Castle Shyr

The third section in chapter one.

Here the action picks up a bit, and we learn about some politics happening in the world of Nanio. OOoooooh. :)

Plus, Doyt is in this chapter -and his role has been getting larger and larger.. later on, of course.


-The King\'s Messenger-

“There!” Johan yelped delightedly, leaning forward to put all four of his chair legs on the floor.

“There what?” Rhin said in a rather drowsy tone, turning to look from his crumpled position on the table to the flute player at his side. He jerked slightly as a brightly polished flute was shoved in his face. He reached up and moved as if to push it away, but Johan beat him to the punch and quickly withdrew his instrument, holding it out in front of his baby blue eyes with pride.

“It’s all clean.” He said with a sigh as if inspecting a child. “And ooh, what a shine.”

“It’s taken you this long to clean your flute?” Rhin asked in a slightly awestruck voice, sitting up in his chair and giving his friend a strange look. “Was there a bird nest in there?” He said with a chuckle, stretching out his slightly stiff arms.

“Oh Rhinwyn, you poor boy. Clearly you do not understand the sweet subtleties of cleaning one’s instrument.” Johan said with a hint of pity in his voice, holding his flute to his heart and looking up at the sky as if asking for help from the Gods.

“Clearly.”

“One must treat their instrument like a child, like another living being. When you respect it, it will respect you. If you don’t, you’ll have this sort of parasitic relationship where you’re just using the instrument as a tool, and then the only music you’ll produce will be like the sounds of a boar in mating season.”

“Uh, thanks for that… I think.” Rhin snickered, then turned his head to dodge a smack and call over the waitress, as both boys were nearly done with their drinks. The sounds of the full inn soon drowned out their thoughts, and their attention was caught by the steadily rising din in the air. All of Crawyn called it the center inn, though it was far from the center of the village. It was simply the one place that felt like ‘home,’ where anyone and everyone was welcome any time of the day or night. On cold winter evenings the people would gather to hear old stories, while on musky summer nights they were entertained by drunken comrades, dancing until they fell over. Normally Johan, Kyin and Rhin were outside on nights like this, preferring to run amok in the streets to being locked up with the adults; however Kyin had, for some reason, convinced both of them to join her at the inn.

“How come she’s the only one having fun?” Muttered Johan as he finished a sip of his drink and set down his cup to look over at Rhin. He turned his head back towards the crowd, still unable to find Kyin. She’d been dancing since they arrived, every now and again she’d come ask Rhin to dance with her, but he’d decline, and she’d hop back out like nothing had happened.

“Because she’s a wild spirit, Johan.” Rhin answered quietly, folding his hands behind his head and closing his eyes lightly.

“Yeah… and what’s that got to do with her having fun when we don’t?”

“Well, she’s.. Free. I suppose. I mean, she can dance with the flowers, who don’t judge her, and be happy, and she can dance with the people, who do judge her, and be just as happy as when she’s with the flowers. Nothing gets to her.. She’s- I don’t know, free.” Rhin finished with a shrug, reaching for his goblet.

“Rhin,” Johan started, touching the other boy’s goblet to stop him from picking it up. “It’s no wonder you treat her like a sister, you’ve got your head too far in the clouds to notice anything!”

Rhin paused, a light confusion on his face as he let his hand lay on the table and gave his head a shake.

“What do you mean?” He asked with a small, apologetic shrug.

“She’s crazy about you, Rhin! Head-over-heels in love!” Johan chuckled, slapping his knee as Rhin’s face palled. He calmed a bit as the redhead shook his head vigorously, dropping his eyes to the table, then reached out for his goblet with another sharp shake of his head.

“What gives you that idea, Johan?” He said taking a sip then laughing, though his cheeks were flushed a bright red. “She- Kyin’s my little sister, not my girlfriend.” He finished, becoming a tad more serious and looking over at Johan, his expression changing slightly as he noticed the raised eyebrow look Johan gave him. “What now?”

“She’s only your sister, Rhin, because her parents raised you. Technically you aren’t related.” Johan took another sip of his drink and sighed, setting it down as he noticed Rhin’s expression changed again, this time into one of confusion. “Look Rhin, I-“ But he paused quickly as he noticed that Rhin wasn’t looking at him, but past him. He turned his head in the direction his companion was looking, and stiffened a bit at the odd sight which greeted him. The old innkeeper, Etn, was standing nervously at the door, waving someone in while looking over his shoulder as if waiting for someone to attack. He seemed to be talking in a hushed, hurried tone, and even though neither of the boys could hear him, they could tell by the way he moved that it was something urgent.

Rhin took a quick glance around and noticed almost immediately that no one else in the inn seemed to have taken notice to the scene at the door. He turned his attention back to Etn just in time to see the old man wave in three other Nanion. Two were from the village, Rhin recognized them quickly, but the man they were helping stand, the man draped between them like a wet cloth, was a stranger. Rhin made a small noise and pulled his bottom lip into his mouth as he recognized the injured man’s clothes – they belonged to the King’s personal messengers.

“Johan,” Rhin whispered worriedly, pulling his gaze from the commotion long enough to guide his hand to his companion’s shoulder.

“Y-yeah, I know..” Johan said in a strangely tense tone, casting a quick tilt of his head towards Rhin’s hand as the boy squeezed Johan’s shoulder gently.

“Rhinwyn!” Both boys turned quickly in fright as Kyin’s voice hit their ears like an arrow, jarring them from their thoughts. Rhin gathered her quickly into his arms and covered her mouth with a ‘shh’ and a quick look around the inn. Seeing that no one was looking, and feeling Kyin stiffen nervously, he let her go and she stepped back to look at him.

“What’s going on? Wh-why is one of th-the King’s messengers here!” She gasped frightfully, reaching forward in a slightly jerky way to grab Rhin’s sleeve, digging her fingers into the fabric. She looked at Johan for a moment, but he turned his gaze back towards the man in question, and Kyin turned back to Rhin.

“I don’t know, Kyin.” Rhin answered absently, his attention also back on the men.

“Shh.” Johan said stiffly, turning a bit in his chair.

“Are we going to war?” Kyin prodded, her voice still quaking with fear, though it was merely a whisper now.

“I don’t know, Kyin.”

“Shh!” Johan said again, then pointed back towards the caravan. “Look.” Etn and the three men had been joined by Etn’s wife, Felise, and it seemed as if they were trying to hide the messenger, throwing their arms over him awkwardly as if shielding him from the inn. Johan was slightly surprised they didn’t just throw a sheet over him, it might have looked a bit less suspicious than the lot of them walking in a circle, tripping and stumbling all over themselves. However the most unusual thing about the whole ordeal was, undoubtedly, that no one else even looked up from their food to watch.

“Rhin, I’m frightened..” Kyin whispered as the messenger was escorted through the back doors and out of sight.

“It’s alright, Kyin.” Rhin said, though his voice wasn’t as reassuring as he hoped, he was too busy looking at Johan for answers. His companion reached up and rubbed his temples as if a headache was forming, and shook his head, causing his grass green locks to bounce lightly.

“Maybe,” Johan muttered from behind his hand, looking towards the doors that were still swinging on their hinges, “maybe we should follow them.”

“What?” Rhin nearly shouted, leaning forward and grabbing the corner of Johan’s vest tightly, narrowing his eyes. “Do you have any idea how much trouble we could get in? Not just because we’d be snooping, but because that’s a messenger for the King.. the King, Johan!”

“Rhin- I know, but…” Johan started again, dropping his hands and looking around at the bar, knitting his eyebrows together, “don’t you think it’s strange that no-one else has even.. looked up? No-one has even cast a glance in this direction, and they weren’t exactly easy to miss.”

“Maybe they just didn’t hear them, after all, we didn’t hear them.. It’s only coincidence that I was looking in that direction when they arrived.” He paused and dropped Johan’s vest, turning back to the table. “They probably aren’t looking because they know if they go poking their noses in this they could be jailed for treason.” Rhin said sharply, as if that would dismiss the conversation completely.

“Maybe they don’t want to look.” Johan said, staring hard at Rhin, but the redhead kept his gaze on the table. “Did you hear me, Rhin?” He growled slightly, reaching out and stopping Rhin from picking up his drink, just as he’d done earlier.

“Johan-“

“Maybe they know something that we don’t.” The flute-player insisted, leaning forward to try and get Rhin to look at him.

“Rhin,” Both boys turned to look as Kyin spoke up, stepping towards them slightly, wringing her hands in front of her, “we should go.”

“Kyin!” Rhin whispered in shock, turning completely in his chair to look at her. “You’re with him?”

“You act like that’s a bad thing,” Johan muttered lightly.

“Hush Johan, well, Kyin?”

“He’s right.. what if they do know something we don’t? I mean- you’re almost adults, you have the right to know too!”

“Kyin, if they want us to know, they’ll tell us.”

“What if they don’t?” Kyin said in a pleading tone, reaching out and taking Rhin’s hand. “Please, Rhin?”

Rhin could do nothing but stare for a moment, looking from Kyin to Johan in disbelief. They were serious, completely dead set on this, and Rhin knew he wasn’t able to talk them out of it. He gave a defeated sigh and shrugged in a lost kind of way, rubbing his arm lightly. He had a sinking feeling they weren’t going to like anything they would hear, but there was also an alarm going off in the back of his mind: an alarm that said whatever this meant, they would find out sooner or later, good or bad.

“Fine.” He said softly, standing and looking around once more. “Let’s go.”

Kyin gave Rhin’s hand a squeeze, then the three filed out of the room with Johan in the lead. They pushed carefully through the two swinging doors and paused at the base of the stairs which linked the bar to the second floor kitchen, and third floor rooms. Kyin had been up and down the stairs dozens of times, as she occasionally worked for Felise and Etn, but never had they looked so daunting, so ominous. She hoped desperately that it was just her imagination, and not a sign of things to come. She stuck close to Rhin’s side as they started up the stairs, now more of a row than a line as Johan moved to Rhin’s unoccupied side. Kyin took quick note of how stiff Rhin was, which didn’t ease her at all. She’d hoped that she was just over-reacting, but feeling his anxiety didn’t quiet her at all, in fact, it made things worse.

“How will we know which room they went in?” Rhin asked in a voice barely audible as they passed the kitchen doors, nearing the second flight of stairs. He looked over at Johan, and frowned to see a strangely angry look of frustration and determination on his friend’s face. He was about to say something when Kyin stepped in front of them, hands clasped in front of her like they always were when she was trying to look innocent.

“I… have an idea.” She said lightly, trying to hide a grin, though her lips twitched. The boys looked at each other, then back at Kyin with ‘go ahead’ looks. Kyin pointed to the ceiling.

“There’s a loose board over that way that leads to a really thin floor between the kitchen and the rooms. It’s mostly used for old storage, or at least it was for a while, it hasn’t been used in ages. We can sneak up there and crawl around until we hear them. Since the wood is so thin, we’ll be able to hear them as clear as day.” She gave a slight giggle as Johan clicked his tongue approvingly.

“Sneaky, Kyin, I take it you’ve done this before.” He said, putting his hands on his hips, scanning the ceiling for the loose board.

“Once,… or twice.”

“Kyin!” Rhin said lightly, narrowing his eyes in a very brotherly way at her. She simply shrugged and looked to Johan.

“If you two can give me a leg up I can lower down the ladder for you.”

“There’s a ladder up there?” Rhin said in an exasperated tone.

“I told you, it used to be an old storage room.”

“This has bad idea written all over it.” Rhin muttered, even as he and Johan moved to scoop Kyin up on their shoulders. He heard Johan chuckle and looked across Kyin’s back at him.

“Then I guess it’s a good thing I never learned to read, huh?” He said with a wide grin. The two boys shook a bit as Kyin shifted to stand on their shoulders, then with a strange noise pushed open the loose board, sliding it off to one side and pulled herself up.

“How did she manage to do this on her own?” Johan mused aloud as he and Rhin reached up to take the ladder from Kyin and prop it against the wall. Johan then shoved Rhin playfully up the first few rungs, chasing after him like a hyper puppy, trying to keep the mood light, though his heart was heavy. As he pulled his legs up into the space behind him he turned and hoisted up the ladder with a small grunt, passing it off to Kyin and Rhin as he set the board back in place.

The small space had barely enough room for Rhin and Johan to sit up, but its impressive width made up for it. There was just enough light to spread a dull, gold glow over the area, which thankfully illuminated them even after the board was replaced. The scattered boxes, all in various conditions, gave the Nanion the impression that indeed the room had been used frequently at one point, but hadn’t been touched in ages.

Rhin squinted down at the floor, nervously running his hands over the rough wood and trying not to think about what kinds of creatures might be lurking. He heard a slight scuffling sound and jerked his head up, letting out a relieved breath as he saw it was simply Kyin starting forward at a slow crawl. With a slightly forlorn and distraught look at the roof looming just inches above his head, Rhin followed in the same ungraceful, uncoordinated scamper.

“Must be uh, some view from back there, Rhin.” Johan whispered tauntingly, sparing a glance back at the redhead and wiggling his butt to emphasize. He heard Rhin snort and turned his gaze back to where he was going.

“Yeah, marvelous.” Rhin muttered sarcastically, giving Johan a light shove and smiling through his nerves and apprehension. There was just something about the flute-player’s undying spirit, his constant smile, which never failed to set Rhin at ease, no matter what the situation. They were just about to eavesdrop on one of the King’s personal messengers, an act that could easily get them all locked up for treason, and all he could do was chuckle at Johan’s bouncing rear-end.

“Oh! I think I’ve found them!” Kyin called lightly, looking up through a small hole in the roof as she heard a voice she didn’t recognize. She looked over at Johan who had his head dipped down, concentrating on the voices, until he gave a nod and began to move a few boxes out of the way. Kyin and Rhin moved to help him, until they’d cleared away a small circle surrounding the beam of light piercing through the hole. They all looked up, squinting and bringing their heads close together to look and listen.

“I- didn’t mean t-to cause you s-such distress, sir, b-but your village was th-the first I’d c-come upon since my a-attack, and I knew I wouldn’t make it b-back to Castle Shyr without h-help.” The voice belonged to the King’s messenger, and the trio of eavesdroppers were surprised to hear how young he sounded.

“Don’t worry, son, we’re happy to help.” Came the soft and concerned voice of Felise.

“Felise, really, stop fussing over the boy and let him talk.” Etn replied, his voice scratchy like sandpaper. “You said you were attacked on your way to deliver the message?”

“Yes, sir. I was t-to deliver a me-message to the village of S-sentram, a wa-warning about ad-advancing Tev forces-“

“Advancing Tev forces! Towards Sentram?”

“That’s so close!” It appeared that the two men from Crawyn had stayed to talk, as their voices rang out in unison.

“Hush Maybre, you too Daon. What happened then, son?”

“Whe-when I got to Sen-sentram.. They had al-already been attacked. The Tev burn-burned the whole village into n-nothing but a-ash.” There was a pause after the messenger’s statement, during which the clatter of a cup and the splash of water startled the trio below. They heard Felise scuffling to find a towel, heard her knees connect with the floor lightly as she began scrubbing up the mess.

“Were you.. Late arriving?” Came Etn’s voice again, this time accusingly, and his shadow loomed over the hole. Kyin scooted a bit closer to Rhin, and looked at him for some sort of comfort. However the older Nanion was transfixed on the scene above, and barely moved an inch. “That message was not a message to delay.” Etn finished sharply.

“N-no, sir! I was di-directly on sch-schedule.” Etn began to ask another question, but his words were drowned out by the sudden coughing of the messenger, and the trample of feet as Maybre and Daon moved quickly to his side to assist him in any way they could.

Rhin’s concentration was broken as he felt Johan stiffen and squirm beside him, making a small, almost angry noise. The redhead reached over and gently touched Johan’s arm, causing the flute-player to start slightly and look at Rhin as if waiting for bad news.

“Sorry,” Rhin whispered apologetically, “are you ok?” There was a long pause, during which Johan looked away, then back up at the floor without answering Rhin. “Johan?” He pressed, knowing now that something was definitely wrong: Johan was not one to ignore him like that.

“I-have to go.” Johan said sharply, pushing away Rhin’s hand in a very uncharacteristic manner before crawling back towards the loose board as fast as he could. He nearly crawled right past it, but saw a sharp, diagonal slash of light in front of him and corrected his path. He lifted the board with a small noise and tossed it into the boxes with a groan, turning and leaping down through the hole without use of the ladder. He hit the ground with a small thud and crouched for a moment, looking around to see if anyone noticed. He didn’t care if he was discovered, but he knew that Kyin and Rhin would get it bad if they were found, so it was for their sake he kept himself quiet. He felt a surge of anger and sickness twirl in his stomach, and turned into the kitchen with a small gag. He stumbled over to the sink, bringing up a hand to cover his mouth, then run into his hair as he leaned over the cool metal and turned on the faucet.


Rhin watched in silent concern as Johan tossed off his hand, then crawled off like an injured animal, leaping out of the hole without using the ladder.

“Di-did you hear that, Rhin?” Kyin yelped suddenly from beside Rhin, not having noticed Johan’s disappearance yet. She dropped her gaze and did a small double take upon noticing the absence, and reached out for Rhin’s shirt.

“Rhin, he said-“

“Hang on Kyin, something’s wrong.” Rhin said, then paused and started towards the hole himself. He got perhaps two steps before he was stopped by a small tug on his sleeve. He turned back around and looked at Kyin, frowning at her hurt expression.

“Rhinwyn,” She said in a hurt, scared tone, her voice bringing back memories of what Johan had said to Rhin in the inn. The way she looked at him, was that the way sisters normally looked at their older brothers? Rhin frowned and shook his head as if to clear it, making Kyin cock her head curiously to one side.

“I’m sorry, Kyin,” Rhin said, reaching up to rub his head, “but Johan’s my friend, and something’s wrong. I have to help him.” He paused and looked back up at her, dropping his hand. “Look, if you don’t want to be alone, then come with me. I think we’ve heard all we needed to hear.” He held out his hand for her, his soft expression changing slightly as she just looked at him.

“No.” She said finally, withdrawing the hand she was slowly moving towards his. “I’ll stay. I want to hear the rest of this.”

Rhin paused for only a second more, then gave a small nod and made his way to the hole. He considered using the ladder, but knowing it would have taken too much time he took a breath and leapt as he’d seen Johan do. He hit the ground and threw out his hands to stop himself from rolling down the hallway. He looked up at the hole, almost expecting to see Kyin coming down behind him, and stood almost angrily, knowing she wasn’t coming this time. The hallway before him was empty -where had Johan gone? Rhin had never seen his friend so upset before, and because of that he had no idea how the flute-player would react. Would he go into the kitchen, seek solitude? Or would he head for the inn, for a noisy crowd that might hide his troubles? Rhin decided that he himself would have preferred the kitchen, so he decided to try there first.

“Johan?” He called lightly as he pushed open the doors and stepped inside. He started as he heard a light rustling and turned his head to see Johan sitting against the wall, knees drawn up to his chest, hands in his hair. He started to say something, but closed his mouth and sat down next to the flute-player.

“Sorry about the hasty exit,” Johan said after a short period of silence, stretching his legs out in front of him and tilting his head back. “I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“Take what?” Rhin said softly, looking over at Johan, whose face seemed to be wet. “What’s wrong?”

“When I was little, seven or eight, I got word that a famous musician, a flute player named Deverell, and his band would be coming to my village. I was so excited. I’d been playing the flute since I could remember, and everyone was always telling me how good I was, telling me I should travel and earn money. They said the life would suit me. So, I decided that that was my chance, that if I could prove to Deverell that I was good enough, that he would take me with him, and I’d be a traveling musician. So I wrote a song. It took all of two whole days, it was a short song, but I was so proud of it. For the next week I didn’t get any sleep, I was up all hours of the day and night, practicing what I’d say to Deverell, playing my song, or just sitting and fidgeting like I was waiting for my birthday or something. Then, on a beautiful Spring morning, like no other I’ve ever seen, my mom woke me up.

“’He’s coming,’ She said, the scouts had spotted him and his band coming up the road a few hours ago. So she and – she helped me dress, then raced me to the square the band was preparing in. I remember my heart beating faster than a humming bird’s as she pushed me into the crowd with a smile and a light ‘good luck.’ I remember starting to panic because to me it seemed like there were just so many people that I would never get through, and if I never got through Deverell would never hear my song, and he’d never take me with him, and I’d be stuck working at some shoe factory like my unhappy father. So I started to play as I pushed through, then, as if my music were magic, the crowd parted. The people actually stepped to either side to give the musicians a clear view of me; little me, standing all alone in front of a crowd of neighbors as the band continued to set up. I never faltered though, not once. I played my whole song for them with so much passion I shook from it. I’d never played like that before, ever. Then, once I’d finished I saw two of the men exchange looks, then they picked up their instruments, and began to play my song back to me. My song! They played through the first bit, then waved for me to join them for the rest, and I did. Then we started over, and a heavy drum picked in with the violin and the accordion. It – was like a dream. A dream that couldn’t get any better: but it did. As we neared the end I heard the sound of a flute playing a harmony to my song, and then there he was. He was amazing. He played like he was breathing the music – he’d created a harmony for a song he’d heard only twice!

“When we finished he started the applause.. they-clapped for me. Then they walked up to talk with me, asking me my name, how old I was, if I wrote the song, but they stopped when Deverell came to crouch in front of me. I frantically searched my mind for the words I’d decided to say to him, but all I could do was stare, I couldn’t even blink. For me.. it was like.. like meeting the King. Then, then Deverell spoke. I remember his voice more vividly than anything. It was just like his music; soft and effortless.

“He said: ‘Play with us, Johan? We’ll play your song.’ But still, still I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded in response.

“I – I wish I would have said something to him.

“He took me over to the small stage and hoisted me up so I stood in the center. I watched in awe as the band filled in around and behind me, and Deverell himself hopped up to sit next to me on the stage. He looked at me and lifted his flute, and so did I.

“Then we played.

“We played it once through, and it was so strange- so.. amazingly beautiful and surreal that I had to close my eyes to hold back the tears. But- as I began to play through a second time I-… I realized I was the only one playing, no one else.. made a sound.

“The next thing I saw… the next horrid image that I saw- will be forever burned into my soul.

“It was like a dark cloud of dust and smoke, a dark cloud with evil eyes, bright metal swords and hearts of ice.

“The Tev tore apart my village like rabid wolves on a deer. I watched helplessly from the stage as they ripped into everything, and everyone I loved.

“I saw Deverell rush out to meet them. I saw him turn and wave at me to run as his band leapt up to join him. I saw the Tev, the horse dash up behind him.. then, my vision went black.

“When I woke up in an inn three days later, wrapped up like a mummy and shivering in a strange bed, I heard my rescuer saying the same damned things the messenger’s saying upstairs right now. He’d been on his way. He’d been right on schedule. But- he’d been too late. He’d been too late by only a few hours…

“I was the only survivor. He said he’d found me unconscious under the black curtain from the stage.

“Hearing them, hearing the same words over again- I couldn’t take it. I had to get out.” Johan paused with a deep sigh, a few tears in his eyes as his voice wavered, then came back to itself. He looked over at Rhin and then away again with a small chuckle.

“Forgive me?” Rhin just stared at Johan for a long moment, speechless with a strange expression on his face. He had never known his friend to open up like that, to speak so plainly about his past - in fact, this was the first time Rhin had ever heard Johan speak of his village. At long last the red headed Nanion shook his head slowly.

“Johan, I- don’t know what to say.. Only that you shouldn’t be apologizing for something so stupid. I -”

“Rh-rhin, Johan!” Kyin’s voice broke the soft moment as she barreled into the kitchen breathlessly.

“Ssshhh, Kyin!” Rhin whispered shakily, rubbing the back of his head where he’d smacked it against the wall in surprise.

“Kyin, girl, don’t you ever knock?” Johan replied lightly.

“Sorr-sorry but- you have to hear what else they said!” Kyin whispered in a panic-stricken voice, crouching down between the boys and scanning their faces anxiously. Rhin looked nervously over at Johan, wondering how the other boy would respond, wondering if he’d want to hear more. He was glad to see a small hint of Johan’s old nature back on the flute-player’s face as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Well, Kyin,” Johan said eagerly, previous questions forgotten, “what did they say?”

“W-well,” Kyin started, but then paused awkwardly. Rhin raised his eyebrows as he scanned the younger Nanion‘s face, and for a moment it looked as if she had been taken by surprise, as if she hadn’t expected them to want to know.

“Kyin?” Rhin tested, lifting a hand to gently prod Kyin’s arm, but he quickly withdrew from the touch as she gave a sob and dipped her head. He looked helplessly at Johan as Kyin covered her face, her shoulders beginning to shake.

“They said the attacks have been getting worse, and more frequent.” Kyin began in a strangely mature voice, a voice that spoke of fear, but also the acceptance of what it was speaking. “They said the Tev have begun what seems to be a campaign to take out all of the villages this side of the Votoc Mountains. They’ve already burned down Sentram, Leiah, Homaru and Tern. The scouts say they’ve already moved in on Yush…” She paused and looked up fearfully at Johan and Rhin, the calm acceptance now shattered. “Do you know what village is next? Do you!”

“Canibar…” Johan voiced softly, his tone strangely somber. He and Rhin exchanged glances, and a slight nod.

“Then us.” Rhin finished, looking back over at Kyin. “What else did they say, Kyin?” For the moment he had to put stray thoughts out of his mind, he needed to know everything before he let himself leap to conclusions.

“Th-they said that they’re going to keep communication going strong through the last villages- but-.. But it looks like we’ll have to evacuate through the pass.” She shook her head and gave a final sob, crumpling forward into Rhin’s lap. Rhin reached up immediately and began softly rubbing her back, a twinge rising in his gut as her words began to sink in. He looked over at Johan, and his nerves weren’t eased any by the stern expression on the musician’s face.

“What does Valagor expect to happen?” Johan mused quietly. “If he keeps going like this, King Colamaro will declare war! If he hasn’t already planned to..”

“That’s what Etn said!” Kyin whispered in fright, sitting up and looking aghast at Johan, running her fingers under her eyes.

“Maybe,” Rhin sighed in a shockingly quiet voice, “maybe war is what he wants.” He tilted his head back to touch the wall and closed his eyes tightly. He could feel the eyes of his companions on him, waiting for him to continue, to back up his statement, but he couldn’t, and eventually he felt them look away and realize what he’d realized. Everyone knew the villages East of the Votoc Mountains were practically defenseless. They had been used as safe-havens during the war, referred to as the ‘silent zones’, where no fighting was permitted. They were so far out of King Colamaro’s reach that even if he’d sent an army when Sentram was taken, they would never reach Crawyn in time. Defeat, it seemed, was inevitable.

“I …. Think someone’s coming.” Kyin whispered brokenly, looking towards the door, but other than that, none of them moved.

Rhinwyn rolled over in bed, rubbing his aching temples. He was unable to sleep, his thoughts were still running through the words he himself had spoken. Was he right? Was it war Valagor wanted?

War.

It was a strange word to the Nanion boy. It was like something you heard about, something, if worst came to worst, you were trained for, but it wasn’t something you experienced. It was like this fairy tale evil that seemed so horrible it couldn’t be real. It left such horrid destruction and pain in it’s wake that it seemed like just a story villain.

Rhin sat up slowly to better rub at his eyes, his sheets crumpling into his shorts as his bare chest was left to settle in the moonlight. He and Johan were old just enough to be drafted, they would be expected to fight. Could they fight? Would they? Rhin had never even picked up a sword, and he never intended to. Had Johan?

The Nanion was jerked from his thoughts as he heard his door creak, and he turned his head, half expecting to see Tillyia coming in to check on him again.

“Rhin?” Kyin said in barely more than a squeak, peering cautiously into the room.

“Kyin? What are you doing up?” Rhin said in a slightly startled tone, feeling slightly relieved that he’d taken Tillyia’s advice and worn pajamas to bed.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Kyin said truthfully, stepping further into the room and leaning against the doorframe ruefully. “What about you?”

“Same.” Rhin answered slowly, looking down at his hands in his lap. Thinking about all the helpless people in the village, the elderly, the young and the injured, Rhin felt selfish and cowardly for having doubtful thoughts about his loyalty to Crawyn. If it came to it, he would fight. He looked back over at Kyin and noticed her looking at him, almost staring, and a slightly uncomfortable pause rose between them. Rhin’s thoughts were slowly dragged back to his previous conversation with Johan concerning Kyin’s affections, but he jolted the thoughts from his mind and nodded Kyin over.

“Come on then, you can sleep here tonight.” He said in a friendly way, smiling a little as he saw a grin spread across her thin lips. She closed the door silently behind her then scampered quietly over to the bed, climbing in as Rhin scooted over. He felt her shift a little beside him and sigh gently after a moment, tilting to look at him.

“When I was little, mom used to tell me stories to help me sleep.”

“Yeah? What kind of stories?” Rhin said, trying to think back on his own childhood, but couldn’t recall any difficulty sleeping.

“Stories of what would happen, if war should break out.”

“What?” Rhin said in bewilderment. “What kind of bedtime stories are war stories, Kyin? Are you kidding?”

“No. They were good stories though, Rhinwyn, they were stories about the Boy of Prophecy.”

“Good war stories, huh?” Rhin sighed, folding his hands behind his head. “Who’s the Boy of Prophecy?”

“What do you mean?” Kyin said as she pushed herself up on her elbow to look down at Rhin. He chuckled lightly.

“I mean just what I said: Who is the Boy of Prophecy?”

“The boy from the Cloak of the Shyr.” Seeing Rhin’s expression only grow more confused, Kyin threw her arms into the air and shook her head. “Geez Rhin, you don’t know anything do you?” She said playfully, then laid down across his chest with a small smile. “There’s a cloak in Castle Shyr that holds the history of our people on one side, and the Prophecies on the other. The prophecies speak of a great war that will tear apart the land, only to bring it back together. They speak of a great boy who will rise from the ashes of a horrible attack and unite the people.” Rhin was silent for a long moment, his eyes scanning the ceiling above him anxiously. He had never really believed in prophecies and fate and what not, but Kyin’s words hit hope in his heart, and he gave a small nod.

“Unite the people?” He said at last, closing his eyes softly. “How exactly is he supposed to do that?”

“By defeating the bad guy, of course.”

“Mm,” Rhin replied, then all at once his thoughts moved to Johan. His closest friend had survived a horrible attack like the one apparently mentioned in the Prophecies - he’d lost everyone he’d loved, he’d had to start anew with heavy pain in his heart. No one deserved that.

“Do you- do you believe the Prophecies, Rhinwyn?” Kyin whispered, almost as if she could read Rhin’s thoughts. “Do you think there really is a boy like that?”

“You know, Kyin,” Rhin said, the smiling face of the musician dancing over his
eyelids. “I think I do.”