fireguardian

Sill reading!!!Well maybe...no...or...no that's not good....I give up.

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You know Dasher...
[IMG]image.pathfinder.com/.../1007/ germany/images/saddam.jpg[/IMG]

And you thought your before and after picture was wierd...

Lady Vulpix

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fireguardian

No,no I love it.It was just the poll.It gave me a headache.I couldn't decide.Still lovin' it ! ! ! ! !

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You know Dasher...
[IMG]image.pathfinder.com/.../1007/ germany/images/saddam.jpg[/IMG]

And you thought your before and after picture was wierd...

PancaKe

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Last Exile

Lovely Chapter.

As for the poll, I think Pura is from the dark side and winds Erin up so that Erin looks like the one who dirt when it's really Pura that's the hell spawn that ought to be shish kebabed and roasted while she's surrounded by lawyers.

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Lady Vulpix

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Last Exile

Um, Gabi, i think you're reaading in too much into things I write. They're not reflecting me. The thing in the RPG is completely fictional , not real. And my response to the poll is what I really think. I do think Pura is evil and that she's making Erin look like the evil one instead. I'm actually feeling better than ever. How I can I fell bad after having 100 teens saying they think I'm cool?!

Email is: ryan.mendes@student.adelaide.edu.au

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Lady Vulpix

The encounter with the dassels, as brief as it had been, had affected the group. Not a word was said for hours, and when Eric finally broke the silence, Erin wished that he hadn't.
"I kept thinking about what you said," he told her. "That you hadn't sliced any dassels yet, but you would if you had to."
"I said what I had to say," Erin replied, anticipating his question. That didn't stop him from going on.
"Would you really have killed them?," he questioned her.
Erin sighed and thought for a moment.
"Believe me, I'm not one to kill first and think later; I don't take life lightly. But sometimes... more often than not... things don't turn out the way they should. If they leave us with no choice, then I will. If it's our lives or theirs, I'll choose ours."
"Have you ever killed anyone before?," Eric inquired.
The silence that followed made the merial really scared.
"Have you?!," he insisted.
"No," Erin finally replied, allowing breath to return to her friend. "But I should have."
"What do you mean? How? Why?!"
"Trust me this time. You don't want to know."
"Don't push us aside like this," Mariel joined the discussion. "We'll never be able to understand you if you don't open up yourself."
"I don't need you to understand me," Erin groaned. "I don't need anyone to understand me."

With this, she began to fly faster, putting as much distance as she could between her and the rest of the group. It didn't help: Pura was much faster than her, and reached her in a second.
"Go away, lurian!," Erin shouted. "Go back and protect the young ones."
"They're not the ones who need me at this moment," Pura stated.
"I don't need you either," Erin rejected her. "You may know more about me than they do, but that doesn't give you the right to interfere with my life."
"I don't know that much about you," Pura admitted. "I know you arrived in Isthum about 8 years ago, but that's all. Whatever the Isthumi knew, they've kept to themselves."
"And that doesn't bother you?," Erin inquired.
"You'll open up when you feel you're ready," she answered. "I know why secrets are kept; it's for protection. And I don't intend to threaten whatever it is you're protecting."
"I guess having a lurian in the group is not that bad after all," Erin chuckled. "But if you're not trying to find out the story of my life, then why did you follow me?"
"To bring you back," Pura replied. "We need you, Erin. You're the only one in the group who has real fighting experience, and you've seen through your own eyes many of the things I've only read in books. Besides, Eric cares for you. He suffers a lot when he sees you're hurt."
"How do you know that?," Erin queried.
"The little big guy is quite transparent," Pura replied. "Since the first time I saw the two of you together, I knew he considered you a good friend. And he takes friendship very seriously."
There was a moment of silence, in which Erin seemed to be having an inner debate.
"I guess I've been unfair, haven't I?," she concluded. "How can I go on a quest to save the world if I can only think about myself?"
"Does that mean you're returning?"
"Yes, I'll go back with you," Erin confirmed. "But please, don't tell the kids anything about this conversation. Something like this could easily give them a wrong idea about me. I don't want them to think I'm fragile or anything."
"Whatever you say. Though I believe having feelings is a strength, not a sign of fragility."
"Hold on to your innocence, Pura," Erin smiled. "You as much as the kids."

Not much happened after Erin rejoined the group and the elves gave her a warm welcome. The curious thing was that the mysterious faerie didn't engage in an argument with anyone else for the rest of the day. But she was far from relaxed. She was still alert, trying to detect any threats before they were caught in them. Nothing seemed to come, and so she considered the possibility of the attack from the dassels being an isolated incident. She considered it, but didn't find it very likely. Her mind was still juggling with the theory of a web of evil forces, full of threads with ends that were distant from each other and rather disorganized, but with a core... a common origin somewhere. If that theory was correct, it would be some time before they reached the core, but the threats would start coming more often and being tighter and more refined as they advanced in their journey.

Erin had accidentally let her mind wander, and only became aware of it when the sound of flowing water became too strong to go unnoticed.
"We're heading towards a river," she announced.
"That's great!," Eric exclaimed. "That way we'll have as much water as we need for as long as we follow it."
"That's not great," Erin contradicted him. "While having water is a good thing, no place is as exposed as a river. No trees grow over it, so we'll be easily spotted from the air. And the creatures who live in the water can be very treacherous. Some of them can blend with the water and you can't see them until they're onto you. And if they manage to drag you into the water, you're lost. It's much harder to fight in the water, and your need for air becomes a great disadvantage against the creatures who can breathe underwater. If they decide to attack us, let's not give them the surprise factor and the advantage of fighting in their own territory."
"You know," Pura began, "as dangerous as that may be, we don't know if any water creatures are going to attack us; and we do know that we need water. Being spotted from the air won't be a problem if we go near the river, but not right on the shore. And that way whatever is in there will have to come out of the water to reach us."
"I think she's right," Mariel supported her.
"Then you all agree," Erin sighed, beginning to fly towards the river. "I can't argue with that, but I still have a bad feeling."
"No offense, but was there ever a moment in which you didn't have a bad feeling?," Eric questioned, following her. The others began to move.
"There were some," Erin replied. "And those moments turned out to be right before disaster stroke."
"In that case maybe your having a bad feeling now is a good sign," Eric joked.
"That doesn't make any sense," Erin argued.
"But it's logically correct," Pura remarked.
Erin stared at her with a look that demanded an explanation and it had better be a good one.
"Well, if you stick to pure logic and don't try to make any sense out of it," Pura conceded.
"I can't make any sense of what you just said, but if you call that logic, then your logic is useless," Erin protested.
"That's Erin for you. Always so visceral," Pura commented to no one in particular.
"I don't think my internal organs have much to do with your senseless babbling," Erin countered.
"Don't tell me you don't even know what 'visceral' means in this context!"
"Please don't start it again!," Mariel cried.
"I think I shouldn't have said anything at all," Eric reflected.

They maintained the course until the river became visible, and then turned to follow its flow. The argument eventually died down and the forest was once more filled with its own sounds, out of which the sound of the water predominated. That was until a new sound became audible. It was a high-pitched sound, like a screech, which as the group got closer became a desperate cry.
"I will investigate," Pura proposed, flashing towards the origin of the sounds.
In a blink, the lurian was back.
"It's a mermaid," she announced. "She's trapped in a net of algae and trailing plants, and she looked hurt. Who knows how long she's been struggling to get out!"
"We must help her!," Eric declared.
Waiting no longer than a second for a response, the merial rushed to the site where the mermaid lay.
"We need to do something about his impulsiveness," Erin commented, following him.
Mariel followed quietly, but as fast as she could.

As soon as they got to the river, they could see the mermaid. Her long, platinum-blond hair was so tangled in the water plants that they seemed to be the same thing. She had trailing plants wrapped around her arms, waist and neck, and all around her long fish-like tail, which had some visible cuts probably made by the branches. Eric took out his sword and the mermaid screamed.
"Don't be scared, we're trying to help you," Mariel assured.
The screaming stopped, allowing Eric to cut the branches one by one. Mariel took out her small knife from her backpack -the one she used to cut herbs for her potions- and helped him.
"I wonder how she does it," Erin commented.
"How she does what?," Pura asked.
"Get everyone to trust her," Erin explained.
"Oh. It must be because she distills honesty," Pura concluded.

Soon, the mermaid was free of her vegetal prison.
"How can I thank you?," she spoke in a thin voice.
"You could tell us what happened to you," Eric said.
"Oh. I was assaulted by a group of dassels and heerynauts."
"Heerynauts?," Eric asked.
"Small water creatures. They can manipulate the water around them," Pura explained.
"Who are you?," Erin inquired.
"I'm Mirna from Asyrann," the mermaid replied.
"Asyrann?," Erin asked, looking at Pura.
"Never heard of that place," Pura replied.
"Asyrann is a city built on the bottom of the Heelim lake, downstream from here," Mirna informed them. "Or at least it was. Now that our pearl has been stolen, the city will die unless we manage to find it."
"How can a whole city depend on a pearl?," Eric inquired.
"It wasn't any pearl. The Pearl of Asyran holds an immense magical power. It provided us with light in places so deep that the rays of the sun can't touch them, it kept the whole lake at an ideal temperature all year long, and those who were ill or hurt would heal immediately upon touching it. I don't know when or how the pearl was created, but the whole city was built around it, and we may not survive without it."
"How was it stolen?," Mariel queried.
"It was so strange... we had never been attacked before, but one day a large group of heerynauts entered the city and did something to the water. Suddenly everything became black, and not even the light from the pearl could cast the darkness away. Everyone was confused. We didn't understand what was going on, but the first thing we all thought of was protecting the pearl. However, a loud screeching sound came in from everywhere and we became dizzy. I remember being hit by something, but I can't tell if it was a weapon or a wall. When the sound stopped, we tried to find the pearl, but we couldn't. A few minutes later the water cleared out, and we saw the pearl holder was empty. Many scouts were sent to find the heerynauts. I was one of them. But as you can see, I fell into a trap."
"That's awful!," Eric exclaimed. "Is there any way we can help you?"
"Maybe," she said. "Who are you?"
"Oh, sorry we didn't introduce ourselves," Mariel apologized. "My name is Mariel. He's Eric, and these are Erin and Pura. We're on an initiation journey, but we're also trying to find the source of the evil forces that have been affecting the world lately."
"Tell everyone, will you?," Erin scolded her. "Why don't you send a flare signal so that our enemies track us down, since you're at it?"
"I'm sorry, Erin, but Mirna seems reliable," Mariel defended herself.
"She does," Erin agreed. "But appearances can be deceitful."
"Give her some credit," Eric supported Mariel. "She's a powerful sorceress. She knows who she can trust."
"You're a sorceress?," Mirna asked Mariel.
"Yes, but not as powerful as he gives me credit for," she told her. "I still have a lot to learn. But I do have a good intuition to judge the intentions of others."
"It looks like you're a group of heroes or something," Mirna commented. "You can help me, then. Come to Asyrann with me and help us recover the pearl from its captors."
"Why go to Asyrann?," Erin questioned her. "The pearl must be miles away by now. It will probably be somewhere away from the water, where your people can't reach it."
"If the pearl is so powerful, then its magic would be felt from a long distance if it were out of the water," Mariel theorized. "We would be able to see its light from here. The air is harder to darken than the water and darkness magic wouldn't last, especially not against that pearl."
"According to everything I've heard about light magic, she's right," Pura backed her up.
"The pearl must be hidden underground, or inside a deep cave," Mariel deduced. "It must be surrounded by something that blocks the passing of light. Still, if we get near it, I should be able to sense its power."
"Let me get this straight," Erin stopped her. "You're not suggesting that we explore the soil under the water, are you?"
"I think that's the place where we're most likely to find it," Mariel affirmed.
"It's the place where we're most likely to pass out," Erin contradicted her. "If we're going to confront heerynauts, we'll be at their mercy down there."
"What happened to the brave fighter I met two years ago?," Eric asked her.
"She's still here, but she doesn't want to commit suicide," Erin shot back. "There's a line between bravery and recklessness. We have to come up with a different plan."
"So you do want to help?," Eric tried to confirm.
"I never said the opposite," she replied. "But we must make sure we can at least breathe while we try to get the pearl back."
"Oh, if that's the problem, I have the solution," Mirna declared. "I've brought along some bubble leaves. If you chew them, they can provide air for you for up to a day. Maybe more for you and the light creature, since you're smaller."
"My name is Pura," the lurian corrected her.
"Oh, sorry, Pura," she apologized.
"Fighting underwater while chewing leaves for air sounds like one of the most uncomfortable situations I can imagine," Erin remarked, "but I don't want you to think I'm inconsiderate. I'll go with you, but I'll stay above the water until I'm needed. And I suggest we try to lure the heerynauts out of the water if we have to confront them. As a general rule, try not to fight in your opponent's territory."
"Like we've done with the dassels, you mean?," Eric asked her.
"Well, I think a desert or the top of a volcano would be ideal places to fight dassels," Erin pointed out. "But they're bad fighters anyway. At least those we found. They'd even lose a battle in the middle of a jungle."
"The dassels who attacked me were quite strong," Mirna remarked.
"I didn't mean to offend you," Erin stated, probably trying to apologize. "If they were, I'd like to see them. It would be interesting to see a dassel who can touch my sword and still want to fight."
"I thought you'd said something about recklessness," Eric reminded her.
"Give me a break, will you?," Erin laughed. "Ok, so I was bragging, but it's true that I'm yet to see a dassel who can hold itself in a battle for more than 10 minutes."
"I'll get into the river and start searching for the pearl," decided Mariel, putting an end to a conversation that was bound to cause nothing but tension among her partners.


Poll for chapter 8: would you like me to post previews of the following chapter after the end of the previous one, just like other fics have?

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Last Exile

Wow! Easily the best chapter of all!

The character development with Erin is really great. We're finally beginning to find out about her. I'm kind of a little disappointed Mariel seems to be the shadow of the group so to speak, since she was hardly in that chapter. I'm still a but suss about the Pura-Erin thing. Pura seems decent but she seems to take too much of an interest in Erin, if you know what I mean. I really loved the way you portrayed the mermaids. J.K. Rowling's version really flipped me out. Yours was how I imagine them. The whole pearl thing reminds me of a seris of books I've been reading called The Death Gate Cycle, a seven book series by US authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. In the fourth book, the world concerned was the water world, Chelestra. It's nearly all water and in the middle of outer space, so the entire outer rim is solid ice. But the centre of the world is the seasun, a star so hot that not even the water it resides in can extinguish it. The seasun makes certain islands inhabitable depending on its position. As the seasun changes, the poeple on Chelestra have to move from island to island because the other islands freeze up for a few thousand years. Sorry if I'm rambling. Just that what you wrote reminded me of that big time. Of the four worlds, being Arianus(realm of sky), Pryan(world of fire), Abarrach(world of stome) and Chelestra(world of water), Chelestra was easily my favourite. Another thing was that Erin really reminded me of the main female character that entered for real in the sixth book, by the name of Marit. She was a very tough, untrusting and poisonus type, yet very strong, beautiful, loyal and just. Erin seems a lot like her. Because they both have painful paths that they don't want to talk about to anyone.

Again I say, wonderful chapter!

As for the poll, yes! Chapter previews are sweet!

PS. Have you tried to send me any emails?! I haven't got any from you lately since the test one, and you sent it to the right address.

Later!

Rocking the free world
Ryan

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PancaKe

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AntiAsh Superstar

Things is getting more interesting by the minute! Another great chapter. As for the poll, I dunno, it wouldn't make much difference to me whether you included previews or not, I mean, I'm gonna keep reading regardless.

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Lady Vulpix

Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!

Ryan: whatever's up between your e-mail and mine? I'll try to write to you from another account and see what happens. And this time I'll save the message, so if you don't receive it, I can send it again without retyping it. Tell me if, by tomorrow, you didn't get it. I'm glad you liked this chapter so much. Don't worry about Mariel being left out. As I said earlier, the focus will swing among the different characters, so all of them will get a share (not only the ones currently in the cast). Though it will take some time before I focus on Pura, I'll be giving some information regarding her species in the following chapters, as well as some details about her. As for the reason why she distrusts Erin, it has something to do with things Erin learned while living in Isthum, but that's all I'm going to say for now.

Tara: I remember that well. Sal's friends were going to confront Blaron and ask him what was wrong with him, but in the end they never did. Don't worry, that's not going to happen because I have up to chapter 12 typed up, so the worst problems my previews could have would be becoming spoilers, or being uninteresting, or maybe misleading, but not inaccurate.

Ade: that's great to hear.

All of you: I'm glad you liked my version of mermaids. This is the way I imagined them since I was little.

Ok, then, here go some previews!

"I thought those books were written by professional explorers," Erin said.
"But sometimes not even an explorer gets to see everything," Pura noted. "For example, what would an explorer say about you?"


"I've felt something," Mariel announced. "Powerful magic. It must be the pearl, or maybe what's holding it."


She was already experiencing the dizziness and clumsiness that came as the first symptoms of poisoning with several substances that Primrose had taught her about. She didn't know what kind of posion it was yet, but she knew she had to heal herself before she fell unconscious. If that happened, it would most probably be too late.


The blue-skinned being opened his hands, stretching out the membranes between his fingers, and a strong current of water blew Erin down, sticking her to the ground. She tried to get back up, but more Heerynauts surrounded her and the water began to press harder. She couldn't move; and what was worse, the pressing stream didn't leave enough room in her neck for the little air that came out of the bubble leaves to pass. The only thought that crossed Erin's mind at that moment was "I knew something bad would happen".

And the title of chapter 9 is... "The pearl of Asyrann".

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Knight of the I.N.D.E.E.D. after waiting for about 3 years to get a reply.
And how did this forum get into my sig?

Lady Vulpix

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Knight of the I.N.D.E.E.D. after waiting for about 3 years to get a reply.
And how did this forum get into my sig?