Young Writers Society

Enya flashed out of Kai's reach, darting through the rubble toward the chapel. The girl was moving quickly; too quickly. She wasn't even watching where she was going.

"Damn it, sis, slow down! There might be more demons! Damn it!" Kai growled, running after her. Not as fast, but after her nonetheless. He could hear the rest of the group trudging along behind them, mostly walking.

Lucky for them. The only thing Enya encountered was a smoldering wooden pillar crumbling just as she passed, but she escaped unharmed. Kai watched as the young girl darted inside the chapel, taking a sharp turn to the left, and scampered up the stairway, to her mother. He smiled when he stepped into the doorway and looked up; the two females were arm in arm, Enya wailing in Karana's embrace.

**Sorry I haven't posted in ages. Also, I didn't realise about needing poisonous cloud and crazy gas, thanks for the heads up. Would I be right in assuming then that he needs all the skills on the tree to move up to animator? In that case, can Balaes take poisonous cloud and curse immunity.**

Balaes

Balaes hung back with the rest of the group, who hurried along, all at the ready, towards the chapel. No demons showed themselves, leading Balaes to assume that whoever was still holed up in the chapel with Kai and Enya's mother had taken a heavy toll on them, leading them to prowl other areas of the town. We'll have to flush out the last of them, soon. Can't leave them alive with so many refugees in this area.

He smiled a little at the sight of Enya in her mother's arms, she must have been terrified of losing her mother. His smile dissipated with that thought - he'd never even known his own mother. Only a father for whom he'd never felt anything other than disgust and hatred.

The dark mage stepped through the doors to the church a moment later, peering around to try to find where Martin was, his eyes searching for anyone in priestly garb. He glanced around at the survivors, "Could any of you tell us if Martin is here?"

(Let me be the one to post next. I'll post in the morning.)

(I was wondering where you went. And yes, Balaes does need all the skills on the tree in order to become an Animator. It's the same with every characters in order to get to their next class. The order of the skills you're allowed to get go from top to bottom. If two skills each have a line connecting to the same skill underneath them, that means you need to purchase both those skills before getting the one under them. Your character now has Curse Immunity and Poisonous Cloud, leaving him with only 1 skill point left.)

One of the survivors heard Balaes and said, "You mean the priest? He's right over there," he said, pointing to a man at the other end of the church. He wore a faded blueish-gray robe that went all the way down to the floor.

Balaes tapped Adrian on the shoulder and pointed at the man. "There he is," he said. Adrian nodded and went over to Martin with Balaes.

The windows of the chapel were all stained glass, with a picture of a man or woman on each. Most of the windows were broken, though. Each window was supposed to represent one of the nine gods and goddesses of Arkadia. Since the chapel of Kvatch was dedicated to the god Akatosh, his picture was on the window directly at the end of long room. Each window had a short stone pillar with a metal bowl underneath for people to give offerings. The one for Akatosh was the largest in the building, and Martin was standing in front of it.

"Excuse me?" Adrian said, trying to get the man's attention.

Martin turned to face them. For a moment, Adrian thought he was looking at the king himself. The resemblance was uncanny. He took a moment to take in both their faces before saying, "I heard about how you helped drive the demons back. Well done."

"You need to come with us, you're in danger," Adrian said.

"Danger, you say? You came here to tell me this?" Martin asked. "Explain yourself, or leave me alone. There are many others here who actually need your help."

"You're Martin, aren't you? The priest?"

"Yes, I'm a priest. Do you need a priest? I don't think I'll be of much help to you. I'm having trouble understanding the Gods right now. If all this is part of a divine plan, I don't think I want anything to do with it."

"There is a plan, and we're part of it," Balaes said.

"What plan? What are you talking about? I prayed to Akatosh all through that terrible night, but no help came. Only more demons. What can you possibly know that would make sense of this?"

Adrian looked at Balaes and asked, "What do you think? Should we tell him?"

"He's going to have to find out sooner or later. Might as well get it out of the way," he said.

Adrian nodded and turned back to Martin. "You are Uriel Septim's son."

Martin's eyes widened with surprise and disbelief. "King Uriel Septim? You think the king is my father?" He shook his head. "No, you must have the wrong man. I am a priest of Akatosh. My father was a farmer."

"The demons came here for you," Balaes said. "They destroyed Kvatch to get to you."

"An entire town destroyed to get to me, why? Because I'm the king's son?" Martin still looked as though he didn't believe what he was hearing.

"Why would we lie to you about something like this?" Adrian asked. "Why else would they have come here?"

"I don't know. It's strange... I think you may actually be telling the truth. What does this mean, what do you want from me?"

"Like I said, you're in danger," Adrian said. "Come back with us to Weynon Priory, Jauffre will know what to do."

"You destroyed the Oblivion Gate, they say. You gave them hope," Martin said. "You helped them drive the demons back." He nodded. "Yes, I'll come with you to Weynon Priory and hear what Jauffre has to say. Lead on."

Quest Completed: Find Martin

Reward: 200 exp.


Kai advanced to Level 9!!
Enya advanced to Level 9!!
Reon advanced to Level 9!!
Adam advanced to Level 8!!
Balaes advanced to Level 9!!
Edgar advanced to Level 9!!
Adrian advanced to Level 9!!
Ivellios advanced to Level 9!!
Cathy advanced to Level 9!!



New Quest: Take Martin to Safety

Enya sat with her mother on the stairwell. The girl had shared everything, every detail of every mission and battle, even as far as Kai passing out after destroying the Gate. Of course, Kai, having been leaning against the wall at the bottom of the stairs, had insisted otherwise...to no avail.

Karana scoffed and stood, approaching her son. "Eingreil-Kai!" she snapped, using his full name.

He groaned, standing up straight. "Ma'am?"

Karana took her son by the arm, leading him away from the crowd. She looked at Ilum as she passed, some sort of understood message passing between them. But Kai couldn't see anything happening; Karana pulled him out the door, onto the front stairs of the chapel. She let go of his arm, then, closed the door partially, and stood apart from him.

They simply stood there, watching each other, for what seemed to be the longest time. When Karana finally spoke, it was like something was different about her, like she was in pain...

"Your eyes are different," she whispered, genuinely frowning. "They're darker...harder. You're not my innocent baby boy anymore."

"Mother, please - "

"No, Kai. I'm not here to reminisce in an awkward, mother-son moment. I'm hear to offer advice, if you're willing to take it." She paused. "I was just like you when I was your age, when Arkadia was first threatened - temperamental, spontaneous, rash... Compassion was the only thing I ever did right... Please, by any means necessary, don't be like me, or you will regret it. Think before you act. Work with others, not against them. Consider all options before executing. And, gods be with you, protect Enya; don't let anything happen to her."

He nodded. "I promise, Mother."

She smiled, touching her son's cheek softly. "And you come back safe, yourself. Okay?"

Kai nodded. "I will. Don't worry, and don't die before I get back."

(I'll be leaving tonight for a camping trip and coming back on Sunday. I trust you guys can take care of the storybook while I'm away?)

Martin followed Adrian and Balaes as they approached the rest of their group. Adrian checked to see if everyone was here, but noticed Kai was missing. He asked Edgar, "Where's Kai?"

"His mother took him outside to speak with him," the shapeshifter explained.

"When he gets back we're leaving. We need to get Martin back to Weynon Priory as soon as possible."

Reon and Ivellios came up to Adrian. "Adrian, there's something we need to talk about," Reon said.

"Yes?"

"Well, Ivellios and I have been talking, and we'd appreciate it if you let us stay here. I mean, we're honored that you want us to come with you on this quest, but we feel Kvatch needs a little more help."

Ivellios added, "Captain Matius has been discussing his battle plan for getting the castle back from the demons, and from what we heard he's severely undermanned right now. Most of his soldiers were wiped out during the initial attack, there's no way he can launch a successful offensive on his own."

"This is my home, I grew up in these streets," Reon said. "I want to make those beasts pay for what they did."

Adrian nodded. "I understand. Captain Matius needs your help right now." He reached his hand out to shake Reon's. "You two be careful now."

Reon nodded and took his hand. "Don't worry about us. Kvatch was destroyed once in the past, and rebuilt upon the ruin. This town will live once again."

Adrian nodded and reach to shake Ivellios' hand. "It was an honor to fight along side you," Ivellios said.

"Same here. I'll be sure to mention you to my father. When this is all over, I'm sure he'll find a place for you as one of his soldiers."


Reon and Ivellios have left the party.

Hey guys, I'm back.

Adam

It was all very touching to see the family reunited but Adam did feel a twinge of impatience. For what he wasn't sure. This was crazy. He'd joined up with this adventure on a whim and left his only family behind to face unknown danger and all for a fool's glimpse of fame and honesty. That had been the start, he hadn't trusted Edgar. Still didn't if he was honest. Which he was. There wasn't a more honest thief around than Adam, no siree. Still, this was it, the prince had been found and there was no chorus of heavenly angels, no clash of thunder. What had he expected?

Adam entertained the idea of slinking off but realised he should see this through to the end. That meant until the amulet was around the possible prince's neck. And well, if it turned out this wasn't the man, then he didn't know what he'd do. Adam respected kings and they needed a king. That amulet had to go around somebody's neck and for some reason he was determined to find the right one. Money had nothing to do with it. Well... maybe just a little. But there was something else.

Seeing the girl with her mother, that was something special. Adam wanted a piece of that, maybe it was time he settled down. He just had to find a woman who was willing, that was how it worked right? And then you fell in love and everything was great. Yeah. Right. Adam didn't know how it worked, not really but he wished he did.

Kai returned from outside, closely followed by his mother. Enya was hovering around a few younger children in the foyer, hugging and laughing and crying as the group exchanged stories of the adventure. Kai smiled at the joyfullness of it, but a frown soon crossed his face; at least her friends had not tried to fight and either been hurt or killed. He hadn't seen a single friendly face aside from his parents and their friends...

He sighed as he sat down near Adrian and the others. His new friends. His comrads. If nothing else happens, I can at least protect them and Enya...

He looked up when he heard footsteps approaching. "Kai? You ready?"

He didn't care who had said it; he wanted to go, to get away from the sorrow the place was giving him. "Yeah... We found the prince?"

"Right here."

He nodded. "Okay." He shot to his feet, looking through the crowd. "Enya! You coming?"

The girl surprised him. She actually nodded her head before running to his side.

"Is everyone here?" Adrian asked.

Kai lookede around before saying, "I don't think Ivellios or Reon are with us."

"They wanted to stay behind and help Captain Matius take back the town."

"So, now that we found Martin where are we going to go?" Enya asked.

"We're going back to Weynon Priory, Jauffre will know what to do next." They all left Kvatch as a group. As they climbed back down the hill to the camp below, Adrian said, "With Reon and Ivellios gone and Cathy and Martin with us, we still have eight people. We'll ride two to a horse like we did getting here. Who's going to ride with who?"

"I don't care who I ride with," Edgar said.

"Me neither," Cathy added.

"In that case, why don't you two ride together?" Adrian asked.

(I'm back. Technically I got back yesterday. My parents had to host a couple's club last night because their friends who are the owners went on vacation.)

(Can someone please post?)

***I was going to leave it open for Kitty...and I'm a bit loopy right now. Motrin always tends to knock me out...***

Okies I can post

Cathy

Solitude wasn't something that was easy to leave behind and the idea of sharing a horse didn't highly appeal to Cathy but she wasn't going to argue. If she was to travel with these people she'd have to abide by their customs for the time being, or some of them anyway. She would ride the horse wherever they were going and enter buildings if she must but she wasn't going to sleep inside. She'd have to leave secretly through a window or else stay awake all night if it came to it. If she was honest, she'd have rather walked astride with the horses but could understand the need for speed.

"I don't care who I ride with," Edgar said. Oddly it seemed that even a lack of opinion had to be voiced so Cathy added, "Me neither." It seemed to be the right thing to say.

"In that case, why don't you two ride together?" Adrian asked. Cathy nodded and looked across at Edgar. Did he have to voice agreement as well? How tiresome and long these formalities were.

__________________________

Adam

"I'd like to ride with Baleas... if he doesn't mind," Adam said. He hadn't yet had the chance to thank the man for saving his life in that first fight or to suggest that it might be better if Tyson stayed a secret for the moment. If he had warmed to any of the group, it was Baleas and perhaps it was because they'd both shared similar trades. They'd both known hard times unlike the pampered wonder boy over there.

So it was settled. The riding groups were Edgar with Cathy, Adam with Balaes, Kai with Enya, and Adrian with Martin. As they got on their horses, Adrian said, "We'll take the same road we took getting here. When we get to Skingrad we'll rent some rooms at the inn. We fought all through the night and we need to rest if we're going to make it the rest of the way."

"We don't have time to waste," Adam said. "Whoever was behind that Oblivion Gate opening in Kvatch obviously knows Martin is the king's final heir. If they can do that, who knows what else they can do? We need to get him somewhere safe, fast."

"Although I agree with you, I'd still rather we get some rest," Adrian said. "Even a few hours of shut-eye will keep us alert long enough to get Martin to Weynon Priory, in case they decide to attack us on the way."

(All I can think of at the moment.)

Even as the words were exchanged, Enya turned in the saddle and sat sideways, leaning against her brother's chest. Kai could see dark circles under her eyes. He sighed as she relaxed, gradually drifting off to sleep.

He wrapped a protective arm around her as he took the reins in his good hand. He nudged the horse forward, toward the road. "I second Adrian; resting would get us back on our feet and at the top of our game. But can we discuss it while en route? I, for one, would like to get moving."