Notelease use feedback thread thank you Before Betrayal Part One: The Syndicate of Nymnid Chapter One Ever had that feeling you were destined for something special, but when you told someone you were laughed at and ridiculed into thinking you were just an average Joe like the rest of the world? Have you thought you felt the rise of power within you that made you feel as if you could do anything but when you tried to let it out, it didn’t really do anything at all? Well, thank the Goddess I haven’t had those issues. Of course, I can’t exactly say that I have a normal family, not by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t even think we’re related in the way that close families usually are. Not by blood at least, but by spirit. By the comfort of knowing that we’re all in the same boat. Let me explain. My family has been hunted down since long before I was born, around two or three thousand years. The thing is, it may be long before I was born but most of my family has lived through it. And they don’t usually age past the point of 15-16 unless they want to. Yep, I live with a bunch of thousand of year old teenagers. Whoop de doo. Anyway back to the point. The thing is, The Syndicate in Nymnid has been hunted down for millennia by a secret organization who call themselves the Wawoal. Their current leader leader, Gandr Fenx, is one of the most powerful practitioners of the Light Magic who has ever lived. Unfortunately for us, he also managed to use that power to create one of the most dangerous articles of warfare for the S.o.N and the rest of the darkness community. Sisdiel armor. Armor made of a holy metal (name unknown) that can repel any dark thing, whether it be a human being or dark object which includes weapons, much to the dismay of the dark community. This of course means that they can stomp on pretty much any darkling who opposes them. However there is a weakness. There are three sects of darklings that can still oppose this armor, for some reason they are immune to it. Ironically it is the 3 sects that the Wawaol have been secretly hunting over the years. The Syndicate of Nymnid, the Re’iot, and the Ma’uibo can all handle the light metal without any discernable effect. Of course as soon as the Wawaol found this out, they united the rest of the Shndae (the light community) against the Ter’iot and the Ma’uibo, which was pretty easy considering that those sects also possessed the most dangerous dark abilities. The Ter’iot being the best fighters with the fastest reflexes of any creature in the universe were the quickest to respond to the challenge and they have battles almost daily it seems with Lord Rionaquan as the general. The Ma’uibo have stayed mostly hidden, coming out every once in a while to blast the enemies to pieces with their magic, then steal their souls. The soul is the most important part of the whole spirit. After you hit around 10-12, your soul starts storing emotions and parts of the subconscious mind like hunger or free will. Lose your soul, and you lose anything stored in it. That’s why it’s become a stereotype of the soulless to be evil or crazy or mindless because often times that’s what gets lost. If you’re lucky, there were just some memories stored in it so you’ll just forget who you are. The Ma’uibo have also found a way (I’m not sure how exactly) of having the subconscious store free will in the soul before it gets stolen so they can completely control someone. That only really works on the Shndae though, if anybody steals anyone else’s soul, it’s automatically destroyed and converted into energy. The Shndae of deathly afraid of the Ma’uibo because of that, and afraid of the Ter’iot because of their fabled fighting abilities. Now however, we come to my family, the S.o.N, who has not been attacked by the Wawoal since I was born. There are 13 S.o.N, 7 female and 6 male. Vinra is the leader of the female part if S.o.N and daughter of the Goddess Nymnid. We all of course could practice magic, but my magic was more like the guys of S.o.N. My “sisters’” magic was designed to control people, or influence decisions, specifically by song or dance. Now I was as graceful of dancer and as good of a singer as the rest of them, but my magic was extremely strong and dangerous, meant for blasting people, and sneaking around and controlling people’s minds by force. That’s why I studied with the “sons” of S.o.N. The leader of the sons is Erixthen, who is the oldest and most powerful of the bunch and nephew to Nymnid. My older brother Jorex is only really an honorary member and isn’t around much but I love him more than anyone else in the world. Because of the looming threat, we all had to be alert and rarely left Ymni Castle, even though the Wawoal hadn’t attacked in 13-14 years. This was something that all would complain about except my favorite "sister", Jexna who would just sit quietly in a corner. She disappeared around 15 years ago and had come back weak and sick. Nobody knew where she had been, but they worried about her constantly until they had something new to worry about. A baby that turned up almost magically on their doorstep in an amethyst and obsidian basket. That baby was me.
Re: Before Betrayalresented by iWrite Co. Chapter 2 I thrust my hand out before me and concentrated all my rage upon the pillow underneath the head of Heshin, the youngest of my brothers, and probably the most annoying person on the planet, including the Shndae. To my delight, the pillow exploded into burning ash, and the best part? His head didn’t. For about a month now, I had been practicing on squirrels out on our front yard, blasting the branches out from under them. Until today however, my aim had a bit too much of a radius, and the squirrels exploded into ash. However, today was the first time ever that I had good enough aim to just destroy the branch. Then I moved on to better things. Such as the pillow underneath my annoying older brother’s head. Unfortunately hot ash on the face seems to be an excellent wake up call. Even worse, there was no one else in the room; there was no one else to blame it on. The worst part? Henshin is the fastest runner of the family. “You *****! I’m going to kill you!” My response to that was something like… “AAAAAAAH!!!!” and a very quick exit. I was chased like a rabbit throughout the house where thankfully, I could hold my own. Henshin may be fast, but I was quicker and smaller and could make sharper turns. Finally though, he managed to chase me into the Great Hall, the enormous hall way that stretched the entire length of the house. We’re talking like a half of a mile long, give or take a few yards. Yeah our house is gigantic. Anyway the hall was very beautiful. It was made completely of obsidian rock, and the ceiling was covered in chandeliers with little Gothins that shed a lovely curtain of darkness over everything. This was the only part of the house completely devoid of clutter, and that meant that Henshin would catch up to me with ease when not slowed by dodging around or tripping over clutter. My only chance was to sprint harder that I have ever sprinted before to my room, and since I was the youngest girl it was as far away as it could possibly be. At the very end of the ½ a mile long hallway. He wouldn’t follow me into my room because it was forbidden. Going into someone’s room without their permission would be like killing a person’s child. Our rooms were the only place that we could “get away from it all”, and to break the “code” that Vinra and Erixthen had put down would not only bring yourself into shame with the rest of the sisters and brothers, it would guilt you to the ends of the earth. So pretty much, that was my only chance of survival. In my family, if someone said that they we’re going to kill you, you weren’t going to survive the day without something of yours turning to ash. And so I raced to the end of the hall, using whatever strength I had in my body to run faster than I ever had before I was two doors down from it when a door opened and my brother Yethno peeked his scarred face out. “What’s going on?” He snapped. Nobody liked to bother him when he was in his room, he often got very grumpy if he was disturbed. “I’m trying to practice my magic here and all that noise could have distracted me and caused me to blow up the whole damn building! You don’t want that do you?” Even with Erixeth’s shields against destructive magic, when Yethno was this angry, he probably would have enough of a power boost to at least destroy the great hall. And possibly cause a collapse. “S-s-s-sorry Yethno,” I stammered sliding a little with my quick stop. Yethno is a really nice guy but he was scary when he was angry. And those scars didn’t help. “Henshin was chasing me; he said he was going to kill me!” At this point he glared at Henshin who immediately shrieked “She blew up my pillow and got hot ash all over my face!” Yethno grinned at me. “You finally got him! Awesome… erm I mean … you should have been more careful!” You could tell Yethno hated Henshin almost as much as I did. Their personalities clashed I guess. Plus he like to prank people. Yethno has never forgiven him for the lava coming out of the bath tap instead of water. After hearing that Henshin walked to his room next door in a huff. He knew no punishment was going to happen. Right before he walked in, he spun around to glare at me. “You may have won this time, but I guarantee that I will get you!” “Was that a threat Henshin?” I replied with a smirk. “No it was a promise!” He snapped and slammed the door with a rattling bang. “Oooh scary.” Yethno said with a roll of his eyes “Now come in, I want you to see what I’m working on!”
Re: Before Betrayalresented by iWrite Co. Chapter 3 I nervously walked into Yethno’s room, a little on edge because his room was always covered in strange magical items and artifacts that could blow you to smithereens or turn you into a tree. Yes, it has happened before. I followed him through his rooms until I arrived in his “experimentation” room. This was the only room of his that he kept completely clean, so I didn’t have to wade through all of his stuff. In the very center of the room, there was a large table and on it was a single tiny ring. “This,” he said quietly, “has taken one hundred years of careful research.” The ring didn’t look like much. It was small and silver, and had a clear jewel on it. “What is it?” I said in a hushed whisper. Yethno rarely worked on a project longer than a few years. If he had been trying to perfect something for a whole century that meant that it was important. “I call it Zhennu, it means great. It’s actually a replacement for your wards.” “I’ve only been alive for like 15-20 years! How could you be working on this for a hundred?” I was trying to act excited. My wards were the protection magic Erixthen had instilled on me to keep me from blowing up the house. My magic was strong enough that if I was being particularly emotional, I could actually kill someone. Unfortunately, this meant that I could never do more than minor spells, even during practice for the wards could only be on or off, no in between. If Yethno found a way to put those wards on a ring instead, it didn’t mean anything different for me. “Yeah, but I started working on it harder after you came to us. The ring is like a cap. Unscrew the little jewel on the top, and a little magic comes out. Twist it more, and more magic can be released. Twist the other direction, and you’re magic will be stored safe and sound. You’ll be able to actually get somewhere when you practice now .” I stared at him, dumbfounded, then shrieked and tackled him into a hug. When I had calmed down I asked him, “has Erixthen approved it yet?” “Yep, he took off your wards this morning. Try it on.” So with bated breath, I took the little ring and put it on my index finger. It fit. The clear jewel quickly turned darker and darker until it was a deep purple. “What jewel is that?” I asked fascinated by the way it had slowly gotten colorful. “It matches your magic’s color, its amethyst. Test it out.” I twisted the little jewel and aimed at one of the pillows lying around. With a poof, it dissolved into ash. I giggled and grinned at Yethno. “Did I ever tell you you’re my favorite inventor ever? I guess I owe you big time for this.” He grinned back at me and replied, “Normally I’d say the same thing, but turning Henshin’s pillow to ash totally pays for it! Now get out, I have to start my next project.” I thanked him one more time, and practically danced out of his room with happiness.
Re: Before Betrayalresented by iWrite Co. Chapter 4 It was the late evening, and were were sitting out on the porch singing various songs. Everyone in the family was there, even my brother Jorex, who was rarely home because he worked as a mercenary to the Ma’Uibo. Everyone except Henshin. But that didn’t worry me. It didn’t even bother me. Jorex was there, and I knew that he would protect me from anything that Henshin tried because that’s what brother’s are for. He was my best friend of sorts, and my only blood relative of the bunch. The singing of my sisters abruptly stopped, and Vinra turned to me, her form was young, but her eyes were ancient. “It is time to play the game of truth.” Vinra said solemnly. “In this game, which we play every year once a year, each female asks one question. Every other daughter MUST answer this question completely and truthfully, or their honor will be forever ruined. We will start with the oldest. I, Vinra am first. Remember the answers go counter clockwise around the asker. I sighed, I hated this game. Most of the questions were completely pointless. None of us had anything to hide. One by one they all asked their questions. Finally it was only me and Heroni’nin. Heroni’nin’s question was rather boring. “What would you call your daughter if you had one?” All the answers were pretty boring to me except for Jexna’s who said, “Velene.” That name I liked. Finally it was my turn. I had spent almost no time thinking of my question, and I was ready to ask it, knowing that I wasn’t really going to get good answers. “What is the name of the last child you had?” This got some giggles, and the question proceeded around the circle as before. Only Jexna on my right was shaking a little. “Are you cold?” I asked, a little concerned. “No I’m fine,” she said, yet her eyes were wide with some sort of fear. “So Jexna,” Vinra inquired “What’s the name of your last child? You don’t have any yet right?” Jexna stared at the ground for a couple seconds. Finally she spoke. “H-h-h-his name is…” She stuttered nervously. This got a start form all of us. We didn’t know that she had any children. “H-h-h-his name is Kane Vayz.” I froze. “Kane Vayz?’ I thought, completely shocked, “but he’s the son of Gandr Fenx! Our worst enemy!” We were all frozen in shock, but we realized why no attack had come yet. Because his son was one of us! Well half of us, a halfling. And we also knew why she had disappeared 15 years ago. Jorex finally broke the silence. “I bet you weren’t expecting that answer.” He said with a shaky grin. “I think I’m going inside for a sec.” I said quietly back. “I’m thirsty, I’ll get some water.” I picked up my cup, got up and walked in the door I was half way down the Great Hall when a hand suddenly reached through the wall and grabbed me!
Re: Before Betrayalresented by iWrite Co. Chapter 5 I opened my mouth to scream as I was pulled through the wall. In my confusion, I hadn’t realized I’d dropped my glass. I heard it shatter on the carpet before I went completely through. Something cloth like was stuffed into my mouth gagging me so I couldn’t make a sound. I was carried for a little while in complete darkness, and I felt the roughness of ropes as I was tied like a parcel of meat to a hook hanging from the ceiling. Suddenly a thin light flickered on. Before me, I saw a man. Short, thin, but muscled holding a chain and a baseball bat. I recognized him. “H-h-h-Henshin?” I whispered, not comprehending what he was doing. Then I realized he had a little bit of a crazy look in his eyes… His blood red eyes. Red eyes? That meant he was really pissed. “W-w-w-what are you?” And then he lashed out, whipping my body with the chain. The metal was sharp and bit deeply into my skin. I shrieked in pain, as I would be doing for the next two hours of hell. After a while all I could do was hang there like the body of a bloody broken animal. The only good I could find in the situation was that he never wounded my face. The only sounds I could make now was a soft whimpering at the back of my throat that I didn’t even know that my voice could make. An eternity of pain passed, until wondered why I hadn’t died yet. Then I realized that the ring on my finger was healing me as much as it could at a time, and that’s what kept me from blissful death. Then, Henshin suddenly stopped. “Haven’t you punished me enough?” I whispered hoarsely. I hadn’t expected him to react this violently at my exploding pillow trick. He smiled, a little crazily. My blood was splattered all over him. “Nope.” He said quietly, “But almost.” Then he started chanting, and the worst pain of that night hit me. It felt as if he had put an invisible hook on my insides and was slowly, excruciatingly slowly, pulling them out. A burning started in my chest, and for the last time that night, I wondered, “Is this what it is like to die?” After the bonfire in my chest had been quenched, I looked weakly at the bright orb floating in front of Henshin. My soul. It was clear all the way through, nothing had been stored in it, though I was three years past the time it would have started. And then it collapsed into a thousand bright little pieces. “Now,” said Henshin triumphantly, “I am done.” “You got that right.” said a cold male voice directly behind him, right before a dark shadow jumped at him, pinning him to the blood stained wall.
Chapter 6 Another shadow followed the first and I heard him gasp in shock. “Celiana,” it whispered, “what happened to you!” I weakly raised my head to look a stunned Jorex in the eye. Yethno was still shoving Henshin into the wall. The rest of them soon followed. Heroni’nin let out a little shriek when she saw me. I looked down at myself. Every area below the neck had been turned into raw meat. I had been whipped and beaten to the bone. Jorex cut me down and held me while I sobbed and he healed me. It obviously took a lot of energy because at the end of it, Jorex was breathing as hard as if he had done a marathon. I stood up quietly, and said “Erixthen, can I go to my room? I’m tired.” “Of course,” he responded quickly, “unless Venra has any issues with that?” He trailed off as Venra said, “No! Of course not.” I could tell they were both shocked and horrified so I made my exit with as little fuss as possible. As I was exiting through the hole in the wall, I heard Erixthen say, “You sir, are a psychopath.” When I got to my room, I sat down and used my magic to sink through the floor. After what I had gone through, I was determined to bury myself alive, and end my misery in the least messy way as possible. You can imagine my surprise after I had sunk very deep, when I dropped into a passageway. I was still somewhat dazed from my experience earlier, so I began to amble around aimlessly. The smooth grey stone walls reminded me very much of the Great Hall, and I was so out of it, I didn’t hear the soldiers until they were right behind me. A gloved hand grabbed my shoulder and roughly spun me around. A band of masked armed men surrounded me and the one who grabbed me yelled in a demanding voice, “Who are you!” I blinked at him and it gradually occurred to me… maybe I should run. So I did. I spun and sprinted in the other direction. I ran willy nilly through the dark passageways, conscious of only the foot steps behind me. Then I came to a dead end. I spun around, an icy calm spreading through me that I hadn’t ever experienced before. I prepared myself to leap at the first man who came running around the corridors when he said, “wait. Are you… Are you lost?” I blinked at him, then thought about his question. “Yes?” It came out as more of a question. “To be honest I have no idea where I am.” “Do you know WHO you are?” I thought about that for a moment. “Yes, I do know who I am.” The other men had caught up by now and started pulling out their weapons. The man in front however held up his hand. “I think you had better come with us.” We walked for a long time, the twists and turns seemingly random to me seemed to have a purpose to the rest of them. We entered into a huge crater where the night sky sparkled above the buildings. It was a hidden city, probably so high that no one could climb up. We walked through the streets, no one taking much notice of us. A small, unremarkable building seemed to be the destination, and two guards were standing at the entrance. The talking masked man walked up to them and said, “we need to see my father.” The guards looked at us, their magical inspection making my head spin. “All clear.” One said coldly, “Lord Rionaquan will see you now.” The whole troop filed in, me right in the middle. The room that we entered was as unremarkable as the building, but it could not disguise the aura of power of the man on the throne. His black hair and beard were long, and his dark eyes glared down at us. His son, the talking masked man took off the mask and explained the whole situation. His hair was as dark as his father’s. Lord Rionaquan nodded and said, “We don’t have any room anywhere else, but she can have one of our rooms for now. Bring her there immediately, she looks as if she’s going to collapse. He bowed and began to walk out, gesturing for me to follow him. “Wait.” Said the Lord, “What is your name child.” I had always hated the name Celiana, so I made up what seemed to be a good name on the spot. “Velene.” I said, “Velene Orsiko.” End of Part One