《Daeniya, My Child》Chapter 5, Part II: Roster
Advertisement
Aelwin. Arrol. Azur. Dulwain. Maybe Rourke. Valicia. Aelwin. Arrol. Azur. Dulwain. Possibly Rourke. Valicia. Aelwin. Arrol. Azur. Dulwain. Probably Rourke. Valicia. Aelwin. Arrol. Azur. Dulwain. Scratch Rourke, for now. Valicia. Aelwin. Arrol. Azur. Dulwain. Valicia. That’s our roster, huh? Fight off the forces of an empire hellbent on achieving their prophecy, probably die, and not only die, but fail to prevent such empire from completing their goal? Have my name carved into a plaque of the failed losers of the war, corpse desecrated and dessicated, dumped into an underground river or lake, left to become carrion for whatever sort of fish swim down here.
No. Gotta hold on to hope, even in the face of insurmountable odds. Arrol’s going to fight, Aelwin and Azur will fight, Valicia’s definitely going to fight, Dulwain too. Rourke, I’m holding out hope. And I’m going to fight.
I step out the door of my room, into the hall. It’s warm, despite the fact that it’s largely stone, with some wooden accents. A flame or two, held in metal sconces pinned to the wall. A magical ball of light slowly drifting about. Arrol walks up the stairs as I leave my room. “Aelwin and Azur are with us. Dulwain as well.” I sigh.
“Rourke?”
“Why are you so hung up on him? He’s just a bartender.” Arrol shoots back at my question, as if anticipating my asking it ahead of time.
“No, he’s more than a bartender, I’m certain of it. It’s a matter of finding out what he is and where his allegiance lies.”
“If you want to petition the lizardman for help, that’s your work to put in. I’m going out with Dulwain to set up patrols alongside the lake for when the Emperor’s lackeys eventually descend, like the vultures they are.” They’re not vultures. No, they’re not scavengers. To treat them as such is to prepare poorly. They’re birds of prey. Eagles, falcons. We’ve got to be hawks, or, better yet, hawk hunters, if we want to fight back. “Something tells me you disagree with something I just said, and I can’t place what it is.” Arrol says, now, with a puzzled look on his face, looking at me, reading my face.
Advertisement
“Not vultures. Eagles. We’ve got to prepare more than if they were scavengers, they’re hunters. We need to turn this hunt around.”
Arrol stares at me. “Okay. How do you propose we do that?”
I don’t know. Not in the slightest. “I have an idea. Give me time, and we’ll return to the fight.”
He laughs. “Alright. In the meantime, I’m going to be briefing the guards with Dulwain.” He heads into his room, comes out with a change of clothes, and heads down the stairs, while I stand in the hall, pensive, thinking of a solution. Maybe he’ll know. Rourke.
I head down the stairs, after Arrol heads out the front door. It’s the middle of the day. I’ve since learned that time is kept down here through a combination of magic, changing tides, and mechanical clocks. Centuries underground, and they still keep time. I suppose it’s necessary for scheduling, but were I underground, I’d find a new way to measure.
“Rourke.” I say to him, walking up to the bar.
“Firae, was it?” He says back. “Doing alright?” His serpentine eyes seem soft, despite the harsh yellow and dark black that lie within.
“Yeah. Are you?” I ask back, absent-mindedly, while trying to think of how to ask my question.
“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine. For the most part. Business is slow at this time of day. Nice to relax. Can I get you something?”
“Do I have to pay?” I ask in turn.
“On the house.” He says, pouring me out a glass of a bluish-silvery liquid.
“What is it?” It shines, reflecting back the red flames that illuminate the bar, and has the same consistency of honey or thick milk.
“Sap. Sweet, nutritious, and clean. Slightly hallucinogenic.” He laughs. “Only slightly, though.”
Advertisement
Fuck it. I pick up the glass and pound it back, as best I can. As it hits my tongue, it melts, flavorful, sweet like fruit or syrup, flavorful. As it sits in my mouth, it melts more, and begins to grow thinner, letting me actually drink it.
“Huh.” Quietly, the only word that I can form. I’m at a loss. My body feels warm after drinking it.
“You were looking pale. Sick. Tell me what’s eating you.” Rourke says, his teeth shining as he says ‘eating,’ well enough.
“Who are you?” I ask him, outright.
“Rourke. I’m Rourke. Bartender, servant of the Lady Valicia, Xykyn. Anything else you want to know?”
“No, I mean, really. Who are you?” I say, now, leaning forward slightly over the bar. I’m too short, I realize, to reach across. I pull back and clamber up onto a stool.
“You’ve got the eyes of a falcon, Firae.” His serpentine eyes look into mine. What does that mean?
“Hm?” I respond back, mouth closed, eye contact maintained.
“You’ve got the eyes. Of a falcon.” Rourke says, again.
“Whose side are you on?” I ask, sliding the glass across the counter to him, now. “What’s your game, Rourke?”
“I’m on your side. I will be, when the time comes. You can trust me.”
“How’s that?” The rest of the bar seems to fade from my awareness. Consciousness, slowly slipping. Air, thick. Voices in the background fade away. I start to slip, body going limp. My eyes roll back, and things go black before I hit the floor.
Advertisement
An islander's Meta-journey
This is a fanfiction using Wutosama's Metaworld Chronicles 's world and magic system, which is itself inspired respectively from the real world and Dungeon and Dragons. It is about Damien, a novice Réunionnais mage, and his adventures as he discovers the Metaworld, and it discovers him.
8 96Death's Son Desire
Esried, a young man hunted by those in power, struggling to find his place in the world. A world filled with knights, elves, magic, and more. Will he survive the reality that is life? Or will he succumb to its woes and become the evil that hunts him.
8 240Malevolent
Within a generation, the sky, once blue, bled a deep scarlet. Feral beasts roamed the lands and mutated men ravaged civilisations. They carved destruction in their wake. The spawning of new idols worshiped by cultists marked a terrible turn. Finally, a crippling insanity plagued the very few survivors left. Written in the journals of antiquity, lost in time, a scholar wrote: ‘This horrific cataclysm that we face was brought about by humans…’ However, these events are long gone. A longstanding peace has descended to Orbis. Yet, to spite the efforts of the saviours of yore, a progenitor of this calamity has been invited back by ritual. It seeks the return of these very ancient events. A silent peril is on the way.
8 71The Secrets Of Finnley
"Everyone has three lives; A public life, a private life and a secret life" As a straight A student, Finnley never got himself into trouble. He goes to school, runs track, hangs out with his two best friends Cristian and Emma and studies; a lot. That is until Cristian decides it's time for Finnley to go out and party for once. They end up in a club and while Cristian is focused on the girl of his dreams, Finnley disappears into the crowd. By the time the night ends, Cristian has been arrested for getting into a fight and caught for underage drinking. The next morning, after getting out, he finds out Finnley never came home. As Cristian starts his search for Finnley, he finds out Finnley kept a lot hidden from him and he starts wondering; did he know Finnley as well as he thought he did? And exactly how important was Finnley to him? WARNING: This story involves LGBT content. If you're not okay with this, please leave!
8 84Achilles And Patroclus AUs because my heart hurts still
Some AUs for my gay Greek children because I need help. Seriously. That book really hurt me.Notice: I'm not adding to this anymore. This is what you get, folks.
8 160Scream 1996 [Male reader insert]
Cover: twitter acc @.ventur_heartoutContent warning: spoilers for Scream (1996), violence, blood, gore, vulgar languageYou and your sister, Sidney Prescott, struggle to survive when a revenge-seeking killer targets you and her. Will you help Sidney out or save yourself?Stu Macher x Male reader x Billy LoomisAlso available on Quotev
8 113