His name was Faern, and he was the boy who should never have been.
His mother and father were both happily married. Unfortunately it was to other people. His mother was Myr Athas, Queen of the Amazon Tribe of Athas, and Chosen of the Goddess Athena. She was married to Tad Breken, Master Necromancer of the Academy of Thoth. His father was Nai Asonod, Headmaster of the Academy of Thoth, and Planetar of Thoth, and Nai was married to Kira, Arch-priestess of Quetzacoatl.
Faern was the product of one fateful night, on a planet far from the one where he was born. His parents had been traveling together, on a quest to destroy Baphomet, a demi-god who was the goddess Athena�s mortal enemy. They had spent one night in a Tor-kreen village. Tor-kreen were a species of large mantis like bugs, which ran a slave-breeding city, and communicated to each other by pheromones. They were benevolent, however, and tried to make the breeding experience as painless as possible for their charges. They did this by flooding the area with the pheromones that worked in essentially the same way as a philter of love. When Faern�s parents came to the Tor-kreen city, the Tor-kreen could sense the friendship between them, and decided to �help them along�. From that single fated union, Faern was born.
His mother, Myr, had prayed for nearly 17 months that the child belonged to her husband, Tad, not Nai. She tried to deny it, but she always knew in the back of her mind, that this was not so.
When Faern was born, the first thing everyone noticed was his soft hair, hair that was undoubtedly silver, just like his father�s. When Myr saw this, she fainted for what was probably the first time in her life. After she awoke, the four friends stood, mostly in shock, in the birthing room. Myr had told no one that she suspected who the father was, and now, when it was obvious, no one knew what to think.
She lay there, crying softly and rocking the newborn. Nai was staring in shock off into a corner of the room. Tad alternated between looking furious and looking horrified. Kira had screamed at Nai, who just stood there with his head bowed, until Tad had told her coldly to shut the hell up. After that she stood there, glaring at Nai and fuming.
From the doorway, Kitara and Chrysania, the daughters of Myr and Tad, and Nai and Kira, respectively, watched. They clung to each other, neither one understanding what was going on, but knowing that somehow this new child had brought something very bad with it.
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Thus was Faern�s welcome into the world.
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When he grew older, the only person he could ever relax and be himself around was his mother Myr, who loved him as all mothers love their children, and never reminded him that he should never have been. She accepted him for who he was, and never held him responsible for the problems his birth had caused. Tad, he knew, despised him, and Kira, while she tolerated him, detested his presence. Nai loved him, of course, but his father was always somewhat afraid to show him any affection, for fear it would only make things worse for everyone.
Kitara and Chrysania, after they were old enough to understand, tried their best to accept and love him as their brother, but deep in their subconscious, they still retained their first impression of the baby that had brought so much pain to their parents.
So almost from the time he could walk, Faern was always on his own, reading, exploring, and playing by himself. He almost never spoke around anyone but his mother. Indeed, at the Academy of Thoth, it was rumored that he was mute.
The only other adult Faern ever talked to was Thoroth, the Arch-priest of Thoth. Since Thoroth wasn�t emotionally involved in the events of Faern�s birth, and he was, in Faern�s only slightly off perception, the smartest and wisest man in the entire world, Faern spent a lot of his time with Thoroth. Thoroth had functioned as adopted grandfather to countless young people, and he was always glad to lend an ear to one more, and try his best to help. He understood how hard it was for Faern, and would go out of his way to spend time with the boy. His advice and training prepared Faern for what was probably the bravest and best thing he did in his young life.
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Tad would almost never speak to the boy, usually only acknowledging his presence when Myr was about. Faern knew Tad hated him, he could see it in the man�s eyes whenever he looked at him. As Tad was an archmage, specialized in necromancy, and with about 700 years experience of scaring people, you can imagine how terrified Faern was of him. And Tad seemed to like it that way.
One day, however, Faern found his way to Tad�s study. He had been wandering around the Academy, and made his way to the second floor, which was mostly off limits to all but the upper faculty. Being an inquisitive boy, when he found the door slightly open, and no one inside, he decided to have a look around. He had yet to be taught magic, by unspoken agreement between his parents, he would receive no training until he was 75 years of age. He was always trying to learn more about it, as his older sisters had been taught from a very young age, and had a fantastical amount of understanding for their age.
There were many magical items in the room. Faern had discovered he could tell magical items from non-magical ones merely by squinting his eyes a bit and concentrating. He was just about to open a box that had some runes carved into it when he heard the most terrifying sound he had ever heard.
It was the sound of the study door opening.
Faern froze as Tad walked into the room. He saw the boy and stopped, looking at him. An unkind smile spread slowly across Tad�s face.
�Faern!� Tad said, �You are in very big trouble.� Tad bared his teeth at the boy. �Oh yes, very big trouble.�
Faern stood rooted to the floor, unable to speak.
�Hmm. Now. What would be a fitting punishment for our small trespasser?� Tad walked around to the other side of his desk, his staff tapping the floor. He sat down and pretended to think for a moment.
�Let�s see. Nightmares for a month? No, too light. Life as a zombie? No, someone would notice. Dismemberment of the psyche? Hmm, possibly.� Tad was only partly joking. He intended to scare the child so badly he would never come within Tad�s line of sight again.
�I owe you, little one.� Tad hissed. �I owe you, and your father.�
Faern tried to make a run for the door, but Tad merely waved his hand at it, and it slammed and locked itself.
�Ah ah ah. You aren�t getting away from me like that.� Tad smiled wickedly. �This IS an opportunity though. What am I going to do to you?�
Faern, now frightened beyond belief, but angry at his foiled escape glared back at Tad.
�You aren�t going to do anything to me!� he yelled.
Tad laughed, a short, dry laugh. �Oh! And who is going to stop me? Are you going to get your daddy to save you? Is he going to come storming in and fireball me? For your information, dear Faern, both your daddy, and your mommy are away.� He muttered, under his breath, �And doing who knows what together.�
Faern�s sharp ears caught Tad�s whisper. He knew the entire story about his unfortunate birth.
�Don�t say that about Mom!� he yelled. �She said she was sorry! She told me she loves you, but I don�t know why, cause you�re just an asshole!�
Tad flew out of his chair and glared down at Faern, his face only inches away.
�Keep talking boy, and they will NEED to come in here and save you.�
Faern only paused for a second, then screamed into Tad�s face.
�I don�t need anyone to save me! I�ll kill you!�
The young boy screamed in rage, screamed out a word he had never heard before, and flung his arms in a gesture toward Tad. Tad was immediately hit full in the face by a small fireball.
Tad howled in pain, stumbling backwards and clutching his face. Faern ran to the door, trying to unlock it while Tad scrambled blindly in his desk, searching for a potion of healing. He found one, and drank it just as Faern managed to push the deadbolt open.
He flung the door open, just as he heard Tad say �Running away?�
Faern stopped a step outside the door, knowing this was his only chance to make Tad eat his words.
He turned and glared up at Tad, who was still hunched over his desk. He looked him right in the eye.
�No.�
Tad stared at the boy for a moment in surprise. Faern looked levelly back at him.
�You will leave me alone!� he hissed at Tad.
Tad sat down in his chair with a thump. He started to laugh. It was a different laugh than Faern had ever heard from Tad. This time, there were no mocking tones in it.
Tad sat there, laughing and shaking his head. Faern stared, dumbfounded at Tad�s reaction.
�Faern, you have just demonstrated not only a fantastic innate skill in magic, but more bravery than anyone I have ever met. To be able to cast an, albeit small, fireball, with absolutely no training is an amazing feat in itself. But to be able to turn and face me afterwards, now that is the thing that amazes me. You have shown yourself to be the better man here today. I shall no longer bother you in any way, and from this day forth, I shall treat you as a man.�
Tad shook his head again. �Amazing. Utterly fantastic. None of my own students, those whom I have trained for years, could come close to showing the courage that this, this boy who barely comes up to my waist has.�
He looked back at Faern, who was still mostly shocked and wondering if this wasn�t some sort of trick.
�Your eyes looked just like your mother�s.� he said, smiling rather benevolently. �You look like your father in most other ways, except those eyes.� It was the first time Faern had heard Tad refer to his father without malice.
He looked back at Faern for a moment. �Did she really tell you that?� he asked quietly.
Faern nodded and came a bit closer to the desk. �Yeah. She said she wishes you wouldn�t ignore me, cause its not my fault I was born. She also says she�s real sorry it happened, but glad she got me out of the whole mess.�
Tad smiled again. �You know, I think I am glad she got you as well. Otherwise I would not have had the pleasure of meeting you.�
He stood up, still bald from the fireball�s effects, and walked around to the other side of his desk. Putting his hand out he said solemnly. �My name is Theodore Breken.�
Faern cautiously put his tiny hand inside Tad�s. �And mine is Faern Athas-Asonod.�
They shook hands, solemnly.