30I don't own Valdemar, Companions and Heralds but I do own Analia and Dirkus as well. Well, maybe not Dirkus... hint hint wink wink
Enjoy! And please review with ANY criticism you might have, that's what I want. But hey, if you want to praise me about my outstanding work, go ahead!
And now... CHAPTER ONE!
Chapter One: A New Beginning
"Mother, what's happening?" Analia's voice shook with fear as it traveled down the hall from the doorway of her room
"Nothing dear, just hurry and get dressed." Her mother's usual flushed face was white and tired and her dress, always clean and pressed, was wrinkled.
Something had to be wrong.
"Analia dear, get dressed," her mother said again, panic starting to creep into her voice. "Please."
"Alright Mother." Trembling with fear, Analia turned to her room and slipped into the first things she picked up from the floor. On a whim she took a bag and stuffed it with more clothes from the ground. Something told Analia she would not be coming back.
With her luggage in hand, Analia climbed down the wooden stairs to the entry way below and entered the kitchen to her right. Artificer Yama, her father, sat beside his wife, drumming his fingers relentlessly against the table top. They both had faces pinched tight with worry.
"Mother?" Analia asked again, hoping for an answer of what was wrong. Whatever was happening wasn't supposed to be occurring. Her family was safe from any harm. Fires, deaths and tragedies happened everyday but not to them, Analia's family was impervious to danger. This couldn't be happening.
Her mother, seeing the tears about to fall, opened her arms to her anxious daughter. Needing no convincing of her need for love, she ran to the sanctuary hoping this evil would go away once those arms enveloped her. It didn't.
Her father cleared his throat. "Analia, you have to leave this house for a while. Your mother and I need to take care of some business and we don't want you around. We put some money together so you can get a room at an inn. You can return tomorrow."
Speaking into her mother's chest, her answer came back muffled, "But why? What's happening? I-I don't understand." Now the tears began to flow, soaking the dress before her.
"Honey, a long time ago before you were born we borrowed some money from some bad people. We had no choice at the time; we barely had enough money to eat. We were told to pay them back later with equal the money we had taken. But when we did send the money to reimburse them, which was about a week ago, they demanded double the money. And now these people are coming to get back what the unreasonably demanded. It's not fair," he slammed his fist onto the table, "but to make sure they don't bother us again we are going to pay what they require."
"We want you gone just for the transaction," her mother said reassuringly. "It's not a problem but well, we don't want you hurt if something goes wrong."
Her father sharply glanced at his wife. "Don't lie to our daughter Eleciah; it is going to be dangerous!" His voice quieted as he turned to Analia, "I want you to know that we might be killed and we want to spare you of death as well. It's time you knew the truth of this world; it's dangerous and has no mercy."
Analia pushed away from her mother, anger plainly written on her face. "So I'm just supposed to let you die? How can you expect that of me?"
"Simply because we love you and want you to live a longer life then both of us. You will go to the inn and you will stay there until tomorrow. Is that understood?" her father demanded.
"Yes father."
"Now," he thrust forward a bag of money, "this is enough for a night or two. If we, if we are killed," he swallowed, "find a Herald. They will know what to with you."
"But-"
Her father crushed her into a hug and kissed the top of her head before she could protest. Letting his only daughter go, he said nothing, but the tears running down his face said it all.
"Goodbye honey," her mother said, "we'll miss you."
"Bye" she whispered back. With a strangled sob Analia ran out the back door of the kitchen, overturning a chair in her haste to get away from her parents. She was angry; at her parents, herself, the world. Everything was so unfair! Where was the happy sanctuary that she had so blissfully lived in just moments before? Why was this happing to her family? Knowing not where to go, she aimlessly wandered the streets, contemplating the disappearance of her old asylum.
"Hehe, so they had a child. Too bad she won't be here for the fireworks." A man and a woman leaned against an opposite wall from the unsuspecting house, casually holding two unlit torches.
The speaker pushed away from the wall, long hair flowing behind her in a delayed motion. "Well, let's just get this over with, shall we?" Turning to the man, she crawled her fingers up the man's crossed arms and up to his waiting face. Sluggishly, she brushed her full lips against her lover's own then whispered into his mouth, "I want to do stuff with you, but with this dilemma…" her voice trail off suggestively. "I'm getting impatient."
"Alright, alright!" The man pushed her away from his body and walked towards the unsuspicious house. Soon, those inside would be unconscious and oblivious to their burning house around them. But that would come later, the fun was just about to begin.
The noise of people yelling and screaming worked its way slowly into Analia's sleeping mind. It was night and the moon was bright upon her face. Squinting from the light, she slowly woke herself up.
Why in the world is there noise this late at night? What happening? And then it dawned on her... her parents.
Nothing mattered anymore, nothing except the need to be at her house to prove her suspicions wrong. Not bothering to change her clothes, not bothering to slip on shoes to protect her feet from harm, not bothering to think about what she was doing, Analia sprinted out the door of her room. Oblivious to the cries of speculation the workers threw at her, Analia tore from the inn in her haste to see what was wrong.
If something was wrong, she reminded herself. But something was horribly wrong, proven by the number of people milling about, the bells of coming water-carts and the red-hot flames that licked the sky.
Her house was burning down.
Coming up to her house, the last bits of doubt were erased from her mind. There was her house with her parents probably inside, burning like the fires of Hell.
"Mother! Father!" she screamed. Expecting and getting no replies, she dashed towards the house, knowing that if she couldn't save her parents she would die with them. Spectators tried to stop her mad charge of death, but she was too stubborn.
But not stubborn enough for a Companion to stop her. Quicker than was possible, a riderless Companion placed his body between Analia and the burning house.
:I'm not letting my Chosen die,: a voice said in her head, :not after I just found out who she was. I Choose you Analia, beloved of my heart and I will not let you die in that house.:
But Analia wasn't listening to his words, she had already lost herself in his blue eyes. They washed away her pain and sorrow with their cool touch and dispelled the suicidal thoughts that had previously ruled her mind.
"Dirkus," she mumbled and threw herself around his white neck, crying harshly into his coat. The realization of her attempted suicide left her shaky and unstable. But with the comfort of her Companion, that didn't matter anymore.
:Do you trust me Analia?: Dirkus asked after his Chosen had cried herself of tears.
"Oh yes, yes I do."
:Then look into my eyes again.:
She looked into those blue eyes, more brilliant then the bluest gem and opened her mind to his embrace. Comforting darkness shrouded her sight from the horrors of the scene before her. She would forget her parents for now, she would morn them again soon enough. But it was time for the blackness and ignorance to take her away to a dreamless sleep.