Alexia - 1999-5-6
he woman pushed her way through the horses, coming closer and closer, until she finally stopped beside the grey mare. Elexa felt the woman examine her closely, and knew she had seen the sparks. As she tried to steel herself for the inevitable, the woman suddenly turned to the mare, putting a hand on its neck. "Well, you certainly do make friends in a hurry." Elexa blinked as she slowly processed the fact that the woman was talking to the horse, not her, and that she didn't sound angry at all. Then the woman turned back to her and she stepped back reflexively, drawing into herself as much as possible, shoulders hunched protectively and hands clamped together in front of her mouth.
"And who are you?" the woman asked.
All she got in reply was a lot of rapid blinks as Elexa tried to comprehend the question as it filtered slowly through her fear-clouded mind. 'Who are you?' That wasn't an aggressive question. rather friendly given the circumstances. But what was there to answer that? Who was she unless it was Redel's adopted daughter, Edex's student? She had to give some sort of answer if she wasn't going to jeopardise her situation further with this woman who was offering her, for at least the moment, a chance. Moving her hands down to her neck, she opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out.
The sparking grew worse, unsettling the horses. Of all the times for her to forget how to speak. It often happened when she was scared and panicked like this. but she had no way to explain that to a stranger and what was this woman to think of her, sparking everywhere and not able to say a word? The woman was waiting patiently for the moment but that wouldn't last too long without some sort of reply. Swallowing hard, she tried again and got out a quiet, " A."
The woman would probably kill her as a demented menace to the town's safety, and she wouldn't be too far wrong at that. She was panting slightly starting to shake, at which she swallowed down hard again and closed her eyes briefly, not daring to keep them shut for fear of being attacked. 'Come on, Elexa. Calm down. Now, breathe. Yes, that's right. Now tell me what's going on. Just tell me nice and slowly.' She could hear Redel's voice, coaxing her through finding her voice, like she had done so many times in the past. 'Think about the words. Now think about how they sound.' " S-s-s-s-s-s.." She drew in a quick breath and tried to focus. " S-s-s-s-s-s-s." Nothing else would come out and she closed her mouth, drawing even further back. Why couldn't she remember? She had to remember, but her mouth wouldn't seem to obey her brain and even those slight, stuttering sounds, had seemed so terribly loud and frightening. Fixing her eyes on the woman, she told herself she wouldn't cry. She'd just have to wait to see what the woman did.
Abby - 1999-5-6
eleos frowned slightly in thought. The Avarel child was all but cowering at her feet--oddly-colored wings folded tightly, shoulders hunched, hands over her mouth. The sparks flared up briefly, and a few of the nearest horses snorted in mild alarm.
She's terrified, that's what it is. Just like a poorly-controlled pyromancer, when she gets upset or excited, things start going up in flames... must have gotten spooked by something out here and set the barn off by accident. And now she thinks she's in trouble for causing so much damage.
For a moment it looked as though the girl was going to reply to Keleos's query, but all that emerged from her mouth was soft, incoherent stuttering.
Lord of Storms, she must think I'm after her as a danger to the town. Bloody hell, what a mess. Where is this child from, anyhow? Her clothing is Melanan--well, Keleos amended, sort of Melanan. I didn't think the Avarel lived this far south. And I've never heard of an Avarel who could work magic, either, or who had that sort of coloring.
At long length, Keleos shook her head. The girl obviously needed a protector and a trainer, and having been presented with the problem Keleos was all but honor-bound to at least try to help. Damn.
Gently as possible, she said to the girl, "My name is Keleos, child, and I'm not going to hurt you. I take it you're responsible for that blaze?" She didn't wait for a response. "That's going to cause you some problems here, if anyone else figures out something of what happened. I'm headed north tonight--why don't you come with me? You need someone to help you control that power of yours; I'm no Master but I'm not a complete novice, and I'm good at getting out of messy situations. I can help you find someone to train you, so this sort of thing doesn't keep happening." She kept her face calm and her voice gentle, hoping to calm the girl enough to stop the sparks from flaring. If she trailed embers all about her, the crowd--which had not yet dispersed even though the fire had been reduced to a tumble of coals and small flames--would have no trouble coming to the same conclusion Keleos had.
The last thing Keleos wanted was a riot.
Slowly, she offered a hand. "Why don't you come with me? If you don't like me, you can always leave later, but it looks like you could use some help."
Child, child, don't you know what Shenmiri are? We don't hurt frightened young girls who've done nothing wrong except to have too much power and too little control...
Copyright (c) 1999-2000 Abigail Laughlin and the members of the Circle of Stone.