"Because, I'm waiting."
"For what?"
"Be quiet and you'll find out," Raiyn replied impatiently. Fay went silent, noting his sharp tone. She knew him well, well enough to know that when he got that tone, he meant business and it was never a good idea to cross him. She knew he wouldn't do anything to her, but it was never fun to get the cold shoulder. Something he was very good at.
So, Fay crossed her arms and plopped down on his shoulder. She was utterly bored as they sat there, high up in the tree, watching the road. She was sitting next to his neck and ear, and as the wind blew through the trees, a lock of his brown hair fluttered passed his ear. It caught her attention, short as it was, and she watched it wave back and forth. The little fairy hopped up onto her feet and began a game of dodging the lock of hair.
Raiyn just sat there, unmoving as he watched the road. Fay knew that he could feel her bouncing around, but as long as she was quiet, he was fine with her. The fairy had been with him for many years, sharing everything with him. She knew he had a reason for what he was doing, so she waited with him, playing her game.
A sound drew his attention. Shifting, Fay was thrown off balance and she had to quit her game in order to stay perched on his shoulder. Down on the dirt road a woman walked by. Fay watched her go as her golden hair flipped back and forth across her back. The braided hair made her look very adult like, and the look in her green eyes added to the impression. The little fairy noted that the woman looked very... lonely.
"Hey, that's the lady you saved earlier!" Fay whispered excitedly in Raiyn's ear. His brown eye shifted slowly to look at her without saying a word. He then turned his attention back to the young woman who walked passed them completely oblivious. The young man frowned as she went, her eyes staring at the ground as she walked.
"Ridiculous," he muttered softly.
"What? Why?"
"She didn't notice. No wonder she got ambushed."
"Were you hoping to get noticed? That doesn't make sense..."
Raiyn ignored her and climbed down the tree, jumping to the ground at the last couple of feet. He landed with a soft whoosh, his cloak swirled around his legs as he hit the road. Fay settled on his shoulder as Raiyn started walking after the young woman.
"So, why are we following her?"
"If she's the Jewel Princess, then we can find the stones through her."
"That's a little... underhanded, don't you think?"
Raiyn didn't answer her. He only followed the woman who was several yards ahead of them. The only town that Fay could think of where they would be heading was a small village settled in a meadow about two hours away. Bored and frustrated, Fay jumped off of Raiyn's shoulder and in the folds of his cloak. There, she pulled together the light fabric and made a little pocket for herself.
Keyra
wandered into the town as the sun was beginning to set. The meadow was large
and housed several homes, shops and a couple of inns. She adjusted her sword
that rested on her hip and set her eyes on the closest inn. Her thoughts
shifted from the mysterious man that had saved her earlier to what she was
going to do about her torn clothes once she got a room.
The holes and tears weren't large,
but she didn't wish to be walking around with torn clothing all the time. It
wasn't the first time that she'd had to fix her clothing. Usually they only
sent a couple men to try to kill her. The Shades had thought that she was an
easy target, but she'd had enough practice with the sword to hold her own. The
first time they almost succeeded in killing her was several weeks
ago.
They had ambushed her with six men.
She supposed that the Shades were getting tired of her getting away, so they
upped the ante, so to speak. The only problem was, one of the men that was
there had a demon stone. Keyra looked down at her clean, pale hand. The moment
she'd sensed the demon stone it had taken all she had to keep standing to fend
off their attacks. However, once her power took over, the only thing she
remembered was standing amidst the bodies of all six men. Blood had covered her
from head to toe, and in her crimson stained hand was the black demon jewel, in
pieces.
Shaking her head, Keyra brought
herself to the present and continued walking down the street towards the inn.
She feared her power, the power to destroy demon jewels. To her it was a curse,
but to everyone else it was a tool, something to be used to destroy the demon jewels
that plagued the land. If she could control it, if only she could remember what
happened every time her power kicked in, then maybe, just maybe she would be
willing to help.
Keyra sighed, her thoughts always
turning sour. It was a daily thing, something that she was used to, and part of
the reason why she didn't like staying in one spot for too long. She was just
about to enter the inn when three men blocked her way. Looking up she narrowed
her eyes at them. Shades...
she thought, Why now...
"Seems the boss was right. She
did make it here. Glad we stuck around," one said as he eyed her
cautiously. He slowly reached down for his sword and drew the weapon. The sound
of steel ringing caught the attention of the town's people and many of them screamed
and scattered away from the armed group. A large circle formed around the area.
Keyra looked around her, hoping to avoid a conflict.
"I think we should find out if
she is really the Jewel Princess or not," another said, he was shorter
than the other two and a wide grin was on his face. He pulled out a dagger and
held it lightly in his hand, a black jewel glittering in its handle.
Keyra raised an eyebrow. If he
thought that jewel was a demon stone, then he was highly mistaken because she
would have noticed it the moment she had walked into town. The Shade however,
continued to grin at her and walked forward. She drew her sword in turn. The
bright blue jewel in the handle of her sword flashed in the fading sunlight.
Her jewel had power as well, but she hadn't ever been able to use it, at least
as far as she could remember.
The Shade flicked his hand and the
jewel pulsed. Shock filled her as the demon jewel came to life and in response
her body locked. Her chest burned painfully, sharp pricks of pain pulsing
through her as the power of being a Jewel Princess tried to escape her. Keyra
dropped down onto her knees, panting with one hand clutching her chest, the
other trembling as she held her sword.
"Looks like it’s true,
boys," the one with the dagger announced with a satisfied laugh. Then his
voice dropped as he gazed down at her, "Kill her."
Keyra barely managed to get her
sword up and block the first strike that came from the one with the dagger. She
felt steel cut across her shoulder as a second lunged it at her. Turning she
fell onto her side as the man stumbled passed her. She brought her sword up and
clashed with the third, holding him off as she struggled to keep control of
herself. Her power was growing stronger, and she was feeling herself slipping
into unknown territory.
Unexpectedly, the man’s heavy
weight was tossed off of her and a familiar black cloak settled over her.
Barely able to focus her gaze, she looked up to a brown haired boy who's sword
flashed as he turned it sideways and launched another attack at the Shade. It
was the last thing she saw consciously.
Keyra stood, her body filled with
power. The jewel in her sword glowed with the rush of power. Her green eyes
were dark as they narrowed in on the man with the demon jewel. The second Shade
lunged at her while the boy was busy with the third. Without looking at him,
she batted his sword aside and slid hers upwards. Her blade cut across his
shoulder and throat in a single stroke. Blood splattered across her as the
Shade collapsed.
The Shade with the dagger, took a
couple of steps back as his eyes met hers. With widened eyes, he opened his
mouth to scream, but she was faster. Crouching down, the jewel in her blade
erupted with powerful magic and enveloped her in a rush of wind. Propelled
forward with such force, her sword went to the hilt through his chest. As he
fell limp on her weapon, she reached over and snatched the black dagger from
his cold hand.
As she pulled her sword free, her
eyes settled on the demon jewel that pulsed in the handle. Keyra was just about
to sheath the sword and pry the jewel free when she was knocked to the ground.
Beautiful brown eyes looked down at her, one hand held her shoulder down while
the other pinned her fist that had the dagger.
"Come back!" He shouted
at her.
An eyebrow came down in irritation
and she attempted to free herself from his grip to destroy the jewel. Her eyes
noted a dagger sheathed on his belt in reach of her free hand. She shot her
hand forward, took the weapon and pulled it free of its sheath. Keyra then
proceeded to drive the weapon into his shoulder, thus releasing tension on her
shoulder as he reeled backwards with a yell.
Sitting up, she brought the dagger
back to her gaze and prepared to take the jewel from its weapon. However, what
she saw caused her to look up and glare at the young man who was kneeling in
front of her wincing in pain. One hand clutched the wound, blood all over his
shoulder and fingers. In his other hand sat the black jewel and a tiny little
pixie thing. The girl gazed at Keyra in fear and awe.
Slowly he closed his hand over the
jewel and the presence of a demon jewel faded away. With it, her power went
dormant as well. Keyra's eyes glazed over for a moment before she came back to
herself. Finding herself staring at the handsome young man she felt heat on her
face and then she gasped as she noticed his wound.
"What... did I do?"
"You went crazy," he replied, glaring at her in return.
Keyra blushed and bit her lip then slowly scooted towards him, her fingers reaching for his wounded shoulder, "Did I do that to you?" her voice was soft as she asked, afraid of the answer.
"It's nothing," he muttered.
The little fairy reverted to her larger size and reached over to take the dagger from his shoulder. Keyra remembered the girls name, it was Fay. Once his shoulder was healed, Fay turned and smiled at her.
"You're injured too, let me help."
Keyra didn't have much time to argue for the Fae moved right next to her and healed the cut along the top of her shoulder. She kept silent, staring at the ground and trying not to look at the blood that stained her clothing. It was just like the time before. Then she remembered the demon jewel. It hadn't been in her hand when she came back from her little rampage.
"The demon jewel!"
"Right here," Raiyn said, holding his hand out. The jewel was intact and Keyra reeled away from it, fearful that she would go into another frenzy. "Don't worry, it's not active," he told her shortly.
"Why didn't I destroy it?"
"Because I stopped you."
"What!? Why?" her eyes were wide as she stared at him.
"After that little show of yours I figured it'd be a good way to practice."
"Practice?"
Raiyn frowned at her as he pocketed the jewel, "You sure are slow. You can't fight, and when you do fight it's because you're out of control. I figured this would help you get some control."
Keyra stared at him, dumbfounded. Her heart in her throat, "But... how? Who's going to help me do that?"
"Raiyn is of course! He's the greatest swordsman around and he can definitely handle you!" Fay exclaimed, a brilliant smile on her face as she leaned over and gazed up at Keyra.
"This demon jewel is unique. You didn't notice it because it wasn't active. It only becomes dangerous once the magic inside of it is turned on," Raiyn told her as he stood up. Keyra got to her feet as well and stared at him, oblivious to the people around them that had started to whisper among themselves.
"Come on, lets get out of here. The town guards will be here soon and you don't want to be around for that," Raiyn said and snatched her hand. Keyra was at a loss at what to do as he pulled her along and towards the edge of town. Once they were outside, he let go of her hand and she fell in step behind him. Curious now more than ever, she wondered why he'd saved her a second time and what it was exactly he wanted with demon jewels.
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