Ruveneska: The Scavenge, Chapter 2: Love Struck

by Darro C.

Shuren took a deep breathe. He tried to hold it in but couldn’t. “Ah-choo!” Shuren shrieked. His sneeze seemed to catch a few attentions of Zelzes, but he paid no mind. He continued to walk aimlessly throughout the halls of Aela-Doria. He stopped in the grand hall and stared out through the pillars that held up the mountain top. The sun was near setting. He enjoyed watching the sun set, and with him being so busy lately, this had been his first in a while.

Shuren noticed that the only he was in the grand hall, but he didn’t look back, he kept his eyes fixed upon the beautiful scene before him. He had not even realized someone was coming. A hand placed upon Shuren’s shoulder that made him jump. He turned to see who it was. A pair of fierce red eyes met his. She had a beautiful elegant face, and her luscious brown hair was let down. It was Karoline.

His previous journey with Karoline zoomed through his mind. Shuren was attacked by Zelzor’s Demon Dragon, but Karoline was there to save him. Shuren was unconscious when they met, but eventually they were acquainted. Later she joined Shuren on his journey to save Rollan, which turned into so much more. Though all this time, Shuren barley knew anything about Karoline. She had always been closed from other people. Shuren knew nothing about her past, likes and dislikes, or even why she joined Shuren in his journey.

A familiar feeling settled in his stomach at the though of finally being alone with Karoline. After the grieved battle Shuren wasn’t at all interested in anything but being alone, nothing but the loss of his master, Zelzor, would be on his mind. Now that she had caught him off guard, he did not want to anger her by fleeing.

“It’s beautiful,” Karoline said as the sunset caught her attention.

A sudden memory returned to Shuren. He remembered back in Hogony when he was talking to Karoline alone, he called her beautiful, and they had been awkward after. He was certain not to make the same mistake. “Yes, very,” he said quietly.

Shuren felt her fingers brush against his. With instinct, Shuren grabbed hold of her hand. It was sweaty and cold, but Shuren liked it for some odd reason. After what seemed to be centuries they let go when they heard footsteps in the hall.

Karoline turned her head the other way, slightly pink. Shuren turned to see who was coming. A lean Grundell with long arms approached them, it was Lloyd. He didn’t seem to have noticed those two holding hands, but Shuren wasn’t exactly sure.

Shuren took a glance at Lloyd; he wasn’t wearing any battle clothing which was unusual. Now he was even taller than Shuren, and his long black hair was let down over his red headband. His long arms that dangled from his broad shoulders were waving back and fourth as he walked toward them.

Shuren remembered when he first met Lloyd back on his journey. Shuren had just found out about him being a Grundell, and when they approached his old village, Lloyd was there to greet him, but not in a friendly manner. Lloyd attacked Shuren, only to protect the village of intruders. Shuren won, though he could not remember if it was by sheer luck or Lloyd was going easy. Lloyd never seemed weaker than Shuren at all.

“Shuren,” Lloyd said. He hurried himself to reach Shuren, “Rollan wishes to see you, and you Karoline.” Lloyd said as he turned and to lead them back to Rollan’s room.

Shuren followed as did Karoline, slowly though. They walked through the webbed halls of Aela-Doria. They reached a stubby door in a hall of its own. They knocked and an elderly Gippy opened it; Rollan.

Back when Shuren was hated amongst his villagers, Rollan was the only one Shuren felt a connection towards. Rollan was the leader of the almighty Flaming Falcons, the rebellion of war times. He was an all-powerful wizard, whose powers were still unknown to Shuren.

They were let into a small but comfortable room, where four chairs sat in the center in the form of a circle. Shuren took a seat followed by Lloyd, Karoline, and Rollan who had just shut the door. Shuren looked at Rollan, who had a concerned face. Shuren assumed Rollan had bad news to tell them.

“Rollan, what is it?” Karoline asked, who also noticed Rollan’s concern.

Rollan paused for a moment. He simply said, “There is a problem . . ."

Shuren was not very fond of bad news. He was ready to bolt out of the door, Rollan looked more concerned now than ever. “What is it Rollan?”

He took a deep breath and began to explain, “Garland is now out in the open with his army.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Karoline asked immediately.

Rollan opened his mouth to talk, but instead of his voice being heard, Lloyd said, “It means everyone, or at least most people in Oryk should be well aware of the war by now.”

Lloyd looked at Rollan and Rollan nodded back, signaling that Lloyd said it correctly.

“Well, how many people did not know about Garland to start?” Shuren said sarcastically.

“Not very many,” Karoline said seriously, shooting down Shuren’s light attitude. “You did not even know who Garland was. We Ingles are very secretive about our business. Barley anyone knew about him outside of our race.”

Shuren seemed puzzled, “Well that’s a good thing isn’t it? I mean now that they know they will want to help us, right?”

Rollan shook his head. Karoline made an angry face and Lloyd clenched his fist. It seemed that Shuren was the only one who didn’t understand what that meant. Shuren looked around as if they were crazy.

“No Shuren, it does not,” Rollan answered eventually. “It is true that all of Oryk knows about the war by now, but it does not mean they will even partake in it. Should they choose to include themselves however, they would not be able to reach us, assuming if they want to join us.” There was a loud screech in the back room causing Rollan left the room for a moment. Seconds later, Rollan came back in with a tray of tea and a kettle of boiling water. Rollan handed everyone a cup of tea.

Shuren took a sip. The steaming water shocked Shuren, but calmed him as it drizzled down his throat. “Well if they don’t want to partake in the war, at least they won’t get in our way,” Shuren said honestly.

Rollan shook his head again. He placed his cup down on his coaster and eyed Shuren. “Garland is forcing people to join his army.”

Lloyd did not seem surprised; it seemed as if he had heard the news before. Karoline, made a slight gasp, but did not seem so shocked. Shuren, on the other hand, struggled to put his cup down gently.

“He can’t do that!” Shuren yelled. He stood up and made his chair collapse behind him.

“Yes, he can,” Rollan said quietly. He raised his voice almost to an angry tone and said, “And he is enslaving anyone who doesn’t.”

“That’s not fair!” Shuren said even louder.

“Of course it’s not, it’s Garland after all,” said Karoline.

Shuren turned around and forced himself out of the door. He stormed throughout the hallway and back into the Grand Hall. It was dark now, but Shuren made his way outside and to his old training grounds with Zelzor.

He sat down on a rock and clenched his jaw tightly. Thoughts of Garland building a bigger army flashed through his mind. He remembered his sinister voice, he pictured him laughing as Oryk shot up in flames. He forced his mind to go black, it was too much to imagine. Yet, Shuren did not feel right being angry at Garland.

Shuren knew that he was supposed to destroy Garland, but he could never imagine himself doing it. He felt guilty whenever he forced himself to think it, and afterward, confused. In the pit of his stomach, he felt no hatred for Garland. This happened often, even after the death of his master, Zelzor. Even though his master’s death was caused by Garland, Shuren still felt no dislike of Zelzor. The more he though about it, it seemed more of his own fault that Zelzor was dead. “But it was master who banned me from the fight!” he thought to himself. Now it felt like Zelzor caused his own death. “No! It was Garland’s doing!” he thought to himself.

He cleared his mind of those thoughts and tried to calm himself. He picked up a rock and concentrated energy to his palm as he turned it to heat. The rock melted on his hand, just as taught to him by Zelzor. Shuren froze the rock and threw it down the cliff. He looked at the waterfall next to him. He remembered Zelzor stopping the entire waterfall with a point of his finger. Shuren raised his index finger and shot a barrier of energy to the water. As the water reached the cliff it stopped. More and more water built up against the barrier, making it even heavier. Shuren released the water. It went searing down to the lake and created a huge splash.

When Shuren was finally calm, he thought about the war. Garland has probably doubled his numbers by now. Shuren knew that their last battle did not include all of his infantry. Even then they were greatly outnumbered. To make things worse, they lost many soldiers during the battle. Shuren needed more troops. “Number’s don’t win a battle,” thought Shuren, “but we still need them.”

Shuren thought back to all of his readings. Gippies were the most populace in Oryk. After the Gippy Grundell war, Grundell villages decreased dramatically. The Gippies were known for the art of magic, and the Grundells for the art of combat. To get both of them on his side would be significant gain, but then they have been enemies ever since. They would never fight amongst each other.

Shuren felt a tiny drop of water on his right cheek. He looked up to see rain clouds surrounding the moon. Another drop struck his nose. Gradually the drops picked up in speed. Within minutes it was pouring over Aela-Doria. Shuren created a barrier over himself as he walked towards the Grand Hall. Rain drops ricocheted off his barrier as they came charging at him. Shuren made his way through the bridges completely dry.

He paced through the halls and hiked up to his room. As he approached his doors, he noticed that there was a crack in his doorway. He was certain that he closed his doors completely. He silently crept into his dim room. He noticed a dark figure at his window. Shuren held out his palm. “Ferina,” Shuren muttered under his breath. A small spark emitted from Shuren’s hand as a ball of flame hovered over Shuren’s hand. The room was suddenly lit.

The figure was turned towards the window. It was a woman wearing a black robe with long silver hair. Her slender body turned around as Shuren lit his hand. It was Catalina. She had a shocked face, until she saw Shuren. Her face lit up with a smile. “Sir Ruven,” she said quietly.

“What were you doing in here?” Shuren asked lightly. He pointed at a candle on his desk and shot a flame. The candle lit the room just as bright as his hand.
She looked at the candle gracefully. “It started to rain as I walked by and I heard the rain pouring in your room. So I came in to close the window,” she said smiling.

Shuren couldn’t help but stare, her smile was so beautiful. “Oh, well thank you.” He smiled back. She approached Shuren swiftly. Before he knew it, she was inches away from him. He froze. His heart throbbed in his chest. “Get away from her!” his mind screamed. Though no matter how many times this happened, he was never able to. She was simply too stunning.

Catalina eyed Shuren vigorously. He noticed that he was taller than her by several inches now. Her smile was almost sinister now. He felt her breath against his neck, slow and steady. Shuren, on the other hand, had trouble breathing.
“It was my pleasure,” she said seductively. She kissed her fingers and placed them on lips as she walked out of the door.

Shuren was left dumbfounded in his room. Eventually, Shuren gained his senses. He lit another candle, making the room even brighter. He looked at the pool in the center of his room. The water was enchanted for healing.

He stripped himself down. The air was cold against his bare skin. He felt the water; it was cool. He placed his finger in the pool; he released some energy to heat it just right. He jumped in and immediately felt relaxed. After several minutes, he began to scrub himself. Once he was done that, he took one final rinse and reluctantly left the pool.

He dried himself and began putting on his night clothes. They were soft and comfortable. Shuren wondered if Garland ever slept in nigh clothes, or even on a mattress. It was hard to picture such an evil person to be normal and relaxed as he was.

Once he was done, he jumped on his comfortable mattress. Sudden tiredness rushed through his body. He turned around and blew out his candles. The room turned pitch black, only being lit occasionally by the flashes of the roaring thunderstorm.

Somehow, to Shuren, a thunderstorm was peaceful. The rhythm of the rain followed by thunder was calming. Shuren listened to it carefully. It was almost a lullaby. Eventually, his eyes shut, and he was asleep.