“What happened when you woke up?”
I whirled around and slammed my locker closed, hoping, praying she hadn’t seen inside. Standing behind me was Cadence Lockheart. I knew her. Heck, it was a little more than that. I’d been harbouring a crush on her since we’d both begun at the same high school, and that may or may not have included a little stalking of her Facebook, DeviantART, FictionPress and Penana profiles. She was both a writer and an artist and I admired that about her. But today I really didn’t want her anywhere near me or what was inside my locker.
“Don’t ask.” I growled back at her, hoping she would get the idea.
I instantly regretted my tone of voice. Cadence looked at me with wide eyes and clutched her books to her chest, then a steely look came over her face and she glared at me so fiercely I felt the hairs on the back of my neck tingle.
“Well I’m sorry if I care Tobias!” She retorted, “It just looked like something was wrong.” She glanced past my face at something behind me. “I guess I was right.” Turning on her heel and storming down the corridor to her biology class.
Clenching my fists, I mentally berated myself. The one time she had talked to me I had screwed it up. Epically. Way to go Tobias! I thought. Way to go…
Forcing my locker door open I heard a deep chuckle from the inside and a small, furry beaked griffon-like creature with two sets of small horns on its head made its way forward, grinning at me.
“You messed up.” It said, voice sounding inside my head.
I scowled at it and shot back, ‘Yeah, well it’s your fault for being in my locker in the first place Orviss!’
Orviss merely shrugged and ruffled his pale blue and white feathers, a few of them drifting to the floor. He caught sight of something behind me and I turned as another voice, a deeper one, drifted into my mind.
“Princeling, you do forget that they can’t see us right?”
A tall elven man stood behind me, leaning on one of the lockers a few doors down from mine. He wore tightfitting flexible armour, the kind that only his tribe of people had access to. His hair was jet black and his amber coloured eyes glittered at me with inner laughter. Just the way I had written him.
‘Well it is a little hard to remember when I can see you all the time!’ I screeched, glad that the people walking past couldn’t hear the conversation. ‘Orviss, you’re coming with me to History and no chewing my eraser again.’ The miniature griffin gave me a droll smile as he haphazardly flew to land on my shoulder, his feathery mane brushing against my cheek. I turned to the elven man. ‘Kyron, seriously, go home and stop calling me Princeling!’
Kyron gave me a blank stare. “And why would I want to keep Aragolanith, eater of worlds, destroyer of universes company?” He walked up and patted me on the back. “It’s your fault for making him such an arrogant prick Princeling.” Laughing, he walked off in the direction of my History class. “You’re going to be late!”
I sighed, slamming my locker door closed. There was no reasoning with Kyron, no point in reasoning at all.
…
The relief was immense when school finished and I raced out of the school ground without so much as a goodbye to my friends. Hooking my bag onto both of my shoulders I picked up the pace until I reached the river park at the edge of the school property. I breathed a sigh of relief as I took up my favourite spot overlooking the river in the branches of a thick, old tree.
The tree was wide and the branches grew out at odd angles that provided a good platform. Over the years, I had added to it and now a small canopy of branches covered me from the weather. The gurgling of the river was pleasant and the sun shone brightly through the trees, casting a dappled light through the area. I smiled, this was my once safe place from the rest of the world.
A sudden rustling sound caught my attention as I climbed up into the leafy tree house. Behind me Kyron emerged from the undergrowth and a much larger, horse sized Orviss followed; having reverted back to his true size.
I offered Kyron a gentle smile and he climbed up to sit next to me in the tree. Orviss settling for a rocky over hang by the water, fanning his wings out in the sun.
“So, is this where we finally meet her Princeling?” He asked gently.
“Yeah.” I responded out loud, “What should Sol’eanna look like?”
Kyron looked thoughtful. He was a master soldier and an elite strategist of the Tyrik Court of the elves, I had made sure of that when I wrote him. He called me princeling as I was technically the ruler of his people. Orviss had been his beast companion for years, the two of them fighting together in countless wars to protect Artirre from Aragolanith’s forces. The kingdom had been shattered into seven with spells keeping them apart, Kyron had been the one to open the seven gates and free his people. But that hadn’t happened, yet.
“Gold.” Kyron said suddenly. “Sol’eanna should be a golden dragoness, that way we will know we can trust her over the other dragons.”
Orviss nodded, having picked up the conversation with his long sensitive ears. “It would be good to distinguish her as different from the other disgusting beasts of dragons in Artirre.”
I nodded, seeing the wisdom in their judgement. The dragons of Artirre were feared, terrible beasts that roamed the continent and would fetch a lot of money if one were to be brought down. Jotting down the notes in my notepad, my sketches and notes of a sleek dragoness were interrupted by Kyron again.
“What did Aragolanith say this morning that made you so off?”
I sighed, it was my fault for making the villain a jerk. He was a fun character to write, but out of all his characters to spring to life like Kyron and Orviss, he had to be one of them. In my peripherals I saw Orviss rise from his sunny spot.
Looking directly at me Oriviss’ voice rumbled in my head. “Tobias, we can both tell that something is wrong, what did he say?”
Shaking my head, I shrugged them off. “Never mind that. Should we try bring Sol to life?”
Kyron and Orviss shared a look then nodded slowly. I had never purposefully tried to bring a character to life, but Sol’eanna would be one character that I wanted to have with me.
Taking a deep breath, I put my pencil to paper and continued to draw a lithe dragoness with sweeping curved horns from the back of her head. I refined her smooth narrow snout, to differentiate her from the hulking beasts that were the normal dragons of the world. I traced a line along her spine, sweeping off into a gently balanced tail. Her wings flared open above her head.
Leaning over, Kyron grinned as he watched me draw. As I put the pencil down, he nodded in approval. Sol’eanna Darklauriah looked regal.
Placing the notebook to the side, I pulled my laptop from my bag and opened a word document. Pulling the words from my mind, I began to describe their first encounter with the dragoness. My fingers flew over the keys and I painted a world with words. For good measure, I described the location as similar to my riverside hideaway. I slowed to a halt and a gasp from Kyron brought me out of my head.
Standing ankle deep in the water before us; was a golden dragoness.
…
Collapsing on my bed, rolled over onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. My parents had left a note on the counter, explaining that they had gone away on a business meeting. Again. I sighed, my parents were never around. That’s why I wrote so much, to stave off boredom and to escape from reality.
I lurched slightly as a dog sized Orviss landed on my stomach, curling into a ball next to me with his wings splayed across the blankets and his head on my chest. Kyron had vanished soon after Sol’eanna appeared, with the dragoness choosing to stay at the river just to keep out of my way.
Absentmindedly I wondered where Aragolanith was, as I ran my hands through Orviss’ silky feathers. Quiet footsteps in the corridor confirmed my suspicions. Aragolanith had been hanging out at the house after our heated argument this morning.
A tall, but young handsome man walked in and upon seeing me lying on the bed, his cold blue eyes bore into mine. I could feel the menace radiating from his black-clad body and the growl rising in Orviss’ throat as he took a seat at the end of the bed.
“So,” He began, voice soft and calculating. “No hard feelings for this morning then?”
I sat bolt upright, accidentally throwing off the horned griffon, glaring at the villain. ‘You’re kidding me!?’ I mentally scream at him. ‘I’m reduced to a fool in front of my parents because of you and everywhere I go I’m considered an idiot because I can see and talk to the characters for my story! At least they can’t see you!’
Aragolanith stopped and looked thoughtful, he was about to speak again when I cut him off.
“You know what!?” I yelled, unable to keep the conversation in my mind any longer and temper flaring. “You’re just an arrogant prick and seriously I’m so glad that you get killed after you murder Sol’eanna!”
The silence that hung in the room after my last comment weighed heavily on the both of us.
“I-I kill Sol’eanna?” Aragolanith’s voice was shaky, “I give in to my other form?”
I freeze, the reality of what I just said weighing down on me. The Aragolanith here with me was annoying, but he wasn’t the villain of the story yet. This version of him was yet to commit the deeds that caused him to earn the title of world eater and destroyer of universes.
Seeing the confusion and hurt on Aragolanith’s face and the horror on Orviss’ makes me glad that Sol and Kyron weren’t around. Aragolanith stands up and makes a small noise in the back of his throat. Excusing himself from the room.
…
“So you screwed up with Ara pretty badly didn’t you?” Sol’eanna’s voice was gentle and soft.
I hunched over my notebook, frantically trying to find a solution. Sol’eanna was right, Aragolanith could be a jerk, but he was still my character. I couldn’t afford to mess up, and if he was going to die, he had to die in the right way.
“Tobias, I don’t mind that I die.”
I turned around in my seat, looking at the glimmering dragoness who lay sprawled between the library shelves. I love this library, there were so many easy places to hide with old dusty books. It was certainly useful when it came to hiding the invisible forms of characters who don’t exist.
I looked as Sol’eanna, stunned. “You don’t?”
The dragoness shook her head and offered me a small smile. “If I have to, I will. It’s your story Tobias, write it how you know it goes. Ara does change through the course of the story I know. The walking talking him here isn’t the Aragolanith that kills me. You know that…”
Sighing, I close my notebook and realise that she is right.
“Tobias? What are you doing here?”
Turning around in my chair, I catch sight of Cadence standing in the isle of the closes row of bookshelves. She smiles and approaches me and sits next to me dumping her laptop and books beside her.
I hear Sol’eanna laugh. “Good luck.”
“Whats this?” She asks.
I slam my laptop closed, hiding the word document. “N-nothing.” I stutter.
Cadence gives me an annoyed look, “You say that.
Glancing over her shoulder I catch a glimpse of Kyron, Orviss and Aragolanith making their way here. Kyron gives me a droll smile as he realises who has joined me today. I look back at Sol, who is grinning at me.
A sudden warm hand landed on my shoulder and I jump, then relax as I realised that it was only Cadence.
“Wow, you’re jumpy today and you totally just zoned out on me.” She commented, pulling out her schoolbooks. “I usually come here to study in one of the alcoves further along, but I figured you’d enjoy the company.”
I nod awkwardly and raise the lid of my laptop and log in again. Pulling open the word document, I hear a gasp from Cadence.
“You write Tobias?” She takes another look at the document, “50, 903 words!?” She exclaimed, eyes sparkling. “That’s amazing! What is it about?”
I slide my laptop over and allow her to read the paragraph I wrote about Sol’eanna the day before. As she read I explained the basic concept of the story to her, and the significance of Sol’eanna.
“You mean that dragoness sleeping in the isle in front of us?” She asked.
Almost falling of my chair, I hear Orviss and Aragolanith laugh. “You can see her?”
Cadence gives me an incredulous look, “I’ve always been able to see them Tobias, and hear them."667Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1BSKo6LfW
Orviss and Aragolanith instantly stop laughing.
“I just never connect their names to faces before.” She pointed to Orviss. “I know that’s Orviss now and that’s Kyron. I’ve seen you with them at school.” She looked at Aragolanith, “Actually I don’t know what character he is.”
“How can you see them?” I ask, confused. “I’ve only been able to see them because I write about them.”
“I’m a writer and I’ve been following Gatekeepers since you started writing.” She smiled at me and added. “Except it seems I have much easier characters to control then you. I suppose it was one of these four that was causing you grief yesterday morning?”
I nod and Aragolanith stepped forward taking Cadences’ hand. “That would have been me Milady. Aragolanith’s the name, being the villain is the game.” He gave her a quick kiss on the hand before letting go.
Wincing, I apologize. “Sorry, he’s like that.”
…
I sit in my treehouse by the river. Orviss is splayed out on his favourite rock, at full size again and basking in the sun. Aragolanith and Sol’eanna are wading in the shallows, laughing as they try to catch the small fish that dart out of their grasp each time. Kyron and Cadence sit together discussing the latest drawing that she has done of him. Of course he is being fussy and saying she keeps getting his nose wrong.
I smile, knowing that these characters are trusting me to tell their story the best I can, as truthfully as I can.
So I will.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
