From alt.pub.dragons-inn Mon Feb  7 15:46:05 1994
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!olivea!spool.mu.edu!caen!malgudi.oar.net!sun!vax.cns.muskingum.edu!hsexauer
From: hsexauer@vax.cns.muskingum.edu (Rapunzel)
Subject: [Legacy] Fancy meeting you here...
Message-ID: <1994Feb6.171504.1@vax.cns.muskingum.edu>
Lines: 316
Sender: root@sun.cns.muskingum.edu (Operator)
Organization: Muskingum College
Date: Sun, 6 Feb 1994 22:15:04 GMT


	Noon of the fourth day from the village found the two travellers riding
into the center of the small town nearest the corrupted lands.  Ruel led Aleric
to an inn he knew of where they took a room for the night.  While losing a half
day's travel chafed, there were several things they needed to do in town. 
Priority was given to finding a physician for Ruel.  They found proper care for
the valeman's wounds, as an untended strike from a night haunt meant death. 
Next they spent time gathering supplies for an extended journey, as Aleric had
come from his other group ill-equipped and Ruel had not planned on a long trip
at the outset.  Both retired early that night in order to be well rested for
the next leg of the journey.
	At dawn the next morning they rode out as soon as the town's gates
opened.  Clouds were gathering and spreading across the horizon.  It was
promising to be a truly miserable day.  Aleric unrolled his green cloak and
wrapped it around his shoulders to ward off the inevitable dampness.
	"Perfect weather for starting a long journey," Aleric remarked
sarcastically.  If there was one thing he disliked the most, it was getting
soaked at the start of a trip.
	Ruel only shrugged.  "It will be a brief shower, then grey and cloudy
for the remainder of the day."  The rising breeze lifted his dark curls and
tugged at his cloak.  He seemed nonplussed by the weather, as if since leaving
the sickened lands nothing could impede their quest.
	As predicted, the cloud bank thickened and turned a dark grey.  Late
that morning the leading edge seemed to dissolve into the driving rain that
pounded the earth.  Aleric rode with his oiled cloak wrapped tightly around his
lean frame and the hood pulled far down over his face which bore an expression
of profound disgust.  By shortly after midday, the rain had tapered off into a
fine drizzle that eventually stopped.  They rode in silence with only the sound
of the horses' hooves squelching in the mud.

	Because of the rain, the temperature remained cool enough over the next
few days for cloaks to be a necessity.  All the travellers, few that there
were, they passed were shapeless lumps hidden by the cloaks they wore.  Some
were perched atop their wagons or horses, others not.  For that matter, most of
the people of the region had a sort of uniformity about them.  Similar stature
and mode of dress.  Perhaps that was why one lone wayfarer coming towards the
mounted men stood out from the rest.  He was on foot, line many who followed
the road; so that was not unusual.  Nor was the voluminous hooded cloak the
color of wet ashes.  Many travellers wore their hoods up to protect the head. 
What made this one man catch their attention was that they could see he was a
head taller than most of his compatriots, and more importantly, that he was
unarmed.
	Ruel, frowning in thought, nudged Aleric to gain his attention.  "See
that guy," he said in a low voice, "the one that's coming this way?  Must be
some kind of fool to be wandering around unarmed."
	Aleric glanced at his friend.  "Maybe he thinks he's a match for anyone
who wants to bother him?" he offered.
	The other snorted lightly and rolled his eyes at the Lyorn.  "Even at
his size he'd be no match for one of the local forrors if they were of the
mind."  Both fell silent again as they neared the solitary traveller.
	Aleric watched him covertly as he approached.  The one hand he could
see that clutched the neck of his cloak shut was extremely plae.  The alabaster
skin had a slight bluish cast that made it appear almost translucent.  The head
was bent, studying the ground, but as he passed the two men it lifted toward
them to give them a passing glance.  The hood still shadowed most of the face,
but the Lyorn saw the hard line of the jaw and the plane of a cheek fading into
the shadows.  The skin was the same pallid color of the hand.  
	<Poor guy.> Aleric thought, <He seems to be an albino.>  Then he was
past them and the head bent to study the ground with fascination once more.  He
continued to trudge along on his business, slowly growing farther away.
	The next day the weather was still murky, but was showing signs of
clearing.  A stiff breeze was moving the clouds away to rain on another part of
the land, allowing patches of blue sky to peek through here and there.  Ruel
and Aleric amused themselves by telling much embellished and possibly fanciful
tales of amorous encounters to while away the tedious hours.  In the midst of
one such tale, Ruel was cheerfully illustrating his points with sweeping
gestures.  Watching his new friend, Aleric happened to glimpse a swatch of grey
wool among the brush.  He thought for a minute he saw a figure seated beneath
the trees back in the forest, but upon second glance decided he was mistaken. 
He tuned into Ruel's tale once more and politely listened to the rest of the
figment of his friend's imagination.  
	They travelled more or less in this routine fashion until they reached
the next town of any size.  Their road had led in a wide sweeping westerly
curve toward the border lands.  With his journey to the keep well begun, Aleric
was in high spirits.  They rode into town just as the sun disappeared over the
western barrier range.  As the town was a fair distance from the corrupted
land of the Shekiren and not more than two day's travel from Cedarcliff Pass, a
great many people were moving about on the streets.  A new train of merchants
had just arrived from elsewhere in the Vale to sell their goods, and the town's
citizens were taking advantage of their arrival.  A sort of temporary gathering
had been set up forming a large marketplace where both newcomers and citizens
sold their wares.  People had been coming from the outlying villages to attend
so the inns were crowded.  Aleric and Ruel found a suitable place and settled
down to a hot meal and ale.
	
	Afterwards, Ruel sat back leisurely while the two watched a lively game
of darts on the other side of the tavern.  A young woman with a scruffy
appearance had challenged a tall, dark haired elf to a game after a
disparraging comment made by the latter.  Both were quite good, but the woman
threw her darts with a skill that Aleric had learned to recognize as a sign of
a supremely practiced knife thrower.  She was probably a very good thief as
well, since for some reason those traits marched hand in hand.  Several had
clustered around the pair to bet on the outcome.
	The elf was up to throw and just as he cast his dart an excited bettor
bumped his elbow.  The dart flew wide of the mark.  None of those in the group
had noticed the foul, and the bettor was not forthcoming with his error.
	"Here now! You can't count that throw because I was jostled!" the elf
exclaimed irately.
	"Oh come on, Andel!  You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" the
woman replied sharply.  "You just missed."
	"I tell you someone hit me, Casea!" The bettor in fault kept his mouth
shut as he was in favor of the woman.  He hadn't done it intentionally, but if
it let him win the large amount he stood to gain... well, he wasn't opposed to
lying.
	An argument started in their midst with the spectators one by one
joining.  Finally, when it seemed about to come to blows, Ruel dropped his heel
off the table and sat up.  He rose and wandered over.
	"Excuse me, but if I may help to clear this little misunderstanding?"
he offered carefully.  The combatants looked at him suspiciously, but seeing
that he wasn't a bettor they were willing to listen.  "I couldn't help but
notice from my seat over there," he gestured to the table where the Lyorn
watched the proceedings with amusement, "that this fellow here happened to lean
a little too close and bump the elf's arm."  All eyes turned to the man in
question who reddened under the accusing scrutiny.  The end result was the
differences were resolved amicably and Andel was allowed to cast again.  Ruel
was asked to remain as judge.  He gladly accepted with a quick apologetic look
at Aleric.  The Lyorn, it seemed, had discovered the dark young valeman's one
weakness for gaming contests.  He smiled in reply and decided to go for a walk
in the cool night air.
	Outside, the night had advanced to the darkest hours where the moon was
hidden by the thick clouds.  Few people were still on the streets, most having
found a tavern for a night's drinking or seeking their beds.  The peaceful
solitude of the deserted market square was calming.  Aleric took a deep breath
and sighed.  Every once in a while he liked the absolute solitude of being
alone.  He wandered away from the tavern and wound his way through the lanes of
wagons and tents belonging to the merchants.  Lulled by the quiet calm, he made
the mistake of letting down his guard too much.
	Close to the furthest lane of the market square, a beggar crouched in
the shadows of a large shop.  He had his knees drawn up to his chin and his
head and shoulders hunched down.  The cracked and hoarse voice rose
querrelously as he tall, golden haired warrior neared.
	"Have you anything to spare, young sir?"
	Feeling pity for the man, Aleric came to stand before his.  "I can give
you a good meal at least..." he began when a pale hand shot out and grabbed his
right wrist.  It was clad in a cloak the color of wet ashes and felt icy cold on
Aleric's warm skin.  He instinctively jerked his hand back but the fingers
tightened around his wrist and kept their grip.  The man rose fluidly to his
feet and Aleric found himself looking at the alabaster face of the albino. 
Only the eyes were not the pale pinkish color normal to an albino, but with
wide pupils reducing the iris to a thin line, making the eyes look black.  A
burning hunger smoldered in their depths as they started at the young man.
	"I want more than that from you, Nilsangehir."
	Frightened now, Aleric's homocidal instincts kicked in.  Moving with
lightning speed he grabbed the other's wrist and wrenched it while twisting his
own, breaking the hold.  The touch with the icy skin seemed to have frozen his
right hand making it almost useless.  He could feel nothing but a tingling from
the wrist to his fingers, and very little immediately above the wrist.  He
lashed out with a powerful kick that would have sent the albino sprawling had
he been there to receive it.  But once the move had begun the other had ducked
down only to rise again leaping to tackle the Lyorn while he was off balance.
Fortunately, Aleric anticipated such a thing and ducked into a forward roll
finishing by rising to his feet.  He was becoming worried now since his left
hand, that he freed himself with, was also starting to numb and he couldn't
grip a weapon with either hand.  Dodging the attacks of the albino, which were
becoming increasingly more dangerous, he decided he might want to give some
thought to escaping.
	Aleric waited for his chance then delivered another kick, this time
connecting with the other's chin and sending him tumbling backwards.  Without
waiting for the albino to recover, Aleric darted away between two wagons.  His
foe was quick to follow and Aleric was forced to use all his skill to evade his
pursuer.  They wove in and among the merchants' tents and wagons playing a game
of cat and mouse.  The Lyorn knew he couldn't keep it up forever, so began
leading his enemy in another direction while he formulated a plan.  While
circling the square Aleric had seen several useful things that gave him the
idea.  He watched for his moment, ever leading the albino closer to his goal.
	At one point, Aleric finally managed to get out of sight momentarily. 
Using the opportunity, he willed his numbed hands to work and leapt for the
nearest wagon.  He pulled himself to the roof and lay flat, hardly daring to
breathe.  For the moment, the albino missed his prey and hurried past.  Aleric
rolled off the roof and dashed to the small shop he'd noticed earlier.  One
window on the alley was slightly ajar.  He pulled it open as quietly as
possible, cursing his useless fingers, and slipped inside shutting the window
entirely behind him.  He knelt low and waited to hear what happened.  With
luck, the albino had not seen him enter and would realize his prey had escaped
elsewhere.  Several minutes passed.  A snarl of rage sounded from somewhere
outside.  It had been almost too easy for him to have escaped freely.  He
stayed where he was.
	Since his eyes had by now accustomed themselves to the darkness within
the shop, Aleric looked around for another way out.  There were all kinds of
oddities on display in the shop, and several doors leading in different
directions.  He chose the one that was nearest to him on the back wall, and
using his best abilities at sneaking around (which were not very profound) he
crept to the door.  The bolt sounded very loud to Aleric's nervous ears when he
opened the door.  Nevertheless, he ducked inside and carefully eased the door
shut.  All he had time to discern was that he was now in a windowless room
before something knocked him down and knelt on his chest with one knee in his
throat.  He felt the sharp point of a dagger touch his neck warningly.
	"You've got about thirty seconds to explain what you think you're doing
in here before I open you up from chin to cods," a light female voice advised. 
The dagger pressed harder against the Lyorn's skin.  
	"Please," Aleric said with difficulty, it's very hard to breathe with a
knee crushing one's windpipe, "if you let me breathe I can explain.  I don't
want to hurt you."  The pressure on his windpipe lessened.
	"Your voice sounds familiar," the attacker said slowly.  She called out
softly to another, "Tierge, some light if you would."  Softly, another soft
voice murmured a command and a magelight started to glow from the other side of
the room.  Aleric squinted at the bright light emanating from the mage's
upraised hand.  In the glare he could see little other than that the mage was
female.  He turned his head back to look at his captor.
	Their eyes met and her green eyes widened suddenly in surprise.  The
dagger disappeared instantly and the knees slid off to one side so she was
kneeling next to him.  He suddenly found himself wrapped in the fierce embrace
of the woman leaning over him.  "Aleric, love!  I'm sorry, how could I know it
was you?" she cried.
	He sat up, quite confused, still being hugged by the woman who was now
sitting in his lap.  She pulled back to look at him, touching his face gently. 
Now he could pick out what he missed before.  She had changed since he last saw
her.  Her face was delicate with graceful lines framed by reddish blonde hair. 
Her hair hung in thick waves to her waist, falling around her thin shoulders. 
She had matured into the beautiful woman before him.
	"Kia?" Aleric asked, incredulous.  "What are you doing all the way over
here?  Does Father know?"  His sister's brow wrinkled in consternation.  Her
green eyes darkened.
	"Aleric n'hir Lyorn, may I ask you if you've noticed that I'm not a
child anymore that needs you to look after my every move?" Kieriah inquired
with asperity.  Then she couldn't restrain herself any longer and kissed his
cheek, wrapping her arms around him again.  She sighed happily. "I've missed
you so much, big brother."  He circled her with his arms tightly.
	The sound of a throat clearing caused them both to look.  The mage sat
on her bed still holding the magelight and watching the pair.  "If I'm not
interrupting anything... Kia, can I ask what your brother was doing in here and
how he got past my wardance spells?"
	"I'm sorry," Aleric apologized while disentangling from his sister.  "I
was in a bit of trouble outside and a window in your shop was open, so I
borrowed it."  
	"That explains how you got past the fields," the mage mused.
	Aleric went to straighten his swordbelt and involuntarily smacked his
chest with lifeless hands.  He swore inventively.  
	Kieriah took his hands in her smaller ones and turned them over to look
at them.  "What happened to you?"  she asked horrified.  His hands had taken on
the same pale color of the albino, and it seemed to be spreading.
	Aleric paused in his cursing to answer. "That's a result of the trouble
it seems.  I don't know why it's happening, but I know how it started."  He
explained quickly starting with his encounter with the albino.  The mage had
risen gracefully to her feet and glided over to inspect him.
	"You've been infected by a Shekiren," she told him.  Looking at his
hands, she did not noticed Aleric's peculiar start of surprise.  "Fortunately
for you, I can cure it.  Most people die from it slowly if there are no mages
around of high enough skill."  Aleric, who stood a good foot and a half taller
than the tiny mage, looked down at the top of her head as she started to
perform her art.  First she cupped her hand and let the magelight form a sphere
that floated to drift above her head.  Then taking his forearms above the
infection, she sent her magic coursing through his veins in a fiery stream. 
The tall man stiffened in agony and clamped his teeth shut to avoid any
inadvertant exclamations.
	For what seemed like an eternity to the pained Lyorn, the woman held
her power on him while the color slowly drained back into his hands.  It came
witha reluctant creeping that seemed to fight for every inch.  The mage frowned
and intensified her efforts.  It was as if she reached into his body and set
his very soul on fire with her magic.  But at last, the final vestiges of
pallid skin returned to the healthy color that was their norm.  Once gone, the
mage changed her thrust and allowed a soothing force to wash over him, cooling
and erasing the pain her cure had caused.  When she finished, she removed her
hands and stepped away.
	Aleric found himself in a heap on the floor, cradled in Kieriah's arms. 
She pushed an errant lock of hair from his forehead and looked up at the mage. 
"You didn't need to be so rough," she accused.  "I've seen you cure others and
it wasn't like that."
	The mage bowed her head, allowing her chestnut hair to fall forward
hiding her face.  "I am sorry, but for some reason it was more difficult this
time.  I did what I had to," she replied without apology.  When she raised her
head, she looked tired as if in some way it had cost her immeasurably as well.
	"No, no.  I am fine now," Aleric broke in as he pushed himself up. 
Kieriah released her hold on him, but hovered anxiously near her favorite
brother.  "Look Kia, I can move my fingers now."  He flexed them into fists and
then flat again.  He glanced at the mage, "Thank you...."  He trailed off with
a look to his sister to supply a name.
	She took charge, seeing that introductions were in order.  "How silly
of me to forget.  Of course I should have introduced you.  After all," she
looked at the mage with upraised eyebrow, "it's not every day that lost
relatives sneak into your bedrooms at night."  Aleric gave her an annoyed look,
to which the girl laughed.  "Brother dear, this is my esteemed friend and
business associate, Tiergeralandia."
	The mage gave a reproachful glare to Kieriah and explained, "My parents
suffered from a fit of extravagance when they named me.  It took me months to
learn how to spell my own name.  It's such a mouthful to say, I usually ask
people to use Tierge."  
	"And this is my wandering oldest brother Aleric whom I haven't seen
since I was sixteen," she introduced.  She gave him a backhand swat to the
shoulder as she said this.
	"Hey, is it my fault you left home to start your business?" he
protested.  "I was there two years ago to visit."
	"Before you start a sibling squabble," Tierge interrupted, "I'd like to
suggest we continue this tomorrow.  It _is_ the middle of the night and after
such an expenditure of power I need to rest."  She did indeed look exhausted,
and the reunited brother and sister were quick to comply.
	"We have much to discuss, but it can wait until the morning," the Lyorn
said.  "I should return to..."
	"Is that wise?  I assume the Shekiren is still out there somewhere,"
his sister warned.  She cast a look over one shoulder to Tierge.  
	"I would guess so.  But why it's here in the free lands in the first
place..." she spread her hands.  She crossed her arms over her chest and tapped
one finger on her cheek.  "I'll send someone at dawn for your things.  I should
think you'd like to stay with Kieriah."
	"I have a companion..."
	"No matter.  The messenger can both collect your gear and bring your
friend," the little mage decided.  "This is my shop and I've plenty of space. 
But no one is going anywhere until dawn when the dark one's powers will fade." 
The mage fixed both with a challenging stare.  Aleric capitulated and was given
a place to sleep for the night.  All settled in to rest for the few remaining
hours before daybreak.


	 

-- 
Heather Sexauer
Muskingum College
hsexauer@muskingum.edu

	
	"We'll never survive....."

	"Nonsense.  You're only saying that because no one ever has."

						-- Princess Bride