 
                 --===Net Wolf | Lira's Home | Chapter 2===--
 
+ 
Lira's Home
 
A Fallon's Resurrection Story
 


Chapter 2
 


Darren wheeled around, his posture clearly ready for attack, until he saw a
sharp sword aimed straight for his throat. Lira was crouched slightly, her
right leg back, her body ready for the first - and most likely last - lunge of
the fight. Darren quickly rearranged his posture, not wishing to become dead
in the next few moments.
 
Orin, who had known of Lira's presence, turned more sedately. He noted the
skilled way in which she handled herself. It wasn't just the ambush she'd
prepared, which was masterful, but her entire body radiated power and talent.
He bowed to her in respect, to which she did absolutely nothing.
 
"My name," he began softly, not moving any more than necessary, "is Orin
Tobias. I once lived in Navanar, though now I do not have a home. This is my
apprentice, Darren Greelix. I am a hunter as well as a guide."
 
"Why were you hunting me?" Lira asked, her voice clearly demonstrating her
distrust of these men.
 
"Well, not hunting, really, though we were tracking you. I was asked to find
you by Sioran, the master psionic. He visited Navanar two weeks ago, and found
you missing. He was concerned for your whereabouts and well-being, and asked
if I would search for you."
 
"They see me in Navanar regularly," she said, her sword still poised for
action, though it was no longer pointed directly at either of them.
 
"Yes, and he was told this. Still, Sioran, like all psionics, has his own way
of doing things. He told me to ask after your cup. I do not know what that
means."
 
Lira relaxed. Unless someone had been listening in on their last conversation,
only someone sent by Sioran himself would know about that. He had told her
that anyone he sent would ask about her favorite cup, the one that had
revealed her magic to her.
 
Sheathing her blade, she relaxed her posture. Darren was clearly relieved that
he was no longer being threatened. Orin nodded in gratitude. Lira looked at
the two of them. Orin's hair was now silver, and it was impossible to tell
what color it had once been. His face was weatherworn and creased from years
of exposure to wind and sun. Darren, on the other hand, had a long mane of
black hair, his green eyes flashing with intelligence and curiosity. He was a
good four inches taller than Lira, but just as slight as she was.
 
"Obviously, you know who I am. These are my woods. Tracking me here was
dangerous... had you gotten closer to me before I found out you were there, I
would have killed you without giving you time to explain yourself."
 
"I am sorry about that. Unfortunately, it was the only way to find you. Might
I ask if you could provide us with shelter for the night? It looks like it
might rain again, and we have a long way to go."
 
She considered telling them to go back to Navanar, but they were right. It was
a three hour walk from where they were standing, and the rain appeared to be
only half that time away. Even checking her traps, it would only take an hour
to return to her home. Her upbringing and manners forced her to allow them
shelter.
 
"Very well. I must check my traps. If there isn't enough there, I hope you
brought food with you, or you're going to be very hungry." She walked past
them with confidence. As she passed that certain spot in the path, she said,
"C'mon, Kit."
 
The two men were stunned to see a small fox leap out from under a bush onto
the path. The fox took up the lead about ten yards ahead of Lira, and led them
along the path. The two men stared at each other briefly before they followed
after the other two.
 


-----
 


The people said very little to each other on their trip through the forest.
Kit, of course, said nothing, though her ears continued to swivel, as if she
was listening to everything that was going on around her.
 
They had no luck at all with Lira's traps until they reached the last one, and
this one would be something of a problem. Lira's traps were designed to catch
small prey: rabbits, mostly, the occasional squirrel, and on rare occasions,
something more tasty.
 
Now was one of those occasions, but this time dinner was nearly as dangerous
as it would be good to eat. Somehow, a wild boar had gotten snared in her
trap. The animal was clearly angry and ready for a fight. It had tried to chew
through the snare, but could not reach it well enough. It had gouged up its
own leg trying to get at the rope with its tusks, and Lira was sure this only
added to its anger.
 
Kit quickly backed away from an animal twice her own size. Neither of the men
were entirely sure what to do, either. Orin thought to draw his own sword, or
have Darren use his bow, but neither of those things proved necessary.
 
Lira pulled her sword free, and chanted. Aiming her sword at the boar, a blast
of light lunged from the tip of her blade to a spot right between the animal's
eyes. As the two men looked on in astonishment, the boar fell over, dead.
 
As Lira began to work the snare loose from the boar, Orin finally caught his
voice. "Sioran didn't tell us you were a magician."
 
Lira snorted without looking up at them. "He must not like you very much."
 
Orin chuckled. "How did you learn to do that?" It was clear he meant the
magic, and not snaring the pig.
 
Lira shrugged. "One morning, I just realized that I could use magic. It has to
do with the cup you mentioned earlier. Anyway, once I learned I could use
magic, I started playing with it. Since I've always been a fighter, my magic
skills tend to be mostly fighting related."
 
As Lira was about to pick up the boar, Darren was going to help her. Orin
stopped him with a hand. Lira grabbed the animal's hooves, two in each hand,
and hefted. The boar arced through the air, landing squarely on Lira's
shoulders. She shrugged a few times to settle the animal into place, and then
moved out, Kit once again leading.
 
"The nice thing about killing them this way," Lira said, "is that I don't get
blood all over my shirt."
 


-----
 


The group arrived back at Lira's cave just as the first distant roll of
thunder was heard. Lira turned and looked at the clouds. She nodded, and then
walked into the cave, dropping the dead boar about halfway in. Kit trotted
over to a soft spot and lay down, her tail covering not just her nose, but in
fact most of her head. Lira smiled at the little animal as she placed a couple
of pieces of wood on the smoldering embers of the fire. She blew on the fire
carefully, and soon it was back to life. That she had let it get so
dangerously low was a bad thing; Lira *could* start a fire from scratch, and
had once even managed to use her magic to do it, but the damage that had
caused was something she didn't want to revisit.
 
Seeing that the fire would soon be going well enough to add larger pieces of
wood, she stepped away from it. She bent down to scratch Kit's ears, but the
animal only whined in acknowledgment, since it was asleep.
 
Finally, Lira turned to her two guests. "Might as well make yourselves as
comfortable as you can. Once that rain hits, you're probably not going to be
leaving here for a day. You don't want to be traveling these mountains in the
rain."
 
Orin settled himself onto the ground, sitting against the cave wall but near
the fire. Darren looked at the old man, and then looked at Lira. She had
settled onto her bed, and was quite comfortable.
 
"Are you not going to offer your elders a more comfortable seat than your
own?" he asked incredulously.
 
"No," she answered bluntly. "This is my home, and I didn't invite you.
Tomorrow, when this rain stops, you will be on your way, and will merely have
to walk. I will have to do real work. You're a traveler, so you should be used
to sitting on the ground."
 
"Darren, you're being most impolite. She's right; we have no right to request
anything more than shelter."
 
"But Master Orin..."
 
"Will you never listen? Tomorrow, we will head back to Navanar to get food,
and we can stay in a hotel and be warm and bathed. Young Lira will still be
out here, making her living off the land. By all rights, we have not earned
the privilege of a soft bed out here."
 
"Yes, Master."
 
"I still don't understand exactly why you are out here," Lira said. "Surely
Sioran's curiosity isn't enough to make someone wander around the forest
looking for me."
 
"You must understand that Sioran is... well, some call him eccentric, others
say crazy, but really he is just of such knowledge that most of us cannot
understand his reasons. The last time he came to the village, he was looking
for you specifically."
 
"Why?" Lira asked with some concern. If a psionic was looking for her, that
was certainly something she should be worried over, regardless of his intent.
 
"I don't know, exactly. Sioran has taken an interest in your progress, and in
your well-being. He did not reveal to me the reason for his attention, but he
was rather adamant about me finding you and making sure that you were all
right, out here alone."
 
"I'm fine," she said stiffly.
 
"So I see. Your magic is quite impressive. I didn't catch you in the forest
until I passed right under you which is, of course, a little too late."
 
"How did you spot me at all?"
 
"I have excellent hearing. You were both breathing deeply, and you were also
obstructing the wind in the tree. Both of these things can be heard, if you
can listen for them."
 
"Hmph," Lira grumbled.
 
"Please do not be offended. I have been hunting for over fifty years. I have
lived as you are doing, only I hunted my food instead of trapping it. I have
learned many things over the course of my life about catching dinner."
 
"I suppose. Speaking of dinner, I guess I'd better get to work skinning ours."
Lira passed on the other side of the fire from Orin, to the boar. As she
dragged the animal close to the fire, the light from the blaze caught a glint
off her right cheek, just below her eye. The flash caused Orin to stare more
closely.
 
"Where did you get that mark?" he asked, his breath short.
 
"What mark?" she asked, for she wasn't aware of it.
 
Orin pointed. "On your cheek, you have a mark. It looks like three crescents."
 
Lira let go of the boar, and walked over to her shelf, where she had a small
mirror. Bringing it closer to the fire, she examined her face. Just below and
outside her right eye, a set of three deep-blue crescents nestled together.
The largest was about the width of her thumb. She had seen a similar image,
but could not quite remember where. She also didn't know where this had come
from.
 
As she turned her head, the fire glinted off this mark on her face, and the
dark blue color flashed to bright sky blue for a mere moment. For some reason,
this jogged her memory, and she realized the only thing that could have put
the mark there.
 
"It must have been the unicorn," she whispered to herself. Darren turned back
from watching the storm, and Orin leaned forward.
 
"You've never seen a unicorn," Darren said disdainfully, turning back from her.
 
"Where did you encounter such a creature?" Orin asked with greater interest.
 
Lira got up to put the mirror back. "In the forest. It had gotten tangled in
some vines and couldn't get loose. I had to cut the vines away from its back
leg. When I was done, it rubbed my cheek with its horn. I guess it put that
mark there." Lira was a little nonplussed at that; why would the animal mark
her for helping it?
 
"A unicorn allowed you to use metal around it?"
 
"It didn't have much choice, if it wanted to get free. I explained myself to
the animal first. I don't know about other people, but I think they're a lot
smarter than we give them credit for."
 
"Indeed. I have not seen a unicorn up close, only from a distance."
 
"I would rather have seen him from a distance," Lira admitted. "He was huge."
 
Orin took this in as Lira began working on the boar. Darren studiously ignored
them both for the moment, instead watching the rain fall in sheets.
 


-----
 


Lira was taking another shower. With her guests present, she'd ducked around
some bushes, away from the cave entrance. Her clothes had gotten mildly wet,
but now they were in a waterproof bag that she had created. She let the rain
water run off her body, and it felt good. This rain was gentler than the sea
storm that had blown through, and warmer, as well. This was a thoroughly
pleasant shower.
 
Lira allowed her mind to drift over events. It both worried and excited her
that Sioran was interested in her. It was exciting because he was a psionic,
and the psionics rarely took an interest in anyone. It was worrying because if
he *did* have an interest in her, it probably meant he wanted something from
her, and she wasn't prepared to give anything to a man she barely knew.
 
Lira's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the impression that she was being
watched. She grabbed the dagger she had brought out with her - Lira went
nowhere without protection of some kind - and wheeled to face...
 
Nothing. There was no one there, at least that she could see. She crouched,
her eyes and ears searching the surroundings. She looked in all directions,
including up, but still, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Lira decided
that she had showered long enough, and collected her things.
 
There was a small alcove just inside the mouth of the cave which would allow
her to dry off and dress without being ogled by Darren. When she got to the
cave, however, she heard something going on inside. Looking into the dim
light, she saw that Darren was trying to wrestle something from Kit. The young
man shoved the fox, and Kit stumbled backward, tripping.
 
"Next time, you dumb animal, just give it to me when - OW!" Darren's hand went
up to the back of his head, and came away bloody from the rock that had nailed
him squarely. He wheeled to see Lira, still nude, standing in the entrance to
the cave. He was far too angry to appreciate her beauty.
 
"You touch that animal like that again," Lira said, her voice dripping with
hatred, "and the next thing that hits you in the back of the head will have a
blade attached." Lira strode into the cave, carrying her bag. She ignored her
nudity as she walked over to Kit, picking up the poor animal, which was
shaking like a leaf. She stroked Kit gently, deliberately ignoring Darren.
 
"Hey, look, she's an animal, I'm a person. I have priority..."
 
Lira set Kit down gently on her own bed. Her hand reached for her sword.
Before Darren knew what was happening, Lira whirled on him. She smacked him
upside the head with the flat of her sword, sending him spinning to the
ground. Darren was about to get up when he felt the very sharp point of Lira's
blade pressing against his throat. Even without her sword pressing against his
Adam's apple, he would have found it difficult to swallow. With it there, he
found swallowing totally impossible.
 
"Maybe you didn't hear me," Lira said, her eyes burning with fury. "This is
Kit's home. You are an unwanted guest. Treat her with that level of disrespect
again, and I will feed your corpse to her for lunch. Assuming she would eat
anything as rancid as you are." Lira withdrew her sword, and was satisfied to
see a small trickle of blood flowing from Darren's neck.
 
Returning to the bed, Lira set her sword down. She petted Kit lovingly, until
the animal calmed down, and then she reached for her clothing. She got dressed
in front of the two men without any outward emotional display. Inwardly, she
was proud of her body, and knew the effect it had on men, and even boys, but
that was not something she had to concern herself with in the presence of
these two. Orin was clearly too old for her, and if Darren tried anything, she
would cut off his dick and feed it to the fox. That idea appealed to her so
much, she actually grinned.
 
When she was finally dressed, she turned to Orin, a look of displeasure on her
face. "You should have better control of your apprentice."
 
"I apologize for his behavior. He doesn't listen very well."
 
"He doesn't listen at all," Lira spat.
 
"The enthusiasm of youth," Orin explained dismissively.
 
"Yeah, well, his enthusiasm is going to keep him from growing out of his
youth."
 
"I apologize. Unlike you, he's not had to struggle alone. It gives him a
somewhat more idealistic view of the world."
 
Lira said nothing. She settled back onto the bed, and pulled Kit into her lap.
The animal whined slightly, and then calmed, finally settling from the
unpleasant events.
 



 


The rain subsided during the night, and the people in the cave woke to a
quiet, sultry morning. Lira picked some fruits from nearby plants for their
breakfast, and they sat quietly, eating their meal.
 
After breakfast, Orin sent Darren to Navanar, to fetch supplies. Lira eyed him
as he did so, thinking this was merely to get Darren out of her hair. She was
correct.
 
"Darren has been with me for just under a year. If you had met him then...
well, chances are he would not have lived long enough to become my apprentice."
 
Lira smiled at him, but said nothing. Kit sat in her lap, eyeing Orin across
the fire.
 
"I know you are still curious about why Sioran would send someone looking for
you. First, though, could you tell me about the cup?"
 
Lira gently moved Kit off her lap, and stood up. She walked over to her shelf,
and retrieved the heavy clay vessel. It was colored a deep midnight blue, and
it was very precious to her. She held it out to Orin, so that he could see it.
 
"One of the craftsmen in the village made this for me when I was young. It was
a present, and at the time, it was the only cup I would drink out of. Then,
one day, through my own stupidity, I knocked it off the table, and it broke
into several pieces. Of course, as heavy as it is, it didn't shatter. Well, I
picked it up, crying, and reassembled the pieces in my hands, holding them
tightly. That was the first time I felt my magic. It repaired the cup
completely." She set the object back on her shelf.
 
"Anyway, now I only drink out of that cup for special occasions, but that's
the story of the cup. Ever since, I've learned to use magic to do this and
that, mainly to help me with my fighting, not that I've had to do much of that
out here."
 
"But you will, when you grow older. The Aspelians..."
 
"The Aspelians are not my concern unless they want to take my forest, which
they don't. I know all about the rebellion, and I know what the cost of it is.
The cost is too high."
 
Orin squirmed uncomfortably in his place on the ground. "Sioran would not like
to hear you talking like that. He had hoped that you would one day be a strong
part of the rebellion."
 
"Yeah, well, I don't take orders from him, either. I've seen too many of my
friends killed or maimed because they went up against the Aspelians. So long
as they don't bother me, I have no intention of bothering them."
 
Orin sat in silence for several minutes. Kit, who had wandered off while Lira
had talked about her cup, finally came back into the cave. A couple of low
whimpers, and she then came back to Lira, settling down in the girl's lap.
 
Orin asked, "How do you come to own such an animal?"
 
"I don't own her," Lira said. "It would, in fact, be more accurate to say she
owns me. She wandered in during the sea storm, and decided to stay. She owes
me nothing, but as you have seen, I will take care of her as best I can."
 
"You have a fox for a companion, and the mark of the unicorn on your cheek.
You seem to have a true affinity for animals."
 
"Animals are all you have out here in the forest. I find them far easier to
deal with than the people who come into this area. Even the cougar that lives
on the other side of the river is fairly simple to understand, and he has no
ulterior motive behind his actions. He wants to eat. If you are dumb enough to
become his meal, that's not his fault. I understand these creatures better
than I do people."
 
"You trust Kit," Orin said. It wasn't a question.
 
"Yes. I trust her to do what she does. I trust her to let me know if someone
who shouldn't be around is, in fact, nearby. That's how I noticed you so
early. You may be able to avoid my ears, but you aren't getting past hers."
 
"So true," Orin replied with a chuckle.
 
The pair talked for some time, but their conversation was interrupted when Kit
bolted out of Lira's lap, and stood, yapping at the entrance to the cave.
Darren appeared in the opening shortly thereafter, and looked as if he'd run
for a very great distance.
 
"You'd both... better come see," he gasped.
 


-----
 


The trio moved quickly through the forest, hampered only by Darren's fatigue.
He had explained to them that there was something badly wrong in the village,
but he would go no further than that, other than to insist that it was
something Lira needed to see and be aware of.
 
Lira moved deftly along the path. Had any robbers or marauders gotten in her
way at this point, their lives would have been over in moments. Kit ran along,
right by her side. As Orin watched from his position at the back of the group,
he noticed how the fox stuck by her caretaker, and he had the sneaking
suspicion that anyone that tried to mess with Lira would end up with several
nasty bites before all was said and done.
 
As they reached the edge of the forest, the group slowed. Kit hid behind Lira,
for she had never left the forest before. Lira looked out toward the coast,
and it was quite clear that something very bad had happened in Navanar.
 
"C'mon, Kit," Lira said quietly, and the two of them took off at a dead run.
Neither Darren nor Orin could hope to keep up with them. Lira moved over the
ground like a ghost, her feet barely touching. She was using her magic to
increase her speed. She couldn't do this for very long, but Navanar wasn't
far. Kit was barely keeping up, and about halfway there, Lira slowed down to
give the poor animal a break.
 
When they walked into Navanar, it was clear that a battle had been fought
here. Some stores were on fire. Other businesses, as well as the blacksmith's
shop, were wrecked. The only inn in Navanar had been brought completely to the
ground.
 
That was not the worst of it. Bodies were lying everywhere. Lira kept her head
up, not wanting to look too closely at the carnage. Kit whimpered, huddling
close to Lira's leg. The pair moved up the street, and soon they saw something
worse than the dead bodies. They were suddenly confronted with the wounded,
bleeding bodies of the survivors. Lira's stomach churned as she saw gaping
wounds. When she saw one man run through with a pike, she had to turn away.
 
A woman who was not as badly injured as the rest saw Lira. The woman was one
of the shopkeepers, and recognized the girl. She limped over to her.
 
"Lira, you shouldn't have come back here!" the woman hissed.
 
"Dana, what *happened*?" Lira cried.
 
"It was the Aspelian army. They came, and they took what they wanted. Anyone
who got in their way was killed."
 
Lira heard her other companions coming up behind her. "What did they want?"
she asked.
 
The woman's face was pained. "I think you'd better go see your home, child."
 
A cold, iron fist gripped Lira's heart. She embraced the woman momentarily,
and then she took off for her home, Kit at her feet.
 
The run did not take her long, but when she saw what was left of the orphanage
where she had been raised, she couldn't catch her breath. The house was
destroyed, though it still stood. Walls were blown out, and an entire quarter
of the building was missing altogether. She walked timidly into the rubble,
uncertain of what she hoped - or feared - to find.
 
After several minutes of aimless wandering, Lira heard a groan. She quickly
moved down a hallway, searching. When she heard another groan, she turned into
one of the rooms.
 
There, lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood, lay her home mother. The
woman's face was pasty in a way that said she would not be in this world much
longer.
 
"Kepara!" Lira cried, dropping to her knees next to the woman. She cradled the
lady's head in her lap.
 
"Lira... get away from here... The Aspelians... took... your brothers... and
sisters."
 
A sudden, intense rage washed over Lira. She'd heard stories of what the
Aspelian soldiers would do to children. Her hands shook as she held her home
mother, watching as the last vestiges of her life slipped away. Lira was
crying as she allowed the woman's head to slip from her lap, gently to rest on
the floor.
 
Lira rose. This was a place of death, and it was not somewhere she should be.
She walked resolutely out of the room. There was nothing she could do for
Kepara, except to find the bastards who had done this.
 
Lira met up with Orin and Darren in what remained of the main hall of her
home. She was just about to speak when she saw Darren's eyes go wide. She spun
to see a huge Aspelian soldier in the company of a small Fallon man.
 
"That's her," The Fallon said.
 
As the Aspelian advanced, Lira pulled her sword. The soldier actually began to
laugh at the puny female confronting him. His laugh did not last very long.
With a mighty shout, which was actually a spell, Lira leapt at him, her body
twisting at the last moment. Her sword was a blur as it flashed in a circle.
The Aspelian's head was neatly severed from his body, and he was falling to
the ground before Lira's feet ever touched down.
 
The Fallon man looked at his fallen companion, and then at Lira. He thought to
run, but she drew her dagger.
 
"If you move, I'll put this right through your skull," she said, her voice
full of hatred and venom. The man did not move. "Down on your knees," she said.
 
"What do you plan to do?" Orin asked quietly, from some distance away.
 
"First, I'm going to find out what this maggot knows," she said, her voice low
and deadly. "And then I'm going to teach the Aspelians why they should have
left me alone."
 





 

 




