Kyla sat out in the upper part of the refurbished stone stable, looking up at the fingernail moon that hung low in the east. A warm breeze scented with late spring flowers and the smell of green growing things. Crops to the west, the musky scent of the animals below.
It was times like this, when only the sound of the wind and the insects could be heard, she loved the quiet life. She'd grown up like this, tagging along after her father through the woods as he showed her hidden life. Rose would Be six in a few weeks, and she couldn't imagine a better place for her grow up. She was already running around with the local children, hacking at each other with imaginary swords, imagining they were the Gryphons going after the Wyvern gang. Rose of course was the leader, earning it by a secret definition of Kyla actually working for them. The adults were amused. To them it was no different than their children wanting to be knights or guards. bandits or pirates. A child's world was large enough to accommodate almost anything. Rose of course was patterning herself after Rue. She asked her mother endless questions about him, most notably, when was she going to see him again. She'd promised to take her to the next Grubball game Rue played in. It wasn't suprising she was imprinting on him, it simply upset her, knowing what she knew about how long he'd be around. But she wouldn't stop Rose, warn her or anything. She wouldn't understand, and though she'd like to keep her safe, better she learn that life could be painful. She and Kit would be there for her. It seemed like this was all he had. Going after the Wyvern gang. Like he knew he was living on borrowed time. And perhaps he was. She got the impression he'd decided that he'd died in those caves last winter. Yes, she knew about what had happened to him. It wasn't a particularly big secret, but not many people talked about it. She knew so little about him .. had come on the scene much to late to really help at all, and that was perhaps the most painful thing of all. She reached up and rubbed at her face. The Wyvern gang was going to claim his life. Hopefully though not until they were defeated and whatever Infernal influence that as controlling them was defeated. It was nearly mid night, and she couldn't sleep, because each time she did she saw that boy's body cut open and apart atop that slab of stone and for a heartbeat it was Rose's face so pale .. her eyes wide and lifeless. No spark of laughter or life and it felt as if someone were squeezing her heart in their fist. She'd get up and hurry to Roses door which was always kept open a crack so that she could hear and sometimes see her mother moving around as she fell asleep. She could also envision herself there. It had almost happened. The creature she'd met after stumbling onto the site had locked her to that defiled stone and tormented her, after of course he'd hurt her bad enough that if he -hadn't- killed her, she would have bled to death. If it hadn't been for Grey, she'd very likely be staring lifelessly up at the sky until someone else stumbled across that cursed place. With what she knew now, they -couldn't- cut funding. A danger like this ... she'd fight it herself if she had too. No WAY would she risk having Rose wind up on that slab some day. She shifted in the window until her leg dangled outside of it and sighed, letting her hand drop down into her lap again. She had a few plans, but they wouldn't see fruition till the end of summer, and she wasn't sure they had that much time. Looking down below her into the shadows, she made another decision. She'd talk Rue into getting a cleric out to that alter .. if they had some kind of -proof- to take to the authorities ... Kyla shook her head and slowly got to her feet. A bit of Valerian root tea, and she'd try for sleep. She always felt better when she had some firm idea what she was going to do about a problem. Climbing down, she headed back to the house and bed. Jax -- #Dragonmyst*inn and RPGWorks channel operator. Typo demon extrodinaire We all think we're ordinary, it's others that think we're extraordinary. - Me (On going to war over religion) "You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend." -Yasir Arrafat (PLO leader) (On cost overuns) "One way to ensure that it is not a major achievement for mankind" was to pass the budget limit. Rep. (Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican) <Kylus> What was that really bad vamp movie you saw over the summer? <Kaejo> Dracula: Lord of the Dance The only disability in life is a bad attitude. - Scott Hamilton -- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives & Other DMI Lists: http://islesofmyst.com/lists.php3
