What do you know? Another chapter!

Chapter 6

 

            They walked.

            It was a long walk to the next town, and after two silent days, Ash got bored. Ash got bored rather easily…

            “Lance, are we there yet?”

            “If I knew, would we still be walking?”

            “Sorry…”

            There was a sudden crash ahead of them. Running forwards, they found a girl slumped down on a bench, with a giant bump on her head.

            What was a bench doing in the middle of a forest?

            Ash ran up and immediately tried to help her, only to vanish as she vanished. Lance sighed. “Idiot…”

            No ordinary girl, that… she must be a spellcaster of some sort…

            Well, it was really none of her business what happened to Ash…right? Unless for some reason Jigglypuff wanted her to prove herself this way…

            Lance twitched.

            One could never tell what the gods were up to. With a sigh, the minstrel began playing the locating song on her clarinet to find Ash….

            Next time, she would go traveling alone

           

            “Found him…”

            Her eyes began to glow as she activated her ‘Trace’ ability. She played the locating song again, about half an hour later.

            There… that tree…

            Must be a druid then?

            Well, no good… She sighed. Should she hide and sneak in? She could try the song of sleep, but without Jigglypuff’s blessing, it only had fifty percent’s chance of working… Besides, it would attract suspicion…

            All right then… she would use her ‘Sneak’ ability and see how that worked…

 

            Ash was not happy.

            “Why did you kidnap me?”

            “Because… I’m in love with you!”

            “What?”

            Ash fainted dead away at this bizarre pronouncement. Giselle blinked. However, she was moral enough not to jump him in his sleep and left him alone.

            Lance materialized in the room moments later. With a quick prayer to Jigglypuff, she began dragging him through the corridors. They made it all the way to the front door before they were spotted.

            “Stop!”

            Lance screeched. The piercing note froze Giselle in her tracks – long enough for Lance to run. She shook Ash awake after they had gotten several yards away.

            The song would hold her for a bit longer, but they would do better to fight now…

 

            Lance tried to remember what she could about Druids, but it was foggy. They couldn’t wear armor – no spellcaster could, it interfered with their magic…

            “Song of Destruction!”

            It was a gamble, but the odds rolled in her favor, and the tree – and Giselle – was reduced to dust.

            Ash paled.

            Lance walked on.

            Ash ran after her. “Did you just – what did she ever do to you?”

            “She was a test. I passed.”

            “What?”

            “I have no desire to explain my motivation to you.” Lance continued walking in the direction of the Temple Mount. Ash sighed, before following.

            What a pain… what had he done to deserve a traveling partner like this?

 

            I don’t… well I’m scared of her, all right? She’s odd. Most women stay quiet and become housewives. Or they go into magic – Clerics, Druids, Magicians, that kind of thing. They usually aren’t fighters. But she isn’t one, at least not yet…

            “Lance?”

            “What is it?”

            “How will we know when we’re in the Valley of the Shadow?”

            “When we see the white birds feast on the blood of the fallen lion, and the golden pears.” Lance said matter-of-factly.

            “I see…”

 

            “No…. it’s not that simple.” Lance sighed. “Only those pure of heart can enter the Valley of the Shadow…”

            “So?”

            “Don’t you understand?”

            Ash shook his head.

            Lance tapped him on the chest. “You can go, but I’m not sure if I can…”

            “What do you mean?”

            “Haven’t you noticed it yet?”

            “Noticed what?”

            Lance gestured, and then the air around them seemed to shift, waver, revealing that they were standing in a valley, black rock, from which grew silver trees and golden pears…

            Clouds of white birds nested in the trees, and near them, not five feet away, was a dead lion… blood still leaked from its mouth.

            Ash gasped.

            Lance smiled faintly. “You see it, don’t you?”

            “Who-who are you really?”

            “I’m just a Minstrel who is trying to become a Bard, that’s all.”

            “It can’t be… you’re lying!”

            “Oh, well, you wouldn’t be able to tell even if I were, so why would I bother to lie?”

            “If we were this close, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

            “You weren’t ready.”

 

            Ash glared.

            Lance smiled unnervingly, but the voice that spoke was distinctly male. < You have passed, Ashura of the Beast-Masters. Take the pear you desire and bear it home safely. This one I shall take care of. >

            “Who are you?”

            < I am Lugia, the God of the waters… and this child I claim as mine. This child will always be mine. Leave. >

            Ash fled. He picked a pear and fled.

 

            Lance’s eyes slowly revered to their normal color as she blinked in confusion. How had she – how had they gotten here? The last thing she remembered was playing the song of destruction on her clarinet to escape from the woman…

            < You have passed, child… enter the Temple Mount and be granted power there… >

            She did not bother to reply to a God, and quickly thanked with an offering of incense. Then, she picked her way up the rocky slope to where the white temple shone, blindingly bright…

 

End Chapter

Completed 7/9/05