Castle Shyr

The fifth and probably most depressing section in the whole novel. In my opinion anyway. I don\'t really find the killing of people as an action depressing, it\'s slaughter, it\'s violence it\'s action (In novels that is, not in real life) but this section takes place before all that.. during the mental preparation for something like that. I find it depressing.

Yay for Johan.


-As It Comes To Pass-

“No,” Rhin gasped, stepping back awkwardly from the approaching Tev soldier and his poised sword. He stumbled and fell to his rump on the hard ground, wincing and making a noise barely worthy of a puppy. He tilted his head to see the horror behind the Tev - what had once been Crawyn. His only home, burned, pillaged, destroyed by these ruthless warriors, just as Johan’s had been. He couldn’t keep his eyes from drifting over to the ground where the disemboweled bodies of Johan and Kyin lay, open like ripped grain sacks: they had fallen first.

“No!” Rhin shouted, bringing his hands up to block the sword as it came swooshing down on him. “No!”


Rhin shot up in bed, covered in a cold sweat and panting so hard his throat ached.

‘A nightmare,’ he thought bitterly to himself, ‘just a horrid nightmare.’ He sighed and drew his knees up to his chest, running his hands back through his hair to smooth it away from his face. He’d heard of people having dreams of the future, premonitions that served as warnings for things they should and shouldn’t do, and he hoped that wasn’t the case with this dream. He couldn’t remember most of it now, he couldn’t remember any if it in fact, aside from the sight of the lifeless bodies of Kyin and Johan, sprawled over the cold, unyielding ground.

He turned his head lightly to drop his gaze on the bed beside him, where Kyin laid curled in a tight ball, her silk nightgown wrinkled and disheveled. He reached over gently, pausing for a moment in fear of waking her, then followed through and moved a few golden locks behind her ears.

He wouldn’t let her die.

He sighed and gently slid out of bed, being careful not to disturb the sleeping girl, and walked towards the small window leaking in sunlight. He reached up and slowly drew back the off-white curtains, squinting and turning away from the light as it spun into his eyes. He frowned as he slowly opened his eyes to look at the floor, trying to help them adjust, and realized the square sounded unusually busy for this time of morning. He leaned forward a bit, sticking his head out of the now open window, and tried to focus in on the moving blur in the distance. As his eyes slowly adjusted he felt his heart begin to race; the fuzzy blur was a large group of people gathered to talk in the square. He squinted and leaned further out the window, his hair getting caught by the wind, and tried to make out the faces. He became slightly desperate to see someone that he recognized, pleading in his head to whatever God was listening that the scene below him not be what he feared it was.

“It’s Canibar. They came in late last night - they’ve been settling down all morning.” Johan said softly from the doorway, leaning on the door he’d just eased open. He watched with a deep-set frown as Rhin moved back into the room from the window, his head dipped down so that long red strands hid his face.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Rhin said softly, knowing full well the answer, but needing to hear it from someone else, no matter how much he dreaded the sound of it, he needed to know this wasn’t a dream.

“I mean they evacuated, Rhinwyn. The whole village of Canibar evacuated last night, to escape the Tev troupes that have set up camp outside of what remains of Yush.”

Rhin turned to slowly look at Johan, his pleading gold eyes welling with tears at his companion’s harsh, almost deadpan tone. He could tell just by looking at the flute-player that he’d been up all night, helping, worrying, maybe even crying judging by the redness to his eyes. Johan had seen it start, and had accepted it, and the fact that the musician seemed unwilling to try and change the inevitable, nearly stopped Rhin’s heart where he stood.

“Then it’s happening? It’s really happening? The Tev are headed this way? Headed towards us..”

“Yes.” Johan said simply, trying to swallow the lump in his throat as he bit his tongue to hold back the tears. He hated seeing Rhin like that, hated knowing that there was nothing he could do to comfort his life-long friend - but a part of him knew it had to be done. Part of him knew he couldn’t show compassion to the Nanion-boy, because Rhin needed to know how serious it was, he needed to be able to realize what was going on so that he could make it out alive.

“What are we supposed to do?” Rhin breathed, sinking in defeat into a chair pressed up against the corner. He looked up as he heard the door creak, but didn’t have the will to react as Johan walked further into the room and closed the door behind him. Canibar had evacuated, and somehow he knew that had happened in his dream as well.

“Listen, Rhinwyn,” Johan started, walking towards the chair as he tried to ignore the tears in the corners of Rhin’s eyes, “this is big. The elders were talking about beginning the evacuation of both villages through the pass this afternoon - before the Tev have a chance to catch on to Canibar’s move. The Tev have been moving slowly so far, but if they find out what’s going on, they’ll hit us next, they won’t even check Canibar for survivors.” He sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair, crouching down by Rhin and gripping both sides of the chair, his face hurting from the frown. “Rhinwyn, look at me.” He sighed, watching as the Nanion moved his golden eyes from the spot on the floor he’d apparently found so fascinating to Johan’s gaze, holding it waveringly with tears slipping down his cheeks furiously now.

“I’ve agreed to help fight.”

“Johan-”

“Hush. I talked to our Captain last night and he agreed to let me in, despite my lack of training and any real combat skill. He was fairly desperate.”

“Then take me to him!” Rhin said, suddenly impassioned as he leaned forward and grabbed Johan’s shoulders fiercely. “Take me to him and let me join up -”

“Rhinwyn! Hush!” Johan shouted suddenly, standing and nearly shoving Rhin’s head into the wall as he covered the boy’s mouth viciously. He turned his gaze slightly to Kyin, still thankfully asleep, before pulling on a cold gaze and looking back at the frightened Rhinwyn.

“Hush. I want you to stay with Kyin, your parents, and Zeva.” He began, slowly moving his hand from Rhin’s mouth, earning a gasping sob from the other Nanion. “I want you to focus on protecting them, and leave the Tev to us.”

“Johan,” Rhin managed between gasps, “I can’t do that. You’re not a fighter. You’ve never even picked up a sword! I can’t run like a coward and leave you here t-”

“Rhin, running isn’t cowardly.” Johan said in a deadly serious voice, shaking his head lightly, “Not one bit, as long as you’re doing it for the right reasons. Zeva and Kyin have never seen death, Rhinwyn, and your parents, well, they won’t be able to fight as well as they’ll need to in order to survive - so I want you to take them all through the pass when this happens, I don’t want you to leave them, not even for a second. Do you understand me?”

“When this happens…” Rhin whispered disbelievingly.

“Rhinwyn, do you understand me?”

“Y-yes, Johan..” He whispered, bringing his hands up to cover his face as he leaned forward, nearly crumpling in two. “This-this can’t be happening.”

“It is, Rhin, it’s happening - it’s happening now.” Johan sighed, turning to sit on the floor with his back to the wall, Rhin and the chair to his left. “The Tev, though vicious creatures, are fairly predictable - and nocturnal, so they’ll attack Canibar tonight.” His gaze moved slowly around the room before falling finally on Kyin, sleeping peacefully, undaunted by the horrors which awaited the village. “When they find it deserted they’ll be furious, and they’ll move on us as soon as they know what happened. At best we have until the sun rises tomorrow before they hit us.”

“Stop it, Johan.” Rhin whispered brokenly, lowering his hands to clasp in front of his knees as he brought them to his chest. “Just stop it.”

A long period of silence followed, filling in between the two boys like a wall. Rhin closed his eyes as tightly as he could, eyebrows wavering as if off-balance as he tried desperately to subdue his sobs. He forced himself to concentrate on the regularity that was Kyin’s breathing, and managed to quiet himself a good deal, though his mind still cried out in anguish. His village was going to be burned to the ground. The people he had grown up with were going to die. His best friend would be out in the middle of a fierce battle and he would be running with the only family he had at his side. There was nothing he could do to stop it, any of it.

He heard a slight noise from the wall beside him, and slowly turned his head to look at Johan, pressed tightly against the wall. The flute-player let out another sob, and wrapped his arms suddenly around his chest, dipping his head forward as his face set into a painful grimace.

“Johan..” Rhin whimpered, moving to his knees beside his friend and touching his shoulder softly.

“I’m so scared, Rhin.” Johan confessed, shaking his head and looking over at the red-head, a small smirk making it’s way through his tears, his bottom lip quivering. “I don’t want to do this - I-I don’t know if I can… but-but part of me has to - to … for my village.” Then, as quickly as it had come, his small smirk faded and left his face in the pit of despair. He collapsed forward and let his head smack into Rhin’s chest, just below the boy’s collarbone. He began shaking, pain in his throat and stomach from trying to keep himself under control, from his hiccup-like breaths, but he felt a small bit of comfort as Rhin’s arms suddenly wrapped around him and squeezed. Johan was sure that Rhin was squeezing him so hard it hurt, but he didn’t mind, it felt good compared to the lurch in his stomach and the feelings in his head. “I-I don’t know I-if I can d-do this..” He sobbed into Rhin’s shirt, his own fingers digging into the back of his tunic, pulling the fabric at the seams.

“J-johan?” Kyin whispered as she sat up in the bed, rubbing her arm in a sympathetic way, concern on her features as Rhin looked over and met her eyes. His hair was in his face again, hiding most of his features, but Kyin could see the tears on Rhin’s face, the pain on his lips. She slid out of bed, hitting the floor rather loudly, and scampered towards the boys, stopping just a few inches from them. She wrapped her arms over herself much in the same way Johan had, and took a final, tentative step forward.

“Pl-please don’t cry, Johan.” She whispered, fear eating into her voice as she began panting for breath, tears in her own eyes.

“K-kyin, the Tev-” Rhin began, knowing he had to explain it to her so that she would understand, but he couldn’t continue. His voice gave out on him and he turned his face to hide it against the familiar green of Johan’s hair, his shoulders beginning to shake anew.

Kyin’s lower lip jutted forward, tears starting down her cheeks as well as she listened to the words Rhin spoke, but more importantly, as she watched the way he moved. She fell rather ungracefully to her knees and was immediately pulled into the tight embrace by both boys, her tiny frame pinned between their shoulders. Her eyes remained wide for a moment as she let herself dwell on the feel of them beside her, so comforting despite the pain and fear between them. She brought her hands up to cover her mouth and squinted her eyes shut as she realized she could be sharing the last hug with them she would ever have.

Johan wanted to speak, he tried to coax his voice out of wherever it had hidden, just to say it would be alright, just to tell Kyin and Rhin how much he cared for them; but his voice wouldn’t listen, his mouth wouldn’t work. He tightened his grip on the both of them and took a few deep, steady breaths, trying to get himself under control, though his efforts proved fruitless.

“J-joha-” Rhin’s voice was cut short by a sharp knock on the door, which caused them all to jump and turn, fearfully, towards the noise.

“Rhinwyn? Kyin?” It was Alric’s voice which greeted them, stiff and broken. The older Nanion slowly turned the doorknob and poked his head inside, looking first at the empty bed, then turning his gaze to the trio in the corner. He felt another swell of emotion rise in him as he took in the sight of the three of them, holding onto each other for dear life, tears staining their shirts and faces. He sighed and stepped into the room, walking over to sit stiffly on the foot of the bed. For a long while he couldn’t do anything aside from tap his foot and stare at the ball his fists made against each other.

“Captain- Captain Latian sent for you, Johan.” He said once he’d worked up the courage, though he couldn’t lift his eyes to theirs. “You’re to report down at the main gate.” He tried not to pause as he heard his daughter let out a heart-wrenching sob, and continued on as best he could. “Rhin, Kyin, why don’t you walk with him.. Tillyia and I- would like you to get a few things for us on the way back home.”

“Thank you, sir.” Johan said first, his voice not nearly as strong as it should have been. Kyin and Rhin could only manage weak nods as the trio began rubbing fiercely at their eyes, chins and cheeks, trying to wipe away the tears.

Alric gave a stiff nod and stood slowly, feeling awkward, even in the presence of his daughter and the boy he’d come to call his son. He turned towards the door but paused as he heard the scuffling of tiny feet on the floor.

“H-here’s the list,” he stuttered, his hands fumbling in his pocket as he removed the piece of parchment, as well as a gold coin, “a-and money for the-” His voice was cut short, his words ending in a soft sob as he felt Kyin’s arms suddenly around his waist, holding him as though she would never see him again. The tears he’d worked so hard all morning to subdue came forward without his calling them, without his knowledge. He turned and took to one knee, pulling his tiny daughter to his chest and wrapping his long arms around her. In that moment he wanted nothing more than to protect her, than to sacrifice himself as a sheild for her, to keep her safe from harm, from the pain she would have to endure no matter what the outcome of the inevitable evacuation.

Johan took another deep breath, his crying all but stopped as he watched Kyin’s father enfold his arms over her like a sheild, holding her so tight she looked as though she’d break. He reached out and helped Rhin stand, turning to lock his blue eyes onto Rhin’s gold, the iris’s meeting and wavering unsurely. He forced a smile onto his dry and cracking lips and looked over at Kyin softly.

“Well, come on you two,” he said, his voice slowly returning to it’s old self, “I had better not be late and you two have a rush to beat.” He looked back at Rhin from Kyin and Alric, and read a sincere thank you in his friend’s eyes, as Johan had been able to do what Rhin had not.

Kyin nodded slowly and pulled away from her father, hard as it was, rubbing under her eyes still. She offered Alric the most sincere smile she could muster and tipped forward to plant a kiss on his cheek, quickly stepping away from him before she lost the nerve to do so.

“We’ll get the things, daddy,” she said sweetly, her voice still sounding tear-torn and pained, “and be back soon.” She reached out for the things in her father’s hand, but paused and wrapped her tiny fingers through his, trying to keep the smile on her face.

Rhin nodded silently from his position against the wall with Johan. He had never gotten very close to Alric, not as close as he would have liked. It always seemed to him that Alric knew Rhinwyn wasn’t his, while Tillyia, at times, seemed to forget.

“Have fun, egglet.” Alric said quickly, needing to spit out a reply before his voice gave out on him. He drew Kyin in gently, returning her sweet peck from a moment before with his own to her forehead. He then stood and watched as she slowly started towards the door, trailed by Johan, who put his arm kindly around her shoulders. He turned his gaze then to Rhin, who’d only taken a step or two forward. He had never grown attached to Rhin, not as he would have to his own son, but he still cared deeply for the boy, he’d raised him alongside Tillyia. There was just something strange about the boy, some odd presence behind the gold orbs which gazed around at the world which alarmed and unnerved him.

Rhin let out a short gasp as he was suddenly pulled into another embrace, this time by Alric. He’d never been hugged by the older Nanion, carried once or twice, but never embraced like this, like a father would embrace a son, and he let himself melt into the feeling. He knew his tears were starting anew, but at the moment he didn’t care. He folded his hands tightly against Alric’s back, surprised at the frailty he felt there. He stiffened a little, reluctant to let go as the older Nanion began standing, moving away from the embrace, but eventually Rhin stepped back and looked up at him.

“You.. Take care of Kyin.” Alric said softly, his fear and insecurity showing through as he met Rhin’s eyes, holding them as confidently as he could. “Take care of her, and yourself, Rhinwyn.” He finished, turning to put his back to the three children.

Rhin stared almost longingly at Alric’s back as the man turned away, but he knew it was a signal to leave, and he turned slowly to the door.

“C’mon, dawn-bird,” Johan said softly from the doorway, waving Rhin over with his free hand, “we’ve got things to do.”