Chapter Two
I wasn't sure how long I had slept for, but when I looked out the window in my room it was still pitch black outside. I leaned up slowly and opened my mouth into a wide yawn. Then, I reached my hand towards the nightstand beside the bed where a black candle sat in a crystalline bowl. A warm tingle shot through my forearm to my hand, then from my hand to the tips of my fingers. After a moment, the candle wick caught on fire and lit my room up as bright as day. I could hear a soft talking from downstairs. I couldn't hear what was being said, so I carefully pushed myself to my feet and made my way downstairs. Before I reached the stairs, I could see lights flickering across the walls from the candles we normally kept on the table that sat in the middle of the living room in bowls made of glass, amethyst, or labradorite. As I stood at the top of the stairs, I could hear what was being said now."Are you serious," Selniana exclaimed, clearly struggling to keep her voice to a minimum.
"Yeah. They just came in about an hour ago and marched their way to the town hall and demanded to speak with him. Then they left and that's when Balkas came out and announced that we had to up the supplies for the bandits. Part of me wonders if he's actually working with them now." A different masculine voice said.
There was an audible sigh, most likely from my sister, then silence for what felt like forever. I debated on whether I should head downstairs or not, but then the two started speaking again.
"What should we do, Heikas? Livrani doesn't want to leave until Mrs. Kenome passes, and I don't know how long that's going to take. When I go to the market, the prices have risen every time and we're getting less and less food each shopping trip now. I don't want to leave my sister behind, either. I suggested we leave at some point if things get worse, but..." She said with her voice full of worry.
I began to feel guilty now. It wasn't like I wanted to hold my sister back from leaving. I just didn't want to leave Mrs. Kenome behind with nobody to help her get around. She doesn't have anyone other than me and Selniana, now. Her kids have moved on to other cities to live their lives and have their own adventures. They had left before Selniana and I were even born, according to Mrs. Kenome. Every once in a while they would write to her, but they never came to Fogbloom to visit. Or rather, I don't remember ever seeing them visit. If they did, it must have been very brief moments where they were travelling through and didn't have time to stay for more than a few hours.
I couldn't listen to the conversation anymore. I turned around and crept back to my own room as quietly as I could, shutting my bedroom door just as quietly.The flames from the candle I lit with my druid magic continued to flicker and cause dancing shadows across my entire room. Since I was no longer tired enough to sleep, I crossed over to the bookshelf that stood to the right of my desk and pulled one of the many books from it. It was a book with a dark gray cover and the title of The Songs of Sirens. I smiled to myself, as this was one of my favorite stories I've read. The story is about a young woman named Zhalori who wakes up in a village that lived by the sea without a single memory other than her name. She begins to have these horrible, murderous thoughts that are so strong they almost control her, forcing her to kill anyone she sees. She decides the best course of action is to avoid civilization altogether, but in the forest she comes across a group of adventurers who invite her to travel with them. She agrees to do so as she had been traveling on her own for a few weeks now and was very lonely. She, eventually falls in love with one of the adventurers and tells him about the uncontrollable dark thoughts she's been having and how they control her actions, even when she's sleeping. He tells her that they'll find a way around it, and so they continue to travel together. Unfortunately while they were all sleeping, Zhalori ends up killing all the adventurers in the group. At some point near the end of the story, the young siren woman is found by other sirens who learn of her problem and teach her about herself, why her mind works the way it does due to an incurable curse, and a song to help soothe it when the time is needed.
I was on the bed now, rereading the story again for the hundredth time. I was laying on my stomach with the book laying in front of me on the bed with my hooves kicked up into the air and my hands under my chin with my elbows planted in the bed to help support the weight of my head. I slowly kicked my hooves back and forth as I read. I was imagining what the song from the story would sound like, humming a random possible tune to myself as I read. I had gotten so invested in the book that I had almost all but forgotten about the conversation I overheard earlier.
I couldn't listen to the conversation anymore. I turned around and crept back to my own room as quietly as I could, shutting my bedroom door just as quietly.The flames from the candle I lit with my druid magic continued to flicker and cause dancing shadows across my entire room. Since I was no longer tired enough to sleep, I crossed over to the bookshelf that stood to the right of my desk and pulled one of the many books from it. It was a book with a dark gray cover and the title of The Song of Sirens. I smiled to myself, as this was one of my favorite stories I've read. The story is about a young woman named Zhalori who wakes up in a village that lived by the sea without a single memory other than her name. She begins to have these horrible, murderous thoughts that are so strong they almost control her, forcing her to kill anyone she sees. She decides the best course of action is to avoid civilization altogether, but in the forest she comes across a group of adventurers who invite her to travel with them. She agrees to do so as she had been traveling on her own for a few weeks now and was very lonely. She, eventually falls in love with one of the adventurers and tells him about the uncontrollable dark thoughts she's been having and how they control her actions, even when she's sleeping. He tells her that they'll find a way around it, and so they continue to travel together. Unfortunately while they were all sleeping, Zhalori ends up killing all the adventurers in the group. At some point near the end of the story, the young siren woman is found by other sirens who learn of her problem and teach her about herself, why her mind works the way it does due to an incurable curse, and a song to help soothe it when the time is needed.
I was on the bed now, rereading the story again for the hundredth time. I was laying on my stomach with the book laying in front of me on the bed with my hooves kicked up into the air and my hands under my chin with my elbows planted in the bed to help support the weight of my head. I slowly kicked my hooves back and forth as I read. I was imagining what the song from the story would sound like, humming a random possible tune to myself as I read. I had gotten so invested in the book that I had almost all but forgotten about the conversation I overheard earlier. I had been reading for about an hour when Selniana poked her head through the door.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were awake already," She said softly.
"Yeah I've been reading for a little bit."
"Ah, that's nice. What are you reading?"
I smiled and answered," The Song of Sirens."
"You really love that book," She said with a smile in her voice now. It felt almost as if the conversation between her and Heikas didn't happen to begin with.
"Well, yeah. It's a good book."
She nodded once and in the candle light I could see a flicker of worry in her eyes. I placed a sheet of paper on the page I was reading and closed the book so that I could return to the story again later, then sat up slowly. The guilt started eating at me again. Just seeing the worry in her face upset me, and I couldn't help but feel like it was my fault because of the fact that I wanted to stay and take care of Mrs. Kenome. If Selniana chose to leave without me, it wouldn't even bother me. I would completely understand and support her decision to the very end. Maybe if she left without me, I would be able to find her again one day.
I opened my mouth, but for a moment couldn't say anything. I was trying to figure out how to word what it was I wanted to say. "I heard you and that Heikas guy earlier. And I'm sorry."
She stood there staring at me carefully. She had entered the room now and was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Confusion replaced the worry on her face now.
"Why are you sorry?" She asked.
"Keeping you behind. I want to leave just as much as you do, but I don't just want to leave Mrs. Kenome behind. I may be your little sister, but I'm not a child anymore. I can take care of myself just as well as any of you can. You don't need my blessing or anything like that, but you can leave without me. I'll understand." I said, guilt coloring my voice heavily now.
She scoffed. "You must be crazy if you think I'm going to leave you behind. We've been through everything else. Why would I just ditch you now? Plus, none of this is your fault. I think it's a noble thing to risk your well being to take care of someone else when times are getting tough. Most people would be more focused on trying to take care of themselves because that's all they can do."
I shrugged. "Yeah, but still. It's holding you back and I don't like that."
"Yeah, well, don't worry about me, goofball." She said in amusement.
"I suppose we should start getting ready for the day, then?" I asked.
"Well, I don't know how much you heard between me and Heikas, but a lost of druids are thinking about not working today. Kind of as a protest type thing." She said.
"Wait, what? But won't that be negative for everyone involved? What about the crops and herbs? And the bandits. Won't they launch an attack if we don't deliver more to them today?"
"It's just one day, I think. Apparently the bandits want the supplies delivered at the end of the month, which is in about two weeks now, so we have more than enough time to work. Just chill out for the day. Do whatever you want today. We'll go in tomorrow. Or you can go in today if you want. I won't stop you." Selniana said. "But I am going back to bed for a little bit. I barely got any sleep last night, so I am absolutely exhausted. Hopefully I'll see you again in the morning."
Selniana slipped out of my room again, closing the door behind her lightly. I listed to her hoof steps fade away as she walked back down the stairs and to her room. I turned my attention back to the book for a moment, debating on what I should do. I could use this day to spend with Mrs. Kenome in the park like she wanted. Or I could take her to a book store and help her get a new set of books I remember her saying she wanted a while back, too. I could also just suck it up and go to work and get some things done so that we have a little progress.
After several moments of sitting there staring at my book and debating, I pushed myself to my feet and crossed over to my wardrobe. I yanked the doors open, pulled my mushroom druid outfit out and began to dress myself as fast as I possibly could. I grabbed the cloak off the hanger and threw it on as well. I sat back down on the bed and began putting my boots on. When I had finished with that, I turned my attention to the quarterstaff and grabbed it, reaching over my back to attach it to the strap to keep it in place for the day. With one quick glance in the mirror, I had realized I forgot to do my hair. Immediately, I grabbed the hair brush off my desk and began yanking it through quickly. When I felt my hair was nice and smooth, I began to braid it neatly, making sure there wasn't a strand of hair out of place. I clipped a shiny blue mushroom pin in the braid to prevent it from coming out, and was on my way now. I knew exacly what it was I wanted to do, now.
I stepped outside and closed the door behind me as quietly as possible so that it wouldn't disturb Selniana. It had started raining, so I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and started walking to Mrs. Kenome's house as I do every morning before I head to work. As I walked, the sky grew lighter and lighter, revealing gray clouds covering every bit of it in sight. It was going to be one of those slow, peaceful days, then, I thought to myself. I loved the rain, so this was a welcome sight.
When I finally reached Ms. Kenome's house, I reached up and knocked on the door quickly. It took a few moments, but eventually her front door swung open slowly. She glanced me over before confusion hit her eyes.
"I thought the druids were taking the day off as a means of protesting,"She said quizzically.
"Oh, they are. I'm actually not going to work today." I said.
She, somehow, looked even more confused now. "Why are you all dressed up, then? Here, come inside. Get out of the rain for a little bit."
She gestured for me to follow her inside. I crossed over the threshold into her lovely familiar home that I had known my entire life. The smell of lavender hit my nose and I was enveloped in warmth. She sat down in one of the wooden rocking chairs in the room and reached ove into a basket that sat beside it to pull out a large spool of red yarn and a pair of knitting needles. I followed her lead, plopping down on one of the cushions on the couch that sat in the center of the room. On the table in front of the couch, there was a bowl that had a variety of fruits in it. She must have seen me looking, because she smiled and reached forward to grab an apple for herself.
"You don't have to ask, dearie. You know that. Eat whatever you want." She said.
I shook my head once. "No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, though."
She shrugged. "Suit yourself. Now onto othe matters. What are you up to? If you're not going to work, why are you dressed up like you are?"
"I'm on my way to speak to Balkas."I said confidently.
She stared at me for a moment with a look that questioned my sanity. She placed her half eaten apple on the table and shifted her body to face directly at me now. She stayed quiet for several moments, before finally speaking again.
"I won't tell you not to go, but I do want to say if he even agrees to talk to you, he most likely won't listen to a word you have to say. That man is selfish and doesn't care about his citizens." Mrs. Kenome said.
I figured she would say something like that. I wasn't going to let that ruin my determination, though. Protesting didn't seem to work, no matter what it was we did. There have been many different types of protests in the past, all of them going unnoticed by Balkas. I knew this protest was going to be another one that Balkas would ignore. He knew that we knew that the whole city counts on us all for food supplies, and we all knew that we couldn't just stop harvesting and planting crops for more than a few days at most. I couldn't just let myself sit around and do nothing, knowing that my neighbors and fellow citizens are going to struggle even more now. I had to do something, even if that something got me nowhere.
"Yeah, I know," I finally said in response. "But I can't just stay at home all day, Mrs. Kenome. A lot of us are already struggling as it is."
She gave me a small smile and continued knitting once more. "And that's how I know I raised you right."
After a short moment, I pushed myself to my feet and glanced around her room one more time before heading over to the front door. My hand was on the door knob when Mrs. Kenome had started speaking again. I glanced over my shoulder to look at the elderly woman, who was still knitting and looking down at her little project.
"Please stay safe and good luck. I love you as if you were my own child, Livrani." She said softly.
A small smile crept across my face now. "You don't have to worry about me, Mrs. Kenome. Of couse I'll be safe. I love you, too. I'll be back before you have time to worry about anything."
With that said, I pulled the door open and was now on my way to the town hall. The rain had gotten heavier while I was in Mrs. Kenome's house. It was pelting my face, hard and cold, almost as if they were little icy needles. I looked down at the ground as I walked so that the rain would stop hitting my face, picking up my own pace as I went. By the time I was halfway to the town hall, I was cold, wet, and shivering. I had picked my pace up again and was in a half-jog half-run sort of speed. Thunder had started sounding now, as well. It was loud and seemed to echo across the entirety of the Mycelia Forest. Several people were rushing around in the rain like I was. Some would call out a greeting to me every once in a while and I would call one out back to them and continue on my way immediately after the short little conversation.
I stood in front of the armed guards now, who didn't budge when I walked up to one. Out of all the minotaur guards, she was the only female. Her fur color was a reddish-brown color. A silver bull ring hung from her nostrils and her ears were pierced, supporting two small silver colored hoops. Her gray bull horns were quite large in size, larger than all of the other minotaur guards standing beside her. I couldn't help but stare at her. Something about her seemed all too familiar, and I was racking my brain for anything that might be useful. After a few moments, she realized I was staring at her, and she turned her menacing red eyes to me and snorted.
"Stand back, citizen," She said, her voice full of authority
Without thinking, I blurted out,"Anemi?"
If I was remembering right and this was Anemi, she and I had been friends when we were kids. I thought that she had permanently moved away, though, because one day during my childhood before my mother passed I had gone to Anemi's house and the house was vacant. She and I were closer than me and Selniana are right now.
Her eyes lit up in recognition and her serious expression softened. "Liv? Oh my god, it's been forever. What are you doing here?"
I hesitated for a second. She was a guard for the town hall, after all, so I had no idea if she was in support of what Balkas had ordered or not. "Well, I was hoping to be able to speak to Balkas today, actually."
She glanced around at the other three guards, who were still staring forward to focus on the protesting crowd. She reached her hand back to scratch the back of her head with an unsure look on her face.
"I don't know, Liv. I'm not really supposed to let anyone by today." She said with hesitation.
"No, I get it. You have a job to do. If you let me by, then they might protest more. Or it might even turn into a riot and we don't need you guys using those large ass weapons."
She looked around one more time before knealing down to my level to look me straight in the eyes. "If you want, I can try to get you in later when everything dies down a little. Go wait near the botanical garden. I'll be there in hopefully about an hour. Plus, we need to catch up. It's been a while."
I nodded once to her before she got to her feet again and supporting her battle axe in both hands again. She turned her gaze on the protesting crowd once more and arranged her face into a serious expression again. I turned away from all four of the guards and made my way back through the crowd again in the direction of the botanical gardens. While I was making my way through the crowd, I could hear a couple of the citizens commenting on what had just happened between me and Anemi, staring at me as I pushed my way through. Alright, Livrani, I thought to myself. You have about an hour to yourself before you have to meet up with Anemi again.
I turned towards the wooden walkways that lead into the city above, specifically the area where all the shops reside at. Since I had an hour to myself, I could buy Mrs. Kenome that set of books she had mentioned in the past and a couple new spell books for myself and take them to her house and be at the botanical garden in time. I climbed my way up the wooden walkways that rose into the city. Citizens with signs in their hands with some type of protest written on them passed me by as they made their way in the direction of the town hall. The rain started to pick up again now that I was no longer on the floor of the city, so I turned my head back down, only glancing up every once in a while to make sure that I was heading in the correct direction of the library.
Finally, I stood in front of the two floor library. A set of wooden stairs that led to the double doors. The doors were made of glass and after looking though them, there didn't appear to be anyone inside. I took a step closer and peered inside more carefully, only to find rows of bookshelves full of books, the front desk with nobody behind it, and a single lit candle on the front desk. I reached out to see if I could pull the door open, and it wouldn't budge.
"Dammit,"I muttered to myself. Of course the library would be closed today. The workers are probably out protesting as well. I'm not sure why I didn't think of that beforehand. All of the other shops would probably be just as empty.
I shook my head to myself with a soft sigh and made my way back down to the ground of the city. I suppose that I could just get a little work done in the botanical garden while I waited on Anemi since I didn't really have anything else I needed to be doing today anyway.
I followed the crowd heading to the town hall down the wooden walkway leading down. All the people in front of me were walking somewhat slow, and I found myself starting to grow impatient now. I felt a tap on my left shoulder, so I turned around to see who did it. Behind me was a young male satyr with a small smile. One of his dark gray ram horns were broken and the other looked as if he had gotten it polished recently. He had a shaven face and his light brown hair was put up in a neat bun.
"Are you Livrani?" He asked as he stepped forward to walk beside me. His voice was very familiar.
"It depends on who's asking," I responded with, teasing ever so slightly.
"Oh, right. You probably don't know me. I'm Heikas." He said.
That's right. He was talking to Selniana this morning. I wonder how he knew it was me, since he could only see the back of my head and horns.
"Ah. Yes. I heard you and Selniana talking this morning. How did you know it was me?" I asked, walking forward with him beside me.
"The fact you're the only one wearing your work attire, in all honesty. Everyone else took the day off to sleep in or go to this protest, which I'm assuming is why you're going this way, as well," he said.
I shook my head at him. "I was there earlier to try and talk to Balkas, but the guards aren't letting anyone by. After that I tried to go to the library, but they were closed. So now I'm going to the botanical garden to meet up with an old friend." Surely he didn't have to know that old friend of mine was one of the guards at the protest, though I'm not sure why I wanted to hide that information from him. It isn't like what I was doing was wrong.
He glanced down at me from the corner of his eye, then forward again. "Why were you trying to talk to Balkas?"
"It was probably a dumb effort, but I wanted to try getting through to him. Mrs. Kenome told me he wasn't going to listen to anyone, but protesting isn't working. All he does is have guards stand nearby to make sure it doesn't turn into a riot while he sits his ass at his desk doing who knows what. I figured it would be worth a try." I explained, emotion slipping into my little speech.
He was silent for a moment. "Well, hopefully it works. But onto other matters, would you like me to walk you to the botanical garden?"
"No thank you. But I appreciate the offer." We had reached the ground of the city now, and I was getting ready to turn the direction of the botanical garden as we spoke. We had come to a full stop now a short distance away from the moving crowd heading towards the town hall to participate in the ongoing protest, chattering excitedly as the went.
"Well, I just thought I would offer. I feel like it would have been rude if I didn't. I'll catch you later, then." He said before turning on his hoof and heading back to join the crowd.
I stood there for a moment to watch him disappear into the crowd before tuning in the direction of the botanical garden. I started walking again more swiftly this time. The longer I walked the less people that were around, until finally it was just me standing at the entrance of both the farmlands and the botanical garden, which would be down the path on the right. I pushed the metal gate open and walked down the path leading to the right. The sound of thunder had finally started to die down, signaling the end of the storm. I pulled the wet hood of my druid cloak down to reveal my dampened braid. I took the little mushroom clip out of the braid and began to run my fingers through my hair, using a little magic to help dry my hair as I did so and to warm it up as well. My finger tips began to tingle and feel very warm to the touch. The heat from the magic I used helped me to stop shivering from the cold damp clothes I wore. I swear, the moment I get back to my house, I'm going to take the hottest bath that I can manage.
I opened the door to the greenhouse and stepped into the humid air of the botanical garden. Before me sat rows of beautful flowers and herbs, with many different sweet smells drifting through the air. In one corner of the greenhouse sat a stack of wooden buckets meant for watering the plants. A few feet away from the door stood a beautifully crafted wooden bench with little mushroom designs along the backside of it. I crossed over to it and plopped down on the left side, leaning casually on the arm rest. Okay, now to wait, I told myself. If I had known that I wasn't going to be talking to Balkas immediately, I would have bought my book that I started reading from earlier.
It felt like I had been waiting fo hours before there was a knock on the greenhouse door. I leaned up and looked back at the door to see it opening and Anemi ducking through the opening. She closed the door behind her caefully and looked around the greenhouse, then to me.
"I was honestly expecting you to not be here,"she said, surprise slightly coloring her voice.
I laughed at that. "Why?"
"I'm not really sure. But anyway, I said I would take you to meet Balkas when it dies down." There was a very clear "but" in her voice.
"But...?" I prompted her.
"It got a little out of hand and Balkas had to send in some new guards. There's maybe eight there now. The ones that were there before, myself included, were replaced by the new guards. So I'm on break for now." She explained. "It looks like we're going to be waiting a little bit."
I had to tilt by head back to look up at her. She was so tall that her large horns almost touched the ceiling of the greenhouse. She was staring down at me with a curious look in her eyes.
"So why do you want to help me,"I asked her.
She glanced out of the glass walls of the greenhouse, almost as if to make sure nobody else was outside or had followed her on the way here, then turned her attention back to me again. She crossed over to the bench where I had just been sitting and carefully sat down. Then she immediately began to speak when she got comfortable.
"Okay, what Balkas is doing is so screwed up. I don't think anyone supports anything he's doing, except the guards. There's a few of us, of course, like myself, that are against it, but there aren't enough of us to be able to do anything about it. And nobody from what I know of has asked to speak to Balkas directly othe than the bandits. And I know, because I've had to escort them several times to Balkas before."
"Do you think he'll listen to me?" I blurted out.
She stayed quiet for a moment, which only confirmed what I knew she was going to say. I sighed and sat beside her, being quiet myself now as well. I couldn't let this affect what little hope I already had.
"So what have you been up to since we last talked?" She asked.
I laughed at the change of subject. "Mostly just learning druid magic and gardening. You?"
"Ironically, I'm a druid myself. I just moved back into the city this past year, though, looking for something a little different and I heard that the guards here are mainly just minotaurs. I figured I would try it out, especially since I'm a woodland druid, not a mushroom druid. A lot of our practices would be different." She explained.
"Oh, that makes perfect sense. I'm glad things are working out for you." I told her with a small smile.
"Yeah, it's alright. I mainly just sleep in one of the local inns. I didn't bother buying a house because I didn't plan on staying here for super long. I forgot how much I missed it, though, from when I was a kid. The last night you and I were hanging out, my parents decided we would be moving the next day. They had packed everything up already by the time I got home and were putting it in crates and baskets. We left the very early the next morning. I remember crying because I didn't get to say goodbye. We ended up moving to Willowcrest, actually. I didn't make very many friends, though. My family was one of the few minotaur families in the town. I remember my mom trying to encourage me to date one of the other minotaurs by the time I had reached young adulthood." She said with a nostaligic tone to her voice.
She and I were looking at one another now as we spoke, catching up on everything we had missed from one another's lives.
"So what about you? I feel like I've spoke about myself a little more than necessary. I know that you were working on the druid stuff, but surely there's got to be something else you've been up to." She insisted.
"There's a lot." I said, hesitating a little.
"That's okay. We have time for it."
"Well, Selniana and I still live together," I started out with.
"Oh, really? I figured you two would have been living in separate houses by now." He voice was like music to my ears.
"Yeah, she and I kind of started relying on one another after our mom passed. An old lady named Mrs. Kenome took us in when we were kids. This all happened a year or so after you had moved away, I think." I said softly.
"Ah, I see. I'm sorry for your loss, even though it's really late for that now." The last bit she had said with a chuckle.
I nodded twice, laughing a little myself. "It's fine. I'm just glad that Selniana didn't have to see it happen. It would have screwed her up entirely."
Anemi had a mixed look of curiosity and sadness on her face now. "You saw it happen? Did you see who did it?"
"Yeah, and he got arrested for it and eventually executed as well. Nobody really knows why he decided to do it, though. And I'm fine now. I've gotten all the therapy I think I needed. Mrs. Kenome has helped with it, too. She and Selniana basically took care of me when we were growing up." My voice softened when I started talking about Mrs. Kenome.
"You speak of great fondness of the Mrs. Kenome woman. I'm glad you had her growing up." Anemi said, smiling again.
I was smiling now, as well. "Yeah, Selniana and I would stay at her place whenever we felt like it. She would just let us in whenever, even if it was at times like in the dead of night. We didn't live very far from her. She's the reason why I'm a druid. Selniana is, also, a druid. They claim that I'm one of the fastest learning druids they've ever seen, apparently."
"That's great. I swear, it felt like I was stuggling when I was learning druidic practices. Eventually I got the hang of it, but still."
(more to come later stay tuned. This chapter isn't done yet.)
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