Shena
"Oh this is just great father, great" grumbled Shena. Glancing at her father
Durnick firestalk, a tall Human who stared right back into her eyes, Shena decided to
switch tactics. "But father", Shena started as she batted her eyes, "why do
I have to go?" "We've discussed this enough times, you're going and that's
that!" grumbling himself, Durnick walked out of her bedroom.
Seeing no way out of this situation, Shena threw herself on her bed. How could she leave
Precious her cat, and her friends Tula, Bremihn and Aerywyeng. "It's just not
fair" she sighed.
She thought back on the past two weeks, thinking had she done one thing differently, her
parents wouldn't be sending her away to Theren. "That stinking cold Keep", Shena
grumbled to herself. She wished now more than ever her mother Jadharia hadn't walked in
her room at just the precise moment she was attempting to sneak out the window.
"Shena!, where do you think you're going?" her mother demanded. Shena turned to
see her mothers beautiful violet eyes glaring at her from the doorway. "Well, umm.. I
was just going out to see if the fire was out, cause Daddy always forgets to check and I
umm didn't want to wake you up as I walked through the house" Shena stammered.
"Mmm hmm" was all her mother said yet her violet eyes were blazing, and at that
moment Shena knew she'd suffer one of her fathers lectures.
"And suffer a lecture I did", Shena winced in remembering. "That was the
first arrow that flew, then of course there was the magic..." Shena remembered not
five days past, she'd been out on the front lawn, by the fire pit her father used to smoke
meat. She was staring at the cold wood one moment, the then next found herself seeing
through it, into the very fibers. She could feel the wood, feel the energy held within it,
feel where it was burned and charred on one side. She reached out her hand towards the pit
and simply said "Burn". Flames engulfed the wood, throwing Shena back to the
ground. There she sat, blinking at the roaring fire, not understanding what had happened.
It wasn't until she heard her mother yelling "Fire!" that she looked up and saw
the little pine tree near the pit fully ablaze and threatening to spread. "Eep! what
else can go wrong!" Shena muttered as she ran to the well for water.
"Stupid stupid stupid choice of words, why oh why did I ever say that" Shena
said.
Two days after the fire 'incident', Shena found herself walking in the woods, her woods
she liked to think for they were all but deserted. Up her favorite tree she climbed until
she was a good way off the ground, snuggled against her favorite branch listening to the
sounds of the woods around her. She was startled when she heard voices approaching. She
made out two men, one on foot and one on horseback and there were headed towards her.
Thankful she was wearing her favorite green cloak, Shena watched the strangers approach.
Their armor was black as night, with traces of silver shot through the breastplate and
gauntlets. Their speech coarse and rough to her ears. The man on horseback teethed with
power, strength and authority. Shena watched and listened, hearing but a few words in her
own language, but enough to frighten her. For an hour she sat in that tree, waiting for
them to leave so she could run home, and finally they did.
At home Shena breathlessly told her father what she'd heard and seen. Watched as his face
grew pale, saw the fear creep into her mothers eyes as she nervously wrung her fingers
together. When she was finished her father turned to his wife and said "She's going
to Theren." Jadharia nodded in agreement. "Who daddy? who's going to
Theren?" she asked.
"You are, there's trouble afoot here and while we prayed it wouldn't reach this far
north, it has. Years ago, your mother and I pledged to send you when the time came. And
while we should have sent you four years back, we've kept you close to us. You're going to
learn the ways of a warrior, a peacemaker, a statesman, a student. Your life will be bound
to a great guild, your strength to those to weak for the cause, your mind to achieve peace
in the lands. Your companions in this pledge have no doubt started their training, and now
it's time for yours to begin."
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