The Green Feather
folder
Fantasy & Science Fiction › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
945
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Currently Reading:
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Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
3
Views:
945
Reviews:
0
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
I
Chapter One
Cameo opened his eyes blearily.
\"You all right, boy?\" A gruff male voice permeated the soft haze of the after-dream. Cameo\'s teacher and adoptive father, Keene Nideral, was eying him thoughtfully as he squatted near the fire, concern in his wise green eyes. Cameo sat up and winced as muscles that had been long been put out of use protested. He glanced out of the window and saw that the sun cast a pinkish glow as it descended into the horizon. He looked at Keene.
\"How long was I out for?\" He asked. When he had lain down to sleep, the sun had been at its highest point in the sky. Keene shrugged one shoulder and turned to stoke the fire, which burned low.
\"About four, five hours. How are you feelin\'?\"
\"Good, I think.\" Cameo was surprised that he had been asleep so long. The mind of the Roc had been so easy to find and the thoughts and feelings he had received seemed to come in a rush. A sequence so fast that he now felt a dull ache behind his eyes. He scowled and raised a hand to his forehead, rubbing it. A migraine, he thought dourly. One of the first things that Keene had taught him about dream-walking was, as the old ranger put it,
\"There\'s no gain without pain, son. True, it takes a lot out of you but it\'s worth it when you can find some poor animal who\'s in trouble. We\'re here to look after the forest. If we care for it, it cares for us, and there\'s nothing more we can ask from it that\'s more precious.\" Cameo hadn\'t really absorbed it at the time but this, his htird and longest dream-walking session had brought Keene\'s words to painful reality.
\"It was so real,\" he commented. Keene nodded, seemingly engrossed in the flames, the light throwing his angular face into sharp relief.
\"Aye, lad. Once you get used to it though, the awe will wear off and you\'ll start to take it for granted, like I once did. But I learned form my mistake and I hope you\'ll learn form yours when it happens.\"
\"Yes, father, I know.\" Keene grinned but suddenly groaned in pain, his face a twist of agony as he fell back into the armchair nearest the hearth.
\"Father!\" Cameo cried out and rushed over to Keene\'s side but the aged man waved him away, irritably.
\"Never mind me, lad. Just my back - the old wound.\" Years ago, before the newborn half-elf, Cameo had been found abandoned on the doorstep of the home of Keene and his wife, Faye, the ranger had sustained a wound from a Roc defending its nest from what it thought to be an egg thief. The giant bird had gouged a deep gash in the young Keene\'s back. He was seventeen at the time and it had been a reckless mistake.
\"\'Twas stupid,\" he remarked in later years when it still plagued him, particularly during the winter months. \"Bedamned bird came up behin me and I was just standing there, staring at the bloody view!\"
Cameo, as a young child, listened attentively to such stories. He was always eager to hear them and had, what Faye had called, \'an elves\' eye for trouble and adventure\'. It was this that induced Keene to think about taking the boy on as an apprentice, which was precisely in accordance with the young half-elf\'s wishes.
Cameo\'s dream had not dimished over the years, on the contrary, he was doubly enthusiastic and Keen was only too happy to teach him. Faye had died three years previously of the wasting sickness. The weeks in which she was not able to get out of bed or even feed herself, Cameo counted as the worst in his young life. Deep down, he knew and resented the fact that he would live twice, maybe three times longer than Keene himself, who was already at the grand old human age of sixty-five, thick silver streaks in his long black hair.
Cameo sighed as he sat back on a heap of cushions in the corner of the room across from his father, and closed his eyes once more, dreaming of open skies.
----------------------------
//The sun was high in the sky, beating mercilessly onto the cheering crowd as the young squire prepared to receive his knighthood. Favian Arallin had spent eight years of his life, form page to squire serving one of the best swordsmen in the land of Fae and now he was getting what was due to him - the chance to serve under the king as his Protector, the highest ranking postition for a knight of the realm.
He knnelt on the top of the high daias, ready to receive his reward from Artemis XI. The king drw the ornate sword form the gem-encrusted sheath, lightly touching Favian on each shoulder with the flat of the dull blade, whilst saying the time-honourd words for the ordination of new warriors to the service of the Crown.
\"In the name of glory of this kingdom, for the honour of the elves, I dub thee Sir Favian Arallin of Fae, and from this moment forward, be known as a knight of the realm and King\'s Protector.\" Favian could feel tears entering his eyes but held them back as he took his shield from the king - crossed keys behind a silver pheonix on a blue field - and stood proudly. He stepped down from the daias and greeted his father and mother, who were both beaming and shook hands with his three older brother, already knights, in turn.//
The dream ended as abruptly as if it had been a wisp of smoke in a gale as the bell for breakfast rang. Favian groaned and rolled over, pulling the sheets over his head to block out the intrusive noise of the people walking down the corridor outside the room. Unfortunately, this did not seem to prevent his best friend, Titus form shaking his shoulder roughly until Favian sat up, rubbing his eyes. Titus was saying something and it was too loud by far. Favian was about to scold him when something his friend said caught his interest.
\"You know today is the day when we get told who our new knight-masters are! I hope I get Lysander - he\'s the best swordsmen in the realm!\" Titus scoffed as Favian rinsed his face from the water in the jug on the bedside table. Favian laughed.
\"YOU? Get Lysander? You must be mad if you think that!\" Titus rolled his eyes.\"As if you could!\"Favian just shook his head and pulling the sheet over the bed, adjusted the pillows so that it was neat. Titus walked out of the door, Favian behind him, locking it and following his friend to the squires\' dining room
Cameo opened his eyes blearily.
\"You all right, boy?\" A gruff male voice permeated the soft haze of the after-dream. Cameo\'s teacher and adoptive father, Keene Nideral, was eying him thoughtfully as he squatted near the fire, concern in his wise green eyes. Cameo sat up and winced as muscles that had been long been put out of use protested. He glanced out of the window and saw that the sun cast a pinkish glow as it descended into the horizon. He looked at Keene.
\"How long was I out for?\" He asked. When he had lain down to sleep, the sun had been at its highest point in the sky. Keene shrugged one shoulder and turned to stoke the fire, which burned low.
\"About four, five hours. How are you feelin\'?\"
\"Good, I think.\" Cameo was surprised that he had been asleep so long. The mind of the Roc had been so easy to find and the thoughts and feelings he had received seemed to come in a rush. A sequence so fast that he now felt a dull ache behind his eyes. He scowled and raised a hand to his forehead, rubbing it. A migraine, he thought dourly. One of the first things that Keene had taught him about dream-walking was, as the old ranger put it,
\"There\'s no gain without pain, son. True, it takes a lot out of you but it\'s worth it when you can find some poor animal who\'s in trouble. We\'re here to look after the forest. If we care for it, it cares for us, and there\'s nothing more we can ask from it that\'s more precious.\" Cameo hadn\'t really absorbed it at the time but this, his htird and longest dream-walking session had brought Keene\'s words to painful reality.
\"It was so real,\" he commented. Keene nodded, seemingly engrossed in the flames, the light throwing his angular face into sharp relief.
\"Aye, lad. Once you get used to it though, the awe will wear off and you\'ll start to take it for granted, like I once did. But I learned form my mistake and I hope you\'ll learn form yours when it happens.\"
\"Yes, father, I know.\" Keene grinned but suddenly groaned in pain, his face a twist of agony as he fell back into the armchair nearest the hearth.
\"Father!\" Cameo cried out and rushed over to Keene\'s side but the aged man waved him away, irritably.
\"Never mind me, lad. Just my back - the old wound.\" Years ago, before the newborn half-elf, Cameo had been found abandoned on the doorstep of the home of Keene and his wife, Faye, the ranger had sustained a wound from a Roc defending its nest from what it thought to be an egg thief. The giant bird had gouged a deep gash in the young Keene\'s back. He was seventeen at the time and it had been a reckless mistake.
\"\'Twas stupid,\" he remarked in later years when it still plagued him, particularly during the winter months. \"Bedamned bird came up behin me and I was just standing there, staring at the bloody view!\"
Cameo, as a young child, listened attentively to such stories. He was always eager to hear them and had, what Faye had called, \'an elves\' eye for trouble and adventure\'. It was this that induced Keene to think about taking the boy on as an apprentice, which was precisely in accordance with the young half-elf\'s wishes.
Cameo\'s dream had not dimished over the years, on the contrary, he was doubly enthusiastic and Keen was only too happy to teach him. Faye had died three years previously of the wasting sickness. The weeks in which she was not able to get out of bed or even feed herself, Cameo counted as the worst in his young life. Deep down, he knew and resented the fact that he would live twice, maybe three times longer than Keene himself, who was already at the grand old human age of sixty-five, thick silver streaks in his long black hair.
Cameo sighed as he sat back on a heap of cushions in the corner of the room across from his father, and closed his eyes once more, dreaming of open skies.
----------------------------
//The sun was high in the sky, beating mercilessly onto the cheering crowd as the young squire prepared to receive his knighthood. Favian Arallin had spent eight years of his life, form page to squire serving one of the best swordsmen in the land of Fae and now he was getting what was due to him - the chance to serve under the king as his Protector, the highest ranking postition for a knight of the realm.
He knnelt on the top of the high daias, ready to receive his reward from Artemis XI. The king drw the ornate sword form the gem-encrusted sheath, lightly touching Favian on each shoulder with the flat of the dull blade, whilst saying the time-honourd words for the ordination of new warriors to the service of the Crown.
\"In the name of glory of this kingdom, for the honour of the elves, I dub thee Sir Favian Arallin of Fae, and from this moment forward, be known as a knight of the realm and King\'s Protector.\" Favian could feel tears entering his eyes but held them back as he took his shield from the king - crossed keys behind a silver pheonix on a blue field - and stood proudly. He stepped down from the daias and greeted his father and mother, who were both beaming and shook hands with his three older brother, already knights, in turn.//
The dream ended as abruptly as if it had been a wisp of smoke in a gale as the bell for breakfast rang. Favian groaned and rolled over, pulling the sheets over his head to block out the intrusive noise of the people walking down the corridor outside the room. Unfortunately, this did not seem to prevent his best friend, Titus form shaking his shoulder roughly until Favian sat up, rubbing his eyes. Titus was saying something and it was too loud by far. Favian was about to scold him when something his friend said caught his interest.
\"You know today is the day when we get told who our new knight-masters are! I hope I get Lysander - he\'s the best swordsmen in the realm!\" Titus scoffed as Favian rinsed his face from the water in the jug on the bedside table. Favian laughed.
\"YOU? Get Lysander? You must be mad if you think that!\" Titus rolled his eyes.\"As if you could!\"Favian just shook his head and pulling the sheet over the bed, adjusted the pillows so that it was neat. Titus walked out of the door, Favian behind him, locking it and following his friend to the squires\' dining room