"Where are the others? The ones who are still sleeping?"
"They're in another room," one of the other sancturists replied, looking up from his work. "We want to keep them separate incase they decide to feed off of them."
"Feed?" He looked back down through the glass window to the 'walking corpses' in the room below. 'Well what else would they do with the souls they manage to tear away?' He thought to himself, but as he watched them, he found himself wondering back to when the young man had first attacked him. One hand had been on his shoulder, but the other had been awfully close to his chest, hadn't it? He lifted his hand to his heart and felt it skip a beat in panic. No, going by what he had already been told, if he had managed to suck out his soul he'd have done it immediately and he'd have well and truly been dead by that point.
He stepped away from the window and searched the room for the Sanctuary leader who had brought him there. Spotting him at the other side, he approached and lowered his voice. As he reached him, the sancturist he'd been speaking to walked away to see to his work. "I know what happened here."
Arthalun frowned at him. "What do you mean?"
"To these people."
"You know what ails them?" He asked, his voice sounding younger and hopeful.
"No, not exactly, but I know what happened here that day."
He glanced about him, searching for someone, and as he caught sight of a young woman, he beckoned her over. "Are you free to speak of it now?" He asked as she approached.
"I'd rather not do it here," he replied, looking around at the other fifteen or so people in the room at that moment. As busy as they were, no doubt some would listen in, and he wasn't sure it was a good idea that everyone here what he had to say - not all at once, at any rate.
Arthalun nodded and lead the three of them out of the room, down the hall and into another, much smaller and empty of people.
As the door closed behind them, Varai didn't really know where to start. Did he explain why he was in the Sanctuary in the first place? Did he jump right in with who he thought he saw behind it all and risk them not listening to another word he had to say? Or did he leave that detail until last? He'd have smiled to himself if the situation weren't so grave. He'd resigned from his post as Velinil, regiment leader, only seven years before, and already seemed to have lost his ability to compose verbal reports - but, at the same time, when had his reports ever had the possibility of being considered too outlandish to be true?
He made his decision and started from the beginning: "I was heading to the Sanctuary for meditation, but before I reached the gates, I heard screaming," he began, looking to both of them in turn. "I hurried along, and found there to already be several bodies lying on the ground in the courtyard. They were still, but I didn't devote the time to check whether they were alive or not. I assumed them to be dead, and attempted to cause a distraction so that those who were not already on the ground could escape. I think about ten managed to get away, perhaps less."
"But who was it you were distracting?" Arthalun asked as he and the woman who had accompanied them had taken a seat in some comfortably upholstered chairs.
He hesitated. "Alleria."
The name he spoke seemed to linger in the air for a moment, and neither people before him reacted for what felt like an eternity. Their faces only changed to a frown when it seemed to hit the surface.
"High Acten Alleria?" The woman said surprisingly calmy, as though she had been certain that she was mistaken.
"The very same," Varai answered firmly.
The woman and Arthalun glanced at one another, but their expressions barely shifted. The next thing Varai knew, he felt a strong magical force move through him and expand out around them, and the Sancturist was moving towards where he stood. His face was grave, as was the woman's.
"I knew I was right to bring Merrith here with me," he said, indicating the healer, then he turned his full attention to Varai, and his eyes darkened.
Copyrighted.
So lovely that you write! I am attempting getting back into novel writing myself. I need more inspiration though!
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I finished the first book of a trilogy last year, and it's been quite difficult to get myself to write the second. I've sent the first out to agencies but I can't bring myself to do anything until I hear back from them. Writing Kysharok is my way of getting myself to write again, but to also get used to the idea of other people reading it all ^^ Writing can be so much fun, so I hope you manage to find some inspiration! It can make the world a little more exciting!
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