The New Reality Ended

The sun was beginning to turn the sky a mottled pink. "Come, we have to get moving," Wolf said tiredly, feeling both the after-effects of calling Orion's soul back from the Dark, and healing her own wound.

Something had gone wrong in the process of healing her shoulder wound. The pain that had faded was coming back tenfold. Her right knee gave out; she struggled to think clearly as a film of red covered her vision. Orion was saying something, kneeling beside her. Wolf shook her head, the red film getting thicker and turning to black. "Poison." The thought hadn't even occurred to her - she hadn't considered the Latarrh that smart. Black filled her vision and she felt herself hit the ground. That was all she knew for a long time.

A clear blue stone tinged with red floated in front of her. It was like her two eyes conjoined. A voice was coming from behind her. "Well, child, all grown up, are we?" It was little more than a whisper, yet was filled with emotion and fire. "It has been a long time, hasn't it? You've shied free of your promise to me." She tried to shake her head, tried to say no, but she couldn't. She knew that it was the truth.

She had seen where her promise led her, and it scared her. She had seen what it had done to her family. "Don't lie to me." The voice whispered, flames crackling with rage within it. "You know that you have to do this. You promised it to me the day you were born." It had killed her family, she couldn't go back to that life. She had found some security, if not safety, from the madness that had always hounded her and the rest of her bloodline. She had found peace in her goddess, and her magic; she had been able to escape the inexplicable sadness for a while. Until now, when her parents goddess had finally found her.

"Go AWAY!" Magic was the driving force behind her words. In truth, her strength had failed her. "You don't mean that, and you know it." The smug satisfaction was ripe in the goddess's voice. "But you can't help me when you're dead, now, can you?" A huge hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her. "Remember that you are of the Blood. You can pretend to serve anyone you wish if it makes you feel more secure, but you serve me alone. Just remember that I brought you back, and I can destroy you, and all you have worked for, because of that debt." The hand flung her away, down a tunnel, and out to the Light.

Wolf opened her eyes. The sun was past the center of the sky. Dammit, they were late. She couldn't allow Her to intrude upon her normal life. No one could know who she was, what she was, or she would be dead in an instant. Nothing could change that. She got up, giving Orion a shock, and told him that they had to move quickly. He didn't question this, and she shouldered her small pack and moved off into the woods, Orion following her fearfully, as if he was following a ghost.

She would have to explain some things. It would have to be later. And at that point, there might be no point.


0_o ...END... 0_o

The New Reality continued...

She felt the blade slice cleanly through its flesh and felt the very minimal sorrow that she oddly felt at the death of an adversary. A sting of pain shot over her right shoulder, followed by a warm flow of blood.

She spun around, but the Latarrh was in fact dead. The wound it had inflicted on her shoulder had been its last, feeble act. She probed with her forefinger into the center of her wound, judging how deep it was. Not very. She hummed for a few seconds with her right hand over the wound; it glowed a faint blue as the wound began to heal.

As soon as the lips of the wound closed, she stopped, and went over to the dead slave man, Orion, he had said his name was. She held her right hand over him, as she had with her wound, and began to hum. But this was bringing someone back to life, not healing a simple wound. She began to sing, first softly, then more loudly. Orion began to stir before he gasped quickly and loudly, and sat up, glancing around. "I thought I was dead." Wolf was almost unable to hear him, he had spoken so quietly. "You were. But now you are back among the living, my friend."

Wolf walked over to the pack and pulled out a small silver flask and held it out to him. "Here. Drink this. It was made by someone you might meet once we get to my friends. Her name is Loomia, just so you know. She specializes in making potions, and this one brings the life back into the dead..." Orion's hand shook as he took the flask and took a big swallow. He gagged as it went down. "Unfortunately, it does have an aftertaste," she finished up quickly, chuckling.

The New Reality continued...

Wolf woke to the sound of a snapping twig. She half opened her eyes, looking around for the source of the sound. The slave-man was sleeping, still undisturbed by the noise, but he wasn't moving as was normal with sleep. That was when she saw it. A small stream of black flowing from Orion. He was dead, then, and she knew how he had died.

She leaped up as she focused on sound more than sight to aid her. The species was called the Latarrh, and they lived solely for the kill. They didn't care who they killed, but every single one of them killed in the same fashion - in the dark, with a rectangular blade an inch wide and about foot long, and a blunt tip that would make each death excruciatingly painful.

It was said that they lived on the pain of their victims, but she knew the truth; they didn't live on the pain, but the flesh, and their favorite was blood. If her eyes remained on the blood flowing from the dead slave-man long enough... There! A long, slimey, green-glowing tongue flicked out, tasting the blood. Evidently it was to its liking, and the tongue appeared more and more quickly. Soon she heard the shuffling of small feet, and the repulsive brown and green lump of flesh waddled out of the brush, knife in hand, mouth filled with pointed teeth and the rotting flesh of its last kill.

It hadn't seen her yet, good eyesight a weakness of the race. She drew a hidden dagger and walked silently walked toward the creature. It raised its head, shrieking as it saw her creeping toward it. It flew at her as she brought up the blade to meet it.

The New Reality continued...

Wolf watched the scrawny slave-man choke down his dried meat and retreat to a corner with his blanket, warily scaning the trees for something that wasn't there. She shook her head and took her own blanket to the opposite side of the clearing.

She could remember her former master well enough, but there were some things that should not be thought of; not now, not ever. She couldn't afford to lose herself in the past, not with this much riding on this, and on her.

The New Reality continued...

They stopped walking when the sun went down and a fat moon rose. A glowing fog shimmered above the ground. Orion looked around fearfully, unsure if he should be looking for the glowing eyes of a Predetarian, whether they existed here.

The girl, Wolf, looked right at home as she pulled out some dried meat. He eyed it hungrily, hoping that he might get some. She pulled out some more and handed him four strips. He grabbed them before she could change her mind and ate them quickly, almost choking several times.

Wolf pulled out two blankets and handed him one, then walked over to the other side of the clearing and went to sleep after finishing her own food. Orion relaxed a little, feeling safe, and went to sleep as well. He had many dreams; none were frightening, but he would remember none in the morning.

The New Reality continued...

The moment he exited the cave he had to shut his eyes against the flaring sun, but it didn't really help as the sun came in through his eyelids. "Bright, isn't it?" a voice asked, close by. A hand fell on his shoulder.

He jumped away from the sound and the touch, reflexes conditioned by years of abuse. "Hey- are you alright?" the voice again, sounding concerned, like they all did. He squinted against the bright light and looked in the direction of the voice. "What's your name? My friends call me Wolf." Friends. Too many times he had heard that, and each time he had been betrayed by the so-called "friend". But maybe this one would be different. Maybe... The girl looked at him expectantly. "Orion," he said.

"Orion. Nice name." she commented, "Your eyes should be used to the light by now. Try opening them." He found that she was right. "Thank you," he mumbled, looking at the ground. "You're welcome. But try not to act as I'm going to hit you for giving me an answer that I wanted. Ok?" Orion's eyes were now plastered to the ground. "Hey." A strong hand gripped his chin, forcing him to look up. "No one is a slave here, and no one can hurt you. Lose the groveling attitude." Her eyes hardened as she continued, "I can't stand people with no back bone."

She let go of him, and he kept his head up. Looking around, he saw that it was nothing like his homeland. A lush green forest grew before him, with a river rushing through it. He looked tentatively back at his guide and inspected her more closely. He had already seen her eyes, but now they were out in the sunlight he could see that she also had scars. Not only scars from whips and chains, but also from swords and other sharp-edged objects. No wonder she hated slavery- she had been a slave.

"So. I have an offer to make," she said, drawing his attention away from her scars. "You can wander around for days and hope to finally reach someone or something that will help you, or you can come with me and join my gang. It isn't the best place to be, but it's better than the hell-hole you were living in. It's also better than wandering around here for months. But whatever you want to do..." He could see his path even before she had finished her last sentence. He finally had a chance to eat, even to have friends. "I will come with you." Orion said.

"Good. Then let's get walking." Wolf turned and began to walk down a path that led to the forest, and Orion followed along after her, thoughts clamouring through his head. Chief among them was "possibly even friends".

The New Reality continued...

Footsteps approached him, and he felt a cool hand across his ruined eyes. The pain lessened, just a little, but enough for him to stop screaming. Without the screams he could hear a soft humming, coming from somewhere of to his right side. The pain kept lessening until there was none left. The hand left his face but he didn't notice it, he was to caught up in the fact that his pain was gone. "So. You gonna open your eyes anytime soon, or should I come back later?" a lightly amused voice said from around the place the humming had come from. He eyes jerked open as he quickly sat up, almost cracking his head on the low ceiling of the tunnel they were in. The girl that he and his friends had seen running from them. She stared at him through different colored eyes, the left one was blood red and the other was an almost transparent blue with a thin band of emerald around the iris. "Are you coming?" The question startled him, he hadn't realized that he'd been staring. She had turned and was heading away from him. He reluctantly followed, many experiences teaching him never to trust some one unless they did something to make you trust them. Then, as the girl moved aside a bit as she turned to look at him expectantly, he saw the light that flooded past her. He got up and followed cautiously toward the light and, hopefully, toward someplace he could run and hide in.

I hope you like the story so far. If you have any suggestions they will be welcome. :) Thank you for any help you are willing to give. I hope that you are enjoying my story. :)

The New Reality continued...

"Why can't I see?" His first thought hit him quicker than the pain and filled him with fear. Then the pain hit. He, and his race, had always prided themselves on bearing incredible pain, but now he screamed like he had when he was a child around one year of age, waking for his nightmares. Now no one could hear him, no one could help him.

The New Reality

My first story! YYYYYYAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!! Any commentary will be appreciated. :)

The golden orb floated just above the surface of what used to be a lake, but had long ago dried up into a puddle that barely deserved to be called a puddle. The orb floated almost inquisitively, floating first this way and then that, the cloudy water reflecting in the shiny golden surface. Voices sounded in the distance, startling the shiny bubble, making it shoot a few feet into the air before swooping back down, skimming the surface of the puddle. The voices sounded again as the orb started to change its color, shape, and size, slowly forming into its' original form. The people who belonged to the voices came into view just in time to see a tall girl disappear behind a cluster of rocks nearby. One of the pale and underfed humans approached cautiously, coming around the rocks slowly. A gaping hole yawned, hidden by the rocks. The scrawny human called to his companions as he peered into the hole. The girl had gone down it, he could tell that much from the footprints. What his companions saw as soon as they rounded the bend was their friend leaning over a gaping hole. This made them frightened, for who knew what could be hiding down there? It could be any Predatarian hole, but so far he had remained alive. Their friend turned to look at them, but in doing so lost his balance. He slipped towards the hole, pinwheeling his arms to try and regain his lost balance. He fell face first into a dark oblivion while his friends watched him slip out of their sight.