching me to the branch and causing me to fall back to Earth. I landed in someone's arms. "Woah, easy there." A third man said, the one that caught me "If you're alive in there, don't be afraid. You're safe now. We'll get you out of this." He told me. I groaned softly in response, to let him know that I was, in fact, still alive. "C'mon, let's bring 'em back to town." The first man told the others "As much as I'd love to cut up s'more spider silk, we can't really do that safely 'ere in the forest, now can we?" "Brun's right." The man holding me replied "Let's take them back to Ikari. We'll have all the time we need to cut them out carefully there." "We got plenty of hunting done today anyway, it's more than about time we head back." The female agreed. There were other general sounds of approval as well from the rest of the party, and they started walking back. It had taken so long to reach Ikari, I had actually fallen asleep during the time. By the time I woke up, I was already free, and was lying in a bed. It was actually more comfortable than my old one, so I was tempted to lie in it for the rest of the night just out of principle. But I had to know what happened first, where I was. I slowly sat up, and grunted a bit in pain after doing so. "Hey, take it easy." Someone told me, putting his hand on my chest to stop me from sitting up any further. It was the man from earlier, who had carried me "You've still got a lot of venom in your body. You have to rest and let it subside." I nodded and laid back down, looking at him. It was too dark to tell very much, but he did have short blonde hair, and was wearing a shirt with a symbol of a white Dragon on it "Where... Am I...?" I asked, still feeling like it was almost impossible to speak, my throat was so stiff "Who are you...?" "Shh. Try not to speak, for now." He replied "You're in Ikari's church. My name is Ariador, I'm a paladin. Me and my friends found you after killing a group of spiders. Thank the Goddess you haven't been hurt..." I nodded slowly "Thank... You..." I managed to say, before closing my eyes and falling back asleep. "You're welcome." I heard him respond, just before I did. I awoke the next morning to the sun streaming through my window, and the creaking of the door opening "Hello?" A young girl called out softly "Are you awake yet?" I slowly opened my eyes and looked around for a moment before sitting up, resting against the bed frame. The room I was in was made entirely of stone bricks, with a rug in the center and a door on the other side of the room. Sitting against the wall to the right was a dresser, and in the left wall was another window similar to the one next to my bed. A chandelier hanging from the ceiling provided plenty of light to the room with the help of the Sun. "Mm... Kinda... Good morning." I replied, looking at the girl that had entered. She had black hair that reached her shoulders, and was wearing a white dress with the same Dragon logo as Ariador from last night. She was also holding a tray of food. The girl smiled a little bit "G'morning. Are you hungry? I brought you some food." She said, closing the door behind her and walking over to my bed. I nodded in response "I am, thank you very much." I replied, politely taking the tray from her as she sat down in the plain wooden chair next to my bed. "I heard about what happened, how everyone found you..." She said "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm alright..." I told her. In reality I wasn't okay in the slightest, but I didn't want to think about that right now. I was alive, and that was the only thing that mattered at the moment. "I'm glad. Those spiders are awful!" The girl complained, shivering a bit "Their webs are just so sticky and tight... I don't like it! Not at all!" I giggled a little bit "Yeah, they are... What's your name?" "Me? I'm Ashley." She told me, smiling again "What's yours?" "Sky." "That's a nice name." Ashley said, pausing for a moment and giggling "People say I talk to the sky all the time... Now I can tell them have a reason to!" I laughed along with her as well "Yes, you can." After a moment, the door opened again, and a short man with a red beard and dressed in leather walked in "'Oy, look who's awake!" he said, beckoning the others inside. He was Brun, the one from back in the forest "It's our little girly friend!" "Mind the Dwarf..." A blonde Elf said, walking in behind him. She was dressed, predictably, in various shades of green, and had a bow and quiver strapped to her back "He means that as a compliment. Really." "Haha, that I do!" "Hello..." I said, watching everyone come into the room. Ariador was with them as well, along with a mage dressed in purple robes, who I assumed was the last voice I heard in the forest. "How are you feeling?" Ariador asked me, sitting down next to Ashley. "I'm doing a lot better." I told him, smiling a bit, and not only because I felt better. It was fun watching that little display. Ariador nodded "That's good. Most of the spider venom should be out by now. You should just feel a little stiff, is all." "So, where are you from?" Ashley asked me. "Ah, I'm from Scarfala..." I told them, looking down a bit. "Scarfala?" Ariador asked, obviously noticing my downcast look immediately "I've been there before... Did something happen to it?" I nodded in response "Yes... It... It was destroyed... By monsters..." I told them. I tried not to cry. I couldn't cry. Not now, not in front of these people, who I had just shown great happiness to not moments before. "Oh, my..." The Elf responded, eyes wide "Destroyed? By monsters? How did that happen?" "I-I don't know, we-... <em>I</em> was hidden underground during the attack." I said. I didn't want to think about Elise right now. "We could be in trouble if those monsters attack Ikari..." The mage pointed out. "Right. We have to inform the army, reinforce our position here." Ariador agreed, standing up "I'll get to work on that right away." "I'm sorry we weren't there to help." The Elf told me, putting her hand on my shoulder. I shook my head in response "I don't think it would've mattered anyway... My mom was helping defend the place and, well..." I said, looking over at the battered staff that was sitting on top of the dresser. "Was this your mother's?" The mage asked, walking over to it. I nodded "Yes, it was... She was the best mage I knew, and..." "I'm so sorry..." He replied, picking the staff up and looking at me "If there's anything we can do to help you..." "It's fine." I replied, shaking my head again "I just... Need a safe place to stay for a while, is all." "If you like, I could take you to the Guild I studied at. As much as I know the church would be willing to take in a lost orphan, I know already that they already have their hands full with many others that also need help. The Mage's Guild, on the other hand, could always use new people. Even if you don't intend on studying there..." I blinked and stared at him, wide-eyed, at the mention of studying at the Guild "S-study? You mean, study actual magic?! In a real Mage's Guild?!" "You do not have to. We would be perfectly fine simply sheltering you for a while." I quickly shook my head in response "No, no, no! Really, I'm... I'm excited! I've always loved magic, but Scarfala's Guild would never let me join until I was at least 18..." "Most Guilds have an age restriction. It prevents complications, as while we grow, our magic can be difficult to control. Our energy stabilizes as we mature. I believe I can convince the Guild Master to make an exception for you, though. He is a kind individual when he needs to be." The smile on my face couldn't have possibly gotten any wider "You'd do that for me...? Th-... Thank you! Thank you so much! What's your name?" He smiled back and nodded "I'll notify the Guild ahead of time, so that they are aware of your arrival. And my name is Amarin." "I'm Sky... Again, thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me..." "Of course. I'll also see what we can do about getting this staff of yours fixed, as well." "Hey, don't tell me ya mean to leave right away, do you?" Brun asked, just as ecstatic as we were "I mean, I'm glad that yer gettin' a new home and carryin' yer mother's legacy and all, but at least let us get to know ye a bit before ya leave!" I giggled a bit in response "Of course. Sorry, I was a bit carried away." "Ahh, that's fine." Brun assured me, patting me rather roughly on the back "C'mon, let's all go hang out together for the day, an' you can leave tomorrow morning!" I nodded, still smiling. It felt great to smile again "That sounds like fun, I'd love to." "Great! Let's go, I know the perfect place!" Brun said, leading us all along out of the church, and into what he declared to be his favorite pub, apparently called "The Shaking Minotaur" or something like that. It was even marked by a picture of a Minotaur holding a mug of ale, barely able to stand up. The bartender gave me a strange look as I walked in, but Brun assured him that I wouldn't have anything to drink, and that everyone else in their group would make sure I stayed far away from anything alcoholic. He seemed satisfied by this, and began serving everyone. I spent most of the rest of the day with my new friends Brun the Dwarf, Ariador the Paladin, Amarin the Mage, and Lelana, the Elf from earlier. Brun spent most of the day in the spotlight, especially after he managed to get himself drunk. His antics were really fun to watch, though some of them were... Less than spectacular. I tried a few times to try and get to know him a bit better, but he was mostly focused on having a good time than talking about his past. Which was definitely something I understood. Ariador spent most of the time talking with Amarin, most likely putting together plans and such. They were good friends, as I found out - They had met during one of Ariador's early battles, where Amarin had served as his backup. The mage saved his life, and in trying to repay his debt to him, Ariador grew to become close friends with him. I also discovered that Ashley, the little girl from earlier, was Ariador's sister, and she mostly helped around the church when he wasn't around. I don't know where their parents were, as they never mentioned them, nor did I want or even think to ask. Lelana was, for the most part, designated as the one to make sure I didn't get myself into any trouble with the pub. She made sure to keep me away from any drinks she knew I wasn't allowed to have, and she helped me keep my distance from more unruly patrons. During this time I got to know a bit about her, though she didn't have much to tell. She grew up in a forest village in a place called the Entara Forest. It was mostly inhabited by Alraunes - A cross between a Humanoid and a flower, from what I understood - and Bee people, who were attracted to them. They were much more friendly towards the other races than the Monsters in the Elrua Forest were, Lelana told me. I briefly asked her if her forest had a Dryad, and she simply told me that she had heard of no such thing. She did mention that she <em>had</em> met a Dryad before, though she refused to say anything more. Eventually, they day grew short, and after having a lot of fun with Ariador's group (There was absolutely no doubt that he was the leader of the group, he seemed to hold the most authority and respect among the others) I headed back to the church with Ariador. I had a good, long night's rest and, when the sun rose, I departed with Amarin to the city of Holaria to join the Mage's Guild there.
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))</em> So, that's how it all started. Yeah, I know. My family is killed, my village is destroyed, and everything I ever knew and loved is gone? I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. I had to find a way to move on, though. Nothing I could do would bring them back. Sitting around there for too long would only be waiting to die. Which actually wouldn't have sounded so bad at the time if I had thought of it, not knowing what I do now. It was probably a bad idea, but I left through the Elrua Forest. I'd heard of another village on its eastern border, a trading depot and common adventurer's stop called Ikari. If they had avoided the fate we suffered, maybe they could help me. Or give me a place to stay for a little while as I recuperated. At the very least I could warn them about the attack and move on from there. I didn't have an exact game plan, I just needed to leave Scarfala and have <em>some</em> kind of destination. That was my first plan, and I was sticking to it. Mainly because I didn't have the willpower to come up with another. I could've just walked around the forest, but I hadn't thought to bring any food with me. Just my mom's busted staff. The food stores probably weren't left untouched anyway, but I could've at least found <em>something</em> that was still edible, I'm sure. But I didn't. So I was left walking through the forest, barely armed and lacking food of any kind except for what I managed to find myself. Not the best of ideas. Luckily it didn't matter, though. <em>How</em> it didn't matter wasn't so lucky... Depending on how you think about it. The forest was eerily quiet as I walked through it. There was not an animal in sight, though I just assumed they were hiding from me. The more aggressive predators had mostly been killed off by the local Slimes and Spiders, defending their homes. Of course, I still had them to worry about... A ways in, I felt like I was being watched. By what, I didn't know, but I constantly found myself looking over my shoulder for something I thought was there. I'm just being paranoid, I kept telling myself. Once in a while I'd catch a couple of beady eyes staring at me though the pitch darkness surrounding me. It was only brief, brief enough to trick me into thinking it could just be my imagination. But it wasn't. The danger was just as real as the flames in my village, and I was just as hopeful it was only in my head. I could feel something behind me, to the left, to the right, even in front of me... Eventually I just kept my head down as I tried to block out the paranoia, but it only grew closer. It was only when I forced myself to look back one more time when I realized that it was real. I jumped forward and spun around as I saw a giant, even Human-sized black spider behind me. It leered at me with hungry eyes, at least I'm pretty sure it did. With so many it was kind of hard to tell. Either way, it was kind of obvious what it was going to do. I backpedaled, and it approached me at the same pace. Not looking where I was going, I tripped over a tree root and fell backwards into the tree behind me. It was at this point that I saw two more spiders approaching from my right. Knowing I had to get out of there as fast as I could, I started running, as my adrenaline finally kicked into high gear. ...I didn't make it very far. I should've known it was a trap - They were clearly herding me in a specific direction, as soon as the other two showed themselves on only my right side. I ended up running straight into a large, nearly invisible web. I tried to struggle, but it held fast. I could do nothing as the spiders walked forward, and I braced myself for what felt like entirely too long before I felt a bite in my lower leg. I screamed aloud for a moment before my voice went soft. My body started tingling and going numb all over, and my struggles quickly turned into mild twitches, and after that, absolutely nothing. Once I stopped moving, they started to cut me down from the net. At least I wasn't hurting at all. I just couldn't feel anything, nor could I move anything either. If I hadn't just spent several hours huddling in silence with Elise while our village was being destroyed by monsters - Possibly even these very same monsters, now that I think about it - I would've said without a doubt that this was the scariest part of my life. I mean, I was about to be eaten by these giant spiders, and worst of all it looked like I was going to be awake for the whole thing. Who <em>wouldn't</em> be scared? The spiders wrapped me up tightly in silk and carried me through the forest. I couldn't tell where we were going, since my eyes were covered as well by the spider silk, and even if they weren't I probably would've had them closed shut anyway. And by this point I had more or less resigned myself to my fate. That is, until I felt a disturbance in the very regular and smooth movements of the spider that was holding me. We stopped, and I faintly heard voices in the distance. Were those people? Were they going to save me? I started feeling hopeful for a moment. And that hope only grew brighter as I heard them coming closer. The spiders wasted no time in their movements. The one holding me pulled me up, tying me to a tree branch before scurrying off. I could only wait and try to call out to whoever was nearby, hoping they would hear my faint whimpers. I could hear shouting now - Whoever these people were, they were fighting, and fiercely. Despite my numbness, I could feel my heart beating with anticipation as I awaited the result of what I hoped was a rescue mission. Soon, the fighting died down, and I could hear only silence. If they were still alive, they were talking to each other quietly, no doubt to keep from attracting more spiders to them. The silence lasted for way too long. I was nearly dying of anticipation. Eventually I heard footsteps close by. I gasped slightly. Those weren't spider footsteps, that much was for sure. Sure enough, a voice called out "'Ey, look! Up there, I bet tha's what they were guardin'!" the man said, beckoning his friends closer "It's prob'ly where that scream from earl "They caught someone?" Another man asked, sounding much more sophisticated than the first "Do you think they're still alive?" "Only one way to find out." A woman replied just before something flew by above my head, cutting the thread attaching me to the branch and causing me to fall back to Earth. I landed in someone's arms. "Woah, easy there." A third man said, the one that caught me "If you're alive in there, don't be afraid. You're safe now. We'll get you out of this." He told me. I groaned softly in response, to let him know that I was, in fact, still alive. "C'mon, let's bring 'em back to town." The first man told the others "As much as I'd love to cut up s'more spider silk, we can't really do that safely 'ere in the forest, now can we?" "Brun's right." The man holding me replied "Let's take them back to Ikari. We'll have all the time we need to cut them out carefully there." "We got plenty of hunting done today anyway, it's more than about time we head back." The female agreed. There were other general sounds of approval as well from the rest of the party, and they started walking back. It had taken so long to reach Ikari, I had actually fallen asleep during the time. By the time I woke up, I was already free, and was lying in a bed. It was actually more comfortable than my old one, so I was tempted to lie in it for the rest of the night just out of principle. But I had to know what happened first, where I was. I slowly sat up, and grunted a bit in pain after doing so. "Hey, take it easy." Someone told me, putting his hand on my chest to stop me from sitting up any further. It was the man from earlier, who had carried me "You've still got a lot of venom in your body. You have to rest and let it subside." I nodded and laid back down, looking at him. It was too dark to tell very much, but he did have short blonde hair, and was wearing a shirt with a symbol of a white Dragon on it "Where... Am I...?" I asked, still feeling like it was almost impossible to speak, my throat was so stiff "Who are you...?" "Shh. Try not to speak, for now." He replied "You're in Ikari's church. My name is Ariador, I'm a paladin. Me and my friends found you after killing a group of spiders. Thank the Goddess you haven't been hurt..." I nodded slowly "Thank... You..." I managed to say, before closing my eyes and falling back asleep. "You're welcome." I heard him respond, just before I did. I awoke the next morning to the sun streaming through my window, and the creaking of the door opening "Hello?" A young girl called out softly "Are you awake yet?" I slowly opened my eyes and looked around for a moment before sitting up, resting against the bed frame. The room I was in was made entirely of stone bricks, with a rug in the center and a door on the other side of the room. Sitting against the wall to the right was a dresser, and in the left wall was another window similar to the one next to my bed. A chandelier hanging from the ceiling provided plenty of light to the room with the help of the Sun. "Mm... Kinda... Good morning." I replied, looking at the girl that had entered. She had black hair that reached her shoulders, and was wearing a white dress with the same Dragon logo as Ariador from last night. She was also holding a tray of food. The girl smiled a little bit "G'morning. Are you hungry? I brought you some food." She said, closing the door behind her and walking over to my bed. I nodded in response "I am, thank you very much." I replied, politely taking the tray from her as she sat down in the plain wooden chair next to my bed. "I heard about what happened, how everyone found you..." She said "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm alright..." I told her. In reality I wasn't okay in the slightest, but I didn't want to think about that right now. I was alive, and that was the only thing that mattered at the moment. "I'm glad. Those spiders are awful!" The girl complained, shivering a bit "Their webs are just so sticky and tight... I don't like it! Not at all!" I giggled a little bit "Yeah, they are... What's your name?" "Me? I'm Ashley." She told me, smiling again "What's yours?" "Sky." "That's a nice name." Ashley said, pausing for a moment and giggling "People say I talk to the sky all the time... Now I can tell them have a reason to!" I laughed along with her as well "Yes, you can." After a moment, the door opened again, and a short man with a red beard and dressed in leather walked in "'Oy, look who's awake!" he said, beckoning the others inside. He was Brun, the one from back in the forest "It's our little girly friend!" "Mind the Dwarf..." A blonde Elf said, walking in behind him. She was dressed, predictably, in various shades of green, and had a bow and quiver strapped to her back "He means that as a compliment. Really." "Haha, that I do!" "Hello..." I said, watching everyone come into the room. Ariador was with them as well, along with a mage dressed in purple robes, who I assumed was the last voice I heard in the forest. "How are you feeling?" Ariador asked me, sitting down next to Ashley. "I'm doing a lot better." I told him, smiling a bit, and not only because I felt better. It was fun watching that little display. Ariador nodded "That's good. Most of the spider venom should be out by now. You should just feel a little stiff, is all." "So, where are you from?" Ashley asked me. "Ah, I'm from Scarfala..." I told them, looking down a bit. "Scarfala?" Ariador asked, obviously noticing my downcast look immediately "I've been there before... Did something happen to it?" I nodded in response "Yes... It... It was destroyed... By monsters..." I told them. I tried not to cry. I couldn't cry. Not now, not in front of these people, who I had just shown great happiness to not moments before. "Oh, my..." The Elf responded, eyes wide "Destroyed? By monsters? How did that happen?" "I-I don't know, we-... <em>I</em> was hidden underground during the attack." I said. I didn't want to think about Elise right now. "We could be in trouble if those monsters attack Ikari..." The mage pointed out. "Right. We have to inform the army, reinforce our position here." Ariador agreed, standing up "I'll get to work on that right away." "I'm sorry we weren't there to help." The Elf told me, putting her hand on my shoulder. I shook my head in response "I don't think it would've mattered anyway... My mom was helping defend the place and, well..." I said, looking over at the battered staff that was sitting on top of the dresser. "Was this your mother's?" The mage asked, walking over to it. I nodded "Yes, it was... She was the best mage I knew, and..." "I'm so sorry..." He replied, picking the staff up and looking at me "If there's anything we can do to help you..." "It's fine." I replied, shaking my head again "I just... Need a safe place to stay for a while, is all." "If you like, I could take you to the Guild I studied at. As much as I know the church would be willing to take in a lost orphan, I know already that they already have their hands full with many others that also need help. The Mage's Guild, on the other hand, could always use new people. Even if you don't intend on studying there..." I blinked and stared at him, wide-eyed, at the mention of studying at the Guild "S-study? You mean, study actual magic?! In a real Mage's Guild?!" "You do not have to. We would be perfectly fine simply sheltering you for a while." I quickly shook my head in response "No, no, no! Really, I'm... I'm excited! I've always loved magic, but Scarfala's Guild would never let me join until I was at least 18..." "Most Guilds have an age restriction. It prevents complications, as while we grow, our magic can be difficult to control. Our energy stabilizes as we mature. I believe I can convince the Guild Master to make an exception for you, though. He is a kind individual when he needs to be." The smile on my face couldn't have possibly gotten any wider "You'd do that for me...? Th-... Thank you! Thank you so much! What's your name?" He smiled back and nodded "I'll notify the Guild ahead of time, so that they are aware of your arrival. And my name is Amarin." "I'm Sky... Again, thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me..." "Of course. I'll also see what we can do about getting this staff of yours fixed, as well." "Hey, don't tell me ya mean to leave right away, do you?" Brun asked, just as ecstatic as we were "I mean, I'm glad that yer gettin' a new home and carryin' yer mother's legacy and all, but at least let us get to know ye a bit before ya leave!" I giggled a bit in response "Of course. Sorry, I was a bit carried away." "Ahh, that's fine." Brun assured me, patting me rather roughly on the back "C'mon, let's all go hang out together for the day, an' you can leave tomorrow morning!" I nodded, still smiling. It felt great to smile again "That sounds like fun, I'd love to." "Great! Let's go, I know the perfect place!" Brun said, leading us all along out of the church, and into what he declared to be his favorite pub, apparently called "The Shaking Minotaur" or something like that. It was even marked by a picture of a Minotaur holding a mug of ale, barely able to stand up. The bartender gave me a strange look as I walked in, but Brun assured him that I wouldn't have anything to drink, and that everyone else in their group would make sure I stayed far away from anything alcoholic. He seemed satisfied by this, and began serving everyone. I spent most of the rest of the day with my new friends Brun the Dwarf, Ariador the Paladin, Amarin the Mage, and Lelana, the Elf from earlier. Brun spent most of the day in the spotlight, especially after he managed to get himself drunk. His antics were really fun to watch, though some of them were... Less than spectacular. I tried a few times to try and get to know him a bit better, but he was mostly focused on having a good time than talking about his past. Which was definitely something I understood. Ariador spent most of the time talking with Amarin, most likely putting together plans and such. They were good friends, as I found out - They had met during one of Ariador's early battles, where Amarin had served as his backup. The mage saved his life, and in trying to repay his debt to him, Ariador grew to become close friends with him. I also discovered that Ashley, the little girl from earlier, was Ariador's sister, and she mostly helped around the church when he wasn't around. I don't know where their parents were, as they never mentioned them, nor did I want or even think to ask. Lelana was, for the most part, designated as the one to make sure I didn't get myself into any trouble with the pub. She made sure to keep me away from any drinks she knew I wasn't allowed to have, and she helped me keep my distance from more unruly patrons. During this time I got to know a bit about her, though she didn't have much to tell. She grew up in a forest village in a place called the Entara Forest. It was mostly inhabited by Alraunes - A cross between a Humanoid and a flower, from what I understood - and Bee people, who were attracted to them. They were much more friendly towards the other races than the Monsters in the Elrua Forest were, Lelana told me. I briefly asked her if her forest had a Dryad, and she simply told me that she had heard of no such thing. She did mention that she <em>had</em> met a Dryad before, though she refused to say anything more. Eventually, they day grew short, and after having a lot of fun with Ariador's group (There was absolutely no doubt that he was the leader of the group, he seemed to hold the most authority and respect among the others) I headed back to the church with Ariador. I had a good, long night's rest and, when the sun rose, I departed with Amarin to the city of Holaria to join the Mage's Guild there. <a href="<___base_url___>/threads/the-fall-of-scarfala.223543/" rel=""><img src="<___base_url___>/media/previous.10777/full?lightbox=1&update=1463364424" class="ipsImage" alt="full?lightbox=1&update=1463364424" /></a>
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