Silvius and Katan

:::Chapter One:::
~The Librarian of Yiv and the Stranger of the Southern Forest~

Life as a librarian didn't earn much respect in a town such as Yiv. A small town isolated from the rest of the world by mountains to the north, thick forests to the West and South, and a large ocean to the East. It was mainly full of hunters and woodsman, there were also a few that braved the sea as fishermen. Not a likely place for a librarian to make his home.

But live there he did, though it was through no fault of his own that he ended up in such a place. In fact, he wasn't sure whose fault it was. He certainly wasn't born here, not unless someone could give birth to a fully grown adult male. Asking the townspeople such a question would put a bewildered look on their face followed by a shrug. Katan the librarian has always just been there, they'd say.

The smallish building, wedged between the blacksmith shop and the stables has always had Katan, ever since anyone could remember. Even the elderly remembered Katan the librarian from their younger days, looking exactly the same today as he did those many years ago. No one questioned it, not even Katan thought too much about it. The thought never crossed their minds that perhaps the librarian was more than he seemed.

It wasn't until a stranger entered the town that Katan started to wonder just who's fault it was that he was there in the town of Yiv.

The stranger entered the town from the forests to the South. As strange as a stranger was to the small town of Yiv, it was stranger still that he came from the forests to the South. It was a thick forest that, unlike those of the Western forests, seemed to shelter only the most ferocious of creatures. It was unknown why these beasts resided in only the Southern forests, but it was a fact nonetheless.

Few entered that came back alive. In fact, there was perhaps only one or two accounts of anyone ever coming from that forest.

Of course, at this time, Katan the librarian had no clue that the town had a stranger from the South. At this moment he was filing some books away that he had ordered nearly a year ago, that had finally arrived by ship to Yiv yesterday.

It was still early morning. The faint light coming through the one and only window of the library was barely enough for him to see what he was doing. But he refused to light a candle during daylight hours, not wanting to waste any of the precious wax. He wasn’t rich. He wasn’t even comfortably middle class.

A librarian in a small town that had only a handful of people that could even read, and fewer still that had any interest in even reading books not related to fishing or hunting, barely made enough money to pay for the food on his table. Food of course being bread and water, and on special occasions, a slice of cheese.

Katan never complained. He was more than content to be alone in his stuffy, one windowed library eating stale bread and drinking warm water. Even though the smell of stable horses and the banging of the blacksmith reached through the thin walls, Katan had long since adapted to it. Now he barely thought about the clanging and banging. He could barely even smell the stables anymore.

The library was the largest room in his house, and was located at the very front of the house so that when you first stepped in, you were surrounded by rows upon rows of the large, dark bookcases. The left wall next to the front entrance held the only window on the first floor, and was small enough that it didn’t let allot of sunlight into the room. Too much sunlight ruined the leather covering of some of his more delicate books.

Standing behind one of the bookcases at the very back of the room was a staircase that led to the second floor. The second floor had only one room as well, though it was half the size of the library, and Katan used it as both a kitchen and bedroom. The kitchen / bedroom consisted of a small pantry that was barely used, a table and stool that Katan himself had made out of left over crates and a small bed that was more straw than anything.

Hunching over the small crate filled with thick, leather bound books, Katan rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. Not even noon and he was already worn out.

I really need to start going to sleep at a more decent hour, he grumbled to himself. Not only is it wasting wax, I can barely even hold my head up during work hours. Not that there’s ever any sort of customer...but still...

The irresistible allure of new books had been too much for him to resist, and he had spent all night gleefully reading through nearly all of them. Standing up slowly so as not to hurt his back, arms laden with heavy books, he hobbled over to one of the many floor to ceiling book cases.

By the time he was finished shelving the books it was nearly night time. Frowning at the lack of customers he’d had today, though he should be used to it, Katan dusted himself off.

I’m going to need to buy another pair of clothes, he fingered one of the holes on his shirt sleeves. I guess it has been a year since I’ve bought some new ones. I don’t like spending so much money on clothes, books are more important...maybe I can put it off for a few more weeks.

Too tired to really come to any sort of decision on the matter, Katan picked up the chipped pitcher from a small table by the front door, which he used to gather water from a small river right outside the village.

May as well get clean while I’m down there, he thought, opening the door to his house and stepping outside into the cool evening air.

He nodded politely to Robert, the towns blacksmith, as he passed. He was ignored, as usual, Robert being as busy as he was rarely looked up from his work as he pounded metal into submission. At times when the need for conversation overcame him, Katan would sit uninvited in the loud and hot smith shop and have long talks with Roberts back. Ignored as he was during these times, the grunts of Roberts effort with the hammer at times seemed like grunts of acknowledgement, and was enough to satisfy Katan’s need for interaction.

The walk from the library to the river was a fast one, the library being on the very outskirts of town. The moon had yet to cast it’s silvery glow over the slow moving water of the river by the time he reached it. Knowing he had plenty of time before it became completely dark, Katan took his time in disrobing. Carefully he filled up his water pitcher before placing it next to his clothes and stepping into the chilly water.

The deepest part of the river, near the center, came up half way to his chest. Despite the rivers current pulling on his legs and feet, it was easy for Katan to find his balance on the round rocks. He ducked beneath the water, staying under for as long as he could before breaking the surface with a gasp. Pushing his shoulder length hair out of face, he allowed the current to push him a few steps closer to the cattails that grew near the other side of the river.

The sound of hoof steps coming from the village path caused Katan to look up with a small grin.

“Dietal,” Katan greeted the Stable master as he came into view.

“Librarian,” Dietal nodded politely, stopping by the edge of the water to shrug out of his clothes.

While not as quiet as Katans other neighbor, the Stable master had few things to say to the Librarian. But he did talk to the librarian on occasion, and Katan looked forward to those brief moments. So when Dietal stepped into the river and turned to look at him, Katan gave him his complete attention.

“There’s a stranger in town,” Dietal said briefly. He completely submerged himself before standing back up and running the brush he had brought through his shaggy brown hair.

“A stranger?” Katan started at the unexpected news.

“Yes,” Dietal struggled as the brush caught in some tangles. “He’s staying over at the Red Hen Inn.” Wincing as the brush finally broke free of the tangles, he continued. “He’s stabling a couple of horses with me, he’s only staying the night, apparently.”

“Where’s he going?” Katan asked, coming closer to the Stable master. Hesitantly he held out his hand. Looking briefly confused at the gesture, Dietal shrugged and handed him the large brush.

“Didn’t ask,” he shrugged again. He had to kneel down carefully to allow Katan access to his short hair. While the water came up to the librarians chest, it only reached the Stable masters waist.

Katan was by no means a short person. He was, in fact, the average height of a fully grown human male. But Dietal wasn’t.

Human that is.

No, Dietal was the only centaur in Yiv. Strong, powerful, and half stallion, he was a man that was born to lead. Why he ended up in a town like Yiv, taking care of other peoples horses and cleaning stalls was beyond Katan.

Centaurs, from what Katan had read, were social creatures that lived in large herds on the warm plains and grasslands of the South. A single centaur living in a human village was rare, especially if said centaur was a young, virile half stallion.

It was quiet for a few moments, save for the sound of rushing water and the rustling of the cool evening breeze. Dietal helped Katan steady himself against the river current by placing large, calloused hands on the slimmer waist while Katan ran the brush through the others tangled hair.

Pulling back slightly once he was done, Katan grinned up at Dietals hazel eyes. The hands on his waist still remained in place, so he rested his own hands on the Stable masters arms.

“Would you like me to get the rest of you?” Katan waved the brush briefly in front on Dietals eyes.

Blinking down at him, Dietal shook his head. “No, that’s fine. I only came down here to rinse off, I only really scrub every other day.”

“Well, well, you don’t see something like this everyday,” came a sudden voice that startled Katan so bad that he would have slipped backwards into the water had it not been for the strong hands still on his waist holding him up.

Finding the source of the voice was easy enough. Katan couldn’t help but stare at what he saw, his jaw dropping in surprise.

Leaning against a tree that stood near the waters edge, arms crossed over his chest, was a white silvery vision. Long hair as white as the moon that had just begun to rise, skin nearly as pale, the man was of obvious elven descent, with his long pointed ears clearly visible through the strands of his hair and was perhaps one of the most beautiful creatures Katan had ever seen.

This, Katan guessed correctly, must be the Stranger.