Cyrrane
Number of People: 52
(26 Females 26 Males)
0-7 (0): 3 | 8-20 (1/2): 8 | 21+ (1): 40
Number of Animals: (1/4) 51
Amount of Servings: 56 3/4
Number of Seeds Allowed: 5
Next visit with Ancestors: This post
Yemons:225
The sky was pitch black when the young hobbit approached the house Xzavier was held in. The house itself wasn't inhabited yet: it was barely more than four walls and a roof, for now. It had been deemed the safest option to keep Xzavier, since, apart from the door, there were no other entrances. And now, Ellie was headed there. Despite Myriam not having said that it was forbidden to see Xzavier, Ellie still felt as though she was doing something wrong. But she needed to do this.
"Who's there?" Xzavier's voice rang out as Ellie approached the house. There was a rectangular cut-out near the top of the door, in preparation for the installation of a glass pane inside. For now, it was just a hole. "It's Ellie." Xzavier couldn't see her from the small field of vision he had, and so leaned against the door nonchalantly. "Come to mock me or what?" Ellie bristled, but kept her cool. "Why would I? No, I'm here to ask you why you did that, and how you ever thought it would be okay to do that." Xzavier's voice was monotonous. "Do what? Nothing ended up working anyway, and it wasn't me that hurt Zaos or Rhys." "So you really have no idea? How much hurt you've caused?" There was sudden silence, and Ellie was about to say something when Xzavier spoke up again. "Wait.. Is this about Tamara?" Ellie huffed. "Took you long enough to figure that out. What do you have to say for yourself?" Xzavier shrugged. "Absolutely nothing. Like I said before, I needed her for the plan. It didn't work, too bad. End of story." On the other side of the door, Ellie bristled, but did her best to stay calm. "You're more heartless than I thought. The fact you've completely broken her heart doesn't bother you in any way? She trusted you entirely, you used her and betrayed her." "Again, I don't see how that is a problem. I never really loved her, so obviously I don't really care about how hurt she is. If anything, it proves my point that she was weak and naïve."
Ellie's nails dug into her palms as she bunched her hands into fists, trying to keep herself calm, and she took a deep breath before answering. "She isn't weak and naïve, because she'll recover from what you did, and be perfectly well off without you. She'll forget you ever existed, you'll mean nothing to her soon." And at this, there was silence for a few seconds. Finally, Xzavier spoke up again. "She won't. I'll be in her thoughts forever, you know that. She can't forget me." And however sure of himself he tried to sound, Ellie had noticed the slightly higher pitch. "Yeah, keep telling yourself that." She spit, a hint of satisfaction in her voice. This was how to hurt him. "She'll keep you in her thoughts exactly like Yiohan did, running and leaving you all alone here. He certainly seemed to care a lot about you."
"He ran, did he? The spineless rat!" Xzavier hissed. Ellie smiled in the dark. "Oh that surely wasn't part of your plan. Maybe he didn't love you as much as you thought he did. Maybe he didn't even care about you that much, huh." Behind the door, Xzavier shook his head. "Of course he cares. It's just the circumstances." "Eh, maybe you shouldn't be so sure of yourself. Have a terrible night, I'll be off sleeping peacefully knowing that soon you'll hardly be more than a vague shadow in the past, easily dispelled." And without another word, Ellie turned on her heels and left. Behind her, she heard Xzavier begin to call her name, then stop himself. She had planned to hurt him by showing him how much of a terrible person he was, but clearly there was no shred of empathy in his entire being. Telling him he didn't matter to them had proven to be much more effective.
Ellie's smile faded the further she walked from the cell, and her steps slowed. If only what she had said was the truth. Xzavier had made a much heavier imprint on Tamara than she had let on, and Ellie had no idea how well Tamara would ever recover from that. He would forever be a dark, dark shadow in her past.
~The next day~
The atmosphere was tense and expectant as people gathered in the central plaza. Whether they had heard about it from a friend or read the papers requesting the meeting, everybody knew that today, the dark chapter with the villager's betrayal was coming to a close. Tamara stood next to Ellie, trembling weakly- the hobbit grabbed her hand and held it tightly. Tamara shot her a thankful glance, before their two pairs of eyes went back to the front, where Myriam had arrived.
The leader looked tired, like she hadn't slept all night- which probably wasn't far off from the truth. As she climbed onto the low wooden stage to survey the crowd, her eyes fell on Pantaleon, who gave her an encouraging grin and a thumbs up, then on Zaos and Rhys, sitting on chairs as they were still weak from their injuries. Almtrude was standing beside the stage, also surveying the crowd, arms crossed. A few seconds later, there was movement from the eastern side as Aaron, Rovi and Marya arrived, closely escorting Xzavier to the village center. Myriam shuddered inwardly as she saw him. Over the days between the incident and today, she had interrogated him- interrogations which had led to him admitting to every single thing that had happened, although never stopping to claim he only wanted to make the village a richer, more powerful place. Not once had he shown an ounce of remorse for what had happened or what might have happened. He was a heartless person. The two warriors and hunter escorted Xzavier to the stage and stood in one corner. In the other corner, Xander was waiting, shadowed by Calder. Now that everybody was here, Myriam could begin.
"Villagers of Cyrrane." Myriam was surprised at the intensity of her own voice. "As you all know by now, our village was recently the victim of a traitorous plot, one which had several aims: kill Zaos, abduct Laedrya, and take over the leadership of Cyrrane by using my son, Myreon, as hostage." Her voice shook slightly, but she paused, took a deep breath, and continued. "Thankfully, none of this happened. Of the six attackers, three died, one ran away, one changed his loyalties at the last second and one was captured. Over the past few days, the craft leaders and myself have been discussing how to go forward: how to deal with Xzavier, who is responsible and has claimed guilty to a huge part of this plot, but also how to deal with Xander, who, though having saved Myreon and allowed us to gain the upper hand, was still aware of this plot for many, many months and allowed things to escalate without doing anything." Another pause as Myriam collected her thoughts. She mustn't get the wording of any of this wrong.
"Xander," and Myriam half turned to face the hunter, who walked closer to the center of the stage. "you are responsible for Zaos', Rhys' and Tamara's injuries, but you are also responsible for the fact Myreon is alive. You killed one of the attackers yourself and assisted me in killing another one, when the easiest choice for you would have been to ignore us and follow orders. For this, we have decided that you will be kept under close watch for two years, during which you will be expected to actively participate in village life and do community work. If after these two years you have shown yourself to be reliable and trustworthy, you will be welcomed as full member of Cyrrane. If at any point within these two years you give us any reason to mistrust you, you will be, without question, exiled." Xander clasped his two hands together and bowed. "Thank you, Myriam. I promise to do my best for the village and not to betray the trust you have decided to place in me despite everything." His voice shook slightly out of bewilderment and relief. His.. Contract was over. He was free. He was free and he had a chance of becoming a real member of this village... Things had never looked so bright.
Myriam then turned to Xzavier as he was brought closer to the center of the stage. It took a while for her to begin speaking. "It's hard to know where to begin, Xzavier. For years, you had been plotting against Cyrrane with Virion and the others, planning on taking over by force. You abused Tamara's trust and love. Even if you were not the one actively holding the sword, you were willing to let Myreon and Zaos be killed so you could achieve your goals. All of this, you confessed, you confessed and still believed you were acting for the good of Cyrrane, to make it grand, to make it rich. But a village is nothing if the people in it are not with you." Myriam tried to guess Xzavier's thoughts, but his face was impassible. "For your actions, Xzavier, you should pay with your life. You were willing to kill to reach your goals, and never once showed regret over your actions. In order to keep ourselves safe from you, we should take your life." There were murmurs in the assembly.
"But I refuse to stoop to your level." There was immediate silence.
"You saw Zaos as a threat and wanted him dead for that, but I refuse to kill you out of convenience. Giving us, the village leader and the council, the power to kill people is far too dangerous." Myriam turned to the assembly. "I know you trust me, Cyrranians, and I am humbled by that trust. But I am not the only leader Cyrrane will ever have. This case has no precedence, but there will eventually come other problems, when you will look back on today to make a decision.. And I do not want that decision to be a permanent one like killing. I do not want a less well-meaning leader to abuse the power to kill for convenience. We should not have the power of life and death over our people." Myriam turned back to Xzavier. "For this reason, Xzavier, you are forever banished from Cyrranian territory and that of its allies. Tonight, you will be escorted to the border of Cyrranian territory. But for our safety, if you are ever seen in our territory again, you will be immediately killed, no questions asked." At this, there were grumbles of approval. Xzavier's head dropped a little to hide his face, but Myriam had time to catch a glimpse of a slight smile- a wry smile, one that showed he knew he had no way out of this.
The end of Myriam's speech went by in a whirlwind. She informed the Cyrranians that she and the council were working on a set of rules that, while having been unneeded thus far, became important now that there had been a serious case such as this one. She confirmed that everybody who had been injured during the attack was recovering well, even Rhys and Zaos, the most seriously injured. And then it was over. Xzavier was taken back to his cell, where he would wait until he was escorted out of the territory. The villagers left the plaza and went about their business.
Myriam descended the steps of the stage and found herself opposite Almtrude, who was leaning against the stage with her arms crossed. "Ye know I still don't agree. He's a menace, we should've gotten rid of him while he was under our custody." The dwarf said, looking Myriam directly in the eyes. The leader avoided her gaze and turned away. "What's done is done. I told you my reasons, even if his guilt was perfectly clear today, we can't be sure that death penalty wouldn't be used to kill innocents in the future. I don't want to be responsible for that." Almtrude shrugged but stayed silent as Myriam walked away. That was an argument that would likely never be resolved.
~~~
"I'm glad to be home." Zaos said, slumped back in an armchair in the middle of the living room of the Faelen family house. Laedrya picked up her painting on a small canvas at the table, which was her favorite way to unwind and relax. She nodded with a smile, looking up at Zaos briefly. "I'm glad you're home. I couldn't sleep with you in the healer's house, and Rhys still badly injured, and Lyra not being there..." "Even if I can't go back to my duties just yet, things will get back to normal soon." Zaos said gently. Before they had time to continue their conversation, a knock on the door interrupted them. Laedrya set the paintbrush down and went to open the door. "Aaron, what a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?" The middle-aged man smiled at her. "I was actually here just to inform you that a dragonrider from Black Rock Weyrhold has arrived- Ze'ku, the same one who had come to get Lyra and Selina. He has a letter for you, a reply from Lyra probably." Both elves' faces lit up, and Zaos stood up a little too quickly- showcased by his sudden wince. Laedrya hurried over to help him out. "Let's go then."
Outside, a group of Cyrranians had already gathered around the large blue dragon and his rider. When he spotted Laedrya and Zaos approaching, Ze'ku smiled and greeted them. "Zaos, isn't it? I'm glad to see you up and about- last time I was here, you hadn't regained consciousness yet. How is the wound going?" Zaos greeted him with a strained smile- the few minutes of walk here hadn't been very pleasant. "Still painful, but the wound is clean and on the mend. Now it's just a waiting game." Ze'ku nodded. "That's good to hear." He reached inside his satchel. "Here, I have a letter for you, from your daughter." He handed the two a small paper rectangle, which Laedrya took. "How is she doing? Was she not too upset?" Ze'ku hesitated. He hadn't been with Lyra when she had read the letter informing her of her brother's and father's injuries, but her thin, pale smile when she had handed him the return letter had been pretty clear indicators. "I'm sure she'll tell you more in her letter, but from what I saw, she was quite worried. Selina seems like a great friend though, I haven't seen one without the other ever since I gave her the letter." "Thank you Ze'ku. How long will you stay here? Do we have time to write a reply for Lyra?" "Of course, I know Selina's parents wanted to write one too. I need to talk with Myriam anyway. Maybe about an hour, is that enough?" "That's plenty, thank you so much." And, with Laedrya clutching the letter, the two worried parents made their way back home.
~
Zaos looked at the blank piece of paper in front of him, at the pen in his hand, and bit his lip with worry. He didn't write many letters, especially not letters with so much emotion- and the task was daunting. He needed to make it perfect.
Lyra's letter had been long, talking about all the many things she had been doing with Selina and other children in Black Rock Weyrhold, all in a very cheerful tone.. Until she mentioned Laedrya's and Arun's letter. Starting from that sentence, the writing was more shaky, blurred in places, hesitant. She asked many questions, repeating, many times, the words will they be okay?
Despite his mind blanking, Zaos knew he had to start somewhere- he dipped the pen into the inkwell and began to etch out the first words of the letter.
Dear Lyra,
It's dad writing. I really loved reading your letter, it sounds like you, Selina and the other kids are having a lot of fun, and you're already learning so much! It's fascinating to see how one takes care of a dragon. I'm glad to hear the people from Black Rock Weyrhold are taking good care of you.
I know you wanted to come see us, but if the eggs are close to hatching, I agree with Riva and think it's best if you stay in BRW. But as soon as Rhys and I have recovered enough, maybe we could come visit you! It would be so cool if we saw you with a baby dragon! Rhys and I are both doing much better already, and I really want you to cast away any worries about us you might still have. Joan, Jasper and Hessin (did you know he recently passed his assessment and became a full healer?) have been taking great care of us- as well as your mom and Arun, of course. We will be absolutely fine.
I'm looking forward to hearing from you, don't forget to tell us about your next adventures! And take care of yourself, it's the most important thing.
Love,
Dad
Zaos leaned back from his letter, heart feeling tight with worry over his little girl. She was so far away from him, when all he wanted was to give her a big hug.. No, she'd be fine, she really would be, Zaos tried reassure himself. With a grunt, the warrior chief stood up and began making his way out of the house to give the letter to Ze'ku.
~Several days later~
The closer and closer Ian's tenth birthday became, the more worried Maple was. What might happen then terrified her more than anything. Ian was in danger. She looked so worried that even Ian had gone up to her. "Mommy, are you not happy it's my birthday soon?" Maple had forced a smile and pet his cheek. "Of course I'm happy it's almost your birthday, my big boy. There's just a lot that I need to take care of." It had been a matter of long discussions between Calder and her whether to tell Ian about the Bringers of Dawn or not. As certain as she was that they would come to get him, Maple had not wanted to panic Ian ahead of time just in the small chance they did not come. Other people were aware, however: Alizz was ready to fight for them, Myriam also knew, and had promised to make the warriors available on the day to help protect Ian.
"Maple? Are you alright?" Maple jumped and turned: Calder had arrived, and he seemed saddened by the look of fear on her face. "Hey sweetie, I-" He was hurt at her reaction to his arrival, but it was hardly her fault, she couldn't control her current state of terror. Calder put his arms over her shoulders from behind, hugging her gently. "We'll be fine. Just take care of yourself, alright?" The witch sighed and closed her eyes, hand reaching up to hold his. "I'm fine, Calder. You just surprised me." she whispered. Calder squeezed. "Yeah I know, don't worry."
Eyes still closed, Maple let herself be comforted by her husband's warm embrace, feeling his heart beat against her. She remembered how terrified she had been when the Bringers of Dawn had come to get her on her tenth birthday, even if she had known about them, and had grown up around witches. If they did come for Ian.. She wouldn't let him go. "How about we get some food?" Maple said as she forced a smile. Calder nodded, reluctantly opening his arms, though keeping hold of her hand. "You know I'm always down for food." he smiled- a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
~A few days later, on Ian's birthday~
"Maple! Maple, they're here, wake up." And with those few words, Maple jumped up. She had dozed off sometime during the night. And now Calder had shaken her shoulder. As her senses awakened, Maple became aware of agitation in the streets outside. "There's a fire just about in the north-east of the village. Myriam is worried it might be a trap, so she only sent warriors to put it out. The scouts that were stationed outside the village haven't come back to say anything, but I have no doubt it's the Bringers of Dawn. Alizz is on their way to join us." Maple nodded, trying to act calm, but her breaths were short and quick. Her worst fear was becoming reality. "We need to warn Ian. Let him know what's happening." Maple said. Calder nodded. "I think I heard him wake up, there's a lot of noise outside. Let's go." And the two worried parents went to knock on Ian's door.
"Ian?" There was a short pause, then a small voice answered. "Mom?" Maple opened the door, and her and Calder entered. Ian was sitting up in his room, large grey-green eyes turned towards the two adults. "What's happening outside? There was yelling." Maple sat down on the bed while Calder grabbed the desk chair and joined them. Maple hesitated for a few seconds, looking at Calder hopelessly- he gave her a warm smile and took her hand. "We'll be fine." He murmured- however little he believed his own words. Maple nodded and looked back at Ian. "You know how I can do magic, and your dad as well?" Ian nodded. "Yes, you're witches." "Exactly, and you are too." Ian nodded again, more glumly. "Yes, I am too. I did some fire before, it was scary." Maple nodded. "Exactly. Magic is something that can be very useful, but it's also very scary when you don't know how to control it. Now, I want to tell you about a group of other witches. You, your dad and I are good witches, and we care about each other and the other villagers very much. But there are witches that don't like other people, and all they want is to control them. They are evil." She paused to make sure Ian was following. The little boy's eyes had widened. Except for stories, he had never really been confronted with evil yet... Hearing about it in his actual life was scary.
"When I was a child-" "You were a child? Little like me?" Maple smiled. "Yes, exactly little like you. When I was as little as you, the evil witches took me with them. They brought me to a school, where I had to learn to use my powers, but they were scary, they forced me to use a lot of power before I knew how to control it. I didn't want to stay with them, so I escaped. These witches are still mad at me because I escaped." Maple could tell her story scared Ian. She hated it. But she needed to explain, she needed him to understand whatever would happen today. Outside, the sounds had quieted. Whatever was going on, it had moved away from the house.
"They are still mad at me, and I think they are here today." Maple took Ian's hand. It was tiny, and warm, and fragile. "These people may be here today to want to punish me, and to do that, they might want to take you with them." Ian's eyes slowly widened as he took in what his mom had just said. "They want to take me with them? To the scary school?" Maple nodded. However hard she tried, she could not stop the prickling tears in the corner of her eyes. "They do. But me and your dad, as well as all the other people in the village, are here to protect you. We will fight them, and not let them take you, do you understand?" Ian held her hand tightly, and his face was grave as he nodded. "You will protect me." "Yes, we will protect you. And whatever happens Ian, I want you to remember that we love you very, very much, alright?" Calder reached out, and laid his warm hand on top of Maple's and Ian's. "We love you so, so much Ian, always remember that." He muttered softly. Ian scrambled out of bed, and hugged both his parents tightly. "I love you too!"
The family hug was cut short as a knock at the front door rang out. While Calder went to open, Maple helped Ian dress in more practical clothing. It would be simpler if he wasn't in his pyjamas. When the two were done, they joined Calder and Alizz in the living room. The witch was wearing battle clothing, and their familiar, a ferret, was curled around their neck, dark eyes peering agressively around. When Maple walked in, Alizz turned to her and greeted her with a curt nod. "As I was telling Calder, I'm convinced the fire is the work of the Bringers of Dawn, but we haven't actually spotted any of them yet. Myriam's warriors have gone to put the fire out."
Alizz had barely had the time to finish their sentence when a sudden blast tore the door from its hinges. Reacting in a split second, Calder sent a blast of his own through the opening- a surprised and angry shout rang from outside. Everything happened too quickly. Ian screamed in fear. Maple pulled him behind her and readied a spell. The dust from the previous attack had barely begun to settle when a dark-robed figure entered through the door and was simultaneously hit by three attacking spells- this time, they had been ready, and blocked them, managing to enter far enough to let a second witch inside. Spells and counter-spells fused through the room. The table to Maple's right exploded. One of the wooden support beams caught on fire. There were four enemy witches inside the room now.
There was no time to think. One of the attackers collapsed after a particularly swift white beam sent by Alizz. A blast hit the wall behind them and tore a hole through it, shaking dust out of every corner of the ceiling. And then Calder crashed to the ground when an attacker tore at the ceiling and dropped a stone onto his back. Maple wrenched a shelf full of books from the wall and sent it flying at the attacker. It hit them full force, the witch slammed into the wall and slipped to the floor, out cold. The house shook. Alizz took the opportunity to send a blast at one of the last two attackers, but the witch was ready- he mirrored Alizz's spell and the blast came back at them- Alizz sank to the floor, clutching their chest. The house groaned more and more ominously. A window shattered.
Maple took out another enemy witch- there was only one left now. She was painfully aware of her two unconscious companions by her side, but knew she did not have the time to check if they were alright. Ian still hid behind her. As Maple and the remaining witch sized each other up, Maple realised that with the state the house was in, it wouldn't be long before it collapsed entirely- two support beams had been torn from their places, one was half burned through, and the ceiling was falling off. They had to get out of here. "Ian," Maple said quietly, not taking her eyes off the enemy witch, "when I tell you to, you run over to Alizz and start dragging them to the door, okay?" She heard his high-pitched voice pipe up from behind her. "Okay." Alizz was lighter than Calder- Maple would get him out of the house herself.
Maple watched the enemy witch intently. There was a moment of suspense, just a breath of silence in the chaos that had reigned since the beginning of the attack. And then- "Now!" Maple leapt to the right, away from Calder and Alizz, shooting three firebolts in rapid succession to get the enemy's attention away from Ian. It worked. Maple ducked under an attacking spell, then sent attack after attack flying at the enemy, without stopping to see if they hit or not. Dust filled the room, rising in a cloud, and soon, nobody could see more than a meter ahead of them. A menacing rumble shook the house.
Working with her memory of what the layout of the house was like, Maple shot a last spell at the corner of the room- which hadn't stirred for a while- for good measure, then dove towards the place she had last spotted Calder. She grunted with effort as she pulled his arm over her shoulder and pushed herself up. Stumbling and coughing, Maple dragged Calder and herself towards the door. In the dust, she spotted Ian, who was doing his best to pull Alizz with him. With relief, Maple saw that there was no enemy witch moving.
And then they were outside, coughing their lungs out, muscles trembling after the effort. Further weakened by the last magical attacks, the house was living its last seconds as tiles and panels of bricks crashed to the ground. "Come Ian, let's get dad and Alizz away from the house. We need to get away." The 10-year-old nodded wordlessly and helped his mother pull the two unconscious people into relative safety, away from the crumbling house and out of sight from the road. Then Maple took her son's hands in her own. "Ian I know you are tired already, but we need to get away from here. There might be other evil witches nearby." Ian hesitated, clutching at her. "I'm scared mom." He stuttered. His voice broke Maple's heart. "I know sweetheart. But I will protect you. Now let's go together." And, holding Ian's hand tightly in her own, she led her son, half walking half running, down the path towards the edge of the village. Maybe they could hide in the forest.
The night was getting lighter, and ahead of them, through the trees, red began to seep into the horizon. Ian and Maple ran, ran towards the trees, trees that could shelter them, hide them. Maple's heart thudded in her chest. And then there was another thudding on the forest ground. Fast, rhythmic thudding. Horses behind them. Maple tried to run faster, but Ian could hardly keep up, his shorter legs barely touching the ground as he struggled to keep his balance. And the inevitable happened. Maple tripped.
The witch crashed into the ground, the momentum sending her skidding through the leaves for a meter or so, arms up to protect her face. Rocks dug into her arms and knees, branches tore her clothing. "Mom! Are you okay?!?" Maple stood as quickly as her painful limbs let her. Ian hugged her tightly and hid his face. The galloping of horses was louder and louder. "It's okay Ian, just stay quiet." In a last effort, Maple gathered up her powers and began murmuring an invisibility charm. She closed her eyes to concentrate. For an instant, her world was restricted to her child's trembling body wrapped in her arms, to her whispered charm and to the thundering hooves, growing louder, and louder, and louder until they felt like they were upon them.
Maple kept her eyes tightly closed- if she couldn't see them, could they see her? Her lips moved silently as she kept up her invisibility charm, but the horses slowed when they had reached her level. The four riders surrounded them. One horse stepped to stand exactly in front of them, and its rider uttered a single word. Utterly exhausted already, Maple was unable to stop the dispelling of her invisibility charm, and sagged visibly when the power left her, narrowly resisting the urge to drop to her knees. As he watched, Ian kept his hand in her own, silent, pale. They were out in the open.
"You disappointed us all, Maple." The voice of the rider who spoke was cold, and the witch felt a freezing finger trace the contour of her heart. This was the voice of someone who had struggled alongside her many years ago, who had almost been a friend.. But it was also the voice of someone who had turned his back on her when he had learned of her decision to escape. Ian clung to her tighter. "Edyn, the order is rotten. You knew that, back then. Why did you change?" Could she reason with him? "I did not, Maple. You are the one who lost her way." "You force children to let loose a force they don't know if they will ever control, Edyn- the order tortured us. The Master was cruel, punished us harshly for any mistakes.. We were only kids, for heaven's sake! What purpose does it all serve?" Despite her fear, Maple's voice was steady. "I refuse to let Ian go." -but abruptly, it all seemed futile when Edyn laughed. A laugh which made Maple's hair stand on end and Ian tremble, a laugh that sucked away whatever hope had been left.
"What you don't seem to understand, Maple, is that you don't have a choice. We are taking Ian, so he may correct his mother's mistakes and make up for his father's ignorance. We are taking him, and you cannot stop us." He raised his hand towards the child. "NO!-" acting on impulse, Maple pushed Ian behind herself and stood, defiant, in front of him- The binding spell Edyn had conjured hit her full force instead, and Edyn sneered. "I said, you cannot stop us." He whipped his hand down, and Maple was torn from her feet and flung onto the ground. She laid there unmoving, completely seized by the spell. Maple strained, pushed as hard as she could against the magical restraints, wild panic overtaking her, but there was nothing she could do as she watched Edyn grab Ian by the arm, and bring him over to his horse. He dragged him up.
When both were on top of the horse, Edyn looked back at the wide-eyed, panic-stricken Maple. "Don't look for him, it would be dangerous for both of you." He spurred his horse, and as they began moving away, he clicked his fingers. Maple was liberated from the binding spell. Immediately, the witch sprung up and began running after the horse, breath coming in ragged gasps, heart pounding in her chest. They were getting further and further away, but she could still hear her son's cries. "Mommy!!" Maple's heart shattered. "IAN!" she yelled, voice breaking. Tears blurred her vision, yet she kept running, running to catch up, stumbling and falling, ignoring the cuts and other injuries- but the forms of her son and the witch on the back of the bone-white horse were too quickly lost amongst the trees.
Maple crumpled to the ground, body racked by heart-wrenching sobs, nails digging into her legs.
"It's my fault. It's all my fault."
Never would she forgive herself.
"It's all my fault."
And then a dazed but conscious Calder was there, and, panting, clutching his chest, he dropped to his knees by his wife. "Maple- h-he's-" The witch nodded wordlessly, tears streaming down her face as she stared at the rising sun in the east. She knew there was barely any hope of ever seeing Ian again. The Bringers of Dawn would make sure of that.
Her cracked voice barely rose above a whisper.
"He's gone."
Note from Advent Calendar:
Claiming for this year:
x50 servings food and x20 random materials (ie half the days food and half the days materials)
x2 custom villagers and x1 item: trap
x1 skilled animal: cow
Dragon left to add in (2 years ago), will be kept in storage for a while. Also still have to add 3 groups (9 villagers total) from readopts, will be added after specific plot things. Also need to add 2 custom villagers & 1 cow from this year
Special Actions
Lyra and Selina are in Black Rock Weyrhold (owned by Simonpet) for their training. They will come back once they have finished their apprenticeship.
Xzavier has been exiled from Cyrrane- if he is ever seen in its territory again, he will be killed with no hesitation
Ian was kidnapped by the Bringers of Dawn- for simplicity's sake I will keep him in my list and keep feeding and training him, but he is not physically present in the village
Maple has minor injuries (many scratches and cuts)
Calder has a major injury (broken rib(s) and kinda just beaten up in general)
Alizz is injured somewhere between minor and major (magic damage, up to you!)
technically both Maple and Calder are seriously injured but that's because their hearts are broken, I'm not sure Joan can heal that
You can also roll for any amount of Warriors to have a minor to major injury from dealing with fires and/or magic attack! Up to you!
Medicine and families
Hessin is taking a look at Maple
Joan is taking a look at Calder
Jasper is taking a look at Alizz
Zaos is resting (1/2)
Rhys is resting (1/2)
Xander is resting (1/1)
Tamara rests (birth next post)
Patrols
Ulgrik, Pantaleon, Jorveid and Jaymes scout with Woody, Iméra, Solian and Orchid (4 dogs)
Arun, Emma and Marya do a border patrol with Gozri, Prissy, Taun, Omilía, Hizralis and Ashe (3 firelizards 3 dogs) Hyparis, Dyssailu, Tidaynan are Alizz's firelizards to add back when they're back
Aaron, Nayah, Estrid, Xander, Hilda and Peony hunt
Myriam, Bargas, Alkhas, Gwinaelle and Azelle hunt with Apple, Chestnut and Cinnamon (3 horses)
Laedrya, Fate and Ana gather using a compass with Redneck, Fluff and Tal (3 birds)
Yameldein, Laila and Zacchaeus gather
Silas and Rovi mine using a steel pickaxe with Eivoim, Shirsi, Davus, Azalth, Kyndim and Qyllinton (6 firelizards)
15 cats and 7 dogs hunt
Apprentices and Testing
Selina and Lyra are away at BRW and training there
Talyn is now a scouting apprentice! Almtrude is her mentor
Talyn trains scouting with Almtrude
Myreon is testing Hunting with Aaron
Nora is testing Fighting with Rovi (again, poor girl)
Axel is testing Healing with Jasper
Ian is testing Scouting with Pantaleon (ignored in-story)
Mod notes: Please no more new people for now!!
Any injuries to anyone are fine, but please don't kill anybody at all for now! Won't last long but I need time for them to sort themselves out before any more huge drama happens
