Young Writers Society

Five-

She collapsed on the floor, shaking. Water.. water was everywhere. It was everywhere. It had killed her creations, her children of flame. She suddered, another mood swing taking over. She would kill whoever had done this. Kill.

"Folera" she murmured, and she shot a beam of flame to the soggy floor. It flickered for a moment and then caught.

"Solara." she hissed, keeping it controlled. It would do her no good to have workers running in again. She spoke to it in fire, asking it to find where the monster who had killed its brothers was. It hissed and popped, and started out the door. She followed it to the room next door. The water magician, then? He had harmed her children.

"Grow." she hissed to the flame, and it did, and she slid it under his door. She let it get bigger and bigger until she knew no amount of water would conquer it. If he would kill her children, she would evaporate his.

And perhaps, if she was lucky, he would be eliminated as well. In the meantime, she walked back to her room, listening to the hungry hisses of her fire next door.

"Shihashin." She murmured, and a foggy red bubble appeared around her. No worker would be touching her today, oh no. And if that water mage tried to send more of his spawn back at her, it would not be able to touch her, oh no.
But he wouldn't be able to, she thought with a snicker. He has his life to protect now.

~Rune~

Rune nodded. "It seems like everything is burning lately," he murmured. Not that he'd remember it anyhow, and no amount of books on the topic were ever going to fill the gap in his memory.
"Yes." Heather replied softly. "I remember." A distressed look had begun to spread across her face, which was quickly replaced by a neutral expression as she seemed to regain control. Rune held back the temptation to ask more about the Time of Vex, torn between his own curiousity and the obvious need for sensitivity over the subject. Finally sensitivity won, and Rune gestured softly to Heather, directing her to a corner of the garden.
His corner.
There was a scattering of stone sculptures, the largest a dog that appeared to be mid-wag. For now, he ignored this one, picking up a small robin-like bird statue and whispering almost silently to it.
Heather stared impassively, some confusion evident in her stare. After a moment of awkward silence, the bird suddenly gained a semblance of life, lifting it's clay wings to fly once around the room before landing next to Heather and cocking it's head at her.
"What do you think?" Rune asked, silently praising himself on his masterful change of topic.

**I’m so sorry I didn’t post yesterday! Our internet was down for the entire afternoon.**


Heather/Jinx

“What do you think?” he asked.

The little bird tilted its head upwards and whistled brightly. It took off, whipping around her head in a slow rush. Heather closed her eyes. The heavy wings flapped about the garden, stopping here and there and then coming back. It was so nice. It may have been fake, but it wasn’t pecking her eyes out. “Impressive,” she whispered. “Very… nice.”

She felt a weight on her shoulder and turned her head. Through squinted eyes she saw the robin perched, looking at her happily. Heather opened her eyes a little more. Her lips parted a bit and tried to turn up at the edges. It was such a peaceful little thing..

The bird went back to its puppeteer almost silently. “That’s wonderful,” she muttered has she looked up at Rune, her lips falling back down to their natural position. He smiled back at her and said, “Thank you.”

Nicolasiana

The wild-looking man crashed into Nicola with a yelp, sending them both tumbling to the floor. She had been going too fast to stop herself, and was now tangled with the stranger.

"Ugh!" she yelled. "Get off me! There's an emergency! Who are you?"

The man nimbly stood up, pulling her up by the hand as well.

"I'm To--Thorl," he said distractedly.

Nicola wasted no time brushing off the dust from her white sundress, instead hurrying along the corridor, keenly listening for sounds of alarm. Behind her, she could hear Thorl padding after, and by the sounds of it he was having a hard time of it. She didn't bother stopping, however, and simply called to him over her shoulder.

"You don't belong here, Thorl. I don't know how you got in or why, but this is my house, and you have to leave immediately! My husband is coming home soon and he would be very displeased to find a scraggly, unwashed man accosting his wife so. Please go now!"

Thorl's footsteps continued to follow her own. His breath came in ragged gasps, but he still managed to reply.

"Um...your house? What do you mean? This is--"

At that moment, Nicola heard something directly above her. She stopped hard on her heels, and Thorl bumped roughly into her back.

"Hey! What are--"

She held up a hand to silence him.

The sound, or rather sounds, were loud and panicked. Several voices were audible, and it seemed like whoever they belonged to were shouting. Along with the voices came a spine-tingling crackle that told Nicola that she had found her fire. She tried vainly to locate where in the building the sounds were coming from, but she couldn't say. Everything was spinning in her mind, and it all seemed unfamiliar.

What's happening? she thought hurriedly. Why can't I remember?

The snap of a beam falling above to crash against the floor shook her out of her trance, and she ran along the hallway again. There was no time to think. Only action would save her house.

***

Nicola had quickly found the room where the fire was, but now she hesitated just outside of the door. Thorl was panting heavily behind her, but she tried to pretend the intruder wasn't there. Reaching out a slender hand, she grazed the cracked wood of the door, and found it was searing hot. The fire must be extremely close, then.

She backtracked to the conversation she had overheard the guards having. A magician, they said. A magician had caused this. That meant she would have to act swiftly to save her house.

If she could reach the magician swiftly enough and take him down, she might distract him long enough for the fires to stop spreading unnaturally. That would allow her guards to find her and douse the rest of the flames.

Yes, Nicola thought with a nod. That's what I'll do.

Without another thought, Nicola opened the door to the room and raced inside. Her eyes immediately went to the slender figure standing in the center of the room. He or she was wrapped in a muddy sphere of magic, which blocked any definite features they might have. Nicola didn't have time to consider what the magical sphere might do to her if she touched it, and instead rushed headlong to meet the magician.

As soon as her skin touched the sphere, an electric shock surged through Nicola, sending her flying ten feet across the room to crash against the peeling walls. Her breath flew out of her in a painful gasp, and she tumbled to the floor.

For several seconds, she couldn't think. What had just happened? Where was she? She stumbled groggily to her hands and knees, her mind slowly clearing of fog.

Looking up, she saw the muggy figure of the magician wrapped in his magic. Not only that, but he seemed to be preparing another spell. He had noticed Nicola, and her time was short.

With the mental speed only an elf could muster, Nicola went through her options.

I don't have much time.

The magician began to raise his hand.

The sphere burned me when I touched it.

It reached shoulder height.

I can't reach him that way.

Crackling energy formed between his fingers.

Maybe if I use something else, it will work.

He released the energy, sending it flying towards her.

With a scream, Nicola dodged to the side, looked quickly around the room, and found her item. She grabbed it and threw it with all her might at the assailant.

Her aim was true. The object, a hand mirror, flew through the air and struck the magician square in the chest. With a hollow, "Oomph!" the sphere disappeared from around the magician. Nicola was surprised to see that it wasn't a man, but a woman who had started the fire.

The woman seemed shocked that her magic had failed, and Nicola gave her no time to call it up again. She ran as fast as she could at the woman, wrapped her slender arms around her waist, and sent her tumbling through the shattered window behind. It only occurred to her halfway down that she was still holding on...

***

An echoing splash met Nicola's ears as they hit the ground. She had expected to feel pain, excruciating pain, but there was nothing. Only coldness. With a gasp, she opened her eyes to take in her surroundings.

She and the magician had landed in a fountain. It must have been very deep to save them both, but neither was harmed. The other woman was wide-eyed with shock, and she seemed unable to move. If she hadn't known better, Nicola would have said she was dead, but the sound of her strong, steady heartbeat pounding in her ears was answer enough.

Standing up on weak legs, Nicola left the woman where she was to find the guards. She had no doubt that the woman was still too shocked to do much of anything, let alone start another fire.

As Nicola entered the building again, she immediately saw the guards conversing off to one side. The faces were unfamiliar, which confirmed her suspicion that the others had gone after her. Hopefully they had found the fire.

She approached them hurriedly. "The woman who stared the fire...I stopped her. She's outside in a fountain...you have to come quickly!"

One man, an older, well-dressed individual, addressed her smilingly.

"Hello, Nicola," he said.

"Who are you?" she asked him. "How do you know my name? I don't remember hiring you."

"I've read your file, Nicola. You don't remember hiring me because you never did. And this isn't your house."

"What are you talking about? Of course this is my house!"

"I don't have time for this, Nicola. Your insanity is hindering me."

"Excuse me, sir, but who do you--"

The man didn't let her finish, only pulled out some kind of device, flicked a switch, and shoved the tip into her neck. With a cry, Nicola's world went black.

Five-

She screamed. Water, water, water... everywhere, everything. One moment he had been taking her revenge, and the next, some little... elf, perhaps? had come crashing in. Her magic had faltered and then...and then. Here she was. In water. Everywhere. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe. Couldn't muster the ability to cast a spell, anything that would save her from that liquid fear. Her tired, tired mind blacked out.

Constantine

What are you doing C? Are you going to be her saviour? I haven't even finished with the nurse yet!

Constantine stepped out of the shadows despite Her wheedling. The new administrator blinked in surprise before quickly letting go of the needle he'd stabbed into the elf's neck.

"What happened here?!" he wailed.

Constantine had to hold back a snort. That was the most terrible actor he'd ever had the misfortune to meet.

C, this isn't just playing with fire. It's diving head first into the sun. Don't approach him. Her face appeared before his and She granted him a fleeting kiss, a final goodbye.

Aw, why did she have to be like that?

The terrain turned to ice and a pointed icicle shot up from the ground, piercing through the new administrator's foot. The administrator wailed in happiness.

Constantine brightened and approached the elf. The elf was still unconscious. Hm. How was he going to bring her back? She would be jealous if he picked her up and carried her.

Don't you dare, C. Don't you even think about it.

Too late. He scooped up the elf in his arms. She was heavy, but that was expected for a 6-foot tall woman. Where would he bring her?

His room, of course. He'd foreseen the fire magician trying to take revenge and had already sent waves of ice and water to cover that place.

It would be slightly charred at worst.

You're taking her where, C?! Do you understand the implications of your actions?!

Fine, he won't take her there. Maybe the garden. Or some other place she could rest without being attacked by the administrator, who continued to shout his joy into the air.

Ice always felt good.

~Rune~

I smiled faintly at the fairy as she continued to watch the stone bird with a degree of interest. For a moment I played with the idea of really showing off and animating the dog, my personal favourite, but the amount of energy needed to do that put me off and I brushed off the idea fairly quickly.
There was a sudden noise at the entrance to the garden, and I turned curiously, noting Heather's slight flinch at the unexpected sound.
A tall man had come into the Haven, holding what appeared to be an elf in his arms. From this distance I could see his lips moving, and assumed he was talking to the elf woman.... but wasn't she unconscious? I guessed it was just one of those reassure-the-unconscious-lady things that people do.
As he lost his concentration, the bird froze again, and Rune dismissed it. He stood up briskly and went over to the man, wanting to help with the situation.
As he approached, the man grinned.

@ Mr Knightley - I LOVE this line: "I don't have time for this, Nicola. Your insanity is hindering me." It made me laugh so much

Lance

A man had come into the room, the room Lance had been left in. He messed with the restraints on Lance's arms and legs, tightening them. Lance would have shouted out in pain, if his skin didn't feel like it was crumbling away from his body.

"Well, Lance, you've been busy haven't you," the man said.

Lance tried to turn his head to look at him, but it was restrained to the bed like the rest of his body.

The man loosened the restraint over his forehead and wrenched his head to the side, quickly tightening the restraint again. He knelt beside the bed, looking Lance in the eyes. "I'm the new administrator, Lance," the man said. "We're going to do something about your little obsession. I have plenty of new treatments lined up to help you." He smiled pleasantly, but there was something behind it, something behind the way he said the word help. Lance didn't trust him.

((I don't know what time it is, nor what has happened. I'll go back over the posts but to be clear; this is just Morana waking up.))

Morana Everard:

"Ana?" someone called. I opened my eyes, squinting against the fading sunlight streaming in through the window. Had the nurse opened the curtains again? "Ana?"

"What?" I muttered and sat up, wincing when a stray beam of sunlight hit my check. I jerked away from it and into the darker side of the room. "Close the curtains!" I yelled.

There was a scurry of movement and the sunlight blinked out. I looked up to see the nurse standing by the window, head down. I think she forgot again.

As I watched her, her scent started to flood my sense. The blood, the life pumping through her veins. She turned back to me. I couldn't make out her face yet. Curse these stupid humans eye. I was glad I would only have them until the sun went down.

I tilted my head to one side, staring past the woman and at the golden glow sneaking in between the curtains. What time was it? I couldn't tell. Was I up early?

"What time is it?" I whispered, tearing my eyes away from the girl. Why was I up early?

She came back over to me but a small warning hiss stopped her in her tracks. I sighed and tried to remove all thoughts of her blood from my mind. I would not feed. My human was dead, or dying. And I couldn't do a thing.

"It's around four in the afternoon, Ana."

I closed my eyes. More than an hour until dusk. I was up early. "Leave," I whispered and felt her move, heard her leave the room.

Why was I awake early? Was it all the noise I'd heard while I was asleep? Perhaps. I stood and looked around my room. The cracks were bigger. For fifteen years I'd been here and yet I had never noticed that before. I laughed and sat down on the bed, bringing my knees up to my chest.

Why was I cursed with immortality? I could feel time passing but all I saw was him and that stupid infection. Why was this life a curse? Why must I watch all that I love and cherish grow old and die?

((it's nighttime, scar. probably around seven or eight))

((That was earlier then. I might do a bit of a jump in the next post... Morana would get caught in her own thoughts or something and 'wake up' a few horus later?))

Nicolasiana

She felt as if she were floating in a sea of blackness, the waves gently buoying her. Up and down, up and down her body went, and her mind went with it. In and out of consciousness, with bits of dull conversation reaching her somehow in between.

"...stabbed her in the..." said one voice.

"New administrator?" asked another.

"...our of control...sent to fix..."

That was all Nicola heard before she slipped fully into the void.

*Sorry this is so short, guys, but I just want to keep it going. Feel free to add to this as much as you want.*