Castle Shyr

YAY! The boys. :) Loki has said numerous times that these boys are a favorite. :) Loki even drew a picture of them! And has promised to put it up when it\'s finished..

I really like it. I\'ve even managed to squeeze the pose of the picture into a later section. :)

Enjoy!


-The Fordwych Boys-

The River Jir ran southwest from the Votoc Mountains, splitting across Me’hl Meadow until, heavy with rapids, it poured into Jir Lake. There it collected almost peacefully, swaying atop the ruins of a once great city, now a nameless graveyard. Lake Jir resided towards the East border of Fordwych, a densely populated town of fishermen and merchants, protected on three sides by water. By way of man-made canal, Dhun River poured down into Jir Lake, causing frequent flooding and nearly unfertile soil around the Northern and Eastern borders. The town’s Westward border was the Shemin Coastline, where the calm Shemin Ocean lapped at sandy shores. Then to the South the town opened up freely to Whyier Forest, known to be the nesting ground of the giant birds called Peladrakes.

Fordwych was always abuzz with action, colored with continuous new faces and the rush of knowing each new ship could bring danger. However, the hustle and bustle gathered around the Shemin Coast and the Dhun Canal left the children of Fordwych only Jir Lake to call their own.

“I still think they’re mermaids.”

“They can’t be mermaids, boarskull! They have no tails!”

“They look dead.. Are they dead? Should we get help?”

“They ain’t dead - they’s still breathin’!” The quiet of the water’s edge was broken by seven young voices, arguing vehemently. Upon arriving at their designated ‘meeting place’ by the lakeside, the young Nanion boys had discovered the bodies of two creatures so dirtied and disheveled that their identification was proving quite a chore.

“Ok, so, if they’re not mermaids, what are they?” Til slid forward to get a better view.

“Maybe they’re bodies from the drowned city..” Supplied Yuhin, clapping his hands together as he inched just a bit closer to the bigger of the two bodies.

“Then how come they’s washing up now!”

“Maybe they were stuck.”

“Eww…”

“Don’t be such a baby, Til, Yuhin’s wrong and he knows it!” Snorted Fetwhe, pointing a chubby finger at the lanky Yuhin.

“I am not!” Yuhin declared, now in a strange sprawled position over the two bodies. “They can’t be mermaids ‘cause there ain’t never been no mermaids here before! And they can’t be people ‘cause - well, where’d they come from? So they gotta be bodies from the drowned city!” He paused to push his glasses further up his button nose and shook his head. “I don’t hear you offerin’ no answers.”

“Psht,” Kylo snorted from his upside down position on a branch over the lake, “he ain’t got no answers, that’s why.”

“Do too! I’m agreein’ with Til! They’re mermaids!”

“They are not mermaids!” Yuhin growled, crawling over the figures to stand defiantly before Fetwhe, slim eyes narrowed behind thick glasses. “They’re bodies.”

“Mermaids.”

“Bodies!”

“Mermaids!”

“Bodies!”

“Mermaids!”

“Well… that one looks like it’s a merman, actually..” Til said timidly, reaching out to poke at a clump of what appeared to be hair.

“Hush-it, Til! You’re not helping!”

“I thought you were on his side, Fetwhe?”

“I am on his side!”

“Then how come you’re yellin’ at him!”

“Don’t be yellin’ at Til!” Hissed Soboe, looking up from his lute sternly.

“Til’s here! When’d he get here? I didn’t see him! Where is he? Oh! Hi Til! I didn’t see ya!” Spat Taywah, skidding to a halt beside the youngest of the group.

“He can take care of himself, sheesh..” Grumbled Mirta, skipping stones and completely uninterested in the goings on behind him.

“Yeah, I can take care of myself..” Til muttered, but his attention was firmly locked on the bodies.

“They’s some sick mermaids, if’n they’s mermaids..” Kylo observed as he swung down to hang from his knees, leaving his hands free to pry through some of the seaweed. “Maybe’n we should get Austly?”

“What? Why? He’ll be comin’ down soon anyway… don’t need to bother him ‘head of time.”

“Bother me ‘bout what?” Austly snickered as he walked off the path onto the dirty lakeshore. He was, by far, the oldest of the seven boys but he wasn’t the tallest by a long shot, though it hardly dampened his spirits. He’d been ‘leader’ of the gang since he could remember, and even though he knew it was mostly because of his older brother Lantipher being a pirate, he took the job seriously.

“We found mermaids!” Til declared excitedly, scampering over to Austly and taking the older boy’s hand in his own. “They were washed up when we got here.” He finished, smiling brightly as Austly ruffled his dark blue hair and picked him up to inspect the bodies himself.

Austly paused, startled as he looked down only to see that Til had been serious - they had found mermaids! The ten year old Nanion paused and took a moment to look the bodies over before setting Til down and crouching near the ‘head’ of one of them. He ruffled a hand into his curly red locks and left it there, as if he’d forgotten about it, while he inspected the figure at a closer viewpoint.

“That’s the merman, Austly. He’s bigger than the other one, and he’s wearin’ pants.” Kylo chirped, now sitting on his branch so that his legs dangled over the sides.

“I still don’t think they’re mermaids, Austly.”

“Aww, hush-it Yuhin! Nobody cares ‘bout what you think!”

“Now now, Fetwhe,” Austly smiled, waving a hand for the boys to stop, before turning to look at Yuhin, “what do you think they are?”

“Oh - we-well uh, I-uh-”

“He thinks they’s bodies from the drowned city!”

“Kylo!”

“He does!”

“Bodies?” Austly sighed, cocking his head to one side and inspecting the figures again. “No, they can’t be bodies -they’re still breathing. And they can’t be mermaids ‘cause mermaids don’t swim in the Jir River.”

“Then what is they?” Soboe asked as the boys slowly began forming a circle around one of the figures, watching Austly in a breathlessly curious way as he began to clear the seaweed and grime away.

“They’re Nanion!” Shrieked Mirta, bringing his hands to cover his mouth.

“Sshh!” Til advised, even as the eight boys leaned closer in, ears perked as the face Austly had revealed began to twitch. From under a mass of tangled red locks the Nanion opened his eyes - two brilliant golden eyes, and for a moment the whole shoreline was quiet.

“Yah!”

“Ah!”

“Oh!”

“Help!”

“Aii!”

Rhinwyn gasped sharply and attempted to bolt upright, only to fall to his back in the sand again. He’d been so pleasantly numb before, but now all the pain was surfacing atop his confusion and he could barely think.

Yuhin cocked his head to one side, trying to peer out from behind Austly, where all seven Nanion had taken shelter. He frowned and tugged lightly on Austly’s shirt, shrugging Kylo off his back.

“Hey - he’s bleeding.. Should we get help?” He whispered, fixated on the stirring Nanion before him.

“Uh - y-yeah..” Austly breathed, heart still pounding as he lowered his arms and tried to shake the feeling off. “Yuhin, take Soboe, Mirta, Til and Taywah and go into the town. Get Gehlmen and my mom.”

“Right!”

“Yes sir.” Kylo scampered immediately forward once the gang started moving again, since now he knew it was safe enough to go back to his branch. He leapt up and slid down to hang over the head of the two Nanion.

Rhinwyn managed to push himself to his elbows, but was again on his back as his left gave out on him. He tried to look over, to see why his arm hurt so much, but he couldn’t seem to command his eyes to do so. His eyelids felt so heavy, if he just took a little nap things would be clearer when he woke up. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps next to his head, and he slowly pried his eyes open again, the numbness beginning to return.

“Uh, hey.” Austly offered softly, crouching down again and balancing on his haunches. “Um - we sent for help, ok?”

“Uh.. Wh-.. Ok.” Rhinwyn muttered, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth, his lips splitting as they moved. His eyes rolled back into his head and he gave into the sleepiness he felt.

“Hey,” Austly said, stiffening as the Nanion fell limp, “Hey!” He shouted, reaching out and shaking Rhin gently by the shoulders. He pulled his hands quickly away and looked at them, his eyes growing wide at the blood.

“A-austly?”

“Uh, sorry.” Austly said after a moment, looking around the area for ideas. “Kylo, get down here and help Fetwhe clean off the girl, we can at least try and see how bad they’re hurt before the adults get here.”

“Kay.” Kylo said slowly, not sure if he wanted to get any closer than he already was. Sure he knew what they were now, but something about the idea bugged him and twisted his stomach in weird knots. However he wasn’t about to disobey a direct order from Austly, so he slowly shimmied down the trunk of his tree, deep purple hair swinging into his face in ringlet curls as he inched across the bank.

“Oh, give it a rest, Kylo, it’s not like she’s gonna come to life and bitecha!”

“That’s not what I’s afraid of, Fetwhe,” he said, crouching to his knees and peering down at the girl whose face was slowly coming into view, “I’s not scared of her. Nuh uh, no way.” He continued, more to himself than to his cleaning partner. He reached out a shaky hand and pulled away some lingering seaweed. “Hey!” He yelped, his eyes growing wide. “She’s pretty!”

Austly looked over and raised his eyebrows slightly, shaking his head. He’d cleaned off Rhinwyn decently, and was now trying to inspect the Nanion’s arm, trying to figure out exactly what kind of damage was done.

“Get back to work, Kylo - you can swoon over her later, sheesh.” Austly groaned, starting to lift his hand towards his hair, but stopping half way and letting out a sigh of relief. His hands were covered in blood, and if he’d touched his hair it would’ve meant a bath- and he’d already had one this week! Two would be torture. Maybe he could have gotten off with a swim in the lake.

“Where’dya think they’s from, Austly?”

“I dunno - ‘sides, why are you askin’ me? I never looked twice at a map, Yuhin’s the one you should be askin’.”

“Austly!”

“Over here!” Austly suddenly leapt to his feet and dashed out towards the path, waving frantically into the air. He recognized the thickly accented voice of the doctor and relaxed a bit - at least he wouldn’t be blamed if the two Nanion died now.

“What’s going on? Yuhin says you’ve found two bodies?” Cooed Austly’s mother as she bent down and pulled him into an embarrassing embrace. Austly narrowed his eyes at Yuhin a bit from over his mother’s tight arms, and rolled his eyes.

“Naw, they ain’t bodies - they’re still alive.”

“Barely!” Yuhin shouted, balling his hands into fists and jumping up and down in frustration. “I told you they were bodies but you didn’t listen! I was closer than Til! He thought they were mermaids!”

“Calm down, Yuhin,” Gehlmen called gently as he kneeled down between the two beached Nanion, “Let’s not get over-excited here.” Austly pried away from his mother and scampered over to stand behind the doctor eagerly, watching his every move like a hawk. “These two are in terrible shape..” Gehlmen sighed, frowns creasing his ancient face as he tilted Rhinwyn’s head a bit, shaking his own. “They need immediate attention. Bitti, do you think you can carry the girl?” He asked slowly, turning to peer at Austly’s mother from over his glasses. She was a stout Nanion whom Austly greatly resembled, her roundish and freckled face was framed with short, bouncy brown locks.

“Course I can, and if I can’t the boys can help.” Bitti said quickly, stepping carefully across the sand and bending over to pick up the blond girl. She thrust her arms under the girl’s neck and knees, and in one heave lifted Kyin to her chest, smiling a bit.

“Wow, mom.” Austly whispered quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. He took a step back, the seven other boys falling in quietly behind him as he did so, all eyes locked firmly on the two Nanion.

“Can we name ‘em since we found ‘em?” Taywah asked impatiently, bouncing on the balls of his feet like an anxious puppy.

“No we can’t name them, stupid!” Yuhin declared arrogantly, putting his hands on his hips and tilting his head to look down his nose at the shorter Nanion. “They probably already have names.”

Austly rolled his eyes and started after his mother and the doctor, falling into a sort of marching prance that he had perfected over the years. He heard the echoing footsteps of his troupe falling in behind him, and a smirk spread over his features. They’d found the bodies of two injured Nanion; they’d gotten help just in time! They were heroes! Just like his brother, Lantipher, who sailed to far off lands to swash buckles and rescue people!

“Do you think they’re gonna be ok, Austly?” Til asked quietly as he moved up to walk beside the older Nanion. He reached up with a tiny hand and grabbed the hem of Austly’s shirt, tugging on it lightly.

“Sure! They’ll be fine now that Gehlmen’s got ‘em. He can fix anybody. ‘Member how he did with Lan when he came in with a huge hole in his side!” Austly said, pointing at his own side to illustrate.

“Yeah! It was the size of my fist!”

“It was not, Yuhin!” Fetwhe cried, smacking the other boy on the back of the head.

“Was too!”

“Doesn’t matter how big it was, what matters is how he got it.” Mirta snorted, kicking a rock as he scuffled along in the back.

“Yeah! How he got it! Tell us Austly! Tell us the story! Please!?” Taywah yelped, his sentences running together to form one great long word.

“Ok, ok,” Austly said, feigning modesty as he held up his hands, walking backwards so that he could scan the faces of his eager listeners. “The sky was dark as shadows, and it was a cold winter night,” he began, narrowing his eyes and using his hands to help illustrate, “when the Gladiator pulled into the harbor all was quiet, like the wings of an owl - but suddenly, like a bolt of sky fire, the enemy attacked!” He clapped his hands together, snickering as a few of the boys jumped, startled.

Up ahead Bitti sighed and shook her head, looking over at Gehlmen solemnly.

“He acts so much like Lantipher, I sometimes forget which one he is.” She said with a forced chuckle, her eyes deep-set and sad. “Lan is my oldest, and I love him with all my heart - but these lies, these stories he feeds Austly - it-it just tears me up inside.”

“Would you rather him know the truth, Bitti?”

“I’m surprised he doesn’t already, Gehlmen! He’s a smart boy, but he just,” She paused and shook her head, at a loss as she shifted the deadweight of the girl in her arms. “We’ve dealt with pirates before, Gehlmen, I just don’t understand how he misses it.”

“Let it be for now, Bitti. There is enough corruption abroad, let Austly and the boys keep their innocence for a while longer, eh?” Gehlmen said, nudging her as best he could with Rhinwyn cradled in his grasp. “Do you think you can make it up the stairs with her, Bitti?” Gehlmen asked quietly as they paused at the base of the stairs leading up to his office. Due to the constant and unpredictable flooding of the Jir Lake, all the buildings in Fordwych were built on high, sturdy platforms so that they would not be damaged by the water.

Bitti let out a short chuckle, raising her eyebrows slightly as she regarded Gehlmen in a haughty way. “You doubt me, doctor?” She snickered a little, starting up the stairs. It was often the way of Fordwych to take calamity lightly, it was something that had been passed down since the town had been built. Everyone knew the seriousness of things when, from time to time, things were serious, but there was always laughter in the air.

Gehlmen frowned slightly as he and Bitti made their way up the long set of stairs and nudged into his office. He heard the boys scampering up behind them, all silent save for Austly, who was busy entertaining them with another tale of heroes and villains. The doctor turned in the doorway and looked solemnly down at the boys.

“Go ahead back down to the riverbank, boys. We’ll let you know how things go.”

“Aww but doctor - we found them!” Austly whined, his story momentarily forgotten as he threw his hands up in exasperation.

“I know boys, but right now they need care and some peace and quiet -”

“We can be quiet.” Til defended, crossing his arms over his thin chest.

“I know you can Til, and I know you’re all just concerned about them, but right now just leave me and your mother with them. We’ll find you when we know more, ok boys. I’m sure when they wake up they’ll want to talk to you anyway, after all, you are their rescuers.” Gehlmen smiled as he noted the small smirks spreading over the eight little faces, the hands clasped behind eagerly swaying bodies. “Go on and play. We’ll take it from here.”

“Alright! To the bank boys!”

“Aye, aye captain!” Gehlmen took a moment to watch the boys clamber down the stairs after Austly, then he turned and quickly entered his office. “Go ahead and get some fresh water, some cloth and my kit, Bitti.”