| "The Adventures of Kat and Clara" Part II: The Sword of Many Parts Kat and Clara walked together in their great exodus from the Plains of Clay; already they had traveled all through the morning into midday, when they had crossed into the vast expanse of forest. This nameless forest stretched for miles to the west, the direction in which the girls traveled. The trees towered above them, some of them centuries old, as much as 400 feet tall and with trunks as wide as 20 feet. As Kat and Clara navigated far into the thick maze of trees, they lost reckoning of the time of day; the canopy was so thick, no light could pass through it at all, and soon they found themselves walking in what seemed like the night. "We've been walking for hours," Clara said to Kat, stopping to sit and rest her legs. "Why don't you sit down with me for a while to relax?" "It has been hours," Kat agreed. "I'll stay for a while with you. By now, it must be close to dusk on the plains. It's getting very dark; soon, it will be very difficult to see." As Kat and Clara sat down under a tree to rest their legs, Kat's ears twitched. "I sense something around us," she said, clutching the handle of her sword with her right hand. "Can you hear that?" Clara stayed still for a moment, then she heard the same sound. "Yeah, I can hear it," she said, beginning to stand. "It sounds like heavy breathing. I can smell it, too." Kat sniffed the air. "The scent of another being is near," she whispered, standing up, sword in hand. "Ready yourself." Kat and Clara stood back-to-back, weapons drawn, held at their sides. Looking nervously around them, they detected a man with a walking stick or a staff, hobbling in the darkness. Clara called out to him. "You!" she shouted, pointing at his skulking form, forcing him to stop walking. "Name yourself. Who are you?" Kat turned to join her companion, as the dark figure hobbled up to them. He finally appeared a few feet in front of them. "What in the world do you want?" he snarled. The man who appeared to Kat and Clara was nothing more physically harmless than who appeared to be a shaman or a cleric. He was a cougar, much older than the young girls but not nearly as tall; he also walked with a significant limp. He was dressed in articles of clothing characteristic of the clerics of the Church of S'Allumer: a colorfully-decorated vest, a waist sash, and some religious jewelry around his neck and fingers. Additionally, he wore a torn red cape on his shoulders. He also carried a staff that stood greater than his height, with a rather unique headpiece. He walked barefoot, with a bandage around his left shin; there was a little blood on it, plus he had a few slashes on his shoulder. "You're not going to hurt me, are you?" "No," Kat explained. "We just were wondering who--" "Get back!!" the cougar shouted, jumping back, extending the end of his staff toward Kat and Clara, forcing them to lean back in their stance. "I possess the powers of S'Allumer; don't touch me!" "We will not harm you," Clara said, attempting to approach him. "We are but peaceful travelers on a quest of S'Allumer. Do not harm us." The cougar stopped for a moment, standing a straight as he could. "A quest of S'Allumer?" he asked. "Are you sure? How did you come about this 'quest'?" Kat reached into the bag and revealed the history book Clara discovered. "In this book are the prophecies of Methiosan," she explained. "And we--" "Methiosan?" the elderly man interrupted. "Yes," Clara said. "A great hurricane came across the Plains of Clay and destroyed our village, sparing only the two of us." "Why only you?" the cougar asked. "I thought that the divine winds would kill everyone but the purest of heart and--" Then he froze, a horrified look on his face. "W-wait a minute," he gurgled. "Surely you can't possibly be...the chosen children of S'Allumer, the purest of all mortals...can you??" "That is our tale," Kat said, "for we our the sole survivors of the deadly winds." The cougar shaman approached Kat and Clara and fell onto his knees in front of them. "My sisters," he pleaded, "please....I must learn your names." "My name is Kat," Kat said, "of the Plains of Clay." "And my name is Clara," Clara added, "also of the plains of Clay. Kat and I are the chosen ones, assigned the task of restoring the world to its once utopic state." The cougar stood up. "Thank goodness I've found you both," he said, relieved. "My name is Keilich. I was once one of the great clerics of the Church of S'Allumer in my village in this forest. But the winds came in the night, and ripped my home from its foundation, and destroyed my beautiful church and all of my fellow villagers. I, too, was the only survivor. All was lost, and now I wander in this enormous woodland as an elderly man." "Shaman Keilich," Kat said, "you may join Clara and I, for the quest we undertake is for the purest and strongest of heart, and you, sir, are among the chosen few." "We welcome you into our party, and our hearts," Clara said, smiling. "Now, as three, we may yet find the edge of this woodland." "Perhaps," Keilich said, "but first I must show you something more. Follow me to where my village once stood." Next page >> |